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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37527-8.txt b/37527-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..61e320d --- /dev/null +++ b/37527-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4412 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sermons, by J. B. Lightfoot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sermons + +Author: J. B. Lightfoot + +Release Date: September 24, 2011 [EBook #37527] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS *** + + + + +Produced by Colin Bell, Chris Pinfield and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + _THE CONTEMPORARY PULPIT LIBRARY_ + + + SERMONS + + BY THE LATE RIGHT REV. + J. B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., D.C.L., + LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM. + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK: + THOMAS WHITTAKER, + 2 AND 3, BIBLE HOUSE. + 1890. + + + + + CONTENTS.[1] + + PAGE + + BETHEL 1 + + THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN HEAVEN'S PATHWAY 17 + + THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL AN ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF + CHRISTIANITY 29 + + THE VISION OF GOD 43 + + THE HEAVENLY TEACHER 55 + + CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM. I. 65 + + CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM. II. 83 + + CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM. III. 100 + + WOMAN AND THE GOSPEL 116 + + PILATE 129 + + THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN 145 + + OUR CITIZENSHIP 157 + + AMBITION 170 + + + + +_Sermons_ + + BY THE LATE + RIGHT REV. J. B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., D.C.L., + LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM. + + * * * * * + +BETHEL.[2] + + "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not."--GEN. + xxviii. 16. + + +An unobtrusive, unimpressive scene, almost indistinguishable, even to +the curious eye of the archćologist, "in the maze of undistinguished +hills which encompass it"--with nothing to attract the eye, and +nothing to fire the imagination; large slabs of bare rock traversed by +a well-worn thoroughfare; "no religio loci, no awful shades, no lofty +hills." So is the site of Bethel described by the modern traveller. +Yet this was none other than the House of God; this was the very gate +of heaven. + +An unimpressive scene in itself, but appearing still more commonplace, +when contrasted with the famous shrines of heathendom--the rock +fortress of the Athene, or the pleasant groves of Daphne, or the +cloven peak of Parnassus, or the sea-girt sanctuary of Delos. No +beauty, no grandeur, nothing of loveliness and nothing of awe, nothing +exceptional of any kind which can explain or justify its selection. +Was there not ground for the wanderer's surprise on that memorable +night? Why should this one spot be chosen to plant the foot of the +ladder which connected heaven and earth? Why in this bleak wilderness? +Why amidst these bare rocks? Why here of all places in the world? Yes, +why here? + +The paradox of Bethel is the paradox of the Gospel--is the paradox of +God's spiritual dispensations at all times. The Incarnation itself was +the supreme manifestation of this paradox. The building up of the +Church was the proper sequel to the Incarnation. + +Look at the accompaniments of the Incarnation. Could any environment +of circumstances well have been imagined more incongruous, more alien +to this unique event in human history, this supreme revelation of +God's wisdom, and power, and beneficence? An obscure corner of the +Roman world--an insignificant and down-trodden race, scorned and hated +by the rest of mankind--an ox-stall for a nursery, and a carpenter's +shop for a school--what is wanting to complete the paradox? Yes, there +is still one feature to be added to the picture--the crowning +incongruity of all--the felon's death on the cross. Said not the +prophet rightly, when he foretold that there should be nothing lovely +in His life and circumstances, as men count loveliness; "no form or +comeliness;" "no beauty that we should desire him"? + +And the same paradox, which ruled the foundation of the Church, +extended also to its building up. The great statesmen, the powerful +captains, in the kingdom of God were fishermen and tent-makers. Never +was this characteristic incongruity of the Gospel more signally +manifested than in the preaching of St. Paul at Athens. Have we ever +realized the force of that single word with which the historian +describes the impression left on the Apostle's mind by this far-famed +city? Gazing on the most sublime and beautiful creations of Greek art, +the masterpieces of Phidias and Praxiteles, he has no eye for their +beauty or their sublimity. He pierces through the veil of the material +and transitory, and behind this semblance of grace and glory the true +nature of things reveals itself. To him this chief centre of human +culture and intelligence, this-- + + "Eye of Greece, mother of arts + And eloquence," + +appears only as +kazeidôlos+, overrun with idols, beset with +phantoms which mislead, and vanities which corrupt. Art and culture +are God's own gifts, legitimate embellishments of life, even of +worship, which is the highest form of life. But if culture aims at +displacing religion, if art seeks to dethrone God,--why, then, in the +highest interests of humanity, be it our prayer that the sword of the +barbarian and the axe of the iconoclast may descend once more, and +sweep them ruthlessly away. There was, at least, this redeeming +feature in ancient art, that it gave expression to whatsoever sense of +the Divine lay buried in the heathen mind. But art and culture, which +studiously ignore God--what can be said for these? In this one word ++kazeidôlos+ lies the germ of that fierce and protracted +struggle of Christianity with Paganism, which ended indeed in a +splendid victory, though not without inflicting many a wound on +humanity of which the scars and seams still remain. Notwithstanding +the merciless scoffs of a Celsus and the biting sarcasm of a +Julian--the Apostle's words were verified in their literal truth. +Strength was made perfect in weakness. God chose the foolish things of +the world to confound the wise, aye, and the uncomely things of the +world to confound the beautiful. The things which are not, brought to +nought the things which are. + +So then in its accompaniments, not less than in its main idea, this +incident at Bethel is a type of the Gospel of Christ. This exile, the +representative of the Israel after the flesh, prefigures a greater +outcast and wanderer, the representative of the Israel after the +spirit, the representative of the whole family of man. This ladder +reared up from earth to heaven, whereby angels ascend and descend, +what is it but the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, wherein God is +made man, and man is taken up into God? This it is which establishes +the title of Christianity as the absolute and final religion of the +world--this indissoluble union of the human with the divine--this one +only adequate response to the deepest religious cravings of mankind. +Hence the Church has ever clung with a tenacity of grasp, which +shallow hearts could ill understand, to this central idea, the +indefeasible wedlock of heaven and earth in the God-man. And to those +whose sight is purged by faith, to those who are gifted with the eye +of the Spirit, the vision of Bethel will be vouchsafed with a far more +exceeding glory: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall +see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon +the Son of Man:" on the Son of Man: yes, and on thyself too, O man, +for thou art one with this Son of Man, one with the Father in Him. + +"Gifted with the eye of the Spirit," I say; for in vain the heavens +are riven asunder, and the glory streams forth, and all things are +flooded with light, if the capacity of vision be absent. Only the cold +bare stones beneath, only the midnight gloom overhead, only the +dreary, monotonous waste around, these and these alone are visible +otherwise. We have been saddened, perhaps we have been disconcerted, +as recently we read the dreary epitaph which sums up the creed of a +brilliant man of science not long since deceased--a hopeless, +soul-less, lifeless creed, to which his own very faculties and +acquisitions appear to us to give the lie. We have been saddened +justly; but why should we be disconcerted? God be thanked, the most +absolute childlike faith has not unfrequently been found united with +the highest scientific intellect. We in this place have never yet +lacked bright examples of such a union, and God grant we never may. +But what right have we to expect it as a matter of course? What claim +do the most brilliant mathematical faculties, or the keenest scholarly +instincts, give to a man to speak with authority on the things of the +Spirit? Are we not told on authority before which we bow that a +special faculty is needed for this special knowledge; that "eye hath +not seen and ear hath not heard"; that only the Spirit of God--the +Spirit which He vouchsafes to His sons--knoweth the things of God? And +does not all analogy enforce the truth of this lesson? One man has a +keenly sensitive musical ear, but he is colour-blind. Another has a +quick eye for the faintest gradations of colour, but he cannot +distinguish one note of music from another. Does the imperfect eye of +the one know any haze of uncertainty over the hues of the rainbow; or +the obtuse ear of the other disparage the master works of a Handel, or +a Mozart, or a Beethoven? _Here_ is a mathematician who sees in a +sublime creation of imaginative genius only a tissue of unproven +hypotheses; and _here_ is a poet, to whom the plainest processes +of algebra, and the simplest problems in geometry, are mere barbarian +gabble, conveying no distinct impression to the brain, and leaving no +intelligible idea on the mind. Judge no man in this matter. To his own +master he stands or falls. But judge yourselves. Yes, spare no rigour +and relax no vigilance when the judge is the criminal also. Believe +it, this spiritual faculty is an infinitely subtle and delicate +mechanism. You cannot trifle with it, cannot roughly handle it, cannot +neglect it and suffer it to rust from disuse, without infinite peril +to yourselves. Nothing--not the highest intellectual gains--can +compensate you for its injury or its loss. The private prayer +mechanically repeated, then hurried over, then intermitted, and at +last dropped; the devotional reading found to be daily more irksome, +because suffered to be daily more listless; the valuable moral and +spiritual discipline of the early morning chapel, gradually neglected; +the unobtrusive opportunities of witnessing for Christ by deeds of +kindness and words of wisdom suffered to slip by,--these, and such as +these, are the unfailing indications of spiritual decline; till disuse +is followed by paralysis, and paralysis ends in death; and you are +left without God in the world. And yet when again--you young men--when +again, in the years to come, can you hope that the conditions of your +life will be as favourable to this spiritual self-discipline as they +are now? Where else do you expect to find in the same degree the +opportunities for private meditation and retirement, the daily common +prayer and the frequent communions, the inspiring and sanctifying +friendships, the wholesome occupation for the mind and the healthy +recreations for the body, every appliance and every aid which, if you +will employ them aright, neither disusing them nor misusing them, will +combine to build up and to perfect the man of God? Choose ye, this +day. To you, more especially, I appeal who have recently commenced +your residence here, and to whom, therefore, with the changed +conditions of life a heightened ideal of life also is suggested. This +is the momentous alternative. Shall your life hereafter be typified by +the barren rocks and the monotonous waste, hard and dreary, if nothing +worse; or shall it be illumined within and around with the effulgence +of God's own presence, so that-- + + "The earth and every common sight + To you shall seem + Apparelled in celestial light, + The glory and the freshness of a dream"? + +A dream? nay, not a dream, but an everlasting reality, eternal, as +God's own being is eternal. + +There are two ways of looking on the relations between the things of +this life and the things of eternity. A false and a true. The false +way regards the one as the rejection of the other. They are +reciprocally exclusive. The avocations, the interests, the amusements +of daily life--nature and history, poetry and art--these are so many +hindrances to the heavenly life. Every moment given to work is a +moment subtracted from prayer--thus the inward life becomes a constant +reflection upon the conditions of the outward. This is the spirit +which of old peopled the desert with anchorites; the spirit which in +all ages, though under divers forms, has made a religion of +selfishness. This is the voice which cries, "Lo, here! and lo, there!" +though all the while the kingdom of heaven is within us, in the very +midst of us. The true conception is the reverse of all this. Its ideal +is not a separation, but an identification of the two. It takes its +stand on the old maxim _laborare est orare_. It strives that its +work shall be prayer, and its prayer shall be work. Nature and history +to it are not the veil of God's presence; they are the investiture of +God's glory. And, therefore, to it is vouchsafed the vision of grace, +and comfort, and strength, as to the patriarchs of old. The solitary +wanderer along the dreary thoroughfare of this life lays himself down. +He has nothing but the bare stones beneath for a couch, and nothing +but the midnight sky overhead for a tent. He closes his eyes for a +moment; and the whole place is flooded with glory. Ah! the Lord was in +this place, though he knew it not; but he knows it now--knows it in +the access of strength, knows it in the promise of hope, knows it in +the celestial voice and the ineffable light. All the common interests +of life--the associations, the amusements, the cares, the hopes, the +friendships, the conflicts--all are invested with a dignity and an awe +unsuspected before. Reverence is henceforth the ruling spirit of his +life. This monotonous round of commonplace toils and commonplace +pleasures is none other than the House of God. This barren, stony +thoroughfare of life is the very portal of heaven. + +To read these hieroglyphics traced on nature, on history, on the human +soul--to decipher this handwriting of God wheresoever it appears, and +where does it not appear?--is the ultimate and final study of man. All +history is a parable of God's dealings; and we must learn the +interpretation of the parable. All nature is a sacrament of God's +being and attributes, and we must strive to pierce through the outward +sign to the inward meaning. To realize God's presence, to hear God's +voice, to see God's visage,--let this be henceforth the aim and the +discipline of our lives. So at length we shall pass from Bethel to +Peniel--from the palace courts to the presence chamber itself. We +shall see God face to face. It is a vision of power, of majesty, of +awe unspeakable; but it is a vision also of purification, of light, of +strength, of life. The blessing is won at length by that long lonely +wrestling under the midnight sky. The fraud, the worldliness, the +self-seeking is thrown off like a slough. All is changed. Old things +have passed away. The supplanted rises from the struggle, the +supplanter rises no more, but the Israel, the Prince, who has power +with God and with men. Shall not Moses' prayer then be our prayer, +"Lord, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory"? + +"Show me Thy glory." Where else shall this glory reveal itself if not +in the studies of this place? These properties of numbers, these +selections of space, these phenomena of light, of heat, of energy, of +life, of language, of thought, what are they? Individual facts to be +recorded, arranged, tabulated, marshalled under several heads, which +we call laws, and having so called them, with a strange +self-complacency and contentment fold our hands, as if nothing more +were to be done, as if by the mere imposition of a name we had +crowned them absolute sovereigns of the Universe? Or are they +manifestations--partial, indeed, and needing to be supplemented--of a +power, a majesty, a wisdom, an order, a beneficence, a finality, a +oneness, a One, who is shown to us as the Eternal Father in the +revelation of the Eternal Son? Can we afford to look down from the +serene heights of modern science and culture on the untutored Indian, +who saw God's face in the shifting clouds, and heard God's voice in +the whistling winds? Nay, was there not a truth in this childish +ignorance which threatens to elude the grasp of our manhood's wisdom? +Was it altogether a baseless dream in those stoic Pantheists, who +endowed each several planet with an animating spirit of its own? +altogether a wild fancy in those Christian fathers assigning to each +its particular angel, who should whirl it through space and hold it in +its course? Was it not rather a Divine instinct feeling after a higher +truth? Human life cannot rest satisfied with the science of phenomena +alone. It needs to supplement science with poetry. And the true, the +absolute, the final poetry is the recognition of God the Creator and +Governor, of God the all-wise and all-powerful, of God the Father, the +Redeemer, the Sanctifier, of God the eternal love. "Blessed are they +who have eyes to see,"--thus to them + + "The meanest flower that blows can give + Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." + +Thoughts of immortality, of wisdom, of light, of love. + +"Show me Thy Glory," where else again shall His glory be seen, if not +in those friendships which are the crowning gift of University life? +This intimate communion of soul with soul, this linking of heart with +heart, is it merely a matter of human convenience, of human +preference, or has it a Divine side also? This love, this devotion, +this reliance of the weak on the strong, this reverence for a nature +purer, nobler, more upright, more manly, more unselfish than your +own--what is its meaning? It is a precious, unspeakably precious, gift +of God, you will say--far beyond wealth, or fame, or popularity, or +ease, or any earthly boon of which you can conceive. Yes, but it is +more than this. May we not call it in some sense a sacrament, a sign +and a parable of your relation to your Lord? You are awed--no other +word will express this feeling--you are awed with the honour done to +you by this friendship. You do not talk much about it--it is too +sacred a thing--but you do feel it. You confess to yourself day and +night your own unworthiness. And yet, though you strive to be worthy, +you would not wish to feel worthy. The very sense of undeservedness +invests the gift with a bountifulness and a glory which you would not +forego. The fountains of your thanksgiving would cease to flow freely +if you claimed it as a right; and it is a joyful and a pleasant thing +to be thankful. Apply this experience to the infinitely higher gift of +Christ's friendship, of Christ's sacrifice. Herein lies the power of +the Cross--which men called and still call weakness--the power which +awes, inspires, energises, which elevates the heart and sanctifies the +life--herein this feeling of boundless thanksgiving arises from this +sense of absolute undeservedness. For is it not true, that those will +love most to whom most is given and forgiven? So then this your +friendship is found to be none other than the House of God. The Lord +is in this place, and happy are ye if ye know it. + +Once again; look into your own soul, and what do you find there? Yes, +ye yourselves are the temple of the living God. He is there--there, +whether you will or not. Through your reason, through your conscience, +through your remorses and regrets, through your capacity of amendment, +through your aspirations and ideals, He speaks to you. You are His +coinage. His image and superscription are stamped upon you. Aye, and +He has also re-stamped you, re-created you, in Christ Jesus by the +earnest of His Spirit. If it be true of your body that it is fearfully +and wonderfully made, is it not far more true of your soul? +Henceforward you will regard yourself with awe and reverence, as a +sanctuary of the eternal goodness. You will not, you dare not, profane +this sanctuary. Here is the true self-respect--nay, not self-respect, +for self is abased, self is overawed, self veils the face and falls +prostrate in the presence of Infinite Wisdom, and Purity, and Love +thus revealed. Surely, surely the Lord was in this place--in this +poor, self-seeking, restless, rebellious soul of mine, and _I_, I +thought it a common thing, I went on my way heedless, I followed my +own devices and desires, I knew it not. + +In conclusion, I have been asked to plead before you to-day a cause +which it should not require many words of mine to enforce. The +Barnwell and Chesterton Clergy Fund appeals to you year by year for +aid. Of all claims this (I say it advisedly) should be a first charge +on the liberality of members of the University. These populous and +growing suburbs are created by your needs. They are chiefly peopled by +college servants and others for whom you are responsible. Zealous +clergy are willing to work for the work's sake in these districts +commonly for stipends which no one could call remunerative--sometimes +for no stipends at all. And yet it is still the same old story which I +remember years ago. There is still the same difficulty in meeting +current expenses; still the same fear lest the spiritual machinery +should be impaired for lack of funds; still the same precarious +hand-to-mouth existence, of which we heard complaint in years past. Is +it quite creditable that matters should go on thus? In a thousand ways +you all, some directly, some indirectly, you all are reaping, +materially, intellectually, or spiritually the fruits gathered from +the liberality of past ages? Will you not make an adequate return? +Steady, continuous subscriptions are needed. A liberal response to +this day's appeal is needed. The Fund is largely dependent on the +proceeds of the University Sermon. Not less than a hundred pounds will +suffice to meet all requirements. Will you not give it this day, +either in this church, or in contributions sent afterwards to the +treasurer? Think not that you hear only the poor words of the preacher +in this appeal. Christ Himself pleads with you. Christ's own words +ring in your ears, "Ye did it, ye did it not, to _Me_." Ah, yes, +the Lord was in this place--in this weary pleading of the preacher, in +these trite commonplaces of spiritual need: and _we_, we knew it +not. God grant that you may know it in time. God forbid that He should +ever say to you, "I knew you not." + + + + +THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN HEAVEN'S PATHWAY.[3] + + "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, + Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord."--LUKE v. 8. + + +To those who search the Scriptures, not because in them they think +they have eternal life, but because in them they trust to find +historical difficulties, this account of St. Peter's call has seemed +to reward their search. The narrative indeed, is simple and +inartificial in itself; the incidents follow in a natural order; the +traits of character are wonderfully realistic and lifelike. There is +confessedly an air of truthfulness about the whole story; but +how--how, it is asked--can this account be reconciled with the +narrative given in St. John's Gospel? There we have a wholly different +story of St. Peter's call. His brother Andrew is a scholar of the +Baptist. The Baptist points out Jesus to Andrew and to a +fellow-disciple. They follow Jesus; they are accepted by Him; they +lodge that day with Him; they are convinced that He is the Christ. +Andrew takes his brother Simon to Jesus; Jesus receives him. "Thou art +Simon, the son of Jona. Thou shalt be called Cephas." This account +also is perfectly plain, but how can the two be harmonised? "Have we +not here," it is said, "two irreconcilable narratives--in fact, two +distinct legends of the call of St. Peter?" + +I have more than once remarked that the apparent moral contradictions +of the Bible are often its most valuable moral lessons. A similar +remark will apply to its apparent historical contradictions. +Underlying these is very frequently a subtle harmony, which eluded us +at our first hasty search. The two accounts are after all not +contradictory, but supplementary, the one to the other. So it is here. +Read St. Luke's narrative carefully, and it will be apparent that this +cannot have been the first meeting of St. Peter with our Lord. I say +nothing of the healing of his wife's mother, for, though this is +related earlier in St. Luke's Gospel, yet it is plain from the +narrative in the other evangelists that it is not related here in +chronological order. + +But what are the facts? These fishermen have been toiling throughout +the night; their labour has been wholly unrewarded, though night is +the proper season for plying their craft; and now in the bright glare +of the morning sun--now when, after the ill-success of the night, it +would be perfect madness to expect a haul--now they are suddenly, +imperiously bidden to put out again into the deep sea, and to let down +their nets. And the command is obeyed. There is the lurking misgiving, +there is the tacit remonstrance; but there is prompt obedience +notwithstanding. "Master, we have toiled all the night; nevertheless, +at Thy word I will let down the net." "_At Thy word._" Who is +this, that this most unreasonable demand meets with such ready +acquiescence? Is it possible that He can have been a mere passing +stranger, or a mere casual acquaintance? How could His advice have +been entertained for a moment when He told an experienced fisherman to +do what a fisherman knew to be utterly foolish and futile? The +narrative itself, I say, implies some previous knowledge of our Lord +on St. Peter's part. He would never have acted as he is represented +here as acting unless he had believed, or, at least, had suspected, +that there was a more than human power and intelligence in our Lord. +In short, the narrative of St. Luke presupposes the narrative of St. +John. Jesus speaks to Peter now as one who has a right to command. The +incident in St. John gives the personal call of Peter; the incident in +St. Luke gives his official call. On the one occasion he is +represented as a disciple and a follower; on the other occasion he is +declared an apostle and a teacher. "From henceforth thou shalt catch +men." + +But I did not select this text with any special purpose of discussing +historical difficulties. Such discussions, indeed, are necessary when +they are forced upon us, but they only distract the mind from the +moral and spiritual lessons of the Scripture. Nor, I think, is the +lesson in the text difficult to extricate. All history teaches by +example, and the Scriptural narrative is the intensification of +history. The miracles of our Lord are not miracles only. They are most +frequently acted parables also. And have we not here a parable of the +most intense pathos and of the widest application? + +"Master, we have toiled all the night, and we have taken nothing." +What is this but a true, painfully true, image of the efforts, the +struggles, the futilities, the despairs of humanity; not in isolated +cases, here and there only, of disappointed hopes and unrealised aim, +but with thousands of men and women who are born into this world, and +live and labour, and suffer and die, without securing any substantial +and enduring good, simply because they have lived and died apart from +God, who alone survives the decay of time, and alone can give +satisfaction to the immortal spirit of man? + +"We have toiled all the night." Yes; we see it now--now when the +morning light of eternity has burst upon our aching eyeballs. We have +toiled all the night. There was darkness above and around us; there +was toil of hands and toil of heart; there was the struggle for +subsistence; there was the race after wealth and honour; there was the +eager pursuit of phantom goods. We had our pleasures and we had our +pains. We had our failures and we had our successes. Yes, our splendid +successes as men counted them--as we were half tempted to count them +ourselves. But we have taken nothing. Our successes are as our +failures; our pains are as our pleasures, now. In the all-absorbing +abyss of time we have taken nothing, absolutely nothing--nothing which +can escape the jaws of the grave, nothing which will pass the portals +of death. We stand alone, stripped of everything, alone with God, +alone with eternity. + +You pursued wealth, and you pursued it not in vain; you determined +that your career should be a success, and a success you made it. You +surrounded yourself with every material comfort; you added to these +substantial appliances all the embellishments and all the refinements +of life. What then? Did they give you the satisfaction you hoped for? +Could you feel that there was any finality in such aims and +acquisitions as these? No. The hope was better after all than the +realisation; the prospect was brighter than the attainment. You were +restless, discontented, craving still. There was a hunger of soul, +though you would not confess it--a hunger of soul, which rejected and +loathed these husks. And now where are they, and what are they? Or you +pursued honour and fame, and men lavishly bestowed upon you that which +you so eagerly sought, till you seemed at length to have all, and more +than all, that you had set your heart upon. But still there was no +contentment, because there was no finality. Dropsy-like your craving +only grew with the gratification. Each fresh draught of applause +created a fresh thirst. Every imagined slight, every unintentional +neglect, every trivial rebuff, was a keen agony to you. You had only +increased your sensitiveness; you had not secured your satisfaction. +Or, again, you had set your heart on human love, God's greatest boon +if you use it without misusing it, if you subordinate it to his Divine +love. Your human affections, your human friendships, were everything +to you. In the buoyant hopefulness of youth, in the solid security of +middle age, it seemed as though these must last for ever. But soon +enough the painful truth dawned upon you. The march of life began to +tell on your comrades in the journey. One dropped at your side, and +then another. The ranks were visibly thinning, and there was no one to +step in and take the vacant places. First the mother at whose knees +you had lisped your earliest faltering prayer; then the friend who +shared all your counsels, who was more than a brother to you; then the +wife whom you cherished as another self; then the little daughter +whose innocent childish talk had solaced you in many a grievous hour: +so, one by one, they fell away, and you are left gradually alone and +more alone; they leave you when you need them most, and at length in +the vacancy of your solitude you make the bitter discovery that though +you have toiled all night you have taken nothing--you have taken +nothing at all. + +A short time ago we laid in the vaults of this cathedral the last +mortal remains of one[4] who has achieved for himself a foremost place +among the masters of his art in our own age. It was fit that his bones +should lie here, side by side with more than one famous brother +sculptor who has gone before him--side by side with the most +illustrious names in the sister art of painting; with Reynolds, whose +easy grace in the delineation of human portraiture stands quite +without a rival; with Turner, who has succeeded as no other painter +has succeeded, in any age or country, in reproducing on canvas the +subtle play of light and shade, the ever-varying aspect, the depth, +the infinity, of external nature; with Landseer, too, our most recent +guest in this our artists' resting-place, whose genial and vigorous +representations of the lower animal life have invested it with almost +a human interest, and, so doing, have taught us many a suggestive +lesson of humanity and kindliness. Side by side, too, with England's +greatest architects, and Wren, their prince, whose genius needs no +word of eulogy here, for his monument is above and around us. Such a +place of sepulture well befitted such a man. It is our tribute of +respect for noble gifts nobly used. It is our expression of +thanksgiving to God, who thus endows His servants that they may employ +their endowments to exalt and to embellish human life. + +But one thought cannot fail to strike us here. We may remember that +the great conqueror of modern time, when it was suggested to him to +perpetuate some signal incident in his triumphant career by an +historical picture, asked how long the work would last. He was told +two or three centuries--perhaps, under favourable circumstances, five +centuries. This would not satisfy his devouring ambition. This was not +the immortality of fame which he had designed for himself. He must +have a more enduring memorial than this. Compared with the canvas of +the painter, the marble of the sculptor is long-lived indeed. The most +enduring of human works are the works of the sculptor's chisel. The +stern granite features of the Pharaoh who befriended Joseph and the +Pharaoh who persecuted Israel may still look down on the land which +they ruled with an iron rule between three and four thousand years +ago. The winged lions and winged bulls on which the contemporaries of +Shalmanezer and Sennacherib may have gazed in awe, in the royal +palaces of Assyria, still confront us in our national museum with the +same weird look, unchanged though all else has changed, surviving +still, though a hundred generations of men have been born, and lived, +and died, meanwhile. And it may be that in the centuries to come, some +curious explorer will exhume, from the grass-grown mounds of this +ruined city, a work of art bearing the name of him whom on Friday last +we bore to an honoured resting-place--perhaps the effigy of a prince +who flourished in a remote epoch of the past, when England was still a +nation, and who sank into an untimely grave amidst a people's +mourning. And thus the sculptor's fame will have a second lease of +life. + +But after all, thirty centuries are but as three--are but as three +years or three days--compared with eternity. Napoleon's ambition was a +perverted instinct, but it was an instinct, nevertheless. Man feels +that he was not made to die; he will not consent to die. This thirst +for enduring fame, what is it but an echo, a mocking echo, of an +eternal verity? Yes, he will live. The materialist may tell him that, +when the eye and the ear are dissolved into gases and decomposed into +dust, it matters nothing to him with what honours men may adorn his +memory, with what praises they may celebrate his name. He, too--his +personality, or what he was pleased to call his personality--is +dissolved, is dissipated, is gone; but the materialist never yet has +been able, never will be able, to persuade mankind. The natural +instinct of man revolts against the assumption; and the ambition of +the Christian, the ambition for eternity alone, expresses truly this +general instinct of man. To labour for the good things of this world, +to labour for fame in the coming centuries, what is it, after all, if +our views are bounded by this narrow horizon? Why, then, like the +disappointed fishermen of the Galilean lake, we have toiled all the +night long, and, for our pains, we have taken nothing. + +And this change--this conversion, if you will--comes sometimes, it may +be, despite ourselves, but comes--remember this--comes most often in +answer to some act of obedience, to some surrender of self-will on our +part. We may complain; we may demur; we may distrust. We have toiled +all the night, and have taken nothing; but we recognise the +authority of the Divine voice, and we force ourselves into +compliance--"nevertheless, at Thy word." The command is general: it +has come to all alike,--"Let ye down your nets." But, like Peter, we +specialise it, we adopt it, we appropriate it to ourselves: "I will +let down the net." And so we do what seems hard and unreasonable; we +do what we have never done before. + +And the response--the response to this obedience--is a light flashed +in upon our soul, a double revelation, a revelation of mixed pleasure +and pain, for it is a revelation at once of the sin within and of God +without. The marvellous bounty of God's grace dazzles and astounds our +vision, and, in our perplexity of heart, the despairing, craving, +forbidding, yearning cry is wrung from our lips, "Depart from me! +Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man!" + +"Depart from me, O Lord." I know it all now. I see my sin, because I +see Thy goodness. Yes, I have beheld Thy holiness, Thy purity, Thy +truth, Thy grace, Thy love, and I have been stunned with the contrast +to self. The brightness of the light has intensified the blackness of +the shade. Depart from me, O Lord! what can I have in common with +Thee?--I, so selfish, so vile, so sin-laden, with Thee, so merciful, +so righteous, so holy. In very deed, Thy ways are not as my ways, and +Thy thoughts are not as my thoughts. Depart from me, O Lord! This +"fear of the Lord" is, indeed, the "beginning of wisdom." This +consciousness of sin is the true pathway to heaven. The saintliest of +men have ever felt and spoken most strongly of their own sinfulness. +The intensity of their language has provoked the sneer of the +worldling--has been an evidence here of their own conviction that, +despite their pretensions to holiness, they are no better than he, +perhaps somewhat worse. But they know, and he doth not know, what sin +means and what God means, and so the despairing cry is wrung from +their agony, "Depart from me, O Lord." + +"Depart from me, O Lord! And yet not so, Lord." Even while Peter is +speaking his gestures belie his words. His lips implore Jesus +despairingly to depart, but his eyes and his hands entreat Him +passionately to stay. "Not so, Lord, for how can I endure to part with +Thee? In Thy presence is hope, is light, is joy. Lord, to whom shall +we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Depart from me? No; it is +for the godless to say, 'Depart from us, for we desire not the +knowledge of God.' It is for the unclean spirits to rave against +Thee--'Let us alone, Thou Jesus of Nazareth! What have we to do with +Thee?' But I, I have everything to do with Thee. I am created in the +image of God. I have a ray of the Divine light, a seed of the Divine +word, within me. And like seeks like; therefore I yearn after Thee, +therefore I am drawn towards Thee, therefore I stretch out my hands to +Thee over the wide chasm of sin which yawns between us. Depart from +me? Nay, rather abide with me. Teach me, absolve me, purify me, +strengthen me. Take me to Thyself, that I may be Thine and Thine only. +Abide with me, for the day of this life is far spent, and the night +cometh when no man can work. Stay with me now and evermore, and so +fulfil Thy gracious promise: 'If a man love Me and will keep My word, +My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode +with him.'" + + + + +THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL AN ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF CHRISTIANITY.[5] + + "They are Thy people and Thine inheritance."--DEUT. ix. 29. + + +It is related of a certain royal chaplain that, being asked often by +his sovereign to give a concise and convincing argument in favour of +Christianity, he replied in two words--"The Jews." It is this subject +which I offer for your consideration this afternoon--the history and +character of the Israelite race as a witness to Christianity. The +subject is certainly not inappropriate at this season, when the +commemoration of the great Pentecostal Day is fast approaching, to +which all the previous history of the nation had tended, which +substituted the dispensation of the Spirit for the dispensation of the +Law, and expanded the religion of a tribe into the religion of +mankind. It is, moreover, forced upon our notice by that remarkable +chapter in Deuteronomy which we have heard this afternoon, and which, +by prophetic insight, brings out with singular distinctness the +prominent character and subsequent career of the race. Only reflect +upon such expressions as these:--"Go in to possess nations greater and +mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven"; +"Understand, therefore, this day that the Lord thy God is He which +goeth over before thee"; "The Lord thy God giveth thee not this good +land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked +people"; "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I +knew you." + +Read these passages in the full light which thirty centuries of the +nation's history have thrown upon them. Study this contrast between +their character and their achievements as it unfolds itself in all +their subsequent history. Consider, on the one hand, not only the +first conquest of Canaan to which the words more immediately refer, +but the succession of far more brilliant victories over the great +nations of the world, culminating in that most magnificent triumph of +all--the triumph of Christianity. Consider, on the other hand, not +only those early murmurings and idolatries in the wilderness to which +the language more directly points, but that long catalogue of +rebellions of which the subsequent history of Israel is made up, and +which reached its climax in the martyrdom of the Lord of Life. Set +these one against the other, and you will confess that the utterances +of Deuteronomy are wonderful anticipations of the future, succinct +epitomes of centuries yet to come. You may question, if you will, +every single prophecy in the Old Testament, but the whole history of +the Jews is one continuous prophecy, more distinct and articulate than +all. You may deny if you will every successive miracle which is +recorded therein, but again the history of the Jews is, from first to +last, one stupendous miracle, more wonderful and convincing than all. +_Here_ you have a small, insignificant people--stiff-necked, +rebellious, worthless; _there_ you have the most magnificent +spiritual achievements--the most signal moral victories. What +conclusion can you draw, except that which is drawn for you in the +words which I have read: "The Lord thy God is He that goeth before +you"?--"They are Thy people and Thine inheritance, which Thou +broughtest out by Thy mighty power and Thy stretched out arm." + +Look first at the capacities of the people themselves. They had no +remarkable gifts which might have led us to anticipate this unique +destiny. They had no intellectual qualities of a very high order like +the Greeks--vivid imagination, subtlety of thought, ćsthetic taste; no +political capacity like the Romans, no organizing power or faculty of +legislation which might secure for them the ascendency over the +nations of the world. They were, moreover, a stubborn, exclusive, +intolerant people--an unpractical people, without the power, or at +least the will, to adapt themselves to the institutions, the feelings, +and the prejudices of the people with whom they were brought in +contact. They were believed, in consequence, to cherish an universal +hatred against the rest of mankind; and they, in turn, were hated by +all--hated, not with the hatred of an admiring envy, but the hatred of +a supercilious scorn. Of all the tribes on the face of the earth the +Jews, we should have said, were the very last to ingratiate themselves +with the other races of mankind, and to lay the civilised world at +their feet. And now turn from the people themselves to the land of +their abode. Certainly this does not enable us to solve the enigma. +Palestine does not occupy a large space in the Christian's +imagination; for it is a very minute, insignificant spot in the map of +the world. It is, moreover, incapable of expansion, for it is bounded +on all sides either by sea or mountain ranges, or by vast and +impracticable deserts. To a great extent all this country is +mountainous and barren, and even this meagre and unpromising territory +is not all their own. The sea-coast would have been valuable to a +people gifted with commercial instincts. With commerce they might have +extended their influence; but from the sea-coast they were wholly +excluded. The Phoenicians on the north and the Philistines on the +south occupied all the most important harbours; and this territory of +the Jews was so unexpansive, so barren, so unpromising that they were +placed at a still greater disadvantage when compared with the +surrounding people. The Jews are surrounded on all sides, and by the +most formidable neighbours. On the one side by Egypt, a country of the +highest fertility, the foremost military power in the world, with an +ancient civilisation which dated from a period long before the birth +of the father of the Israelite people, whilst it stood foremost of the +human race in works of art in its day. Who was Israel, then, that he +could withstand Egypt? There, again, on the other side, was another +mighty empire, first Assyria, then Babylon, the only rival of Egypt of +the ancient world. In these places they had the same advantage of wide +plains of exceptional fertility, a high and remote civilisation, an +army of tremendous strength, and a centralisation under an absolute +rule, with all the resources which a great and vast dominion could +command. As Persia succeeded Babylon, and as Babylon succeeded +Assyria, so Persia--far more mighty and terrible--overruns and +conquers all Western Asia. Egypt itself falls. Palestine is a mere +speck, surrounded by the huge dominions of the Persian monarch. What +chance has Israel against such terrible neighbours? Must it not be +crushed and ground to atoms and annihilated by its foes? But, at all +events, it might have been supposed that, however stubborn and +impracticable they were in their attitude towards others, they would +at least be united amongst themselves--that they would be loyal to +their country, that they would be faithful to their laws and +institutions, that they would be true to their God. This internal +cohesion would give them strength to resist--this absolute harmony +would win for them an influence that would compensate for the superior +advantages of their more powerful neighbours. But what do we find as a +matter of fact? Their national history is one continuous record of +murmuring, of rebellion, of internal feuds, of moral and spiritual +defection. They have no sooner escaped from their Egyptian bondage, +their necks still bearing the scars of the tyrants' yoke, than they +fall into shameless idolatry. The worship of the golden calf is only +the type and presence of still more guilty lapses in centuries yet to +come; the revolt against Moses and Aaron only the type and shadow of +the rebellious spirit to which Israel rose in the distant future. +Again and again the religion of Jehovah is effaced, or almost effaced, +from the mind of the nation. Again and again the hideous idolatries of +Moloch--idolatries cruel, profligate, and shameless--supplant the +worship of the Lord of heaven and earth. And the political condition +of the nation is not one whit more hopeful than the religious. When +unity alone can save the people then there is disruption. The Ten +Tribes are severed from the House of David, never to be united again. +The power of one kingdom is spent in neutralising the power of the +other. This is a concise history of the race during the period from +the disruption to the captivity. The career of Israel, from first to +last, is a running comment upon the words, "Not for thy righteousness +or for the uprightness of thine heart dost thou go to possess the +land," for "ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that +I knew you." Not once or twice only the Mighty Archer has strung His +weapon and pointed His shaft, and His aim has been frustrated by +Israel's disobedience. His chosen instruments have been snapped in His +hands, starting aside like a broken bow. Indeed, the history of Israel +is quite unique in the chronicles of nations. The chronicles of other +nations record the qualities as well as the crimes of the people whose +career they commemorate. They praise their patriotism, their prowess, +their manifold virtues, their magnificent achievements. But the Bible, +the chronicle of the Jews, is one uninterrupted catalogue of sins and +shortcomings--one long bill of indictment against Israel. One only is +true, one only is faithful, one only is victorious; for he fears not +the nation, but the nation's God. So then, however we look at the +matter, there is nothing which affords ground for hope; and when we +question actual facts, we find they correspond altogether to those +expectations we should have formed beforehand from the character and +position of the nation. Never has any people lived upon the earth who +passed through such terrible disasters as the Jews. Never has any +people been so near to absolute extinction again and again, and yet +have survived. Again and again the vision of the prophet has been +realised. Again and again the valley of the shadow of death has been +strewn with the dry bones of carcases seemingly extinct. Again and +again there have been seasons of dark despair, when even the most +hopeful, challenged by the Divine voice, could only respond, "O Lord +God, Thou knowest!" But again and again there has been a shaking of +the dry bones--the bones have come together, bone to bone; they have +been strung with sinews and clothed with flesh; breath has been +breathed into them, and they have lived, and have become an exceeding +great army. Think of those many centuries of Egyptian bondage, when +the life of the nation seemed to have been strangled in its infancy. +Reflect next on that period in its youthful career, when it is +fighting its way inch by inch, and struggling for very existence in +Palestine, doing battle with nations greater and mightier than itself, +and with "cities fenced high up to heaven." Look forward again, and we +see its fate during the manhood of the nation under its king, the land +now divided against itself and overrun by successive invaders. As of +old so now again, but in a far more terrible sense, Israel finds +himself face to face with the Anakims and with those great empires of +the East before whom he appears but as a grasshopper. The end was +inevitable. For a time Israel was a plaything in the hands of those +terrible neighbours, tossed to and fro between two powerful +rivals--Egypt on the one side, and Assyria and Babylon on the +other--till at length, in a moment of victory, he is swept away, and +his place knows him no more. Could anything seem more hopeless than +the revival of the nation from the Babylonish captivity? Yet from +Babylon, as from Egypt, Israel returned. A new lease of life was +granted, and with it there followed a new lease of disaster also. His +old fate pursued him still. The saying was fulfilled which had been +spoken by the prophet: "That which the locust hath left hath the +canker-worm eaten, and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the +caterpillar eaten." He was rescued from the fangs of Babylon only to +be food for the Assyrians. He was drawn from the feet of the Assyrians +only to be devoured by the insatiable Roman. And yet all the +while--and this is the remarkable fact to which I ask your +attention--amidst calamities the most overwhelming and suffering the +most intense--exiled, enslaved, trampled under foot, only not +annihilated--all the while he was hopeful, was jubilant, was +triumphant still. He was always dying, and behold he lived. Century +after century prophets had declared, in no ambiguous terms, that +despite all these adverse appearances, despite all these wearisome +delays, Israel had a magnificent future. The nations might rage, and +the kings of the earth might do their worst--they were powerless +against Israel's destiny. A sceptre should rise out of Jacob which +would subdue the world, and a King should sit on David's throne before +whose footstool all the nations of the earth should bow. A standard +should be set up in Zion around which all mankind should rally. +"Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations +that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, +and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee;" "The sons +of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, and all they +that despised thee shall bow themselves at the soles of thy feet;" +"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the +curtains of thine habitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and +strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand +and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the +desolated cities to be inhabited." + +And these hopes--these extravagant hopes--were more than realized. A +King _did_ rise out of Jacob to whom all the nations of the +civilised world have rendered homage such as no sovereign received +before or after--the homage of their heart, the homage of their lives. +At the call of Israel the Gentiles flocked to the standard set up in +Zion. From far and near, the cultivated Greek, the proud Roman, +Assyrian and Egyptian, master and slave, are flocking around that +standard. From east to west, from the ancient civilisation of India to +the barbarous islands of the Pacific, Israel has dictated its +sentiments, its belief, its morals, its laws and institutions to the +nations. An influence far deeper, far wider, far more tenacious has +appeared from that despised, insulted, down-trodden people than was +ever achieved by the splendid literature of Greece or the historic +empire of Rome. These are not theories, but facts--facts which some +will attempt to explain away, but facts which none can deny. +_Here_ is the prophecy--_there_ is the fulfilment. The prophecy is +not a single isolated prediction of ambiguous meaning, but large +and clear, written across the whole history of a nation from +margin to margin. And the fulfilment corresponds to the prophecy; it +is legible to all men, because stamped on the face of the world. Is +there not here the manifestation of Divine providence? Do we not +rightly claim the Jews as the principal witnesses to Christianity, or +shall we set all this down as mere accident, a freak of fortune, a +superficial correspondence without any essential connection? Shall it +be regarded as mere accident that, within a few years after the +appearing of this King who has thus gathered the Gentiles to His +standard, Jerusalem is destroyed, and the nation scattered to the four +winds of the earth--that the polity of Israel for ever ceased, that +the Temple shook, and that revival was rendered thenceforward +impossible? Shall we say that it is mere argument that for eighteen +centuries--a period as long as that which elapsed from the +proclamation of the law by Moses to the fulfilment of the law by +Christ--this state of things has remained? Or should we not rather say +that in this coincidence also there is a Divine significance--that He +proclaimed with no uncertain sound the obituary of the old order and +the commencement of the new--that God's seal is stamped upon the +character of the Church, whereby Israel after the Spirit is +substituted for Israel after the flesh? Do we ask what it was which +gave the Jewish people this toughness, this vitality, this power? The +answer simply is, "They are Thy people and Thine inheritance, which +Thou broughtest out by Thy mighty power, and by Thy stretched out +arm." It was the consciousness of this close relationship with +Jehovah, the omnipotent and ever-present God--it was the sense of +their glorious destiny, which marked them out as the teachers of +mankind. It was the conviction that they were the possessors of +glorious truths, and that those truths must in the end prevail, +whatever present appearances might suggest--this was the secret source +of their strength, notwithstanding all their faults, and despite all +their disasters. Do we ask again how it came to pass that, when Israel +called to the Gentiles, the Gentiles responded to the call and flocked +to its standard? Here, again, the answer is simple--"Because of the +Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel." The Gentiles had +everything else in their possession, but this one thing they +lacked--knowledge of God, their Father; and without this all their +magnificent gifts could not satisfy--could not save them. Therefore, +when at length the cry went forth, "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come +ye to the waters," they hurried to the fountains of salvation to slake +their burning thirst. Culture and civilisation, arts and commerce, +institutions and laws,--no nation can afford to undervalue these; but +not only do all these things soon fade, but the people themselves fall +into corruption and decay if the Breath of Life be wanting. + +And as with nations, so with individuals. We may cultivate the +intellect to the highest pitch; we may surround ourselves with all the +luxuries and refinements of civilisation; we may accumulate all the +appliances which make life enjoyable; but the time will come when +these things will fail to sustain us. It may come in some season of +bereavement, in the hour of sickness or of loss. It may come in the +failure and decay of powers. It may come in the pains of our +death-agony. It may come--and this is the most solemn thought of +all--after we have passed the confines of the grave. But come it must +sooner or later; for we are children of God, and we cannot with +impunity ignore or deny the Father of earth and heaven. There only is +rest and peace; there only is true life for the soul of man. + + + + +THE VISION OF GOD.[6] + + "And they shall see His face."--REV. xxii. 4. + + +It is related of the greatest of the Bishops of Durham that, in his +last solemn moments, when the veil of the flesh was even now parting +asunder, and the everlasting sanctuary opening before his eyes, he +"expressed it as an awful thing to appear before the Moral Governor of +the world." + +The same thought, which thus accompanied him in his passage to +eternity, had dominated his life in time--this consciousness of an +Eternal Presence, this sense of a Supreme Righteousness, this +conviction of a Divine Order, shaping, guiding, disposing all the +intricate vicissitudes of circumstance and all the little lives of +men--enshrouded now in a dark atmosphere of mystery, revealing itself +only in glimpses through the rolling clouds of material existence, +dimly discerned by the dull and partial vision of finite man, +questioned, doubted, denied by many, yet visible enough now to the eye +of faith, working patiently but working surely, vindicating itself +ever and again in the long results of time, but awaiting its complete +and final vindication in the absolute issues of eternity--the truth of +all truths, the reality of all realities, the one stubborn steadfast +fact, unchangeable while all else is changing--this Presence, this +Order, this Righteousness--in the language of Holy Scripture, this +Word of the Lord which shall outlive the solid earth under foot, and +the starry vault overhead. "They shall perish, but Thou remainest, and +they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou +fold them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy +years shall not fail." "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of +man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower +thereof falleth away--but the word of the Lord endureth for ever." + +It is no arbitrary conjecture that this was the dominating idea of +Butler's life. Early and late it is alike prominent in his writings. +In the preface to his first great work, his volume of sermons, he +speaks of "the Author and Cause of all things, who is more intimately +present to us than anything else can be, and with whom we have a +nearer and more constant intercourse than we have with any creature." +In his latest work, his Charge to the Clergy of Durham, he urges the +"yielding ourselves up to the full influence of the Divine Presence:" +he bids his hearers "endeavour to raise up in the hearts" of their +people "such a sense of God as shall be an habitual, ready principle +of reverence, love, gratitude, hope, trust, resignation, and +obedience;" he recommends the practice of such devotional exercises as +"would be a recollection that we are in the Divine Presence, and +contribute to our being in the fear of the Lord all the day long." +Thus his death-bed utterance was the proper sequel to his life-long +thoughts. The same awe-inspiring, soul-subduing, purifying, +sanctifying Presence rose before him as hitherto. But the awe, the +solemnity, was intensified now, when the vision of God by faith might +at any moment give place to the vision of God by sight. Not unfitly +did one, writing shortly after his decease, compare him to "the bright +lamps before the shrine," the clear, steady light of the sanctuary, +burning night and day before the Eternal Presence. + +In the strength of this belief he had lived, and in the awe of this +thought he now died. This conviction it was--this sense of a present +righteousness, confronting him always--which raised him high above the +level of his age; keeping him pure amid the surroundings of a +dissolute court; modest and humble in a generation of much pretentious +display; high-minded and careless of wealth in a time of gross +venality and corruption; firm in the faith amidst a society cankered +by scepticism; devout and reverent, where spiritual indifference +reigned supreme; candid and thoughtful and temperate, amidst the +temptations and the excitements of religious controversy; careful even +for the externals of worship, where such care was vilified as the +badge of a degrading superstition. Hence that tremendous seriousness +which is his special characteristic--that "awful sense of religion," +that "sacred horror at men's frivolity," in the language of a living +essayist. Hence that transparent sincerity of character, which never +fails him. Hence that "meekness of wisdom," which he especially urges +his clergy to study, and of which he himself was all unconsciously the +brightest example. + +And what more seasonable prayer can you offer for him who addresses +you now, at this the most momentous crisis of his life, than that +he--the latest successor of Butler--may enter upon the duties of his +high and responsible office in the same spirit; that the realisation +of this great idea, the realisation of this great fact, may be the +constant effort of his life; that glimpses of the invisible +righteousness, of the invisible grace, of the invisible glory, may be +vouchsafed to him; and that the Eternal Presence, thus haunting him +night and day, may rebuke, may deter, may guide, may strengthen, may +comfort, may illume, may consecrate and subdue the feeble and wayward +impulses of his own heart to God's holy will and purpose! + +And not for the preacher only, but for the hearers also, let the same +prayer ascend to the throne of heaven. In all the manifold trials and +all the mean vexations of life, this presence will be your strength +and your stay. Whatsoever is truthful, whatsoever is real, whatsoever +is abiding in your lives, if there be any antidote to sin, and if +there be any anodyne for grief, if there be any consolation, and if +there be any grace, you will find it here, and here alone--in the +ever-present consciousness that you are living face to face with the +Eternal God. Not by fitful gusts of religious passion, not by fervid +outbursts of sentimental devotion, not by repetition of approved +forms, and not by acquiescence in orthodox beliefs, but by the calm, +steady, persistent concentration of the soul on this truth, by the +intent fixing of the inward eye on the righteousness and the grace of +the Eternal Being before Whom you stand, will you redeem your spirits +and sanctify your lives. So will your minds be conformed to His mind. +So will your faces reflect the brightness of His face. So will you go +from strength to strength, till, life's pilgrimage ended, you appear +in the eternal Zion, the celestial city, wherein is "neither sun nor +moon, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light +thereof." + +Let this, then, be the theme of our meditation this morning. Many +thoughts will crowd upon our minds and struggle for utterance on a day +like this; but we will put them all aside. Not our hopes, not our +cares, not our burdens; nothing of joy, nothing of sadness shall +interpose now to shut out or obscure the glory of the Presence before +Whom we stand. + +Not our hopes, though one hope starts up and shapes itself perforce +before our eyes. It will be the prayer of many hearts to-day that the +inauguration of a new Episcopate may be marked by the creation of a +new See; that Northumberland, which in the centuries long past gave to +Durham her Bishopric, may receive from Durham her due in return in +these latest days; that the Newcastle on the Tyne may take its place +with the Old Castle on the Wear, as a spiritual fortress strong in the +warfare of God. + +Not our cares, though at this season one anxiety will press heavily on +the minds of all. The dense cloud, which for weeks past has darkened +the social atmosphere of these northern counties, still hangs sullenly +overhead. God grant that the rift which already we seem to discern may +widen, till the flooding sunlight scatters the darkness, and a lasting +harmony is restored to the relations between the employer and the +employed. + +Not our burdens, though on one at least in this Cathedral the sense of +a new responsibility must press to-day with a heavy hand. If indeed +this burden had been self-sought or self-imposed, if his thoughts were +suffered to dwell on himself and his own incapacity, he might well +sink under its crushing weight. But your prayer for him, and his ideal +for himself, will shape itself in the words which were spoken to the +great Israelite restorer of old, "Not by might, nor by power, but by +My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." In this strength only, before you +as before him, will the great mountain become a plain. + +Therefore we will lay down now our hopes and our fears, our every +burden, at the steps of the altar, that, entering disencumbered into +the inmost sanctuary, we may fall before the Eternal Presence. + +The vision of God is threefold--the vision of Righteousness, the +vision of Grace, the vision of Glory. + +I. The vision of Righteousness is first in the sequence. Righteousness +includes all those attributes which make up the idea of the Supreme +Ruler of the universe--perfect justice, perfect truth, perfect purity, +perfect moral harmony in all its aspects. Here, then, is the force of +Butlers dying words. Ask yourselves, Can it be otherwise than "an +awful thing to appear before the Moral Governor of the world"? You +have read, perhaps, the written record of some pure and saintly life, +and you are overwhelmed with shame as you look inward and contrast +your sullied heart and your self-seeking aims with his innocency and +cleanness of heart. You are confronted--you, an avowedly religious +person--in your business affairs with an upright man of the world; and +his straightforward honesty is felt by you as a keen reproach to your +disingenuousness and evasion, all the keener because he makes no +profession of religion. Yes, you know it; this is the very impress of +God's attribute on his soul, though God's name may seldom or never +pass his lips. And if these faint rays of the Eternal Light, thus +caught and reflected on the blurred mirrors of human hearts and human +lives, so sting and pain the organs of your moral vision, what must it +not be, then, when you shall stand face to face before the ineffable +Righteousness, and see Him in His unclouded glory! + +It is a vision indeed of awe, transcending all thought; a vision of +awe, but a vision also of purification, of renewal, of energy, of +power, of life. Therefore enter into his presence now and cast +yourself down before His throne. Therefore dare to ascend into the +holy mountain; dare to speak with God amidst the thunders and the +lightnings; dare to look upon the face of His righteousness, that, +descending from the heights, you, like the lawgiver of old, may carry +with you the reflection of His brightness, to illumine and to vivify +the common associations and the every-day affairs of life. + +Not a few here will doubtless remember how an eloquent living preacher +in a striking image employs the distant view of the towers of your own +Durham--of my own Durham--seen from the neighbourhood of the busy +northern capital only in the clearer atmosphere of Sundays--as an +emblem of these glimpses of the Eternal Presence, these intervals of +Sabbatical repose and contemplation, when the furnaces and pits cease +for the time to pour forth their lurid smoke, and in the unclouded sky +the towers of the celestial Zion reveal themselves to the eye of +faith. Let this local image give point to our thoughts to-day. "Unto +Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, +even as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and +as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, even so our +eyes wait upon the Lord our God." + +II. But the vision of Righteousness is succeeded by the vision of +Grace. When Butler in his dying moments had expressed his awe at +appearing face to face before the Moral Governor of the world, his +chaplain, we are told, spoke to him of "the blood which cleanseth from +all sin." "Ah, this is comfortable," he replied; and with these words +on his lips he gave up his soul to God. The sequence is a necessary +sequence. He only has access to the Eternal Love who has stood face to +face with the Eternal Righteousness. He only who has learned to feel +the awe will be taught to know the grace. The righteous Judge, the +Moral Governor of the World, is a loving Father also, is your Father +and mine. This is the central lesson of Christianity. Of this He has +given us absolute assurance, in the life, the death, the words, and +the works of Christ. The incarnation of the Son is the mirror of the +Father's love. What witness need we more? Happy he who shall realise +this fact in all its significance and fulness. Happy he on whom the +light of the glory of the Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, +shall shine, he who shall-- + + "Gaze one moment on the Face Whose beauty + Wakes the world's great hymn; + Feel it one unutterable moment, + Bent in love o'er him; + In that look feel heaven, earth, men, and angels, + Distant grow, and dim; + In that look feel heaven, earth, men, and angels, + Nearer grow through Him." + +Yes, it is so indeed. All our interests in life, the highest and the +lowest alike, abandoned, merged, forgotten in God's love, will come +back to us with a distinctness, an intensity, a force, unknown and +unsuspected before. Each several outline and each particular hue will +stand out in the light of His grace. Thus we are bidden to lose our +souls only that we may find them again; we are charged to give up +houses, and brethren, and sisters, and father, and mother, and wife, +and children, and lands--all that is lovely and precious in our +eyes--to give up all to God, only that we may receive them back from +Him a hundredfold, even now in this present time. Our affections, our +friendships, our hopes, our business and our pleasure, our +intellectual pursuits and our artistic tastes--all our cherished +opportunities and all our fondest aims must be brought into the +sanctuary and bathed in the glory of His Presence, that we may take +them to us again, baptized and regenerate, purer, higher, more real, +more abiding far than before. + +III. And thus the vision of love melts into the vision of glory. So we +reach the third and final stage in our progress. This is the crowning +promise of the Apocalyptic vision, "They shall see His face." The +vision is only inchoate now; we catch only glimpses at rare intervals, +revealed in the lives of God's saints and heroes, revealed above all +in the record of the written Word and in the Incarnation of the Divine +Son. But then no veil of the flesh shall dim the vision; no +imperfection of the mirror shall blur the image; for we shall see Him +face to face--shall see Him as He is--the perfect truth, the perfect +righteousness, the perfect purity, the perfect love, the perfect +light. And we shall gaze with unblenching eye, and our visage shall be +changed. Not now with transient gleams of radiance, as on the lawgiver +of old, shall the light be reflected from us; but resting upon us with +its own ineffable glory, the awful effluence-- + + "Shall flood our being round, and take our lives + Into itself." + +Of this final goal of our aspirations--of this crowning mystery of our +being--the mind is helpless to conceive, and the tongue refuses to +tell. Silent contemplation, and wondering awe, and fervent +thanksgiving alone befit the theme. Even the inspired lips of an +Apostle are hushed before it. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, +and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He +shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is"--we +shall see Him as He is. + + + + +THE HEAVENLY TEACHER.[7] + + "He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you."--ST. JOHN xvi. + 15. + + +The death of Christ was the orphanhood of the disciples. I am not +inventing a figure of my own when I say this. It is the language which +our Lord Himself uses to describe their destitute condition. In our +English Bible He is made to speak of leaving them comfortless. The +words in the original are: "Leave you orphans"--"Leave you desolate," +as it is translated in the Revised Version. They would be fatherless, +motherless, homeless, friendless--at least, so it seemed to them--when +He was gone. + +No condition of life excites so keenly the compassion of the +compassionate as the helplessness of the orphan. It is not only that a +child is deprived, by its parents' death, of the means of subsistence; +its natural guardian, teacher, friend is gone. Henceforth it is a waif +on the ocean of the world. In no respect different was that void which +threatened the disciples when the Master's presence had been +withdrawn. They had left all--authority, home. They had forsaken +parents and friends, and He had become Father and Mother, and Sister +and Brother to them. They had given up houses and land, and He was +henceforth their home. Their dependence on Him was absolute. Whatever +of joy they had in the present, and what of hope they had for the +future, were alike centred in Him. They thought His thoughts and lived +His life. And now this communion of soul with soul, and of life with +life, must be ruthlessly severed. + +This was the terrible shock for which Christ would prepare the minds +of His disciples. It was not only the void of earthly hopes scattered +by His death; but their Teacher, their Guide, Spirit, Friend, Christ, +their Father was withdrawn. The voice which soothed must be silent, +and the eye which gladdened must be glazed, and the hand which blessed +must be stiffened in death. Christ lay buried--lost for ever, as it +would seem to them. What joy, what strength, what comfort could they +have henceforth in life? They would stake their whole on Christ, and +Christ has failed them. Surely, never was orphanhood more helpless, +more hopeless, than the orphanhood of these poor Galileans. + +It was to prepare them for this terrible trial that the promise in the +text was given. He must go; but another shall come. They should not be +without a teacher, a guide; one Advocate, one Comforter would be +withdrawn, but another would take His place. There would be a friend +still, an adviser ever near to take them by the hand, to whisper into +their ears, to prepare, to instruct, to protect, to fortify, to guide +them into all truth. Another comforter. Yes; and yet not another. +There would not be less of Christ, but more of Christ, when Christ was +gone. This is the spiritual paradox which is assured to the disciples +by the promise in the text--"He shall take of Mine, and show it unto +you. All things that the Father hath are Mine; therefore, said I, He +shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you." Another, and yet not +another. It was not Christ supplanted, not Christ superseded, not +Christ eclipsed and quenched, but a larger, higher, purer, more +abundant Christ with whom henceforth they should live. It was not now +a Christ who might be speaking at one moment and the next moment might +be hushed, but a Christ whose tongue was ever articulate and ever +audible--Christ vocal even in His very silence. It was not now a +Christ who was seen at one moment, and the next was concealed from +view by some infinite obstacle, but a Christ whose visit no darkness +could hide and whose touch no distance could detain. It was not a +Christ of now and then, not a Christ of here and there, but a Christ +of every moment and every place--a Christ as permeating as the Spirit +is permeating. "He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." +"Lo, I am with you alway! I am with you even to the end of the world." + +He is not lost, then. This is the promise which Christ gives to His +disciples on the eve of His departure to console them for their loss. +His departure was more than necessary. It was even expedient, it was +even advantageous for them that He should go. Did not the Saviour say +this? Nothing would have seemed more improbable in the anticipation +than that the death of Christ should have produced the effect it did +produce on His disciples. We should have predicted weakness, +depression, misery, scepticism, apostacy, despair; and yet what was +the actual result? Why, all at once they appear before us as changed +men. All at once they shake off meaner hopes; all at once their nerves +are fortified, are lifted into a higher region. On the eve of the +catastrophe they are hesitating, fearful, sense-bound, narrow in their +ideas. They are, we might almost say, "of the earth earthy." And on +the morrow they are strong, steadfast, courageous, endowed with a new +spiritual faculty which bears unto the very salvation of salvation. +Hitherto they have known Christ after the flesh. Henceforth they will +know Him so no more. + +To know Christ after the flesh! What would we not have given to have +known Him after the flesh? What a source of strength it would have +been to us, we imagine, just to have listened to one of those parables +spoken by His own lips; just to have witnessed one of those miracles +of healing wrought by His own hand; just to have looked one moment on +Him as He stood silent in the judgment-hall, or bleeding on the cross! +But no! It was expedient for us, as it was expedient for the first +disciples, that He should go away. It was expedient for us; otherwise +the Spirit could not come. + +To know Christ after the flesh! Did not the disciples know Him after +the flesh, and did they not forsake Him? Did not Thomas who doubted +and Peter who denied know Him after the flesh? Did not the Jewish mob +which hooted and reviled, and the Roman soldiers who scourged, know +Him after the flesh? What security was this knowledge after the flesh +against scepticism, against blasphemy, against apostacy, against +rebellion? Seeing, it is said, is believing. Yes, and hearing, too. +But it is the seeing of the spiritual eye and the hearing of the +spiritual ear--the eye that beheld the heavens open and the Son of Man +standing on the right hand of God: the hearing of the glory when He +was called into Paradise, "unspeakable words which it is not lawful +for a man to utter." + +To know Christ after the flesh. Why should we desire to know Him after +the flesh? It was just to unteach the disciples themselves, whose +knowledge was only after the flesh, that Christ went away, because so +long as they were possessed of this knowledge, the Paraclete could not +come, could not take up His abode in their faith. Thus, this is the +work of the Spirit, as described by our Lord, in the text to us, as to +the disciples of old. The Spirit offers not less of Christ, but more +of Christ; for in the place of the Christ who walked on the shores of +the Galilean lake, who sat on the brink of the Samaritan well, and +shed tears over the doomed city--instead of such a Christ we have a +Christ who is ever present to us; a Christ of all times and all +places; a Christ who traverses the universe--an Omnipotent Christ. + +Look at the explanation which our Lord Himself gave to the prophets: +"He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." How so? Why of +Christ, and Christ only? Has the Spirit nothing else to teach us? Hear +what follows: "All things--_all things_--that the Father hath are +Mine; therefore, said I unto you, He shall take of mine and shall show +it unto you." + +All things! Yes; all history, all science, all aggregation of truth in +whatever domain, and whatever kind it may be. "Think you," He seems to +say--"think you that My working is confined to a few paltry miracles +wrought in Galilee? The universe itself is My miracle. Think you My +words are restricted to a few short precepts uttered to the Jews?" We +make foolish distinctions. We imagine we erect a barrier within which +we would confine the Christ of our own imagination; but the Christ of +Christ's own teaching overleaps all such barriers of ours. We are +careful to distinguish between knowledge and revealed religion. We +separate Christ from the former and we relegate Him to the latter; but +the Christ of Christ's own teaching is the Eternal Word, through whom +the Father speaks. We draw the rigid lines of demarcation between +science and theology, between religion and language, but the Christ of +the people is the hand of the Father not less in science and language +than in religion and theology. We have our distinctions between the +secular and the spiritual, as if the two were antagonistic. We must +not use a saying of Christ, as if it taught that our duty to Cćsar was +something quite apart from our duty to God; as if, forsooth, it were +possible for us to have any moral obligation to any man, or body of +men, to any child, which was not also an obligation to God in Christ. +But the Christ of the Gospel claims sovereignty over all alike--over +that which we call secular not less than that which we call spiritual. +"All things--_all things_--that the Father hath are Mine; +therefore, I say, He shall take of Mine, and show it unto you." + +We speak sometimes of the revelations. Yes; revelations, indeed, not +merely of inanimate processes, not merely of blind laws, but +revelations of the eternal world, of the Eternal Son through whom the +Father works. Therefore, as Christians, we are bound to look upon +these as Christ. Therefore, if we are true to our heavenly schooling, +the Spirit will take up these and show them unto us. "He shall take of +Mine, and shall shew it unto you." + +Are we diligent students of the lessons of history? Do we delight +to trace the progress of the human race from the first dawn of +civilisation to its noonday blaze? To disclose the obscure past of the +great nations of the earth? to mark the development of the arts of +government? to follow the ever-widening range of intellect? to discern +the stream of human life broadening slowly down with the force of +ages? + +Then let us see the kingdom of Christ not less in the progress of +history than in the laws of science. He was in the world, and the +world knew Him not. He was the true Light that lighteth every man--the +Light ever brighter and clearer till it attained its full glory at +length in the Incarnation. Therefore the school of history is also the +school of the Holy Spirit, for it is the setting forth of Christ. "He +that hath eyes to see, let him see." "He shall take of Mine." + +If you have traced Christ's footprints in the processes of Nature; if +you have heard Christ's voice in the teachings of history--then, +surely, you will not fail to see and hear Him in your own domestic and +social relations. That pure affection which has been to you a fountain +of benediction; that friendship which has been the crowning glory of +your life--can you think of it apart from Christ? If you do not find +Christ here, assuredly you will seek Him in vain elsewhere. What was +that truthfulness, that purity, that unselfishness, that devotion +which attracted you to the broken light of the Great Light, a +reflected ray from the Central Sun Himself? Yes, the Spirit took of +Christ and showed it to you when, through that affection, through that +friendship, He held up to you the nobler, because a more God-like, +idea of life. "He shall take of Mine." He shall bring all things to +your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you. + +Last and chiefest, for the crown of all these--these rays through +forest and mountain--of all other lessons, He shall set before you the +full Sun. He shall teach you the lesson of Incarnation. He shall show +unto your soul the tremendous importance of that statement which comes +from your lips as time after time you repeat your creed: "He was made +man." He shall teach you the lesson of the Passion. He shall remind +you day and night of the paramount obligation which it lays upon you. +Think--yes, think and think, and think--of that word till the love of +Christ shall constrain your whole being, shall bind you hand and foot, +and lead you captive to the will of God. He shall teach you the lesson +of the resurrection, emancipating, purifying, strengthening, exalting, +till he makes you conformable thereunto. Then you will rise from the +sepulchre in which you have lain many days, will breathe the pure air +of God's presence once more, will sit at meat when you are risen; +while, though in the world, you will be no longer of the world; +notwithstanding all disabilities and weaknesses you will live--live +even now as faithful citizens of the kingdom of heaven, which is +righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. + +NOTE.--These Sermons are printed from reports. + + + + +CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM.[8] + + + + +I. + + +In the lectures which I addressed to you this last year, I took as my +subject the early history of Christianity while it was still +unrecognised by Roman law, and, therefore, treated as an enemy of the +State. On this occasion I purpose to trace the stream a little further +from its source, when Christianity has forced itself into recognition +and become the predominant religion of the empire. The struggle +between Christianity and Paganism has entirely changed its outward +character. The only weapons which the Church could wield at a former +epoch were moral and spiritual. She is now furnished with all the +appliances of political and social prestige; yet these, however +imposing, and to some extent serviceable, are not her really effective +arms. She can afford to be deprived of them for a time, and her career +of victory is unchecked. Her substantial triumphs must still be won by +the old weapons. The source of her superiority over Paganism is still +the same as before--a more enlightened faith in the will of the +unseen, a heartier devotion to the cause of humanity, a more +reverential awe for the majesty of purity, a greater readiness to do +and to suffer. The change has been as startling and as sudden as it +was momentous. All at once the Church had passed from hopeless, +helpless oppression to supremacy and power. For several years after +the opening of the fourth century the last and fiercest persecution +still raged, Christians were hunted down, tortured, put to death with +impunity and without mercy. The only limit to their sufferings was the +weariness or the caprice of their persecutors. Yet before the first +quarter of this century has drawn to a close the greatest sovereign +who had worn the imperial diadem for three hundred years is found +presiding at a council of Christian bishops discussing the most +important questions of Christian doctrine as though the fate of the +empire depended upon the result. In the short period of fifteen years +which elapsed between the death of Galerius and the Council of Nicća, +the most stupendous revolution which the pages of history record had +been brought about. We cannot wonder that the contemporary heathen +failed altogether to recognise its completeness and its permanence. +Even to ourselves, who look back at the struggle between Christianity +and Paganism from the vantage ground of history, it is difficult to +realise the suddenness of the transition. To those who lived in the +heat of the conflict, and whose estimate of relative proportions was +necessarily confused by the nearness of this position, it was +altogether unintelligible. The one thing which most astonishes us in +heathen writers at this period is their blindness to the real +significance of the change. They ignore it, or they make light of it; +they speak of Christian sects, of Christian offices and Christian +rites, in a tone of cold indifference where they think fit to mention +them at all. Obviously they look at Christianity as a phenomenon which +it may be curious to contemplate, but which has no great practical +moment for them; they do not realise it as destined to mingle +permanently with the main stream of human life. Christianity to them +is still a mere Syrian superstition which has become the fashion of +the day, as so many other superstitions have been before it, and, like +its predecessors, will pass away when it has had its fling. The truth +is, that the revolution was not really sudden, though it seemed so. In +its social and political aspects, its victory was almost +instantaneous, but essentially it was a moral revolution; and such +revolutions are ever gradual: they provoke no notice because they are +noiseless; they advance patiently and silently, step by step; and then +only when the work is done do indifferent spectators discover that any +work has been going on. Their true type is that temple of God in whose +building neither hammer, nor axe, nor tool of iron was heard, because +the stones had been brought thither ready hewn for the building. + +In this course of lectures it is my design to discuss the fall of +Paganism and the triumph of Christianity in the Roman empire; but +obviously this subject is too large for adequate treatment within the +space of three short lectures. I am obliged, therefore, to limit it in +some way or other; and it seemed to me that I could not do better than +take the reign of Julian the Apostate as the central feature in the +picture, and group around it such other facts as may be required to +explain its significance. There are many advantages in this mode of +treatment. This Paganism was never exhibited to more advantage than in +the person of this, its greatest and most energetic champion. High +personal character, no common intellectual gift, great military +renown, supreme political power, perfect knowledge of his adversary, +absolute and unflinching devotion to his own cause--all these united +to make Julian the most formidable antagonist which the Church ever +had, or might be expected to have. His career showed what Paganism +could do, and what it could not do. The ability of the champion only +exposed the helplessness of the cause. And again, a full blaze of +light is poured upon this one man and this one reign such as rarely +falls to any period of ancient history. Julian himself, devoted +friends, impartial critics, sworn foes, heathen and Christian, +orthodox and Arian--all have contributed to the completeness of the +portraiture. This strange character, half philosopher, half fanatic, +the most wary of dissemblers, and the most Quixotic of adventurers, +stands before us with a distinctness of feature which leaves nothing +to be desired. + +In order to understand the man and the epoch it is necessary to take +up the course of history more than half a century before he ascended +the throne. The starting-point in our review of events is the most +remote province of the empire--the island of Britain. On the 25th of +July, 306, Constantine was proclaimed Emperor by the Roman Legionaries +at York. "Oh, happy Britain," says a heathen panegyrist, not then +foreseeing the stupendous results, "Oh, happy Britain! that it has +first seen Constantine as Cćsar." This was the commencement of a long +reign, extending over more than thirty years--the longest in the +annals of Imperial Rome since Augustus. In the interval of three +centuries which separated these two remarkable men, no emperor had +reigned who deserved to be considered great as they were. And their +lives are linked together in another way. The one reign saw +Christianity cradled in the manger; the other witnessed it seated on +the throne. On October 27th, 312, some two miles from the walls of +Rome, where the Great North Road crosses the Tiber, was fought the +decisive battle of the Milvian Bridge. The routed army with its +captain and rival Emperor, the heathen champion Maxentius, perished in +the waters of the Tiber, and Constantine entered the Imperial +city--the stronghold of Paganism--in triumph. On June 15th, 313, was +signed the great charter of religious toleration--the Edict of Milan, +issued in the joint names of the Emperors Constantine and Licinius. By +this edict Christianity was recognised as a lawful religion. The +sacred places, and the property which had been taken from the +Christians during the great persecution were restored to them once +more. Every man was allowed henceforth to adopt any form of worship +which he might choose. On the 25th of July, 325, the anniversary of +his accession and the inauguration of the twentieth year of his reign, +Constantine, then sole Emperor, brought the Council of Nicća to a +close. He had been present at several of its sittings, and throughout +had exerted himself to the utmost to secure unanimity. By a higher +inspiration, yet not without his instrumentality, the deliberations of +the assembled Bishops resulted in the Creed which was to be henceforth +and for ever the basis of unity in the Church. + +But, meanwhile, what was Constantine himself? It is strange that, +notwithstanding the prominent part taken by this Emperor in the +establishment and consolidation of the Church, historians have been +found to doubt the genuineness of his conversion, I do not think that +the facts justify any such hesitation. For the sincerity of his +Christian profession we have two guarantees, which, combined, must, I +think, be regarded as conclusive. It was gradual, and it was +disinterested. It was gradual. I shall say nothing here of his +miraculous conversion, of the fiery cross in the heavens, with the +inscribed words, "Hereby conquer," which is said to have appeared to +him shortly before the battle of the Milvian Bridge. What truth +underlies this story we shall never know; but, judging by his public +actions, we trace a gradual advance towards a more distinct reception +of Christianity. His father Constantine had been a believer in one +God. He had extended his protection to the Christians when they were +persecuted by his Imperial colleagues. This Monotheism and this +toleration descended to Constantine, as it were, by inheritance. For +some years after his accession he appears not to have advanced much +beyond this point. On the triumphal arch erected in Rome to +commemorate his victory over Maxentius, and which still spans one of +the approaches of the Forum, his success is ascribed to the +suggestions of "the Divinity." Such language is exactly what his +father, who was not a Christian, might have used, what heathen +philosophers did use again and again. This vague expression, "The +Divinity," is repeated several times afterwards in Imperial edicts. +There is as yet no personal profession of Christianity. The Edict of +Milan puts the Christians on the same political level as the Pagan. It +gives them no advantage; but, by degrees, his language becomes more +explicit, and his legislation more directly favours the Christians. +The Council of Nicća is the climax of aggressive ascent. Again it was +disinterested. As a mere question of worldly policy, I think it can +hardly be doubted that Constantine acted very unwisely in embracing +Christianity. His Christian subjects were still a comparatively small +minority--an aggressive minority it is true, but not a dangerous +minority if properly handled. They would have been won over to a man +by frank toleration as they had been won over to his predecessor, +Alexander Severus, and to his father, Constantius Chlorus. They asked +nothing more than this. But by the further step of declaring himself a +Christian he had nothing to gain and very much to lose. He alienated +the heathen subjects, while his Christian subjects were devoted to him +already. Indeed, as a matter of fact, it is quite plain that his +conversion did lead to much disaffection, and that he was greatly +hampered by it. Take an instance of this. The secular games, the great +festival of thanksgiving for the prosperity of Rome, recurred, +according to Roman usage, at long intervals of about one hundred and +ten years. They were celebrated with great pomp and magnificence, and +accompanied by elaborate propitiatory sacrifices to the tutelary +deities of Rome. They had been kept last under Severus, and the time +had come for another celebration. But year after year of the long +reign of Constantine passed, and no notice was taken of them. No +omission would have wounded more deeply the sensibilities of the +Romans than this. The heathen historian Zosimus, writing a whole +century after, ascribed all the woes that had befallen the empire to +this one fatal neglect. Again, during his second and last visit to +Rome, the Capitoline games were celebrated. A main feature in the +ceremonial was a procession along the sacred way to the Temple of +Jupiter on the Capitol, in which the Emperor himself was expected to +take a part. He flatly refused. Looking down from his residence on the +Palatine Hill as the magnificent train wound round its foot, he broke +out into expressions of ridicule and contempt. The senate and people +were mortally offended. On one occasion, probably during this very +visit, his statues were pelted with stones. This insult was reported +to Constantine by some indignant courtier. The Emperor passed his hand +across his brow. He had a strong sense of humour. "Strange," said he, +"that I did not feel hurt." But he did feel hurt, nevertheless; hurt +in dignity by this insolence of the Romans, and a new capital arose on +the shores of the Bosphorus in protest against the outrage. Christian +Constantinople was his revenge on heathen Rome. "He made himself a +Greek," said Dante, "to leave Rome to the Pope." Doubtless the Papal +power grew more freely when the shadow of the Imperial presence was +removed; but the Pope was not in Constantine's mind, and the immediate +effect was a deadly side-thrust at heathendom. Rome, the stronghold of +heathen sentiment and worship, languished rapidly from this time. +Paganism had been stabbed in the heart. + +But while the sincerity of Constantine cannot reasonably be doubted, +his inconsistency is quite beyond question. The fact is that he was +half a Pagan to the end, and, as Niebuhr has truly said, we do him a +grievous wrong if we judge his actions by a purely Christian standard. +In this respect he was only like many of his contemporaries. In that +age of transition the best heathens were half Christians, and not the +best Christians were half heathens. The semi-Paganism of Constantine +is matched by the semi-Christianity of Julian. I am not concerned with +the moral inconsistencies of this Emperor. The sins of Constantine +will not condemn the truth of Christianity, any more than the virtues +of Julian will re-instate the errors of Paganism. Constantine is +allowed on all hands to have been temperate in his habits and chaste +in his life; but the domestic history of this great Sovereign was +darkened by one horrible tragedy. About twelve months after the +Council of Nicća, in which he had borne so conspicuous a part, the +Roman world was horrified by the report of three murders in the +Imperial household. The Emperor's eldest and favourite son, Crispus--a +young man of highest promise--an idol of the public; his little +nephew--a bright, engaging boy of twelve; his own wife, Fausta, the +mother of his three younger sons, were ruthlessly put to death. What +was the secret of this tragedy we shall never know. It seems most +probable that the son was implicated in some dangerous conspiracy, +that the nephew was an unconscious tool of the conspirators, and that +the wife, having goaded the husband in the first flush of his anger to +extreme measures against her stepson, herself fell a victim to the +violence of his remorse when the revulsion came. There were, we may +safely say, circumstances which might extenuate these horrible crimes; +there could be none which could justify them. A dark, indelible stain +rests on the memory of Constantine. + +But if the moral inconsistency of Constantine is the more shocking, +his religious inconsistency is the more bewildering. In his recently +built capital he erected a statue of himself, which exhibited a +strange medley of the old and the new, and which may well serve for a +type of his career as a sovereign. The Emperor was represented as a +follower of the Deity, whom he himself had adopted as his patron in +the old days of his Paganism--the Deity whom his apostate nephew ever +regarded with special reverence; but in the aureole which encircled +the head the rays took the form of the nails, the instruments of +Christ's passion. It was believed that at the base of this statue +Constantine had placed a fragment of the true cross. It is also stated +that in this same place was deposited the palladium--the cherished +relic of Pagan Rome, which Ćneas was said to have rescued from the +flames of Troy, and which Constantine himself stealthily removed to +his new capital. It is just the same with his legislation. Thus we +find almost side by side, promulgated within two months of each other, +two Imperial decrees--the one enjoining that Sunday shall be set apart +as a day of rest; the other providing that when the palace or any +public building is struck by lightning, the soothsayers shall be +consulted as to the meaning of the prodigy, according to ancient +custom, and the answer reported to the Emperor himself. When, indeed, +we see this juxtaposition of Christianity and Paganism, we are +forcibly reminded that Constantine was one and at the same time the +summoner of the Nicene Council and the chief Pontiff of heathenism. +Thus, at one moment, he was preaching sermons to his courtiers and +discussing dogmas with his bishops; and, at the next, he was issuing +orders for the regulation of some Pagan ritual. The same fountain +_did_ send forth sweet waters and bitter. And this incongruity +held him captive to the last, even beyond the gates of death. In his +newly built eastern capital--Christian Constantinople--he was buried +by his own directions in a church amidst the memorials of the +apostles, and "the equal of the apostles" was the title accorded to +him by common consent. In his forsaken western capital--heathen +Rome--he was, as a matter of course, deified, as his Imperial +predecessors had been deified, as he himself had deified his own +father Constantius; and by virtue of this apotheosis he took his rank, +not only with an Augustus or a Trajan, but with a Commodus and a +Caracalla among the gods of Olympus. A strange blending of incongruous +elements. And yet, whatever may have been felt of Constantine's life, +however much of Paganism may have alloyed his Christianity hitherto, +when the end came there was no more halting between two opinions. +Failing health to one who was endowed with a singularly robust +constitution came as an unmistakable sign of the approaching change. +The warning was not lost upon him. The increased fervour of his +devotions was noticed by all. On one occasion he spent a whole night +in the church praying. Strange to say, this zealous theological +disputant, this foremost champion of the truth, had not hitherto been +baptised. He was not even a catechumen. But now, when he felt himself +sinking, he eagerly pressed that baptism might not be delayed. This +wish was granted, and the rite was administered. This done, he +devoutly expressed his thanksgivings for the mercy vouchsafed to him, +and his readiness to go at once on his last heavenward journey. He +refused again to assume the Imperial purple, and, so arrayed still in +the white robe of his baptism, he was laid on his couch to await the +end. + +On the 22nd of May, 337--it was Whit Sunday, the appropriate festival +of the newly baptised--about noon, the great Emperor breathed his +last. He was succeeded by his three sons--Constantine, Constantius, +and Constans. The three princes were scarcely seated on the throne, +when the Imperial family became again the scene of a horrible tragedy +as shocking as that which had left so dark a stain on their father's +life. The soldiers rose up and massacred not less than nine princes of +the blood--the brothers and nephews of the deceased Emperor. Nearly a +century later an untrustworthy historian gives currency to a story +that Constantine himself had directed these massacres, having +discovered that he had been poisoned by his brothers. For this +shameful libel on them and on him there is absolutely no foundation. +All the circumstances are against it, and it may safely be dismissed +as a foul calumny. More specious is the view that the new Emperor +Constantius, then a young man of twenty-one, was implicated in the +massacre; but it was done, if not by his direct orders, at least with +his tacit connivance. But, however this may be, the incident has a +very direct bearing on the subject of these lectures. In this carnage, +besides the three Emperors themselves, two children alone escaped. The +other members of the Imperial family perished to a man. The survivors +were the two sons of one of Constantine's brothers, Julius +Constantius; Gallus, a boy of twelve or thirteen; and Julian, a child +of six or seven, of whom we shall hear much hereafter. Their father +and their eldest brother were amongst the slain. + +Of the three brothers who divided the empire of Constantine we are +concerned only with one--the eldest, Constantine, and the youngest, +Constans, perished in two successive revolutions. The middle and +surviving brother, Constantius, united again all the dominions of his +father under his sceptre. He alone left his mark on the history of the +Church. He alone shaped the destinies and swayed the feelings of his +relative, Julian. It is worth our while to form a closer acquaintance +with this man, who was the evil genius of his cousin and ward. +Constantius had not inherited the towering strength and commanding +mien of his father. He was under the average height, with a long body +and short, bowed legs. His complexion was very dark, his hair smooth +and glossy. He had prominent and keen eyes, recalling the piercing +glance which his father Constantine had cast around on the assembled +Bishops in the Council-hall of Nicća, and which never failed to strike +awe into the beholders. The crimes of Constantine were those of a +strong, impulsive, half-barbarous nature. The crimes of Constantius +were due to cold calculation and to indifference to the commonest +claims of humanity. He was cautious to excess, sparing of his rewards, +and backward in his confidences. He was mean, selfish, suspicious +almost to fanaticism, shrinking from no cruelty when his fears were +alarmed. It is noticed as characteristic of the man that when borne +through the streets of Rome on a triumphal chariot he was seen, +notwithstanding his short stature, to bend his head as he passed under +each archway. Yet he was not a man without redeeming virtues and some +real ability. Like his father, he was temperate and just, so that, +notwithstanding his many enemies, scandal itself was forced into +silence. He could be sparing of rest and prodigal of labour when the +interests of the State demanded it. He was gracious, too, in his +demeanour, and with many--as even his cousin Julian is obliged to +confess--bore a reputation for clemency. He sustained the honours of +his Imperial rank with a dignity which never forgot itself, while he +showed a contempt of mere vulgar popularity which even unfriendly +critics described as magnanimous. Of his disastrous influence on the +religious sentiments of Julian I shall have to speak hereafter. For +the present I confine myself to the part which he took in determining +the relative positions of Christianity and Paganism in the empire. +Unlike his father Constantius, he had been brought up a Christian from +his infancy. His doctrinal views were very distorted, his moral +conduct was often a gross libel on the Gospel; but where it was a +question between Paganism and Christianity the sympathies of the +Emperor were exerted wholly and undisguisedly on the side of the +latter. On the whole, therefore, there is less of heathenism in the +public memorials and the official acts of this reign than in the +preceding. The Pagan emblems diminish; the Pagan enactments in the +Statute Book are fewer. But still Constantius, like Constantine, +continues to hold the office of supreme pontiff, and this necessarily +leads to an official complicity in the rites and institutions of +Paganism. In this capacity he issues edicts for the service of heathen +sepulture, for the repairing of heathen temples, for the support of +heathen priests. When, a quarter of a century later, the heathen +orator Symmachus pleaded the cause of expiring Paganism before the +Emperor of his day, he appealed to the example of Constantius, who, +though himself possessing a different faith, respected the ancient +rites, and provided for their due maintenance out of the public +treasury. But avarice often over-leaped the bounds which the Imperial +laws prescribed. The sacred name of the Gospel was again and again +profaned during this reign by spoliation and violence, just as under +our own Tudor Kings the cause of reformation was sullied by the +selfish rapacity of the nobles. The Court of Constantius was beset +with greedy and unscrupulous adventurers; and knowing the private +sympathies of the Emperor, they would not be slow to seize the +opportunities where any real or reported scandal of Paganism gave a +handle for interference. Such opportunities would not be rare. Thus +Paganism held on, still maintained and protected by law, but exposed +to occasional outrages from individual violence, when, by a sudden +catastrophe, it found itself seated once more on the throne. + +On the 3rd of November, 361, in the twenty-fifth year of his reign, +Constantius died. The event was altogether unexpected; he was still in +the prime of life, only forty-five years of age. Temperate habits and +vigorous outdoor exercises had kept him in perfect and unbroken +health; but he was seized with a fever, and sank rapidly. There was +only time to send to Antioch for the Bishop to administer that +sacrament, which is ordained as the inauguration, but which, with him, +as with his father, was the consummating act of his Christian +profession. Immediately after his baptism he expired. His cousin +Julian, the only surviving Prince of the house of Constantine, was his +unquestioned successor. Thus Christianity, having wielded the Imperial +sceptre for more than half a century, was again deposed. Of the +education and the apostasy, of the reign and work of the new Emperor, +I hope to speak to you in my two concluding lectures. + + + + +II.[9] + + +In my lecture last Tuesday I passed under review the two long reigns +of Constantine and Constantius, comprising altogether a period of +fifty-five years. We were thus brought to the accession of Julian. +What, then, was the change wrought in the relations of Christianity +and Paganism during this period? Most persons, I imagine, would answer +without misgiving that Christianity had been established on the ruins +of heathenism. This answer, however, would be wholly inaccurate. +Paganism was in no sense disestablished, and Christianity was only in +a very limited sense established. Paganism was still the official +religion of the empire. Whatever might be the individual faith of the +sovereign, yet, as the head of the State, he was still the chief +representative of heathenism, both in life and in death. In life he +was the supreme pontiff, the fountain head of authority over all the +priests, temples, rituals, throughout the empire; in death the +representation was transformed from earth to heaven. By his apotheosis +he became a patron divinity of Rome. A pagan calendar is still extant +in which all the festivals of the deified Constantine are duly +recorded. Now there was not and there could not be any such alliance +with the State on the part of Christianity. However strong might be +the Emperor's personal sympathies; however much he might mix himself +up in the internal affairs of the Church; whatever privileges or +immunities he might extend to the clergy,--yet officially he had no +recognised position, officially he was a Pagan still. When, therefore, +it is said that Paganism was disestablished and Christianity +established in its stead, the position of affairs is entirely +misconceived. The personal religion of the sovereign had nothing +whatever to do with the official religion of the State. In modern +countries, for the most part, the two coincide, and it is well that +this should be so; but there are some exceptions. England under James +II., and Saxony at the present moment, are cases in point. + +But while Paganism was in no sense disestablished, Christianity might +be said to a certain extent, though only to a very limited extent, to +have been established side by side with it. The principle which in our +own day has been called "levelling up," had been partially adopted. +Christianity was not only tolerated as a lawful religion, but some +political privileges had been extended to it. Thus, for instance, one +enactment of Constantine exempts the Christian clergy from certain +onerous duties, while another secures to the Pagan priests this same +privilege. In this respect the two religions are put on exactly the +same footing. Here is a case, if not of concurrent endowment, at least +of concurrent immunity, which comes to the same thing. + +The fact is, that both Christian and heathen writers were interested +in representing the change effected by the early Christian emperors as +more complete than it was. To the Christian writer it was a point of +honour to clear them from any stain of complicity with Paganism. To +the heathen writer, wise after the event, the memory of those princes +was naturally odious, and to exaggerate their hostility to the gods +was to deepen the stain on their characters. But we have fortunately +other witnesses quite free from suspicion. The coins, and the +inscriptions, and the decrees, tell a very different tale. They show +that in all essential respects Paganism, at least in the West, was as +free to develop itself as before. They reveal to us temples built, +priesthoods established, sacrifices offered, as hitherto; they exhibit +the name of the Emperor connected with the worship of Jupiter the +Preserver, of Mars the Champion, of Hercules the Conqueror, of Sol the +Invincible. Hercules is still the preserver of Cćsar, and Sol is still +the companion of Augustus. They show that the worship of the Lydian +Cybele still flourished on the hill Vatican, and the worship of the +Persian Mithras was still maintained in the vaults of the Capitol. All +this it is necessary to bear in mind if we would understand the true +position of Julian. It is quite a mistake to suppose that he had to +begin _de novo_, and to re-establish Paganism. It still held the +political vantage ground, however much it had lost in social prestige; +and if it had had any inherent vitality at all, its work of +restoration could have been as successful as in fact it proved futile. + +What, then, was the real nature of the injury which this half-century +of Christian supremacy in the person of the sovereign had inflicted on +Paganism? First of all, the Imperial legislation, while it protected +and even fostered the central institutions of Paganism, zealously +assailed some outlying works. On two points especially it was +uncompromising. It rigorously proscribed divination, and sternly +repressed certain special rites accompanied by licentious orgies. In +neither respect, however, did it go beyond what during the Republic +and under the early emperors had again and again been held necessary +to secure the safety of the city and the morals of the people. But +however justifiable, according to heathen precedents, this legislation +of the early Christian emperors had proved a fatal blow to heathendom, +for it was just here that the ardour of popular religion had +consecrated itself. The patient energy, the suggestive mysticism, even +the immoral orgies of the Oriental religions, had been found to have +an irresistible attraction, and the ancient rites of Greece and Rome, +which seemed cold and passionless by their side, were deserted for +these new favourites. They were, it was true, only the buttresses of +the old polytheism. The original structure of Roman and Hellenic +worship was untouched; but when the main building was crumbling with +age the removal of these ancient supports which had shored it up was +fatal, and it fell by its own weight. + +But, secondly, the erection of a new capital was a not less deadly +blow to Paganism. Rome was the central fortress of heathendom: to +withdraw from it the Imperial Government was to deprive it of its +ammunition. After the building of Constantinople, Rome still remained +the formal official capital of the empire; but, practically, its +influence was gone. It no longer guided deliberation; it simply +recorded results. And not only was Paganism materially weakened by +this transference, but at the same time Christianity was delivered +from its fetters. Constantinople was a Christian city from the +beginning. Paganism had here no prescriptive claim and no +time-honoured prestige. So long as the Imperial Government remained at +Rome, it found itself inextricably entangled in Paganism. Constantine +had felt its merciless strength, and the foundation of a new capital +was his escape from it. + +Yet, after all, such weapons as these would have been quite +ineffective, if Paganism had possessed any inherent vitality. The grip +of death was already upon it before the arm of power was raised +against it. It was as when, after long centuries, the tomb of some +ancient king is laid open, the stately form, and the majestic +features, and the royal robes are exposed to our view. For the moment +he seems to be living still as he lived in history; but we look again, +and we see only a handful of dust. Sealed in its sepulchre, the corpse +might have preserved its outward form for ages still; but the air and +the light were poured in upon it, and all at once it crumbles away. +Paganism was confronted with Christianity, and it vanished. + +The infancy of Julian had been dabbled in blood. His earliest +recollections would carry him back to the time when fathers, brothers, +uncles, cousins, all had fallen in one indiscriminate massacre. From +this carnage he and his brother Gallus alone had escaped; he himself, +so he believed, because he was too young to be feared, and his brother +because he was then a sickly boy, and seemed not to have long to live. +The odium of this foul crime, whether justly or unjustly, rested on +his cousin, the Emperor Constantius. If Constantius had not directly +ordered it, he was thought to have connived at it. Certainly he had +been on the spot, and, whether for want of power or for want of will, +he had not prevented it. The courtiers and attendants attempted to +palliate his cousin's guilt to the child Julian. They represented to +him that Constantius had been deceived; that he was unable to restrain +the savage outbreak of the soldiers; that he suffered fearful pangs of +remorse; that he attributed to this crime all the misfortunes of his +after life. It seems plain from this account that the spectre of this +ghastly massacre haunted Julian's childish memory. He could not but +feel that the bare sword was hanging over his own neck. + +Julian was left an orphan before he was seven years old. His mother +had died a few months after his birth. His father had perished, as we +have seen. For some years after the massacre, he appears to have +resided at Constantinople. Of his brother Gallus we hear nothing +during this period. Julian himself was placed under the charge of an +old family servant--a Scythian, Mardonius by name, a strict and +pedantic disciplinarian, but also a man of culture, as the sequel +shows. Mardonius taught his pupil to keep his eyes fixed on the ground +as he took his walks. He led him always to and fro to school by the +same way, knowing no other himself, and preventing the lad from +discovering any other. He strictly prohibited him from going to the +theatre or the circus, and altogether filled his mind with a distaste +for the popular amusements of his age. We hear nothing of +companionship, nothing of outdoor exercise, nothing of the +cheerfulness and the sympathy which are equally necessary with the +moral discipline and the intellectual training for the proper +expansion of child's faculties. Julian was not like other children. +Whatever may have been his natural disposition, his education had +never allowed him to be a boy. Human nature, more especially childish +nature, must seek relief somewhere from hard conventional restraints. +Where all the usual outlets are closed, the buoyancy and the +enthusiasm of the child will devise some means of escape. The paradise +of Julian's childish existence was made up of two things. First, his +tutor Mardonius was an enthusiastic admirer of Homer. If he prevented +him from playing in the field he took him to the leafy islands of +Calypso, to the Cave of Circe and the Gardens of Alcinous. With a less +intelligent child this might have bred a feeling of disgust; but +Julian was quick, imaginative, absorbing, and here was field for his +sensibility. And, again, though his walks might be confined to one +city, and to one street in that city, yet no bounds could shut out the +glories of the heavens above. We have Julian's own authority for +saying that his childish imagination was profoundly impressed by their +contemplation. "From my earliest days," he wrote long afterwards, "a +strange yearning after the rays of the God, the Sun God, sunk into my +soul; and thus from the time I was quite a little child, when I looked +at the light of heaven, I was beside myself with ecstasy, so that not +only would I look eagerly and fixedly on the sun, but at night also, +when there was a cloudless and clear sky, I gave up everything at +once, and was rivetted by the beauties of the heavens, no longer +understanding anything that any one spoke to me, nor giving heed to +myself what I was doing." These, then, were the two bright spots which +relieved the gloom of his childish life--the literature of Greece and +the contemplation of the heavens. How large an influence these early +memories had on his later apostasy, it will not be difficult to +imagine. + +This went on for some years with slight interruptions, and then there +was a complete change. It was apparently about the year 344, when +Julian would be thirteen or fourteen years old, and Gallus eighteen or +nineteen, that, by the Emperor's orders, the two brothers were carried +away to Macellum, an imperial castle in the mountain districts of +Cappadocia. There they spent the next six years of life in strict +retirement. What may have been the reason of this change we are not +told, but we can easily suspect. Gallus was now growing up to manhood. +He was tall, well made, and handsome, with flowing auburn hair; not +unlike his uncle, the great Constantine, as we may infer from the +description of the two men. The suspicious temper of Constantius might +take alarm lest this young man should become the centre of +disaffection and treason. But, however this may be, the seclusion was +complete. Julian speaks of it as banishment. To himself it was the +worst kind of banishment. He was banished not only from the city and +the court, about which probably he knew little and cared less, but he +was banished also from his books and his teachers. The two brothers +saw no one of their own rank; their domestics were their only +associates. Gallus was no companion for Julian. He had no literary +taste; notwithstanding his handsome looks he was coarse and violent, +even ferociously brutal, in his disposition, as the sequel shows. The +treatment of Julian during this critical period of his life must have +been altogether injurious to the healthy development of his character. +A cramped boyhood almost certainly produces a one-sided manhood. + +At length, after six years of seclusion, the brothers were again set +free. What was the motive of Constantius--whether he considered that +they had been sufficiently restrained, or whether some conscientious +scruples found their way into his heart--we cannot say. Gallus and +Julian were summoned to Constantinople. Soon after this a formidable +insurrection broke out in the West, and Constantius found it necessary +to associate some one with him in the cares of the empire. Accordingly +Gallus, then twenty-five years old, was nominated Cćsar, and appointed +to the command of the East. The appointment was most disastrous. Now +that he was free from control, the innate ferocity of his disposition +revealed itself. He has been compared, and the comparison does him no +injustice, to a bloodthirsty tiger, who has broken through the bars of +his cage, and, enraged by long confinement, fiercely attacks every one +who comes in his way. Complaints of his savage, turbulent +administration came thick upon the ears of Constantius. There were +also rumours of a disloyal conspiracy on the part of the new Cćsar. +Constantius might, perhaps, have forgiven the misgovernment; but the +treason could not be overlooked. Gallus was recalled, stripped of the +purple, and put to death without a hearing. Constantius had dyed his +hand once more in the blood of Julian's kindred. Julian was left alone +in the world, confronted by the tyrant. This happened in the year 354. + +But while the caged passions of Gallus had sought compensation in this +savage outbreak, the caged intellect of Julian was running riot in its +own way. For a time he seems to have enjoyed comparative freedom. At +Constantinople, at Nicomedia, at Pergamos, at Ephesus, we hear of his +attendance on philosophers, on rhetoricians, on teachers of all kinds. +The jealousy of Constantius could look with complacency on his +philosophical and literary ardour. An ungainly, enthusiastic, +unpractical scholar was the last man whom he need fear as a rival. It +was during this period of turbulent, energetic, unreflecting, +intellectual activity that the change came upon him. Whatever might +have been the religious feelings of his boyhood, it was only now that +Paganism asserted its power over his mind. The incident that decided +his apostasy is eminently characteristic of the man and of the period. +It happened in the year 351, the same year as that in which Gallus was +invested with the purple, when Julian himself was twenty years of age. +In the course of conversation one of his teachers happened to speak of +Maximus, a famous philosopher, whom he described as possessing great +natural gifts, and as accompanying his teaching by demonstrations. +Julian's curiosity was excited. He demanded an explanation. He was +told that on one occasion Maximus, in the presence of the speaker and +others, had burnt a grain of incense in the temple of Hecate and +chanted some mysterious hymn, when suddenly they saw the statue of the +goddess smile upon him. On their expressing surprise, he told them +that they should see a greater marvel than this--the torches in the +hands of the goddess should burst out into flames of their own accord. +He had scarcely said the word when the lights burst out from the +torches. "Stay with your books," said Julian, "and I wish you joy of +them; I have found the man I have been seeking for." He sought out +Maximus, and was initiated in his philosophy and his magic. + +This grotesque and unnatural combination was, as I have said, +characteristic of the man and of the age. In earlier times philosophy +and popular superstition were deadly foes, but in face of Christianity +both the one and the other had learnt their weakness, and this unequal +alliance was patched up. The new Platonist philosophy adopted not only +the mythology of Greece and Rome, but the nature-worship and the magic +of the East. A true theology must appeal at once to the intellect +which demands a reason for its allegiance, and to the religious +instinct which is conscious of dependence on a higher power. +Christianity recognises both these claims. Greek philosophy appealed +to the one faculty; Pagan religion to the other. Thus divided they +could do nothing, though the alliance was formed. It was well +conceived, but it was impossible, because it was a fundamental +violation of truth. Julian, the champion of heathendom, advanced to +slay Christianity with philosophy in his right hand and superstition +in his left, and both weapons shivered in his grasp. + +Julian was a Pagan now, but he carefully concealed the change. During +the next ten years, until the death of Constantius, this cloak of +dissimulation was never thrown aside. The immediate outward effect of +his conduct was a stricter attention to the services of the Church. +The old fable, said his heathen friend Libanius afterwards, was here +reversed, and the lion was clothed in the ass's skin. Only one or two +most intimate friends were in the secret, but it was more widely +suspected. Ardent Pagans began to look to him as the future restorer +of Paganism; old prophecies were banded about that Christianity was +soon to come to an end. One such oracle fixed the limit of 365 years +for the worship of Christ. The term was fast drawing to a close. I +shall not undertake the task of arraigning Julian as before the bar of +the Eternal Righteousness. All such attempts to anticipate the verdict +of the Great Judge must be as vain as they are presumptuous; but it is +due to the nobler features of his character--and these were neither +few nor insignificant--to dwell on the extenuating circumstances of +his case. And surely no man's education was more faulty, or more +likely to produce a disastrous revulsion. Christianity was associated +in his memory with everything that was gloomy, terrible, repulsive. +Its champion, in his eyes, was his most deadly enemy, Constantius, who +had shed the blood of his nearest kinsmen, and who was ready at any +moment to shed his own blood when the occasion might demand. Writing +of himself at a later date in apathetic allegory, he describes himself +as a youth who, looking back upon the mass of evil that had befallen +him from his own kinsmen and cousins, was so astounded that he +resolved to throw himself down to Tartarus, but was rescued by Helios, +the Sun God. This throws a flood of light on the personal influences +which coloured his views of Christianity, and finally led to his +apostasy. Moreover, the form of Christianity which was presented to +him was not calculated to impress him deeply or favourably. The +coldness of asceticism would take no firm hold of his ardent and +enthusiastic nature. Its representatives, the Arian bishops, would not +recommend the cause; the exceeding bitterness of theologic controversy +called down his contempt, and the superstitious reverence for the +bones of the martyrs aroused his disgust. In the allegory to which I +have already alluded he speaks of himself as a child covered with +filth and dirt, on whom the Sun God at length took pity. Whatever rays +of light had burst the gloom of his earlier life were associated with +the glories of nature. + +While this strange revel of philosophy and fanaticism was going on in +his mind, Julian visited Athens--Athens at once the home of Greek +literature and the sanctuary of Pagan idolatry. No place more +congenial to his temper could have been chosen than this. Here it was +that he fell in with two devout Christian students, Gregory and +Basil--names destined hereafter to be famous in the history of the +Church. Gregory has left a description of the future emperor as he +appeared at this time--a speaking likeness we cannot doubt. The +convulsive movements of the shoulder, the half-scared, half-frenzied +glance of the eye, the grotesque contortions of the face, the +tumultuous, hesitating speech, the loud, immoderate laughter, the +restlessness of the whole man from head to foot, seemed to Gregory to +bode no good. Much of this was natural to Julian, but much, also, may +have been due to the consciousness of the secret seething within his +soul. We know what Gregory did not know--that Julian was a Pagan +already when he was discussing Christian topics with Christian +students. + +But Julian's studies were rudely interrupted. Constantius again found +the burden of the empire too heavy for his shoulders, and again he +resolved to divide it. Julian, very reluctantly on his part, was +appointed Cćsar, and charged with the administration of Gaul. He was +now twenty-five years of age. The courtiers of Constantius laughed at +the new Cćsar, and certainly the appointment did not give any fair +promise of success. But this enthusiastic philosopher, this student +recluse, soon showed that he had in him the making not only of an able +ruler, but also of a consummate general. In vain the flatterers of +Constantius ridiculed Julian's petty triumphs, as they were pleased to +call them; in vain they dubbed him a scribbling Greek. Campaign after +campaign added to his reputation. His administration of Gaul was +unmistakably brilliant. So matters went on for five years, till the +jealousy of Constantius brought about a crisis. An ill-judged attempt +to withdraw Julian's best Gaulish troops produced a mutiny; the +soldiers proclaimed him emperor, and he accepted the title. Having +assumed the imperial purple, he marched to force his recognition on +Constantius; but he was saved the peril of an appeal to arms. Fever +anticipated the conflict, and carried off Constantius opportunely. +Julian was now absolute emperor, master of himself and master of the +world. He could throw off the mask at length; he was free to carry out +his long cherished design for the restoration of Paganism. With what +energy, with what devotion, with what fanaticism, with what futility +he worked for this end it will be my business in my next and +concluding lecture to describe. + + + + +III.[10] + + +The history of Julian has been employed as an apologue by more than +one writer when satirising some religious reaction of his day. A +well-known living theological critic of Germany uses it as a cloak for +an attack on the late King of Prussia, and English clergymen under the +reign of James II., assailing the religious tendencies of the King, +denounced him as another Julian the Apostate. Such comparisons may +serve their immediate purpose, but they are almost always misleading, +and may be very unjust. I think, however, that we may, with advantage, +compare this Pagan reaction in the Roman empire under Julian with the +Papal reaction in England under Mary. The two sovereigns, indeed, have +little in common except their manifest sincerity, but the general +relations and the ultimate effects of the two movements are not so +very dissimilar. They both interposed after a very decided +predominance of the opposite cause; they both were a return to the +forms of the past; they both involved a reversal of the traditional +policy of the reigning house; they both were short in duration, but +resolute, uncompromising, energetic in action; and they both proved +utterly futile in the result, because they were unsupported by any +deep feeling in the mass of the people. So far as they produced any +effects at all, they served only to nerve the energies and reassure +the confidence of their antagonists. + +Julian was now thirty years old when the death of Constantius left him +sole master of the Roman empire. In stature he was rather below the +average height; his frame was muscular and strong; his shoulders were +unusually broad; his neck was thick and arched; he had a bright and +piercing eye--the family characteristic which was so remarkable in his +uncle Constantine; the upper part of his face, the brow, and the nose +were fine and well chiselled; his mouth was too large, and his lower +lip hung disagreeably. He wore a rough, pointed beard, the usual +appendage of philosophers. Of his personal appearance he was +studiously careless. It would almost seem as though the courtly +dignity and scrupulous neatness of his cousin Constantius had produced +a revulsion in him. He ostentatiously vaunts his unpolished manner and +his slovenly habits. He was signally undignified in all his gestures. +Of his excitability and his restlessness of manner I have already +spoken. He was a hurried, reckless talker. His tongue, we are told, +was never at rest. His energy was enormous. During his administration +of Gaul, when his days had been spent in the anxieties of government +or in the toils of war, he would sit up half the night studying or +writing. When he became Emperor his energy seemed only to increase. +The great purpose of his life, the restoration and reform of Paganism, +was now definitely before him, and he worked at it with a +determination which never slackened. Into a short reign of eighteen +months he crowded an amount of work which probably no sovereign has +ever surpassed. He had on his shoulders the undivided weight of a +great empire; he was preparing for a difficult and dangerous campaign; +he was busied with the hopeless task of restoring an effete religion; +he was writing hither and thither to the representatives of +heathendom, scolding, stimulating, encouraging; and yet he found time +for a vast amount of literary work besides. He corresponded with +rhetoricians and philosophers; he composed orations and hymns in +praise of heathen deities; he wrote a lengthy and elaborate attack on +the Christian religion, and threw off light squibs on his +contemporaries and on his predecessors. If his one fatal act of +apostasy had not perverted and spoiled everything, he might have +ranked among the greatest of princes. As it was, he has no claim to +the title of greatness. He did nothing which has lived, because he did +nothing which deserved to live. He left nothing, absolutely nothing, +behind which has tended to make mankind happier, or better, or wiser. + +Julian, if his own account may be believed, assumed the imperial +diadem with the greatest reluctance; it was forced upon him by the +soldiers before he knew where he was; and yet there is reason to +believe that his coyness was in great measure affected. It is quite +clear that he was already possessed of the idea of a Pagan +restoration, and that he considered himself as having a special call +from his gods for this work. The Genius of Rome, we are told, appeared +to him in a vision. He reproached the reluctant Cćsar with having so +often driven him from his doors, and threatened to depart for ever if +he were excluded this time. Thus warned, Julian responded to the call; +but he still continued to dissemble. We read of his praying to +Mercury, of his receiving admonitions from Jupiter; we are told of his +consulting auspices and using divination in private; and yet on the +festival of the Epiphany, many months after he had been proclaimed +Emperor, we find him entering a Christian Church, and there solemnly +offering up his prayers to Almighty God. His heathen biographer and +admirer assigns as the reason, that he might secure the allegiance of +his Christian subjects. The strange thing is that neither Julian, nor +Julian's friends, seemed to think any apology needed for this +dissimulation. Much, indeed, should be forgiven to one who, from early +childhood, had been driven by the cruelty of his lot to shield himself +under an impenetrable reserve; but it is hard to understand the moral +blindness which fails to see that this flagrant violation of truth had +need to sue for forgiveness. Those martyrs whom Julian derided and +despised held it a glorious gain to sacrifice life and all things +rather than consent even to a momentary act which might be interpreted +as a denial of their faith. I need not ask which is the loftier +spectacle of the two. + +But indeed Julian, notwithstanding the many noble features in his +character--his justice, his moderation, his strict temperance, his +unsparing energy--was wholly wanting in those higher graces which are +the crown of the Christian character. He was egotistical in the +extreme; his self-consciousness rarely, if ever, deserts him; he will +let all the world know that he is a model philosopher; he is always +thanking his gods that he is not as other men are. Even when he +satirises himself his irony is only a veil--a very thin veil, which +rather suggests than conceals his self-complacency. He is always +standing before the mirror, always soliciting the admiration of +mankind. Of the childlike humility which is the main portal to the +kingdom of heaven, he knows nothing. And yet with all this +dissimulation and all this acting we should do the man a gross +injustice if we imagined that he was insincere. Of his sincerity in +the work which he undertook he gave every proof which it is possible +for a man to give. He showed himself ready to spend and be spent for +it. This strange combination of the enthusiast and the dissembler, of +the fanatic and the philosopher, may be very difficult to realise; but +there can be no doubt that they did unite in the person of Julian. In +this spirit Julian applied himself to his task. + +This task was two-fold. He must depress Christianity, and he must +reanimate and reform Paganism. In his relation to Christianity he +avowed himself on principle favourable to absolute toleration. "I do +not wish the Galileans," he wrote, "to be put to death or to be beaten +unjustly, or to suffer any other wrong. We ought rather to pity than +to hate those who are unfortunate in matters of the greatest +importance." How far this was the genuine dictate of his heart, and +how far it was suggested by principles of expediency, we cannot tell, +but at all events he could not persuade himself to apply his principle +frankly. He restored a heretic bishop because his restoration would +create divisions among Christians, and expelled the orthodox +Athanasius because his presence was a tower of strength to the Church. +The letters of Julian on this occasion betray the weakness of his +position. He has absolutely nothing to allege against Athanasius +except that he had taught men to treat the gods with contempt, and +that he had dared to baptise Greek ladies of rank--in other words, +that he was highly successful as a Christian missionary. Having no +argument, he descends to abuse. He scolds the Alexandrians that +petition him to rescind the decree of banishment: he reviles +Athanasius himself; he calls him an impious villain, a vile Manichćan. +He responds to their petition by expelling him not from Alexandria +only, but from the whole of Egypt. Altogether there is a marked +deterioration in Julian's character from the time when he becomes his +own master. He had plainly supposed that he should carry everything +before him: he had imagined that he had only to proclaim toleration, +and his subjects would be as enamoured of Paganism as he himself was. +He was grievously disappointed. He found in Christianity a strength, a +vitality, a resistance for which he was not prepared. He found in +Paganism a feebleness, an irresolution, an indifference, an utter +absence of self-sacrifice, which contrasted strangely with his own +devoted enthusiasm. + +It is infinitely tragical to contemplate his gradually descending from +the high level on which he took his stand at first to mean devices of +all kinds--more tragical than though he had boldly taken up the sword +of the persecutor at once. He would not desert his principle of +toleration; he never ceased to enunciate that to the last; but he +would connive at violations of it. Pagan outrages on the Christians +were condoned or gently rebuked. When assaults on their life and their +property were reported to him, he would say, flippantly, these +Galileans--so he always called them--ought not to resent the +opportunity of being made martyrs when they prized martyrdom so +highly; that they had no just cause for complaint in being condemned +to poverty when poverty was so loudly extolled in their Lord. But, +indeed, Julian showed unmistakably by one enactment that toleration +with him was not an inviolable principle. An edict was issued by him +forbidding any Christian to give instruction in Greek literature under +any circumstances. The reason assigned was that, as they did not +believe in the gods of Homer and Hesiod, they were not fit expositors +on these points. "Let them go," wrote the Emperor, "to the churches of +the Galileans, and there expound Matthew and Luke." Among those +condemned to silence by this decree were not a few of the most +illustrious teachers of the age. It made a profound sensation at the +time. It was most severely criticised by Julian's own heathen admirers +at a later date. "It deserves," writes one, "to be buried in eternal +silence." To what further lengths the intolerance of Julian might have +gone as he realised more and more the bitterness of failure if his +reign had been prolonged, we can only conjecture; but the descent was +sufficiently rapid to suggest that, soured by disappointment, he +might, had he lived, have been found at the last among the most +relentless of persecutors. + +But while he was thus employing every artifice to depress +Christianity, he was also straining every nerve to reanimate and +restore Paganism. "He was," says his heathen panegyrist, Libanius, +"the best of priests as he was the first of Emperors." He valued the +title of Chief Pontiff, we are told, more highly than the dignity of +Emperor. As Chief Pontiff he made his influence felt throughout the +empire, reopening temples, restoring privileges, reinstituting +sacrifices. No deity and no rite in any corner of his dominions +escaped his vigilance. Whether it was the worship of the Phrygian +Cybele, or of the Apis at Memphis, or of the Daphnian Apollo at +Antioch, his interest was equally unflagging. He was everywhere +advising, coaxing, threatening, goading into activity, where he could +not fan into enthusiasm. And not content with thus exercising his +official superintendence, he was most assiduous in his own personal +services. In season and out of season he would ply the bystander with +questions as to his religious belief. In season and out of season he +would dispute against the Galileans. Wherever he went the altars +smoked with victims. He would offer sacrifices of a whole hecatomb at +once. He ransacked land and sea for rare birds and beasts, that he +might offer them in sacrifice to the gods. At Antioch his soldiers +were constantly seen borne away from the temple through the streets, +gorged and intoxicated, after the revelry of these religious +festivals. All kinds of divination, by flight of birds, by the +inspection of entrails, by the sound of waters, by oracular responses, +and by Sibylline books, were diligently sought out. + +Every charlatan who pretended to some new secret of soothsaying was +welcomed by him. Strange to say, all this fervour of devotion did not +recommend Julian to his heathen subjects. It shows the hollowness of +Paganism at this time that his conduct was met either with ridicule or +with condemnation. The common people called him in derision a victim +butcher, and not a sacrificial priest. It was sneeringly said that if +he had returned triumphant from his Persian expedition the whole race +of cows must have become extinct. The devotion of the Emperor found no +response in the mass of his subjects. + +But Julian was not only a restorer, he was also a reformer of +heathendom. Whether he was conscious of the difference or not, the +Paganism which he had set up as his ideal was quite another thing from +the Paganism which had been handed down from the past. He strove to +graft the morality and the organisation of Christianity on the stem of +heathendom. The priests of Paganism were merely the performers of +certain rites, the depositories of certain mysteries. They had no +moral, or educational, or philanthropic conscience. The Christian +clergy, on the other hand, over and above their duties in the public +services of the Church, were expected to be also the pastors and +teachers, the guides and examples, the ministers of comfort, and the +dispensers of alms to their flocks. Julian attempted to infuse this +pastoral element into the Pagan priesthood, to which it was wholly +foreign. In the letters which are extant the priests are enjoined by +him to abstain from the theatre or the tavern; they are forbidden to +engage in any degrading occupation; they are required to see that +their wives, and children, and servants attend regularly on the +service of the gods; they are told to imitate the grave demeanour and +the benevolent hospitality of Christian bishops. "It is shameful," +writes the Emperor, "that the impious Galileans should support our +people as well as their own." Such a conception of the priest's office +must have surprised Julian's correspondents. They had not bargained +for anything of the kind. + +But, with all his efforts, Julian made no real advance. There were, in +large numbers, apostasies when he apostatised, just as there had been +conversions when Constantine was converted; but these insincere +adherents from fashion or self-interest are the weakness, not the +strength, of any cause. Julian could not have deceived himself. He saw +none of the self-sacrifice which is the only evidence of genuine +religious conviction. He upbraided the crowds who flocked to the +temples, not to worship the gods, but to applaud the Emperor. + +And now the end was fast approaching. About Midsummer 362, Julian took +up his residence at Antioch, where he spent nine months preparing for +his Persian campaign. This sojourn aggravated his disappointment. The +people of Antioch did not take kindly to their sovereign. Before long +he had succeeded in making himself equally unpopular with both the +great sections of the community. At Antioch, where Christianity had +first obtained its name, the Christians formed an exceptionally large +fraction of the whole population. They would not be predisposed +favourably towards an apostate, and his injustice only served to +confirm their hatred. A fire broke out in the temple of Apollo of +Daphne, and it was burnt to the ground. Without any adequate reason +his suspicions fell on the Christians; he put the suspected persons to +cruel tortures, but elicited no confession. Thus foiled, he ordered +the principal church of Antioch to be closed and razed to the ground. +The attitude of the Christians was one of stern defiance. Under the +walls of the palace, along the streets of the city, wherever the +Emperor would be likely to hear, were chanted the words of the +Psalmist--"Confounded be all they that worship carved images, and that +delight in vain gods. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, +even the work of men's hands. Eyes have they and see not. They that +make them are like unto them, and so are all they that put their trust +in them." Nor was he more fortunate with the heathen population. He +and they were co-religionists, but his Paganism was not their +Paganism. The theatrical exhibitions, the festive orgies, the dancing +and the revelry, these were the very soul of religious worship to +them. He despised all such things. They ridiculed the officious +devotion with which he hurried from temple to temple and from altar to +altar, present at every festival, and participating in every rite. He +took his revenge by satirising their ungodliness. He told them at the +great festival of their patron god, the Daphnian Apollo, he had +expected to see costly victims smoking on the altar, but found there +only one miserable goose, the solitary offering of a poor priest. +Indeed, he was doomed to disappointment on all sides. One great +project which he entertained at this time was the rebuilding of the +temple of Jerusalem. It was not that he loved the Jews, but that he +hated the Christians. So he entered into communication with the Jewish +patriarch, and the work was commenced. The ruined walls were +demolished, the foundations of the new building begun; but as the +workmen penetrated underground, great globes of fire burst out from +the earth and drove them back. Again and again they renewed the +attempt; again and again they were repulsed. The project was +relinquished and the temple remains unbuilt to this day. + +Thus irritated and disappointed, Julian left Antioch and commenced his +march. At his departure he vented his anger against the offending +people by declaring that he would not enter the city again, but on his +return he would go to Tarsus instead. He was as good as his word. He +did return to Tarsus; but he returned there a corpse. Disastrous +omens, we are told, thronged upon him. During his march on Hierapolis, +as he entered the city, a portico suddenly gave way, and crushed fifty +soldiers under its ruins. At Davana a huge stack of straw fell, and +smothered to death as many more. At Carrhć, the fatal scene of the +defeat of Crassus, he was troubled with sinister dreams. At Circesium +he received letters from Sallust, the Prefect of Gaul, entreating him +to suspend the ill-omened expedition. Here, too, was an apparition of +sinister augury. The corpse of an executed criminal was found lying +across the path. At another place an enormous lion confronted the +soldiers across their path. He was shot by them, and presented to +Julian. It portended the death of a king, but on the question what +king was meant there was a division of opinion. The Etruscan +soothsayers considered it a disastrous sign; the philosophers +interpreted it favourably. The next day a soldier named Julianus was +struck down by lightning. This omen again was differently explained. +The soothsayers and the philosophers took opposite sides. + +Arrived at the scene of conflict, the Emperor, after obtaining some +successes, offered a magnificent sacrifice--ten fine bulls--to Mars +the Avenger. The omens were unmistakably sinister. Julian was +disgusted with the ingratitude of the god, and called Jupiter to +witness that he would not sacrifice to Mars again; "nor," adds the +historian, "did he belie his oath, being carried off prematurely by a +speedy death." These prodigies, with others, are related by a Pagan +who accompanied the army. Christian writers add an incident of which I +see no reason to question the proof, and which certainly deserves to +be true. Julian's common taunt against the Christians was their +worship of a dead man. While preparing for his expedition at Antioch, +he fell into dispute, after his manner, with a Christian whom he met +accidentally, and said mockingly, "What is the Son of the carpenter +doing now?" "He is making a coffin," was the prompt reply. The Son of +the carpenter was making a coffin--a coffin not for Julian only, but +for the Paganism of which Julian was the champion. + +It is not necessary for me to follow out this expedition to its +disastrous issue. It is sufficient to say that Julian was inveigled, +surrounded, pierced by a spear from some unknown Persian or Saracen +hand. He perceived at once that he was mortally wounded. His words at +this moment are differently reported. According to one account, he +cried out, "Oh, Galilean, thou hast conquered!" Another story relates +that he took the blood welling from the wound in his hand, and flung +it up towards the sun, his patron god, with an imprecation--"There, +take thy fill." Neither saying, perhaps, is reported on sufficiently +good authority, but either would accord well with the disappointment +and irritation which marked the closing scenes of his life. He +inquired what was the name of the place. It was a small village called +Parthia. He had been forewarned long ago that in Parthia he should +die. He had supposed that the famous country of that name was meant. +We are reminded by this incident of an English sovereign lying on his +death-bed in the famous chamber at Westminster, which still bears the +name of Jerusalem. "It hath been prophesied to me many years I should +not die but at Jerusalem, which vainly I supposed the Holy Land." +Within a few hours Julian had breathed his last. He died on the 26th +June, 363, being not yet quite thirty-two years old, and with him +perished the last and best hope of Paganism. Less than twenty years +after, the Emperor Gratian refused the title of Supreme Pontiff. This +was the first overt act of disestablishment. Then blow followed blow +in rapid succession. Paganism was first disestablished, then +disendowed, then prohibited; yet it still continued to linger on till +at length it was buried in the grave of the empire. St. Augustine's +_City of God_ was the pćan of victory over the enemy slain. +Julian's work had been found like a child's castle elaborately piled +up of sand on the brink of the ocean. The rising tide advanced +steadily, inexorably, relentlessly, and no traces of the structure +remain. + + + + +WOMAN AND THE GOSPEL.[11] + + "And He took the damsel by the hand."--MARK v. 41. + + +In selecting this text I have no intention of saying many words on the +actual scene itself. The raising of Jairus's daughter attracts our +attention by its vivid narrative, and by its intense human pathos, +while the two foreign words, summing up the interest of the story, +linger strangely in our ears, impressing it effectually on our +memories. Nor, again, do I purpose speaking of its direct theological +import, whether as an answer to human faith, or as a manifestation of +the Divine power. In this latter aspect this is one of three signal +miracles, the anticipations of Christ's own resurrection. It claims, +and it has received, the most earnest study, both in itself and in +relation to other incidents of the same class. + +These more obvious aspects of the text are beside my present purpose. +I wish to-day to treat it from a wholly different point of view. +Christ's miracles have always the highest spiritual significance. They +are not miracles only, but parables also. The Messiah's kingdom would +have achieved comparatively little for mankind if it had brought +deliverance to the captive in a literal sense only. A far heavier and +more galling bondage would still remain--the bondage of sin. Physical +blindness is only a type of moral blindness; Christ's healing power in +the one case is the pledge of His healing power in the other. The +palsy of the body symbolises the palsy of the soul. If the paralytic +is bidden to take up his bed and walk, this is before all things an +assurance to us that Christ is able and willing to heal the paralysis +of the soul. From this point of view the words of the text are full of +meaning to all who are met together to-day. "He took the damsel by the +hand, and said unto her, Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise. And +straightway the damsel arose, and walked; and they were astonished +with a great astonishment." + +Need I remind you that this is the earliest miracle of raising the +dead recounted in the Gospels? Two others follow. The widow of Nain +and the sisters of Bethany receive back their dead. But the one was a +growing youth, the other was a man of mature age. The young woman was +Christ's first miracle of resurrection. On her was wrought first this +stupendous miracle. For her was won this earliest triumph over death +and hell. Is not this a significant fact in itself, but especially +significant for you, for it proclaims the fundamental principle of the +Gospel charter? It announces that the weak and the helpless in years, +in sex, in social status, are especially Christ's care. It declares +emphatically that in Him is neither male nor female. It is a call to +you, you women-workers, to do a sister's part to these your sisters. +Christ's action in this miracle is a foreshadowing of His action in +the Church. The Master found woman deposed from her proper social +position. The man had suffered not less than the woman by this her +humiliation. Jew and Gentile had conspired together in an unconscious +conspiracy to bring about this disastrous result. The Hebrew Rabbi and +the Greek philosopher alike had gone astray. It is the recorded saying +of a famous Jewish doctor that the words of the law were better burned +than committed to woman. It is an opinion ascribed to the most famous +Athenian statesman, that woman had then achieved her highest glory +when her name was heard amongst men least, either for virtue or for +reproach. A moral resurrection was needed for womanhood. It might seem +to the looker-on like a social death, from which there was no +awakening, but it was only the suspension of her proper faculties and +opportunities, a long sleep from which a revival must come sooner or +later. It was for Him, and Him alone, who was the Vanquisher of death, +who has the keys of Hades--for Him alone to open the door of her +sepulchral prison and resuscitate her dormant life and restore her to +her ordinary place in society. When all hope was gone, He took her by +the hand and bid her arise; and at the sound of His voice and the +touch of His hand she arose and walked, and the world was astonished +with a great astonishment. We ourselves are so familiar with the +results, the position of woman is so fully recognised by us, it is +bearing so abundant fruit every day and everywhere, that we overlook +the magnitude of the change itself. Only, then, when we turn to the +harem and the zenana do we learn to estimate what the Gospel has +achieved, and has still to achieve, in the emancipation of woman, and +her restitution to her lawful place in the social order. To ourselves +the large place which woman occupies in the Gospel and in the early +apostolic history seems only natural. To contemporaries it must have +appeared in the light of a social revolution. The very opening of the +Gospel is charged with Divine messages communicated to us through +woman--Mary, Elizabeth, Anna; women attend our Lord everywhere during +His earthly ministry. The sisters, Martha and Mary, are set before us +as embodying the two contrasted types of character, the practical and +the contemplative. To a woman, and to a woman alone, is given the +promise of an undying hope beyond the glory of the mightiest earthly +princes. Of her it is said: "Wheresoever this Gospel is preached in +the whole world, there shall this which this woman has done be told as +a memorial of her." To a woman were spoken those gracious words of +pardon most tender and compassionate, the consolation and the stay and +the hope of the penitent to all time: "Her sins, which are many, are +forgiven, for she loveth much." Women are the chief attendants at the +crucifixion, and the chief ministrants at the tomb. Woman is the first +witness of the resurrection; and as it was in Christ's personal +ministry, so it is in all the Apostolic Church. In the first gathering +of the little band after the Ascension, women are found assembled with +the apostles. This is a foreshadowing of the part which they are +destined to play in the subsequent narrative of the history of the +Church. Cast your eyes down the salutations in the Epistle to the +Romans. There is Phoebe, a deaconess of the Church of Cenchrea, +commended as having been the succourer of many, among others of the +Apostle himself. There is Priscilla, who with her husband had laid +down her neck for his life, to whom he himself not only gave thanks, +but all the Churches of the Gentiles. There is Mary, who bestowed much +labour upon him and others; Tryphena and Tryphosa, who laboured much +in the Lord. There is Persis, to whom the same testimony is borne. +There is the mother of Rufus, who had also been like a mother to +himself. There is Julia, and there is the sister of Nereus. A long +catalogue to appear in the salutations of a single epistle! + +Turn again from the Church of which St. Paul knew least when he wrote, +to the Church of which he knew most. Witness his relation to his +beloved Philippian Church. He addresses himself first to the women who +resort to the places of prayer among the individual women with whom he +came in contact. At Philippi we read of Lydia, his earliest hostess in +this city, of the damsel from whom he cast out a spirit of divination, +and then of Euodias and Syntyche, women who laboured with him in the +Gospel; and indeed we know more of the women at Philippi than we know +of the men. + +But it was not only this desultory, unrecognised service, however +frequent, however great, that women rendered to the spread of the +Gospel in its earliest days. The Apostolic Church had its organised +ministrations of women, its order of deaconesses, its order of widows. +Women had their definite place in the ecclesiastical system of those +early times, and in our own age and country again the awakened +activity of the Church is once more demanding the recognition of the +female ministry. The Church feels herself maimed of one of her hands. +No longer she fails to employ, to organise, to consecrate to the +service of Christ, the love, the sympathy, the tact, the self-devotion +of women. Hence the revival of the female diaconate in its +multiplication of sisterhoods. But these, though the most definite, +are not the most extensive developments of this revival. Everywhere +institutions are springing up, manifold in form and purpose, for the +organisation of women's work. There has been, and there is still, a +shameful waste of this latent power, boundless in its capacities if +only fostered and developed. The famous heroines of womanhood will +necessarily be few. It is rarely women's part to save a city or guide +a church. Only at long intervals on the stage of the history of the +world appear such women as Joan of Arc; but here and there God raises +up an exceptional heroine to do exceptional work, which a woman alone +can do, or do so effectually, for her age and country. But generally +it is in the quieter, less obtrusive, more homely, and more womanly +way, that she is called to test her power, certainly not less real or +less beneficent, though it may be less striking, than the power of +man. She is a mother in her own household, her own kindred, her own +parish, her own neighbourhood; the guide, the helper of man. Yes; a +priestess and a prophetess to the young, the sick, the frail and +erring, the poor and needy--needy whether of spiritual or bodily +healing. It is the province of the Church, when acting by the Spirit +and in the name of Christ, to develop the power of women, to take by +the hand and raise from its torpor that which seemed a death, but +which is only a sleep; and now, as then, revived life and beneficent +work will amaze the looker-on--"they were astonished with a great +astonishment." + +Among the most recent developments of the work of the Church of Christ +your Girls' Friendly Society has taken a foremost place. I would say +in all sincerity, that when I read your last report with profound joy +and thankfulness, I was impressed, no less by the completeness of your +ideal, than by the variety and expansion of your work. I do not say +this to commend; this is not the time or the place for commendation. +"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give the praise." +You will not be content, will you? you will not be content, if you are +true to your ideals, with holding out the hand of loving sympathy in +your own home and neighbourhood to a humble sister needing a sister's +care and guidance? Your love will follow her about that she may never +be lost sight of. It is a trite complaint that in this day the old +relations between master and servant have vanished, or almost vanished +away. The bond is no longer one of reciprocal loyalty, but of common +convenience. Hence it is liable to severance at any moment in the +feverish, ever-restless, fluctuating conditions of modern life. It was +impossible that these relations should remain unchanged while all else +was changing. The domestic servant or the shop girl has no longer a +fixed home; she is a wanderer on the earth. It is just here that the +catholicity of your plan should step in and counteract the evil. It is +your part to realise this catholicity. When a girl once enrolls herself +in your numbers, she is _yours_; everywhere, whithersoever she +may go, the friendly eye will rest upon her; the friendly hand will be +stretched out to her wheresoever she may be. She will find everywhere +a home, because she will find everywhere friends. You cannot set this +ideal before yourselves too definitely, or strive to realise it too +earnestly. + +Do you ask how your work may be truly effective? I answer you in the +words of the text; "He took the damsel by the hand." There must be an +intensity of human sympathy, and there must be an indwelling of the +Divine power. The lesson of the miracle which I have taken for my +starting-point involves both these ideals. The current of womanly +sympathy must flow out deep and strong and clear. Is not this the +typical meaning of Christ's action in the text? The touch of His warm +hand restores the circulation and revives the life in those pale, +motionless, death-like limbs. We want sympathy here, sympathy first +and sympathy last--sympathy reflecting, however faintly, Christ's own +boundless compassion and love. The cold, mechanical formalism of the +relieving officer will not suffice; the haughty assertion of +superiority, the condescending patronage of the fine lady will be +worse than nothing. You must be a sister to your sisters, treading in +the footsteps of your Brother, Jesus Christ. Is not this also the +meaning of those words which He utters to the girl lying helpless +before Him? He speaks to her not in the Greek, the conventional +language of outward life, but in the Syriac, the true language of the +family and the home. It pierces her, notwithstanding her death-like +slumber. He speaks to her, as He speaks to us all, with the voice of a +direct personal love. This is always the language of Christ's words, +the language of Christ's Gospel,--"How hear we every man in our own +tongue wherein we were born?" + +And over and above all this, animating, inspiring, sanctifying your +human sympathies, there must be the consciousness of the Divine +presence, the sense of the Divine energy, in your work. You will apply +yourself to it with a strength not your own; the power of the living +Christ will thrill through you. Is not this the interpretation of the +symbolic action, "He took the damsel by the hand"?--He _Himself_, +and not another. "Not I, but Christ in me," will be the inspiring +motive of your work, as it was in St. Paul's. _His_ hand must +guide your hand; nay, His hand must replace your hand, if the touch +shall raise the damsel, and restore her to a better and a happier +life. + +And restore her it will; this intense human sympathy inspired by this +consciousness of the Divine indwelling. It never has failed yet, and +it never can fail to work miracles of resurrection and healing, in her +helplessness, in her temptations, in all her struggles and +perplexities, her bodily wants, and her spiritual trials. It will be +to her comfort and strength and hope; it will throb her with the pulse +of an awakened life. + +But I have spoken hitherto as if these helpless girls whom you +befriend were the sole counterparts of Jairus's daughter. I have +regarded them as only the patients whom Christ's awakening hands raise +from their death-like slumbers. Is this an adequate representation of +the case, think you? Are there not others even more needy than they of +this beneficent movement? Are we not taught on the highest authority +that it is more blessed to give than to receive? But, if so, have we +not a truer antitype of this damsel whom Christ raised in these +befriended girls? Yes, Christ has taken them by the hand, and has +revived them, has awakened them from the heavy, death-like slumber of +a selfish, self-contained being. Christ has shown them the beauty and +the power of sympathy, and it has been to them the throbbing of a new +life. Surely it is not only the daughters of ancestral lineage and of +Norman blood, not only a Clara Vere de Vere, who are sickening with +disease, and who need Christ's healing hand; is there not in the home +of the professional man many a daughter and many a sister on whose +hand time hangs heavily, whose life is wasting away, fretting with +feverish excitement, or sunk in self-indulgence and apathy, weary of +self, and weary of others? How shall they wake up from their barren +monotony and death-like existence? Sympathy, active sympathy for +others; this, and this alone, can restore them. Mothers, train your +daughters early to think for others, to care for others, to minister +to others. Be assured this will be the most valuable part of their +education. This heaven-born charity is the sovereign antidote to all +the ills of womanhood. Is it some secret sorrow gnawing at the heart, +some outraged feeling, or some harrowing bereavement, or some actual +disappointment? Merge and absorb it in active solicitude for others. +Is it some fierce temptation which shamed you, and each fresh struggle +seems to leave you weaker than before? There will be no room for this +if you devote yourself to the needs of others. All sin is selfishness +in some form or other. Forget sloth; this is the best safeguard +against temptation. + +I appeal confidently to all those who have made the trial to say +whether this medicine has healed them where all other medicines have +failed? And, why, why? It is Christ's own love constraining them; it +is Christ's own touch thrilling through their veins; hence they mark +the resurrection--"He took the damsel by the hand; and straightway she +arose and walked." + + + + +PILATE.[12] + + "Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth?"--JOHN xviii. 38. + + +St. John is especially distinguished among the four evangelists for +his subtle delineation of character. We do not commonly remember--it +costs us an effort to remember--how very largely we are indebted to +the fourth gospel for our conceptions of the chief personages who bear +a part in evangelical history, where those conceptions are most clear +and distinct. If we analyse the sources of our information, we find +again and again that while something is told us about particular +persons in the other evangelists, yet it is St. John who gives those +touches to the picture which make it stand out with its own +individuality as a real, living, speaking man. The other evangelist +will record a name, or, perhaps, an incident; St. John will add one or +two sayings; and the whole person is instinct with life. The character +flashes out in half-a-dozen words. "From the abundance of the heart +the mouth speaketh." So it is with Philip, with Thomas, with Mary and +Martha, and with several others who might be named. This vividness of +portraiture is our strongest assurance, if assurance were needed, that +the narrative was indeed written by him whose name it bears--by the +beloved disciple and eye-witness himself. For, observe, there is no +effort at delineation of character; there is no delineation of +character at all, properly so called. The evangelist does not describe +the persons whom he introduces; they describe themselves. The +incidental act, the incidental movement or gesture, the incidental +saying, tells the tale. That which he had heard, that which he had +looked upon and his eyes had seen, that which his hands had handled of +the Word of Life--that and that only he declared. + +Pilate furnishes a remarkable illustration of this feature in St. +John's gospel. Pilate is the chief agent in the crowning scene of +evangelical history. He is necessarily a prominent figure in all the +four narratives of this crisis. In the first three gospels we learn +much about him. We find him there, as we find him in St. John, at +cross purposes with the Jews. He is represented there, not less than +by St. John, as giving an unwilling consent to the judicial murder of +Jesus. His Roman sense of justice is too strong to allow him to yield +without an effort. His personal courage is too weak to persevere in +the struggle when the consequences threaten to become inconvenient. He +is timid, politic, time-serving, as represented by all alike. He has +just enough conscience to wish to shake off the responsibility, but +far too little conscience to shrink from committing the sin. But in +St. John's narrative we pierce far below the surface. Here he is +revealed to us as the sarcastic, cynical worldling, who doubts +everything, distrusts everything, despises everything. He has an +intense scorn for the Jews, and yet he has a craven dread of them. He +has a certain professional regard for justice, and yet he has no real +belief in truth or honour. Throughout he manifests a malicious irony +in his conduct at this crisis. There is a lofty scorn in his answer +when he repudiates any sympathy with the accusers. "Am I a Jew?" There +is a sarcastic pity in the question which he addresses to the Prisoner +before him, "Art Thou the King of the Jews? Art Thou, then, a +king--Thou poor, weak, helpless fanatic, whom with a single word I +could doom to death?" He is half-bewildered with the incongruity of +the claim; and yet there is a certain propriety that a wild enthusiast +should assert his sovereignty over a nation of bigots; so he +sarcastically adopts the title. "Will you that I release unto you the +King of the Jews?" Even when, at length, he is obliged to yield to the +popular clamour, he will at least have his revenge by a studied +contempt. "Behold your King! Shall I crucify your King?" And to the +very last moment he indulges his cynical scorn. The title on the cross +was, indeed, unconsciously, a proclamation of a Divine truth; but in +its immediate purpose and intent it was the mere gratification of +Pilate's sarcastic humour. "Jesus of Nazareth." Could any good thing +come out of Nazareth? "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." He +has sacrificed his honour to them, but he will not sacrifice his +contempt. "What I have written, I have written." + +But it is more especially in the sentence which I have chosen for my +text that the whole character of the man is revealed. The Prisoner +before him had accepted the title of a King. He based His claim to +this title on the fact that He had come to bear witness of the truth. +He declared that those who were themselves of the truth would +acknowledge His claim. They were His rightful subjects; they were the +enfranchised citizens of His kingdom. + +Strange language this, in the ears of a cynical, worldly sceptic, to +whom the most attractive hope of humanity was a judicious admixture of +force and fraud. "Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth? And when he +had said this he went out." The altercation could be carried no +farther. Was not human life itself one great query without an answer? +What was truth? "Truth"? This helpless Prisoner claimed to be a King, +and He appealed, forsooth, to His truthfulness as the credential of +His sovereign rights! Was ever any claim more contradictory of all +human experience, more palpably absurd, than this? "Truth"? When had +truth anything to do with founding a kingdom? The mighty engine of +imperial power, the armed sceptre which ruled the world, whence came +it? Certainly it owed nothing to truth. Had not Augustus established +his sovereignty by an unscrupulous use of force, and maintained it by +an astute use of artifice? And his successor, the present occupant of +the imperial throne, was he not an arch dissembler, the darkest of all +dark enigmas? The name of Tiberius was a byword for impenetrable +disguise. Truth might do well enough for fools and enthusiasts; but +for rulers, for diplomatists, for men of the world, it was the wildest +of all wild dreams. "Truth"? What was truth? He had lived too long in +the world to trust to any such hollow delusion. He had listened to the +ceaseless din of philosophical disputations till he was weary of them. +The Stoics, the Epicureans, the Platonists, all had their several +specifics which they vended as truth. All were equally sure, and yet +no two agreed. + +He had witnessed, certainly not without contempt, and yet not altogether +without dismay, the rising flood of foreign superstition--Greek, +Syrian, Egyptian, Chaldean--which threatened to deluge the city and +empire, and destroy all the ancient landmarks. Could he believe all or +any of these? In this never-ending conflict of philosophical dogmas +and religious creeds, what could he do but resign himself to +scepticism, to indifference, to a cold and cynical scorn of all +enthusiastic convictions and all definite beliefs? "What is truth?" + +And yet as he turned away, neither expecting nor desiring an answer to +a question which he had asked merely to end an inconvenient +controversy, some uneasy misgivings, we may well suppose, flashed +across the mind of this proud, sarcastic worldling, that he was now +brought face to face with truth as he had never been brought before. +There was a reality about every word and action of this Jewish +Prisoner which arrested and overawed him. The calmness with which He +urged His claims, the fearlessness with which He defied death, the +impressive words, the still more impressive silence, the manifest +innocence and rectitude of the Man, if he saw nothing more--these +could not be without their effect even on a Pilate, steeped as he was +in the moral recklessness and the religious despair of his age. At all +events, he would serve the Man if he conveniently could. + +But there had been also a nobler element in Pilate's education than +moral scepticism and religious unbelief. He was a Roman governor, and +as a Roman governor he was an administrator of Roman law. It was their +appreciation of law, their respect for law, their study of law, far +more than anything else, which gave its greatness to the character of +the Roman people. Even in the most degraded ages of their history, and +with the worst individual types of men, this is the one bright spot +which relieves the gloom. It is the nobler prerogative of law to set a +standard clear, definite, and precise. I have no concern here with +other obligations to the law which as Christians we are bound to +acknowledge, though, speaking before the chief representatives of +English law and justice, I cannot fail to be reminded of them this +afternoon. But this exhibition of a moral standard is a gain which it +is hardly possible to over-estimate. The standard will not always be +the highest. From the nature of the case it cannot be so. Law deals +with some departments of morality very imperfectly; with others it +does not attempt to deal at all. But still, whenever it is felt, and +so far as it penetrates, it creates an ideal, and begets a habit which +will not be powerless even with the most indifferent and reckless of +men. So it was with Pilate. Theological scepticism had eaten out his +religious principles to the very core. Unscrupulous worldliness and +self-seeking had shattered his moral constitution; but though his +principles were gone, and his character was ruined, still he was +haunted by some lingering sense of professional honour; still the +magnificent ideal of Roman justice and Roman law rose up before him, +and would not lightly be thrust aside. He pleads repeatedly for +justice against the relentless accusers. Three times he declares the +Prisoner's innocence in the same explicit words--"I find no fault in +Him." Once and again he strives to shift the responsibility from his +own shoulders to theirs. "Take ye Him and judge Him according to your +law. Take ye Him and crucify Him." But his efforts are all in vain. +They will have none of this. The deed shall be done, and he shall do +it. + +It was not the first, and it would not be the last time that Pilate +found himself in conflict with the Jews. For ten years he was governor +of this turbulent, intractable people. This was an unusually long +period of office under an Emperor like Tiberius, who was constantly +changing his provincial governors from mere suspicion and distrust. It +must have cost Pilate no little trouble to steer his course so long +and so successfully, without foundering either on the suspicions of +his jealous master here or on the bigotry of his stubborn subjects +there. And yet he was constantly wounding the religious +susceptibilities of the Jews. At one time he shocked them by bringing +the military ensigns with the effigies of Cćsar within the walls of +Jerusalem; at another he persisted in setting up some gilt shields, +inscribed with a profane heathen dedication, in the palace of Herod +within the holy precincts. In both cases he drove the Jews to the +extreme verge of exasperation. In both cases he exhibits the same +sarcastic and defiant scorn which is apparent here. In both cases +their obstinate zeal or bigotry triumphs, as it triumphs here, and he +is forced, in the end, to retrace his steps and to undo his deed. + +So, then, this was only one brief episode in a protracted struggle +between Pilate and the Jewish people. Doubtless, it seemed at the time +quite insignificant compared with those other and fiercer conflicts in +which he was engaged. It is passed over in silence by contemporary +Jewish writers. It concerned the life of a single person only; it was +settled in a single night; and yet it involved nothing less than the +eternal destiny of all mankind. + +Ah, there is a terrible irony in God's retributive justice, which so +blinds a man to the true proportions of things. A single moment may do +a wrong which centuries cannot repair. It is a dangerous thing to defy +the truth. The majesty of truth is inviolable, and he who insults it +in a moment of recklessness can never forecast the consequences. Time +and space and notoriety are no measure of importance here. The most +important criminal trial on record in the history of mankind was +hurried through in two or three short hours, under cover of night and +in the grey of early dawn. + +This is the great lesson of Pilate's crime. He was surprised by the +truth; he found himself unexpectedly confronted by the truth; and he +could not recognise it. His whole life long he had tampered with +truth; he had despised truth; he had despaired of truth. Truth was the +last thing which he had set before him as the main aim of life. He had +thought much of policy, of artifice, of fraud, of force; but for truth +in any of its manifold forms he had cared just nothing at all. And his +sin had worked out its own retribution. Not truth only, but the very +Truth itself, Truth incarnate, stood before him in a human form, and +he was blind to it; he scorned it; he played with it; he thrust it +aside; he condemned, and he gibbeted it. "Suffered under Pontius +Pilate," is the legend of eternal infamy with which history has +branded his name. + +So it is always. The Lord appears suddenly in His temple--in the +shrine of the human heart and conscience; suddenly--at a time and in a +form which we least expect. The truth visits us very frequently under +the disguise of some common event, or some insignificant person. It +surprises us, perhaps, in the accidental saying of some little child, +or in the insidiousness of some mean temptation, or in the emergency +of some trivial choice. It stands before us at once as our suppliant +and our king. We fail to see its majesty veiled in its humble garb. We +treat it as our prisoner when, in fact, it is our judge, and may +become our gaoler. We flatter ourselves that we have power to condemn +or to release it. We have no fault to find with it, but still we +reject it; we crucify it; and before three days are gone it rises from +its grave to bear eternal testimony against us. We could not see the +truth, because we ourselves were not of the truth. Here in this +judicial blindness is the warning of Pilate's example. Like is drawn +to like: like only understands like. The truth is only for the +children of truth. + +We must not, however, unduly narrow the sense of truth and of +truthfulness. When our Lord called Himself the truth--when He declared +that the truth should make us free, He meant very much more than is +commonly understood by the word. Veracity is, indeed, truth; but it is +only a small part of the truth. A man may be scrupulously veracious, +strictly a man of honour; he may always say what he believes; he may +always perform what he promises; and yet he may not be, in the highest +sense, true. He may be the slave of a thousand unrealities. A genuine +child of truth is very much more than a speaker of the truth. He is a +doer of the truth, and a thinker of the truth, and a liver of the +truth. He is frank, open, and real in all things. Reality is the very +soul of his being. He cares for nothing which is hollow, shadowy, +superficial. Popularity, wealth, success, worldly ambition, and +display are essentially unreal, because they are external, because +they are transient. Therefore, he estimates them at their true value. +The devotion of scientific men in pursuit of scientific truth wins our +highest admiration. It is not without a thrill of national pride that +we have just bidden God-speed to the gallant company which has started +for the Arctic seas. To face untold hardships and possible death in +such a cause is a worthy and noble aim, for these are realities. But +obviously there are truths of far higher moment to the temporal and +eternal well-being of man than the laws of electricity, or the causes +of the Aurora, or the fauna of the Polar seas. Whence came I? Whither +go I? What is sin? What is conscience? Is there a God in heaven? Is +there a providence, a moral government, a judgment? Is there a +redemption, a sanctification, a life eternal? These are the momentous, +the pressing questions which a man can only shelve at his peril. +Christ is the answer to all these questions. Therefore, He is the +verity of verities. Therefore, He claims for Himself the title of the +truth as His absolute and indefeasible right. + +An incapacity to see the truth, when thus presented to us in its +highest form, may arise from different causes. It may spring from +bigoted partisanship, and religious pride, and obstinate formalism, as +in the case of the Jews; or it may spring from cold cynicism, and +worldliness, and dishonesty, as in the case of Pilate. These two +conspire to crucify the truth. As we sow, so also shall we reap. +Pilate's life had been stained in untruthfulness. His government had +been an alternation of violence and artifice. His aim had not been to +rule uprightly, to rule generously, but to rule at any cost. He must +calm the suspicions of his jealous master, and he must quell the +turbulence of an unruly people. Whatever means would conduce to these +ends were to him legitimate means. Uprightness, honour, frankness, +generosity, truth--what were these to him? He had no belief in them, +and why should he practise them? He projected his own motives into his +estimate of mankind at large. He read the characters of others in the +distorted mirror of his own consciousness. Human life, as he viewed +it, was false from beginning to end. It was, after all, the reflection +of his own falsehood which he saw. He was ever looking out for the +unrealities of existence. He had no eye for its realities. Men's +convictions were their foibles: men's beliefs were his playthings. +Untruthfulness, cynicism, distrust, scorn, had withered his soul. They +only will find the truth who believe that the truth may be found. +Pilate had no such belief. He had gone through life asking, half in +bitterness, half in jest, "What is truth?" He had asked it now again, +and the question was fatal. Pilate's temper of mind is a very real +danger in an age like ours. Let us beware of thus jesting with truth, +lest some time, like him, we crucify the truth unawares. + + + + +THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.[13] + + "Two men went up into the temple to pray."--LUKE xviii. 10. + + +The teaching of the gospels is, in large portions, a teaching by +contrast. This is the case, to a certain extent, in the historical +narrative, but it is especially so in the parables of our Lord. Thus +we have the contrast of the two brothers in the parable of the +Prodigal Son; the contrast of the two sons in the parable of the +father's vineyard; the contrast of the rich man and the beggar in the +parable of Lazarus and Dives, and the like; the right and the wrong +way of acting are figured, are embodied, are personified in two +living, acting men. So it is here; the right and the wrong spirit in +prayer, the right and the wrong attitude towards God, are set before +us in portraits of imaginary men who might very well have been real +men. If you had gone up to the temple any day, and watched the +worshippers there, you might very likely have seen the counterpart +both of the one and of the other. But there is not only a contrast in +the parable, there is also a paradox, a surprise; the ordinary +estimate of worth is set aside; the judgment of God overrules the +judgment of men; the praise is given where men would give the blame, +and the blame is given where men would give the praise. The object of +the parable is to correct, to cancel, to reverse human judgment. + +"Two men went up into the temple to pray." The place is the same, the +time is the same, the object is the same; only the characters of the +two men are widely different. To which will you give the preference? +Could any pious Jew have doubted about his answer to this question? +Would you yourself have doubted if you had been a Jew and lived in +that age? Let us look more narrowly at these two men as they stand +praying within the sacred precincts. Here is the one, a Pharisee. The +sect to which he belongs is eminently religious, eminently patriotic; +the law of God is their study day and night; their daily life is +regulated on the strictest principles; they are the recognised leaders +of their countrymen, their religious teachers and their political +guides; they are regarded as the great bulwark against foreign tyranny +and heathen idolatry; they have altogether the confidence of the +people. And he is an eminently favourable type of the sect. It is not +enough that he avoids gross and flagrant crime; that he is upright in +his dealings with his fellow-men; that he respects the sanctity of the +marriage vows;--he goes very far beyond this: he fasts regularly, he +pays tithes scrupulously, he prays fervently after a manner, as this +incident shows; not a suspicion is breathed against the truth of his +statements as he thus describes himself. No doubt they were strictly +true; the very point of the parable depends upon their accuracy. What +more, then, would you have than this? Now, turn to the other +worshipper, the publican. What a contrast we have here! The publicans +were hated, despised, loathed by the Jews. There was only too much +reason for all this hatred and contempt. The publicans were so called +because they farmed the public taxes. The Roman masters let out the +collection of the taxes for so much to the publicans, and the +publicans made what they could by the collecting. Hence their position +was unsatisfactory from first to last. Though Jews themselves, they +were the representatives of the Roman masters of Judea. They thus +reminded their fellow-countrymen at every turn of the galling yoke of +a foreign tyranny, of a heathen tyranny, too. This made matters worse. +Religion as well as patriotism was grievously compromised by them. +This was bad enough; but this was not all. From the manner in which +they contracted with the Roman government they were tempted to +extortion and fraud. Their profits depended on petty acts of insolence +and overreaching, and there is every reason to believe that, as a +class, they did yield to their temptation. It might be said that their +hand was against every man and every man's hand was against them. +Remembering these facts, we are able the more truly to honour a +Matthew or a Zaccheus, towering far above the moral standard of their +class. And the man before us--what shall we say of him? He had yielded +to these temptations. Just as in the case of the Pharisee, so in the +case of the publican, there is every reason to accept as strictly true +his description of himself. + +As I have said before, the very force of the parable depends on the +truth of this statement. He, doubtless, had been extortionate; he had +used his position and his power to oppress and defraud his +fellow-countrymen. He was, perhaps, conscious, besides, of other +grievous sins--not specially sins of his class, but sins of himself, +sins of mankind. There can be little doubt that when he beat upon his +breast, when he bewailed his sinfulness, when he entreated God's +mercy, he had on his conscience some heavier weight than the ordinary +sins and short-comings of the ordinary respectable and religious man. +What, then, shall we say? Who will waver between these two men? Who +can for a moment hesitate to rank the Pharisee higher than the +publican? And yet it is our Lord's judgment--it is God's own +verdict--that this man, this publican, this sullied, sin-stained, but +withal penitent man, went down to his home justified rather than the +highly respectable, highly respected, highly religious Pharisee. The +answer is this--to know God is the beginning and the end of all +wisdom; to know God is to think truly, is to act truly, is to live +truly. Now, the Pharisee did not know God; he was altogether at fault +in his ideas of God; he was on the wrong line, and however far he +might go on that line he would be no nearer to God. On the other hand, +the publican had taken the right direction; he might be still very far +from a thorough knowledge of God; but his ideas of God, however +imperfect, were right as far as they went. Let us look into this +matter a little more closely. + +There are two ways of regarding God. We may look upon Him as a +taskmaster, or we may look upon Him as a righteous Father. The first +way is hopelessly, irretrievably wrong; the second way alone will lead +us to Him. We may look upon Him as a taskmaster. What then? He sets +before us a definite piece of work to do. If we do it, well and good; +we escape blame; we get our pay. It is give and take; certain things +are to be done, and certain other things are to be left undone. There +the matter ends. This is what is meant by justification by works. It +is a mere question of bargaining. We treat with God as a workman would +treat with an employer of labour; we look upon Him as one of +ourselves, a little more powerful, a little more exacting, a little +more stern, but still as one of ourselves--a man, magnified indeed, +but a man still, with whom we can stipulate and bargain and haggle +about the amount of work to be done. That is the error, the fatal +error, of the man in the parable who hid his one talent in the earth. +"I feared thee, because thou art an austere man"--not, "I loved thee," +not "I reverenced thee," not "I worshipped thee," but "I feared thee." +It was apprehension, it was dread--nothing else; no affectionate +yearning, no childlike outpouring of the heart, no seeking after the +Father's embrace. "Thou art an austere man"--a hard man; yes, a +taskmaster, and a rigorous taskmaster, too. "Lo, there thou hast that +is thine"--not a little more, nor a little less--"thou hast that is +thine." "Nay, everything is Mine. Heaven and earth are Mine; infinite +righteousness and infinite truth, and infinite purity and infinite +love, are Mine. Thou canst never give Me that is Mine." And so it is +with the Pharisee in our parable, though the type of character is +somewhat different. Fasting is enjoined, therefore he fasts; tithes +are commanded, therefore he pays tithes. Not a moment is deducted from +the fasting, not a penny is withheld from the tithes. He will be all +safe; he does his work and he claims his pay. Of those boundless +reaches of mercy, of truth, of love, which lie beyond all definite +precepts, all specific duties, he thinks nothing and he knows nothing; +of the infinity of God, he is wholly ignorant; of God's absolute +righteousness, of God's limitless goodness, he has not a thought; +therefore he is satisfied; therefore he despises others. If he had +any, even the faintest, conception of these, he could not be so +complacent, he could not compare himself advantageously with others. +To him who sees this infinity of God boasting is altogether excluded; +he is fain to call himself an unprofitable servant. Ah, yes! it all +springs from that one original root of falsehood, that perverse, fatal +idea of the relations of man to God--so much pay for so much +work--haggling between employer and employed--conflict, in an +exaggerated form, between capital and labour once more. + +But the true way to regard God is to look upon Him as a righteous +Father, to see His righteousness first, and then to see His fatherly +love. To see His righteousness, the awe, the beauty, the majesty, the +holiness, the glory of His righteousness! Have we caught only a faint, +transient glimpse of it? What then? What becomes of our righteousness, +our merit, our self-satisfaction, our self-complacency? What +miserable, besmirched, filthy tatters do the very best of them seem if +only for a moment the skirts of His glistening raiment have crossed +the field of our vision, the glory of Him who is clothed in +righteousness. Do we thank God, can we thank God now, that we are not +as bad as other men are? Nay, thank Him for His opportunity, thank Him +for His mercy, thank Him for His forbearing patience, but thank Him +not where thanksgiving is a mere cloak of self-complacency. No; you +cannot compare yourself with another now; you see only your own sin, +you can measure only your own unworthiness now, or, rather, it appears +far beyond measuring to you. Your righteousness and this man's +unrighteousness, your good and this man's evil--what difference is +there between them in the presence of God's infinite holiness, that +great leveller of all human gradations? + + "For merit lives from man to man, + And not, O God, from man to Thee!" + +Ah, yes, Lord! I can see two things, and two only: Thy righteousness, +my sinfulness, these and nothing else. + +But we must look not only to God's righteousness: we must look to His +fatherly goodness also. We have beheld the heinousness of our sin in +the mirror of His holiness; we must now behold the grace of our +forgiveness in the light of His love, His fatherly love. And have we +not full and perfect assurance that His love will never fail us? What +else is the meaning of His great, His inestimable gift to man of His +only-begotten Son, to take His flesh upon Him and to die for us? By +the infinity of His gift He would show us that His love is infinite +also--nothing less; and we do Him a wrong, a cruel wrong, if we +approach Him as a taskmaster, as a tyrant, as "a hard and austere +man;" we blaspheme His fatherly goodness. Have we sinned, and shall we +go to Him as to a taskmaster? What consolation, what forgiveness, what +hope of either here? Nay, rather we will seek Him as the prodigal son +sought Him; we will go to Him as to a father; we will address Him as a +Father; we will betake ourselves to Him with a child's penitent heart, +with a child's trusting soul, with a child's yearning embrace, and He +will have compassion on us, will hasten to meet us, though we may be +yet a great way off, and we shall be locked once more in His +everlasting arms. + +Do you think, can you think, that the sense of His infinite love will +make you reckless, will make you indolent, will make you presuming? +Did love, true love, truly felt, ever have this effect? Nay, just in +proportion as you appropriate it, as you realise it, it will quicken, +it will stimulate, it will purify, it will inspire you; it will +transform your whole being into its own perfections from glory to +glory. God's love is the beacon star in the sky, arresting, +attracting, guiding, luring us forward on the heavenly path; the love +of Christ--not our love for Him; but His love for us--the love of +Christ, constrains us, binds us hand and foot, and drags us onward +with the cords of a man. The publican did see this, at least in part. +He saw God's righteousness in all its tremendous majesty, and he +abased himself before it; he saw God's fatherly love only dimly as +yet, but yearned for it. Therefore, though he was yet a great way off, +God ran to meet him; and so, notwithstanding his sin, he went down +from the temple that day "justified rather than the other." + +One more thought is suggested by the parable. Prayer is the test of +character. So it was with this Pharisee and this publican; so it must +ever be, from the nature of the case. Prayer is the confronting of +self with God; prayer is the communing with God; prayer is the laying +bare of the soul before God. Thus prayer proves the realities of a +man's being. As a man prays, so he is. He who has learned to pray +aright has learned to live aright. The first and the last lesson of +our lives, the first and the last desire of our hearts, the first and +the last petition on our lips must be with us, as it was with the +disciples of old, "Lord, teach us to pray"; and to the old question +the old answer will be vouchsafed now, as then, "Our Father, which art +in heaven." "Our Father." The sense of God's Fatherhood, as manifested +in Christ, flooding our hearts, and dominating our lives--this is the +beginning and the end of all theology; there is nothing before and +nothing after this. Therefore, holy Father, we beseech Thee for Thy +dear Son's sake, teach us all, this night and ever, to pray; teach us +to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast +sent; teach us so to pray that we may be found among the company of +those faithful people who worship not a god of their own making, not a +taskmaster, not a tyrant, not "a hard and austere man," but worship +Thee, "worship the Father in spirit and in truth." + + + + +OUR CITIZENSHIP.[14] + + "Our conversation is in heaven."--PHIL. iii. 20. + + +A better translation is "Our citizenship is in heaven." + +We are all proud of our country. We delight to think of ourselves as +belonging to a land on which whoever sets his foot is free. We reflect +with satisfaction that we are citizens of a great empire on which the +sun never sets. We feel that we have derived a very real advantage +from our position; the glory of our past history is somehow reflected +upon us. We think with pride of how freedom has "broadened slowly +down, from precedent to precedent." We cherish the recollection too, +of the most glorious scenes in our history, as if, somehow, they were +part and parcel of ourselves. We feel as of one family, with its long +roll of illustrious statesmen, generals, men of science,--our +Shakespeare, Bacon, Newton, Wellington, Nelson, Hampden, Pitt, +Canning,--that these are our fellow-citizens. Their renown is our +renown. It is a great thing to extend our range of view beyond +ourselves, beyond our own households, our parish, and our own +neighbourhood, and yet to feel that there is a bond of union still; +that we are members of a great family, citizens of a great kingdom, +unique in her great world-empire. The inspiration of this thought, +which the recent Jubilee celebration has emphasised, makes us higher, +nobler, larger than ourselves. It drives out all the pettiness of +character and all the narrowness of view. True patriotism is a very +noble and ennobling sentiment. To be ready to do and to suffer, if +need be to die, for our country, what broad elevation of soul is there +not in a temper like this? + +St. Paul felt all this. He was proud of the city, of the nation to +which he belonged. He was proud of the city in which he first saw the +light. We cannot mistake his tones here. "I am a citizen of no mean +city." This Tarsus, in which he was born, stood second to none as a +seat of learning in his time. He was proud, also, of his nationality. +Here, again, we cannot mistake the feeling which underlies his +language. "Of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin." "Are +they Hebrew? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I." He, too, +was the son of the patriarchs; he, too, was the heir of the promises; +he, too, had his portion among the twelve tribes that served God day +and night. Was he not descended from the one favoured tribe which had +given its first king to Israel, which had remained faithful to the +house of David when all the others revolted; which ever marched in the +van of the Lord's host when the armies went out to battle? "After thee +O Benjamin!" No taint of foreign admixture had sullied the purity of +his blood. He was "an Hebrew of the Hebrews." No concession to foreign +excitements, and no relaxation of national rites, had ever compromised +his position. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Of all these things +he might well be prouder than the proudest. Albeit he paused and kept +down all his pride; he counted all as loss for the excellency of the +knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. And lastly, he was proud of his +position as a member of that great empire which stretched out her hand +into every clime, and carried her citizens into all quarters of the +globe. Here again his language tells its own tale. "They have beaten +us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, ... and now do they thrust us +out privily." "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, +and uncondemned?" + +Yes; it was a magnificent privilege this, that a man, whosoever he +might be, could claim the immunity, the protection, the deference +which was everywhere accorded to a citizen of Rome; to feel that he +was a solitary, homeless wanderer, and had nevertheless at his back +all the power, and all the prestige, and all the majesty of the +mightiest empire that the world had ever seen. But however natural, +and in some sense justifiable, may be this pride in ourselves, or in +St. Paul, we are reminded by the text that he and we alike are +citizens of a far larger, wider, more magnificent, more powerful, more +enduring empire. For which we have every reason to feel, not indeed +pride, not self-satisfaction, not vainglory, but perpetual +thanksgiving, and benediction to the Author and Giver of all good +things. Our citizenship is in heaven. + +"Our citizenship." In the familiar version the word is rendered +"conversation," _i.e._, "walk of life." But it means very much +more than this; it points us out as members of a commonwealth, +citizens of a polity, subjects of a kingdom, in which we have special +interests, special responsibilities and functions. So, again, the +Apostle tells the Ephesians, now converted from heathenism to the +knowledge of Christ--"Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but +fellow-citizens with the saints." + +"Fellow-citizens with the saints." You and they, bound together as +members of one great nationality, with common duties, common +sympathies, common aims, citizens of a kingdom of which the noblest +and most powerful earthly empires are only faint types and shadows, a +kingdom which shall never end. Yes! + + "Two worlds are ours, 'tis only sin + Forbids us to descry + The mystic heaven, and earth within, + Plain as the sea and sky." + +And so we need to strive this day to pierce through the veil, that so +we may realise this our heavenly citizenship. + +On this festival of All Saints, before all other days in the year, we +are invited to enter into the Holy City, to dwell on the glories of +the unseen world, to commune with the beatified servants of God of all +ages and all countries, and to gather inspiration and truth and +refreshment for our daily tasks in life; to pierce through the veil, +the dark impenetrable mist which shrouds the unseen world. Yet ever +and again this veil is lifted for a moment, ever and again we are made +to feel, by some startling occurrence, how narrow is the screen which +separates the seen from the unseen, the material from the spiritual, +the world of time from the world of eternity. Ever and again the stern +monitor death rises up an unbidden guest, an unwelcome spectre in the +midst of our worldliness and self-complacency, scaring us with the +suddenness of the apparition. Mystery of mysteries, when valuable +lives are suddenly cleft asunder, while so much that is worthless, and +worse, is spared. Mystery quite insoluble if this were all, if the +region beyond the grave were a mere vacuum; if men were dust and +nothing more; if there were no immortality, no heaven, nothing to live +for, nothing to work for, nothing to die for. Warnings these, solemn +and thrilling, if only we have ears to hear, that this life is not our +true life, that here we are strangers and pilgrims, that heaven is our +only abiding house, that we are fellow-citizens of the saints. + +"Fellow-citizens of the saints." Think for a moment how much is +implied in this. What a vast assemblage, what a glorious companionship +is that in which you and I, with our frailties, our shortcomings, our +self-seeking, our worldliness, our distrust, our faithlessness, are +fain boldly to claim a place! All those glorious spirits, venerable +patriarchs, righteous kings, rapt seers, glorious psalmists, who lived +and wrought and suffered in the ancient days in the hope of a better +promise; men "who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought +righteousness, ... of whom the world was not worthy;" all those +apostles and teachers who, kindling their torches at the sacred fire, +the glory of the Eternal Son Himself, carried the light of the gospel +into all lands, giving up everything for Christ, offering to lose +their lives, that by losing them they might find them. All these +martyrs and doctors of later ages who handed down the sacred treasure +through successive generations, amidst the fire of persecution and the +confusion of barbarism and the darkness of idolatry, rejoicing to be +devoured by hungry lions and to die at the stake. Polycarp, calm and +brave as his flesh quivered in the flame; Chrysostom, with his flowery +eloquence; Augustine, with his piercing insight and force,--these +share, too, in this glorious company whose names live in history. And +others, true saints of God, though they appear not in the calendar of +any Church; men and women from the rigour of whose lives succeeding +generations have their inspiration and strength; all whose holiness +and purity, whose courage and self-sacrifice, whose gentleness and +meekness, whose loving charity have been a never-failing fountain of +refreshment to the weary pilgrim in the thirsty wilderness of the +world. And others, too, there are whose memories shall perish not, +though they have left no name in history, but whose brows, +nevertheless, God Himself will crown with a halo of everlasting glory. +Poor, despised, unknown artisans and peasants, weak women and feeble +children, martyrs in the martyrdom of daily life, saints in the +saintliness of homely duty, throngs innumerable of every nation and +kindred and people and tongue, clothed with white robes and palms in +their hands, standing before the Throne of God, and serving Him day +and night in His temple. + +And others again there are, unknown to the world, but well known to +you and to me, saints of our home, of our school, of our college, of +our workshop, of our office. Voices which were silent years ago mingle +in our ears still, the hands crumbling in the dust have left a +pressure that is still felt, the eyes long since glazed in death ever +now and again are bright for us. The mother at whose knees we lisped +our infant prayer, the child whose innocent prattle soothed our cares +and sweetened our lives, the husband or wife who was part of our +existence, the friend "more than my brothers are to me," whose +nobleness and purity, whose unselfishness was the good genius and the +pole star of our lives. These all are there, with these we hold +communion, with these we walk and talk once more to-day as of old. +This is the citizenship of which the text speaks, of which the day +reminds us, more glorious beyond comparison than any earthly society +which eye hath seen or of which ear hath heard. For these manifold and +great gifts of which the season reminds I beseech you this afternoon +give a worthy thankoffering. No, that cannot be, that is impossible, +but if not worthy, at all events large and liberal. + +And what fitter object can I set before you than the support of a +society whose sole aim is the enrolment of citizens into the kingdom +of God, the enlargement of the communion of saints? The jubilee year +of our sovereign's reign is the jubilee year of this society. It was +only in the process of formation when our Queen ascended the throne; +one of her earliest acts was to give her name as its patron. It was a +right queenly act, for of all the blessings for which during the +half-century the nation has poured forth its thanksgiving at the +Jubilee festival, surely none has been greater or more enduring than +those which have been conferred through the instrumentality of this +society. + +For what was the state of things at the beginning of this period? +Enormous arrears of spiritual work to be overtaken; everywhere great +masses of people in our large centres absolutely beyond the reach of +Church ministration; the population about to increase "by leaps and +bounds." During these fifty years the society has made not less than +21,000 grants to poor parishes here and there, the amounts being on an +average about Ł50. It has paid out in this way more than Ł1,000,000. +And this sum has been met by Ł1,000,000 from contributions coming in +from elsewhere; so that through its beneficent agency not less than +Ł2,000,000 have been contributed for the increase of clerical +ministration in the poor and populous districts of the land. + +But these Ł2,000,000 are far from being an adequate standard of its +beneficent effects. The planting down of an efficient clergyman in a +poor district means the revival of Church work there; means, +frequently, the erection of a church and schools; means the creation +of a new parochial machinery. And thus the work of this Society is +borne through in a thousand various ways which it is impossible to +reckon up or to tabulate. + +But you will ask, What is it doing at the present moment? If its +operations have been thus effected in the past, does it still maintain +its efficiency? I am glad to be able to give this question an answer +which none can gainsay. It never was doing a greater work, nor as +great a work, as at this very time. It gives grants to more than 850 +curates; these grants amount to more than Ł56,000 per annum, and this +sum is met by about the same amount from other sources. Thus more than +Ł100,000 a year is expended directly through its instrumentality to +the ministerial staff of the Church. But it is not only the extent of +its operations which constitutes its claim on the support of all loyal +churches. The principle also of this administration demands their +allegiance. I do not desire to say one word of disparagement about +other societies which are constituted on a broader or a narrower base. +All are welcome; all are doing good service. There is work enough and +to spare for all. But this association appeals to loyal English +churchmen by the very fact that its foundation principle is neither +wider nor narrower than the Church it represents. It imposes no tests +which the Church does not impose; it requires no assents which the +Church does not require. Within its limits the individual opinions of +the clergymen count for nothing; the needs of the parish are all in +all. But if it has this paramount claim on all loyal churchmen, surely +it appeals to none more strongly than to the churchmen of this great +city. No diocese draws so large an amount from it as this of +Manchester; I believe I am right in saying that no city receives more +material aid from it; and remembering this I cannot think that you +will lay yourselves open to the charge of spiritual ingratitude, of +all ingratitude the worst. Let there, then, be a liberal response to +the appeal this afternoon, liberal in the sense that every giver will +feel his gift; that it will cost him some real sacrifice. + +At this season, when we are especially called to glorify God in His +saints, you cannot afford to be niggardly. Such niggardliness drags +you downward, and is never more out of place than when you are +attempting to lift up your souls to dwell in the heavenly city where +Christ sits enthroned at the right hand of God. Ever, indeed, you need +to be reminded of your heavenly citizenship amidst the cares and +turmoil of life. It is with you as with the law-giver of old when he +descended from the mount. The radiance will vanish from your +countenance only too soon as you mingle with the busy crowd below. And +you too, like Moses, will need to reappear ever and again at the +mountain of God, that, standing face to face with the Eternal +Presence, you may gather once more in your city the rays of the +invisible glory. + + + + +AMBITION. + + "I can do all things through Christ that strengthened me" [+Panta + ischuô en tô endunamounti me+, "I have strength for all things + in Him that empowereth, enableth me"].--PHIL. iv. 13. + + +Ambition, the love of power, the thirst after influence--its use and +its abuse, its true and its false aims--this is no unfit subject for +consideration from a University pulpit. + +Ambition in some form or other is an innate craving of man. All men +desire power, they cannot help desiring it. The desire is as natural +to them as the desire of health. Power and influence occupy the same +place socially that strength and vigour of limb do physically. Other +desires, though veiled under various disguises, resolve themselves +ultimately into a love of power. Knowledge is power. The cultivated +intellect has a command of the resources of the universe. The selfish +exaggeration of this feeling is a testimony to the underlying fact. +The self-satisfied soul congratulates herself that she is + + "Lord over nature, Lord of the visible earth, + Lord of the senses five." + +She communes with herself-- + + "All these are mine, + And let the world have peace or wars + 'Tis one to me." + +Again, money is power. A man desires wealth, not for the sake of the +stamped metal or the printed paper in themselves. These represent to +him a command of resources. The miser, indeed, by base indulgence +forgets the end in the means. In his own domain he resembles the +spurious mathematician to whom the letters and symbols are all in all, +who sees in them so many counters and nothing more, who is blinded to +the eternal relations of space and number which they represent. But +traced back to its origin, the miser's love of money is a love of +power. + +Ambition, emulation, rivalry plays a highly important part in the +education of the world. We cannot shut our eyes to its splendid +achievements. In politics, in social life, in mechanical inventions, +in literature and art, its stimulus has produced invaluable results. +If ambition has been the last infirmity, it has also been the initial +inspiration of many a noble mind. If by ambition angels fell, by +ambition men have risen. It has heightened their ideal and drawn them +upwards from lower to higher. If it is chargeable with the worst evils +which have devastated mankind, it must be credited also with the most +splendid advances in human progress and civilization. + +Ambition has its proper home in a University. Ambition is the life of +this place. What would Cambridge be without its honourable emulations, +its generous rivalries? Body and mind alike feel the stimulus of its +presence. Remove this stimulus, and the immediate consequence will be +torpor and degeneration and decay. The athletic ambitions and the +scholastic ambitions of the place, each in their own province, are +indispensable to its health and vigour. + +To one who, revisiting the scenes amidst which the best years of his +life were spent, asks himself what topic may be fitly handled in this +pulpit, the subject of ambition will naturally suggest itself. The +University has lived through a period of exceptional restlessness and +change during the last three decades--change far more considerable +than during the preceding three centuries. Yet the spirit and life of +the place are unchanging. It is the ceaseless orderly march of a +mighty army moving forward. Cross it where you will along the line, +the gesture, the tread, the uniform, is the same; the faces only are +different. It is the broad, silent, ever-flowing river, changeless, +yet always changing. Wave succeeds wave; you gaze on it at intervals; +not one drop of water remains the same; and yet the river is not +another. The main currents of University life are the same now as +thirty years ago. Its moral and social condition is mainly, we may +say, the resultant of two divergent forces, its friendships and its +emulations. It is the latter alone that I purpose considering this +afternoon. + +I speak to you, therefore, as to ambitious men. Those only are +beyond hope who have no spirit of emulation, no craving after +excellence--those only, in short, who are devoid of ambition. I invite +you, therefore, to be ambitious. Only I ask you to purify your +ambition, to consecrate it, to direct it through worthy channels and +to worthy aims. I desire to show you the more excellent way. + +If, indeed, ambition has achieved splendid results, it can only have +done so by virtue of splendid qualities. It must contain in itself +true and abiding elements, which we cannot afford to neglect. Thus it +involves a love of approbation. This cannot be culpable in itself. As +social beings, we have sympathies and affections which lie at the very +roots of our nature; and the desire of approval is inseparably +intertwined with these. Who would blame the child for seeking to win +its mother's good opinion? But the principle cannot be limited to this +one example. It is co-extensive with the whole range of our social +relations. The end sought is commendable. Only it may be discredited +and condemned by the means taken to attain it; as, for instance, if we +disguise our true sentiment, or withhold a just rebuke, or connive at +wrongdoing, or sacrifice a noble purpose, for the sake of standing +well with others. It is then, and then only, that the praise of men +conflicts with the praise of God. Again, ambition implies a spirit of +emulation. Neither is this wrong in itself. If it were, this +University would stand condemned root and branch. Emulation is not +envy; emulation is not jealousy; emulation does not seek to injure or +rob another. An apostle avows it to be his aim to "provoke to +emulation." This provocation--this stimulus of comparison and +contrast--is an invaluable influence. We measure ourselves with +others; we see our defects mirrored in their excellences; our ideal is +heightened by the comparison. Thus there gathers and ferments in us a +_discontent_ with ourselves--not indeed, if we are wise, with our +capacities, not with our opportunities, not with the inevitable +environments of our position, but with the conduct of that personality +which is free to discipline, to mould, to direct, to develop our +endowments. This dissatisfaction with self is the mainspring of all +high enterprise and all moral advancement. + +But the chief element in ambition is the pursuit of power. The +consciousness of power gives a satisfaction quite independently of the +exercise of power. Whatever form the power may take--whether +intellectual eminence, or social influence, or physical strength, it +is a thing which man desires, which he cannot help desiring, in and +for itself. It is a seed of God's own planting--a germ of splendid +achievements, if rightly trained and cultivated. It is only culpable +in its excesses and deviations. By our very constitution we feel a +happiness in making the best of ourselves, as the phrase runs--in +developing and improving our faculties, irrespective of any ulterior +results. But a faculty improved is a power gained. + +Brothers, I desire before all things to kindle in you a lofty ambition +to-day. Therefore, I have striven to justify ambition to you as God's +very precious gift. I wish--God helping me--to inspire you with that +inward dissatisfaction, that discontent with self, that ceaseless, +sleepless craving after higher things, which gives you no rest day or +night, because it pursues an ever-receding goal. I would stimulate in +you that high spirit of emulation which, fermenting and seething in +your hearts, impels you to unknown enterprises. I ask you to pray for +power, to pursue power, to grasp at power, with all the force and +determination which you can command. + +How can I do otherwise? Are not you the men, and is not this the +season, for the handling of such a topic? + +Are not you the men? Who among you has not felt, at one time or +another, the spark of a divine fire kindling within you? Who has not +yearned with an intense, if momentary, yearning to do something +worthy, to be something worthy? Youth is the hey-day of hope, of +enthusiasm, of lofty aspiration. You have felt that there was within +you a latent power, a heaven-born capacity, which ought to work +miracles, if it were not clogged by self-indulgence, or cowed by +timidity, or choked by sloth and indulgence. + +Are not you the men? As I have said to such audiences before, so I say +to you now. You do not know, you cannot know, with what reverence--a +reverence approaching to awe--older men regard the glorious +potentiality of youth, in all the freshness of its vigorous life, with +all the promise of the coming years. Our habits are formed; our career +is defined; our possibilities are limited. The wide sweep of moral +victory, still open to you, is closed to us for ever. But what +triumphs may you not achieve, if you are true to yourselves? What +instruments may you not be in God's hands, if only you will yield +yourselves to Him--not with a timid, passive, half-hearted +acquiescence, but with the active concentration of all your powers of +body and soul and spirit? + +And again I ask, is not this the time? The first volume of your life's +history is closed. A clean page lies open, and with what writing shall +it be filled? This is the great crisis of your life. These earliest +few weeks of your University career, with which perhaps you are +trifling, which you are idling thoughtlessly away, are only too likely +to determine for you what you shall be in time and in eternity. It is +the great crisis, but it is also the signal opportunity. Thank God, +this is so; for the two do not always coincide. As the great break in +your lives, it is the great season for revision, for repentance, for +amendment, for the strong resolve and the definite plan. The old base +associations must be abandoned; the old loose habits must be cured; +the old indolence shaken off; and the old sin cast out and trampled +under foot. Never again will such a magnificent opportunity be given +you of rectifying the past; for never again can you reckon on the +leisure, the privacy, the aids and environments, needed by one who is +taking stock of his moral and spiritual life. + +Who would not shrink from the responsibility of addressing you at such +a crisis? And yet I speak boldly to you. Do I not know that though the +hand of the swordsman is feeble, yet the weapon itself is +powerful--keener than any two-edged sword? Am I not assured that +though the preacher's words may be feeble, faltering, desultory, +without force and without point, yet God may barb the ill-fledged, +ill-aimed shaft, and drive it home to the heart? It is possible that +even now the live coal from the altar may be brought by the winged +seraph's hand, and laid on the sinful lips. I have undertaken to +glorify the power of God, and to hold it up to you as your truest +goal. How can I hope for a hearing, if I begin by distrusting it where +I myself am concerned? + +It is here, then, that I bid you seek and find the true aim of your +ambition--in realising, appropriating, absorbing into yourselves, +identifying yourselves with this power of God. It alone is +inexhaustible in its resources and infinite in its potency. There is +no fear here lest the conqueror of a world should sigh and fret +because nothing remains beyond to conquer. If the craving is infinite, +the satisfaction is infinite also. Star beyond star, world beyond +world, will start out into view as your vision grows clearer, +spangling the moral heavens with their glows. +Panta ischuô+, +"I can do all things." +Panta humôn+, "All things are yours." +Yes, but this promise of limitless strength has its condition +attached--+en tô endunamounti me+, "In Him that empowereth me;" +yes, but this pledge of universal dominion is qualified by the sequel ++humeis de Christou+, "Ye are Christ's." + +How can we better realise this power of God than by taking St. Paul's +statement as our starting-point? The Cross of Christ is "the power of +God." The Cross is the central revelation of God. The Cross has not +unfrequently been preached as a narrow technicality which shocks the +conscience and freezes the heart. It thus becomes a mere forensic +subtlety. But the Cross of Christ, taught in all its length and +breadth and height and depth--the Cross of Christ taught as St. Paul +taught it--the Cross of Christ, starting from the Incarnation on the +one side, and leading up to the Resurrection and Ascension on the +other, contains all the elements of moral regeneration and of +spiritual life. + +(1) It is first of all a lesson of _righteousness_. It is the +great rebuke of sin, the great assurance of judgment, the great call +to repentance. Think--no, you cannot think, it defies all +thinking--yet strive to think, what is implied in the human birth, the +human life, the human suffering, the human death of the Eternal Word. +Ask yourselves what condescension, what sacrifice, what humiliation +is involved in this. Summon to your aid all analogies of +self-renunciation which history records or imagination suggests. They +will all fail you. No reiteration of the finite can compass the +infinite. You are lost in awe at the contemplation. And while your +brain is reeling with the effort, try and imagine the awe, the +majesty, the glory of a righteousness which could only thus be +vindicated. Then, after looking upward to God, look inward into your +own heart, and see how heinous, how loathsome, how guilty your guilt +must be, which has cost such a sacrifice as this. God's +righteousness--your sin,--these are brought face to face in the Cross +of Christ. + +(2) But, secondly, while it is a denunciation of sin, it is likewise +an assurance of pardon. If the infinity of the sacrifice has taught +you the majesty of God's righteousness, it teaches you no less the +glory of His mercy. What may you not look for, what may you not hope +for from a Father who has vouchsafed to you this transcendent +manifestation of His loving-kindness? "He that spared not His own Son +... how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Is any +one here burdened with the consciousness of a shameful past? Does the +memory of some ugly school-boy sin dog your path, haunting and +paralysing you with its importunity? You feel sometimes as if your +whole life were poisoned by that one cruel retrospect. Brother, be +bold, and dare to look up. I would not have you think your sins one +whit less heinous. But if God's righteousness is infinite, so also is +His mercy. The Cross is reared before your eyes in this moral +wilderness, where you are dying, where all are dying around you. Dare +to look up. The bite of the serpent's fang is healed; the venom +coursing through your veins is quelled; and health returns to the +poisoned soul. Yes, and by God's grace it may happen that through your +very fall you will rise to a higher life; that the thanksgiving for +the sin forgiven will consecrate you with fuller consecration; and +that the acute moral agony through which you have passed will endow +you with a more helpful, more sympathetic, more loving spirit, than if +you had never fallen. + +(3) But again, the Cross of Christ is not only a condemnation of sin, +not only a pledge of forgiveness; it is likewise an obligation of +self-sacrifice. "God forbid," says St. Paul, "that I should glory save +in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." But what next? Not "whereby I +am saved in spite of myself," not "whereby I am spared all personal +exertion," but "whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I to the +world." This conformity to Christ's death, this crucifixion of self +with Christ, always forms part of the doctrine of the Cross in St. +Paul's teaching. The dying with Christ, the being buried with Christ, +is the absolute accompaniment of the atoning death of Christ. We +cannot be at one with Christ unless we conform to Christ. The work +done for us necessitates the work done by us. The potentiality of our +salvation--of yours and mine--wrought through the Cross of Christ can +only then become an actuality, when Christ's death is thus +appropriated, realised, translated into action by us--by you and by +me. But it remains still the work of God's grace. Human merit is +absolutely excluded still, as absolutely as by the baldest and most +unqualified doctrine of substitution. + +(4) Fourthly and lastly, the Cross of Christ is a lesson of the +regenerate and sanctified life. Dying and living, burial and +resurrection, these in the Christian vocabulary are correlative ideas. +The Crucifixion implies the Resurrection and the Ascension. The +raising up on the cross demands the raising up from the grave, the +raising up into heaven. The lifting up of the brazen serpent in the +wilderness is a symbol alike of the one and the other. And as with +Christ, so also with those who are Christ's. "If we died with Christ, +we shall also live with him." Those only can be made conformable to +Christ's resurrection who have been made conformable to His death. The +power of His resurrection is the counterpart to the power of His +cross. + +Herein, then--in the Cross of Christ--resides this power of God which +is offered to you as the true aim of your ambition, inexhaustible, +omnipotent, infinite. Will you close with the offer? Then reverence +yourselves; believe in yourselves; consecrate yourselves. + +Reverence yourselves. Begin with reverencing this your body. Reverence +it as God's handiwork fearfully and wonderfully made. Contemplate it; +yes, contemplate it with awe, if only for its marvellously subtle +mechanism. But reverence it still more as the consecrated temple of +God's Spirit. Do not neglect it; do not misuse it; before all things +do not defile and desecrate it. Young men, the problem of social +purity is thrown down for your generation to solve. Will you accept +this challenge? The conscience of England is awakening to the terrible +curse. To redress the crying social wrong, to raise womanhood from +degradation and shame, to hold up to reverence the idea of a pure, +chivalrous, manly manhood,--this is the crusade in which you are +invited to enlist. Will you, as consecrated soldiers of the Cross, +claim your part in the glory of this campaign? If so, the work must +begin now, must begin in yourselves. There can be no success against +the foe where there is disaffection and mutiny in the citadel. + +Believe in yourselves; yet, not in yourselves as yourselves. Believe +not in your strength, but in your weakness. Believe in God who dwells +in you. Give full rein to your ambition. Trust this power of God. It +will not stunt or mar, will not crush, will not annihilate your +natural gifts--your social endowments, your political instincts, your +intellectual capacities. It will only elevate, harmonize, inspire, +purify them. Trust this power. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, +which you may not do, if you will only trust it. +Panta ischuô+, +"I have strength for everything," everything in heaven and earth. You +have youth, health, vigour, enthusiasm, hopefulness, everything on +your side now. Seize the great opportunity which can never return. + +Consecrate yourselves. Empty yourselves of yourselves, that you may be +filled with God. Yield yourselves to Him, not with a passive +acquiescence, a sentimental quietism, but with the earnest, energetic +direction of all your faculties to this one end. A period must still +intervene for most of you before the active independent work of life +begins,--a period of discipline and waiting. Only by patience will you +win your souls. But the self-dedication must be made at once, and it +must be complete. Half-heartedness spoils the sacrifice. Postponement +is perilous. The opportunity despised turns its back on you for ever. +Consecrate, consecrate yourselves, body and soul and spirit, to God +now, this night. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] _These sermons are printed from reporter's notes._ + +[2] Preached at Cambridge, Oct. 23rd, 1881. + +[3] Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday Afternoon, September +6th, 1874. + +[4] Mr. Foley, R.A., sculptor. + +[5] Sermon preached in St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday, May 21st, 1876. + +[6] Sermon preached in Durham Cathedral on the Occasion of his +Enthronement, on Thursday, May 15th, 1879. + +[7] Preached in St. Peter's Church, Bishop Auckland. + +[8] Delivered at St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, November 4th, +1873. + +[9] Delivered in St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, November 11th, +1873. + +[10] Delivered in St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, November +18th, 1873. + +[11] Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, Thursday, June 19th, 1884, on +the anniversary of the Girls' Friendly Society. + +[12] Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, on Sunday Afternoon, May 30th, +1875, before some of Her Majesty's Judges, the Lord Mayor, and members +of the Corporation of the City of London. + +[13] Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, February 1st, 1884. + +[14] Preached at Manchester Cathedral, at annual meeting of Additional +Curates Society, on Tuesday, November 1st, 1887. + + * * * * * + +Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. + + +Transcriber's Note: In Table of Contents, ditto marks replaced by text +they refer to ("Christianity and Paganism"). Italics indicated by +_underscores_ and transliterated Greek by +plus signs.+ "Gallas" +changed to "Gallus" on page 79, "Constantine" to "Constantius" on page +93, and "god" to "gods" on page 112 (c.f. BCP Psalter xcvii. 7). +Punctuation errors corrected on pages 39 and 128. Spelling errors +corrected on page 80 ("fanactism") page 104 ("consciousnes") page +148 ("evey") and page 170 (+eu+). Different spellings of +apostasy/apostacy, and inconsistent hyphenation elsewhere, have been +retained. Illustration on title page is decorative emblem. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sermons, by J. B. 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J. B. Lightfoot + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-indent: 1em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em;} + + hr {width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both;} + + h1,h2,h3 {text-align: center; + font-weight: normal; + clear: both; + line-height: 200%;} + + body {margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 100%;} + + /* styles for front matter */ + .frontm {margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; + text-align: center;} + .frontm span.size160 {font-size: 1.6em;} + .frontm span.size140 {font-size: 1.4em;} + .frontm span.size120 {font-size: 1.2em;} + .frontm span.size100 {font-size: 1.0em;} + .frontm span.size090 {font-size: 0.9em;} + + /* styles for ToC */ + .TOC {width: 50%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: 30%; + list-style-type: none; text-indent: 0em; + font-variant: small-caps; margin-bottom: 5em;} + .ralign {position: absolute; right:25%; text-align: right;} + + /* no indent at start of sermons or after some poems*/ + .nodent {text-indent: 0;} + + /* blockquotes at start of sermons */ + .blockquot{font-size: .95em;} + + /* misc styles */ + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .emblem {margin-top: 5em; margin-bottom: 5em; + font-size: 1.5em; text-align: center;} + #light {font-weight: lighter;} + #small {font-size: small;} + #u {text-decoration: underline;} + #printer {text-align: center; text-indent: 0; font-size: small;} + + /* footnotes moved to end */ + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.95em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + + /* styles for poems */ + .poem {margin-left:5%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left;} + /* align lines with opening quote marks */ + .poem span.iq {display: block; + margin-left: -0.5em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em;} + + .poem span.i0 {display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i1 {display: block; + margin-left: 1em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i6 {display: block; + margin-left: 6em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em;} + + /* style for Transcriber's Note */ + .tnote {background-color: #EEE; color: inherit; + margin: 5% 15%; padding: 0.5em 1em; + border: dotted 1px gray; font-size: small;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sermons, by J. B. Lightfoot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sermons + +Author: J. B. Lightfoot + +Release Date: September 24, 2011 [EBook #37527] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS *** + + + + +Produced by Colin Bell, Chris Pinfield and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p id="u"><i>THE CONTEMPORARY PULPIT LIBRARY</i></p> + +<h1>SERMONS</h1> + +<div class="frontm"> + <span class="size090"><span class="smcap">by the late right + rev.</span></span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="size140">J. B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., D.C.L.,</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="size090"><span class="smcap">Lord Bishop of + Durham.</span></span> +</div> + +<div class="emblem"> + <span title="emblem">✻</span> +</div> + +<div class="frontm"> + <span class="size100">NEW YORK:</span><br /> + <span class="size120">THOMAS WHITTAKER,</span><br /> + <span class="size100"><span style="font-size:90%;">2 AND 3,</span> + BIBLE HOUSE.</span><br /> + <span class="size100">1890.</span> +</div> + +<h3><br />CONTENTS.<a + name="R_1" id="R_1" href="#F_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h3> +<hr/> + +<p><br /><span class="ralign"><span id="small">PAGE</span></span><br /></p> + +<ul class="TOC"> + <li><a href="#C_1">Bethel</a><span class="ralign">1</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_2">The Consciousness of Sin Heaven's + Pathway</a><span class="ralign">17</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_3">The History of Israel an Argument in Favour of + Christianity</a><span class="ralign">29</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_4">The Vision of God</a><span + class="ralign">43</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_5">The Heavenly Teacher</a><span + class="ralign">55</span><br /><br /></li> + <li>Christianity and Paganism. <a + href="#C_6">I</a>.<span class="ralign">65</span><br /><br /></li> + <li>Christianity and Paganism. <a + href="#C_7">II</a>.<span class="ralign">83</span><br /><br /></li> + <li>Christianity and Paganism. <a + href="#C_8">III</a>.<span class="ralign">100</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_9">Woman and the Gospel</a><span + class="ralign">116</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_10">Pilate</a><span + class="ralign">129</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_11">The Pharisee and the Publican</a><span + class="ralign">145</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_12">Our Citizenship</a><span + class="ralign">157</span><br /><br /></li> + <li><a href="#C_13">Ambition</a><span + class="ralign">170</span></li> +</ul> + +<div class="frontm"> + <span class="size160"><i>Sermons</i></span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="size090"><span class="smcap">by the late</span></span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="size120"><b>RIGHT REV. J. B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., + D.C.L.,</b></span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="size090"><span class="smcap">Lord Bishop of + Durham.</span></span> +</div> + + +<hr/> + + + + +<h2><a + name="C_1" id="C_1">BETHEL.</a><a + name="R_2" id="R_2" href="#F_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></h2> + + +<p class="blockquot">"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it +not."—<span class="smcap">Gen.</span> xxviii. 16.</p> + +<p class="nodent">An unobtrusive, unimpressive scene, almost +indistinguishable, even to the curious eye of the archćologist, "in +the maze of undistinguished hills which encompass it"—with +nothing to attract the eye, and nothing to fire the imagination; large +slabs of bare rock traversed by a well-worn thoroughfare; "no religio +loci, no awful shades, no lofty hills." So is the site of Bethel +described by the modern traveller. Yet this was none other than the +House of God; this was the very gate of heaven.</p> + +<p>An unimpressive scene in itself, but appearing still more commonplace, +when contrasted with the famous shrines of heathendom—the rock +fortress of the Athene, or the pleasant groves of Daphne, or the +cloven peak of Parnassus, or the sea-girt sanctuary of Delos. No +beauty, no grandeur, nothing of loveliness and nothing of awe, nothing +exceptional of any kind which can explain or justify its selection. +Was there not ground for the wanderer's surprise on that memorable +night? Why should this one spot be chosen to plant the foot of the +ladder which connected heaven and earth? Why in this bleak wilderness? +Why amidst these bare rocks? Why here of all places in the world? Yes, +why here?</p> + +<p>The paradox of Bethel is the paradox of the Gospel—is the +paradox of God's spiritual dispensations at all times. The Incarnation +itself was the supreme manifestation of this paradox. The building up +of the Church was the proper sequel to the Incarnation.</p> + +<p>Look at the accompaniments of the Incarnation. Could any +environment of circumstances well have been imagined more incongruous, +more alien to this unique event in human history, this supreme +revelation of God's wisdom, and power, and beneficence? An obscure +corner of the Roman world—an insignificant and down-trodden +race, scorned and hated by the rest of mankind—an ox-stall for a +nursery, and a carpenter's shop for a school—what is wanting to +complete the paradox? Yes, there is still one feature to be added to +the picture—the crowning incongruity of all—the felon's +death on the cross. Said not the prophet rightly, when he foretold +that there should be nothing lovely in His life and circumstances, as +men count loveliness; "no form or comeliness;" "no beauty that we +should desire him"?</p> + +<p>And the same paradox, which ruled the foundation of the Church, +extended also to its building up. The great statesmen, the powerful +captains, in the kingdom of God were fishermen and tent-makers. Never +was this characteristic incongruity of the Gospel more signally +manifested than in the preaching of St. Paul at Athens. Have we ever +realized the force of that single word with which the historian +describes the impression left on the Apostle's mind by this far-famed +city? Gazing on the most sublime and beautiful creations of Greek art, +the masterpieces of Phidias and Praxiteles, he has no eye for their +beauty or their sublimity. He pierces through the veil of the material +and transitory, and behind this semblance of grace and glory the true +nature of things reveals itself. To him this chief centre of human +culture and intelligence, this—</p> + +<div class="poem"> + <span class="i2">"Eye of Greece, mother of arts</span> + <span class="i0">And eloquence,"</span> +</div> + +<p class="nodent">appears only as +<span title="kazeidôlos"> +καζείδωλος +</span>, +overrun with idols, beset with phantoms which mislead, and vanities +which corrupt. Art and culture are God's own gifts, legitimate +embellishments of life, even of worship, which is the highest form of +life. But if culture aims at displacing religion, if art seeks to +dethrone God,—why, then, in the highest interests of humanity, be it +our prayer that the sword of the barbarian and the axe of the +iconoclast may descend once more, and sweep them ruthlessly away. +There was, at least, this redeeming feature in ancient art, that it +gave expression to whatsoever sense of the Divine lay buried in the +heathen mind. But art and culture, which studiously ignore God—what +can be said for these? In this one word +<span title="kazeidôlos"> +καζείδωλος</span> +lies the germ of that fierce and protracted struggle of Christianity +with Paganism, which ended indeed in a splendid victory, though not +without inflicting many a wound on humanity of which the scars and +seams still remain. Notwithstanding the merciless scoffs of a Celsus +and the biting sarcasm of a Julian—the Apostle's words were verified +in their literal truth. Strength was made perfect in weakness. God +chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, aye, and +the uncomely things of the world to confound the beautiful. The things +which are not, brought to nought the things which are.</p> + +<p>So then in its accompaniments, not less than in its main idea, this +incident at Bethel is a type of the Gospel of Christ. This exile, the +representative of the Israel after the flesh, prefigures a greater +outcast and wanderer, the representative of the Israel after the +spirit, the representative of the whole family of man. This ladder +reared up from earth to heaven, whereby angels ascend and descend, +what is it but the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, wherein God is +made man, and man is taken up into God? This it is which establishes +the title of Christianity as the absolute and final religion of the +world—this indissoluble union of the human with the +divine—this one only adequate response to the deepest religious +cravings of mankind. Hence the Church has ever clung with a tenacity +of grasp, which shallow hearts could ill understand, to this central +idea, the indefeasible wedlock of heaven and earth in the God-man. And +to those whose sight is purged by faith, to those who are gifted with +the eye of the Spirit, the vision of Bethel will be vouchsafed with a +far more exceeding glory: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter +ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and +descending upon the Son of Man:" on the Son of Man: yes, and on +thyself too, O man, for thou art one with this Son of Man, one with +the Father in Him.</p> + +<p>"Gifted with the eye of the Spirit," I say; for in vain the heavens +are riven asunder, and the glory streams forth, and all things are +flooded with light, if the capacity of vision be absent. Only the cold +bare stones beneath, only the midnight gloom overhead, only the +dreary, monotonous waste around, these and these alone are visible +otherwise. We have been saddened, perhaps we have been disconcerted, +as recently we read the dreary epitaph which sums up the creed of a +brilliant man of science not long since deceased—a hopeless, +soul-less, lifeless creed, to which his own very faculties and +acquisitions appear to us to give the lie. We have been saddened +justly; but why should we be disconcerted? God be thanked, the most +absolute childlike faith has not unfrequently been found united with +the highest scientific intellect. We in this place have never yet +lacked bright examples of such a union, and God grant we never may. +But what right have we to expect it as a matter of course? What claim +do the most brilliant mathematical faculties, or the keenest scholarly +instincts, give to a man to speak with authority on the things of the +Spirit? Are we not told on authority before which we bow that a +special faculty is needed for this special knowledge; that "eye hath +not seen and ear hath not heard"; that only the Spirit of God—the +Spirit which He vouchsafes to His sons—knoweth the things of God? And +does not all analogy enforce the truth of this lesson? One man has a +keenly sensitive musical ear, but he is colour-blind. Another has a +quick eye for the faintest gradations of colour, but he cannot +distinguish one note of music from another. Does the imperfect eye of +the one know any haze of uncertainty over the hues of the rainbow; or +the obtuse ear of the other disparage the master works of a Handel, or +a Mozart, or a Beethoven? <i>Here</i> is a mathematician who sees in a +sublime creation of imaginative genius only a tissue of unproven +hypotheses; and <i>here</i> is a poet, to whom the plainest processes +of algebra, and the simplest problems in geometry, are mere barbarian +gabble, conveying no distinct impression to the brain, and leaving no +intelligible idea on the mind. Judge no man in this matter. To his own +master he stands or falls. But judge yourselves. Yes, spare no rigour +and relax no vigilance when the judge is the criminal also. Believe +it, this spiritual faculty is an infinitely subtle and delicate +mechanism. You cannot trifle with it, cannot roughly handle it, cannot +neglect it and suffer it to rust from disuse, without infinite peril +to yourselves. Nothing—not the highest intellectual gains—can +compensate you for its injury or its loss. The private prayer +mechanically repeated, then hurried over, then intermitted, and at +last dropped; the devotional reading found to be daily more irksome, +because suffered to be daily more listless; the valuable moral and +spiritual discipline of the early morning chapel, gradually neglected; +the unobtrusive opportunities of witnessing for Christ by deeds of +kindness and words of wisdom suffered to slip by,—these, and such as +these, are the unfailing indications of spiritual decline; till disuse +is followed by paralysis, and paralysis ends in death; and you are +left without God in the world. And yet when again—you young men—when +again, in the years to come, can you hope that the conditions of your +life will be as favourable to this spiritual self-discipline as they +are now? Where else do you expect to find in the same degree the +opportunities for private meditation and retirement, the daily common +prayer and the frequent communions, the inspiring and sanctifying +friendships, the wholesome occupation for the mind and the healthy +recreations for the body, every appliance and every aid which, if you +will employ them aright, neither disusing them nor misusing them, will +combine to build up and to perfect the man of God? Choose ye, this +day. To you, more especially, I appeal who have recently commenced +your residence here, and to whom, therefore, with the changed +conditions of life a heightened ideal of life also is suggested. This +is the momentous alternative. Shall your life hereafter be typified by +the barren rocks and the monotonous waste, hard and dreary, if nothing +worse; or shall it be illumined within and around with the effulgence +of God's own presence, so that—</p> + +<div class="poem"> + <span class="iq">"The earth and every common sight</span> + <span class="i1">To you shall seem</span> + <span class="i0">Apparelled in celestial light,</span> + <span class="i1">The glory and the freshness of a dream"?</span> +</div> + +<p class="nodent">A dream? nay, not a dream, but an everlasting +reality, eternal, as God's own being is eternal.</p> + +<p>There are two ways of looking on the relations between the things +of this life and the things of eternity. A false and a true. The false +way regards the one as the rejection of the other. They are +reciprocally exclusive. The avocations, the interests, the amusements +of daily life—nature and history, poetry and art—these are +so many hindrances to the heavenly life. Every moment given to work is +a moment subtracted from prayer—thus the inward life becomes a +constant reflection upon the conditions of the outward. This is the +spirit which of old peopled the desert with anchorites; the spirit +which in all ages, though under divers forms, has made a religion of +selfishness. This is the voice which cries, "Lo, here! and lo, there!" +though all the while the kingdom of heaven is within us, in the very +midst of us. The true conception is the reverse of all this. Its ideal +is not a separation, but an identification of the two. It takes its +stand on the old maxim <i>laborare est orare</i>. It strives that its +work shall be prayer, and its prayer shall be work. Nature and history +to it are not the veil of God's presence; they are the investiture of +God's glory. And, therefore, to it is vouchsafed the vision of grace, +and comfort, and strength, as to the patriarchs of old. The solitary +wanderer along the dreary thoroughfare of this life lays himself down. +He has nothing but the bare stones beneath for a couch, and nothing +but the midnight sky overhead for a tent. He closes his eyes for a +moment; and the whole place is flooded with glory. Ah! the Lord was in +this place, though he knew it not; but he knows it now—knows it +in the access of strength, knows it in the promise of hope, knows it +in the celestial voice and the ineffable light. All the common +interests of life—the associations, the amusements, the cares, +the hopes, the friendships, the conflicts—all are invested with +a dignity and an awe unsuspected before. Reverence is henceforth the +ruling spirit of his life. This monotonous round of commonplace toils +and commonplace pleasures is none other than the House of God. This +barren, stony thoroughfare of life is the very portal of heaven.</p> + +<p>To read these hieroglyphics traced on nature, on history, on the human +soul—to decipher this handwriting of God wheresoever it appears, and +where does it not appear?—is the ultimate and final study of man. All +history is a parable of God's dealings; and we must learn the +interpretation of the parable. All nature is a sacrament of God's +being and attributes, and we must strive to pierce through the outward +sign to the inward meaning. To realize God's presence, to hear God's +voice, to see God's visage,—let this be henceforth the aim and the +discipline of our lives. So at length we shall pass from Bethel to +Peniel—from the palace courts to the presence chamber itself. We +shall see God face to face. It is a vision of power, of majesty, of +awe unspeakable; but it is a vision also of purification, of light, of +strength, of life. The blessing is won at length by that long lonely +wrestling under the midnight sky. The fraud, the worldliness, the +self-seeking is thrown off like a slough. All is changed. Old things +have passed away. The supplanted rises from the struggle, the +supplanter rises no more, but the Israel, the Prince, who has power +with God and with men. Shall not Moses' prayer then be our prayer, +"Lord, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory"?</p> + +<p>"Show me Thy glory." Where else shall this glory reveal itself if +not in the studies of this place? These properties of numbers, these +selections of space, these phenomena of light, of heat, of energy, of +life, of language, of thought, what are they? Individual facts to be +recorded, arranged, tabulated, marshalled under several heads, which +we call laws, and having so called them, with a strange +self-complacency and contentment fold our hands, as if nothing more +were to be done, as if by the mere imposition of a name we had crowned +them absolute sovereigns of the Universe? Or are they +manifestations—partial, indeed, and needing to be +supplemented—of a power, a majesty, a wisdom, an order, a +beneficence, a finality, a oneness, a One, who is shown to us as the +Eternal Father in the revelation of the Eternal Son? Can we afford to +look down from the serene heights of modern science and culture on the +untutored Indian, who saw God's face in the shifting clouds, and heard +God's voice in the whistling winds? Nay, was there not a truth in this +childish ignorance which threatens to elude the grasp of our manhood's +wisdom? Was it altogether a baseless dream in those stoic Pantheists, +who endowed each several planet with an animating spirit of its own? +altogether a wild fancy in those Christian fathers assigning to each +its particular angel, who should whirl it through space and hold it in +its course? Was it not rather a Divine instinct feeling after a higher +truth? Human life cannot rest satisfied with the science of phenomena +alone. It needs to supplement science with poetry. And the true, the +absolute, the final poetry is the recognition of God the Creator and +Governor, of God the all-wise and all-powerful, of God the Father, the +Redeemer, the Sanctifier, of God the eternal love. "Blessed are they +who have eyes to see,"—thus to them</p> + +<div class="poem"> + <span class="iq">"The meanest flower that blows can give</span> + <span class="i0">Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."</span> +</div> + +<p class="nodent">Thoughts of immortality, of wisdom, of light, of +love.</p> + +<p>"Show me Thy Glory," where else again shall His glory be seen, if not +in those friendships which are the crowning gift of University life? +This intimate communion of soul with soul, this linking of heart with +heart, is it merely a matter of human convenience, of human +preference, or has it a Divine side also? This love, this devotion, +this reliance of the weak on the strong, this reverence for a nature +purer, nobler, more upright, more manly, more unselfish than your +own—what is its meaning? It is a precious, unspeakably precious, gift +of God, you will say—far beyond wealth, or fame, or popularity, or +ease, or any earthly boon of which you can conceive. Yes, but it is +more than this. May we not call it in some sense a sacrament, a sign +and a parable of your relation to your Lord? You are awed—no other +word will express this feeling—you are awed with the honour done to +you by this friendship. You do not talk much about it—it is too +sacred a thing—but you do feel it. You confess to yourself day and +night your own unworthiness. And yet, though you strive to be worthy, +you would not wish to feel worthy. The very sense of undeservedness +invests the gift with a bountifulness and a glory which you would not +forego. The fountains of your thanksgiving would cease to flow freely +if you claimed it as a right; and it is a joyful and a pleasant thing +to be thankful. Apply this experience to the infinitely higher gift of +Christ's friendship, of Christ's sacrifice. Herein lies the power of +the Cross—which men called and still call weakness—the power which +awes, inspires, energises, which elevates the heart and sanctifies the +life—herein this feeling of boundless thanksgiving arises from this +sense of absolute undeservedness. For is it not true, that those will +love most to whom most is given and forgiven? So then this your +friendship is found to be none other than the House of God. The Lord +is in this place, and happy are ye if ye know it.</p> + +<p>Once again; look into your own soul, and what do you find there? Yes, +ye yourselves are the temple of the living God. He is there—there, +whether you will or not. Through your reason, through your conscience, +through your remorses and regrets, through your capacity of amendment, +through your aspirations and ideals, He speaks to you. You are His +coinage. His image and superscription are stamped upon you. Aye, and +He has also re-stamped you, re-created you, in Christ Jesus by the +earnest of His Spirit. If it be true of your body that it is fearfully +and wonderfully made, is it not far more true of your soul? +Henceforward you will regard yourself with awe and reverence, as a +sanctuary of the eternal goodness. You will not, you dare not, profane +this sanctuary. Here is the true self-respect—nay, not self-respect, +for self is abased, self is overawed, self veils the face and falls +prostrate in the presence of Infinite Wisdom, and Purity, and Love +thus revealed. Surely, surely the Lord was in this place—in this +poor, self-seeking, restless, rebellious soul of mine, and <i>I</i>, I +thought it a common thing, I went on my way heedless, I followed my +own devices and desires, I knew it not.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, I have been asked to plead before you to-day a cause +which it should not require many words of mine to enforce. The +Barnwell and Chesterton Clergy Fund appeals to you year by year for +aid. Of all claims this (I say it advisedly) should be a first charge +on the liberality of members of the University. These populous and +growing suburbs are created by your needs. They are chiefly peopled by +college servants and others for whom you are responsible. Zealous +clergy are willing to work for the work's sake in these districts +commonly for stipends which no one could call remunerative—sometimes +for no stipends at all. And yet it is still the same old story which I +remember years ago. There is still the same difficulty in meeting +current expenses; still the same fear lest the spiritual machinery +should be impaired for lack of funds; still the same precarious +hand-to-mouth existence, of which we heard complaint in years past. Is +it quite creditable that matters should go on thus? In a thousand ways +you all, some directly, some indirectly, you all are reaping, +materially, intellectually, or spiritually the fruits gathered from +the liberality of past ages? Will you not make an adequate return? +Steady, continuous subscriptions are needed. A liberal response to +this day's appeal is needed. The Fund is largely dependent on the +proceeds of the University Sermon. Not less than a hundred pounds will +suffice to meet all requirements. Will you not give it this day, +either in this church, or in contributions sent afterwards to the +treasurer? Think not that you hear only the poor words of the preacher +in this appeal. Christ Himself pleads with you. Christ's own words +ring in your ears, "Ye did it, ye did it not, to <i>Me</i>." Ah, yes, +the Lord was in this place—in this weary pleading of the preacher, in +these trite commonplaces of spiritual need: and <i>we</i>, we knew it +not. God grant that you may know it in time. God forbid that He should +ever say to you, "I knew you not."</p> + +<hr/> + + + + +<h2><a + name="C_2" id="C_2">THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN HEAVEN'S PATHWAY.</a><a + name="R_3" id="R_3" href="#F_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></h2> + + +<p class="blockquot">"When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' + knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord."—<span + class="smcap">Luke</span> v. 8.</p> + +<p class="nodent">To those who search the Scriptures, not because in +them they think they have eternal life, but because in them they trust +to find historical difficulties, this account of St. Peter's call has +seemed to reward their search. The narrative indeed, is simple and +inartificial in itself; the incidents follow in a natural order; the +traits of character are wonderfully realistic and lifelike. There is +confessedly an air of truthfulness about the whole story; but +how—how, it is asked—can this account be reconciled with the +narrative given in St. John's Gospel? There we have a wholly different +story of St. Peter's call. His brother Andrew is a scholar of the +Baptist. The Baptist points out Jesus to Andrew and to a +fellow-disciple. They follow Jesus; they are accepted by Him; they +lodge that day with Him; they are convinced that He is the Christ. +Andrew takes his brother Simon to Jesus; Jesus receives him. "Thou art +Simon, the son of Jona. Thou shalt be called Cephas." This account +also is perfectly plain, but how can the two be harmonised? "Have we +not here," it is said, "two irreconcilable narratives—in fact, two +distinct legends of the call of St. Peter?"</p> + +<p>I have more than once remarked that the apparent moral contradictions +of the Bible are often its most valuable moral lessons. A similar +remark will apply to its apparent historical contradictions. +Underlying these is very frequently a subtle harmony, which eluded us +at our first hasty search. The two accounts are after all not +contradictory, but supplementary, the one to the other. So it is here. +Read St. Luke's narrative carefully, and it will be apparent that this +cannot have been the first meeting of St. Peter with our Lord. I say +nothing of the healing of his wife's mother, for, though this is +related earlier in St. Luke's Gospel, yet it is plain from the +narrative in the other evangelists that it is not related here in +chronological order.</p> + +<p>But what are the facts? These fishermen have been toiling throughout +the night; their labour has been wholly unrewarded, though night is +the proper season for plying their craft; and now in the bright glare +of the morning sun—now when, after the ill-success of the night, it +would be perfect madness to expect a haul—now they are suddenly, +imperiously bidden to put out again into the deep sea, and to let down +their nets. And the command is obeyed. There is the lurking misgiving, +there is the tacit remonstrance; but there is prompt obedience +notwithstanding. "Master, we have toiled all the night; nevertheless, +at Thy word I will let down the net." "<i>At Thy word.</i>" Who is +this, that this most unreasonable demand meets with such ready +acquiescence? Is it possible that He can have been a mere passing +stranger, or a mere casual acquaintance? How could His advice have +been entertained for a moment when He told an experienced fisherman to +do what a fisherman knew to be utterly foolish and futile? The +narrative itself, I say, implies some previous knowledge of our Lord +on St. Peter's part. He would never have acted as he is represented +here as acting unless he had believed, or, at least, had suspected, +that there was a more than human power and intelligence in our Lord. +In short, the narrative of St. Luke presupposes the narrative of St. +John. Jesus speaks to Peter now as one who has a right to command. The +incident in St. John gives the personal call of Peter; the incident in +St. Luke gives his official call. On the one occasion he is +represented as a disciple and a follower; on the other occasion he is +declared an apostle and a teacher. "From henceforth thou shalt catch +men."</p> + +<p>But I did not select this text with any special purpose of discussing +historical difficulties. Such discussions, indeed, are necessary when +they are forced upon us, but they only distract the mind from the +moral and spiritual lessons of the Scripture. Nor, I think, is the +lesson in the text difficult to extricate. All history teaches by +example, and the Scriptural narrative is the intensification of +history. The miracles of our Lord are not miracles only. They are most +frequently acted parables also. And have we not here a parable of the +most intense pathos and of the widest application?</p> + +<p>"Master, we have toiled all the night, and we have taken nothing." +What is this but a true, painfully true, image of the efforts, the +struggles, the futilities, the despairs of humanity; not in isolated +cases, here and there only, of disappointed hopes and unrealised aim, +but with thousands of men and women who are born into this world, and +live and labour, and suffer and die, without securing any substantial +and enduring good, simply because they have lived and died apart from +God, who alone survives the decay of time, and alone can give +satisfaction to the immortal spirit of man?</p> + +<p>"We have toiled all the night." Yes; we see it now—now when the +morning light of eternity has burst upon our aching eyeballs. We have +toiled all the night. There was darkness above and around us; there +was toil of hands and toil of heart; there was the struggle for +subsistence; there was the race after wealth and honour; there was the +eager pursuit of phantom goods. We had our pleasures and we had our +pains. We had our failures and we had our successes. Yes, our splendid +successes as men counted them—as we were half tempted to count them +ourselves. But we have taken nothing. Our successes are as our +failures; our pains are as our pleasures, now. In the all-absorbing +abyss of time we have taken nothing, absolutely nothing—nothing which +can escape the jaws of the grave, nothing which will pass the portals +of death. We stand alone, stripped of everything, alone with God, +alone with eternity.</p> + +<p>You pursued wealth, and you pursued it not in vain; you determined +that your career should be a success, and a success you made it. You +surrounded yourself with every material comfort; you added to these +substantial appliances all the embellishments and all the refinements +of life. What then? Did they give you the satisfaction you hoped for? +Could you feel that there was any finality in such aims and +acquisitions as these? No. The hope was better after all than the +realisation; the prospect was brighter than the attainment. You were +restless, discontented, craving still. There was a hunger of soul, +though you would not confess it—a hunger of soul, which rejected and +loathed these husks. And now where are they, and what are they? Or you +pursued honour and fame, and men lavishly bestowed upon you that which +you so eagerly sought, till you seemed at length to have all, and more +than all, that you had set your heart upon. But still there was no +contentment, because there was no finality. Dropsy-like your craving +only grew with the gratification. Each fresh draught of applause +created a fresh thirst. Every imagined slight, every unintentional +neglect, every trivial rebuff, was a keen agony to you. You had only +increased your sensitiveness; you had not secured your satisfaction. +Or, again, you had set your heart on human love, God's greatest boon +if you use it without misusing it, if you subordinate it to his Divine +love. Your human affections, your human friendships, were everything +to you. In the buoyant hopefulness of youth, in the solid security of +middle age, it seemed as though these must last for ever. But soon +enough the painful truth dawned upon you. The march of life began to +tell on your comrades in the journey. One dropped at your side, and +then another. The ranks were visibly thinning, and there was no one to +step in and take the vacant places. First the mother at whose knees +you had lisped your earliest faltering prayer; then the friend who +shared all your counsels, who was more than a brother to you; then the +wife whom you cherished as another self; then the little daughter +whose innocent childish talk had solaced you in many a grievous hour: +so, one by one, they fell away, and you are left gradually alone and +more alone; they leave you when you need them most, and at length in +the vacancy of your solitude you make the bitter discovery that though +you have toiled all night you have taken nothing—you have taken +nothing at all.</p> + +<p>A short time ago we laid in the vaults of this cathedral the last +mortal remains of one<a +name="R_4" id="R_4" href="#F_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> +who has achieved for himself a foremost place among the masters of his +art in our own age. It was fit that his bones should lie here, side by +side with more than one famous brother sculptor who has gone before +him—side by side with the most illustrious names in the sister art of +painting; with Reynolds, whose easy grace in the delineation of human +portraiture stands quite without a rival; with Turner, who has +succeeded as no other painter has succeeded, in any age or country, in +reproducing on canvas the subtle play of light and shade, the +ever-varying aspect, the depth, the infinity, of external nature; with +Landseer, too, our most recent guest in this our artists' +resting-place, whose genial and vigorous representations of the lower +animal life have invested it with almost a human interest, and, so +doing, have taught us many a suggestive lesson of humanity and +kindliness. Side by side, too, with England's greatest architects, and +Wren, their prince, whose genius needs no word of eulogy here, for his +monument is above and around us. Such a place of sepulture well +befitted such a man. It is our tribute of respect for noble gifts +nobly used. It is our expression of thanksgiving to God, who thus +endows His servants that they may employ their endowments to exalt and +to embellish human life.</p> + +<p>But one thought cannot fail to strike us here. We may remember that +the great conqueror of modern time, when it was suggested to him to +perpetuate some signal incident in his triumphant career by an +historical picture, asked how long the work would last. He was told +two or three centuries—perhaps, under favourable circumstances, five +centuries. This would not satisfy his devouring ambition. This was not +the immortality of fame which he had designed for himself. He must +have a more enduring memorial than this. Compared with the canvas of +the painter, the marble of the sculptor is long-lived indeed. The most +enduring of human works are the works of the sculptor's chisel. The +stern granite features of the Pharaoh who befriended Joseph and the +Pharaoh who persecuted Israel may still look down on the land which +they ruled with an iron rule between three and four thousand years +ago. The winged lions and winged bulls on which the contemporaries of +Shalmanezer and Sennacherib may have gazed in awe, in the royal +palaces of Assyria, still confront us in our national museum with the +same weird look, unchanged though all else has changed, surviving +still, though a hundred generations of men have been born, and lived, +and died, meanwhile. And it may be that in the centuries to come, some +curious explorer will exhume, from the grass-grown mounds of this +ruined city, a work of art bearing the name of him whom on Friday last +we bore to an honoured resting-place—perhaps the effigy of a prince +who flourished in a remote epoch of the past, when England was still a +nation, and who sank into an untimely grave amidst a people's +mourning. And thus the sculptor's fame will have a second lease of +life.</p> + +<p>But after all, thirty centuries are but as three—are but as three +years or three days—compared with eternity. Napoleon's ambition was a +perverted instinct, but it was an instinct, nevertheless. Man feels +that he was not made to die; he will not consent to die. This thirst +for enduring fame, what is it but an echo, a mocking echo, of an +eternal verity? Yes, he will live. The materialist may tell him that, +when the eye and the ear are dissolved into gases and decomposed into +dust, it matters nothing to him with what honours men may adorn his +memory, with what praises they may celebrate his name. He, too—his +personality, or what he was pleased to call his personality—is +dissolved, is dissipated, is gone; but the materialist never yet has +been able, never will be able, to persuade mankind. The natural +instinct of man revolts against the assumption; and the ambition of +the Christian, the ambition for eternity alone, expresses truly this +general instinct of man. To labour for the good things of this world, +to labour for fame in the coming centuries, what is it, after all, if +our views are bounded by this narrow horizon? Why, then, like the +disappointed fishermen of the Galilean lake, we have toiled all the +night long, and, for our pains, we have taken nothing.</p> + +<p>And this change—this conversion, if you will—comes +sometimes, it may be, despite ourselves, but comes—remember +this—comes most often in answer to some act of obedience, to +some surrender of self-will on our part. We may complain; we may +demur; we may distrust. We have toiled all the night, and have taken +nothing; but we recognise the authority of the Divine voice, and we +force ourselves into compliance—"nevertheless, at Thy word." The +command is general: it has come to all alike,—"Let ye down your +nets." But, like Peter, we specialise it, we adopt it, we appropriate +it to ourselves: "I will let down the net." And so we do what seems +hard and unreasonable; we do what we have never done before.</p> + +<p>And the response—the response to this obedience—is a +light flashed in upon our soul, a double revelation, a revelation of +mixed pleasure and pain, for it is a revelation at once of the sin +within and of God without. The marvellous bounty of God's grace +dazzles and astounds our vision, and, in our perplexity of heart, the +despairing, craving, forbidding, yearning cry is wrung from our lips, +"Depart from me! Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man!"</p> + +<p>"Depart from me, O Lord." I know it all now. I see my sin, because I +see Thy goodness. Yes, I have beheld Thy holiness, Thy purity, Thy +truth, Thy grace, Thy love, and I have been stunned with the contrast +to self. The brightness of the light has intensified the blackness of +the shade. Depart from me, O Lord! what can I have in common with +Thee?—I, so selfish, so vile, so sin-laden, with Thee, so merciful, +so righteous, so holy. In very deed, Thy ways are not as my ways, and +Thy thoughts are not as my thoughts. Depart from me, O Lord! This +"fear of the Lord" is, indeed, the "beginning of wisdom." This +consciousness of sin is the true pathway to heaven. The saintliest of +men have ever felt and spoken most strongly of their own sinfulness. +The intensity of their language has provoked the sneer of the +worldling—has been an evidence here of their own conviction that, +despite their pretensions to holiness, they are no better than he, +perhaps somewhat worse. But they know, and he doth not know, what sin +means and what God means, and so the despairing cry is wrung from +their agony, "Depart from me, O Lord."</p> + +<p>"Depart from me, O Lord! And yet not so, Lord." Even while Peter is +speaking his gestures belie his words. His lips implore Jesus +despairingly to depart, but his eyes and his hands entreat Him +passionately to stay. "Not so, Lord, for how can I endure to part with +Thee? In Thy presence is hope, is light, is joy. Lord, to whom shall +we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Depart from me? No; it is +for the godless to say, 'Depart from us, for we desire not the +knowledge of God.' It is for the unclean spirits to rave against +Thee—'Let us alone, Thou Jesus of Nazareth! What have we to do with +Thee?' But I, I have everything to do with Thee. I am created in the +image of God. I have a ray of the Divine light, a seed of the Divine +word, within me. And like seeks like; therefore I yearn after Thee, +therefore I am drawn towards Thee, therefore I stretch out my hands to +Thee over the wide chasm of sin which yawns between us. Depart from +me? Nay, rather abide with me. Teach me, absolve me, purify me, +strengthen me. Take me to Thyself, that I may be Thine and Thine only. +Abide with me, for the day of this life is far spent, and the night +cometh when no man can work. Stay with me now and evermore, and so +fulfil Thy gracious promise: 'If a man love Me and will keep My word, +My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode +with him.'"</p> + +<hr/> + + + + +<h2><a + name="C_3" id="C_3">THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL</a><br /> + AN ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF CHRISTIANITY.<a + name="R_5" id="R_5" href="#F_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></h2> + +<p class="blockquot">"They are Thy people and Thine inheritance."—<span + class="smcap">Deut</span>. ix. 29.</p> + + +<p class="nodent">It is related of a certain royal chaplain that, +being asked often by his sovereign to give a concise and convincing +argument in favour of Christianity, he replied in two words—"The +Jews." It is this subject which I offer for your consideration this +afternoon—the history and character of the Israelite race as a +witness to Christianity. The subject is certainly not inappropriate at +this season, when the commemoration of the great Pentecostal Day is +fast approaching, to which all the previous history of the nation had +tended, which substituted the dispensation of the Spirit for the +dispensation of the Law, and expanded the religion of a tribe into the +religion of mankind. It is, moreover, forced upon our notice by that +remarkable chapter in Deuteronomy which we have heard this afternoon, +and which, by prophetic insight, brings out with singular distinctness +the prominent character and subsequent career of the race. Only +reflect upon such expressions as these:—"Go in to possess nations +greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to +heaven"; "Understand, therefore, this day that the Lord thy God is He +which goeth over before thee"; "The Lord thy God giveth thee not this +good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a +stiffnecked people"; "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from +the day that I knew you."</p> + +<p>Read these passages in the full light which thirty centuries of the +nation's history have thrown upon them. Study this contrast between +their character and their achievements as it unfolds itself in all +their subsequent history. Consider, on the one hand, not only the +first conquest of Canaan to which the words more immediately refer, +but the succession of far more brilliant victories over the great +nations of the world, culminating in that most magnificent triumph of +all—the triumph of Christianity. Consider, on the other hand, not +only those early murmurings and idolatries in the wilderness to which +the language more directly points, but that long catalogue of +rebellions of which the subsequent history of Israel is made up, and +which reached its climax in the martyrdom of the Lord of Life. Set +these one against the other, and you will confess that the utterances +of Deuteronomy are wonderful anticipations of the future, succinct +epitomes of centuries yet to come. You may question, if you will, +every single prophecy in the Old Testament, but the whole history of +the Jews is one continuous prophecy, more distinct and articulate than +all. You may deny if you will every successive miracle which is +recorded therein, but again the history of the Jews is, from first to +last, one stupendous miracle, more wonderful and convincing than all. +<i>Here</i> you have a small, insignificant people—stiff-necked, +rebellious, worthless; <i>there</i> you have the most magnificent +spiritual achievements—the most signal moral victories. What +conclusion can you draw, except that which is drawn for you in the +words which I have read: "The Lord thy God is He that goeth before +you"?—"They are Thy people and Thine inheritance, which Thou +broughtest out by Thy mighty power and Thy stretched out arm."</p> + +<p>Look first at the capacities of the people themselves. They had no +remarkable gifts which might have led us to anticipate this unique +destiny. They had no intellectual qualities of a very high order like +the Greeks—vivid imagination, subtlety of thought, ćsthetic taste; no +political capacity like the Romans, no organizing power or faculty of +legislation which might secure for them the ascendency over the +nations of the world. They were, moreover, a stubborn, exclusive, +intolerant people—an unpractical people, without the power, or at +least the will, to adapt themselves to the institutions, the feelings, +and the prejudices of the people with whom they were brought in +contact. They were believed, in consequence, to cherish an universal +hatred against the rest of mankind; and they, in turn, were hated by +all—hated, not with the hatred of an admiring envy, but the hatred of +a supercilious scorn. Of all the tribes on the face of the earth the +Jews, we should have said, were the very last to ingratiate themselves +with the other races of mankind, and to lay the civilised world at +their feet. And now turn from the people themselves to the land of +their abode. Certainly this does not enable us to solve the enigma. +Palestine does not occupy a large space in the Christian's +imagination; for it is a very minute, insignificant spot in the map of +the world. It is, moreover, incapable of expansion, for it is bounded +on all sides either by sea or mountain ranges, or by vast and +impracticable deserts. To a great extent all this country is +mountainous and barren, and even this meagre and unpromising territory +is not all their own. The sea-coast would have been valuable to a +people gifted with commercial instincts. With commerce they might have +extended their influence; but from the sea-coast they were wholly +excluded. The Phœnicians on the north and the Philistines on the +south occupied all the most important harbours; and this territory of +the Jews was so unexpansive, so barren, so unpromising that they were +placed at a still greater disadvantage when compared with the +surrounding people. The Jews are surrounded on all sides, and by the +most formidable neighbours. On the one side by Egypt, a country of the +highest fertility, the foremost military power in the world, with an +ancient civilisation which dated from a period long before the birth +of the father of the Israelite people, whilst it stood foremost of the +human race in works of art in its day. Who was Israel, then, that he +could withstand Egypt? There, again, on the other side, was another +mighty empire, first Assyria, then Babylon, the only rival of Egypt of +the ancient world. In these places they had the same advantage of wide +plains of exceptional fertility, a high and remote civilisation, an +army of tremendous strength, and a centralisation under an absolute +rule, with all the resources which a great and vast dominion could +command. As Persia succeeded Babylon, and as Babylon succeeded +Assyria, so Persia—far more mighty and terrible—overruns and +conquers all Western Asia. Egypt itself falls. Palestine is a mere +speck, surrounded by the huge dominions of the Persian monarch. What +chance has Israel against such terrible neighbours? Must it not be +crushed and ground to atoms and annihilated by its foes? But, at all +events, it might have been supposed that, however stubborn and +impracticable they were in their attitude towards others, they would +at least be united amongst themselves—that they would be loyal to +their country, that they would be faithful to their laws and +institutions, that they would be true to their God. This internal +cohesion would give them strength to resist—this absolute harmony +would win for them an influence that would compensate for the superior +advantages of their more powerful neighbours. But what do we find as a +matter of fact? Their national history is one continuous record of +murmuring, of rebellion, of internal feuds, of moral and spiritual +defection. They have no sooner escaped from their Egyptian bondage, +their necks still bearing the scars of the tyrants' yoke, than they +fall into shameless idolatry. The worship of the golden calf is only +the type and presence of still more guilty lapses in centuries yet to +come; the revolt against Moses and Aaron only the type and shadow of +the rebellious spirit to which Israel rose in the distant future. +Again and again the religion of Jehovah is effaced, or almost effaced, +from the mind of the nation. Again and again the hideous idolatries of +Moloch—idolatries cruel, profligate, and shameless—supplant the +worship of the Lord of heaven and earth. And the political condition +of the nation is not one whit more hopeful than the religious. When +unity alone can save the people then there is disruption. The Ten +Tribes are severed from the House of David, never to be united again. +The power of one kingdom is spent in neutralising the power of the +other. This is a concise history of the race during the period from +the disruption to the captivity. The career of Israel, from first to +last, is a running comment upon the words, "Not for thy righteousness +or for the uprightness of thine heart dost thou go to possess the +land," for "ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that +I knew you." Not once or twice only the Mighty Archer has strung His +weapon and pointed His shaft, and His aim has been frustrated by +Israel's disobedience. His chosen instruments have been snapped in His +hands, starting aside like a broken bow. Indeed, the history of Israel +is quite unique in the chronicles of nations. The chronicles of other +nations record the qualities as well as the crimes of the people whose +career they commemorate. They praise their patriotism, their prowess, +their manifold virtues, their magnificent achievements. But the Bible, +the chronicle of the Jews, is one uninterrupted catalogue of sins and +shortcomings—one long bill of indictment against Israel. One only is +true, one only is faithful, one only is victorious; for he fears not +the nation, but the nation's God. So then, however we look at the +matter, there is nothing which affords ground for hope; and when we +question actual facts, we find they correspond altogether to those +expectations we should have formed beforehand from the character and +position of the nation. Never has any people lived upon the earth who +passed through such terrible disasters as the Jews. Never has any +people been so near to absolute extinction again and again, and yet +have survived. Again and again the vision of the prophet has been +realised. Again and again the valley of the shadow of death has been +strewn with the dry bones of carcases seemingly extinct. Again and +again there have been seasons of dark despair, when even the most +hopeful, challenged by the Divine voice, could only respond, "O Lord +God, Thou knowest!" But again and again there has been a shaking of +the dry bones—the bones have come together, bone to bone; they have +been strung with sinews and clothed with flesh; breath has been +breathed into them, and they have lived, and have become an exceeding +great army. Think of those many centuries of Egyptian bondage, when +the life of the nation seemed to have been strangled in its infancy. +Reflect next on that period in its youthful career, when it is +fighting its way inch by inch, and struggling for very existence in +Palestine, doing battle with nations greater and mightier than itself, +and with "cities fenced high up to heaven." Look forward again, and we +see its fate during the manhood of the nation under its king, the land +now divided against itself and overrun by successive invaders. As of +old so now again, but in a far more terrible sense, Israel finds +himself face to face with the Anakims and with those great empires of +the East before whom he appears but as a grasshopper. The end was +inevitable. For a time Israel was a plaything in the hands of those +terrible neighbours, tossed to and fro between two powerful +rivals—Egypt on the one side, and Assyria and Babylon on the +other—till at length, in a moment of victory, he is swept away, and +his place knows him no more. Could anything seem more hopeless than +the revival of the nation from the Babylonish captivity? Yet from +Babylon, as from Egypt, Israel returned. A new lease of life was +granted, and with it there followed a new lease of disaster also. His +old fate pursued him still. The saying was fulfilled which had been +spoken by the prophet: "That which the locust hath left hath the +canker-worm eaten, and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the +caterpillar eaten." He was rescued from the fangs of Babylon only to +be food for the Assyrians. He was drawn from the feet of the Assyrians +only to be devoured by the insatiable Roman. And yet all the +while—and this is the remarkable fact to which I ask your +attention—amidst calamities the most overwhelming and suffering the +most intense—exiled, enslaved, trampled under foot, only not +annihilated—all the while he was hopeful, was jubilant, was +triumphant still. He was always dying, and behold he lived. Century +after century prophets had declared, in no ambiguous terms, that +despite all these adverse appearances, despite all these wearisome +delays, Israel had a magnificent future. The nations might rage, and +the kings of the earth might do their worst—they were powerless +against Israel's destiny. A sceptre should rise out of Jacob which +would subdue the world, and a King should sit on David's throne before +whose footstool all the nations of the earth should bow. A standard +should be set up in Zion around which all mankind should rally. +"Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations +that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, +and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee;" "The sons +of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, and all they +that despised thee shall bow themselves at the soles of thy feet;" +"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the +curtains of thine habitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and +strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand +and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the +desolated cities to be inhabited."</p> + +<p>And these hopes—these extravagant hopes—were more than +realized. A King <i>did</i> rise out of Jacob to whom all the nations +of the civilised world have rendered homage such as no sovereign +received before or after—the homage of their heart, the homage +of their lives. At the call of Israel the Gentiles flocked to the +standard set up in Zion. From far and near, the cultivated Greek, the +proud Roman, Assyrian and Egyptian, master and slave, are flocking +around that standard. From east to west, from the ancient civilisation +of India to the barbarous islands of the Pacific, Israel has dictated +its sentiments, its belief, its morals, its laws and institutions to +the nations. An influence far deeper, far wider, far more tenacious +has appeared from that despised, insulted, down-trodden people than +was ever achieved by the splendid literature of Greece or the historic +empire of Rome. These are not theories, but facts—facts which +some will attempt to explain away, but facts which none can deny. +<i>Here</i> is the prophecy—<i>there</i> is the fulfilment. The +prophecy is not a single isolated prediction of ambiguous meaning, but +large and clear, written across the whole history of a nation from +margin to margin. And the fulfilment corresponds to the prophecy; it +is legible to all men, because stamped on the face of the world. Is +there not here the manifestation of Divine providence? Do we not +rightly claim the Jews as the principal witnesses to Christianity, or +shall we set all this down as mere accident, a freak of fortune, a +superficial correspondence without any essential connection? Shall it +be regarded as mere accident that, within a few years after the +appearing of this King who has thus gathered the Gentiles to His +standard, Jerusalem is destroyed, and the nation scattered to the four +winds of the earth—that the polity of Israel for ever ceased, +that the Temple shook, and that revival was rendered thenceforward +impossible? Shall we say that it is mere argument that for eighteen +centuries—a period as long as that which elapsed from the +proclamation of the law by Moses to the fulfilment of the law by +Christ—this state of things has remained? Or should we not +rather say that in this coincidence also there is a Divine +significance—that He proclaimed with no uncertain sound the +obituary of the old order and the commencement of the new—that +God's seal is stamped upon the character of the Church, whereby Israel +after the Spirit is substituted for Israel after the flesh? Do we ask +what it was which gave the Jewish people this toughness, this +vitality, this power? The answer simply is, "They are Thy people and +Thine inheritance, which Thou broughtest out by Thy mighty power, and +by Thy stretched out arm." It was the consciousness of this close +relationship with Jehovah, the omnipotent and ever-present +God—it was the sense of their glorious destiny, which marked +them out as the teachers of mankind. It was the conviction that they +were the possessors of glorious truths, and that those truths must in +the end prevail, whatever present appearances might suggest—this +was the secret source of their strength, notwithstanding all their +faults, and despite all their disasters. Do we ask again how it came +to pass that, when Israel called to the Gentiles, the Gentiles +responded to the call and flocked to its standard? Here, again, the +answer is simple—"Because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy +One of Israel." The Gentiles had everything else in their possession, +but this one thing they lacked—knowledge of God, their Father; +and without this all their magnificent gifts could not +satisfy—could not save them. Therefore, when at length the cry +went forth, "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters," +they hurried to the fountains of salvation to slake their burning +thirst. Culture and civilisation, arts and commerce, institutions and +laws,—no nation can afford to undervalue these; but not only do +all these things soon fade, but the people themselves fall into +corruption and decay if the Breath of Life be wanting.</p> + +<p>And as with nations, so with individuals. We may cultivate the +intellect to the highest pitch; we may surround ourselves with all the +luxuries and refinements of civilisation; we may accumulate all the +appliances which make life enjoyable; but the time will come when +these things will fail to sustain us. It may come in some season of +bereavement, in the hour of sickness or of loss. It may come in the +failure and decay of powers. It may come in the pains of our +death-agony. It may come—and this is the most solemn thought of +all—after we have passed the confines of the grave. But come it must +sooner or later; for we are children of God, and we cannot with +impunity ignore or deny the Father of earth and heaven. There only is +rest and peace; there only is true life for the soul of man.</p> + +<hr/> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_4" id="C_4">THE VISION OF GOD.</a><a + name="R_6" id="R_6" href="#F_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></h2> + +<p class="blockquot">"And they shall see His face."—<span + class="smcap">Rev.</span> xxii. 4.</p> + + +<p class="nodent">It is related of the greatest of the Bishops of +Durham that, in his last solemn moments, when the veil of the flesh +was even now parting asunder, and the everlasting sanctuary opening +before his eyes, he "expressed it as an awful thing to appear before +the Moral Governor of the world."</p> + +<p>The same thought, which thus accompanied him in his passage to +eternity, had dominated his life in time—this consciousness of an +Eternal Presence, this sense of a Supreme Righteousness, this +conviction of a Divine Order, shaping, guiding, disposing all the +intricate vicissitudes of circumstance and all the little lives of +men—enshrouded now in a dark atmosphere of mystery, revealing itself +only in glimpses through the rolling clouds of material existence, +dimly discerned by the dull and partial vision of finite man, +questioned, doubted, denied by many, yet visible enough now to the eye +of faith, working patiently but working surely, vindicating itself +ever and again in the long results of time, but awaiting its complete +and final vindication in the absolute issues of eternity—the truth of +all truths, the reality of all realities, the one stubborn steadfast +fact, unchangeable while all else is changing—this Presence, this +Order, this Righteousness—in the language of Holy Scripture, this +Word of the Lord which shall outlive the solid earth under foot, and +the starry vault overhead. "They shall perish, but Thou remainest, and +they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou +fold them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy +years shall not fail." "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of +man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower +thereof falleth away—but the word of the Lord endureth for ever."</p> + +<p>It is no arbitrary conjecture that this was the dominating idea of +Butler's life. Early and late it is alike prominent in his writings. +In the preface to his first great work, his volume of sermons, he +speaks of "the Author and Cause of all things, who is more intimately +present to us than anything else can be, and with whom we have a +nearer and more constant intercourse than we have with any creature." +In his latest work, his Charge to the Clergy of Durham, he urges the +"yielding ourselves up to the full influence of the Divine Presence:" +he bids his hearers "endeavour to raise up in the hearts" of their +people "such a sense of God as shall be an habitual, ready principle +of reverence, love, gratitude, hope, trust, resignation, and +obedience;" he recommends the practice of such devotional exercises as +"would be a recollection that we are in the Divine Presence, and +contribute to our being in the fear of the Lord all the day long." +Thus his death-bed utterance was the proper sequel to his life-long +thoughts. The same awe-inspiring, soul-subduing, purifying, +sanctifying Presence rose before him as hitherto. But the awe, the +solemnity, was intensified now, when the vision of God by faith might +at any moment give place to the vision of God by sight. Not unfitly +did one, writing shortly after his decease, compare him to "the bright +lamps before the shrine," the clear, steady light of the sanctuary, +burning night and day before the Eternal Presence.</p> + +<p>In the strength of this belief he had lived, and in the awe of this +thought he now died. This conviction it was—this sense of a present +righteousness, confronting him always—which raised him high above the +level of his age; keeping him pure amid the surroundings of a +dissolute court; modest and humble in a generation of much pretentious +display; high-minded and careless of wealth in a time of gross +venality and corruption; firm in the faith amidst a society cankered +by scepticism; devout and reverent, where spiritual indifference +reigned supreme; candid and thoughtful and temperate, amidst the +temptations and the excitements of religious controversy; careful even +for the externals of worship, where such care was vilified as the +badge of a degrading superstition. Hence that tremendous seriousness +which is his special characteristic—that "awful sense of religion," +that "sacred horror at men's frivolity," in the language of a living +essayist. Hence that transparent sincerity of character, which never +fails him. Hence that "meekness of wisdom," which he especially urges +his clergy to study, and of which he himself was all unconsciously the +brightest example.</p> + +<p>And what more seasonable prayer can you offer for him who addresses +you now, at this the most momentous crisis of his life, than that +he—the latest successor of Butler—may enter upon the duties of his +high and responsible office in the same spirit; that the realisation +of this great idea, the realisation of this great fact, may be the +constant effort of his life; that glimpses of the invisible +righteousness, of the invisible grace, of the invisible glory, may be +vouchsafed to him; and that the Eternal Presence, thus haunting him +night and day, may rebuke, may deter, may guide, may strengthen, may +comfort, may illume, may consecrate and subdue the feeble and wayward +impulses of his own heart to God's holy will and purpose!</p> + +<p>And not for the preacher only, but for the hearers also, let the same +prayer ascend to the throne of heaven. In all the manifold trials and +all the mean vexations of life, this presence will be your strength +and your stay. Whatsoever is truthful, whatsoever is real, whatsoever +is abiding in your lives, if there be any antidote to sin, and if +there be any anodyne for grief, if there be any consolation, and if +there be any grace, you will find it here, and here alone—in the +ever-present consciousness that you are living face to face with the +Eternal God. Not by fitful gusts of religious passion, not by fervid +outbursts of sentimental devotion, not by repetition of approved +forms, and not by acquiescence in orthodox beliefs, but by the calm, +steady, persistent concentration of the soul on this truth, by the +intent fixing of the inward eye on the righteousness and the grace of +the Eternal Being before Whom you stand, will you redeem your spirits +and sanctify your lives. So will your minds be conformed to His mind. +So will your faces reflect the brightness of His face. So will you go +from strength to strength, till, life's pilgrimage ended, you appear +in the eternal Zion, the celestial city, wherein is "neither sun nor +moon, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light +thereof."</p> + +<p>Let this, then, be the theme of our meditation this morning. Many +thoughts will crowd upon our minds and struggle for utterance on a day +like this; but we will put them all aside. Not our hopes, not our +cares, not our burdens; nothing of joy, nothing of sadness shall +interpose now to shut out or obscure the glory of the Presence before +Whom we stand.</p> + +<p>Not our hopes, though one hope starts up and shapes itself perforce +before our eyes. It will be the prayer of many hearts to-day that the +inauguration of a new Episcopate may be marked by the creation of a +new See; that Northumberland, which in the centuries long past gave to +Durham her Bishopric, may receive from Durham her due in return in +these latest days; that the Newcastle on the Tyne may take its place +with the Old Castle on the Wear, as a spiritual fortress strong in the +warfare of God.</p> + +<p>Not our cares, though at this season one anxiety will press heavily on +the minds of all. The dense cloud, which for weeks past has darkened +the social atmosphere of these northern counties, still hangs sullenly +overhead. God grant that the rift which already we seem to discern may +widen, till the flooding sunlight scatters the darkness, and a lasting +harmony is restored to the relations between the employer and the +employed.</p> + +<p>Not our burdens, though on one at least in this Cathedral the sense of +a new responsibility must press to-day with a heavy hand. If indeed +this burden had been self-sought or self-imposed, if his thoughts were +suffered to dwell on himself and his own incapacity, he might well +sink under its crushing weight. But your prayer for him, and his ideal +for himself, will shape itself in the words which were spoken to the +great Israelite restorer of old, "Not by might, nor by power, but by +My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." In this strength only, before you +as before him, will the great mountain become a plain.</p> + +<p>Therefore we will lay down now our hopes and our fears, our every +burden, at the steps of the altar, that, entering disencumbered into +the inmost sanctuary, we may fall before the Eternal Presence.</p> + +<p>The vision of God is threefold—the vision of Righteousness, the +vision of Grace, the vision of Glory.</p> + +<p>I. The vision of Righteousness is first in the sequence. Righteousness +includes all those attributes which make up the idea of the Supreme +Ruler of the universe—perfect justice, perfect truth, perfect purity, +perfect moral harmony in all its aspects. Here, then, is the force of +Butlers dying words. Ask yourselves, Can it be otherwise than "an +awful thing to appear before the Moral Governor of the world"? You +have read, perhaps, the written record of some pure and saintly life, +and you are overwhelmed with shame as you look inward and contrast +your sullied heart and your self-seeking aims with his innocency and +cleanness of heart. You are confronted—you, an avowedly religious +person—in your business affairs with an upright man of the world; and +his straightforward honesty is felt by you as a keen reproach to your +disingenuousness and evasion, all the keener because he makes no +profession of religion. Yes, you know it; this is the very impress of +God's attribute on his soul, though God's name may seldom or never +pass his lips. And if these faint rays of the Eternal Light, thus +caught and reflected on the blurred mirrors of human hearts and human +lives, so sting and pain the organs of your moral vision, what must it +not be, then, when you shall stand face to face before the ineffable +Righteousness, and see Him in His unclouded glory!</p> + +<p>It is a vision indeed of awe, transcending all thought; a vision of +awe, but a vision also of purification, of renewal, of energy, of +power, of life. Therefore enter into his presence now and cast +yourself down before His throne. Therefore dare to ascend into the +holy mountain; dare to speak with God amidst the thunders and the +lightnings; dare to look upon the face of His righteousness, that, +descending from the heights, you, like the lawgiver of old, may carry +with you the reflection of His brightness, to illumine and to vivify +the common associations and the every-day affairs of life.</p> + +<p>Not a few here will doubtless remember how an eloquent living preacher +in a striking image employs the distant view of the towers of your own +Durham—of my own Durham—seen from the neighbourhood of the busy +northern capital only in the clearer atmosphere of Sundays—as an +emblem of these glimpses of the Eternal Presence, these intervals of +Sabbatical repose and contemplation, when the furnaces and pits cease +for the time to pour forth their lurid smoke, and in the unclouded sky +the towers of the celestial Zion reveal themselves to the eye of +faith. Let this local image give point to our thoughts to-day. "Unto +Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, +even as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and +as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, even so our +eyes wait upon the Lord our God."</p> + +<p>II. But the vision of Righteousness is succeeded by the vision of +Grace. When Butler in his dying moments had expressed his awe at +appearing face to face before the Moral Governor of the world, his +chaplain, we are told, spoke to him of "the blood which cleanseth from +all sin." "Ah, this is comfortable," he replied; and with these words +on his lips he gave up his soul to God. The sequence is a necessary +sequence. He only has access to the Eternal Love who has stood face to +face with the Eternal Righteousness. He only who has learned to feel +the awe will be taught to know the grace. The righteous Judge, the +Moral Governor of the World, is a loving Father also, is your Father +and mine. This is the central lesson of Christianity. Of this He has +given us absolute assurance, in the life, the death, the words, and +the works of Christ. The incarnation of the Son is the mirror of the +Father's love. What witness need we more? Happy he who shall realise +this fact in all its significance and fulness. Happy he on whom the +light of the glory of the Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, +shall shine, he who shall—</p> + +<div class="poem"> + <span class="iq">"Gaze one moment on the Face Whose beauty</span> + <span class="i2">Wakes the world's great hymn;</span> + <span class="i0">Feel it one unutterable moment,</span> + <span class="i2">Bent in love o'er him;</span> + <span class="i0">In that look feel heaven, earth, men, and angels,</span> + <span class="i2">Distant grow, and dim;</span> + <span class="i0">In that look feel heaven, earth, men, and angels,</span> + <span class="i2">Nearer grow through Him."</span> +</div> + +<p>Yes, it is so indeed. All our interests in life, the highest and the +lowest alike, abandoned, merged, forgotten in God's love, will come +back to us with a distinctness, an intensity, a force, unknown and +unsuspected before. Each several outline and each particular hue will +stand out in the light of His grace. Thus we are bidden to lose our +souls only that we may find them again; we are charged to give up +houses, and brethren, and sisters, and father, and mother, and wife, +and children, and lands—all that is lovely and precious in our +eyes—to give up all to God, only that we may receive them back from +Him a hundredfold, even now in this present time. Our affections, our +friendships, our hopes, our business and our pleasure, our +intellectual pursuits and our artistic tastes—all our cherished +opportunities and all our fondest aims must be brought into the +sanctuary and bathed in the glory of His Presence, that we may take +them to us again, baptized and regenerate, purer, higher, more real, +more abiding far than before.</p> + +<p>III. And thus the vision of love melts into the vision of glory. So we +reach the third and final stage in our progress. This is the crowning +promise of the Apocalyptic vision, "They shall see His face." The +vision is only inchoate now; we catch only glimpses at rare intervals, +revealed in the lives of God's saints and heroes, revealed above all +in the record of the written Word and in the Incarnation of the Divine +Son. But then no veil of the flesh shall dim the vision; no +imperfection of the mirror shall blur the image; for we shall see Him +face to face—shall see Him as He is—the perfect truth, the perfect +righteousness, the perfect purity, the perfect love, the perfect +light. And we shall gaze with unblenching eye, and our visage shall be +changed. Not now with transient gleams of radiance, as on the lawgiver +of old, shall the light be reflected from us; but resting upon us with +its own ineffable glory, the awful effluence—</p> + +<div class="poem"> + <span class="iq">"Shall flood our being round, and take our lives</span> + <span class="i0">Into itself."</span> +</div> + +<p>Of this final goal of our aspirations—of this crowning mystery of our +being—the mind is helpless to conceive, and the tongue refuses to +tell. Silent contemplation, and wondering awe, and fervent +thanksgiving alone befit the theme. Even the inspired lips of an +Apostle are hushed before it. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, +and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He +shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is"—we +shall see Him as He is.</p> + +<hr/> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_5" id="C_5">THE HEAVENLY TEACHER.</a><a + name="R_7" id="R_7" href="#F_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></h2> + +<p class="blockquot">"He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto +you."—<span class="smcap">St. John</span> xvi. 15.</p> + + +<p class="nodent">The death of Christ was the orphanhood of the +disciples. I am not inventing a figure of my own when I say this. It +is the language which our Lord Himself uses to describe their +destitute condition. In our English Bible He is made to speak of +leaving them comfortless. The words in the original are: "Leave you +orphans"—"Leave you desolate," as it is translated in the Revised +Version. They would be fatherless, motherless, homeless, +friendless—at least, so it seemed to them—when He was gone.</p> + +<p>No condition of life excites so keenly the compassion of the +compassionate as the helplessness of the orphan. It is not only that a +child is deprived, by its parents' death, of the means of subsistence; +its natural guardian, teacher, friend is gone. Henceforth it is a waif +on the ocean of the world. In no respect different was that void which +threatened the disciples when the Master's presence had been +withdrawn. They had left all—authority, home. They had forsaken +parents and friends, and He had become Father and Mother, and Sister +and Brother to them. They had given up houses and land, and He was +henceforth their home. Their dependence on Him was absolute. Whatever +of joy they had in the present, and what of hope they had for the +future, were alike centred in Him. They thought His thoughts and lived +His life. And now this communion of soul with soul, and of life with +life, must be ruthlessly severed.</p> + +<p>This was the terrible shock for which Christ would prepare the minds +of His disciples. It was not only the void of earthly hopes scattered +by His death; but their Teacher, their Guide, Spirit, Friend, Christ, +their Father was withdrawn. The voice which soothed must be silent, +and the eye which gladdened must be glazed, and the hand which blessed +must be stiffened in death. Christ lay buried—lost for ever, as it +would seem to them. What joy, what strength, what comfort could they +have henceforth in life? They would stake their whole on Christ, and +Christ has failed them. Surely, never was orphanhood more helpless, +more hopeless, than the orphanhood of these poor Galileans.</p> + +<p>It was to prepare them for this terrible trial that the promise in the +text was given. He must go; but another shall come. They should not be +without a teacher, a guide; one Advocate, one Comforter would be +withdrawn, but another would take His place. There would be a friend +still, an adviser ever near to take them by the hand, to whisper into +their ears, to prepare, to instruct, to protect, to fortify, to guide +them into all truth. Another comforter. Yes; and yet not another. +There would not be less of Christ, but more of Christ, when Christ was +gone. This is the spiritual paradox which is assured to the disciples +by the promise in the text—"He shall take of Mine, and show it unto +you. All things that the Father hath are Mine; therefore, said I, He +shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you." Another, and yet not +another. It was not Christ supplanted, not Christ superseded, not +Christ eclipsed and quenched, but a larger, higher, purer, more +abundant Christ with whom henceforth they should live. It was not now +a Christ who might be speaking at one moment and the next moment might +be hushed, but a Christ whose tongue was ever articulate and ever +audible—Christ vocal even in His very silence. It was not now a +Christ who was seen at one moment, and the next was concealed from +view by some infinite obstacle, but a Christ whose visit no darkness +could hide and whose touch no distance could detain. It was not a +Christ of now and then, not a Christ of here and there, but a Christ +of every moment and every place—a Christ as permeating as the Spirit +is permeating. "He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." +"Lo, I am with you alway! I am with you even to the end of the world."</p> + +<p>He is not lost, then. This is the promise which Christ gives to His +disciples on the eve of His departure to console them for their loss. +His departure was more than necessary. It was even expedient, it was +even advantageous for them that He should go. Did not the Saviour say +this? Nothing would have seemed more improbable in the anticipation +than that the death of Christ should have produced the effect it did +produce on His disciples. We should have predicted weakness, +depression, misery, scepticism, apostacy, despair; and yet what was +the actual result? Why, all at once they appear before us as changed +men. All at once they shake off meaner hopes; all at once their nerves +are fortified, are lifted into a higher region. On the eve of the +catastrophe they are hesitating, fearful, sense-bound, narrow in their +ideas. They are, we might almost say, "of the earth earthy." And on +the morrow they are strong, steadfast, courageous, endowed with a new +spiritual faculty which bears unto the very salvation of salvation. +Hitherto they have known Christ after the flesh. Henceforth they will +know Him so no more.</p> + +<p>To know Christ after the flesh! What would we not have given to have +known Him after the flesh? What a source of strength it would have +been to us, we imagine, just to have listened to one of those parables +spoken by His own lips; just to have witnessed one of those miracles +of healing wrought by His own hand; just to have looked one moment on +Him as He stood silent in the judgment-hall, or bleeding on the cross! +But no! It was expedient for us, as it was expedient for the first +disciples, that He should go away. It was expedient for us; otherwise +the Spirit could not come.</p> + +<p>To know Christ after the flesh! Did not the disciples know Him after +the flesh, and did they not forsake Him? Did not Thomas who doubted +and Peter who denied know Him after the flesh? Did not the Jewish mob +which hooted and reviled, and the Roman soldiers who scourged, know +Him after the flesh? What security was this knowledge after the flesh +against scepticism, against blasphemy, against apostacy, against +rebellion? Seeing, it is said, is believing. Yes, and hearing, too. +But it is the seeing of the spiritual eye and the hearing of the +spiritual ear—the eye that beheld the heavens open and the Son of Man +standing on the right hand of God: the hearing of the glory when He +was called into Paradise, "unspeakable words which it is not lawful +for a man to utter."</p> + +<p>To know Christ after the flesh. Why should we desire to know Him after +the flesh? It was just to unteach the disciples themselves, whose +knowledge was only after the flesh, that Christ went away, because so +long as they were possessed of this knowledge, the Paraclete could not +come, could not take up His abode in their faith. Thus, this is the +work of the Spirit, as described by our Lord, in the text to us, as to +the disciples of old. The Spirit offers not less of Christ, but more +of Christ; for in the place of the Christ who walked on the shores of +the Galilean lake, who sat on the brink of the Samaritan well, and +shed tears over the doomed city—instead of such a Christ we have a +Christ who is ever present to us; a Christ of all times and all +places; a Christ who traverses the universe—an Omnipotent Christ.</p> + +<p>Look at the explanation which our Lord Himself gave to the +prophets: "He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." How so? +Why of Christ, and Christ only? Has the Spirit nothing else to teach +us? Hear what follows: "All things—<i>all things</i>—that +the Father hath are Mine; therefore, said I unto you, He shall take of +mine and shall show it unto you."</p> + +<p>All things! Yes; all history, all science, all aggregation of truth in +whatever domain, and whatever kind it may be. "Think you," He seems to +say—"think you that My working is confined to a few paltry miracles +wrought in Galilee? The universe itself is My miracle. Think you My +words are restricted to a few short precepts uttered to the Jews?" We +make foolish distinctions. We imagine we erect a barrier within which +we would confine the Christ of our own imagination; but the Christ of +Christ's own teaching overleaps all such barriers of ours. We are +careful to distinguish between knowledge and revealed religion. We +separate Christ from the former and we relegate Him to the latter; but +the Christ of Christ's own teaching is the Eternal Word, through whom +the Father speaks. We draw the rigid lines of demarcation between +science and theology, between religion and language, but the Christ of +the people is the hand of the Father not less in science and language +than in religion and theology. We have our distinctions between the +secular and the spiritual, as if the two were antagonistic. We must +not use a saying of Christ, as if it taught that our duty to Cćsar was +something quite apart from our duty to God; as if, forsooth, it were +possible for us to have any moral obligation to any man, or body of +men, to any child, which was not also an obligation to God in Christ. +But the Christ of the Gospel claims sovereignty over all alike—over +that which we call secular not less than that which we call spiritual. +"All things—<i>all things</i>—that the Father hath are Mine; +therefore, I say, He shall take of Mine, and show it unto you."</p> + +<p>We speak sometimes of the revelations. Yes; revelations, indeed, not +merely of inanimate processes, not merely of blind laws, but +revelations of the eternal world, of the Eternal Son through whom the +Father works. Therefore, as Christians, we are bound to look upon +these as Christ. Therefore, if we are true to our heavenly schooling, +the Spirit will take up these and show them unto us. "He shall take of +Mine, and shall shew it unto you."</p> + +<p>Are we diligent students of the lessons of history? Do we delight to +trace the progress of the human race from the first dawn of +civilisation to its noonday blaze? To disclose the obscure past of the +great nations of the earth? to mark the development of the arts of +government? to follow the ever-widening range of intellect? to discern +the stream of human life broadening slowly down with the force of +ages?</p> + +<p>Then let us see the kingdom of Christ not less in the progress of +history than in the laws of science. He was in the world, and the +world knew Him not. He was the true Light that lighteth every man—the +Light ever brighter and clearer till it attained its full glory at +length in the Incarnation. Therefore the school of history is also the +school of the Holy Spirit, for it is the setting forth of Christ. "He +that hath eyes to see, let him see." "He shall take of Mine."</p> + +<p>If you have traced Christ's footprints in the processes of Nature; if +you have heard Christ's voice in the teachings of history—then, +surely, you will not fail to see and hear Him in your own domestic and +social relations. That pure affection which has been to you a fountain +of benediction; that friendship which has been the crowning glory of +your life—can you think of it apart from Christ? If you do not find +Christ here, assuredly you will seek Him in vain elsewhere. What was +that truthfulness, that purity, that unselfishness, that devotion +which attracted you to the broken light of the Great Light, a +reflected ray from the Central Sun Himself? Yes, the Spirit took of +Christ and showed it to you when, through that affection, through that +friendship, He held up to you the nobler, because a more God-like, +idea of life. "He shall take of Mine." He shall bring all things to +your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you.</p> + +<p>Last and chiefest, for the crown of all these—these rays through +forest and mountain—of all other lessons, He shall set before you the +full Sun. He shall teach you the lesson of Incarnation. He shall show +unto your soul the tremendous importance of that statement which comes +from your lips as time after time you repeat your creed: "He was made +man." He shall teach you the lesson of the Passion. He shall remind +you day and night of the paramount obligation which it lays upon you. +Think—yes, think and think, and think—of that word till the love of +Christ shall constrain your whole being, shall bind you hand and foot, +and lead you captive to the will of God. He shall teach you the lesson +of the resurrection, emancipating, purifying, strengthening, exalting, +till he makes you conformable thereunto. Then you will rise from the +sepulchre in which you have lain many days, will breathe the pure air +of God's presence once more, will sit at meat when you are risen; +while, though in the world, you will be no longer of the world; +notwithstanding all disabilities and weaknesses you will live—live +even now as faithful citizens of the kingdom of heaven, which is +righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—These Sermons are printed from +reports.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + +<div class="frontm"> + <span class="size120"><b>CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM.</b><a name="R_8" + id="R_8" href="#F_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></span> +</div> +<hr/> +<h2><a name="C_6" id="C_6">I.</a></h2> + + +<p class="nodent">In the lectures which I addressed to you this last +year, I took as my subject the early history of Christianity while it +was still unrecognised by Roman law, and, therefore, treated as an +enemy of the State. On this occasion I purpose to trace the stream a +little further from its source, when Christianity has forced itself +into recognition and become the predominant religion of the empire. +The struggle between Christianity and Paganism has entirely changed +its outward character. The only weapons which the Church could wield +at a former epoch were moral and spiritual. She is now furnished with +all the appliances of political and social prestige; yet these, +however imposing, and to some extent serviceable, are not her really +effective arms. She can afford to be deprived of them for a time, and +her career of victory is unchecked. Her substantial triumphs must +still be won by the old weapons. The source of her superiority over +Paganism is still the same as before—a more enlightened faith in the +will of the unseen, a heartier devotion to the cause of humanity, a +more reverential awe for the majesty of purity, a greater readiness to +do and to suffer. The change has been as startling and as sudden as it +was momentous. All at once the Church had passed from hopeless, +helpless oppression to supremacy and power. For several years after +the opening of the fourth century the last and fiercest persecution +still raged, Christians were hunted down, tortured, put to death with +impunity and without mercy. The only limit to their sufferings was the +weariness or the caprice of their persecutors. Yet before the first +quarter of this century has drawn to a close the greatest sovereign +who had worn the imperial diadem for three hundred years is found +presiding at a council of Christian bishops discussing the most +important questions of Christian doctrine as though the fate of the +empire depended upon the result. In the short period of fifteen years +which elapsed between the death of Galerius and the Council of Nicća, +the most stupendous revolution which the pages of history record had +been brought about. We cannot wonder that the contemporary heathen +failed altogether to recognise its completeness and its permanence. +Even to ourselves, who look back at the struggle between Christianity +and Paganism from the vantage ground of history, it is difficult to +realise the suddenness of the transition. To those who lived in the +heat of the conflict, and whose estimate of relative proportions was +necessarily confused by the nearness of this position, it was +altogether unintelligible. The one thing which most astonishes us in +heathen writers at this period is their blindness to the real +significance of the change. They ignore it, or they make light of it; +they speak of Christian sects, of Christian offices and Christian +rites, in a tone of cold indifference where they think fit to mention +them at all. Obviously they look at Christianity as a phenomenon which +it may be curious to contemplate, but which has no great practical +moment for them; they do not realise it as destined to mingle +permanently with the main stream of human life. Christianity to them +is still a mere Syrian superstition which has become the fashion of +the day, as so many other superstitions have been before it, and, like +its predecessors, will pass away when it has had its fling. The truth +is, that the revolution was not really sudden, though it seemed so. In +its social and political aspects, its victory was almost +instantaneous, but essentially it was a moral revolution; and such +revolutions are ever gradual: they provoke no notice because they are +noiseless; they advance patiently and silently, step by step; and then +only when the work is done do indifferent spectators discover that any +work has been going on. Their true type is that temple of God in whose +building neither hammer, nor axe, nor tool of iron was heard, because +the stones had been brought thither ready hewn for the building.</p> + +<p>In this course of lectures it is my design to discuss the fall of +Paganism and the triumph of Christianity in the Roman empire; but +obviously this subject is too large for adequate treatment within the +space of three short lectures. I am obliged, therefore, to limit it in +some way or other; and it seemed to me that I could not do better than +take the reign of Julian the Apostate as the central feature in the +picture, and group around it such other facts as may be required to +explain its significance. There are many advantages in this mode of +treatment. This Paganism was never exhibited to more advantage than in +the person of this, its greatest and most energetic champion. High +personal character, no common intellectual gift, great military +renown, supreme political power, perfect knowledge of his adversary, +absolute and unflinching devotion to his own cause—all these united +to make Julian the most formidable antagonist which the Church ever +had, or might be expected to have. His career showed what Paganism +could do, and what it could not do. The ability of the champion only +exposed the helplessness of the cause. And again, a full blaze of +light is poured upon this one man and this one reign such as rarely +falls to any period of ancient history. Julian himself, devoted +friends, impartial critics, sworn foes, heathen and Christian, +orthodox and Arian—all have contributed to the completeness of the +portraiture. This strange character, half philosopher, half fanatic, +the most wary of dissemblers, and the most Quixotic of adventurers, +stands before us with a distinctness of feature which leaves nothing +to be desired.</p> + +<p>In order to understand the man and the epoch it is necessary to take +up the course of history more than half a century before he ascended +the throne. The starting-point in our review of events is the most +remote province of the empire—the island of Britain. On the 25th of +July, 306, Constantine was proclaimed Emperor by the Roman Legionaries +at York. "Oh, happy Britain," says a heathen panegyrist, not then +foreseeing the stupendous results, "Oh, happy Britain! that it has +first seen Constantine as Cćsar." This was the commencement of a long +reign, extending over more than thirty years—the longest in the +annals of Imperial Rome since Augustus. In the interval of three +centuries which separated these two remarkable men, no emperor had +reigned who deserved to be considered great as they were. And their +lives are linked together in another way. The one reign saw +Christianity cradled in the manger; the other witnessed it seated on +the throne. On October 27th, 312, some two miles from the walls of +Rome, where the Great North Road crosses the Tiber, was fought the +decisive battle of the Milvian Bridge. The routed army with its +captain and rival Emperor, the heathen champion Maxentius, perished in +the waters of the Tiber, and Constantine entered the Imperial +city—the stronghold of Paganism—in triumph. On June 15th, 313, was +signed the great charter of religious toleration—the Edict of Milan, +issued in the joint names of the Emperors Constantine and Licinius. By +this edict Christianity was recognised as a lawful religion. The +sacred places, and the property which had been taken from the +Christians during the great persecution were restored to them once +more. Every man was allowed henceforth to adopt any form of worship +which he might choose. On the 25th of July, 325, the anniversary of +his accession and the inauguration of the twentieth year of his reign, +Constantine, then sole Emperor, brought the Council of Nicća to a +close. He had been present at several of its sittings, and throughout +had exerted himself to the utmost to secure unanimity. By a higher +inspiration, yet not without his instrumentality, the deliberations of +the assembled Bishops resulted in the Creed which was to be henceforth +and for ever the basis of unity in the Church.</p> + +<p>But, meanwhile, what was Constantine himself? It is strange that, +notwithstanding the prominent part taken by this Emperor in the +establishment and consolidation of the Church, historians have been +found to doubt the genuineness of his conversion, I do not think that +the facts justify any such hesitation. For the sincerity of his +Christian profession we have two guarantees, which, combined, must, I +think, be regarded as conclusive. It was gradual, and it was +disinterested. It was gradual. I shall say nothing here of his +miraculous conversion, of the fiery cross in the heavens, with the +inscribed words, "Hereby conquer," which is said to have appeared to +him shortly before the battle of the Milvian Bridge. What truth +underlies this story we shall never know; but, judging by his public +actions, we trace a gradual advance towards a more distinct reception +of Christianity. His father Constantine had been a believer in one +God. He had extended his protection to the Christians when they were +persecuted by his Imperial colleagues. This Monotheism and this +toleration descended to Constantine, as it were, by inheritance. For +some years after his accession he appears not to have advanced much +beyond this point. On the triumphal arch erected in Rome to +commemorate his victory over Maxentius, and which still spans one of +the approaches of the Forum, his success is ascribed to the +suggestions of "the Divinity." Such language is exactly what his +father, who was not a Christian, might have used, what heathen +philosophers did use again and again. This vague expression, "The +Divinity," is repeated several times afterwards in Imperial edicts. +There is as yet no personal profession of Christianity. The Edict of +Milan puts the Christians on the same political level as the Pagan. It +gives them no advantage; but, by degrees, his language becomes more +explicit, and his legislation more directly favours the Christians. +The Council of Nicća is the climax of aggressive ascent. Again it was +disinterested. As a mere question of worldly policy, I think it can +hardly be doubted that Constantine acted very unwisely in embracing +Christianity. His Christian subjects were still a comparatively small +minority—an aggressive minority it is true, but not a dangerous +minority if properly handled. They would have been won over to a man +by frank toleration as they had been won over to his predecessor, +Alexander Severus, and to his father, Constantius Chlorus. They asked +nothing more than this. But by the further step of declaring himself a +Christian he had nothing to gain and very much to lose. He alienated +the heathen subjects, while his Christian subjects were devoted to him +already. Indeed, as a matter of fact, it is quite plain that his +conversion did lead to much disaffection, and that he was greatly +hampered by it. Take an instance of this. The secular games, the great +festival of thanksgiving for the prosperity of Rome, recurred, +according to Roman usage, at long intervals of about one hundred and +ten years. They were celebrated with great pomp and magnificence, and +accompanied by elaborate propitiatory sacrifices to the tutelary +deities of Rome. They had been kept last under Severus, and the time +had come for another celebration. But year after year of the long +reign of Constantine passed, and no notice was taken of them. No +omission would have wounded more deeply the sensibilities of the +Romans than this. The heathen historian Zosimus, writing a whole +century after, ascribed all the woes that had befallen the empire to +this one fatal neglect. Again, during his second and last visit to +Rome, the Capitoline games were celebrated. A main feature in the +ceremonial was a procession along the sacred way to the Temple of +Jupiter on the Capitol, in which the Emperor himself was expected to +take a part. He flatly refused. Looking down from his residence on the +Palatine Hill as the magnificent train wound round its foot, he broke +out into expressions of ridicule and contempt. The senate and people +were mortally offended. On one occasion, probably during this very +visit, his statues were pelted with stones. This insult was reported +to Constantine by some indignant courtier. The Emperor passed his hand +across his brow. He had a strong sense of humour. "Strange," said he, +"that I did not feel hurt." But he did feel hurt, nevertheless; hurt +in dignity by this insolence of the Romans, and a new capital arose on +the shores of the Bosphorus in protest against the outrage. Christian +Constantinople was his revenge on heathen Rome. "He made himself a +Greek," said Dante, "to leave Rome to the Pope." Doubtless the Papal +power grew more freely when the shadow of the Imperial presence was +removed; but the Pope was not in Constantine's mind, and the immediate +effect was a deadly side-thrust at heathendom. Rome, the stronghold of +heathen sentiment and worship, languished rapidly from this time. +Paganism had been stabbed in the heart.</p> + +<p>But while the sincerity of Constantine cannot reasonably be doubted, +his inconsistency is quite beyond question. The fact is that he was +half a Pagan to the end, and, as Niebuhr has truly said, we do him a +grievous wrong if we judge his actions by a purely Christian standard. +In this respect he was only like many of his contemporaries. In that +age of transition the best heathens were half Christians, and not the +best Christians were half heathens. The semi-Paganism of Constantine +is matched by the semi-Christianity of Julian. I am not concerned with +the moral inconsistencies of this Emperor. The sins of Constantine +will not condemn the truth of Christianity, any more than the virtues +of Julian will re-instate the errors of Paganism. Constantine is +allowed on all hands to have been temperate in his habits and chaste +in his life; but the domestic history of this great Sovereign was +darkened by one horrible tragedy. About twelve months after the +Council of Nicća, in which he had borne so conspicuous a part, the +Roman world was horrified by the report of three murders in the +Imperial household. The Emperor's eldest and favourite son, Crispus—a +young man of highest promise—an idol of the public; his little +nephew—a bright, engaging boy of twelve; his own wife, Fausta, the +mother of his three younger sons, were ruthlessly put to death. What +was the secret of this tragedy we shall never know. It seems most +probable that the son was implicated in some dangerous conspiracy, +that the nephew was an unconscious tool of the conspirators, and that +the wife, having goaded the husband in the first flush of his anger to +extreme measures against her stepson, herself fell a victim to the +violence of his remorse when the revulsion came. There were, we may +safely say, circumstances which might extenuate these horrible crimes; +there could be none which could justify them. A dark, indelible stain +rests on the memory of Constantine.</p> + +<p>But if the moral inconsistency of Constantine is the more shocking, +his religious inconsistency is the more bewildering. In his recently +built capital he erected a statue of himself, which exhibited a +strange medley of the old and the new, and which may well serve for a +type of his career as a sovereign. The Emperor was represented as a +follower of the Deity, whom he himself had adopted as his patron in +the old days of his Paganism—the Deity whom his apostate nephew +ever regarded with special reverence; but in the aureole which +encircled the head the rays took the form of the nails, the +instruments of Christ's passion. It was believed that at the base of +this statue Constantine had placed a fragment of the true cross. It is +also stated that in this same place was deposited the +palladium—the cherished relic of Pagan Rome, which Ćneas was +said to have rescued from the flames of Troy, and which Constantine +himself stealthily removed to his new capital. It is just the same +with his legislation. Thus we find almost side by side, promulgated +within two months of each other, two Imperial decrees—the one +enjoining that Sunday shall be set apart as a day of rest; the other +providing that when the palace or any public building is struck by +lightning, the soothsayers shall be consulted as to the meaning of the +prodigy, according to ancient custom, and the answer reported to the +Emperor himself. When, indeed, we see this juxtaposition of +Christianity and Paganism, we are forcibly reminded that Constantine +was one and at the same time the summoner of the Nicene Council and +the chief Pontiff of heathenism. Thus, at one moment, he was preaching +sermons to his courtiers and discussing dogmas with his bishops; and, +at the next, he was issuing orders for the regulation of some Pagan +ritual. The same fountain <i>did</i> send forth sweet waters and +bitter. And this incongruity held him captive to the last, even beyond +the gates of death. In his newly built eastern capital—Christian +Constantinople—he was buried by his own directions in a church +amidst the memorials of the apostles, and "the equal of the apostles" +was the title accorded to him by common consent. In his forsaken +western capital—heathen Rome—he was, as a matter of +course, deified, as his Imperial predecessors had been deified, as he +himself had deified his own father Constantius; and by virtue of this +apotheosis he took his rank, not only with an Augustus or a Trajan, +but with a Commodus and a Caracalla among the gods of Olympus. A +strange blending of incongruous elements. And yet, whatever may have +been felt of Constantine's life, however much of Paganism may have +alloyed his Christianity hitherto, when the end came there was no more +halting between two opinions. Failing health to one who was endowed +with a singularly robust constitution came as an unmistakable sign of +the approaching change. The warning was not lost upon him. The +increased fervour of his devotions was noticed by all. On one occasion +he spent a whole night in the church praying. Strange to say, this +zealous theological disputant, this foremost champion of the truth, +had not hitherto been baptised. He was not even a catechumen. But now, +when he felt himself sinking, he eagerly pressed that baptism might +not be delayed. This wish was granted, and the rite was administered. +This done, he devoutly expressed his thanksgivings for the mercy +vouchsafed to him, and his readiness to go at once on his last +heavenward journey. He refused again to assume the Imperial purple, +and, so arrayed still in the white robe of his baptism, he was laid on +his couch to await the end.</p> + +<p>On the 22nd of May, 337—it was Whit Sunday, the appropriate festival +of the newly baptised—about noon, the great Emperor breathed his +last. He was succeeded by his three sons—Constantine, Constantius, +and Constans. The three princes were scarcely seated on the throne, +when the Imperial family became again the scene of a horrible tragedy +as shocking as that which had left so dark a stain on their father's +life. The soldiers rose up and massacred not less than nine princes of +the blood—the brothers and nephews of the deceased Emperor. Nearly a +century later an untrustworthy historian gives currency to a story +that Constantine himself had directed these massacres, having +discovered that he had been poisoned by his brothers. For this +shameful libel on them and on him there is absolutely no foundation. +All the circumstances are against it, and it may safely be dismissed +as a foul calumny. More specious is the view that the new Emperor +Constantius, then a young man of twenty-one, was implicated in the +massacre; but it was done, if not by his direct orders, at least with +his tacit connivance. But, however this may be, the incident has a +very direct bearing on the subject of these lectures. In this carnage, +besides the three Emperors themselves, two children alone escaped. The +other members of the Imperial family perished to a man. The survivors +were the two sons of one of Constantine's brothers, Julius +Constantius; Gallus, a boy of twelve or thirteen; and Julian, a child +of six or seven, of whom we shall hear much hereafter. Their father +and their eldest brother were amongst the slain.</p> + +<p>Of the three brothers who divided the empire of Constantine we are +concerned only with one—the eldest, Constantine, and the youngest, +Constans, perished in two successive revolutions. The middle and +surviving brother, Constantius, united again all the dominions of his +father under his sceptre. He alone left his mark on the history of the +Church. He alone shaped the destinies and swayed the feelings of his +relative, Julian. It is worth our while to form a closer acquaintance +with this man, who was the evil genius of his cousin and ward. +Constantius had not inherited the towering strength and commanding +mien of his father. He was under the average height, with a long body +and short, bowed legs. His complexion was very dark, his hair smooth +and glossy. He had prominent and keen eyes, recalling the piercing +glance which his father Constantine had cast around on the assembled +Bishops in the Council-hall of Nicća, and which never failed to strike +awe into the beholders. The crimes of Constantine were those of a +strong, impulsive, half-barbarous nature. The crimes of Constantius +were due to cold calculation and to indifference to the commonest +claims of humanity. He was cautious to excess, sparing of his rewards, +and backward in his confidences. He was mean, selfish, suspicious +almost to fanaticism, shrinking from no cruelty when his fears were +alarmed. It is noticed as characteristic of the man that when borne +through the streets of Rome on a triumphal chariot he was seen, +notwithstanding his short stature, to bend his head as he passed under +each archway. Yet he was not a man without redeeming virtues and some +real ability. Like his father, he was temperate and just, so that, +notwithstanding his many enemies, scandal itself was forced into +silence. He could be sparing of rest and prodigal of labour when the +interests of the State demanded it. He was gracious, too, in his +demeanour, and with many—as even his cousin Julian is obliged to +confess—bore a reputation for clemency. He sustained the honours of +his Imperial rank with a dignity which never forgot itself, while he +showed a contempt of mere vulgar popularity which even unfriendly +critics described as magnanimous. Of his disastrous influence on the +religious sentiments of Julian I shall have to speak hereafter. For +the present I confine myself to the part which he took in determining +the relative positions of Christianity and Paganism in the empire. +Unlike his father Constantius, he had been brought up a Christian from +his infancy. His doctrinal views were very distorted, his moral +conduct was often a gross libel on the Gospel; but where it was a +question between Paganism and Christianity the sympathies of the +Emperor were exerted wholly and undisguisedly on the side of the +latter. On the whole, therefore, there is less of heathenism in the +public memorials and the official acts of this reign than in the +preceding. The Pagan emblems diminish; the Pagan enactments in the +Statute Book are fewer. But still Constantius, like Constantine, +continues to hold the office of supreme pontiff, and this necessarily +leads to an official complicity in the rites and institutions of +Paganism. In this capacity he issues edicts for the service of heathen +sepulture, for the repairing of heathen temples, for the support of +heathen priests. When, a quarter of a century later, the heathen +orator Symmachus pleaded the cause of expiring Paganism before the +Emperor of his day, he appealed to the example of Constantius, who, +though himself possessing a different faith, respected the ancient +rites, and provided for their due maintenance out of the public +treasury. But avarice often over-leaped the bounds which the Imperial +laws prescribed. The sacred name of the Gospel was again and again +profaned during this reign by spoliation and violence, just as under +our own Tudor Kings the cause of reformation was sullied by the +selfish rapacity of the nobles. The Court of Constantius was beset +with greedy and unscrupulous adventurers; and knowing the private +sympathies of the Emperor, they would not be slow to seize the +opportunities where any real or reported scandal of Paganism gave a +handle for interference. Such opportunities would not be rare. Thus +Paganism held on, still maintained and protected by law, but exposed +to occasional outrages from individual violence, when, by a sudden +catastrophe, it found itself seated once more on the throne.</p> + +<p>On the 3rd of November, 361, in the twenty-fifth year of his reign, +Constantius died. The event was altogether unexpected; he was still in +the prime of life, only forty-five years of age. Temperate habits and +vigorous outdoor exercises had kept him in perfect and unbroken +health; but he was seized with a fever, and sank rapidly. There was +only time to send to Antioch for the Bishop to administer that +sacrament, which is ordained as the inauguration, but which, with him, +as with his father, was the consummating act of his Christian +profession. Immediately after his baptism he expired. His cousin +Julian, the only surviving Prince of the house of Constantine, was his +unquestioned successor. Thus Christianity, having wielded the Imperial +sceptre for more than half a century, was again deposed. Of the +education and the apostasy, of the reign and work of the new Emperor, +I hope to speak to you in my two concluding lectures.<br /><br /></p> + +<hr/> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_7" id="C_7">II.</a><a + name="R_9" id="R_9" href="#F_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></h2> + + +<p class="nodent">In my lecture last Tuesday I passed under review the +two long reigns of Constantine and Constantius, comprising altogether +a period of fifty-five years. We were thus brought to the accession of +Julian. What, then, was the change wrought in the relations of +Christianity and Paganism during this period? Most persons, I imagine, +would answer without misgiving that Christianity had been established +on the ruins of heathenism. This answer, however, would be wholly +inaccurate. Paganism was in no sense disestablished, and Christianity +was only in a very limited sense established. Paganism was still the +official religion of the empire. Whatever might be the individual +faith of the sovereign, yet, as the head of the State, he was still +the chief representative of heathenism, both in life and in death. In +life he was the supreme pontiff, the fountain head of authority over +all the priests, temples, rituals, throughout the empire; in death the +representation was transformed from earth to heaven. By his apotheosis +he became a patron divinity of Rome. A pagan calendar is still extant +in which all the festivals of the deified Constantine are duly +recorded. Now there was not and there could not be any such alliance +with the State on the part of Christianity. However strong might be +the Emperor's personal sympathies; however much he might mix himself +up in the internal affairs of the Church; whatever privileges or +immunities he might extend to the clergy,—yet officially he had no +recognised position, officially he was a Pagan still. When, therefore, +it is said that Paganism was disestablished and Christianity +established in its stead, the position of affairs is entirely +misconceived. The personal religion of the sovereign had nothing +whatever to do with the official religion of the State. In modern +countries, for the most part, the two coincide, and it is well that +this should be so; but there are some exceptions. England under James +II., and Saxony at the present moment, are cases in point.</p> + +<p>But while Paganism was in no sense disestablished, Christianity might +be said to a certain extent, though only to a very limited extent, to +have been established side by side with it. The principle which in our +own day has been called "levelling up," had been partially adopted. +Christianity was not only tolerated as a lawful religion, but some +political privileges had been extended to it. Thus, for instance, one +enactment of Constantine exempts the Christian clergy from certain +onerous duties, while another secures to the Pagan priests this same +privilege. In this respect the two religions are put on exactly the +same footing. Here is a case, if not of concurrent endowment, at least +of concurrent immunity, which comes to the same thing.</p> + +<p>The fact is, that both Christian and heathen writers were interested +in representing the change effected by the early Christian emperors as +more complete than it was. To the Christian writer it was a point of +honour to clear them from any stain of complicity with Paganism. To +the heathen writer, wise after the event, the memory of those princes +was naturally odious, and to exaggerate their hostility to the gods +was to deepen the stain on their characters. But we have fortunately +other witnesses quite free from suspicion. The coins, and the +inscriptions, and the decrees, tell a very different tale. They show +that in all essential respects Paganism, at least in the West, was as +free to develop itself as before. They reveal to us temples built, +priesthoods established, sacrifices offered, as hitherto; they exhibit +the name of the Emperor connected with the worship of Jupiter the +Preserver, of Mars the Champion, of Hercules the Conqueror, of Sol the +Invincible. Hercules is still the preserver of Cćsar, and Sol is still +the companion of Augustus. They show that the worship of the Lydian +Cybele still flourished on the hill Vatican, and the worship of the +Persian Mithras was still maintained in the vaults of the Capitol. All +this it is necessary to bear in mind if we would understand the true +position of Julian. It is quite a mistake to suppose that he had to +begin <i>de novo</i>, and to re-establish Paganism. It still held the +political vantage ground, however much it had lost in social prestige; +and if it had had any inherent vitality at all, its work of +restoration could have been as successful as in fact it proved futile.</p> + +<p>What, then, was the real nature of the injury which this half-century +of Christian supremacy in the person of the sovereign had inflicted on +Paganism? First of all, the Imperial legislation, while it protected +and even fostered the central institutions of Paganism, zealously +assailed some outlying works. On two points especially it was +uncompromising. It rigorously proscribed divination, and sternly +repressed certain special rites accompanied by licentious orgies. In +neither respect, however, did it go beyond what during the Republic +and under the early emperors had again and again been held necessary +to secure the safety of the city and the morals of the people. But +however justifiable, according to heathen precedents, this legislation +of the early Christian emperors had proved a fatal blow to heathendom, +for it was just here that the ardour of popular religion had +consecrated itself. The patient energy, the suggestive mysticism, even +the immoral orgies of the Oriental religions, had been found to have +an irresistible attraction, and the ancient rites of Greece and Rome, +which seemed cold and passionless by their side, were deserted for +these new favourites. They were, it was true, only the buttresses of +the old polytheism. The original structure of Roman and Hellenic +worship was untouched; but when the main building was crumbling with +age the removal of these ancient supports which had shored it up was +fatal, and it fell by its own weight.</p> + +<p>But, secondly, the erection of a new capital was a not less deadly +blow to Paganism. Rome was the central fortress of heathendom: to +withdraw from it the Imperial Government was to deprive it of its +ammunition. After the building of Constantinople, Rome still remained +the formal official capital of the empire; but, practically, its +influence was gone. It no longer guided deliberation; it simply +recorded results. And not only was Paganism materially weakened by +this transference, but at the same time Christianity was delivered +from its fetters. Constantinople was a Christian city from the +beginning. Paganism had here no prescriptive claim and no +time-honoured prestige. So long as the Imperial Government remained at +Rome, it found itself inextricably entangled in Paganism. Constantine +had felt its merciless strength, and the foundation of a new capital +was his escape from it.</p> + +<p>Yet, after all, such weapons as these would have been quite +ineffective, if Paganism had possessed any inherent vitality. The grip +of death was already upon it before the arm of power was raised +against it. It was as when, after long centuries, the tomb of some +ancient king is laid open, the stately form, and the majestic +features, and the royal robes are exposed to our view. For the moment +he seems to be living still as he lived in history; but we look again, +and we see only a handful of dust. Sealed in its sepulchre, the corpse +might have preserved its outward form for ages still; but the air and +the light were poured in upon it, and all at once it crumbles away. +Paganism was confronted with Christianity, and it vanished.</p> + +<p>The infancy of Julian had been dabbled in blood. His earliest +recollections would carry him back to the time when fathers, brothers, +uncles, cousins, all had fallen in one indiscriminate massacre. From +this carnage he and his brother Gallus alone had escaped; he himself, +so he believed, because he was too young to be feared, and his brother +because he was then a sickly boy, and seemed not to have long to live. +The odium of this foul crime, whether justly or unjustly, rested on +his cousin, the Emperor Constantius. If Constantius had not directly +ordered it, he was thought to have connived at it. Certainly he had +been on the spot, and, whether for want of power or for want of will, +he had not prevented it. The courtiers and attendants attempted to +palliate his cousin's guilt to the child Julian. They represented to +him that Constantius had been deceived; that he was unable to restrain +the savage outbreak of the soldiers; that he suffered fearful pangs of +remorse; that he attributed to this crime all the misfortunes of his +after life. It seems plain from this account that the spectre of this +ghastly massacre haunted Julian's childish memory. He could not but +feel that the bare sword was hanging over his own neck.</p> + +<p>Julian was left an orphan before he was seven years old. His mother +had died a few months after his birth. His father had perished, as we +have seen. For some years after the massacre, he appears to have +resided at Constantinople. Of his brother Gallus we hear nothing +during this period. Julian himself was placed under the charge of an +old family servant—a Scythian, Mardonius by name, a strict and +pedantic disciplinarian, but also a man of culture, as the sequel +shows. Mardonius taught his pupil to keep his eyes fixed on the ground +as he took his walks. He led him always to and fro to school by the +same way, knowing no other himself, and preventing the lad from +discovering any other. He strictly prohibited him from going to the +theatre or the circus, and altogether filled his mind with a distaste +for the popular amusements of his age. We hear nothing of +companionship, nothing of outdoor exercise, nothing of the +cheerfulness and the sympathy which are equally necessary with the +moral discipline and the intellectual training for the proper +expansion of child's faculties. Julian was not like other children. +Whatever may have been his natural disposition, his education had +never allowed him to be a boy. Human nature, more especially childish +nature, must seek relief somewhere from hard conventional restraints. +Where all the usual outlets are closed, the buoyancy and the +enthusiasm of the child will devise some means of escape. The paradise +of Julian's childish existence was made up of two things. First, his +tutor Mardonius was an enthusiastic admirer of Homer. If he prevented +him from playing in the field he took him to the leafy islands of +Calypso, to the Cave of Circe and the Gardens of Alcinous. With a less +intelligent child this might have bred a feeling of disgust; but +Julian was quick, imaginative, absorbing, and here was field for his +sensibility. And, again, though his walks might be confined to one +city, and to one street in that city, yet no bounds could shut out the +glories of the heavens above. We have Julian's own authority for +saying that his childish imagination was profoundly impressed by their +contemplation. "From my earliest days," he wrote long afterwards, "a +strange yearning after the rays of the God, the Sun God, sunk into my +soul; and thus from the time I was quite a little child, when I looked +at the light of heaven, I was beside myself with ecstasy, so that not +only would I look eagerly and fixedly on the sun, but at night also, +when there was a cloudless and clear sky, I gave up everything at +once, and was rivetted by the beauties of the heavens, no longer +understanding anything that any one spoke to me, nor giving heed to +myself what I was doing." These, then, were the two bright spots which +relieved the gloom of his childish life—the literature of Greece and +the contemplation of the heavens. How large an influence these early +memories had on his later apostasy, it will not be difficult to +imagine.</p> + +<p>This went on for some years with slight interruptions, and then there +was a complete change. It was apparently about the year 344, when +Julian would be thirteen or fourteen years old, and Gallus eighteen or +nineteen, that, by the Emperor's orders, the two brothers were carried +away to Macellum, an imperial castle in the mountain districts of +Cappadocia. There they spent the next six years of life in strict +retirement. What may have been the reason of this change we are not +told, but we can easily suspect. Gallus was now growing up to manhood. +He was tall, well made, and handsome, with flowing auburn hair; not +unlike his uncle, the great Constantine, as we may infer from the +description of the two men. The suspicious temper of Constantius might +take alarm lest this young man should become the centre of +disaffection and treason. But, however this may be, the seclusion was +complete. Julian speaks of it as banishment. To himself it was the +worst kind of banishment. He was banished not only from the city and +the court, about which probably he knew little and cared less, but he +was banished also from his books and his teachers. The two brothers +saw no one of their own rank; their domestics were their only +associates. Gallus was no companion for Julian. He had no literary +taste; notwithstanding his handsome looks he was coarse and violent, +even ferociously brutal, in his disposition, as the sequel shows. The +treatment of Julian during this critical period of his life must have +been altogether injurious to the healthy development of his character. +A cramped boyhood almost certainly produces a one-sided manhood.</p> + +<p>At length, after six years of seclusion, the brothers were again set +free. What was the motive of Constantius—whether he considered that +they had been sufficiently restrained, or whether some conscientious +scruples found their way into his heart—we cannot say. Gallus and +Julian were summoned to Constantinople. Soon after this a formidable +insurrection broke out in the West, and Constantius found it necessary +to associate some one with him in the cares of the empire. Accordingly +Gallus, then twenty-five years old, was nominated Cćsar, and appointed +to the command of the East. The appointment was most disastrous. Now +that he was free from control, the innate ferocity of his disposition +revealed itself. He has been compared, and the comparison does him no +injustice, to a bloodthirsty tiger, who has broken through the bars of +his cage, and, enraged by long confinement, fiercely attacks every one +who comes in his way. Complaints of his savage, turbulent +administration came thick upon the ears of Constantius. There were +also rumours of a disloyal conspiracy on the part of the new Cćsar. +Constantius might, perhaps, have forgiven the misgovernment; but the +treason could not be overlooked. Gallus was recalled, stripped of the +purple, and put to death without a hearing. Constantius had dyed his +hand once more in the blood of Julian's kindred. Julian was left alone +in the world, confronted by the tyrant. This happened in the year 354.</p> + +<p>But while the caged passions of Gallus had sought compensation in this +savage outbreak, the caged intellect of Julian was running riot in its +own way. For a time he seems to have enjoyed comparative freedom. At +Constantinople, at Nicomedia, at Pergamos, at Ephesus, we hear of his +attendance on philosophers, on rhetoricians, on teachers of all kinds. +The jealousy of Constantius could look with complacency on his +philosophical and literary ardour. An ungainly, enthusiastic, +unpractical scholar was the last man whom he need fear as a rival. It +was during this period of turbulent, energetic, unreflecting, +intellectual activity that the change came upon him. Whatever might +have been the religious feelings of his boyhood, it was only now that +Paganism asserted its power over his mind. The incident that decided +his apostasy is eminently characteristic of the man and of the period. +It happened in the year 351, the same year as that in which Gallus was +invested with the purple, when Julian himself was twenty years of age. +In the course of conversation one of his teachers happened to speak of +Maximus, a famous philosopher, whom he described as possessing great +natural gifts, and as accompanying his teaching by demonstrations. +Julian's curiosity was excited. He demanded an explanation. He was +told that on one occasion Maximus, in the presence of the speaker and +others, had burnt a grain of incense in the temple of Hecate and +chanted some mysterious hymn, when suddenly they saw the statue of the +goddess smile upon him. On their expressing surprise, he told them +that they should see a greater marvel than this—the torches in the +hands of the goddess should burst out into flames of their own accord. +He had scarcely said the word when the lights burst out from the +torches. "Stay with your books," said Julian, "and I wish you joy of +them; I have found the man I have been seeking for." He sought out +Maximus, and was initiated in his philosophy and his magic.</p> + +<p>This grotesque and unnatural combination was, as I have said, +characteristic of the man and of the age. In earlier times philosophy +and popular superstition were deadly foes, but in face of Christianity +both the one and the other had learnt their weakness, and this unequal +alliance was patched up. The new Platonist philosophy adopted not only +the mythology of Greece and Rome, but the nature-worship and the magic +of the East. A true theology must appeal at once to the intellect +which demands a reason for its allegiance, and to the religious +instinct which is conscious of dependence on a higher power. +Christianity recognises both these claims. Greek philosophy appealed +to the one faculty; Pagan religion to the other. Thus divided they +could do nothing, though the alliance was formed. It was well +conceived, but it was impossible, because it was a fundamental +violation of truth. Julian, the champion of heathendom, advanced to +slay Christianity with philosophy in his right hand and superstition +in his left, and both weapons shivered in his grasp.</p> + +<p>Julian was a Pagan now, but he carefully concealed the change. During +the next ten years, until the death of Constantius, this cloak of +dissimulation was never thrown aside. The immediate outward effect of +his conduct was a stricter attention to the services of the Church. +The old fable, said his heathen friend Libanius afterwards, was here +reversed, and the lion was clothed in the ass's skin. Only one or two +most intimate friends were in the secret, but it was more widely +suspected. Ardent Pagans began to look to him as the future restorer +of Paganism; old prophecies were banded about that Christianity was +soon to come to an end. One such oracle fixed the limit of 365 years +for the worship of Christ. The term was fast drawing to a close. I +shall not undertake the task of arraigning Julian as before the bar of +the Eternal Righteousness. All such attempts to anticipate the verdict +of the Great Judge must be as vain as they are presumptuous; but it is +due to the nobler features of his character—and these were neither +few nor insignificant—to dwell on the extenuating circumstances of +his case. And surely no man's education was more faulty, or more +likely to produce a disastrous revulsion. Christianity was associated +in his memory with everything that was gloomy, terrible, repulsive. +Its champion, in his eyes, was his most deadly enemy, Constantius, who +had shed the blood of his nearest kinsmen, and who was ready at any +moment to shed his own blood when the occasion might demand. Writing +of himself at a later date in apathetic allegory, he describes himself +as a youth who, looking back upon the mass of evil that had befallen +him from his own kinsmen and cousins, was so astounded that he +resolved to throw himself down to Tartarus, but was rescued by Helios, +the Sun God. This throws a flood of light on the personal influences +which coloured his views of Christianity, and finally led to his +apostasy. Moreover, the form of Christianity which was presented to +him was not calculated to impress him deeply or favourably. The +coldness of asceticism would take no firm hold of his ardent and +enthusiastic nature. Its representatives, the Arian bishops, would not +recommend the cause; the exceeding bitterness of theologic controversy +called down his contempt, and the superstitious reverence for the +bones of the martyrs aroused his disgust. In the allegory to which I +have already alluded he speaks of himself as a child covered with +filth and dirt, on whom the Sun God at length took pity. Whatever rays +of light had burst the gloom of his earlier life were associated with +the glories of nature.</p> + +<p>While this strange revel of philosophy and fanaticism was going on in +his mind, Julian visited Athens—Athens at once the home of Greek +literature and the sanctuary of Pagan idolatry. No place more +congenial to his temper could have been chosen than this. Here it was +that he fell in with two devout Christian students, Gregory and +Basil—names destined hereafter to be famous in the history of the +Church. Gregory has left a description of the future emperor as he +appeared at this time—a speaking likeness we cannot doubt. The +convulsive movements of the shoulder, the half-scared, half-frenzied +glance of the eye, the grotesque contortions of the face, the +tumultuous, hesitating speech, the loud, immoderate laughter, the +restlessness of the whole man from head to foot, seemed to Gregory to +bode no good. Much of this was natural to Julian, but much, also, may +have been due to the consciousness of the secret seething within his +soul. We know what Gregory did not know—that Julian was a Pagan +already when he was discussing Christian topics with Christian +students.</p> + +<p>But Julian's studies were rudely interrupted. Constantius again found +the burden of the empire too heavy for his shoulders, and again he +resolved to divide it. Julian, very reluctantly on his part, was +appointed Cćsar, and charged with the administration of Gaul. He was +now twenty-five years of age. The courtiers of Constantius laughed at +the new Cćsar, and certainly the appointment did not give any fair +promise of success. But this enthusiastic philosopher, this student +recluse, soon showed that he had in him the making not only of an able +ruler, but also of a consummate general. In vain the flatterers of +Constantius ridiculed Julian's petty triumphs, as they were pleased to +call them; in vain they dubbed him a scribbling Greek. Campaign after +campaign added to his reputation. His administration of Gaul was +unmistakably brilliant. So matters went on for five years, till the +jealousy of Constantius brought about a crisis. An ill-judged attempt +to withdraw Julian's best Gaulish troops produced a mutiny; the +soldiers proclaimed him emperor, and he accepted the title. Having +assumed the imperial purple, he marched to force his recognition on +Constantius; but he was saved the peril of an appeal to arms. Fever +anticipated the conflict, and carried off Constantius opportunely. +Julian was now absolute emperor, master of himself and master of the +world. He could throw off the mask at length; he was free to carry out +his long cherished design for the restoration of Paganism. With what +energy, with what devotion, with what fanaticism, with what futility +he worked for this end it will be my business in my next and +concluding lecture to describe.<br /><br /></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_8" id="C_8">III.</a><a + name="R_10" id="R_10" href="#F_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></h2> + + +<p class="nodent">The history of Julian has been employed as an +apologue by more than one writer when satirising some religious +reaction of his day. A well-known living theological critic of Germany +uses it as a cloak for an attack on the late King of Prussia, and +English clergymen under the reign of James II., assailing the +religious tendencies of the King, denounced him as another Julian the +Apostate. Such comparisons may serve their immediate purpose, but they +are almost always misleading, and may be very unjust. I think, +however, that we may, with advantage, compare this Pagan reaction in +the Roman empire under Julian with the Papal reaction in England under +Mary. The two sovereigns, indeed, have little in common except their +manifest sincerity, but the general relations and the ultimate effects +of the two movements are not so very dissimilar. They both interposed +after a very decided predominance of the opposite cause; they both +were a return to the forms of the past; they both involved a reversal +of the traditional policy of the reigning house; they both were short +in duration, but resolute, uncompromising, energetic in action; and +they both proved utterly futile in the result, because they were +unsupported by any deep feeling in the mass of the people. So far as +they produced any effects at all, they served only to nerve the +energies and reassure the confidence of their antagonists.</p> + +<p>Julian was now thirty years old when the death of Constantius left him +sole master of the Roman empire. In stature he was rather below the +average height; his frame was muscular and strong; his shoulders were +unusually broad; his neck was thick and arched; he had a bright and +piercing eye—the family characteristic which was so remarkable in his +uncle Constantine; the upper part of his face, the brow, and the nose +were fine and well chiselled; his mouth was too large, and his lower +lip hung disagreeably. He wore a rough, pointed beard, the usual +appendage of philosophers. Of his personal appearance he was +studiously careless. It would almost seem as though the courtly +dignity and scrupulous neatness of his cousin Constantius had produced +a revulsion in him. He ostentatiously vaunts his unpolished manner and +his slovenly habits. He was signally undignified in all his gestures. +Of his excitability and his restlessness of manner I have already +spoken. He was a hurried, reckless talker. His tongue, we are told, +was never at rest. His energy was enormous. During his administration +of Gaul, when his days had been spent in the anxieties of government +or in the toils of war, he would sit up half the night studying or +writing. When he became Emperor his energy seemed only to increase. +The great purpose of his life, the restoration and reform of Paganism, +was now definitely before him, and he worked at it with a +determination which never slackened. Into a short reign of eighteen +months he crowded an amount of work which probably no sovereign has +ever surpassed. He had on his shoulders the undivided weight of a +great empire; he was preparing for a difficult and dangerous campaign; +he was busied with the hopeless task of restoring an effete religion; +he was writing hither and thither to the representatives of +heathendom, scolding, stimulating, encouraging; and yet he found time +for a vast amount of literary work besides. He corresponded with +rhetoricians and philosophers; he composed orations and hymns in +praise of heathen deities; he wrote a lengthy and elaborate attack on +the Christian religion, and threw off light squibs on his +contemporaries and on his predecessors. If his one fatal act of +apostasy had not perverted and spoiled everything, he might have +ranked among the greatest of princes. As it was, he has no claim to +the title of greatness. He did nothing which has lived, because he did +nothing which deserved to live. He left nothing, absolutely nothing, +behind which has tended to make mankind happier, or better, or wiser.</p> + +<p>Julian, if his own account may be believed, assumed the imperial +diadem with the greatest reluctance; it was forced upon him by the +soldiers before he knew where he was; and yet there is reason to +believe that his coyness was in great measure affected. It is quite +clear that he was already possessed of the idea of a Pagan +restoration, and that he considered himself as having a special call +from his gods for this work. The Genius of Rome, we are told, appeared +to him in a vision. He reproached the reluctant Cćsar with having so +often driven him from his doors, and threatened to depart for ever if +he were excluded this time. Thus warned, Julian responded to the call; +but he still continued to dissemble. We read of his praying to +Mercury, of his receiving admonitions from Jupiter; we are told of his +consulting auspices and using divination in private; and yet on the +festival of the Epiphany, many months after he had been proclaimed +Emperor, we find him entering a Christian Church, and there solemnly +offering up his prayers to Almighty God. His heathen biographer and +admirer assigns as the reason, that he might secure the allegiance of +his Christian subjects. The strange thing is that neither Julian, nor +Julian's friends, seemed to think any apology needed for this +dissimulation. Much, indeed, should be forgiven to one who, from early +childhood, had been driven by the cruelty of his lot to shield himself +under an impenetrable reserve; but it is hard to understand the moral +blindness which fails to see that this flagrant violation of truth had +need to sue for forgiveness. Those martyrs whom Julian derided and +despised held it a glorious gain to sacrifice life and all things +rather than consent even to a momentary act which might be interpreted +as a denial of their faith. I need not ask which is the loftier +spectacle of the two.</p> + +<p>But indeed Julian, notwithstanding the many noble features in his +character—his justice, his moderation, his strict temperance, his +unsparing energy—was wholly wanting in those higher graces which are +the crown of the Christian character. He was egotistical in the +extreme; his self-consciousness rarely, if ever, deserts him; he will +let all the world know that he is a model philosopher; he is always +thanking his gods that he is not as other men are. Even when he +satirises himself his irony is only a veil—a very thin veil, which +rather suggests than conceals his self-complacency. He is always +standing before the mirror, always soliciting the admiration of +mankind. Of the childlike humility which is the main portal to the +kingdom of heaven, he knows nothing. And yet with all this +dissimulation and all this acting we should do the man a gross +injustice if we imagined that he was insincere. Of his sincerity in +the work which he undertook he gave every proof which it is possible +for a man to give. He showed himself ready to spend and be spent for +it. This strange combination of the enthusiast and the dissembler, of +the fanatic and the philosopher, may be very difficult to realise; but +there can be no doubt that they did unite in the person of Julian. In +this spirit Julian applied himself to his task.</p> + +<p>This task was two-fold. He must depress Christianity, and he must +reanimate and reform Paganism. In his relation to Christianity he +avowed himself on principle favourable to absolute toleration. "I do +not wish the Galileans," he wrote, "to be put to death or to be beaten +unjustly, or to suffer any other wrong. We ought rather to pity than +to hate those who are unfortunate in matters of the greatest +importance." How far this was the genuine dictate of his heart, and +how far it was suggested by principles of expediency, we cannot tell, +but at all events he could not persuade himself to apply his principle +frankly. He restored a heretic bishop because his restoration would +create divisions among Christians, and expelled the orthodox +Athanasius because his presence was a tower of strength to the Church. +The letters of Julian on this occasion betray the weakness of his +position. He has absolutely nothing to allege against Athanasius +except that he had taught men to treat the gods with contempt, and +that he had dared to baptise Greek ladies of rank—in other words, +that he was highly successful as a Christian missionary. Having no +argument, he descends to abuse. He scolds the Alexandrians that +petition him to rescind the decree of banishment: he reviles +Athanasius himself; he calls him an impious villain, a vile Manichćan. +He responds to their petition by expelling him not from Alexandria +only, but from the whole of Egypt. Altogether there is a marked +deterioration in Julian's character from the time when he becomes his +own master. He had plainly supposed that he should carry everything +before him: he had imagined that he had only to proclaim toleration, +and his subjects would be as enamoured of Paganism as he himself was. +He was grievously disappointed. He found in Christianity a strength, a +vitality, a resistance for which he was not prepared. He found in +Paganism a feebleness, an irresolution, an indifference, an utter +absence of self-sacrifice, which contrasted strangely with his own +devoted enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>It is infinitely tragical to contemplate his gradually descending from +the high level on which he took his stand at first to mean devices of +all kinds—more tragical than though he had boldly taken up the sword +of the persecutor at once. He would not desert his principle of +toleration; he never ceased to enunciate that to the last; but he +would connive at violations of it. Pagan outrages on the Christians +were condoned or gently rebuked. When assaults on their life and their +property were reported to him, he would say, flippantly, these +Galileans—so he always called them—ought not to resent the +opportunity of being made martyrs when they prized martyrdom so +highly; that they had no just cause for complaint in being condemned +to poverty when poverty was so loudly extolled in their Lord. But, +indeed, Julian showed unmistakably by one enactment that toleration +with him was not an inviolable principle. An edict was issued by him +forbidding any Christian to give instruction in Greek literature under +any circumstances. The reason assigned was that, as they did not +believe in the gods of Homer and Hesiod, they were not fit expositors +on these points. "Let them go," wrote the Emperor, "to the churches of +the Galileans, and there expound Matthew and Luke." Among those +condemned to silence by this decree were not a few of the most +illustrious teachers of the age. It made a profound sensation at the +time. It was most severely criticised by Julian's own heathen admirers +at a later date. "It deserves," writes one, "to be buried in eternal +silence." To what further lengths the intolerance of Julian might have +gone as he realised more and more the bitterness of failure if his +reign had been prolonged, we can only conjecture; but the descent was +sufficiently rapid to suggest that, soured by disappointment, he +might, had he lived, have been found at the last among the most +relentless of persecutors.</p> + +<p>But while he was thus employing every artifice to depress +Christianity, he was also straining every nerve to reanimate and +restore Paganism. "He was," says his heathen panegyrist, Libanius, +"the best of priests as he was the first of Emperors." He valued the +title of Chief Pontiff, we are told, more highly than the dignity of +Emperor. As Chief Pontiff he made his influence felt throughout the +empire, reopening temples, restoring privileges, reinstituting +sacrifices. No deity and no rite in any corner of his dominions +escaped his vigilance. Whether it was the worship of the Phrygian +Cybele, or of the Apis at Memphis, or of the Daphnian Apollo at +Antioch, his interest was equally unflagging. He was everywhere +advising, coaxing, threatening, goading into activity, where he could +not fan into enthusiasm. And not content with thus exercising his +official superintendence, he was most assiduous in his own personal +services. In season and out of season he would ply the bystander with +questions as to his religious belief. In season and out of season he +would dispute against the Galileans. Wherever he went the altars +smoked with victims. He would offer sacrifices of a whole hecatomb at +once. He ransacked land and sea for rare birds and beasts, that he +might offer them in sacrifice to the gods. At Antioch his soldiers +were constantly seen borne away from the temple through the streets, +gorged and intoxicated, after the revelry of these religious +festivals. All kinds of divination, by flight of birds, by the +inspection of entrails, by the sound of waters, by oracular responses, +and by Sibylline books, were diligently sought out.</p> + +<p>Every charlatan who pretended to some new secret of soothsaying was +welcomed by him. Strange to say, all this fervour of devotion did not +recommend Julian to his heathen subjects. It shows the hollowness of +Paganism at this time that his conduct was met either with ridicule or +with condemnation. The common people called him in derision a victim +butcher, and not a sacrificial priest. It was sneeringly said that if +he had returned triumphant from his Persian expedition the whole race +of cows must have become extinct. The devotion of the Emperor found no +response in the mass of his subjects.</p> + +<p>But Julian was not only a restorer, he was also a reformer of +heathendom. Whether he was conscious of the difference or not, the +Paganism which he had set up as his ideal was quite another thing from +the Paganism which had been handed down from the past. He strove to +graft the morality and the organisation of Christianity on the stem of +heathendom. The priests of Paganism were merely the performers of +certain rites, the depositories of certain mysteries. They had no +moral, or educational, or philanthropic conscience. The Christian +clergy, on the other hand, over and above their duties in the public +services of the Church, were expected to be also the pastors and +teachers, the guides and examples, the ministers of comfort, and the +dispensers of alms to their flocks. Julian attempted to infuse this +pastoral element into the Pagan priesthood, to which it was wholly +foreign. In the letters which are extant the priests are enjoined by +him to abstain from the theatre or the tavern; they are forbidden to +engage in any degrading occupation; they are required to see that +their wives, and children, and servants attend regularly on the +service of the gods; they are told to imitate the grave demeanour and +the benevolent hospitality of Christian bishops. "It is shameful," +writes the Emperor, "that the impious Galileans should support our +people as well as their own." Such a conception of the priest's office +must have surprised Julian's correspondents. They had not bargained +for anything of the kind.</p> + +<p>But, with all his efforts, Julian made no real advance. There were, in +large numbers, apostasies when he apostatised, just as there had been +conversions when Constantine was converted; but these insincere +adherents from fashion or self-interest are the weakness, not the +strength, of any cause. Julian could not have deceived himself. He saw +none of the self-sacrifice which is the only evidence of genuine +religious conviction. He upbraided the crowds who flocked to the +temples, not to worship the gods, but to applaud the Emperor.</p> + +<p>And now the end was fast approaching. About Midsummer 362, Julian took +up his residence at Antioch, where he spent nine months preparing for +his Persian campaign. This sojourn aggravated his disappointment. The +people of Antioch did not take kindly to their sovereign. Before long +he had succeeded in making himself equally unpopular with both the +great sections of the community. At Antioch, where Christianity had +first obtained its name, the Christians formed an exceptionally large +fraction of the whole population. They would not be predisposed +favourably towards an apostate, and his injustice only served to +confirm their hatred. A fire broke out in the temple of Apollo of +Daphne, and it was burnt to the ground. Without any adequate reason +his suspicions fell on the Christians; he put the suspected persons to +cruel tortures, but elicited no confession. Thus foiled, he ordered +the principal church of Antioch to be closed and razed to the ground. +The attitude of the Christians was one of stern defiance. Under the +walls of the palace, along the streets of the city, wherever the +Emperor would be likely to hear, were chanted the words of the +Psalmist—"Confounded be all they that worship carved images, and that +delight in vain gods. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, +even the work of men's hands. Eyes have they and see not. They that +make them are like unto them, and so are all they that put their trust +in them." Nor was he more fortunate with the heathen population. He +and they were co-religionists, but his Paganism was not their +Paganism. The theatrical exhibitions, the festive orgies, the dancing +and the revelry, these were the very soul of religious worship to +them. He despised all such things. They ridiculed the officious +devotion with which he hurried from temple to temple and from altar to +altar, present at every festival, and participating in every rite. He +took his revenge by satirising their ungodliness. He told them at the +great festival of their patron god, the Daphnian Apollo, he had +expected to see costly victims smoking on the altar, but found there +only one miserable goose, the solitary offering of a poor priest. +Indeed, he was doomed to disappointment on all sides. One great +project which he entertained at this time was the rebuilding of the +temple of Jerusalem. It was not that he loved the Jews, but that he +hated the Christians. So he entered into communication with the Jewish +patriarch, and the work was commenced. The ruined walls were +demolished, the foundations of the new building begun; but as the +workmen penetrated underground, great globes of fire burst out from +the earth and drove them back. Again and again they renewed the +attempt; again and again they were repulsed. The project was +relinquished and the temple remains unbuilt to this day.</p> + +<p>Thus irritated and disappointed, Julian left Antioch and commenced his +march. At his departure he vented his anger against the offending +people by declaring that he would not enter the city again, but on his +return he would go to Tarsus instead. He was as good as his word. He +did return to Tarsus; but he returned there a corpse. Disastrous +omens, we are told, thronged upon him. During his march on Hierapolis, +as he entered the city, a portico suddenly gave way, and crushed fifty +soldiers under its ruins. At Davana a huge stack of straw fell, and +smothered to death as many more. At Carrhć, the fatal scene of the +defeat of Crassus, he was troubled with sinister dreams. At Circesium +he received letters from Sallust, the Prefect of Gaul, entreating him +to suspend the ill-omened expedition. Here, too, was an apparition of +sinister augury. The corpse of an executed criminal was found lying +across the path. At another place an enormous lion confronted the +soldiers across their path. He was shot by them, and presented to +Julian. It portended the death of a king, but on the question what +king was meant there was a division of opinion. The Etruscan +soothsayers considered it a disastrous sign; the philosophers +interpreted it favourably. The next day a soldier named Julianus was +struck down by lightning. This omen again was differently explained. +The soothsayers and the philosophers took opposite sides.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the scene of conflict, the Emperor, after obtaining some +successes, offered a magnificent sacrifice—ten fine bulls—to Mars +the Avenger. The omens were unmistakably sinister. Julian was +disgusted with the ingratitude of the god, and called Jupiter to +witness that he would not sacrifice to Mars again; "nor," adds the +historian, "did he belie his oath, being carried off prematurely by a +speedy death." These prodigies, with others, are related by a Pagan +who accompanied the army. Christian writers add an incident of which I +see no reason to question the proof, and which certainly deserves to +be true. Julian's common taunt against the Christians was their +worship of a dead man. While preparing for his expedition at Antioch, +he fell into dispute, after his manner, with a Christian whom he met +accidentally, and said mockingly, "What is the Son of the carpenter +doing now?" "He is making a coffin," was the prompt reply. The Son of +the carpenter was making a coffin—a coffin not for Julian only, but +for the Paganism of which Julian was the champion.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary for me to follow out this expedition to its +disastrous issue. It is sufficient to say that Julian was inveigled, +surrounded, pierced by a spear from some unknown Persian or Saracen +hand. He perceived at once that he was mortally wounded. His words at +this moment are differently reported. According to one account, he +cried out, "Oh, Galilean, thou hast conquered!" Another story relates +that he took the blood welling from the wound in his hand, and flung +it up towards the sun, his patron god, with an imprecation—"There, +take thy fill." Neither saying, perhaps, is reported on sufficiently +good authority, but either would accord well with the disappointment +and irritation which marked the closing scenes of his life. He +inquired what was the name of the place. It was a small village called +Parthia. He had been forewarned long ago that in Parthia he should +die. He had supposed that the famous country of that name was meant. +We are reminded by this incident of an English sovereign lying on his +death-bed in the famous chamber at Westminster, which still bears the +name of Jerusalem. "It hath been prophesied to me many years I should +not die but at Jerusalem, which vainly I supposed the Holy Land." +Within a few hours Julian had breathed his last. He died on the 26th +June, 363, being not yet quite thirty-two years old, and with him +perished the last and best hope of Paganism. Less than twenty years +after, the Emperor Gratian refused the title of Supreme Pontiff. This +was the first overt act of disestablishment. Then blow followed blow +in rapid succession. Paganism was first disestablished, then +disendowed, then prohibited; yet it still continued to linger on till +at length it was buried in the grave of the empire. St. Augustine's +<i>City of God</i> was the pćan of victory over the enemy slain. +Julian's work had been found like a child's castle elaborately piled +up of sand on the brink of the ocean. The rising tide advanced +steadily, inexorably, relentlessly, and no traces of the structure +remain.<br /></p> + +<hr/> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_9" id="C_9">WOMAN AND THE GOSPEL.</a><a + name="R_11" id="R_11" href="#F_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></h2> + +<p class="blockquot">"And He took the damsel by the hand."—<span +class="smcap">Mark</span> v. 41.</p> + + +<p class="nodent">In selecting this text I have no intention of saying +many words on the actual scene itself. The raising of Jairus's +daughter attracts our attention by its vivid narrative, and by its +intense human pathos, while the two foreign words, summing up the +interest of the story, linger strangely in our ears, impressing it +effectually on our memories. Nor, again, do I purpose speaking of its +direct theological import, whether as an answer to human faith, or as +a manifestation of the Divine power. In this latter aspect this is one +of three signal miracles, the anticipations of Christ's own +resurrection. It claims, and it has received, the most earnest study, +both in itself and in relation to other incidents of the same +class.</p> + +<p>These more obvious aspects of the text are beside my present purpose. +I wish to-day to treat it from a wholly different point of view. +Christ's miracles have always the highest spiritual significance. They +are not miracles only, but parables also. The Messiah's kingdom would +have achieved comparatively little for mankind if it had brought +deliverance to the captive in a literal sense only. A far heavier and +more galling bondage would still remain—the bondage of sin. Physical +blindness is only a type of moral blindness; Christ's healing power in +the one case is the pledge of His healing power in the other. The +palsy of the body symbolises the palsy of the soul. If the paralytic +is bidden to take up his bed and walk, this is before all things an +assurance to us that Christ is able and willing to heal the paralysis +of the soul. From this point of view the words of the text are full of +meaning to all who are met together to-day. "He took the damsel by the +hand, and said unto her, Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise. And +straightway the damsel arose, and walked; and they were astonished +with a great astonishment."</p> + +<p>Need I remind you that this is the earliest miracle of raising the +dead recounted in the Gospels? Two others follow. The widow of Nain +and the sisters of Bethany receive back their dead. But the one was a +growing youth, the other was a man of mature age. The young woman was +Christ's first miracle of resurrection. On her was wrought first this +stupendous miracle. For her was won this earliest triumph over death +and hell. Is not this a significant fact in itself, but especially +significant for you, for it proclaims the fundamental principle of the +Gospel charter? It announces that the weak and the helpless in years, +in sex, in social status, are especially Christ's care. It declares +emphatically that in Him is neither male nor female. It is a call to +you, you women-workers, to do a sister's part to these your sisters. +Christ's action in this miracle is a foreshadowing of His action in +the Church. The Master found woman deposed from her proper social +position. The man had suffered not less than the woman by this her +humiliation. Jew and Gentile had conspired together in an unconscious +conspiracy to bring about this disastrous result. The Hebrew Rabbi and +the Greek philosopher alike had gone astray. It is the recorded saying +of a famous Jewish doctor that the words of the law were better burned +than committed to woman. It is an opinion ascribed to the most famous +Athenian statesman, that woman had then achieved her highest glory +when her name was heard amongst men least, either for virtue or for +reproach. A moral resurrection was needed for womanhood. It might seem +to the looker-on like a social death, from which there was no +awakening, but it was only the suspension of her proper faculties and +opportunities, a long sleep from which a revival must come sooner or +later. It was for Him, and Him alone, who was the Vanquisher of death, +who has the keys of Hades—for Him alone to open the door of her +sepulchral prison and resuscitate her dormant life and restore her to +her ordinary place in society. When all hope was gone, He took her by +the hand and bid her arise; and at the sound of His voice and the +touch of His hand she arose and walked, and the world was astonished +with a great astonishment. We ourselves are so familiar with the +results, the position of woman is so fully recognised by us, it is +bearing so abundant fruit every day and everywhere, that we overlook +the magnitude of the change itself. Only, then, when we turn to the +harem and the zenana do we learn to estimate what the Gospel has +achieved, and has still to achieve, in the emancipation of woman, and +her restitution to her lawful place in the social order. To ourselves +the large place which woman occupies in the Gospel and in the early +apostolic history seems only natural. To contemporaries it must have +appeared in the light of a social revolution. The very opening of the +Gospel is charged with Divine messages communicated to us through +woman—Mary, Elizabeth, Anna; women attend our Lord everywhere during +His earthly ministry. The sisters, Martha and Mary, are set before us +as embodying the two contrasted types of character, the practical and +the contemplative. To a woman, and to a woman alone, is given the +promise of an undying hope beyond the glory of the mightiest earthly +princes. Of her it is said: "Wheresoever this Gospel is preached in +the whole world, there shall this which this woman has done be told as +a memorial of her." To a woman were spoken those gracious words of +pardon most tender and compassionate, the consolation and the stay and +the hope of the penitent to all time: "Her sins, which are many, are +forgiven, for she loveth much." Women are the chief attendants at the +crucifixion, and the chief ministrants at the tomb. Woman is the first +witness of the resurrection; and as it was in Christ's personal +ministry, so it is in all the Apostolic Church. In the first gathering +of the little band after the Ascension, women are found assembled with +the apostles. This is a foreshadowing of the part which they are +destined to play in the subsequent narrative of the history of the +Church. Cast your eyes down the salutations in the Epistle to the +Romans. There is Phœbe, a deaconess of the Church of Cenchrea, +commended as having been the succourer of many, among others of the +Apostle himself. There is Priscilla, who with her husband had laid +down her neck for his life, to whom he himself not only gave thanks, +but all the Churches of the Gentiles. There is Mary, who bestowed much +labour upon him and others; Tryphena and Tryphosa, who laboured much +in the Lord. There is Persis, to whom the same testimony is borne. +There is the mother of Rufus, who had also been like a mother to +himself. There is Julia, and there is the sister of Nereus. A long +catalogue to appear in the salutations of a single epistle!</p> + +<p>Turn again from the Church of which St. Paul knew least when he wrote, +to the Church of which he knew most. Witness his relation to his +beloved Philippian Church. He addresses himself first to the women who +resort to the places of prayer among the individual women with whom he +came in contact. At Philippi we read of Lydia, his earliest hostess in +this city, of the damsel from whom he cast out a spirit of divination, +and then of Euodias and Syntyche, women who laboured with him in the +Gospel; and indeed we know more of the women at Philippi than we know +of the men.</p> + +<p>But it was not only this desultory, unrecognised service, however +frequent, however great, that women rendered to the spread of the +Gospel in its earliest days. The Apostolic Church had its organised +ministrations of women, its order of deaconesses, its order of widows. +Women had their definite place in the ecclesiastical system of those +early times, and in our own age and country again the awakened +activity of the Church is once more demanding the recognition of the +female ministry. The Church feels herself maimed of one of her hands. +No longer she fails to employ, to organise, to consecrate to the +service of Christ, the love, the sympathy, the tact, the self-devotion +of women. Hence the revival of the female diaconate in its +multiplication of sisterhoods. But these, though the most definite, +are not the most extensive developments of this revival. Everywhere +institutions are springing up, manifold in form and purpose, for the +organisation of women's work. There has been, and there is still, a +shameful waste of this latent power, boundless in its capacities if +only fostered and developed. The famous heroines of womanhood will +necessarily be few. It is rarely women's part to save a city or guide +a church. Only at long intervals on the stage of the history of the +world appear such women as Joan of Arc; but here and there God raises +up an exceptional heroine to do exceptional work, which a woman alone +can do, or do so effectually, for her age and country. But generally +it is in the quieter, less obtrusive, more homely, and more womanly +way, that she is called to test her power, certainly not less real or +less beneficent, though it may be less striking, than the power of +man. She is a mother in her own household, her own kindred, her own +parish, her own neighbourhood; the guide, the helper of man. Yes; a +priestess and a prophetess to the young, the sick, the frail and +erring, the poor and needy—needy whether of spiritual or bodily +healing. It is the province of the Church, when acting by the Spirit +and in the name of Christ, to develop the power of women, to take by +the hand and raise from its torpor that which seemed a death, but +which is only a sleep; and now, as then, revived life and beneficent +work will amaze the looker-on—"they were astonished with a great +astonishment."</p> + +<p>Among the most recent developments of the work of the Church of Christ +your Girls' Friendly Society has taken a foremost place. I would say +in all sincerity, that when I read your last report with profound joy +and thankfulness, I was impressed, no less by the completeness of your +ideal, than by the variety and expansion of your work. I do not say +this to commend; this is not the time or the place for commendation. +"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give the praise." +You will not be content, will you? you will not be content, if you are +true to your ideals, with holding out the hand of loving sympathy in +your own home and neighbourhood to a humble sister needing a sister's +care and guidance? Your love will follow her about that she may never +be lost sight of. It is a trite complaint that in this day the old +relations between master and servant have vanished, or almost vanished +away. The bond is no longer one of reciprocal loyalty, but of common +convenience. Hence it is liable to severance at any moment in the +feverish, ever-restless, fluctuating conditions of modern life. It was +impossible that these relations should remain unchanged while all else +was changing. The domestic servant or the shop girl has no longer a +fixed home; she is a wanderer on the earth. It is just here that the +catholicity of your plan should step in and counteract the evil. It is +your part to realise this catholicity. When a girl once enrolls herself +in your numbers, she is <i>yours</i>; everywhere, whithersoever she +may go, the friendly eye will rest upon her; the friendly hand will be +stretched out to her wheresoever she may be. She will find everywhere +a home, because she will find everywhere friends. You cannot set this +ideal before yourselves too definitely, or strive to realise it too +earnestly.</p> + +<p>Do you ask how your work may be truly effective? I answer you in the +words of the text; "He took the damsel by the hand." There must be an +intensity of human sympathy, and there must be an indwelling of the +Divine power. The lesson of the miracle which I have taken for my +starting-point involves both these ideals. The current of womanly +sympathy must flow out deep and strong and clear. Is not this the +typical meaning of Christ's action in the text? The touch of His warm +hand restores the circulation and revives the life in those pale, +motionless, death-like limbs. We want sympathy here, sympathy first +and sympathy last—sympathy reflecting, however faintly, Christ's own +boundless compassion and love. The cold, mechanical formalism of the +relieving officer will not suffice; the haughty assertion of +superiority, the condescending patronage of the fine lady will be +worse than nothing. You must be a sister to your sisters, treading in +the footsteps of your Brother, Jesus Christ. Is not this also the +meaning of those words which He utters to the girl lying helpless +before Him? He speaks to her not in the Greek, the conventional +language of outward life, but in the Syriac, the true language of the +family and the home. It pierces her, notwithstanding her death-like +slumber. He speaks to her, as He speaks to us all, with the voice of a +direct personal love. This is always the language of Christ's words, +the language of Christ's Gospel,—"How hear we every man in our own +tongue wherein we were born?"</p> + +<p>And over and above all this, animating, inspiring, sanctifying your +human sympathies, there must be the consciousness of the Divine +presence, the sense of the Divine energy, in your work. You will apply +yourself to it with a strength not your own; the power of the living +Christ will thrill through you. Is not this the interpretation of the +symbolic action, "He took the damsel by the hand"?—He <i>Himself</i>, +and not another. "Not I, but Christ in me," will be the inspiring +motive of your work, as it was in St. Paul's. <i>His</i> hand must +guide your hand; nay, His hand must replace your hand, if the touch +shall raise the damsel, and restore her to a better and a happier +life.</p> + +<p>And restore her it will; this intense human sympathy inspired by this +consciousness of the Divine indwelling. It never has failed yet, and +it never can fail to work miracles of resurrection and healing, in her +helplessness, in her temptations, in all her struggles and +perplexities, her bodily wants, and her spiritual trials. It will be +to her comfort and strength and hope; it will throb her with the pulse +of an awakened life.</p> + +<p>But I have spoken hitherto as if these helpless girls whom you +befriend were the sole counterparts of Jairus's daughter. I have +regarded them as only the patients whom Christ's awakening hands raise +from their death-like slumbers. Is this an adequate representation of +the case, think you? Are there not others even more needy than they of +this beneficent movement? Are we not taught on the highest authority +that it is more blessed to give than to receive? But, if so, have we +not a truer antitype of this damsel whom Christ raised in these +befriended girls? Yes, Christ has taken them by the hand, and has +revived them, has awakened them from the heavy, death-like slumber of +a selfish, self-contained being. Christ has shown them the beauty and +the power of sympathy, and it has been to them the throbbing of a new +life. Surely it is not only the daughters of ancestral lineage and of +Norman blood, not only a Clara Vere de Vere, who are sickening with +disease, and who need Christ's healing hand; is there not in the home +of the professional man many a daughter and many a sister on whose +hand time hangs heavily, whose life is wasting away, fretting with +feverish excitement, or sunk in self-indulgence and apathy, weary of +self, and weary of others? How shall they wake up from their barren +monotony and death-like existence? Sympathy, active sympathy for +others; this, and this alone, can restore them. Mothers, train your +daughters early to think for others, to care for others, to minister +to others. Be assured this will be the most valuable part of their +education. This heaven-born charity is the sovereign antidote to all +the ills of womanhood. Is it some secret sorrow gnawing at the heart, +some outraged feeling, or some harrowing bereavement, or some actual +disappointment? Merge and absorb it in active solicitude for others. +Is it some fierce temptation which shamed you, and each fresh struggle +seems to leave you weaker than before? There will be no room for this +if you devote yourself to the needs of others. All sin is selfishness +in some form or other. Forget sloth; this is the best safeguard +against temptation.</p> + +<p>I appeal confidently to all those who have made the trial to say +whether this medicine has healed them where all other medicines have +failed? And, why, why? It is Christ's own love constraining them; it +is Christ's own touch thrilling through their veins; hence they mark +the resurrection—"He took the damsel by the hand; and straightway she +arose and walked."</p> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_10" id="C_10">PILATE.</a><a + name="R_12" id="R_12" href="#F_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></h2> + +<p class="blockquot">"Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth?"—<span +class="smcap">John</span> xviii. 38.</p> + + +<p class="nodent">St. John is especially distinguished among the four +evangelists for his subtle delineation of character. We do not +commonly remember—it costs us an effort to remember—how very largely +we are indebted to the fourth gospel for our conceptions of the chief +personages who bear a part in evangelical history, where those +conceptions are most clear and distinct. If we analyse the sources of +our information, we find again and again that while something is told +us about particular persons in the other evangelists, yet it is St. +John who gives those touches to the picture which make it stand out +with its own individuality as a real, living, speaking man. The other +evangelist will record a name, or, perhaps, an incident; St. John will +add one or two sayings; and the whole person is instinct with life. +The character flashes out in half-a-dozen words. "From the abundance +of the heart the mouth speaketh." So it is with Philip, with Thomas, +with Mary and Martha, and with several others who might be named. This +vividness of portraiture is our strongest assurance, if assurance were +needed, that the narrative was indeed written by him whose name it +bears—by the beloved disciple and eye-witness himself. For, observe, +there is no effort at delineation of character; there is no +delineation of character at all, properly so called. The evangelist +does not describe the persons whom he introduces; they describe +themselves. The incidental act, the incidental movement or gesture, +the incidental saying, tells the tale. That which he had heard, that +which he had looked upon and his eyes had seen, that which his hands +had handled of the Word of Life—that and that only he declared.</p> + +<p>Pilate furnishes a remarkable illustration of this feature in St. +John's gospel. Pilate is the chief agent in the crowning scene of +evangelical history. He is necessarily a prominent figure in all the +four narratives of this crisis. In the first three gospels we learn +much about him. We find him there, as we find him in St. John, at +cross purposes with the Jews. He is represented there, not less than +by St. John, as giving an unwilling consent to the judicial murder of +Jesus. His Roman sense of justice is too strong to allow him to yield +without an effort. His personal courage is too weak to persevere in +the struggle when the consequences threaten to become inconvenient. He +is timid, politic, time-serving, as represented by all alike. He has +just enough conscience to wish to shake off the responsibility, but +far too little conscience to shrink from committing the sin. But in +St. John's narrative we pierce far below the surface. Here he is +revealed to us as the sarcastic, cynical worldling, who doubts +everything, distrusts everything, despises everything. He has an +intense scorn for the Jews, and yet he has a craven dread of them. He +has a certain professional regard for justice, and yet he has no real +belief in truth or honour. Throughout he manifests a malicious irony +in his conduct at this crisis. There is a lofty scorn in his answer +when he repudiates any sympathy with the accusers. "Am I a Jew?" There +is a sarcastic pity in the question which he addresses to the Prisoner +before him, "Art Thou the King of the Jews? Art Thou, then, a +king—Thou poor, weak, helpless fanatic, whom with a single word I +could doom to death?" He is half-bewildered with the incongruity of +the claim; and yet there is a certain propriety that a wild enthusiast +should assert his sovereignty over a nation of bigots; so he +sarcastically adopts the title. "Will you that I release unto you the +King of the Jews?" Even when, at length, he is obliged to yield to the +popular clamour, he will at least have his revenge by a studied +contempt. "Behold your King! Shall I crucify your King?" And to the +very last moment he indulges his cynical scorn. The title on the cross +was, indeed, unconsciously, a proclamation of a Divine truth; but in +its immediate purpose and intent it was the mere gratification of +Pilate's sarcastic humour. "Jesus of Nazareth." Could any good thing +come out of Nazareth? "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." He +has sacrificed his honour to them, but he will not sacrifice his +contempt. "What I have written, I have written."</p> + +<p>But it is more especially in the sentence which I have chosen for my +text that the whole character of the man is revealed. The Prisoner +before him had accepted the title of a King. He based His claim to +this title on the fact that He had come to bear witness of the truth. +He declared that those who were themselves of the truth would +acknowledge His claim. They were His rightful subjects; they were the +enfranchised citizens of His kingdom.</p> + +<p>Strange language this, in the ears of a cynical, worldly sceptic, to +whom the most attractive hope of humanity was a judicious admixture of +force and fraud. "Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth? And when he +had said this he went out." The altercation could be carried no +farther. Was not human life itself one great query without an answer? +What was truth? "Truth"? This helpless Prisoner claimed to be a King, +and He appealed, forsooth, to His truthfulness as the credential of +His sovereign rights! Was ever any claim more contradictory of all +human experience, more palpably absurd, than this? "Truth"? When had +truth anything to do with founding a kingdom? The mighty engine of +imperial power, the armed sceptre which ruled the world, whence came +it? Certainly it owed nothing to truth. Had not Augustus established +his sovereignty by an unscrupulous use of force, and maintained it by +an astute use of artifice? And his successor, the present occupant of +the imperial throne, was he not an arch dissembler, the darkest of all +dark enigmas? The name of Tiberius was a byword for impenetrable +disguise. Truth might do well enough for fools and enthusiasts; but +for rulers, for diplomatists, for men of the world, it was the wildest +of all wild dreams. "Truth"? What was truth? He had lived too long in +the world to trust to any such hollow delusion. He had listened to the +ceaseless din of philosophical disputations till he was weary of them. +The Stoics, the Epicureans, the Platonists, all had their several +specifics which they vended as truth. All were equally sure, and yet +no two agreed.</p> + +<p>He had witnessed, certainly not without contempt, and yet not altogether +without dismay, the rising flood of foreign superstition—Greek, +Syrian, Egyptian, Chaldean—which threatened to deluge the city and +empire, and destroy all the ancient landmarks. Could he believe all or +any of these? In this never-ending conflict of philosophical dogmas +and religious creeds, what could he do but resign himself to +scepticism, to indifference, to a cold and cynical scorn of all +enthusiastic convictions and all definite beliefs? "What is truth?"</p> + +<p>And yet as he turned away, neither expecting nor desiring an answer to +a question which he had asked merely to end an inconvenient +controversy, some uneasy misgivings, we may well suppose, flashed +across the mind of this proud, sarcastic worldling, that he was now +brought face to face with truth as he had never been brought before. +There was a reality about every word and action of this Jewish +Prisoner which arrested and overawed him. The calmness with which He +urged His claims, the fearlessness with which He defied death, the +impressive words, the still more impressive silence, the manifest +innocence and rectitude of the Man, if he saw nothing more—these +could not be without their effect even on a Pilate, steeped as he was +in the moral recklessness and the religious despair of his age. At all +events, he would serve the Man if he conveniently could.</p> + +<p>But there had been also a nobler element in Pilate's education than +moral scepticism and religious unbelief. He was a Roman governor, and +as a Roman governor he was an administrator of Roman law. It was their +appreciation of law, their respect for law, their study of law, far +more than anything else, which gave its greatness to the character of +the Roman people. Even in the most degraded ages of their history, and +with the worst individual types of men, this is the one bright spot +which relieves the gloom. It is the nobler prerogative of law to set a +standard clear, definite, and precise. I have no concern here with +other obligations to the law which as Christians we are bound to +acknowledge, though, speaking before the chief representatives of +English law and justice, I cannot fail to be reminded of them this +afternoon. But this exhibition of a moral standard is a gain which it +is hardly possible to over-estimate. The standard will not always be +the highest. From the nature of the case it cannot be so. Law deals +with some departments of morality very imperfectly; with others it +does not attempt to deal at all. But still, whenever it is felt, and +so far as it penetrates, it creates an ideal, and begets a habit which +will not be powerless even with the most indifferent and reckless of +men. So it was with Pilate. Theological scepticism had eaten out his +religious principles to the very core. Unscrupulous worldliness and +self-seeking had shattered his moral constitution; but though his +principles were gone, and his character was ruined, still he was +haunted by some lingering sense of professional honour; still the +magnificent ideal of Roman justice and Roman law rose up before him, +and would not lightly be thrust aside. He pleads repeatedly for +justice against the relentless accusers. Three times he declares the +Prisoner's innocence in the same explicit words—"I find no fault in +Him." Once and again he strives to shift the responsibility from his +own shoulders to theirs. "Take ye Him and judge Him according to your +law. Take ye Him and crucify Him." But his efforts are all in vain. +They will have none of this. The deed shall be done, and he shall do +it.</p> + +<p>It was not the first, and it would not be the last time that Pilate +found himself in conflict with the Jews. For ten years he was governor +of this turbulent, intractable people. This was an unusually long +period of office under an Emperor like Tiberius, who was constantly +changing his provincial governors from mere suspicion and distrust. It +must have cost Pilate no little trouble to steer his course so long +and so successfully, without foundering either on the suspicions of +his jealous master here or on the bigotry of his stubborn subjects +there. And yet he was constantly wounding the religious +susceptibilities of the Jews. At one time he shocked them by bringing +the military ensigns with the effigies of Cćsar within the walls of +Jerusalem; at another he persisted in setting up some gilt shields, +inscribed with a profane heathen dedication, in the palace of Herod +within the holy precincts. In both cases he drove the Jews to the +extreme verge of exasperation. In both cases he exhibits the same +sarcastic and defiant scorn which is apparent here. In both cases +their obstinate zeal or bigotry triumphs, as it triumphs here, and he +is forced, in the end, to retrace his steps and to undo his deed.</p> + +<p>So, then, this was only one brief episode in a protracted struggle +between Pilate and the Jewish people. Doubtless, it seemed at the time +quite insignificant compared with those other and fiercer conflicts in +which he was engaged. It is passed over in silence by contemporary +Jewish writers. It concerned the life of a single person only; it was +settled in a single night; and yet it involved nothing less than the +eternal destiny of all mankind.</p> + +<p>Ah, there is a terrible irony in God's retributive justice, which so +blinds a man to the true proportions of things. A single moment may do +a wrong which centuries cannot repair. It is a dangerous thing to defy +the truth. The majesty of truth is inviolable, and he who insults it +in a moment of recklessness can never forecast the consequences. Time +and space and notoriety are no measure of importance here. The most +important criminal trial on record in the history of mankind was +hurried through in two or three short hours, under cover of night and +in the grey of early dawn.</p> + +<p>This is the great lesson of Pilate's crime. He was surprised by the +truth; he found himself unexpectedly confronted by the truth; and he +could not recognise it. His whole life long he had tampered with +truth; he had despised truth; he had despaired of truth. Truth was the +last thing which he had set before him as the main aim of life. He had +thought much of policy, of artifice, of fraud, of force; but for truth +in any of its manifold forms he had cared just nothing at all. And his +sin had worked out its own retribution. Not truth only, but the very +Truth itself, Truth incarnate, stood before him in a human form, and +he was blind to it; he scorned it; he played with it; he thrust it +aside; he condemned, and he gibbeted it. "Suffered under Pontius +Pilate," is the legend of eternal infamy with which history has +branded his name.</p> + +<p>So it is always. The Lord appears suddenly in His temple—in the +shrine of the human heart and conscience; suddenly—at a time and in a +form which we least expect. The truth visits us very frequently under +the disguise of some common event, or some insignificant person. It +surprises us, perhaps, in the accidental saying of some little child, +or in the insidiousness of some mean temptation, or in the emergency +of some trivial choice. It stands before us at once as our suppliant +and our king. We fail to see its majesty veiled in its humble garb. We +treat it as our prisoner when, in fact, it is our judge, and may +become our gaoler. We flatter ourselves that we have power to condemn +or to release it. We have no fault to find with it, but still we +reject it; we crucify it; and before three days are gone it rises from +its grave to bear eternal testimony against us. We could not see the +truth, because we ourselves were not of the truth. Here in this +judicial blindness is the warning of Pilate's example. Like is drawn +to like: like only understands like. The truth is only for the +children of truth.</p> + +<p>We must not, however, unduly narrow the sense of truth and of +truthfulness. When our Lord called Himself the truth—when He declared +that the truth should make us free, He meant very much more than is +commonly understood by the word. Veracity is, indeed, truth; but it is +only a small part of the truth. A man may be scrupulously veracious, +strictly a man of honour; he may always say what he believes; he may +always perform what he promises; and yet he may not be, in the highest +sense, true. He may be the slave of a thousand unrealities. A genuine +child of truth is very much more than a speaker of the truth. He is a +doer of the truth, and a thinker of the truth, and a liver of the +truth. He is frank, open, and real in all things. Reality is the very +soul of his being. He cares for nothing which is hollow, shadowy, +superficial. Popularity, wealth, success, worldly ambition, and +display are essentially unreal, because they are external, because +they are transient. Therefore, he estimates them at their true value. +The devotion of scientific men in pursuit of scientific truth wins our +highest admiration. It is not without a thrill of national pride that +we have just bidden God-speed to the gallant company which has started +for the Arctic seas. To face untold hardships and possible death in +such a cause is a worthy and noble aim, for these are realities. But +obviously there are truths of far higher moment to the temporal and +eternal well-being of man than the laws of electricity, or the causes +of the Aurora, or the fauna of the Polar seas. Whence came I? Whither +go I? What is sin? What is conscience? Is there a God in heaven? Is +there a providence, a moral government, a judgment? Is there a +redemption, a sanctification, a life eternal? These are the momentous, +the pressing questions which a man can only shelve at his peril. +Christ is the answer to all these questions. Therefore, He is the +verity of verities. Therefore, He claims for Himself the title of the +truth as His absolute and indefeasible right.</p> + +<p>An incapacity to see the truth, when thus presented to us in its +highest form, may arise from different causes. It may spring from +bigoted partisanship, and religious pride, and obstinate formalism, as +in the case of the Jews; or it may spring from cold cynicism, and +worldliness, and dishonesty, as in the case of Pilate. These two +conspire to crucify the truth. As we sow, so also shall we reap. +Pilate's life had been stained in untruthfulness. His government had +been an alternation of violence and artifice. His aim had not been to +rule uprightly, to rule generously, but to rule at any cost. He must +calm the suspicions of his jealous master, and he must quell the +turbulence of an unruly people. Whatever means would conduce to these +ends were to him legitimate means. Uprightness, honour, frankness, +generosity, truth—what were these to him? He had no belief in them, +and why should he practise them? He projected his own motives into his +estimate of mankind at large. He read the characters of others in the +distorted mirror of his own consciousness. Human life, as he viewed +it, was false from beginning to end. It was, after all, the reflection +of his own falsehood which he saw. He was ever looking out for the +unrealities of existence. He had no eye for its realities. Men's +convictions were their foibles: men's beliefs were his playthings. +Untruthfulness, cynicism, distrust, scorn, had withered his soul. They +only will find the truth who believe that the truth may be found. +Pilate had no such belief. He had gone through life asking, half in +bitterness, half in jest, "What is truth?" He had asked it now again, +and the question was fatal. Pilate's temper of mind is a very real +danger in an age like ours. Let us beware of thus jesting with truth, +lest some time, like him, we crucify the truth unawares.</p> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_11" id="C_11">THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.</a><a + name="R_13" id="R_13" href="#F_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></h2> + +<p class="blockquot">"Two men went up into the temple to pray."—<span +class="smcap">Luke</span> xviii. 10.</p> + + +<p class="nodent">The teaching of the gospels is, in large portions, a +teaching by contrast. This is the case, to a certain extent, in the +historical narrative, but it is especially so in the parables of our +Lord. Thus we have the contrast of the two brothers in the parable of +the Prodigal Son; the contrast of the two sons in the parable of the +father's vineyard; the contrast of the rich man and the beggar in the +parable of Lazarus and Dives, and the like; the right and the wrong +way of acting are figured, are embodied, are personified in two +living, acting men. So it is here; the right and the wrong spirit in +prayer, the right and the wrong attitude towards God, are set before +us in portraits of imaginary men who might very well have been real +men. If you had gone up to the temple any day, and watched the +worshippers there, you might very likely have seen the counterpart +both of the one and of the other. But there is not only a contrast in +the parable, there is also a paradox, a surprise; the ordinary +estimate of worth is set aside; the judgment of God overrules the +judgment of men; the praise is given where men would give the blame, +and the blame is given where men would give the praise. The object of +the parable is to correct, to cancel, to reverse human judgment.</p> + +<p>"Two men went up into the temple to pray." The place is the same, the +time is the same, the object is the same; only the characters of the +two men are widely different. To which will you give the preference? +Could any pious Jew have doubted about his answer to this question? +Would you yourself have doubted if you had been a Jew and lived in +that age? Let us look more narrowly at these two men as they stand +praying within the sacred precincts. Here is the one, a Pharisee. The +sect to which he belongs is eminently religious, eminently patriotic; +the law of God is their study day and night; their daily life is +regulated on the strictest principles; they are the recognised leaders +of their countrymen, their religious teachers and their political +guides; they are regarded as the great bulwark against foreign tyranny +and heathen idolatry; they have altogether the confidence of the +people. And he is an eminently favourable type of the sect. It is not +enough that he avoids gross and flagrant crime; that he is upright in +his dealings with his fellow-men; that he respects the sanctity of the +marriage vows;—he goes very far beyond this: he fasts regularly, he +pays tithes scrupulously, he prays fervently after a manner, as this +incident shows; not a suspicion is breathed against the truth of his +statements as he thus describes himself. No doubt they were strictly +true; the very point of the parable depends upon their accuracy. What +more, then, would you have than this? Now, turn to the other +worshipper, the publican. What a contrast we have here! The publicans +were hated, despised, loathed by the Jews. There was only too much +reason for all this hatred and contempt. The publicans were so called +because they farmed the public taxes. The Roman masters let out the +collection of the taxes for so much to the publicans, and the +publicans made what they could by the collecting. Hence their position +was unsatisfactory from first to last. Though Jews themselves, they +were the representatives of the Roman masters of Judea. They thus +reminded their fellow-countrymen at every turn of the galling yoke of +a foreign tyranny, of a heathen tyranny, too. This made matters worse. +Religion as well as patriotism was grievously compromised by them. +This was bad enough; but this was not all. From the manner in which +they contracted with the Roman government they were tempted to +extortion and fraud. Their profits depended on petty acts of insolence +and overreaching, and there is every reason to believe that, as a +class, they did yield to their temptation. It might be said that their +hand was against every man and every man's hand was against them. +Remembering these facts, we are able the more truly to honour a +Matthew or a Zaccheus, towering far above the moral standard of their +class. And the man before us—what shall we say of him? He had yielded +to these temptations. Just as in the case of the Pharisee, so in the +case of the publican, there is every reason to accept as strictly true +his description of himself.</p> + +<p>As I have said before, the very force of the parable depends on the +truth of this statement. He, doubtless, had been extortionate; he had +used his position and his power to oppress and defraud his +fellow-countrymen. He was, perhaps, conscious, besides, of other +grievous sins—not specially sins of his class, but sins of himself, +sins of mankind. There can be little doubt that when he beat upon his +breast, when he bewailed his sinfulness, when he entreated God's +mercy, he had on his conscience some heavier weight than the ordinary +sins and short-comings of the ordinary respectable and religious man. +What, then, shall we say? Who will waver between these two men? Who +can for a moment hesitate to rank the Pharisee higher than the +publican? And yet it is our Lord's judgment—it is God's own +verdict—that this man, this publican, this sullied, sin-stained, but +withal penitent man, went down to his home justified rather than the +highly respectable, highly respected, highly religious Pharisee. The +answer is this—to know God is the beginning and the end of all +wisdom; to know God is to think truly, is to act truly, is to live +truly. Now, the Pharisee did not know God; he was altogether at fault +in his ideas of God; he was on the wrong line, and however far he +might go on that line he would be no nearer to God. On the other hand, +the publican had taken the right direction; he might be still very far +from a thorough knowledge of God; but his ideas of God, however +imperfect, were right as far as they went. Let us look into this +matter a little more closely.</p> + +<p>There are two ways of regarding God. We may look upon Him as a +taskmaster, or we may look upon Him as a righteous Father. The first +way is hopelessly, irretrievably wrong; the second way alone will lead +us to Him. We may look upon Him as a taskmaster. What then? He sets +before us a definite piece of work to do. If we do it, well and good; +we escape blame; we get our pay. It is give and take; certain things +are to be done, and certain other things are to be left undone. There +the matter ends. This is what is meant by justification by works. It +is a mere question of bargaining. We treat with God as a workman would +treat with an employer of labour; we look upon Him as one of +ourselves, a little more powerful, a little more exacting, a little +more stern, but still as one of ourselves—a man, magnified indeed, +but a man still, with whom we can stipulate and bargain and haggle +about the amount of work to be done. That is the error, the fatal +error, of the man in the parable who hid his one talent in the earth. +"I feared thee, because thou art an austere man"—not, "I loved thee," +not "I reverenced thee," not "I worshipped thee," but "I feared thee." +It was apprehension, it was dread—nothing else; no affectionate +yearning, no childlike outpouring of the heart, no seeking after the +Father's embrace. "Thou art an austere man"—a hard man; yes, a +taskmaster, and a rigorous taskmaster, too. "Lo, there thou hast that +is thine"—not a little more, nor a little less—"thou hast that is +thine." "Nay, everything is Mine. Heaven and earth are Mine; infinite +righteousness and infinite truth, and infinite purity and infinite +love, are Mine. Thou canst never give Me that is Mine." And so it is +with the Pharisee in our parable, though the type of character is +somewhat different. Fasting is enjoined, therefore he fasts; tithes +are commanded, therefore he pays tithes. Not a moment is deducted from +the fasting, not a penny is withheld from the tithes. He will be all +safe; he does his work and he claims his pay. Of those boundless +reaches of mercy, of truth, of love, which lie beyond all definite +precepts, all specific duties, he thinks nothing and he knows nothing; +of the infinity of God, he is wholly ignorant; of God's absolute +righteousness, of God's limitless goodness, he has not a thought; +therefore he is satisfied; therefore he despises others. If he had +any, even the faintest, conception of these, he could not be so +complacent, he could not compare himself advantageously with others. +To him who sees this infinity of God boasting is altogether excluded; +he is fain to call himself an unprofitable servant. Ah, yes! it all +springs from that one original root of falsehood, that perverse, fatal +idea of the relations of man to God—so much pay for so much +work—haggling between employer and employed—conflict, in an +exaggerated form, between capital and labour once more.</p> + +<p>But the true way to regard God is to look upon Him as a righteous +Father, to see His righteousness first, and then to see His fatherly +love. To see His righteousness, the awe, the beauty, the majesty, the +holiness, the glory of His righteousness! Have we caught only a faint, +transient glimpse of it? What then? What becomes of our righteousness, +our merit, our self-satisfaction, our self-complacency? What +miserable, besmirched, filthy tatters do the very best of them seem if +only for a moment the skirts of His glistening raiment have crossed +the field of our vision, the glory of Him who is clothed in +righteousness. Do we thank God, can we thank God now, that we are not +as bad as other men are? Nay, thank Him for His opportunity, thank Him +for His mercy, thank Him for His forbearing patience, but thank Him +not where thanksgiving is a mere cloak of self-complacency. No; you +cannot compare yourself with another now; you see only your own sin, +you can measure only your own unworthiness now, or, rather, it appears +far beyond measuring to you. Your righteousness and this man's +unrighteousness, your good and this man's evil—what difference is +there between them in the presence of God's infinite holiness, that +great leveller of all human gradations?</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="iq">"For merit lives from man to man,</span> +<span class="i0">And not, O God, from man to Thee!"</span> +</div> + +<p>Ah, yes, Lord! I can see two things, and two only: Thy righteousness, +my sinfulness, these and nothing else.</p> + +<p>But we must look not only to God's righteousness: we must look to His +fatherly goodness also. We have beheld the heinousness of our sin in +the mirror of His holiness; we must now behold the grace of our +forgiveness in the light of His love, His fatherly love. And have we +not full and perfect assurance that His love will never fail us? What +else is the meaning of His great, His inestimable gift to man of His +only-begotten Son, to take His flesh upon Him and to die for us? By +the infinity of His gift He would show us that His love is infinite +also—nothing less; and we do Him a wrong, a cruel wrong, if we +approach Him as a taskmaster, as a tyrant, as "a hard and austere +man;" we blaspheme His fatherly goodness. Have we sinned, and shall we +go to Him as to a taskmaster? What consolation, what forgiveness, what +hope of either here? Nay, rather we will seek Him as the prodigal son +sought Him; we will go to Him as to a father; we will address Him as a +Father; we will betake ourselves to Him with a child's penitent heart, +with a child's trusting soul, with a child's yearning embrace, and He +will have compassion on us, will hasten to meet us, though we may be +yet a great way off, and we shall be locked once more in His +everlasting arms.</p> + +<p>Do you think, can you think, that the sense of His infinite love will +make you reckless, will make you indolent, will make you presuming? +Did love, true love, truly felt, ever have this effect? Nay, just in +proportion as you appropriate it, as you realise it, it will quicken, +it will stimulate, it will purify, it will inspire you; it will +transform your whole being into its own perfections from glory to +glory. God's love is the beacon star in the sky, arresting, +attracting, guiding, luring us forward on the heavenly path; the love +of Christ—not our love for Him; but His love for us—the love of +Christ, constrains us, binds us hand and foot, and drags us onward +with the cords of a man. The publican did see this, at least in part. +He saw God's righteousness in all its tremendous majesty, and he +abased himself before it; he saw God's fatherly love only dimly as +yet, but yearned for it. Therefore, though he was yet a great way off, +God ran to meet him; and so, notwithstanding his sin, he went down +from the temple that day "justified rather than the other."</p> + +<p>One more thought is suggested by the parable. Prayer is the test of +character. So it was with this Pharisee and this publican; so it must +ever be, from the nature of the case. Prayer is the confronting of +self with God; prayer is the communing with God; prayer is the laying +bare of the soul before God. Thus prayer proves the realities of a +man's being. As a man prays, so he is. He who has learned to pray +aright has learned to live aright. The first and the last lesson of +our lives, the first and the last desire of our hearts, the first and +the last petition on our lips must be with us, as it was with the +disciples of old, "Lord, teach us to pray"; and to the old question +the old answer will be vouchsafed now, as then, "Our Father, which art +in heaven." "Our Father." The sense of God's Fatherhood, as manifested +in Christ, flooding our hearts, and dominating our lives—this is the +beginning and the end of all theology; there is nothing before and +nothing after this. Therefore, holy Father, we beseech Thee for Thy +dear Son's sake, teach us all, this night and ever, to pray; teach us +to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast +sent; teach us so to pray that we may be found among the company of +those faithful people who worship not a god of their own making, not a +taskmaster, not a tyrant, not "a hard and austere man," but worship +Thee, "worship the Father in spirit and in truth."</p> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_12" id="C_12">OUR CITIZENSHIP.</a><a + name="R_14" id="R_14" href="#F_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></h2> + +<p class="blockquot">"Our conversation is in heaven."—<span +class="smcap">Phil</span>. iii. 20.</p> + + +<p class="nodent">A better translation is "Our citizenship is in +heaven."</p> + +<p>We are all proud of our country. We delight to think of ourselves as +belonging to a land on which whoever sets his foot is free. We reflect +with satisfaction that we are citizens of a great empire on which the +sun never sets. We feel that we have derived a very real advantage +from our position; the glory of our past history is somehow reflected +upon us. We think with pride of how freedom has "broadened slowly +down, from precedent to precedent." We cherish the recollection too, +of the most glorious scenes in our history, as if, somehow, they were +part and parcel of ourselves. We feel as of one family, with its long +roll of illustrious statesmen, generals, men of science,—our +Shakespeare, Bacon, Newton, Wellington, Nelson, Hampden, Pitt, +Canning,—that these are our fellow-citizens. Their renown is our +renown. It is a great thing to extend our range of view beyond +ourselves, beyond our own households, our parish, and our own +neighbourhood, and yet to feel that there is a bond of union still; +that we are members of a great family, citizens of a great kingdom, +unique in her great world-empire. The inspiration of this thought, +which the recent Jubilee celebration has emphasised, makes us higher, +nobler, larger than ourselves. It drives out all the pettiness of +character and all the narrowness of view. True patriotism is a very +noble and ennobling sentiment. To be ready to do and to suffer, if +need be to die, for our country, what broad elevation of soul is there +not in a temper like this?</p> + +<p>St. Paul felt all this. He was proud of the city, of the nation to +which he belonged. He was proud of the city in which he first saw the +light. We cannot mistake his tones here. "I am a citizen of no mean +city." This Tarsus, in which he was born, stood second to none as a +seat of learning in his time. He was proud, also, of his nationality. +Here, again, we cannot mistake the feeling which underlies his +language. "Of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin." "Are +they Hebrew? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I." He, too, +was the son of the patriarchs; he, too, was the heir of the promises; +he, too, had his portion among the twelve tribes that served God day +and night. Was he not descended from the one favoured tribe which had +given its first king to Israel, which had remained faithful to the +house of David when all the others revolted; which ever marched in the +van of the Lord's host when the armies went out to battle? "After thee +O Benjamin!" No taint of foreign admixture had sullied the purity of +his blood. He was "an Hebrew of the Hebrews." No concession to foreign +excitements, and no relaxation of national rites, had ever compromised +his position. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Of all these things +he might well be prouder than the proudest. Albeit he paused and kept +down all his pride; he counted all as loss for the excellency of the +knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. And lastly, he was proud of his +position as a member of that great empire which stretched out her hand +into every clime, and carried her citizens into all quarters of the +globe. Here again his language tells its own tale. "They have beaten +us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, ... and now do they thrust us +out privily." "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, +and uncondemned?"</p> + +<p>Yes; it was a magnificent privilege this, that a man, whosoever he +might be, could claim the immunity, the protection, the deference +which was everywhere accorded to a citizen of Rome; to feel that he +was a solitary, homeless wanderer, and had nevertheless at his back +all the power, and all the prestige, and all the majesty of the +mightiest empire that the world had ever seen. But however natural, +and in some sense justifiable, may be this pride in ourselves, or in +St. Paul, we are reminded by the text that he and we alike are +citizens of a far larger, wider, more magnificent, more powerful, more +enduring empire. For which we have every reason to feel, not indeed +pride, not self-satisfaction, not vainglory, but perpetual +thanksgiving, and benediction to the Author and Giver of all good +things. Our citizenship is in heaven.</p> + +<p>"Our citizenship." In the familiar version the word is rendered +"conversation," <i>i.e.</i>, "walk of life." But it means very much +more than this; it points us out as members of a commonwealth, +citizens of a polity, subjects of a kingdom, in which we have special +interests, special responsibilities and functions. So, again, the +Apostle tells the Ephesians, now converted from heathenism to the +knowledge of Christ—"Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but +fellow-citizens with the saints."</p> + +<p>"Fellow-citizens with the saints." You and they, bound together as +members of one great nationality, with common duties, common +sympathies, common aims, citizens of a kingdom of which the noblest +and most powerful earthly empires are only faint types and shadows, a +kingdom which shall never end. Yes!</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="iq">"Two worlds are ours, 'tis only sin</span> +<span class="i1">Forbids us to descry</span> +<span class="i0">The mystic heaven, and earth within,</span> +<span class="i1">Plain as the sea and sky."</span> +</div> + +<p class="nodent">And so we need to strive this day to pierce through +the veil, that so we may realise this our heavenly citizenship.</p> + +<p>On this festival of All Saints, before all other days in the year, we +are invited to enter into the Holy City, to dwell on the glories of +the unseen world, to commune with the beatified servants of God of all +ages and all countries, and to gather inspiration and truth and +refreshment for our daily tasks in life; to pierce through the veil, +the dark impenetrable mist which shrouds the unseen world. Yet ever +and again this veil is lifted for a moment, ever and again we are made +to feel, by some startling occurrence, how narrow is the screen which +separates the seen from the unseen, the material from the spiritual, +the world of time from the world of eternity. Ever and again the stern +monitor death rises up an unbidden guest, an unwelcome spectre in the +midst of our worldliness and self-complacency, scaring us with the +suddenness of the apparition. Mystery of mysteries, when valuable +lives are suddenly cleft asunder, while so much that is worthless, and +worse, is spared. Mystery quite insoluble if this were all, if the +region beyond the grave were a mere vacuum; if men were dust and +nothing more; if there were no immortality, no heaven, nothing to live +for, nothing to work for, nothing to die for. Warnings these, solemn +and thrilling, if only we have ears to hear, that this life is not our +true life, that here we are strangers and pilgrims, that heaven is our +only abiding house, that we are fellow-citizens of the saints.</p> + +<p>"Fellow-citizens of the saints." Think for a moment how much is +implied in this. What a vast assemblage, what a glorious companionship +is that in which you and I, with our frailties, our shortcomings, our +self-seeking, our worldliness, our distrust, our faithlessness, are +fain boldly to claim a place! All those glorious spirits, venerable +patriarchs, righteous kings, rapt seers, glorious psalmists, who lived +and wrought and suffered in the ancient days in the hope of a better +promise; men "who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought +righteousness, ... of whom the world was not worthy;" all those +apostles and teachers who, kindling their torches at the sacred fire, +the glory of the Eternal Son Himself, carried the light of the gospel +into all lands, giving up everything for Christ, offering to lose +their lives, that by losing them they might find them. All these +martyrs and doctors of later ages who handed down the sacred treasure +through successive generations, amidst the fire of persecution and the +confusion of barbarism and the darkness of idolatry, rejoicing to be +devoured by hungry lions and to die at the stake. Polycarp, calm and +brave as his flesh quivered in the flame; Chrysostom, with his flowery +eloquence; Augustine, with his piercing insight and force,—these +share, too, in this glorious company whose names live in history. And +others, true saints of God, though they appear not in the calendar of +any Church; men and women from the rigour of whose lives succeeding +generations have their inspiration and strength; all whose holiness +and purity, whose courage and self-sacrifice, whose gentleness and +meekness, whose loving charity have been a never-failing fountain of +refreshment to the weary pilgrim in the thirsty wilderness of the +world. And others, too, there are whose memories shall perish not, +though they have left no name in history, but whose brows, +nevertheless, God Himself will crown with a halo of everlasting glory. +Poor, despised, unknown artisans and peasants, weak women and feeble +children, martyrs in the martyrdom of daily life, saints in the +saintliness of homely duty, throngs innumerable of every nation and +kindred and people and tongue, clothed with white robes and palms in +their hands, standing before the Throne of God, and serving Him day +and night in His temple.</p> + +<p>And others again there are, unknown to the world, but well known to +you and to me, saints of our home, of our school, of our college, of +our workshop, of our office. Voices which were silent years ago mingle +in our ears still, the hands crumbling in the dust have left a +pressure that is still felt, the eyes long since glazed in death ever +now and again are bright for us. The mother at whose knees we lisped +our infant prayer, the child whose innocent prattle soothed our cares +and sweetened our lives, the husband or wife who was part of our +existence, the friend "more than my brothers are to me," whose +nobleness and purity, whose unselfishness was the good genius and the +pole star of our lives. These all are there, with these we hold +communion, with these we walk and talk once more to-day as of old. +This is the citizenship of which the text speaks, of which the day +reminds us, more glorious beyond comparison than any earthly society +which eye hath seen or of which ear hath heard. For these manifold and +great gifts of which the season reminds I beseech you this afternoon +give a worthy thankoffering. No, that cannot be, that is impossible, +but if not worthy, at all events large and liberal.</p> + +<p>And what fitter object can I set before you than the support of a +society whose sole aim is the enrolment of citizens into the kingdom +of God, the enlargement of the communion of saints? The jubilee year +of our sovereign's reign is the jubilee year of this society. It was +only in the process of formation when our Queen ascended the throne; +one of her earliest acts was to give her name as its patron. It was a +right queenly act, for of all the blessings for which during the +half-century the nation has poured forth its thanksgiving at the +Jubilee festival, surely none has been greater or more enduring than +those which have been conferred through the instrumentality of this +society.</p> + +<p>For what was the state of things at the beginning of this period? +Enormous arrears of spiritual work to be overtaken; everywhere great +masses of people in our large centres absolutely beyond the reach of +Church ministration; the population about to increase "by leaps and +bounds." During these fifty years the society has made not less than +21,000 grants to poor parishes here and there, the amounts being on an +average about Ł50. It has paid out in this way more than Ł1,000,000. +And this sum has been met by Ł1,000,000 from contributions coming in +from elsewhere; so that through its beneficent agency not less than +Ł2,000,000 have been contributed for the increase of clerical +ministration in the poor and populous districts of the land.</p> + +<p>But these Ł2,000,000 are far from being an adequate standard of its +beneficent effects. The planting down of an efficient clergyman in a +poor district means the revival of Church work there; means, +frequently, the erection of a church and schools; means the creation +of a new parochial machinery. And thus the work of this Society is +borne through in a thousand various ways which it is impossible to +reckon up or to tabulate.</p> + +<p>But you will ask, What is it doing at the present moment? If its +operations have been thus effected in the past, does it still maintain +its efficiency? I am glad to be able to give this question an answer +which none can gainsay. It never was doing a greater work, nor as +great a work, as at this very time. It gives grants to more than 850 +curates; these grants amount to more than Ł56,000 per annum, and this +sum is met by about the same amount from other sources. Thus more than +Ł100,000 a year is expended directly through its instrumentality to +the ministerial staff of the Church. But it is not only the extent of +its operations which constitutes its claim on the support of all loyal +churches. The principle also of this administration demands their +allegiance. I do not desire to say one word of disparagement about +other societies which are constituted on a broader or a narrower base. +All are welcome; all are doing good service. There is work enough and +to spare for all. But this association appeals to loyal English +churchmen by the very fact that its foundation principle is neither +wider nor narrower than the Church it represents. It imposes no tests +which the Church does not impose; it requires no assents which the +Church does not require. Within its limits the individual opinions of +the clergymen count for nothing; the needs of the parish are all in +all. But if it has this paramount claim on all loyal churchmen, surely +it appeals to none more strongly than to the churchmen of this great +city. No diocese draws so large an amount from it as this of +Manchester; I believe I am right in saying that no city receives more +material aid from it; and remembering this I cannot think that you +will lay yourselves open to the charge of spiritual ingratitude, of +all ingratitude the worst. Let there, then, be a liberal response to +the appeal this afternoon, liberal in the sense that every giver will +feel his gift; that it will cost him some real sacrifice.</p> + +<p>At this season, when we are especially called to glorify God in His +saints, you cannot afford to be niggardly. Such niggardliness drags +you downward, and is never more out of place than when you are +attempting to lift up your souls to dwell in the heavenly city where +Christ sits enthroned at the right hand of God. Ever, indeed, you need +to be reminded of your heavenly citizenship amidst the cares and +turmoil of life. It is with you as with the law-giver of old when he +descended from the mount. The radiance will vanish from your +countenance only too soon as you mingle with the busy crowd below. And +you too, like Moses, will need to reappear ever and again at the +mountain of God, that, standing face to face with the Eternal +Presence, you may gather once more in your city the rays of the +invisible glory.</p> + + + + +<h2><a name="C_13" id="C_13">AMBITION.</a></h2> + +<p class="blockquot">"I can do all things through Christ that +strengthened me" [<span title="Panta ischuô en tô endunamounti me" +>Πάντα ἰσχύω +ἐν τῳ̂ +ἐνδυναμου̂ντί +με</span>, +"I have strength for all things in Him that empowereth, enableth +me"].—<span class="smcap">Phil.</span> iv. 13.</p> + + +<p class="nodent">Ambition, the love of power, the thirst after +influence—its use and its abuse, its true and its false +aims—this is no unfit subject for consideration from a +University pulpit.</p> + +<p>Ambition in some form or other is an innate craving of man. All men +desire power, they cannot help desiring it. The desire is as natural +to them as the desire of health. Power and influence occupy the same +place socially that strength and vigour of limb do physically. Other +desires, though veiled under various disguises, resolve themselves +ultimately into a love of power. Knowledge is power. The cultivated +intellect has a command of the resources of the universe. The selfish +exaggeration of this feeling is a testimony to the underlying fact. +The self-satisfied soul congratulates herself that she is</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="iq">"Lord over nature, Lord of the visible earth,</span> +<span class="i1">Lord of the senses five."</span> +</div> + +<p>She communes with herself—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i6">"All these are mine,</span> +<span class="i0">And let the world have peace or wars</span> +<span class="i1">'Tis one to me."</span> +</div> + +<p>Again, money is power. A man desires wealth, not for the sake of the +stamped metal or the printed paper in themselves. These represent to +him a command of resources. The miser, indeed, by base indulgence +forgets the end in the means. In his own domain he resembles the +spurious mathematician to whom the letters and symbols are all in all, +who sees in them so many counters and nothing more, who is blinded to +the eternal relations of space and number which they represent. But +traced back to its origin, the miser's love of money is a love of +power.</p> + +<p>Ambition, emulation, rivalry plays a highly important part in the +education of the world. We cannot shut our eyes to its splendid +achievements. In politics, in social life, in mechanical inventions, +in literature and art, its stimulus has produced invaluable results. +If ambition has been the last infirmity, it has also been the initial +inspiration of many a noble mind. If by ambition angels fell, by +ambition men have risen. It has heightened their ideal and drawn them +upwards from lower to higher. If it is chargeable with the worst evils +which have devastated mankind, it must be credited also with the most +splendid advances in human progress and civilization.</p> + +<p>Ambition has its proper home in a University. Ambition is the life of +this place. What would Cambridge be without its honourable emulations, +its generous rivalries? Body and mind alike feel the stimulus of its +presence. Remove this stimulus, and the immediate consequence will be +torpor and degeneration and decay. The athletic ambitions and the +scholastic ambitions of the place, each in their own province, are +indispensable to its health and vigour.</p> + +<p>To one who, revisiting the scenes amidst which the best years of his +life were spent, asks himself what topic may be fitly handled in this +pulpit, the subject of ambition will naturally suggest itself. The +University has lived through a period of exceptional restlessness and +change during the last three decades—change far more considerable +than during the preceding three centuries. Yet the spirit and life of +the place are unchanging. It is the ceaseless orderly march of a +mighty army moving forward. Cross it where you will along the line, +the gesture, the tread, the uniform, is the same; the faces only are +different. It is the broad, silent, ever-flowing river, changeless, +yet always changing. Wave succeeds wave; you gaze on it at intervals; +not one drop of water remains the same; and yet the river is not +another. The main currents of University life are the same now as +thirty years ago. Its moral and social condition is mainly, we may +say, the resultant of two divergent forces, its friendships and its +emulations. It is the latter alone that I purpose considering this +afternoon.</p> + +<p>I speak to you, therefore, as to ambitious men. Those only are +beyond hope who have no spirit of emulation, no craving after +excellence—those only, in short, who are devoid of ambition. I invite +you, therefore, to be ambitious. Only I ask you to purify your +ambition, to consecrate it, to direct it through worthy channels and +to worthy aims. I desire to show you the more excellent way.</p> + +<p>If, indeed, ambition has achieved splendid results, it can only have +done so by virtue of splendid qualities. It must contain in itself +true and abiding elements, which we cannot afford to neglect. Thus it +involves a love of approbation. This cannot be culpable in itself. As +social beings, we have sympathies and affections which lie at the very +roots of our nature; and the desire of approval is inseparably +intertwined with these. Who would blame the child for seeking to win +its mother's good opinion? But the principle cannot be limited to this +one example. It is co-extensive with the whole range of our social +relations. The end sought is commendable. Only it may be discredited +and condemned by the means taken to attain it; as, for instance, if we +disguise our true sentiment, or withhold a just rebuke, or connive at +wrongdoing, or sacrifice a noble purpose, for the sake of standing +well with others. It is then, and then only, that the praise of men +conflicts with the praise of God. Again, ambition implies a spirit of +emulation. Neither is this wrong in itself. If it were, this +University would stand condemned root and branch. Emulation is not +envy; emulation is not jealousy; emulation does not seek to injure or +rob another. An apostle avows it to be his aim to "provoke to +emulation." This provocation—this stimulus of comparison and +contrast—is an invaluable influence. We measure ourselves with +others; we see our defects mirrored in their excellences; our ideal is +heightened by the comparison. Thus there gathers and ferments in us a +<i>discontent</i> with ourselves—not indeed, if we are wise, with our +capacities, not with our opportunities, not with the inevitable +environments of our position, but with the conduct of that personality +which is free to discipline, to mould, to direct, to develop our +endowments. This dissatisfaction with self is the mainspring of all +high enterprise and all moral advancement.</p> + +<p>But the chief element in ambition is the pursuit of power. The +consciousness of power gives a satisfaction quite independently of the +exercise of power. Whatever form the power may take—whether +intellectual eminence, or social influence, or physical strength, it +is a thing which man desires, which he cannot help desiring, in and +for itself. It is a seed of God's own planting—a germ of splendid +achievements, if rightly trained and cultivated. It is only culpable +in its excesses and deviations. By our very constitution we feel a +happiness in making the best of ourselves, as the phrase runs—in +developing and improving our faculties, irrespective of any ulterior +results. But a faculty improved is a power gained.</p> + +<p>Brothers, I desire before all things to kindle in you a lofty ambition +to-day. Therefore, I have striven to justify ambition to you as God's +very precious gift. I wish—God helping me—to inspire you with that +inward dissatisfaction, that discontent with self, that ceaseless, +sleepless craving after higher things, which gives you no rest day or +night, because it pursues an ever-receding goal. I would stimulate in +you that high spirit of emulation which, fermenting and seething in +your hearts, impels you to unknown enterprises. I ask you to pray for +power, to pursue power, to grasp at power, with all the force and +determination which you can command.</p> + +<p>How can I do otherwise? Are not you the men, and is not this the +season, for the handling of such a topic?</p> + +<p>Are not you the men? Who among you has not felt, at one time or +another, the spark of a divine fire kindling within you? Who has not +yearned with an intense, if momentary, yearning to do something +worthy, to be something worthy? Youth is the hey-day of hope, of +enthusiasm, of lofty aspiration. You have felt that there was within +you a latent power, a heaven-born capacity, which ought to work +miracles, if it were not clogged by self-indulgence, or cowed by +timidity, or choked by sloth and indulgence.</p> + +<p>Are not you the men? As I have said to such audiences before, so I say +to you now. You do not know, you cannot know, with what reverence—a +reverence approaching to awe—older men regard the glorious +potentiality of youth, in all the freshness of its vigorous life, with +all the promise of the coming years. Our habits are formed; our career +is defined; our possibilities are limited. The wide sweep of moral +victory, still open to you, is closed to us for ever. But what +triumphs may you not achieve, if you are true to yourselves? What +instruments may you not be in God's hands, if only you will yield +yourselves to Him—not with a timid, passive, half-hearted +acquiescence, but with the active concentration of all your powers of +body and soul and spirit?</p> + +<p>And again I ask, is not this the time? The first volume of your life's +history is closed. A clean page lies open, and with what writing shall +it be filled? This is the great crisis of your life. These earliest +few weeks of your University career, with which perhaps you are +trifling, which you are idling thoughtlessly away, are only too likely +to determine for you what you shall be in time and in eternity. It is +the great crisis, but it is also the signal opportunity. Thank God, +this is so; for the two do not always coincide. As the great break in +your lives, it is the great season for revision, for repentance, for +amendment, for the strong resolve and the definite plan. The old base +associations must be abandoned; the old loose habits must be cured; +the old indolence shaken off; and the old sin cast out and trampled +under foot. Never again will such a magnificent opportunity be given +you of rectifying the past; for never again can you reckon on the +leisure, the privacy, the aids and environments, needed by one who is +taking stock of his moral and spiritual life.</p> + +<p>Who would not shrink from the responsibility of addressing you at such +a crisis? And yet I speak boldly to you. Do I not know that though the +hand of the swordsman is feeble, yet the weapon itself is +powerful—keener than any two-edged sword? Am I not assured that +though the preacher's words may be feeble, faltering, desultory, +without force and without point, yet God may barb the ill-fledged, +ill-aimed shaft, and drive it home to the heart? It is possible that +even now the live coal from the altar may be brought by the winged +seraph's hand, and laid on the sinful lips. I have undertaken to +glorify the power of God, and to hold it up to you as your truest +goal. How can I hope for a hearing, if I begin by distrusting it where +I myself am concerned?</p> + +<p>It is here, then, that I bid you seek and find the true aim of your +ambition—in realising, appropriating, absorbing into yourselves, +identifying yourselves with this power of God. It alone is +inexhaustible in its resources and infinite in its potency. There is +no fear here lest the conqueror of a world should sigh and fret +because nothing remains beyond to conquer. If the craving is infinite, +the satisfaction is infinite also. Star beyond star, world beyond +world, will start out into view as your vision grows clearer, +spangling the moral heavens with their glows. +<span title="Panta ischuô" +>Πάντα +ἰσχύω</span>, +"I can do all things." <span title="Panta humôn" +>Πάντα +ὑμω̂ν</span>, +"All things are yours." +Yes, but this promise of limitless strength has its condition +attached—<span title="en tô endunamounti me" +>ἐν τῳ̂ +ἐνδυναμου̂ντί +με</span>, +"In Him that empowereth me;" +yes, but this pledge of universal dominion is qualified by the sequel +<span title="humeis de Christou" +>ὑμει̂ς δὲ +Χριστου̂</span>, +"Ye are Christ's."</p> + +<p>How can we better realise this power of God than by taking St. Paul's +statement as our starting-point? The Cross of Christ is "the power of +God." The Cross is the central revelation of God. The Cross has not +unfrequently been preached as a narrow technicality which shocks the +conscience and freezes the heart. It thus becomes a mere forensic +subtlety. But the Cross of Christ, taught in all its length and +breadth and height and depth—the Cross of Christ taught as St. Paul +taught it—the Cross of Christ, starting from the Incarnation on the +one side, and leading up to the Resurrection and Ascension on the +other, contains all the elements of moral regeneration and of +spiritual life.</p> + +<p>(1) It is first of all a lesson of <i>righteousness</i>. It is the +great rebuke of sin, the great assurance of judgment, the great call +to repentance. Think—no, you cannot think, it defies all +thinking—yet strive to think, what is implied in the human birth, the +human life, the human suffering, the human death of the Eternal Word. +Ask yourselves what condescension, what sacrifice, what humiliation +is involved in this. Summon to your aid all analogies of +self-renunciation which history records or imagination suggests. They +will all fail you. No reiteration of the finite can compass the +infinite. You are lost in awe at the contemplation. And while your +brain is reeling with the effort, try and imagine the awe, the +majesty, the glory of a righteousness which could only thus be +vindicated. Then, after looking upward to God, look inward into your +own heart, and see how heinous, how loathsome, how guilty your guilt +must be, which has cost such a sacrifice as this. God's +righteousness—your sin,—these are brought face to face in the Cross +of Christ.</p> + +<p>(2) But, secondly, while it is a denunciation of sin, it is likewise +an assurance of pardon. If the infinity of the sacrifice has taught +you the majesty of God's righteousness, it teaches you no less the +glory of His mercy. What may you not look for, what may you not hope +for from a Father who has vouchsafed to you this transcendent +manifestation of His loving-kindness? "He that spared not His own Son +... how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Is any +one here burdened with the consciousness of a shameful past? Does the +memory of some ugly school-boy sin dog your path, haunting and +paralysing you with its importunity? You feel sometimes as if your +whole life were poisoned by that one cruel retrospect. Brother, be +bold, and dare to look up. I would not have you think your sins one +whit less heinous. But if God's righteousness is infinite, so also is +His mercy. The Cross is reared before your eyes in this moral +wilderness, where you are dying, where all are dying around you. Dare +to look up. The bite of the serpent's fang is healed; the venom +coursing through your veins is quelled; and health returns to the +poisoned soul. Yes, and by God's grace it may happen that through your +very fall you will rise to a higher life; that the thanksgiving for +the sin forgiven will consecrate you with fuller consecration; and +that the acute moral agony through which you have passed will endow +you with a more helpful, more sympathetic, more loving spirit, than if +you had never fallen.</p> + +<p>(3) But again, the Cross of Christ is not only a condemnation of sin, +not only a pledge of forgiveness; it is likewise an obligation of +self-sacrifice. "God forbid," says St. Paul, "that I should glory save +in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." But what next? Not "whereby I +am saved in spite of myself," not "whereby I am spared all personal +exertion," but "whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I to the +world." This conformity to Christ's death, this crucifixion of self +with Christ, always forms part of the doctrine of the Cross in St. +Paul's teaching. The dying with Christ, the being buried with Christ, +is the absolute accompaniment of the atoning death of Christ. We +cannot be at one with Christ unless we conform to Christ. The work +done for us necessitates the work done by us. The potentiality of our +salvation—of yours and mine—wrought through the Cross of Christ can +only then become an actuality, when Christ's death is thus +appropriated, realised, translated into action by us—by you and by +me. But it remains still the work of God's grace. Human merit is +absolutely excluded still, as absolutely as by the baldest and most +unqualified doctrine of substitution.</p> + +<p>(4) Fourthly and lastly, the Cross of Christ is a lesson of the +regenerate and sanctified life. Dying and living, burial and +resurrection, these in the Christian vocabulary are correlative ideas. +The Crucifixion implies the Resurrection and the Ascension. The +raising up on the cross demands the raising up from the grave, the +raising up into heaven. The lifting up of the brazen serpent in the +wilderness is a symbol alike of the one and the other. And as with +Christ, so also with those who are Christ's. "If we died with Christ, +we shall also live with him." Those only can be made conformable to +Christ's resurrection who have been made conformable to His death. The +power of His resurrection is the counterpart to the power of His +cross.</p> + +<p>Herein, then—in the Cross of Christ—resides this power of God which +is offered to you as the true aim of your ambition, inexhaustible, +omnipotent, infinite. Will you close with the offer? Then reverence +yourselves; believe in yourselves; consecrate yourselves.</p> + +<p>Reverence yourselves. Begin with reverencing this your body. Reverence +it as God's handiwork fearfully and wonderfully made. Contemplate it; +yes, contemplate it with awe, if only for its marvellously subtle +mechanism. But reverence it still more as the consecrated temple of +God's Spirit. Do not neglect it; do not misuse it; before all things +do not defile and desecrate it. Young men, the problem of social +purity is thrown down for your generation to solve. Will you accept +this challenge? The conscience of England is awakening to the terrible +curse. To redress the crying social wrong, to raise womanhood from +degradation and shame, to hold up to reverence the idea of a pure, +chivalrous, manly manhood,—this is the crusade in which you are +invited to enlist. Will you, as consecrated soldiers of the Cross, +claim your part in the glory of this campaign? If so, the work must +begin now, must begin in yourselves. There can be no success against +the foe where there is disaffection and mutiny in the citadel.</p> + +<p>Believe in yourselves; yet, not in yourselves as yourselves. Believe +not in your strength, but in your weakness. Believe in God who dwells +in you. Give full rein to your ambition. Trust this power of God. It +will not stunt or mar, will not crush, will not annihilate your +natural gifts—your social endowments, your political instincts, your +intellectual capacities. It will only elevate, harmonize, inspire, +purify them. Trust this power. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, +which you may not do, if you will only trust it. +<span title="Panta ischuô" +>Πάντα +ἰσχύω</span>, +"I have strength for everything," everything in heaven and earth. You +have youth, health, vigour, enthusiasm, hopefulness, everything on +your side now. Seize the great opportunity which can never return.</p> + +<p>Consecrate yourselves. Empty yourselves of yourselves, that you may be +filled with God. Yield yourselves to Him, not with a passive +acquiescence, a sentimental quietism, but with the earnest, energetic +direction of all your faculties to this one end. A period must still +intervene for most of you before the active independent work of life +begins,—a period of discipline and waiting. Only by patience will you +win your souls. But the self-dedication must be made at once, and it +must be complete. Half-heartedness spoils the sacrifice. Postponement +is perilous. The opportunity despised turns its back on you for ever. +Consecrate, consecrate yourselves, body and soul and spirit, to God +now, this night.</p> + +<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3> +<div class="footnote"> +<a name="F_1" id="F_1" href="#R_1" class="label">[1]</a> +<i>These sermons are printed from reporter's notes.</i> + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_2" id="F_2" href="#R_2" class="label">[2]</a> +Preached at Cambridge, Oct. 23rd, 1881. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_3" id="F_3" href="#R_3" class="label">[3]</a> +Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday Afternoon, September 6th, +1874. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_4" id="F_4" href="#R_4" class="label">[4]</a> +Mr. Foley, R.A., sculptor. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_5" id="F_5" href="#R_5" class="label">[5]</a> +Sermon preached in St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday, May 21st, 1876. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_6" id="F_6" href="#R_6" class="label">[6]</a> +Sermon preached in Durham Cathedral on the Occasion of +his Enthronement, on Thursday, May 15th, 1879. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_7" id="F_7" href="#R_7" class="label">[7]</a> +Preached in St. Peter's Church, Bishop Auckland. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_8" id="F_8" href="#R_8" class="label">[8]</a> +Delivered at St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, +November 4th, 1873. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_9" id="F_9" href="#R_9" class="label">[9]</a> +Delivered in St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, +November 11th, 1873. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_10" id="F_10" href="#R_10" class="label">[10]</a> +Delivered in St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, +November 18th, 1873. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_11" id="F_11" href="#R_11" class="label">[11]</a> +Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, Thursday, June 19th, +1884, on the anniversary of the Girls' Friendly Society. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_12" id="F_12" href="#R_12" class="label">[12]</a> +Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, on Sunday Afternoon, +May 30th, 1875, before some of Her Majesty's Judges, the Lord Mayor, +and members of the Corporation of the City of London. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_13" id="F_13" href="#R_13" class="label">[13]</a> +Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, February 1st, 1884. + <br /><br /> +<a name="F_14" id="F_14" href="#R_14" class="label">[14]</a> +Preached at Manchester Cathedral, at annual meeting of +Additional Curates Society, on Tuesday, November 1st, 1887. +<br /><br /> +</div> + +<hr/> + +<p id="printer">Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London +and Aylesbury.</p> + +<div class="tnote"> +<p class="nodent">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="nodent">In Table of Contents, ditto marks replaced by text +they refer to ("Christianity and Paganism"). "Gallas" changed to +"Gallus" on page 79, "Constantine" to "Constantius" on page 93, and +"god" to "gods" on page 112 (c.f. BCP Psalter xcvii. 7). Punctuation +errors corrected on pages 39 and 128. Spelling errors corrected on +page 80 ("fanactism") page 104 ("consciousnes") page 148 ("evey") and page +170 ("ἐυ"). Different spellings of apostasy/apostacy, and +inconsistent hyphenation elsewhere, have been retained.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sermons, by J. B. 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Lightfoot + +Release Date: September 24, 2011 [EBook #37527] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS *** + + + + +Produced by Colin Bell, Chris Pinfield and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + _THE CONTEMPORARY PULPIT LIBRARY_ + + + SERMONS + + BY THE LATE RIGHT REV. + J. B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., D.C.L., + LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM. + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK: + THOMAS WHITTAKER, + 2 AND 3, BIBLE HOUSE. + 1890. + + + + + CONTENTS.[1] + + PAGE + + BETHEL 1 + + THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN HEAVEN'S PATHWAY 17 + + THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL AN ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF + CHRISTIANITY 29 + + THE VISION OF GOD 43 + + THE HEAVENLY TEACHER 55 + + CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM. I. 65 + + CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM. II. 83 + + CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM. III. 100 + + WOMAN AND THE GOSPEL 116 + + PILATE 129 + + THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN 145 + + OUR CITIZENSHIP 157 + + AMBITION 170 + + + + +_Sermons_ + + BY THE LATE + RIGHT REV. J. B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., D.C.L., + LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM. + + * * * * * + +BETHEL.[2] + + "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not."--GEN. + xxviii. 16. + + +An unobtrusive, unimpressive scene, almost indistinguishable, even to +the curious eye of the archaeologist, "in the maze of undistinguished +hills which encompass it"--with nothing to attract the eye, and +nothing to fire the imagination; large slabs of bare rock traversed by +a well-worn thoroughfare; "no religio loci, no awful shades, no lofty +hills." So is the site of Bethel described by the modern traveller. +Yet this was none other than the House of God; this was the very gate +of heaven. + +An unimpressive scene in itself, but appearing still more commonplace, +when contrasted with the famous shrines of heathendom--the rock +fortress of the Athene, or the pleasant groves of Daphne, or the +cloven peak of Parnassus, or the sea-girt sanctuary of Delos. No +beauty, no grandeur, nothing of loveliness and nothing of awe, nothing +exceptional of any kind which can explain or justify its selection. +Was there not ground for the wanderer's surprise on that memorable +night? Why should this one spot be chosen to plant the foot of the +ladder which connected heaven and earth? Why in this bleak wilderness? +Why amidst these bare rocks? Why here of all places in the world? Yes, +why here? + +The paradox of Bethel is the paradox of the Gospel--is the paradox of +God's spiritual dispensations at all times. The Incarnation itself was +the supreme manifestation of this paradox. The building up of the +Church was the proper sequel to the Incarnation. + +Look at the accompaniments of the Incarnation. Could any environment +of circumstances well have been imagined more incongruous, more alien +to this unique event in human history, this supreme revelation of +God's wisdom, and power, and beneficence? An obscure corner of the +Roman world--an insignificant and down-trodden race, scorned and hated +by the rest of mankind--an ox-stall for a nursery, and a carpenter's +shop for a school--what is wanting to complete the paradox? Yes, there +is still one feature to be added to the picture--the crowning +incongruity of all--the felon's death on the cross. Said not the +prophet rightly, when he foretold that there should be nothing lovely +in His life and circumstances, as men count loveliness; "no form or +comeliness;" "no beauty that we should desire him"? + +And the same paradox, which ruled the foundation of the Church, +extended also to its building up. The great statesmen, the powerful +captains, in the kingdom of God were fishermen and tent-makers. Never +was this characteristic incongruity of the Gospel more signally +manifested than in the preaching of St. Paul at Athens. Have we ever +realized the force of that single word with which the historian +describes the impression left on the Apostle's mind by this far-famed +city? Gazing on the most sublime and beautiful creations of Greek art, +the masterpieces of Phidias and Praxiteles, he has no eye for their +beauty or their sublimity. He pierces through the veil of the material +and transitory, and behind this semblance of grace and glory the true +nature of things reveals itself. To him this chief centre of human +culture and intelligence, this-- + + "Eye of Greece, mother of arts + And eloquence," + +appears only as +kazeidolos+, overrun with idols, beset with +phantoms which mislead, and vanities which corrupt. Art and culture +are God's own gifts, legitimate embellishments of life, even of +worship, which is the highest form of life. But if culture aims at +displacing religion, if art seeks to dethrone God,--why, then, in the +highest interests of humanity, be it our prayer that the sword of the +barbarian and the axe of the iconoclast may descend once more, and +sweep them ruthlessly away. There was, at least, this redeeming +feature in ancient art, that it gave expression to whatsoever sense of +the Divine lay buried in the heathen mind. But art and culture, which +studiously ignore God--what can be said for these? In this one word ++kazeidolos+ lies the germ of that fierce and protracted +struggle of Christianity with Paganism, which ended indeed in a +splendid victory, though not without inflicting many a wound on +humanity of which the scars and seams still remain. Notwithstanding +the merciless scoffs of a Celsus and the biting sarcasm of a +Julian--the Apostle's words were verified in their literal truth. +Strength was made perfect in weakness. God chose the foolish things of +the world to confound the wise, aye, and the uncomely things of the +world to confound the beautiful. The things which are not, brought to +nought the things which are. + +So then in its accompaniments, not less than in its main idea, this +incident at Bethel is a type of the Gospel of Christ. This exile, the +representative of the Israel after the flesh, prefigures a greater +outcast and wanderer, the representative of the Israel after the +spirit, the representative of the whole family of man. This ladder +reared up from earth to heaven, whereby angels ascend and descend, +what is it but the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, wherein God is +made man, and man is taken up into God? This it is which establishes +the title of Christianity as the absolute and final religion of the +world--this indissoluble union of the human with the divine--this one +only adequate response to the deepest religious cravings of mankind. +Hence the Church has ever clung with a tenacity of grasp, which +shallow hearts could ill understand, to this central idea, the +indefeasible wedlock of heaven and earth in the God-man. And to those +whose sight is purged by faith, to those who are gifted with the eye +of the Spirit, the vision of Bethel will be vouchsafed with a far more +exceeding glory: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall +see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon +the Son of Man:" on the Son of Man: yes, and on thyself too, O man, +for thou art one with this Son of Man, one with the Father in Him. + +"Gifted with the eye of the Spirit," I say; for in vain the heavens +are riven asunder, and the glory streams forth, and all things are +flooded with light, if the capacity of vision be absent. Only the cold +bare stones beneath, only the midnight gloom overhead, only the +dreary, monotonous waste around, these and these alone are visible +otherwise. We have been saddened, perhaps we have been disconcerted, +as recently we read the dreary epitaph which sums up the creed of a +brilliant man of science not long since deceased--a hopeless, +soul-less, lifeless creed, to which his own very faculties and +acquisitions appear to us to give the lie. We have been saddened +justly; but why should we be disconcerted? God be thanked, the most +absolute childlike faith has not unfrequently been found united with +the highest scientific intellect. We in this place have never yet +lacked bright examples of such a union, and God grant we never may. +But what right have we to expect it as a matter of course? What claim +do the most brilliant mathematical faculties, or the keenest scholarly +instincts, give to a man to speak with authority on the things of the +Spirit? Are we not told on authority before which we bow that a +special faculty is needed for this special knowledge; that "eye hath +not seen and ear hath not heard"; that only the Spirit of God--the +Spirit which He vouchsafes to His sons--knoweth the things of God? And +does not all analogy enforce the truth of this lesson? One man has a +keenly sensitive musical ear, but he is colour-blind. Another has a +quick eye for the faintest gradations of colour, but he cannot +distinguish one note of music from another. Does the imperfect eye of +the one know any haze of uncertainty over the hues of the rainbow; or +the obtuse ear of the other disparage the master works of a Handel, or +a Mozart, or a Beethoven? _Here_ is a mathematician who sees in a +sublime creation of imaginative genius only a tissue of unproven +hypotheses; and _here_ is a poet, to whom the plainest processes +of algebra, and the simplest problems in geometry, are mere barbarian +gabble, conveying no distinct impression to the brain, and leaving no +intelligible idea on the mind. Judge no man in this matter. To his own +master he stands or falls. But judge yourselves. Yes, spare no rigour +and relax no vigilance when the judge is the criminal also. Believe +it, this spiritual faculty is an infinitely subtle and delicate +mechanism. You cannot trifle with it, cannot roughly handle it, cannot +neglect it and suffer it to rust from disuse, without infinite peril +to yourselves. Nothing--not the highest intellectual gains--can +compensate you for its injury or its loss. The private prayer +mechanically repeated, then hurried over, then intermitted, and at +last dropped; the devotional reading found to be daily more irksome, +because suffered to be daily more listless; the valuable moral and +spiritual discipline of the early morning chapel, gradually neglected; +the unobtrusive opportunities of witnessing for Christ by deeds of +kindness and words of wisdom suffered to slip by,--these, and such as +these, are the unfailing indications of spiritual decline; till disuse +is followed by paralysis, and paralysis ends in death; and you are +left without God in the world. And yet when again--you young men--when +again, in the years to come, can you hope that the conditions of your +life will be as favourable to this spiritual self-discipline as they +are now? Where else do you expect to find in the same degree the +opportunities for private meditation and retirement, the daily common +prayer and the frequent communions, the inspiring and sanctifying +friendships, the wholesome occupation for the mind and the healthy +recreations for the body, every appliance and every aid which, if you +will employ them aright, neither disusing them nor misusing them, will +combine to build up and to perfect the man of God? Choose ye, this +day. To you, more especially, I appeal who have recently commenced +your residence here, and to whom, therefore, with the changed +conditions of life a heightened ideal of life also is suggested. This +is the momentous alternative. Shall your life hereafter be typified by +the barren rocks and the monotonous waste, hard and dreary, if nothing +worse; or shall it be illumined within and around with the effulgence +of God's own presence, so that-- + + "The earth and every common sight + To you shall seem + Apparelled in celestial light, + The glory and the freshness of a dream"? + +A dream? nay, not a dream, but an everlasting reality, eternal, as +God's own being is eternal. + +There are two ways of looking on the relations between the things of +this life and the things of eternity. A false and a true. The false +way regards the one as the rejection of the other. They are +reciprocally exclusive. The avocations, the interests, the amusements +of daily life--nature and history, poetry and art--these are so many +hindrances to the heavenly life. Every moment given to work is a +moment subtracted from prayer--thus the inward life becomes a constant +reflection upon the conditions of the outward. This is the spirit +which of old peopled the desert with anchorites; the spirit which in +all ages, though under divers forms, has made a religion of +selfishness. This is the voice which cries, "Lo, here! and lo, there!" +though all the while the kingdom of heaven is within us, in the very +midst of us. The true conception is the reverse of all this. Its ideal +is not a separation, but an identification of the two. It takes its +stand on the old maxim _laborare est orare_. It strives that its +work shall be prayer, and its prayer shall be work. Nature and history +to it are not the veil of God's presence; they are the investiture of +God's glory. And, therefore, to it is vouchsafed the vision of grace, +and comfort, and strength, as to the patriarchs of old. The solitary +wanderer along the dreary thoroughfare of this life lays himself down. +He has nothing but the bare stones beneath for a couch, and nothing +but the midnight sky overhead for a tent. He closes his eyes for a +moment; and the whole place is flooded with glory. Ah! the Lord was in +this place, though he knew it not; but he knows it now--knows it in +the access of strength, knows it in the promise of hope, knows it in +the celestial voice and the ineffable light. All the common interests +of life--the associations, the amusements, the cares, the hopes, the +friendships, the conflicts--all are invested with a dignity and an awe +unsuspected before. Reverence is henceforth the ruling spirit of his +life. This monotonous round of commonplace toils and commonplace +pleasures is none other than the House of God. This barren, stony +thoroughfare of life is the very portal of heaven. + +To read these hieroglyphics traced on nature, on history, on the human +soul--to decipher this handwriting of God wheresoever it appears, and +where does it not appear?--is the ultimate and final study of man. All +history is a parable of God's dealings; and we must learn the +interpretation of the parable. All nature is a sacrament of God's +being and attributes, and we must strive to pierce through the outward +sign to the inward meaning. To realize God's presence, to hear God's +voice, to see God's visage,--let this be henceforth the aim and the +discipline of our lives. So at length we shall pass from Bethel to +Peniel--from the palace courts to the presence chamber itself. We +shall see God face to face. It is a vision of power, of majesty, of +awe unspeakable; but it is a vision also of purification, of light, of +strength, of life. The blessing is won at length by that long lonely +wrestling under the midnight sky. The fraud, the worldliness, the +self-seeking is thrown off like a slough. All is changed. Old things +have passed away. The supplanted rises from the struggle, the +supplanter rises no more, but the Israel, the Prince, who has power +with God and with men. Shall not Moses' prayer then be our prayer, +"Lord, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory"? + +"Show me Thy glory." Where else shall this glory reveal itself if not +in the studies of this place? These properties of numbers, these +selections of space, these phenomena of light, of heat, of energy, of +life, of language, of thought, what are they? Individual facts to be +recorded, arranged, tabulated, marshalled under several heads, which +we call laws, and having so called them, with a strange +self-complacency and contentment fold our hands, as if nothing more +were to be done, as if by the mere imposition of a name we had +crowned them absolute sovereigns of the Universe? Or are they +manifestations--partial, indeed, and needing to be supplemented--of a +power, a majesty, a wisdom, an order, a beneficence, a finality, a +oneness, a One, who is shown to us as the Eternal Father in the +revelation of the Eternal Son? Can we afford to look down from the +serene heights of modern science and culture on the untutored Indian, +who saw God's face in the shifting clouds, and heard God's voice in +the whistling winds? Nay, was there not a truth in this childish +ignorance which threatens to elude the grasp of our manhood's wisdom? +Was it altogether a baseless dream in those stoic Pantheists, who +endowed each several planet with an animating spirit of its own? +altogether a wild fancy in those Christian fathers assigning to each +its particular angel, who should whirl it through space and hold it in +its course? Was it not rather a Divine instinct feeling after a higher +truth? Human life cannot rest satisfied with the science of phenomena +alone. It needs to supplement science with poetry. And the true, the +absolute, the final poetry is the recognition of God the Creator and +Governor, of God the all-wise and all-powerful, of God the Father, the +Redeemer, the Sanctifier, of God the eternal love. "Blessed are they +who have eyes to see,"--thus to them + + "The meanest flower that blows can give + Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." + +Thoughts of immortality, of wisdom, of light, of love. + +"Show me Thy Glory," where else again shall His glory be seen, if not +in those friendships which are the crowning gift of University life? +This intimate communion of soul with soul, this linking of heart with +heart, is it merely a matter of human convenience, of human +preference, or has it a Divine side also? This love, this devotion, +this reliance of the weak on the strong, this reverence for a nature +purer, nobler, more upright, more manly, more unselfish than your +own--what is its meaning? It is a precious, unspeakably precious, gift +of God, you will say--far beyond wealth, or fame, or popularity, or +ease, or any earthly boon of which you can conceive. Yes, but it is +more than this. May we not call it in some sense a sacrament, a sign +and a parable of your relation to your Lord? You are awed--no other +word will express this feeling--you are awed with the honour done to +you by this friendship. You do not talk much about it--it is too +sacred a thing--but you do feel it. You confess to yourself day and +night your own unworthiness. And yet, though you strive to be worthy, +you would not wish to feel worthy. The very sense of undeservedness +invests the gift with a bountifulness and a glory which you would not +forego. The fountains of your thanksgiving would cease to flow freely +if you claimed it as a right; and it is a joyful and a pleasant thing +to be thankful. Apply this experience to the infinitely higher gift of +Christ's friendship, of Christ's sacrifice. Herein lies the power of +the Cross--which men called and still call weakness--the power which +awes, inspires, energises, which elevates the heart and sanctifies the +life--herein this feeling of boundless thanksgiving arises from this +sense of absolute undeservedness. For is it not true, that those will +love most to whom most is given and forgiven? So then this your +friendship is found to be none other than the House of God. The Lord +is in this place, and happy are ye if ye know it. + +Once again; look into your own soul, and what do you find there? Yes, +ye yourselves are the temple of the living God. He is there--there, +whether you will or not. Through your reason, through your conscience, +through your remorses and regrets, through your capacity of amendment, +through your aspirations and ideals, He speaks to you. You are His +coinage. His image and superscription are stamped upon you. Aye, and +He has also re-stamped you, re-created you, in Christ Jesus by the +earnest of His Spirit. If it be true of your body that it is fearfully +and wonderfully made, is it not far more true of your soul? +Henceforward you will regard yourself with awe and reverence, as a +sanctuary of the eternal goodness. You will not, you dare not, profane +this sanctuary. Here is the true self-respect--nay, not self-respect, +for self is abased, self is overawed, self veils the face and falls +prostrate in the presence of Infinite Wisdom, and Purity, and Love +thus revealed. Surely, surely the Lord was in this place--in this +poor, self-seeking, restless, rebellious soul of mine, and _I_, I +thought it a common thing, I went on my way heedless, I followed my +own devices and desires, I knew it not. + +In conclusion, I have been asked to plead before you to-day a cause +which it should not require many words of mine to enforce. The +Barnwell and Chesterton Clergy Fund appeals to you year by year for +aid. Of all claims this (I say it advisedly) should be a first charge +on the liberality of members of the University. These populous and +growing suburbs are created by your needs. They are chiefly peopled by +college servants and others for whom you are responsible. Zealous +clergy are willing to work for the work's sake in these districts +commonly for stipends which no one could call remunerative--sometimes +for no stipends at all. And yet it is still the same old story which I +remember years ago. There is still the same difficulty in meeting +current expenses; still the same fear lest the spiritual machinery +should be impaired for lack of funds; still the same precarious +hand-to-mouth existence, of which we heard complaint in years past. Is +it quite creditable that matters should go on thus? In a thousand ways +you all, some directly, some indirectly, you all are reaping, +materially, intellectually, or spiritually the fruits gathered from +the liberality of past ages? Will you not make an adequate return? +Steady, continuous subscriptions are needed. A liberal response to +this day's appeal is needed. The Fund is largely dependent on the +proceeds of the University Sermon. Not less than a hundred pounds will +suffice to meet all requirements. Will you not give it this day, +either in this church, or in contributions sent afterwards to the +treasurer? Think not that you hear only the poor words of the preacher +in this appeal. Christ Himself pleads with you. Christ's own words +ring in your ears, "Ye did it, ye did it not, to _Me_." Ah, yes, +the Lord was in this place--in this weary pleading of the preacher, in +these trite commonplaces of spiritual need: and _we_, we knew it +not. God grant that you may know it in time. God forbid that He should +ever say to you, "I knew you not." + + + + +THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN HEAVEN'S PATHWAY.[3] + + "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, + Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord."--LUKE v. 8. + + +To those who search the Scriptures, not because in them they think +they have eternal life, but because in them they trust to find +historical difficulties, this account of St. Peter's call has seemed +to reward their search. The narrative indeed, is simple and +inartificial in itself; the incidents follow in a natural order; the +traits of character are wonderfully realistic and lifelike. There is +confessedly an air of truthfulness about the whole story; but +how--how, it is asked--can this account be reconciled with the +narrative given in St. John's Gospel? There we have a wholly different +story of St. Peter's call. His brother Andrew is a scholar of the +Baptist. The Baptist points out Jesus to Andrew and to a +fellow-disciple. They follow Jesus; they are accepted by Him; they +lodge that day with Him; they are convinced that He is the Christ. +Andrew takes his brother Simon to Jesus; Jesus receives him. "Thou art +Simon, the son of Jona. Thou shalt be called Cephas." This account +also is perfectly plain, but how can the two be harmonised? "Have we +not here," it is said, "two irreconcilable narratives--in fact, two +distinct legends of the call of St. Peter?" + +I have more than once remarked that the apparent moral contradictions +of the Bible are often its most valuable moral lessons. A similar +remark will apply to its apparent historical contradictions. +Underlying these is very frequently a subtle harmony, which eluded us +at our first hasty search. The two accounts are after all not +contradictory, but supplementary, the one to the other. So it is here. +Read St. Luke's narrative carefully, and it will be apparent that this +cannot have been the first meeting of St. Peter with our Lord. I say +nothing of the healing of his wife's mother, for, though this is +related earlier in St. Luke's Gospel, yet it is plain from the +narrative in the other evangelists that it is not related here in +chronological order. + +But what are the facts? These fishermen have been toiling throughout +the night; their labour has been wholly unrewarded, though night is +the proper season for plying their craft; and now in the bright glare +of the morning sun--now when, after the ill-success of the night, it +would be perfect madness to expect a haul--now they are suddenly, +imperiously bidden to put out again into the deep sea, and to let down +their nets. And the command is obeyed. There is the lurking misgiving, +there is the tacit remonstrance; but there is prompt obedience +notwithstanding. "Master, we have toiled all the night; nevertheless, +at Thy word I will let down the net." "_At Thy word._" Who is +this, that this most unreasonable demand meets with such ready +acquiescence? Is it possible that He can have been a mere passing +stranger, or a mere casual acquaintance? How could His advice have +been entertained for a moment when He told an experienced fisherman to +do what a fisherman knew to be utterly foolish and futile? The +narrative itself, I say, implies some previous knowledge of our Lord +on St. Peter's part. He would never have acted as he is represented +here as acting unless he had believed, or, at least, had suspected, +that there was a more than human power and intelligence in our Lord. +In short, the narrative of St. Luke presupposes the narrative of St. +John. Jesus speaks to Peter now as one who has a right to command. The +incident in St. John gives the personal call of Peter; the incident in +St. Luke gives his official call. On the one occasion he is +represented as a disciple and a follower; on the other occasion he is +declared an apostle and a teacher. "From henceforth thou shalt catch +men." + +But I did not select this text with any special purpose of discussing +historical difficulties. Such discussions, indeed, are necessary when +they are forced upon us, but they only distract the mind from the +moral and spiritual lessons of the Scripture. Nor, I think, is the +lesson in the text difficult to extricate. All history teaches by +example, and the Scriptural narrative is the intensification of +history. The miracles of our Lord are not miracles only. They are most +frequently acted parables also. And have we not here a parable of the +most intense pathos and of the widest application? + +"Master, we have toiled all the night, and we have taken nothing." +What is this but a true, painfully true, image of the efforts, the +struggles, the futilities, the despairs of humanity; not in isolated +cases, here and there only, of disappointed hopes and unrealised aim, +but with thousands of men and women who are born into this world, and +live and labour, and suffer and die, without securing any substantial +and enduring good, simply because they have lived and died apart from +God, who alone survives the decay of time, and alone can give +satisfaction to the immortal spirit of man? + +"We have toiled all the night." Yes; we see it now--now when the +morning light of eternity has burst upon our aching eyeballs. We have +toiled all the night. There was darkness above and around us; there +was toil of hands and toil of heart; there was the struggle for +subsistence; there was the race after wealth and honour; there was the +eager pursuit of phantom goods. We had our pleasures and we had our +pains. We had our failures and we had our successes. Yes, our splendid +successes as men counted them--as we were half tempted to count them +ourselves. But we have taken nothing. Our successes are as our +failures; our pains are as our pleasures, now. In the all-absorbing +abyss of time we have taken nothing, absolutely nothing--nothing which +can escape the jaws of the grave, nothing which will pass the portals +of death. We stand alone, stripped of everything, alone with God, +alone with eternity. + +You pursued wealth, and you pursued it not in vain; you determined +that your career should be a success, and a success you made it. You +surrounded yourself with every material comfort; you added to these +substantial appliances all the embellishments and all the refinements +of life. What then? Did they give you the satisfaction you hoped for? +Could you feel that there was any finality in such aims and +acquisitions as these? No. The hope was better after all than the +realisation; the prospect was brighter than the attainment. You were +restless, discontented, craving still. There was a hunger of soul, +though you would not confess it--a hunger of soul, which rejected and +loathed these husks. And now where are they, and what are they? Or you +pursued honour and fame, and men lavishly bestowed upon you that which +you so eagerly sought, till you seemed at length to have all, and more +than all, that you had set your heart upon. But still there was no +contentment, because there was no finality. Dropsy-like your craving +only grew with the gratification. Each fresh draught of applause +created a fresh thirst. Every imagined slight, every unintentional +neglect, every trivial rebuff, was a keen agony to you. You had only +increased your sensitiveness; you had not secured your satisfaction. +Or, again, you had set your heart on human love, God's greatest boon +if you use it without misusing it, if you subordinate it to his Divine +love. Your human affections, your human friendships, were everything +to you. In the buoyant hopefulness of youth, in the solid security of +middle age, it seemed as though these must last for ever. But soon +enough the painful truth dawned upon you. The march of life began to +tell on your comrades in the journey. One dropped at your side, and +then another. The ranks were visibly thinning, and there was no one to +step in and take the vacant places. First the mother at whose knees +you had lisped your earliest faltering prayer; then the friend who +shared all your counsels, who was more than a brother to you; then the +wife whom you cherished as another self; then the little daughter +whose innocent childish talk had solaced you in many a grievous hour: +so, one by one, they fell away, and you are left gradually alone and +more alone; they leave you when you need them most, and at length in +the vacancy of your solitude you make the bitter discovery that though +you have toiled all night you have taken nothing--you have taken +nothing at all. + +A short time ago we laid in the vaults of this cathedral the last +mortal remains of one[4] who has achieved for himself a foremost place +among the masters of his art in our own age. It was fit that his bones +should lie here, side by side with more than one famous brother +sculptor who has gone before him--side by side with the most +illustrious names in the sister art of painting; with Reynolds, whose +easy grace in the delineation of human portraiture stands quite +without a rival; with Turner, who has succeeded as no other painter +has succeeded, in any age or country, in reproducing on canvas the +subtle play of light and shade, the ever-varying aspect, the depth, +the infinity, of external nature; with Landseer, too, our most recent +guest in this our artists' resting-place, whose genial and vigorous +representations of the lower animal life have invested it with almost +a human interest, and, so doing, have taught us many a suggestive +lesson of humanity and kindliness. Side by side, too, with England's +greatest architects, and Wren, their prince, whose genius needs no +word of eulogy here, for his monument is above and around us. Such a +place of sepulture well befitted such a man. It is our tribute of +respect for noble gifts nobly used. It is our expression of +thanksgiving to God, who thus endows His servants that they may employ +their endowments to exalt and to embellish human life. + +But one thought cannot fail to strike us here. We may remember that +the great conqueror of modern time, when it was suggested to him to +perpetuate some signal incident in his triumphant career by an +historical picture, asked how long the work would last. He was told +two or three centuries--perhaps, under favourable circumstances, five +centuries. This would not satisfy his devouring ambition. This was not +the immortality of fame which he had designed for himself. He must +have a more enduring memorial than this. Compared with the canvas of +the painter, the marble of the sculptor is long-lived indeed. The most +enduring of human works are the works of the sculptor's chisel. The +stern granite features of the Pharaoh who befriended Joseph and the +Pharaoh who persecuted Israel may still look down on the land which +they ruled with an iron rule between three and four thousand years +ago. The winged lions and winged bulls on which the contemporaries of +Shalmanezer and Sennacherib may have gazed in awe, in the royal +palaces of Assyria, still confront us in our national museum with the +same weird look, unchanged though all else has changed, surviving +still, though a hundred generations of men have been born, and lived, +and died, meanwhile. And it may be that in the centuries to come, some +curious explorer will exhume, from the grass-grown mounds of this +ruined city, a work of art bearing the name of him whom on Friday last +we bore to an honoured resting-place--perhaps the effigy of a prince +who flourished in a remote epoch of the past, when England was still a +nation, and who sank into an untimely grave amidst a people's +mourning. And thus the sculptor's fame will have a second lease of +life. + +But after all, thirty centuries are but as three--are but as three +years or three days--compared with eternity. Napoleon's ambition was a +perverted instinct, but it was an instinct, nevertheless. Man feels +that he was not made to die; he will not consent to die. This thirst +for enduring fame, what is it but an echo, a mocking echo, of an +eternal verity? Yes, he will live. The materialist may tell him that, +when the eye and the ear are dissolved into gases and decomposed into +dust, it matters nothing to him with what honours men may adorn his +memory, with what praises they may celebrate his name. He, too--his +personality, or what he was pleased to call his personality--is +dissolved, is dissipated, is gone; but the materialist never yet has +been able, never will be able, to persuade mankind. The natural +instinct of man revolts against the assumption; and the ambition of +the Christian, the ambition for eternity alone, expresses truly this +general instinct of man. To labour for the good things of this world, +to labour for fame in the coming centuries, what is it, after all, if +our views are bounded by this narrow horizon? Why, then, like the +disappointed fishermen of the Galilean lake, we have toiled all the +night long, and, for our pains, we have taken nothing. + +And this change--this conversion, if you will--comes sometimes, it may +be, despite ourselves, but comes--remember this--comes most often in +answer to some act of obedience, to some surrender of self-will on our +part. We may complain; we may demur; we may distrust. We have toiled +all the night, and have taken nothing; but we recognise the +authority of the Divine voice, and we force ourselves into +compliance--"nevertheless, at Thy word." The command is general: it +has come to all alike,--"Let ye down your nets." But, like Peter, we +specialise it, we adopt it, we appropriate it to ourselves: "I will +let down the net." And so we do what seems hard and unreasonable; we +do what we have never done before. + +And the response--the response to this obedience--is a light flashed +in upon our soul, a double revelation, a revelation of mixed pleasure +and pain, for it is a revelation at once of the sin within and of God +without. The marvellous bounty of God's grace dazzles and astounds our +vision, and, in our perplexity of heart, the despairing, craving, +forbidding, yearning cry is wrung from our lips, "Depart from me! +Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man!" + +"Depart from me, O Lord." I know it all now. I see my sin, because I +see Thy goodness. Yes, I have beheld Thy holiness, Thy purity, Thy +truth, Thy grace, Thy love, and I have been stunned with the contrast +to self. The brightness of the light has intensified the blackness of +the shade. Depart from me, O Lord! what can I have in common with +Thee?--I, so selfish, so vile, so sin-laden, with Thee, so merciful, +so righteous, so holy. In very deed, Thy ways are not as my ways, and +Thy thoughts are not as my thoughts. Depart from me, O Lord! This +"fear of the Lord" is, indeed, the "beginning of wisdom." This +consciousness of sin is the true pathway to heaven. The saintliest of +men have ever felt and spoken most strongly of their own sinfulness. +The intensity of their language has provoked the sneer of the +worldling--has been an evidence here of their own conviction that, +despite their pretensions to holiness, they are no better than he, +perhaps somewhat worse. But they know, and he doth not know, what sin +means and what God means, and so the despairing cry is wrung from +their agony, "Depart from me, O Lord." + +"Depart from me, O Lord! And yet not so, Lord." Even while Peter is +speaking his gestures belie his words. His lips implore Jesus +despairingly to depart, but his eyes and his hands entreat Him +passionately to stay. "Not so, Lord, for how can I endure to part with +Thee? In Thy presence is hope, is light, is joy. Lord, to whom shall +we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Depart from me? No; it is +for the godless to say, 'Depart from us, for we desire not the +knowledge of God.' It is for the unclean spirits to rave against +Thee--'Let us alone, Thou Jesus of Nazareth! What have we to do with +Thee?' But I, I have everything to do with Thee. I am created in the +image of God. I have a ray of the Divine light, a seed of the Divine +word, within me. And like seeks like; therefore I yearn after Thee, +therefore I am drawn towards Thee, therefore I stretch out my hands to +Thee over the wide chasm of sin which yawns between us. Depart from +me? Nay, rather abide with me. Teach me, absolve me, purify me, +strengthen me. Take me to Thyself, that I may be Thine and Thine only. +Abide with me, for the day of this life is far spent, and the night +cometh when no man can work. Stay with me now and evermore, and so +fulfil Thy gracious promise: 'If a man love Me and will keep My word, +My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode +with him.'" + + + + +THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL AN ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF CHRISTIANITY.[5] + + "They are Thy people and Thine inheritance."--DEUT. ix. 29. + + +It is related of a certain royal chaplain that, being asked often by +his sovereign to give a concise and convincing argument in favour of +Christianity, he replied in two words--"The Jews." It is this subject +which I offer for your consideration this afternoon--the history and +character of the Israelite race as a witness to Christianity. The +subject is certainly not inappropriate at this season, when the +commemoration of the great Pentecostal Day is fast approaching, to +which all the previous history of the nation had tended, which +substituted the dispensation of the Spirit for the dispensation of the +Law, and expanded the religion of a tribe into the religion of +mankind. It is, moreover, forced upon our notice by that remarkable +chapter in Deuteronomy which we have heard this afternoon, and which, +by prophetic insight, brings out with singular distinctness the +prominent character and subsequent career of the race. Only reflect +upon such expressions as these:--"Go in to possess nations greater and +mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven"; +"Understand, therefore, this day that the Lord thy God is He which +goeth over before thee"; "The Lord thy God giveth thee not this good +land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked +people"; "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I +knew you." + +Read these passages in the full light which thirty centuries of the +nation's history have thrown upon them. Study this contrast between +their character and their achievements as it unfolds itself in all +their subsequent history. Consider, on the one hand, not only the +first conquest of Canaan to which the words more immediately refer, +but the succession of far more brilliant victories over the great +nations of the world, culminating in that most magnificent triumph of +all--the triumph of Christianity. Consider, on the other hand, not +only those early murmurings and idolatries in the wilderness to which +the language more directly points, but that long catalogue of +rebellions of which the subsequent history of Israel is made up, and +which reached its climax in the martyrdom of the Lord of Life. Set +these one against the other, and you will confess that the utterances +of Deuteronomy are wonderful anticipations of the future, succinct +epitomes of centuries yet to come. You may question, if you will, +every single prophecy in the Old Testament, but the whole history of +the Jews is one continuous prophecy, more distinct and articulate than +all. You may deny if you will every successive miracle which is +recorded therein, but again the history of the Jews is, from first to +last, one stupendous miracle, more wonderful and convincing than all. +_Here_ you have a small, insignificant people--stiff-necked, +rebellious, worthless; _there_ you have the most magnificent +spiritual achievements--the most signal moral victories. What +conclusion can you draw, except that which is drawn for you in the +words which I have read: "The Lord thy God is He that goeth before +you"?--"They are Thy people and Thine inheritance, which Thou +broughtest out by Thy mighty power and Thy stretched out arm." + +Look first at the capacities of the people themselves. They had no +remarkable gifts which might have led us to anticipate this unique +destiny. They had no intellectual qualities of a very high order like +the Greeks--vivid imagination, subtlety of thought, aesthetic taste; no +political capacity like the Romans, no organizing power or faculty of +legislation which might secure for them the ascendency over the +nations of the world. They were, moreover, a stubborn, exclusive, +intolerant people--an unpractical people, without the power, or at +least the will, to adapt themselves to the institutions, the feelings, +and the prejudices of the people with whom they were brought in +contact. They were believed, in consequence, to cherish an universal +hatred against the rest of mankind; and they, in turn, were hated by +all--hated, not with the hatred of an admiring envy, but the hatred of +a supercilious scorn. Of all the tribes on the face of the earth the +Jews, we should have said, were the very last to ingratiate themselves +with the other races of mankind, and to lay the civilised world at +their feet. And now turn from the people themselves to the land of +their abode. Certainly this does not enable us to solve the enigma. +Palestine does not occupy a large space in the Christian's +imagination; for it is a very minute, insignificant spot in the map of +the world. It is, moreover, incapable of expansion, for it is bounded +on all sides either by sea or mountain ranges, or by vast and +impracticable deserts. To a great extent all this country is +mountainous and barren, and even this meagre and unpromising territory +is not all their own. The sea-coast would have been valuable to a +people gifted with commercial instincts. With commerce they might have +extended their influence; but from the sea-coast they were wholly +excluded. The Phoenicians on the north and the Philistines on the +south occupied all the most important harbours; and this territory of +the Jews was so unexpansive, so barren, so unpromising that they were +placed at a still greater disadvantage when compared with the +surrounding people. The Jews are surrounded on all sides, and by the +most formidable neighbours. On the one side by Egypt, a country of the +highest fertility, the foremost military power in the world, with an +ancient civilisation which dated from a period long before the birth +of the father of the Israelite people, whilst it stood foremost of the +human race in works of art in its day. Who was Israel, then, that he +could withstand Egypt? There, again, on the other side, was another +mighty empire, first Assyria, then Babylon, the only rival of Egypt of +the ancient world. In these places they had the same advantage of wide +plains of exceptional fertility, a high and remote civilisation, an +army of tremendous strength, and a centralisation under an absolute +rule, with all the resources which a great and vast dominion could +command. As Persia succeeded Babylon, and as Babylon succeeded +Assyria, so Persia--far more mighty and terrible--overruns and +conquers all Western Asia. Egypt itself falls. Palestine is a mere +speck, surrounded by the huge dominions of the Persian monarch. What +chance has Israel against such terrible neighbours? Must it not be +crushed and ground to atoms and annihilated by its foes? But, at all +events, it might have been supposed that, however stubborn and +impracticable they were in their attitude towards others, they would +at least be united amongst themselves--that they would be loyal to +their country, that they would be faithful to their laws and +institutions, that they would be true to their God. This internal +cohesion would give them strength to resist--this absolute harmony +would win for them an influence that would compensate for the superior +advantages of their more powerful neighbours. But what do we find as a +matter of fact? Their national history is one continuous record of +murmuring, of rebellion, of internal feuds, of moral and spiritual +defection. They have no sooner escaped from their Egyptian bondage, +their necks still bearing the scars of the tyrants' yoke, than they +fall into shameless idolatry. The worship of the golden calf is only +the type and presence of still more guilty lapses in centuries yet to +come; the revolt against Moses and Aaron only the type and shadow of +the rebellious spirit to which Israel rose in the distant future. +Again and again the religion of Jehovah is effaced, or almost effaced, +from the mind of the nation. Again and again the hideous idolatries of +Moloch--idolatries cruel, profligate, and shameless--supplant the +worship of the Lord of heaven and earth. And the political condition +of the nation is not one whit more hopeful than the religious. When +unity alone can save the people then there is disruption. The Ten +Tribes are severed from the House of David, never to be united again. +The power of one kingdom is spent in neutralising the power of the +other. This is a concise history of the race during the period from +the disruption to the captivity. The career of Israel, from first to +last, is a running comment upon the words, "Not for thy righteousness +or for the uprightness of thine heart dost thou go to possess the +land," for "ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that +I knew you." Not once or twice only the Mighty Archer has strung His +weapon and pointed His shaft, and His aim has been frustrated by +Israel's disobedience. His chosen instruments have been snapped in His +hands, starting aside like a broken bow. Indeed, the history of Israel +is quite unique in the chronicles of nations. The chronicles of other +nations record the qualities as well as the crimes of the people whose +career they commemorate. They praise their patriotism, their prowess, +their manifold virtues, their magnificent achievements. But the Bible, +the chronicle of the Jews, is one uninterrupted catalogue of sins and +shortcomings--one long bill of indictment against Israel. One only is +true, one only is faithful, one only is victorious; for he fears not +the nation, but the nation's God. So then, however we look at the +matter, there is nothing which affords ground for hope; and when we +question actual facts, we find they correspond altogether to those +expectations we should have formed beforehand from the character and +position of the nation. Never has any people lived upon the earth who +passed through such terrible disasters as the Jews. Never has any +people been so near to absolute extinction again and again, and yet +have survived. Again and again the vision of the prophet has been +realised. Again and again the valley of the shadow of death has been +strewn with the dry bones of carcases seemingly extinct. Again and +again there have been seasons of dark despair, when even the most +hopeful, challenged by the Divine voice, could only respond, "O Lord +God, Thou knowest!" But again and again there has been a shaking of +the dry bones--the bones have come together, bone to bone; they have +been strung with sinews and clothed with flesh; breath has been +breathed into them, and they have lived, and have become an exceeding +great army. Think of those many centuries of Egyptian bondage, when +the life of the nation seemed to have been strangled in its infancy. +Reflect next on that period in its youthful career, when it is +fighting its way inch by inch, and struggling for very existence in +Palestine, doing battle with nations greater and mightier than itself, +and with "cities fenced high up to heaven." Look forward again, and we +see its fate during the manhood of the nation under its king, the land +now divided against itself and overrun by successive invaders. As of +old so now again, but in a far more terrible sense, Israel finds +himself face to face with the Anakims and with those great empires of +the East before whom he appears but as a grasshopper. The end was +inevitable. For a time Israel was a plaything in the hands of those +terrible neighbours, tossed to and fro between two powerful +rivals--Egypt on the one side, and Assyria and Babylon on the +other--till at length, in a moment of victory, he is swept away, and +his place knows him no more. Could anything seem more hopeless than +the revival of the nation from the Babylonish captivity? Yet from +Babylon, as from Egypt, Israel returned. A new lease of life was +granted, and with it there followed a new lease of disaster also. His +old fate pursued him still. The saying was fulfilled which had been +spoken by the prophet: "That which the locust hath left hath the +canker-worm eaten, and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the +caterpillar eaten." He was rescued from the fangs of Babylon only to +be food for the Assyrians. He was drawn from the feet of the Assyrians +only to be devoured by the insatiable Roman. And yet all the +while--and this is the remarkable fact to which I ask your +attention--amidst calamities the most overwhelming and suffering the +most intense--exiled, enslaved, trampled under foot, only not +annihilated--all the while he was hopeful, was jubilant, was +triumphant still. He was always dying, and behold he lived. Century +after century prophets had declared, in no ambiguous terms, that +despite all these adverse appearances, despite all these wearisome +delays, Israel had a magnificent future. The nations might rage, and +the kings of the earth might do their worst--they were powerless +against Israel's destiny. A sceptre should rise out of Jacob which +would subdue the world, and a King should sit on David's throne before +whose footstool all the nations of the earth should bow. A standard +should be set up in Zion around which all mankind should rally. +"Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations +that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, +and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee;" "The sons +of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, and all they +that despised thee shall bow themselves at the soles of thy feet;" +"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the +curtains of thine habitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and +strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand +and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the +desolated cities to be inhabited." + +And these hopes--these extravagant hopes--were more than realized. A +King _did_ rise out of Jacob to whom all the nations of the +civilised world have rendered homage such as no sovereign received +before or after--the homage of their heart, the homage of their lives. +At the call of Israel the Gentiles flocked to the standard set up in +Zion. From far and near, the cultivated Greek, the proud Roman, +Assyrian and Egyptian, master and slave, are flocking around that +standard. From east to west, from the ancient civilisation of India to +the barbarous islands of the Pacific, Israel has dictated its +sentiments, its belief, its morals, its laws and institutions to the +nations. An influence far deeper, far wider, far more tenacious has +appeared from that despised, insulted, down-trodden people than was +ever achieved by the splendid literature of Greece or the historic +empire of Rome. These are not theories, but facts--facts which some +will attempt to explain away, but facts which none can deny. +_Here_ is the prophecy--_there_ is the fulfilment. The prophecy is +not a single isolated prediction of ambiguous meaning, but large +and clear, written across the whole history of a nation from +margin to margin. And the fulfilment corresponds to the prophecy; it +is legible to all men, because stamped on the face of the world. Is +there not here the manifestation of Divine providence? Do we not +rightly claim the Jews as the principal witnesses to Christianity, or +shall we set all this down as mere accident, a freak of fortune, a +superficial correspondence without any essential connection? Shall it +be regarded as mere accident that, within a few years after the +appearing of this King who has thus gathered the Gentiles to His +standard, Jerusalem is destroyed, and the nation scattered to the four +winds of the earth--that the polity of Israel for ever ceased, that +the Temple shook, and that revival was rendered thenceforward +impossible? Shall we say that it is mere argument that for eighteen +centuries--a period as long as that which elapsed from the +proclamation of the law by Moses to the fulfilment of the law by +Christ--this state of things has remained? Or should we not rather say +that in this coincidence also there is a Divine significance--that He +proclaimed with no uncertain sound the obituary of the old order and +the commencement of the new--that God's seal is stamped upon the +character of the Church, whereby Israel after the Spirit is +substituted for Israel after the flesh? Do we ask what it was which +gave the Jewish people this toughness, this vitality, this power? The +answer simply is, "They are Thy people and Thine inheritance, which +Thou broughtest out by Thy mighty power, and by Thy stretched out +arm." It was the consciousness of this close relationship with +Jehovah, the omnipotent and ever-present God--it was the sense of +their glorious destiny, which marked them out as the teachers of +mankind. It was the conviction that they were the possessors of +glorious truths, and that those truths must in the end prevail, +whatever present appearances might suggest--this was the secret source +of their strength, notwithstanding all their faults, and despite all +their disasters. Do we ask again how it came to pass that, when Israel +called to the Gentiles, the Gentiles responded to the call and flocked +to its standard? Here, again, the answer is simple--"Because of the +Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel." The Gentiles had +everything else in their possession, but this one thing they +lacked--knowledge of God, their Father; and without this all their +magnificent gifts could not satisfy--could not save them. Therefore, +when at length the cry went forth, "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come +ye to the waters," they hurried to the fountains of salvation to slake +their burning thirst. Culture and civilisation, arts and commerce, +institutions and laws,--no nation can afford to undervalue these; but +not only do all these things soon fade, but the people themselves fall +into corruption and decay if the Breath of Life be wanting. + +And as with nations, so with individuals. We may cultivate the +intellect to the highest pitch; we may surround ourselves with all the +luxuries and refinements of civilisation; we may accumulate all the +appliances which make life enjoyable; but the time will come when +these things will fail to sustain us. It may come in some season of +bereavement, in the hour of sickness or of loss. It may come in the +failure and decay of powers. It may come in the pains of our +death-agony. It may come--and this is the most solemn thought of +all--after we have passed the confines of the grave. But come it must +sooner or later; for we are children of God, and we cannot with +impunity ignore or deny the Father of earth and heaven. There only is +rest and peace; there only is true life for the soul of man. + + + + +THE VISION OF GOD.[6] + + "And they shall see His face."--REV. xxii. 4. + + +It is related of the greatest of the Bishops of Durham that, in his +last solemn moments, when the veil of the flesh was even now parting +asunder, and the everlasting sanctuary opening before his eyes, he +"expressed it as an awful thing to appear before the Moral Governor of +the world." + +The same thought, which thus accompanied him in his passage to +eternity, had dominated his life in time--this consciousness of an +Eternal Presence, this sense of a Supreme Righteousness, this +conviction of a Divine Order, shaping, guiding, disposing all the +intricate vicissitudes of circumstance and all the little lives of +men--enshrouded now in a dark atmosphere of mystery, revealing itself +only in glimpses through the rolling clouds of material existence, +dimly discerned by the dull and partial vision of finite man, +questioned, doubted, denied by many, yet visible enough now to the eye +of faith, working patiently but working surely, vindicating itself +ever and again in the long results of time, but awaiting its complete +and final vindication in the absolute issues of eternity--the truth of +all truths, the reality of all realities, the one stubborn steadfast +fact, unchangeable while all else is changing--this Presence, this +Order, this Righteousness--in the language of Holy Scripture, this +Word of the Lord which shall outlive the solid earth under foot, and +the starry vault overhead. "They shall perish, but Thou remainest, and +they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou +fold them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy +years shall not fail." "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of +man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower +thereof falleth away--but the word of the Lord endureth for ever." + +It is no arbitrary conjecture that this was the dominating idea of +Butler's life. Early and late it is alike prominent in his writings. +In the preface to his first great work, his volume of sermons, he +speaks of "the Author and Cause of all things, who is more intimately +present to us than anything else can be, and with whom we have a +nearer and more constant intercourse than we have with any creature." +In his latest work, his Charge to the Clergy of Durham, he urges the +"yielding ourselves up to the full influence of the Divine Presence:" +he bids his hearers "endeavour to raise up in the hearts" of their +people "such a sense of God as shall be an habitual, ready principle +of reverence, love, gratitude, hope, trust, resignation, and +obedience;" he recommends the practice of such devotional exercises as +"would be a recollection that we are in the Divine Presence, and +contribute to our being in the fear of the Lord all the day long." +Thus his death-bed utterance was the proper sequel to his life-long +thoughts. The same awe-inspiring, soul-subduing, purifying, +sanctifying Presence rose before him as hitherto. But the awe, the +solemnity, was intensified now, when the vision of God by faith might +at any moment give place to the vision of God by sight. Not unfitly +did one, writing shortly after his decease, compare him to "the bright +lamps before the shrine," the clear, steady light of the sanctuary, +burning night and day before the Eternal Presence. + +In the strength of this belief he had lived, and in the awe of this +thought he now died. This conviction it was--this sense of a present +righteousness, confronting him always--which raised him high above the +level of his age; keeping him pure amid the surroundings of a +dissolute court; modest and humble in a generation of much pretentious +display; high-minded and careless of wealth in a time of gross +venality and corruption; firm in the faith amidst a society cankered +by scepticism; devout and reverent, where spiritual indifference +reigned supreme; candid and thoughtful and temperate, amidst the +temptations and the excitements of religious controversy; careful even +for the externals of worship, where such care was vilified as the +badge of a degrading superstition. Hence that tremendous seriousness +which is his special characteristic--that "awful sense of religion," +that "sacred horror at men's frivolity," in the language of a living +essayist. Hence that transparent sincerity of character, which never +fails him. Hence that "meekness of wisdom," which he especially urges +his clergy to study, and of which he himself was all unconsciously the +brightest example. + +And what more seasonable prayer can you offer for him who addresses +you now, at this the most momentous crisis of his life, than that +he--the latest successor of Butler--may enter upon the duties of his +high and responsible office in the same spirit; that the realisation +of this great idea, the realisation of this great fact, may be the +constant effort of his life; that glimpses of the invisible +righteousness, of the invisible grace, of the invisible glory, may be +vouchsafed to him; and that the Eternal Presence, thus haunting him +night and day, may rebuke, may deter, may guide, may strengthen, may +comfort, may illume, may consecrate and subdue the feeble and wayward +impulses of his own heart to God's holy will and purpose! + +And not for the preacher only, but for the hearers also, let the same +prayer ascend to the throne of heaven. In all the manifold trials and +all the mean vexations of life, this presence will be your strength +and your stay. Whatsoever is truthful, whatsoever is real, whatsoever +is abiding in your lives, if there be any antidote to sin, and if +there be any anodyne for grief, if there be any consolation, and if +there be any grace, you will find it here, and here alone--in the +ever-present consciousness that you are living face to face with the +Eternal God. Not by fitful gusts of religious passion, not by fervid +outbursts of sentimental devotion, not by repetition of approved +forms, and not by acquiescence in orthodox beliefs, but by the calm, +steady, persistent concentration of the soul on this truth, by the +intent fixing of the inward eye on the righteousness and the grace of +the Eternal Being before Whom you stand, will you redeem your spirits +and sanctify your lives. So will your minds be conformed to His mind. +So will your faces reflect the brightness of His face. So will you go +from strength to strength, till, life's pilgrimage ended, you appear +in the eternal Zion, the celestial city, wherein is "neither sun nor +moon, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light +thereof." + +Let this, then, be the theme of our meditation this morning. Many +thoughts will crowd upon our minds and struggle for utterance on a day +like this; but we will put them all aside. Not our hopes, not our +cares, not our burdens; nothing of joy, nothing of sadness shall +interpose now to shut out or obscure the glory of the Presence before +Whom we stand. + +Not our hopes, though one hope starts up and shapes itself perforce +before our eyes. It will be the prayer of many hearts to-day that the +inauguration of a new Episcopate may be marked by the creation of a +new See; that Northumberland, which in the centuries long past gave to +Durham her Bishopric, may receive from Durham her due in return in +these latest days; that the Newcastle on the Tyne may take its place +with the Old Castle on the Wear, as a spiritual fortress strong in the +warfare of God. + +Not our cares, though at this season one anxiety will press heavily on +the minds of all. The dense cloud, which for weeks past has darkened +the social atmosphere of these northern counties, still hangs sullenly +overhead. God grant that the rift which already we seem to discern may +widen, till the flooding sunlight scatters the darkness, and a lasting +harmony is restored to the relations between the employer and the +employed. + +Not our burdens, though on one at least in this Cathedral the sense of +a new responsibility must press to-day with a heavy hand. If indeed +this burden had been self-sought or self-imposed, if his thoughts were +suffered to dwell on himself and his own incapacity, he might well +sink under its crushing weight. But your prayer for him, and his ideal +for himself, will shape itself in the words which were spoken to the +great Israelite restorer of old, "Not by might, nor by power, but by +My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." In this strength only, before you +as before him, will the great mountain become a plain. + +Therefore we will lay down now our hopes and our fears, our every +burden, at the steps of the altar, that, entering disencumbered into +the inmost sanctuary, we may fall before the Eternal Presence. + +The vision of God is threefold--the vision of Righteousness, the +vision of Grace, the vision of Glory. + +I. The vision of Righteousness is first in the sequence. Righteousness +includes all those attributes which make up the idea of the Supreme +Ruler of the universe--perfect justice, perfect truth, perfect purity, +perfect moral harmony in all its aspects. Here, then, is the force of +Butlers dying words. Ask yourselves, Can it be otherwise than "an +awful thing to appear before the Moral Governor of the world"? You +have read, perhaps, the written record of some pure and saintly life, +and you are overwhelmed with shame as you look inward and contrast +your sullied heart and your self-seeking aims with his innocency and +cleanness of heart. You are confronted--you, an avowedly religious +person--in your business affairs with an upright man of the world; and +his straightforward honesty is felt by you as a keen reproach to your +disingenuousness and evasion, all the keener because he makes no +profession of religion. Yes, you know it; this is the very impress of +God's attribute on his soul, though God's name may seldom or never +pass his lips. And if these faint rays of the Eternal Light, thus +caught and reflected on the blurred mirrors of human hearts and human +lives, so sting and pain the organs of your moral vision, what must it +not be, then, when you shall stand face to face before the ineffable +Righteousness, and see Him in His unclouded glory! + +It is a vision indeed of awe, transcending all thought; a vision of +awe, but a vision also of purification, of renewal, of energy, of +power, of life. Therefore enter into his presence now and cast +yourself down before His throne. Therefore dare to ascend into the +holy mountain; dare to speak with God amidst the thunders and the +lightnings; dare to look upon the face of His righteousness, that, +descending from the heights, you, like the lawgiver of old, may carry +with you the reflection of His brightness, to illumine and to vivify +the common associations and the every-day affairs of life. + +Not a few here will doubtless remember how an eloquent living preacher +in a striking image employs the distant view of the towers of your own +Durham--of my own Durham--seen from the neighbourhood of the busy +northern capital only in the clearer atmosphere of Sundays--as an +emblem of these glimpses of the Eternal Presence, these intervals of +Sabbatical repose and contemplation, when the furnaces and pits cease +for the time to pour forth their lurid smoke, and in the unclouded sky +the towers of the celestial Zion reveal themselves to the eye of +faith. Let this local image give point to our thoughts to-day. "Unto +Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, +even as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and +as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, even so our +eyes wait upon the Lord our God." + +II. But the vision of Righteousness is succeeded by the vision of +Grace. When Butler in his dying moments had expressed his awe at +appearing face to face before the Moral Governor of the world, his +chaplain, we are told, spoke to him of "the blood which cleanseth from +all sin." "Ah, this is comfortable," he replied; and with these words +on his lips he gave up his soul to God. The sequence is a necessary +sequence. He only has access to the Eternal Love who has stood face to +face with the Eternal Righteousness. He only who has learned to feel +the awe will be taught to know the grace. The righteous Judge, the +Moral Governor of the World, is a loving Father also, is your Father +and mine. This is the central lesson of Christianity. Of this He has +given us absolute assurance, in the life, the death, the words, and +the works of Christ. The incarnation of the Son is the mirror of the +Father's love. What witness need we more? Happy he who shall realise +this fact in all its significance and fulness. Happy he on whom the +light of the glory of the Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, +shall shine, he who shall-- + + "Gaze one moment on the Face Whose beauty + Wakes the world's great hymn; + Feel it one unutterable moment, + Bent in love o'er him; + In that look feel heaven, earth, men, and angels, + Distant grow, and dim; + In that look feel heaven, earth, men, and angels, + Nearer grow through Him." + +Yes, it is so indeed. All our interests in life, the highest and the +lowest alike, abandoned, merged, forgotten in God's love, will come +back to us with a distinctness, an intensity, a force, unknown and +unsuspected before. Each several outline and each particular hue will +stand out in the light of His grace. Thus we are bidden to lose our +souls only that we may find them again; we are charged to give up +houses, and brethren, and sisters, and father, and mother, and wife, +and children, and lands--all that is lovely and precious in our +eyes--to give up all to God, only that we may receive them back from +Him a hundredfold, even now in this present time. Our affections, our +friendships, our hopes, our business and our pleasure, our +intellectual pursuits and our artistic tastes--all our cherished +opportunities and all our fondest aims must be brought into the +sanctuary and bathed in the glory of His Presence, that we may take +them to us again, baptized and regenerate, purer, higher, more real, +more abiding far than before. + +III. And thus the vision of love melts into the vision of glory. So we +reach the third and final stage in our progress. This is the crowning +promise of the Apocalyptic vision, "They shall see His face." The +vision is only inchoate now; we catch only glimpses at rare intervals, +revealed in the lives of God's saints and heroes, revealed above all +in the record of the written Word and in the Incarnation of the Divine +Son. But then no veil of the flesh shall dim the vision; no +imperfection of the mirror shall blur the image; for we shall see Him +face to face--shall see Him as He is--the perfect truth, the perfect +righteousness, the perfect purity, the perfect love, the perfect +light. And we shall gaze with unblenching eye, and our visage shall be +changed. Not now with transient gleams of radiance, as on the lawgiver +of old, shall the light be reflected from us; but resting upon us with +its own ineffable glory, the awful effluence-- + + "Shall flood our being round, and take our lives + Into itself." + +Of this final goal of our aspirations--of this crowning mystery of our +being--the mind is helpless to conceive, and the tongue refuses to +tell. Silent contemplation, and wondering awe, and fervent +thanksgiving alone befit the theme. Even the inspired lips of an +Apostle are hushed before it. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, +and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He +shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is"--we +shall see Him as He is. + + + + +THE HEAVENLY TEACHER.[7] + + "He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you."--ST. JOHN xvi. + 15. + + +The death of Christ was the orphanhood of the disciples. I am not +inventing a figure of my own when I say this. It is the language which +our Lord Himself uses to describe their destitute condition. In our +English Bible He is made to speak of leaving them comfortless. The +words in the original are: "Leave you orphans"--"Leave you desolate," +as it is translated in the Revised Version. They would be fatherless, +motherless, homeless, friendless--at least, so it seemed to them--when +He was gone. + +No condition of life excites so keenly the compassion of the +compassionate as the helplessness of the orphan. It is not only that a +child is deprived, by its parents' death, of the means of subsistence; +its natural guardian, teacher, friend is gone. Henceforth it is a waif +on the ocean of the world. In no respect different was that void which +threatened the disciples when the Master's presence had been +withdrawn. They had left all--authority, home. They had forsaken +parents and friends, and He had become Father and Mother, and Sister +and Brother to them. They had given up houses and land, and He was +henceforth their home. Their dependence on Him was absolute. Whatever +of joy they had in the present, and what of hope they had for the +future, were alike centred in Him. They thought His thoughts and lived +His life. And now this communion of soul with soul, and of life with +life, must be ruthlessly severed. + +This was the terrible shock for which Christ would prepare the minds +of His disciples. It was not only the void of earthly hopes scattered +by His death; but their Teacher, their Guide, Spirit, Friend, Christ, +their Father was withdrawn. The voice which soothed must be silent, +and the eye which gladdened must be glazed, and the hand which blessed +must be stiffened in death. Christ lay buried--lost for ever, as it +would seem to them. What joy, what strength, what comfort could they +have henceforth in life? They would stake their whole on Christ, and +Christ has failed them. Surely, never was orphanhood more helpless, +more hopeless, than the orphanhood of these poor Galileans. + +It was to prepare them for this terrible trial that the promise in the +text was given. He must go; but another shall come. They should not be +without a teacher, a guide; one Advocate, one Comforter would be +withdrawn, but another would take His place. There would be a friend +still, an adviser ever near to take them by the hand, to whisper into +their ears, to prepare, to instruct, to protect, to fortify, to guide +them into all truth. Another comforter. Yes; and yet not another. +There would not be less of Christ, but more of Christ, when Christ was +gone. This is the spiritual paradox which is assured to the disciples +by the promise in the text--"He shall take of Mine, and show it unto +you. All things that the Father hath are Mine; therefore, said I, He +shall take of Mine and shall show it unto you." Another, and yet not +another. It was not Christ supplanted, not Christ superseded, not +Christ eclipsed and quenched, but a larger, higher, purer, more +abundant Christ with whom henceforth they should live. It was not now +a Christ who might be speaking at one moment and the next moment might +be hushed, but a Christ whose tongue was ever articulate and ever +audible--Christ vocal even in His very silence. It was not now a +Christ who was seen at one moment, and the next was concealed from +view by some infinite obstacle, but a Christ whose visit no darkness +could hide and whose touch no distance could detain. It was not a +Christ of now and then, not a Christ of here and there, but a Christ +of every moment and every place--a Christ as permeating as the Spirit +is permeating. "He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." +"Lo, I am with you alway! I am with you even to the end of the world." + +He is not lost, then. This is the promise which Christ gives to His +disciples on the eve of His departure to console them for their loss. +His departure was more than necessary. It was even expedient, it was +even advantageous for them that He should go. Did not the Saviour say +this? Nothing would have seemed more improbable in the anticipation +than that the death of Christ should have produced the effect it did +produce on His disciples. We should have predicted weakness, +depression, misery, scepticism, apostacy, despair; and yet what was +the actual result? Why, all at once they appear before us as changed +men. All at once they shake off meaner hopes; all at once their nerves +are fortified, are lifted into a higher region. On the eve of the +catastrophe they are hesitating, fearful, sense-bound, narrow in their +ideas. They are, we might almost say, "of the earth earthy." And on +the morrow they are strong, steadfast, courageous, endowed with a new +spiritual faculty which bears unto the very salvation of salvation. +Hitherto they have known Christ after the flesh. Henceforth they will +know Him so no more. + +To know Christ after the flesh! What would we not have given to have +known Him after the flesh? What a source of strength it would have +been to us, we imagine, just to have listened to one of those parables +spoken by His own lips; just to have witnessed one of those miracles +of healing wrought by His own hand; just to have looked one moment on +Him as He stood silent in the judgment-hall, or bleeding on the cross! +But no! It was expedient for us, as it was expedient for the first +disciples, that He should go away. It was expedient for us; otherwise +the Spirit could not come. + +To know Christ after the flesh! Did not the disciples know Him after +the flesh, and did they not forsake Him? Did not Thomas who doubted +and Peter who denied know Him after the flesh? Did not the Jewish mob +which hooted and reviled, and the Roman soldiers who scourged, know +Him after the flesh? What security was this knowledge after the flesh +against scepticism, against blasphemy, against apostacy, against +rebellion? Seeing, it is said, is believing. Yes, and hearing, too. +But it is the seeing of the spiritual eye and the hearing of the +spiritual ear--the eye that beheld the heavens open and the Son of Man +standing on the right hand of God: the hearing of the glory when He +was called into Paradise, "unspeakable words which it is not lawful +for a man to utter." + +To know Christ after the flesh. Why should we desire to know Him after +the flesh? It was just to unteach the disciples themselves, whose +knowledge was only after the flesh, that Christ went away, because so +long as they were possessed of this knowledge, the Paraclete could not +come, could not take up His abode in their faith. Thus, this is the +work of the Spirit, as described by our Lord, in the text to us, as to +the disciples of old. The Spirit offers not less of Christ, but more +of Christ; for in the place of the Christ who walked on the shores of +the Galilean lake, who sat on the brink of the Samaritan well, and +shed tears over the doomed city--instead of such a Christ we have a +Christ who is ever present to us; a Christ of all times and all +places; a Christ who traverses the universe--an Omnipotent Christ. + +Look at the explanation which our Lord Himself gave to the prophets: +"He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." How so? Why of +Christ, and Christ only? Has the Spirit nothing else to teach us? Hear +what follows: "All things--_all things_--that the Father hath are +Mine; therefore, said I unto you, He shall take of mine and shall show +it unto you." + +All things! Yes; all history, all science, all aggregation of truth in +whatever domain, and whatever kind it may be. "Think you," He seems to +say--"think you that My working is confined to a few paltry miracles +wrought in Galilee? The universe itself is My miracle. Think you My +words are restricted to a few short precepts uttered to the Jews?" We +make foolish distinctions. We imagine we erect a barrier within which +we would confine the Christ of our own imagination; but the Christ of +Christ's own teaching overleaps all such barriers of ours. We are +careful to distinguish between knowledge and revealed religion. We +separate Christ from the former and we relegate Him to the latter; but +the Christ of Christ's own teaching is the Eternal Word, through whom +the Father speaks. We draw the rigid lines of demarcation between +science and theology, between religion and language, but the Christ of +the people is the hand of the Father not less in science and language +than in religion and theology. We have our distinctions between the +secular and the spiritual, as if the two were antagonistic. We must +not use a saying of Christ, as if it taught that our duty to Caesar was +something quite apart from our duty to God; as if, forsooth, it were +possible for us to have any moral obligation to any man, or body of +men, to any child, which was not also an obligation to God in Christ. +But the Christ of the Gospel claims sovereignty over all alike--over +that which we call secular not less than that which we call spiritual. +"All things--_all things_--that the Father hath are Mine; +therefore, I say, He shall take of Mine, and show it unto you." + +We speak sometimes of the revelations. Yes; revelations, indeed, not +merely of inanimate processes, not merely of blind laws, but +revelations of the eternal world, of the Eternal Son through whom the +Father works. Therefore, as Christians, we are bound to look upon +these as Christ. Therefore, if we are true to our heavenly schooling, +the Spirit will take up these and show them unto us. "He shall take of +Mine, and shall shew it unto you." + +Are we diligent students of the lessons of history? Do we delight +to trace the progress of the human race from the first dawn of +civilisation to its noonday blaze? To disclose the obscure past of the +great nations of the earth? to mark the development of the arts of +government? to follow the ever-widening range of intellect? to discern +the stream of human life broadening slowly down with the force of +ages? + +Then let us see the kingdom of Christ not less in the progress of +history than in the laws of science. He was in the world, and the +world knew Him not. He was the true Light that lighteth every man--the +Light ever brighter and clearer till it attained its full glory at +length in the Incarnation. Therefore the school of history is also the +school of the Holy Spirit, for it is the setting forth of Christ. "He +that hath eyes to see, let him see." "He shall take of Mine." + +If you have traced Christ's footprints in the processes of Nature; if +you have heard Christ's voice in the teachings of history--then, +surely, you will not fail to see and hear Him in your own domestic and +social relations. That pure affection which has been to you a fountain +of benediction; that friendship which has been the crowning glory of +your life--can you think of it apart from Christ? If you do not find +Christ here, assuredly you will seek Him in vain elsewhere. What was +that truthfulness, that purity, that unselfishness, that devotion +which attracted you to the broken light of the Great Light, a +reflected ray from the Central Sun Himself? Yes, the Spirit took of +Christ and showed it to you when, through that affection, through that +friendship, He held up to you the nobler, because a more God-like, +idea of life. "He shall take of Mine." He shall bring all things to +your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you. + +Last and chiefest, for the crown of all these--these rays through +forest and mountain--of all other lessons, He shall set before you the +full Sun. He shall teach you the lesson of Incarnation. He shall show +unto your soul the tremendous importance of that statement which comes +from your lips as time after time you repeat your creed: "He was made +man." He shall teach you the lesson of the Passion. He shall remind +you day and night of the paramount obligation which it lays upon you. +Think--yes, think and think, and think--of that word till the love of +Christ shall constrain your whole being, shall bind you hand and foot, +and lead you captive to the will of God. He shall teach you the lesson +of the resurrection, emancipating, purifying, strengthening, exalting, +till he makes you conformable thereunto. Then you will rise from the +sepulchre in which you have lain many days, will breathe the pure air +of God's presence once more, will sit at meat when you are risen; +while, though in the world, you will be no longer of the world; +notwithstanding all disabilities and weaknesses you will live--live +even now as faithful citizens of the kingdom of heaven, which is +righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. + +NOTE.--These Sermons are printed from reports. + + + + +CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM.[8] + + + + +I. + + +In the lectures which I addressed to you this last year, I took as my +subject the early history of Christianity while it was still +unrecognised by Roman law, and, therefore, treated as an enemy of the +State. On this occasion I purpose to trace the stream a little further +from its source, when Christianity has forced itself into recognition +and become the predominant religion of the empire. The struggle +between Christianity and Paganism has entirely changed its outward +character. The only weapons which the Church could wield at a former +epoch were moral and spiritual. She is now furnished with all the +appliances of political and social prestige; yet these, however +imposing, and to some extent serviceable, are not her really effective +arms. She can afford to be deprived of them for a time, and her career +of victory is unchecked. Her substantial triumphs must still be won by +the old weapons. The source of her superiority over Paganism is still +the same as before--a more enlightened faith in the will of the +unseen, a heartier devotion to the cause of humanity, a more +reverential awe for the majesty of purity, a greater readiness to do +and to suffer. The change has been as startling and as sudden as it +was momentous. All at once the Church had passed from hopeless, +helpless oppression to supremacy and power. For several years after +the opening of the fourth century the last and fiercest persecution +still raged, Christians were hunted down, tortured, put to death with +impunity and without mercy. The only limit to their sufferings was the +weariness or the caprice of their persecutors. Yet before the first +quarter of this century has drawn to a close the greatest sovereign +who had worn the imperial diadem for three hundred years is found +presiding at a council of Christian bishops discussing the most +important questions of Christian doctrine as though the fate of the +empire depended upon the result. In the short period of fifteen years +which elapsed between the death of Galerius and the Council of Nicaea, +the most stupendous revolution which the pages of history record had +been brought about. We cannot wonder that the contemporary heathen +failed altogether to recognise its completeness and its permanence. +Even to ourselves, who look back at the struggle between Christianity +and Paganism from the vantage ground of history, it is difficult to +realise the suddenness of the transition. To those who lived in the +heat of the conflict, and whose estimate of relative proportions was +necessarily confused by the nearness of this position, it was +altogether unintelligible. The one thing which most astonishes us in +heathen writers at this period is their blindness to the real +significance of the change. They ignore it, or they make light of it; +they speak of Christian sects, of Christian offices and Christian +rites, in a tone of cold indifference where they think fit to mention +them at all. Obviously they look at Christianity as a phenomenon which +it may be curious to contemplate, but which has no great practical +moment for them; they do not realise it as destined to mingle +permanently with the main stream of human life. Christianity to them +is still a mere Syrian superstition which has become the fashion of +the day, as so many other superstitions have been before it, and, like +its predecessors, will pass away when it has had its fling. The truth +is, that the revolution was not really sudden, though it seemed so. In +its social and political aspects, its victory was almost +instantaneous, but essentially it was a moral revolution; and such +revolutions are ever gradual: they provoke no notice because they are +noiseless; they advance patiently and silently, step by step; and then +only when the work is done do indifferent spectators discover that any +work has been going on. Their true type is that temple of God in whose +building neither hammer, nor axe, nor tool of iron was heard, because +the stones had been brought thither ready hewn for the building. + +In this course of lectures it is my design to discuss the fall of +Paganism and the triumph of Christianity in the Roman empire; but +obviously this subject is too large for adequate treatment within the +space of three short lectures. I am obliged, therefore, to limit it in +some way or other; and it seemed to me that I could not do better than +take the reign of Julian the Apostate as the central feature in the +picture, and group around it such other facts as may be required to +explain its significance. There are many advantages in this mode of +treatment. This Paganism was never exhibited to more advantage than in +the person of this, its greatest and most energetic champion. High +personal character, no common intellectual gift, great military +renown, supreme political power, perfect knowledge of his adversary, +absolute and unflinching devotion to his own cause--all these united +to make Julian the most formidable antagonist which the Church ever +had, or might be expected to have. His career showed what Paganism +could do, and what it could not do. The ability of the champion only +exposed the helplessness of the cause. And again, a full blaze of +light is poured upon this one man and this one reign such as rarely +falls to any period of ancient history. Julian himself, devoted +friends, impartial critics, sworn foes, heathen and Christian, +orthodox and Arian--all have contributed to the completeness of the +portraiture. This strange character, half philosopher, half fanatic, +the most wary of dissemblers, and the most Quixotic of adventurers, +stands before us with a distinctness of feature which leaves nothing +to be desired. + +In order to understand the man and the epoch it is necessary to take +up the course of history more than half a century before he ascended +the throne. The starting-point in our review of events is the most +remote province of the empire--the island of Britain. On the 25th of +July, 306, Constantine was proclaimed Emperor by the Roman Legionaries +at York. "Oh, happy Britain," says a heathen panegyrist, not then +foreseeing the stupendous results, "Oh, happy Britain! that it has +first seen Constantine as Caesar." This was the commencement of a long +reign, extending over more than thirty years--the longest in the +annals of Imperial Rome since Augustus. In the interval of three +centuries which separated these two remarkable men, no emperor had +reigned who deserved to be considered great as they were. And their +lives are linked together in another way. The one reign saw +Christianity cradled in the manger; the other witnessed it seated on +the throne. On October 27th, 312, some two miles from the walls of +Rome, where the Great North Road crosses the Tiber, was fought the +decisive battle of the Milvian Bridge. The routed army with its +captain and rival Emperor, the heathen champion Maxentius, perished in +the waters of the Tiber, and Constantine entered the Imperial +city--the stronghold of Paganism--in triumph. On June 15th, 313, was +signed the great charter of religious toleration--the Edict of Milan, +issued in the joint names of the Emperors Constantine and Licinius. By +this edict Christianity was recognised as a lawful religion. The +sacred places, and the property which had been taken from the +Christians during the great persecution were restored to them once +more. Every man was allowed henceforth to adopt any form of worship +which he might choose. On the 25th of July, 325, the anniversary of +his accession and the inauguration of the twentieth year of his reign, +Constantine, then sole Emperor, brought the Council of Nicaea to a +close. He had been present at several of its sittings, and throughout +had exerted himself to the utmost to secure unanimity. By a higher +inspiration, yet not without his instrumentality, the deliberations of +the assembled Bishops resulted in the Creed which was to be henceforth +and for ever the basis of unity in the Church. + +But, meanwhile, what was Constantine himself? It is strange that, +notwithstanding the prominent part taken by this Emperor in the +establishment and consolidation of the Church, historians have been +found to doubt the genuineness of his conversion, I do not think that +the facts justify any such hesitation. For the sincerity of his +Christian profession we have two guarantees, which, combined, must, I +think, be regarded as conclusive. It was gradual, and it was +disinterested. It was gradual. I shall say nothing here of his +miraculous conversion, of the fiery cross in the heavens, with the +inscribed words, "Hereby conquer," which is said to have appeared to +him shortly before the battle of the Milvian Bridge. What truth +underlies this story we shall never know; but, judging by his public +actions, we trace a gradual advance towards a more distinct reception +of Christianity. His father Constantine had been a believer in one +God. He had extended his protection to the Christians when they were +persecuted by his Imperial colleagues. This Monotheism and this +toleration descended to Constantine, as it were, by inheritance. For +some years after his accession he appears not to have advanced much +beyond this point. On the triumphal arch erected in Rome to +commemorate his victory over Maxentius, and which still spans one of +the approaches of the Forum, his success is ascribed to the +suggestions of "the Divinity." Such language is exactly what his +father, who was not a Christian, might have used, what heathen +philosophers did use again and again. This vague expression, "The +Divinity," is repeated several times afterwards in Imperial edicts. +There is as yet no personal profession of Christianity. The Edict of +Milan puts the Christians on the same political level as the Pagan. It +gives them no advantage; but, by degrees, his language becomes more +explicit, and his legislation more directly favours the Christians. +The Council of Nicaea is the climax of aggressive ascent. Again it was +disinterested. As a mere question of worldly policy, I think it can +hardly be doubted that Constantine acted very unwisely in embracing +Christianity. His Christian subjects were still a comparatively small +minority--an aggressive minority it is true, but not a dangerous +minority if properly handled. They would have been won over to a man +by frank toleration as they had been won over to his predecessor, +Alexander Severus, and to his father, Constantius Chlorus. They asked +nothing more than this. But by the further step of declaring himself a +Christian he had nothing to gain and very much to lose. He alienated +the heathen subjects, while his Christian subjects were devoted to him +already. Indeed, as a matter of fact, it is quite plain that his +conversion did lead to much disaffection, and that he was greatly +hampered by it. Take an instance of this. The secular games, the great +festival of thanksgiving for the prosperity of Rome, recurred, +according to Roman usage, at long intervals of about one hundred and +ten years. They were celebrated with great pomp and magnificence, and +accompanied by elaborate propitiatory sacrifices to the tutelary +deities of Rome. They had been kept last under Severus, and the time +had come for another celebration. But year after year of the long +reign of Constantine passed, and no notice was taken of them. No +omission would have wounded more deeply the sensibilities of the +Romans than this. The heathen historian Zosimus, writing a whole +century after, ascribed all the woes that had befallen the empire to +this one fatal neglect. Again, during his second and last visit to +Rome, the Capitoline games were celebrated. A main feature in the +ceremonial was a procession along the sacred way to the Temple of +Jupiter on the Capitol, in which the Emperor himself was expected to +take a part. He flatly refused. Looking down from his residence on the +Palatine Hill as the magnificent train wound round its foot, he broke +out into expressions of ridicule and contempt. The senate and people +were mortally offended. On one occasion, probably during this very +visit, his statues were pelted with stones. This insult was reported +to Constantine by some indignant courtier. The Emperor passed his hand +across his brow. He had a strong sense of humour. "Strange," said he, +"that I did not feel hurt." But he did feel hurt, nevertheless; hurt +in dignity by this insolence of the Romans, and a new capital arose on +the shores of the Bosphorus in protest against the outrage. Christian +Constantinople was his revenge on heathen Rome. "He made himself a +Greek," said Dante, "to leave Rome to the Pope." Doubtless the Papal +power grew more freely when the shadow of the Imperial presence was +removed; but the Pope was not in Constantine's mind, and the immediate +effect was a deadly side-thrust at heathendom. Rome, the stronghold of +heathen sentiment and worship, languished rapidly from this time. +Paganism had been stabbed in the heart. + +But while the sincerity of Constantine cannot reasonably be doubted, +his inconsistency is quite beyond question. The fact is that he was +half a Pagan to the end, and, as Niebuhr has truly said, we do him a +grievous wrong if we judge his actions by a purely Christian standard. +In this respect he was only like many of his contemporaries. In that +age of transition the best heathens were half Christians, and not the +best Christians were half heathens. The semi-Paganism of Constantine +is matched by the semi-Christianity of Julian. I am not concerned with +the moral inconsistencies of this Emperor. The sins of Constantine +will not condemn the truth of Christianity, any more than the virtues +of Julian will re-instate the errors of Paganism. Constantine is +allowed on all hands to have been temperate in his habits and chaste +in his life; but the domestic history of this great Sovereign was +darkened by one horrible tragedy. About twelve months after the +Council of Nicaea, in which he had borne so conspicuous a part, the +Roman world was horrified by the report of three murders in the +Imperial household. The Emperor's eldest and favourite son, Crispus--a +young man of highest promise--an idol of the public; his little +nephew--a bright, engaging boy of twelve; his own wife, Fausta, the +mother of his three younger sons, were ruthlessly put to death. What +was the secret of this tragedy we shall never know. It seems most +probable that the son was implicated in some dangerous conspiracy, +that the nephew was an unconscious tool of the conspirators, and that +the wife, having goaded the husband in the first flush of his anger to +extreme measures against her stepson, herself fell a victim to the +violence of his remorse when the revulsion came. There were, we may +safely say, circumstances which might extenuate these horrible crimes; +there could be none which could justify them. A dark, indelible stain +rests on the memory of Constantine. + +But if the moral inconsistency of Constantine is the more shocking, +his religious inconsistency is the more bewildering. In his recently +built capital he erected a statue of himself, which exhibited a +strange medley of the old and the new, and which may well serve for a +type of his career as a sovereign. The Emperor was represented as a +follower of the Deity, whom he himself had adopted as his patron in +the old days of his Paganism--the Deity whom his apostate nephew ever +regarded with special reverence; but in the aureole which encircled +the head the rays took the form of the nails, the instruments of +Christ's passion. It was believed that at the base of this statue +Constantine had placed a fragment of the true cross. It is also stated +that in this same place was deposited the palladium--the cherished +relic of Pagan Rome, which AEneas was said to have rescued from the +flames of Troy, and which Constantine himself stealthily removed to +his new capital. It is just the same with his legislation. Thus we +find almost side by side, promulgated within two months of each other, +two Imperial decrees--the one enjoining that Sunday shall be set apart +as a day of rest; the other providing that when the palace or any +public building is struck by lightning, the soothsayers shall be +consulted as to the meaning of the prodigy, according to ancient +custom, and the answer reported to the Emperor himself. When, indeed, +we see this juxtaposition of Christianity and Paganism, we are +forcibly reminded that Constantine was one and at the same time the +summoner of the Nicene Council and the chief Pontiff of heathenism. +Thus, at one moment, he was preaching sermons to his courtiers and +discussing dogmas with his bishops; and, at the next, he was issuing +orders for the regulation of some Pagan ritual. The same fountain +_did_ send forth sweet waters and bitter. And this incongruity +held him captive to the last, even beyond the gates of death. In his +newly built eastern capital--Christian Constantinople--he was buried +by his own directions in a church amidst the memorials of the +apostles, and "the equal of the apostles" was the title accorded to +him by common consent. In his forsaken western capital--heathen +Rome--he was, as a matter of course, deified, as his Imperial +predecessors had been deified, as he himself had deified his own +father Constantius; and by virtue of this apotheosis he took his rank, +not only with an Augustus or a Trajan, but with a Commodus and a +Caracalla among the gods of Olympus. A strange blending of incongruous +elements. And yet, whatever may have been felt of Constantine's life, +however much of Paganism may have alloyed his Christianity hitherto, +when the end came there was no more halting between two opinions. +Failing health to one who was endowed with a singularly robust +constitution came as an unmistakable sign of the approaching change. +The warning was not lost upon him. The increased fervour of his +devotions was noticed by all. On one occasion he spent a whole night +in the church praying. Strange to say, this zealous theological +disputant, this foremost champion of the truth, had not hitherto been +baptised. He was not even a catechumen. But now, when he felt himself +sinking, he eagerly pressed that baptism might not be delayed. This +wish was granted, and the rite was administered. This done, he +devoutly expressed his thanksgivings for the mercy vouchsafed to him, +and his readiness to go at once on his last heavenward journey. He +refused again to assume the Imperial purple, and, so arrayed still in +the white robe of his baptism, he was laid on his couch to await the +end. + +On the 22nd of May, 337--it was Whit Sunday, the appropriate festival +of the newly baptised--about noon, the great Emperor breathed his +last. He was succeeded by his three sons--Constantine, Constantius, +and Constans. The three princes were scarcely seated on the throne, +when the Imperial family became again the scene of a horrible tragedy +as shocking as that which had left so dark a stain on their father's +life. The soldiers rose up and massacred not less than nine princes of +the blood--the brothers and nephews of the deceased Emperor. Nearly a +century later an untrustworthy historian gives currency to a story +that Constantine himself had directed these massacres, having +discovered that he had been poisoned by his brothers. For this +shameful libel on them and on him there is absolutely no foundation. +All the circumstances are against it, and it may safely be dismissed +as a foul calumny. More specious is the view that the new Emperor +Constantius, then a young man of twenty-one, was implicated in the +massacre; but it was done, if not by his direct orders, at least with +his tacit connivance. But, however this may be, the incident has a +very direct bearing on the subject of these lectures. In this carnage, +besides the three Emperors themselves, two children alone escaped. The +other members of the Imperial family perished to a man. The survivors +were the two sons of one of Constantine's brothers, Julius +Constantius; Gallus, a boy of twelve or thirteen; and Julian, a child +of six or seven, of whom we shall hear much hereafter. Their father +and their eldest brother were amongst the slain. + +Of the three brothers who divided the empire of Constantine we are +concerned only with one--the eldest, Constantine, and the youngest, +Constans, perished in two successive revolutions. The middle and +surviving brother, Constantius, united again all the dominions of his +father under his sceptre. He alone left his mark on the history of the +Church. He alone shaped the destinies and swayed the feelings of his +relative, Julian. It is worth our while to form a closer acquaintance +with this man, who was the evil genius of his cousin and ward. +Constantius had not inherited the towering strength and commanding +mien of his father. He was under the average height, with a long body +and short, bowed legs. His complexion was very dark, his hair smooth +and glossy. He had prominent and keen eyes, recalling the piercing +glance which his father Constantine had cast around on the assembled +Bishops in the Council-hall of Nicaea, and which never failed to strike +awe into the beholders. The crimes of Constantine were those of a +strong, impulsive, half-barbarous nature. The crimes of Constantius +were due to cold calculation and to indifference to the commonest +claims of humanity. He was cautious to excess, sparing of his rewards, +and backward in his confidences. He was mean, selfish, suspicious +almost to fanaticism, shrinking from no cruelty when his fears were +alarmed. It is noticed as characteristic of the man that when borne +through the streets of Rome on a triumphal chariot he was seen, +notwithstanding his short stature, to bend his head as he passed under +each archway. Yet he was not a man without redeeming virtues and some +real ability. Like his father, he was temperate and just, so that, +notwithstanding his many enemies, scandal itself was forced into +silence. He could be sparing of rest and prodigal of labour when the +interests of the State demanded it. He was gracious, too, in his +demeanour, and with many--as even his cousin Julian is obliged to +confess--bore a reputation for clemency. He sustained the honours of +his Imperial rank with a dignity which never forgot itself, while he +showed a contempt of mere vulgar popularity which even unfriendly +critics described as magnanimous. Of his disastrous influence on the +religious sentiments of Julian I shall have to speak hereafter. For +the present I confine myself to the part which he took in determining +the relative positions of Christianity and Paganism in the empire. +Unlike his father Constantius, he had been brought up a Christian from +his infancy. His doctrinal views were very distorted, his moral +conduct was often a gross libel on the Gospel; but where it was a +question between Paganism and Christianity the sympathies of the +Emperor were exerted wholly and undisguisedly on the side of the +latter. On the whole, therefore, there is less of heathenism in the +public memorials and the official acts of this reign than in the +preceding. The Pagan emblems diminish; the Pagan enactments in the +Statute Book are fewer. But still Constantius, like Constantine, +continues to hold the office of supreme pontiff, and this necessarily +leads to an official complicity in the rites and institutions of +Paganism. In this capacity he issues edicts for the service of heathen +sepulture, for the repairing of heathen temples, for the support of +heathen priests. When, a quarter of a century later, the heathen +orator Symmachus pleaded the cause of expiring Paganism before the +Emperor of his day, he appealed to the example of Constantius, who, +though himself possessing a different faith, respected the ancient +rites, and provided for their due maintenance out of the public +treasury. But avarice often over-leaped the bounds which the Imperial +laws prescribed. The sacred name of the Gospel was again and again +profaned during this reign by spoliation and violence, just as under +our own Tudor Kings the cause of reformation was sullied by the +selfish rapacity of the nobles. The Court of Constantius was beset +with greedy and unscrupulous adventurers; and knowing the private +sympathies of the Emperor, they would not be slow to seize the +opportunities where any real or reported scandal of Paganism gave a +handle for interference. Such opportunities would not be rare. Thus +Paganism held on, still maintained and protected by law, but exposed +to occasional outrages from individual violence, when, by a sudden +catastrophe, it found itself seated once more on the throne. + +On the 3rd of November, 361, in the twenty-fifth year of his reign, +Constantius died. The event was altogether unexpected; he was still in +the prime of life, only forty-five years of age. Temperate habits and +vigorous outdoor exercises had kept him in perfect and unbroken +health; but he was seized with a fever, and sank rapidly. There was +only time to send to Antioch for the Bishop to administer that +sacrament, which is ordained as the inauguration, but which, with him, +as with his father, was the consummating act of his Christian +profession. Immediately after his baptism he expired. His cousin +Julian, the only surviving Prince of the house of Constantine, was his +unquestioned successor. Thus Christianity, having wielded the Imperial +sceptre for more than half a century, was again deposed. Of the +education and the apostasy, of the reign and work of the new Emperor, +I hope to speak to you in my two concluding lectures. + + + + +II.[9] + + +In my lecture last Tuesday I passed under review the two long reigns +of Constantine and Constantius, comprising altogether a period of +fifty-five years. We were thus brought to the accession of Julian. +What, then, was the change wrought in the relations of Christianity +and Paganism during this period? Most persons, I imagine, would answer +without misgiving that Christianity had been established on the ruins +of heathenism. This answer, however, would be wholly inaccurate. +Paganism was in no sense disestablished, and Christianity was only in +a very limited sense established. Paganism was still the official +religion of the empire. Whatever might be the individual faith of the +sovereign, yet, as the head of the State, he was still the chief +representative of heathenism, both in life and in death. In life he +was the supreme pontiff, the fountain head of authority over all the +priests, temples, rituals, throughout the empire; in death the +representation was transformed from earth to heaven. By his apotheosis +he became a patron divinity of Rome. A pagan calendar is still extant +in which all the festivals of the deified Constantine are duly +recorded. Now there was not and there could not be any such alliance +with the State on the part of Christianity. However strong might be +the Emperor's personal sympathies; however much he might mix himself +up in the internal affairs of the Church; whatever privileges or +immunities he might extend to the clergy,--yet officially he had no +recognised position, officially he was a Pagan still. When, therefore, +it is said that Paganism was disestablished and Christianity +established in its stead, the position of affairs is entirely +misconceived. The personal religion of the sovereign had nothing +whatever to do with the official religion of the State. In modern +countries, for the most part, the two coincide, and it is well that +this should be so; but there are some exceptions. England under James +II., and Saxony at the present moment, are cases in point. + +But while Paganism was in no sense disestablished, Christianity might +be said to a certain extent, though only to a very limited extent, to +have been established side by side with it. The principle which in our +own day has been called "levelling up," had been partially adopted. +Christianity was not only tolerated as a lawful religion, but some +political privileges had been extended to it. Thus, for instance, one +enactment of Constantine exempts the Christian clergy from certain +onerous duties, while another secures to the Pagan priests this same +privilege. In this respect the two religions are put on exactly the +same footing. Here is a case, if not of concurrent endowment, at least +of concurrent immunity, which comes to the same thing. + +The fact is, that both Christian and heathen writers were interested +in representing the change effected by the early Christian emperors as +more complete than it was. To the Christian writer it was a point of +honour to clear them from any stain of complicity with Paganism. To +the heathen writer, wise after the event, the memory of those princes +was naturally odious, and to exaggerate their hostility to the gods +was to deepen the stain on their characters. But we have fortunately +other witnesses quite free from suspicion. The coins, and the +inscriptions, and the decrees, tell a very different tale. They show +that in all essential respects Paganism, at least in the West, was as +free to develop itself as before. They reveal to us temples built, +priesthoods established, sacrifices offered, as hitherto; they exhibit +the name of the Emperor connected with the worship of Jupiter the +Preserver, of Mars the Champion, of Hercules the Conqueror, of Sol the +Invincible. Hercules is still the preserver of Caesar, and Sol is still +the companion of Augustus. They show that the worship of the Lydian +Cybele still flourished on the hill Vatican, and the worship of the +Persian Mithras was still maintained in the vaults of the Capitol. All +this it is necessary to bear in mind if we would understand the true +position of Julian. It is quite a mistake to suppose that he had to +begin _de novo_, and to re-establish Paganism. It still held the +political vantage ground, however much it had lost in social prestige; +and if it had had any inherent vitality at all, its work of +restoration could have been as successful as in fact it proved futile. + +What, then, was the real nature of the injury which this half-century +of Christian supremacy in the person of the sovereign had inflicted on +Paganism? First of all, the Imperial legislation, while it protected +and even fostered the central institutions of Paganism, zealously +assailed some outlying works. On two points especially it was +uncompromising. It rigorously proscribed divination, and sternly +repressed certain special rites accompanied by licentious orgies. In +neither respect, however, did it go beyond what during the Republic +and under the early emperors had again and again been held necessary +to secure the safety of the city and the morals of the people. But +however justifiable, according to heathen precedents, this legislation +of the early Christian emperors had proved a fatal blow to heathendom, +for it was just here that the ardour of popular religion had +consecrated itself. The patient energy, the suggestive mysticism, even +the immoral orgies of the Oriental religions, had been found to have +an irresistible attraction, and the ancient rites of Greece and Rome, +which seemed cold and passionless by their side, were deserted for +these new favourites. They were, it was true, only the buttresses of +the old polytheism. The original structure of Roman and Hellenic +worship was untouched; but when the main building was crumbling with +age the removal of these ancient supports which had shored it up was +fatal, and it fell by its own weight. + +But, secondly, the erection of a new capital was a not less deadly +blow to Paganism. Rome was the central fortress of heathendom: to +withdraw from it the Imperial Government was to deprive it of its +ammunition. After the building of Constantinople, Rome still remained +the formal official capital of the empire; but, practically, its +influence was gone. It no longer guided deliberation; it simply +recorded results. And not only was Paganism materially weakened by +this transference, but at the same time Christianity was delivered +from its fetters. Constantinople was a Christian city from the +beginning. Paganism had here no prescriptive claim and no +time-honoured prestige. So long as the Imperial Government remained at +Rome, it found itself inextricably entangled in Paganism. Constantine +had felt its merciless strength, and the foundation of a new capital +was his escape from it. + +Yet, after all, such weapons as these would have been quite +ineffective, if Paganism had possessed any inherent vitality. The grip +of death was already upon it before the arm of power was raised +against it. It was as when, after long centuries, the tomb of some +ancient king is laid open, the stately form, and the majestic +features, and the royal robes are exposed to our view. For the moment +he seems to be living still as he lived in history; but we look again, +and we see only a handful of dust. Sealed in its sepulchre, the corpse +might have preserved its outward form for ages still; but the air and +the light were poured in upon it, and all at once it crumbles away. +Paganism was confronted with Christianity, and it vanished. + +The infancy of Julian had been dabbled in blood. His earliest +recollections would carry him back to the time when fathers, brothers, +uncles, cousins, all had fallen in one indiscriminate massacre. From +this carnage he and his brother Gallus alone had escaped; he himself, +so he believed, because he was too young to be feared, and his brother +because he was then a sickly boy, and seemed not to have long to live. +The odium of this foul crime, whether justly or unjustly, rested on +his cousin, the Emperor Constantius. If Constantius had not directly +ordered it, he was thought to have connived at it. Certainly he had +been on the spot, and, whether for want of power or for want of will, +he had not prevented it. The courtiers and attendants attempted to +palliate his cousin's guilt to the child Julian. They represented to +him that Constantius had been deceived; that he was unable to restrain +the savage outbreak of the soldiers; that he suffered fearful pangs of +remorse; that he attributed to this crime all the misfortunes of his +after life. It seems plain from this account that the spectre of this +ghastly massacre haunted Julian's childish memory. He could not but +feel that the bare sword was hanging over his own neck. + +Julian was left an orphan before he was seven years old. His mother +had died a few months after his birth. His father had perished, as we +have seen. For some years after the massacre, he appears to have +resided at Constantinople. Of his brother Gallus we hear nothing +during this period. Julian himself was placed under the charge of an +old family servant--a Scythian, Mardonius by name, a strict and +pedantic disciplinarian, but also a man of culture, as the sequel +shows. Mardonius taught his pupil to keep his eyes fixed on the ground +as he took his walks. He led him always to and fro to school by the +same way, knowing no other himself, and preventing the lad from +discovering any other. He strictly prohibited him from going to the +theatre or the circus, and altogether filled his mind with a distaste +for the popular amusements of his age. We hear nothing of +companionship, nothing of outdoor exercise, nothing of the +cheerfulness and the sympathy which are equally necessary with the +moral discipline and the intellectual training for the proper +expansion of child's faculties. Julian was not like other children. +Whatever may have been his natural disposition, his education had +never allowed him to be a boy. Human nature, more especially childish +nature, must seek relief somewhere from hard conventional restraints. +Where all the usual outlets are closed, the buoyancy and the +enthusiasm of the child will devise some means of escape. The paradise +of Julian's childish existence was made up of two things. First, his +tutor Mardonius was an enthusiastic admirer of Homer. If he prevented +him from playing in the field he took him to the leafy islands of +Calypso, to the Cave of Circe and the Gardens of Alcinous. With a less +intelligent child this might have bred a feeling of disgust; but +Julian was quick, imaginative, absorbing, and here was field for his +sensibility. And, again, though his walks might be confined to one +city, and to one street in that city, yet no bounds could shut out the +glories of the heavens above. We have Julian's own authority for +saying that his childish imagination was profoundly impressed by their +contemplation. "From my earliest days," he wrote long afterwards, "a +strange yearning after the rays of the God, the Sun God, sunk into my +soul; and thus from the time I was quite a little child, when I looked +at the light of heaven, I was beside myself with ecstasy, so that not +only would I look eagerly and fixedly on the sun, but at night also, +when there was a cloudless and clear sky, I gave up everything at +once, and was rivetted by the beauties of the heavens, no longer +understanding anything that any one spoke to me, nor giving heed to +myself what I was doing." These, then, were the two bright spots which +relieved the gloom of his childish life--the literature of Greece and +the contemplation of the heavens. How large an influence these early +memories had on his later apostasy, it will not be difficult to +imagine. + +This went on for some years with slight interruptions, and then there +was a complete change. It was apparently about the year 344, when +Julian would be thirteen or fourteen years old, and Gallus eighteen or +nineteen, that, by the Emperor's orders, the two brothers were carried +away to Macellum, an imperial castle in the mountain districts of +Cappadocia. There they spent the next six years of life in strict +retirement. What may have been the reason of this change we are not +told, but we can easily suspect. Gallus was now growing up to manhood. +He was tall, well made, and handsome, with flowing auburn hair; not +unlike his uncle, the great Constantine, as we may infer from the +description of the two men. The suspicious temper of Constantius might +take alarm lest this young man should become the centre of +disaffection and treason. But, however this may be, the seclusion was +complete. Julian speaks of it as banishment. To himself it was the +worst kind of banishment. He was banished not only from the city and +the court, about which probably he knew little and cared less, but he +was banished also from his books and his teachers. The two brothers +saw no one of their own rank; their domestics were their only +associates. Gallus was no companion for Julian. He had no literary +taste; notwithstanding his handsome looks he was coarse and violent, +even ferociously brutal, in his disposition, as the sequel shows. The +treatment of Julian during this critical period of his life must have +been altogether injurious to the healthy development of his character. +A cramped boyhood almost certainly produces a one-sided manhood. + +At length, after six years of seclusion, the brothers were again set +free. What was the motive of Constantius--whether he considered that +they had been sufficiently restrained, or whether some conscientious +scruples found their way into his heart--we cannot say. Gallus and +Julian were summoned to Constantinople. Soon after this a formidable +insurrection broke out in the West, and Constantius found it necessary +to associate some one with him in the cares of the empire. Accordingly +Gallus, then twenty-five years old, was nominated Caesar, and appointed +to the command of the East. The appointment was most disastrous. Now +that he was free from control, the innate ferocity of his disposition +revealed itself. He has been compared, and the comparison does him no +injustice, to a bloodthirsty tiger, who has broken through the bars of +his cage, and, enraged by long confinement, fiercely attacks every one +who comes in his way. Complaints of his savage, turbulent +administration came thick upon the ears of Constantius. There were +also rumours of a disloyal conspiracy on the part of the new Caesar. +Constantius might, perhaps, have forgiven the misgovernment; but the +treason could not be overlooked. Gallus was recalled, stripped of the +purple, and put to death without a hearing. Constantius had dyed his +hand once more in the blood of Julian's kindred. Julian was left alone +in the world, confronted by the tyrant. This happened in the year 354. + +But while the caged passions of Gallus had sought compensation in this +savage outbreak, the caged intellect of Julian was running riot in its +own way. For a time he seems to have enjoyed comparative freedom. At +Constantinople, at Nicomedia, at Pergamos, at Ephesus, we hear of his +attendance on philosophers, on rhetoricians, on teachers of all kinds. +The jealousy of Constantius could look with complacency on his +philosophical and literary ardour. An ungainly, enthusiastic, +unpractical scholar was the last man whom he need fear as a rival. It +was during this period of turbulent, energetic, unreflecting, +intellectual activity that the change came upon him. Whatever might +have been the religious feelings of his boyhood, it was only now that +Paganism asserted its power over his mind. The incident that decided +his apostasy is eminently characteristic of the man and of the period. +It happened in the year 351, the same year as that in which Gallus was +invested with the purple, when Julian himself was twenty years of age. +In the course of conversation one of his teachers happened to speak of +Maximus, a famous philosopher, whom he described as possessing great +natural gifts, and as accompanying his teaching by demonstrations. +Julian's curiosity was excited. He demanded an explanation. He was +told that on one occasion Maximus, in the presence of the speaker and +others, had burnt a grain of incense in the temple of Hecate and +chanted some mysterious hymn, when suddenly they saw the statue of the +goddess smile upon him. On their expressing surprise, he told them +that they should see a greater marvel than this--the torches in the +hands of the goddess should burst out into flames of their own accord. +He had scarcely said the word when the lights burst out from the +torches. "Stay with your books," said Julian, "and I wish you joy of +them; I have found the man I have been seeking for." He sought out +Maximus, and was initiated in his philosophy and his magic. + +This grotesque and unnatural combination was, as I have said, +characteristic of the man and of the age. In earlier times philosophy +and popular superstition were deadly foes, but in face of Christianity +both the one and the other had learnt their weakness, and this unequal +alliance was patched up. The new Platonist philosophy adopted not only +the mythology of Greece and Rome, but the nature-worship and the magic +of the East. A true theology must appeal at once to the intellect +which demands a reason for its allegiance, and to the religious +instinct which is conscious of dependence on a higher power. +Christianity recognises both these claims. Greek philosophy appealed +to the one faculty; Pagan religion to the other. Thus divided they +could do nothing, though the alliance was formed. It was well +conceived, but it was impossible, because it was a fundamental +violation of truth. Julian, the champion of heathendom, advanced to +slay Christianity with philosophy in his right hand and superstition +in his left, and both weapons shivered in his grasp. + +Julian was a Pagan now, but he carefully concealed the change. During +the next ten years, until the death of Constantius, this cloak of +dissimulation was never thrown aside. The immediate outward effect of +his conduct was a stricter attention to the services of the Church. +The old fable, said his heathen friend Libanius afterwards, was here +reversed, and the lion was clothed in the ass's skin. Only one or two +most intimate friends were in the secret, but it was more widely +suspected. Ardent Pagans began to look to him as the future restorer +of Paganism; old prophecies were banded about that Christianity was +soon to come to an end. One such oracle fixed the limit of 365 years +for the worship of Christ. The term was fast drawing to a close. I +shall not undertake the task of arraigning Julian as before the bar of +the Eternal Righteousness. All such attempts to anticipate the verdict +of the Great Judge must be as vain as they are presumptuous; but it is +due to the nobler features of his character--and these were neither +few nor insignificant--to dwell on the extenuating circumstances of +his case. And surely no man's education was more faulty, or more +likely to produce a disastrous revulsion. Christianity was associated +in his memory with everything that was gloomy, terrible, repulsive. +Its champion, in his eyes, was his most deadly enemy, Constantius, who +had shed the blood of his nearest kinsmen, and who was ready at any +moment to shed his own blood when the occasion might demand. Writing +of himself at a later date in apathetic allegory, he describes himself +as a youth who, looking back upon the mass of evil that had befallen +him from his own kinsmen and cousins, was so astounded that he +resolved to throw himself down to Tartarus, but was rescued by Helios, +the Sun God. This throws a flood of light on the personal influences +which coloured his views of Christianity, and finally led to his +apostasy. Moreover, the form of Christianity which was presented to +him was not calculated to impress him deeply or favourably. The +coldness of asceticism would take no firm hold of his ardent and +enthusiastic nature. Its representatives, the Arian bishops, would not +recommend the cause; the exceeding bitterness of theologic controversy +called down his contempt, and the superstitious reverence for the +bones of the martyrs aroused his disgust. In the allegory to which I +have already alluded he speaks of himself as a child covered with +filth and dirt, on whom the Sun God at length took pity. Whatever rays +of light had burst the gloom of his earlier life were associated with +the glories of nature. + +While this strange revel of philosophy and fanaticism was going on in +his mind, Julian visited Athens--Athens at once the home of Greek +literature and the sanctuary of Pagan idolatry. No place more +congenial to his temper could have been chosen than this. Here it was +that he fell in with two devout Christian students, Gregory and +Basil--names destined hereafter to be famous in the history of the +Church. Gregory has left a description of the future emperor as he +appeared at this time--a speaking likeness we cannot doubt. The +convulsive movements of the shoulder, the half-scared, half-frenzied +glance of the eye, the grotesque contortions of the face, the +tumultuous, hesitating speech, the loud, immoderate laughter, the +restlessness of the whole man from head to foot, seemed to Gregory to +bode no good. Much of this was natural to Julian, but much, also, may +have been due to the consciousness of the secret seething within his +soul. We know what Gregory did not know--that Julian was a Pagan +already when he was discussing Christian topics with Christian +students. + +But Julian's studies were rudely interrupted. Constantius again found +the burden of the empire too heavy for his shoulders, and again he +resolved to divide it. Julian, very reluctantly on his part, was +appointed Caesar, and charged with the administration of Gaul. He was +now twenty-five years of age. The courtiers of Constantius laughed at +the new Caesar, and certainly the appointment did not give any fair +promise of success. But this enthusiastic philosopher, this student +recluse, soon showed that he had in him the making not only of an able +ruler, but also of a consummate general. In vain the flatterers of +Constantius ridiculed Julian's petty triumphs, as they were pleased to +call them; in vain they dubbed him a scribbling Greek. Campaign after +campaign added to his reputation. His administration of Gaul was +unmistakably brilliant. So matters went on for five years, till the +jealousy of Constantius brought about a crisis. An ill-judged attempt +to withdraw Julian's best Gaulish troops produced a mutiny; the +soldiers proclaimed him emperor, and he accepted the title. Having +assumed the imperial purple, he marched to force his recognition on +Constantius; but he was saved the peril of an appeal to arms. Fever +anticipated the conflict, and carried off Constantius opportunely. +Julian was now absolute emperor, master of himself and master of the +world. He could throw off the mask at length; he was free to carry out +his long cherished design for the restoration of Paganism. With what +energy, with what devotion, with what fanaticism, with what futility +he worked for this end it will be my business in my next and +concluding lecture to describe. + + + + +III.[10] + + +The history of Julian has been employed as an apologue by more than +one writer when satirising some religious reaction of his day. A +well-known living theological critic of Germany uses it as a cloak for +an attack on the late King of Prussia, and English clergymen under the +reign of James II., assailing the religious tendencies of the King, +denounced him as another Julian the Apostate. Such comparisons may +serve their immediate purpose, but they are almost always misleading, +and may be very unjust. I think, however, that we may, with advantage, +compare this Pagan reaction in the Roman empire under Julian with the +Papal reaction in England under Mary. The two sovereigns, indeed, have +little in common except their manifest sincerity, but the general +relations and the ultimate effects of the two movements are not so +very dissimilar. They both interposed after a very decided +predominance of the opposite cause; they both were a return to the +forms of the past; they both involved a reversal of the traditional +policy of the reigning house; they both were short in duration, but +resolute, uncompromising, energetic in action; and they both proved +utterly futile in the result, because they were unsupported by any +deep feeling in the mass of the people. So far as they produced any +effects at all, they served only to nerve the energies and reassure +the confidence of their antagonists. + +Julian was now thirty years old when the death of Constantius left him +sole master of the Roman empire. In stature he was rather below the +average height; his frame was muscular and strong; his shoulders were +unusually broad; his neck was thick and arched; he had a bright and +piercing eye--the family characteristic which was so remarkable in his +uncle Constantine; the upper part of his face, the brow, and the nose +were fine and well chiselled; his mouth was too large, and his lower +lip hung disagreeably. He wore a rough, pointed beard, the usual +appendage of philosophers. Of his personal appearance he was +studiously careless. It would almost seem as though the courtly +dignity and scrupulous neatness of his cousin Constantius had produced +a revulsion in him. He ostentatiously vaunts his unpolished manner and +his slovenly habits. He was signally undignified in all his gestures. +Of his excitability and his restlessness of manner I have already +spoken. He was a hurried, reckless talker. His tongue, we are told, +was never at rest. His energy was enormous. During his administration +of Gaul, when his days had been spent in the anxieties of government +or in the toils of war, he would sit up half the night studying or +writing. When he became Emperor his energy seemed only to increase. +The great purpose of his life, the restoration and reform of Paganism, +was now definitely before him, and he worked at it with a +determination which never slackened. Into a short reign of eighteen +months he crowded an amount of work which probably no sovereign has +ever surpassed. He had on his shoulders the undivided weight of a +great empire; he was preparing for a difficult and dangerous campaign; +he was busied with the hopeless task of restoring an effete religion; +he was writing hither and thither to the representatives of +heathendom, scolding, stimulating, encouraging; and yet he found time +for a vast amount of literary work besides. He corresponded with +rhetoricians and philosophers; he composed orations and hymns in +praise of heathen deities; he wrote a lengthy and elaborate attack on +the Christian religion, and threw off light squibs on his +contemporaries and on his predecessors. If his one fatal act of +apostasy had not perverted and spoiled everything, he might have +ranked among the greatest of princes. As it was, he has no claim to +the title of greatness. He did nothing which has lived, because he did +nothing which deserved to live. He left nothing, absolutely nothing, +behind which has tended to make mankind happier, or better, or wiser. + +Julian, if his own account may be believed, assumed the imperial +diadem with the greatest reluctance; it was forced upon him by the +soldiers before he knew where he was; and yet there is reason to +believe that his coyness was in great measure affected. It is quite +clear that he was already possessed of the idea of a Pagan +restoration, and that he considered himself as having a special call +from his gods for this work. The Genius of Rome, we are told, appeared +to him in a vision. He reproached the reluctant Caesar with having so +often driven him from his doors, and threatened to depart for ever if +he were excluded this time. Thus warned, Julian responded to the call; +but he still continued to dissemble. We read of his praying to +Mercury, of his receiving admonitions from Jupiter; we are told of his +consulting auspices and using divination in private; and yet on the +festival of the Epiphany, many months after he had been proclaimed +Emperor, we find him entering a Christian Church, and there solemnly +offering up his prayers to Almighty God. His heathen biographer and +admirer assigns as the reason, that he might secure the allegiance of +his Christian subjects. The strange thing is that neither Julian, nor +Julian's friends, seemed to think any apology needed for this +dissimulation. Much, indeed, should be forgiven to one who, from early +childhood, had been driven by the cruelty of his lot to shield himself +under an impenetrable reserve; but it is hard to understand the moral +blindness which fails to see that this flagrant violation of truth had +need to sue for forgiveness. Those martyrs whom Julian derided and +despised held it a glorious gain to sacrifice life and all things +rather than consent even to a momentary act which might be interpreted +as a denial of their faith. I need not ask which is the loftier +spectacle of the two. + +But indeed Julian, notwithstanding the many noble features in his +character--his justice, his moderation, his strict temperance, his +unsparing energy--was wholly wanting in those higher graces which are +the crown of the Christian character. He was egotistical in the +extreme; his self-consciousness rarely, if ever, deserts him; he will +let all the world know that he is a model philosopher; he is always +thanking his gods that he is not as other men are. Even when he +satirises himself his irony is only a veil--a very thin veil, which +rather suggests than conceals his self-complacency. He is always +standing before the mirror, always soliciting the admiration of +mankind. Of the childlike humility which is the main portal to the +kingdom of heaven, he knows nothing. And yet with all this +dissimulation and all this acting we should do the man a gross +injustice if we imagined that he was insincere. Of his sincerity in +the work which he undertook he gave every proof which it is possible +for a man to give. He showed himself ready to spend and be spent for +it. This strange combination of the enthusiast and the dissembler, of +the fanatic and the philosopher, may be very difficult to realise; but +there can be no doubt that they did unite in the person of Julian. In +this spirit Julian applied himself to his task. + +This task was two-fold. He must depress Christianity, and he must +reanimate and reform Paganism. In his relation to Christianity he +avowed himself on principle favourable to absolute toleration. "I do +not wish the Galileans," he wrote, "to be put to death or to be beaten +unjustly, or to suffer any other wrong. We ought rather to pity than +to hate those who are unfortunate in matters of the greatest +importance." How far this was the genuine dictate of his heart, and +how far it was suggested by principles of expediency, we cannot tell, +but at all events he could not persuade himself to apply his principle +frankly. He restored a heretic bishop because his restoration would +create divisions among Christians, and expelled the orthodox +Athanasius because his presence was a tower of strength to the Church. +The letters of Julian on this occasion betray the weakness of his +position. He has absolutely nothing to allege against Athanasius +except that he had taught men to treat the gods with contempt, and +that he had dared to baptise Greek ladies of rank--in other words, +that he was highly successful as a Christian missionary. Having no +argument, he descends to abuse. He scolds the Alexandrians that +petition him to rescind the decree of banishment: he reviles +Athanasius himself; he calls him an impious villain, a vile Manichaean. +He responds to their petition by expelling him not from Alexandria +only, but from the whole of Egypt. Altogether there is a marked +deterioration in Julian's character from the time when he becomes his +own master. He had plainly supposed that he should carry everything +before him: he had imagined that he had only to proclaim toleration, +and his subjects would be as enamoured of Paganism as he himself was. +He was grievously disappointed. He found in Christianity a strength, a +vitality, a resistance for which he was not prepared. He found in +Paganism a feebleness, an irresolution, an indifference, an utter +absence of self-sacrifice, which contrasted strangely with his own +devoted enthusiasm. + +It is infinitely tragical to contemplate his gradually descending from +the high level on which he took his stand at first to mean devices of +all kinds--more tragical than though he had boldly taken up the sword +of the persecutor at once. He would not desert his principle of +toleration; he never ceased to enunciate that to the last; but he +would connive at violations of it. Pagan outrages on the Christians +were condoned or gently rebuked. When assaults on their life and their +property were reported to him, he would say, flippantly, these +Galileans--so he always called them--ought not to resent the +opportunity of being made martyrs when they prized martyrdom so +highly; that they had no just cause for complaint in being condemned +to poverty when poverty was so loudly extolled in their Lord. But, +indeed, Julian showed unmistakably by one enactment that toleration +with him was not an inviolable principle. An edict was issued by him +forbidding any Christian to give instruction in Greek literature under +any circumstances. The reason assigned was that, as they did not +believe in the gods of Homer and Hesiod, they were not fit expositors +on these points. "Let them go," wrote the Emperor, "to the churches of +the Galileans, and there expound Matthew and Luke." Among those +condemned to silence by this decree were not a few of the most +illustrious teachers of the age. It made a profound sensation at the +time. It was most severely criticised by Julian's own heathen admirers +at a later date. "It deserves," writes one, "to be buried in eternal +silence." To what further lengths the intolerance of Julian might have +gone as he realised more and more the bitterness of failure if his +reign had been prolonged, we can only conjecture; but the descent was +sufficiently rapid to suggest that, soured by disappointment, he +might, had he lived, have been found at the last among the most +relentless of persecutors. + +But while he was thus employing every artifice to depress +Christianity, he was also straining every nerve to reanimate and +restore Paganism. "He was," says his heathen panegyrist, Libanius, +"the best of priests as he was the first of Emperors." He valued the +title of Chief Pontiff, we are told, more highly than the dignity of +Emperor. As Chief Pontiff he made his influence felt throughout the +empire, reopening temples, restoring privileges, reinstituting +sacrifices. No deity and no rite in any corner of his dominions +escaped his vigilance. Whether it was the worship of the Phrygian +Cybele, or of the Apis at Memphis, or of the Daphnian Apollo at +Antioch, his interest was equally unflagging. He was everywhere +advising, coaxing, threatening, goading into activity, where he could +not fan into enthusiasm. And not content with thus exercising his +official superintendence, he was most assiduous in his own personal +services. In season and out of season he would ply the bystander with +questions as to his religious belief. In season and out of season he +would dispute against the Galileans. Wherever he went the altars +smoked with victims. He would offer sacrifices of a whole hecatomb at +once. He ransacked land and sea for rare birds and beasts, that he +might offer them in sacrifice to the gods. At Antioch his soldiers +were constantly seen borne away from the temple through the streets, +gorged and intoxicated, after the revelry of these religious +festivals. All kinds of divination, by flight of birds, by the +inspection of entrails, by the sound of waters, by oracular responses, +and by Sibylline books, were diligently sought out. + +Every charlatan who pretended to some new secret of soothsaying was +welcomed by him. Strange to say, all this fervour of devotion did not +recommend Julian to his heathen subjects. It shows the hollowness of +Paganism at this time that his conduct was met either with ridicule or +with condemnation. The common people called him in derision a victim +butcher, and not a sacrificial priest. It was sneeringly said that if +he had returned triumphant from his Persian expedition the whole race +of cows must have become extinct. The devotion of the Emperor found no +response in the mass of his subjects. + +But Julian was not only a restorer, he was also a reformer of +heathendom. Whether he was conscious of the difference or not, the +Paganism which he had set up as his ideal was quite another thing from +the Paganism which had been handed down from the past. He strove to +graft the morality and the organisation of Christianity on the stem of +heathendom. The priests of Paganism were merely the performers of +certain rites, the depositories of certain mysteries. They had no +moral, or educational, or philanthropic conscience. The Christian +clergy, on the other hand, over and above their duties in the public +services of the Church, were expected to be also the pastors and +teachers, the guides and examples, the ministers of comfort, and the +dispensers of alms to their flocks. Julian attempted to infuse this +pastoral element into the Pagan priesthood, to which it was wholly +foreign. In the letters which are extant the priests are enjoined by +him to abstain from the theatre or the tavern; they are forbidden to +engage in any degrading occupation; they are required to see that +their wives, and children, and servants attend regularly on the +service of the gods; they are told to imitate the grave demeanour and +the benevolent hospitality of Christian bishops. "It is shameful," +writes the Emperor, "that the impious Galileans should support our +people as well as their own." Such a conception of the priest's office +must have surprised Julian's correspondents. They had not bargained +for anything of the kind. + +But, with all his efforts, Julian made no real advance. There were, in +large numbers, apostasies when he apostatised, just as there had been +conversions when Constantine was converted; but these insincere +adherents from fashion or self-interest are the weakness, not the +strength, of any cause. Julian could not have deceived himself. He saw +none of the self-sacrifice which is the only evidence of genuine +religious conviction. He upbraided the crowds who flocked to the +temples, not to worship the gods, but to applaud the Emperor. + +And now the end was fast approaching. About Midsummer 362, Julian took +up his residence at Antioch, where he spent nine months preparing for +his Persian campaign. This sojourn aggravated his disappointment. The +people of Antioch did not take kindly to their sovereign. Before long +he had succeeded in making himself equally unpopular with both the +great sections of the community. At Antioch, where Christianity had +first obtained its name, the Christians formed an exceptionally large +fraction of the whole population. They would not be predisposed +favourably towards an apostate, and his injustice only served to +confirm their hatred. A fire broke out in the temple of Apollo of +Daphne, and it was burnt to the ground. Without any adequate reason +his suspicions fell on the Christians; he put the suspected persons to +cruel tortures, but elicited no confession. Thus foiled, he ordered +the principal church of Antioch to be closed and razed to the ground. +The attitude of the Christians was one of stern defiance. Under the +walls of the palace, along the streets of the city, wherever the +Emperor would be likely to hear, were chanted the words of the +Psalmist--"Confounded be all they that worship carved images, and that +delight in vain gods. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, +even the work of men's hands. Eyes have they and see not. They that +make them are like unto them, and so are all they that put their trust +in them." Nor was he more fortunate with the heathen population. He +and they were co-religionists, but his Paganism was not their +Paganism. The theatrical exhibitions, the festive orgies, the dancing +and the revelry, these were the very soul of religious worship to +them. He despised all such things. They ridiculed the officious +devotion with which he hurried from temple to temple and from altar to +altar, present at every festival, and participating in every rite. He +took his revenge by satirising their ungodliness. He told them at the +great festival of their patron god, the Daphnian Apollo, he had +expected to see costly victims smoking on the altar, but found there +only one miserable goose, the solitary offering of a poor priest. +Indeed, he was doomed to disappointment on all sides. One great +project which he entertained at this time was the rebuilding of the +temple of Jerusalem. It was not that he loved the Jews, but that he +hated the Christians. So he entered into communication with the Jewish +patriarch, and the work was commenced. The ruined walls were +demolished, the foundations of the new building begun; but as the +workmen penetrated underground, great globes of fire burst out from +the earth and drove them back. Again and again they renewed the +attempt; again and again they were repulsed. The project was +relinquished and the temple remains unbuilt to this day. + +Thus irritated and disappointed, Julian left Antioch and commenced his +march. At his departure he vented his anger against the offending +people by declaring that he would not enter the city again, but on his +return he would go to Tarsus instead. He was as good as his word. He +did return to Tarsus; but he returned there a corpse. Disastrous +omens, we are told, thronged upon him. During his march on Hierapolis, +as he entered the city, a portico suddenly gave way, and crushed fifty +soldiers under its ruins. At Davana a huge stack of straw fell, and +smothered to death as many more. At Carrhae, the fatal scene of the +defeat of Crassus, he was troubled with sinister dreams. At Circesium +he received letters from Sallust, the Prefect of Gaul, entreating him +to suspend the ill-omened expedition. Here, too, was an apparition of +sinister augury. The corpse of an executed criminal was found lying +across the path. At another place an enormous lion confronted the +soldiers across their path. He was shot by them, and presented to +Julian. It portended the death of a king, but on the question what +king was meant there was a division of opinion. The Etruscan +soothsayers considered it a disastrous sign; the philosophers +interpreted it favourably. The next day a soldier named Julianus was +struck down by lightning. This omen again was differently explained. +The soothsayers and the philosophers took opposite sides. + +Arrived at the scene of conflict, the Emperor, after obtaining some +successes, offered a magnificent sacrifice--ten fine bulls--to Mars +the Avenger. The omens were unmistakably sinister. Julian was +disgusted with the ingratitude of the god, and called Jupiter to +witness that he would not sacrifice to Mars again; "nor," adds the +historian, "did he belie his oath, being carried off prematurely by a +speedy death." These prodigies, with others, are related by a Pagan +who accompanied the army. Christian writers add an incident of which I +see no reason to question the proof, and which certainly deserves to +be true. Julian's common taunt against the Christians was their +worship of a dead man. While preparing for his expedition at Antioch, +he fell into dispute, after his manner, with a Christian whom he met +accidentally, and said mockingly, "What is the Son of the carpenter +doing now?" "He is making a coffin," was the prompt reply. The Son of +the carpenter was making a coffin--a coffin not for Julian only, but +for the Paganism of which Julian was the champion. + +It is not necessary for me to follow out this expedition to its +disastrous issue. It is sufficient to say that Julian was inveigled, +surrounded, pierced by a spear from some unknown Persian or Saracen +hand. He perceived at once that he was mortally wounded. His words at +this moment are differently reported. According to one account, he +cried out, "Oh, Galilean, thou hast conquered!" Another story relates +that he took the blood welling from the wound in his hand, and flung +it up towards the sun, his patron god, with an imprecation--"There, +take thy fill." Neither saying, perhaps, is reported on sufficiently +good authority, but either would accord well with the disappointment +and irritation which marked the closing scenes of his life. He +inquired what was the name of the place. It was a small village called +Parthia. He had been forewarned long ago that in Parthia he should +die. He had supposed that the famous country of that name was meant. +We are reminded by this incident of an English sovereign lying on his +death-bed in the famous chamber at Westminster, which still bears the +name of Jerusalem. "It hath been prophesied to me many years I should +not die but at Jerusalem, which vainly I supposed the Holy Land." +Within a few hours Julian had breathed his last. He died on the 26th +June, 363, being not yet quite thirty-two years old, and with him +perished the last and best hope of Paganism. Less than twenty years +after, the Emperor Gratian refused the title of Supreme Pontiff. This +was the first overt act of disestablishment. Then blow followed blow +in rapid succession. Paganism was first disestablished, then +disendowed, then prohibited; yet it still continued to linger on till +at length it was buried in the grave of the empire. St. Augustine's +_City of God_ was the paean of victory over the enemy slain. +Julian's work had been found like a child's castle elaborately piled +up of sand on the brink of the ocean. The rising tide advanced +steadily, inexorably, relentlessly, and no traces of the structure +remain. + + + + +WOMAN AND THE GOSPEL.[11] + + "And He took the damsel by the hand."--MARK v. 41. + + +In selecting this text I have no intention of saying many words on the +actual scene itself. The raising of Jairus's daughter attracts our +attention by its vivid narrative, and by its intense human pathos, +while the two foreign words, summing up the interest of the story, +linger strangely in our ears, impressing it effectually on our +memories. Nor, again, do I purpose speaking of its direct theological +import, whether as an answer to human faith, or as a manifestation of +the Divine power. In this latter aspect this is one of three signal +miracles, the anticipations of Christ's own resurrection. It claims, +and it has received, the most earnest study, both in itself and in +relation to other incidents of the same class. + +These more obvious aspects of the text are beside my present purpose. +I wish to-day to treat it from a wholly different point of view. +Christ's miracles have always the highest spiritual significance. They +are not miracles only, but parables also. The Messiah's kingdom would +have achieved comparatively little for mankind if it had brought +deliverance to the captive in a literal sense only. A far heavier and +more galling bondage would still remain--the bondage of sin. Physical +blindness is only a type of moral blindness; Christ's healing power in +the one case is the pledge of His healing power in the other. The +palsy of the body symbolises the palsy of the soul. If the paralytic +is bidden to take up his bed and walk, this is before all things an +assurance to us that Christ is able and willing to heal the paralysis +of the soul. From this point of view the words of the text are full of +meaning to all who are met together to-day. "He took the damsel by the +hand, and said unto her, Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise. And +straightway the damsel arose, and walked; and they were astonished +with a great astonishment." + +Need I remind you that this is the earliest miracle of raising the +dead recounted in the Gospels? Two others follow. The widow of Nain +and the sisters of Bethany receive back their dead. But the one was a +growing youth, the other was a man of mature age. The young woman was +Christ's first miracle of resurrection. On her was wrought first this +stupendous miracle. For her was won this earliest triumph over death +and hell. Is not this a significant fact in itself, but especially +significant for you, for it proclaims the fundamental principle of the +Gospel charter? It announces that the weak and the helpless in years, +in sex, in social status, are especially Christ's care. It declares +emphatically that in Him is neither male nor female. It is a call to +you, you women-workers, to do a sister's part to these your sisters. +Christ's action in this miracle is a foreshadowing of His action in +the Church. The Master found woman deposed from her proper social +position. The man had suffered not less than the woman by this her +humiliation. Jew and Gentile had conspired together in an unconscious +conspiracy to bring about this disastrous result. The Hebrew Rabbi and +the Greek philosopher alike had gone astray. It is the recorded saying +of a famous Jewish doctor that the words of the law were better burned +than committed to woman. It is an opinion ascribed to the most famous +Athenian statesman, that woman had then achieved her highest glory +when her name was heard amongst men least, either for virtue or for +reproach. A moral resurrection was needed for womanhood. It might seem +to the looker-on like a social death, from which there was no +awakening, but it was only the suspension of her proper faculties and +opportunities, a long sleep from which a revival must come sooner or +later. It was for Him, and Him alone, who was the Vanquisher of death, +who has the keys of Hades--for Him alone to open the door of her +sepulchral prison and resuscitate her dormant life and restore her to +her ordinary place in society. When all hope was gone, He took her by +the hand and bid her arise; and at the sound of His voice and the +touch of His hand she arose and walked, and the world was astonished +with a great astonishment. We ourselves are so familiar with the +results, the position of woman is so fully recognised by us, it is +bearing so abundant fruit every day and everywhere, that we overlook +the magnitude of the change itself. Only, then, when we turn to the +harem and the zenana do we learn to estimate what the Gospel has +achieved, and has still to achieve, in the emancipation of woman, and +her restitution to her lawful place in the social order. To ourselves +the large place which woman occupies in the Gospel and in the early +apostolic history seems only natural. To contemporaries it must have +appeared in the light of a social revolution. The very opening of the +Gospel is charged with Divine messages communicated to us through +woman--Mary, Elizabeth, Anna; women attend our Lord everywhere during +His earthly ministry. The sisters, Martha and Mary, are set before us +as embodying the two contrasted types of character, the practical and +the contemplative. To a woman, and to a woman alone, is given the +promise of an undying hope beyond the glory of the mightiest earthly +princes. Of her it is said: "Wheresoever this Gospel is preached in +the whole world, there shall this which this woman has done be told as +a memorial of her." To a woman were spoken those gracious words of +pardon most tender and compassionate, the consolation and the stay and +the hope of the penitent to all time: "Her sins, which are many, are +forgiven, for she loveth much." Women are the chief attendants at the +crucifixion, and the chief ministrants at the tomb. Woman is the first +witness of the resurrection; and as it was in Christ's personal +ministry, so it is in all the Apostolic Church. In the first gathering +of the little band after the Ascension, women are found assembled with +the apostles. This is a foreshadowing of the part which they are +destined to play in the subsequent narrative of the history of the +Church. Cast your eyes down the salutations in the Epistle to the +Romans. There is Phoebe, a deaconess of the Church of Cenchrea, +commended as having been the succourer of many, among others of the +Apostle himself. There is Priscilla, who with her husband had laid +down her neck for his life, to whom he himself not only gave thanks, +but all the Churches of the Gentiles. There is Mary, who bestowed much +labour upon him and others; Tryphena and Tryphosa, who laboured much +in the Lord. There is Persis, to whom the same testimony is borne. +There is the mother of Rufus, who had also been like a mother to +himself. There is Julia, and there is the sister of Nereus. A long +catalogue to appear in the salutations of a single epistle! + +Turn again from the Church of which St. Paul knew least when he wrote, +to the Church of which he knew most. Witness his relation to his +beloved Philippian Church. He addresses himself first to the women who +resort to the places of prayer among the individual women with whom he +came in contact. At Philippi we read of Lydia, his earliest hostess in +this city, of the damsel from whom he cast out a spirit of divination, +and then of Euodias and Syntyche, women who laboured with him in the +Gospel; and indeed we know more of the women at Philippi than we know +of the men. + +But it was not only this desultory, unrecognised service, however +frequent, however great, that women rendered to the spread of the +Gospel in its earliest days. The Apostolic Church had its organised +ministrations of women, its order of deaconesses, its order of widows. +Women had their definite place in the ecclesiastical system of those +early times, and in our own age and country again the awakened +activity of the Church is once more demanding the recognition of the +female ministry. The Church feels herself maimed of one of her hands. +No longer she fails to employ, to organise, to consecrate to the +service of Christ, the love, the sympathy, the tact, the self-devotion +of women. Hence the revival of the female diaconate in its +multiplication of sisterhoods. But these, though the most definite, +are not the most extensive developments of this revival. Everywhere +institutions are springing up, manifold in form and purpose, for the +organisation of women's work. There has been, and there is still, a +shameful waste of this latent power, boundless in its capacities if +only fostered and developed. The famous heroines of womanhood will +necessarily be few. It is rarely women's part to save a city or guide +a church. Only at long intervals on the stage of the history of the +world appear such women as Joan of Arc; but here and there God raises +up an exceptional heroine to do exceptional work, which a woman alone +can do, or do so effectually, for her age and country. But generally +it is in the quieter, less obtrusive, more homely, and more womanly +way, that she is called to test her power, certainly not less real or +less beneficent, though it may be less striking, than the power of +man. She is a mother in her own household, her own kindred, her own +parish, her own neighbourhood; the guide, the helper of man. Yes; a +priestess and a prophetess to the young, the sick, the frail and +erring, the poor and needy--needy whether of spiritual or bodily +healing. It is the province of the Church, when acting by the Spirit +and in the name of Christ, to develop the power of women, to take by +the hand and raise from its torpor that which seemed a death, but +which is only a sleep; and now, as then, revived life and beneficent +work will amaze the looker-on--"they were astonished with a great +astonishment." + +Among the most recent developments of the work of the Church of Christ +your Girls' Friendly Society has taken a foremost place. I would say +in all sincerity, that when I read your last report with profound joy +and thankfulness, I was impressed, no less by the completeness of your +ideal, than by the variety and expansion of your work. I do not say +this to commend; this is not the time or the place for commendation. +"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give the praise." +You will not be content, will you? you will not be content, if you are +true to your ideals, with holding out the hand of loving sympathy in +your own home and neighbourhood to a humble sister needing a sister's +care and guidance? Your love will follow her about that she may never +be lost sight of. It is a trite complaint that in this day the old +relations between master and servant have vanished, or almost vanished +away. The bond is no longer one of reciprocal loyalty, but of common +convenience. Hence it is liable to severance at any moment in the +feverish, ever-restless, fluctuating conditions of modern life. It was +impossible that these relations should remain unchanged while all else +was changing. The domestic servant or the shop girl has no longer a +fixed home; she is a wanderer on the earth. It is just here that the +catholicity of your plan should step in and counteract the evil. It is +your part to realise this catholicity. When a girl once enrolls herself +in your numbers, she is _yours_; everywhere, whithersoever she +may go, the friendly eye will rest upon her; the friendly hand will be +stretched out to her wheresoever she may be. She will find everywhere +a home, because she will find everywhere friends. You cannot set this +ideal before yourselves too definitely, or strive to realise it too +earnestly. + +Do you ask how your work may be truly effective? I answer you in the +words of the text; "He took the damsel by the hand." There must be an +intensity of human sympathy, and there must be an indwelling of the +Divine power. The lesson of the miracle which I have taken for my +starting-point involves both these ideals. The current of womanly +sympathy must flow out deep and strong and clear. Is not this the +typical meaning of Christ's action in the text? The touch of His warm +hand restores the circulation and revives the life in those pale, +motionless, death-like limbs. We want sympathy here, sympathy first +and sympathy last--sympathy reflecting, however faintly, Christ's own +boundless compassion and love. The cold, mechanical formalism of the +relieving officer will not suffice; the haughty assertion of +superiority, the condescending patronage of the fine lady will be +worse than nothing. You must be a sister to your sisters, treading in +the footsteps of your Brother, Jesus Christ. Is not this also the +meaning of those words which He utters to the girl lying helpless +before Him? He speaks to her not in the Greek, the conventional +language of outward life, but in the Syriac, the true language of the +family and the home. It pierces her, notwithstanding her death-like +slumber. He speaks to her, as He speaks to us all, with the voice of a +direct personal love. This is always the language of Christ's words, +the language of Christ's Gospel,--"How hear we every man in our own +tongue wherein we were born?" + +And over and above all this, animating, inspiring, sanctifying your +human sympathies, there must be the consciousness of the Divine +presence, the sense of the Divine energy, in your work. You will apply +yourself to it with a strength not your own; the power of the living +Christ will thrill through you. Is not this the interpretation of the +symbolic action, "He took the damsel by the hand"?--He _Himself_, +and not another. "Not I, but Christ in me," will be the inspiring +motive of your work, as it was in St. Paul's. _His_ hand must +guide your hand; nay, His hand must replace your hand, if the touch +shall raise the damsel, and restore her to a better and a happier +life. + +And restore her it will; this intense human sympathy inspired by this +consciousness of the Divine indwelling. It never has failed yet, and +it never can fail to work miracles of resurrection and healing, in her +helplessness, in her temptations, in all her struggles and +perplexities, her bodily wants, and her spiritual trials. It will be +to her comfort and strength and hope; it will throb her with the pulse +of an awakened life. + +But I have spoken hitherto as if these helpless girls whom you +befriend were the sole counterparts of Jairus's daughter. I have +regarded them as only the patients whom Christ's awakening hands raise +from their death-like slumbers. Is this an adequate representation of +the case, think you? Are there not others even more needy than they of +this beneficent movement? Are we not taught on the highest authority +that it is more blessed to give than to receive? But, if so, have we +not a truer antitype of this damsel whom Christ raised in these +befriended girls? Yes, Christ has taken them by the hand, and has +revived them, has awakened them from the heavy, death-like slumber of +a selfish, self-contained being. Christ has shown them the beauty and +the power of sympathy, and it has been to them the throbbing of a new +life. Surely it is not only the daughters of ancestral lineage and of +Norman blood, not only a Clara Vere de Vere, who are sickening with +disease, and who need Christ's healing hand; is there not in the home +of the professional man many a daughter and many a sister on whose +hand time hangs heavily, whose life is wasting away, fretting with +feverish excitement, or sunk in self-indulgence and apathy, weary of +self, and weary of others? How shall they wake up from their barren +monotony and death-like existence? Sympathy, active sympathy for +others; this, and this alone, can restore them. Mothers, train your +daughters early to think for others, to care for others, to minister +to others. Be assured this will be the most valuable part of their +education. This heaven-born charity is the sovereign antidote to all +the ills of womanhood. Is it some secret sorrow gnawing at the heart, +some outraged feeling, or some harrowing bereavement, or some actual +disappointment? Merge and absorb it in active solicitude for others. +Is it some fierce temptation which shamed you, and each fresh struggle +seems to leave you weaker than before? There will be no room for this +if you devote yourself to the needs of others. All sin is selfishness +in some form or other. Forget sloth; this is the best safeguard +against temptation. + +I appeal confidently to all those who have made the trial to say +whether this medicine has healed them where all other medicines have +failed? And, why, why? It is Christ's own love constraining them; it +is Christ's own touch thrilling through their veins; hence they mark +the resurrection--"He took the damsel by the hand; and straightway she +arose and walked." + + + + +PILATE.[12] + + "Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth?"--JOHN xviii. 38. + + +St. John is especially distinguished among the four evangelists for +his subtle delineation of character. We do not commonly remember--it +costs us an effort to remember--how very largely we are indebted to +the fourth gospel for our conceptions of the chief personages who bear +a part in evangelical history, where those conceptions are most clear +and distinct. If we analyse the sources of our information, we find +again and again that while something is told us about particular +persons in the other evangelists, yet it is St. John who gives those +touches to the picture which make it stand out with its own +individuality as a real, living, speaking man. The other evangelist +will record a name, or, perhaps, an incident; St. John will add one or +two sayings; and the whole person is instinct with life. The character +flashes out in half-a-dozen words. "From the abundance of the heart +the mouth speaketh." So it is with Philip, with Thomas, with Mary and +Martha, and with several others who might be named. This vividness of +portraiture is our strongest assurance, if assurance were needed, that +the narrative was indeed written by him whose name it bears--by the +beloved disciple and eye-witness himself. For, observe, there is no +effort at delineation of character; there is no delineation of +character at all, properly so called. The evangelist does not describe +the persons whom he introduces; they describe themselves. The +incidental act, the incidental movement or gesture, the incidental +saying, tells the tale. That which he had heard, that which he had +looked upon and his eyes had seen, that which his hands had handled of +the Word of Life--that and that only he declared. + +Pilate furnishes a remarkable illustration of this feature in St. +John's gospel. Pilate is the chief agent in the crowning scene of +evangelical history. He is necessarily a prominent figure in all the +four narratives of this crisis. In the first three gospels we learn +much about him. We find him there, as we find him in St. John, at +cross purposes with the Jews. He is represented there, not less than +by St. John, as giving an unwilling consent to the judicial murder of +Jesus. His Roman sense of justice is too strong to allow him to yield +without an effort. His personal courage is too weak to persevere in +the struggle when the consequences threaten to become inconvenient. He +is timid, politic, time-serving, as represented by all alike. He has +just enough conscience to wish to shake off the responsibility, but +far too little conscience to shrink from committing the sin. But in +St. John's narrative we pierce far below the surface. Here he is +revealed to us as the sarcastic, cynical worldling, who doubts +everything, distrusts everything, despises everything. He has an +intense scorn for the Jews, and yet he has a craven dread of them. He +has a certain professional regard for justice, and yet he has no real +belief in truth or honour. Throughout he manifests a malicious irony +in his conduct at this crisis. There is a lofty scorn in his answer +when he repudiates any sympathy with the accusers. "Am I a Jew?" There +is a sarcastic pity in the question which he addresses to the Prisoner +before him, "Art Thou the King of the Jews? Art Thou, then, a +king--Thou poor, weak, helpless fanatic, whom with a single word I +could doom to death?" He is half-bewildered with the incongruity of +the claim; and yet there is a certain propriety that a wild enthusiast +should assert his sovereignty over a nation of bigots; so he +sarcastically adopts the title. "Will you that I release unto you the +King of the Jews?" Even when, at length, he is obliged to yield to the +popular clamour, he will at least have his revenge by a studied +contempt. "Behold your King! Shall I crucify your King?" And to the +very last moment he indulges his cynical scorn. The title on the cross +was, indeed, unconsciously, a proclamation of a Divine truth; but in +its immediate purpose and intent it was the mere gratification of +Pilate's sarcastic humour. "Jesus of Nazareth." Could any good thing +come out of Nazareth? "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." He +has sacrificed his honour to them, but he will not sacrifice his +contempt. "What I have written, I have written." + +But it is more especially in the sentence which I have chosen for my +text that the whole character of the man is revealed. The Prisoner +before him had accepted the title of a King. He based His claim to +this title on the fact that He had come to bear witness of the truth. +He declared that those who were themselves of the truth would +acknowledge His claim. They were His rightful subjects; they were the +enfranchised citizens of His kingdom. + +Strange language this, in the ears of a cynical, worldly sceptic, to +whom the most attractive hope of humanity was a judicious admixture of +force and fraud. "Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth? And when he +had said this he went out." The altercation could be carried no +farther. Was not human life itself one great query without an answer? +What was truth? "Truth"? This helpless Prisoner claimed to be a King, +and He appealed, forsooth, to His truthfulness as the credential of +His sovereign rights! Was ever any claim more contradictory of all +human experience, more palpably absurd, than this? "Truth"? When had +truth anything to do with founding a kingdom? The mighty engine of +imperial power, the armed sceptre which ruled the world, whence came +it? Certainly it owed nothing to truth. Had not Augustus established +his sovereignty by an unscrupulous use of force, and maintained it by +an astute use of artifice? And his successor, the present occupant of +the imperial throne, was he not an arch dissembler, the darkest of all +dark enigmas? The name of Tiberius was a byword for impenetrable +disguise. Truth might do well enough for fools and enthusiasts; but +for rulers, for diplomatists, for men of the world, it was the wildest +of all wild dreams. "Truth"? What was truth? He had lived too long in +the world to trust to any such hollow delusion. He had listened to the +ceaseless din of philosophical disputations till he was weary of them. +The Stoics, the Epicureans, the Platonists, all had their several +specifics which they vended as truth. All were equally sure, and yet +no two agreed. + +He had witnessed, certainly not without contempt, and yet not altogether +without dismay, the rising flood of foreign superstition--Greek, +Syrian, Egyptian, Chaldean--which threatened to deluge the city and +empire, and destroy all the ancient landmarks. Could he believe all or +any of these? In this never-ending conflict of philosophical dogmas +and religious creeds, what could he do but resign himself to +scepticism, to indifference, to a cold and cynical scorn of all +enthusiastic convictions and all definite beliefs? "What is truth?" + +And yet as he turned away, neither expecting nor desiring an answer to +a question which he had asked merely to end an inconvenient +controversy, some uneasy misgivings, we may well suppose, flashed +across the mind of this proud, sarcastic worldling, that he was now +brought face to face with truth as he had never been brought before. +There was a reality about every word and action of this Jewish +Prisoner which arrested and overawed him. The calmness with which He +urged His claims, the fearlessness with which He defied death, the +impressive words, the still more impressive silence, the manifest +innocence and rectitude of the Man, if he saw nothing more--these +could not be without their effect even on a Pilate, steeped as he was +in the moral recklessness and the religious despair of his age. At all +events, he would serve the Man if he conveniently could. + +But there had been also a nobler element in Pilate's education than +moral scepticism and religious unbelief. He was a Roman governor, and +as a Roman governor he was an administrator of Roman law. It was their +appreciation of law, their respect for law, their study of law, far +more than anything else, which gave its greatness to the character of +the Roman people. Even in the most degraded ages of their history, and +with the worst individual types of men, this is the one bright spot +which relieves the gloom. It is the nobler prerogative of law to set a +standard clear, definite, and precise. I have no concern here with +other obligations to the law which as Christians we are bound to +acknowledge, though, speaking before the chief representatives of +English law and justice, I cannot fail to be reminded of them this +afternoon. But this exhibition of a moral standard is a gain which it +is hardly possible to over-estimate. The standard will not always be +the highest. From the nature of the case it cannot be so. Law deals +with some departments of morality very imperfectly; with others it +does not attempt to deal at all. But still, whenever it is felt, and +so far as it penetrates, it creates an ideal, and begets a habit which +will not be powerless even with the most indifferent and reckless of +men. So it was with Pilate. Theological scepticism had eaten out his +religious principles to the very core. Unscrupulous worldliness and +self-seeking had shattered his moral constitution; but though his +principles were gone, and his character was ruined, still he was +haunted by some lingering sense of professional honour; still the +magnificent ideal of Roman justice and Roman law rose up before him, +and would not lightly be thrust aside. He pleads repeatedly for +justice against the relentless accusers. Three times he declares the +Prisoner's innocence in the same explicit words--"I find no fault in +Him." Once and again he strives to shift the responsibility from his +own shoulders to theirs. "Take ye Him and judge Him according to your +law. Take ye Him and crucify Him." But his efforts are all in vain. +They will have none of this. The deed shall be done, and he shall do +it. + +It was not the first, and it would not be the last time that Pilate +found himself in conflict with the Jews. For ten years he was governor +of this turbulent, intractable people. This was an unusually long +period of office under an Emperor like Tiberius, who was constantly +changing his provincial governors from mere suspicion and distrust. It +must have cost Pilate no little trouble to steer his course so long +and so successfully, without foundering either on the suspicions of +his jealous master here or on the bigotry of his stubborn subjects +there. And yet he was constantly wounding the religious +susceptibilities of the Jews. At one time he shocked them by bringing +the military ensigns with the effigies of Caesar within the walls of +Jerusalem; at another he persisted in setting up some gilt shields, +inscribed with a profane heathen dedication, in the palace of Herod +within the holy precincts. In both cases he drove the Jews to the +extreme verge of exasperation. In both cases he exhibits the same +sarcastic and defiant scorn which is apparent here. In both cases +their obstinate zeal or bigotry triumphs, as it triumphs here, and he +is forced, in the end, to retrace his steps and to undo his deed. + +So, then, this was only one brief episode in a protracted struggle +between Pilate and the Jewish people. Doubtless, it seemed at the time +quite insignificant compared with those other and fiercer conflicts in +which he was engaged. It is passed over in silence by contemporary +Jewish writers. It concerned the life of a single person only; it was +settled in a single night; and yet it involved nothing less than the +eternal destiny of all mankind. + +Ah, there is a terrible irony in God's retributive justice, which so +blinds a man to the true proportions of things. A single moment may do +a wrong which centuries cannot repair. It is a dangerous thing to defy +the truth. The majesty of truth is inviolable, and he who insults it +in a moment of recklessness can never forecast the consequences. Time +and space and notoriety are no measure of importance here. The most +important criminal trial on record in the history of mankind was +hurried through in two or three short hours, under cover of night and +in the grey of early dawn. + +This is the great lesson of Pilate's crime. He was surprised by the +truth; he found himself unexpectedly confronted by the truth; and he +could not recognise it. His whole life long he had tampered with +truth; he had despised truth; he had despaired of truth. Truth was the +last thing which he had set before him as the main aim of life. He had +thought much of policy, of artifice, of fraud, of force; but for truth +in any of its manifold forms he had cared just nothing at all. And his +sin had worked out its own retribution. Not truth only, but the very +Truth itself, Truth incarnate, stood before him in a human form, and +he was blind to it; he scorned it; he played with it; he thrust it +aside; he condemned, and he gibbeted it. "Suffered under Pontius +Pilate," is the legend of eternal infamy with which history has +branded his name. + +So it is always. The Lord appears suddenly in His temple--in the +shrine of the human heart and conscience; suddenly--at a time and in a +form which we least expect. The truth visits us very frequently under +the disguise of some common event, or some insignificant person. It +surprises us, perhaps, in the accidental saying of some little child, +or in the insidiousness of some mean temptation, or in the emergency +of some trivial choice. It stands before us at once as our suppliant +and our king. We fail to see its majesty veiled in its humble garb. We +treat it as our prisoner when, in fact, it is our judge, and may +become our gaoler. We flatter ourselves that we have power to condemn +or to release it. We have no fault to find with it, but still we +reject it; we crucify it; and before three days are gone it rises from +its grave to bear eternal testimony against us. We could not see the +truth, because we ourselves were not of the truth. Here in this +judicial blindness is the warning of Pilate's example. Like is drawn +to like: like only understands like. The truth is only for the +children of truth. + +We must not, however, unduly narrow the sense of truth and of +truthfulness. When our Lord called Himself the truth--when He declared +that the truth should make us free, He meant very much more than is +commonly understood by the word. Veracity is, indeed, truth; but it is +only a small part of the truth. A man may be scrupulously veracious, +strictly a man of honour; he may always say what he believes; he may +always perform what he promises; and yet he may not be, in the highest +sense, true. He may be the slave of a thousand unrealities. A genuine +child of truth is very much more than a speaker of the truth. He is a +doer of the truth, and a thinker of the truth, and a liver of the +truth. He is frank, open, and real in all things. Reality is the very +soul of his being. He cares for nothing which is hollow, shadowy, +superficial. Popularity, wealth, success, worldly ambition, and +display are essentially unreal, because they are external, because +they are transient. Therefore, he estimates them at their true value. +The devotion of scientific men in pursuit of scientific truth wins our +highest admiration. It is not without a thrill of national pride that +we have just bidden God-speed to the gallant company which has started +for the Arctic seas. To face untold hardships and possible death in +such a cause is a worthy and noble aim, for these are realities. But +obviously there are truths of far higher moment to the temporal and +eternal well-being of man than the laws of electricity, or the causes +of the Aurora, or the fauna of the Polar seas. Whence came I? Whither +go I? What is sin? What is conscience? Is there a God in heaven? Is +there a providence, a moral government, a judgment? Is there a +redemption, a sanctification, a life eternal? These are the momentous, +the pressing questions which a man can only shelve at his peril. +Christ is the answer to all these questions. Therefore, He is the +verity of verities. Therefore, He claims for Himself the title of the +truth as His absolute and indefeasible right. + +An incapacity to see the truth, when thus presented to us in its +highest form, may arise from different causes. It may spring from +bigoted partisanship, and religious pride, and obstinate formalism, as +in the case of the Jews; or it may spring from cold cynicism, and +worldliness, and dishonesty, as in the case of Pilate. These two +conspire to crucify the truth. As we sow, so also shall we reap. +Pilate's life had been stained in untruthfulness. His government had +been an alternation of violence and artifice. His aim had not been to +rule uprightly, to rule generously, but to rule at any cost. He must +calm the suspicions of his jealous master, and he must quell the +turbulence of an unruly people. Whatever means would conduce to these +ends were to him legitimate means. Uprightness, honour, frankness, +generosity, truth--what were these to him? He had no belief in them, +and why should he practise them? He projected his own motives into his +estimate of mankind at large. He read the characters of others in the +distorted mirror of his own consciousness. Human life, as he viewed +it, was false from beginning to end. It was, after all, the reflection +of his own falsehood which he saw. He was ever looking out for the +unrealities of existence. He had no eye for its realities. Men's +convictions were their foibles: men's beliefs were his playthings. +Untruthfulness, cynicism, distrust, scorn, had withered his soul. They +only will find the truth who believe that the truth may be found. +Pilate had no such belief. He had gone through life asking, half in +bitterness, half in jest, "What is truth?" He had asked it now again, +and the question was fatal. Pilate's temper of mind is a very real +danger in an age like ours. Let us beware of thus jesting with truth, +lest some time, like him, we crucify the truth unawares. + + + + +THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.[13] + + "Two men went up into the temple to pray."--LUKE xviii. 10. + + +The teaching of the gospels is, in large portions, a teaching by +contrast. This is the case, to a certain extent, in the historical +narrative, but it is especially so in the parables of our Lord. Thus +we have the contrast of the two brothers in the parable of the +Prodigal Son; the contrast of the two sons in the parable of the +father's vineyard; the contrast of the rich man and the beggar in the +parable of Lazarus and Dives, and the like; the right and the wrong +way of acting are figured, are embodied, are personified in two +living, acting men. So it is here; the right and the wrong spirit in +prayer, the right and the wrong attitude towards God, are set before +us in portraits of imaginary men who might very well have been real +men. If you had gone up to the temple any day, and watched the +worshippers there, you might very likely have seen the counterpart +both of the one and of the other. But there is not only a contrast in +the parable, there is also a paradox, a surprise; the ordinary +estimate of worth is set aside; the judgment of God overrules the +judgment of men; the praise is given where men would give the blame, +and the blame is given where men would give the praise. The object of +the parable is to correct, to cancel, to reverse human judgment. + +"Two men went up into the temple to pray." The place is the same, the +time is the same, the object is the same; only the characters of the +two men are widely different. To which will you give the preference? +Could any pious Jew have doubted about his answer to this question? +Would you yourself have doubted if you had been a Jew and lived in +that age? Let us look more narrowly at these two men as they stand +praying within the sacred precincts. Here is the one, a Pharisee. The +sect to which he belongs is eminently religious, eminently patriotic; +the law of God is their study day and night; their daily life is +regulated on the strictest principles; they are the recognised leaders +of their countrymen, their religious teachers and their political +guides; they are regarded as the great bulwark against foreign tyranny +and heathen idolatry; they have altogether the confidence of the +people. And he is an eminently favourable type of the sect. It is not +enough that he avoids gross and flagrant crime; that he is upright in +his dealings with his fellow-men; that he respects the sanctity of the +marriage vows;--he goes very far beyond this: he fasts regularly, he +pays tithes scrupulously, he prays fervently after a manner, as this +incident shows; not a suspicion is breathed against the truth of his +statements as he thus describes himself. No doubt they were strictly +true; the very point of the parable depends upon their accuracy. What +more, then, would you have than this? Now, turn to the other +worshipper, the publican. What a contrast we have here! The publicans +were hated, despised, loathed by the Jews. There was only too much +reason for all this hatred and contempt. The publicans were so called +because they farmed the public taxes. The Roman masters let out the +collection of the taxes for so much to the publicans, and the +publicans made what they could by the collecting. Hence their position +was unsatisfactory from first to last. Though Jews themselves, they +were the representatives of the Roman masters of Judea. They thus +reminded their fellow-countrymen at every turn of the galling yoke of +a foreign tyranny, of a heathen tyranny, too. This made matters worse. +Religion as well as patriotism was grievously compromised by them. +This was bad enough; but this was not all. From the manner in which +they contracted with the Roman government they were tempted to +extortion and fraud. Their profits depended on petty acts of insolence +and overreaching, and there is every reason to believe that, as a +class, they did yield to their temptation. It might be said that their +hand was against every man and every man's hand was against them. +Remembering these facts, we are able the more truly to honour a +Matthew or a Zaccheus, towering far above the moral standard of their +class. And the man before us--what shall we say of him? He had yielded +to these temptations. Just as in the case of the Pharisee, so in the +case of the publican, there is every reason to accept as strictly true +his description of himself. + +As I have said before, the very force of the parable depends on the +truth of this statement. He, doubtless, had been extortionate; he had +used his position and his power to oppress and defraud his +fellow-countrymen. He was, perhaps, conscious, besides, of other +grievous sins--not specially sins of his class, but sins of himself, +sins of mankind. There can be little doubt that when he beat upon his +breast, when he bewailed his sinfulness, when he entreated God's +mercy, he had on his conscience some heavier weight than the ordinary +sins and short-comings of the ordinary respectable and religious man. +What, then, shall we say? Who will waver between these two men? Who +can for a moment hesitate to rank the Pharisee higher than the +publican? And yet it is our Lord's judgment--it is God's own +verdict--that this man, this publican, this sullied, sin-stained, but +withal penitent man, went down to his home justified rather than the +highly respectable, highly respected, highly religious Pharisee. The +answer is this--to know God is the beginning and the end of all +wisdom; to know God is to think truly, is to act truly, is to live +truly. Now, the Pharisee did not know God; he was altogether at fault +in his ideas of God; he was on the wrong line, and however far he +might go on that line he would be no nearer to God. On the other hand, +the publican had taken the right direction; he might be still very far +from a thorough knowledge of God; but his ideas of God, however +imperfect, were right as far as they went. Let us look into this +matter a little more closely. + +There are two ways of regarding God. We may look upon Him as a +taskmaster, or we may look upon Him as a righteous Father. The first +way is hopelessly, irretrievably wrong; the second way alone will lead +us to Him. We may look upon Him as a taskmaster. What then? He sets +before us a definite piece of work to do. If we do it, well and good; +we escape blame; we get our pay. It is give and take; certain things +are to be done, and certain other things are to be left undone. There +the matter ends. This is what is meant by justification by works. It +is a mere question of bargaining. We treat with God as a workman would +treat with an employer of labour; we look upon Him as one of +ourselves, a little more powerful, a little more exacting, a little +more stern, but still as one of ourselves--a man, magnified indeed, +but a man still, with whom we can stipulate and bargain and haggle +about the amount of work to be done. That is the error, the fatal +error, of the man in the parable who hid his one talent in the earth. +"I feared thee, because thou art an austere man"--not, "I loved thee," +not "I reverenced thee," not "I worshipped thee," but "I feared thee." +It was apprehension, it was dread--nothing else; no affectionate +yearning, no childlike outpouring of the heart, no seeking after the +Father's embrace. "Thou art an austere man"--a hard man; yes, a +taskmaster, and a rigorous taskmaster, too. "Lo, there thou hast that +is thine"--not a little more, nor a little less--"thou hast that is +thine." "Nay, everything is Mine. Heaven and earth are Mine; infinite +righteousness and infinite truth, and infinite purity and infinite +love, are Mine. Thou canst never give Me that is Mine." And so it is +with the Pharisee in our parable, though the type of character is +somewhat different. Fasting is enjoined, therefore he fasts; tithes +are commanded, therefore he pays tithes. Not a moment is deducted from +the fasting, not a penny is withheld from the tithes. He will be all +safe; he does his work and he claims his pay. Of those boundless +reaches of mercy, of truth, of love, which lie beyond all definite +precepts, all specific duties, he thinks nothing and he knows nothing; +of the infinity of God, he is wholly ignorant; of God's absolute +righteousness, of God's limitless goodness, he has not a thought; +therefore he is satisfied; therefore he despises others. If he had +any, even the faintest, conception of these, he could not be so +complacent, he could not compare himself advantageously with others. +To him who sees this infinity of God boasting is altogether excluded; +he is fain to call himself an unprofitable servant. Ah, yes! it all +springs from that one original root of falsehood, that perverse, fatal +idea of the relations of man to God--so much pay for so much +work--haggling between employer and employed--conflict, in an +exaggerated form, between capital and labour once more. + +But the true way to regard God is to look upon Him as a righteous +Father, to see His righteousness first, and then to see His fatherly +love. To see His righteousness, the awe, the beauty, the majesty, the +holiness, the glory of His righteousness! Have we caught only a faint, +transient glimpse of it? What then? What becomes of our righteousness, +our merit, our self-satisfaction, our self-complacency? What +miserable, besmirched, filthy tatters do the very best of them seem if +only for a moment the skirts of His glistening raiment have crossed +the field of our vision, the glory of Him who is clothed in +righteousness. Do we thank God, can we thank God now, that we are not +as bad as other men are? Nay, thank Him for His opportunity, thank Him +for His mercy, thank Him for His forbearing patience, but thank Him +not where thanksgiving is a mere cloak of self-complacency. No; you +cannot compare yourself with another now; you see only your own sin, +you can measure only your own unworthiness now, or, rather, it appears +far beyond measuring to you. Your righteousness and this man's +unrighteousness, your good and this man's evil--what difference is +there between them in the presence of God's infinite holiness, that +great leveller of all human gradations? + + "For merit lives from man to man, + And not, O God, from man to Thee!" + +Ah, yes, Lord! I can see two things, and two only: Thy righteousness, +my sinfulness, these and nothing else. + +But we must look not only to God's righteousness: we must look to His +fatherly goodness also. We have beheld the heinousness of our sin in +the mirror of His holiness; we must now behold the grace of our +forgiveness in the light of His love, His fatherly love. And have we +not full and perfect assurance that His love will never fail us? What +else is the meaning of His great, His inestimable gift to man of His +only-begotten Son, to take His flesh upon Him and to die for us? By +the infinity of His gift He would show us that His love is infinite +also--nothing less; and we do Him a wrong, a cruel wrong, if we +approach Him as a taskmaster, as a tyrant, as "a hard and austere +man;" we blaspheme His fatherly goodness. Have we sinned, and shall we +go to Him as to a taskmaster? What consolation, what forgiveness, what +hope of either here? Nay, rather we will seek Him as the prodigal son +sought Him; we will go to Him as to a father; we will address Him as a +Father; we will betake ourselves to Him with a child's penitent heart, +with a child's trusting soul, with a child's yearning embrace, and He +will have compassion on us, will hasten to meet us, though we may be +yet a great way off, and we shall be locked once more in His +everlasting arms. + +Do you think, can you think, that the sense of His infinite love will +make you reckless, will make you indolent, will make you presuming? +Did love, true love, truly felt, ever have this effect? Nay, just in +proportion as you appropriate it, as you realise it, it will quicken, +it will stimulate, it will purify, it will inspire you; it will +transform your whole being into its own perfections from glory to +glory. God's love is the beacon star in the sky, arresting, +attracting, guiding, luring us forward on the heavenly path; the love +of Christ--not our love for Him; but His love for us--the love of +Christ, constrains us, binds us hand and foot, and drags us onward +with the cords of a man. The publican did see this, at least in part. +He saw God's righteousness in all its tremendous majesty, and he +abased himself before it; he saw God's fatherly love only dimly as +yet, but yearned for it. Therefore, though he was yet a great way off, +God ran to meet him; and so, notwithstanding his sin, he went down +from the temple that day "justified rather than the other." + +One more thought is suggested by the parable. Prayer is the test of +character. So it was with this Pharisee and this publican; so it must +ever be, from the nature of the case. Prayer is the confronting of +self with God; prayer is the communing with God; prayer is the laying +bare of the soul before God. Thus prayer proves the realities of a +man's being. As a man prays, so he is. He who has learned to pray +aright has learned to live aright. The first and the last lesson of +our lives, the first and the last desire of our hearts, the first and +the last petition on our lips must be with us, as it was with the +disciples of old, "Lord, teach us to pray"; and to the old question +the old answer will be vouchsafed now, as then, "Our Father, which art +in heaven." "Our Father." The sense of God's Fatherhood, as manifested +in Christ, flooding our hearts, and dominating our lives--this is the +beginning and the end of all theology; there is nothing before and +nothing after this. Therefore, holy Father, we beseech Thee for Thy +dear Son's sake, teach us all, this night and ever, to pray; teach us +to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast +sent; teach us so to pray that we may be found among the company of +those faithful people who worship not a god of their own making, not a +taskmaster, not a tyrant, not "a hard and austere man," but worship +Thee, "worship the Father in spirit and in truth." + + + + +OUR CITIZENSHIP.[14] + + "Our conversation is in heaven."--PHIL. iii. 20. + + +A better translation is "Our citizenship is in heaven." + +We are all proud of our country. We delight to think of ourselves as +belonging to a land on which whoever sets his foot is free. We reflect +with satisfaction that we are citizens of a great empire on which the +sun never sets. We feel that we have derived a very real advantage +from our position; the glory of our past history is somehow reflected +upon us. We think with pride of how freedom has "broadened slowly +down, from precedent to precedent." We cherish the recollection too, +of the most glorious scenes in our history, as if, somehow, they were +part and parcel of ourselves. We feel as of one family, with its long +roll of illustrious statesmen, generals, men of science,--our +Shakespeare, Bacon, Newton, Wellington, Nelson, Hampden, Pitt, +Canning,--that these are our fellow-citizens. Their renown is our +renown. It is a great thing to extend our range of view beyond +ourselves, beyond our own households, our parish, and our own +neighbourhood, and yet to feel that there is a bond of union still; +that we are members of a great family, citizens of a great kingdom, +unique in her great world-empire. The inspiration of this thought, +which the recent Jubilee celebration has emphasised, makes us higher, +nobler, larger than ourselves. It drives out all the pettiness of +character and all the narrowness of view. True patriotism is a very +noble and ennobling sentiment. To be ready to do and to suffer, if +need be to die, for our country, what broad elevation of soul is there +not in a temper like this? + +St. Paul felt all this. He was proud of the city, of the nation to +which he belonged. He was proud of the city in which he first saw the +light. We cannot mistake his tones here. "I am a citizen of no mean +city." This Tarsus, in which he was born, stood second to none as a +seat of learning in his time. He was proud, also, of his nationality. +Here, again, we cannot mistake the feeling which underlies his +language. "Of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin." "Are +they Hebrew? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I." He, too, +was the son of the patriarchs; he, too, was the heir of the promises; +he, too, had his portion among the twelve tribes that served God day +and night. Was he not descended from the one favoured tribe which had +given its first king to Israel, which had remained faithful to the +house of David when all the others revolted; which ever marched in the +van of the Lord's host when the armies went out to battle? "After thee +O Benjamin!" No taint of foreign admixture had sullied the purity of +his blood. He was "an Hebrew of the Hebrews." No concession to foreign +excitements, and no relaxation of national rites, had ever compromised +his position. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Of all these things +he might well be prouder than the proudest. Albeit he paused and kept +down all his pride; he counted all as loss for the excellency of the +knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. And lastly, he was proud of his +position as a member of that great empire which stretched out her hand +into every clime, and carried her citizens into all quarters of the +globe. Here again his language tells its own tale. "They have beaten +us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, ... and now do they thrust us +out privily." "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, +and uncondemned?" + +Yes; it was a magnificent privilege this, that a man, whosoever he +might be, could claim the immunity, the protection, the deference +which was everywhere accorded to a citizen of Rome; to feel that he +was a solitary, homeless wanderer, and had nevertheless at his back +all the power, and all the prestige, and all the majesty of the +mightiest empire that the world had ever seen. But however natural, +and in some sense justifiable, may be this pride in ourselves, or in +St. Paul, we are reminded by the text that he and we alike are +citizens of a far larger, wider, more magnificent, more powerful, more +enduring empire. For which we have every reason to feel, not indeed +pride, not self-satisfaction, not vainglory, but perpetual +thanksgiving, and benediction to the Author and Giver of all good +things. Our citizenship is in heaven. + +"Our citizenship." In the familiar version the word is rendered +"conversation," _i.e._, "walk of life." But it means very much +more than this; it points us out as members of a commonwealth, +citizens of a polity, subjects of a kingdom, in which we have special +interests, special responsibilities and functions. So, again, the +Apostle tells the Ephesians, now converted from heathenism to the +knowledge of Christ--"Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but +fellow-citizens with the saints." + +"Fellow-citizens with the saints." You and they, bound together as +members of one great nationality, with common duties, common +sympathies, common aims, citizens of a kingdom of which the noblest +and most powerful earthly empires are only faint types and shadows, a +kingdom which shall never end. Yes! + + "Two worlds are ours, 'tis only sin + Forbids us to descry + The mystic heaven, and earth within, + Plain as the sea and sky." + +And so we need to strive this day to pierce through the veil, that so +we may realise this our heavenly citizenship. + +On this festival of All Saints, before all other days in the year, we +are invited to enter into the Holy City, to dwell on the glories of +the unseen world, to commune with the beatified servants of God of all +ages and all countries, and to gather inspiration and truth and +refreshment for our daily tasks in life; to pierce through the veil, +the dark impenetrable mist which shrouds the unseen world. Yet ever +and again this veil is lifted for a moment, ever and again we are made +to feel, by some startling occurrence, how narrow is the screen which +separates the seen from the unseen, the material from the spiritual, +the world of time from the world of eternity. Ever and again the stern +monitor death rises up an unbidden guest, an unwelcome spectre in the +midst of our worldliness and self-complacency, scaring us with the +suddenness of the apparition. Mystery of mysteries, when valuable +lives are suddenly cleft asunder, while so much that is worthless, and +worse, is spared. Mystery quite insoluble if this were all, if the +region beyond the grave were a mere vacuum; if men were dust and +nothing more; if there were no immortality, no heaven, nothing to live +for, nothing to work for, nothing to die for. Warnings these, solemn +and thrilling, if only we have ears to hear, that this life is not our +true life, that here we are strangers and pilgrims, that heaven is our +only abiding house, that we are fellow-citizens of the saints. + +"Fellow-citizens of the saints." Think for a moment how much is +implied in this. What a vast assemblage, what a glorious companionship +is that in which you and I, with our frailties, our shortcomings, our +self-seeking, our worldliness, our distrust, our faithlessness, are +fain boldly to claim a place! All those glorious spirits, venerable +patriarchs, righteous kings, rapt seers, glorious psalmists, who lived +and wrought and suffered in the ancient days in the hope of a better +promise; men "who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought +righteousness, ... of whom the world was not worthy;" all those +apostles and teachers who, kindling their torches at the sacred fire, +the glory of the Eternal Son Himself, carried the light of the gospel +into all lands, giving up everything for Christ, offering to lose +their lives, that by losing them they might find them. All these +martyrs and doctors of later ages who handed down the sacred treasure +through successive generations, amidst the fire of persecution and the +confusion of barbarism and the darkness of idolatry, rejoicing to be +devoured by hungry lions and to die at the stake. Polycarp, calm and +brave as his flesh quivered in the flame; Chrysostom, with his flowery +eloquence; Augustine, with his piercing insight and force,--these +share, too, in this glorious company whose names live in history. And +others, true saints of God, though they appear not in the calendar of +any Church; men and women from the rigour of whose lives succeeding +generations have their inspiration and strength; all whose holiness +and purity, whose courage and self-sacrifice, whose gentleness and +meekness, whose loving charity have been a never-failing fountain of +refreshment to the weary pilgrim in the thirsty wilderness of the +world. And others, too, there are whose memories shall perish not, +though they have left no name in history, but whose brows, +nevertheless, God Himself will crown with a halo of everlasting glory. +Poor, despised, unknown artisans and peasants, weak women and feeble +children, martyrs in the martyrdom of daily life, saints in the +saintliness of homely duty, throngs innumerable of every nation and +kindred and people and tongue, clothed with white robes and palms in +their hands, standing before the Throne of God, and serving Him day +and night in His temple. + +And others again there are, unknown to the world, but well known to +you and to me, saints of our home, of our school, of our college, of +our workshop, of our office. Voices which were silent years ago mingle +in our ears still, the hands crumbling in the dust have left a +pressure that is still felt, the eyes long since glazed in death ever +now and again are bright for us. The mother at whose knees we lisped +our infant prayer, the child whose innocent prattle soothed our cares +and sweetened our lives, the husband or wife who was part of our +existence, the friend "more than my brothers are to me," whose +nobleness and purity, whose unselfishness was the good genius and the +pole star of our lives. These all are there, with these we hold +communion, with these we walk and talk once more to-day as of old. +This is the citizenship of which the text speaks, of which the day +reminds us, more glorious beyond comparison than any earthly society +which eye hath seen or of which ear hath heard. For these manifold and +great gifts of which the season reminds I beseech you this afternoon +give a worthy thankoffering. No, that cannot be, that is impossible, +but if not worthy, at all events large and liberal. + +And what fitter object can I set before you than the support of a +society whose sole aim is the enrolment of citizens into the kingdom +of God, the enlargement of the communion of saints? The jubilee year +of our sovereign's reign is the jubilee year of this society. It was +only in the process of formation when our Queen ascended the throne; +one of her earliest acts was to give her name as its patron. It was a +right queenly act, for of all the blessings for which during the +half-century the nation has poured forth its thanksgiving at the +Jubilee festival, surely none has been greater or more enduring than +those which have been conferred through the instrumentality of this +society. + +For what was the state of things at the beginning of this period? +Enormous arrears of spiritual work to be overtaken; everywhere great +masses of people in our large centres absolutely beyond the reach of +Church ministration; the population about to increase "by leaps and +bounds." During these fifty years the society has made not less than +21,000 grants to poor parishes here and there, the amounts being on an +average about L50. It has paid out in this way more than L1,000,000. +And this sum has been met by L1,000,000 from contributions coming in +from elsewhere; so that through its beneficent agency not less than +L2,000,000 have been contributed for the increase of clerical +ministration in the poor and populous districts of the land. + +But these L2,000,000 are far from being an adequate standard of its +beneficent effects. The planting down of an efficient clergyman in a +poor district means the revival of Church work there; means, +frequently, the erection of a church and schools; means the creation +of a new parochial machinery. And thus the work of this Society is +borne through in a thousand various ways which it is impossible to +reckon up or to tabulate. + +But you will ask, What is it doing at the present moment? If its +operations have been thus effected in the past, does it still maintain +its efficiency? I am glad to be able to give this question an answer +which none can gainsay. It never was doing a greater work, nor as +great a work, as at this very time. It gives grants to more than 850 +curates; these grants amount to more than L56,000 per annum, and this +sum is met by about the same amount from other sources. Thus more than +L100,000 a year is expended directly through its instrumentality to +the ministerial staff of the Church. But it is not only the extent of +its operations which constitutes its claim on the support of all loyal +churches. The principle also of this administration demands their +allegiance. I do not desire to say one word of disparagement about +other societies which are constituted on a broader or a narrower base. +All are welcome; all are doing good service. There is work enough and +to spare for all. But this association appeals to loyal English +churchmen by the very fact that its foundation principle is neither +wider nor narrower than the Church it represents. It imposes no tests +which the Church does not impose; it requires no assents which the +Church does not require. Within its limits the individual opinions of +the clergymen count for nothing; the needs of the parish are all in +all. But if it has this paramount claim on all loyal churchmen, surely +it appeals to none more strongly than to the churchmen of this great +city. No diocese draws so large an amount from it as this of +Manchester; I believe I am right in saying that no city receives more +material aid from it; and remembering this I cannot think that you +will lay yourselves open to the charge of spiritual ingratitude, of +all ingratitude the worst. Let there, then, be a liberal response to +the appeal this afternoon, liberal in the sense that every giver will +feel his gift; that it will cost him some real sacrifice. + +At this season, when we are especially called to glorify God in His +saints, you cannot afford to be niggardly. Such niggardliness drags +you downward, and is never more out of place than when you are +attempting to lift up your souls to dwell in the heavenly city where +Christ sits enthroned at the right hand of God. Ever, indeed, you need +to be reminded of your heavenly citizenship amidst the cares and +turmoil of life. It is with you as with the law-giver of old when he +descended from the mount. The radiance will vanish from your +countenance only too soon as you mingle with the busy crowd below. And +you too, like Moses, will need to reappear ever and again at the +mountain of God, that, standing face to face with the Eternal +Presence, you may gather once more in your city the rays of the +invisible glory. + + + + +AMBITION. + + "I can do all things through Christ that strengthened me" [+Panta + ischuo en to endunamounti me+, "I have strength for all things + in Him that empowereth, enableth me"].--PHIL. iv. 13. + + +Ambition, the love of power, the thirst after influence--its use and +its abuse, its true and its false aims--this is no unfit subject for +consideration from a University pulpit. + +Ambition in some form or other is an innate craving of man. All men +desire power, they cannot help desiring it. The desire is as natural +to them as the desire of health. Power and influence occupy the same +place socially that strength and vigour of limb do physically. Other +desires, though veiled under various disguises, resolve themselves +ultimately into a love of power. Knowledge is power. The cultivated +intellect has a command of the resources of the universe. The selfish +exaggeration of this feeling is a testimony to the underlying fact. +The self-satisfied soul congratulates herself that she is + + "Lord over nature, Lord of the visible earth, + Lord of the senses five." + +She communes with herself-- + + "All these are mine, + And let the world have peace or wars + 'Tis one to me." + +Again, money is power. A man desires wealth, not for the sake of the +stamped metal or the printed paper in themselves. These represent to +him a command of resources. The miser, indeed, by base indulgence +forgets the end in the means. In his own domain he resembles the +spurious mathematician to whom the letters and symbols are all in all, +who sees in them so many counters and nothing more, who is blinded to +the eternal relations of space and number which they represent. But +traced back to its origin, the miser's love of money is a love of +power. + +Ambition, emulation, rivalry plays a highly important part in the +education of the world. We cannot shut our eyes to its splendid +achievements. In politics, in social life, in mechanical inventions, +in literature and art, its stimulus has produced invaluable results. +If ambition has been the last infirmity, it has also been the initial +inspiration of many a noble mind. If by ambition angels fell, by +ambition men have risen. It has heightened their ideal and drawn them +upwards from lower to higher. If it is chargeable with the worst evils +which have devastated mankind, it must be credited also with the most +splendid advances in human progress and civilization. + +Ambition has its proper home in a University. Ambition is the life of +this place. What would Cambridge be without its honourable emulations, +its generous rivalries? Body and mind alike feel the stimulus of its +presence. Remove this stimulus, and the immediate consequence will be +torpor and degeneration and decay. The athletic ambitions and the +scholastic ambitions of the place, each in their own province, are +indispensable to its health and vigour. + +To one who, revisiting the scenes amidst which the best years of his +life were spent, asks himself what topic may be fitly handled in this +pulpit, the subject of ambition will naturally suggest itself. The +University has lived through a period of exceptional restlessness and +change during the last three decades--change far more considerable +than during the preceding three centuries. Yet the spirit and life of +the place are unchanging. It is the ceaseless orderly march of a +mighty army moving forward. Cross it where you will along the line, +the gesture, the tread, the uniform, is the same; the faces only are +different. It is the broad, silent, ever-flowing river, changeless, +yet always changing. Wave succeeds wave; you gaze on it at intervals; +not one drop of water remains the same; and yet the river is not +another. The main currents of University life are the same now as +thirty years ago. Its moral and social condition is mainly, we may +say, the resultant of two divergent forces, its friendships and its +emulations. It is the latter alone that I purpose considering this +afternoon. + +I speak to you, therefore, as to ambitious men. Those only are +beyond hope who have no spirit of emulation, no craving after +excellence--those only, in short, who are devoid of ambition. I invite +you, therefore, to be ambitious. Only I ask you to purify your +ambition, to consecrate it, to direct it through worthy channels and +to worthy aims. I desire to show you the more excellent way. + +If, indeed, ambition has achieved splendid results, it can only have +done so by virtue of splendid qualities. It must contain in itself +true and abiding elements, which we cannot afford to neglect. Thus it +involves a love of approbation. This cannot be culpable in itself. As +social beings, we have sympathies and affections which lie at the very +roots of our nature; and the desire of approval is inseparably +intertwined with these. Who would blame the child for seeking to win +its mother's good opinion? But the principle cannot be limited to this +one example. It is co-extensive with the whole range of our social +relations. The end sought is commendable. Only it may be discredited +and condemned by the means taken to attain it; as, for instance, if we +disguise our true sentiment, or withhold a just rebuke, or connive at +wrongdoing, or sacrifice a noble purpose, for the sake of standing +well with others. It is then, and then only, that the praise of men +conflicts with the praise of God. Again, ambition implies a spirit of +emulation. Neither is this wrong in itself. If it were, this +University would stand condemned root and branch. Emulation is not +envy; emulation is not jealousy; emulation does not seek to injure or +rob another. An apostle avows it to be his aim to "provoke to +emulation." This provocation--this stimulus of comparison and +contrast--is an invaluable influence. We measure ourselves with +others; we see our defects mirrored in their excellences; our ideal is +heightened by the comparison. Thus there gathers and ferments in us a +_discontent_ with ourselves--not indeed, if we are wise, with our +capacities, not with our opportunities, not with the inevitable +environments of our position, but with the conduct of that personality +which is free to discipline, to mould, to direct, to develop our +endowments. This dissatisfaction with self is the mainspring of all +high enterprise and all moral advancement. + +But the chief element in ambition is the pursuit of power. The +consciousness of power gives a satisfaction quite independently of the +exercise of power. Whatever form the power may take--whether +intellectual eminence, or social influence, or physical strength, it +is a thing which man desires, which he cannot help desiring, in and +for itself. It is a seed of God's own planting--a germ of splendid +achievements, if rightly trained and cultivated. It is only culpable +in its excesses and deviations. By our very constitution we feel a +happiness in making the best of ourselves, as the phrase runs--in +developing and improving our faculties, irrespective of any ulterior +results. But a faculty improved is a power gained. + +Brothers, I desire before all things to kindle in you a lofty ambition +to-day. Therefore, I have striven to justify ambition to you as God's +very precious gift. I wish--God helping me--to inspire you with that +inward dissatisfaction, that discontent with self, that ceaseless, +sleepless craving after higher things, which gives you no rest day or +night, because it pursues an ever-receding goal. I would stimulate in +you that high spirit of emulation which, fermenting and seething in +your hearts, impels you to unknown enterprises. I ask you to pray for +power, to pursue power, to grasp at power, with all the force and +determination which you can command. + +How can I do otherwise? Are not you the men, and is not this the +season, for the handling of such a topic? + +Are not you the men? Who among you has not felt, at one time or +another, the spark of a divine fire kindling within you? Who has not +yearned with an intense, if momentary, yearning to do something +worthy, to be something worthy? Youth is the hey-day of hope, of +enthusiasm, of lofty aspiration. You have felt that there was within +you a latent power, a heaven-born capacity, which ought to work +miracles, if it were not clogged by self-indulgence, or cowed by +timidity, or choked by sloth and indulgence. + +Are not you the men? As I have said to such audiences before, so I say +to you now. You do not know, you cannot know, with what reverence--a +reverence approaching to awe--older men regard the glorious +potentiality of youth, in all the freshness of its vigorous life, with +all the promise of the coming years. Our habits are formed; our career +is defined; our possibilities are limited. The wide sweep of moral +victory, still open to you, is closed to us for ever. But what +triumphs may you not achieve, if you are true to yourselves? What +instruments may you not be in God's hands, if only you will yield +yourselves to Him--not with a timid, passive, half-hearted +acquiescence, but with the active concentration of all your powers of +body and soul and spirit? + +And again I ask, is not this the time? The first volume of your life's +history is closed. A clean page lies open, and with what writing shall +it be filled? This is the great crisis of your life. These earliest +few weeks of your University career, with which perhaps you are +trifling, which you are idling thoughtlessly away, are only too likely +to determine for you what you shall be in time and in eternity. It is +the great crisis, but it is also the signal opportunity. Thank God, +this is so; for the two do not always coincide. As the great break in +your lives, it is the great season for revision, for repentance, for +amendment, for the strong resolve and the definite plan. The old base +associations must be abandoned; the old loose habits must be cured; +the old indolence shaken off; and the old sin cast out and trampled +under foot. Never again will such a magnificent opportunity be given +you of rectifying the past; for never again can you reckon on the +leisure, the privacy, the aids and environments, needed by one who is +taking stock of his moral and spiritual life. + +Who would not shrink from the responsibility of addressing you at such +a crisis? And yet I speak boldly to you. Do I not know that though the +hand of the swordsman is feeble, yet the weapon itself is +powerful--keener than any two-edged sword? Am I not assured that +though the preacher's words may be feeble, faltering, desultory, +without force and without point, yet God may barb the ill-fledged, +ill-aimed shaft, and drive it home to the heart? It is possible that +even now the live coal from the altar may be brought by the winged +seraph's hand, and laid on the sinful lips. I have undertaken to +glorify the power of God, and to hold it up to you as your truest +goal. How can I hope for a hearing, if I begin by distrusting it where +I myself am concerned? + +It is here, then, that I bid you seek and find the true aim of your +ambition--in realising, appropriating, absorbing into yourselves, +identifying yourselves with this power of God. It alone is +inexhaustible in its resources and infinite in its potency. There is +no fear here lest the conqueror of a world should sigh and fret +because nothing remains beyond to conquer. If the craving is infinite, +the satisfaction is infinite also. Star beyond star, world beyond +world, will start out into view as your vision grows clearer, +spangling the moral heavens with their glows. +Panta ischuo+, +"I can do all things." +Panta humon+, "All things are yours." +Yes, but this promise of limitless strength has its condition +attached--+en to endunamounti me+, "In Him that empowereth me;" +yes, but this pledge of universal dominion is qualified by the sequel ++humeis de Christou+, "Ye are Christ's." + +How can we better realise this power of God than by taking St. Paul's +statement as our starting-point? The Cross of Christ is "the power of +God." The Cross is the central revelation of God. The Cross has not +unfrequently been preached as a narrow technicality which shocks the +conscience and freezes the heart. It thus becomes a mere forensic +subtlety. But the Cross of Christ, taught in all its length and +breadth and height and depth--the Cross of Christ taught as St. Paul +taught it--the Cross of Christ, starting from the Incarnation on the +one side, and leading up to the Resurrection and Ascension on the +other, contains all the elements of moral regeneration and of +spiritual life. + +(1) It is first of all a lesson of _righteousness_. It is the +great rebuke of sin, the great assurance of judgment, the great call +to repentance. Think--no, you cannot think, it defies all +thinking--yet strive to think, what is implied in the human birth, the +human life, the human suffering, the human death of the Eternal Word. +Ask yourselves what condescension, what sacrifice, what humiliation +is involved in this. Summon to your aid all analogies of +self-renunciation which history records or imagination suggests. They +will all fail you. No reiteration of the finite can compass the +infinite. You are lost in awe at the contemplation. And while your +brain is reeling with the effort, try and imagine the awe, the +majesty, the glory of a righteousness which could only thus be +vindicated. Then, after looking upward to God, look inward into your +own heart, and see how heinous, how loathsome, how guilty your guilt +must be, which has cost such a sacrifice as this. God's +righteousness--your sin,--these are brought face to face in the Cross +of Christ. + +(2) But, secondly, while it is a denunciation of sin, it is likewise +an assurance of pardon. If the infinity of the sacrifice has taught +you the majesty of God's righteousness, it teaches you no less the +glory of His mercy. What may you not look for, what may you not hope +for from a Father who has vouchsafed to you this transcendent +manifestation of His loving-kindness? "He that spared not His own Son +... how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Is any +one here burdened with the consciousness of a shameful past? Does the +memory of some ugly school-boy sin dog your path, haunting and +paralysing you with its importunity? You feel sometimes as if your +whole life were poisoned by that one cruel retrospect. Brother, be +bold, and dare to look up. I would not have you think your sins one +whit less heinous. But if God's righteousness is infinite, so also is +His mercy. The Cross is reared before your eyes in this moral +wilderness, where you are dying, where all are dying around you. Dare +to look up. The bite of the serpent's fang is healed; the venom +coursing through your veins is quelled; and health returns to the +poisoned soul. Yes, and by God's grace it may happen that through your +very fall you will rise to a higher life; that the thanksgiving for +the sin forgiven will consecrate you with fuller consecration; and +that the acute moral agony through which you have passed will endow +you with a more helpful, more sympathetic, more loving spirit, than if +you had never fallen. + +(3) But again, the Cross of Christ is not only a condemnation of sin, +not only a pledge of forgiveness; it is likewise an obligation of +self-sacrifice. "God forbid," says St. Paul, "that I should glory save +in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." But what next? Not "whereby I +am saved in spite of myself," not "whereby I am spared all personal +exertion," but "whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I to the +world." This conformity to Christ's death, this crucifixion of self +with Christ, always forms part of the doctrine of the Cross in St. +Paul's teaching. The dying with Christ, the being buried with Christ, +is the absolute accompaniment of the atoning death of Christ. We +cannot be at one with Christ unless we conform to Christ. The work +done for us necessitates the work done by us. The potentiality of our +salvation--of yours and mine--wrought through the Cross of Christ can +only then become an actuality, when Christ's death is thus +appropriated, realised, translated into action by us--by you and by +me. But it remains still the work of God's grace. Human merit is +absolutely excluded still, as absolutely as by the baldest and most +unqualified doctrine of substitution. + +(4) Fourthly and lastly, the Cross of Christ is a lesson of the +regenerate and sanctified life. Dying and living, burial and +resurrection, these in the Christian vocabulary are correlative ideas. +The Crucifixion implies the Resurrection and the Ascension. The +raising up on the cross demands the raising up from the grave, the +raising up into heaven. The lifting up of the brazen serpent in the +wilderness is a symbol alike of the one and the other. And as with +Christ, so also with those who are Christ's. "If we died with Christ, +we shall also live with him." Those only can be made conformable to +Christ's resurrection who have been made conformable to His death. The +power of His resurrection is the counterpart to the power of His +cross. + +Herein, then--in the Cross of Christ--resides this power of God which +is offered to you as the true aim of your ambition, inexhaustible, +omnipotent, infinite. Will you close with the offer? Then reverence +yourselves; believe in yourselves; consecrate yourselves. + +Reverence yourselves. Begin with reverencing this your body. Reverence +it as God's handiwork fearfully and wonderfully made. Contemplate it; +yes, contemplate it with awe, if only for its marvellously subtle +mechanism. But reverence it still more as the consecrated temple of +God's Spirit. Do not neglect it; do not misuse it; before all things +do not defile and desecrate it. Young men, the problem of social +purity is thrown down for your generation to solve. Will you accept +this challenge? The conscience of England is awakening to the terrible +curse. To redress the crying social wrong, to raise womanhood from +degradation and shame, to hold up to reverence the idea of a pure, +chivalrous, manly manhood,--this is the crusade in which you are +invited to enlist. Will you, as consecrated soldiers of the Cross, +claim your part in the glory of this campaign? If so, the work must +begin now, must begin in yourselves. There can be no success against +the foe where there is disaffection and mutiny in the citadel. + +Believe in yourselves; yet, not in yourselves as yourselves. Believe +not in your strength, but in your weakness. Believe in God who dwells +in you. Give full rein to your ambition. Trust this power of God. It +will not stunt or mar, will not crush, will not annihilate your +natural gifts--your social endowments, your political instincts, your +intellectual capacities. It will only elevate, harmonize, inspire, +purify them. Trust this power. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, +which you may not do, if you will only trust it. +Panta ischuo+, +"I have strength for everything," everything in heaven and earth. You +have youth, health, vigour, enthusiasm, hopefulness, everything on +your side now. Seize the great opportunity which can never return. + +Consecrate yourselves. Empty yourselves of yourselves, that you may be +filled with God. Yield yourselves to Him, not with a passive +acquiescence, a sentimental quietism, but with the earnest, energetic +direction of all your faculties to this one end. A period must still +intervene for most of you before the active independent work of life +begins,--a period of discipline and waiting. Only by patience will you +win your souls. But the self-dedication must be made at once, and it +must be complete. Half-heartedness spoils the sacrifice. Postponement +is perilous. The opportunity despised turns its back on you for ever. +Consecrate, consecrate yourselves, body and soul and spirit, to God +now, this night. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] _These sermons are printed from reporter's notes._ + +[2] Preached at Cambridge, Oct. 23rd, 1881. + +[3] Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday Afternoon, September +6th, 1874. + +[4] Mr. Foley, R.A., sculptor. + +[5] Sermon preached in St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday, May 21st, 1876. + +[6] Sermon preached in Durham Cathedral on the Occasion of his +Enthronement, on Thursday, May 15th, 1879. + +[7] Preached in St. Peter's Church, Bishop Auckland. + +[8] Delivered at St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, November 4th, +1873. + +[9] Delivered in St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, November 11th, +1873. + +[10] Delivered in St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday evening, November +18th, 1873. + +[11] Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, Thursday, June 19th, 1884, on +the anniversary of the Girls' Friendly Society. + +[12] Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, on Sunday Afternoon, May 30th, +1875, before some of Her Majesty's Judges, the Lord Mayor, and members +of the Corporation of the City of London. + +[13] Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, February 1st, 1884. + +[14] Preached at Manchester Cathedral, at annual meeting of Additional +Curates Society, on Tuesday, November 1st, 1887. + + * * * * * + +Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. + + +Transcriber's Note: In Table of Contents, ditto marks replaced by text +they refer to ("Christianity and Paganism"). Italics indicated by +_underscores_ and transliterated Greek by +plus signs.+ "Gallas" +changed to "Gallus" on page 79, "Constantine" to "Constantius" on page +93, and "god" to "gods" on page 112 (c.f. BCP Psalter xcvii. 7). +Punctuation errors corrected on pages 39 and 128. Spelling errors +corrected on page 80 ("fanactism") page 104 ("consciousnes") page +148 ("evey") and page 170 (+eu+). Different spellings of +apostasy/apostacy, and inconsistent hyphenation elsewhere, have been +retained. Illustration on title page is decorative emblem. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sermons, by J. B. 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