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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11536-h.zip b/11536-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8eb77e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/11536-h.zip diff --git a/11536-h/11536-h.htm b/11536-h/11536-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd06c09 --- /dev/null +++ b/11536-h/11536-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7828 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Town and Country Sermons</title> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">Town and Country Sermons, by Charles Kingsley</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Town and Country Sermons, 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: Town and Country Sermons + +Author: Charles Kingsley + +Release Date: March 10, 2004 [eBook #11536] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOWN AND COUNTRY SERMONS*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines3"><br /><br /><br /></div> +<h1>TOWN AND COUNTRY SERMONS</h1> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines3"><br /><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON I. HOW TO KEEP PASSION WEEK</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Preached before the Queen</i>.)</p> +<p>Philippians ii. 5-11. Let this mind be in you, which was also +in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery +to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon +him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and +being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient +unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath +highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: +that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, +and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue +should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.</p> +<p>This the first day of Passion Week; and this text is the key-note +of Passion Week. It tells us of the obedience of Christ; of the +unselfishness of Christ; and, therefore, of the true glory of Christ.</p> +<p>It tells us of One who was in the form of God; the Co-equal and Co-eternal +Son; the brightness of his Father’s glory, the express image of +his Father’s person: but who showed forth his Father’s glory, +and proved that he was the express likeness of his Father’s character, +by the very opposite means to those which man takes, when he wishes +to show forth his own glory.</p> +<p>He was in the form of God. But he did not (so the text seems +to mean) think that the bliss of God was a thing to be seized on greedily +for himself. He did not think fit merely to glorify himself; to +enjoy himself. He was not like the false gods of whom the heathen +dreamed, who sat aloft in heaven and enjoyed themselves, careless of +mankind.</p> +<p>No. He obeyed his Father utterly, and at all costs. He +emptied himself (says St. Paul). He took on him the form of a +slave. He humbled himself. He became obedient; obedient +to death; and that death the shameful and dreadful death of the cross.</p> +<p>Therefore God has highly exalted him; has declared him to be perfectly +good, worthy of all praise, honour, glory, power, and dominion; and +has given him a name above all names, the name of Jesus—Saviour. +One who saved others, and cared not to save himself.</p> +<p>And therefore, too, God has given him that dominion of which he is +worthy, and has proclaimed him Lord and Creator of all beings and all +worlds, past, present, and to come.</p> +<p>It is of him; of his obedience; of his unselfishness, that Passion +Week speaks to us. It tell us of the mind of Christ, and says, +‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.’</p> +<p>How, then, shall we keep his Passion Week? There are several +ways of keeping it, and all more or less good. Wisdom is justified +of all her children.</p> +<p>But no way will be safe for us, unless we keep in mind the mind of +Christ—obedience and self-sacrifice.</p> +<p>Some, for instance, are careful this week to attend church as often +as possible; and who will blame them?</p> +<p>But unless they keep in mind the mind of Christ, they are apt to +fall into the mistake of using vain repetitions, as the heathen do; +and of fancying, like them, that they shall be heard for their much +speaking, forgetting their Father in heaven knows what they have need +of, before they ask him. And that is not like the mind of Christ. +It is not like the mind of Christ to fancy that God dwells in temples +made with hands; or that he can be worshipped with men’s hands, +as though he needed anything; seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, +and all things. For in him we live, and move, and have our being; +and (as even the heathen poet knew), are the offspring, the children, +of God.</p> +<p>It is <i>not</i> according to the mind of Christ, to worship God +as the heathen do, in order to win him to do our will. It <i>is</i> +according to the mind of Christ to worship God, in order that we may +do his will; to believe that God’s will is a good will, good in +itself, and good for us, and for all things and beings; and, therefore, +to ask for strength to do God’s will, whatever it may cost us. +That is the mind of Christ, who came not to do his own will, but the +will of him who sent him; who taught us to pray, as the greatest blessing +for which we can ask, ‘Father, thy will be done on earth, as it +is in heaven;’ who himself, in his utter agony, cried, ‘Father, +not my will, but thine, be done.’</p> +<p>Therefore, it is good to go to church; and good, for some at least, +to go as often as possible: but only if we remember why we go, and whom +we go to worship—a Father, who asks of us to worship him in spirit +and in truth. A Father who has told us what that worship is like.</p> +<p>‘Is this (God asked the Jews of old) the fast which I have +chosen? Is it a day for a man to afflict his soul, and bow down +his head like a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him +(playing at being sad, while God has not made him sad)? Wilt thou +call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?’</p> +<p>‘Is not this the fast which I have chosen? to loose the bands +of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go +free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread +to the hungry, and to bring the poor that are cast out to thine house; +when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not +thyself from thine own flesh.’</p> +<p>This is that pure worship and undefined before God and the Father, +of which St. James tells us; and says that it consists in this—‘to +visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction; and to keep ourselves +unspotted from the world.’</p> +<p>In a word, this worship in the spirit, and in truth, is nought else +but the mind of Christ. To believe in, to adore the Father’s +perfect goodness; to long and try to copy that goodness here on earth. +That is what Christ did utterly and perfectly, that is what we have +to do, each according to our powers; and without it, without the spirit +of obedience, all our church-going is of little worth in the eyes of +our heavenly Father.</p> +<p>Others, again, go into retirement for this week, and spend it in +examining themselves, and thinking over the sufferings of Christ. +And who, again, will blame them, provided they do not neglect their +daily duty meanwhile?</p> +<p>But they, too, need to keep in mind the mind of Christ, if they mean +to keep Passion Week aright.</p> +<p>They need it, indeed. And such a man, before he shuts himself +up, and begins to examine himself, would do well <i>to examine himself +as to why he is going to examine himself</i>, and to ask, Why am I going +to do this? Because it is my interest? Because I think I +shall gain more safety for my soul? Because I hope it will give +me more chance of pleasure and glory in the next world? But, if +so; have I the mind of Christ? For he did <i>not</i> think of +his own interest, his own gain, his own pleasure, his own glory. +How is this, then? I confess that the root of all my faults is +selfishness. Shall I examine into my own selfishness for a selfish +end—to get safety and pleasure by it hereafter? I confess +that the very glory of Christ is, that there is no selfishness in him. +Shall I think over the sufferings of the unselfish Christ for a selfish +end—to get something by it after I die? I am too apt already +to make myself the centre, round which all the world must turn: to care +for everything only as far as it does <i>me</i> good or harm. +Shall I make myself the centre round which heaven is to turn? +Shall I think of God and of Christ only as far as it will profit <i>me</i>? +And this week, too, of all weeks in the year? God forgive me! +Into what a contradiction I am running unawares!</p> +<p>No. If I do shut myself up from my fellowmen, it shall be only +to think how I may do my duty better to my fellowmen. If I do +think over Christ’s sufferings, it shall be only that I may learn +from him how to suffer, if need be, at the call of duty; at least, to +stir up in me obedience, usefulness, generosity, that I may go back +to my work cheerfully, willingly, careless what reward I get, provided +only I can do good in my station.</p> +<p>But, after all, will not the text tell us best how to keep Passion +Week? Will not our Lord’s own example tell us? Can +we go wrong, if we keep our Passion Week as Christ kept his?</p> +<p>And how did he keep it? Certainly not by shutting himself up +apart. Certainly not by mere thinking over the glory of self-sacrifice. +He taught daily, we read, in the temple. Instead of giving up +his work for a while, he seems to have worked more earnestly than ever. +As the terrible end drew near; and his soul was troubled; and he was +straitened as he looked forward to his baptism of fire; and the struggle +in him grew fiercer (for the Bible tells us that there was a struggle) +between the Man’s natural desire to save his life, and the God’s +heavenly desire to lay down his life, he threw himself more and more +into the work which he had to do. We hear more, perhaps, of our +Lord’s saying and doings during this week, up to the very moment +before he was betrayed to death, than we do of the whole three years +of his public life. His teaching was never, it seems, so continual; +his appeals to the nation which he was trying to save were never so +pathetic as at the very last; his warnings to the bigots who were destroying +his nation never so terrible; his contempt for personal danger never +so clear. The Bible seems to picture him to us as gathering up +all his strength for one last effort, if by any means he might save +that doomed city of Jerusalem, and in his divine spirit, courting death +the more, the more his human flesh shrank from it.</p> +<p>This—the pattern of perfect obedience, perfect unselfishness, +perfect generosity, perfect self-sacrificing love—is what we are +to look at in Passion Week. This, I believe, is what we are meant +to copy in Passion Week; that we may learn the habit of copying it all +our lives long.</p> +<p>Why should not we, then, keep Passion Week somewhat as our Lord kept +it before us? Not by merely hiding in our closets to meditate, +even about <i>him</i>: but by going about our work, each in his place, +dutifully, bravely, as he went? By doing the duty which lies nearest +us, and trying to draw our lesson out of it.</p> +<p>Thus we may keep Passion Week in spirit and in truth; though some +of us may hardly have time to enter a church, hardly have time for an +hour’s private thought about religion.</p> +<p>Amid the bustle of daily duties; amid the buzz of petty cares; amid +the anxieties of great labours; amid the roar of the busy world, which +cannot stop (and which ought not to stop), for our convenience; we may +keep Passion Week in spirit and in truth, if we will do the duty which +lies nearest us, and try to draw our lesson out of it.</p> +<p>For practice—and, I believe, practice alone—will teach +us to restrain ourselves, and conquer ourselves. Experience—and, +I believe, experience alone—will show us our own faults and weaknesses.</p> +<p>Every man—every human spirit on God’s earth has spiritual +enemies—habits and principles within him—if not other spirits +without him, which hinder him, more or less, from being all that God +meant him to be. And we must find out those enemies, and measure +their strength, not merely by reading of them in books; not merely by +fancying them in our own minds; but by the hard blows, and sudden falls, +which they too often give us in the actual battle of daily life.</p> +<p>And how can we find them out?</p> +<p>This at least we can do.</p> +<p>We can ask ourselves at every turn,—For what end am I doing +this, and this? For what end am I living at all? For myself, +or for others?</p> +<p>Am I living for ambition? for fame? for show? for money? for pleasure? +If so, I have not the mind of Christ. I have not found out the +golden secret. I have not seen what true glory is; what the glory +of Christ is—to live for the sake of doing my duty—for the +sake of doing good.</p> +<p>And am I—I surely shall be if I am living for myself—straggling, +envying, casting an evil eye on those more fortunate than I; perhaps +letting loose against them a cruel tongue? If I am doing thus, +God forgive me. What have I of the mind of Christ? What +likeness between me and him who emptied himself of self, who humbled +himself, gave himself up utterly, even to death? Is this the mind +of Christ? Is this the spirit whose name is Love?</p> +<p>And yet there should be a likeness. A likeness between Christ +and us. A likeness between God and us. For Christ is the +likeness of his Father; and not only of his Father, but of our Father, +The Father in heaven. And what should a child be, but like his +father? What should man be, but like God?</p> +<p>But how shall we get that likeness? How shall we get the mind +of Christ which is the Spirit of God?</p> +<p>This at least we know. That the father will surely hear the +child, when the child cries to him. Perhaps will hear him all +the more tenderly, the more utterly the child has strayed away.</p> +<p>Our highest reason, the instincts of our own hearts, tell us so. +Christ himself has told us so; and said to the Jews of old: ‘If +ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much +more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask +<i>him</i>?’</p> +<p>Shall give? Yes; and has given already. From that Spirit +of God have come, and will always come, all our purest, highest, best +thoughts and feelings.</p> +<p>From him comes all which raises us above the animals, and makes us +really and truly men and women. All sense of duty, obedience, +order, justice, law; all tenderness, pity, generosity, honour, modesty; +all this, if you will receive it, is that Christ in us of whom St. Paul +tells us, and tells us that he is our hope of glory.</p> +<p>Yes, these feelings in us, which, just as far as we obey them, make +us respect ourselves, and make us blessings to our fellow-men; what +are they but the Spirit of Christ, the likeness of Christ, the mind +of Christ in us; the hope of our glory; because, if we obey them, we +shall attain to something of the true glory, the glory with which Christ +himself is glorious.</p> +<p>Then let us pray to God, now in this Passion Week, to stir up in +us that generous spirit; to deepen in us that fair likeness; to fill +us with that noble mind. Let us ask God to quench in us all which +is selfish, idle, mean; to quicken to life in us all which is godlike, +and from God; that so we may attain, at last, to the true glory, the +glory which comes not from selfish ambition; not from selfish pride; +not from selfish ease; but from getting rid of selfishness, in all its +shapes. The glory which Christ alone has in perfection. +The glory before which every knee will one day bow, whether in earth +or heaven. Even the glory of doing our duty, regardless of what +it costs us in the station to which each of us has been called by his +Father in heaven. Amen.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON II. THE DIVINE HUNGER AND THIRST</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Preached before the Queen</i>.)</p> +<p>Psalm xxxvi. 7, 8, 9. How excellent is thy loving-kindness, +O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow +of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness +of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. +For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.</p> +<p>This is a great saying. So great that we shall never know, +certainly never in this life, how much it means.</p> +<p>It speaks of being satisfied; of what alone can satisfy a man. +It speaks of man as a creature who is, or rather ought to be, always +hungering and thirsting after something better than he has, as it is +written: ‘Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness; +for they shall be filled.’ So says David, also, in this +Psalm.</p> +<p>I say man ought to be always hungering and thirsting for something +better. I do not mean by that that he ought to be discontented. +Nothing less. For just in as far as a man hungers and thirsts +after righteousness and truth, he will hunger and thirst after nothing +else. As long as a man does not care for righteousness, does not +care to be a better man himself, and to see the world better round him, +so long will he go longing after this fine thing and that, tormenting +himself with lusts and passions, greediness and covetousness of divers +sorts; and little satisfaction will he get from them. But, when +he begins to hunger and thirst after righteousness, that heavenly and +spiritual hunger destroys the old carnal hunger in him. He cares +less and less to ask, What shall I eat and drink, wherewithal shall +I be clothed?—Or how shall I win for myself admiration, station, +and all the fine things of this world?—What he thinks of more +and more is,—How can I become better and more righteous? +How can I make my neighbours better likewise? How the world? +As for the good things of this life, if they will make me a better man, +let them come. If not, why should I care so much about them? +What I want is, to be righteous like God, beneficent and good-doing +like God.</p> +<p>That is the man of whom it is written, that he shall be satisfied +with the plenteousness of God’s house, God’s kingdom; for +with God is the fountain of life.</p> +<p>Again, as long as a man has no hunger and thirst after truth, he +is easily enough interested, though he is not satisfied. He reads, +perhaps, and amuses his fancy, but he does no more. He reads again, +really to instruct his mind, and learns about this and that: but he +does not learn the causes of things; the reasons of the chances and +changes of this world; and so he is not satisfied; he takes up doctrines, +true ones, perhaps, at secondhand out of books and out of sermons:, +without having had any personal experience of them; and so, when sickness +or sorrow, doubt or dread, come, they do not satisfy him. Then +he longs—he ought at least to long—for truth. He thirsts +for truth. O that I could know the truth about myself; about my +fellow-creatures; about this world. What am I really? What +are they? Where am I? What can I know? What ought +I to do? I do not want secondhand names and notions. I want +to be sure.</p> +<p>That is the divine thirst after truth, which will surely be satisfied. +He will drink of the pleasure of true knowledge, as out of an overflowing +river; and the more he knows, the more he will be glad to know, and +the more he will find he can know, if only he loves truth for truth’s +own sake; for, as it is written, in God’s light shall that man +see light.</p> +<p>With God is the well of life; and in his light we shall see light. +The first is the answer to man’s hunger after righteousness, the +second answers to his thirst after truth.</p> +<p>With God is the well of life. There is the answer. Thou +wishest to be a good man; to live a good life; to live as a good son, +good husband, good father, good in all the relations of humanity; as +it is written, ‘And Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations; +and Noah walked with God.’ Then do thou walk with God. +For in him is the life thou wishest for. He alone can quicken +thee, and give thee spirit and power to fulfil thy duty in thy generation. +Is not his Spirit the Lord and Giver of life—the only fount and +eternal spring of life? From him life flows out unto the smallest +blade of grass beneath thy feet, the smallest gnat which dances in the +sun, that it may live the life which God intends for it. How much +more to thee, who hast an altogether boundless power of life; whom God +has made in his own likeness, that thou mayest be called his son, and +live his life, and do, as Christ did, what thou seest thy heavenly Father +do.</p> +<p>Thou feelest, perhaps, how poor and paltry thine own life is, compared +with what it might have been. Thou feelest that thou hast never +done thy best. When the world is praising thee most, thou art +most ashamed of thyself. Thou art ready to cry all day long, ‘I +have left undone that which I ought to have done;’ till, at times, +thou longest that all was over, and thou wert beginning again in some +freer, fuller, nobler, holier life, to do and to be what thou hast never +done nor been here; and criest with the poet—</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>’Tis life, whereof my nerves are scant;<br />’Tis life, +not death, for which I pant;<br />More life, and fuller, that I want.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Then have patience. With God is the fount of life. He +will refresh and strengthen thee; and raise thee up day by day to that +new life for which thou longest. Is not Holy communion his own +pledge that he will do so? Is not that God’s own sign to +thee, that though thou canst not feed and strengthen thine own soul, +he can and will feed and strengthen it; and feed it—mystery of +mysteries—with himself; that God may dwell in thee, and thou in +God. And if God and Christ live in thee, and work in thee to will +and to do of their own good pleasure, that shall be enough for thee, +and thou shall be satisfied.</p> +<p>And just so, again, with that same thirst after truth. That, +too, can only be satisfied by God, and in God. Not by the reading +of books, however true; not by listening to sermons, however clever; +can we see light: but only in the light of God. Know God. +Know that he is justice itself, order itself, love itself, patience +itself, pity itself. In the light of that, all things will become +light and bright to thee. Matters which seemed to have nothing +to do with God, the thought of God will explain to thee, if thou thinkest +aright concerning God; and the true knowledge of him will be the key +to all other true knowledge in heaven and earth. For the fear +of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a good understanding have +all they that do thereafter. Must it not be so? How can +it be otherwise? For in God all live and move and have their being; +and all things which he has made are rays from off his glory, and patterns +of his perfect mind. As the Maker is, so is his work; if, therefore, +thou wouldest judge rightly of the work, acquaint thyself with the Maker +of it, and know first, and know for ever, that his name is Love.</p> +<p>Thus, sooner or later, in God the Father’s good time, will +thy thirst for truth be satisfied, and thou shalt see the light of God. +He may keep thee long waiting for full truth. He may send thee +by strange and crooked paths. He may exercise and strain thy reason +by doubts, mistakes, and failures; but sooner or later, if thou dost +not faint and grow weary, he will show to thee the thing which thou +knewest not; for he is thy Father, and wills that all his children, +each according to their powers, should share not only in his goodness, +but in his wisdom also.</p> +<p>Do any of you say, ‘These are words too deep for us; they are +for learned people, clever, great saints?’ I think not.</p> +<p>I have seen poor people, ignorant people, sick people, poor old souls +on parish pay, satisfied with the plenteousness of God’s house, +and drinking so freely of God’s pleasure, that they knew no thirst, +fretted not, never were discontented. All vain longings after +this and that were gone from their hearts. They had very little; +but it seemed to be enough. They had nothing indeed, which we +could call pleasure in this world; but somehow what they had satisfied +them, because it came from God. They had a hidden pleasure, joy, +content, and peace.</p> +<p>They had found out that with God was the well of life; that in God +they lived and moved, and had their being. And as long as their +souls lived in God, full of the eternal life and goodness, obeying his +laws, loving the thing which he commanded, and desiring what he promised, +they could trust him for their poor worn-out dying bodies, that he would +not let them perish, but raise them up again at the last day. +They knew very little; but what they did know was full of light. +Cheerful and hopeful they were always; for they saw all things in the +light of God. They knew that God was light, and God was love; +that his love was shining down on them and on all around them, warming, +cheering, quickening into life all things which he had made; so that +when the world should have looked most dark to them, it looked most +bright, because they saw it lightened up by the smile of their Father +in heaven.</p> +<p>O may God bring us all to such an old age, that, as our mortal bodies +decay, our souls may be renewed day by day; that as the life of our +bodies grows cold and feeble, the life of our souls may grow richer, +warmer, stronger, more useful to all around us, for ever and ever; that +as the light of this life fades, the light of our souls may grow brighter, +fuller, deeper; till all is clear to us in the everlasting light of +God, in that perfect day for which St. Paul thirsted through so many +weary years; when he should no more see through a glass darkly, or prophesy +in part, and talk as a child, but see face to face, and know even as +he was known.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON III. THE TRANSFIGURATION</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Preached before the Queen</i>.)</p> +<p>Matthew xvii. 2 and 9. And he was transfigured before them. +. . . And he charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until +the Son of Man be risen again from the dead.</p> +<p>Any one who will consider the gospels, will see that there is a peculiar +calm, a soberness and modesty about them, very different from what we +should have expected to find in them. Speaking, as they do, of +the grandest person who ever trod this earth, of the grandest events +which ever happened upon this earth—of the events, indeed, which +settled the future of this earth for ever,—one would not be surprised +at their using grand words—the grandest they could find. +If they had gone off into beautiful poetry; if they had filled pages +with words of astonishment, admiration, delight; if they had told us +their own thoughts and feelings at the sight of our Lord; if they had +given us long and full descriptions of our Lord’s face and figure, +even (as forged documents have pretended to do) to the very colour of +his hair, we should have thought it but natural.</p> +<p>But there is nothing of the kind in either of the four gospels, even +when speaking of the most awful matters. Their words are as quiet +and simple and modest as if they were written of things which might +be seen every day. When they tell of our Lord’s crucifixion, +for instance, how easy, natural, harmless, right, as far as we can see, +it would have been to have poured out their own feelings about the most +pitiable and shameful crime ever committed upon earth; to have spoken +out all their own pity, terror, grief, indignation; and to have stirred +up ours thereby. And yet all they say is,—‘And they +crucified him.’ They feel that is enough. The deed +is too dark to talk about. Let it tell its own story to all human +hearts.</p> +<p>So with this account of the Lord’s transfiguration. ‘And +he took Peter, and James, and John, his brother, up into a high mountain, +apart, and was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the +sun; and his raiment was white as the light; . . . and while he yet +spake a bright cloud overshadowed them; and, behold, a voice out of +the cloud, which said: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. +Hear ye him.’</p> +<p>How soberly, simply, modestly, they tell this strange story. +How differently they might have told it. A man might write whole +poems, whole books of philosophy, about that transfiguration, and yet +never reach the full depth of its beauty and of its meaning. But +the evangelists do not even try to do that. As with the crucifixion, +as with all the most wonderful passages of our Lord’s life, they +simply say what happened, and let the story bring its own message home +to our hearts.</p> +<p>What may we suppose is the reason of this great stillness and soberness +of the gospels? I believe that it may be explained thus. +The men who wrote them were too much <i>awed</i> by our Lord, to make +more words about him than they absolutely needed.</p> +<p>Our Lord was too utterly <i>beyond</i> them. They felt that +they could not understand him; could not give a worthy picture of him. +He was too noble, too awful, in spite of all his tenderness, for any +words of theirs, however fine. We all know that the holiest things, +the deepest feelings, the most beautiful sights, are those about which +we talk least, and least like to hear others talk. Putting them +into words seems impertinent, profane. No one needs to gild gold, +or paint the lily. When we see a glorious sunset; when we hear +the rolling of the thunder-storm; we do not <i>talk</i> about them; +we do not begin to cry, How awful, how magnificent; we admire them in +silence, and let them tell their own story. Who that ever truly +loved his wife talked about his love to her? Who that ever came +to Holy Communion in spirit and in truth, tried to put into words what +he felt as he knelt before Christ’s altar? When God speaks, +man had best keep silence.</p> +<p>So it was, I suppose, with the writers of the gospels. They +had been in too grand company for them to speak freely of what they +felt there. They had seen such sights, and heard such words, that +they were inclined to be silent, and think over it all, and only wrote +because they must write. They felt that our Lord, as I say, was +utterly beyond them, too unlike any one whom they had ever met before; +too perfect, too noble, for them to talk about him. So they simply +set down his words as he spoke them, and his works as he did them, as +far as they could recollect, and left them to tell their own story. +Even St. John, who was our Lord’s beloved friend, who seems to +have caught and copied exactly his way of speaking, seems to feel that +there was infinitely more in our Lord than he could put into words, +and ends with confessing,—‘And there are also many more +things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, +I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that +should be written.’</p> +<p>The first reason then, I suppose, for the evangelists’ modesty, +was their awe and astonishment at our Lord. The next, I think, +may have been that they wished to copy him, and so to please him. +It surely must have been so, if, as all good Christians believe, they +were inspired to write our Lord’s life. The Lord would inspire +them to write as he would like his life to be written, as he would have +written it (if it be reverent to speak of such a thing) himself. +They were inspired by Christ’s Spirit; and, therefore, they wrote +according to the Spirit of Christ, soberly, humbly, modestly, copying +the character of Christ.</p> +<p>Think upon that word <i>modestly</i>. I am not sure that it +is the best; I only know that it is the best which I can find, to express +one excellence which we see in our Lord, which is like what we call +modesty in common human beings.</p> +<p>We all know how beautiful and noble modesty is; how we all admire +it; how it raises a man in our eyes to see him afraid of boasting; never +showing off; never requiring people to admire him; never pushing himself +forward; or, if his business forces him to go into public, not going +for the sake of display, but simply because the thing has to be done; +and then quietly withdrawing himself when the thing is done, content +that none should be staring at him or thinking of him. This is +modesty; and we admire it not only in young people, or those who have +little cause to be proud: we admire it much more in the greatest, the +wisest, and the best; in those who have, humanly speaking, most cause +to be proud. Whenever, on the other hand, we see in wise and good +men any vanity, boasting, pompousness of any kind, we call it a weakness +in them, and are sorry to see them lowering themselves by the least +want of divine modesty.</p> +<p>Now, this great grace and noble virtue should surely be in our Lord, +from whom all graces and virtues come; and I think we need not look +far through the gospels to find it.</p> +<p>See how he refused to cast himself down from the temple, and make +himself a sign and a wonder to the Jews. How he refused to show +the Pharisees a sign. How, in this very text, when it seemed good +to him to show his glory, he takes only three favourite apostles, and +commands them to tell no man till he be risen again. See, again, +how when the Jews wanted to take him by force, and make him a king, +he escaped out of their hands. How when He had been preaching +to, or healing the multitude, so that they crowded on him, and became +excited about him, he more than once immediately left them, and retired +into a desert place to pray.</p> +<p>See, again, how when he did tell the Jews who he was, in words most +awfully unmistakeable, the confession was, as it were, drawn from him, +at the end of a long argument, when he was forced to speak out for truth’s +sake. And, even then, how simple, how modest (if I dare so speak), +are his words. ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ The +most awful words ever spoken on earth; and yet most divine in their +very simplicity. The Maker of the world telling his creatures +that he is their God! What might he <i>not</i> have said at such +a moment? What might we not fancy his saying? What words, +grand enough, awful enough, might not the evangelists have put into +his mouth, if they had not been men full of the spirit of truth? +And yet what does the Lord say? ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ + Could he say more? If you think of the matter, No. But +could he say less? If you think of the manner, No, likewise.</p> +<p>Truly, ‘never man spake as he spake:’ because never man +was like him. Perfect strength, wisdom, determination, endurance; +and yet perfect meekness, simplicity, sobriety. Zeal and modesty. +They are the last two virtues which go together most seldom. In +him they went together utterly; and were one, as he was one in spirit.</p> +<p>Him some of the evangelists saw, and by him all were inspired; and, +therefore, they toned their account of him to his likeness, and, as +it were, took their key-note from him, and made the very manner and +language of their gospels a pattern of his manners and his life.</p> +<p>And, if we wanted a fresh proof (as, thank God, needs not) that the +gospels are true, I think we might find it in this. For when a +man is inventing a wonderful story out of his own head, he is certain +to dress it up in fine words, fancies, shrewd reflections of his own, +in order to make people see, as he goes on, how wonderful it all is. +Whereas, no books on earth which describe wonderful events, true or +false, are so sober and simple as the gospels, which describe the most +wonderful of all events. And this is to me a plain proof (as I +hope it will be to you) that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not +inventing but telling a plain and true story, and dared not alter it +in the least; and, again, a story so strange and beautiful, that they +dared not try to make it more strange, or more beautiful, by any words +of their own.</p> +<p>They had seen a person, to describe whom passed all their powers +of thought and memory, much more their power of words. A person +of whom even St. Paul could only say, ‘that he was the brightness +of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person.’</p> +<p>Words in which to write of him failed them; for no words could suffice. +But the temper of mind in which to write of him did not fail them; for, +by gazing on the face of the Lord, they had been changed, more or less, +into the likeness of his glory; into that temper, simplicity, sobriety, +gentleness, modesty, which shone forth in him, and shines forth still +in their immortal words about him. God grant that it may shine +forth in us. God grant it truly. May we read their words +till their spirit passes into us. May we (as St. Paul expresses +it) looking on the face of the Lord, as into a glass, be changed into +his likeness, from glory to glory. May he who inspired them to +write, inspire us to think and work, like our Lord, soberly, quietly, +simply. May God take out of us all pride and vanity, boasting +and forwardness; and give us the true courage which shows itself by +gentleness; the true wisdom which show itself by simplicity; and the +true power which show itself by modesty. Amen.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON IV. A SOLDIER’S TRAINING</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Luke vii. 2-9. And a certain centurion’s servant, who +was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. And when he heard +of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that +he would come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, +they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he +should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. +Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the +house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble +not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my +roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but +say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a +man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, +Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, +Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things he marvelled +at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed +him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.</p> +<p>There is something puzzling in this speech of the centurion’s. +One must think twice, and more than twice, to understand clearly what +he had in his mind. <i>I</i>, indeed, am not quite sure that I +altogether understand it. But I may, perhaps, help you to understand +it, by telling you what this centurion was.</p> +<p>He was not a Jew. He was a Roman, and a heathen; a man of our +race, very likely. And he was a centurion, a captain in the army; +and one, mind, who had risen from the ranks, by good conduct, and good +service. Before he got his vine-stock, which was the mark of his +authority over a hundred men, he had, no doubt, marched many a weary +mile under a heavy load, and fought, probably, many a bloody battle +in foreign parts. That had been his education, his training, namely, +discipline, and hard work. And because he had learned to obey, +he was fit to rule. He was helping now to keep in order those +treacherous, unruly Jews, and their worthless puppet-kings, like Herod; +much as our soldiers in India are keeping in order the Hindoos, and +their worthless puppet-kings.</p> +<p>Whether the Romans had any <i>right</i> to conquer and keep down +the Jews as they did, is no concern of ours just now. But we have +proof that what this centurion did, he did wisely and kindly. +The elders of the Jews said of him, that he loved the Jews, and had +built them a synagogue, a church. I suppose that what he had heard +from them about a one living God, who had made all things in heaven +and earth, and given them a law, which cannot be broken, so that all +things obey him to this day—I suppose, I say, that this pleased +him better than the Roman stories of many gods, who were capricious, +and fretful, and quarrelled with each other in a fashion which ought +to have been shocking to the conscience and reason of a disciplined +soldier.</p> +<p>There was a great deal, besides, in the Old Testament, which would, +surely, come home to a soldier’s heart, when it told him of a +God of law, and order, and justice, and might, who defended the right +in battle, and inspired the old Jews to conquer the heathen, and to +fight for their own liberty. For what was it, which had enabled +the Romans to conquer so many great nations? What was it which +enabled them to keep them in order, and, on the whole, make them happier, +more peaceable, more prosperous, than they had ever been? What +was it which had made him, the poor common soldier, an officer, and +a wealthy man, governing, by his little garrison of a hundred soldiers, +this town of Capernaum, and the country round?</p> +<p>It was this. Discipline; drill; obedience to authority. +That Roman army was the most admirably disciplined which the world till +then had ever seen. So, indeed, was the whole Roman Government. +Every man knew his place, and knew his work. Every man had been +trained to obey orders; if he was told to go, to go; if he was told +to do, to do, or to die in trying to do, what he was bidden.</p> +<p>This was the great and true thought which had filled this good man’s +mind—duty, order, and obedience. And by thinking of order, +and seeing how strength, and safety, and success lie in order, and by +giving himself up to obey orders, body and soul, like a good soldier, +had that plain man (who had certainly no scholarship, perhaps could +barely read or write) caught sight of a higher, wider, deeper order +than even that of a Roman army. He had caught sight of that divine +and wonderful order, by which God has constituted the services of men, +and angels, and all created things; that divine and wonderful order +by which sun and stars, fire and hail, wind and vapour, cattle and creeping +things fulfil his word.</p> +<p>Fulfil God’s word. That was the thought, surely, which +was in the good soldier’s mind, and which he was trying to speak +out; clumsily, perhaps, but truly enough. I suppose, then, that +he thought in his own mind somewhat in this way. ‘There +is a word of command among us soldiers. Has God, then, no word +of command likewise? And that word of command is enough. +Is not God’s word of command enough likewise? I merely speak, +and I am obeyed. I am merely spoken to, and I obey. Shall +not God merely speak, and be obeyed likewise? There is discipline +and order among men, because it is necessary. An Army cannot be +manœuvred, a Government cannot be carried on, without it. +Is there not a discipline and order in all heaven and earth? And +that discipline is carried out by simple word of command. A word +from me will make a man rush upon certain death. A word from certain +other men will make me rush on certain death. For I am a man under +authority. I have my tribune (colonel, as we should say) over +me; and he, again, the perfect (general of brigade) over him. +Their word is enough for me. If they want me to do a thing, they +do not need to come under my roof, to argue with me, to persuade me, +much less to thrust me about, and make me obey them by force. +They say to me, ‘Go,’ and I go; and I say to those under +me, ‘Go,’ and they go likewise.</p> +<p>And if I can work by a word, cannot this Jesus work by a word likewise? +He is a messenger of God, with commission and authority from God, to +work his will on his creatures. Are not God’s creatures +as well ordered, disciplined, obedient, as we soldiers are? Are +they not a hundred times better ordered? A messenger from God? +Is he not a God himself; a God in goodness and mercy; a God in miraculous +power? Cannot he do his work by a word, far more certainly than +I can do mine? If my word can send a man to death, cannot his +word bring a man back to life? Surely it can. ‘Lord, +thou needest not to come under my roof; speak the word only, and my +servant shall be healed.’</p> +<p>By some such thoughts as these, I suppose, had this good soldier +gained his great faith; his faith that all God’s creatures were +in a divine, and wonderful order, obedient to the will of God who made +them; and that Jesus Christ was God’s viceroy and lieutenant (I +speak so, because I suppose that is what he, as a soldier, would have +thought), to carry out God’s commands on earth.</p> +<p>Now remember that he was the first heathen man of whom we read, that +he acknowledged Christ. Remember, too, that the next heathen of +whom we read, that he acknowledged Christ, was also a Roman centurion, +he whom the old legends call Longinus, who, when he saw our Lord upon +the cross, said, ‘Truly this <i>was</i> the Son of God.’ +Remember, again, that the next heathen of whom we read as having acknowledged +Christ, he to whom St. Peter was sent, at Joppa, who is often called +the first fruits of the heathen, was a Roman centurion likewise.</p> +<p>Surely, there must have been a reason for this. There must +be a lesson in this; and this, I think, is the lesson. That the +soldierlike habit of mind is one which makes a man ready to receive +the truth of Christ. And why? Because the good soldier’s +first and last thought is Duty. To do his duty by those who are +set over him, and to learn to do his duty to those who are set under +him. To turn his whole mind and soul to doing, not just what he +fancies, but to what must be done, because it is his duty. This +is the character which makes a good soldier, and a good Christian likewise. +If we be undisciplined and undutiful, and unruly; if we be fanciful, +self-willed, disobedient; then we shall not understand Christ, or Christ’s +rule on earth and in heaven. If there be no order within us, we +shall not see his divine and wonderful order all around us. If +there be no discipline and obedience within us, we shall never believe +really that Christ disciplines all things, and that all things obey +him. If there be no sense of duty in us, governing our whole lives +and actions, we shall never perceive the true beauty and glory of Christ’s +character, who sacrificed himself for his duty, which was to do his +Father’s will.</p> +<p>I tell you, my friends, that nothing prevents a man from gaining +either right doctrines or right practice, so much as the undutiful, +unruly, self-conceited heart. We may be full of religious knowledge, +of devout sentiments, of heavenly aspirations: but in spite of them +all, we shall never get beyond false doctrine, and loose practice, unless +we have learned to obey; to rule our own minds, and hearts, and tempers, +soberly and patiently; to conform to the laws, and to all reasonable +rules of society, to believe that God has called us to our station in +life, whatever it may be; and to do our duty therein, as faithful soldiers +and servants of Christ. For, if you will receive it, the beginning +and the middle, and the end of all true religion is simply this. +To do the will of God on earth, as it is done in heaven.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON V. CHRIST’S SHEEP</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Mark vi. 34. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, +and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep +not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.</p> +<p>This is a text full of comfort, if we will but remember one thing: +that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and, +therefore, what he did when he was upon earth, he is doing now, and +will do till the end of the world. If we will believe this, and +look at our Lord’s doings upon earth as patterns and specimens, +as it were, of his eternal life and character, then every verse in the +gospels will teach us something, and be precious to us.</p> +<p>The people came to hear Jesus in a desert place; a wild forest country, +among the hills on the east side of the Lake of Gennesaret. ‘And +Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion +toward them, because they were as sheep having no shepherd: and he taught +them many things.’</p> +<p>And, what kind of people were these, who so moved our Lord’s +pity? The text tells us, that they were like sheep. Now, +in what way were they like sheep?</p> +<p>A sheep is simple, and harmless, and tractable, and so, I suppose, +were these people. They may not have been very clever and shrewd; +not good scholars. No doubt they were a poor, wild, ignorant, +set of people; but they were tractable; they were willing to come and +learn; they felt their own ignorance, and wanted to be taught. +They were not proud and self-sufficient, not fierce or bloodthirsty. +The text does not say that they were like wild beasts having no keeper: +but like sheep having no shepherd. And therefore Christ pitied +them, because they were teachable, willing to be taught, and worth teaching; +and yet had no one to teach them.</p> +<p>The Scribes and Pharisees, it seems, taught them nothing. They +may have taught the people in Jerusalem, and in the great towns, something: +but they seem, from all the gospels, to have cared little or nothing +for the poor folk out in the wild mountain country. They liked +to live in pride and comfort in the towns, with their comfortable congregations +round them, admiring them; but they had no fancy to go out into the +deserts, to seek and to save those who were lost. They were bad +shepherds, greedy shepherds, who were glad enough to shear God’s +flock, and keep the wool themselves: but they did not care to feed the +flock of God. It was too much trouble; and they could get no honour +and no money by it. And most likely they did not understand these +poor people; could not speak, hardly understand, their country language; +for these Galileans spoke a rough dialect, different from that of the +upper classes.</p> +<p>So the Scribes and Pharisees looked down on them as a bad, wild, +low set of people, with whom nothing could be done; and said, ‘This +people who knoweth not the law, is accursed.’</p> +<p>But what they would not do, God himself would. God in Christ +had come to feed his own flock, and to seek the lost sheep, and bring +them gently home to God’s fold. He could feel for these +poor wild foresters and mountain shepherds; he could understand what +was in their hearts; for he knew the heart of man; and, therefore, he +could make them understand him. And it was for this very reason, +one might suppose, that our Lord was willing to be brought up at Nazareth, +that he might learn the country speech, and country ways, and that the +people might grow to look on him as one of themselves. Those Scribes +and Pharisees, one may suppose, were just the people whom they could +not understand; fine, rich scholars, proud people talking very learnedly +about deep doctrines. The country folk must have looked at them +as if they belonged to some other world, and said,—Those Pharisees +cannot understand us, any more than we can them, with their hard rules +about this and that. Easy enough for rich men like them to make +rules for poor ones. Indeed our Lord said the very same of them—‘Binding +heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and laying them on men’s +shoulders; while they themselves would not touch them with one of their +fingers.’</p> +<p>Then the Lord himself came and preached to these poor wild folk, +and they heard him gladly. And why? Because his speech was +too deep for them? Because he scolded and threatened them? +No.</p> +<p>We never find that our Lord spoke harshly to them. They had +plenty of sins, and he knew it: but it is most remarkable that the Evangelists +never tell us what he said about those sins. What they do tell +us is, that he spoke to them of the common things around them, of the +flowers of the field, the birds of the air, of sowing and reaping, and +feeding sheep; and taught them by parables, taken from the common country +life which they lived, and the common country things which they saw; +and shewed them how the kingdom of God was like unto this and that which +they had seen from their childhood, and how earth was a pattern of heaven. +And they could understand that. Not all of it perhaps: but still +they heard him gladly. His preaching made them understand themselves, +and their own souls, and what God felt for them, and what was right +and wrong, and what would become of them, as they never felt before. +It is plain and certain that the country people could understand Christ’s +parables, when the Scribes and Pharisees could not. The Scribes +and Pharisees, in spite of all their learning, were those who were without +(as our Lord said); who had eyes and could not see, and ears and could +not hear, for their hearts were grown fat and gross. With all +their learning, they were not wise enough to understand the message +which God sends in every flower and every sunbeam; the message which +Christ preached to the poor, and the poor heard him gladly; the message +which he confirmed to them by his miracles. For what were his +miracles like? Did he call down lightning to strike sinners dead, +or call up earthquakes, to swallow them? No; he went about healing +the sick, cleansing the leper, feeding the hungry in the wilderness; +that therefore they might see by his example, the glory of their Father +in heaven, and understand that God is a God of Love, of mercy, a deliverer, +a Saviour, and not, as the Scribes and Pharisees made him out, a hard +taskmaster, keeping his anger for ever, and extreme to mark what was +done amiss.</p> +<p>Ah that, be sure, was what made the Scribes and Pharisees more mad +than anything else against Christ, that he spoke to the poor ignorant +people of their Father in heaven. It made them envious enough +to see the poor people listening to Christ, when they would not listen +to them; but when he told these poor folk, whom they called ‘accursed +and lost sinners,’ that God in heaven was their Father, then no +name was too bad for our Lord; and they called him the worst name which +they could think of—a friend of publicans and sinners. That +was the worst name, in their eyes: and yet, in reality, it was the highest +honour. But they never forgave him. How could they? +They felt that if he was doing God’s work, they were doing the +devil’s, that either he or they must be utterly wrong: and they +never rested till they crucified him, and stopped him for ever, as they +fancied, from telling poor ignorant people laden with sins to consider +the flowers of the field how they grow, and learn from them that they +have a Father in heaven who knoweth what they have need of before they +ask him.</p> +<p>But they did not stop Christ: and, what is more, they will never +stop him. He has said it, and it remains true for ever; for he +is saying it over and over again, in a thousand ways, to his sheep, +when they are wandering without a shepherd.</p> +<p>Only let them be Christ’s sheep, and he will have compassion +on them, and teach them many things. Many may neglect them: but +Christ will not. Whoever you may be, however simple you are, however +ignorant, however lonely, still, if you are one of Christ’s sheep, +if you are harmless and teachable, willing and wishing to learn what +is right, then Christ will surely teach you in his good time. +There never was a soul on earth, I believe, who really wished for God’s +light, but what God’s light came to it at last, as it will to +you, if you be Christ’s sheep. If you are proud and conceited, +you will learn nothing. If you are fierce and headstrong, you +will learn nothing. If you are patient and gentle, you will learn +all that you need to know; for Christ will teach you. He has many +ways of teaching you. By his ministers; by the Bible; by books; +by good friends; by sorrows and troubles; by blessings and comforts; +by stirring up your mind to think over the common things which lie all +around you in your daily work. But what need for me to go on counting +by how many ways Christ will lead you, when he has more ways than man +ever dreamed of? Who hath known the mind of the Lord; or who shall +be his counsellor? Only be sure that he will teach you, if you +wish to learn; and be sure that this is what he will teach you—to +know the glory of his Father and your Father, whose name is Love.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON VI. THE HEARING EAR AND THE SEEING EYE</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Proverbs xx. 12. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord +hath made even both of them.</p> +<p>This saying may seem at first a very simple one; and some may ask, +What need to tell us that? We know it already. God, who +made all things, made the ear and the eye likewise.</p> +<p>True, my friends: but the simplest texts are often the deepest; and +that, just because they speak to us of the most common things. +For the most common things are often the most wonderful, and deep, and +difficult to understand.</p> +<p>The hearing of the ear, and the seeing of the eye.—Every one +hears and sees all day long, so perpetually that we never think about +our hearing or sight, unless we find them fail us. And yet, how +wonderful are hearing and sight. How we hear, how we see, no man +knows, and perhaps ever will know.</p> +<p>When the ear is dissected and examined, it is found to be a piece +of machinery infinitely beyond the skill of mortal man to make. +The tiny drum of the ear, which quivers with every sound which strikes +it, puts to shame with its divine workmanship all the clumsy workmanship +of man. But recollect that <i>it</i> is not all the wonder, but +only the beginning of it. The ear is wonderful: but still more +wonderful is it how the ear <i>hears</i>. It is wonderful, I mean, +how the ear should be so made, that each different sound sets it in +motion in a different way: but still more wonderful, how that sound +should pass up from the ear to the nerves and brain, so that we <i>hear</i>. +Therein is a mystery which no mortal man can explain.</p> +<p>So of the eye. All the telescopes and microscopes which man +makes, curiously and cunningly as they are made, are clumsy things compared +with the divine workmanship of the eye. I cannot describe it to +you; nor, if I could, is this altogether a fit place to do so. +But if any one wishes to see the greatness and the glory of God, and +be overwhelmed with the sense of his own ignorance, and of God’s +wisdom, let him read any book which describes to him the eye of man, +or even of beast, and then say with the psalmist, ‘I am fearfully +and wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works, O Lord, and that +my soul knoweth right well.’</p> +<p>And remember, that as with the ear, so with the eye, the mere workmanship +of it is only the beginning of the wonder. It is very wonderful +that the eye should be able to take a picture of each thing in front +of it; that on the tiny black curtain at the back of the eye, each thing +outside should be printed, as it were, instantly, exact in shape and +colour. But that is not sight. Sight is a greater wonder, +over and above that. Seeing is this, that the picture which is +printed on the back of the eye, is also printed on our brain, so that +we <i>see</i> it. There is the wonder of wonders.</p> +<p>Do some of you not understand me? Then look at it thus. +If you took out the eye of an animal, and held it up to anything, a +man or a tree, a perfect picture of that man or that tree would be printed +on the back of the dead eye: but the eye would not <i>see</i> it. +And why? Because it is cut off from the live brain of the animal +to which it belonged; and therefore, though the picture is still in +the eye, it sends no message about itself up to the brain, and is not +seen.</p> +<p>And how does the picture on the eye send its message about itself +to the brain, so that the brain sees it? And how, again—for +here is a third wonder, greater still—do <i>we</i> ourselves see +what our brain sees?</p> +<p>That no man knows, and, perhaps, never will know in this world. +For science, as it is called, that is, the understanding of this world, +and what goes on therein, can only tell us as yet what happens, what +God does: but of how God does it, it can tell us little or nothing; +and of why God does it, nothing at all; and all we can say is, at every +turn, “God is great.”</p> +<p>Mind, again, that these are not all the wonders which are in the +ear and in the eye. It is wonderful enough, that our brains should +hear through our ears, and see through our eyes: but it is more wonderful +still, that they should be able to recollect what they have heard and +seen. That you and I should be able to call up in our minds a +sound which we heard yesterday, or even a minute ago, is to me one of +the most utterly astonishing things I know of. And so of ordinary +recollection. What is it that we call remembering a place, remembering +a person’s face? That place, or that face, was actually +printed, as it were, through our eye upon our brain. We have a +picture of it somewhere; we know not where, inside us. But that +we should be able to call that picture up again, and look at it with +what we rightly call our mind’s eye, whenever we choose; and not +merely that one picture only, but thousands of such;—that is a +wonder, indeed, which passes understanding. Consider the hundreds +of human faces, the hundreds of different things and places, which you +can recollect; and then consider that all those different pictures are +lying, as it were, over each other in hundreds in that small place, +your brain, for the most part without interfering with, or rubbing out +each other, each ready to be called up, recollected, and used in its +turn.</p> +<p>If this is not wonderful, what is? So wonderful, that no man +knows, or, I think, ever will know, how it comes to pass. How +the eye tells the brain of the picture which is drawn upon the back +of the eve—how the brain calls up that picture when it likes—these +are two mysteries beyond all man’s wisdom to explain. These +are two proofs of the wisdom and the power of God, which ought to sink +deeper into our hearts than all signs and wonders;—greater proofs +of God’s power and wisdom, than if yon fir-trees burst into flame +of themselves, or yon ground opened, and a fountain of water sprung +out. Most people think much of signs and wonders. Just in +proportion as they have no real faith in God, just in proportion as +they forget God, and will not see that he is about their path, and about +their bed, and spying out all their ways, they are like those godless +Scribes and Pharisees of old, who must have signs and wonders before +they would believe. So it is: the commonest things are as wonderful, +more wonderful, than the uncommon; and yet, people will hanker after +the uncommon, as if they belonged to God more immediately than the commonest +matters.</p> +<p>If yon trees burst out in flame; if yon hill opened, and a fountain +sprang up, how many would cry, ‘How awful! How wonderful! +Here is a sign that God is near us! It is time to think about +our souls now! Perhaps the end of the world is at hand!’ +And all the while they would be blind to that far more awful proof of +God’s presence, that all around them, all day long, all over the +world, millions of human ears are hearing, millions of human eyes are +seeing, God alone knows how; millions of human brains are recollecting, +God alone knows how. That is not faith, my friends, to see God +only in what is strange and rare: but this is faith, to see God in what +is most common and simple; to know God’s greatness not so much +from disorder, as from order; not so much from those strange sights +in which God seems (but only seems) to break his laws, as from those +common ones in which he fulfils his laws.</p> +<p>I know it is very difficult to believe that. It has been always +difficult; and for this reason. Our souls and minds are disorderly; +and therefore order does not look to us what it is, the likeness and +glory of God. I will explain. If God, at any moment, should +create a full-grown plant with stalk, leaves, and flowers, all perfect, +all would say, There is the hand of God! How great is God! +There is, indeed, a miracle!—Just because it would seem not to +be according to order. But the tiny seed sown in the ground, springing +up into root-leaf, stalk, rough leaf, flower, seed, which will again +be sown and spring up into leaf, flower, and seed;—in that perpetual +miracle, people see no miracle: just because it is according to order: +because it comes to pass by regular and natural laws. And why? +Because, such as we are, such we fancy God to be. And we are all +of us more or less disorderly: fanciful; changeable; fond of doing not +what we ought, but what we like; fond of showing our power, not by keeping +rules, but by breaking rules; and we fancy too often that God is like +ourselves, and make him in our image, after our own likeness, which +is disorder, and self-will, and changeableness; instead of trying to +be conformed to his image and his likeness, which is order and law eternal: +and, therefore, whenever God seems (for he only <i>seems</i> to our +ignorance) to be making things suddenly, as we make, or working arbitrarily +as we work, then we acknowledge his greatness and wisdom. Whereas +his greatness, his wisdom, are rather shown in not making as we make, +not working as we work: but in this is the greatness of God manifest, +in that he has ordained laws which must work of themselves, and with +which he need never interfere: laws by which the tiny seed, made up +only (as far as we can see) of a little water, and air, and earth, must +grow up into plant, leaf, and flower, utterly unlike itself, and must +produce seeds which have the truly miraculous power of growing up in +their turn, into plants exactly like that from which they sprung, and +no other. Ah, my friends, herein is the glory of God: and he who +will consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, that man will +see at last that the highest, and therefore the truest, notion of God +is, not that the universe is continually going wrong, so that he has +to interfere and right it: but that the universe is continually going +right, because he hath given it a law which cannot be broken.</p> +<p>And when a man sees that, there will arise within his soul a clear +light, and an awful joy, and an abiding peace, and a sure hope; and +a faith as of a little child.</p> +<p>Then will that man crave no more for signs and wonders, with the +superstitious and the unbelieving, who have eyes, and see not; ears, +and cannot hear; whose hearts are waxen gross, so that they cannot consider +the lilies of the field, how they grow: but all his cry will be to the +Lord of Order, to make him orderly; to the Lord of Law, to make him +loyal; to the Lord in whom is nothing arbitrary, to take out of him +all that is unreasonable and self-willed; and make him content, like +his Master Christ before him, to do the will of his Father in heaven, +who has sent him into this noble world. He will no longer fancy +that God is an absent God, who only comes down now and then to visit +the earth in signs and wonders: but he will know that God is everywhere, +and over all things, from the greatest to the least; for in God, he, +and all things created, live and move and have their being. And +therefore, knowing that he is always in the presence of God, he will +pray to be taught how to use all his powers aright, because all of them +are the powers of God; pray to be taught how to see, and how to hear; +pray that when he is called to account for the use of this wonderful +body which God has bestowed on him, he may not be brought to shame by +the thought that he has used it merely for his own profit or his own +pleasure, much less by the thought that he has weakened and diseased +it by misuse and neglect: but comforted by the thought that he has done +with it what the Lord Jesus did with his body—made it the useful +servant, and not the brutal master, of his immortal soul.</p> +<p>And he will do that, I believe, just as far as he keeps in mind what +a wonderful and useful thing his body is; what a perpetual token and +witness to him of the unspeakable greatness and wisdom of God; just +in proportion as he says day by day, with the Psalmist, ‘Thou +hast fashioned me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. +Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me; I cannot attain +unto it. Whither shall I go, then, from thy Spirit; or whither +shall I go from thy presence? If I climb up into heaven, thou +art there. If I go down to hell, thou art there also. If +I take the wings of the morning, and remain in the uttermost parts of +the sea, even there also shall thy hand lead me, thy right hand shall +hold me.’</p> +<p>Just in proportion as he recollects that, will he utter from his +heart the prayer which follows, ‘Try me, O God, and seek the ground +of my heart; prove me, and examine my thoughts. Look well if there +be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON VII. THE VICTORY OF FAITH</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>First Sunday after Easter</i>.)</p> +<p>1 John v. 4, 5. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: +and this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith. +Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus +is the Son of God?</p> +<p>What is the meaning of ‘overcoming the world?’ +What is there about the world which we have to overcome? lest it should +overcome us, and make worse men of us than we ought to be. Let +us think awhile.</p> +<p>1. In the world all seems full of chance and change. +One man rises, and another falls, one hardly knows why: they hardly +know themselves. A very slight accident may turn the future of +a man’s whole life, perhaps of a whole nation. Chance and +change—there seems to us, at times, to be little else than chance +and change. Is not the world full of chance? Are not people +daily crushed in railways, burnt to death, shot with their own guns, +poisoned by mistake, without any reason that we can see, why one should +be taken, and another left? Why should not an accident happen +to us, as well as to others? Why should not we have the thing +we love best snatched from us this day? Why not, indeed? +What, then, will help us to overcome the fear of chances and accidents? +How shall we keep from being fearful, fretful, full of melancholy forebodings! +Where shall we find something abiding and eternal, a refuge sure and +steadfast, in which we may trust, amid all the chances and changes of +this mortal life? St. John tells us—In that within you which +is born of God.</p> +<p>2. In the world so much seems to go by fixed law and rule. +That is even more terrible to our minds and hearts—to find that +all around us, in the pettiest matters of life, there are laws and rules +ready made for us, which we cannot break; laws of trade; laws of prosperity +and adversity; laws of health and sickness; laws of weather and storms; +laws by which not merely we, but whole nations, grow, and decay, and +die.—All around us, laws, iron laws, which we do not make, and +which we dare not try to break, lest they go on their way, and grind +us to powder.</p> +<p>Then comes the awful question, Are we at the mercy of these laws? +Is the world a great machine, which goes grinding on its own way without +any mercy to us or to anything; and are we each of us parts of the machine, +and forced of necessity to do all we do? Is it true, that our +fate is fixed for us from the cradle to the grave, and perhaps beyond +the grave? How shall we prevent the world from overcoming us in +this? How shall we escape the temptation to sit down and fold +our hands in sloth and despair, crying, What we are, we must be; and +what will come, must come; whether it be for our happiness or misery, +our life or death? Where shall we find something to trust in, +something to give us confidence and hope that we can mend ourselves, +that self-improvement is of use, that working is of use, that prudence +is of use, for God will reward every man according to his work? +St. John tells us—In that within you which is born of God.</p> +<p>3. Then, again, in the world how much seems to go by selfishness. +Let every man take care of himself, help himself, fight for himself +against all around him, seems to be the way of the world, and the only +way to get on in the world. But is it really to be so? Are +we to thrive only by thinking of ourselves? Something in our hearts +tells us, No. Something in our hearts tells us that this would +be a very miserable world if every man shifted for himself; and that +even if we got this world’s good things by selfishness, they would +not be worth having after all, if we had no one but ourselves to enjoy +them with. What is that? St. John answers—That in +you which is born of God. It will enable you to overcome the world’s +deceits, and to see that selfishness is <i>not</i> the way to prosper.</p> +<p>4. Once, again; in the world how much seems to go by mere custom +and fashion. Because one person does a thing right or wrong, everybody +round fancies himself bound to do likewise. Because one man thinks +a thing, hundreds and thousands begin to think the same from mere hearsay, +without examining and judging for themselves. There is no silliness, +no cruelty, no crime into which people have not fallen, and may still +fall, for mere fashion’s sake, from blindly following the example +of those round him. ‘Everybody does so; and I must. +Why should I be singular?’ Or, ‘Everybody does so; +what harm can there be in my doing so?’</p> +<p>But there is something in each of us which tells us that that is +not right; that each man should act according to his own conscience, +and not blindly follow his neighbour, not knowing whither, like sheep +over a hedge; that a man is directly responsible at first for his own +conduct to God, and that ‘my neighbours did so’ will be +no excuse in God’s sight. What is it which tells us this? +St. John answers, That in you which is born of God; and it, if you will +listen to it, will enable you to overcome the world’s deceit, +and its vain fashions, and foolish hearsays, and blind party-cries; +and not to follow after a multitude to do evil.</p> +<p>What, then, is this thing? St. John tells us that it is born +of God; and that it is our faith. <i>Faith</i> will enable us +to overcome the world. We shall overcome by believing and trusting +in something which we do not see. But in what? Are we to +believe and trust that we are going to heaven? St. John does not +say so; he was far too wise, my friends, to say so: for a man’s +trusting that he is going to heaven, if that is all the faith he has, +is more likely to make the world overcome him, than him overcome the +world. For it will make him but too ready to say, ‘If I +am sure to be saved after I die, it matters not so very much what I +do before I die. I may follow the way of the world here, in money-making +and meanness, and selfishness; and then die in peace, and go to heaven +after all.’</p> +<p>This is no fancy. There are hundreds, nay thousands, I fear, +in England now, who let the world and its wicked ways utterly overcome +them, just because their faith is a faith in their own salvation, and +not the faith of which St. John speaks—Believing that Jesus is +the Son of God.</p> +<p>But some may ask, ‘How will believing that Jesus is the Son +of God help us more than believing the other? For, after all, +we do believe it. We all believe that Jesus is the Son of God: +but as for overcoming the world, we dare not say too much of that. +We fear we are letting the world overcome us; we are living too much +in continual fear of the chances and changes of this mortal life. +We are letting things go too much their own way. We are trying +too much each to get what he can by his own selfish wits, without considering +his neighbours. We are following too much the ways and fashions +of the day, and doing and saying and thinking anything that comes uppermost, +just because others do so round us.’</p> +<p>Is it so, my friends? But do you really believe that Jesus +is the Son of God? For sure I am, that if you did, and I did, +really and fully believe that, we could all lead much better lives than +we are leading, manful and godly, useful and honourable, truly independent +and yet truly humble; fearing God and fearing nothing else. But +do you believe it? Have you ever thought of all that those great +words mean, ‘Jesus is the Son of God’?—That he who +died on the cross, and rose again for us, now sits at God’s right +hand, having all power given to him in heaven and earth? For, +think, if we really believed that, what power it would give us to overcome +the world, and all its chances and changes; all its seemingly iron laws; +all its selfish struggling; all its hearsays and fashions.</p> +<p>1. Those chances and changes of mortal life of which I spoke +first. We should not be afraid of them, then, even if they came. +For we should believe that they were not chances and changes at all, +but the loving providence of our Lord and Saviour, a man of the substance +of his mother, born in the world, who therefore can be touched with +a feeling of our infirmities, and knows our necessities before we ask, +and our ignorance in asking, and orders all things for good to those +who love him, and desire to copy his likeness.</p> +<p>2. Those stern laws and rules by which the world moves, and +will move as long as it lasts—we should not be afraid of them +either, as if we were mere parts of a machine forced by fate to do this +thing and that, without a will of our own. For we should believe +that these laws were the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ; that he had +ordained them for the good of man, of man whom he so loved that he poured +out his most precious blood upon the cross for us; and therefore we +should not fear them; we should only wish to learn them, that we might +obey them, sure that they are the laws of life; of health and wealth, +peace and safety, honour and glory in this world and in the world to +come; and we should thank God whenever men of science, philosophers, +clergymen, or any persons whatsoever, found out more of the laws of +that good God, in whom we and all created things live and move and have +our being.</p> +<p>3. If we believe really that Jesus was the Son of God, we should +never believe that selfishness was to be the rule of our lives. +One sight of Christ upon his cross would tell us that not selfishness, +but love, was the likeness of God, that not selfishness, but love, which +gives up all that it may do good, was the path to honour and glory, +happiness and peace.</p> +<p>4. If we really believe this, we should never believe that +custom and fashion ought to rule us. For we should live by the +example of some one else: but by the example of only one—of Jesus +himself. We should set him before us as the rule of all our actions, +and try to keep our conscience pure, not merely in the sight of men +who may mistake, and do mistake, but in the sight of Jesus, the Word +of God, who pierces the very thoughts and intents of the heart; and +we should say daily with St. Paul, ‘It is a small thing for me +to be judged by you, or any man’s judgment, for he that judges +me is the Lord.’</p> +<p>And so we should overcome the world. Our hearts and spirits +would rise above the false shows of things, to God who has made all +things; above fear and melancholy; above laziness and despair; above +selfishness and covetousness, above custom and fashion; up to the everlasting +truth and order, which is the mind of God; that so we might live joyfully +and freely in the faith and trust that Christ is our king, Christ is +our Saviour, Christ is our example, Christ is our judge; and that as +long as we are loyal to him, all will be well with us in this world, +and in all worlds to come.—Amen.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON VIII. TURNING-POINTS</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Luke xix. 41, 42. And when Jesus was come near, he beheld the +city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least +in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they +are hid from thine eyes.</p> +<p>My dear friends, here is a solemn lesson to be learnt from this text. +What is true of whole nations, and of whole churches, is very often +true of single persons—of each of us.</p> +<p>To most men—to all baptized Christian men, perhaps—there +comes a day of visitation, a crisis, or turning-point in our lives. +A day when Christ sets before us, as he did to those Jews, good and +evil, light and darkness, right and wrong, and says, Choose! Choose +at once, and choose for ever; for by what you choose this day, by that +you must abide till death. If you make a mistake now, you will +rue it to the last. If you take the downward road now, you will +fall lower and lower upon it henceforth. If you shut your eyes +now to the things which belong to your peace, they will be hid from +your eyes for ever; and nothing but darkness, ignorance, and confusion +will be before you henceforth.</p> +<p>What will become of the man’s soul after he dies, I cannot +say. Christ is his judge, and not I. He may be saved, yet +so as by fire, as St. Paul says. Repentance is open to all men, +and forgiveness for those who repent. But from that day, if he +chooses wrongly, true repentance will grow harder and harder to him—perhaps +impossible at last. He has made his bed, and he must lie on it. +He has chosen the evil, and refused the good; and now the evil must +go on getting more and more power over him. He has sold his soul, +and now he must pay the price. Again, I say, he may be saved at +last. Who am I, to say that God’s mercy is not boundless, +when the Bible says it is? But one may well say of that man, ‘God +help him,’ for he will not be able to help himself henceforth.</p> +<p>It is an awful thing, my friends, to think that we may fix our own +fate in this world, perhaps in the world to come, by one act of wilful +folly or sin: but so it is. Just as a man may do one tricky thing +about money, which will force him to do another to hide it, and another +after that, till he becomes a confirmed rogue in spite of himself. +Just as a man may run into debt once, so that he never gets out of debt +again; just as a man may take to drink once, and the bad habit grow +on him till he is a confirmed drunkard to his dying day. Just +as a man may mix in bad company once, and so become entangled as in +a net, till he cannot escape his evil companions, and lowers himself +to their level day by day, till he becomes as bad as they. Just +as a man may be unfaithful to his wife once, and so blunt his conscience +till he becomes a thorough profligate, breaking her heart, and ruining +his own soul. Just as—but why should I go on, mentioning +ugly examples, which we all know too well, if we will open our own eyes +and see the world and mankind as they are? I will say no more, +lest I should set you on judging other people, and saying ‘There +is no hope for them. They are lost.’ No; let us rather +judge ourselves, as any man can, and will, who dares face fact, and +look steadily at what he is, and what he might become. Do we not +know that we could, any one of us, sell our own souls, once and for +all, if we choose? I know that I could. I know that there +are things which I might do, which if I did from that moment forth, +I should have no hope, but only a fearful looking forward to judgment +and fiery indignation. And have you never felt, when you were +tempted to do wrong: ‘I dare not do it for my own sake; for if +I did this one wickedness, I feel sure that I never should be an honest +man again?’ If you have felt that, thank God, indeed; for +then you have seen the things which belong to your peace; you have known +the day of your visitation; and you will be a better man as long as +you live, for having fought against that one temptation, and chosen +the good, and refused the evil, when God put them unmistakeably before +you.</p> +<p>No; the real danger is, lest a man should be as those Jews, and not +know the day of his visitation. Ah, that is ruinous indeed, when +a man’s eyes are blinded as those Jews’ eyes were; when +a great temptation comes on him, and he thinks it no temptation at all; +when hell is opening beneath him, with the devils trying to pluck him +down, and heaven opening above him, with God’s saints and martyrs +beckoning him up, looking with eyes of unutterable pity and anxiety +and love on a poor soul; and that poor soul sees neither heaven nor +hell, nor anything but his own selfish interest, selfish pleasure, or +selfish pride, and snaps at the devil’s bait as easily as a silly +fish; while the devil, instead of striking to frighten him, lets him +play with the bait, and gorge it in peace, fancying that he is well +off, when really he is fast hooked for ever, led captive thenceforth +from bad to worse by the snare of the devil. Oh miserable blindness, +which comes over men sometimes, and keeps them asleep at the very moment +that they ought to be most wide awake!</p> +<p>And what throws men into that sleep? What makes them do in +one minute something which curses all their lives afterwards? +Love of pleasure? Yes: that is a common curse enough, as we all +know. But a worse snare than even that is pride and self-conceit. +That was what ruined those old Jews. That was what blinded their +eyes. They had made up their minds that they saw; therefore they +were blind: that they could not go wrong; therefore they went utterly +and horribly wrong thenceforth: that they alone of all people knew and +kept God’s law; therefore they crucified the Son of God himself +for fulfilling their law. They were taken unawares, because they +were asleep in vain security.</p> +<p>And so with us. By conceit and carelessness, we may ruin ourselves +in a moment, once and for all. When a man has made up his mind +that he is quite worldly-wise; that no one can take him in; that he +thoroughly understands his own interest; then is that man ripe and ready +to commit some enormous folly, which may bring him to ruin.</p> +<p>When a man has made up his mind that he knows all doctrines, and +is fully instructed in religion, and can afford to look down on all +who differ from him; then is that man ripe and ready for doing something +plainly wrong and wicked, which will blunt his conscience from that +day forth, and teach him to call evil good, and good evil more and more; +till, in the midst of all his fine religious professions, he knows not +plain right from plain wrong—full of the form of godliness, but +denying the power of it in scandal of his every-day life.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, our only safeguard is humility. Be not high-minded, +but fear. Avoid every appearance of evil. Believe that in +every temptation heaven and hell may be at stake: and that the only +way to be safe is to do nothing wilfully wrong at all, for you never +know how far downward one wilful sin may lead you. The devil is +not simple enough to let you see the bottom of his pitfall: but it is +so deep, nevertheless, that he who falls in, may never get out again.</p> +<p>And do not say in your hearts about this thing and that, ‘Well, +it is wrong: but it is such a little matter.’ A little draught +may give a great cold; and a great cold grow to a deadly decline. +A little sin may grow to a great bad habit; and a great bad habit may +kill both body and soul in hell. A little bait may take a great +fish; and the devil fishes with a very fine line, and is not going to +let you see his hook. The only way to be safe is to avoid all +appearance of evil, lest when you fancy yourself most completely your +own master, you find yourself the slave of sin.</p> +<p>Oh, may God give us all the spirit of watchfulness and godly fear! +Of watchfulness, lest sin overtake us unawares; and of godly fear, that +we may have strength to say with Joseph, ‘How can I do this great +wickedness, and sin against God?’ Of watchfulness, too, +not only against sin, but for God; of godly fear, not only fear of God’s +anger, but fear of God’s love.</p> +<p>Do you ask what I mean? This, my friends; that as we cannot +tell at any moment what danger may be coming on us, so we cannot tell +at any moment what blessing from God may be coming on us. Those +Jews, in the day of their visitation, were blind, and they rejected +Christ: but recollect, that it was <i>Christ</i> whom they rejected; +that Christ was there, not in anger, but in love; not to judge, but +to save; that the power of the Lord was present, not to destroy, but +to heal them. They would have none of him. True; but they +might have had him if they had chosen. They denied him; but he +could not deny himself. He was there to teach and to save, as +he comes to teach and to save every man.</p> +<p>Therefore, I say, be watchful. Believe that Christ is looking +for you always, and expect to meet him at any moment. I do not +mean in visible form, in vision or apparition. No. He comes, +not by observation, that a man may say, ‘Lo, here; and lo, there;’ +but he comes within you, to your hearts, with the still, small voice, +which softens a man and sobers him for a moment, and makes him yearn +after good, and say in his heart, ‘Ah, that I were as when I was +a child upon my mother’s knee.’ Oh! listen to that +softening, sobering voice. Through very small things it may speak +to you: but it is Christ himself who speaks. Whenever your heart +is softened to affection toward parent, or child, or your fellowman, +then Christ is speaking to you, and showing you the things which belong +to your peace. Whenever the feeling of justice, and righteous +horror of all meanness rises strong in you, then Christ is speaking +to you. Whenever your heart burns within you with admiration of +some noble action, then Christ is speaking to you. Whenever a +chance word in sermons or in books touches your conscience, and reproves +you, then Christ is speaking to you. Oh turn not a deaf ear to +those instincts. They may be the very turning-points of your lives. +One such godly motion, one such pure inspiration of the Spirit of God +listened to humbly, and obeyed heartily, may be the means of putting +you into the right path thenceforward, that you may go on and grow in +strength and wisdom, and favour with God and man; till you become again, +in the world to come, what you were when you were carried home from +the baptismal font, a little child, pure from all spot of sin.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON IX. OBADIAH</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>1 Kings, xviii. 3, 4. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the +governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: for +it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah +took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them +with bread and water.)</p> +<p>This is the first and last time throughout the Bible, that we find +this Obadiah mentioned. We find the same name elsewhere, but not +the same person. It is a common Jewish name, Obadiah, and means, +I believe, the servant of the Lord.</p> +<p>All we know of the man is contained in this chapter. We do +not read what became of him afterwards. He vanishes out of the +story as quickly as he came into it, and, as we go on through the chapter +and read of that grand judgment at Carmel between Elijah and the priests +of Baal, and the fire of God which came down from heaven, to shew that +the Lord was God, we forget Obadiah, and care to hear of him no more.</p> +<p>And yet Obadiah was a great man in his day. He was, it seems, +King Ahab’s vizier, or prime minister; the second man in the country +after the king; and a prime minister in those eastern kingdoms had, +and has now, far greater power than he has in a free country like this. +Yes, Obadiah was a great man in his day, I doubt not; and people bowed +before him when he went out, and looked up to him, in that lawless country, +for life or death, for ruin or prosperity. Their money, and their +land, their very lives might depend on his taking a liking toward them, +or a spite against them. And he had wealth, no doubt, and his +fair and great house there among the beautiful hills of Samaria, ceiled +with cedar and painted with vermilion, with its olive groves and vineyards, +and rich gardens full of gay flowers and sweet spices, figs and peaches, +and pomegranates, and all the lovely vegetation which makes those Eastern +gardens like Paradise itself. And he had his great household of +slaves, men-servants and maidservants, guards and footmen, singing men +and singing women—perhaps a hundred souls and more eating and +drinking in his house day by day for many a year. A great man; +full of wealth, and pomp, and power. We know that it must have +been so, because we know well in what luxury those great men in the +East lived. But where is it now?</p> +<p>Where is it now? Vanished and forgotten. Be not thou +afraid, though one be made rich, or if the glory of his house be increased. +For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth; neither shall +his pomp follow him.</p> +<p>See—of all Obadiah’s wealth and glory, the Bible does +not say one word. It is actually not worth mentioning. People +admired Obadiah, I doubt not, while he was alive; envied him too, tried +to thrust him out of his place, slander him to King Ahab, drive him +out of favour, and step into his place, that they might enjoy his wealth +and his power instead of him. The fine outside of Obadiah was +what they saw, and coveted, and envied—as we are tempted now to +say in our hearts, ‘Ah, if I was rich like that man. Ah, +if I could buy what I liked, go where I liked, do what I liked, like +that great Lord!’—and yet, that is but the outside, the +shell, the gay clothing, not the persons themselves. The day must +come, when they must put off all that; when nothing shall remain but +themselves; and they themselves, naked as they were born, shall appear +before the judgment-seat of God.</p> +<p>And did Obadiah, then, carry away nothing with him when he died? +Yes; and yet again, No. His wealth and his power he left behind +him: but one thing he took with him into the grave, better than all +wealth and power; and he keeps it now, and will keep it for ever; and +that is, a good, and just, and merciful action—concerning which +it is written, ‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord; for +they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.’ +Yes, though a man’s wealth will not follow him beyond the grave, +his works will; and so Obadiah’s one good deed has followed him. +‘He feared the Lord greatly, and when Jezebel cut off the prophets +of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty +in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.’</p> +<p>That has followed Obadiah; for by it we know him, now two thousand +years and more after his death, here in a distant land of the name of +which he never heard. By that good deed he lives. He lives +in the pages of the Holy Bible; he lives in our minds and memories; +and more than all, by that good deed he lives for ever in God’s +sight; he is rewarded for it, and the happier for it, doubt it not, +at this very moment, and will be the happier for it for ever.</p> +<p>Oh blessed thought! that there is something of which death cannot +rob us! That when we have to leave this pleasant world, wife and +child, home and business, and all that has grown up round us here on +earth, till it has become like a part of ourselves, yet still we are +not destitute. We can turn round on death and say—‘Though +I die, yet canst thou not take my righteousness from me!’ +Blessed thought! that we cannot do a good deed, not even give a cup +of cold water in Christ’s name, but what it shall rise again, +like a guardian angel, to smooth our death-bed pillow, and make our +bed for us in our sickness, and follow us into the next world, to bless +us for ever and ever!</p> +<p>And blessed thought, too, that what you do well and lovingly, for +God’s sake, will bless you here in this world before you die! +Yes, my friends, in the dark day of sorrow and loneliness, and fear +and perplexity, you will find old good deeds, which you perhaps have +forgotten, coming to look after you, as it were, and help you in the +hour of need. Those whom you have helped, will help you in return: +and if they will not, God will; for he is not unrighteous, to forget +any work and labour of love, which you have showed for his name’s +sake, in ministering to his saints. So found Obadiah in that sad +day, when he met Elijah.</p> +<p>For he was in evil case that day, as were all souls, rich and poor, +throughout that hapless land. For three weary years, there had +been no drop of rain: the earth beneath their feet had been like iron, +and the heavens above them brass; and Obadiah had found poverty, want, +and misery, come on him in the midst of all his riches: he had seen +his fair gardens wither, and his olives and his vines burnt up with +drought;—his cattle had perished on the hills, and his servants, +too, perhaps, in his house. Perhaps his children at home were +even then crying for food and water, and crying in vain, in spite of +all their father’s greatness.</p> +<p>What was the use of wealth? He could not eat gold, nor drink +jewels. What was the use of his power? He could not command +the smallest cloud to rise up off the sea, and pour down one drop of +water to quench their thirst. Yes, Obadiah was in bitter misery +that day, no doubt; and all the more, because he felt that all was God’s +judgment on the people’s sins. They had served Baalim and +Ashtaroth, the sun and moon and stars, and prayed to them for rain and +fruitful seasons, as if they were the rulers of the weather and the +soil, instead of serving the true God who made heaven and earth, and +all therein: and now God had <i>judged</i> them: he had given his sentence +and verdict about that matter, and told them, by a sign which could +not be mistaken, that he, and not the sun and moon, was master of the +sky and the sea, and the rain and the soil. They had prayed to +the sun and moon; and this was the fruit of their prayers—that +their prayers had not been heard: but instead of rain and plenty, was +drought and barrenness;—carcasses of cattle scattered over the +pastures—every village full of living skeletons, too weak to work +(though what use in working, when the ground would yield no crop?)—crawling +about, their tongues cleaving to the roof of their mouths, in vain searching +after a drop of water. Fearful and sickening sights must Obadiah +have seen that day, as he rode wearily on upon his pitiful errand. +And the thought of what a pitiful errand he was going on, and what a +pitiful king he served, must have made him all the more miserable; for, +instead of turning and repenting, and going back to the true God, which +was the plain and the only way of escaping out of that misery, that +wretched King Ahab seems to have cared for nothing but his horses.</p> +<p>We do not read that he tried to save one of his wretched people alive. +All his cry was, ‘Go into the land, to all fountains of water +and all brooks; perhaps we shall find grass enough to save the horses +and mules alive: that we lose not all the beasts.’ The horses +were what he cared for more than the human beings, as many of those +bad kings of Israel did. Moses had expressly commanded them not +to multiply horses to themselves; but they persisted always in doing +so, nevertheless. And why? Because they wanted horses to +mount their guards; to keep up a strong force of cavalry and chariots, +in order to oppress the poor country people, whom they had brought down +to slavery, from having been free yeomen, as they were in the days of +Moses and Joshua. And what hope could he have for his wretched +country? The people shewed no signs of coming to their senses; +the king still less. His wicked Queen Jezebel was as devoted as +ever to her idols; the false prophets of Baal were four hundred and +fifty men, and the prophets of the groves (where the stars were worshipped) +four hundred; and these cheats contrived (as such false teachers generally +do) to take good care of themselves, and to eat at Jezebel’s table, +while all the rest of the people were perishing. What could be +before the country, and him, too, but utter starvation, and hopeless +ruin? And all this while his life was in the hands of a weak and +capricious tyrant, who might murder him any moment, and of a wicked +and spiteful queen, who certainly would murder him, if she found out +that he had helped and saved the prophets of the Lord. Who so +miserable as he? But on that day, Obadiah found that his alms +and prayers had gone up before God, and were safe with God, and not +to be forgotten for ever. When he fell on his face before Elijah, +in fear for his life, he found that he was safe in God’s hands; +that God would not betray him or forsake him. Elijah promised +him, with a solemn oath, that he would keep his word with him; he kept +it, and before many days were past, Obadiah had an answer to all his +prayers, and a relief from all his fears; and the Lord sent a gracious +rain on his inheritance, and refreshed it when it was weary. Yes, +my friends, though well-doing seems for a while not to profit you, persevere: +in due time you shall reap, if you faint not. Though the Lord +sometimes waits to be gracious, he only waits, he does not forget; and +it is to be <i>gracious</i> that he waits, not ungracious. Cast, +therefore, thy bread upon the waters, and thou shall find it after many +days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight, for thou knowest +not what evil shall be upon the earth. Do thy diligence to give +of what thou hast; for so gatherest thou thyself in the day of necessity, +in which, with what measure you have measured to others, God will measure +to you again.</p> +<p>This is true, for the Scripture says so; this <i>must</i> be true, +for reason and conscience—the voice of God within us—tell +us that God is just; that God must be true, though every man be a liar. +‘Hear,’ says our Lord, ‘what the <i>unjust</i> judge +says: And shall not God (the just judge), avenge his own elect, who +cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?’ +Yes, my friends, God’s promise stands sure, now and for ever. +‘Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, +and verily thou shalt be fed.’</p> +<p>But now comes in a doubt—and it ought to come in—What +are our works at best? What have we which is fit to offer to God? +Full of selfishness, vanity, self-conceit, the best of them; and not +half done either. What have we ever done right, but what we might +have done more rightly, and done more of it, also? Bad in quality +our good works are, and bad in quantity, too. How shall we have +courage to carry them in our hand to that God who charges his very angels +with folly; and the very heavens are not clean in his sight?</p> +<p>Too true, if we had to offer our own works to God. But, thanks +be to his holy name, we have not to offer them ourselves; for there +is one who offers them for us—Jesus Christ the Lord. He +it is who takes these imperfect, clumsy works of ours, all soiled and +stained with our sin and selfishness, and washes them clean in his most +precious blood, which was shed to take away the sin of the world: he +it is who, in some wonderful and unspeakable way, cleanses our works +from sin, by the merit of his death and sufferings, so that nothing +may be left in them but what is the fruit of God’s own spirit; +and that God may see in them only the good which he himself put into +them, and not the stains and soils which they get from our foolish and +sinful hearts.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, bear this in mind. Whensoever you do a thing +which you know to be right and good, instead of priding yourself on +it, as if the good in it came from you, offer it up to the Lord Jesus +Christ, and to your Heavenly Father, from whom all good things come, +and say, ‘Oh Lord, the good in this is thine, and not mine; the +bad in it is mine, and not thine. I thank thee for having made +me do right, for without thy help I should have done nothing but wrong; +for mine is the laziness, and the weakness, and the selfishness, and +the self-conceit; and thine is the kingdom, for thou rulest all things; +and the power, for thou doest all things; and the glory, for thou doest +all things well, for ever and ever. Amen.’</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON X. RELIGIOUS DANGERS</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Preached at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1861, for the London +Diocesan Board of Education</i>.)</p> +<p>St. Mark viii. 4, 5, 8. And the disciples answered him, From +whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? +. . . How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. . . +. so they did eat and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat +that was left seven baskets.</p> +<p>I think that I can take no better text for the subject on which I +am about to preach, than that which the Gospel for this day gives me.</p> +<p>For is not such a great city as this London, at least in its present +amorphous, unorganised state, having grown up, and growing still, any +how and any whither, by the accidental necessities of private commerce, +private speculation, private luxury—is it not, I say, literally +a wilderness?</p> +<p>I do not mean a wilderness in the sense of a place of want and misery; +on the contrary, it is a place of plenty and of comfort. I think +that we clergymen, and those good people who help our labours, are too +apt exclusively to forget London labour, in our first and necessary +attention to the London poor; to fix our eyes and minds on London want +and misery, till we almost ignore the fact of London wealth and comfort. +We must remember, if we are to be just to God, and just to our great +nation, that there is not only more wealth in London, but that that +wealth is more equitably and generally diffused through all classes, +from the highest to the lowest, than ever has been the case in any city +in the world. We must remember that there is collected together +here a greater number of free human beings than were ever settled on +the same space of earth, earning an honest, independent, and sufficient +livelihood, and enjoying the fruits of their labour in health and cheapness, +freedom and security, such as the world never saw before. There +is want and misery. I know it too well. There are great +confusions to be organised, great anomalies to be suppressed. +But remember, that if want and misery, confusion and anomaly were <i>the +rule</i> of London, and not (as they are) the exception, then London, +instead of increasing at its present extraordinary pace, would decay; +London work, instead of being better and better done, would be worse +and worse done, till it stopped short in some such fearful convulsion +as that of Paris in 1793. No, my friends; compare London with +any city on the Continent; compare her with the old Greek and Roman +cities; with Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, with that Imperial +Rome itself, which was like London in nothing but its size, and then +thank God for England, for freedom, and for the Church of Christ.</p> +<p>And yet I have called London a wilderness. I have. There +is a wilderness of want; but there is a wilderness of wealth likewise. +And the latter is far more dangerous to human nature than the former +one. It is not in the waste and howling wilderness of rock, and +sand and shingle, with its scanty acacia copses, and groups of date +trees round the lonely well, that nature shews herself too strong for +man, and crushes him down to the likeness of the ape. There the +wild Arab, struggling to exist, and yet not finding the struggle altogether +too hard for him, can gain and keep, if not spiritual life, virtue and +godliness, yet still something of manhood; something of—</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>The reason firm, the temperate will,<br />Endurance, foresight, thought, +and skill.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>No; if you would see how low man can fall, you must go to the tropic +jungle, where geniality of climate, plenty and variety of food, are +in themselves a cause of degradation to the soul, as long as the Spirit +of Christ is absent from it. Not in the barren desert, but in +the rich forest, wanders the true savage, eating and eating all day +long, like the ape in the trees above his head; and (I had almost said), +like the ape, too, with no thoughts save what his pampered senses can +suggest. I had almost said it. Thank God, I dare not say +it altogether; for, after all, the savage is a man, and not an ape. +Yes, to the lowest savage in the forests of the Amazon, comes a hunger +of the soul, and whispers from the unseen world, to remind him of what +he might have been, and still may be. In the dreams of the night +they come; in vague terrors of the unseen, vague feelings of guilt and +shame, vague dread of the powers of nature; driving him to unmeaning +ceremonies, to superstitious panics, to horrible and bloody rites—as +they might drive, to-morrow, my friends, an outwardly civilized population, +debauched by mere peace and plenty, entangled and imprisoned in the +wilderness of a great city.</p> +<p>I can imagine—imagine?—Have we not seen again and again +human souls so entangled and opprest by this vast labyrinth of brick +and mortar, as never to care to stir outside it and expand their souls +with the sight of God’s works as long as their brute wants are +supplied, just as the savage never cares to leave his accustomed forest +haunt, and hew himself a path into the open air through the tangled +underwood. I can imagine—nay, have we not seen that, too?—and +can we not see it any day in the street?—human souls so dazzled +and stupefied, instead of being quickened, by the numberless objects +of skill and beauty, which they see in their walks through the streets, +that they care no more for the wonders of man’s making, than the +savage does for the wonders of God’s making, which he sees around +him in every insect, bird, and flower. The man who walks the streets +every day, is the very man who will see least in the streets. +The man who works in a factory, repeating a thousand times a day some +one dull mechanical operation, or even casting up day after day the +accounts of it, is the man who will think least of the real wonderfulness +of that factory; of the amount of prudence, skill, and science, which +it expresses; of its real value to himself and to his class; of its +usefulness to far nations beyond the seas. He is like a savage +who looks up at some glorious tree, capable, in the hands of civilized +man, of a hundred uses, and teeming to him with a hundred scientific +facts; and thinks all the while of nothing but his chance of finding +a few grubs beneath its bark.</p> +<p>Think over, I beseech you, this fact of the stupefying effect of +mere material civilization; and remember that plenty and comfort do +not diminish but increase that stupefaction; that Hebrew prophets knew +it, and have told us, again and again, that, by fulness of bread the +heart waxeth gross; that Greek sages knew it, and have told us, again +and again, that need, and not satiety, was the quickener of the human +intellect. Believe that man requires another bread than the bread +of the body; that sometimes the want of the bodily bread will awaken +the hunger for that bread of the soul. Bear in mind that the period +during which the middle and lower classes of England were most brutalized, +was that of their greatest material prosperity, the latter half of the +eighteenth century. Remember that with the distress which came +upon them, at the end of the French war, their spiritual hunger awakened—often +in forms diseased enough: but growing healthier, as well as keener, +year by year; and that if they are not brutalized once more by their +present unexampled prosperity, it will be mainly owing to the spiritual +life which was awakened in those sad and terrible years. Remember +that the present carelessness of the masses about either religious or +political agitation, though it may be a very comfortable sign to those +who believe that a man’s life consists in the abundance of the +things which he possesses, is a very ominous sign to some who study +history, and to some also who study their Bibles: and ask yourselves +earnestly the question, ‘From where shall a man find food for +these men in this wilderness, not of want, but of wealth?’ +For, believe me, that spiritual hunger, though stopped awhile by physical +comfort, will surely reawaken. Any severe and sudden depression +in trade—the stoppage of the cotton crop, for instance, will awaken +in the minds of hundreds of thousands deep questions—for which +we, if we are wise, shall have an explicit answer ready.</p> +<p>For it is a very serious moment, my friends, when large masses have +had enough to eat and drink, and have been saying, ‘Let us eat +and drink, for to-morrow we die;’ and then, suddenly, by <i>not</i> +having enough to eat and drink, and yet finding themselves still alive, +are awakened to the sense that there is more in them than the mere capacity +for eating and drinking. Then begin once more the world-old questions, +Why are we thus? Who put us here? Who made us? God? +Is there a God? and if there be, what is he like? What is his +will toward us, good or evil? Is it hate or love?</p> +<p>My friends, those are questions which have been asked often enough +in the world’s history, by vast masses at once. And they +may be answered in more ways than one.</p> +<p>They may be answered as the weavers of a certain country (thank God, +not England) answered them in the potato famine with their mad song, +‘We looked to the earth, and the earth deceived us. We looked +to the kings, and the kings deceived us. We looked to God, and +God deceived us. Let us lie down and die.’</p> +<p>Or they may answer them—they will be more likely to answer +them in England just now, because there are those who will teach them +so to answer—in another, but a scarcely less terrible tone. +‘Yes, there is a God; and he is angry with us. And why? +Because there is something, or some one, in the nation which he abhors—heretics, +papists’—what not—any man, or class of men, on whom +cowardly and terrified ignorance may happen to fix as a scapegoat, and +cry, ‘These are the guilty! We have allowed these men, indulged +them; the accursed thing is among us, therefore the face of the Lord +is turned from us. We will serve him truly henceforth—and +hate those whom he hates. We will be orthodox henceforth—and +prove our orthodoxy by persecuting the heretic.’</p> +<p>Does this seem to you extravagant, impossible? Remember, my +friends, that within the last century Lord George Gordon’s riots +convulsed London. Can you give me any reason why Lord George Gordon’s +riots cannot occur again? Believe me, the more you study history, +the more you study human nature, the more possible it will seem to you. +It is not, I believe, infidelity, but fanaticism, which England has +to fear just now. The infidelity of England is one of mere doubt +and denial, a scepticism; which is in itself weak and self-destructive. +The infidelity of France in 1793 was strong enough, but just because +it was no scepticism, but a faith; a positive creed concerning human +reason, and the rights of man, which men could formulize, and believe +in, and fight for, and persecute for, and, if need was, die for. +But no such exists in England now. And what we have most to fear +in England under the pressure of some sudden distress, is a superstitious +panic, and the wickedness which is certain to accompany that panic; +mean and unjust, cruel and abominable things, done in the name of orthodoxy: +though meanwhile, whether what the masses and their spiritual demagogues +will mean by orthodoxy, will be the same that we and the Church of England +mean thereby, is a question which I leave for your most solemn consideration. +That, however, rather than any proclamation of the abstract rights of +man, or installations of a goddess of Reason, is the form which spiritual +hunger is most likely to take in England now. Alas! are there +not tokens enough around us now, whereby we may discern the signs of +this time?</p> +<p>I say, the spiritual hunger will reawaken; and woe to us who really +understand and love the Church of England; woe to us who are really +true to her principles, honestly subscribe her formulas, if we cannot +appease it in that day.</p> +<p>But wherewith? We may look, my friends, appalled at the danger +and the need. We may cry to our Lord, ‘From whence can a +man satisfy these men with bread in the wilderness?’ But +his answer will be, as far as I dare to predict it, the same as to his +apostles of old on another and a similar occasion, ‘Give ye them +to eat. They need not depart.’</p> +<p>I am not going to draw any far-fetched analogy between the miracle +recorded in the gospel, and the subject on which I am speaking. +I am not going to put any mystical and mediæval interpretation +on the seven loaves, or the two small fishes. I only ask you to +accept the plain moral practical lesson which the words convey.—</p> +<p>Use the means which you have already, however few and weak they seem. +If Christ be among you, as he is indeed, he will bless them, and multiply +them you know not how.</p> +<p>Use the means which you have; though they may seem to you inadequate, +though they may seem to the world antiquated, and decrepit, try them. +They need not depart from us, these masses, to seek spiritual food, +they know not where, if we have but faith. Let us give them what +we have; the organization of the Church of England, and the teaching +of the Church of England.</p> +<p>The organization of the Church. Not merely its Parochial system, +but its Diocesan system. In London, more than in any part of England, +the Diocesan system is valuable. A London parish is not like a +country one, a self-dependent, corporate body, made up of residents +of every rank, capable of providing for the physical and spiritual wants +of its own stationary population. In London, population fluctuates +rapidly, sometimes rolling away from one quarter, always developing +itself in fresh quarters; in London all ranks do not dwell side by side +within sight and sound of each other: but the rich and the poor, the +employed and the unemployed, dwell apart, work apart, and are but too +often out of sight, out of mind. These, and many other reasons, +make it impossible for the mere parochial system to bring out the zeal +and the liberality of London Churchmen. If they are to realize +their unity and their strength, they must do so not as members of a +Parish, but of a Diocese; their Bishop must be to them the sign that +they are one body; their good works must be organized more and more +under him, and round him. This is no new theory of mine; it is +a historic law. The Priest for the village, the Bishop for the +city, has been the natural and necessary organization of the Church +in every age; and it was in strict accordance with this historic law, +that the London Diocesan Board of Education was founded in 1846, not +to override the parochial system, but to do for it what it cannot, in +a great city, do for itself; to establish elementary schools (and now +I am happy to say, evening schools also) in parishes which were too +poor to furnish them for themselves. I, as the son of a London +Rector, can bear my testimony to the excellent working of that Board; +and it is with grief I hear that, in spite of the vast work which it +has done since 1846, and which it is still doing, on an income which +is now not £300 a year—proving thereby how cheaply and easily +your work may be done when it is done in the right way—it is with +grief, I say, that I hear that it is more and more neglected by the +religious public.</p> +<p>With grief: but not with surprise. For the religious public, +even the Church portion of it, has of late been more and more inclined +to undervalue the organization and the teaching of the Church of England, +and to supply its place with nostrums, borrowed from those denominations +who disagree with the Church, alike in their doctrines of what man should +be, and of what God is. How have their energies, their zeal, their +money (for zealous they are, and generous too) been frittered away! +But I will not particularize, lest I hurt the feelings of better people +than myself, by holding up their good works to the ridicule of those +who do us no good works at all. But I entreat them to look at +their own work; to look at the vastness of its expense, compared with +the smallness of its results; and then to ask themselves, whether the +one cause of their failure—for failures I must call too many of +the religious movements of this day, in spite of their own loud self-laudations—whether, +I say, one cause of these failures may not be, that the religious world +is throwing itself into anything and everything novel and exciting, +rather than into the simple and unobtrusive work of teaching little +children their Catechism, that they may go home as angels of God and +missionaries of Christ, teaching their parents in turn as they have +been taught themselves, and so awakening that sacred family life, without +which there can be no sound Christianity. I know well that there +has been much work done in the right direction; but when I look at the +ugly fact, that the population of London is increasing far faster than +its schools; that in 25 of the poorest parishes thereof there are now +nearly 60,000 children who go to no school at all; and that the proportion +of scholars to the population is lower in Middlesex than in almost any +county in England, while the proportion of crime is highest; I cannot +but sigh over the thousands which I see squandered yearly on rash novelties +by really pious and generous souls, and cry, Ah, that one-fourth, one-tenth +of it all had been spent in the plain work of helping elementary schools; +I cannot but call on all London churchmen of the plain old school, to +stand by the organization and the doctrines of the Church to which they +belong; to rally in this matter round their bishop; and work for him, +and with him.</p> +<p>And now, there may be some here who will ask, scornfully enough, +And do you talk of nostrums? and then, after confessing that the masses +are hungering for the bread of life, offer them nothing but your own +nostrum, the Catechism?</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, I do. I know that the Church Catechism is +not the bread of life. Neither, I beg you to remember, is any +other Catechism, or doctrine, or tract, or sermon, or book or anything +else whatsoever. Christ is the Bread of Life. But how shall +they know Christ, unless they be taught what Christ is; and how can +they be taught what Christ is, unless the conception of him which is +offered them be true?</p> +<p>And, I say, that the Catechism does give a true conception of Christ; +and more, a far truer one—I had almost said, an infinitely truer—than +any which I have yet seen in these realms: that from the Catechism a +child may learn who God is, who Christ is, who he himself is, what are +his relation and duty to God, what are his relation and duty to his +neighbours, to his country, and to the whole human race, far better +than from any document of the kind of which I am aware.</p> +<p>I know well the substitutes for the Catechism which are becoming +more and more fashionable; the limitations, the explainings away, the +non-natural and dishonest interpretations, which are more and more applied +to it when it is used; and I warn you, that those substitutes for, and +those defacements of, the Catechism, will be no barrier against an outburst +of fanaticism, did one arise; nay, that many of them would directly +excite it; and prove, when too late, that instead of feeding the masses +with the bread of life, which should preserve them, soul and body, some +persons had been feeding them with poison, which had maddened them, +soul and body. But I see no such danger in the Catechism. +I see in the Catechism; in its freedom alike from sentimental horror +and sentimental raptures; its freedom alike from slavish terror, and +from Pharisaic assurance; a guarantee that those who learn it will learn +something of that sound religion, sober, trusty, cheerful, manful, which +may be seen still, thank God, in country Church folk of the good old +school; and which will, in the day of trial, be proof against the phantoms +of a diseased conscience, and the ravings of spiritual demagogues.</p> +<p>And therefore I preach gladly for this institution; therefore I urge +strongly its claims on you, whom I am bound to suppose honest Churchmen, +because the fact of its being a Diocesan Board of Education is, at least +in this diocese, a guarantee that the schools which it supports will +teach their children, honestly and literally, the Catechism of the Church +of England, which may God preserve!</p> +<p>Not that I expect it to teach only that. I take for granted, +that that will be its primary object, the guarantee that all the rest +is well done: but I know that much more than that must be done; that +much more will be done, even unintentionally.</p> +<p>For, shall I—I trust that I shall not—make a too fanciful +application of the last fact recorded of this great miracle, if I bid +you find in it a fresh source of hope in your work?</p> +<p>‘And they took up of the fragments which were left seven baskets +full.’</p> +<p>The plain historic fact is, that not only do the seven loaves feed +4,000, but that what they leave, and are about to throw away, far exceeds +the original supply.</p> +<p>I believe the fact: I ask you to consider why it was recorded? +Surely, like all facts in the gospels, to teach us more of the character +of Christ, which (a fact too often forgotten in these days) is the character +of God. To teach us that he is an utterly bountiful God. +That as in him there is no weakness, nor difficulty, so in him is no +grudging, no parsimony. That he is not only able, but willing, +to give exceeding abundantly, beyond all that we can ask or think. +That there is a magnificence in God and in God’s workings, which +ought to fill us with boundless hope, if we are but fellow-workers with +God.</p> +<p>You see that magnificence in the seeming prodigality of nature; in +the prodigality which creates a thousand beautiful species of butterfly, +where a single plain one would have sufficed; in the prodigality which +creates a thousand acorns, only one of which is destined to grow into +an oak. Everywhere in the kingdom of nature it shows itself; believe +that it exists as richly in the higher kingdom of grace. Yes. +Believe, that whenever you begin to work according to God’s law +and God’s will, let your means seem as inadequate as they may, +not only will your work multiply, as by miracle, under your hands; but +the very fragments of it, which you are inclined to neglect and overlook, +will form in time a heap of unexpected treasure. Plans which you +have thrown aside, because they seemed to fail, details which seemed +to encumber you, accessory work which formed no part of your original +plan, all will be of use to some one, somehow, somewhere.</p> +<p>You began, for instance, by wishing to educate the masses of London; +you are educating over and above, indirectly, thousands who never saw +London. You began by wishing to teach them spiritual truth; you +have been drawn on to give them an excellent secular education besides. +You intended to make them live as good Christians here at home. +But since you began, the interpenetration of town and country by railroads, +and the rush of emigrants to our colonies, have widened infinitely the +sphere of your influence; and you are now teaching them also to live +as useful men in the farthest corners of these isles, and in far lands +beyond the seas, to become educated emigrants, loyal colonists; to raise, +by their example, rude settlers, and ruder savages; and so, the very +fragments of your good work, without your will or intent, will bless +thousands of whom you never heard, and help to sow the seeds of civilization +and Christianity, wherever the English flag commands Justice, and the +English Church preaches Love.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XI. BLESSING AND CURSING</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Preached at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, Ash Wednesday</i>, 1860.)</p> +<p>Deuteronomy xxviii. 15. It shall come to pass, if thou wilt +not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all +his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that +all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.</p> +<p>Many good people are pained by the Commination Service which we have +just heard read. They dislike to listen to it. They cannot +say ‘Amen’ to its awful words. It seems to them to +curse men; and their conscience forbids them to join in curses. +To imprecate evil on any living being seems to them unchristian, barbarous, +a relic of dark ages and dark superstitions.</p> +<p>But does the Commination Service curse men? Are these good +people (who are certainly right in their horror of cursing) right in +the accusations which they bring against it? Or have they fallen +into a mistake as to the meaning of the service, owing, it may be supposed, +to that carelessness about the exact use of words, that want of accurate +and critical habits of mind, which is but too common among religious +people at the present day?</p> +<p>I cannot but think that they mistake, when they say that the Commination +Service curses men. For to curse a man, is to pray and wish that +God may become angry with him, and may vent his anger on the man by +punishing him. But I find no such prayer and wish in any word +of the Commination Service. Its form is not, ‘Cursed <i>be</i> +he that doeth such and such things,’ but ‘Cursed <i>is</i> +he that doeth them.’</p> +<p>Does this seem to you a small difference? A fine-drawn question +of words? Is it, then, a small difference whether I say to my +fellow-man, I hope and pray that you may be stricken with disease, or +whether I say, You are stricken with disease, whether you know it or +not. I warn you of it, and I warn you to go to the physician? +For so great, and no less, is the difference.</p> +<p>And if any one shall say, that it is very probable that the authors +of the Liturgy were not conscious of this distinction; but that they +meant by cursing what priests in most ages have meant by it; I must +answer, that it is dealing them most hard and unfair measure, to take +for granted that they were as careless about words as we are; that they +were (like some of us) so ignorant of grammar as not to know the difference +between the indicative and the imperative mood; and to assume this, +in order to make them say exactly what they do <i>not</i> say, and to +impute to them a ferocity of which no hint is given in their Commination +Service.</p> +<p>But some will say, Granted that the authors of the Commination Service +did not wish evil to sinners—granted that they did not long to +pray, with bell, book, and candle, that they might be tormented for +ever in Gehenna—granted that they did not desire to burn their +bodies on earth; those words are still dark and unchristian. They +could only be written by men who believed that God hates sinners, that +his will is to destroy them on earth, and torture them for ever after +death.</p> +<p>We may impute, alas! what motives and thoughts we choose, in the +face of our Lord’s own words, Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. +But we shall not be fair and honest in imputing, unless we first settle +what these men meant, in the words which they have actually written. +What did they mean by ‘cursed’ is the question. And +that we can only answer by the context of the Commination Service. +And that again we can only answer by seeing what it means in the Bible, +which the Reformers profess to follow in all their writings.</p> +<p>Now, what does the Bible mean by a curse, and cursing?—For +we are bound to believe, in all fairness, that the Reformers meant the +same, and neither more nor less. The text, I think, tells us plainly +enough. We know that its words came true. We know that the +Jews <i>did</i> perish out of their native land, as the Author of this +book foretold, in consequence of doing that against which Moses warned +them. We know also that they did not perish by any miraculous +intervention of Providence: but simply as any other nation would have +perished; by profligacy, internal weakness, civil war, and, at last, +by foreign conquest.</p> +<p>We know that their destruction was the natural consequence of their +own folly. Why are we to suppose that the prophet meant anything +but that? He foretells the result. Why are we to suppose +that he did not foresee the means by which that result would happen? +Why are we, in the name of all justice, to impute to him an expectation +of miraculous interferences, about which he says no word? The +curse which he foretold was the natural consequence of the sins of the +nation. Why are we not to believe that he considered it as such? +Why are we not to believe that the Bible meaning of a curse, is simply +the natural ill-consequence of men’s own ill-actions? I +believe that if you will apply the same rule to other places of Scripture, +you will have reason to reverence the letter and the Spirit of Scripture +more and more, and will free your minds from many a superstitious and +magical fancy, which will prevent you alike from understanding the Bible +and the Commination Service.</p> +<p>The Book of Deuteronomy, like the rest of Moses’ laws, says +nothing whatever about the life to come. It says, that sin is +to be punished, and virtue rewarded, in this life; and the Commination +Service, when it quotes the Book of Deuteronomy, means so, so I presume, +likewise. Indeed, if we look at the very remarkable, and most +invaluable address which the Commination Service contains, we shall +find its author saying the same thing, in the very passages which are +to some minds most offensive.</p> +<p>For even in this life the door of mercy may be shut, and we may cry +in vain for mercy, when it is the time for justice. This is not +merely a doctrine: it is a fact; a common, patent fact. Men do +wrong, and escape, again and again, the just punishment of their deeds; +but how often there are cases in which a man does not escape; when he +is filled with the fruit of his own devices, and left to the misery +which he has earned; when the covetous and dishonest man ruins himself +past all recovery; when the profligate is left in a shameful old age, +with worn-out body and defiled mind, to rot into an unhonoured grave; +when the hypocrite who has tampered with his conscience is left without +any conscience at all.</p> +<p>They have chosen the curse, and the curse is come upon them to the +uttermost. So it is. Is the Commination service uncharitable, +is the preacher uncharitable, when they tell men so? No more so, +than the physician is uncharitable, when he says,—‘If you +go on misusing thus your lungs, or your digestion, you will ruin them +past all cure.’ Is God to be blamed because this is a fact? +Why then because the other is a fact likewise?</p> +<p>Now if this be, as I believe, the doctrine of the commination service; +if this be, as I believe, the message of Ash-Wednesday, it is one which +is quite free from superstition or cruelty: but it is a message more +disagreeable, and more terrible too, than any magical imprecations of +harm to the sinner could bring. More disagreeable. For which +is more galling to human pride, to be told,—Sin is certainly a +clever, and politic, and successful trade, as far as this world is concerned. +It is only in the next world, or in the case of rare and peculiar visitations +and judgments in this world, that it will harm you? Or to be told,—Sin +is no more clever, politic, or successful here, than hereafter. +The wrong-doing which looks to you so prudent is folly. You, man +of the world as you may think yourself, are simply, as often as you +do wrong, blind, ignorant, suicidal. You are your own curse; your +acts are their own curse. The injury to your own character and +spirit, the injury to your fellow-creatures, which will again re-act +on you,—these are the curses of God, which you will feel some +day too heavy to be borne. And which is more terrible? To +tell a man, that God will judge and curse him by unexpected afflictions, +or at least by casting him into Gehenna in the world to come: or to +tell him, ‘You are judged already. The curse is on you already?’</p> +<p>The first threat he may get rid of, by denying the fact; by saying +that God does not generally interfere to punish bad men in this life; +that he does not strike them dead, swallow them up; and he may even +quote Scripture on his side, and call on Solomon to bear witness how +as dieth the fool, so dieth wise man; and that there is one event to +the righteous and the wicked.</p> +<p>As for the fear of Gehenna, again, after he dies: that is too dim +and distant; too unlike anything which he has seen in this life (now +that the tortures and <i>Autos da fé</i> of the middle age have +disappeared) to frighten him very severely, except in rare moments, +when his imagination is highly excited. And even then, he can—in +practice he does—look forward to ‘making his peace with +God’ as it is called, at last, and fulfilling Baalam’s wish +of dying the death of the righteous, after living the life of the wicked. +He knows well, too, that when that day comes, he can find—alas! +that it should be so—priests and preachers in plenty, of some +communion or other, who will give him his viaticum, and bid him depart +in peace to that God, who has said that there is no peace to the wicked.</p> +<p>But terrible, truly terrible and heart searching for the wrongdoer +is the message—God does not curse thee: thou hast cursed thyself. +God will not go out of his way to punish thee: thou hast gone out of +his way, and thereby thou art punishing thyself, just as, by abusing +thy body, thou bringest a curse upon it; so by abusing thy soul. +God does not break his laws to punish drunkenness or gluttony. +The laws themselves, the laws of nature, the beneficent laws of life, +nutrition, growth, and health, they punish thee; and kill by the very +same means by which they make alive. And so with thy soul, thy +character, thy humanity. God does not break his laws to punish +its sins. The laws themselves punish; every fresh wrong deed, +and wrong thought, and wrong desire of thine sets thee more and more +out of tune with those immutable and eternal laws of the Moral Universe, +which have their root in the absolute and necessary character of God +himself. All things that he has ordained; the laws of the human +body, the laws of the human soul, the laws of society, the laws of all +heaven and earth are arrayed against thee; for thou hast arrayed thyself +against them. They have not excommunicated thee: thou hast, single-handed, +excommunicated thyself. In thine own self-will, thou hast set +thyself to try thy strength against God and his whole universe. +Dost thou fancy that he needs to interfere with the working of that +universe, to punish such a worm as thee? No more than the great +mill engine need stop, and the overseer of it interfere with the machinery, +if the drunken or careless workman should entangle himself among the +wheels. The wheels move on, doing their duty, spinning cloth for +the use of man: but the workman who should have worked with them, is +entangled among them. He is out of his place; and slowly, but +irresistibly, they are grinding him to powder, as the whole universe +is grinding thee. Heart-searching, indeed, is such a message; +for it will come home, not merely to that very rare character, the absolutely +wicked man, the ideal sinner, at whom the preacher too often aims ideal +arrows, which vanish in the air: not to him merely will it come home, +but to ourselves, to us average human beings, inconsistent, half-formed, +struggling lamely and confusedly between good and evil. Oh let +us take home with us to-day this belief, the only belief in this matter +possible in an age of science, which is daily revealing more and more +that God is a God, not of disorder, but of order. Let us take +home, I say, the awful belief, that every wrong act of ours does of +itself sow the seeds of its own punishment; and that those seeds will +assuredly bear fruit, now, here in this life. Let us believe that +God’s judgments, though they will culminate, no doubt, hereafter +in one great day, and “one divine far-off event, to which the +whole creation moves,” are yet about our path and about our bed, +now, here, in this life. Let us believe, that if we are to prepare +to meet our God, we must do it now, here in this life, yea and all day +long; for he is not far off from any one of us, seeing that in him we +live, and move, and have our being; and can never go from his presence, +never flee from his spirit. Let us believe that God’s good +laws, and God’s good order, are in themselves and of themselves, +the curse and punishment of every sin of ours; and that Ash-Wednesday, +returning year after year, whether we be glad or sorry, good or evil, +bears witness to that most awful and yet most blessed fact.</p> +<p>My friends, this is the preacher’s Ash-Wednesday’s message: +but, thanks be to God, it is not all. It is written—‘If +thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss: Oh Lord, who +may abide it? For there is mercy with thee; therefore shalt thou +be feared.’</p> +<p>It is written—‘On whomsoever this stone shall fall, it +shall grind him to powder:’ but it is written too—‘Whosoever +shall fall on this stone shall be broken;’ and again, ‘The +broken and the contrite heart, O God, thou shall not despise.’ +There is such a thing as pardon; pardon full and free, for the sake +of the precious blood of Christ. Lent may be a time of awe and +of shame: but it is not a time of despair. Meanwhile remember +this; that God has set before you blessing and cursing, and that you +may turn your life and God’s whole universe, as you will, either +into that blessing or into that curse.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XII. WORK</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>Proverbs xiv. 23. In all labour there is profit.</p> +<p>I fear there are more lessons in the Book of Proverbs than most of +us care to learn. There is a lesson in every verse of it, and +a shrewd one. Certain I am, that for a practical, business man, +who has to do his duty and to make his way in this world, there is no +guide so safe as these same Proverbs of Solomon. In <i>this</i> +world, I say; for they say little about the world to come. Their +doctrine is, that what is good for the next world, is good for this; +that he who wishes to go out of this world happily, must first go through +this world wisely; and more, that he who wishes to go through this world +happily, must likewise go through it wisely.</p> +<p>The righteous, says Solomon, shall be recompensed in the earth, and +not merely at the end of judgment hereafter: much more the wicked and +the sinner.</p> +<p>That is the doctrine of the Proverbs; that men do, to a very great +extent, earn for themselves their good or their evil fortunes, and are +filled with the fruit of their own devices; and it is that doctrine +which makes them the best of text-books for the practical man.</p> +<p>For the Proverbs do not look on religion as a thing to be kept out +of our daily dealings, and thought of only on Sundays: they look on +true religion, which is to obey God, as a thing which mixes itself up +with all the cares and business of this mortal life, this work-day world; +and, therefore, they are written in work-day language; in homely words +taken from the common doings of this mortal life, as our Lord’s +parables are. And, like the most simple of those parables, the +most simple of the proverbs have often the very deepest meaning.</p> +<p>‘In all labour there is profit.’ Whatsoever is +worth doing, is worth doing well. It is always worth while to +take pains. In another proverb, homely enough—but if it +be in the Bible, it is not too homely for us—‘Where no oxen +are, the crib is clean,’ Solomon says the same thing as in the +text. He says, ‘Where no oxen are, the farmer is saved trouble; +the clearing away of dirt and refuse; and all the labour required to +keep his cattle in condition: but all that trouble,’ Solomon says, +if a man will but undergo it, will repay itself; ‘for much increase +is in the strength of the ox.’ For the ox, in that country, +as in most parts of the world now, is the beast used for ploughing, +and for all the work of the farm.</p> +<p>Now, herein, I think, Solomon gives us a lesson which holds good +through all matters of life. That it is a short-sighted mistake +to avoid taking trouble; for God has so well ordered this world, that +industry will always repay itself. No doubt it is much easier +and pleasanter for the savage to scratch the seed into the ground with +some rude wooden tool, and sit idle till the grain ripens: much easier +and pleasanter, than to breed and break in beasts, and to labour all +the year round at the different duties of a well-ordered farm: but here +is the mighty difference; that the savage, growing only enough for himself, +is in continual danger of famine, he and all his tribe; while the civilized +farmer, producing many times more than he needs for himself, gains food, +comfort, and safety, not only for himself, but for many other human +beings. The savage has an easy life enough, if that be any gain: +but it is a life of poverty, uncertainty, danger of starvation. +The civilized man works hard and heavily, using body and mind more in +one month than the savage does in the whole year: but he gains in return +a life of safety, comfort, and continually increasing prosperity.</p> +<p>This is Solomon’s lesson: and be sure it holds good, not only +of tilling the ground, but of all other labours, all other duties, to +which God may call us. ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,’ +says Solomon, ‘do it with all thy might.’ God has +set thee thy work; then fulfil it. Fill it full. Throw thy +whole heart and soul into it. Do it carefully, accurately, completely. +It will be better for thee, and for thy children after thee. All +neglect, carelessness, slurring over work, is a sin; a sin against God, +who has called us to our work; a sin against our country and our neighbours, +who ought to profit by our work; and a sin against ourselves also, for +we (as I shall shew you soon) ought to be made wiser and better men +by our work.</p> +<p>Oh, if there is one rule above another which I should like to bring +home to young men and women setting out in life, it is this—<i>Take +pains</i>. Take trouble. Whatever you do, do thoroughly. +Whatever you begin, finish. It may not seem to be worth your while +at the moment, to be so very painstaking, so very exact. In after +years, you will find that it was worth your while; that it has <i>paid</i> +you, by training your character and soul; paid you, by giving you success +in life; paid you, by giving you the respect and trust of your fellowmen; +paid you, by helping you towards a good conscience, and enabling you +in old age to look back, and say, I have been of use upon the earth; +I leave this world, according to my small powers, somewhat better than +I found it: instead of having to look back, as too many have, upon opportunities +thrown away, plans never carried out, talents wasted, a whole life a +failure, for want of taking pains.</p> +<p>Why do I say these things to you? To persuade you to work? +Thank God, there is no need of that, for you are Englishmen; and it +has pleased God to put into the hearts of Englishmen a love of work, +and a power of work, which has helped to make this little island one +of the greatest nations upon earth. No, thanks be to God, I say, +there is no need to bid you work. What I ask you to do, is to +look upon your work as an honourable calling, and as a blessing to yourselves, +not merely as a hard necessity, a burden which must be borne merely +to keep you from starvation. It is not that, my friends, but far +more than that. For what is more honourable than to be of use? +And in all labour, as Solomon says, there is profit; it is all of use. +And all trade, manufacture, tillage, even of the smallest, all management +and ordering, whether of an estate, a parish, or even of the pettiest +office in it, all is honourable, because all is of use; all helping +forward, more or less, the well-being of God’s human creatures, +and of the whole world.</p> +<p>And therefore all is worth taking trouble over, worth doing as diligently +and honestly as possible, in sure trust that it will bring its reward +with it. Why not? Almsgiving is blessed in God’s sight, +and charity to the poor; and God will repay it: but is not useful labour +blessed in his sight also? and shall he not repay it? Will he +not say of it, as well as of almsgiving, ‘Inasmuch as ye have +done it unto one of the least of these little ones, ye have done it +unto me?’ We may trust so, my friends; indeed, I may say +more than, ‘We may trust.’ We can see; see that industry +has its reward. By increasing the well-being of others, and the +safety of others, you increase your own. So it is, and so it should +be; for God has knit us all together as brethren, members of one family +of God; and the well-being of each makes up the well-being of all, so +that sooner or later, if one member rejoice, all the others rejoice +with it.</p> +<p>But more. And here I speak to young people; for their elders, +I doubt not, have found it out long since for themselves. Work, +hard work, is a blessing to the soul and character of the man who works. +Young men may not think so. They may say, What more pleasant than +to have one’s fortune made for one, and have nothing before one +than to enjoy life? What more pleasant than to be idle: or, at +least, to do only what one likes, and no more than one likes? +But they would find themselves mistaken. They would find that +idleness makes a man restless, discontented, greedy, the slave of his +own lusts and passions, and see too late, that no man is more to be +pitied than the man who has nothing to do. Yes; thank God every +morning, when you get up, that you have something to do that day which +must be done, whether you like or not. Being forced to work, and +forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, +diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content and a hundred +virtues which the idle man will never know. The monks in old time +found it so. When they shut themselves up from the world to worship +God in prayers and hymns, they found that, without working, without +hard work either of head or hands, they could not even be good men. +The devil came and tempted them, they said, as often as they were idle. +An idle monk’s soul was lost, they used to say; and they spoke +truly. Though they gave up a large portion of every day, and of +every night also, to prayer and worship, yet they found they could not +pray aright without work. And ‘working is praying,’ +said one of the holiest of them that ever lived; and he spoke truth, +if a man will but do his work for the sake of duty, which is for the +sake of God. And so they worked, and worked hard, not only at +teaching the children of the poor, but at tilling the ground, clearing +the forests, building noble churches, which stand unto this day; none +among them were idle at first; and as long as they worked, they were +good men, and blessings to all around them, and to this land of England, +which they brought out of heathendom to the knowledge of Christ and +of God; and it was not till they became rich and idle, and made other +people work for them and till their great estates, that they sank into +sin and shame, and became despised and hated, and at last swept off +the face of the land. Lastly, my friends, if you wish to see how +noble a calling Work is, consider God himself; who, although he is perfect, +and does not need, as we do, the training which comes by work, yet works +for ever with and through his Son, Jesus Christ, who said, ‘My +Father worketh hitherto, and I work.’ Yes; think of God, +who, though he needs nothing, and therefore need not work to benefit +himself, yet does work, simply because, though he needs nothing, all +things need him. Think of God as a king working for ever for the +good of his subjects, a Father working for ever for the good of his +children, for ever sending forth light and life and happiness to all +created things, and ordering all things in heaven and earth by a providence +so perfect, that not a sparrow falls to the ground without his knowledge, +and the very hairs of your head are all numbered.</p> +<p>And then think of yourselves, called to copy God, each in his station, +and to be fellow-workers with God for the good of each other and of +yourselves. Called to work, because you are made in God’s +image, and redeemed to be the children of God. Not like the brutes, +who cannot work, and can therefore never improve themselves, or the +earth around them; but like children of God, whom he has called to the +high honour of subduing and replenishing this earth which he has given +you, and of handing down by your labour blessings without number to +generations yet unborn. And when you go back, one to his farm, +another to his shop, another to his daily labour, say to yourselves, +This, too, as well as my prayers in church, is my heavenly Father’s +command; in doing this my daily duty honestly and well, I can do Christ’s +will, copy Christ, approve myself to Christ; single-eyed and single-handed, +doing my work as unto God, and not unto men; and so hear, I may hope +at last, Christ’s voice saying to me, ‘Well done, thou good +and faithful servant. I set thee not to govern kingdoms, to lead +senates, to command armies, to preach the gospel, to build churches, +to give large charities, to write learned books, to do any great work +in the eyes of men. I set thee simply to buy and sell, to plough +and reap like a Christian man, and to bring up thy family thereby, in +the fear of God and in the faith of Christ. And thou hast done +thy duty more or less; and, in doing thy duty, has taught thyself deeper +and sounder lessons about thy life, character, and immortal soul, than +all books could teach thee. And now thou hast thy reward. +Thou hast been faithful over a few things: I will make thee ruler over +many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XIII. FALSE PROPHETS</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Eighth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>Matthew vii. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits.</p> +<p>People are apt to overlook, I think, the real meaning of these words. +They do so, because they part them from the words which go just before +them, about false prophets.</p> +<p>They consider that ‘fruit’ means only a man’s conduct,—that +a man is known by his conduct. That professions are worth nothing, +and practice worth everything. That the good man, after all, is +the man who does right; and the bad man, the man who does wrong. +Excellent doctrine; and always needed. God grant that we may never +forget it.</p> +<p>But the text surely does not quite mean that. ‘Fruit’ +here does not mean a man’s own conduct, but the conduct of those +whom he teaches. For see,—our Lord is talking of prophets; +that is preachers, who set up to preach the Word of God, in the name +of God. ‘Beware,’ he says, ‘of false prophets. +By their fruits ye shall know them. By what you gather from them,’ +he says. ‘For do men gather grapes off thorns, or figs off +thistles?’</p> +<p>Now what is a preacher’s fruit? Surely the fruit of his +preaching; and that is, not what he does himself, but what he makes +you do. His fruit is what you gather from him; and what you gather +from him is, not merely the notions and doctrines which he puts into +your head, but the way of life in which he makes you live. What +he makes you do, is the fruit which you get from him. Does he +make you a better man, or does he not? that is the question. That +is the test whether he is a false prophet, or a true one; whether he +is preaching to you the eternal truth of God, or man’s inventions +and devil’s lies.</p> +<p>Does he make you a better man? Not—Does he make you feel +better? but—Does he make you behave better? There is too +much preaching in the world which makes men <i>feel</i> better—so +much better, indeed, that they go about like the Pharisee, thanking +God that they are not as other men, before they have any sound reason +to believe that they are <i>not</i> as other men; because they live +just such lives as other men do, as far as respectability, and the fear +of hurting their custom or their character, allow them to do. +They have their prophets, their preachers who teach them; and by their +fruits in these men, the preachers may be known, by those who have eyes +to see, and hearts to understand.</p> +<p>Therefore beware of false prophets. There are too many of them +in the world now, as there were in our Lord’s time; men who go +about with the name of God on their lips, and the Bible in their hands, +in sheep’s clothing outwardly; but inwardly ravening wolves. +In sheep’s clothing, truly, smooth and sanctimonious, meek, and +sleek. But wolves at heart; wolves in cunning and slyness, as +you will find, if you have to deal with them; wolves in fierceness and +cruelty, as you will find if you have to differ from them; wolves in +greediness and covetousness, and care of their own interest and their +own pockets. And wolves, too, in hardness of heart; in the hard, +dark, horrible, unjust doctrines, which they preach with a smile upon +their lips, not merely in sermons, but in books and tracts innumerable, +making out the Heavenly Father, the God whose name is Love and Justice, +to be even such a one as themselves. Wolves, too, in their habit +of hunting in packs, each keeping up his courage by listening to the +howl of his fellows. They may come in the name of God. They +may tell you that they preach the Gospel; that no one but they preach +the Gospel. But by their fruits ye shall know them.</p> +<p>Will they make you better men? Is it not written, ‘The +disciple is not above his master?’ What will you learn from +them, but to be like them? And the more you take in their doctrines, +the more like them you will be; for is it not written, ‘He that +is perfect shall be as his master.’ Can they lead you to +eternal life? Is it not written, ‘If the blind lead the +blind, both shall fall into the ditch?’</p> +<p>But by their fruits ye shall know them. By their fruits in +the world at large, if you have eyes to see it. By their fruits +in your own lives, if you give yourselves up to listen to their false +doctrines, for you will surely find, that, in the first place, they +will not make you honest men. They will not teach you to be just +and true in all your dealings. They will not teach you common +morality. No, my friends, it is most sad to see, how much preaching +and tract-writing there is in England now, which talks loud about Protestant +doctrine, and Gospel truths, while all the fruit of it seems to be, +to teach men to abuse the Pope, and to fancy that every one is going +to hell, who does not agree with their opinions; while their own lives, +their own conduct, their own morality, seems not improved one whit by +all this preaching. And yet men like such preaching, and run to +hear it. Of course they do; for it leaves them to behave all the +week as if there was no Law of God, if only they will go on Sundays, +and listen to what is called, I fear most untruly, the Gospel of God; +leaves them, on condition of belonging to some particular party, and +listening to some favourite preacher, free to give way to their passions, +their spite, their meanness; to grind their servants, cheat their masters, +trick their customers, adulterate their goods, and behave in money-matters +as if all was fair in business, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ had nothing +to do with common honesty; and all the while,</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Compound for sins they are inclined to.<br />By damning those they +have no mind to.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>My friends, these things ought not so to be. There is a Gospel +of God, which preaches full forgiveness for the sake of Jesus Christ, +to all who turn from their sins. But there is a Law of God, likewise, +which executes sure vengeance against all who do <i>not</i> turn from +their sins; be their professions as high, or their doctrines as correct +as they may. A law which is in the Gospel itself, and says, by +the mouth of the Apostle St. John, ‘Little children, let no man +deceive you: he that <i>doeth</i> righteousness is righteous, even as +God is righteous’—he—and not he who expects to be +saved by listening to some false preacher who teaches his congregation +how to go to heaven without having thought one heavenly thought, or +done one heavenly-deed.</p> +<p>Yes. There is an eternal law of God, which people are forgetting, +I often fear, more and more, in England just now. I sometimes +dread, lest we should be sinking into that hideous state of which the +old Hebrew prophet speaks—‘The prophets prophesy falsely, +and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have +it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?’ What, indeed; +if people are to be taught more and more, that religion is a matter +merely of doctrines and fancies and feelings, and has nothing to do +with common morality, and common honesty, and common self-control and +improvement of character and conduct?</p> +<p>My friends, in these dangerous days, for dangerous they truly are—like +those of the Scribes and Pharisees of old; days in which bigotry and +hardness of heart, hypocrisy and lip-profession stalk triumphant; days, +in which men, like the Scribes and Pharisees of old, boast of the Bible, +worship the Bible, think they have eternal life in the Bible, spend +vast sums every year in spreading the Bible; and yet will neither read +the Bible honestly, nor obey its plain commands—In such days as +these, what prophet shall we fall back upon? What preacher shall +we trust?</p> +<p>We can at least trust our Bible. We can read it honestly, if +only there be in us the honest and good heart; we can obey its plain +commands, if only we hunger and thirst after righteousness, and desire +really to become good men. Read your Bibles for yourselves with +a single eye, and with a pure heart which longs to know God’s +will because it longs to <i>do</i> God’s will; and you will need +no false prophets, under pretence of explaining it to you, to draw you +away from the Holy Catholic faith into which you were baptized.</p> +<p>But if you must have a commentary on the Bible; if you must have +some book to give you a general notion of what the Bible teaches you, +and what it expects of you; go to the prayer-book. Go to the good +old Catechism which you learnt at school. There, though not from +the popular preachers, you will learn that God is just and true, loving +and merciful, and no respecter of persons. There you will learn, +that Christ died not for a few elect, but for the sins of the whole +world. There you will learn that in baptism, by God’s free +grace, and not by any experiences or feelings of your own, you were +made children of God, members of Christ, and inheritors of the kingdom +of heaven. There you will learn, that the elect whom the Holy +Spirit sanctifies, are not merely a favoured few, but <i>you</i>—every +baptized man, woman, and child. That the Holy Spirit is with you, +every one of you, to sanctify you, if you will open your hearts to his +gracious inspirations. And there you will learn what sanctification +really means. Not a few fancies and feelings about which any man +can deceive himself, and any man, also, deceive his neighbours. +No, that sanctification means being made holy, righteous, virtuous, +good. That sanctification means ‘To love your neighbour +as yourself, and to do to all men as they should do unto you—to +love, honour, and succour your father and mother’—Shall +I go on? Or do you all know the plain old duty to your neighbours, +which stands in the Church Catechism. If you do, thank God that +you were taught it in your youth. Read it over and over again. +Think over it. Pray to God to give you grace to act upon it, and +to shew the fruit of it in your lives. And then, ‘By its +fruits you shall know it.’ By its fruits you shall know +the virtue of the Catechism, and of the great and good men, true prophets +of God, who wrote that Catechism. Yes. Cling to that Catechism, +even if it convinces you of many sins, and makes you sadly ashamed of +yourselves again and again; for, believe me, it will prove your best +safeguard in doctrine, your best teacher in practice, in these dangerous +days—days in which every man who believes that right is right, +and wrong is wrong, has need to pray with all his heart—‘From +all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and +contempt of thy word and commandments; good Lord, deliver us!’</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XIV. THE ROCK OF AGES</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Ninth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>1 Corinthians x. 4. They drank of that Spiritual Rock which +followed them; and that Rock was Christ.</p> +<p>St. Paul has been speaking to the Corinthians about the Holy Communion.</p> +<p>In this text, St. Paul is warning the Corinthians about it. +He says, ‘You may be Christian men; you may have the means of +grace; you may come to the Communion and use the means of grace; and +yet you may become castaways.’ St. Paul himself says, in +the very verse before, ‘I keep under my body, and bring it into +subjection: lest . . . . I myself should be a castaway.’ +Look, he says then, ‘at the old Jews in the wilderness. +They all partook of God’s grace: but they were not all saved. +They were all baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They +all ate the same spiritual meat, the manna from heaven. They all +drank the same spiritual drink, the water out of the rock in Horeb. +And yet with many of them God was not well pleased;’ for they +were overthrown—their corpses were scattered far and wide—in +the wilderness. The spiritual meat and the spiritual drink could +not keep them alive, if they sinned, and deserved death. ‘So,’ +says St. Paul, ‘with you. You are members of Christ’s +body. The cup of blessing which we bless, is the communion of +the blood of Christ; the bread which we break, is the communion of the +body of Christ:’ but beware, they will not save you, if you sin. +Nothing will save you, if you sin. If you lust after evil things, +as those old Jews did; if you are idolaters, as they were; if you are +profligates, as they were; if you tempt Christ, as they did; if you +murmur against God, as they murmured, you will be destroyed like them.</p> +<p>Note here two things. First, that St. Paul says that we really +receive Christ in the Holy Communion. He does <i>not</i> say, +as some do, that the Communion is merely a remembrance of Christ’s +death. He says that the faithful verily and indeed receive Christ’s +body and blood in the Sacrament. He says so, distinctly, plainly, +literally; and if that be not true, his whole argument goes for nothing, +and will not stand. The Jews, he says, drank of the spiritual +Rock which followed them, and that Rock was Christ; and so he says to +you. But that did not save them from the punishment of their sins, +when they went and sinned afresh: neither will it save you.</p> +<p>But now—What are these strange words which St. Paul uses? +These old Jews drank of the spiritual Rock which followed them, and +that Rock was Christ? Where in the Old Testament do we read of +the Rock following them? We read of Moses striking the rock in +Horeb, at the beginning of their wanderings in the wilderness; but not +of its following them afterwards.</p> +<p>St. Paul is here using a beautiful old tradition of the Rabbis, that +the rock which Moses struck in Horeb followed the Jews through all their +forty years’ wanderings, and that on every Sabbath day when they +stopped, it stopped also, and the elders called to it, ‘Flow out, +O fountain,’ and the water flowed. A beautiful old story, +which St. Paul turns into an allegory, to teach, as by a picture, the +deepest and the highest truth. Whether that rock followed them +or not, he says, there was One who did follow them, from whom flowed +living water; and that Rock is Christ. Christ followed them. +Christ the creator, the preserver, the inspirer, the light, the life, +the guide of men, and of all the universe. It was to Christ they +owed their deliverance from Egypt; to Christ they owed their knowledge +of God, and of the law of God, to Christ they owed whatever reason, +justice, righteousness, good government, there was among them. +And to Christ we owe the same.</p> +<p>The rock was a type of him from whom flows living water. As +he himself said on earth, ‘Whosoever drinketh of the water which +I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water which I shall give +him shall be in him a well of water, springing up to everlasting life.’ +Just as the manna also was a type of him, as he himself declared, when +the Jews talked to him of the manna; ‘Our fathers did eat manna +in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ +Then Jesus said to them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses +gave you not that bread from heaven.’ No: but only a type +and picture of it. ‘My Father giveth you the true bread +from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from +heaven, and giveth life unto the world. . . . I am that bread of life.’</p> +<p>My friends, herein is a great mystery. Something of what it +means, however, we may learn from that wise and good Jew, Philo, who +was St. Paul’s teacher according to the flesh, before he became +a Christian; and who himself was so near to the kingdom of God, that +St. Paul often in his epistles uses Philo’s very words, putting +into them a Christian meaning. And what says he concerning the +Rock of living waters?</p> +<p>The soul, he says, falls in with a scorpion in the wilderness; and +then thirst, which is the thirst of the passions—of the lusts +which war in our members—seizes on it; till God sends forth on +it the stream of his own perfect wisdom, and causes the changed soul +to drink of unchangeable health. For the steep rock is the wisdom +of God (by whom he means the Word of God, whom Philo knew not in the +flesh, but whom we know, as the Lord Jesus Christ), which, being both +sublime and the first of all things; he quarried out of his own powers; +and of it he gives drink to the souls which love God; and they, when +they have drunk, are filled with the most universal manna.</p> +<p>So says Philo, the good Jew, who knew not Christ; and therefore he +says only a part of the truth. If you wish to learn the whole +truth, you must read St. John’s Gospel, and St. Paul’s Epistles, +especially this very text; and again, the opening of the Epistle to +the Ephesians; and again, that most royal passage in the opening of +the Colossians, where he speaks of the Everlasting Being of Christ, +who is before all things, and by whom all things consist—in whom +dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in whom are hid all +the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.</p> +<p>Therefore he is rightly called the Rock, the Rock of Ages, the Eternal +Rock; because on him all things rest, and have rested since the foundation +of the world, being made, and kept together, and ruled, and inspired +by him alone. Therefore he is rightly called the Rock of living +waters; for in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, +and from him they flow forth freely to all who cry to him in their thirst +after truth and holiness. Yes, my friends, by Christ all things +live; and therefore, most of all, by Christ our souls live. To +be parted from Christ is death. To be joined to Christ and the +body of Christ is life.</p> +<p>But what life? The life of the soul. And what is the +life of the soul? Holiness, righteousness, sanctification, virtue,—call +it what pleases you best. I shall call it goodness. That +is the only life of the soul. And why? Because it is the +life of Christ. That is the only wisdom of the soul. And +why? Because it is the mind of Christ. That is the living +water. And why? Because it flows eternally from Christ.</p> +<p>For who is Christ, but the likeness of God, and the glory of God? +And what is the likeness of God, but goodness; and what is the glory +of God, but goodness? Therefore Christ is goodness itself, as +it is written, ‘Now the Lord is that Spirit.’ Yes, +if you will believe it, Christ, the only-begotten Son, co-equal and +co-eternal, is the very and essential goodness of the Father, coming +out everlastingly in action and in life, in himself, and in his people, +who are his mystical body, filled with the Spirit of him and his Father; +who is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of goodness. From Christ, and +not from any created being, comes all goodness in man or angel. +Comes from Christ? It were more right, and more according to St. +Paul’s own words, to say, that all goodness <i>is</i> Christ; +Christ dwelling in a man, Christ forming himself in a man, little by +little, step by step, as he grows in grace, in purity, in self-control, +in experience, in knowledge, in wisdom, in strength, in patience, in +love, in charity; till he comes to the stature of a perfect man, to +the measure of the fulness of Christ.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, let the good which a man does be much, or be it little, +he must say, ‘The good which I do, <i>I</i> do not, but Christ +who dwelleth in me.’</p> +<p>For in every age of man, it is Christ who is awakening in him the +hunger and thirst after righteousness, and then satisfying it with the +only thing which can satisfy them, namely, his most blessed self.</p> +<p>Yes, believe it. It is Christ in the child which makes it speak +the truth; Christ in the child which makes it shrink from whatever it +has been told is wrong. It is Christ in the young man, which fills +him with lofty aspirations, hopes of bettering the world around him, +hopes of training his soul to be all that it can be, and of putting +forth all his powers in the service of Christ. It is Christ in +the middle-aged man, which makes him strong in good works, labouring +patiently, wisely, and sturdily; so that having drunk of the living +waters himself, they may flow out of him again to others in good deeds; +a fountain springing up in him to an eternal life of goodness. +It is Christ in the old man, which makes him look on with calm content +while his own body and mind decay, knowing that the kingdom of God cannot +decay; for Christ is ruling it in righteousness; and all will be well +with him, and with his children after him, and with all mankind, and +all heaven and earth, if they themselves only will it, long after he +has been gathered to his fathers.</p> +<p>Yes, such a man knows in whom he has believed. He knows that +the spiritual Rock has been following him through all his wanderings +in this weary world; and that that Rock is Christ. He can recollect +how, again and again, at his Sabbath haltings in his life’s journey, +it was to him in the Holy Communion as to the Israelites of old in their +haltings in the wilderness, when the priests of Jehovah cried to the +mystic rock, ‘Flow forth, O fountain,’ and the waters flowed. +So can he recollect how, in Holy Communion, there flowed into his soul +streams of living water, the water of life, quenching that thirst of +his soul, which no created thing could slake; the water of life; of +Christ’s life, which is the light of men, shewing them what they +ought to be and do; the life which is the light; the life which is according +to the eternal and divine reason; the life of wisdom; which is the life +of love; which is the life of justice; which is the life of Christ; +which is the life of God.</p> +<p>But if these things are so—and so they are, for Christ has +said it, St. Paul has said it, St. John has said it—but if these +things are so, will they not teach us much about Holy Communion, how +we may receive it worthily, and how unworthily?</p> +<p>If what we receive in the Communion be Christ himself, the good Christ +who is to make us good; then how can we receive it worthily, if we do +not hunger and thirst after goodness? If we do not come thither, +longing to be made good, and sanctified, then we come for the wrong +thing, to the wrong place. We are like those Corinthians who came +to the Lord’s supper not to be made good men, but to exalt their +own spiritual self-conceit; and so only ate and drank their own damnation, +not discerning the Lord’s body, that it was a holy body, a body +of righteousness and goodness.</p> +<p>But if we come hungering and thirsting to be made good men, then +we come for the right thing, to the right place. Then we need +not stay away, because we feel ourselves intolerably burdened with many +sins; that will be our very reason for coming, that we may be cleansed +from our sins—cleansed not only from their guilt, but from their +power; and cry, in spirit and in truth, as we kneel at that holy table—</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Rock of ages, cleft for me,<br />Let me hide myself in thee;<br />By +the water and the blood,<br />From thy riven side which flowed,<br />Be +of sin the double cure,<br />Cleanse me from its guilt and power.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Yes, from its guilt and from its power also. Let us all pray, +each in his own fashion:—</p> +<p>Oh Lamb eternal, beyond all place and time! Oh Lamb slain eternally, +before the foundation of the world! Oh Lamb, which liest slain +eternally, in the midst of the throne of God! Let the blood of +life, which flows from thee, procure me pardon for the past; let the +water of life, which flows from thee, give me strength for the future. +I come to cast away my own life, my life of self and selfishness, which +is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, that I may live it no more; +and to receive thy life, which is created after the likeness of God, +in righteousness and true holiness, that I may live it for ever and +ever, and find it a well of life springing up in me to everlasting life. +Eternal Goodness, make me good like thee. Eternal Wisdom, make +me wise like thee. Eternal Justice, make me just like thee. +Eternal Love, make me loving like thee. Then I shall hunger no +more, and thirst no more; for</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Thou, O Christ, art all I want;<br />More than all in thee I find;<br />Raise +me, fallen; cheer me, faint;<br />Heal me, sick; and lead me, blind.<br />Thou +of life the fountain art;<br />Freely let me take of thee;<br />Spring +thou up within my heart;<br />Rise to all eternity.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Oh come to Holy Communion with the words of that glorious hymn not +merely on your lips, but in your hearts; and you will never come amiss.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XV. ANTIPATHIES</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Tenth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>1 Cor. xii. 3, 4, 5, 6. Wherefore, I give you to understand, +that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and +that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. +Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there +are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there +are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh +all in all.</p> +<p>We are to come to the Communion this day in love and charity with +all men. But are we in love and charity with all men?</p> +<p>I do not mean, are there any persons whom we hate; against whom we +bear a spite; whom we should be glad to see in trouble or shame? +God forbid, my friends, God forbid. There are, indeed, devil’s +tempers. And yet more easy for us to keep in the bottom of our +hearts, and more difficult to root them out, than we fancy.</p> +<p>It is easy enough for us to forgive (in words at least) a man who +has injured us. Easy enough to make up our minds that we will +not revenge ourselves. Easy enough to determine, even, that we +will return good for evil to him, and do him a kindness when we have +a chance. Yes, we would not hurt him for the world: but what if +God hurt him? What if he hurt himself? What if he lost his +money? What if his children turned out ill? What if he made +a fool of himself, and came to shame? What if he were found out +and exposed, as we fancy that he deserves? Should we be so very +sorry? We should not punish him ourselves. No. But +do we never catch ourselves thinking whether God may not punish him; +thinking of that with a base secret satisfaction; almost hoping for +it, at last? Oh if we ever do, God forgive us! If we ever +find those devil’s thoughts rising in us, let us flee from them +as from an adder; flee to the foot of Christ’s Cross, to the cross +of him who prayed for his murderers, Father, forgive them, for they +know not what they do; and there cry aloud for the blood of life, which +shall cleanse us from the guilt of those wicked thoughts, and for the +water of life, which shall cleanse us from the power of them: lest they +get the dominion over us, and spring up in us, and spread over our whole +hearts; not a well of life, but a well of poison, springing up in us +to everlasting damnation. Oh let us pray to him to give us truth +in our inward parts; that we may forgive and love, not in word only, +but in deed and in truth.</p> +<p>I could not help saying this in passing. But it is not what +the text is speaking of; not what I want to speak of myself to-day. +I want to speak of a matter which is smaller, and not by any means so +sinful: and which yet in practice is often more tormenting to a truly +tender conscience, because it is more common and more continual.</p> +<p>How often, when one examines oneself, whether one be in love and +charity with all men, one must recollect that there are many people +whom one does not like. I do not mean that one hates them. +Not in the least: but they do not suit one. There is something +in them which we cannot get on with, as the saying is. Something +in their opinions, manners, ways of talking; even—God forgive +us—merely in their voice, or their looks, or their dress, which +frets us, and gives us what is called an antipathy to them. And +one dislikes them; though they never have harmed us, or we them; and +we know them, perhaps, to be better people than ourselves. Now, +are we in love and charity with these people? I am afraid not.</p> +<p>I know one is tempted to answer; but I am afraid the answer is worth +very little—Why not? We cannot help it. You cannot +expect us to like people who do not suit us: any more than you can expect +us to like a beetle or a spider. We know the beetle or the spider +will not harm us. We know that they are good in their places, +and do good, as all God’s creatures are and do; and there is room +enough in the world for them and us: but we have a natural dislike to +them, and cannot help it; and so with these people. We mean no +harm in disliking them. It is natural to us; and why blame us +for it.</p> +<p>Now what is the mistake here? Saying that it is <i>natural</i> +to us. We are not meant to live according to nature, but according +to grace; and grace must conquer nature, my friends, if we wish to save +our souls alive. It is nature, brute nature, which makes some +dogs fly at every strange dog they meet. It is nature, brute nature, +which makes a savage consider every strange savage as his enemy, and +try to kill him. But unless nature be conquered in that savage, +it will end, where following brute nature always ends, in death; and +the savages will (as all savages are apt to do) destroy each other off +the face of the earth, by continual war and murder. It is brute +nature which makes low and ignorant persons hate foreign people, because +their dress and language seem strange. But unless that natural +feeling had been in most of us conquered by the grace of God, which +is the spirit of justice and of love, then England would have remained +alone in conceit and ignorance, hated by all the nations; instead of +being what, thank God! she is—the Sanctuary of the world; to which +all the oppressed of the earth may flee; and find a welcome, and safety, +and freedom, and justice, and peace.</p> +<p>And so with us, my friends. It is natural, and according to +the brute nature of the old Adam, to dislike this person and that, just +because they do not suit us. But it is according to grace, and +the new Adam, who is the Lord from heaven, to honour all men; to love +the brotherhood; to throw away our own private fancies and personal +antipathies; and, like the Lord Jesus Christ, copy the all-embracing +charity of God. And no one has a right to answer, ‘But I +must draw the line somewhere.’ Thou must not. I am +afraid that thou <i>wilt</i>, and that I shall, too, God forgive us +both! because we are sinful human beings. We may, but we <i>must</i> +not, draw a line as to whom we shall endure in charity. For Christ +draws no line. Is it not written, ‘No man can say that Jesus +is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.’ Is not the Spirit of +Christ in a Christian man, unless he be a reprobate? and who is reprobate, +we know not, and dare not try to know; for it is written, ‘Judge +not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned.’</p> +<p>But what has the text to do with all this?</p> +<p>My friends, is not this just what the text is telling us? I +said this moment, that the Spirit of Christ was in a Christian man, +unless he be a reprobate. And the text says further, that there +are diversities of gifts in Christian men: but the same spirit in all +of them.</p> +<p>Yes: people <i>will</i> be different one from another. There +are diversities of gifts. Differences in talents, in powers, in +character, in kinds of virtue and piety; so that you shall find no two +good men, no two useful men, like each other. But there is the +same Spirit. The same Spirit of God is in each, though bearing +different fruit in each. And there are differences of administrations, +of offices, in God’s kingdom. God sets one man to do one +work, and another to do another: but it is the same Lord who puts each +man in his place, and shows him his work, and gives him power to do +it. And there are diversities of operations, that is, of ways +of working; so that if you put any two men to do the same thing, they +will most probably do it each in a different way, and yet both do it +well. But it is the same God, who is working in them both; the +God who works all in all, and has his work done by a thousand different +hands, by a thousand different ways.</p> +<p>And it is right and good that people should be so different from +each other. ‘For the manifestation of the Spirit is given +to every man to profit withal.’ To profit, to be of use. +If all men were alike, no one could learn from his neighbour. +If all mankind were as like each other as a flock of sheep, there would +be no more work, no more progress, no more improvement in mankind, than +there is in a flock of sheep. Now each man can bring his own little +share of knowledge or usefulness into the common stock. Each man +has, or ought to have, something to teach his neighbour. Each +man can learn something from his neighbour: at least he can learn this—to +have patience with his neighbour. To live and let live. +To bear with what in him seems odd and disagreeable, trusting that God +may have put it there; that God has need of it; that God will make use +of it. God makes use of many things which look to us ugly and +disagreeable. He makes use of the spider and of the beetle. +How much more of our brethren, members of Christ, children of God, inheritors +of the kingdom of heaven. Shall they be to us, even if they be +odd or disagreeable in some things—shall they be to us as the +beetle or the spider, or any other merely natural things? They +are men and women, in whom is the Spirit of the living God. And +my friends, if they are good enough for God, they are good enough for +us. Think but one moment. God the Father adopts a man as +his child, God the Son dies for that man, God the Holy Ghost inspires +that man; and shall we be more dainty than God? If, in spite of +the man’s little weaknesses and oddities, God shall condescend +to come down and dwell in that man, making him more or less a good man, +doing good work; shall we pretend that we cannot endure what God endures? +Shall we be more dainty, I ask again, than the holy and perfect God? +Oh my friends, let us pray to him to take out of our hearts all selfishness, +fancifulness, fastidiousness, and hasty respect of persons, of all which +there is none in God. Let us ask for his Spirit, the Spirit of +Charity, which sees God in all, and all in God, and therefore sees good +in all, and sees all in love.</p> +<p>Then we shall see how much more there is in our neighbours to like, +than to dislike. Then all these little differences will seem to +us trifles not to be thought of, before the broad fact of a man’s +being, after all, a man, an Englishman, a Christian, and a good Christian, +doing good work where God has put him. Then we shall be ashamed +of our old narrowness of heart; ashamed of having looked so much at +the little evil in our neighbours, and not at the great good in them. +Then we shall go about the world cheerfully; and our neighbour’s +faces will seem to us full of light: instead of seeming full of darkness, +because our own eyes and minds are dark for want of charity. Then +we shall come to the Communion, not with hearts narrowed and shut up, +perhaps, from the very person who kneels next to us: but truly open-hearted; +with hearts as wide—ah God, that it were possible!—as the +sacred heart of Christ, in which is room for all mankind. And +so receiving his body, which is the blessed company of all faithful +people, we shall receive Christ, who dwelleth in them, and they in him.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XVI. ST. PAUL</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Eleventh Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>1 Cor. xv. 8. Last of all he was seen of me, also, as of one +born out of due time. For I am the least of the Apostles, that +am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church +of God.</p> +<p>You heard in this text (part of the epistle for this day) St. Paul’s +opinion of himself. You heard, also, in the Second Lesson for +this day, the ninth chapter of Acts, the extraordinary story of his +conversion.</p> +<p>And what may we learn from that story? We may learn many lessons; +lessons without number.</p> +<p>We may learn, first; not to be astonished, if we have to change our +opinions as we grow older. When we are young, we are very positive +about this thing and that, as St. Paul was; violent in favour of our +own opinions; ready to quarrel with any one who differs from us, as +St. Paul was. But let ten years, twenty years, roll over our heads, +and we may find our opinions utterly changed, as St. Paul did, and look +back with astonishment on ourselves, for having been foolish enough +to believe what we did, as St. Paul looked back; and with shame, as +did St. Paul likewise, at having said so many violent and unjust things +against people, who, we now see, were in the right after all.</p> +<p>Next; we may learn not to be ashamed of changing our minds: but if +we find ourselves in the wrong, to confess it boldly and honestly, as +St. Paul did. What a fearful wrench to his mind and his heart; +what a humiliation to his self-conceit, to have to change his mind once +for all on all matters in heaven and earth. What must it not have +cost him to throw up at once all his friends and relations; to part +himself from all whom he loved and respected on earth, to feel that +henceforth they must look upon him as a madman, an infidel, an enemy. +To an affectionate man, and St. Paul was an extremely affectionate man, +what a bitter struggle that must have cost him. But he faced that +struggle, and conquered in it, like a brave and honest man. And +the consequence was, that he had, in time, and after many lonely years, +many Christian friends for each Jewish friend that he had lost; and +to him was fulfilled (as it will be to all men) our Lord’s great +saying, ‘There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or +sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my +sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now +in this time, . . . and in the world to come eternal life.’</p> +<p>Next; we may take comfort, in the hope that God will not impute to +us these early follies and mistakes of ours; if only there be in us, +as there was in St. Paul, the honest and good heart; that is, the heart +which longs to know what is true and right, and bravely acts up to what +it knows. St. Paul did so. God, when he set him apart, as +he says, from his very birth, gave him a great grace, even the honest +and good heart; and he was true to it, and used it. He tried to +learn his best, and do his best. He profited in the Jews’ +religion, beyond all his fellows. He was, touching the righteousness +which was in the law, blameless. He was so zealous for what he +thought right, that he persecuted the Church of Christ, as the Pharisees, +his teachers, had taught him to do. In all things, whether right +or wrong in each particular case, he was an honest, earnest seeker after +truth and righteousness. And therefore Christ, instead of punishing +him, fulfilled to him his own great saying,—‘To him that +hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance.’ He had +not yet, as he himself says, again and again, the grace of Christ, which +is love to his fellow-men; and therefore his works were not pleasing +to God, and had, as the article says, the nature of sin. His empty +forms and ceremonies could not please God. His persecuting the +Church had plainly the nature of sin. But there was something +which God had put in him, and which God would not lose sight of, or +suffer to be lost; and that was, the honest and good heart, of which +our Lord speaks in the parable of the sower. In that Christ sowed +the word of God, even himself, and his grace and Holy Spirit; and, behold, +it sprang up and bore fruit a hundredfold, over all Christian nations +to this day.</p> +<p>Keep, therefore, if you have it, the honest and good heart. +If you have it not, pray for it earnestly. Determine to learn +what is true, whatever be the trouble; and to do what is right, whatever +be the cost; and then, though you may make many mistakes, and have more +than once, perhaps, to change your mind in shame and confusion, yet +all will come right at last, for the grace of Christ, sooner or later, +will lead you into all truth which you require for this world and all +worlds to come.</p> +<p>Again, we may learn from St. Paul this lesson. That though +God has forgiven a man, that is no reason that he should forgive himself. +That may seem a startling saying just now. For the common teaching +now is, that if a man finds, or fancies, that God has forgiven him, +he may forgive himself at once; that if he gets assurance that his sins +are washed away in Christ’s blood, he may go swaggering and boasting +about the world (I can call it no less), as if he had never sinned at +all; that he may be (as you see in these revivals, from which God defend +us!) one moment in the deepest agonies of conscience, and dread of hell-fire, +and the next moment in raptures of joy, declaring himself to be in heaven. +Alas, alas! such people forget that sin leaves behind it wounds, which +even the grace of Christ takes a long time in healing, and which then +remain as ugly, but wholesome scars, to remind us of the fools which +we have been. They are like a man who is in great bodily agony, +and gets sudden relief from a dose of laudanum. The pain stops; +and he feels himself, as he says, in heaven for the time: but he is +too apt to forget that the cause of the pain is still in his body, and +that if he commits the least imprudence, he will bring it back again; +just as happens, I hear, in too many of these hasty and noisy conversions +now-a-days.</p> +<p>That is one extreme. The opposite extreme is that of many old +Roman Catholic saints and hermits who could not forgive themselves at +all, but passed their whole lives in fasting, poverty, and misery, bewailing +their sins till their dying day. That was a mistake. It +sprang out of mistaken doctrines, of which I shall not speak here: but +it did not spring entirely from them. There was in them a seed +of good, for which I shall always love and honour them, even though +I differ from them; and that was, a noble hatred of sin. They +felt the sinfulness of sin; and they hated themselves for having sinned. +The mercy of God made them only the more ashamed of themselves for having +rebelled against him. Their longing after holiness only made them +loathe the more their past unholiness. They carried that feeling +too far: but they were noble people, men and women of God; and we may +say of them, that, ‘Wisdom is justified of all her children.’</p> +<p>But I wish you to run into neither extreme. I only ask you +to look at your past lives, if you have ever been open sinners, as St. +Paul looked at his. There is no sentimental melancholy in him; +no pretending to be miserable; no trying to make himself miserable. +He is saved, and he knows it. He is an apostle, and he stands +boldly on his dignity. He is cheerful, hopeful, joyful: but whenever +he speaks of his past life (and he speaks of it often), it is with noble +shame and sorrow. Then he looks to himself the chief of sinners, +not worthy to be called an apostle, because he persecuted the Church +of Christ. What he is, he will not deny. What he was, he +will not forget, he dare not forget, lest he should forget that the +good which he does, <i>he</i> does not—for in him (that is, in +his flesh, his own natural character), dwelleth no good thing—but +Christ, who dwells in him; lest he should grow puffed up, careless, +self-indulgent; lest he should neglect to subdue his evil passions; +and so, after having preached to others, himself become a castaway.</p> +<p>So let us do, my friends. Let us not be too hasty in forgiving +ourselves. Let us thank God cheerfully for the present. +Let us look on hopefully to the future; let us not look back too much +at the past, or rake up old follies which have been pardoned and done +away. But let us thank God whenever he thinks fit to shew us the +past, and bring our sin to our remembrance. Let us thank him, +when meeting an old acquaintance, passing by an old haunt, looking over +an old letter, reminds us what fools we were ten, twenty, thirty years +ago. Let us thank him for those nightly dreams, in which old tempers, +old meannesses, old sins, rise up again in us into ugly life, and frighten +us by making us in our sleep, what we were once, God forgive us! when +broad awake. I am not superstitious. I know that those dreams +are bred merely of our brain and of our blood. But I know that +they are none the less messages from God. They tell us unmistakeably +that we are the same persons that we were twenty years ago. They +tell us that there is the same infection of nature, the same capability +of sin, in us, that there was of old. That in our flesh dwells +no good thing: that by the grace of God alone we are what we are: and +that did his grace leave us, we might be once more as utter fools as +we were in the wild days of youth. Yes: let us thank God for everything +which reminds us of what we once were. Let us humble ourselves +before him whenever those memories return to us; and let us learn from +them what St. Paul learnt. To be charitable to all who have not +yet learnt the wisdom which God (as we may trust) has taught to us; +to feel for them, feel with them, be sure that they are our brothers, +men of like passions with ourselves, who will be tried by the same standard +as we; whom therefore we must not judge, lest we be judged in turn: +and let us have, as St. Paul had, hope for them all; hope that God who +has forgiven us, will forgive them; that God who has raised us from +the death of sin, to something of the life of righteousness, will raise +them up likewise, in his own good time.</p> +<p>Amen.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XVII. THE BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Isaiah, lvii. 15-21. For thus saith the high and lofty One +that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and +holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to +revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite +ones. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always +wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have +made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote +him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of +his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead +him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I +create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him that is far off, and +to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But +the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters +cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the +wicked.</p> +<p>This is part of Isaiah’s prophecy. He is telling the +Jews that they should come back safe at last to their own land. +He tells them why God had driven them out, and why God was going to +bring them back.</p> +<p>He had driven them out for their sins. But he was not going +to bring them back for their righteousness. He was going to bring +them back out of his own free grace, his own pure love and mercy, which +was wider, deeper, and higher, than all their sins, or than the sins +of the whole world. He had sworn to Abraham to be the friend of +those foolish rebellious Jews, and he would keep his promise for ever. +Their wickedness could not conquer his goodness, or their denying him +make him deny himself.</p> +<p>But one thing he did require of them. Not that they should +turn and do right all at once. That must come afterwards. +But that they should open their eyes, and see that they had done wrong. +He wanted to produce in them the humble and the contrite heart.</p> +<p>Now, as I told you last Sunday, a contrite heart does not merely +mean a broken heart; it means more. It means literally a heart +crushed; a heart ground to powder. You can have no stronger word.</p> +<p>It was this heart which God wished to breed in these rebellious Jews. +A heart like Isaiah’s heart, when he said, after having seen God’s +glory, ‘Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell among +a people of unclean lips.’ A heart like Jeremiah’s +heart, when he said, ‘Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes +a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of +the daughter of my people.’ A heart like Daniel’s +heart, when he confessed before God that, to him and all his people +belonged shame and confusion of face.</p> +<p>Why do I mention these three men? They were not bad men, but +good men. What need had they of a contrite heart?</p> +<p>I mention them, because they were good men. And why were they +good men? For any good works of their own? Not in the least. +What made them good men was, just the having the humble and the contrite +heart; just feeling that in themselves they were as bad as the sinners +round them; that the only thing which kept them out of the idolatry +and profligacy of their neighbours was confessing their own weakness, +and clinging fast to God by faith; confessing that their own righteousness +was as filthy rags, and that God must clothe them with his righteousness.</p> +<p>Do you suppose that Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel would have been +good men, if they had said to themselves, ‘We are prophets; we +are inspired; we know God’s law: and therefore we are righteous; +we are safe: but these people—these idolaters, these drunkards, +these covetous, tyrannous, profligate people round, to whom we preach, +and who know not the law—they are accursed.’ If they +had, they would have said just what the Pharisees said afterwards. +And what came of their saying so? Instead of knowing the Lord +Christ, when he came they crucified him, showing that they were really +worse at heart than the ignorant common people, instead of better.</p> +<p>No, my friends, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Daniel, were, better men +than those round them, just because they had the humble and contrite +heart; because they confessed that the root of sin was in them too, +as much as in their fellow-country men; because they took their share +of the public blame, their share of the public burden.</p> +<p>And their work and wish was, to breed in their fellow-countrymen +the same humble and contrite heart which they had; to make them confess +that their only hope lay in turning back to God, and doing right. +But they could not succeed. Sin was too strong for them. +So as Isaiah had warned the Jews, God did the work himself. God +took the matter into his own hands, and arose out of his place to punish +those Jews, and to make short work with them, by famine, and pestilence, +and earthquake, and foreign invasion, till they were all carried away +captive to Babylon: to see if that would teach them to know that God +was the Lord; to see if that would breed in them the humble and contrite +heart.</p> +<p>But God says to these poor Jews, Do not fancy that I have taken a +spite against you. Not so. I will not contend for ever. +I will not be always angry; for then the spirit would fail before me, +and the souls which I have made. I have made you, God says; and +I love you. I wish to save you, and not to destroy you. +If God really hated any man, do you suppose that he would endure that +man for a moment in his universe? Do you suppose that he would +not sweep that man away, as easily and as quickly as we do a buzzing +gnat when it torments us? Do you fancy that God lets you, or me, +or any man, or any creature live one single instant, except in the hope +of saving him, and of making him better than he is; of making him of +some use, somewhere, some day or other? Do you suppose, I say, +that God endures sinners one moment, save because he loves sinners, +and willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he should be converted +and live? No. ‘God our Saviour,’ says St. Paul +to Timothy, ‘willeth that all men should be saved, and come to +the knowledge of the truth;’ and therefore if they are not saved +it must be their own fault, and not God’s; it must be they who +will not be saved, though God wills that they should be, as Isaiah goes +on to show. For he says—God cries to men, Peace! I +create the fruit of the lips; that is, I give men cause to thank me. +I create it. I make it without their help. I do not sell +them my mercy. I give it them freely. I say, Peace, peace, +to them all, To him who is near, and him who is afar off; peace to all +mankind; peace on earth, and goodwill to men. God is everlastingly +at peace with himself, and at peace with all his creatures, and with +all his works; and he wills, in his boundless love, to bring them all +into his peace, the peace which passeth understanding; that they may +be at peace with him; and, therefore at peace with themselves, and at +peace with each other.</p> +<p>But how can they be at peace, when there is no peace in them? +If they will do wrong; if they will quarrel; if they will defraud each +other; if they will give way to the lusts and passions which war within +them: how can they be at peace? They are like a troubled sea, +says Isaiah, when it cannot rest, which casts up mire and dirt; and +there is no peace to them. It is not God who casts up the mire +and dirt. It is they who cast it up. God has not made them +restless: but they themselves, with their pride, selfishness, violent +passions, longings after this and that. God has not made them +foul and dirty, but they themselves, with their own foul words and foul +deeds, which keep them from being at peace with themselves, because +they are ashamed of them all the while; which keep them from being at +peace with their neighbours; which make them hate and fear their neighbours, +because they know that their neighbours do not respect them, or are +afraid of their neighbours finding them out.</p> +<p>What says brave, plain-spoken St. James?—‘Let no man +say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted +with evil, neither tempteth he any man.’ ‘From whence +come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of +your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye +kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye +have not, because ye ask not.’</p> +<p>But as for God, he says, from him comes nothing but good. Do +not fancy anything else. ‘Do not err, my beloved brethren. +Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down +from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow +of turning. Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, +that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures.’</p> +<p>My friends, all these things were written for our examples. +God grant that we may lay the lesson to heart. A dark night may +come to any one of us, a night of darkness upon darkness, and sorrow +upon sorrow, and bad luck upon bad luck; till we know not what is going +to happen next; and are ready to say with David—‘All thy +waves and thy billows are gone over me;’ and with Hezekiah—‘I +reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: +from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.’</p> +<p>God grant, that before that day comes, we may have so learnt to know +God, as to know that the billows are God’s billows, and the storms +his storms; and, after a while, not to be afraid, though all earthly +hope and help seem swept away. God grant that when trouble comes +after trouble, we may be able to see that our Father in heaven is only +dealing with us as he dealt with those poor Jews; that he is all the +while saying ‘Peace!’ to us, whether we be near him, or +far off from him; and is ready to heal us, the moment that he has worked +in us the broken and contrite heart. And we may trust him that +he will do it. With him one day is as a thousand years. +And in one day of bitter misery he can teach us lessons, which we could +not teach ourselves in a thousand years of reading and studying, or +even of praying. But our prayers, we shall find, have not been +in vain. He has not forgotten one of them; and there is the answer, +in that very sorrow. In sorrow, he is making short work with our +spirits. In one terrible and searching trial our souls may be, +as the Poet says—</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Heated hot with burning fears,<br />And bathed in baths of hissing +tears;<br />And battered by the strokes of doom.<br />To shape and use.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Yes. He will make short work at times with men’s spirits. +He grinds hearts to powder, that they may be broken and contrite before +him: but only that he may heal them; that out of the broken fragments +of the hard, proud, self-deceiving heart of stone, he may create a new +and harder heart of flesh, human and gentle, humble and simple. +And then he will return and have mercy. He will show that he will +not contend for ever. He will show that he does not wish our spirits +to fail before him, but to grow and flourish before him to everlasting +life. He will create the fruit of the lips, and give us cause +to thank him in spirit and in truth. He will show us that he was +nearest when he seemed furthest off; and that just because he is the +high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, who +dwelleth in the high and holy place, for that very reason he dwells +also with the humble and the contrite heart; because that heart alone +can confess his height and its own lowliness, confess its own sin and +his holiness; and so can cling to his majesty by faith, and partake +of his holiness by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit.</p> +<p>God grant that we may all so humble ourselves under his mighty hand, +whenever that hand lies heavy upon us, that he may raise us up in due +time, changed into his divine likeness, from glory to glory; till we +come to the measure of Christ, and to the stature of perfect men, renewed +into the image of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XVIII. ST. PETER</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Matt. xvi. 18. Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build +my Church.</p> +<p>This is St. Peter’s day. It will be well worth our while +to think a little over St. Peter, and what kind of man he was. +For St. Peter was certainly one of the most important and most famous +men who ever lived in the whole world. You just heard what our +Lord said to him in the text. And certainly, from those words, +and from many other things which are told of St. Peter, he was the chief +of the apostles—at least till St. Paul arose.</p> +<p>St. Paul says himself, that he had as much authority as St. Peter, +and that he was not a whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles: +but St. Peter, for some time after our Lord’s death, seems to +have been looked up to, by the rest of the apostles and the disciples, +as their leader, the man of most weight and authority among them. +It was to St. Peter especially that our Lord looked to strengthen the +other apostles, after he had been converted himself. It was to +St. Peter that our Lord first revealed that great gospel, that the Gentiles +were fellow-heirs with the Jews in all God’s promises. The +same thing was afterwards revealed to St. Paul too, and far more fully: +but it was St. Peter who had the great honour of baptizing the first +heathen; and of using, as our Lord had bid him do, the keys of the kingdom +of heaven, to open its doors to all the nations upon earth.</p> +<p>Now, what sort of a man was this on whom the Lord Jesus Christ put +so great an honour? If we say that St. Peter was nothing in himself; +that all the goodness and worth in him was given him by Jesus Christ, +then we must ask, what sort of goodness, what sort of worth, did the +Lord give St. Peter to make him fit for so great an office? And +how did he use Christ’s gifts? For, mind, he might have +used them wrongly, as well as rightly; and the greater gifts he had, +the more harm he would have done if he had used them ill. We shall +see, presently, how he did use them ill, more than once; and how our +Lord had to reprove him, and say very stern and terrible words to him, +to bring him to his senses.</p> +<p>But this we may see, that St. Peter was always a frank, brave, honest, +high-spirited man; who, if he thought that a thing ought to be done, +would do it at once.</p> +<p>The first thing we hear of him is, how Jesus, walking by the Lake +of Galilee, saw Peter with his brother, casting a net into the sea, +for they were fishers. And he said unto them, ‘Follow me, +and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left +their nets, and followed him.’ This was most likely not +the first time that St. Peter had seen our Lord, or heard him speak. +Living in the same part of the country, he must have known all his miracles: +but still it was a great struggle, no doubt, for him (and doubly so +because he was a married man), to throw up his employment, and go wandering +after one who had not where to lay his head: yet he did it, and did +it at once. And you may see that he did it for a much higher and +nobler reason than if he had only gone to wonder at our Lord’s +miracles, as the multitude did, or even to be able to work miracles +himself. Jesus did not say to him, Follow me, and I will give +you the power of working miracles, and being admired, and wondered at; +all he says is, I will make you fishers of men; I will make you able +to get a hold on men’s hearts, and teach them, and make them happier +and better. And for that St. Peter followed him. It seems +as if from the first his wish was to do good to his fellow-creatures.</p> +<p>And, gradually, he seems to have become the spokesman for the other +apostles. When they wished to ask our Lord anything, we generally +find St. Peter asking; and when (as in the gospel for to-day), our Lord +asks them a question, St. Peter answers for them all. Whom say +ye that I am? And Peter answered and said, ‘Thou art the +Christ, the Son of the Living God.’</p> +<p>This is what St. Peter had learnt; because he had kept his eyes and +his ears open, and his heart ready and teachable, that he might see +God’s truth when it should please God to show it him; and God +did show it him: and taught him something which his own eyes and ears +could not teach him; which all his thinking could not have taught him; +which no <i>man</i> could have taught him; flesh and blood could not +reveal to him that Jesus was the Son of God; flesh and blood could not +draw aside the veil of flesh and blood, and make him see in that poor +man of Nazareth, who was called the carpenter’s son, the only-begotten +of the Father, God made man. No. God the Father only could +teach him that, by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit: but do you think +that God would have taught St. Peter that, or that St. Peter could have +learnt it, if his mind had been merely full of thoughts about himself, +and what honour he was to get for himself, or what profit he was to +get for himself, out of the Lord Jesus Christ?</p> +<p>No: St. Peter loved the Lord Jesus; loved him with his whole heart. +When afterwards our Lord asked him, ‘Simon, son of Jonas, lovest +thou me?’ He answered, ‘Lord, thou knowest that I +love thee.’ And because he loved him, he saw how beautiful +and glorious the Lord’s character was; and his eyes were opened +to see that the Lord was too beautiful, too glorious, to be merely a +mortal man; and, at last, to see that he was the brightness of God’s +glory, and the express image of his Father’s person.</p> +<p>But, as I said just now, St. Peter’s great and excellent gifts +might have made him only the more dangerous man, if he used them ill. +And this seems to have been his danger. He was plainly a very +bold and determined man, who knew his own power, and was ready to use +it fearlessly: and what would he be tempted to do! To fancy that +his power belonged to him, and not to Christ; that his wisdom belonged +to himself; that his faith belonged to himself; his authority belonged +to himself; and that, therefore, he could use his excellent gifts as +he liked, and not merely as Christ liked. He was liable, as we +say in homely English, to ‘have his head turned’ by his +honour and his power.</p> +<p>For instance, immediately after our Lord had put this great honour +on him, ‘I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,’ +we find Peter mistaking his power, and, therefore, misusing it. +‘From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, +how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders +and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the +third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, +Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he +turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an +offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but +those that be of men.’ St. Peter’s words, in the Greek +tongue, really seem to mean that St. Peter fancied that <i>he</i> could +protect our Lord; that he had the power of delivering him, by binding +his enemies the Jews, and loosing the Lord himself. That seems +to have been the way in which he took our Lord’s words: but what +does our Lord answer? As stern words as man could hear. +‘Get thee behind me, Satan; for thou art an offence unto me.’ +Or, rather, thou art my stumbling-block. So that St. Peter, while +he fancied himself near to the angels, found out, to his shame, that +he was behaving like a devil, and had to be called Satan to his face; +and that while he thought he could save the Lord Jesus, he found that +he was doing all he could to harm and ruin his master; trying to do +the very work which the Devil tried to do, when he tempted the Lord +Jesus in the wilderness. So near beside each other do heaven and +hell lie. So easy is it to give place to the Devil, and fall into +the worst of sin, just when we are puffed up with spiritual pride.</p> +<p>And more than once afterwards, St. Peter had to learn that same lesson; +when, for instance, he leaped boldly overboard from the boat, and came +walking towards Jesus on the sea. That was noble: worthy of St. +Peter: but he fancied himself a braver man than he was. He became +afraid; and the moment that he became afraid, he began to sink. +Jesus saved him, and then told him why he had become afraid: because +his faith had failed him. He had ceased trusting in Christ’s +power to keep him up; and became helpless at once.</p> +<p>That should have been a lesson to St. Peter, that he was not to be +so very sure of his own faith and his own courage; that without his +Lord he might become cowardly and helpless any moment: but he did not +take that gentle lesson; so he had to learn it once and for all by a +very terrible trial. We all know how he fell;—one day protesting +vehemently to his Lord, ‘Though I die with thee, I will not deny +thee;’ the next, declaring, with oaths and curses, ‘I know +not the man.’ No wonder that when Jesus turned and looked +on him, Peter went out and wept bitterly, as bitter tears of shame as +ever were shed on earth. For he knew, he was sure, that he loved +his Lord all along: and now he had denied him. He who was so bold +and confident, to fall thus! and into the very sins most contrary to +his nature! the very sins in which he would have expected least of all +to fall! He, so frank and honest and brave—He to turn coward. +He to tell a base lie! I dare say, that for the moment he could +hardly believe himself to be himself.</p> +<p>But so it is, my friends. If we forget that all which is good +and strong in us comes from God, and not from ourselves; if we are conceited, +and confident in ourselves; then we cut ourselves off from God’s +grace, and give place to Satan the Devil, that he may sift us like wheat, +as he did St. Peter; and then in some shameful hour, we may find ourselves +saying and doing things which we would never have believed we could +have done. God grant, that if ever we fall into such unexpected +sin, it may happen to us as it did to St. Peter. For Satan gained +little by sifting St. Peter. He sifted out the chaff: but the +wheat was left behind safe for God’s garner. The chaff was +St. Peter’s rashness and self-conceit, which came from his own +sinful nature; and that went, and St. Peter was rid of it for ever. +The wheat was St. Peter’s courage, and faith, and honour, which +came from God; and that remained, and St. Peter kept them for ever. +That, we read, was St. Peter’s conversion; that worked the thorough +and complete change in his character, and made him a new man from that +day forth. And then, after that terrible and fiery trial, St. +Peter was ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which gave him +courage with fervent zeal to preach the gospel of his Crucified Lord, +and at last to be crucified himself for that Lord’s sake; and +so fulfil the Lord’s words to him. ‘When thou wast +young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but +when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another +shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.’ +By that our Lord seems to have meant, ‘You were strong and proud +and self-willed enough in your youth. The day will come when you +will be tamed down, ready and willing to suffer patiently, even agony +from which your flesh and blood may shrink;’ and the Lord’s +words came true. For, say the old stories, when St. Peter was +led to be crucified, he refused to be crucified upright, as the Lord +Jesus had been, saying, ‘That it was too great an honour for him, +who had once denied his Lord, to die the same death as his Lord died.’ +So he was crucified, they say, with his head downward; and ended a glorious +life in a humble martyrdom.</p> +<p>And what may we learn from St. Peter’s character? I think +we may learn this. Frankness, boldness, a high spirit, a stout +will, and an affectionate heart; these are all God’s gifts, and +they are pleasant in his eyes, and ought to be a blessing to the man +who has them. Ought to be a blessing to him, because they are +the stuff out of which a good, and noble, and useful Christian man may +be made. But they need not be a blessing to a man; they are <i>excellent</i> +gifts: but they will not of themselves make a man an <i>excellent</i> +man, who <i>excels</i>; that is, surpasses others in goodness. +We may see that ourselves, from experience. We see too many brave +men, free-spoken men, affectionate men, who come to shame and ruin.</p> +<p>How then can we become excellent men, like St. Peter? By being +baptised, as St. Peter was, with the Holy Ghost and with fire.</p> +<p>Baptized with the Holy Ghost, to put into our hearts good desires; +to make us see what is good, and love what is good, long to do good: +but baptized with fire also. ‘He shall baptize you,’ +John the Baptist said, ‘with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’</p> +<p>Does that seem a hard saying? Do not some at least of you know +what that means? Some know, I believe. All will know one +day; for it is true for all. To all, sooner or later, Christ comes +to baptise them with fire; with the bitter searching affliction which +opens the very secrets of their hearts, and shows them what their souls +are really like, and parts the good from the evil in them, the gold +from the rubbish, the wheat from the chaff. ‘And he shall +gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he shall burn up with +unquenchable fire.’ God grant to each of you, that when +that day comes to you, there may be something in you which will stand +the fire; something worthy to be treasured up in God’s garner, +unto everlasting life.</p> +<p>But do not think that the baptism of fire comes only once for all +to a man, in some terrible affliction, some one awful conviction of +his own sinfulness and nothingness. No; with many—and those, +perhaps, the best people—it goes on month after month, year after +year: by secret trials, chastenings which none but they and God can +understand, the Lord is cleansing them from their secret faults, and +making them to understand wisdom secretly; burning out of them the chaff +of self-will and self-conceit and vanity, and leaving only the pure +gold of his righteousness. How many sweet and holy souls look +cheerful enough before the eyes of man, because they are too humble +and too considerate to intrude their secret sorrows upon the world. +And yet they have their secret sorrows. They carry their cross +unseen all day long, and lie down to sleep on it at night: and they +will carry it for years and years, and to their graves, and to the Throne +of Christ, before they lay it down: and none but they and Christ will +ever know what it was; what was the secret chastisement which he sent +to make that soul better, which seemed to us to be already too good +for earth. So does the Lord watch his people, and tries them with +fire, as the refiner of silver sits by his furnace, watching the melted +metal, till he knows that it is purged from all its dross, by seeing +the image of his own face reflected in it. God grant that our +afflictions may so cleanse our hearts, that at the last Christ may behold +himself in us, and us in himself; that so we may be fit to be with him +where he is, and behold the glory which his Father gave him before the +foundation of the world.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XIX. ELIJAH</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Tenth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>1 Kings xxi. 19, 20. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, +Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? and +thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place +where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even +thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? +And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to +work evil in the sight of the Lord.</p> +<p>Of all the grand personages in the Old Testament, there are few or +none, I think, grander than the prophet Elijah. Consider his strange +and wild life, wandering about in forests and mountains, suddenly appearing, +and suddenly disappearing again, so that no man knew where to find him; +and, as Obadiah said when he met him, ‘If I tell my Lord, Behold, +Elijah is here; then, as soon as I am gone from thee, the Spirit of +the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not.’ Consider, +again, his strange activity and strength, as when he goes, forty days +and forty nights, far away out of Judea, over the waste wilderness, +to Horeb the mount of God; or, as again, when he girds up his loins, +and runs before Ahab’s chariot for many miles to the entrance +of Jezreel. One can fancy him from what the Bible tells us of +him, clearly enough; as a man mysterious and terrible, not merely in +the eyes of women and children, but of soldiers and of kings.</p> +<p>He seems to have been especially a countryman; a mountaineer; born +and bred in Gilead, among the lofty mountains and vast forests, full +of wild beasts, lions and bears, wild bulls and deer, which stretch +for many miles along the further side of the river Jordan, with the +waste desert of rocks and sand beyond them. A wild man, bred up +in a wild country, he had learnt to fear no man, and no thing, but God +alone. We do not know what his youth was like; we do not know +whether he had wife, or children, or any human being who loved him. +Most likely not. He seems to have lived a lonely life, in sad +and bad times. He seems to have had but one thought, that his +country was going to ruin, from idolatry, tyranny, false and covetous +ways; and one determination; to say so; to speak the truth, whatever +it cost him. He had found out that the Lord was God, and not Baal, +or any of the idols; and he would follow the Lord; and tell all Israel +what his own heart had told him, ‘The Lord, he is God,’ +was the one thing which he had to say; and he said it, till it became +his name; whether given him by his parents, or by the people, his name +was Elijah, ‘The Lord is God.’ ‘How long halt +ye between two opinions?’ he cries, upon the greatest day of his +life. ‘If the Lord be God, then follow him; but if Baal, +then follow him.’ How grand he is, on Carmel, throughout +that noble chapter which we read last Sunday. There is no fear +in him, no doubt in him. The poor wild peasant out of the savage +mountains stands up before all Israel, before king, priests, nobles, +and people, and speaks and acts as if he, too, were a king; because +the Spirit of God is in him: and he is right, and he knows that he is +right. And they obey him as if he were a king. Even before +the fire comes down from heaven, and shows that God is on his side, +from the first they obey him. King Ahab himself obeys him, trembles +before him—‘And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that +Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he +answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s +house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou +hast followed Baalim. Now therefore send, and gather to me all +Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and +fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s +table. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered +the prophets together unto mount Carmel.’ The tyrant’s +guilty conscience makes a coward of him: and he quails before the wild +man out of the mountains, who has not where to lay his head, who stands +alone against all the people, though Baal’s prophets are four +hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, +and they eat at the queen’s table; and he only is left and they +seek his life:—yet no man dare touch him, not even the king himself. +Such power is there, such strength is there, in being an honest and +a God-fearing man.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, this was the secret of Elijah’s power. +This is the lesson which Elijah has to teach us. Not to halt between +two opinions. If a thing be true, to stand up for it; if a thing +be right, to do it, whatsoever it may cost us. Make up your minds +then, my friends, to be honest men like Elijah the prophet of old.</p> +<p>For your own sake, for your neighbour’s sake, and for God’s +sake, be honest men.</p> +<p>For your own sake. If you want to be respected; if you want +to be powerful—and it is good to be powerful sometimes—if +God has set you to govern people, whether it be your children and household, +your own farm, your own shop, your own estate, your own country or neighbourhood—Do +you want to know the great secret of success?—Be honest and brave. +Let your word be as good as your thought, and your deed as good as your +word. Who is the man who is respected? Who is the man who +has influence? The complaisant man—the cringing man—the +man who cannot say No, or dare not say No? Not he. The passionate +man who loses his temper when anything goes wrong, who swears and scolds, +and instead of making others do right, himself does wrong, and lowers +himself just when he ought to command respect? My experience is—not +he: but the man who says honestly and quietly what he thinks, and does +fearlessly and quietly what he knows. People who differ from him +will respect him, because he acts up to his principles. When they +are in difficulty or trouble, they will go and ask his advice, just +because they know they will get an honest answer. They will overlook +a little roughness in him; they will excuse his speaking unpleasant +truths: because they can trust him, even though he is plain-spoken.</p> +<p>For your neighbour’s sake, I say; and again, for your children’s +sake; for the sake of all with whom you have to do, be honest and brave. +For our children—O my friends, we cannot do a crueller thing by +them than to let them see that we are inconsistent. If they hear +us say one thing and do another—if, while we preach to them we +do not practice ourselves, they will never respect us, and never obey +us from love and principle. If they do obey us, it will be only +before our faces, and from fear. If they see us doing only what +we like, when our backs are turned they will do what they like.</p> +<p>And worse will come than their not respecting us—they will +learn not to respect God. If they see that we do not respect truth +and honesty, they will not respect truth and honesty; and he who does +not respect them, does not respect God. They will learn to look +on religion as a sham. If we are inconsistent, they will be profane.</p> +<p>But some may say—‘I have no power; and I want none. +I have no people under me for whom I am responsible.’</p> +<p>Then, if you think that you need not be honest and brave for your +own sake, or for other peoples’ sake, be honest and brave for +God’s sake.</p> +<p>Do you ask what I mean? I mean this. Recollect that truth +belongs to God. That if a thing is true, it is true because God +made it so, and not otherwise; and therefore, if you deny truth, you +fight against God. If you are honest, and stand up for truth, +you stand up for God, and what God has done.</p> +<p>And recollect this, too. If a thing be right for you to do, +God has made it right, and God wills you to do it; and, therefore, if +you do not do your duty, you are fighting against God; and if you do +your duty, you are a fellow-worker with God, fulfilling God’s +will. Therefore, I say, Be honest and brave for God’s sake. +And in this way, my friends, all may be brave, all may be noble. +Speak the truth, and do your duty, because it is the will of God. +Poor, weak women, people without scholarship, cleverness, power, may +live glorious lives, and die glorious deaths, and God’s strength +may be made perfect in their weakness. They may live, did I say? +I may say they have lived, and have died, already, by thousands. +When we read the stories of the old martyrs who, in the heathen persecution, +died like heroes rather than deny Christ, and scorned to save themselves +by telling what they knew to be a lie, but preferred truth to all that +makes life worth having:—how many of them—I may say the +greater part of them—were poor creatures enough in the eyes of +man, though they were rich enough, noble enough, in the eyes of God +who inspired them. ‘Few rich and few noble,’ as the +apostle says, ‘were called.’ It was to poor people, +old people, weak women, ill-used and untaught slaves, that God gave +grace to defy all the torments which the heathen could heap on them, +and to defy the scourge and the rack, the wild beasts and the fire, +sooner than foul their lips and their souls by denying Christ, and worshipping +the idols which they knew were nothing, and worth nothing.</p> +<p>And so it may be with any of you here; whosoever you may be, however +poor, however humble. Though your opportunities may be small, +your station lowly, your knowledge little; though you may be stupid +in mind, slow of speech, weakly of body, yet if you but make up your +mind to say the thing which is true, and to do the thing which is right, +you may be strong with the strength of God, and glorious with the glory +of Christ.</p> +<p>It is a grand thing, no doubt, to be like Elijah, a stern and bold +prophet, standing up alone against a tyrant king and a sinful people; +but it is even a greater thing to be like that famous martyr in old +time, St. Blandina, who, though she was but a slave, and so weakly, +and mean, and fearful in body, that her mistress and all her friends +feared that she would deny Christ at the very sight of the torments +prepared for her, and save herself by sacrificing to the idols, yet +endured, day after day, tortures too horrible to speak of, without cry +or groan, or any word, save ‘I am a Christian;’ and, having +outlived all her fellow-martyrs, died at last victorious over pain and +temptation, so that the very heathen who tortured her broke out in admiration +of her courage, and confessed that no woman had ever endured so many +and so grievous torments. So may God’s strength be made +perfect in woman’s weakness.</p> +<p>You are not called to endure such things. No: but you, and +I, and every Christian soul are called on to do what we know to be right. +Not to halt between two opinions: but if God be God, to follow Him. +If we make up our minds to do that, we shall be sure to have our trials: +but we shall be safe, because we are on God’s side, and God on +ours. And if God be with us, what matter if the whole world be +against us? For which is the stronger of the two, the whole world, +or God who made it, and rules it, and will rule it for ever?</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XX. THE LOFTINESS OF HUMILITY</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>1 Peter v. 5. Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the +proud, and giveth grace to the humble.</p> +<p>This is St. Peter’s command. Are we really inclined to +obey it? For, if we are, there is nothing more easy. There +is no vice so easy to get rid of as pride: if one wishes. Nothing +so easy as to be humble: if one wishes.</p> +<p>That may seem a strange saying, considering that self-conceit is +the vice of all others to which man is most given; the first sin, and +the last sin, and that which is said to be the most difficult to cure. +But what I say is true nevertheless.</p> +<p>Whosoever wishes to get rid of pride may do so. Whosoever wishes +to be humble need not go far to humble himself.</p> +<p>But how? Simply by being honest with himself, and looking at +himself as he is.</p> +<p>Let a man recollect honestly and faithfully his past life; let him +recollect his sayings and doings for the past week; even for the past +twenty-four hours: and I will warrant that man that he will recollect +something, or, perhaps, many things which will not raise him in his +own eyes; something which he had sooner not have said or done; something +which, if he is a foolish man, he will try to forget, because it makes +him ashamed of himself; something which, if he is a wise man, he will +not try to forget, just because it makes him ashamed of himself; and +a very good thing for him that he should be so. I know that it +is so for me; and therefore I suppose it is so for every man and woman +in this Church.</p> +<p>I am not going to give any examples. I am not going to say,—‘Suppose +you thought this and this about yourself, and were proud of it; and +then suppose that you recollected that you had done that and that: would +you not feel very much taken down in your own conceit?’</p> +<p>I like that personal kind of preaching less and less. Those +random shots are dangerous and cruel; likely to hit the wrong person, +and hurt their feelings unnecessarily. It is very easy to say +a hard thing: but not so easy to say it to the right person and at the +right time.</p> +<p>No. The heart knoweth its own bitterness. Almost every +one has something to be ashamed of, more or less, which no one but himself +and God knows of; and which, perhaps, it is better that no one but he +and God should know.</p> +<p>I do not mean any great sin, or great shame—God forbid; but +some weak point, as we call it. Something which he had better +not say or do; and yet which he is in the habit of saying and doing. +I do not ask what it is. With some it may be a mere pardonable +weakness; with others it may be a very serious and dangerous fault. +All I ask now is, that each and every one of us should try and find +it out, and feel it, and keep it in mind; that we may be of a humble +spirit with the lowly, which is better than dividing the spoil with +the proud.</p> +<p>But why better?</p> +<p>The world and human nature look up to the proud successful man. +One is apt to say, ‘Happy is the man who has plenty to be proud +of. Happy is the man who can divide the spoil of this world with +the successful of this world. Happy is the man who can look down +on his fellow-men, and stand over them, and manage them, and make use +of them, and get his profit out of them.’</p> +<p>But that is a mistake. That is the high-mindedness which goes +before a fall, which comes not from above, but is always earthly, often +sensual, and sometimes devilish. The true and safe high-mindedness, +which comes from above, is none other than humility. For, if you +will look at it aright, the humble man is really more high-minded than +the proud man. Think. Suppose two men equal in understanding, +in rank, in wealth, in what else you like, one of them proud, the other +humble. The proud man thinks—‘How much better, wiser, +richer, more highly born, more religious, more orthodox, am I than other +people round me.’ Not, of course, than all round him, but +than those whom he thinks beneath him. Therefore he is always +comparing himself with those below himself; always watching those things +in them in which he thinks them worse, meaner than himself; he is always +looking down on his neighbours.</p> +<p>Now, which is more high-minded; which is nobler; which is more fit +for a man; to look down, or to look up? At all events the humble +man <i>looks up</i>. He thinks, ‘How much worse, not how +much better, am I than other people.’ He looks at their +good points, and compares them with his own bad ones. He admires +them for those things in which they surpass him. He thinks of—perhaps +he loves to read of—men superior to himself in goodness, wisdom, +courage. He pleases himself with the example of brave and righteous +deeds, even though he fears that he cannot copy them; and so he is always +looking up. His mind is filled with high thoughts, though they +be about others, not about himself. If he be a truly Christian +man, his thoughts rise higher still. He thinks of Christ and of +God, and compares his weakness, ignorance, and sinfulness with their +perfect power, wisdom, goodness. Do you not see that this man’s +mind is full of higher, nobler thoughts than that of the proud man? +Is he not more high-minded who is looking up, up to God himself, for +what is good, noble, heavenly? Even though it makes him feel small, +poor, weak, and sinful in comparison, still his mind is full of grace, +and wisdom, and glory. The proud man, meanwhile, for the sake +of feeding his own self-conceit at other men’s expense, is filling +his mind with low, mean, earthly thoughts about the weaknesses, sins, +and follies, of the world around him. Is not he truly low-minded, +thinking about low things?</p> +<p>Now, I tell you, my friends, that both have their reward. That +the humble man, as years roll on, becomes more and more noble, and the +proud man becomes more and more low-minded; and finds that pride goes +before a fall in more senses than one. Yes. There is nothing +more hurtful to our own minds and hearts than a domineering, contemptuous +frame of mind. It may be pleasant to our own self-conceit: but +it is only a sweet poison. A man lowers his own character by it. +He takes the shape of what he is always looking at; and, if he looks +at base and low things, he becomes base and low himself; just as slave-owners, +all over the world, and in all time, sooner and later, by living among +slaves, learn to copy their own slaves’ vices; and, while they +oppress and look down on their fellow-man, become passionate and brutal, +false and greedy, like the poor wretches whom they oppress.</p> +<p>Better, better to be of a lowly spirit. Better to think of +those who are nobler than ourselves, even though by so doing we are +ashamed of ourselves all day long. What loftier thoughts can man +have? What higher and purer air can a man’s soul breathe? +Yes, my friends; believe it, and be sure of it. The truly high-minded +man is not the proud man, who tries to get a little pitiful satisfaction +from finding his brother men, as he chooses to fancy, a little weaker, +a little more ignorant, a little more foolish, a little more ridiculous, +than his own weak, ignorant, foolish, and, perhaps, ridiculous self. +Not he; but the man who is always looking upwards to goodness, to good +men, and to the all-good God: filling his soul with the sight of an +excellence to which he thinks he can never attain; and saying, with +David, ‘All my delight is in the saints that dwell in the earth, +and in those who excel in virtue.’</p> +<p>But I do not say that he cannot attain to that excellence. +To the goodness of God, of course, no man can; but to the goodness of +man he may. For what man has done, man may do; and the grace of +God which gave power to one man to rise above sin, and weakness, and +ignorance, will give power to others also. But only to those who +look upward, at better men than themselves: not to those who look down, +like the Pharisee, but to those who look up like the Publican; for, +as the text says, ‘God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to +the humble.’</p> +<p>And why does God resist and set himself against the proud? +To turn him out of his evil way, of course, if by any means he may be +converted (that is, turned round) and live. For the proud man +has put himself into a wrong position; where no immortal soul ought +to be. He is looking away from God, and down upon men; and so +he has turned his face and thoughts away from God, the fountain of light +and life; and is trying to do without God, and to stand in his own strength, +and not in God’s grace, and to be somebody in himself, instead +of being only in God, in whom we live and move and have our being. +So he has set himself against God; and God will, in mercy to that foolish +man’s soul, set himself against him. God will humble him; +God will overthrow him; God will bring his plans to nought; if by any +means he may make that man ashamed of himself, and empty him of his +self-conceit, that he may turn and repent in dust and ashes, when he +finds out what those proud Laodicæan Christians of old had to +find out—that all the while that they were saying, ‘I am +rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,’ they +did not know that they were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, +and naked.</p> +<p>And how does God give grace to the humble? My friends, even +the wise heathen knew that. Listen to a heathen; <a name="citation328"></a><a href="#footnote328">{328}</a> +a good and a wise man, though; and one who was not far from the kingdom +of God, or he would not have written such words as these,—</p> +<p>‘It is our duty,’ he says, ‘to turn our minds to +the best of everything; so as not merely to enjoy what we read, but +to be improved by it. And we shall do that, by reading the histories +of good and great men, which will, in our minds, produce an emulation +and eagerness, which may stir us up to imitation. We may be pleased +with the work of a man’s hands, and yet set little store by the +workman. Perfumes and fine colours we may like well enough: but +that will not make us wish to be perfumers, or painters: but goodness, +which is the work, not of a man’s hands, but of his soul, makes +us not only admire what is done, but long to do the like. And +therefore,’ he says, he thought it good to write the lives ‘of +famous and good men, and to set their examples before his countrymen. +And having begun to do this,’ he says in another place, ‘for +the sake of others, he found himself going on, and liking his labour, +for his own sake: for the virtues of those great men served him as a +looking-glass, in which he might see how, more or less, to order and +adorn his own life. Indeed, it could be compared,’ he says, +‘to nothing less than living with the great souls who were dead +and gone, and choosing out of their actions all that was noblest and +worthiest to know. What greater pleasure could there be than that,’ +he asks, ‘or what better means to improve his soul? By filling +his mind with pictures of the best and worthiest characters, he was +able to free himself from any low, malicious, mean thoughts, which he +might catch from bad company. If he was forced to mix at times +with base men, he could wash out the stains of their bad thoughts and +words, by training himself in a calm and happy temper to view those +noble examples.’ So says the wise heathen. Was not +he happier, wiser, better, a thousand times, thus keeping himself humble +by looking upwards, than if he had been feeding his petty pride by looking +down, and saying, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not as other men +are?’</p> +<p>If you wish, then, to be truly high-minded, by being truly humble, +read of, and think of, better men, wiser men, braver men, more useful +men than you are. Above all, if you be Christians, think of Christ +himself. That good old heathen took the best patterns which he +could find: but after all, they were but imperfect, sinful men: but +you have an example such as he never dreamed of; a perfect man, and +perfect God in one. Let the thought of Christ keep you always +humble: and yet let it lift you up to the highest, noblest, purest thoughts +which man can have, as it will.</p> +<p>For all that this old heathen says of the use of examples of good +men, all that, and far more, St. Paul says, almost in the same words. +By looking at Christ, he says, we rise and sit with him in heavenly +places, and enjoy the sight of His perfect goodness; ashamed of ourselves, +indeed, and bowed to the very dust by the feeling of our own unworthiness; +and yet filled with the thought of his worthiness, till, by looking +we begin to admire, and, by admiring, we begin to love; and so are drawn +and lifted up to him, till, by beholding as in a glass the glory of +the Lord, and the perfect beauty of his character, we become changed +into the same image, from glory to glory: and thus, instead of receiving +the just punishment of pride and contempt, which is lowering our characters +to the level of those on whom we look down, we shall receive the just +reward of true humility, which is having our characters raised to the +level of him up to whom we look.</p> +<p>Oh young people, think of this; and remember why God has given you +the advantage of scholarship and education. Not that you may be +proud of the very little you know; not that you may look down on those +who are not as well instructed as you are; not that you may waste your +time over silly books, which teach you only to laugh at the follies +and ignorance of some of your fellow-men, to whom God has not given +as much as to you; but that you may learn what great and good men have +lived, and still live, in the world; what wise, and good, and useful +things have been, and are being, done all around you; and to copy them: +above all, that you may look up to Christ, and through Christ, to God, +and learn to copy him; till you come, as St. Paul says, to be perfect +men; to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. To +which may he bring you all of his mercy. Amen.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXI. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Trinity Sunday</i>.)</p> +<p>John v. 19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, 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.</p> +<p>This is Trinity Sunday; and on this day we are especially to think +of the mystery of the ever-blessed Trinity, and on the Athanasian Creed, +which was read this morning. Now there is much in this Athanasian +Creed, which simple country people, however good their natural abilities +may be, cannot be expected to understand. The Creed was written +by scholars, and for scholars; and for very deep scholars, too, far +deeper than I pretend to be; and the reasonable way for most men to +think of the Athanasian Creed, will be to take it very much upon trust, +as a child takes on trust what his father tells him, even though he +cannot understand it himself; or, as we all believe, that the earth +moves round the sun, and not the sun round the earth, though we cannot +prove it; but only believe it, because wiser men than we have proved +it. So we must think of the Athanasian Creed, and say to ourselves—‘Wiser +men than I can ever hope to be have settled that this is the true doctrine, +and the true meaning of Holy Scripture, and I will believe them. +They must know best.’ Still, one is bound to understand +as much as one can; one is bound to be able to give some reason for +the faith which is in us; and, above all, one is bound not to hold false +doctrines, which are contrary to the Athanasian Creed and to the Bible.</p> +<p>Some people are too apt to say now-a-days, ‘But what matter +if one does hold false doctrine? That is a mistake of the head +and not of the heart. Provided a man lives a good life, what matter +what his doctrines are?’ No doubt, my friends, if a man +lives a good life, all is well: but <i>do</i> people live good lives? +I am not speaking of infidels. Thank God, there are none here; +to God let us leave them, trusting in the Good Friday collect, and the +goodwill of God, which is, that all should be saved and come to the +knowledge of the truth.</p> +<p>But, as for Christian people, this I will tell you, that unless you +hold true doctrines, you will <i>not</i> lead good lives. My experience +is, that people are often wrong, when they say false doctrine is a mistake +of the head and not of the heart. I believe false doctrine is +very often not bred in the head at all, but in the heart, in the very +bottom of a man’s soul; that it rises out of his heart into his +head; and that if his heart was right with God, he would begin at once +to have clearer and truer notions of the true Christian faith. +I do not say that it is always so; God forbid! But I do say that +it is often so, because I see it so; because I see every day false doctrines +about God making men lead bad lives, and commit actual sins; take God’s +name in vain, dishonour their fathers and mothers, lie, cheat, bear +false witness against their neighbours, and covet other men’s +goods. I say, I see it, and I must believe my own eyes and ears; +and when I do see it, I begin to understand the text which says, ‘This +is eternal life, to know thee, the only God, and Jesus Christ, whom +thou hast sent;’ and I begin to understand the Athanasian Creed, +which says, that if a ‘man does not believe rightly the name of +God, and the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, he will perish everlastingly; +his soul will decay more and more, become more and more weak, unhealthy +and corrupt, till he perishes everlastingly. And whatsoever that +may mean, it must mean something most awful and terrible, worse than +all the evil which ever happened to us since we were born.</p> +<p>There is a very serious example of this, to my mind, in what is called +the Greek Church; the Greeks and Russians. They split off from +the rest of Christ’s Catholic Church, many hundred years ago, +because they would not hold with the rest of the Church that the Holy +Spirit proceeded from the Son as well as from the Father. They +said that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father alone. Now +that may seem a slight matter of words: but I cannot help thinking that +it has been a very solemn matter of practice with them. It seems +to me—God forgive me if I am judging them hardly!—that because +they denied that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Son, they forgot +that he was the Spirit of the Son, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, by whom +he says for ever, ‘Father, not my will but thine be done!’ +and so they forgot that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Sonship, the +Spirit of adoption, which must proceed and come from Christ to us, that +we may call God our Father, and say with Christ, ‘Father, I come +to do thy will;’ and so, in course of time, they seem to have +forgotten that Christian men were in any real practical sense, God’s +children; and when people forget that they are God’s children, +they forget soon enough to behave like God’s children, and to +live righteous and Godlike lives.</p> +<p>I give you this as an example of what I mean; how not believing rightly +the Athanasian Creed may make a man lead a bad life.</p> +<p>Now let me give an example nearer home; one which has to do with +you and me. God grant that we may all lay it to heart. You +read, in the Athanasian Creed, that we are not to confound the persons +of the Trinity, nor divide the substance; but to believe that such as +the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost, the Glory +equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Now there is little fear of our +confounding the persons, as some people used to do in old times; but +there is great fear of our dividing God’s substance, parting God’s +substance, that is, fancying that God is made up of different parts, +and not perfectly one God.</p> +<p>For people are very apt to talk as if God’s love and God’s +justice were two different things, different parts of God; as if his +justice had to be satisfied in one way, and his love in another; as +if his justice wished to destroy sinners, and his love wished to save +sinners; and so they talk as if there was a division in God; as if different +attributes of God were pulling two different ways, and that God has +parts of which one desires to do one thing, and one part another. +It sounds shocking, I am sure you will feel, when I put it into plain +English. I wish it to sound shocking. I wish you to feel +how wrong and heretical it is; that you may keep clear of such notions, +and believe the orthodox faith, that God has neither parts nor passions, +nor division in his substance at all, but is absolutely and substantially +one; and that, therefore, his love and his justice are the very same +things; his justice, however severe it may seem, is perfect love and +kindness; and his love is no indulgence, but perfect justice.</p> +<p>But you may say—Very likely that is true; but why need we take +so much care to believe it?</p> +<p>It is always worth while to know what is true. You are children +of the Light, and of the Truth, adopted by the God of truth, that you +may know the truth and do it, and no mistake or falsehood can, by any +possibility, do anything for you, but harm you. Always, therefore, +try to find out and believe what is true concerning everything; and, +above all, concerning God, on whom all depend, in whom you live, and +move, and have your being. For all things in heaven and earth +depend on God; and, therefore, if you have wrong notions about God, +you will sooner or later have wrong notions about everything else.</p> +<p>For see, now, how this false notion of God’s justice and love +being different things, leads people into a worse error still. +A man goes on to fancy, that while God the Son is full of love towards +sinners, God the Father is (or at least was once) only full of justice +and wrath against sinners; but if a man thinks that God the Son loves +him better than God the Father does, then, of course, he will love God +the Son better than he loves God the Father. He will think of +Christ the Son with pleasure and gratitude, because he says to himself, +Christ loves me, cares for me; I can have pity and tenderness from him, +if I do wrong. While of God the Father he thinks only with dread +and secret dislike. Thus, from dividing the substance, he has +been led on to confound the persons, imputing to the Son alone that +which is equally true of the Father, till he comes (as I have known +men do) to make for himself, as it were, a Heavenly Father of Jesus +Christ the Son.</p> +<p>Now, my dear friends, it does seem to me, that if anything can grieve +the Spirit of Christ, and the sacred heart of Jesus, this is the way +to grieve him. Oh read your Bibles, and you will see this, that +whatever Jesus came down on earth for, it certainly was not to make +men love him better than they love the Father, and honour him more than +they honour the Father, and rob the Father of his glory, to give it +to Jesus. What did the Lord Jesus say himself? That he did +not come to seek his own honour, or shew forth his own glory, or do +his own will: but his Father’s honour, his Father’s glory, +his Father’s will. Though he was equal with the Father, +as touching his Godhead, yet he disguised himself, if I may so say, +and took on him the form of a servant, and was despised and rejected +of men. Why! That men might honour his Father rather than +him. That men might not be so dazzled by his glory, as to forget +his Father’s glory. Therefore he bade his apostles, while +he was on earth, tell no man that he was the Christ. Therefore, +when he worked his work of love and mercy, he took care to tell the +Jews that they were not his works, but the works of his Father who sent +him; that he was not doing his own will, but his Father’s. +Therefore he was always preaching of the Father in heaven, and holding +him up to men as the perfection of all love and goodness and glory: +and only once or twice, it seems, when he was compelled, as it were, +for very truth’s sake, did he say openly who he was, and claim +his co-equal and co-eternal glory, saying, ‘Before Abraham was, +I am.’</p> +<p>And, after all this, if anything can grieve him now, must it not +grieve him to see men fancying that he is better than his Father is, +more loving and merciful than his Father is, more worthy of our trust, +and faith, and adoration, and gratitude than his Father is?—His +Father, for whose honour he was jealous with a divine jealousy—His +Father, who, he knows well, loved the world which shrinks from him so +well that he spared not his only begotten Son, but freely gave him up +for it.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, believe me, if any sin of man can add a fresh thorn +to Christ’s crown, it is to see men, under pretence of honouring +him, dishonouring his Father. For just think for once of this—What +nobler feeling on earth than the love of a son to his father? +What greater pain to a good son than to see his father dishonoured, +and put down below him? But what is the love of an earthly son +to an earthly father, compared to the love of The Son to the Father? +What is the jealousy of an earthly son for his father’s honour, +compared with the jealousy of God the Son for God the Father’s +honour?</p> +<p>All men, the Father has appointed, are to honour the Son, even as +they honour the Father. Because, as the Athanasian Creed says, +‘such as the Father is, such is the Son.’ But, if +that be true, we are to honour the Father even as we honour the Son; +because such as the Son is, such is the Father. Both are true, +and we must believe both; and therefore we must not give to Christ the +honour which we should to a loving friend, and give to the Father the +honour which we should to an awful judge. We must give them both +the same honour. If we have a godly fear of the Father, we ought +to have a godly fear of Christ; and if we trust Christ, we ought to +trust the Father also. We must believe that Jesus Christ, the +Son, is the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express +image of his person; and therefore we must believe that because Jesus +is love, therefore the Father is love; because Jesus is long-suffering, +therefore the Father is long-suffering; because Jesus came to save the +world, therefore the Father must have sent him to save the world, or +he would never have come; for he does nothing, he says, of himself. +Because we can trust Jesus utterly, therefore we can trust the Father +utterly. Because we believe that the Son has life in himself, +to give to whomsoever he will, we must believe that the Father has life +in himself likewise, and not, as some seem to fancy, only the power +of death and destruction. Because nothing can separate us from +the love of Jesus, nothing can separate us from the love of his Father +and our Father, whose name is Light and Love.</p> +<p>If we believe this, we shall indeed honour the Father, and indeed +honour the Son likewise. But if we do not, we shall dishonour +the Son, while we fancy we are honouring him: we shall rob Christ of +his true glory, to give him a false glory, which he abhors. If +we fancy that he does anything for us without his Father’s commands; +if we fancy that he feels anything for us which his Father does not +feel, and has not always felt likewise: then we dishonour him. +For his glory is to be a perfectly good and obedient Son, and we fancy +him—may he forgive us for it!—a self-willed Son. This +is Christ’s glory, that though he is equal with his Father, he +obeys his Father. If he were not equal to his Father, there would +be less glory in his obeying him. Take away the mystery of the +ever-blessed Trinity, and you rob Christ of his highest glory, and destroy +the most beautiful thing in heaven, except one. The most beautiful +and noble thing of all in heaven—that (if you will receive it) +out of which all other beautiful and noble things in heaven and earth +come, is the Father for ever saying to the Son, ‘Thou art my Son; +this day have I begotten thee. And in thee I am well pleased.’ +The other most beautiful thing is the co-equal and co-eternal Son for +ever saying to the Father, ‘Father, not my will, but thine be +done. I come to do thy will, O God. Thy law is written in +my heart.’</p> +<p>Do you not see it? Oh, my dear friends, I see but a very little +of it. Who am I, that I should comprehend God? And who am +I, that I should be able to make you understand the glory of God, by +any dull words of mine? But God can make you understand it. + The Spirit of God can and will shew you the glory of God. Because +he proceedeth from the Father, he will shew you what the glory of the +Father is like. Because he proceedeth from the Son, he will shew +you what the glory of the Son is like. Because he is consubstantial, +co-equal, and co-eternal with the Father and the Son, he will shew you +that the glory of the Father and the Son is not the glory of mere power; +but a moral and spiritual glory, the glory of having a perfectly glorious, +noble, and beautiful character. And unless he shews you that, +you will never be thoroughly good men. For it is a strange thing +that men are always trying, more or less, to be like God. And +yet, not a strange thing; for it is a sign that we all came from God, +and can get no rest till we are come back to God, because God calls +us all to be his children and be like him. A blessed thing it +is, if we try to be like the true God: but a sad and fearful thing, +if we try to be like some false god of our own invention. But +so it is. It was so even among the old heathen. Whatsoever +a man fancies God to be like, that he will try himself to be like. +So if you fancy than God the Father’s glory is stern and awful +power, that he is extreme to mark what is done amiss, or stands severely +on his own rights, then you will do the same; you will be extreme to +mark what is done amiss; you will stand severely on your rights; you +will grow stern and harsh, unfeeling to your children and workmen, and +fond of shewing your power, just for the sake of shewing it. But +if you believe that the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is +all one; and that it is a loving glory if you believe that such as Jesus +Christ is, such is his Father, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, +and of great kindness, and repenting him of the evil; if you believe +that your Father in heaven is perfect, just because he sendeth his sun +to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and +on the unjust, and is good to the unthankful and the evil—if you +believe this, I say, then you will be good to the unthankful and the +evil; you will be long-suffering and tender; good fathers, good masters, +good neighbours; and your characters will become patient, generous, +forgiving, truly noble, truly godlike. And all because you believe +the Athanasian Creed in spirit and in truth.</p> +<p>In like manner, if you believe that Jesus Christ is not a perfect +Son; if you fancy that he has any will but his Father’s will; +that he has any work but what his Father gives him to do, who has committed +all things into his hands; that he knows anything but what his Father +sheweth him, who sheweth him all things, because he loveth him; then +you will be tempted to wish for power and honour of your own; to become +ambitious, self-willed, vain, and disobedient to your parents.</p> +<p>But if you believe that Jesus is a perfect Son, all that you would +wish your son to be to you, and millions of times more; and if you believe +that that very thing is Christ’s glory; that his glory consists +in being a perfect Son, perfectly obedient, having no will or wish but +his Father’s; then will you, by thus seeing Christ in spirit and +in truth, see how beautiful and noble it is to be good sons; and you +will long to try to be good sons: and what you long for, and try for, +you will surely be, in God’s good time; for he has promised,—‘Blessed +are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be +filled.’ And all through believing the Athanasian Creed? +All? Yes, all.</p> +<p>But will not the Holy Spirit teach us, without the Athanasian Creed?</p> +<p>The Holy Spirit will teach us. Must teach us, if we are really +to learn one word of all this in spirit and in truth. But whether +the Holy Spirit does teach us, will depend, I fear, very much upon whether +we pray for him; and whether we pray for him aright will depend on whether +we know who he is, and what he is like; and that, again, the Athanasian +Creed will tell us.</p> +<p>Now, go home with God’s blessing. Remember that such +as the Son is, such is the Father, and such is the Holy Ghost. +Pray to be made good fathers, after the likeness of The Father, from +whom every fatherhood in heaven and earth is named; good sons, after +the likeness of God The Son; and good and holy spirits, after the likeness +of The Holy Spirit; and you will be such at last, in God’s good +time, as far as man can become like God; for you will be praying for +the Holy Spirit himself, and he will hear you, and come to you, and +abide with you, and all will be well.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXII. THE TORMENT OF FEAR</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>First Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>1 John iv. 16, 18. And we have known and believed the love +that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love +dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, +that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, +so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect +love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth +is not made perfect in love.</p> +<p>The text tells us how to get one of the greatest blessings; a blessing +which all long for, but all do not find; and that is a happy death. +All wish to die happily; even bad men. Like Balaam when he was +committing a great sin, they can say, ‘Let me die the death of +the righteous, and let my last end be like his.’ But meanwhile, +like Balaam, they find it too hard to live the life of the righteous, +which is the only way to die the death of the righteous. But something +within them (if false preachers will but leave them alone) tells them +that they will not succeed. Reason and common sense tell them +so: for how can a man expect to get to a place without travelling the +road which leads to it? And the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth +and right, tells them that they will not succeed: for how can a man +win happiness, save by doing right? Every one shall ‘receive +the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether +it be good or bad.’ So says Scripture; and so say men’s +own hearts, by the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit. And +therefore such men’s fear of death continues. And why? +The text tells us the secret. As long as we do not love God, we +shall be tormented with fear of death. And as long as we do not +love our neighbour, we shall not love God. We may try, as thousands +have tried, and as thousands try still, to love God without loving their +neighbour; to be very religious, and worship God, and sing His praises, +and think over all His mercy to them, and all that he has done for them, +by the death of His blessed Son Jesus Christ; and so to persuade themselves +and God that they love Him, while they keep in their hearts selfishness, +pride, spite, uncharitableness: but they do not succeed. If they +think they succeed, they are only deceiving themselves. So says +St. John. ‘He who loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, +how can he love God whom he hath not seen?’ But they cannot +deceive themselves long. You will see, if you watch such people, +and still more if you watch yourselves, that if you do not love your +neighbours in spirit and in truth, then those tormenting fears soon +come back again, worse than ever. Ay, whenever we indulge ourselves +in hard words and cruel judgments, the thought of God seems darkened +to us there and then; the face of God seems turned from us; and peace +of mind and brightness of spirit, and lightness of soul, do not come +back to us, till we have confessed our sins, and have let the kindly, +the charitable, the merciful thoughts rise up in us once more, as, by +the grace of Christ, they will rise up.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, as far as I can see, people are filled with the +peace of God just in as far as they are at peace with their fellow-men. +They are bright, calm, and content, looking forward with cheerfulness +to death, and with a humble and holy boldness to judgment, just in as +far as their hearts are filled with love, gentleness, kindness, to all +that God has made. They dwell in God, and God in them, and perfect +love has cast out fear.</p> +<p>But if a man does not live in love, then sooner or later he will +hear a voice within him, which whispers, Thou art going wrong; and, +if thou art going wrong, how canst thou end at the right place? +None but the right road can end there. The wrong road must lead +to the wrong place.</p> +<p>Then the man gets disturbed and terrified in his mind, and tormented +with fears, as the text says. He knows that the day of judgment +is coming, and he has no boldness to meet it. He shrinks from +the thought of death, of judgment, of God. He thinks—How +shall I meet my God? I do not love my neighbour. I do not +love God; and God does not love me. The truth is, that the man +cannot love God even if he will. He looks on God as his enemy, +whom he has offended, who is coming to take vengeance on him. +And, as long as we are afraid of any one, and fancy that they hate us, +and are going to hurt us, we cannot love them. So the man is tormented +with fear; fear of death, fear of judgment, fear of meeting God.</p> +<p>Then he takes to superstition; he runs from preacher to preacher; +and what not?—There is no folly men have not committed, and do +not commit still, to rid themselves of that tormenting fear. But +they do not rid themselves of it. Sermons, church-goings, almsgivings; +leaving the Church and turning Dissenters or Roman Catholics; joining +this sect and that sect; nothing will rid a man of his superstitious +fear: nothing but believing the blessed message of the text.</p> +<p>And what does the text say? It says this,—‘God +is love.’ God does not hate thee, He loves thee. He +willeth not thy death, O sinner, but rather that thou shouldest turn +from thy wickedness and live. Thy sins have not made Him hate +thee: but only pity thee; pity thy folly, which will lead on the road +to death, when He wishes to put thee on the road to life, that thou +mayest have boldness in the day of judgment, instead of shrinking from +God like a guilty coward. And what is the way of life? Surely +the way of Christ, who <i>is</i> the life. Live like Him, and +thou wilt not need to fear to die. So says the text. We +are to have boldness in the day of judgment, because as Christ is, so +are we in this world. And how was, and is, and ever will be, Christ +in this world? Full of love; of brotherly-kindness, charity, forgiveness, +peace, and good will to men. That, says St. John, is the life +which brings a joyful death; for God is love; and he that dwelleth in +love dwelleth in God, and God in him.</p> +<p>Oh consider this, my good friends. Consider this; lest when +you come to die the ghosts of all your sins should rise up at your bedside, +and torment you with fear—the ghosts of every cruel word which +you ever spoke against your fellow men; of every kind action which you +neglected; as well as of every unjust one which you ever committed. +And, if they do rise up in judgment against you, what must you do?</p> +<p>Cast yourself upon the love of God, and remember that God is love, +and so loved us that He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our +sins. Ask Him to forgive you your sins, for the sake of that precious +blood which was shed on the cross: but not that you may keep your sins, +and may escape the punishment of them. God forbid. What +use in having your past sins forgiven, if the sinful heart still remains +to run up fresh sins for the future? No. Ask Him not merely +to forgive the past, but to mend the future; to create in you a new +heart, which wishes no ill to any human being, and a right spirit, which +desires first and utterly to do right, and is filled with the Holy Spirit +of God, the Spirit of love, by which God made and redeemed the world, +and all that therein is.</p> +<p>So will all tormenting fears cease. You will feel yourself +in the right way, the way of charity, the way in which Christ walked +in this world, and have boldness in the day of judgment, facing death +without conceit, indeed, but also without superstitious fear.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXIII. THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Eighth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>Romans viii. 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to +the flesh, to live after the flesh; for if ye live after the flesh, +ye shall die.</p> +<p>What does walking after the flesh mean? St. Paul tells us himself, +in Gal. v., where he uses exactly the same form of words which he does +here. ‘The works of the flesh,’ he says, ‘are +manifest.’ When a man gives way to his passions and appetites—when +he cares only about enjoying his own flesh, and the pleasures which +he has in common with the brutes, then there is no mistake about the +sort of life which he will lead—‘Now the works of the flesh +are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, +idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, +heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.’ +An ugly list, my friends; and God have mercy on the man who gives way +to them. For disgraceful as they are to him, and tormenting also +to him in this life, the worst is, that if he gives way to them, he +will die.</p> +<p>I do not mean that he will bring his mortal body to an untimely end; +that he will ruin his own health; or that he will get himself hanged, +though that is likely enough—common enough. I think St. +Paul means something even worse than that. The man himself will +die. Not his body merely: but his soul, his character, will die. +All in him that God made, all that God intended him to be, will die. +All that his father and mother loved in him, all that they watched over, +and hoped and prayed that it might grow up into life, in order that +he might become the man God meant him to be, all that will die. +His soul and character will become one mass of disease. He will +think wrong, feel wrong, about everything of which he does think and +feel: while, about the higher matters, of which every man ought to know +something, he will not think or feel at all. Love to his country, +love to his own kinsfolk even; above all, love to God, will die in him, +and he will care for nothing but himself, and how to get a little more +foul pleasure before he goes out of this world, he dare not think whither. +All power of being useful will die in him. Honour and justice +will die in him. He will be shut up in himself, in the ugly prison-house +of his own lusts and passions, parted from his fellow-men, caring nothing +for them, knowing that they care nothing for him. He will have +no faith in man or God. He will believe no good, he will have +no hope, either for himself or for the world.</p> +<p>This, this is death, indeed; the death of sin; the death in which +human beings may go on for years, walking, eating, and drinking; worse +than those who walk in their sleep, and see nothing, though their eyes +are staring wide.</p> +<p>Oh pitiable sight! The most pitiable sight in the whole world, +a human soul dead and rotten in sin! It is a pitiable sight enough, +to see a human body decayed by disease, to see a poor creature dying, +even quietly and without pain. Pitiable, but not half so pitiable +as the death of a human soul by sin. For the death of the body +is not a man’s own fault. But that death in life of sin, +is a man’s own fault. In a Christian country, at least, +it is a man’s own fault, if he goes about the world, as I have +seen many a one go, having a name to live, and yet dead in trespasses +and sins, while his soul only serves to keep his body alive and moving. +How shall we escape this death in life? St. Paul tells us, ‘If +ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.’</p> +<p>Through the Spirit. The Spirit of God and of Christ. +Keep that in mind, for that is the only way, the right way, to mortify +and kill in us these vices and passions, which, unless we kill them, +will kill us. The only way. For men have tried other ways +in old times, do try other ways now: but they fail. I could mention +many plans which they have tried. But I will only mention the +one which you and I are likely to try.</p> +<p>A young man runs wild for a few years, as young men are too apt to +do: but at last he finds that ill-living does not <i>pay</i>. +It hurts his health, his pocket, his character. He makes himself +ill; he cannot get employed; he has ruin staring him in the face, from +his wild living. He must mend. If he intends to keep out +of the workhouse, the gaol, the grave, he must mortify the deeds of +the body. He must bridle his passions, give up lying about, drinking, +swearing, cheating, running after bad women: and if he has a strong +will, he does it from mere selfish prudence. But is he safe? +I think not, as long as he loves still the bad ways he has given up. +He has given them up, not because he hates them, because he is ashamed +of them, because he knows them to be hateful to God, and ruinous to +his own soul: but because they do not pay. The man himself is +not changed. His heart within is not converted. The outside +of his life is whitewashed; but his heart may be as foul as ever; as +full as ever of selfishness, greediness, meanness. And what happens +to him? Too often, what happened to the man in the parable, when +the unclean spirit went out of him, and came back again. The unclean +spirit found his home swept and garnished: but empty. All very +neat and respectable: but empty. There was no other spirit dwelling +there. No good spirit, who could fight the unclean spirit and +keep him out. So he took to himself seven other spirits worse +than himself—hypocrisy, cant, cunning, covetousness, and all the +smooth-shaven sins which beset middle-aged and elderly men; and they +dwell there, and so does the unclean spirit of youth too.</p> +<p>Alas! How often have I seen men whom that description would +fit but too well—men who have kept themselves respectable till +they have got back their character in the world’s eyes: and when +they get into years, and have risen perhaps in life, and made money, +are looked up to by their fellows: but what are they at heart? +As great scoundrels as they were thirty years before—cunning, +false, covetous, and hypocritical—and indulging, perhaps, the +unclean spirit of youth, as much as they dare without being found out. +God help them! for their last state is worse than their first. +But that is the fruit of trying to mortify and kill their own vices +by mere worldly prudence, and not by the Spirit of God, which alone +can cleanse the heart of any man, or make him strong enough really to +conquer and kill his sins.</p> +<p>And what is this spirit of God? We may know in this way. +What says our Lord in the Gospel? ‘The tree is known by +its fruits.’ Then if we know the fruits of the Spirit, we +shall surely know something at least of what the Spirit is like. +What then says St. Paul, ‘The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, +peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.’ +Therefore the Spirit is a loving spirit—a peaceable, a gentle, +a good, a faithful, a sober and temperate spirit. And if you follow +it, you will live. If you give yourselves up honestly, frankly, +and fully, to be led by that good spirit, and obey it when it prompts +you with right feelings, you, your very self, will live. You will +be what God intended you to be; you will grow as God intended you to +grow; grow as Christ did, in grace; in all which is graceful, amiable, +worthy of respect and love; and therefore in favour with God and man. +Your character will improve and strengthen day by day; and rise day +by day to fuller, stronger, healthier spiritual life. You will +be able more and more to keep down low passions, evil tempers, and all +the works of the flesh, when they tempt you; you will despise and hate +them more and more; for having seen the beauty of goodness, you will +see the ugliness of sin. So the bad passions and tempers, instead +of being merely put to sleep for a while to wake up all the stronger +for their rest, will be really mortified and killed in you. They +will die out of you; and you, the real <i>you</i> whom God made, will +live and grow continually. And, instead of having your character +dragged down, diseased, and at last ruined, it will rise and progress, +as you grow older, in the sure and safe road of eternal life. +To which God bring us all in his mercy! Amen.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXIV. THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAMMON</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Ninth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>Luke xvi. 1-8. And he said also unto his disciples, There was +a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto +him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said +unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy +stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward +said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me +the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved +what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive +me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s +debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto +my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he +said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. +Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, +An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill +and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, +because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their +generation wiser than the children of light.</p> +<p>This parable has always been considered a difficult one to understand. +Fathers and Divines, in all ages, have tried to explain it in different +ways; and have never, it seems to me, been satisfied with their own +explanations. They have always felt it strange, that our Lord +should seem to hold up, as an example to us, this steward who, having +been found out in one villainy, escapes, (so it seems, from the common +explanation) by committing a second. They have not been able to +see either, how we are really to copy the steward. Our Lord says, +that we are to copy him by making ourselves friends of the Mammon of +unrighteousness: but how? By giving away a few alms, or a great +many? Does any rational man seriously believe, that if his Mammon +was unrighteous, that is, if his wealth were ill-gotten, he would save +his soul, and be received into eternal life, for giving away part of +it, or even the whole of it?</p> +<p>No doubt, there always have been men who will try. Men who, +having cheated their neighbours all their lives, have tried to cheat +the Devil at last, by some such plan as the unjust steward’s, +but that plan has never been looked on as either a very honourable or +a very hopeful one. I think, that if I had been an usurer or a +grinder of the poor all my life, I should not save my soul by founding +almshouses with my money when I died, or even ten years before I died. +It might be all that I was able to do: but would it justify me in the +sight of God? That which saves a soul alive is repentance; and +of repentance there are three parts, contrition, confession, and satisfaction—in +plain English, making the wrong right, and giving each man back, as +far as one can, what one has taken from him. To each man, I say; +for I have no right to rob one man and then give to another. I +ought to give back again to the man whom I have robbed. I have +no right to cheat the rich for the sake of the poor; and after I have +cheated the rich, I do not make satisfaction, either to god or man, +by giving that money to the poor. Good old Zaccheus, the publican, +knew better what true satisfaction was like. He had been gaining +money not altogether in an unjust way, but in a way which did him no +credit; he had been farming the taxes, and he was dissatisfied with +his way of life. Therefore, Behold, Lord, he says, the half of +my goods, of what I have a right to in the world’s eyes—what +is my own, and I could keep if I liked—I give to the poor. +But if I have done wrong to any man, I restore to him fourfold. +Then said the Lord, ‘This day is salvation come to this man’s +house; forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham;’ a just and faithful +man, who knows what true repentance is.</p> +<p>But now, my friends, suppose that this was just what our Lord tells +us to do in this parable. Suppose that this was just what the +unjust steward did. I only say, suppose; for I know that more +learned men than I explain the difficulty otherwise. Only I ask +you to hear my explanation.</p> +<p>The steward is accused of wasting his lord’s goods.</p> +<p>He will be put out of his stewardship.</p> +<p>He goes to his lord’s debtors, and bids them write themselves +down in debt to him at far less sums than they had thought that they +owed.</p> +<p>Now, suppose that these debtors were the very men whom he had been +cheating. Suppose that he had been overcharging these debtors; +and now, in his need, had found out that honesty was the best policy, +and charged them what they really owed him. They were, probably, +tenants under his lord, paying their rents in kind, as was often the +custom in the East. One rented an olive garden, and paid for it +so many measures of oil; another rented corn-land, and paid so many +measures of meal. Now suppose that the steward, as he easily might, +had been setting these poor men’s rents too high, and taking the +surplus himself. That while he had been charging one tenant a +hundred, he had been paying to his lord only fifty, and so forth.</p> +<p>What does he do, then, in his need? He does justice to his +lord’s debtors. He tells them what their debts really are. +He sets their accounts right. Instead of charging the first man +a hundred, he charges him fifty; instead of charging the second a hundred, +he charges him eighty; and he does not, as far as we are told, conceal +this conduct from his lord. He rights them as far as he can now. +So he shews that he honestly repents. He has found out that honesty +is the best policy; that the way to make true friends is to deal justly +by them; and, if he cannot restore what he has taken from them already +(for I suppose he had spent it), at least to confess his sin to them, +and to set the matter right for the time to come.</p> +<p>This, I think, is what our Lord bids us do, if we have wronged any +man, and fouled our hands with the unrighteous mammon, that is, with +ill-gotten wealth. And I think so all the more from the verses +which come after. For, when he has said, ‘Make yourselves +friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,’ he goes on in the very +next verse to say, ‘He that is faithful in that which is least, +is faithful also in that which is much. If, therefore, ye have +not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your +trust the true riches?’ Now, surely, this must have something +to do with what goes before. And, if it has, what can it mean +but this—that the way to make friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, +is to be faithful in it, just in it, honest in it?</p> +<p>But some one may say, If mammon be unrighteous, how can a man be +righteous and upright in dealing with it? If money be a bad thing +in itself, how can a man meddle with it with clean hands?</p> +<p>So some people will say, and so some will be glad to say. But +why? Because they do not want to be righteous, upright, just, +and honest in their money dealings; and, therefore, they are glad to +make out that they could not be upright if they tried; because money +being a bad thing altogether, a man must needs, if he has to do with +money, do things which he knows are wrong. I say some people are +glad to believe that. I do not mean any one in this congregation. +God forbid! I mean in the world in general. We do see people, +religious people too, do things about money which they know are mean, +covetous, cruel, and then excuse themselves by saying,—‘Well, +of course I would not do so to my own brother; but, in the way of business, +one can’t help doing these things.’ Now, I do not +quite believe them. I have seldom seen the man who cheated his +neighbour, who would not cheat his own brother if he had a chance: but +so they say. And, if they be religious people, they will quote +Scripture, and say,—Ah! it is the fault of the unrighteous mammon; +and, in dealing with the unrighteous mammon, we cannot help these little +failings, and so forth: till they seem to have two quite different rules +of right and wrong; one for the saving of their own souls, which they +keep to when they are hearing sermons, and reading good books; and the +other for money, which they keep to when they have to pay their debts +or transact business.</p> +<p>Now, my dear friends, be not deceived: God is not mocked. God +tempts no man. Man tempts himself by his own lusts and passions. +God does not tempt us when he gives us money, puts us in the way of +earning money, or spending money. Money is not bad in itself; +wealth is not bad in itself. If mammon be unrighteous, we make +money into mammon, when we make an idol of it, and worship it more than +God’s law of right and justice. We make it unrighteous, +by being unrighteous, and unjust ourselves.</p> +<p>Money is good; for money stands for capital; for money’s worth; +for houses, land, food, clothes, all that man can make; and they stand +for labour, employment, wages; and they stand for human beings, for +the bodily life of man. Without wealth, where should we be now? +If God had not given to man the power of producing wealth, where should +we be now? Not here. Four-fifths of us would not have been +alive at all. Instead of eight hundred people in this parish, +all more or less well off, there would be, perhaps, one hundred—perhaps +far less, living miserably on game and roots. Instead of thirty +millions of civilized people in Great Britain, there would be perhaps +some two or three millions of savages. Money, I say, stands for +the lives of human beings. Therefore money is good; an ordinance +and a gift of God; as it is written, ‘It is God that giveth the +power to get wealth.’ But, like every other good gift of +God, we may use it as a blessing; or we may misuse it, and make it a +snare and a curse to our own souls. If we let into our hearts +selfishness and falsehood; if we lose faith in God, and fancy that God’s +laws are not well-made enough to prosper us, but that we must break +them if we want to prosper; then we turn God’s good gift into +an idol and a snare; into the unrighteous Mammon.</p> +<p>It is not the quantity of money we have to deal with which is the +snare, it is our own lusts and covetousness which are the snares. +It is just as easy to sell our souls for five pounds as for five thousand. +It is just as easy to be mean and tricky about paying little debts of +a shilling or two, as it is about whole estates. I do not see +that rich people are at all more unjust about money than poor ones; +and if any say: Yes, but the poor are tempted more than the rich; I +answer, then look at those who are neither poor nor rich; who have enough +to live on decently, and are not tempted as the poor are, to steal, +or tempted as the rich are, to luxury and extravagance. Are they +more honest than either rich or poor? Not a whit. All depends +on the man’s heart. If his heart be selfish and mean, he +will be dishonest as a poor man, as a middle-class man, as a great lord. +If his heart be faithful and true, he will be honest, whether he lives +in a cottage or in a palace. Any man can do justly, and love mercy, +if his heart be right with God. I have seen day-labourers who +had a hard struggle to live at all, keep out of debt, and out of shame, +and live in a noble poverty, rich in the sight of God, because their +hearts were rich in goodness. I have seen tradesmen and farmers, +among all the temptations of business, keep their honour as bright as +any gentleman’s—brighter than too many gentlemen’s, +because they had learnt to fear God and work righteousness. I +have seen great merchants and manufacturers, because that they were +their brothers’ keepers, spread not only employment, but comfort, +education, and religion, among the hundreds of workmen whom God had +put into their charge. I have seen great landowners live truly +royal lives, doing with all their might the good which their hand found +to do; and, after the likeness of their heavenly Father, causing their +sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and their rain to fall on +the just and on the unjust. Yes; in every station of life, thy +dealings will be right with men, if thy heart be right with God.</p> +<p>Yes. Let us bear in mind this—that whatever we cannot +be, we can at least be honest men. Let us go to our graves, if +possible, with the feeling that there is not a man on earth, a penny +the worse for us. And if we have ever fouled our hands with the +unrighteous Mammon, let us cleanse them by the only possible plan, by +making restitution to those whom we have wronged; and so make friends +of the Mammon of unrighteousness, who shall forgive us, and receive +us as friends in heaven, instead of making enemies, and going out of +the world with the fearful thought, that we shall meet at God’s +judgment-seat people whom we have made miserable, who will rise up to +accuse us, and demand payment of us when it is too late for ever.</p> +<p>Let us bear in mind, even though we cannot copy, the dying words +of Muhammed the Arab, who, when he found his end draw near, went forth +into the market-place, and asked before all the people, ‘Was there +any man whom he had wronged? If so, his own back should bear the +stripes. Was there any man to whom he owed money? and he should +be paid.’ ‘Yes,’ cried some one, ‘those +coins which you borrowed from me on such a day.’ ‘Pay +him,’ said Muhammed: ‘better to be shamed now on earth, +than shamed in the day of judgment.’ He was a heathen. +And shall we Christians be worse than he? Then let us pray for +the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, which will make us faithful +and true; so that no man may be the worse for us in this life; no man +may have to say of us, when he hears that we lie dying, ‘He wronged +me, he cheated me, he lied to me; God forgive him:’ but that our +friends, as they carry us to the grave, may feel that they have lost +one whom they could respect and trust; and say, as the earth rattles +in upon the coffin lid, ‘There lies an honest man.’</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXV. THE SIGHS OF CHRIST</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Twelfth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>Mark vii. 34, 35. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and +saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway +his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he +spake plain.</p> +<p>Why did the Lord Jesus look up to heaven? And why, too, did +he sigh?</p> +<p>He looked up to heaven, we may believe, because he looked to God +the Father; to God, of whom the glorious collect tells us, that he is +more ready to hear than we to pray, and is wont to give more than either +we desire or deserve. He looked up to the Father, who is the fountain +of life, of order, of health, of usefulness; who hates all death, disease, +infirmity; who wills that none should perish, body or soul.</p> +<p>My friends, think of these cheering words; and try to look up to +God the Father, as Christ looked up. Look up to him I say, if +but once, as a Father. Not merely as your Father, but as the Father +of the spirits of all flesh; the good God who creates, and delights +to create; who orders all worlds and heavens with perfect wisdom, perfect +power, perfect justice, perfect love; and peoples them with immortal +souls and spirits, that they may be useful, happy, blessed, in keeping +his laws, and doing the work which he has ordained for them. Oh +think, if but once, of God the perfect and all-loving Father; and then +you will know why Jesus looked up to him.</p> +<p>And you will see, too, why Jesus sighed. He sighed because +he was one with the Father. He sighed because he had the mind +of God. Because God, the Lord of health and order, hates disease +and disorder. Because God, the Lord of bliss and happiness, hates +misery and sorrow. Because God made the world at first very good; +and, behold, by man’s sin, it has become bad.</p> +<p>Why did he sigh? Surely, also, from pity for the poor man. +His infirmity was no such great one; he had an impediment in his speech, +and with it, as many are apt to have, deafness also: but it was an infirmity. +It was a disease. It was something out of order, something gone +wrong in God’s world; and as such, Christ could not abide it; +he grieved over it. He sighed because there was sickness in a +world where there ought to be nothing but health, and sorrow where there +ought to be nothing but happiness. He sighed, because man had +brought this sickness and sorrow on himself by sin; for, remember, man +alone is subject to disease. The wild animal in the wood, the +bird upon the tree, seldom or never know what sickness is; seldom or +never are stunted or deformed. They live according to their nature, +healthy and happy, and die in a good old age. While man—Why +should I talk of what man is, of how far man is fallen from what God +the Father meant him to be, while one hundred thousand corpses of brave +men are now fattening the plains of Italy for next year’s crop; +while even in our favoured land, we find at every turn prisons and reformatories, +lunatic asylums, hospitals for numberless kinds of horrible diseases; +sickness, weakness, and death all round us? Only look up yonder +to Windsor Forest, and see the vast building now in progress there before +your eyes, for lunatic convicts—the most miserable, perhaps, and +pitiable of human beings,—and let that building be a sign to you, +how far man is fallen, and what cause Jesus had to sigh, and has to +sigh still, over the miseries of fallen man.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, not without reason did the old heathen poet, who +had no sure and certain hope of everlasting life, say, that man was +the most wretched of all the beasts of the field; not without reason +did St. Paul say, that if in this life only we have hope in Christ, +then the Christian man, who dare not indulge his passions and appetites, +dare not say, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die: but must curb +himself, and give up his own pleasure and his own fancy at every turn, +is of all men most miserable.</p> +<p>If Christ’s work is done; if his mercy and help ended when +he died upon the cross; if all he did was to heal the sick for three +short years in Judea a long while ago: then what have we to which we +can look forward? What hope have we, not merely for ourselves, +who are here now, but for all the millions who have died and suffered +already? Yes: what reasonable hope for mankind can they have, +who do not believe that Christ is Very God of Very God, the perfect +likeness of the heavenly Father?</p> +<p>But what if that which was true of him then, is true of him now? +What if he be the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever? What if +he be ascended on high, that he might fill all things with his almighty +power, and declare that almighty power most chiefly by shewing mercy +and pity? What if he be for ever looking up to his Father and +our Father, to his God and our God, interceding for ever for mankind; +for ever offering up to the Father that sacrifice of himself which he +perfected upon the Cross, for the sins of the whole world? What +if he be for ever sighing over every sin, every sorrow, every cruelty, +every injustice, over all things, great and small, which go wrong throughout +the whole world; and saying for ever, ‘Father, this is not according +to thy will. Let thy will be done on earth, as in heaven.’ +And what, if he does not look up in vain, nor sigh in vain? What +if the will of God the Father be, that sin and sorrow, disease and death, +being contrary to his will and law, should be at last rooted out of +this world, and all worlds for ever? What if Christ have authority +and commission from God to fight against all evil, sin, disease, and +death, and all the ills which flesh is heir to; and to teach men to +fight them likewise, till they conquer them by his might, and by his +light? What if he reigns, and will reign, till he has put all +enemies under his feet, and he has delivered up the kingdom to God, +even the Father, that God may be all in all? What if the day shall +come, when all the nations of the earth shall thus see Christ’s +good works, and glorify his Father and their Father who is in heaven? +and by obeying the Law of their being, and the commandment of God, which +is life eternal, shall live for ever in that glory, of which it is written, +that a river of water of life shall proceed out of the throne of God +and of the Lamb; and the leaves of the trees which grow thereby shall +be for the healing of the nations; and there shall be no more curse, +but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the city of God, and +his servants shall serve him; and the Lord God shall give them light; +and they shall reign for ever and ever.</p> +<p>What those words mean I know not, and hardly dare to think: but as +long as those words stand in the Bible, we will have hope. For +God the Father, who willeth that none should perish, and Jesus the only-begotten +Son, who sighed over the poor man’s infirmity in Judea, are the +same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXVI. THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Twelfth Sunday after Trinity</i>, 1856.)</p> +<p>2 Kings xviii. 9-12. And it came to pass in the fourth year +of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king +of Israel, that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against Samaria, +and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even +in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king +of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry +away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the +river of Gozon, and in the cities of the Medes: because they obeyed +not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, +and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not +hear them, nor do them.</p> +<p>These are very simple words: but they are awful words enough. +Awful enough to the poor creatures of whom they speak. You here, +most of you, can hardly guess all that these words mean. You may +thank God that you do not. That you do not know the horrors of +war, and the misery of a conquered country, in old times.</p> +<p>To lose all they had ever earned; all that makes life worth having. +To have their homes burnt over their heads, their crops carried off +their fields. To see their women dishonoured, their old men and +children murdered—to be insulted, beaten, and tortured to make +them tell where their money was hidden; and after they and theirs had +suffered every unspeakable shame and misery from the hands of brutal +enemies, to be stripped, bound, and marched away, for hundreds of miles +across the deserts, into the cold and dreary mountains of the north +of Assyria, there to live and die as slaves, and never again to see +their native land. And such a land as it was, and is still: or +rather might be still, if there were men in it worthy the name of men. +For of all countries in the world, that land of Israel is one of the +most rich and beautiful. The climate and the soil there is such, +that two crops can often be grown in the year, of almost any kind which +man may need; there are rich valleys well watered, where not only wheat +and every grain-crop, but the olive, and the fig, and the vine, flourish +in perfection; rich park-like uplands, where sheep and cattle without +number may find pasture; great forests of timber, fit for every use; +and all kept cool and fruitful, even beneath that burning eastern sun, +by the clear streams which flow for ever down from Hermon. the great +snow-mountain ten thousand feet high, which overlooks that pleasant +land. There is hardly, travellers say, a lovelier or richer country +upon earth, than the land of Israel, from Hebron on the south to Hermon +on the north; nor a country which might have been stronger, and safer, +and more prosperous, if these Jews had been but wise.</p> +<p>It is, so to speak, one great castle, rising most of it two thousand +feet high, and walled in by God in a way as is seen hardly in any other +land. On the west lies the sea; on the south and on the east vast +wildernesses of sandy desert; and on the north, the mighty mountains +of Hermon and Lebanon, which no invading army could have crossed, if +the Jews had had courage to keep them out. And that, the noble +and divine Law of Moses would have given them. It would have made +them one free, brave, God-fearing people, at unity with itself; and +the promise of Moses would have been fulfilled—that one of them +should chase a thousand, and no man or nation be able to stand against +them. In David’s time, and in Solomon’s time also, +that promise came true; and that small people of the Jews became a very +powerful nation, respected and feared by all the kingdoms round.</p> +<p>But when they fell into idolatry, and forsook the true God, and his +law: all was changed. Idolatry brought sin, and sin brought bad +passions, hatred, division, weakness, ruin.</p> +<p>The first beginning was, the breaking up of the nation into two;—the +kingdom of Judah to the south, the kingdom of Israel to the north. +And with that division came envy, spite, quarrels; wars between Israel +and Judah, which were but madness. For what could come of those +two brother-nations fighting against each other, but that both should +grow weaker and weaker, and so fall a prey to some third nation stronger +than them both? The ruin of the kingdom of Israel, of which the +text tells us, arose out of some unnatural quarrel of this kind. +Pekah, the king of Israel, had made friends with the heathen king of +Syria, and got him to join in making war on Judah: and a fearful war +it was; for the Israelites, according to one account, killed in that +war a hundred and twenty thousand of the Jews, men of their own blood +and language, all Abraham’s descendants as well as they. +On which, Ahaz, king of Judah, not to be behind-hand in folly, sent +to the heathen king of Assyria to help him, just as the king of Israel +had sent to the king of Damascus. He had better have been dead +than to have done that. For those terrible Assyrians, who had +set their hearts on conquering the whole east, were standing by, watching +all the little kingdoms round tearing themselves to pieces by foolish +wars, till they were utterly weak, and the time was ripe for the Assyrians +to pounce upon them. The king of Assyria came. He swept +away all the heathen people of Damascus, and killed their king. +But he did not stop there. In a very few years, he came on into +the land of Israel, besieged Samaria for three years, and took it, and +carried off the whole of the inhabitants of the country; and there was +an end of that miserable kingdom of Israel, which had been sinking lower +and lower ever since the days of Jeroboam. This was the natural +outcome of all their sin and folly, of which we have been reading for +the last few Sundays.</p> +<p>Elijah’s warnings had been in vain, and Elisha’s warnings +also. They liked, at heart, Ahab’s and Jezebel’s idolatries +better than they did the worship of the true God. And why? +Because, if they worshipped God, and kept his laws, they must needs +have been more or less good men, upright, just, merciful, cleanly and +chaste livers: while, on the other hand, they might worship their idols, +and nevertheless be as bad as they chose. Indeed, the very idol-feasts +and sacrifices were mixed up with all sorts of filthy sin, drunkenness +and profligacy; so that it is a shame even to speak of the things which +went on, especially at those sacrifices to Ashtaroth, the queen of heaven, +of which they were so fond. They choose the worse part, and refused +the better; and they were filled with the fruit of their own devices, +as every unrepenting sinner surely will be.</p> +<p>But did the Jews of Judea and their king escape, who had thus brought +the king of Assyria down to murder their own countrymen, and lay that +fair land waste? Not they. A very few years more, the Assyrians +were back again, and overran Judea itself, laying the country waste +with fire and sword, till nothing was left to them, but the mere city +of Jerusalem. And so they, too, were filled with the fruit of +their own devices. In their madness they had destroyed their brethren, +the people of Israel, who ought to have been a safeguard for them to +the north; now there was nothing and no man to prevent the Assyrians, +or any other invaders, from pouring right down into their land. +Truly says Solomon, ‘He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it, +and he who breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.’ +From that day, Judah became weaker and weaker, standing all alone. +Good king Hezekiah, good king Josiah, could only stave off her ruin +for a few years; a little while longer, and her cup was full too, and +the Babylonians came and swept the Jews away into captivity, as the +Assyrians had swept away Israel, and that fair land lay desolate for +many a year.</p> +<p>The king of Assyria, we read, after he had carried away the people +of Israel, brought heathens from Assyria, and settled them in the Holy +Land, instead of the Israelites. But the Lord sent lions among +them, we read; the land, I suppose, lying waste, the wild beasts increased, +and became very dangerous: so these poor ignorant settlers sent to the +king of Assyria, to beg for a Jewish priest, to teach them, as they +said, the manner of the god of that land, that they might worship him, +and not be terrified by the lions any more. It was a simple, confused +notion of theirs: but it brought a blessing with it; for the king of +Assyria sent them one of the Jewish priests who had been carried away +from Samaria; and he came and lived at Beth-el, and taught them to fear +the Lord. So these poor people got some confused notion of the +one true God: but they mixed it up sadly with their old heathen idolatry, +and made gods of their own, and some of them even burnt their children +in the fire, to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim, +from which town they had come. And so they went on for several +hundred years, marrying with the remnant of the Israelites who were +left behind, and worshipping idols and the true God at the same time. +Now these people are the Samaritans, of whom you read so often in the +New Testament. The Jews, when they came back, hated and despised +the Samaritans, and would not speak to them, eat with them, trade with +them, because they were only half-blooded Jews, and did not observe +Moses’ law rightly; and so they were left to themselves: but as +time went on, they seemed to have got rid of their old idolatry, and +built themselves a temple on Mount Gerizim, by Samaria, in Jacob’s +old haunts, by Jacob’s well, and there worshipped they knew not +what. But still they did their best. And their reward came +at last.</p> +<p>Many a hundred years had passed away. The proud Pharisees of +Jerusalem were still calling them dogs and infidels; when there came +to that half-heathen city of Samaria such a one as never came there +before or since; and yet had been very near that place, and those poor +Samaritans, for a thousand years.</p> +<p>And being wearied with his journey, he sat down upon the edge of +Jacob’s well, by Joseph’s tomb. The well is still +there, choked with rubbish to this very day; and Joseph’s tomb +by it, all in ruins, among broad fields of corn. And on the edge +of that well he sat. Along the very road which was before him, +Jeroboam, and Ahab, and many a wicked king of Israel, had gone in old +times, travelling between Shechem and Samaria: along that road the terrible +Assyrians had marched back to their own land, leading strings of weeping +prisoners out of their pleasant native land, to slavery and misery in +the far North. He knew it all; and doubt not that he thought over +it all, as never man thought on earth. Doubt not that his heart +yearned over these poor ignorant Samaritans, and over the sinful woman +who came to draw water at the well. After all, half-heathens as +they were, Jacob’s blood was in their veins; and if not, were +they not still human beings? They were worshipping they knew not +what: but still they were worshipping the best which they knew.</p> +<p>‘Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, +when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship +the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: +for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, +when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in +truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit: +and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. +The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called +Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith +unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. . . . So when the Samaritans +were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: +and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of +his own word; and said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of +thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed +the Christ, the Saviour of the world.’</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, despise no man; for Christ despises none. He +is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth God +and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Despise no man; +for by so doing you deny the Father, who has made of one blood all nations +of men to dwell on the earth, and has appointed them their times, and +the bounds of their habitation; if haply they may feel after him, and +find him: though he be not far from any of us; for in him we live and +move and have our being, and are the offspring of God. For hundreds +of years those poor ignorant Samaritans had felt after him; in that +foreign land to which the cruel Assyrian conqueror had banished them: +but it was God who had appointed them their habitation there, and their +time also; and, in due time, they found God: for he came to them, and +found them, and spoke with them face to face.</p> +<p>Better to have been one of those ignorant Samaritans, than to have +been King Ahab, or King Hoshea, in all their glory, with all their proud +Jewish blood. Better to have been one of those ignorant Samaritans +than one of those conceited Pharisees at Jerusalem, who, while they +were priding themselves on being Abraham’s children, and keeping +Moses’ law, ended by crucifying him who made Abraham, and Moses, +and his law, and them themselves. Better to be the poorest negro +slave, if, in the midst of his ignorance and misery and shame, he believes +in Christ, and works righteousness, than the cleverest and proudest +and freest Englishman, if, in the midst of his great light, he works +the works of darkness, and, while he calls himself a child of God, lives +the sinful life, on which God’s curse lies for ever.</p> +<p>So you who have many advantages, take warning by the fate of those +foolish Jews, who knew a great deal, and yet did not do it, and so came +to shame and ruin. And you who have few advantages, take comfort +by those poor Samaritans, who knew a very little, and yet made the best +of it, and so at last saw a great light, after sitting in darkness for +so long. Schools, books, church-going, ordinances of all kinds, +they are good. If you can get them, use them, and thank God for +them: but remember, God does not ask for learning, but for goodness +and holiness: he does not ask for knowledge, but for a right life. +And do not fancy, that because your children have a good education now, +and you had none, that God does not love you as well as he loves them. +His mercy is over all his works; and the promises are to you as well +as to your children. There is many a poor soul who never read +a book in her life, who is nearer God than many a great scholar, and +fine preacher, and learned divine. All Christ asks of you is, +to receive him when he comes to you; and to love, and thank, and admire +him, and try to be like him, because he will make you like him: while +for the rest to whom little is given, of him shall little be required; +and to him who uses what he has, be it little or much, more shall be +given, and he shall have abundance. For God is no respecter of +persons; but in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, +is accepted by him.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXVII. THE INVASION OF THE ASSYRIANS</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Morning</i>.)</p> +<p>2 Kings xix. 15-19. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and +said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou +art the Lord, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou +hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: +open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, +which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, +the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, and +have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work +of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed +them. Now, therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou +us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that +thou art the Lord God, even thou only.</p> +<p>This noble story, which we read in Church every year, seems to have +had a great hold on the minds of the Jews. They plainly thought +it a very important story. For it is told three times over in +the Bible: first in the Book of Kings, then in the Book of Chronicles, +and again in that of the Prophet Isaiah. Indeed, many chapters +of Isaiah’s prophecies speak altogether of this invasion of the +Assyrians and their destruction. But what has this story to do +with us, you may ask? There are no miracles in our day. +We can expect no angels to fight for our armies. We must fight +for ourselves.</p> +<p>True, my friends: but the lesson of these old stories, the moral +of them stands good for ever. And I am thankful that this very +story is appointed to be read publicly in church once a year, to put +us in mind of many things, which all men are too apt to forget.</p> +<p>For instance: to learn one lesson out of many which this chapter +may teach us. We are too apt to think that peace and prosperity +are the only signs of God’s favour. That if a nation be +religious, it is certain to thrive and be happy. But it is not +so. We find from history that the times in which nations have +shewn most nobleness, most courage, most righteousness, most faith in +God, have been times of trouble, and danger, and terror. When +nations have been invaded, persecuted, trampled under foot by tyrants, +then all the good which was in them has again and again shewed itself. +Then to the astonishment of the world they have become greater than +themselves, and done deeds which win them glory for ever. Then +they are truly purged in the fire of affliction, that whatever dross +and trash is in their hearts may be burnt out, and the pure gold left.</p> +<p>So it was with the Jews in Hezekiah’s time. So again +in the time of the Maccabees. So with the old Greeks, when the +great Kings of Persia tried to enslave them. So with the old Romans, +when the Carthaginians set upon them. So it was with us English, +three hundred years ago, when for a time the whole world seemed against +us, because we alone were standing up for the Gospel and the Bible against +the Pope of Rome. Then the king of Spain, who was then as terrible +a conqueror and devourer of nations, as the Assyrians of old, sent against +us the Great Armada. Then was England in greater danger than she +had ever been before, or has been since.</p> +<p>And what came of it? That that dreadful danger brought out +more faith, more courage, than perhaps has ever been among us since. +That when we seemed weakest we were strongest. That while all +the nations of Europe were looking on to see us devoured up by those +Spaniards, our laws and liberties taken from us, the Popish Inquisition +set up in England, and England made a Spanish province, what they did +see was, the people of this little island rising as one man, to fight +for themselves on earth, while the tempests of God fought for them from +heaven; and all that mighty fleet of the King of Spain routed and scattered, +till not one man in a hundred ever saw their native country again.</p> +<p>And in England, after that terrible trial had passed over us, there +rose up the best and noblest time which she had ever yet beheld.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, three hundred years ago we went through just such +a fiery trial as the Jews went through in Hezekiah’s time; and +God grant that we may never forget that lesson.</p> +<p>But what is true of whole nations, is often true also of each single +person; of you and me.</p> +<p>To almost every man, at least once in his life, comes a time of trial—what +we call a crisis. A time when God purges the man, and tries him +in the fire, and burns up the dross in him, that the pure sterling gold +only may be left.</p> +<p>To some people it comes in the shape of some terrible loss, or affliction. +To others it comes in the shape of some great temptation. Nay, +if we will consider, it comes to us all, perhaps often, in that shape. +A man is brought to a point where he must choose between right and wrong. +God puts him where the two roads part. One way turns off to the +broad road, which leads to destruction: the other way turns off to the +narrow road which leads to life. The man would be glad to go both +ways at once, and do right and wrong too: but it so happens that he +cannot. Then he would be glad to go neither way, and stay where +he is: but he cannot. He must move on. He must do something. +Perhaps he is asked a question which he does not wish to answer: but +he must. It would be well worth his while to tell a lie. +It would be very safe for him, profitable for him; while it would be +very dangerous for him to tell the truth. He might ruin himself +once and for all, by being an honest man. Now which shall he do? +He would be glad to do both, glad to do neither: but choose he must; +speak he must. He must either lie or tell the truth. Then +comes the trial, whether he believes in God and in Christ, or whether +he does not. If he only believes, as too many do without knowing +it, in a dead God, a God far away, he will lie. If he only believes, +as too many do without knowing it, in a dead Christ, a Christ who bore +his sins on the cross eighteen hundred years ago, but since then has +had nothing to do with him to speak of, as far as he knows—then +he will lie. And that is the God and the Christ which most people +believe in: and therefore when the time of trial comes, they fall away, +and do and say things of which they ought to be ashamed, because their +trust is not in God, but in man.</p> +<p>But if that man believes in the living God, and believes that he +lives, and moves, and has his being in God, he cannot lie. As +it is written, ‘he that is born of God, sinneth not, for his seed +remaineth in him, and that wicked one toucheth him not.’ +He will say, Whatever happens, I must obey God, and not man. The +Lord is on my side, therefore I will not fear what man can do to me.</p> +<p>And what is the seed which remains in that man, and keeps him from +playing the coward? Christ himself, the seed and Son of God. +If he believes in the living Christ; if he believes that Christ is really +his master, his teacher, who is watching over him, training him, from +his cradle to his grave;—if he believes that Christ is dwelling +in him, that whatever wish to do right he has comes from Christ, whatever +sense of honour and honesty he has comes from Christ; then it will seem +to him a dreadful thing to lie, to play the hypocrite, or the coward; +to sin against his own better feelings. It will be sinning against +Christ himself.</p> +<p>Remember the great Martin Luther, when he stood on one side, a poor +monk standing up for the Bible and the Gospel, and against him were +arrayed the Pope and the Emperor, cardinals, bishops, and almost all +the princes in Europe; and his friends wanted him to hold his tongue, +or to say Yes and No at once; in short, to smooth over the matter in +some way.—What conceit, said many, of one poor monk standing up +against all the world; and what folly, too! He would certainly +be burnt alive. But Luther could not hold his tongue. He +was afraid enough, no doubt. He disliked being burnt as much as +other men. But he felt he must speak God’s truth then or +never. He must bear witness for Christ’s free gospel, against +Pope, Emperor, all the devils in hell, if need be, or else hereafter +for ever hold his peace. He must play the honest man that day, +or be a hypocrite and a rogue for ever. His friends said to him, +‘If you go to the Council, Duke George will have you burnt.’ +He answered, ‘If it snowed Duke Georges nine days together, I +must go.’ They said, ‘If you go into that town, you +will never leave it alive.’ He said, ‘If there were +as many devils in the town as there are tiles on the houses, I must +go.’ And he went, Bible in hand, and said, ‘Here I +stand; I can do no otherwise. God help me!’ He went, +and he conquered.</p> +<p>And so it will be with you, my friends, if you will believe in the +living God, and in the living Christ; then, when temptation comes, you +will be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. +And you will feel yourselves better men from that day forward. +You will feel that you have made one great step upward; you will look +back upon that time of temptation and perplexity as the beginning of +a new life; as a sign to you that Christ is with you, and in you, training +you and shaping your character, till he makes you, at last, somewhat +like himself; somewhat of the stature of a true man; somewhat like what +he has bidden you to be, ‘perfect as your Father in heaven is +perfect.’</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXVIII. THE TEN LEPERS</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>Luke xvii. 17, 18. Were there not ten cleansed, but where are +the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, +save this stranger.</p> +<p>No men, one would have thought, had more reason to thank God than +those nine lepers. Afflicted with a filthy and tormenting disease, +hopelessly incurable, at least in those days, they were cut off from +family and friends, cut off from all mankind; forced to leave their +homes, and wander away; forbidden to enter the houses of men, or the +churches of God; forbidden, for fear of infection, to go near any human +being; keeping no company but that of wretched lepers like themselves, +and forced to get their living by begging; by standing (as the Gospel +says) afar off, and praying the passers-by to throw them a coin.</p> +<p>In this wretched state, in which they had been certain of living +and dying miserably, they met the Lord: and suddenly, instantly, beyond +all hope or expectation, they found themselves cured, restored to their +families, their homes, their power of working, their rights as citizens; +restored to all that makes life worth having, and that freely, and in +a moment. If such a blessing had come to us, should we have thought +any thanks too great! Would not our whole lives have been too +short to bless God for his great mercy? Should we have gone away, +like those nine, without a word of thanks to God, or even to the man +who had healed us? What stupidity, hardhearted-ness, ingratitude +of those nine, never to have even thanked the Lord for their restoration +to health and happiness.</p> +<p>Ay, so we think. Yet those nine lepers were men of like passions +with ourselves; and what they did, we perhaps might do in their place. +It is very humbling to think so: but the Bible is a humbling book: and, +therefore, a wholesome book, profitable for reproof, for correction, +for instruction in righteousness. And I am very much afraid that +when the Bible tells us that nine out of ten of those lepers were ungrateful +to God, it tells us that nine out of ten of us are ungrateful likewise.</p> +<p>Ungrateful to God? I fear so; and more ungrateful, I fear, +than those ten lepers. For which of the two is better off, the +man who loses a good thing, and then gets it back again; or the man +who never loses it at all, but enjoys it all his life? Surely +the man who never loses it at all. And which of the two has more +cause to thank God? Those lepers had been through a very miserable +time; they had had great affliction; and that, they might feel, was +a set-off against their good fortune in recovering their health. +They had bad years to balance their good ones. But we—how +many of us have had nothing but good years? Oh consider, consider +the history of the average of us. How we grow up tolerably healthy, +tolerably comfortable, in a free country, under just laws, with the +power of earning our livelihood, and the certainty of keeping what we +earn. Famine we know nothing of in this happy land; war, and the +horrors of war, we knew nothing of—God grant we never may. +In health, safety and prosperity most of us grow up; forced, it is true, +to work hard: but that, too, is a blessing; for what better thing for +a man, soul and body, than to be forced to work hard? In health, +safety and prosperity; leaving children behind us, to prosper as we +have done. And how many of us give God the glory, or Christ the +thanks?</p> +<p>But if these be our bodily blessings, what are our spiritual blessings? +Has not God given us his only-begotten son Jesus Christ? Has he +not baptised us into his Church? Has he not forgiven our sins? +Has he not revealed to us that he is our Father, and we his children? +Has he not given us the absolutely inestimable blessing of his commandments? +Of knowing what the right thing to be done is, that we may do it and +live for ever; that treasure of which not only Solomon, but the wise +men of old held, that to know what was right was a more precious possession +than rubies and fine gold, and all the wealth of Ind? Has he not +given us the hope of a joyful immortality, of everlasting life after +death, not only with those whom we have loved and lost, but with God +himself?</p> +<p>And how many of us give God the glory, and Christ the thanks? +Do we not copy those nine lepers, and just shew ourselves to the priest?—Come +to church on the Sunday, because it is the custom; people expect it +of us; and God, we understand, expects it too: but where is the gratitude? +Where is the giving of glory to God for all his goodness? Which +are we most like? Children of God, looking up to our Father in +heaven, and saying, at every fresh blessing, Father, I thank thee. +Truly thou knowest my necessities before I ask, and my ignorance in +asking?—Or, like the stalled ox, which eats, and eats, and eats, +and never thanks the hand which feeds him?</p> +<p>We are too comfortable, I think, at times. We are so much accustomed +to be blest by God, that we take his blessings as matters of course, +and feel them no more than we do the air we breathe.</p> +<p>The wise man says—</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Our torments may by length of time become<br />Our elements;</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>and I am sure our blessings may. They say that people who endure +continual pain and misery, get at length hardly to feel it. And +so, on the other hand, people who have continual prosperity get at length +hardly to feel that. God forgive us! My friends, when I +say this to you, I say it to myself. If I blame you, I blame myself. +If I warn you, I warn myself. We most of us need warning in these +comfortable times; for I believe that it is this very unrighteousness +of ours which brings many of our losses and troubles on us. If +we are so dull that we will not know the value of a thing when we have +got it, then God teaches us the value of it by taking it from us. +He teaches us the value of health by making us feel sickness; he teaches +us the value of wealth by making us feel poverty. I do not say +it is always so. God forbid. There are those who suffer +bitter afflictions, not because they have sinned, but that, like the +poor blind man, the glory of God may be made manifest in them. +There are those too who suffer no sorrow at all, even though they feel, +in their thoughtful moments, that they deserve it. And miserable +enough should we all be, if God punished us every time we were ungrateful +to him. If he dealt with us after our sins, and rewarded us according +to our iniquities, where should we be this day?</p> +<p>But still, I cannot but believe that if we do go on in prosperity, +careless and unthankful, we are running into danger; we are likely to +bring down on ourselves some sorrow or anxiety which will teach us, +which at least is meant to teach us—from whom all good things +come; and to know that the Lord has given, when the Lord has taken away.</p> +<p>God grant that when that lesson is sent to us we may learn it. +Learn it, perhaps, at once, and in a moment, we cannot. Weak flesh +and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God, and see that he is ruling +us, and all things, in love and justice; and our eyes are, as it were, +dimmed with our tears, so that we cannot see God’s handwriting +upon the wall against us. But at length, when the first burst +of sorrow is past, we may learn it; and, like righteous Job, justify +God; saying,—The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed +be the name of the Lord. If we do that, and give God the glory, +it may be with us, after all, as it was with Job, when God gave him +back sevenfold for all that he had taken away, wealth and prosperity, +sons and daughters. For God doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve +the children of men out of spite. His punishments are not revenge, +but correction; and, as a father, he chastises his children, not to +harm, but to bless them.</p> +<p>And God grant that if that day, too, comes—if after sorrow +comes joy, if after storm comes sunshine—we may not forget God +afresh in our prosperity, nor go our ways like those dull-hearted Jews, +after they were cleansed from their leprosy: but, like the Samaritan, +return, and give glory to God, who gives, and delights in giving; and +only takes away, that he may lift up our souls to him, in whom we live, +and move, and have our being: and so, knowing who we are, and where +we are, may live in God, and by God, and for God, in this life, and +for ever.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXIX. PARDON AND PEACE</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity</i>.)</p> +<p>Psalm xxxii. 1-7. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, +whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth +not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept +silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. +For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned +into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and +mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions +unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For +this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou +mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not +come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve +me from trouble; thou shall compass me about with songs of deliverance.</p> +<p>The collect for to-day is a very beautiful one. There is something +musical in the sound of the very words; so musical, that it is sung +as an anthem in many churches. Let us think a little over it. +‘Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people +pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and +serve thee with a quiet mind, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’ +That is a noble prayer; and a prayer for each and every one of us, every +day. I say for every day. It is not like the fifty-first +psalm, the prayer of a man who has committed some black and dreadful +crime; who fears lest God should take his Holy Spirit from him, and +leave him to remorse and horror; who feels that he needs to be utterly +changed, and have a new heart created within him. It is not a +prayer of that kind. It is rather the prayer of a man who is weary +with the burden of sinful mortality; who finds it very hard work to +do his duty, even tolerably well; who is dissatisfied with himself, +and ashamed of himself, not about one great fault, but about many little +faults; and who wants to be cleansed from them; who is tempted to be +fretful, anxious, out of heart, because things go wrong; and because +he feels it partly his own fault that things go wrong; and who, therefore, +wants peace, that he may serve God with a quiet mind. Now then, +dear friends, did I not speak truth, when I said, this is a prayer for +every one of us, and for every day? For which of us does his duty +as he ought? I take for granted, we are all trying to do our duty, +better or worse: but I take for granted, too, that the more we try to +do our duty, the more dissatisfied with ourselves we are; and the more +we find we have sins without number to be cleansed from. For the +more we try to do our duty, the higher notion we get of what our duty +is; the more we do, the more we feel we ought to do; and the more we +feel that we leave undone a great many things which we ought to do, +and do a great many things which we ought not to do, and that there +is no health in us: but a great deal of disease and weakness;—disease +of soul, in the way of conceit, pride, selfishness, temper, obstinacy; +weakness, in the way of laziness, fearfulness, and very often of sheer +stupidity; we do not see, or rather will not take the trouble to see, +what we ought to do, and how to do it. And therefore, we must +be, or rather ought to be, dissatisfied with ourselves; and our consciences +accuse us when we lie down at night, of a hundred petty miserable mistakes, +which we ought to have avoided. We are continually knowing what +is right, and doing what is wrong, till we get deservedly angry with +ourselves; and think at times, that God must be deservedly angry with +us; that we are such poor paltry creatures that he can only look on +us with dislike and contempt: and even worse; that, perhaps, he does +not care to see us mend; that our struggles to do right are of no value +in his eyes: but that he has sternly left us to ourselves, to struggle +through life, right or wrong, as best we may; and to be punished at +last, for all that we have done amiss.</p> +<p>Such thoughts will cross our minds. They have crossed the minds +of all mankind since the first man’s conscience awoke, and he +discovered that he was not a brute animal, by finding in himself that +awful thought, which no brute animal can have—‘I have done +wrong.’ And therefore the consciences of men will cry for +pardon, just in proportion as they are worthy of the name of men, and +not merely a superior sort of animals; and therefore just in proportion +as our souls are alive in us, alive with the feeling of duty, of justice, +of purity, of love, of a just and orderly God above—just in that +proportion shall we be tormented by the difference between what we are, +and what we ought to be; and the sense of sin, and the longing for pardon, +will be more keen in us; and we shall have no rest till the sins are +got rid of, and the pardon sure. That is the price we pay for +having immortal souls. It is a heavy price truly: but it is well +worth the paying, if it be only paid aright. If that tormenting +feeling of being continually wrong in this life, ends by making us continually +right for ever in the world to come; if Christ be formed in us at last; +if out of our sinful and mortal manhood a sinless and immortal manhood +is born;—then shall we, like the mother over her new-born babe, +forget our anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.</p> +<p>But, again, besides pardon, we want peace. Who does not know +that state of mind in which, perhaps, without any great reason in reality, +one has no peace? When everything seems to go wrong with a man. +When he suspects everybody to be against him. When little troubles, +which he could bear easily enough at other times, seem quite intolerable +to him. When he is troubled with vain regrets about the past—‘Ah, +if I had done this and that!’ and vain fears for the future, conjuring +up in his mind all sorts of bad luck which may, but most probably never +will, happen; and yet from off which he cannot turn his mind. +Who does not know this frame of mind?</p> +<p>True, a great deal of this may depend on ill-health; and will pass +away as the man’s bodily condition gets better. We know, +in the same way, that the strange anxiety which comes over us in sleepless +nights, comes from bodily causes. That is merely because, the +circulation of our blood being quickened, our brain becomes more active; +and because we are lying alone in the silent darkness, with nothing +to listen to or look at, we cannot turn our attention away from the +thoughts which get possession of us and torment us. That is only +bodily; and yet it may be very useful to our souls. As we lie +awake, our own past lives, our own past mistakes and sins, and God’s +past blessings and mercies, too, may rise up before us with clearness, +and teach us more than a hundred sermons; and we may find, with David, +that our reins chasten us in the night-season. ‘When I am +in heaviness, I will think upon God; when my heart is vexed, I will +complain. Thou holdest mine eyes waking. . . . I have considered +the days of old, and the years that are past. I call to remembrance +my song, and in the night I commune with my own heart, and search out +my spirits. Will the Lord absent himself for ever, and will he +be no more intreated? Is his mercy clean gone for ever: and is +his promise come utterly to an end for evermore? Hath God forgotten +to be gracious: and will he shut up his loving-kindness in displeasure? +And I said it is mine own infirmity. But I will remember the years +of the right hand of the Most Highest.’ These sleepless +hours taught the Psalmist somewhat; and they may teach us likewise. +And so, again, with these sad and fretful frames of mind. Even +if they do partly come from our bodies, they have a real effect, which +cannot be mistaken, on our souls; and they may have a good effect on +us, if we choose. I believe that we shall find, that even if they +do come from ill health and weak nerves, what starts them is—that +we are dissatisfied with ourselves. We feel something wrong, not +merely in our bodies, but in our souls, our characters; and then we +try to lay the blame on the world around us, and shift it off ourselves; +saying in our hearts, ‘I should do very well, if other people, +and things about me, would only let me:’ but the more we try to +shift off the blame, the less peace we have. Nothing mends matters +less than throwing the blame on others. That is plain. Other +people we cannot mend; they must mend themselves. Circumstances +about us we cannot mend; God must mend them. So, as long as we +throw the blame on them, we cannot return to a cheerful and hopeful +frame of mind. But the moment we throw the blame on ourselves, +that moment we can have hope, that moment we can become cheerful again; +for whatsoever else we cannot mend, we can at least mend ourselves. +Now a man may forget this in health. He may be put out and unhappy +for a while: but when his good spirits return, he does not know why. +Things have not improved; but, somehow, they do not affect him as they +did before. Now this is not wrong. God forbid! In +such a world as this, one is glad to see a man rid of sadness by any +means which is not wrong. Better anything than that a poor soul +should fret himself to death.</p> +<p>But it may be very good for a man now and then not to forget; to +be kept low, whether by ill health or by any other cause, till he faces +fairly his own state, and finds out honestly what does fret him and +torment him.</p> +<p>And then, I believe, his experience will generally be like David’s.—‘As +long as I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my groaning all the +day long.’</p> +<p>Think over these words, I beg you. I chose them for my text, +just because they seem to me to contain all that I wish you to understand. +As long as the Psalmist held his peace—as long as he did not confess +his sin to God—all seemed to go wrong with him. He fretted +his very heart away. The moment that he made a clean breast to +God, peace and cheerfulness came back to him.</p> +<p>This psalm may speak of some really great sin which he had committed. +But that makes all the more strongly for us. For if he got forgiveness +for a great sin, by merely confessing it, how much more may we hope +to be forgiven, for the comparatively little sins of which I am now +speaking? Surely there is forgiveness for them. Surely we, +Christians, are not worse off than the old Jews. God forbid! +What does the Bible tell us? If we confess our sins, he is faithful +and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. +If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word +is not in us. And again, if we walk in the light; that is, if +we look honestly at our own hearts, and confess honestly to God what +we see wrong there; then we have fellowship one with another; all our +frettings and grudgings against our fellow-men pass away; and the blood +of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. God forbid again! +For what is the message of the Absolution, whether general in the church, +or private by the sick-bed, but this—that there is continual forgiveness +for those who really confess and repent? God forbid again! +For what is the message of the Holy Communion, but that we really are +forgiven, really helped by God not to do the like again; that the stains +and scars of our daily misdoings are truly healed by God’s grace; +and power given us to lead a healthier life, the longer we persevere +in the struggle after God.</p> +<p>Therefore, instead of proudly laying the blame of our unhappiness +on our fellow-men, much less on God and his providence, let us cast +ourselves, in every hour of shame or of sadness, on the boundless love +of him who hateth nothing that he hath made; who so loved the world +that he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. +How shall he not with him freely give us all things? Let us open +our weary hearts to him who watches with tender interest, as of a father +watching the growth of his child, over every struggle of ours from worse +to better; and so we shall have our reward. The more we trust +to the love of God, the more shall we feel his love—feel that +we are pardoned—feel that we are at peace. We may not grow +more cheerful as we grow older; but we shall grow more peaceful. +Sadder men, it may be; but wiser men also; caring less and less for +pleasure; caring even less and less for mere happiness: but finding +a lasting comfort in the knowledge that we are doing our life’s +work not altogether ill, under the smile of Almighty God; aware more +and more of our own weakness, and of our own failings: but trusting +that God will take the will for the deed, and forgive us what we have +left undone, and accept what we have done, for the sake of Christ, in +whom, and not in our own poor paltry selves, he looks upon us as his +adopted children.</p> +<p>Only let us remember to ask for pardon and to ask for peace, that +we may use them as the collect bids us;—To ask for pardon, not +merely that we may escape punishment; not even to escape punishment +at all, if punishment be wholesome for us, as it often is: but that +we may be cleansed from our sins; that we may not be left to our own +weakness and our own bad habits, to grow more and more useless, more +and more unhappy, day by day, but that we may be cleansed from them; +and grow purer, nobler, juster, stronger, more worthy of our place in +God’s kingdom, as our years roll by. Let us remember to +ask for peace, not merely to get rid of unpleasant thoughts, or unpleasant +people, or unpleasant circumstances; and then sit down and say, Soul, +take thine ease, eat and drink, for thou hast much goods laid up for +many years: but let us ask for peace, that we may serve God with a quiet +mind; that we may get rid of the impatient, cowardly, discontented, +hopeless heart, which will not let a man go about his business like +a man; and get, instead of it, by the inspiration of God’s Holy +Spirit, the calm, contented, brave, hopeful heart, in the strength of +which a man can work with a will wherever God may put him, even amidst +vexation, confusion, disappointment, slander, and persecution; and, +in his place and calling, serve the Lord, who served him when he died +for him, and who serves him, and all his people, now and for ever in +heaven.</p> +<p>So shall we have real pardon, and real peace. A pardon which +will make us really better; and a peace which will make us really more +useful. And to be good and to be useful were the two ends for +which God sent us into the world at all.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXX. THE CENTRAL SUN</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Sunday after Ascension, Evening</i>.)</p> +<p>Ephesians iv. 9. 10. Now that he ascended, what is it but that +he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He +that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, +that he might fill all things.</p> +<p>This is one of those very deep texts which we are not meant to think +about every day; only at such seasons as this, when we have to think +of Christ ascending into heaven, that he might send down his Spirit +at Whitsuntide. Of this the text speaks; and therefore, we may, +I hope, think a little of it to-day, but reverently, and cautiously, +like men who know a very little, and are afraid of saying more than +they know. These deep mysteries about heaven we must always meddle +with very humbly, lest we get out of our depth in haste and self-conceit. +As it is said,</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>For, if we are not very careful, we shall be apt to mistake the meaning +of Scripture, and make it say what we like, and twist it to suit our +own fancies, and our own ignorance. Therefore we must never, with +texts like this, say positively, ‘It must mean this. It +can mean only this.’ How can we tell that?</p> +<p>This world, which we do see, is far too wonderful for us to understand. +How much more wonderful must be the world which we do not see? +How much more wonderful must heaven be? How can we tell what is +there, or what is not there? We can tell of some things that are +not there, and those are sin, evil, disorder, harm of any kind. +Heaven is utterly good. Beyond that, we know nothing. Therefore +I dare not be positive about this text, for fear I should try to explain +it according to my own fancies. Wise fathers and divines have +differed very much as to what it means; how far any one of them is right, +I cannot tell you.</p> +<p>The ancient way of explaining this text was this. People believed +in old times that the earth was flat. Then, they held, hell was +below the earth, or inside it in some way: and the burning mountains, +out of which came fire and smoke, were the mouths of hell. And +when they believed that, it was easy for them to suppose that St. Paul +spoke of Christ’s descending into hell. He went down, says +St. Paul, into the lower parts of the earth. What could those +lower parts be, they asked, but the hell which lay under the earth?</p> +<p>Now about that we know nothing. St. Paul himself never says +that hell is below the earth. Indeed (and this is a very noteworthy +thing) St. Paul never, in his epistles, mentions in plain words hell +at all; so what St. Paul thought about the matter, we can never know. +Whether by Christ’s descending into the lower parts of the earth, +he meant descending into hell, or merely that our Lord came down on +this earth of ours, poor, humble, and despised, laying his glory by +for a while, this we cannot tell. Some wise men think one thing, +some another. Two of the wisest and best of the great old fathers +of the Church think that he meant only Christ’s death and burial. +So how dare I give a positive opinion, where wiser men than I differ?</p> +<p>But about the other half of the text, which says, that he ascended +high above all heavens, there is no such difficulty.</p> +<p>All agree as to what that means: though, perhaps, in old times they +would have put it in different words.</p> +<p>The old belief was, that as hell was below the flat earth, so heaven +was above it; and that there were many heavens, seven heavens, in layers, +as it were, one above the other; and that the seventh heaven, which +was the highest of all, was where God dwelt. Now, whether St. +Paul believed this, we cannot tell. He speaks of being himself +caught up into the third heaven, and here Christ is spoken of as ascending +above all heavens.</p> +<p>My own belief, though I say it very humbly, is, that St. Paul spoke +of these things only as a figure of speech, for the sake of the ignorance +of the people to whom he was writing. They talked in that way; +and he was forced now and then to talk in that way, too, to make them +understand him. I think that, when he spoke of being caught up +into the third heaven, he did not mean that he was lifted bodily off +the earth into the skies: but that his soul was raised up and enlightened +to understand high and wonderful heavenly matters, though not the highest +or most wonderful. If he had meant that, he would have said, that +he was caught up into the seventh heaven. We know that our Lord, +in the same way, continually used parables; because, as he said, the +ignorant people could not understand the mysteries of the kingdom of +heaven; and he had, therefore, to put them into parables, taken from +the common country matters, and country forms of speech, if by any means +he might make them understand. And so, I suppose, it was with +St. Paul. He had to speak in such a way that he could be understood; +and no more.</p> +<p>But when he says that Christ ascended far above all heavens, we are +to believe this—that he ascended to God himself. So high +that he could go no higher; so far that he could go no farther.</p> +<p>We, now, do not believe that there are seven heavens above the earth; +and we need not. It is no doctrine of the Church, or of the Creeds. +We know that the earth is round, and not flat; and that the heavens, +if by that we mean the sky, is neither above it, nor below it, but round +it on every side. But some may say, whither, then, did our Lord +ascend? To what place did his body go up? And that is a +right question; for we must always bear in mind that not merely Christ’s +godhead but his manhood, not merely Christ’s soul but his body +also, ascended into heaven. If we do not believe that, we do not +hold the Catholic faith. Whither, then, did Christ ascend?</p> +<p>My friends, we know this. That this earth and the planets move +round the sun, which is in the centre of them. We know this, too; +that all the countless stars which spangle the sky are really suns likewise, +perhaps, with worlds which we cannot see, moving round them, as we move +round the sun. We know, too, that these fixed stars, as they seem +to be, are not really fixed, but have some regular movements among themselves, +which seem very slow and small to us, from their immense distance, but +which really are very great and fast.</p> +<p>Now all these suns and stars, it is reasonable to believe, most probably +have a centre. There must be order among them; and they most probably +move round one thing, one place, one central sun, as it were, which +is the very heart of all the worlds, and the whole universe. Where +that place is, or what it is like, we know not, and cannot know. +Only this we may believe, that it is glorious beyond all that eye hath +seen, and ear heard, or hath entered into the heart of man to conceive. +If this world be beautiful, how beautiful must that world of all worlds +be. If the sun be glorious, how glorious must the sun of all suns +be. If the heaven over us be grand, how grand must that heaven +of heavens be. We will not talk of it; for we cannot imagine it: +and if we tried to, we should only lower it to our own low fancies. +But is it not reasonable to suppose, that there God the Father does, +perhaps, in some unspeakable way, shew forth his glory? That there, +in the heart of all the worlds, Cherubim and Seraphim continually adore +him, crying day and night, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth: +Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory!’ before +his throne from which goes forth light, and power, and life, to all +worlds and all created things.</p> +<p>And is it not reasonable to believe, that there Christ is, in the +bosom of the Father, and at the right hand of God? We know that +those, too, are only figures. That God is a Spirit, everywhere +and nowhere; and has not hands as we have. But it is only by such +figures that the Bible can make us understand the truth, that Christ +is the highest being in all heavens and worlds; equal with God the Father, +and sharer of his kingdom, and power, and glory, God blessed for ever. +Amen.</p> +<p>What then does St. Paul mean, when he says, ‘That he may fill +all things?’ I do not know. And I will take care not +to lessen and spoil St. Paul’s words, by any ignorant words of +my own. But one thing I know it will mean one day, for St. Paul +says so. That Christ reigns, and will reign, triumphant over sin, +and death, and hell, till he have put all enemies under his feet, and +the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Then shall he +deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; that God may be all +in all. What that means I do not know. But this I can say, +and you can say. We can pray that God will finish the number of +his elect and hasten his kingdom, that we, with all that are departed +in the true faith, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both +in body and soul, in his eternal kingdom. And this I can say, +that it means now, for you and me; for Whitsuntide tells me:—that +whatever else Christ can or cannot fill, he can at least fill our hearts, +because he is in the bosom of the Father himself; and therefore from +him, as from the Father, proceeds the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver +of life. That Spirit will proceed even to us, if we will have +him. He will fill our hearts with himself; with the Spirit of +goodness, which proceeds out of the heaven of heavens, and out of the +bosom of God himself; with love, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, +goodness; with truth, honour, duty, earnestness, and all that is the +likeness of Christ and of God. Oh let us pray for that Spirit; +the Spirit of truth, which Christ promised us when he ascended up into +the heaven of heavens, to keep us sound in our most holy faith; and +the Spirit of goodness, to give us strength to live the good lives of +good Christian men.</p> +<p>And then it will matter little what opinions we hold about deep things, +which the wisest man can never put into words. And it will matter +little, whether what I have been telling you to-day about the heaven +of heavens be exactly true or not; for what says St. Paul of such deep +matters? That we know in part, and prophesy in part; and that +prophecies shall fail, and knowledge vanish away: but charity, love, +and right feeling, and right doing, which is the very Holy Spirit of +God, shall abide for ever. And if that Spirit be with us, he will +guide us in due time into all truth; teach us all we need to know, and +enable us to practise all we ought to do. Amen.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXI. CHRISTMAS PEACE</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Sunday before Christmas</i>.)</p> +<p>Phil. iv. 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.</p> +<p>This is a glorious text, and one fit to be the key-note of Christmas-day. +If we will take it to heart, it will tell us how to keep Christmas-day. +St. Paul has been speaking of two good women, who seem to have had some +difference; and he beseeches them to make up their difference, and be +of the same mind in the Lord. And then he goes on to tell them, +and all Christian people, why they should make up their differences.</p> +<p>And for that reason, I suppose, the Church has chosen it for the +epistle before Christmas-day, on which all men are to make friends with +each other, and rejoice in the Lord. Let your moderation, he says, +be known to all men. The Greek word signifies forbearance, reasonable +dealing, consideration for one another, readiness to give way, not standing +too severely on one’s own rights. Now this is just the temper +in which we ought to meet our friends at Christmas—forbearance. +They may not have always behaved well to us. Be it so. No +more have we to them. Let us, once in the year at least, forget +old grudges. Let us do as we would be done by; give and forgive; +live and let live; bury our past quarrels, and shake hands over their +graves.</p> +<p>For the Lord is at hand. Close to all of us: watching all we +do, and setting the right value on it. He cannot mistake. +He sees both sides of a matter, and all sides—a thousand sides +which we cannot see. He can judge better than we. Let him +judge. Why do I say, Let him judge? He has judged already, +weeks, months ago, as soon as each quarrel happened: and, perhaps, he +found us in the wrong as well as our neighbours; and, if so, the least +said the soonest mended. Let us forgive and forget, lest we be +neither forgotten nor forgiven.</p> +<p>And, because the Lord is at hand, be anxious about nothing. +The word here is the same as in the Sermon on the Mount. It means +do not fret; do not terrify yourselves; for the Lord is at hand; he +knows what you want: and will he not give it? Is not Christmas-day +a sign that he will give it—a pledge of his love? What did +he do on the first Christmas-day? What did he shew himself to +be on the first Christmas-day? Now, here is the root of the whole +matter, and a deep root it is; as deep as the beginning of all things +which are, or ever were, or ever will be. And yet if we will believe +our Bibles, it is a root which we all may find. What did the angels +say the first Christmas night? Peace on earth, and goodwill to +men. That is what God proclaimed. That is what he said that +he had, and would give.</p> +<p>Now, says the apostle, if you will believe the latter half of this +same Christmas message, then the first half of it will come true to +you. If you will believe that God’s will is a good will +to you, then you will have peace on earth. For believe in Christmas-day; +believe that the Lord is at hand; that he has been made man for ever +and ever; and that to the Man Christ Jesus all power is given in heaven +and earth: and then, if you want aught, instead of grudging or grinding +your neighbours, ask him. In everything let your requests be made +known unto God: and then the peace of God will keep your hearts through +Christ Jesus.</p> +<p>You will feel at peace with God through Christ Jesus, because you +have found out that God is at peace with you; that God is not against +you, but for you; that God does not hate you, but love you; and if God +is at peace with you, what cause have you to be at war with him? +And so the message of Christmas-day will bring you peace.</p> +<p>You will be at peace with your neighbours, through Christ Jesus. +When you see God stooping to make peace with sinful men, you will be +ashamed to be quarrelling with them. When you see God full of +love, you will be ashamed to keep up peevishness, grudging, and spite. +When you see God’s heaven full of light, you will be ashamed to +be dark yourselves; your hearts will go out freely to your fellow-creatures; +you will long to be friends with every one you meet; and you will find +in that the highest pleasure which you ever felt in life. But +mind one thing—what sort of a peace this peace of God is. +It passes all understanding; the very loftiest understanding. +The cleverest and most learned men that ever lived could not have found +it—we know they did not find it—by their own cleverness +and learning. No more will you find God’s peace, if you +seek for it with your understanding. Thinking will not bring you +peace, think as shrewdly as you may. Reading will not bring it, +read as deeply as you may. Some people think otherwise; that they +can get the peace of God by understanding. If they could but understand +more, their minds would be at rest. So they weary themselves with +reading, and thinking, and arguing, perhaps trying to understand predestination, +election, assurance; perhaps trying to understand which is the true +Church. What do they get thereby? Certainly not the peace +of God. They certainly do not set their minds at rest. They +cannot. Books cannot give a live soul rest. Understanding +cannot. Nothing can give you or me rest, save God himself. +The peace is God’s; and he must give it himself, with his own +hand, or we shall never get it. Go then to God himself. +Thou art his child, as Christmas-day declares: be not afraid to go unto +thy Father. Pray to him; tell him what thou wantest: say, Father, +I am not moderate, reasonable, forbearing. I fear I cannot keep +Christmas-day aright, for I have not a peaceful Christmas spirit in +me; and I know that I shall never get it by thinking, and reading, and +understanding; for it passes all that, and lies far away beyond it, +does peace, in the very essence of thine undivided, unmoved, absolute, +eternal Godhead, which no change nor decay of this created world, nor +sin or folly of men or devils, can ever alter; but which abideth for +ever what it is, in perfect rest, and perfect power, and perfect love. +O Father, give me thy peace. Soothe this restless, greedy, fretful +soul of mine, as a mother soothes a sick and feverish child. How +thou wilt do it I do not know. It passes all understanding. +But though the sick child cannot reach the mother, the mother is at +hand, and can reach it. Though the eagle, by flying, cannot reach +the sun, yet the sun is at hand, and can reach all the earth, and pour +its light and warmth over all things. And thou art more than a +mother: thou art the everlasting Father. Pour thy love over me, +that I may love as thou lovest. Thou art more than the sun: thou +art the light and the life of all things. Pour thy light and thy +life over me, that I may see as thou seest, and live as thou livest, +and be at peace with myself and all the world, as thou art at peace +with thyself and all the world. Again, I say, I know not how; +for it passes all understanding: but I hope that thou wilt do it for +me. I trust that thou wilt do it for me, for I believe the good +news of Christmas-day. I believe that thou art love, and that +thy mercy is over all thy works. I believe the message of Christmas-day: +that thou so lovest the world, that thou hast sent thy Son to save the +world, and me. I know not how; for that, too, passes understanding: +but I believe that thou wilt do it; for I believe that thou art love; +and that thy mercy is over all thy works, even over me. I believe +the message of Christmas-day, that thy will is peace on earth, even +peace to me, restless and unquiet as I am; and goodwill to men, even +to me, the chief of sinners.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXII. THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>First Sunday after Christmas</i>.)</p> +<p>Isaiah xxxviii. 16. O Lord, by these things men live, and in +all these things is the life of my spirit.</p> +<p>These words are the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah; and they are +true words, words from God. But, if they are true words, they +are true words for every one—for you and me, for every one here +in this church this day: for they do not say, By these things certain +men live, one man here and another man there; but all men. Whosoever +is really alive, that is, has life in his spirit, his soul, his heart, +the life of a man and not a beast, the only life which is worthy to +be called life, then that life is kept up in him in the same way that +it was kept up in Hezekiah, and by the same means.</p> +<p>Let us see, then, what things they were which gave Hezekiah’s +spirit life. Great joy, great honour, great success, wealth, health, +prosperity and pleasure? Was it by these things that Hezekiah +found men lived? Not so, but by great sorrow. ‘In +those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet +the son of Amos came unto him and said, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine +house in order; for thou shall die and not live. Then Hezekiah +turned his face towards the wall and prayed unto the Lord; and Hezekiah +wept sore.’</p> +<p>Trouble upon trouble came on Hezekiah; and that just when he might +have expected a little rest. The Lord had just delivered Hezekiah +and the Jews from a fearful danger, of which we read in the chapter +before. Hezekiah had believed God’s promise by the mouth +of Isaiah. He held fast his faith in God when Sennacherib and +his Assyrian army were camping round Jerusalem; for God had said, ‘I +will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant +David’s sake.’ He defended his city bravely and nobly, +and showed himself a true, and valiant, and godly king. And perhaps +Hezekiah expected to be rewarded for his faith, and rewarded for having +done his duty: but it was not so. He had to wait, and to endure +more. And now this fresh trouble was come upon him. Isaiah +told him he should die and not live: and he must prepare himself to +meet death.</p> +<p>Hezekiah, you see, was horribly afraid of death. I do not mean +that he was afraid of going to hell, for he does not say so: but he +felt, to use his own words, ‘The grave cannot praise thee, death +cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for +thy truth.’ And, therefore, death looked to him an ugly +and an evil thing—as it is; the Lord’s enemy, and his last +enemy, the one with which he will have the longest and sorest fight. +He conquered death by rising from the dead: but nevertheless we die; +and death is an ugly, fearful, hateful thing in itself, and rightly +called the King of Terrors: for terrible it is to those who do not know +that Christ has conquered it. Hezekiah lived before the Lord Jesus +came into the flesh to bring life and immortality to light, by rising +from the dead; and, therefore, the life after death was not brought +to light to him, any more than it was to David, or any other Old Testament +Jew. He dreaded it, because he knew not what would come after +death. And, therefore, he prayed hard not to die. He did +not pray altogether in a right way: but still he prayed. ‘Remember +now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth +and with a perfect heart, and have done that which was good in thy sight.’ +And the Lord heard his prayer. ‘Then came the word of the +Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, +I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, behold I will add unto +thy days fifteen years.’</p> +<p>Then what was the use of God’s warning to him? What was +the use of his sickness and his terror, if, after all, his prayer was +heard, and after the Lord had told him, Thou shall die and not live—that +did not come to pass: but the very contrary happened, that he lived, +and did not die?</p> +<p>Of what use to him was it? Of this use at least, that it taught +him that the Lord God would hear the prayers of mortal men. Oh +my friends, is not that worth knowing? Is not that worth going +through any misery to learn—that the Lord will hear us? +That he is not a cold, arbitrary tyrant, who goes his own way, never +caring for our cries and tears, too proud to turn out of his way to +hear us: but that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy, and repenting +him of the evil? Hezekiah did not pray rightly. He thought +himself a better man than he was. He said, ‘Remember now, +O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with +a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.’ +And Hezekiah wept sore. But he did pray. He went to God, +and told his story to him, and wept sore; and the Lord God heard him, +and taught him that he was not as good as he fancied; taught him that, +after all, he had nothing to say for himself—no reason to shew +why he should not die. ‘What shall I say? He hath +both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all +my years in the bitterness of my soul.’ And so he felt that, +instead of justifying himself, he must throw himself utterly on God’s +love and mercy; that God must undertake for him. ‘O Lord, +I am oppressed, crushed—the heart is beaten out of me. I +have nothing to say for myself. Undertake for me. I have +nothing to say for myself, but I have plenty to say of thee. Thou +art good and just. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. +I can say no more.’</p> +<p>And then he found that the Lord was ready to save him. That +what the Lord wished was, not to kill him, but to recover him, and make +him live—live more really, and fully, and wisely, and manfully—by +making him trust more utterly in God’s goodness, and love, and +mercy; making him more certain that, good as he thought himself, and +perfect in heart, he was full of sins: and yet that the Lord had cast +all these sins of his behind his back, forgotten and forgiven them, +as soon as he had made him see that all that was good and strong in +him came from God, and all that was evil and weak from himself. +And then he says, ‘O Lord, by these things men live, and in all +these things is the life of my spirit.’ God meant all along +to receive me, and make me live. He chastened me, and brought +me low, to shew me that my own faith, my own righteousness, was no reason +for his saving me: but that his own love and mercy was a good reason +for saving me. ‘Behold,’ he goes on to say, ‘for +peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered +it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind +thy back.’</p> +<p>And, my dear friends, what Hezekiah saw but dimly, we ought to see +clearly. The blessed news of the Gospel ought to tell us it clearly. +For the blessed Gospel tells us that the same Lord who chastened and +taught, and then saved, Hezekiah, was made flesh, and born a man of +the substance of a mortal woman; that he might in his own person bear +all our sicknesses and carry our infirmities; that he might understand +all our temptations, and be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, +seeing that he himself was tempted in all points likewise, yet without +sin.</p> +<p>Oh hear this, you who have had sorrows in past times. Hear +this, you who expect sorrows in the times to come.</p> +<p>He who made, he who lightens, every man who comes into the world; +he who gave you every right thought and wholesome feeling that you ever +had in your lives: he counts your tears; he knows your sorrows; he is +able and willing to save you to the uttermost. Therefore do not +be afraid of your own afflictions. Face them like men. Think +over them. Ask him to help you out of them: or if that is not +to be, at least to tell you what he means by them. Be sure that +what he must mean by them is good to you: a lesson to you, that in some +way or other they are meant to make you wiser, stronger, hardier, more +sure of God’s love, more ready to do God’s work, whithersoever +it may lead you. Do not be afraid of the dark day of affliction, +I say. It may teach you more than the bright prosperous one. +Many a man can see clearly in the cloudy day, who would be dazzled in +the sunlight. The dull weather, they say, is the best weather +for battle; and sorrow is the best time for seeing through and conquering +one’s own self. Therefore do not be afraid, I say, of sorrow. +All the clouds in the sky cannot move the sun a foot further off; and +all the sorrow in the world cannot move God any further off. God +is there still, where he always was; near you, and below you, and above +you, and around you; for in him you live and move and have your being, +and are the offspring and children of God. Nay, he is nearer you, +if possible, in sorrow, than in joy. He is informing you, and +guiding you with his eye, and, like a father, teaching you the right +way which you should go. He is searching and purging your hearts, +and cleansing you from your secret faults, and teaching you to know +who you are and to know who he is—your Father, the knowledge of +whom is life eternal. By these things, my friends—by being +brought low and made helpless, till ashamed of ourselves, and weary +of ourselves, we lift up eyes and heart to God who made us, like lost +children crying after a Father—by these things, I say, we live, +and in all these things is the life of our spirit.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXIII. THE UNCHANGEABLE ONE</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Psalm cxix. 89-96. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in +heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established +the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to +thine ordinances: for all are thy servants. Unless thy law had +been my delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction. +I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened +me. I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. +The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy +testimonies. I have seen an end of all perfection; but thy commandment +is exceeding broad.</p> +<p>The Psalmist is in great trouble. He does not know whom to +trust, what to expect next, whom to look to. Everything seems +failing and changing round him. His psalm was most probably written +during the Babylonish captivity, at a time when all the countries and +kingdoms of the east were being destroyed by the Chaldean armies.</p> +<p>Then, he says, Be it so. If everything else changes, God cannot. +If everything else fails, God’s plans cannot. He can rest +on the thought of God; of his goodness, his faithfulness, order, providence. +God is governing the world righteously and orderly. Whatever disorder +there is on earth, there is none in heaven. God’s word endures +for ever there.</p> +<p>Then he looks on the world round him; all is well ordered—seasons, +animals, sun, and stars abide. They continue this day according +to God’s ordinances. The unchangeableness of nature is a +comfort to him; for it is a token of the unchangeablenes of God who +made it.</p> +<p>Now, I do beg you to think carefully over this verse; because it +is quite against the very common notion that, because the earth was +cursed for Adam’s sake, therefore it is cursed now; that because +it was said to him, Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, +therefore that holds good now. It is not so, my friends; neither +is there, as far as I know, in any part whatsoever of Scripture, any +mention of Adam’s curse continuing to our day. St. John, +in the Revelations, certainly says, ‘And there shall be no more +curse.’ But if you will read the Revelation, you will find +that what he plainly refers to is to the fearful curses, the plagues, +the vials of wrath, as he calls them, which were to be poured out on +the earth; and then to cease when the New Jerusalem came down from heaven.</p> +<p>St. Paul, again, knows nothing about any such curse upon the earth. +He says that death came into the world by Adam’s sin: but that +must be understood only of man, and the world of man; and for this simple +reason, that we know, without the possibility of doubt, that animals +died in this world just as they do now, not only thousands, but hundreds +of thousands of years before man appeared on earth.</p> +<p>What St. Paul says of the creation, in one of his most glorious passages, +is this—not that it is cursed, but that it groans and travails +continually in the pangs of labour, trying to bring forth; trying to +bring forth something better than itself; to develop, and rise from +good to better, and from that to better still; till all things become +perfect in a way which we cannot conceive, but which God has ordained +before the foundation of the world.</p> +<p>Besides, as a fact, the earth does not bring forth thorns and thistles +to us, but good grain, and fruitful crops, and an abundant return for +our labour, if we choose to till the ground.</p> +<p>And wise men, who study God’s works, can find no curse at all +upon the earth, nor sign of a curse, neither in plants nor beasts, no, +nor in the smallest gnat in the air. The more they look into the +wonders of God’s world, the more they find it true that there +is order everywhere, beauty everywhere, fruitfulness everywhere, usefulness +everywhere—that all things continue as at the beginning; that, +as the psalmist says in another place, God has made them fast for ever +and ever, and given them a law which cannot be broken. And if +you will look at Genesis viii. 21, 22, you will find from the plain +words of Scripture itself, that Adam’s curse, whatever it was, +was taken off after the flood, ‘And the Lord smelled a sweet savour: +and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any +more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart +is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything +living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seed-time and +harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night +shall not cease.’</p> +<p>Therefore, my friends, open your eyes and your hearts freely to the +message which God is sending you, in summer and winter, in seed-time +and in harvest, in sunshine and in storm; that God is not a hard God, +a revengeful God, a God of curses, who is extreme to mark what is done +amiss, and keepeth his anger for ever. No: but that he is your +Father in heaven, who hateth nothing that he has made, and whose mercy +is over all his works; who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that +therein is; who keepeth truth for ever; who helpeth them to right that +suffer wrong; who feedeth the hungry; a God who feeds the birds of the +air, though they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; +and who clothes the grass of the field, which toils not, neither doth +it spin; and who will much much more clothe and feed you, to whom he +has given reason, understanding, and the power of learning his laws, +the rules by which this world of his is made and works, and of turning +them to your own profit in rational and honest labour.</p> +<p>And think, my friends, if the old Psalmist, before Christ came, could +believe all this, and find comfort in it, much more ought we. +Shame to us if we do not. I had almost said, we deny Christ, if +we do not. For who said those last words concerning the birds +of the air, and the grass of the field? Who told us that we have +not merely a Master or a Judge in heaven, but a Father in heaven? +Who but that very Word of God, whom the Psalmist saw dimly and afar +off? He knew that the Word of God abode for ever in heaven: but +he knew not, as far as we can tell, that that same Word would condescend +to be made flesh, and dwell among men that we might see his glory, full +of grace and truth. The old Psalmist knew that God’s word +was full of truth, and that gave him comfort in the wild and sad times +in which he lived; but he did not know—none of the Old Testament +prophets knew,—how full God’s word was of grace also. +That he was so full of love, condescension, pity, generosity, so full +of longing to seek and save all that was lost, to set right all that +was wrong, in one word again, so full of grace, that he would condescend +to be born of the Virgin Mary, suffer under Pontius Pilate, to be crucified, +dead and buried, that he might become a faithful High Priest for us, +full of understanding, fellow-feeling, pity, love, because he has been +tempted in all things like as we are, yet without sin.</p> +<p>My friends, was not the old Psalmist a Jew, and are not we Christian +men? Then, if the old Psalmist could trust God, how much more +should we? If he could find comfort in the thought of God’s +order, how much more should we? If he could find comfort in the +thought of his justice, how much more should we? If he could find +comfort in the thought of his love, how much more should we? Yes; +let us be full of troubles, doubts, sorrows; let times be uncertain, +dark, and dangerous; let strange new truths be discovered, which we +cannot, at first sight, fit into what we know to be true already: we +can still say, ‘I will not fear, though the earth be moved, and +the hills be carried into the midst of the sea.’ For the +word of God abideth for ever in heaven, even Jesus Christ, who is the +Light of the world and the Life of men. To him all power is given +in heaven and earth. He is set on the throne, judging right, and +ministering true judgment among the people. All things, as the +Psalmist says, come to an end. All men’s plans, men’s +notions, men’s systems, men’s doctrines, grow old, wear +out, and perish.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>The old order changes, giving place to the new:<br />But God fulfils +himself in many ways.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>For men are not ruling the world. Christ is ruling the world, +and his commandment is exceeding broad. His laws are broad enough +for all people, all countries, all ages; and strangely as they may seem +to work, in the eyes of us short-sighted timorous human beings, still +all is going well, and all will go well; for Christ reigns, and will +reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet, and God be all in +all.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXIV. ΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ +ΝΙΚΑ</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Good Friday</i>, 1860.)</p> +<p>1 Corinthians i. 23-25. But we preach Christ crucified, unto +the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto +them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, +and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser +than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.</p> +<p>The foolishness of God? The weakness of God? These are +strange words. But they are St. Paul’s words, not mine. +If he had not said them first, I should not dare to say them now.</p> +<p>But what do they mean? Can God be weak? Can God be foolish? +No, says St. Paul. Nothing less. For so strong is God, that +his very weakness, if he seems weak, is stronger than all mankind. +So wise is God, that his very foolishness, if he seems foolish, is wiser +than all mankind.</p> +<p>Why then talk of the weakness of God, of the foolishness of God, +if he be neither weak nor foolish? Why use words which seem blasphemous, +if they are not true?</p> +<p>I do not say these ugly words for myself. St. Paul did not +say these ugly words for himself. But men have said them; too +many men, and too often. The Jews, who sought after a sign, said +them in St. Paul’s time. The Corinthian Greeks, who sought +after wisdom, said them also. There are men who say them now. +We all are tempted at times to say them in our hearts. As often +as we forget Good Friday, and what Good Friday means, and what Good +Friday brought to all mankind, we do say them in our hearts; and charge +God—though we should not like to confess it even to ourselves—with +weakness and with folly.</p> +<p>Now, how is this? Let us consider, first, how it was with these +Jews and Greeks.</p> +<p>Why did the cross of Christ, and the message of Good Friday, seem +to them weakness and folly? Why did they answer St. Paul, ‘Your +Christ cannot be God, or he would never have allowed himself to be crucified?’</p> +<p>The Jews required a sign; a sign from heaven; a sign of God’s +power. Thunder and earthquakes, armies of angels, taking vengeance +on the heathen; these were the signs of Christ which they expected. +A Christ who came in such awful glory as that, they would accept, and +follow, and look to him to lead them against the Romans, that they might +conquer them, and all the nations upon earth. And all that St. +Paul gave them, was a sign of Christ’s weakness. ‘He +was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with +grief. . . . He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet +we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He +was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he +is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers +is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.’ Then said the Jews—This +is no Christ for us, this weak, despised, crucified Christ. Then +answered St. Paul—Weak? I tell you that what seems to you +weakness, is the very power of God. You Jews wish to conquer all +mankind: and behold, instead, you yourselves are rushing to ruin and +destruction: but what you cannot do, Christ on his cross can do. +Weak, shamed, despised, dying man as he seemed, he is still conqueror; +and he will conquer all mankind at last, and draw all men to himself. +Know that what seems to you weakness, is the very power of God; the +power of doing good, and of suffering all things, that he may do good: +and that <i>that</i> will conquer the world, when riches and glory, +and armies, aye, the very thunder and the earthquake, have failed utterly.</p> +<p>The Greeks, again, sought after wisdom. If St. Paul was (as +he said) the apostle of God, then they expected him to argue with them +on cunning points of philosophy; about the being of God, the nature +of the world and of the soul; about finite and infinite, cause and effect, +being and not being, and all those dark questions with which they astonished +simple people, and gained power over them, and set up for wise men and +teachers to their own profit and glory, pampering their own luxury and +self-conceit. And all St. Paul gave them, seemed to them mere +foolishness. He could have argued with these Greeks on those deep +matters; for he was a great scholar, and a true philosopher, and could +speak wisdom among those who were perfect: but he would not. He +determined to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; +and he told them, You disputers of this world, while you are deceiving +simple souls with enticing words of man’s wisdom and philosophy, +falsely so called, you are trifling away your own souls and your hearers’ +into hell. What you need, and what they need, is not philosophy, +but a new heart and a right spirit. Sin is your disease; and you +know that it is so, in the depth of your hearts. Then know this, +that God so loved you, sinners as you are, that he condescended to become +mortal man, and to give himself up to death, even the shameful and horrible +death of the cross, that he might save you from your sins; and he that +would be saved now, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and +follow him. And to that, those proud Greeks answered,—That +is a tale unworthy of philosophers. The Cross? It is a death +of shame—the death of slaves and wretches. Tell your tale +to slaves, not to us. To give himself up to the death of the cross +is foolishness, and not the wisdom which we want. Then answered +St. Paul and said,—True. The cross is a slave’s and +a wretch’s death; and therefore slaves and wretches will hear +me, though you will not. ‘For you see your calling, brethren, +how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many +noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world +to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world +to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, +and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which +are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory +in his presence.’ For the foolishness of God is wiser than +all the wisdom of men. You Greeks, with all your philosophy and +your wisdom, have been trying, for hundreds of years, to find out the +laws of heaven and earth, and to set the world right by them; and you +have not done it. You have not found out the secrets of the world. +You have not set the world right. You have not even set your own +hearts and lives right. But what your seeming wisdom cannot do, +the seeming foolishness of Christ on his cross will do. Does it +seem to you foolish of him, to believe that he could save the world, +by giving himself up to a horrible and shameful death? Does it +seem to you foolishness in me, to preach nothing but him crucified, +and to say, Behold God dying for men? Then know, that what seems +to you foolishness, is the very wisdom of God. That God knows +the secret of touching, convincing, and converting the hearts of men, +though you do not. That God knows how the world is made, and how +to set it right, though you do not. That God knows the law which +keeps all heaven and earth in order, though you do not; and that that +law is charity,—self-sacrificing love, which shines out from the +cross of Christ. Know, that when all your arguments and philosophies +have failed to teach men what they ought to do, one earnest penitent +look at Christ upon his cross will teach them. That their hearts +will leap up in answer, and cry, If this be God, I can believe in him. +If this be God, I can trust him. If this be God, I can obey him. +That one look at Christ upon his cross will make them—what you +could never make them—new men, filled with a new thought; the +thought that God is love, and that he who dwelleth in love, dwelleth +in God, and God in him; and that the poor slaves and wretches, whom +you despise, will look unto the cross and be saved, and become new men, +and lead new lives, and rise to be saints and martyrs to God and to +his Christ, giving themselves up to torments and death, as Christ did +before them; and that out of them shall spring that church of Christ, +which shall reign over all the world, when you and your philosophies +have crumbled into dust.</p> +<p>My friends, let us look, earnestly, humbly, and solemnly this day, +at Christ upon his cross. Let us learn that love, the utter self-sacrificing +love which Christ shewed on his cross, is stronger than all pomp and +might, all armies, riches, governments; aye, that it is the very power +of God, by which all things consist, which holds together heaven and +earth and all that is therein.</p> +<p>Let us learn that love, the utter self-sacrificing love which Christ +shewed on his cross, is wiser than all arguments, doctrines, philosophies, +whether they be true or false; aye, that it is the very wisdom of God, +by which he convinces and converts all hearts and souls; and let us +look to the cross, and see there the wisdom of God, and the power of +God, mighty to save to the uttermost all who come through Christ to +him.</p> +<p>And let us remember this, that whenever we fancy ourselves to be +strong and powerful, and think to aggrandize ourselves at our neighbour’s +expense, and to crush those who are weaker than ourselves, then we are +forgetting the lesson of Good Friday; that whenever we fancy that the +way to be wise is, to use our wit and our knowledge for our own glory, +and by them to manage our fellow-men, and make them admire us and bow +down to us, then we forget the lesson of Good Friday. For whosoever +gives himself up to selfish ambition, or to selfish cunning, charges +Christ upon his cross with weakness and with foolishness, and denies +the Lord who bought him with his blood.</p> +<p>My friends, I have no more to say. Much more I might say. +For Good Friday has many other meanings, and all the sermons of a lifetime +would not exhaust them all.</p> +<p>But one thing seemed to me fit to be said, and I say it again, and +entreat you to carry it home with you, and live by the light of it all +the year round.</p> +<p>Do you wish to be powerful? Then look at Christ upon his cross; +at what seems to men his weakness; and learn from him how to be strong. +Do you wish to be wise? Then look at Christ upon the cross; and +at what seemed to men his folly; and learn from him how to be wise. +For sooner or later, I hope and trust, you will find that true, which +St. Buonaventura (wise and strong himself) used to say,—That all +the learning in the world had never taught him so much as the sight +of Christ upon the cross.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXV. THE ETERNAL MANHOOD</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>First Sunday after Easter</i>.)</p> +<p>John xx. 29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast +seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and +yet have believed.</p> +<p>The eighth day after the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared +a second time to his disciples. On this day he strengthened St. +Thomas’s weak faith, by giving him proof, sensible proof, that +he was indeed and really the very same person who had been crucified, +wearing the very same human nature, the very same man’s body.</p> +<p>‘Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.’ +You have not seen. You have never beheld with your bodily eyes, +or touched with your bodily hand, as St. Thomas did, the Lord Jesus +Christ. And yet you may be more blessed now, this day, than St. +Thomas was then. We are too apt to fancy, that, to have seen the +Lord with our eyes, to have walked with him, and talked with him, as +the apostles did, was the greatest honour and blessing which could happen +to man. We fancy, perhaps, at times, that if the Lord Jesus were +to come visibly among us now, we should want nothing more to make us +good: that we could not help listening to him, obeying him, loving him.</p> +<p>But the Scriptures prove to us that it was not so. The Scribes +and Pharisees saw him and talked with him; yet they hated him. +Judas Iscariot, yet he betrayed him. Pilate, yet he condemned +him. The word preached profited them nothing, not being mixed +with faith in those who heard him. Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, +came and preached himself to them; declared to them who he was, proved +who he was by his mighty works of love and mercy, and by fulfilling +all the prophecies of Scripture which spoke of him; and yet they did +not believe him, they hated him, they crucified him; because they had +no faith.</p> +<p>You see, therefore, that something more than seeing him with our +bodily eyes is wanted to make us believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; something +more than seeing him with our bodily eyes is wanted to make us blessed. +St. Thomas saw him; St. Thomas was allowed, by the boundless condescension +and mercy of the Lord Jesus, to put his hand into his side. And +yet the Lord does not say to him,—See how blessed thou art; see +how honoured thou art, by being allowed to touch me. No; our Lord +rather rebukes him for requiring such a proof.</p> +<p>There are those who will not believe without seeing; who say, I must +have proof. What I hear in church is too much for me to believe +without many more reasons than are given for it all. Many people, +for instance, stumble at the stumbling-block of the cross, and cannot +bring themselves to believe that God would condescend to suffer and +to die for men. Others cannot make up their minds about the resurrection. +It seems to them a strange and impossible thing that Jesus’ body +should have risen from the grave and ascended to heaven, and that our +bodies should rise also. That was the great puzzle to the Greeks, +who thought themselves very learned and cunning, and were great arguers +and disputers about all deep matters in heaven and earth. When +St. Paul preached to them on Mars’ Hill, they heard him patiently +enough, till he spoke of Jesus rising from the dead; and then they mocked; +laughed at the notion as absurd. And we find that the Corinthians, +even after they were converted and baptised Christians, were puzzled +about this same matter. They could not understand how the dead +were raised, and with what body they would come.</p> +<p>With such the Lord is not angry. If they really wish to know +what is true, and to do what is right; if they really are, as St. Paul +says, ‘feeling after the Lord, if haply they may find him;’ +then the Lord will give them light in due time, and shew them what they +ought to believe, and give them the sort of proof which they want. +All such he treats as he did Thomas, when he said, in his great condescension, +‘Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither +thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless but believing.’</p> +<p>So the Lord sent to those Corinthians the very sort of proof which +they wanted, by the hand of the learned apostle, St. Paul. They +were great observers of the works of nature, of the strange movement +and change, birth and death, which goes on in beasts, and in plants, +and in the clouds, and the rivers, and the very stones under our feet. +And they said, We cannot believe in the resurrection of the dead, because +we see nothing like it in the world around us. And St. Paul was +sent to tell them. No: you do see something like it. If +you will look deeper into the working of the world around you, you will +see that the rising again of the dead, instead of being an unnatural +or an absurd thing, is the most reasonable and natural thing, the perfect +fulfilment, and crowning wonder of wonderful laws which are working +round you in every seed which you sow; in the flesh of beasts and fishes; +in bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial: and so in that glorious +chapter which we read in the Burial Service, St. Paul tells the Corinthians, +who went altogether by sense, and reasoning about the things which they +could see and handle, that sense and reasoning were on his side, on +God’s side; and that the mysteries of faith, like the resurrection +of the body, were not contrary to reason, but agreed with it.</p> +<p>So does the Lord clear up the doubts of his people, in the way which +is best for them. But he does not call them as blessed as others. +There is a higher faith than that. There is a better part. +The same part which Mary chose. The same faith of which our Lord +says,—‘Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have +believed.’ The faith of the heart; the childlike, undoubting, +ready, willing faith, which welcomes the news of the Lord; which runs +to meet it, and is not astonished at it; and, if it ever doubts for +a moment, only doubts for very joy and delight; and feeling that the +news of the gospel is good news, cannot help feeling now and then that +it is too good news to be true; shewing its love and its faith in its +very hesitation. This is the childlike heart, whereof it is written, +‘Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall +in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.’</p> +<p>The hearts of little children; the hearts which begin by faith and +love toward God himself; the hearts which know God; the hearts to whom +God has revealed himself, and taught them, they know not how, that he +is love. They are so sure of God’s goodness, so sure of +his power, so sure of his love, his willingness to have mercy, and to +deliver poor creatures, that they find nothing strange, nothing difficult, +in the mysteries of faith. To them it is not a thing incredible, +that God should have come down and died upon the cross. When they +hear the good news of him who gave his own life for them, it seems a +natural thing to them, a reasonable thing: not of course a thing which +they could have expected; but yet not a thing to doubt of or to be astonished +at. For they know that God is love.</p> +<p>And now some of you may say, ‘Then are we more blessed than +Thomas? We have not seen, and yet we have believed. We never +doubted. We never wanted any arguments, or learned books, or special +inward assurances. From the moment that we began to learn our +catechisms at school we believed it, of course, every word of it. +Do we not say the Creed every Sunday; I believe in—and so forth?’ +O my friends, do you believe indeed? If you do, blessed are you. +But are you sure that you speak truth?</p> +<p>You may believe it. But do you believe in it? Have you +faith in it? Do you put your trust in it? Is your heart +in it? Is it in your heart? Do you love it, rejoice in it, +delight to think over it; to look forward to it, to make yourselves +ready and fit for it. Do you believe in it, in short, or do you +only believe it, as you believe that there is an Emperor of China, or +that there is a country called America, or any other matter with which +you have nothing to do, for which you care nothing, and which would +make no difference at all to you, if you found out to-morrow that it +was not so. That is mere dead belief; faith without works, which +is dead, the belief of the brains, not the faith of the heart and spirit.</p> +<p>Oh, do you really believe the good news of this text, in which the +Son of God himself said to mortal men like ourselves, ‘Handle +me and see that it is I, indeed; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones +as ye see me have.’ Do you believe that there is a Man evermore +on the right hand of God? That now as we speak a man is offering +up before the Father his perfect and all-cleansing sacrifice? +That, in the midst of the throne of God, is he himself who was born +of the Virgin Mary, and crucified under Pontius Pilate? Do you +wish to find out whether you believe that or not? Then look at +your own hearts. Look at your own prayers. Do you think +of the Lord Jesus Christ, do you pray to the Lord Jesus Christ, as a +man, very man, born of woman? Do you pray to him as to one who +can be touched with the feeling of your infirmities, because he has +been tempted in all things like as you are, yet without sin? When +you are sad, perplexed, do you take all your sorrows and doubts and +troubles to the Lord Jesus, and speak them all out to him honestly and +frankly, however reverently, as a man speaketh to his friend? +Do you really cast all your care on him, because you believe that he +careth for you? If you do, then indeed you believe in the resurrection +of the Lord Jesus Christ; and you will surely have your reward in a +peace of mind, amid all the chances and changes of this mortal life, +which passes man’s understanding. That blessed knowledge +that the Lord knows all, cares for all, condescends to all—That +thought of a loving human face smiling upon your joys, sorrowing over +your sorrows, watching you, educating you from youth to manhood, from +manhood to the grave, from the grave to eternities of eternities—Whosoever +has felt that, has indeed found the pearl of great price, for which, +if need be, he would give up all else in earth or heaven.</p> +<p>Or do you say to yourselves at times, I must not think too much about +the Lord Jesus’s being man, lest I should forget that he is God? +Do you shrink from opening your heart to him? Do you say within +yourself, He is too great, too awful, to condescend to listen to my +little mean troubles and anxieties? Besides, how can I expect +him to feel for them; I, a mean, sinful man, and he the Almighty God? +How do I know that he will not despise my meanness and paltriness? +How do I know that he will not be angry with me? I must be more +reverent to him, than to trouble him with very petty matters. +He was a man once when he was upon earth: but now that he is ascended +up on high, Very God of Very God, in the glory which he had with the +Father before the worlds were made, I must have more awful and solemn +thoughts about him, and keep at a more humble distance from him.</p> +<p>Do you ever have such thoughts as those come over you, my friends, +when you are thinking of the Lord Jesus, and praying to him? If +you do, shall I tell you what to say to them when they arise in your +minds, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan.’ Get thee away, +thou accusing devil, who art accusing my Lord to me, and trying to make +me fancy him less loving, less condescending, less tender, less understanding, +than he was when he wept over the grave of Lazarus. Get thee away, +thou lying hypocritical devil, who pretendest to be so very humble and +reverent to the godhead of the Lord Jesus, in order that thou mayest +make me forget what his godhead is like, forget what God’s likeness +is, forget that it was in his manhood, in his man’s words, his +man’s thoughts, his man’s actions, that he shewed forth +the glory of God, the express image of his person, and fulfilled the +blessed words, ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after +our likeness.’ Get thee behind me, Satan. I believe +in the good news of Easter Day, and thou shall not rob me of it. +I believe that he who died upon the Cross, rose again the third day, +as very and perfect man then and now, as he was when he bled and groaned +on Calvary, and shuddered at the fear of death, in the garden of Gethsemane. +Thou shalt not make my Lord’s incarnation, his birth, his passion, +his resurrection, all that he did and suffered in those thirty-three +years, of none effect to me. Thou shalt not take from me the blessed +message of my Bible, that there is a man in heaven in the midst of the +throne of God. Thou shalt not take from me the blessed message +of the Athanasian Creed, that in Christ the manhood is taken into God. +Thou shalt not take from me the blessed message of Holy Communion, which +declares that the very human flesh and blood of him who died on the +Cross is now eternal in the heavens, and nourishes my body and soul +to everlasting life. Thou shalt not, under pretence of voluntary +humility and will-worship, tempt me to go and pray to angels or to saints, +or to the Blessed Virgin, because I choose to fancy them more tender, +more loving and condescending, more loving, more human, than the Lord +himself, who gave himself to death for me. If the Lord God, the +Son of the Father, is not ashamed to be man for ever and ever, I will +not be ashamed to think of him as man; to pray to him as man; to believe +and be sure that he can be touched with the feeling of my infirmities; +to entreat him, by all that he did and suffered as a man, to deliver +me from those temptations which he himself has conquered for himself; +and to cry to him in the smallest, as well as in the most important +matters—‘By the mystery of thy holy incarnation; by thine +agony and bloody sweat; by thy cross and passion; by thy precious death +and burial; by thy glorious resurrection and ascension;’ by all +which thou hast done, and suffered, and conquered, as a man upon this +earth of ours, good Lord, deliver us!</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXVI. THE BATTLE WITHIN</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>(<i>Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity</i>, 1858.)</p> +<p>Galatians, v. 16, 17. This I say then, Walk in the spirit, +and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth +against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are +contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that +ye would.</p> +<p>Does this text seem to any of you difficult to understand? +It need not be difficult to you; for it does not speak of anything which +you do not know. It speaks of something which you have all felt, +which goes on in you every day of your lives. It speaks of something, +certainly, which is very curious, mysterious, difficult to put into +words: but what is not curious and mysterious? The commonest things +are usually the most curious? What is more wonderful than the +beating of your heart; your pulse which beats all day long, without +your thinking of it?</p> +<p>Just so this battle, this struggle, which St. Paul speaks of in this +text, is going on in us all day long, and yet we hardly think of it. +Now what is this battle? What are these things which are fighting +continually in your mind and in mine? St. Paul calls them the +flesh and the spirit. ‘The flesh,’ he says, ‘lusts +against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.’ They +pull opposite ways. One wants to do one thing, and the other the +other. But if so, one of them must be in the right, and the other +in the wrong. Now, St. Paul says, when these two fall out with +each other, the spirit is in the right, and the flesh in the wrong. +And therefore, the secret of life is, to walk in the spirit, and so +not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh.</p> +<p>But if so, it must be worth our while to find out which is flesh, +and which is spirit in us, that we may know the foolish part of us from +the wise. What the flesh is, we may see by looking at a dumb beast, +which is all flesh, and has no immortal soul. It may be very cunning, +brave, curiously formed, beautiful, but one thing you will always see, +that a beast does what it likes, and only what it likes. And this +is the mark of the flesh, that it does what it likes. It is selfish, +and self-indulgent, cares for nothing but itself, and what it can get +for itself.</p> +<p>True, you may raise a dumb beast above that, by taming and training +it. You may teach a horse or dog to do what it does <i>not</i> +like, and give it a sense of duty, and as it were awaken a soul in it. +That is very wonderful, that we should be able to do so. It is +a sign that man is made in God’s likeness. But I cannot +stay to speak of that now. I say our flesh, our animal nature, +is selfish and self-indulgent. I do not say, therefore, that it +is bad: God forbid. God made our bodies and brains, as well as +our souls; and God makes nothing bad. It is blasphemous to say +that he does. No, our bodies as bodies are good; the flesh as +flesh is good, when it is in its right place; and its right place is +to be servant, not master. We are not to walk after the flesh, +says St. Paul: but the flesh is to walk after the spirit—in English, +our bodies are to obey our spirits, our souls. For man has something +higher than body in him. He has a spirit in him; and it is just +having this spirit which makes him a man. For this spirit cares +about higher things than mere gain and comfort. It can feel pity +and mercy, love and generosity, justice and honour; and when a man not +only feels them, but obeys them, then he is a true man—a Christian +man: but, on the other hand, if a man does not; if he be a man in whom +there is no mercy or pity, no generosity, no benevolence, no justice +or honour; who cares for nothing and no one but himself, and filling +his own stomach and his own pulse, and pleasing his own brute appetites +in some way, what should you say of that man? You would say, he +is like a brute beast—and you would say right—you would +say just what St. Paul says. St. Paul would say, that man is fulfilling +the lusts of the flesh; and you and St. Paul would mean just the same +thing. Now, St. Paul says, ‘The flesh in us lusts against +the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.’ And what +do we gain by the spirit in us lusting against the flesh, and pulling +us the opposite way? We gain this, St. Paul says, ‘that +we cannot do the things that we would.’</p> +<p>Does that seem no great gain to you? Let me put it a little +plainer. St. Paul means this, and just this, that you may not +do whatever you like. St. Paul thought it the very best thing +for a man not to be able to do whatever he liked. As long, St. +Paul says, as a man does whatever he likes, he lives according to the +flesh, and is no better than a dumb beast: but as soon as he begins +to live according to the spirit, and does not do whatever he likes, +but restrains himself, and keeps himself in order, then, and then only, +he becomes a true man.</p> +<p>But why not do whatever we like? Because if we did do so, we +should be certain to do wrong. I do not mean that you and I here +like nothing but what is wrong. God forbid. I trust the +Spirit of God is with our spirits. But I mean this:—That +if you could let a child grow up totally without any control whatsoever, +I believe that before that lad was twenty-one he would have qualified +himself for the gallows seven times over. Thank God, that cannot +happen in England, because people are better taught, most of them at +least; and more, we dare not do what we like, for fear of the law and +the policeman.</p> +<p>But, if you knew the lives which savages lead, who have neither law +outside them to keep them straight by fear, nor the Spirit of God within +them to keep them straight by duty and honour, then you would understand +what I mean only too well.</p> +<p>Now St. Paul says,—It is a good thing for a man not to be able +to do what he likes. But there are two ways of keeping him from +it. One is by the law, the other is by the Spirit of God. +The law works on a man from the outside by fear; but the Spirit of God +works in a man by honour, by the sense of duty, by making him like and +love what is right, and making him see what a beautiful and noble thing +right is.</p> +<p>Now St. Paul wants us to restrain ourselves, not from fear of being +punished, but because we like to do right. That is what he means +when he says that we are to be led by the Spirit, instead of being under +the law. It is better to be afraid of the law than to do wrong: +but it is best of all to do right from the Spirit, and of our own free +will.</p> +<p>Am I puzzling you? I hope not: but, lest I should be, 1 will +give you one simple example which ought to make all clear as to the +struggle between a man’s flesh and his spirit, and also as to +doing right from the Spirit or from law.</p> +<p>Suppose you were a soldier going into battle. You see your +comrades falling around you, disfigured and cut up; you hear their groans +and cries; and you are dreadfully afraid: and no shame to you. +It is the common human instinct of self-preservation. The bravest +men have told me that they are afraid at first going into action, and +that they cannot get over the feeling. But what part of you is +afraid? Your flesh, which is afraid of pain, just as a beast is +of the whip. Then your flesh perhaps says, Run away—or at +least skulk and hide—take care of yourself. But next, if +you were a coward, the law would come into your mind, and you would +say, But I dare not run away; for, if I do, I shall be shot as a deserter, +or broke, and drummed out of the army. So you may go on, even +though you are a coward: but that is not courage. You have not +conquered your own fear—you have not conquered yourself—but +the law has conquered you.</p> +<p>But, if you are a brave man, as I trust you all are, a higher spirit +than your own speaks to your spirit, and makes you say to yourself, +I dare not run away; but, more, I cannot run away. I should like +to—but I cannot do the things that I would. It is my duty +to go on; it is right; it is a point of honour with me to my country, +my regiment, my Queen, my God, and I must go on.</p> +<p>Then you are walking in the Spirit. You have conquered yourself, +and so are a really brave man. You have obeyed the Spirit, and +you have your reward by feeling inspirited, as we say; you can face +death with spirit, and fight with spirit.</p> +<p>But the struggle between the Spirit and the flesh is not ended there. +When you got excited, there would probably come over you the lust of +fighting; you would get angry, get mad and lose your self-possession.</p> +<p>There is the flesh waking up again, and saying, Be cruel; kill every +one you meet. And to that the Spirit answers, No; be reasonable +and merciful. Do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh, and turn yourself +into a raging wild beast. Your business is not to butcher human +beings, but to win a battle.</p> +<p>Well; and even if you have conquered the enemy, you may not have +conquered your worst enemy, which is yourself. For, after having +fought bravely, and done your duty, what would the flesh say to you? +I am sure it would say it to me. What but—Boast: talk of +your own valiant deeds and successes; get all the praise and honour +you can; and shew how much finer a person you are than any of your comrades. +But what would the Spirit say?—and I trust you would all listen +to the Spirit. The Spirit would say, No; do not boast; do not +lower yourself into the likeness of a vain peacock: but be just, and +be modest. Give every man his due; try to praise and recommend +every one whom you can; and trust to God to make your doing your duty +as clear as the light, and your brave actions as the noonday.</p> +<p>So, you see, all through, a man’s flesh might be lusting, and +would be lusting, against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; +and see, too, how in each case, the flesh is tempting the man to be +cowardly, brutal, vain, selfish, and wrong in some way, and the Spirit +is striving to make him forget himself, and think of his comrades and +his duty.</p> +<p>Now when a man is led by the Spirit, if he is tempted to do wrong, +he does not say, I will not do this wrong thing, but I cannot. +I cannot do what you want me. I like to hear a man say that. +It is a sign that he feels God’s voice in him, which he must obey, +whether he likes or not; as Joseph said when he was tempted. Not, +I had rather not, or I dare not: but, How <i>can</i> I do this great +wickedness against my master, who has trusted me, and put everything +into my hand, and so, by being a treacherous traitor, sin against God?</p> +<p>Now, is this Spirit part of our spirits, or not? I think we +confess ourselves that it is not. St. Paul says that it is not. +For he says, there is one Spirit—that is, one good Spirit—of +whom he speaks as the Spirit; and this, he says, is the Spirit of God, +and the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit which inspires the spirits +of all noble, Christ-like, God-like men.</p> +<p>In this Spirit there is nothing proud, spiteful, cruel, nothing selfish, +false, and mean; nothing violent, loose, debauched. But he is +an altogether good and noble spirit, whose fruit is love, joy, peace, +long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. +This, he says, is the Spirit of God; and this Spirit he gives to those +spirits,—souls, as we call them now,—who desire it, that +they may become righteous with the righteousness of Christ, and good +with the goodness of God.</p> +<p>And is not this good news? I say, my friends, if we will look +at it aright, there is no better news, no more inspiriting news for +men like us, mixed up in the battle of life, and often pulled downward +by our own bad passions, and ashamed of ourselves more or less, every +day of our lives;—no better news, I say, than this, that what +is good and right in us is not our own, but God’s; that our longings +after good, our sense of duty and honour, kindliness and charity, are +not merely our own likings or fancies: but the voice of God’s +almighty and everlasting Spirit. Good news, indeed! For +if God be for us who can be against us? If God’s Spirit +be with our spirits, they must surely be stronger than our selfish pleasure-loving +flesh. If God himself be labouring to make us good; if he be putting +into our hearts good desires; surely he can enable us to bring those +desires to good effect: and all that is wanted of us, is to listen to +God’s voice within, and do the right like men, whatever pain it +may cost us, sure that we, by God’s help, shall win at last in +the hardest battle of all battles, the victory over our own selves.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXVII. HYPOCRISY</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Matthew xvi. 3. Oh ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of +the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?</p> +<p>It will need, I think, some careful thought thoroughly to understand +this text. Our Lord in it calls the Pharisees and Sadducees hypocrites; +because, though they could use their common sense and experience to +judge of the weather they would not use them to judge of the signs of +the times; of what was going to happen to the Jewish nation.</p> +<p>But how was their conduct hypocritical? Stupid we might call +it, or unreasonable: but how hypocritical? That, I think, we may +see better, by considering what the word hypocrite means.</p> +<p>We mean now, generally, by a hypocrite, a man who pretends to be +one thing, while he is another; who pretends to be pious and good, while +he is leading a profligate life in secret; who pretends to believe certain +doctrines, while at heart he disbelieves them; a man, in short, who +is a scoundrel, <i>and knows it</i>; but who does not intend others +to know it: who deceives others, but does not deceive himself.</p> +<p>My friends, such a man is a hypocrite: but there is another kind +of hypocrite, and a more common one by far; and that is, the hypocrite +who not only deceives others, but deceives himself likewise; the hypocrite +who (as one of the wisest living men puts it) is astonished that you +should think him hypocritical.</p> +<p>I do not say which of these two kinds is the worse. My duty +is to judge no man. I only say that there are such people, and +too many of them; that we ourselves are often in danger of becoming +such hypocrites; and that this was the sort of people which the Pharisees +for the most part were. Hypocrites who had not only deceived others, +but themselves also; who thought themselves perfectly right, honest, +and pious; who were therefore astonished and indignant at Christ’s +calling them hypocrites.</p> +<p>How did they get into this strange state of mind? How may we +get into it?</p> +<p>Consider first what a hypocrite means. It means strictly neither +more nor less than a play-actor; one who personates different characters +on the stage. That is the one original meaning of the word hypocrite.</p> +<p>Now recollect that a man may personate characters, like a play-actor, +and pretend to be what he is not, for two different objects. He +may do it for other people’s sake, or for his own.</p> +<p>1. For other people’s sake. As the Pharisees did, +when they did all their works to be seen of men; and therefore, naturally, +gave their attention as much as possible to outward forms and ceremonies, +which could be seen by men.</p> +<p>Now, understand me, before I go a step further, I am not going to +speak against forms and ceremonies. No man less: and, above all, +not against the Church forms and ceremonies, which have grown up, gradually +and naturally, out of the piety, and experience, and practical common +sense of many generations of God’s saints. Men must have +forms and ceremonies to put them in mind of the spiritual truths which +they cannot see or handle. Men cannot get on without them; and +those who throw away the Church forms have to invent fresh ones, and +less good ones, for themselves.</p> +<p>All, I say, have their forms and ceremonies; and all are in danger, +as we churchmen are, of making those forms stand instead of true religion. +In the Church or out of the Church, men are all tempted to have, like +the Pharisees, their traditions of the elders, their little rules as +to conduct, over and above what the Bible and the Prayer-book have commanded; +and all are tempted to be more shocked if those rules are broken, than +if really wrong and wicked things are done; and like the Pharisees of +old, to be careful in paying tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, the commonest +garden herbs, and yet forget the weighty matters of the law, justice, +mercy, and judgment. I have known those who would be really more +shocked at seeing a religious man dance or sing, than at hearing him +tell a lie. But I will give no examples, lest I should set you +on judging others. Or rather, the only example which I will give +is that of these Pharisees, who have become, by our Lord’s words +about them, famous to all time, as hypocrites.</p> +<p>Now you must bear in mind that these Pharisees were not villains +and profligates. Many people, feeling, perhaps, how much of what +the Lord had said against the Pharisees would apply to them, have tried +to escape from that ugly thought, by making out the Pharisees worse +men than our Lord does. But the fact is, that they cannot be proved +to be worse than too many religious people now-a-days. There were +adulterers, secret loose-livers among them. Are there none now-a-days? +They were covetous. Are no religious professors covetous now-a-days? +They crept into widows’ houses, and, for a pretence made long +prayers. Does no one do so now? There would, of course, +be among them, as there is among all large religious parties, as there +is now, a great deal of inconsistent and bad conduct. But, on +the whole, there is no reason to suppose that the greater number of +them were what we should call ill-livers. In that terrible twenty-third +chapter of St. Matthew, in which our Lord denounces the sins of the +Scribes and Pharisees, he nowhere accuses them of profligate living; +and the Pharisee of whom he tells us in his parable, who went into the +Temple to pray, no doubt spoke truth when he boasted of not being as +other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers. He trusted in +himself that he was righteous. True. But whatever that means, +it means that he thought that he was righteous, after a fashion, though +it proved to be a wrong one. What our Lord complains of in them +is, first, their hardness of heart; their pride in themselves, and their +contempt for their fellowmen. Their very name Pharisee meant that. +It meant separate—they were separate from mankind; a peculiar +people; who alone knew the law, with whom alone God was pleased: while +the rest of mankind, even of their own countrymen, knew not the law, +and were accursed, and doomed to hell. Ah God, who are we to cast +stones at the Pharisees of old, when this is the very thing which you +may hear said in England from hundreds of pulpits every Sunday, with +the mere difference, that instead of the word law, men put the word +gospel.</p> +<p>For this our Lord denounced them; and next, for their hypocrisy, +their play-acting, the outward show of religion in which they delighted; +trying to dress, and look, and behave differently from other men; doing +all their good works to be seen of men; sounding a trumpet before them +when they gave away alms; praying standing at the corners of the streets; +going in long clothing, making broad their phylacteries, the written +texts of Scripture which they sewed to their garments; washing perpetually +when they came from the market, or any public place, lest they should +have been defiled by the touch of an unclean thing, or person; loving +the chief seats in their religious meetings, and the highest places +at feasts; and so forth,—full of affectation, vanity, and pride.</p> +<p>I could tell you other stories of their ridiculous affectations: +but I shall not. They would only make you smile: and we could +not judge them fairly, not being able to make full allowance for the +difference of customs between the Jews and ourselves. Many of +the things which our Lord blames them for, were not nearly so absurd +in Judea of old, as they seem to us in England now. Indeed, no +one but our Lord seems to have thought them absurd, or seen through +the hollowness and emptiness of them:—as he perhaps sees through, +my friends, a great deal which is thought very right in England now. +Making allowance for the difference of the country, and of the times, +the Pharisees were perhaps no more affected, for Jews, than many people +are now, for Englishmen. And if it be answered, that though our +religious fashions now-a-days are not commanded expressly by the Bible +or the Prayer Book, yet they carry out their spirit:—remember, +in God’s name, that that was exactly what the Pharisees said, +and their excuse for being righteous above what was written; and that +they could, and did, quote texts of Scripture for their phylacteries, +their washings, and all their other affectations.</p> +<p>Another reason I have for not dwelling too much on these affectations; +and it is this. Because a man may be a play-actor and a self-deceiver +in religion, without any of these tricks at all, and without much of +the vanity and pride which cause them. For recollect that a man +may act for his own amusement, as well as for other people’s. +Children do so perpetually, and especially when no one is by to listen +to them. They delight in playing at being this person and that, +and in living for a while in a day-dream. Oh let us take care +that we do not do the same in our religion! It is but too easy +to do so. Too easy; and too common. For is it not play-acting, +like any child, to come to this church, and here to feel repentance, +feel forgiveness, feel gratitude, feel reverence; and then to go out +of church and awake as from a dream, and become our natural selves for +the rest of the week, till Sunday comes round again; comforting ourselves +meanwhile with the fancy that we had been very religious last Sunday, +and intended to be very religious next Sunday likewise?</p> +<p>Would there not be hypocrisy and play-acting in that, my friends?</p> +<p>Now, my dear friends, if we give way to this sort of hypocrisy, we +shall get, as too many do, into the habit of living two lives at once, +without knowing it. Outside us will be our religious life of praying, +and reading, and talking of good things, and doing good work (as, thank +God, many do whose hearts are not altogether right with God, or their +eyes single in his sight) good work, which I trust God will not forget +in the last day, in spite of all our inconsistencies. Outside +us, I say, will be our religious life: and inside us our own actual +life, our own natural character, too often very little changed or improved +at all. So by continually playing at religion, we shall deceive +ourselves. We shall make an entirely wrong estimate of the state +of our souls. We shall fancy that this outward religion of ours +is the state of our soul. And then, if any one tells us that we +are play-acting, and hypocrites, we shall be as astonished and indignant +as the Pharisees were of old. We shall make the same mistake as +a man would, who because he always wore clothes, should fancy at last +that his clothes were himself, part of his own body. So, I say, +many deceive themselves, and are more or less hypocrites to themselves. +They do not, in general, deceive others; they are not, on the whole, +hypocrites to their neighbours. For their neighbours, after a +time, see what they cannot see themselves, that they are play-acting; +that they are two different people without knowing it: that their religion +is a thing apart from their real character. A hundred signs shew +that. How many there are, for instance, who are, or seem tolerably +earnest about religion, and doing good, as long as they are actually +in church, or actually talking about religion. But all the rest +of their time, what are they doing? What are they thinking of? +Mere frivolity and empty amusement. Idle butterflies, pretending +to be industrious bees once in the week.</p> +<p>Others again, will be gentle and generous enough about everything +but religion; and as soon as they get upon that, will become fierce, +and hard, and narrow at once. Others again (and this is most common) +commit the very same fault as the Pharisees in the text, who could use +their common sense to discern the signs of the weather, and yet could +not use it to discern the signs of the time, because they were afraid +of looking honestly at the true state of public feeling and conscience, +and at the danger and ruin into which their religion and their party +were sinking. For about all worldly matters, these men will be +as sound-headed and reasonable as they need be: but as soon as they +get on religious matters, they become utterly silly and unreasonable; +and will talk nonsense, listen to nonsense, and be satisfied with nonsense, +such as they would not endure a moment if their own worldly interest, +or worldly character, were in question.</p> +<p>But most of all do these poor souls not deceive their neighbours +when a time of temptation comes upon them. For then, alas! it +comes out too often that they are of those whom our Lord spoke of, who +heard the word gladly, but had no root in themselves, and in time of +temptation fell away. For then, before the storm of some trying +temptation, away goes all the play-acting religion; and the man’s +true self rises up from underneath into ugly life. Up rise, perhaps, +pride, and self-will, and passion; up rise, perhaps, meanness and love +of money; up rise, perhaps, cowardice and falsehood; or up rises foul +and gross sin, causing some horrible scandal to religion, and to the +name of Christ; while fools look on, and, laughing an evil laugh, cry,—‘These +are your high professors. These are your Pharisees, who were so +much better than everybody else. When they are really tried, it +seems they behave no better than we sinners.’</p> +<p>Oh, these are the things which make a clergyman’s heart truly +sad. These are the things which make him long that all were over; +that Christ would shortly accomplish the number of his elect, and hasten +his kingdom, that we, with all those who are departed in the true faith +of his holy name, may rest in peace for ever from sin and sinners.</p> +<p>Not that I mean that some of these very people, in spite of all their +inconsistency, will not be among that number. God forbid! +How do we know that? How do we know that they are one whit worse +than we should be in their place? How do we know, above all, that +to have been found out may not be the very best thing that has happened +to them since the day that they were born? How do we know that +it may not be God’s gracious medicine to enable them to find themselves +out; to make them see themselves in their true colours; to purge them +of all their play-acting; and begin all over again, crying to God, not +with the lips only, but out of the depth of an honest and a noble shame, +as David did of old—Behold I was shapen in wickedness, conceived +in sin, and I have found it out at last. But thou requirest truth +in the inward parts, in the very root and ground of the heart, and not +merely truth in the head, in the lips, and in the outward behaviour. +Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. +Thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it thee: but thou delightest +not in burnt-offerings. The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit, +as mine is now. A broken and a contrite heart, ground down by +the shame of its own sin, that, O God, thou wilt not despise.</p> +<p>And then—when that prayer has gone up in earnest, and has been +answered by the gift of a clean heart, and of a right spirit, which +desires nothing but to be made clean and made right, to learn its duty +and to do it—then, I say, that man may go back safely and freely, +to such forms and ceremonies, as he has been accustomed to, and have +been consecrated by the piety and wisdom of his forefathers. For, +says David, though forms and ceremonies, sacrifice and burnt-offering +cannot make any peace with God, yet I am not going to give up forms +and ceremonies, sacrifice and burnt-offerings. No. When +my peace is made, when the broken and the contrite heart has put me +in my true place again, and my heart is clean, and my spirit right once +more; then, he says, will God be pleased with my sacrifices, with my +burnt-offerings and oblations; because they will be the sacrifice of +righteousness, of a righteous man desiring to shew honour to that God +from whom his righteousness comes, and gratitude to that God to whom +he owes his pardon.</p> +<p>And so with us, my friends, if ever we have fallen, and been pardoned, +and risen again to a new, a truer, a more honest, a more righteous life. +Our forms of devotion ought then to become not a snare and a hypocrisy, +but honest outward signs of the spiritual grace which is within us; +as honest and as rational as the shake of the hand to the friend whom +we truly love, as the bowing of the knee before the Queen for whom we +would gladly die.</p> +<p>O may God give us all grace to seek first the kingdom of God and +his righteousness. To seek first the kingdom of God; to work earnestly, +each in his place, to do God’s will, and to teach and help others +to do it likewise. To seek his righteousness, which is the righteousness +of the heart and spirit: and then all other things will be added to +us. All outward forms and ceremonies, ways of speaking, ways of +behaving, which are good and right for us, will come to us as a matter +of course; growing up in us naturally and honestly, without any affectation +or hypocrisy, and the purity and soberness, the reverence and earnestness +of our outward conversation, will be a pattern of the purity and soberness, +the reverence and earnestness, which dwells in our hearts by the inspiration +of the Holy Spirit of God.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXVIII. A PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THE LORD</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Ephesians iii. 3-6. How that by revelation he made known unto +me the mystery (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, +ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other +ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed +unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles +should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise +in Christ by the Gospel.</p> +<p>This day is the feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany, as many of +you know, means ‘shewing,’ because on this day the Lord +Jesus Christ was first shewn to the Gentiles; to the Gentile wise men +who, as you heard in the Gospel, saw his star in the east, and came +to worship him. And the part of Scripture from which I have taken +my text, is used for the Epistle this day, because in it St. Paul explains +to us the meaning of the Epiphany. The meaning of those wise men +being shewn our Lord, and worshipping him, though they were not Jews +as he was, but Gentiles. He says that it means this, that the +Gentiles were fellow-heirs with the Jews, and of the same body as them, +and partakers of God’s promise in Christ by the Gospel.</p> +<p>This does not seem so very wonderful to us; and why? Because +we, though we are Gentiles like those wise men, have lived so long, +we and our forefathers before us, in the light of the Gospel, that we +are inclined to take it as a matter of course; forgetting what a wonderful, +unspeakable, condescension it was of God, not to spare his only begotten +Son, but freely to give him for us. God forgive us! We are +so heaped with blessings that we neglect them, forget them, take them +as our right, instead of remembering our sins and ungratefulness, and +saying, Thy mercies are new every morning; it is only of thy mercies +that we are not consumed.</p> +<p>But to St. Paul it was very wonderful news. A mystery, as he +said; quite a new and astonishing thought, that heathens had any share +in God’s love and Christ’s salvation.</p> +<p>And so it was to St. Peter. God had to teach it him by that +wonderful vision, in which he saw coming down from heaven all sorts +of animals, and God bade him kill and eat; and when he refused, because +they were common and unclean, God forbade him to call anything common +or unclean, now that God had cleansed all things by the precious blood +of his dear Son. Then Peter was bidden to go to the Gentile Roman +soldier Cornelius. And he went, though, he said, he had been used +to think it unlawful for a Jew even to eat with a Gentile. And +when he went, he found, to his astonishment, that God’s love was +over that Gentile soldier and his family, because they were good men, +as far as they had light and knowledge, just as much as if they had +been good Jews. And God gave St. Peter a sign which there was +no mistaking, that he really did care for those Gentile Romans, just +as much as if they had been Jews; for, as he was preaching Christ to +them, the Holy Ghost fell on them, not after, but before they were baptised. +So that St. Peter, astonished as he was, was forced by his own conscience +and reason to say, ‘Can any man forbid water, that these should +not be baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we’ +(Jews)? Then he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the +Lord.</p> +<p>And what was the lesson which God taught St. Peter by this? +St. Peter himself tells us; for he opened his mouth and said, ‘Of +a truth I see that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, +he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted by him.’</p> +<p>Now, my dear friends, this is (as the Lord Jesus Christ tells us) +God’s everlasting law, ‘That he that hath, to him shall +be given, and he shall have more abundantly; but from him that hath +not, shall be taken away even that which he seems to have.’</p> +<p>So it was, as I have just shewn you, with Cornelius; and so it was +with those wise men. They were worshippers (as is supposed) of +the one true God, though in a dim confused way: but they had learnt +enough of what true faith was, and of what true greatness was, too, +not to be staggered and fall into unbelief, when they saw the King of +the Jews, whom they had come so many hundred miles to see, laid, not +in a palace, but in a manger; and attended not by princesses and noblewomen, +but by a poor maiden, espoused to a carpenter. Therefore God bestowed +on them that great honour, that they, first of all the Gentiles, should +see the glory and the love of God in the face of Jesus Christ, his Son.</p> +<p>And so it was with our forefathers, my friends. And I think +that on this Epiphany, we ought to thank God, among all his other blessings, +for having given us such forefathers, and letting us be born of that +noble stock, to whom he gave the kingdom of God, after he took it away +from the faithless and rebellious Jews, and afterwards from the false +and profligate Greeks and Romans, to whom the epistles of the apostles +were written. I will tell you what I mean.</p> +<p>When the Lord Jesus came on earth; our forefathers did not live here +in England, but in countries across the sea, in Germany, Denmark, and +Sweden, which did not belong to the Roman Empire; for the Romans, who +had conquered all the world beside, could never conquer our forefathers. +It was God’s will, that whenever they tried they were beaten back +with shame and slaughter; and our forefathers, almost alone of all, +remained free men, even as we are at this day. But for that very +reason, the apostles could never come among us to preach the Gospel +to us; for they could not pass the bounds of the Roman empire; and that +was so large, that they had enough to do to preach the Gospel in it; +so that it was not till at least 400 years after the apostles’ +death, that their successors, zealous missionaries, priests and bishops, +came and preached to our forefathers; and when they came, they found +us a people prepared for the Lord, who heard the word gladly, and turned, +thousands sometimes in one day, from vain idols to serve the living +God, and were baptised into that holy church in which we now stand. +And it has been among us, and the nations who are our kinsmen, that +the light of the gospel has shone ever since, while all through the +East, where the apostles preached most and earliest, it has died out. +So that our Lord’s words have been fulfilled, that many that are +last shall be first, and those that are first shall be last. God +grant that it may not always be so. God grant that his kingdom +may return to its ancient seat at Jerusalem, and that all nations may +go up to the mountain of the Lord’s house, in the day of which +St. Paul prophesies, when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and +all Israel shall be saved, when the earth shall be full of the knowledge +of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. But it is not so now; +and cannot be so, as far as we can see, for many a year to come.</p> +<p>But in the meanwhile, why were our forefathers—heathens though +they were, and sinners in many things, being truly children of wrath, +fierce, bloodthirsty, revengeful, without the grace of Christ, which +is Love and Charity—nevertheless a people prepared for the Lord? +How was it true of them that to him that hath shall be given?</p> +<p>I will tell you. There is an old book, written in Latin by +a heathen gentleman of Rome, who lived in St. Paul’s time, and +wrote this book about twenty years after St. Paul’s death. +It is a little book; but it is a very precious one: and I think it is +a great mercy of God that, while so many famous old books have been +lost, this little book should have been preserved: for this Roman gentleman +had travelled among our forefathers; and when he returned he wrote this +book to shame his countrymen at Rome. In it he calls us ‘Germans;’ +but that was the Roman fashion. By Germans they meant not only +the people who now live in Germany, but the English and the Danes, and +the Swedes, and the Franks, who afterwards conquered France. In +fact he meant our own forefathers. And he said to the Romans,—</p> +<p>‘Look at these wild Germans. You despise them because +they go half-naked, and cannot read or write, and live in mud cottages; +while you go in silk and gold, and have all sorts of learning, and live +in great cities, palaces, and temples, in worldly pomp and glory. +But I tell you,’ he said, ‘that these wild Germans are better +men than you; for, while you are living in sin, in cheating and falsehood, +in covetousness, adultery, murder, and every horrible iniquity, they +are honest, chaste, truthful; they honour their fathers and mothers; +they are obedient and loyal to their kings and their laws; they shew +hospitality to strangers; they do not commit adultery, steal, bear false +witness, covet their neighbours’ goods. And therefore,’ +this Roman felt (and really it seems as if a spirit of prophecy from +God had come on him), ‘something great and glorious will come +out of these wild Germans, while the Romans will rot away and perish +in their sins.’ That was true enough. We see it true +at this day.</p> +<p>For what happened? That great Roman empire, Babylon the great, +as St. John calls it in the Revelations, perished miserably and horribly +by its own sins; while our forefathers rose and conquered it all, and +live and thrive till this day. But it is curious that they never +throve really, though they made great conquests, and did many wonderful +deeds, till they became Christians: but as soon as they became Christians, +they began to thrive at once, and settled down, and became that great +family of nations, and kingdom of God, which we call Christendom; England, +France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and the other countries of Christian +Europe; which God has so prospered for his Son Jesus Christ’s +sake, in spite of many sins and shortcomings, with wealth and numbers, +skill, and learning, and strength, that now the empire of the whole +world depends upon these few small Christian nations, which in our Lord’s +time were only tribes of heathen savages: so that here again our Lord’s +great parable was fulfilled.</p> +<p>The gospel seed which the apostle sowed in those rich, luxurious, +clever, learned, Romans, was like the seed which fell on thorny ground; +and the cares and pleasures of this life, and the deceitfulness or riches, +sprang up, and choked the word, and it remained unfruitful. But +the gospel seed which was sown among our poor, wild, simple, ignorant +forefathers, was the seed which fell on an honest and good heart, and +took root, and brought forth fruit, some thirty, some fifty, and some +one hundred fold. Epiphany came late to us—not for three +hundred years after our Lord’s birth: but, when it came, the light +which it brought remained with us, and lights us even now from our cradle +to our grave: and so again was fulfilled the Scripture, which says, +that God chooses the weak things of this world to confound the strong; +the foolish to confound the wise; yea, and things which are not, to +bring to nought the things which are, that no flesh should glory in +his presence.</p> +<p>That no flesh should glory in his presence. For mind, my friends, +our business is not to be high-minded but to fear. And we English +are too apt to be high-minded now. We pride ourselves on our English +character, English cleverness, English courage, English wealth. +My friends, be not high-minded but fear. We have no right to pride +ourselves on being Englishmen, if we do the very things which our forefathers +were ashamed to do even when they were heathens. They honoured +their fathers and mothers. Do we? They were loyal and obedient +to law. Are we? They were chaste and clean livers: adultery +was seldom heard of among them; and, when it was, they punished it in +the most fearful way: while what astonished that old Roman gentleman, +of whom I spoke, most of all, was the pure and respectable lives of +the young men and women. Is it so now-a-days among us, my friends? +They were honest, too, and just in all their dealings. Are we? +They were true to their word; no men on earth more true. Are we? +They hated covetousness and overreaching. Do we? They were +generous, open-handed, hospitable. Are we? My friends, this +was the old English spirit, which God accepted in our forefathers. +Is it in us now? We must not pride ourselves on it, unless we +have it. Nay, more, what is it but a shame to us, if, while our +forefathers were good heathens, we are bad Christians? They had +but a small spark, a dim ray, as it were, of the light which lighteth +every man who comes into the world: but they were more faithful to that +little than many are now, who live in the full sunshine of God’s +gospel, in the free dispensation of God’s spirit, with Christ’s +sacraments, Christ’s Churches, means of grace and hopes of glory, +of which they never dreamed. May they not rise up against some +of us in the day of judgment, and condemn us, and say,—‘Are +you our children? Do you boast of knowing God better than we did, +while you did things which we dared not do? We knew that God hated +such sins, and therefore we kept from them. You should know that +better than we; for you had seen God’s horror of sin in the death +of his own Son Jesus Christ; and yet you went on committing the very +sins which crucified the Lord of Glory.’</p> +<p>My friends, I speak sober earnest. God grant that our old heathen +forefathers may not rise up against us in the day of judgment, and condemn +us. Let us turn to the Lord this day with all our hearts, and +come to this holy table, confessing all our sins and unfaithfulness, +and backslidings, that we may get there cleansing from his most precious +blood, strength from his most precious body, life from his life, and +spirit from his spirit; that so we may go away to lead new lives, following +the commandments of God, and living up to our great light and knowledge, +at least as well as our forefathers lived up to their little light. +And so we shall really keep the feast of Epiphany in spirit and in truth: +for Epiphany means the shewing of Jesus Christ to us Gentiles; and the +way to prove that Jesus Christ has been shewn to us, and that we have +seen his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full +of grace and truth, is to keep his commandments, and live lives like +his.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SERMON XXXIX. THE WRATH OF LOVE</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Psalm cvii. 6. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, +and he delivered them out of their distresses.</p> +<p>If I were asked to give a reason why I believed the Old Testament +to be an inspired and divine book, as well as the New, I could not do +better, I think, than to lay my hand on this 107th psalm, and say,—This +is my reason for believing the Old Testament to be inspired. I +have hundreds of others: but this one is enough—this one psalm. +It contains an account of God’s dealings with men, such as the +world never heard before, and very seldom since, save from a very few +men, who really saw what the Bible meant, and honestly followed its +teaching. It gives a notion of the justice of God, and an explanation +of the chances and changes of this mortal life, such as you will find +nowhere else save in the Bible, and in the books of Christian men who +have been taught by the Bible. The man who wrote that psalm knew +so much more than other men, that he must have been indeed inspired +by the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Ghost of God.</p> +<p>And, I should say, I have come to this opinion mainly by comparing +this psalm with the writings of heathens, even the wisest and the best +of them. For the heathens, like all men, used to have their troubles, +and to ask themselves, Who has sent this trouble? And why has +he sent it? And their answers remain to us in their writings, +some worse, some better, some very foolish, some tolerably wise. +But when one compares the heathen writings with this psalm, or with +any psalms or passages of the Old Testament which talk of God’s +dealings with man, then we shall be altogether astonished at the superiority +of the Bible. The Bible will seem to us quite infinitely wiser +than heathen books, on this matter, as on others—so much more +simple, and yet so much more deep; so much more rational also, and so +much more true: agreeing so much more with the facts which we see happen +round us: agreeing so much more with our own reason, experience, inward +conscience, about what is just and unjust:—that we shall begin +to see as much difference between heathen books and the Old Testament, +as there is between the dim dawn of morning, and the full blaze of noonday +light.</p> +<p>One of the earliest heathen notions why troubles came was, it seems, +that the gods were offended with men, because they had not shown them +due honour, flattered them enough, or offered sacrifices enough to them: +or else they fancied that the gods envied men: grudged their prosperity, +did not like to see them too happy.</p> +<p>That dark and base notion gradually faded away, as men got higher +notions of right and wrong, and of the gods, as the judges and avengers +of wrong. Then they began to think these troubles were punishments +for doing wrong. The Gods, or God, punished sin; inflicting so +much pain for so much sin, very much as the heathens are apt to punish +their criminals still, and as Christian nations used to punish theirs, +namely, with shameful and horrible tortures; before they began to find +out that the end of punishment is not to torment, but to reform, the +criminal, wherever it is possible.</p> +<p>But then the thought would come—Why, after all, should God, +if he be just and merciful, punish my sin by pain and misery? +How can it profit God, how can it please God, to give me pain? +Because it satisfies his justice? How can it do that? It +would not satisfy mine. Suppose my child, or even my dog, disobeyed +me, would it satisfy my sense of justice to beat him? It might +satisfy my passion: but God has no passions. It would be base, +blasphemous to fancy that he takes pleasure in hurting me, as I take +pleasure in beating my dog when I lose my temper with it. God +forbid! The old prophets saw that, and cried—‘Have +I any pleasure in the death of him, saith the Lord, and not rather that +he should turn from his wickedness, and live?’</p> +<p>Then, naturally, the thought would come into the mind of a wise and +serious man—I punish my child, or my dog, and God punishes me. +May he not punish me for the same reason that I punish them? I +punish them to correct them and make them better. Surely God punishes +me, to correct me, and make me better. I punish my child, because +I love him, and wish him good. God punishes me because he loves +me and desires that I may be a partaker of his holiness.</p> +<p>And as soon as that blessed thought had risen up in any man’s +mind, by the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, all the world would +begin to look bright and clear and full of hope. This earth, with +all its sorrows and sufferings, would look no longer to him as God’s +prison house, where poor sinners sat tortured and wailing, fast bound +in misery and iron, till they should pay the uttermost farthing, which +they never could pay. No. It would look to him as God’s +school-house, God’s reformatory, in which he is training and chastening +and correcting the souls of men, that he may deliver them from the ruin +and misery which sin brings on them, both the original sin which is +born in them and the actual sin which they commit. Then God appears +to him a gracious and merciful father. He can see a blessed meaning +and a wholesome use in all human suffering; and he can break out, as +the Psalmist does in this glorious psalm, into praise and thanksgiving, +and call on mankind to give thanks to the Lord; for he is gracious, +and his mercy endureth for ever.</p> +<p>In every kind of human suffering, I say, he sees now a meaning and +a use.</p> +<p>First, he takes, it seems, his own countrymen, the Jews, coming back +from Babylon into their own country after the seventy years’ captivity. +They had been punished for their sins. But for what purpose? +That they might know (as Ezekiel said), that God was the Lord. +And when they cried unto him in their trouble, he delivered them out +of their distress.</p> +<p>Then he goes on to those who have brought themselves into poverty +and shame, and sit fast bound in misery and iron. It is their +own fault. They have brought it on themselves by rebelling against +the word of the Lord, and lightly regarding the counsel of the Most +Highest. But God does not hate them. God is not going to +leave them to the net which they have spread for their own feet. +When they cry unto the Lord in their troubles, he delivers them out +of their distress. God himself, by strange and unexpected ways, +will deliver them from their darkness of ignorance and sin, and from +the danger and misery which they have brought upon themselves.</p> +<p>Then he goes on to those who have injured their health by their own +folly, till their soul abhors all manner of food, and they are even +hard at death’s door. Neither does God hate them. +They, too, are in God’s school-house. And when they cry +to the Lord in their trouble, he will deliver them, too, out of their +distress, and send his word, and heal them, and save them from destruction.</p> +<p>Then he goes on to men who are exposed to danger, and terror, and +death in their lawful calling; and his instance is the seamen—those +who go on to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters.</p> +<p>The storms come up, they know not when or how: but they are not the +sport of a blind chance; they are not the victims of the wrath of God. +The wild sea, too, is his school-house, where they are to see the works +of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep; and so, by strange dangers +and strange deliverances, learn, as I have seen many a seaman learn, +a courage and endurance, a faith, a resignation, which puts us comfortable +landsmen to shame.</p> +<p>Then he goes on to even a deeper matter—to those terrible changes +in nature, so common in the East, in which whole districts, by earthquake +or drought, are rendered worthless and barren. They too, he says, +are God’s lessons, though sharp ones enough. ‘He turneth +the rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry ground; +a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell +therein. Again, he turneth the wilderness into a standing water, +and dry ground into water-springs. And there he maketh the hungry +to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; and sow the fields, +and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.’</p> +<p>Lastly, he goes on to political changes, which bring a whole nation +low, into oppression and misery. ‘They are minished and +brought low through oppression, affliction and sorrow. He poureth +contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, +where there is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, +and maketh him families like a flock. The righteous shall see +it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso +is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the +loving-kindness of the Lord.’</p> +<p>And so, in all the changes of this mortal life, he sees no real chance, +no real change, but the orderly education of a just and loving Father, +whose mercy endureth for ever; who chastens men as a father chastens +his children, for their profit, that they may be partakers of his holiness, +in which alone is life and joy, health and wealth.</p> +<p>Surely, here is a Gospel, and good news;—news so good, that +it turns what seems to the superstitious the worst of news, into the +very best. For it seems at first sight the worst of news that +which the ninth Article tells us, that our original sin, in every person +born into this world, deserves God’s wrath and damnation. +And so it would be the worst of news, if God were merely a judge, inflicting +so much pain and misery for so much sin, without any wish to mend us +and save us. But if we remember only the blessed message of this +psalm; if we will remember that God is our Father; that God is educating +us; that God hath neither parts nor passions; and that, therefore, God’s +wrath is not different or contrary to his love, but that God’s +wrath is his love in another shape, punishing men just because he loves +men;—then the ninth Article will bring us the very best of news. +We shall see that it is the best thing that can possibly befall us, +that our sin deserves God’s wrath and damnation, and that it would +have been the worst thing which could possibly have befallen us, if +our sin had not deserved God’s wrath and damnation. For +if our sin had not deserved God’s anger, then he would not have +been angry with it; and then he would have left it alone, instead of +condemning it, and dooming it to everlasting destruction as he has done; +and then, if our sin had been left alone, we should have been left alone +to sin and sin on, growing continually more wicked, till our sin became +our ruin. But now God hates our sin, and loves us; and therefore +he desires above all things to deliver us from sin, and burn our sin +up in his unquenchable fire, that we ourselves may not be burned up +therein. For if our sins live, we shall surely die: but if our +sins die, then, and then only, shall we live.</p> +<p>Do these words seem strange to some of you? I doubt not that +they will: but if they do, that will be only a fresh proof to me, that +the Bible is inspired by the Holy Ghost. Yes, nothing shews me +how wide, how deep, how wise, how heavenly the Bible is, as to see how +far average Christians are behind the Bible in their way of thinking; +how the salvation which it offers is too free for them, the love which +it proclaims too wide for them, the God whom it reveals too good for +them: so that they shrink from taking the Bible and trusting the Bible, +in its fulness; and are perpetually falling back on heathen notions—the +very old heathen notions from which this psalm delivers us—concerning +what God’s anger means, and what God’s punishment means; +because they are afraid of taking the words of Scripture literally and +fully, and believing honestly the blessed news, that God is Love.</p> +<p>They try to make God’s ways as their ways, and God’s +thoughts as their thoughts. But do not you do so. Receive +the Bible in its fulness. Believe that it tells you infinitely +more of God’s character and dealings, than you can ever tell yourselves; +that God’s ways are not as your ways, nor God’s thoughts +as your thoughts, even at their best: but that God’s ways are +always wider and deeper than yours, were you the most learned of men; +God’s thoughts are always more loving and just than yours, were +you the most holy of men, and that when you have learned all that you +can learn, or that any man can learn, out of the Bible, there will be +still left behind treasures beside, which you have not yet found out. +For the riches of Christ are unsearchable; like the depth of the riches +of the wisdom and knowledge of God, whose only-begotten son, and perfect +likeness, he is; and the man who reads the Scripture with a single eye, +and an humble heart, will see that the more he finds in the Bible, the +more he has yet to find; and that if he studied it to all eternity, +he would have fresh and fresh cause for ever to cry with the Psalmist, +‘Oh give thanks to the Lord; for he is gracious, and his mercy +endureth for ever!’</p> +<p>Footnotes:</p> +<p><a name="footnote328"></a><a href="#citation328">{328}</a> +Plutarch.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines3"><br /><br /><br /></div> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOWN AND COUNTRY SERMONS***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 11536-h.htm or 11536-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/5/3/11536 + + +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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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: Town and Country Sermons + +Author: Charles Kingsley + +Release Date: March 10, 2004 [eBook #11536] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOWN AND COUNTRY SERMONS*** + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +TOWN AND COUNTRY SERMONS + + + + +SERMON I. HOW TO KEEP PASSION WEEK + + + +(Preached before the Queen.) + +Philippians ii. 5-11. Let this mind be in you, which was also in +Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery +to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took +upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: +and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became +obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God +also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above +every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of +things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; +and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to +the glory of God the Father. + +This the first day of Passion Week; and this text is the key-note of +Passion Week. It tells us of the obedience of Christ; of the +unselfishness of Christ; and, therefore, of the true glory of +Christ. + +It tells us of One who was in the form of God; the Co-equal and Co- +eternal Son; the brightness of his Father's glory, the express image +of his Father's person: but who showed forth his Father's glory, +and proved that he was the express likeness of his Father's +character, by the very opposite means to those which man takes, when +he wishes to show forth his own glory. + +He was in the form of God. But he did not (so the text seems to +mean) think that the bliss of God was a thing to be seized on +greedily for himself. He did not think fit merely to glorify +himself; to enjoy himself. He was not like the false gods of whom +the heathen dreamed, who sat aloft in heaven and enjoyed themselves, +careless of mankind. + +No. He obeyed his Father utterly, and at all costs. He emptied +himself (says St. Paul). He took on him the form of a slave. He +humbled himself. He became obedient; obedient to death; and that +death the shameful and dreadful death of the cross. + +Therefore God has highly exalted him; has declared him to be +perfectly good, worthy of all praise, honour, glory, power, and +dominion; and has given him a name above all names, the name of +Jesus--Saviour. One who saved others, and cared not to save +himself. + +And therefore, too, God has given him that dominion of which he is +worthy, and has proclaimed him Lord and Creator of all beings and +all worlds, past, present, and to come. + +It is of him; of his obedience; of his unselfishness, that Passion +Week speaks to us. It tell us of the mind of Christ, and says, 'Let +this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.' + +How, then, shall we keep his Passion Week? There are several ways +of keeping it, and all more or less good. Wisdom is justified of +all her children. + +But no way will be safe for us, unless we keep in mind the mind of +Christ--obedience and self-sacrifice. + +Some, for instance, are careful this week to attend church as often +as possible; and who will blame them? + +But unless they keep in mind the mind of Christ, they are apt to +fall into the mistake of using vain repetitions, as the heathen do; +and of fancying, like them, that they shall be heard for their much +speaking, forgetting their Father in heaven knows what they have +need of, before they ask him. And that is not like the mind of +Christ. It is not like the mind of Christ to fancy that God dwells +in temples made with hands; or that he can be worshipped with men's +hands, as though he needed anything; seeing he giveth to all life, +and breath, and all things. For in him we live, and move, and have +our being; and (as even the heathen poet knew), are the offspring, +the children, of God. + +It is _not_ according to the mind of Christ, to worship God as the +heathen do, in order to win him to do our will. It _is_ according +to the mind of Christ to worship God, in order that we may do his +will; to believe that God's will is a good will, good in itself, and +good for us, and for all things and beings; and, therefore, to ask +for strength to do God's will, whatever it may cost us. That is the +mind of Christ, who came not to do his own will, but the will of him +who sent him; who taught us to pray, as the greatest blessing for +which we can ask, 'Father, thy will be done on earth, as it is in +heaven;' who himself, in his utter agony, cried, 'Father, not my +will, but thine, be done.' + +Therefore, it is good to go to church; and good, for some at least, +to go as often as possible: but only if we remember why we go, and +whom we go to worship--a Father, who asks of us to worship him in +spirit and in truth. A Father who has told us what that worship is +like. + +'Is this (God asked the Jews of old) the fast which I have chosen? +Is it a day for a man to afflict his soul, and bow down his head +like a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him (playing +at being sad, while God has not made him sad)? Wilt thou call this +a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?' + +'Is not this the fast which I have chosen? to loose the bands of +wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go +free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to +the hungry, and to bring the poor that are cast out to thine house; +when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide +not thyself from thine own flesh.' + +This is that pure worship and undefined before God and the Father, +of which St. James tells us; and says that it consists in this--'to +visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction; and to keep +ourselves unspotted from the world.' + +In a word, this worship in the spirit, and in truth, is nought else +but the mind of Christ. To believe in, to adore the Father's +perfect goodness; to long and try to copy that goodness here on +earth. That is what Christ did utterly and perfectly, that is what +we have to do, each according to our powers; and without it, without +the spirit of obedience, all our church-going is of little worth in +the eyes of our heavenly Father. + +Others, again, go into retirement for this week, and spend it in +examining themselves, and thinking over the sufferings of Christ. +And who, again, will blame them, provided they do not neglect their +daily duty meanwhile? + +But they, too, need to keep in mind the mind of Christ, if they mean +to keep Passion Week aright. + +They need it, indeed. And such a man, before he shuts himself up, +and begins to examine himself, would do well _to examine himself as +to why he is going to examine himself_, and to ask, Why am I going +to do this? Because it is my interest? Because I think I shall +gain more safety for my soul? Because I hope it will give me more +chance of pleasure and glory in the next world? But, if so; have I +the mind of Christ? For he did _not_ think of his own interest, his +own gain, his own pleasure, his own glory. How is this, then? I +confess that the root of all my faults is selfishness. Shall I +examine into my own selfishness for a selfish end--to get safety and +pleasure by it hereafter? I confess that the very glory of Christ +is, that there is no selfishness in him. Shall I think over the +sufferings of the unselfish Christ for a selfish end--to get +something by it after I die? I am too apt already to make myself +the centre, round which all the world must turn: to care for +everything only as far as it does _me_ good or harm. Shall I make +myself the centre round which heaven is to turn? Shall I think of +God and of Christ only as far as it will profit _me_? And this +week, too, of all weeks in the year? God forgive me! Into what a +contradiction I am running unawares! + +No. If I do shut myself up from my fellowmen, it shall be only to +think how I may do my duty better to my fellowmen. If I do think +over Christ's sufferings, it shall be only that I may learn from him +how to suffer, if need be, at the call of duty; at least, to stir up +in me obedience, usefulness, generosity, that I may go back to my +work cheerfully, willingly, careless what reward I get, provided +only I can do good in my station. + +But, after all, will not the text tell us best how to keep Passion +Week? Will not our Lord's own example tell us? Can we go wrong, if +we keep our Passion Week as Christ kept his? + +And how did he keep it? Certainly not by shutting himself up apart. +Certainly not by mere thinking over the glory of self-sacrifice. He +taught daily, we read, in the temple. Instead of giving up his work +for a while, he seems to have worked more earnestly than ever. As +the terrible end drew near; and his soul was troubled; and he was +straitened as he looked forward to his baptism of fire; and the +struggle in him grew fiercer (for the Bible tells us that there was +a struggle) between the Man's natural desire to save his life, and +the God's heavenly desire to lay down his life, he threw himself +more and more into the work which he had to do. We hear more, +perhaps, of our Lord's saying and doings during this week, up to the +very moment before he was betrayed to death, than we do of the whole +three years of his public life. His teaching was never, it seems, +so continual; his appeals to the nation which he was trying to save +were never so pathetic as at the very last; his warnings to the +bigots who were destroying his nation never so terrible; his +contempt for personal danger never so clear. The Bible seems to +picture him to us as gathering up all his strength for one last +effort, if by any means he might save that doomed city of Jerusalem, +and in his divine spirit, courting death the more, the more his +human flesh shrank from it. + +This--the pattern of perfect obedience, perfect unselfishness, +perfect generosity, perfect self-sacrificing love--is what we are to +look at in Passion Week. This, I believe, is what we are meant to +copy in Passion Week; that we may learn the habit of copying it all +our lives long. + +Why should not we, then, keep Passion Week somewhat as our Lord kept +it before us? Not by merely hiding in our closets to meditate, even +about _him_: but by going about our work, each in his place, +dutifully, bravely, as he went? By doing the duty which lies +nearest us, and trying to draw our lesson out of it. + +Thus we may keep Passion Week in spirit and in truth; though some of +us may hardly have time to enter a church, hardly have time for an +hour's private thought about religion. + +Amid the bustle of daily duties; amid the buzz of petty cares; amid +the anxieties of great labours; amid the roar of the busy world, +which cannot stop (and which ought not to stop), for our +convenience; we may keep Passion Week in spirit and in truth, if we +will do the duty which lies nearest us, and try to draw our lesson +out of it. + +For practice--and, I believe, practice alone--will teach us to +restrain ourselves, and conquer ourselves. Experience--and, I +believe, experience alone--will show us our own faults and +weaknesses. + +Every man--every human spirit on God's earth has spiritual enemies-- +habits and principles within him--if not other spirits without him, +which hinder him, more or less, from being all that God meant him to +be. And we must find out those enemies, and measure their strength, +not merely by reading of them in books; not merely by fancying them +in our own minds; but by the hard blows, and sudden falls, which +they too often give us in the actual battle of daily life. + +And how can we find them out? + +This at least we can do. + +We can ask ourselves at every turn,--For what end am I doing this, +and this? For what end am I living at all? For myself, or for +others? + +Am I living for ambition? for fame? for show? for money? for +pleasure? If so, I have not the mind of Christ. I have not found +out the golden secret. I have not seen what true glory is; what the +glory of Christ is--to live for the sake of doing my duty--for the +sake of doing good. + +And am I--I surely shall be if I am living for myself--straggling, +envying, casting an evil eye on those more fortunate than I; perhaps +letting loose against them a cruel tongue? If I am doing thus, God +forgive me. What have I of the mind of Christ? What likeness +between me and him who emptied himself of self, who humbled himself, +gave himself up utterly, even to death? Is this the mind of Christ? +Is this the spirit whose name is Love? + +And yet there should be a likeness. A likeness between Christ and +us. A likeness between God and us. For Christ is the likeness of +his Father; and not only of his Father, but of our Father, The +Father in heaven. And what should a child be, but like his father? +What should man be, but like God? + +But how shall we get that likeness? How shall we get the mind of +Christ which is the Spirit of God? + +This at least we know. That the father will surely hear the child, +when the child cries to him. Perhaps will hear him all the more +tenderly, the more utterly the child has strayed away. + +Our highest reason, the instincts of our own hearts, tell us so. +Christ himself has told us so; and said to the Jews of old: 'If ye, +being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much +more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who +ask _him_?' + +Shall give? Yes; and has given already. From that Spirit of God +have come, and will always come, all our purest, highest, best +thoughts and feelings. + +From him comes all which raises us above the animals, and makes us +really and truly men and women. All sense of duty, obedience, +order, justice, law; all tenderness, pity, generosity, honour, +modesty; all this, if you will receive it, is that Christ in us of +whom St. Paul tells us, and tells us that he is our hope of glory. + +Yes, these feelings in us, which, just as far as we obey them, make +us respect ourselves, and make us blessings to our fellow-men; what +are they but the Spirit of Christ, the likeness of Christ, the mind +of Christ in us; the hope of our glory; because, if we obey them, we +shall attain to something of the true glory, the glory with which +Christ himself is glorious. + +Then let us pray to God, now in this Passion Week, to stir up in us +that generous spirit; to deepen in us that fair likeness; to fill us +with that noble mind. Let us ask God to quench in us all which is +selfish, idle, mean; to quicken to life in us all which is godlike, +and from God; that so we may attain, at last, to the true glory, the +glory which comes not from selfish ambition; not from selfish pride; +not from selfish ease; but from getting rid of selfishness, in all +its shapes. The glory which Christ alone has in perfection. The +glory before which every knee will one day bow, whether in earth or +heaven. Even the glory of doing our duty, regardless of what it +costs us in the station to which each of us has been called by his +Father in heaven. Amen. + + + +SERMON II. THE DIVINE HUNGER AND THIRST + + + +(Preached before the Queen.) + +Psalm xxxvi. 7, 8, 9. How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! +therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of +thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of +thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy +pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light +shall we see light. + +This is a great saying. So great that we shall never know, +certainly never in this life, how much it means. + +It speaks of being satisfied; of what alone can satisfy a man. It +speaks of man as a creature who is, or rather ought to be, always +hungering and thirsting after something better than he has, as it is +written: 'Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after +righteousness; for they shall be filled.' So says David, also, in +this Psalm. + +I say man ought to be always hungering and thirsting for something +better. I do not mean by that that he ought to be discontented. +Nothing less. For just in as far as a man hungers and thirsts after +righteousness and truth, he will hunger and thirst after nothing +else. As long as a man does not care for righteousness, does not +care to be a better man himself, and to see the world better round +him, so long will he go longing after this fine thing and that, +tormenting himself with lusts and passions, greediness and +covetousness of divers sorts; and little satisfaction will he get +from them. But, when he begins to hunger and thirst after +righteousness, that heavenly and spiritual hunger destroys the old +carnal hunger in him. He cares less and less to ask, What shall I +eat and drink, wherewithal shall I be clothed?--Or how shall I win +for myself admiration, station, and all the fine things of this +world?--What he thinks of more and more is,--How can I become better +and more righteous? How can I make my neighbours better likewise? +How the world? As for the good things of this life, if they will +make me a better man, let them come. If not, why should I care so +much about them? What I want is, to be righteous like God, +beneficent and good-doing like God. + +That is the man of whom it is written, that he shall be satisfied +with the plenteousness of God's house, God's kingdom; for with God +is the fountain of life. + +Again, as long as a man has no hunger and thirst after truth, he is +easily enough interested, though he is not satisfied. He reads, +perhaps, and amuses his fancy, but he does no more. He reads again, +really to instruct his mind, and learns about this and that: but he +does not learn the causes of things; the reasons of the chances and +changes of this world; and so he is not satisfied; he takes up +doctrines, true ones, perhaps, at secondhand out of books and out of +sermons:, without having had any personal experience of them; and +so, when sickness or sorrow, doubt or dread, come, they do not +satisfy him. Then he longs--he ought at least to long--for truth. +He thirsts for truth. O that I could know the truth about myself; +about my fellow-creatures; about this world. What am I really? +What are they? Where am I? What can I know? What ought I to do? +I do not want secondhand names and notions. I want to be sure. + +That is the divine thirst after truth, which will surely be +satisfied. He will drink of the pleasure of true knowledge, as out +of an overflowing river; and the more he knows, the more he will be +glad to know, and the more he will find he can know, if only he +loves truth for truth's own sake; for, as it is written, in God's +light shall that man see light. + +With God is the well of life; and in his light we shall see light. +The first is the answer to man's hunger after righteousness, the +second answers to his thirst after truth. + +With God is the well of life. There is the answer. Thou wishest to +be a good man; to live a good life; to live as a good son, good +husband, good father, good in all the relations of humanity; as it +is written, 'And Noah was a just man, and perfect in his +generations; and Noah walked with God.' Then do thou walk with God. +For in him is the life thou wishest for. He alone can quicken thee, +and give thee spirit and power to fulfil thy duty in thy generation. +Is not his Spirit the Lord and Giver of life--the only fount and +eternal spring of life? From him life flows out unto the smallest +blade of grass beneath thy feet, the smallest gnat which dances in +the sun, that it may live the life which God intends for it. How +much more to thee, who hast an altogether boundless power of life; +whom God has made in his own likeness, that thou mayest be called +his son, and live his life, and do, as Christ did, what thou seest +thy heavenly Father do. + +Thou feelest, perhaps, how poor and paltry thine own life is, +compared with what it might have been. Thou feelest that thou hast +never done thy best. When the world is praising thee most, thou art +most ashamed of thyself. Thou art ready to cry all day long, 'I +have left undone that which I ought to have done;' till, at times, +thou longest that all was over, and thou wert beginning again in +some freer, fuller, nobler, holier life, to do and to be what thou +hast never done nor been here; and criest with the poet-- + + +'Tis life, whereof my nerves are scant; +'Tis life, not death, for which I pant; +More life, and fuller, that I want. + + +Then have patience. With God is the fount of life. He will refresh +and strengthen thee; and raise thee up day by day to that new life +for which thou longest. Is not Holy communion his own pledge that +he will do so? Is not that God's own sign to thee, that though thou +canst not feed and strengthen thine own soul, he can and will feed +and strengthen it; and feed it--mystery of mysteries--with himself; +that God may dwell in thee, and thou in God. And if God and Christ +live in thee, and work in thee to will and to do of their own good +pleasure, that shall be enough for thee, and thou shall be +satisfied. + +And just so, again, with that same thirst after truth. That, too, +can only be satisfied by God, and in God. Not by the reading of +books, however true; not by listening to sermons, however clever; +can we see light: but only in the light of God. Know God. Know +that he is justice itself, order itself, love itself, patience +itself, pity itself. In the light of that, all things will become +light and bright to thee. Matters which seemed to have nothing to +do with God, the thought of God will explain to thee, if thou +thinkest aright concerning God; and the true knowledge of him will +be the key to all other true knowledge in heaven and earth. For the +fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a good +understanding have all they that do thereafter. Must it not be so? +How can it be otherwise? For in God all live and move and have +their being; and all things which he has made are rays from off his +glory, and patterns of his perfect mind. As the Maker is, so is his +work; if, therefore, thou wouldest judge rightly of the work, +acquaint thyself with the Maker of it, and know first, and know for +ever, that his name is Love. + +Thus, sooner or later, in God the Father's good time, will thy +thirst for truth be satisfied, and thou shalt see the light of God. +He may keep thee long waiting for full truth. He may send thee by +strange and crooked paths. He may exercise and strain thy reason by +doubts, mistakes, and failures; but sooner or later, if thou dost +not faint and grow weary, he will show to thee the thing which thou +knewest not; for he is thy Father, and wills that all his children, +each according to their powers, should share not only in his +goodness, but in his wisdom also. + +Do any of you say, 'These are words too deep for us; they are for +learned people, clever, great saints?' I think not. + +I have seen poor people, ignorant people, sick people, poor old +souls on parish pay, satisfied with the plenteousness of God's +house, and drinking so freely of God's pleasure, that they knew no +thirst, fretted not, never were discontented. All vain longings +after this and that were gone from their hearts. They had very +little; but it seemed to be enough. They had nothing indeed, which +we could call pleasure in this world; but somehow what they had +satisfied them, because it came from God. They had a hidden +pleasure, joy, content, and peace. + +They had found out that with God was the well of life; that in God +they lived and moved, and had their being. And as long as their +souls lived in God, full of the eternal life and goodness, obeying +his laws, loving the thing which he commanded, and desiring what he +promised, they could trust him for their poor worn-out dying bodies, +that he would not let them perish, but raise them up again at the +last day. They knew very little; but what they did know was full of +light. Cheerful and hopeful they were always; for they saw all +things in the light of God. They knew that God was light, and God +was love; that his love was shining down on them and on all around +them, warming, cheering, quickening into life all things which he +had made; so that when the world should have looked most dark to +them, it looked most bright, because they saw it lightened up by the +smile of their Father in heaven. + +O may God bring us all to such an old age, that, as our mortal +bodies decay, our souls may be renewed day by day; that as the life +of our bodies grows cold and feeble, the life of our souls may grow +richer, warmer, stronger, more useful to all around us, for ever and +ever; that as the light of this life fades, the light of our souls +may grow brighter, fuller, deeper; till all is clear to us in the +everlasting light of God, in that perfect day for which St. Paul +thirsted through so many weary years; when he should no more see +through a glass darkly, or prophesy in part, and talk as a child, +but see face to face, and know even as he was known. + + + +SERMON III. THE TRANSFIGURATION + + + +(Preached before the Queen.) + +Matthew xvii. 2 and 9. And he was transfigured before them. . . . +And he charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the +Son of Man be risen again from the dead. + +Any one who will consider the gospels, will see that there is a +peculiar calm, a soberness and modesty about them, very different +from what we should have expected to find in them. Speaking, as +they do, of the grandest person who ever trod this earth, of the +grandest events which ever happened upon this earth--of the events, +indeed, which settled the future of this earth for ever,--one would +not be surprised at their using grand words--the grandest they could +find. If they had gone off into beautiful poetry; if they had +filled pages with words of astonishment, admiration, delight; if +they had told us their own thoughts and feelings at the sight of our +Lord; if they had given us long and full descriptions of our Lord's +face and figure, even (as forged documents have pretended to do) to +the very colour of his hair, we should have thought it but natural. + +But there is nothing of the kind in either of the four gospels, even +when speaking of the most awful matters. Their words are as quiet +and simple and modest as if they were written of things which might +be seen every day. When they tell of our Lord's crucifixion, for +instance, how easy, natural, harmless, right, as far as we can see, +it would have been to have poured out their own feelings about the +most pitiable and shameful crime ever committed upon earth; to have +spoken out all their own pity, terror, grief, indignation; and to +have stirred up ours thereby. And yet all they say is,--'And they +crucified him.' They feel that is enough. The deed is too dark to +talk about. Let it tell its own story to all human hearts. + +So with this account of the Lord's transfiguration. 'And he took +Peter, and James, and John, his brother, up into a high mountain, +apart, and was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as +the sun; and his raiment was white as the light; . . . and while he +yet spake a bright cloud overshadowed them; and, behold, a voice out +of the cloud, which said: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well +pleased. Hear ye him.' + +How soberly, simply, modestly, they tell this strange story. How +differently they might have told it. A man might write whole poems, +whole books of philosophy, about that transfiguration, and yet never +reach the full depth of its beauty and of its meaning. But the +evangelists do not even try to do that. As with the crucifixion, as +with all the most wonderful passages of our Lord's life, they simply +say what happened, and let the story bring its own message home to +our hearts. + +What may we suppose is the reason of this great stillness and +soberness of the gospels? I believe that it may be explained thus. +The men who wrote them were too much _awed_ by our Lord, to make +more words about him than they absolutely needed. + +Our Lord was too utterly _beyond_ them. They felt that they could +not understand him; could not give a worthy picture of him. He was +too noble, too awful, in spite of all his tenderness, for any words +of theirs, however fine. We all know that the holiest things, the +deepest feelings, the most beautiful sights, are those about which +we talk least, and least like to hear others talk. Putting them +into words seems impertinent, profane. No one needs to gild gold, +or paint the lily. When we see a glorious sunset; when we hear the +rolling of the thunder-storm; we do not _talk_ about them; we do not +begin to cry, How awful, how magnificent; we admire them in silence, +and let them tell their own story. Who that ever truly loved his +wife talked about his love to her? Who that ever came to Holy +Communion in spirit and in truth, tried to put into words what he +felt as he knelt before Christ's altar? When God speaks, man had +best keep silence. + +So it was, I suppose, with the writers of the gospels. They had +been in too grand company for them to speak freely of what they felt +there. They had seen such sights, and heard such words, that they +were inclined to be silent, and think over it all, and only wrote +because they must write. They felt that our Lord, as I say, was +utterly beyond them, too unlike any one whom they had ever met +before; too perfect, too noble, for them to talk about him. So they +simply set down his words as he spoke them, and his works as he did +them, as far as they could recollect, and left them to tell their +own story. Even St. John, who was our Lord's beloved friend, who +seems to have caught and copied exactly his way of speaking, seems +to feel that there was infinitely more in our Lord than he could put +into words, and ends with confessing,--'And there are also many more +things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every +one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the +books that should be written.' + +The first reason then, I suppose, for the evangelists' modesty, was +their awe and astonishment at our Lord. The next, I think, may have +been that they wished to copy him, and so to please him. It surely +must have been so, if, as all good Christians believe, they were +inspired to write our Lord's life. The Lord would inspire them to +write as he would like his life to be written, as he would have +written it (if it be reverent to speak of such a thing) himself. +They were inspired by Christ's Spirit; and, therefore, they wrote +according to the Spirit of Christ, soberly, humbly, modestly, +copying the character of Christ. + +Think upon that word _modestly_. I am not sure that it is the best; +I only know that it is the best which I can find, to express one +excellence which we see in our Lord, which is like what we call +modesty in common human beings. + +We all know how beautiful and noble modesty is; how we all admire +it; how it raises a man in our eyes to see him afraid of boasting; +never showing off; never requiring people to admire him; never +pushing himself forward; or, if his business forces him to go into +public, not going for the sake of display, but simply because the +thing has to be done; and then quietly withdrawing himself when the +thing is done, content that none should be staring at him or +thinking of him. This is modesty; and we admire it not only in +young people, or those who have little cause to be proud: we admire +it much more in the greatest, the wisest, and the best; in those who +have, humanly speaking, most cause to be proud. Whenever, on the +other hand, we see in wise and good men any vanity, boasting, +pompousness of any kind, we call it a weakness in them, and are +sorry to see them lowering themselves by the least want of divine +modesty. + +Now, this great grace and noble virtue should surely be in our Lord, +from whom all graces and virtues come; and I think we need not look +far through the gospels to find it. + +See how he refused to cast himself down from the temple, and make +himself a sign and a wonder to the Jews. How he refused to show the +Pharisees a sign. How, in this very text, when it seemed good to +him to show his glory, he takes only three favourite apostles, and +commands them to tell no man till he be risen again. See, again, +how when the Jews wanted to take him by force, and make him a king, +he escaped out of their hands. How when He had been preaching to, +or healing the multitude, so that they crowded on him, and became +excited about him, he more than once immediately left them, and +retired into a desert place to pray. + +See, again, how when he did tell the Jews who he was, in words most +awfully unmistakeable, the confession was, as it were, drawn from +him, at the end of a long argument, when he was forced to speak out +for truth's sake. And, even then, how simple, how modest (if I dare +so speak), are his words. 'Before Abraham was, I am.' The most +awful words ever spoken on earth; and yet most divine in their very +simplicity. The Maker of the world telling his creatures that he is +their God! What might he _not_ have said at such a moment? What +might we not fancy his saying? What words, grand enough, awful +enough, might not the evangelists have put into his mouth, if they +had not been men full of the spirit of truth? And yet what does the +Lord say? 'Before Abraham was, I am.' Could he say more? If you +think of the matter, No. But could he say less? If you think of +the manner, No, likewise. + +Truly, 'never man spake as he spake:' because never man was like +him. Perfect strength, wisdom, determination, endurance; and yet +perfect meekness, simplicity, sobriety. Zeal and modesty. They are +the last two virtues which go together most seldom. In him they +went together utterly; and were one, as he was one in spirit. + +Him some of the evangelists saw, and by him all were inspired; and, +therefore, they toned their account of him to his likeness, and, as +it were, took their key-note from him, and made the very manner and +language of their gospels a pattern of his manners and his life. + +And, if we wanted a fresh proof (as, thank God, needs not) that the +gospels are true, I think we might find it in this. For when a man +is inventing a wonderful story out of his own head, he is certain to +dress it up in fine words, fancies, shrewd reflections of his own, +in order to make people see, as he goes on, how wonderful it all is. +Whereas, no books on earth which describe wonderful events, true or +false, are so sober and simple as the gospels, which describe the +most wonderful of all events. And this is to me a plain proof (as I +hope it will be to you) that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not +inventing but telling a plain and true story, and dared not alter it +in the least; and, again, a story so strange and beautiful, that +they dared not try to make it more strange, or more beautiful, by +any words of their own. + +They had seen a person, to describe whom passed all their powers of +thought and memory, much more their power of words. A person of +whom even St. Paul could only say, 'that he was the brightness of +his Father's glory, and the express image of his person.' + +Words in which to write of him failed them; for no words could +suffice. But the temper of mind in which to write of him did not +fail them; for, by gazing on the face of the Lord, they had been +changed, more or less, into the likeness of his glory; into that +temper, simplicity, sobriety, gentleness, modesty, which shone forth +in him, and shines forth still in their immortal words about him. +God grant that it may shine forth in us. God grant it truly. May +we read their words till their spirit passes into us. May we (as +St. Paul expresses it) looking on the face of the Lord, as into a +glass, be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory. May he +who inspired them to write, inspire us to think and work, like our +Lord, soberly, quietly, simply. May God take out of us all pride +and vanity, boasting and forwardness; and give us the true courage +which shows itself by gentleness; the true wisdom which show itself +by simplicity; and the true power which show itself by modesty. +Amen. + + + +SERMON IV. A SOLDIER'S TRAINING + + + +Luke vii. 2-9. And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto +him, was sick, and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he +sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would +come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they +besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he +should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a +synagogue. Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far +from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, +Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest +enter under my roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to +come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. +For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, +and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he +cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus +heard these things he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and +said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not +found so great faith, no, not in Israel. + +There is something puzzling in this speech of the centurion's. One +must think twice, and more than twice, to understand clearly what he +had in his mind. _I_, indeed, am not quite sure that I altogether +understand it. But I may, perhaps, help you to understand it, by +telling you what this centurion was. + +He was not a Jew. He was a Roman, and a heathen; a man of our race, +very likely. And he was a centurion, a captain in the army; and +one, mind, who had risen from the ranks, by good conduct, and good +service. Before he got his vine-stock, which was the mark of his +authority over a hundred men, he had, no doubt, marched many a weary +mile under a heavy load, and fought, probably, many a bloody battle +in foreign parts. That had been his education, his training, +namely, discipline, and hard work. And because he had learned to +obey, he was fit to rule. He was helping now to keep in order those +treacherous, unruly Jews, and their worthless puppet-kings, like +Herod; much as our soldiers in India are keeping in order the +Hindoos, and their worthless puppet-kings. + +Whether the Romans had any _right_ to conquer and keep down the Jews +as they did, is no concern of ours just now. But we have proof that +what this centurion did, he did wisely and kindly. The elders of +the Jews said of him, that he loved the Jews, and had built them a +synagogue, a church. I suppose that what he had heard from them +about a one living God, who had made all things in heaven and earth, +and given them a law, which cannot be broken, so that all things +obey him to this day--I suppose, I say, that this pleased him better +than the Roman stories of many gods, who were capricious, and +fretful, and quarrelled with each other in a fashion which ought to +have been shocking to the conscience and reason of a disciplined +soldier. + +There was a great deal, besides, in the Old Testament, which would, +surely, come home to a soldier's heart, when it told him of a God of +law, and order, and justice, and might, who defended the right in +battle, and inspired the old Jews to conquer the heathen, and to +fight for their own liberty. For what was it, which had enabled the +Romans to conquer so many great nations? What was it which enabled +them to keep them in order, and, on the whole, make them happier, +more peaceable, more prosperous, than they had ever been? What was +it which had made him, the poor common soldier, an officer, and a +wealthy man, governing, by his little garrison of a hundred +soldiers, this town of Capernaum, and the country round? + +It was this. Discipline; drill; obedience to authority. That Roman +army was the most admirably disciplined which the world till then +had ever seen. So, indeed, was the whole Roman Government. Every +man knew his place, and knew his work. Every man had been trained +to obey orders; if he was told to go, to go; if he was told to do, +to do, or to die in trying to do, what he was bidden. + +This was the great and true thought which had filled this good man's +mind--duty, order, and obedience. And by thinking of order, and +seeing how strength, and safety, and success lie in order, and by +giving himself up to obey orders, body and soul, like a good +soldier, had that plain man (who had certainly no scholarship, +perhaps could barely read or write) caught sight of a higher, wider, +deeper order than even that of a Roman army. He had caught sight of +that divine and wonderful order, by which God has constituted the +services of men, and angels, and all created things; that divine and +wonderful order by which sun and stars, fire and hail, wind and +vapour, cattle and creeping things fulfil his word. + +Fulfil God's word. That was the thought, surely, which was in the +good soldier's mind, and which he was trying to speak out; clumsily, +perhaps, but truly enough. I suppose, then, that he thought in his +own mind somewhat in this way. 'There is a word of command among us +soldiers. Has God, then, no word of command likewise? And that +word of command is enough. Is not God's word of command enough +likewise? I merely speak, and I am obeyed. I am merely spoken to, +and I obey. Shall not God merely speak, and be obeyed likewise? +There is discipline and order among men, because it is necessary. +An Army cannot be manoeuvred, a Government cannot be carried on, +without it. Is there not a discipline and order in all heaven and +earth? And that discipline is carried out by simple word of +command. A word from me will make a man rush upon certain death. A +word from certain other men will make me rush on certain death. For +I am a man under authority. I have my tribune (colonel, as we +should say) over me; and he, again, the perfect (general of brigade) +over him. Their word is enough for me. If they want me to do a +thing, they do not need to come under my roof, to argue with me, to +persuade me, much less to thrust me about, and make me obey them by +force. They say to me, 'Go,' and I go; and I say to those under me, +'Go,' and they go likewise. + +And if I can work by a word, cannot this Jesus work by a word +likewise? He is a messenger of God, with commission and authority +from God, to work his will on his creatures. Are not God's +creatures as well ordered, disciplined, obedient, as we soldiers +are? Are they not a hundred times better ordered? A messenger from +God? Is he not a God himself; a God in goodness and mercy; a God in +miraculous power? Cannot he do his work by a word, far more +certainly than I can do mine? If my word can send a man to death, +cannot his word bring a man back to life? Surely it can. 'Lord, +thou needest not to come under my roof; speak the word only, and my +servant shall be healed.' + +By some such thoughts as these, I suppose, had this good soldier +gained his great faith; his faith that all God's creatures were in a +divine, and wonderful order, obedient to the will of God who made +them; and that Jesus Christ was God's viceroy and lieutenant (I +speak so, because I suppose that is what he, as a soldier, would +have thought), to carry out God's commands on earth. + +Now remember that he was the first heathen man of whom we read, that +he acknowledged Christ. Remember, too, that the next heathen of +whom we read, that he acknowledged Christ, was also a Roman +centurion, he whom the old legends call Longinus, who, when he saw +our Lord upon the cross, said, 'Truly this _was_ the Son of God.' +Remember, again, that the next heathen of whom we read as having +acknowledged Christ, he to whom St. Peter was sent, at Joppa, who is +often called the first fruits of the heathen, was a Roman centurion +likewise. + +Surely, there must have been a reason for this. There must be a +lesson in this; and this, I think, is the lesson. That the +soldierlike habit of mind is one which makes a man ready to receive +the truth of Christ. And why? Because the good soldier's first and +last thought is Duty. To do his duty by those who are set over him, +and to learn to do his duty to those who are set under him. To turn +his whole mind and soul to doing, not just what he fancies, but to +what must be done, because it is his duty. This is the character +which makes a good soldier, and a good Christian likewise. If we be +undisciplined and undutiful, and unruly; if we be fanciful, self- +willed, disobedient; then we shall not understand Christ, or +Christ's rule on earth and in heaven. If there be no order within +us, we shall not see his divine and wonderful order all around us. +If there be no discipline and obedience within us, we shall never +believe really that Christ disciplines all things, and that all +things obey him. If there be no sense of duty in us, governing our +whole lives and actions, we shall never perceive the true beauty and +glory of Christ's character, who sacrificed himself for his duty, +which was to do his Father's will. + +I tell you, my friends, that nothing prevents a man from gaining +either right doctrines or right practice, so much as the undutiful, +unruly, self-conceited heart. We may be full of religious +knowledge, of devout sentiments, of heavenly aspirations: but in +spite of them all, we shall never get beyond false doctrine, and +loose practice, unless we have learned to obey; to rule our own +minds, and hearts, and tempers, soberly and patiently; to conform to +the laws, and to all reasonable rules of society, to believe that +God has called us to our station in life, whatever it may be; and to +do our duty therein, as faithful soldiers and servants of Christ. +For, if you will receive it, the beginning and the middle, and the +end of all true religion is simply this. To do the will of God on +earth, as it is done in heaven. + + + +SERMON V. CHRIST'S SHEEP + + + +Mark vi. 34. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was +moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not +having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. + +This is a text full of comfort, if we will but remember one thing: +that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and, +therefore, what he did when he was upon earth, he is doing now, and +will do till the end of the world. If we will believe this, and +look at our Lord's doings upon earth as patterns and specimens, as +it were, of his eternal life and character, then every verse in the +gospels will teach us something, and be precious to us. + +The people came to hear Jesus in a desert place; a wild forest +country, among the hills on the east side of the Lake of Gennesaret. +'And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with +compassion toward them, because they were as sheep having no +shepherd: and he taught them many things.' + +And, what kind of people were these, who so moved our Lord's pity? +The text tells us, that they were like sheep. Now, in what way were +they like sheep? + +A sheep is simple, and harmless, and tractable, and so, I suppose, +were these people. They may not have been very clever and shrewd; +not good scholars. No doubt they were a poor, wild, ignorant, set +of people; but they were tractable; they were willing to come and +learn; they felt their own ignorance, and wanted to be taught. They +were not proud and self-sufficient, not fierce or bloodthirsty. The +text does not say that they were like wild beasts having no keeper: +but like sheep having no shepherd. And therefore Christ pitied +them, because they were teachable, willing to be taught, and worth +teaching; and yet had no one to teach them. + +The Scribes and Pharisees, it seems, taught them nothing. They may +have taught the people in Jerusalem, and in the great towns, +something: but they seem, from all the gospels, to have cared +little or nothing for the poor folk out in the wild mountain +country. They liked to live in pride and comfort in the towns, with +their comfortable congregations round them, admiring them; but they +had no fancy to go out into the deserts, to seek and to save those +who were lost. They were bad shepherds, greedy shepherds, who were +glad enough to shear God's flock, and keep the wool themselves: but +they did not care to feed the flock of God. It was too much +trouble; and they could get no honour and no money by it. And most +likely they did not understand these poor people; could not speak, +hardly understand, their country language; for these Galileans spoke +a rough dialect, different from that of the upper classes. + +So the Scribes and Pharisees looked down on them as a bad, wild, low +set of people, with whom nothing could be done; and said, 'This +people who knoweth not the law, is accursed.' + +But what they would not do, God himself would. God in Christ had +come to feed his own flock, and to seek the lost sheep, and bring +them gently home to God's fold. He could feel for these poor wild +foresters and mountain shepherds; he could understand what was in +their hearts; for he knew the heart of man; and, therefore, he could +make them understand him. And it was for this very reason, one +might suppose, that our Lord was willing to be brought up at +Nazareth, that he might learn the country speech, and country ways, +and that the people might grow to look on him as one of themselves. +Those Scribes and Pharisees, one may suppose, were just the people +whom they could not understand; fine, rich scholars, proud people +talking very learnedly about deep doctrines. The country folk must +have looked at them as if they belonged to some other world, and +said,--Those Pharisees cannot understand us, any more than we can +them, with their hard rules about this and that. Easy enough for +rich men like them to make rules for poor ones. Indeed our Lord +said the very same of them--'Binding heavy burdens, and grievous to +be borne, and laying them on men's shoulders; while they themselves +would not touch them with one of their fingers.' + +Then the Lord himself came and preached to these poor wild folk, and +they heard him gladly. And why? Because his speech was too deep +for them? Because he scolded and threatened them? No. + +We never find that our Lord spoke harshly to them. They had plenty +of sins, and he knew it: but it is most remarkable that the +Evangelists never tell us what he said about those sins. What they +do tell us is, that he spoke to them of the common things around +them, of the flowers of the field, the birds of the air, of sowing +and reaping, and feeding sheep; and taught them by parables, taken +from the common country life which they lived, and the common +country things which they saw; and shewed them how the kingdom of +God was like unto this and that which they had seen from their +childhood, and how earth was a pattern of heaven. And they could +understand that. Not all of it perhaps: but still they heard him +gladly. His preaching made them understand themselves, and their +own souls, and what God felt for them, and what was right and wrong, +and what would become of them, as they never felt before. It is +plain and certain that the country people could understand Christ's +parables, when the Scribes and Pharisees could not. The Scribes and +Pharisees, in spite of all their learning, were those who were +without (as our Lord said); who had eyes and could not see, and ears +and could not hear, for their hearts were grown fat and gross. With +all their learning, they were not wise enough to understand the +message which God sends in every flower and every sunbeam; the +message which Christ preached to the poor, and the poor heard him +gladly; the message which he confirmed to them by his miracles. For +what were his miracles like? Did he call down lightning to strike +sinners dead, or call up earthquakes, to swallow them? No; he went +about healing the sick, cleansing the leper, feeding the hungry in +the wilderness; that therefore they might see by his example, the +glory of their Father in heaven, and understand that God is a God of +Love, of mercy, a deliverer, a Saviour, and not, as the Scribes and +Pharisees made him out, a hard taskmaster, keeping his anger for +ever, and extreme to mark what was done amiss. + +Ah that, be sure, was what made the Scribes and Pharisees more mad +than anything else against Christ, that he spoke to the poor +ignorant people of their Father in heaven. It made them envious +enough to see the poor people listening to Christ, when they would +not listen to them; but when he told these poor folk, whom they +called 'accursed and lost sinners,' that God in heaven was their +Father, then no name was too bad for our Lord; and they called him +the worst name which they could think of--a friend of publicans and +sinners. That was the worst name, in their eyes: and yet, in +reality, it was the highest honour. But they never forgave him. +How could they? They felt that if he was doing God's work, they +were doing the devil's, that either he or they must be utterly +wrong: and they never rested till they crucified him, and stopped +him for ever, as they fancied, from telling poor ignorant people +laden with sins to consider the flowers of the field how they grow, +and learn from them that they have a Father in heaven who knoweth +what they have need of before they ask him. + +But they did not stop Christ: and, what is more, they will never +stop him. He has said it, and it remains true for ever; for he is +saying it over and over again, in a thousand ways, to his sheep, +when they are wandering without a shepherd. + +Only let them be Christ's sheep, and he will have compassion on +them, and teach them many things. Many may neglect them: but +Christ will not. Whoever you may be, however simple you are, +however ignorant, however lonely, still, if you are one of Christ's +sheep, if you are harmless and teachable, willing and wishing to +learn what is right, then Christ will surely teach you in his good +time. There never was a soul on earth, I believe, who really wished +for God's light, but what God's light came to it at last, as it will +to you, if you be Christ's sheep. If you are proud and conceited, +you will learn nothing. If you are fierce and headstrong, you will +learn nothing. If you are patient and gentle, you will learn all +that you need to know; for Christ will teach you. He has many ways +of teaching you. By his ministers; by the Bible; by books; by good +friends; by sorrows and troubles; by blessings and comforts; by +stirring up your mind to think over the common things which lie all +around you in your daily work. But what need for me to go on +counting by how many ways Christ will lead you, when he has more +ways than man ever dreamed of? Who hath known the mind of the Lord; +or who shall be his counsellor? Only be sure that he will teach +you, if you wish to learn; and be sure that this is what he will +teach you--to know the glory of his Father and your Father, whose +name is Love. + + + +SERMON VI. THE HEARING EAR AND THE SEEING EYE + + + +Proverbs xx. 12. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath +made even both of them. + +This saying may seem at first a very simple one; and some may ask, +What need to tell us that? We know it already. God, who made all +things, made the ear and the eye likewise. + +True, my friends: but the simplest texts are often the deepest; and +that, just because they speak to us of the most common things. For +the most common things are often the most wonderful, and deep, and +difficult to understand. + +The hearing of the ear, and the seeing of the eye.--Every one hears +and sees all day long, so perpetually that we never think about our +hearing or sight, unless we find them fail us. And yet, how +wonderful are hearing and sight. How we hear, how we see, no man +knows, and perhaps ever will know. + +When the ear is dissected and examined, it is found to be a piece of +machinery infinitely beyond the skill of mortal man to make. The +tiny drum of the ear, which quivers with every sound which strikes +it, puts to shame with its divine workmanship all the clumsy +workmanship of man. But recollect that _it_ is not all the wonder, +but only the beginning of it. The ear is wonderful: but still more +wonderful is it how the ear _hears_. It is wonderful, I mean, how +the ear should be so made, that each different sound sets it in +motion in a different way: but still more wonderful, how that sound +should pass up from the ear to the nerves and brain, so that we +_hear_. Therein is a mystery which no mortal man can explain. + +So of the eye. All the telescopes and microscopes which man makes, +curiously and cunningly as they are made, are clumsy things compared +with the divine workmanship of the eye. I cannot describe it to +you; nor, if I could, is this altogether a fit place to do so. But +if any one wishes to see the greatness and the glory of God, and be +overwhelmed with the sense of his own ignorance, and of God's +wisdom, let him read any book which describes to him the eye of man, +or even of beast, and then say with the psalmist, 'I am fearfully +and wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works, O Lord, and that my +soul knoweth right well.' + +And remember, that as with the ear, so with the eye, the mere +workmanship of it is only the beginning of the wonder. It is very +wonderful that the eye should be able to take a picture of each +thing in front of it; that on the tiny black curtain at the back of +the eye, each thing outside should be printed, as it were, +instantly, exact in shape and colour. But that is not sight. Sight +is a greater wonder, over and above that. Seeing is this, that the +picture which is printed on the back of the eye, is also printed on +our brain, so that we _see_ it. There is the wonder of wonders. + +Do some of you not understand me? Then look at it thus. If you +took out the eye of an animal, and held it up to anything, a man or +a tree, a perfect picture of that man or that tree would be printed +on the back of the dead eye: but the eye would not _see_ it. And +why? Because it is cut off from the live brain of the animal to +which it belonged; and therefore, though the picture is still in the +eye, it sends no message about itself up to the brain, and is not +seen. + +And how does the picture on the eye send its message about itself to +the brain, so that the brain sees it? And how, again--for here is a +third wonder, greater still--do _we_ ourselves see what our brain +sees? + +That no man knows, and, perhaps, never will know in this world. For +science, as it is called, that is, the understanding of this world, +and what goes on therein, can only tell us as yet what happens, what +God does: but of how God does it, it can tell us little or nothing; +and of why God does it, nothing at all; and all we can say is, at +every turn, "God is great." + +Mind, again, that these are not all the wonders which are in the ear +and in the eye. It is wonderful enough, that our brains should hear +through our ears, and see through our eyes: but it is more +wonderful still, that they should be able to recollect what they +have heard and seen. That you and I should be able to call up in +our minds a sound which we heard yesterday, or even a minute ago, is +to me one of the most utterly astonishing things I know of. And so +of ordinary recollection. What is it that we call remembering a +place, remembering a person's face? That place, or that face, was +actually printed, as it were, through our eye upon our brain. We +have a picture of it somewhere; we know not where, inside us. But +that we should be able to call that picture up again, and look at it +with what we rightly call our mind's eye, whenever we choose; and +not merely that one picture only, but thousands of such;--that is a +wonder, indeed, which passes understanding. Consider the hundreds +of human faces, the hundreds of different things and places, which +you can recollect; and then consider that all those different +pictures are lying, as it were, over each other in hundreds in that +small place, your brain, for the most part without interfering with, +or rubbing out each other, each ready to be called up, recollected, +and used in its turn. + +If this is not wonderful, what is? So wonderful, that no man knows, +or, I think, ever will know, how it comes to pass. How the eye +tells the brain of the picture which is drawn upon the back of the +eve--how the brain calls up that picture when it likes--these are +two mysteries beyond all man's wisdom to explain. These are two +proofs of the wisdom and the power of God, which ought to sink +deeper into our hearts than all signs and wonders;--greater proofs +of God's power and wisdom, than if yon fir-trees burst into flame of +themselves, or yon ground opened, and a fountain of water sprung +out. Most people think much of signs and wonders. Just in +proportion as they have no real faith in God, just in proportion as +they forget God, and will not see that he is about their path, and +about their bed, and spying out all their ways, they are like those +godless Scribes and Pharisees of old, who must have signs and +wonders before they would believe. So it is: the commonest things +are as wonderful, more wonderful, than the uncommon; and yet, people +will hanker after the uncommon, as if they belonged to God more +immediately than the commonest matters. + +If yon trees burst out in flame; if yon hill opened, and a fountain +sprang up, how many would cry, 'How awful! How wonderful! Here is +a sign that God is near us! It is time to think about our souls +now! Perhaps the end of the world is at hand!' And all the while +they would be blind to that far more awful proof of God's presence, +that all around them, all day long, all over the world, millions of +human ears are hearing, millions of human eyes are seeing, God alone +knows how; millions of human brains are recollecting, God alone +knows how. That is not faith, my friends, to see God only in what +is strange and rare: but this is faith, to see God in what is most +common and simple; to know God's greatness not so much from +disorder, as from order; not so much from those strange sights in +which God seems (but only seems) to break his laws, as from those +common ones in which he fulfils his laws. + +I know it is very difficult to believe that. It has been always +difficult; and for this reason. Our souls and minds are disorderly; +and therefore order does not look to us what it is, the likeness and +glory of God. I will explain. If God, at any moment, should create +a full-grown plant with stalk, leaves, and flowers, all perfect, all +would say, There is the hand of God! How great is God! There is, +indeed, a miracle!--Just because it would seem not to be according +to order. But the tiny seed sown in the ground, springing up into +root-leaf, stalk, rough leaf, flower, seed, which will again be sown +and spring up into leaf, flower, and seed;--in that perpetual +miracle, people see no miracle: just because it is according to +order: because it comes to pass by regular and natural laws. And +why? Because, such as we are, such we fancy God to be. And we are +all of us more or less disorderly: fanciful; changeable; fond of +doing not what we ought, but what we like; fond of showing our +power, not by keeping rules, but by breaking rules; and we fancy too +often that God is like ourselves, and make him in our image, after +our own likeness, which is disorder, and self-will, and +changeableness; instead of trying to be conformed to his image and +his likeness, which is order and law eternal: and, therefore, +whenever God seems (for he only _seems_ to our ignorance) to be +making things suddenly, as we make, or working arbitrarily as we +work, then we acknowledge his greatness and wisdom. Whereas his +greatness, his wisdom, are rather shown in not making as we make, +not working as we work: but in this is the greatness of God +manifest, in that he has ordained laws which must work of +themselves, and with which he need never interfere: laws by which +the tiny seed, made up only (as far as we can see) of a little +water, and air, and earth, must grow up into plant, leaf, and +flower, utterly unlike itself, and must produce seeds which have the +truly miraculous power of growing up in their turn, into plants +exactly like that from which they sprung, and no other. Ah, my +friends, herein is the glory of God: and he who will consider the +lilies of the field, how they grow, that man will see at last that +the highest, and therefore the truest, notion of God is, not that +the universe is continually going wrong, so that he has to interfere +and right it: but that the universe is continually going right, +because he hath given it a law which cannot be broken. + +And when a man sees that, there will arise within his soul a clear +light, and an awful joy, and an abiding peace, and a sure hope; and +a faith as of a little child. + +Then will that man crave no more for signs and wonders, with the +superstitious and the unbelieving, who have eyes, and see not; ears, +and cannot hear; whose hearts are waxen gross, so that they cannot +consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: but all his cry +will be to the Lord of Order, to make him orderly; to the Lord of +Law, to make him loyal; to the Lord in whom is nothing arbitrary, to +take out of him all that is unreasonable and self-willed; and make +him content, like his Master Christ before him, to do the will of +his Father in heaven, who has sent him into this noble world. He +will no longer fancy that God is an absent God, who only comes down +now and then to visit the earth in signs and wonders: but he will +know that God is everywhere, and over all things, from the greatest +to the least; for in God, he, and all things created, live and move +and have their being. And therefore, knowing that he is always in +the presence of God, he will pray to be taught how to use all his +powers aright, because all of them are the powers of God; pray to be +taught how to see, and how to hear; pray that when he is called to +account for the use of this wonderful body which God has bestowed on +him, he may not be brought to shame by the thought that he has used +it merely for his own profit or his own pleasure, much less by the +thought that he has weakened and diseased it by misuse and neglect: +but comforted by the thought that he has done with it what the Lord +Jesus did with his body--made it the useful servant, and not the +brutal master, of his immortal soul. + +And he will do that, I believe, just as far as he keeps in mind what +a wonderful and useful thing his body is; what a perpetual token and +witness to him of the unspeakable greatness and wisdom of God; just +in proportion as he says day by day, with the Psalmist, 'Thou hast +fashioned me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such +knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me; I cannot attain +unto it. Whither shall I go, then, from thy Spirit; or whither +shall I go from thy presence? If I climb up into heaven, thou art +there. If I go down to hell, thou art there also. If I take the +wings of the morning, and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea, +even there also shall thy hand lead me, thy right hand shall hold +me.' + +Just in proportion as he recollects that, will he utter from his +heart the prayer which follows, 'Try me, O God, and seek the ground +of my heart; prove me, and examine my thoughts. Look well if there +be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' + + + +SERMON VII. THE VICTORY OF FAITH + + + +(First Sunday after Easter.) + +1 John v. 4, 5. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: +and this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith. +Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that +Jesus is the Son of God? + +What is the meaning of 'overcoming the world?' What is there about +the world which we have to overcome? lest it should overcome us, and +make worse men of us than we ought to be. Let us think awhile. + +1. In the world all seems full of chance and change. One man +rises, and another falls, one hardly knows why: they hardly know +themselves. A very slight accident may turn the future of a man's +whole life, perhaps of a whole nation. Chance and change--there +seems to us, at times, to be little else than chance and change. Is +not the world full of chance? Are not people daily crushed in +railways, burnt to death, shot with their own guns, poisoned by +mistake, without any reason that we can see, why one should be +taken, and another left? Why should not an accident happen to us, +as well as to others? Why should not we have the thing we love best +snatched from us this day? Why not, indeed? What, then, will help +us to overcome the fear of chances and accidents? How shall we keep +from being fearful, fretful, full of melancholy forebodings! Where +shall we find something abiding and eternal, a refuge sure and +steadfast, in which we may trust, amid all the chances and changes +of this mortal life? St. John tells us--In that within you which is +born of God. + +2. In the world so much seems to go by fixed law and rule. That is +even more terrible to our minds and hearts--to find that all around +us, in the pettiest matters of life, there are laws and rules ready +made for us, which we cannot break; laws of trade; laws of +prosperity and adversity; laws of health and sickness; laws of +weather and storms; laws by which not merely we, but whole nations, +grow, and decay, and die.--All around us, laws, iron laws, which we +do not make, and which we dare not try to break, lest they go on +their way, and grind us to powder. + +Then comes the awful question, Are we at the mercy of these laws? +Is the world a great machine, which goes grinding on its own way +without any mercy to us or to anything; and are we each of us parts +of the machine, and forced of necessity to do all we do? Is it +true, that our fate is fixed for us from the cradle to the grave, +and perhaps beyond the grave? How shall we prevent the world from +overcoming us in this? How shall we escape the temptation to sit +down and fold our hands in sloth and despair, crying, What we are, +we must be; and what will come, must come; whether it be for our +happiness or misery, our life or death? Where shall we find +something to trust in, something to give us confidence and hope that +we can mend ourselves, that self-improvement is of use, that working +is of use, that prudence is of use, for God will reward every man +according to his work? St. John tells us--In that within you which +is born of God. + +3. Then, again, in the world how much seems to go by selfishness. +Let every man take care of himself, help himself, fight for himself +against all around him, seems to be the way of the world, and the +only way to get on in the world. But is it really to be so? Are we +to thrive only by thinking of ourselves? Something in our hearts +tells us, No. Something in our hearts tells us that this would be a +very miserable world if every man shifted for himself; and that even +if we got this world's good things by selfishness, they would not be +worth having after all, if we had no one but ourselves to enjoy them +with. What is that? St. John answers--That in you which is born of +God. It will enable you to overcome the world's deceits, and to see +that selfishness is _not_ the way to prosper. + +4. Once, again; in the world how much seems to go by mere custom +and fashion. Because one person does a thing right or wrong, +everybody round fancies himself bound to do likewise. Because one +man thinks a thing, hundreds and thousands begin to think the same +from mere hearsay, without examining and judging for themselves. +There is no silliness, no cruelty, no crime into which people have +not fallen, and may still fall, for mere fashion's sake, from +blindly following the example of those round him. 'Everybody does +so; and I must. Why should I be singular?' Or, 'Everybody does so; +what harm can there be in my doing so?' + +But there is something in each of us which tells us that that is not +right; that each man should act according to his own conscience, and +not blindly follow his neighbour, not knowing whither, like sheep +over a hedge; that a man is directly responsible at first for his +own conduct to God, and that 'my neighbours did so' will be no +excuse in God's sight. What is it which tells us this? St. John +answers, That in you which is born of God; and it, if you will +listen to it, will enable you to overcome the world's deceit, and +its vain fashions, and foolish hearsays, and blind party-cries; and +not to follow after a multitude to do evil. + +What, then, is this thing? St. John tells us that it is born of +God; and that it is our faith. _Faith_ will enable us to overcome +the world. We shall overcome by believing and trusting in something +which we do not see. But in what? Are we to believe and trust that +we are going to heaven? St. John does not say so; he was far too +wise, my friends, to say so: for a man's trusting that he is going +to heaven, if that is all the faith he has, is more likely to make +the world overcome him, than him overcome the world. For it will +make him but too ready to say, 'If I am sure to be saved after I +die, it matters not so very much what I do before I die. I may +follow the way of the world here, in money-making and meanness, and +selfishness; and then die in peace, and go to heaven after all.' + +This is no fancy. There are hundreds, nay thousands, I fear, in +England now, who let the world and its wicked ways utterly overcome +them, just because their faith is a faith in their own salvation, +and not the faith of which St. John speaks--Believing that Jesus is +the Son of God. + +But some may ask, 'How will believing that Jesus is the Son of God +help us more than believing the other? For, after all, we do +believe it. We all believe that Jesus is the Son of God: but as +for overcoming the world, we dare not say too much of that. We fear +we are letting the world overcome us; we are living too much in +continual fear of the chances and changes of this mortal life. We +are letting things go too much their own way. We are trying too +much each to get what he can by his own selfish wits, without +considering his neighbours. We are following too much the ways and +fashions of the day, and doing and saying and thinking anything that +comes uppermost, just because others do so round us.' + +Is it so, my friends? But do you really believe that Jesus is the +Son of God? For sure I am, that if you did, and I did, really and +fully believe that, we could all lead much better lives than we are +leading, manful and godly, useful and honourable, truly independent +and yet truly humble; fearing God and fearing nothing else. But do +you believe it? Have you ever thought of all that those great words +mean, 'Jesus is the Son of God'?--That he who died on the cross, and +rose again for us, now sits at God's right hand, having all power +given to him in heaven and earth? For, think, if we really believed +that, what power it would give us to overcome the world, and all its +chances and changes; all its seemingly iron laws; all its selfish +struggling; all its hearsays and fashions. + +1. Those chances and changes of mortal life of which I spoke first. +We should not be afraid of them, then, even if they came. For we +should believe that they were not chances and changes at all, but +the loving providence of our Lord and Saviour, a man of the +substance of his mother, born in the world, who therefore can be +touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and knows our necessities +before we ask, and our ignorance in asking, and orders all things +for good to those who love him, and desire to copy his likeness. + +2. Those stern laws and rules by which the world moves, and will +move as long as it lasts--we should not be afraid of them either, as +if we were mere parts of a machine forced by fate to do this thing +and that, without a will of our own. For we should believe that +these laws were the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ; that he had +ordained them for the good of man, of man whom he so loved that he +poured out his most precious blood upon the cross for us; and +therefore we should not fear them; we should only wish to learn +them, that we might obey them, sure that they are the laws of life; +of health and wealth, peace and safety, honour and glory in this +world and in the world to come; and we should thank God whenever men +of science, philosophers, clergymen, or any persons whatsoever, +found out more of the laws of that good God, in whom we and all +created things live and move and have our being. + +3. If we believe really that Jesus was the Son of God, we should +never believe that selfishness was to be the rule of our lives. One +sight of Christ upon his cross would tell us that not selfishness, +but love, was the likeness of God, that not selfishness, but love, +which gives up all that it may do good, was the path to honour and +glory, happiness and peace. + +4. If we really believe this, we should never believe that custom +and fashion ought to rule us. For we should live by the example of +some one else: but by the example of only one--of Jesus himself. +We should set him before us as the rule of all our actions, and try +to keep our conscience pure, not merely in the sight of men who may +mistake, and do mistake, but in the sight of Jesus, the Word of God, +who pierces the very thoughts and intents of the heart; and we +should say daily with St. Paul, 'It is a small thing for me to be +judged by you, or any man's judgment, for he that judges me is the +Lord.' + +And so we should overcome the world. Our hearts and spirits would +rise above the false shows of things, to God who has made all +things; above fear and melancholy; above laziness and despair; above +selfishness and covetousness, above custom and fashion; up to the +everlasting truth and order, which is the mind of God; that so we +might live joyfully and freely in the faith and trust that Christ is +our king, Christ is our Saviour, Christ is our example, Christ is +our judge; and that as long as we are loyal to him, all will be well +with us in this world, and in all worlds to come.--Amen. + + + +SERMON VIII. TURNING-POINTS + + + +Luke xix. 41, 42. And when Jesus was come near, he beheld the city, +and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least +in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now +they are hid from thine eyes. + +My dear friends, here is a solemn lesson to be learnt from this +text. What is true of whole nations, and of whole churches, is very +often true of single persons--of each of us. + +To most men--to all baptized Christian men, perhaps--there comes a +day of visitation, a crisis, or turning-point in our lives. A day +when Christ sets before us, as he did to those Jews, good and evil, +light and darkness, right and wrong, and says, Choose! Choose at +once, and choose for ever; for by what you choose this day, by that +you must abide till death. If you make a mistake now, you will rue +it to the last. If you take the downward road now, you will fall +lower and lower upon it henceforth. If you shut your eyes now to +the things which belong to your peace, they will be hid from your +eyes for ever; and nothing but darkness, ignorance, and confusion +will be before you henceforth. + +What will become of the man's soul after he dies, I cannot say. +Christ is his judge, and not I. He may be saved, yet so as by fire, +as St. Paul says. Repentance is open to all men, and forgiveness +for those who repent. But from that day, if he chooses wrongly, +true repentance will grow harder and harder to him--perhaps +impossible at last. He has made his bed, and he must lie on it. He +has chosen the evil, and refused the good; and now the evil must go +on getting more and more power over him. He has sold his soul, and +now he must pay the price. Again, I say, he may be saved at last. +Who am I, to say that God's mercy is not boundless, when the Bible +says it is? But one may well say of that man, 'God help him,' for +he will not be able to help himself henceforth. + +It is an awful thing, my friends, to think that we may fix our own +fate in this world, perhaps in the world to come, by one act of +wilful folly or sin: but so it is. Just as a man may do one tricky +thing about money, which will force him to do another to hide it, +and another after that, till he becomes a confirmed rogue in spite +of himself. Just as a man may run into debt once, so that he never +gets out of debt again; just as a man may take to drink once, and +the bad habit grow on him till he is a confirmed drunkard to his +dying day. Just as a man may mix in bad company once, and so become +entangled as in a net, till he cannot escape his evil companions, +and lowers himself to their level day by day, till he becomes as bad +as they. Just as a man may be unfaithful to his wife once, and so +blunt his conscience till he becomes a thorough profligate, breaking +her heart, and ruining his own soul. Just as--but why should I go +on, mentioning ugly examples, which we all know too well, if we will +open our own eyes and see the world and mankind as they are? I will +say no more, lest I should set you on judging other people, and +saying 'There is no hope for them. They are lost.' No; let us +rather judge ourselves, as any man can, and will, who dares face +fact, and look steadily at what he is, and what he might become. Do +we not know that we could, any one of us, sell our own souls, once +and for all, if we choose? I know that I could. I know that there +are things which I might do, which if I did from that moment forth, +I should have no hope, but only a fearful looking forward to +judgment and fiery indignation. And have you never felt, when you +were tempted to do wrong: 'I dare not do it for my own sake; for if +I did this one wickedness, I feel sure that I never should be an +honest man again?' If you have felt that, thank God, indeed; for +then you have seen the things which belong to your peace; you have +known the day of your visitation; and you will be a better man as +long as you live, for having fought against that one temptation, and +chosen the good, and refused the evil, when God put them +unmistakeably before you. + +No; the real danger is, lest a man should be as those Jews, and not +know the day of his visitation. Ah, that is ruinous indeed, when a +man's eyes are blinded as those Jews' eyes were; when a great +temptation comes on him, and he thinks it no temptation at all; when +hell is opening beneath him, with the devils trying to pluck him +down, and heaven opening above him, with God's saints and martyrs +beckoning him up, looking with eyes of unutterable pity and anxiety +and love on a poor soul; and that poor soul sees neither heaven nor +hell, nor anything but his own selfish interest, selfish pleasure, +or selfish pride, and snaps at the devil's bait as easily as a silly +fish; while the devil, instead of striking to frighten him, lets him +play with the bait, and gorge it in peace, fancying that he is well +off, when really he is fast hooked for ever, led captive thenceforth +from bad to worse by the snare of the devil. Oh miserable +blindness, which comes over men sometimes, and keeps them asleep at +the very moment that they ought to be most wide awake! + +And what throws men into that sleep? What makes them do in one +minute something which curses all their lives afterwards? Love of +pleasure? Yes: that is a common curse enough, as we all know. But +a worse snare than even that is pride and self-conceit. That was +what ruined those old Jews. That was what blinded their eyes. They +had made up their minds that they saw; therefore they were blind: +that they could not go wrong; therefore they went utterly and +horribly wrong thenceforth: that they alone of all people knew and +kept God's law; therefore they crucified the Son of God himself for +fulfilling their law. They were taken unawares, because they were +asleep in vain security. + +And so with us. By conceit and carelessness, we may ruin ourselves +in a moment, once and for all. When a man has made up his mind that +he is quite worldly-wise; that no one can take him in; that he +thoroughly understands his own interest; then is that man ripe and +ready to commit some enormous folly, which may bring him to ruin. + +When a man has made up his mind that he knows all doctrines, and is +fully instructed in religion, and can afford to look down on all who +differ from him; then is that man ripe and ready for doing something +plainly wrong and wicked, which will blunt his conscience from that +day forth, and teach him to call evil good, and good evil more and +more; till, in the midst of all his fine religious professions, he +knows not plain right from plain wrong--full of the form of +godliness, but denying the power of it in scandal of his every-day +life. + +Yes, my friends, our only safeguard is humility. Be not high- +minded, but fear. Avoid every appearance of evil. Believe that in +every temptation heaven and hell may be at stake: and that the only +way to be safe is to do nothing wilfully wrong at all, for you never +know how far downward one wilful sin may lead you. The devil is not +simple enough to let you see the bottom of his pitfall: but it is +so deep, nevertheless, that he who falls in, may never get out +again. + +And do not say in your hearts about this thing and that, 'Well, it +is wrong: but it is such a little matter.' A little draught may +give a great cold; and a great cold grow to a deadly decline. A +little sin may grow to a great bad habit; and a great bad habit may +kill both body and soul in hell. A little bait may take a great +fish; and the devil fishes with a very fine line, and is not going +to let you see his hook. The only way to be safe is to avoid all +appearance of evil, lest when you fancy yourself most completely +your own master, you find yourself the slave of sin. + +Oh, may God give us all the spirit of watchfulness and godly fear! +Of watchfulness, lest sin overtake us unawares; and of godly fear, +that we may have strength to say with Joseph, 'How can I do this +great wickedness, and sin against God?' Of watchfulness, too, not +only against sin, but for God; of godly fear, not only fear of God's +anger, but fear of God's love. + +Do you ask what I mean? This, my friends; that as we cannot tell at +any moment what danger may be coming on us, so we cannot tell at any +moment what blessing from God may be coming on us. Those Jews, in +the day of their visitation, were blind, and they rejected Christ: +but recollect, that it was _Christ_ whom they rejected; that Christ +was there, not in anger, but in love; not to judge, but to save; +that the power of the Lord was present, not to destroy, but to heal +them. They would have none of him. True; but they might have had +him if they had chosen. They denied him; but he could not deny +himself. He was there to teach and to save, as he comes to teach +and to save every man. + +Therefore, I say, be watchful. Believe that Christ is looking for +you always, and expect to meet him at any moment. I do not mean in +visible form, in vision or apparition. No. He comes, not by +observation, that a man may say, 'Lo, here; and lo, there;' but he +comes within you, to your hearts, with the still, small voice, which +softens a man and sobers him for a moment, and makes him yearn after +good, and say in his heart, 'Ah, that I were as when I was a child +upon my mother's knee.' Oh! listen to that softening, sobering +voice. Through very small things it may speak to you: but it is +Christ himself who speaks. Whenever your heart is softened to +affection toward parent, or child, or your fellowman, then Christ is +speaking to you, and showing you the things which belong to your +peace. Whenever the feeling of justice, and righteous horror of all +meanness rises strong in you, then Christ is speaking to you. +Whenever your heart burns within you with admiration of some noble +action, then Christ is speaking to you. Whenever a chance word in +sermons or in books touches your conscience, and reproves you, then +Christ is speaking to you. Oh turn not a deaf ear to those +instincts. They may be the very turning-points of your lives. One +such godly motion, one such pure inspiration of the Spirit of God +listened to humbly, and obeyed heartily, may be the means of putting +you into the right path thenceforward, that you may go on and grow +in strength and wisdom, and favour with God and man; till you become +again, in the world to come, what you were when you were carried +home from the baptismal font, a little child, pure from all spot of +sin. + + + +SERMON IX. OBADIAH + + + +1 Kings, xviii. 3, 4. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the +governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: for +it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that +Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, +and fed them with bread and water.) + +This is the first and last time throughout the Bible, that we find +this Obadiah mentioned. We find the same name elsewhere, but not +the same person. It is a common Jewish name, Obadiah, and means, I +believe, the servant of the Lord. + +All we know of the man is contained in this chapter. We do not read +what became of him afterwards. He vanishes out of the story as +quickly as he came into it, and, as we go on through the chapter and +read of that grand judgment at Carmel between Elijah and the priests +of Baal, and the fire of God which came down from heaven, to shew +that the Lord was God, we forget Obadiah, and care to hear of him no +more. + +And yet Obadiah was a great man in his day. He was, it seems, King +Ahab's vizier, or prime minister; the second man in the country +after the king; and a prime minister in those eastern kingdoms had, +and has now, far greater power than he has in a free country like +this. Yes, Obadiah was a great man in his day, I doubt not; and +people bowed before him when he went out, and looked up to him, in +that lawless country, for life or death, for ruin or prosperity. +Their money, and their land, their very lives might depend on his +taking a liking toward them, or a spite against them. And he had +wealth, no doubt, and his fair and great house there among the +beautiful hills of Samaria, ceiled with cedar and painted with +vermilion, with its olive groves and vineyards, and rich gardens +full of gay flowers and sweet spices, figs and peaches, and +pomegranates, and all the lovely vegetation which makes those +Eastern gardens like Paradise itself. And he had his great +household of slaves, men-servants and maidservants, guards and +footmen, singing men and singing women--perhaps a hundred souls and +more eating and drinking in his house day by day for many a year. A +great man; full of wealth, and pomp, and power. We know that it +must have been so, because we know well in what luxury those great +men in the East lived. But where is it now? + +Where is it now? Vanished and forgotten. Be not thou afraid, +though one be made rich, or if the glory of his house be increased. +For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth; neither +shall his pomp follow him. + +See--of all Obadiah's wealth and glory, the Bible does not say one +word. It is actually not worth mentioning. People admired Obadiah, +I doubt not, while he was alive; envied him too, tried to thrust him +out of his place, slander him to King Ahab, drive him out of favour, +and step into his place, that they might enjoy his wealth and his +power instead of him. The fine outside of Obadiah was what they +saw, and coveted, and envied--as we are tempted now to say in our +hearts, 'Ah, if I was rich like that man. Ah, if I could buy what I +liked, go where I liked, do what I liked, like that great Lord!'-- +and yet, that is but the outside, the shell, the gay clothing, not +the persons themselves. The day must come, when they must put off +all that; when nothing shall remain but themselves; and they +themselves, naked as they were born, shall appear before the +judgment-seat of God. + +And did Obadiah, then, carry away nothing with him when he died? +Yes; and yet again, No. His wealth and his power he left behind +him: but one thing he took with him into the grave, better than all +wealth and power; and he keeps it now, and will keep it for ever; +and that is, a good, and just, and merciful action--concerning which +it is written, 'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord; for they +rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.' Yes, +though a man's wealth will not follow him beyond the grave, his +works will; and so Obadiah's one good deed has followed him. 'He +feared the Lord greatly, and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of +the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in +a cave, and fed them with bread and water.' + +That has followed Obadiah; for by it we know him, now two thousand +years and more after his death, here in a distant land of the name +of which he never heard. By that good deed he lives. He lives in +the pages of the Holy Bible; he lives in our minds and memories; and +more than all, by that good deed he lives for ever in God's sight; +he is rewarded for it, and the happier for it, doubt it not, at this +very moment, and will be the happier for it for ever. + +Oh blessed thought! that there is something of which death cannot +rob us! That when we have to leave this pleasant world, wife and +child, home and business, and all that has grown up round us here on +earth, till it has become like a part of ourselves, yet still we are +not destitute. We can turn round on death and say--'Though I die, +yet canst thou not take my righteousness from me!' Blessed thought! +that we cannot do a good deed, not even give a cup of cold water in +Christ's name, but what it shall rise again, like a guardian angel, +to smooth our death-bed pillow, and make our bed for us in our +sickness, and follow us into the next world, to bless us for ever +and ever! + +And blessed thought, too, that what you do well and lovingly, for +God's sake, will bless you here in this world before you die! Yes, +my friends, in the dark day of sorrow and loneliness, and fear and +perplexity, you will find old good deeds, which you perhaps have +forgotten, coming to look after you, as it were, and help you in the +hour of need. Those whom you have helped, will help you in return: +and if they will not, God will; for he is not unrighteous, to forget +any work and labour of love, which you have showed for his name's +sake, in ministering to his saints. So found Obadiah in that sad +day, when he met Elijah. + +For he was in evil case that day, as were all souls, rich and poor, +throughout that hapless land. For three weary years, there had been +no drop of rain: the earth beneath their feet had been like iron, +and the heavens above them brass; and Obadiah had found poverty, +want, and misery, come on him in the midst of all his riches: he +had seen his fair gardens wither, and his olives and his vines burnt +up with drought;--his cattle had perished on the hills, and his +servants, too, perhaps, in his house. Perhaps his children at home +were even then crying for food and water, and crying in vain, in +spite of all their father's greatness. + +What was the use of wealth? He could not eat gold, nor drink +jewels. What was the use of his power? He could not command the +smallest cloud to rise up off the sea, and pour down one drop of +water to quench their thirst. Yes, Obadiah was in bitter misery +that day, no doubt; and all the more, because he felt that all was +God's judgment on the people's sins. They had served Baalim and +Ashtaroth, the sun and moon and stars, and prayed to them for rain +and fruitful seasons, as if they were the rulers of the weather and +the soil, instead of serving the true God who made heaven and earth, +and all therein: and now God had _judged_ them: he had given his +sentence and verdict about that matter, and told them, by a sign +which could not be mistaken, that he, and not the sun and moon, was +master of the sky and the sea, and the rain and the soil. They had +prayed to the sun and moon; and this was the fruit of their prayers-- +that their prayers had not been heard: but instead of rain and +plenty, was drought and barrenness;--carcasses of cattle scattered +over the pastures--every village full of living skeletons, too weak +to work (though what use in working, when the ground would yield no +crop?)--crawling about, their tongues cleaving to the roof of their +mouths, in vain searching after a drop of water. Fearful and +sickening sights must Obadiah have seen that day, as he rode wearily +on upon his pitiful errand. And the thought of what a pitiful +errand he was going on, and what a pitiful king he served, must have +made him all the more miserable; for, instead of turning and +repenting, and going back to the true God, which was the plain and +the only way of escaping out of that misery, that wretched King Ahab +seems to have cared for nothing but his horses. + +We do not read that he tried to save one of his wretched people +alive. All his cry was, 'Go into the land, to all fountains of +water and all brooks; perhaps we shall find grass enough to save the +horses and mules alive: that we lose not all the beasts.' The +horses were what he cared for more than the human beings, as many of +those bad kings of Israel did. Moses had expressly commanded them +not to multiply horses to themselves; but they persisted always in +doing so, nevertheless. And why? Because they wanted horses to +mount their guards; to keep up a strong force of cavalry and +chariots, in order to oppress the poor country people, whom they had +brought down to slavery, from having been free yeomen, as they were +in the days of Moses and Joshua. And what hope could he have for +his wretched country? The people shewed no signs of coming to their +senses; the king still less. His wicked Queen Jezebel was as +devoted as ever to her idols; the false prophets of Baal were four +hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the groves (where the +stars were worshipped) four hundred; and these cheats contrived (as +such false teachers generally do) to take good care of themselves, +and to eat at Jezebel's table, while all the rest of the people were +perishing. What could be before the country, and him, too, but +utter starvation, and hopeless ruin? And all this while his life +was in the hands of a weak and capricious tyrant, who might murder +him any moment, and of a wicked and spiteful queen, who certainly +would murder him, if she found out that he had helped and saved the +prophets of the Lord. Who so miserable as he? But on that day, +Obadiah found that his alms and prayers had gone up before God, and +were safe with God, and not to be forgotten for ever. When he fell +on his face before Elijah, in fear for his life, he found that he +was safe in God's hands; that God would not betray him or forsake +him. Elijah promised him, with a solemn oath, that he would keep +his word with him; he kept it, and before many days were past, +Obadiah had an answer to all his prayers, and a relief from all his +fears; and the Lord sent a gracious rain on his inheritance, and +refreshed it when it was weary. Yes, my friends, though well-doing +seems for a while not to profit you, persevere: in due time you +shall reap, if you faint not. Though the Lord sometimes waits to be +gracious, he only waits, he does not forget; and it is to be +_gracious_ that he waits, not ungracious. Cast, therefore, thy +bread upon the waters, and thou shall find it after many days. Give +a portion to seven, and also to eight, for thou knowest not what +evil shall be upon the earth. Do thy diligence to give of what thou +hast; for so gatherest thou thyself in the day of necessity, in +which, with what measure you have measured to others, God will +measure to you again. + +This is true, for the Scripture says so; this _must_ be true, for +reason and conscience--the voice of God within us--tell us that God +is just; that God must be true, though every man be a liar. 'Hear,' +says our Lord, 'what the _unjust_ judge says: And shall not God +(the just judge), avenge his own elect, who cry day and night to +him, though he bear long with them?' Yes, my friends, God's promise +stands sure, now and for ever. 'Trust in the Lord, and do good; so +shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.' + +But now comes in a doubt--and it ought to come in--What are our +works at best? What have we which is fit to offer to God? Full of +selfishness, vanity, self-conceit, the best of them; and not half +done either. What have we ever done right, but what we might have +done more rightly, and done more of it, also? Bad in quality our +good works are, and bad in quantity, too. How shall we have courage +to carry them in our hand to that God who charges his very angels +with folly; and the very heavens are not clean in his sight? + +Too true, if we had to offer our own works to God. But, thanks be +to his holy name, we have not to offer them ourselves; for there is +one who offers them for us--Jesus Christ the Lord. He it is who +takes these imperfect, clumsy works of ours, all soiled and stained +with our sin and selfishness, and washes them clean in his most +precious blood, which was shed to take away the sin of the world: +he it is who, in some wonderful and unspeakable way, cleanses our +works from sin, by the merit of his death and sufferings, so that +nothing may be left in them but what is the fruit of God's own +spirit; and that God may see in them only the good which he himself +put into them, and not the stains and soils which they get from our +foolish and sinful hearts. + +Oh, my friends, bear this in mind. Whensoever you do a thing which +you know to be right and good, instead of priding yourself on it, as +if the good in it came from you, offer it up to the Lord Jesus +Christ, and to your Heavenly Father, from whom all good things come, +and say, 'Oh Lord, the good in this is thine, and not mine; the bad +in it is mine, and not thine. I thank thee for having made me do +right, for without thy help I should have done nothing but wrong; +for mine is the laziness, and the weakness, and the selfishness, and +the self-conceit; and thine is the kingdom, for thou rulest all +things; and the power, for thou doest all things; and the glory, for +thou doest all things well, for ever and ever. Amen.' + + + +SERMON X. RELIGIOUS DANGERS + + + +(Preached at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1861, for the London +Diocesan Board of Education.) + +St. Mark viii. 4, 5, 8. And the disciples answered him, From whence +can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? . . . +How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. . . . so they did +eat and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was +left seven baskets. + +I think that I can take no better text for the subject on which I am +about to preach, than that which the Gospel for this day gives me. + +For is not such a great city as this London, at least in its present +amorphous, unorganised state, having grown up, and growing still, +any how and any whither, by the accidental necessities of private +commerce, private speculation, private luxury--is it not, I say, +literally a wilderness? + +I do not mean a wilderness in the sense of a place of want and +misery; on the contrary, it is a place of plenty and of comfort. I +think that we clergymen, and those good people who help our labours, +are too apt exclusively to forget London labour, in our first and +necessary attention to the London poor; to fix our eyes and minds on +London want and misery, till we almost ignore the fact of London +wealth and comfort. We must remember, if we are to be just to God, +and just to our great nation, that there is not only more wealth in +London, but that that wealth is more equitably and generally +diffused through all classes, from the highest to the lowest, than +ever has been the case in any city in the world. We must remember +that there is collected together here a greater number of free human +beings than were ever settled on the same space of earth, earning an +honest, independent, and sufficient livelihood, and enjoying the +fruits of their labour in health and cheapness, freedom and +security, such as the world never saw before. There is want and +misery. I know it too well. There are great confusions to be +organised, great anomalies to be suppressed. But remember, that if +want and misery, confusion and anomaly were _the rule_ of London, +and not (as they are) the exception, then London, instead of +increasing at its present extraordinary pace, would decay; London +work, instead of being better and better done, would be worse and +worse done, till it stopped short in some such fearful convulsion as +that of Paris in 1793. No, my friends; compare London with any city +on the Continent; compare her with the old Greek and Roman cities; +with Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, with that Imperial Rome +itself, which was like London in nothing but its size, and then +thank God for England, for freedom, and for the Church of Christ. + +And yet I have called London a wilderness. I have. There is a +wilderness of want; but there is a wilderness of wealth likewise. +And the latter is far more dangerous to human nature than the former +one. It is not in the waste and howling wilderness of rock, and +sand and shingle, with its scanty acacia copses, and groups of date +trees round the lonely well, that nature shews herself too strong +for man, and crushes him down to the likeness of the ape. There the +wild Arab, struggling to exist, and yet not finding the struggle +altogether too hard for him, can gain and keep, if not spiritual +life, virtue and godliness, yet still something of manhood; +something of-- + + +The reason firm, the temperate will, +Endurance, foresight, thought, and skill. + + +No; if you would see how low man can fall, you must go to the tropic +jungle, where geniality of climate, plenty and variety of food, are +in themselves a cause of degradation to the soul, as long as the +Spirit of Christ is absent from it. Not in the barren desert, but +in the rich forest, wanders the true savage, eating and eating all +day long, like the ape in the trees above his head; and (I had +almost said), like the ape, too, with no thoughts save what his +pampered senses can suggest. I had almost said it. Thank God, I +dare not say it altogether; for, after all, the savage is a man, and +not an ape. Yes, to the lowest savage in the forests of the Amazon, +comes a hunger of the soul, and whispers from the unseen world, to +remind him of what he might have been, and still may be. In the +dreams of the night they come; in vague terrors of the unseen, vague +feelings of guilt and shame, vague dread of the powers of nature; +driving him to unmeaning ceremonies, to superstitious panics, to +horrible and bloody rites--as they might drive, to-morrow, my +friends, an outwardly civilized population, debauched by mere peace +and plenty, entangled and imprisoned in the wilderness of a great +city. + +I can imagine--imagine?--Have we not seen again and again human +souls so entangled and opprest by this vast labyrinth of brick and +mortar, as never to care to stir outside it and expand their souls +with the sight of God's works as long as their brute wants are +supplied, just as the savage never cares to leave his accustomed +forest haunt, and hew himself a path into the open air through the +tangled underwood. I can imagine--nay, have we not seen that, too?-- +and can we not see it any day in the street?--human souls so +dazzled and stupefied, instead of being quickened, by the numberless +objects of skill and beauty, which they see in their walks through +the streets, that they care no more for the wonders of man's making, +than the savage does for the wonders of God's making, which he sees +around him in every insect, bird, and flower. The man who walks the +streets every day, is the very man who will see least in the +streets. The man who works in a factory, repeating a thousand times +a day some one dull mechanical operation, or even casting up day +after day the accounts of it, is the man who will think least of the +real wonderfulness of that factory; of the amount of prudence, +skill, and science, which it expresses; of its real value to himself +and to his class; of its usefulness to far nations beyond the seas. +He is like a savage who looks up at some glorious tree, capable, in +the hands of civilized man, of a hundred uses, and teeming to him +with a hundred scientific facts; and thinks all the while of nothing +but his chance of finding a few grubs beneath its bark. + +Think over, I beseech you, this fact of the stupefying effect of +mere material civilization; and remember that plenty and comfort do +not diminish but increase that stupefaction; that Hebrew prophets +knew it, and have told us, again and again, that, by fulness of +bread the heart waxeth gross; that Greek sages knew it, and have +told us, again and again, that need, and not satiety, was the +quickener of the human intellect. Believe that man requires another +bread than the bread of the body; that sometimes the want of the +bodily bread will awaken the hunger for that bread of the soul. +Bear in mind that the period during which the middle and lower +classes of England were most brutalized, was that of their greatest +material prosperity, the latter half of the eighteenth century. +Remember that with the distress which came upon them, at the end of +the French war, their spiritual hunger awakened--often in forms +diseased enough: but growing healthier, as well as keener, year by +year; and that if they are not brutalized once more by their present +unexampled prosperity, it will be mainly owing to the spiritual life +which was awakened in those sad and terrible years. Remember that +the present carelessness of the masses about either religious or +political agitation, though it may be a very comfortable sign to +those who believe that a man's life consists in the abundance of the +things which he possesses, is a very ominous sign to some who study +history, and to some also who study their Bibles: and ask +yourselves earnestly the question, 'From where shall a man find food +for these men in this wilderness, not of want, but of wealth?' For, +believe me, that spiritual hunger, though stopped awhile by physical +comfort, will surely reawaken. Any severe and sudden depression in +trade--the stoppage of the cotton crop, for instance, will awaken in +the minds of hundreds of thousands deep questions--for which we, if +we are wise, shall have an explicit answer ready. + +For it is a very serious moment, my friends, when large masses have +had enough to eat and drink, and have been saying, 'Let us eat and +drink, for to-morrow we die;' and then, suddenly, by _not_ having +enough to eat and drink, and yet finding themselves still alive, are +awakened to the sense that there is more in them than the mere +capacity for eating and drinking. Then begin once more the world- +old questions, Why are we thus? Who put us here? Who made us? +God? Is there a God? and if there be, what is he like? What is his +will toward us, good or evil? Is it hate or love? + +My friends, those are questions which have been asked often enough +in the world's history, by vast masses at once. And they may be +answered in more ways than one. + +They may be answered as the weavers of a certain country (thank God, +not England) answered them in the potato famine with their mad song, +'We looked to the earth, and the earth deceived us. We looked to +the kings, and the kings deceived us. We looked to God, and God +deceived us. Let us lie down and die.' + +Or they may answer them--they will be more likely to answer them in +England just now, because there are those who will teach them so to +answer--in another, but a scarcely less terrible tone. 'Yes, there +is a God; and he is angry with us. And why? Because there is +something, or some one, in the nation which he abhors--heretics, +papists'--what not--any man, or class of men, on whom cowardly and +terrified ignorance may happen to fix as a scapegoat, and cry, +'These are the guilty! We have allowed these men, indulged them; +the accursed thing is among us, therefore the face of the Lord is +turned from us. We will serve him truly henceforth--and hate those +whom he hates. We will be orthodox henceforth--and prove our +orthodoxy by persecuting the heretic.' + +Does this seem to you extravagant, impossible? Remember, my +friends, that within the last century Lord George Gordon's riots +convulsed London. Can you give me any reason why Lord George +Gordon's riots cannot occur again? Believe me, the more you study +history, the more you study human nature, the more possible it will +seem to you. It is not, I believe, infidelity, but fanaticism, +which England has to fear just now. The infidelity of England is +one of mere doubt and denial, a scepticism; which is in itself weak +and self-destructive. The infidelity of France in 1793 was strong +enough, but just because it was no scepticism, but a faith; a +positive creed concerning human reason, and the rights of man, which +men could formulize, and believe in, and fight for, and persecute +for, and, if need was, die for. But no such exists in England now. +And what we have most to fear in England under the pressure of some +sudden distress, is a superstitious panic, and the wickedness which +is certain to accompany that panic; mean and unjust, cruel and +abominable things, done in the name of orthodoxy: though meanwhile, +whether what the masses and their spiritual demagogues will mean by +orthodoxy, will be the same that we and the Church of England mean +thereby, is a question which I leave for your most solemn +consideration. That, however, rather than any proclamation of the +abstract rights of man, or installations of a goddess of Reason, is +the form which spiritual hunger is most likely to take in England +now. Alas! are there not tokens enough around us now, whereby we +may discern the signs of this time? + +I say, the spiritual hunger will reawaken; and woe to us who really +understand and love the Church of England; woe to us who are really +true to her principles, honestly subscribe her formulas, if we +cannot appease it in that day. + +But wherewith? We may look, my friends, appalled at the danger and +the need. We may cry to our Lord, 'From whence can a man satisfy +these men with bread in the wilderness?' But his answer will be, as +far as I dare to predict it, the same as to his apostles of old on +another and a similar occasion, 'Give ye them to eat. They need not +depart.' + +I am not going to draw any far-fetched analogy between the miracle +recorded in the gospel, and the subject on which I am speaking. I +am not going to put any mystical and mediaeval interpretation on the +seven loaves, or the two small fishes. I only ask you to accept the +plain moral practical lesson which the words convey.-- + +Use the means which you have already, however few and weak they +seem. If Christ be among you, as he is indeed, he will bless them, +and multiply them you know not how. + +Use the means which you have; though they may seem to you +inadequate, though they may seem to the world antiquated, and +decrepit, try them. They need not depart from us, these masses, to +seek spiritual food, they know not where, if we have but faith. Let +us give them what we have; the organization of the Church of +England, and the teaching of the Church of England. + +The organization of the Church. Not merely its Parochial system, +but its Diocesan system. In London, more than in any part of +England, the Diocesan system is valuable. A London parish is not +like a country one, a self-dependent, corporate body, made up of +residents of every rank, capable of providing for the physical and +spiritual wants of its own stationary population. In London, +population fluctuates rapidly, sometimes rolling away from one +quarter, always developing itself in fresh quarters; in London all +ranks do not dwell side by side within sight and sound of each +other: but the rich and the poor, the employed and the unemployed, +dwell apart, work apart, and are but too often out of sight, out of +mind. These, and many other reasons, make it impossible for the +mere parochial system to bring out the zeal and the liberality of +London Churchmen. If they are to realize their unity and their +strength, they must do so not as members of a Parish, but of a +Diocese; their Bishop must be to them the sign that they are one +body; their good works must be organized more and more under him, +and round him. This is no new theory of mine; it is a historic law. +The Priest for the village, the Bishop for the city, has been the +natural and necessary organization of the Church in every age; and +it was in strict accordance with this historic law, that the London +Diocesan Board of Education was founded in 1846, not to override the +parochial system, but to do for it what it cannot, in a great city, +do for itself; to establish elementary schools (and now I am happy +to say, evening schools also) in parishes which were too poor to +furnish them for themselves. I, as the son of a London Rector, can +bear my testimony to the excellent working of that Board; and it is +with grief I hear that, in spite of the vast work which it has done +since 1846, and which it is still doing, on an income which is now +not 300 pounds a year--proving thereby how cheaply and easily your +work may be done when it is done in the right way--it is with grief, +I say, that I hear that it is more and more neglected by the +religious public. + +With grief: but not with surprise. For the religious public, even +the Church portion of it, has of late been more and more inclined to +undervalue the organization and the teaching of the Church of +England, and to supply its place with nostrums, borrowed from those +denominations who disagree with the Church, alike in their doctrines +of what man should be, and of what God is. How have their energies, +their zeal, their money (for zealous they are, and generous too) +been frittered away! But I will not particularize, lest I hurt the +feelings of better people than myself, by holding up their good +works to the ridicule of those who do us no good works at all. But +I entreat them to look at their own work; to look at the vastness of +its expense, compared with the smallness of its results; and then to +ask themselves, whether the one cause of their failure--for failures +I must call too many of the religious movements of this day, in +spite of their own loud self-laudations--whether, I say, one cause +of these failures may not be, that the religious world is throwing +itself into anything and everything novel and exciting, rather than +into the simple and unobtrusive work of teaching little children +their Catechism, that they may go home as angels of God and +missionaries of Christ, teaching their parents in turn as they have +been taught themselves, and so awakening that sacred family life, +without which there can be no sound Christianity. I know well that +there has been much work done in the right direction; but when I +look at the ugly fact, that the population of London is increasing +far faster than its schools; that in 25 of the poorest parishes +thereof there are now nearly 60,000 children who go to no school at +all; and that the proportion of scholars to the population is lower +in Middlesex than in almost any county in England, while the +proportion of crime is highest; I cannot but sigh over the thousands +which I see squandered yearly on rash novelties by really pious and +generous souls, and cry, Ah, that one-fourth, one-tenth of it all +had been spent in the plain work of helping elementary schools; I +cannot but call on all London churchmen of the plain old school, to +stand by the organization and the doctrines of the Church to which +they belong; to rally in this matter round their bishop; and work +for him, and with him. + +And now, there may be some here who will ask, scornfully enough, And +do you talk of nostrums? and then, after confessing that the masses +are hungering for the bread of life, offer them nothing but your own +nostrum, the Catechism? + +Yes, my friends, I do. I know that the Church Catechism is not the +bread of life. Neither, I beg you to remember, is any other +Catechism, or doctrine, or tract, or sermon, or book or anything +else whatsoever. Christ is the Bread of Life. But how shall they +know Christ, unless they be taught what Christ is; and how can they +be taught what Christ is, unless the conception of him which is +offered them be true? + +And, I say, that the Catechism does give a true conception of +Christ; and more, a far truer one--I had almost said, an infinitely +truer--than any which I have yet seen in these realms: that from +the Catechism a child may learn who God is, who Christ is, who he +himself is, what are his relation and duty to God, what are his +relation and duty to his neighbours, to his country, and to the +whole human race, far better than from any document of the kind of +which I am aware. + +I know well the substitutes for the Catechism which are becoming +more and more fashionable; the limitations, the explainings away, +the non-natural and dishonest interpretations, which are more and +more applied to it when it is used; and I warn you, that those +substitutes for, and those defacements of, the Catechism, will be no +barrier against an outburst of fanaticism, did one arise; nay, that +many of them would directly excite it; and prove, when too late, +that instead of feeding the masses with the bread of life, which +should preserve them, soul and body, some persons had been feeding +them with poison, which had maddened them, soul and body. But I see +no such danger in the Catechism. I see in the Catechism; in its +freedom alike from sentimental horror and sentimental raptures; its +freedom alike from slavish terror, and from Pharisaic assurance; a +guarantee that those who learn it will learn something of that sound +religion, sober, trusty, cheerful, manful, which may be seen still, +thank God, in country Church folk of the good old school; and which +will, in the day of trial, be proof against the phantoms of a +diseased conscience, and the ravings of spiritual demagogues. + +And therefore I preach gladly for this institution; therefore I urge +strongly its claims on you, whom I am bound to suppose honest +Churchmen, because the fact of its being a Diocesan Board of +Education is, at least in this diocese, a guarantee that the schools +which it supports will teach their children, honestly and literally, +the Catechism of the Church of England, which may God preserve! + +Not that I expect it to teach only that. I take for granted, that +that will be its primary object, the guarantee that all the rest is +well done: but I know that much more than that must be done; that +much more will be done, even unintentionally. + +For, shall I--I trust that I shall not--make a too fanciful +application of the last fact recorded of this great miracle, if I +bid you find in it a fresh source of hope in your work? + +'And they took up of the fragments which were left seven baskets +full.' + +The plain historic fact is, that not only do the seven loaves feed +4,000, but that what they leave, and are about to throw away, far +exceeds the original supply. + +I believe the fact: I ask you to consider why it was recorded? +Surely, like all facts in the gospels, to teach us more of the +character of Christ, which (a fact too often forgotten in these +days) is the character of God. To teach us that he is an utterly +bountiful God. That as in him there is no weakness, nor difficulty, +so in him is no grudging, no parsimony. That he is not only able, +but willing, to give exceeding abundantly, beyond all that we can +ask or think. That there is a magnificence in God and in God's +workings, which ought to fill us with boundless hope, if we are but +fellow-workers with God. + +You see that magnificence in the seeming prodigality of nature; in +the prodigality which creates a thousand beautiful species of +butterfly, where a single plain one would have sufficed; in the +prodigality which creates a thousand acorns, only one of which is +destined to grow into an oak. Everywhere in the kingdom of nature +it shows itself; believe that it exists as richly in the higher +kingdom of grace. Yes. Believe, that whenever you begin to work +according to God's law and God's will, let your means seem as +inadequate as they may, not only will your work multiply, as by +miracle, under your hands; but the very fragments of it, which you +are inclined to neglect and overlook, will form in time a heap of +unexpected treasure. Plans which you have thrown aside, because +they seemed to fail, details which seemed to encumber you, accessory +work which formed no part of your original plan, all will be of use +to some one, somehow, somewhere. + +You began, for instance, by wishing to educate the masses of London; +you are educating over and above, indirectly, thousands who never +saw London. You began by wishing to teach them spiritual truth; you +have been drawn on to give them an excellent secular education +besides. You intended to make them live as good Christians here at +home. But since you began, the interpenetration of town and country +by railroads, and the rush of emigrants to our colonies, have +widened infinitely the sphere of your influence; and you are now +teaching them also to live as useful men in the farthest corners of +these isles, and in far lands beyond the seas, to become educated +emigrants, loyal colonists; to raise, by their example, rude +settlers, and ruder savages; and so, the very fragments of your good +work, without your will or intent, will bless thousands of whom you +never heard, and help to sow the seeds of civilization and +Christianity, wherever the English flag commands Justice, and the +English Church preaches Love. + + + +SERMON XI. BLESSING AND CURSING + + + +(Preached at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, Ash Wednesday, 1860.) + +Deuteronomy xxviii. 15. It shall come to pass, if thou wilt not +hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his +commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that +all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. + +Many good people are pained by the Commination Service which we have +just heard read. They dislike to listen to it. They cannot say +'Amen' to its awful words. It seems to them to curse men; and their +conscience forbids them to join in curses. To imprecate evil on any +living being seems to them unchristian, barbarous, a relic of dark +ages and dark superstitions. + +But does the Commination Service curse men? Are these good people +(who are certainly right in their horror of cursing) right in the +accusations which they bring against it? Or have they fallen into a +mistake as to the meaning of the service, owing, it may be supposed, +to that carelessness about the exact use of words, that want of +accurate and critical habits of mind, which is but too common among +religious people at the present day? + +I cannot but think that they mistake, when they say that the +Commination Service curses men. For to curse a man, is to pray and +wish that God may become angry with him, and may vent his anger on +the man by punishing him. But I find no such prayer and wish in any +word of the Commination Service. Its form is not, 'Cursed _be_ he +that doeth such and such things,' but 'Cursed _is_ he that doeth +them.' + +Does this seem to you a small difference? A fine-drawn question of +words? Is it, then, a small difference whether I say to my fellow- +man, I hope and pray that you may be stricken with disease, or +whether I say, You are stricken with disease, whether you know it or +not. I warn you of it, and I warn you to go to the physician? For +so great, and no less, is the difference. + +And if any one shall say, that it is very probable that the authors +of the Liturgy were not conscious of this distinction; but that they +meant by cursing what priests in most ages have meant by it; I must +answer, that it is dealing them most hard and unfair measure, to +take for granted that they were as careless about words as we are; +that they were (like some of us) so ignorant of grammar as not to +know the difference between the indicative and the imperative mood; +and to assume this, in order to make them say exactly what they do +_not_ say, and to impute to them a ferocity of which no hint is +given in their Commination Service. + +But some will say, Granted that the authors of the Commination +Service did not wish evil to sinners--granted that they did not long +to pray, with bell, book, and candle, that they might be tormented +for ever in Gehenna--granted that they did not desire to burn their +bodies on earth; those words are still dark and unchristian. They +could only be written by men who believed that God hates sinners, +that his will is to destroy them on earth, and torture them for ever +after death. + +We may impute, alas! what motives and thoughts we choose, in the +face of our Lord's own words, Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. +But we shall not be fair and honest in imputing, unless we first +settle what these men meant, in the words which they have actually +written. What did they mean by 'cursed' is the question. And that +we can only answer by the context of the Commination Service. And +that again we can only answer by seeing what it means in the Bible, +which the Reformers profess to follow in all their writings. + +Now, what does the Bible mean by a curse, and cursing?--For we are +bound to believe, in all fairness, that the Reformers meant the +same, and neither more nor less. The text, I think, tells us +plainly enough. We know that its words came true. We know that the +Jews _did_ perish out of their native land, as the Author of this +book foretold, in consequence of doing that against which Moses +warned them. We know also that they did not perish by any +miraculous intervention of Providence: but simply as any other +nation would have perished; by profligacy, internal weakness, civil +war, and, at last, by foreign conquest. + +We know that their destruction was the natural consequence of their +own folly. Why are we to suppose that the prophet meant anything +but that? He foretells the result. Why are we to suppose that he +did not foresee the means by which that result would happen? Why +are we, in the name of all justice, to impute to him an expectation +of miraculous interferences, about which he says no word? The curse +which he foretold was the natural consequence of the sins of the +nation. Why are we not to believe that he considered it as such? +Why are we not to believe that the Bible meaning of a curse, is +simply the natural ill-consequence of men's own ill-actions? I +believe that if you will apply the same rule to other places of +Scripture, you will have reason to reverence the letter and the +Spirit of Scripture more and more, and will free your minds from +many a superstitious and magical fancy, which will prevent you alike +from understanding the Bible and the Commination Service. + +The Book of Deuteronomy, like the rest of Moses' laws, says nothing +whatever about the life to come. It says, that sin is to be +punished, and virtue rewarded, in this life; and the Commination +Service, when it quotes the Book of Deuteronomy, means so, so I +presume, likewise. Indeed, if we look at the very remarkable, and +most invaluable address which the Commination Service contains, we +shall find its author saying the same thing, in the very passages +which are to some minds most offensive. + +For even in this life the door of mercy may be shut, and we may cry +in vain for mercy, when it is the time for justice. This is not +merely a doctrine: it is a fact; a common, patent fact. Men do +wrong, and escape, again and again, the just punishment of their +deeds; but how often there are cases in which a man does not escape; +when he is filled with the fruit of his own devices, and left to the +misery which he has earned; when the covetous and dishonest man +ruins himself past all recovery; when the profligate is left in a +shameful old age, with worn-out body and defiled mind, to rot into +an unhonoured grave; when the hypocrite who has tampered with his +conscience is left without any conscience at all. + +They have chosen the curse, and the curse is come upon them to the +uttermost. So it is. Is the Commination service uncharitable, is +the preacher uncharitable, when they tell men so? No more so, than +the physician is uncharitable, when he says,--'If you go on misusing +thus your lungs, or your digestion, you will ruin them past all +cure.' Is God to be blamed because this is a fact? Why then +because the other is a fact likewise? + +Now if this be, as I believe, the doctrine of the commination +service; if this be, as I believe, the message of Ash-Wednesday, it +is one which is quite free from superstition or cruelty: but it is +a message more disagreeable, and more terrible too, than any magical +imprecations of harm to the sinner could bring. More disagreeable. +For which is more galling to human pride, to be told,--Sin is +certainly a clever, and politic, and successful trade, as far as +this world is concerned. It is only in the next world, or in the +case of rare and peculiar visitations and judgments in this world, +that it will harm you? Or to be told,--Sin is no more clever, +politic, or successful here, than hereafter. The wrong-doing which +looks to you so prudent is folly. You, man of the world as you may +think yourself, are simply, as often as you do wrong, blind, +ignorant, suicidal. You are your own curse; your acts are their own +curse. The injury to your own character and spirit, the injury to +your fellow-creatures, which will again re-act on you,--these are +the curses of God, which you will feel some day too heavy to be +borne. And which is more terrible? To tell a man, that God will +judge and curse him by unexpected afflictions, or at least by +casting him into Gehenna in the world to come: or to tell him, 'You +are judged already. The curse is on you already?' + +The first threat he may get rid of, by denying the fact; by saying +that God does not generally interfere to punish bad men in this +life; that he does not strike them dead, swallow them up; and he may +even quote Scripture on his side, and call on Solomon to bear +witness how as dieth the fool, so dieth wise man; and that there is +one event to the righteous and the wicked. + +As for the fear of Gehenna, again, after he dies: that is too dim +and distant; too unlike anything which he has seen in this life (now +that the tortures and Autos da fe of the middle age have +disappeared) to frighten him very severely, except in rare moments, +when his imagination is highly excited. And even then, he can--in +practice he does--look forward to 'making his peace with God' as it +is called, at last, and fulfilling Baalam's wish of dying the death +of the righteous, after living the life of the wicked. He knows +well, too, that when that day comes, he can find--alas! that it +should be so--priests and preachers in plenty, of some communion or +other, who will give him his viaticum, and bid him depart in peace +to that God, who has said that there is no peace to the wicked. + +But terrible, truly terrible and heart searching for the wrongdoer +is the message--God does not curse thee: thou hast cursed thyself. +God will not go out of his way to punish thee: thou hast gone out +of his way, and thereby thou art punishing thyself, just as, by +abusing thy body, thou bringest a curse upon it; so by abusing thy +soul. God does not break his laws to punish drunkenness or +gluttony. The laws themselves, the laws of nature, the beneficent +laws of life, nutrition, growth, and health, they punish thee; and +kill by the very same means by which they make alive. And so with +thy soul, thy character, thy humanity. God does not break his laws +to punish its sins. The laws themselves punish; every fresh wrong +deed, and wrong thought, and wrong desire of thine sets thee more +and more out of tune with those immutable and eternal laws of the +Moral Universe, which have their root in the absolute and necessary +character of God himself. All things that he has ordained; the laws +of the human body, the laws of the human soul, the laws of society, +the laws of all heaven and earth are arrayed against thee; for thou +hast arrayed thyself against them. They have not excommunicated +thee: thou hast, single-handed, excommunicated thyself. In thine +own self-will, thou hast set thyself to try thy strength against God +and his whole universe. Dost thou fancy that he needs to interfere +with the working of that universe, to punish such a worm as thee? +No more than the great mill engine need stop, and the overseer of it +interfere with the machinery, if the drunken or careless workman +should entangle himself among the wheels. The wheels move on, doing +their duty, spinning cloth for the use of man: but the workman who +should have worked with them, is entangled among them. He is out of +his place; and slowly, but irresistibly, they are grinding him to +powder, as the whole universe is grinding thee. Heart-searching, +indeed, is such a message; for it will come home, not merely to that +very rare character, the absolutely wicked man, the ideal sinner, at +whom the preacher too often aims ideal arrows, which vanish in the +air: not to him merely will it come home, but to ourselves, to us +average human beings, inconsistent, half-formed, struggling lamely +and confusedly between good and evil. Oh let us take home with us +to-day this belief, the only belief in this matter possible in an +age of science, which is daily revealing more and more that God is a +God, not of disorder, but of order. Let us take home, I say, the +awful belief, that every wrong act of ours does of itself sow the +seeds of its own punishment; and that those seeds will assuredly +bear fruit, now, here in this life. Let us believe that God's +judgments, though they will culminate, no doubt, hereafter in one +great day, and "one divine far-off event, to which the whole +creation moves," are yet about our path and about our bed, now, +here, in this life. Let us believe, that if we are to prepare to +meet our God, we must do it now, here in this life, yea and all day +long; for he is not far off from any one of us, seeing that in him +we live, and move, and have our being; and can never go from his +presence, never flee from his spirit. Let us believe that God's +good laws, and God's good order, are in themselves and of +themselves, the curse and punishment of every sin of ours; and that +Ash-Wednesday, returning year after year, whether we be glad or +sorry, good or evil, bears witness to that most awful and yet most +blessed fact. + +My friends, this is the preacher's Ash-Wednesday's message: but, +thanks be to God, it is not all. It is written--'If thou, Lord, +wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss: Oh Lord, who may abide +it? For there is mercy with thee; therefore shalt thou be feared.' + +It is written--'On whomsoever this stone shall fall, it shall grind +him to powder:' but it is written too--'Whosoever shall fall on this +stone shall be broken;' and again, 'The broken and the contrite +heart, O God, thou shall not despise.' There is such a thing as +pardon; pardon full and free, for the sake of the precious blood of +Christ. Lent may be a time of awe and of shame: but it is not a +time of despair. Meanwhile remember this; that God has set before +you blessing and cursing, and that you may turn your life and God's +whole universe, as you will, either into that blessing or into that +curse. + + + +SERMON XII. WORK + + + +(Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity.) + +Proverbs xiv. 23. In all labour there is profit. + +I fear there are more lessons in the Book of Proverbs than most of +us care to learn. There is a lesson in every verse of it, and a +shrewd one. Certain I am, that for a practical, business man, who +has to do his duty and to make his way in this world, there is no +guide so safe as these same Proverbs of Solomon. In _this_ world, I +say; for they say little about the world to come. Their doctrine +is, that what is good for the next world, is good for this; that he +who wishes to go out of this world happily, must first go through +this world wisely; and more, that he who wishes to go through this +world happily, must likewise go through it wisely. + +The righteous, says Solomon, shall be recompensed in the earth, and +not merely at the end of judgment hereafter: much more the wicked +and the sinner. + +That is the doctrine of the Proverbs; that men do, to a very great +extent, earn for themselves their good or their evil fortunes, and +are filled with the fruit of their own devices; and it is that +doctrine which makes them the best of text-books for the practical +man. + +For the Proverbs do not look on religion as a thing to be kept out +of our daily dealings, and thought of only on Sundays: they look on +true religion, which is to obey God, as a thing which mixes itself +up with all the cares and business of this mortal life, this work- +day world; and, therefore, they are written in work-day language; in +homely words taken from the common doings of this mortal life, as +our Lord's parables are. And, like the most simple of those +parables, the most simple of the proverbs have often the very +deepest meaning. + +'In all labour there is profit.' Whatsoever is worth doing, is +worth doing well. It is always worth while to take pains. In +another proverb, homely enough--but if it be in the Bible, it is not +too homely for us--'Where no oxen are, the crib is clean,' Solomon +says the same thing as in the text. He says, 'Where no oxen are, +the farmer is saved trouble; the clearing away of dirt and refuse; +and all the labour required to keep his cattle in condition: but +all that trouble,' Solomon says, if a man will but undergo it, will +repay itself; 'for much increase is in the strength of the ox.' For +the ox, in that country, as in most parts of the world now, is the +beast used for ploughing, and for all the work of the farm. + +Now, herein, I think, Solomon gives us a lesson which holds good +through all matters of life. That it is a short-sighted mistake to +avoid taking trouble; for God has so well ordered this world, that +industry will always repay itself. No doubt it is much easier and +pleasanter for the savage to scratch the seed into the ground with +some rude wooden tool, and sit idle till the grain ripens: much +easier and pleasanter, than to breed and break in beasts, and to +labour all the year round at the different duties of a well-ordered +farm: but here is the mighty difference; that the savage, growing +only enough for himself, is in continual danger of famine, he and +all his tribe; while the civilized farmer, producing many times more +than he needs for himself, gains food, comfort, and safety, not only +for himself, but for many other human beings. The savage has an +easy life enough, if that be any gain: but it is a life of poverty, +uncertainty, danger of starvation. The civilized man works hard and +heavily, using body and mind more in one month than the savage does +in the whole year: but he gains in return a life of safety, +comfort, and continually increasing prosperity. + +This is Solomon's lesson: and be sure it holds good, not only of +tilling the ground, but of all other labours, all other duties, to +which God may call us. 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,' says +Solomon, 'do it with all thy might.' God has set thee thy work; +then fulfil it. Fill it full. Throw thy whole heart and soul into +it. Do it carefully, accurately, completely. It will be better for +thee, and for thy children after thee. All neglect, carelessness, +slurring over work, is a sin; a sin against God, who has called us +to our work; a sin against our country and our neighbours, who ought +to profit by our work; and a sin against ourselves also, for we (as +I shall shew you soon) ought to be made wiser and better men by our +work. + +Oh, if there is one rule above another which I should like to bring +home to young men and women setting out in life, it is this--_Take +pains_. Take trouble. Whatever you do, do thoroughly. Whatever +you begin, finish. It may not seem to be worth your while at the +moment, to be so very painstaking, so very exact. In after years, +you will find that it was worth your while; that it has _paid_ you, +by training your character and soul; paid you, by giving you success +in life; paid you, by giving you the respect and trust of your +fellowmen; paid you, by helping you towards a good conscience, and +enabling you in old age to look back, and say, I have been of use +upon the earth; I leave this world, according to my small powers, +somewhat better than I found it: instead of having to look back, as +too many have, upon opportunities thrown away, plans never carried +out, talents wasted, a whole life a failure, for want of taking +pains. + +Why do I say these things to you? To persuade you to work? Thank +God, there is no need of that, for you are Englishmen; and it has +pleased God to put into the hearts of Englishmen a love of work, and +a power of work, which has helped to make this little island one of +the greatest nations upon earth. No, thanks be to God, I say, there +is no need to bid you work. What I ask you to do, is to look upon +your work as an honourable calling, and as a blessing to yourselves, +not merely as a hard necessity, a burden which must be borne merely +to keep you from starvation. It is not that, my friends, but far +more than that. For what is more honourable than to be of use? And +in all labour, as Solomon says, there is profit; it is all of use. +And all trade, manufacture, tillage, even of the smallest, all +management and ordering, whether of an estate, a parish, or even of +the pettiest office in it, all is honourable, because all is of use; +all helping forward, more or less, the well-being of God's human +creatures, and of the whole world. + +And therefore all is worth taking trouble over, worth doing as +diligently and honestly as possible, in sure trust that it will +bring its reward with it. Why not? Almsgiving is blessed in God's +sight, and charity to the poor; and God will repay it: but is not +useful labour blessed in his sight also? and shall he not repay it? +Will he not say of it, as well as of almsgiving, 'Inasmuch as ye +have done it unto one of the least of these little ones, ye have +done it unto me?' We may trust so, my friends; indeed, I may say +more than, 'We may trust.' We can see; see that industry has its +reward. By increasing the well-being of others, and the safety of +others, you increase your own. So it is, and so it should be; for +God has knit us all together as brethren, members of one family of +God; and the well-being of each makes up the well-being of all, so +that sooner or later, if one member rejoice, all the others rejoice +with it. + +But more. And here I speak to young people; for their elders, I +doubt not, have found it out long since for themselves. Work, hard +work, is a blessing to the soul and character of the man who works. +Young men may not think so. They may say, What more pleasant than +to have one's fortune made for one, and have nothing before one than +to enjoy life? What more pleasant than to be idle: or, at least, +to do only what one likes, and no more than one likes? But they +would find themselves mistaken. They would find that idleness makes +a man restless, discontented, greedy, the slave of his own lusts and +passions, and see too late, that no man is more to be pitied than +the man who has nothing to do. Yes; thank God every morning, when +you get up, that you have something to do that day which must be +done, whether you like or not. Being forced to work, and forced to +do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, +diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content and a +hundred virtues which the idle man will never know. The monks in +old time found it so. When they shut themselves up from the world +to worship God in prayers and hymns, they found that, without +working, without hard work either of head or hands, they could not +even be good men. The devil came and tempted them, they said, as +often as they were idle. An idle monk's soul was lost, they used to +say; and they spoke truly. Though they gave up a large portion of +every day, and of every night also, to prayer and worship, yet they +found they could not pray aright without work. And 'working is +praying,' said one of the holiest of them that ever lived; and he +spoke truth, if a man will but do his work for the sake of duty, +which is for the sake of God. And so they worked, and worked hard, +not only at teaching the children of the poor, but at tilling the +ground, clearing the forests, building noble churches, which stand +unto this day; none among them were idle at first; and as long as +they worked, they were good men, and blessings to all around them, +and to this land of England, which they brought out of heathendom to +the knowledge of Christ and of God; and it was not till they became +rich and idle, and made other people work for them and till their +great estates, that they sank into sin and shame, and became +despised and hated, and at last swept off the face of the land. +Lastly, my friends, if you wish to see how noble a calling Work is, +consider God himself; who, although he is perfect, and does not +need, as we do, the training which comes by work, yet works for ever +with and through his Son, Jesus Christ, who said, 'My Father worketh +hitherto, and I work.' Yes; think of God, who, though he needs +nothing, and therefore need not work to benefit himself, yet does +work, simply because, though he needs nothing, all things need him. +Think of God as a king working for ever for the good of his +subjects, a Father working for ever for the good of his children, +for ever sending forth light and life and happiness to all created +things, and ordering all things in heaven and earth by a providence +so perfect, that not a sparrow falls to the ground without his +knowledge, and the very hairs of your head are all numbered. + +And then think of yourselves, called to copy God, each in his +station, and to be fellow-workers with God for the good of each +other and of yourselves. Called to work, because you are made in +God's image, and redeemed to be the children of God. Not like the +brutes, who cannot work, and can therefore never improve themselves, +or the earth around them; but like children of God, whom he has +called to the high honour of subduing and replenishing this earth +which he has given you, and of handing down by your labour blessings +without number to generations yet unborn. And when you go back, one +to his farm, another to his shop, another to his daily labour, say +to yourselves, This, too, as well as my prayers in church, is my +heavenly Father's command; in doing this my daily duty honestly and +well, I can do Christ's will, copy Christ, approve myself to Christ; +single-eyed and single-handed, doing my work as unto God, and not +unto men; and so hear, I may hope at last, Christ's voice saying to +me, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant. I set thee not to +govern kingdoms, to lead senates, to command armies, to preach the +gospel, to build churches, to give large charities, to write learned +books, to do any great work in the eyes of men. I set thee simply +to buy and sell, to plough and reap like a Christian man, and to +bring up thy family thereby, in the fear of God and in the faith of +Christ. And thou hast done thy duty more or less; and, in doing thy +duty, has taught thyself deeper and sounder lessons about thy life, +character, and immortal soul, than all books could teach thee. And +now thou hast thy reward. Thou hast been faithful over a few +things: I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into +the joy of thy Lord.' + + + +SERMON XIII. FALSE PROPHETS + + + +(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.) + +Matthew vii. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. + +People are apt to overlook, I think, the real meaning of these +words. They do so, because they part them from the words which go +just before them, about false prophets. + +They consider that 'fruit' means only a man's conduct,--that a man +is known by his conduct. That professions are worth nothing, and +practice worth everything. That the good man, after all, is the man +who does right; and the bad man, the man who does wrong. Excellent +doctrine; and always needed. God grant that we may never forget it. + +But the text surely does not quite mean that. 'Fruit' here does not +mean a man's own conduct, but the conduct of those whom he teaches. +For see,--our Lord is talking of prophets; that is preachers, who +set up to preach the Word of God, in the name of God. 'Beware,' he +says, 'of false prophets. By their fruits ye shall know them. By +what you gather from them,' he says. 'For do men gather grapes off +thorns, or figs off thistles?' + +Now what is a preacher's fruit? Surely the fruit of his preaching; +and that is, not what he does himself, but what he makes you do. +His fruit is what you gather from him; and what you gather from him +is, not merely the notions and doctrines which he puts into your +head, but the way of life in which he makes you live. What he makes +you do, is the fruit which you get from him. Does he make you a +better man, or does he not? that is the question. That is the test +whether he is a false prophet, or a true one; whether he is +preaching to you the eternal truth of God, or man's inventions and +devil's lies. + +Does he make you a better man? Not--Does he make you feel better? +but--Does he make you behave better? There is too much preaching in +the world which makes men _feel_ better--so much better, indeed, +that they go about like the Pharisee, thanking God that they are not +as other men, before they have any sound reason to believe that they +are _not_ as other men; because they live just such lives as other +men do, as far as respectability, and the fear of hurting their +custom or their character, allow them to do. They have their +prophets, their preachers who teach them; and by their fruits in +these men, the preachers may be known, by those who have eyes to +see, and hearts to understand. + +Therefore beware of false prophets. There are too many of them in +the world now, as there were in our Lord's time; men who go about +with the name of God on their lips, and the Bible in their hands, in +sheep's clothing outwardly; but inwardly ravening wolves. In +sheep's clothing, truly, smooth and sanctimonious, meek, and sleek. +But wolves at heart; wolves in cunning and slyness, as you will +find, if you have to deal with them; wolves in fierceness and +cruelty, as you will find if you have to differ from them; wolves in +greediness and covetousness, and care of their own interest and +their own pockets. And wolves, too, in hardness of heart; in the +hard, dark, horrible, unjust doctrines, which they preach with a +smile upon their lips, not merely in sermons, but in books and +tracts innumerable, making out the Heavenly Father, the God whose +name is Love and Justice, to be even such a one as themselves. +Wolves, too, in their habit of hunting in packs, each keeping up his +courage by listening to the howl of his fellows. They may come in +the name of God. They may tell you that they preach the Gospel; +that no one but they preach the Gospel. But by their fruits ye +shall know them. + +Will they make you better men? Is it not written, 'The disciple is +not above his master?' What will you learn from them, but to be +like them? And the more you take in their doctrines, the more like +them you will be; for is it not written, 'He that is perfect shall +be as his master.' Can they lead you to eternal life? Is it not +written, 'If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the +ditch?' + +But by their fruits ye shall know them. By their fruits in the +world at large, if you have eyes to see it. By their fruits in your +own lives, if you give yourselves up to listen to their false +doctrines, for you will surely find, that, in the first place, they +will not make you honest men. They will not teach you to be just +and true in all your dealings. They will not teach you common +morality. No, my friends, it is most sad to see, how much preaching +and tract-writing there is in England now, which talks loud about +Protestant doctrine, and Gospel truths, while all the fruit of it +seems to be, to teach men to abuse the Pope, and to fancy that every +one is going to hell, who does not agree with their opinions; while +their own lives, their own conduct, their own morality, seems not +improved one whit by all this preaching. And yet men like such +preaching, and run to hear it. Of course they do; for it leaves +them to behave all the week as if there was no Law of God, if only +they will go on Sundays, and listen to what is called, I fear most +untruly, the Gospel of God; leaves them, on condition of belonging +to some particular party, and listening to some favourite preacher, +free to give way to their passions, their spite, their meanness; to +grind their servants, cheat their masters, trick their customers, +adulterate their goods, and behave in money-matters as if all was +fair in business, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ had nothing to do +with common honesty; and all the while, + + +Compound for sins they are inclined to. +By damning those they have no mind to. + + +My friends, these things ought not so to be. There is a Gospel of +God, which preaches full forgiveness for the sake of Jesus Christ, +to all who turn from their sins. But there is a Law of God, +likewise, which executes sure vengeance against all who do _not_ +turn from their sins; be their professions as high, or their +doctrines as correct as they may. A law which is in the Gospel +itself, and says, by the mouth of the Apostle St. John, 'Little +children, let no man deceive you: he that _doeth_ righteousness is +righteous, even as God is righteous'--he--and not he who expects to +be saved by listening to some false preacher who teaches his +congregation how to go to heaven without having thought one heavenly +thought, or done one heavenly-deed. + +Yes. There is an eternal law of God, which people are forgetting, I +often fear, more and more, in England just now. I sometimes dread, +lest we should be sinking into that hideous state of which the old +Hebrew prophet speaks--'The prophets prophesy falsely, and the +priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: +and what will ye do in the end thereof?' What, indeed; if people +are to be taught more and more, that religion is a matter merely of +doctrines and fancies and feelings, and has nothing to do with +common morality, and common honesty, and common self-control and +improvement of character and conduct? + +My friends, in these dangerous days, for dangerous they truly are-- +like those of the Scribes and Pharisees of old; days in which +bigotry and hardness of heart, hypocrisy and lip-profession stalk +triumphant; days, in which men, like the Scribes and Pharisees of +old, boast of the Bible, worship the Bible, think they have eternal +life in the Bible, spend vast sums every year in spreading the +Bible; and yet will neither read the Bible honestly, nor obey its +plain commands--In such days as these, what prophet shall we fall +back upon? What preacher shall we trust? + +We can at least trust our Bible. We can read it honestly, if only +there be in us the honest and good heart; we can obey its plain +commands, if only we hunger and thirst after righteousness, and +desire really to become good men. Read your Bibles for yourselves +with a single eye, and with a pure heart which longs to know God's +will because it longs to _do_ God's will; and you will need no false +prophets, under pretence of explaining it to you, to draw you away +from the Holy Catholic faith into which you were baptized. + +But if you must have a commentary on the Bible; if you must have +some book to give you a general notion of what the Bible teaches +you, and what it expects of you; go to the prayer-book. Go to the +good old Catechism which you learnt at school. There, though not +from the popular preachers, you will learn that God is just and +true, loving and merciful, and no respecter of persons. There you +will learn, that Christ died not for a few elect, but for the sins +of the whole world. There you will learn that in baptism, by God's +free grace, and not by any experiences or feelings of your own, you +were made children of God, members of Christ, and inheritors of the +kingdom of heaven. There you will learn, that the elect whom the +Holy Spirit sanctifies, are not merely a favoured few, but _you_-- +every baptized man, woman, and child. That the Holy Spirit is with +you, every one of you, to sanctify you, if you will open your hearts +to his gracious inspirations. And there you will learn what +sanctification really means. Not a few fancies and feelings about +which any man can deceive himself, and any man, also, deceive his +neighbours. No, that sanctification means being made holy, +righteous, virtuous, good. That sanctification means 'To love your +neighbour as yourself, and to do to all men as they should do unto +you--to love, honour, and succour your father and mother'--Shall I +go on? Or do you all know the plain old duty to your neighbours, +which stands in the Church Catechism. If you do, thank God that you +were taught it in your youth. Read it over and over again. Think +over it. Pray to God to give you grace to act upon it, and to shew +the fruit of it in your lives. And then, 'By its fruits you shall +know it.' By its fruits you shall know the virtue of the Catechism, +and of the great and good men, true prophets of God, who wrote that +Catechism. Yes. Cling to that Catechism, even if it convinces you +of many sins, and makes you sadly ashamed of yourselves again and +again; for, believe me, it will prove your best safeguard in +doctrine, your best teacher in practice, in these dangerous days-- +days in which every man who believes that right is right, and wrong +is wrong, has need to pray with all his heart--'From all false +doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt +of thy word and commandments; good Lord, deliver us!' + + + +SERMON XIV. THE ROCK OF AGES + + + +(Ninth Sunday after Trinity.) + +1 Corinthians x. 4. They drank of that Spiritual Rock which +followed them; and that Rock was Christ. + +St. Paul has been speaking to the Corinthians about the Holy +Communion. + +In this text, St. Paul is warning the Corinthians about it. He +says, 'You may be Christian men; you may have the means of grace; +you may come to the Communion and use the means of grace; and yet +you may become castaways.' St. Paul himself says, in the very verse +before, 'I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest . +. . . I myself should be a castaway.' Look, he says then, 'at the +old Jews in the wilderness. They all partook of God's grace: but +they were not all saved. They were all baptized to Moses in the +cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual meat, the +manna from heaven. They all drank the same spiritual drink, the +water out of the rock in Horeb. And yet with many of them God was +not well pleased;' for they were overthrown--their corpses were +scattered far and wide--in the wilderness. The spiritual meat and +the spiritual drink could not keep them alive, if they sinned, and +deserved death. 'So,' says St. Paul, 'with you. You are members of +Christ's body. The cup of blessing which we bless, is the communion +of the blood of Christ; the bread which we break, is the communion +of the body of Christ:' but beware, they will not save you, if you +sin. Nothing will save you, if you sin. If you lust after evil +things, as those old Jews did; if you are idolaters, as they were; +if you are profligates, as they were; if you tempt Christ, as they +did; if you murmur against God, as they murmured, you will be +destroyed like them. + +Note here two things. First, that St. Paul says that we really +receive Christ in the Holy Communion. He does _not_ say, as some +do, that the Communion is merely a remembrance of Christ's death. +He says that the faithful verily and indeed receive Christ's body +and blood in the Sacrament. He says so, distinctly, plainly, +literally; and if that be not true, his whole argument goes for +nothing, and will not stand. The Jews, he says, drank of the +spiritual Rock which followed them, and that Rock was Christ; and so +he says to you. But that did not save them from the punishment of +their sins, when they went and sinned afresh: neither will it save +you. + +But now--What are these strange words which St. Paul uses? These +old Jews drank of the spiritual Rock which followed them, and that +Rock was Christ? Where in the Old Testament do we read of the Rock +following them? We read of Moses striking the rock in Horeb, at the +beginning of their wanderings in the wilderness; but not of its +following them afterwards. + +St. Paul is here using a beautiful old tradition of the Rabbis, that +the rock which Moses struck in Horeb followed the Jews through all +their forty years' wanderings, and that on every Sabbath day when +they stopped, it stopped also, and the elders called to it, 'Flow +out, O fountain,' and the water flowed. A beautiful old story, +which St. Paul turns into an allegory, to teach, as by a picture, +the deepest and the highest truth. Whether that rock followed them +or not, he says, there was One who did follow them, from whom flowed +living water; and that Rock is Christ. Christ followed them. +Christ the creator, the preserver, the inspirer, the light, the +life, the guide of men, and of all the universe. It was to Christ +they owed their deliverance from Egypt; to Christ they owed their +knowledge of God, and of the law of God, to Christ they owed +whatever reason, justice, righteousness, good government, there was +among them. And to Christ we owe the same. + +The rock was a type of him from whom flows living water. As he +himself said on earth, 'Whosoever drinketh of the water which I +shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water which I shall give +him shall be in him a well of water, springing up to everlasting +life.' Just as the manna also was a type of him, as he himself +declared, when the Jews talked to him of the manna; 'Our fathers did +eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from +heaven to eat.' Then Jesus said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say +unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven.' No: but only +a type and picture of it. 'My Father giveth you the true bread from +heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, +and giveth life unto the world. . . . I am that bread of life.' + +My friends, herein is a great mystery. Something of what it means, +however, we may learn from that wise and good Jew, Philo, who was +St. Paul's teacher according to the flesh, before he became a +Christian; and who himself was so near to the kingdom of God, that +St. Paul often in his epistles uses Philo's very words, putting into +them a Christian meaning. And what says he concerning the Rock of +living waters? + +The soul, he says, falls in with a scorpion in the wilderness; and +then thirst, which is the thirst of the passions--of the lusts which +war in our members--seizes on it; till God sends forth on it the +stream of his own perfect wisdom, and causes the changed soul to +drink of unchangeable health. For the steep rock is the wisdom of +God (by whom he means the Word of God, whom Philo knew not in the +flesh, but whom we know, as the Lord Jesus Christ), which, being +both sublime and the first of all things; he quarried out of his own +powers; and of it he gives drink to the souls which love God; and +they, when they have drunk, are filled with the most universal +manna. + +So says Philo, the good Jew, who knew not Christ; and therefore he +says only a part of the truth. If you wish to learn the whole +truth, you must read St. John's Gospel, and St. Paul's Epistles, +especially this very text; and again, the opening of the Epistle to +the Ephesians; and again, that most royal passage in the opening of +the Colossians, where he speaks of the Everlasting Being of Christ, +who is before all things, and by whom all things consist--in whom +dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in whom are hid +all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. + +Therefore he is rightly called the Rock, the Rock of Ages, the +Eternal Rock; because on him all things rest, and have rested since +the foundation of the world, being made, and kept together, and +ruled, and inspired by him alone. Therefore he is rightly called +the Rock of living waters; for in him are hid all the treasures of +wisdom and knowledge, and from him they flow forth freely to all who +cry to him in their thirst after truth and holiness. Yes, my +friends, by Christ all things live; and therefore, most of all, by +Christ our souls live. To be parted from Christ is death. To be +joined to Christ and the body of Christ is life. + +But what life? The life of the soul. And what is the life of the +soul? Holiness, righteousness, sanctification, virtue,--call it +what pleases you best. I shall call it goodness. That is the only +life of the soul. And why? Because it is the life of Christ. That +is the only wisdom of the soul. And why? Because it is the mind of +Christ. That is the living water. And why? Because it flows +eternally from Christ. + +For who is Christ, but the likeness of God, and the glory of God? +And what is the likeness of God, but goodness; and what is the glory +of God, but goodness? Therefore Christ is goodness itself, as it is +written, 'Now the Lord is that Spirit.' Yes, if you will believe +it, Christ, the only-begotten Son, co-equal and co-eternal, is the +very and essential goodness of the Father, coming out everlastingly +in action and in life, in himself, and in his people, who are his +mystical body, filled with the Spirit of him and his Father; who is +the Holy Spirit, the spirit of goodness. From Christ, and not from +any created being, comes all goodness in man or angel. Comes from +Christ? It were more right, and more according to St. Paul's own +words, to say, that all goodness _is_ Christ; Christ dwelling in a +man, Christ forming himself in a man, little by little, step by +step, as he grows in grace, in purity, in self-control, in +experience, in knowledge, in wisdom, in strength, in patience, in +love, in charity; till he comes to the stature of a perfect man, to +the measure of the fulness of Christ. + +Meanwhile, let the good which a man does be much, or be it little, +he must say, 'The good which I do, _I_ do not, but Christ who +dwelleth in me.' + +For in every age of man, it is Christ who is awakening in him the +hunger and thirst after righteousness, and then satisfying it with +the only thing which can satisfy them, namely, his most blessed +self. + +Yes, believe it. It is Christ in the child which makes it speak the +truth; Christ in the child which makes it shrink from whatever it +has been told is wrong. It is Christ in the young man, which fills +him with lofty aspirations, hopes of bettering the world around him, +hopes of training his soul to be all that it can be, and of putting +forth all his powers in the service of Christ. It is Christ in the +middle-aged man, which makes him strong in good works, labouring +patiently, wisely, and sturdily; so that having drunk of the living +waters himself, they may flow out of him again to others in good +deeds; a fountain springing up in him to an eternal life of +goodness. It is Christ in the old man, which makes him look on with +calm content while his own body and mind decay, knowing that the +kingdom of God cannot decay; for Christ is ruling it in +righteousness; and all will be well with him, and with his children +after him, and with all mankind, and all heaven and earth, if they +themselves only will it, long after he has been gathered to his +fathers. + +Yes, such a man knows in whom he has believed. He knows that the +spiritual Rock has been following him through all his wanderings in +this weary world; and that that Rock is Christ. He can recollect +how, again and again, at his Sabbath haltings in his life's journey, +it was to him in the Holy Communion as to the Israelites of old in +their haltings in the wilderness, when the priests of Jehovah cried +to the mystic rock, 'Flow forth, O fountain,' and the waters flowed. +So can he recollect how, in Holy Communion, there flowed into his +soul streams of living water, the water of life, quenching that +thirst of his soul, which no created thing could slake; the water of +life; of Christ's life, which is the light of men, shewing them what +they ought to be and do; the life which is the light; the life which +is according to the eternal and divine reason; the life of wisdom; +which is the life of love; which is the life of justice; which is +the life of Christ; which is the life of God. + +But if these things are so--and so they are, for Christ has said it, +St. Paul has said it, St. John has said it--but if these things are +so, will they not teach us much about Holy Communion, how we may +receive it worthily, and how unworthily? + +If what we receive in the Communion be Christ himself, the good +Christ who is to make us good; then how can we receive it worthily, +if we do not hunger and thirst after goodness? If we do not come +thither, longing to be made good, and sanctified, then we come for +the wrong thing, to the wrong place. We are like those Corinthians +who came to the Lord's supper not to be made good men, but to exalt +their own spiritual self-conceit; and so only ate and drank their +own damnation, not discerning the Lord's body, that it was a holy +body, a body of righteousness and goodness. + +But if we come hungering and thirsting to be made good men, then we +come for the right thing, to the right place. Then we need not stay +away, because we feel ourselves intolerably burdened with many sins; +that will be our very reason for coming, that we may be cleansed +from our sins--cleansed not only from their guilt, but from their +power; and cry, in spirit and in truth, as we kneel at that holy +table-- + + +Rock of ages, cleft for me, +Let me hide myself in thee; +By the water and the blood, +From thy riven side which flowed, +Be of sin the double cure, +Cleanse me from its guilt and power. + + +Yes, from its guilt and from its power also. Let us all pray, each +in his own fashion:-- + +Oh Lamb eternal, beyond all place and time! Oh Lamb slain +eternally, before the foundation of the world! Oh Lamb, which liest +slain eternally, in the midst of the throne of God! Let the blood +of life, which flows from thee, procure me pardon for the past; let +the water of life, which flows from thee, give me strength for the +future. I come to cast away my own life, my life of self and +selfishness, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, that +I may live it no more; and to receive thy life, which is created +after the likeness of God, in righteousness and true holiness, that +I may live it for ever and ever, and find it a well of life +springing up in me to everlasting life. Eternal Goodness, make me +good like thee. Eternal Wisdom, make me wise like thee. Eternal +Justice, make me just like thee. Eternal Love, make me loving like +thee. Then I shall hunger no more, and thirst no more; for + + +Thou, O Christ, art all I want; +More than all in thee I find; +Raise me, fallen; cheer me, faint; +Heal me, sick; and lead me, blind. +Thou of life the fountain art; +Freely let me take of thee; +Spring thou up within my heart; +Rise to all eternity. + + +Oh come to Holy Communion with the words of that glorious hymn not +merely on your lips, but in your hearts; and you will never come +amiss. + + + +SERMON XV. ANTIPATHIES + + + +(Tenth Sunday after Trinity.) + +1 Cor. xii. 3, 4, 5, 6. Wherefore, I give you to understand, that +no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and +that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. +Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there +are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there +are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh +all in all. + +We are to come to the Communion this day in love and charity with +all men. But are we in love and charity with all men? + +I do not mean, are there any persons whom we hate; against whom we +bear a spite; whom we should be glad to see in trouble or shame? +God forbid, my friends, God forbid. There are, indeed, devil's +tempers. And yet more easy for us to keep in the bottom of our +hearts, and more difficult to root them out, than we fancy. + +It is easy enough for us to forgive (in words at least) a man who +has injured us. Easy enough to make up our minds that we will not +revenge ourselves. Easy enough to determine, even, that we will +return good for evil to him, and do him a kindness when we have a +chance. Yes, we would not hurt him for the world: but what if God +hurt him? What if he hurt himself? What if he lost his money? +What if his children turned out ill? What if he made a fool of +himself, and came to shame? What if he were found out and exposed, +as we fancy that he deserves? Should we be so very sorry? We +should not punish him ourselves. No. But do we never catch +ourselves thinking whether God may not punish him; thinking of that +with a base secret satisfaction; almost hoping for it, at last? Oh +if we ever do, God forgive us! If we ever find those devil's +thoughts rising in us, let us flee from them as from an adder; flee +to the foot of Christ's Cross, to the cross of him who prayed for +his murderers, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; +and there cry aloud for the blood of life, which shall cleanse us +from the guilt of those wicked thoughts, and for the water of life, +which shall cleanse us from the power of them: lest they get the +dominion over us, and spring up in us, and spread over our whole +hearts; not a well of life, but a well of poison, springing up in us +to everlasting damnation. Oh let us pray to him to give us truth in +our inward parts; that we may forgive and love, not in word only, +but in deed and in truth. + +I could not help saying this in passing. But it is not what the +text is speaking of; not what I want to speak of myself to-day. I +want to speak of a matter which is smaller, and not by any means so +sinful: and which yet in practice is often more tormenting to a +truly tender conscience, because it is more common and more +continual. + +How often, when one examines oneself, whether one be in love and +charity with all men, one must recollect that there are many people +whom one does not like. I do not mean that one hates them. Not in +the least: but they do not suit one. There is something in them +which we cannot get on with, as the saying is. Something in their +opinions, manners, ways of talking; even--God forgive us--merely in +their voice, or their looks, or their dress, which frets us, and +gives us what is called an antipathy to them. And one dislikes +them; though they never have harmed us, or we them; and we know +them, perhaps, to be better people than ourselves. Now, are we in +love and charity with these people? I am afraid not. + +I know one is tempted to answer; but I am afraid the answer is worth +very little--Why not? We cannot help it. You cannot expect us to +like people who do not suit us: any more than you can expect us to +like a beetle or a spider. We know the beetle or the spider will +not harm us. We know that they are good in their places, and do +good, as all God's creatures are and do; and there is room enough in +the world for them and us: but we have a natural dislike to them, +and cannot help it; and so with these people. We mean no harm in +disliking them. It is natural to us; and why blame us for it. + +Now what is the mistake here? Saying that it is _natural_ to us. +We are not meant to live according to nature, but according to +grace; and grace must conquer nature, my friends, if we wish to save +our souls alive. It is nature, brute nature, which makes some dogs +fly at every strange dog they meet. It is nature, brute nature, +which makes a savage consider every strange savage as his enemy, and +try to kill him. But unless nature be conquered in that savage, it +will end, where following brute nature always ends, in death; and +the savages will (as all savages are apt to do) destroy each other +off the face of the earth, by continual war and murder. It is brute +nature which makes low and ignorant persons hate foreign people, +because their dress and language seem strange. But unless that +natural feeling had been in most of us conquered by the grace of +God, which is the spirit of justice and of love, then England would +have remained alone in conceit and ignorance, hated by all the +nations; instead of being what, thank God! she is--the Sanctuary of +the world; to which all the oppressed of the earth may flee; and +find a welcome, and safety, and freedom, and justice, and peace. + +And so with us, my friends. It is natural, and according to the +brute nature of the old Adam, to dislike this person and that, just +because they do not suit us. But it is according to grace, and the +new Adam, who is the Lord from heaven, to honour all men; to love +the brotherhood; to throw away our own private fancies and personal +antipathies; and, like the Lord Jesus Christ, copy the all-embracing +charity of God. And no one has a right to answer, 'But I must draw +the line somewhere.' Thou must not. I am afraid that thou _wilt_, +and that I shall, too, God forgive us both! because we are sinful +human beings. We may, but we _must_ not, draw a line as to whom we +shall endure in charity. For Christ draws no line. Is it not +written, 'No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy +Ghost.' Is not the Spirit of Christ in a Christian man, unless he +be a reprobate? and who is reprobate, we know not, and dare not try +to know; for it is written, 'Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: +condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned.' + +But what has the text to do with all this? + +My friends, is not this just what the text is telling us? I said +this moment, that the Spirit of Christ was in a Christian man, +unless he be a reprobate. And the text says further, that there are +diversities of gifts in Christian men: but the same spirit in all +of them. + +Yes: people _will_ be different one from another. There are +diversities of gifts. Differences in talents, in powers, in +character, in kinds of virtue and piety; so that you shall find no +two good men, no two useful men, like each other. But there is the +same Spirit. The same Spirit of God is in each, though bearing +different fruit in each. And there are differences of +administrations, of offices, in God's kingdom. God sets one man to +do one work, and another to do another: but it is the same Lord who +puts each man in his place, and shows him his work, and gives him +power to do it. And there are diversities of operations, that is, +of ways of working; so that if you put any two men to do the same +thing, they will most probably do it each in a different way, and +yet both do it well. But it is the same God, who is working in them +both; the God who works all in all, and has his work done by a +thousand different hands, by a thousand different ways. + +And it is right and good that people should be so different from +each other. 'For the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every +man to profit withal.' To profit, to be of use. If all men were +alike, no one could learn from his neighbour. If all mankind were +as like each other as a flock of sheep, there would be no more work, +no more progress, no more improvement in mankind, than there is in a +flock of sheep. Now each man can bring his own little share of +knowledge or usefulness into the common stock. Each man has, or +ought to have, something to teach his neighbour. Each man can learn +something from his neighbour: at least he can learn this--to have +patience with his neighbour. To live and let live. To bear with +what in him seems odd and disagreeable, trusting that God may have +put it there; that God has need of it; that God will make use of it. +God makes use of many things which look to us ugly and disagreeable. +He makes use of the spider and of the beetle. How much more of our +brethren, members of Christ, children of God, inheritors of the +kingdom of heaven. Shall they be to us, even if they be odd or +disagreeable in some things--shall they be to us as the beetle or +the spider, or any other merely natural things? They are men and +women, in whom is the Spirit of the living God. And my friends, if +they are good enough for God, they are good enough for us. Think +but one moment. God the Father adopts a man as his child, God the +Son dies for that man, God the Holy Ghost inspires that man; and +shall we be more dainty than God? If, in spite of the man's little +weaknesses and oddities, God shall condescend to come down and dwell +in that man, making him more or less a good man, doing good work; +shall we pretend that we cannot endure what God endures? Shall we +be more dainty, I ask again, than the holy and perfect God? Oh my +friends, let us pray to him to take out of our hearts all +selfishness, fancifulness, fastidiousness, and hasty respect of +persons, of all which there is none in God. Let us ask for his +Spirit, the Spirit of Charity, which sees God in all, and all in +God, and therefore sees good in all, and sees all in love. + +Then we shall see how much more there is in our neighbours to like, +than to dislike. Then all these little differences will seem to us +trifles not to be thought of, before the broad fact of a man's +being, after all, a man, an Englishman, a Christian, and a good +Christian, doing good work where God has put him. Then we shall be +ashamed of our old narrowness of heart; ashamed of having looked so +much at the little evil in our neighbours, and not at the great good +in them. Then we shall go about the world cheerfully; and our +neighbour's faces will seem to us full of light: instead of seeming +full of darkness, because our own eyes and minds are dark for want +of charity. Then we shall come to the Communion, not with hearts +narrowed and shut up, perhaps, from the very person who kneels next +to us: but truly open-hearted; with hearts as wide--ah God, that it +were possible!--as the sacred heart of Christ, in which is room for +all mankind. And so receiving his body, which is the blessed +company of all faithful people, we shall receive Christ, who +dwelleth in them, and they in him. + + + +SERMON XVI. ST. PAUL + + + +(Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.) + +1 Cor. xv. 8. Last of all he was seen of me, also, as of one born +out of due time. For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not +meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of +God. + +You heard in this text (part of the epistle for this day) St. Paul's +opinion of himself. You heard, also, in the Second Lesson for this +day, the ninth chapter of Acts, the extraordinary story of his +conversion. + +And what may we learn from that story? We may learn many lessons; +lessons without number. + +We may learn, first; not to be astonished, if we have to change our +opinions as we grow older. When we are young, we are very positive +about this thing and that, as St. Paul was; violent in favour of our +own opinions; ready to quarrel with any one who differs from us, as +St. Paul was. But let ten years, twenty years, roll over our heads, +and we may find our opinions utterly changed, as St. Paul did, and +look back with astonishment on ourselves, for having been foolish +enough to believe what we did, as St. Paul looked back; and with +shame, as did St. Paul likewise, at having said so many violent and +unjust things against people, who, we now see, were in the right +after all. + +Next; we may learn not to be ashamed of changing our minds: but if +we find ourselves in the wrong, to confess it boldly and honestly, +as St. Paul did. What a fearful wrench to his mind and his heart; +what a humiliation to his self-conceit, to have to change his mind +once for all on all matters in heaven and earth. What must it not +have cost him to throw up at once all his friends and relations; to +part himself from all whom he loved and respected on earth, to feel +that henceforth they must look upon him as a madman, an infidel, an +enemy. To an affectionate man, and St. Paul was an extremely +affectionate man, what a bitter struggle that must have cost him. +But he faced that struggle, and conquered in it, like a brave and +honest man. And the consequence was, that he had, in time, and +after many lonely years, many Christian friends for each Jewish +friend that he had lost; and to him was fulfilled (as it will be to +all men) our Lord's great saying, 'There is no man that hath left +house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or +children, or lands for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall +receive an hundredfold now in this time, . . . and in the world to +come eternal life.' + +Next; we may take comfort, in the hope that God will not impute to +us these early follies and mistakes of ours; if only there be in us, +as there was in St. Paul, the honest and good heart; that is, the +heart which longs to know what is true and right, and bravely acts +up to what it knows. St. Paul did so. God, when he set him apart, +as he says, from his very birth, gave him a great grace, even the +honest and good heart; and he was true to it, and used it. He tried +to learn his best, and do his best. He profited in the Jews' +religion, beyond all his fellows. He was, touching the +righteousness which was in the law, blameless. He was so zealous +for what he thought right, that he persecuted the Church of Christ, +as the Pharisees, his teachers, had taught him to do. In all +things, whether right or wrong in each particular case, he was an +honest, earnest seeker after truth and righteousness. And therefore +Christ, instead of punishing him, fulfilled to him his own great +saying,--'To him that hath shall be given, and he shall have +abundance.' He had not yet, as he himself says, again and again, +the grace of Christ, which is love to his fellow-men; and therefore +his works were not pleasing to God, and had, as the article says, +the nature of sin. His empty forms and ceremonies could not please +God. His persecuting the Church had plainly the nature of sin. But +there was something which God had put in him, and which God would +not lose sight of, or suffer to be lost; and that was, the honest +and good heart, of which our Lord speaks in the parable of the +sower. In that Christ sowed the word of God, even himself, and his +grace and Holy Spirit; and, behold, it sprang up and bore fruit a +hundredfold, over all Christian nations to this day. + +Keep, therefore, if you have it, the honest and good heart. If you +have it not, pray for it earnestly. Determine to learn what is +true, whatever be the trouble; and to do what is right, whatever be +the cost; and then, though you may make many mistakes, and have more +than once, perhaps, to change your mind in shame and confusion, yet +all will come right at last, for the grace of Christ, sooner or +later, will lead you into all truth which you require for this world +and all worlds to come. + +Again, we may learn from St. Paul this lesson. That though God has +forgiven a man, that is no reason that he should forgive himself. +That may seem a startling saying just now. For the common teaching +now is, that if a man finds, or fancies, that God has forgiven him, +he may forgive himself at once; that if he gets assurance that his +sins are washed away in Christ's blood, he may go swaggering and +boasting about the world (I can call it no less), as if he had never +sinned at all; that he may be (as you see in these revivals, from +which God defend us!) one moment in the deepest agonies of +conscience, and dread of hell-fire, and the next moment in raptures +of joy, declaring himself to be in heaven. Alas, alas! such people +forget that sin leaves behind it wounds, which even the grace of +Christ takes a long time in healing, and which then remain as ugly, +but wholesome scars, to remind us of the fools which we have been. +They are like a man who is in great bodily agony, and gets sudden +relief from a dose of laudanum. The pain stops; and he feels +himself, as he says, in heaven for the time: but he is too apt to +forget that the cause of the pain is still in his body, and that if +he commits the least imprudence, he will bring it back again; just +as happens, I hear, in too many of these hasty and noisy conversions +now-a-days. + +That is one extreme. The opposite extreme is that of many old Roman +Catholic saints and hermits who could not forgive themselves at all, +but passed their whole lives in fasting, poverty, and misery, +bewailing their sins till their dying day. That was a mistake. It +sprang out of mistaken doctrines, of which I shall not speak here: +but it did not spring entirely from them. There was in them a seed +of good, for which I shall always love and honour them, even though +I differ from them; and that was, a noble hatred of sin. They felt +the sinfulness of sin; and they hated themselves for having sinned. +The mercy of God made them only the more ashamed of themselves for +having rebelled against him. Their longing after holiness only made +them loathe the more their past unholiness. They carried that +feeling too far: but they were noble people, men and women of God; +and we may say of them, that, 'Wisdom is justified of all her +children.' + +But I wish you to run into neither extreme. I only ask you to look +at your past lives, if you have ever been open sinners, as St. Paul +looked at his. There is no sentimental melancholy in him; no +pretending to be miserable; no trying to make himself miserable. He +is saved, and he knows it. He is an apostle, and he stands boldly +on his dignity. He is cheerful, hopeful, joyful: but whenever he +speaks of his past life (and he speaks of it often), it is with +noble shame and sorrow. Then he looks to himself the chief of +sinners, not worthy to be called an apostle, because he persecuted +the Church of Christ. What he is, he will not deny. What he was, +he will not forget, he dare not forget, lest he should forget that +the good which he does, _he_ does not--for in him (that is, in his +flesh, his own natural character), dwelleth no good thing--but +Christ, who dwells in him; lest he should grow puffed up, careless, +self-indulgent; lest he should neglect to subdue his evil passions; +and so, after having preached to others, himself become a castaway. + +So let us do, my friends. Let us not be too hasty in forgiving +ourselves. Let us thank God cheerfully for the present. Let us +look on hopefully to the future; let us not look back too much at +the past, or rake up old follies which have been pardoned and done +away. But let us thank God whenever he thinks fit to shew us the +past, and bring our sin to our remembrance. Let us thank him, when +meeting an old acquaintance, passing by an old haunt, looking over +an old letter, reminds us what fools we were ten, twenty, thirty +years ago. Let us thank him for those nightly dreams, in which old +tempers, old meannesses, old sins, rise up again in us into ugly +life, and frighten us by making us in our sleep, what we were once, +God forgive us! when broad awake. I am not superstitious. I know +that those dreams are bred merely of our brain and of our blood. +But I know that they are none the less messages from God. They tell +us unmistakeably that we are the same persons that we were twenty +years ago. They tell us that there is the same infection of nature, +the same capability of sin, in us, that there was of old. That in +our flesh dwells no good thing: that by the grace of God alone we +are what we are: and that did his grace leave us, we might be once +more as utter fools as we were in the wild days of youth. Yes: let +us thank God for everything which reminds us of what we once were. +Let us humble ourselves before him whenever those memories return to +us; and let us learn from them what St. Paul learnt. To be +charitable to all who have not yet learnt the wisdom which God (as +we may trust) has taught to us; to feel for them, feel with them, be +sure that they are our brothers, men of like passions with +ourselves, who will be tried by the same standard as we; whom +therefore we must not judge, lest we be judged in turn: and let us +have, as St. Paul had, hope for them all; hope that God who has +forgiven us, will forgive them; that God who has raised us from the +death of sin, to something of the life of righteousness, will raise +them up likewise, in his own good time. + +Amen. + + + +SERMON XVII. THE BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART + + + +Isaiah, lvii. 15-21. For thus saith the high and lofty One that +inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and +holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, +to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the +contrite ones. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be +always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls +which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I +wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on +frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will +heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and +to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to +him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I +will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it +cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, +saith my God, to the wicked. + +This is part of Isaiah's prophecy. He is telling the Jews that they +should come back safe at last to their own land. He tells them why +God had driven them out, and why God was going to bring them back. + +He had driven them out for their sins. But he was not going to +bring them back for their righteousness. He was going to bring them +back out of his own free grace, his own pure love and mercy, which +was wider, deeper, and higher, than all their sins, or than the sins +of the whole world. He had sworn to Abraham to be the friend of +those foolish rebellious Jews, and he would keep his promise for +ever. Their wickedness could not conquer his goodness, or their +denying him make him deny himself. + +But one thing he did require of them. Not that they should turn and +do right all at once. That must come afterwards. But that they +should open their eyes, and see that they had done wrong. He wanted +to produce in them the humble and the contrite heart. + +Now, as I told you last Sunday, a contrite heart does not merely +mean a broken heart; it means more. It means literally a heart +crushed; a heart ground to powder. You can have no stronger word. + +It was this heart which God wished to breed in these rebellious +Jews. A heart like Isaiah's heart, when he said, after having seen +God's glory, 'Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell +among a people of unclean lips.' A heart like Jeremiah's heart, +when he said, 'Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a +fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of +the daughter of my people.' A heart like Daniel's heart, when he +confessed before God that, to him and all his people belonged shame +and confusion of face. + +Why do I mention these three men? They were not bad men, but good +men. What need had they of a contrite heart? + +I mention them, because they were good men. And why were they good +men? For any good works of their own? Not in the least. What made +them good men was, just the having the humble and the contrite +heart; just feeling that in themselves they were as bad as the +sinners round them; that the only thing which kept them out of the +idolatry and profligacy of their neighbours was confessing their own +weakness, and clinging fast to God by faith; confessing that their +own righteousness was as filthy rags, and that God must clothe them +with his righteousness. + +Do you suppose that Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel would have been +good men, if they had said to themselves, 'We are prophets; we are +inspired; we know God's law: and therefore we are righteous; we are +safe: but these people--these idolaters, these drunkards, these +covetous, tyrannous, profligate people round, to whom we preach, and +who know not the law--they are accursed.' If they had, they would +have said just what the Pharisees said afterwards. And what came of +their saying so? Instead of knowing the Lord Christ, when he came +they crucified him, showing that they were really worse at heart +than the ignorant common people, instead of better. + +No, my friends, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Daniel, were, better men +than those round them, just because they had the humble and contrite +heart; because they confessed that the root of sin was in them too, +as much as in their fellow-country men; because they took their +share of the public blame, their share of the public burden. + +And their work and wish was, to breed in their fellow-countrymen the +same humble and contrite heart which they had; to make them confess +that their only hope lay in turning back to God, and doing right. +But they could not succeed. Sin was too strong for them. So as +Isaiah had warned the Jews, God did the work himself. God took the +matter into his own hands, and arose out of his place to punish +those Jews, and to make short work with them, by famine, and +pestilence, and earthquake, and foreign invasion, till they were all +carried away captive to Babylon: to see if that would teach them to +know that God was the Lord; to see if that would breed in them the +humble and contrite heart. + +But God says to these poor Jews, Do not fancy that I have taken a +spite against you. Not so. I will not contend for ever. I will +not be always angry; for then the spirit would fail before me, and +the souls which I have made. I have made you, God says; and I love +you. I wish to save you, and not to destroy you. If God really +hated any man, do you suppose that he would endure that man for a +moment in his universe? Do you suppose that he would not sweep that +man away, as easily and as quickly as we do a buzzing gnat when it +torments us? Do you fancy that God lets you, or me, or any man, or +any creature live one single instant, except in the hope of saving +him, and of making him better than he is; of making him of some use, +somewhere, some day or other? Do you suppose, I say, that God +endures sinners one moment, save because he loves sinners, and +willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he should be converted +and live? No. 'God our Saviour,' says St. Paul to Timothy, +'willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of +the truth;' and therefore if they are not saved it must be their own +fault, and not God's; it must be they who will not be saved, though +God wills that they should be, as Isaiah goes on to show. For he +says--God cries to men, Peace! I create the fruit of the lips; that +is, I give men cause to thank me. I create it. I make it without +their help. I do not sell them my mercy. I give it them freely. I +say, Peace, peace, to them all, To him who is near, and him who is +afar off; peace to all mankind; peace on earth, and goodwill to men. +God is everlastingly at peace with himself, and at peace with all +his creatures, and with all his works; and he wills, in his +boundless love, to bring them all into his peace, the peace which +passeth understanding; that they may be at peace with him; and, +therefore at peace with themselves, and at peace with each other. + +But how can they be at peace, when there is no peace in them? If +they will do wrong; if they will quarrel; if they will defraud each +other; if they will give way to the lusts and passions which war +within them: how can they be at peace? They are like a troubled +sea, says Isaiah, when it cannot rest, which casts up mire and dirt; +and there is no peace to them. It is not God who casts up the mire +and dirt. It is they who cast it up. God has not made them +restless: but they themselves, with their pride, selfishness, +violent passions, longings after this and that. God has not made +them foul and dirty, but they themselves, with their own foul words +and foul deeds, which keep them from being at peace with themselves, +because they are ashamed of them all the while; which keep them from +being at peace with their neighbours; which make them hate and fear +their neighbours, because they know that their neighbours do not +respect them, or are afraid of their neighbours finding them out. + +What says brave, plain-spoken St. James?--'Let no man say when he is +tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, +neither tempteth he any man.' 'From whence come wars and fightings +among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your +members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and +cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask +not.' + +But as for God, he says, from him comes nothing but good. Do not +fancy anything else. 'Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good +gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the +Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of +turning. Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that +we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures.' + +My friends, all these things were written for our examples. God +grant that we may lay the lesson to heart. A dark night may come to +any one of us, a night of darkness upon darkness, and sorrow upon +sorrow, and bad luck upon bad luck; till we know not what is going +to happen next; and are ready to say with David--'All thy waves and +thy billows are gone over me;' and with Hezekiah--'I reckoned till +morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day +even to night wilt thou make an end of me.' + +God grant, that before that day comes, we may have so learnt to know +God, as to know that the billows are God's billows, and the storms +his storms; and, after a while, not to be afraid, though all earthly +hope and help seem swept away. God grant that when trouble comes +after trouble, we may be able to see that our Father in heaven is +only dealing with us as he dealt with those poor Jews; that he is +all the while saying 'Peace!' to us, whether we be near him, or far +off from him; and is ready to heal us, the moment that he has worked +in us the broken and contrite heart. And we may trust him that he +will do it. With him one day is as a thousand years. And in one +day of bitter misery he can teach us lessons, which we could not +teach ourselves in a thousand years of reading and studying, or even +of praying. But our prayers, we shall find, have not been in vain. +He has not forgotten one of them; and there is the answer, in that +very sorrow. In sorrow, he is making short work with our spirits. +In one terrible and searching trial our souls may be, as the Poet +says-- + + +Heated hot with burning fears, +And bathed in baths of hissing tears; +And battered by the strokes of doom. +To shape and use. + + +Yes. He will make short work at times with men's spirits. He +grinds hearts to powder, that they may be broken and contrite before +him: but only that he may heal them; that out of the broken +fragments of the hard, proud, self-deceiving heart of stone, he may +create a new and harder heart of flesh, human and gentle, humble and +simple. And then he will return and have mercy. He will show that +he will not contend for ever. He will show that he does not wish +our spirits to fail before him, but to grow and flourish before him +to everlasting life. He will create the fruit of the lips, and give +us cause to thank him in spirit and in truth. He will show us that +he was nearest when he seemed furthest off; and that just because he +is the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is +Holy, who dwelleth in the high and holy place, for that very reason +he dwells also with the humble and the contrite heart; because that +heart alone can confess his height and its own lowliness, confess +its own sin and his holiness; and so can cling to his majesty by +faith, and partake of his holiness by the inspiration of his Holy +Spirit. + +God grant that we may all so humble ourselves under his mighty hand, +whenever that hand lies heavy upon us, that he may raise us up in +due time, changed into his divine likeness, from glory to glory; +till we come to the measure of Christ, and to the stature of perfect +men, renewed into the image of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our +Lord! Amen. + + + +SERMON XVIII. ST. PETER + + + +Matt. xvi. 18. Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my +Church. + +This is St. Peter's day. It will be well worth our while to think a +little over St. Peter, and what kind of man he was. For St. Peter +was certainly one of the most important and most famous men who ever +lived in the whole world. You just heard what our Lord said to him +in the text. And certainly, from those words, and from many other +things which are told of St. Peter, he was the chief of the +apostles--at least till St. Paul arose. + +St. Paul says himself, that he had as much authority as St. Peter, +and that he was not a whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles: +but St. Peter, for some time after our Lord's death, seems to have +been looked up to, by the rest of the apostles and the disciples, as +their leader, the man of most weight and authority among them. It +was to St. Peter especially that our Lord looked to strengthen the +other apostles, after he had been converted himself. It was to St. +Peter that our Lord first revealed that great gospel, that the +Gentiles were fellow-heirs with the Jews in all God's promises. The +same thing was afterwards revealed to St. Paul too, and far more +fully: but it was St. Peter who had the great honour of baptizing +the first heathen; and of using, as our Lord had bid him do, the +keys of the kingdom of heaven, to open its doors to all the nations +upon earth. + +Now, what sort of a man was this on whom the Lord Jesus Christ put +so great an honour? If we say that St. Peter was nothing in +himself; that all the goodness and worth in him was given him by +Jesus Christ, then we must ask, what sort of goodness, what sort of +worth, did the Lord give St. Peter to make him fit for so great an +office? And how did he use Christ's gifts? For, mind, he might +have used them wrongly, as well as rightly; and the greater gifts he +had, the more harm he would have done if he had used them ill. We +shall see, presently, how he did use them ill, more than once; and +how our Lord had to reprove him, and say very stern and terrible +words to him, to bring him to his senses. + +But this we may see, that St. Peter was always a frank, brave, +honest, high-spirited man; who, if he thought that a thing ought to +be done, would do it at once. + +The first thing we hear of him is, how Jesus, walking by the Lake of +Galilee, saw Peter with his brother, casting a net into the sea, for +they were fishers. And he said unto them, 'Follow me, and I will +make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and +followed him.' This was most likely not the first time that St. +Peter had seen our Lord, or heard him speak. Living in the same +part of the country, he must have known all his miracles: but still +it was a great struggle, no doubt, for him (and doubly so because he +was a married man), to throw up his employment, and go wandering +after one who had not where to lay his head: yet he did it, and did +it at once. And you may see that he did it for a much higher and +nobler reason than if he had only gone to wonder at our Lord's +miracles, as the multitude did, or even to be able to work miracles +himself. Jesus did not say to him, Follow me, and I will give you +the power of working miracles, and being admired, and wondered at; +all he says is, I will make you fishers of men; I will make you able +to get a hold on men's hearts, and teach them, and make them happier +and better. And for that St. Peter followed him. It seems as if +from the first his wish was to do good to his fellow-creatures. + +And, gradually, he seems to have become the spokesman for the other +apostles. When they wished to ask our Lord anything, we generally +find St. Peter asking; and when (as in the gospel for to-day), our +Lord asks them a question, St. Peter answers for them all. Whom say +ye that I am? And Peter answered and said, 'Thou art the Christ, +the Son of the Living God.' + +This is what St. Peter had learnt; because he had kept his eyes and +his ears open, and his heart ready and teachable, that he might see +God's truth when it should please God to show it him; and God did +show it him: and taught him something which his own eyes and ears +could not teach him; which all his thinking could not have taught +him; which no _man_ could have taught him; flesh and blood could not +reveal to him that Jesus was the Son of God; flesh and blood could +not draw aside the veil of flesh and blood, and make him see in that +poor man of Nazareth, who was called the carpenter's son, the only- +begotten of the Father, God made man. No. God the Father only +could teach him that, by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit: but do +you think that God would have taught St. Peter that, or that St. +Peter could have learnt it, if his mind had been merely full of +thoughts about himself, and what honour he was to get for himself, +or what profit he was to get for himself, out of the Lord Jesus +Christ? + +No: St. Peter loved the Lord Jesus; loved him with his whole heart. +When afterwards our Lord asked him, 'Simon, son of Jonas, lovest +thou me?' He answered, 'Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.' And +because he loved him, he saw how beautiful and glorious the Lord's +character was; and his eyes were opened to see that the Lord was too +beautiful, too glorious, to be merely a mortal man; and, at last, to +see that he was the brightness of God's glory, and the express image +of his Father's person. + +But, as I said just now, St. Peter's great and excellent gifts might +have made him only the more dangerous man, if he used them ill. And +this seems to have been his danger. He was plainly a very bold and +determined man, who knew his own power, and was ready to use it +fearlessly: and what would he be tempted to do! To fancy that his +power belonged to him, and not to Christ; that his wisdom belonged +to himself; that his faith belonged to himself; his authority +belonged to himself; and that, therefore, he could use his excellent +gifts as he liked, and not merely as Christ liked. He was liable, +as we say in homely English, to 'have his head turned' by his honour +and his power. + +For instance, immediately after our Lord had put this great honour +on him, 'I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,' we +find Peter mistaking his power, and, therefore, misusing it. 'From +that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he +must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and +chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the +third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be +it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he +turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an +offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, +but those that be of men.' St. Peter's words, in the Greek tongue, +really seem to mean that St. Peter fancied that _he_ could protect +our Lord; that he had the power of delivering him, by binding his +enemies the Jews, and loosing the Lord himself. That seems to have +been the way in which he took our Lord's words: but what does our +Lord answer? As stern words as man could hear. 'Get thee behind +me, Satan; for thou art an offence unto me.' Or, rather, thou art +my stumbling-block. So that St. Peter, while he fancied himself +near to the angels, found out, to his shame, that he was behaving +like a devil, and had to be called Satan to his face; and that while +he thought he could save the Lord Jesus, he found that he was doing +all he could to harm and ruin his master; trying to do the very work +which the Devil tried to do, when he tempted the Lord Jesus in the +wilderness. So near beside each other do heaven and hell lie. So +easy is it to give place to the Devil, and fall into the worst of +sin, just when we are puffed up with spiritual pride. + +And more than once afterwards, St. Peter had to learn that same +lesson; when, for instance, he leaped boldly overboard from the +boat, and came walking towards Jesus on the sea. That was noble: +worthy of St. Peter: but he fancied himself a braver man than he +was. He became afraid; and the moment that he became afraid, he +began to sink. Jesus saved him, and then told him why he had become +afraid: because his faith had failed him. He had ceased trusting +in Christ's power to keep him up; and became helpless at once. + +That should have been a lesson to St. Peter, that he was not to be +so very sure of his own faith and his own courage; that without his +Lord he might become cowardly and helpless any moment: but he did +not take that gentle lesson; so he had to learn it once and for all +by a very terrible trial. We all know how he fell;--one day +protesting vehemently to his Lord, 'Though I die with thee, I will +not deny thee;' the next, declaring, with oaths and curses, 'I know +not the man.' No wonder that when Jesus turned and looked on him, +Peter went out and wept bitterly, as bitter tears of shame as ever +were shed on earth. For he knew, he was sure, that he loved his +Lord all along: and now he had denied him. He who was so bold and +confident, to fall thus! and into the very sins most contrary to his +nature! the very sins in which he would have expected least of all +to fall! He, so frank and honest and brave--He to turn coward. He +to tell a base lie! I dare say, that for the moment he could hardly +believe himself to be himself. + +But so it is, my friends. If we forget that all which is good and +strong in us comes from God, and not from ourselves; if we are +conceited, and confident in ourselves; then we cut ourselves off +from God's grace, and give place to Satan the Devil, that he may +sift us like wheat, as he did St. Peter; and then in some shameful +hour, we may find ourselves saying and doing things which we would +never have believed we could have done. God grant, that if ever we +fall into such unexpected sin, it may happen to us as it did to St. +Peter. For Satan gained little by sifting St. Peter. He sifted out +the chaff: but the wheat was left behind safe for God's garner. +The chaff was St. Peter's rashness and self-conceit, which came from +his own sinful nature; and that went, and St. Peter was rid of it +for ever. The wheat was St. Peter's courage, and faith, and honour, +which came from God; and that remained, and St. Peter kept them for +ever. That, we read, was St. Peter's conversion; that worked the +thorough and complete change in his character, and made him a new +man from that day forth. And then, after that terrible and fiery +trial, St. Peter was ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, +which gave him courage with fervent zeal to preach the gospel of his +Crucified Lord, and at last to be crucified himself for that Lord's +sake; and so fulfil the Lord's words to him. 'When thou wast young, +thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when +thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another +shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.' By that +our Lord seems to have meant, 'You were strong and proud and self- +willed enough in your youth. The day will come when you will be +tamed down, ready and willing to suffer patiently, even agony from +which your flesh and blood may shrink;' and the Lord's words came +true. For, say the old stories, when St. Peter was led to be +crucified, he refused to be crucified upright, as the Lord Jesus had +been, saying, 'That it was too great an honour for him, who had once +denied his Lord, to die the same death as his Lord died.' So he was +crucified, they say, with his head downward; and ended a glorious +life in a humble martyrdom. + +And what may we learn from St. Peter's character? I think we may +learn this. Frankness, boldness, a high spirit, a stout will, and +an affectionate heart; these are all God's gifts, and they are +pleasant in his eyes, and ought to be a blessing to the man who has +them. Ought to be a blessing to him, because they are the stuff out +of which a good, and noble, and useful Christian man may be made. +But they need not be a blessing to a man; they are _excellent_ +gifts: but they will not of themselves make a man an _excellent_ +man, who _excels_; that is, surpasses others in goodness. We may +see that ourselves, from experience. We see too many brave men, +free-spoken men, affectionate men, who come to shame and ruin. + +How then can we become excellent men, like St. Peter? By being +baptised, as St. Peter was, with the Holy Ghost and with fire. + +Baptized with the Holy Ghost, to put into our hearts good desires; +to make us see what is good, and love what is good, long to do good: +but baptized with fire also. 'He shall baptize you,' John the +Baptist said, 'with the Holy Ghost and with fire.' + +Does that seem a hard saying? Do not some at least of you know what +that means? Some know, I believe. All will know one day; for it is +true for all. To all, sooner or later, Christ comes to baptise them +with fire; with the bitter searching affliction which opens the very +secrets of their hearts, and shows them what their souls are really +like, and parts the good from the evil in them, the gold from the +rubbish, the wheat from the chaff. 'And he shall gather the wheat +into his garner, but the chaff he shall burn up with unquenchable +fire.' God grant to each of you, that when that day comes to you, +there may be something in you which will stand the fire; something +worthy to be treasured up in God's garner, unto everlasting life. + +But do not think that the baptism of fire comes only once for all to +a man, in some terrible affliction, some one awful conviction of his +own sinfulness and nothingness. No; with many--and those, perhaps, +the best people--it goes on month after month, year after year: by +secret trials, chastenings which none but they and God can +understand, the Lord is cleansing them from their secret faults, and +making them to understand wisdom secretly; burning out of them the +chaff of self-will and self-conceit and vanity, and leaving only the +pure gold of his righteousness. How many sweet and holy souls look +cheerful enough before the eyes of man, because they are too humble +and too considerate to intrude their secret sorrows upon the world. +And yet they have their secret sorrows. They carry their cross +unseen all day long, and lie down to sleep on it at night: and they +will carry it for years and years, and to their graves, and to the +Throne of Christ, before they lay it down: and none but they and +Christ will ever know what it was; what was the secret chastisement +which he sent to make that soul better, which seemed to us to be +already too good for earth. So does the Lord watch his people, and +tries them with fire, as the refiner of silver sits by his furnace, +watching the melted metal, till he knows that it is purged from all +its dross, by seeing the image of his own face reflected in it. God +grant that our afflictions may so cleanse our hearts, that at the +last Christ may behold himself in us, and us in himself; that so we +may be fit to be with him where he is, and behold the glory which +his Father gave him before the foundation of the world. + + + +SERMON XIX. ELIJAH + + + +(Tenth Sunday after Trinity.) + +1 Kings xxi. 19, 20. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus +saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? and +thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place +where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, +even thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine +enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold +thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. + +Of all the grand personages in the Old Testament, there are few or +none, I think, grander than the prophet Elijah. Consider his +strange and wild life, wandering about in forests and mountains, +suddenly appearing, and suddenly disappearing again, so that no man +knew where to find him; and, as Obadiah said when he met him, 'If I +tell my Lord, Behold, Elijah is here; then, as soon as I am gone +from thee, the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know +not.' Consider, again, his strange activity and strength, as when +he goes, forty days and forty nights, far away out of Judea, over +the waste wilderness, to Horeb the mount of God; or, as again, when +he girds up his loins, and runs before Ahab's chariot for many miles +to the entrance of Jezreel. One can fancy him from what the Bible +tells us of him, clearly enough; as a man mysterious and terrible, +not merely in the eyes of women and children, but of soldiers and of +kings. + +He seems to have been especially a countryman; a mountaineer; born +and bred in Gilead, among the lofty mountains and vast forests, full +of wild beasts, lions and bears, wild bulls and deer, which stretch +for many miles along the further side of the river Jordan, with the +waste desert of rocks and sand beyond them. A wild man, bred up in +a wild country, he had learnt to fear no man, and no thing, but God +alone. We do not know what his youth was like; we do not know +whether he had wife, or children, or any human being who loved him. +Most likely not. He seems to have lived a lonely life, in sad and +bad times. He seems to have had but one thought, that his country +was going to ruin, from idolatry, tyranny, false and covetous ways; +and one determination; to say so; to speak the truth, whatever it +cost him. He had found out that the Lord was God, and not Baal, or +any of the idols; and he would follow the Lord; and tell all Israel +what his own heart had told him, 'The Lord, he is God,' was the one +thing which he had to say; and he said it, till it became his name; +whether given him by his parents, or by the people, his name was +Elijah, 'The Lord is God.' 'How long halt ye between two opinions?' +he cries, upon the greatest day of his life. 'If the Lord be God, +then follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.' How grand he is, on +Carmel, throughout that noble chapter which we read last Sunday. +There is no fear in him, no doubt in him. The poor wild peasant out +of the savage mountains stands up before all Israel, before king, +priests, nobles, and people, and speaks and acts as if he, too, were +a king; because the Spirit of God is in him: and he is right, and +he knows that he is right. And they obey him as if he were a king. +Even before the fire comes down from heaven, and shows that God is +on his side, from the first they obey him. King Ahab himself obeys +him, trembles before him--'And it came to pass, when Ahab saw +Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? +And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy +father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the +Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim. Now therefore send, and gather +to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four +hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, +which eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent unto all the children of +Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.' The +tyrant's guilty conscience makes a coward of him: and he quails +before the wild man out of the mountains, who has not where to lay +his head, who stands alone against all the people, though Baal's +prophets are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the +groves four hundred, and they eat at the queen's table; and he only +is left and they seek his life:--yet no man dare touch him, not even +the king himself. Such power is there, such strength is there, in +being an honest and a God-fearing man. + +Yes, my friends, this was the secret of Elijah's power. This is the +lesson which Elijah has to teach us. Not to halt between two +opinions. If a thing be true, to stand up for it; if a thing be +right, to do it, whatsoever it may cost us. Make up your minds +then, my friends, to be honest men like Elijah the prophet of old. + +For your own sake, for your neighbour's sake, and for God's sake, be +honest men. + +For your own sake. If you want to be respected; if you want to be +powerful--and it is good to be powerful sometimes--if God has set +you to govern people, whether it be your children and household, +your own farm, your own shop, your own estate, your own country or +neighbourhood--Do you want to know the great secret of success?--Be +honest and brave. Let your word be as good as your thought, and +your deed as good as your word. Who is the man who is respected? +Who is the man who has influence? The complaisant man--the cringing +man--the man who cannot say No, or dare not say No? Not he. The +passionate man who loses his temper when anything goes wrong, who +swears and scolds, and instead of making others do right, himself +does wrong, and lowers himself just when he ought to command +respect? My experience is--not he: but the man who says honestly +and quietly what he thinks, and does fearlessly and quietly what he +knows. People who differ from him will respect him, because he acts +up to his principles. When they are in difficulty or trouble, they +will go and ask his advice, just because they know they will get an +honest answer. They will overlook a little roughness in him; they +will excuse his speaking unpleasant truths: because they can trust +him, even though he is plain-spoken. + +For your neighbour's sake, I say; and again, for your children's +sake; for the sake of all with whom you have to do, be honest and +brave. For our children--O my friends, we cannot do a crueller +thing by them than to let them see that we are inconsistent. If +they hear us say one thing and do another--if, while we preach to +them we do not practice ourselves, they will never respect us, and +never obey us from love and principle. If they do obey us, it will +be only before our faces, and from fear. If they see us doing only +what we like, when our backs are turned they will do what they like. + +And worse will come than their not respecting us--they will learn +not to respect God. If they see that we do not respect truth and +honesty, they will not respect truth and honesty; and he who does +not respect them, does not respect God. They will learn to look on +religion as a sham. If we are inconsistent, they will be profane. + +But some may say--'I have no power; and I want none. I have no +people under me for whom I am responsible.' + +Then, if you think that you need not be honest and brave for your +own sake, or for other peoples' sake, be honest and brave for God's +sake. + +Do you ask what I mean? I mean this. Recollect that truth belongs +to God. That if a thing is true, it is true because God made it so, +and not otherwise; and therefore, if you deny truth, you fight +against God. If you are honest, and stand up for truth, you stand +up for God, and what God has done. + +And recollect this, too. If a thing be right for you to do, God has +made it right, and God wills you to do it; and, therefore, if you do +not do your duty, you are fighting against God; and if you do your +duty, you are a fellow-worker with God, fulfilling God's will. +Therefore, I say, Be honest and brave for God's sake. And in this +way, my friends, all may be brave, all may be noble. Speak the +truth, and do your duty, because it is the will of God. Poor, weak +women, people without scholarship, cleverness, power, may live +glorious lives, and die glorious deaths, and God's strength may be +made perfect in their weakness. They may live, did I say? I may +say they have lived, and have died, already, by thousands. When we +read the stories of the old martyrs who, in the heathen persecution, +died like heroes rather than deny Christ, and scorned to save +themselves by telling what they knew to be a lie, but preferred +truth to all that makes life worth having:--how many of them--I may +say the greater part of them--were poor creatures enough in the eyes +of man, though they were rich enough, noble enough, in the eyes of +God who inspired them. 'Few rich and few noble,' as the apostle +says, 'were called.' It was to poor people, old people, weak women, +ill-used and untaught slaves, that God gave grace to defy all the +torments which the heathen could heap on them, and to defy the +scourge and the rack, the wild beasts and the fire, sooner than foul +their lips and their souls by denying Christ, and worshipping the +idols which they knew were nothing, and worth nothing. + +And so it may be with any of you here; whosoever you may be, however +poor, however humble. Though your opportunities may be small, your +station lowly, your knowledge little; though you may be stupid in +mind, slow of speech, weakly of body, yet if you but make up your +mind to say the thing which is true, and to do the thing which is +right, you may be strong with the strength of God, and glorious with +the glory of Christ. + +It is a grand thing, no doubt, to be like Elijah, a stern and bold +prophet, standing up alone against a tyrant king and a sinful +people; but it is even a greater thing to be like that famous martyr +in old time, St. Blandina, who, though she was but a slave, and so +weakly, and mean, and fearful in body, that her mistress and all her +friends feared that she would deny Christ at the very sight of the +torments prepared for her, and save herself by sacrificing to the +idols, yet endured, day after day, tortures too horrible to speak +of, without cry or groan, or any word, save 'I am a Christian;' and, +having outlived all her fellow-martyrs, died at last victorious over +pain and temptation, so that the very heathen who tortured her broke +out in admiration of her courage, and confessed that no woman had +ever endured so many and so grievous torments. So may God's +strength be made perfect in woman's weakness. + +You are not called to endure such things. No: but you, and I, and +every Christian soul are called on to do what we know to be right. +Not to halt between two opinions: but if God be God, to follow Him. +If we make up our minds to do that, we shall be sure to have our +trials: but we shall be safe, because we are on God's side, and God +on ours. And if God be with us, what matter if the whole world be +against us? For which is the stronger of the two, the whole world, +or God who made it, and rules it, and will rule it for ever? + + + +SERMON XX. THE LOFTINESS OF HUMILITY + + + +1 Peter v. 5. Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the +proud, and giveth grace to the humble. + +This is St. Peter's command. Are we really inclined to obey it? +For, if we are, there is nothing more easy. There is no vice so +easy to get rid of as pride: if one wishes. Nothing so easy as to +be humble: if one wishes. + +That may seem a strange saying, considering that self-conceit is the +vice of all others to which man is most given; the first sin, and +the last sin, and that which is said to be the most difficult to +cure. But what I say is true nevertheless. + +Whosoever wishes to get rid of pride may do so. Whosoever wishes to +be humble need not go far to humble himself. + +But how? Simply by being honest with himself, and looking at +himself as he is. + +Let a man recollect honestly and faithfully his past life; let him +recollect his sayings and doings for the past week; even for the +past twenty-four hours: and I will warrant that man that he will +recollect something, or, perhaps, many things which will not raise +him in his own eyes; something which he had sooner not have said or +done; something which, if he is a foolish man, he will try to +forget, because it makes him ashamed of himself; something which, if +he is a wise man, he will not try to forget, just because it makes +him ashamed of himself; and a very good thing for him that he should +be so. I know that it is so for me; and therefore I suppose it is +so for every man and woman in this Church. + +I am not going to give any examples. I am not going to say,-- +'Suppose you thought this and this about yourself, and were proud of +it; and then suppose that you recollected that you had done that and +that: would you not feel very much taken down in your own conceit?' + +I like that personal kind of preaching less and less. Those random +shots are dangerous and cruel; likely to hit the wrong person, and +hurt their feelings unnecessarily. It is very easy to say a hard +thing: but not so easy to say it to the right person and at the +right time. + +No. The heart knoweth its own bitterness. Almost every one has +something to be ashamed of, more or less, which no one but himself +and God knows of; and which, perhaps, it is better that no one but +he and God should know. + +I do not mean any great sin, or great shame--God forbid; but some +weak point, as we call it. Something which he had better not say or +do; and yet which he is in the habit of saying and doing. I do not +ask what it is. With some it may be a mere pardonable weakness; +with others it may be a very serious and dangerous fault. All I ask +now is, that each and every one of us should try and find it out, +and feel it, and keep it in mind; that we may be of a humble spirit +with the lowly, which is better than dividing the spoil with the +proud. + +But why better? + +The world and human nature look up to the proud successful man. One +is apt to say, 'Happy is the man who has plenty to be proud of. +Happy is the man who can divide the spoil of this world with the +successful of this world. Happy is the man who can look down on his +fellow-men, and stand over them, and manage them, and make use of +them, and get his profit out of them.' + +But that is a mistake. That is the high-mindedness which goes +before a fall, which comes not from above, but is always earthly, +often sensual, and sometimes devilish. The true and safe high- +mindedness, which comes from above, is none other than humility. +For, if you will look at it aright, the humble man is really more +high-minded than the proud man. Think. Suppose two men equal in +understanding, in rank, in wealth, in what else you like, one of +them proud, the other humble. The proud man thinks--'How much +better, wiser, richer, more highly born, more religious, more +orthodox, am I than other people round me.' Not, of course, than +all round him, but than those whom he thinks beneath him. Therefore +he is always comparing himself with those below himself; always +watching those things in them in which he thinks them worse, meaner +than himself; he is always looking down on his neighbours. + +Now, which is more high-minded; which is nobler; which is more fit +for a man; to look down, or to look up? At all events the humble +man _looks up_. He thinks, 'How much worse, not how much better, am +I than other people.' He looks at their good points, and compares +them with his own bad ones. He admires them for those things in +which they surpass him. He thinks of--perhaps he loves to read of-- +men superior to himself in goodness, wisdom, courage. He pleases +himself with the example of brave and righteous deeds, even though +he fears that he cannot copy them; and so he is always looking up. +His mind is filled with high thoughts, though they be about others, +not about himself. If he be a truly Christian man, his thoughts +rise higher still. He thinks of Christ and of God, and compares his +weakness, ignorance, and sinfulness with their perfect power, +wisdom, goodness. Do you not see that this man's mind is full of +higher, nobler thoughts than that of the proud man? Is he not more +high-minded who is looking up, up to God himself, for what is good, +noble, heavenly? Even though it makes him feel small, poor, weak, +and sinful in comparison, still his mind is full of grace, and +wisdom, and glory. The proud man, meanwhile, for the sake of +feeding his own self-conceit at other men's expense, is filling his +mind with low, mean, earthly thoughts about the weaknesses, sins, +and follies, of the world around him. Is not he truly low-minded, +thinking about low things? + +Now, I tell you, my friends, that both have their reward. That the +humble man, as years roll on, becomes more and more noble, and the +proud man becomes more and more low-minded; and finds that pride +goes before a fall in more senses than one. Yes. There is nothing +more hurtful to our own minds and hearts than a domineering, +contemptuous frame of mind. It may be pleasant to our own self- +conceit: but it is only a sweet poison. A man lowers his own +character by it. He takes the shape of what he is always looking +at; and, if he looks at base and low things, he becomes base and low +himself; just as slave-owners, all over the world, and in all time, +sooner and later, by living among slaves, learn to copy their own +slaves' vices; and, while they oppress and look down on their +fellow-man, become passionate and brutal, false and greedy, like the +poor wretches whom they oppress. + +Better, better to be of a lowly spirit. Better to think of those +who are nobler than ourselves, even though by so doing we are +ashamed of ourselves all day long. What loftier thoughts can man +have? What higher and purer air can a man's soul breathe? Yes, my +friends; believe it, and be sure of it. The truly high-minded man +is not the proud man, who tries to get a little pitiful satisfaction +from finding his brother men, as he chooses to fancy, a little +weaker, a little more ignorant, a little more foolish, a little more +ridiculous, than his own weak, ignorant, foolish, and, perhaps, +ridiculous self. Not he; but the man who is always looking upwards +to goodness, to good men, and to the all-good God: filling his soul +with the sight of an excellence to which he thinks he can never +attain; and saying, with David, 'All my delight is in the saints +that dwell in the earth, and in those who excel in virtue.' + +But I do not say that he cannot attain to that excellence. To the +goodness of God, of course, no man can; but to the goodness of man +he may. For what man has done, man may do; and the grace of God +which gave power to one man to rise above sin, and weakness, and +ignorance, will give power to others also. But only to those who +look upward, at better men than themselves: not to those who look +down, like the Pharisee, but to those who look up like the Publican; +for, as the text says, 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to +the humble.' + +And why does God resist and set himself against the proud? To turn +him out of his evil way, of course, if by any means he may be +converted (that is, turned round) and live. For the proud man has +put himself into a wrong position; where no immortal soul ought to +be. He is looking away from God, and down upon men; and so he has +turned his face and thoughts away from God, the fountain of light +and life; and is trying to do without God, and to stand in his own +strength, and not in God's grace, and to be somebody in himself, +instead of being only in God, in whom we live and move and have our +being. So he has set himself against God; and God will, in mercy to +that foolish man's soul, set himself against him. God will humble +him; God will overthrow him; God will bring his plans to nought; if +by any means he may make that man ashamed of himself, and empty him +of his self-conceit, that he may turn and repent in dust and ashes, +when he finds out what those proud Laodicaean Christians of old had +to find out--that all the while that they were saying, 'I am rich, +and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,' they did not +know that they were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, +and naked. + +And how does God give grace to the humble? My friends, even the +wise heathen knew that. Listen to a heathen; {328} a good and a +wise man, though; and one who was not far from the kingdom of God, +or he would not have written such words as these,-- + +'It is our duty,' he says, 'to turn our minds to the best of +everything; so as not merely to enjoy what we read, but to be +improved by it. And we shall do that, by reading the histories of +good and great men, which will, in our minds, produce an emulation +and eagerness, which may stir us up to imitation. We may be pleased +with the work of a man's hands, and yet set little store by the +workman. Perfumes and fine colours we may like well enough: but +that will not make us wish to be perfumers, or painters: but +goodness, which is the work, not of a man's hands, but of his soul, +makes us not only admire what is done, but long to do the like. And +therefore,' he says, he thought it good to write the lives 'of +famous and good men, and to set their examples before his +countrymen. And having begun to do this,' he says in another place, +'for the sake of others, he found himself going on, and liking his +labour, for his own sake: for the virtues of those great men served +him as a looking-glass, in which he might see how, more or less, to +order and adorn his own life. Indeed, it could be compared,' he +says, 'to nothing less than living with the great souls who were +dead and gone, and choosing out of their actions all that was +noblest and worthiest to know. What greater pleasure could there be +than that,' he asks, 'or what better means to improve his soul? By +filling his mind with pictures of the best and worthiest characters, +he was able to free himself from any low, malicious, mean thoughts, +which he might catch from bad company. If he was forced to mix at +times with base men, he could wash out the stains of their bad +thoughts and words, by training himself in a calm and happy temper +to view those noble examples.' So says the wise heathen. Was not +he happier, wiser, better, a thousand times, thus keeping himself +humble by looking upwards, than if he had been feeding his petty +pride by looking down, and saying, 'God, I thank thee that I am not +as other men are?' + +If you wish, then, to be truly high-minded, by being truly humble, +read of, and think of, better men, wiser men, braver men, more +useful men than you are. Above all, if you be Christians, think of +Christ himself. That good old heathen took the best patterns which +he could find: but after all, they were but imperfect, sinful men: +but you have an example such as he never dreamed of; a perfect man, +and perfect God in one. Let the thought of Christ keep you always +humble: and yet let it lift you up to the highest, noblest, purest +thoughts which man can have, as it will. + +For all that this old heathen says of the use of examples of good +men, all that, and far more, St. Paul says, almost in the same +words. By looking at Christ, he says, we rise and sit with him in +heavenly places, and enjoy the sight of His perfect goodness; +ashamed of ourselves, indeed, and bowed to the very dust by the +feeling of our own unworthiness; and yet filled with the thought of +his worthiness, till, by looking we begin to admire, and, by +admiring, we begin to love; and so are drawn and lifted up to him, +till, by beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and the +perfect beauty of his character, we become changed into the same +image, from glory to glory: and thus, instead of receiving the just +punishment of pride and contempt, which is lowering our characters +to the level of those on whom we look down, we shall receive the +just reward of true humility, which is having our characters raised +to the level of him up to whom we look. + +Oh young people, think of this; and remember why God has given you +the advantage of scholarship and education. Not that you may be +proud of the very little you know; not that you may look down on +those who are not as well instructed as you are; not that you may +waste your time over silly books, which teach you only to laugh at +the follies and ignorance of some of your fellow-men, to whom God +has not given as much as to you; but that you may learn what great +and good men have lived, and still live, in the world; what wise, +and good, and useful things have been, and are being, done all +around you; and to copy them: above all, that you may look up to +Christ, and through Christ, to God, and learn to copy him; till you +come, as St. Paul says, to be perfect men; to the measure of the +stature of the fulness of Christ. To which may he bring you all of +his mercy. Amen. + + + +SERMON XXI. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD + + + +(Trinity Sunday.) + +John v. 19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, 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. + +This is Trinity Sunday; and on this day we are especially to think +of the mystery of the ever-blessed Trinity, and on the Athanasian +Creed, which was read this morning. Now there is much in this +Athanasian Creed, which simple country people, however good their +natural abilities may be, cannot be expected to understand. The +Creed was written by scholars, and for scholars; and for very deep +scholars, too, far deeper than I pretend to be; and the reasonable +way for most men to think of the Athanasian Creed, will be to take +it very much upon trust, as a child takes on trust what his father +tells him, even though he cannot understand it himself; or, as we +all believe, that the earth moves round the sun, and not the sun +round the earth, though we cannot prove it; but only believe it, +because wiser men than we have proved it. So we must think of the +Athanasian Creed, and say to ourselves--'Wiser men than I can ever +hope to be have settled that this is the true doctrine, and the true +meaning of Holy Scripture, and I will believe them. They must know +best.' Still, one is bound to understand as much as one can; one is +bound to be able to give some reason for the faith which is in us; +and, above all, one is bound not to hold false doctrines, which are +contrary to the Athanasian Creed and to the Bible. + +Some people are too apt to say now-a-days, 'But what matter if one +does hold false doctrine? That is a mistake of the head and not of +the heart. Provided a man lives a good life, what matter what his +doctrines are?' No doubt, my friends, if a man lives a good life, +all is well: but _do_ people live good lives? I am not speaking of +infidels. Thank God, there are none here; to God let us leave them, +trusting in the Good Friday collect, and the goodwill of God, which +is, that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. + +But, as for Christian people, this I will tell you, that unless you +hold true doctrines, you will _not_ lead good lives. My experience +is, that people are often wrong, when they say false doctrine is a +mistake of the head and not of the heart. I believe false doctrine +is very often not bred in the head at all, but in the heart, in the +very bottom of a man's soul; that it rises out of his heart into his +head; and that if his heart was right with God, he would begin at +once to have clearer and truer notions of the true Christian faith. +I do not say that it is always so; God forbid! But I do say that it +is often so, because I see it so; because I see every day false +doctrines about God making men lead bad lives, and commit actual +sins; take God's name in vain, dishonour their fathers and mothers, +lie, cheat, bear false witness against their neighbours, and covet +other men's goods. I say, I see it, and I must believe my own eyes +and ears; and when I do see it, I begin to understand the text which +says, 'This is eternal life, to know thee, the only God, and Jesus +Christ, whom thou hast sent;' and I begin to understand the +Athanasian Creed, which says, that if a 'man does not believe +rightly the name of God, and the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus +Christ, he will perish everlastingly; his soul will decay more and +more, become more and more weak, unhealthy and corrupt, till he +perishes everlastingly. And whatsoever that may mean, it must mean +something most awful and terrible, worse than all the evil which +ever happened to us since we were born. + +There is a very serious example of this, to my mind, in what is +called the Greek Church; the Greeks and Russians. They split off +from the rest of Christ's Catholic Church, many hundred years ago, +because they would not hold with the rest of the Church that the +Holy Spirit proceeded from the Son as well as from the Father. They +said that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father alone. Now that +may seem a slight matter of words: but I cannot help thinking that +it has been a very solemn matter of practice with them. It seems to +me--God forgive me if I am judging them hardly!--that because they +denied that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Son, they forgot that +he was the Spirit of the Son, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, by whom he +says for ever, 'Father, not my will but thine be done!' and so they +forgot that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Sonship, the Spirit of +adoption, which must proceed and come from Christ to us, that we may +call God our Father, and say with Christ, 'Father, I come to do thy +will;' and so, in course of time, they seem to have forgotten that +Christian men were in any real practical sense, God's children; and +when people forget that they are God's children, they forget soon +enough to behave like God's children, and to live righteous and +Godlike lives. + +I give you this as an example of what I mean; how not believing +rightly the Athanasian Creed may make a man lead a bad life. + +Now let me give an example nearer home; one which has to do with you +and me. God grant that we may all lay it to heart. You read, in +the Athanasian Creed, that we are not to confound the persons of the +Trinity, nor divide the substance; but to believe that such as the +Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost, the Glory +equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Now there is little fear of our +confounding the persons, as some people used to do in old times; but +there is great fear of our dividing God's substance, parting God's +substance, that is, fancying that God is made up of different parts, +and not perfectly one God. + +For people are very apt to talk as if God's love and God's justice +were two different things, different parts of God; as if his justice +had to be satisfied in one way, and his love in another; as if his +justice wished to destroy sinners, and his love wished to save +sinners; and so they talk as if there was a division in God; as if +different attributes of God were pulling two different ways, and +that God has parts of which one desires to do one thing, and one +part another. It sounds shocking, I am sure you will feel, when I +put it into plain English. I wish it to sound shocking. I wish you +to feel how wrong and heretical it is; that you may keep clear of +such notions, and believe the orthodox faith, that God has neither +parts nor passions, nor division in his substance at all, but is +absolutely and substantially one; and that, therefore, his love and +his justice are the very same things; his justice, however severe it +may seem, is perfect love and kindness; and his love is no +indulgence, but perfect justice. + +But you may say--Very likely that is true; but why need we take so +much care to believe it? + +It is always worth while to know what is true. You are children of +the Light, and of the Truth, adopted by the God of truth, that you +may know the truth and do it, and no mistake or falsehood can, by +any possibility, do anything for you, but harm you. Always, +therefore, try to find out and believe what is true concerning +everything; and, above all, concerning God, on whom all depend, in +whom you live, and move, and have your being. For all things in +heaven and earth depend on God; and, therefore, if you have wrong +notions about God, you will sooner or later have wrong notions about +everything else. + +For see, now, how this false notion of God's justice and love being +different things, leads people into a worse error still. A man goes +on to fancy, that while God the Son is full of love towards sinners, +God the Father is (or at least was once) only full of justice and +wrath against sinners; but if a man thinks that God the Son loves +him better than God the Father does, then, of course, he will love +God the Son better than he loves God the Father. He will think of +Christ the Son with pleasure and gratitude, because he says to +himself, Christ loves me, cares for me; I can have pity and +tenderness from him, if I do wrong. While of God the Father he +thinks only with dread and secret dislike. Thus, from dividing the +substance, he has been led on to confound the persons, imputing to +the Son alone that which is equally true of the Father, till he +comes (as I have known men do) to make for himself, as it were, a +Heavenly Father of Jesus Christ the Son. + +Now, my dear friends, it does seem to me, that if anything can +grieve the Spirit of Christ, and the sacred heart of Jesus, this is +the way to grieve him. Oh read your Bibles, and you will see this, +that whatever Jesus came down on earth for, it certainly was not to +make men love him better than they love the Father, and honour him +more than they honour the Father, and rob the Father of his glory, +to give it to Jesus. What did the Lord Jesus say himself? That he +did not come to seek his own honour, or shew forth his own glory, or +do his own will: but his Father's honour, his Father's glory, his +Father's will. Though he was equal with the Father, as touching his +Godhead, yet he disguised himself, if I may so say, and took on him +the form of a servant, and was despised and rejected of men. Why! +That men might honour his Father rather than him. That men might +not be so dazzled by his glory, as to forget his Father's glory. +Therefore he bade his apostles, while he was on earth, tell no man +that he was the Christ. Therefore, when he worked his work of love +and mercy, he took care to tell the Jews that they were not his +works, but the works of his Father who sent him; that he was not +doing his own will, but his Father's. Therefore he was always +preaching of the Father in heaven, and holding him up to men as the +perfection of all love and goodness and glory: and only once or +twice, it seems, when he was compelled, as it were, for very truth's +sake, did he say openly who he was, and claim his co-equal and co- +eternal glory, saying, 'Before Abraham was, I am.' + +And, after all this, if anything can grieve him now, must it not +grieve him to see men fancying that he is better than his Father is, +more loving and merciful than his Father is, more worthy of our +trust, and faith, and adoration, and gratitude than his Father is?-- +His Father, for whose honour he was jealous with a divine jealousy-- +His Father, who, he knows well, loved the world which shrinks from +him so well that he spared not his only begotten Son, but freely +gave him up for it. + +Oh, my friends, believe me, if any sin of man can add a fresh thorn +to Christ's crown, it is to see men, under pretence of honouring +him, dishonouring his Father. For just think for once of this--What +nobler feeling on earth than the love of a son to his father? What +greater pain to a good son than to see his father dishonoured, and +put down below him? But what is the love of an earthly son to an +earthly father, compared to the love of The Son to the Father? What +is the jealousy of an earthly son for his father's honour, compared +with the jealousy of God the Son for God the Father's honour? + +All men, the Father has appointed, are to honour the Son, even as +they honour the Father. Because, as the Athanasian Creed says, +'such as the Father is, such is the Son.' But, if that be true, we +are to honour the Father even as we honour the Son; because such as +the Son is, such is the Father. Both are true, and we must believe +both; and therefore we must not give to Christ the honour which we +should to a loving friend, and give to the Father the honour which +we should to an awful judge. We must give them both the same +honour. If we have a godly fear of the Father, we ought to have a +godly fear of Christ; and if we trust Christ, we ought to trust the +Father also. We must believe that Jesus Christ, the Son, is the +brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his +person; and therefore we must believe that because Jesus is love, +therefore the Father is love; because Jesus is long-suffering, +therefore the Father is long-suffering; because Jesus came to save +the world, therefore the Father must have sent him to save the +world, or he would never have come; for he does nothing, he says, of +himself. Because we can trust Jesus utterly, therefore we can trust +the Father utterly. Because we believe that the Son has life in +himself, to give to whomsoever he will, we must believe that the +Father has life in himself likewise, and not, as some seem to fancy, +only the power of death and destruction. Because nothing can +separate us from the love of Jesus, nothing can separate us from the +love of his Father and our Father, whose name is Light and Love. + +If we believe this, we shall indeed honour the Father, and indeed +honour the Son likewise. But if we do not, we shall dishonour the +Son, while we fancy we are honouring him: we shall rob Christ of +his true glory, to give him a false glory, which he abhors. If we +fancy that he does anything for us without his Father's commands; if +we fancy that he feels anything for us which his Father does not +feel, and has not always felt likewise: then we dishonour him. For +his glory is to be a perfectly good and obedient Son, and we fancy +him--may he forgive us for it!--a self-willed Son. This is Christ's +glory, that though he is equal with his Father, he obeys his Father. +If he were not equal to his Father, there would be less glory in his +obeying him. Take away the mystery of the ever-blessed Trinity, and +you rob Christ of his highest glory, and destroy the most beautiful +thing in heaven, except one. The most beautiful and noble thing of +all in heaven--that (if you will receive it) out of which all other +beautiful and noble things in heaven and earth come, is the Father +for ever saying to the Son, 'Thou art my Son; this day have I +begotten thee. And in thee I am well pleased.' The other most +beautiful thing is the co-equal and co-eternal Son for ever saying +to the Father, 'Father, not my will, but thine be done. I come to +do thy will, O God. Thy law is written in my heart.' + +Do you not see it? Oh, my dear friends, I see but a very little of +it. Who am I, that I should comprehend God? And who am I, that I +should be able to make you understand the glory of God, by any dull +words of mine? But God can make you understand it. The Spirit of +God can and will shew you the glory of God. Because he proceedeth +from the Father, he will shew you what the glory of the Father is +like. Because he proceedeth from the Son, he will shew you what the +glory of the Son is like. Because he is consubstantial, co-equal, +and co-eternal with the Father and the Son, he will shew you that +the glory of the Father and the Son is not the glory of mere power; +but a moral and spiritual glory, the glory of having a perfectly +glorious, noble, and beautiful character. And unless he shews you +that, you will never be thoroughly good men. For it is a strange +thing that men are always trying, more or less, to be like God. And +yet, not a strange thing; for it is a sign that we all came from +God, and can get no rest till we are come back to God, because God +calls us all to be his children and be like him. A blessed thing it +is, if we try to be like the true God: but a sad and fearful thing, +if we try to be like some false god of our own invention. But so it +is. It was so even among the old heathen. Whatsoever a man fancies +God to be like, that he will try himself to be like. So if you +fancy than God the Father's glory is stern and awful power, that he +is extreme to mark what is done amiss, or stands severely on his own +rights, then you will do the same; you will be extreme to mark what +is done amiss; you will stand severely on your rights; you will grow +stern and harsh, unfeeling to your children and workmen, and fond of +shewing your power, just for the sake of shewing it. But if you +believe that the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is all +one; and that it is a loving glory if you believe that such as Jesus +Christ is, such is his Father, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, +and of great kindness, and repenting him of the evil; if you believe +that your Father in heaven is perfect, just because he sendeth his +sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the +just and on the unjust, and is good to the unthankful and the evil-- +if you believe this, I say, then you will be good to the unthankful +and the evil; you will be long-suffering and tender; good fathers, +good masters, good neighbours; and your characters will become +patient, generous, forgiving, truly noble, truly godlike. And all +because you believe the Athanasian Creed in spirit and in truth. + +In like manner, if you believe that Jesus Christ is not a perfect +Son; if you fancy that he has any will but his Father's will; that +he has any work but what his Father gives him to do, who has +committed all things into his hands; that he knows anything but what +his Father sheweth him, who sheweth him all things, because he +loveth him; then you will be tempted to wish for power and honour of +your own; to become ambitious, self-willed, vain, and disobedient to +your parents. + +But if you believe that Jesus is a perfect Son, all that you would +wish your son to be to you, and millions of times more; and if you +believe that that very thing is Christ's glory; that his glory +consists in being a perfect Son, perfectly obedient, having no will +or wish but his Father's; then will you, by thus seeing Christ in +spirit and in truth, see how beautiful and noble it is to be good +sons; and you will long to try to be good sons: and what you long +for, and try for, you will surely be, in God's good time; for he has +promised,--'Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after +righteousness: for they shall be filled.' And all through +believing the Athanasian Creed? All? Yes, all. + +But will not the Holy Spirit teach us, without the Athanasian Creed? + +The Holy Spirit will teach us. Must teach us, if we are really to +learn one word of all this in spirit and in truth. But whether the +Holy Spirit does teach us, will depend, I fear, very much upon +whether we pray for him; and whether we pray for him aright will +depend on whether we know who he is, and what he is like; and that, +again, the Athanasian Creed will tell us. + +Now, go home with God's blessing. Remember that such as the Son is, +such is the Father, and such is the Holy Ghost. Pray to be made +good fathers, after the likeness of The Father, from whom every +fatherhood in heaven and earth is named; good sons, after the +likeness of God The Son; and good and holy spirits, after the +likeness of The Holy Spirit; and you will be such at last, in God's +good time, as far as man can become like God; for you will be +praying for the Holy Spirit himself, and he will hear you, and come +to you, and abide with you, and all will be well. + + + +SERMON XXII. THE TORMENT OF FEAR + + + +(First Sunday after Trinity.) + +1 John iv. 16, 18. And we have known and believed the love that God +hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in +God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may +have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we +in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth +out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made +perfect in love. + +The text tells us how to get one of the greatest blessings; a +blessing which all long for, but all do not find; and that is a +happy death. All wish to die happily; even bad men. Like Balaam +when he was committing a great sin, they can say, 'Let me die the +death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.' But +meanwhile, like Balaam, they find it too hard to live the life of +the righteous, which is the only way to die the death of the +righteous. But something within them (if false preachers will but +leave them alone) tells them that they will not succeed. Reason and +common sense tell them so: for how can a man expect to get to a +place without travelling the road which leads to it? And the Spirit +of God, the Spirit of truth and right, tells them that they will not +succeed: for how can a man win happiness, save by doing right? +Every one shall 'receive the things done in his body, according to +that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.' So says Scripture; +and so say men's own hearts, by the inspiration of God's Holy +Spirit. And therefore such men's fear of death continues. And why? +The text tells us the secret. As long as we do not love God, we +shall be tormented with fear of death. And as long as we do not +love our neighbour, we shall not love God. We may try, as thousands +have tried, and as thousands try still, to love God without loving +their neighbour; to be very religious, and worship God, and sing His +praises, and think over all His mercy to them, and all that he has +done for them, by the death of His blessed Son Jesus Christ; and so +to persuade themselves and God that they love Him, while they keep +in their hearts selfishness, pride, spite, uncharitableness: but +they do not succeed. If they think they succeed, they are only +deceiving themselves. So says St. John. 'He who loveth not his +brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not +seen?' But they cannot deceive themselves long. You will see, if +you watch such people, and still more if you watch yourselves, that +if you do not love your neighbours in spirit and in truth, then +those tormenting fears soon come back again, worse than ever. Ay, +whenever we indulge ourselves in hard words and cruel judgments, the +thought of God seems darkened to us there and then; the face of God +seems turned from us; and peace of mind and brightness of spirit, +and lightness of soul, do not come back to us, till we have +confessed our sins, and have let the kindly, the charitable, the +merciful thoughts rise up in us once more, as, by the grace of +Christ, they will rise up. + +Yes, my friends, as far as I can see, people are filled with the +peace of God just in as far as they are at peace with their fellow- +men. They are bright, calm, and content, looking forward with +cheerfulness to death, and with a humble and holy boldness to +judgment, just in as far as their hearts are filled with love, +gentleness, kindness, to all that God has made. They dwell in God, +and God in them, and perfect love has cast out fear. + +But if a man does not live in love, then sooner or later he will +hear a voice within him, which whispers, Thou art going wrong; and, +if thou art going wrong, how canst thou end at the right place? +None but the right road can end there. The wrong road must lead to +the wrong place. + +Then the man gets disturbed and terrified in his mind, and tormented +with fears, as the text says. He knows that the day of judgment is +coming, and he has no boldness to meet it. He shrinks from the +thought of death, of judgment, of God. He thinks--How shall I meet +my God? I do not love my neighbour. I do not love God; and God +does not love me. The truth is, that the man cannot love God even +if he will. He looks on God as his enemy, whom he has offended, who +is coming to take vengeance on him. And, as long as we are afraid +of any one, and fancy that they hate us, and are going to hurt us, +we cannot love them. So the man is tormented with fear; fear of +death, fear of judgment, fear of meeting God. + +Then he takes to superstition; he runs from preacher to preacher; +and what not?--There is no folly men have not committed, and do not +commit still, to rid themselves of that tormenting fear. But they +do not rid themselves of it. Sermons, church-goings, almsgivings; +leaving the Church and turning Dissenters or Roman Catholics; +joining this sect and that sect; nothing will rid a man of his +superstitious fear: nothing but believing the blessed message of +the text. + +And what does the text say? It says this,--'God is love.' God does +not hate thee, He loves thee. He willeth not thy death, O sinner, +but rather that thou shouldest turn from thy wickedness and live. +Thy sins have not made Him hate thee: but only pity thee; pity thy +folly, which will lead on the road to death, when He wishes to put +thee on the road to life, that thou mayest have boldness in the day +of judgment, instead of shrinking from God like a guilty coward. +And what is the way of life? Surely the way of Christ, who _is_ the +life. Live like Him, and thou wilt not need to fear to die. So +says the text. We are to have boldness in the day of judgment, +because as Christ is, so are we in this world. And how was, and is, +and ever will be, Christ in this world? Full of love; of brotherly- +kindness, charity, forgiveness, peace, and good will to men. That, +says St. John, is the life which brings a joyful death; for God is +love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. + +Oh consider this, my good friends. Consider this; lest when you +come to die the ghosts of all your sins should rise up at your +bedside, and torment you with fear--the ghosts of every cruel word +which you ever spoke against your fellow men; of every kind action +which you neglected; as well as of every unjust one which you ever +committed. And, if they do rise up in judgment against you, what +must you do? + +Cast yourself upon the love of God, and remember that God is love, +and so loved us that He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our +sins. Ask Him to forgive you your sins, for the sake of that +precious blood which was shed on the cross: but not that you may +keep your sins, and may escape the punishment of them. God forbid. +What use in having your past sins forgiven, if the sinful heart +still remains to run up fresh sins for the future? No. Ask Him not +merely to forgive the past, but to mend the future; to create in you +a new heart, which wishes no ill to any human being, and a right +spirit, which desires first and utterly to do right, and is filled +with the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of love, by which God made +and redeemed the world, and all that therein is. + +So will all tormenting fears cease. You will feel yourself in the +right way, the way of charity, the way in which Christ walked in +this world, and have boldness in the day of judgment, facing death +without conceit, indeed, but also without superstitious fear. + + + +SERMON XXIII. THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT + + + +(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.) + +Romans viii. 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the +flesh, to live after the flesh; for if ye live after the flesh, ye +shall die. + +What does walking after the flesh mean? St. Paul tells us himself, +in Gal. v., where he uses exactly the same form of words which he +does here. 'The works of the flesh,' he says, 'are manifest.' When +a man gives way to his passions and appetites--when he cares only +about enjoying his own flesh, and the pleasures which he has in +common with the brutes, then there is no mistake about the sort of +life which he will lead--'Now the works of the flesh are manifest, +which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, +idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, +seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and +such like.' An ugly list, my friends; and God have mercy on the man +who gives way to them. For disgraceful as they are to him, and +tormenting also to him in this life, the worst is, that if he gives +way to them, he will die. + +I do not mean that he will bring his mortal body to an untimely end; +that he will ruin his own health; or that he will get himself +hanged, though that is likely enough--common enough. I think St. +Paul means something even worse than that. The man himself will +die. Not his body merely: but his soul, his character, will die. +All in him that God made, all that God intended him to be, will die. +All that his father and mother loved in him, all that they watched +over, and hoped and prayed that it might grow up into life, in order +that he might become the man God meant him to be, all that will die. +His soul and character will become one mass of disease. He will +think wrong, feel wrong, about everything of which he does think and +feel: while, about the higher matters, of which every man ought to +know something, he will not think or feel at all. Love to his +country, love to his own kinsfolk even; above all, love to God, will +die in him, and he will care for nothing but himself, and how to get +a little more foul pleasure before he goes out of this world, he +dare not think whither. All power of being useful will die in him. +Honour and justice will die in him. He will be shut up in himself, +in the ugly prison-house of his own lusts and passions, parted from +his fellow-men, caring nothing for them, knowing that they care +nothing for him. He will have no faith in man or God. He will +believe no good, he will have no hope, either for himself or for the +world. + +This, this is death, indeed; the death of sin; the death in which +human beings may go on for years, walking, eating, and drinking; +worse than those who walk in their sleep, and see nothing, though +their eyes are staring wide. + +Oh pitiable sight! The most pitiable sight in the whole world, a +human soul dead and rotten in sin! It is a pitiable sight enough, +to see a human body decayed by disease, to see a poor creature +dying, even quietly and without pain. Pitiable, but not half so +pitiable as the death of a human soul by sin. For the death of the +body is not a man's own fault. But that death in life of sin, is a +man's own fault. In a Christian country, at least, it is a man's +own fault, if he goes about the world, as I have seen many a one go, +having a name to live, and yet dead in trespasses and sins, while +his soul only serves to keep his body alive and moving. How shall +we escape this death in life? St. Paul tells us, 'If ye through the +Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.' + +Through the Spirit. The Spirit of God and of Christ. Keep that in +mind, for that is the only way, the right way, to mortify and kill +in us these vices and passions, which, unless we kill them, will +kill us. The only way. For men have tried other ways in old times, +do try other ways now: but they fail. I could mention many plans +which they have tried. But I will only mention the one which you +and I are likely to try. + +A young man runs wild for a few years, as young men are too apt to +do: but at last he finds that ill-living does not _pay_. It hurts +his health, his pocket, his character. He makes himself ill; he +cannot get employed; he has ruin staring him in the face, from his +wild living. He must mend. If he intends to keep out of the +workhouse, the gaol, the grave, he must mortify the deeds of the +body. He must bridle his passions, give up lying about, drinking, +swearing, cheating, running after bad women: and if he has a strong +will, he does it from mere selfish prudence. But is he safe? I +think not, as long as he loves still the bad ways he has given up. +He has given them up, not because he hates them, because he is +ashamed of them, because he knows them to be hateful to God, and +ruinous to his own soul: but because they do not pay. The man +himself is not changed. His heart within is not converted. The +outside of his life is whitewashed; but his heart may be as foul as +ever; as full as ever of selfishness, greediness, meanness. And +what happens to him? Too often, what happened to the man in the +parable, when the unclean spirit went out of him, and came back +again. The unclean spirit found his home swept and garnished: but +empty. All very neat and respectable: but empty. There was no +other spirit dwelling there. No good spirit, who could fight the +unclean spirit and keep him out. So he took to himself seven other +spirits worse than himself--hypocrisy, cant, cunning, covetousness, +and all the smooth-shaven sins which beset middle-aged and elderly +men; and they dwell there, and so does the unclean spirit of youth +too. + +Alas! How often have I seen men whom that description would fit but +too well--men who have kept themselves respectable till they have +got back their character in the world's eyes: and when they get +into years, and have risen perhaps in life, and made money, are +looked up to by their fellows: but what are they at heart? As +great scoundrels as they were thirty years before--cunning, false, +covetous, and hypocritical--and indulging, perhaps, the unclean +spirit of youth, as much as they dare without being found out. God +help them! for their last state is worse than their first. But that +is the fruit of trying to mortify and kill their own vices by mere +worldly prudence, and not by the Spirit of God, which alone can +cleanse the heart of any man, or make him strong enough really to +conquer and kill his sins. + +And what is this spirit of God? We may know in this way. What says +our Lord in the Gospel? 'The tree is known by its fruits.' Then if +we know the fruits of the Spirit, we shall surely know something at +least of what the Spirit is like. What then says St. Paul, 'The +fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, +goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.' Therefore the Spirit is a +loving spirit--a peaceable, a gentle, a good, a faithful, a sober +and temperate spirit. And if you follow it, you will live. If you +give yourselves up honestly, frankly, and fully, to be led by that +good spirit, and obey it when it prompts you with right feelings, +you, your very self, will live. You will be what God intended you +to be; you will grow as God intended you to grow; grow as Christ +did, in grace; in all which is graceful, amiable, worthy of respect +and love; and therefore in favour with God and man. Your character +will improve and strengthen day by day; and rise day by day to +fuller, stronger, healthier spiritual life. You will be able more +and more to keep down low passions, evil tempers, and all the works +of the flesh, when they tempt you; you will despise and hate them +more and more; for having seen the beauty of goodness, you will see +the ugliness of sin. So the bad passions and tempers, instead of +being merely put to sleep for a while to wake up all the stronger +for their rest, will be really mortified and killed in you. They +will die out of you; and you, the real _you_ whom God made, will +live and grow continually. And, instead of having your character +dragged down, diseased, and at last ruined, it will rise and +progress, as you grow older, in the sure and safe road of eternal +life. To which God bring us all in his mercy! Amen. + + + +SERMON XXIV. THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAMMON + + + +(Ninth Sunday after Trinity.) + +Luke xvi. 1-8. And he said also unto his disciples, There was a +certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto +him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto +him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy +stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward +said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from +me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am +resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, +they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of +his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest +thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he +said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. +Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An +hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill and +write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because +he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their +generation wiser than the children of light. + +This parable has always been considered a difficult one to +understand. Fathers and Divines, in all ages, have tried to explain +it in different ways; and have never, it seems to me, been satisfied +with their own explanations. They have always felt it strange, that +our Lord should seem to hold up, as an example to us, this steward +who, having been found out in one villainy, escapes, (so it seems, +from the common explanation) by committing a second. They have not +been able to see either, how we are really to copy the steward. Our +Lord says, that we are to copy him by making ourselves friends of +the Mammon of unrighteousness: but how? By giving away a few alms, +or a great many? Does any rational man seriously believe, that if +his Mammon was unrighteous, that is, if his wealth were ill-gotten, +he would save his soul, and be received into eternal life, for +giving away part of it, or even the whole of it? + +No doubt, there always have been men who will try. Men who, having +cheated their neighbours all their lives, have tried to cheat the +Devil at last, by some such plan as the unjust steward's, but that +plan has never been looked on as either a very honourable or a very +hopeful one. I think, that if I had been an usurer or a grinder of +the poor all my life, I should not save my soul by founding +almshouses with my money when I died, or even ten years before I +died. It might be all that I was able to do: but would it justify +me in the sight of God? That which saves a soul alive is +repentance; and of repentance there are three parts, contrition, +confession, and satisfaction--in plain English, making the wrong +right, and giving each man back, as far as one can, what one has +taken from him. To each man, I say; for I have no right to rob one +man and then give to another. I ought to give back again to the man +whom I have robbed. I have no right to cheat the rich for the sake +of the poor; and after I have cheated the rich, I do not make +satisfaction, either to god or man, by giving that money to the +poor. Good old Zaccheus, the publican, knew better what true +satisfaction was like. He had been gaining money not altogether in +an unjust way, but in a way which did him no credit; he had been +farming the taxes, and he was dissatisfied with his way of life. +Therefore, Behold, Lord, he says, the half of my goods, of what I +have a right to in the world's eyes--what is my own, and I could +keep if I liked--I give to the poor. But if I have done wrong to +any man, I restore to him fourfold. Then said the Lord, 'This day +is salvation come to this man's house; forsomuch as he also is a son +of Abraham;' a just and faithful man, who knows what true repentance +is. + +But now, my friends, suppose that this was just what our Lord tells +us to do in this parable. Suppose that this was just what the +unjust steward did. I only say, suppose; for I know that more +learned men than I explain the difficulty otherwise. Only I ask you +to hear my explanation. + +The steward is accused of wasting his lord's goods. + +He will be put out of his stewardship. + +He goes to his lord's debtors, and bids them write themselves down +in debt to him at far less sums than they had thought that they +owed. + +Now, suppose that these debtors were the very men whom he had been +cheating. Suppose that he had been overcharging these debtors; and +now, in his need, had found out that honesty was the best policy, +and charged them what they really owed him. They were, probably, +tenants under his lord, paying their rents in kind, as was often the +custom in the East. One rented an olive garden, and paid for it so +many measures of oil; another rented corn-land, and paid so many +measures of meal. Now suppose that the steward, as he easily might, +had been setting these poor men's rents too high, and taking the +surplus himself. That while he had been charging one tenant a +hundred, he had been paying to his lord only fifty, and so forth. + +What does he do, then, in his need? He does justice to his lord's +debtors. He tells them what their debts really are. He sets their +accounts right. Instead of charging the first man a hundred, he +charges him fifty; instead of charging the second a hundred, he +charges him eighty; and he does not, as far as we are told, conceal +this conduct from his lord. He rights them as far as he can now. +So he shews that he honestly repents. He has found out that honesty +is the best policy; that the way to make true friends is to deal +justly by them; and, if he cannot restore what he has taken from +them already (for I suppose he had spent it), at least to confess +his sin to them, and to set the matter right for the time to come. + +This, I think, is what our Lord bids us do, if we have wronged any +man, and fouled our hands with the unrighteous mammon, that is, with +ill-gotten wealth. And I think so all the more from the verses +which come after. For, when he has said, 'Make yourselves friends +of the mammon of unrighteousness,' he goes on in the very next verse +to say, 'He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful +also in that which is much. If, therefore, ye have not been +faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust +the true riches?' Now, surely, this must have something to do with +what goes before. And, if it has, what can it mean but this--that +the way to make friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, is to +be faithful in it, just in it, honest in it? + +But some one may say, If mammon be unrighteous, how can a man be +righteous and upright in dealing with it? If money be a bad thing +in itself, how can a man meddle with it with clean hands? + +So some people will say, and so some will be glad to say. But why? +Because they do not want to be righteous, upright, just, and honest +in their money dealings; and, therefore, they are glad to make out +that they could not be upright if they tried; because money being a +bad thing altogether, a man must needs, if he has to do with money, +do things which he knows are wrong. I say some people are glad to +believe that. I do not mean any one in this congregation. God +forbid! I mean in the world in general. We do see people, +religious people too, do things about money which they know are +mean, covetous, cruel, and then excuse themselves by saying,--'Well, +of course I would not do so to my own brother; but, in the way of +business, one can't help doing these things.' Now, I do not quite +believe them. I have seldom seen the man who cheated his neighbour, +who would not cheat his own brother if he had a chance: but so they +say. And, if they be religious people, they will quote Scripture, +and say,--Ah! it is the fault of the unrighteous mammon; and, in +dealing with the unrighteous mammon, we cannot help these little +failings, and so forth: till they seem to have two quite different +rules of right and wrong; one for the saving of their own souls, +which they keep to when they are hearing sermons, and reading good +books; and the other for money, which they keep to when they have to +pay their debts or transact business. + +Now, my dear friends, be not deceived: God is not mocked. God +tempts no man. Man tempts himself by his own lusts and passions. +God does not tempt us when he gives us money, puts us in the way of +earning money, or spending money. Money is not bad in itself; +wealth is not bad in itself. If mammon be unrighteous, we make +money into mammon, when we make an idol of it, and worship it more +than God's law of right and justice. We make it unrighteous, by +being unrighteous, and unjust ourselves. + +Money is good; for money stands for capital; for money's worth; for +houses, land, food, clothes, all that man can make; and they stand +for labour, employment, wages; and they stand for human beings, for +the bodily life of man. Without wealth, where should we be now? If +God had not given to man the power of producing wealth, where should +we be now? Not here. Four-fifths of us would not have been alive +at all. Instead of eight hundred people in this parish, all more or +less well off, there would be, perhaps, one hundred--perhaps far +less, living miserably on game and roots. Instead of thirty +millions of civilized people in Great Britain, there would be +perhaps some two or three millions of savages. Money, I say, stands +for the lives of human beings. Therefore money is good; an +ordinance and a gift of God; as it is written, 'It is God that +giveth the power to get wealth.' But, like every other good gift of +God, we may use it as a blessing; or we may misuse it, and make it a +snare and a curse to our own souls. If we let into our hearts +selfishness and falsehood; if we lose faith in God, and fancy that +God's laws are not well-made enough to prosper us, but that we must +break them if we want to prosper; then we turn God's good gift into +an idol and a snare; into the unrighteous Mammon. + +It is not the quantity of money we have to deal with which is the +snare, it is our own lusts and covetousness which are the snares. +It is just as easy to sell our souls for five pounds as for five +thousand. It is just as easy to be mean and tricky about paying +little debts of a shilling or two, as it is about whole estates. I +do not see that rich people are at all more unjust about money than +poor ones; and if any say: Yes, but the poor are tempted more than +the rich; I answer, then look at those who are neither poor nor +rich; who have enough to live on decently, and are not tempted as +the poor are, to steal, or tempted as the rich are, to luxury and +extravagance. Are they more honest than either rich or poor? Not a +whit. All depends on the man's heart. If his heart be selfish and +mean, he will be dishonest as a poor man, as a middle-class man, as +a great lord. If his heart be faithful and true, he will be honest, +whether he lives in a cottage or in a palace. Any man can do +justly, and love mercy, if his heart be right with God. I have seen +day-labourers who had a hard struggle to live at all, keep out of +debt, and out of shame, and live in a noble poverty, rich in the +sight of God, because their hearts were rich in goodness. I have +seen tradesmen and farmers, among all the temptations of business, +keep their honour as bright as any gentleman's--brighter than too +many gentlemen's, because they had learnt to fear God and work +righteousness. I have seen great merchants and manufacturers, +because that they were their brothers' keepers, spread not only +employment, but comfort, education, and religion, among the hundreds +of workmen whom God had put into their charge. I have seen great +landowners live truly royal lives, doing with all their might the +good which their hand found to do; and, after the likeness of their +heavenly Father, causing their sun to shine on the evil and on the +good, and their rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. Yes; in +every station of life, thy dealings will be right with men, if thy +heart be right with God. + +Yes. Let us bear in mind this--that whatever we cannot be, we can +at least be honest men. Let us go to our graves, if possible, with +the feeling that there is not a man on earth, a penny the worse for +us. And if we have ever fouled our hands with the unrighteous +Mammon, let us cleanse them by the only possible plan, by making +restitution to those whom we have wronged; and so make friends of +the Mammon of unrighteousness, who shall forgive us, and receive us +as friends in heaven, instead of making enemies, and going out of +the world with the fearful thought, that we shall meet at God's +judgment-seat people whom we have made miserable, who will rise up +to accuse us, and demand payment of us when it is too late for ever. + +Let us bear in mind, even though we cannot copy, the dying words of +Muhammed the Arab, who, when he found his end draw near, went forth +into the market-place, and asked before all the people, 'Was there +any man whom he had wronged? If so, his own back should bear the +stripes. Was there any man to whom he owed money? and he should be +paid.' 'Yes,' cried some one, 'those coins which you borrowed from +me on such a day.' 'Pay him,' said Muhammed: 'better to be shamed +now on earth, than shamed in the day of judgment.' He was a +heathen. And shall we Christians be worse than he? Then let us +pray for the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, which will +make us faithful and true; so that no man may be the worse for us in +this life; no man may have to say of us, when he hears that we lie +dying, 'He wronged me, he cheated me, he lied to me; God forgive +him:' but that our friends, as they carry us to the grave, may feel +that they have lost one whom they could respect and trust; and say, +as the earth rattles in upon the coffin lid, 'There lies an honest +man.' + + + +SERMON XXV. THE SIGHS OF CHRIST + + + +(Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.) + +Mark vii. 34, 35. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith +unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears +were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake +plain. + +Why did the Lord Jesus look up to heaven? And why, too, did he +sigh? + +He looked up to heaven, we may believe, because he looked to God the +Father; to God, of whom the glorious collect tells us, that he is +more ready to hear than we to pray, and is wont to give more than +either we desire or deserve. He looked up to the Father, who is the +fountain of life, of order, of health, of usefulness; who hates all +death, disease, infirmity; who wills that none should perish, body +or soul. + +My friends, think of these cheering words; and try to look up to God +the Father, as Christ looked up. Look up to him I say, if but once, +as a Father. Not merely as your Father, but as the Father of the +spirits of all flesh; the good God who creates, and delights to +create; who orders all worlds and heavens with perfect wisdom, +perfect power, perfect justice, perfect love; and peoples them with +immortal souls and spirits, that they may be useful, happy, blessed, +in keeping his laws, and doing the work which he has ordained for +them. Oh think, if but once, of God the perfect and all-loving +Father; and then you will know why Jesus looked up to him. + +And you will see, too, why Jesus sighed. He sighed because he was +one with the Father. He sighed because he had the mind of God. +Because God, the Lord of health and order, hates disease and +disorder. Because God, the Lord of bliss and happiness, hates +misery and sorrow. Because God made the world at first very good; +and, behold, by man's sin, it has become bad. + +Why did he sigh? Surely, also, from pity for the poor man. His +infirmity was no such great one; he had an impediment in his speech, +and with it, as many are apt to have, deafness also: but it was an +infirmity. It was a disease. It was something out of order, +something gone wrong in God's world; and as such, Christ could not +abide it; he grieved over it. He sighed because there was sickness +in a world where there ought to be nothing but health, and sorrow +where there ought to be nothing but happiness. He sighed, because +man had brought this sickness and sorrow on himself by sin; for, +remember, man alone is subject to disease. The wild animal in the +wood, the bird upon the tree, seldom or never know what sickness is; +seldom or never are stunted or deformed. They live according to +their nature, healthy and happy, and die in a good old age. While +man--Why should I talk of what man is, of how far man is fallen from +what God the Father meant him to be, while one hundred thousand +corpses of brave men are now fattening the plains of Italy for next +year's crop; while even in our favoured land, we find at every turn +prisons and reformatories, lunatic asylums, hospitals for numberless +kinds of horrible diseases; sickness, weakness, and death all round +us? Only look up yonder to Windsor Forest, and see the vast +building now in progress there before your eyes, for lunatic +convicts--the most miserable, perhaps, and pitiable of human +beings,--and let that building be a sign to you, how far man is +fallen, and what cause Jesus had to sigh, and has to sigh still, +over the miseries of fallen man. + +Yes, my friends, not without reason did the old heathen poet, who +had no sure and certain hope of everlasting life, say, that man was +the most wretched of all the beasts of the field; not without reason +did St. Paul say, that if in this life only we have hope in Christ, +then the Christian man, who dare not indulge his passions and +appetites, dare not say, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die: +but must curb himself, and give up his own pleasure and his own +fancy at every turn, is of all men most miserable. + +If Christ's work is done; if his mercy and help ended when he died +upon the cross; if all he did was to heal the sick for three short +years in Judea a long while ago: then what have we to which we can +look forward? What hope have we, not merely for ourselves, who are +here now, but for all the millions who have died and suffered +already? Yes: what reasonable hope for mankind can they have, who +do not believe that Christ is Very God of Very God, the perfect +likeness of the heavenly Father? + +But what if that which was true of him then, is true of him now? +What if he be the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever? What if he +be ascended on high, that he might fill all things with his almighty +power, and declare that almighty power most chiefly by shewing mercy +and pity? What if he be for ever looking up to his Father and our +Father, to his God and our God, interceding for ever for mankind; +for ever offering up to the Father that sacrifice of himself which +he perfected upon the Cross, for the sins of the whole world? What +if he be for ever sighing over every sin, every sorrow, every +cruelty, every injustice, over all things, great and small, which go +wrong throughout the whole world; and saying for ever, 'Father, this +is not according to thy will. Let thy will be done on earth, as in +heaven.' And what, if he does not look up in vain, nor sigh in +vain? What if the will of God the Father be, that sin and sorrow, +disease and death, being contrary to his will and law, should be at +last rooted out of this world, and all worlds for ever? What if +Christ have authority and commission from God to fight against all +evil, sin, disease, and death, and all the ills which flesh is heir +to; and to teach men to fight them likewise, till they conquer them +by his might, and by his light? What if he reigns, and will reign, +till he has put all enemies under his feet, and he has delivered up +the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all? +What if the day shall come, when all the nations of the earth shall +thus see Christ's good works, and glorify his Father and their +Father who is in heaven? and by obeying the Law of their being, and +the commandment of God, which is life eternal, shall live for ever +in that glory, of which it is written, that a river of water of life +shall proceed out of the throne of God and of the Lamb; and the +leaves of the trees which grow thereby shall be for the healing of +the nations; and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God +and of the Lamb shall be in the city of God, and his servants shall +serve him; and the Lord God shall give them light; and they shall +reign for ever and ever. + +What those words mean I know not, and hardly dare to think: but as +long as those words stand in the Bible, we will have hope. For God +the Father, who willeth that none should perish, and Jesus the only- +begotten Son, who sighed over the poor man's infirmity in Judea, are +the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. + + + +SERMON XXVI. THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA + + + +(Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, 1856.) + +2 Kings xviii. 9-12. And it came to pass in the fourth year of King +Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of +Israel, that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against Samaria, +and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even +in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king +of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry +away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the +river of Gozon, and in the cities of the Medes: because they obeyed +not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, +and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not +hear them, nor do them. + +These are very simple words: but they are awful words enough. +Awful enough to the poor creatures of whom they speak. You here, +most of you, can hardly guess all that these words mean. You may +thank God that you do not. That you do not know the horrors of war, +and the misery of a conquered country, in old times. + +To lose all they had ever earned; all that makes life worth having. +To have their homes burnt over their heads, their crops carried off +their fields. To see their women dishonoured, their old men and +children murdered--to be insulted, beaten, and tortured to make them +tell where their money was hidden; and after they and theirs had +suffered every unspeakable shame and misery from the hands of brutal +enemies, to be stripped, bound, and marched away, for hundreds of +miles across the deserts, into the cold and dreary mountains of the +north of Assyria, there to live and die as slaves, and never again +to see their native land. And such a land as it was, and is still: +or rather might be still, if there were men in it worthy the name of +men. For of all countries in the world, that land of Israel is one +of the most rich and beautiful. The climate and the soil there is +such, that two crops can often be grown in the year, of almost any +kind which man may need; there are rich valleys well watered, where +not only wheat and every grain-crop, but the olive, and the fig, and +the vine, flourish in perfection; rich park-like uplands, where +sheep and cattle without number may find pasture; great forests of +timber, fit for every use; and all kept cool and fruitful, even +beneath that burning eastern sun, by the clear streams which flow +for ever down from Hermon. the great snow-mountain ten thousand feet +high, which overlooks that pleasant land. There is hardly, +travellers say, a lovelier or richer country upon earth, than the +land of Israel, from Hebron on the south to Hermon on the north; nor +a country which might have been stronger, and safer, and more +prosperous, if these Jews had been but wise. + +It is, so to speak, one great castle, rising most of it two thousand +feet high, and walled in by God in a way as is seen hardly in any +other land. On the west lies the sea; on the south and on the east +vast wildernesses of sandy desert; and on the north, the mighty +mountains of Hermon and Lebanon, which no invading army could have +crossed, if the Jews had had courage to keep them out. And that, +the noble and divine Law of Moses would have given them. It would +have made them one free, brave, God-fearing people, at unity with +itself; and the promise of Moses would have been fulfilled--that one +of them should chase a thousand, and no man or nation be able to +stand against them. In David's time, and in Solomon's time also, +that promise came true; and that small people of the Jews became a +very powerful nation, respected and feared by all the kingdoms +round. + +But when they fell into idolatry, and forsook the true God, and his +law: all was changed. Idolatry brought sin, and sin brought bad +passions, hatred, division, weakness, ruin. + +The first beginning was, the breaking up of the nation into two;-- +the kingdom of Judah to the south, the kingdom of Israel to the +north. And with that division came envy, spite, quarrels; wars +between Israel and Judah, which were but madness. For what could +come of those two brother-nations fighting against each other, but +that both should grow weaker and weaker, and so fall a prey to some +third nation stronger than them both? The ruin of the kingdom of +Israel, of which the text tells us, arose out of some unnatural +quarrel of this kind. Pekah, the king of Israel, had made friends +with the heathen king of Syria, and got him to join in making war on +Judah: and a fearful war it was; for the Israelites, according to +one account, killed in that war a hundred and twenty thousand of the +Jews, men of their own blood and language, all Abraham's descendants +as well as they. On which, Ahaz, king of Judah, not to be behind- +hand in folly, sent to the heathen king of Assyria to help him, just +as the king of Israel had sent to the king of Damascus. He had +better have been dead than to have done that. For those terrible +Assyrians, who had set their hearts on conquering the whole east, +were standing by, watching all the little kingdoms round tearing +themselves to pieces by foolish wars, till they were utterly weak, +and the time was ripe for the Assyrians to pounce upon them. The +king of Assyria came. He swept away all the heathen people of +Damascus, and killed their king. But he did not stop there. In a +very few years, he came on into the land of Israel, besieged Samaria +for three years, and took it, and carried off the whole of the +inhabitants of the country; and there was an end of that miserable +kingdom of Israel, which had been sinking lower and lower ever since +the days of Jeroboam. This was the natural outcome of all their sin +and folly, of which we have been reading for the last few Sundays. + +Elijah's warnings had been in vain, and Elisha's warnings also. +They liked, at heart, Ahab's and Jezebel's idolatries better than +they did the worship of the true God. And why? Because, if they +worshipped God, and kept his laws, they must needs have been more or +less good men, upright, just, merciful, cleanly and chaste livers: +while, on the other hand, they might worship their idols, and +nevertheless be as bad as they chose. Indeed, the very idol-feasts +and sacrifices were mixed up with all sorts of filthy sin, +drunkenness and profligacy; so that it is a shame even to speak of +the things which went on, especially at those sacrifices to +Ashtaroth, the queen of heaven, of which they were so fond. They +choose the worse part, and refused the better; and they were filled +with the fruit of their own devices, as every unrepenting sinner +surely will be. + +But did the Jews of Judea and their king escape, who had thus +brought the king of Assyria down to murder their own countrymen, and +lay that fair land waste? Not they. A very few years more, the +Assyrians were back again, and overran Judea itself, laying the +country waste with fire and sword, till nothing was left to them, +but the mere city of Jerusalem. And so they, too, were filled with +the fruit of their own devices. In their madness they had destroyed +their brethren, the people of Israel, who ought to have been a +safeguard for them to the north; now there was nothing and no man to +prevent the Assyrians, or any other invaders, from pouring right +down into their land. Truly says Solomon, 'He that diggeth a pit, +shall fall into it, and he who breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall +bite him.' From that day, Judah became weaker and weaker, standing +all alone. Good king Hezekiah, good king Josiah, could only stave +off her ruin for a few years; a little while longer, and her cup was +full too, and the Babylonians came and swept the Jews away into +captivity, as the Assyrians had swept away Israel, and that fair +land lay desolate for many a year. + +The king of Assyria, we read, after he had carried away the people +of Israel, brought heathens from Assyria, and settled them in the +Holy Land, instead of the Israelites. But the Lord sent lions among +them, we read; the land, I suppose, lying waste, the wild beasts +increased, and became very dangerous: so these poor ignorant +settlers sent to the king of Assyria, to beg for a Jewish priest, to +teach them, as they said, the manner of the god of that land, that +they might worship him, and not be terrified by the lions any more. +It was a simple, confused notion of theirs: but it brought a +blessing with it; for the king of Assyria sent them one of the +Jewish priests who had been carried away from Samaria; and he came +and lived at Beth-el, and taught them to fear the Lord. So these +poor people got some confused notion of the one true God: but they +mixed it up sadly with their old heathen idolatry, and made gods of +their own, and some of them even burnt their children in the fire, +to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim, from which +town they had come. And so they went on for several hundred years, +marrying with the remnant of the Israelites who were left behind, +and worshipping idols and the true God at the same time. Now these +people are the Samaritans, of whom you read so often in the New +Testament. The Jews, when they came back, hated and despised the +Samaritans, and would not speak to them, eat with them, trade with +them, because they were only half-blooded Jews, and did not observe +Moses' law rightly; and so they were left to themselves: but as +time went on, they seemed to have got rid of their old idolatry, and +built themselves a temple on Mount Gerizim, by Samaria, in Jacob's +old haunts, by Jacob's well, and there worshipped they knew not +what. But still they did their best. And their reward came at +last. + +Many a hundred years had passed away. The proud Pharisees of +Jerusalem were still calling them dogs and infidels; when there came +to that half-heathen city of Samaria such a one as never came there +before or since; and yet had been very near that place, and those +poor Samaritans, for a thousand years. + +And being wearied with his journey, he sat down upon the edge of +Jacob's well, by Joseph's tomb. The well is still there, choked +with rubbish to this very day; and Joseph's tomb by it, all in +ruins, among broad fields of corn. And on the edge of that well he +sat. Along the very road which was before him, Jeroboam, and Ahab, +and many a wicked king of Israel, had gone in old times, travelling +between Shechem and Samaria: along that road the terrible Assyrians +had marched back to their own land, leading strings of weeping +prisoners out of their pleasant native land, to slavery and misery +in the far North. He knew it all; and doubt not that he thought +over it all, as never man thought on earth. Doubt not that his +heart yearned over these poor ignorant Samaritans, and over the +sinful woman who came to draw water at the well. After all, half- +heathens as they were, Jacob's blood was in their veins; and if not, +were they not still human beings? They were worshipping they knew +not what: but still they were worshipping the best which they knew. + +'Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye +shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the +Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for +salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the +true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: +for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit: and +they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The +woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called +Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith +unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. . . . So when the Samaritans +were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: +and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his +own word; and said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of +thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is +indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.' + +Oh, my friends, despise no man; for Christ despises none. He is no +respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth God and +worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Despise no man; for by +so doing you deny the Father, who has made of one blood all nations +of men to dwell on the earth, and has appointed them their times, +and the bounds of their habitation; if haply they may feel after +him, and find him: though he be not far from any of us; for in him +we live and move and have our being, and are the offspring of God. +For hundreds of years those poor ignorant Samaritans had felt after +him; in that foreign land to which the cruel Assyrian conqueror had +banished them: but it was God who had appointed them their +habitation there, and their time also; and, in due time, they found +God: for he came to them, and found them, and spoke with them face +to face. + +Better to have been one of those ignorant Samaritans, than to have +been King Ahab, or King Hoshea, in all their glory, with all their +proud Jewish blood. Better to have been one of those ignorant +Samaritans than one of those conceited Pharisees at Jerusalem, who, +while they were priding themselves on being Abraham's children, and +keeping Moses' law, ended by crucifying him who made Abraham, and +Moses, and his law, and them themselves. Better to be the poorest +negro slave, if, in the midst of his ignorance and misery and shame, +he believes in Christ, and works righteousness, than the cleverest +and proudest and freest Englishman, if, in the midst of his great +light, he works the works of darkness, and, while he calls himself a +child of God, lives the sinful life, on which God's curse lies for +ever. + +So you who have many advantages, take warning by the fate of those +foolish Jews, who knew a great deal, and yet did not do it, and so +came to shame and ruin. And you who have few advantages, take +comfort by those poor Samaritans, who knew a very little, and yet +made the best of it, and so at last saw a great light, after sitting +in darkness for so long. Schools, books, church-going, ordinances +of all kinds, they are good. If you can get them, use them, and +thank God for them: but remember, God does not ask for learning, +but for goodness and holiness: he does not ask for knowledge, but +for a right life. And do not fancy, that because your children have +a good education now, and you had none, that God does not love you +as well as he loves them. His mercy is over all his works; and the +promises are to you as well as to your children. There is many a +poor soul who never read a book in her life, who is nearer God than +many a great scholar, and fine preacher, and learned divine. All +Christ asks of you is, to receive him when he comes to you; and to +love, and thank, and admire him, and try to be like him, because he +will make you like him: while for the rest to whom little is given, +of him shall little be required; and to him who uses what he has, be +it little or much, more shall be given, and he shall have abundance. +For God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, he that +feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted by him. + + + +SERMON XXVII. THE INVASION OF THE ASSYRIANS + + + +(Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Morning.) + +2 Kings xix. 15-19. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, +O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art +the Lord, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou +hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: +open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, +which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, +the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, and +have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the +work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed +them. Now, therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us +out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that +thou art the Lord God, even thou only. + +This noble story, which we read in Church every year, seems to have +had a great hold on the minds of the Jews. They plainly thought it +a very important story. For it is told three times over in the +Bible: first in the Book of Kings, then in the Book of Chronicles, +and again in that of the Prophet Isaiah. Indeed, many chapters of +Isaiah's prophecies speak altogether of this invasion of the +Assyrians and their destruction. But what has this story to do with +us, you may ask? There are no miracles in our day. We can expect +no angels to fight for our armies. We must fight for ourselves. + +True, my friends: but the lesson of these old stories, the moral of +them stands good for ever. And I am thankful that this very story +is appointed to be read publicly in church once a year, to put us in +mind of many things, which all men are too apt to forget. + +For instance: to learn one lesson out of many which this chapter +may teach us. We are too apt to think that peace and prosperity are +the only signs of God's favour. That if a nation be religious, it +is certain to thrive and be happy. But it is not so. We find from +history that the times in which nations have shewn most nobleness, +most courage, most righteousness, most faith in God, have been times +of trouble, and danger, and terror. When nations have been invaded, +persecuted, trampled under foot by tyrants, then all the good which +was in them has again and again shewed itself. Then to the +astonishment of the world they have become greater than themselves, +and done deeds which win them glory for ever. Then they are truly +purged in the fire of affliction, that whatever dross and trash is +in their hearts may be burnt out, and the pure gold left. + +So it was with the Jews in Hezekiah's time. So again in the time of +the Maccabees. So with the old Greeks, when the great Kings of +Persia tried to enslave them. So with the old Romans, when the +Carthaginians set upon them. So it was with us English, three +hundred years ago, when for a time the whole world seemed against +us, because we alone were standing up for the Gospel and the Bible +against the Pope of Rome. Then the king of Spain, who was then as +terrible a conqueror and devourer of nations, as the Assyrians of +old, sent against us the Great Armada. Then was England in greater +danger than she had ever been before, or has been since. + +And what came of it? That that dreadful danger brought out more +faith, more courage, than perhaps has ever been among us since. +That when we seemed weakest we were strongest. That while all the +nations of Europe were looking on to see us devoured up by those +Spaniards, our laws and liberties taken from us, the Popish +Inquisition set up in England, and England made a Spanish province, +what they did see was, the people of this little island rising as +one man, to fight for themselves on earth, while the tempests of God +fought for them from heaven; and all that mighty fleet of the King +of Spain routed and scattered, till not one man in a hundred ever +saw their native country again. + +And in England, after that terrible trial had passed over us, there +rose up the best and noblest time which she had ever yet beheld. + +Yes, my friends, three hundred years ago we went through just such a +fiery trial as the Jews went through in Hezekiah's time; and God +grant that we may never forget that lesson. + +But what is true of whole nations, is often true also of each single +person; of you and me. + +To almost every man, at least once in his life, comes a time of +trial--what we call a crisis. A time when God purges the man, and +tries him in the fire, and burns up the dross in him, that the pure +sterling gold only may be left. + +To some people it comes in the shape of some terrible loss, or +affliction. To others it comes in the shape of some great +temptation. Nay, if we will consider, it comes to us all, perhaps +often, in that shape. A man is brought to a point where he must +choose between right and wrong. God puts him where the two roads +part. One way turns off to the broad road, which leads to +destruction: the other way turns off to the narrow road which leads +to life. The man would be glad to go both ways at once, and do +right and wrong too: but it so happens that he cannot. Then he +would be glad to go neither way, and stay where he is: but he +cannot. He must move on. He must do something. Perhaps he is +asked a question which he does not wish to answer: but he must. It +would be well worth his while to tell a lie. It would be very safe +for him, profitable for him; while it would be very dangerous for +him to tell the truth. He might ruin himself once and for all, by +being an honest man. Now which shall he do? He would be glad to do +both, glad to do neither: but choose he must; speak he must. He +must either lie or tell the truth. Then comes the trial, whether he +believes in God and in Christ, or whether he does not. If he only +believes, as too many do without knowing it, in a dead God, a God +far away, he will lie. If he only believes, as too many do without +knowing it, in a dead Christ, a Christ who bore his sins on the +cross eighteen hundred years ago, but since then has had nothing to +do with him to speak of, as far as he knows--then he will lie. And +that is the God and the Christ which most people believe in: and +therefore when the time of trial comes, they fall away, and do and +say things of which they ought to be ashamed, because their trust is +not in God, but in man. + +But if that man believes in the living God, and believes that he +lives, and moves, and has his being in God, he cannot lie. As it is +written, 'he that is born of God, sinneth not, for his seed +remaineth in him, and that wicked one toucheth him not.' He will +say, Whatever happens, I must obey God, and not man. The Lord is on +my side, therefore I will not fear what man can do to me. + +And what is the seed which remains in that man, and keeps him from +playing the coward? Christ himself, the seed and Son of God. If he +believes in the living Christ; if he believes that Christ is really +his master, his teacher, who is watching over him, training him, +from his cradle to his grave;--if he believes that Christ is +dwelling in him, that whatever wish to do right he has comes from +Christ, whatever sense of honour and honesty he has comes from +Christ; then it will seem to him a dreadful thing to lie, to play +the hypocrite, or the coward; to sin against his own better +feelings. It will be sinning against Christ himself. + +Remember the great Martin Luther, when he stood on one side, a poor +monk standing up for the Bible and the Gospel, and against him were +arrayed the Pope and the Emperor, cardinals, bishops, and almost all +the princes in Europe; and his friends wanted him to hold his +tongue, or to say Yes and No at once; in short, to smooth over the +matter in some way.--What conceit, said many, of one poor monk +standing up against all the world; and what folly, too! He would +certainly be burnt alive. But Luther could not hold his tongue. He +was afraid enough, no doubt. He disliked being burnt as much as +other men. But he felt he must speak God's truth then or never. He +must bear witness for Christ's free gospel, against Pope, Emperor, +all the devils in hell, if need be, or else hereafter for ever hold +his peace. He must play the honest man that day, or be a hypocrite +and a rogue for ever. His friends said to him, 'If you go to the +Council, Duke George will have you burnt.' He answered, 'If it +snowed Duke Georges nine days together, I must go.' They said, 'If +you go into that town, you will never leave it alive.' He said, 'If +there were as many devils in the town as there are tiles on the +houses, I must go.' And he went, Bible in hand, and said, 'Here I +stand; I can do no otherwise. God help me!' He went, and he +conquered. + +And so it will be with you, my friends, if you will believe in the +living God, and in the living Christ; then, when temptation comes, +you will be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to +stand. And you will feel yourselves better men from that day +forward. You will feel that you have made one great step upward; +you will look back upon that time of temptation and perplexity as +the beginning of a new life; as a sign to you that Christ is with +you, and in you, training you and shaping your character, till he +makes you, at last, somewhat like himself; somewhat of the stature +of a true man; somewhat like what he has bidden you to be, 'perfect +as your Father in heaven is perfect.' + + + +SERMON XXVIII. THE TEN LEPERS + + + +(Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.) + +Luke xvii. 17, 18. Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the +nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save +this stranger. + +No men, one would have thought, had more reason to thank God than +those nine lepers. Afflicted with a filthy and tormenting disease, +hopelessly incurable, at least in those days, they were cut off from +family and friends, cut off from all mankind; forced to leave their +homes, and wander away; forbidden to enter the houses of men, or the +churches of God; forbidden, for fear of infection, to go near any +human being; keeping no company but that of wretched lepers like +themselves, and forced to get their living by begging; by standing +(as the Gospel says) afar off, and praying the passers-by to throw +them a coin. + +In this wretched state, in which they had been certain of living and +dying miserably, they met the Lord: and suddenly, instantly, beyond +all hope or expectation, they found themselves cured, restored to +their families, their homes, their power of working, their rights as +citizens; restored to all that makes life worth having, and that +freely, and in a moment. If such a blessing had come to us, should +we have thought any thanks too great! Would not our whole lives +have been too short to bless God for his great mercy? Should we +have gone away, like those nine, without a word of thanks to God, or +even to the man who had healed us? What stupidity, hardhearted- +ness, ingratitude of those nine, never to have even thanked the Lord +for their restoration to health and happiness. + +Ay, so we think. Yet those nine lepers were men of like passions +with ourselves; and what they did, we perhaps might do in their +place. It is very humbling to think so: but the Bible is a +humbling book: and, therefore, a wholesome book, profitable for +reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And I am +very much afraid that when the Bible tells us that nine out of ten +of those lepers were ungrateful to God, it tells us that nine out of +ten of us are ungrateful likewise. + +Ungrateful to God? I fear so; and more ungrateful, I fear, than +those ten lepers. For which of the two is better off, the man who +loses a good thing, and then gets it back again; or the man who +never loses it at all, but enjoys it all his life? Surely the man +who never loses it at all. And which of the two has more cause to +thank God? Those lepers had been through a very miserable time; +they had had great affliction; and that, they might feel, was a set- +off against their good fortune in recovering their health. They had +bad years to balance their good ones. But we--how many of us have +had nothing but good years? Oh consider, consider the history of +the average of us. How we grow up tolerably healthy, tolerably +comfortable, in a free country, under just laws, with the power of +earning our livelihood, and the certainty of keeping what we earn. +Famine we know nothing of in this happy land; war, and the horrors +of war, we knew nothing of--God grant we never may. In health, +safety and prosperity most of us grow up; forced, it is true, to +work hard: but that, too, is a blessing; for what better thing for +a man, soul and body, than to be forced to work hard? In health, +safety and prosperity; leaving children behind us, to prosper as we +have done. And how many of us give God the glory, or Christ the +thanks? + +But if these be our bodily blessings, what are our spiritual +blessings? Has not God given us his only-begotten son Jesus Christ? +Has he not baptised us into his Church? Has he not forgiven our +sins? Has he not revealed to us that he is our Father, and we his +children? Has he not given us the absolutely inestimable blessing +of his commandments? Of knowing what the right thing to be done is, +that we may do it and live for ever; that treasure of which not only +Solomon, but the wise men of old held, that to know what was right +was a more precious possession than rubies and fine gold, and all +the wealth of Ind? Has he not given us the hope of a joyful +immortality, of everlasting life after death, not only with those +whom we have loved and lost, but with God himself? + +And how many of us give God the glory, and Christ the thanks? Do we +not copy those nine lepers, and just shew ourselves to the priest?-- +Come to church on the Sunday, because it is the custom; people +expect it of us; and God, we understand, expects it too: but where +is the gratitude? Where is the giving of glory to God for all his +goodness? Which are we most like? Children of God, looking up to +our Father in heaven, and saying, at every fresh blessing, Father, I +thank thee. Truly thou knowest my necessities before I ask, and my +ignorance in asking?--Or, like the stalled ox, which eats, and eats, +and eats, and never thanks the hand which feeds him? + +We are too comfortable, I think, at times. We are so much +accustomed to be blest by God, that we take his blessings as matters +of course, and feel them no more than we do the air we breathe. + +The wise man says-- + + +Our torments may by length of time become +Our elements; + + +and I am sure our blessings may. They say that people who endure +continual pain and misery, get at length hardly to feel it. And so, +on the other hand, people who have continual prosperity get at +length hardly to feel that. God forgive us! My friends, when I say +this to you, I say it to myself. If I blame you, I blame myself. +If I warn you, I warn myself. We most of us need warning in these +comfortable times; for I believe that it is this very +unrighteousness of ours which brings many of our losses and troubles +on us. If we are so dull that we will not know the value of a thing +when we have got it, then God teaches us the value of it by taking +it from us. He teaches us the value of health by making us feel +sickness; he teaches us the value of wealth by making us feel +poverty. I do not say it is always so. God forbid. There are +those who suffer bitter afflictions, not because they have sinned, +but that, like the poor blind man, the glory of God may be made +manifest in them. There are those too who suffer no sorrow at all, +even though they feel, in their thoughtful moments, that they +deserve it. And miserable enough should we all be, if God punished +us every time we were ungrateful to him. If he dealt with us after +our sins, and rewarded us according to our iniquities, where should +we be this day? + +But still, I cannot but believe that if we do go on in prosperity, +careless and unthankful, we are running into danger; we are likely +to bring down on ourselves some sorrow or anxiety which will teach +us, which at least is meant to teach us--from whom all good things +come; and to know that the Lord has given, when the Lord has taken +away. + +God grant that when that lesson is sent to us we may learn it. +Learn it, perhaps, at once, and in a moment, we cannot. Weak flesh +and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God, and see that he is +ruling us, and all things, in love and justice; and our eyes are, as +it were, dimmed with our tears, so that we cannot see God's +handwriting upon the wall against us. But at length, when the first +burst of sorrow is past, we may learn it; and, like righteous Job, +justify God; saying,--The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, +blessed be the name of the Lord. If we do that, and give God the +glory, it may be with us, after all, as it was with Job, when God +gave him back sevenfold for all that he had taken away, wealth and +prosperity, sons and daughters. For God doth not afflict willingly, +nor grieve the children of men out of spite. His punishments are +not revenge, but correction; and, as a father, he chastises his +children, not to harm, but to bless them. + +And God grant that if that day, too, comes--if after sorrow comes +joy, if after storm comes sunshine--we may not forget God afresh in +our prosperity, nor go our ways like those dull-hearted Jews, after +they were cleansed from their leprosy: but, like the Samaritan, +return, and give glory to God, who gives, and delights in giving; +and only takes away, that he may lift up our souls to him, in whom +we live, and move, and have our being: and so, knowing who we are, +and where we are, may live in God, and by God, and for God, in this +life, and for ever. + + + +SERMON XXIX. PARDON AND PEACE + + + +(Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity.) + +Psalm xxxii. 1-7. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, +whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord +imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When +I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day +long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is +turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, +and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my +transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my +sin. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a +time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great +waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; +thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shall compass me about +with songs of deliverance. + +The collect for to-day is a very beautiful one. There is something +musical in the sound of the very words; so musical, that it is sung +as an anthem in many churches. Let us think a little over it. +'Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people +pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and +serve thee with a quiet mind, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.' +That is a noble prayer; and a prayer for each and every one of us, +every day. I say for every day. It is not like the fifty-first +psalm, the prayer of a man who has committed some black and dreadful +crime; who fears lest God should take his Holy Spirit from him, and +leave him to remorse and horror; who feels that he needs to be +utterly changed, and have a new heart created within him. It is not +a prayer of that kind. It is rather the prayer of a man who is +weary with the burden of sinful mortality; who finds it very hard +work to do his duty, even tolerably well; who is dissatisfied with +himself, and ashamed of himself, not about one great fault, but +about many little faults; and who wants to be cleansed from them; +who is tempted to be fretful, anxious, out of heart, because things +go wrong; and because he feels it partly his own fault that things +go wrong; and who, therefore, wants peace, that he may serve God +with a quiet mind. Now then, dear friends, did I not speak truth, +when I said, this is a prayer for every one of us, and for every +day? For which of us does his duty as he ought? I take for +granted, we are all trying to do our duty, better or worse: but I +take for granted, too, that the more we try to do our duty, the more +dissatisfied with ourselves we are; and the more we find we have +sins without number to be cleansed from. For the more we try to do +our duty, the higher notion we get of what our duty is; the more we +do, the more we feel we ought to do; and the more we feel that we +leave undone a great many things which we ought to do, and do a +great many things which we ought not to do, and that there is no +health in us: but a great deal of disease and weakness;--disease of +soul, in the way of conceit, pride, selfishness, temper, obstinacy; +weakness, in the way of laziness, fearfulness, and very often of +sheer stupidity; we do not see, or rather will not take the trouble +to see, what we ought to do, and how to do it. And therefore, we +must be, or rather ought to be, dissatisfied with ourselves; and our +consciences accuse us when we lie down at night, of a hundred petty +miserable mistakes, which we ought to have avoided. We are +continually knowing what is right, and doing what is wrong, till we +get deservedly angry with ourselves; and think at times, that God +must be deservedly angry with us; that we are such poor paltry +creatures that he can only look on us with dislike and contempt: +and even worse; that, perhaps, he does not care to see us mend; that +our struggles to do right are of no value in his eyes: but that he +has sternly left us to ourselves, to struggle through life, right or +wrong, as best we may; and to be punished at last, for all that we +have done amiss. + +Such thoughts will cross our minds. They have crossed the minds of +all mankind since the first man's conscience awoke, and he +discovered that he was not a brute animal, by finding in himself +that awful thought, which no brute animal can have--'I have done +wrong.' And therefore the consciences of men will cry for pardon, +just in proportion as they are worthy of the name of men, and not +merely a superior sort of animals; and therefore just in proportion +as our souls are alive in us, alive with the feeling of duty, of +justice, of purity, of love, of a just and orderly God above--just +in that proportion shall we be tormented by the difference between +what we are, and what we ought to be; and the sense of sin, and the +longing for pardon, will be more keen in us; and we shall have no +rest till the sins are got rid of, and the pardon sure. That is the +price we pay for having immortal souls. It is a heavy price truly: +but it is well worth the paying, if it be only paid aright. If that +tormenting feeling of being continually wrong in this life, ends by +making us continually right for ever in the world to come; if Christ +be formed in us at last; if out of our sinful and mortal manhood a +sinless and immortal manhood is born;--then shall we, like the +mother over her new-born babe, forget our anguish, for joy that a +man is born into the world. + +But, again, besides pardon, we want peace. Who does not know that +state of mind in which, perhaps, without any great reason in +reality, one has no peace? When everything seems to go wrong with a +man. When he suspects everybody to be against him. When little +troubles, which he could bear easily enough at other times, seem +quite intolerable to him. When he is troubled with vain regrets +about the past--'Ah, if I had done this and that!' and vain fears +for the future, conjuring up in his mind all sorts of bad luck which +may, but most probably never will, happen; and yet from off which he +cannot turn his mind. Who does not know this frame of mind? + +True, a great deal of this may depend on ill-health; and will pass +away as the man's bodily condition gets better. We know, in the +same way, that the strange anxiety which comes over us in sleepless +nights, comes from bodily causes. That is merely because, the +circulation of our blood being quickened, our brain becomes more +active; and because we are lying alone in the silent darkness, with +nothing to listen to or look at, we cannot turn our attention away +from the thoughts which get possession of us and torment us. That +is only bodily; and yet it may be very useful to our souls. As we +lie awake, our own past lives, our own past mistakes and sins, and +God's past blessings and mercies, too, may rise up before us with +clearness, and teach us more than a hundred sermons; and we may +find, with David, that our reins chasten us in the night-season. +'When I am in heaviness, I will think upon God; when my heart is +vexed, I will complain. Thou holdest mine eyes waking. . . . I have +considered the days of old, and the years that are past. I call to +remembrance my song, and in the night I commune with my own heart, +and search out my spirits. Will the Lord absent himself for ever, +and will he be no more intreated? Is his mercy clean gone for ever: +and is his promise come utterly to an end for evermore? Hath God +forgotten to be gracious: and will he shut up his loving-kindness +in displeasure? And I said it is mine own infirmity. But I will +remember the years of the right hand of the Most Highest.' These +sleepless hours taught the Psalmist somewhat; and they may teach us +likewise. And so, again, with these sad and fretful frames of mind. +Even if they do partly come from our bodies, they have a real +effect, which cannot be mistaken, on our souls; and they may have a +good effect on us, if we choose. I believe that we shall find, that +even if they do come from ill health and weak nerves, what starts +them is--that we are dissatisfied with ourselves. We feel something +wrong, not merely in our bodies, but in our souls, our characters; +and then we try to lay the blame on the world around us, and shift +it off ourselves; saying in our hearts, 'I should do very well, if +other people, and things about me, would only let me:' but the more +we try to shift off the blame, the less peace we have. Nothing +mends matters less than throwing the blame on others. That is +plain. Other people we cannot mend; they must mend themselves. +Circumstances about us we cannot mend; God must mend them. So, as +long as we throw the blame on them, we cannot return to a cheerful +and hopeful frame of mind. But the moment we throw the blame on +ourselves, that moment we can have hope, that moment we can become +cheerful again; for whatsoever else we cannot mend, we can at least +mend ourselves. Now a man may forget this in health. He may be put +out and unhappy for a while: but when his good spirits return, he +does not know why. Things have not improved; but, somehow, they do +not affect him as they did before. Now this is not wrong. God +forbid! In such a world as this, one is glad to see a man rid of +sadness by any means which is not wrong. Better anything than that +a poor soul should fret himself to death. + +But it may be very good for a man now and then not to forget; to be +kept low, whether by ill health or by any other cause, till he faces +fairly his own state, and finds out honestly what does fret him and +torment him. + +And then, I believe, his experience will generally be like David's.-- +'As long as I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my groaning +all the day long.' + +Think over these words, I beg you. I chose them for my text, just +because they seem to me to contain all that I wish you to +understand. As long as the Psalmist held his peace--as long as he +did not confess his sin to God--all seemed to go wrong with him. He +fretted his very heart away. The moment that he made a clean breast +to God, peace and cheerfulness came back to him. + +This psalm may speak of some really great sin which he had +committed. But that makes all the more strongly for us. For if he +got forgiveness for a great sin, by merely confessing it, how much +more may we hope to be forgiven, for the comparatively little sins +of which I am now speaking? Surely there is forgiveness for them. +Surely we, Christians, are not worse off than the old Jews. God +forbid! What does the Bible tell us? If we confess our sins, he is +faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all +unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a +liar, and his word is not in us. And again, if we walk in the +light; that is, if we look honestly at our own hearts, and confess +honestly to God what we see wrong there; then we have fellowship one +with another; all our frettings and grudgings against our fellow-men +pass away; and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. +God forbid again! For what is the message of the Absolution, +whether general in the church, or private by the sick-bed, but this-- +that there is continual forgiveness for those who really confess +and repent? God forbid again! For what is the message of the Holy +Communion, but that we really are forgiven, really helped by God not +to do the like again; that the stains and scars of our daily +misdoings are truly healed by God's grace; and power given us to +lead a healthier life, the longer we persevere in the struggle after +God. + +Therefore, instead of proudly laying the blame of our unhappiness on +our fellow-men, much less on God and his providence, let us cast +ourselves, in every hour of shame or of sadness, on the boundless +love of him who hateth nothing that he hath made; who so loved the +world that he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us +all. How shall he not with him freely give us all things? Let us +open our weary hearts to him who watches with tender interest, as of +a father watching the growth of his child, over every struggle of +ours from worse to better; and so we shall have our reward. The +more we trust to the love of God, the more shall we feel his love-- +feel that we are pardoned--feel that we are at peace. We may not +grow more cheerful as we grow older; but we shall grow more +peaceful. Sadder men, it may be; but wiser men also; caring less +and less for pleasure; caring even less and less for mere happiness: +but finding a lasting comfort in the knowledge that we are doing our +life's work not altogether ill, under the smile of Almighty God; +aware more and more of our own weakness, and of our own failings: +but trusting that God will take the will for the deed, and forgive +us what we have left undone, and accept what we have done, for the +sake of Christ, in whom, and not in our own poor paltry selves, he +looks upon us as his adopted children. + +Only let us remember to ask for pardon and to ask for peace, that we +may use them as the collect bids us;--To ask for pardon, not merely +that we may escape punishment; not even to escape punishment at all, +if punishment be wholesome for us, as it often is: but that we may +be cleansed from our sins; that we may not be left to our own +weakness and our own bad habits, to grow more and more useless, more +and more unhappy, day by day, but that we may be cleansed from them; +and grow purer, nobler, juster, stronger, more worthy of our place +in God's kingdom, as our years roll by. Let us remember to ask for +peace, not merely to get rid of unpleasant thoughts, or unpleasant +people, or unpleasant circumstances; and then sit down and say, +Soul, take thine ease, eat and drink, for thou hast much goods laid +up for many years: but let us ask for peace, that we may serve God +with a quiet mind; that we may get rid of the impatient, cowardly, +discontented, hopeless heart, which will not let a man go about his +business like a man; and get, instead of it, by the inspiration of +God's Holy Spirit, the calm, contented, brave, hopeful heart, in the +strength of which a man can work with a will wherever God may put +him, even amidst vexation, confusion, disappointment, slander, and +persecution; and, in his place and calling, serve the Lord, who +served him when he died for him, and who serves him, and all his +people, now and for ever in heaven. + +So shall we have real pardon, and real peace. A pardon which will +make us really better; and a peace which will make us really more +useful. And to be good and to be useful were the two ends for which +God sent us into the world at all. + + + +SERMON XXX. THE CENTRAL SUN + + + +(Sunday after Ascension, Evening.) + +Ephesians iv. 9. 10. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he +also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that +descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, +that he might fill all things. + +This is one of those very deep texts which we are not meant to think +about every day; only at such seasons as this, when we have to think +of Christ ascending into heaven, that he might send down his Spirit +at Whitsuntide. Of this the text speaks; and therefore, we may, I +hope, think a little of it to-day, but reverently, and cautiously, +like men who know a very little, and are afraid of saying more than +they know. These deep mysteries about heaven we must always meddle +with very humbly, lest we get out of our depth in haste and self- +conceit. As it is said, + + +Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. + + +For, if we are not very careful, we shall be apt to mistake the +meaning of Scripture, and make it say what we like, and twist it to +suit our own fancies, and our own ignorance. Therefore we must +never, with texts like this, say positively, 'It must mean this. It +can mean only this.' How can we tell that? + +This world, which we do see, is far too wonderful for us to +understand. How much more wonderful must be the world which we do +not see? How much more wonderful must heaven be? How can we tell +what is there, or what is not there? We can tell of some things +that are not there, and those are sin, evil, disorder, harm of any +kind. Heaven is utterly good. Beyond that, we know nothing. +Therefore I dare not be positive about this text, for fear I should +try to explain it according to my own fancies. Wise fathers and +divines have differed very much as to what it means; how far any one +of them is right, I cannot tell you. + +The ancient way of explaining this text was this. People believed +in old times that the earth was flat. Then, they held, hell was +below the earth, or inside it in some way: and the burning +mountains, out of which came fire and smoke, were the mouths of +hell. And when they believed that, it was easy for them to suppose +that St. Paul spoke of Christ's descending into hell. He went down, +says St. Paul, into the lower parts of the earth. What could those +lower parts be, they asked, but the hell which lay under the earth? + +Now about that we know nothing. St. Paul himself never says that +hell is below the earth. Indeed (and this is a very noteworthy +thing) St. Paul never, in his epistles, mentions in plain words hell +at all; so what St. Paul thought about the matter, we can never +know. Whether by Christ's descending into the lower parts of the +earth, he meant descending into hell, or merely that our Lord came +down on this earth of ours, poor, humble, and despised, laying his +glory by for a while, this we cannot tell. Some wise men think one +thing, some another. Two of the wisest and best of the great old +fathers of the Church think that he meant only Christ's death and +burial. So how dare I give a positive opinion, where wiser men than +I differ? + +But about the other half of the text, which says, that he ascended +high above all heavens, there is no such difficulty. + +All agree as to what that means: though, perhaps, in old times they +would have put it in different words. + +The old belief was, that as hell was below the flat earth, so heaven +was above it; and that there were many heavens, seven heavens, in +layers, as it were, one above the other; and that the seventh +heaven, which was the highest of all, was where God dwelt. Now, +whether St. Paul believed this, we cannot tell. He speaks of being +himself caught up into the third heaven, and here Christ is spoken +of as ascending above all heavens. + +My own belief, though I say it very humbly, is, that St. Paul spoke +of these things only as a figure of speech, for the sake of the +ignorance of the people to whom he was writing. They talked in that +way; and he was forced now and then to talk in that way, too, to +make them understand him. I think that, when he spoke of being +caught up into the third heaven, he did not mean that he was lifted +bodily off the earth into the skies: but that his soul was raised +up and enlightened to understand high and wonderful heavenly +matters, though not the highest or most wonderful. If he had meant +that, he would have said, that he was caught up into the seventh +heaven. We know that our Lord, in the same way, continually used +parables; because, as he said, the ignorant people could not +understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; and he had, +therefore, to put them into parables, taken from the common country +matters, and country forms of speech, if by any means he might make +them understand. And so, I suppose, it was with St. Paul. He had +to speak in such a way that he could be understood; and no more. + +But when he says that Christ ascended far above all heavens, we are +to believe this--that he ascended to God himself. So high that he +could go no higher; so far that he could go no farther. + +We, now, do not believe that there are seven heavens above the +earth; and we need not. It is no doctrine of the Church, or of the +Creeds. We know that the earth is round, and not flat; and that the +heavens, if by that we mean the sky, is neither above it, nor below +it, but round it on every side. But some may say, whither, then, +did our Lord ascend? To what place did his body go up? And that is +a right question; for we must always bear in mind that not merely +Christ's godhead but his manhood, not merely Christ's soul but his +body also, ascended into heaven. If we do not believe that, we do +not hold the Catholic faith. Whither, then, did Christ ascend? + +My friends, we know this. That this earth and the planets move +round the sun, which is in the centre of them. We know this, too; +that all the countless stars which spangle the sky are really suns +likewise, perhaps, with worlds which we cannot see, moving round +them, as we move round the sun. We know, too, that these fixed +stars, as they seem to be, are not really fixed, but have some +regular movements among themselves, which seem very slow and small +to us, from their immense distance, but which really are very great +and fast. + +Now all these suns and stars, it is reasonable to believe, most +probably have a centre. There must be order among them; and they +most probably move round one thing, one place, one central sun, as +it were, which is the very heart of all the worlds, and the whole +universe. Where that place is, or what it is like, we know not, and +cannot know. Only this we may believe, that it is glorious beyond +all that eye hath seen, and ear heard, or hath entered into the +heart of man to conceive. If this world be beautiful, how beautiful +must that world of all worlds be. If the sun be glorious, how +glorious must the sun of all suns be. If the heaven over us be +grand, how grand must that heaven of heavens be. We will not talk +of it; for we cannot imagine it: and if we tried to, we should only +lower it to our own low fancies. But is it not reasonable to +suppose, that there God the Father does, perhaps, in some +unspeakable way, shew forth his glory? That there, in the heart of +all the worlds, Cherubim and Seraphim continually adore him, crying +day and night, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth: Heaven and +earth are full of the majesty of thy glory!' before his throne from +which goes forth light, and power, and life, to all worlds and all +created things. + +And is it not reasonable to believe, that there Christ is, in the +bosom of the Father, and at the right hand of God? We know that +those, too, are only figures. That God is a Spirit, everywhere and +nowhere; and has not hands as we have. But it is only by such +figures that the Bible can make us understand the truth, that Christ +is the highest being in all heavens and worlds; equal with God the +Father, and sharer of his kingdom, and power, and glory, God blessed +for ever. Amen. + +What then does St. Paul mean, when he says, 'That he may fill all +things?' I do not know. And I will take care not to lessen and +spoil St. Paul's words, by any ignorant words of my own. But one +thing I know it will mean one day, for St. Paul says so. That +Christ reigns, and will reign, triumphant over sin, and death, and +hell, till he have put all enemies under his feet, and the last +enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Then shall he deliver up +the kingdom to God, even the Father; that God may be all in all. +What that means I do not know. But this I can say, and you can say. +We can pray that God will finish the number of his elect and hasten +his kingdom, that we, with all that are departed in the true faith, +may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, +in his eternal kingdom. And this I can say, that it means now, for +you and me; for Whitsuntide tells me:--that whatever else Christ can +or cannot fill, he can at least fill our hearts, because he is in +the bosom of the Father himself; and therefore from him, as from the +Father, proceeds the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life. That +Spirit will proceed even to us, if we will have him. He will fill +our hearts with himself; with the Spirit of goodness, which proceeds +out of the heaven of heavens, and out of the bosom of God himself; +with love, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness; with truth, +honour, duty, earnestness, and all that is the likeness of Christ +and of God. Oh let us pray for that Spirit; the Spirit of truth, +which Christ promised us when he ascended up into the heaven of +heavens, to keep us sound in our most holy faith; and the Spirit of +goodness, to give us strength to live the good lives of good +Christian men. + +And then it will matter little what opinions we hold about deep +things, which the wisest man can never put into words. And it will +matter little, whether what I have been telling you to-day about the +heaven of heavens be exactly true or not; for what says St. Paul of +such deep matters? That we know in part, and prophesy in part; and +that prophecies shall fail, and knowledge vanish away: but charity, +love, and right feeling, and right doing, which is the very Holy +Spirit of God, shall abide for ever. And if that Spirit be with us, +he will guide us in due time into all truth; teach us all we need to +know, and enable us to practise all we ought to do. Amen. + + + +SERMON XXXI. CHRISTMAS PEACE + + + +(Sunday before Christmas.) + +Phil. iv. 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. + +This is a glorious text, and one fit to be the key-note of +Christmas-day. If we will take it to heart, it will tell us how to +keep Christmas-day. St. Paul has been speaking of two good women, +who seem to have had some difference; and he beseeches them to make +up their difference, and be of the same mind in the Lord. And then +he goes on to tell them, and all Christian people, why they should +make up their differences. + +And for that reason, I suppose, the Church has chosen it for the +epistle before Christmas-day, on which all men are to make friends +with each other, and rejoice in the Lord. Let your moderation, he +says, be known to all men. The Greek word signifies forbearance, +reasonable dealing, consideration for one another, readiness to give +way, not standing too severely on one's own rights. Now this is +just the temper in which we ought to meet our friends at Christmas-- +forbearance. They may not have always behaved well to us. Be it +so. No more have we to them. Let us, once in the year at least, +forget old grudges. Let us do as we would be done by; give and +forgive; live and let live; bury our past quarrels, and shake hands +over their graves. + +For the Lord is at hand. Close to all of us: watching all we do, +and setting the right value on it. He cannot mistake. He sees both +sides of a matter, and all sides--a thousand sides which we cannot +see. He can judge better than we. Let him judge. Why do I say, +Let him judge? He has judged already, weeks, months ago, as soon as +each quarrel happened: and, perhaps, he found us in the wrong as +well as our neighbours; and, if so, the least said the soonest +mended. Let us forgive and forget, lest we be neither forgotten nor +forgiven. + +And, because the Lord is at hand, be anxious about nothing. The +word here is the same as in the Sermon on the Mount. It means do +not fret; do not terrify yourselves; for the Lord is at hand; he +knows what you want: and will he not give it? Is not Christmas-day +a sign that he will give it--a pledge of his love? What did he do +on the first Christmas-day? What did he shew himself to be on the +first Christmas-day? Now, here is the root of the whole matter, and +a deep root it is; as deep as the beginning of all things which are, +or ever were, or ever will be. And yet if we will believe our +Bibles, it is a root which we all may find. What did the angels say +the first Christmas night? Peace on earth, and goodwill to men. +That is what God proclaimed. That is what he said that he had, and +would give. + +Now, says the apostle, if you will believe the latter half of this +same Christmas message, then the first half of it will come true to +you. If you will believe that God's will is a good will to you, +then you will have peace on earth. For believe in Christmas-day; +believe that the Lord is at hand; that he has been made man for ever +and ever; and that to the Man Christ Jesus all power is given in +heaven and earth: and then, if you want aught, instead of grudging +or grinding your neighbours, ask him. In everything let your +requests be made known unto God: and then the peace of God will +keep your hearts through Christ Jesus. + +You will feel at peace with God through Christ Jesus, because you +have found out that God is at peace with you; that God is not +against you, but for you; that God does not hate you, but love you; +and if God is at peace with you, what cause have you to be at war +with him? And so the message of Christmas-day will bring you peace. + +You will be at peace with your neighbours, through Christ Jesus. +When you see God stooping to make peace with sinful men, you will be +ashamed to be quarrelling with them. When you see God full of love, +you will be ashamed to keep up peevishness, grudging, and spite. +When you see God's heaven full of light, you will be ashamed to be +dark yourselves; your hearts will go out freely to your fellow- +creatures; you will long to be friends with every one you meet; and +you will find in that the highest pleasure which you ever felt in +life. But mind one thing--what sort of a peace this peace of God +is. It passes all understanding; the very loftiest understanding. +The cleverest and most learned men that ever lived could not have +found it--we know they did not find it--by their own cleverness and +learning. No more will you find God's peace, if you seek for it +with your understanding. Thinking will not bring you peace, think +as shrewdly as you may. Reading will not bring it, read as deeply +as you may. Some people think otherwise; that they can get the +peace of God by understanding. If they could but understand more, +their minds would be at rest. So they weary themselves with +reading, and thinking, and arguing, perhaps trying to understand +predestination, election, assurance; perhaps trying to understand +which is the true Church. What do they get thereby? Certainly not +the peace of God. They certainly do not set their minds at rest. +They cannot. Books cannot give a live soul rest. Understanding +cannot. Nothing can give you or me rest, save God himself. The +peace is God's; and he must give it himself, with his own hand, or +we shall never get it. Go then to God himself. Thou art his child, +as Christmas-day declares: be not afraid to go unto thy Father. +Pray to him; tell him what thou wantest: say, Father, I am not +moderate, reasonable, forbearing. I fear I cannot keep Christmas- +day aright, for I have not a peaceful Christmas spirit in me; and I +know that I shall never get it by thinking, and reading, and +understanding; for it passes all that, and lies far away beyond it, +does peace, in the very essence of thine undivided, unmoved, +absolute, eternal Godhead, which no change nor decay of this created +world, nor sin or folly of men or devils, can ever alter; but which +abideth for ever what it is, in perfect rest, and perfect power, and +perfect love. O Father, give me thy peace. Soothe this restless, +greedy, fretful soul of mine, as a mother soothes a sick and +feverish child. How thou wilt do it I do not know. It passes all +understanding. But though the sick child cannot reach the mother, +the mother is at hand, and can reach it. Though the eagle, by +flying, cannot reach the sun, yet the sun is at hand, and can reach +all the earth, and pour its light and warmth over all things. And +thou art more than a mother: thou art the everlasting Father. Pour +thy love over me, that I may love as thou lovest. Thou art more +than the sun: thou art the light and the life of all things. Pour +thy light and thy life over me, that I may see as thou seest, and +live as thou livest, and be at peace with myself and all the world, +as thou art at peace with thyself and all the world. Again, I say, +I know not how; for it passes all understanding: but I hope that +thou wilt do it for me. I trust that thou wilt do it for me, for I +believe the good news of Christmas-day. I believe that thou art +love, and that thy mercy is over all thy works. I believe the +message of Christmas-day: that thou so lovest the world, that thou +hast sent thy Son to save the world, and me. I know not how; for +that, too, passes understanding: but I believe that thou wilt do +it; for I believe that thou art love; and that thy mercy is over all +thy works, even over me. I believe the message of Christmas-day, +that thy will is peace on earth, even peace to me, restless and +unquiet as I am; and goodwill to men, even to me, the chief of +sinners. + + + +SERMON XXXII. THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT + + + +(First Sunday after Christmas.) + +Isaiah xxxviii. 16. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all +these things is the life of my spirit. + +These words are the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah; and they are +true words, words from God. But, if they are true words, they are +true words for every one--for you and me, for every one here in this +church this day: for they do not say, By these things certain men +live, one man here and another man there; but all men. Whosoever is +really alive, that is, has life in his spirit, his soul, his heart, +the life of a man and not a beast, the only life which is worthy to +be called life, then that life is kept up in him in the same way +that it was kept up in Hezekiah, and by the same means. + +Let us see, then, what things they were which gave Hezekiah's spirit +life. Great joy, great honour, great success, wealth, health, +prosperity and pleasure? Was it by these things that Hezekiah found +men lived? Not so, but by great sorrow. 'In those days was +Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amos +came unto him and said, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in +order; for thou shall die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his +face towards the wall and prayed unto the Lord; and Hezekiah wept +sore.' + +Trouble upon trouble came on Hezekiah; and that just when he might +have expected a little rest. The Lord had just delivered Hezekiah +and the Jews from a fearful danger, of which we read in the chapter +before. Hezekiah had believed God's promise by the mouth of Isaiah. +He held fast his faith in God when Sennacherib and his Assyrian army +were camping round Jerusalem; for God had said, 'I will defend this +city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.' +He defended his city bravely and nobly, and showed himself a true, +and valiant, and godly king. And perhaps Hezekiah expected to be +rewarded for his faith, and rewarded for having done his duty: but +it was not so. He had to wait, and to endure more. And now this +fresh trouble was come upon him. Isaiah told him he should die and +not live: and he must prepare himself to meet death. + +Hezekiah, you see, was horribly afraid of death. I do not mean that +he was afraid of going to hell, for he does not say so: but he +felt, to use his own words, 'The grave cannot praise thee, death +cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope +for thy truth.' And, therefore, death looked to him an ugly and an +evil thing--as it is; the Lord's enemy, and his last enemy, the one +with which he will have the longest and sorest fight. He conquered +death by rising from the dead: but nevertheless we die; and death +is an ugly, fearful, hateful thing in itself, and rightly called the +King of Terrors: for terrible it is to those who do not know that +Christ has conquered it. Hezekiah lived before the Lord Jesus came +into the flesh to bring life and immortality to light, by rising +from the dead; and, therefore, the life after death was not brought +to light to him, any more than it was to David, or any other Old +Testament Jew. He dreaded it, because he knew not what would come +after death. And, therefore, he prayed hard not to die. He did not +pray altogether in a right way: but still he prayed. 'Remember +now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth +and with a perfect heart, and have done that which was good in thy +sight.' And the Lord heard his prayer. 'Then came the word of the +Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the +Lord, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, behold I will +add unto thy days fifteen years.' + +Then what was the use of God's warning to him? What was the use of +his sickness and his terror, if, after all, his prayer was heard, +and after the Lord had told him, Thou shall die and not live--that +did not come to pass: but the very contrary happened, that he +lived, and did not die? + +Of what use to him was it? Of this use at least, that it taught him +that the Lord God would hear the prayers of mortal men. Oh my +friends, is not that worth knowing? Is not that worth going through +any misery to learn--that the Lord will hear us? That he is not a +cold, arbitrary tyrant, who goes his own way, never caring for our +cries and tears, too proud to turn out of his way to hear us: but +that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy, and repenting him of +the evil? Hezekiah did not pray rightly. He thought himself a +better man than he was. He said, 'Remember now, O Lord, I beseech +thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect +heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.' And Hezekiah +wept sore. But he did pray. He went to God, and told his story to +him, and wept sore; and the Lord God heard him, and taught him that +he was not as good as he fancied; taught him that, after all, he had +nothing to say for himself--no reason to shew why he should not die. +'What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath +done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my +soul.' And so he felt that, instead of justifying himself, he must +throw himself utterly on God's love and mercy; that God must +undertake for him. 'O Lord, I am oppressed, crushed--the heart is +beaten out of me. I have nothing to say for myself. Undertake for +me. I have nothing to say for myself, but I have plenty to say of +thee. Thou art good and just. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. +I can say no more.' + +And then he found that the Lord was ready to save him. That what +the Lord wished was, not to kill him, but to recover him, and make +him live--live more really, and fully, and wisely, and manfully--by +making him trust more utterly in God's goodness, and love, and +mercy; making him more certain that, good as he thought himself, and +perfect in heart, he was full of sins: and yet that the Lord had +cast all these sins of his behind his back, forgotten and forgiven +them, as soon as he had made him see that all that was good and +strong in him came from God, and all that was evil and weak from +himself. And then he says, 'O Lord, by these things men live, and +in all these things is the life of my spirit.' God meant all along +to receive me, and make me live. He chastened me, and brought me +low, to shew me that my own faith, my own righteousness, was no +reason for his saving me: but that his own love and mercy was a +good reason for saving me. 'Behold,' he goes on to say, 'for peace +I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered +it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins +behind thy back.' + +And, my dear friends, what Hezekiah saw but dimly, we ought to see +clearly. The blessed news of the Gospel ought to tell us it +clearly. For the blessed Gospel tells us that the same Lord who +chastened and taught, and then saved, Hezekiah, was made flesh, and +born a man of the substance of a mortal woman; that he might in his +own person bear all our sicknesses and carry our infirmities; that +he might understand all our temptations, and be touched with the +feeling of our infirmities, seeing that he himself was tempted in +all points likewise, yet without sin. + +Oh hear this, you who have had sorrows in past times. Hear this, +you who expect sorrows in the times to come. + +He who made, he who lightens, every man who comes into the world; he +who gave you every right thought and wholesome feeling that you ever +had in your lives: he counts your tears; he knows your sorrows; he +is able and willing to save you to the uttermost. Therefore do not +be afraid of your own afflictions. Face them like men. Think over +them. Ask him to help you out of them: or if that is not to be, at +least to tell you what he means by them. Be sure that what he must +mean by them is good to you: a lesson to you, that in some way or +other they are meant to make you wiser, stronger, hardier, more sure +of God's love, more ready to do God's work, whithersoever it may +lead you. Do not be afraid of the dark day of affliction, I say. +It may teach you more than the bright prosperous one. Many a man +can see clearly in the cloudy day, who would be dazzled in the +sunlight. The dull weather, they say, is the best weather for +battle; and sorrow is the best time for seeing through and +conquering one's own self. Therefore do not be afraid, I say, of +sorrow. All the clouds in the sky cannot move the sun a foot +further off; and all the sorrow in the world cannot move God any +further off. God is there still, where he always was; near you, and +below you, and above you, and around you; for in him you live and +move and have your being, and are the offspring and children of God. +Nay, he is nearer you, if possible, in sorrow, than in joy. He is +informing you, and guiding you with his eye, and, like a father, +teaching you the right way which you should go. He is searching and +purging your hearts, and cleansing you from your secret faults, and +teaching you to know who you are and to know who he is--your Father, +the knowledge of whom is life eternal. By these things, my friends-- +by being brought low and made helpless, till ashamed of ourselves, +and weary of ourselves, we lift up eyes and heart to God who made +us, like lost children crying after a Father--by these things, I +say, we live, and in all these things is the life of our spirit. + + + +SERMON XXXIII. THE UNCHANGEABLE ONE + + + +Psalm cxix. 89-96. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. +Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the +earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine +ordinances: for all are thy servants. Unless thy law had been my +delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction. I will +never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. I +am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. The wicked have +waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies. +I have seen an end of all perfection; but thy commandment is +exceeding broad. + +The Psalmist is in great trouble. He does not know whom to trust, +what to expect next, whom to look to. Everything seems failing and +changing round him. His psalm was most probably written during the +Babylonish captivity, at a time when all the countries and kingdoms +of the east were being destroyed by the Chaldean armies. + +Then, he says, Be it so. If everything else changes, God cannot. +If everything else fails, God's plans cannot. He can rest on the +thought of God; of his goodness, his faithfulness, order, +providence. God is governing the world righteously and orderly. +Whatever disorder there is on earth, there is none in heaven. God's +word endures for ever there. + +Then he looks on the world round him; all is well ordered--seasons, +animals, sun, and stars abide. They continue this day according to +God's ordinances. The unchangeableness of nature is a comfort to +him; for it is a token of the unchangeablenes of God who made it. + +Now, I do beg you to think carefully over this verse; because it is +quite against the very common notion that, because the earth was +cursed for Adam's sake, therefore it is cursed now; that because it +was said to him, Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, +therefore that holds good now. It is not so, my friends; neither is +there, as far as I know, in any part whatsoever of Scripture, any +mention of Adam's curse continuing to our day. St. John, in the +Revelations, certainly says, 'And there shall be no more curse.' +But if you will read the Revelation, you will find that what he +plainly refers to is to the fearful curses, the plagues, the vials +of wrath, as he calls them, which were to be poured out on the +earth; and then to cease when the New Jerusalem came down from +heaven. + +St. Paul, again, knows nothing about any such curse upon the earth. +He says that death came into the world by Adam's sin: but that must +be understood only of man, and the world of man; and for this simple +reason, that we know, without the possibility of doubt, that animals +died in this world just as they do now, not only thousands, but +hundreds of thousands of years before man appeared on earth. + +What St. Paul says of the creation, in one of his most glorious +passages, is this--not that it is cursed, but that it groans and +travails continually in the pangs of labour, trying to bring forth; +trying to bring forth something better than itself; to develop, and +rise from good to better, and from that to better still; till all +things become perfect in a way which we cannot conceive, but which +God has ordained before the foundation of the world. + +Besides, as a fact, the earth does not bring forth thorns and +thistles to us, but good grain, and fruitful crops, and an abundant +return for our labour, if we choose to till the ground. + +And wise men, who study God's works, can find no curse at all upon +the earth, nor sign of a curse, neither in plants nor beasts, no, +nor in the smallest gnat in the air. The more they look into the +wonders of God's world, the more they find it true that there is +order everywhere, beauty everywhere, fruitfulness everywhere, +usefulness everywhere--that all things continue as at the beginning; +that, as the psalmist says in another place, God has made them fast +for ever and ever, and given them a law which cannot be broken. And +if you will look at Genesis viii. 21, 22, you will find from the +plain words of Scripture itself, that Adam's curse, whatever it was, +was taken off after the flood, 'And the Lord smelled a sweet savour: +and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground +any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil +from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything +living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seed-time and +harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night +shall not cease.' + +Therefore, my friends, open your eyes and your hearts freely to the +message which God is sending you, in summer and winter, in seed-time +and in harvest, in sunshine and in storm; that God is not a hard +God, a revengeful God, a God of curses, who is extreme to mark what +is done amiss, and keepeth his anger for ever. No: but that he is +your Father in heaven, who hateth nothing that he has made, and +whose mercy is over all his works; who made heaven and earth, the +sea, and all that therein is; who keepeth truth for ever; who +helpeth them to right that suffer wrong; who feedeth the hungry; a +God who feeds the birds of the air, though they sow not, neither do +they reap, nor gather into barns; and who clothes the grass of the +field, which toils not, neither doth it spin; and who will much much +more clothe and feed you, to whom he has given reason, +understanding, and the power of learning his laws, the rules by +which this world of his is made and works, and of turning them to +your own profit in rational and honest labour. + +And think, my friends, if the old Psalmist, before Christ came, +could believe all this, and find comfort in it, much more ought we. +Shame to us if we do not. I had almost said, we deny Christ, if we +do not. For who said those last words concerning the birds of the +air, and the grass of the field? Who told us that we have not +merely a Master or a Judge in heaven, but a Father in heaven? Who +but that very Word of God, whom the Psalmist saw dimly and afar off? +He knew that the Word of God abode for ever in heaven: but he knew +not, as far as we can tell, that that same Word would condescend to +be made flesh, and dwell among men that we might see his glory, full +of grace and truth. The old Psalmist knew that God's word was full +of truth, and that gave him comfort in the wild and sad times in +which he lived; but he did not know--none of the Old Testament +prophets knew,--how full God's word was of grace also. That he was +so full of love, condescension, pity, generosity, so full of longing +to seek and save all that was lost, to set right all that was wrong, +in one word again, so full of grace, that he would condescend to be +born of the Virgin Mary, suffer under Pontius Pilate, to be +crucified, dead and buried, that he might become a faithful High +Priest for us, full of understanding, fellow-feeling, pity, love, +because he has been tempted in all things like as we are, yet +without sin. + +My friends, was not the old Psalmist a Jew, and are not we Christian +men? Then, if the old Psalmist could trust God, how much more +should we? If he could find comfort in the thought of God's order, +how much more should we? If he could find comfort in the thought of +his justice, how much more should we? If he could find comfort in +the thought of his love, how much more should we? Yes; let us be +full of troubles, doubts, sorrows; let times be uncertain, dark, and +dangerous; let strange new truths be discovered, which we cannot, at +first sight, fit into what we know to be true already: we can still +say, 'I will not fear, though the earth be moved, and the hills be +carried into the midst of the sea.' For the word of God abideth for +ever in heaven, even Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world and +the Life of men. To him all power is given in heaven and earth. He +is set on the throne, judging right, and ministering true judgment +among the people. All things, as the Psalmist says, come to an end. +All men's plans, men's notions, men's systems, men's doctrines, grow +old, wear out, and perish. + + +The old order changes, giving place to the new: +But God fulfils himself in many ways. + + +For men are not ruling the world. Christ is ruling the world, and +his commandment is exceeding broad. His laws are broad enough for +all people, all countries, all ages; and strangely as they may seem +to work, in the eyes of us short-sighted timorous human beings, +still all is going well, and all will go well; for Christ reigns, +and will reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet, and God +be all in all. + + + +SERMON XXXIV. [GREEK: EN TOYTO NIKA] + + + +(Good Friday, 1860.) + +1 Corinthians i. 23-25. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the +Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto +them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of +God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser +than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. + +The foolishness of God? The weakness of God? These are strange +words. But they are St. Paul's words, not mine. If he had not said +them first, I should not dare to say them now. + +But what do they mean? Can God be weak? Can God be foolish? No, +says St. Paul. Nothing less. For so strong is God, that his very +weakness, if he seems weak, is stronger than all mankind. So wise +is God, that his very foolishness, if he seems foolish, is wiser +than all mankind. + +Why then talk of the weakness of God, of the foolishness of God, if +he be neither weak nor foolish? Why use words which seem +blasphemous, if they are not true? + +I do not say these ugly words for myself. St. Paul did not say +these ugly words for himself. But men have said them; too many men, +and too often. The Jews, who sought after a sign, said them in St. +Paul's time. The Corinthian Greeks, who sought after wisdom, said +them also. There are men who say them now. We all are tempted at +times to say them in our hearts. As often as we forget Good Friday, +and what Good Friday means, and what Good Friday brought to all +mankind, we do say them in our hearts; and charge God--though we +should not like to confess it even to ourselves--with weakness and +with folly. + +Now, how is this? Let us consider, first, how it was with these +Jews and Greeks. + +Why did the cross of Christ, and the message of Good Friday, seem to +them weakness and folly? Why did they answer St. Paul, 'Your Christ +cannot be God, or he would never have allowed himself to be +crucified?' + +The Jews required a sign; a sign from heaven; a sign of God's power. +Thunder and earthquakes, armies of angels, taking vengeance on the +heathen; these were the signs of Christ which they expected. A +Christ who came in such awful glory as that, they would accept, and +follow, and look to him to lead them against the Romans, that they +might conquer them, and all the nations upon earth. And all that +St. Paul gave them, was a sign of Christ's weakness. 'He was +despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with +grief. . . . He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet +we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He was +oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is +brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her +shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.' Then said the Jews-- +This is no Christ for us, this weak, despised, crucified Christ. +Then answered St. Paul--Weak? I tell you that what seems to you +weakness, is the very power of God. You Jews wish to conquer all +mankind: and behold, instead, you yourselves are rushing to ruin +and destruction: but what you cannot do, Christ on his cross can +do. Weak, shamed, despised, dying man as he seemed, he is still +conqueror; and he will conquer all mankind at last, and draw all men +to himself. Know that what seems to you weakness, is the very power +of God; the power of doing good, and of suffering all things, that +he may do good: and that _that_ will conquer the world, when riches +and glory, and armies, aye, the very thunder and the earthquake, +have failed utterly. + +The Greeks, again, sought after wisdom. If St. Paul was (as he +said) the apostle of God, then they expected him to argue with them +on cunning points of philosophy; about the being of God, the nature +of the world and of the soul; about finite and infinite, cause and +effect, being and not being, and all those dark questions with which +they astonished simple people, and gained power over them, and set +up for wise men and teachers to their own profit and glory, +pampering their own luxury and self-conceit. And all St. Paul gave +them, seemed to them mere foolishness. He could have argued with +these Greeks on those deep matters; for he was a great scholar, and +a true philosopher, and could speak wisdom among those who were +perfect: but he would not. He determined to know nothing among +them but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; and he told them, You +disputers of this world, while you are deceiving simple souls with +enticing words of man's wisdom and philosophy, falsely so called, +you are trifling away your own souls and your hearers' into hell. +What you need, and what they need, is not philosophy, but a new +heart and a right spirit. Sin is your disease; and you know that it +is so, in the depth of your hearts. Then know this, that God so +loved you, sinners as you are, that he condescended to become mortal +man, and to give himself up to death, even the shameful and horrible +death of the cross, that he might save you from your sins; and he +that would be saved now, let him deny himself, and take up his cross +and follow him. And to that, those proud Greeks answered,--That is +a tale unworthy of philosophers. The Cross? It is a death of +shame--the death of slaves and wretches. Tell your tale to slaves, +not to us. To give himself up to the death of the cross is +foolishness, and not the wisdom which we want. Then answered St. +Paul and said,--True. The cross is a slave's and a wretch's death; +and therefore slaves and wretches will hear me, though you will not. +'For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men +after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but +God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the +wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound +the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and +things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which +are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should +glory in his presence.' For the foolishness of God is wiser than +all the wisdom of men. You Greeks, with all your philosophy and +your wisdom, have been trying, for hundreds of years, to find out +the laws of heaven and earth, and to set the world right by them; +and you have not done it. You have not found out the secrets of the +world. You have not set the world right. You have not even set +your own hearts and lives right. But what your seeming wisdom +cannot do, the seeming foolishness of Christ on his cross will do. +Does it seem to you foolish of him, to believe that he could save +the world, by giving himself up to a horrible and shameful death? +Does it seem to you foolishness in me, to preach nothing but him +crucified, and to say, Behold God dying for men? Then know, that +what seems to you foolishness, is the very wisdom of God. That God +knows the secret of touching, convincing, and converting the hearts +of men, though you do not. That God knows how the world is made, +and how to set it right, though you do not. That God knows the law +which keeps all heaven and earth in order, though you do not; and +that that law is charity,--self-sacrificing love, which shines out +from the cross of Christ. Know, that when all your arguments and +philosophies have failed to teach men what they ought to do, one +earnest penitent look at Christ upon his cross will teach them. +That their hearts will leap up in answer, and cry, If this be God, I +can believe in him. If this be God, I can trust him. If this be +God, I can obey him. That one look at Christ upon his cross will +make them--what you could never make them--new men, filled with a +new thought; the thought that God is love, and that he who dwelleth +in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him; and that the poor slaves +and wretches, whom you despise, will look unto the cross and be +saved, and become new men, and lead new lives, and rise to be saints +and martyrs to God and to his Christ, giving themselves up to +torments and death, as Christ did before them; and that out of them +shall spring that church of Christ, which shall reign over all the +world, when you and your philosophies have crumbled into dust. + +My friends, let us look, earnestly, humbly, and solemnly this day, +at Christ upon his cross. Let us learn that love, the utter self- +sacrificing love which Christ shewed on his cross, is stronger than +all pomp and might, all armies, riches, governments; aye, that it is +the very power of God, by which all things consist, which holds +together heaven and earth and all that is therein. + +Let us learn that love, the utter self-sacrificing love which Christ +shewed on his cross, is wiser than all arguments, doctrines, +philosophies, whether they be true or false; aye, that it is the +very wisdom of God, by which he convinces and converts all hearts +and souls; and let us look to the cross, and see there the wisdom of +God, and the power of God, mighty to save to the uttermost all who +come through Christ to him. + +And let us remember this, that whenever we fancy ourselves to be +strong and powerful, and think to aggrandize ourselves at our +neighbour's expense, and to crush those who are weaker than +ourselves, then we are forgetting the lesson of Good Friday; that +whenever we fancy that the way to be wise is, to use our wit and our +knowledge for our own glory, and by them to manage our fellow-men, +and make them admire us and bow down to us, then we forget the +lesson of Good Friday. For whosoever gives himself up to selfish +ambition, or to selfish cunning, charges Christ upon his cross with +weakness and with foolishness, and denies the Lord who bought him +with his blood. + +My friends, I have no more to say. Much more I might say. For Good +Friday has many other meanings, and all the sermons of a lifetime +would not exhaust them all. + +But one thing seemed to me fit to be said, and I say it again, and +entreat you to carry it home with you, and live by the light of it +all the year round. + +Do you wish to be powerful? Then look at Christ upon his cross; at +what seems to men his weakness; and learn from him how to be strong. +Do you wish to be wise? Then look at Christ upon the cross; and at +what seemed to men his folly; and learn from him how to be wise. +For sooner or later, I hope and trust, you will find that true, +which St. Buonaventura (wise and strong himself) used to say,--That +all the learning in the world had never taught him so much as the +sight of Christ upon the cross. + + + +SERMON XXXV. THE ETERNAL MANHOOD + + + +(First Sunday after Easter.) + +John xx. 29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen +me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet +have believed. + +The eighth day after the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared +a second time to his disciples. On this day he strengthened St. +Thomas's weak faith, by giving him proof, sensible proof, that he +was indeed and really the very same person who had been crucified, +wearing the very same human nature, the very same man's body. + +'Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.' You +have not seen. You have never beheld with your bodily eyes, or +touched with your bodily hand, as St. Thomas did, the Lord Jesus +Christ. And yet you may be more blessed now, this day, than St. +Thomas was then. We are too apt to fancy, that, to have seen the +Lord with our eyes, to have walked with him, and talked with him, as +the apostles did, was the greatest honour and blessing which could +happen to man. We fancy, perhaps, at times, that if the Lord Jesus +were to come visibly among us now, we should want nothing more to +make us good: that we could not help listening to him, obeying him, +loving him. + +But the Scriptures prove to us that it was not so. The Scribes and +Pharisees saw him and talked with him; yet they hated him. Judas +Iscariot, yet he betrayed him. Pilate, yet he condemned him. The +word preached profited them nothing, not being mixed with faith in +those who heard him. Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, came and +preached himself to them; declared to them who he was, proved who he +was by his mighty works of love and mercy, and by fulfilling all the +prophecies of Scripture which spoke of him; and yet they did not +believe him, they hated him, they crucified him; because they had no +faith. + +You see, therefore, that something more than seeing him with our +bodily eyes is wanted to make us believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; +something more than seeing him with our bodily eyes is wanted to +make us blessed. St. Thomas saw him; St. Thomas was allowed, by the +boundless condescension and mercy of the Lord Jesus, to put his hand +into his side. And yet the Lord does not say to him,--See how +blessed thou art; see how honoured thou art, by being allowed to +touch me. No; our Lord rather rebukes him for requiring such a +proof. + +There are those who will not believe without seeing; who say, I must +have proof. What I hear in church is too much for me to believe +without many more reasons than are given for it all. Many people, +for instance, stumble at the stumbling-block of the cross, and +cannot bring themselves to believe that God would condescend to +suffer and to die for men. Others cannot make up their minds about +the resurrection. It seems to them a strange and impossible thing +that Jesus' body should have risen from the grave and ascended to +heaven, and that our bodies should rise also. That was the great +puzzle to the Greeks, who thought themselves very learned and +cunning, and were great arguers and disputers about all deep matters +in heaven and earth. When St. Paul preached to them on Mars' Hill, +they heard him patiently enough, till he spoke of Jesus rising from +the dead; and then they mocked; laughed at the notion as absurd. +And we find that the Corinthians, even after they were converted and +baptised Christians, were puzzled about this same matter. They +could not understand how the dead were raised, and with what body +they would come. + +With such the Lord is not angry. If they really wish to know what +is true, and to do what is right; if they really are, as St. Paul +says, 'feeling after the Lord, if haply they may find him;' then the +Lord will give them light in due time, and shew them what they ought +to believe, and give them the sort of proof which they want. All +such he treats as he did Thomas, when he said, in his great +condescension, 'Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and +reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not +faithless but believing.' + +So the Lord sent to those Corinthians the very sort of proof which +they wanted, by the hand of the learned apostle, St. Paul. They +were great observers of the works of nature, of the strange movement +and change, birth and death, which goes on in beasts, and in plants, +and in the clouds, and the rivers, and the very stones under our +feet. And they said, We cannot believe in the resurrection of the +dead, because we see nothing like it in the world around us. And +St. Paul was sent to tell them. No: you do see something like it. +If you will look deeper into the working of the world around you, +you will see that the rising again of the dead, instead of being an +unnatural or an absurd thing, is the most reasonable and natural +thing, the perfect fulfilment, and crowning wonder of wonderful laws +which are working round you in every seed which you sow; in the +flesh of beasts and fishes; in bodies celestial and bodies +terrestrial: and so in that glorious chapter which we read in the +Burial Service, St. Paul tells the Corinthians, who went altogether +by sense, and reasoning about the things which they could see and +handle, that sense and reasoning were on his side, on God's side; +and that the mysteries of faith, like the resurrection of the body, +were not contrary to reason, but agreed with it. + +So does the Lord clear up the doubts of his people, in the way which +is best for them. But he does not call them as blessed as others. +There is a higher faith than that. There is a better part. The +same part which Mary chose. The same faith of which our Lord says,-- +'Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.' The +faith of the heart; the childlike, undoubting, ready, willing faith, +which welcomes the news of the Lord; which runs to meet it, and is +not astonished at it; and, if it ever doubts for a moment, only +doubts for very joy and delight; and feeling that the news of the +gospel is good news, cannot help feeling now and then that it is too +good news to be true; shewing its love and its faith in its very +hesitation. This is the childlike heart, whereof it is written, +'Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall in +no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.' + +The hearts of little children; the hearts which begin by faith and +love toward God himself; the hearts which know God; the hearts to +whom God has revealed himself, and taught them, they know not how, +that he is love. They are so sure of God's goodness, so sure of his +power, so sure of his love, his willingness to have mercy, and to +deliver poor creatures, that they find nothing strange, nothing +difficult, in the mysteries of faith. To them it is not a thing +incredible, that God should have come down and died upon the cross. +When they hear the good news of him who gave his own life for them, +it seems a natural thing to them, a reasonable thing: not of course +a thing which they could have expected; but yet not a thing to doubt +of or to be astonished at. For they know that God is love. + +And now some of you may say, 'Then are we more blessed than Thomas? +We have not seen, and yet we have believed. We never doubted. We +never wanted any arguments, or learned books, or special inward +assurances. From the moment that we began to learn our catechisms +at school we believed it, of course, every word of it. Do we not +say the Creed every Sunday; I believe in--and so forth?' O my +friends, do you believe indeed? If you do, blessed are you. But +are you sure that you speak truth? + +You may believe it. But do you believe in it? Have you faith in +it? Do you put your trust in it? Is your heart in it? Is it in +your heart? Do you love it, rejoice in it, delight to think over +it; to look forward to it, to make yourselves ready and fit for it. +Do you believe in it, in short, or do you only believe it, as you +believe that there is an Emperor of China, or that there is a +country called America, or any other matter with which you have +nothing to do, for which you care nothing, and which would make no +difference at all to you, if you found out to-morrow that it was not +so. That is mere dead belief; faith without works, which is dead, +the belief of the brains, not the faith of the heart and spirit. + +Oh, do you really believe the good news of this text, in which the +Son of God himself said to mortal men like ourselves, 'Handle me and +see that it is I, indeed; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as +ye see me have.' Do you believe that there is a Man evermore on the +right hand of God? That now as we speak a man is offering up before +the Father his perfect and all-cleansing sacrifice? That, in the +midst of the throne of God, is he himself who was born of the Virgin +Mary, and crucified under Pontius Pilate? Do you wish to find out +whether you believe that or not? Then look at your own hearts. +Look at your own prayers. Do you think of the Lord Jesus Christ, do +you pray to the Lord Jesus Christ, as a man, very man, born of +woman? Do you pray to him as to one who can be touched with the +feeling of your infirmities, because he has been tempted in all +things like as you are, yet without sin? When you are sad, +perplexed, do you take all your sorrows and doubts and troubles to +the Lord Jesus, and speak them all out to him honestly and frankly, +however reverently, as a man speaketh to his friend? Do you really +cast all your care on him, because you believe that he careth for +you? If you do, then indeed you believe in the resurrection of the +Lord Jesus Christ; and you will surely have your reward in a peace +of mind, amid all the chances and changes of this mortal life, which +passes man's understanding. That blessed knowledge that the Lord +knows all, cares for all, condescends to all--That thought of a +loving human face smiling upon your joys, sorrowing over your +sorrows, watching you, educating you from youth to manhood, from +manhood to the grave, from the grave to eternities of eternities-- +Whosoever has felt that, has indeed found the pearl of great price, +for which, if need be, he would give up all else in earth or heaven. + +Or do you say to yourselves at times, I must not think too much +about the Lord Jesus's being man, lest I should forget that he is +God? Do you shrink from opening your heart to him? Do you say +within yourself, He is too great, too awful, to condescend to listen +to my little mean troubles and anxieties? Besides, how can I expect +him to feel for them; I, a mean, sinful man, and he the Almighty +God? How do I know that he will not despise my meanness and +paltriness? How do I know that he will not be angry with me? I +must be more reverent to him, than to trouble him with very petty +matters. He was a man once when he was upon earth: but now that he +is ascended up on high, Very God of Very God, in the glory which he +had with the Father before the worlds were made, I must have more +awful and solemn thoughts about him, and keep at a more humble +distance from him. + +Do you ever have such thoughts as those come over you, my friends, +when you are thinking of the Lord Jesus, and praying to him? If you +do, shall I tell you what to say to them when they arise in your +minds, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.' Get thee away, thou accusing +devil, who art accusing my Lord to me, and trying to make me fancy +him less loving, less condescending, less tender, less +understanding, than he was when he wept over the grave of Lazarus. +Get thee away, thou lying hypocritical devil, who pretendest to be +so very humble and reverent to the godhead of the Lord Jesus, in +order that thou mayest make me forget what his godhead is like, +forget what God's likeness is, forget that it was in his manhood, in +his man's words, his man's thoughts, his man's actions, that he +shewed forth the glory of God, the express image of his person, and +fulfilled the blessed words, 'And God said, Let us make man in our +image, after our likeness.' Get thee behind me, Satan. I believe +in the good news of Easter Day, and thou shall not rob me of it. I +believe that he who died upon the Cross, rose again the third day, +as very and perfect man then and now, as he was when he bled and +groaned on Calvary, and shuddered at the fear of death, in the +garden of Gethsemane. Thou shalt not make my Lord's incarnation, +his birth, his passion, his resurrection, all that he did and +suffered in those thirty-three years, of none effect to me. Thou +shalt not take from me the blessed message of my Bible, that there +is a man in heaven in the midst of the throne of God. Thou shalt +not take from me the blessed message of the Athanasian Creed, that +in Christ the manhood is taken into God. Thou shalt not take from +me the blessed message of Holy Communion, which declares that the +very human flesh and blood of him who died on the Cross is now +eternal in the heavens, and nourishes my body and soul to +everlasting life. Thou shalt not, under pretence of voluntary +humility and will-worship, tempt me to go and pray to angels or to +saints, or to the Blessed Virgin, because I choose to fancy them +more tender, more loving and condescending, more loving, more human, +than the Lord himself, who gave himself to death for me. If the +Lord God, the Son of the Father, is not ashamed to be man for ever +and ever, I will not be ashamed to think of him as man; to pray to +him as man; to believe and be sure that he can be touched with the +feeling of my infirmities; to entreat him, by all that he did and +suffered as a man, to deliver me from those temptations which he +himself has conquered for himself; and to cry to him in the +smallest, as well as in the most important matters--'By the mystery +of thy holy incarnation; by thine agony and bloody sweat; by thy +cross and passion; by thy precious death and burial; by thy glorious +resurrection and ascension;' by all which thou hast done, and +suffered, and conquered, as a man upon this earth of ours, good +Lord, deliver us! + + + +SERMON XXXVI. THE BATTLE WITHIN + + + +(Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 1858.) + +Galatians, v. 16, 17. This I say then, Walk in the spirit, and ye +shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth +against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are +contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that +ye would. + +Does this text seem to any of you difficult to understand? It need +not be difficult to you; for it does not speak of anything which you +do not know. It speaks of something which you have all felt, which +goes on in you every day of your lives. It speaks of something, +certainly, which is very curious, mysterious, difficult to put into +words: but what is not curious and mysterious? The commonest +things are usually the most curious? What is more wonderful than +the beating of your heart; your pulse which beats all day long, +without your thinking of it? + +Just so this battle, this struggle, which St. Paul speaks of in this +text, is going on in us all day long, and yet we hardly think of it. +Now what is this battle? What are these things which are fighting +continually in your mind and in mine? St. Paul calls them the flesh +and the spirit. 'The flesh,' he says, 'lusts against the spirit, +and the spirit against the flesh.' They pull opposite ways. One +wants to do one thing, and the other the other. But if so, one of +them must be in the right, and the other in the wrong. Now, St. +Paul says, when these two fall out with each other, the spirit is in +the right, and the flesh in the wrong. And therefore, the secret of +life is, to walk in the spirit, and so not to fulfil the lusts of +the flesh. + +But if so, it must be worth our while to find out which is flesh, +and which is spirit in us, that we may know the foolish part of us +from the wise. What the flesh is, we may see by looking at a dumb +beast, which is all flesh, and has no immortal soul. It may be very +cunning, brave, curiously formed, beautiful, but one thing you will +always see, that a beast does what it likes, and only what it likes. +And this is the mark of the flesh, that it does what it likes. It +is selfish, and self-indulgent, cares for nothing but itself, and +what it can get for itself. + +True, you may raise a dumb beast above that, by taming and training +it. You may teach a horse or dog to do what it does _not_ like, and +give it a sense of duty, and as it were awaken a soul in it. That +is very wonderful, that we should be able to do so. It is a sign +that man is made in God's likeness. But I cannot stay to speak of +that now. I say our flesh, our animal nature, is selfish and self- +indulgent. I do not say, therefore, that it is bad: God forbid. +God made our bodies and brains, as well as our souls; and God makes +nothing bad. It is blasphemous to say that he does. No, our bodies +as bodies are good; the flesh as flesh is good, when it is in its +right place; and its right place is to be servant, not master. We +are not to walk after the flesh, says St. Paul: but the flesh is to +walk after the spirit--in English, our bodies are to obey our +spirits, our souls. For man has something higher than body in him. +He has a spirit in him; and it is just having this spirit which +makes him a man. For this spirit cares about higher things than +mere gain and comfort. It can feel pity and mercy, love and +generosity, justice and honour; and when a man not only feels them, +but obeys them, then he is a true man--a Christian man: but, on the +other hand, if a man does not; if he be a man in whom there is no +mercy or pity, no generosity, no benevolence, no justice or honour; +who cares for nothing and no one but himself, and filling his own +stomach and his own pulse, and pleasing his own brute appetites in +some way, what should you say of that man? You would say, he is +like a brute beast--and you would say right--you would say just what +St. Paul says. St. Paul would say, that man is fulfilling the lusts +of the flesh; and you and St. Paul would mean just the same thing. +Now, St. Paul says, 'The flesh in us lusts against the spirit, and +the spirit against the flesh.' And what do we gain by the spirit in +us lusting against the flesh, and pulling us the opposite way? We +gain this, St. Paul says, 'that we cannot do the things that we +would.' + +Does that seem no great gain to you? Let me put it a little +plainer. St. Paul means this, and just this, that you may not do +whatever you like. St. Paul thought it the very best thing for a +man not to be able to do whatever he liked. As long, St. Paul says, +as a man does whatever he likes, he lives according to the flesh, +and is no better than a dumb beast: but as soon as he begins to +live according to the spirit, and does not do whatever he likes, but +restrains himself, and keeps himself in order, then, and then only, +he becomes a true man. + +But why not do whatever we like? Because if we did do so, we should +be certain to do wrong. I do not mean that you and I here like +nothing but what is wrong. God forbid. I trust the Spirit of God +is with our spirits. But I mean this:--That if you could let a +child grow up totally without any control whatsoever, I believe that +before that lad was twenty-one he would have qualified himself for +the gallows seven times over. Thank God, that cannot happen in +England, because people are better taught, most of them at least; +and more, we dare not do what we like, for fear of the law and the +policeman. + +But, if you knew the lives which savages lead, who have neither law +outside them to keep them straight by fear, nor the Spirit of God +within them to keep them straight by duty and honour, then you would +understand what I mean only too well. + +Now St. Paul says,--It is a good thing for a man not to be able to +do what he likes. But there are two ways of keeping him from it. +One is by the law, the other is by the Spirit of God. The law works +on a man from the outside by fear; but the Spirit of God works in a +man by honour, by the sense of duty, by making him like and love +what is right, and making him see what a beautiful and noble thing +right is. + +Now St. Paul wants us to restrain ourselves, not from fear of being +punished, but because we like to do right. That is what he means +when he says that we are to be led by the Spirit, instead of being +under the law. It is better to be afraid of the law than to do +wrong: but it is best of all to do right from the Spirit, and of +our own free will. + +Am I puzzling you? I hope not: but, lest I should be, 1 will give +you one simple example which ought to make all clear as to the +struggle between a man's flesh and his spirit, and also as to doing +right from the Spirit or from law. + +Suppose you were a soldier going into battle. You see your comrades +falling around you, disfigured and cut up; you hear their groans and +cries; and you are dreadfully afraid: and no shame to you. It is +the common human instinct of self-preservation. The bravest men +have told me that they are afraid at first going into action, and +that they cannot get over the feeling. But what part of you is +afraid? Your flesh, which is afraid of pain, just as a beast is of +the whip. Then your flesh perhaps says, Run away--or at least skulk +and hide--take care of yourself. But next, if you were a coward, +the law would come into your mind, and you would say, But I dare not +run away; for, if I do, I shall be shot as a deserter, or broke, and +drummed out of the army. So you may go on, even though you are a +coward: but that is not courage. You have not conquered your own +fear--you have not conquered yourself--but the law has conquered +you. + +But, if you are a brave man, as I trust you all are, a higher spirit +than your own speaks to your spirit, and makes you say to yourself, +I dare not run away; but, more, I cannot run away. I should like +to--but I cannot do the things that I would. It is my duty to go +on; it is right; it is a point of honour with me to my country, my +regiment, my Queen, my God, and I must go on. + +Then you are walking in the Spirit. You have conquered yourself, +and so are a really brave man. You have obeyed the Spirit, and you +have your reward by feeling inspirited, as we say; you can face +death with spirit, and fight with spirit. + +But the struggle between the Spirit and the flesh is not ended +there. When you got excited, there would probably come over you the +lust of fighting; you would get angry, get mad and lose your self- +possession. + +There is the flesh waking up again, and saying, Be cruel; kill every +one you meet. And to that the Spirit answers, No; be reasonable and +merciful. Do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh, and turn yourself +into a raging wild beast. Your business is not to butcher human +beings, but to win a battle. + +Well; and even if you have conquered the enemy, you may not have +conquered your worst enemy, which is yourself. For, after having +fought bravely, and done your duty, what would the flesh say to you? +I am sure it would say it to me. What but--Boast: talk of your own +valiant deeds and successes; get all the praise and honour you can; +and shew how much finer a person you are than any of your comrades. +But what would the Spirit say?--and I trust you would all listen to +the Spirit. The Spirit would say, No; do not boast; do not lower +yourself into the likeness of a vain peacock: but be just, and be +modest. Give every man his due; try to praise and recommend every +one whom you can; and trust to God to make your doing your duty as +clear as the light, and your brave actions as the noonday. + +So, you see, all through, a man's flesh might be lusting, and would +be lusting, against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; +and see, too, how in each case, the flesh is tempting the man to be +cowardly, brutal, vain, selfish, and wrong in some way, and the +Spirit is striving to make him forget himself, and think of his +comrades and his duty. + +Now when a man is led by the Spirit, if he is tempted to do wrong, +he does not say, I will not do this wrong thing, but I cannot. I +cannot do what you want me. I like to hear a man say that. It is a +sign that he feels God's voice in him, which he must obey, whether +he likes or not; as Joseph said when he was tempted. Not, I had +rather not, or I dare not: but, How _can_ I do this great +wickedness against my master, who has trusted me, and put everything +into my hand, and so, by being a treacherous traitor, sin against +God? + +Now, is this Spirit part of our spirits, or not? I think we confess +ourselves that it is not. St. Paul says that it is not. For he +says, there is one Spirit--that is, one good Spirit--of whom he +speaks as the Spirit; and this, he says, is the Spirit of God, and +the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit which inspires the spirits of +all noble, Christ-like, God-like men. + +In this Spirit there is nothing proud, spiteful, cruel, nothing +selfish, false, and mean; nothing violent, loose, debauched. But he +is an altogether good and noble spirit, whose fruit is love, joy, +peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, +temperance. This, he says, is the Spirit of God; and this Spirit he +gives to those spirits,--souls, as we call them now,--who desire it, +that they may become righteous with the righteousness of Christ, and +good with the goodness of God. + +And is not this good news? I say, my friends, if we will look at it +aright, there is no better news, no more inspiriting news for men +like us, mixed up in the battle of life, and often pulled downward +by our own bad passions, and ashamed of ourselves more or less, +every day of our lives;--no better news, I say, than this, that what +is good and right in us is not our own, but God's; that our longings +after good, our sense of duty and honour, kindliness and charity, +are not merely our own likings or fancies: but the voice of God's +almighty and everlasting Spirit. Good news, indeed! For if God be +for us who can be against us? If God's Spirit be with our spirits, +they must surely be stronger than our selfish pleasure-loving flesh. +If God himself be labouring to make us good; if he be putting into +our hearts good desires; surely he can enable us to bring those +desires to good effect: and all that is wanted of us, is to listen +to God's voice within, and do the right like men, whatever pain it +may cost us, sure that we, by God's help, shall win at last in the +hardest battle of all battles, the victory over our own selves. + + + +SERMON XXXVII. HYPOCRISY + + + +Matthew xvi. 3. Oh ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the +sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? + +It will need, I think, some careful thought thoroughly to understand +this text. Our Lord in it calls the Pharisees and Sadducees +hypocrites; because, though they could use their common sense and +experience to judge of the weather they would not use them to judge +of the signs of the times; of what was going to happen to the Jewish +nation. + +But how was their conduct hypocritical? Stupid we might call it, or +unreasonable: but how hypocritical? That, I think, we may see +better, by considering what the word hypocrite means. + +We mean now, generally, by a hypocrite, a man who pretends to be one +thing, while he is another; who pretends to be pious and good, while +he is leading a profligate life in secret; who pretends to believe +certain doctrines, while at heart he disbelieves them; a man, in +short, who is a scoundrel, _and knows it_; but who does not intend +others to know it: who deceives others, but does not deceive +himself. + +My friends, such a man is a hypocrite: but there is another kind of +hypocrite, and a more common one by far; and that is, the hypocrite +who not only deceives others, but deceives himself likewise; the +hypocrite who (as one of the wisest living men puts it) is +astonished that you should think him hypocritical. + +I do not say which of these two kinds is the worse. My duty is to +judge no man. I only say that there are such people, and too many +of them; that we ourselves are often in danger of becoming such +hypocrites; and that this was the sort of people which the Pharisees +for the most part were. Hypocrites who had not only deceived +others, but themselves also; who thought themselves perfectly right, +honest, and pious; who were therefore astonished and indignant at +Christ's calling them hypocrites. + +How did they get into this strange state of mind? How may we get +into it? + +Consider first what a hypocrite means. It means strictly neither +more nor less than a play-actor; one who personates different +characters on the stage. That is the one original meaning of the +word hypocrite. + +Now recollect that a man may personate characters, like a play- +actor, and pretend to be what he is not, for two different objects. +He may do it for other people's sake, or for his own. + +1. For other people's sake. As the Pharisees did, when they did +all their works to be seen of men; and therefore, naturally, gave +their attention as much as possible to outward forms and ceremonies, +which could be seen by men. + +Now, understand me, before I go a step further, I am not going to +speak against forms and ceremonies. No man less: and, above all, +not against the Church forms and ceremonies, which have grown up, +gradually and naturally, out of the piety, and experience, and +practical common sense of many generations of God's saints. Men +must have forms and ceremonies to put them in mind of the spiritual +truths which they cannot see or handle. Men cannot get on without +them; and those who throw away the Church forms have to invent fresh +ones, and less good ones, for themselves. + +All, I say, have their forms and ceremonies; and all are in danger, +as we churchmen are, of making those forms stand instead of true +religion. In the Church or out of the Church, men are all tempted +to have, like the Pharisees, their traditions of the elders, their +little rules as to conduct, over and above what the Bible and the +Prayer-book have commanded; and all are tempted to be more shocked +if those rules are broken, than if really wrong and wicked things +are done; and like the Pharisees of old, to be careful in paying +tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, the commonest garden herbs, and +yet forget the weighty matters of the law, justice, mercy, and +judgment. I have known those who would be really more shocked at +seeing a religious man dance or sing, than at hearing him tell a +lie. But I will give no examples, lest I should set you on judging +others. Or rather, the only example which I will give is that of +these Pharisees, who have become, by our Lord's words about them, +famous to all time, as hypocrites. + +Now you must bear in mind that these Pharisees were not villains and +profligates. Many people, feeling, perhaps, how much of what the +Lord had said against the Pharisees would apply to them, have tried +to escape from that ugly thought, by making out the Pharisees worse +men than our Lord does. But the fact is, that they cannot be proved +to be worse than too many religious people now-a-days. There were +adulterers, secret loose-livers among them. Are there none now-a- +days? They were covetous. Are no religious professors covetous +now-a-days? They crept into widows' houses, and, for a pretence +made long prayers. Does no one do so now? There would, of course, +be among them, as there is among all large religious parties, as +there is now, a great deal of inconsistent and bad conduct. But, on +the whole, there is no reason to suppose that the greater number of +them were what we should call ill-livers. In that terrible twenty- +third chapter of St. Matthew, in which our Lord denounces the sins +of the Scribes and Pharisees, he nowhere accuses them of profligate +living; and the Pharisee of whom he tells us in his parable, who +went into the Temple to pray, no doubt spoke truth when he boasted +of not being as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers. He +trusted in himself that he was righteous. True. But whatever that +means, it means that he thought that he was righteous, after a +fashion, though it proved to be a wrong one. What our Lord +complains of in them is, first, their hardness of heart; their pride +in themselves, and their contempt for their fellowmen. Their very +name Pharisee meant that. It meant separate--they were separate +from mankind; a peculiar people; who alone knew the law, with whom +alone God was pleased: while the rest of mankind, even of their own +countrymen, knew not the law, and were accursed, and doomed to hell. +Ah God, who are we to cast stones at the Pharisees of old, when this +is the very thing which you may hear said in England from hundreds +of pulpits every Sunday, with the mere difference, that instead of +the word law, men put the word gospel. + +For this our Lord denounced them; and next, for their hypocrisy, +their play-acting, the outward show of religion in which they +delighted; trying to dress, and look, and behave differently from +other men; doing all their good works to be seen of men; sounding a +trumpet before them when they gave away alms; praying standing at +the corners of the streets; going in long clothing, making broad +their phylacteries, the written texts of Scripture which they sewed +to their garments; washing perpetually when they came from the +market, or any public place, lest they should have been defiled by +the touch of an unclean thing, or person; loving the chief seats in +their religious meetings, and the highest places at feasts; and so +forth,--full of affectation, vanity, and pride. + +I could tell you other stories of their ridiculous affectations: +but I shall not. They would only make you smile: and we could not +judge them fairly, not being able to make full allowance for the +difference of customs between the Jews and ourselves. Many of the +things which our Lord blames them for, were not nearly so absurd in +Judea of old, as they seem to us in England now. Indeed, no one but +our Lord seems to have thought them absurd, or seen through the +hollowness and emptiness of them:--as he perhaps sees through, my +friends, a great deal which is thought very right in England now. +Making allowance for the difference of the country, and of the +times, the Pharisees were perhaps no more affected, for Jews, than +many people are now, for Englishmen. And if it be answered, that +though our religious fashions now-a-days are not commanded expressly +by the Bible or the Prayer Book, yet they carry out their spirit:-- +remember, in God's name, that that was exactly what the Pharisees +said, and their excuse for being righteous above what was written; +and that they could, and did, quote texts of Scripture for their +phylacteries, their washings, and all their other affectations. + +Another reason I have for not dwelling too much on these +affectations; and it is this. Because a man may be a play-actor and +a self-deceiver in religion, without any of these tricks at all, and +without much of the vanity and pride which cause them. For +recollect that a man may act for his own amusement, as well as for +other people's. Children do so perpetually, and especially when no +one is by to listen to them. They delight in playing at being this +person and that, and in living for a while in a day-dream. Oh let +us take care that we do not do the same in our religion! It is but +too easy to do so. Too easy; and too common. For is it not play- +acting, like any child, to come to this church, and here to feel +repentance, feel forgiveness, feel gratitude, feel reverence; and +then to go out of church and awake as from a dream, and become our +natural selves for the rest of the week, till Sunday comes round +again; comforting ourselves meanwhile with the fancy that we had +been very religious last Sunday, and intended to be very religious +next Sunday likewise? + +Would there not be hypocrisy and play-acting in that, my friends? + +Now, my dear friends, if we give way to this sort of hypocrisy, we +shall get, as too many do, into the habit of living two lives at +once, without knowing it. Outside us will be our religious life of +praying, and reading, and talking of good things, and doing good +work (as, thank God, many do whose hearts are not altogether right +with God, or their eyes single in his sight) good work, which I +trust God will not forget in the last day, in spite of all our +inconsistencies. Outside us, I say, will be our religious life: +and inside us our own actual life, our own natural character, too +often very little changed or improved at all. So by continually +playing at religion, we shall deceive ourselves. We shall make an +entirely wrong estimate of the state of our souls. We shall fancy +that this outward religion of ours is the state of our soul. And +then, if any one tells us that we are play-acting, and hypocrites, +we shall be as astonished and indignant as the Pharisees were of +old. We shall make the same mistake as a man would, who because he +always wore clothes, should fancy at last that his clothes were +himself, part of his own body. So, I say, many deceive themselves, +and are more or less hypocrites to themselves. They do not, in +general, deceive others; they are not, on the whole, hypocrites to +their neighbours. For their neighbours, after a time, see what they +cannot see themselves, that they are play-acting; that they are two +different people without knowing it: that their religion is a thing +apart from their real character. A hundred signs shew that. How +many there are, for instance, who are, or seem tolerably earnest +about religion, and doing good, as long as they are actually in +church, or actually talking about religion. But all the rest of +their time, what are they doing? What are they thinking of? Mere +frivolity and empty amusement. Idle butterflies, pretending to be +industrious bees once in the week. + +Others again, will be gentle and generous enough about everything +but religion; and as soon as they get upon that, will become fierce, +and hard, and narrow at once. Others again (and this is most +common) commit the very same fault as the Pharisees in the text, who +could use their common sense to discern the signs of the weather, +and yet could not use it to discern the signs of the time, because +they were afraid of looking honestly at the true state of public +feeling and conscience, and at the danger and ruin into which their +religion and their party were sinking. For about all worldly +matters, these men will be as sound-headed and reasonable as they +need be: but as soon as they get on religious matters, they become +utterly silly and unreasonable; and will talk nonsense, listen to +nonsense, and be satisfied with nonsense, such as they would not +endure a moment if their own worldly interest, or worldly character, +were in question. + +But most of all do these poor souls not deceive their neighbours +when a time of temptation comes upon them. For then, alas! it comes +out too often that they are of those whom our Lord spoke of, who +heard the word gladly, but had no root in themselves, and in time of +temptation fell away. For then, before the storm of some trying +temptation, away goes all the play-acting religion; and the man's +true self rises up from underneath into ugly life. Up rise, +perhaps, pride, and self-will, and passion; up rise, perhaps, +meanness and love of money; up rise, perhaps, cowardice and +falsehood; or up rises foul and gross sin, causing some horrible +scandal to religion, and to the name of Christ; while fools look on, +and, laughing an evil laugh, cry,--'These are your high professors. +These are your Pharisees, who were so much better than everybody +else. When they are really tried, it seems they behave no better +than we sinners.' + +Oh, these are the things which make a clergyman's heart truly sad. +These are the things which make him long that all were over; that +Christ would shortly accomplish the number of his elect, and hasten +his kingdom, that we, with all those who are departed in the true +faith of his holy name, may rest in peace for ever from sin and +sinners. + +Not that I mean that some of these very people, in spite of all +their inconsistency, will not be among that number. God forbid! +How do we know that? How do we know that they are one whit worse +than we should be in their place? How do we know, above all, that +to have been found out may not be the very best thing that has +happened to them since the day that they were born? How do we know +that it may not be God's gracious medicine to enable them to find +themselves out; to make them see themselves in their true colours; +to purge them of all their play-acting; and begin all over again, +crying to God, not with the lips only, but out of the depth of an +honest and a noble shame, as David did of old--Behold I was shapen +in wickedness, conceived in sin, and I have found it out at last. +But thou requirest truth in the inward parts, in the very root and +ground of the heart, and not merely truth in the head, in the lips, +and in the outward behaviour. Make me a clean heart, O God, and +renew a right spirit within me. Thou desirest no sacrifice, else +would I give it thee: but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings. +The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit, as mine is now. A broken +and a contrite heart, ground down by the shame of its own sin, that, +O God, thou wilt not despise. + +And then--when that prayer has gone up in earnest, and has been +answered by the gift of a clean heart, and of a right spirit, which +desires nothing but to be made clean and made right, to learn its +duty and to do it--then, I say, that man may go back safely and +freely, to such forms and ceremonies, as he has been accustomed to, +and have been consecrated by the piety and wisdom of his +forefathers. For, says David, though forms and ceremonies, +sacrifice and burnt-offering cannot make any peace with God, yet I +am not going to give up forms and ceremonies, sacrifice and burnt- +offerings. No. When my peace is made, when the broken and the +contrite heart has put me in my true place again, and my heart is +clean, and my spirit right once more; then, he says, will God be +pleased with my sacrifices, with my burnt-offerings and oblations; +because they will be the sacrifice of righteousness, of a righteous +man desiring to shew honour to that God from whom his righteousness +comes, and gratitude to that God to whom he owes his pardon. + +And so with us, my friends, if ever we have fallen, and been +pardoned, and risen again to a new, a truer, a more honest, a more +righteous life. Our forms of devotion ought then to become not a +snare and a hypocrisy, but honest outward signs of the spiritual +grace which is within us; as honest and as rational as the shake of +the hand to the friend whom we truly love, as the bowing of the knee +before the Queen for whom we would gladly die. + +O may God give us all grace to seek first the kingdom of God and his +righteousness. To seek first the kingdom of God; to work earnestly, +each in his place, to do God's will, and to teach and help others to +do it likewise. To seek his righteousness, which is the +righteousness of the heart and spirit: and then all other things +will be added to us. All outward forms and ceremonies, ways of +speaking, ways of behaving, which are good and right for us, will +come to us as a matter of course; growing up in us naturally and +honestly, without any affectation or hypocrisy, and the purity and +soberness, the reverence and earnestness of our outward +conversation, will be a pattern of the purity and soberness, the +reverence and earnestness, which dwells in our hearts by the +inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. + + + +SERMON XXXVIII. A PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THE LORD + + + +Ephesians iii. 3-6. How that by revelation he made known unto me +the mystery (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, +ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in +other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now +revealed unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the +Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers +of his promise in Christ by the Gospel. + +This day is the feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany, as many of you +know, means 'shewing,' because on this day the Lord Jesus Christ was +first shewn to the Gentiles; to the Gentile wise men who, as you +heard in the Gospel, saw his star in the east, and came to worship +him. And the part of Scripture from which I have taken my text, is +used for the Epistle this day, because in it St. Paul explains to us +the meaning of the Epiphany. The meaning of those wise men being +shewn our Lord, and worshipping him, though they were not Jews as he +was, but Gentiles. He says that it means this, that the Gentiles +were fellow-heirs with the Jews, and of the same body as them, and +partakers of God's promise in Christ by the Gospel. + +This does not seem so very wonderful to us; and why? Because we, +though we are Gentiles like those wise men, have lived so long, we +and our forefathers before us, in the light of the Gospel, that we +are inclined to take it as a matter of course; forgetting what a +wonderful, unspeakable, condescension it was of God, not to spare +his only begotten Son, but freely to give him for us. God forgive +us! We are so heaped with blessings that we neglect them, forget +them, take them as our right, instead of remembering our sins and +ungratefulness, and saying, Thy mercies are new every morning; it is +only of thy mercies that we are not consumed. + +But to St. Paul it was very wonderful news. A mystery, as he said; +quite a new and astonishing thought, that heathens had any share in +God's love and Christ's salvation. + +And so it was to St. Peter. God had to teach it him by that +wonderful vision, in which he saw coming down from heaven all sorts +of animals, and God bade him kill and eat; and when he refused, +because they were common and unclean, God forbade him to call +anything common or unclean, now that God had cleansed all things by +the precious blood of his dear Son. Then Peter was bidden to go to +the Gentile Roman soldier Cornelius. And he went, though, he said, +he had been used to think it unlawful for a Jew even to eat with a +Gentile. And when he went, he found, to his astonishment, that +God's love was over that Gentile soldier and his family, because +they were good men, as far as they had light and knowledge, just as +much as if they had been good Jews. And God gave St. Peter a sign +which there was no mistaking, that he really did care for those +Gentile Romans, just as much as if they had been Jews; for, as he +was preaching Christ to them, the Holy Ghost fell on them, not +after, but before they were baptised. So that St. Peter, astonished +as he was, was forced by his own conscience and reason to say, 'Can +any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised, who have +received the Holy Ghost as well as we' (Jews)? Then he commanded +them to be baptised in the name of the Lord. + +And what was the lesson which God taught St. Peter by this? St. +Peter himself tells us; for he opened his mouth and said, 'Of a +truth I see that God is no respecter of persons; but in every +nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted +by him.' + +Now, my dear friends, this is (as the Lord Jesus Christ tells us) +God's everlasting law, 'That he that hath, to him shall be given, +and he shall have more abundantly; but from him that hath not, shall +be taken away even that which he seems to have.' + +So it was, as I have just shewn you, with Cornelius; and so it was +with those wise men. They were worshippers (as is supposed) of the +one true God, though in a dim confused way: but they had learnt +enough of what true faith was, and of what true greatness was, too, +not to be staggered and fall into unbelief, when they saw the King +of the Jews, whom they had come so many hundred miles to see, laid, +not in a palace, but in a manger; and attended not by princesses and +noblewomen, but by a poor maiden, espoused to a carpenter. +Therefore God bestowed on them that great honour, that they, first +of all the Gentiles, should see the glory and the love of God in the +face of Jesus Christ, his Son. + +And so it was with our forefathers, my friends. And I think that on +this Epiphany, we ought to thank God, among all his other blessings, +for having given us such forefathers, and letting us be born of that +noble stock, to whom he gave the kingdom of God, after he took it +away from the faithless and rebellious Jews, and afterwards from the +false and profligate Greeks and Romans, to whom the epistles of the +apostles were written. I will tell you what I mean. + +When the Lord Jesus came on earth; our forefathers did not live here +in England, but in countries across the sea, in Germany, Denmark, +and Sweden, which did not belong to the Roman Empire; for the +Romans, who had conquered all the world beside, could never conquer +our forefathers. It was God's will, that whenever they tried they +were beaten back with shame and slaughter; and our forefathers, +almost alone of all, remained free men, even as we are at this day. +But for that very reason, the apostles could never come among us to +preach the Gospel to us; for they could not pass the bounds of the +Roman empire; and that was so large, that they had enough to do to +preach the Gospel in it; so that it was not till at least 400 years +after the apostles' death, that their successors, zealous +missionaries, priests and bishops, came and preached to our +forefathers; and when they came, they found us a people prepared for +the Lord, who heard the word gladly, and turned, thousands sometimes +in one day, from vain idols to serve the living God, and were +baptised into that holy church in which we now stand. And it has +been among us, and the nations who are our kinsmen, that the light +of the gospel has shone ever since, while all through the East, +where the apostles preached most and earliest, it has died out. So +that our Lord's words have been fulfilled, that many that are last +shall be first, and those that are first shall be last. God grant +that it may not always be so. God grant that his kingdom may return +to its ancient seat at Jerusalem, and that all nations may go up to +the mountain of the Lord's house, in the day of which St. Paul +prophesies, when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and all +Israel shall be saved, when the earth shall be full of the knowledge +of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. But it is not so now; and +cannot be so, as far as we can see, for many a year to come. + +But in the meanwhile, why were our forefathers--heathens though they +were, and sinners in many things, being truly children of wrath, +fierce, bloodthirsty, revengeful, without the grace of Christ, which +is Love and Charity--nevertheless a people prepared for the Lord? +How was it true of them that to him that hath shall be given? + +I will tell you. There is an old book, written in Latin by a +heathen gentleman of Rome, who lived in St. Paul's time, and wrote +this book about twenty years after St. Paul's death. It is a little +book; but it is a very precious one: and I think it is a great +mercy of God that, while so many famous old books have been lost, +this little book should have been preserved: for this Roman +gentleman had travelled among our forefathers; and when he returned +he wrote this book to shame his countrymen at Rome. In it he calls +us 'Germans;' but that was the Roman fashion. By Germans they meant +not only the people who now live in Germany, but the English and the +Danes, and the Swedes, and the Franks, who afterwards conquered +France. In fact he meant our own forefathers. And he said to the +Romans,-- + +'Look at these wild Germans. You despise them because they go half- +naked, and cannot read or write, and live in mud cottages; while you +go in silk and gold, and have all sorts of learning, and live in +great cities, palaces, and temples, in worldly pomp and glory. But +I tell you,' he said, 'that these wild Germans are better men than +you; for, while you are living in sin, in cheating and falsehood, in +covetousness, adultery, murder, and every horrible iniquity, they +are honest, chaste, truthful; they honour their fathers and mothers; +they are obedient and loyal to their kings and their laws; they shew +hospitality to strangers; they do not commit adultery, steal, bear +false witness, covet their neighbours' goods. And therefore,' this +Roman felt (and really it seems as if a spirit of prophecy from God +had come on him), 'something great and glorious will come out of +these wild Germans, while the Romans will rot away and perish in +their sins.' That was true enough. We see it true at this day. + +For what happened? That great Roman empire, Babylon the great, as +St. John calls it in the Revelations, perished miserably and +horribly by its own sins; while our forefathers rose and conquered +it all, and live and thrive till this day. But it is curious that +they never throve really, though they made great conquests, and did +many wonderful deeds, till they became Christians: but as soon as +they became Christians, they began to thrive at once, and settled +down, and became that great family of nations, and kingdom of God, +which we call Christendom; England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, +Sweden, and the other countries of Christian Europe; which God has +so prospered for his Son Jesus Christ's sake, in spite of many sins +and shortcomings, with wealth and numbers, skill, and learning, and +strength, that now the empire of the whole world depends upon these +few small Christian nations, which in our Lord's time were only +tribes of heathen savages: so that here again our Lord's great +parable was fulfilled. + +The gospel seed which the apostle sowed in those rich, luxurious, +clever, learned, Romans, was like the seed which fell on thorny +ground; and the cares and pleasures of this life, and the +deceitfulness or riches, sprang up, and choked the word, and it +remained unfruitful. But the gospel seed which was sown among our +poor, wild, simple, ignorant forefathers, was the seed which fell on +an honest and good heart, and took root, and brought forth fruit, +some thirty, some fifty, and some one hundred fold. Epiphany came +late to us--not for three hundred years after our Lord's birth: +but, when it came, the light which it brought remained with us, and +lights us even now from our cradle to our grave: and so again was +fulfilled the Scripture, which says, that God chooses the weak +things of this world to confound the strong; the foolish to confound +the wise; yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought the +things which are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. + +That no flesh should glory in his presence. For mind, my friends, +our business is not to be high-minded but to fear. And we English +are too apt to be high-minded now. We pride ourselves on our +English character, English cleverness, English courage, English +wealth. My friends, be not high-minded but fear. We have no right +to pride ourselves on being Englishmen, if we do the very things +which our forefathers were ashamed to do even when they were +heathens. They honoured their fathers and mothers. Do we? They +were loyal and obedient to law. Are we? They were chaste and clean +livers: adultery was seldom heard of among them; and, when it was, +they punished it in the most fearful way: while what astonished +that old Roman gentleman, of whom I spoke, most of all, was the pure +and respectable lives of the young men and women. Is it so now-a- +days among us, my friends? They were honest, too, and just in all +their dealings. Are we? They were true to their word; no men on +earth more true. Are we? They hated covetousness and overreaching. +Do we? They were generous, open-handed, hospitable. Are we? My +friends, this was the old English spirit, which God accepted in our +forefathers. Is it in us now? We must not pride ourselves on it, +unless we have it. Nay, more, what is it but a shame to us, if, +while our forefathers were good heathens, we are bad Christians? +They had but a small spark, a dim ray, as it were, of the light +which lighteth every man who comes into the world: but they were +more faithful to that little than many are now, who live in the full +sunshine of God's gospel, in the free dispensation of God's spirit, +with Christ's sacraments, Christ's Churches, means of grace and +hopes of glory, of which they never dreamed. May they not rise up +against some of us in the day of judgment, and condemn us, and say,-- +'Are you our children? Do you boast of knowing God better than we +did, while you did things which we dared not do? We knew that God +hated such sins, and therefore we kept from them. You should know +that better than we; for you had seen God's horror of sin in the +death of his own Son Jesus Christ; and yet you went on committing +the very sins which crucified the Lord of Glory.' + +My friends, I speak sober earnest. God grant that our old heathen +forefathers may not rise up against us in the day of judgment, and +condemn us. Let us turn to the Lord this day with all our hearts, +and come to this holy table, confessing all our sins and +unfaithfulness, and backslidings, that we may get there cleansing +from his most precious blood, strength from his most precious body, +life from his life, and spirit from his spirit; that so we may go +away to lead new lives, following the commandments of God, and +living up to our great light and knowledge, at least as well as our +forefathers lived up to their little light. And so we shall really +keep the feast of Epiphany in spirit and in truth: for Epiphany +means the shewing of Jesus Christ to us Gentiles; and the way to +prove that Jesus Christ has been shewn to us, and that we have seen +his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of +grace and truth, is to keep his commandments, and live lives like +his. + + + +SERMON XXXIX. THE WRATH OF LOVE + + + +Psalm cvii. 6. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and +he delivered them out of their distresses. + +If I were asked to give a reason why I believed the Old Testament to +be an inspired and divine book, as well as the New, I could not do +better, I think, than to lay my hand on this 107th psalm, and say,-- +This is my reason for believing the Old Testament to be inspired. I +have hundreds of others: but this one is enough--this one psalm. +It contains an account of God's dealings with men, such as the world +never heard before, and very seldom since, save from a very few men, +who really saw what the Bible meant, and honestly followed its +teaching. It gives a notion of the justice of God, and an +explanation of the chances and changes of this mortal life, such as +you will find nowhere else save in the Bible, and in the books of +Christian men who have been taught by the Bible. The man who wrote +that psalm knew so much more than other men, that he must have been +indeed inspired by the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Ghost of God. + +And, I should say, I have come to this opinion mainly by comparing +this psalm with the writings of heathens, even the wisest and the +best of them. For the heathens, like all men, used to have their +troubles, and to ask themselves, Who has sent this trouble? And why +has he sent it? And their answers remain to us in their writings, +some worse, some better, some very foolish, some tolerably wise. +But when one compares the heathen writings with this psalm, or with +any psalms or passages of the Old Testament which talk of God's +dealings with man, then we shall be altogether astonished at the +superiority of the Bible. The Bible will seem to us quite +infinitely wiser than heathen books, on this matter, as on others-- +so much more simple, and yet so much more deep; so much more +rational also, and so much more true: agreeing so much more with +the facts which we see happen round us: agreeing so much more with +our own reason, experience, inward conscience, about what is just +and unjust:--that we shall begin to see as much difference between +heathen books and the Old Testament, as there is between the dim +dawn of morning, and the full blaze of noonday light. + +One of the earliest heathen notions why troubles came was, it seems, +that the gods were offended with men, because they had not shown +them due honour, flattered them enough, or offered sacrifices enough +to them: or else they fancied that the gods envied men: grudged +their prosperity, did not like to see them too happy. + +That dark and base notion gradually faded away, as men got higher +notions of right and wrong, and of the gods, as the judges and +avengers of wrong. Then they began to think these troubles were +punishments for doing wrong. The Gods, or God, punished sin; +inflicting so much pain for so much sin, very much as the heathens +are apt to punish their criminals still, and as Christian nations +used to punish theirs, namely, with shameful and horrible tortures; +before they began to find out that the end of punishment is not to +torment, but to reform, the criminal, wherever it is possible. + +But then the thought would come--Why, after all, should God, if he +be just and merciful, punish my sin by pain and misery? How can it +profit God, how can it please God, to give me pain? Because it +satisfies his justice? How can it do that? It would not satisfy +mine. Suppose my child, or even my dog, disobeyed me, would it +satisfy my sense of justice to beat him? It might satisfy my +passion: but God has no passions. It would be base, blasphemous to +fancy that he takes pleasure in hurting me, as I take pleasure in +beating my dog when I lose my temper with it. God forbid! The old +prophets saw that, and cried--'Have I any pleasure in the death of +him, saith the Lord, and not rather that he should turn from his +wickedness, and live?' + +Then, naturally, the thought would come into the mind of a wise and +serious man--I punish my child, or my dog, and God punishes me. May +he not punish me for the same reason that I punish them? I punish +them to correct them and make them better. Surely God punishes me, +to correct me, and make me better. I punish my child, because I +love him, and wish him good. God punishes me because he loves me +and desires that I may be a partaker of his holiness. + +And as soon as that blessed thought had risen up in any man's mind, +by the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, all the world would begin +to look bright and clear and full of hope. This earth, with all its +sorrows and sufferings, would look no longer to him as God's prison +house, where poor sinners sat tortured and wailing, fast bound in +misery and iron, till they should pay the uttermost farthing, which +they never could pay. No. It would look to him as God's school- +house, God's reformatory, in which he is training and chastening and +correcting the souls of men, that he may deliver them from the ruin +and misery which sin brings on them, both the original sin which is +born in them and the actual sin which they commit. Then God appears +to him a gracious and merciful father. He can see a blessed meaning +and a wholesome use in all human suffering; and he can break out, as +the Psalmist does in this glorious psalm, into praise and +thanksgiving, and call on mankind to give thanks to the Lord; for he +is gracious, and his mercy endureth for ever. + +In every kind of human suffering, I say, he sees now a meaning and a +use. + +First, he takes, it seems, his own countrymen, the Jews, coming back +from Babylon into their own country after the seventy years' +captivity. They had been punished for their sins. But for what +purpose? That they might know (as Ezekiel said), that God was the +Lord. And when they cried unto him in their trouble, he delivered +them out of their distress. + +Then he goes on to those who have brought themselves into poverty +and shame, and sit fast bound in misery and iron. It is their own +fault. They have brought it on themselves by rebelling against the +word of the Lord, and lightly regarding the counsel of the Most +Highest. But God does not hate them. God is not going to leave +them to the net which they have spread for their own feet. When +they cry unto the Lord in their troubles, he delivers them out of +their distress. God himself, by strange and unexpected ways, will +deliver them from their darkness of ignorance and sin, and from the +danger and misery which they have brought upon themselves. + +Then he goes on to those who have injured their health by their own +folly, till their soul abhors all manner of food, and they are even +hard at death's door. Neither does God hate them. They, too, are +in God's school-house. And when they cry to the Lord in their +trouble, he will deliver them, too, out of their distress, and send +his word, and heal them, and save them from destruction. + +Then he goes on to men who are exposed to danger, and terror, and +death in their lawful calling; and his instance is the seamen--those +who go on to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great +waters. + +The storms come up, they know not when or how: but they are not the +sport of a blind chance; they are not the victims of the wrath of +God. The wild sea, too, is his school-house, where they are to see +the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep; and so, by +strange dangers and strange deliverances, learn, as I have seen many +a seaman learn, a courage and endurance, a faith, a resignation, +which puts us comfortable landsmen to shame. + +Then he goes on to even a deeper matter--to those terrible changes +in nature, so common in the East, in which whole districts, by +earthquake or drought, are rendered worthless and barren. They too, +he says, are God's lessons, though sharp ones enough. 'He turneth +the rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry ground; +a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that +dwell therein. Again, he turneth the wilderness into a standing +water, and dry ground into water-springs. And there he maketh the +hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; and +sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of +increase.' + +Lastly, he goes on to political changes, which bring a whole nation +low, into oppression and misery. 'They are minished and brought low +through oppression, affliction and sorrow. He poureth contempt upon +princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there +is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and +maketh him families like a flock. The righteous shall see it, and +rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and +will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving- +kindness of the Lord.' + +And so, in all the changes of this mortal life, he sees no real +chance, no real change, but the orderly education of a just and +loving Father, whose mercy endureth for ever; who chastens men as a +father chastens his children, for their profit, that they may be +partakers of his holiness, in which alone is life and joy, health +and wealth. + +Surely, here is a Gospel, and good news;--news so good, that it +turns what seems to the superstitious the worst of news, into the +very best. For it seems at first sight the worst of news that which +the ninth Article tells us, that our original sin, in every person +born into this world, deserves God's wrath and damnation. And so it +would be the worst of news, if God were merely a judge, inflicting +so much pain and misery for so much sin, without any wish to mend us +and save us. But if we remember only the blessed message of this +psalm; if we will remember that God is our Father; that God is +educating us; that God hath neither parts nor passions; and that, +therefore, God's wrath is not different or contrary to his love, but +that God's wrath is his love in another shape, punishing men just +because he loves men;--then the ninth Article will bring us the very +best of news. We shall see that it is the best thing that can +possibly befall us, that our sin deserves God's wrath and damnation, +and that it would have been the worst thing which could possibly +have befallen us, if our sin had not deserved God's wrath and +damnation. For if our sin had not deserved God's anger, then he +would not have been angry with it; and then he would have left it +alone, instead of condemning it, and dooming it to everlasting +destruction as he has done; and then, if our sin had been left +alone, we should have been left alone to sin and sin on, growing +continually more wicked, till our sin became our ruin. But now God +hates our sin, and loves us; and therefore he desires above all +things to deliver us from sin, and burn our sin up in his +unquenchable fire, that we ourselves may not be burned up therein. +For if our sins live, we shall surely die: but if our sins die, +then, and then only, shall we live. + +Do these words seem strange to some of you? I doubt not that they +will: but if they do, that will be only a fresh proof to me, that +the Bible is inspired by the Holy Ghost. Yes, nothing shews me how +wide, how deep, how wise, how heavenly the Bible is, as to see how +far average Christians are behind the Bible in their way of +thinking; how the salvation which it offers is too free for them, +the love which it proclaims too wide for them, the God whom it +reveals too good for them: so that they shrink from taking the +Bible and trusting the Bible, in its fulness; and are perpetually +falling back on heathen notions--the very old heathen notions from +which this psalm delivers us--concerning what God's anger means, and +what God's punishment means; because they are afraid of taking the +words of Scripture literally and fully, and believing honestly the +blessed news, that God is Love. + +They try to make God's ways as their ways, and God's thoughts as +their thoughts. But do not you do so. Receive the Bible in its +fulness. Believe that it tells you infinitely more of God's +character and dealings, than you can ever tell yourselves; that +God's ways are not as your ways, nor God's thoughts as your +thoughts, even at their best: but that God's ways are always wider +and deeper than yours, were you the most learned of men; God's +thoughts are always more loving and just than yours, were you the +most holy of men, and that when you have learned all that you can +learn, or that any man can learn, out of the Bible, there will be +still left behind treasures beside, which you have not yet found +out. For the riches of Christ are unsearchable; like the depth of +the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, whose only-begotten +son, and perfect likeness, he is; and the man who reads the +Scripture with a single eye, and an humble heart, will see that the +more he finds in the Bible, the more he has yet to find; and that if +he studied it to all eternity, he would have fresh and fresh cause +for ever to cry with the Psalmist, 'Oh give thanks to the Lord; for +he is gracious, and his mercy endureth for ever!' + +Footnotes: + +{328} Plutarch. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOWN AND COUNTRY SERMONS*** + + +******* This file should be named 11536.txt or 11536.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/5/3/11536 + + +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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