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diff --git a/old/13151-8.txt b/old/13151-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb19dd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13151-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12104 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Christian Life, by Thomas Arnold + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Christian Life + Its Course, Its Hindrances, And Its Helps + +Author: Thomas Arnold + +Release Date: August 10, 2004 [EBook #13151] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRISTIAN LIFE *** + + + + +Produced by Charlie Kirschner and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + + + + +THE CHRISTIAN LIFE; + +ITS COURSE, ITS HINDRANCES, +AND ITS HELPS. + +BY +THOMAS ARNOLD, D.D., +HEAD MASTER OF RUGBY SCHOOL, +AND LATE FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD. + +From the Fifth London Edition. + +1856. + + + + "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. + + "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, + + _Literary Remains_, vol. iii. p. 386. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +LECTURE I. + +GEN. iii. 22.--And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one +of us, to know good and evil. + + +LECTURE II. + +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. + + +LECTURE III. + +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. + + +LECTURE IV. + +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. + + +LECTURE V. + +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. + + +LECTURE VI. + +COL. iii. 3.--Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. + + +LECTURE VII. + +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. + + +LECTURE VIII. + +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. + + +LECTURE IX. + +LUKE xiv. 33.--Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he +hath, he cannot be my disciple. + + +LECTURE X. + +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. + + +LECTURE XI. + +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. + + +LECTURE XII. + +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. + + +LECTURE XIII. + +MARK xii. 34.--Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. + + +LECTURE XIV. + +MATT. xxii. 14.--For many are called, but few are chosen. + + +LECTURE XV. + +LUKE xi. 25.--When he cometh he findeth it swept and garnished. + +JOHN v. 42.--I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. + + +LECTURE XVI. + +MATT. xi. 10.--I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare +thy way before thee. + + +LECTURE XVII. + +1 COR. ii. 12.--We have received not the Spirit of the world, but the +Spirit which is of God. + + +LECTURE XVIII. + +GEN. xxvii. 38.--And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one +blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. + +MATT. xv. 27.--And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs +which fall from their master's table. + + +LECTURE XIX. + +MATT. xxii. 32.--God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. + + +LECTURE XX. + +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. + + +LECTURE XXI. + +ADVENT SUNDAY. + +HEB. iii. 16.--For some when they had heard did provoke; howbeit not all +that came out of Egypt by Moses. + + +LECTURE XXII. + +CHRISTMAS DAY. + +JOHN i. 10.--He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the +world knew him not. + + +LECTURE XXIII. + +SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE EASTER. + +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. + + +LECTURE XXIV. + +GOOD FRIDAY. + +ROMANS v. 8.--God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were +yet sinners, Christ died for us. + + +LECTURE XXV. + +EASTER DAY. + +JOHN xx. 20.--Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. + + +LECTURE XXVI. + +WHITSUNDAY. + +ACTS xix. 2.--Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? + + +LECTURE XXVII. + +TRINITY SUNDAY. + +JOHN iii. 9.--How can these things be? + + +LECTURE XXVIII. + +EXOD. iii. 6.--And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon +God. + +LUKE xxiii. 30.--Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on +us; and to the hills, Cover us. + + +LECTURE XXIX. + +PSALM cxxxvii. 4.--- How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange +land? + + +LECTURE XXX. + +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. + + +LECTURE XXXI. + +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. + + +LECTURE XXXII. + +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. + + +LECTURE XXXIII. + +JOHN ix. 29.--We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we +know not from whence he is. + + +LECTURE XXXIV. + +1 COR. xiv. 20.--Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit, in +malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. + + +LECTURE XXXV. + +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. + + +LECTURE XXXVI. + +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. + + +LECTURE XXXVII. + +EZEK. xx. 49.--Then said I, Ah, Lord God! they say of me Doth he not +speak parables? + + +LECTURE XXXVIII. + +ISAIAH v. 1.--Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved +touching his vineyard. + + +LECTURE XXXIX. + +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. + + +NOTES. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The contents of this volume will be found, I hope, to be in agreement +with its title. + +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. + +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[1]." 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. + +[Footnote 1: See Mr. Newman's Letter to Dr. Jelf, p. 27.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Considering, 1. That the only way of salvation is the partaking of the +body and blood of our sacrificed Redeemer; + +"2. That the mean expressly authorized by him for that purpose is the +holy sacrament of his supper; + +"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; + +"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:-- + +"We desire to pledge ourselves one to another, reserving our canonical +obedience, as follows:-- + +"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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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[2]. +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[3]. +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. + +[Footnote 2: 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.] + +[Footnote 3: "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.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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_the_ mean; neither the sole mean, nor the +principal. But allow, for an instant, that it was instituted as_the_ +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[4] some +other credible record of his words besides the books of the four +evangelists and the apostolical epistles. + +[Footnote 4: "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."--_Newman's Lectures on the Prophetical +Office of the Church_. 1837. Pp. 347, 348.] + +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[5] 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. + +[Footnote 5: 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 _contains_ all things +necessary to be _believed_; but there may be things _contained_ which +are not _on the surface_, and things which belong to the _ritual_, and +not to _belief_. Points of faith may lie _under_ the surface: points of +observance need not be in Scripture _at all_. The consecrating power is +a point of ritual, yet it _is_ 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."--_Tracts +for the Times_. Tract 85, p. 46. + +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." (_De Coroná Mililis_, +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."] + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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[6], 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. + +[Footnote 6: This, it is well known, has been most ably maintained by +Rothe, (_Artfãnge der Christlichen Kirche und ihrer Verfassung_, +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. _Fragmentorum_, 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.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _till he come_." 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[7] 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[8]. 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[9]. 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. + +[Footnote 7: 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.] + +[Footnote 8: 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.] + +[Footnote 9: 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].--_Ad. +Polycarp_. 5.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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^{th} Lecture, +and which is closely in connection with the point maintained in the +XL^{th}; 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. + +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. + +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[10]." + +[Footnote 10: 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.] + +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. + +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[11]. 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. + +[Footnote 11: 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?] + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +NOTE. + +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 _prêtre_, or _prestre_, and the Latin _presbyterus_, +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 _sacerdos_, 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]. + + + + +LECTURE I. + + * * * * * + +GENESIS iii. 22. + +_And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know +good and evil_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE II. + + * * * * * + +1 CORINTHIANS 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_. + + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE III. + + * * * * * + +1 CORINTHIANS xiii. 11. + +_When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I +thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away +childish things_. + + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + + + + +LECTURE IV. + + * * * * * + +COLOSSIANS 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_. + + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE V. + + * * * * * + +COLOSSIANS 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_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE VI. + + * * * * * + +COLOSSIANS iii. 3. + +_Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God_. + + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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[12], 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. + +[Footnote 12: The Baron Von Canitz.] + +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. + + + + +LECTURE VII. + + * * * * * + +CORINTHIANS 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_. + + +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. + +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." + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + + + + +LECTURE VIII. + + * * * * * + +GALATIANS 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_. + + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE IX. + + * * * * * + +LUKE xiv. 33. + +_Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot +be my disciple_. + + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +_the_ 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. + +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, + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE X. + + * * * * * + +1 TIMOTHY 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_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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? + + + + +LECTURE XI. + + * * * * * + +ST. 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_. + + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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 _a_ character will certainly be +formed; as surely as the innocence of childhood has perished, so surely +will the carelessness of boyhood perish too. _A_ 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. + + + + +LECTURE XII + + * * * * * + +PROVERBS i. 28. + +_Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me +early, but they shall not find me_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _may be_ 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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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? + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XIII. + + * * * * * + +MARK xii. 34. + +_Thou art not far from the kingdom of God_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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? + + + + +LECTURE XIV. + + * * * * * + +MATTHEW xxii. 14. + +_For many are called, but few are chosen_. + + +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. + +"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 _one_ 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. + +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. + +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? + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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! + + + + +LECTURE XV. + + * * * * * + +LUKE xi. 25. + +_When he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished_. + + +JOHN v. 42. + +_I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you_. + + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XVI. + + * * * * * + +MATHEW xi. 10. + +_I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before +thee_. + + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XVII. + + * * * * * + +1 CORINTHIANS ii. 12. + +_We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is +of God_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XVIII. + + * * * * * + +GENESIS xxvii. 38. + +_And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? +Bless me, even me also, O my father_. + + +MATTHEW xv. 27. + +_And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall +from their master's table_. + + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XIX. + + * * * * * + +MATTHEW xxii. 32. + +_God is not the God of the dead, but of the living_. + + +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." + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XX. + + * * * * * + +EZEKIEL 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_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXI. + + * * * * * + +ADVENT SUNDAY. + + * * * * * + +HEBREWS in. 16. + +_For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came +out of Egypt by Moses_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXII. + + * * * * * + +CHRISTMAS DAY. + + * * * * * + +JOHN i. 10. + +_He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew +Him not_. + + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXIII. + + * * * * * + +SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE EASTER. + + * * * * * + +MATTHEW 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_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +"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! + +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? + + + + +LECTURE XXIV. + + * * * * * + +GOOD FRIDAY. + + * * * * * + +ROMANS v. 8. + +_God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, +Christ died for us_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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! + +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-- + + "Though worn and soiled by sinful clay, + Are yet, to eyes that see them true, + All glistening with baptismal dew." + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXV. + + * * * * * + +EASTER DAY. + + * * * * * + +JOHN xx. 20. + +_Then the disciples went away again unto their own home_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXVI. + + * * * * * + +WHITSUNDAY. + + * * * * * + +ACTS xix. 2. + +_Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed_? + + +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. + +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." + +It seems, then, that the great question which we should be anxious to +be able to answer in the affirmative, is this, "_Are we receiving_ 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. + +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. + +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 _was_ 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. + +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. + +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? + + + + +LECTURE XXVII. + + * * * * * + +TRINITY SUNDAY. + + * * * * * + +JOHN iii. 9. + +_How can these things be_? + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _how_? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _how_ 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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXVIII. + + * * * * * + +EXODUS iii. 6. + +_And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God_. + + +LUKE xxiii. 30. + +_Then shall they begin to say to the mountains. Fall on us; and to the +hills, Cover us_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXIX. + + * * * * * + +PSALM cxxxvii. 4. + +_How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land_? + + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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! + + + + +LECTURE XXX. + + * * * * * + +1 CORINTHIANS xi. 26. + +_For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the +Lord's death till he come_. + + +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. + +The words of the text are enough to show how closely this subject is +connected with that event which we celebrate to-day[13]: "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. + +[Footnote 13: Good Friday.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXI. + + * * * * * + +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_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXII. + + * * * * * + +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 than mightest know the certainty of those things in +which thou hast been instructed_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXIII. + + * * * * * + +JOHN ix. 29. + +_We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from +whence he is_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXIV. + + * * * * * + +1 CORINTHIANS xiv, 20. + +_Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit, in malice be ye +children, but in understanding be men_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXV. + + * * * * * + +MATTHEW 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_. + + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXVI. + + * * * * * + +2 CORINTHIANS 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_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXVII. + + * * * * * + +EZEKIEL xx. 49. + +_Then said I, Ah, Lord God I they say of me, Doth he not speak +parables_? + + +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? + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXVIII. + + * * * * * + +ISAIAH v.1. + +_Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his +vineyard_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +LECTURE XXXIX. + + * * * * * + +COLOSSIANS iii. 17. + +_Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, +giving thanks to God and the Father by Him_. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, _that_ 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. + + + +NOTES. + + * * * * * + +NOTE A. P. 5. + +"_But our path is not backwards but onwards_"--This thought is expressed +very beautifully in lines as wise and true as they are poetical: + + "Grieve not for these: nor dare lament + That thus from childhood's thoughts we roam: + Not backward are our glances bent, + But forward to our Father's home. + Eternal growth has no such fears, + But freshening still with seasons past, + The old man clogs its earlier years, + And simple childhood comes the last." + +_Burbridge's Poems_, p. 309. + + * * * * * + +NOTE B. P. 102. + +"_Some may know the story of that German nobleman_," &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. + + Come, my soul, thou must be waking-- + Now is breaking + O'er the earth another day. + Come to Him who made this splendour + See thou render + All thy feeble powers can pay. + + From the stars thy course be learning: + Dimly burning + 'Neath the sun their light grows pale: + So let all that sense delighted + While benighted + From God's presence fade and fail. + + Lo! how all of breath partaking, + Gladly waking, + Hail the sun's enlivening light! + Plants, whose life mere sap doth nourish, + Rise and flourish, + When he breaks the shades of night. + + Thou too hail the light returning,-- + Ready burning + Be the incense of thy powers;-- + For the night is safely ended: + God hath tended + With His care thy helpless hours. + + Pray that He may prosper ever + Each endeavour + When thine aim is good and true; + But that He may ever thwart thee, + And convert thee, + When thou evil wouldst pursue. + + Think that He thy ways beholdeth-- + He unfoldeth + Every fault that lurks within; + Every stain of shame gloss'd over + Can discover, + And discern each deed of sin. + + Fetter'd to the fleeting hours, + All our powers, + Vain and brief, are borne away; + Time, my soul, thy ship is steering, + Onward veering, + To the gulph of death a prey. + + May'st thou then on life's last morrow, + Free from sorrow, + Pass away in slumber sweet; + And released from death's dark sadness, + Rise in gladness, + That far brighter Sun to greet. + + Only God's free gifts abuse not, + His light refuse not, + But still His Spirit's voice obey; + Soon shall joy thy brow be wreathing, + Splendour breathing + Fairer than the fairest day. + + If aught of care this morn oppress thee, + To Him address thee, + Who, like the sun, is good to all: + He gilds the mountain tops, the while + His gracious smile + Will on the humblest valley fall. + + Round the gifts His bounty show'rs, + Walls and tow'rs + Girt with flames thy God shall rear: + Angel legions to defend thee + Shall attend thee, + Hosts whom Satan's self shall fear. + + * * * * * + +NOTE C. P. 122. + +"_But, once admit a single exception, and the infallible virtue of the +rule ceases_."--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 _all_ have asserted, +_always_, and in _all places_, 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 _most_ men have asserted, _most commonly_, +and in _most places_, has a certain _à priori_ 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. + + * * * * * + +NOTE D. P. 189. + +_"It was an admirable definition of that which excites laughter,"_ +&c.--[Greek: To geloion apurtaepa ti chai aiochos auodnnoy chai on +phthartichon oion enthus to geloion prosopon aischron ti chai +dieotruppenon anen odunaes]--_Aristotle, Poetic,_ ii. + + * * * * * + +NOTE E. P. 245. + +"_I would endeavour just to touch upon some of the purposes for which +the Scripture tells us that Christ died_."--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. + + * * * * * + +NOTE F. P. 282. + +"_Such also was to be the state of the Christian Church after our Lord's +ascension_."--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. + + * * * * * + +NOTE G. P. 315. + +"_Not only an outward miracle, but the changed circumstances of the +times may speak God's will no less clearly than a miracle_," &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."--_Ecclesiastical Polity_, b. iii. § 10. + + * * * * * + +NOTE H. P. 320. + +_"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_."--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 _reasons_ out of place; to ask improperly how +we are to _account_ 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 _doctrine_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, _per saltum mortalem_, 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. + + * * * * * + +NOTE I. P. 331. + +"_A famous example of this may be seen in the sixth chapter of St. +John,"_ &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. + +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? + +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[14] 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. + +[Footnote 14: 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.] + +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. + +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. + + * * * * * + +NOTE K. P. 345. + +_"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."_--"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. + +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." + +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. + +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[15] 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 +_an_ 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. + +[Footnote 15: 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.] + +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 _authority_ 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 _an_ +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 _decisive_ 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. + +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? + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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[16] +is, I am persuaded, fully consistent, and has no tendency either to +Socinianism or Rationalism. Let us see first what that system is. + +[Footnote 16: 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 _in foro conscientiæ_ 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. + +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. + +As to the canon of 1571, which allows preachers to teach nothing as +religious truth but what is agreeable to the Scriptures, "_and_ 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.--_See Strype's Life of Parker_, p. +322, ed. 1711.] + +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[17] 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. + +[Footnote 17: 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.] + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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? + +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. + +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[18]--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. + +[Footnote 18: 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.] + +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. + +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. + +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 _à priori_ 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." + +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. + +But we may be mistaken: we may _believe_ that we interpret truly, but +we cannot be _infallibly sure_ 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 +_know_ 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. + +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? + +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[19] 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. + +[Footnote 19: 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."--_Doctrine of the Trinity and +Transubstantiation compared_, at the end.] + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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 _we_ shall be changed;" where the pronoun being expressed in the +original, [Greek: chai haemeis allagaesometha], shows that by the term +"_we_," 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + + +THE END. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Christian Life, by Thomas Arnold + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRISTIAN LIFE *** + +***** This file should be named 13151-8.txt or 13151-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/5/13151/ + +Produced by Charlie Kirschner and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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