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diff --git a/13151-h/13151-h.htm b/13151-h/13151-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0d32e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/13151-h/13151-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11964 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st February 2004), see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Christian Life, by Thomas +Arnold.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i1 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i3 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i5 {margin-left: 5em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 6em;} + .poem p.i7 {margin-left: 7em;} + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13151 ***</div> + +<h2>THE</h2> +<h1>CHRISTIAN LIFE;</h1> +<h2>ITS COURSE, ITS HINDRANCES,<br> +AND ITS HELPS.</h2> +<h4>BY</h4> +<h3>THOMAS ARNOLD, D.D.,</h3> +<h5>HEAD MASTER OF RUGBY SCHOOL,</h5> +<h6>AND LATE FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD.</h6> +<h5>From the Fifth London Edition.</h5> +<h4>1856.</h4> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"As far as the principle on which Archbishop Laud and +his followers acted went to re-actuate the idea of the church, as a +co-ordinate and living power by right of Christ's institution and +express promise, I go along with them; but I soon discover that by +the church they meant the clergy, the hierarchy exclusively, and +then I fly off from them in a tangent.<br> +<br> +"For it is this very interpretation of the church, that, according +to my conviction, constituted the first and fundamental apostasy; +and I hold it for one of the greatest mistakes of our polemical +divines, in their controversies with the Romanists, that they trace +all the corruptions of the gospel faith to the +Papacy."--COLERIDGE,<br> +<br> +<i>Literary Remains</i>, vol. iii. p. 386.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<br> +<p><a href="#INTRODUCTION.">INTRODUCTION.</a></p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_I.">LECTURE I.</a>.</p> +<p>GEN. iii. 22.--And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become +as one of us, to know good and evil.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_II.">LECTURE II.</a></p> +<p>1 COR. xiii. 11.--When I was a child I spake as a child, I +understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a +man, I put away childish things.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_III.">LECTURE III.</a></p> +<p>1 COR. xiii. 11.--When I was a child I spake as a child, I +understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a +man, I put away childish things.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_IV.">LECTURE IV.</a></p> +<p>COL. i. 9.--We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that +ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and +spiritual understanding.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_V.">LECTURE V.</a></p> +<p>COL. i. 9.--We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that +ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and +spiritual understanding.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_VI.">LECTURE VI.</a></p> +<p>COL. iii. 3.--Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in +God.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_VII.">LECTURE VII.</a></p> +<p>1 COR. iii. 21--23.--All things are yours; whether Paul, or +Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things +present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's; and +Christ is God's.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_VIII.">LECTURE VIII.</a></p> +<p>GAL. v. 16, 17.--Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the +lusts 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> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_IX.">LECTURE IX.</a></p> +<p>LUKE xiv. 33.--Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all +that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_X">LECTURE X.</a></p> +<p>1 TIM. i. 9.--The law is not made for a righteous man, but for +the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for +the unholy and profane.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XI.">LECTURE XI.</a></p> +<p>LUKE xxi. 36.--Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may +be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to +pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XII.">LECTURE XII.</a></p> +<p>PROV. i. 28.--Then shall they call upon me, but I will not +answer: they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XIII.">LECTURE XIII.</a></p> +<p>MARK xii. 34.--Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XIV.">LECTURE XIV.</a></p> +<p>MATT. xxii. 14.--For many are called, but few are chosen.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XV.">LECTURE XV.</a></p> +<p>LUKE xi. 25.--When he cometh he findeth it swept and +garnished.</p> +<p>JOHN v. 42.--I know you, that ye have not the love of God in +you.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XVI.">LECTURE XVI.</a></p> +<p>MATT. xi. 10.--I send my messenger before thy face, who shall +prepare thy way before thee.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XVII.">LECTURE XVII.</a></p> +<p>1 COR. ii. 12.--We have received not the Spirit of the world, +but the Spirit which is of God.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XVIII.">LECTURE XVIII.</a></p> +<p>GEN. xxvii. 38.--And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but +one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.</p> +<p>MATT. xv. 27.--And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of +the crumbs which fall from their master's table.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XIX.">LECTURE XIX.</a></p> +<p>MATT. xxii. 32.--God is not the God of the dead, but of the +living.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XX.">LECTURE XX.</a></p> +<p>EZEK. xiii. 22.--With lies ye have made the heart of the +righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands +of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by +promising him life.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXI.">LECTURE XXI.</a></p> +<p>ADVENT SUNDAY.</p> +<p>HEB. iii. 16.--For some when they had heard did provoke; howbeit +not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXII.">LECTURE XXII.</a></p> +<p>CHRISTMAS DAY.</p> +<p>JOHN i. 10.--He was in the world, and the world was made by him, +and the world knew him not.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXIII.">LECTURE XXIII.</a></p> +<p>SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE EASTER.</p> +<p>MATT. xxvi. 40, 41.--What, could ye not watch with me one hour? +Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit +indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXIV.">LECTURE XXIV.</a></p> +<p>GOOD FRIDAY.</p> +<p>ROMANS v. 8.--God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while +we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXV.">LECTURE XXV.</a></p> +<p>EASTER DAY.</p> +<p>JOHN xx. 20.--Then the disciples went away again unto their own +home.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXVI.">LECTURE XXVI.</a></p> +<p>WHITSUNDAY.</p> +<p>ACTS xix. 2.--Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye +believed?</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXVII.">LECTURE XXVII.</a></p> +<p>TRINITY SUNDAY.</p> +<p>JOHN iii. 9.--How can these things be?</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXVIII.">LECTURE XXVIII.</a></p> +<p>EXOD. iii. 6.--And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look +upon God.</p> +<p>LUKE xxiii. 30.--Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, +Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXIX.">LECTURE XXIX.</a></p> +<p>PSALM cxxxvii. 4.--- How shall we sing the Lord's song in a +strange land?</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXX">LECTURE XXX.</a></p> +<p>1 COR. xi. 26.--For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink +this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXI.">LECTURE XXXI.</a></p> +<p>LUKE i. 3, 4.--It seemed good to me, also, having had perfect +understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee +in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the +certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXII.">LECTURE XXXII.</a></p> +<p>Luke i. 3, 4.--It seemed good to me, also, having had perfect +understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee +in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the +certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXIII.">LECTURE XXXIII.</a></p> +<p>JOHN ix. 29.--We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this +fellow, we know not from whence he is.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXIV.">LECTURE XXXIV.</a></p> +<p>1 COR. xiv. 20.--Brethren, be not children in understanding: +howbeit, in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXV.">LECTURE XXXV.</a></p> +<p>MATT. xxvi. 45, 46.--Sleep on now and take your rest; behold the +hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of +sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold he is at hand that doth +betray me.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXVI.">LECTURE XXXVI.</a></p> +<p>2 COR. v. 17, 18.--Old things are passed away; behold all things +are become new, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled us +to himself by Jesus Christ.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXVII.">LECTURE XXXVII.</a></p> +<p>EZEK. xx. 49.--Then said I, Ah, Lord God! they say of me Doth he +not speak parables?</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXVIII.">LECTURE XXXVIII.</a></p> +<p>ISAIAH v. 1.--Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my +beloved touching his vineyard.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#LECTURE_XXXIX.">LECTURE XXXIX.</a></p> +<p>COL. iii. 17.--Whatsoever ye do in the word or deed, do all in +the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by +Him.</p> +<br> +<p><a href="#NOTES.">NOTES.</a></p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION."></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<br> +<p>The contents of this volume will be found, I hope, to be in +agreement with its title.</p> +<p>Amongst the helps of Christian life, the highest place is due to +the Christian church and its ordinances. I have been greatly +misunderstood with respect to my estimate of the Christian church, +as distinguished from the Christian religion. I agree so far with +those, from whom I in other things most widely differ, that I hold +the revival of the church of Christ in its full perfection, to be +the one great end to which all our efforts should be directed. This +is with me no new belief, but one which I have entertained for many +years. It was impressed most strongly upon me, as it appears to +have been upon others, by the remarkable state of affairs and of +opinions which we witnessed in this country about nine or ten years +ago; and everything since that time has confirmed it in my mind +more and more.</p> +<p>Others, according to their own statement, received the same +impression from the phenomena of the same period. But the movement +had begun earlier; nor should I object to call it, as they do, a +movement towards "something deeper and truer than satisfied the +last century<a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1">[1]</a>." +It began, I suppose, in the last ten years of the last century, and +has ever since been working onwards, though for a long time slowly +and secretly, and with no distinctly marked direction. But still, +in philosophy and general literature, there have been sufficient +proofs that the pendulum, which for nearly two hundred years had +been swinging one way, was now beginning to swing back again; and +as its last oscillation brought it far from the true centre, so it +may be, that its present impulse may be no less in excess, and thus +may bring on again, in after ages, another corresponding +reaction.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> +See Mr. Newman's Letter to Dr. Jelf, p. 27.</blockquote> +<p>Now if it be asked what, setting aside the metaphor, are the two +points between which mankind has been thus moving to and fro; and +what are the tendencies in us which, thus alternately +predominating, give so different a character to different periods +of the human history; the answer is not easy to be given summarily, +for the generalisation which it requires is almost beyond the +compass of the human mind. Several phenomena appear in each period, +and it would be easy to give any one of these as marking its +tendency: as, for instance, we might describe one period as having +a tendency to despotism, and another to licentiousness: but the +true answer lies deeper, and can be only given by discovering that +common element in human nature which, in religion, in politics, in +philosophy, and in literature, being modified by the subject-matter +of each, assumes in each a different form, so that its own proper +nature is no longer to be recognized. Again, it would be an error +to suppose that either of the two tendencies which so affect the +course of human affairs were to be called simply bad or good. Each +has its good and evil nicely intermingled; and taking the highest +good of each, it would be difficult to say which was the more +excellent;--taking the last corruption of each, we could not +determine which, was the more hateful. For so far as we can trace +back the manifold streams, flowing some from the eastern mountains, +and some from the western, to the highest springs from which they +rise, we find on the one side the ideas of truth and justice, on +the other those of beauty and love;--things so exalted, and so +inseparably united in the divine perfections, that to set either +two above the other were presumptuous and profane. Yet these most +divine things separated from each other, and defiled in their +passage through this lower world, do each assume a form in human +nature of very great evil: the exclusive and corrupted love of +truth and justice becomes in man selfish atheism; the exclusive and +corrupted worship of beauty and love becomes in man a bloody and a +lying idolatry.</p> +<p>Such would be the general theory of the two great currents in +which human affairs may be said to have been successively drifting. +But real history, even the history of all mankind, and much more +that of any particular age or country, presents a picture far more +complicated. First, as to time: as the vessels in a harbour, and in +the open sea without it, may be seen swinging with the tide at the +same moment in opposite directions; the ebb has begun in the +roadstead, while it is not yet high water in the harbour; so one or +more nations may be in advance of or behind the general tendency of +their age, and from either cause may be moving in the opposite +direction. Again, the tendency or movement in itself is liable to +frequent interruptions, and short counter-movements: even when the +tide is coming in upon the shore, every wave retires after its +advance; and he who follows incautiously the retreating waters, may +be caught by some stronger billow, overwhelming again for an +instant the spot which had just been left dry. A child standing by +the sea-shore for a few minutes, and watching this, as it seems, +irregular advance and retreat of the water, could not tell whether +it was ebb or flood; and we, standing for a few years on the shore +of time, can scarcely tell whether the particular movement which we +witness is according to or against the general tendency of the +whole period. Farther yet, as these great tendencies are often +interrupted, so are they continually mixed: that is, not only are +their own good and bad elements successively predominant, but they +never have the world wholly to themselves: the opposite tendency +exists, in an under-current it may be, and not lightly perceptible; +but here and there it struggles to the surface, and mingles its own +good and evil with the predominant good and evil of its antagonist. +Wherefore he who would learn wisdom from the complex experience of +history, must question closely all its phenomena, must notice that +which is less obvious as well as that which is most palpable; must +judge not peremptorily or sweepingly, but with reserves and +exceptions; not as lightly overrunning a wide region of the truth, +but thankful if after much pains he has advanced his landmarks only +a little; if he has gained, as it were, but one or two frontier +fortresses, in which he can establish himself for ever.</p> +<p>Now, then, when Mr. Newman describes the movement of the present +moment as being directed towards "something better and deeper than +satisfied the last century," this description, although in some +sense true, is yet in practice delusive; and the delusion which +lurks in it is at the root of the errors of Mr. Newman and of his +friends. They regard the tendencies of the last century as wholly +evil; and they appear to extend this feeling to the whole period of +which the last century was the close, and which began nearly with +the sixteenth century. Viewing in this light the last three hundred +years, they regard naturally with excessive favour the preceding +period, with which they are so strongly contrasted; and not the +less because this period has been an object of scorn to the times +which have followed it. They are drawn towards the enemy of their +enemy, and they fancy that it must be in all points their enemy's +opposite. And if the faults of its last decline are too palpable to +be denied, they ascend to its middle and its earlier course, and +finding that its evils are there less flagrant, they abandon +themselves wholly to the contemplation of its good points, and end +with making it an idol. There are few stranger and sadder sights +than to see men judging of whole periods of the history of mankind +with the blindness of party-spirit, never naming one century +without expressions of contempt or abhorrence, never mentioning +another but with extravagant and undistinguishing admiration.</p> +<p>But the worst was yet to come. The period which Mr. Newman and +his friends so disliked, had, in its religious character, been +distinguished by its professions of extreme veneration for the +Scriptures; in its quarrel with the system of the preceding period, +it had rested all its cause on the authority of the Scripture,--it +had condemned the older system because Scripture could give no +warrant for it. On the other hand, the partizans of the older +system protested against the exclusive appeal to Scripture; there +was, as they maintained, another authority in religious matters; if +their system was not supported in all its points by Scripture, it +had at least the warrant of Christian antiquity. Thus Mr. Newman +and his friends found that the times which they disliked had +professed to rely on Scripture alone; the times which they loved +had invested the Church with equal authority. It was natural then +to connect the evils of the iron age, for so they regarded it, with +this notion of the sole supremacy of Scripture; and it was no less +natural to associate the blessings of their imagined golden age +with its avowed reverence for the Church. If they appealed only to +Scripture, they echoed the language of men whom they abhorred; if +they exalted the Church and Christian antiquity, they sympathised +with a period which they were resolved to love. Their theological +writings from the very beginning have too plainly shown in this +respect the force both of their sympathies and their +antipathies.</p> +<p>Thus previously disposed, and in their sense or apprehension of +the evil of their own times already flying as it were for refuge to +the system of times past, they were overtaken by the political +storm of 1831, and the two following years. That storm rattled +loudly, and alarmed many who had viewed the gathering of the clouds +with hope and pleasure; no wonder, then, if it produced a stormy +effect upon those who viewed it as a mere calamity, an evil monster +bred out of an evil time, and fraught with nothing but mischief. +Farther, the government of the country was now, for the first time +for many years, in the hands of men who admired the spirit of the +age, nearly as much as Mr. Newman and his friends abhorred it. Thus +all things seemed combined against them: the spirit of the period +which they so hated was riding as it were upon the whirlwind; they +knew not where its violence might burst; and the government of the +country was, as they thought, driving wildly before it, without +attempting to moderate its fury. Already they were inclined to +recognise the signs of a national apostasy.</p> +<p>But from this point they have themselves written their own +history.--Mr. Percival's letter to the editor of the Irish +Ecclesiastical Journal, which was reprinted in the Oxford Herald of +January 80, 1841, is really a document of the highest value. It +acquaints us, from the very best authority, with the immediate +occasion of the publication of the Tracts for the Times, and with +the objects of their writers. It tells us whither their eyes were +turned for deliverance; with what charm they hoped to allay the +troubled waters. Ecclesiastical history would be far more valuable +than it is, if we could thus learn the real character and views of +every church, or sect, or party, from itself, and not from its +opponents.</p> +<p>Mr. Percival informs us, that the Irish Church Act of 1833, +which abolished several of the Irish Bishoprics, was the immediate +occasion of the publication of the Tracts for the Times; and that +the objects of that publication were, to enforce the doctrine of +the apostolical succession, and to preserve the Prayer Book from +"the Socinian leaven, with which we had reason to fear it would be +tainted by the parliamentary alteration of it, which at that time +was openly talked of." But the second of these objects is not +mentioned in the more formal statements which Mr. Percival gives of +them; and in what he calls the "matured account" of the principles +of the writers, it is only said, "Whereas there seems great danger +at present of attempts at unauthorized and inconsiderate innovation +as in other matters so especially in the service of our Church, we +pledge ourselves to resist any attempt that may be made to alter +the Liturgy on insufficient authority: i.e. without the exercise of +the free and deliberate judgment of the Church on the alterations +proposed." It would seem, therefore, that what was particularly +deprecated was "the alteration of the Liturgy on insufficient +authority," without reference to any suspected character of the +alteration in itself. But at any rate, as all probability of any +alteration in the Liturgy vanished very soon after the publication +of the tracts began, the other object, the maintaining the doctrine +of the apostolical succession, as it had been the principal one +from the beginning, became in a very short time the only one.</p> +<p>The great remedy, therefore, for the evils of the times, the +"something deeper and truer than satisfied the last century," or, +at least, the most effectual means of attaining to it, is declared +to be the maintenance of the doctrine of apostolical succession. +Now let us hear, for it is most important, the grounds on which +this doctrine is to be enforced, and the reason why so much stress +is laid on it. I quote again from Mr. Percival's letter.</p> +<p>"Considering, 1. That the only way of salvation is the partaking +of the body and blood of our sacrificed Redeemer;</p> +<p>"2. That the mean expressly authorized by him for that purpose +is the holy sacrament of his supper;</p> +<p>"3. That the security by him no less expressly authorized, for +the continuance and due application of that sacrament, is the +apostolical commission of the bishops, and under them the +presbyters of the church;</p> +<p>"4. That under the present circumstances of the church in +England, there is peculiar danger of these matters being slighted +and practically disavowed, and of numbers of Christians being left, +or tempted to precarious and unauthorized ways of communion, which +must terminate often in vital apostasy:--</p> +<p>"We desire to pledge ourselves one to another, reserving our +canonical obedience, as follows:--</p> +<p>"1. To be on the watch for all opportunities of inculcating, on +all committed to our charge, a due sense of the inestimable +privilege of communion with our Lord, through the successors of the +apostles, and of leading them to the resolution to transmit it, by +his blessing, unimpaired to their children."</p> +<p>Then follow two other resolutions: one to provide and circulate +books and tracts, to familiarize men's minds with this doctrine; +and the other, "to do what lies in us towards reviving among +churchmen, the practice of daily common prayer, and more frequent +participation of the Lord's Supper."</p> +<p>The fourth resolution, "to resist unauthorized alterations of +the Liturgy," I have already quoted: the fifth and last engages +generally to place within the reach of all men, accounts of such +points in our discipline and worship as may appear most likely to +be misunderstood or undervalued.</p> +<p>These resolutions were drawn up more than seven years ago, and +their practical results have not been contemptible. The Tracts for +the Times amount to no fewer than ninety; while the sermons, +articles in reviews, stories, essays, poems, and writings of all +sorts which have enforced the same doctrines, have been also +extremely numerous. Nor have all these labours been without fruit: +for it is known that a large proportion of the clergy have adopted, +either wholly or in great part, the opinions and spirit of the +Tracts for the Times; and many of the laity have embraced them +also.</p> +<p>It seems also, that in the various publications of their school, +the object originally marked out in the resolutions quoted above, +has been followed with great steadiness. The system has been +uniform, and its several parts have held well together. It has, +perhaps, been carried on of late more boldly, which is the natural +consequence of success. It has in all points been the direct +opposite of what may be called the spirit of English protestantism +of the nineteenth century: upholding whatever that spirit would +depreciate; decrying whatever it would admire. A short statement of +the principal views held by Mr. Newman and his friends, will show +this sufficiently.</p> +<p>"The sacraments, and not preaching, are the sources of divine +grace." So it is said in the Advertisement prefixed to the first +volume of the Tracts for the Times, in exact conformity with the +preamble to the resolutions, which I have already quoted. But the +only security for the efficacy of the sacraments, is the +apostolical commission of the bishops, and under them, of the +presbyters of the Church. So it is said in the preamble to the +resolutions. These two doctrines are the foundation of the whole +system. God's grace, and our salvation, come to us principally +through the virtue of the sacraments; the virtue of the sacraments +depends on the apostolical succession of those who administer them. +The clergy, therefore, thus holding in their hands the most +precious gifts of the Church, acquire naturally the title of the +Church itself; the Church, as possessed of so mysterious a virtue +as to communicate to the only means of salvation their saving +efficacy, becomes at once an object of the deepest reverence. What +wonder if to a body endowed with so transcendant a gift, there +should be given also the spirit of wisdom to discern all truth; so +that the solemn voice of the Church in its creeds, and in the +decrees of its general councils, must be received as the voice of +God himself. Nor can such a body be supposed to have commended any +practices or states of life winch are not really excellent; and the +duty either of all Christians, or of those at least who would +follow the most excellent way. Fasting, therefore, and the state of +celibacy, are the one a christian obligation, the other a christian +perfection. Again, being members of a body so exalted, and +receiving our very salvation in a way altogether above reason, we +must be cautious how we either trust to our individual conscience +rather than to the command of the Church, or how we venture to +exercise our reason at all in judging of what the Church teaches; +childlike faith and childlike obedience are the dispositions which +God most loves. What, then, are they who are not of the Church, who +do not receive the Sacraments from those who can alone give them +their virtue? Surely they are aliens from God, they cannot claim +his covenanted mercies; and the goodness which may be apparent in +them, may not be real goodness; God may see that it is false, +though to us it appears sincere; but it is certain that they do not +possess the only appointed means of salvation; and therefore, we +must consider their state as dangerous, although, we may not +venture to condemn them.</p> +<p>I have not consciously misrepresented the system of Mr. Newman +and his friends in a single particular; I have not, to my +knowledge, expressed any one of their tenets invidiously. An +attentive reader may deduce, I think, all the Subordinate points in +their teaching from some one or more of the principles which I have +given; but I have not wilfully omitted any doctrine of importance. +And, in every point, the opposition to what I may be allowed to +call the protestantism of the nineteenth century is so manifest, +that we cannot but feel that the peculiar character of the system +is to be traced to what I have before noticed--the extreme +antipathy of its founders to the spirit which they felt to be +predominant in their own age and country.</p> +<p>It is worth our while to observe this, because fear and passion +are not the surest guides to truth, and the rule of contraries is +not the rule of wisdom. Other men have been indignant against the +peculiar evils of their own time, and from their strong impression +of these have seemed to lose sight of its good points; but Mr. +Newman and his friends appear to hate the nineteenth century for +its own sake, and to proscribe all belonging to it, whether good or +bad, simply because it does belong to it.--This diseased state of +mind is well shown by the immediate occasion of the organization of +their party. Mr. Perceval tells us that it was the Act for the +dissolution of some of the Irish bishoprics, passed in 1833, winch +first made the authors of the Tracts resolve to commence their +publication. Mr. Perceval himself cannot even now speak of that Act +temperately; he calls it "a wanton act of sacrilege," "a monstrous +act," "an outrage upon the Church;" and his friends, it may be +presumed, spoke of it at the time in language at least equally +vehement. Now, I am not expressing any opinion upon the justice or +expediency of that Act; it was opposed by many good men, and its +merits or demerits were fairly open to discussion; but would any +fair and sensible person speak of it with such extreme abhorrence +as it excited in the minds of Mr. Perceval and his friends? The Act +deprived the Church of no portion of its property; it simply +ordered a different distribution of it, with the avowed object on +the part of its framers of saving the Church from the odium and the +danger of exacting Church Rates from the Roman Catholics. It did +nothing more than what, according to the constitution of the +Churches of England and Ireland, was beyond all question within its +lawful authority to do. The King's supremacy and the sovereignty of +Parliament may be good or bad, but they are undoubted facts in the +constitution of the Church of England, and have been so for nearly +three hundred years. I repeat that I am stating no opinion as to +the merits of the Irish Church Act of 1833; I only contend, that no +man of sound judgment would regard it as "a monstrous act," or as +"a wanton sacrilege." It bore upon it no marks of flagrant tyranny: +nor did it restrain the worship of the Church, nor corrupt its +faith, nor command or encourage anything injurious to men's souls +in practice. Luther was indignant at the sale of indulgences; and +his horror at the selling Church pardons for money was, by God's +blessing, the occasion of the Reformation. The occasion of the new +counter-reformation was the abolition of a certain number of +bishoprics, that their revenues might be applied solely to church +purposes; and that the Church might so be saved from a scandal and +a danger. The difference of the exciting cause of the two movements +gives the measure of the difference between the Reformation of +1517, and the views and objects of Mr. Newman and his friends.</p> +<p>There are states of nervous excitement, when the noise of a +light footstep is distracting. In such a condition were the authors +of the Tracts in 1833, and all their subsequent proceedings have +shown that the disorder was still upon them. Beset by their horror +of the nineteenth century, they sought for something most opposite +to it, and therefore they turned to what they called Christian +antiquity. Had they judged of their own times fairly, had they +appreciated the good of the nineteenth century as well as its evil, +they would have looked for their remedy not to the second or third +or fourth centuries, but the first; they would have tried to +restore, not the Church of Cyprian, or Athanasius, or Augustine, +but the Church of St. Paul and of St. John. Now, this it is most +certain that they have not done. Their appeal has been not to +Scripture, but to the opinions and practices of the dominant party +in the ancient Church. They have endeavoured to set those opinions +and practices, under the name of apostolical tradition, on a level +with the authority of the Scriptures. But their unfortunate +excitement has made them fail of doing even what they intended to +do. It may be true that all their doctrines may be found in the +writings of those whom they call the Fathers; but the effect of +their teaching is different because its proportions are altered. +Along with their doctrines, there are other points and another +spirit prominent in the writings of the earlier Christians, which +give to the whole a different complexion. The Tracts for the Times +do not appear to me to represent faithfully the language of +Christian antiquity; they are rather its caricature.</p> +<p>Still more is this the case, when we compare the language of Mr. +Newman and his friends with that of the great divines of the Church +of England. Granting that many of these believed firmly in +apostolical succession; that one or two may have held general +councils to be infallible; that some, provoked by the extravagances +of the puritans, have spoken over-strongly about the authority of +tradition; yet the whole works even of those who agree with. Mr. +Newman in these points, give a view of Christianity different from +that of the Tracts, because these points, which in the Tracts stand +forward without relief, are in our old divines tempered by the +admixture of other doctrines, which, without contradicting them, do +in fact alter their effect. This applies most strongly, perhaps, to +Hooker and Taylor; but it holds good also of Bull and Pearson. +Pearson's exposition of the article in the Creed relating to the +Holy Catholic Church is very different from the language of Mr. +Newman: it is such as, with perhaps one single exception, might be +subscribed by a man who did not believe in apostolical +succession<a name="FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2">[2]</a>. +Again, Pearson is so far from making the creeds an independent +authority, co-ordinate with Scripture, that he declares, contrary, +I suppose, to all probability, that the Apostles' Creed itself was +but a deduction from our present Scriptures of the New +Testament<a name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3">[3]</a>. +Undoubtedly the divines of the seventeenth century are more in +agreement with the Tracts than the Reformers are; but it is by no +means true that this agreement is universal. There is but one set +of writers whose minds are exactly represented by Mr. Newman and +his friends, and these are the nonjurors.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a> +The sixth and last mark which he gives of the unity of the Church +is, "the unity of discipline and government." "All the Churches of +God have the same pastoral guides appointed, authorized, +sanctified, and set apart by the appointment of God, by the +direction of the Spirit, to direct and lead the people of God in +the same way of eternal salvation; as, therefore, there is no +Church where there is no order, no ministry, so where the same +order and ministry is, there is the same Church. And this is the +unity of regiment and discipline." Pearson on the Creed, Art. IX. +p. 341, seventh edit. fol. 1701. It would be easy to put a +construction upon this paragraph which I could agree with; but I +suppose that Pearson meant what I hold to be an error. Yet how +gently and generally is it expressed; and this doubtful paragraph +stands alone amidst seventeen folio pages on the article of the +Holy Catholic Church. And in his conclusion, where he delivers what +"every one ought to intend when they profess to believe the Holy +Catholic Church," there is not a word about its government; nor is +Pearson one of those interpreters who pervert the perfectly certain +meaning of the word "Catholic" to favour their own notions about +episcopacy. I could cordially subscribe to every word of this +conclusion.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a> +"To believe, therefore, as the word stands in the front of the +Creed, ... is to assent to the whole and every part of it as to a +certain and infallible truth revealed by God, ... and delivered +unto us in the writings of the blessed apostles and prophets +immediately inspired, moved, and acted by God, out of whose +writings this brief sum of necessary points of faith was first +collected." (P. 12.) And in the paragraph immediately preceding, +Pearson had said, "The household of God is built upon the +foundation of the apostles and prophets, who are continued unto us +only in their writings, and by them alone convoy unto us the truths +which they received from God, upon whose testimony we believe." It +appears, therefore, that Pearson not only subscribed the 6th +Article of the Church of England, but also believed +it.</blockquote> +<p>Many reasons, therefore, concur to make it doubtful whether the +authors of the Tracts have discovered the true remedy for the evils +of their age; whether they have really inculcated "something better +and deeper than satisfied the last century." The violent prejudice +which previously possessed them, and the strong feelings of passion +and fear which led immediately to their first systematic +publications, must in the first instance awaken a suspicion as to +their wisdom; and this suspicion becomes stronger when we find +their writings different from the best of those which they profess +to admire, and bearing a close resemblance only to those of the +nonjurors. A third consideration is also of much weight--that their +doctrines do not enforce any great points of moral or spiritual +perfection which other Christians had neglected; nor do they, in +any especial manner, "preach Christ." In this they offer a striking +contrast to the religious movement, if I may so call it, which +began some years since in the University at Cambridge. That +movement, whatever human alloy might have mingled with it, bore on +it most clear evidence that it was in the main God's work. It +called upon men to turn from sin and be reconciled to God; it +emphatically preached Christ crucified. But Mr. Newman and his +friends have preached as their peculiar doctrine, not Christ but +the Church; we must go even farther and say, not the Church, but +themselves. What they teach has no moral or spiritual excellence in +itself; but it tends greatly to their own exaltation. They exalt +the sacraments highly, but all that they say of their virtue, all +their admiration of them as so setting forth the excellence of +faith, inasmuch as in them the whole work is of God, and man has +only to receive and believe, would be quite as true, and quite as +well-grounded, if they were to abandon altogether that doctrine +which it is their avowed object especially to enforce--the doctrine +of apostolical succession. Referring again to the preamble of their +original resolutions, already quoted, we see that the two first +articles alone relate to our Lord and to his Sacraments; the third, +which is the great basis of their system, relates only to the +Clergy. Doubtless, if apostolical succession be God's will, it is +our duty to receive it and to teach it; but a number of clergymen, +claiming themselves to have this succession, and insisting that, +without it, neither Christ nor Christ's Sacraments will save us, +do, beyond all contradiction, preach themselves, and magnify their +own importance. They are quite right in doing so, if God has +commanded it; but such preaching has no manifest warrant of God in +it; if it be according to God, it stands alone amongst his +dispensations; his prophets and his apostles had a different +commission. "We preach," said St. Paul, "not ourselves, but Christ +Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." It is +certain that the enforcing apostolical succession as the great +object of our teaching is precisely to do that very thing which St. +Paul was commissioned not to do.</p> +<p>This, to my mind, affords a very great presumption that the +peculiar doctrines of Mr. Newman and his friends, those which they +make it their professed business to inculcate, are not of God. I am +anxious not to be misunderstood in saying this. Mr. Newman and his +friends preach many doctrines which are entirely of God; as +Christians, as ministers of Christ's Church, they preach God's +word; and thus, a very large portion of their teaching is of God, +blessed both to their hearers and to themselves. Nay, even amongst +the particular objects to which their own "Resolutions" pledge +them, one is indeed most excellent--"the revival of daily common +prayer, and more frequent participation of the Lord's Supper." This +is their merit, not as Christians generally, but as a party, (I use +the word in no offensive sense;) in this respect their efforts have +done, and are doing great good. But they have themselves declared +that they will especially set themselves to preach apostolical +succession; and it is with reference to this, that I charge them +with "preaching themselves;" it was of this I spoke, when I said +that there was a very great presumption that their peculiar +doctrines were not of God.</p> +<p>Again, the system which they hold up as "better and deeper than +satisfied the last century" is a remedy which has been tried once +already: and its failure was so palpable, that all the evil of the +eighteenth century was but the reaction from that enormous evil +which this remedy, if it be one, had at any rate been powerless to +cure. Apostolical succession, the dignity of the Clergy, the +authority of the Church, were triumphantly maintained for several +centuries; and their full development was coincident, to say the +least, with the corruption alike of Christ's religion and Christ's +Church. So far were they from tending to realize the promises of +prophecy, to perfect Christ's body up to the measure of the stature +of Christ's own fulness, that Christ's Church declined during their +ascendancy more and more;--she fell alike from truth and from +holiness; and these doctrines, if they did not cause the evil, were +at least quite unable to restrain it. For, in whatever points the +fifteenth century differed from the fourth, it cannot be said that +it upheld the apostolical succession less peremptorily, or attached +a less value to Church tradition, and Church authority. I am +greatly understating the case, but I am content for the present to +do so: I will not say that Mr. Newman's favourite doctrines were +the very Antichrist which corrupted Christianity; I will only say +that they did not prevent its corruption,--that when they were most +exalted Christian truth and Christian goodness were most +depressed.</p> +<p>After all, however, what has failed once may doubtless be +successful on a second trial: it is within possibility, perhaps, +that a doctrine, although destitute of all internal evidence +showing it to come from God, may be divine +notwithstanding;--revealed for some purposes which we cannot +fathom, or simply as an exercise of our obedience. All this may be +so; and if it can be shown to be so, there remains no other course +than to believe God's word, and obey his commandments; only the +strength of the external evidence must be in proportion to the +weakness of the internal. A good man would ask for no sign from +heaven to assure him that God commands judgment, mercy, and truth; +whatsoever things are pure, and lovely, and of good report, bear in +themselves the seal of their origin; a seal which to doubt were +blasphemy. But the cloud and the lightnings and thunders, and all +the signs and wonders wrought in Egypt and in the Red Sea, were +justly required to give divine authority to mere positive +ordinances, in which, without such external warrant, none could +have recognised the voice of God. We ask of Mr. Newman and his +friends to bring some warrant of Scripture for that which they +declare to be God's will. They speak very positively and say, that +"the security by our Lord no less expressly authorized for the +continuance and due application of the Sacrament of the Lord's +Supper, is the apostolical commission of the bishops, and under +them the presbyters of the Church." They say that our Lord has +authorized this "no less expressly" than he has authorized the Holy +Supper as the mean of partaking in his body and blood. What our +Lord has said concerning the communion is not truly represented: he +instituted it as one mean of grace among many; not as<i>the</i> +mean; neither the sole mean, nor the principal. But allow, for an +instant, that it was instituted as<i>the</i> mean; and give this +sense to those well-known and ever-memorable words in which our +Lord commanded his disciples to eat the bread and drink of the cup, +in remembrance of him. His words commanding us to do this are +express; "not less express," we are told, is his "sanction of the +apostolical commission of the bishops, as the security for the +continuance and due application of the Sacrament." Surely these +writers allow themselves to pervert language so habitually, that +they do not consider when, and with regard to whom, they are doing +it. They say that our Lord has sanctioned the necessity of +apostolical succession, in order to secure the continuance and +efficacy of the sacrament, "no less expressly" than he instituted +the sacrament itself. If they had merely asserted that he had +sanctioned the necessity of apostolical succession, we might have +supposed that, by some interpretation of their own, they implied +his sanction of it, from words which, to other men, bore no such +meaning. But in saying that he has "expressly sanctioned it," they +have, most unconsciously, I trust, ascribed their own words to our +Lord; they make Mm to say what he has not said, unless they can +produce<a name="FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4">[4]</a> some +other credible record of his words besides the books of the four +evangelists and the apostolical epistles.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a> +"Scripture alone contains what remains to us of our Lord's +teaching. If there be a portion of revelation sacred beyond other +portions, distinct and remote in its nature from the rest, it must +be the words and works of the eternal Son Incarnate. He is the one +Prophet of the Church, as he is our one Priest and King. His +history is as far above any other possible revelation, as heaven is +above earth: for in it we have literally the sight of Almighty God +in his judgments, thoughts, attributes, and deeds, and his mode of +dealing with us his creatures. Now, this special revelation is in +Scripture, and in Scripture only: tradition has no part in +it."--<i>Newman's Lectures on the Prophetical Office of the +Church</i>. 1837. Pp. 347, 348.</blockquote> +<p>That their statement was untrue, and being untrue, that it is a +most grave matter to speak untruly of our Lord's commands, are +points absolutely certain. But if they recall the assertion, as to +the expressness of our Lord's sanction, and mean to say, that his +sanction is implied, and may be reasonably deduced from what he has +said, then I answer, that the deduction ought to be clear, because +the doctrine in itself bears on it no marks of having had Christ +for its author. Yet so far is it from true, that the necessity of +apostolical succession, in order to give efficacy to the sacrament, +may be clearly deduced from any recorded words of our Lord, that +there are no words<a name="FNanchor5"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_5">[5]</a> of his from which it can be deduced, either +probably or plausibly; none with which it has any, the faintest, +connexion; none from which it could be even conjectured that such a +tenet had ever been in existence. I am not speaking, it will be +observed, of apostolical succession simply; but of the necessity of +apostolical succession, as a security for the efficacy of the +sacrament. That this doctrine comes from God, is a position +altogether without evidence, probability, or presumption, either +internal or external.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5">[5]</a> +Since this was written, I have found out, what certainly it was +impossible to anticipate beforehand, that our Lord's words, "Do +this in remembrance of me," are supposed to teach the doctrine of +the priest's consecrating power. But the passage to which I refer +is so remarkable that I must quote it in its author's own words. +Mr. Newman, for the tract is apparently one of his, observes, that +three out of the four Gospels make no mention of the raising of +Lazarus. He then goes on, "As the raising of Lazarus is true, +though not contained at all in the first three Gospels; so the gift +of consecrating the Eucharist may have been committed by Christ to +the priesthood, though only indirectly taught in any of the four. +Will you say I am arguing against our own Church, which says the +Scripture 'contains all things necessary to be believed to +salvation?' Doubtless, Scripture <i>contains</i> all things +necessary to be <i>believed</i>; but there may be things +<i>contained</i> which are not <i>on the surface</i>, and things +which belong to the <i>ritual</i>, and not to <i>belief</i>. Points +of faith may lie <i>under</i> the surface: points of observance +need not be in Scripture <i>at all</i>. The consecrating power is a +point of ritual, yet it <i>is</i> indirectly taught in Scripture, +though not brought out, when Christ said, 'Do this,' for he spake +to the apostles, who were priests, not to his disciples +generally."--<i>Tracts for the Times</i>. Tract 85, p. 46.<br> +<br> +This passage is indeed characteristic of the moral and intellectual +faults which I have alluded to as marking the writings of the +supporters of Mr. Newman's system. But what is become of the +assertion, that this security of the apostolical commission was +"expressly authorized" by our Lord, when it is admitted that it is +only indirectly taught in Scripture? And what becomes of the +notion, that what our Lord did or instituted may be learned from +another source than Scripture, when Mr. Newman has most truly +stated, in the passage quoted in the preceding note, that our +Lord's history, the history of his words and works, "is in +Scripture, and Scripture only: tradition has no part in it?" I pass +over the surprising state of mind which could imagine a distinction +between things necessary to be believed, and necessary to be done; +and could conceive such a distinction to be according to the +meaning of our article. It would appear that this shift has been +since abandoned, and others, no way less extraordinary, have been +attempted in its place; for an extraordinary process it must be +which tries to reconcile Mr. Newman's opinions with the declaration +of the sixth article. But now for Mr. Newman's scriptural proof, +that our Lord "committed to the priesthood the gift of consecrating +the Eucharist." "When Christ said, 'Do this,' he spake to the +apostles, who were priests, not to his disciples generally." This +would prove too much, for it would prove that none but the clergy +were ordered to receive the communion at all: the words, "Do this," +referring, not to any consecration, of which there had been no word +said, but to the eating the bread, and drinking of the cup. Again, +when St. Paul says, "the cup which we bless,'--the bread which we +break," it is certain that the word "we," does not refer to himself +and Sosthenes, or to himself and Barnabas, but to himself and the +whole Corinthian church; for he immediately goes on, "for we, the +whole number of us," ([Greek: oi polloi] compare Romans xii. 5,) +"are one body, for we all are partakers of the one bread." Thirdly, +Tertullian expressly contrasts the original institution of our Lord +with the church practice of his own day, in this very point. +"Eucharistiæ sacramentum et in tempore victus, et omnibus +mandatum a Domino, etiam antelucanis coetibus nee de aliorum manu +quam præridentium sumimus." (<i>De Coroná Mililis</i>, +3.) I know that Tertullian believes the alteration to have been +founded upon an apostolical tradition; but he no less names it as a +change from the original institution of our Lord; nor does he +appear to consider it as more than a point of order. Lastly, what +shadow of probability is there, and is it not begging the whole +question, to assume that our Lord spoke to his apostles as priests, +and not as representatives of the whole Christian church? His +language makes no distinction between his disciples and those who +were without; it repels it as dividing his disciples from each +other. His twelve disciples were the apostles of the church, but +they were not priests. In such matters our Lord's words apply +exactly, "One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are +brethren."</blockquote> +<p>On the whole, then, the movement in the church, excited by Mr. +Newman and his friends, appears to be made in a false direction, +and to be incapable of satisfying the feeling which prompted it. I +have not noticed other presumptions against it, arising from the +consequences to which the original doctrines of the party have +since led, or from certain moral and intellectual faults which have +marked the writings of its supporters. It is enough to say, that +the movement originated in minds highly prejudiced beforehand, and +under the immediate influence of passion and fear; that its +doctrines, as a whole, resemble the teaching of no set of writers +entitled to respect, either in the early church, or in our own; +that they tend, not to Christ's glory, or to the advancement of +holiness, but simply to the exaltation of the clergy; and that they +are totally unsupported by the authority of Scripture. They are a +plant, therefore, which our heavenly Father has not planted; a +speaking in the name of the Lord what the Lord has not commanded; +hay and stubble, built upon the foundation of Christ, which are +good for nothing but to be burned.</p> +<p>I have spoken quite confidently of the total absence of all +support in Scripture for Mr. Newman's favourite doctrine of "the +necessity of apostolical succession, in order to ensure the effect +of the sacraments." This doctrine is very different from that of +the Divine appointment of episcopacy as a form of government, or +even from that of the exclusive lawfulness of that episcopacy which +has come down by succession from the apostles. Much less is it to +be confounded with any notions, however exalted, of the efficacy of +the sacraments, even though carried to such a length as we read of +in the early church, when living men had themselves baptized as +proxies for the dead, and when a portion of the wine of the +communion was placed by the side of a corpse in the grave. Such +notions may be superstitious and unscriptural, as indeed they are, +but they are quite distinct from a belief in the necessity of a +human priest to give the sacraments their virtue. And, without +going to such lengths as this, men may overestimate the efficacy of +the sacraments, to the disparagement of prayer, and preaching, and +reading the Scriptures, and yet may be perfectly clear from the +opinion which makes this efficacy depend immediately on a human +administrator. And so again, men may hold episcopacy to be divine, +and the episcopacy of apostolical succession to be the only true +episcopacy, but yet they may utterly reject the notion of its being +essential to the efficacy of the sacraments. It is of this last +doctrine only that I assert, in the strongest terms, that it is +wholly without support in Scripture, direct or indirect, and that +it does not minister to godliness.</p> +<p>In truth, Mr. Newman and his friends are well aware that the +Scripture will not support their doctrine, and therefore it is that +they have proceeded to such, lengths in upholding the authority not +of the creeds only, but of the opinions and practices of the +ancient church generally; and that they try to explain away the +clear language of our article, that nothing "which is neither read +therein (i.e. in holy Scripture,) nor may be proved thereby, is to +be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of +faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." It would +be one of the most unaccountable phenomena of the human mind, were +any man fairly to come to the conclusion that the Scriptures and +the early church were of equal authority, and that the authority of +both were truly divine. If any men resolve to maintain doctrines +and practices as of divine authority, for which the Scripture +offers no countenance, they of course are driven to maintain the +authority of the church in their own defence; and where they have +an interest in holding any particular opinion, its falsehood, +however palpable, is unhappily no bar to its reception. Otherwise +it would seem that the natural result of believing the early church +to be of equal authority with the Scripture, would be to deny the +inspiration of either. For two things so different in several +points as the Christianity of the Scriptures and that of the early +church, may conceivably be both false, but it is hard to think that +they can both be perfectly true.</p> +<p>I am here, however, allowing, what is by no means true, without +many qualifications, that Mr. Newman's system is that of the early +church. The historical inquiry as to the doctrines of the early +church would lead me into far too wide a field; I may only notice, +in passing, how many points require to be carefully defined in +conducting such an inquiry; as, for instance, what we mean by the +term "early church," as to time; for that may be fully true of the +church in the fourth century, which is only partially true of it in +the third, and only in a very slight degree true of it in the +second or first. And again, what do we mean by the term "early +church," as to persons; for a few eminent writers are not even the +whole clergy; neither is it by any means to be taken on their +authority that their views were really those of all the bishops and +presbyters of the Christian world; but if they were, the clergy are +not the church, nor can their judgments be morally considered as +the voice of the church, even if we were to admit that they could +at any time constitute its voice legally. But, for my present +purpose, we may take for granted that Mr. Newman's system as to the +pre-eminence of the sacraments, and the necessity of apostolical +succession to give them their efficacy, was the doctrine of the +early church; then I say that this system is so different from that +of the New Testament, that to invest the two with equal authority +is not to make the church system divine, but to make the scriptural +system human; or, at the best, perishable and temporary, like the +ceremonial law of Moses. Either the church system must be supposed +to have superseded the scriptural system<a name= +"FNanchor6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6">[6]</a>, and its unknown +authors are the real apostles of our present faith, in which case, +we do not see why it should not be superseded in its turn, and why +the perfect manifestation of Christianity should not be found in +the Koran, or in any still later system; or else neither of the two +systems can be divine, but the one is merely the human production +of the first century, the other that of the second and third. If +this be so, it is clearly open to all succeeding centuries to adopt +whichever of the two they choose, or neither.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor6">[6]</a> +This, it is well known, has been most ably maintained by Rothe, +(<i>Artfãnge der Christlichen Kirche und ihrer +Verfassung</i>, Wittenberg, 1837,) with respect to the origin of +episcopacy. He contends that it was instituted by the surviving +apostles after the destruction of Jerusalem, as an intentional +change from the earlier constitution of the church, in order to +enable it to meet the peculiar difficulties and dangers of the +times. To this belongs the question of the meaning of the +expression, [Greek: oi tais deuterais ton Apostolon diataxesi +parakolouthaekotes], in the famous Fragments of Irenæus, +published by Pfaff, from a manuscript in the library of Turin, and +to be found in the Venice edition of Irenæus, 1734, vol. ii. +<i>Fragmentorum</i>, p. 10. But then Rothe would admit that if the +apostles altered what they themselves had appointed, it would +follow that neither their earlier nor their later institutions were +intended to be for all times and all places, but were simply +adapted to a particular state of circumstances, and were alterable +when that state was altered: in short, whatever institutions the +apostles changed were shown to be essentially changeable; otherwise +their early institution was defective, which cannot be conceived. +And thus it may well be that the early church may have altered, in +some points, the first institutions of the apostles, and may have +been guided by God's Spirit in doing so; but the error consists in +believing that the now institutions were to be of necessity more +permanent than those which they succeeded; in supposing that either +the one or the other belong to the eternal truths and laws of +Christ's religion, when they belong, in fact, to the essentially +changeable regulations of his church.</blockquote> +<p>To such consequences are those driven who maintain the divine +authority of the system of Mr. Newman. Assuredly the thirst for +"something deeper and truer than satisfied the last century," will +not be allayed by a draught so scanty and so vapid; but after the +mirage has beguiled and disappointed him for a season, the +traveller presses on the more eagerly to the true and living +well.</p> +<p>In truth, the evils of the last century were but the inevitable +fruits of the long ascendency of Mr. Newman's favourite principles. +Christ's religion had been corrupted in the long period before the +Reformation, but it had ever retained many of its main truths, and +it was easy, when the appeal was once made to Scripture, to sweep +away the corruptions, and restore it in its perfect form; but +Christ's church had been destroyed so long and so completely, that +its very idea was all but lost, and to revive it actually was +impossible. What had been known under that name,--I am speaking of +Christ's church, be it observed, as distinguished from Christ's +religion,--was so great an evil, that, hopeless of drawing any good +from it, men looked rather to Christ's religion as all in all; and +content with having destroyed the false church, never thought that +the scheme of Christianity could not be perfectly developed without +the restoration of the true one. But the want was deeply felt, and +its consequences were deplorable. At this moment men are truly +craving something deeper than satisfied the last century; they +crave to have the true church of Christ, which the last century was +without. Mr. Newman perceives their want, and again offers them +that false church which is worse than none at all.</p> +<p>The truths of the Christian religion are to be sought for in the +Scripture alone; they are the same at all times and in all +countries. With the Christian church it is otherwise; the church is +not a revelation concerning the unchangeable and eternal God, but +an institution to enable changeable man to apprehend the +unchangeable. Because man is changeable, the church is also +changeable; changeable, not in its object, which is for ever one +and the same, but in its means for effecting that object; +changeable in its details, because the same treatment cannot suit +various diseases, various climates, various constitutional +peculiarities, various external influences.</p> +<p>The Scripture, then, which is the sole and direct authority for +all the truths of the Christian religion, is not in the same way, +an authority for the constitution and rules of the Christian +church; that is, it does not furnish direct authority, but guides +us only by analogy: or it gives us merely certain main principles, +which we must apply to our own various circumstances. This is shown +by the remarkable fact, that neither our Lord nor his apostles have +left any commands with respect to the constitution and +administration of the church generally. Commands in abundance they +have left us on moral matters; and one commandment of another kind +has been added, the commandment, namely, to celebrate the Lord's +Supper. "Do this in remembrance of me," are our Lord's words; and +St. Paul tells us, if we could otherwise have doubted it, that this +remembrance is to be kept up for ever. "As often as ye eat that +bread or drink that cup ye do show the Lord's death <i>till he +come</i>." This is the one perpetual ordinance of the Christian +church, and this is commanded to be kept perpetually. But its other +institutions are mentioned historically, as things done once, but +not necessarily to be always repeated: nay, they are mentioned +without any details, so that we do not always know what their exact +form was in their original state, and cannot, therefore, if we +would, adopt it as a perpetual model. Nor is it unimportant to +observe that institutions are recorded as having been created on +the spur of the occasion, if I may so speak, not as having formed a +part of an original and universal plan. A great change in the +character of the deacon, or subordinate minister's office, is +introduced in consequence of the complaints of the Hellenist +Christians: the number of the apostles is increased by the addition +of Paul and Barnabas, not appointed, as Matthias had been, by the +other apostles themselves, but by the prophets and teachers of the +church of Antioch. Again, the churches founded by St. Paul were +each, at first, placed by him under the government of several +presbyters; but after his imprisonment at Rome, finding that they +were become greatly corrupted, he sends out single persons, in two +instances, with full powers to remodel these churches, and with +authority to correct the presbyters themselves: yet it does not +appear that these especial<a name="FNanchor7"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_7">[7]</a> visitors were to alter permanently the +earlier constitution of the churches; nor that they were sent +generally to all the churches which St. Paul had founded. Indeed, +it appears evident from the epistle of Clement, that the original +constitution of the church of Corinth still subsisted in his time; +the government was still vested not in one man, but in many<a name= +"FNanchor8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8">[8]</a>. Yet a few years +later the government of a single man, as we see from Ignatius, was +become very general; and Ignatius, as is well known, wishes to +invest it with absolute power<a name="FNanchor9"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_9">[9]</a>. I believe that he acted quite wisely +according to the circumstances of the church at that period; and +that nothing less than a vigorous unity of government could have +struggled with the difficulties and dangers of that crisis. But no +man can doubt that the system which Ignatius so earnestly +recommends was very different from that which St. Paul had +instituted fifty or sixty years earlier.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor7">[7]</a> +The command, "to appoint elders in every city," is given to Titus, +according to Paul's practice when he first formed churches of the +Gentiles (Acts xiv, 2.) Nor did Timothy, or Titus, remain +permanently at Ephesus, or in Crete. Timothy, when St. Paul's +second Epistle was written to him, was certainly not at Ephesus, +but apparently in Pontus; and Titus, at the same period, was gone +to Dalmatia: nor indeed was he to remain in Crete beyond the summer +of the year in which St. Paul's Epistle was written; he was to meet +Paul, in the winter, at Nicopolis.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor8">[8]</a> +Only elders are spoken of as governing the church of Corinth. It is +impossible to understand clearly the nature of the contest, and of +the party against which Clement's Epistle is directed. Where he +wishes the heads of that party to say, [Greek: ei di eme stasis kai +eris kai schismata, ekchoro, apeimi, ou ean, boulaesthe, kai poio, +ta, prostassomena upo tou plaethous], c. 54, it would seem as if +they had been endeavouring to exercise a despotic authority over +the church, in defiance of the general feeling, as well as of the +existing government, like those earlier persons at Corinth, whom +St. Paul describes, in his second Epistle, xi. 20; and like +Diotrephes, mentioned by St. John, 3 Epist. 9, 10. But in a society +where all power must have depended on the consent of those subject +to it, how could any one exercise a tyranny against the will of the +majority, as well as against the authority of the Apostles? And +[Greek: ta prostassomena upo tou plaethous] must signify, I think, +"the bidding of the society at large." Compare for this use of +[Greek: plaethos], Ignatius, Smyrna. 8; Trallian. 1, 8. A +conjecture might be offered as to the solution of this difficulty, +but it would lead mo into too long a discussion.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor9">[9]</a> +Insomuch that he wished all marriages to be solemnized with the +consent and approbation of the bishop, [Greek: meta gnomaes tou +episkopou], that they might be "according to God, and not according +to passion;" [Greek: kapa Theon kai mae kat epithomian].--<i>Ad. +Polycarp</i>. 5.</blockquote> +<p>On two points, however,--points not of detail, but of +principle,--the Scripture does seem to speak decisively. 1st. The +whole body of the church was to take an active share in its +concerns; the various faculties of its various members were to +perform their several parts: it was to be a living society, not an +inert mass of mere hearers and subjects, who were to be +authoritatively taught and absolutely ruled by one small portion of +its members. It is quite consistent with this, that, at particular +times, the church should centre all its own power and activity in +the persons of its rulers. In the field, the imperium of the Roman +consul was unlimited; and even within the city walls, the senate's +commission in times of imminent danger, released him from all +restraints of law; the whole power of the state was, for the +moment, his, and his only. Such temporary despotisms are sometimes +not expedient merely, but necessary: without them society would +perish. I do not, therefore, regard Ignatius's epistles as really +contradictory to the idea of the church conveyed to us in the +twelfth chapter of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians: I +believe that the dictatorship, so to speak, which Ignatius claims +for the bishop in each church, was required by the circumstances of +the case; but to change the temporary into the perpetual +dictatorship, was to subvert the Roman constitution; and to make +Ignatius's language the rule, instead of the exception, is no less +to subvert the Christian church. Wherever the language of Ignatius +is repeated with justice, there the church must either be in its +infancy, or in its dotage, or in some extraordinary crisis of +danger; wherever it is repeated, as of universal application, it +destroys, as in fact it has destroyed, the very life of Christ's +institution.</p> +<p>But, 2d, the Christian church was absolutely and entirely, at +all times, and in all places, to be without a human priesthood. +Despotic government and priesthood are things perfectly distinct +from one another. Despotic government might be required, from time +to time, by this or that portion of the Christian church, as by +other societies; for government is essentially changeable, and all +forms, in the manifold varieties of the condition of society, are, +in their turn, lawful and beneficial. But a priesthood belongs to a +matter not so varying--the relations subsisting between God and +man. These relations were fixed for the Christian church from its +very foundation, being, in fact, no other than the main truths of +the Christian religion; and they bar, for all time, the very notion +of an earthly priesthood. They bar it, because they establish the +everlasting priesthood of our Lord, which leaves no place for any +other; they bar it, because priesthood is essentially mediation; +and they establish one Mediator between God and man--the Man Christ +Jesus. And, therefore, the notion of Mr. Newman and his friends, +that the sacraments derive their efficacy from the apostolical +succession of the minister, is so extremely unchristian, that it +actually deserves to be called anti-christian; for there is no +point of the priestly office, properly so called, in which the +claim of the earthly priest is not absolutely precluded. Do we want +him for sacrifice? Nay, there is no place for him at all; for our +one atoning Sacrifice has been once offered; and by its virtue we +are enabled to offer daily our spiritual sacrifices of ourselves, +which no other man can by possibility offer for us. Do we want him +for intercession? Nay, there is One who ever liveth to make +intercession for us, through whom we have access to ([Greek: +prosalogaen], admission to the presence of) the Father, and for +whose sake, Paul, and Apollos, and Peter, and things present, and +things to come, are all ours already. His claim can neither be +advanced or received without high dishonour to our true Priest and +to his blessed gospel. If circumcision could not be practised, as +necessary, by a believer in Christ, without its involving a +forfeiture of the benefits of Christ's salvation; how much more +does St. Paul's language apply to the invention of an earthly +priesthood--a priesthood neither after the order of Aaron, nor yet +of Melchisedek; unlawful alike under the law and the gospel.</p> +<p>It is the invention of the human priesthood, which falling in, +unhappily, with the absolute power rightfully vested in the +Christian church during the troubles of the second century, fixed +the exception as the rule, and so in the end destroyed the church. +It pretended that the clergy were not simply rulers and +teachers,--offices which, necessarily vary according to the state +of those who are ruled and taught,--but that they were essentially +mediators between God and the church; and as this language would +have sounded too profanely,--for the mediator between God and the +church can be none but Christ,--so the clergy began to draw to +themselves the attributes of the church, and to call the church by +a different name, such as the faithful, or the laity; so that to +speak of the church mediating for the people did not sound so +shocking, and the doctrine so disguised found ready acceptance. +Thus the evil work was consummated; the great majority of the +members of the church, were virtually disfranchised; the minority +retained the name, but the character of the institution was utterly +corrupted.</p> +<p>To revive Christ's church, therefore, is to expel the antichrist +of priesthood, (which, as it was foretold of him, "as God, sitteth +in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God,") and to +restore its disfranchised members,--the laity,--to the discharge of +their proper duties in it, and to the consciousness of their +paramount importance. This is the point which I have dwelt upon in +the XXXVIII<sup>th</sup> Lecture, and which is closely in +connection with the point maintained in the XL<sup>th</sup>; and +all who value the inestimable blessings of Christ's church should +labour in arousing the laity to a sense of their great share in +them. In particular, that discipline, which is one of the greatest +of those blessings, never can, and, indeed, never ought to be +restored, till the Church resumes its lawful authority, and puts an +end to the usurpation of its powers by the clergy. There is a +feeling now awakened amongst the lay members of our Church, which, +if it can but be rightly directed, may, by God's blessing, really +arrive at something truer and deeper than satisfied the last +century, or than satisfied the last seventeen centuries. Otherwise, +whatever else may be improved, the laity will take care that church +discipline shall continue to slumber, and they will best serve the +church by doing so. Much may be done to spread the knowledge of +Christ's religion; new churches may be built; new ministers +appointed to preach the word and administer the sacraments; those +may hear who now cannot hear; many more sick persons may be +visited; many more children may receive religious instruction: all +this is good, and to be received with sincere thankfulness; but, +with a knowledge revealed to us of a still more excellent power in +Christ's church, and with the abundant promises of prophecy in our +hands, can we rest satisfied with the lesser and imperfect good, +which strikes thrice and stays? But, if the zeal of the lay members +of our Church be directed by the principles of Mr. Newman, then the +result will be, not merely a lesser good, but one fearfully mixed +with evil--Christian religion profaned by anti-christian fables, +Christian holiness marred by superstition and uncharitableness; +Christian wisdom and Christian sincerity scoffed at, reviled, and +persecuted out of sight. This is declared to us by the sure voice +of experience; this was the fruit of the spirit of priestcraft, +with its accompaniments of superstitious rites and lying +traditions, in the last decline of the Jewish church; this was the +fruit of the same spirit, with the same accompaniments, in the long +decay of the Christian church; although, the indestructible virtue +of Christ's gospel was manifest in the midst of the evil, and +Christ, in every age and in every country, has been known with +saving power by some of his people, and his church, in her worst +corruptions, has taught many divinest truths, has inculcated many +holiest virtues.</p> +<p>When the tide is setting strongly against us, we can scarcely +expect to make progress; it is enough if we do not drift along with +it. Mr. Newman's system is now at the flood; it is daily making +converts; it is daily swelled by many of those who neither love it +nor understand it in itself, but who hope to make it serve their +purposes, or who like to swim with the stream. A strong profession, +therefore, of an opposite system must expect, at the present +moment, to meet with little favour; nor, indeed, have I any hope of +turning the tide, which will flow for its appointed season, and its +ebb does not seem to be at hand. But whilst the hurricane rages, +those exposed to it may well encourage one another to hold fast +their own foundations against it; and many are exposed to it in +whose welfare I naturally have the deepest interest, and in whom +old impressions may be supposed to have still so much force that I +may claim from them, at least, a patient hearing. I am anxious to +show them that Mr. Newman's system is to be opposed not merely on +negative grounds, as untrue, but as obstructing that perfect and +positive truth, that perfection of Christ's church, which the last +century, it may be, neglected, but which I value and desire as +earnestly as it can be valued and desired by any man alive. My +great objection to Mr. Newman's system is, that it destroys +Christ's church, and sets up an evil in its stead. We do not desire +merely to hinder the evil from occupying the ground, and to leave +it empty; that has been, undoubtedly, the misfortune, and partly +the fault of Protestantism; but we desire to build on the holy +ground a no less holy temple, not out of our own devices, but +according to the teaching of Christ himself, who has given us the +outline, and told us what should be its purposes.</p> +<p>The true church of Christ would offer to every faculty of our +nature its proper exercise, and would entirely meet all our wants. +No wise man doubts that the Reformation was imperfect, or that in +the Romish system there were many good institutions, and practices, +and feelings, which it would be most desirable to restore amongst +ourselves. Daily church services, frequent communions, memorials of +our Christian calling continually presented to our notice, in +crosses and way-side oratories; commemorations of holy men, of all +times and countries; the doctrine of the communion of saints +practically taught; religious orders, especially of women, of +different kinds, and under different rules, delivered only from the +snare and sin of perpetual vows; all these, most of which are of +some efficacy for good, even in a corrupt church, belong no less to +the true church, and would there be purely beneficial. If Mr. +Newman's system attracts good and thinking men, because it seems to +promise them all these things, which in our actual Church are not +to be found, let them remember, that these things belong to the +perfect church no less than to that of the Romanists and of Mr. +Newman, and would flourish in the perfect church far more +healthily. Or, again, if any man admires Mr. Newman's system for +its austerities, if he regards fasting as a positive duty, he +should consider that these might be transferred also to the perfect +church, and that they have no necessary connexion with the peculiar +tenets of Mr. Newman. We know that the Puritans were taunted by +their adversaries for their frequent fasts, and the severity of +their lives; and they certainly were far enough from agreeing with +Mr. Newman. Whatever there is of good, or self-denying, or +ennobling, in his system, is altogether independent of his doctrine +concerning the priesthood. It is that doctrine which is the +peculiarity of his system and of Romanism; it is that doctrine +which constitutes the evil of both, which over-weighs all the good +accidentally united with it, and makes the systems, as such, false +and anti-christian. Nor can any human being find in this doctrine +anything of a beneficial tendency either to his intellectual, his +moral, or his spiritual nature. If mere reverence be a virtue, +without reference to its object, let us, by all means, do honour to +the virtue of those who fell down to the stock of a tree; and let +us lament the harsh censure which charged them with "having a lie +in their right hand<a name="FNanchor10"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_10">[10]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_10"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor10">[10]</a> The language which Mr. Newman and his +friends have allowed themselves to hold, in admiration of what they +call reverential and submissive faith, might certainly be used in +defence of the lowest idolatry; what they have dared to call +rationalistic can plead such high and sacred authority in its +favour, that if I were to quote some of the language of the "Tracts +for the Times," and place by the side of it certain passages from +the New Testament, Mr. Newman and his friends would appear to have +been writing blasphemy. It seems scarcely possible that they could +have remembered what is said in St. Matthew xv. 9-20, and who said +it, when they have called it rationalism to deny a spiritual virtue +in things that are applied to the body.</blockquote> +<p>What does the true and perfect church want, that she should +borrow from the broken cisterns of idolatry? Holding all those +truths in which the clear voice of God's word is joined by the +accordant confession of God's people in all ages; holding all the +means of grace of which she was designed to be the steward--her +common prayers, her pure preaching, her uncorrupted sacraments, her +free and living society, her wise and searching discipline, her +commemorations and memorials of God's mercy and grace, whether +shown in her Lord himself, or in his and her members;--looking +lovingly upon her elder sisters, the ancient churches, and +delighting to be in communion with them, as she hopes that her +younger sisters, the churches of later days, will delight to be in +communion with her;--what has she not, that Christ's bride should +have? what has she not, that Mr. Newman's system can give her? But +because she loves her Lord, and stands fast in his faith, and has +been enlightened by his truth, she will endure no other mediator +than Christ, she will repose her trust only on his word, she will +worship in the light, and will abhor the words, no less than the +works, of darkness. Her sisters, the elder churches, she loves and +respects as she would be herself loved and respected; but she will +not, and may not, worship them, nor even, for their sakes, believe +error to be truth, or foolishness to be wisdom. She dare not hope +that she can be in all things a perfect guide and example to the +churches that shall come after her; as neither have the churches +before her been in all things a perfect guide and example to +herself. She would not impose her yoke upon future generations, nor +will she submit her own neck to the yoke of antiquity. She honours +all men, but makes none her idol; and she would have her own +individual members regard her with honour, but neither would she be +an idol to them. She dreads especially that sin of which her Lord +has so emphatically warned her--the sin against the Holy Ghost. She +will neither lie against him by declaring that he is where his +fruits are not manifested; nor blaspheme him, by saying that he is +not where his fruits are. Rites and ordinances may be vain, +prophets may be false, miracles may be miracles of Satan; but the +signs of the Holy Spirit, truth and holiness, can never be +ineffectual, can never deceive, can never be evil; where they are, +and only where they are, there is God.</p> +<p>There are states of falsehood and wickedness so monstrous, that, +to use the language of Eastern mythology, the Destroyer God is +greater than the Creator or the Preserver, and no good can be +conceived so great as the destruction of the existing evil. But +ordinarily in human affairs destruction and creation should go hand +in hand; as the evergreen shrubs of our gardens do not cast their +old leaves till the young ones are ready to supply their place. +Great as is the falsehood of Mr. Newman's system, it would be but +an unsatisfactory work to clear it away, if we had no positive +truth to offer in its room. But the thousands of good men whom it +has beguiled, because it professed to meet the earnest craving of +their minds for a restoration of Christ's church with power, need +not fear to open their eyes to its hollowness; like the false +miracles of fraud or sorcery, it is but the counterfeit of a real +truth. The restoration of the church, is, indeed, the best +consummation of all our prayers, and all our labours; it is not a +dream, not a prospect to be seen only in the remotest distance; it +is possible, it lies very near us; with God's blessing it is in the +power of this very generation to begin and make some progress in +the work. If the many good, and wise, and influential laymen of our +Church would but awake to their true position and duties, and would +labour heartily to procure for the church a living organization and +an effective government, in both, of which the laity should be +essential members, then, indeed, the church would become a +reality<a name="FNanchor11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11">[11]</a>. +This is not Erastianism, or rather, it is not what is commonly +cried down under that name; it is not the subjection of the church +to the state, which, indeed, would be a most miserable and most +unchristian condition; but it would be the deliverance of the +church, and its exaltation to its own proper sovereignty. The +members of one particular profession are most fit to administer a +system in part, most unfit to legislate for it or to govern it: we +could ill spare the ability and learning of our lawyers, but we +surely should not wish to have none but lawyers concerned even, in +the administration of justice, much less to have none but lawyers +in the government or in parliament. What is true of lawyers with +regard to the state, is no less true of the clergy with regard to +the church; indispensable as ministers and advisers, they cannot, +without great mischief, act as sole judges, sole legislators, sole +governors. And this is a truth so palpable, that the clergy, by +pressing such a claim, merely deprive the church of its judicial, +legislative, and executive functions; whilst the common sense of +the church will not allow them to exercise these powers, and, +whilst they assert that no one else may exercise them, the result +is, that they are not exercised at all, and the essence of the +church is destroyed.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_11"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor11">[11]</a> The famous saying, "extra ecclesiam nulla +salus," is, in its idea, a most divine truth; historically and in +fact it may be, and often has been, a practical falsehood. If the +truths of Christ's religion were necessarily accessible only to the +members of some visible church, then it would be true always, +inasmuch as to be out of the church would then be the same thing as +to be without Christ; and, as a society, the church ought so to +attract to itself all goodness, and by its internal organization, +so to encourage all goodness, that nothing would be without its +pale but extreme wickedness, or extreme ignorance; and he who were +voluntarily to forfeit its spiritual advantages, would be guilty of +moral suicide; so St. Paul calls the church the pillar and ground +of truth; that is, it was so in its purpose and idea; and he +therefore conjures Timothy to walk warily in it, and to take heed +that what ought to be the pillar and ground of truth should not be +profaned by fables, and so be changed into a pillar of falsehood. +But to say universally, as an historical fact, that "extra +ecclesiam nulla salus," may be often to utter one of the worst of +falsehoods. A ferry is set up to transport men over an unfordable +river, and it might be truly said that "extra navem nulla salus;" +there is no other safe way, speaking generally, of getting over; +but the ferryman has got the plague, and if you go in the boat with +him, you will catch it and die. In despair, a man plunges into the +water, and swims across; would not the ferryman be guilty of a +double falsehood who should call out to this man, "extra navem +nulla salus," insisting that he had not swum over, when he had, and +saying that his boat would have carried him safely, whereas it +would have killed him?</blockquote> +<p>The first step towards the restoration of the church seems to be +the revival of the order of deacons; which might be effected +without any other change in our present system than a repeal of all +laws, canons, or customs which prohibit a deacon from following a +secular calling, which confer on him any civil exemptions, or +subject him to any civil disqualifications. The Ordination Service, +with the subscription to the Articles, would remain perfectly +unaltered; and as no deacon can hold any benefice, it is manifest +that the proposed measure would in no way interfere with the rights +or duties of the order of presbyters, or priests, which would +remain precisely what they are at present. But the benefit in large +towns would be enormous, if, instead of the present system of +district visiting by private individuals, excellent as that is +where there is nothing better, we could have a large body of +deacons, the ordained ministers of the church, visiting the sick, +managing charitable subscriptions, and sharing with their presbyter +in those strictly clerical duties, which now, in many cases, are +too much for the health and powers of the strongest. Yet a still +greater advantage would be found in the link thus formed between +the clergy and laity by the revival of an order appertaining in a +manner to both. Nor would it be a little thing that many who now +become teachers in some dissenting congregation, not because they +differ from our Articles, or dislike our Liturgy, but because they +cannot afford to go to the universities, and have no prospect of +being maintained by the church, if they were to give up their +secular callings, would, in all human probability, be glad to join +the church, as deacons, and would thus be subject to her +authorities, and would be engaged in her service, instead of being +aliens to her, if not enemies.</p> +<p>When we look at the condition of our country: at the poverty and +wretchedness of so large a portion of the working classes; at the +intellectual and moral evils which certainly exist among the poor, +but by no means amongst the poor only; and when we witness the many +partial attempts to remedy these evils--attempts benevolent indeed +and wise, so far as they go, but utterly unable to strike to the +heart of the mischief; can any Christian doubt that here is the +work for the church of Christ to do; that none else can do it; and +that with the blessing of her Almighty Head she can? Looking upon +the chaos around us, one power alone can reduce it into order, and +fill it with light and life. And does he really apprehend the +perfections and high calling of Christ's church; does he indeed +fathom the depths of man's wants, or has he learnt to rise to the +fulness of the stature of their divine remedy, who comes forward to +preach to us the necessity of apostolical succession? Grant even +that it was of divine appointment, still as it is demonstrably and +palpably unconnected with holiness, as it would be a mere positive +and ceremonial ordinance, it cannot be the point of most importance +to insist on; even if it be a sin to neglect this, there are so +many far weightier matters equally neglected, that it would be +assuredly no Christian prophesying which were to strive to direct +our chief attention to this. But the wholly unmoral character of +this doctrine, which if it were indeed of God, would make it a +single mysterious exception to all the other doctrines of the +Gospel, is, God be thanked, not more certain than its total want of +external evidence; the Scripture disclaims it, Christ himself +condemns it.</p> +<p>I have written at considerable length: yet so vast is the +subject, that I may seem to some to have written superficially, and +to have left my statements without adequate support. I can only say +that no one paragraph has been written hastily, nor in fact is +there one the substance of which has not been for several years in +my mind; indeed, in many instances, not only the substance, but the +proofs in detail have been actually written: but to have inserted +them here would have been impracticable, as they would have been in +themselves a volume. Neither have I knowingly remained in ignorance +of any argument which may have been used in defence of Mr. Newman's +system; I have always desired to know what he and his friends say, +and on what grounds they say it; although, as I have not read the +Tracts for the Times regularly, I may have omitted something which +it would have been important to notice. Finally, in naming Mr. +Newman as the chief author of the system which I have been +considering, I have in no degree wished to make the question +personal; but Mr. Percival's letter authorizes us to consider him +as one of the authors of it; and as I have never had any personal +acquaintance with him, I could mention his name with no shock to +any private feelings either in him or in myself. But I have spoken +of him simply as the maintainer of certain doctrines, not as +maintaining them in any particular manner, far less as actuated by +any particular motives. I believe him to be in most serious error; +I believe his system to be so destructive of Christ's church, that +I earnestly pray, and would labour to the utmost of my endeavours +for its utter overthrow: but on the other hand, I will not be +tempted to confound the authors of the system with the system +itself; for I know that the most mischievous errors have been +promulgated by men who yet have been neither foolish nor wicked; +and I nothing doubt that there are many points in Mr. Newman, in +which I might learn truth from his teaching, and should be glad if +I could come near him in his practice.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>NOTE.</h2> +<br> +<p>In order to prevent the possibility of misunderstanding, it is +proper to repeat what has been often said by others, that the +English word "priest" has two significations,--the one according to +its etymology, through the French <i>prêtre</i>, or +<i>prestre</i>, and the Latin <i>presbyterus</i>, from the Greek +[Greek: presbuteros]; in which sense it is used in our Liturgy and +Rubrics, and signifies merely "one belonging to the order of +Presbyters," as distinguished from the other two orders of bishops +and deacons. But the other signification of the word "priest," and +which we use, as I think, more commonly, is the same with the +meaning of the Latin word <i>sacerdos</i>, and the Greek word +[Greek: iepeus], and means, "one who stands as a mediator between +God and the people, and brings them to God by the virtue of certain +ceremonial acts which he performs for them, and which they could +not perform for themselves without profanation, because they are at +a distance from God, and cannot, in their own persons, venture to +approach towards him." In this sense of the word "priest," the term +is not applied to the ministers of the Christian church, either by +the Scripture, or by the authorized formularies of the Church of +England; although, in the other sense, as synonymous with +Presbyters, it is used in our Prayer Book repeatedly. Of course, +not one word of what I have written is meant to deny the lawfulness +and importance of the order of Presbyters in the church; I have +only spoken against a priesthood, in the other sense of the word, +in which a "priest" means "a mediator between God and man;" in that +sense, in short, in which the word is not a translation of [Greek: +presbuteros], but [iereus].</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_I."></a>LECTURE I.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>GENESIS iii. 22.</center> +<br> +<center><i>And the Lord God said, Behold,<br> +the man is become as one of us,<br> +to know good and evil</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>This is declared to be man's condition after the Fall. I will +not attempt to penetrate into that which is not to be entered into, +nor to pretend to discover all that may be concealed beneath the +outward, and in many points clearly parabolical, form of the +account of man's temptation and sin. But that condition to which +his sin brought him is our condition; with that, undoubtedly, we +are concerned; that must be the foundation of all sound views of +human nature; the double fact employed in the word fall is of the +last importance; the fact on the one hand of our present nature +being evil, the fact on the other hand that this present nature is +not our proper nature; that the whole business of our lives is to +cast it off, and to return to that better and holy nature, which, +in truth, although not in fact, is the proper nature of man.</p> +<p>All individual experience, then, and all history begins in +something which is evil; all our course, whether as individuals or +as nations, is a progress, an advance, a leaving behind us +something bad, and a going forwards towards something that is good. +But individual experience, and history apart from Christianity, +would make us regard this progress as fearfully uncertain. Clear it +is that we are in an evil case; we have lost our way; we are like +men who are bewildered in those endless forests of reeds which line +some of the great American rivers; if we stay where we are, the +venomous snakes may destroy us; or the deadly marsh air when night +comes on will be surely fatal; it is death to remain, but yet if we +move, we know not what way will lead us out, and it may be that, +while seeming to advance, we shall but be going round and round, +and shall at last find ourselves hard by the place from which we +set out in the beginning. Nay, we may even feel a doubt,--a doubt, +I say, though not a reasonable belief,--but a doubt which at times +would press us sorely, whether the tangled thicket in which we are +placed has any end at all; whether our fond notions of a clear and +open space, a pure air, and a fruitful and habitable country, are +not altogether merely imaginary; whether the whole world be not +such a region of death as the spot in which we are actually +prisoned; whether there remains any thing for us, but to curse our +fate, and lie down and die. Under such circumstances, although we +should admire the spirit which hoped against hope; which would make +an effort for deliverance; which would, at any rate, flee from the +actual evil, although, other evil might receive him after all his +struggles; yet we could forgive those who yielded at once to their +fate, and who sat down quietly to wait for their death, without the +unavailing labour of a struggle to avoid it.</p> +<p>But when the declaration has been made to us by God himself, +that this dismal swamp in which we are prisoners is but an +infinitely small portion of his universe, that there do exist all +those goodly forms which we fancied; and more, when God declares +too that we were in the first instance designed to enjoy them; that +our error brought us into the thicket, having been once out of it; +that we may escape from it again; nay, much more still, when He +shows us the true path to escape, and tells us, that the obstacles +in our way have been cleared, and that he will give us strength to +accomplish, the task of escaping, and will guide us that we do not +miss the track; then what shall we say to those who insist upon, +remaining where they are, but that they are either infatuated, or +indolent and cowardly even to insanity; that they are refusing +certain salvation, and are, by their own act, giving themselves +over to inevitable death.</p> +<p>This, then, is the truth taught us by the doctrine of the Fall; +not so much that it is our certain destruction to remain where we +are, for that our own sense and reason declare to us, if we will +but listen to them; but that our present position is not that for +which God designed us, and that to rest satisfied with it is not a +yielding to an unavoidable necessity, but the indolently or madly +shrinking from the effort which would give us certain +deliverance.</p> +<p>Now it is a part of our present evil condition from which we +must escape, that we know good and evil. We are in the world where +evil exists within us, and about us; we cannot but know it. True it +is, that it was our misfortune to become acquainted with it; this +noisome wilderness of reeds, this reeking swamp; it would have been +far happier for us, no doubt, had we never become aware of their +existence. But that wish is now too late. We are in the midst of +this dismal place, and the question now is, how to escape from it. +We may shut our eyes, and say we will not see objects so unsightly; +but what avails it, if the marsh poison finds its way by other +senses, if we cannot but draw it in with our breath, and so we must +die? And such is the case of those who now in this present world +confound ignorance with innocence. This is a fatal mistaking of our +present condition for our past; there was a time when to the human +race ignorance was innocence; but now it is only folly and sin. For +as I supposed that a man lost in one of those noxious swamps might +shut his eyes, and so keep himself in some measure in ignorance, +yet the poison would be taken in with his breath, and so he would +die: even thus, whilst we would fain shut the eyes of our +understanding, and would so hope to be in safety, our passions are +all the time alive and active, and they catch the poison of the +atmosphere around us, and we are not innocent, but foolishly +wicked.</p> +<p>We must needs consider this carefully; for, to say nothing of +wider questions of national importance, who that sees before him, +as we must see it, the gradual change from childhood to boyhood, +who that sees added knowledge often accompanied with added sin, can +help wishing that the earlier ignorance of evil might still be +continued; and fancying that knowledge is at best but a doubtful +blessing?</p> +<p>But our path is not backwards, but onwards. Israel in the desert +was hungry and thirsty, while in Egypt he had eaten bread to the +full; Israel in the desert saw a wide waste of sand, or sandy rock, +around him, while in Egypt he had dwelt in those green pastures and +watered gardens to which the Nile had given freshness and life. But +that wilderness is his appointed way to Canaan; its dreariness must +be exchanged for the hills and valleys of Canaan, and must not +drive him back again to the low plain of Egypt. There is a moral +wilderness which lies in the early part of our Christian course; +but we must not hope to escape from it but by penetrating through +it to its furthest side.</p> +<p>Undoubtedly this place, and other similar places, which receive +us when we have quitted the state of childhood, and before our +characters are formed in manhood, do partake somewhat of the +character of the wilderness; and it is not unnatural that many +should shrink back from them in fear. We see but too often the +early beauty of the character sadly marred, its simplicity gone, +its confidence chilled, its tenderness hardened; where there was +gentleness, we see roughness and coarseness; where there was +obedience, we find murmuring, and self-will, and pride; where there +was a true and blameless conversation, we find now something of +falsehood, something of profaneness, something of impurity. I can +well conceive what it must be to a parent to see his child return +from school, for the first time, with the marks of this grievous +change upon him: I can well conceive how bitterly he must regret +having ever sent him to a place of so much, danger; how fondly he +must look back to the days of his early innocence. And if a parent +feels thus, what must be our feelings, seeing that this evil has +been wrought here? Are we not as those who, when pretending to give +a wholesome draught, have mixed the cup with poison? How can we go +on upholding a system, the effects of which appear to be so merely +mischievous?</p> +<p>Believe me, that such questions must and ought to present +themselves to the mind of every thinking man who is concerned in +the management of a school: and I do think that we could not answer +them satisfactorily, that our work would absolutely be unendurable, +if we did not bear in mind that our eyes should look forward, and +not backward; if we did not remember that the victory of fallen man +is to be sought for, not in innocence, but in tried virtue. +Comparing only the state of a boy after his first half-year, or +year, at school, with his earlier state as a child, and our +reflections on the evil of our system would be bitter indeed; but +when we compare a boy's state after his first half-year, or year, +at school, with what it is afterwards; when we see the clouds again +clearing off; when we find coarseness succeeded again by delicacy; +hardness and selfishness again broken up, and giving place to +affection and benevolence; murmuring and self-will exchanged for +humility and self-denial; and the profane, or impure, or false +tongue, uttering again only the words of truth and purity; and when +we see that all these good things are now, by God's grace, rooted +in the character; that they have been tried, and grown up amidst +the trial; that the knowledge of evil has made them hate it the +more, and be the more aware of it; then we can look upon our +calling with patience, and even with thankfulness; we see that the +wilderness has been gone through triumphantly, and that its dangers +have hardened and strengthened the traveller for all his remaining +pilgrimage.</p> +<p>For the truth is, that to the knowledge of good and evil we are +born; and it must come upon us sooner or later. In the common +course of things, it comes about that age with which we are here +most concerned. I do not mean that there are not faults in early +childhood--we know that there are;--but we know also that with the +strength and rapid growth of boyhood there is a far greater +development of these faults, and particularly far less of that +submissiveness which belonged naturally to the helplessness of mere +childhood. I suppose that, by an extreme care, the period of +childhood might be prolonged considerably; but still it must end; +and the knowledge of good and evil, in its full force, must come. I +believe that this must be; I believe that no care can prevent it, +and that an extreme attempt at carefulness, whilst it could not +keep off the disorder, would weaken the strength, of the +constitution to bear it. But yet you should never forget, and I +should never forget, that although the evils of schools in some +respects must be, yet, in proportion as they exceed what must be, +they do become at once mischievous and guilty. And such, or even +worse, is the mischief when, with the evil which must be, there is +not the good which ought to be; for, remember, our condition is to +know good and evil. If we know only evil, it is the condition of +hell; and therefore, if schools present an unmixed experience, if +there is temptation in abundance, but no support against +temptation, and no examples of overcoming it; if some are losing +their child's innocence, but none, or very few, are gaining a man's +virtue; are we in a wholesome state then? or can we shelter +ourselves under the excuse that our evil is unavoidable, that we do +but afford, in a mild form, the experience which must be learned +sooner or later? It is here that we must be acquitted or condemned. +I can bear to see the overclouding of childish simplicity, if there +is a reasonable hope that the character so clouded for a time will +brighten again into Christian holiness. But if we do not see this, +if innocence is exchanged only for vice, then we have not done our +part, then the evil is not unavoidable, but our sin: and we may be +assured, that for the souls so lost, there will be an account +demanded hereafter both of us and you.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_II."></a>LECTURE II.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>1 CORINTHIANS xiii. 11.</center> +<br> +<center><i>When I was a child, I spake as a child,<br> +I understood as a child, I thought as a child;<br> +but when I became a man, I put away childish things</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>Taking the Apostle's words literally, it might appear that no +words in the whole range of Scripture were less applicable to the +circumstances of this particular congregation: for they speak of +childhood and of manhood; and as all of us have passed the one, so +a very large proportion of us have not yet arrived at the other. +But when we consider the passage a little more carefully, we shall +see that this would be a very narrow and absurd objection. Neither +the Apostle, nor any one else, has ever stepped directly from +childhood into manhood; it was his purpose here only to notice the +two extreme points of the change which had taken place in him, +passing over its intermediate stages; but he, like all other men, +must have gone through those stages. There must have been a time in +his life, as in all ours, when his words, his thoughts, and his +understanding were neither all childish, nor all manly: there must +have been a period, extending over some years, in which they were +gradually becoming the one less and less, and the other more and +more. And as it suited the purposes of his comparison to look at +the change in himself only when it was completed, so it will suit +our object here to regard it while in progress, to consider what it +is, to ask the two great questions, how far it can be hastened, and +how far it ought to be hastened.</p> +<p>"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a +child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away +childish things." It will be seen at once, that when the Apostle +speaks of thought and understanding, ([Greek: erronoun +elogizomeaen],) he does not mean the mere intellect but all the +notions, feelings, and desires of our minds, which partake of an +intellectual and of a moral character together. He is comparing +what we should call the whole nature and character of childhood +with those of manhood. Let us see, for a moment, in what they most +strikingly differ.</p> +<p>Our Lord's well-known words suggest a difference in the first +place, which is in favour of childhood. When he says, "Except ye be +converted, and become as little children, ye can in no case enter +into the kingdom of heaven," he must certainly ascribe some one +quality to childhood, in which manhood is generally deficient. And +the quality which he means is clearly humility; or to speak perhaps +more correctly, teachableness. It is impossible that a child can +have that confidence in himself, which disposes him to be his own +guide. He must of necessity lean on others, he must follow others, +and therefore he must believe others. There is in his mind, +properly speaking, nothing which can be called prejudice; he will +not as yet refuse to listen, as thinking that he knows better than +his adviser. One feeling, therefore, essential to the perfection of +every created and reasonable being, childhood has by the very law +of its nature; a child cannot help believing that there are some +who are greater, wiser, better than himself, and he is disposed to +follow their guidance.</p> +<p>This sense of comparative weakness is founded upon truth, for a +child is of course unfit to guide himself. Without noticing mere +bodily helplessness, a child knows scarcely what is good and what +is evil; his desires for the highest good are not yet in existence; +his moral sense altogether is exceedingly weak, and would yield +readily to the first temptation. And, because those higher +feelings, which are the great check to selfishness, have not yet +arisen within him, the selfish instinct, connected apparently with +all animal life, is exceedingly predominant in him. If a child then +on the one hand be teachable, yet he is at the same time morally +weak and ignorant, and therefore extremely selfish.</p> +<p>It is also a part of the nature of childhood to be the slave of +present impulses. A child is not apt to look backwards or forwards, +to reflect or to calculate. In this also he differs entirely from +the great quality which befits man as an eternal being, the being +able to look before and after.</p> +<p>Not to embarrass ourselves with too many points, we may be +content with these four characteristics of childhood, +teachableness, ignorance, selfishness, and living only for the +present. In the last three of these, the perfect man should put +away childish things; in the first point, or teachableness, while +he retained it in principle, he should modify it in its +application. For while modesty, humility, and a readiness to learn, +are becoming to men no less than to children; yet it should be not +a simple readiness to follow others, but only to follow the wise +and good; not a sense of utter helplessness which catches at the +first stay, whether sound or brittle; but such a consciousness of +weakness and imperfection, as makes us long to be strengthened by +Him who is almighty, to be purified by Him who is all pure.</p> +<p>I said, and it is an obvious truth, that the change from +childhood to manhood is gradual; there is a period in our lives, of +several years, in which we are, or should be, slowly exchanging the +qualities of one state for those of the other. During this +intermediate state, then, we should expect to find persons become +less teachable, less ignorant, less selfish, less thoughtless. +"Less teachable," I would wish to mean, in the sense of being "less +indiscriminately teachable;" but as the evil and the good are, in +human things, ever mixed up together, we may be obliged to mean +"less teachable" simply. And, to say the very truth, if I saw in a +young man the changes from childhood in the three other points, if +I found him becoming wiser, and less selfish, and more thoughtful, +I should not be very much disturbed if I found him for a time less +teachable also. For whilst he was really becoming wiser and better, +I should not much wonder if the sense of improvement rather than of +imperfection possessed him too strongly; if his confidence in +himself was a little too over-weening. Let him go on a little +farther in life, and if he really does go on improving in wisdom +and goodness, this over-confidence will find its proper level. He +will perceive not only how much he is doing, or can do, but how +much there is which he does not do, and cannot. To a thoughtful +mind added years can scarcely fail to teach, humility. And in this +the highest wisdom of manhood may be resembling more and more the +state of what would be perfect childhood, that is, not simply +teachableness, but tractableness with respect to what was good and +true, and to that only.</p> +<p>But the danger of the intermediate state between childhood and +manhood is too often this, that whilst in the one point of +teachableness, the change runs on too fast, in the other three, of +wisdom, of unselfishness, and of thoughtfulness, it proceeds much +too slowly: that the faults of childhood thus remain in the +character, whilst that quality by means of which these faults are +meant to be corrected,--namely, teachableness,--is at the same time +diminishing. Now, teachableness as an instinct, if I may call it +so, diminishes naturally with the consciousness of growing +strength. By strength, I mean strength of body, no less than +strength of mind, so closely are our body and mind connected with, +each other. The helplessness of childhood, which presses upon it +every moment, the sense of inability to avoid or resist danger, +which makes the child run continually to his nurse or to his mother +for protection, cannot but diminish, by the mere growth of the +bodily powers. The boy feels himself to be less helpless than the +child, and in that very proportion he is apt to become less +teachable. As this feeling of decreased helplessness changes into a +sense of positive vigour and power, and as this vigour and power +confer an importance on their possessor, which is the case +especially at schools, so self-confidence must in one point at +least, arise in the place of conscious weakness; and as this point +is felt to be more important, so will the self-confidence be likely +to extend itself more and more over the whole character.</p> +<p>And yet, I am bound to say, that, in general, the teachableness +of youth is, after all, much greater than we might at first sight +fancy. Along with much self-confidence in many things, it is rare, +I think, to find in a young man a deliberate pride that rejects +advice and instruction, on the strength of having no need for them. +And therefore, the faults of boyhood and youth are more owing, to +my mind, to the want of change in the other points of the childish +character, than to the too great change in this. The besetting +faults of youth appear to me to arise mainly from its retaining too +often the ignorance, selfishness, and thoughtlessness of a child, +and having arrived at the same time at a degree of bodily vigour +and power, equal, or only a very little inferior, to those of +manhood.</p> +<p>And in this state of things, the questions become of exceeding +interest, whether the change from childhood to manhood can be +hastened. That it ought to be hastened, appears to me to be clear; +hastened, I mean, from what it is actually, because in this +respect, we do not grow in general fast enough; and the danger of +over-growth is, therefore, small. Besides, where change of one sort +is going on very rapidly; where the limbs are growing and the bones +knitting more firmly, where the strength of bodily endurance, as +well as of bodily activity, is daily becoming greater; it is +self-evident that, if the inward changes which ought to accompany +these outward ones are making no progress, there cannot but be +derangement and deformity in the system. And, therefore, when I +look around, I cannot but wish generally that the change from +childhood to manhood in the three great points of wisdom, of +unselfishness, and of thoughtfulness, might be hastened from its +actual rate of progress in most instances.</p> +<p>But then comes the other great question, "Can it be hastened, +and if it can, how is it to be done?" "Can it be hastened" means, +of course, can it be hastened healthfully and beneficially, +consistently with the due development of our nature in its after +stages, from life temporal to life eternal? For as the child should +grow up into the man, so also there is a term of years given in +which, according to God's will, the natural man should grow up into +the spiritual man; and we must not so press the first change as to +make it interfere with the wholesome working of the second. The +question then is, really, can the change from childhood to manhood +be hastened in the case of boys and young men in general from its +actual rate of progress in ordinary cases, without injury to the +future excellence and full development of the man? that is, without +exhausting prematurely the faculties either of body or mind.</p> +<p>And this is a very grave question, one of the deepest interest +for us and for you. For us, as, according to the answer to be given +to it, should depend our whole conduct and feelings towards you in +the matter of your education; for you, inasmuch as it is quite +clear, that if the change from childhood to manhood can be hastened +safely, it ought to be hastened; and that it is a sin in every one +not to try to hasten it: because, to retain the imperfections of +childhood when you can get rid of them, is in itself to forfeit the +innocence of childhood; to exchange the condition of the innocent +infant whom Christ blessed, for that of the unprofitable servant +whom Christ condemned. For with the growth of our bodies evil will +grow in us unavoidably; and then, if we are not positively good, we +are, of necessity, positively sinners.</p> +<p>We will consider, then, what can be done to hasten this change +in us healthfully; whether we can grow in wisdom, in love, and in +thoughtfulness, faster in youth, than we now commonly do grow: and +whether any possible danger can be connected with such increased +exertion. This shall be our subject for consideration next Sunday. +Meantime, let it be understood, that however extravagant it might +be to hope for any general change in any moral point, as the direct +result of setting truth before the mind; yet, that it never can be +extravagant to hope for a practical result in some one or two +particular cases; and that, if one or two even be impressed +practically with what they hear, the good achieved, or, rather, the +good granted us by God, is really beyond our calculation. It is so +strictly; for who can worthily calculate the value of a single +human soul? but it is so in this sense also, that the amount of +general good which may be done in the end by doing good first in +particular cases is really more than we can estimate. It was thus +that Christ's original eleven apostles became, in the end, the +instruments of the salvation of millions: and it is on this +consideration that we never need despair of the most extensive +improvements in society, if we are content to wait God's appointed +time and order, and look for the salvation of the many as the +gradual fruit of the salvation of a few.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_III."></a>LECTURE III.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>1 CORINTHIANS xiii. 11.</center> +<br> +<center><i>When I was a child, I spoke as a child,<br> +I understood as a child, I thought as a child;<br> +but when I became a man, I put away childish things</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>After having noticed last Sunday what were those particular +points in childhood, which in manhood should be put away, and +having observed that this change cannot take place all at once, but +gradually, during a period of several years, I proposed to +consider, as on this day, whether it were possible to hasten this +change, that is, whether it could be hastened without injury to the +future development of the character; for undoubtedly, there is +such, a thing in minds, as well as in bodies, as precocious growth; +and although it is not so frequent as precocious growth in the +body, nor by any means so generally regarded as an evil, yet it is +really a thing to be deprecated; and we ought not to adopt such +measures as might be likely to occasion it.</p> +<p>Now I believe the only reason which could make it supposed to be +possible that there could be danger in hastening this change, is +drawn from the observation of what takes place sometimes with +regard to intellectual advancement. It is seen that some young men +of great ambition, or remarkable love of knowledge, do really +injure their health, and exhaust their minds, by an excess of early +study. I always grieve over such cases exceedingly; not only for +the individual's sake who is the sufferer, but also for the +mischievous effect of his example. It affords a pretence to others +to justify their own want of exertion; and those to whom it is in +reality the least dangerous, are always the very persons who seem +to dread it the most. But we should clearly understand, that this +excess of intellectual exertion at an early age, is by no means the +same thing with hastening the change from childishness to +manliness. We are all enough aware, in common life, that a very +clever and forward boy may be, in his conduct, exceeding childish; +that those whose talents and book-knowledge are by no means +remarkable, may be, in their conduct, exceedingly manly. Examples +of both these truths instantly present themselves to my memory, and +perhaps may do so to some of yours. I may say farther, that some +whose change from childhood to manhood had been, in St. Paul's +sense of the terms, the most remarkably advanced, were so far from +being distinguished for their cleverness or proficiency in their +school-work, that it would almost seem as if their only remaining +childishness had been displayed there. What I mean, therefore, by +the change from childhood to manhood, is altogether distinct from a +premature advance in book-knowledge, and involves in it nothing of +that over-study which is dreaded as so injurious.</p> +<p>Yet it is true that I described the change from childhood to +manhood, as a change from ignorance to wisdom. I did so, certainly; +but yet, rare as knowledge is, wisdom is rarer; and knowledge, +unhappily, can exist without wisdom, as wisdom can exist with a +very inferior degree of knowledge. We shall see this, if we +consider what we mean by knowledge; and, without going into a more +general definition of it, let us see what we mean by it here. We +mean by it, either a knowledge of points of scholarship, of +grammar, and matters connected with grammar; or a knowledge of +history and geography; or a knowledge of mathematics: or, it may +be, of natural history; or, if we use the term, "knowledge of the +world," then we mean, I think, a knowledge of points of manner and +fashion; such a knowledge as may save us from exposing ourselves in +trifling things, by awkwardness or inexperience. Now the knowledge +of none of these things brings us of necessity any nearer to real +thoughtfulness, such as alone gives wisdom, than the knowledge of a +well-contrived game. Some of you, probably, well know that there +are games from which chance is wholly excluded, and skill in which +is only the result of much thought and calculation. There is no +doubt that the game of chess may properly be called an intellectual +study; but why does it not, and cannot, make any man wise? Because, +in the first place, the calculations do but respect the movements +of little pieces of wood or ivory, and not those of our own minds +and hearts; and, again, they are calculations which have nothing to +do whatever with our being better men, or worse, with our pleasing +God or displeasing him. And what is true of this game, is true no +less of the highest calculations of Astronomy, of the profoundest +researches into language; nay, what may seem stranger still, it is +often true no less of the deepest study even of the actions and +principles of man's nature; and, strangest of all, it may be, and +is often true, also, of the study of the very Scripture itself; and +that, not only of the incidental points of Scripture, its +antiquities, chronology, and history, but of its very most divine +truths, of man's justification and of God's nature. Here, indeed, +we are considering about things where wisdom, so to speak, sits +enshrined. We are very near her, we see the place where she abides; +but her very self we obtain not. And why?--but because, in the most +solemn study, no less than in the lightest, our own moral state may +be set apart from our consideration; we may be unconscious all the +while of our great want; and forgetting our great business, to be +reconciled to God, and to do his will: for wisdom, to speak +properly, is to us nothing else than the true answer to the +Philippian jailor's question, "What must I do to be saved?"</p> +<p>Now then, as knowledge of all kinds may be gained without being +received, or meant at all to be applied, as the answer to this +question, so it may be quite distinct from wisdom. And when I use +the term thoughtfulness, as opposed to a child's carelessness, I +mean it to express an anxiety for the obtaining of this wisdom. And +farther, I do not see how this wisdom, or this thoughtfulness, can +be premature in any one; or how it can exhaust before their time +any faculties, whether of body or mind. This requires no sitting up +late at night, no giving up of healthful exercise; it brings no +headaches, no feverishness, no strong excitement at first, to be +followed by exhaustion afterwards. Hear how it is described by one +who spoke of it from experience. "The wisdom that is from above is +first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of +mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." +There is surely nothing of premature exhaustion connected-with any +one of these things.</p> +<p>Or, if we turn to the third point of change from childhood to a +Christian manhood, the change from selfishness to unselfishness, +neither can we find any possible danger in hastening this. This +cannot hurt our health or strain our faculties; it can but make +life at every age more peaceful and more happy. Nor indeed do I +suppose that any one could fancy that such a change was otherwise +than wholesome at the earliest possible period.</p> +<p>There may remain, however, a vague notion, that generally, if +what we mean by an early change from childishness to manliness be +that we should become religious, then, although it may not exhaust +the powers, or injure the health, yet it would destroy the natural +liveliness and gaiety of youth, and by bringing on a premature +seriousness of manner and language, would be unbecoming and +ridiculous. Now, in the first place, there is a great deal of +confusion and a great deal of folly in the common notions of the +gaiety of youth. If gaiety mean real happiness of mind, I do not +believe that there is more of it in youth than in manhood; if for +this reason only, that the temper in youth being commonly not yet +brought into good order, irritation and passion are felt, probably, +oftener than in after life, and these are sad drawbacks, as we all +know, to a real cheerfulness of mind. And of the outward gaiety of +youth, there is a part also which is like the gaiety of a drunken +man; which is riotous, insolent, and annoying to others; which, in +short, is a folly and a sin. There remains that which strictly +belongs to youth, partly physically--the lighter step and the +livelier movement of the growing and vigorous body; partly from +circumstances, because a young person's parents or friends stand +between him and many of the cares of life, and protect him from +feeling them altogether; partly from the abundance of hope which +belongs to the beginning of every thing, and which continually +hinders the mind from dwelling on past pain. And I know not which +of these causes of gaiety would be taken away or lessened by the +earlier change from childhood to manhood. True it is, that the +question, "What must I do to be saved?" is a grave one, and must be +considered seriously; but I do not suppose that any one proposes +that a young person should never be serious at all. True it is, +again, that if we are living in folly and sin, this question may be +a painful one; we might be gayer for a time without it. But, then, +the matter is, what is to become of us if we do not think of being +saved?--shall we be saved without thinking of it? And what is it to +be not saved but lost? I cannot pretend to say that the thought of +God would not very much disturb the peace and gaiety of an ungodly +and sinful mind; that it would not interfere with the mirth of the +bully, or the drunkard, or the reveller, or the glutton, or the +idler, or the fool. It would, no doubt; just as the hand that was +seen to write on the wall threw a gloom over the guests at +Belshazzar's festival. I never meant or mean to say, that the +thought of God, or that God himself, can be other than a plague to +those who do not love Him. The thought of Him is their plague here; +the sight of Him will be their judgment for ever. But I suppose the +point is, whether the thought of Him would cloud the gaiety of +those who were striving to please Him. It would cloud it as much, +and be just as unwelcome and no more, as will be the very actual +presence of our Lord to the righteous, when they shall see Him as +He is. Can that which we know to be able to make old age, and +sickness, and poverty, many times full of comfort,--can that make +youth and health gloomy? When to natural cheerfulness and +sanguineness, are added a consciousness of God's ever present care, +and a knowledge of his rich promises, are we likely to be the more +sad or the more unhappy?</p> +<p>What reason, then, is there for any one's not anticipating the +common progress of Christian manliness, and hastening; to exchange, +as I said before, ignorance for wisdom, selfishness for +unselfishness, carelessness for thoughtfulness? I see no reason why +we should not; but is there no reason why we should? You are young, +and for the most part strong and healthy; I grant that, humanly +speaking, the chances of early death to any particular person among +you are small. But still, considering what life is, even to the +youngest and strongest, it does seem a fearful risk to be living +unredeemed; to be living in that state, that if we should happen to +die, (it may be very unlikely, but still it is clearly +possible,)--that if we should happen to die, we should be most +certainly lost for ever. Risks, however, we do not mind; the +chances, we think, are in our favour, and we will run the hazard. +It may be so; but he who delays to turn to God when the thought has +been once put before him, is incurring something more than a risk. +He may not die these fifty or sixty years; we cannot tell how that +may be; but he is certainly at this very present time hardening his +heart, and doing despite unto the Spirit of Grace. By the very +wickedness of putting off turning to God till a future time, he +lessens his power of turning to Him ever. This is certain; no one +can reject God's call without becoming less likely to hear it when +it is made to him again. And thus the lingering wilfully in the +evil things of childhood, when we might be at work in putting them +off, and when God calls us to do so, is an infinite risk, and a +certain evil;--an infinite risk, for it is living in such a state +that death at any moment would be certain condemnation;--and a +certain evil, because, whether we live or not, we are actually +raising up barriers between ourselves and our salvation; we not +only do not draw nigh to God, but we are going farther from Him, +and lessening our power of drawing nigh to Him hereafter.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_IV."></a>LECTURE IV.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>COLOSSIANS i. 9.</center> +<br> +<center><i>We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire<br> +that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his<br> +will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>This is the first of three verses, all of them forming a part of +the Epistle which was read this morning, and containing St. Paul's +prayer for the Colossians in all the several points of Christian +excellence. And the first thing which he desires for them, as we +have heard, is, that they should be filled with the knowledge of +God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; or, as he +expresses the same thing to the Ephesians, that they should be not +unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. He prays +for the Colossians that they should not be spiritually foolish, but +that they should be spiritually wise.</p> +<p>The state of spiritual folly is, I suppose, one of the most +universal evils in the world. For the number of those who are +naturally foolish is exceedingly great; of those, I mean, who +understand no worldly thing well; of those who are careless about +everything, carried about by every breath of opinion, without +knowledge, and without principle. But the term spiritual folly +includes, unhappily, a great many more than these; it takes in not +those only who are in the common sense of the term foolish, but a +great many who are in the common sense of the term clever, and many +who are even in the common sense of the terms, prudent, sensible, +thoughtful, and wise. It is but too evident that some of the ablest +men who have ever lived upon earth, have been in no less a degree +spiritually fools. And thus, it is not without much truth that +Christian writers have dwelt upon the insufficiency of worldly +wisdom, and have warned their readers to beware, lest, while +professing themselves to be wise, they should be accounted as fools +in the sight of God.</p> +<p>But the opposite to this notion, that those who are, as it were, +fools in worldly matters are wise before God; although this also is +true in a certain sense, and under certain peculiar circumstances, +yet taken generally, it is the very reverse of truth; and the +careless and incautious language which has been often used on this +subject, has been extremely mischievous. On the contrary, he who is +foolish in worldly matters is likely also to be, and most commonly +is, no less foolish in the things of God. And the opposite belief +has arisen mainly from that strange confusion between ignorance and +innocence, with which many ignorant persons seem to solace +themselves. Whereas, if you take away a man's knowledge, you do not +bring him to the state of an infant, but to that of a brute; and of +one of the most mischievous and malignant of the brute creation. +For you do not lessen or weaken the man's body by lowering his +mind; he still retains his strength and his passions, the passions +leading to self-indulgence, the strength which enables him to feed +them by continued gratification. He will not think it is true to +any good purpose; it is very possible to destroy in him the power +of reflection, whether as exercised upon outward things, or upon +himself and his own nature, or upon God. But you cannot destroy the +power of adapting means to ends, nor that of concealing his +purposes by fraud or falsehood; you take only his wisdom, and leave +that cunning which marks so notoriously both the savage and the +madman. He, then, who is a fool as far as regards earthly things, +is much more a fool with regard to heavenly things; he who cannot +raise himself even to the lower height, how is he to attain to the +higher? he who is without reason and conscience, how shall he be +endowed with the spirit of God?</p> +<p>It is my deep conviction and long experience of this truth, +which makes me so grieve over a want of interest in your own +improvement in human learning, whenever I observe it, over the +prevalence of a thoughtless and childish spirit amongst you. I +grant that as to the first point there are sometimes exceptions to +be met with; that is to say, I have known persons certainly whose +interest in their work here was not great, and their proficiency +consequently was small; but who, I do not doubt, were wise unto +God. But then these persons, whilst they were indifferent perhaps +about their common school-work, were anything but indifferent as to +the knowledge of the Bible: there was no carelessness there; but +they read, and read frequently, books of practical improvement, or +relating otherwise to religious matters, such as many, I believe, +would find even less inviting than the books of their common +business. So that although there was a neglect undoubtedly of many +parts of the school-work, yet there was no spirit of +thoughtlessness or childishness in them, nor of general idleness; +and therefore, although I know that their minds did suffer and have +suffered from their unwise neglect of a part of their duty, yet +there was so much attention bestowed on other parts, and so +manifest and earnest a care for the things of God, that it was +impossible not to entertain for them the greatest respect and +regard. These, however, are such rare cases, that it cannot be +necessary to do more than thus notice them. But the idleness and +want of interest which I grieve for, is one which extends itself +but too impartially to knowledge of every kind: to divine +knowledge, as might be expected, even more than to human. Those +whom we commonly find careless about their general lessons, are +quite as ignorant and as careless about their Bibles; those who +have no interest in general literature, in poetry, or in history, +or in philosophy, have certainly no greater interest, I do not say +in works of theology, but in works of practical devotion, in the +lives of holy men, in meditations, or in prayers. Alas, the +interest of their minds is bestowed on things far lower than the +very lowest of all which I have named; and therefore, to see them +desiring something only a little higher than their present +pursuits, could not but be encouraging; it would, at least, show +that the mind was rising upwards. It may, indeed, stop at a point +short of the highest, it may learn to love earthly excellence, and +rest there contented, and seek for nothing more perfect; but that, +at any rate, is a future and merely contingent evil. It is better +to love earthly excellence than earthly folly; it is far better in +itself, and it is, by many degrees, nearer to the kingdom of +God.</p> +<p>There is another case, however, which I cannot but think is more +frequent now than formerly; and if it is so, it may be worth while +to direct our attention to it. Common idleness and absolute +ignorance are not what I wish to speak of now, but a character +advanced above these; a character which does not neglect its +school-lessons, but really attains to considerable proficiency in +them; a character at once regular and amiable, abstaining from +evil, and for evil in its low and grosser forms, having a real +abhorrence. What, then, you will say, is wanting here? I will tell +you what seems to be wanting--a spirit of manly, and much more of +Christian, thoughtfulness. There is quickness and cleverness; much +pleasure, perhaps, in distinction, but little in improvement; there +is no desire of knowledge for its own sake, whether human or +divine. There is, therefore, but little power of combining and +digesting what is read; and, consequently, what is read passes +away, and takes no root in the mind. This same character shows +itself in matters of conduct; it will adopt, without scruple, the +most foolish, commonplace notions of boys, about what is right and +wrong; it will not, and cannot, from the lightness of its mind, +concern itself seriously about what is evil in the conduct of +others, because it takes no regular care of its own, with reference +to pleasing God; it will not do anything low or wicked, but it will +sometimes laugh at those who do; and it will by no means take pains +to encourage, nay, it will sometimes thwart and oppose any thing +that breathes a higher spirit, and asserts a more manly and +Christian standard of duty.</p> +<p>I have thought that this character, with its features more or +less strongly marked, has shown itself sometimes amongst us, +marring the good and amiable qualities of those in whom we can +least bear to see such a defect, because there is in them really so +much to interest in their favour. Now the number of persons of +extraordinary abilities who may be here at any one time can depend +on no calculable causes: nor, again, can we give any reason more +than what we call accident, if there were to be amongst us at any +one time a number of persons whose whole tendency was decidedly to +evil. But if, in these respects, the usual average has continued, +if there is no lack of ability, and nothing like a prevalence of +vice, then we begin anxiously to inquire into the causes, which, +while other things remain the same, have led to a different result. +And one cause I do find, which, is certainly capable of producing +such a result: a cause undoubtedly in existence now, and as +certainly not in existence a few years back; nor can I trace any +other besides this which appears likely to have produced the same +effect. This cause consists in the number and character and +cheapness, and peculiar mode of publication, of the works of +amusement of the present day. In all these respects the change is +great, and extremely recent. The works of amusement published only +a very few years since were comparatively few in number; they were +less exciting, and therefore less attractive; they were dearer, and +therefore less accessible; and, not being published periodically, +they did not occupy the mind for so long a time, nor keep alive so +constant an expectation; nor, by thus dwelling upon the mind, and +distilling themselves into it as it were drop by drop, did they +possess it so largely, colouring even, in many instances, its very +language, and affording frequent matter for conversation.</p> +<p>The evil of all these circumstances is actually enormous. The +mass of human minds, and much more of the minds of young persons, +have no great appetite for intellectual exercise; but they have +some, which by careful treatment may be strengthened and increased. +But here to this weak and delicate appetite is presented an +abundance of the most stimulating and least nourishing food +possible. It snatches it greedily, and is not only satisfied, but +actually conceives a distaste for anything simpler and more +wholesome. That curiosity which is wisely given us to lead us on to +knowledge, finds its full gratification in the details of an +exciting and protracted story, and then lies down as it were +gorged, and goes to sleep. Other faculties claim their turn, and +have it. We know that in youth the healthy body and lively spirits +require exercise, and in this they may and ought to be indulged: +but the time and interest which remain over when the body has had +its enjoyment, and the mind desires its share, this has been +already wasted and exhausted upon things utterly unprofitable: so +that the mind goes to its work hurriedly and languidly, and feels +it to be no more than a burden. The mere lessons may be learnt from +a sense of duty; but that freshness of power which, in young +persons of ability would fasten eagerly upon some one portion or +other, of the wide field of knowledge, and there expatiate, +drinking in health and strength to the mind, as surely as the +natural exercise of the body gives to it bodily vigour,--that is +tired prematurely, perverted, and corrupted; and all the knowledge +which else it might so covet, it now seems a wearying effort to +attain.</p> +<p>Great and grievous as is the evil, it is peculiarly hard to find +the remedy for it. If the books to which I have been alluding were +books of downright wickedness, we might destroy them wherever we +found them; we might forbid their open circulation; we might +conjure you to shun them as you would any other clear sin, whether +of word or deed. But they are not wicked books for the most part; +they are of that class which cannot be actually prohibited; nor can +it be pretended that there is a sin in reading them. They are not +the more wicked for being published so cheap, and at regular +intervals; but yet these two circumstances make them so peculiarly +injurious. All that can be done is to point out the evil; that it +is real and serious I am very sure, and its effects are most +deplorable on the minds of the fairest promise; but the remedy for +it rests with yourselves, or rather with each of you individually, +so far as he is himself concerned. That an unnatural and constant +excitement of the mind is most injurious, there is no doubt; that +excitement involves a consequent weakness, is a law of our nature +than which none is surer; that the weakness of mind thus produced +is and must be adverse to quiet study and thought, to that +reflection which alone is wisdom, is also clear in itself, and +proved too largely by experience. And that without reflection there +can be no spiritual understanding, is at once evident; while +without spiritual understanding, that is, without a knowledge and a +study of God's will, there can be no spiritual life. And therefore +childishness and unthoughtfulness cannot be light evils; and if I +have rightly traced the prevalence of these defects to its cause, +although that cause may seem to some to be trifling, yet surely it +is well to call your attention to it, and to remind you that in +reading works of amusement, as in every other lawful pleasure, +there is and must be an abiding responsibility in the sight of God; +that, like other lawful pleasures, we must beware of excess in it; +and not only so, but that if we find it hurtful to us, either +because we have used it too freely in times past, or because our +nature is too weak to bear it, that then we are bound most solemnly +to abstain from it; because, however lawful in itself, or to others +who can practise it without injury, whatever is to us an hindrance +in the way of our intellectual and moral and spiritual improvement, +that is in our case a positive sin.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_V."></a>LECTURE V.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>COLOSSIANS i. 9.</center> +<br> +<center><i>We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire<br> +that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his<br> +will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>These words, on which I spoke last Sunday, appeared to contain +so much, which concerns us all so deeply, and to suit the peculiar +ease of many of us here so entirely, that I thought they might well +furnish us with matter for farther consideration to-day. And though +I noticed one particular cause, which seemed to have acted +mischievously, in the last few years, upon the growth and freshness +of the mind in youth, yet it would be absurd to suppose that before +this cause came into existence all was well; or that if it could be +removed, our progress even in worldly knowledge would henceforth be +unimpeded. There are many other causes no doubt which oppose our +growth in worldly wisdom; and still more which oppose our growth in +the wisdom of God.</p> +<p>One of these causes meets us at the very beginning; it exists at +this very moment; it makes it difficult even to gain your attention +for what is to be said. This cause is to be found in the want of +sympathy between persons of very different ages, between what must +be, therefore, in the common course of nature, different degrees of +thoughtfulness. It is the want of sympathy, properly speaking, +which creates in these matters a difficulty of understanding; for +the attention and memory are alike apt to be careless where the +mind is not interested; and how can we understand that to which we +scarcely listened, and which we imperfectly remember? Nature +herself seems to lead the old and the young two different ways: and +when the old call upon the young to be thoughtful, it seems as if +they were but calling them to a state contrary to their nature; and +the call is not regarded.</p> +<p>Is it then that we have here an invincible obstacle, which +renders all attempts to inspire thoughtfulness utterly vain? and if +it be so, what use can there be in dwelling upon it? None, +certainly, if it were actually and in all cases invincible; but if +it be every thing short of invincible, there is much good in +noticing it. There is much good surely in trying to impress the +great truth, that nature must be overcome by a mightier power, or +we perish. There is much good in meeting and allowing to its full +extent what we are so apt in our folly to regard as an excuse, and +which really is the earnest of our condemnation. It is very true, +and to be allowed to the fullest extent, that it is against the +nature of youth in all ordinary cases to be thoughtful; that it is +very difficult for you even to give your attention to serious +things when spoken of, more difficult still to remember them +afterwards and always. It is for the very reason because it is so +difficult, because it is a work so against nature, to raise the +young and careless mind to the thought of God; because it is so +certain that, in the common course of things, you will not think of +Him, but will follow the bent of your own several fancies or +desires, that therefore He, who wills in his love to bring us to +himself, knowing that without the knowledge of Him we must perish +for ever, was pleased to give his only-begotten Son, that through +Him we might overcome nature, and might turn to God and live.</p> +<p>I wish that I could increase, if it were possible, the sense +which, you have of the difficulty of becoming thoughtful, so that +you could but see that out of this very difficulty, and +indissolubly connected with it, comes the grace of Christ's +redemption. You have not strength of purpose enough to shake off +folly and sin; surely you have not, or else, why should Christ have +died? It is so hard to come to God; undoubtedly, so hard that no +man can come unto God except God will draw him. Nature herself +leads us to be careless, our very strength and spirits of +themselves will not allow us to reflect. Most true; for that which +is born of the flesh, is flesh; and we inherit a nature derived +from him in whom we all die.</p> +<p>I believe that it is not idle to dwell upon tins; for it is +scarcely possible but that good and earnest resolutions should +often enter the minds of many of you; or, if not resolutions, yet +at least wishes, wishes chilled but too soon, I fear, by the +thought or feeling, that however much to will may be present with +you, yet how to perform it you find not. Now, if this true sense of +weakness might but lead any one to seek for strength where it may +be found, then indeed it would be a feeling no less blessed than +true; for it would urge you to seek God's help and Christ's +redemption, instead of desperately yielding to your weakness, and +so remaining weak for ever.</p> +<p>You may look at the prospect before you in all its reality: you +may see how much must be given up, how much withstood, bow much, +endured; how hard it is to alter old ways, not in itself only, but +because the change attracts attention, and is received, it may be, +with doubts as to its sincerity, with irony, and with sneers. There +is all this before you: it cannot be denied; it must not be +concealed. The way to life is not broad and easy; it is not that +way which is most trodden. To pass from what we are to what we may +be hereafter, from an earthly nature to an heavenly, cannot be an +easy work, to be done at any time, with no effort, with no pain. It +is the greatest work which is done in the whole world, it is the +mightiest change; death and birth are, as it were, combined in it; +but the Lord of birth and of death is at hand, to enable us to +effect it. Think that this is so; and the more you feel how hard a +task is set before you, the more you will be able to understand the +language of joy and thankfulness with which the Scripture speaks of +a human soul's redemption.</p> +<p>This great work may be wrought for every soul here assembled; +the want of sympathy in sacred and serious things may be changed to +sympathy the most intense; the carelessness of fools may be changed +into spiritual wisdom. It may be wrought for all; but it is more +happy to think that it will be wrought for some;--for whom, no +mortal eye or judgment can discern; but it will be wrought for +some. If many should yield in despair to their enemy, yet some will +resist him: if Christ be to many no more than foolishness, if his +name convey nothing more than a vague sense of something solemn, +which passes over the mind for an instant, and then vanishes, yet +to some undoubtedly, he will be found to be the wisdom of God, and +the power of God. There are some here, we may be quite sure, who +will be witnesses for ever to all the world of men and angels, that +what truly was impossible to nature, is possible to nature renewed +and strengthened by grace.</p> +<p>Without such a change, it is vain, I fear, to look for any thing +like wisdom or spiritual understanding; for how can such a seed be +expected to grow in a soil so shallow as common thoughtlessness? +and how can merely human motives have force to overcome so strong a +tendency of nature? nay, how can such motives be brought to act +upon the mind? for it is absolutely impossible that the middle-aged +and the young should be brought into entire sympathy with each +other, unless Christ's love be their common bond. Human wisdom in +advanced life may be, and is to persons of strong faculties of +mind, naturally pleasant: but how can it be made so to persons of +ordinary faculties in early youth? There are faults which society +condemns strongly, while the temptation to them in after life is +slight. Persons in middle age may resist these easily, and abhor +them sincerely; but how can we make young persons do the same when +the temptation to commit them is strong, and the condemnation of +them by their society is either very slight, or does not exist at +all? And, therefore, we find that, do what we will, the same +faults' continue to be common in schools, the same faults both of +omission and commission; there is the same inherent difficulty of +bringing persons of different ages and positions to think and feel +alike, unless Christ has become possessed of the thoughts and +feelings of both, and so they become one with each other in +him.</p> +<p>But it was our Lord's charge to Peter, "Thou, when thou art +converted, strengthen thy brethren." As sure as it is that some who +hear me are turned, or turning, or will turn, to God, so sure is it +that these, be they few or many, will do something towards the +strengthening of their brethren. Whatever good is to be done +amongst us on a large scale, it must be done only in this way, the +many half despairing prayer may be, "Lord, I believe; help thou +mine unbelief;" but if any one is moved by Christ's call, and feels +within himself that he should like to follow Christ, and to be with +him always, let him cherish that work of the Holy Spirit within +him, which has given him if it be only so much of the will to be +saved. It is a spark which may be quenched in a moment; in itself +it can give no assurance; but if any one watches it carefully, and +prays that it may live and be kindled into a stronger spark, till +at last it break out into a flame, then for him it is full of +assurance; God has heard his prayer; and he has received the gift +of the Holy Spirit, an earnest of his eternal inheritance. Will he +not then watch and pray the more anxiously, lest the fruit which, +is now partly formed should never ripen? Will he not see and feel +that there is some reality in the things of God, that strength, and +peace, and victory, are not vainly promised? Will he not hold fast +the things which he has now not heard only, but known, lest by any +means he should let them slip? May God strengthen such, whoever +they may be, with all the might of his Spirit; and may he be with +them even to the end.</p> +<p>But for those,--who they are, again, we know not, nor how many; +but here, also, there will too surely be some,--for those who hear +now, as they have often heard before, words which, they scarcely +heed, which, have at times partially caught their attention, but +have not produced in them the slightest real effect, for them the +words are coming to an end; they will soon be released from the +irksome bondage of hearing them; and another opportunity of grace +will have been offered to them in vain. Tomorrow, and the day +after, they will walk as they have walked before, the wretched +slaves of folly and passion; half despairing prayer may be, "Lord, +I believe; help thou mine unbelief;" but if any one is moved by +Christ's call, and feels within himself that he should like to +follow Christ, and to be with him always, let him cherish that work +of the Holy Spirit within him, which has given him if it be only so +much of the will to be saved. It is a spark which may be quenched +in a moment; in itself it can give no assurance; but if any one +watches it carefully, and prays that it may live and be kindled +into a stronger spark, till at last it break out into a flame, then +for him it is full of assurance; God has heard his prayer; and he +has received the gift of the Holy Spirit, an earnest of his eternal +inheritance. Will he not then watch and pray the more anxiously, +lest the fruit which is now partly formed should never ripen? Will +he not see and feel that there is some reality in the things of +God, that strength, and peace, and victory, are not vainly +promised? Will he not hold fast the things which he has now not +heard only, but known, lest by any means he should let them slip? +May God strengthen such, whoever they may be, with all the might of +his Spirit; and may he be with them even to the end.</p> +<p>But for those,--who they are, again, we know not, nor how many; +but here, also, there will too surely be some,--for those who hear +now, as they have often heard before, words which they scarcely +heed, which have at times partially caught their attention, but +have not produced in them the slightest real effect, for them the +words are coming to an end; they will soon be released from the +irksome bondage of hearing them; and another opportunity of grace +will have been offered to them in vain. Tomorrow, and the day +after, they will walk as they have walked before, the wretched +slaves of folly and passion; leaving undone all Christ's work, and +greedily doing his enemy's. Yet even these Christ yet spares, he +still calls them, he has died for them. Still the word must be +spoken to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will +forbear. It may be, that they will some day turn; and if not, +Christ has perfected his mercy towards them; and Christ's servants +have delivered their own souls in warning them. May there be but +few of us on whom this horrible portion will fall; yet, is it not +an awful thing to think of, that it will, in all human probability, +fall on some? and that whoever hardens his heart, and resists the +word spoken to him this day, he is one who has done as much as in +him lies to make himself among that number.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_VI."></a>LECTURE VI.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>COLOSSIANS iii. 3.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in +God</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>When I have spoken, from time to time, of denying ourselves for +the sake of relieving others, although self-denial and charity are, +in their full growth, amongst the highest of Christian graces, yet +I have felt much hope that, up to a certain degree, in their lowest +and elementary forms at least, there might be many that would be +disposed to practise them. For these are virtues which do +undoubtedly commend themselves to our minds as things clearly good: +so much so that I am inclined to think that the much-disputed moral +sense, the nature of which is said to be so hard to ascertain, +exists most clearly in the universal perception that it is good to +deny ourselves and to benefit others. I do not say merely that +there is a perception that it is good to deny ourselves in order to +benefit others; but that there is in self-denial, simply, something +which commands respect; an unconscious tribute, I suppose, to the +truth, that the self which, is thus denied is one which, if +indulged, would run to evil.</p> +<p>But a point of far greater difficulty, of absolutely the +greatest difficulty, is to impress upon our minds the excellence of +another quality, which is known by the name of spiritual or +heavenly-mindedness. In fact, this,--and this almost singly,--is +the transcendent part of Christianity; that part of it which is not +according to, but above, nature; which, conscience, I think, +itself, in the natural man, does not acknowledge. When Christianity +speaks of purity, of truth, of justice, of charity, of faith and +love to God, it speaks a language which, however belied by our +practice, is at once allowed by our consciences: the things so +recommended are, beyond all doubt, good and lovely. But when it +says, in St. Paul's words, "Set your affections on things above, +not on things on the earth: for ye are dead, and your life is hid +with Christ in God," the language sounds so strange that it is +scarcely intelligible; and if we do get to understand it, yet it +seems to give a wrench, as it were, to our whole being, to command +a thing extravagant and impossible.</p> +<p>I am persuaded that this would be so, more or less, everywhere; +but in how extreme a degree must it hold good amongst us! Even in +poverty, in sickness, and old age, where this life would seem to be +nothing but a burden, and the command to "set the affections on +things above" might appear superfluous, still the known so prevails +over the unknown, the familiar over the incomprehensible, that hope +and affection find continually their objects in this world, there +is still a clinging to life, and an unwillingness to die. But in a +state the very opposite to this, in plenty, in health, in youth; +with much of enjoyment actually in our hands, and more in prospect; +with just so much mystery over our coming life as to keep alive +interest, yet with enough known and understood in its prospects to +awaken sympathy; what deafest ear of the deaf adder could ever be +so closed against the voice of the charmer, as our minds, so +engrossed with the enjoyments and the hopes of earth, are closed +against the voice which speaks of the things of heaven?</p> +<p>Again, I have said, when speaking of other subjects, that I +looked upon the older persons among you as a sort of link between +me and the younger, who communicated, in some instances, by their +language and example, something of an impression of the meaning of +Christian teaching. But when we speak of a thing so high as +spiritual-mindedness, it seems as if none of us can be a link +between Christ's words and our brethren's minds: as if we all stand +alike at an infinite distance from the high and unapproachable +truth. The mountain of God becomes veiled, as it were, with the +clouds which rested upon Sinai; we cannot approach near it, but +stand far off, for a moment, perhaps, in awe; but soon in neglect +and indifference.</p> +<p>Let any one capable of thinking, but in the full vigour of +health of body and mind, placed far above want, and with the +prospect, according to all probability, of many years of happy life +before him, let such an one go forth, at this season of the year +above all, let him see the vast preparation for life in all nature, +amongst all living creatures, in every tree, and in every plant of +grass; let him feel the warmth of the sun, becoming every day +stronger and stronger; let him be possessed, in every sense, with +an impression of the vigour and beauty and glory around him; and +let him feel no less a vigour in himself, too, of body and mind, +and infinitely varied power of enjoyment in so many faculties of +repose and of energy,--and then let him calmly consider what St. +Paul could mean, when he says generally to Christians, "Set your +affections on things above, not on things on the earth; for ye are +dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."</p> +<p>Let a person capable of thinking, and such as I have supposed in +all other respects, consider what St. Paul could mean by calling +him "dead." With an almost thrilling consciousness of life, with an +almost bounding sense of vigour in body and mind, he is told that +he is "dead." And stranger still, he is told so by one whose +recorded life, and existing writings declare that he too must have +had in himself a consciousness of life no less lively; that there +was in him an activity and energy which neither age nor sufferings +could quell; that he wielded an influence over the minds of +thousands, such as kings or conquerors might envy. If St. Paul +could stand by our side, think we that he, any more than ourselves, +would be insensible to the power within him, and to the beauty and +the glory without? Yet his words are recorded; he bids us not set +our affections on things on the earth; he declares of himself, and +of us equally, if we are Christ's servants, that we are dead, and +that our life is hid with Christ in God.</p> +<p>I have put the difficulty in its strongest form, for it is one +well worth considering. What St. Paul here urges is indeed the +highest perfection of Christianity, and therefore of human nature; +but it is not an impossible perfection, and St. Paul's own life and +character are our warrant that it is nothing sickly, or foolish, or +fanatical. But let us first hear the whole of St. Paul's language: +"If ye, then, be risen with Christ, seek those things which are +above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Set your +affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are +dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is +our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in +glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; +fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, +and covetousness, which is idolatry." "Mortify," I need not say, is +to make dead, to destroy. "Ye are dead;" therefore let your members +on earth be dead; "fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection," +&c. As if he had said, By becoming Christians ye engaged to be +dead; and therefore see to it that ye are so. But what he requires +us to make dead or to destroy, are our evil affections and desires; +it is manifest, then, that it is to these that, by becoming +Christians, we engage to become dead.</p> +<p>This is true; and it is most certain that Christ requires us to +be dead only to what is evil. But the essence of +spiritual-mindedness consists in this, that it is assumed that with +earth, and all things earthly, evil or imperfection are closely +mixed; so that it is not possible to set our affections keenly +upon, or to abandon ourselves to the enjoyment of, any earthly +thing without the danger of those affections and that enjoyment +becoming evil. In other words, there is that in the state of things +within and around us, which, renders it needful to be ever +watchful; and watchfulness is inconsistent with an intensity of +delight and enjoyment.</p> +<p>For, consider the case which I was just supposing; that lively +sense of the beauty of all nature, that indescribable feeling of +delight which arises out of the consciousness of health, and +strength and power. Suppose that we abandon ourselves to such +impressions without restraint, and is it not manifest that they are +the extreme of godless pride and selfishness? For do we not know +that in this world, and close to us wherever we are, there is, +along with all the beauty and enjoyment which we witness, a large +portion also of evil, and of suffering? And do we not know that He +who gave to the earth its richness, and who set the sun to shine in +the heavens, and who gave to us that wonderful frame of body and +mind, whose healthful workings are So delightful to us, that He +gave them that we might use both body and mind in His service; that +the soldier has something else to do than to gaze like a child on +the splendour of his uniform or the brightness of his sword; that +those faculties which we feel as it were burning within us, have +their work before them, a work far above their strength, though +multiplied a thousand fold; that the call to them to be busy is +never silent; that there is an infinite voice in the infinite sins +and sufferings of millions which proclaims that the contest is +raging around us; that every idle moment is treason; that now it is +the time for unceasing efforts; and that not till the victory is +gained may Christ's soldiers throw aside their arms, and resign +themselves to enjoyment and to rest?</p> +<p>Then when we turn to the words, "our life is hid with Christ in +God," the exceeding greatness of Christ's promises rises upon us in +something of the fulness of their reality. Some may know the story +of that German nobleman<a name="FNanchor12"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_12">[12]</a>, whose life had been distinguished alike by +genius and worldly distinctions, and by Christian holiness; and +who, in the last morning of his life, when the dawn broke into his +sick chamber, prayed that he might be supported to the window, and +might look once again upon the rising sun. After looking steadily +at it for some time, he cried out, "Oh! if the appearance of this +earthly and created thing is so beautiful and so quickening, how +much more shall I be enraptured at the sight of the unspeakable +glory of the Creator Himself!" That was the feeling of a man whose +sense of earthly beauty had all the keenness of a poet's +enthusiasm; but who, withal, had in his greatest health and vigour +preserved the consciousness that his life was hid with Christ in +God; that the things seen, how beautiful soever, were as nothing to +the things which are not seen. And so, if from the feeling of +natural enjoyment we turn, at once thankfully and earnestly, to +remember God's service, and to address ourselves to his work; and +sadly remember, that, although we can enjoy, yet that many are +suffering; and that, whilst they are so, enjoyment in us for more +than a brief space of needful rest cannot but be sin; then there +must come upon us, most strongly, the impression of that life where +sin and suffering are not; where not God's works only, but God +Himself is visible; where the vigour and faculties which we feel +within us are not the passing strength of a decaying body, nor the +brief prime of a mind which in a few years must sink into dotage; +but the strength of a body incorruptible and eternal, the ripeness +of a spirit which shall go on growing in wisdom and love for +ever.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_12"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor12">[12]</a> The Baron Von Canitz.</blockquote> +<p>Thus, then, if we consider again St. Paul's meaning, we shall +find that, high and pure as it is, it is nothing unreasonable or +impossible; that what he requires us to be dead to absolutely is +that which is evil; that, because of the mixture of evil with +ourselves and all around us, this life must not and cannot be a +life of entire enjoyment without becoming godless and selfish; +that, therefore, our affections cannot be set upon earthly things +so as to enjoy them in and for themselves entirely, without +becoming inordinate, and therefore evil. He does require us, old +and young alike, to set our affection on things above: to remember +that with God, and with Him alone, can be our rest, and the fulness +of our joy; and amidst our pleasure in earthly things to retain in +our minds, first, a grateful sense of their Giver; secondly, a +remembrance of their passing nature; and thirdly, a consciousness +of the evil that is in the world, which makes it a sin to resign +ourselves to any enjoyment, except as a permitted refreshment to +strengthen us for duty to come. Above all, let one feeling be truly +cherished, and it will do more, perhaps, than any other to moderate +our pleasure in earthly things, and to render it safe, and +wholesome, and Christianlike. That feeling is the remembrance of +our own faults. Let us bear these in mind as God does; let us +consider how displeasing they are in His sight; how often they are +repeated; how little they deserve the enjoyments which are given +us. If this does not change our selfish pleasure into a zealous +gratitude, then, indeed, sin must have a dominion over us; for the +natural effect would be, that our hearts should burn within us for +very shame, and should enkindle us to be thankful with all our +strength for blessings so undeserved; to show something of our love +to God who has so richly shown his love to us.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_VII."></a>LECTURE VII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>CORINTHIANS iii. 21-23.</center> +<br> +<center><i>All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or +Cephas,<br> +or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to +come;<br> +all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is +God's</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>It is very possible, that all may not distinctly understand the +force of the several clauses of this passage, yet, all, I suppose, +would derive a general impression from it, that it spoke of the +condition of Christians in very exalted language, and made it to +extend to things in this world, as well as to things in the world +to come. But can it be good for us to dwell on our exaltation? And +if we do, may we not dread lest such language might be used towards +us as that which St. Paul uses in the very next chapter to the +Corinthians, "Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as +kings without us; and I would to God ye did reign, that we also +might reign with you." It would seem, however, that it would be +good for us to dwell on the greatness of our condition and +privileges, because St. Paul, who thus upbraids the Corinthians +with their pride, had yet himself immediately before laid the +picture of their high privileges, in the words of the text, in full +detail before them, as if he wished them carefully to consider it. +And so indeed it is. It feeds pride to dwell upon our good +qualities or advantages, as individuals, or as a class in society, +or as a nation, or as a sect or party; but, to speak generally, our +advantages and privileges, as Christians, have not a tendency to +excite pride; for some reasons in the nature of the case; for this +reason amongst ourselves particularly, because the very essence of +pride consists in contrast; we are proud that we are, in some one +or more points, superior to others who come immediately under our +observation. Now, we have so little to do with any who are not +Christians, that the contrast is in this case wanting; we have none +over whom to be proud; none whom we can glory in surpassing; and, +therefore, a consideration of our Christian advantages, in the +absence of that one element which might feed pride, is likely with +us to work in a better manner, and to lead rather to thankfulness +and increased exertion.</p> +<p>I say to increased exertion; for what would stop exertion is +pride. It is the turning back, and pausing to look with +satisfaction on what is below us, rather than the looking upward to +the summit, and thinking how much our actual elevation has brought +us on the way towards it. And, further, there is coupled with every +consideration of Christian privileges, the thought of what it must +be to leave such privileges unimproved. In this respect, how well +does the language of the two lessons from Deuteronomy suit the +lesson from the Epistle to the Corinthians. We heard the +description of the beauty and richness of the land which God gave +to his people,--there were their advantages and privileges,--we +heard also, the declaration of their unworthiness, and the solemn +threatening of vengeance if, after having received good, they did +evil. And as the vengeance has fallen upon them to the utmost, so +we are taught expressly to apply their example to ourselves. "If +God spared not the natural branches," such was St. Paul's language +to the church at Rome, "take heed lest he also spare not thee."</p> +<p>Let us not fear, then, to consider more nearly the high +privileges which, as Christians, we enjoy: let us endeavour to +understand, not merely generally, but in detail, the exalted +language of the text, where it is said, that all things are ours; +Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, the world, and life, and death, the +things of time, and the things of eternity. These are ours because +we are Christ's, and Christ is God's; they are ours so long as we +are Christ's, and so far as we are his truly. They are not ours so +far as we are not his: they are ours in no degree whatever the +moment that he shall declare that we are his no longer.</p> +<p>"Paul, and Apollos, and Peter, are ours." This, perhaps, is the +expression which we should understand least distinctly of any. It +is an expression, however, of deep importance, though perhaps less +so here than in congregations of a different sort. I need not, +therefore, dwell on it long now. But the Corinthians, as many +Christians have done since, were apt to think more of their being +Christians of a certain sort, than of being Christians simply: some +said, "We have Paul's view of Christianity, the true and sound view +of it, free from superstition:" others said, "But we have Peter's +view of Christianity, one of Christ's own apostles, who were with +him on earth; ours is the true and earliest view of it, free from +all innovations:" and others, again, said, "Nay, but we have been +taught by Apollos, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures; +one who best understands how to unite the law and the gospel; one +who has given us the full perfection of Christianity." No doubt +there were some differences of views even between Paul, and Peter, +and Apollos; for while, on the one hand, they were all enlightened +by the Spirit of God, yet, on the other hand, they retained still +their human differences of character and disposition, which must on +several occasions have been manifest. But St. Paul does not tell us +what these were, nor how far they extended, nor to what degree they +had been exaggerated by those who heard them. He does not insist +upon the truth of his own view, nor wish the Corinthians to lay +aside their divisions, after the manner so zealously enforced by +some persons now, namely, that those who said they were of Peter, +or of Apollos, should confess that they had been in error, and +declare themselves to be now only of Paul. Such a condemnation of +schism he would have held to be in itself in the highest degree +schismatical. But St. Paul was earnest, that schism should be ended +after another way than this, by all parties remembering, that +whatever became of the truth or falsehood of their own particular +views of Christianity, yet, that Christianity according to any of +their views was the one great thing which was their glory and their +salvation. "Paul, and Apollos, and Peter, are all yours: but you +are Christ's." You should not glory in men; that you belong to a +purer church than other Christians; but that you belong to the +church of Christ; that church, which, in its most pure particular +branches, has never been free from some mixture of human infirmity +and error; nor yet, in its worst branches, has ever lost altogether +the seal of Christ's Spirit, nor ceased to believe in Christ +crucified.</p> +<p>But the next words are of more particular concern to us here. +"The world, and life, and death, and things present, and things to +come, are all ours." They are all ours, so far as we are Christ's. +The world is ours; its manifold riches and delights, its various +wisdom, all are ours. They are ours, not as a thing stolen, and +which will be taken from us with a heavy over-payment of penalty, +because we stole it when it did not belong to us; but they are ours +by God's free gift, to minister to our comfort, and to our good. +And this is the great difference; the good things of this world are +stolen by many; but they belong, by God's gift, to those only who +are Christ's: and there is the sure sign, generally, to be seen of +their being stolen,--an unwillingness that He to whom of right they +belong should see them. What a man steals, he enjoys, as it were, +in fear: if the owner of it finds him with it, then all his +enjoyment is gone; he wishes that he had never touched it; it is no +source of pleasure to him, but merely one of terror. And so it is +often with our stolen pleasures,--stolen, I mean, not in respect of +man, but of God,--stolen, because we do not feel them to be God's +gift, nor receive them, as from him, with thankfulness. They may be +very lawful pleasures, so far as other men are concerned; pleasures +bought, it may be, with our own money, or given to us by our own +friends, and enjoyed without any injury to any one. They may be the +very simplest enjoyments of life, our health, the fresh air, our +common food, our common amusements, our common society; things most +permitted to us all, as far as man is concerned, but yet things +which are constantly stolen by us, because we take them without +God's leave, and enjoy them not as his gifts. They are all his, and +he gives them freely to his children. If we are his children, he +gives them to us; and delights in our enjoyment of them, as any +human father loves to see the pleasure of his children in those +things which it is good for them to enjoy. But then, is any child +afraid of his father so seeing him? or is the thought of his father +any interruption to his enjoyment? If it would be, we should be +sure that there was something wrong; that the enjoyment, either in +itself, or with respect to the particular case of that child, was a +stolen one. And even as simple is the state of our dread of God, of +our wish to keep his name and his thought away from us. It is the +sure sign that our pleasures are stolen, either as being wrong in +themselves, or much oftener, because we have taken them without +being fit for them, have snatched them for ourselves, instead of +receiving them at the hands of God. Two of us may be daily doing +the very same thing in most respects,--enjoying actually the very +same pleasures, whether of body or of mind; the same exercises, the +same studies, the same indulgences, the same society,--and yet +these very same things may belong rightfully to the one, and be +stolen by the other. To the one they may come with a double +blessing, as the assurance of God's greater love hereafter: to the +other, they are but an addition to that sad account, when all good +things enjoyed here, having been not our own rightly, but stolen, +shall be paid for in over measure, by evil things to be suffered +hereafter.</p> +<p>And what I have said of the world, will apply also to life and +to death. Oh, the infinite difference whether life is ours, or but +stolen for an instant; whether death is ours, our subject, +ministering only to our good; or our fearful enemy, our ever keen +pursuer, from whose grasp we have escaped for a few short years, +but who is following fast after us, and when he has once caught us +will hold us fast for ever! Have we ever seen his near +approach--has he ever forced himself upon our notice whether we +would or no? But two days since he was amongst us,--we were, as it +were, forced to look upon him. Did we think that he was ours, or +that we were his? If we are his, then indeed he is fearful: fearful +to the mere consciousness of nature; a consciousness which no +arguments can overcome; fearful if it be merely the parting from +life, if it be merely the resigning that wonderful thing which we +call our being. It is fearful to go from light to darkness, from +all that we have ever known and loved, to that of which we know and +love nothing. But if death, even thus stingless, is yet full of +horror, what is he with his worst sting beside, the sting of our +sins? What is he when he is taking us, not to nothingness, but to +judgment? He is indeed so fearful then, that no words can paint him +half so truly as our foreboding dread of him, and no arguments +which the wit of man can furnish can strip him of his terrors.</p> +<p>But what if death too, as well as life, be ours?--which he is, +if we are Christ's; for Christ has conquered him. If he be ours, +our servant, our minister, sent but to bring us into the presence +of our Lord, then, indeed, his terrors, his merely natural terrors, +the outside roughness of his aspect, are things which the merest +child need not shrink from. Then disease and decay, however painful +to living friends to look upon, have but little pain for him who is +undergoing them. For it is not only amidst the tortures of actual +martyrdom that Christians have been more than conquerors,--in +common life, on the quiet or lonely sick bed, under the grasp of +fever or of consumption, the conquest has been witnessed as often +and as completely. It is not a little thing when the faintest +whisper of thought to which expiring nature can give utterance +breathes of nothing but of peace and of forgiveness. It is not a +little thing when the name of Christ possesses us wholly; not +distinctly, it may be, for reason may be too weak for this; but +with an indescribable power of support and comfort. Or even if +there be a last conflict,--a season of terror and of pain, a valley +of the shadow of death, dark and gloomy,--yet even there Christ is +with his servants, and as their trial is so is his love. Thus it +is, if death be ours; and death is ours, if we be Christ's. And are +we not Christ's? We bear his name, we have his outward seal of +belonging to his people,--can we refuse to be his in heart and true +obedience? Would we rather steal our pleasures than enjoy them as +our own; steal life for an instant, rather than have it our sure +possession for ever? Would we rather be fugitives from death, +fugitives whom he will surely recover and hold fast, than be able +to say and to feel that death, as well as life is ours, things to +come, as well as things present, because we are truly Christ's?</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_VIII."></a>LECTURE VIII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>GALATIANS V. 16, 17.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of +the flesh.<br> +For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against +the<br> +flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye +cannot<br> +do the things that ye would</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>"We cannot do the things that we would." These are words of +familiar and common use; this is the language in which we are all +apt to excuse, whether to ourselves or to others, the various +faults of our conduct. We should be glad to do better, so we say +and think, but the power to do so fails us. And so far it may seem +that we are but echoing the apostle's language; for he says the +very same thing, "Ye cannot do the things that ye would." Yet the +words as we use them, and as the apostle used them, have the most +opposite meaning in the world. We use them as a reason why we +should be satisfied, the apostle as a reason why we should be +alarmed; we intend them to be an excuse, the apostle meant them to +be a certain sign of condemnation.</p> +<p>The reasons of this difference may be understood very easily. +We, in the common course of justice, should think it hard to punish +a man for not doing what he cannot do. We think, therefore, that if +we say that we cannot do well, we establish also our own claim to +escape from punishment. But God declares that a state of sin is and +must be a state of misery; and that if we cannot escape the sin, we +cannot escape the misery. According to God's meaning, then, the +words, "Ye cannot do the things which ye would," mean no other than +this: "Ye cannot escape from hell; ye cannot be redeemed from the +power of death and of Satan; the power is wanting in you, however +much you may wish it: death has got you, and it will keep you for +ever." So that, in this way, sickness or weakness of the soul is +very like sickness or weakness of the body. We cannot help being +ill or weak in many cases: is that any reason why, according to the +laws of God's providence, we should not suffer the pain of illness? +Or is it not, rather, clear that we suffer it just because we have +not the power to get rid of it; if we had the power to be well, we +should be well. A man's evils are not gone because he wishes them +away; it is not he who would fain see his chains broken, that +escapes from his bondage; but he who has the strength to rend them +asunder.</p> +<p>Thus, then, in St. Paul's language, "Ye cannot do the things +that ye would," means exactly, "Ye are not redeemed, but in +bondage; ye are not saved, but lost." But he goes on to the reason +why we cannot do the things which we would, which is, "because the +flesh and the Spirit are contrary to one another," and pull us, as +it were, different ways. Just as we might say of a man in illness, +that the reason why he is not well, as he wishes to be, is because +his healthy nature and his disease are contrary to one another, and +are striving within him for the mastery. His blood, according to +its healthy nature, would flow calmly and steadily; his food, +according to his healthy nature, would be received with appetite, +and would give him nourishment and strength; but, behold, there is +in him now another nature, contrary to his healthy nature: and this +other nature makes his blood flow with feverish quickness, and +makes food distasteful to him, and makes the food which he has +eaten before to become, as it were, poison; it does not nourish him +or strengthen, but is a burden, a weakness, and a pain. As long as +these two natures thus struggle within him, the man is sick; as +soon as the diseased nature prevails, the man sinks and dies. He +does not wish to die,--not at all,--most earnestly, it may be, does +he wish to live; but his diseased nature has overcome his healthy +nature, and so he must die. If he would live, in any sense that +deserves to be called life, the diseased nature must not overcome, +must not struggle equally; it must be overcome, it must be kept +down, it must be rendered powerless; and then, when the healthy +nature has prevailed, its victory is health and strength.</p> +<p>So far all is alike; but what follows afterwards? As "ye cannot +do the things which ye would, because the flesh and the Spirit are +contrary to one another,"--what then? "Therefore," says the +apostle, "walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of +the flesh." Surely there is some thing marvellous in this. For, let +us speak the same language to the sick man: tell him, "Follow thy +healthy nature, and them shalt not be sick," what would the words +be but a bitter mockery? "How can you bid me," he would say, "to +follow my healthy nature, when ye know that my diseased nature has +bound me? Have ye no better comfort than this to offer me? Tell me +rather how I may become able to follow my healthy nature; show me +the strength which may help my weakness; or else your words are +vain, and I never can recover." Most true would be this answer; and +therefore disease and death do make havoc of us all, and the +healthy nature is in the end borne down by the diseased nature, and +sooner or later the great enemy triumphs over us, and, in spite of +all our wishes and fond desires for life, we go down, death's +conquered subjects, to the common grave of all living.</p> +<p>This happens to the bodies of us all; to the souls of only too +many. But why does it not happen also to the souls of all? How is +it that some do fulfil the apostle's bidding? that they do walk in +the Spirit, and therefore do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; and +therefore having conquered their diseased nature, they do walk +according to their healthful nature, and are verily able to do, and +do continually, the very things that they would? Surely this so +striking difference, between the universal conquest of our diseased +nature in the body, and the occasional victory of the healthy +nature in the soul, shows us clearly that for the soul there has +appeared a Redeemer already, while for the body the redemption is +delayed till death shall be swallowed up in victory.</p> +<p>For most true is it that in ourselves we could not deliver +ourselves either soul or body. "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall +not fulfil the lusts of the flesh," might have been as cruel a +mockery to us, as the similar words addressed to the man bodily +sick,--"Walk according to thy healthy nature, and thou shalt not +suffer from disease." They might have been a mockery, but blessed +be God, they are not. They are not, because God has given us a +Redeemer; they are not, because Christ has died, yea rather has +risen again; and because the Spirit of Christ helpeth our +infirmities, and gives us that power which by ourselves we had +not.</p> +<p>Not by wishing then to be redeemed, but by being redeemed, shall +we escape the power of death. Not by saying, "Alas! we cannot do +the things that we would!" but by becoming able to do them. Walk in +the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; but if +ye do fulfil them, ye must die.</p> +<p>The power to walk in the Spirit is given by the Spirit; but +either all have not this power, or all do not use it. I think +rather it is that all have it not, for if they had it, a power so +mighty and so beneficent, they surely could not help using it. All +have it not; but I do not say that they all might not have it; on +the contrary, all might have it, but in point of fact they have it +not. They have it not because they seek it not: for an idle wish is +one thing; a steady persevering pursuit is another. They seek not +the Spirit by the appointed means, the means of prayer and +attending to God's holy word, and thinking of life and death and +judgment.</p> +<p>Do those seek the spirit of God who never pray to God? Clearly +they do not. For they who never pray to God never think of Him; +they who never think of Him, by the very force of the terms it +follows that they cannot seek his help. And yet they say, "Oh, I +wish to be good, but I cannot!" But this, in the language of the +Scripture, is a lie. If they did wish to be good they would seek +the help that could make them so. There is no boy so young as not +to know that, when temptation is on him to evil, prayer to God will +strengthen him for good. As sure as we live, if he wished really to +overcome the temptation, he would seek the strength.</p> +<p>Consider what prayer is, and see how it cannot but strengthen +us. He who stands in a sheltered place, where the wind cannot reach +him, and with no branches over his head to cause a damp shade, and +then holds up his face or his hands to the sun, in his strength, +can he help feeling the sun's warmth? Now, thus it is in prayer: we +turn to God, we bring our souls, with all their thoughts and +feelings, fully before Him; and by the very act of so doing, we +shelter ourselves from every chill of worldly care, we clear away +every intercepting screen of worldly thought and pleasure. It is an +awful thing so to submit ourselves wholly to the influence of God. +But do it; and as surely as the sun will warm us if we stand in the +sun, so will the Giver of light and life to the soul pour his +Spirit of life into us; even as we pray, we become changed into his +image.</p> +<p>This is not spoken extravagantly. I ask of any one who has ever +prayed in earnest, whether for that time, and while he was so +praying, he did not feel, as it were, another man; a man able to do +the things which he would; a man redeemed and free. But most true +is it that this feeling passes away but too soon, when the prayer +is done. Still for the time, there is the effect; we know what it +is to put ourselves, in a manner, beneath the rays of God's grace; +but we do not abide there long, and then we feel the damp and the +cold of earth again.</p> +<p>Therefore says the Apostle, "Pray without ceasing." If we could +literally pray always, it is clear that we should sin never: it may +be thus that Christ's redeemed, at his coming, as they will be for +ever with him and with the Father, can therefore sin no more. For +where God is, there is no place left for sin. But we cannot pray +always: we cannot pray the greatest portion of our time; nay, we +can pray, in the common sense of the term, only a very small +portion of it. Yet, at least, we can take heed that we do pray +sometimes, and that our prayer be truly in earnest. We can pray +then for God's help to abide with us when we are not praying: we +can commit to his care, not only our hours of sleep, but our hours +of worldly waking. "I have work to do, I have a busy world around +me; eye, ear, and thought will be all needed for that work, done in +and amidst that busy world; now, ere I enter upon it, I would +commit eye, ear, thought and wish to Thee. Do thou bless them, and +keep their work thine; that as, through thy natural laws, my heart +beats and my blood flows without my thought for them, so my +spiritual life may hold on its course, through, thy help, at those +times when my mind cannot consciously turn to Thee to commit each +particular thought to thy service."</p> +<p>But I dare not say that by any the most urgent prayers, uttered +only at night and morning, God's blessing can thus be gained for +the whole intervening day. For, in truth, if we did nothing more, +the prayers would soon cease to be urgent; they would become +formal, that is, they would be no prayers at all. For prayer lives +in the heart, and not in the mouth; it consists not of words, but +wishes. And no man can set himself heartily to wish twice a day for +things, of which he never thinks at other times in the day. So that +prayer requires in a manner to be fed, and its food is to be found +in reading and thinking; in reading God's word, and in thinking +about him, and about the world as being his work.</p> +<p>Young men and boys are generally, we know, not fond of reading +for its own sake; and when they do read for their own pleasure, +they naturally read something that interests them. Now, what are +called serious books, including certainly the Bible, do not +interest them, and therefore they are not commonly read. What shall +we say, then? Are they not interested in becoming good, in learning +to do the things which, they would? If they are not, if they care +not for the bondage of sin and death, there is, of course, nothing +to be said; then they are condemned already; they are not the +children of God. But one says, "I wish I could find interest in a +serious book, but I cannot." Observe again, "Ye cannot do the +things that ye would," because the flesh and the Spirit are +contrary to one another. However, to return to him who says this, +the answer to him is this,--"The interest cannot come without the +reading; it may and will come with it." For interest in a subject +depends very much on our knowledge of it; and so it is with, the +things of Christ. As long as the life and death of Christ are +strange to us, how can we be interested about them? but read them, +thinking of what they were, and what were their ends, and who can +help being interested about them? Read them carefully, and read +them often, and they will bring before our minds the very thoughts +which we need, and which the world keeps continually from us, the +thoughts which naturally feed our prayers; thoughts not of self, +nor selfishness, nor pleasure, nor passion, nor folly, but of such +things as are truly God's--love, and self-denial, and purity, and +wisdom. These thoughts come by reading the Scriptures; and +strangely do they mingle at first with the common evil thoughts of +our evil nature. But they soon find a home within us, and more good +thoughts gather round them, and there comes a time when daily life +with its various business, which, once seemed to shut them out +altogether, now ministers to their nourishment.</p> +<p>Wherefore, in conclusion, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not +fulfil the lusts of the flesh; but do even the things which ye +would. And ye can walk in the Spirit, if ye seek for the Spirit; if +ye seek him by prayer, and by reading of Christ, and the things of +Christ. If we will do neither, then most assuredly we are not +seeking him; if we seek him not, we shall never find him. If we +find him not, we shall never be able to do the things that we +would; we shall never be redeemed, never made free, but our souls +shall be overcome by their evil nature, as surely as our bodies by +their diseased nature; till one death shall possess us wholly, a +death of body and of soul, the death of eternal misery.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_IX."></a>LECTURE IX.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>LUKE xiv. 33.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he +hath,<br> +he cannot be my disciple</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>In order to show that these words were not spoken to the +apostles alone, but to all Christians, we have only to turn to the +25th and 26th verses, which run thus:--"And there went great +multitudes with him, and he turned and said unto them, If any man +come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and +children, and brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he +cannot be my disciple." The words were not, then, spoken to the +twelve apostles only, as if they contained merely some rule of +extraordinary piety, which was not to be required of common +Christians; they were spoken to a great multitude; they were spoken +to warn all persons in that multitude that not one of them could +become a Christian, unless he gave himself up to Christ body and +soul. Thus declaring that there is but one rule for all; a rule +which the highest Christian can never go beyond; and which the +lowest, if he would be a Christian at all, must make the foundation +of his whole life.</p> +<p>Now take the words, either of the text or of the 26th verse, and +is it possible to avoid seeing that, on the very lowest +interpretation, they do insist upon a very high standard; that they +do require a very entire and devoted obedience? Is it possible for +any one who believes what Christ has said, to rest contented, +either for himself or for others, with that very low and very +unchristian standard which he sees and knows to prevail generally +in the world? Is it possible for him not to wish, for himself and +for all in whose welfare he is interested, that they may belong to +the small minority in matters of principle and practice, rather +than to the large majority?</p> +<p>And because he so wishes, one who endeavours to follow Christ +sincerely can never be satisfied with the excuse that he acts and +thinks quite as well as the mass of persons about him; it can never +give him comfort, with regard to any judgment or practice, to be +told, in common language, "Everybody thinks so; everybody does so." +If, indeed, this expression "everybody" might be taken literally; +if it were quite true, without any exception, that "everybody +thought or did so;" then I grant that it would have a very great +authority; so great that it would be almost a mark of madness to +run counter to it. For what all men, all without a single +exception, were to agree in, must be some truth which the human +mind could not reject without insanity,--like the axioms of +science, or some action which if we did not we could not live, as +sleeping and eating; or if there be any moral point so universally +agreed upon, then it must be something exceedingly general: as, for +instance, that truth is in itself to be preferred to falsehood; +which to dispute would be monstrous. But, once admit a single +exception, and the infallible virtue of the rule ceases. I can +conceive one single good and wise man's judgment and practice, +requiring, at any rate, to be carefully attended to, and his +reasons examined, although millions upon millions stood against +him. But go on with the number of exceptions, and bring the +expression "everybody," to its real meaning, which is only "most +persons," "the great majority of the world;" then the rule becomes +of no virtue at all, but very often the contrary. If in matters of +morals many are on one side and some on the other, it is impossible +to pronounce at once which are most likely to be right: it depends +on the sort of case on which the difference exists; for the +victories of truth and of good are but partial. It is not all truth +that triumphs in the world, nor all good; but only truth and good +up to a certain point. Let them once pass this point, and their +progress pauses. Their followers, in the mass, cannot keep up with +them thus far: fewer and fewer are those who still press on in +their company, till at last even these fail; and there is a +perfection at which they are deserted by all men, and are in the +presence of God and of Christ alone.</p> +<p>Thus it is that, up to a certain point, in moral matters the +majority are right; and thus Christ's gospel, in a great many +respects, goes along with public opinion, and the voice of society +is the voice of truth. But this, to use the expression of our +Lord's parable, this is but half the height of that tower whose top +should reach unto heaven. Christianity ascends a great deal higher; +and therefore so many who begin to build are never able to finish. +Christ's disciples and the world's disciples work for a certain way +together; and thus far the world's disciples call themselves +Christ's, and so Christ's followers seem to be a great majority. +But Christ warns us expressly that we are not his disciples merely +by going a certain way on the same road with them. They only are +His, who follow Him to the end. They only are His, who follow him +in spite of everything, who leave all rather than leave him. For +the rest, He does not own them. What the world can give they may +enjoy; but Christ's kingdom is shut against them.</p> +<p>Speaking, then, according to Christ's judgment, and we must hold +those to be of the world, and not of Him,--and therefore in God's +judgment, to be the evil and not the good,--who do not make up +their minds to live in His service, and to refer their actions, +words, and thoughts to His will. Who these are it is very true that +we many times cannot know: only we may always fear that they are +the majority of society; and therefore we are rather anxious in any +individual's case to get a proof that he is not one of them, +because, as they are very many, there is always a sort of +presumption that any given person is of this number, unless there +is some evidence, or some presumption at any rate, for thinking the +contrary.</p> +<p>When we speak, then, of the good and of the evil side in human +life, in any society, whether smaller or larger,--this is what we +mean, or should mean. The evil side contains much that is, up to a +certain point, good: the good side,--for does it not consist of +human beings?--contains, unhappily, much in it that is evil. Not +all in the one is to be avoided,--far from it; nor is all in the +other by any means to be followed. But still those are called evil +in God's judgment who live according to their own impulses, or +according to the law of the society around them; and those are to +be called good, who, in their principles, whatever may be the +imperfections of their practice, endeavour in all things to live +according to the will of Christ.</p> +<p>And in this view the characters of Jacob and Esau are, as it +seems to me, full of instruction; and above all to us here. For I +have often observed that the early age of an individual bears a +great resemblance to the early age of the human race, or of any +particular nation; so that the characters of the Old Testament are +often more suited, in a Christian country, for the instruction of +the young than for those of more advanced years. To Christian men, +looking at Jacob's life, with the faults recorded of it, it is +sometimes strange that he should be spoken of as good. But it seems +that in a rude state of society, where knowledge is very low, and +passion very strong, the great virtue is to be freed from the +dominion of the prevailing low principle, to see and resolve that +we ought and will live according to knowledge, and not according to +passion or impulse. The knowledge may be very imperfect, and +probably is so: the practice may in many respects offend against +knowledge, and probably will do so: yet is a great step taken; it +is <i>the</i> virtue of man, in such a state of society, to follow, +though imperfectly, principle, where others follow instinct, or the +opinion of their fellows. It is the great distinguishing mark, in +such a state of things, between the good and the evil; for this +reason, amongst many others, that it is the virtue, under such, +circumstances, of the hardest attainment.</p> +<p>Now, the Scripture judgment of Jacob and Esau, should be in an +especial manner the basis of our judgment with regard to the young. +None can doubt, that amongst the young, when they form a society of +their own, the great temptation is to live by impulse, or according +to the opinion of those around them. It is like a light breaking in +upon darkness, when a young person is led to follow a higher +standard, and to live according to God's will. Esau, in his faults +and amiable points alike, is the very image of the prevailing +character amongst boys; sometimes violently revengeful, as when +Esau looked forward with satisfaction to the prospect of his +father's death, because then we should be able to slay his brother +Jacob; sometimes full of generosity, as when Esau forgot all his +grounds of complaint against his brother, and received him on his +return from Mesopotamia with open arms;--but habitually careless, +and setting the present before the future, the lower gratification +before the higher, as when Esau sold his birth-right for a mess of +pottage. And the point to be noted is, that, because of this +carelessness, this profaneness or ungodliness, as it is truly +called in the New Testament, Esau is distinguished from those who +were God's people; the promises were not his, nor yet the blessing. +This is remarkable, because Esau's faults, undoubtedly were just +the faults of his age: he was no worse than the great majority of +those around him; he lived as we should say, in our common +language, that it was natural for him to live. He had, therefore, +precisely all those excuses which are commonly urged for the +prevailing faults of boys; yet it is quite certain that the +Scripture holds him out as a representative of those who were not +on the side of God,</p> +<p>If the Scripture has so judged of Esau and Jacob, it must be the +model for our judgments of those whose circumstances, on account of +their belonging to a society consisting wholly of persons young in +age, greatly resemble the circumstances of the early society of the +world. I lay the stress on the belonging to a society wholly formed +of young persons; for the case of young persons brought up at home, +is extremely different; and their circumstances would be best +suited by a different scriptural example. But here, with you, I am +quite sure that the great distinguishing mark between good and +evil, is the endeavouring, or not endeavouring, to rise above the +carelessness of the society of which you are members; the +determining, or not determining, to judge of things by another rule +than that of school morality or honour; the trying, or not trying, +to please God, instead of those around you: for the notions and +maxims of a society of young persons are like the notions and +maxims of men in a half-civilized age, a strange mixture of right +and wrong; or rather wrong in their result, although with some +right feeling in them, and therefore as a guide, false and +mischievous. That it is natural to follow these maxims, is quite +obvious: they are the besetting sin of your particular condition; +and it is always according to our corrupt nature to follow our +besetting sin. It is quite natural that you should be careless, +profane, mistaking evil for good, and good for evil; but salvation +is not for those who follow their nature, but for those in whom +God's grace has overcome its evil; it is for those, in Christ's +language, who take up their cross and follow him; that is, for +those who struggle against their evil nature, that they may gain a +better nature, and be born, not after the flesh, but after the +Spirit of God.</p> +<p>What is to be said to this? or what qualification, or +compromise, is to be made in it? The words of the text will +authorize us, at any rate, to make none: their language is not that +of indulgent allowance; but it is a call, a loud and earnest, even +a severe, call, it may be, in the judgment of our evil nature,--to +shake off the weight that hangs about us; to deliver our hearts +from the dominion of that which cannot profit, and to submit them +to Christ alone. This is God's judgment, this is Christ's word; and +we cannot and dare not qualify it. They are evil, for God and +Christ declare it, who judge and live after the maxims of the +society around them, and not after Christ; they are evil who are +careless; they are evil who live according to their own blind and +capricious feelings, now hot, now cold; they are evil who call evil +good, and good evil, because they have not known the Father nor +Christ. This, and nothing less, we say, lest we should be found +false witnesses of God: but if this language, which is that of +Scripture, seem harsh, to any one, oh! let him remember how soon he +may change it into the language of the most abundant mercy, of the +tenderest love; that if he calls upon God, God is ready to hear; +that if he seeks to know and to do God's will, God will be found by +him, and will strengthen him; that it is true kindness not to +disguise from him his real danger, but earnestly to conjure him to +flee from it, and to offer our humblest prayers to God, for him and +ourselves, that our judgments and our practice may be formed only +after his example.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_X"></a>LECTURE X.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>1 TIMOTHY i. 9.</center> +<br> +<center><i>The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the +lawless and<br> +disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and +profane</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>These words explain the meaning of a great many passages in St. +Paul's Epistles, in which also he speaks of the law, and of not +being under the law, and other such expressions. And it is clear +also, that he is not speaking solely, or chiefly, or, in any +considerable degree, of the ceremonial law; but much more of the +law of moral good, the law which told men how they ought to live, +and how they ought not. This law, he says, is not made for good +men, but for evil: a thing so plain, that we may well wonder how +any could ever have misunderstood it. It is so manifest, that +strict rules are required, just exactly in proportion to our +inability or want of will to rule ourselves; it is so very plain, +that, with regard to those crimes which we are under no temptation +to commit, we feel exactly as if there were no law. Which of us +ever thinks, as a matter of personal concern, of the law which +sentences to death murderers, or housebreakers, or those who +maliciously set fire to their neighbours' property? Do we not feel +that, as far as our own conduct is concerned, it would be exactly +the same thing if no such law were in existence? We should no more +murder, or rob, or set fire to houses and barns, if the law were +wholly done away, than we do now that it is in force.</p> +<p>There are, then, some points in which we feel practically that +we are not under the law, but dead to it; that the law is not made +for us: but do we think, therefore, that we may murder, and rob, +and burn? or do we not rather feel that such a notion would be +little short of madness? We are not under the law, because we do +not need it; not because there is in reality no law to punish us if +we do need it. And just of this kind is that general freedom from +the law, of which St. Paul speaks, as the high privilege of true +Christians.</p> +<p>But yet St. Paul would not at all mean that any Christian is +altogether without the law: that is, that there are no points at +all in which his inclination is not to evil, and in which, +therefore, he needs the fear of God to restrain him from it. When +he says of himself, that he kept under his body lest that by any +means he should become a castaway; just so far as this fear of +being a castaway possessed him, that is, just so far as there were +any evil tendencies in him, which required him to keep them under +by an effort, just so far was he under the law. And this is so, as +we full well know, with us all; for as there is none of us in whom +sin is utterly dead, so neither can there be any of us who is +altogether dead to the law.</p> +<p>Yet, although this be so, there is no doubt that the gospel +wishes to consider us as generally dead to the law, in order that +we really may become so continually more and more. It supposes that +the Spirit of God, presenting to our minds the sight of God's love +in Christ, sets us free from the law of sin and death; that is, +that a sense of thankfulness to God, and love of God and of Christ, +will be so strong a motive, that we shall, generally speaking, need +no other; that it will so work upon us, as to make us feel good, +easy, and delightful, and thus to become dead to the law. And there +is no doubt also, that that same freedom from the law, which we +ourselves experience daily, in respect of some particular great +crimes, (for, as I said, we do not feel that it is the fear of the +law which keeps us from murder or from robbing,) that very same +freedom is felt by good men in many other points, where it may be +that we ourselves do not feel it. A common instance may be given +with respect to prayer, and the outward worship of God. There are a +great many who feel this as a duty; but there are many also to whom +it is not so much a duty, as a privilege and a pleasure; and these +are dead to the law which commands us to be instant in prayer, just +as we, in general, are dead to the law which commands us to do no +murder.</p> +<p>This being understood, it will be perfectly plain, why St. Paul, +along with all his language as to the law being passed away, and +our being become dead to it, yet uses, very frequently, language of +another kind, which shows that the law is not dead in itself, but +lives, and ever will live. He says, "We must all stand before the +judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to +what he has done in the body." And he adds, "Knowing therefore the +terror of the Lord, we persuade men." But the judgment, and the +terror of the Lord, mean precisely what are meant by the law. And +this language of St. Paul shows more clearly, that, unless we are +first dead to the law, the law is not, and never will be dead to +us.</p> +<p>I should not have thought it useless, to have offered merely +this explanation of a language, which is very common in the New +Testament, which, forms one of its characteristic points, (for St. +John's expression of "Perfect love casteth out fear," is exactly +equivalent to St. Paul's, "That we are dead to the law,") and which +has been often misunderstood, or misrepresented. But yet I am well +aware, that mere explanations of Scripture cannot be expected to +interest those to whom Scripture is not familiar. The answer to a +riddle would be very soon forgotten, unless the riddle had first at +once amused and puzzled us. Just so, explanations of Scripture, to +be at all valued, must suppose a previous knowledge of, and desire +to understand, the difficulty; and this we cannot expect to find in +very young persons. Thus far, then, what I have said has been +necessarily addressed, I do not say, or mean, to the oldest part of +my hearers only, but yet to the older, and more considering part of +them. But the subject is capable, I think, of being brought much +more closely home to us; for what St. Paul says of the law, with +reference to all mankind, is precisely that state of mind which one +would wish to see here; and the mistakes of his meaning are just +such as are often prevalent, and are likely to do great mischief, +with regard to the motives to be appealed to in education.</p> +<p>Now, what is the case in the Scripture? Men had been subject to +a strict law of rewards and punishments, appealing directly to +their hopes, and to their fears. The gospel offered itself to them, +as a declaration of God's love to them; so wonderful, that it +seemed as though it could not but excite them to love him in +return. It also raised their whole nature; their understandings, no +less than their affections; and thus led them to do God's will, +from another and higher feeling than they had felt heretofore; to +do it, not because they must, but because they loved it. And to +such as answered to this heavenly call, God laid aside, if I may +venture so to speak, all his terrors; he showed himself to them +only as a loving father, between whom and his children there was +nothing but mutual affection; who would be loved by them, and love +them forever. But to those who answered not to it, and far more, +who dared to abuse it; who thought that God's love was weakness; +that the liberty to which they were called, was the liberty of +devils, the liberty of doing evil as they would; to all such, God +was still a consuming fire, and their most merciful Saviour himself +was a judge to try their very hearts and reins; in short, the +gospel was to them, not salvation, but condemnation; it awakened +not the better, but the baser parts of their nature; it did not do +away, but doubled their guilt, and therefore brought upon them, and +will bring through all eternity, a double measure of +punishment.</p> +<p>Now all this applies exactly to that earlier and, as it were, +preparatory life, which ends not in death, but in manhood. The +state of boyhood begins under a law. It is a great mistake to +address always the reason of a child, when you ought rather to +require his obedience. Do this, do not do that; if you do this, I +shall love you; if you do not, I shall punish you;--such is the +state, most clearly a state of law, under which we are, and must +be, placed at the beginning of education. But we should desire and +endeavour to see this state of law succeeded by something better; +we should desire so to unfold the love of Christ as to draw the +affections towards him; we should desire so to raise the +understanding as that it may fasten itself, by its own native +tendrils, round the pillar of truth, without requiring to be bound +to it by external bands. We should avoid all unnecessary harshness; +we should speak and act with all possible kindness; because love, +rather than fear, love both of God and man, is the motive which we +particularly wish to awaken. Thus, keeping punishment in the +background and, as it were, out of sight, and putting forward +encouragement and kindness, we should attract, as it were, the good +and noble feelings of those with, whom we are dealing, and invite +them to open, and to answer to, a system of confidence and +kindness, rather than risk the chilling and hardening them by a +system of mistrust and severity.</p> +<p>And for those who do answer to this call, how really true is it +that they do soon become dead, in great measure, to the law of the +place where they are living! How little do they generally feel its +restraints, or its tasks, burdensome! How very little have they to +do with its punishments! Led on by degrees continually higher and +higher, their relations with us become more and more relations of +entire confidence and kindness; and when at last their trial is +over, and they pass from this first life, as I have ventured to +call it, into their second life of manhood, how beautifully are +they ripened for that state! how naturally do all the restraints of +this first life fall away, like the mortal body of the perfected +Christian; and they enter upon the full liberty of manhood, fitted +at once to enjoy and to improve it!</p> +<p>But observe, that St. Paul does not suppose even the best +Christian to be without the law altogether: there will ever be some +points in which he will need to remember it. And so it is +unkindness, rather than kindness, and a very mischievous mistake, +to forget that here, in this our preparatory life, the law cannot +cease altogether with any one; that it is not possible to find a +perfect sense and feeling of right existing in every action; nay, +that it is even unreasonable to seem to expect it. Little faults, +little irregularities, there always will be, with which the law is +best fitted to deal; which should be met, I mean, by a system of +rules and of punishments, not severe, certainly, nor one at all +inconsistent with general respect, kindness, and confidence; but +which check the particular faults alluded to better, I think, than +could be done by seeming to expect of the individual that he +should, in all such cases, be a law to himself. There is a +possibility of our over-straining the highest principles, by +continually appealing to them on very trifling occasions. It is far +better, here, to apply the system of the law; to require obedience +to rules, as a matter of discipline; to visit the breach of them by +moderate punishment, not given in anger, not at all inconsistent +with general confidence and regard, but gently reminding us of that +truth which we may never dare wholly to forget,--that punishment +will exist eternally so long as there is evil, and that the only +way of remaining for ever entirely strangers to it, is by adhering +for ever and entirely to good.</p> +<p>This applies to every one amongst us; and is the reason why +rules, discipline, and punishments, however much they may be, and +are, kept in the background for such, as have become almost wholly +dead to them, must yet continue in existence, because none are, or +can be, dead to them altogether. But now, suppose that we have a +nature to deal with, which, cannot answer to a system of kindness, +but abuses it; which, when punishment is kept at a distance, +rejoices, as thinking that it may follow evil safely; a nature not +to be touched by the love of God or man, not to be guided by any +perception of its own as to what is right and true. Is the law dead +really to such as these? or should it be so? Is punishment a +degradation to a nature which, is so self-degraded as to be +incapable of being moved by anything better? For this is the real +degradation which we should avoid; not the fear of punishment, +which is not at all degrading, but the being insensible to the love +of Christ and of goodness; and so being capable of receiving no +other motive than the fear of punishment alone. With such natures, +to withhold punishment, would be indeed to make Christ the minister +of sin; to make mercy, that is, lead to evil, and not to good. For +them, the law never is dead, and never will be. Here, of course, in +this first life, as I have called it, punishment indeed goes but a +little way: it is very easy for a hardened nature to defy all that +could be laid upon it here in the way of actual compulsion. Our +only course is to cut short the time of trial, when we find a +nature in whom that trial cannot end in good. Still there may be +those in whom this life here, like their greater life which shall +last for ever, will have far more to do with punishment than with +kindness; they will be living all their time under the law. +Continue this to our second life, and the law then will be no less +alive, and they will never be dead to it, nor will it be ever dead +to them. And however a hardened nature may well despise the +punishments of its first life,--punishments, whose whole object is +correction, and not retribution,--yet, where is the nature so hard +as to endure, in its relations with God, to feel more of his +punishment than of his mercy; to know him for ever as a God of +judgment, and not as a Father of love?</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XI."></a>LECTURE XI.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>ST. LUKE xxi. 36.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be<br> +accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall<br> +come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>This might be a text for a history of the Christian Church, from +its foundation to this hour, or to the latest hour of the world's +existence. We might observe how it Lad fulfilled its Lord's +command; with what steadiness it had gone forward on its course, +with the constant hope of meeting Him once again in glory. We might +see how it had escaped all these things that were to come to pass: +tracing its course amidst the manifold revolutions of the world, +inward and outward. In the few words, "all these things that shall +come to pass," are contained all the events of the last eighteen +hundred years: indistinct and unknown to us, as long as they are +thus folded up together; but capable of being unrolled before our +eyes in a long order, in which should be displayed all the outward +changes of nations, the spread of discovery, the vicissitudes of +conquest; and yet more, the inward changes of men's minds, the +various schools of philosophy, the successive forms of public +opinion, the influences of various races, all the manifold elements +by which the moral character of the Christian world has been +affected. We might observe how the Church had escaped all these +things, or to what degree it had received from any of them good or +evil. And then, stopping at the point at which it has actually +arrived, we might consider how far it deserves the character of +that Church, "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing," which +should be presented before the Son of Man at his coming again.</p> +<p>This would be a great subject; and one, if worthily executed, +full of the deepest instruction to us all. But our Lord's words may +also be made the text for a history or inquiry of another sort, far +less comprehensive in time and space, far less grand, far less +interesting to the understanding; yet, on the other hand, capable +of being wrought out far more completely, and far more interesting +to the spiritual and eternal welfare of each of us. They may be +made the text for an inquiry into the course hitherto held, not by +the Church as a body, but by each of us individual members of it; +an inquiry how far we, each of us, have watched and prayed always, +that we might be accounted worthy to escape all the things which +should come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. And, in +this view of the words, the expression "all these things which +shall come to pass" has reference no longer to great political +revolutions, nor to schools of philosophy, nor to prominent points +of national character; but to those humbler events, to those lesser +changes, outward and inward, through which we each, pass between +our cradle and our grave. How have we escaped these, or turned them +to good account? Have earthly things so ministered to our eternal +welfare, that if we were each one of us, by a stroke from heaven, +cut off at that very point in our course to which we have severally +attained this day, we should be accounted worthy to stand before +the Son of Man?</p> +<p>Here is, indeed, a very humble history for us each to study; yet +what other history can concern us so nearly? And as, in the history +of the world, experience in part supplies the place of prophecy, +and the fate of one nation is in a manner a mirror to another, so +in our individual history, the experience of the old is a lesson to +the middle-aged, and that of the middle-aged a lesson to the young. +If you wish to know what are the things which shall come to pass +with respect to you, we can draw aside the veil from your coming +life, because what you will be is no other than what we are. If we +would go onwards, in like manner, and ask what are the things which +shall come to pass with respect to us, our coming life may be seen +in the past and present life of the old; for what we shall be is no +other than what they have been, or than what they are.</p> +<p>Let us take, then, the actual moment with, each of us, and +suppose that our Lord speaks to each of us as he did to his first +disciples: "Watch and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy +to escape all these things which shall come to pass, and to stand +before the Son of Man." We ask, naturally, "What are the things +which shall come to pass?" and it is to this question that I am to +try to suggest the answer.</p> +<p>Those arrived at middle age may ask the question, "What are the +things which shall come to pass to us?" Now, setting aside +extraordinary accidents, on which we cannot reckon, and the answer +would, I think, be something of this sort: There will not come to +pass, it is likely, any great change in our condition or employment +in life. In middle age our calling, with all the duties which it +involves, must generally be fixed for each of us. Our particular +kind of trial will not, it is probable, be much altered. We must +not, as in youth, fancy that, although our actual occupation does +not suit us, although its temptations are often too strong for us, +yet a change may take place to another line of duty, and the +temptations in that new line may be less formidable. In middle age +it will not do to indulge such fond hopes as these. On the +contrary, our hope must lie, not in escape, but in victory. If our +temptations press us hard, we cannot expect to have them exchanged +for others less powerful: they will remain with us, and we must +overcome them, or perish. Have we tastes not fully reconciled to +our calling,--faculties which seem not to have found their proper +field? We must seek our remedy not from without, humanly speaking, +but from within: we must discipline ourselves; we must teach our +tastes to cling gracefully around that duty to which else they must +be helplessly fastened. If any faculties appear not to have found +their proper field, we must think that God has, for certain wise +reasons, judged it best for us that they should not be exercised; +and we must be content to render him the service of others. In this +respect, then, the immediate prospect for middle age is not so much +change as steadfastness. Fortune will not suit herself to our +wishes: we must learn to suit our wishes to her.</p> +<p>But go on a little farther, and what are the things which must +come to pass then? A new and most solemn interest arising to us in +the entrance of our children into active life. Hitherto they have +lived under our care, and our duty to them was simple; but now +there comes the choice of a profession, the watching and guiding +them, as well as we can, at this critical moment of their course. +What cares await us here; and yet what need of avoiding over care! +What a trial for us, how we value our children's worldly interests +when compared with their eternal--whether we prefer for them the +path which may lead most readily to worldly wealth and honour, or +that in, which they may best and safest follow Christ! This is a +danger which will come to pass to us ere long: do we watch and pray +that we may be delivered from it?</p> +<p>The interest of life, which had, perhaps, something begun to +fade for ourselves, will revive with vigour at this period in +behalf of our children; but after this it will go on steadily +ebbing. What life can offer we have tasted for ourselves; we have +seen it tasted, or in the way to be tasted, by them. The harvest is +gathered, and the symptoms of the fall appear. Is it that some +faculty becomes a little impaired, some taste a little dulled; or +is it that the friends and companions of our life are beginning to +drop away from us? Long since, those whom we loved of the +generation before us have been gathered to the grave; now those of +our own generation are falling fast also--brothers, sisters, +friends of our early youth, a wife, a husband. We are surrounded by +a younger generation, to whom the half of our lives, with all their +recollections and sympathies, are a thing unknown. Impatience, +weariness, a clinging to the past, a vain wish to prolong it in an +earthly future,--these are the things which shall befal us then: +and they will befal us too surely, and too irresistibly, unless, by +earlier watchfulness and prayer, we may have been enabled to avoid +them. For vain will it be, with faculties at once weakened by the +decay of nature and perverted by long habits of worldliness, to +essay, for the first time, to force our way into the kingdom of +heaven. Old age is not the season for contest and victory; nor +shall we then be so able to escape unharmed from the temptations of +life as to stand before the Son of Man.</p> +<p>These are the things which will come to pass for us and for you. +But for you there is much more to come, which to us is not future +now, but past or present. With you, for a time, it will be all a +course forwards and upwards. From the preparation for life, you +will come to the reality; from a state of less importance, you will +be passing on to one of greater. Your temptations, whatever they +may be now, will not certainly become weaker. As outward restraint +is more and more taken off from you, so your need of inward +restraint will be greater. Will those who are extravagant now on a +small scale, be less extravagant on a large scale? Will those who +are selfish now, become less selfish amidst a wider field of +enjoyment? Will those who know not or care not for Christ, while +yet, as it were, standing quietly on the shore, be led to think of +him more amidst the excitement of the first setting sail, amidst +the interest of the first newly-seen country?</p> +<p>You know not yet, nor can know, the immense importance of that +period of life on which many of you are entering, or have just +entered. You are coming, or come, to what may be called the second +beginning of life: to which, in the common course of things, there +will succeed no third. Ignorance, absence of temptation, the +presence of all good impressions, constitute much of the innocence +of mere childhood,--so beautiful while it lasts, so sure to be soon +blighted! It is blighted in the first experience of life, most +commonly when a boy first goes to school. Then his mere innocence, +which indeed he may be said to have worn rather instinctively than +by choice, becomes grievously polluted. Then come the hardness, the +coarseness, the intense selfishness; sometimes, too, the falsehood, +the cruelty, the folly of the boy: then comes that period, so +trying to the faith of parents, when all their early care seems +blasted; when the vineyard, which they had fenced so tenderly, +seems all despoiled and trodden under foot. It is indeed a +discouraging season, the exact image of the ungenial springs of our +natural year. But after this there comes, as it were, a second +beginning of life, when principle takes the place of innocence. +There is a time,--many of you must have arrived at it,--when +thought and inquiry awaken; when, out of the mere chaos of boyhood, +the elements of the future character of the man begin to appear. +Blessed are they for whom the confusion and disarray of their +boyish life is quickened into a true life by the moving of the +Spirit of God! Blessed are they for whom the beginnings of thought +and inquiry are the beginnings also of faith and love; when the new +character receives, as it is forming, the Christian seed, and the +man is also the Christian. And, then, this second beginning of +life, resting on faith and conscious principle, and not on mere +passive innocence, stands sure for the middle and the end: those +who so watch and pray as to escape out of this critical period, not +merely unharmed, but, as it were, set clearly on their way to +heaven, will, with God's grace, escape out of the things which +shall befal them afterwards, till they shall stand before the Son +of Man.</p> +<p>But the word is, "Watch and pray always, that ye may be +accounted worthy to escape." We see the time with many of you come, +or immediately coming; out of your present state <i>a</i> character +will certainly be formed; as surely as the innocence of childhood +has perished, so surely will the carelessness of boyhood perish +too. <i>A</i> character will be formed, whether you watch and pray, +or whether you do neither; but the great point is what this +character may be. If you do not watch the process, it will surely +be the character of death eternal. Thought and inquiry will satisfy +themselves very readily with an answer as far as regards spiritual +things: their whole vigour will be devoted to the things of this +world, to science or to business, or to public matters, all alike +hardening rather than softening to the mind, if its thoughts do not +go to something higher and deeper still. And as years pass on, we +may think on these our favourite or professional subjects more and +more earnestly; our views on them may be clearer and sounder, but +there comes again nothing like the first free burst of thought in +youth; the intellect in later life, if its tone was not rightly +taken earlier, becomes narrowed in proportion to its greater +vigour; one thing it sees clearly, but it is blind to all beside. +It is in youth that the after tone of the mind is happily formed, +when that natural burst of thought is sanctified and quickened by +God's Spirit, and we set up within us to love and adore, all our +days, the one image of the truth of God, our Saviour Jesus. Then, +whatever else may befal us afterwards, it rarely happens that our +faith will fail; his image, implanted in us, preserves us amid +every change; we are counted worthy to escape all the things which +may come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XII."></a>LECTURE XII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>PROVERBS i. 28.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer;<br> +they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>Christ's gospel gives out the forgiveness of sins; and as this +is its very essence, so also in what we read connected with +Christ's gospel, the tone of encouragement, of mercy, of +loving-kindness to sinners, is ever predominant. What was needed at +the beginning of the gospel is no less needed now; we cannot spare +one jot or one tittle of this gracious language; now, as ever, the +free grace, that most seems to be without the law, does most surely +establish the law. But yet there is another language, which is to +be found alike in the Old Testament and in the New; a language not +indeed so common as the language of mercy, but yet repeated many +times; a language which we also need as fully as it was ever +needed, and of whose severity we can no more spare one tittle than +we can spare anything of the comfort of the other. And yet this +language has not, I think, been enforced so often as it should have +been. Men have rather shrunk from it, and seemed afraid of it; they +have connected it sometimes with certain foolish and presumptuous +questions, which we, indeed, do well to turn from; but they have +not seen, that with such it has no natural connexion, but belongs +to a certain fact in the constitution of our nature, and is most +highly moral and practical.</p> +<p>The language to which. I allude is expressed, amongst other +passages, by the words of the text. They speak of men's calling +upon God, and of his refusing to hear them; of men's seeking God, +and not finding him. Remember, at the same time, our Lord's words, +"Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find." I purposely +put together these opposite passages, because the full character of +God's Revelation is thus seen more clearly. Do we doubt that our +Lord's words are true, and do we not prize them as some of the most +precious which he has left us? We do well to do so; but shall we +doubt any more the truth of the words of the text; and shall we not +consider them as a warning no less needful than the comfort in the +other case? Indeed, as true as it is, that, if we seek God, we +shall find him; so true is it that we may seek him, and yet not +find him.</p> +<p>Now, then, how to explain this seeming contradiction? We can see +at once, that these things are not said of the same persons, or +rather of the same characters at the same time. They are said of +the same persons: that is, there is no one here assembled who is +not concerned with both, and to whom both may not be applicable. +Only they are not and cannot be both applicable to the same person +at the very same time. If God will be found by us, at any given +moment, on our seeking him, it is impossible that, at that same +moment, he should also not be found. Thus far is plain to every +one.</p> +<p>And now, is it true of us, at this present time, that God will +be found by us if we seek him, or that he will not be found? If we +say that he will be found, then the words of the text are not +applicable to us at present, although at some future time they may +be; and then we have that well-known difficulty to encounter, to +attempt to draw the mind's attention to a future and only +contingent evil. If we say that he will not be found, then of what +avail can it be to say any word more? Why sit we in this place, to +preach, or to listen to preaching, if God, after all, will not be +found? Or, again, should we say that there are some by whom he will +not be found, then who are they that are thus horribly marked out +from among their brethren? Can we dare to conceive of any one +amongst us that he is such an one; that there are some, nay, that +there is any one amongst us, to whom it is the same thing whether +he will hear, or whether he will forbear; who may close his ears as +safely as open them, because God has turned his face from him for +ever? It were indeed horrible to suppose that any one of us were in +such a state; and happily it is a thought of horror which the truth +may allow us to repel.</p> +<p>But what, if I were to say, that now, at this very moment, the +words of the text are both applicable to us, and not applicable? Is +this a contradiction, and therefore impossible? Or is it but a +seeming contradiction only, and not only possible, but true? Let us +see how the case appears to be.</p> +<p>We should allow, I suppose, that the words of the text were at +no time in any man's earthly life so true as they will be at the +day of judgment. The hardest heart, the most obdurate in sin, the +most closed against all repentance, is yet more within the reach of +grace, we should imagine, whilst he is alive and in health, than he +will be at the day of the resurrection. We can admit, then, that +the words of the text may be true, in a greater or less degree; +that they will be more entirely true at the last day, than at any +earlier period, but yet that they may be substantially true, true +almost beyond exception, in the life that now is. Now carry this +same principle a little farther, and we come to our very own case. +The words of the text will be more true at the day of judgment, +than they ever are on earth; and yet on earth they are often true +substantially and practically. And even so, they may be more true +to each of us a few years hence, than they are at this moment; and +yet, in a certain degree, they may be true at this moment; true, +not absolutely and entirely, but partially; so true as to give a +most solemn earnest, if we are not warned in time, of their more +entire truth hereafter,--first, in this earthly life; then most +perfectly of all, when we shall arise at the last day.</p> +<p>It may be, then, that the words of the text, although not +applicable to us in their full and most fatal sense, may yet be +applicable to us in a certain degree: the evil which they speak of +may be, not wholly future and contingent, and a thing to be feared, +but present in part, actual, and a matter of experience. This is +not contradiction: it is not impossible; it <i>may be</i> our case. +Let us see whether it really is so, that is, whether it is in any +degree true of us, that when we call upon God he will not answer; +that when we seek him, we shall in any manner be unable to find +him.</p> +<p>It is manifest that, in proportion as Christ's words "Seek, and +ye shall find," are true to any man, so are the words of the text +less true to him; and in proportion as Christ's words are less true +to any one, so are the words of the text more true to him. Now, is +Christ's promise, "Seek, and ye shall find," equally true to all of +us? Conceive of one--the thing is rare, but not impossible,--of one +who had been so kept from evil, and so happily led forward in good, +that when arrived at boyhood, his soul had scarcely more stain upon +it than when it was first fully cleansed, and forgiven, in baptism! +Conceive him speaking truth, without any effort, on all occasions; +not greedy, not proud, not violent, not selfish, not feeling +conscious that he was living a life of sin, and therefore glad to +come to God, rather than shrinking away from him! Conceive how +completely to such an one would Christ's words be fulfilled, "Seek, +and ye shall find!" When would his prayers be unblessed or +unfruitful? When would he turn his thoughts to God without feeling +pleasure in doing so; without a lively consciousness of God's love +to him; without an assured sense of the reality of things not seen, +of redemption and grace and glory? Would not the communion with +God, enjoyed by one so untainted, come up to the full measure of +those high promises, "It shall come to pass, that before they call, +I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear?" Would +it not be plain, that God was as truly found, by such a person, as +he was sought in sincerity and earnestness?</p> +<p>But now, take the most of us: suppose us not to have been kept +carefully from evil, nor led on steadily in good; suppose us to +have reached boyhood with bad dispositions, ready for the first +temptation, with habits of good uncultivated; suppose us to have no +great horror of a lie, when it can serve our turn; with much love +of pleasure, and little love of our duty; with much, selfishness, +and little or no thought of God: suppose such an one, so sadly +altered from a state of baptismal purity, to be saying his prayers +as he had been taught to say them, and saying them sometimes with a +thought of their meaning and a wish that God would hear them. But +does God hear them? I ask of your own consciences, whether you have +had any sense that he has heard you? whether death and judgment, +Christ and Christ's service, have become more real to you after +such prayers? If not, then is it not manifest, that you have sought +God, and have not found him; that you have called upon him and he +has not heard? You know by experience, that you are not as those +true children who are ever with him, who listen to catch the +lightest whisper of his Spirit, for whom, he, too, vouchsafes to +bless the faintest breathing of their prayer.</p> +<p>Or, again, in trying to turn from evil to good, have you ever +found your resolutions give way, the ground which you had gained +slide from under your feet, till you fell back again to what you +were at the beginning? Has this ever happened to us? If it has, +then in that case, also, we sought God, but failed to find him; the +victory was not yours, but the enemy's; the Spirit of Christ did +not help you so as to conquer.</p> +<p>Take another case yet again. Has it ever happened to any of you, +to have done a mischief to yourselves which you could not undo? It +need not be one of the very highest kind; but has it ever happened, +that, by neglect, you have lost ground in the society in which you +are placed, which you cannot recover; that your contemporaries have +gained an advance upon you, while you have not time left to +overtake them? Does it ever happen that, from neglecting some +particular element of learning in its proper season, and other +things claiming your attention afterwards, you go on with a +disadvantage, which you would fain remove, but cannot? Does it, in +short, ever happen to any, that his complete success here is become +impossible; that whatever prospects of another kind may be open to +him elsewhere, yet that he cannot now be numbered amongst those who +have turned the particular advantages here afforded them to that +end which they might and ought to have done?</p> +<p>To whomsoever this has happened, the truth of the words of the +text is matter of experience, not in their full and most dreadful +extent, but yet quite enough to prove that they are true; and that +just as he now feels them in part, so, if he continues to be what +he is, he will one day feel them wholly. He feels that it is +possible to seek God, and not to find him; he has learnt by +experience that neglected good, or committed evil, may be beyond +the power of after-regret to undo. It is true, that as yet, to him, +other prospects may be open: prospects which, probably, he may deem +no less fair than those which he has forfeited. This may be so; but +the point to observe is, that one prospect was lost so +irretrievably by his own fault, that afterwards, when he wished to +regain it, he could not. Now God gives him other prospects, which +he may realize: but as he forfeited his first prospect beyond +recovery, so he may do also with his last: and though ill-success +at school may be made up by success in another sphere, yet what is +to make up for ill-success in the great business of life, when +that, too, has been forfeited as irrecoverably; when his last +chance is gone as hopelessly as his first?</p> +<p>Now, surely there is in all this an intelligible lesson. I am +not at all exaggerating the importance of the particular prospect +forfeited here: but I am pressing upon you, that this prospect may +be, and often is, forfeited irrecoverably; that when you wish to +regain it, it is too late, and you cannot. And I press this, +because it is a true type of the whole of human life; because it is +just as possible to forfeit salvation irrecoverably, as to forfeit +that earthly good which is the prize of well-doing here, with this +infinite difference, that the last forfeit is not only +irretrievable, but fatal; it can no more be made up for, than it +can be regained. Here, then, your present condition is a type of +the complete truth of the text: but there are other points, to +which I alluded before, in which it is more than a type; it is the +very truth itself, although, happily, only in an imperfect measure. +That unanswered prayer, of which I spoke, those broken +resolutions,--are they not actually a calling on God, without his +hearing us; a seeking him, without finding him? We remember who it +was that could say with truth to his Father, "I know that thou +nearest me always." We know what it is that hinders God from +hearing us always; because we are not thoroughly one in his Son +Christ Jesus. But this unanswered prayer is not properly the State +of Christ's redeemed: it is an enemy that hath brought us to this; +the same enemy who will, in time, make all our prayers to be +unanswered, as some are now; who will cause God, not only to be +slow to listen, but to refuse to listen for ever. Now we are not +heard at once, we must repeat our prayers, with more and more +earnestness, that God, at last, may hear, and may bless us. But if, +instead of repeating them the more, we do the very contrary, and +repeat them the less; if, because we have no comfort, and no +seeming good from them, we give them up altogether; then the time +will surely come when all prayer will be but the hopeless prayer of +Esau, because it will be only the prayer of fear; because it will +be only the dread of destruction that will, or can, move us:--the +love of good will have gone beyond recall. Such prayer does but ask +for pardon without repentance; and this never is, or can be, +granted.</p> +<p>So then, in conclusion, that very feeling of coldness, and +unwillingness to pray, because we have often prayed in vain, is +surely working in us that perfect death, which is the full truth of +the words of the text. Of all of us, those who the least like to +pray, who have prayed with the least benefit, have the most need to +pray again. If they have sought God, without finding him, let them +take heed that this be not their case for ever; that the truth, of +which the seed is even now in them, may not be ripened to their +everlasting destruction, when all their seeking, and all their +prayer, will be as rejected by God, as, in part, it has been +already.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XIII."></a>LECTURE XIII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>MARK xii. 34.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Thou art not far from the kingdom of God</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>Whoever has gone up any hill of more than common height, may +remember the very different impression which the self-same point, +whether bush, or stone, or cliff, has made upon him as he viewed it +from below and from above. In going up it seemed so high, that we +fancied, if we were once arrived at it, we should be at the summit +of our ascent; while, when we had got beyond it, and looked down +upon it, it seemed almost sunk to the level of the common plain; +and we wondered that it could ever have appeared high to us.</p> +<p>What happens with any natural object according to the different +points from which we view it, happens also to any particular stage +of advancement in our moral characters. There is a goodness which +appears very exalted or very ordinary, according as it is much +above or much below our own level. And this is the case with the +expression of our Lord in the text, "Thou art not far from the +kingdom of God." Does this seem a great thing or a little thing to +be said to us? Does it give us a notion of a height which we should +think it happiness to have readied; or of a state so little +advanced, that it would be misery to be forced to go back to it? +For, according as it seems to us the one or the other, so we may +judge of the greater or less progress which we have made in +ascending the holy mountain of our God.</p> +<p>But while I say this, it is necessary to distinguish between two +several senses, in which we may be said to be near to the kingdom +of God, or actually in it. These two are in respect of knowledge, +and in respect of feeling and practice. And our Lord's words seem +to refer particularly to knowledge. The scribe to whom he used +them, had expressed so just a sense of the true way of pleasing +God, had so risen above the common false notions of his age and +country, that his understanding seemed to be ripe for the truths of +that kingdom of God, which was to make the worship of God to +consist in spirit and in truth. Now as far as the knowledge of the +kingdom of God is concerned, although, undoubtedly, there are many +amongst us who are deficient in it, yet it is true also, that a +great many of us are in possession of it; we are familiar enough +with the truths of the kingdom of God, and our understandings fully +approve them. But we may be near to or far from the kingdom of God, +in respect also of feeling and practice; and this is the great +matter that concerns us. It is here, then, that we should ask +ourselves what we think of our Lord's words in the text; and +whether he to whom they were spoken appears to us an object of envy +or of compassion; one whom we envy for having advanced so far, or +pity for not being advanced further.</p> +<p>"Not far from the kingdom of God." Again, if we take the words +Kingdom of God in their highest sense, then the expression contains +all that we could desire to have said of us in this life; hope +itself on this side of the grave can go no higher. For as, in this +sense, the kingdom of God cannot be actually entered before our +death; so the best thing that can be said of us here, is, that we +are not far from it; but we are in the land of Beulah, so happily +imagined in the Pilgrim's Progress; all of our pilgrimage +completed, save the last act of crossing the river; with the city +of God full in sight, and with hearts ready to enter into it. In +this sense, even St. Paul himself, when he wrote his last epistle +from Rome, could say no more, could hope for, could desire no more, +than to be not far from the kingdom of God.</p> +<p>Yet again, take the words "Kingdom of God" in their lowest +sense, and then it is woe to us all, if the expression in the text +is all that can be said of us; if, in this sense, we are only not +far from the kingdom of God. For take the kingdom of God as God's +visible Church, and then, if we are not Christians at all, but only +not far from becoming so; if we have not received Christ, but are +not far from receiving him; this is a state so imperfect, that he +who is in it, has not yet reached to the beginning of his Christian +course; and we need not say how far he must be from its end, if he +have not yet come as far as its beginning.</p> +<p>Thus, in one sense, the words express something so high that +nothing can be higher; in another, something so low, that, to us, +nothing can be lower. We have yet to seek that sense, in which they +may afford us a useful criterion of our own several states, by +appearing high, perhaps, to some of us, and to others low.</p> +<p>The sense which we seek is given by our Lord, when he declares +that the kingdom of God is within us; or by St. Paul, when he tells +us, that it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. And +now it is no more a thing which we cannot yet have reached, or, on +the other hand, which we all have reached: there is now a great +difference in us, some are far from it, some are near it, and some +are in it; and thus it is, that they who are near it, seem in it to +those who are afar off, and far from it to those who are in it.</p> +<p>Now, first, do they seem far from it? Then, indeed, ours is a +happy state, as many of us as can truly feel that they live so +constantly in holy and heavenly tempers, in such lively faith and +love, so tasting all the blessings of God's kingdom, its peace, and +its hope, and its joy, that they cannot bear to think of that time, +when these blessings were not enjoyed except in prospect; when they +rather desired to have faith and love, than could be said actually +to have them; when their tempers were not holy and heavenly, +although they were fully alive to the excellence of their being so, +and had seen them already cleansed from the opposites of such a +state, from ill-nature, and passion, and pride.</p> +<p>If any such there be, in whom good resolutions have long since +ripened into good actions, and the continued good actions have now +led to confirmed good habits, how miserable will they think it to +be only "not far from the kingdom of God!" How ill could they bear +to go over again the struggle which used to accompany every action, +when it was done in defiance of habits of evil; or to be called +back to that condition when resolutions for good were formed over +and over again, because they were so often broken, but had as yet +rarely led to any solid fruit! How thankful will they be to have +escaped from that season when they were seeking, but had not yet +found; when they were asking of God, but had not yet received; when +they were knocking, but the door had not yet been opened! They were +then, indeed, not far from the kingdom of God, but they were still +without its walls; they were still strangers, and not citizens. It +had held out to them a refuge, and they had fled to it as +suppliants to the sanctuary; but they had not yet had the word of +peace spoken, to bid them no more kneel without, as suppliants, but +to enter and go in and out freely; for that all things were theirs, +because they were Christ's.</p> +<p>I have dwelt purposely somewhat the longer upon this, because +the more that we can feel the truth of this picture, the more that +we can put ourselves into the position of those who are within the +kingdom of God, and who, living in the light of it, look back with +pity upon those who are only kneeling without its gates,--the more +strongly we shall feel what must be our condition, if those who are +without its gates appear to us to be objects of envy rather than +pity, because they are so near to that place from which we feel +ourselves to be so distant. Or, to speak without a figure, if we +could but understand how persons advanced in goodness would shrink +from the thought of being now only resolving to be good, then we +shall perceive how very evil must be our condition, if this very +resolving to be good seems to us to be an advance so desirable; if +we are so far from being good actually, that the very setting +ourselves in earnest to seek for good strikes us as a point of +absolute proficiency in comparison of our present degradation.</p> +<p>Yet is not this the case with many of us? Do we not consider it +a great point gained, if we can be brought to think seriously, to +pray in earnest, to read the Bible, to begin to look to our own +ways and lives? We feel it for ourselves, and others also feel it +for us: it is natural, it is unavoidable, that we feel great joy, +that we think a great deal is done, if we see any of you, after +leading a life of manifest carelessness, and therefore of manifest +sin, beginning to take more pains with himself, and so becoming +what is called somewhat more steady and more serious. I know that +the impression is apt to be too strong upon us: we are but too apt +to boast for him who putteth on his armour as for him who putteth +it off; because he who putteth on his armour at least shows that he +is preparing for the battle, which so many never do at all. We +observe some of these signs of seriousness: we see perhaps, that a +person begins to attend at the Communion; that he pays more +attention to his ordinary duties; that he becomes more regular. We +see this, and we are not only thankful for it,--this we ought to +be,--but we satisfy ourselves too readily that all is done: we +reckon a person, somewhat too hastily, to be already belonging to +the kingdom of God, because we have seen him turning towards it. +Then, if he afterwards does not appear to be entered into it; if we +see that he is not what we expected, that he is no longer serious, +no longer attentive to his common duties, we are overmuch +disappointed; and, perhaps are tempted too completely to despair +for him. Is it not that we confounded together the beginning and +the end; the being good, and the trying to become so: the +resolution with the act; the act with the habit? Did we not forget +that he is not at once out of danger who begins to mend: that the +first softening of the dry burning skin, the first abating of the +hard quick pulse, is far removed from the coolness, and steadiness, +and even vigour of health restored, or never interrupted?</p> +<p>But what made us forget truths so obvious? What made us confound +things so different that the most ignorant ought to be able to +distinguish them? Cannot we tell why it is? Is it not because there +are so many in whom we cannot see even as good signs as these,--of +whom we cannot but feel that it would be a great advance for them, +a matter of earnest thankfulness, if we could only see that they +were not far from the kingdom of God,--nay, even that their steps +were tending thither? Let us look ever so earnestly, let us watch +ever so carefully, let us hope ever so charitably, we cannot see, +we can scarcely fancy that we see, even the desire to turn to God. +We do not see gross wickedness; it is well; we see much that is +amiable; that is well also: but the desire to turn to God, the +tending of the steps towards the kingdom of heaven,--that we cannot +see. But this is a thing, it may be said, that man cannot see: it +may exist, although we cannot perceive it. Oh, that it might and +may be so! Yet, surely, as out of the abundance of the heart the +mouth speaketh, so a principle so mighty as the desire of turning +to God cannot leave itself without a witness: some symptoms must be +shown to those who are eagerly watching for them; some ground for +hope must be afforded where hope is so ready to kindle. If no sign +of life appears, can the life indeed be stirring? And if the life +be not stirring; if the disorder is going on in so many cases, +raging, with no symptom of abatement; is it not natural, that when +we do see such symptoms, we should rejoice even with over-measure, +that we should forget how much is yet to be done, when we see that +something has been done.</p> +<p>To such persons, it would be an enviable state, to be not far +from the kingdom of God. But what, then, must be their state +actually? A hopeful one, according to many standards of judgment; a +state that promises well, it may be, for a healthy and prosperous +life, with many friends, perhaps with much distinction. We know +that all this prospect may be blighted; still it exists at +present;--the healthy constitution, the easy fortune, the cheerful +and good-humoured temper, the quickness and power of understanding; +all these, no doubt, are hopeful signs for a period of forty, or +fifty, or perhaps sixty years to come. But what is to come then? +what is the prospect for the next period, not of fifty, or sixty, +not of a hundred, not of a thousand, years; not of any number that +can be numbered, but of time everlasting? Is their actual state one +of hopeful promise for this period, for this life which no death +shall terminate? Nay, is it a state of any promise at all, of any +chance at all? Suppose, for a moment, one with a crippled body, +full of the seeds of hereditary disease, poor, friendless, +irritable in temper, low in understanding; suppose such an one just +entering upon youth, and ask yourselves, for what would you consent +that his prospects should be yours? What should you think would be +your chance of happiness in life, if you were beginning in such a +condition? Yet, I tell you that poor, diseased, irritable, +friendless cripple has a far better prospect of passing his fifty, +or sixty, years, tolerably, than they who have not begun to turn +towards God have of a tolerable eternity. Much more wretched is the +promise of their life; much more justly should we be tempted, +concerning them, to breathe that fearful thought, that it were good +for them if they had never been born. And now if, as by miracle, +that cripple's limbs were to be at once made sound, if the seeds of +disease were to vanish, if some large fortune were left him, if his +temper sweetened, and his mind became vigorous, should not we be +excused, considering what he had been and what he now was, if we, +for a moment, forgot the uncertainty of the future; if we thought +that a promise so changed, was almost equivalent to performance? +And may not this same excuse be urged for some over-fondness of +confidence for their well-doing whom we see so near to the kingdom +of God, when we consider how utter is the misery, how hopeless the +condition of those who do not appear to have, as yet, stirred one +single step towards it?</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XIV."></a>LECTURE XIV.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>MATTHEW xxii. 14.</center> +<br> +<center><i>For many are called, but few are chosen</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>The truth here expressed is one of the most solemn in the world, +and would be one of the most overwhelming to us, if habit had not, +in a manner, blunted our painful perception of it. There is +contained in it matter of thought more than we could exhaust, and +deeper than we could ever fathom. But on this I will not attempt to +enter. I will rather take that view of the text which concerns us +here; I will see in how many senses it is true, and with what +feeling we should regard it.</p> +<p>"Many are called, but few are chosen." The direct application of +this was to the parable of those invited to the supper; in which it +had been related, how a great multitude had been invited, but how +one among them--and the application as well as the fact in human +life, require that this <i>one</i> should be taken only as a +specimen of a great number--had been found unworthy to enjoy the +feast prepared for them. They had not on the wedding garment; they +had not done their part to fit themselves for the offered blessing: +therefore they were called, but not chosen. God had willed to do +them good, but they would not; and therefore, though he had called +them at the beginning, he, in the end, cast them out.</p> +<p>We have to do, then, not with an arbitrary call and an arbitrary +choice, as if God called many in mockery, meaning to choose out of +them only a few, and making his choice independently of any +exertion of theirs. The picture is very different; it is a gracious +call to us all, to come and receive the blessing; it is a reluctant +casting out the greatest part of us, because we would not try to +render ourselves fit for it.</p> +<p>I said, that we would take the words of the text in reference to +ourselves, for here, too, it is true, that many are called, but few +are chosen. It is a large number of you, which I see before me; and +if we add to it all those who, within my memory, have sat in the +same places before you, we shall have a number very considerable +indeed. All these have been called; they have been sent here to +enjoy the same advantages with each other; and those advantages +have been put within their reach. They have entered into a great +society which, on the one hand, might raise them forward, or, on +the other, depress them. There has been a sufficient field for +emulation: there have been examples and instructions for good; +there have been results of credit and of real improvement made +attainable to them, which might have lasted all their lives long. +To this, they have been all, in their turns, called; and out of +those so called, have all, or nearly all, been chosen? I am not +speaking of those, who, I trust, would be a very small number, to +whom the trial has failed utterly, who could look back on their +stay here with no feelings but those of shame. But would there not +be a very large number, to whom their stay here has been a loss, +compared with what it might have been; who have reaped but a very +small part of those advantages to which they had been at first +called? Are there not too many who must look back on a part, at +least, of their time here as wasted; on the seeds of bad habits +sown, which, if conquered by after-care, yet, for a long time, were +injurious to them? Are there not too many who carry away from here, +instead of good notions, to be ripened and improved, evil notions, +to be weeded out and destroyed? Are there not, in short, a great +number who, after having had a great advantage put within their +reach, and purchased for them by their friends, at a great expense, +have made such insufficient use of their opportunities, to say +nothing stronger, as to make it a question afterwards, whether it +might not have been better for them had they never come here at +all?</p> +<p>Thus far I have been speaking of what are called the advantages +of this place in our common language. That argument, which Butler +has so nobly handled, in one of the greatest works in our language, +the resemblance, namely, between the course of things earthly and +that of things spiritual, is one which we should never fail to +notice. We can discern the type, as it were, of the highest truth +of our Lord's sayings in the experience of our common life in +worldly things. When he tells us, speaking of things spiritual, +that "many are called, but few are chosen;" that "whoso hath, to +him shall be given; but from him that hath not shall be taken away +even that which he hath,"--although the highest truth contained in +these words be yet, in part, matter of faith, for we have not yet +seen the end of God's dealings with us: yet what we do see, the +evident truth of the words, that is, in respect to God's dealings +with us in the course of his earthly providence, may reasonably +assure us of their truth no less in respect to those dealings of +God which as yet are future. I began, therefore, with reminding you +of the truth of the words of the text with regard to worldly +advantages; that even here, on this small scale, the general law +holds good; that more things are provided for us than we will +consent to use; that, in short, "many are called, but few are +chosen."</p> +<p>But it were ill done to limit our view to this: we are called to +much more than worldly advantages; and what if here, too, we add +one more example to confirm our Lord's words, that "many are +called, but few chosen?" Now here, as I said, it is very true that +God's choice is as yet not a matter of sight or of certainty to us; +we cannot yet say of ourselves, or of any other set of living men, +that "few are chosen." But though the full truth is not yet +revealed, still, as there is a type of it in our worldly +experience, so there is also a higher type, an earnest, of it in +our spiritual experience: there is a sense, and that a very true +and a very important one, in which we can say already, say now, +actually, in the life that now is; say, even in the early stage of +it, that some are, and some are not, "chosen."</p> +<p>We have all been called, in a Christian sense, inasmuch as we +have been all introduced into Christ's church by Baptism; and a +very large proportion of us have been called again, many of us not +very long since, at our Confirmation. We have been thus called to +enter into Christ's kingdom: we have been called to lead a life of +holiness and happiness from this time forth even for ever. Nothing +can be stronger than the language in which the Scripture speaks of +the nature of our high calling: "All things," says St. Paul to the +Corinthians, "all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or +Peter, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or +things to come, all are yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is +God's." Now, if this be the prize to which we are called, who are +they who are also chosen to it? In the first and most complete +sense, no doubt, those who have entered into their rest; who are in +no more danger, however slight; with whom the struggle is +altogether past, and the victory securely won. These are entered +within the veil, whither we can as yet penetrate only in hope. But +hope, in its highest degree, differs little from assurance; and +even, as we descend lower and lower, still, where hope is clearly +predominant, there is, if not assurance, yet a great encouragement; +and the Scripture, which delights to carry encouragement to the +highest pitch to those who are following God, allows of our saying +of even these that they are God's chosen. It gives them, as it +were, the title beforehand, to make them feel how doubly miserable +it must be not only not to obtain it, but to forfeit it after it +had been already ours. So then, there are senses in which we may +say that some are chosen now; although, strictly speaking, the term +can by us be applied, in its full sense, to those only who are +passed beyond the reach of evil.</p> +<p>Those, then, we may call chosen, who, having heard their call, +have turned to obey it, and have gone on following it. Those we may +call chosen,--I do not say chosen irrevocably, but chosen now; +chosen so that we may be very thankful to God on their behalf, and +they thankful for themselves,--who, since their Confirmation, or +since a period more remote, have kept God before their face, and +tried to do His will. Those are, in the same way, chosen, who +having found in themselves the sin which did most easily beset +them, have struggled with it, and wholly, or in a great measure, +have overcome it. Thus, they are chosen, who, having lived either +in the frequent practice of selfish, extravagance, or of falsehood, +or of idleness, or of excess in eating and drinking, have turned +away from these things, and, for Christ's sake, have renounced +them. They are chosen, I think, in yet a higher sense, who, having +found their besetting sin to be, not so much any one particular +fault, as a general ungodly carelessness, a lightness which for +ever hindered them from serving God, have struggled with this most +fatal enemy; and, even in youth, and health, and happiness, have +learnt what it is to be sober-minded, what it is to think. Now, +such as these have, in a manner, entered into their inheritance; +they are not merely called, but chosen. God and spiritual things +are not mere names to them, they are a reality. Such persons have +tasted of the promises; they have known the pleasure--and what +pleasure is comparable to it?--of feeling the bonds of evil passion +or evil habit unwound from about their spirit; they have learnt +what is that glorious liberty of being able to abstain from the +things which we condemn, to do the things which we approve. They +have felt true sense of power succeed to that of weakness. It is a +delightful thing, after a long illness, after long helplessness, +when our legs have been unable to support our weight, when our arms +could lift nothing, our hands grasp nothing, when it was an effort +to raise our head from the pillow, and it tired us even to speak in +a whisper,--it is a delightful thing to feel every member restored +to its proper strength; to find that exercise of limb, of voice, of +body, which had been so long a pain, become now a source of +perpetual pleasure. This is delightful; it pays for many an hour of +previous weakness. But it is infinitely more delightful to feel the +change from weakness to strength in our souls; to feel the languor +of selfishness changed for the vigour of benevolence; to feel +thought, hope, faith, love, which before were lying, as it were, in +helplessness, now bounding in vigorous activity; to find the soul, +which had been so long stretched as upon the sick bed of this +earth, now able to stand upright, and looking and moving steadily +towards heaven.</p> +<p>These are chosen; and they to whom this description does in no +degree apply, they are not chosen. They are not chosen in any +sense, they are called only. And, now, what is the proportion +between the one and the other; are there as many chosen as there +have been many called? Or do Christ's words apply in our case no +less than in others; that though they who are called are many, yet +they who are chosen are few?</p> +<p>This I dare not answer; there is a good as well as an evil which +is unseen to the world at large, unseen even by all but those who +watch us most nearly and most narrowly. All we can say is, that +there are too many, who we must fear are not chosen; there are too +few, of whom we can feel sure that they are. Yet hope is a wiser +feeling than its opposite; it were as wrong as it would be +miserable to abandon it. How gladly would we hope the best things +of all those whom we saw this morning at Christ's holy table! How +gladly would we believe of all such, that they were more than +called merely; that they had listened to the call: that they had +obeyed it; that they had already gained some Christian victories; +that they were, in some sense, not called only, but chosen. But +this we may say; that hope which we so long to entertain, that hope +too happy to be at once indulged in, you may authorize us to feel +it; you may convert it into confidence. Do you ask how? By going on +steadily in good, by advancing from good to better, by not letting +impressions fade with time. Now, with many of you, your +confirmation is little more than three months distant; when we next +meet at Christ's table, it will have passed by nearly half-a-year. +It may be, that, in that added interval, it will have lost much of +its force; that, from various causes, evil may have abounded in you +more than good; that then shame, or a willing surrender of +yourselves to carelessness, will keep away from Christ's Communion, +many who have this day joined in it. But, if this were not to be +so; if those, whom we have seen with joy this day communicating +with us in the pledges of Christian fellowship, should continue to +do so steadily; if, in the meantime, traits shall appear in you in +other things that our hope was well founded; if the hatred of evil +and the love of good were to be clearly manifest in you; if by +signs not to be mistaken by those who watch earnestly for them, we +might be assured that your part was taken, that you were striving +with us in that service of our common Master, in which we would +fain live and die; if evil was clearly lessened among us--not +laughed at, but discouraged and put down; if instead of those +turning away, who have now been with us at Christ's table, others, +who have now turned away, should then be added to the number; then +we should say, not doubtingly, that you were chosen: that you had +tasted of the good things of Christ; that the good work of God was +clearly begun in you. We might not, indeed, be without care, either +for you or for ourselves: God forbid, that, in that sense, any of +us should deem that we were chosen, until the grave has put us +beyond temptation. But how happy were it to think of you as +Christ's chosen, in that sense which should be a constant +encouragement to us all: to think of you as going on towards God; +to think of you as living to him daily; to think of you as on his +side against all his enemies; to think of you as led by his Spirit, +as living members of his holy and glorious Church,--militant now, +in heaven triumphant!</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XV."></a>LECTURE XV.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>LUKE xi. 25.</center> +<br> +<center><i>When he cometh, he findeth it swept and +garnished</i>.</center> +<br> +<center>JOHN v. 42.</center> +<br> +<center><i>I know you, that ye have not the love of God in +you</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>These passages, of which the first is taken from the gospel of +this morning's service, the other from the second lesson, differ in +words, but their meaning is very nearly the same. The house which +was empty, swept and garnished, was especially one empty of the +love of God. Whatever evil there may not have been in it; whatever +good there may have been in those of whom Christ spoke in the +second passage: yet it and they agreed in this; one thing they had +not, which alone was worth, all the rest besides; they had not the +love of God.</p> +<p>And so it is still; many are the faults which we have not; many +are the good qualities which we have; but the life is wanting. What +is so rare as to find one who is not indifferent to God? What so +rare, even rarer than the other, as to find one who actually loves +him?</p> +<p>Therefore it is that those who go in at the broad gate of +destruction are many, and those who go in at the narrow gate of +life are few. For destruction and life are but other terms for +indifference to God on the one hand, and love to him on the other. +All who are indifferent to him, die; a painless death of mere +extinction, if, like the brute creation, they have never been made +capable of loving him; or a living death of perpetual misery, if, +like evil spirits and evil men, they might have loved him and would +not. And so all who love him, live a life, from first to last, +without sin and sorrow, if, like the holy angels, they have loved +him always; a life partaking at first of death, but brightening +more and more unto the perfect day, if, like Christians, they were +born in sin, but had been redeemed and sanctified to +righteousness.</p> +<p>Whoever has watched human character, whether in the young or the +old, must be well aware of the truth of this: he will know that the +value of any character is in proportion to the existence or to the +absence of this feeling, or rather, I should say, this principle. +An exception may, perhaps, be made for a small, a very small number +of fanatics; an apparent exception likewise exists in the case of +many who seem to be religious, but who really are not so. The few +exceptions of the former case are so very few, that we need not now +stop to consider them, nor to inquire how far even these would be +exceptions if we could read the heart as God reads it. The seeming +exceptions being cases either of hypocrisy, or of very common +self-deceit, we need not regard either; for they are, of course, no +real objection to the truth of the general statement. It remains +true, then, generally, that the value of any character is in +proportion to the existence, or to the absence, in it of the love +of God.</p> +<p>But is there not another exception to be made for the case of +children, and of very young persons? Are they capable of loving +God? and are not their earthly relations, their parents especially, +put to them, as it were, in the place of God, as objects of trust, +of love, of honour, of obedience, till their minds can open to +comprehend the love of their Father who is in heaven? And does not +the Scripture itself, in the few places in which it seems directly +to address children, content itself with directing them to obey and +honour their parents? Some notions of this sort are allowed, I +believe, to serve sometimes as an excuse, when young persons are +blamed for being utterly wanting in a sense of duty to God.</p> +<p>The passages which direct children to obey their parents, are of +the same kind with those, directing slaves to obey their masters, +and masters to be kind to their slaves; like those, also, which +John the Baptist addressed to the soldiers and publicans: in none +of all which there is any command to love God, but merely a command +to fulfil that particular duty which most arose out of the +particular relation, or calling of the persons addressed. In fact, +when parents are addressed, they are directed only to do their +duties to their children, just as children are directed to do +theirs to their parents; in both cases alike, the common duty of +parents and children to God is not dwelt upon, because that is a +duty which does not belong to them as parents, or as children, but +as human beings; and as such, it belongs to all alike. In fact, the +very language of St. Paul's command to children implies this; for +he says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is +right:" right, that is, in the sight of God: so that the very +reason for which children are to discharge their earthly duties is, +because that earthly duty is commanded by, or involved in, their +heavenly duty; if they do not do it, they will not please God. But +it is manifest that, in this respect, there is for all of us one +only law, so soon as we are able to understand it. The moment that +a child becomes capable of understanding anything about God and +Christ,--and how early that is, every parent can testify,--that +moment the duty to love God and Christ begins. It were absurd to +say, that this duty has not begun at the age of boyhood. A boy is +able to understand the force of religious motives, as well as he +can that of earthly motives: he cannot understand either, perhaps, +so well as he will hereafter; but he understands both enough, for +the purposes of his salvation; enough, to condemn him before God, +if he neglects them; enough to make him derive the greatest benefit +from faithfully observing them.</p> +<p>And what can have been the purpose with which the only +particular of our Lord's early life has been handed down to us, if +it were not to direct our attention to this special truth, that our +youth, no less than our riper age, belongs to God? "Wist ye not +that I must be about my Father's business?" were words spoken by +our Lord when he was no more than twelve years old. At twelve years +old, he thought of preparing himself for the duties of his +after-life; and of preparing himself for them, because they were +God's will. He was to be about his Father's business. This is +Christ's example for the young; this, and scarcely anything more +than this, is recorded of his early years. Those are not like +Christ who, at that same age, or even older, never think at all of +the business of their future lives, still less would think of it, +not as the means of their own maintenance or advancement, but as +the duty which they owe to God.</p> +<p>Such as these are the very persons whose hearts are like the +house in the parable, empty, swept, and garnished. The house so +described in the parable is one out of which an evil spirit has +just departed. In case of the young, the evil spirit in this sense, +that is, as representing some one particular favourite sin, may +perhaps have never entered it. That empty, swept, and garnished +house, how like is it to what I have seen, to what I am seeing so +continually, when a boy comes here with much still remaining of the +innocence of childhood! Evil spirit, in the sense of any one +particular vice, there is none to be found in that heart, nor has +there been any ever. It is empty, swept, and garnished: there is +the absence of evil; there are the various faculties, the +furniture, as they may be called, of the house of our spirits, +which the spirit uses either for evil or for good. There is +innocence, then; there is, also, the promise of power. God hath +richly endowed the earthly house of our tabernacle: various and +wonderful is the furniture of body and mind with which it is +supplied. How can we help admiring that open and cheerful brow +which, as yet, no care or sin has furrowed; those light and active +limbs, full of health and vigour; the eye so quick; the ear so +undulled; the memory so ready; the young curiosity so eager to take +in new knowledge; the young feelings, not yet spoiled by +over-excitement, ready to admire, ready to love? There is the +house, the house of God's building, the house which must abide for +ever; but where is the spirit to inhabit it? Evil spirit there is +none: is it, then, possessed by the Spirit of God? Has the fire +from heaven as yet descended upon that house,--the living sign of +God's presence, which alone can convert the house of perishable +clay into the everlasting temple?</p> +<p>Can that blessed Spirit of God be indeed there, and yet no sign +of his presence be manifest? It may be so, or to speak more truly, +it might have been supposed to be so, if God's word had not +declared the contrary. What God's secret workings are; in how many +ways, to us inscrutable, he may pervade all nature; in how many +cases he may be near us, and we know it not; may, perhaps, be +amongst those real mysteries, those truths revealed to none, nor to +be revealed; those yet uncleared forests, so to speak, of the world +of nature, into which the light of grace has not been permitted to +penetrate. But all such mysteries are to us as if they did not +exist at all: we have nothing to do with them. God has told us +nothing of his unseen and undiscernible presence; when and where he +is so present, he is to us as if he were not present at all. God +was in the wilderness of Horeb before the bush was kindled; but he +was not there for Moses. God, in some sense discernible, it may be, +to other beings, may be in that house which, to us is empty; but +God, our own God, the Holy Spirit, into whose service we were +baptized, where he is, the house is not empty to us, but full of +light. Invisible in himself, the signs of his presence are most +visible: where no works, no fruits of the Holy Spirit are to be +discerned, there, according to our Lord's express declaration, +there the Holy Spirit is not.</p> +<p>But the light which declares his presence may indeed be a little +spark; just to be seen, and no more. It may show that he has not +abandoned all his right to the house of our tabernacle as yet; that +he would desire to possess us fully. Such a little spark, such an +evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence, is to be found in the +outward profession of Christianity. They who call Jesus Lord, do it +by the Holy Ghost; and, therefore, it is quite true in this sense, +that in every baptized Christian, who has not utterly apostatized, +there is that faint sign of the Holy Spirit's still having a claim +upon him; he is not yet utterly cast off. This is true; but it is +not to our present purpose; such a feeble sign is a sign of God's +yet unwearied mercy, but no sign of our salvation. The presence +with which the parable is concerned, is a far more effectual +presence than this; the house in which there is no more than such a +faint sign of a divine inhabitant, is, in the language of the +parable, empty. To no purpose of our salvation is the Spirit of God +present in the house, when the light of his presence does not flash +forth from every part of it, when it is not manifest, not only that +he has not quite cast it off to go to ruin, but that he has been +pleased to make it his temple.</p> +<p>In this sense, therefore, in this practical, scriptural, +Christian sense, those many young minds, which we have seen so +often, may truly be called empty. But will they remain so long? How +often have I seen the early innocence of boyhood overcast; the +natural simplicity of boyhood, its open truth, its confident +affection, its honest shame, perverted, blunted, hardened! How +often have I seen the seven evil spirits enter in and dwell +there,--I know not, and never may know, whether to be cast out +again, or to abide for ever. But I have seen them enter, and, +whilst the person was yet within my view, I have not seen them +depart. And why have they entered; why have they marred that which +was so beautiful? For one only reason,--because the house was +empty, because the Spirit of God was not there: there was no love +of God, no thought of God. Mere innocence taints and spoils as +surely before the influence of the world, as true principle +flourishes in spite of it, and strengthens. This, too, I have seen, +not once only: I have seen the innocence of early boyhood +sanctified by something better than innocence, which gave a promise +of abiding. I have seen, in other words, that the house was not +empty; that the Spirit of God was there. I have watched the effect +of those influences, which you know so well: the second half-year +came, a period when mere innocence is sure to be worn away, greatly +tainted, if not utterly gone; but still, in the cases which I am +now alluding to, the promise of good was not less, but greater, +there was a more tried, and, therefore, a stronger goodness. I have +watched this, too, till it passed on, out of my sight. I never saw +the blessed Spirit of God depart from the house which he had +chosen: I well believe that he abides in it still, and will abide +in it even to the day of Jesus Christ.</p> +<p>This I have seen, and this I shall continue to see; for still +the great work of evil and of good is going on; still the house, at +first empty, is possessed by the spirits of evil, or by the Spirit +of God. And if we do not see the signs of the Spirit of God, we are +but too sure that the evil spirit is there. We know him by the +manifold signs of folly, coarseness, carelessness; even when we see +not, as yet, his worse fruits of falsehood and profligacy. We know +him by the sign of an increased, and increasing selfishness, the +everlasting cry of the thousand passions of our nature, all for +ever calling out, "Give, give;" all for ever impatient, +complaining, when their gratification is withheld, when the call of +duty is set before them. We know him by pride and self-importance, +as if nothing was so great as self, as if our own opinions, +judgment, feelings were to be consulted in all things. We know him +by the deep ungodliness which he occasions--no thought of God, much +less any love of him; living utterly without him in the world, or, +at least, whilst health and prosperity continue. These are the +fatal signs which show that the house is no longer empty; that the +evil spirits have entered in, and dwell there, to make it theirs, +as too often happens, for time and for eternity.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XVI."></a>LECTURE XVI.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>MATHEW xi. 10.</center> +<br> +<center><i>I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare +thy way before thee</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>If it was part of God's dispensation, that there should be one +to prepare the way before Christ's first coming, it may be expected +much more, that there should be some to prepare the way before his +second. And so it is expressed in the collect for the third Sunday +in Advent: "O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send +thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; grant that the +ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and +make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the +wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we +may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and +reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world +without end. Amen." NOW, in what does this preparing for him +consist; and what is its object? The Scripture will inform us as to +both. The object is, "Lest he come and smite the earth with a +curse;" lest, when he shall come, his coming, which should be our +greatest joy and happiness, should be our everlasting destruction; +for there can abide before him nothing that is evil. This is the +object of preparing for Christ's coming. Next, in what does the +preparation consist? It consists in teaching men to live above the +common notions of their age and country; to raise their standard +higher; to live after what is right in God's judgment, which often +casts away, as faulty and bad, what men were accustomed to think +good. And as the people of Israel, although they had God's +revelation among them, had yet let their standard of good and evil +become low, even so it has been in the Christian Israel. We have +God's will in our hands, yet our judgments are not formed upon it; +and, therefore, they who would prepare us for Christ's coming, must +set before us a commandment which is new, although old: in one +sense old, in every generation, inasmuch as it is the same which we +had from the beginning; in another sense, in every generation more +new, inasmuch, as the habits opposed to it have become the more +confirmed; and the longer the night has lasted, the more strange to +our eyes is the burst of the returning light.</p> +<p>But when we thus speak of the common notions of our age and +country being deficient, and thus, in effect, commend notions which +would be singular, do we not hold a language inconsistent with our +common language and practice? Do we not commonly regard singularity +as a fault, and attach a considerable authority to the consent of +men in general? Nay, do we not often appeal to this consent as to a +proof which a sane mind must admit as decisive? Even in speaking of +good and evil, have not the very words gained their present sense +because the common consent of mankind has agreed to combine notions +of self-satisfaction, of honour, and of love, with what we call +good, and the contrary with what we call evil?</p> +<p>A short time may, perhaps, not be misapplied in endeavouring to +explain this matter; in showing where, and for what reasons, the +common opinion of our society is to be followed, where it is to be +suspected, and where it is absolutely to be shunned or trampled +under foot, as clearly and certainly evil.</p> +<p>I must begin with little things, in order to show the whole +question plainly. Take those tastes in us which most resemble the +instincts of a brute; and you will find that in these, as with +instinct, common consent becomes a sure rule. When I speak of those +tastes which most resemble instincts, I mean those in which nature, +doing most for us at first, leaves least for us to learn for +ourselves. This seems the character of instinct: it is far more +complete than reason in its first stage, but it admits of no after +improvement; the brute in the thousandth generation is no way +advanced beyond the brute in the first. Of our tastes, even of +those belonging to our bodily senses, that which belongs to what +are called particularly our organs of taste is the one most +resembling an instinct: we have less to do for its improvement than +in any other instance. Men being here, then, upon an equality, with +a faculty given to all by nature, and improved particularly by +none, those who differ from the majority are likely to differ not +from excellence but from defect: not because they have a more +advanced reason, but because they have a less healthy instinct, +than their neighbours. Thus, in those matters which relate to the +sense of taste--I am obliged to take this almost trivial instance, +because it so well illustrates the principle of the whole +question--we hold the consent of men in general to be a good rule. +If any one were to choose to feed upon what this common taste had +pronounced to be disgusting, we should not hesitate to say that +such an appetite was diseased and monstrous.</p> +<p>Now, let us take our senses of sight and hearing, and we shall +find that just in the proportion in which these less resemble +instincts than the sense of taste, so is common consent a less +certain rule. Up to a certain point they are instincts: there are +certain sounds which, I suppose, are naturally disagreeable to the +ear; while, on the other hand, bright and rich colours are, +perhaps, naturally attractive to the eye. But, then, sight and +hearing are so connected with our minds that they are susceptible +of very great cultivation, and thus differ greatly from instincts. +As the mind opens, outward sights and sounds become connected with +a great number of associations, and thus we learn to think the one +or the other beautiful, for reasons which really depend very much +on the range of our own ideas. Consider, for a moment, the +beautiful in architecture. If the model of the leaning tower of +Pisa were generally adopted in our public buildings, all men's +common sense would cry out against it as a deformity, because a +leaning wall would convey to every mind the notion of insecurity, +and every body would feel that it was unpleasant to see a building +look exactly as if it were going to fall down. Now, what I have +called common sense is, in a manner, the instinct of our reason: it +is that uniform level of reason which all sane persons reach to, +and the wisest in matters within its province do not surpass. But +go beyond this, and architecture is no longer a matter of mere +common sense, but of science, and of cultivated taste. Here the +standard of beauty is not fixed by common consent; but, in the +first instance, devised or discovered by the few: and, so far as it +is received by the many, received by them on the authority of the +few, and sanctioned, so to speak, not so much from real sympathy +and understanding, as from a reasonable trust and deference to +those who are believed the best judges.</p> +<p>Here, then, we suppose that the common judgment is right; but we +perceive a difference between this case and the one mentioned +before, inasmuch as in the first instance the right judgment of the +mass of mankind is their own; in the second instance, they have +adopted it out of deference to others. Not only, then, will men's +common judgment be right in matters of instinct and of common +sense, but also in higher matters, where, although they could not +have discovered what was right, yet they were perfectly willing to +adopt it, when discovered by others. And this opens a very wide +field. For in all matters which come under the dominion of fashion, +where the avowed object is the convenience or gratification of +society, men listen to those who profess to teach them with almost +an excess of docility: they will adopt sometimes fashions which are +not convenient. But yet, as men can tell well enough by experience +whether they do find a thing convenient and agreeable or not, so it +is most likely that fashions which continue long and generally +prevalent are founded upon sound principles; because else men, +being well capable of knowing what convenience is, and being also +well disposed to follow it, would neither have been very long or +very generally mistaken in this matter; nor would have acquiesced +in their mistake contentedly.</p> +<p>We do perfectly right, then, to regard the common opinion as a +rule in all points of dress, in our houses and furniture, in those +lighter usages of society which come under the denomination of +manners, as distinguished from morals. In all these, if the mass of +mankind could not find out what would best suit them, yet they are +quite ready to adopt it when it is found out; and so they equally +arrive at truth. But take away this readiness, and the whole case +is altered. If there be any point in which men are not ready to +adopt what is best for them; if they are either indifferent, or +still more, if they are averse to it; if they thus have neither the +power of discovering it for themselves, nor the will to avail +themselves of it, when discovered for them; then it is clear that, +in such a point, the common judgment will be of no value, nay, +there will even be a presumption that it is wrong.</p> +<p>Now as the common consent of mankind was most sure in matters +where their sense most resembled instinct, that is, where nature +had done most for them, and left them least to do for themselves; +as here, therefore, they who are sound are the great majority, and +the exceptions are no better than disease; so if there be any part +of us which is the direct opposite to instinct, a part in which +nature has done next to nothing for us, and all is to be done by +ourselves; then, here the common consent of mankind will be of the +least value; here the majority will be helpless and worthless; and +they who are happy enough to be exceptions to this majority, will +be no other than Christ's redeemed.</p> +<p>Now, again, if this deficient part of our nature could be seen +purely distinct from every other; if it alone dictated our +language, and inspired our actions, then it would follow, that +language which must ever be fixed by the majority, would be, in +fact, the language of the world of infinite evil; and our actions +those of mere devils. Then, whoever of us would be saved, must +needs begin by forswearing, altogether, both the language and the +actions of his fellow-men. But this is not so; in almost every +instance this deficient part of our nature acts along with others +that are not so corrupted; it mars their work, undoubtedly; it +often confuses and perverts our language; it always taints our +actions; but it does not wholly usurp either the one or the other; +and thus, by God's blessing, man's language yet affords a high +witness to divine truth, and even men's judgments and actions +testify, though with infinite imperfection, to the existence and +excellence of goodness.</p> +<p>And this it is which forms one of the great perplexities of +life; for as there is enough of what is right in men's judgments +and conduct to forbid us from saying, that we must take the very +rule of contraries, and think and do just the opposite to the +opinions and practice of men in general; so, on the other hand, +there is always so much wrong in them, that we may never dare to +follow them as a standard, but shall find, that if trusted to as +such, they will inevitably betray us. So that in points of greater +moment than mere manners and fashion, it will ever be true, that if +we would be prepared for Christ's coming, we must rise to a far +higher standard than that of society in general; that in the +greatest concerns of human life, the practice of the majority, +though always containing something of good, is yet in its +prevailing character, as regards God, so evil, that they who are +content to follow it cannot be saved.</p> +<p>This is the explanation of the apparent difficulty in the +general, and thus, while acknowledging that there are points in +which men, by common consent, make out what is best; and others in +which, although they do not make it out, nor at first appreciate +it, yet they are very willing to adopt it upon trust, and so come +by experience to value it; while, therefore, there are a great many +things in which singularity is either a disease or a foolishness; +so again there are other points in which men in general have not +the power to make out what is good, nor yet the docility to adopt +it; and, therefore, in these points, which relate to the great +matters of life, singularity is wisdom and salvation, and he who +does as others do, perishes. That is what is called the corruption +of human nature. I shall attempt, on another occasion, to go into +some further details, and show, by common examples, how strangely +our judgment and practice contain, with much that is right, just +that one taint or defect which, as a whole, spoils them. And this +one defect will be found to be, as the Scripture declares, a defect +in our sense of our relation towards God.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XVII."></a>LECTURE XVII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>1 CORINTHIANS ii. 12.</center> +<br> +<center><i>We have received not the spirit of the world, but the +Spirit which is of God</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>And, therefore, he goes on to say, our language is different +from that of others, and not always understood by them; the natural +man receiveth not the things of God, for they are foolishness unto +him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually +discerned. That is, they are discerned only by a faculty which he +has not, namely, by the Spirit; and, therefore, as beings devoid of +reason cannot understand the truths of science, or of man's wisdom, +for they are without the faculty which can discern them; so beings +devoid of God's Spirit cannot understand the truths of God.</p> +<p>Now, in order to turn this passage to our profit, we need not +consider those who are wholly without God's Spirit, or inquire +whether, indeed, there be any such; it is not that there are two +broadly marked divisions of all men, those who have not the Spirit +of God at all, and those who have it abundantly: if it were so, the +separation of the great day of judgment would be begun already, nor +would it require, in order to effect it rightly, the wisdom of Him +who trieth the very hearts and reins. No doubt there will be at +last but two divisions of us all, the saved and the lost; but now +the divisions are infinite; so much so that the great body of us +offer much matter for hope as well as for fear. We cannot say, that +they are without the Spirit of God; yet neither can we say that +they are led by the Spirit, so as to be God's true servants. We +cannot say, that the things of God's are absolutely to them as +foolishness; yet certainly, we cannot say either, that they are to +them as the divinest wisdom.</p> +<p>And here we return to the subject on which I was speaking last +Sunday. It is because we are not led by the Spirit of God, but have +within us much of the spirit of the world, that our judgments of +right and wrong are so faulty; and that this faultiness is +particularly seen in our faint sense of our relations to God. These +relations seem continually foolishness to us, because they are +spiritually discerned, and we have so little of God's Spirit to +enable us to discern them. And our blindness here affects our whole +souls; we have, in consequence of it, a much fainter perception +even of those truths which reason can discern by herself; or, at +any rate, if we do not doubt them, they have over us much less +influence.</p> +<p>Now we will first see how much of natural reason, and even of +the Spirit of God, does exist in our common judgments; for it is +fair to see and to allow what there is of right in our language and +sentiments, as well as to note what is wrong. Reason influences +thus much, that we not only commend good generally, and blame evil; +but even, in particular cases, we commend, I think, each separate +virtue, and we blame each separate vice. I never heard of justice, +truth, kindness, self-denial, &c., being other than approved of +in themselves; or injustice, falsehood, malice, and selfishness +being other than condemned. And the Spirit of God influences at +least thus much, that we shrink from direct blasphemy and +profaneness; we cannot but respect those whom we believe to be +living sincerely in the fear of God; and further, if we thought our +death near, we should desire to hear of God, and to depart from +this life under his favour. No doubt, all such feelings, so far as +they go, are the work of God's Spirit: whatever is good and right +in our minds towards God, that proceeds not from the spirit of the +world, but from the Spirit of God.</p> +<p>Where, then, is the great defect which yet continually makes our +practical judgments quite wrong; which makes us, in fact, so often +countenance and support evil, and discountenance and discourage +good? First, it is owing to the spirit of carelessness. One of the +most emphatic terms by which a good man is expressed in the +language of the Greek philosophers, is that of [Greek: opdouiaos], +"one who is in earnest." To be in earnest is, indeed, with, most of +us, the same as to be good; it is not that we love evil, but that +we are indifferent both to it and to good. Now, many of us are very +seldom in earnest. By this I mean, that the highest part of our +minds, and that which judges of the highest things, is generally +slumbering or but half awake. We may go through, a very busy day, +and yet not be, in this true sense, in earnest at all; our best +faculties may, as it were, be all the while sleeping or playing. It +is notorious how much this is so in the common intercourse of +society in the world. Light anecdotes; playful remarks; +discussions, it may be, about the affairs of the neighbourhood, or, +in some companies, on questions of science or party politics; all +these may be often heard; but we may talk on all these brilliantly +and well, and yet our best nature may not once be called to exert +itself. So again, in mere routine business, it is the same: the +body may toil; the pen move swiftly; the thoughts act in the +particular matter before them vigorously; and yet we our proper +selves, beings understanding and choosing between good and evil, +have never bestirred ourselves at all. It has been but a +skirmishing at the outposts; not a sword had been drawn in the main +battle. Take younger persons, and the same thing is the case even +more palpably. Here there is less of business in the common sense +of the term; the mind is almost always unbraced and resting. We +pass through the good and evil of our daily life, and our proper +self scarcely ever is aroused to notice either the one or the +other.</p> +<p>But the worst of it is, that this carelessness is not altogether +accidental: it is a carelessness which we do not wish to break. So +long as it lasts, we manage to get the activity and interest of +life, without a sense of its responsibility. We like exceedingly to +lay the reins, as it were, upon the neck of our inclinations, to go +where they take us, and to ask no questions whether we are in the +right road or no. Inclination is never slumbering: this gives us +excitement enough to save us from weariness, without the effort of +awakening our conscience too. Therefore society, expressing in its +rules the feelings of its individual members, prescribes exactly +such a style of conversation as may keep in exercise all other +parts of our nature except that one which should be sovereign of +all, and whose exercise is employed on things eternal.</p> +<p>Not being, then, properly in earnest,--that is, our conscience +and our choice of moral good and evil being in a state of +repose,--our language is happily contrived so as that it shall +contain nothing to startle our sleeping conscience, if her ears +catch any of its sounds. We still commend good and dispraise evil, +both in the general and in the particular. But as good and evil are +mixed in every man, and in various proportions, he who commends, +the little good of a bad man, saying nothing of his evil,--or he +who condemns the little evil of a good man, saying nothing of his +good,--leads us evidently to a false practical conclusion; he leads +us to like the bad man and to dislike the good. Again, the lesser +good becomes an evil if it keeps out a greater good; and, in the +same way, the lesser evil becomes a good. If we have no thought of +comparing good things together, if our sovereign nature be asleep, +then we shall most estimate the good to which we are most inclined; +and where we find this we shall praise it, not observing that it is +taking up the place of a greater good which the case requires, and, +therefore, that it is in fact an evil. So that our moral judgments +may lead practically to great evil: we may join with bad men and +despise good; we may approve of qualities which, are, in fact, +ruining a man; and despise others which, in the particular case, +are virtues; without ever in plain words condemning virtue or +approving vice.</p> +<p>But, farther, this habit of never being in earnest greatly +lowers the strength of our feelings even towards the good which we +praise and towards the evil which we condemn. It was an admirable +definition of that which excites laughter, that it was that which +is out of rule, that which is amiss, that which is unsightly, +(these three ideas, and other similar ones, are alike contained in +the single Greek word [Greek: aischron],) provided that it was +unaccompanied by pain. This definition accounts for the otherwise +extraordinary fact, that there is something in moral evil which, in +some instances, affects the mind ludicrously. That is to say, if +moral evil affects us with no pain; if we see in it nothing, so to +speak, but its irregularity, its strange contrast with what is +beautiful, its jarring with the harmony of the system around us; +then it does acquire that character which is well defined as being +ridiculous. Thus it is notorious that trifling follies, and even +gross vices, are often so represented in works of fiction as to be +exceedingly ludicrous. It is enough, as an instance of what I mean, +to name the vice of drunkenness. Get rid for the moment of the +notions of vice or sin which, accompany it, and which give moral +pain; get rid also of those points in it which awaken physical +disgust; retain merely the notion of the incoherent language, and +the strange capricious gait of intoxication; and we have then an +image merely ridiculous, as much, so as the rambling talk and +absurd gestures of the old buffoons.</p> +<p>Here, then, we have the secret of vice becoming laughable; and +of things which are really wicked, disgusting, hateful, being +expressed by names purely ludicrous. Where no great physical pain +or distress is occasioned by what is evil, our sense of its +ludicrousness will be exactly in proportion to the faintness of our +sense of moral evil; or, in other words, to our want of being in +earnest. The evil that does not seriously pain or inconvenience +man, is very apt to be regarded with feelings approaching to +laughter, if we have no sense of pain at the notion of its being an +offence against God.</p> +<p>Thus, then, we have seen how, from the want of being in earnest, +from the habitual slumber of conscience, or that sovereign part of +us which looks upon our whole state with reference to its highest +interests, and passes judgment upon all our actions,--how, from the +practical absence of these, we may get to follow evil persons, and +be indifferent to the good; to admire qualities which, from +usurping the place of better ones, are actually ruinous; and, +finally, to regard all common evil not so much with deep +abhorrence, as with a disposition to laugh at it. And thus the +practical judgment and influence of the society around us may be +fatally evil; while the society all the time shall contain, even in +its very perversion, various elements of truth and of good.</p> +<p>I have kept to general language, to general views, perhaps too +much; but all the time my mind has been fixed on the particular +application of this, which lies scarcely beneath the surface, but +which I cannot well bear more fully to unveil. But whoever has +attended to what I have been saying, will be able, I should trust, +to make the application, for himself, to those points in our +society which most need correction. He will be able to understand +how it is that the influence of the place is not better, while it +undoubtedly contains so much of good; how the public opinion of a +Christian school may yet be, in many respects, very unchristian. If +he has attended at all to what I have said about our so rarely +being in earnest, he will see something of the mischief of some of +those publications, of those books, of that tone of conversation, +which, I suppose, are here, as elsewhere, in fashion. Utterly +impossible is it to lay down a rule for others in such matters: to +say this book is too light, or this is an excess of light reading, +or this laugh was too unrestrained, or that tone of trifling too +perpetual. But, in these things, we should all judge ourselves; and +remember that you are so little under outward restraint, your +choice of reading is so free, your intercourse with one another so +wholly uncontrolled, that, enjoying thus the full liberty of more +advanced years, you incur also their responsibility. There is, +doubtless, an excess of light reading, both in kind and in +quantity; there is such a thing as a tone of conversation and +manner too entirely, and too frequently, trifling. And you must be +quite aware that we are placed here for something else than to +indulge such a temper as this. Cheerfulness and thoughtlessness +have no necessary connexion; the lightest spirits, which are indeed +one of the greatest of earthly blessings, often play around the +most earnest thought and the tenderest affection, and with far more +grace than when they are united with the shallowness and hardness +of him who is, in the sight of God, a fool. It were a strange +notion, that we could never be merry without intoxication, yet not +stranger than to think that mirth is the companion only of folly or +of sin. But, setting God in Christ before us, then the conscience +is awake; then we are in earnest; then we measure things rightly; +then we feel them strongly; then we love those that are good, and +shun those that are evil; then we learn that sin is no matter of +laughter, that it ill deserves to be clothed under a ludicrous +name; for that thing which we laugh at, that which we so miscall, +is indeed the cause of infinite evil; for that Christ died; for +that there are some who die that death which lasts for ever.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XVIII."></a>LECTURE XVIII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>GENESIS xxvii. 38.</center> +<br> +<center><i>And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one +blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my +father</i>.</center> +<br> +<center>MATTHEW xv. 27.</center> +<br> +<center><i>And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the +crumbs which fall from their master's table</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>Of these two passages, the first, as we must all remember, is +taken from the first lesson of this morning's service; the second +is from the morning's gospel. Both speak the same language, and +point out, I think, that particular view of the story of Jacob +obtaining the blessing which is most capable of being turned to +account; for, as to the conduct of Jacob and his mother, it is +manifestly no more capable of affording us benefit, as a matter of +example, than the conduct, in some respects similar, of the unjust +steward in our Lord's parable. The example, indeed, is of the same +kind as that. If the steward was so anxious about his future +worldly welfare, and Jacob about the worldly welfare of his +descendants, that they did not scruple to obtain their ends, the +one by dishonesty, the other by falsehood, much more should we be +anxious about the true welfare of ourselves and those belonging to +us, which no such unworthy means can be required to gain. But the +point of the story to which the text refers, and which is +illustrated also by the words of the Syrophoenician woman, is one +which very directly concerns us all, being no other than +this,--what should be the effect upon our own minds of witnessing +others possessed of greater advantages than ourselves, whether +obtained by the immediate gift of God, through the course of his +ordinary providence, or acquired directly by some unjust or +unlawful act of those who are in possession of them?</p> +<p>Now, it is evident that, as equality is not the rule either of +nature or of human society, there must be many in every +congregation who are so far in the condition of Esau and of the +Syrophoenician woman, as to be inferior to others around them in +some one or more advantages. The inferiority may consist in what +are called worldly advantages, or in natural advantages, or in +spiritual advantages, or in some or all of these united. And it is +not to be doubted that the sense of this inferiority is a hard +trial, both as respects our feelings towards God and towards men. +It is a hard trial; but yet, no trial overtakes us but such as is +common to man: and here, as in all other cases, God will, with the +trial, also make a way for us to escape, that we may be able to +bear it.</p> +<p>Let us consider, then, some of the most common cases in which +this inferiority exists amongst us. With regard to worldly +advantages, the peculiar nature of this congregation makes it less +necessary than it generally would be, to dwell upon inequality in +these: in fact, speaking generally, we are a very unusual example +of equality in these respects; the advantages of station and +fortune are enjoyed not, literally, in an equal degree by all of +us, but equally as compared with, the lot of the great mass of +society; we all enjoy the necessaries, and most of the comforts of +life. What differences there are would, probably, appear in +instances seemingly trifling, if, indeed, any thing were really +trifling by which the temper and feelings, and through them the +principles, of any amongst us may be affected for good or for evil. +It may possibly happen that, in the indulgences, or means of +indulgence, given to you by your friends at home, there may be +sometimes, such a difference as to excite discontent or jealousy. +It may be, that some are apt to exult over others, by talking of +the pleasures, or the liberty, which they enjoy; and which the +friends of others, either from necessity or from a sense of duty, +are obliged to withhold. If this be ever felt by any of you as a +trial; if it gall your pride, as well as restrict your enjoyments; +then remember, that here, even in this seemingly little thing, the +inferiority of which you complain may be either increased ten-fold, +or changed into a blessed superiority. Increased ten-fold, even as +from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he +hath, if by discontent, and evil passions towards God and man, you +make yourselves a hundred times more inferior spiritually than you +were in outward circumstances; but changed into a blessed +superiority, if it be borne with meekness, and patience, and +thankfulness, even as it was said of the Gentile centurion, that +there had not been found faith equal to his, no, not in Israel.</p> +<p>But turning from worldly advantages to those which are called +natural, and the inequality here is at once as great as elsewhere. +In all faculties of body and mind; in the vigour of the senses, of +the limbs, of the general constitution; in the greater or less +liability to disease generally, or to any particular form of it; +or, again, in powers of mind, in quickness, in memory, in +imagination, in judgment; the differences between different persons +in this congregation must be exceedingly wide. But, with regard to +bodily powers, the trial is little felt, till the inferiority is +shown in actual suffering from pain or from disease. So long as we +are in health, our enjoyments are so many, and we so easily +accommodate our habits to our powers, that a mere inferiority of +strength, whether it be of limb or of constitution, is not apt to +make us dissatisfied. But if it comes to actual illness or to pain, +if we are deprived of the common enjoyments and occupations of our +age, then perhaps the trial begins to be severe; and when we look +at others who have taken the same liberties with their health as we +have done, and see them notwithstanding perfectly well and strong, +while we are disabled or suffering, we may think that God has dealt +hardly with us, and may be inclined to ask with Esau, "Hast thou +but one blessing, my Father? bless me, even me also, O my Father!" +Now this language, according to the sense in which we use it, is +either blameable or innocent. If we mean to say, "Hast thou health +to give to others only and not to me? give me this blessing also, +as thou hast given it to my brethren:" then it has in it somewhat +of discontent and murmuring; it implies a claim to which God never +listens. But if we mean, "Hast thou only one kind of blessing, my +father? If thou hast blest others in one way, I murmur not nor +complain: but out of thine infinite store, give me also such a +blessing as may be convenient for me;" then God hears the prayer, +then he gives the blessing, and gives it so richly, and makes it +bear so evidently the mark of his love, that they who were last are +become first; if others have health, and we have sickness, yet the +spirit of patience and cheerful submission which God gives with it +is so great a blessing, and makes us so certainly happy, that the +strongest and healthiest of our friends have often far more reason +to wish to change places with us, than we with them.</p> +<p>Let us now take inequality in powers of mind. And here, +undoubtedly, the difference is apt to be a trial. Not that, +probably, it excites discontent or murmuring against God; nor +jealousy against those whose faculties are better than our own: the +trial is of another kind; we are tempted to make our inferiority an +excuse for neglect; because we cannot do so much nor so easily as +others, we do far less than we might do. But the parable shows us +plainly, that if one talent only has been given us, while others +have ten, yet that the one, no less than the ten, must be made to +yield its increase. Here is the feeling expressed so earnestly by +the woman entreating Christ to heal her daughter. "The dogs eat of +the crumbs which fall from their master's table." Small as may be +the portion of power given us, when compared with the plenty +vouchsafed to others, still it is capable of nourishing us if we +make use of it; still it shows that we too have our blessing. And +if using it with thankfulness, if doing our very best with it, +knowing that "a man is accepted according to what he hath, and not +according to what he hath not," we labour humbly and diligently; +then, not only does the talent itself become increased, so that our +Lord, when he comes to reckon with us, may receive his own with +usury: but a blessing of another kind is added to our labours, +again, as in the former case, making those who were last to become +first. For if there be one thing on earth which is truly admirable, +it is to see God's wisdom blessing an inferiority of natural +powers, when they have been honestly, humbly, and zealously +cultivated. From how many pains are they delivered, to which great +natural talents are continually exposed; irritation, jealousy, a +morbid and nervous activity, bearing fruits not of peace, but of +gall! With what blessings are they crowned, to which, the most +powerful natural understanding is a stranger! the love of truth +gratified, without the fear that truth will demand the sacrifice of +personal vanity; the line of duty clearly discerned, because those +mists of passion and selfishness which obscure it so often from the +view of the keenest natural perception, have been dispersed by the +spirit of humility and love; imperfect knowledge patiently endured, +because whatever knowledge is enjoyed is known to be God's gift, +and what he gives, or what he withholds, is alike welcome. This is +the blessing of those who having had inferior natural powers, have +so laboured to improve them according to God's will, that on all +there has been grafted, as it were, some better power of grace, to +yield a fruit most precious both for earth and heaven.</p> +<p>But I spoke of an equality of spiritual advantages also, and +this is perhaps the hardest trial of all. Oh, how great is this +inequality in truth, when it seems to be so little! All of you, the +children of Christian parents; all members of the Christian Church; +all partaking here of the same worship, the same prayers, the same +word of God, the same sacrament; are you not all the Israel of God, +and not, like Esau, or the Syrophoenician woman, strangers to the +covenant of blessing? Yet your real condition is, notwithstanding, +very unequal. How unlike are your friends at home; how, unlike, +also, are your friends here! Are there not some to whom their +homes, both by direct precept and by example, are a far greater +help than to others? Are there not some, whose immediate companions +here may encourage them in all good far more than may be the case +with, others? So, then, there may be some to whom this great +blessing has been denied, whilst others enjoy it. What then? Shall +we say, that, because we have it not, we will refuse to go in to +our Father's house; that we will not walk as our brother walks, +unless we have his advantages? Then must we remain cast out; +vessels fashioned to dishonour; rejected of God, and cursed. Nay +rather let us put a Christian sense on Esau's prayer, and cry, +"'Hast thou but one blessing, my Father? bless me, even me also, O +my Father.' If thou hast given to others earthly helps, which thou +hast denied to me, give me thyself and thy own Spirit the more! If +father and mother forsake my most precious interest, do thou take +me up. If my nearest friends will not walk with me in the house of +God, be thou my friend, and abide with, me always, making my house +as thine. Outward and earthly means thou givest or takest away at +thy pleasure; but give me help according to my need, that I yet may +not lose thee."</p> +<p>How naturally are we interested at the thought of any one so +circumstanced, and uttering such a prayer! How earnestly do we wish +to help him, to show our respect and true love for a faith so tried +and so enduring! And think we that God cares for it less than we +do? or have we not already the record of his love towards it, when +Christ answered the Syrophoenician woman, "O woman, great is thy +faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt?" He may not, indeed, see +fit to give the very same blessing which was in the first instance +denied: we may still have fewer spiritual advantages than others, +as far as human helps are concerned; fewer good and earnest +friends; fewer examples of holiness around us; fewer to join with +us in our prayers and in our struggles against evil. But though +this particular blessing may be denied,--as Esau could not gain +that blessing which had been given to Jacob,--yet there is a +blessing for us also, which may prove, in the end, even better than +our brother's. He who serves God steadily, amidst many +disadvantages, enjoys the blessing of a more confirmed and hardier +faith; he has gone through trials, and been found conqueror; and +for him that overcometh is reserved a more abundant measure of +glory.</p> +<p>But on the other side, we who, like Jacob, or Jacob's posterity, +have the blessing,--whether it be natural, worldly, or +spiritual,--let us consider what became of it when it was not +improved. What was the sin of Esau,--speaking not of the +individual, but of the less favoured people of Edom,--compared with +the sin of Jacob? Nay, not of Edom only; but it shall be more +tolerable for Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for the +unbelieving cities of Israel. So it is, not only with the literal, +but with the Christian Israel; so it is, not only with the Church +as a whole compared with heathens, but with all those individuals +amongst us, who enjoy in any larger measure than others any of +God's blessings. They are blessings; but they may be made fatal +curses. This holds true with blessings of every kind: with station +and wealth, with bodily health and vigour, with, great powers of +mind, with large means of spiritual improvement. To whom much is +given, of him shall be much, required. It is required of us to +enjoy our blessings by using them: so will they be blessings +indeed. So it is with money and influence, with health, with +talents, with spiritual knowledge, and good friends and parents. +There are first who shall be last; that is, those who began their +course with advantages which set them before their brethren, if +they do not exert themselves, will fall grievously behind them: for +the blessing denied may be, in effect, a blessing given; and the +blessing given, in like manner, becomes too often a blessing taken +away.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XIX."></a>LECTURE XIX.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>MATTHEW xxii. 32.</center> +<br> +<center><i>God is not the God of the dead, but of the +living</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>We hear these words as a part of our Lord's answer to the +Sadducees; and, as their question was put in evident profaneness, +and the answer to it is one which to our minds is quite obvious and +natural, so we are apt to think that in this particular story there +is less than usual that particularly concerns us. But it so +happens, that our Lord, in answering the Sadducees, has brought in +one of the most universal and most solemn of all truths,--which is +indeed implied in many parts of the Old Testament, but which the +Gospel has revealed to us in all its fulness,--the truth contained +in the words of the text, that "God is not the God of the dead, but +of the living."</p> +<p>I would wish to unfold a little what is contained in these +words, which we often hear even, perhaps, without quite +understanding them; and many times oftener without fully entering +into them. And we may take them, first, in their first part, where +they say that "God is not the God of the dead."</p> +<p>The word "dead," we know, is constantly used in Scripture in a +double sense, as meaning those who are dead spiritually, as well as +those who are dead naturally. And, in either sense, the words are +alike applicable: "God is not the God of the dead."</p> +<p>God's not being the God of the dead signifies two things: that +they who are without him are dead, as well as that they who are +dead are also without him. So far as our knowledge goes respecting +inferior animals, they appear to be examples of this truth. They +appear to us to have no knowledge of God; and we are not told that +they have any other life than the short one of which our senses +inform us. I am well aware that our ignorance of their condition is +so great that, we may not dare to say anything of them positively; +there may be a hundred things true respecting them which we neither +know nor imagine. I would only say that, according to that most +imperfect light in which we see them, the two points of which I +have been speaking appear to meet in them: we believe that they +have no consciousness of God, and we believe that they will die. +And so far, therefore, they afford an example of the agreement, if +I may so speak, between these two points; and were intended, +perhaps, to be to our view a continual image of it. But we had far +better speak of ourselves. And here, too, it is the case that "God +is not the God of the dead." If we are without him we are dead; and +if we are dead we are without him: in other words, the two ideas of +death and absence from God are in fact synonymous.</p> +<p>Thus, in the account given of the fall of man, the sentence of +death and of being cast out of Eden go together; and if any one +compares the description of the second Eden in the Revelation, and +recollects how especially it is there said, that God dwells in the +midst of it, and is its light by day and night, he will see that +the banishment from the first Eden means a banishment from the +presence of God. And thus, in the day that Adam sinned, he died; +for he was cast out of Eden immediately, however long he may have +moved about afterwards upon the earth where God was not. And how +very strong to the same point are the words of Hezekiah's prayer, +"The grave cannot praise thee, Death cannot celebrate thee; they +that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth;" words which +express completely the feeling that God is not the God of the dead. +This, too, appears to be the sense generally of the expression used +in various parts of the Old Testament, "Thou shalt surely die." It +is, no doubt, left purposely obscure; nor are we ever told, in so +many words, all that is meant by death; but, surely, it always +implies a separation from God, and the being--whatever the notion +may extend to--the being dead to him. Thus, when David had +committed his great sin, and had expressed his repentance for it, +Nathan tells him, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt +not die:" which means, most expressively, thou shalt not die to +God. In one sense, David died, as all men die; nor was he, by any +means, freed from the punishment of his sin: he was not, in that +sense, forgiven; but he was allowed still to regard God as his God; +and, therefore, his punishments were but fatherly chastisements +from God's hand, designed for his profit, that he might be partaker +of God's holiness. And thus although Saul was sentenced to lose his +kingdom, and although he was killed with his sons on Mount Gilboa, +yet I do not think that we find the sentence passed upon him, "Thou +shalt surely die;" and, therefore, we have no right to say that God +had ceased to be his God, although be visited him with severe +chastisements, and would not allow him to hand down to his sons the +crown of Israel. Observe, also, the language of the eighteenth +chapter of Ezekiel, where the expressions occur so often, "He shall +surely live," and "He shall surely die." We have no right to refer +these to a mere extension, on the one hand, or a cutting short, on +the other, of the term of earthly existence. The promise of living +long in the land, or, as in Hezekiah's case, of adding to his days +fifteen years, is very different from the full and unreserved +blessing, "Thou shalt surely live." And we know, undoubtedly, that +both the good and the bad to whom Ezekiel spoke, died alike the +natural death of the body. But the peculiar force of the promise, +and of the threat, was, in the one case, Thou shalt belong to God; +in the other, Thou shalt cease to belong to him; although the veil +was not yet drawn up which concealed the full import of those +terms, "belonging to God," and "ceasing to belong to him:" nay, can +we venture to affirm that it is fully drawn aside even now?</p> +<p>I have dwelt on this at some length, because it really seems to +place the common state of the minds of too many amongst us in a +light which is exceedingly awful; for if it be true, as I think the +Scripture implies, that to be dead, and to be without God, are +precisely the same thing, then can it be denied, that the symptoms +of death are strongly marked upon many of us? Are there not many +who never think of God, or care about his service? Are there not +many who live, to all appearance, as unconscious of his existence +as we fancy the inferior animals to be? And is it not quite clear, +that to such persons, God cannot be said to be their God? He may be +the God of heaven and earth, the God of the universe, the God of +Christ's church; but he is not their God, for they feel to have +nothing at all to do with him; and, therefore, as he is not their +God, they are, and must be, according to the Scripture, reckoned +among the dead.</p> +<p>But God is the God "of the living." That is, as before, all who +are alive, live unto him; all who live unto him, are alive. "God +said, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of +Jacob;" and, therefore, says our Lord, "Abraham, and Isaac, and +Jacob, are not and cannot be dead." They cannot be dead, because +God owns them: he is not ashamed to be called their God; therefore, +they are not cast out from him; therefore, by necessity, they live. +Wonderful, indeed, is the truth here implied, in exact agreement, +as we have seen, with the general language of Scripture; that, as +she who but touched the hem of Christ's garment was, in a moment, +relieved from her infirmity, so great was the virtue which went out +from him; so they who are not cast out from God, but have any thing +whatever to do with him, feel the virtue of his gracious presence +penetrating their whole nature; because he lives, they must live +also.</p> +<p>Behold, then, life and death set before us; not remote, (if a +few years be, indeed, to be called remote,) but even now present +before us; even now suffered or enjoyed. Even now, we are alive +unto God, or dead unto God; and, as we are either the one or the +other, so we are, in the highest possible sense of the terms, alive +or dead. In the highest possible sense of the terms; but who can +tell what that highest possible sense of the terms is? So much has, +indeed, been revealed to us, that we know now that death means a +conscious and perpetual death, as life means a conscious and +perpetual life. But greatly, indeed, do we deceive ourselves, if we +fancy that, by having thus much told us, we have also risen to the +infinite heights, or descended to the infinite depths, contained in +those little words, life and death. They are far higher, and far +deeper, than ever thought or fancy of man has reached to. But, even +on the first edge of either, at the visible beginnings of that +infinite ascent or descent, there is surely something which may +give us a foretaste of what is beyond. Even to us in this moral +state, even to you advanced but so short a way on your very earthly +journey, life and death have a meaning: to be dead unto God, or to +be alive to him, are things perceptibly different.</p> +<p>For, let me ask of those who think least of God, who are most +separate from him, and most without him, whether there is not now +actually, perceptibly, in their state, something of the coldness, +the loneliness, the fearfulness of death? I do not ask them whether +they are made unhappy by the fear of God's anger; of course they +are not: for they who fear God are not dead to him, nor he to them. +The thought of him gives them no disquiet at all; this is the very +point we start from. But I would ask them whether they know what it +is to feel God's blessing. For instance: we all of us have our +troubles of some sort or other, our disappointments, if not our +sorrows. In these troubles, in these disappointments,--I care not +how small they may be,--have they known what it is to feel that +God's hand is over them; that these little annoyances are but his +fatherly correction; that he is all the time loving us, and +supporting us? In seasons of joy, such, as they taste very often, +have they known what it is to feel that they are tasting the +kindness of their heavenly Father, that their good things come from +his hand, and are but an infinitely slight foretaste of his love? +Sickness, danger,--I know that they come to many of us but rarely; +but if we have known them, or at least sickness, even in its +lighter form, if not in its graver,--have we felt what it is to +know that we are in our Father's hands, that he is with us, and +will be with us to the end; that nothing can hurt those whom he +loves? Surely, then, if we have never tasted anything of this: if +in trouble, or in joy, or in sickness, we are left wholly to +ourselves, to bear as we can, and enjoy as we can; if there is no +voice that ever speaks out of the heights and the depths around us, +to give any answer to our own; if we are thus left to ourselves in +this vast world,--there is in this a coldness and a loneliness; and +whenever we come to be, of necessity, driven to be with our own +hearts alone, the coldness and the loneliness must be felt. But +consider that the things which, we see around us cannot remain with +us, nor we with them. The coldness and loneliness of the world, +without God, must be felt more and more as life wears on: in every +change of our own state, in every separation from or loss of a +friend, in every more sensible weakness of our own bodies, in every +additional experience of the uncertainty of our own counsels,--the +deathlike feeling will come upon us more and more strongly: we +shall gain more of that fearful knowledge which tells us that "God +is not the God of the dead."</p> +<p>And so, also, the blessed knowledge that he is the God "of the +living" grows upon those who are truly alive. Surely he "is not far +from every one of us." No occasion of life fails to remind those +who live unto him, that he is their God, and that they are his +children. On light occasions or on grave ones, in sorrow and in +joy, still the warmth of his love is spread, as it were, all +through the atmosphere of their lives: they for ever feel his +blessing. And if it fills them with joy unspeakable even now, when +they so often feel how little they deserve it; if they delight +still in being with God, and in living to him, let them be sure +that they have in themselves the unerring witness of life eternal: +God is the God of the living, and all who are with him must +live.</p> +<p>Hard it is, I well know, to bring this home, in any degree, to +the minds of those who are dead: for it is of the very nature of +the dead that they can hear no words of life. But it has happened +that, even whilst writing what I have just been uttering to you, +the news reached me that one, who two months ago was one of your +number, who this very half-year has shared in all the business and +amusements of this place, is passed already into that state where +the meanings of the terms life and death are become fully revealed. +He knows what it is to live unto God, and what it is to die to him. +Those things which are to us unfathomable mysteries, are to him all +plain: and yet but two months ago he might have thought himself as +far from attaining this knowledge as any of us can do. Wherefore it +is clear, that these things, life and death, may hurry their lesson +upon us sooner than we deem of, sooner than we are prepared to +receive it. And that were indeed awful, if, being dead to God, and +yet little feeling it, because of the enjoyments of our worldly +life, those enjoyments were on a sudden to be struck away from us, +and we should find then that to be dead to God was death, indeed, a +death from which there is no waking, and in which there is no +sleeping for ever.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XX."></a>LECTURE XX.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>EZEKIEL xiii. 22.</center> +<br> +<center><i>With lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, +whom I have not<br> +made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he +should<br> +not return from his wicked way, by promising him life</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>The verses which immediately precede this, require explanation, +but perhaps our knowledge is hardly sufficient to enable us to give +it fully. There are allusions to customs,--to fashions +rather,--common amongst the Israelites at the time, which we can +now scarcely do more than guess at; but we may observe, that there +was a general practice, which even God's own prophets were directed +often to comply with, of enforcing what was said in word by some +corresponding outward action, in which the speaker made himself, as +it were, a living image of the idea which he meant to convey. Thus, +when Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, was assuring Ahab, that he +should drive the Syrians before him, he made himself horns of iron, +and said, "With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have +consumed them." In the same way, it is imagined that the false +prophetesses spoken of in the text were in the habit of wearing +pillows, or cushions, fastened to their arms, and directed those +who came to consult them to do the same, as a sign of rest and +peace; that they who trusted to them had nothing to fear, but might +lie down and enjoy themselves at their feasts, or in sleep, with +entire security. Or, again, if we connect what is said of the +pillows with what immediately follows about the kerchiefs put upon +the head, we may suppose that both are but parts of a fantastic +dress, such as was often worn by pretended prophets and +fortune-tellers, and which they may have made those wear, also, who +came before them. We know that the covering on the head was, for +instance, a part of the ceremonial law of the Roman augurs, when +they began their divinations. But, however this be, the exact +understanding of these particular points is not necessary to our +deriving the lesson of the passage in general. I know that there is +something naturally painful to an active mind in being obliged to +content itself with an indistinct notion, or still more, with no +notion at all, of the meaning of any words presented to it. But, +whilst we should highly value this sensitiveness, as, indeed, few +qualities are more essential in the pursuit of truth, yet we must +be careful not to let our disappointment carry us too far, so as to +pass over a whole passage, or portion, of Scripture, as if in +despair, because we cannot understand every part of it. Much of the +supposed obscurity of the prophets arises from this cause--that we +find in them particular expressions and allusions, which, whether +from a, fault in the translation, or from our imperfect knowledge +of the times of which the prophets speak, and of the language in +which they wrote, are certainly quite unintelligible. But these are +only a few expressions, occurring here and there; and it is a great +evil to fancy that their writings, in general, are not to be +understood, because of the difficulty of particular passages in +them. Thus, with the very chapter of which we are now speaking, the +expression to which I have alluded can only be uncertainly +interpreted, yet the lesson of the chapter, as a whole, is +perfectly clear, notwithstanding. The dress, or fashions, or +particular rites, of the false prophets of Jerusalem and their +votaries, may offer no distinct image to our minds; but the evil of +their doings, how they deceived others, and were themselves +deceived; the points, that is, which alone concern us practically, +these are set before us plainly. "With their lies they made the +heart of the righteous sad, whom God had not made sad; and they +strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return +from his wicked way, by promising him life." Where the way of life +was broad, they strove to make it narrow; and where it was narrow, +they strove to make it broad: by their solemn and superstitious +lies, they frightened and perplexed the good, while, by their lives +of ungodliness, they emboldened and encouraged the wicked.</p> +<p>It may not, at first sight, seem necessary that these two things +should go together; there might be, it seems, either the fault of +making the heart of the righteous sad, without that of +strengthening the hands of the wicked: or there might be the +strengthening of the hands of the wicked, without making sad the +heart of the righteous. And so it sometimes has been: there has +been a wickedness which has not tried to keep up superstition: +there has been a superstition, the supporters of which have not +wilfully encouraged wickedness. Yet, although this has been so, +with respect to the intention of the parties concerned, yet in +their own nature, the tendency of either evil to produce the other +is sure and universal. We cannot exist without some influences of +fear and restraint, on the one hand, and without some indulgence of +freedom, on the other. God has provided for both these wants, so to +speak, of our nature; he has told us whom we should fear, and where +we should be restrained, and where, also, we may be safely in +freedom: there is the fruit forbidden, and the fruit which we may +eat freely. But if the restraint and the liberty be either of them +put in the wrong place, the double evil is sure to follow. +Restrained in his lawful liberty, debarred from the good and +wholesome fruit of the garden, man breaks out into a liberty which +is unlawful; he eats of the forbidden fruit, whose taste is death; +or, surfeited with an unholy freedom, and let to run wild in a +space far too vast for his strength to compass, he turns cravingly +for that support to his weariness which a narrowed range would +afford him; and he limits himself on that very quarter in which +alone he might expatiate freely. Superstition, in fact, is the rest +of wickedness, and wickedness is the breaking loose of +superstition.</p> +<p>But, however true this may be, are we concerned in it? First of +all, when we find an evil dwelt upon often in the Prophets, and +find it dwelt upon again by our Lord and his Apostles with no less +earnestness, there is, at least, a strong presumption, that an evil +of this sort is nothing local or passing, but that it is fixed in +man's nature, and is apt to grow up in all times, and in all +countries. Now, the double evil spoken of in the text, occurs again +in the gospel; there we find men spoken of, who, in like manner, +insisted upon what was trifling, and were careless of what was +important; and in the epistles, we find, again, the same characters +holding up as righteous others than those who worked righteousness: +men, who spoke lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared +with a hot iron. We may presume, therefore, that this evil is of an +enduring character; but if we look back to the history of the +Christian Church, or look around us, the presumption becomes the +sad conviction of experience.</p> +<p>Nor is the evil merely one which exists in the country at large; +a thing which might be fully dwelt upon any where but here. On the +contrary, I hardly know of an age more exposed to it than youth. +There exist in youth, in a very high degree, those opposite +feelings of our nature, which I have before spoken of; a tendency +to respect, to follow, to be led, on the one hand; and on the +other, a lively desire for independence and freedom. These feelings +often exist in the greatest strength in the same individual; and +when they are not each turned in their proper direction, ruin is +the consequence. Nothing is more common than to see great +narrowness of mind, great prejudices, and great disorderliness of +conduct, united in the same person. Nothing is more common than to +see the same mind utterly prostrated before some idol of its own, +and supporting that idol with the most furious zeal, and at the +same time utterly rebellious to Christ, and rejecting with scorn +the enlightening, the purifying, and the loving influences of +Christ's Spirit.</p> +<p>The idols of various minds are infinitely various, some seducing +the loftiest natures and some the vilest. But of this we may be +sure, that every one of us has a tendency to some one idol or +other, if not to many; and our business is especially each to +watch, ourselves, lest we be enslaved to our peculiar idol. I will +now, however, speak of those which, tempt the highest minds; which, +by their show of sacredness and excellence, make us fancy, that +while following them we are following Christ. And let none be +surprised, if I rank among idols many things, which, in themselves +and in their proper use and order, are indeed to be loved and +reverenced. It was most right to respect the Apostle Peter, and +listen to his word; but that great Apostle would have been ruin to +Cornelius, and not salvation, if he had suffered him, without +reproof, to fall down before him, and render to him the service due +to Christ alone. How many good and pious feelings must have been +awakened from age to age in many minds, at the sight of the brazen +serpent on the pole, the memorial of their fathers' deliverance in +the wilderness! But when this awakening, this solemn memorial was +corrupted into an idol, when men bowed down before it in +superstition, it was the part of true piety to do as Hezekiah did, +to dash it, notwithstanding all its solemn associations, into a +thousand pieces.</p> +<p>Thus things good, things noble, things sacred, may all become +idols. To some minds truth is an idol, to others justice, to others +charity or benevolence; and others are beguiled by objects of a +different sort of sacredness: some have made Christ's mother their +idol; some, Christ's servants; some, again, Christ's sacraments, +and Christ's own body, the Church. If these may all be idols, where +can we find a name so holy, as that we may surrender up our whole +souls to it; before which obedience, reverence, without measure, +intense humility, most unreserved adoration, may all be duly +rendered. One name there is, and one only; one alone in heaven and +in earth; not truth, not justice, not benevolence, not Christ's +mother, not his holiest servants, not his blessed sacraments, not +his very mystical body, but Himself only, who died for us and rose +again, Jesus Christ, both God and Man.</p> +<p>He is truth, and he is righteousness, and he is love; he gives +his grace to his sacraments, and his manifold gifts to his Church; +whoever hath him hath all things; but if we do not take heed, +whenever we turn our mind to any other object, we shall make it an +idol and lose him. Take him in all his fulness, not as God merely, +not as man merely; not in his life on earth only, not in his death +only, not in his exaltation at God's right hand only; but in all +his fulness, the Christ of God, God and Man, our Prophet, our +Priest, our King and Lord, redeeming us by his blood, sanctifying +us by his Spirit; and then worship him and love him with all the +heart, and with, all the soul, and with all the strength; and we +shall see how all evil will be barred, and all good will abound. No +man who worships Christ alone, can be a fanatic, nor yet can be a +more philosopher; he cannot be bigoted, nor yet can he be +indifferent; he cannot be so the slave of what be calls amiable +feelings as to cast truth and justice behind him; nor yet can he so +pursue truth and justice as to lose sight of humbler and softer +feelings, self-abasement, reverence, devotion. There is no evil +tendency in the nature of any one of us, which has not its cure in +the true worship of Christ our Saviour. Let us look into our +hearts, and consider their besetting faults. Are we indolent, or +are we active; are we enthusiastic, or are we cold; zealous or +indifferent, devout or reasonable; whatever the inclination, or +bias of our nature be, if we follow its kindred idol, it will be +magnified and grow on to our ruin; if we worship Christ, it will be +pruned and chastened, and made to grow up with opposite tendencies, +all alike tempered, none destroyed; none overgrowing the garden, +but all filling it with their several fruits; so that it shall be, +indeed, the garden of the Lord, and the Spirit of the Lord shall +dwell in the midst of it.</p> +<p>And who shall dare to make sad the heart of him who is thus +drinking daily of the well-spring of righteousness, by telling him +that he is not yet saved, nor can be, unless he will come and bow +down before his idol? And if, rather than do so, he break the idol +in pieces, who shall dare to call him profane, or cold in love to +his Lord, when it was in his very jealousy for his Lord, and in his +full purpose to worship him alone, that he threw down all that +exalted itself above its due proportion against him? And if a man +be not so worshipping Christ only, who shall dare to encourage him +in his evil way, by magnifying the sacredness of his idol, and +ascribing to it that healing virtue which belongs to Christ +alone?</p> +<p>What has been here said might bear to be followed up at far +greater length than the present occasion will admit of. But the +main point is one, I think, of no small importance, that all +fanaticism and superstition on the one hand, and all unbelief and +coldness of heart on the other, arise from what is in fact +idolatry,--the putting some other object, whether it be called a +religious or moral one,--and an object often in itself very +excellent,--in the place of Christ himself, as set forth to us +fully in the Scriptures. And as no idol can stand in Christ's +place, or in any way save us, so whoever worships Christ truly is +preserved from all idols and has life eternal. And if any one +demand of him further, that he should worship his idol, and tells +him that he is not safe if he does not; his answer will be rather +that he will perish if he does; that he is safe, fully safe, and +only safe, so long as he clings to Christ alone; and that to make +anything else necessary to his safety, is not only to minister to +superstition, but to ungodliness also; not only to lay on us a yoke +which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear; but, by the +very act of laying this unchristian yoke upon us, to tear from us +the easy yoke and light burden of Christ himself, our Lord and our +life.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXI."></a>LECTURE XXI.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>ADVENT SUNDAY.</center> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>HEBREWS in. 16.</center> +<br> +<center><i>For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not +all that came out of Egypt by Moses</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>I take this verse as my text, rather than those which +immediately go before or follow it, because it affords one of the +most serious instances of mistranslation that are to be met with in +the whole New Testament. For the true translation of the words is +this: "For who were they who, when they had heard, did provoke? +nay, were they not all who came out of Egypt through Moses?" And +then it goes on--"And with whom was he grieved forty years? was it +not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the +wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into +his rest, but to them that believed not?" I call this a serious +mistranslation, because it lessens the force of the writer's +comparison. So far from meaning to say that "some, but not all did +provoke," he lays a stress on the universality of the evil: it was +not only a few, but the whole people who came out of Egypt, with +only the two individual exceptions of Caleb and Joshua. All the +rest who were grown up when they came out of Egypt did provoke God; +and the carcases of that whole generation, fell in the +wilderness.</p> +<p>Had the lesson from the Hebrews been actually chosen for the +service of this day, it could hardly have suited it better. For +this day is the New-year's day of the Christian year; and it is +probably for this reason that the service of the first day of the +common year is confined entirely to the commemoration of our Lord's +circumcision, and takes no notice of the beginning of a new year. +It is manifest that it could not do so without confusion: for the +first of January is not the beginning of the Christian year, but +Advent Sunday; the last Sunday of the Christian year is not +Christmas-day, as it would be this year if we reckoned by the +common divisions of time; but it is the last Sunday after Trinity. +Now, then, we are at the beginning of our year; and well it is +that, as our trial is now become shorter by another year, as +another division of our lives has passed away, we should fix our +eyes on that which makes every year so valuable,--the Judgment, for +which it ought to be a preparation. In fact, if we observe, we +shall see that these Sundays in Advent are much more regarded by +the Church as the beginning of a new year, than as a mere prelude +to the celebration of the festival of Christmas. That is, +Christmas-day is regarded, so to speak, in a two-fold light, as +representing both the comings of our Lord, his first coming in the +flesh, and his second coming to judgment. When the day actually +arrives, it commemorates our Lord's first coming: and this is the +beginning of the Christian year, historically regarded, that is, so +far as it is a commemoration of the several events of our Lord's +life on earth. But before it comes, it is regarded as commemorating +our Lord's second coming: and wisely, for his first coming requires +now no previous preparation for it; we cannot well put ourselves +into the position of those who lived before Christ appeared. But +our whole life is, or ought to be, a preparation for his second +coming; and it is this state, of which the season of Advent in the +Church services is intended to be the representation.</p> +<p>There is something striking in the season of the natural year at +which we thus celebrate the beginning of another Christian year. It +is a true type of our condition, of the insensible manner in which +all the changes of our lives steal upon us, that nature, at this +moment, gives no outward signs of beginning: it is a period which +does not manifest any striking change in the state of things around +us. The Christian Spring begins ere we have reached the half of the +natural winter. Nature is not bursting into life, but rather +preparing itself for a long period of death. And this is a type of +an universal truth, that the signs and warnings which we must look +to, must come from within us, not from without: that neither sky +nor earth, will arouse us from our deadly slumber, unless we are +ourselves aroused already, and more disposed to make warnings for +ourselves than to find them.</p> +<p>If this be true of nature, it is true also of all the efforts of +man. As nature will give no sign, so man cannot. Let the Church do +all that she may; let her keep her solemn anniversaries, and choose +out for her services all such passages of Scripture as may be most +fitted to impress the lesson which she would teach; still we know +that these are alike powerless and unheeded; that unless there be +in our own minds something beforehand disposed to profit by them, +they are but the words of unavailing affection, vainly spoken to +the ears of the dead.</p> +<p>Oh that we would remember this, all of us; that there is no +voice in nature, no voice in man, that can really awaken the +sleeping soul. That is the work of a far mightier power, to be +sought for with most earnest prayers for ourselves and for each +other: that the Holy Spirit of God would speak, and would dispose +our hearts to hear; that so being awakened from death and our ears +being truly opened, all things outward may now join in language +which we can hear; and nature, and man, life and death, things +present and things to come, may be but the manifold voices of the +Spirit of God, all working for us together for good. Till this be +so, we speak in vain; our words neither reach our own hearts, nor +the hearts of our hearers; they are but recorded in God's book of +judgment, to be brought forward hereafter for the condemnation of +us both.</p> +<p>Yet we must still speak; for the Spirit of God, who alone works +in us effectually, works also secretly; we know not when, nor how, +nor where. But we know, that as the Father worketh hitherto, and +the Son worketh hitherto, so the Holy Spirit worketh hitherto, and +is still working daily. We know that, every year, he creates in +thousands of God's people that work which alone shall abide for +ever. We know that in the year that is just past he has done this; +that in the year which is just beginning he will do it. Have we not +here, also, many in whom he has wrought this work? may we not hope, +and surely believe, that there are many in whom he is even now +preparing to work it?</p> +<p>We know not who these are; still less do we know, what were the +occasions which the Holy Spirit so blessed as to work in them his +work of life. But this we know, that we are bound to minister all +the occasions which we can; we must not spare our labour, although +it is God alone who gives the increase. We must speak of life and +of death, of Christ and of judgment, not forgetting that we speak +often, and shall speak, utterly in vain; yet knowing that it is by +these very thoughts, though long unheeded, that God's Spirit does +in his own good time awaken the heart; he takes of the things of +Christ and shows them to us; and then, what was before like a book +in a strange language--we saw the figures, but they conveyed no +meaning to our minds--becomes, on a sudden, instinct with the +language of God, which we hear and understand as readily as if it +were our own tongue wherein we were born.</p> +<p>Therefore, we speak and say, that another year has now dawned +upon us; and we would remind you, and remember, ourselves, in what +words the various Scriptures of this day's service point out its +inestimable value. "Now is our salvation nearer than when we +believed." So says St. Paul in the epistle of this day; and how +blessed are all those amongst us who can feel that this is truly +said of them! Then, indeed, a new year's day is a day of rejoicing; +we are so much nearer that period when all care, all anxiety, all +painful labour will be for ever ended. But there is other language +of a different sort, which, it may be, will suit us better. "I have +nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against +me." "Their land is full of idols; they worship the work of their +own hands, that which their own fingers have made;" which means to +us, the work of our own hearts, that which our own fancies and +desires have made. "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, +for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty." For in the +very temple of God, his Church, all manner of profane thoughts and +words and works are crowded together; the din of covetousness and +worldliness is loud and constant, and will ill abide the day of his +coming, who will, a second time, cast out of his temple all that is +unclean. And is there not also in us that evil heart of unbelief +and disobedience which departs from the living God? are there not +here those who are becoming daily hardened through the +deceitfulness of sin? How are they passing their time in the +wilderness, and with what prospects when they come to the end of +it? God said, "I sware in my wrath, that they shall not enter into +my rest." By the way that they came, by the same shall they return; +they shall go back to that bondage from which they were once +redeemed, and from which they will be redeemed again no more for +ever.</p> +<p>These are some of the passages of this day's service which +speaks to us at the beginning of this new Christian year. Let me +add to all this language of warning, the language in which God, by +his apostle Paul, answers every one of us, if we ask of him in +sincerity of heart, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" He +answers, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us walk +honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in +chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying: but put ye on +the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to +fulfil the works thereof." Now, I grant, that this day, of which +the apostle speaks, has never yet shone so brightly, as he had +hoped and imagined; clouds have, up to this hour, continually +overshadowed it. I mean, that the lives of Christians have hindered +them from being the light of the world. It has been a light pale +and dim, and therefore the works of darkness have continued to +abound. But admit this, and what follows? Is it, or can it be, +anything else but a more earnest desire not to be ourselves +children of darkness, lest what we see to have happened in part +should happen altogether; namely, that the day should never shine +on us at all? We see that God's promises have been in part +forfeited; we see that Christ's kingdom has not been what it was +prophesied it should be. Is not this a solemn warning, that for us, +too, individually, God's promises may be forfeited? that all we +read in Scripture of light, and life, and glory, and happiness, +should really prove to us words only, and no reality? that whereas +the promise of salvation has been made to us, we should be in the +end, not saved, but lost? If, indeed, God's kingdom were shining +around us, in its full beauty; if every evil thing were driven out +of his temple; if we saw nothing but holy lives and happy, the +fruits of his Spirit, truth, and love, and joy; then we might be +less anxious for ourselves; our course would be far smoother; the +very stream would carry us along to the end of our voyage without +our labour: what evil thoughts would not be withered, and die long +ere they could ripen into action, if the very air which we breathed +were of such, keen and heavenly purity! It is because all this is +not so, that we have need of so much watchfulness; it is because +the faults of every one of us make our brethren's task harder; +because there is not one bad or careless person amongst us who is +not a hindrance in his brother's path, and does not oblige him to +exert himself the more. Therefore, because the day is not bright, +but overclouded; because it is but too like the night, and too many +use it as the night for all works of darkness; let us take the more +heed that we do not ourselves so mistake it; let us watch each of +us the light within us, lest, indeed, we should wholly stumble; let +us put on the Lord Jesus Christ. You know how often I have dwelt on +this; how often I have tried to show that Christ is all in all to +us; that to put on Christ, is a truer and fuller expression, by +far, than if we had been told to put on truth, or holiness, or +goodness. It includes all these, with something more, that nothing +but itself can give--the sense of safety, and joy unspeakable, in +feeling ourselves sheltered in our Saviour's arms, and taken even +into himself. Assuredly, if we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we +shall not make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof; +such a warning would then be wholly unnecessary. Or, if we do not +like language thus figurative, let us put it, if we will, into the +plainest words that shall express the same meaning; let us call it +praying to Christ, thinking of him, hoping in him, earnestly loving +him; these, at least, are words without a figure, which all can +surely understand. Let us be Christ's this year that is now +beginning; be his servants, be his disciples, be his redeemed in +deed; let us live to him, and for him; setting him before us every +day to do his will, and to live in his blessing. Then, indeed, if +it be his pleasure that we should serve him throughout this year, +even to its end, we may repeat, with a deeper feeling of their +truth, the words of St. Paul; we may say, when next Advent Sunday +shall appear, that now is our salvation nearer than when we became +believers.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXII."></a>LECTURE XXII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>CHRISTMAS DAY.</center> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>JOHN i. 10.</center> +<br> +<center><i>He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and +the world knew Him not</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>When we use ourselves, or hear others use, the term "mystery," +as applied to things belonging to the gospel, we should do well to +consider what is meant by it. For our common notion of the word +mystery is of something dark; whereas Christ and his gospel are +continually spoken of as being, above all other things, light. Then +come others, and say, "Light and darkness cannot go together: what +you call the mysteries of Christianity are no part of it, but the +fond inventions of man: Christianity is all simple and clear:" and +thus they strike away some of the very greatest truths which God +has revealed to us. Thus they deal in particular with the great +truth declared in the text, that He who made the world visited it +in the likeness of man. Now, if this truth were a mystery, in the +common notion of that term; if it were a thing full of darkness, +defying our minds to understand it, or to draw any good from it; +then, indeed, it would be of little consequence whether we received +it or no. It is because it is a mystery in a very different sense, +in the sense in which the word is used commonly in the Scriptures; +that is, a thing which was a secret, but which God has been pleased +to reveal, and to reveal for our benefit, that therefore the loss +of it would be the loss of a real blessing, a loss at once of light +and comfort.</p> +<p>But we must go a little further, and explain from what this sad +confusion in the use of the term "mystery" has arisen. There are +many things relating to ourselves and to things around us, which by +nature we cannot understand; and of God we can scarcely understand +anything. Now, while the gospel has revealed much that we did not +know before, it yet has not revealed everything: of God, in +particular, it has given us much most precious knowledge, yet it +has not removed all the veil. It has furnished us with a glass, +indeed, to use the apostle's comparison; but the glass, although, a +great help, although reflecting a likeness of what, without it, we +could not see at all, is yet a dark and imperfect manner of seeing, +compared with, the seeing face to face. So, when the gospel tells +us that He who made the world visited it in our nature, it does not +indeed enable us yet fully to conceive what He is who made us, and +then became as one of us; there is still left around the name of +God that light inaccessible which is to our imperfections darkness; +and so far as we cannot understand or conceive rightly of God, so +far it is true that we cannot understand all that is conveyed in +the expression that God was in the world dwelling among us. Yet it +is still most true that by the revelation thus made to us we have +gained immensely. God, as he is in himself, we cannot understand; +but Jesus Christ we can. When we are told to love God, if we look +to the life and death of Christ, we can understand and feel how +truly he deserves our love; when we are told to be perfect as God +is perfect, we have the image of this perfection so truly set +before us in his Son Jesus, that it may be well said, "Whoso hath +seen Him hath seen the Father;" and why, then, should we ask with +Philip, that "He should show us the Father?"</p> +<p>What, then, the festival of Christmas presents to us, as +distinct from that of Easter, is generally the revelation of God in +the flesh. True it is, that we may make it, if we will, the same as +Easter: that is, we may celebrate it as the birth of our Saviour, +of him who died and rose again for us; but then we only celebrate +our Lord's birth with reference to his death and resurrection: that +is, we make Christmas to be Easter under another name. And so +everything relating to our Lord may be made to refer to his death +and resurrection; for in them consists our redemption, and for that +reason Easter has ever been considered as the great festival of the +Christian year. But yet apart from this, Christmas has something +peculiarly its own: namely, as I said before, the revelation of God +in the flesh, not only to make atonement for our sins,--which is +the peculiar subject of the celebration of the season of +Easter,--but to give us notions of God at once distinct and lively; +to enable us to have One in the invisible world, whom we could +conceive of as distinctly as of a mere man, yet whom we might love +with all our hearts, and trust with all our hearts, and yet be +guilty of no idolatry.</p> +<p>It is not, then, only as the beginning of an earthly life of +little more than thirty years, that we may celebrate the day of our +Lord's birth in the flesh. His own words express what this day has +brought to us: "Henceforth shall ye see heaven opened, and the +angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." The +words here, like so many of our Lord's, are expressed in a parable; +but their meaning is not the less clear. They allude evidently to +Jacob's vision, to the ladder reaching from earth to heaven, on +which the angels were ascending and descending continually. But +this vision is itself a parable; showing, under the figure of the +ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and the angels going up and +down on it, a free communication, as it were, between God and man, +heaven brought nearer to earth, and heavenly things made more +familiar. Now, this is done, in a manner, by every revelation from +God; most of all, by the revelation of his Son. Nor is it only by +his Spirit that Christ communicates with us even now; though, he is +ascended again into heaven, yet the benefits of his having become +man, over and above those of his dying and rising again for us, +have not yet passed away. It is still the man Christ Jesus who +brings heaven near to earth, and earth near to heaven.</p> +<p>It has been well said by Augustine, that babes in Christ should +so think of the Son of man as not to lose sight of the Son of God; +that more advanced Christians should so think of the Son of God as +not to lose sight of the Son of man. Augustine well understood how +the thought of the Son of man is fitted to our weakness; and that +the best and most advanced of us in this mortal life are never so +strong as to be able to do without it. Have we ever tried this with +our children? We tell them that God made them, and takes care of +them, and loves them, and hears their prayers, and knows what is in +their hearts, and cannot bear what is evil. These are such notions +of God as a child requires, and can understand. But, if we join +with them some of those other notions which belong to God as he is +in himself; that he is a Spirit, not to be seen, not to be +conceived of as in any one place, or in any one form; what do we +but embarrass our child's mind, and lessen that sense of near and +dear relation to God which, our earlier accounts of God had given +him? Yet we must teach him something of this sort, if we would +prevent him from forming unworthy notions of God, such as have been +the beginning of all idolatry. Here, then, is the blessing of the +revelation of God in Christ. All that he can understand of God, or +love in him, or fear in him--that is to be found in Christ. Christ +made him, takes care of him, can hear his prayers, can read his +little heart, loves him tenderly; yet cannot bear what is evil, and +will strictly judge him at the last day. But what we must teach +when we speak of God, yet which has a tendency to lessen the +liveliness of our impressions of him, this has no place when we +speak of Christ. Christ has a body, incorruptible and glorified +indeed, such as they who are Christ's shall also wear at his +coming, yet still a body. Christ is not to be seen, indeed, for the +clouds have received him out of our sight: yet he may be conceived +of as in one place--at the right hand of God; as in one certain and +well-known form--the form of the Son of man. Yet let us observe +again, and be thankful for the perfect wisdom of God. Even while +presenting to us God in Christ; that is to say, God with all those +attributes which we can understand, and fear, and love; and without +those which, throw us, as it were, to an infinite distance, +overwhelming our minds, and baffling all our conceptions; even then +the utmost care is taken to make us remember that God in himself is +really that infinite and incomprehensible Being to whom we cannot, +in our present state, approach; that even his manifestation of +himself in Christ Jesus, is one less perfect than we shall be +permitted to see hereafter; that Christ stands at the right hand of +the Majesty on high; that he has received from the Father all his +kingdom and his glory; finally, that the Father is greater than he, +inasmuch as any other nature added to the pure and perfect essence +of God, must, in a certain measure, if I may venture so to speak, +be a coming down to a lower point, from the very and unmixed +Divinity.</p> +<p>I have purposely mentioned this last circumstance, although it +is not the view that I wish particularly to take to-day, because +such passages as that which I quoted, where Christ tells his +disciples that his Father was greater than he, and many others of +the same sort, throughout the New Testament, are sometimes apt to +embarrass and perplex us, if we do not consider their peculiar +object. It was very necessary, especially at a time when men were +so accustomed to worship their highest gods under the form of men, +that whilst the gospel was itself holding out the man Christ Jesus +as the object of religious faith, and fear, and love, and teaching +that all power was given to him, in heaven and in earth,--it +should, also, guard us against supposing that it meant to represent +God as, in himself, wearing a human form, or having a nature +partaking of our infirmities; and, therefore, it always speaks of +there being something in God higher, and more perfect, than could +possibly be revealed to man; and for this eternal and infinite, and +inconceivable Being, it claims the reserve of our highest thoughts, +or, rather, it commands us to believe, that they who shall +hereafter see God face to face, shall be allowed to see something +still greater than is now revealed to us, even in him who is the +express image of God, and the brightness of his glory.</p> +<p>But, now, to return to what I was dwelling on before. It is not +only for children, that the revelation of God in Christ is so +valuable; it is fitted to the wants of us all, at all times, and +under all circumstances. Say, that we are in joy; say, that we are +enjoying some of the festivities of this season. It is quite plain, +that, at whatever moment the thought of God is unwelcome to us, +that moment is one of sin or unbelief: yet, how can we dare to mix +up the notion of the most high God with any earthly merriment, or +festivity? Then, if we think of him who was present at the marriage +in Cana of Galilee, and who worked a miracle for no other object +than to increase the enjoyment of that marriage supper, do we not +feel how the highest thoughts may be joined with the most common +occasions? how we may bring Christ home with, us to our social +meetings, to bless us, and to sanctify them? Imagine him in our +feasts as he was in Cana:--we may do it without profaneness; being +sure, from that example, that he condemns not innocent mirth; that +it is not merely because there is a feast, or because friends and +neighbours are gathered together, that Christ cannot, therefore, be +in the midst of us. This alone does not drive him away; but, oh +consider, with what ears would he have listened to any words of +unkindness, of profaneness, or of impurity! with what eyes would he +have viewed any intemperance, or revelling; any such, immoderate +yielding up of the night to pleasure, that a less portion of the +next day can be given to duty and to God! Even as he would have +heard or seen such things in Cana of Galilee, so does he hear and +see them amongst us; the same gracious eye of love is on our +moderate and permitted enjoyments; the same turning away from, the +same firm and just displeasure at every word or deed which turns +pleasure into sin.</p> +<p>But if I seek for instances to show how God in Christ is brought +very near to us, what can I choose more striking than that most +solemn act of Christian communion to which we are called this day? +For, what is there in our mortal life, what joy, what sorrow, what +feeling elated or subdued, which is not in that communion brought +near to Christ to receive his blessing? What is the first and +outward thing of which it reminds us? Is it not that last supper in +Jerusalem, in which men,--the twelve disciples, the first members +of our Christian brotherhood,--were brought into such solemn +nearness to God, as seems to have begun the privileges of heaven +upon earth? They were brought near at once to Christ and to one +another: united to one another in him, in that double bond which, +is the perfection at once of our duty and of our happiness. And so +in our communion we, too, draw near to Christ and to each other; we +feel--who is there at that moment, at least, that does not +feel?--what a tie there is to bind each of us to his brother, when +we come to the table of our common Lord. So far, the Lord's Supper +is but a type of what every Christian meeting should be: never +should any of us be gathered together on any occasion of common +life, in our families or with our neighbours; we should sit down to +no meal, we should meet in no company, without having Christ also +in the midst of us; without remembering what we all are to him, and +what we each therefore are to our brethren. But when we further +recollect what there is in the Lord's Supper beyond the mere +meeting of Christ and his disciples; what it is which the bread and +the wine commemorate; of what we partake when, as true Christians, +we eat of that bread, and drink of that cup; then we shall +understand that God indeed is brought very near to us; inasmuch, as +he who is a Christian, and partakes sincerely of Christian +communion, is a partaker also of Christ: and as belonging to his +body, his living spiritual body, the universal Church, receives his +share of all those blessings, of all that infinite love which the +Father shows continually to the head of that body, his own +well-beloved Son.</p> +<p>Say not then in your hearts, Who can ascend up into heaven, that +is, to bring Christ down? As on this day, when he took our nature +upon him, he came down to abide with us for ever; to abide with, +us, even when we should see him with our eyes no more: for whilst +he was on earth he so took part in all the concerns of life, in all +its duties, its sorrows, and its joys, that memory, when looking +back on the past, can fancy him present still; and then let the +liveliest fancy do its work to the utmost, it cannot go beyond the +reality; he is present still, for that belongs to his almightiness; +he is present with us, because he is God; and we can fancy him with +us, because he is man. This is the way to lessen our distance from +God and heaven, by bringing Christ continually to us on earth: the +sky is closed, and shows no sign; all things continue as they were +from the beginning of the world; evil abounds, and therefore the +faith of many waxes cold; but Christ was and is amongst us; and we +need no surer sign than that sign of the prophet Jonah--Christ +crucified and Christ risen--to make us feel that we may live with +God daily upon earth, and doing so, shall live with him for an +eternal life, in a country that cannot pass away.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXIII."></a>LECTURE XXIII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE EASTER.</center> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>MATTHEW xxvi. 40, 41.</center> +<br> +<center><i>What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and +pray, that ye enter<br> +not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is +weak</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>These words, we cannot doubt, have an application to ourselves, +and to all Christians, far beyond the particular occasion on which +they were actually spoken. They are, in fact, the words which +Christ addresses daily to all of us. Every day, when he sees how +often we have gone astray from him, he repeats to us, Could ye not +watch with me one hour? Every day he commands us to watch and pray, +that we enter not into temptation; every day he reminds us, that +however willing may be our spirits, yet our flesh is weak; and that +through that weakness, sin prevails over it, and having triumphed +over our flesh, proceeds to enslave our spirit also.</p> +<p>And as the words are applicable to us every day, so also are +they in a particular manner suitable now, when the season of Lent +is so nearly over, and Easter is so fast approaching. Have we been +unable to watch, with Christ one hour? Already are the good +resolutions with which, we, perhaps, began Lent, broken in many +instances; and the impressions, if any such were made in us, are +already weakened. They have been a burden, which we have shaken +off, because the weakness of our nature found it too heavy to bear. +Sad it is to think how often this same process has been repeated in +all time, how often it will be repeated to the end.</p> +<p>Let us just review what the course of this process has probably +been. Now, as the parable of the Sower describes three several +sorts of persons, who never bring forth, fruit; so in the very same +persons, there is at different times something of each of the three +characters there described. We, the very same persons, are at one +time hard, at another careless, and at another over-busy; although, +if compared with, other persons, and in the general form of their +characters, some are hard, and others are careless, and others +over-busy; different persons having different faults predominantly. +But even the hardness of the road side, although God forbid that it +should be our prevailing temper, yet surely it does sometimes exist +in too many of us. In common speech, we talk of a person showing a +hard temper, meaning, generally, a hard temper towards other men. +We have done wrong, but being angry when we are reproved for it, we +will not acknowledge it at all, and cheat our consciences, by +dwelling upon the supposed wrong that has been done to us in some +over-severity of reproof or punishment, instead of confessing and +repenting of the original wrong which we ourselves did. But is it +not true, that a hard temper towards man is very often, even +consciously, a hard temper towards God? Does it never happen, that +if conscience presents to us the thought of God, whether as a God +of judgment to terrify us, or as a God of love to melt us, we repel +it with impatience, or with sullenness? Does not the heart +sometimes almost speak aloud the language of blasphemy: Who is God, +that I should mind him? I do not care what may happen, I will not +be softened. Do not all sorts of unbelieving thoughts pass rapidly +through the mind at such moments; first in their less daring form, +whispering, as the serpent did to Eve, that we shall not surely +die; that we shall have time to repent by and by; that God will not +be so strict a judge as to condemn us for such a little; that by +some means or other, we shall escape? But then they come, also, in +their bolder form: What do I or any man know about another world, +or God's judgments? may it not be all a fiction, so that I have, in +reality, nothing to fear? In short, under one form or another, is +it not true, that our hearts have sometimes displayed actually +hardness towards God; that the thought of God has been actually +presented to our minds, but that we have turned it aside, and have +not suffered it to make any impression upon us? And thus, we have +not only not watched with Christ according to his command, but have +actually told him that we would not. But this has been in our worst +temper, certainly; it may not have happened,--I trust that it has +not happened often. More commonly, I dare say, the fault has been +carelessness. We have gone out of this place; sacred names have +ceased to sound in our ears; sights in any degree connected with, +holy things have been all withdrawn from us. Other sounds and other +sights have been before us, and our minds have yielded to them +altogether. There are minds, indeed, which have no spring of +thought in themselves; which are quiet, and in truth empty, till +some outward objects come to engage them. Take them at a moment +when they are alone, or when there is no very interesting object +before them, and ask them of what they are thinking. If the answer +were truly given, such a mind would say, "Of nothing." Certain +images may be faintly presented to it; it may be that it is not +altogether a blank; yet it could not name anything distinctly. No +form had been vivid enough to produce any corresponding resolution +in us; we were, as it were, in a state between sleeping and waking, +with neither thoughts nor dreams definite enough to affect us. This +state finds exactly all that it desires in the presence or the near +hope of outward objects; the mind lives in its daily pursuits, and +companions, and amusements. What impressions have been once +produced are soon worn away; and in a soil so shallow nothing makes +a durable impression: everything can, as it were, scratch upon its +surface, while nothing can strike deeply down within.</p> +<p>Or, again, take the rarer case of those who are over-busy. There +are minds, undoubtedly, which are as incapable of rest as those of +the generality of men are prone to it; there are minds which enter +keenly into everything presented to them by their outward senses, +and which, when their senses cease to supply them, have an +inexhaustible source of thought within, which furnishes them with +abundant matter of reflection or of speculation. To such a mind, +doing is most delightful; whether it be outward doing, or the mere +exercise of thought, either supplies alike the consciousness of +power. Where, then, is there room for the less obtruding things of +God? Into that restless water, another and another image is for +ever stepping down, pushing aside and keeping at a distance the +sobering reflections of God and of Christ. Alas! the thorns grow so +vigorously in such a soil, that they altogether choke and kill the +seed of God's word.</p> +<p>So, then, we are either asleep, or, if we are awake, we are not +waking with Christ. On one side, in that garden of Gethsemane were +the disciples sleeping; below, and fast ascending the hill,--not +sleeping, certainly, but with lanterns and torches and +weapons,--were those whose waking was for evil. Where were they who +watched with Christ one hour then,--or where are those who watch +with him now?</p> +<p>HOW gently, yet how earnestly, does he call upon us to "watch +and pray, lest we enter into temptation." To watch and to pray: for +of all those around him some were sleeping, and none were praying; +so that they who watched were not watching with him, but against +him. In our careless state of mind the call to us is to watch; in +our over-busy state the call to us is to pray; in our hard state +there is equal need for both. And even in our best moods, when we +are not hard, nor careless, nor over-busy, when we are at once +sober and earnest and gentle, then not least does Christ call upon +us to watch and to pray, that we may retain that than which else no +gleam of April sunshine was ever more fleeting; that we may perfect +that which else is of the earth, earthly, and when we lie down in +the dust will wither and come to dust also.</p> +<p>Jesus Christ brought life and immortality, it is said, to light +through the gospel. He brought life and immortality to light:--is +this indeed true as far as we are concerned? What do we think would +be the difference in this point between many of us--who will dare +say how many?--and a school, I will not say of Jewish, but even of +Greek or Roman or Egyptian boys, eighteen hundred, or twenty-four +hundred, or three or four thousand years ago? Compare us at our +worship with them, and then, I grant, the difference would appear +enormous. We have no images, making the glory of the incorruptible +God like to corruptible man; we have no vain stream of incense; no +shedding of the blood of bulls and calves in sacrifice: the hymns +which are sung here are not vain repetitions or impious fables, +which gave no word of answer to those questions which it most +concerns mankind to know. Here, indeed, Jesus Christ is truly set +forth, crucified among us; here life and immortality are brought to +light. But follow us out of this place,--to our respective pursuits +and amusements, to our social meetings, or our times of solitary +thought,--and wherein do we seem to see life and immortality more +brightly revealed than to those heathen schools of old? Do we enjoy +any worldly good less keenly, or less shrink from any worldly evil? +Death, which to the heathen view was the end of all things, is to +us (so our language goes) the gate of life. Do we think of it with +more hope and less fear than the heathen did? Christ has risen, and +has reconciled us to God. Is God more to us?--God now revealed to +us as our reconciled Father--do we oftener think of him, do we love +him better, than he was thought of and loved in those heathen +schools, which had Homer's poetry for their only gospel? We talk of +light, of revelation, of the knowledge of God, while verily and +really we are walking, not in light, but in darkness: not in +knowledge of God, but in blindness and hardness of heart.</p> +<p>"The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." How great +is the loving-kindness of these words,--how gently does Christ bear +with the weakness of his disciples! But this thought may be the +most blessed or the most dangerous thought in the world; the most +blessed if it touches us with love, the most dangerous if it +emboldens us in sin. He is full of loving-kindness, full of +long-suffering; for days, and weeks, and months, and years he bears +with us: we grieve him, and he entreats; we crucify him afresh, yet +he will not come down from the cross in power and majesty; he +endures and spares. So it is for days, and months, and years; for +some years it may be to most of us,--for many years to some of the +youngest. There may be some here who may go on grieving Christ, and +crucifying him afresh, for as much as seventy years; and he will +bear with them all that time, and his sun will daily shine upon +them, and his creatures and his word will minister to their +pleasure; and he himself will say nothing to them but to entreat +them to turn and be saved. This may last, I say, to some amongst us +for seventy years; to others it may last fifty; to many of us it +may last for forty, or for thirty; none of us, perhaps, are so old +but that it may last with us twenty, or at the least ten. Such is +the prospect before us, if we like it: not to be depended upon with +certainty, it is true, but yet to be regarded as probable. But as +these ten, or twenty, or fifty, or seventy years pass on, Christ +will still spare us, but his voice of entreaty will be less often +heard; the distance between him and us will be consciously wider. +From one place after another where we once used sometimes to see +him, he will have departed; year after year some object which used +once to catch the light from heaven, will have become overgrown, +and will lie constantly in gloom; year after year the world will +become to us more entirely devoid of God. If sorrow, or some +softening joy ever turns our minds towards Christ, we shall be +startled at perceiving there is something which keeps us from him, +that we cannot earnestly believe in him; that if we speak of loving +him, our hearts, which can still love earthly things, feel that the +words are but mockery. Alas, alas! the increased weakness of our +flesh, has destroyed all the power of our spirit, and almost all +its willingness: it is bound with chains which it cannot break, +and, indeed, scarcely desires to break. Redemption, Salvation, +Victory,--what words are these when applied to that enslaved, that +lost, that utterly overthrown and vanquished soul, which sin is +leading in triumph now, and which will speedily be given over to +walk for ever as a captive in the eternal triumph of death!</p> +<p>Not one word of what I have said is raised beyond the simplest +expression of truth; this is our portion if we will not watch with +Christ. We know how often we have failed to do so, either sleeping +in carelessness, or being busy and wakeful, but not with him or for +him. Still he calls us to watch and pray, lest we enter into +temptation; to mark our lives and actions; to mark them often; to +see whether we have done well or ill in the month past, or in the +week past, or in the day past; to consider whether we are better +than we were, or worse; whether we think Christ loves us better, or +worse; whether we are more or less cold towards him. I know not +what else can be called watching with Christ than such a looking +into ourselves as we are in his sight. It is very hard to be +done;--yes, it is hard--harder than anything probably which we ever +attempted before; and, therefore, we must pray withal for his help, +whose strength is perfected in our weakness. And if it be so hard, +and we have need so greatly to pray for God's help, should we not +all also be anxious to help one another? And knowing, as we do from +our own consciences, how difficult it is to watch with Christ, and +how thankful we should be to any one who were to make it easier to +us, should we not be sure that our neighbour is in like case with +ourselves; that our help may be as useful to him as we feel that +his would be to us? This is our bounden duty of love towards one +another; what then should be said of us if we not only neglect this +duty, but do the very contrary to it; if we actually help the evil +in our brother's heart to destroy him more entirely; if we will not +watch with Christ ourselves, and strive to prevent others from +doing so?</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXIV."></a>LECTURE XXIV.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>GOOD FRIDAY.</center> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>ROMANS v. 8.</center> +<br> +<center><i>God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we +were yet sinners, Christ died for us</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>We all remember the story in the Gospel, of the different +treatment which our Lord met with in the same house, from the +Pharisee, who had invited him into it, and from the woman who came +in and knelt at his feet, and kissed them, and bathed them with her +tears. Our Lord accounted for the difference in these words, "To +whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little;" which means to +speak of the sense or feeling in the person's own mind, "He who +feels that little is or needs to be forgiven him, he also loves +little." And this same difference which existed toward him when he +was present on earth, exists no less now, whenever he is brought +before our thoughts. The same sort of persons who saw him with +indifference, think of him also with indifference; they who saw him +with love, think of him also with love. There is no art, no power +in the world, which can give an interest to words spoken concerning +him, for those who feel that little is and that little needs to be +forgiven them, or to those who never consider about their being +forgiven at all. To such, this day, with its services, what they +hear from the Scriptures, or what they hear from men, must be alike +a matter of indifference: it is not possible that it should be +otherwise. Yet, God forbid that we should design what we are saying +this day only for a certain few of our congregation, as if the rest +neither would nor could be interested in it. So long as any one is +careless, he cannot, it is true, be interested about the things of +Christ; but who can say at what moment, through God's grace, he may +cease to be careless? Is it too much to say, that scarcely a +service is performed in any congregation in the land, which does +not awaken an interest in some one who before was indifferent? I do +rot say a deep interest, nor a lasting one, but an interest; there +is a thought, a heeding, an inclination of the mind to listen, +created probably by the Church services in some one or other, every +time that they are performed. As we never can know in whom this may +be so created, as all have great need that it should be created, as +all are deeply concerned whether they feel that they are so or no, +so we speak to all alike; and if the language does pass over their +ears like an unknown or indistinct sound, the fault and the loss +are theirs; but the Church has borne her witness, and has so far +done her duty.</p> +<p>But again, for ears not careless, but most interested; for +hearts to whom Christ is more than all in the world besides; for +minds, before whom the wisdom of the gospel is ever growing, rising +to a loftier height, and striking downwards to a depth more +profound,--yet without end in its height or its depth; is there +not, also, a difficulty in speaking to them of that great thing +which the Church celebrates to-day? Is there no difficulty in +awakening their interest, or rather how can we escape even from +wearying or repelling them, when their own affections and deep +thoughts must find all words of man, whether of themselves or +others, infinitely unworthy to express either the one or the other? +To such, then, the words of the preacher may be no more than music +without any words at all; which does but serve to lead and +accompany our own thoughts, without distinctly suggesting any +thoughts of another to interrupt the workings of our own minds. We +would speak of Christ's death; most good it is for us and for you +to think upon it; so far as our words suit the current of your own +thoughts, use them and listen to them; so far as they are a too +unworthy expression of what we ought to think and feel, follow your +own reflections, and let the words neither offend you nor distract +you.</p> +<p>I would endeavour just to touch, upon some of the purposes for +which the Scripture tells us that Christ died, and for which his +death was declared to be the great object of our faith. This done +in the simplest and fewest words will best show the infinite +greatness of the subject; and how truly it is, so to speak, the +central point of Christianity.</p> +<p>First of all, Christ died as a proper sacrifice for sin; as a +sacrifice, the virtue of which, is altogether distinct from our +knowledge of it, or from any effect which it has a tendency to +produce on our own minds. We are forgiven for his sake; we are +acquitted through his death, and through faith in his blood. What a +view does this open, partially, indeed,--for what mortal eye can +reach to the end of it?--of the evil of sin, and of God's love! of +what God's justice required, and of what God's love fulfilled! This +great sacrifice was made once, but it will not be made again; for +those who despise this there remains no more offering for sin, but +their sin abideth with them for ever.</p> +<p>Secondly, Christ's death is revealed to us as a motive capable +of overcoming all temptations to evil. "How much more shall the +blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the +living God?" "He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that +he might bring us to God;" that is, that a consideration of what +Christ's death declares to us should have power to melt the hardest +heart, and to sober the lightest: that, when we think of Christ +dying, dying for us, and so purchasing for us the forgiveness of +sins, and everlasting life, such a love, and such a prospect of +peace with God, and of glory, should in the highest degree soften +and enkindle us; and from love for him, and confidence of hope +through the prospect which he has given us, we should be able to +overcome all temptations. "I am persuaded," says St. Paul, "that +neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor +powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor +depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from +the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."</p> +<p>Thirdly, Christ suffered for as, leaving us an example that we +should follow his steps. He left us an example of all meekness, and +patience, and humility; he left us an example of perfect submission +to God's will; he left us an infinite comfort by letting us feel +when we are in any trouble, or pain, or affliction, that he was +troubled too; that he knew pain, and endured affliction. Above all, +in that hour which must come to all of us, he has left us the +greatest of all supports;--for he endured to die; and we may enter +with less fear into the darkness of the grave, for even there +Christ has been for our sakes, and arose from out of it a +conqueror.</p> +<p>Fourthly, Christ died that he might gather together in one the +children of God that were scattered abroad; he died to purchase to +himself his universal Church. So it is said in the Scriptures: and +on this particular purpose of his death, it may not be amiss to +dwell, for none so needs to be held in remembrance. Many there are, +and ever have been, who have rested their whole hope towards God on +his sacrifice; many who have learnt from his cross to overcome sin; +from his resurrection to overcome the world; many who, amidst all +the troubles of life, and in the hour of death, have been supported +by the thought of his example. But where is his universal Church? +where the company of God's children gathered together into one? +where is the city set upon the hill, that cannot be hid? where is +the visible kingdom of God, where all its people are striving under +one Divine Head, against sin, the world, and the devil? This is the +sign which we look for and cannot find; this is the fulfilment of +the prophecies for which we seem destined to wait in vain.</p> +<p>And what if, on the contrary, that which is called the Church +act rather the part of the world; if our worst foes be truly those +of our own household: if they who should have been for our help, be +rather an occasion of falling: if one of our greatest difficulties +in following Christ steadily, arise from the total want of +encouragement, yea, often from the direct opposition of those who +are themselves pledged to follow him to the death; if that Church, +which was to have been the clearest sign to the world of the truth +of Christ's gospel, be now, in many respects, rather a +stumbling-block to the adversary and unbeliever, so that the name +of God is through us blasphemed among the heathen, rather than +glorified; may we not humble ourselves before God in sorrow and in +shame? and must we not confess, that through our sin, and the sin +of our fathers, Christ, in respect of this one purpose of his +death, has as yet died in vain?</p> +<p>Israel after the flesh, lamenting their Jerusalem which is now +not theirs, and mourning over their ruined temple, in all their +synagogues repeat constantly the prayer, O Lord, build thou the +walls of Jerusalem! O Lord, build! O Lord, build! O Lord, build! is +the solemn chorus, marking by its repetition the earnestness of +their desire. And should not this be the prayer of the Israel of +God, scattered now as they are into their thousand divided and +corrupted synagogues, and no token to be seen of the pure and +universal Church, the living temple of the Spirit of God; should +not we too, privately and publicly, join in the prayer of the +earthly Israel, and pray that Christ would build for us the walls +of our true Jerusalem? For only think what it would be, if Christ's +Church existed more than in name; consider what it would be if +baptism were a real bond; if we looked on one another as brethren, +redeemed by one ransom, pledged to one service; if we bore with one +another's weaknesses; if we helped one another's endeavours; if +each saw and heard, in the words and life of his neighbour, an +image of Christ, and a pledge of the truth of his promises. +Consider what it would be, if, with no quarrels, with no +jealousies, with no unkindness, we sought not every man his own, +but every man also another's welfare; as true members one of +another,--of one body, of which Christ is the head. Consider what +it would be, if our judgments of men and things were like Christ's +judgments; neither strengthening the heart of the careless and +sinful by our laxity, nor making sad the heart of God's true +servant by our uncharitableness; not putting little things in the +place of great, nor great things in the place of little; not +neglecting the unity of the Spirit; not stickling for a sameness in +the form. Or, if we carry our views a little wider; if we look out +upon the world at large, and hear of rumours of wars, and see the +signs of internal disorders, and perhaps may think that the clouds +are gathering which, herald one of the comings of the Son of man to +judgment, whether the last of all or not it were vain to ask; how +blessed would it be, if we could see such an ark of Christ's Church +as should float visibly upon, the stormy waters; gathering within +it, in peace and safety, men of various dispositions and +conditions, and opinions; those who held much of truth, and those +who had mixed with it much of error: those whom Christ would call +clean, and those, too, whom some of their brethren call unclean, +but whom Christ has redeemed, and will save no less than their +despisers; all, in short, who fled from sin and from the world to +Christ, and to the company of Christ's people! O if we could but +see such an ark preparing while God's long-suffering yet withholds +the flood! O that all God's scattered and divided children would +join together in one earnest prayer, O Lord, build thou the walls +of Jerusalem! O Lord, build! O Lord, build! O Lord, build!</p> +<p>Yet, for this, among other purposes of mercy, did the Son of +God, as on this day, suffer death upon the cross: he died that we +might be one in him. Let us turn, then, from the thought of the +general temple in ruins, and let us see whether we cannot, at any +rate, within the walls of our own little particular congregation, +fulfil also this object of Christ's death, and be one in him. Let +us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works: we +too often consider one another for the very contrary purpose, to +provoke to contempt or ill-will. True it is, that if we look for it +we can find much of evil in our brethren, and they can find much +also in us; and we might become all haters of one another, all in +some sort deserving to be hated. But where is he who is entitled to +hate another's evil when he has evil in himself; and when Christ, +who had none, did not hate the evil of us all, but rather died to +save it? And is it not true also, that, if we look for it, we can +also find in every one something to love? something, undoubtedly, +even in him who has in himself least: but much, infinitely much in +all, when we look upon them as Christ's redeemed. Not more +beautifully than truly has it been said, that Christian souls--</p> +"Though worn and soiled by sinful clay,<br> +Are yet, to eyes that see them true,<br> +All glistening with baptismal dew."<br> +<p>They have the seal of belonging to Christ; they are his and our +brethren. And, as his latest command, and his beloved Apostle's +also, was that we should love one another; so, if we would bring +all our solemn thoughts of Christ's death to one point, and +endeavour to derive from it some one particular lesson for our +daily lives, I know not that any would be more needed or better for +us, than that we should especially apply the thought of Christ +dying on the cross for us to soften our angry, and proud, and +selfish feelings; to restrain us from angry or sneering words; from +unkind, offensive, rude, or insulting actions; to excite us to +gentleness, courtesy, kindness; remembering that he, be he who he +may, whom we allow ourselves to despise, or to dislike, or to +annoy, or to neglect, was one so precious in Christ's sight, that +he laid down his life for his sake, and invites him to be for ever +with, him and with his Father.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXV."></a>LECTURE XXV.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>EASTER DAY.</center> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>JOHN xx. 20.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Then the disciples went away again unto their own +home</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>With this verse ends the portion of the scripture chosen for the +gospel in this morning's service. It finishes the account of the +visit of Peter and John to the sepulchre; and, therefore, the close +of the extract at this point is sufficiently natural. Yet the +effect of the quiet tone of these words, just following the account +of the greatest event which earth has ever witnessed, is, I think, +singularly impressive; the more so when we remember that they were +written by one of the very persons, whose visit had been just +described; and that the writer, therefore, could tell full well, to +how intense an interest there had succeeded that solemn calm. They +went away from the very sight, if I may so speak, of Christ risen, +to their own homes. And what thoughts do we suppose that they +carried with them? Let us endeavour to recall them, for our +benefit, also, who, like them, are going, as it were, to the +ordinary tenure of our daily lives from this day's high +solemnity.</p> +<p>The disciples went away to their own homes; and there they +waited, either in Jerusalem or in Galilee, pursuing, as we find +from the last chapter of St. John, their common occupations, till, +after their Lord's ascension, power was given them from on high, +and the great work of their apostleship began. During this period, +Christ appeared to them several times: he conversed with them, he +ate and drank with them: but he did not live continually with them, +as he had done before his crucifixion: he did not take them about +with him as before, while he was performing the part of the great +prophet of the house of Israel. They were now at their own homes +waiting for his call to more active duties. They had seen him dead, +and they had seen, him risen, and they were receiving into their +souls all the lessons of his life and death and resurrection, +brought before them, and impressed upon them by that Holy Spirit, +who, according to Christ's promise, was to take of the things which +are Christ's, and to show them to Christ's disciples.</p> +<p>It is true that there came upon them, after this, an especial +visitation of the Spirit of power, to fit them for their particular +work of apostles or messengers to mankind. Having been converted +themselves, they were to strengthen their brethren. And as this +especial visitation of the Holy Spirit was given to them only, and +to those on whom they themselves laid their hands, so none have +ever since been called to that particular work to which they were +called, in any thing of the same degree of fulness. What is +peculiar to them as apostles is not applicable exactly to us; but +we are all concerned in what belongs to them as Christians: in this +respect, their case is ours; and they, when at their own homes, and +engaged in their own callings, stand in the same situation as we +all.</p> +<p>We may, however, still make a two-fold division; we may regard +the apostles going away to their own homes, as a temporary thing, +as a mere term of preparation for the duties which they were +afterwards called to; or we may look upon it as complete so far as +earth is concerned, since, taking them as Christians only and not +as apostles, they might have so lived on to the end of their lives, +having received all those helps which were needed for their own +personal salvation, and having only to use them daily for their +soul's benefit. This same distinction we may apply to ourselves. We +may consider ourselves as going to our own homes for a time only, +awaiting our call to active life; or we may consider ourselves as +withdrawing, after every celebration of Christ's resurrection, to +that round of daily duties which on earth shall never alter; and to +which all the helps derived from our communion with Christ are to +be applied, with nothing future, so for as earth is concerned, for +which we may need them. So then, of whatever age we may be, what is +said of the apostles in the text may apply to us also: after having +witnessed, as it were, Christ's resurrection, we go away to our own +homes. Let us first take that part of the text which is common to +us all, though not in the same degree--the having been witnesses of +Christ's resurrection. John and Peter found him not in the +sepulchre; they found the linen clothes and the napkin lying there, +but he was gone. And upon this, as John assures us, both for +himself and his companion, "they believed." They believed, we +should observe, when as yet they had no more seen Jesus himself +after his resurrection, than we Lave now. They only knew that he +had been dead, and that he was not in the sepulchre. And this we +know also; we have not seen him, indeed, since his resurrection: +but we are sure he is not in the sepulchre. We are sure that the +malice of his enemies did not do its work: we are sure, for we are +ourselves witnesses of it, that that name, and that word, which +they hoped would have been destroyed for ever, like the names of +many, not only of false prophets and deceivers, but even of good +men and of wise, have not perished, but have brought forth fruit +more abundantly, from the very cause that was intended to put them +out. Christ's gospel, assuredly, is a living thing, full of vigour +and full of power; it has worked mightily for good, and is working; +it is so full of blessing, it tends so largely towards the +happiness that is enjoyed upon earth, that we are quite sure it is +not lying still buried in Christ's sepulchre.</p> +<p>They (the two disciples) then went away believing, because they +found that he was not in the sepulchre. But Mary Magdalene came and +told them, that she had seen him risen, and had heard his voice +with her ears. What she told Peter and John, Peter and John are now +telling to us. They tell us that they have heard him, have seen him +with their eyes, have looked upon him, yea, that their hands have +handled him. They tell us even more than Mary Magdalene told them; +for she had not been allowed to touch him. We may well trust their +testimony, as they trusted hers, being quite ready indeed to +believe that he was alive, because they had found that he was not +amongst the dead. And so we, finding that he is not amongst the +dead, seeing and knowing the fruits of his gospel, the living and +ever increasing fruits of it, may well believe that its author is +risen, and that the pains of death were loosed from off him, +because it was not possible that he should be holden by them.</p> +<p>In this way, we, like the two disciples, may be all said to be +witnesses of Christ's resurrection. May it not be said still more +of those amongst us who assembled this morning round Christ's +table, to keep alive the memory of his death; when we partook of +that bread, and drank of that cup, of which so many thousands and +millions, in every age and in every land, have eaten and drunken, +all receiving them, with nearly the same words,--the body that was +given for us, the blood that was shed for us,--all, making +allowances for human weakness, finding in that communion the peace +and the strength of God; all alike receiving it with penitent +hearts, and with faith, and purposes of good for the time to come? +Did we not then witness that Christ is not perished? that he has +been ever, and still is, mighty to save? That command given to +twelve persons, in an obscure chamber in Jerusalem, by one who, the +next day, was to die as a malefactor, has been, and is obeyed from +one end of the world to another; and wherever it has been obeyed, +there, in proportion to the sincerity of the obedience, has been +the fulness of the blessing.</p> +<p>But this is now past, as with the two disciples, and we are +going again to our own homes. There, neither the empty sepulchre +nor the risen Saviour are present before us, but common scenes and +familiar occupations, which, in themselves have nothing in them of +Christ. So it must be; we cannot be always within these walls; we +cannot always be engaged in public prayer; we cannot always be +hearing Christ's word, nor partaking of his communion; we must be +going about our several works, and must be busied in them; some of +us in preparation for other work to come, others to go on till the +end of their lives with this only. May we not hope that Christ, and +Christ's Spirit, will visit us the while in these our daily +callings, as he came to his disciples Peter and John, when +following their business as fishers on the lake of Gennesareth?</p> +<p>How can we get him to visit us? There is one answer--by prayer +and by watchfulness. By prayer, whether we are in our preparatory +state, or our fixed one; by prayer, and I think I may add, by +praying in our own words. Of course, when we pray together, some of +us must join in the words of others; and it makes little +difference, whether those words be spoken or read. But when we pray +alone, some, perhaps, may still use none but prayers made by +others, especially the Lord's prayer. We should remember, however, +that the Lord's prayer was given for this very purpose, to teach us +how to pray for ourselves. But it does not do this, if we use it +alone, and still more, if we use it without understanding it. If we +do understand it, and study it, it will indeed teach us to pray; it +will show us what we most need in prayer, and what are our greatest +evils; but surely it may be said, that no man ever learnt this +lesson well without wishing to practise it; no man ever used the +Lord's prayer with understanding and with earnestness, without +adding to it others of his own. And this is not a trifling matter. +We know the difficulty of attending in prayer; and if we use the +words of others only, which we must, therefore, repeat from memory, +it is perfectly possible to say them over without really joining +with them in our minds: we may say them over to ourselves, and be +actually thinking of other things the while. And the same thing +holds good, of course, even with prayers that we have made +ourselves, if we accustom ourselves to repeat them without +alteration; they then become, in fact, the work of another than our +actual mind, and may be repeated by memory alone. Therefore, it +seems to be of consequence to vary the words, and even the matter +of our private prayers, that so we may not deceive ourselves, by +repeating merely, when we fancy that we are praying. Ten words +actually made by ourselves at the moment, and not remembered, are a +real prayer; for it is not hypocrisy that is the most common +danger; our temper, when we are on our knees, is apt indeed to be +careless, but not, I hope and believe, deceitful. This, of course, +must be well known to a very large proportion of us; but, perhaps, +there are some to whom it may be useful; some to whom the advice +may not yet have suggested itself, that they should make their own +prayers, in part, at least, whenever they kneel down to their +private devotions.</p> +<p>And this sort of prayer, with God's blessing, is likely to make +us watchful. We rise in the morning: we say some prayers of our +own; we hear others read to us; and yet it is possible that we may +not have really prayed ourselves in either case; we may not have +brought ourselves truly into the presence of God. Hence our true +condition, with all its dangers, has not been brought before our +minds; the need of watchfulness has not been shown to us. But with +real prayer of our own hearts' making it is different; God is then +present to us, and sin and righteousness: our dream of carelessness +is, for a moment at least, broken. No doubt it is but too easy to +dream again; yet still an opportunity of exerting ourselves to keep +awake is given us; we are roused to consciousness of our situation; +and that, at any rate, renders exertion possible. There is no doubt +that souls are most commonly lost by this continued dreaming, till +at length, when seemingly awake (they are not so really), they are +like men who answer to the call that would arouse them, but they +answer, in fact, unconsciously. We cannot tell for ourselves or +others any way by which our souls shall certainly be saved, in +spite of carelessness; or any way by which, carelessness shall be +overcome necessarily; all that can be done is, to point out how it +may be overcome, by what means the soul may be helped in its +endeavours; not how those endeavours and holy desires may be +rendered needless.</p> +<p>Thus, then, we may gain Christ to visit us at our own homes and +in our common callings, when we are returned to them. And that +difference which I spoke of as existing between us, that some of us +are waiting for Christ's call to a higher field of action, while +others are engaged in that sort of duty which will last their +lives, I know not that this--though it be often important, and +though I am often obliged to dwell on it--need enter into our +considerations to-day. Rather, perhaps, may we overlook this +difference, and feel that all of us here assembled--those in their +state of earliest preparation for after duties; those to whom that +earliest state is passed away, and who are entered into another +state, in part preparatory, in part partaking of the character of +actual life; and those also whose preparation, speaking of earth, +only, is completed altogether, who must be doing, and whose time +even of doing is far advanced--that all of us have in truth one +great call yet before us: and that, with respect to that, we are +all, as it were, preparing still. And for that great call, common +to all of us, we need all the same common readiness; and that +readiness will be effected in us only by the same means,--if now, +before it come, Christ and Christ's Spirit shall, in our homes and +daily callings, be persuaded to visit us.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXVI."></a>LECTURE XXVI.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>WHITSUNDAY.</center> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>ACTS xix. 2.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye +believed</i>?</center> +<br> +<p>It appears, by what follows these words, that the question here +related especially to those gifts of the Holy Ghost which were +given, in the first age of the church, as a sign of God's power, +and a witness that the work of the gospel was from God. Yet +although this be so, and therefore the words, in this particular +sense, cannot to any good purpose be asked now; yet there is +another sense, and that not a lower but a far higher one, in which +we may ask them, and in which it concerns us in the highest degree, +what sort of answer we can give to them, I say, "what sort of +answer;" for I think it is true of all Christians that, in a +certain measure, they have received the Holy Ghost. Not only does +the doctrine of our own, and I believe every other, church, +concerning baptism, show this: but it seems also necessarily to +follow, from those words of St. Paul, that "No man can say that +Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." And yet the Scripture and +common experience alike show us, that a man may call Jesus Lord, +and yet not be really his, nor one who will be owned by Him at the +last day. So that what is of real importance to us is, the degree +of fulness and force with which we could give the answer to the +words of the text; not simply saying that we have received the Holy +Ghost, which would be true, but might be far from sufficient; but +saying that we have received Him and are receiving Him more and +more, so that our hearts and lives are showing the impression of +his heavenly seal daily more and more clearly and completely.</p> +<p>And this must really have always been the answer which it +concerned every Christian to be able to make; although it has been +in various instances, and by very opposite parties, tried to be +evaded. It is evaded alike by those who set too highly the grace +given in baptism, and by those who, setting this too low, direct +our attention to another point in a man's life, which they call his +justification or conversion. For both alike would give an +exaggerated importance to one particular moment of our lives, and +to the grace then given. Now, the importance of particular moments +in men's lives differs exceedingly in different persons; but yet in +all may be exaggerated. I suppose that if ever in any man's life a +particular point was of immense importance, it was the point of his +conversion in the case of St. Paul. There were here united all that +grace which according to one view accompanies baptism especially, +and all which according to the other view accompanies conversion +and justification. Here was a point which separated St. Paul's +later life from his earlier with a broader line of separation than +can possibly be the ease in general. There can be no doubt that he, +if ever man did, received at that particular time the Holy Ghost. +But if, ten or twenty years afterwards, St. Paul had been asked +concerning what the Holy Ghost had done for him, he would not +certainly have confined himself in his answer to the grace once +given him at his conversion and baptism, but would have spoken of +that which he had been receiving since every hour and every day, +carrying forward and completing that work of God which had been +begun at the time of his journey to Damascus. And as he had +received more and more grace, so was his confidence in his +acceptance with God at the last day more and more assured. For he +writes to the Corinthians, many years after his conversion and +baptism, that he kept under his body, and was bringing it into +subjection, lest that by any means, after having preached to +others, he should be himself a castaway. And some years later +still, though he does not use so strong an expression as that of +becoming a castaway, yet he still says, even when writing to the +Philippians from Rome, that he counted not himself to have +apprehended, nor to have attained his object fully; but forgetting +what was behind, even the grace of his conversion and baptism, he +pressed on to the things which were before, even that continued and +increasing grace which was required to bring him in safety to his +heavenly crown. But if we go on some years yet farther, when his +labours were ended, and the sure prospect of speedy death was +before him; when the past grace was everything, and what he could +expect yet to come was scarcely any other than that particular aid +which we need in our struggle with the last enemy--death; then, his +language is free from all uncertainty; then, in the full sense of +the words, he could say that he had received the Holy Ghost, that +his spirit had been fully born again for its eternal being, and +that there only remained the raising up also of his mortal body, to +complete that new creation of body and soul which Christ's Spirit +works in Christ's redeemed. "I have fought the good fight, I have +finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid +up for me my crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous +judge, will give me at that day."</p> +<p>It seems, then, that the great question which we should be +anxious to be able to answer in the affirmative, is this, "<i>Are +we receiving</i> the Holy Ghost since we believed?" "Since we +believed," whether we choose to carry back the date of our first +belief to the very time of our baptism, when grace was given to +us,--we know not to what degree nor how,--yet given to us, as being +then received into Christ's flock; or whether we go back only to +that time when we can ourselves remember ourselves to have +believed, and so can remember that God's grace was given to us. +Have we been ever since, and are we still, receiving the Holy +Ghost? O blessed above all blessedness, if we can say that this is +true of us! O blessed with a blessedness most complete, if we only +do not too entirely abandon ourselves to enjoy it! Elect of God; +holy and beloved; justified and sanctified; there is nothing in all +the world that could impair or destroy such happiness, except we +ourselves, in evil hour, believed it to be out of the reach of +danger.</p> +<p>But if the witness of memory and conscience be less favourable; +if we can remember long seasons of our lives during which we were +not receiving the Holy Ghost; long seasons of a cold and hard +state, in which there was, as it were, neither rain nor dew, nor +yet sun to ripen what had grown before; but all was so ungenial +that no new thing grew; and what had grown was withering and almost +dying; what shall be said, then, and how can the time be made up +which was so wasted? But we remember, it may be, that this deadly +season passed away: the rain fell once more, and the tender dew, +and the quickening sun shone brightly: our spiritual growth began +again, and is now going on healthily; we have not always been +receiving the Holy Ghost since we believed, but we are receiving +him now. How gracious, then, has God been to us, that he has again +renewed us unto repentance; that he has shown that we have not, in +the fullest sense, sinned against the Holy Ghost, seeing that the +Holy Ghost still abides with us! we grieved him, and tried his +long-suffering, but he has not abandoned us to our own evil hearts; +we are receiving him who is the giver of life, and we still +live.</p> +<p>But must not we speak of others? is not another case to be +supposed possible? may there not be some who cannot say with truth +that they are receiving the holy Ghost now? They received him once; +we doubt it not; perhaps they were receiving him for some length of +time; their early childhood was watched by Christian care; their +youth and early manhood, when it received freshly things of this +world, received also, with lively thankfulness, the grace of God; +they can remember a time when they were growing in goodness; when +they were being renewed after the image of God. But they can +remember, also, that this time passed away; the grace of early +childhood was put out by the temptations of boyhood; the grace of +youth and opening manhood died away amid the hardness of this +life's maturity. It is so, I believe, often; that boyhood, which +is, as it were, ripened childhood, destroys the grace of our +earliest years; that again, when youth offers us a second beginning +of life, we are again impressed with good; but that ripened youth, +which is manhood, brings with it again the reason of hardness, and +again our spiritual growth, is destroyed. We can remember, I am +supposing, that this fatal change did take place; but can we date +it to any particular act, or month, or day, or hour? We can do so +most rarely: in this respect the seed of death can even less be +traced to its beginning than the seed of life. And yet there +<i>was</i> a beginning, only we do not remember it. And why do we +not remember it? Because the real beginning was in some act which +seemed of so little consequence that it made no impression; in the +altering some habit which we judged to be a mere trifle; in the +indulging some temper which even at the time we hardly noticed. +Some such little thing,--little in our view of it,--made the fatal +turn; we received the grace of God less and less: we heeded not the +change for a season; and when it was so marked that we could not +but heed it, then we had ceased to regard it; and so it was that +the spring of our life was dried up: and it is of no more avail to +our present and future state, that we once received grace, than the +rain of last winter will be sufficient to ripen the summer's +harvest, if from this time forward we have nothing but drought and +cold.</p> +<p>Some few, again, there may be, who, within their own +recollection, could not say that they have received the Holy Ghost: +persons who have lived among careless friends, to whom the way of +life has never been steadily pointed out; while the way of death, +with all its manifold paths, meeting at last in one, has been +continually before them. Shall we say that these, because they have +been baptized, are therefore guilty of having rejected grace given? +that this sin is aggravated, because a mercy was offered them once +of which they were unconscious? We would not say this; but we would +say that it is impossible but that they must have received the Holy +Ghost within their memory; it is impossible but that conscience +must have sometimes spoken, and that they must have sometimes been +enabled to obey it; it is impossible but that they must have had +some notions of sin, and some desires to struggle against it; and +so far as they ever felt that desire, it was the work of God's Holy +Spirit. Man cannot dare to say how great the amount of their guilt +may be; but guilt there certainly is; they have grieved the Holy +Spirit; and, though we dare not say that they have utterly +blasphemed him, yet they have a long hardness to overcome, and +every hour of delayed turning to God increases it: it may be +possible still to overcome it, but meanwhile it is not overcome; +they are not receiving the Holy Spirit; they are not being renewed +into the likeness of Christ, without which no man can see God.</p> +<p>Here, then, are the four cases, one of which must belong to +every one of us here assembled. Either we have been always and +still are receiving the Holy Ghost; or we can remember when we were +not, but yet are receiving him now; or we can remember when we +were, but yet now are not; or we cannot remember to have received +him ever, nor are we yet receiving him. I cannot say which of the +last two states is the most dreadful, nor scarcely which of the +first two states is the most blessed. But yet as even those happy +states admit not of over-confidence, so neither do the last two +most unhappy states oblige us to despair. Not to despair; but they +do urge us to every degree of fear less than despair. There is far +more danger of our not fearing enough than of our being driven to +despair. There is far more danger of your looking on the season of +youth, of our looking on to old age; you trusting to the second +freshness and tenderness of the first,--we to the calmness and +necessary reflection of the last. There is far more danger of our +thus hardening ourselves beyond recall; there is not only the +danger, but there is the sin, the greatest sin, I suppose, of which +the human mind is capable, that of deliberately choosing evil for +the present rather than good, calculating that, by and by, we shall +choose good rather than evil. I believe, that it is impossible to +conceive of any state of mind more sinful than one which should so +feel and so choose; and this is the state which we incur, and which +we persist in whenever we put off the thought of repentance. Now, +then, it only remains, that we apply this each to ourselves; I say +all of us apply it, the young and the old alike; for there is not +one here so young as not to have cause to apply it; there is not +one of us who would not, I am sure, be a different person from what +he now is, if he were to ask himself steadily every day, Have I +been and am I receiving the Holy Ghost since I believed?</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXVII."></a>LECTURE XXVII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>TRINITY SUNDAY.</center> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>JOHN iii. 9.</center> +<br> +<center><i>How can these things be</i>?</center> +<br> +<p>This is the second question put by Nicodemus to our Lord with +regard to the truths which Jesus was declaring to him. The first +was, "How can a man be born when he is old?" which was said upon +our Lord's telling him that, "Except a man be born again, he cannot +see the kingdom of God." Now, it will be observed, that these two +questions are treated by our Lord in a different manner: to the +first he, in fact, gives an answer; that is, he removes by his +answer that difficulty in Nicodemus's mind which led to the +question; but to the second he gives no answer, and leaves +Nicodemus--and with Nicodemus, us all also--exactly in the same +ignorance as he found him at the beginning.</p> +<p>Now, is there any difference in the nature of these two +questions, which led our Lord to treat them so differently? We +might suppose beforehand that there would be; and when we come to +examine them, so we shall find it. The difficulty in the first +question rendered true faith impossible, and, therefore, our Lord +removed it; the difficulty in the second question did not properly +interfere with faith at all, but might, through man's fault, be a +temptation to him to refuse to believe. And as this, like other +temptations, must be overcome by us, and not taken away from our +path before we encounter it, so our Lord did not think proper to +remove it or to lessen it.</p> +<p>We must now unfold this difference more clearly. When Christ +said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of +God," Nicodemus could not possibly believe what our Lord said, +because he did not understand his meaning. He did not know what he +meant by "a man's being born again," and, therefore, he could not +believe, as he did not know what he was to believe. Words which we +do not understand, are like words spoken in an unknown language; we +can neither believe them nor disbelieve them, because we do not +know what they say. For instance, I repeat these words, [Greek: +tous pantas haemas phanerothaenai dei emprosaen tou baematos tou +Christou.] Now, if I were to ask, Do you believe these words? is it +not manifest that all of you who know Greek enough, to understand +them may also believe them; but of those who do not know Greek, not +a single person can yet believe them? They are as yet words spoken +as to the air. But when I add, that these words mean, "We must all +stand before the judgment-seat of Christ;" now we can all believe +them because we can all understand them.</p> +<p>It is, then, perfectly impossible for any man to believe a +statement except in proportion as he understands its meaning. And, +therefore, our Lord explained what he meant to Nicodemus, and told +him that, by being born again, he did not mean the natural birth of +the body; but a birth caused by the Spirit, and therefore itself a +birth of a spirit: for, as that which is born from a body is itself +also a body, so that which is born of a spirit is itself also a +spirit. So that Christ's words now are seen to have this +meaning,--No man can enter into the kingdom of God except God's +Spirit creates in him a spirit or mind like unto himself, and like +unto Christ, and like unto the Father. Nicodemus, then, could now +understand what was meant, and might have believed it. But he asks +rather another question, "How can these things be?" How can God's +Spirit create within me a spirit like himself, while I continue a +man as before? Many persons since have asked similar questions; but +to none of them is an answer given. How God's Spirit works within +us I cannot tell; but if we take the appointed means of procuring +his aid, we shall surely find that he has worked and does work in +us to life eternal.</p> +<p>We must, then, in order to believe, understand what it is that +is told us; but it is by no means necessary that we should +understand how it is to happen. It is not necessary, and in a +thousand instances we do not know. "If we take poison, we shall +die:" there is a statement which we can understand, and therefore +believe. But do we understand how it is that poison kills us? Does +every one here know how poisons act upon the human frame, and what +is the different operation of different poisons,--how laudanum +kills, for instance, and how arsenic? Surely there are very few of +us, at most, who do understand this: and yet would it not be +exceedingly unreasonable to refuse to believe that poison will kill +us, because we do not understand the manner <i>how</i>?</p> +<p>Thus far, I think, the question is perfectly plain, so soon as +it is once laid before us. But the real point of perplexity is to +be found a step further. In almost all propositions there is +something about the terms which we do understand, and something +which we do not. For instance, let me say these few words:--"A +frigate was lost amidst the breakers." These words would be +understood in a certain degree, by all who hear me: and so far as +all understand them, all can believe them. All would understand +that a ship had sunk in the water, or been dashed to pieces; that +it would be useful no more for the purposes for which it had been +made. But what is meant by the words "frigate" and "breakers" all +would not understand, and many would understand very differently: +that is to say, those who had happened to have known most about the +sea and sea affairs would understand most about them, while those +who knew less would understand less; but probably none of us would +understand their meaning so fully, or would have so distinct and +lively an image of the things, as would be enjoyed by an actual +seaman; and even amongst seamen themselves, there would again be +different degrees of understanding, according to their different +degrees of experience, or knowledge of ships, or powers of +mind.</p> +<p>I have taken the instance at random, and any other proposition +might have served my purpose as well. But men do not speak to one +another at random; when they say anything to their neighbour, they +mean it to produce on his mind a certain effect. Suppose that we +were living near the sea-coast, and any one were suddenly to come +in, and to utter the words which I have taken as my example: should +we not know that what the man meant by these words was, that there +was a danger at hand for which our help was needed? It matters not +that we have no distinct ideas of the terms "frigate" or +"breakers;" we understand enough for our belief and practice, and +we should hasten to the sea-shore accordingly. Or suppose that the +same words were told us of a frigate in which we had some near +relation: should we not see at once that what we were meant to +understand and to believe in the words was, that we had lost a +relation? That is the truth with which we are concerned; and this +we can understand and feel, although we may be able to understand +nothing more of the words in which that truth is conveyed to us. +Now, in like manner, in whatever God says to us there is a purpose: +it is intended to produce on our minds a certain impression, and so +far it must be understood. But when God speaks to us of heavenly +things, the terms employed can only be understood in part, and so +far as God's purpose with regard to our minds reaches; but there +must be a great deal in them which we can no more understand than +one who had never seen a ship, or a picture of one, could +understand the word "frigate." Our business is to consider what +impression or what actions the words are intended to produce in us. +Up to this point we can and must understand them: beyond this they +may be wholly above the reach of our faculties, and we can form of +them no ideas at all.</p> +<p>It is clear that this will be the case most especially whenever +God reveals to us anything concerning himself. Take these few +words, for example, "God is a spirit;" take them as a mere abstract +truth, and how little can we understand about them! Who will dare +to say that he understands all that is contained in the words "God" +and "spirit?" We might weary ourselves for ever in attempting so to +search out either. But God said these words to us: and the point +is, What impression did he mean them to have upon us? how far can +we understand them? This he has not by any means left doubtful, for +it follows immediately, "They who worship him should worship Him in +spirit and in truth." For this end the words were spoken, and thus +far they are clear to us. God lives not on Mount Gerizim or at +Jerusalem: but in every place he hears the prayers of the sincere +and contrite heart, in no place will he regard the offerings of the +proud and evil.</p> +<p>Or again, "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten +Son, to the end that all who believe in him should not perish, but +have eternal life." Here are words in themselves, as abstract +truths, perfectly overwhelming; "God," "God's only-begotten Son," +"Eternity." Who shall understand these things, when it is said, +that "none knoweth the Son, save the Father; that none knoweth the +Father, save the Son?" But did God tell us the words for nothing? +can we understand nothing from them? believe nothing? feel nothing? +Nay, they were spoken that we might both understand, and believe, +and feel. How must He love us, who gives for us his only-begotten +Son! how surely may we believe in Him who is an only-begotten Son +to his Father,--so equal in nature, so entire in union!--What must +that happiness be, which reaches beyond our powers of counting! +Would we go further?--then the veil is drawn before us; other +truths there are, no doubt, contained in the words; truths which +the angels might desire to look into; truths which even they may be +unable to understand. But these are the secret things which belong +unto our God; the things which are revealed they are what belong to +us and to our children, that we may understand, and believe, and do +them.</p> +<p>Again, "the Comforter, whom Christ will send unto us from the +Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, +he shall testify of Christ." What words are here! "The Spirit of +Truth," "the Spirit proceeding from the Father;" the Spirit "whom +Christ will send," and "send from the Father." Can any created +being understand, to the full, such "heavenly things" as these? But +would Christ have uttered to his disciples mere unintelligible +words, which could tell them nothing, and excite in them no feeling +but mere wonder? Not so; but the words told them that Christ was +not to be lost to them after he had left them on earth; that every +gift of God was his: that even that Spirit of God, in which is +contained all the fulness of the Godhead, is the Spirit of Christ +also; that that mighty power which should work in them so +abundantly, was of no other or lower origin than God himself; as +entirely God, as the spirit of man is man. But can we therefore +understand the Spirit of God, or conceive of him? How should we, +when we cannot understand our own? This, and this only, we +understand and believe, that without him our spirits cannot be +quickened; that unless we pray daily for his aid, and listen to his +calls within us, our spirit will never be created after his image, +and we cannot enter into the kingdom of God.</p> +<p>It is thus, and thus only, that the revelations of God's word +are beyond our understandings: that in them, beings and things are +spoken of, which, taken generally, and in themselves, we should in +vain endeavour to comprehend. But what God means us to know, or +feel, or do, respecting them, that we can understand; and beyond +this we have no concern. It is, in fact, a contradiction to speak +of revealing what is unintelligible; for so far as it is a revealed +truth it is intelligible; so far as it is unintelligible, it is not +revealed. But though a thing revealed must be intelligible in +itself, yet it by no means follows that we can understand +<i>how</i> it happens. When we are told that the dead shall rise +again, we can understand quite well what is meant; that we beings +who feel happiness and misery, shall feel them again, either the +one or the other, after we seemingly have done with them for ever +in the grave. But "How are the dead raised up, and with what body +do they come?" are questions to which, whether asked scoffingly or +sincerely, we can give no answers; here our understanding fails, +and here the truth is not revealed to us.</p> +<p>How, then, has Christianity no mysteries? In one sense, blessed +be God for it, it has many. Using mysteries in St. Paul's sense of +great revelations of things which were and must be unknown to all, +except God had revealed them: then, indeed, they are many; the +pillar and ground of truth, great without controversy, and full of +salvation. But take mysteries in our more common sense of the +word,--as things which are revealed to none, and can be understood +by none,--then it is true that Christianity leaves many such in +existence; that many such she has done away; that none has she +created. She leaves many mysteries with respect to God, and with +respect to ourselves; God is still incomprehensible; life and death +have many things in them beyond our questioning; we may still look +around us, above us, and within us, and wonder, and be ignorant. +But if she still leaves the veil drawn over much in heaven and in +earth, yet from how much has she removed it! Life and death are +still in many respects dark; but she has brought to light +immortality. God is still in himself incomprehensible; but all his +glory, and all his perfections, are revealed to us in his +only-begotten Son Christ Jesus. God's Spirit who can search out in +his own proper essence? yet Christianity has taught us how we may +have him to dwell with us for ever, and taste the fulness of his +blessings. Yea, thanks be to God for the great Christian mystery +which we this day celebrate; that he has revealed himself to us as +our Saviour and our Comforter; that he has revealed to us his +infinite love, in that he has given us his only-begotten Son to die +for us, and his own Eternal Spirit to make our hearts his +temple.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXVIII."></a>LECTURE XXVIII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>EXODUS iii. 6.</center> +<br> +<center><i>And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon +God</i>.</center> +<br> +<center>LUKE xxiii. 30.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Then shall they begin to say to the mountains.<br> +Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>These two passages occur, the one in the first lesson of this +morning's service, the other in the second. One or other of them +must have been, or must be, the case of you, of me, of every soul +of man that lives or has lived since the world began. There must be +a time in the existence of every human being when he will fear God. +But the great, the infinite difference is, whether we fear him at +the beginning of our relations to him, or at the end.</p> +<p>The fear of Moses was felt at the beginning of his knowledge of +God. When God revealed himself to him at the bush, it was, so far +as we are told, the first time that Moses learnt to know him. The +fear of those who say to the mountains, "Fall on us," is felt at +the very end of their knowledge of God; for to those who are +punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the +Lord, God is not. So that the two cases in the text are exact +instances of the difference of which I spoke, in the most extreme +degree. Moses, the greatest of the prophets, fears God at first; +those who are cast into hell, fear him at last.</p> +<p>The appearance of God, as described in this passage of +Scripture, is an image also of his dealings with us at the +beginning of our course, when we fear him with a saving fear. "The +bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed." God shows +his terrors, but he does not, as yet, destroy with them. It is the +very opposite to this at last, for then he is expressly said to be +a consuming fire.</p> +<p>Moses turned aside to see this great sight, why the bush was not +burnt. That sight is the very same which the world has been +offering for so many hundreds of years: God's terrors are around +it, but, as yet, it is not consumed, because he wills that we +should fear him before it is too late.</p> +<p>There is, indeed, this great difference;--that the signs of +God's presence do not now force themselves upon our eyes; so that +we may, if we choose, walk on our own way, without turning aside to +see and observe them. And thus we do not see God, and do not, +therefore, hide our faces for fear of him, but go on, and feel no +fear, till the time when we cannot help seeing him. And it may be, +that this time will never come till our life, and with it our space +of trial, is gone for ever.</p> +<p>Here, then, is our state, that God will manifest himself no more +to us in such a way as that we cannot help seeing him. The burning +bush will be no more given us as a sign; Christ will no more +manifest himself unto the world. And yet, unless we do see him, +unless we learn to fear him while he is yet an unconsuming fire, +unless we know that he is near, and that the place whereon we stand +is holy ground, we shall most certainly see him when he will be a +consuming fire, and when we shall join in crying to the mountains, +to fall on us, and to the hills, to cover us.</p> +<p>Every person who thinks at all, must, I am sure, be satisfied, +that our great want, the great need of our condition, is this one +thing--to realize to ourselves the presence of God. It is a want +not at all peculiar to the young. Thoughtfulness, in one sense, is +indeed likely to come with advancing years: we are more apt to +think at forty than at fifteen; but it by no means follows that we +are more apt to think about God. In this matter we are nearly at a +level at all times of our life: it is with all of us our one great +want, to bring the idea of God, with a living and abiding power, +home to our minds.</p> +<p>This is illustrated by a wish ascribed to a great and good +man--Johnson, and which has been noticed with a sneer by +unbelievers, a wish that he might see a spirit from the other +world, to testify to him of the truth of the resurrection. This has +been sneered at, as if it were a confession of the unsatisfactory +nature of the evidence which we actually possess: but, in truth, it +is a confession only of the weakness which clings to us all, that +things unseen, which our reason only assures us to be real, are +continually overpowered by things affecting our senses; and, +therefore, it was a natural wish that sight might, in a manner, +come to the aid of reason; that the eye might see, and the ear +might hear, a form and words which belonged to another world. And +this wish might arise (I do not say wisely, or that his deliberate +judgment would sanction it, but it might arise) in the breast of a +good man, and one who would be willing to lay down his life in +proof of his belief in Christ's promises. It might arise, not +because he felt any doubt, when his mind turned calmly to the +subject; not because he was hesitating what should be the main +principle of his life; but because his experience had told him, +that there are many times in the life of man when the mind does not +fully exert itself; when habit and impressions rule us, in a +manner, in its stead. And when so many of our impressions must be +earthly, and as our impressions colour our habits, is it not +natural (I do not say wise, but is it not natural) to desire some +one forcible unearthly impression, which might, on the other side, +colour our habits, and so influence us at those times when the +mind, almost by the necessity of our condition, cannot directly +interpose its own deliberate decision as our authority?</p> +<p>No doubt the wish to which I have been alluding is not one which +our reason would sanction; but it expresses in a very lively and +striking manner a want which is most true and real, although it +proposes an impossible remedy. But the question cannot but occur to +us, Can it be that our heavenly Father, who knows whereof we are +made, should have intended us to live wholly by faith in this +world? That is, Can it have been his will that all visible signs of +himself should be withdrawn from us; and that we should be left +only with the record and the evidence of his mighty works done in +our behalf in past times; and with that other evidence of his +wisdom and power which is afforded by the wonders of his +creation?</p> +<p>We look into the Scriptures and we learn that such was not his +will. We were to live by faith, indeed, with, respect to the unseen +world, there the sign given was to be for ever only the sign of +Christ's resurrection. But yet it was not designed that the +evidence of Christ's having redeemed us should be sought for only +in the records of the past; he purposed that there should be a +living record, a record that might speak to our senses as well as +to our reason; that should continually present us with impressions +of the reality of Christ's salvation; and so might work upon the +habits of our life, as insensibly as the air we breathe. This +living witness, which should last till Christ came again, was to be +no other than his own body instinct with his own Spirit--his +people, the temple of the Holy Ghost, his holy universal +Church.</p> +<p>If we consider for a moment, this would entirely meet the want +of which I have been speaking. It is possible, certainly, to look +upon the face of nature without being reminded of God; yet it is +surely true, that in the outward creation, in the order of the +seasons, the laws of the heavenly bodies, the wonderful wisdom and +goodness displayed in the constitution of every living thing in its +order, there is a tendency at least to impress us with, the thought +of God, if nothing else obstructed it. But there is a constant +obstruction in the state of man. Looking at men, hearing them, +considering them, it is not only possible not to be reminded of +God; but their very tendency is to exclude him from our minds, +because the moral workmanship which is so predominant in them has +assuredly not had God for its author. We all in our dealings with +one another, lead each other away from God. We present to each +other's view what seems to be a complete world of our own, in which +God is not. We see a beginning, a middle, and an end; we see +faculties for acquiring knowledge, and for receiving enjoyment; and +earth furnishes knowledge to the one and enjoyment to the other. We +see desires, and we see the objects to which they are limited; we +see that death removes men from all these objects, and consistently +with this, we observe, that death is generally regarded as the +greatest of all evils. Man's witness, then, as far as it goes, is +against the reality of God and of eternity. His life, his language, +his desires, his understanding appear, when we look over the world, +to refer to no being higher than himself, to no other state of +things than that of which sight testifies.</p> +<p>Now, Christ's Church, the living temple of the Holy Ghost, puts +in the place of this natural and corrupt man, whose witness is +against God, another sort of man, redeemed and regenerate, whose +whole being breathes a perpetual witness of God. Consider, again, +what we should see in such a Church. We should see a beginning, a +middle, but the end is not yet visible; we should see, besides the +faculties for knowledge and enjoyment which were receiving their +gratification daily, other faculties of both kinds, whose +gratification was as yet withheld; we should see desires not +limited to any object now visible or attainable. We should see +death looked to as the gate by which these hitherto unobtained +objects were to be sought for; and we should hear it spoken of, not +as the greatest of evils, but as an event solemn, indeed, and +painful to nature, but full of blessing and of happiness. We should +see love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, +meekness, temperance; a constitution of nature as manifestly +proclaiming its author to be the God of all holiness and +loving-kindness, as the wonderful structure of our eyes or hands +declares them to be the work of the God of all wisdom and power. We +should thus see in all our fellow-men, not only as much, but far +more than in the constitution of the lower animals, or of the +plants, or of the heavenly bodies, a witness of God and of +eternity. Their whole lives would be a witness; their whole +conversation would be a witness; their outward and more peculiar +acts of worship would then bear their part in harmony with all the +rest. Every day would the voices of the Church be heard in its +services of prayer and thanksgiving; every day would its members +renew their pledges of faithfulness to Christ, and to one another, +upon partaking together the memorials of his sacrifice.</p> +<p>What could we desire more than such a living witness as this? +What sign in the sky, what momentary appearance of a spirit from +the unseen world, could so impress us with the reality of God, as +this daily worshipping in his living temple; this daily sight, of +more than the Shechinah of old, even of his most Holy Spirit, +diffusing on every side light and blessing? And what is now become +of this witness? can names, and forms, and ordinances, supply its +place? can our unfrequent worship, our most seldom communion, +impress on us an image of men living altogether in the presence of +God, and in communion with Christ? But before we dwell on this, we +may, while considering the design of the true Church of Christ, +well understand how such excellent things should be spoken of it, +and how it should have been introduced into the Creed itself, +following immediately after the mention of the Holy Ghost. That +holy universal Church was to be the abiding witness of Christ's +love and of Christ's promises; not in its outward forms only, for +they by themselves are not a living witness; they cannot meet our +want--to have God and heavenly things made real to us; but in its +whole spirit, by which renewed man was to bear as visibly the image +of God, as corrupted man had lost it. This was the sure sign that +Christ had appointed to abide until his coming again; this sign, as +striking as the burning bush, would compel us to observe; would +make us sure that the place whereon we stand is holy ground.</p> +<p>Then follows the question: With this sign lost in its most +essential points, how can we supply its place? and how can we best +avail ourselves of those parts of it which still remain? and how +can we each endeavour to build up a partial and most imperfect +imitation of it, which may yet, in some sort, serve to supply our +great want, and remind us daily of God? This opens a wide field for +thought, to those who are willing to follow it; but much of it +belongs to other occasions rather than this: the practical part of +it,--the means of most imperfectly supplying the want of God's own +appointed sign, a true and living universal Church, shall be the +subject of my next Lecture.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXIX."></a>LECTURE XXIX.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>PSALM cxxxvii. 4.</center> +<br> +<center><i>How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange +land</i>?</center> +<br> +<p>This was said by the exiles of Jerusalem, when they were in the +land of their captivity in Babylon. There is no reason to suppose +that their condition was one of bondage, as it had been in Egypt: +the nations removed by conquest, under the Persian kings, from +their own country to another land, were no otherwise ill-treated; +they had new homes given them in which they lived unmolested; only +they were torn away from their own land, and were as sojourners in +a land of strangers. But the peculiar evil of this state was, that +they were torn away from the proper seat of their worship. The Jew +in Babylon might have his own home, and his own land to cultivate, +as he had in Judæa; but nothing could replace to him the loss +of the temple at Jerusalem: there alone could the morning and +evening sacrifices be offered; there alone could the sin-offering +for the people be duly made. Banished from the temple, therefore, +he was deprived also of the most solemn part of his religion; he +was, as it were, exiled from God; and the worship of God, as it was +now left to him,--that is, the offering up of prayers and +praises,--was almost painful to him, as it reminded him so forcibly +of his changed condition.</p> +<p>Such also, in some respects, was to be the state of the +Christian Church after our Lord's ascension. The only acceptable +sacrifice was now that of their great High Priest interceding for +them in the presence of the Father: heaven was their temple, and +they were far removed from it upon earth: they, too, like the Jews +in Babylon, were a little society by themselves living in the midst +of strangers. "Our citizenship," says St. Paul to the Philippians, +"is in heaven:" here they were not citizens, but sojourners. Why, +then, should not the early Christians have joined altogether in the +feeling of the Jews at Babylon? why should not they, too, have felt +and said, "How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"</p> +<p>The answer is contained in what I said last Sunday; because +Christ had not left them comfortless or forsaken, but was come +again to them by his Holy Spirit; because God was dwelling in the +midst of them; because they were not exiles from the temple of God, +but were themselves become God's temple; because through the virtue +of the one offering for sin once made, but for ever presented +before God by their High Priest in heaven, they, in God's temple on +earth, were presenting also their daily and acceptable sacrifice, +the sacrifice of themselves; because also, though as yet they were +a small society in a land of strangers, yet the stone formed +without hands was to become a mighty mountain, and cover the whole +earth: what was now the land of strangers was to become theirs; the +whole earth should be full of the knowledge of the Lord; the +kingdoms of the world were to become his kingdom; and thus earth, +redeemed from the curse of sin, was again to be so blessed that +God's servants living upon it should find it no place of exile.</p> +<p>But if this, in its reality, does not now exist; if, although +God's temple be on earth, the appointed sacrifice in it is not +offered, the living sacrifice of ourselves; if the society has, by +spreading, become weak, and the kingdoms of the earth are Christ's +kingdoms in name alone; are we, then, come back once more to the +condition of the Jews in Babylon? are we exiles from God, living +amongst strangers? and must we, too, say, with the prophet, "How +can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"</p> +<p>This was the question which I proposed to answer: What can we do +to make our condition unlike that of exiles from God: to restore +that true sign of his presence amongst us, the living fire of his +Holy Spirit pervading every part of his temple? I mean, what can we +do as individuals? for the question in any other sense is not to be +asked or answered here. But we, each of us, must have felt, at some +time or other, our distance from God. Put the idea in what form or +what words we will, we must--every one of us who has ever thought +seriously at all--we must regret that there is not a stronger and +more abiding influence over us, to keep us from evil, and to turn +us to good.</p> +<p>Now, the vestiges of Christ's church left among us are chiefly +these: our prayers together, whether in our families or in this +place; our reading of the Scriptures together; our communion, rare +as it is, in the memorials of the body and blood of Christ our +Saviour. These are the vestiges of that which was designed to be +with us always, and in every part of our lives, the holy temple of +God, his living church; but which now presents itself to us only at +particular times, and places, and actions; in our worship and in +our joint reading of the Scriptures, and in our communion.</p> +<p>It will be understood at once why I have not spoken here of +prayer and reading the Scriptures by ourselves alone. Most +necessary as these are to us, yet they do not belong to the helps +ministered to us by the church; they belong to us each as +individuals, and in these respects we must be in the same state +everywhere: these were enjoyed by the Jews even in their exile in +Babylon. But the church acts upon us through one another, and +therefore the vestiges of the church can only be sought for in what +we do, not alone, but together. I, therefore, noticed only that +prayer, and that reading of the Scriptures, in which many of us +took part in common.</p> +<p>Such common prayer takes place amongst us every morning and +evening, as well as on Sundays within these walls. Whenever we meet +on those occasions, we meet as Christ's church. Now, conceive how +the effect of such meeting depends on the conduct of each of us. It +is not necessary to notice behaviour openly profane and disorderly: +this does not occur amongst us. We see, however, that if it did +occur in any meeting for the purposes of religious worship, such a +meeting would do us harm rather than good: its witness to us would +not be in favour of God, but against him. But take another case: +when we are assembled for prayers, suppose our behaviour, without +being disorderly, was yet so manifestly indifferent as to be really +indecent; that is, suppose every countenance showed such manifest +signs of weariness, and impatience, and want of interest in what +was going forward, that it was evident there was no general +sympathy with any feeling of devotion. Would not the effect here +also be injurious? would not such a meeting also shock and check +our approaches towards God? would it not rather convince us that +God was really far distant from us, instead of showing that he was +in the midst of us?</p> +<p>Ascend one step higher. Our behaviour is neither disorderly, nor +manifestly indifferent: it is decent, serious, respectful. What is +the effect in this case? Not absolutely unfavourable certainly; but +yet far from being much help towards good. We bear our witness that +we are engaged in a matter that should be treated with reverence: +this is very right; but do we more than this? Do we show that we +are engaged in a matter that commands our interest also, as well as +our respect? If not, our witness is not the witness of Christ's +church: it does not go to declare that God is in us of a truth.</p> +<p>Let us go on one step more. We meet together to pray: we are +orderly, we are quiet, we are serious; but the countenance shows +that we are something more than these. There is on it the +expression, never to be mistaken, of real interest. Remember I am +speaking of meetings for prayer, where the words are perfectly +familiar to us, and where the interest therefore cannot be the mere +interest of novelty. Say, then, that our countenances express +interest: I do not mean strong and excited feeling; but interest, +which may be very real yet very quiet also. We look as if we +thought of what we were engaged in, of what we are ourselves, and +of what God is to us. We are joined in one common feeling of +thankfulness to him for mercies past, of wishing for his help and +love for the time to come. Now, think what would be the effect of +such a meeting. Would it not be, clearly, positively good! Would +not every individual's earnestness be confirmed by the manifest +earnestness of others? Would not his own sense of God's reality be +rendered stronger, by seeing that others felt it just as he did? +Then, here would be the church of God rendering her appointed +witness: she would be giving her sure sign that God is not far from +any one of us.</p> +<p>Now, then, observe what we may lose or gain by our different +behaviour, whenever we meet together in prayer; what we lose, nay, +what positive mischief we do, by any visible impatience or +indifference; what we should gain by really joining in our hearts +in the meaning of what was uttered. It is a solemn thing for the +consciences of us all; but surely it must be true, that, whenever +we are careless or indifferent in our public prayers, we are +actually injuring our neighbours, and are, so far as in us lies, +destroying the witness which the church of Christ should render to +the truth of God her Saviour.</p> +<p>I do not know that there is anything more impressive than the +sight of a congregation evidently in earnest in the service in +which they are engaged. We then feel how different is our own +lonely prayer from the united voice of many hearts; each cheering, +strengthening, enkindling the other. We then consider one another +to provoke unto love and good works. How different are the feelings +with which we regard a number of persons met for any common +purpose, and the same persons engaged together in serious prayer or +praise! Then Christ seems to appear to us in each of them; we are +all one in him. How little do all earthly unkindnesses, dislikes, +prejudices, become in our eyes, when the real bond of our common +faith is discerned clearly! There is indeed neither Greek nor Jew, +circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor +free, but Christ is all, and in all. And to look at our brethren, +once or twice in every day, with these Christian eyes, would it not +also, by degrees, impress us at other times, and begin to form +something of our habitual temper and regard towards them?</p> +<p>Thus much of our meetings for prayer. One word only on those in +which we meet to read the Scriptures. Here I know, that difference +of age, and our peculiar relations to each other, make us very apt +to lose the religious character of our readings of the Scriptures, +and to regard them merely as lessons. No doubt, the object here is +instruction; it is not so much in itself a religious exercise, as a +means to enable you to perform religious exercises with +understanding and sincerity. Still there is a peculiar character +attached even to lessons, when they are taken out of the +Scriptures: and the duty of attention and interest in the work +becomes even stronger than under other circumstances. But with +those of a more advanced age, I think there is more than this; I +think it must be our own fault, if, whilst engaged together in +reading the Scriptures, which we only read because we are +Christians, we do not feel that there also we are employed on a +duty belonging to the Church of Christ.</p> +<p>Lastly, there is our joint communion in the bread, and in the +cup, of the Lord's Supper. Here there is seriousness; here there is +always, I trust and believe, something of real interest; and, +therefore, we never, I think, meet together at the Lord's table, +without feeling a true effect of Christ's gifts to and in his +Church; we are strengthened and brought nearer to one another, and +to him. But this most precious pledge of Christ's Church we too +often forfeit for ourselves. That we have lost so much of the help +which the Church was designed to give, is not our fault +individually; but it is our fault that we neglect this means of +strength, so great in bearing witness to Christ, and in kindling +love towards one another. What can be said of us, if, with so many +helps lost, we throw away that which still remains? if, of the +great treasure which the Church yet keeps, we are wilfully +ignorant? How much good might we do, both to ourselves and to each +other, by joining in that communion! How surely should we be +strengthened in all that is good, and have a help from each other, +through his Spirit working in us all, to struggle against our +evil!</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXX"></a>LECTURE XXX.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>1 CORINTHIANS xi. 26.</center> +<br> +<center><i>For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye +do show the Lord's death till he come</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>When I spoke last Sunday of the benefits yet to be derived from +Christ's Church, I spoke of them, as being, for the most part, +three in number--our communion in prayer, our communion in reading +the Scriptures, and our communion in the Lord's Supper; and, after +having spoken of the first two of these, I proposed to leave the +third for our consideration to-day.</p> +<p>The words of the text are enough to show how closely this +subject is connected with that event which we celebrate +to-day<a name="FNanchor13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13">[13]</a>: "As +often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the +Lord's death till he come." The communion, then, with one another +in the Lord's Supper is doing that which this day was also designed +to do; it is showing forth, or declaring the Lord's death; it is +declaring, in the face of all the world, that we partake of the +Lord's Supper because we believe that Christ our Passover was +sacrificed for us.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_13"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor13">[13]</a> Good Friday.</blockquote> +<p>God might, no doubt, if it had so pleased him, have made all +spiritual blessing come to us immediately from himself. Without +ascending any higher with the idea, it is plain that Christianity +might have been made a thing wholly between each individual man and +Christ; all our worship might have been the secret worship of our +own hearts; and in eating the bread, and drinking the cup, to show +forth the Lord's death, each one of us might have done this singly, +holding communion with Christ alone. I mean, that it is quite +conceivable that we should have had Christianity, and a great +number of Christians spread all over the world, but yet no +Christian Church. But, although this is conceivable, and, in fact, +is practically the case in some particular instances where +individual Christians happen to be quite cut off from all other +Christians,--as has been known sometimes in foreign and remote +countries; and although, through various evil causes, it has +become, in many respects, too much the case with us all; for our +religion is with all of us, I am inclined to think, too much a +matter between God and ourselves alone; yet still it is not the +design of Christ that it should be so: his people were not only to +be good men, redeemed from sin and death and brought to know and +love the truth, in which relation Christianity would appear like a +divine philosophy only, working not only upon individuals, but +through their individual minds, and as individuals; but they were +to be the Christian Church, helping one another in things +pertaining to God, and making their mutual brotherhood to one +another an essential part of what are called peculiarly their acts +of religion. So that the Church of England seems to have well borne +in mind this character of Christianity, namely, that it presents us +not each, but all together, before God; and therefore it is ordered +that even in very small parishes, where "there are not more than +twenty persons in the parish of discretion to receive the +communion, yet there shall be no communion, except four, or three +at the least, out of these twenty communicate together with the +priest." Nay, even in the Communion of the Sick, under +circumstances which seem to make religion particularly an +individual matter between Christ and our own single selves; when +the expected approach of death seems to separate, in the most +marked manner, according to human judgment, him who is going hence +from his brethren still in the world; even then it is ordered that +two other persons, at the least, shall communicate along with the +sick man and the minister. Nor is this ever relaxed except in times +of pestilence; when it is provided, that if no other person can be +persuaded to join from their fear of infection, then, and then only +upon special request of the diseased, the minister may alone +communicate with them. So faithfully does our Church adhere to this +true Christian notion, that at the Lord's Supper we are not to +communicate with Christ alone, but with him in and together with +our brethren; so that I was justified in regarding the Holy +Communion as one of those helps and blessings which we still derive +from the Christian Church--from Christ's mystical body.</p> +<p>It is the natural process of all false and corrupt religions, on +the contrary, to destroy this notion of Christ's Church, and to +lead away our thoughts from our brethren in matters of religion, +and to fix them merely upon God as known to us through a priest. +The great evil in this is, (if there is any one evil greater than +another in a system so wholly made up of falsehood, and so leading +to all wickedness; but, at any rate, one great evil of it is,) that +whereas the greatest part of all our lives is engaged in our +relations towards our brethren, that there lie most of our +temptations to evil, as well as of our opportunities of good, if +our brethren do not form an essential part of our religions views, +it follows, and always has followed, that our behaviour and +feelings towards them are guided by views and principles not +religious; and that by this fatal separation of what God has joined +together, our worship and religious services become superstitious, +while our life and actions become worldly, in the bad sense of the +term, low principled, and profane.</p> +<p>If this is not so clear when put into a general form, it will be +plain enough when I show it in that particular example which we are +concerned with here. Nowhere, I believe, is the temptation stronger +to lose sight of one another in our religious exercises, and +especially in our Communion. Our serious thoughts in turning to +God, turn away almost instinctively from our companions about us. +Practically, as far as the heart is concerned, we are a great deal +too apt to go to the Lord's table each alone. But consider how much +we lose by this. We are necessarily in constant relations with one +another; some of those relations are formal, others are trivial; we +connect each other every day with a great many thoughts, I do not +say of unkindness, but yet of that indifferent character which is +no hindrance to any unkindness when the temptation to it happens to +arise. This must always be the case in life; business, +neighbourhood, pleasure,--the occasions of most of our intercourse +with one another,--have in them nothing solemn or softening: they +have in themselves but little tendency to lead us to the love of +one another. Now, if this be so in the world, it is even more so +here; your intercourse with one another is much closer and more +constant than what can exist in after life with any but the members +of your own family; and yet the various relations which this +intercourse has to do with, are even less serious and less +softening than those of ordinary life in manhood. The kindliness of +feeling which is awakened in after years between two men, by the +remembrance of having been at school together, even without any +particular acquaintance with each other, is a very different thing +from the feeling of being at school with each other now. I do not +wonder, then, that any one of you, when he resolves to come to the +Holy Communion, should rather try to turn away his thoughts from +his companions, and to think of himself alone as being concerned in +what he is going to do. I do not wonder at it; but, then, neither +do I wonder that, when the Communion is over, and thoughts of his +companions must return, they receive little or no colour from his +religious act so lately performed; that they are as indifferent as +they were before, as little furnishing a security against neglect, +or positive unkindness, or encouragement of others to evil. Depend +upon it, unless your common life is made a part of your religion, +your religion will never sanctify your common life.</p> +<p>Now consider, on the one hand, what might be the effect of going +to the Holy Communion with a direct feeling that, in that +Communion, we, though many, were all brought together in Christ +Jesus. And first, I will speak of our thoughts of those who are +partakers of the Communion with us, then of those who are not. When +others are gone out, and we who are to communicate are left alone +with each other, then, if we perceive that there are many of us, +the first natural feeling is one of joy, that we are so many; that +our party,--that only true and good party to which we may belong +with all our hearts,--that our party,--that Christ's party, seems +so considerable. Then there comes the thought, that we are all met +together freely, willingly, not as a matter of form, to receive the +pledges of Christ's love to us, to pledge ourselves to him in +return. If we are serious, those around us may be supposed to be +serious too; if we wish to have help from God to lead a holier +life, they surely wish the same; if the thought of past sin is +humbling us, the same shame is working in our brethren's bosoms; if +we are secretly resolving, by God's grace, to serve him in earnest, +the hearts around us are, no doubt, resolving the same. There is +the consciousness, (when and where else can we enjoy it?) that we +are in sympathy with all present; that, coloured merely by the +lesser distinctions of individual character, one and the same +current of feeling is working within us all. And, if feeling this +of our sympathy with one another, how strongly is it heightened by +the thought of what Christ has done for us all! We are all loving +him, because he loved us all; we are going together to celebrate +his death, because he died for us all; we are resolving all to +serve him, because his Holy Spirit is given to us all, and we are +all brought to drink of the same Spirit. Then let us boldly carry +our thoughts a little forward to that time, only a short hour +hence, when we shall again be meeting one another, in very +different relations; even in those common indifferent relations of +ordinary life which are connected so little with Christ. Is it +impossible to think, that, although we shall meet without these +walls in very different circumstances, yet that we have seen each +other pledging ourselves to serve Christ together? if the +recollection of this lives in us, why should it not live in our +neighbour? If we are labouring to keep alive our good resolutions +made at Christ's table, why should we think that others have +forgotten them? We do not talk of them openly, yet still they exist +within us. May not our neighbour's silence also conceal within his +breast the same good purposes? At any rate, we may and ought to +regard him as ranged on our side in the great struggle of life; and +if outward circumstances do not so bring us together as to allow of +our openly declaring our sympathy, yet we may presume that it still +exists; and this consciousness may communicate to the ordinary +relations of life that very softness which they need, in order to +make them Christian.</p> +<p>Again, with regard to those who go out, and do not approach to +the Lord's table. With some it is owing to their youth; with others +to a mistaken notion of their youth; with others to some less +excusable reason, perhaps, but yet to such as cannot yet exclude +kindness and hope. But having once felt what it is to be only with +those who are met really as Christians, our sense of what it is to +want this feeling is proportionably raised. Is it sad to us to +think that our neighbour does not look upon us as fellow +Christians? is it something cold to feel that he regards us only in +those common worldly relations which leave men in heart so far +asunder? Then let us take heed that we do not ourselves feel so +towards him. We have learnt to judge more truly, to feel more +justly, of our relations to every one who bears Christ's name: if +we forget this, we have no excuse; for we have been at Christ's +table, and have been taught what Christians are to one another. And +let our neighbour be ever so careless, yet we know that Christ +cares for him; that his Spirit has not yet forsaken him, but is +still striving with him. And if God vouchsafes so much to him, how +can we look upon him as though he were no way connected with us? +how can we be as careless of his welfare, as apt either to annoy +him, or to lead him into evil, or to take no pains to rescue him +from it, as if he were no more to us than the accidental inhabitant +of the same place, who was going on his way as we may be on ours, +neither having any concern with the other?</p> +<p>And, now, is it nothing to learn so to feel towards those around +us; to have thus gained what will add kindness and interest to all +our relations with others; and, in the case of many, will give an +abiding sense of the truest sympathy, and consequently greater +confidence and encouragement to ourselves? Be sure that this is not +to profane the Lord's Supper, but to use it according to Christ's +own ordinance. For though the thoughts of which I have been +speaking, have, in one sense, man and not God for their object, yet +as they do not begin in man but in Christ, and in his love to us +all, so neither do they, properly speaking, rest in man as such, +but convert him, as it were, into an image of Christ: so that their +end, as well as their beginning, is with Him. I do earnestly desire +that you would come to Christ's table, in order to learn a +Christian's feelings towards one another. This is what you want +every day; and the absence of which leads to more and worse faults +than, perhaps, any other single cause. But, then, this Christian +feeling towards one another, how is it to be gained but by a +Christian feeling towards Christ? and where are we to learn +brotherly love in all our common dealings, but from a grateful +thought of that Divine love towards us all which is shown forth in +the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; inasmuch as, so often as we eat +that bread and drink that cup, we do show the Lord's death till He +come.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXI."></a>LECTURE XXXI.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>LUKE i. 3, 4.</center> +<br> +<center><i>It seemed good to me also, having had perfect +understanding of<br> +all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, +most<br> +excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of<br> +those things wherein thou hast been instructed</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>These words, from the preface to St. Luke's Gospel, contain in +them one or two points on which it may be of use to dwell; and not +least so at the present time, when they are more frequently brought +under our notice than was the case a few years ago. On a subject +which we never, or very rarely hear mentioned, it may be difficult +to excite attention; and, as a general rule, there is little use in +making the attempt. But when names and notions are very frequently +brought to our ears, and in a degree to our minds, then it becomes +important that we should comprehend the matter to which they relate +clearly and correctly; and a previous interest respecting it may be +supposed to exist, which make further explanation acceptable.</p> +<p>St. Luke tells Theophilus that it seemed good to him to write in +order an account of our Lord's life and death, that Theophilus +might know the certainty of those things in which he had been +instructed; and this, as a general rule, might well describe one +great use of the Scripture to each of us, as individual members of +Christ's Church--it enables us to know the certainty of the things +in which we have been instructed. We do not, in the first instance, +get our knowledge of Christ from the Scriptures,--we, each of us, I +mean as individuals,--but from the teaching of our parents first; +then of our instructors, and from books fitted for the instruction +of children; whether it be the Catechism of the Church, or books +written by private persons, of which we know that there are many. +But as our minds open, and our opportunities of judging for +ourselves increase, then the Scripture presents itself to acquaint +us with the certainty of what we had heard already; to show us the +original and perfect truth, of which we have received impressions +before, but such as were not original nor perfect; to confirm and +enforce all that was good and true in our early teaching; and if it +should so happen that it contained any thing of grave error mixed +with truth, then to enable us to discover and reject it.</p> +<p>It is apparent, then, that the Scripture, to do this, must have +an authority distinct from, and higher than, that of our early +teaching; but yet it is no less true that it comes to us +individually recommended, in the first instance, by the authority +of our early teaching, and received by us, not for its own sake, +but for the sake of those who put it into our hands. What child +can, by possibility, go into the evidence which makes it reasonable +to believe the Bible, and to reject the authority of the Koran? Our +children believe the Bible for our sakes; they look at it with +respect, because we tell them that it ought to be respected; they +read it, and learn it, because we desire them; they acquire a habit +of veneration for it long before they could give any other reason +for venerating it than their parents' authority. And blessed be God +that they do; for, as it has been well said, if we their parents do +not endeavour to give our children habits of love and respect for +what is good and true, Satan will give them habits of love for what +is evil: for the child must receive impressions from without; and +it is God's wisdom that he should receive these impressions from +his parents, who have the strongest interest in his welfare, and +who have besides that instinctive parental love which, more surely, +as well as more purely, than any possible sense of interest, makes +them earnestly desire their child's good.</p> +<p>But when our children are old enough to understand and to +inquire, do we then content ourselves with saying that they must +take our word for it; that the Bible is true because we tell them +so? Where is the father who does not feel, first, that he himself +is not fitted to be an infallible authority; and, secondly, that if +he were, he should be thwarting the providence of God, who has +willed not simply that we should believe with understanding. He +gladly therefore observes the beginnings of a spirit of inquiry in +his son's mind, knowing that it is not inconsistent with a belief +in truth, but is a necessary step to that which alone in a man +deserves the name of belief--a belief, namely, sanctioned by +reason. With what pleasure does he point out to his son the grounds +of his own faith! how gladly does he introduce him to the critical +and historical evidence for the truth of the Scriptures, that he +may complete the work which he had long since begun, and deliver +over the faith which had been so long nursed under the shade of +parental authority, to the care of his son's own conscience and +reason!</p> +<p>We see clearly that our individual faith, although grounded in +the first instance on parental authority, yet rests afterwards on +wholly different grounds; namely, on the direct evidence in +confirmation of it which is presented to our own minds. But with +regard to those who are called the Fathers of the Church, it is +contended sometimes that we do receive the Scriptures, in the end, +upon their authority: and it is argued, that if their authority is +sufficient for so great a thing as this, it must be sufficient for +every thing else; that if, in short, we believe the Scriptures for +their sake, then we ought also to believe other things which they +may tell us, for their sake, even though they are not to be found +in Scripture.</p> +<p>In the argument there is this great fault, that it misstates the +question at the outset. The authority of the Fathers, as they are +called, is never to any sound mind the only reason for believing in +the Scriptures; I think it is by no means so much as the principle +reason. It is one reason, amongst many; but not the strongest. And, +in like manner, their authority in other points, if there were +other and stronger reasons which confirmed it,--as in many cases +there are,--is and ought to be respected. But, because we lay a +certain stress upon it, it does not follow that we should do well +to make it bear the whole weight of the building. Because we +believe the Scriptures, partly on the authority of the Fathers, as +they are called, but more for other reasons, does it follow that we +should equally respect the authority of the Fathers when there are +no other reasons in support of it, but many which make against +it?</p> +<p>In truth, however, the internal evidence in favour of the +authenticity and genuineness of the Scriptures is that on which the +mind can rest with far greater satisfaction than on any external +testimonies, however valuable. On one point, which might seem most +to require other evidence--the age, namely, and origin of the +writings of the New Testament--it has been wonderfully ordered that +the books, generally speaking, are their own witness. I mean that +their peculiar language proves them to have been written by persons +such as the apostles were, and such as the Christian writers +immediately following them were not; persons, namely, whose +original language and habits of thinking were those of Jews, and to +whom the Greek in which they wrote was, in its language and +associations, essentially foreign. I do not dwell on the many other +points of internal evidence: it is sufficient to say that those who +are most familar with such inquiries, and who best know how little +any external testimony can avail in favour of a book where the +internal evidence is against it, are most satisfied that the +principal writings of the New Testament do contain abundantly in +themselves, for competent judges, the evidence of their own +genuineness and authenticity.</p> +<p>That the testimony of the early Christian writers goes along +with this evidence and confirms it, is matter indeed of sincere +thankfulness; because more minds, perhaps, are able to believe on +external evidence than on internal. But of this testimony of the +Christian writers it is essential to observe, that two very +important points are such as do indeed affect this particular +question much, but yet do not confer any value on the judgment of +the witness in other matters. When a very early Christian writer +quotes a passage from the New Testament, such as we find it now in +our Bibles, it is indeed an argument, which all can understand, +that he had before him the same Bible which we have, and that +though he lived so near to the beginning of the gospel, yet that +some parts of the New Testament must have been written still nearer +to it. This is an evidence to the age of the New Testament, +valuable indeed to us, but implying in the writer who gives it no +qualities which confer authority; it merely shows that the book +which he read must have existed before he could quote it. A second +point of evidence is, when a very early Christian writer quotes any +part of the New Testament as being considered by those to whom he +was writing as an authority. This, again, is a valuable piece of +testimony; but neither does it imply any general wisdom or +authority in the writer who gives it: its value is derived merely +from the age at which he lived, and not from his personal +character. And with regard to the general reception of the New +Testament by the Christians of his time, which, in the case +supposed, he states as a fact, no doubt that the general opinion of +the early Christians, where, as in this case, we can be sure that +it is reported correctly, is an authority, and a great authority, +in favour of the Scriptures: combined, as it is, with the still +stronger internal evidence of the books themselves, it is +irresistible. But it were too much to argue that, therefore, it was +alone sufficient, not only when destitute of other evidence, but if +opposed to it; and especially if it should happen to be opposed to +that very Scripture which we know they acknowledged to be above +themselves, but which we do not know that they were enabled in all +cases either rightly to interpret or faithfully to follow.</p> +<p>When, therefore, we are told that, as we believe the Scriptures +themselves upon tradition, so we should believe other things also, +the answer is, that we do not believe the Scriptures either +entirely or principally, upon what is called tradition; but for +their own internal evidence; and that the opinions of the early +Christians, like those of other men, may be very good in certain +points, and to a certain degree, without being good in all points, +and absolutely; that many a man's judgment would justly weigh with +us, in addition to other strong reasons in the case itself, when we +should by no means follow it where we were clear that there were +strong reasons against it. This, indeed, is so obvious, that it +seems almost foolish to be at the trouble of stating it; but what +is so absurd in common life, that the contrary to it is a mere +truism, is, unfortunately, when applied to a subject with which we +are not familiar, often considered as an unanswerable argument, if +it happen to suit our disposition or our prejudices.</p> +<p>But, although the Scripture is to the Church, and to the +individual, too, who is able to judge for himself, the only +decisive authority in matters of faith, yet we must not forget that +it comes to us as it did to Theophilus, to persuade us of the +certainty of things in which we have been already instructed; not +to instruct from the beginning, by itself alone, those to whom its +subject is entirely strange: in other words, it is and ought to be +the general rule, that the Church teaches, and the Scripture +confirms that teaching: or, if it be in any part erroneous, +reproves it. For some appear to think, that by calling the +Scripture the sole authority in matters of faith, we mean to +exclude the Church altogether; and to call upon every man,--nay, +upon every child,--to make out his own religion for himself from +the volume of the Scriptures. The explanation briefly given is +this; that while the Scripture alone teaches the Church, the Church +teaches individuals; and that the authority of her teaching, like +that of all human teaching, whether of individuals or societies, +varies justly according to circumstances; being received, as it +ought to be, almost implicitly by some, as a parent's is by a +child, and by others listened to with respect, as that which is in +the main agreeable to the truth, but still not considered to be, +nor really claiming to be received as, infallible. But this part of +the subject will require to be considered by itself on another +occasion.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXII."></a>LECTURE XXXII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>LUKE i. 3,4.</center> +<br> +<center><i>It seemed good to me also, having had perfect +understanding of<br> +all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, +most<br> +excellent Theophilus, that than mightest know the certainty of<br> +those things in which thou hast been instructed</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>I said at the conclusion of my lecture, last Sunday, that when +we of the Church of England assert that the Scripture is the sole +authority in matters of faith, we by no means mean to exclude the +office of the Church, nor to assert any thing so extravagant, as +that it is the duty of every person to sit down with the volume of +the Scriptures in his hand, and to make out from that alone, +without listening to any human authority, what is the revelation +made by God to man. But I know that many are led to adopt notions +no less extravagant of the authority of the Church and of +tradition,--even to the full extent maintained by the Church of +Rome,--because they see no other refuge from what appears to them, +and not unreasonably, so miserable and so extreme a folly; for an +extreme and a most miserable folly doubtless it would be, in any +one, to throw aside all human aid except his own; to disregard +alike the wisdom of individuals, and the agreeing decisions of +bodies of men; to act as if none but himself had ever loved truth, +or had been able to discover it; and as if he himself did possess +both the will and the power to do so.</p> +<p>This is so foolish, that I doubt whether any one ever held such +notions, and, much more, whether be acted upon them. But is it more +wise to run from one form of error into its opposite, which, +generally speaking, is no less foolish and extravagant? What should +we say of a man who could see no middle course between never asking +for advice, and always blindly following it; between never +accepting instruction upon any subject, and believing his +instructors infallible? And this last comparison, with our +particular situation here, will enable us, I think, by referring to +our own daily experience, to understand the present question +sufficiently. The whole system of education supposes, undoubtedly, +that the teacher, in those matters which he teaches, should be an +authority to the taught: a learner in any matter must rely on the +books, and on the living instructors, out of which and from whom he +is to learn. There are difficulties, certainly, in all learning; +but we do not commonly see them increased by a disposition on the +part of the learner to question and dispute every thing that is +told him. There is a feeling rather of receiving what he is told +implicitly; and, by so doing, he learns: but does it ever enter +into his head that his teacher is infallible? or does any teacher +of sane mind wish him to think so? And observe, now, what is the +actual process: the mind of the learner is generally docile, +trustful, respectful towards his teacher; aware, also, of his own +comparative ignorance. It is certainly most right that it should be +so. But this really teachable and humble learner finds a false +spelling in one of his books; or hears his teacher, from oversight, +say one word in his explanation instead of another: does he cease +to be teachable and humble,--is it really a want of childlike +faith, and an indulgence of the pride of reason, if he decides that +the false spelling was an error of the press; that the word which +his teacher used was a mistake? Yet errors, mistakes, of how +trifling a kind soever, are inconsistent with infallibility; and +the perceiving that they are errors is an exercise of our +individual judgment upon our instructors. To hear some men talk, we +should think that no boy could do so without losing all humility +and all teachableness; without forthwith supposing that he was able +to be his own instructor.</p> +<p>I have begun on purpose with an elementary case, in which a very +young boy might perceive an error in his books, or in his +instructors, without, in any degree, forfeiting his true humility. +But we will now go somewhat farther: we will take a more advanced +student, such as the oldest of those among you, who are still +learners, and who know that they have much to learn, but who, +having been learners for some time past, have also acquired some +knowledge. In the books which they refer to, and from which they +are constantly deriving assistance, do they never observe any +errors in the printing? do they never find explanations given, +which they perceive to be imperfect, nay, which they often feel to +be actually wrong? And, passing from books to living instructors, +should we blame a thoughtful, attentive, and well-informed pupil, +because his mind did not at once acquiesce in our interpretation of +some difficult passage; because he consulted other authorities on +the subject, and was unsatisfied in his judgment; the reason of his +hesitation being, that our interpretation appeared to him to give +an unsatisfactory sense, or to be obtained by violating the rules +of language? Is he proud, rebellious, puffed up, wanting in a +teachable spirit, without faith, without humility, because he so +ventures to judge for himself of what his teacher tells him? Does +such a judging for himself interfere, in the slightest degree, with +the relation between us and him? Does it make him really cease to +respect us? or dispose him to believe that he is altogether beyond +the reach of our instruction? Or are we so mad as to regard our +authority as wholly set at nought, because it is not allowed to be +infallible? Doubtless, it would be wholly set at nought, if we had +presumed to be infallible. Then it would not be merely that, in +some one particular point, our decision had been doubted, but that +one point would involve our authority in all; because it would +prove, that we had set up beforehand a false claim: and he who does +so is either foolish, or a deceiver; there is apparent a flaw +either in his understanding, or in his principles, which +undoubtedly does repel respect.</p> +<p>Let me go on a step farther still. It has been my happiness to +retain, in after years, my intercourse with many of those who were +formerly my pupils; to know them when their minds have been +matured, and their education, in the ordinary sense of the term, +completed. Is not the relation between us altered then still more? +Is it incompatible with true respect and regard, that they should +now judge still more freely, in those very points, I mean, in which +heretofore they had received my instructions all but implicitly? +that on points of scholarship and criticism, they should entirely +think for themselves? Or does this thinking for themselve mean, +that they will begin to question all they had ever learnt? or sit +down to forget purposely all their school instructions, and make +out a new knowledge of the ancient languages for themselves? Who +does not know, that they whose minds are most eager to discern +truth, are the very persons who prize their early instruction most, +and confess how much they are indebted to it; and that the exercise +of their judgments loads them to go on freely in the same path in +which they have walked so long, here and there it may be departing +from it where they find a better line, but going on towards the +same object, and generally in the same direction?</p> +<p>What has been the experience of my life,--the constantly +observing the natural union between sense and modesty; the perfect +compatibility of respect for instruction with freedom of judgment; +the seeing how Nature herself teaches us to proportion the +implicitness of our belief to our consciousness of ignorance: to +rise gradually and gently from a state of passively leaning, as it +were, on the arm of another, to resting more and more of our weight +on our own limbs, and, at last, to standing alone, this has +perpetually exemplified our relations, as individuals, to the +Church. Taught by her, in our childhood and youth, under all +circumstances; taught by her, in the great majority of instances, +through our whole lives; never, in any case, becoming so +independent of her as we do in riper years, of the individual +instructor of our youth; she has an abiding claim on our respect, +on our deference, on our regard: but if it should be, that her +teaching contained any thing at variance with God's word, we should +perceive it more or less clearly, according to our degrees of +knowledge; we should trust or mistrust our judgment, according to +our degree of knowledge; but in the last resort, as we suppose that +even a young boy might be sure that his book was in error, in the +case of a manifest false print, so there may be things so certainly +inconsistent with Scripture, that a common Christian may be able to +judge of them, and to say that they are like false prints in his +lesson, they are manifest errors, not to be followed, but avoided. +So far he may be said to judge of his teacher; but not the less +will he respect and listen to her authority in general, unless she +has herself made the slightest error ruinous to her authority by +claiming to be in all points, great or small, alike infallible.</p> +<p>Men crave a general rule for their guidance at all times, and +under all circumstances; whereas life is a constant call upon us to +consider how far one general rule, in the particular case before +us, is modified by another, or where one rule should be applied, +and where another. To separate humility from idolatry, conscience +from presumption, is often an arduous task: to different persons +there is a different besetting danger; so it is under different +circumstances, and at different times. Every day does the seaman, +on a voyage, take his observations, to know whereabouts he is; he +compares his position with his charts; he considers the direction +of the wind, and the set of the current, or tide; and from all +these together, he judges on which side his danger lies, on what +course he should steer, or how much sail he may venture to carry. +This is an image of our own condition: we cannot have a general +rule to tell us where we should follow others, and where we must +differ from them; to say what is modesty, and what is indolence; +what is a proper deference to others, and what is a trusting in man +so far, that it becomes a want of trust in God. Only, we are sure +that these are points which we must decide for ourselves; the human +will must be free, so far as other men are concerned. If we say, +that we will implicitly trust others, then there is our decision, +which no one could have made for us, and which is our own choice as +to the principle of our lives; for which choice, we each of us, and +no one else in all the world, must answer at the judgment-seat of +God. Only, in that word there is our comfort, that, for our conduct +in so doubtful a voyage as that of life, amidst so many conflicting +opinions, each courting our adherence to it,--amidst such a variety +of circumstances without, and of feelings within, and on which, +notwithstanding, our condition for all eternity must depend,--we +shall be judged, not by erring man, not by our own fallible +conscience, but by the all-wise, and all-righteous God. With him, +after all, even in the very courts of his holy Church, we yet, in +one sense, must each of us live alone. On his gracious aid, given +to our own individual souls, and determining our own individual +wills, depends the character of our life here and for ever. +Trusting to him, praying to him, we shall then make use of all the +means that his goodness has provided for us; we shall ask counsel +of friends; we shall listen to teachers; we shall delight to be in +the company of God's people, of one mind, and of one voice, with +the good and wise of every generation; we shall be afraid of +leaning too much to our own understanding, knowing how it is +encompassed with error; but knowing that other men are encompassed +with error also, and that we, and not they, must answer for our +choice before Christ's judgment, we must, in the last resort, if +our conscience and sense of truth cannot be persuaded that other +men speak according to God's will,--we must follow our own inward +convictions, though all the world were to follow the contrary.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXIII."></a>LECTURE XXXIII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>JOHN ix. 29.</center> +<br> +<center><i>We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, +we know not from whence he is</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>The questions involved in the conversations recorded in this +chapter, are of great practical importance. Not perhaps of +immediate practical importance to all in this present congregation; +but yet sure to be of importance to all hereafter, and of +importance to many at this actual moment. Nay, they are of +importance to those who, from their youth, might be thought to have +little to do with them, either where the mind is already anxious +and inquiring beyond its years, or where it happens to be exposed +to strong party influences, or that its passions are likely to be +engaged on a particular side, however little the understanding may +be interested in the matter. In fact, in religious knowledge, as in +other things, the omissions of youth are hard to make up in +manhood; they who grow up with a very small knowledge of the +Scriptures, and with no understanding of any of the questions +connected with them, can with difficulty make up for this defect in +after years; they become, according to the influences to which, +they may happen to be subjected, either unbelieving or +fanatical.</p> +<p>If we were to question the youngest boy about the language held +in this chapter by the Pharisees, and by the man who had been born +blind, we should, no doubt, be answered, that what the Pharisees +said, was wrong; and what the man born blind said, was right. This +would be the answer which it would be thought proper to give; +because it would be perceived that the Pharisees' language +expressed unbelief in Christ; and that the man born blind was +expressing gratitude and faith towards him. Nor, indeed, should we +expect a young boy to go much farther than this; for such general +impressions are, at his age, as much many times as can be looked +for. But it is strange to observe how much this want of +understanding outlasts the age of boyhood; how apt men are to judge +according to names, and to see no farther: to say, that the +language of the Pharisees was wrong, because they find it employed +against Christ; but yet to use the very same language themselves, +whilst they think that they are all the while speaking for +Christ.</p> +<p>But in this conversation between the Pharisees and the blind +man, there are, indeed, as I said, points involved of very great +importance; it contains the question as to the degree of weight to +be attached to miracles; and the question, no less grave, with what +degree of tenacity we should reject what claims to be a new truth, +because it seems to be at a variance with supposed old truths to +which we have been long accustomed to cling with undoubting +affection.</p> +<p>The question as to the weight of miracles is contained in the +sixteenth verse. Some of the Pharisees said, This man is not of +God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a +man that is a sinner do such miracles? That is to say, the first +party rejected the miracles because they seemed to be wrought in +favour of a supposed false doctrine; the other accepted the +doctrine, because it seemed warranted to their belief by the +miracles.</p> +<p>The second question is contained in the words of the text, "We +know that God spake to Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from +whence he is." We have been taught from our childhood, and have the +belief associated with every good and pious thought in us, that God +spake to Moses, and gave him the law as our rule of life; but as +for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. His works may be +wonderful, his words may be specious; but we never heard of him +before, and we cannot tear up all the holiest feelings of our +nature to receive a new doctrine. We will hold to the old way in +which, we were taught by our fathers to walk, and in which they +walked before us.</p> +<p>This last question is one which, as we well know, is continually +presented to our minds. No one says, that the Pharisees were right, +any more than those very Pharisees thought that their fathers were +right who had killed the prophets. But as our Lord told them, that +they were in truth the children in spirit of those who had killed +the prophets; because, although they had been taught to condemn the +outward form of their fathers' action, they were repeating it +themselves in its principles and spirit; so many of those who +condemn the Pharisees are really their exact image, repeating now +against the truths of their own days the very same arguments which +the Pharisees used against the truths of theirs.</p> +<p>For the arguments of these Pharisees, both as regards miracles, +and as regards the suspicion with which we should look on a +doctrine opposed to the settled opinions of our lives, have in +fact, in both cases, a great mixture of justice in them; and it is +this very mixture which we may hope beguiled them; and also +beguiles those, who in our own days repeat their language.</p> +<p>For most certain it is that the Scripture itself supposes the +possibility of false miracles. The case is especially provided +against in Deuteronomy. It there says, "If there arise among you a +prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, +and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee, +saying, Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known, and +let us serve them: thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that +prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God proveth +you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart +and with all your soul." Observe how nearly this comes to the +language of the Pharisees, "This man is not of God, because he +keepeth not the Sabbath day." "Here," they might have said, "is the +very case foreseen in the Scriptures: a prophet has wrought a sign +and a wonder, which is at the same time a breach of God's +commandments. God has told us that such signs are not to be heeded, +that he does but prove us with them to see whether we love him +truly: knowing that where there is a love of him, the heart will +heed no sign or wonder, how great soever, which would tempt it to +think lightly of his commandments." Shall we say that this is not a +just interpretation of the passage in Deuteronomy? shall we say +that this is the language of unbelief or of sin? or, rather, shall +we not confess that it is in accordance with God's word, and holy, +and faithful, and true? And yet this most just language led those +who used it to reject one of Christ's greatest miracles, and to +refuse the salvation of the Holy One of God. Can God's truth be +contrary to itself? or can truth and goodness lead so directly to +error and to evil?</p> +<p>Now, then, where is the solution to be found? for some solution +there must be, unless we will either condemn a most true principle, +or defend a most false conclusion. The error lies in confounding +God's moral law with his law of ordinances; precisely the same +error which led the Jews to stone Stephen. The law had undoubtedly +commanded that he who blasphemed God should be stoned; the Jews +called Stephen's speaking against the holy place and against the +law blasphemy against God, and they murdered God's faithful servant +and Christ's blessed martyr. Even so the law had said, Let no +miracle be so great as to tempt you to forsake God: the Jews +considered the forsaking the law of the Sabbath to be a forsaking +of God, and they said that Christ's miracle was a work of Satan. +There is no blasphemy into which we may not fall, no crime from +which we shall be safe, if we do not separate in our minds most +clearly such laws as relate to moral and eternal duties, and such +as relate to outward or positive ordinances, even when commanded or +instituted by God himself. It is most false to say that the fact of +their being commanded sets them on a level with each other. So long +as they are commanded to us, it is no doubt our duty to obey them +equally: but the difference between them is this, that whereas the +first are commanded to us and to our children for ever, and no +possible evidence can be so great as to persuade us that God has +repealed them; (for the utmost conceivable amount of external +testimony, such as that of miracles, could only lead to +madness;--the human mind might, conceivably, be overwhelmed by the +conflict, but should never and could never be tempted to renounce +its very being, and lie against its Maker;) the others, that is, +the commands to observe certain forms and ordinances, are in their +nature essentially temporary and changeable: we have no right to +assume that they will be continued, and therefore a miracle at any +time might justly require us to forsake them; and not only an +outward miracle, but the changed circumstances of the times may +speak God's will no less clearly than a miracle, and may absolutely +make it our duty to lay aside those ordinances, which to us +hitherto, and to our fathers before us, were indeed the commands of +God.</p> +<p>Now let us take the other question,--which may indeed be called +a question as to the allowableness of resting confidently in truth +already gained, without consenting to examine the claims of +something asserting itself to be a new truth, yet which seems to +interfere with the old. Is nothing within us to be safe from +possible doubt, or is everything? Or is it here, as in the former +case, that there are truths so tried and so sacred that it were +blasphemy to question them; while there are others, often closely +intermixed with these, which are not so sacred, because they are +not eternal; which may and ought to be examined when occasion +requires; and which may be laid aside, or exchanged rather, for +some higher truth, if it shall reasonably appear that their work is +done, and that if we retain them longer they will change their +character, and become no longer true but false. "David having +served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, and was +gathered unto his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God +raised again saw no corruption." This is the difference between +positive ordinances and moral: the first serve their appointed +number of generations by the will of God, and then are gathered to +their fathers, and perish; the latter are by the right hand of God +exalted, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.</p> +<p>"We know," said the Jews, "that God spake to Moses; but for this +fellow, we know not from whence he is." There was a time when their +fathers had held almost the very same language to Moses: "they +refused him, saying Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?" But +now they knew that God had spoken to Moses, but were refusing Him +who was sent unto them after Moses. God had spoken unto Moses, it +was most true: he had spoken to him and given him commandments +which were to last for ever; and which Christ, so far from undoing, +was sent to confirm and to perfect; he had spoken to him other +things, which were not to last for ever, but yet which were not to +be cast away with dishonour; but having, in the fulness of time, +done their work, were then, like David, to fall asleep. All that +was required of the Jews, was not to reject as blasphemy a doctrine +which should distinguish between these two sorts of truths: which +in no way requires to believe that God had not spoken to +Moses,--which, on the contrary, maintained that he had so +spoken,--but only contended that he has also, in these last days, +spoken unto us by his Son; and that his Son, bearing the full image +of Divine authority, might well be believed if he spoke of some +parts of Moses's law as having now fulfilled their work, seeing +that they were such parts only as, by their very nature, were not +eternal: they had not been from the beginning, and therefore they +would not live on to the end.</p> +<p>The practical conclusion is, that, whilst we hold fast, with an +undoubting and unwavering faith, all truths which, by their very +nature, are eternal, and to deny which is no other than to speak +against the Holy Ghost, we should listen patiently to, and pass no +harsh judgment on, those who question other truths not necessarily +eternal, while they declare that they are, to the best of their +consciences, seeking to obey God and Christ. When I say, that we +should listen patiently, and not pass harsh judgments upon those +who question such points, I say it without at all meaning that we +should agree with them. It would be monstrous indeed, to suppose +that old opinions are never combated wrongly; that old institutions +are never pronounced to have lived out their appointed time, when, +in fact, they are still in their full vigour. But the language of +those who defend the doctrines and the ordinances of the Church +may, and often does, partake of the sin of that of the Pharisees, +even when those against whom they are contending, are not, like +Christ, bringing in a new and higher truth, but an actual error. To +point out that it is an error, to defend ourselves and the Church +from it, is most right, and most highly our duty; but it is neither +right, nor our duty, but the very sin of the Pharisees, to put it +down merely by saying, "As for this fellow, we know not from whence +he is;" to treat the whole question as an impiety, and to deny the +virtues and the holiness of those who maintain it, because they +are, as we call it, "speaking blasphemous things against the holy +place and against the law." The mischief of this to ourselves is +infinite; nay, in its extreme, it leads to language which is +fearfully resembling the very blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; +for, when we say, as has been said, that where men's lives are +apparently good and holy, and their doctrines are against those of +the Church, the holiness is an unreal holiness, and that we cannot +see into their hearts, this is, in fact, denying the Holy Spirit's +most infallible sign--the fruits of righteousness; and being +positive rather of the truth of the Church, than of the truth of +God. There is nothing so certain as that goodness is from God; +nothing so certain as that sin is not from God; nothing so certain +as that sin is not from him. To deny, or doubt this, is to dispute +the greatest assurance of truth that God has ever been pleased to +give to us. It does not, by any means, follow, that all good men +are free from error, nor that error is less error because good men +hold it; but to make the error which is less certain, a reason for +disputing the goodness which is more certain, is the spirit, not of +God, nor of the Church of God, but of those false zealots who put +an idol in God's place; of such as rejected Christ and murdered +Stephen.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXIV."></a>LECTURE XXXIV.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>1 CORINTHIANS xiv, 20.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit,<br> +in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>It would be going a great deal too far to say, that they who +fulfilled the latter part of this command, were sure also to fulfil +the former; that they who were men in understanding, were, +therefore, likely to be children in malice. But the converse holds +good, with remarkable certainty, that they who are children in +understanding, are proportionally apt to be men in malice: that is, +in proportion as men neglect that which should be the guide of +their lives, so are they left to the mastery of their passions; and +as nature and outward circumstances do not allow these passions to +remain as quiet and as little grown as they are in childhood,--for +they are sure to ripen without any trouble of ours,--so men are +left with nothing but the evils of both ages, the vices of the man, +and the unripeness and ignorance of the child.</p> +<p>It is indeed a strange and almost incredible thing, that any +should ever have united in their minds the notions of innocence and +ignorance as applied to any but literal children: nor is it less +strange, that any should ever have been afraid of their +understanding, and should have sought goodness through prejudice, +and blindness, and folly. Compared with this, their conduct was +infinitely reasonable who weakened and tormented their bodies in +order to strengthen, as they thought, their spiritual nature. Such +conduct was, by comparison, reasonable because there is a great +deal of bodily weakness and discomfort, which really does not +interfere with the strength and purity of our character in itself, +although, by abridging our activity, it may lessen our means of +usefulness. But what should we say of a man who directed his ill +usage of his body to that part of our system which is most closely +connected with the brain; who were purposely to impair his nervous +system, and subject himself to those delusions and diseased views +of things which are the well-known result of any disorder there? +Yet this is precisely what they do who seek to mortify and lower +their understanding. It is as impossible that they should become +better men by such a process, as if they were literally to take +medicines to affect their nerves or their brain, in the hope of +becoming idiotic or delirious. It is, in fact, the worst kind of +self-murder; for it is a presumptuous destroying of that which is +our best life, because we dread to undergo those trials which God +has appointed for the perfecting both of it and of us.</p> +<p>But from the wilful blindness of these men, let us turn to the +Christian wisdom of the Apostle: "In malice be ye children, but in +understanding be men." Let us turn to what is recorded of our Lord +in his early life, at that age when, as man, the cultivation of his +understanding was his particular duty--that he was found in the +temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and +asking them questions: not asking questions only, as one too +impatient or too vain to wait for an answer, or to consider it when +he had received it; not hearing only, as one careless and passive, +who thinks that the words of wisdom can improve his mind by being +indolently admitted through the ears, with no more effort than his +body uses when it is refreshed by a cooling air, or when it is laid +down in running water; but both hearing and asking questions; +docile and patient, yet active and intelligent; knowing that the +wisdom was to be communicated from without, but that it belongs to +the vigorous exercise of the power within, to apprehend it, and to +convert it to nourishment.</p> +<p>Now, what is recorded of our Lord for our example, as to the +manner in which he received instruction when delivered by word of +mouth, this same thing should we do with that instruction, which, +as is the ease with most of ours, we derive from reading. Put the +Scriptures in the place of those living teachers whom Christ was so +eager to hear; the words of Christ, and of his Spirit, instead of +those far inferior guides from whom, notwithstanding, he, for our +sakes, once submitted to learn; and what can be more exact than the +application of the example? Let us be found in God's true temple, +in the communion of his faithful people,--his universal Church, +sitting down as it were, surrounded by the voices of the oracles of +God--prophets, apostles, and Jesus Christ himself: let us be found +with the record of these oracles in our hands, both reading them +and asking them questions.</p> +<p>It is quite clear that what hinders a true understanding of +anything is vagueness; and it is by this process of asking +questions that vagueness is to be dispelled: for, in the first +place, it removes one great vagueness, or indistinctness, which is +very apt to beset the minds of many; namely, the not clearly seeing +whether they understand a thing or no; and much more, the not +seeing what it is that they do understand, and what it is which +they do not. Take any one of our Lord's parables, and read it even +to a young child: there will be something of an impression +conveyed, and some feelings awakened; but all will be indistinct; +the child will not know whether he understands or no, but will soon +gain the habit of supposing that he does, as that is at once the +least troublesome, and the least unpleasant to our vanity. And this +same vague impression is often received by uneducated persons from +reading or bearing either the Scriptures or sermons; it is by no +means the same as if they had read or heard something in an unknown +language; but yet they can give no distinct account of what they +have heard or read; they do not know how far they understand it, +and how far they do not. Here, then, is the use of "asking +questions,"--asking questions of ourselves or of our book, I mean, +for I am supposing the case of our reading, when it can rarely +happen that we have any living person at hand to give us an answer. +Now, taking the earliest and simplest state of knowledge, it is +plain that the first question to put to ourselves will be, "Do I +understand the meaning of all the words and expressions in what I +have been reading?" I know that this is taking things at their very +beginning, but it is my wish to do so. Now, so plain and forcible +is the English of our Bible, generally speaking, that the words +difficult to be understood will probably not be many: yet some such +do occur, owing, in some instances, to a change of the language; as +in the words "let," and "prevent," which now signify, the one, "to +allow, or suffer to be done," and the other "to stop, or hinder," +but which signified, when our translation was made, the first, "to +stop or hinder," and the second, "to be beforehand with us;" as in +the prayer, "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most +gracious favour;" the meaning is, "Let thy favour be with us +beforehand, O Lord, in whatever we are going to do." In other +instances the words are difficult because they are used in a +particular sense, such as we do not learn from our common language; +of which kind are the words "elect," "saints," "justification," +"righteousness," and many others. Now, if we ask ourselves "whether +we understand these words or no," our common sense, when thus +questioned, will readily tell us, whether we do or not; although if +we had not directly asked the question, it might never have thought +about it. Of course, our common sense cannot tell us what the true +meaning is; that is a matter of information, and our means of +gaining information may be more or less; but still, a great step is +gained, the mist is partly cleared away; we can say to ourselves, +"Here is something which I do understand, and here is something +which I do not; I must keep the two distinct, for the first I may +use, the second I cannot; I will mark it down as a thing about +which I may get explanation at another time; but at present it is a +blank in the picture, it is the same as if it were not there." +This, then, is the first process of self-questioning, adapted, as I +have already said, to those whose knowledge is most elementary.</p> +<p>Suppose, however, that we are got beyond difficulties of this +sort--that the words and particular expressions of the Scriptures +are mostly clear to us. Now, take again one of our Lord's parables; +say, for instance, that of the labourers in the vineyard: we read +it, and find that he who went to work at the eleventh hour received +as much as he who had been working all the day. This seems to say, +that he who begins to serve God in his old age shall receive his +crown of glory no less than he who has served him all his life. But +now try the process of self-questioning: what do I think that +Christ means me to learn from this? what is the lesson to me? what +is it to make me feel, or think, or do? If it makes me think that I +shall receive an equal crown of glory if I begin to serve God in my +old age, and therefore if it leads me to live carelessly, this is +clearly making Christ encourage wickedness; and such a thought is +blasphemy. He cannot mean me to learn this from it: let me look at +the parable again. Who is it who is reproved in those words which +seem to contain its real object? It is one who complains of God for +having rewarded others equally with himself. Now this I can see is +not a good feeling: it is pride and jealousy. In order, then to +learn what the parable means me to learn, let me put myself in the +position of those reproved in it. If I complain that others are +rewarded by God as much as I am, it is altogether a bad feeling, +and one which I ought to check; for I have nothing to do with God's +dealings to others, let me think of what concerns myself. Here I +have the lesson of the parable complete: and here I find it is +useful for me. But if I take it for a different object, and suppose +that it means to encourage waiting till the eleventh hour--waiting +till we are old before we repent--we find that we make it only +actually to be mischievous to us. And thus we gain a great piece of +knowledge: namely, that the parables of our Lord are mostly +designed to teach, some one particular lesson, with respect to some +one particular fault: and that if we take them generally, as if all +in them was applicable to all persons, whether exposed to that +particular fault or not, we shall absolutely be in danger of +deriving mischief from them instead of good. It is true, that in +this particular parable, the gross wickedness of such an +interpretation as I have mentioned is guarded against even in the +story itself; because those who worked only at the eleventh hour +are expressly said to have stood idle so long only because no man +had hired them; their delay, therefore, was no fault of their own. +But even if this circumstance had been left out, it would have been +just the same; because the general rule is, that we apply to a +parable only for its particular lesson, and do not strain it to any +thing else. Had this been well understood, no one would have ever +found so much difficulty in understanding the parable of the unjust +steward.</p> +<p>This is another great step towards the dispelling vagueness, to +apply the particular lesson of each part of Scripture to that state +of knowledge, or feeling, or practice in ourselves, which it was +intended to benefit; to apply it as a lesson to ourselves, not as a +general truth for our neighbours. And the very desire to do this, +makes us naturally look with care to the object of every +passage--to see to whom it was addressed, and on what occasion; for +this will often surely guide us to the point that we want. But in +order to do this, we must strive to clothe the whole in our own +common language; to get rid of those expressions which to us convey +the meaning faintly; and to put it into such others as shall come +most strongly home to us. This I have spoken of on other occasions; +and I have so often witnessed the bad effects of not doing so, that +I am sure it may well bear to be noticed again; I mean the putting +such words as "persecution," "the cares and riches of the world," +"the kingdom of God," "confessing Christ," "denying Christ," and +many others, into a language which to us has more lively reality, +which makes us manifestly see that it is of us, and of our common +life, and of our dangers, that the scripture is speaking, and not +only of things in a remote time and country, and under +circumstances quite unlike our own. Therefore I have a strong +objection to the use of what is called peculiarly religious +language, because I am sure that it hinders us from bringing the +matter of that language thoroughly home to us; our minds do not +entirely assimilate with, it; or if they fancy that they do, it is +only by their becoming themselves affected, and losing their sense +of the reality of things around them. For our language is fixed for +us, and we cannot alter it; and into that common language in which +we think and feel, all truth must be translated, if we would think +and feel respecting it at once rightly, clearly, and vividly. Happy +is he, who, by practising this early, has imbued his own natural +language with the spirit of God's wisdom and holiness; and who can +see, and understand, and feel them the better, because they are so +put into a form with which he is perfectly familiar.</p> +<p>More might be said, very much more, but here I will now pause. +In this world, wherein heavenly things are, after all, hard to +seize and fix upon, we have great need that no mists of imperfect +understanding darken them, over and above those of the corrupt +will. To see them clearly, to understand them distinctly and +vividly, may, indeed, after all be vain: a thicker veil may yet +remain behind, and we may see and understand, and yet perish. Only +the clear sight of God in Christ can be no light blessing; and +there may be a hope, that understanding and approving with all our +minds his excellent wisdom, the light may warm us as well as assist +our sight; that we may see, and not in our vague and empty sense, +but in the force of the scriptural meaning of the word,--may see, +and so believe.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXV."></a>LECTURE XXXV.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>MATTHEW xxvi. 45, 46.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Sleep on now and take your rest; behold, the hour is at +hand,<br> +and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise,<br> +let us be. going; behold, he is at hand that doth betray +me</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>I take these verses for my text, in the first place, because +some have fancied a difficulty in them, and have even proposed to +alter the translation, and read the first words as a question, "Do +ye still sleep and take your rest?" and because they are really a +very good illustration of our Lord's manner of speaking, a manner +which it is of the highest importance to us fully to understand. +And, secondly, I take them as a text for the general lesson which +they convey to us; their mixture of condemnation and mercy; their +view, at once looking backwards and forwards, not losing sight of +irreparable evils of a neglected past, nor yet making those evils +worse by so dwelling upon them as to forget the still available +future; not concealing from us the solemn truth, that what is done +cannot be undone, yet warning us also not to undo by a vain despair +that future which may yet be done to our soul's health.</p> +<p>First, a difficulty has been fancied to exist in the words, as +if our Lord had bade his disciples to do two contradictory things: +telling them, first, to sleep on and take their rust, and then +saying, "Rise, let us be going." And because in St. Luke's account, +when our Lord comes to his disciples the last time, his words are +given thus, "Why sleep ye? rise and pray, that ye enter not into +temptation:" therefore, as I have said, his words in the text have +been translated, "Are ye sleeping and resting for the remainder of +the time?" Now, I should not take up your time with things of this +sort, where I believe our common translation to be most certainly +right, were it not for the sake of one or two general remarks, +which I think may not be out of place. It is a general rule, that +in passages not obscure, but appearing to contain some moral +difficulty, if I may so speak; that is, something which seems +inconsistent with our notions of God's holiness, or wisdom, or +justice; something, in short, of a stumbling-block, which we fear +may occasion a triumph to unbelievers; it is a rule, I say, that in +passages of this kind the difficulty is not to be met by departing +from the common-received translation. And the reason of this is +plain; that had not the commonly received translation in such cases +been clearly the right one, it would never have come to be commonly +received. Amongst the thousands of interpreters of Scripture, all, +from the earliest time, anxious to remove grounds of cavil from the +adversaries of their faith, a passage would never have been +translated so as to afford such a ground, if the right translation +of it could have been different. Such places are especially those +in which the common translation needs not to be suspected: and it +is merely leading us astray from the true explanation of the +apparent difficulty, when we thus attempt to evade it by tampering +with the translation. A notable instance of this was afforded some +few years since in a new translation of some of the books of the +Old Testament; in which it was pretended that most of those points +which had been most attacked by unbelievers were, in fact, mere +mistranslations, and that the real meaning of the original was +something totally different; and, in order to show the necessity of +his alterations, the writer entirely allowed the objections of +unbelievers to the common reading; and said that no sufficient +answer had been or could be made to them. This was an extreme case, +and probably imposed only on a very few: but less instances of the +same thing are common: St. Paul's words about being baptized for +the dead, have been twisted to all sorts of senses, from their +natural and only possible meaning, because men could not bear to +believe that the superstition of being baptized as proxies for +another could have existed at a period which they were resolved to +consider so pure: and so in the text, a force has been put upon the +words which they cannot bear, in order to remove a supposed +contradiction: and all that would have been gained by the change +would be, to have one instructive illustration the less of our +Lord's peculiar manner of discourse, and one instance the less of +the inimitable way in which his language, addressed directly to the +circumstances before him, contains, at the same time, a general +lesson, for the use of all his disciples in all ages.</p> +<p>Our Lord's habitual language was parabolical; I use the word in +a wide sense, to include all language which is not meant to be +taken according to the letter. Observe his conversation with the +Samaritan woman; it begins at once with parable, "If thou hadst +known who it was that asked of thee, saying, Give me to drink, thou +wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living +water." And again, "Whoso drinketh of the water that I shall give +him shall never thirst, but it shall be in him a well of water, +springing up unto life eternal." This seems to have been, if I may +venture to say so, the favourite language in which he preferred to +speak; but when he found that he was not understood, then, +according to the nature of the case, he went on in two or three +different manners. When he, to whom all hearts were open, saw that +the misunderstanding was wilful, that it arose out of a disposition +glad to find an excuse, in his pretended obscurity, for not +listening to him and obeying him, then, instead of explaining his +language, he made it more and more figurative; more likely to be +misunderstood, or to offend those whom he knew to be disposed +beforehand to misunderstand and to be offended. A famous example of +this may be seen in the sixth chapter of St. John; there he first +calls himself the Bread of Life, and says, that whosoever should +eat of that bread should live for ever: but when he found that the +Jews cavilled at this language, instead of explaining it, he only +added expressions yet more strongly parabolical; "Except ye eat the +flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in +you:" and he dwells on this image so long, that we find that many +of his disciples, bent on interpreting it literally, and, in this +sense, finding it utterly shocking, went back and walked no more +with him. Again, when he found not a disposition to cavil, but yet +a profound ignorance of his meaning, arising from a state of mind +wholly unused to think of spiritual good and evil, he neither used, +as to those who wilfully misunderstood him, language that would +offend them still more, nor yet did he offer a direct explanation; +but he broke off the conversation, and adopted another method of +instruction. Thus, when the Samaritan woman, thinking only of +bodily wants, answered him by saying, "Sir, give me this water, +that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw," he neither goes on +to speak to her in the same language, nor yet does he explain it; +but at once addresses her in a different manner, saying, "Go, call +thy husband, and come hither." Thirdly, when he was speaking to his +own disciples, to whom it was given to know the mysteries of the +kingdom of God, he generally explained his meaning,--at least so +far as to prevent practical error,--when he found that they had not +understood him. Thus, when he had said to them, "Beware of the +leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod," and they +thought only of leaven and of bread in the literal sense, he +upbraids them, indeed, for their slowness, saying, "Are ye also yet +without understanding?" but he goes on to tell them in express +terms that he did not mean to speak to them of the leaven of bread. +And the words of the text are an exactly similar instance: his +first address is parabolical; that is, it is not meant to be taken +to the letter; "Sleep on now, and take your rest," meaning, "Ye can +now do me no good by watching, for the time is past, and he who +betrayed me is at hand; ye might as well sleep on now and take your +rest, for I need not try you any longer." But, as the time was +really pressing, and there was a possibility that they might have +misunderstood his words, and have really continued to sleep, he +immediately added in different language, "Rise, let us be going; +behold, he is at hand that doth betray me." We must be prepared, +then, to find that our Lord's language, not only to the Jews at +large, but even to his own disciples, is commonly parabolical; the +worst interpretation which we can give to it is commonly the +literal one. His conversation with his disciples, just before he +went out to the garden of Gethsemane, as recorded in the +thirteenth, and following chapters of St. John, is a most striking +proof of this. If any one looks through them, he will find how many +are the comparisons, and figurative manners of speaking, which +abound in them, and how often his disciples were at a loss to +understand his meaning, And he himself declares this, for, at the +end of the sixteenth chapter, he says expressly, "These things I +have spoken unto you in proverbs;"--that is, language not to be +taken according to the letter;--"the time is coming when I will no +more speak unto you in proverbs, but will show you plainly of the +Father." And then, when he goes on to declare, what he never, it +seems, had before told them in such express and literal language, +"I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again I +leave the world, and go to my Father," his disciples seem to have +welcomed with joy this departure from his usual manner of speaking, +and said immediately, "Lo! now speakest thou plainly, and speakest +no proverb: now we know that thou knowest all things, and needest +not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou +earnest forth from God."</p> +<p>But let us observe what it is that he said: "A time is coming +when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but shall show you +plainly of the Father." That time came immediately. He spoke to +them after his resurrection, opening their understandings to +understand the Scriptures: he spoke yet more fully, by his Spirit, +after the day of Pentecost, leading them into all truth. And what +they thus heard in the ear, they proclaimed, according to his +bidding, upon the house-tops. When the Holy Spirit brought to their +remembrance all that he had said to them, and gave their minds a +spiritual judgment, to compare what they thus had brought before +them, to see his words in their true light and their true bearings, +comparing spiritual things with spiritual, they were no niggards of +this heavenly treasure; nor did they, according to the vain heresy +of the worst corrupters of Christ's gospel, imitate and surpass +that sin which they had so heavily judged in Ananias. They kept +back no part-of that which they professed and were commanded to lay +wholly and entirely at the feet of God's church. They did not so +lie to the Holy Ghost, as to erect a wicked system of priestcraft +in the place of that holy gospel of which they were ministers. They +had no reserve of a secret doctrine for themselves and a chosen +few, keeping in their own hands the key of knowledge, and opening +only half of the door; but as they had freely received, so they +freely gave; all that they knew, they taught to all: and so, +through their blessed teaching, we too can understand our Lord's +words as they were taught to understand them: and what is +parabolical, is no longer on that account obscure, but full of +light and of beauty, fulfilling the end for which it was chosen, +the most effective of all ways of teaching, because the +liveliest.</p> +<p>I have left myself but little space to touch upon the second +part of the subject--the general lesson conveyed in our +Lord's-words to his disciples: "Sleep on now, and take your +rest.--Rise; let us be going." How truly do we deserve the reproof; +how thankfully may we accept the call. We have forfeited many +opportunities which we would in vain recover; we have been careless +when we should have been watchful; and that for which we should +have watched, is now lost by our neglect; and it is no good to +watch for it any more. Let us remember this, while it is called +to-day; for how often is it particularly applicable to us here, +from the passing nature of your stay amongst us! To both you and us +too often belongs our Lord's remonstrance, "What, could ye not +watch with me one hour?" So short a time as you stay here, could we +not be watching with Christ that little period: from which, if well +improved, there might spring forth a fruit so lasting? But, alas! +we too often sleep it away: we do not all that we might do, nor do +you; evil grows instead of good, till the time is past, and you +leave us; and we may as well sleep on, and take our rest, so far as +all that particular good was concerned--the improvement, namely, of +your time at this place, for which we are alike set to watch. But +are we to take the words of reproach literally? May we really sleep +on, and take our rest? Oh vain and wilful folly, so to +misunderstand! But, lest we should misunderstand, let us hear our +Lord's next words: "Rise; let us be going," and that instantly: the +time and opportunity already lost for ever is far more than +enough.--"Rise; let us be going:" so Christ calls us; for he has +still other work for us to do, for him, and with him. The future is +yet our own, though the past be lost. We have sinned greatly and +irreparably; but let us not do so yet again: other opportunities +are afforded us; the disciples would not watch with him in the +garden, but he calls them to go with him to his trial and his +judgment; and one, we know, watched by him even on his cross:--so +he calls to us; so he calls now; but he will not so call for ever. +There will be a time when we might strike out the words, "Rise; let +us be going;" they will concern us then no more. It is only said, +"Sleep on now, and take your rest: all your watching time has been +wasted, and you can now watch no more;" there remains only to +sleep--to sleep that last sleep, from which we shall then never +wake to God and happiness, but in which we shall be awake for ever +to sin and to misery.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXVI."></a>LECTURE XXXVI.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>2 CORINTHIANS v. 17, 18.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Old things are passed away; behold, all things are +become new: and<br> +all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus +Christ</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>I have, from time to time, spoken of that foolish misuse of the +Scriptures, by which any one opening the volume of the Bible at +random, and taking the first words which he finds, straightway +applies them either to himself or to his neighbour; and then boasts +that he has the word of God on his side, and that whosoever differs +from him, is disputing and despising the word of God. The most +extreme instances of this way of proceeding are so absurd, that +they could not be noticed in this place becomingly; and these, of +course, stand palpable to all, except to those who have allowed +themselves to fall into them. But far short of these manifest +follies, great errors have been maintained on general points, and +great mistakes, whether of over presumption or of over fear, have +been committed as to men's particular state, by quoting Scripture +unadvisedly; by taking hold of its words to the neglect or actual +violation of its spirit and real meaning. This is a great and a +very common mischief, but yet there is a truth at the bottom of the +error; it is true, that the greatest questions relating to God and +to ourselves, may find their answer in the Scriptures; it is true, +that if we search for this answer wisely we may surely find it.</p> +<p>Consider the words of the text, and see how easily they may be +perverted, if with no more ado we take them, as said of ourselves, +each individually, and as containing to each of us a statement +positive of truth. "Old things are passed away; behold, all things +are become new." If we believe that this is God's word respecting +each of us, what violence must we do to our memory of the past, and +our consciousness of the present, if we do try to persuade +ourselves that so total a change has taken place in each of us, +that what we once were, we are no longer; that what we are, we once +were not; and this not in some few particular points, but in the +main character of our minds. Again, "All things are of God, who +hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ." If we apply these +words to each of us, what exceeding presumption would they breed! +If all things in us and about us are now of God, what room can +there be for sin? If God hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus +Christ, what room can there be for fear or for danger? And thus, +while we say we are quoting and believing the word of God, we do in +fact turn it into a lie; we make it assert a falsehood as to our +past state, and a falsehood as to our future state; we make it say, +that our old nature is passed away, when it is not; that we have +got a new nature when we have not; that we are reconciled to God, +and therefore in safety, when we are, in fact, in the extremest +danger.</p> +<p>But it is easy to see that we have no right to apply to +ourselves words written by St. Paul eighteen hundred years ago, and +applied by him to other persons. I go, then, farther; and I say, +that if every member of the church of Corinth, to which they were +written, had applied them to himself in the manner which I have +shown above, the words would in many instances have been perverted +no less, and would have been made to state what was false, and not +what was true. And the same may be said of many other passages of +St. Paul's Epistles, which, having been similarly misinterpreted, +have furnished matter for endless controversies, and on which +opposite theories of doctrine have been fondly raised, each of them +alike unchristian and untrue.</p> +<p>Thus our present position is this:--that oftentimes by taking +the representations of Scripture as true in fact, whether of +ourselves or of others, we come to conclusions at once false and +mischievous; being, as the case may be, either presumptuous, or +fearful, or uncharitable, and claiming for each of these faults the +sanction of the word of God.</p> +<p>A similar mistake in interpreting human compositions, has led to +faults of another kind. Assuming as before, in interpreting St. +Paul's words, that the language of our Liturgy is meant to +describe, as a matter of fact, the actual feelings and condition of +those who use it, or for whom it is used; and seeing manifestly +that these feelings and condition do not agree with the words; we +do not here, as with the Scripture, do violence to our common sense +and conscience, by insisting upon it that we agree with the words, +but we find fault with the words as being at variance with the +matter of fact. Some say that the language of the General +Confession is too strong a statement of sin; that the language of +the Communion Service, of the Baptismal Service, and above all, of +the Burial Service, is too full of encouragement and of assurance; +that men are not all so bad as to require the one, 'nor so good as +to deserve the other; that in both cases it should be lowered, to +agree with the actual condition of those who use it.</p> +<p>Now it is worthy of notice, at any rate, that the self-same rule +of interpretation applied to the Scripture and the Liturgy is found +to suit with neither. We adhere positively to our rule: and thus, +as we hold the words of Scripture sacred, we force common sense and +conscience to make the facts agree with them; but not having the +same respect for the words of the Liturgy, we complain of them as +faulty and requiring alteration, because they do not agree with the +facts.</p> +<p>I will not enter into the question whether the Liturgy has done +wisely or not in thus imitating the Scripture; but I do contend +that, in point of fact, there is this resemblance between them. St. +Paul's Epistles, in particular, although it is true of other parts +of the Scripture also, contain, as does the Liturgy of our Church, +a great many passages which, if taken either universally or even +generally as containing a matter of fact, will lead us into certain +error. Is it, therefore, so very certain that we do wisely in so +interpreting them?</p> +<p>With regard to our Liturgy I need not follow up the question +now; but with regard to St. Paul, it is certain that he, in many +parts of his Epistles, chooses to represent that which ought to be +as that which actually was: he chooses to regard those to whom he +is writing as being in all respects true Christians, as being +worthy of their privileges, as answering to what God had done to +them, as forming a church really inhabited by the Holy Spirit, and +therefore being a true and living body of due proportions to Christ +its Divine head. Nor does he trust exclusively to the common sense +and conscience of those to whom he was writing to interpret his +language correctly. He might Lave thought indeed that if he wrote +to them as redeemed, justified, sanctified, as having all things +new, as being the children of God, and the heirs of God, and the +temples of the Holy Ghost, any individual who felt that he was none +of these things, that sin was still mighty within him, and that he +was sin's slave, would neither deny his own conscience, nor yet +call St. Paul a deceiver; but would read in the difference between +St. Paul's description of him and the reality, the exact measure of +his own sin, and need of repentance and watchfulness. But he does +not rely on this only: he notices sins as actually existing; he +mingles the language of reproof and of anxiety, so as to make it +quite clear that he did not mean his descriptions of their holiness +and blessedness to apply to them all necessarily; he knew full well +that they did not: but yet he knew also that, considering what God +had done for them, it was monstrous that they should not be truly +applicable.</p> +<p>But why then, you will say, did he use such language? why did he +call men forgiven, redeemed, saved, justified, sanctified?--he uses +all these terms often as applicable generally to those to whom he +was writing;--why did he call them so, when in fact they were not +so? He called them so for the same reason which, made prophecy +foretell blessings upon Israel of old, and on the Christian church +afterwards, which were fulfilled on neither:--in order to declare, +and keep ever before us, what God has done and is willing to do for +us: what he fain would do for us, if we would but suffer him; what +divine powers are offered to us, and we will not use them; what +divine happiness is designed for us, and we will not enter into it. +Let us ponder all the magnificence of the scriptural language,--the +words of the text for example, not as describing what we are when +we are full of sin; nor yet as mere exaggerated language, which +must be brought down to the level of our present reality. Let us +consider it as containing the words of truth and soberness; not one +jot or one tittle needs to be abated; it must not be lowered to us, +but we rather raised to it. It is a truth, it is the word of God, +it is the seal of our assurance: it is that which good men of old +would have welcomed with the deepest joy; which, to good men now is +a source of comfort unspeakable. For it tells us that God has done +for us, is doing, will do, all that we need; it tells us that the +price of our redemption has been paid, the kingdom of heaven has +been set open, the power to walk as God's children has been given: +that so far as God is concerned we are redeemed, we are saved, we +are sanctified; it is but our own fault merely that we are not all +of these actually and surely.</p> +<p>This is not a little matter to be persuaded of; if it be true, +as I fear it is, that too many of us do not love God, is it not +quite as true that we cannot believe that God loves us? Have we any +thing like a distinct sense of the words of St. John, "We love God +because he first loved us?" We believe in the love of our earthly +friends; those who have so lately left their homes have no manner +of doubt that their parents are interested in their welfare, though +absent; that they will often think of them; and that, as far as it +is possible at a distance from them, they are watching over their +good, and anxious to promote it. The very name home implies all +this; it implies that it is a place where those live who love us; +and I do not question that the consciousness of possessing this +love does, amidst all your faults and forgetfulnesses, rise not +unfrequently within your minds, and restrain you from making +yourselves altogether unworthy of it. Now, I say, that the words of +the text, and hundreds of similar passages, are our assurance, if +we would but believe them, that we have another home and another +parent, by whom we are loved constantly and earnestly, who has done +far more for us than our earthly parents can do. I grant that it is +hard to believe this really; so infinite is the distance between +God and us, that we cannot fancy that he cares for us; he may make +laws for a world, or for a system, but what can he think or feel +for us? It is, indeed, a thought absolutely overpowering to the +mind; it may well seem incredible to us, judging either from our +own littleness or our own forgetfulness; so hard as we find it to +think enough of those to whom we are most nearly bound, how can the +Most High. God think of us? But if there be any one particle of +truth in Christianity, we are warranted in saying that God does +love us; strange as it may seem, He, whom neither word nor thought +of created being can compass; He, who made us and ten thousand +worlds, loves each one of us individually; "the very hairs of our +heads are all numbered." He so loved us, that he gave his +only-begotten Son to die for us; and St. Paul well asks, "He that +spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, will he +not also with him freely give us all things?"</p> +<p>Believe me, you could have no better charm to keep you safe +through, the temptations of the coming half year, than this most +true persuasion that God loves you. The oldest and the youngest of +us may alike repeat to himself the blessed words, "God loves me;" +"God loves me; God has redeemed me: God would dwell in my heart, +that I might dwell in him: God has placed me in his church, has +made me a member of Christ his own Son, has made me an inheritor of +the kingdom of heaven." I might multiply words, but that one little +sentence is, perhaps, more than all, "God loves me." Oh that you +would believe him when he assures you of it, for then surely you +would not fail to love him. But whether you believe it or not, +still it is so: God loves every one of us; he loves each one of us +as belonging to Christ his Son. He does love each, of us; let us +not cast his love away from us, and refuse to love him in return; +he does love each of us now, but there may be a time to each of +us,--there will be, assuredly, if we will not believe that he loves +us, when he will love us no more for ever.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXVII."></a>LECTURE XXXVII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>EZEKIEL xx. 49.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Then said I, Ah, Lord God I they say of me, Doth he not +speak parables</i>?</center> +<br> +<p>Nothing is more disheartening, if we must believe it to be true, +than the language in which some persons talk of the difficulty of +the Scriptures, and the absolute certainty that different men will +ever continue to understand them differently. It is not, we are +told, with the knowledge of Scripture as with that of outward +nature: in the knowledge of nature, discoveries are from time to +time made which set error on the one side, and truth on the other, +absolutely beyond dispute; there the ground when gained is clearly +seen to be so; and as fresh sources of knowledge are continually +opening to us, it is not beyond hope that we may in time arrive +infinitely near to the enjoyment of truth,--truth certain in +itself, and acknowledged by all unanimously. But with Scripture, it +is said, the case is far otherwise; discoveries are not to be +expected here, nor does a later generation derive from, its +additional experience any greater insight into the things of God +than was enjoyed by the generations before it. And when we see that +actually the complete Scriptures have been in the world not much +less than eighteen hundred years; that within that period no other +book has been so much studied; and yet that differences of opinion +as to the matters spoken of in it have ever existed, and exist now +as much as ever, what reasonable prospect is there, it is asked, of +future harmony or of clearer demonstrations of divine truth; and +will not the good on these points ever continue to differ from the +good, and the wise to differ from the wise?</p> +<p>This language, so discouraging as it is, may be heard from two +very opposite parties, so that their agreement may appear to give +it the more weight: it is used by men who are indifferent to +religious truth, as an excuse for their taking no pains to discover +what the truth really is; it is echoed back quite as strongly by +another set of persons who wish to magnify the uncertainties of the +Scripture in order to recommend more plausibly the guidance of some +supposed authoritative interpreter of it. But yet it ought to be at +any rate a painful work to any serious mind to be obliged to dwell +not only on the obscurities of God's word, but on its perpetual and +invincible obscurities; and, though an interpreter may be necessary +if we know not the language of those with whom we are conversing, +yet how much better would it be that we should ourselves know it: +nay, and if we are told that we cannot know it, that our best +endeavours will be unable to master it, the suspicion inevitably +arises in our minds, that our pretended interpreter may be ignorant +of it also; that he is not in truth better acquainted with it than +we, but only more presumptuous or more dishonest.</p> +<p>Still a statement may be painful, but at the same time true. +There is undoubtedly something in such language as I have been +alluding to, which appears to be confirmed by experience. There is +no denying the fact, that the Scriptures have been a long time in +the world; that they have been very generally and carefully read; +and yet that men do differ exceedingly as to religious truth, and +these differences do not seem to be tending towards agreement. It +seems to me, there fore, desirable that every student of the +Scriptures should know, as well as may be, what the exact state of +the question is; for if the subject of his studies is really so +hopelessly uncertain, it is scarcely possible that his zeal in +studying it should not be abated; nay, could we wisely encourage +him to bestow his pains on a hopeless labour?</p> +<p>Now, in the very outset, there is this consideration which many +of us here are well able to appreciate. We read many books written +in dead languages, most of them more ancient than any part of the +New Testament, some of them older than several of the books of the +Old. We know well enough that these ancient books are not without +their difficulties; that time, and thought, and knowledge are +required to master them; but still we do not doubt that, with the +exception of particular-passages here and there, the true meaning +of these books may be discovered with undoubted certainty. We know, +too, that this certainty has increased; that interpretations, +which, were maintained some years ago, have been set aside by our +improved knowledge of the languages and condition of the ancient +world, quite as certainly as old errors in physical science have +been laid to rest by later discoveries. Farther, our improved +knowledge has taught us to distinguish what may be known from what +may be probably concluded, and what is probable from what can +merely be guessed at. When we come to points of this last sort, to +passages which cannot be interpreted or understood, we leave them +at once as a blank; but we enjoy no less, and understand with no +less certainty, the greatest portions of the book which, contain +them. And this experience, with regard to the works of heathen +antiquity, makes it a startling proposition at the very outset, +when we are told that with the works of Christian antiquity the +case is otherwise.</p> +<p>We thus approach the statement as to the hopless difficulty of +Scripture, confirmed, as we are told it is, by the actual fact of +the great disagreements among Christians, with a well-grounded +mistrust of its soundness; we feel sure that there is something in +it which is confused or sophistical. And considering the fact which +appears to confirm it, I mean the actual differences between +Christians and Christians, it soon appears by no means to bear out +its supposed conclusion. For the differences between Christians and +Christians by no means arise generally from the difficulty of +understanding the Scripture aright, but from disagreement as to +some other point, quite independent of the interpretation of the +Scriptures. For example, the great questions at issue between us +and the Roman Catholics turn upon two points,--Whether there is not +another authority, in matters of Christianity, distinct from and +equal to the Scriptures,--and whether certain interpretations of +Scripture are not to be received as true, for the sake of the +authority of the interpreter. Now, suppose for a moment, that the +works of Plato or Aristotle were to us in the place of the +Scriptures; and that the question was, whether these works of +theirs could be understood with certainty; it would prove nothing +against our being able to understand them, if, whilst we look to +them alone, another man were to say, that, to his judgment, the +works of other philosophers were no less authoritative; or, if he +were to insist upon it, that the interpretations given by the +scholiasts were always sure to be correct, because the scholiasts +were the authorized interpreters of the text. No doubt our +philosophical opinions and our practice might differ widely from +such a man's; but the difference would prove nothing as to the +obscurity of Plato's or Aristotle's text, because another standard +had been brought in, distinct from their works, and from the +acknowledged principles of interpretation, and thus led unavoidably +to a different result.</p> +<p>The same also is the case as to the questions at issue between +the Church of England and many of the Dissenters. In these disputes +it is notorious that the practice and authority of the church are +continually appealed to, or, it may be, considerations of another +kind, as to the inherent reasonableness of a doctrine; all which +are, again, a distinct matter from the interpretation of Scripture. +One of the greatest men of our time has declared, that, in the +early part of his life, he did not believe in the divinity of our +Lord; but he has stated expressly, that he never for a moment +persuaded himself that St. Paul or St. John did not believe it; +their language he thought was clear enough, upon the point; but the +notion appeared to him so unreasonable in itself, that he +disbelieved it in spite of their authority. It is manifest, that, +in this case, great as the difference was between this great man's +early belief and his later, yet it in no way arose from the +obscurity of the Scripture. The language of the Scripture was as +clear to him at first as it was afterwards; but in his early life +he disbelieved it, while, in his latter life, he embraced it with +all his heart and soul.</p> +<p>It must not be denied, however, that we are here arrived at one +of the causes which are likely, for a long time, to keep alive a +false interpretation of Scripture, and which do not affect our +interpretation of heathen writings. For most men, in such a case as +I have referred to, when they do not believe the language of the +Scripture, but wish to alter it, whether by omission or addition, +do not deal so fairly with it as that great man did to whom I have +alluded. They have neither his knowledge nor his honesty; a false +interpretation is more easily disguised from them, owing to their +ignorance, and they let their wishes more readily warp their +judgment. Thus, they will not say as he did, "The Scripture clearly +says so and so, but I cannot believe it;" they rather say, "This is +very unreasonable and shocking, the Scripture cannot mean to say +this;" or, "This is very pious and very ancient, the Scripture +cannot but sanction this." And certainly, if men will so deal with +it, there remains no certainty of interpretation then. But this is +not the way that we deal with other ancient writings; and its +unfairness and foolishness, if ever attempted to be practised +there, are so palpable as to be ridiculous. No doubt it is +difficult to convince men against their will; nevertheless, there +is a good hope, that, as sound principles of interpretation are +more generally known, they will put to shame a flagrant departure +from them; and that those who try to make the Scripture say more or +less than it has said, will be gradually driven to confess that +Scripture is not their real authority; that their own notions in +the one case, and the authority of the Church in the other case, +have been the real grounds of their belief, to which they strove to +make the Scriptures conform.</p> +<p>Nothing that I have said is, in any degree, meant to countenance +the opinions of those who talk of the Bible,--or rather, our +translation of it,--being its own interpreter; meaning, that if you +give a Bible to any one who can read, he will be able to understand +it rightly. Even in this extravagance, there is indeed something of +a truth. If a man were so to read the Bible, much he would, +unquestionably, be able to understand; enough, I well believe, if +honestly and devoutly used, to give him, if living in a desert +island by himself, the knowledge of salvation. But when we talk of +understanding the Bible, so as to be guided by it amidst the +infinite varieties of opinion and practice which beset us on every +side, it is the wildest folly to talk of it as being, in this +sense, its own interpreter. Our comfort is, not that it can be +understood without study, but with it; that the same pains which, +enable us to understand heathen writings, whose meaning is of +infinitely less value to us, will enable us, with God's blessing, +to understand the Scriptures also. Neither do I mean, that mere +intellectual study would make them clear to the careless or the +undevout; but, supposing us to seek honestly to know God's will, +and to pray devoutly for his help to guide us to it, then our study +is not vain nor uncertain; the mind of the Scriptures may be +discovered; we may distinguish plainly between what is clear, and +what is not clear; and what is not clear will be found far less in +amount, and infinitely less in importance, than what is clear. I do +not say, that a true understanding of the Scriptures will settle at +once all religious differences;--manifestly, it cannot; for, +although I may understand them well, yet if a man maintains an +opinion, or a practice, upon some other authority than theirs, we +cannot agree together. Nevertheless, we may be allowed to hope and +believe, that in time, if men could be hindered from +misinterpreting the Scripture in behalf of their own opinions, +their opinions themselves would find fewer supporters; for, as +Christianity must come, after all, from our blessed Lord and his +apostles, men will shrink from saying that that is no truth of +Christianity which Christ and his apostles have clearly taught, or +that that is a truth of Christianity, however ancient, and by +whatever long line of venerable names supported, which they have as +clearly, in our sole authentic records of them, not taught. It is +not, therefore, without great and reasonable hope, that we may +devote ourselves to the study of the Scriptures; and those habits +of study which are cultivated here, and in other places of the same +kind, are the best ordinary means of arriving at the truth. We are +constantly engaged in extracting the meaning of those who have +written in times past, and in a dead language. We do this according +to certain rules, acknowledged as universally as the laws of +physical science: these rules are developed gradually,--from the +simple grammar which forms our earliest lessons, to the rules of +higher criticism, still no less acknowledged, which are understood +by those of a more advanced age. And we do this for heathen +writings; but the process is exactly the same--and we continually +apply it, also, for that very purpose--with what is required to +interpret the Word of God. After all is done, we shall still, no +doubt, find that the Scripture has its parables, its passages which +cannot now be understood; but we shall find, also, that by much the +larger portion of it may be clearly and certainly known; enough to +be, in all points which really concern our faith and practice, a +lantern to our feet, and an enlightener to our souls.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXVIII."></a>LECTURE XXXVIII.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>ISAIAH v.1.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved +touching his vineyard</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>Whatever difficulties we may find in understanding and applying +many parts of the prophetical Scriptures, yet every thinking person +could follow readily enough, I suppose, the chapter from which +these words are taken, as it was read in the course of this +morning's service; and he would feel, while understanding it as +said, immediately and in the first instance, of the Jewish Church +or nation, seven centuries and a half before the birth of our Lord, +that it was no less applicable to this Christian church and nation +at the present period. We cannot, indeed, expect to find a minute +agreement in particular points between ourselves and the Jews of +old; the difference of times and circumstances renders this +impossible; both they and we stand, on the one hand, in so nearly +the same relation to God, and we both so share, on the other hand, +in the same sinful human nature, that the complaints, and +remonstrances of the prophets of old may often, be repeated, even +in the very same words, by the Christian preacher now.</p> +<p>If this be so, then the language of various parts of the service +of the Church in this season of Advent ought to excite in us no +small apprehension; for whilst the lessons from the Old Testament +describe the evil state of the Jewish people in the eighth century +before Christ, and threaten it with destruction, so the gospels for +this day, and for last Sunday, speak of the evil state of the same +people when our Lord was upon earth; and the chapter from which the +gospel of this day is taken, contains, as we know, a full prophecy +of the destruction that was, for the second time, going to +overwhelm the earthly Jerusalem. We cannot but fear, therefore, +that if our state now be like that of God's people of old, eight +centuries before our Lord's coming, and again like their state at +his coming: and if, after the first period, their city and temple +were burnt, and they were carried captive to Babylon,--and again, +after the second period, the city and temple were burnt again, and +the people were dispersed, even to this day,--that, as the +punishment has twice surely followed the sin, so it will not fail +to find it out in this third case also.</p> +<p>And be it remembered that the people, or church of God, as such, +can receive their punishment only in this world: for, taken as a +body, it is an institution for this world only. We each of us, no +doubt, shall have our own separate individual judgment after death; +and, in the mean time, our fortunes and our character often bear no +just correspondence with each other. But nations and churches have +their judgments here: and although God's long-suffering so suspends +it for many generations that it may seem as if it would never fall, +yet does it come surely at the last; and almost always we can +ourselves trace the connexion between the sin and the punishment, +and can see that the one was clearly the consequence of the other. +And thus our church and nation may feel their national judgments in +this world quite independently of the several personal judgments +which will be passed upon us each hereafter individually, when we +stand before Christ's judgment seat.</p> +<p>I have thus ventured to bring the condition of the church as a +body before our minds, although well knowing how much more we are +concerned with the state of our own souls individually. Yet still +the more general view is not without great use; and indeed it bears +directly upon our individual state: our actions and our feelings +having often a close connexion with, general church matters; and +these actions and feelings being necessarily good or bad, according +to the soundness of our judgment on the matter which occasions +them. Besides which, it seems to me that general views, rather than +what relates to particular faults, may be with most propriety dwelt +on by those who have no direct connexion with the congregation +which they are addressing.</p> +<p>In the first place, then, whenever we think of the state and +prospects of Christ's church, whether for good or for evil, it is +most desirable that we should rightly understand our own relations +to it. "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel;" +or, in the language of the New Testament, "Christ is the vine, and +we are the branches." Men continually seem to forget that they are +members of the church; citizens, to use St. Paul's expression, of +Christ's kingdom, as much as ever they are citizens of their +earthly country. But they speak of the church as they might speak +of any useful institution or society in their neighbourhood, whose +object they approved of, and which they were glad to encourage, but +without becoming members of it, or identifying themselves with its +success or failure. For example, they speak of the church as they +might speak of the universities, which indeed are institutions of +great importance to the whole country, but yet they are manifestly +distinct from the mass of the community: they have their own +members, their own laws, and their own government, with which, +people in general have nothing to do. And so many persons speak and +feel of the church, regarding it evidently as consisting only of +the clergy: our common language, no doubt, helping this confusion, +because we often speak of a man's going into the church when he +enters into holy orders, just as if ordination were the admission +into the church, and not baptism. Now, if the clergy did indeed +constitute the church, then it would very much resemble the +condition of the universities: for it would then be indeed a +society very important to the welfare of the whole country, but yet +one that was completely distinct, and which had its members, laws, +and government quite apart: for men in general do not belong to the +clergy, nor are they concerned directly in such canons as relate to +the peculiar business of the clergy, nor does the bishop's +superintendence, as commonly exercised, extend at all to them. But +God designed for his church far more than that it should contain +one order of men only, or that it should comprise commonly but one +single individual in a parish, preaching to and teaching the rest +of the inhabitants, like a missionary amongst a population of +heathens. Look at St. Paul's account of the church of Corinth, in +the 12th chapter of his 1st epistle to the Corinthians, and see if +any two things can be more different than his notion of a church, +and that which many people seem to entertain amongst us. Compare +the living body there described, made up of so many various +members, each having its separate office, yet each useful to and +needed by the others and by the body,--and our notion of a parish +committed to the charge of a single individual: as if all the +manifold gifts which the church requires could by possibility be +comprised in the person of any one Christian; as if the whole +burden were to rest upon his shoulders, and the other inhabitants +might regard the welfare of the church as his concern only, and not +theirs.</p> +<p>But not only is the church too often confined in men's notions +to the single class or profession of the clergy, but it has been +narrowed still farther by the practical extinction of one of the +orders of the clergy itself. Where the laity have come to regard +their own share in the concerns of the church as next to nothing, +the order of deacons, forming, as it were, a link between the +clergy and the laity, becomes proportionably of still greater +importance. The business of the deacons, as we well know, was in an +especial manner to look after the relief of the poor; and by +combining this charge with the power of baptizing, of reading the +Scriptures, and of preaching also, when authorized by the bishop, +they exhibited the peculiar character of Christianity, that of +sanctifying the business of this world by doing everything in the +name of the Lord Jesus. No church, so far as we know, certainly no +church in any town, existed without its deacons: they were as +essential to its completeness as its bishop and its presbyters.</p> +<p>Take any one of our large towns now, and what do we find? A +bishop, not of that single town only, but of fifty others besides: +one presbyter in each, church, and no deacons! Practically, and +according to its proper character, the order of deacons is extinct; +and those who now bear the name are most commonly found exercising +the functions of presbyters; that is, instead of acting as the +assistants of a presbyter, they are often the sole ministers of +their respective parishes; they alone baptize; alone offer up the +prayers of the church, alone preach the word: nothing marks their +original character, except their inability to administer the +communion; and thus, by a strange anomaly, the church in such +parishes is actually left without any power of celebrating its +highest act, that of commemorating the death, of Christ in the +Lord's supper; and if it were not for another great evil, the +unfrequent celebration of the Communion, the system could not go +on: because the deacon would be so often obliged to apply to other +ministers to perform that duty for him, that the inconvenience, as +well as the unfitness, of the actual practice, would be manifest to +every one.</p> +<p>Again, what has become of church discipline? That it has +perished, we all well know: but its loss is the consequence of that +fatal error which makes the clergy alone constitute the church. It +is quite certain that men will not allow the members of a single +profession to exercise the authority of society; to create and +define offences; to determine their punishment, and to be the +judges of each particular offender. As long as the clergy are +supposed to constitute the whole church, church discipline would be +nothing but priestly tyranny. And yet the absence of discipline is +a most grievous evil; and there is no doubt that, although it must +be vain when opposed to public opinion, yet, when it is the +expression of that opinion, there is nothing which it cannot +achieve. But public opinion cannot enforce church discipline now, +because that discipline would not be now the expression of the +voice of the church, but simply of a small part of the church, of +the clergy only.</p> +<p>So deeply has this fatal error of regarding the clergy as the +church extended itself, that at this moment a man's having been +baptized is no security for his being so much as a believer in the +truth of Christianity: no matter that he was made in his baptism a +member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom +of heaven; no matter that at a more advanced period of his life he +was confirmed, and entered into the church by his own act and deed; +still the church belongs to the clergy; they may hold such and +such, language, and teach such and such doctrine; it would be very +improper in them to do otherwise; and he has a great respect for +the church, and would strenuously resist all its enemies, but +truly, as for his own belief and his own conduct, these he will +guide according to other principles, as imperative upon him as the +rules of the church upon churchmen. Well indeed, do such men bear +witness that they are not of the church, indeed; that their portion +is not with God's people; that Christ is not their Saviour, nor the +Holy Spirit their Comforter and Guide: but what blasphemy is it to +call themselves friends of the church! as if Christ's church could +have any friends except God and his holy angels: the church has its +living and redeemed members; it may have those who are craving to +be admitted within its shelter, being convinced that God is in it +of a truth; but beyond these he who is not with it is against it; +he who is not Christ's servant, serves his enemy.</p> +<p>Farther, it is this same deadly error which is the root and +substance of popery. There is no one abuse of the Romish system +which may not be traced to the original and very early error of +drawing a wide distinction between the clergy and the laity; of +investing the former in such a peculiar degree with the attributes +of the church that at last they retained them almost exclusively. +In other words, the great evil of popery is, that it has destroyed +the Christian church, and has substituted a priesthood in its room. +This is the fault of the Greek church, almost as much as of the +Roman; and the peculiar tenet of the Romish church, that the +supreme government is vested in one single member of this +priesthood, the Bishop of Rome, is in some respects rather an +improvement of the system, than an aggravation of it. For even an +absolute monarchy is a less evil than an absolute aristocracy; and +an infallible Pope is no greater corruption of Christ's truth, than +an infallible general council. The real evils of the system are of +a far older date than the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, and +exist in places where that supremacy is resolutely denied. And if +we attend to them carefully, we shall see that these evils have +especially affected the Christian church as distinguished from the +Christian religion. It is worth our while to attend to this +distinction; for the Christian religion and the Christian church +together, and neither without the other, form the perfect idea of +Christianity. NOW, by the Christian religion, I mean the revelation +of what God has done or will do for us in Christ; the great +doctrines of the Trinity, the incarnation, the atonement, the +resurrection, the presence of the Holy Spirit amongst us, and our +own resurrection hereafter, to an existence of eternal happiness or +misery. And these truths, if revealed to any single person living +in an uninhabited island, might be abundantly sufficient for his +salvation; if God disposed his heart to receive them, and to +believe them earnestly, they would be the means of his overcoming +his corrupt nature, and of passing from death unto life. But +because men do not generally live alone, but with one another; and +because they cannot but greatly hinder, or help each other by their +mutual influence, therefore the Christian church was instituted for +the purpose of spreading and furthering the growth of the Christian +religion in men's hearts; and its various ministeries, its +sacraments, its services and festivals, and its discipline were all +designed with that object. And it is all these which popery has +perverted; popery, whether in the Roman church or in the Greek +church, or even in the Protestant church, for it has existed more +or less in all. But even in the Roman church, where the perversion +has been most complete, it has comparatively affected but little +the truths of the Christian religion; all the great doctrines, +which I mentioned, are held as by ourselves; the three creeds, the +Apostles' creed, the Nicene, and the Athanasian, are used by the +Roman church no less than by our own. Thus it often happens that we +can read with great edification the devotional works of Roman +Catholic writers, because in such works the individual stands apart +from the Christian church, and is concerned only with the Christian +religion: they show how one single soul, having learnt the tidings +of redemption with faith, and thankfulness, improves them to its +own salvation. But the moment that he goes out of his closet, and +begins to speak and act amongst other men, then the corruption of +popery shows itself. The Christian church was designed to help each +individual towards a more perfect knowledge and love of God, by the +counsel and example of his brethren, and by the practices which, he +was to observe in their society. But the corrupt church exercises +its influence for evil; it omits all the benefits to be derived +from a living society, and puts forward, in their place, the +observance of rites and ceremonies; knowledge and love are no +longer looked to as the perfections of a Christian, but ignorance +and blind obedience; not the mortifying all our evil passions +universally, but the keeping them chained up, as it were under +priestly control, to be let loose at the priest's bidding, against +those whom he calls the church's enemies; that glorious church +which he has destroyed and converted it into an idol temple, in +that he, as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that +he is God.</p> +<p>To resist this great and monstrous evil, we must not exclaim +against it under one of its forms only, even although that form +exhibit it, indeed, in its most complete deformity; but we must +strive against it under all its forms, remembering that its essence +consists in putting the clergy in the place of the church; and +taking from the great mass of the church their proper share in its +government, in its offices, and therefore in its benefits, and in +the sense of its solemn responsibilities. We speak often of church +extension, meaning by this term the building new places of public +worship, and the appointing additional ministers to preach the word +and administer the sacraments. And no doubt such church extension +is a good and blessed work, for it brings the knowledge of the +truths of Christ's religion, and the benefit of his ordinances, the +sacraments, within the reach of many who might otherwise have been +without them. But it were a yet truer and more blessed church +extension which should add to the building and the single minister, +the real living church itself, with all its manifold offices and +ministries, with its pure discipline, with its holy and loving +sense of brotherhood. Without this, Christ will still, indeed, as +heretofore, lay his hands on some few sick folk and heal them; his +grace will convey the truths of his gospel to individual souls, and +they will believe and be saved. But the fulfilment of prophecy; the +triumph of Christ's kingdom; the changing an evil world into a +world redeemed; this can only be done by a revival of the Christian +church in its power, the living temple of the Holy Ghost, which, +visibly to all mankind, in the wisdom and holiness of its members, +showed that God was in the midst of it. It may be that this is a +fond hope, which we may not expect to see realized; but looking on +the one hand to the strong and triumphant language of prophecy, I +know not how any hope of the advancement of Christ's kingdom can be +more bold than God's word will warrant: and on the other, tracing +the past history of the church, its gradual corruption may be +deduced distinctly from one early and deadly mischief, which has +destroyed its efficacy; so that, if this mischief can be removed, +and the church become such as Christ designed it to be, it does not +seem presumptuous to hope that his appointed instrument, working +according to his will, should be enabled to obtain the full +blessings of his promise.</p> +<p>And now, in conclusion, if we ask, what should follow from all +that has been said? what it should lead us all, if it be true, to +feel or to do?--the answer is, that considerations of this sort are +not such as lead at once to some distinct change in our conduct; to +the laying aside some favourite sin, or the practising some long +neglected duty. And yet the thoughts which I have endeavoured to +suggest to your minds may, if dwelt upon, lead, in the end, to a +very considerable alteration, both in our feelings and in our +practice. First of all, it is not a little matter to be convinced +practically, that it is baptism, and not ordination, which makes us +members of the church; that it is by sharing in the communion of +Christ's body and blood, not by being admitted into the ministry, +that the privileges and graces of Christ's church are conferred +upon us. And most wisely, and most truly, does our Church separate +ordination from the two Christian sacraments, as an institution far +less solemn, and conferring graces far less important: for the +difference between a Christian and a Christian minister is but one +of office, not of moral or spiritual advancement, not of greater or +less nearness to God. One is our master, even Christ; and all we +are brethren. Words which certainly do not imply that all members +of the church are to have the same office, or that all offices are +of equal importance and dignity; but which do imply, most +certainly, that any attempt to convert the ministry into a +priesthoood, that is, to represent them as standing, in any matter, +as mediators between Christ and his people, or as being essentially +the channel through which his grace must pass to his church, is +directly in opposition to him; and is no better than idolatry. It +was by baptism that we have all been engrafted into Christ's body; +it is by the communion of his body and blood that we continue to +abide in him; it is in his whole body, in his church, and not in +its ministers, as distinct from his church, that his Holy Spirit +abides.</p> +<p>Thus feeling that we each are members of the church, that it is +our highest country, to which we are bound with a far deeper love +than to our earthly country, is not its welfare our welfare; its +triumph our triumph; its failures our shame? We shall see, then, +that church questions are not such merely, or principally, as +concern the payment of the clergy, or their discipline, but all +questions in which God's glory and man's sins or duties are +concerned; all questions in the decision of which, there is a moral +good and evil; a grieving of Christ's Spirit, or a conformity to +him. And in such questions as concern the church, in the more +narrow and common sense of the word, seeing that we are all members +of the church, we should not neglect them, as the concern of +others, but take an interest in them, and act in them, so far as we +have opportunity, as in a matter which most nearly concerns +ourselves. We feel that we have an interest in our country's +affairs, although we are not members of the government or of the +legislature; we have our part to perform, without at all +overstepping the modesty of private life: and it is the constant +influence of public opinion, and the active interest taken by the +country at large in its own concerns, which, in spite of occasional +delusion or violence, is mainly instrumental in preserving to us +the combined vigour and order of our political constitution. And +so, if we took an equal interest in the affairs of our divine +commonwealth, our Christian church, and endeavoured as eagerly to +promote every thing which tended to its welfare, and to put down +and prevent every thing which might work it mischief, then the +efforts of the clergy to advance Christ's kingdom would be +incalculably aided, while there would then be no danger of our +investing them with the duties and responsibilities which belong +properly to the whole church; they could not then have dominion +over our faith, nor by possibility become lords over God's +heritage, but would be truly ensamples to the flock, the helpers of +our joy, the glory of Christ.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="LECTURE_XXXIX."></a>LECTURE XXXIX.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>COLOSSIANS iii. 17.</center> +<br> +<center><i>Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of +the Lord<br> +Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him</i>.</center> +<br> +<p>This, like the other general rules of the gospel, is familiar +enough to us all in its own words; but we are very apt to forbear +making the application of it. In fact, he who were to apply it +perfectly would be a perfect Christian: for a life of which every +word and deed were said and done in the name of the Lord Jesus, +would be a life indeed worthy of the children of God, and such as +they lead in heaven; it would leave no room for sin to enter. The +art of our enemy has been therefore to make us leave this command +of the apostle's in its general sense, and avoid exploring, so to +speak, all the wisdom contained within it. Certain actions of our +lives, our religious services, the more solemn transactions in +which we are engaged, we are willing to do in Christ's name; but +that multitude of common words and ordinary actions by which more +than sixty-nine out of our seventy years are filled, we take away +from our Lord's dominion, under the foolish, and hypocritical +pretence that they are too trifling and too familiar to be mixed up +with the thought of things so solemn.</p> +<p>This is one fault, and by far the most common. We make Christ's +service the business only of a very small portion of our lives; we +hallow only a very small part of our words and actions by doing +them in his name. Unlike our Lord's own parable, where he compares +Christianity to leaven hidden in the three measures of meal till +the whole was leavened, the practice rather has been to keep the +leaven confined to one little corner of the mass of meal; to take +care that it should not spread so as to leaven the whole mass; to +keep our hearts still in the state of the world when Christ visited +it--"the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended +it not;" that is, it did not take the light into itself so as to be +wholly enlightened: the light shone, and there was a bright space +immediately around it; but beyond there was a blackness of darkness +into which it vainly strove to penetrate.</p> +<p>On the other hand there has been, though, more rarely, a fault +of the opposite sort. Men have said that they were in all their +actions of ordinary life doing Christ's will, that they endeavoured +always to be promoting some good object; and that the peculiar +services of religion, as they are called, were useless, inasmuch as +in spirit they are worshipping God always. This is a great error; +because, as a matter of fact, it is false. We may safely say that +no man ever did keep his heart right with God in his ordinary life, +that no one ever became one with Christ, and Christ with him, +without seeking Christ where he reveals himself, it may not be more +really, but to our weakness far more sensibly, than in the common +business of daily life. We may be happy if we can find Christ +there, after we have long sought him and found him in the way of +his own ordinances, in prayer, and in his holy communion. Even +Christ himself, when on earth, though his whole day was undeniably +spent in doing the will of his heavenly father,--although to him +doubtless God was ever present in the commonest acts no less than +in the most solemn,--yet even he, after a day spent in all good +works, desired a yet more direct intercourse with God, and was +accustomed to spend a large portion of the night in retirement and +prayer.</p> +<p>Without this, indeed, we shall most certainly not say and do all +in the name of the Lord Jesus; much more shall we be in danger of +forgetting him altogether. But supposing that we are not neglectful +of our religious duties, in the common sense of the term, that we +do pray and read the Scriptures, and partake of Christ's communion, +yet it will often happen that we do not connect our prayers, nor +our reading, nor our communion, with many of the common portions of +our lives; that there are certain things in which we take great +interest, which, notwithstanding, we leave, as it were, wholly +without the range of the light of Christ's Spirit. There is a story +told that, in times and countries where there prevailed the deepest +ignorance, some who came to be baptized into the faith of Christ, +converted from their heathen state, not in reality but only in +name, were accustomed to leave their right arm unbaptized, with the +notion that this arm, not being pledged to Christ's service, might +wreak upon their enemies those works of hatred and revenge which in +baptism they had promised to renounce. It is too much to say that +something like this unbaptized right arm is still to be met with +amongst us--that men too often leave some of their very most +important concerns, what they call by way of eminence their +business--their management of their own money affairs, and their +conduct in public matters--wholly out of the control of Christ's +law?</p> +<p>Now at this very time public matters are engaging the thoughts +of a great many persons all over the kingdom: and are not only +engaging their thoughts, but are also become a practical matter, in +which they are acting with great earnestness. Is it nothing that +there should be so much, interest felt, so much pains taken, and +yet that neither should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, nor +to the glory of God? It cannot be unsuited to the present season to +dwell a little on this subject, which has nothing whatever to do +with men's differences of opinion, but relates only to their +acting, whatever be their political opinions, on Christian +principles, and in a Christian spirit.</p> +<p>First, consider what we pray for in the prayer which we have +been using every week for the high court of parliament: we pray to +God, that "all things may be so ordered and settled by the +endeavours of parliament, upon the best and surest foundations, +that peace and happiness, truth, and justice, religion and piety, +may be established among us for all generations." These great +blessings we beg of God to secure to us and to our children through +the endeavours of parliament; if, therefore, we are any ways +concerned in fixing who the persons are to be who are to compose +this parliament, it is plain that there is put into our bands a +high privilege, if you will; but along with it, as with all other +privileges, a most solemn responsibility.</p> +<p>But, if it be a solemn responsibility in the sight of God and of +Christ, surely the act of voting, which many think so lightly of, +and which many more consider a thing wholly political and worldly, +becomes, indeed, a very important Christian duty, not to be +discharged hastily or selfishly, in blind prejudice or passion, +from self-interest, or in mere careless good nature and respect of +persons; but deliberately, seriously, calmly, and, so far as we can +judge our deceitful hearts, purely; not without prayer to Him who +giveth wisdom liberally to those that ask it, that he will be +pleased to guide them aright, to his own glory, and to the good of +his people.</p> +<p>Do I say that if we were to approach this duty in this spirit, +and with such prayers, we should all agree in the same opinion, and +all think the same of the same men? No, by no means; we might still +greatly differ; but we should, at least, have reason to respect one +another, and to be in charity with one another; and if we all +earnestly desired and prayed to be directed to God's glory, and the +public good, God, I doubt not, would give us all those ends which +we so purely desired, although in our estimate of the earthly means +and instruments by which they were to be gained, we had honestly +differed from one another.</p> +<p>Now, supposing that we had this conviction, that what we were +going to do concerned the glory of God and the good of his people, +and that we approached it therefore seriously as a Christian duty, +yet it may be well that many men might feel themselves deficient in +knowledge; they might not understand the great questions at issue; +they might honestly doubt how they could best fulfil the trust +committed to them. I know that the most ignorant man will feel no +such hesitation if he is going to give his vote from fancy, or from +prejudice, or from interest; these are motives which determine our +conduct quickly and decisively. But if we regard our vote as a +talent for which we must answer before God that we may well be +embarrassed by a consciousness of ignorance; we may well be anxious +to get some guidance from others, if we cannot find it in +ourselves. Here, then, is the place for authority,--for relying, +that is, on the judgment of others, when we feel that we cannot +judge for ourselves. But is their no room for the exercise of much +good sense and fairness in ourselves as to the choice of the person +by whose judgment we mean to be guided? Are we so little accustomed +to estimate our neighbours' characters rightly, as to be unable to +determine whom we may consult with advantage? Surely if their be +any one whom we have proved, in the affairs of common life, to be +at once honest and sensible, to such an one we should apply when we +are at a loss as to public matters. If there is such an one amongst +our own relations or personal friends, we should go to him in +preference: if not, we can surely find one such amongst our +neighbours: and here the authority of such of our neighbours as +have a direct connexion with us, if we have had reason to respect +their judgment and their principles, may be properly preferred to +that of indifferent persons; the authority of a master, or an +employer, or of our minister, or of our landlord, may and ought, +under such circumstances, to have a great and decisive influence +over us.</p> +<p>On the other hand, supposing again that we have this strong +sense of the great responsibility in the sight of God of every man +who has the privilege of a vote, we shall be exceedingly careful +not to tempt him to sin by fulfilling this duty ill. Nothing can be +more natural or more proper than that those who have strong +impressions themselves as to the line to be followed in public +matters, should be desirous of persuading others to think as they +do; every man who loves truth and righteousness must wish that what +he himself earnestly believes to be true and righteous, should be +loved by others also; but the highest truth, if professed by one +who believes it not in his heart, is to him a lie, and he sins +greatly by professing it. Let us try as much as we will to convince +our neighbours; but let us beware of influencing their conduct, +when we fail in influencing their convictions: he who bribes or +frightens his neighbour into doing an act which no good man would +do for reward or from fear, is tempting his neighbour to sin; he is +assisting to lower and to harden his conscience,--to make him act +for the favour or from the fear of man, instead of for the favour +or from the fear of God; and if this be a sin in him, it is a +double sin in us to tempt him to it. Nor let us deceive ourselves +by talking of the greatness of the stake at issue; that God's glory +and the public good are involved in the result of the contest, and +that therefore we must do all in our power to win it. Let us by all +means do all that we can do without sin; but let us not dare to do +evil that good may come, for that is the part of unbelief; it +becomes those who will not trust God with the government of the +world, but would fain guide its course themselves. Here, indeed, +our Lord's command does apply to us, that we be not anxious; "Which +of you by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?" How +little can we see of the course of Providence! how little can we be +sure that what we judged for the best in public affairs may not +lead to mischief! But these things are in God's hand; our business +is to keep ourselves and our neighbours from sin, and not to do or +encourage in others any thing that is evil, however great the +advantages which we may fancy likely to flow from that evil to the +cause even of the highest good.</p> +<p>There is no immediate prospect, indeed, that we in this +particular congregation shall be called upon to practise the duty +of which I have been now speaking; and, indeed, it is for that very +reason that I could dwell on the subject more freely. But what is +going on all around us, what we hear of, read of, and talk of so +much as we are many of us likely to do in the next week or two +about political matters, <i>that</i> we should be accustomed to +look upon as Christians: we should by that standard try our common +views and language about it, and, if it may be, correct them: that +so hereafter, if we be called upon to act, we may act, according to +the Apostle's teaching, in the name of our Lord Jesus. And I am +quite sure if we do so think and so act, although our differences +of opinion might remain just the same, yet the change in ourselves, +and I verily believe in the blessings which God would give us, +would be more than we can well believe; and a general election, +instead of calling forth, as it now does, a host of unchristian +passions and practices, would be rather an exercise of Christian +judgment, and forbearance, and faith, and charity; promoting, +whatever was the mere political result, the glory of God, advancing +Christ's kingdom, and the good of this, as it would be then truly +called, Christian nation.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="NOTES."></a>NOTES.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE A. P. 5.</p> +<p>"<i>But our path is not backwards but onwards</i>"--This thought +is expressed very beautifully in lines as wise and true as they are +poetical:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">"Grieve not for these: nor dare lament</p> +<p class="i5">That thus from childhood's thoughts we roam:</p> +<p class="i4">Not backward are our glances bent,</p> +<p class="i5">But forward to our Father's home.</p> +<p class="i4">Eternal growth has no such fears,</p> +<p class="i5">But freshening still with seasons past,</p> +<p class="i4">The old man clogs its earlier years,</p> +<p class="i5">And simple childhood comes the last."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i5"><i>Burbridge's Poems</i>, p. 309.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE B. P. 102.</p> +<p>"<i>Some may know the story of that German nobleman</i>," +&c.--The Baron von Canitz. He lived in the latter half of the +seventeenth century, and was engaged in the service of the electors +of Brandenburg, both of the great elector and his successor. He was +the author of several hymns, one of which is of remarkable beauty, +as may be seen in the following translation, for the greatest part +of which I am indebted to the kindness of a friend: but the +language of the original, in several places, cannot be adequately +translated in English.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">Come, my soul, thou must be waking--</p> +<p class="i4">Now is breaking</p> +<p class="i5">O'er the earth another day.</p> +<p class="i4">Come to Him who made this splendour</p> +<p class="i4">See thou render</p> +<p class="i5">All thy feeble powers can pay.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">From the stars thy course be learning:</p> +<p class="i4">Dimly burning</p> +<p class="i5">'Neath the sun their light grows pale:</p> +<p class="i4">So let all that sense delighted</p> +<p class="i4">While benighted</p> +<p class="i5">From God's presence fade and fail.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">Lo! how all of breath partaking,</p> +<p class="i4">Gladly waking,</p> +<p class="i5">Hail the sun's enlivening light!</p> +<p class="i4">Plants, whose life mere sap doth nourish,</p> +<p class="i4">Rise and flourish,</p> +<p class="i5">When he breaks the shades of night.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">Thou too hail the light returning,--</p> +<p class="i4">Ready burning</p> +<p class="i5">Be the incense of thy powers;--</p> +<p class="i4">For the night is safely ended:</p> +<p class="i4">God hath tended</p> +<p class="i5">With His care thy helpless hours.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">Pray that He may prosper ever</p> +<p class="i4">Each endeavour</p> +<p class="i5">When thine aim is good and true;</p> +<p class="i4">But that He may ever thwart thee,</p> +<p class="i4">And convert thee,</p> +<p class="i5">When thou evil wouldst pursue.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">Think that He thy ways beholdeth--</p> +<p class="i4">He unfoldeth</p> +<p class="i5">Every fault that lurks within;</p> +<p class="i4">Every stain of shame gloss'd over</p> +<p class="i4">Can discover,</p> +<p class="i5">And discern each deed of sin.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">Fetter'd to the fleeting hours,</p> +<p class="i4">All our powers,</p> +<p class="i5">Vain and brief, are borne away;</p> +<p class="i4">Time, my soul, thy ship is steering,</p> +<p class="i4">Onward veering,</p> +<p class="i5">To the gulph of death a prey.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">May'st thou then on life's last morrow,</p> +<p class="i4">Free from sorrow,</p> +<p class="i5">Pass away in slumber sweet;</p> +<p class="i4">And released from death's dark sadness,</p> +<p class="i4">Rise in gladness,</p> +<p class="i5">That far brighter Sun to greet.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">Only God's free gifts abuse not,</p> +<p class="i4">His light refuse not,</p> +<p class="i5">But still His Spirit's voice obey;</p> +<p class="i4">Soon shall joy thy brow be wreathing,</p> +<p class="i4">Splendour breathing</p> +<p class="i5">Fairer than the fairest day.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">If aught of care this morn oppress thee,</p> +<p class="i4">To Him address thee,</p> +<p class="i5">Who, like the sun, is good to all:</p> +<p class="i4">He gilds the mountain tops, the while</p> +<p class="i4">His gracious smile</p> +<p class="i5">Will on the humblest valley fall.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">Round the gifts His bounty show'rs,</p> +<p class="i4">Walls and tow'rs</p> +<p class="i5">Girt with flames thy God shall rear:</p> +<p class="i4">Angel legions to defend thee</p> +<p class="i4">Shall attend thee,</p> +<p class="i5">Hosts whom Satan's self shall fear.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE C. P. 122.</p> +<p>"<i>But, once admit a single exception, and the infallible +virtue of the rule ceases</i>."--Thus the famous Canon of +Vincentius Lirinensis is like tradition itself, always either +superfluous or insufficient. Taken literally, it is true and +worthless;--because what <i>all</i> have asserted, <i>always</i>, +and in <i>all places</i>, supposing of course that the means of +judging were in their power, may be assumed to be some indisputable +axiom, such as never will be disputed any more than it has been +disputed hitherto. But take it with any allowance, and then it is +of no use in settling a question: for what <i>most</i> men have +asserted, <i>most commonly</i>, and in <i>most places</i>, has a +certain <i>à priori</i> probability, it is true, but by no +means such as may not be outweighed by probabilities on the other +side; for the extreme improbability consists not in the prevalence +of error amongst millions, or for centuries, or over whole +continents,--but in its being absolutely universal, so universal, +that truth could not find a single witness at any time or in any +country. But the single witness is enough to "justify the ways of +God," and reduces what otherwise would have been a monstrous +triumph of evil to the character of a severe trial of our faith, +severe indeed as the trials of an evil world will be, but no more +than a trial such as, with God's grace, may be overcome.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE D. P. 189.</p> +<p><i>"It was an admirable definition of that which excites +laughter,"</i> &c.--[Greek: To geloion apurtaepa ti chai +aiochos auodnnoy chai on phthartichon oion enthus to geloion +prosopon aischron ti chai dieotruppenon anen +odunaes]--<i>Aristotle, Poetic,</i> ii.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE E. P. 245.</p> +<p>"<i>I would endeavour just to touch upon some of the purposes +for which the Scripture tells us that Christ died</i>."--The +Collects for Easter Sunday and the Sundays just before it and after +it, illustrate the enumeration here given. The Collect for the +Sunday next before Easter speaks of Christ's death only as an +"example of his great humility." The Collect for Easter-day speaks +of the resurrection, and connects it with our spiritual +resurrection, as does also the Collect for the first Sunday after +Easter. But the collect for the Second Sunday after Easter speaks +of Christ as being at once our sacrifice for sin and our example of +godly life,--a sacrifice to be regarded with entire thankfulness, +and an example to be daily followed.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE F. P. 282.</p> +<p>"<i>Such also was to be the state of the Christian Church after +our Lord's ascension</i>."--And therefore, as I think, St. Peter +applies to the Christians of Asia Minor the very terms applied to +the Jews living in Assyria or in Egypt; he addresses them as +[Greek: parepidaemois diasporas], (1 Peter i. 1,) that is, as +strangers and sojourners, scattered up and down in a country that +was not properly their own, and living in a sort of banishment from +their true home. That the words are not addressed to Jewish +Christians, and therefore are not to be understood in their simple +historical sense, seems evident from the second chapter of the +Epistle, verses 9, 10, and iv. 2,3.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE G. P. 315.</p> +<p>"<i>Not only an outward miracle, but the changed circumstances +of the times may speak God's will no less clearly than a +miracle</i>," &c.--What I have here said does not at all go +beyond what has been said on the same subject by Hooker: "Laws, +though both ordained of God himself, and the end for which they +were ordained continuing, may, notwithstanding, cease, if by +alteration of persons or times they be found insufficient to attain +unto that end. In which respect why may we not presume that God +doth even call for such change or alteration as the very condition +of things themselves doth make necessary?... In this case, +therefore, men do not presume to change God's ordinance, but they +yield thereunto, requiring itself to be +changed."--<i>Ecclesiastical Polity</i>, b. iii. § 10.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE H. P. 320.</p> +<p><i>"Nor is it less strange that any should ever have been afraid +of their understandings, and should have sought goodness through +prejudice, and blindness, and folly</i>."--For some time past the +words "Rationalism" and "Rationalistic" have been freely used as +terms of reproach by writers on religious subjects; the 73d No. of +the "Tracts for the Times" is entitled, "On the introduction of +Rationalistic Principles into Religion," and a whole chapter in Mr. +Gladstone's late work on Church Principles is headed "Rationalism." +Yet we still want a clear definition of the thing signified by this +name. The Tract for the Times says, "To rationalize, is to ask for +<i>reasons</i> out of place; to ask improperly how we are to +<i>account</i> for certain things; to be unwilling to believe them +unless they can be accounted for, i.e. referred to something else +as a cause, to some existing system, as harmonizing with them, or +taking them up into itself.... It is characterised by two +peculiarities;--its love of systematizing, and its basing its +system upon personal experience, on the evidence of sense."--P. 2. +Mr. Gladstone says more generally, "Rationalism is commonly, at +least in this country, taken to be the reduction of Christian +<i>doctrine</i> to the standard and measure of the human +understanding."--P. 37. But neither of these definitions will +include all the arguments and statements which have been called by +various writers "rationalistic;" and while the terms used are thus +vague, they are often applied very indiscriminately, and the +tendency of this use of them is to depreciate the exercise of the +intellectual faculties generally. The subject seems to deserve +fuller consideration than it has yet received; there is a real evil +which the term Rationalism is meant to denounce; but it has not +been clearly apprehended, and what is good has sometimes been +confounded with it, and denounced under the same name.</p> +<p>I cannot pretend to discuss the subject fully in a mere note, +even if I were otherwise competent to do it. But one or two points +may be noticed, as likely to assist the inquiry, wherever it is +worthily entered on.</p> +<p>1st. It is important to bear in mind the distinction which +Coleridge enforces so earnestly between the understanding and the +reason. I do not know whether Mr. Gladstone, in the passage quoted +above, uses the word "understanding" as synonymous with reason, or +in that stricter sense in which Coleridge employs it. But the +writer of the Tract seems to allude to the stricter sense, when he +calls it a characteristic of rationalism "to base its system upon +personal experience, on the evidence of sense." If this be the +case, then it would seem that rationalism is the appealing to the +decision of the understanding in points where the decision properly +belongs not to the understanding, but to the reason. This is a +great fault, and one to which all persons who belong to the +sensualist school in philosophy, as opposed to the idealist school, +would be more or less addicted. But then, this fault consists not +in an over-estimating of man's intellectual nature generally, but +in the exalting one part of it unduly, to the injury of another +part; in deferring to the understanding, rather than to the +reason.</p> +<p>2d. Faith and reason are often invidiously contrasted with each +other, as if they were commonly described in Scripture as +antagonists; whereas faith is more properly opposed to sight, or to +lust, being, in fact, a very high exercise of the pure reason; +inasmuch as we believe truths which our senses do not teach us, and +which our passions would have us, therefore, reject, because those +truths are taught by Him in whom reason recognises its own author, +and the infallible source of all truth.</p> +<p>3d. It were better to oppose reason to passion than to faith; +for it may be safely said, that he who neglects his reason, so far +as he does neglect it, does not lead a life of faith afterwards, +but a life of passion. He does not draw nearer to God, but to the +brutes, or rather to the devils; for his passions cannot be the +mere instinctive appetites of the brute, but derive from the wreck +of his intellectual powers, which he cannot utterly destroy, just +so much of a higher nature that they are sins, and not instincts, +belonging to the malignity of diabolic nature, rather than to the +mere negative evil of the nature of brutes.</p> +<p>4th. Faith may be described as reason leaning upon God. Without +God, reason is either overpowered by sense and understanding, and, +in a manner, overgrown, so that it cannot comprehend its proper +truths; or, being infinite, it cannot discover all the truths which +concern it, and therefore needs a farther revelation to enlighten +it. But with God's grace strengthening it to assert its supremacy +over sense and understanding, and communicating to it what of +itself it could not have discovered, it then having gained strength +and light not its own, and doing and seeing consciously by God's +help, becomes properly faith.</p> +<p>5th. Faith without reason, is not properly faith, but mere power +worship; and power worship may be devil worship; for it is reason +which entertains the idea of God--an idea essentially made up of +truth and goodness, no less than of power. A sign of power +exhibited to the senses might, through them, dispose the whole man +to acknowledge it as divine; yet power in itself is not divine, it +may be devilish. But when reason recognises that, along with this +power, there exist also wisdom and goodness, then it perceives that +here is God; and the worship which, without reason, might have been +idolatry, being now according to reason is faith.</p> +<p>6th. If this were considered, men would be more careful of +speaking disparagingly of reason, seeing that it is the necessary +condition of the existence of faith. It is quite true, that when we +have attained to faith, it supersedes reason; we walk by sunlight, +rather than by moonlight; following the guidance of infinite +reason, instead of finite. But how are we to attain to faith? in +other words, how can we distinguish God's voice from the voice of +evil? for we must distinguish it to be God's voice before we can +have faith in it. We distinguish it, and can distinguish it no +otherwise, by comparing it with that idea of God which reason +intuitively enjoins, the gift of reason being God's original +revelation of himself to man. Now, if the voice which comes to us +from the unseen world agree not with this idea, we have no choice +but to pronounce it not to be God's voice; for no signs of power, +in confirmation of it, can alone prove it to be God. God is not +power only, but power, and truth, and holiness; and the existence +of even infinite power, does not necessarily involve in it truth +and holiness also; else the notion of the world being governed by +an evil being would be no more than a contradiction in terms; and +the horrible strife of the two principles of Manicheism would be a +mere matter of indifference; for if power alone constitutes God, +whichever principle triumphed over the other, would become God by +the very fact of its victory; and thus triumphant evil would be +good.</p> +<p>7th. Reason, then, is the mean whereby we attain to faith, and +escape the devil worship of idolatry; but the understanding is not +a necessary condition of faith, and very often impedes it; for the +understanding having for its basis the reports of sense and +experience, has no direct way of arriving at things invisible, and +rather shrinks back from that world with which it is in no way +familiar. It has a work to do in regard to revelation, and an +important work; but divine things not being its proper matter, its +work concerning them must be subordinate, and its tendency is +always to fall back from the invisible to the visible,--from +matters of faith to matters of experience. Its work, with respect +to revelation, is this--that it should inquire into the truth of +the outward signs of it; which outward signs being necessarily +things visible and sensible, fall within its province of judgment. +Thus understanding judges the external witnesses of a revelation: +if miracles be alleged, it is the business of understanding to +ascertain the fact of their occurrence; if a book claim to be the +record of a revelation, it belongs to the understanding to make out +the origin of this book, the time when it was written, who were its +authors, and what is the first and grammatical meaning of its +language. Or, again, if any men profess to be the depositaries of +divine truth, by an extraordinary commission from God, the +understanding, being familiar with man's nature and motives, can +judge of their credibility--can see whether there are any marks of +folly in them, or of dishonesty, or whether they are at once +sensible and honest. And in all such matters, the prerogative of +the understanding to judge is not to be questioned; for all such +points are strictly within its dominion; and our Lord's words are +of universal application, that we should render to Cæsar the +things which are Cæsar's, no less than we should render to +God the things that are God's.</p> +<p>Faith may exist, as I said, without the action of the +understanding, but never without that of the reason. It may exist +independent of the understanding, because faith in God is the +natural result of the idea of God: and that idea belongs to the +reason, and the understanding is not concerned with it. But when a +special revelation has been given us, through human instruments; +when the understanding is called in to certify the particular fact, +that in such and such particular persons, writings, or events, God +has made himself manifest in an extraordinary manner; it is the +human instrumentality which requires the judgment of the +understanding; the bringing in of human characters, and sensible +facts, which are matters of sense and experience; and, therefore, +it is mere ignorance when Christians speak slightingly of the +outward and historical evidences of Christianity, and indulge in +very misplaced contempt for Paley and others who have worked out +the historical proof of it. Such persons may observe, if they will, +that where the historical evidence has not been listened to, there +a belief in Christianity, properly so called, is wanting. Living +examples might, I think, be named of men whose reason entirely +acknowledges the internal proofs of a divine origin which are +contained in the Christian doctrines, but whose understandings are +not satisfied as to the facts of the Christian history, and +particularly as to the fact of our Lord's resurrection. Such men +are a remarkable contrast to those whose understandings are fully +satisfied of the historical truth of our Lord's resurrection, but +who are indifferent to, or actually deny, those doctrinal truths of +which another power than the understanding must be the warrant. It +is important to observe, therefore, that in a revelation involving, +as an essential part of it, certain historical facts, there is +necessarily a call for the judgment of the understanding, although +in religious faith simply the understanding may have no place.</p> +<p>8th. Now, then, the clearest notion which can be given of +rationalism would, I think, be this: that it is the abuse of the +understanding in subjects where the divine and the human, so to +speak, are intermingled. Of human things the understanding can +judge, of divine things it cannot;--and thus, where the two are +mixed together, its inability to judge of the one part makes it +derange the proportions of both, and the judgment of the whole is +vitiated. For example, the understanding examines a miraculous +history; it judges truly of what I may call the human part of the +case; that is to say, of the rarity of miracles,--of the +fallibility of human testimony,--of the proneness of most minds to +exaggeration,--and of the critical arguments affecting the +genuineness or the date of the narrative itself. But it forgets the +divine part, namely, the power and providence of God, that He is +really ever present amongst us, and that the spiritual world, which +exists invisibly all around us, may conceivably, and by no means +impossibly, exist, at some times and to some persons, even visibly. +These considerations, which the understanding is ignorant of, would +often modify our judgment as to the human parts of the case. Things +not impossible in themselves are believed upon sufficient +testimony; and with all the carelessness and exaggeration of +historians, the mass of history is notwithstanding generally +credible. Again, with regard to the history of the Old Testament, +our judgment of the human part in it requires to be constantly +modified by our consciousness of the divine part, or otherwise it +cannot fail to be rationalistic; that is, it will be the judgment +of the understanding only, unchecked by the reason. Gesenius' +Commentary on Isaiah is rationalistic, for it regards Isaiah merely +as a Jewish writer, zealously attached to the religion of his +country, and lamenting the decay of his nation, and anxiously +looking for its future restoration. No doubt Isaiah was all this, +and therefore Gesenius' Commentary is critically and historically +very valuable; the human part of Isaiah is nowhere better +illustrated; but the divine part of the prophecy of Isaiah is no +less real, and the consciousness of its existence should actually +qualify our feelings and language even with reference to the human +part.</p> +<p>9th. The fault, then, of rationalism appears to me to consist +not so much in what it has as in what it has not. The understanding +has its proper work to do with respect to the Bible, because the +Bible consists of human writings and contains a human history. +Critical and historical inquiries respecting it are, therefore, +perfectly legitimate; it contains matter which is within the +province of the understanding, and the understanding has God's +warrant for doing that work which he appointed it to do; only, let +us remember, that the understanding cannot ascend to things divine; +that for these another faculty is necessary,--reason or faith. If +this faculty be living in us, then there can be no rationalism; and +what is called so is then no other than the voice of Christian +truth. Where a man's writings show that he is keenly alive to the +divine part of Scripture, that he sees God ever in it, and regards +it truly as his word, his judgments of the human part in it are not +likely to be rationalistic; and if his understanding decides +according to its own laws, upon points within its own province, +while his faith duly tempers it, and restrains it from venturing +upon another's dominion, the result will, in all probability, be +such as commonly attends the use of God's manifold gifts in their +just proportions,--it will image, after our imperfect measure, the +holiness of God and the truth of God.</p> +<p>It is very true, and should be acknowledged in the fullest +manner, that for the study of the highest moral and spiritual +questions another faculty than the understanding is wanting; and +that without this faculty the understanding alone cannot arrive at +truth. But it is no less true, that while there is, on the one +side, a faculty higher than the understanding, which is entitled to +pronounce upon its defects; "for he that is spiritual judgeth all +things," ([Greek: auachriuei];) so there is a clamour often raised +against it, not from above, but from below,--the clamour of mere +shallowness and ignorance, and passion. Of this sort is some of the +outcry which is raised against rationalism. Men do not leap, <i>per +saltum mortalem</i>, from ordinary folly to divine wisdom: and the +foolish have no right to think that they are angels, because they +are not humanly wise. There is a deep and universal truth in St. +Paul's words, where he says, that Christians wish "not to be +unclothed but clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up of +life." Wisdom is gained, not by renouncing or despising the +understanding, but by adding to its perfect work the perfect work +of reason, and of reason's perfection, faith.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE I. P. 331.</p> +<p>"<i>A famous example of this may be seen in the sixth chapter of +St. John,"</i> &c.--The interpretation of this chapter, and +particularly of the part alluded to in the text, is of no small +importance; for it is remarkable, that the highest notions with +respect to the presence of our Lord in the Holy Communion are often +grounded upon this passage in St. John's Gospel, which yet, in the +judgment of others, most decisively repels them.</p> +<p>The whole question resolves itself into this--Are our Lord's +words in this place co-ordinate with the Holy Communion, or +subordinate to it? That is, do they and the communion alike point +to some great truth superior to them both: or do our Lord's words, +in St. John, point to the communion itself as their highest +meaning?</p> +<p>The communion itself expresses a truth above itself by a +symbolical action; the words of our Lord, in St. John, are exactly +the same with that symbolic action; it is natural, therefore, to +understand them not as referring to it, but to the same<a name= +"FNanchor14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14">[14]</a> higher truth to +which it refers also: and the more so as the communion is not once +mentioned by St. John either in his Gospel or in his Epistles; but +the idea which the communion expresses appears to have been +familiar to his mind; at least, if we suppose that his mention of +the blood and water flowing from our Lord's side in his Gospel, and +his allusion again to the same fact in his Epistle, have reference +in any degree to it, which seems to me most probable.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_14"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor14">[14]</a> The common tendency to make the Christian +sacraments an ultimate end rather than a mean, is exhibited in the +heading of the tenth chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, +in our authorized version, where we find the first verses described +as stating, that "the Jews' sacraments were types of ours." +Whereas, so far is it from the apostle's argument to represent our +sacraments as the reality of which the Jews' sacraments were the +type, that he is describing theirs and ours as co-ordinate with +each other, and both alike subordinate to the same truth; and he +argues, that if the Jews, with their sacraments, did +notwithstanding lose the reality which those sacraments typified, +so we should take heed lest we, with our sacraments, should lose it +also. The erroneous heading is not given in the Geneva Bible, where +we have, on the contrary, the true observation; "the sacraments of +the old fathers were all one with ours, for they respected Christ +only." It is true that if no more were meant than that "the Jews' +sacraments were like ours," there would be no reason to object to +the expression; but apparently more is meant, as the word type +seems to imply that what it is compared with is the reality, of +which it is itself only the image; and one thing cannot properly be +called the type of another, when both are but types of the same +third thing. But the divines of James the First's reign and of his +son's, were to the reformers exactly what the so-called fathers +were to the apostles: the very same tendencies, growing up even in +Elizabeth's reign, becoming strengthened under the Stuart kings, +and fully developed in the nonjurors, which distinguish the divines +of the seventeenth century from those of the sixteenth, distinguish +also the church system from the gospel. There are many who readily +acknowledge this difference in the English church, while they would +deny it in the case of the ancient church. Indeed, it is not yet +deemed prudent to avow openly that they prefer the so-called +fathers to the apostles, and therefore they try to persuade +themselves that both speak the same language. And doubtless, if the +Scriptures are to be interpreted according to the rule of the +writers of the third, and fourth, and fifth centuries, the thing +can easily be effected; as, by a similar process, the Articles of +the Church of England, if interpreted according to the rule of the +nonjurors and their successors, might be made to speak the very +sentiments which their authors designed to condemn.</blockquote> +<p>Our Lord repels the notion of a literal acceptation of his +words, where he says,--"It is the Spirit which profiteth, the flesh +profiteth nothing; the words which I speak unto you, they are +Spirit and they are life." It seems impossible, therefore, to refer +these words, which he tells us expressly are Spirit and life, to +any outward act of eating and drinking as their highest truth and +object.</p> +<p>But the words in the sixth chapter of St. John do highly +illustrate the institution and purpose of the communion, and +especially the remarkable words which our Lord used in instituting +it. They show what infinite importance he attached to that truth +which he expressed both in symbolical words and action under the +same figure, of eating His body and drinking His blood. But to +suppose that that truth can only be realized by one particular +ritual action, so that the one great work of a Christian is to +receive the Lord's supper,--which it must be, if our Lord's words +in the sixth chapter of St. John refer to the communion,--is so +contrary to the whole character of our Lord's teaching, and not +least so in the very words so misinterpreted, that to maintain such +a doctrine, leading, as it does, to such manifold superstitions, is +actually to preach another Gospel than Christ's--to bring in a +mystical religion instead of a spiritual one,--to do worse than to +Judaize.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p>NOTE K. P. 345.</p> +<p><i>"A set of persons, who wish to magnify the uncertainties of +the Scripture in order to recommend more plausibly the guidance of +some supposed authoritative interpreter of it."</i>--"The high +church party," we have been lately told, "take Holy Scripture for +their guide, and, in the interpretation of it, defer to the +authority of primitive antiquity: the low church party contend for +the sufficiency of private judgment." It is become of the greatest +importance to see clearly, not what one party, or another, may +contend for, but what is the real truth, and what, accordingly, is +the duty of every Christian man to do in this matter. The sermon to +which this note refers, is an attempt to show that Scripture is not +hopelessly obscure or ambiguous; but it may not be inexpedient here +to consider a little, what are the objections to the principle of +the high church party; to clear away certain difficulties which are +supposed to beset the opposite principle; and to state, if +possible, what the truth of the whole question is.</p> +<p>I. The objections to the principle of the high church party are +these: 1st. Its extreme vagueness. What is primitive antiquity? and +where is its authority to be found? Does "primitive antiquity" mean +the first three centuries? or the first two? or the first five? or +the first seven? Does it include any of the general councils? or +one of them? or four? or six? Are Irenæus and Tertullian the +latest writers of "primitive antiquity?" or does it end with +Augustine? or does it comprehend the venerable Bede? One writer has +lately told us, that our Reformers wished the people to be taught, +"that, for almost seven hundred years, the church was most pure." +Are we, then, to hold that "primitive antiquity" embraces a period +of nearly seven centuries? Seven centuries are considerably more +than a third part of the whole duration of the church, from its +foundation to this hour: can the third part of a nation's history +be called its primitive antiquity? Is a tenet, or a practice taught +when Christianity had been more than six hundred years in the +world, to be called primitive? We know not, then, in the first +place, what length of time is signified by "primitive +antiquity."</p> +<p>But let it signify any length of time we choose, I ask, next, +where is its authority to be found? In the decisions of the general +councils? But if we call the first four centuries "primitive +antiquity," we find in this period only two general councils; if we +include the fifth century, we get four; if we take in the sixth and +seventh centuries, we have then, in all, six general councils. Will +the decisions of any, or all, of these six councils furnish us with +an authoritative interpretation of Scripture? They give us the +Nicene and the Constantinopolitan creeds; they condemn various +notions with respect to the person of our Lord, and to some other +points of belief; and they contain a variety of regulations for the +discipline and order of the church; but, with the exception of some +particular passages, there is no authority in the creeds, or +canons, or anathemas of those councils, for the interpretation of +Scripture; they leave its difficulties just where they were before. +It is but little then, which the first six general councils will do +towards providing the student of Scripture with an infallible +standard of interpretation.</p> +<p>Where, however, except in the councils, can we find any thing +claiming to be the voice of the church? Neither individual writers, +nor yet all the writers of the first seven centuries together, can +properly be called the church. They form, even altogether, but a +limited number of individuals, who, in different countries, and at +different periods, expressed, in writing, their own sentiments, but +without any public authority. Origen, one of the ablest and most +learned of them all, was anathematized by the second council of +Constantinople; Tertullian was heretical during a part of his life; +Lactantius was taxed with heterodoxy. How are we to know who were +sound? And if sound generally, that is to say, if they stand +charged with no heretical error, yet it does not follow that a man +is infallible because he is not heretical; and none of these +writers have been distinguished like the five great Roman lawyers +whom the edict of Theodosius<a name="FNanchor15"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_15">[15]</a> selected from the mass, and gave to their +decisions a legal authority. Or again, if it be said that the +agreement of the great majority of them is to be regarded as +decisive, we answer, that as no individual amongst them is in +himself an authority legally, so neither can any number of them be +so; and if a moral authority only be meant, such as we naturally +ascribe to the concurring judgment of many eminent men, then this +is a totally different question, and is open to inquiry in every +separate case; for as, on the one hand, no one denies that such a +concurring judgment is <i>an</i> authority, yet, on the other hand, +it may be outweighed, either by the worth of the few who differ +from the judgment, or by the reason of the case itself; and the +concurring judgment of the majority may show no more than the force +of a general prejudice, which only a very few individuals were +sensible enough to resist.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_15"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor15">[15]</a> Cod. Theodos. lib. i. tit. iv. The edict is +issued in the name of the emperors Theodosius (the younger) and +Valentinian (the younger), in the year A.D. 426.</blockquote> +<p>In fact, it would greatly help to clear this question if we +understand what we mean by allowing, or denying, the authority of +the so-called fathers. The term <i>authority</i> is ambiguous, and +according to the sense in which I use it, I should either +acknowledge it or deny it.--The writers of the first four, or of +the first seven centuries, have <i>an</i> authority, just as the +scholiasts and ancient commentators have: some of them, and in some +points, are of weight singly; the agreement of many of thorn has +much weight; the agreement of almost all of them would have great +weight. In this sense, I acknowledge their authority; and it would +be against all sound principles of criticism to deny it. But if, by +authority, is meant a <i>decisive</i> authority, a judgment which +may not be questioned, then the claim of authority in such a case, +for any man, or set of men, is either a folly or a revelation. Such +an authority is not human, but divine: if any man pretends to +possess it, let him show God's clear warrant for his pretension, or +he must be regarded as a deceiver or a madman.</p> +<p>But it may be said, that an authority not to be questioned was +conferred, by the Roman law, on the opinions of a certain number of +great lawyers: if a judge believed that their interpretation of the +law was erroneous, he yet was not at liberty to follow his own +private judgment in departing from it. Why may not the same thing +be allowed in the church? and why may not the interpretations of +Cyprian, or Athanasius, or Augustine, or Chrysostom, be as +decisive, with respect to the true sense of the Scripture, as those +of Gaius, Paulus, Modestinus, Ulpian, and Papinian, were +acknowledged to be with respect to the sense of the Roman law?</p> +<p>The answer is, that the emperor's edict could absolve the judge +from following his own convictions about the sense of the law, +because it gave to the authorized interpretation the force of law. +The text, as the judge interpreted it, was a law repealed; the +comment of the great lawyers was now the law in its room. As a mere +literary composition, he might interpret it rightly, and Gaius, or +Papinian, might be wrong; but if his interpretation was ever so +right grammatically or critically, yet, legally it was nothing to +the purpose;--Gaius's interpretation had superseded it, and was not +the law which he was bound to obey. But, in the church, the only +point to be aimed at is the discovery of the true meaning of the +text of the divine law: no human power can invest the comment with +equal authority. The emperor said, and might say to his judges, +"You need not consider what was the meaning of the decemvirs, when +they wrote the twelve tables, or, of Aquillius, when he drew up the +Aquillian law. The law for you is not what the decemvirs may have +meant, but what their interpreters may have meant: the decemvirs' +meaning, if it was their meaning, is no longer the law of Rome." +But who can dare to say to a Christian, "You need not consider what +was the meaning of our Lord and his apostles; the law for you now +is the meaning of Cyprian, or Ambrose, or Chrysostom;--that meaning +has superseded the meaning of Christ." A Christian must find out +Christ's meaning, and believe that he has found it, or else he must +still seek for it. It is a matter, not of outward submission, but +of inward faith; and if in our inward mind we are persuaded that +the interpreter has mistaken our Lord's meaning, how can we by +possibility adopt that interpretation in faith?</p> +<p>Here we come to a grave consideration--that this doctrine of an +infallible rule of interpretation may suit ignorance or scepticism: +it is death to a sincere and reasonable and earnest faith. It is +not hard for a sceptical mind to deceive itself by saying, that it +receives whatever the church declares to be true: it may receive +any number of doctrines, but it will not really believe them. We +may restrain our tongues from disputing them, we may watch every +restless thought that would question them, and instantly, by main +force, as it were, put it down; but all this time our minds do not +assimilate to them; they do not take them up into their own nature, +so as to make them a part of themselves, freshening and supplying +the life-blood of their very being. Truth must be believed by the +mind's own act; our souls must be drawn towards it with a +reasonable love; some affinity there must be between it and them, +or else they can never really comprehend it. The sceptic may +desperately become a fanatic also, but he is not become, therefore, +a believer.</p> +<p>Authority cannot compel belief; the sceptic who knows not what +it is to grasp anything with the firm grasp of faith, may mistake +his acquiescence in a doctrine for belief in it; the ignorant and +careless, who believe only what their senses tell them, may lay up +the words of divine truth in their memory, may repeat them loudly, +and be vehement against all who question them. But minds to which +faith is a necessity, which cannot be contented to stand by the +side of truth, but must become altogether one with it,--minds which +know full well the difference between opinion and conviction, +between not questioning and believing,--they, when their own action +is superseded by an authority foreign to themselves, are in a +condition which they find intolerable. Told to believe what they +cannot believe; told that they ought not to believe what they feel +most disposed to believe; they retire altogether from the region of +divine truth, as from a spot tainted with moral death, and devote +themselves to other subjects: to physical science, it may be, or to +political; where the inherent craving of their nature may yet be +gratified, where, however insignificant the truth may be, they may +yet find some truth to believe. This has been the condition of too +many great men in the church of Rome; and it accounts for that +bitterness of feeling with which Machiavelli, and others like him, +appear to have regarded the whole subject of Christianity.</p> +<p>The system, then, of deferring to the authority of what is +called the ancient church in the interpretation of Scripture, is +impracticable, inasmuch as, with regard to the greatest part of the +Scripture, the church, properly speaking, has said nothing at all; +and if it were practicable, it would be untenable, because neither +the old councils, nor individual writers, could give any sign that +they had a divine gift of interpretation; and if such a gift had +been given to them, it would have been equivalent to a new +revelation, the sense of the comment being thus preferred to what +we could not but believe to be the sense of the text. Above all, +the system is destructive of faith, having a tendency to substitute +passive acquiescence for real conviction; and therefore I should +not say that the excess of it was popery, but that it had once and +actually those characters of evil which we sometimes express by the +term popery, but which may be better signified by the term +idolatry; a reverence for that which ought not to be reverenced, +leading to a want of faith in that which is really deserving of all +adoration and love.</p> +<p>II. But it is said that the system of relying on private +judgment is beset by no less evils: that it is itself inconsistent, +and leads to Socinianism and Rationalism, and, in the end, to utter +unbelief; so that, the choice being only between two evils, men may +choose the system of church authority as being the less evil of the +two. If this were so, I see not how faith could be attained at all, +or what place would be left for Christian truth. But the system of +the Church of England<a name="FNanchor16"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_16">[16]</a> is, I am persuaded, fully consistent, and +has no tendency either to Socinianism or Rationalism. Let us see +first what that system is.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_16"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor16">[16]</a> Much has been lately written to show that +the Church of England allows the authority of the ancient councils +and writers, and does not allow the right of private judgment. But +it is perfectly clear, from the 21st Article, that it does not +allow the authority of councils; that is to say, it holds that a +council's exposition of doctrine may be false, and that such an +exposition is of no force "unless it may be declared that it be +taken out of Holy Scripture." Who, then, is to declare this? for to +suppose that the declaration of the council itself is meant is +absurd: the answer, I imagine, would be, according to the mind of +the Reformers, "Every particular or national church," and +especially the King as the head of the church. They would not have +allowed private judgment, because they conceived that a private +person had nothing to do but to obey the government; and it was for +the government to determine what the truth of Scripture was. The +Church of England, then, expressly disclaims the authority of +councils, and, in its official instruments, it neither allows nor +condemns private judgment; but the opinions of the Reformers, and +the constitution of the church in the 16th century, were certainly +against private judgment: their authority for the interpretation of +Scripture was undoubtedly the supreme government of the church, +i.e. not the bishops, but the King and parliament. But then this +had respect not to the power of discerning truth, but to the right +of publishing it, which is an wholly different question. That an +individual was not bound <i>in foro conscientiæ</i> to admit +the truth of any interpretation of Scripture which did not approve +itself to his own mind, was no less the judgment of the Church of +England than that if he publicly disputed the interpretation of the +church, he might be punished as unruly and a despiser of +government. But then it should ever be remembered that the church, +with the Reformers, was not the clergy. And now that the right of +publication is conceded by the church, it is quite just to say that +the Church of England allows private judgment; and if that judgment +differ from her own, she condemns not the act of judging at all, +but the having come to a false conclusion.<br> +<br> +It is urged that the act of I Elizabeth, c. 1, allows that to be +heresy which the first four councils determined to be so. This is +true; but it also adjudges to be heresy whatever shall be hereafter +declared to be so by "the high court of parliament, with the assent +of the clergy in their convocation." The Church of England +undoubtedly allowed the decisions of the first four councils, in +matters of doctrine, to be valid, as it allowed the three creeds, +because it decided that they were agreeable to Scripture; but the +binding authority was that of the English Parliament, not of the +councils of Nicæa or Constantinople.<br> +<br> +As to the canon of 1571, which allows preachers to teach nothing as +religious truth but what is agreeable to the Scriptures, +"<i>and</i> which the catholic fathers and ancient bishops have +collected from that very doctrine of Scripture," it will be +observed that it is merely negative, and does not sanction the +teaching of the "catholic fathers and ancient bishops," generally, +or say that men shall teach what they taught; but that they shall +not teach as matter of religious faith, a new deduction from +Scripture of their own making, but such truths as had been actually +deduced from Scripture before, namely, the great articles of the +Christian faith. Farther, the canons of 1571 are of no authority, +not having received the royal assent.--<i>See Strype's Life of +Parker</i>, p. 322, ed. 1711.</blockquote> +<p>It is invidiously described as maintaining "the sufficiency of +private judgment." Now we maintain the sufficiency of private +judgment in interpreting the Scriptures in no other sense than that +in which every sane man maintains its sufficiency, in interpreting +Thucydides or Aristotle; we mean, that, instead of deferring always +to some one interpreter, as an idle boy follows implicitly the +Latin version of his Greek lesson, the true method is to consult +all<a name="FNanchor17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17">[17]</a> +accessible authorities, and to avail ourselves of the assistance of +all. And we contend, that, by this process, as we discover, for the +most part, the true meaning of Thucydides and Aristotle with +undoubted certainty, so we may also discover, not, indeed, in every +particular part or passage, but generally, the true meaning of the +Holy Scriptures with no less certainty.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_17"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor17">[17]</a> Of course no reasonable man can doubt the +importance of studying the early Christian writers, as illustrating +not only the history of their own times, but the New Testament +also. For the Old Testament, indeed, they do little or nothing, and +for the New they are of much less assistance than might have been +expected; but still there is no doubt that they are often +useful.</blockquote> +<p>But if another man maintains that a different meaning is the +true one, how are we to silence him, and how are we justified in +calling him a heretic? If by the term heretic we are to imply moral +guilt, I am not justified in applying it to any Christian, unless +his doctrines are positively sinful, or there is something wicked, +either in the way of dishonesty or bitterness, in his manner of +maintaining them. The guilt of any given religious error, in any +particular case, belongs only to the judgment of Him who reads the +heart. But if we mean by heresy "a grave error in matters of the +Christian faith, overthrowing or corrupting some fundamental +article of it," then we are as fully justified in calling a gross +misinterpretation of Scripture "heresy," as we should be justified +in calling a gross misinterpretation of a profane Greek or Latin +author, ignorance, or want of scholarship. There is no infallible +authority in points of grammar and criticism, yet men do speak +confidently, notwithstanding, as to learning and ignorance; Porson +and Herman are known to have understood their business, and a +writer who were to set their decisions at defiance, and to indulge +in mere extravagances of interpretation, would be set down as one +who knew nothing about the matter. So we judge daily in all points +of literature and science; nay, we in the same manner venture to +call some persons mad, and on the strength of our conviction we +deprive them of their property, and shut them up in a madhouse: yet +if madmen wore to insist that they were sane, and that we were mad, +I know not to what infallible authority we could appeal; and, after +all, what are we to do with those who deny that authority to be +infallible? we must then go to another infallible authority to +guarantee the infallibility of the first, and this process will run +on for ever.</p> +<p>But, in truth, there is more in the matter than the being +justified or not justified in calling our neighbour a heretic. The +real point of anxiety, I imagine, with many good and thinking men +is this: whether a reasonable belief can be fairly carried through; +whether the notion of the all-sufficiency of Scripture is not +liable to objections no less than the system of church-authority; +whether, in short, our Christian faith can be consistently +maintained without a mortal leap at some part or other of the +process; nay, whether, in fact, if it were otherwise, our faith +would not seem to stand rather on the wisdom of man than on the +power of God.</p> +<p>I use these words, because these and other such passages of the +Scripture are often quoted as I have now quoted them, and produce a +great effect on those who do not observe that they are quoted +inapplicably; for the question is not between man's wisdom and +God's power, but simply whether we have reason to believe that +God's power has been here manifested; or, rather, to see whether we +cannot give a reason for the faith which is in us, such faith +resting upon God's power and wisdom as manifested in Christ Jesus; +for if no reason can be rendered for our faith, then our minds, so +far as they are concerned, are believing a lie; they are believing +in spite of those laws by which God has determined their nature and +condition.</p> +<p>Yet, however we believe, blindly or reasonably, (for some men, +by God's mercy, are accidentally, as it were, in possession of the +truth, the falsehood of their own minds in holding it not being, it +is to be hoped, imputed to them as a sin;) however we believe, I +never mean to say that our faith is not God's gift, to be sought +for and retained by constant prayer and watchfulness, and to be +forfeited by carelessness or sin. That is no true faith in which +reason does not accord; yet neither can reason alone and without +God ever become perfected into faith. For although intellectually, +the grounds of belief may be made out satisfactorily, yet we are +not able to follow our pure reason by ourselves; and no work on the +evidences of Christianity can by itself give us faith; and much +less can amid the manifold conflicts of life maintain it. That +faith is thus the gift of God, and not our own work, I would desire +to feel as keenly and continually, as with the fullest conviction I +acknowledge it.</p> +<p>Now, to resume the consideration of that which, as I said, is +the real point of anxiety with many. They doubt whether the course +of a reasonable belief can be held to the end without +interruptions: they say that the received notions of the +inspiration, and consequently of the complete truth of the +Scriptures cannot reasonably be maintained; that he who does +maintain them does so by a happy inconsistency;--he is to be +congratulated for not following up his own principles; but why +should he then find fault with others who do that avowedly and +consistently to which he is driven against his professions by the +clear necessity of the case?</p> +<p>This argument was pressed by Mr. Newman, some time since, in one +of the Tracts for the Times; and it was conducted, as may be +supposed, with great ingenuity, but with a recklessness of +consequences, or an ignorance of mankind, truly astonishing; for he +brought forward all the difficulties and differences which can be +found in the Scripture narratives, displayed them in their most +glaring form, and merely observed, that as those with whom he was +arguing could not solve these difficulties, but yet believed the +Scriptures no less in spite of them, so the apparent +unreasonableness of his doctrine about the priesthood was no ground +why it should be rejected--a method of argument most blameable in +any Christian to adopt towards his brethren; for what if their +faith, being thus vehemently strained, were to give way under the +experiment? and if, being convinced that the Scriptures were not +more reasonable than Mr. Newman's system, they were to end with +believing, not both, but neither?</p> +<p>Therefore the question is one of no small anxiety and interest; +and it is not idly nor wantonly that we must speak the truth upon +it, even if that truth may to some seem startling; for by God's +blessing, if we do go boldly forward wherever truth shall lead us, +our course needs not be interrupted, neither shall a single hair of +our faith perish.</p> +<p>The same laws of criticism which teach us to distinguish between +various degrees of testimony, authorize us to assign the very +highest rank to the evidences of the writings of St. John and St. +Paul. If belief is to be given to any human compositions, it is due +to these; yet if we believe these merely as human compositions, and +without assuming anything as to their divine inspiration, our +Christian faith, as it seems to me, is reasonable;--not merely the +facts of our Lord's miracles and resurrection; but Christian faith, +in all its fulness--the whole dispensation of the Spirit, the +revelation of the redemption of man and of the Divine Persons who +are its authors--of all that Christian faith, and hope, and love +can need. And this is so true, that even without reckoning the +Epistle to the Hebrews amongst St. Paul's writings,--nay, even if +we choose to reject the three pastoral epistles<a name= +"FNanchor18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18">[18]</a>--yet taking only +what neither has been nor can be doubted--the epistles to the +Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, +and Thessalonians, we have in these, together with St. John's +Gospel and First Epistle,--giving up, if we choose, the other +two,--a ground on which our faith may stand for ever, according to +the strictest rules of the understanding, according to the clearest +intuitions of reason.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_18"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor18">[18]</a> I say this, not as having the slightest +doubt myself of the genuineness of any one of the three, but merely +to show how much is left that has not been questioned at all, even +unreasonably.</blockquote> +<p>I take the works of St. John and St. Paul as our foundation, +because, in the first place, we find in them the historical basis +of Christianity; that is to say, we find the facts of our Lord's +miracles, and especially of his resurrection, and the miraculous +powers afterwards continued to the church, established by the +highest possible evidence. However pure and truly divine the +principles taught in the gospel may be, yet we crave to know not +only that we were in need of redemption, but that a Redeemer has +actually appeared; not only that a resurrection to eternal life is +probable, but that such a resurrection has actually taken place. +This basis of historical fact, which is one of the great +peculiarities of Christianity, is strictly within the cognizance of +the understanding; and in the writings of St. John and St. Paul we +have that full and perfect evidence of it which the strictest laws +of the understanding require.</p> +<p>But the historical truth being once warranted by the +understanding, other faculties of our nature now come in to enjoy +it, and develop it; the highest reason and the moral and spiritual +affections find respectively their proper field and objects, which, +whenever presented to them in vision or in theory, they must +instinctively cling to, but to which they now abandon themselves +without fear of disappointment, because the understanding has +assured them of their reality. We must suppose, on any system, the +existence of reason and spiritual affections as indispensable to +the understanding of the Scriptures; external authority can do +nothing for us without these, any more than the mere faculties of +the common understanding. But with these we apprehend the view +which St. John and St. Paul afford to us: it opens before us one +truth after another, one glory after another. St. John evidently +supposes that his readers were familiar with another account of our +Lord's life and teaching; and we find accordingly, another account +existing in the writings of the three other evangelists. One and +the same account is manifestly the substance of their three +narratives, to which they thus bear a triple testimony, because +none of the three has merely transcribed the others, and none of +them apparently was the original author of it. Thus having now the +full record of our Lord's teaching, we find that he everywhere +refers to the Old Testament as to the word of God, and the record +of God's earlier manifestations of himself to man. He has cleared +up those especial points in it which might have most perplexed us, +as I shall notice more fully hereafter, and he represents himself +as the perpetual subject of its prophecies. We thus receive the Old +Testament, as it were, from his hand, and learn while sitting at +his feet to understand the lessons of the law and the prophets.</p> +<p>Thus we make Christ the centre of both Testaments, and by so +doing, we cannot be blind to the divinity pervading both. For the +amazing fact that God should come into the world and be in the +world cannot by possibility stand alone; it hallows, as it were, +the whole period of the world's existence, from the beginning to +the end, placing all time and every place in relation to God; it +disposes us at once to receive the fact of the special call of the +people of Israel;--it gives, I had almost said, an <i>à +priori</i> reason why there must have been in earlier times some +shadows, at least, or images, to represent dimly to former +generations that great thing which they were not actually to +witness; it leads us to believe that there must have been some +prophetic voices to announce the future coming of the Lord, or else +"The very stones must have cried out."</p> +<p>But those writings of St. John and St. Paul which were our first +lessons in Christianity, and those other accounts of our Lord's +life and teaching to which they introduced us,--can we conceive it +possible, that the real meaning of all these shall be hopelessly +obscure and uncertain; that if we seek it ever so diligently, we +shall not find it? With an humble mind ready to learn, with a heart +fully impressed with the sense of God's presence, so as to be +morally and spiritually in a condition to receive God's truth, can +we believe, then, that the use of those intellectual means, which +open to us certainly the sense of human writers, shall be applied +in vain to those writers who were commissioned to be the very +heralds of a divine message, whose especial business it was to make +known what they had themselves heard? Surely if a sufficient +certainty of interpretation be attainable in common literature, the +revelation of God cannot be the solitary exception.</p> +<p>But we may be mistaken: we may <i>believe</i> that we interpret +truly, but we cannot be <i>infallibly sure</i> of it; we want an +authority which shall give us this assurance. This is no doubt the +natural craving of our weakness; but it is no wiser a craving than +if we were to long for the heaven to be opened, and for a daily +sight of our Lord standing at the right hand of God. To live by +faith is our appointed condition, and faith excludes an infallible +assurance. We must earnestly believe that we have the truth, and +die for our belief, if necessary, but we cannot <i>know</i> it. No +device which the human mind can practise, can exclude the +possibility of doubt. If we would find an armour which should cover +us at every point from this subtle enemy, it would be an armour +that would close up the pores of the skin, and stop our breath; our +fancied security would kill us. Is it really possible that, with +our knowledge of man's nature, our belief in any human authority +can really be more free from doubt than our belief in the +conclusions of our own reason? There must ever be the liability to +uncertainty; we can put no moral truth so surely as that our minds +shall always feel it to be absolutely certain. Where is the +infallible authority that can assure us even of the existence of +God? And will the scepticism that can believe its own conclusions +in nothing else rest satisfied with one conclusion only--that the +writers of the first four centuries cannot err? Surely to regard +this as the most certain proposition that can be submitted to the +human mind, is no better than insanity.</p> +<p>But we will consent to trust, it may be said, with God's help, +to our own deliberate convictions that we have interpreted +Scripture truly; but you tell us that the Scripture itself is not +inspired in every part; you tell us that there are in it +chronological and historical difficulties, if not errors; that +there are possibly some interpolations; that even the apostles may +have been in some things mistaken, as in their belief that the end +of the world was at hand. Where shall we find a rest for our feet, +if you first take away from us our infallible interpreter, and now +tell us, that even if we can ourselves interpret it aright, yet +that we cannot be sure that the very Scripture itself is infallibly +true?</p> +<p>It is very true that our position with respect to the Scriptures +is not in all points the same as our fathers'. For sixteen hundred +years nearly, while physical science, and history, and chronology, +and criticism, were all in a state of torpor, the questions which +now present themselves to our minds could not from the nature of +the case arise. When they did arise, they came forward into notice +gradually: first the discoveries in astronomy excited uneasiness: +then as men began to read more critically, differences in the +several Scripture narratives of the same thing awakened attention; +more lately, the greater knowledge which has been gained of +history, and of language, and in all respects the more careful +inquiry to which all ancient records have been submitted, have +brought other difficulties to light, and some sort of answer must +be given to them. Mr. Newman, as we have seen, has made use of +those difficulties much as the Romanists have used the doctrine of +the Trinity when arguing with Trinitarians<a name= +"FNanchor19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19">[19]</a> in defence of +transubstantiation. The Romanists said,--"Here are all these +inexplicable difficulties in the doctrine of the Trinity, and yet +you believe it." So Mr. Newman argues with those who hold the +plenary inspiration of Scripture, that if they believe that, in +spite of all the difficulties which beset it, they may as well +believe his doctrine of the priesthood; and many, if I mistake not, +alarmed by this representation, have actually embraced his +opinions.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_19"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor19">[19]</a> On this proceeding of the Romanists, +Stillingfleet observes, "Methinks for the sake of our common +Christianity you should no more venture upon such bold and +unreasonable comparisons. Do you in earnest think it is all one +whether men do believe a God, or providence, or heaven, or hell, or +the Trinity, and incarnation of Christ, if they do not believe +transubstantiation? We have heard much of late about old and new +popery: but if this be the way of representing new popery, by +exposing the common articles of faith, it will set the minds of all +good Christians farther from it than ever. For upon the very same +grounds we may expect another parallel between the belief of a God +and transubstantiation, the effect of which will be the exposing of +all religion. This is a very destructive and mischievous method of +proceeding; but our comfort is that it is very unreasonable, as I +hope hath fully appeared by this discourse."--<i>Doctrine of the +Trinity and Transubstantiation compared</i>, at the +end.</blockquote> +<p>It has unfortunately happened that the difficulties of the +Scripture have been generally treated as objections to the truth of +Christianity; as such they have been pressed by adversaries, and as +such Christian writers have replied to them. But then they become +of such tremendous interest, that it is scarcely possible to +examine them fairly. If my faith in God and my hope of eternal life +is to depend on the accuracy of a date or of some minute historical +particular, who can wonder that I should listen to any sophistry +that may be used in defence of them, or that I should force my mind +to do any sort of violence to itself, when life and death seem to +hang on the issue of its decision?</p> +<p>Yet what conceivable connexion is there between the date of +Cyrenius's government, or the question whether our Lord healed a +blind man as he was going into Jericho or as he was leaving it; or +whether Judas bought himself the field of blood, or it was bought +by the high priests: what connexion can there be between such +questions, and the truth of God's love to man in the redemption, +and of the resurrection of our Lord? Do we give to any narrative in +the world, to any statement, verbal or written, no other +alternative than that it must be either infallible or unworthy of +belief? Is not such an alternative so extravagant as to be a +complete reductio ad absurdum? And yet such is the alternative +which men seem generally to have admitted in considering the +Scripture narratives: if a single error can be discovered, it is +supposed to be fatal to the credibility of the whole.</p> +<p>This has arisen from an unwarranted interpretation of the word +"inspiration," and by a still more unwarranted inference. An +inspired work is supposed to mean a work to which God has +communicated his own perfections; so that the slightest error or +defect of any kind in it is inconceivable, and that which is other +than perfect in all points cannot be inspired. This is the +unwarranted interpretation of the word "inspiration." But then +follows the still more unwarranted inference,--"If all the +Scripture is not inspired, Christianity cannot be true," an +inference which is absolutely entitled to no other consideration +than what it may seem to derive from the number of those who have +either openly or tacitly maintained it.</p> +<p>Most truly do I believe the Scriptures to be inspired; the +proofs of their inspiration rise continually with the study of +them. The scriptural narratives are not only about divine things, +but are themselves divinely framed and superintended. I cannot +conceive my conviction of this truth being otherwise than sure. Yet +I must acknowledge that the scriptural narratives do not claim this +inspiration for themselves; so that if I should be obliged to +resign my belief in it, which seems to me impossible, I yet should +have no right to tax the Scriptures with having advanced a +pretension proved to be unfounded; their whole credibility as a +most authentic history of the most important facts would remain +untouched; the gospel of St. John would still be a narrative as +unimpeachable as that of Thucydides, which no sane man has ever +disbelieved.</p> +<p>So much for the unwarranted inference, that if the Scripture +histories are not inspired, the great facts of the Christian +revelation cannot be maintained. But it is no less an unwarranted +interpretation of the term "inspiration," to suppose that it is +equivalent to a communication of the Divine perfections. Surely, +many of our words and many of our actions are spoken and done by +the inspiration of God's Spirit, without whom we can do nothing +acceptable to God. Yet does the Holy Spirit so inspire us as to +communicate to us His own perfections? Are our best words or works +utterly free from error or from sin? All inspiration does not then +destroy the human and fallible part in the nature which it +inspires; it does not change man into God.</p> +<p>In one man, indeed, it was otherwise; but He was both God and +man. To Him the Spirit was given without measure; and as his life +was without sin, so his words were without error. But to all others +the Spirit has been given by measure; in almost infinitely +different measure it is true: the difference between the +inspiration of the common and perhaps unworthy Christian who merely +said that "Jesus was the Lord," and that of Moses, or St. Paul, and +St. John, is almost to our eyes beyond measuring. Still the +position remains, that the highest degree of inspiration given to +man has still suffered to exist along with it a portion of human +fallibility and corruption.</p> +<p>Now, then, consider the epistles of the blessed Apostle St. +Paul, who had the Spirit of God so abundantly, that never we may +suppose did any merely human being enjoy a larger share of it. +Endowed with the Spirit as a Christian, and daily receiving grace +more largely, as he became more and more ripe for glory; endowed +with the Spirit's extraordinary gifts most eminently; favoured also +with an abundance of revelations, disclosing to him things +ineffable and inconceivable,--are not his writings to be most truly +called inspired? Can we doubt that, in what he has told us of +things not seen, or not seen as yet,--of Him who pre-existed in the +form of God before he was manifested in the form of man,--of that +great day, when we shall arise incorruptible, and meet our Lord in +the air, and be joined to him for ever,--can any reasonable mind +doubt, that in speaking of these things he spoke what he had heard +from God; that to refuse to believe his testimony is really to +disbelieve God?</p> +<p>Yet this great Apostle expected that the world would come to an +end in the generation then existing. When he wrote to the +Thessalonians some years before his first imprisonment at Rome, he +warned them, no doubt, against expecting the end immediately: but +he appears still to have supposed that it would come in the +lifetime of men then living. At a later period, when writing to the +Corinthians, his dissuasion of marriage seems to rest mainly upon +this impression; it is good not to marry, "on account of the +distress which is close at hand;" ([Greek: dia taen enestosan +anankaen]; compare 2 Thess. ii. 2, [Greek: hos hoti enestaeken hae +haemera tou Kyriou].) "The time is short," he adds; "the fashion of +this world is passing away." And again, when speaking of the +resurrection, he says emphatically, "the dead shall rise +incorruptible, and <i>we</i> shall be changed;" where the pronoun +being expressed in the original, [Greek: chai haemeis +allagaesometha], shows that by the term "<i>we</i>," he does not +mean the dead, but those who were to be alive at Christ's coming. +So again, still later, when writing from Rome to the Philippians, +he tells them "the Lord is at hand;" and later still, even in his +first epistle to Timothy, he charges Timothy "to keep his +commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our +Lord Jesus Christ." These and other passages cannot without +violence be interpreted even singly in any other sense; but taking +them together, their meaning seems absolutely certain. Shall we +say, then, that St. Paul entertained and expressed a belief which +the event did not verify? We may say so, safely and reverently, in +this instance; for here he was most certainly speaking as a man, +and not by revelation; as it has been providentially ordered that +our Lord's express words on this point have been recorded--"Of that +day and hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels in heaven." Or +again, shall we say, that St. Paul advised the Corinthians not to +marry, chiefly on this ground; and that this throws a suspicion +over his directions in other points? But again it has been ordered, +that in this very place, and no where else in all his writing, St. +Paul has expressly said that he was only giving his judgment as a +Christian, and not speaking with divine authority;--the concluding +words of the chapter, [Greek: doko de kago pneuma theou echein] do +not signify, as our Version renders them, "And I think also that I +have the Spirit of God," as if he were confirming his own judgment +by an assertion of his inspiration in a sense beyond that of common +Christians; but the words say, "And I think that I too have the +Spirit of God," "I too as well as others whom you might consult, so +that my judgment is no less worthy of attention than theirs." But +it is his Christian judgment only that he is giving, as he +expressly declares, and not his apostolical command or revelation; +a distinction which he never makes elsewhere, and which is in +itself so striking, that we seem to recognise in it God's especial +mercy to us, that our faith in St. Paul's general declarations of +divine truth might not be shaken, because in one particular point +he was permitted to speak as a man, giving express notice at the +same time that he was doing so.</p> +<p>Now it is at least remarkable, that in the only two instances in +which the existence of any absence of divine authority is to be +discerned in St. Paul's epistles, provision is actually made by +God's fondness to prevent them from prejudicing our faith in St. +Paul's divine authority generally. And so in whatever points any +error may be discoverable in Scripture, we shall find either that +the errors are of a kind wholly unconnected with the revelation of +what God has done to us, and of what we are to do towards Him; and +therefore are perfectly consistent with the inspiration of the +writer, unless we take that unwarranted notion of inspiration which +considers it as equivalent to a communication of God's attributes +perfectly; (and of this kind are any errors that may exist either +in points of physical science, or of chronology, or of history;) or +if there be any thing else which appears inconsistent with +inspiration, in the sense in which we really may and do apply it to +the Scriptures, namely, that they are a perfect guide and rule in +all matters concerning our relations with God, then we shall find +that God has made some special provision for the case, to remove +what it otherwise might have had of real difficulty.</p> +<p>This merciful care is above all to be recognised with regard to +one point, which otherwise would, I think, have been a difficulty +actually insuperable: I mean the manifestly imperfect moral +standard, which in some cases is displayed in the characters of +good men in the Old Testament. Put the gospel by the side of the +law and history of the Israelites; observe what the law permitted, +and public opinion under the law did not condemn; observe the +actions recorded of persons who are declared to have been eminently +good, and to have received God's especial blessing; and it is +manifest that had not our Lord himself vouchsafed his help, one of +two things must have happened--either that we must have followed +the old heresy of rejecting the Old Testament altogether, or else +that our respect for the Old Testament must have impeded the growth +of the more perfect law of Christ. The true solution I do not think +that we could have discovered, or ventured to admit on less +authority than our Lord's. But his express declaration, that some +things in the law itself were permitted, because nothing higher +could then have been borne, and his stating in detail that in +several points what was accounted good or allowable in the former +dispensation was not so really, while at the same time he +constantly refers to the Old Testament as divine, and confirms its +language of blessing with respect to its most eminent characters, +has completely cleared to us the whole question, and enables us to +recognize the divinity of the Old Testament and the holiness of its +characters, without lying against our consciences and our more +perfect revelation, by justifying the actions of those characters +as right, essentially and abstractedly, although they were +excusable, or in some cases actually virtuous, according to the +standard of right and wrong which prevailed under the law.</p> +<p>After observing God's gracious care for us in this instance, as +well as in those which I have noticed before, I cannot but feel +that we may safely trust Him for every other similar case, if any +such there be, and that he will not permit our faith either in him +or in his holy word to be shaken, because we do not attempt to +close our eyes against truth, nor seek to support our faith by +sophistry and falsehood. Feeling what the Scriptures are, I would +not give unnecessary pain to any one by an enumeration of those +points in which the literal historical statement of an inspired +writer has been vainly defended. Some instances will probably occur +to most readers; others are perhaps not known, and never will be +known to many, nor is it at all needful or desirable that they +should know them. But if ever they are brought before them, let +them not try to put them aside unfairly, from a fear that they will +injure our faith. Let us not do evil that evil may be escaped from; +and it is an evil, and the fruitful parent of evils innumerable, to +do violence to our understanding or to our reason in their own +appointed fields; to maintain falsehood in their despite, and +reject the truth which they sanction. If writers of Mr. Newman's +school will persist in displaying the difficulties of the Scripture +before the eyes of those who had not been before aware of them, let +those who are so cruelly tempted be conjured not to be dismayed; to +refuse utterly to surrender up their sense of truth,--to persist in +rejecting the unchristian falsehoods which they are called upon to +worship; sure that after all that can be said, that system will +remain false to the end; and their Christian faith, if they do not +faithlessly attempt to strengthen it by unlawful means, will stand +no less unshaken.</p> +<p>In conclusion, Christian faith rests upon Scripture; and as it +is in itself agreeable to the highest reason, so the authenticity +of the Scriptures on which it rests is assured to us by the +deliberate conclusions of the understanding; nor is any "mortal +leap" necessary at any part of the process: nor any rejection of +one truth, in order to retain our hold on another. And if it should +happen, as in all probability it will, that we shall be called upon +to correct in some respects our notions as to the Scriptures, and +so far to hold views different from those of our fathers, we should +consider that our fathers did not, and could not stand in our +circumstances; that the knowledge which may call upon us to +relinquish some of their opinions, was a knowledge which they had +not. Till this knowledge comes to us, let us hold our fathers' +opinions as they held them; but when it does come, it will come by +God's will, and to do his work: and that work will, assuredly, not +be our separation from our father's faith; but if we follow God's +guidance humbly and cheerfully, clinging to God the while in +personal devotion and obedience, we may be made aware of what to +them would have been an inexplicable difficulty, and which was, +therefore, hidden from their knowledge; and yet, "through the grace +of our Lord Jesus Christ, we believe that we shall be saved even as +they."</p> +<br> +<p>THE END.</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13151 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |