diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:31:08 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:31:08 -0700 |
| commit | 503eac9ef5e99d0dabd683a496fe4cc5f3118cca (patch) | |
| tree | 963d01c35969daa79ae886b9ba3131d4de7f6f12 /8202-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '8202-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 8202-h/8202-h.htm | 15715 |
1 files changed, 15715 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/8202-h/8202-h.htm b/8202-h/8202-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6200f4d --- /dev/null +++ b/8202-h/8202-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15715 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Sermons on National Subjects, by Charles Kingsley</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sermons on National Subjects, by Charles +Kingsley + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + + + + +Title: Sermons on National Subjects + + +Author: Charles Kingsley + + + +Release Date: October 25, 2014 [eBook #8202] +[This file was first posted on July 1, 2003] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS ON NATIONAL SUBJECTS*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1890 Macmillan and Co. edition by David +Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1>SERMONS ON NATIONAL<br /> +SUBJECTS.</h1> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">BY</span><br +/> +CHARLES KINGSLEY.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">London:<br /> +MACMILLAN AND CO.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND NEW YORK</span><br /> +1890</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>First Edition</i>, 1880.<br /> +<i>Reprinted</i>, 1886, 1890.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right"> </p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">SERMON I.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The King of the Earth</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">II.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Holy Scripture</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page9">9</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">III.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Kingdom of God</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page17">17</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">IV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">A Preparation for Christmas</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page31">31</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">V.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Christmas Day</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page40">40</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">True Abstinence</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page47">47</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Good Friday</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page59">59</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Easter Day</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page67">67</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">IX.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Comforter</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page76">76</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">X.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Whit Sunday</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page85">85</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Ascension Day</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page99">99</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Fount of Science</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page109">109</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">First Sermon on the Cholera</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page134">134</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XIV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Second Sermon on the +Cholera</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page144">144</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Third Sermon on the Cholera</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page153">153</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XVI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">On the Day of Thanksgiving</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page164">164</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XVII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Covenant</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page175">175</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XVIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">National Rewards and +Punishments</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page184">184</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XIX.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Deliverance of +Jerusalem</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page191">191</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XX.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Profession and Practice</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page199">199</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Unfaithful Servant</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page210">210</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Way to Wealth</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page221">221</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Love of Christ</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page230">230</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXIV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">David’s Victory</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page242">242</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">David’s Education</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page254">254</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXVI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Value of Law</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page265">265</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXVII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Source of Law</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page275">275</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXVIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Education of a Heathen</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page287">287</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXIX.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Jeremiah’s Calling</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page298">298</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXX.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Perfect King</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page306">306</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">God’s Warnings</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page316">316</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Pharaoh’s Heart</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page325">325</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Red Sea Triumph</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page337">337</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXIV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Christmas Day</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page346">346</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">New Year’s Day</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page354">354</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXVI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Deluge</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page362">362</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXVII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Kingdom of God</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page373">373</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXVIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Light</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page384">384</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXIX.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Unpardonable Sin</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page395">395</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XL.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Spirit of Bondage</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page403">403</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XLI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Fall</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page412">412</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XLII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">God’s Covenants</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page423">423</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XLIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Godliness</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page433">433</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XLIV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Work of God’s +Spirit</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page445">445</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XLV.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Gospel</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page453">453</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XLVI.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">God’s Way with Man</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page463">463</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XLVII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Marriage at Cana</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page474">474</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XLVIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Parable of the Lowest Place</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page482">482</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span><span +class="GutSmall">I.</span><br /> +THE KING OF THE EARTH.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">[<i>Preached in</i> 1849.]</p> +<blockquote><p>Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.—<span +class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxi. 4.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> Sunday is the first of the +four Sundays in Advent. During those four Sundays, our +forefathers have advised us to think seriously of the coming of +our Lord Jesus Christ—not that we should neglect to think +of it at all times. As some of you know, I have preached to +you about it often lately. Perhaps before the end of Advent +you will all of you, more or less, understand what all that I +have said about the cholera, and public distress, and the sins of +this nation, and the sins of the labouring people has to do with +the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But I intend, +especially in my next four sermons, to speak my whole mind to you +about this matter as far as God has shown it to me; taking the +Collect, Epistle, and Gospels, for each Sunday in Advent, and +explaining them. I am sure I cannot do better; for the more +I see of those Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, and the way in +which they are arranged, the more I am astonished and delighted +at the wisdom with which they are chosen, the wise order in which +they follow each other, and fit into each other. It is very +fit, too, that we should think of our Lord’s coming at this +season of the year above all others; because it is the hardest +season—the season of most want, and misery, and discontent, +when wages are low, and work is scarce, and fuel is dear, and +frosts are bitter, and farmers and tradesmen, and gentlemen, too, +are at their wits’ end to square their accounts, and pay +their way. Then is the time that the evils of society come +home to us—that our sins, and our sorrows, which, after +all, are the punishment of our sins, stare us in the face. +Then is the time, if ever, for men’s hearts to cry out for +a Saviour, who will deliver them out of their miseries and their +sins; for a Heavenly King who will rule them in righteousness, +and do justice and judgment on the earth, and see that those who +are in need and necessity have right; for a Heavenly Counsellor +who will guide them into all truth—who will teach them what +they are, and whither they are going, and what the Lord requires +of them. I say the hard days of winter are a fit time to +turn men’s hearts to Christ their King—the fittest of +all times for a clergyman to get up in his pulpit, as I do now, +and tell his people, as I tell you, that Jesus Christ your King +has not forgotten you—that He is coming speedily to judge +the world, and execute justice and judgment for the meek of the +earth.</p> +<p>Now do not be in a hurry, and fancy from what I have just +said, that I am one of those who think the end of the world is at +hand. It may be, for aught I know. “Of that day +and that hour knoweth no man, not even the angels of God, nor the +Son, but the Father only.” If you wish for my own +opinion, I believe that what people commonly call the end of the +world, that is, the end of the earth and of mankind on it, is not +at hand at all. As far as I can judge from Scripture, and +from the history of all nations, the earth is yet young, and +mankind in its infancy. Five thousand years hence, our +descendants may be looking back on us as foolish barbarians, in +comparison with what they know: just as we look back upon the +ignorance of people a thousand years ago. And yet I believe +that the end of this world, in the real Scripture sense of the +word “world,” is coming very quickly and very +truly—The end of this system of society, of these present +ways in religion, and money-making, and conducting ourselves in +all the affairs of life, which we English people have got into +nowadays. The end of it is coming. It cannot last +much longer; for it is destroying itself. It will not last +much longer; for Christ and not the devil is the King of the +earth. As St. Paul said to his people, so say I to you, +“The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”</p> +<p>These may seem strange words, but almost every one is saying +them, in his own way. One large party among religious +people in these days is complaining that Christ has left His +Church, and that the cause of Christianity will be ruined and +lost, unless some great change takes place. Another large +party of religious people say, that the prophecies are on the +point of being all fulfilled that the 1260 days, spoken of by the +prophet Daniel, are just coining to an end; and that Christ is +coming with His saints, to reign openly upon earth for a thousand +years. The wisest philosophers and historians of late years +have been all foretelling a great and tremendous change in +England, and throughout all Europe; and in the meantime, +manufacturers and landlords, tradesmen and farmers, artisans and +labourers, all say, that there <i>must</i> be a change and will +be a change. I believe they are all right, every one of +them. They put it in their words; I think it better to put +it in the Scripture words, and say boldly, “Jesus Christ, +the King of the earth, is coming.”</p> +<p>But you will ask, “What right have you to stand up and +say anything so surprising?” My friends, the world is +full of surprising things, and this age above all ages. It +was not sixty years ago, that a nobleman was laughed at in the +House of Lords for saying that he believed that we should one day +see ships go by steam; and now there are steamers on every sea +and ocean in the world. Who expected twenty years ago to +see the whole face of England covered with these wonderful +railroads? Who expected on the 22nd of February last year, +that, within a single month, half the nations of Europe, which +looked so quiet and secure, would be shaken from top to bottom +with revolution and bloodshed—kings and princes vanishing +one after the other like a dream—poor men sitting for a day +as rulers of kingdoms, and then hurled down again to make room +for other rulers as unexpected as themselves? Can anyone +consider the last fifty years?—can anyone consider that one +last year, 1848, and then not feel that we do live in a most +strange and awful time? a time for which nothing is too +surprising—a time in which we all ought to be prepared, +from the least to the greatest, to see the greatest horrors and +the greatest blessings come suddenly upon us, like a thief in the +night? So much for Christ’s coming being too +wonderful a thing to happen just now. Still you are right +to ask: “What do you mean by Christ’s being our King? +what do you mean by His coming to us? What reason have you +for supposing that He is coming <i>now</i>, rather than at any +other time? And if He be coming, what are we to do? +What is there we ought to repent of? what is there we ought to +amend?”</p> +<p>Well, my friends—it is just these very questions which I +hope and trust God will help me to answer to you, in my next few +sermons—I am perfectly convinced that we must get them +answered and act upon them speedily. I am perfectly +convinced that if we go on as most of us are going in England +now, the Lord of us all will come in an hour when we are not +aware, and cut us asunder in the deepest and most real sense, as +He came and cut asunder France, Germany, and Austria only last +year, and appoint us our portion with the unbelievers. And +I believe that our punishment will be seven times as severe as +that of either France, Germany, or Austria, because we have had +seven times their privileges and blessings, seven times their +Gospel light and Christian knowledge, seven times their freedom +and justice in laws and constitution; seven times their wealth, +and prosperity, and means of employing our population. Much +has been given to England, and of her much will be +required. And if you could only see the state of mankind +over the greatest part of the globe, how infinitely fewer +opportunities they have of knowing God’s will than you +have, you would feel that to you, poor and struggling as some of +you are—to you much has been given, and of you much will be +required.</p> +<p>Now first, what do I mean by Christ being our king? I +daresay there are some among you who are inclined to think that, +when we talk of Christ being a king, that the word king means +something very different from its common meaning—and, God +knows, that that is true enough. Our blessed Lord took care +to make people understand that—how He was not like one of +the kings of the nations, how His kingdom was not of this +world. But yet the Bible tells us again and again that all +good kings, all real kings, are patterns of Christ; and, +therefore, that when we talk of Christ being a king, we mean that +He is a king in everything that a king ought to be; that He +fulfils perfectly all the duties of a king; that He is the +pattern which all kings ought to copy. Kings have been in +all ages too apt to forget that, and, indeed, so have the people +too. We English have forgotten most thoroughly in these +days, that Christ is our king, or even a king at all. We +talk of Christ being a “spiritual” king, and then we +say that that merely means that He is king of Christians’ +hearts. And when anyone asks what that means, it comes out, +that all we mean is, that Christ has a very great influence over +the hearts of believing Christians—when He can obtain it; +or else that it means that He is king of a very small number of +people called the elect, whom He has chosen out, but that He has +absolutely nothing to do with the whole rest of the world. +And then, when anyone stands up with the Bible in his hand, and +says, in the plain words of Scripture: “Christ is not only +the king of believers, He is the king of the whole earth; the +king of the clouds and the thunder, the king of the land and the +cattle, and the trees, and the corn, and to whomsoever He will He +giveth them. Christ is not only the king of +believers—He is the king of all—the king of the +wicked, of the heathen, of those who do not believe Him, who +never heard of Him. Christ is not only the king of a few +individual persons, one here and one there in every parish, but +He is the king of every nation. He is the king of England, +by the grace of God, just as much as Queen Victoria is, and ten +thousand times more.” If any man talks in this way, +people stare—think him an enthusiast—ask him what new +doctrine this is, and call his words unscriptural, just because +they come out of Scripture and not out of men’s perversions +and twistings of Scripture. Nevertheless Christ is King; +really and truly King of Kings and Lord of Lords; and He will +make men know it. What He was, that He is and ever will be; +there is no change in Him; His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, +and His dominion endureth throughout all ages, and woe unto +those, small or great, who rebel against Him!</p> +<p>But what sort of a king is He? He is a king of law, and +order, and justice. He is not selfish, fanciful, +self-willed. He said himself that He came not to do His own +will, but His Father’s. He is a king of gentleness +and meekness too: but do not mistake that. There is no weak +indulgence in Him. A man may be very meek, and yet stern +enough and strong enough. Moses was the meekest of men, we +read, and yet He made those who rebelled against him feel that he +was not to be trifled with. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram found +that to their cost. He would not even spare his own brother +Aaron, his own sister Miriam, when they rebelled. And he +was right. He showed his love by it; indulgence is not +love. It is no sign of meekness, but only of cowardice and +carelessness, to be afraid to rebuke sin. Moses knew that +he was doing God’s work, that he was appointed to make a +great nation of those slavish besotted Jews, his countrymen; that +he was sent by God with boundless blessings to them; and woe to +whoever hindered him from that. Because he loved the Jews, +therefore he dared punish those who tempted them to forget the +promised land of Canaan, or break God’s covenant, in which +lay all their hope.</p> +<p>And such a one is our King, my friends; Jesus Christ the Son +of God. Like Moses, says St. Paul, He is faithful in all +His office. Therefore He is severe as well as gentle. +He was so when on earth. With the poor, the outcast, the +neglected, those on whom men trampled, who was gentler than the +Lord Jesus? To the proud Pharisee, the canting Scribe, the +cunning Herodian, who was sterner than the Lord Jesus? Read +that awful 23rd chapter of St. Matthew, and then see how the +Saviour, the lamb dumb before His shearers, He of whom it was +said “He shall not strive nor cry, nor shall His voice be +heard in the streets”—how He could speak when He had +occasion. . . . “Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, +hypocrites!” “Ye serpents, ye generation of +vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”</p> +<p>My friends, those were the words of our King; of Him in whom +was neither passion nor selfishness; who loved us even to the +death, and endured for us the scourge, the cross, the +grave. And believe me, such are His words now; though we do +not hear Him, the heaven and the earth hear Him and obey +Him. His message is pardon, mercy, deliverance to the +sorrowful, and the oppressed, and the neglected; and to the +proud, the tyrannical, the self-righteous, the hypocritical, +tribulation and anguish, shame and woe.</p> +<p>Because He is the Saviour, therefore He is a consuming fire to +all those who try to hinder Him from saving men. Because He +is the Son of God, He will sweep out of His Father’s +kingdom all who offend, and whosoever maketh and loveth a +lie. Because He is boundless mercy and love, therefore He +will show no mercy to those who try to stop His purposes of +love. Because He is the King of men, the enemies of mankind +are His enemies; and He will reign till He has put them all under +His feet.</p> +<h2><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span><span +class="GutSmall">II.</span><br /> +HOLY SCRIPTURE.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT.</p> +<blockquote><p>Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were +written for our example, that we, through patience and comfort of +the Scriptures, might have hope.—<span +class="smcap">Romans</span> xv. 4.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Whatsoever</span> was written +aforetime.” There is no doubt, I think, that by these +words St. Paul means the Bible; that is, the Old Testament, which +was the only part of the Bible already written in his time. +For it is of the Psalms which he is speaking. He mentions a +verse out of the 69th Psalm, “The reproaches of Him that +reproached thee fell on me;” which, he says, applies to +Christ just as much as it did to David, who wrote it. +Christ, he says, pleased not Himself any more than David, but +suffered willingly and joyfully for God’s sake, because He +knew that He was doing God’s work. And we, he goes on +to say, must do the same; do as Christ did; we must not please +ourselves, but every one of us please our brother for his good +and edification; that is, in order to build him up, strengthen +him, make him wiser, better, more comfortable. For, he +says, Christ pleased not Himself, but like David, lived only to +help others; and therefore this verse out of David’s +Psalms, “The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell +on me,” is a lesson to us; a pattern of what we ought to +feel, and do, and suffer. “For whatsoever was written +aforetime,” all these ancient psalms and prophets, and +histories of men and nations who trusted in God, “were +written for our example, that we, through patience and comfort of +the Scriptures, might have hope.”</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, this is true; and the longer you live a life +of faith and godliness, the longer you read and study that +precious Book of books which God has put so freely into your +hands in these days, the more true you will find it. And if +it was true of the Old Testament, written before the Lord came +down and dwelt among men, how much more must it be true of the +New Testament, which was written after His coming by apostles and +evangelists, who had far fuller light and knowledge of the Lord +than ever David or the old prophets, even in their happiest +moments, had. Ah, what a treasure you have, every one of +you, in those Bibles of yours, which too many of you read so +little! From the first chapter of Genesis to the last of +Revelations, it is all written for our example, all profitable +for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in +righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly +furnished for all good works. Ah! friends, friends, is not +this the reason why so many of you do not read your Bibles, that +you do not wish to be furnished for good works?—do not wish +to be men of God, godly and godlike men, but only to be men of +the world, caring only for money and pleasure?—some of you, +alas! not wishing to be men and women at all, but only a sort of +brute beasts with clothes on, given up to filth and folly, like +the animals that perish, or rather worse than the animals, for +they could be no better if they tried, but you might be. +Oh! what might you not be, what are you not already, if you but +knew it! Members of Christ, children of God, heirs of the +kingdom of heaven, heirs of a hope undying, pure, that will never +fade away, having a right given you by the promise and oath of +Almighty God himself, to hope for yourselves, for your +neighbours, for this poor distracted world, for ever and ever; a +right to believe that there is an everlasting day of justice, and +peace, and happiness in store for the whole world, and that you, +if you will, may have your share in that glorious sunrise which +shall never set again. You may have your share in it, each +and every one of you; and if you ask why, go to the Scriptures, +and there read the promises of God, the grounds of your just +hope, for all heaven and earth.</p> +<p>First, of hope for yourselves.—I say first for +yourselves, not because a man is right in being selfish, and +caring only for his own soul, but because a man must care for his +own soul first, if he ever intends to care for others; a man must +have hope for himself first, if he is to have hope for +others. He may stop there, and turn his religion into a +selfish superstition, and spend his life in asking all day long, +“Shall I be saved, shall I be damned?” or worse +still, in chuckling over his own good fortune, and saying to +himself, “I shall be saved, whoever else is damned;” +but whether he ends there or not, he must begin there; begin by +trying to get himself saved. For if he does not know what +is right and good for himself, how can he tell what is right and +good for others? If he wishes to bring his neighbours out +of their sins, he must surely first have been brought out of his +own sins, and so know what forgiveness and sanctification +means. If he wishes to make others at peace with God, he +must first be at peace with God himself, to know what God’s +peace is. If he wants to teach others their duty, he must +first know his own duty, for all men’s duty is one and the +same. If he wishes to have hope for the world, he must +first have hope for himself, for he is in the world, a part of +it, and he must learn what blessings God intends for him, and +they will teach him what blessings God has in store for the +earth. Faith and hope, like charity, must begin at +home. By learning the corruption of our own hearts, we +learn the corruption of human nature. By learning what is +the only medicine which can cure our own sick hearts, we learn +what is the only medicine which can cure human nature. We +learn by our own experience, that God is all-forgiving love; that +His peace shines bright upon the soul which casts itself utterly +on Jesus Christ the Lord for pardon, strength, and safety; that +God’s Spirit is ready and able to raise us out of all our +sin, and sottishness, and weakness, and wilfulness, and +selfishness, and renew us into quite new men, different +characters from what we used to be; and so, by having hope for +ourselves, we learn step by step and year by year to have hope +for our friends, for our neighbours, and for the whole world.</p> +<p>For that is another great lesson which the Bible teaches +us—hope for the world. Men say to us, “This +world has always gone on ill, and will always go on so. +Tyrants and knaves and hypocrites have always had the power in +it; idlers have always had the enjoyment of it; while the humble, +and industrious, and godly, who would not foul their hands with +the wicked ways of the world, have been always laughed at, +neglected, oppressed, persecuted. The world,” they +say, “is very bad, and we cannot live in it without giving +way a little to its badness, and going the old road.”</p> +<p>But he who, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, +has hope, can answer “Yes—and yet no.” +“Yes—we agree that the world has gone on badly +enough: perhaps we think the world worse than it thinks itself; +for God’s Spirit has taught us to see sin, and shame, and +ruin, in many a thing which the world thinks right and +reasonable. And yet,” says the true Christian man, +“although we think the world worse than anyone else thinks +it, and are more unhappy than anyone else about all the sin, and +injustice, and misery we see in it, we have the very strongest +faith—we are perfectly certain—we are as sure as if +we saw it coming to pass here before us, that the world will come +right at last. For the Bible tells us that the Son of God +is the king of the world; that He has been the master and ruler +of it from the beginning. He, the Bible tells us, +condescended to come down on earth and be born in the likeness of +a poor man, and die on the cross for this poor world of His, that +He might take away the sins of it.” “Behold the +Lamb of God,” said John the Baptist, “who takes away +the sin of the world.” How dare we, who call +ourselves Christians, we who have been baptized into His name, we +who have tasted of His mercy, we who know the might of His love, +the converting and renewing power of His Spirit—how dare we +doubt but that He <i>will</i> take away the sins of the +world? Ay; step by step, nation by nation, year by year, +the Lord shall conquer; love, and justice, and wisdom shall +spread and grow; for He must reign till He has put all enemies +under His feet. He has promised to take away the sins of +the world, and He is God, and cannot lie. There is the +Christian’s hope: let him leave infidels to say “The +world always was bad, and it must remain so to the end;” +the Christian ought to be able to answer, “The world was +bad, and is bad; but for that very reason it will <i>not</i> +remain so to the end: for the Lord and king of the earth is +boundless love, justice, goodness itself, and He will thoroughly +purge His floor, and cast out of His kingdom all things that +offend, and make in His good time the kingdoms of this world, the +kingdoms of God and of His Christ.”</p> +<p>“Ah but,” someone may say, “that, if it ever +happens at all, will not happen till we are dead, and what part +or lot shall <i>we</i> have in it? we who die in the midst of all +this sin, and injustice, and distress?” There again +the Bible gives us hope: “I believe,” says the Creed, +“in the resurrection of the flesh.” The Bible +teaches us to believe, that we, each of us, as human beings, men +and women, shall have a share in that glorious day; not merely as +ghosts, and disembodied spirits—of which the Bible, thanks +be to God, says little or nothing, but as real live human beings, +with new bodies of our own, on a new earth, under a new +heaven. “Therefore,” says David, “my +flesh shall rest in hope;” not merely my soul, my ghost, +but my flesh. For the Lord, who not only died, but rose +again with His body, shall raise our bodies, according to the +mighty working by which He subdues all things to Himself; and +then the whole manhood of each of us, body, soul, and spirit, +shall have one perfect consummation and bliss, in His eternal and +everlasting glory.—That is our hope. If that is not a +gospel, and good news from heaven to poor distressed creatures in +hovels, and on sick beds, to people racked with life-long pain +and disease, to people in crowded cities, who never from +week’s end to week’s end look on the green fields and +bright sky—if that is not good news, and a dayspring of +boundless hope from on high for them, what news can be?</p> +<p>But how are we to get this hope? The text tells us; +through comfort of the Scriptures; through the strengthening and +comforting promises, and examples, and rules of God’s +gracious dealings which we find therein. Through comfort of +the Scriptures, but also through patience. Ah, my friends, +of that too we must think; we must, as St. James says, “let +patience have her perfect work,” or else we shall not be +perfect ourselves. If we are hasty, self-conceited, +covetous, ready to help ourselves by the first means that come to +hand; if we are full of hard judgments about our neighbours, and +doubts about God’s good purpose toward the world; in short, +if we are not <i>patient</i>, the Bible will teach us little or +nothing. It may make us superstitious, bigoted, fanatical, +conceited, pharisaical, but like Jesus Christ the Lord it will +not make us, unless we have patience.</p> +<p>And where are we to get patience? God knows it is hard +in such a world as this for poor creatures to be patient +always. But faith can breed patience, though patience +cannot breed itself;—and faith in whom? Faith in our +Father in heaven, even in the Almighty God Himself. He +calls Himself “the God of Patience and +Consolation.” Pray for His Holy Spirit, and He will +make you patient; pray for His Holy Spirit, and He will console +and comfort you. He has promised That Spirit of His, The +Spirit of love, trust, and patience—The Comforter—to +as many as ask Him. Ask Him now, this day—come to His +holy table this day, and ask Him to make you patient; ask Him to +take all the hastiness, and pride, and ill-temper, and self-will, +and greediness out of you, and to change your wills into the +likeness of His will. Then your eyes will be opened to +understand His law. Then you will see in the Scriptures a +sure promise of hope and glory and redemption for yourself and +all the world. Then you will see in the blessed sacrament +of the Lord’s body and blood, a sure sign and warrant, +handed down from land to land, and age to age, from year to year, +and from father to son, that these promises shall come true; that +hope shall become fact; that not one of the Lord’s words +shall fail, or pass away, till all be fulfilled.</p> +<h2><a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span><span +class="GutSmall">III.</span><br /> +THE KINGDOM OF GOD.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT.</p> +<blockquote><p>The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord +has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; He has sent +me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the +captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are +bound.—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lxi. 1.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">My</span> friends, I do entreat those of +you who wish to get any real good from this sermon, to listen to +me carefully all through it. Not that I have to complain of +you in general for not attending to me. I thank God, and +thank you, that you do listen to what is said in this +pulpit. But there are many people who have a bad trick of +minding the preacher carefully enough for a minute or two, and +then letting their wits wander, and think about something else; +and then if any word in the sermon strikes them, waking up +suddenly, and thinking again for a little, and then letting their +thoughts run wild again; and so on. Whereby it happens that +they only recollect a few scraps of the sermon, a word here, and +a sentence there, and get into their heads all sorts of mistakes +and false notions about the preacher’s meaning.</p> +<p>That is not right; that is not worthy of reasonable grown men: +that is only pardonable in little scatter-brained children. +Men and women should listen steadily, reverently throughout; so, +and so only, will they be able to judge of the message which the +preacher brings them. Listen to me, therefore, all through +this sermon, and may God give you grace to understand it and lay +it to heart, for it is the good news of the kingdom of God.</p> +<p>You recollect, I hope, that I have often told you, that the +Lord Jesus Christ’s words would never pass away; that His +prophecies are continually coming true, and being fulfilled over +and over again. Now this text is not one of His prophecies, +but it is a prophecy about Him; one which He fulfilled, and which +He has been fulfilling again and again. He is fulfilling +it, as I believe, more than ever, now in these very days.</p> +<p>If you will look at the 61st chapter of Isaiah, you will find +this prophecy; and you will find, too, what will surprise you at +first, that Isaiah was speaking of himself. He says, +“That the Spirit of the Lord was upon +<i>him</i>”—Isaiah—“because the Lord had +appointed <i>him</i> to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind +up the broken-hearted, and deliverance to the captives, to preach +the acceptable year of the Lord.” Isaiah must have +spoken truly about himself. He could not have meant to tell +a falsehood, to say a thing was true of himself which was only +true of Jesus, who did not come till 800 years afterwards. +And he did speak the truth: you cannot read his prophecies +without seeing that the Spirit of the Lord was indeed upon him; +that the words which he spoke must have comforted all those who +were sorrowing for their sins and the sins of the nation in their +time. We know, for a fact, that his prophecies came true; +that the Jewish captives were delivered and brought back out of +Judæa to Jerusalem again, and that Jerusalem was rebuilt as +Isaiah prophesied, and the Jewish nation raised to far greater +holiness, and prosperity, and happiness than it had ever been in +before. And yet 800 years afterwards the Lord took those +very same words to Himself, and said, that <i>He</i> fulfilled +them. He read them aloud once in a Jewish synagogue, out of +the book of the prophet Isaiah; and then told the congregation, +“This day is the Scripture fulfilled in your +ears.” And again, as we read in the Gospel for this +day, when John the Baptist sent to ask Him if He was really the +Christ, He made use of another prophecy of Isaiah, and told +John’s disciples that He <i>was</i> the Christ, because He +was fulfilling that prophecy; because He <i>was</i> making the +deaf hear, and the blind see, and preaching the gospel to the +poor. Now, how is that? Could Isaiah be right in +applying those words to himself, and yet Christ be right in +applying them to Himself? Can a prophecy be fulfilled twice +over?</p> +<p>No doubt it can, my friends, and two hundred times over. +No prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation, says St. +Peter. That is, it does not apply to any one private, +particular thing that is to happen. Every prophecy of +Scripture goes on fulfilling itself more and more, as time rolls +on and the world grows older. St. Peter tells us the reason +why. No prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation; +because it does not come from the will of man, from any invention +or discovery of poor short-sighted human beings, who can only +judge by what they see around them in their own times: but holy +men of old spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And +who is the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God; the everlasting +Spirit; the Spirit who cannot change, for He <i>is</i> God. +The Spirit who searcheth the deep things of God, and teaches them +to men. And what are the deep things of God? They are +eternal as God is. Eternal laws; everlasting rules which +cannot alter. That is the meaning of it all. The +Spirit of God is the Spirit which teaches men the laws of God; +the unchangeable rules and ordinances by which He governs all +heaven and earth, and men, and nations; the laws which come into +force, not once only, but always; the laws of God which are +working round us now, just as much as they were eighteen hundred +years ago, just as much as they were in Isaiah’s +time. Therefore it is, that I said that these old Jewish +prophecies, which were inspired by the Holy Spirit, are coming +true now, and will keep on coming true, time after time, in their +proper place and order, and whensoever the times are fit for +them, even to the end of the world.</p> +<p>But again, we read that the Spirit of God takes of the things +of Christ, and shows them unto us. And what are the things +of Christ? They must be eternal things, unchangeable +things, for Christ is unchangeable—Jesus Christ, the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever. He is over all, God +blessed for ever. To Him all power is given in heaven and +earth. He reigns, and He will reign. Do you think He +is less a Saviour now, than He was when He spoke those things to +John’s disciples? Do you think He is less able to +hear and to help than He was in John’s time? Do you +think He used to care about people’s bodies then, but that +He only cares about their souls now? Do you think that He +is less compassionate, and less merciful, as well as less +powerful, than He was when He made the blind see, and the lame +walk, and the deaf hear, in Judæa of old?</p> +<p>Less powerful! less compassionate! One would have +expected that Christ was <i>more</i> powerful, <i>more</i> +compassionate, if that were possible. At least one would +expect that His power and compassion would show itself more and +more, and make itself felt more and more, year by year, and age +by age; more and more healing disease; more and more comforting +sorrow; more and still more casting out cunning and evil spirits, +till He had put all under His feet. He Himself said it +should be so. He always spoke of His own kingdom as a thing +which was to grow and increase by laws of its own, men knew not +how, but He knew. Like seed cast into the ground, His +kingdom was, He said, at first the smallest of all seeds; but it +was to grow, and take root, and spread into a mighty tree, He +said, till the very birds in the air lodged in the branches of +it; and David’s words should be fulfilled, “Thou, +Lord, shalt save both man and beast.” And does not +St. Paul speak of His kingdom in the same way, as a kingdom which +should grow? that He was to reign till He had put all enemies +under His feet? that He would deliver at last the whole creation? +the earth on which we stand, the dumb animals around us? +For, as St. Paul says, the whole creation is groaning in +labour-pangs, waiting to be raised into a higher state. And +it shall be raised. The whole creation shall be set free +into the glorious liberty of the children of God.</p> +<p>What does that mean? How can I tell you?</p> +<p>This I can tell you, that it cannot mean that Jesus Christ was +merciful enough to heal people’s bodies at first, but that +He has given up doing it now, and will never do it again. +“Well, but,” some would say, “what does all +this come to? You are merely telling us what we knew +before—that if any of us are cured from disease, or raised +up from a sick bed, it is all the Lord’s +doing.” If you do believe that, really, my friends, +happy are you! Many of you, I think, do believe it. +The poor are more inclined to believe it, I think, than the +rich. But even in the mouths of the poor one often hears +words which make one suspect that they do <i>not</i> believe +it. I am very much afraid that a great many have got into +the trick of saying that it was God’s mercy that they were +cured, and that it pleased the Lord to raise them up from a sick +bed, very much as a piece of cant. They say the words by +rote, because they have been accustomed to hear them said by +others, without thinking of the meaning of them; just as, on the +other hand, a great many people curse and swear without thinking +of the awful oaths they use. Ay, and often enough the very +same persons will say that it was the Lord’s mercy they +were cured of their sickness; and then, if they get into a +passion, pray the very same Lord to do that to the bodies and +souls of their neighbours which it is a shame to speak of +here. Out of the same mouth proceed blessings and cursings: +showing that whether or not they are in earnest in cursing, they +are not earnest in blessing.</p> +<p>Again: If people really believed that it was the Lord Jesus +Christ who cured their sicknesses for them, they would behave, +when they got well, more as the Lord Jesus Christ would wish them +to behave. They would show forth their thankfulness not +only with their lips, but in their lives. You who +believe—you who say—that Christ has cured your +sicknesses, show your faith by your works. Live like those +who are alive again from the dead; who are not your own, but +bought with a price, and bound to work for God with your bodies +and your spirits, which are His—then, and then only, can +either God or man believe you.</p> +<p>Again: There is a third reason which makes one suspect that +people do not mean what they say about this matter. I think +too many say, “It has pleased God,” merely as an +empty form of words, when all they mean is, “What must be, +must, and it cannot be helped.” Else, why do they +say, “It has pleased the Lord to send me +sickness?” What is the use of saying, “It has +pleased the Lord to cure me,” when you say in the same +breath, “It has pleased the Lord to make me +ill?” I know you will say that, “Of course, +whatever happens must be the Lord’s will; if it did not +please Him it would not happen.” I do not care for +such words; I will have nothing to do with them. I will +neither entangle you nor myself in those endless disputings and +questions about freewill and necessity, which never yet have come +to any conclusion, and never will, because they are too deep for +poor short-sighted human beings like us. “To the law +and to the testimony,” say I. I will hold to the +words of the Bible; what it says, I will say; what it does not +say I will not say, to please any man’s system of +doctrines. And I say from the Bible that we have no more +right to say, “It has pleased the Lord to make me +sick,” than, “It has pleased the Lord to make me a +sinner.” Scripture everywhere speaks of sickness as a +real evil and a curse—a breaking of the health, and order, +and strength, and harmony of God’s creation. It +speaks of madmen as possessed with evil spirits; did <i>that</i> +please God? The woman who was bowed with a spirit of +infirmity, and could not lift herself up—did our Lord say +that it had pleased God to make her a wretched cripple? No; +he spoke of her as this daughter of Israel, whom Satan had bound, +and not God, this eighteen years; and that was His reason for +healing her, even on the sabbath-day, because her disease was not +the work of God, but of the cruel, disordering, destroying evil +spirit which is at enmity with God. That was why Christ +cured her. And <i>that</i>—for this is the point I +have been coming to, step by step—that was the reason why, +when John the Baptist sent to ask if Jesus was the Christ, our +Lord answered: “Go and show John again those things which +ye do see and hear: the blind receive their sight, and the lame +walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are +raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to +them.”</p> +<p>Do not be in a hurry, my friends, and suppose that our Lord +meant merely: “Tell John what wonderful miracles I am +working.” If He had meant that why would He have put +in as the last proof that He was the Christ, that He was +preaching the gospel to the poor? What wonderful miracle +was there in <i>that</i>? No: it was as if He had said: +“Go and tell John that I am the Christ, because I am the +great physician, the healer and deliverer of body and soul: one +who will and can cure the loathsome diseases, the uselessness, +the misery, the ignorance of the poorest and +meanest.” He has proved Himself the Christ by showing +not only His boundless power, but His boundless love and mercy; +and <i>that</i>, not only to men’s souls, but to their +bodies also. To prove Himself the Christ by wonderful and +astonishing miracles was exactly what He would not do. He +refused, when the Scribes and Pharisees came and asked of Him a +sign from heaven to prove that He was Christ—wanting Him, I +suppose, to bring some apparition, or fiery comet, or great voice +out of the sky, to astonish them with His power; He told them +peremptorily that He would give them no such thing: and yet He +said that His mighty works did prove Him to be Christ; He +pronounced woe against Chorazin and Bethsaida for not believing +Him on account of His mighty works: He told the Scribes and +Pharisees that they ought to believe on Him merely for His +works’ sake. And why would they not believe on +Him? Just because they could not see that God’s power +was shown more in healing and delivering sufferers, than in +astonishing and destroying. They could not see that +God’s perfect likeness shone out in Christ—that He +was the express image of the Father, just because He went about +doing good, and healing all manner of sicknesses and all manner +of infirmities among the people. But so it is, my +friends! Jesus is the Saviour, the deliverer, the great +physician, the healer of soul and body. Not a pang is felt +or a tear shed on earth, but He sorrows over it. Not a +human being on earth dies young, but He, as I believe, sorrows +over it. What it is which prevents Him healing every +sickness, soothing every sorrow, wiping away every tear +<i>now</i>, we cannot tell. But this we can tell, that it +is His will that none should perish. This we <i>can</i> +tell; that He is willing as ever to heal the sick, to cleanse the +leper, to cast out devils, to teach the ignorant, to bind up the +broken-hearted. This we <i>can</i> tell; that He will go on +doing so more and more, year by year, and age by age. This +we <i>can</i> tell, from Scripture, that Christ is stronger than +the devil. This we can tell; that Christ, and all good men, +the spirits of just men made perfect, the wise and the great in +God’s sight, who have left us their books, their sayings, +their writings, as precious health-giving heirlooms—have +been fighting, and are fighting, and will fight to the end +against the devil, and sin, and oppression, and misery, and +disease, and everything which spoils and darkens the face of +God’s good earth. And this we <i>can</i> tell; that +they will conquer at the last, because Christ is stronger than +the devil; good is stronger than evil; light is stronger than +darkness; God’s Spirit, the giver of life, and health, and +order, is stronger than all the evil customs, and ignorance, and +carelessness, and cruelty, and superstition, which makes +miserable the lives and, as far as we can see, destroys the souls +of thousands. Yes, I say, Christ’s kingdom is a +kingdom of health and deliverance for body and soul; and it will +conquer, and it will spread, and it will grow, till the nations +of the world have become the kingdoms of God and of His +Christ. Christ reigns, and Christ will reign till He has +put all His enemies under His feet; and the last of His enemies +which shall be destroyed is <i>Death</i>. Death is His +enemy. He has conquered death by rising from the +dead. And the day will come when death will be no +more—when sickness and sorrow shall be unknown, and God +shall wipe away tears from all eyes. I say it +again—never forget it—Christ is King, and His kingdom +is a kingdom of health, and life, and deliverance from all +evil. It always has been so, from the first time our Lord +cured the leper in Galilee; it will be so to the end of the +world. And, therefore—to come back to the very place +from which I started at the beginning of my +sermon—therefore, whenever one of the days of the Lord is +at hand, whenever God’s kingdom makes a great step forward, +this same prophecy in our text is fulfilled in some striking and +wonderful way. And I say it is fulfilled now in these days +more than it ever has been. Christ is healing the sick, +cleansing the leper, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, +and preaching the gospel to the poor, seven times more in these +days in which we live than He did when He walked upon earth in +Judæa.</p> +<p>Do you doubt my words? At all events you confess that +the cure of all diseases comes from Christ. Then consider, +I beseech you, how many more diseases are cured now than were +formerly. One may say that the knowledge of medicine is not +one hundred years old. Nothing, my friends, makes me feel +more strongly what a wonderful and blessed time we live in, and +how Christ is showing forth mighty works among us, than this same +sudden miraculous improvement in the art of healing, which has +taken place within the memory of man. Any country doctor +now knows more, thank God, or ought to know, than the greatest +London physicians did two generations ago. New cures for +deafness, blindness, lameness, every disease that flesh is heir +to, are being discovered year by year. Oh, my friends! you +little know what Christ is doing among you, for your bodies as +well as for your souls. There is not a parish in England +now in which the poorest as well as the richest are not cured +yearly of diseases, which, if they had lived a hundred years ago, +would have killed them without hope or help. And then, when +one looks at these great and blessed plans for what is called +sanitary reform, at the sickness and the misery which has been +done away with already by attending to them, even though they +have only just begun to be put in practice—our hearts must +be hard indeed if we do not feel that Christ is revealing to us +the gifts of healing far more bountifully and mercifully than +even He did to the first apostles.</p> +<p>But you will say, perhaps, the dead are not raised in these +days. Oh, my friends! which shows Christ’s mercy +most, to raise those who are already dead, or to save those alive +who are about to die? Those in this church who have read +history know as well as I, how in our forefathers’ time +people died in England by thousands of diseases which are +scarcely ever deadly now; ay, of diseases which have now actually +vanished out of the land, before the new light of medicine and of +civilisation which Christ has revealed to us in these days. +For one child who lived and grew up in old times, two live and +grow up now. In London alone there are not half as many +deaths in proportion to the number of people as there were a +hundred years ago. And is not that a mightier work of +Christ’s power and love than if He had raised a few dead +persons to life?</p> +<p>And now for the last part of our Lord’s witness about +Himself. To the poor the gospel is preached. Oh! my +friends, is not <i>that</i> coming true in our days as it never +came true before? Look back only fifty years, and consider +the difference between the doctrines which were preached to the +poor and the doctrines which are preached to them now. Look +round you and see how everywhere earnest and godly ministers have +sprung up, of all sects and opinions, as well as of the Church of +England, not only to preach the gospel in the pulpit, but to +carry it to the sick bedside of the lonely cottage, to the +prison, and to those fearful sties, worse than prisons, where in +our great cities the heathen poor live crowded together. +Look at the teaching which the poor man can get now, compared to +what he used to—the sermons, the Bibles, the tracts, the +lending libraries, the schools—just consider the hundreds +of thousands of pounds which are subscribed every year to educate +the children of the poor, and then say whether Christ is not +working a mighty work among us in these days. I know that +not half as much is done as ought to be done in that way; not +half as much as will be done; and what is done will have to be +done better than it has been done yet; but still, can anyone in +this church who is fifty years old deny that there is a most +enormous and blessed improvement which is growing and spreading +every year? Can anyone deny that the gospel is preached to +the poor now in a way that it never was before within the memory +of man?</p> +<p>Now, recollect that this is an Advent sermon—a sermon +which proclaims to you that Christ is <i>come</i>; yes, He is +come—come never to leave mankind again! Christ reigns +over the earth, and will reign for ever. At certain great +and important times in the world’s history, like this +present time, times which He Himself calls “days of the +Lord,” He shows forth His power, and the mightiness and +mercy of His kingdom, more than at others. But still He is +always with us; we have no need to run up and down to look for +Christ: to say, Who shall ascend into heaven to bring Him +down? Who shall descend into the deep to bring Him +up? For the kingdom of God, as He told us Himself, is among +us, and within us. Yes, within us. All these +wonderful improvements and discoveries, all things beneficial to +men which are found out year by year, though they seem to be of +men’s invention, are really of Christ’s revealing, +the fruits of the kingdom of God within us, of the Spirit of God, +who is teaching men, though they too often will not believe it; +though they disclaim God’s Spirit and take all the glory to +themselves. Truly Christ is among us; and our eyes are +held, and we see Him not. That is our English sin—the +sin of unbelief, the root of every other sin. Christ works +among us, and we will not own Him. Truly, Jesus Christ may +well say of us English at this day, There were ten cleansed, but +where are the nine? How few are there, who return to give +glory to God! Oh, consider what I say; the kingdom of God +is among us now; its blessings are growing richer, fuller among +us every day. Beware, lest if we refuse to acknowledge that +kingdom and Christ the King of it, it be taken away from us, and +given to some other nation, who will bring forth the fruits of +it, fellow-help and brotherly kindness, purity and sobriety, and +all the fruits of the Spirit of God.</p> +<h2><a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 31</span><span +class="GutSmall">IV.</span><br /> +A PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT.</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">Rejoice in the Lord +always.—<span class="smcap">Philippians</span> iv. 4.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is the beginning of the +Epistle for to-day, the Sunday before Christmas. We will +try to find out why it was chosen for to-day, and what lesson we +may learn from it.</p> +<p>Now Christmas-time was always a time of rejoicing among many +heathen nations, and long before the Lord Jesus Christ +came. That was natural and reasonable enough, if you will +consider it. For now the shortest day is past. The +sun is just beginning to climb higher and higher in the sky each +day, and bring back with him longer sunshine, and shorter +darkness, and spring flowers, and summer crops, and a whole new +year, with new hopes, new work, new lessons, new blessings. +The old year, with all its labours and all its pleasures, and all +its sorrows and all its sins, is dying, all but gone. It +lies behind us, never to return. The tears which we shed, +we never can shed again. The mistakes we made, we have a +chance of mending in the year to come. And so the heathens +felt, and rejoiced that another year was dying, another year +going to be born.</p> +<p>And Christmas was a time of rejoicing too, because the farming +work was done. The last year’s crop was housed; the +next year’s wheat was sown; the cattle were safe in yard +and stall; and men had time to rest, and draw round the fire in +the long winter nights, and make merry over the earnings of the +past year, and the hopes and plans of the year to come. And +so over all this northern half of the world Christmas was a merry +time.</p> +<p>But the poor heathens did not know the Lord. They did +not know who to thank for all their Christmas blessings. +And so some used to thank the earth for the crops, and the sun +for coming back again to lengthen the days, as if the earth and +sun moved of themselves. And some used to thank false gods +and ancient heroes, who, perhaps, never really lived at +all. And some, perhaps the greater number, thanked nothing +and no one, but just enjoyed themselves, and took no thought, as +too many do now at Christmas-time. So the world went on, +Christmas after Christmas; and the times of that ignorance, as +St. Paul says, God winked at. But when the fulness of time +was come, He sent forth His Son, made of a woman, to be the judge +and ruler of the world; and commanded all men everywhere to +repent, and turn from all their vanities to serve the living God, +who had made heaven and earth, and all things in them.</p> +<p>He did not wish them to give up their Christmas mirth. +No: all along He had been trying to teach them by it about His +love to them. As St. Paul told them once, God had not left +Himself without witness, in that He gave them rain and fruitful +seasons, filling their hearts with joy and gladness.</p> +<p>God did not wish them, or us, to give up Christmas +mirth. The apostles did not wish it. The great men, +true followers of the apostles, who shaped our Prayer-book for +us, and sealed it with their life-blood, did not wish it. +They did not wish farmers, labourers, servants, masters, to give +up one of the old Christmas customs; but to remember who made +Christmas, and its blessings; in short, to rejoice in The +Lord. Our forefathers had been thanking the wrong persons +for Christmas. Henceforward we were to thank the right +person, The Lord, and rejoice in Him. Our forefathers had +been rejoicing in the sun, and moon, and earth; in wise and +valiant kings who had lived ages before; in their own strength, +and industry, and cunning. Now they were to rejoice in Him +who made sun, and moon, and earth; in Him who sent wise and +valiant kings and leaders; in Him who gives all strength, and +industry, and cunning; by whose inspiration comes all knowledge +of agriculture, and manufacture, and all the arts which raise men +above the beasts that perish. So their Christmas joys were +to go on, year by year while the world lasted: but they were to +go on rightly, and not wrongly. Men were to rejoice in The +Lord, and then His blessing would be on them, and the thanks and +praise which they offered Him, He would return with interest, in +fresh blessings for the coming year.</p> +<p>Therefore, I think, this Epistle was chosen for to-day, the +Sunday before Christmas, to show us in whom we are to rejoice; +and, therefore, to show us how we are to rejoice. For we +must not take the first verse of the Epistle and forget the +rest. That would neither be wise nor reverent toward St. +Paul, who wrote the whole, and meant the whole to stand together +as one discourse; or to the blessed and holy men who chose it for +our lesson on this day. Let us go on, then, with the +Epistle, line by line, throughout.</p> +<p>“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, +rejoice.” As much as to say, you cannot rejoice too +much, you cannot overdo your happiness, thankfulness, +merriment. You do not know half—no, not the +thousandth part of God’s love and mercy to you, and you +never will know. So do not be afraid of being too happy, or +think that you honour God by wearing a sour face, when He is +heaping blessings on you, and calling on you to smile and +sing. But “let your moderation be known unto all +men.” There is a right and a wrong way of being +merry. There is a mirth, which is no mirth; whereof it is +written, in the midst of that laughter there is a heaviness, and +the end thereof is death. Drunkenness, gluttony, indecent +words and jests and actions, these are out of place on +Christmas-day, and in the merriment to which the pure and holy +Lord Jesus calls you all. They are rejoicing in the flesh +and the devil, and not in the Lord at all; and whosoever indulges +in them, and fancies them merriment, is keeping the devil’s +Christmas, and not Jesus Christ’s. So let your +moderation be known to all men. Be <i>merry and +wise</i>. The fool lets his mirth master him, and carry him +away, till he forgets himself, and says and does things of which +he is ashamed when he gets up next morning, sick and sad at +heart. The wise man remembers that, let the occasion be as +joyful a one as it may, “the Lord is at hand.” +Christ’s eye is on him, while he is eating, and drinking, +and laughing. He is not afraid of Christ’s eye, +because, though it is Divine it is a human, loving, smiling eye; +rejoicing in the happiness of His poor, hard-worked brothers here +below. But he remembers that it is a holy eye, too; an eye +which looks with sadness and horror on anything which is wrong; +on all drunkenness, quarrelling, indecency; and so on in all his +merriment, he is still master of himself. He remembers that +his soul is nobler than his body; that his will must be stronger +than his appetite; and so he keeps himself in check; he keeps his +tongue from evil, and his stomach from sottishness, and though he +may be, and ought to be, the merriest of the whole party, yet he +takes care to let his moderation, his sobriety, be known and +plain to everyone, remembering that the Lord is at hand.</p> +<p>And that man—I will stand surety for him—will be +the one who will rise from his bed next morning, best able to +carry out the next verse of the Epistle, and “be careful +for nothing.”</p> +<p>Now that is no easy matter here in England; to rich and poor, +Christmas is the time for settling accounts and paying +debts. And therefore in England, where living is dear, and +everyone, more or less, struggling to pay his way, Christmas is +often a very anxious, disturbing time of year. Many a +family, for all their economy, cannot clear themselves at the +year’s end; and though they are able to forget that now and +then, thank God, through great part of the year, yet they cannot +forget it at Christmas. But, as I said, the man who at +Christmas-time will be most able to be careful for nothing, will +be the man whose moderation has been known to everyone; for he +will, if he has lived the year through in the same temper in +which he has spent Christmas, have been moderate in his expenses; +he will have kept himself from empty show, and pretending to be +richer than he is. He will have kept himself from throwing +away his money in drink, and kept his daughters from throwing +away money in dress, which is just what too many, in their +foolish, godless, indecent hurry to get rid of their own children +off their hands do not do.</p> +<p>And he will be the man who will be in the best humour, and +have the clearest brain, to kneel down when he gets up to his +daily work, and “in everything, by prayer and supplication, +make his requests known to God.” And then, whether he +can make both ends meet or not, whether he can begin next year +free from debt or not, still “the peace of God will keep +his heart.” He may be unable to clear himself, but +still he will know that he has a loving and merciful Father in +heaven, who has allowed distress and difficulty to come on him +only as a lesson and an education. That this distress came +because God chose, and that when God chooses it will go +away—and that till then—considering that the Lord God +sent it—it had better <i>not</i> go away. He will +believe that God’s gracious promises stand true—that +the Lord will never let those who trust in Him be confounded and +brought to shame—that He will let none of us be tempted +beyond what we are able, but will always with the temptation make +a way for us to escape, that we may be able to bear it. And +so the peace of God which passes understanding, will keep that +man’s mind. And in whom? “In Jesus +Christ.” Now what did St. Paul mean by putting in the +Lord Jesus Christ’s name there? what is the meaning of +“in Jesus Christ”? This is what it means; it +means what Christmas-day means. A man may say, “Your +sermon promises fine things, but I am miserable and poor; it +promises a holy and noble rejoicing to everyone, but I am unholy +and mean. It promises peace from God, and I am sure I am +not at peace: I am always fretting and quarrelling; I quarrel +with my wife, my children, and my neighbours, and they quarrel +with me; and worst of all,” says the poor man, “I +quarrel with myself. I am full of discontented, angry, +sulky, anxious, unhappy thoughts; my heart is dark and sad and +restless within me—would God I were peaceful, but I am not: +look in my face and see!”</p> +<p>True, my friend, but on Christmas-day the Son of God was born +into the world, a man like you.</p> +<p>“Well,” says the poor man, “but what has +that to do with my anxiety and my ill-temper?”</p> +<p>It would take the whole year through, my friend, to show you +all that it has to do with you and your unhappiness. All +the Lessons, Epistles, and Gospels of the year are set out to +show you what it has to do with you. But in the meanwhile, +before Christmas-day comes, consider this one thing: Why are you +anxious? Because you do not know what is to happen to +you? Then Christmas-day is a witness to you, that +whatsoever happens to you, happens to you by the will and rule of +Jesus Christ, The perfect man; think of that. <i>The +perfect man</i>—who understands men’s hearts and +wants, and all that is good for them, and has all the wisdom and +power to give us what is good, which we want ourselves. And +what makes you unhappy, my friends? Is it not at heart just +this one thing—you are unhappy because you are not pleased +with yourselves? And you are not pleased with yourselves +because you know you ought not to be pleased with yourselves; and +you know you ought not to be pleased with yourselves, because you +know, in the bottom of your hearts, that God is not pleased with +you? What cure, what comfort for such thoughts can we +find?—This.</p> +<p>The child who was born in a manger on Christmas-day, and grew +up in poverty, and had not where to lay his head, went through +all shame and sorrow to which man is heir. He, Jesus, the +poor child of Bethlehem, is Lord and King of heaven and +earth. He will feel for us; He will understand our +temptations; He has been poor himself, that He might feel for the +poor; He has been evil spoken of, that He might feel for those +whose tempers are sorely tried. He bore the sins and felt +the miseries of the whole world, that He might feel for us when +we are wearied with the burden of life, and confounded by the +remembrance of our own sins.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, consider only Who was born into the world on +Christmas-day; and that thought alone will be enough to fill you +with rejoicing and hope for yourselves and all the world, and +with the peace of God which passes understanding, the peace which +the angels proclaimed to the shepherds on the first Christmas +night—“On earth peace, and good will toward +men”—and if God wills us good, my friend; what matter +who wishes us evil?</p> +<h2><a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 40</span><span +class="GutSmall">V.</span><br /> +CHRISTMAS-DAY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon +Him the form of a slave.—<span +class="smcap">Philippians</span> ii. 7.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> Christmas-day, 1851 years ago, +if we had been at Rome, the great capital city, and mistress of +the whole world, we should have seen a strange +sight—strange, and yet pleasant. All the courts of +law were shut; no war was allowed to be proclaimed, and no +criminals punished. The sorrow and the strife of that great +city had stopped, in great part, for three days, and all people +were giving themselves up to merriment and good +cheer—making up quarrels, and giving and receiving presents +from house to house. And we should have seen, too, a +pleasanter sight than that. For those three days of +Christmas-time were days of safety and merriment for the poor +slaves—tens of thousands of whom—men, women, and +children—the Romans had brought out of all the countries in +the world—many of our forefathers and mothers among +them—and kept them there in cruel bondage and shame, worked +and fed, bought and sold, like beasts, and not like human beings, +not able to call their lives or their bodies their own, forced to +endure any shame or sin which their tyrants required of them, and +liable any moment to be beaten, tortured, or crucified at the +mercy of cruel and foul masters and mistresses. But on that +Christmas-day, according to an old custom, they were allowed for +once in the whole year to play at being free, to dress in their +masters’ and mistresses’ clothes, to say what they +thought of them boldly, without fear of punishment, and to eat +and drink at their masters’ tables, while their masters and +mistresses waited on them. It was an old custom, that, +among the heathen Romans, which their forefathers, who were wiser +and better than they, had handed down to them. They had +forgotten, perhaps, what it meant: but still we may see what it +must have meant: That the old forefathers of the Romans had +intended to remind their children every year by that custom, that +their poor hard-worked slaves were, after all, men and women as +much as their masters; that they had hearts and consciences, and +sense in them, and a right to speak what they thought, as much as +their masters; that they, as much as their masters, could enjoy +the good things of God’s earth, from which man’s +tyranny had shut them out; and to remind those cruel masters, by +making them once every year wait on their own slaves at table, +that they were, after all, equal in the sight of God, and that it +was more noble for those who were rich, and called themselves +gentlemen, to help others, than to make others slave for +them.</p> +<p>I do not mean, of course, that those old heathens understood +all this clearly. You will see, by the latter part of my +sermon, why they could not understand it clearly. But there +must have been some sort of dim, confused suspicion in their +minds that it was wrong and cruel to treat human beings like +brute beasts, which made them set up that strange old custom of +letting their slaves play at being free once every +Christmas-tide.</p> +<p>But if on this same day, 1851 years ago, instead of being in +the great city of Rome, we had been in the little village of +Bethlehem in Judæa, we might have seen a sight stranger +still; a sight which we could not have fancied had anything to do +with that merrymaking of the slaves at Rome, and yet which had +everything to do with it.</p> +<p>We should have seen, in a mean stable, among the oxen and the +asses, a poor maiden, with her newborn baby laid in the manger, +for want of any better cradle, and by her her husband, a poor +carpenter, whom all men thought to be the father of her child. . +. . There, in the stable, amid the straw, through the cold +winter days and nights, in want of many a comfort which the +poorest woman, and the poorest woman’s child would need, +they stayed there, that young maiden and her newborn babe. +That young maiden was the Blessed Virgin Mary, and that poor baby +was the Son of God. The Son of God, in whose likeness all +men were made at the beginning; the Son of God, who had been +ruling the whole world all along; who brought the Jews out of +slavery, a thousand years before, and destroyed their cruel +tyrants in the Red Sea; the Son of God, who had been all along +punishing cruel tyrants and oppressors, and helping the poor out +of misery, whenever they called on Him. The Light which +lightens every man who comes into the world, was that poor +babe. It was He who gives men reason, and conscience, and a +tender heart, and delight in what is good, and shame and +uneasiness of mind when they do wrong. It was He who had +been stirring up, year by year, in those cruel Romans’ +hearts, the feeling that there was something wrong in grinding +down their slaves, and put into their minds the notion of giving +them their Christmas rest and freedom. He had been keeping +up that good old custom for a witness and a warning that all men +were equal in His sight; that all men had a right to liberty of +speech and conscience; a right to some fair share in the good +things of the earth, which God had given to all men freely to +enjoy. But those old Romans would not take the +warning. They kept up the custom, but they shut their eyes +to the lesson of it. They went on conquering and oppressing +all the nations of the earth, and making them their slaves. +And now He was come—He Himself, the true Lord of the earth, +the true pattern of men. He was come to show men to whom +this world belonged: He was come to show men in what true power, +true nobleness consisted—not in making others minister to +us, but in ministering to them: He was come to set a pattern of +what a man should be; He was the Son of Man—<span +class="GutSmall">THE MAN</span> of all men—and therefore He +had come with good news to all poor slaves, and neglected, +hard-worked creatures: He had come to tell them that He cared for +them; that He could and would deliver them; that they were +God’s children, and His brothers, just as much as their +Roman masters; and that He was going to bring a terrible time +upon the earth—“days of the Son of Man,” when +He would judge all men, and show who were true men and who were +not—such a time as had never been before, or would be +again; when that great Roman empire, in spite of all its armies, +and its cunning, and its riches, plundered from every nation +under heaven, would crumble away and perish shamefully and +miserably off the face of the earth, before tribes of poor, +untaught, savage men, the brothers and countrymen of those very +slaves whom the Romans fancied were so much below them, that they +had a right to treat them like the beasts which perish.</p> +<p>That was the message which that little child lying in the +manger there at Bethlehem, had been sent out from God to +preach. Do you not see now what it had to do with that +strange merrymaking of the poor slaves in Rome, which I showed +you at the beginning of my sermon?</p> +<p>If you do not, I must remind you of the song, which, St. Luke +says, the shepherds in Judæa heard the angels sing, on this +night 1851 years ago. That song tells us the meaning of +that babe’s coming. That song tells us what that +babe’s coming had to do with the poor slaves of Rome, and +with all poor creatures who have suffered and sorrowed on this +earth, before or since.</p> +<p>“Glory to God in the highest,” they sang, +“and on earth peace, good will to men.”</p> +<p>Glory to God in the highest. That little babe, lying in +the manger among the cattle, was showing what was the very +highest glory of the great God who had made heaven and +earth. Not to show His power and His majesty, but to show +His condescension and His love. To stoop, to condescend, to +have mercy, to forgive, that is the highest glory of God. +That is the noblest, the most Godlike thing for God or man. +And God showed that when He sent down His only-begotten +Son—not to strike the world to atoms with a touch, not to +hurl sinners into everlasting flame, but to be born of a village +maiden, to take on Himself all the shame and weakness and sorrow, +to which man is heir, even to death itself; to make Himself of no +reputation, and take on Himself the form of a slave, and forgive +sinners, and heal the sick, and comfort the outcast and despised, +that He might show what God was like—show forth to men, as +a poor maiden’s son, the brightness of God’s glory, +and the express likeness of His person.</p> +<p>“And on earth peace” they sang. Men had been +quarrelling and fighting then, and men are quarrelling and +fighting now. That little babe in the manger was come to +show them how and why they were all to be at peace with each +other. For what causes all the war and quarrelling in the +world, but selfishness? Selfishness breeds pride, passion, +spite, revenge, covetousness, oppression. The strong care +for themselves, and try to help themselves at the expense of the +weak, by force and tyranny; the weak care for themselves in their +turn, and try to help themselves at the expense of the strong, by +cunning and cheating. No one will condescend, give way, +sacrifice his own interest for his neighbour’s, and hence +come wars between nations, quarrels in families, spite and +grudges between neighbours. But in the example of that +little child of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ the Lord, God was saying +to men, “Acquaint yourselves with Me, and be at +peace.” God is not selfish; it is our selfishness +which has made us unlike God. God so loved the sinful +world, that He gave His only-begotten Son for it. Is that +an action like ours? The Son of God so obeyed His Father, +and so loved this world, that He made Himself of no reputation, +and took on Him the likeness of a slave, and became obedient to +death, even to the most fearful and shameful of all deaths, the +death of the cross; not for Himself, but for those who did not +know Him, hated Him, killed Him. In short, He sacrificed +Himself for us. That is God’s likeness. +Self-sacrifice. Jesus Christ, the babe of Bethlehem, proved +Himself the Son of God, and the express likeness of the Father, +by sacrificing Himself for us. Sacrifice yourselves then +for each other! Give up your own pride, your own +selfishness, your own interest for each other, and you will be +all at peace at once.</p> +<p>But the angels sang, “Good will toward men.” +Without that their song would not have been complete. For +we are all ready to say, at such words as I have been speaking, +“Ah! pleasant enough, and pretty enough, if they were but +possible; but they are not possible. It is in the nature of +man to be selfish. Men have gone on warring, grudging, +struggling, competing, oppressing, cheating from the beginning, +and they will do so to the end.”</p> +<p>Yes, it is not in the <i>nature</i> of man to do +otherwise. In as far as man yields to his nature, and is +like the selfish brute beasts, it is not possible for him to do +anything but go on quarrelling, and competing, and cheating to +the last. But what man’s nature cannot do, +God’s grace can. God’s good will is toward +you. He loves you, He wills—and if He wills, what is +too hard for Him?—He wills to raise you out of this +selfish, quarrelsome life of sin, into a loving, brotherly, +peaceful life of righteousness. His spirit, the spirit of +love by which He made and guides all heaven and earth, the spirit +of love in which He gave His only Son for you, the spirit of love +in which His Son Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for you, and +took on Himself a meaner state than any of you can ever +have—the likeness of a slave—that spirit is promised +to you, and ready for you. That little baby in the manger +at Bethlehem—God sacrificing Himself for you in the spirit +of love—is a sign that that spirit of love is the spirit of +God, and therefore the only right spirit for you and me, who are +men and women made in the image of God. That babe in the +manger at Bethlehem is a sign to you and me, that God will freely +give us that spirit of love if we ask for it. For He would +not have set us that example, if He had not meant us to follow +it, and He would not ask us to follow it, if He did not intend to +give us the means of following it. Therefore, my friends, +it is written, Ask and ye shall receive. If your heavenly +Father spared not His own Son, but freely gave Him for you, will +He not with Him likewise freely give you all things? Oh! +ask and you shall receive. However poor, ignorant, sinful +you may be, God’s promises are ready for you, signed and +sealed by the bread and wine on that table, the memorial of +Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem. Ask, and you shall +receive! Comfort from sorrow, peaceful assurance of +God’s good will toward you, deliverance from your sins, and +a share in the likeness of Him who on this day made Himself of no +reputation, and took on Him the form of a slave.</p> +<h2><a name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span><span +class="GutSmall">VI.</span><br /> +TRUE ABSTINENCE.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT.</p> +<blockquote><p>I keep under my body, and bring it into +subjection.—1 <span class="smcap">Cor</span>. ix. 27.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the Collect for this day we have +just been praying to God, to give us grace to use such +abstinence, that our flesh being subdued to our spirit, we may +follow His godly motions.</p> +<p>Now we ought to have meant something when we said these +words. What did we mean by them? Perhaps some of us +did not understand them. They could not be expected to mean +anything by them. But it is a sad thing, a very sad thing, +that people will come to church Sunday after Sunday, and repeat +by rote words which they do not understand, words by which they +therefore mean nothing, and yet never care or try to understand +them.</p> +<p>What are the words there for, except to be understood? +All of you call people foolish, who submit to have prayers read +in their churches in a foreign language, which none, at least of +the poor, can understand. But what right have you to call +them foolish, if you, whose Prayer-books are written in English, +take no trouble to find out the meaning of them? Would to +Heaven that you would try to find out the meaning of the +Prayer-book! Would to Heaven that the day would come, when +anyone in this parish who was puzzled by any doctrine of +religion, or by any text in the Bible, or word in the +Prayer-book, would come confidently to me, and ask me to explain +it to him! God knows, I should think it an honour and a +pleasure, as well as a duty. I should think no time better +spent than in answering your questions. I do beseech you to +ask me, every one of you, when and where you like, any questions +about religion which come into your minds. Why am I put in +this parish, except to teach you? and how can I teach you better, +than by answering your questions? As it is, I am +disheartened, and all but hopeless, at times, about the state of +this parish, and the work I am trying to do here; because, though +you will come and hear me, thank God, willingly enough, you do +not seem yet to have gained confidence enough in me, or to have +learnt to care sufficiently about the best things, to ask +questions of me about them. My dear friends, if you wanted +to get information about anything you really cared for, you would +ask questions enough. If you wanted to know some way to a +place on earth you would ask it; why not ask your way to things +better than this earth can give? But whether or not you +will question me I must go on preaching to you, though whether or +not you care to listen is more, alas! than I can tell.</p> +<p>But listen to me, now, I beseech you, while I try to explain +to you the meaning of the words which you have been just using in +this Collect. You have asked God to give you grace to use +abstinence. Now what is the meaning of abstinence? +Abstinence means abstaining, refraining, keeping back of your own +will from doing something which you might do. Take an +example. When a man for his health’s sake, or his +purse’s sake, or any other good reason, drinks less liquor +than he might if he chose, he abstains from liquor. He uses +abstinence about liquor. There are other things in which a +man may abstain. Indeed, he may abstain from doing anything +he likes. He may abstain from eating too much; from lying +in bed too long; from reading too much; from taking too much +pleasure; from making money; from spending money; from right +things; from wrong things; from things which are neither right +nor wrong; on all these he may use abstinence. He may +abstain for many reasons; for good ones, or for bad ones. A +miser will abstain from all sorts of comforts to hoard up +money. A superstitious man may abstain from comforts, +because he thinks God grudges them to him, or because he thinks +God is pleased by the unhappiness of His creatures, or because he +has been taught, poor wretch, that if he makes himself +uncomfortable in this life, he shall have more comfort, more +honour, more reason for pride and self-glorification, in the life +to come. Or a man may abstain from one pleasure, just to be +able to enjoy another all the more; as some great gamblers drink +nothing but water, in order to keep their heads clear for +cheating. All these are poor reasons; some of them base, +some of them wicked reasons for abstaining from anything. +Therefore, abstinence is not a good thing in itself; for if a +thing is good in itself, it can never be wrong. Love is +good in itself, and, therefore, you cannot love anyone for a bad +reason. Justice is good in itself, pity is good in itself, +and, therefore, you can never be wrong in being just or +pitiful.</p> +<p>But abstinence is not a good thing in itself. If it +were, we should all be bound to abstain always from everything +pleasant, and make ourselves as miserable and uncomfortable as +possible, as some superstitious persons used to do in old +times. Abstinence is only good when it is used for a good +reason. If a man abstains from pleasure himself, to save up +for his children; if he abstains from over eating and over +drinking, to keep his mind clear and quiet; if he abstains from +sleep and ease, in order to have time to see his business +properly done; if he abstains from spending money on himself, in +order to spend it for others; if he abstains from any habit, +however harmless or pleasant, because he finds it lead him +towards what is wrong, and put him into temptation; then he does +right; then he is doing God’s work; then he may expect +God’s blessing; then he is trying to do what we all prayed +God to help us to do, when we said, “Give us grace to use +such abstinence;” then he is doing, more or less, what St. +Paul says he did, “Keeping his body under, and bringing it +into subjection.”</p> +<p>For, see, the Collect does not say, “Give us grace to +use abstinence,” as if abstinence were a good thing in +itself, but “to use such abstinence, that”—to +use a certain kind of abstinence, and that for a certain purpose, +and that purpose a good one; such abstinence that our flesh may +be subdued to our spirit; that our flesh, the animal, bodily +nature which is in us, loving ease and pleasure, may not be our +master, but our servant; so that we may not follow blindly our +own appetites, and do just what we like, as brute beasts which +have no understanding. And our flesh is to be subdued to +our spirit for a certain purpose; not because our flesh is bad, +and our spirit good; not in order that we may puff ourselves up +and admire ourselves, and say, as the philosophers among the +heathen used, “What a strong-minded, sober, +self-restraining man I am! How fine it is to be able to +look down on my neighbours, who cannot help being fond of +enjoying themselves, and cannot help caring for this +world’s good things. I am above all that. I +want nothing, and I feel nothing, and nothing can make me glad or +sorry. I am master of my own mind, and own no law but my +own will.” The Collect gives us the true and only +reason, for which it is right to subdue our appetites; which is, +that we may keep our minds clear and strong enough to listen to +the voice of God within our hearts and reasons; to obey the +motions of God’s Spirit in us; not to make our bodies our +masters, but to live as God’s servants.</p> +<p>This is St. Paul’s meaning, when he speaks of keeping +under his body, and bringing it into subjection. The exact +word which he uses, however, is a much stronger one than merely +“keeping under;” it means simply, to beat a +man’s face black and blue; and his reason for using such a +strong word about the matter is, to show us that he thought no +labour too hard, no training too sharp, which teaches us how to +restrain ourselves, and keep our appetites and passions in manful +and godly control.</p> +<p>Now, a few verses before my text, St. Paul takes an example +from foot-racers. “These foot-racers,” he says, +“heathens though they are, and only trying to win a +worthless prize, the petty honour of a crown of leaves, see what +trouble they take; how they exercise their limbs; how careful and +temperate they are in eating and drinking, how much pain and +fatigue they go through to get themselves into perfect training +for a race. How much more trouble ought we to take to make +ourselves fit to do God’s work? For these foot-racers +do all this only to gain a garland which will wither in a week; +but we, to gain a garland which will never fade away; a garland +of holiness, and righteousness, and purity, and the likeness of +Jesus Christ.”</p> +<p>The next example of abstinence which St. Paul takes, is from +the prize-fighters, who were very numerous and very famous, in +the country in which the Corinthians lived. “I +fight,” he says, “not like one who beats the +air;” that is, not like a man who is only brandishing his +hands and sparring in jest, but like a man who knows that he has +a fight to fight in hard earnest; a terrible lifelong fight +against sin, the world, and the devil; “and, +therefore,” he says, “I do as these fighters +do.” They, poor savage and brutal heathens as they +are, go through a long and painful training. Their very +practice is not play; it is grim earnest. They stand up to +strike, and be struck, and are bruised and disfigured as a matter +of course, in order that they may learn not to flinch from pain, +or lose their tempers, or turn cowards, when they have to +fight. “And so do I,” says St. Paul; +“they, poor men, submit to painful and disagreeable things +to make them brave in their paltry battles. I submit to +painful and disagreeable things, to make me brave in the great +battle which I have to fight against sin, and ignorance, and +heathendom.” “Therefore,” he says, in +another place, “I take pleasure in afflictions, in +persecutions, in necessities, in distresses;” and that not +because those things were pleasant, they were just as unpleasant +to him as to anyone else; but because they taught him to bear, +taught him to be brave; taught him, in short, to become a perfect +man of God.</p> +<p>This is St. Paul’s account of his own training: in the +Epistle for to-day we have another account of it; a description +of the life which he led, and which he was content to +lead—“in much suffering, in stripes, in +imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watching, in +fastings”—and an account, too, of the temper which he +had learnt to show amid such a life of vexation, and suffering, +and shame, and danger—“approving himself in all +things the minister of God, by pureness, by wisdom, by +longsuffering, by kindness, by the spirit of holiness, by love +unfeigned;” “as dying, and behold we live; as +chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as +poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all +things.”—In all things proving himself a true +messenger from God, by being able to dare and to endure for +God’s sake, what no man ever would have dared and endured +for his own sake.</p> +<p>“But”—someone may say—“St. Paul +was an apostle; he had a great work to do in the world; he had to +turn the heathen to God; and it is likely enough that he required +to train himself, and keep strict watch over all his habits, and +ways of thinking and behaving, lest he should grow selfish, lazy, +cowardly, covetous, fond of ease and amusement. He had, of +course, to lead a life of strange suffering and danger; and he +had therefore to train himself for it. But what need have +we to do as St. Paul did?”</p> +<p>Just as much need, my good friends, if you could see it.</p> +<p>Which of us has not to lead a life of suffering? We +shall each and all of us, have our full share of trouble before +we die, doubt it not.</p> +<p>And which of us has not to lead a life of danger? I do +not mean bodily danger; of that, there is little +enough—perhaps too little—in England now; but of +danger to our hearts, minds, characters? Oh, my friends, I +pity those who do not think themselves in danger every day of +their lives, for the less danger they see around them, the more +danger there is. There is not only the common danger of +temptation, but over and above it, the worse danger of not +knowing temptation when it comes. Who will be most likely +to walk into pits and mires upon the moor—the man who knows +that they are there around him, or the man who goes on careless +and light of heart, fancying that it is all smooth ground? +Woe to you, young people, if you fancy that you are to have no +woe! Danger to you, young people, if you fancy yourselves +in no danger!</p> +<p>“This is sad and dreary news”—some of you +may say. Ay, my friends, it would be sad and dreary news +indeed; and this earth would be a very sad and dreary place; and +life with all its troubles and temptations, would not be worth +having, if it were not for the blessed news which the Gospel for +this day brings us. That makes up for all the sadness of +the Epistle; that gives us hope; that tells us of one who has +been through life, and through death too, yet without sin. +That tells us of one who has endured a thousand times more +temptation than we ever shall, a thousand times more trouble than +we ever shall, and yet has conquered it all; and that He who has +thus been through all our temptations, borne all our weaknesses, +is our King, our Saviour, who loves us, who teaches us, who has +promised us His Holy Spirit, to make us like Himself, strong, +brave, and patient, to endure all that man or devil, or our own +low animal tempers and lusts, can do to hurt us. The Gospel +for this day tells us how He went and was alone in the wilderness +with the wild beasts, and yet trusted in God, His Father and +ours, to keep Him safe. How He went without food forty days +and nights, and yet in His extreme hunger, refused to do the +least self-willed or selfish thing to get Himself food. Is +that no lesson, no message of hope for the poor man who is +tempted by hunger to steal, or tempted by need to do a mean and +selfish thing, to hear that the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore need +and hunger far worse than his, understands all his temptations, +and feels for him, and pities him, and has promised him +God’s Spirit to make him strong, as He himself was?</p> +<p>Is it no comfort to young people who are tempted to vanity, +and display, and self-willed conceited longings, tempted to +despise the advice of their parents and elders, and set up for +themselves, and choose their own way—Is it no good news, I +say, for them to hear that their Lord and Saviour was tempted to +it also, and conquered it?—That He will teach them to +answer the temptation as He did, when He refused even to let +angels hold Him over the temple, up between earth and heaven, for +a sign and a wonder to all the Jews, because God His Father had +not bidden Him to do it, and therefore He would not tempt the +Lord His God?</p> +<p>Is it no good news, again, to those who are tempted to do +perhaps one little outward wrong thing, to yield on some small +point to the ways of the world, in order to help themselves on in +life, to hear that their Lord and Saviour conquered that +temptation too?—That he refused all the kingdoms of the +world, and the glory of them, when the devil offered them, +because he knew that the devil could not give them to Him; that +all wealth, and power, and glory belonged to God, and was to be +got only by serving Him?</p> +<p>Oh do you all, young people especially, think of this. +As you grow up and go out into life, you will be tempted in a +hundred different ways, by things which are +pleasant—everyone knows that they are pleasant +enough—but wrong. One will be tempted to be vain of +dress; another to be self-conceited; another to be lazy and idle; +another to be extravagant and roving; another to be over fond of +amusement; another to be over fond of money; another to be over +fond of liquor; another to go wrong, as too many young men and +young women do, and bring themselves, and those with whom they +keep company, and whom they ought, if they really love them, to +respect and honour, down into sin and shame. You will all +be tempted, and you will all be troubled; one by poverty, one by +sickness, one by the burden of a family, one by being laughed at +for trying to do right. But remember, oh remember, whenever +a temptation comes upon you, that the blessed Jesus has been +through it all, and conquered all, and that His will is, that you +shall be holy and pure like Him, and that, therefore, if you but +ask Him, He will give you strength to keep pure. When you +are tempted, pray to Him: the struggle in your own minds will, no +doubt, be very great; it will be very hard work for you—sin +looks so pleasant on the outside! Poor souls, it is a sad +struggle for you! Many a poor young fellow, who goes wrong, +deserves rather to be pitied than to be punished. Well +then, if no man else will pity him, Jesus, the Man of all men, +will. Pray to Him! Cry aloud to Him! Ask Him to +make you stout-hearted, patient, really manful, to fight against +temptation. Ask Him to give you strength of mind to fight +against all bad habits. Ask Him to open your eyes to see +when you are in danger. Ask Him to help you to keep out of +the way of temptation. Ask Him, in short, to give you grace +to use such abstinence that your flesh may be subdued to your +spirit. And then you will not follow, as the beasts do, +just what seems pleasant to your flesh; no, you will be able to +obey Christ’s godly motions, that is, to do, as well as to +love, the good desires which He puts into your hearts. You +will do not merely what is pleasant, but what is right; you will +not be your own slaves, you will be your own masters, and +God’s loyal and obedient sons; you will not be, as too many +are, mere animals going about in the shape of men, but truly men +at heart, who are not afraid of pain, poverty, shame, trouble, or +death itself, when they are in the right path, about the work to +which God has called them.</p> +<p>But if you ask Christ to make true men and women of you, you +must believe that He will give you what you ask; if you ask Him +to help you, you must believe that He will and does help +you—you must believe that it is He Himself who has put into +your hearts the very desire of being holy and strong at all; and +therefore you must believe that you can help yourselves. +Help yourselves, and He will help you. If you ask for His +help, He will give it. But what is the use of His giving +it, if you do not use it? To him who has shall be given, +and he shall have more; but from him who has not shall be taken +away even what he seems to have. Therefore do not merely +pray, but struggle and try <i>yourselves</i>. Train +yourselves as St. Paul did; train yourselves to keep your temper; +train yourselves to bear unpleasant things for the sake of your +duty; train yourselves to keep out of temptation; train +yourselves to be forgiving, gentle, thrifty, industrious, sober, +temperate, cleanly, as modest as little children in your words, +and thoughts, and conduct. And God, when He sees you trying +to be all this, will help you to be so. It may be hard to +educate yourselves. Life is a hard business at +best—you will find it a thousand times harder, though, if +you are slaves to your own fleshly sins. But the more you +struggle against sin, the less hard you will find it to fight; +the more you resist the devil, the more he will flee from you; +the more you try to conquer your own bad passions, the more God +will help you to conquer them; it may be a hard battle, but it is +a sure one. No fear but that everyone can, if he will, work +out his own salvation, for it is God Himself who works in us to +will and to do of His good pleasure. All you have to do is +to give yourselves up to Him, to study His laws, to labour as +well as long to keep them, and He will enable you to keep them; +He will teach you in a thousand unexpected ways; He will daily +renew and strengthen your hearts by the working of His Spirit, +that you may more and more know, and love, and do, what is right; +and you will go on from strength to strength, to the height of +perfect men, to the likeness of Jesus Christ the Lord, who +conquered all human temptations for your sake, that He might be a +high-priest who can be touched with the feeling of our +infirmities, because He was tempted in all points like as we are, +yet without sin.</p> +<h2><a name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 59</span><span +class="GutSmall">VII.</span><br /> +GOOD FRIDAY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the +angel of His presence saved them. In His love and in His +pity He redeemed them; and He bare them and carried them all the +days of old.—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lxiii. +9.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> this very day, at this very +hour, 1817 years ago, hung one nailed to a cross; bruised and +bleeding, pierced and naked, dying a felon’s death between +two thieves; in perfect misery, in utter shame, mocked and +insulted by all the great, the rich, the learned of His nation; +one who had grown up as a man of low birth, believed by all to be +a carpenter’s son; without scholarship, money, +respectability; even without a home wherein to lay His +head—and here was the end of His life! True, He had +preached noble words, He had done noble deeds: but what had they +helped Him? They had not made the rich, the learned, the +respectable, the religious believe on Him; they had not saved Him +from persecution, and insult, and death. The only mourners +who stood by to weep over His dying agonies were His mother, a +poor countrywoman; a young fisherman; and one who had been a +harlot and a sinner. There was an end!</p> +<p>Do you know who that Man was? He was your King; the King +of rich and poor; and He was your King, not in spite of His +suffering all that shame and misery, but just because He suffered +it; because He chose to be poor, and miserable, and despised; +because He endured the cross, despising the shame; because He +took upon Himself to fulfil His Father’s will, all ills +which flesh is heir to—therefore He is now your King, the +Saviour of the world, the poor man’s friend, the Lord of +heaven and earth. Is He such a King as <i>you</i> wish +for?</p> +<p>Is He the sort of King you want, my friends? Does He +fulfil your notions of what the poor man’s friend should +be? Do you, in your hearts, wish He had been somewhat +richer, more glorious, more successful in the world’s +eyes—a wealthy and prosperous man, like Solomon of +old? Are any of you ready to say, as the money-blinded Jews +said, when they demanded their true King to be crucified, +“We have no king but Cæsar?—Provided the +law-makers and the authorities take care of our interests, and +protect our property, and do not make us pay too many rates and +taxes, that is enough for us.” Will you have no king +but Cæsar? Alas! those who say that, find that the +law is but a weak deliverer, too weak to protect them from +selfishness, and covetousness, and decent cruelty; and so +Cæsar and the law have to give place to Mammon, the god of +money. Do we not see it in these very days? And +Mammon is weak, too. This world is not a shop, men are not +merely money-makers and wages-earners. There are more +things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in that sort of +philosophy. Self-interest and covetousness cannot keep +society orderly and peaceful, let sham philosophers say what they +will. And then comes tyranny, lawlessness, rich and poor +staining their hands in each other’s blood, as we saw +happen in France two years ago; and so, after all, Mammon has to +give place to Moloch, the fiend of murder and cruelty; and woe to +rich and poor when he reigns over them! Ay, woe—woe +to rich and poor when they choose anyone for their king but their +real and rightful Lord and Master, Jesus, the poor man, afflicted +in all their afflictions, the Man of sorrows, crucified on this +day.</p> +<p>Is He the kind of King you like? Make up your minds, my +friends—make up your minds! For whether you like Him +or not, your King He was, your King He is, your King He will be, +blessed be God, for ever. Blessed be God, indeed! If +He were not our King; if anyone in heaven or earth was Lord of +us, except the Man of sorrows, the Prince of sufferers, what +hope, what comfort would there be? What a horrible, black, +fathomless riddle this sad, diseased, moaning world would +be! No king would suit us but the Prince of +sufferers—Jesus, who has borne all this world’s +griefs, and carried all its sorrows—Jesus, who has Himself +smarted under pain and hunger, oppression and insult, treachery +and desertion, who knows them all, feels for them all, and will +right them all, in His own good time.</p> +<p>Believing in Jesus, we can travel on, through one wild parish +after another, upon English soil, and see, as I have done, the +labourer who tills the land worse housed than the horse he +drives, worse clothed than the sheep he shears, worse nourished +than the hog he feeds—and yet not despair: for the Prince +of sufferers is the labourer’s Saviour; He has tasted +hunger, and thirst, and weariness, poverty, oppression, and +neglect; the very tramp who wanders houseless on the moorside is +His brother; in his sufferings the Saviour of the world has +shared, when the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had +nests, while the Son of God had not where to lay His head. +He is the King of the poor, firstborn among many brethren; His +tenderness is Almighty, and for the poor He has prepared +deliverance, perhaps in this world, surely in the world to +come—boundless deliverance, out of the treasures of His +boundless love.</p> +<p>Believing in Jesus, we can pass by mines, and factories, and +by dungeons darker and fouler still, in the lanes and alleys of +our great towns and cities, where thousands and tens of thousands +of starving men, and wan women, and children grown old before +their youth, sit toiling and pining in Mammon’s +prison-house, in worse than Egyptian bondage, to earn such pay as +just keeps the broken heart within the worn-out body;—ay, +we can go through our great cities, even now, and see the women, +whom God intended to be Christian wives and mothers, the slaves +of the rich man’s greed by day, the playthings of his lust +by night—and yet not despair; for we can cry, No! thou +proud Mammon, money-making fiend! These are not thine, but +Christ’s; they belong to Him who died on the cross; and +though thou heedest not their sighs, He marks them all, for He +has sighed like them; though there be no pity in thee, there is +in Him the pity of a man, ay, and the indignation of a God! +He treasures up their tears; He understands their sorrows; His +judgment of their guilt is not like thine, thou Pharisee! +He is their Lord, who said, that to those to whom little was +given, of them shall little be required. Generation after +generation, they are being made perfect by sufferings, as their +Saviour was before them; and then, woe to thee! For even as +He led Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and a +stretched-out arm, and signs and wonders, great and terrible, so +shall He lead the poor out of their misery, and make them +households like a flock of sheep; even as He led Israel through +the wilderness, tender, forbearing, knowing whereof they were +made, having mercy on all their brutalities, and idolatries, +murmurings, and backslidings, afflicted in all their +afflictions—even while He was punishing them outwardly, as +He is punishing the poor man now—even so shall He lead this +people out in His good time, into a good land and large, a land +of wheat and wine, of milk and honey; a rest which He has +prepared for His poor, such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, +nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. He +can do it; for the Almighty Deliverer is His name. He will +do it; for His name is Love. He knows how to do it; for He +has borne the griefs, and carried the sorrows of the poor.</p> +<p>Oh, sad hearts and suffering! Anxious and weary +ones! Look to the cross this day! There hung your +king! The King of sorrowing souls, and more, the King of +sorrows. Ay, pain and grief, tyranny and desertion, death +and hell, He has faced them one and all, and tried their +strength, and taught them His, and conquered them right +royally! And, since He hung upon that torturing cross, +sorrow is divine, god-like, as joy itself. All that +man’s fallen nature dreads and despises, God honoured on +the cross, and took unto Himself, and blessed, and consecrated +for ever. And now, blessed are the poor, if they are poor +in heart, as well as purse; for Jesus was poor, and theirs is the +kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the hungry, if they hunger +for righteousness as well as food; for Jesus hungered, and they +shall be filled. Blessed are those who mourn, if they mourn +not only for their afflictions, but for their sins, and for the +sins they see around them; for on this day, Jesus mourned for our +sins; on this day He was made sin for us, who knew no sin; and +they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who are ashamed +of themselves, and hate themselves, and humble themselves before +God this day; for on this day Jesus humbled Himself for us; and +they shall be exalted. Blessed are the forsaken and the +despised.—Did not all men forsake Jesus this day, in His +hour of need? and why not thee, too, thou poor deserted +one? Shall the disciple be above his Master? No; +everyone that is perfect, must be like his master. The +deeper, the bitterer your loneliness, the more are you like Him, +who cried upon the cross, “My God, my God, why hast Thou +forsaken Me?” He knows what that grief, too, is +like. He feels for thee, at least. Though all forsake +thee, He is with thee still; and if He be with thee, what matter +who has left thee for a while? Ay, blessed are those that +weep now, for they shall laugh. It is those whom the Lord +loveth that He chasteneth. And because He loves the poor, +He brings them low. All things are blessed now, but sin; +for all things, excepting sin, are redeemed by the life and death +of the Son of God. Blessed are wisdom and courage, joy, and +health, and beauty, love and marriage, childhood and manhood, +corn and wine, fruits and flowers, for Christ redeemed them by +His life. And blessed, too, are tears and shame, blessed +are weakness and ugliness, blessed are agony and sickness, +blessed the sad remembrance of our sins, and a broken heart, and +a repentant spirit. Blessed is death, and blessed the +unknown realms, where souls await the resurrection day, for +Christ redeemed them by His death. Blessed are all things, +weak, as well as strong. Blessed are all days, dark, as +well as bright, for all are His, and He is ours; and all are +ours, and we are His, for ever.</p> +<p>Therefore sigh on, ye sad ones, and rejoice in your own +sadness; ache on, ye suffering ones, and rejoice in your own +sorrows. Rejoice that you are made free of the holy +brotherhood of mourners, that you may claim your place, too, if +you will, among the noble army of martyrs. Rejoice that you +are counted worthy of a fellowship in the sufferings of the Son +of God. Rejoice and trust on, for after sorrow shall come +joy. Trust on; for in man’s weakness God’s +strength shall be made perfect. Trust on, for death is the +gate of life. Endure on to the end, and possess your souls +in patience for a little while, and that, perhaps, a very little +while. Death comes swiftly; and more swiftly still, +perhaps, the day of the Lord. The deeper the sorrow, the +nearer the salvation:</p> +<blockquote><p>The night is darkest before the dawn;<br /> +When the pain is sorest the child is born;<br /> +And the day of the Lord is at hand.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Ay, if the worst should come; if neither the laws of your +country nor the benevolence of the righteous were strong enough +to defend you; if one charitable plan after another were to fail; +if the labour-market were getting fuller and fuller, and poverty +were spreading wider and wider, and crime and misery were +breeding faster and still faster every year than education and +religion; all hope for the poor seemed gone and lost, and they +were ready to believe the men who tell them that the land is +over-peopled—that there are too many of us, too many +industrious hands, too many cunning brains, too many immortal +souls, too many of God’s children upon God’s earth, +which God the Father made, and God the Son redeemed, and God the +Holy Spirit teaches: then the Lord, the Prince of sufferers, He +who knows your every grief, and weeps with you tear for tear, He +would come out of His place to smite the haughty ones, and +confound the cunning ones, and silence the loud ones, and empty +the full ones; to judge with righteousness for the meek of the +earth, to hearken to the prayer of the poor, whose heart he has +been preparing, and to help the fatherless and needy to their +right, that the man of the world may be no more exalted against +them.</p> +<p>In that day men will find out a wonder and miracle. They +will see many that are first last, and many that are last +first. They will find that there were poor who were the +richest after all; the simple who were wisest, and gentle who +were bravest, and weak who were strongest; that God’s ways +are not as men’s ways, nor God’s thoughts as +men’s thoughts. Alas, who shall stand when God does +this? At least He who will do it is Jesus, who loved us to +the death; boundless love and gentleness, boundless generosity +and pity; who was tempted even as we are, who has felt our every +weakness. In that thought is utter comfort, that our Judge +will be He who died and rose again, and is praying for us even +now, to His Father and our Father. Therefore fear not, +gentle souls, patient souls, pure consciences and tender +hearts. Fear not, you who are empty and hungry, who walk in +darkness and see no light; for though He fulfil once more, as He +has again and again, the awful prophecy before the text; though +He tread down the people in His anger, and make them drunk in His +fury, and bring their strength to the earth; though kings with +their armies may flee, and the stars which light the earth may +fall, and there be great tribulation, wars, and rumours of wars, +and on earth distress of nations with perplexity—yet it is +when the day of His vengeance is at hand, that the year of His +redeemed is come. And when they see all these things, let +them rejoice and lift up their heads, for their redemption +draweth nigh.</p> +<p>Do you ask how I know this? Do you ask for a sign, for a +token that these my words are true? I know that they are +true. But, as for tokens, I will give you but this one, the +sign of that bread and that wine. When the Lord shall have +delivered His people out of all their sorrows, they shall eat of +that bread and drink of that wine, one and all, in the kingdom of +God.</p> +<h2><a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 67</span><span +class="GutSmall">VIII.</span><br /> +EASTER-DAY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things +which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of +God.—<span class="smcap">Colossians</span> iii. 1.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I <span class="smcap">know</span> no better way of preaching +to you the gospel of Easter, the good news which this day brings +to all men, year after year, than by trying to explain to you the +Epistle appointed for this day, which we have just read.</p> +<p>It begins, “If ye then be risen with +Christ.” Now that does not mean that St. Paul had any +doubt whether the Colossians, to whom he was speaking, were risen +with Christ or not. He does not mean, “I am not sure +whether you are risen or not; but perhaps you are not; but if you +are, you ought to do such and such things.” He does +not mean that. He was quite sure that these Colossians were +risen with Christ. He had no doubt of it whatsoever. +If you look at the chapter before, he says so. He tells +them that they were buried with Christ in baptism, in which also +they were risen with Christ, through faith of the operation of +God, who has raised Him from the dead.</p> +<p>Now what reason had St. Paul to believe that these Colossians +were risen with Jesus Christ? Because they had given up sin +and were leading holy lives? That cannot be. The +Epistle for this day says the very opposite. It does not +say, “You are risen, because you have left off +sinning.” It says, “You must leave off sinning, +because you are risen.” Was it then on account of any +experiences, or inward feeling of theirs? Not at all. +He says that these Colossians had been baptized, and that they +had believed in God’s work of raising Jesus Christ from the +dead, and that therefore they were risen with Christ. In +one word, they had believed the message of Easter-day, and +therefore they shared in the blessings of Easter-day; as it is +written in another place, “If thou shalt confess with thy +mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in thy heart that God +has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”</p> +<p>Now these seem very wide words, too wide to please most +people. But there are wider words still in St. Paul’s +epistles. He tells us again and again that God’s +mercy is a free gift; that He has made to us a free present of +His Son Jesus Christ. That He has taken away the effect of +all men’s sin, and more than that, that men are God’s +children; that they have a right to believe that they are so, +because they are so. For, He says, the free gift of Jesus +Christ is not like Adam’s offence. It is not less +than it, narrower than it, as some folks say. It is not +that by Adam’s sin all became sinners, and by Jesus +Christ’s salvation an elect few out of them shall be made +righteous. If you will think a moment, you will see that it +cannot be so. For Jesus Christ conquered sin and death and +the devil. But if, as some think, sin and death and the +devil have destroyed and sent to hell by far the greater part of +mankind, then they have conquered Christ, and not Christ +them. Mankind belonged to Christ at first. Sin and +death and the devil came in and ruined them, and then Christ came +to redeem them; but if all that He has been able to do is to +redeem one out of a thousand, or even nine out of ten, of them, +then the devil has had the best of the battle. He, and not +Christ, is the conqueror. If a thief steals all the sheep +on your farm, and all that you can get back from him is a part of +the whole flock, which has had the best of it, you or the +thief? If Christ’s redemption is meant for only a +few, or even a great many elect souls out of all the millions of +mankind, which has had the best of it, Christ, the master of the +sheep, or the devil, the robber and destroyer of them? Be +sure, my friends, Christ is stronger than that; His love is +deeper than that; His redemption is wider than that. How +strong, how deep, how wide it is, we never shall know. St. +Paul tells us that we never shall know, for it is boundless; but +that we shall go on knowing more and more of its vastness for +ever, finding it deeper, wider, loftier than our most glorious +dreams could ever picture it. But this, he says, we do +know, that we have gained more than Adam lost. For if by +one man’s offence many were made sinners, much more shall +they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of +righteousness reign in life by one even Jesus Christ. For, +he says, where sin abounded, God’s grace and free gift has +much more abounded. Therefore, as by the offence of one, +judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the +righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to +justification of life. Upon all men, you see. There +can be no doubt about it. Upon you and me, and foreigners, +and gipsies, and heathens, and thieves, and harlots—upon +all mankind, let them be as bad or as good, as young or as old, +as they may, the free gift of God has come to justification of +life; they are justified, pardoned, and beloved in the sight of +Almighty God; they have a right and a share to a new life; a +different sort of life from what they are inclined to lead, and +do lead, by nature—to a life which death cannot take away, +a life which may grow, and strengthen, and widen, and blossom, +and bear fruit for ever and ever. They have a share in +Christ’s resurrection, in the blessing of Easter-day. +They have a share in Christ, every one of them whether they claim +that share or not. How far they will be punished for not +claiming it, is a very different matter, of which we know nothing +whatsoever. And how far the heathen who have never heard of +Christ, or of their share in Him, will be punished, we know +not—we are not meant to know. But we know that to +their own Master they stand or fall, and that their Master is our +Master too, and that He is a just Master, and requires little of +him to whom He gives little; a just and merciful Master, who +loved this sinful world enough to come down and die for it, while +mankind were all rebels and sinners, and has gone on taking care +of it, and improving it, in spite of all its sin and rebellion +ever since, and that is enough for us.</p> +<p>St. Paul knew no more. It was a mystery, he says, a +wonderful and unfathomable matter, which had been hidden since +the foundation of the world, of which he himself says that he saw +only through a glass darkly; and we cannot expect to have clearer +eyes than he. But this he seems to have seen, that the +Lord, when He rose again, bought a blessing even for the dumb +beasts and the earth on which we live. For he says, the +whole creation is now groaning in the pangs of labour, being +about to bring forth something; and the whole creation will rise +again; how, and when, and into what new state, we cannot +tell. But St. Paul seems to say that when the Lord shall +destroy death, the last of his enemies, then the whole creation +shall be renewed, and bring forth another earth, nobler and more +beautiful than this one, free from death, and sin, and sorrow, +and redeemed into the glorious liberty of the children of +God.</p> +<p>But this, on the other hand, St. Paul did see most clearly, +and preached it to all to whom he spoke, that the ground and +reason of this great and glorious mystery was the thing which +happened on the first Easter-day, namely, the Lord Jesus rising +from the dead. About that, at least, there was no doubt at +all in his mind. We may see it by the Easter anthem, which +we read this morning, taken out of the fifteenth chapter of his +first epistle to the Corinthians:</p> +<p>“Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first +fruits of them that slept.</p> +<p>“For since by man came death, by man came also the +resurrection of the dead.</p> +<p>“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be +made alive.”</p> +<p>Now he is not talking here merely of the rising again of our +bodies at the last day. That was in his mind only the end, +and outcome, and fruit, and perfecting, of men’s rising +from the dead in this life. For he tells these same +Corinthians, and the Colossians, and others to whom he wrote, +that life, the eternal life which would raise their bodies at the +last day, was even then working in them.</p> +<p>Neither is he speaking only of a few believers. He says +that, owing to the Lord’s rising on this day, all shall be +made alive—not merely all Christians, but all men. +For he does not say, as in Adam all Christians die, but all men; +and so he does not say, all Christians shall be made alive, but +all men. For here, as in the sixth chapter of Romans, he is +trying to make us understand the likeness between Adam and Jesus +Christ, whom he calls the new Adam. The first Adam, he +says, was only a living soul, as the savages and heathens are; +but the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, the true pattern of +men, is a quickening, life-giving spirit, to give eternal life to +every human being who will accept His offer, and claim his share +and right as a true man, after the likeness of the new Adam, +Jesus Christ.</p> +<p>We then, every one of us who is here to-day, have a right to +believe that we have a share in Christ’s eternal life: that +our original sin, that is, the sinfulness which we inherited from +our forefathers, is all forgiven and forgotten, and that mankind +is now redeemed, and belongs to the second Adam, the true and +original head and pattern of man, Jesus Christ, in whom was no +sin; and that because mankind belongs to him, God is well pleased +with them, and reconciled to them, and looks on them not as a +guilty, but as a pardoned and beloved race of beings.</p> +<p>And we have a right to believe also, that because all power is +given to Christ in heaven and earth, there is given to Him the +power of making men what they ought to be—like His own +blessed, and glorious, and perfect self. Ask him, and you +shall receive; knock at the gate of His treasure-house, and it +shall be opened. Seek those things that are above, and you +shall find them. You shall find old bad habits die out in +you, new good habits spring up in you; old meannesses become +weaker, new nobleness and manfulness become stronger; the old, +selfish, covetous, savage, cunning, cowardly, brutal Adam dying +out, the new, loving, brotherly, civilised, wise, brave, manful +Adam growing up in you, day by day, to perfection, till you are +changed from grace to grace, and glory to glory into the likeness +of the Lord of men.</p> +<p>“These are great promises,” you may say, +“glorious promises; but what proof have you that they +belong to us? They sound too good to be true; too great for +such poor creatures as we are; give us but some proof that we +have a right to them; give us but a pledge from Jesus Christ; +give us but a sign, an assurance from God, and we may believe you +then.”</p> +<p>My friends, I am certain—and the longer I live I am the +more certain—that there is no argument, no pledge, no sign, +no assurance, like the bread and the wine upon that table. +Assurances in our own hearts and souls are good, but we may be +mistaken about them; for, after all, they are our own thoughts, +notions in our own souls, these inward experiences and +assurances; delightful and comforting as they are at times, yet +we cannot trust them—we cannot trust our own hearts, they +are deceitful above all things, who can know them? Yes: our +own hearts may tell us lies; they may make us fancy that we are +pleasing God, when we are doing the things most hateful to +Him. They have made thousands fancy so already. They +may make us fancy we are right in God’s sight, when we are +utterly wrong. They have made thousands fancy so +already. These hearts of ours may make us fancy that we +have spiritual life in us; that we are in a state higher and +nobler than the sinners round us, when all the while our spirits +are dead within us. They made the Pharisees of old fancy +that their souls were alive, and pure, and religious, when they +were dead and damned within them; and they may make us fancy so +too. No: we cannot trust our hearts and inward feelings; +but that bread, that wine, we can trust. Our inward +feelings are a sign from man; that bread and wine are a sign from +God. Our inward feelings may tell us what we feel toward +God: that bread, that wine, tell us something ten thousand times +more important; they tell us what God feels towards us. And +God must love us before we can love Him; God must pardon us +before we can have mercy on ourselves; God must come to us, and +take hold of us, before we can cling to Him; God must change us, +before we can become right; God must give us eternal life in our +hearts before we can feel and enjoy that new life in us. +Then that bread, that wine, say that God has done all that for us +already; they say: “God does love you; God has pardoned +you; God has come to you; God is ready and willing to change and +convert you; God has given you eternal life; and this love, this +mercy, this coming to find you out while you are wandering in +sin, this change, this eternal life, are all in His Son Jesus +Christ; and that bread, that wine, are the signs of +it.” It is for the sake of Jesus’ blood that +God has pardoned you, and that cup is the new covenant in His +blood. Come and drink, and claim your pardon. It is +simply because Jesus Christ was man, and you, too, are men and +women, wearing the flesh and blood which Christ wore; eating and +drinking as Christ ate and drank, and not for any works or faith +of your own, that God loves you, and has come to you, and called +you into His family. This is the Gospel, the good news of +Christ’s free grace, and pardon, and salvation; and that +bread, that wine, the common food of all men, not merely of the +rich, or the wise, or the pious, but of saints and penitents, +rich and poor. Christians and heathens, alike—that +plain, common, every-day bread and wine—are the signs of +it. Come and take the signs, and claim your share in +God’s love, in God’s family. And it is in Jesus +Christ, too, that you have eternal life. It is because you +belong to Jesus Christ, to mankind, of which He is the head and +king, that God will change you, strengthen your soul to rise +above your sins, raise you up daily more and more out of +spiritual death, out of brutishness, and selfishness, and +ignorance, and malice, into an eternal life of wisdom, and love, +and courage, and mercifulness, and patience, and obedience; a +life which shall continue through death, and beyond death, and +raise you up again for ever at the last day, because you belong +to Christ’s body, and have been fed with Christ’s +eternal life. And that bread, that wine are the signs of +it. “Take, eat,” said Jesus, “this is my +body; drink, this is my blood.” Those are the signs +that God has given you eternal life, and that this life is in His +Son. What better sign would you have? There is no +mistaking their message; they can tell you no lies. And +they can, and will, bring your own Gospel-blessings to your mind, +as nothing else can. They will make you feel, as nothing +else can, that you are the beloved children of God, heirs of all +that your King and Head has bought for you, when He died, and +rose again upon this day. He gave you the Lord’s +Supper for a sign. Do you think that He did not know best +what the best sign would be? He said: “Do this in +remembrance of me.” Do you think that He did not know +better than you, and me, and all men, that if you did do it, it +would put you in remembrance of Him?</p> +<p>Oh! come to His table, this day of all days in the year; and +claim there your share in His body and His blood, to feed the +everlasting life in you; which, though you see it not now, though +you feel it not now, will surely, if you keep it alive in you by +daily faith, and daily repentance, and daily prayer, and daily +obedience, raise you up, body and soul, to reign with Him for +ever at the last day.</p> +<h2><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span><span +class="GutSmall">IX.</span><br /> +THE COMFORTER.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.</p> +<blockquote><p>If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto +you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.—<span +class="smcap">John</span> xvi. 7.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> are now coming near to two great +days, Ascension-day and Whit-Sunday, which our forefathers have +appointed, year by year, to put us continually in mind of two +great works, which the Lord worked out for us, His most unworthy +subjects, and still unworthier brothers.</p> +<p>On Ascension-day He ascended up into Heaven, and received +gifts for men, even for His enemies, that the Lord God might +dwell among them; and on Whit-Sunday, He sent down those +gifts. The Spirit of God came down to dwell in the hearts +of men, to be the right of everyone who asks for it, white or +black, young or old, rich or poor, and never to leave this earth +as long as there is a human being on it. And because we are +coming near to these two great days, the Prayer-book, in the +Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, tries to put us in mind of those +days, and to make us ready to ask for the blessings of which they +are the yearly signs and witnesses. The Gospel for last +Sunday told us how the Lord told His disciples just before His +death, that for a little while they should not see Him; and again +a little while and they should see Him, because he was going to +the Father, and that they should have great sorrow, but that +their sorrow should be turned into joy. And the Gospel for +to-day goes further still, and tells us why He was going +away—that He might send to them the Comforter, His Holy +Spirit, and that it was expedient—good for them, that He +should go away; for that if He did not, the Comforter would not +come to them. Now, in these words, I do not doubt He was +speaking of Ascension-day, and of Whit-Sunday; and therefore it +is that these Gospels have been chosen to be read before +Ascension-day and Whit-Sunday; and in proportion as we attend to +these Gospels, and take in the meaning of them, and act +accordingly, Ascension-day and Whit-Sunday will be a blessing and +a profit to us; and in proportion as we neglect them, or forget +them, Ascension-day and Whit-Sunday will be witnesses against our +souls at the day of judgment, that the Lord Himself condescended +to buy for us with His own blood, blessings unspeakable, and +offer them freely unto us, in spite of all our sins, and yet we +would have none of them, but preferred our own will to +God’s will, and the little which we thought we could get +for ourselves, to the unspeakable treasures which God had +promised to give us, and turned away from the blessings of His +kingdom, to our own foolish pleasure and covetousness, like +“the dog to his vomit, and the sow that was washed to her +wallowing in the mire.”</p> +<p>I said that God had promised to us an unspeakable treasure: +and so He has; a treasure that will make the poorest and weakest +man among us, richer than if he had all the wealth gathered from +all the nations of the world, which everyone is admiring now in +that Great Exhibition in London, and stronger than if he had all +the wisdom which produced that wealth. Let us see now what +it is that God has promised us—and then those to whom God +has given ears to hear, and hearts to understand, will see that +large as my words may sound, they are no larger than the +truth.</p> +<p>Christ said, that if He went away, He would send down the +Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God. The Nicene Creed says, +that the Holy Spirit of God is the Lord and Giver of life; and so +He is. He gives life to the earth, to the trees, to the +flowers, to the dumb animals, to the bodies and minds of men; all +life, all growth, all health, all strength, all beauty, all +order, all help and assistance of one thing by another, which you +see in the world around you, comes from Him. He is the Lord +and Giver of life; in Him, the earth, the sun and stars, all live +and move and have their being. He is not them, or a part of +them, but He gives life to them. But to men He is more than +that—for we men ourselves are more than that, and need +more. We have immortal spirits in us—a reason, a +conscience, and a will; strange rights and duties, strange hopes +and fears, of which the beasts and the plants know nothing. +We have hearts in us which can love, and feel, and sorrow, and be +weak, and sinful, and mistaken; and therefore we want a +Comforter. And the Lord and Giver of life has promised to +be our Comforter; and the Father and the Son, from both of whom +He proceeds, have promised to send Him to us, to strengthen and +comfort us, and give our spirits life and health, and knit us +together to each other, and to God, in one common bond of love +and fellow-feeling even as He the Spirit knits together the +Father and the Son.</p> +<p>I said that we want a Comforter. If we consider what +that word Comforter means, we shall see that we do want a +Comforter, and that the only Comforter which can satisfy us for +ever and ever, must be He, the very Spirit of God, the Lord and +Giver of life.</p> +<p>Now Comforter means one who gives comfort; so the meaning of +it will depend upon what comfort means. Our word comfort, +comes from two old Latin words, which mean <i>with</i> and <i>to +strengthen</i>. And, therefore, a Comforter means anyone +who is with us to strengthen us, and do for us what we could not +do for ourselves. You will see that this is the proper +meaning of the word, when you remember what bodily things we call +comforts. You say that a person is comfortable, or lives in +comfort, if he has a comfortable income, a comfortable house, +comfortable clothes, comfortable food, and so on. Now all +these things, his money, his house, his clothes, his food, are +not himself. They make him stronger and more at ease. +They make his life more pleasant to him. But they are not +<i>him</i>; they are round him, with him, to strengthen +him. So with a person’s mind and feelings; when a man +is in sorrow and trouble, he cannot comfort himself. His +friends must come to him and comfort him; talk to him, advise +him, show their kind feeling towards him, and in short, be with +him to strengthen him in his afflictions. And if we require +comfort for our bodies, and for our minds, my friends, how much +more do we for our spirits—our souls, as we call +them! How weak, and ignorant, and self-willed, and +perplexed, and sinful they are—surely our souls require a +comforter far more than our bodies or our minds do! And to +comfort our spirits, we require a spirit; for we cannot see our +own spirits, our own souls, as we can our bodies. We cannot +even tell by our feelings what state they are in. We may +deceive ourselves, and we do deceive ourselves, again and again, +and fancy that our souls are strong when they are weak—that +they are simple and truthful when they are full of deceit and +falsehood—that they are loving God when they are only +loving themselves—that they are doing God’s will when +they are only doing their own selfish and perverse wills. +No man can take care of his own spirit, much less give his own +spirit life; “no man can quicken his own soul,” says +David, that is, no man can give his own soul life. And +therefore we must have someone beyond ourselves to give life to +our spirits. We must have someone to teach us the things +that we could never find out for ourselves, someone who will put +into our hearts the good desires that could never come of +themselves. We must have someone who can change these wills +of ours, and make them love what they hate by nature, and make +them hate what they love by nature. For by nature we are +selfish. By nature we are inclined to love ourselves, +rather than anyone else; to take care of ourselves, rather than +anyone else. By nature we are inclined to follow our own +will, rather than God’s will, to do our own pleasure, +rather than follow God’s commandments, and therefore by +nature our spirits are dead; for selfishness and self-will are +<i>spiritual death</i>. Spiritual life is love, pity, +patience, courage, honesty, truth, justice, humbleness, industry, +self-sacrifice, obedience to God, and therefore to those whom God +sends to teach and guide us. <i>That</i> is spiritual +life. That is the life of Jesus Christ; His character, His +conduct, was like that—to love, to help, to pity, all +around—to give up Himself even to death—to do His +Father’s will and not His own. That was His +life. Because He was the Son of God He did it. In +proportion as we live like Him, we shall he living like sons of +God. In proportion as we live like Jesus Christ, the Son of +God, our spirits will be alive. For he that hath Jesus +Christ the Son of God in him, hath life, and he that hath not the +Son of God, hath not life, says St. John. But who can raise +us from the death of sin and selfishness, to the life of +righteousness and love? Who can change us into the likeness +of Jesus Christ? Who can even show us what Jesus +Christ’s likeness is, and take the things of Christ and +show them to us; so that by seeing what He was, we may see what +we should be? And who, if we have this life in us, will +keep it alive in us, and be with us to strengthen us? Who +will give us strength to force the foul and fierce and false +thoughts out of our mind, and say, “Get thee behind me, +Satan?” Who will give our spirits life? and who will +strengthen that life in us?</p> +<p>Can we do it for ourselves? Oh! my friends, I pity the +man who is so blind and ignorant, who knows so little of himself, +upon whom the lessons which his own mistakes, and sins, and +failings should have taught him, have been so wasted that he +fancies that he can teach and guide himself without any help, and +that he can raise his own soul to life, or keep it alive without +assistance. Can his body do without its comforts? +Then how can his spirit? If he left his house, and threw +away his clothes, and refused all help from his fellow-men, and +went and lived in the woods like a wild beast, we should call him +a madman, because he refused the help and comfort to his body +which God has made necessary for him. But just as great a +madman is he who refuses the help and the strengthening which God +has made necessary for his spirit—just as great a madman is +he who fancies that his soul is any more able than his body is, +to live without continual help. It is just because man is +nobler than the beast that he requires help. The fox in the +wood needs no house, no fire; he needs no friends; he needs no +comforts, and no comforters, because he is a beast—because +he is meant to live and die selfish and alone; therefore God has +provided him in himself with all things necessary to keep the +poor brute’s selfish life in him for a few short +years. But just because man is nobler than that; just +because man is not intended to live selfish and alone; just +because his body, and his mind, and his spirit are beautifully +and delicately made, and intended for all sorts of wonderful +purposes, therefore God has appointed that from the moment he is +born to all eternity he cannot live alone; he cannot support +himself; he stands in continual need of the assistance of all +around him, for body, and soul, and spirit; he needs clothes, +which other men must make; houses, which other man must build; +food, which other men must produce; he has to get his livelihood +by working for others, while others get their livelihood in +return by working for him. As a child he needs his parents +to be his comforters, to take care of him in body and mind. +As he grows up he needs the care of others; he cannot exist a day +without his fellow-men: he requires school-masters to educate +him; books and masters to teach him his trade; and when he has +learnt it, and settled himself in life, he requires laws made by +other men, perhaps by men who died hundreds of years before he +was born, to secure to him his rights and property, to secure to +him comforts, and to make him feel comfortable in his station; he +needs friends and family to comfort him in sorrow and in joy, to +do for him the thousand things which he cannot do for +himself. In proportion as he is alone and friendless he is +pitiable and miserable, let him be as rich as Solomon +himself. From the moment, I say, he is born, he needs +continual comforts and comforters for his body, and mind, and +heart. And then he fancies that, though his body and his +mind cannot exist safely, or grow up healthily, without the +continual care and comforting of his fellow-men, that yet his +soul, the part of him which is at once the most important and the +most in danger; the part of him of which he knows least; the part +of him which he understands least; the part of him of which his +body and mind cannot take care, because it has to take care of +them, can live, and grow, and prosper without any help +whatsoever!</p> +<p>And if we cannot strengthen our own souls no man can +strengthen them for us. No man can raise our bodies to +life, much less can he raise our souls. The physician +himself cannot cure the sicknesses of our bodies; he can only +give us fit medicines, and leave them to cure us by certain laws +of nature, which he did not make, and which he cannot +alter. And though the physician can, by much learning, +understand men’s bodies somewhat, who can understand +men’s souls? We cannot understand our own souls; we +do not know what they are, how they live; whence they come, or +whither they go. We cannot cure them ourselves, much less +can anyone cure them for us. The only one who can cure our +souls is He that made our souls; the only one who can give life +to our souls is He who gives life to everything. The only +one who can cure, and strengthen, and comfort our spirits, is He +who understands our spirits, because He himself is the Spirit of +all spirits, the Spirit who searcheth all things, even the deep +things of God; because He is the Spirit of God the Father, who +made all heaven and earth, and of Jesus Christ the Son, who +understands the heart of man, who can be touched with the +feelings of our infirmities, and hath been tempted in all things, +just as we are, yet without sin.</p> +<p>He is the Comforter which God has promised to our spirits, the +only Comforter who can strengthen our spirits; and if we have Him +with us, if He is strengthening us, if He is leading us, if He is +abiding with us, if He is changing us day by day, more and more +into the likeness of Jesus Christ, are we not, as I said at the +beginning of my sermon, richer than if we possessed all the land +of England, stronger than if we had all the armies of the world +at our command? For what is more precious than—God +Himself? What is stronger than—God Himself? The +poorest man in whom God’s Spirit dwells is greater than the +greatest king in whom God’s Spirit does not dwell. +And so he will find in the day that he dies. Then where +will riches be, and power? The rich man will take none of +them away with him when he dieth, neither shall his pomp follow +him. Naked came he into this world, and naked shall he +return out of it, to go as he came, and carry with him none of +the comforts which he thought in this life the only ones worth +having. But the Spirit of God remains with us for ever; +that treasure a man shall carry out of this world with him, and +keep to all eternity. That friend will never forsake him, +for He is the Spirit of Love, which abideth for ever. That +Comforter will never grow weak, for He is Himself the very +eternal Lord and Giver of Life; and the soul that is possessed by +Him must live, must grow, must become nobler, purer, freer, +stronger, more loving, for ever and ever, as the eternities roll +by. That is what He will give you, my friends; that is His +treasure; that is the Spirit-life, the true and everlasting life, +which flows from Him as the stream flows from the +fountain-head.</p> +<h2><a name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 85</span><span +class="GutSmall">X.</span><br /> +WHIT-SUNDAY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, +longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, +temperance—against such there is no law.—<span +class="smcap">Galatians</span> v. 22, 23.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> all countries, and in all ages, +the world has been full of complaints of Law and +Government. And one hears the same complaints in England +now. You hear complaints that the laws favour one party and +one rank more than another, that they are expensive, and harsh, +and unfair, and what not?—But I think, my friends, that for +us, and especially on this Whit-Sunday, it will be much wiser, +instead of complaining of the laws, to complain of ourselves, for +needing those laws. For what is it that makes laws +necessary at all, except man’s sinfulness? Adam +required no laws in the garden of Eden. We should require +no laws if we were what we ought to be—what God has offered +to make us. We may see this by looking at the laws +themselves, and considering the purposes for which they were +made. We shall then see, that, like Moses’ Laws of +old, the greater part of them have been added because of +transgressions.—In plain English—to prevent men from +doing things which they ought not to do, and which, if they were +in a right state of mind, they would not do. How many laws +are passed, simply to prevent one man, or one class, from +oppressing or ill-using some other man or class? What a +vast number of them are passed simply to protect property, or to +protect the weak from the cruel, the ignorant from the +cunning! It is plain that if there was no cruelty, no +cunning, no dishonesty, these laws, at all events, would not be +needed. Again, one of the great complaints against the laws +and the government, is that they are so expensive, that rates and +taxes are heavy burdens—and doubtless they are: but what +makes them necessary except men’s sin? If the poor +were more justly and mercifully treated, and if they in their +turn were more thrifty and provident, there would be no need of +the expenses of poor rates. If there was no love of war and +plunder, there would be no need of the expense of an army. +If there was no crime, there would be no need of the expense of +police and prisons. The thing is so simple and +self-evident, that it seems almost childish to mention it. +And yet, my friends, we forget it daily. We complain of the +laws and their harshness, of taxes and their expensiveness, and +we forget all the while that it is our own selfishness and +sinfulness which brings this expense upon us, which makes it +necessary for the law to interfere and protect us against others, +and others against us. And while we are complaining of the +government for not doing its work somewhat more cheaply, we are +forgetting that if we chose, we might leave government very +little work to do—that every man if he chose, might be his +own law-maker and his own police—that every man if he will, +may lead a life “against which there is no law.”</p> +<p>I say again, that it is our own fault, the fault of our +sinfulness, that laws are necessary for us. In proportion +as we are what Scripture calls “natural men,” that +is, savage, selfish, divided from each other, and struggling +against each other, each for his own interest; as long as we are +not renewed and changed into new men, so long will laws, heavy, +severe, and burdensome, be necessary for us. Without them +we should be torments to ourselves, to our neighbours, to our +country. But these laws are only necessary as long as we +are full of selfishness and ungodliness. The moment we +yield ourselves up to God’s law, man’s laws are ready +enough to leave us alone. Take, for instance, a common +example; as long as anyone is a faithful husband and a good +father, the law does not interfere with his conduct towards his +wife and children. But it is when he is unfaithful to them, +when he ill-treats them, or deserts them, that the law interferes +with its “Thou shalt not,” and compels him to behave, +against his will, in the way in which he ought to have behaved of +his own will. It was free to the man to have done his duty +by his family, without the law—the moment he neglects his +duty, he becomes amenable to it.</p> +<p>But the law can only force a man’s actions: it cannot +change his heart. In the instance which I have been just +mentioning, the law can say to a man, “You shall not +ill-treat your family; you shall not leave them to +starve.” But the law cannot say to him “You +shall love your family.” The law can only command +from a man outward obedience; the obedience of the heart it +cannot enforce. The law may make a man do his duty, it +cannot make a man <i>love</i> his duty. And therefore laws +will never set the world right. They can punish persons +after the wrong is done, and that not certainly nor always: but +they cannot certainly prevent the wrongs being done. The +law can punish a man for stealing: and yet, as we see daily, men +steal in the face of punishment. Or even if the law, by its +severity, makes persons afraid to commit certain particular +crimes, yet still as long as the sinful heart is left in them +unchanged, the sin which is checked in one direction is sure to +break out in another. Sin, like every other disease, is +sure, when it is driven onwards, to break out at a fresh point, +or fester within some still more deadly, because more hidden and +unsuspected, shape. The man who dare not be an open sinner +for fear of the law, can be a hypocrite in spite of it. The +man who dare not steal for fear of the law, can cheat in spite of +it. The selfish man will find fresh ways of being selfish, +the tyrannical man of being tyrannical, however closely the law +may watch him. He will discover some means of evading it; +and thus the law, after all, though it may keep down crime, +multiplies sin; and by the law, as St. Paul says, is the +knowledge of sin.</p> +<p>What then will do that for this poor world which the law +cannot do—which, as St. Paul tells us, not even the law of +God given on Mount Sinai, holy, just, good as it was, could do, +because no law can give life? What will give men a new +heart and a new spirit, which shall love its duty and do it +willingly, and not by compulsion, everywhere and always, and not +merely just as far as it commanded? The text tells us that +there is a Spirit, the fruit of which is love, joy, peace, +longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; +a character such as no laws can give to a man, and which no law +dare punish in a man. Look at this character as St. Paul +sets it forth—and then think what need would there be of +all these burdensome and expensive laws, if all men were but full +of the fruits of that Spirit which St. Paul describes?</p> +<p>I know what answer will be ready, in some of your minds at +least, to all this. You will be ready to reply, almost +angrily, “Of course if everyone was perfect, we should need +no laws: but people are not perfect, and you cannot expect them +to be.” My friends, whether or not <i>we</i> expect +baptized people, living in a Christian country, to be perfect, +God expects them to be perfect; for He has said, by the mouth of +His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, “Be ye therefore perfect, +as our Father which is in heaven is perfect.” And He +has told us what being perfect is like; you may read it for +yourselves in His sermon on the Mount; and you may see also that +what He commands us to do in that sermon, from the beginning to +the end, is the exact opposite and contrary of the ways and rules +of this world, which, as I have shown, make burdensome laws +necessary to prevent our devouring each other. Now, do you +think that God would have told us to be perfect, if He knew that +it was impossible for us? Do you think that He, the God of +truth, would have spoken such a cruel mockery against poor sinful +creatures like us, as to command us a duty without giving us the +means of fulfilling it? Do you think that He did not know +ten thousand times better than I what I have been just telling +you, that laws could not change men’s hearts and wills; +that commanding a man to love and like a thing will not make him +love and like it; that a man’s heart and spirit must be +changed in him from within, and not merely laws and commandments +laid on him from without? Then why has He commanded us to +love each other, ay, to love our enemies, to bless those who +curse us, to pray for those who use us spitefully? Do you +think the Lord meant to make hypocrites of us; to tell us to go +about, as some who call themselves religious do go about, with +their lips full of meek, and humble, and simple, and loving +words, while their hearts are full of pride, and spite, and +cunning, and hate, and selfishness, which are all the more deadly +for being kept in and plastered over by a smooth outside? +God forbid! He tells us to love each other, only because He +has promised us the spirit of love. He tells us to be +humble, because He can make us humble-hearted. He tells us +to be honest, because He can make us love and delight in +honesty. He tells us to refrain ourselves from foul +thoughts as well as from foul actions, because He can take the +foul heart out of us, and give us instead the spirit of purity +and holiness. He tells us to lead new lives after the new +pattern of Himself, because He can give us new hearts and a new +spring of life within us; in short, He bids us behave as sons of +God should behave, because, as He said Himself, “If we, +being evil, know how to give our children what is good for them, +much more will our heavenly Father give His Holy Spirit to those +who ask him.” If you would be perfect, ask your +Father in heaven to make you perfect. If you feel that your +heart is wrong, ask Him to give you a new and a right +heart. If you feel yourselves—as you are, whether you +feel it or not—too weak, too ignorant, too selfish, to +guide yourselves, ask Him to send His Spirit to guide you; ask +for the Spirit from which comes all love, all light, all wisdom, +all strength of mind. Ask for that Spirit, and you +<i>shall</i> receive it; seek for it, and you shall find it; +knock at the gate of your Father’s treasure-house, and it +shall be surely opened to you.</p> +<p>But some of you, perhaps, are saying to yourselves, “How +will my being changed and renewed by the Spirit of God, render +the laws less burdensome, while the crime and sin around me +remain unchanged? It is others who want to be improved as +much, and perhaps more than I do.” It may be so, my +friends; or, again, it may not; those who fancy that others need +God’s Spirit more than they do, may be the very persons who +need it really the most; those who say they see, may be only +proving their blindness by so saying; those who fancy that their +souls are rich, and are full of all knowledge, and understand the +whole Bible, and want no further teaching, may be, as they were +in St. John’s time, just the ones who are wretched, and +miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked in soul, and do not +know it. But at all events, if you think others need to be +changed by God’s Spirit, <i>pray</i> that God’s +Spirit may change them. For believe me, unless you pray for +God’s Spirit for each other, ay, for the whole world, there +is no use asking for yourselves. This, I believe, is one of +the reasons, perhaps the chief reason, why the fruits of +God’s Spirit are so little seen among us in these days; why +our Christianity is become more and more dead, and hollow, and +barren, while expensive and intricate laws and taxes are becoming +more and more necessary every year; because our religion has +become so selfish, because we have been praying for God’s +Spirit too little for each other. Our prayers have become +too selfish. We have been looking for God’s Spirit +not so much as a means to enable us to do good to others, but as +some sort of mysterious charm which was to keep us ourselves from +the punishment of our sins in the next life, or give us a higher +place in heaven; and, therefore, St. James’s words have +been fulfilled to us, even in our very prayers for God’s +Spirit, “Ye ask and have not, because ye ask amiss, to +consume it upon your lusts”—save our selfish souls +from the pains of hell; to give our selfish souls selfish +pleasures and selfish glorification in the world to come: but not +to spread God’s kingdom upon earth, not to make us live on +earth such lives as Christ lived; a life of love and +self-sacrifice, and continual labour for the souls of +others. Therefore it is, that God’s Spirit is not +poured out upon us in these days; for God’s Spirit is the +spirit of love and brotherhood, which delivers a man from his +selfishness; and if we do not desire to be delivered from our +selfishness, we do not desire the Spirit of God, and the Spirit +of God will not be bestowed upon us. And no man desires to +be delivered from his own selfishness, who in his very prayers, +when he ought to be thinking least about himself alone, is +thinking about himself most of all, and forgetting that he is the +member of a family—that all mankind are his +brethren—that he can claim nothing for himself to which +every sinner around him has an equal right—that nothing is +necessary for him, which is not equally necessary for everyone +around him; that he has all the world besides himself to pray +for, and that his prayers for himself will be heard only +according as he prays for all the world beside. Baptism +teaches us this, when it tells us that our old selfish nature is +to be washed away, and a new character, after the pattern of +Christ, is to live and grow up in us; that from the day we are +baptized, to the day of our death, we should live not for +ourselves, but for Jesus, in whom was no selfishness; when it +teaches us that we are not only children of God, but members of +Christ’s Family, and heirs of God’s kingdom, and +therefore bound to make common cause with all other members of +that Family, to live and labour for the common good of all our +fellow-citizens in that kingdom. The Lord’s prayer +teaches us this, when He tells us to pray, not “My +Father,” but “Our Father;” not “my soul +be saved,” but “Thy kingdom come;” not +“give <i>me</i>,” but “give <i>us</i> our daily +bread;” not “forgive <i>me</i>,” but +“forgive <i>us</i> our trespasses,” and that only as +we forgive others; not “lead <i>me</i> not,” but +“lead <i>us</i> not into temptation;” not +“deliver <i>me</i>,” but “deliver <i>us</i> +from evil.” After <i>that</i> manner the Lord told us +to pray; and, in proportion as we pray in that manner, asking for +nothing for ourselves which we do not ask for everyone else in +the whole world, just so far and no farther will God <i>hear</i> +our prayers. He who asks for God’s Spirit for himself +only, and forgets that all the world need it as much as he, is +not asking for God’s Spirit at all, and does not know even +what God’s Spirit is. The mystery of Pentecost, too, +which came to pass on this day 1818 years ago, teaches us the +same thing also. Those cloven tongues of fire, the tokens +of God’s Spirit, fell not upon one man, but upon many; not +when they were apart from each other, but when they were +together; and what were the fruits of that Spirit in the +Apostles? Did they remain within that upper room, each +priding himself upon his own gifts, and trying merely to gain +heaven for his own soul? If they had any such fancies, as +they very likely had before the Spirit fell upon them, they had +none such afterwards. The Spirit must have taken all such +thoughts from them, and given them a new notion of what it was to +be devout and holy: for instead of staying in that upper room, +they went forth instantly into the public place to preach in +foreign tongues to all the people. Instead of keeping +themselves apart from each other in silence, and fancying, as +some have done, and some do now, that they pleased God by being +solitary, and melancholy, and selfish—what do we read? the +fruit of God’s Spirit was in them; that they and the three +thousand souls who were added to them, on the first day of their +preaching, “were all together, and had all things common, +and sold their possessions, and goods, and parted them to all +men, as every man had need, and continuing daily with one accord +in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat +their bread in gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and +having favour with all the people.” Those were the +fruits of God’s Spirit in <i>them</i>. Till we see +more of that sort of life and society in England, we shall not be +able to pride ourselves on having much of God’s Spirit +among us.</p> +<p>But above all, if anything will teach us that the strength of +God’s Spirit is not a strength which we must ask for for +ourselves alone; that the blessings of God’s kingdom are +blessings which we cannot have in order to keep them to +ourselves, but can only enjoy in as far as we share them with +those around us; if anything, I say, ought to teach us that +lesson, it is the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. +Just consider a moment, my friends, what a strange thing it is, +if we will think of it, that the Lord’s Supper, the most +solemn and sacred thing with which a man can have to do upon +earth, is just a thing which he cannot transact for himself, or +by himself. Not alone in secret, in his chamber, but, +whether he will or not, in the company of others, not merely in +the company of his own private friends, but in the company of any +or everyone, rich or poor, who chooses to kneel beside him; he +goes with others, rich and poor alike, to the Lord’s Table, +and there the same bread, and the same wine, is shared among all +by the same priest. If that means anything, it means +this—that rich and poor alike draw life for their souls +from the same well, not for themselves only, not apart from each +other, but all in common, all together, because they are +brothers, members of one family, as the leaves are members of the +same tree; that as the same bread and the same wine are needed to +nourish the bodies of all, the same spirit of God is needed to +nourish the souls of all; and that we cannot have this spirit, +except as members of a body, any more than a man’s limb can +have life when it is cut off and parted from him. This is +the reason, and the only reason, why Protestant clergymen are +forbidden, thank God! to give the Holy Sacrament of the +Lord’s Supper, to any one person singly. If a +clergyman were to administer the Lord’s Supper, to himself +in private, without any congregation to partake with him, it +would not be the Lord’s Supper, it would be nothing, and +worse than nothing; it would be a sham and a mockery, and, I +believe, a sin. I do not believe that Christ would be +present, that God’s Spirit would rest on that man. +For our Lord says, that it is where two or three are gathered +together in His name, that He is in the midst of them. And +it was at a supper, at a feast, where all the Apostles were met +together, that our Lord divided the bread amongst them, and told +them to share the cup amongst themselves, just as a sign that +they were all members of one body—that the welfare of each +of them was bound up in the welfare of all the rest that +God’s blessing did not rest upon each singly, but upon all +together. And it is just because we have forgotten this, my +friends—because we have forgotten that we are all brothers +and sisters, children of one family, members of one +body—because in short, we have carried our selfishness into +our very religion, and up to the altar of God, that we neglect +the Lord’s Supper as we do. People neglect the +Lord’s Supper because they either do not know or do not +like that, of which the Lord’s Supper is the token and +warrant. It is not merely that they feel themselves unfit +for the Lord’s Supper, because they are not in love and +charity with all men. Oh! my dear friends, do not some of +your hearts tell you, that the reason why you stay away from the +Lord’s Supper is because you do not <i>wish</i> to be fit +for the Lord’s Supper—because you do not like to be +in love and charity with all men—because you do not wish to +be reminded that you are equals in God’s sight, all equally +sinful, all equally pardoned—and to see people whom you +dislike or despise, kneeling by your side, and partaking of the +same bread and wine with you, as a token that God sees no +difference between you and them; that God looks upon you all as +brothers, however little brotherly love or fellow-feeling there +may be, alas! between you? Or, again, do not some of you +stay away from the Lord’s Supper, because you see no good +in going? because it seems to make those who go no better than +they were before? Shall I tell you the reason of +that? Shall I tell you why, as is too true, too many do +come to the Lord’s Supper, and so far from being the better +for it, seem only the worse? Because they come to it in +selfishness. We have fallen into the same false and +unscriptural way of looking at the Lord’s Supper, into +which the Papists have. People go to the Lord’s +Supper nowadays too much to get some private good for their own +souls, and it would not matter to many of them, I am afraid, if +not another person in the parish received it, provided they can +get, as they fancy, the same blessing from it. Thus they +come to it in an utterly false and wrong temper of mind. +Instead of coming as members of Christ’s body, to get from +Him life and strength, to work, in their places, as members of +that body, they come to get something for themselves, as if there +was nobody else’s soul in the world to be saved but their +own. Instead of coming to ask for the Spirit of God to +deliver them from their selfishness, and make them care less +about themselves, and more about all around them, they come to +ask for the Spirit of God because they think it will make +themselves higher and happier in heaven. And of course they +do not get what they come for, because they come for the wrong +thing. Thus those who see them, begin to fancy that the +Lord’s Supper is not, after all, so very important for the +salvation of their souls; and not finding in the Bible actually +written these words, “Thou shalt perish everlastingly +unless thou take the Lord’s Supper,” they end by +staying away from it, and utterly neglecting it, they and their +children after them; preferring their own selfishness, to +God’s Spirit of love, and saying, like Esau of old, +“I am hungry, and I must live. I must get on in this +selfish world by following its selfish ways; what is the use of a +spirit of love and brotherhood to me? If I were to obey the +Gospel, and sacrifice my own interest for those around me, I +should starve; what good will my birthright do me?”</p> +<p>Oh! my friends, I pray God that some of you, at least, may +change your mind. I pray God that some of you may see at +last, that all the misery and the burdens of this time, spring +from one root, which is selfishness; and that the reason why we +are selfish, is because we have not with us the Spirit of God, +which is the spirit of brotherhood and love. Let us pray +God now, and henceforth, to take that selfishness out of all our +hearts. Let us pray God now, and henceforth, to pour upon +us, and upon all our countrymen, ay, and upon the whole world, +the spirit of friendship and fellow-feeling, the spirit which +when men have among them, they need no laws to keep them from +supplanting, and oppressing, and devouring each other, because +its fruits are love, cheerfulness, peace, long suffering, +gentleness, goodness, honesty, meekness, temperance Then there +will be no need, my friends, for me to call you to the Supper of +the Lord. You will no more think of staying away from it, +than the Apostles did, when the Spirit was poured out on +them. For what do we read that they did after the first +Whit-Sunday? That altogether with one accord, they broke +bread daily; that is, partook of the Lord’s Supper every +day, from house to house. They did not need to be told to +do it. They did it, as I may say, by instinct. There +was no question or argument about it in their minds. They +had found out that they were all brothers, with one common cause +in joy and sorrow—that they were all members of one +body—that the life of their souls came from one root and +spring, from one Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the light and the +life of men, in whom they were all one, members of each other; +and therefore, they delighted in that Lord’s Supper, just +because it brought them together; just because it was a sign and +a token to them that they did belong to each other, that they had +one Lord, one faith, one interest, one common cause for this +life, and for all eternity. And therefore the blessing of +that Lord’s Supper did come to them, and in it they did +receive strength to live like children of God and members of +Christ, and brothers to each other and to all mankind. They +proved by their actions what that Communion Feast, that Sacrament +of Brotherhood, had done for them. They proved it by not +counting their own lives dear to them, but going forth in the +face of poverty and persecution, and death itself, to preach to +the whole world the good news that Christ was their King. +They proved it by their conduct to each other when they had all +things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and +parted them to all, as every man had need. They proved it +by needing no laws to bind them to each other from without, +because they were bound to each other from within, by the love +which comes down from God, and is the very bond of peace, and of +every virtue which becomes a man.</p> +<h2><a name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 99</span><span +class="GutSmall">XI.</span><br /> +ASCENSION-DAY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>And Jesus led them out as far as to Bethany; and +he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to +pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried +up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to +Jerusalem, with great joy; and were continually in the temple, +praising and blessing God.—<span class="smcap">Luke</span> +xxiv. 50–53.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> this day it is fit and proper +for us—if we have understood, and enjoyed, and profited by +the wonder of the Lord’s Ascension into Heaven—to be +in the same state of mind as the Apostles were after His +Ascension: for what was right for them is right for us and for +all men; the same effects which it produced on them it ought to +produce on us. And we may know whether we are in the state +in which Christian men ought to be, by seeing how far we are in +the same state of mind as the Apostles were. Now the text +tells us in what state of mind they were; how that, after the +Lord Jesus was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven, they +worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem, with great joy, and +were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. +It seems at first sight certainly very strange that they should +go back with great joy. They had just lost their Teacher, +their Master—One who had been more to them than all friends +and fathers could be; One who had taken them, poor simple +fishermen, and changed the whole course of their lives, and +taught them things which He had taught to no one else, and given +them a great and awful work to do—the work of changing the +ways and thoughts and doings of the whole world. He had +sent them out—eleven unlettered working men—to fight +against the sin and the misery of the whole world. And He +had given them open warning of what they were to expect; that by +it they should win neither credit, nor riches, nor ease, nor +anything else that the world thinks worth having. He gave +them fair warning that the world would hate them, and try to +crush them. He told them, as the Gospel for to-day says, +that they should be driven out of the churches; that the +religious people, as well as the irreligious, would be against +them; that the time would come when those who killed them would +think that they did God service; that nothing but labour, and +want, and persecution, and slander, and torture, and death was +before them—and now He had gone away and left them. +He had vanished up into the empty air. They were to see His +face, and hear His voice no more. They were to have no more +of His advice, no more of His teaching, no more of His tender +comfortings; they were to be alone in the world—eleven poor +working men, with the whole world against them, and so great a +business to do that they would not have time to get their bread +by the labour of their hands. Is it not wonderful that they +did not sit down in despair, and say, “What will become of +us?” Is it not wonderful that they did not give +themselves up to grief at losing the Teacher who was worth all +the rest of the world put together? Is it not wonderful +that they did not go back, each one to his old trade, to his +fishing and to his daily labour, saying, “At all events we +must eat; at all events we must get our livelihood;” and +end, as they had begun, in being mere labouring men, of whom the +world would never have heard a word? And instead of that we +read that they went back with great joy not to their homes but to +Jerusalem, the capital city of their country, and “were +continually in the temple blessing and praising God.” +Well, my friends, and if it is possible for one man to judge what +another man would have done—if it is possible to guess what +we should have done in their case—common-sense must show us +this, that if He was merely their Teacher, they would have either +given themselves up to despair, or gone back, some to their +plough, some to their fishing-nets, and some, like Matthew, to +their counting-houses, and we should never have heard a word of +them. But if you will look in your Bibles, you will find +that they thought Him much more than a teacher—that they +thought Him to be the Lord and King of the whole world; and you +will find that the great joy with which the disciples went back, +after He ascended into heaven, came from certain very strange +words that He had been speaking to them just before He +ascended—words about which they could have but two +opinions: either they must have thought that they were utter +falsehood, and self-conceit, and blasphemy; and that Jesus, who +had been all along speaking to them such words of wisdom and +holiness as never man spake before, had suddenly changed His +whole character at the last, and become such a sort of person as +it is neither fit for me to speak of, or you to hear me speak of, +in God’s church, and in Jesus Christ’s hearing, even +though it be merely for the sake of argument; or else they must +have thought <i>this</i> about His words, that they were the most +joyful and blessed words that ever had been spoken on the earth; +that they were the best of all news; the most complete of all +Gospels for this poor sinful world; that what Jesus had said +about Himself was true; and that as long as it was true, it did +not matter in the least what became of them; it did not matter in +the least what difficulties stood in their way, for they would be +certain to conquer them all; it did not matter in the least how +men might persecute and slander them, for they would be sure to +get their reward; it did not matter in the least how miserable +and sinful the world might be just then, for it was certain to be +changed, and converted, and brought to God, to righteousness, to +love, to freedom, to light, at last.</p> +<p>If you look at the various accounts, in the four gospels, of +the Lord’s last words on earth, you will see, surely, what +I mean. Let us take them one by one.</p> +<p>St. Matthew tells us that, a few days before the Lord’s +ascension, He met His disciples on a mountain in Galilee, where +he had appointed them to await him; and there told them, that all +power was given to Him in heaven and earth. Was not that +blessed news—was not that a gospel? That all the +power in heaven and earth belonged to <i>Him</i>? To Him, +who had all His life been doing good? To Him, in whom there +had never been one single stain of tyranny or selfishness? +To Him, who had been the friend of publicans and sinners? +To Him, who had rebuked the very richest, and loved the very +poorest? To him, who had shown that He had both the power +and the will to heal every kind of sickness and disease? To +Him, who had conquered and driven out, wherever He met them, all +the evil spirits which enslave and torment poor sinful men? +To Him, who had shown by rising from the dead, that He was +stronger than even death itself? To Him, who had declared +that He was the Son of God the Father, that the great God who had +made heaven and earth, and all therein, was perfectly pleased and +satisfied with Him, that He was come to do His Father’s +will, and not His own; that He was the ancient Lord of the earth, +the I AM who was before Abraham? And He was now to have all +power in heaven and earth! Everything which was done right +in the world henceforth, was to be His doing. The kingdom +and rule over the whole universe, was to be His. So He +said; and His disciples believed Him; and if they believed Him, +how could they but rejoice? How could they but rejoice at +the glorious thought that He, the son of the village maiden, the +champion of the poor and the suffering, was to have the +government of the world for ever? That He, who all the +while He had been on earth had showed that He was perfect +justice, perfect love, perfect humanity, was to reign till He had +put all His enemies under His feet? How could the world but +prosper under such a King as that? How could wickedness +triumph, while He, the perfectly righteous one, was King? +How could misery triumph, while He, the perfectly merciful one, +was King? How could ignorance triumph, while He, the +perfectly wise one, who had declared that God the Father hid +nothing from Him, was King? Unless the disciples had been +more dull and selfish than the dumb beasts around them, what +could they do but rejoice at that news? What matter to them +if Jesus were taken out of their sight, as long as all power was +given to Him in heaven and earth?</p> +<p>But He had told them more. He had told them that they +were not to keep this glorious secret to themselves. No: +they were to go forth and preach the gospel of it, the good news +of it, to every creature—to preach the gospel of the +kingdom of God. The good news that God was the King of men, +after all; that cruel tyrants and oppressors, and conquerors, +were not their kings; that neither the storms over their heads, +nor the earth under their feet, nor the clouds and the rivers +whom the heathens used to worship in the hope of persuading the +earth and the weather to be favourable to them, and bless their +harvests, were their kings; that idols of wood and stone, and +evil spirits of lust, and cruelty, and covetousness, were not +their kings; but that God was their King; that He loved them, He +pitied them in spite of all their sins; that He had sent His only +begotten Son into the world to teach them, to live for +them—to die for them—to claim them for His own. +And, therefore, they were to go and baptize all nations, as a +sign that they were to repent, and change, and put away all their +old false and evil heathen life, and rise to a new life, they and +their children after them, as God’s children, God’s +family, brothers of the Son of God. And they were to +baptize them into a name; showing that they belonged to those +into whose name they were baptized; into the name of the Father, +and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They were to be baptized +into the name of the Father, as a sign that God was their Father, +and they His children. They were to be baptized into the +name of the Son, as a sign that the Son, Jesus Christ, was their +King and head; and not merely their King and head, but their +Saviour, who had taken away the sin of the world, and redeemed it +for God, with His own most precious blood; and not merely their +Saviour, but their pattern; that they might know that they were +bound to become as far as is possible for mortal man such sons of +God as Jesus himself had been, like Him obedient, pure, +forgiving, brotherly, caring for each other and not for +themselves, doing their heavenly Father’s will and not +their own. And they were to baptize all nations into the +name of the Holy Spirit, for a sign that God’s Spirit, the +Lord and giver of life, would be with them, to give them new +life, new holiness, new manfulness; to teach, and guide, and +strengthen them for ever. That was the gospel which they +had to preach. The good news that the Son of God was the +King of men. That was the name into which they were to +baptize all nations—the name of children of God, members of +Christ, heirs of a heavenly and spiritual kingdom, which should +go on age after age, for ever, growing and spreading men knew not +how, as the grains of mustard-seed, which at first the least of +all seeds, grows up into a great tree, and the birds of the air +come and lodge in the branches of it—to go on, I say, from +age to age, improving, cleansing, and humanising, and teaching +the whole world, till the kingdoms of the earth became the +kingdoms of God and of His Christ. That was the work which +the Apostles had given them to do. Do you not see, friends, +that unless those Apostles had been the most selfish of men, +unless all they cared for was their own gain and comfort, they +must have rejoiced? The whole world was to be set +right—what matter what happened to them? And, +therefore, I said at the beginning of my sermon, that a sure way +to know whether our minds were in a right state, was to see +whether we felt about it as the Apostles felt. The Bible +tells us to rejoice always, to praise and give thanks to God +always. If we believe what the Apostles believed, we shall +be joyful; if we do not, we shall not be joyful. If we +believe in the words which the Lord spoke before He ascended on +high, we shall be joyful. If we believe that all power in +heaven and earth is His, we shall be joyful. If we believe +that the son of the village maiden has ascended up on high, and +received gifts for men, we shall be joyful. If we believe +that, as our baptism told us, God is our Father, the Son of God +our Saviour, the Spirit of God ready to teach and guide us, we +shall be joyful. Do you answer me, “But the world +goes on so ill; there is so much sin, and misery, and folly, and +cruelty in it; how can we be joyful?” I answer: There +was a hundred times as much sin, and misery, and folly, and +cruelty, in the Apostles’ time, and yet they were joyful, +and full of gladness, blessing and praising God. If you +answer, “But we are so slandered, and neglected, and +misunderstood, and hard-worked, and ill-treated; we have no time +to enjoy ourselves, or do the things which we should like +best. How can we be joyful?” I answer: So were the +Apostles. They knew that they would be a hundred times as +much slandered, and neglected, and misunderstood, as you can ever +be; that they would have far less time to enjoy themselves, far +less opportunity of doing the things which they liked best, than +you can ever have; they knew that misery, and persecution, and a +shameful death were before them, and yet they were joyful and +full of gladness, blessing and praising God. And why should +you not be? For what was true for them is true for +you. They had no blessing, no hope, but what you have just +as good a right to as they had. They were joyful, because +God was their Father, and God is your Father. They were +joyful because they and all men belonged to God’s family; +and you belong to it. They were joyful, because God’s +Spirit was promised to them, to make them like God; and +God’s Spirit was promised to you. They were joyful, +because a poor man was king of heaven and earth; and that poor +man, Jesus Christ, who was born at Bethlehem, is as much your +King now as He was theirs then. They were joyful, because +the whole world was going to improve under His rule and +government; and the whole world is improving, and will go on +improving for ever. They were joyful, because Jesus, whom +they had known as a poor, despised, crucified man on earth, had +ascended up to heaven in glory; and if you believe the same, you +will be joyful too. In proportion as you believe the +mystery of Ascension-day; if you believe the words which the Lord +spoke before He ascended, you will have cheerful, joyful, hopeful +thoughts about yourselves, and about the whole world; if you do +not, you will be in continual danger of becoming suspicious and +despairing, fancying the world still worse than it is, fancying +that God has neglected and forgotten it, fancying that the devil +is stronger than God, and man’s sins wider than +Christ’s redemption till you will think it neither worth +while to do right yourselves, nor to make others do right towards +you.</p> +<h2><a name="page109"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +109</span><span class="GutSmall">XII.</span><br /> +THE FOUNT OF SCIENCE.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>A Sermon Preached at St. +Margaret’s Church</i>, <i>Westminster</i>, <i>May</i> +4<i>th</i>, 1851, <i>in behalf of the Westminster +Hospital</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p>When He ascended up on high, He led captivity +captive, and received gifts for men, yea, even for his enemies, +that the Lord God might dwell among them.—<span +class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxviii. 18, and <span +class="smcap">Ephesians</span> iv. 8.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">If</span>, a thousand years ago, a +congregation in this place had been addressed upon the text which +I have chosen, they would have had, I think, little difficulty in +applying its meaning to themselves, and in mentioning at once +innumerable instances of those gifts which the King of men had +received for men, innumerable signs that the Lord God was really +dwelling amongst them. But amongst those signs, I think, +they would have mentioned several which we are not now generally +accustomed to consider in such a light. They would have +pointed not merely to the building of churches, the founding of +schools, the spread of peace, the decay of slavery; but to the +importation of foreign literature, the extension of the arts of +reading, writing, painting, architecture, the improvement of +agriculture, and the introduction of new and more successful +methods of the cure of diseases. They might have expressed +themselves on these points in a way that we consider now puerile +and superstitious. They might have attributed to the +efficacy of prayer, many cures which we now attribute—shall +I say? to no cause whatsoever. They may have quoted as an +instance of St. Cuthbert’s sanctity, rather than of his +shrewd observations, his discovery of a spring of water in the +rocky floor of his cell, and his success in growing barley upon +the barren island where wheat refused to germinate; and we might +have smiled at their superstition, and smiled, too, at their +seeing any consequence of Christianity, any token that the +kingdom of God was among them, in Bishop Wilfred’s rescuing +the Hampshire Saxons from the horrors of famine, by teaching them +the use of fishing-nets. But still so they would have +spoken—men of a turn of mind no less keen, shrewd, and +practical than we, their children; and if we had objected to +their so-called superstition that all these improvements in the +physical state of England were only the natural consequences of +the introduction of Roman civilisation by French and Italian +missionaries, they would have smiled at us in their turn, not +perhaps without some astonishment at our stupidity, and asked: +“Do you not see, too, that <i>that</i> is in itself a sign +of the kingdom of God—that these nations who have been for +ages selfishly isolated from each other, except for purposes of +conquest and desolation, should be now teaching each other, +helping each other, interchanging more and more, generation by +generation, their arts, their laws, their learning becoming fused +down under the influence of a common Creed, and loyalty to one +common King in Heaven, from their state of savage jealousy and +warfare, into one great Christendom, and family of +God?” And if, my friends, as I think, those +forefathers of ours could rise from their graves this day, they +would be inclined to see in our hospitals, in our railroads, in +the achievements of our physical Science, confirmation of that +old superstition of theirs, proofs of the kingdom of God, +realisations of the gifts which Christ received for men, vaster +than any of which they had ever dreamed. They might be +startled at God’s continuing those gifts to us, who hold on +many points a creed so different from theirs. They might be +still more startled to see in the Great Exhibition of all +Nations, which is our present nine-days’ wonder, that those +blessings were not restricted by God even to nominal Christians, +but that His love, His teaching, with regard to matters of +civilisation and physical science, were extended, though more +slowly and partially, to the Mahometan and the Heathen. And +it would be a wholesome lesson to them, to find that God’s +grace was wider than their narrow theories; perhaps they may have +learnt it already in the world of spirits. But of its +<i>being</i> God’s grace, there would be no doubt in their +minds. They would claim unhesitatingly, and at once, that +great Exhibition established in a Christian country, as a point +of union and brotherhood for all people, for a sign that God was +indeed claiming all the nations of the world as His +own—proving by the most enormous facts that He had sent +down a Pentecost, gifts to men which would raise them not merely +spiritually, but physically and intellectually, beyond anything +which the world had ever seen, and had poured out a spirit among +them which would convert them in the course of ages, gradually, +but most surely and really, from a pandemonium of conquerors and +conquered, devourers and devoured, into a family of +fellow-helping brothers, until the kingdoms of the world became +the kingdoms of God and of His Christ.</p> +<p>But I think one thing, if anything, would stagger their simple +old Saxon faith; one thing would make them fearful, as indeed it +makes the preacher this day, that the time of real brotherhood +and peace is still but too far off; and that the achievements of +our physical science, the unity of this great Exhibition, noble +as they are, are still only dim forecastings and prophecies, as +it were, of a higher, nobler reality. And they would say +sadly to us, their children: “Sons, you ought to be so near +to God; He seems to have given you so much and to have worked +among you as He never worked for any nation under heaven. +How is it that you give the glory to yourselves, and not to +Him?”</p> +<p>For do we give the glory of our scientific discoveries to God, +in any real, honest, and practical sense? There may be some +official and perfunctory talk of God’s blessing on our +endeavours; but there seems to be no real belief in us that God, +the inspiration of God, is the very fount and root of the +endeavours themselves; that He teaches us these great +discoveries; that He gives us wisdom to get this wondrous wealth; +that He works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. +True, we keep up something of the form and tradition of the old +talk about such things; we join in prayer to God to bless our +great Exhibition, but we do not believe—we do not believe, +my friends—that it was God who taught us to conceive, +build, and arrange that Great Exhibition; and our notion of +God’s blessing it, seems to be God’s absence from it; +a hope and trust that God will leave it and us alone, and not +“visit” it or us in it, or “interfere” by +any “special providences,” by storms, or lightning, +or sickness, or panic, or conspiracy; a sort of dim feeling that +we could manage it all perfectly well without God, but that as He +exists, and has some power over natural phenomena, which is not +very exactly defined, we must notice His existence over and above +our work, lest He should become angry and “visit” us +. . . And this in spite of words which were spoken by one whose +office it was to speak them, as the representative of the highest +and most sacred personage in these realms; words which deserve to +be written in letters of gold on the high places of this city; in +which he spoke of this Exhibition as an “approach to a more +complete fulfilment of the great and sacred mission which man has +to perform in the world;” when he told the English people +that “man’s reason being created in the image of God, +he has to discover the laws by which Almighty God governs His +creations, and by making these laws the standard of his action, +to conquer nature to his use, himself a divine instrument;” +when he spoke of “thankfulness to Almighty God for what he +has already <i>given</i>,” as the first feeling which that +Exhibition ought to excite in us; and as the second, “the +deep conviction that those blessings can only be realised in +proportion to”—not, as some would have it, the +rivalry and selfish competition—but “in proportion to +the <i>help</i> which we are prepared to render to each other; +and, therefore, by peace, love, and ready assistance, not only +between individuals, but between all nations of the +earth.” We read those great words; but in the hearts +of how few, alas! to judge from our modern creed on such matters, +must the really important and distinctive points of them find an +echo! To how few does this whole Exhibition seem to have +been anything but a matter of personal gain or curiosity, for +national aggrandisement, insular self-glorification, and +selfish—I had almost said, treacherous—rivalry with +the very foreigners whom we invited as our guests?</p> +<p>And so, too, with our cures of diseases. We speak of +God’s blessing the means, and God’s blessing the +cure. But all we really mean by blessing them, is +permitting them. Do not our hearts confess that our notion +of His blessing the means, is His leaving the means to themselves +and their own physical laws—leaving, in short, the cure to +us and not preventing our science doing its work, and asserting +His own existence by bringing on some unexpected crisis, or +unfortunate relapse—if, indeed, the old theory that He does +bring on such, be true?</p> +<p>Our old forefathers, on the other hand, used to believe that +in medicine, as in everything else, God taught men all that they +knew. They believed the words of the Wise Man when he said +that “the Spirit of God gives man +understanding.” The method by which Solomon believed +himself to have obtained all his physical science and knowledge +of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop which groweth +on the wall, was in their eyes the only possible method. +They believed the words of Isaiah when he said of the tillage and +the rotation of crops in use among the peasants of his country, +that their God instructed them to discretion and taught them; and +that even the various methods of threshing out the various +species of grain came “forth from the Lord of hosts, who is +excellent in counsel, and wonderful in working.”</p> +<p>Such a method, you say, seems to you now miraculous. It +did not seem to our forefathers miraculous that God should teach +man; it seemed to them most simple, most rational, most natural, +an utterly every-day axiom. They thought it was because so +few of the heathen were taught by God that they were no wiser +than they were. They thought that since the Son of God had +come down and taken our nature upon Him, and ascended up on high +and received gifts for men, that it was now the right and +privilege of every human being who was willing to be taught of +God, as the prophet foretold in those very words; and that +baptism was the very sign and seal of that fact—a sign that +for every human being, whatever his age, sex, rank, intellect, or +race, a certain measure of the teaching of God and of the Spirit +of God was ready, promised, sure as the oath of Him that made +heaven and the earth, and all things therein. That was +Solomon’s belief. We do not find that it made him a +fanatic and an idler, waiting with folded hands for inspiration +to come to him he knew not how nor whence. His belief that +wisdom was the revelation and gift of God did not prevent him +from seeking her as silver, and searching for her as hid +treasures, from applying his heart to seek and search out by +wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven; and we +do not find that it prevented our forefathers. +Ceadmon’s belief that God inspired him with the poetic +faculty, did not make him the less laborious and careful +versifier. Bishop John’s blessing the dumb +boy’s tongue in the name of Him whom he believed to be Word +of God and the Master of that poor dumb boy, did not prevent his +anticipating some of the discoveries of our modern wise men, in +setting about a most practical and scientific cure. +Alfred’s continual prayers for light and inspiration made +him no less a laborious and thoughtful student of war and law, of +physics, language, and geography. These old Teutons, for +all these superstitions of theirs, were perhaps as businesslike +and practical in those days as we their children are in +these. But that did not prevent their believing that unless +God showed them a thing, they could not see it, and thanking Him +honestly enough for the comparative little which He did show +them. But we who enjoy the accumulated teaching of +ages—we to whose researches He is revealing year by year, +almost week by weeks wonders of which they never dreamed—we +whom He has taught to make the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, +the blind to see, to exterminate the pestilence and defy the +thunderbolt, to multiply millionfold the fruits of learning, to +annihilate time and space, to span the heavens, and to weigh the +sun—what madness is this which has come upon us in these +last days, to make us fancy that we, insects of a day, have found +out these things for ourselves, and talk big about the progress +of the species, and the triumphs of intellect, and the +all-conquering powers of the human mind, and give the glory of +all this inspiration and revelation, not to God, but to +ourselves? Let us beware, beware—lest our boundless +pride and self-satisfaction, by some mysterious yet most certain +law, avenge itself—lest like the Assyrian conqueror of old, +while we stand and cry, “Is not this great Babylon which I +have built?” our reason, like his, should reel and fall +beneath the narcotic of our own maddening self-conceit, and while +attempting to scale the heavens we overlook some pitfall at our +feet, and fall as learned idiots, suicidal pedants, to be a +degradation, and a hissing, and a shame.</p> +<p>However strongly you may differ from these opinions of our own +forefathers with regard to the ground and cause of physical +science, and the arts of healing, I am sure that the recollection +of the thrice holy ground upon which we stand, beneath the shadow +of venerable piles, witnesses for the creeds, the laws, the +liberties, which those our ancestors have handed down to us, will +preserve you from the temptation of dismissing with hasty +contempt their thoughts upon any subject so important; will make +you inclined to listen to their opinion with affection, if not +with reverence; and save, perhaps, the preacher from a sneer when +he declares that the doctrine of those old Saxon men is, in his +belief, not only the most Scriptural, but the most rational and +scientific explanation of the grounds of all human knowledge.</p> +<p>At least, I shall be able to quote in support of my own +opinion a name from which there can be no appeal in the minds of +a congregation of educated Englishmen—I mean Francis Bacon, +Lord Verulam, the spiritual father of the modern science, and, +therefore, of the chemistry and the medicine of the whole +civilised world. If there is one thing which more than +another ought to impress itself on the mind of a careful student +of his works, it is this—that he considered science as the +inspiration of God, and every separate act of induction by which +man arrives at a physical law, as a revelation from the Maker of +those laws; and that the faith which gave him daring to face the +mystery of the universe, and proclaim to men that they could +conquer nature by obeying her, was his deep, living, practical +belief that there was One who had ascended up on high and led +captive in the flesh and spirit of a man those very idols of +sense which had been themselves leading men’s minds +captive, enslaving them to the illusions of their own senses, +forcing them to bow down in vague awe and terror before those +powers of Nature, which God had appointed, not to be their +tyrants, but their slaves. I will not special-plead +particulars from his works, wherein I may consider that he +asserts this. I will rather say boldly that the idea runs +through every line he ever wrote; that unless seen in the light +of that faith, the grounds of his philosophy ought to be as +inexplicable to us, as they would, without it, have been +impossible to himself. As has been well said of him: +“Faith in God as the absolute ground of all human as well +as of all natural laws; the belief that He had actually made +Himself known to His creatures, and that it was possible for them +to have a knowledge of Him, cleared from the phantasies and idols +of their own imaginations and understandings; this was the +necessary foundation of all that great man’s mind and +speculations, to whatever point they were tending, and however at +times they might be darkened by too close a familiarity with the +corruptions and meannesses of man, or too passionate an addiction +to the contemplation of Nature. Nor should it ever be +forgotten that he owed all the clearness and distinctness of his +mind to his freedom from that Pantheism which naturally disposes +to a vague admiration and adoration of Nature, to the belief that +it is stronger and nobler than ourselves; that we are servants, +and puppets, and portions of it, and not its lords and +rulers. If Bacon had in anywise confounded Nature with +God—if he had not entertained the strongest practical +feeling that men were connected with God through One who had +taken upon Him their nature, it is impossible that he could have +discovered that method of dealing with physics which has made a +physical science possible.”</p> +<p>No really careful student of his works, but must have +perceived this, however glad, alas! he may have felt at times to +thrust the thought of it from him, and try to think that Francis +Bacon’s Christianity was something over and above his +philosophy—a religion which he left behind him at the +church-door—or only sprinkled up and down his works so much +of it as should shield him in a bigoted age from the suspicion of +materialism. A strange theory, and yet one which so +determined is man to see nothing, whether it be in the Bible or +in the Novum Organum, but what each wishes to see, has been +deliberately put forth again and again by men who fancy, +forsooth, that the greatest of English heroes was even such an +one as themselves. One does not wonder to find among the +general characteristics of those writers who admire Bacon as a +materialist, the most utter incapacity of philosophising on +Bacon’s method, the very restless conceit, the hasty +generalisation, the hankering after cosmogonic theories, which +Bacon anathematises in every page. Yes, I repeat it, we owe +our medical and sanitary science to Bacon’s philosophy; and +Bacon owed his philosophy to his Christianity.</p> +<p>Oh! it is easy for us, amid the marvels of our great +hospitals, now grown commonplace in our eyes from very custom, to +talk of the empire of mind over matter; for us—who reap the +harvest whereof Bacon sowed the seed. But consider, how +great the faith of that man must have been, who died in hope, not +having received the promises, but seeing them afar off, and +haunted to his dying day with glorious visions of a time when +famine and pestilence should vanish before a scientific +obedience—to use his own expression—to the will of +God, revealed in natural facts. Thus we can understand how +he dared to denounce all that had gone before him as blind and +worthless guides, and to proclaim himself to the world as the one +restorer of true physical philosophy. Thus we can +understand how he, the cautious and patient man of the world, +dared indulge in those vast dreams of the scientific triumphs of +the future. Thus we can understand how he dared hint at the +expectation that men would some day even conquer death itself; +because he believed that man had conquered death already, in the +person of its King and Lord—in the flesh of Him who +ascended up on high, and led captivity captive, and received +gifts for men. The “empire of mind over +matter?” What practical proof had he of it amid the +miserable alternations of empiricism and magic which made up the +pseudo-science of his time; amid the theories and speculations of +mankind, which, as he said, were “but a sort of +madness—useless alike for discovery or for +operation.” What right had he, more than any other +man who had gone before him, to believe that man could conquer +and mould to his will the unseen and tremendous powers which work +in every cloud and every flower? that he could dive into the +secret mysteries of his own body, and renew his youth like the +eagle’s? This ground he had for that faith—that +he believed, as he says himself, that he must “begin from +God; and that the pursuit of physical science clearly proceeds +from Him, the Author of good, and Father of light.” +This gave him faith to say that in this as in all other Divine +works, the smallest beginnings lead assuredly to some result, and +that the “remark in spiritual matters, that the kingdom of +God cometh without observation, is also found to be true in every +great work of Divine Providence; so that everything glides on +quietly without confusion or noise, and the matter is achieved +before men either think or perceive that it is +commenced.” This it was which gave him courage to +believe that his own philosophy might be the actual fulfilment of +the prophecy, that in the last days many should run to and fro, +and knowledge should be increased—words which, like +hundreds of others in his works, sound like the outpourings of an +almost blasphemous self-conceit, till we recollect that he looked +on science only as the inspiration of God, and man’s empire +over nature only as the consequence of the redemption worked out +for him by Christ, and begin to see in them the expressions of +the deepest and most divine humility.</p> +<p>I doubt not that many here will be far more able than I am +practically to apply the facts which I have been adducing to the +cause of the hospital for which I am pleading. But there is +one consequence of them to which I must beg leave to draw +attention more particularly, especially at the present era of our +nation. If, then, these discoveries of science be indeed +revelations and inspirations from God, does it not follow that +all classes, even the poorest and the most ignorant, the most +brutal, have an equal right to enjoy the fruits of them? +Does it not follow that to give to the poor their share in the +blessings which chemical and medical science are working out for +us, is not a matter of charity or benevolence, but of +<i>duty</i>, of indefeasible, peremptory, immediate duty? +For consider, my friends; the Son of God descends on earth, and +takes on Him not only the form, but the very nature, affections, +trials, and sorrows of a man. He proclaims Himself as the +person who has been all along ruling, guiding, teaching, +improving men; the light who lighteth every man who cometh into +the world. He proclaims Himself by acts of wondrous power +to be the internecine foe and conqueror of every form of sorrow, +slavery, barbarism, weakness, sickness, death itself. He +proclaims Himself as One who is come to give His life for His +sheep—One who is come to restore to men the likeness in +which they were originally created, the likeness of their Father +in Heaven, who accepteth the person of no man—who causeth +His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, who sendeth His +rain on the just and on the unjust, in whose sight the meanest +publican, if his only consciousness be that of his own baseness +and worthlessness, is more righteous than the most learned, +respectable, and self-satisfied pharisee. He proclaims +Himself the setter-up of a kingdom into which the publican and +the harlot will pass sooner than the rich, the mighty, and the +noble; a kingdom in which all men are to be brothers, and their +bond of union loyalty to One who spared not His own life for the +sheep, who came not to do His own, but the will of the Father who +had sent Him, and who showed by His toil among the poor, the +outcast, the ignorant, and the brutal, what that same will was +like. With His own life-blood He seals this Covenant +between God and man. He offers up His own body as the +first-fruits of this great kingdom of self-sacrifice. He +takes poor fishermen and mechanics, and sends them forth to +acquaint all men with the good news that God is their King, and +to baptize them as subjects of that kingdom, bound to rise in +baptism to a new life, a life of love, and brotherhood, and +self-sacrifice, like His own. He commands them to call all +nations to that sacred Feast wherein there is neither rich nor +poor, but the same bread and the same wine are offered to the +monarch and to the slave, as signs of their common humanity, +their common redemption, their common interest—signs that +they derive their life, their health, their reason, their every +faculty of body, soul, and spirit, from One who walked the earth +as the son of a poor carpenter, who ate and drank with publicans +and sinners. He sends down His Spirit on them with gifts of +language, eloquence, wisdom, and healing, as mere earnests and +first-fruits; so they said, of that prophecy that He would pour +out His Spirit upon all flesh, even upon slaves and +handmaids. And these poor fishermen feel themselves +impelled by a divine and irresistible impulse to go forth to the +ends of the world, and face persecution, insult, torture, and +death—not in order that they may make themselves lords over +mankind, but that they may tell them that One is their Master, +even Jesus Christ, both God and man—that <i>He</i> rules +the world, and will rule it, and <i>can</i> rule it, that in His +sight there is no distinction of race, or rank, or riches, +neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free. +And, as a fact, their message has prevailed and been believed; +and in proportion as it has prevailed, not merely individual +sanctity or piety, but liberty, law, peace, civilisation, +learning, art, science, the gifts which he bought for men with +His blood, have followed in its train: while the nations who have +not received that message that God was their King, or having +received it have forgotten it, or perverted it into a +superstition and an hypocrisy, have in exactly that proportion +fallen back into barbarism and bloodshed, slavery and +misery. My friends, if this philosophy of history, this +theory of human progress, or as I should call it, this Gospel of +the Kingdom of God mean anything—does it not mean this? +this which our forefathers believed, dimly and inconsistently +perhaps, but still believed it, else we had not been here this +day—that we are not our own, but the servants of Jesus +Christ, and brothers of each other—that the very +constitution and ground-law of this human species which has been +redeemed by Christ, is the self-sacrifice which Christ displayed +as the one perfection of humanity—that all rank, property, +learning, science, are only held by their possessors in trust +from that King who has distributed them to each according as He +will, that each might use them for the good of all, +certain—as certain as God’s promise can make +man—that if by giving up our own interest for the interest +of others, we seek first the kingdom of God, and the +righteousness between man and man, which we call <i>mercy</i>, +according to which it is constituted, all other things, health, +wealth, peace, and every other blessing which humanity can +desire, shall be added unto us over and above, as the natural and +necessary fruits of a society founded according to the will of +God, and declared in his Son Jesus Christ, and therefore +according to those physical laws, whereof He is at once the +Creator, the Director, and the Revealer?</p> +<p>This was the faith of our forefathers, both laity and +clergy—that the Lord was King, be the people never so +unquiet; that men were His stewards and His pupils only, and not +His vicars; that they were equal in His sight, and not the slaves +and tyrants of each other; and that the help that was done upon +earth, He did it all Himself. Dimly, doubtless, they saw +it, and inconsistently: but they saw it, and to their faith in +that great truth we owe all that has made England really noble +among the nations. Of the fruits of that faith every +venerable building around us should remind us. To that +faith in the laity, we owe the abolition of serfdom, the freedom +of our institutions, the laws which provide equal justice between +man and man; to that faith in the clergy, and especially in the +monastic orders, we owe the endowment of our schools and +universities, the improvement of agriculture, the preservation +and the spread of all the liberal arts and sciences, as far as +they were then discovered; so that every one of those abbeys +which we now revile so ignorantly, became a centre of freedom, +protection, healing, and civilisation, a refuge for the +oppressed, a well-spring of mercy for the afflicted, a practical +witness to the nation that property and science were not the +private and absolute possession of men, but only held in trust +from God for the benefit of the common weal: and just in +proportion as in the 14th and 15th centuries those institutions +fell from their first estate, and began to fancy that their +wealth and wisdom was their own, acquired by their own cunning, +to be used for their own aggrandizement, they became an imposture +and imbecility, an abomination and a ruin. And it was this +faith, too, in a still nobler and clearer form, which at the +Reformation inspired the age which could produce a Ridley, a +Latimer, an Elizabeth, a Shakspeare, a Spenser, a Raleigh, a +Bacon, and a Milton; which knit together, in spite of religious +feuds and social wrongs, the nation of England with a bond which +all the powers of hell endeavoured in vain to break. +Doubtless, there too there was inconsistency enough. +Elizabeth may have mixed up ambitious dynastic dreams with her +intense belief that God had given her her wisdom, her learning, +her mighty will, only to be the servant of His servants and +defender of the faith. Men like Drake and Raleigh, while +they were believing that God had sent them forth to smite with +the sword of the Lord the devourers of the earth, the destroyers +of religion, freedom, civilisation, and national life, may have +been unfaithful to what they believed their divine mission, and +fancied that they might use their wisdom and valour that God gave +them for their selfish ends, till they committed (as some say) +acts of rapacity and cruelty worthy of the merest +buccaneer. But <i>that</i> was not what made them +conquer—that was not what made the wealth and the might of +Spain melt away before their little bands of heroes; but the same +old faith, shining out in all their noblest acts and words, that +“the Lord <i>was</i> King, and that the help that was done +upon earth, He did it all Himself?” So again, Bacon +may have fancied, and did fancy in his old age, that he might use +his deep knowledge of mankind for his own selfish ends—that +he might indulge himself in building himself up a name that might +fill all the earth, that he who had done so much for God and for +mankind, might be allowed to do at last somewhat for himself, and +tempted, by a paltry bribe, fall for awhile, as David did before +him, that God, and not he, might have the glory of all his +wisdom. But then he was less than himself; then he had but +lost sight of his lode-star. Then he had forgotten, but +only for awhile, that he owed all to the teaching of that God who +had given to the young and obscure advocate the mission of +affecting the destinies of nations yet unborn.</p> +<p>And believe me, my friends, even as it has been with our +forefathers, so it will be with us. According to our faith +will it be unto us, now as it was of old. In proportion as +we believe that wealth, science, and civilisation are the work +and property of man, in just that proportion we shall be tempted +to keep them selfishly and exclusively to ourselves. The +man of science will be tempted to hide his discoveries, though +men may be perishing for lack of them, till he can sell them to +the highest bidder; the rich man will be tempted to purchase them +for himself, in order that he may increase his own comfort and +luxury, and feel comparatively lazy and careless about their +application to the welfare of the masses; he will be tempted to +pay an exorbitant price for anything that can increase his +personal convenience, and yet when the question is about +improving the supply of necessaries to the poor, stand haggling +about considerations of profitable investment, excuse himself +from doing the duty which lies nearest to him by visions of +distant profit, of which a thousand unexpected accidents may +deprive him after all, and make his boasted scientific care for +the wealth of the nation an excuse for leaving tens of thousands +worse housed and worse fed than his own beasts of burden. +The poor man will be tempted franctically to oppose his +selfishness and unbelief to the selfishness and unbelief of the +rich, and clutch from him by force the comfort which really +belong to neither of them, in order that he may pride himself in +them and misuse them in his turn; and the clergy will be tempted, +as they have too often been tempted already, to fancy that reason +is the enemy, and not the twin sister of faith; to oppose +revelation to science, as if God’s two messages could +contradict each other; to widen the Manichæan distinction +between secular and spiritual matters, so pleasant to the natural +atheism of fallen man; to fancy that they honour God by limiting +as much as possible His teaching, His providence, His wisdom, His +love, and His kingdom, and to pretend that they are defending the +creeds of the Catholic Church, by denying to them any practical +or real influence on the economic, political, and physical +welfare of mankind. But in proportion as we hold to the old +faith of our forefathers concerning science and civilisation, we +shall feel it not only a duty, but a glory and a delight, to make +all men sharers in them; to go out into the streets and lanes of +the city and call in the maimed, and the halt, and the blind, +that they may sit down and take their share of the good things +which God has provided in His kingdom for those who obey +Him. Every new discovery will be hailed by us as a fresh +boon from God to be bestowed by the rain and the sunshine freely +upon us all. The sight of every sufferer will make us ready +to suspect and to examine ourselves lest we should be in some +indirect way the victim of some neglect or selfishness of our +own. Every disease will be a sign to us that in some +respect or other, the physical or moral laws of human nature have +been overlooked or broken. The existence of an unhealthy +locality, the recurrence of an epidemic, will be to us a subject +of public shame and self-reproach. Men of science will no +longer go up and down entreating mankind in vain to make use of +their discoveries; the sanitary reformer will be no longer like +Wisdom crying in the streets and no man regarding her; and in +every ill to which flesh is heir we shall see an enemy of our +King and Lord, and an intruder into His Kingdom, against which we +swore at our baptism to fight with an inspiring and delicious +certainty that God will prosper the right; that His laws cannot +change; that nature, and the disturbances and poisons, and brute +powers thereof, were meant to be the slaves, and not the tyrants +of a race whose head has conquered the grave itself.</p> +<p>This is no speculative dream. The progress of science is +daily proving it to be an actual truth; proving to us that a +large proportion of diseases—how large a proportion, no man +yet dare say—are preventible by science under the direction +of that common justice and mercy which man owes to man. The +proper cultivation of the soil, it is now clearly seen, will +exterminate fevers and agues, and all the frightful consequences +of malaria. An attention to those simple decencies and +cleanlinesses of life of which even the wild animals feel the +necessity, will prevent the epidemics of our cities, and all the +frightful train of secondary diseases which follow them, or +supply their place. The question which is generally more +and more forcing itself on the minds of scientific men is not how +many diseases are, but how few are not, the consequences of +man’s ignorance, barbarism, and folly. The medical +man is felt more and more to be as necessary in health as he is +in sickness, to be the fellow-workman not merely of the +clergyman, but of the social reformer, the political economist, +and the statesman; and the first object of his science to be +prevention, and not cure. But if all this be true, as true +it is, we ought to begin to look on hospitals as many medical men +I doubt not do already, in a sadder though in a no less important +light. When we remember that the majority of cases which +fill their wards are cases of more or less directly preventible +diseases, the fruits of our social neglect, too often of our +neglect of the sufferers themselves, too often also our neglect +of their parents and forefathers; when we think how many a bitter +pang is engendered and propagated from generation to generation +in the noisome alleys and courts of this metropolis, by foul +food, foul bedrooms, foul air, foul water, by intemperance, the +natural and almost pardonable consequence of want of water, +depressing and degrading employments, and lives spent in such an +atmosphere of filth as our daintier nostrils could not endure a +day: then we should learn to look upon these hospitals not as +acts of charity, supererogatory benevolences of ours towards +those to whom we owe nothing, but as confessions of sin, and +worthy fruits of penitence; as poor and late and partial +compensation for misery which we might have prevented. And +when again, taking up scientific works, we find how vast a +proportion of the remaining cases of disease are produced +directly or indirectly by the unhealthiness of certain +occupations, so certainly that the scientific man can almost +prophesy the average shortening of life, and the peculiar form of +disease, incident to any given form of city labour—when we +find, to quote a single instance, that a large +proportion—one half, as I am informed—of the female +cases in certain hospitals, are those of women-servants suffering +from diseases produced by overwork in household labour, +especially by carrying heavy weights up the steep stairs of our +London houses—when we consider the large proportion of +accident cases which are the result, if not always of neglect in +our social arrangements, still of danger incurred in labouring +for us, we shall begin to feel that our debts towards the poorer +classes, for whom this and other hospitals are instituted, swells +and mounts up to a burden which ought to be and would be +intolerable to us, if we had not some such means as this hospital +affords of testifying our contrition for neglect for which we +cannot atone, and of practically claiming in the hospital our +brotherhood with those masses whom we pass by so carelessly in +the workshop and the street. What matters it that they have +undertaken a life of labour from necessity, and with a full +consciousness of the dangers they incur in it? For whom +have they been labouring, but for us? Their handiwork +renders our houses luxurious. We wear the clothes they +make. We eat the food they produce. They sit in +darkness and the shadow of death that we may enjoy light and life +and luxury and civilisation. True, they are free men, in +name, not free though from the iron necessity of crushing +toil. Shall we make their liberty a cloak for our +licentiousness? and because they are our brothers and not our +slaves, answer with Cain, “Am I my brother’s +keeper?” What if we have paid them the wages which +they ask? We do not feed our beasts of burden only as long +as they are in health, and when they fall sick leave them to cure +themselves and starve—and these are not our beasts of +burden; they are members of Christ, children of God, inheritors +of the Kingdom of Heaven. Prove it to them, then, for they +are in bitter danger of forgetting it in these days. Prove +to them, by helping to cure their maladies, that they are members +of Christ, that they do indeed belong to Him who without fee or +payment freely cured the sick of Judæa in old time. +Prove to them that they are children of God by treating them as +such—as children of Him without whom not a sparrow falls to +the ground, children of Him whose love is over all His works, +children of Him who defends the widow and the fatherless, and +sees that those who are in need or necessity have right, and who +maketh inquiry for the blood of the innocent. Prove to them +that they are inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven, by proving to +them first of all that the Kingdom of Heaven exists, that all, +rich and poor alike, are brothers, and One their Master, He who +ascended up on high and led captivity captive, and received gifts +for men, the gifts of healing, the gifts of science, the gifts of +civilisation, the gifts of law, the gifts of order, the gifts of +liberty, the gifts of the spirit of love and brotherhood, of +fellow-feeling and self-sacrifice, of justice and humility, a +spirit fit for a world of redeemed and pardoned men, in which +mercy is but justice, and self-sacrifice the truest +self-interest; a world, the King and Master of which is One who +poured out his own life-blood for the sake of those who hated +him, that men should henceforth live not for themselves, but for +Him who died and rose again, and ascended up on high and received +gifts for men, that the Lord God might dwell among them.</p> +<p>And because all general truths can only be verified in +particular instances, verify your general faith in that +Christianity which you profess in this particular instance, by +doing the duty which lies nearest to you, and <i>giving</i>, +<i>as it is called</i>, to this hospital for which I now +plead.</p> +<p>Thanks to the spirit and the attainments of the average of +English medical men and chaplains, to praise the management of +any hospital which is under their care, is a needless +impertinence. Do you find funds, there will be no fear as +to their being well employed; and no fear, alas! either of their +services being in full demand, while the sanitary state of vast +streets of South London, lying close to this hospital, are in a +state in which they are, and in which private cupidity and +neglect seem willing to compel them to remain. It is on +account of its contiguity to these neglected, destitute, and +poisonous localities, that this hospital seems to me especially +valuable. But though situated in a part of London where its +presence is especially needed, it has not, from various causes +which have arisen from no fault of its own, attracted as much +public notice as some other more magnificent foundations; while +it possesses one feature, peculiar I believe to it, among our +London hospitals, which seems to me to render it especially +deserving of support: I speak of the ward for incurable patients, +in which, instead of ending their days in the melancholy wards of +a workhouse, or amid those pestilential and crowded dwellings +which have perhaps produced their maladies, and which certainly +will aggravate them, they may have their heavy years of hopeless +suffering softened by a continued supply of constant comforts, +and constant medical solicitude, such as the best-conducted +workhouse, or the most laborious staff of parish surgeons, and +district visitors, ay, not even the benevolence and +self-sacrifice of friends and relations, can possibly +provide. I beseech you, picture to yourselves the amount of +mere physical comfort, not to mention the higher blessings of +spiritual teaching and consolation, accruing to some poor +tortured cripple, in the wards of this hospital; compare it with +the very brightest lot possible for him in the dwellings of the +lower, or even of the middle classes of the metropolis; then +recollect that these hospital luxuries, which would be +unattainable by him elsewhere, are but a tithe of those which +you, in his situation, would consider absolute necessaries, +without which a life of suffering, ay, even of health, were +intolerable—and do unto others this day, as you would that +others should do unto you!</p> +<p>I might have taken some other and more popular method of +drawing your attention to this institution.</p> +<p>I might have tried to excite your feelings and sympathies by +attempts at pathetic or picturesque descriptions of +suffering. But the minister of a just God is bound to +proclaim that God demands not <i>sentiment</i>, but +<i>justice</i>. The Bible knows nothing of the +“religious sentiments and emotions,” whereof we hear +so much talk nowadays. It speaks of <i>duty</i>. +“Beloved, if God so loved us, we <i>ought</i> to love one +another.”</p> +<p>I might also have attempted to flatter you into giving, by +representing this as a “<i>good work</i>,” a work of +charity and piety, well pleasing to God; a sort of work of +Protestant supererogation, fruits of faith which we may show, if +we like, up to a certain not very clearly defined point of +benevolence, but the absence of which probably will not seriously +affect our eternal salvation, still less our right to call +ourselves orthodox, Protestants, churchmen, worthy, kind-hearted, +respectable, blameless. The Bible knows nothing of such a +religion; it neither coaxes nor flatters, it +<i>commands</i>. It demands mercy, because mercy is +justice; and declares with what measure we mete to others, it +shall be surely measured to us again. If therefore my words +shall seem to some here, to be not so much a humble request as a +peremptory demand, I cannot help it. I have pleaded the +cause of this hospital on the only solid ground of which I am +aware, for doing anything but evil to everyone around us who is +not a private friend, or a member of one’s own +family. I ask you to help the poor to their share in the +gifts which Christ received for men, because they are His gifts, +and neither ours nor any man’s. Among these venerable +buildings, the signs and witnesses of the Kingdom of God, and the +blessings of that Kingdom which for a thousand years have been +spreading and growing among us—I ask it of you as citizens +of that Kingdom. Prove your brotherhood to the poor by +restoring to them a portion of that wealth which, without their +labour, you could never have possessed. Prove your +brotherhood to them in a thousand ways—in every +way—in this way, because at this moment it happens to be +the nearest and the most immediate, and because the necessity for +it is nearer, more immediate, to judge by the signs of the times, +and most of all by their self-satisfied unconsciousness of +danger, their loud and shallow self-glorification, than ever it +was before. Work while it is called to-day, lest the night +come wherein no man can work, but only take his wages.</p> +<p>Again I say, I may seem to some here to have pleaded the cause +of this hospital in too harsh and peremptory a tone. . . . +And yet I have a ground of hope, in the English love of simple +justice, in the noble instances of benevolence and self-sacrifice +among the wealthy and educated, which are, thank God! increasing +in number daily, as the need of them increases—in these, I +say, I have a ground of hope that there are many here to-day who +would sooner hear the language of truth than of flattery; who +will be more strongly moved toward a righteous deed by being told +that it is their duty toward God, their country, and their +fellow-citizens, than by any sentimental baits for personal +sympathy, or for the love of Pharisaic ostentation.</p> +<h2><a name="page134"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +134</span><span class="GutSmall">XIII.</span><br /> +FIRST SERMON ON THE CHOLERA.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Sunday Morning</i>, +<i>September</i> 27<i>th</i>, 1849.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">God’s judgments +are from above, out of the sight of the wicked.—<span +class="smcap">Psalm</span> x. 5.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have just been praying to God to +remove from us the cholera, which we call a judgment of God, a +chastisement; and God knows we have need enough to do so. +But we can hardly expect God to withdraw His chastisement unless +we correct the sins for which He chastised us, and therefore +unless we find out what particular sins have brought the evil on +us. For it is mere cant and hypocrisy, my friends, to tell +God, in a general way, that we believe He is punishing us for our +sins, and then to avoid carefully confessing any particular sin, +and to get angry with anyone who tells us boldly <i>which</i> sin +God is punishing us for. But so goes the world. +Everyone is ready to say, “Oh! yes, we are all great +sinners, miserable sinners!” and then if you charge them +with any particular sin, they bridle up and deny <i>that</i> sin +fiercely enough, and all sins one by one, confessing themselves +great sinners, and yet saying that they don’t know what +sins they have committed. No man really believes himself a +sinner, no man really confesses his sins, but the man who can +honestly put his finger on <i>this</i> sin or <i>that</i> sin +which he has committed, and is not afraid to confess to God, +“<i>This</i> sin and <i>that</i> sin have I +done—<i>this</i> bad habit and <i>that</i> bad habit have I +cherished within me.” Therefore, I say, it is no use +for us Englishmen to dream that we can flatter and persuade the +great God of Heaven and earth into taking away the cholera from +us, unless we find out and confess openly what we have done to +bring on the cholera, and unless we repent and bring forth fruits +worthy of repentance, by amending our habits on that point, and +doing everything for the future which shall not bring on the +cholera, but keep it off.</p> +<p>Do not let us believe this time, my friends, in the pitiable, +insincere way in which all England believed when the cholera was +here sixteen years ago. When they saw human beings dying by +thousands, they all got frightened, and proclaimed a Fast and +confessed their sins and promised repentance in a general +way. But did they repent of and confess those sins which +had caused the cholera? Did they repent of and confess the +covetousness, the tyranny, the carelessness, which in most great +towns, and in too many villages also, forces the poor to lodge in +undrained stifling hovels, unfit for hogs, amid vapours and +smells which send forth on every breath the seeds of rickets and +consumption, typhus and scarlet fever, and worse and last of all, +the cholera? Did they repent of their sin in that? +Not they. Did they repent of the carelessness and laziness +and covetousness which sends meat and fish up to all our large +towns in a half-putrid state; which fills every corner of London +and the great cities with slaughter-houses, over-crowded +graveyards, undrained sewers? Not they. To confess +their sins in a general way cost them a few words; to confess and +repent of the real particular sins in themselves, was a very +different matter; to amend them would have touched vested +interests, would have cost money, the Englishman’s god; it +would have required self-sacrifice of pocket, as well as of +time. It would have required manful fighting against the +prejudices, the ignorance, the self-conceit, the laziness, the +covetousness of the wicked world. So they could not afford +to repent and amend of all <i>that</i>. And when those +great and good men, the Sanitary Commissioners, proved to all +England fifteen years ago, that cholera always appeared where +fever had appeared, and that both fever and cholera always cling +exclusively to those places where there was bad food, bad air, +crowded bedrooms, bad drainage and filth—that such were the +laws of God and Nature, and always had been; they took no notice +of it, because it was the poor rather than the rich who suffered +from those causes. So the filth of our great cities was +left to ferment in poisonous cesspools, foul ditches and marshes +and muds, such as those now killing people by hundreds in the +neighbourhood of Plymouth; for one house or sewer that was +improved, a hundred more were left just as they were in the first +cholera; as soon as the panic of superstitious fear was past, +carelessness and indolence returned. Men went back, the +covetous man to his covetousness, and the idler to his +idleness. And behold! sixteen years are past, and the +cholera is as bad as ever among us.</p> +<p>But you will say, perhaps, it is presumptuous to say that +Englishmen have brought the cholera on themselves, that it is +God’s judgment, and that we cannot explain His inscrutable +Providence. Ah! my friends, that is a poor excuse and a +common one, for leaving a great many sins as they are! When +people do not wish to do God’s will, it is a very pleasant +thing to talk about God’s will as something so very deep +and unfathomable, that poor human beings cannot be expected to +find it out. It is an old excuse, and a great favourite +with Satan, I have no doubt. Why cannot people find out +God’s will?—Because they do not <i>like</i> to find +it out, lest it should shame them and condemn them, and cost them +pleasure or money—because their eyes are blinded with +covetousness and selfishness, so that they cannot see God’s +will, even when they <i>do</i> look for it, and then they go and +cant about God’s judgments; while those judgments, as the +text says, are far above out of their mammon-blinded and +prejudice-blinded sight. What do they mean by that +word? Come now, my friends! let us face the question like +men. What do you mean really when you call the cholera, or +fever, or affliction at all, God’s judgment? Do you +merely mean that God is punishing you, you don’t know for +what, and you can’t find out for what? but that all which +He expects of you is to bear it patiently, and then go and do +afterwards just what you did before? Dare anyone say that +who believes that God is a God of justice, much less a God of +love? What would you think of a father who punished his +children, and then left them to find out as they could what they +were punished for? And yet that is the way people talk of +pestilence and of great afflictions, public and private. +They are not ashamed to accuse God of a cruelty and an injustice +which they would be ashamed to confess themselves! How can +men, even religious men often, be so blasphemous? Mainly, I +think, because they do not really believe in God at all, they +only believe about Him—they believe that they ought to +believe in Him. They have no living personal faith in God +or Christ; they do not know God; they do not know God’s +character, and what to believe of Him, and what to expect of Him; +or what they ought to say of Him; because they do not know, they +have not studied, they have not loved the character of Christ, +who is the express image and likeness of God. Therefore +God’s judgments are far away out of their sight; therefore +they make themselves a God in their own image and after their own +likeness, lazy, capricious, revengeful; therefore they are not +afraid or ashamed to say that God sends pestilence into a country +without showing that country why it is sent. But another +great reason, I believe, why God’s judgments in this and +other matters are far above out of our sight, is the careless, +insincere way of using words which we English have got into, even +on the most holy and awful matters. I suppose there never +was a nation in the world so diseased through and through with +the spirit of cant, as we English are now: except perhaps the old +Jews, at the time of our Lord’s coming. You hear men +talking as if they thought God did not understand English, +because they cling superstitiously to the letter of the Bible in +proportion as they lose its spirit. You hear men taking +words into their mouths which might make angels weep and devils +tremble, with a coolness and oily, smooth carelessness which +shows you that they do not feel the force of what they are +saying. You hear them using the words of Scripture, which +are in themselves stricter and deeper than all the books of +philosophy in the world, in such a loose unscriptural way, that +they make them mean anything or nothing. They use the words +like parrots, by rote, just because their forefathers used them +before them. They will tell you that cholera is a judgment +for our sins, “in a sense,” but if you ask them for +what sins, or in what sense, they fly off from that <i>home</i> +question, and begin mumbling commonplaces about the inscrutable +decrees of Providence, and so on. It is most sad, all this; +and most fearful also.</p> +<p>Therefore, I asked you, my friends, what is the meaning of +that word judgment? In common talk, people use it rightly +enough, but when they begin to talk of God’s judgments, +they speak as if it merely meant punishments. Now judgment +and punishment are two things. When a judge gives judgment, +he either acquits or condemns the accused person; he gives the +case for the plaintiff, or for the defendant: the punishment of +the guilty person, if he be guilty, is a separate thing, +pronounced and inflicted afterwards. His judgment, I say, +is his <i>opinion</i> about the person’s guilt, and even so +God’s judgments are the expression of His opinion about our +guilt. But there is this difference between man and God in +this matter—a human judge gives his opinion in words, God +gives His in events: therefore there is no harm for a human judge +when he has told a person why he must punish, to punish him in +some way that has nothing to do with his crime—for +instance, to send a man to prison because he steals, though it +would be far better if criminals could be punished in kind, and +if the man who stole could be forced either to make restitution, +or work out the price of what he stole in hard labour. For +this is God’s plan—God always pays sinners back in +kind, that He may not merely punish them, but <i>correct</i> +them; so that by the kind of their punishment, they may know the +kind of their sin. God punishes us, as I have often told +you, not by His caprice, but by His laws. He does not +<i>break His laws</i> to harm us; the laws themselves harm us, +when we break them and get in their way. It is always so, +you will find, with great national afflictions. I believe, +when we know more of God and His laws, we shall find it true even +in our smallest private sorrows. God is unchangeable; He +does not lose His temper, as heathens and superstitious men +fancy, to punish us. He does not change His order to punish +us. <i>We</i> break His order, and the order goes on in +spite of us and crushes us: and so we get God’s judgment, +God’s opinion of our breaking His laws. You will find +it so almost always in history. If a nation is laid waste +by war, it is generally their own fault. They have sinned +against the law which God has appointed for nations. They +have lost courage and prudence, and trust in God, and +fellow-feeling and unity, and they have become cowardly and +selfish and split up into parties, and so they are easily +conquered by their own fault, as the Bible tells us the Jews were +by the Chaldeans; and their ruin is God’s judgment, +God’s opinion plainly expressed of what He thinks of them +for having become cowardly and selfish, and factious and +disinterested. So it is with famine again. Famines +come by a nation’s own fault—they are God’s +plainly spoken opinion of what <i>He</i> thinks of breaking His +laws of industry and thrift, by improvidence and bad +farming. So when a nation becomes poor and bankrupt, it is +its own fault; that nation has broken the laws of political +economy which God has appointed for nations, and its ruin is +God’s judgment, God’s plain-spoken opinion again of +the sins of extravagance, idleness, and reckless speculation.</p> +<p>So with pestilence and cholera. They come only because +we break God’s laws; as the wise poet well says:</p> +<blockquote><p>Voices from the depths <i>of Nature</i> borne<br +/> +Which vengeance on the guilty head proclaim.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>—“Of nature;” of the order and constitution +which God has made for this world we live in, and which if we +break them, though God in his mercy so orders the world that +punishment comes but seldom even to our worst offences, yet +surely do bring punishment sooner or later if broken, in the +common course of nature. Yes, my friends, as surely and +naturally as drunkenness punishes itself by a shaking hand and a +bloated body, so does filth avenge itself by pestilence. +Fever and cholera, as you would expect them to be, are the +expression of God’s judgment, God’s opinion, +God’s handwriting on the wall against us for our sins of +filth and laziness, foul air, foul food, foul drains, foul +bedrooms. Where they are, there is cholera. Where +they are not, there is none, and will be none, because they who +do not break God’s laws, God’s laws will not break +them. Oh! do not think me harsh, my friends; God knows it +is no pleasant thing to have to speak bitter and upbraiding +words; but when one travels about this noble land of England, and +sees what a blessed place it might be, if we would only do +God’s will, and what a miserable place it is just because +we will not do God’s will, it is enough to make one’s +soul boil over with sorrow and indignation; and then when one +considers that other men’s faults are one’s own fault +too, that one has been adding to the heap of sins by one’s +own laziness, cowardice, ignorance, it is enough to break +one’s heart—to make one cry with St. Paul, “Oh +wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of +this death?” Ay, my friends, the state of things in +England now is enough to drive an earnest man to despair, if one +did not know that all our distresses, and this cholera, like the +rest, are indeed <i>God’s</i> judgments; the judgments and +expressed opinions, not of a capricious tyrant, but of a +righteous and loving Father, who chastens us just because He +loves us, and afflicts us only to teach us His will, which alone +is life and happiness. Therefore we may believe that this +very cholera is meant to be a blessing; that if we will take the +lesson it brings, it will be a blessing to England. God +grant that all ranks may take the lesson—that the rich may +amend their idleness and neglect, and the poor amend their dirt +and stupid ignorance; then our children will have cause to thank +God for the cholera, if it teaches us that cleanliness is indeed +next to holiness, if it teaches us, rich and poor, to make the +workman’s home what it ought to be. And believe me, +my friends, that day will surely come; and these distresses, sad +as they are for the time, are only helping to hasten it—the +day when the words of the Hebrew prophets shall be fulfilled, +where they speak of a state of comfort and prosperity, and +civilisation, such as men had never reached in their +time—how the wilderness shall blossom like the rose, and +there shall be heaps of corn high on the mountain-tops, and the +cities shall be green as grass on the earth, instead of being the +smoky, stifling hot-beds of disease which they are now—and +how from the city of God streams shall flow for the healing of +the nations: strange words, those, and dim; too deep to be +explained by any one meaning, or many meanings, such as our small +minds can give them; but full of blessed cheering hope. For +of whatever they speak, they speak at least of this—of a +time when all sorrow and sighing shall be done away, when science +and civilisation shall go hand in hand with godliness—when +God shall indeed dwell in the hearts of men, and His kingdom +shall be fulfilled among them, when “His ways shall be +known upon earth at last, and His saving health among all +nations”—of a time when all shall know Him, from the +least unto the greatest, and be indeed His children, doing no +sin, because they will have given up themselves, their +selfishness and cruelty and covetousness, and stupidity and +laziness, to be changed and renewed into God’s +likeness. Then all these distresses and pestilences, which, +as I have shown you, come from breaking the will of God, will +have passed away like ugly dreams, and all the earth shall be +blessed, because all the earth shall at last be fulfilling the +words of the Lord’s Prayer, and God’s will shall be +done on earth, even as it is done in heaven. Oh! my +friends, have hope. Do you think Christ would have bid us +pray for what would never happen? Would He have bid us all +to pray that God’s will might be done unless He had known +surely that God’s will would one day be done by men on +earth below even as it is done in heaven?</p> +<h2><a name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +144</span><span class="GutSmall">XIV.</span><br /> +SECOND SERMON ON THE CHOLERA.</h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">Visiting the sins of +the fathers upon the children.—<span +class="smcap">Exodus</span> xx. 5.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> my sermon last Sunday I said +plainly that cholera, fever, and many more diseases were +man’s own fault, and that they were God’s judgments +just because they were man’s own fault, because they were +God’s plainspoken opinion of the sin of filth and of habits +of living unfit for civilised Christian men.</p> +<p>But there is an objection which may arise in some of your +minds, and if it has not risen in <i>your</i> minds, still it has +in other people’s often enough; and therefore I will state +it plainly, and answer it as far as God shall give me +wisdom. For it is well to get to the root of all matters, +and of this matter of Pestilence among others; for if we do +believe this Pestilence to be God’s judgment, then it is a +spiritual matter most proper to be spoken of in a place like this +church, where men come as spiritual beings to hear that which is +profitable for their souls. And it <i>is</i> profitable for +their souls to consider this matter; for it has to do, as I see +more and more daily, with the very deepest truths of the Gospel; +and accordingly as we believe the Gospel, and believe really that +Jesus Christ is our Saviour and our King, the New Adam, the +firstborn among many brethren, who has come down to proclaim to +us that we are all brothers in Him—in proportion as we +believe <i>that</i>, I say, shall we act upon this very matter of +public cleanliness.</p> +<p>The objection which I mean is this: people say it is very hard +and unfair to talk of cholera or fever being people’s own +fault, when you see persons who are not themselves dirty, and +innocent little children, who if they are dirty are only so +because they are brought up so, catch the infection and die of +it. You cannot say it is their fault. Very +true. I did not say it was their fault. I did not say +that each particular person takes the infection by his own fault, +though I do say that nine out of ten do. And as for little +children, of course it is not their fault. But, my friends, +it must be someone’s fault. No one will say that the +world is so ill made that these horrible diseases must come in +spite of all man’s care. If it was so, plagues, +pestilences, and infectious fevers would be just as common now in +England, and just as deadly as they were in old times; whereas +there is not one infectious fever now in England for ten that +there used to be five hundred years ago. In ancient times +fevers, agues, plague, smallpox, and other diseases, whose very +names we cannot now understand, so completely are they passed +away, swept England from one end to the other every few years, +killing five people where they now kill one. Those +diseases, as I said, have many of them now died out entirely; and +those which remain are becoming less and less dangerous every +year. And why? Simply because people are becoming +more cleanly and civilised in their habits of living; because +they are tilling and draining the land every year more and more, +instead of leaving it to breed disease, as all uncultivated land +does. It is not merely that doctors are becoming wiser: we +ourselves are becoming more reasonable in our way of +living. For instance, in large districts both of Scotland +and of the English fens, where fever and ague filled the country +and swept off hundreds every spring and fall thirty years ago, +fever and ague are now almost unknown, simply because the marshes +have all been drained in the meantime. So you see that +people can prevent these disorders, and therefore it must be +someone’s fault if they come. Now, whose fault is +it? You dare not lay the blame on God. And yet you do +lay the fault on God if you say that it is no <i>man’s</i> +fault that children die of fever. But I know what the +answer to that will be: “We do not accuse God—it is +the fault of the fall, Adam’s curse which brought death and +disease into the world.” That is a common answer, and +the very one I want to hear. What? is it just to say, as +many do, that all the diseases which ever tormented poor little +innocent children all over the world, came from Adam’s +sinning six thousand years ago, and yet that it is unfair to say +that one little child’s fever came from his parents’ +keeping a filthy house a month ago? That is swallowing a +camel and straining at a gnat—that God should be just in +punishing all mankind for Adam’s sin, and yet unjust in +punishing one little child for its parents’ sin. If +the one is just the other must be just too, I think. If you +believe the one, why not believe the other? Why? +Because Adam’s curse and “original” sin, as +people call it, is a good and pleasant excuse for laying our sins +and miseries at Adam’s door; but the same rule is not so +pleasant in the case of filth and fever, when it lays other +people’s miseries at our door.</p> +<p>I believe that all the misery in the world sprung from +Adam’s disobedience and falling from God. “By +one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, and so death +passed on all men, even on those who had not sinned after the +likeness of Adam’s transgression.” So says the +Bible, and I believe it says so truly. For this is the law +of the earth, God’s law which He proclaimed in the +text. He does visit the sins of the fathers upon the +children unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate +Him. It is so. You see it around you daily. No +one can deny it. Just as death and misery entered into the +world by one man, so we see death and misery entering into many a +family. A man or woman is a drunkard, or a rogue, or a +swearer: how often their children grow up like them! We +have all seen that, God knows, in this very parish. How +much more in great cities, where boys and girls by +thousands—oh, shame that it should be so in a Christian +land!—grow up thieves from the breast, and harlots from the +cradle. And why? Why are there, as they say, and I am +afraid say too truly, in London alone upwards of 10,000 children +under sixteen who live by theft and harlotry? Because the +parents of these children are as bad as +themselves—drunkards, thieves, and worse—and they +bring up their children to follow their crimes. If that is +not the fathers’ sins being visited on the children, what +is?</p> +<p>How often, again, when we see a wild young man, we say, and +justly: “Poor fellow! there are great excuses for him, he +has been so badly brought up.” True, but his wildness +will ruin him all the same, whether it be his father’s +fault or his own that he became wild. If he drinks he will +ruin his health; if he squanders his money he will grow +poor. God’s laws cannot stop for him; he is breaking +them, and they will avenge themselves on him. You see the +same thing everywhere. A man fools away his money, and his +innocent children suffer for it. A man ruins his health by +debauchery, or a woman hers by laziness or vanity or +self-indulgence, and her children grow up weakly and inherit +their parents’ unhealthiness. How often again, do we +see passionate parents have passionate children, stupid parents +stupid children, mean and lying parents mean and lying children; +above all, ignorant and dirty parents have ignorant and dirty +children. How can they help being so? They cannot +keep themselves clean by instinct; they cannot learn without +being taught: and so they suffer for their parents’ +faults. But what is all this except God’s visiting +the sins of the fathers upon the children? Look again at a +whole parish; how far the neglect or the wickedness of one man +may make a whole estate miserable. There is one parish in +this very union, and the curse of the whole union it is, which +will show us that fearfully enough. See, too, how often +when a good and generous young man comes into his estate, he +finds it so crippled with debts and mortgages by his +forefathers’ extravagance, that he cannot do the good he +would to his tenants, he cannot fulfil his duty as landlord where +God has placed him, and so he and the whole estate must suffer +for the follies of generations past. If that is not God +visiting the sins of the fathers on the children, what is it?</p> +<p>Look again at a whole nation; the rulers of two countries +quarrel, or pretend to quarrel, and go to war—and some here +know what war is—just because there is some old grudge of a +hundred years standing between two countries, or because rulers +of whose names the country people, perhaps, never heard, have +chosen to fall out, or because their forefathers by cowardice, or +laziness, or division, or some other sin, have made the country +too weak to defend itself; and for that poor people’s +property is destroyed, and little infants butchered, and innocent +women suffer unspeakable shame. If that is not God visiting +the sins of the fathers on the children, what is it?</p> +<p>It is very awful, but so it is. It is the law of this +earth, the law of human kind, that the innocent often suffer for +other’s faults, just as you see them doing in cholera, +fever, ague, smallpox, and other diseases which man can prevent +if he chooses to take the trouble. There it is. We +cannot alter it. Those who will may call God unjust for +it. Let them first see, whether He is not only most just, +but most merciful in making the world so, and no other way. +I do not merely mean that whatever God does must be right. +That is true, but it is a poor way of getting over the +difficulty. God has taught us what is right and wrong, and +He will be judged by His own rules. As Abraham said to Him +when Sodom was to be destroyed: “That be far from Thee, to +punish the righteous with the wicked. Shall not the Judge +of all the earth do right?” Abraham knew what was +right, and he expected God not to break that law of right. +And we may expect the same of God. And I may be able, I +hope, in my sermon next Sunday, to show you that in this matter +God does break the law of right. Nevertheless, in the +meantime, this is His way of dealing with men. When Sodom +was destroyed He brought righteous Lot out of it. But Sodom +was destroyed, and in it many a little infant who had never known +sin. And just so when Lisbon was swallowed up by an +earthquake, ninety years ago, the little children perished as +well as the grown people—just as in the Irish famine fever +last year, many a doctor and Roman Catholic priest, and +Protestant clergyman, caught the fever and died while they were +piously attending on the sick. They were acting like +righteous men doing their duty at their posts; but God’s +laws could not turn aside for them. Improvidence, and +misrule, which had been working and growing for hundreds of +years, had at last brought the famine fever, and even the +righteous must perish by it. They had their sins, no doubt, +as we all have; but then they were doing God’s work bravely +and honestly enough, yet the fever could not spare them any more +than it could spare the children of the filthy parents, though +they had not kept pigsties under their windows, nor cesspools at +their doors. It could not spare them any more than it can +spare the tenants of the negligent or covetous house-owner, +because it is his fault and not theirs that his houses are +undrained, overcrowded, destitute—as whole streets in many +large towns are—of the commonest decencies of life. +It may be the landlord’s fault, but the tenants +suffer. God visits the sins of the fathers upon the +children, and landlords ought to be fathers to their tenants, and +must become fathers to them some day, and that soon, unless they +intend that the Lord should visit on them all their sins, and +their forefathers’ also, even unto the third and fourth +generation.</p> +<p>For do not fancy that because the innocent suffer with the +guilty that therefore the guilty escape. Seldom do they +escape in this world, and in the world to come never. The +landlord who, as too many do, neglects his cottages till they +become man-sties, to breed pauperism and disease—the +parents whose carelessness and dirt poison their children and +neighbours into typhus and cholera—their brother’s +blood will cry against them out of the ground. It will be +required at their hands sooner or later, by Him who beholds +iniquity and wrong, and who will not be satisfied in the day of +His vengeance by Cain’s old answer, “Am I my +brother’s keeper?”</p> +<p>We are every one of us our brother’s keeper; and if we +do not choose to confess that, God will prove it to us in a way +that we cannot mistake. A wise man tells a story of a poor +Irish widow who came to Liverpool and no one would take her in or +have mercy on her, till, from starvation and bad lodging, as the +doctor said, she caught typhus fever, and not only died herself, +but gave the infection to the whole street, and seventeen persons +died of it. “See,” says the wise man, +“the poor Irish widow was the Liverpool people’s +sister after all. She was of the same flesh and blood as +they. The fever that killed her killed them, but they would +not confess that they were her brothers. They shut their +doors upon her, and so there was no way left for her to prove her +relationship, but by killing seventeen of them with +fever.” A grim jest that, but a true one, like +Elijah’s jest to the Baal priests on Carmel. A true +one, I say, and one that we have all need to lay to heart.</p> +<p>And I do earnestly trust in you that you will lay it to +heart. We have had our fair warning here. We have had +God’s judgment about our cleanliness; His plain spoken +opinion about the sanitary state of this parish. We deserve +the fever, I am afraid; not a house in which it has appeared but +has had some glaring neglect of common cleanliness about it; and +if we do not take the warning God will surely some day repeat +it. It will repeat itself by the necessary laws of nature; +and we shall have the fever among us again, just as the cholera +has reappeared in the very towns, and the very streets, where it +was seventeen years ago, wherever they have not repented of and +amended their filth and negligence. And I say openly, that +those who have escaped this time may not escape next. God +has made examples, and by no means always of the worst +cottages. God’s plan is to take one and leave another +by way of warning. “It is expedient that one man +should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish +not” is a great and a sound law, and we must profit by +it. So let not those who have escaped the fever fancy that +they must needs be without fault. “Think ye that +those sixteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, +were sinners above all those that dwelt at Jerusalem? I say +unto you, Nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise +perish.”</p> +<p>And I say again, as I said last Sunday, that this is a +spiritual question, a Gospel sermon; for by your conduct in this +matter will your faith in the Gospel be proved. If you +really believe that Jesus Christ came down from heaven and +sacrificed Himself for you, you will be ready to sacrifice +yourselves in this matter for those for whom He died; to +sacrifice, without stint, your thought, your time, your money, +and your labour. If you really believe that He is the sworn +enemy of all misery and disease, you will show yourselves too the +sworn enemies of everything that causes misery and disease, and +work together like men to put all pestilential filth and damp out +of this parish. If you really believe that you are all +brothers, equal in the sight of God and Christ, you will do all +you can to save your brothers from sickness and the miseries +which follow it. If you really believe that your children +are God’s children, that at baptism God declares your +little ones to be His, you will be ready to take any care or +trouble, however new or strange it may seem, to keep your +children safe from all foul smells, foul food, foul water, and +foul air, that they may grow up healthy, hearty, and cleanly, fit +to serve God as christened, free, and civilised Englishmen should +in this great and awful time, the most wonderful time that the +earth has ever seen, into which it has pleased God of His great +mercy to let us all be born.</p> +<h2><a name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +153</span><span class="GutSmall">XV.</span><br /> +THIRD SERMON ON THE CHOLERA.</h2> +<blockquote><p>I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the +iniquity of the Fathers upon the children, unto the third and +fourth generation of them that hate me.—<span +class="smcap">Exodus</span> xx. 6.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Many</span> of you were perhaps surprised +and puzzled by my saying in my last sermon that God’s +visiting the sins of the fathers on the children, and letting the +innocent suffer for the guilty, was a blessing and not a +curse—a sign of man’s honour and redemption, not of +his shame and ruin. But the more I have thought of those +words, the more glad I am that I spoke them boldly, the more true +I find them to be.</p> +<p>I say that there is in them the very deepest and surest ground +for hope. “Yes,” some of you may say, “to +be sure when we see the innocent suffering for the guilty, it is +a plain proof that another world must come some day, in which all +that unfairness shall be set right.” Well, my +friends, it does prove that, but I should be very sorry if it did +not prove a great deal more than that—this suffering of the +innocent for the guilty. I have no heart to talk to you +about the next life, unless I can give you some comfort, some +reason for trusting in God in this life. I never saw much +good come of it. I never found it do my own soul any good, +to be told: “<i>This</i> life and <i>this</i> world in +which you now live are given up irremediably to misrule and +deceit, poverty and pestilence, death and the devil. You +cannot expect to set this world right—you must look to the +next world. Everything will be set right +there.” That sounds fine and resigned; and there +seems to be a great deal of trust in God in it; but, as I think, +there is little or none; and I say so from the fruits I see it +bear. If people believe that this world is the +devil’s world, and only the next world God’s, they +are easily tempted to say: “Very well, then, we must serve +the devil in this world, and God in the next. We must, of +course, take great care to get our souls saved when we die, that +we may go to heaven and live for ever and ever; but as to this +world and this life, why, we must follow the ways of the +world. It is not our fault that they have nothing to do +with God. It is not our fault that society and the world +are all rotten and accursed; we found them so when we were born, +and we must make the best of a bad matter and sail as the world +does, and be covetous and mean and anxious—how can we help +it?—and stand on our own rights, and take care of number +one; and even do what is not quite right now and then—for +how can we help it?—or how else shall we get on in this +poor lost, fallen, sinful world!”</p> +<p>And so it comes, my friends, that you see people +professing—ay, and believing, Gospel doctrines, and +struggling and reading, and, as they fancy, praying, morning, +noon, and night, to get their own souls saved—who yet, if +you are to judge by their conduct, are little better than rogues +and heathens; whose only law of life seems to be the fear of what +people will say of them; who, like Balaam the son of Bosor, are +trying daily to serve the devil without God finding it out, +worshipping the evil spirit, as that evil spirit wanted our +blessed Lord to do, because they believed his lie, which Christ +denied—that the glory of this world belongs to the evil +one; and then comforting themselves like Balaam their father, in +the hope that they shall die the death of the righteous, and +their last end be like his.</p> +<p>Now I say my friends that this is a lie, and comes from the +father of lies, who tempts every man, as he tempted our Lord, to +believe that the power and glory of this world are his, that +man’s flesh and body, if not his soul, belongs to +him. I say, it is no such thing. The world is +God’s world. Man is God’s creature, made in +God’s image, and not in that of a beast or a devil. +The kingdom, the power, and the glory, <i>are</i> God’s +now. You say so every day in the Lord’s +Prayer—believe it. St. James tells you not to curse +men, because they are made in the likeness of God now—not +<i>will</i> be made in God’s likeness after they die. +Believe that; do not be afraid of it, strange as it may seem to +understand. It is in the Bible, and you profess to believe +that what is in the Bible is true. And I say that this +suffering of the innocent for the guilty is a proof of +that. If man was not made so that the innocent could suffer +for the guilty, he could not have been redeemed at all, for there +would have been no use or meaning in Christ’s dying for us, +the just for the unjust. And more, if the innocent could +not suffer for the guilty we should be like the beasts that +perish.</p> +<p>Now, why? Because just in proportion as any creature is +low—I mean in the scale of life—just in that +proportion it does without its fellow-creatures, it lives by +itself and cares for no other of its kind. A vegetable is a +meaner thing than an animal, and one great sign of its being +meaner is, that vegetables cannot do each other any +good—cannot help each other—cannot even hurt each +other, except in a mere mechanical way, by overgrowing each other +or robbing each other’s roots; but what would it matter to +a tree if all the other trees in the world were to die? So +with wild animals. What matters it to a bird or a beast, +whether other birds and beasts are ill off or well off, wise or +stupid? Each one takes care of itself—each one shifts +for itself. But you will say “Bees help each other +and depend upon each other for life and death.” True, +and for that very reason we look upon bees as being more wise and +more wonderful than almost any animals, just because they are so +much like us human beings in depending on each other. You +will say again, that among dogs, a riotous hound will lead a +whole pack wrong—a staunch and well-broken hound will keep +a whole pack right; and that dogs do depend upon each other in +very wonderful ways. Most true, but that only proves more +completely what I want to get at. It is the <i>tame</i> +dog, which man has taken and broken in, and made to partake more +or less of man’s wisdom and cunning, who depends on his +fellow-dogs. The wild dogs in foreign countries, on the +other hand, are just as selfish, living every one for himself, as +so many foxes might be. And you find this same rule holding +as you rise. The more a man is like a wild animal, the more +of a <i>savage</i> he is, so much more he depends on himself, and +not on others—in short, the less civilised he is; for +civilised means being a citizen, and learning to live in cities, +and to help and depend upon each other. And our common +English word “civil” comes from the same root. +A man is “civil” who feels that he depends upon his +neighbours, and his neighbours on him; that they are his +fellow-citizens, and that he owes them a duty and a +friendship. And, therefore, a man is truly and sincerely +civil, just in proportion as he is civilised; in proportion as he +is a good citizen, a good Christian—in one word, a <i>good +man</i>.</p> +<p>Ay, that is what I want to come to, my friends—that word +<i>man</i>, and what it means. The law of man’s life, +the constitution and order on which, and on no other, God has +made man, is <i>this</i>—to depend upon his fellow-men, to +be their brothers, in flesh and in spirit; for we are brothers to +each other. God made of one blood all nations to dwell on +the face of the earth. The same food will feed us all +alike. The same cholera will kill us all alike. And +we can give the cholera to each other; we can give each other the +infection, not merely by our touch and breath, for diseased +beasts can do that, but by housing our families and our tenants +badly, feeding them badly, draining the land around them +badly. This is the secret of the innocent suffering for the +guilty, in pestilences, and famines, and disorders, which are +handed down from father to child, that we are all of the same +blood. This is the reason why Adam’s sin infected our +whole race. Adam died, and through him all his children +have received a certain property of sinfulness and of dying, just +as one bee transmits to all his children and future generations +the property of making honey, or a lion transmits to all its +future generations the property of being a beast of prey. +For by sinning and cutting himself off from God Adam gave way to +the lower part of him, his flesh, his animal nature, and +therefore he died as other animals do. And we his children, +who all of us give way to our flesh, to our animal nature, every +hour, alas! we die too. And in proportion as we give way to +our animal natures we are liable to die; and the less we give way +to our animal natures, the less we are liable to die. We +have all sinned; we have all become fleshly animal creatures more +or less; and therefore we must all die sooner or later. But +in proportion as we become Christians, in proportion as we become +civilised, in short, in proportion as we become true men, and +conquer and keep in order this flesh of ours, and this earth +around us, by the teaching of God’s spirit, as we were +meant to do, just so far will length of life increase and +population increase. For while people are savages, that is, +while they give themselves up utterly to their own fleshly lusts, +and become mere animals like the wild Indians, they cannot +increase in number. They are exposed, by their own lusts +and ignorance and laziness, to every sort of disease; they turn +themselves into beasts of prey, and are continually fighting and +destroying each other, so that they, seldom or never increase in +numbers, and by war, drunkenness, smallpox, fevers, and other +diseases too horrible to mention, the fruit of their own lusts, +whole tribes of them are swept utterly off the face of the +earth. And why? They are like the beasts, and like +the beasts they perish. Whereas, just in proportion as any +nation lives according to the spirit and not according to the +flesh; in proportion as it conquers its own fleshly appetites +which tempt it to mere laziness, pleasure, and ignorance, and +lives according to the spirit in industry, cleanliness, chaste +marriage, and knowledge, earthly and heavenly, the length of life +and the number of the population begin to increase at once, just +as they are doing, thank God! in England now; because Englishmen +are learning more and more that this earth is God’s earth, +and that He works it by righteous and infallible laws, and has +put them on it to till it and subdue it; that civilisation and +industry are the cause of Christ and of God; and that without +them His kingdom will not come, neither will His will be done on +earth.</p> +<p>But now comes a very important question. The beasts are +none the worse for giving way to their flesh and being mere +animals. They increase and multiply and are happy enough; +whereas men, if they give way to their flesh and become animals, +become fewer and weaker, and stupider, and viler, and more +miserable, generation after generation. Why? Because +the animals are meant to be animals, and men are not. Men +are meant to be men, and conquer their animal nature by the +strength which God gives to their spirits. And as long as +they do not do so; as long as they remain savage, sottish, +ignorant, they are living in a lie, in a diseased wrong state, +just as God did <i>not</i> mean them to live; and therefore they +perish; therefore these fevers, and agues, and choleras, war, +starvation, tyranny, and all the ills which flesh is heir to, +crush them down. Therefore they are at the mercy of the +earth beneath their feet, and the skies above their head; at the +mercy of rain and cold; at the mercy of each other’s +selfishness, laziness, stupidity, cruelty; in short, at the mercy +of the brute material earth, and their own fleshly lusts and the +fleshly lusts of others, because they love to walk after the +flesh and not after the spirit—because they like the +likeness of the old Adam who is of the earth earthy, better than +that of the new Adam who is the Lord from heaven—because +they like to be animals, when Christ has made them in his own +image, and redeemed them with His own blood, and taught them with +His own example, and made them men. He who will be a man, +let him believe that he is redeemed by Christ, and must be like +Christ in everything he says and does. If he would carry +that out, if he would live perfectly by faith in God, if he would +do God’s will utterly and in all things he would soon find +that those glorious old words still stood true: “Thou shalt +not be afraid of the arrow by night, nor of the pestilence which +walketh in the noonday; a thousand shall fall at thy side, and +ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh +thee.” For such a man would know how to defend +himself against evil; God would teach him not only to defend +himself, but to defend those around him. He would be like +his Lord and Master, a fountain of wisdom and healing and safety +to all his neighbours. We might any one of us be +that. It is everyone’s fault more or less that he is +not. Each of us who is educated, civilised, converted to +the knowledge and love of God, it is his sin and shame that he is +<i>not</i> that. Above all, it is the clergyman’s sin +and shame that he is not. Ay, believe me, when I blame you, +I blame myself ten thousand times more. I believe there is +many a sin and sorrow from which I might have saved you here, if +I had dealt with you more as a man should deal who believes that +you and I are brothers, made in the same image of God, redeemed +by the same blood of Christ. And I believe that I shall be +punished for every neglect of you for which I have been ever +guilty. I believe it, and I thank God for it; for I do not +see how a clergyman, or anyone else, can learn his duty, except +by God’s judging him, and punishing him, and setting his +sins before his face.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, it is good for us to be afflicted, good for +us to suffer anything that will teach us this great truth, that +we are our brother’s keepers; that we are all one family, +and that where one of the members suffers, all the other members +suffer with it; and that if one of the members has cause to +rejoice, all the others will have cause to rejoice with it. +A blessed thing to know, is that—though whether we know it +or not, we shall find it true. If we give way to our animal +nature, and try to live as the beasts do, each one caring for his +own selfish pleasure—still we shall find out that we cannot +do it. We shall find out, as those Liverpool people did +with the Irish widow, that our fellow-men <i>are</i> our +brothers—that what hurts them will be sure in some strange +indirect way to hurt us. Our brothers here have had the +fever, and we have escaped; but we have felt the fruits of it, in +our purses—in fear, and anxiety, and distress, and +trouble—we have found out that they could not have the +fever without our suffering for it, more or less. You see +we are one family, we men and women; and our relationship will +assert itself in spite of our forgetfulness and our +selfishness. How much better to claim our brotherhood with +each other, and to act upon it—to live as brothers +indeed. That would be to make it a blessing, and not a +curse; for as I said before, just because it is in our power to +injure each other, therefore it is in our power to help each +other. God has bound us together for good and for evil, for +better for worse. Oh! let it be henceforward in this parish +for better, and not for worse. Oh! every one of you, +whether you be rich or poor, farmer or labourer, man or woman, do +not be ashamed to own yourselves to be brothers and sisters, +members of one family, which as it all fell together in the old +Adam, so it has all risen together in the new Adam, Jesus +Christ. There is no respect of persons with God. We +are all equal in His sight. He knows no difference among +men, except the difference which God’s Spirit gives, in +proportion as a man listens to the teaching of that +Spirit—rank in godliness and true manhood. Oh! +believe that—believe that because you owe an infinite debt +to Christ and to God—His Father and your +Father—therefore you owe an infinite debt to your +neighbours, members of Christ and children of God just as you +are—a debt of love, help, care, which you <i>can</i>, pay, +just because you are members of one family; for because you are +members of one family, for that very reason every good deed you +do for a neighbour does not stop with that neighbour, but goes on +breeding and spreading, and growing and growing, for aught we +know, for ever. Just as each selfish act we do, each bitter +word we speak, each foul example we set, may go on spreading from +mouth to mouth, from heart to heart, from parent to child, till +we may injure generations yet unborn; so each noble and +self-sacrificing deed we do, each wise and loving word we speak, +each example we set of industry and courage, of faith in God and +care for men, may and will spread on from heart to heart, and +mouth to mouth, and teach others to do and be the like; till +people miles away, who never heard of our names, may have cause +to bless us for ever and ever. This is one and only one of +the glorious fruits of our being one family. This is one +and only one of the reasons which make me say that it was a good +thing mankind was so made that the innocent suffer for the +guilty. For just as the innocent are injured by the guilty +in this world, even so are the guilty preserved, and converted, +and brought back again by the innocent. Just as the sins of +the fathers are visited on the children, so is the righteousness +of the fathers a blessing to the children; else, says St. Paul, +our children would be unclean, but now they are holy. For +the promises of God are not only to us, but to our children, even +to as many as the Lord our God shall call. And thus each +generation, by growing in virtue and wisdom and the knowledge of +God, will help forward all the generations which follow it to +fuller light and peace and safety; and each parent in trying to +live like a Christian man himself, will make it easier for his +children to live like Christians after him. And this rule +applies even in the things which we are too apt to fancy +unimportant—every house kept really clean, every family +brought up in habits of neatness and order, every acre of foul +land drained, every new improvement in agriculture and +manufactures or medicine, is a clear gain to all mankind, a good +example set which is sure sooner or later to find followers, +perhaps among generations yet unborn, and in countries of which +we never heard the name.</p> +<p>Was I not right then in saying that this earth is not the +devil’s earth at all, but a right good earth, of +God’s making and ruling, wherein no good deed will perish +fruitless, but every man’s works will follow him—a +right good earth, governed by a righteous Father, who, as the +psalm says “is merciful,” just “because He +rewards every man according to his work.”</p> +<h2><a name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +164</span><span class="GutSmall">XVI.</span><br /> +ON THE DAY OF THANKSGIVING.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(Nov. 15th, 1849.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">God hath visited his +people.—<span class="smcap">Luke</span> vii. 16.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> are assembled this day to thank +God solemnly for the passing away of the cholera from England; +and we must surely not forget to thank Him at the same time for +the passing away of the fever, which has caused so much expense, +sorrow, and death among us. Now I wish to say a very few +words to you on this same matter, to show you not only how to be +thankful to God, but what to be thankful for. You may say: +It is easy enough for us to know what to thank God for in this +case. We come to thank Him, as we have just said in the +public prayers, for having withdrawn this heavy visitation from +us. If so, my friends, what we shall thank Him for depends +on what we mean by talking of a visitation from God.</p> +<p>Now I do not know what people may think in this parish, but I +suspect that very many all over England do <i>not</i> know what +to thank God for just now; and are altogether thanking him for +the wrong thing—for a thing which, very happily for them, +He has <i>not</i> done for them, and which, if He had done it for +them, would have been worse for them than all the evil which ever +happened to them from their youth up until now. To be plain +then, many, I am afraid, are thanking God for having gone away +and left them. While the cholera was here, they said that +God was visiting them; and now that the cholera is over, they +consider that God’s visit is over too, and are joyful and +light of heart thereat. If God’s visit is over, my +friends, and He is gone away from us; if He is not just as near +us now as He was in the height of the cholera, the best thing we +can do is to turn to Him with fasting, and weeping, and mourning, +and roll ourselves in the dust, and instead of thanking our +Father for going away, pray to Him, of his infinite mercy, to +condescend to come back again and visit us, even though, as +superstitious and ignorant men believe, God’s visiting us +were sure to bring cholera, or plague, or pestilence, or famine, +or some other misery. For I read, that in His presence is +life and not death—at His right hand is fulness of joy, and +not tribulation and mourning and woe; but if not, it were better +to be with God in everlasting agony, than to be in everlasting +happiness without God.</p> +<p>Here is a strange confusion—people talking one moment +like St. Paul himself, desiring to be with Christ and God for +ever, and then in the same breath talking like the Gadarenes of +old, when, after Christ had visited them, and judged their sins +by driving their unlawful herd of swine into the sea, they +answered by beseeching Him to depart out of their coasts.</p> +<p>Why is this confusion?—Because people do not take the +trouble to read their Bibles; because they bring their own loose, +careless, cant notions with them when they open their Bibles, and +settle beforehand what the Bible is to tell them, and then pick +and twist texts till they make them mean just what they like and +no more. There is no folly, or filth, or tyranny, or +blasphemy, which men have not defended out of the Bible by +twisting it in this way. The Bible is better written than +that, my friends. He that runs may read, if he has sense to +read. The wayfaring man, though simple, shall make no such +mistake therein, if he has God’s Spirit in him—the +spirit of faith, which believes that the Bible is God’s +message to men—the humble spirit, which is willing to +listen to that message, however strange or new it may seem to +him—the earnest spirit, which reads the Bible really to +know what a man shall do to be saved. Look at your Bibles +thus, my friends, about this matter. Read all the texts +which speak of God’s visiting and God’s visitation, +and you will find all the confusion and strangeness vanish +away. For see! The Bible talks of the Lord visiting +people in His wrath—visiting them for their +sins—visiting them with sore plagues and punishments, about +forty times. But the Bible speaks very nearly as often of +God’s visiting people to bring them blessings and not +punishments. The Bible says God visited Sarah and Hannah to +give them what they most desired—children. God +visited the people of Israel in Egypt to deliver them out of +slavery. In the book of Ruth we read how the Lord visited +His people in giving them bread. The Psalmist, in the +captivity at Babylon, <i>prays</i> God to visit him with His +salvation. The prophet Jeremiah says that it was a sign of +God’s anger against the Jews that He had not visited them; +and the prophets promised again and again to their countrymen, +how, after their seventy years’ captivity in Babylon, the +Lord would visit them, and what for?—To bring them back +into their own land with joy, and heap them with every +blessing—peace and wealth, freedom and righteousness. +So it is in the New Testament too. Zacharias praised God: +“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and +redeemed His people; through the tender mercy of our God, whereby +the day-spring from on high hath visited us.” And +that was the reason why I chose Luke vii. 16, for my +text—only because it is an example of the same thing. +The people, it says, praised God, saying: “A great Prophet +is risen up among us, and God hath visited His +people.” And in the 14th of Acts we read how God +visited the Gentiles, not to punish them, but to take out of them +a people for His name, namely, Cornelius and his household. +And lastly, St. Peter tells Christian people to glorify God in +the day of visitation, as I tell you now—whether His +visitation comes in the shape of cholera, or fever, or +agricultural distress; or whether it comes in the shape of +sanitary reform, and plenty of work, and activity in commerce; +whether it seems to you good or evil, glorify God for it. +Thank Him for it. Bless Him for it. Whether His +visitation brings joy or sorrow, it surely brings a blessing with +it. Whether God visits in wrath or in love, still God +visits. God shows that He lives; God shows us that He has +not forgotten us; God shows us that He is near us. Christ +shows us that His words are true: “Lo, I am with you alway, +even to the end of the world.”</p> +<p>That is a hard lesson to learn and practise, though not a very +difficult one to understand. I will try now to make you +understand it—God alone can teach you to practise it. +I pray and hope, and I believe too, that He will—that these +very hard times are meant to teach people <i>really</i> to +believe in God and Jesus Christ, and that they <i>will</i> teach +people. God knows we need, and thanks be to Him that He +<i>does</i> know that we need, to be taught to believe in +Him. Nothing shows it to me more plainly than the way we +talk about God’s visitations, as if God was usually away +from us, and came to us only just now and then—only on +extraordinary occasions. People have gross, heathen, +fleshly, materialist notions of God’s visitations, as if He +was some great earthly king who now and then made a journey about +his dominions from place to place, rewarding some and punishing +others. God is not in any place, my friends. God is a +Spirit. The heaven and the heaven of heavens could not +contain Him if He wanted a place to be in, as, glory be to His +name, He does not. If He is near us or far from us, it is +not that He is near or far from our bodies, as the Queen might be +nearer to us in London than in Scotland, which is most +people’s notion of God’s nearness. He is near, +not our bodies, but our spirits, our souls, our hearts, our +thoughts—as it is written, “The kingdom of God is +<i>within</i> you.” Do not fancy that when the +cholera was in India, God was nearer India than He was to +England, and that as the cholera crawled nearer and nearer, God +came nearer and nearer too; and that now the cholera is gone away +somewhere or other, God is gone away somewhere or other too, to +leave us to our own inventions. God forbid a thousand +times! As St. Paul says: “He is not far from any one +of us.” “In Him we live and move and have our +being,” cholera or none. Do you think Christ, the +King of the earth, is gone away either—that while things go +on rightly, and governments, and clergy, and people do right, +Christ is there then, filling them all with His Spirit and +guiding them all to their duty; but that when evil times come, +and rulers are idle, and clergy dumb dogs, and the rich +tyrannous, and the poor profligate, and men are crying for work +and cannot get it, and every man’s hand is against his +fellow, and no one knows what to do or think; and on earth is +distress of nations with perplexity, men’s hearts failing +them for fear, and for dread of those things which are coming on +the earth—do you think that in such times as those, Christ +is the least farther off from us than He was at the best of +times?—The least farther off from us now than He was from +the apostles at the first Whitsuntide? God +forbid!—God forbid a thousand times! He has promised +Himself, He that is faithful and true, He that will never deny +Himself, though men deny Him, and say He is not here, because +their eyes are blinded with love of the world, and covetousness +and bigotry, and dread lest He, their Master, should come and +find them beating the men-servants and maid-servants, and eating +and drinking with the drunken in the high places of the earth, +and saying: “Tush! God hath forgotten +it”—ay, though men have forgotten Him thus, +and—worse than thus, yet He hath said it—“Lo, I +am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” +Why, evil times are the very times of which Christ used to speak +as the “days of the Lord,” and the “days of the +Son of man.” Times when we hear of wars and rumours +of wars, and on earth distress of nations with +perplexity—what does He tell men to do in them? To go +whining about, and say that Christ has left His Church? +No! “Then,” He says, “when all these +things come to pass, then rejoice and lift up your heads, for +your redemption draweth nigh.”</p> +<p>And yet the Scripture does most certainly speak of the +Lord’s coming out of His place to visit—of the Son of +Man coming, and not coming to men—of His visiting us at one +time and not at another. How does that agree with what I +have just said? My dear friends, we shall see that it +agrees perfectly with what I have said, if we will only just +remember that we are not beasts, but men. It may seem a +strange thing to have to remind people of, but it is just what +they are always forgetting. My friends, we are not animals, +we are not spiders to do nothing but spin, or birds only to build +nests for ourselves, much less swine to do nothing but dig after +roots and fruits, and get what we can out of the clods of the +ground. We are the children of the Most High God; we have +immortal souls within us; nay, more, we are our souls: our bodies +are our husk—our shell—our clothes—our +house—changing day by day, and year by year upon us, one +day to drop off us till the Resurrection. But <i>we</i> are +our <i>souls</i>, and when God visits, it is our souls He visits, +not merely our bodies. There is the whole secret. +People forget God, and therefore they are glad to fancy that He +has forgotten them, and has nothing to do with this world of His +which they are misusing for their own selfish ends; and then God +in His mercy visits them. He knocks at the door of their +hearts, saying: “See! I was close to you all the +while.” He forces them to see Him and to confess that +He is there whether they choose or not. God is not away +from the world. He is away from people’s hearts, +because He has given people free wills, and with free wills the +power of keeping Him out of their hearts or letting Him in. +And when God visits He forces Himself on our attention. He +knocks at the door of our hard hearts so loudly and sharply that +He forces all to confess that He is there—all who are not +utterly reprobate and spiritually dead. In blessings as +well as in curses, God knocks at our hearts. By sudden good +fortune, as well as by sudden mishap; by a great deliverance from +enemies, by an abundant harvest, as well as by famine and +pestilence. Therefore this cholera has been a true +visitation of God. The poor had fancied that they might be +as dirty, the rich had fancied that they might be as careless, as +they chose; in short, that they might break God’s laws of +cleanliness and brotherly care without His troubling Himself +about the matter. And lo! He has visited us; and shown us +that He does care about the matter by taking it into His own +hands with a vengeance. He who cannot see God’s hand +in the cholera must be as blind—as blind as who?—as +blind as he that cannot see God’s hand when there is no +cholera; as blind as he who cannot see God’s hand in every +meal he eats, and every breath he draws; for that man is stone +blind—he can be no blinder. The cholera came; +everyone ought to see that it did not come by blind chance, but +by the will of some wise and righteous Person; for in the first +place God gave us fair warning. The cholera came from India +at a steady pace. We knew to a month when it would arrive +here. And it came, too, by no blind necessity, as if it was +forced to take people whether it liked or not. Just as it +was in the fever here, so it was in the cholera, “One shall +be taken and another left.” It took one of a street +and left another; took one person in a family and left another: +it took the rich man who fancied he was safe, as well as the poor +man who did not care whether he was safe or not. The +respectable man walking home to his comfortable house, passed by +some untrapped drain, and then poisonous gas struck him and he +died. The rich physician who had been curing others, could +not save himself from the poison of the crowded graveyard which +had been allowed to remain at the back of his house. By all +sorts of strange and unfathomable judgments the cholera showed +itself to be working, not by a blind necessity, but at the will +of a thinking Person, of a living God, whose ways are not as our +own ways, and His paths are in the great deep. And yet the +cholera showed—and this is what I want to make you +feel—that it was working at the will of the same God in +whom we live and move and have our being, who sends the food we +eat, the water in which we wash, the air we breathe, and who has +ordained for all these things natural laws, according to which +they work, and which He never breaks, nor allows us to break +them. For every case of cholera could be traced to some +breaking of these laws—foul air—foul food—foul +water, or careless and dirty contact with infected persons; so +that by this God showed that He and not chance ruled the world, +and that he was indeed the living and willing God. He +showed at the same time that He was the wise God of order and of +law; and that gas and earth, wind and vapour, fulfil His word, +without His having to break His laws, or visit us by moving, as +people fancy, out of a Heaven where He was, down to an earth, +where He was not.</p> +<p>But, lastly, remember what I told you before, that the cholera +being a visitation means that God, by it, has been visiting our +hearts, knocking loudly at them that He may awaken us, and teach +us a lesson. And be sure that in the cholera, and this our +own parish fever, there is a lesson for each and every one of us +if we will learn it. To the simple poor man, first and +foremost, God means by the cholera to teach the simple lesson of +cleanliness; to the house-owner He means to teach that each man +is his brother’s keeper, and responsible for his property +not being a nest of disease; to rulers it is intended to teach +the lesson that God’s laws cannot be put off to suit their +laziness, cowardice, or party squabbles. But beside that, +to each person, be sure such a visitation as this brings some +private lesson. Perhaps it has taught many a widow that she +has a Friend stronger and more loving than even the husband whom +she has lost by the pestilence—the God of the widow and the +fatherless. Perhaps it has taught many a strong man not to +trust in his strength and his youth, but in the God who gave them +to him. Perhaps it has taught many a man, too, who has +expected public authorities to do everything for him, “not +to put his trust in princes, nor in any child of man, for there +is no help in them,” but to hear God’s advice, +“Help thyself and God will help thee.” Perhaps +it has stirred up many a benevolent man to find out fresh means +for rooting out the miseries of society. Perhaps it has +taught many a philosopher new deep truths about the laws of +God’s world, which may enable him to enlighten and comfort +ages yet unborn. Perhaps it has awakened many a slumbering +heart, and brought many a careless sinner (for the first time in +his life) face to face with God and his own sins. +God’s judgments are manifold; they are meant to work in +different ways on different hearts. But oh! believe and be +sure that they are meant to work upon all hearts—that they +are not the punishments of a capricious tyrant, but the rod of a +loving Father, who is trying to drive us home into His fold, when +gentle entreaties and kind deeds have failed to allure us +home. Oh my friends! if you wish really to thank God for +having preserved you from these pestilences, show your +thankfulness by learning the lesson which they bring. +God’s love has spoken of each and every one of us in the +cholera. Be sure He has spoken so harshly only because a +gentler tone of voice would have had no effect upon us. +Thank Him for His severity. Thank Him for the cholera, the +fever. Thank Him for anything which will awaken us to hear +the Word of the Lord. But till you have learnt the lessons +which these visitations are meant to teach you, there is no use +thanking Him for taking them away. And therefore I beseech +you solemnly, each and all, before you leave this church, now to +pray to God to show you what lesson He means to teach you by this +past awful visitation, and also by sparing you and me who are +here present, not merely from cholera and fever, but from a +thousand mishaps and evils, which we have deserved, and from +which only His goodness has kept us. Oh may God stir up +your hearts to ask advice of Him this day! and may He in His +great mercy so teach us all His will on this day of joy, that we +may not need to have it taught us hereafter on some day of +sorrow.</p> +<h2><a name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +175</span><span class="GutSmall">XVII.</span><br /> +THE COVENANT.</h2> +<blockquote><p>The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and +Israel for his own possession. For I know that the Lord is +great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the +Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and earth, and in the sea, +and in all deep places.—<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> +cxxxv. 4, 5, 6.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Were</span> you ever puzzled to find out +why the Psalms are read every Sunday in Church, more read, +indeed, than any other part of the Bible? If any of you +say, No, I shall not think you the wiser. It is very easy +not to be puzzled with a deep matter, if one never thinks about +it at all. But when a man sets his mind to work seriously, +to try to understand what he hears and sees around him, then he +will be puzzled, and no shame to him; for he will find things +every day of his life which will require years of thought to +understand, ay, things which, though we see and know that they +are true, and can use and profit by them, we can never understand +at all, at least in this life.</p> +<p>But I do not think that God meant it to be so with these +Psalms. He meant the Bible for a poor man’s book: and +therefore the men who wrote the Bible were almost all of them +poor men, at least at one time or other of their life; and +therefore we may expect that they would write as poor men would +write, and such things as poor men may understand, if they are +fairly and simply explained. Therefore I do not think you +need be puzzled long to find out why these Psalms are read every +Sunday. For the men who wrote them had God’s spirit +with them; and God’s spirit is the spirit in which God made +and governs this world, and just as God cannot change, so +God’s spirit cannot change; and therefore the rules and +laws according to which the world runs on cannot change; and +therefore these rules about God’s government of the world, +which God’s spirit taught the old Hebrew Psalmists, are the +very same rules by which He governs it now; and therefore all the +rules in these Psalms, making allowance for the difference of +circumstances, have just as much to do with France, and Germany, +and England now, as they had with the Jews, and the Canaanites, +and the Babylonians then.</p> +<p>St. Paul tells us so. He tells us that all that happened +to the old Jews was written as an example to Christians, to the +intent that they might not sin as the Jews did, and so +(God’s laws and ways being the same now as then) be +punished as the Jews were. Moreover, St. Paul says, that +Christians now are just as much God’s chosen people as the +Jews were. God told the Jews that they were to be a nation +of kings and priests to Him. And St. John opens the +Revelations by saying: “Unto Him that loved us and washed +us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and +priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory.” +St. Paul tells the Ephesians, who had not a drop of Jewish blood +in their veins, that through Jesus Christ both Jews and Gentiles +had “access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now, +therefore,” he goes on, “ye are no more strangers and +foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the +household of God.” In fact, he tells the Christians +of every country to which he writes, that all the promises which +God made to the Jews belonged to them just as much, that there +was no more any difference between Jew and Gentile, that the Lord +Jesus Christ was just as really among them, and with them, ruling +and helping each people in their own country, as He was in +Jerusalem when Isaiah saw His glory filling the Temple, and when +Zion was called the place of His inheritance. Indeed, the +Lord Jesus said the same thing Himself, for He said that all +power was given to Him in heaven and earth; that He was with His +churches (that is, with all companies of Christian people, such +as England) even to the end of the world; that wherever two or +three were gathered together in His name, He would be in the +midst of them; and if those blessed words and good news be true, +we Englishmen have a right to believe firmly that we belong to +Him just as much as the old Jews did; and when we read these +Psalms, to take every word of their good news—and their +warnings also—to ourselves, and to our own land of +England. And when we read in the text, that the Lord chose +Jacob unto Himself and Israel for His own possession, we have a +right to say: “And the Lord has chosen also England unto +himself, and this favoured land of Britain for his own +possession.” When we say in the Psalm: “The +Lord did what He pleased in heaven, and earth, and sea,” to +educate and deliver the people of the Jews, we have a right to +say just as boldly: “And so He has done for England, for +us, and for our forefathers.”</p> +<p>This then is the reason, the chief reason, why these Psalms +are appointed to be read every Sunday in church, and every +morning and evening where there is daily service—to teach +us that the Lord takes care not only of one man’s soul +here, and another woman’s soul there, but of the whole +country of England; of its wars and its peace; of its laws and +government, its progress and its afflictions; of all, in short, +that happens to it as a nation, as one body of men, which it +is. It must be so, my good friends, else we should be worse +off than the old Jews, and not better off, as all the New +Testament solemnly assures us a thousand times over that we +are.</p> +<p>For in the covenant which God made with the Jews, and in the +strange events, good and bad, which He caused to happen to their +nation, not only the great saints among them were taken care of, +but all classes, and all characters, good and bad, even those who +had not wisdom or spiritual life enough to seek God for +themselves, still had their share in the good laws, in the +teaching and guiding, and in the national blessings which He sent +on the whole nation. They had a chance given them of +rising, and improving, and prospering, as the rest of their +countrymen rose, and improved, and prospered. And when the +Lord came to visit Judæa in flesh and blood, we find that +He went on the same method. He did not merely go to such +men as Philip and Nathaniel, to the holy and elect ones among the +Jews, but to the whole people; to the <i>lost</i> sheep, as well +as to those who were not lost. He did not part the good +from the bad before he healed their sicknesses, and fed them with +the loaves and fishes. It was enough for Him that they were +Jews, citizens of the Jewish nation. God’s promises +belonged not to one Jew or another, but to the Jewish nation; and +even the ignorant and the sinful had a share in the blessings of +the covenant, great or small in proportion as they chose to live +as Jews ought, or to forget and deny that they belonged to +God’s people.</p> +<p>Now, surely the Lord cannot be less merciful now than He was +then. He cannot care less for poor orphans, and paupers, +and wild untaught creatures, in England now, than he cared for +them in Judæa of old. And we see that in fact He does +not. For as the wealth of England improves, and the laws +improve, and the knowledge of God improves, the condition of all +sorts of poor creatures improves too, though they had no share in +bringing about the good change. But we are all members of +one body, from the Queen on her throne to the tramper under the +hedge; and as St. Paul says: “If one member suffers, all +the members suffer with it, and if one member rejoices, all the +others” sooner or later “rejoice with +it.” For we, too, are one of the Lord’s +nations. He has made us one body, with one common language, +common laws, common interest, common religion for all; and what +He does for one of us He does for all. He orders all that +happens to us; whether it be war or peace, prosperity or dearth, +He orders it all; and He orders things so that they shall work +for the good, not merely of a few, but of as many as +possible—not merely for His elect, but for those who know +Him not. As He has been from the beginning, when He heaped +blessings on the stiff-necked and backsliding Israelites—as +He was when He endured the cross for a world lying not in +obedience, but in wickedness; so is He now; the perfect likeness +of His father, who is no respecter of persons, but causes +“His sun to shine alike on the evil on the good, and His +rain to fall on the just and on the unjust.”</p> +<p>But now, there is one thing against which I have to warn you +most solemnly, and especially in such days as these. You +may believe my words to your own ruin, or to your own +salvation. They are “the Gospel,” “the +good news of the Kingdom of God”—that is, the good +news that God has condescended to become our King, to govern and +guide us, to order all things for our good. But as St. Paul +says, the Gospel may be a savour of death unto death, as well as +a savour of life unto life. And I will tell you now; that +you have only to do what the Jews just before the coming of our +Lord did, and give way to the same thoughts as they, and then, +like them, it were better for you that you had never heard of +God, and been like the savages, to whom little or no sin is +imputed, because they are all but without law. How is +this?</p> +<p>As I said before—take your covenant privileges as the +Pharisees took theirs, and they will turn you into devils while +you are fancying yourselves God’s especial +favourites. Now this was what happened to the Pharisees: +they could not help knowing that God had shown especial favour to +them; and that He had taught them more about God than He had +taught the heathen. But instead of feeling all the more +humble and thankful for this, and of remembering day and night +that because much had been given to them much would be required +of them, they thought more about the honour and glory which God +had put on them. They forgot what God had declared, namely, +that it was not for their own goodness that He had taught them, +for that they were in themselves not a whit better than the +heathen around them. They forgot that the reason why He +taught them was, that they were to do His work on earth, by +witnessing for His name, and telling the heathen that God was +their Lord, as well as Lord of the Jews. Now David, and the +old Psalmists and Prophets, did not forget this. Their cry +is: “Tell it out among the heathen that the Lord is +King.” “Worship the Son of God, ye kings of the +earth, and make your peace with Him lest He be +angry.” “It was in vain,” he told the +heathen kings, “to try to cast away God’s government +from them, and break His bonds from off them,” for +“the Lord was King, let the nations be never so +unquiet.”</p> +<p>But the Jews gradually forgot this, and their daily boast was, +that God had nothing to do with the heathen; that He did not care +for them, and actually hated them; that they, as it were, had the +true God all to themselves for their own private property; and +that He had neither love nor mercy, except for them and their +proselytes, that is, the few heathens whom they could persuade +and entice not to worship the true God after the customs of their +own country—that would not have suited the Jews’ +bigotry and pride—but to turn Jews, and forget their own +people among whom they were born, and ape them in +everything. And so, as our Lord told them, after compassing +sea and land to make one of these proselytes, they only made him +after all twice as much the child of hell as themselves. +For they could not teach the heathen anything worth knowing about +God, when they had forgotten themselves what God was like. +They could tell them that there was one God, and not +two—but what was the use of that? As St. James says, +the devils believe as much as that, and yet the knowledge does +not make them holy, but only increases their fear and +despair. And so with these Pharisees. They had +forgotten that God was love. They had forgotten that God +was merciful. They had forgotten that God was just. +And therefore, while they were talking of God and pretending to +worship God, they knew nothing of God, and they did not do +God’s will, and act like God; for (as we find from the +Gospels) they were unjust, tyrannous, proud, conceited, covetous +themselves; and while they were looking down on the poor +heathens, these very heathens, the Lord told them, would rise up +in judgment against them: for they, knowing little, acted up to +the light which they had, better than the Pharisees who knew so +much. And so it will be with us, my friends, if we fancy +that God’s great favours to us are a reason for our priding +ourselves on them, and despising papists and foreigners instead +of remembering that just because God has given us so much, He +will require more of us. It is true, we do know more of the +Gospel than the papists, how, though they believe in Jesus +Christ, worship the Virgin Mary and the Saints, and idols of wood +and stone. But if they, who know so little of God’s +will, yet act faithfully up to what they do know, will they not +rise up in judgment against us, who know so much more, if we act +worse than they? Instead of despising them, we had better +despise ourselves. Instead of fancying that God’s +love is not over them, and so sinning against God’s Holy +Spirit by denying and despising the fruits of God’s Holy +Spirit in them, we had much better, we Protestants, be repenting +of our own sins. We had better pray God to open our eyes to +our own want of faith, and want of love, and want of honesty, and +want of cleanly and chaste lives; lest God in His anger should +let us go on in our evil path, till we fall into the deep +darkness of mind of the Pharisees of old. For then while we +were boasting of England as the most Christian nation in the +world, we might become the most unchristian, because the most +unlike Christ; the most wanting in love and fellow-feeling, and +self-sacrifice, and honour, and justice, and honesty; wanting, in +short, in the fruits of the Spirit. And without them there +is no use crying: “We are God’s chosen people, He Has +put His name among us, we alone hate idols, we alone have the +pure word of God, and the pure sacraments, and the pure +doctrine;” for God may answer us, as he answered the Jews +of old: “Think not to say within yourselves, We have +Abraham for our father: Verily, I say unto you, God is able of +these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” . . +. “The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and +given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” +Oh! my friends, let us pray, one and all, that God will come and +help us, and with great might succour us, “that whereas +through our sins and wickedness we are sore let and hindered in +running the race set before us, God’s bountiful grace and +mercy may speedily help and deliver us,” and enable us to +live faithfully up to the glorious privileges which He has +bestowed on us, in calling us “members of Christ, children +of God, and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven;” in giving +us His Bible, in allowing us to be born into this favoured land +of England, in preserving us to this day, in spite of all that we +have thought, and said, and done, unworthy of the name of +Christians and Englishmen.</p> +<p>And then we may be certain that God will also fulfil to us the +glorious promises which we find in another Psalm: “If thy +children will keep my covenant and my testimonies, which I shall +learn them, this land shall be my rest for ever. Here will +I dwell, for I have a delight therein. I will bless her +victuals with increase, and satisfy her poor with bread. I +will deck her priests with health, and her holy people shall +rejoice and sing.”</p> +<h2><a name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +184</span><span class="GutSmall">XVIII.</span><br /> +NATIONAL REWARDS <span class="GutSmall">AND</span> +PUNISHMENTS.</h2> +<blockquote><p>And that which cometh into your mind shall not be +at all; that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families +of the countries, to serve wood and stone. As I live, saith +the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out +arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you. . . . +And ye shall know that I am the Lord.—<span +class="smcap">Ezekiel</span> xx. 32, 33, 38.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>A <span class="smcap">father</span> has two ways of showing +his love to his child—by caressing it and by punishing +it. His very anger may be a sign of his love, and ought to +be. Just because he loves his child, just because the thing +he longs most to see is that his child should grow up good, +therefore he must be, and ought to be, angry with it when it does +wrong. Therefore anger against sin is a part of God’s +likeness in us; and he who does not hate sin is not like +God. For if sin is the worst evil—perhaps the only +real evil in the world—and the end of all sin is death and +misery, then to indulge people in sin is to show them the very +worst of cruelty.</p> +<p>To sit by and see iniquity going on without trying to stop it, +is mere laziness. The parent, when his child does wrong, +does not show his love to the child by indulging it, all he shows +is, that he himself is carnal and fleshly; that he does not like +to take the trouble of punishing it, or does not like to give +himself the pain of punishing it; that, in short, he had sooner +let his child grow up in bad habits, which must lead to its +misery and ruin for years and years, if not for ever, than make +himself uncomfortable by seeing it uncomfortable for a few +minutes. That is not love, but selfishness. True love +is as determined to punish the sin as it is to forgive the +sinner. Therefore, St. Paul tells us, that we can be angry +without sinning; that is that there is an anger which comes from +hatred of sin and love to the sinner. Therefore, Solomon +tells us to punish our children when they do wrong, and not to +hold our hands for their crying. It is better for them that +they should cry a little now, than have long years of shame and +sorrow hereafter. Therefore, in all countries which are +properly governed, the law punishes in the name of God those who +break the laws of God, and punishes them even with death, for +certain crimes; because it is expedient that one man die for the +people, and that the whole nation perish not.</p> +<p>And this is God’s way of dealing with each and every one +of us. This is God’s way of dealing with Christian +nations, just as it was His way of dealing with the Jews of +old. He never allowed the Jews to prosper in sin. He +punished them at once, and sternly, whenever they rebelled +against Him; not because He hated them, but because He loved +them. His love to them showed itself whenever they went +well with Him, in triumphs and blessings; and when they rebelled +against Him, and broke His laws, He showed that very same love to +them in plague, and war, and famine, and a mighty hand, and fury +poured out. His love had not changed—they had +changed; and now the best and only way of showing His love to +them, was by making them feel His anger; and the best and only +way of being merciful to them, was to show them no +indulgence.</p> +<p>Now the wish of the Jews all along, and especially in +Ezekiel’s time, was to be like the heathen—like the +nations round them. They said to themselves: “These +heathen worship idols, and yet prosper very well. Their +having gods of wood and stone, and their indulging their +passions, and being profligate and filthy, covetous, unjust, and +tyrannical, does not prevent their being just as happy as we +are—ay, and a great deal happier. They have no strict +law of Moses, as we have threatening us and keeping us in awe, +and making us uncomfortable, and telling us at every turn, +‘Thou shalt not do this pleasant thing, and thou shalt not +do that pleasant thing.’ And yet God does not punish +them, as Moses’ law says He will punish us. These +Assyrians and Babylonians above all—they are stronger than +we, and richer, and better clothed, and cleverer; they have +horses and chariots, and all sorts of luxuries and comforts which +we Jews cannot get. Instead of being like us, in continual +trouble from earthquakes, and drought, and famine, and war, +attacked, plundered by all the nations round us, one after +another, they go on conquering, and spreading, and succeeding in +all they lay their hand to. Look at Babylon,” said +these foolish Jews, perhaps, to themselves; “a few +generations ago it was nothing of a city, and now it is the +greatest, richest, and strongest nation in the whole world. +God has not punished it for worshipping gods of wood and stone, +why should He punish us? These Babylonians have prospered +well enough with their gods, why should not we? Perhaps it +is these very gods of wood and stone who have helped them to +become so great. Why should they not help us? We will +worship them, then, and pray to them. We will not give up +worshipping our own God, of course, lest we should offend Him; +but we will worship Him and the Babylonian idols at the same +time; then we shall be sure to be right if we have Jehovah and +the idols both on our side.” So said the Jews to +themselves. But what did Ezekiel answer them? +“Not so, my foolish countrymen,” said he, “God +will not have it so. He has taught you that these +Babylonian idols are nothing and cannot help you; He has taught +you that He can and will help you, that He can and will be +everything to you; He has taught you that He alone is God, who +made heaven and earth, who orders all things therein, who alone +gives any people power to get wealth; and He will not have you go +back and fall from that for any appearances or arguments +whatsoever, because it is true. He has chosen you to +witness to these heathen about Him, to declare His name to them, +that they may give up their idols and serve the true God, in whom +alone is strength. He chose you to be these heathens’ +teachers, and He will not let you become their scholars. He +meant the heathen to copy you, and He will not let you copy +them. If He does, in His love and mercy, let these poor +heathen prosper in spite of their idols, what is that to +you? It is still the Lord who makes them prosper, and not +the idols, whether they know it or not. They know no +better, and He will not impute sin to them where He has given +them no law. But you do know better; by a thousand mighty +signs and wonders and deliverances, the Lord has been teaching +you ever since you came up through the Red Sea, that He is +all-sufficient for you, that all power is His in heaven and +earth. He has promised to you, and sworn to you by Himself, +that if you keep His law and walk in His commandments, you shall +want no manner of good thing; that you shall have no cause to +envy these heathen their riches and prosperity, for the Lord will +bless you in house and land, by day and night, at home and +abroad, with every blessing that a nation can desire. +Moses’ law tells you this, God’s prophets have been +telling you this, God’s wonderful dealings with you have +been telling you this, that the Lord God is enough for you. +And if you, who are meant to be a nation of kings and priests to +God, to teach all nations and serve solely Him, fancy that you +will be allowed to throw away the high honour which God has put +upon you, and lower yourselves to the follies and sins of these +heathen round you, you are mistaken. You were meant to be +above such folly, you can be above it; and you shall not prosper +by serving God and idols at once; you shall not even prosper by +serving idols alone. God will visit you with a mighty hand, +and with fury poured out, and you shall know that He is the +Lord.”</p> +<p>Well, my friends, and what has this to do with us? This +it has to do with us—that if God taught the Jews about +Himself, He has taught us still more. If he has shown signs +and wonders of His love, and wrought mightily for the Jews, He +has wrought far more mightily for us; for He spared not His own +Son, but gave Him freely for us. If He promised to teach +the Jews, He has promised still more to teach us; for He has +promised His Holy Spirit freely to young and old, rich and poor, +to as many as ask Him, to guide us into all truth. If he +expected the Jews to set an example to all the nations around, He +expects us to do so still more. And if He punished the +Jews, and drove them back again by shame, and affliction, and +disappointment, whenever they went after other gods, and tried to +be like the heathen around, and despised their high calling, and +their high privileges, He will punish us, and drive us back again +still more fiercely, and still more swiftly. God has called +us to be a nation of Christians, and He will not let us be a +nation of heathens. We are longing to do in these days very +much as the Jews did of old; we are all too apt to say to +ourselves: “Of course we must love God, or He might be +angry with us; and besides, how else should we get our souls +saved? But the old heathen nations, and a great many +nations now, and a great many rich and comfortable people in +England now, too, get on very well without God, by just +worshipping selfishness, and money, and worldly cunning, and why +should not we do the same?—why should we not worship God +and Mammon at once, and serve God on Sundays, and the selfish +ways of the world all the week? Surely then we should be +doubly safe; we should have God and the world on our side both at +once.”</p> +<p>Now, my friends, God will not allow us to succeed on that +plan. We are members of His Church, whose head is Jesus, +who gave Himself for sinners; whose members are all brothers of +His Church, which is held together by self-sacrifice and +fellow-help. If we try to be like the heathens, and fancy +that we can succeed by selfishness, and cunning, and +covetousness, God will not let us fall from the honour which He +has put on us, and trample our blessings under foot. He +will bring our plans to nought. Whomsoever he may let +prosper in sin, He will not let those who have heard the message +prosper in it. Whatever nation He may let become great by +covetousness, and selfish competing and struggling of man against +man, He will not let England grow great by it. He loves her +too well to let her fall so, and cast away her high honour of +being a Christian nation. By great and sore afflictions, by +bringing our cleverest plans to nothing, He will teach us that we +cannot worship God and Mammon at once; that the sure riches, +either for a man or for a nation, are not money, but +righteousness love, justice, wisdom; that this new idol of +selfish competition which men worship nowadays, and fancy that it +is the secret cause of all plenty, and cheapness, and +civilisation, has no place in the church of Jesus Christ, who +gave up His own life for those who hated Him, and came not to do +His own will, but the will of His Father; not to enable men to go +to heaven after a life of selfishness here; but by the power of +His Spirit—the spirit of love and fellowship to sweep all +selfishness off the face of God’s good earth. By sore +trials and afflictions will God in His mercy teach this to +England, and to every man in England who is deluded into fancying +that he can serve God, and selfishness at once, till we learn +once more, as our forefathers did of old, that He is the +Lord. Because we are His children God will chasten us; +because He receives us, He will scourge us back to Him; because +He has prepared for us things such as eye hath not seen, He will +not let us fill our bellies with the husks which the swine eat, +and like the dumb beasts, snarl and struggle one against the +other for a place at His table, as if it were not wide enough for +all His creatures, and for ten times as many more, forgetting +that He is the giver, and fancying that we are to be the takers, +and spoiling the gift itself in our hurry to snatch it out of our +neighbours’ hands. In one word, God will not give us +false prosperity, as the children of the world, the flesh, and +the devil, because he wishes to give us real prosperity as the +sons of God, in the kingdom of his Son Jesus Christ, who died on +the cross for us.</p> +<h2><a name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +191</span><span class="GutSmall">XIX.</span><br /> +THE DELIVERANCE OF JERUSALEM.</h2> +<blockquote><p>And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord +went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and +eighty five thousand: and when they arose in the morning, behold, +they were all dead corpses.—2 <span +class="smcap">Kings</span> xix. 35.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">You</span> heard read in the first lesson +last Sunday afternoon, the threats of the king of Assyria against +Jerusalem, and his defiance of the true Lord whose temple stood +there. In the first lesson for this morning’s +service, you heard of king Hezekiah’s fear and perplexity; +of the Lord’s answer to him by Isaiah, and of the great and +wonderful destruction of the Assyrian army, of which my text +tells you. Of course you have a right to ask: “This +which happened in a foreign country more than two thousand years +ago, what has it to do with us?” And, of course, my +preaching about it will be of no use whatsoever, unless I can +show you what it has to do with us; what lesson we English here, +in the year 1851, are to draw, from the help which God sent the +Jews.</p> +<p>But to find out that, we must hear the whole story. +Before we can find out why God drove the Assyrians out of +Judæa, we must find out, it seems to me, why He sent them, +or allowed them to come into Judæa; and to find out that, +we must first see how the Jews were behaving in those times, and +what sort of state their country was in; and we must find out, +too, what sort of a man this great king of Assyria was, and what +sort of thoughts were in his heart.</p> +<p>Now, by the favour of God, we can find out this. You +will see, in the first thirty-seven chapters of Isaiah’s +prophecies, a full account of the ways of the Jews in that time, +and the reasons why God allowed so fearful a danger to come upon +them. The whole first thirty-five chapters belong to each +other, and are, so to speak, a spiritual history of the Jews, and +the Assyrians, and all the nations round them, for many +years. A spiritual history—that is, not merely a +history of what they did, but of what they were, what was in +their inmost hearts, and thoughts, and spirits; a spiritual +history—that is, not merely of what they thought they were +doing, but of what God saw that they were doing—a history +of God’s mind about them all. Isaiah had God’s +spirit on him; and so he saw what was going on round him in the +same light in which God saw it, and hated it, or praised it, only +according as it was good, and according to the good Spirit of +God, or bad, and contrary to that Spirit. So Isaiah’s +history of his own nation, and the nations around him, was very +unlike what they would have written for themselves; just as I am +afraid he would write a very different history of England now, +from what we should write, if we were set to do it. Now +what Isaiah thought of the doings of his countrymen, the Jews, I +must tell you in another sermon, next Sunday. It will be +enough this morning to speak of the king of Assyria.</p> +<p>These kings of Assyria thought themselves the greatest and +strongest beings in the world; they thought that their might was +right, and that they might conquer, and ravage, and plunder and +oppress every country round them for thousands of miles, without +being punished. They thought that they could overcome the +true God of Judæa, as they had conquered the empty idols +and false gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Iva. But Isaiah saw +that they were wrong. He told his countrymen: “These +Assyrian kings are strong, but there is a stronger King than +they, Jehovah the Lord of all the earth. It is He who sent +them to punish nation after nation, Sennacherib is the rod of +Jehovah’s anger; but he is a fool after all; for all his +cunning, for all his armies, he is a fool rushing on his +ruin. He may take Tyre, Damascus, Babylon, Egypt itself, +and cast their gods into the fire, for they are no gods, but the +work of men’s hands, wood and stone; but let him once try +his strength against the real living God; let the axe once begin +to boast itself against Him that hews therewith; and he will find +out that there is one stronger than he, one who has been using +him as a ‘tool, and who will crush him like a moth the +moment he rebels. His father destroyed Samaria and her +idols, but he shall not destroy Jerusalem. He may ravage +Ephraim, and punish the gluttony and drunkenness, and oppression +of the great landlords of Bashan; he may bring misery and +desolation through the length and breadth of the land: there is +reason, and reason but too good for that: but Jerusalem, the +place where God’s honour dwells, the temple without idols, +which is the sign that Jehovah is a living God, against it he +shall not cast up a bank, or shoot an arrow into it.” +“I know,” said Isaiah, “what he is saying of +himself, this proud king of Assyria: but this is what God says of +him, that he is only a puppet, a tool in the hand of God, to +punish these wicked nations whom he is conquering one by one, and +us Jews among the rest. He, this proud king of Assyria, +thinks that he is the chosen favourite of the sun, and the moon, +and the stars, whom, in his folly, he worships as gods. He +will find out who is the real Lord of the earth; he will find out +that this great world is ruled by that very God of Israel whom he +despises. He will find that there is something in this +earth, of which he fancies himself lord and master, which is too +strong for him, which will obey God, and not him. God rules +the earth, and God rules Tophet, and the great fire-kingdoms +which boil and blaze for ever in the bowels of the earth, and +burst up from time to time in earthquakes and burning mountains; +and God has ordained that they shall conquer this proud king of +Assyria, though we Jews are too weak and cowardly, and split up +into parties by our wickedness, to make a stand against +him.” . . .</p> +<p>This great eruption or breaking out of burning mountains, +which would destroy the king of Assyria’s army, was to +happen, Isaiah says, close to Jerusalem, nay, it was to shake +Jerusalem itself. Jerusalem was to be brought to great +misery by everlasting burnings, as well as by being besieged by +the Assyrians; and yet the very shaking of the earth and eruption +of fire which was nearly to destroy it, was to be the cause of +its deliverance. So Isaiah prophesied, and we cannot doubt +his words came true. For this may explain to us the way in +which the king of Assyria’s army was destroyed. The +text says, that when they encamped near Jerusalem the messenger +of the Lord went out, and slew in one night one hundred and +eighty thousand of them, who were all found dead in the +morning. How they were killed we cannot exactly tell, most +likely by a stream of poisonous vapour, such as often comes forth +out of the ground during earthquakes and eruptions of burning +mountains, and kills all men and animals who breathe it. +That this was the way that this great army was destroyed, I have +little doubt, not only on account of what Isaiah says in his +prophecies of God’s “sending a blast” upon the +king of Assyria, but because it was just like the old lesson +which God had been teaching the Jews all along, that the earth +and all in it was His property, and obeyed Him. For what +could teach them that more strongly than to see that the +earthquakes and burning mountains, of all things on earth the +most awful and most murderous, the very things against which man +has no defence, obeyed God; burst forth when He chose, and did +His work as He willed? For man can conquer almost +everything in the world except these burning mountains and +earthquakes. He can sail over the raging sea in his ships; +he can till the most barren soils; he can provide against famine, +rain, and cold, ay, against the thunder itself: but the +earthquakes alone are too strong for him. Against them no +cunning or strength of man is of any use. Without warning, +they make the solid ground under his feet heave, and reel, and +sink, hurling down whole towns in a moment, and burying the +inhabitants under the ruins, as an earthquake did in Italy only a +month ago. Or they pour forth streams of fire, clouds of +dust, brimstone, and poisonous vapour, destroying for miles +around the woods and crops, farms and cities, and burying them +deep in ashes, as they have done again and again, both in Italy +and Iceland, and in South America, even during the last few +years. How can man stand against them? What greater +warning or lesson to him than they, that God is stronger than +man; that the earth is not man’s property, and will not +obey him, but only the God who made it? Now that was just +what God intended to teach the Jews all along; that the earth and +heaven belonged to Him and obeyed Him; that they were not to +worship the sun and stars, as the Assyrians and Canaanites did, +nor the earth and the rivers as the Egyptians did: but to worship +the God who made sun and stars, earth and rivers, and to put +their trust in Him to guide all heaven and earth aright; and to +make all things, sun, earth, and weather, ay, and the very +burning mountains and earthquakes, work together for good for +them if they loved God. Therefore it was that God gave His +law to Moses on the burning mountain of Sinai, amid thunders, and +lightnings, and earthquakes, to show them that the lightnings and +the mountains obeyed Him. Therefore it was that the +earthquake opened the ground and swallowed up Korah, Dathan, and +Abiram, who rebelled against Moses. Therefore it was that +God once used an earthquake and eruption to preserve David from +his enemies, as we read in the eighteenth Psalm. And all +through David’s Psalms we find how well he had learnt this +great lesson which God had taught him. Again and again we +find verses which show that he knew well enough who was the Lord +of all the earth.</p> +<p>In Isaiah’s time, it seems, God taught the Jews once +more the same thing. He taught them, and the proud king of +Assyria, once and for all, that He was indeed the Lord—Lord +of all nations, and King of kings, and also Lord of the earth, +and all that therein is. He taught it to the poor oppressed +Jews by that miraculous deliverance. He taught it to the +cruel invading king by that miraculous destruction. Just in +the height of his glory, after he had conquered almost every +nation in the east, and overcome the whole of Judæa, except +that one small city of Jerusalem, Sennacherib’s great army +was swept away, he neither knew how nor why, in a single night, +and utterly disheartened and abashed, he returned to his own +land; and even there he found that the God of Israel had followed +him—that the idols whom he worshipped could not save him +from the wrath of that God to whom Assyria, just as much as +Jerusalem, belonged. For as he was worshipping in the house +of Nisroch his god, his two sons smote him with the sword, and +there was an end of all his pride and conquests. . . . Now +Nisroch was the name of a star—the star which we call the +planet Saturn; and the Assyrians fancied in their folly, that +whosoever worshipped any particular star, that star would protect +and help him. . . . But, alas for the king of Assyria, +there was One above who had made the stars, and from whose +vengeance the stars could not save him; and so even while he was +worshipping, and praying to, this favourite star of his which +could not hear him, he fell dead, a murdered man, and found out +too late how true were the great words of Isaiah when he +prophesied against him.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, this is the lesson which the Jews had to +learn, and which the king of Assyria had to learn, and which we +have to learn also; and which God will, in His great mercy, teach +us over and over again by bitter trials whensoever we forget it; +that The Lord is King; that He is near us, living for ever, +all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving; that those who really trust +in Him shall never be confounded; that those who trust in +themselves are trying their paltry strength against the God who +made heaven and earth, and will surely find out their own +weakness, just when they fancy themselves most successful. +So it was in Hezekiah’s time; so it is now, hard as it may +be to us to believe it. The Lord Jehovah, Jesus Christ, who +saved Jerusalem from the Assyrians, He still is King, let the +earth be never so unquiet. And all men, or governments, or +doctrines, or ways of thinking and behaving, which are contrary +to His will, or even pretend that they can do without Him, will +as surely come to nought as that great and terrible king of +Assyria. Though man be too weak to put them down, Christ is +not. Though man neglect to put them down, Christ will +not. If man dare not fight on the Lord’s side against +sin and evil, the Lord’s earth will fight for Him. +Storm and tempest, blight and famine, earthquakes and burning +mountains, will do His work, if nothing else will. As He +said Himself, if man stops praising Him, the very stones will cry +out, and own Him as their King. Not that the blessed Lord +is proud, or selfish, or revengeful; God forbid! He is +boundless pity, and love, and mercy. But it is just because +He is perfect love and pity that He hates sin, which makes all +the misery upon earth. He hates it, and he fights against +it for ever; lovingly at first, that He may lead sinners to +repentance; for He wills the death of none, but rather that all +should come to repentance. But if a man will not turn, He +will whet his sword; and then woe to the sinner. Let him be +as great as the king of Assyria, he must down. For the Lord +will have none guide His world but Himself, because none but He +will ever guide it on the right path. Yes—but what a +glorious thought, that He will guide it, and us, on that right +path. Oh blessed news for all who are in sorrow and +perplexity! Whatsoever it is that ails you—and who is +there, young or old, rich or poor, who has not their secret +ailments at heart?—whatsoever ails you, whatsoever +terrifies you, whatsoever tempts you, trust in the same Lord who +delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians, and He will deliver +you. He will never suffer you to be tempted above that you +are able, but will with the temptation also make a way for you to +escape, that you may be able to bear it. This has been His +loving way from the beginning, and this will be His way until the +day when He wipes away tears from all eyes.</p> +<h2><a name="page199"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +199</span><span class="GutSmall">XX.</span><br /> +PROFESSION AND PRACTICE.</h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">Though they say, +“The Lord liveth,” surely they swear +falsely.—<span class="smcap">Jeremiah</span> v. 2.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I <span class="smcap">spoke</span> last Sunday morning of the +wonderful way in which the Lord delivered the Jews from the +Assyrian army, and I promised to try and explain to you this +morning, the reason why the Lord allowed the Assyrians to come +into Judæa, and ravage the whole country except the one +small city of Jerusalem.</p> +<p>My text is taken from the first lesson, from the book of the +prophet Jeremiah. And it, I think, will explain the reason +to us.</p> +<p>For though Jeremiah lived more than a hundred years after +Isaiah, yet he had much the same message from God to give, and +much the same sins round him to rebuke. For the Jews were +always, as the Bible calls them, “a backsliding +people;” and, as the years ran on, and they began to forget +their great deliverance from the Assyrians, they slid back into +the very same wrong state of mind in which they were in +Isaiah’s time, and for which God punished them by that +terrible invasion.</p> +<p>Now, what was this?</p> +<p>One very remarkable thing strikes us at once. That when +the Assyrians came into Judæa, the Jews were <i>not</i> +given up to worshipping false gods. On the contrary, we +find, both from the book of Kings and the book of Chronicles, +that a great reform in religion had taken place among them a few +years before. Their king Hezekiah, in the very first year +of his reign, removed the high places, and cut down the groves +(which are said to have been carved idols meant to represent the +stars of heaven), and even broke in pieces the brazen serpent +which Moses had made, because the Jews had begun to worship it +for an idol. He trusted in the Lord God, and obeyed Him, +more than any king of Judah. He restored the worship of the +true God in the temple, according to the law of Moses, with such +pomp and glory as had never been seen since Solomon’s +time. And not only did he turn to the true God, but his +people also. From the account which we find in Chronicles, +they seemed to have joined him in the good work. They +offered sin-offerings as a token of the wickedness of which they +have been guilty, in leaving the true God for idols; and all +other kinds of offerings freely and willingly. “And +Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people that God had prepared the +people. Moreover, Hezekiah called all the men in +Judæa up to Jerusalem, to keep the passover according to +the law of Moses,” which they had neglected to do for many +years, and the people answered his call and “came, and kept +the feast at Jerusalem seven days, with joy and great gladness, +offering peace-offerings, and making confession to the God of +their fathers. So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for +since the time of Solomon there was not the like in +Jerusalem. Then the priests and the Levites arose, and +blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer +came up to the Lord’s holy dwelling, even to +heaven.” And when it was all finished, the people +went out of their own accord, and destroyed utterly all the +idols, and high places, and altars throughout the land, and +returned to their houses in peace.</p> +<p>Now does not all this sound very satisfactory and +excellent? What better state of mind could people be +in? What a wonderful reform, and spread of true +religion! The only thing like it, that we know, is the +wonderful reform and spread of religion in England in the last +sixty years, after all the ungodliness and wickedness that went +on from the year 1660 to the time of the French war; the building +of churches, the founding of schools, the spread of Bibles, and +tracts, and the wonderful increase of gospel preachers, so that +every old man will tell you, that religion is talked about and +written about now, a thousand times more than when he was a +boy. Indeed, unless a man makes a profession of some sort +of religion or other, nowadays, he can hardly hope to rise in the +world, so religious are we English become.</p> +<p>Now let us hear what Isaiah thought of all that wonderful +spread of true religion in his time; and then, perhaps, we may +see what he would think of ours now, if he were alive. His +opinion is sure to be the right one. His rules can never +fail, for he was an inspired prophet, and saw things as they are, +as God sees them; and therefore his rules will hold good for +ever. Let us see what they were.</p> +<p>The first chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah is called +“The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw +concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, +Ahaz, and Hezekiah.” Now this is one prophecy by +itself, in the shape of a poem; for in the old Hebrew it is +written in regular verses. The second chapter begins with +another heading, and is the beginning of a different poem; so +that this first chapter is, as it were, a summing up of all that +he is going to say afterwards; a short account of the state of +the Jews for more than forty years. And what is more, this +first chapter of Isaiah must have been written in the reign of +Hezekiah, in those very religious days of which I was just +speaking; for it says that the country was desolate, and +Jerusalem alone left. And this never happened during +Isaiah’s lifetime, till the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, +that is, till this great spread of the true religion had been +going on for thirteen years. Now what was Isaiah’s +vision? What did he, being taught by God’s Spirit, +<i>see</i> was God’s opinion of these religious Jews? +Listen, my friends, and take it solemnly to heart!</p> +<p>“Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear +unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what +purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the +Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of +fed beasts: and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of +lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me, +who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? +Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; +the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot +away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your +new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a +trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye +spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; yea, when +ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of +blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your +doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well, +seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead +for the widow. . . . How is the faithful city become an +harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but +now murderers. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed +with water; thy princes are rebellious, and companions of +thieves; every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: +they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the +widow come unto them. Therefore, saith the Lord, the Lord +of hosts, the mighty one of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine +adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.” . . .</p> +<p>Again, I say, my friends, listen to it, and take it solemnly +to heart! That is God’s opinion of religion, even the +truest and soundest in worship and doctrine, when it is without +godliness, without holiness; when it goes in hand with injustice, +and covetousness, and falsehood, and cheating, and oppression, +and neglect of the poor, and keeping company with the wicked, +because it is profitable; in short, when it is like too much of +the religion which we see around us in the world at this day.</p> +<p>Yes—it was of no use holding to the letter of the law +while they forgot its spirit. God had commanded +church-going, and woe to those, then or now, who neglect +it. Yet the Lord asks, “Who hath required this at +your hands, to tread my courts?”. . . He had +commanded the Sabbath-day to be kept holy; and woe to those, then +or now, who neglect it. Yet He says, “Your Sabbaths I +cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn +meeting.” The Lord had appointed feasts: and yet He +says that His soul hated them; they were a trouble to Him; He was +weary to bear them. The Lord had commanded prayer; and woe +to those, then or now, in England, as in Judæa, who neglect +to pray. And yet He says: “When ye spread forth your +hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many +prayers, I will not hear.” And why?—He himself +condescends to tell them the reason, which they ought to have +known for themselves: “Because,” He says, “your +hands are full of blood.” This was the reason why all +their religiousness, and orthodoxy, and church-going, and +praying, was only disgusting to God; because there was no +righteousness with it. Their faith was only a dead, rotten, +sham faith, for it brought forth no fruits of justice and love; +and their religion was only hypocrisy, for it did not make them +holy. No doubt they thought themselves pious and sincere +enough; no doubt they thought that they were pleasing God +perfectly, and giving Him all that He could fairly ask of them; +no doubt they were fiercely offended at Isaiah’s message to +them; no doubt they could not understand what he meant by calling +them a hypocritical nation, a second Sodom and Gomorrah, while +they were destroying idols, and keeping the law of Moses, and +worshipping God more earnestly than He had been worshipped since +Solomon’s time. But so it was. That was the +message of God to them; that was the vision of Isaiah concerning +them; that there was no soundness in the whole of the nation, +“from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, +nothing but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying +sores”—that is, that the whole heart and conscience, +and ways of thinking, were utterly rotten, and abominable in the +sight of God, even while they were holding the true doctrines +about them, and keeping up the pure worship of Him. This, +says the Lord, is not the way to please me. “He hath +showed thee, oh man, what is good. And what doth the Lord +require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk +humbly with thy God?” To do justly, to love mercy, +and then to walk humbly, sure that when you seem to have done all +your duty, you have left only too much of it undone; even as St. +Paul felt when he said, that though he knew nothing against +himself; though he could not recollect a single thing in which he +had failed of his duty to the Corinthians, yet that did not +justify him. “For he that judgeth me,” he says, +“is the Lord.” He sees deeper than I can; and +He, alas! may take a very different view of my conduct from what +I do; and this life of mine, which looks to me, from my +ignorance, so spotless and perfect, may be, in His eyes, full of +sins, and weakness, and neglects, and shameful follies. +“To walk humbly with God.” Not to believe that +because you read the Bible, and have heard the gospel, and are +sharp at finding out false doctrine in preachers, and belong to +the Church of England, that therefore you know all about God, and +can look down upon poor papists, and heathens, and say: +“This people, which knoweth not the law, is accursed: but +<i>we</i> are enlightened, we understand the whole Bible, we know +everything about God’s will, and man’s duty; and +whosoever differs from us, or pretends to teach us anything new +about God, must be wrong.” Not to do so, my friends, +but to believe what St. Paul tells us solemnly, “That if +any man think that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he +ought to know”—to believe that the Great God, and the +will of God, and the love of God, and the mystery of Redemption, +and the treasures of wisdom which are in His Bible, are, as St. +Paul told you, boundless, like a living well, which can never be +fathomed, or drawn dry, but fills again with fresh water as fast +as you draw from it. That is walking humbly with God; and +those who do not do so, but like the Pharisees of old, believe +that they have all knowledge, and can understand all the +mysteries of the Bible, and go through the world, despising and +cursing all parties but their own—let them beware, lest the +Lord be saying of them, as He said of the church of Sardis, of +old: “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and +have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and +miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”</p> +<p>How is this? What is this strange thing, without which +even the true knowledge of doctrine is of no use; which, if a +man, or a nation has not, he is poor, and blind, and wretched, +and naked in soul, in spite of all his religion? Isaiah +will tell us—What did he say to the Jews in his day?</p> +<p>“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your +doings from before my eyes. Do justice to the fatherless, +and relieve the widow!” “Do that,” says +the Lord, “and then your repentance will be sincere. +Church building and church going are well—but they are not +repentance—churches are not souls. I ask you for your +hearts, and you give me fine stones and fine words. I want +souls—I want <i>your</i> souls—I want you to turn to +me. And what am I? saith the Lord. I am justice, I am +love, I am the God of the oppressed, the fatherless, the +widow.—That is my character. Turn to justice, turn to +love, turn to mercy; long to be made just, and loving, and +merciful; see that your sin has been just this, and nothing else, +that you have been unjust, unloving, unmerciful. Repent for +your neglect and cruelty, and repent in dust and ashes, when you +see what wretched hypocrites you really are. And then, my +boundless mercy and pardon shall be open to you. As you +wish to be to me, so will I be to you; if you wish to become +merciful, you shall taste my mercy; if you wish to become loving +to others, you shall find that I love you; if you wish to become +just, you shall find that I am just, just to deal by you as you +deal by others; faithful and just to forgive you your sins, and +to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. And then, all +shall be forgiven and forgotten; “though your sins be as +scarlet, they shall be white as snow: though they be red like +crimson, they shall be as wool.”</p> +<p>Surely, my friends, these things are worth taking to heart; +for this is the sin which most destroys all men and +nations—high religious profession with an ungodly, +covetous, and selfish life. It is the worst and most +dangerous of all sins; for it is like a disease which eats out +the heart and life without giving pain; so that the sick man +never suspects that anything is the matter with him, till he +finds himself, to his astonishment, at the point of death. +So it was with the Jews, three times in their history. In +the time of Isaiah, under King Hezekiah; in the time of Jeremiah, +under King Josiah; and last and worst of all, in the time of +Jesus Christ. At each of these three times the Jews were +high religious professors, and yet at each of these three times +they were abominable before God, and on the brink of ruin. +In Isaiah’s time their eyes seemed to have been opened at +last to their own sins. Their fearful danger, and wonderful +deliverance from the Assyrians of which you heard last Sunday, +seem to have done that for them; as God intended it should. +During the latter part of Hezekiah’s reign they seemed to +have turned to God with their hearts, and not with their lips +only; and Isaiah can find no words to express the delight which +the blessed change gives him. Nevertheless, they soon fell +back again into idolatry; and then there was another outward +lip-reformation under the good King Josiah; and Jeremiah had to +give them exactly the same warning which Isaiah had given them +nearly a hundred years before. But that time, alas! they +would not take the warning; and then all the evil which had been +prophesied against them came on them. From hypocritical +profession, they fell back again into their old idolatry; their +covetousness, selfishness, party-quarrels, and profligate lives +made them too weak and rotten to stand against Nebuchadnezzar, +King of Babylon, when he attacked them; and Jerusalem was +miserably destroyed, the temple burnt, and the Jews carried +captives to Babylon. There they repented in bitter sorrow +and slavery; and God allowed them after seventy years to return +to their own land. Then at first they seemed to be a really +converted people, and to be worshipping God in spirit and in +truth. They never again fell back into the idolatry of the +heathen. So far from it, they became the greatest possible +haters of it; they went on keeping the law of God with the utmost +possible strictness, even to the day when the Lord Jesus appeared +among them. Their religious people, the Scribes and +Pharisees, were the most strict, moral, devout people of the +whole world. They worshipped the very words and letters of +the Bible; their thoughts seemed filled with nothing but God and +the service of God: and yet the Lord Jesus told them that they +were in a worse state, greater sinners in the sight of God, than +they had ever been; that they, who hated idolatry, were filling +up the measure of their idolatrous forefathers’ iniquity; +that the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth was to +fall on them; that they were a race of serpents, a generation of +vipers; and that even He did not see how they could escape the +damnation of hell. And they proved how true His words were, +by crucifying the very Lord of whom their much-prized Scriptures +bore witness, whom they pretended to worship day and night +continually; and received the just reward of their deeds in forty +years of sedition, bloodshed, and misery, which ended by the +Romans coming and sweeping the nation of the Jews from off the +face of the earth.</p> +<p>So much for profession without practice. So much for +true doctrine with dishonest and unholy lives. So much for +outward respectability with inward sinfulness. So much for +hating idolatry, while all the while men’s hearts are far +from God!</p> +<p>Oh! my friends, let us all search our hearts carefully in +these times of high profession and low practice; lest we be +adding our drop of hypocrisy to the great flood of it which now +stifles this land of England, and so fall into the same +condemnation as the Jews of old, in spite of far nobler examples, +brighter and wider light, and more wonderful and bounteous +blessings.</p> +<h2><a name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +210</span><span class="GutSmall">XXI.</span><br /> +THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT.</h2> +<blockquote><p>But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord +delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the men servants and +the maid servants, and to eat and drink and to be drunken; the +lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for +him, and in an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him +asunder, and will appoint him his portion with the +unbelievers.—<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xii. 45, +46.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">But</span> why with the unbelievers? +The man had not disbelieved that he had any Lord at all; he had +only believed that his Lord delayed his coming. And why was +he to be put with those who do not believe in him at all? +This is a very fearful question, friends, for us, when we think +how it is the fashion among us now, to believe that our Lord +delays His coming.—And surely most of us do believe +that? For is it not our notion that, when the Lord Jesus +ascended up to heaven, He went away a great distance off, perhaps +millions of miles beyond the stars; and that He will not come +back again till the last—which, for aught we know, and as +we rather expect, may not happen for hundreds or thousands of +years to come? Is not that most people’s notion, rich +as well as poor? And if that is not believing that our Lord +delays His coming, what is?</p> +<p>But, you may answer, the Creed says plainly, that He ascended +into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. Ah! my +friends, those great words of the Creed which you take into your +lips every Sunday, mean the very opposite to what most people +fancy. They do not say, “The Lord Jesus has left this +poor earth to itself and its misery:” but they say, +“Lo, He is with you, even to the end of the +world.” True, He is ascended into heaven. And +how far off is heaven?—for so far off is the Lord Jesus, +and no farther. Not so far off, my friends, after all, if +you knew where to find it. Truly said the great and good +poet, now gone home to his reward:</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">Heaven lies about us in +our infancy.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>And if we lose sight of it as we grow up to be men and women, +it is not because heaven goes farther off, but because we grow +less heavenly. Even now, so close is heaven to us, that any +one of us might enter into heaven this moment, without stirring +from his seat. One real cry from the depths of your +heart—“Father, forgive thy sinful +child!”—one real feeling of your own worthlessness, +and weakness, and emptiness, and of God’s righteousness, +and love, and mercy, ready for you—and you are in heaven +there and then, as near the feet of the blessed Lord Jesus, as +Mary Magdalen was, when she tried to clasp them in the +garden. I am serious, my friends; I am not given to talk +fine figures of poetry; I am talking sober, straightforward, +literal truth. And the Lord sits at God’s right hand +too? you believe that? Then how far off is God?—for +as far off as God is, so far off is the Lord Jesus, and no +farther. What says St. Paul? That “God is not +far off from any one of us—for in Him we live, and move, +and have our being” . . . IN Him . . . . How far off +is that? And is not God everywhere, if indeed we can say +that He is any where? Then the Lord Jesus, who is at +God’s right hand, is everywhere also—here, now, with +us this day. One would have thought that there was no need +to prove that by argument, considering that His own blessed lips +told us: “Lo, I am with you, even to the end of the +world;” and again: “Wheresoever two or three are +gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of +them.” And this is the Lord whom people fancy is gone +away far above the stars, till the end of time! Oh, my +friends, rather bow your heads before Him here this moment. +For here He is among us now, listening to every thought of our +poor sinful hearts. . . . He is where God is—God +<i>in</i> whom we live, and move, and have our being—and +that is everywhere. Do you wish Him to be any nearer, my +friends? Or do you—do you—take care what your +hearts answer, for He is watching them—do you in the depth +of your hearts wish that He were a little farther off? Does +the notion of His being here on this earth, watching and +interfering (as we call it nowadays in our atheism) with us and +everything, seem unpleasant and burdensome? Is it more +comfortable to you to think that He is away far up beyond the +stars? Do you feel the lighter and freer for fancying that +He will not visit the earth for many a year to come? In +short, is it in your <i>hearts</i> that you are saying, The Lord +delays His coming?</p> +<p>That is a very important question. For mind, a pious man +might be, as many a pious man has been in these days, deceived by +bad teaching into the notion that Jesus Christ was gone far +away. But if he were a truly pious man, if he truly loved +the Lord, that would be a painful thought—as I should have +fancied, an unbearable thought—to him, when he looked out +upon this poor miserable, confused world. He would be +crying night and day: “Oh, that thou wouldest rend the +heavens and come down!” He would be in an agony of +pity for this poor deserted earth, and of longing for the Saviour +of it to come back and save it. He would never have a +moment’s peace of mind till he had either seen the Lord +come back again in His glory, or till he had found out—what +I am sure the blessed Lord would teach him as a reward for his +love—that it was all a dream and a nightmare, and that the +Lord of the earth was in the earth, and close to him, all along; +only that his weak eyes were held so that he did not know the +Lord and the Lord’s works when he saw them.</p> +<p>But that was not the temper of this servant in the +Lord’s parable. I am afraid it is by no means the +temper of many of us nowadays. The servant said <i>in his +heart</i>, that his master would be long away. It was his +heart put the thought into his head. He took to the notion +<i>heartily</i>, as we say, because he was glad to believe it was +true; glad to think that his master would not come to +“interfere” with him; and that in the meantime he +might be lord and master himself, and treat everyone in the house +as if he himself was the owner of it, and tyrannise over his +fellow-servants, and enjoy himself in luxury and good +living. So says David of the fool: “The fool hath +said in his heart, there is no God;” his heart puts that +thought into his head. He wishes to believe that there is +no God; and when there is a will there is a way; and he soon +finds out reasons and arguments enough to prove what he is so +very anxious to prove.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, I am afraid that there is not so much +difference as people fancy, between the fool who says in his +heart, “There is no God,” and the fool who says in +his heart, “My master delays His +coming.”—“God has left the world to us, and we +must shift for ourselves in it.” The man who likes to +be what St. Paul calls “without God in the world,” is +he so very much wiser than the man who likes to have no God at +all? St. James did not think so; for what does he say: +“Thou believest that there is one God? Thou doest +well—the devils also believe and tremble.” They +know as much as that; but it does them no good—only +increases their fear. “But wilt thou know, oh! vain +man, that faith without works,” believing without doing, +“is dead?” And are not too many, as I said just +now, afraid of the thought of God; so afraid of it that they wish +to allow the Son of God as little share as possible in the +management of this world? Have not too many a belief +without works; a mere belief that there is one God and not two, +which hardly, from one year’s end to another, makes them do +one single thing which they would not have done if they had +believed that there was no God at all? Fear of the law, +fear of the policeman, fear of losing their work or their custom; +fear of losing their neighbour’s good word—that is +what keeps most people from breaking loose. There is not +much of the fear of God in that, or the love of God either as far +as I can see. They go through life as if they had made a +covenant with God, that He should have his own way in the world +to come, if He would only let them have their way in this +world. Oh! my friends, my friends, do you think God is God +of the next world and not of this also? Do you think the +kingdom, and the power, and the glory will be His a great many +hundreds of years hence, in what you call heaven; and will not +see what every page of Scripture tells you, what you yourself say +every time you repeat the Lord’s Prayer, that the Kingdom, +and the Power and the Glory are His now, here in this life, and +that He has committed all things to His Son Jesus Christ and +given the power into His hand, that He may rule this earth in +righteousness now, here, in this life, and conquer back for God +one by one, if it be possible, every creature upon earth? +So says the Bible—and people profess nowadays to believe +their Bibles. My friends, too many, nowadays, while they +profess very loudly to believe what the Bible says, only believe +what their favourite teachers tell them that the Bible +says. If they really read their Bibles for themselves, and +took God at His word, there would be less tyrannising of one man +over another, less grinding down of men by masters, and of men by +each other—for the poor are often very hard on each other +in England, now, my friends—very envious and spiteful, and +slanderous about each other. They say that dog won’t +eat dog—yet how many a poor man grudges and supplants his +neighbour, and tries to get into his place and beat him down in +his wages? And there are those who call themselves learned +men, who tell the poor that that is God’s will, and the way +by which God intends them to prosper. If those men believed +their Bibles, they would be repenting in sackcloth and ashes for +having preached such a devil’s sermon to God’s +children. If men really read their Bibles, there would be +less eating and drinking with the drunken; less idleness and +luxury among the rich; less fancying that a man has a right to do +what he likes with his own, because all men would know that they +were only the Lord’s stewards, bound to give an account to +him of the good which they had done with what he has lent +them. There would be fewer parents fancying that they can +tyrannise over their children, bringing them up as heathens for +the sake of the few pence they earn; using bad language, and +doing shameful things before them, which they dared not do if +they recollected that the Lord was looking on; beating and +scolding them as if they were brutes or slaves, to save +themselves the trouble of teaching them gently what the poor +little creatures cannot know without being taught: and most +shameful of all, robbing the poor children of their little +earnings to spend it themselves in drunkenness. Ah, blessed +Lord! if people did but know how near Thou wert to them, all that +would vanish out of England, as the night clouds vanish away +before the sun!</p> +<p>And He is near, my friends: He is watching; He is governing; +He is at hand: and in this life or in the life to come, forget +Him as we choose, He will make us know plain enough, and without +any doubt whatsoever, that He is the Lord.</p> +<p>He has fulfilled this awful parable of his about the +unfaithful servant already; many a time, against many a man, many +a great king, and prince, and nation; and he will fulfil it +against each and every man, from the nobleman in his castle to +the labourer in his cottage, who says in his heart, “My +Lord delays his coming,” and begins to tyrannise over those +who are weaker than himself, and to enjoy himself as he likes, +and forget that he is not his own, but bought with the price of +Christ’s blood, and bound to work for Christ’s +kingdom and glory.</p> +<p>So he punished the popes of Rome, three hundred years +ago. When all the nations in Europe were listening to them +and obeying them, and they had put into their hands by God a +greater power of doing good than He ever gave to any human being +before or since, what did they do? Instead of using their +power for Christ, they used it for themselves. Instead of +preaching to all nations the good news that Christ the Son of God +was their King, they said: “I, the pope, am your +king. Christ is gone far away into heaven, and has +committed all power on earth to us; we are Christ’s vicars; +we are in Christ’s place; He has entrusted to our keeping +all the treasures of His merits and His grace, and no one can get +any blessing from Christ, unless we choose to give it +him.” So they said in their hearts just what the +foolish servant in the parable said: and fancying that they were +lords and masters, naturally enough went on to behave as such; to +beat the men-servants and maid-servants, that is, to oppress and +tyrannise over the bodies and minds and consciences of men, and +women too, God knows; and to eat and drink with the drunken, to +live in riot and debauchery. But the Lord was not so far +off as those foolish popes fancied. And in an hour when +they were not aware, He came and cut them asunder. He +snatched from them one-half of the nations of Europe, and England +among the rest; He punished them by doubt, ignorance, confusion, +and utter blindness, and appointed them their portion among the +unbelievers in such terrible earnest, that to this very day, to +judge by the things which they say and do, it is difficult to +persuade ourselves that the popes really believe in any God at +all.</p> +<p>So He did, only three years ago, to many kings and princes on +the Continent. <a name="citation217"></a><a href="#footnote217" +class="citation">[217]</a> They professed to be Christians; +but they had forgotten that they were Christ’s stewards, +that all their power came from Him, and that he had given it them +only to use for the good of their subjects. And they too +went on saying: “The Lord delays His coming, we are +rulers in this world, and God is ruler in the world to +come.” So they, too, oppressed their subjects, and +lived in ease on what they wrung out of the poor wretches below +them. But the Lord was nearer them, too, than they fancied; +and all at once—as they were fancying themselves all safe +and prosperous, and saying, “We are those who ought to +speak, who is Lord over us?”—their fool’s +paradise crumbled from under their feet. A few paltry mobs +of foolish starving people, without weapons, without leaders, +without good counsel to guide them, rose against them. And +what did they do? They might have crushed down the rebels +most of them, in a week, if they had had courage. And in +the only country where the rebels were really strong, that is, in +Austria, all might have been quiet again at once, if the king had +only had the heart to do common justice, and keep his own solemn +oaths. But no—the terror of the Lord came upon +them. He most truly cut them in sunder. They were +every man of a different mind, and none of them in the same mind +a day together; they became utterly conscience-stricken, +terrified, perplexed, at their wit’s end, not having +courage or determination to do anything, or even to do nothing, +and fled shamefully away one after another, to their everlasting +disgrace. And those of them who have got back their power +since are showing sadly enough, by their obstinate folly and +wickedness, that the Lord has appointed them their portion with +the unbelievers, and left them to fill up the measure of their +iniquity, and drink deep the cup of wrath which is in His hand, +full and mixed for those who forget God.</p> +<p>Oh! my friends, let us lay these things solemnly to +heart. Do not fancy that the Lord will punish the wicked +great, and forget the wicked small. In His sight there is +neither great nor small; all are small enough for Him to crush +like the moth; and all are too great to be overlooked, or +forgotten by Him, without whom not a sparrow falls to the +ground. Again I say, my friends, let us lay His parable to +heart. Let us who have property, and station, and +education, never forget who has given it us, and for whom we must +use it. Let us never forget that to whom much is given, of +them will much be required. Let us pray to the Lord daily +to write upon our inmost hearts those solemn words: “Who +made thee to differ from another; and what hast thou which thou +didst not receive?” Let us look on our servants, our +labourers, on every human being over whom we have any influence, +as weaker brothers whom God has commanded us to help, teach, and +guide in body, mind, and spirit, not that we may make them our +slaves, but make them free, manful, self-helping, and in due time +independent of us and of everyone except God.</p> +<p>And you young people, who have no authority over anyone, but +over your own bodies; to whom the Lord has given little or +nothing to manage and take care of except your own health and +strength—do not let the devil tempt you to believe that +that health and strength is your own property, to do what you +like with. It belongs to the Lord who died for you, and He +will require an account from you how you have used it. Do +not let the devil tempt you to believe that the Lord delays His +coming to you—that you may do what you like now, in the +prime of your years, and that it will be time enough to think +about God and religion when God visits you with cares, and +sickness, and old age. That is the fancy of too many; but +it will surely turn out to be a mistake. Those who misuse +their youth, and health, and strength, in tyrannising over those +who are weaker than themselves, and laughing at those who are not +as clever as themselves, and eating and drinking with the +drunken—the Lord will come to them in an hour when they are +not aware, and cut them asunder, in some way or other, by loss of +work, or poverty, or sickness, or doubt and confusion, and bitter +shame and perplexity of mind; till they find out, poor things, +that they have been living like the unbelievers all their youth, +without God in the world, while God’s love and God’s +teaching, and God’s happiness was ready for them; and have +to go back again to their Father and their Lord, and cry: +“Father, we have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and +are no more worthy to be called Thy children!” Oh, +you who have been fancying that the Lord was gone far away, and +that you had a right to do what you liked with the powers which +He has given you, go back to Him, now at once, and confess that +you, and all belonging to you, belong to Him, and ask Him to +teach you how to use it aright. Ask Him to teach you how to +please Him with it, and not yourselves only. Ask Him to +teach you how to do good to all around you, and not merely to do +what you like. Ask Him to show you how to do your duty to +Him, and to your neighbours, for whom He died on the cross, in +that station of life to which He has called you. Ask Him to +show you how to use your property, your knowledge, your business, +your strength, your health, so that you may be a blessing and a +help to those whom He blesses and helps, and who, He wishes, +should bless and help each other. Go back to Him at once, +my friends. You will not have far to go, seeing that He is +now even among us here hearing my clumsy words; and I do hope, +and trust, and pray, bringing them home to some of your hearts +with that spirit and power of His, which is like a two-edged +sword, piercing to the very depths of a man’s heart, and +showing him how ugly it is—and how noble the Lord will make +it, if he will but repent and pray to Him who never cast out any +that came to Him.</p> +<h2><a name="page221"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +221</span><span class="GutSmall">XXII.</span><br /> +THE WAY TO WEALTH.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye +upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and +the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the +Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he +will abundantly pardon.—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> +lv. 6, 7.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> of you, surely, while the +first lesson was being read this morning, must have felt the +beauty of it; and if you were thoughtful, perplexed, weary, sad +at heart, perhaps you felt that it was more than +beautiful—that it was full of comfort. And so it +should be full of comfort to you, my friends. God meant it +to give you comfort. For though it was written and spoken +by a man of like passions with ourselves, it was just as truly +written and spoken by God, who made heaven and earth. It is +true and everlasting, the message which it brings, and like all +true and everlasting words, it is the voice of God who cannot +change; who makes no difference between Jew and Gentile, between +us in England here, and nations which perished hundreds of years +ago.</p> +<p>And what is its message? What was God’s word to +the old Jews, among all their sin, and sorrow, and labour?</p> +<p>Is it the message of a stern judge, saying: “Pay me that +thou owest, to the uttermost farthing; and if you cannot do that, +fret and torment yourselves in shame and terror here on earth, +for all your sins, if, possibly, you may chance to change my +mind, and find forgiveness at the last day?”</p> +<p>Is it the message of a proud tyrant, saying: “If you are +miserable, and fallen, and sinful, what is that to me? I am +perfect, blest, contented with myself, alone in my glory, far +away beyond the sight of men, beyond the sun and stars—what +are you worms of earth to me?”</p> +<p>Or is it the voice of a loving Father, calling to his +self-willed children who have gone proudly and boldly away from +their Father’s house, and thrown off their Father’s +government, and said in their conceit: “We are men. +Do not we know good and evil? Do we not know what is our +interest? Cannot we judge for ourselves, and shift for +ourselves, and take care of ourselves? Why are we to be +barred from pleasant things here, and profitable things +there? We will be our own masters.”</p> +<p>To self-willed children who have said thus, and done thus in +their foolish hearts, and have found all their conceit, and +shrewdness, only lead them into sorrow, and perplexity, and +distress.—Who have found that with all their cleverness +they could not get the very good things for which they left their +Father’s house; or if they get them, find no enjoyment in +them, but only discontent, and shame, and danger, and a sad +self-accusing heart—spending their money for that which +does not feed them after all, and labouring hard for things which +do not satisfy them; always longing for something +more—always finding the pleasure, or the profit, or the +honour which a little way off looked so fine, looked quite ugly +and worthless, when they come up to it and get hold of +it—finding all things full of labour; the eye never +satisfied with seeing, or the ear with hearing; the same thing +coming over and over again. Each young man starting with +gay hopes, as if he were the first man that ever was born, and he +was going to do out of hand such fine things as man never did +before, and make his own fortune, and set the world to right at +once; and then as he grows older, falling into the same weary +ruts as his forefathers went dragging on it, every fresh year +bringing its own labour and its own sorrow; and dying like them, +taking nothing away with him of all he has earned, and crying +with his last breath: “That which is crooked cannot be made +straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. +What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under +the sun, for all is vanity and vexation of spirit?”</p> +<p>To self-willed children, who have tried their own way ever +since they were born, they and their fathers before them, and +found it go round in a ring and leave them just where they +started in heart and soul, and, on their death-beds, in purse and +power also—</p> +<p>To such struggling, dissatisfied beings—such as +nine-tenths of the men and women on this earth, alas! are +still—comes the word of this loving Father:</p> +<p>“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters! +and he that hath no money, come, buy and eat. Yea, come, +buy wine and milk without money, and without price.” +Why do you fancy that money can give you all you want? Why +this labouring and straining after money, as if it was God, as if +it made heaven and earth, and all therein? Is money a God? +or money’s worth? “I am God,” saith the Lord, +“and beside me there is none else. It is I who give, +and not money. It is I who save men, and not money. +And I do save, and I do give freely to all. Come, and try +my mercy, and see if my word be not true.”</p> +<p>This struggling and snarling, like dogs over a bone—what +profit comes of it? are you happier? are you wiser? are you +better? are you more at peace with your neighbours; more at peace +with your own hearts and consciences? If you are, money has +not made you so, nor plotting, and scraping, and struggling, and +pushing your neighbour down, that you may rise a few inches on +his shoulders. No. Hear what the voice of your Father +says is the true way to wealth and comfort, after which you all +struggle and labour so hard in vain.—“Hearken +diligently unto me, and you shall eat that which is good, and +your soul shall delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear +and come unto me. Hear, and your soul shall live. And +I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure +mercies,” or rather “the faithful oath which I sware +unto David?” And what is this faithful oath which God +sware to David.—“Of the fruit of thy body, I will set +on thy seat.” A promise of a righteous king who +should arise in David’s family. How far David +understood the full meaning of that glorious promise we cannot +tell. He thought most probably, at first, that Solomon, his +son, was to be the king who would fulfil it. But all +through many of his psalms, there are deep and great words about +some nobler and more perfect king than Solomon—about one +who, as Isaiah says here, would perfectly witness to the people +that God was their King; one who would be a perfect leader and +commander of the people; a holy one of Israel, who would sit on +God’s right hand; to hear the good news of whom, the Jews +would call nations whom they then did not know of, and for whose +sake nations who did not know them would run to them. And +dimly David did see this, that God would raise up a true Christ, +that is, one truly anointed by God, chosen and sent out by God, +to sit on his throne, and be perfectly what David was only in +part; a King made perfect by suffering, a King of poor men, a +King who bore the sins and carried the iniquities of all His +people, from the highest to the lowest. We know who that +was. We know clearly what David only knew dimly, what +Isaiah only knew a little more clearly. We know who was +born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, ascended +into heaven, and now sits at the right hand of God, ever praying +for us, ruling the world in righteousness, Jesus the Lord, the +Holy One of Israel, to whom all power is given in heaven and +earth.</p> +<p>But Isaiah, though he knew Him only dimly, still knew +Him. He did not know that the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, +would take on Himself the form of a poor man, and be called the +son of the carpenter. Such boundless love and condescension +in the Son of God he never could have fancied for himself, and +God had not chosen to reveal it to him; or to anyone else in +those days. But this he did see, that the Lord Jesus, He +whom he calls the Holy One of Israel, was near the Jews in his +time; that He was watching over them, mourning over their sins, +arguing with them, and calling them to return to Him with most +human love and tenderness, as a husband to the woman whom he +loves in spite of her unfaithfulness to him. As he says to +his sinful and distressed country in the chapter before this: +“Thy Maker is thy husband: the Lord of Hosts is His name, +and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, the Lord of the whole +earth shall He be called. For the Lord hath called thee as +a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit. For a small moment +have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather +thee. In a little anger I hid my face from thee for a +moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, +saith the Lord thy Redeemer.”</p> +<p>This, then, Isaiah knew—that the heart of the Holy Lord +pitied and yearned after those poor sinful Jews, as a +husband’s after a foolish and sinful wife. And how +much more should we believe the same, how much more should we +believe that His heart pities and yearns for all foolish and +sinful people here in England now! We who know a thousand +times more than Isaiah knew of His love, His pity, His +condescension, which led Him to sacrifice Himself upon the cross +for us? Surely, surely, if Isaiah had a right to say to +those Jews, “Seek the Lord while He may be found,” I +have a thousand times as much right to say it to you. If +Isaiah had a right to say to those Jews, “Let the wicked +forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let +him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to +our God, for He will abundantly pardon,” then I have a +right to say it to you.</p> +<p>Free mercy, utter pardon, pardon for all, even for the +worst. And what is the argument which Isaiah uses to make +his countrymen repent? Is it “Repent, or you shall be +damned: Repent because God’s wrath and curse is against +you. The Lord hates you and despises you, and you must +crawl to His feet like beaten hounds, and entreat Him not to +strike you into hell as He intends”? Not so; it was +because God loved the Jews, that they were to repent. It is +because God loves you that you must repent. “Incline +your ear,” saith the Lord, “and come unto me, hear, +and your soul shall live; and you shall eat that which is good, +and your soul shall delight itself in fatness.” Yes, +God is love. God’s delight and glory is to give; in +spite of all our sins He gives and gives, sending rain and +fruitful seasons to just and unjust, to fill their hearts with +joy and gladness; and all the while men fancy that it is not God +that gives, but they who take. God has not left Himself, as +St. Paul says, without a witness; every fruitful shower and +quickening gleam of sunshine cries to us—See! God is love: +He is the giver. And men will not hear that voice. +They say in their hearts, “The Lord is far away above the +skies; He does not care for us: we must help ourselves, each man +to what he can get off this earth; nay, even, when we are hard +put to it for a living, we must break God’s laws to keep +ourselves alive, and so steal from God’s table the very +good things which He offers us freely.”</p> +<p>But some will say: “He does not give freely; we must +work and struggle. Why do you mock poor hard-worked +creatures with such words as these?”</p> +<p>Ask that question of God, my friends, and not of me. +Isaiah said that those who hearkened to God diligently should eat +what is good. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said the +same—that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His +justice, all other things should be added to them. He did +not mean us to be idle, God forbid! but this He meant, that if +we, each in his business and calling, put steadily before +ourselves what is right, what God would wish us, His subjects, to +be in His Kingdom—if instead of making our first thought in +every business we take in hand, “What will suit my interest +best, what will raise most money, what will give me most +pleasure?” we said to ourselves all day long, “What +will be most right, and just, and merciful for us to do; what +will be most pleasing to a God who is love and justice itself? +what will do most good to my neighbour as well as myself?” +then all things would go well with us. Then we should be +prosperous and joyful. Then our plans would succeed and our +labour bring forth real profit to us, because they would be +according to the will of God: we should be fellow-workers with +Jesus Christ in the great work of doing good to this poor +distracted world, and His help and blessing would be with us.</p> +<p>And if you ask me, how can this come to pass, I must answer, +as Isaiah does in this same chapter: “The Lord’s ways +are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts, but higher +than ours, as the heavens are above the earth.” But +if we do turn to God, and repent each man of us of his +selfishness, his unfaithfulness, his hard-heartedness, his +covetousness, his self-will, his ungodliness—then +God’s blessing, as Isaiah says, will come down on us, and +spring up among us, we know not how or whence, like the rain and +snow, which comes down from heaven and waters the earth, and +makes it bud and bring forth to give seed to the sower and bread +to the eater. So shall be the Lord’s word, which goes +out of His mouth; it will not return to Him void, but will +accomplish what He pleases, and prosper in that whereto He sends +it. He will teach us and guide us in the right way. +He will put His word into the mouths of true teachers to show us +our duty. He will pour out His spirit upon us, to make us +love our duty. In one way and another, we know not how, we +shall be taught what is good for England, good for each parish, +good for each family. And wealth, peace, and prosperity for +rich and poor will be the fruit of obeying the word of God, and +giving up our hearts to be led by His spirit. As it was to +be in Judæa, of old, if they repented, so will it be with +us. They should go forth with joy and do their work in +peace. The hills should break before them into singing, and +all the trees of the field should clap their hands; instead of +thorns should come up timber-trees: instead of briers, +garden-shrubs. The whole cultivation of the country was to +improve, and be to the Lord for a name, and a sign for ever that +the true way to wealth and prosperity is the way of God, justice, +mercy to each other, and obedience to the will of Him who made +heaven and earth, trees and fruitful fields, rain and sunshine, +and gives the blessings of them freely to His children of +mankind, in proportion as they look up to Him as a loving Father, +and return to him day by day, with childlike repentance, and full +desire to amend their lives according to His holy word.</p> +<h2><a name="page230"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +230</span><span class="GutSmall">XXIII.</span><br /> +THE LOVE OF CHRIST.</h2> +<blockquote><p>For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we +thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. +And that He died for all, that they which live should not +henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for +them, and rose again.—2 <span class="smcap">Cor</span>. v. +14, 15.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">What</span> is the use of +sermons?—what is the use of books? Here are hundreds +and thousands of people hearing weekly and daily what is right, +and how many <i>do</i> what is right?—much less <i>love</i> +what is right? What can be the reason of this, that men +should know the better and choose the worse? What motive +can one find out?—what reason or argument can one put +before people, to make them do their duty? How can one stir +them up to conquer themselves; to conquer their own love of +pleasure, laziness, cowardice, conceit, above all their own +selfishness, and do simply what is right, morning, noon, and +night? That is a question worth asking and considering, for +there ought to be some use in sermons and in books; and there +ought to be some use in every one of us too. Woe to the man +who is of no use! The Lord have mercy on his soul; for he +needs it! It is, indeed, worth his while to take any +trouble which will teach him a motive for being useful; in plain +words, stir him up to do his duty, to do his rights; for a +man’s rights are not, as the world thinks, what is right +others should do to him, but what is right he should do to +others. Our duty is our right, the only thing which is +right for us. What motive will constrain us, that is, bind +us, and force us to do that?</p> +<p>Will self-interest? Will a man do right because you tell +him it is his interest, it will pay him to do it? Look +round you and see.—The drunkard knows that drinking will +ruin him, and yet he gets drunk. The spendthrift knows that +extravagance will ruin him, and yet he throws away his money +still. The idler knows that he is wasting his only chance +for all eternity, and yet he puts the thought out of his head, +and goes on idling. The cheat knows that he is in danger of +being almost certainly found out sooner or later; he knows too +that he is burdening his own conscience with the curse of inward +shame and self-contempt; and yet he goes on cheating. The +hard master knows, or ought to know (for there is quite enough to +prove it to him) that it would pay him better in the long run to +be more merciful, and less covetous; that by grinding those whom +he employs down to the last farthing, he degrades them till they +become burdens on him and curses to him; that what he gains by +high prices, he will lose in the long run by bad debts; that what +he saves in low wages, he will pay in extra poor-rates; and that +even if he does make money out of the flesh and bones of those +beneath him, that money ill gotten is sure to be ill spent, that +there is a curse on it, that it brings a curse in the gnawing of +a man’s own conscience, and a curse too in the way it flows +away from his family as fast as it flowed to them. +“He that by usury and unjust gain increases his wealth, +shall gather for him that will pity the poor.” So +said Solomon of old. And men who worship Mammon find it +come true daily, and see that, taking all things together, a +man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things +which he possesses, and that those who make such haste to be +rich, fall, as the apostle says, “into temptation and a +snare, and pierce themselves through with many +sorrows.” Such a man sees his neighbours making +money, and making themselves more unhappy, anxious, discontented +by it; he sees, in short, that it is not his interest to do +nothing but make money and save money: and yet in spite of that, +he thinks of nothing else. Self-interest cannot keep him +from that sin. I do not believe that self-interest ever +kept any man from any <i>sin</i>, though it may keep him from +many an imprudence. Self-interest may make many a man +respectable, but whom did it ever make good? You may as +well make house-walls of paper, or take a rush for a +walking-stick, as take self-interest to keep you upright, or even +prudent. The first shake—and the rush bends, and the +paper wall breaks, and a man’s selfish prudence is blown to +the winds. Let pleasure tempt him, or ambition, or the lust +of making money by speculation; let him take a spite against +anyone; let him get into a passion; let his pride be hurt; and he +will do the maddest things, which he knows to be entirely +contrary to his own interest, just to gratify the fancy of the +moment. Those who call themselves philosophers, and fancy +that men’s self-interest, if they can only feel it strong +enough, would make all men just and merciful to each other, know +as little of human nature as they do of God or the devil.</p> +<p>What <i>will</i> make a man to do his duty? Will the +hope of heaven? That depends very much upon what you mean +by heaven. But what people commonly mean by going to +heaven, is—not going to hell. They believe that they +must go to either one place or the other. They would much +sooner of course stay on earth for ever, because their treasure +is here, and their heart too. But that cannot be, and as +they have no wish to go to hell, they take up with heaven +instead, by way of making the best of a bad matter.</p> +<p>I ask you solemnly, my friends, each one of you, which would +you sooner do—stay here on earth, or go to heaven? +You need not answer <i>me</i>. I am afraid many of you +would not dare answer me as you really felt, because you would be +ashamed of not liking to go to heaven. But answer +God. Answer yourselves in the sight of God. When you +keep yourselves back from doing a wrong thing, because you know +it is wrong, is it for love of heaven, or for mere fear of being +punished in hell? Some of you will answer boldly at once: +“For neither one nor the other; when we keep from wrong, it +is because we hate and despise what is wrong: when we do right it +is because it is right and we ought to do it. We +can’t explain it, but there is something in us which tells +us we ought to do right.” Very good, my friends, I +shall have a word to say to you presently; but in the meantime +there are some others who have been saying to themselves: +“Well, I know we do right because we are afraid of being +punished if we do not do it, but what of that? at all events we +get the right thing done, and leave the wrong thing undone, and +what more do you want? Why torment us with disagreeable +questions as to <i>why</i> we do it?”</p> +<p>Now, my friends, to make the matter simpler, I will take you +at your words, for the sake of argument. Suppose you do +avoid sin from the fear of hell, does that make what you do +<i>right</i>? Does that make <i>you</i> right? Does +that make your heart right? It is a great blessing to a +man’s neighbours, certainly, if he is kept from doing wrong +any how—by the fear of hell, or fear of jail, or fear of +shame, or fear of ghosts if you like, or any other cowardly and +foolish motive—a great blessing to a man’s +neighbours: but no blessing, that I can see, to the man +himself. He is just the same; his heart is not changed; his +heart is no more right in the sight of God, or in the sight of +any man of common sense either, than it would be if he did the +wrong thing, which he loves and dare not do. You feel that +yourselves about other people. You will say “That man +has a bad heart, for all his respectable outside. He would +be a rogue if he dared, and therefore he <i>is</i> a +rogue.” Just so, I say, my friends, take care lest +God should say of you, “He would be a sinner if he dared, +and therefore he is a sinner.”</p> +<p>How can the hope of heaven, or the fear of hell, make a man do +right? The right thing, the true thing for a man, is to be +loving, and do loving things; and can fear of hell do that, or +hope of heaven either? Can a man make himself affectionate +to his children because he fancies he shall be punished if he is +not so, and rewarded if he is so? Will the hope of heaven +send men out to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, visit the +sick, preach the gospel to the poor?—The Papists say it +will. I say it will not. I believe that even in those +who do these things from hope of heaven and fear of hell, there +is some holier, nobler, more spiritual motive, than such +everlasting selfishness, such perfect hypocrisy, as to do loving +works for others, for the sake of one’s own self-love.</p> +<p>What feeling then is there left which will bind a man to do +good, not once in a way, but always and habitually? to do good, +not only to himself, but to all around him? I know but of +one, my friends, and that is Love. There are many sides to +love—admiration, reverence, gratitude, pity, +affection—they are all different shapes of that one great +spirit of love. Surely all of you have felt its power more +or less; how wonderfully it can conquer a man’s whole +heart, change his whole conduct. For love of a woman; for +pity to those in distress; for admiration for anyone who is +nobler and wiser than himself; for gratitude to one who has done +him kindness; for loyalty to one to whom he feels he owes a +service—a man will dare to do things, and suffer things, +which no self-interest or fear in the world could have brought +him to. Do you not know it yourselves? Is it not +fondness for your wives and children, that will make you slave +and stint yourselves of pleasure more than any hope of gain could +ever do? But there is no one human being, my friends, whom +we can meet among us now, for whom we can feel all these +different sorts of love? Surely not: and yet there must be +One Person somewhere for whom God intends us to feel them all at +once; or else He would not have given all these powers to us, and +made them all different branches of one great root of love. +There must be One Person somewhere, who can call out the whole +love in us—all our gratitude; all our pity; all our +admiration; all our loyalty; all our brotherly affection. +<i>And there is One</i>, my friends. One who has done for +us more than ever husband or father, wife or brother, can do to +call out our gratitude. One who has suffered for us more +than the saddest wretch upon this earth can suffer, to call out +our pity. One who is nobler, purer, more lovely in +character than all others who ever trod this earth, to call out +our admiration. One who is wiser, mightier than all rulers +and philosophers, to call out all our reverence. One who is +tenderer, more gentle, more feeling-hearted, than the kindest +woman who ever sat by a sick bed, to call out all our love. +Of whom can I be speaking? Of whom but of Jesus; He who for +us stooped out of the heaven of heavens; for us left His eternal +glory in the bosom of the Father; for us took upon Him the form +of a servant, and was born of a village maiden, and was called +the son of a carpenter; for us wandered this earth for thirty +years in sorrow and shame; for us gave His back to the scourge, +and His face to shameful spitting; for us hung upon the cross and +died the death of the felon and the slave. Oh! my friends, +if that story will not call out our love, what will? If we +cannot admire Christ, whom can we admire? If we cannot be +grateful to Christ, to whom can we be grateful? If we +cannot pity Christ, whom can we pity? If we cannot feel +bound in honour to live for Christ, to work for Christ, to +delight in talking of Christ, thinking of Christ, to glory in +doing Christ’s commandments to the very smallest point, to +feel no sacrifice too great, no trouble too petty, if we can +please Christ by it and help forward Christ’s kingdom upon +earth—if we cannot feel bound in honour to do that for +Christ, what honour is there in us? Again, I say, if we +cannot love Christ, whom can we love? If the remembrance of +what He has worked for us will not stir us up to work for Him, +what will stir us up?</p> +<p>I say it again, we are bound by every tie, by every feeling +that can bind man to man, to devote ourselves to Christ, the Man +of all men. I say this is no dream or fancy, it is an +actual fact which thousands and hundreds of thousands on this +earth have felt. Nothing but love to Christ, nothing but +loving Him because He first loved us, can constrain and force a +man as with a mighty feeling which he cannot resist, to labour +day and night for Christ’s sake, and therefore for the sake +of God the Father of Christ. What else do you suppose it +was which could have stirred up the apostles—above all, +that wise, learned, high-born, prosperous man, St. Paul, to leave +house and home, and wander in daily danger of his life? +What does St. Paul say himself? “The love of Christ +constraineth us, because we thus judge, and if one died for all +then were all dead, and that He died for all, that they which +live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who +died for them.” And what else could have kept St. +Paul through all that labour and sorrow of his own choosing, of +which he speaks in the chapter before?—“We are +troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but +not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not +destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord +Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our +body; for we which live are alway delivered unto death for +Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made +manifest in our body.”</p> +<p>We may say that St. Paul was an exceedingly benevolent man, +and <i>that</i> made him do it; or that he had found out certain +new truths and opinions which delighted him very much, and +therefore he did it. But St. Paul gives no such account of +himself: and we have no right to take anyone’s account but +his own. He knew his own heart best. He does not say +that he came to preach a scheme of redemption, or opinions about +Christ. He says he came to preach nothing but Christ +Himself—Christ crucified—to tell people about the +Lord he loved, about the Lord who loved him, certain that when +they had heard the plain story of Him, their hearts, if they were +simple, and true, and loving, would leap up in answer to his +words, and find out, as by instinct, what Christ had done for +them, what they were to do for Christ. Ay, I believe, my +friends—indeed I am certain—from my own reading, that +in every age and country, just in proportion as men have loved +Christ personally as a man would love another man, just in that +proportion have they loved their neighbours, worked for their +neighbours, sacrificed their time, their pleasure, their money, +to do good to all, for the sake of Him who commanded: “If +ye love <i>ME</i>, keep my commandments; and my commandment is +this, that ye should love one another as I have loved +you.” That is the only sure motive. All other +motives for doing good or being good, will fail in one case or +another case, because they do not take possession of a +man’s whole heart, but only of some part of his +heart. Love—love to Christ, can alone sweep away a +man’s whole heart and soul with it, and renew it, and +transfigure it, and make it strong instead of weak, pure instead +of foul, gentle instead of fierce, brave instead of being vain +and cowardly, and fearing what everyone will say of him. +Only love for Christ, who loved all men unto the death, will make +us love all men too: not only one here and there who may agree +with us or help us; but those who hate us, those who +misunderstand us, those who thwart us, ay, even those who disobey +and slight not only us, but Jesus Christ Himself. +<i>That</i> is the hardest lesson of all to learn; but thousands +have learnt it; everyone ought to learn it. In proportion +as a man loves Christ, he will learn to love those who do not +love Christ. For Christ loves them whether they know it or +not; Christ died for them whether they believe it or not; and we +must love them because our Saviour loves them.</p> +<p>Oh! my friends, why do so few love Christ? Why do so few +live as those who are not their own, but bought with the price of +His precious blood and bound to devote themselves, body and soul, +to His cause? Why do so many struggle against their sins, +while yet they cannot break off those sins, but go struggling and +sinning on, hating their sins and yet unable to break through +their sins, like birds beating themselves to death against the +wires of their cage? Why? Because they do not know +Christ. And how can they know Him, unless they read their +Bibles with simple, childlike hearts, determined to let the Bible +tell its own story: believing that those who walked with Christ +on earth, must know best what He was like? Why? +Because they will not ask Christ to come and show Himself to +them, and make them see Him, and love Him, and admire Him, +whether they will or not. Oh! remember, if Christ be the +Son of God, the Lord of heaven and earth, we cannot go to Him, +poor, weak, ignorant creatures as we are. We cannot ascend +up into heaven to bring Christ down. He must come down out +of His own great love and condescension, and dwell in our hearts +as He has promised to do, if we do but love Him. He must +come down and show Himself to us. Oh! read your +Bibles—read the story of Christ, and if that does not stir +up in you some love for Him, you must have hearts of stone, not +flesh and blood. And then go to Him; pray to Him, whether +you believe in Him altogether or not, upon the mere chance of His +being able to hear you and help you. You would not throw +away a chance on earth; will you throw away such a chance in +heaven as having the Son of God to help you? Oh, cry to +Him; say out of the depths of your heart: “Thou most +blessed and glorious Being who ever walked this earth, who hast +gone blameless through all sorrow and temptation that man can +feel; if Thou dost love anyone, if Thou canst hear anyone, hear +me! If thou canst not help me, no one can. I have a +hundred puzzling questions which I cannot answer for myself, a +hundred temptations which I cannot conquer for myself, a hundred +bad habits which I cannot shake off of myself; and they tell me +that Thou canst teach me, Thou canst guide me, Thou canst +strengthen me, Thou canst take out of my heart this shame and +gnawing of an evil conscience. If Thou be the Son of God, +make me clean! If it be true that Thou lovest all men, show +Thy love to me! If it be true that Thou canst teach all +men, teach me! If it be true that Thou canst help all men, +help my unbelief, for if Thou dost not, there is no help for me +in heaven or earth!” You, who are sinful, distracted, +puzzled, broken-hearted, cry to Christ in that way, if you have +no better way, and see if He does not hear you. He is not +one to break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax. +He will hear you, for He has heard all who have ever called on +Him. Cry to Him from the bottom of your hearts. Tell +Him that you do <i>not</i> love Him, and that yet you <i>long</i> +to love Him. And see if you do not find it true that those +who come to Christ, He will in no wise cast out. He may not +seem to answer you the first time, or the tenth time, or for +years; for Christ has His own deep, loving, wise ways of teaching +each man, and for each man a different way. But try to +learn all you can of Him. Try to know Him. Pray to +know, and understand Him, and love Him. And sooner or later +you will find His words come true, “If a man love me, I and +my Father will come to him, and take up our abode with +him.” And then you will feel arise in you a hungering +and a thirsting after righteousness, a spirit of love, and a +desire of doing good, which will carry you up and on, above all +that man can say or do against you—above all the laziness, +and wilfulness, and selfishness, and cowardice which dwells in +the heart of everyone. You will be able to trample it all +under foot for the sake of being good and doing good, in the +strength of that one glorious thought, “Christ lived and +died for me, and, so help me God, I will live and die for +Christ.”</p> +<h2><a name="page242"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +242</span><span class="GutSmall">XXIV.</span><br /> +DAVID’S VICTORY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, +and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of +armies, the God of Israel, whom thou hast defied.—1 <span +class="smcap">Samuel</span> xvii. 45.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have been reading to-day the +story of David’s victory over the Philistine giant, +Goliath. Now I think the whole history of David may teach +us more about the meaning of the Old Testament, and how it +applies to us, than the history of any other single +character. David was the great hero of the Jews; the +greatest, in spite of great sins and follies, that has ever been +among them; in every point the king after God’s own +heart. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself did not disdain to be +called especially the Son of David. David was the author, +too, of those wonderful psalms which are now in the mouths and +the hearts of Christian people all over the world; and will last, +as I believe, till the world’s end, giving out fresh depths +of meaning and spiritual experience.</p> +<p>But to understand David’s history, we must go back a +little through the lessons which have been read in church the +last few Sundays. We find in the eighth and in the twelfth +chapters of this same book of Samuel, that the Jews asked Samuel +for a king—for a king like the nations round them. +Samuel consulted God, and by God’s command chose Saul to be +their king; at the same time warning them that in asking for a +king they had committed a great and fearful sin, for “the +Lord their God was their king.” And the Lord said +unto Samuel, that in asking for a king they had rejected God from +reigning over them. Now what was this sin which the Jews +committed? for the mere having a king cannot be wrong in itself; +else God would not have anointed Saul and David kings, and +blessed David and Solomon; much less would He have allowed the +greater number of Christian nations to remain governed by kings +unto this day, if a king had been a wrong thing in itself. +I think if we look carefully at the words of the story we shall +see what this great sin of the Jews was. In the first +place, they asked Samuel to give them a king—not God. +This was a sin, I think; but it was only the fruit of a deeper +sin—a wrong way of looking at the whole question of kings +and government. And that deeper sin was this: they were a +free people, and they wanted to become slaves. God had made +them a free people; He had brought them up out of the land of +Egypt, out of slavery to Pharaoh. He had given them a free +constitution. He had given them laws to secure safety, and +liberty, and equal justice to rich and poor, for themselves, +their property, their children; to defend them from oppression, +and over-taxation, and all the miseries of misgovernment. +And now they were going to trample under foot God’s +inestimable gift of liberty. They wanted a king like the +nations round them, they said. They did not see that it was +just their glory <i>not</i> to be like the nations round them in +that. We who live in a free country do not see the vast and +inestimable difference between the Jews and the other +nations. The Jews were then, perhaps, so far as I can make +out, the only free people on the face of the earth. The +nations round them were like the nations in the East, now +governed by tyrants, without law or parliament, at the mercy of +the will, the fancy, the lust, the ambition, and the cruelty of +their despotic kings. In fact, they were as the Eastern +people now are—slaves governed by tyrants. Samuel +warned the Jews that it would be just the same with them; that +neither their property, their families, nor their liberty would +be safe under the despots for whom they wished. And yet, in +spite of that warning, they would have a king. And +why? Because they did not like the trouble of being +free. They did not like the responsibility and the labour +of taking care of themselves, and asking counsel of God as to how +they were to govern themselves. So they were ready to sell +themselves to a tyrant, that he might fight for them, and judge +for them, and take care of them, while they just ate and drank, +and made money, and lived like slaves, careless of what happened +to them or their country, provided they could get food, and +clothes, and money enough. And as long as they got that, if +you will remark, they were utterly careless as to what sort of +king they had. They said not one word to Samuel about how +much power their king was to have. They made not the +slightest inquiry as to whether Saul was wise or foolish, good or +bad. They did not ask God’s counsel, or trouble +themselves about God; so they proved themselves unworthy of being +free. They turned, like a dog to his vomit, and the sow to +her wallowing in the mire, cowardly back again into slavery; and +God gave them what they asked for. He gave them the sort of +king they wanted; and bitterly they found out their mistake +during several hundred years of continually increasing slavery +and misery.</p> +<p>There is a deep lesson for us, my friends, in all this. +And that is, that God’s gifts are not fit for us, unless we +are more or less fit for them. That to him that makes use +of what he has, more shall be given; but from him who does not, +will be taken away even what he has. And so even the +inestimable gift of freedom is no use unless men have free hearts +in them. God sets a man free from his sins by faith in +Jesus Christ; but unless that man uses His grace, unless he +desires to be free inwardly as well as outwardly—to be free +not only from the punishment of his sins, but from the sins +themselves; unless he is willing to accept God’s offer of +freedom, and go boldly to the throne of grace, and there plead +his cause with his heavenly Father face to face, without looking +to any priest, or saint, or other third person to plead for him; +if, in short, a man has not a free spirit in him, the grace of +God will become of no effect in him, and he will receive the +spirit of bondage (of slavery, that is), again to fear. +Perhaps he will fall back more or less into popery and +half-popish superstitions; perhaps, as we see daily round us, he +will fall back again into antinomianism, into the slavery of +those very sins from which God once delivered him. And just +the same is it with a nation. When God has given a nation +freedom, then, unless there be a free heart in the people and +true independence, which is dependence on God and not on man; +unless there be a spirit of justice, mercy, truth, trust of God +in them, their freedom will be of no effect; they will only fall +back into slavery, to be oppressed by fresh tyrants.</p> +<p>So it was with the great Spanish colonies in South America a +few years ago. God gave them freedom from the tyranny of +Spain; but what advantage was it to them? Because there was +no righteousness in them; because they were a cowardly, +profligate, false, and cruel people, therefore they only became +the slaves of their own lusts; they turned God’s great +grace of freedom into licentiousness, and have been ever since +doing nothing but cutting each other’s throats; every +man’s hand against his own brother; the slaves of tyrants +far more cruel than those from whom they had escaped.</p> +<p>Look at the French people, too. Three times in the last +sixty years has God delivered them from evil rulers, and given +them a chance of freedom; and three times have they fallen back +into fresh slavery. And why? Because they will not be +righteous; because they will be proud, boastful, lustful, +godless, cruel, making a lie and loving it. God help +them! We are not here to judge them, but to take warning +ourselves. Now there is no use in boasting of our English +freedom, unless we have free and righteous hearts in us; for it +is not constitutions, and parliaments, and charters which make a +nation free; they are only the shell, the outside of +freedom. True freedom is of the heart and spirit, and comes +down from above, from the Spirit of God; for where the Spirit of +God is, there is liberty, and there only. Oh, every one of +you! high and low, rich and poor, pray and struggle to get your +own hearts free; free from the sins which beset us Englishmen in +these days; free from pride, prejudice, and envy; free from +selfishness and covetousness; free from unchastity and +drunkenness; free from the conceit that England is safe, while +all the rest of the world is shaking. Be sure that the +spirit of freedom, like every other good and perfect gift, is +from above, and comes down from God, the Father of lights; and +that to keep that spirit with us, we must keep ourselves worthy +of it, and not expect to remain free if we indulge ourselves in +mean and slavish sins.</p> +<p>So the Jews got the king they wanted—a king to look at +and be proud of. Saul was, we read, a head taller than all +the rest of the people, and very handsome to look at. And +he was brave enough, too, in mere fighting, when he was awakened +and stirred up to act now and then; but there was no wisdom in +him; no real trust in God in him. He took God for an idol, +like the heathens’ false gods, which had to be pleased and +kept in good humour by the smell of burnt sacrifices; and not for +a living, righteous Person, who had to be obeyed. We read +of Saul’s misconduct in these respects, in the thirteenth +and fifteenth chapters of the First Book of Samuel. That +was only the beginning of his wickedness. The worst points +in his character, as I shall show in my next sermon, came out +afterwards. But still, his disobedience was enough to make +God cast him off, and leave him to go his own way to ruin.</p> +<p>But God was not going to cast off His people whom He +loved. He deals not with mankind after their sins, neither +rewards them according to their iniquities; and so he chose out +for them a king after His own heart—a true king of +God’s making, not a mere sham one of man’s +making. You may think it strange why God should have given +them a second king; why, as soon as Saul died, He did not let +them return back to their old freedom. But that is not +God’s way. He brings good out of evil in His great +mercy. But it is always by strange winding paths. His +ways are not as our ways. First, God gives man what is +perfectly proper for him at that time; sets man in his right +place; and then when man falls from that, God brings him, not +back to the place from which he fell, but on forward into +something far higher and better than what he fell from. He +put Adam into Paradise. Adam fell from it, and God made use +of the fall to bring him into a state far better than +Paradise—into the kingdom of God—into everlasting +life—into the likeness of Christ, the new Adam, who is a +quickening, life-giving spirit, while the old Adam was, at best, +only a living soul.</p> +<p>So with the church of Christian men. After the +apostles’ time, and even during the apostles’ time, +as we read from the Epistle to the Galatians, they fell away, +step by step, from the liberty of the gospel, till they sunk +entirely into popish superstition. And yet God brought good +out of that evil. He made that very popery a means of +bringing them back at the Reformation into clearer light than any +of the first Christians ever had had. He is going on step +by step still, bringing Christians into a clearer knowledge of +the gospel than even the Reformers had.</p> +<p>And so with the Jews. They fell from their liberty and +chose a king. And yet God made use of those kings of +theirs, of David, of Solomon, of Josiah, and Hezekiah, to teach +them more and more about Himself and His law, and to teach all +nations, by their example, what a nation should be, and how He +deals with one.</p> +<p>But now let us see what this true king, David, was like, whom +God chose, that He might raise, by his means, the Jews higher +than they ever yet had been, even in their days of freedom. +Now remark, in the first place, that David was not the son of any +very great man. His father seems to have been only a +yeoman. He was not bred up in courts. We find that +when Samuel was sent to anoint David king, he was out keeping his +father’s sheep in the field. And though, no doubt, he +had shown signs of being a very remarkable youth from the first, +yet his father thought so little of him, that he was going to +pass him over, and caused all his seven elder sons to pass before +Samuel for his choice first, though there seems to have been +nothing particular in them, except that some of them were fine +men and brave soldiers. So David seems to have been +overlooked, and thought but little of in his youth—and a +very good thing for him. It is a good thing for a young man +to bear the yoke in his youth, that he may be kept humble and +low; that he may learn to trust in God, and not in his own +wit. And even when Samuel anointed David, he anointed him +privately. His brothers did not know what a great honour +was in store for him; for we find, in the lesson which we have +just read, that when David came down to the camp, his elder +brother spoke contemptuously to him, and treated him as a +child. “I know thy pride,” he said, “and +the naughtiness of thy heart. Thou art come down to see the +battle.” While David answers humbly enough: +“What have I done? is there not a cause?” feeling +that there was more in him than his brother gave him credit for; +though he dare not tell his brother, hardly, perhaps, dare +believe himself, what great things God had prepared for +him. So it is yet—a prophet has no honour in his own +country. How many a noble-hearted man there is, who is +looked down upon by those round him! How many a one is +despised for a dreamer, or for a Methodist, by shallow worldly +people, who in God’s sight is of very great price! +But God sees not as man sees. He makes use of the weak +people of this world to confound the strong. He sends about +His errands not many noble, not many mighty; but the poor man, +rich in faith, like David. He puts down the mighty from +their seat, and exalts the humble and meek. He takes the +beggar from the dunghill, that He may set him among the princes +of His people. So He has been doing in all ages. So +He will do even now, in some measure, with everyone like David, +let him be as low as he will in the opinion of this foolish +world, who yet puts his trust utterly in God, and goes about all +his work, as David did, in the name of the Lord of hosts. +Oh! if a poor man feels that God has given him wit and +wisdom—feels in him the desire to rise and better himself +in life, let him be sure that the only way to rise is +David’s plan—to keep humble and quiet till God shall +lift him up, trusting in God’s righteousness and love to +raise him, and deliver him, and put him in that station, be it +high or low, in which he will be best able to do God’s +work, or serve God’s glory.</p> +<p>And now for the chapter from which the text is taken, which +relates to us David’s first great public triumph—his +victory over Goliath the giant. I will not repeat it to +you, because everyone here who has ears to hear or a heart to +feel ought to have been struck with every word in that glorious +story. All I will try to do is, to show you how the working +of God’s Spirit comes out in David in every action of his +on that glorious day. We saw just now David’s +humbleness and gentleness, the fruits of God’s Spirit in +him, in his answer to his proud and harsh brother. Look +next at David’s spirit of trust in God, which, indeed, is +the key to his whole life; that is the reason why he was the man +after God’s own heart—not for any virtues of his own, +but for his unshaken continual faith in God. David saw in +an instant why the Israelites were so afraid of the giant; +because they had no faith in God. They forgot that they +were the armies of the living God. David did not: +“Who is this uncircumcised, that he shall defy the armies +of the living God?” And therefore, when Saul tried to +dissuade him from attacking the Philistine, his answer is still +the same—full of faith in God. He knew well enough +what a fearful undertaking it was to fight with this giant, +nearly ten feet high, armed from head to foot with mail, which +perhaps no sword or spear which he could use could pierce. +It was no wonder, humanly speaking, that all the Jews fled from +him—that his being there stopped the whole battle. In +these days, fifty such men would make no difference in a battle; +bullets and cannon-shot would mow down them like other men: but +in those old times, before firearms were invented, when all +battles were hand-to-hand fights, and depended so much on each +man’s strength and courage, that one champion would often +decide the victory for a whole army, the amount of courage which +was required in David is past our understanding; at least we may +say, David would not have had it but for his trust in God, but +for his feeling that he was on God’s side, and Goliath on +the devil’s side, unjustly invading his country in +self-conceit, and cruelty, and lawlessness. Therefore he +tells Saul of his victory over the lion and the bear. You +see again, here, the Spirit of God showing in his +<i>modesty</i>. He does not boast or talk of his strength +and courage in killing the lion and the bear; for he knew that +that strength and courage came from God, not from himself; +therefore he says that the Lord <i>delivered him</i> from +them. He knew that he had been only doing his duty in +facing them when they attacked his father’s sheep, and that +it was God’s mercy which had protected him in doing his +duty. He felt now, that if no one else would face this +brutal giant, it was <i>his</i> duty, poor, simple, weak youth as +he was, and therefore he trusted in God to bring him safe through +this danger also. But look again how the Spirit of God +shows in his prudence. He would not use Saul’s +armour, good as it might be, because he was not accustomed to +it. He would use his own experience, and fight with the +weapons to which he had been accustomed—a sling and +stone. You see he was none of those presumptuous and +fanatical dreamers who tempt God by fancying that He is to go out +of His way to work miracles for them. He used all the +proper and prudent means to kill the giant, and trusted to God to +bless them. If he had been presumptuous, he might have +taken the first stone that came to hand, or taken only one, or +taken none at all, and expected the giant to fall down dead by a +miracle. But no; he <i>chooses five smooth</i> stones out +of the brook. He tried to get the best that he could, and +have more ready if his first shot failed. He showed no +distrust of God in that; for he trusted in God to keep him cool, +and steady, and courageous in the fight, and that, he knew, God +alone could do. The only place, perhaps, where he could +strike Goliath to hurt him was on the face, because every other +part of him was covered in metal armour. And he knew that, +in such danger as he was, God’s Spirit only could keep his +eye clear and his hand steady for such a desperate chance as +hitting that one place.</p> +<p>So he went; and as he went his courage rose higher and higher; +for unto him that hath shall more be given; and so he began to +boast too—but not of himself, like the giant. He +boasted of the living God, who was with him. He ran boldly +up to the Philistine, and at the first throw, struck on the +forehead, and felled him dead.</p> +<p>So it is; many a time the very blessing which we expect to get +only with great difficulty, God gives us at our first trial, to +show that He is the Giver, to cheer up our poor doubting hearts, +and show us that He is able, and willing too, to give exceeding +abundantly more than we can ask or think.</p> +<p>So David triumphed: and yet that triumph was only the +beginning of his troubles. Sad and weary years had he to +struggle on before he gained the kingdom which God had promised +him. So it is often with God’s elect. He gives +them blessings at first, to show them that He is really with +them; and then He lets them be evil-entreated by tyrants, and +suffer persecution, and wander out of the way in the wilderness, +that they may be made perfect by suffering, and purified, as gold +is in the refiner’s fire, from all selfishness, conceit, +ambition, cowardliness, till they learn to trust God utterly, to +know their own weakness, and His strength, and to work only for +Him, careless what becomes of their own poor worthless selves, +provided they can help His kingdom to come, and get His will to +be done on earth as it is in heaven.</p> +<p>And now, my friends, surely there is a lesson in all this for +you. Do you wish to rise like David? Of course not +one in ten thousand can rise as high, but we may all rise +somewhat, if not in rank, yet still, what is far better, in +spirit, in wisdom, in usefulness, in manfulness. Do you +wish to rise so? then follow David’s example. Be +truly brave, be truly modest, and in order to be truly brave and +truly modest, that is, be truly manly, be truly godly. +Trust in God; trust in God; that is the key to all +greatness. Courage, modesty, truth, honesty, and +gentleness; all things, which are noble, lovely, and of good +report; all things, in short, which will make you men after +God’s own heart, are all only the different fruits of that +one blessed life-giving root—<span class="smcap">Faith in +God</span>.</p> +<h2><a name="page254"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +254</span><span class="GutSmall">XXV.</span><br /> +DAVID’S EDUCATION.</h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">Made perfect through +sufferings.—<span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> ii. 10.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">That</span> is my text; and a very fit one +for another sermon about David, the king after God’s own +heart. And a very fit one too, for any sermon preached to +people living in this world now or at any time. “A +melancholy text,” you will say. But what if it be +melancholy? That is not the fault of me, the +preacher. The preacher did not make suffering, did not make +disappointment, doubt, ignorance, mistakes, oppression, poverty, +sickness. There they are, whether we like it or not. +You have only to go on to the common here, or any other common or +town in England, to see too much of them—enough to break +one’s heart if—, but I will not hurry on too fast in +what I have to say. What I want to make you recollect is, +that misery is here round us, <i>in</i> us. A great deal +which we bring on ourselves; and a great deal more misery which +we do not, as far as we can see, bring on ourselves; but which +comes, nevertheless, and lets us know plainly enough that it is +close to us. Every man and woman of us have their +sorrows. There is no use shutting our eyes just when we +ourselves happen to feel tolerably easy, and saying, as too many +do, “I don’t see so very much sorrow; I am happy +enough!” Are you, friend, happy enough? So much +the worse for you, perhaps. But at all events your +neighbours are not happy enough; most of them are only too +miserable. It is a sad world. A sad world, and full +of tears. It is. And you must not be angry with the +preacher for reminding you of what is.</p> +<p>True; you would have a right to quarrel with the preacher or +anyone else who made you sorrowful with the thoughts of the +sorrow round you, and then gave you no explanation of +it—told you of no use, no blessing in it, no deliverance +from it. That would be enough to break any man’s +heart, if all the preacher could say was: “This +wretchedness, and sickness, and death, must go on as long as the +world lasts, and yet it does no good, for God or +man.” That thought would drive any feeling man to +despair, tempt him to lie down and die, tempt him to fancy that +God was not God at all, not the God whose name is Love, not the +God who is our Father, but only a cruel taskmaster, and Lord of a +miserable hell on earth, where men and women, and worst of all, +little children, were tortured daily by tens of thousands without +reason, or use, or hope of deliverance, except in a future world, +where not one in ten of them will be saved and happy. That +is many people’s notion of the world—religious +people’s even. How they can believe, in the face of +such notions, “that God is love;” how they can help +going mad with pity, if that is all the hope they have for poor +human beings, is more than I can tell. Not that I judge +them—to their own master they stand or fall: but this I do +say, that if the preacher has no better hope to give you about +this poor earth, then I cannot tell what right he has to call +himself a preacher of the gospel—that is, a preacher of +good news; then I do not know what Jesus Christ’s dying to +take away the sins of the world means; then I do not know what +the kingdom of God means; then I do not know why the Lord taught +us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, +as it is in heaven,” if the only way in which that can be +brought about is by His sending ninety-nine hundredths of mankind +to endless torture, over and above all the lesser misery which +they have suffered in this life. What will be the end of +the greater part of mankind we do not know; we were not intended +to know. God is love, and God is justice, and His justice +is utterly loving, as well as His love utterly just; so we may +very safely leave the world in the hands of Him who made the +world, and be sure that the Judge of all the earth will do right, +and that what is right is certain never to be cruel, but rather +merciful. But to every one of you who are here now, a +preacher has a right, ay, and a bounden duty, to say much more +than that. He is bound to tell you good news, because God +has called you into His church, and sent you here this day, to +hear good news. He has a right to tell you, as I tell you +now, that, strange as it may seem, whatsoever sufferings you +endure are sent to make you perfect, even as your Father in +heaven is perfect; even as the blessed Lord, whom may you all +love, and trust, and worship, for ever and ever, was made perfect +by sufferings, even though He was the sinless Son of God. +Consider that. “It behoved Him,” says St. Paul, +“the Captain of our salvation, to be made perfect through +sufferings.” And why? “Because,” +answers St. Paul, “it was proper for Him to be made in all +things like His brothers”—like us, the children of +God—“that He might be a faithful and merciful high +priest;” for, just “because He has suffered being +tempted, He is able to succour us who are tempted.” A +strange text, but one which, I think, this very history of +David’s troubles will help us to understand. For it +was by suffering, long and bitter, that God trained up David to +be a true king, a king over the Jews, “after God’s +own heart.”</p> +<p>You all know, I hope, something at least of David’s +psalms. Many of them, seven of them at least, were written +during David’s wanderings in the mountains, when Saul was +persecuting him to kill him, day after day, month after month, as +you may read in the First Book of Samuel, from chapters xix. to +xxviii. Bitter enough these troubles of David would have +been to any man, but what must have made them especially bitter +and confusing to him was, that they all arose out of his +righteousness. Because he had conquered the giant, Saul +envied him—broke his promise of giving David his daughter +Merab—put his life into extreme danger from the +Philistines, before he would give him his second daughter Michal; +the more he saw that the Lord was with David, and that the young +man won respect and admiration by behaving himself wisely, the +more afraid of him Saul was; again and again he tried to kill +him; as David was sitting harmless in Saul’s house, +soothing the poor madman by the music of his harp, Saul tries to +stab him unawares; and not content with that proceeds +deliberately to hunt him down, from town to town, and wilderness +to wilderness; sends soldiers after him to murder him; at last +goes out after him himself with his guards. Was not all +this enough to try David’s faith? Hardly any man, I +suppose, since the world was made, had found righteousness pay +him less; no man was ever more tempted to turn round and do evil, +since doing good only brought him deeper and deeper into the +mire. But no, we know that he did not lose his trust in +God; for we have seven psalms, at least, which he wrote during +these very wanderings of his; the fifty-second, when Doeg had +betrayed him to Saul; the fifty-fourth, when Ziphim betrayed him; +the fifty-sixth, when the Philistines took him in Gath; the +fifty-seventh, “when he fled from Saul in the cave;” +the fifty-ninth, “when they watched the house to kill +him;” the sixty-third, “when he was in the wilderness +of Judah;” the thirty-fourth, “when he was driven +away by Abimelech;” and several more which appear to have +been written about the same time.</p> +<p>Now, what strikes us first, or ought to strike us, in these +psalms, is David’s utter faith in God. I do not mean +to say that David had not his sad days, when he gave himself up +for lost, and when God seemed to have forsaken him, and forgotten +his promise. He was a man of like passions with ourselves; +and therefore he was, as we should have been, terrified and +faint-hearted at times. But exactly what God was teaching +and training him to be, was not to be fainthearted—not to +be terrified. He began in his youth by trusting God. +That made him the man after God’s own heart, just as it was +the want of trust in God which made Saul not the man after +God’s own heart, and lost him his kingdom. In all +those wanderings and dangers of David’s in the wilderness, +God was training, and educating, and strengthening David’s +faith according to His great law: To whomsoever hath shall be +given, and he shall have more abundantly; but from him that hath +not, shall be taken away even that which he seems to have. +And the first great fruit of David’s firm trust in God was +his patience.</p> +<p>He learned to wait God’s time, and take God’s way, +and be sure that the same God who had promised that he should be +king, would make him king when he saw fit. He knew, as he +says himself, that the Strength of Israel could not lie or +repent. He had sworn that He would not fail David. +And he learned that God had sworn by His holiness. He was a +holy, just, righteous God; and David and David’s country +now were safe in His hands. It was his firm trust in God +which gave him strength of mind to use no unfair means to right +himself. Twice Saul, his enemy, was in his power. +What a temptation to him to kill Saul, rid himself of his +tormentor, and perhaps get the kingdom at once! But +no. He felt: “This Saul is a wicked, devil-tormented +murderer, a cruel tyrant and oppressor; but the same God who +chose me to be king next, chose him to be king now. He is +the Lord’s anointed. God put him where he is, and +leaves him there for some good purpose; and when God has done +with him, God will take him away, and free this poor oppressed +people; and in the meantime, I, as a private man, have no right +to touch him. I must not do evil that good may come. +If I am to be a true king, a true man at all hereafter, I must +keep true now; if I am to be a righteous lawgiver hereafter, I +must respect and obey law myself now. The Lord be judge +between me and Saul; for He is Judge, and He will right me better +than I can ever right myself.” And thus did trust in +God bring out in David that true respect for law, without which a +king, let him be as kind-hearted as he will, is but too likely to +become at last a tyrant and an oppressor.</p> +<p>But another thing which strikes any thinking man in +David’s psalms, is his strong feeling for the poor, and the +afflicted, and the oppressed. That is what makes the +Psalms, above all, the poor man’s book, the afflicted +man’s book. But how did he get that fellow-feeling +for the fallen? By having fallen himself, and tasted +affliction and oppression. That was how he was educated to +be a true king. That was how he became a picture and +pattern—a “type,” as some call it, of Jesus +Christ, the man of sorrows. That is why so many of +David’s psalms apply so well to the Lord; why the Lord +fulfilled those psalms when He was on earth. David was +truly a man of sorrows; for he had not only the burden of his own +sorrows to bear, but that of many others. His parents had +to escape, and to be placed in safety at the court of a heathen +prince. His friend Abimelech the priest, because he gave +David bread when he was starving, and Goliath’s +sword—which, after all, was David’s own—was +murdered by Saul’s hired ruffians, at Saul’s command, +and with him his whole family, and all the priests of the town, +with their wives and children, even to the baby at the +breast. And when David was in the mountains, everyone who +was distressed, and in debt, and discontented, gathered +themselves to him, and he became their captain; so that he had on +him all the responsibility, care, and anxiety of managing all +those wild, starving men, many of them, perhaps, reckless and +wicked men, ready every day to quarrel among themselves, or to +break out in open riot and robbery against the people who had +oppressed them; for—(and this, too, we may see from +David’s psalms, was not the smallest part of his +anxiety)—the nation of the Jews seems to have been in a +very wretched state in David’s time. The poor seem in +general to have lost their land, and to have become all but +slaves to rich nobles, who were grinding them down, not only by +luxury and covetousness, but often by open robbery and +bloodshed. The sight of the misrule and misery, as well as +of the bloody and ruinous border inroads which were kept up by +the Philistines and other neighbouring tribes, seems for years to +have been the uppermost, as well as the deepest thought in +David’s mind, if we may judge from those psalms of his, of +which this is the key-note; and it was not likely to make him +care and feel less about all that misery when he remembered (as +we see from his psalms he remembered daily) that God had set him, +the wandering outlaw, no less a task than to mend it all; to put +down all that oppression, to raise up that degradation, to train +all that cowardice into self-respect and valour, to knit into one +united nation, bound together by fellow-feeling and common faith +in God, that mob of fierce, and greedy, and (hardest task of all, +as he himself felt) utterly deceitful men. No wonder that +his psalms begin often enough with sadness, even though they may +end in hope and trust. He had a work around him and before +him which ought to have made his heart sad, which was a great +part of his appointed education, and helped to make him perfect +by sufferings.</p> +<p>And so, upon the bare hill-side, in woods and caves of the +earth, in cold and hunger, in weariness and dread of death, did +David learn to be the poor man’s king, the poor man’s +poet, the singer of those psalms which shall endure as long as +the world endures, and be the comfort and the utterance of all +sad hearts for evermore. Agony it was, deep and bitter, and +for the moment more hopeless than the grave itself, which crushed +out of the very depths of his heart that most awful and yet most +blessed psalm, the twenty-second, which we read in church every +Good Friday. The “Hind of the Morning” is its +title; some mournful air to which David sang it, giving, perhaps, +the notion of a timorous deer roused in the morning by the +hunters and the hounds. We read that psalm on Good Friday, +and all say that our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled it. What +do we mean hereby?</p> +<p>We mean hereby, that we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ +fulfilled all sorrows which man can taste. He filled the +cup of misery to the brim, and drained it to the dregs. He +was afflicted in all David’s afflictions, in the +afflictions of all mankind. He bare all their sicknesses, +and carried all their infirmities; and therefore we read this +psalm upon Good Friday, upon the day in which He tasted death for +every man, and went down into the lowest depths of terror, and +shame, and agony, and death; and, worst of all, into the feeling +that God had forsaken Him, that there was no help or hope for Him +in heaven, as well as earth—no care or love in the great +God, whose Son He was—went down, in a word, into hell; that +hell whereof David and Heman, and Hezekiah after them, had said, +“Shall the dust give thanks unto thee? and shall it declare +thy truth?”—“Thou wilt not leave my soul in +hell; neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see +corruption.”—“My life draweth nigh unto hell. . +. I am like one stript among the dead, like the slain that +lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more; and they are cut +off from thy hand. . . . Wilt thou show wonders to the +dead? and shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy +wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land +of destruction?”—“For the grave cannot praise +thee; death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down to the pit +cannot hope for thy truth.”</p> +<p>Even into that lowest darkness, where man feels, even for one +moment, that God is nothing to him, and he is nothing to +God—even into that Jesus condescended to go down for +us. That worst of all temptations, of which David only +tasted a drop when he cried out, “My God, my God, why hast +thou forsaken me?” Jesus drained to the very dregs +for us.—He went down into hell for us, and conquered hell +and death, and the darkness of the unknown world, and rose again +glorious from them, that He might teach us not to fear death and +hell; that He might know how to comfort us in the hour of death: +and in the day of judgment, when on our sick bed, or in some +bitter shame and trouble, the lying devil is telling us that we +are damned and lost, and forsaken by God, and every sin we ever +did rises up and stares us in the face.</p> +<p>Truly He is a king!—a king for rich and poor, young and +old, Englishmen and negro; all alike He knows them, He feels for +them, He has tasted sorrow for them, far more than David did for +those poor, oppressed, sinful Jews of his. Read those +Psalms of David; for they speak not only of David, now long since +dead and gone, but of the blessed Jesus, who lives and reigns +over us now at this very moment. Read them, for they are +inspired; the honest words of a servant of God crying out to the +same God, the same Saviour and Deliverer as we have. And +His love has not changed. His arm is not shortened that He +cannot save. Your words need not change. The words of +those psalms in which David prayed, in them you and I may +pray. Right out of the depths of his poor distracted heart +they came. Let them come out of our hearts too. They +belong to us more than even they did to the Jews, for whom David +wrote them—more than even they did to David himself; for +Jesus has fulfilled them—filled them full—given them +boundlessly more meaning than ever they had before, and given us +more hope in using them than ever David had: for now that love +and righteousness of God, in which David only trusted beforehand, +has come down and walked on this earth in the shape of a poor +man, Jesus Christ, the Son of the maiden of Bethlehem.</p> +<p>Oh, you who are afflicted, pray to God in those psalms; not +merely in the words of them, but in the spirit of them. And +to do that, you must get from God the spirit in which David wrote +them—the Spirit of God. Pray for that Spirit; for the +spirit of patience, which made David wait God’s good time +to right him, instead of trying, as too many do, to right himself +by wrong means; for the spirit of love, which taught David to +return good for evil; for the spirit of fellow-feeling, which +taught David to care for others as well as himself; and in that +spirit of love, do you pray for others while you are praying for +yourself. Pray for that Spirit which taught David to help +and comfort those who were weaker than himself, that you in your +time may be able and willing to comfort and help those who are +weaker than yourselves. And above all, pray for the Spirit +of faith, which made David certain that oppression and +wrong-doing could not stand; that the day must surely come when +God would judge the world righteously, and hear the cry of the +afflicted, and deliver the outcast and poor, that the man of the +world might be no more exalted against them. Pray, in +short, for the Spirit of Christ; and then be sure He will hear +your prayers, and answer them, and show Himself a better friend, +and a truer King to you, than ever David showed himself to those +poor Jews of old. He will deliver you out of all your +troubles—if not in this life, yet surely in the life to +come; and though you walk through the valley of the shadow of +death, yet the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds in +Him who loved you, and gave Himself for you, that you might +inherit all heaven and earth in Him.</p> +<h2><a name="page265"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +265</span><span class="GutSmall">XXVI.</span><br /> +THE VALUE OF LAW.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Let every soul be subject unto the higher +powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers +that be are ordained of God.—<span +class="smcap">Romans</span> xiii. 1.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">What</span> is the difference between a +civilised man and a savage? You will say: A civilised man +can read and write; he has books and education; he knows how to +make numberless things which makes his life comfortable to +him. He can get wealth, and build great towns, sink mines, +sail the sea in ships, spread himself over the face of the earth, +or bring home all its treasures, while the savages remain poor, +and naked, and miserable, and ignorant, fixed to the land in +which they chance to have been born.</p> +<p>True: but we must go a little deeper still. Why does the +savage remain poor and wretched, while the civilised people +become richer and more prosperous? Why, for instance, do +the poor savage gipsies never grow more comfortable or +wiser—each generation of them remaining just as low as +their forefathers were, or, indeed, getting lower and fewer? for +the gipsies, like all savages, are becoming fewer and fewer year +by year, while, on the other hand, we English increase in +numbers, and in wealth, and knowledge; and fresh inventions are +found out year by year, which give fresh employment and make life +more safe and more pleasant.</p> +<p>This is the reason: That the English have laws and obey them, +and the gipsies have none. This is the whole secret. +This is why savages remain poor and miserable, that each man does +what he likes without law. This is why civilised nations +like England thrive and prosper, because they have laws and obey +them, and every man does not do what he likes, but what the law +likes. Laws are made not for the good of one person here, +or the other person there, but for the good of all; and, +therefore, the very notion of a civilised country is, a country +in which people cannot do what they like with their own, as the +savages do. “Not do what he likes with his +own?” Certainly not; no one can or does. If you +have property, you cannot spend it all as you like. You +have to pay a part of it to the government, that is, into the +common stock, for the common good, in the shape of rates and +taxes, before you can spend any of it on yourself. If you +take wages, you cannot spend them all upon yourself and do what +you like with them. If you do not support your wife and +family out of them, the law will punish you. You cannot do +what you like with your own gun, for you may not shoot your +neighbour’s cattle or game with it. You cannot do +what you like with your own hands, for the law forbids you to +steal with them. You cannot do what you like with your own +feet, for the law will punish you for trespassing on your +neighbour’s ground without his leave. In short, you +can only do with your own what will not hurt your neighbour, in +such matters as the law can take care of. And more, in any +great necessity the law may actually hurt you for the good of the +nation at large. The law may compel you to sell your land, +to your own injury, if it is wanted for a railroad. The law +may compel you, as it did fifty years ago, to serve as a soldier +in the militia, to your own injury, if there is a fear of foreign +invasion; so that the law is above each and all of us. Our +own wills are not our masters. No man is his own +master. The law is the master of each and all of us, and if +we will not obey it willingly, it can make us obey +unwillingly.</p> +<p>Can make us? Ay, but ought it to make us? Is it +right that the law should over-ride our own free wills, and +prevent our doing what we like with our own?</p> +<p>It is right—absolutely right. St. Paul tells us +what gives law this authority: “There is no power but of +God. The powers that be are ordained of God.” +And he tells us also why this authority is given to the +law. “Rulers,” he says, “are not a terror +to good works, but to evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of +those who administer the law? Do that which is good, and +thou shalt have praise from them, for they are God’s +ministers to thee for good.”</p> +<p>For good, you see. For the good of mankind it was, that +God put into their hearts and reasons, that notion of making +laws, and appointing kings and magistrates to see that those laws +are obeyed. For our good. For without law no +man’s life, or family, or property would be safe. +Every man’s private selfishness, and greediness, and anger, +would struggle without check to have its way, and there would be +no bar or curb to keep each and every man from injuring each and +every man else; so the strong would devour the weak, and then +tear each other in pieces afterwards. So it is among the +savages. They have little or no property, for they have no +laws to protect property; and therefore every man expects his +neighbour to steal from him, and finds it his shortest plan to +steal from his neighbour, instead of settling down to sow corn +which he will have no chance of eating, or build houses which may +be taken from him at night by some more strong and cunning +savage. There is no law among savages to protect women and +children against the men, and therefore the women are treated +worse than beasts, and the children murdered to save the trouble +of rearing them. Every man’s hand is against his +neighbour. No one feels himself safe, and therefore no one +thinks it worth while to lay up for the morrow. No one +expects justice and mercy to be done to him, and therefore no one +thinks it worth while to do justice and mercy to others. +And thus they live in continual fear and quarrelling, feeding +like wild animals on game or roots, often, when they have bad +luck in their hunting, on offal which our dogs would refuse, and +dwindle away and become fewer and wretcheder year by year; in +this way do the savages in New South Wales live to this day, for +want of law.</p> +<p>It is for our good, then, that God has put into the heart of +man to make laws, and to obey them as sacred and divine +things. For our good, in order to save us from sinking down +into the same state of poverty and misery in which the savages +are. For our good, because we are fallen creatures, with +selfish and corrupt wills, continually apt to break loose, and +please ourselves at the expense of our neighbours. For our +good, because, however fallen we are, we are still brothers, +members of God’s family, bound to each other by duty and +relationship, if not by love.</p> +<p>Just as in a family, if parents, brothers, and sisters will +not do their duty to each other lovingly and of their free will, +the law interferes, and the custom of the country interferes, and +the opinion of neighbours interferes, and says: “You may +not love your parents: but you have no right to leave them to +starve.” “You may not love your brothers: but +if you try to injure and slander them, you are doing an unnatural +and hateful thing, abhorred by God and man, and you must expect +us to treat you accordingly, as a wild beast who does not feel +the common laws of nature and right and wrong.” So +with the law of the land. The law is meant to remind us +more or less that we are brothers, members of one body; that we +owe a duty to each other; that we are all equal in God’s +sight, who is no respecter of persons, or of rank, or of riches, +any more than the law is when it punishes the greatest nobleman +as severely as the poorest labourer. The law is meant to +remind us that God is just; that when we injure each other, we +sin against God; that God’s rule and law is, that each +transgression should receive its just reward, and that, +therefore, because man is made in the likeness of God, man is +bound, as far as he can, to visit every offence with due and +proportionate punishment. And the law punishes, as St. Paul +says, in God’s name, and for God’s sake. The +magistrate is a witness for God’s righteous government of +the world, the minister of God’s vengeance against +evil-doers, to remind all continually that evil-doing has no +place, and cannot prosper, and must not be allowed, upon this +God’s earth whereon we live.</p> +<p>But what if the laws are unfair, and punish only some sorts of +evil-doers and not others? What if they are like +spiders’ webs, which catch the little flies, and let the +great wasps break through? What if they punish poor and +weak offenders, and let the rich and powerful sinners +escape? “Obey them still,” says St. Paul. +In his time and country the laws were as unfair in that way as +laws ever were, and yet he tells Christians to obey them for +conscience’s sake. Thank God that they do punish weak +offenders. Pray God that the time may come when they may be +strong enough to punish great offenders also. But, in the +meantime, see that they have not to punish you. As far as +the laws go, they are right and good. As far as they keep +down any sort of wrong-doing whatsoever, they are God’s +ordinances, and you must obey them for God’s sake.</p> +<p>But what if the laws are not only unfair and partial, but also +unjust and wrong? Are we to obey them then? Obey them +still, says St. Paul. Of course, if they command you to do +a clearly wrong thing; if, for instance, the law commanded you to +worship idols, or to commit adultery, there is no question then; +such laws cannot be God’s ordinance. The laws can +only be God’s ordinance as far as they agree with what we +know of God’s will written in our hearts, and written in +His holy Bible. Then a man must resist the law to the +death, if need be, as the old martyrs did, dying as witnesses for +God’s righteous and eternal law, against man’s false +and unrighteous law. It is a very difficult thing, no +doubt, to tell where to draw the line in such matters. But +we, thank God, here in England now, have no need to puzzle our +heads with such questions. Every man’s conscience is +free here, and he has full liberty to worship God as he thinks +best, provided that by so doing he does not interfere with his +neighbour’s character, or property, or comfort. There +is no single law in England now, that I know of, which a man has +any need to refuse to obey, let his conscience be as tender as it +may. And as for laws which we think hurtful to the country, +or hurtful to any particular class in the country, our thinking +them hurtful is no reason that we should not obey them. As +long as they are law, they are God’s ordinance, and we have +no right to break them. They may be useful after all. +Or even if they are hurtful in some way, still God may be +bringing good out of them in some other way, of which we little +dream, as He has often done out of laws and customs which seem at +first sight most foolish and hurtful, and yet which He endured +and winked at, for the sake of bringing good out of evil. +At all events, whatsoever laws are here in England, are made by +the men whom we English have chosen, as the men most fit and wise +to make them, and we are bound to abide by them. If +Parliament is not wise enough to make perfectly good laws, that +is no one’s fault but our own; for if we were wise, we +should choose wise law-makers, and we must be filled with the +fruit of our own devices. As long as these laws have been +made and passed, by Commons, Lords, and Queen, according to the +ancient forms and constitution which God has taught our +forefathers from time to time for more than a thousand years, and +which have had God’s blessing and favour on them, and made +us, from the least of all nations, the greatest nation on the +earth; in short, as long as those laws are made according to law, +so long we are bound to believe them to be God’s ordinance, +and obey them. But understand; that is no reason why we +should not try to get them improved; for when they are changed +and done away according to the same law which made them, that +will be a sign that they are God’s ordinances no longer; +that God thinks we have no more need for them, and does not +require us to keep them. But as long as any law is what St. +Paul calls “the powers that be,” obeyed it must be, +not only for wrath, but for conscience’s sake.</p> +<p>That is a very important part of the matter. Obey the +law, St. Paul says, not only for wrath, that is, not only for +fear of punishment, but for conscience’s sake. Even +if you do not expect to be punished; even if you think no one +will ever find out that you have broken the law, remember it is +God’s ordinance. He sees you. Do not hurt your +own conscience, and deaden your own sense of right and wrong, by +breaking the least or the most unjust law in the slightest +point.</p> +<p>For instance: some people think the income-tax is very unfair; +and therefore they think there is no harm in cheating the revenue +a little, by making out their income less than it is. +Others, again, think the laws against smuggling unjust and harsh; +and therefore they see no harm in trying to avoid paying duty on +goods which they bring home, whenever they have an opportunity, +or buying cheap goods, which they must know from their price are +smuggled. Others, again, think the game laws are unfair, +and therefore see no harm in going out shooting on their own +lands without a licence; while many see no harm, or say they see +no harm, in poaching on other people’s grounds, and killing +game contrary to law wherever they can. That it is wrong to +break the law in these two first cases, you all know in your own +hearts. On the matter of poaching, some of you, I know, +have many very mistaken notions. But, my friends, I ask you +only to look at the sin and misery which poaching causes, if you +want to see that those who break the law do indeed break the +ordinance of God, and that God’s laws avenge +themselves. Look at the idleness, the untidiness, the +deceit, the bad company, the drunkenness, the misery and sin, to +man, woman, and child, which that same poaching brings about, and +then see how one little sin brings on many great ones; how a man, +by despising the authority of law, and fancying that he does no +harm in disobeying the laws, from his own fancy about poaching +being no harm, falls into temptation and a snare, and pierces +himself through with many sorrows. My young friends, +believe my words. Avoid poaching, even once in a way. +The beginning of sin is like the letting out of water; no one can +tell where it will stop. He who breaks the law in little +things will be tempted to go on and break it in greater and +greater things. He who begins by breaking man’s law, +which is the pattern of God’s law, will be tempted to go on +and break God’s law also. Is it not so? There +is no use telling me, “The game is no one’s; there is +no harm in taking it.” Light words of that kind will +not do to answer God with. You know there is harm in taking +it; for you know, as well as I do, that you cannot go after game +without neglecting your work to get it; or without going to the +worst of public-houses, among the worst of company, to sell +it. You know, as well as I do, that hand in hand with +poaching go lying, and idling, and sneaking, and fear, and +boasting, and swearing, and drinking, and the company of bad men +and bad women. And then you say there is no harm in +poaching. Do you suppose that I do not know, as well as any +one of you here, what goes to the snaring of a hare, and the +selling of a hare, and the spending of the ill-got price of a +hare? My dear young men, I know that poaching, like many +other sins, is tempting: but God has told us to flee from +temptation—to resist the devil, and he will flee from +us. If we are to give up ourselves without a struggle to +every pleasant thing which tempts us, we shall soon be at the +devil’s door. We were sent into the world to fight +against temptation and to conquer it. We were sent into the +world to do what God likes, not what we like; and therefore we +were sent into the world to obey the laws of the land wherein we +live, be they better or worse; because if we break one law +because we don’t like it, our neighbour may break another +because he don’t like that, and so forth; till there is +neither law, nor peace, nor safety, but every man doing what is +right in his own eyes, which is sure to end by every man’s +doing what is right in the devil’s eyes. We were sent +into the world to live as brothers, under laws which make us give +up our own wills and selfish lusts for the common good. And +if we find it difficult to keep the laws, if we are tempted to +break the laws, God has promised His Spirit to those who ask +Him. God has promised His Spirit to us. If we pray +for that Spirit night and morning, He will make it easy for us to +keep the laws. He will make us what our Lord was before us, +humble, patient, loving, manful and strong enough to restrain our +fancies and appetites, and to give up our wills for the good of +our neighbours, anxious and careful to avoid all appearance of +evil, trusting that because God is just, and God is King, all +laws which are not wicked are His ordinance, and therefore being +obedient to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, +even as Jesus Christ Himself was, who, though He was Lord of all, +paid taxes and tribute money to the Roman government, like the +rest of the Jews, and kept the law of Moses perfectly, and was +baptised with John’s baptism, to show that in all just and +reasonable things we are to obey the laws and customs of our +forefathers, in the country to which it has pleased the Lord that +we should belong.</p> +<h2><a name="page275"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +275</span><span class="GutSmall">XXVII.</span><br /> +THE SOURCE OF LAW.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Let every soul be subject unto the higher +powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers +that be are ordained of God.—<span +class="smcap">Romans</span> xiii. 1.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> this chapter, which we read for +the second lesson for this afternoon’s service, St. Paul +gives good advice to the Romans, and equally good advice to +us.</p> +<p>Of course what he says must be equally good for us, and for +all people, at all times, in all countries, as long as time shall +last; because St. Paul spoke by the Spirit of God, who is God +eternal, and therefore cannot change His mind, but lays down, by +the mouth of His apostles and prophets, the everlasting laws of +right and wrong, which are always equally good for all.</p> +<p>But there is something in this lesson which makes it +especially useful to us; because we English are in some very +important matters very like the Romans to whom St. Paul wrote; +though in others, thanks to Almighty God, we are still very +unlike them.</p> +<p>Now, these old Romans, as I have often told you, had risen to +be the greatest and mightiest people in the world, and to conquer +many foreign countries, and set up colonies of Romans in them, +very much as the English have done in India, and North America, +and Australia: so that the little country of Italy, with its one +great city of Rome, was mistress of vast lands far beyond the +seas, ten times as large as itself, just as this little England +is.</p> +<p>But it is not so much this which I have to speak to you about +now, as how this Rome became so great; for it was at first +nothing but a poor little country town, without money, armies, +trade, or any of those things which shallow-minded people fancy +are the great strength of a nation. True, all those things +are good; but they are useless and hurtful—and, what is +more, they cannot be got—without something better than +them; something which you cannot see nor handle; something +spiritual, which is the life and heart of a country or nation, +and without which it can never become great. This the old +Romans had; and it made them become great. This we English +have had for now fifteen hundred years; even when our forefathers +were heathens, like the Romans, before we came into this good +land of England, while we were poor and simple people, living in +the barren moors of Germany, and the snowy mountains of Norway; +even then we had this wonderful charm, by which nations are sure +to become great and powerful at last; and in proportion as we +have remembered and acted upon it, we English have thriven and +spread; and whenever we have forgotten it and broken it, we have +fallen into distress, and poverty, and shame, over the whole +land.</p> +<p>Now, what is this wonderful charm which made the old Romans +and we English great, which is stronger than money, and armies, +and trade, and all the things which we can see and handle?</p> +<p>St. Paul tells us in the text: “Let every soul be +subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of +God. The powers that be are ordained of God.”</p> +<p>To respect the law; to believe that God wills men to live +according to law; and that He will teach men right and good laws; +that magistrates who enforce the laws are God’s ministers, +God’s officers and servants; that to break the laws is to +sin against God;—that is the charm which worked such +wonders, and will work them to the end of time.</p> +<p>So you see it was a very proper thing for St. Paul, when he +wrote to these Romans after they became Christians, to speak to +them as he does in this chapter. They might have fancied, +and many did fancy, that because they were Jesus Christ’s +servants now, they need not obey their heathen rulers and laws +any more. But St. Paul says: “No; Jesus +Christ’s being King of Kings, is only the strongest +possible reason for your obeying these heathen rulers. For +if He is King of all the earth, He is King of Rome also, and of +all her colonies; and therefore you may be sure that He would not +leave these Roman rulers, and laws here if He did not think it +right and fitting. If Jesus Christ is Lord of lords He is +Lord of these Roman rulers, and they are His ministers and +stewards; and you must obey them, and pay taxes to them for +conscience’s sake, as unto the Lord, and not unto +man.”</p> +<p>So you see that St. Paul gave these Roman Christians no new +commandment on these matters; nothing different from what their +old heathen forefathers had believed. For the law which he +mentions in verse 9, “Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not +steal,” etc., had been for centuries past part of the old +Roman law, as well as of Moses’ law.</p> +<p>Those old heathen Romans believed, and rightly, that all law +and order came from the great God of gods, whom they called in +their tongue Jupiter, that is, the Heavenly Father. They +believed that He would bless those who kept the laws; who kept +their oaths and agreements, and the laws about government, about +marriage, about property, about inheritance; and that He would +surely punish those who broke the laws, who defrauded their +neighbours of their rights, who swore falsely against their +neighbour, or broke their agreements, who were unfaithful to +their wives and husbands, or in any way offended against justice +between man and man. And they believed too, and rightly, +that as long as they kept the laws, and lived justly and orderly +by them, the great Heavenly Father would protect and prosper +their town of Rome, and make it grow great and powerful, because +they were living as He would have men live; not doing each what +was right in the sight of his own eyes, but conquering their own +selfish wills and private fancies, for the sake of their +neighbour’s good, and the good of his country, that they +might all help and trust each other, as fellow-citizens of one +nation.</p> +<p>Only St. Paul had told them: Your forefathers were right in +fancying that law and right came from the great God of gods: but +they knew hardly anything, or rather, in time they forgot almost +everything, about that Heavenly Father. In their ignorance +they mixed up the belief in the one great almighty and good God, +which dwells in the hearts of all men, with filthy fables and +superstitions till they came to fancy that there were many gods +and not one, and that these many gods were sinful, foul, proud, +and cruel, as fallen men. But you have been brought back to +the knowledge of the one true, and righteous, and loving God, +which your forefathers lost. He has revealed and shown +Himself, and what He is like, in His Son Jesus Christ. He +is love, and wisdom, and justice, and order itself; and, +therefore, you must be sure, even more sure than your old heathen +forefathers, that He cares for a nation being at peace and unity +within itself, governed by wise laws, doing justice between man +and man, and keeping order throughout all its business, that +every man may do his work and enjoy his wages without hindrance, +or confusion, or fear, or robbery and oppression from those who +are stronger than he.</p> +<p>And so St. Paul says to them: “You must believe that +power and law come from God, far more firmly and clearly than +ever your heathen forefathers did.”</p> +<p>Now that St. Paul was right in this we may see from the Old +Testament. In the first lesson for this afternoon’s +service, we read how Jeremiah was sent with the most awful +warnings to the king, and the queen, and the crown prince of his +country. And why? Because they had broken the laws; +because, in a word, they had been unfaithful stewards and +ministers of the Lord God, who had given them their power and +kingdom, and would demand a strict account of all which He had +committed to their charge. But in the same book of the +prophet Jeremiah we read more than this; we read exactly what St. +Paul says about the heathen Roman governors: for the Lord God, +who is the Lord Jesus Christ, sent Jeremiah with a message to all +the heathen kings round about, to tell them that He was their +Lord and Master, that He had given them their power, heathens as +they were, because it seemed fit to Him, and that now, for their +sins, He was going to deliver them over into the hand of another +heathen, His servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and that +whosoever would not serve Nebuchadnezzar, the Lord God would +punish him with sword, and famine, and pestilence till he had +consumed them. And the first four chapters of the book of +Daniel, noble and wonderful as they are, seem to me to have been +put into the Bible simply to teach us this one thing, that +heathen rulers, as well as Christians, are the Lord’s +servants, and that their power is ordained by God. For +these chapters are entirely made up of the history, how God, by +His prophet Daniel, taught the heathen king Nebuchadnezzar that +he was God’s minister and steward. And the latter +part of the book of Daniel is the account of his teaching the +same thing to another heathen, Cyrus the great and good king of +Persia. And here St. Paul teaches the Christian Romans just +the same thing about their heathen governors and heathen laws, +that they are the ministers and the ordinance of God.</p> +<p>Now, our own English forefathers, as I said before, believed +this same thing; and if I had time, I could show you, I think, +plainly enough from God’s dealings with England, how He has +blest and prospered us whensoever we have acted up to it. +But whether we have believed it or not, there is enough in our +English laws, and in our English Prayer Book too, to witness for +it and remind us of it.</p> +<p>The very title which we give the Queen, “Queen by the +grace of God;” the solemn prayers for her when she is +crowned and anointed, not in her own palace, or in the House of +Parliament, but in the Church of God at Westminster; the prayers +which we have just offered up for the Queen, for the government, +and for the magistrates—these are all so many signs and +tokens to us that they are God’s stewards, called to do +God’s work, and that we must pray for God’s grace to +help them to fulfil their calling. And are not those ten +commandments which stand in every church, a witness of the same +thing? They are the very root of all law whatsoever. +And more, the solemn oath which a witness takes in the court of +justice, what is it but a sign of the same thing, that our +forefathers, who appointed these forms, believed that law and +justice were holy things, and that he who goes into a court of +law goes into the presence of God Himself, and confesses, when he +promises to speak the truth, so help him God, that God is the +protector and the avenger of law and justice?</p> +<p>But some people, and especially young and light-hearted +persons, are ready to say: “Obey the powers that be, +whosoever they may be, good or bad, and believe that to break +their laws is to sin against God? We might as well be +slaves at once. A man has a right to his own opinion; and +if he does not think a law good, how can he be bound to obey +it?”</p> +<p>You will often hear such words as those when you go out into +the world, into great towns, where men meet together much. +Let me give you, young people, a little advice about that +beforehand; for, fine as it sounds, it is hollow and false at +root.</p> +<p>If you wish to be really free, and to do what you like, like +what is right; and do that, says St. Paul, and then the law will +not interfere with you: “For rulers are not a terror to +good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid +of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have +praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for +good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he +beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a +revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” +And then he sums up what doing right is, in one short sentence: +“Love thy neighbour as thyself; for love is the fulfilling +of the law.” All that the laws want to make you do, +is to behave like men who do love their neighbours as themselves, +and therefore do them no harm—to behave like men who are +ready to give up their own private wills and pleasures, and even +their own private property, if wanted, for the good of their +neighbours and their country. Therefore the law calls on +you to pay rates and taxes, which are to be spent for the good of +the nation at large. And if you love your neighbour as +yourself, and have the good of everyone round you at heart, you +will no more grudge paying rates and taxes for their benefit than +you will grudge spending money to support and educate your own +children. And so you will be free, free to do what you +like, because you like, from the fear and love of God, to do +those right things which the law is set to make you do.</p> +<p>But some may say: “That is not what we mean by being +free. We mean having a share in choosing Members of +Parliament, and so in making the laws and governing the +country. When people can do that the country is a free +country.”</p> +<p>Well, my friends, and it is a strange thing, or rather not a +strange thing, if we will but study our Bibles, that a country +cannot be free in that way, unless the people of it do really +believe that the powers that be are ordained of God. +Instead of that faith making the old Romans slavish, or careless +what laws were made, or how they were governed, as some fancy it +would make a people, they were as free a people, and freer almost +than we English now. They chose their own magistrates, and +they made their own laws, and prospered by so doing. And +why? Because they believed that laws came from God; and, +therefore, they not only obeyed the laws when they were made, but +they had heart and spirit to help to make them, because they +trusted that The Heavenly Father, who loved justice, would teach +them to be just, and that The God who protected laws and punished +law-breakers, would put into their minds how to make the laws +well; and so they were not afraid to govern themselves, because +they believed that God would enable them to govern themselves +well, and therefore they were free. And so far from their +having a slavish spirit in them, they were the most bold and +independent people of the whole earth. Their soldiers +conquered almost every nation against whom they fought, because +they always obeyed their officers dutifully and faithfully, +believing that it was their duty to God to obey, and to die, if +need was, for their country. Old history is full of tales, +which will never be forgotten, I trust, till the world’s +end, of the noble deeds of their men, ay, and even of their +women, who counted their own lives worthless in comparison with +the good of their country, and died in torments rather than break +the laws, or do what they knew would injure the people to whom +they belonged.</p> +<p>And so with us English. For hundreds of years we have +been growing more and more free, and more and more well-governed, +simply because we have been acting on St. Paul’s +doctrine—obeying the powers that be, because they are +ordained by God. It is the Englishman’s respect for +law, as a sacred thing, which he dare not break, which has made +him, sooner or later, respected and powerful wherever he goes to +settle in foreign lands; because foreigners can trust us to be +just, and to keep our promises, and to abide by the laws which we +have laid down. It is the English respect for law, as a +sacred thing, which has made our armies among the bravest and the +most successful on earth; because they know how to obey their +officers, and are therefore able to fight and to endure as men +should do. And as long as we hold to that belief we shall +prosper at home and abroad, and become more and more free, and +more and more strong; because we shall be united, helping each +other, trusting each other, knowing what to expect of each other, +because we all honour and obey the same laws.</p> +<p>And, on the other hand, have we not close to us, in France, a +fearful sign and proof from God that without the fear of God no +people can be free? Three times in the last sixty years +have the French risen up against evil rulers, and driven them +out. And have they been the better for it? They are +at this very moment in utter slavery to a ruler more lawless than +ever oppressed them before. And why? Because they did +not believe that law came from God, and that the powers that be +are ordained by Him. Therefore, whenever they were +oppressed, they did not try to right themselves by lawful ways, +according to the old English God-fearing custom, but to break +down the old law by riot and bloodshed, and then to set up new +laws of their own. But those new laws would never +stand. They made them, but they would not obey them when +they were made, and they could not make others obey them; because +they had no real reverence for law, and did not believe that law +came from God, or that His Spirit would give them understanding +to make good laws. They talked loud about the power and +rights of the people, and that whatever the people willed was +right: but they said nothing about the power and rights of the +Lord God; they forgot that it is only what God has willed from +everlasting that is right; and so they made laws in the strength +of their own hearts, according to what was right in the sight of +their own eyes, to please themselves. How could they +respect the laws, when the laws were only copies of their own +selfish fancies? So, because they made them to please +themselves, they soon broke them to please themselves. And +so came more lawlessness and riot, and confusion worse +confounded, till, of course, the strongest, and cunningest, and +most shameless got the upper hand; and they were plunged, poor +creatures! into the same pit of misery out of which they had been +trying to deliver themselves in their own strength, for a sign +and an example that the Lord is King, and not man at all, and +that the fear of the Lord is the only beginning of wisdom.</p> +<p>And very much the same sad fate had happened to the Romans a +little before St. Paul’s time. They gave up their +ancient respect for law; they broke the laws, and ran into all +kinds of violence, and riot, and filthy sin; and therefore God +took away their freedom from them, because they were not fit for +it, and delivered them over into the hand of one cruel tyrant +after another; and perhaps the cruellest of them all was the man +who was emperor of Rome in St. Paul’s time. Therefore +it was that St. Paul says to them: Love each other, and obey the +laws, “knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake +out of sleep.”</p> +<p>As much as to say: “Your souls have fallen asleep; you +have been in a dark night, not seeing that God would avenge you +of all these sins of yours; that God’s eye was on them: you +have fallen asleep and forgotten your forefathers’ belief, +that God loves law, and order, and justice, and will punish those +who break through them. But now the Lord Jesus, the light +of the world, is come to awaken you, and to open your eyes to see +the truth about this, and to show you that you are in God’s +kingdom, and that God commands you to repent, and to obey Him, +and do justly and righteously. Therefore awake out of your +sleep; give up the works of darkness, those mean and wicked +habits which were contrary to the good old laws of your +forefathers, and which you were at heart ashamed of, and tried to +hide even while you indulged in them. Open your eyes, and +see that God is near you, your Judge, your King, seeing through +and through your souls, keen and sharp to discern the secret +thoughts and intents of the heart, so that all things are naked +and open in the sight of Him with whom we have to do.”</p> +<p>And so I may say to you, my friends, it is high time for us to +awake out of sleep. The people in England, religious as +well as others, have fallen asleep of late years too much about +this matter. They have forgotten that God is King, that +magistrates are God’s ministers. They talk as if laws +were meant to be only the device of man’s will, to serve +men’s private interests and selfishness; and therefore they +have lost very much of their respect for law, and their care to +make good laws for the future. And it is high time for us, +while all the nations of Europe are tottering and crumbling round +us, to awake out of sleep on this matter. We must open our +eyes and see where we are. For we are in God’s +kingdom. God’s Bible, God’s churches, +God’s commandments, and all the solemn old law forms of +England witness to us that God is King, set in the throne which +judges right; that order and justice, fellow-feeling and public +spirit, are His gifts, His likeness, on which He looks down with +loving care and protection; and that if we forget that, and begin +to fancy that law stands merely by the will of the many, or by +the will of the stronger, or even by the will of the +wiser—by any will of man in short; we shall end by neither +being able to make just laws any more, nor to obey those which we +have, by the blessing of God, already.</p> +<h2><a name="page287"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +287</span><span class="GutSmall">XXVIII.</span><br /> +THE EDUCATION OF A HEATHEN.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, and extol, and honour +the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways +judgment; and those that walk in pride He is able to +abase.—<span class="smcap">Daniel</span> iv. 37.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> read for the first lesson to-day +two chapters out of the book of Daniel. Those who love to +study their Bibles, have read often, of course, not only these +two chapters, but the whole book.</p> +<p>And I would advise all of you who wish to understand +God’s dealings with mankind, to study this book of Daniel, +and especially at this present time.</p> +<p>I do not wish you to study it merely on account of those +prophecies in it, which many wise and good men think foretell the +dates of our Lord’s first and second comings, and of the +end of the world. I am not skilled, my friends, in that +kind of wisdom. I cannot tell you what God will do +hereafter. But I think that the book of Daniel like the +other prophets, tells us what God is always doing on earth, and +so gives us certain and eternal rules by which we may understand +strange and terrible events, wars, distress of nations, the fall +of great men, and the suffering of innocent men, when we see them +happen, as we may see any day—perhaps very soon indeed.</p> +<p>The great lesson, I think, that this book of Daniel teaches us +is, that God is not the Lord of the Jews only, or of Christians +only, but of the whole earth; that the heathens are under His +moral law and government, as well as we; and that, as St. Peter +says, God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he +that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of +him. For the history of Nebuchadnezzar seems to me to be +the history of God’s educating a heathen and an idolater to +know Him. And we must always remember, that as far as we +can see, it was because Nebuchadnezzar was faithful to the light +which he had, that God gave him more. Of course he had his +sins; the Bible tells us what they were; just the sins which one +would expect of a man brought up a heathen and an idolater; of +one who was a great conqueror, and had gained many bloody +battles, and learned to hold men’s lives very cheap; of one +who was an absolute emperor, with no law but his own will, +furious at any contradiction; of a man of wonderful power of +mind—confident in himself, his own power, his own +cunning. But he seems not to have been a bad man, +considering his advantages. The Bible never speaks harshly +of him, though he carried away the Jews captive to Babylon. +In all that fearful war, Nebuchadnezzar was in the right, and the +Jews in the wrong; so at least Jeremiah the prophet +declared. Nebuchadnezzar saved and respected Jeremiah; and +Daniel seems to have regarded the great conqueror with real +respect and affection. When Daniel says to him, “O +king, live for ever,” and tells him that he is the head of +gold, and prays that his fearful dream may come true of his +enemies and not of him, I cannot believe that the prophet was +using mere empty phrases of court-flattery. He really felt, +I doubt not, that Nebuchadnezzar was a great and good king, as +kings went then, and his government a gain (as it easily might +be) to the nations whom he had conquered, and that it was good +that he should reign as long as possible.</p> +<p>And we may well believe Daniel’s interest in this great +king, when we consider how teachable Nebuchadnezzar showed +himself under God’s education of him, so proving that there +was in him the honest and good heart, which, when The Word is +sown in it, will bring forth fruit, thirty-fold or a +hundred-fold, according to the talents which God has bestowed on +each man.</p> +<p>This first lesson we read in the first chapter of +Daniel. He dreamt a dream. He felt that it was a very +wonderful one: but he forgot what it was. None of the +magicians of Babylon could tell him. A young Jew, named +Daniel, told him the dream and its meaning, and declared at the +same time that he had found it out by no wisdom of his own, but +God had revealed it to him. Nebuchadnezzar learned his +lesson, and confessed Daniel’s God to be a God of gods and +a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing that Daniel +could reveal that secret; and forthwith, like a wise prince, +advanced Daniel and his companions to places of the highest +authority and trust.</p> +<p>But Nebuchadnezzar required another lesson. He had +learned that the God of the Jews was wiser than all the planets +and heavenly lords and gods whom the Babylonian magicians +consulted; he had not learned that that same God of the Jews was +the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth. He had learned +that the God of heaven favoured him, and had helped him toward +his power and glory; but he thought that for that very reason the +power and glory were his own—that he had a right over the +souls and consciences of his subjects, and might make them +worship what he liked, and how he liked.</p> +<p>Three Jews, whom he had set over the affairs of Babylon, +refused to worship the golden image which he had set up, and were +cast into a fiery furnace, and forthwith miraculously delivered, +and beheld by Nebuchadnezzar walking unhurt and loose in the +midst of the furnace, and with them a fourth, whose form was like +the form of the Son of God.</p> +<p>So Nebuchadnezzar was taught that this God of the Jews was the +Lord of men’s souls and consciences; that they were to obey +God rather than man. So he was taught that the God of the +Jews was no mere star or heavenly influence who could help +men’s fortunes, or bestow on them a certain fixed destiny; +but a living person, the Lord and Master of the fire, and of all +the powers of the earth, who could change and stop those powers +at His will, to deliver those who trusted in Him and obeyed +Him.</p> +<p>And this lesson, too, Nebuchadnezzar learned. He +confessed his mistake upon the spot, just in the way in which we +should have expected a great Eastern king to do, though not in +the most enlightened or merciful way. He “blessed the +God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel, +and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. Therefore I +make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which +speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and +Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses be made a +dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after +this sort.”</p> +<p>But there was still one deep mistake lying in the great +king’s heart which required to be rooted out. He had +learnt that Jehovah, the God of the Jews, was a revealer of +secrets, a master of the fire, a deliverer of those who trusted +in Him, a living personal Lord, wise, just, and faithful, very +different from any of his star gods or idols. But he looked +upon Jehovah only as the God of the Jews, as Daniel’s +God. He had not yet learnt that God was <i>his</i> God as +well as Daniel’s; that Jehovah was very near his heart and +mind, and had been near him all his life; that from Jehovah came +all his wisdom, his strength of mind, his success, and all which +made him differ, not only from his fellow-men, but from the +beast; that Jehovah, in a word, was the light and the life of the +world, who fills all things and by whom all things consist, +deserted by whose inward light, even for a moment, man becomes as +one of the beasts which perish. In his own eyes +Nebuchadnezzar was still the great self-dependent, self-sufficing +conqueror, wiser and stronger than all the men around him. +He thought, most probably, that on account of his wisdom, and +courage, and royalty of soul, the God of heaven had become fond +of him and favoured him. In short, he was swollen with +pride.</p> +<p>God sent him again a strange dream, which made him troubled +and afraid. He told it to his old counsellor Daniel; and +Daniel, at the danger of his life, interpreted it for him; and a +very awful meaning it had. A fearful and shameful downfall +was to come upon the king; no less than the loss of his reason, +and with it, of his throne. But whether this came to pass +or not, depended, like all God’s everlasting promises and +threats, on Nebuchadnezzar’s own behaviour. If he +repented, and broke off his sins by righteousness, and his +iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, there was good reason to +hope that so his tranquillity might be lengthened.</p> +<p>But the lesson was too hard for the proud conqueror; he did +not take the warning. He could not believe that the Most +High ruled in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He +will. He still fancied that he, and such as he, were the +lords of the world, and took from others by their own power and +cunning whatsoever they would. He does not seem to have +been angry, however, with Daniel for his plain speaking. +Most Eastern kings like Nebuchadnezzar would have put Daniel to a +cruel death on the spot as the bearer of evil news, speaking +blasphemy against the king; and no one in those times and +countries would have considered him wicked and cruel for so +doing; but Nebuchadnezzar seems to have learnt too much already +so to give way to his passion.</p> +<p>Yet, as I said before, he had not learned enough to take +God’s warning. The lesson that he was nothing, and +that God is all in all, was too hard for him. And, alas! my +friends, for whom of us is it not a hard lesson? And yet it +is the golden lesson, the first and the last which man has to +learn on earth, ay, and through all eternity: “I am +nothing; God is all in all.” All in us which is worth +calling anything; all in us which is worth having, or worth +being; all in us which is not disobedience and shortcoming, +failure and mistake, ignorance and madness, filthiness and +fierceness, as of the beasts which perish; all strength in us, +all understanding, all prudence, all right-mindedness, all +purity, all justice, all love; all in us which is worth living +for, all in us which is really alive, and not mere death in life, +the death of sin and the darkness of the pit—all is from +God the Father of lights, and from Jesus Christ the life and the +light, who lighteth every man who cometh into the world, shining +for ever in the darkness of our spirits, though that darkness, +alas! too often cannot comprehend, and embrace, and confess Him +who is striving to awake it from the dead and give it +light. Hardest of all lessons! Most blessed of all +lessons! So blessed, that if we will not let God teach it +us in any other way, it would be good and advantageous to us for +Him to teach it us as He taught it to Nebuchadnezzar—good +for us to become with him for awhile like the beasts that perish, +that we might learn with him to lift up our eyes to heaven, and +so have our understandings return to us, and learn to bless the +Most High, and not our own wit, and cunning, and prudence; and +praise and honour Him that liveth for ever, instead of praising +and honouring our own pitiful paltry selves, who are in death in +the midst of life, who come up and are cut down like the flower, +and never continue in one stay.</p> +<p>“All this came upon the King +Nebuchadnezzar.” It seems that after he or his father +had destroyed the old Babylon, the downfall of which Isaiah had +prophesied, he built a great city, after the fashion of Eastern +conquerors, near the ruins of the old one; and “at the end +of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of +Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great +Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the +might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While +the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from +heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, The +kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee +from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: +they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall +pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the +kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will. The +same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar.”</p> +<p>What a lesson! The great conqueror of all the East now a +brutal madman, hateful and disgusting to all around him—a +beast feeding among the beasts: and yet a cheap price—a +cheap price—to pay for this golden lesson.</p> +<p>Seven times past over him in his madness. What those +seven times were we do not know. They may have been actual +years: or they may have been, as I am inclined to think, changes +in his own soul and state of mind. But, at the end of the +days, the truth dawned on him. He began to see what it all +meant. He saw what he was, and why he was so; and he lifted +up his eyes to heaven; and from that moment his madness +past. He lifted up his eyes to heaven. That is no +mere figure of speech: it is an actual truth. Most madmen, +if you watch them, have that down look, or rather that inward +look, as if their eyes were fixed only on their own +fancies. They are thinking only of themselves, poor +creatures—of their own selfish and private suspicions and +wrongs—of their own selfish superstitious dreams about +heaven or hell—of their own selfish vanity and +ambition—sometimes of their own frantic self-conceit, or of +their selfish lusts and desires—of themselves, in +short. They have lost the one Divine light of reason, and +conscience, and love, which binds men to each other, and are +parted for a while from God and from their kind—alone in +their own darkness. So was Nebuchadnezzar.</p> +<p>At last he looked up, as men do when they pray; up from +himself to One greater than himself; up from the earth to heaven; +up from the natural things which we do see, which are temporal +and born to die, to moral and spiritual things which we do not +see, which are real and eternal in the heavens; up from his own +lonely darkness, looking for the light and the guidance of God; +for now he began to see that all the light which he had ever had, +all his wisdom, and understanding, and strength of will, had come +from God, however he might have misused them for his own selfish +ambition; that it was because God had taken from him His light, +who is the Word of God, that he had become a beast. And +then his reason returned to him, and he became again a man, a +rational being, made, howsoever fallen and sinful, in the +likeness of God; then he blessed and praised God. It was +not merely that he confessed that God was strong, and he weak; +righteous, and he sinful; wise, and he foolish; but he blessed +and praised God; he felt and confessed that God had done him a +great benefit, and taught him a great lesson—that God had +taught him what he was in himself and without God, that he might +see what he was with God in its true light, and honour and obey +Him from whom his reason and understanding, as well as his power +and glory, came, that so it might be fulfilled which the prophet +says: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the +mighty man in his might, nor the rich man in his riches: but let +him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and +knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, +judgment, and righteousness <i>in the earth</i>; for in these +things I delight, saith the Lord.”</p> +<p>And so was Nebuchadnezzar’s soul brought to utter, in +his own way, the very same glorious song which, or something like +it, is said to have been sung by the three men whom, years +before, he had seen delivered from the fiery furnace, which calls +on all the works of the Lord, angels and heaven, sun and stars, +seas and winds, mountains and hills, fowls and cattle, priests +and laymen, spirits and souls of the righteous, to bless the +Lord, praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.</p> +<p>And so ends Nebuchadnezzar’s history. We read no +more of him. He had learnt the golden lesson. May God +grant that we may learn it also!</p> +<p>But who tells the story of his madness? He +himself. The whole account is in the man’s own +words. It seems to be some public letter or proclamation, +which he either sent round his empire, or commanded to be laid up +among his records; having, as it seems, set Daniel to write it +down from his mouth. This one fact, I think, justifies me +in all that I have said about Nebuchadnezzar’s nobleness, +and Daniel’s affection for him. He does not try to +smooth things over; to pretend that he has not been mad; to find +excuses for himself; to lay any blame on any human being. +He repents openly, confesses openly. Shameful as it may be +to him, he tells the whole story. He confesses that he had +fair warning, that all was his own fault. He justifies God +utterly. My friends, we may read, thank God, many noble, +and brave, and righteous speeches of kings and great men: but +never have I read one so noble, so brave, so righteous as this of +the great king of Babylon.</p> +<p>And therefore it is; because this letter of his, in the fourth +chapter of the book of Daniel, is indeed full of the eternal Holy +Spirit of God; therefore it is, I say, that it forms part of the +Bible, part of holy scripture to this day,—a greater honour +to Nebuchadnezzar than all his kingdom; for what greater honour +than to have been inspired to write one chapter, yea, one +sentence, of the Book of Books?</p> +<p>My friends, every one of you here is in God’s +school-house, under God’s teaching, far more than +Nebuchadnezzar was. You are baptised men, knowing that +blessed name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which +Nebuchadnezzar only saw dimly, and afar off. Jesus Christ, +the Word of God, is striving with your hearts, giving to them +whatsoever light and life they have. You have been taught +from childhood to look up to Him as your King and Deliverer; to +His Father as your Father, to His Holy Spirit as your +Inspirer. Take heed how you listen to His voice within your +hearts. Take heed how you learn God’s lessons; for +God is surely educating you, and teaching you far more than He +taught the king of Babylon in old time. As you learn or +despise these lessons of God’s, will be your happiness or +your misery now and for ever. Unto the king of Babylon +little was given, and of him was little required. To you +and me much has been given; of you and me will much be +required.</p> +<h2><a name="page298"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +298</span><span class="GutSmall">XXIX.</span><br /> +JEREMIAH’S CALLING.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will +raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and +prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the +earth.—<span class="smcap">Jeremiah</span> xxiii. 5.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">At</span> the time when Jeremiah the +prophet spoke those words to the Jews, nothing seemed more +unlikely than that they would ever come true. The whole +Jewish nation was falling to pieces from its own sins. +Brutish and filthy idolatry in high and low—oppression, +violence, and luxury among the court and the +nobility—shame, and poverty, and ignorance among the lower +classes—idleness and quackery among the +priesthood—and as kings over all, one fool and profligate +after another, set on the throne by a foreign conqueror, and +pulled down again by him at his pleasure. Ten out of the +twelve tribes of Israel had been carried off captive, young and +old, into a distant land. The small portion of country +which still remained inhabited round Jerusalem, had been overrun +again and again by cruel armies of heathens. Without +Jerusalem was waste and ruins, bloodshed and wretchedness; within +every kind of iniquity and lies, division and confusion. If +ever there was a miserable and contemptible people upon the face +of the earth, it was the Jewish nation in Jeremiah’s +time. Jeremiah makes no secret of it. His prophecies +are full of it—full of lamentation and shame: “Oh +that my head were a fountain of tears, to weep for the sins of my +people!” He feels that God has sent him to rebuke +those sins, to warn and prophesy to his fellow-countrymen the +certain ruin into which they are rushing headlong; and he speaks +God’s message boldly. From the poor idol-ridden +labourer, offering cakes to the Queen of Heaven to coax her into +sending him a good harvest, to the tyrant king who had built his +palace of cedar and painted it with vermilion, he had a bitter +word for every man. The lying priest tried to silence him; +and Jeremiah answered him, that his wife should be a harlot in +the city, and his children sold for slaves. The king tried +to flatter him into being quiet; and he told him in return, that +he should be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged out and +cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. The luxurious +queen, who made her nest in the cedars, would be ashamed and +confounded, he said, for her wickedness. The crown prince +was a despised broken idol—a vessel in which was no +pleasure; he should be cast out, he and his children, into +slavery in a land which he knew not. The whole royal +family, he said, would perish; none of them should ever again +prosper or sit upon the throne of David. This was his +message; shame and confusion, woe and ruin, to high and low; +every human being he passed in the street was a doomed man. +For the day of the Lord was at hand, and who should be able to +escape it?</p> +<p>A sad calling, truly, to have to work at; and all the more sad +because Jeremiah had no pride, no steadfast opinion of his own +excellence to keep him up. He hates his calling of +prophet. At the very moment he is foretelling woe, he prays +God that his prophecy may not come true; he tries every method to +prevent its coming true, by entreating his countrymen to +repent. There runs through all his awful words a vein of +tenderness, and pity, and love unspeakable, which to me is the +one great mark of a true prophet; a sign that Jeremiah spoke by +the Spirit of God; a sign that too many writers nowadays do not +speak by the Spirit of God. If they rebuke the rich and +powerful, they do it generally in a very different spirit from +Jeremiah’s—in a spirit of bitterness and insolence, +not very easy to describe, but easy enough to perceive. +They seem to rejoice in evil, to delight in finding fault, to be +sorry, and not glad, when their prophecies of evil turn out +false; to try to set one class against another, one party against +another, as if we were not miserably enough split up already by +class interests and party spirit. They are glad enough to +rebuke the wicked great; but not to their face, not to their own +danger and hurt like Jeremiah. Their plan is to accuse the +rich to the poor, on their own platform, or in their own +newspaper, where they are safe; and, moreover, to make a very +fair profit thereby; to say behind the back of authorities that +which they dare not say to their face, and which they soon give +up saying when they have worked their own way into office; and +meanwhile take mighty credit to themselves for seeing that there +is wrong and misery in the world; as if the spirits in hell +should fancy themselves righteous, because they hated the +devil! No, my friends, Jeremiah was of a very different +spirit from that. If he ever was tempted to it when he was +young, and began to fancy himself a very grand person, who had a +right to look down on his neighbours, because God had called him +and set him apart to be a prophet from his mother’s womb, +and revealed to him the doom of nations, and the secrets of His +providence—if he ever fancied that in his heart, God led +him through such an education as took all the pride out of him, +sternly and bitterly enough. He was commissioned to go and +speak terrible words, to curse kings and nobles in the name of +the Lord: but he was taught, too, that it was not a pleasant +calling, or one which was likely to pay him in this life. +His fellow-villagers plotted against his life. His wife +deserted him. The nobles threw him into a dungeon, into a +well full of mire, whence he had to be drawn up again with ropes +to save his life. He was beaten, all but starved, kept for +years in prison. He had neither child nor friend. He +had his share of all the miseries of the siege of Jerusalem, and +all the horrors of its storm; and when he was set free by +Nebuchadnezzar, and clung to his ruined home, to see if any good +could still be done to the remnant of his countrymen, he was +violently carried off into a heathen land, and at last stoned to +death, by those very countrymen of his whom he had been trying +for years to save. In everything, and by everything, he was +taught that he was still a Jew, a brother to his sinful brothers; +that their sorrows were his sorrows, their shame his shame, their +ruin his ruin. In all their afflictions he was afflicted, +even as his Lord was after him.</p> +<p>He struggled, we find, again and again against this strange +and sad calling of a prophet. He cried out in bitter agony +that God had deceived him; had induced him to become a prophet, +and then repaid him for speaking God’s message with nothing +but disappointment and misery. And yet he felt he must +speak; God, he said, was stronger than he was, and forced him to +it. He said: “I will speak no more words in His name; +but the Word of the Lord was as fire within his bones, and would +not let him rest;” and so, in spite of himself, he told the +truth, and suffered for it; and hated to have to tell it, and +pitied and loved the very country which he rebuked till he cursed +“the day in which he saw the light, and the hour in which +it was said to his father, there is a man-child +born.” You who fancy that it is a fine thing, and a +paying profession, to be a preacher of righteousness and a +rebuker of sin, look at Jeremiah, and judge! For as surely +as you or any other man is sent by God to do Jeremiah’s +work, so surely he must expect Jeremiah’s wages.</p> +<p>Do you think, then, that Jeremiah was a man only to be +pitied? Pitiable he was indeed, and sad. There was +One hung on a cross eighteen hundred years ago, more pitiable +still: and yet He is the Lord of heaven and earth. Yes; +Jeremiah had a sad life to live, and a sad task to work out; and +yet, my friends, was not that a cheap price to pay for the honour +and glory of being taught by God’s Spirit, and of speaking +God’s words? I do not mean the mere honour of having +his fame and name spread over all Christ’s kingdom; the +honour of having his writings read and respected by the wisest +and the holiest to the end of time; that mere earthly fame is but +a slight matter. I mean the real honour, the real glory, of +knowing what was utterly right and true, and therefore of knowing +Him who is utterly right and true; of knowing God; of knowing +what God’s character is: that he is a living God, and not a +dead one; a God who is near and not absent at all, loving and +merciful, just and righteous, strong and mighty to save. +Ay, my friends, this is the lesson which God taught Jeremiah; to +know the Lord of heaven and earth, and to see His hand, His rule, +in all that was happening to his fellow-countrymen, and himself; +to know that from the beginning the Lord, the Saviour-God, +Jehovah, the messenger of the covenant, He who brought up the +Jews out of Egypt, was the wise and just and loving King of the +Jews, and of all the nations upon earth; and that some day or +other He must and would conquer all the sinfulness, and misery, +and tyranny, and idolatry in the world, and show Himself openly +to men, and fulfil all the piteous longings after a just and good +king which poor wretches had ever felt, and all the glorious +promises of a just and good king which God had made to the wise +men of old time; and, therefore, in the midst of shame and +persecution, despair and ruin, Jeremiah could rejoice. +Jehoiakim, the wicked king, and all his royal house, might be +driven out into slavery; Jerusalem might become a heap of ruins +and corpses; the fair land of Judæa, and the village where +he was bred, might become thorns, and thistles, and heaps of +stones; the vineyard which he loved, the little estate at +Anathoth which had belonged to him, might be trodden down by the +stranger, and he himself die in a foreign land; around him might +be nothing but sin and decay, before him nothing but despair and +ruin: yet still there was hope, joy, everlasting certainty for +that poor, childless, captive old man; for he had found out that +the Lord still lived, the Lord still reigned. He could not +lie; he could not forget his people. Could a mother forget +her sucking child? No. When the Jews turned to Him, +He would still have mercy. His punishment of them was a +sign that he still cared for them. If He had forgotten +them, He would have let them go on triumphant in their +iniquity. No. All these afflictions were meant to +chasten them, teach them, bring them back to Him. It would +be good for them, an actual blessing to them, to be taken away +into captivity in Babylon. It might be hard to believe, but +it must be true. The Lord of Israel, the Saviour-God, who +had been caring for them so long, rising up early and sending His +prophets to them, pleading with them as a father with his child, +He would have mercy; He would teach them, in sorrow and slavery, +the lesson they were too rebellious and hard-hearted to learn in +prosperity and freedom: that the Lord was their righteousness, +and that there was no other name under heaven which could save +them from the plague, and from the famine, from the swords of the +Chaldeans, or from the division, and oppression, and brutishness, +and manifold wickedness, which was their ruin. And then +Jeremiah saw and felt—how we cannot tell—but there +his words, the words of this text, stand to this day, to show +that he did see and feel it, that some day or other, in +God’s good time, the Jews would have a true King—a +very different king from Jehoiakim the tyrant—a son of +David in a very different sense from what Jehoiakim was; that He +would come, and must come, sooner or later, The unseen King, who +had all along been governing Jews and heathens, and telling his +prophets that Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, the Chaldee and the +Persian, were his servants as well as they, and that all the +nations of the earth could do but what he chose. +“Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise +unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and +prosper, and shall execute justice and judgment on the +earth.”</p> +<p>This was the blessed knowledge which God gave Jeremiah in +return for all the misery he had to endure in warning his +countrymen of their sins. And this same blessed knowledge, +the knowledge that the earth is the Lord’s, that to Jesus +Christ is given, as He said Himself, all power in heaven and +earth, and that He is reigning, and must reign, and conquer, and +triumph till He has put all His enemies under His feet, God will +surely give to everyone, high or low, who follows +Jeremiah’s example, who boldly and faithfully warns the +sinner of his way, who rebukes the wickedness which he sees +around him: only he must do it in the spirit of Jeremiah. +He must not be insolent to the insolent, or proud to the +proud. He must not be puffed up, and fancy that because he +sees the evil of sin, and the certain ruin which is the fruit of +it, that he is therefore to keep apart from his +fellow-countrymen, and despise them in Pharisaic pride. +No. The truly Christian man, the man who, like Jeremiah, +has the Spirit of God in him, will feel the most intense pity and +tenderness of sinners. He will not only rebuke the sins of +his people, but mourn for them; he will be afflicted in all their +affliction. However harshly he may have to speak, he will +never forget that they are his countrymen, his brothers, children +of the same Father, to be judged by the same Lord. He will +feel with shame and fear that he has in himself the root of the +very same sins which he sees working death around him—that +if others are covetous, he might be so too—if they be +profligate, and deceitful, and hypocritical, without God in the +world, he might be so too. And he must feel not only that +he might be as bad as his neighbours, but that he actually would +be, if God withdrew His Spirit from him for a moment, and allowed +him to forget the only faith which saves him from sin, loyalty to +his unseen Saviour, the righteous King of kings. Therefore +he will not only rebuke his sinful neighbours; but he will tell +them, as Jeremiah told his countrymen, that all their sin and +misery proceed from this one thing, that they have forgotten that +the Lord is their King. He will pray daily for them, that +the Lord their King may show Himself to their hearts and +thoughts, and teach them all that He has done for them, and is +doing for them; and may convert them to Himself that they may be +truly His people, and His way may be known upon earth, His saving +health among all nations.</p> +<h2><a name="page306"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +306</span><span class="GutSmall">XXX.</span><br /> +THE PERFECT KING.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King +cometh to thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the +foal of an ass.—<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxi. +5.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">You</span> all know that this Sunday is +called the First Sunday in Advent. You all know, I hope, +that Advent means coming, and that these four Sundays before +Christmas, as I have often told you, are called Advent Sundays, +because upon them we are called to consider the coming of our +King and Saviour Jesus Christ. If you will look at the +Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for these next four Sundays, you +will see at once that they all bear upon our Lord’s +coming. The Gospels tell us of the prophecies about Christ +which He fulfilled when He came. The Epistles tell us what +sort of men we ought to be, both clergy and people, because He +has come and will come again. The Collects pray that the +Spirit of God would make us fit to live and die in a world into +which Christ has come, and in which He is ruling now, and to +which He will come again. The text which I have taken this +morning, you just heard in this Sunday’s Gospel. St. +Matthew tells you that Jesus Christ fulfilled it by riding into +Jerusalem in state upon an ass’s colt; and St. Matthew +surely speaks truth. Let us consider what the prophecy is, +and how Jesus Christ fulfilled it. Then we shall see and +believe from the Epistle what effect the knowledge of it ought to +have upon our own souls, and hearts, and daily conduct.</p> +<p>Now this prophecy, “Behold, thy king cometh unto +thee,” etc., you will find in your Bibles, in the ninth +verse of the ninth chapter of the book of Zechariah. But I +do not think that Zechariah wrote it. St. Matthew does not +say he wrote it; he merely calls it that which was spoken by the +prophet, without mentioning his name. Provided it is an +inspired word from God, which it is, it perhaps does not matter +to us so much who wrote it: but I think it was written by the +prophet Jeremiah, perhaps in the beginning of the reign of the +good king Josiah; for the chapter in which this text is, and the +two or three chapters which follow, are not at all like the rest +of Zechariah’s writings, but exactly like +Jeremiah’s. They certainly seem to speak of things +which did not happen in Zechariah’s time, but in the time +of Jeremiah, nearly ninety years before. And, above all, +St. Matthew himself seems plainly to have thought that some part, +at least, of those chapters was Jeremiah’s writing; for in +the twenty-seventh chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel, and in +the ninth verse, you will find a prophecy about the +potter’s field, which St. Matthew says was spoken by +Jeremiah the prophet. Now, those words are not in the book +of Jeremiah as it stands in our Bibles: but they are in the book +of Zechariah, in the eleventh chapter, twelfth and thirteenth +verses, coming shortly after my text, and making a part of the +same prophecy. This has puzzled Christians very much, +because it seemed as if St. Matthew has made a mistake, and +miscalled Zechariah Jeremiah. But I believe firmly that, as +we are bound to expect, St. Matthew made no mistake whatsoever, +and that Jeremiah did write that prophecy as St. Matthew said, +and the two chapters before it, and perhaps the two after it, and +that they were probably kept and preserved by Zechariah during +the troublous times of the Babylonish captivity, and at last +copied by Nehemiah into Zechariah’s book of prophecy, where +they stand now; and I think it is a comfort to know this, and to +find that the evangelist St. Matthew has not made a mistake, but +knew the Scriptures better than we do.</p> +<p>But I think Jeremiah having written this prophecy in my text, +which I believe he did, is also very important, because it will +show us what the prophet meant when he spoke it, and how it was +fulfilled in his time; and the better we understand that, the +better we shall understand how our blessed Lord fulfilled it +afterwards.</p> +<p>Now, when Jeremiah was a young man, the Jews and their king +Amon were in a state of most abominable wickedness. They +were worshipping every sort of idol and false god. And the +Bible, the book of God’s law, was utterly unknown amongst +them; so that Josiah the king, who succeeded Amon, had never seen +or heard the book of the law of Moses, which makes part of our +Old Testament, till he had reigned eighteen years, as you will +find if you refer to 2 Kings xxii. 3. But this Josiah was a +gentle and just prince, and finding the book of the law of God, +and seeing the abominable forgetfulness and idolatry into which +his people had fallen, utterly breaking the covenant which God +had made with their forefathers when he brought them up out of +Egypt—when he found the book of the law, I say, and all +that he and his people should have done and had not done, and the +awful curses which God threatened in that book against those who +broke His law, “he humbled himself before God, because his +heart was tender, and turned to the Lord, as no king before him +had ever turned,” says the scripture, “with all his +heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might; so that +there was no such king before him, or either after +him.” The history of the great reformation which this +great and good king worked, you may read at length in 2 Kings +xxii. xxiii. and 2 Chron. xxxiv. xxxv. which I advise you all to +read.</p> +<p>And it appears to me that this prophecy in the text first +applies to the gentle and holy king Josiah, the first true and +good king the Jews had had for years, and the best they were ever +to have till Christ came Himself; and that it speaks of Josiah +coming to Jerusalem to restore the worship of God, not with pomp +and show, like the wicked kings both before and after him, but in +meekness and humbleness of heart, for all the sins of his people, +as the prophetess said of him in 2 Kings xxii. 19, “that +his heart was tender and humble before the Lord;” neither +coming with chariots and guards, like a king and conqueror, but +riding upon an ass’s colt; for that was, in those +countries, the ancient sign of a man’s being a man of +peace, and not of war; a magistrate and lawgiver, and not a +soldier and a conqueror. Various places of holy scripture +show us that this was the meaning of riding upon an ass in +Judæa, just as it is in Eastern countries now.</p> +<p>But some may say, How then is this a prophecy? It merely +tells us what good king Josiah was, and what every king ought to +be. Well, my friends, that is just what makes it a +prophecy. If it tells you what ought to be, it tells you +what will be. Yes, never forget that; whatever ought to be, +surely will be; as surely as this is God’s earth and +Christ’s kingdom, and not the devil’s.</p> +<p>Now, it does not matter in the least whether the prophet, when +he spoke these words, knew that they would apply to the Lord +Jesus Christ. We have no need whatsoever to suppose that he +did: for scripture gives us no hint or warrant that he did; and +if we have any real or honest reverence for scripture, we shall +be careful to let it tell its own story, and believe that it +contains all things necessary for salvation, without our patching +our own notions into it over and above. Wise men are +generally agreed that those old prophets did not, for the most +part, comprehend the full meaning of their own words. Not +that they were mere puppets and mouthpieces, speaking what to +them was nonsense—God forbid!—But that just because +they did thoroughly understand what was going on round them, and +see things as God saw them, just because they had God’s +Eternal Spirit with them, therefore they spoke great and eternal +words, which will be true for ever, and will go on for ever +fulfilling themselves for more and more. For in proportion +as any man’s words are true, and wide, and deep, they are +truer, and wider, and deeper than that man thinks, and will apply +to a thousand matters of which he never dreamt. And so in +all true and righteous speech, as in the speeches of the prophets +of old, the glory is not man’s who speaks them, but +God’s who reveals them, and who fulfils them again and +again.</p> +<p>It is true, then, that this text describes what every king +should be—gentle and humble, a merciful and righteous +lawgiver, not a self-willed and capricious tyrant. But +Josiah could not fulfil that. He was a good king: but he +could not be a perfect one; for he was but a poor, sinful, weak, +and inconsistent man, as we are. But those words being +inspired by the Holy Spirit, must be fulfilled. There ought +to be a perfect king, perfectly gentle and humble, having a +perfect salvation, a perfect lawgiver; and therefore there must +be such a king; and therefore St. Matthew tells us there came at +last a perfect king—one who fulfilled perfectly the +prophet’s words—one who was not made king of +Jerusalem, but was her King from the beginning; for that is the +full meaning of “Thy King cometh to thee.” To +Jerusalem He came, riding on the ass’s colt, like the +peaceful and fatherly judges of old time, for a sign to the poor +souls round Him, who had no lawgivers but the proud and fierce +Scribes and Pharisees, no king but the cruel and godless +Cæsar, and his oppressive and extortionate officers and +troops. Meek and lowly He came; and for once the people saw +that He was the true Son of David—a man and king, like him, +after God’s own heart. For once they felt that He had +come in the name of the Lord the old Deliverer who brought them +out of the land of Egypt, and made them into a nation, and loved +and pitied them still, in spite of all their sins, and remembered +His covenant, which they had forgotten. And before that +humble man, the Son of the village maiden, they cried: +“Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that +cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the +Highest.”</p> +<p>And do you think He came, the true and perfect King, only to +go away again and leave this world as it was before, without a +law, a ruler, a heavenly kingdom? God forbid! Jesus +is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. What He was +then, when He rode in triumph into Jerusalem, that is He now to +us this day—a king, meek and lowly, and having salvation; +the head and founder of a kingdom which can never be moved, a +city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. +To that kingdom this land of England now belongs. Into it +we, as Englishmen, have been christened. And the +unchristened, though they know not of it, belong to it as +well. What God’s will, what Christ’s mercies +may be to them, we know not. That He has mercy for them, if +their ignorance is not their own fault, we doubt not; perhaps, +even if their ignorance be their own fault, we need not doubt +that He has mercy for them, considering the mercy which He has +shown to us, who deserved no more than they. But His will +to us we do know; and His will is this—our holiness. +For He came not only to assert His own power, to redeem his own +world, but to set His people, the children of men, an example, +that they should follow in His steps. Herein, too, He is +the perfect king. He leads His subjects, He sets a perfect +example to His subjects, and more, He inspires them with the +power of following that example, as, if you will think, a perfect +ruler ought to be able to do. Josiah set the Jews an +example, but he could not make them follow it. They turned +to God at the bidding of their good king, with their lips, in +their outward conduct; but their hearts were still far from +Him. Jeremiah complains bitterly of this in the beginning +of his prophecies. He complains that Josiah’s +reformation was after all empty, hollow, hypocritical, a change +on the surface only, while the wicked root was left. They +had healed, he said, the hurt of the daughter of his people +slightly, crying, “Peace, peace, when there was no +peace.” But Jesus, the perfect King, is King of +men’s spirits as well as of their bodies. He can turn +the heart, He can renew the soul. None so ignorant, none so +sinful, none so crushed down with evil habits, but the Lord will +and can forgive him, raise him up, enlighten him, strengthen him, +if he will but claim his share in his King’s mercy, his +citizenship in the heavenly kingdom, and so put himself in tune +again with himself, and with heaven, and earth, and all +therein.</p> +<p>Keeping in mind these things, that Jesus, because He is our +perfect King, is both the example and the inspirer of our souls +and characters, we may look without fear at the epistle for the +day, where it calls on us to be very different persons from what +we are, and declares to us our duty as subjects of Him who is +meek and lowly, just and having salvation. It is no +superstitious, slavish message, saying: “You have lost +Christ’s mercy and Christ’s kingdom; you must buy it +back again by sacrifices, and tears, and hard penances, or great +alms-deeds and works of mercy.” No. It simply +says: “You belong to Christ already, give up your hearts to +Him and follow His example. If He is perfect, His is the +example to follow; if he is perfect, His commandments must be +perfect, fit for all places, all times, all employments; if He is +the King of heaven and earth, His commandments must be in tune +with heaven and earth, with the laws of nature, the true laws of +society and trade, with the constitution, and business, and duty, +and happiness of all mankind, and for ever obey Him.”</p> +<p>Owe no man anything save love, for He owed no man +anything. He gave up all, even His own rights, for a time, +for His subjects. Will you pretend to follow Him while you +hold back from your brothers and fellow-servants their just +due? One debt you must always owe; one debt will grow the +more you pay it, and become more delightful to owe, the greater +and heavier you feel it to be, and that is love; love to all +around you, for all around you are your brothers and sisters; all +around you are the beloved subjects of your King and +Saviour. Love them as you love yourself, and then you +cannot harm them, you cannot tyrannise over them, you cannot wish +to rise by scrambling up on their shoulders, taking the bread out +of their mouths, making your profit out of their weakness and +their need. This, St. Paul says, was the duty of men in his +time, because the night of heathendom was far spent, the day of +Christianity and the Church was at hand. Much more is it +our duty now—our duty, who have been born in the full +sunshine of Christianity, christened into His church as children, +we and our fathers before us, for generations, of the kingdom of +God. Ay, my friends, these words, that kingdom, that King, +witness this day against this land of England. Not merely +against popery, the mote which we are trying to take out of the +foreigner’s eye, but against Mammon, the beam which we are +overlooking in our own. Owe no man anything save +love. “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as +thyself.” That is the law of your King, who loved not +Himself or His own profit, His own glory, but gave Himself even +to death for those who had forgotten Him and rebelled against +Him. That law witnesses against selfishness and idleness in +rich and poor. It witnesses against the employer who grinds +down his workmen; who, as the world tells him he has a right to +do, takes advantage of their numbers, their ignorance, their low +and reckless habits, to rise upon their fall, and grow rich out +of their poverty. It witnesses against the tradesman who +tries to draw away his neighbour’s custom. It +witnesses against the working man who spends in the alehouse the +wages which might support and raise his children, and then falls +back recklessly and dishonestly on the parish rates and the alms +of the charitable. Against them all this law +witnesses. These things are unfit for the kingdom of +Christ, contrary to the laws and constitution thereof, hateful to +the King thereof; and if a nation will not amend these +abominations, the King will arise out of His place, and with sore +judgments and terrible He will visit His land and purify His +temple, saying: “My Father’s house should be a house +of prayer, and ye have made it a den of thieves.” Ay, +woe to any soul, or to any nation, which, instead of putting on +the Lord Jesus Christ, copying His example, obeying His laws, and +living worthy of His kingdom, not only in the church, but in the +market, the shop, the senate, or the palace, give themselves up +to covetousness, which is idolatry; and care only to make +provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Woe +to them; for, let them be what they will, their King cannot +change. He is still meek and lowly; He is still just and +having salvation; and He will purge out of His kingdom all that +is not like Himself, the unchaste and the idle, the unjust and +the unmerciful, and the covetous man, who is an idolater, says +the scripture, though he may call himself seven times a +Protestant, and rail at the Pope in public meetings, while he +justifies greediness and tyranny by glib words about the +necessities of business and the laws of trade, and by philosophy +falsely so called, which cometh not from above, but is earthly, +sensual, devilish. Such a man loves and makes a lie, and +the Lord of truth will surely send him to his own place.</p> +<h2><a name="page316"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +316</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXI.</span><br /> +GOD’S WARNINGS.</h2> +<blockquote><p>It may be that the house of Judah will hear all +the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return +every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity +and their sin.—<span class="smcap">Jeremiah</span> xxxvi. +3.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> first lesson for this +evening’s service tells us of the wickedness of Jehoiakim, +king of Judah. How, when Jeremiah’s prophecies +against the sins of Jehoiakim and his people were read before +him, he cut the roll with a penknife, and threw it into the +fire. Now, we must not look on this story as one which, +because it happened among the Jews many hundred years ago, has +nothing to do with us; for, as I continually remind you, the +history of the Jews, and the whole Old Testament, is the history +of God’s dealings with man—the account of God’s +plan of governing this world. Now, God cannot change; but +is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and therefore His +plan of government cannot change: but if men do as those did of +whom we read in the Old Testament, God will surely deal with them +as He dealt with the men of the Old Testament. This St. +Paul tells us most plainly in the tenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, +where he says that the whole history of the Jews was written for +our example—that is for the example of those Christian +Corinthians, who were not Jews at all, but Gentiles as we are; +and therefore for our example also.</p> +<p>He tells them, that it was Christ Himself, the Lord Jesus +Christ, who fed and guided the old Jews in the wilderness, and +that the Lord will deal with us exactly as He dealt with the old +Jews.</p> +<p>Therefore it is a great and fearful mistake, to suppose that +because the Jews were a peculiar people and God’s chosen +nation, that therefore the Lord’s way of governing them is +in any wise different from His way of governing us English at +this very day; for that fancy is contrary to the express words of +Holy Scripture, in a hundred different places; it is contrary to +the whole spirit of our Prayer Book, which is written all through +on the belief that the Lord deals with us just as He did with the +Jewish nation, and which will not even make sense if it be +understood in any other way; and besides, it is most dangerous to +the souls and consciences of men. It is most dangerous for +us to fancy that God can change; for if God can change, right and +wrong can change; for right is the will of God, and wrong is what +is against His will; and if we once let into our hearts the +notion that God can change His laws of right, our consciences +will become daily dimmer and more confused about right and wrong, +till we fall, as too many do, under the prophet’s curse, +“Woe to them who call good evil, and evil good; who put +sweet for bitter, and bitter for sweet,” and fancy, like +Ezekiel’s Jews, that God’s ways are unequal; that is, +unlike each other, changeable, arbitrary, and capricious, doing +one thing at one time, and another at another. No. It +is sinful man who is changeable; it is sinful man who is +arbitrary. But The Lord is not a man, that He should lie or +repent; for He is the only-begotten Son, and therefore the +express likeness, of The Everlasting Father, in whom is no +variableness, nor shadow of turning.</p> +<p>But some may say, Is not that a gloomy and terrible notion of +God, that He cannot change His purpose? Is not that as much +as to say that there is a dark necessity hanging over each of us; +that a man must just be what God chooses, and do just what He has +ordained to do, and go to everlasting happiness or misery exactly +as God has foreordained from all eternity, so that there is no +use trying to do right, or not to do wrong? If I am to be +saved, say such people, I shall be saved whether I try or not; +and if I am to be damned, I shall be damned whether I try or +not. I am in God’s hands like clay in the hands of +the potter; and what I am like is therefore God’s business, +and not mine.</p> +<p>No, my friends, the very texts in the Bible which tell us that +God cannot change or repent, tell us what it is that He cannot +change in—in showing loving-kindness and tender mercy, +long-suffering, and repenting of the evil. Whatsoever else +He cannot repent of, He cannot repent of repenting of the +evil.</p> +<p>It is true, we are in His hand as clay in the hand of the +potter. But it is a sad misreading of scripture to make +that mean that we are to sit with our hands folded, careless +about our own way and conduct; still less that we are to give +ourselves up to despair, because we have sinned against God; for +what is the very verse which follows after that? +Listen. “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as +this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the +hand of the potter, so are ye in my hand, O house of +Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a kingdom, +to pull down and destroy it; if that nation against whom I have +pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil which +I thought to do to them. And at what instant I shall speak +concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to +plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, +then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit +them.”</p> +<p>So that the lesson which we are to draw from the parable of +the potter’s clay is just the exact opposite which some men +draw. Not that God’s decrees are absolute: but that +they are conditional, and depend on our good or evil +conduct. Not that His election or His reprobation are +unalterable, but that they alter “at that instant” at +which man alters. Not that His grace and will are +irresistible, as the foolish man against whom St. Paul argues +fancies: but that we can resist God’s will, and that our +destruction comes only by resisting His will; in short, that +God’s will is no brute material necessity and fate, but the +will of a living, loving Father.</p> +<p>And the very same lesson is taught us in Ezek. xviii., of +which I spoke just now; for if we read that chapter we shall find +that the Jews had a false notion of God that He had changed His +character, and had become in their time unmerciful and +unjust. They fancied that God was, if I may so speak, +obstinate—that if His anger had once arisen, there was no +turning it away, but that He would go on without pity, punishing +the innocent children for their father’s sin; and therefore +they fancied God’s ways were unfair, self-willed, and +arbitrary, without any care of what sort of person He afflicted; +punishing the righteous as well as the wicked, after He had +promised in His law to reward the righteous and punish the +wicked. They fancied that His way of governing the world +had changed, and that He did not in their days make a difference +between the bad and the good. Therefore Ezekiel says to +them: “When the righteous man turneth away from his +righteousness, he shall die.” “When the wicked +man turneth away from his wickedness, he shall live.” +“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? +saith the Lord God, and not that he should return from his ways, +and live?”</p> +<p>This, then, is the good news, that God is love; love when He +punishes, and love when He forgives; very pitiful, and full of +long-suffering and tender mercy and repenting Him, never of the +good, but only of the evil which He threatens.</p> +<p>Both Jeremiah, therefore, and Ezekiel, give us the same +lesson. God does not change, and therefore He never changes +His mercy and His justice: for He is merciful because He is +just. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to +forgive us our sins. That is His everlasting law, and has +been from the beginning: Punishment, sure and certain, for those +who do not repent; and free forgiveness, sure and certain also, +for those who do repent.</p> +<p>So He spoke to Jeremiah in the time of Jehoiakim: “It +may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil that I +purpose to do to them; that I may forgive them their iniquity and +their sin.” The Lord, you see, wishes to +forgive—longs to forgive. His heart yearns over +sinful men as a father’s over his rebellious child. +But if they will still rebel, if they will still turn their +wicked wills away from Him, He must punish. Why we know +not; but He knows. Punish He must, unless we +repent—unless we turn our wills toward His will. And +woe to the stiff-necked and stout-hearted man who, like the +wicked king Jehoiakim, sets his face like a flint against +God’s warnings. How many, how many behave for years, +Sunday after Sunday, just as king Jehoiakim did! When he +heard that God had threatened him with ruin for his sins, he +heard also that God offered him free pardon if he would +repent. Jeremiah gave him free choice to be saved or to be +ruined; but his heart and will were hardened. Hearing that +he was wrong only made him angry. His pride and self-will +were hurt by being told that he must change and alter his +ways. He had chosen his way, and he would keep to it; and +he cared nothing for God’s offers of forgiveness, because +he could not be forgiven unless he did what he was too proud to +do, confess himself to be in the wrong, and openly alter his +conduct. And how many, as I first said, are like him! +They come to church; they hear God’s warnings and threats +against their evil ways; they hear God’s offers of free +pardon and forgiveness; but being told that they are in the wrong +makes them too angry to care for God’s offers of +pardon. Pride stops their cars. They have chosen +their own way, and they will keep it. They would not object +to be forgiven, if they might be forgiven without +repenting. But they do not like to confess themselves in +the wrong. They do not like to face their foolish +companions’ remarks and sneers about their changed +ways. They do not like even good people to say of them: +“You see now that you were in the wrong after all; for you +have altered your mind and your doings yourself, as we told you +you would have to do.” No; anything sooner than +confess themselves in the wrong; and so they turn their backs on +God’s mercy, for the sake of their own carnal pride and +self-will.</p> +<p>But, of course, they want an excuse for doing that; and when a +man wants an excuse, the devil will soon fit him with a good +one. Then, perhaps, the foolish sinner behaves as Jehoiakim +did. He tries to forget God’s message in the man who +brings it. He grows angry with the preacher, or goes out +and laughs at the preacher when service is over, as if it was the +preacher’s fault that God had declared what he has; as if +it was the preacher’s doing that God has revealed His anger +against all sin and unrighteousness. So he acts like +Jehoiakim, who tried to take Jeremiah the prophet and punish +<i>him</i>, for what not he but the Lord God had declared. +Nay, they will often peevishly hate the very sight of a good +book, because it reminds them of the sins of which they do not +choose to be reminded, just as the young king Jehoiakim was +childish enough to vent his spite on Jeremiah’s book of +prophecies, by cutting the roll on which it was written with a +penknife, and throwing it into the fire. So do sinners who +are angry with the preacher who warns them, or hate the sight of +good books. But let such foolish and wilful sinners, such +full-grown children—for, after all, they are no +better—hear the word of the Lord which came to Jehoiakim: +“As it is written, he that despiseth Me shall be despised, +saith the Lord.” And let them not fancy that their +shutting their ears will shut the preacher’s mouth, still +less shut up God’s everlasting laws of punishment for +sin. No. God’s word stands true, and it will +happen to them as it did to Jehoiakim. His burning +Jeremiah’s book did not rid him of the book, or save him +from the woe and ruin which was prophesied in it; for we have +Jeremiah’s book here in our Bibles to this day, as a sign +and a warning of what happens to men, be they young or old, be +they kings or labouring men, who fight against God. +Jeremiah’s words were not lost after all; they were all +re-written, and there were added to them also many more like +words; for Jehoiakim, by refusing the Lord’s offer of +pardon, had added to his sins, and therefore the Lord added to +his punishment.</p> +<p>Perhaps, again, the devil finds the wilful sinner another +excuse, and the man says to himself, as the Jews did in +Ezekiel’s time: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, +and the children’s teeth are set on edge. It is not +my own fault that I am living a bad life, but other +people’s. My parents ought to have brought me up +better. I have had no chance. My companions taught me +too much harm. I have too much trouble to get my living; +or, I was born with a bad temper; or, I can’t help running +after pleasure. Why did God make me the sort of man I am, +and put me where I am? God is hard upon me; He is unfair to +me. His ways are unequal; He expects as much of me as He +does of people who have more opportunities. He threatens to +punish me for other people’s sins.”</p> +<p>And then comes another and a darker temptation over the man, +and the devil whispers to him such thoughts as these: “God +does not care for me; God hates me. Luck, and everything +else is against me. There seems to be some curse upon +me. Why should I change? Let God change first to me, +and then I will change toward Him. But God will not change; +He is determined to have no mercy on me. I can see that; +for everything goes wrong with me. Then what use in my +repenting? I will just go my own way, and what must be +must. There is no resisting God’s will. If I am +to be saved, I shall be; if I am to be damned, I shall be. +I will put all melancholy thoughts out of my head, and go and +enjoy myself and forget all. At all events, it won’t +last long: ‘Let me eat and drink, for to-morrow I +die.’”</p> +<p>Oh, my dear friends, have not some of you sometimes had such +thoughts? Then hear the word of the Lord to you: +“When—whensoever—whensoever the wicked man +turneth away from his wickedness which he hath committed, and +doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul +alive.” “Have I any pleasure in the death of +him that dieth? saith the Lord, and not rather that he should be +converted, and live?” True, most true, that the Lord +is unchangeable: but it is in love and mercy. True, that +God’s will and law cannot alter: but what is God’s +will and law? The soul that sinneth, it shall die? +Yes. But also, the soul that turneth away from its sin, it +shall live. Never believe the devil when he tells you that +God hates you. Never believe him when he tells you that God +has been too hard on you, and put you into such temptation, or +ignorance, or poverty, or anything else, that you cannot +mend. No. That font there will give the devil the +lie. That font says: “Be you poor, tempted, ignorant, +stupid, be you what you will, you are God’s +child—your Father’s love is over you, His mercy is +ready for you.” You feel too weak to change; ask +God’s Spirit, and He will give you a strength of mind you +never felt before. You feel too proud to change; ask +God’s Spirit, and He will humble your proud heart, and +soften your hard heart; and you will find to your surprise, that +when your pride is gone, when you are utterly ashamed of +yourself, and see your sins in their true blackness, and feel not +worthy to look up to God, that then, instead of pride, will come +a nobler, holier, manlier feeling—self-respect, and a clear +conscience, and the thought that, weak and sinful as you are, you +are in the right way; that God, and the angels of God, are +smiling on you; that you are in tune again with all heaven and +earth, because you are what God wills you to be—not His +proud, peevish, self-willed child, fancying yourself strong +enough to go alone, when in reality you are the slave of your own +passions and appetites, and the plaything of the devil: but His +loving, loyal son, strong in the strength which God gives you, +and able to do what you will, because what you will God wills +also.</p> +<h2><a name="page325"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +325</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXII.</span><br /> +PHARAOH’S HEART.</h2> +<blockquote><p>And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did +not let the people go.—<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> +ix. 17.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">What</span> lesson, now, can we draw from +this story? One, at least, and a very important one. +What effect did all these signs and wonders of God’s +sending, have upon Pharaoh and his servants? Did they make +them better men or worse men? We read that they made them +worse men; that they helped to harden their hearts. We read +that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would +not let the children of Israel go. Now, how did the Lord do +that? He did not wish and mean to make Pharaoh more +hard-hearted, more wicked. That is impossible. God, +who is all goodness and love, never can wish to make any human +being one atom worse than he is. He who so loved the world +that He came down on earth to die for sinners, and take away the +sins of the world, would never make any human being a greater +sinner than he was before. That is impossible, and horrible +to think of. Therefore, when we read that the Lord hardened +Pharaoh’s heart, we must be certain that that was +Pharaoh’s own fault; and so, we read, it was +Pharaoh’s own fault. The Lord did not bring all these +plagues on Egypt without giving Pharaoh fair warning. +Before each plague, He sent Moses to tell Pharaoh that the plague +was coming. The Lord told Pharaoh that He was his Master, +and the Master and Lord of the whole earth; that the children of +Israel belonged to Him, and the Egyptians too; that the river, +light and darkness, the weather, the crops, and the insects, and +the locusts belonged to Him; that all diseases which afflict man +and beast were in His power. And the Lord proved that His +words were true, in a way Pharaoh could not mistake, by changing +the river into blood, and sending darkness, and hailstones, and +plagues of lice and flies, and at last by killing the firstborn +of all the Egyptians. The Lord gave Pharaoh every chance; +He condescended to argue with him as one man would with another, +and proved His word to be true, and proved that He had a right to +command Pharaoh. And therefore, I say, if Pharaoh’s +heart was hardened, it was his own fault, for the Lord was +plainly trying to soften it, and to bring him to reason. +And the Bible says distinctly that it was Pharaoh’s own +fault. For it says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, he +and his servants, and therefore they would not let the children +of Israel go. Now how could Pharaoh harden his own heart, +and yet the Lord harden it at the same time?</p> +<p>Just in the same way, my friends, as too many of us are apt to +make the Lord harden our hearts by hardening them ourselves, and +to make, as Pharaoh did, the very things which the Lord sends to +soften us, the causes of our becoming more stubborn; the very +things which the Lord sends to bring us to reason, the means of +our becoming more mad and foolish. Believe me, my friends, +this is no old story with which we have nothing to do. What +happened to Pharaoh’s heart may happen to yours, or mine, +or any man’s. Alas! alas! it does happen to many a +man’s and woman’s heart every day—and may the +Lord have mercy on them before it be too late,—and yet how +can the Lord have mercy on those who will not let Him have mercy +on them?</p> +<p>What do I mean? This is what I mean, my friends; Oh, +listen to it, and take it solemnly to heart, you who are living +still in sin; take it to heart, lest you, like Pharaoh, die in +your sins, and your latter end will be worse than your +beginning.</p> +<p>Suppose a man to be going on in some sinful habit; cheating +his neighbours, grinding his labourers, or getting tipsy, or +living with a woman without being married to her. He comes +to church, and there he hears the word of the Lord, by the Bible, +or in sermons, telling him that God commands him to give up his +sin, that God will certainly punish him if he does not repent and +amend. God sends that message to him in love and mercy, to +soften his heart by the terrors of the law, and turn him from his +sin. But what does the man feel? He feels angry and +provoked; angry with the preacher; ay, angry with the Bible +itself, with God’s words. For he hates to hear the +words which tell him of his sin; he wishes they were not in the +Bible; he longs to stop the preacher’s mouth; and, as he +cannot do that, he dislikes going to church. He says: +“I cannot, and what is more, I will not, give up my sinful +ways, and therefore I shall not go to church to be told of +them.” So he stops away from church, and goes on in +his sins. So that man’s heart is hardened, just as +Pharaoh’s was. Yet the Lord has come and spoken to +that sinful man in loving warnings: though all the effect it has +had is that the Lord’s message has made him worse than he +was before, more stubborn, more godless, more unwilling to hear +what is good. But men may fall into a still worse state of +mind. They may determine to set the Lord at naught; to hear +Him speaking to their conscience, and know that He is right and +they wrong, and yet quietly put the good thoughts and feelings +out of their way, and go in the course which they know to be the +worst. How many a man in business or the world says to +himself, ay, and in his better moments will say to his friend: +“Ah, yes, if one could but be what one would wish to be. . +. . What one’s mother used to say one might be. . . +. But for such a world as this, the gospel ideal is +somewhat too fine and unpractical. One has one’s +business to carry on, or one’s family to provide for, or +one’s party in politics to serve; one must obey the laws of +trade, the usages of society, the interests of one’s +class;” and so forth. And so an excuse is found for +every sin, by those who know in their hearts that they are +sinning; for every sin; and among others, too often, for that sin +of Pharaoh’s, of “<i>not letting the people +go</i>.”</p> +<p>And how many, my friends, when they come to church, harden +their hearts in the same quiet, almost good-humoured way, not +caring enough for God’s message to be even angry with it, +and take the preacher’s warnings as they would a shower of +rain, as something unpleasant which cannot be helped; and which, +therefore, they must sit out patiently, and think about it as +little as possible? And when the sermon is over, they take +their hats and go out into the churchyard, and begin talking +about something else as quickly as possible, to drive the +unpleasant thoughts, if there are a few left, out of their +heads. And thus they let the Lord’s message to them +harden their hearts. For it does harden them, my friends, +if it be taken in this temper. Every time anyone sits +through the service or the sermon in this stupid and careless +mood, he dulls and deadens his soul, till at last he is able +coolly to sit through the most awful warnings of God’s +judgment, the most tender entreaties of God’s love, as if +he were a brute animal without understanding. Ay, he is +able to make the responses to the commandments, and join in the +psalms, and so with his own mouth, before the whole congregation, +confess that God’s curse is on his doings, with no more +sense or care of what the words mean, and of what a sentence he +is pronouncing against himself, than if he were a parrot taught +to speak by rote words which he does not understand. And so +that man, by hardening his own heart, makes the Lord harden it +for him.</p> +<p>But there is a third way, and a worse way still, in which +people’s hearts are hardened by the Lord’s speaking +to them. A man is warned of his sins by the preacher; and +he says to himself: “If the minister thinks that he is +going to frighten me away from church, he is very much +mistaken. He may go his way, and I shall go mine. Let +him preach at me as much as he will; I shall go to church all the +more for that, to show him that I am not afraid.” And +so the Lord’s warnings harden his heart, and provoke him to +set his face like a flint, and become all the more proud and +stubborn.</p> +<p>Now, young people, I speak openly to you as man to man. +Will you tell me that this was not the very way in which some of +you took my sermon last Sunday afternoon, in which I warned you +of the misery which your sinful lives would bring upon you? +Was there not more than one of you, who, as soon as he got +outside the church, began laughing and swaggering, and said to +the lad next him: “Well, he gave it us well in his sermon +this afternoon, did he not? But I don’t care; do +you?”</p> +<p>To which the other foolish fellow answered: “Not +I. It is his business to talk like that; he is paid for it, +and I suppose he likes it. So if he does what he likes, we +shall do what we like. Come along.” And at that +all the other foolish fellows round burst out laughing, as if the +poor lad had said a very clever thing; and they all went off +together, having their hearts hardened by the Lord’s +warning to them, as Pharaoh’s was.</p> +<p>And they showed, I am afraid, that very evening that their +hearts were hardened. For out of a sort of spite and +stubbornness they took a delight in doing what was wrong, just +because they had been told that it was wrong, and because they +were determined to show that they would not be frightened or +turned from what they chose.</p> +<p>And all the while they knew that it was wrong, did those poor +foolish lads. If you had asked one of them openly, +“Do you not know that God has forbidden you to do +this?” they would have either been forced to say, +“Yes,” or else they would have tried to laugh the +matter off, or perhaps held their tongues and looked silly, or +perhaps again answered insolently; showing by each and all of +these ways of taking it, that the Lord’s message had come +home to their consciences, and convinced them of their sin, +though they were determined not to own it or obey it. And +the way they would have put the matter by and excused themselves +to themselves would have been just the way in which Pharaoh did +it. They would have tried to forget that the Lord had +warned them, and tried to make out to themselves that it was all +the preacher’s doing, and to make it a personal quarrel +between him and them. Just so Pharaoh did when he hardened +his heart. He made the Lord’s message a ground for +hating and threatening Moses and Aaron, as if it was any fault of +theirs. He knew in his heart that the Lord had sent them; +but he tried to forget that, and drove them out from his +presence, and told them that if they dared to appear before him +again they should surely die. And just so, my friends, +people will be angry with the preacher for telling them +unpleasant truths, as if it was any more pleasure to him to speak +than for them to hear. Oh, why will you forget that the +words which I speak from this pulpit are not my words, but +God’s? It is not I who warn you of what you are +bringing on yourselves by your sins, it is God Himself. +There it is written in His Bible—judge for +yourselves. Read your Bibles for yourselves, and you will +see that I am not speaking my own thoughts and words. And +as for being angry with me for telling you truth, read the +ordination service which is read whenever a clergyman is +ordained, and judge for yourselves. What is a clergyman +sent into the world for at all, but to say to you what I am +saying now? What should I be but a hypocrite and a traitor +to the blessed Lord who died for me, and saved me from my sins, +and ordained me to preach to sinners, that they too may be saved +from their sins,—what should I be but a traitor to Him, if +I did not say to you, whenever I see you going wrong:</p> +<p>“O come, let us worship, and fall down and kneel before +the Lord our Maker.</p> +<p>“For He is the Lord our God; and we are the people of +His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.</p> +<p>“To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your +hearts,</p> +<p>“Lest He sware in His wrath that you shall not enter +into His rest!”</p> +<p>And now, my friends, I will tell you what will happen to +you. You see that I know something, without having been +told of what has been going on in your hearts. I beseech +you, believe me when I tell you what will go on in them. +God will chastise you for your sins. He will; just because +He loves you, and does not hate you; just because you are His +children, and not dumb animals born to perish. Troubles +will come upon you as you grow older. Of what sort they +will be I cannot tell; but that they will come, I can tell full +well. And when the Lord sends trouble to you, shall it +harden your hearts or soften them? It depends on you, +altogether on you, whether the Lord hardens your hearts by +sending those sorrows, or whether He softens and turns them and +brings them back to the only right place for them—home to +Him. But your trouble may only harden your heart all the +more. The sorrows and sore judgments which the Lord sent +Pharaoh only hardened his heart. It all depends upon the +way in which you take these troubles, my friends. And that +not so much when they come as after they come. Almost all, +let their hearts be right with God or not, seem to take sorrow as +they ought, while the sorrow is on them. Pharaoh did so +too. He said to Moses and Aaron: “I have sinned this +time. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are +wicked. Entreat the Lord that there be no more mighty +thunderings and hail; and I will let you go.” What +could be more right or better spoken? Was not Pharaoh in a +proper state of mind then? Was not his heart humbled, and +his will resigned to God? Moses thought not. For +while he promised Pharaoh to pray that the storm might pass over, +yet he warned him: “But as for thee and thy servants, I +know that ye will not yet fear the Lord your God.” +And so it happened; for, “when Pharaoh saw that the rain, +and hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more, and +hardened his heart, he and his servants. Neither would he +let the children of Israel go.” . . . And so, alas! +it happens to many a man and woman nowadays. They find +themselves on a sick-bed. They are in fear of death, in +fear of poverty, in fear of shame and punishment for their +misdeeds. And then they say: “It is God’s +judgment. I have been very wicked. I know God is +punishing me. Oh, if God will but raise me up off this +sick-bed; if He will but help me out of this trouble, I will give +up all my wicked ways. I will repent and +amend.” So said Pharaoh; and yet, as soon as he was +safe out of his distress, he hardened his heart. And so +does many a man and woman, who, when they get safe through their +troubles, never give up one of their sins, any more than Pharaoh +did. They really believe that God has punished them. +They really intend to amend, while they are in the trouble: but +as soon as they are out of it, they try to persuade themselves +that it was not God who sent the sorrow, that it came “by +accident,” or that “people must have trouble in this +life,” or that “if they had taken better care, they +might have prevented it.”—All of them excuses to +themselves for forgetting God in the matter, and, therefore, for +forgetting what they promised to God in trouble; and so, after +all, they go on just as they went on before. And yet not as +they went on before. For every such sin hardens their +hearts; every such sin makes them less able to see God’s +hand in what happens to them; every such sin makes them more bold +and confident in disobeying God, and saying to themselves: +“After all, why should I be so frightened when I am in +trouble, and make such promises to amend my life? For the +trouble goes away, whether I mend my life or not; and nothing +happens to me; God does not punish me for not keeping my promises +to Him. I may as well go on in my own way, for I seem not +the worse off in body or in purse for so doing.” Thus +do people harden their hearts after each trouble, as Pharaoh did; +so that you will see people, by one affliction after another, one +loss after another, all their lives through, warned by God that +sin will not prosper them; and confessing that their sins have +brought God’s punishment on them: and yet going on steadily +in the very sins which have brought on their troubles, and +gaining besides, as time runs on, a heart more and more +hardened. And why?</p> +<p>Because they, like Pharaoh, love to have their own way. +They will not submit to God, and do what He bids them, and +believe that what He bids them must be right—good for them, +and for all around them.</p> +<p>They promised to mend. But they promised as Pharaoh +did. “If God will take away this trouble, then I will +mend”—meaning, though they do not dare to say it: +“And if God will not take away this trouble, of course He +cannot expect me to mend.” In plain English—If +God will not act toward them as they like, then they will not act +toward Him as He likes. My friends, God does not need us to +bargain with Him. We must obey Him whether we like it or +not; whether it seems to pay us or not; whether He takes our +trouble off us or not; we must obey, for He is the Lord; and if +we will not obey, He will prove His power on us, as He did on +Pharaoh, by showing plainly what is the end of those who resist +His will.</p> +<p>What, then, are we to do when our sins bring us, as they +certainly will some day bring us, into trouble?</p> +<p>What we ought to have done at first, my friends. What we +ought to have done in the wild days of youth, and so have saved +ourselves many a dark day, many a sleepless night, many a bitter +shame and heartache. To open our eyes, and see that the +only thing for men and women, whom God has made, is to obey the +God who has made them. He is the Lord. He has made +us. He will have us do one thing. How can we hope to +prosper by doing anything else? It is ill fighting against +God. Which is the stronger, my friends, you or God? +Make up your minds on that. It surely will not take you +long.</p> +<p>But someone may say: “I do wish and long to obey God; +but I am so weak, and my sins have so entangled me with bad +company, or debts, or—, or—.” We all +know, alas! into what a net everyone who gives way to sin gets +his feet: “And therefore I cannot obey God. I long to +do so. I feel, I know, when I look back, that all my sin, +and shame, and unhappiness, come from being proud and +self-willed, and determined to have my own way, and do what I +choose. But I cannot mend.” Do not despair, +poor soul! I had a thousand times sooner hear you say you +cannot mend, than that you can. For those who say they can +mend, are apt to say: “I can mend; and therefore I shall +mend when I choose, and no sooner.” But those who +really feel they cannot mend—those who are really weary and +worn out with the burden of their sins—those who are really +tired out with their own wilfulness, and feel ready to lie down +and die, like a spent horse, and say: “God, take me away, +no matter to what place; I am not fit to live here on earth, a +shame and a torment to myself day and night”—those +who are in that state of mind, are very near—very near +finding out glorious news.</p> +<p>Those who cannot mend themselves and know it, God will +mend. God will mend your lives for you. He knows as +well as you what you have to struggle against; ay, a thousand +times better. He knows—what does He not know? +Pray to Him, and try what He does not know. Cry to Him to +rid you of your bad companions; He will find a way of doing +it. Cry to Him to bring you out of the temptations you feel +too strong for you; He will find a way for doing it. Cry to +Him to teach you what you ought to do, and He will send someone, +and that the right person, doubt it not, to teach you in His own +good time. Above all, cry and pray to Him to conquer the +pride, and self-conceit, and wilfulness in your heart; to take +the hard proud heart of stone out of you, and give you instead a +heart of flesh, loving, and tender, and kindly to every human +creature; and He will do it. Cry to Him to make your will +like His own will, that you may love what He loves, and hate what +He hates, and do what He wishes you to do. And then you +will surely find my words come true: “Those who long to +mend, and yet know that they cannot mend themselves, let them but +pray, and God will mend them.”</p> +<h2><a name="page337"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +337</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXIII.</span><br /> +THE RED SEA TRIUMPH.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>Preached Easter-day Morning</i>, +1852.</p> +<blockquote><p>This is a night to be much observed unto the Lord, +for bringing the children of Israel out of the land of +Egypt.—<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> xii. 42.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">You</span> all, my friends, know what is +the meaning of Easter-day—that it is the Day on which The +Lord rose again from the dead. You must have seen that most +of the special services for this day, the Collect, Epistle, and +Gospel, and the second lessons, both morning and evening, +reminded you of Christ’s rising again; and so did the +proper Psalms for this day, though it may seem at first sight +more difficult to see what they have to do with the Lord’s +rising again.</p> +<p>Now the first lessons, both for the morning and evening +services, were also meant to remind us of the very same thing, +though it may seem even more difficult still, at first sight, to +understand how they do so.</p> +<p>Let us see what these two first lessons are about. The +morning one was from the twelfth chapter of Exodus, and told us +what the Passover was, and what it meant. The first lesson +for this afternoon was the fourteenth chapter of Exodus. +Surely you must remember it. Surely the most careless of +you must have listened to that glorious story, how the Jews went +through the Red Sea as if it had been dry land, while Pharaoh and +the Egyptian army, trying to follow them, were overwhelmed in the +water. Surely you cannot have heard how the poor Jews +looked back from the farther shore, and hardly believed their own +eyes for joy and wonder, when they saw their proud masters swept +away for ever, and themselves safe and free out of the hateful +land where they had been slaves for hundreds of years. You +cannot surely, my friends, have heard that glorious story, and +forgotten it again already. I hope not; for God knows, that +tale of the Jews coming safe through the Red Sea has a deep and +blessed meaning enough for you, if you could but see it.</p> +<p>But some of you may be saying to yourselves: “No doubt +it is a very noble story; and a man cannot help rejoicing at the +poor Jews’ escape, and at the downfall of those cruel +Egyptians. It is a pleasant thought, no doubt, that if it +were but for that once, God interfered to help poor suffering +creatures, and rid them of their tyrants. But what has that +to do with Easter Day and Christ’s rising again?”</p> +<p>I will try to show you, my friends. The Jews’ +Passover is the same as our Easter-day, as you know +already. But they are not merely alike in being kept on the +same day. They are alike because they are both of them +remembrances and tokens of the Lord Jesus Christ’s +delivering men out of misery and slavery. For never +forget—though, indeed, in these strange times, I ought +rather to say, I beseech you to read your Bibles and +see—that it was Jesus Christ Himself who brought the Jews +out of Egypt. St. Paul tells us so positively, again and +again. In 1 Cor. x. 4 he tells us that it was Christ who +followed them through the wilderness. In verse 9 of the +same chapter, he says that it was Christ Himself whom they +tempted in the wilderness. He was the Angel of the Covenant +who went with them. He was the God of Israel whom the +elders of the Jews saw, a few weeks afterwards, on Mount Sinai, +and under His feet a pavement like a sapphire stone. True, +the Lord did not take flesh upon Him till nearly two thousand +years after. But from the very beginning of all things, +while He was in the bosom of the Father, He was the King of +men. Man was made in His image, and therefore in the image +of the Father, whose perfect likeness He is—“the +brightness of His glory, and the express image of His +person.” It was He who took care of men, guided and +taught them, and delivered them out of misery, from the very +beginning of the world. St. Paul says the same thing, in +many different ways, all through the epistle to the +Hebrews. He says, for instance, that Moses, when he fled +from Pharaoh’s court in Egypt, esteemed the reproach of +Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he endured +as seeing Him who is invisible. The Lord said the same +thing of Himself. He said openly that He was the person who +is called, all through the Old Testament, “The +Lord.” He asked the Pharisees: “What think ye +of Christ? whose son is He? They say unto Him, +David’s son. Christ answered, How then does David in +spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit +thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy +footstool?” So did Christ declare, that He Himself, +who was standing there before them, was the Lord of David, who +had died hundreds of years before. He told them again that +their father Abraham rejoiced to see His day, and saw it and was +glad; and when they answered, in anger and astonishment, +“Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen +Abraham?” Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, +Before Abraham was, I am.” I am. The Jews had +no doubt whom He meant; and we ought to have none either. +For that was the very name by which God had told Moses to call +Him, when he was sent to the Jews: “Thou shalt say unto +them, I AM hath sent me to you.” The Jews, I say, had +no doubt who Jesus said that He was; that He meant them to +understand, once and for all, that He whom they called the +carpenter’s son of Nazareth, was the Lord God who brought +their forefathers up out of the land of Egypt, on the night of +the first Passover. So they, to show how reverent and +orthodox they were, and how they honoured the name of God, took +up stones to stone Him—as many a man, who fancies himself +orthodox and reverent, would now, if he dared, stone the +preachers who declare that the Lord Jesus Christ is not changed +since then; that He is as able and as willing as ever to deliver +the poor from those who grind them down, and that He will deliver +them, whenever they cry to Him, with a mighty hand and a +stretched-out arm, and that Easter-day is as much a sign of that +to us as the Passover was for the Jews of old.</p> +<p>But, my friends, if Christ the Lord showed His love and power +in behalf of poor oppressed wretches on that first Passover, +surely He showed it a thousand times more on that first +Easter-day. His great love helped the Jews out of slavery; +and that same great love of His at this Easter-tide, moved Him to +die and rise again for the sins of the whole world. In that +first Passover He delivered only one people. On the first +Easter He delivered all mankind. The Jews were under cruel +tyrants in the land of Egypt. So were all mankind over the +world, when Jesus came. The Jews in Egypt were slaves to +worse things than the whip of their task-masters; they had +slaves’ hearts, as well as slaves’ bodies. They +were kept down not only by the Egyptians, but by their own +ignorance, and idolatry, and selfish division, and foul +sins. They were spiritually dead—without a noble, +pure, manful feeling left in them. Their history makes no +secret of that. The Bible seems to take every care to let +us see into what a miserable and brutal state they had +fallen. Christ sent Moses to raise them out of that death; +to take them through the Red Sea, as a sign that all that was +washed away, to be forgiven of God and forgotten by them, and +that from the moment they landed, a free people, on the farther +shore, they were to consider all their old life past and a new +one begun. So they were baptized unto Moses in the cloud +and in the sea, as St. Paul says. And now all was to be +new. They had been fancying that they belonged to the +Egyptians. Now they had found out, and had it proved to +them by signs and wonders which they could not mistake, that they +belonged to the Lord. They had been brutal sinners. +The Lord began to teach them that they were to rise above their +own appetites and passions. They had been worshipping only +what they could see and handle. The Lord began to teach +them to worship Him—a person whom they could not see, +though He was always near them, and watching over them. +They had been living without independence, fellow-feeling, the +sense of duty, or love of order. The Lord began to teach +them to care for each other, to help each other, to know that +they had a duty to perform towards each other, for which they +were accountable to Him. They had owned no master except +the Egyptians, whom they feared and obeyed unwillingly. The +Lord began to teach them to obey Him loyally, from trust, and +gratitude, and love. They had been willing to remain +sinners, and brutes, and slaves, provided they could get enough +to eat and drink. The Lord began to teach them that His +favour, His protection, were better than the flesh-pots of Egypt, +and that He was able to feed them where it seemed impossible to +men; to teach them that “man does not live by bread +alone—cheap or dear, my friends—not by bread alone, +but by <i>every</i> word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, +does man live.” That was the meaning of their being +baptized in the cloud and in the sea. That was the meaning, +and only a very small part of the meaning, of their +Passover. Would you not think, my friends, that I had been +speaking rather of our own Baptism, and of our own Supper of the +Lord, to which you have been all called to-day, and that I had +been telling you the meaning of them?</p> +<p>For when Jesus, the Lord, and King, and Head of mankind, died +and rose again, He took away the sin of the world. He was +the true Passover, the Lamb without spot, slain, as the scripture +tells us, for the sins of the whole world. In the +Jews’ Passover, when the angel saw the lamb’s blood +on the door of the house, he passed by, and spared everyone in +it. So now. The blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, is +upon us; and for His sake, God is faithful and just to forgive us +our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.</p> +<p>But the Lord rose again this day. And when He, the Lord, +the King, and Head of all men, rose, all men rose in Him. +“As in Adam all die,” says St. Paul, “even so +in Christ shall all be made alive.”</p> +<p>Baptism is a sign of that to us, as the going through the Red +Sea, and being baptized to Moses in it, was to the Jews. +The passing of the Red Sea said to the Jews: “You have +passed now out of your old miserable state of slavery into +freedom. The sins which you committed there are blotted +out. You are taken into covenant with God. You are +now God’s people, and nothing can lose you this love and +care, except your own sins, your own unfaithfulness to Him, your +own wilful falling back into the slavish and brutal state from +which He has delivered you.”</p> +<p>And just so, baptism says to us: “Your sins are forgiven +you. You are taken into covenant with God. You are +God’s people, God’s family. You must forget and +cast away the old Adam, the old slavish and savage pattern of +man, which your Lord died to abolish, the guilt of which He bore +for you on His cross; and you must rise to the new Adam, the new +pattern of man, which is created after God in righteousness and +true holiness, which the Lord showed forth in His life, and +death, and rising again. For now God looks on you not as a +guilty and condemned race of beings, but as a redeemed race, His +children, for the sake of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, who takes +away the sins of the world. You have a right to believe +that, as human beings, you are dead with Christ to the old Adam, +the old sinful, brutal pattern of man.” Baptism is +the sign of it to you. Every child, let it or its parents +be who they may, is freely baptized as a sign that all that old +pattern of man is washed away, that they can and must have +nothing to do with it hence-forward, that it is dead and buried, +and they must flee from it and forget it, as they would a +corpse.</p> +<p>And the Lord’s Supper also is a sign to us that, as +human beings, we are risen with Christ, to a new life. A +new life is our birthright. We have a right to live a new +life. We have a duty to live a new life. We have a +power, if we will, to live a new life; such a life as we never +could live if we were left to ourselves; a noble, just, godly, +manful, Christlike, Godlike life, bred and nourished in us by the +Spirit of Christ. That is our right; for we belong to Him +who lived that life Himself, and bought us our share in it with +His own death and resurrection. That is our duty; for if we +share the Lord’s blessings, it can only be in order that we +may become like the Lord. Do you fancy that He died to +leave us all no better than we are? His death would have +had very little effect if that was all. No, says St. Paul; +if you have a share in Christ, prove that you believe in your own +share by becoming like Christ. You belong to His kingdom, +and you must live as His subjects. He has bought for you a +new and eternal life, and you must use that life. “If +ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things that are +above.” . . . And what are they? Love, +peace, gentleness, mercy, pity, truth, faithfulness, justice, +patience, courage, order, industry, duty, obedience. . . . +All, in short, which is like Jesus Christ. For these are +heavenly things. These are above, where Christ sits at +God’s right hand. These are the likeness of +God. That is God’s character. Let it be your +character likewise.</p> +<p>But again; if it is our right and our duty to be like that, it +is also in our power. God would not have commanded us to +be, what He had not given us the power to be. He would not +have told us to seek those things which are above, if He had not +intended us to find them. Wherefore it is written: +“Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; for if +ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how +much more shall your Heavenly Father give His Holy Spirit to +those who ask him?”</p> +<p>This is the meaning of that text; namely, that God will give +us the power of living this new and risen life, which we are +bound to live. This is one of the gifts for men, which the +scripture tells us that Christ received when He rose from the +dead, and ascended up on high. This is one of the powers of +which He spoke, when after His resurrection He said, “That +all power was given to Him in heaven and earth.” The +Lord’s Supper is at once a sign of who will give us that +gift, and a sign that He will indeed give it us. The +Lord’s Supper is the pledge and token to us that we all +have a share in the likeness of Christ, the true pattern of man; +and that if we come and claim our share, He will surely bestow it +on us. He will renew, and change, and purify our hearts and +characters in us, day by day, into the likeness of Himself. +He who is the eternal life of men will nourish us, body, soul, +and spirit, with that everlasting life of His, even as our bodies +are nourished by that bread and wine. And if you ask me +how? When you can tell me why a wheat grain cannot produce +an oak, or an acorn a wheat plant; when you can tell me why our +bodies are, each of them, the very same bodies which they were +ten years ago, though every atom of flesh, and blood, and bone in +them has been changed; when, in short, you, or any other living +man, can tell me the meaning of those three words, body, life, +and growth, then it will be time to ask that question. In +the meantime let us believe that He who does such wonders in the +life and growth of every blade of grass, can and will do far +greater wonders for the life and growth of us, immortal beings, +made in His own likeness, redeemed by His blood, and so believe, +and thank, and obey, and wait till another and a nobler life to +understand. And if we never understand at all—what +matter, provided the thing be true?</p> +<h2><a name="page346"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +346</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXIV.</span><br /> +CHRISTMAS-DAY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is +given; and the government shall be on His shoulder: and His name +shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Father +of an Everlasting age, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase +of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the +throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to +establish it with judgment and with justice henceforth even +forever.—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> ix. 6, 7.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the time when the prophet Isaiah +wrote this prophecy, everything round him was exactly opposite to +his words. The king of Judæa, the prophet’s +country, was not reigning in righteousness. He was an +unrighteous and wicked governor. The princes and great men +were not ruling in judgment. They were unjust and covetous; +they took bribes, and sold justice for money. They were +oppressors, grinding down the poor, and defrauding those below +them. So that the weak, and poor, and needy had no one to +right them, no one to take their part. There was no man to +feel for them, and defend them, and be a hiding-place and a +covert for them from their cruel tyrants; no man to comfort and +refresh them as rivers of water refresh a dry place, or the +shadow of a great rock comforts the sunburnt traveller in the +weary deserts.</p> +<p>Neither were these very poor oppressed people of the Jews in a +right state of mind. They were ignorant and stupid, given +to worship false gods. They had eyes, and yet could not use +them to see that, as the psalm told us this morning, the heavens +declared the glory of God, and the firmament showed His +handiwork. They were worshipping the sun, and moon, and +stars, in stead of the Lord God who made them. They were +brutish too, and would not listen to teaching. They had +ears, and yet would not hearken with them to God’s +prophets. They were rash, too, living from hand to mouth, +discontented, and violent, as ignorant poor people will be in +evil times. And they were stammerers—not with their +tongue, but with their minds and thoughts. They were +miserable; but they could not tell why. They were full of +discontent and longings; but they could not put them into +words. They did not know how to pray, how to open their +hearts to God or to man. They knew of no one who could +understand them and their sorrows; they could not understand them +themselves, much less put them into words. They were +altogether confused and stupefied; just in the same state, in a +word, as the poor negro slaves in America, and the heathens ay, +and the Christians too, are in, in all the countries of the world +which do not know the good news of Christmas-day or have +forgotten it and disobeyed it.</p> +<p>But Isaiah had God’s Spirit with him; the Holy Spirit, +the Spirit of holiness, righteousness, justice. And that +Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and of righteousness and of +judgment, as He convinces every man who gives himself up humbly +to God’s teaching.</p> +<p>First, the Spirit convinced Isaiah of sin. He made him +feel that the state of his country was wrong. And He made +him feel why it was wrong; namely, because the men in it were +wrong; because they were thinking wrong notions, feeling wrong +feelings, doing wrong things; and that wrong was sin; and that +sin was falling short of being what a man was made, and what +every man ought to be, namely, the likeness and glory of God; and +that so his countrymen the Jews, one and all, had sinned and come +short of the glory of God.</p> +<p>Next, He convinced Isaiah of righteousness. He made +Isaiah feel and be sure that God was righteous; that God was no +unjust Lord, like the wicked king of the Jews; that such evil +doings as are going on were hateful to Him; that all that +covetousness, oppression, taking of bribes, drunkenness, deceit, +ignorance, stupid rashness and folly, of which the land was full, +were hateful to God. He must hate them, for He was a +righteous and a good God. They ought not to be there. +For man, every man from the king on his throne to the poor +labourer in the field, was meant to be righteous and good as God +is. “But how will it be altered?” thought +Isaiah to himself. “What hope for this poor miserable +sinful world? People are meant to be righteous and good: +but who will make them so? The king and his princes are +meant to be righteous and good, but who will set them a +pattern? When will there be a really good king, who will be +an example to all in authority; who will teach men to do right, +and compel and force them not to do wrong?”</p> +<p>And then the Holy Spirit of God answered that anxious question +of Isaiah’s, and convinced him of judgment.</p> +<p>Yes, he felt sure; he did not know why he felt so sure: but he +did feel sure; God’s Spirit in his heart made him feel +sure, that in some way or other, some day or other, the Lord God +would come to judgment, to judge the wicked princes and rulers of +this world, and cast them out. It must be so. God was +a righteous God. He would not endure these unrighteous +doings for ever. He was not careless about this poor sinful +world, and about all the sinful down-trodden ignorant men, and +women, and children in it. He would take the matter into +His own hands. He would show that He was Lord and +Master. If kings would not reign in righteousness, He would +come and reign in righteousness Himself. He would appoint +princes under Him, who would rule in judgment. And He would +show men what true righteousness was; what the pattern of a true +ruler was; namely, to be able to feel for the poor, and the +afflicted, and the needy, to understand the wants, and sorrows, +and doubts, and fears of the lowest and the meanest; in short, to +be a man, a true, perfect man, with a man’s heart, a +man’s pity, a man’s fellow-feeling in Him. +Yes. The Lord God would show Himself. He would set +His righteous King to govern. And yet Isaiah did not know +how, but he saw plainly that it must be so, that same righteous +King, who was to set the world right, would be a +<i>man</i>. It would be a man who was to be a hiding-place +from the storm and a covert from the tempest. A man who +would understand man, and teach men their duty.</p> +<p>Then the eyes of the blind would see, and the ears of those +who heard should hearken; for they would hear a loving human +voice, the voice of One who knew what was in man, who could tell +them just what they wanted to know, and put His teaching into the +shape in which it would sink most easily and deeply into their +hearts. And then the hearts of the rash would understand +knowledge; and the tongue of the stammerers would speak +plainly. There will be no more confused cries from poor +ignorant brutish oppressed people, like the cries of dumb beasts +in pain; for He who was coming would give them words to utter +their sorrows in. He would teach them how to speak to man +and God. He would teach them how to pray, and when they +prayed to say, “Our Father which art in heaven.”</p> +<p>Then the vile person would be no more called bountiful, or the +churl called liberal: flattery and cringing to the evil great +would be at an end. The people would have sense to see the +truth about right and wrong, and courage to speak it. Men +would then be held for what they really were, and honoured and +despised according to their true merits. Yes, said Isaiah, +we shall be delivered from our wicked king and princes, from the +heathen Assyrian armies, who fancy that they are going to sweep +us out of our own land with fire and sword; from our own sins, +and ignorance, and infidelity, and rashness. We shall be +delivered from them all, for The righteous King is coming. +Nay, He is here already, if we could but see. His +goings-forth have been from everlasting. He is ruling us +now—this wondrous Child, this Son of God. Unto us a +Child is born already, unto us a Son is given already. But +one day or other He will be revealed, and made manifest, and +shown to men as a man; and then all the people shall know who He +is; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the +Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.</p> +<p>Ah, my friends, Isaiah saw all this but dimly and afar +off. He saw as through a glass darkly. He perhaps +thought at times—indeed we can have little doubt that he +thought—that the good young Prince Hezekiah, “The +might of God,” as his name means, who was growing up in his +day to be a deliverer and a righteous king over the Jews, was to +set the world right. No doubt he had Hezekiah in his mind +when he said that a Child was born to the Jews, and a Son given +to them; just as, of course, he meant his own son, who was born +to him by the virgin prophetess, when he called his name +Emmanuel, that is to say, God with us. But he felt that +there was more in both things than that. He felt that his +young wife’s conceiving and bearing a son, was a sign to +him that some day or other a more blessed virgin would conceive +and bear a mightier Son. And so he felt that whether or not +Hezekiah delivered the Jews from their sin, and misery, and +ignorance, God Himself would deliver them. He knew, by the +Spirit of God, that his prophecy would come true, and remain true +for ever. And so he died in faith, not having received the +promises, God having prepared some better King for us, and having +fulfilled the words of His prophet in a way of which, as far as +we can see, he never dreamed.</p> +<p>Yes. Hezekiah failed to save the nation of the +Jews. Instead of being the “father of an everlasting +age,” and having “no end of his family on the throne +of David,” his great-grandchildren and the whole nation of +the Jews were swept away into captivity by the Babylonians, and +no man of his house, as Jeremiah prophesied, has ever since +prospered or sat on the throne of David. But still +Isaiah’s prophecy was true. True for us who are +assembled here this day.</p> +<p>For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; even the +Babe of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ the Lord. The government +shall indeed be upon His shoulder; for it has been there +always. For the Father has committed all things to the Son, +that he may be King of kings and Lord of lords for ever. +His name is indeed Wonderful; for what more wondrous thing was +ever seen in heaven or in earth, than that great love with which +He loved us? He is not merely called “The might of +God,” as Hezekiah was,—for a sign and a prophecy; for +He is the mighty God Himself. He is indeed the Counsellor; +for He is the light who lighteth every man who comes into the +world. He is “the Father of an everlasting +age.” There were hopes that Hezekiah would be so; +that he would raise the nation of the Jews again to a reform from +which it would never fall away: but these hopes were +disappointed; and the only one who fulfilled the prophecy is He +who has founded His Church for ever on the rock of everlasting +ages, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. +Hezekiah was to be the prince of peace for a few short years +only. But the Child who is born to us, the Son who is given +to us, is He who gave eternal peace to all who will accept it; +peace which this world can neither give nor take away; and who +will make that peace grow and spread over the whole earth, till +men shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears +into pruning-hooks, and the nations shall not learn war any +more. Of the increase of His government and of His peace +there shall be no end, till the earth be full of the knowledge of +the Lord, as the waters cover the sea, and the spirit of God be +poured out on all flesh, to teach kings to reign in +righteousness, after the pattern of the King of kings, the Babe +of Bethlehem; to make the rich and powerful do justice, to teach +the ignorant, to give the rich wisdom, to free the oppressed, to +comfort the afflicted, to proclaim to all mankind the good news +of Christmas Day, the good news that there was a man born into +the world on this day who will be a hiding-place from the storm, +a covert from the tempest, like rivers of water in a dry place, +like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; even the man +Christ Jesus, who is able and willing to save to the uttermost +those who come to God through Him, seeing that he has been +tempted in all things like as we are, yet without sin.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, on that holy table stands the everlasting +sign that Isaiah’s prophecy has been fulfilled to the +uttermost. That bread and that wine declare to us, that to +us a Child is born, to us a Son is given. They declare to +us, in a word, that on this blessed day God was made man, and +dwelt among men, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the +only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.</p> +<p>Oh, come to that table this day, and there claim your share in +the most precious body and blood of the Divine Child of +Bethlehem. Come and ask Him to pour out on you His Spirit, +the Spirit which He poured on Hezekiah of old, “that he +might fulfil his own name and live in the might of +God.” So will you live in the might of God. So +you will be able to govern yourselves, and your own appetites, in +righteousness and freedom, and rule your own households, or +whatsoever God has set you to do, in judgment. So you will +see things in their true light, as God sees them, and be ready +and willing to hear good advice, and understand your way in this +life, and be able to speak your hearts out in prayer to God, as +to a loving and merciful Father. And in all your +afflictions, let them be what they will, you will have a comfort, +and a sure hope, and a wellspring of peace, and a hiding-place +from the tempest, even The Man Christ Jesus, who said: +“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; let not +your heart be troubled, neither be ye afraid.” The +Man Christ Jesus, at whose birth the angels sang: “Glory to +God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward +men.”</p> +<p>Now to Him who on this day was born of the blessed virgin, man +of the substance of His mother, yet God the Son of God, be +ascribed, with the Father and the Spirit, all power, glory, +majesty, and dominion, both now and for ever. Amen.</p> +<h2><a name="page354"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +354</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXV.</span><br /> +NEW YEAR’S DAY.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(1853.)</p> +<blockquote><p>But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O +Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have +redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art +mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with +thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when +thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither +shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy +God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy +ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast +precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved +thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and peoples for thy +life.—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xliii. +1–4.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> New Year has now begun; and I +am bound to wish you all a happy New Year. But I am sent +here to do more than that; to teach you how you may make your own +New Year a happy one; or, if not altogether a happy one—for +sorrows may and must come in their turn—yet still something +better than a happy year, namely, a blessed year; a year on which +you will be able to look back this day twelvemonths, and thank +God for it; thank God for the tears which you have shed in it, as +well as for the joy which you have felt; thank God for the dark +days as well as for the light; thank God for what you have lost, +as well as what you have found; and be able to say, “Well, +this last year, if it has not been a happy year for me, at least +it has been a blessed one for me. It has left me a +stronger, soberer, wiser, godlier, better man than it found +me.”</p> +<p>How, then, can you make the New Year a blessed one for +yourselves? I know but one way, my friends. The +ancient way. The Bible way. The way by which Abraham, +and Jacob, and David, and all the holy men of old, and all the +saints, and martyrs, and righteous and godly among men, made +their lives blessed among themselves, in spite of sorrow, and +misfortune, and distress, and persecution, and torture, and death +itself; the one only old way of being blessed, which was from the +beginning, and will last for ever and ever, through all worlds +and eternities; the way of the old saints, which St. Paul sets +forth in the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews; and that is, +<i>faith</i>. Faith, which is the substance of what we hope +for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith, of which it is +written, that the just shall live by his faith.</p> +<p>But how can faith give you a blessed New Year? In the +same way in which it gave the old saints blessed years all their +lives through, and is giving them a blessed eternity now and for +ever before the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, to which may God +in His mercy bring us all likewise.</p> +<p>They trusted in God. They had faith, not in themselves, +like too many; not in their own good works, like too many; not in +their own faith, in their own frames, and feelings, and +assurances, like too many; but they had faith in God. It +was faith in God which made one of them, the great prophet +Isaiah, write the glorious words which I have chosen for my text +this day, to show his countrymen the Jews, even while they were +in the very lowest depths of shame, and poverty, and misfortune, +that God had not forgotten them; that for those who trusted in +Him, a blessed time was surely coming.</p> +<p>And it was faith in God, too, which put it into the minds of +the good men who choose these Sunday lessons out of the Bible, to +appoint such chapters as these to be read year by year, at the +coming in of the new year, for ever. Faith in God, I say, +put that into their minds. For those good men trusted in +God, that He would not change; that hundreds and thousands of +years would make no difference in His love; that the promises +made by His Holy Spirit to Isaiah the prophet would stand true +for ever and ever. And they trusted in God, too, that what +He had spoken by the mouth of His holy apostles was true; that +after the blessed Lord came down on earth, there was to be no +difference between Jews and Gentiles; that the great and precious +promises made by God to the Jews were made also to all the +nations of the earth; that all things written in the Old +Testament, from the first chapter of Genesis to the last of +Malachi, were written not for the Jews only, but for English, +French, Italians, Germans, Russians—for all the nations of +the world; that we English were God’s people now, just as +much, ay, far more, than the old Jews were, and that, therefore, +the Old Testament promises, as well as the New Testament ones, +were part of our inheritance as members of Christ’s +Church. And therefore they appointed Old Testament lessons +to be read in church, to show us English what our privileges +were, what God’s covenant and promise to us were. We, +as much as the Jews, are called by the name of the Lord who +created us. Were we not baptised into His name at that +font? Has He not loved us? Has He not heaped us +English, for hundreds of years past, with blessings such as He +never bestowed on any nation? Has He not given men for us, +and nations for our life? While all the nations of the +world have been at war, slaying and being slain, has He not kept +this fair land of England free and safe from foreign invaders for +more than eight hundred years? Since the world was made, +perhaps, such a thing was never heard of, such a mercy shown to +any nation; that a great and rich country like this should be +preserved for eight hundred years from invasion of foreign +armies, and all the horrors and miseries of war, which have +swept, from time to time, every other nation in the world with +the besom of desolation.</p> +<p>Ay, and but sixty years ago, in the time of the French war, +when almost every other nation in Europe was made desolate with +fire, and sword, and war, did not God preserve this land of +England, as He never preserved country before, from all the +miseries which were sweeping over other nations? Oh, +strange and wonderful mercy of God, that at the very time that +the gospel was dying out all over Europe, it was being lighted +again in England; and that while the knowledge of God was failing +elsewhere, it was increasing here! Oh, strange and +wonderful mercy of God, who has given to us English, now for one +hundred and sixty years and more, those very equal laws, and +freedom, and rights of conscience, for which so many other +nations of Europe are still crying and struggling in vain, amid +slavery, and oppression, and injustice, and heavy burdens, such +as we here in England should not endure a week! Oh, strange +and wonderful mercy of God, who but three years ago, when all the +other nations of Europe were shaken with wars, and riots, and +seditions, every man’s hand against his neighbour, kept +this land of England in perfect peace and quiet by those just +laws and government, proving to us the truth of His own promises, +that those who seek peace by righteous dealings, shall find it, +and that, as Isaiah says, the fruit of justice is quietness and +assurance for ever! And last, but not least, my friends, is +it not a sign, a sign not to be mistaken, of God’s +good-will and mercy to us, that now, at this very time of all +others, when almost every country in Europe is going to wrack and +ruin through the folly and wickedness of their kings and rulers, +He should have given us here in England a Queen who is a pattern +of goodness and purity, in ruling not only the nation, but her +own household, to every wife and mother, from the highest to the +lowest; and a Prince whose whole heart seems set on doing good, +and on helping the poor, and improving the condition of the +labourers? My friends, I say that we are unthankful and +unfaithful. We do not thank God a hundredth part enough for +the blessings which He has given us. We do not trust Him a +hundredth part enough for the blessings which He has in store for +us. If some of us here could but see and feel for a single +month how people are off abroad; if they could change places with +a French, an Italian, a Russian labourer, it would teach them a +lesson about God’s goodness to England which they would not +soon forget. May God grant that we may never have to learn +that lesson in that way! God grant that we may never, to +cure us of our unthankfulness and want of faith, and godless and +unmanly grumbling and complaining, be brought, for a single week, +into the same state as some hundred millions of our +fellow-creatures are in foreign parts! Oh, my friends, let +us thank God for the mercies of the past year! Most truly +He has fulfilled to England his promise given by the mouth of the +prophet Isaiah: “When thou passest through the waters, I +will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not +overflow thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One, thy +Saviour. Thou hast been precious in my sight, and I have +loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and peoples for +thy life.”</p> +<p>Away, then, with discontent and anxiety for the coming +year. Or rather, let us be only discontented with +ourselves. Let us only be anxious about our own +conduct. God cannot change. If anything goes wrong, +it will be not because He has left us, but because we have left +Him. Is it not written that all things work together for +good to those who love God? Then if things do not work +together for good in this coming year, it will be because we do +not love God. Do not let us say, “I am righteous, but +my neighbours are wicked, and therefore I must be +miserable;” neither let us lay the blame of our misfortunes +on our rulers; let us lay it on ourselves.</p> +<p>What was the word of the Lord to the Jews in a like case: +“What means this proverb which you take up, saying, The +fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth +are set on edge? It is not so, O house of Israel. The +son shall not die for the iniquity of his father, nor the father +for the iniquity of the son. The soul that sinneth, it +shall die, saith the Lord.”</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, take this to heart solemnly, in the year to +come. Our troubles, more of them at least than we fancy, +are our own fault, and not our neighbours’, or the +government’s, or anyone’s else. And those which +are not our own fault directly are so in this way, that they are +sent as sharp and wholesome lessons to us; and if we were what we +ought to be, we should not want those lessons. Do not fancy +that that is a sad and doleful thought to begin the new year +with. God forbid! It would be doleful and sad indeed +if any one of us, in spite of all his right-doing, might be +plunged into any hopeless misery, through the fault of other +people, over whom he has no control. But thanks be to the +Lord, it is not so. We are His children, and He cares for +each and every one of us separately. Each and every one of +us has to answer for himself alone, face to face with his God, +day by day; every man must bear his own burden; and to every one +of us who love God, all things will work together for good. +It is, and was, and always will be, as Abraham well knew, far +from God to punish the righteous with the wicked. The Judge +of all the earth will do right. None of us who repents and +turns from the sins he sees round him and in him; none of us who +prays for the light and guiding of God’s Spirit; none of us +who struggles day by day to keep himself unspotted from this evil +world, and live as God’s son, without scandal or ill-name +in the midst of a sinful and perverse generation; none of us who +does that, but God’s blessing will rest on him. What +ruins others will only teach and strengthen him; what brings +others to shame, will only bring him to honour, and make his +righteousness plain to be seen by all, that God may be glorified +in His people. Let the coming year be what it may; to the +holy, the humble, the upright, the godly, it will be a blessed +year, fulfilling the blessed promises of the Lord, that those who +trust in Him shall never be confounded.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, consider but this one thing, that the Almighty +God, who made all heaven and earth, has bid us trust in +Him. And when He bids us, is it not a sin, an insult to +Him, not to trust Him—not to believe His words to us? +“Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be doing good; dwell +in the land,” working where He has set thee, “and +verily thou shalt be fed.” “Thou shalt not be +afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by +day. A thousand shall fall by thy side, and ten thousand at +thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with +thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the +wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord thy refuge, no +plague shall come nigh thy dwelling. Thou shalt call upon +me, I will answer thee. Because thou hast set thy love on +me, I will deliver thee; with long life will I satisfy thee, and +show thee my salvation.”</p> +<p>My friends, these words are in the book of Psalms. +Either they are the most cruel words that ever were spoken on +earth to tempt poor wretches into vain security and fearful +disappointment, or they are—what are they?—the sure +and everlasting promise of our Father in heaven to us His +children. We have only to ask for them, and we shall +receive them; to claim them, and they will be fulfilled to +us. “For He who spared not His own Son, but freely +gave Him for us, will He not with Him likewise freely give us all +things,” and make, by His fatherly care, and providence, +and education, all our new years blessed new years, whether or +not they are happy ones?</p> +<h2><a name="page362"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +362</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXVI.</span><br /> +THE DELUGE.</h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">My spirit shall not +always strive with man.—<span class="smcap">Genesis</span> +vi. 3.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Last</span> Sunday we read in the first +lesson of the fall. This Sunday we read of the flood, the +first-fruits of the fall.</p> +<p>It is an awful and a fearful story. And yet, if we will +look at it by faith in God, it is a most cheerful and hopeful +story—a gospel—a good news of salvation—like +every other word in the Bible, from beginning to end. Ay, +and to my mind, the most hopeful words of all in it, are the very +ones which at first sight look most terrible, the words with +which my text begins: “And the Lord said, My Spirit shall +not always strive with man.”</p> +<p>For is it not good news—the good news of all +news—the news which every poor soul who is hungering and +thirsting after righteousness, longs to hear; and when they hear +it, feel it to be the good news—the only news which can +give comfort to fallen and sorrowful men, tied and bound with the +chain of their sins, that God’s Spirit does strive at all +with man? That God is looking after men? That God is +yearning over sinners, as the heart of a father yearns over his +rebellious child, as the heart of a faithful and loving husband +yearns after an unfaithful wife? That God does not take a +disgust at us for all our unworthiness, but wills that none +should perish, but that all should come to repentance? Oh +joyful news! Man may be, as the text says that he was in +the time of Noah, so low fallen that he is but flesh like the +brutes that perish; the imaginations of his heart may be only +evil continually; his spirit may be dead within him, given up to +all low and fleshly appetites and passions, anger, and +greediness, and filth; and yet the pure and holy Spirit of God +condescends to strive and struggle with him, to convince him of +sin, and make him discontented and ashamed at his own +brutishness, and shake and terrify his soul with the wholesome +thought: “I am a sinner—I am wrong—I am living +such a life as God never meant me to live—I am not what I +ought to be—I have fallen short of what God intended me to +be. Surely some evil will come to me from +this.” Then the Holy Spirit convinces man of +righteousness. He shows man that what he has fallen short +of is the glory of God; that man was meant to be, as St. Paul +says, the likeness and glory of God; to show forth God’s +glory, and beauty, and righteousness, and love in his own daily +life; as a looking-glass, though it is not the sun, still gives +an image and likeness of the sun, when the sun shines on it, and +shows forth the glory of the sunbeams which are reflected on +it.</p> +<p>And then, the Holy Spirit convinces man of judgment. He +shows man that God cannot suffer men, or angels, or any other +rational spirits and immortal souls, to be unlike Himself; that +because He is the only and perfect good, whatsoever is unlike Him +must be bad; because He is the only and perfect love, who wills +blessings and good to all, whatsoever is unlike Him must be +unloving, hating, and hateful—a curse and evil to all +around it; because He is the only perfect Maker and Preserver, +whatsoever is unlike Him must be in its very nature hurtful, +destroying, deadly—a disease which injures this good world, +and which He will therefore cut out, burn up, destroy in some way +or other, if it will not submit to be cured. For this, my +friends, is the meaning of God’s judgments on sinners; this +is why He sent a flood to drown the world of the ungodly; this is +why He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; this is why He swept away +the nations of Canaan; this is why He destroyed Jerusalem, His +own beloved city, and scattered the Jews over the face of the +whole earth unto this day; this is why He destroyed heathen Rome +of old, and why He has destroyed, from time to time, in every age +and country, great nations and mighty cities by earthquake, and +famine, and pestilence, and the sword; because He knows that sin +is ruin and misery to all; that it is a disease which spreads by +infection among fallen men; and that He must cut off the corrupt +nation for the sake of preserving mankind, as the surgeon cuts +off a diseased limb, that his patient’s whole body may not +die. But the surgeon will not cut off the limb as long as +there is a chance of saving it: he will not cut it off till it is +mortified and dead, and certain to infect the whole body with the +same death, or till it is so inflamed that it will inflame the +whole body also, and burn up the patient’s life with +fever. Till then he tends it in hope; tries by all means to +cure it. And so does the Lord, the Lord Jesus, the great +Physician, whom His Father has appointed to heal and cure this +poor fallen world. As long as there is hope of curing any +man, any nation, any generation of men, so long will his Spirit +strive lovingly and hopefully with man. For see the blessed +words of the text: “My Spirit shall not always strive with +man. This must end. This must end at some time or +other. This battle between my Spirit and the wicked and +perverse wills of these sinners; this battle between the love and +the justice and the purity which I am trying to teach them, and +the corruption and the violence with which they are filling the +earth.” But there is no passion in the Lord, no +spite, no sudden rage, like the brute passionate anger of weak +man. Our anger, if we are not under the guiding of +God’s Spirit, conquers our wills, carries us away, makes us +say and do on the moment—God forgive us for +it—whatsoever our passion prompts us. The +Lord’s anger does not conquer Him. It does not +conquer His patience, His love, His steadfast will for the good +of all. Even when it shows itself in the flood and the +earthquake; even though it break up the fountains of the great +deep, and destroy from off the earth both man and beast, yet it +is, and was, and ever will be, the anger of The Lamb—a +patient, a merciful, and a loving anger.</p> +<p>Therefore the Lord says: “Yet his days shall be one +hundred and twenty years.” One hundred and twenty +years more he would endure those corrupt and violent sinners, in +the hope of correcting them. One hundred and twenty years +more would God’s Spirit strive with men. One hundred +and twenty years more the long-suffering of God, as St. Peter +says, would wait, if by any means they would turn and +repent. Oh, wonderful love and condescension of God! +God waits for man! The Holy One waits for the unholy! +The Creator waits for the work of His own hands! The +wrathful God, who repents that He has made man upon the earth, +waits one hundred and twenty years for the very creatures whom He +repents having made! Does this seem strange to +us—unlike our notions of God? If it is strange to us, +my friends, its being strange is only a proof of how far we have +fallen from the likeness of God, wherein man was originally +created. If we were more like God, then the accounts of +God’s long-suffering, and mercy, and repentance, which we +read in the Bible, would not be so strange to us. We should +understand what God declares of Himself, by seeing the same +feelings working in ourselves, which He declares to be working in +Himself. And if we were more righteous and more loving, we +should understand more how God’s will was a loving and a +righteous will; how His justice was His mercy, and His mercy His +justice, instead of dividing His substance, who is one God, by +fancying that His mercy and His justice are two different +attributes, which are at times contrary the one to the other.</p> +<p>We read nothing here about God’s absolute purposes, and +fixed decrees, whereof men talk so often, making a god in their +own fallen image, after their own fallen likeness. The +Lord, the Word of God, of whom the Bible tells us, does not think +it beneath his dignity to say: “It repenteth me that I have +made man.” Different, truly, from that false god +which man makes in his own image. Man is proud, and he +fancies that God is proud; man is self-willed and selfish, and he +fancies that God is self-willed and selfish; man is arbitrary and +obstinate, and determined to have his own way just because it is +his own way; and then he fancies that God is arbitrary and +obstinate, and determines to have His own way and will, just +because it is His own way and will. But wilt thou know, oh +vain man, why God will have His own way and will? Because +His way is a good way, and His will a loving will; because the +Lord knows that His way is the only path of life, and joy, and +blessing to man and beast, yes, and to the very hairs of our +head, which are all numbered, and to the sparrows, whereof not +one falls to the ground without our Father’s knowledge; +because His will is a loving will, which wills that none should +perish, but that all should come and be saved in body, soul, and +spirit. He will have His own will done, not because it is +His own will, but because it is good, good for men. And if +men will change and repent, then will He change and repent +also. If man will resist the striving of God’s Spirit +with him, then will the Lord say: “It repenteth me that I +have made that man.” But if a man will repent him of +the evil, then God will repent Him of the evil also. If a +man will let God’s Spirit convince him, and will open his +ears and hear, and open his eyes and see, and open his heart to +take in the loving thoughts and the right thoughts, and the +penitent and humble thoughts, which do come to him—you know +they do come to you all at times—then the Lord will repent +also, as he repents, and repent concerning the evil which He has +declared concerning that man. So said the Lord, who cannot +change, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, the same now +that He was in the days of the flood, to Jeremiah the prophet, +when He moved him to go down to the potter’s house, and +watch him there at his work.</p> +<p>And the potter made a vessel—something which would be +useful and good for a certain purpose—but the clay was +marred in the hand of the potter. He was good and skilful; +but there was a fault in the clay. What did he do? +Throw the clay away as useless? No. He made it again +another vessel. He was determined to make, not anything, +but something useful and good. And if the clay, being +faulty, failed him once, he would try again. He would +change his purpose and plan, but not his right will to make good +and useful vessels; them he <i>would</i> make, if not by one way, +then by another. And Jeremiah watched him; and as he +watched, the Spirit of the Lord came on him, and taught him that +that poor potter’s way of working with his clay, was a +pattern and likeness of the Lord’s work on earth. Oh +shame, that this great parable should have been twisted by men to +make out that God is an arbitrary tyrant, who works by a brute +necessity! It taught Jeremiah the very opposite. It +taught him what it ought to teach us, that God does change, +because man changes, that God’s steadfast will is the good +of men, and therefore because men change their weak self-willed +course, and fall, and seek out many inventions, therefore God +changes to follow them, like a good shepherd, tracking and +following the lost and wandering sheep up and down, right and +left, over hill and dale, if by any means He may find him, and +bring him home on His shoulders to the fold, calling upon the +angels of God: “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep +which I had lost.”</p> +<p>This is the likeness of God. The good and loving will of +a Father following his wandering children. The likeness of +a loving Father repenting that He hath brought into the world +sinful children, to be a misery to themselves and all around +them, and yet for the same reason loving those children, striving +with their wicked wills to the very last, giving them one last +chance and time for repentance; as the Lord did to those evil men +of the old world, sending to them Noah, a preacher of +righteousness, if by any means they would turn from their sins +and be saved. Ay, not only preaching to their ears by Noah, +but to their hearts by His Spirit; as St. Peter tells us, He +Himself, Christ the Lord, went Himself by His Spirit to those +very sinners before the flood, and strove to bring them to their +reason again. By His Spirit; by the very same one and only +Holy Spirit of God, St. Peter says, by which Christ Himself was +raised from the dead, did He try to raise the souls of those +sinners before the flood, from the death of sin to the life of +righteousness: but they would not. They were +disobedient. Their wills resisted His will to the last; and +then the flood came, and swept them all away.</p> +<p>And so the first work of the heavenly Workman was marred in +the making by no fault of His, but by the fault of what He +made. He made men persons, rational beings with wills, that +they might be willingly like Him: but they used those wills to be +unlike Him, to rebel against Him, and to fill the earth with +violence and corruption. And so, for the good of all +mankind to come, He had to sweep them all away. But of that +same sinful clay He made another vessel, as it seemed good to +Him; even Noah and his Sons, whom He saved that He might carry on +the race of the Sons of God unto this day.</p> +<p>And after that again, my friends, in a day more dark and evil +still, when the earth was again corrupt before God, and filled +with violence; when all flesh had corrupted His way upon the +earth, so that, as St. Paul said of them, there was none that did +good, no not one: then the same Lord, when He saw that all the +world lay in wickedness, and that the clay of human-kind was +marred in the hands of the potter, then did He cast away that +clay as reprobate and useless, and destroy mankind off the face +of the earth? Not so. Then, when there was none to +help, His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness +sustained Him; He trod the wine-press alone, and of the people +there was none with Him. His own righteousness sustained +Him. His perfectly good and righteous will never failed Him +for a moment; man He would save, and man He saved. If none +else could do it, He would do it Himself. He would bring +salvation with His own arm. He would fulfil His +Father’s will, which is that none should perish; He would +be made flesh, and dwell among men, that man might behold the +likeness of God the Father, full of grace and truth, and see what +they were meant to be. Then, in Him, in Jesus who wept over +Jerusalem, was fully revealed and shown the likeness and glory of +the Lord; the Lord in whose image man was made; who walked and +spoke with Adam in the garden; who was not ashamed to say that it +repented Him that He had made man; whom Ezekiel saw upon His +throne, and as it were upon the throne the appearance of the +likeness of a man; whom Daniel saw, and knew him to be the Son of +Man. Not a man, then, of flesh and blood; but the Eternal +Word of God, in whose image man was made, who could be loving and +merciful, long-suffering and repenting Him of the evil, but never +of the good. He came, and He swept away, as He had told the +Apostles that He would do, by such afflictions as man had never +seen since the beginning of the world until then, that Roman +world with all its devilish systems and maxims, whereby the +nations were kept down in slavery and sin; and He founded a new +heaven and a new earth, wherein dwell righteousness, even this +Holy Catholic Church, to which we all belong this day.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, this is our gospel, our good news, that there +is a God whose Spirit strives with sinners to change them into +His own likeness. A God who is no dark, obstinate, +inexorable Fate, whose arbitrary decrees must come to pass; but a +loving and merciful God, long-suffering, and who repenteth Him of +the evil; who repents Him of the evil which is in man, and hates +it, and has sworn to Himself to fight against it, till He has put +all enemies under His foot, and cast out of His kingdom all +things which offend. Who repents Him of the evil in man: +but who will never again repent Him of having made man, for then +He would repent of having become man; He would repent of having +been conceived of the Holy Ghost; He would repent of having been +born of the Virgin Mary; He would repent of having been +crucified, dead, and buried; He would repent of having risen from +the dead, and ascended up into heaven in His man’s body, +and soul, and spirit; He would repent of sitting on the right +hand of God; He would repent of coming to judge the quick and the +dead; He would repent of having done His Father’s will on +earth, even as He did it from all eternity in the bosom of the +Father. For He is a man; and even as the reasonable soul +and body are one man, so God and man are one Christ. As +man, He did His Father’s will in Judæa of old; as +man, He will judge the world; as man He rules it now; as man, St. +John saw Him fifty years after He ascended to heaven, and His +eyes were like a flame of fire, and His hair like fine wool, and +He was girt under the bosom with a golden girdle, and His voice +was like the sound of many waters; as man, He said: “Fear +not: I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth, and was +dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the +keys of death and hell.” Yes. This is the +gospel, the good news for fallen man, that there is a Man in the +midst of the throne of God, to whom all power is given in heaven +and earth; that the fate of the world, and all that is +therein—the fate of suns and stars—the fate of kings +and nations—the fate of every publican and harlot, and +heathen and outcast—the fate of all who are in death and +hell, depends alike upon the sacred heart of Jesus; the heart +which groaned at the tomb of Lazarus His friend; the heart which +wept over Jerusalem; the heart which said to the blessed +Magdalene, the woman who was a sinner: “Go in peace; thy +sins are forgiven thee;” the heart which now yearns after +every sinful and wandering soul in His church, and all over the +earth of God, crying to you all: “Why will ye die? +Have I any pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the +Lord, and not rather that he should turn from his wickedness and +live? Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy-laden, +and I will give you rest.” Oh, my friends, wonderful +as my words are—as wonderful to me who speak them as they +can be to you who hear them—yet they are true. True; +for on that table stand the bread and wine whereof He Himself +said, standing upon this very earth which He Himself had made: +“This is my body which is given for you; this cup is the +new covenant in my blood, which I will give for the life of the +world.”</p> +<h2><a name="page373"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +373</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXVII.</span><br /> +THE KINGDOM OF GOD.</h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">The kingdom of God is +within you.—<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xvii. 21.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">These</span> words are in the second +lesson for this morning’s service. Let us think a +little about them.</p> +<p>What they mean must depend on what the kingdom of God means; +for that is the one thing about which they speak.</p> +<p>Now, the kingdom of God is very often spoken of in the New +Testament. Indeed, it is the thing it speaks of above all +others. It was the thing which our Lord went about +preaching. It was the thing of which He spoke in His +parables, likening the kingdom of God first to one thing, then to +another, that He might make men understand what it was like.</p> +<p>Now, it is worth remarking that we—I mean even religious +people—speak very little about the kingdom of God +nowadays. One hears less about it than about any other +words, almost, which stand in the New Testament. Both in +sermons and in religious books, and in the talk of godly people, +one hears the kingdom of God spoken of very seldom. One +hears words about the Church, which are very good and true; but +very little, if anything, about the kingdom of God, though both +St. Paul, and St. John, and the blessed Lord Himself, speak of +the two together, as if they could not be parted; as if one could +not think of the one without thinking of the other. And we +hear words about the gospel, too, some of them very good and +true, and others, I am sorry to say, very bad and false: but, +true or false, they are not often joined now in men’s +minds, or mouths, or books, with the kingdom of God. But +the New Testament joins them almost always. It says that +gospel must be good news. Therefore the gospel must be good +news about something. But about what? We hear all +manner of answers nowadays; but we hear the right one very +seldom. People talk of the gospel as if it only meant the +good news that one man can be saved here, and another man can be +saved there. And that is good news, certainly. It is +good and blessed news to hear that any one poor sinner can be +saved from sin, and from the wages of sin. But the holy +scriptures, when they talk of the gospel, call it the gospel of +the kingdom of God. And I think it best and wisest to call +it oftenest, what the holy scripture calls it oftenest, and to +try and understand, first of all, what that means, what the good +news of the kingdom of God is: and to understand that, we must +first understand what the kingdom of God is.</p> +<p>But some may answer, holy scripture speaks of the gospel of +salvation. True, it does, once or twice. But what +does that show? Is that a different gospel from the gospel +of the kingdom of God? Are there two gospels? Surely +not. Else why would holy scripture speak so often of +“the gospel”—“the good news,” by +itself, without any word after to show what it was about? +It says often simply “the gospel;” because there is +but one gospel; and, as St. Paul says, if any man or angel preach +any other than that one, “Let him be anathema.”</p> +<p>Therefore the gospel of salvation must be the same as the +gospel of the kingdom of God; and, therefore, it seems to me, +that salvation and the kingdom of God must be one and the same +thing.</p> +<p>Now, do you think so? When I say “The kingdom of +God is salvation,” do you think it is? Have you even +any clear notion of what I mean when I say it? Some of you +have not, I am afraid; you cannot see at first sight what +salvation and the kingdom of God have to do with each +other. And why? You think salvation means being saved +from hell, and going to heaven, when you die. And so it +does: but I trust in God and in God’s holy scripture, that +it means a great deal more; for I think it means being unfit for +hell, and fit for heaven, before we die. At least, so says +the Church Catechism, which teaches every little child to thank +his Heavenly Father for having brought him into such a state of +salvation in this life, even while he is young. Thanks be +to The Spirit of God which taught our fore-fathers to put these +precious words into the Church Catechism, to guard us against +falling into the very same mistake as the Pharisees of old fell +into, when they asked our Lord when the kingdom of God was to +come. And, believe me, it is easy enough and common enough +to fall into the same mistake.</p> +<p>For what was their mistake? They fancied that the +kingdom of God was not yet come. And do not most of you +think the same? They did not deny, of course, that God was +almighty, and could rule and govern all mankind if He chose so to +do. But they did not believe that He was ruling and +governing all mankind then, because they did not know what His +rule and government were like. Now, St. Paul tells us what +God’s kingdom is like. The kingdom of God, he says, +is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. So +wherever there is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy +Spirit, there the kingdom of God is. But His kingdom over +what? Over dumb animals, or over men? Over men, +certainly; for dumb animals cannot have righteousness, or joy in +the Holy Spirit. But over what part of a man? Over +his body or over his spirit, as we call it nowadays? Over +his spirit, certainly; for it is only our spirits which can be +righteous, or peaceful, or joyful in God’s Spirit. +Therefore God’s kingdom, of which St. Paul speaks, is a +kingdom, a government over the souls, the spirits of men. +Now, are our spirits the inward part of us, or our bodies? +Our spirits, certainly. We all say, and say rightly, that +our bodies are the outward part of us, and that our spirits are +within us. Now, do you not see how that agrees exactly with +the blessed Lord’s saying in the text, “Behold, the +kingdom of God is within you”—that is, in your +spirits, because it is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the +Holy Spirit; and these are things which only our souls, not our +bodies at all, can have.</p> +<p>But these Pharisees were not righteous; they were wicked and +hypocritical men. Was the kingdom of God within them? +The blessed Lord said plainly that it was. He said not, +“The kingdom of God is within some people’s +hearts;” or, “The kingdom of God is within the hearts +of believers;” or, “The kingdom of God might be +within you if you liked.” But He said that the +kingdom of God was then and there within the hearts of those +wicked and unbelieving Pharisees.</p> +<p>Now, how could that be? In the same way that some time +before that, as St. Luke tells us, the power of the Lord was +present to heal those same Pharisees; and they were for the time +amazed, and glorified God, and were filled with fear at His +mighty works; but not healed. Their souls were not cured of +their sin and folly by any means; for we find in the very next +chapter, that because Jesus cured a palsied man on the +Sabbath-day they were filled with madness, and consulted together +how to kill Him.</p> +<p>For, my friends, as it was with them, so it is with us. +God’s kingdom is within every one of us; but it may make us +worse, as well as make us better. It may fill us with +righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; or it may +fill us, as it filled the Pharisees, with madness, and hatred of +religion and of goodness; as it is written, that the gospel may +be a savour of death unto death to us, as well as a savour of +life unto life. And it depends on us which it shall be.</p> +<p>This is what I mean: God’s kingdom is within each of +us. God is the King of our hearts and souls; our baptism +tells us so; and it tells us truly. And because God is the +King of each of our hearts, He comes everlastingly to take +possession of our hearts, and continues claiming our souls for +His own. He speaks in our hearts day and night; whenever we +have a good thought, He speaks in our hearts, and says to us: +“I am the King of your spirit. It must obey me. +I put this good thought into your hearts, and you are bound to +follow that good thought, because it is a law of my +kingdom.” Or again, God speaks in our hearts, and +says to us: “You have done this wrong thing. You know +that it is wrong. You know that it is an offence against my +law. Why have you rebelled against me?” Or +again, when we see anyone do a good, a loving, or a noble action; +or when we read of the lives of good and noble men and women; +above all, when we read or hear of the character and doings of +the blessed Lord Jesus, then and there God speaks in our hearts, +and stirs us up to love and admire these noble and blessed +examples, and says to us: “That is right. That is +beautiful. That is what men should do. That is what +you should do. Why are you not like that man? Why are +you not like my saints? Why are you not like me, the Lord +Jesus Christ?”</p> +<p>You all surely know what I mean. You know that I do not +mean that you hear a voice speaking to your ears, but that +thoughts and feelings come into your heart, without you putting +them there: ay, often enough, in spite of your trying to drive +them away. Now, those right thoughts are the kingdom of God +within you. They are the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ +speaking by His Holy Spirit to your spirit, and telling you that +He is your King, and that you ought to obey Him; and that obeying +Him means being righteous and good, as He is righteous and good; +and calling on you to give up your own wills and fancies, and to +do His will, and let Him make you holy, even as He is holy. +That, I say, is the kingdom of God showing itself within you, +telling you that God is your King, and telling you how to obey +Him.</p> +<p>But what if a man will not hear that voice? What if a +man rebels proudly against the good thoughts that rise in his +mind, and tries to forget them, and grows angry with them, angry +with the preacher, the Church Service, the Bible itself, because +they <i>will</i> go on reminding him of what he knows in his +heart to be right? What if those good thoughts only make +him the more stubborn and determined to do his own pleasure, and +follow his own interests, and do his own will?</p> +<p>Do you not see that to that man God’s kingdom over his +heart is a savour of death unto death—that his finding out +that God is his Lord only makes him more rebellious—that +God’s Spirit striving with his heart to bring it right, +only stirs up his stubbornness and self-will, and makes him go +the more obstinately wrong?</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, this is a fearful thought! That man can +become worse by God’s loving desire to make him +better! But so it is. So it was with Pharaoh of +old. All God’s pleading with him by the message of +Moses and Aaron, by the mighty plagues which God sent on Egypt, +only hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The Lord God spoke to +him, and his message only lashed Pharaoh’s proud and wicked +will into greater fury and rebellion, as a vicious horse becomes +the more unmanageable the more you punish it. Therefore, it +is said plainly in scripture, that <i>The Lord</i> hardened +Pharaoh’s heart; not as some fancy, that the Lord’s +will was to make Pharaoh hard-hearted and wicked. God +forbid. The Lord is the fountain of good only, and not He, +but we and the devil, make evil. But the more the Lord +pleaded with Pharaoh, and tried to bend his will, the more +self-willed he became. The more the Lord showed Pharaoh +that the Lord was King, the more he hated the kingdom and will of +God, the more he determined to be king himself, and to obey no +law but his own wicked fancies and pleasures, and asked: +“Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?”</p> +<p>And so it was with the Pharisees. When they found out +that the kingdom of God was within them, that God was the King of +their hearts and minds, and was trying to change their feelings +and alter their opinions, it only maddened them. They were +determined not to change. They were determined not to +confess that they had been wrong, and had mistaken the meaning of +holy scripture. They were too proud to confess what Jesus +told them, that they were no better than the poor ignorant common +people whom they despised. And yet they knew in their +hearts that He was right. When the Lord told them the +parable of the vineyard, they answered, “God forbid!” +they felt at once that the parable had to do with them—that +they were the wicked husbandmen on whom He said their master +would take vengeance: but that only maddened them the more, till +they ended by crucifying the Lord of Glory, upon a pretence which +they knew was a false and lying one; and when Judas Iscariot +said, “I have betrayed the innocent blood,” they did +not deny that the Lord Jesus was innocent; all they answered was, +“What is that to us?” They were determined to +have their own way whether He was innocent or not. They had +seen God’s likeness. They had seen what God was like, +by seeing the conduct of His only begotten Son Jesus +Christ. And when they saw God’s likeness they hated +it, because it was not like themselves. And the more God +strove with their hearts, and tried to make them obey Him, the +more, in short, they felt His kingdom within them, the more they +hated that kingdom of God within them, because it reproved them, +and convinced them of sin. Oh, my friends, young people +especially, beware; beware lest you fall into the same miserable +state of mind. The kingdom of God is within you. The +Holy Spirit, by which you were regenerate in holy baptism, is +stirring and pleading with your hearts, making you happy when you +do right, unhappy when you do wrong. Oh, listen to those +good thoughts and feelings within you! Never fancy that +they are your own thoughts and feelings: else you will fancy that +you can put them away and take them back again when you choose to +change and become religious. Do not let the devil deceive +you into that notion. These good thoughts and feelings are +the Spirit of God. They are the signs that the kingdom of +God is within you; that God is King and Master of your hearts and +minds; and that you cannot keep Him out of them: but that He can +enter into them when He likes, and put right thoughts into +them. But though you cannot prevent God and His kingdom +entering into you, you can refuse to enter into it. Alas! +alas! how many of you shut your ears to God’s voice: try to +drive God’s Spirit out of your own hearts; try to forget +what is right, because it is unpleasant to remember it, and say +to yourselves, “I will have my own way. I will try +and forget what the clergyman said in his sermon, or what I +learnt at school. I am grown up now, and I will do what I +like.” Oh, my friends, is it a wise or a hopeful +battle to fight against the living God? Grieve not the Holy +Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption, +lest He go away from you and leave you to yourselves, spiritually +dead, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, whose end is to be +burned. Grieve Him not, lest He depart, and with Him both +the Father and the Son. And then you will not know right +from wrong, because God the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of right, has +left you. You will not know what a man ought to be or do, +because the Son of Man, the perfect likeness of God, and +therefore the pattern of man, has left you. You will not +know that God the Father is your Father, but only fancy him a +stern taskmaster, reaping where He has not sown, and requiring of +you more than you are bound to pay, because God the Father has +left you.</p> +<p>You may, indeed, keep out ugly thoughts for a time. You +may go on wantonly in sin, and worldliness, and self-will. +And then, by way of falling deeper still, you may take up with +some false sort of religion, which makes people fancy that they +know God, and are one of His elect, while in works they deny Him, +and their sinful heart is unchanged. Then your mouth indeed +may be full of second-hand talk about the gospel. But what +gospel? I call that a devil’s gospel, and not +God’s gospel, which makes men fancy that they may continue +in sin that grace may abound. I call any grace which leaves +men in their sins the devil’s grace, and not God’s +grace. Certainly it is not the gospel of the kingdom of +God; for if it was, it would produce in men the fruits of that +kingdom, righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, +instead of the fruits which we see too often, bigotry and +self-conceit, bitterness, evil-speaking, and hard judgments, and +joy in a most unholy and damnable spirit, not to mention +covetousness and deceitfulness, or even in some cases wantonness +and lust. And yet such men will often fancy that they +belong especially to God, and doubt whether He will have mercy on +any who do not exactly agree with them; while in reality God and +His kingdom have utterly left their hearts, and they are as blind +and dark as the beasts which perish. May God preserve us +from that second death which comes on sinners, when, after a +sinful youth, their terrified souls begin to cry out in fear at +the sight of their sins; and they, instead of casting away their +sins, keep their sins, or change old sins for more respectable +and safe new ones, and drug their souls with false doctrines, as +foolish nurses quiet children’s crying by giving them +poisonous medicines. I know men who have fallen, I really +fear at times, into that state of mind, and are like those +Pharisees of whom our Lord said: “Ye serpents, ye +generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of +hell?” Even for them it is not too late: but, let +them recollect, if the kingdom of God is within them, if they +have any feelings of right and wrong left in them, that their +covetousness, and lying, and slandering, and conceit, is fighting +against God; that these are just what God desires to cast out of +them; and that unless they give up their hearts to God, and let +Him cast out their sins, and be converted, and become like little +children, gentle, humble, teachable, friendly, and kind-hearted, +obedient to their heavenly Father, God will cast them out of His +kingdom among the things which offend, and bring a bad name on +religion; among those very profligate and open sinners whom they +are so ready to despise and curse.</p> +<h2><a name="page384"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +384</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXVIII.</span><br /> +THE LIGHT.</h2> +<blockquote><p>But all things that are reproved are made manifest +by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. +Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the +dead, and Christ shall give thee light.—<span +class="smcap">Ephesians</span> v. 13, 14.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">St. Paul</span> has been telling the +Ephesians who they are; that they are God’s dear +children. To whom they belong; to Christ who has given +Himself for them. What they ought to do; to follow +God’s likeness, and live in love. That they are light +in the Lord; and are to walk as children of the light; and have +no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather +reprove them. As much as to say: Do not believe those who +tell you that there is no harm in young people going wrong +together before marriage, provided they intend to marry after +all. Do not believe those who tell you that there is no +harm in filthy words, provided you do not do filthy things; and +no harm in swearing, provided you do not mean the curses which +you speak. Do not believe those who tell you there is no +harm in poaching another man’s game, provided you do not +steal his poultry, or anything except his game. Do not +believe those who tell you that there is no harm in being +covetous, provided you do not actually cheat your neighbours; and +that the sin lies, not in being covetous at all, but in being +more covetous than the law will let you be.</p> +<p>Do not believe those who say to you that you may keep dark +thoughts, spite, suspicion, envy, cunning, covetousness in your +hearts day after day, year after year, provided you do not openly +act on them so as to do your neighbours any great and notorious +injury.</p> +<p>Plenty of people will tell you so, and try to deceive you with +vain words, and give you arguments, and texts of scripture +perhaps, to prove that sin is not sin, and that the children of +light may do the works of darkness. But do not believe +them, says St. Paul. They are deceivers, and their words +are vain. These are the very things which bring down +God’s wrath on His disobedient children. These are +the bad ways which make young people, when they are married, +despise, and distrust, and quarrel with each other, and live +miserable lives together, as children of wrath, peevish, and +wrathful, and discontented with each other, because they feel +that God is angry with them, just as Adam in the garden, when he +felt that he had sinned, and that God was wroth with him, laid +the blame on his wife, and accused her, whom he ought to have +loved, and protected, and excused.</p> +<p>These are the bad ways which make people ashamed when they +meet a good and a respectable person, make them afraid of being +overheard, afraid of being found out, fond of haunting low and +out-of-the-way places where they will not be seen; fond of +prowling and lurching out at night after their own sinful +pleasures, because the darkness hides them from their neighbours, +and seems to hide them from themselves, though it cannot hide +them from God. These are the sins which make men silent, +cunning, dark, sour, double-tongued, afraid to look anyone full +in the face, unwilling to make friends, afraid of opening their +minds to anyone, because they have something on their minds which +they dare not tell their neighbours, which they dare not even +tell themselves, but think about as little as they can +help. Do you not know what I mean? Do you not often +see it in others? Have you never felt it in yourselves when +you have done wrong, that dark feeling within which shows itself +in dark looks? You talk of a “dark-looking +man,” or a “dark sort of person;” and you mean, +do you not, a man whom you cannot make out, who does not wish you +to make him out; who keeps his thoughts and his feelings to +himself, and is never frank or free, except with bad companions, +when the world cannot see him; who goes about hanging down his +head, and looking out of the corners of his eyes, as if he were +afraid of the very sunshine—afraid of the light. We +know that such a man has something dark on his mind. We +call him a “dark sort of man.” And we are +right. We say of him what St. Paul says of him in this very +epistle, when he says, that sin is darkness, and sinful works the +deeds of darkness; and that goodness, and righteousness, and +truth, are light, the very light of God and the Spirit of +God. Our reason, our common sense, which is given us by +God’s Spirit, the Spirit of light, makes us use the right +words, the same words as St. Paul does, and call sin +darkness.</p> +<p>But rather reprove these dark works, says St. Paul; that is, +look at them, and see that they are utterly worthless and +damnable. And how? “All things that are +reproved,” he says, “are made manifest by the +light. For whatsoever makes manifest is light.” +Whatsoever makes manifest, that is, makes plain and clear. +Whatsoever makes you see anything or person in heaven or earth as +it really is; whatsoever makes you understand more about +anything; whatsoever shows you more what you are, where you are, +what you ought to do; whatsoever teaches you any single hint +about your duty to God, or man, or the dumb beasts which you +tend, or the soil which you till, or the business and line of +life which you ought to follow; whatsoever shows you the right +and the wrong in any matter, the truth and the falsehood in any +matter, the prudent course and the imprudent course in any +matter; in a word, whatsoever makes your mind more clear about +any single thing in heaven or earth, is light. For, mind, +St. Paul does not say, whatsoever is light makes things plain; +but whatsoever makes things plain is light. That is saying +a great deal more, thank God; for if he had said, whatsoever is +light makes things clear, we should have been puzzled to know +what was light; we should have been tempted to settle for +ourselves what was light. And, God knows, people in all +ages, and people of all religions, Christians as well as +heathens, have been tempted to say so, and to misread this text, +till they said: “Whatsoever agrees with our doctrine is +light, of course, but all other teaching is darkness, and comes +from the devil;” and so they oftentimes blasphemed against +God’s Holy Spirit by calling good actions bad ones, just +because they were done by people who did not agree with them, and +fell into the same sin as the Pharisees of old, who said that the +Lord cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.</p> +<p>But St. Paul says, whatsoever makes anything clearer to you, +is light. There is the gospel, and there is the good news +of salvation again, coming out, as it does all through St. +Paul’s epistles, at every turn, just where poor, sinful, +dark man least expects it. For, what does St. Paul say in +the very next verse? “Wherefore,” he says, +“arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee +light.” “Christ shall give thee +light!” Oh blessed news! <i>Christ</i> gives us +the light, and therefore we need not be afraid of it, but trust +it, and welcome it. And Christ <i>gives</i> us the light, +therefore we have not to hunt and search after it; for He will +give it us. Let us think over these two matters, and see +whether there is not a gospel and good news in them for all +wretched, ignorant, sinful, dark souls, just as much as for those +who are learned and wise, or bright and full of peace.</p> +<p>Christ gives us the light. This agrees with what St. +John says, that “He is the light who lights every man who +comes into the world.” And it agrees also with what +St. James says: “Be not deceived, my beloved +brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from +above, and cometh down from God, the Father of lights, with whom +is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.” And it +agrees also with what the prophet says, that it is the Spirit of +God which gives man understanding. And it agrees also with +what the Lord Himself promised us when He was on earth, that He +would send down on us the Spirit of God—the Spirit which +proceeds alike from Him and from His Father, to guide us into all +truth. Ay, my friends, if we really believe this, what a +solemn and important thing education would seem to us! If +we really believed that all light, all true understanding of any +matter, came from the Lord Jesus Christ: and if we remember what +the Lord Jesus’ character was; how He came to do good to +all; to teach not merely the rich and powerful, but the poor, the +ignorant, the outcast, the sinful: should we not say to +ourselves, then: “If knowledge comes from Christ, who never +kept anything to Himself, how dare we keep knowledge to +ourselves? If it comes from Him who gave Himself freely for +all, surely He means that knowledge should be given freely to +all. If He and His Father, and our Father, will that all +should come to the knowledge of the truth, how dare we keep the +truth from anyone?” So we should feel it the will of +our heavenly Father, the solemn command of our blessed Saviour, +that our children, and not only they, but every soul around us, +young and old, should be educated in the best possible way, and +in any way whatsoever, rather than in none at all. The +education of the poor would be, in our eyes, the most sacred +duty. A school would be, in our eyes, as necessary and +almost as sacred a thing as a church. And to neglect +sending our children to school, or to leave our servants or +work-people in ignorance, would seem to us an awful sin against +the Father of lights; a rebellion against the Lord Jesus, who +lights every man who comes into the world, and against our Father +in heaven, who willeth not that one of these little ones should +perish.</p> +<p>And this is made still more plain and certain by the next word +in the text: “Christ shall <i>give</i> thee light:” +not sell thee light, or allow thee to find light after great +struggles, and weary years of study: but, <i>give</i> thee +light. Give it thee of His free grace and generosity. +We might have expected that, merely from remembering to whom the +light belongs. The mere fact that light belongs to the Lord +Jesus Christ, who is the express likeness of His Father, might +have made us sure that He would give His light freely to the +unthankful and to the evil, just as His Father makes His sun to +shine alike on the evil and on the good. Therefore this +text does not leave us to find out the good news for +ourselves. It declares to us plainly that He will give it +us, as freely as He gives us all things richly to enjoy.</p> +<p>But, someone will say: You surely cannot mean that we shall +have understanding without study?</p> +<p>You cannot mean that we are to become wise without careful +thought, or that we are to understand books without learning to +read? Of course not, my friends. The text does not +say: “Christ will give thee eyes; Christ will give thee +sense:” but, “Christ will give thee light.” . . +. Do you not see the difference? Of what use would +your eyes be without light? And of what use would light be +if your eyes were shut, and you asleep? In darkness you +cannot see. Your eyes are there, as good as ever; the world +is there, as fair as ever: but you cannot see it, because there +is no light. You can only feel it, by groping about with +your hands, and laying hold of whatsoever happens to be nearest +you. And do you think that though your bodily eyes cannot +see, unless God puts His light in the sky, to shine on +everything, and show it you, yet your minds and souls can see +without any light from God? Not so, my friends. What +the sun is to this earth, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of +God, is to the spirit—that is, the reason and +conscience—of every man who comes into the world. +Now, the good news of holy baptism is, that the light is here; +that God’s Spirit is with us, to teach us the truth about +everything, that we may see it in its true light, as it is, as +God sees it; that the day-spring from on high has visited us, to +give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of +death, to guide our feet into the way of peace; and that we are +children of the light and of the day. But what if those who +sit in darkness like the darkness; and wilfully shut their eyes +tight that they may not see the day-spring from on high, and the +light which God has sent into the world? Then the light +will not profit them, but they will walk on still in darkness, +not knowing whither they are going.</p> +<p>But some may say, wicked men are very wise; although they +rebel against God’s Spirit, and do not even believe in +God’s Spirit, but say that man’s mind can find out +everything for itself, without God’s help, yet they are +very wise. Are they? The Bible tells us again and +again that the wisdom of such men is folly; that God takes such +wise men in their own craftiness. And the Bible speaks +truth. If there is one thing of which I am more certain +than another, my friends, it is that, just in proportion as a man +is bad, just in proportion as he does not believe in a good +Spirit of God who wills to teach him, and gives him light, he is +a fool. If there is one thing more than another which such +men’s books have taught me, it is that they are in +darkness, when they fancy they are in the brightest light; that +they make the greatest mistakes when they intend to say the +cleverest things; and when they least fancy it, fall into +nonsense and absurdities, not merely on matters of religion, but +on points which they profess to have studied, and in cases where, +by their own showing, they ought to have known better. But +our business is rather with ourselves. Our business, in +this time of Lent, is to see whether we have been shutting our +eyes; whether we have been walking in darkness, while God’s +light is all around us. And how shall we know that? +Let St. John tell us: “He that saith he is in the light, +and hateth his brother, is in darkness until now, and knoweth not +whither he goeth, because darkness has blinded his +eyes.” Hating our brother. Covetousness, which +is indeed hating our brother, for it teaches us to prefer our +good to our neighbour’s good, to fatten ourselves at our +neighbour’s expense, to get his work, his custom, his +money, away from him to ourselves; bigotry, which makes men hate +and despise those who differ from them in religion; spite and +malice against those who have injured us; suspicions and dark +distrust of our neighbours, and of mankind in general; +selfishness, which sets us always standing on our own rights, +makes us always ready to take offence, always ready to think that +people mean to insult us or injure us, and makes us moody, dark, +peevish, always thinking about ourselves, and our plans, or our +own pleasures, shut up as it were within ourselves—all +these sins, in proportion as anyone gives way to them, darken the +eyes of a man’s soul. They really and actually make +him more stupid, less able to understand his neighbours’ +hearts and minds, less able to take a reasonable view of any +matter or question whatsoever. You may not believe +me. But so it is. I know it by experience to be +true. I warn you that you will find it true one day; that +all spite, passion, prejudice, suspicion, hard judgments, +contempt, self-conceit, blind a man’s reason, and heart, +and soul, and make him stumble and fall into mistakes, even in +worldly matters, just as surely as shutting our eyes makes us +stumble in broad daylight. He who gives way to such +passions is asleep, while he fancies himself broad awake. +His life is a dream; and like a dreamer, he sees nothing really, +only appearances, fancies, pictures of things in his own selfish +brain. Therefore it is written: “Awake thou that +sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee +life.” You may say: Can I awaken myself? +Perhaps not, unless someone calls you. And therefore Christ +calls on you to awake. He says by my mouth: Awake, thou +sleeper, and I will give thee light; awake, thou dreamer, who +fanciest that the sinful works of darkness can give thee any real +profit, any real pleasure; awake, thou sleep-walker, who art +going about the world in a dream, groping thy way on from day to +day and year to year, only kept from fall and ruin by God’s +guiding and preserving mercy. Open thine eyes, and let in +the great eternal loving light, wherein God beholds everything +which He has made, and behold it is very good. Open thine +eyes, for it is day. The light is here if thou wilt but use +it. “I will guide thee,” saith the Lord, +“and inform thee with mine eye, and teach thee in the way +wherein thou shalt go.” Only believe in the +light. Believe that all knowledge comes from God. +Expect and trust that He will give thee knowledge. Pray to +Him boldly to give thee knowledge, because thou art sure that He +wishes thee to have knowledge. He wishes thee to know thy +duty. He wishes thee to see everything as He sees it. +“If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to +all liberally and upbraideth not, and he shall receive +it.” And when thou hast prayed for knowledge, expect +it to come; as it is written: When thou prayest for anything, +believe that thou wilt receive it, and thou wilt receive +it. If thou dost not believe that thou wilt have it, of +course thou wilt not have it. And why? Because thou +wilt pass by it without seeing it. It will be there ready +for thee in thy daily walks; Wisdom will cry to thee at the head +of every street; God will not deny Himself or break His promise: +but thou wilt go past the place where wisdom is, and miss the +lessons which God is strewing in thy path, because thou art not +looking for them. Wisdom is here, my friends, and +understanding is here, and the Spirit of God is here, if our eyes +were but open to see them. Oh my friends, of all the sins +of which we have to repent in this time of Lent, none ought to +give us more solemn and bitter thoughts of shame than the way in +which we overlook the teaching of God’s Spirit, and shut +our eyes to His light, times without number, every day of our +lives. My friends, if our hearts were what they ought to +be, if we had humble, loving, trustful hearts, full of faith and +hope in God’s promise to lead us into all truth, I believe +that every joy and every sorrow which befell us, every book which +we opened, every walk which we took upon the face of God’s +earth, ay, every human face into which we looked, would teach us +some lesson, whereby we should be wiser, better, more aware of +where we are and what God requires of us as human beings, +neighbours, citizens, subjects, members of His church. All +things would be clear to us; for we should see them in the light +of God’s Spirit. All things would look bright to us, +for we should see them in the light of God’s love. +All things would work together for good to us, for we should +understand each thing as it came before us, and know what it was, +and what God meant it for, and how we were to use it. And +knowing and seeing what was right, we should see how beautiful it +was, and love it, and take delight in doing it, and so we should +walk in the light. Dark thoughts would pass away from our +minds, dark feelings from our hearts, dark looks from our +faces. We should look our neighbours cheerfully and boldly +in the face; for our consciences would be clear of any ill-will +or meanness toward them. We should look cheerfully and +boldly up to God our Father; for we should know that He was with +us, guiding and teaching us, well-pleased with all our endeavours +to see things as He sees them, and to live and work on earth +after His image, and in His likeness. We should look out +cheerfully and boldly on the world around us, trying to get +knowledge from everything we see, expecting the light, and +welcoming it, and trusting it, because we know that it comes from +Him who is true and cannot lie, Him who is love and cannot +injure, Him who is righteous and cannot lead us into temptation: +Jesus Christ, the Light who lighteth every man that cometh into +the world.</p> +<h2><a name="page395"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +395</span><span class="GutSmall">XXXIX.</span><br /> +THE UNPARDONABLE SIN.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Wherefore I say unto you: All manner of sin and +blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against +the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men. And +whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be +forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy +Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this world, or in +the world to come.—<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xii. +31, 32.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">These</span> awful words were the +Lord’s answer to the Pharisees, when they said of Him: +“He casts out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the +devils.”</p> +<p>What was it now which made this speech of the Pharisees so +terrible a sin, past all forgiveness?</p> +<p>Of course we all feel that they were very sinful; we shrink +with horror from their words as we read them. But why ought +they to have done the same? We know, thank God, who Jesus +Christ was. But they did not; at that time, when He was +first beginning to preach, they hardly could have known. +And mind, we must not say: “They ought to have known that +He was the Son of God by His having the <i>power</i> of casting +out devils;” for the Lord Himself says that the sons of +these Pharisees used to cast them out also, or that the Pharisees +believed that they did; and only asks them: “Why do you say +of my casting out devils, what you will not say of your +sons’ casting them out?” Pray bear this in +mind; for if you do not—if you keep in your mind the vulgar +and unscriptural notion that the Pharisees’ sin was not +being convinced by the great power of Christ’s miracles, +you will never understand this story, and you will be very likely +to get rid of it altogether as speaking of a sin which does not +concern you, and a sin which you cannot commit. Now, if the +Pharisees did not know that Jesus was the Son of God, the Maker +and King of the world, as we do, why were they so awfully wicked +in saying that He cast out devils by the prince of the +devils? Was it anything more than a mistake of +theirs? Was it as wicked as crucifying the Lord? +Could it be a worse sin to make that one mistake, than to murder +the Lord Himself? And yet it must have been a worse +sin. For the Lord prayed for his murderers: “Father, +forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And +these Pharisees, they knew not what they did: and yet the Lord, +far from praying for them, told them that even He did not see how +such serpents, such a generation of vipers, could escape the +damnation of hell.</p> +<p>It is worth our while to think over this question, and try and +find out what made the Pharisees’ sin so great. And +to do that, it will be wiser for us, first, to find out what the +Pharisees’ sin was; lest we should sit here this morning, +and think them the most wicked wretches who ever trod the earth; +and then go away, and before a week is over, commit ourselves the +very same sin, or one so fearfully like it, that if other people +can see a difference between them, I confess I cannot. And +to commit such a sin, my good friends, is a far easier thing to +do than some people fancy, especially here in England now.</p> +<p>Now, the worst part of the Pharisees’ sin was not, as we +are too apt to fancy, their insulting the Lord: but their +insulting the Holy Spirit. For what does the Lord Himself +say? That all manner of blasphemy as well as sin should be +forgiven; that whosever spoke a word against Him, the Son of Man, +should be forgiven: but that the unpardonable part of their +offence was, that they had blasphemed the Holy Spirit.</p> +<p>And who is the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of +holiness. And what is holiness? What are the fruits +of holiness? For, as the Lord told the Pharisees on this +very occasion, the tree is known by its fruit. What says +St. Paul? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, +long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance. +Those who do not show these fruits have not God’s Spirit in +them. Those who are hard, unloving, proud, quarrelsome, +peevish, suspicious, ready to impute bad motives to their +neighbours, have not God’s Spirit in them. Those who +do show these fruits; who are gentle, forgiving, kind-hearted, +ready to do good to others, and believe good of others, have +God’s Spirit in them. For these are good fruits, +which, as our Lord tells us, can only spring from a good +root. Those who have the fruit must have the root, let +their doctrines be what they may. Those who have not the +fruit cannot have the root, let their doctrines be what they +may.</p> +<p>That is the plain truth; and it is high time for preachers to +proclaim it boldly, and take the consequences from the Scribes +and Pharisees of this generation. That is the plain +truth. Let doctrines be what they will, the tree is known +by its fruit. The man who does wrong things is bad, and the +man who does right things is good. It is a simple thing to +have to say, but very few believe it in these days. Most +fancy that the men who can talk most neatly and correctly about +certain religious doctrines are good, and that those who cannot +are bad. That is no new notion. Some people thought +so in St. John’s time; and what did he say of them? +“Little children, let no man deceive you; it is he that +doeth righteousness who is righteous, even as God is +righteous.” And again: “He who says, I know +God, and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is +not in him.” St. John was the apostle of love. +He was always preaching the love of God to men, and entreating +men to love one another. His own heart was overflowing with +love. Yet when it came to such a question as that; when it +came to people’s pretending to be religious and orthodox, +and yet neither obeying God nor loving their neighbours, he could +speak sternly and plainly enough. He does not say: +“My dear friends, I am sorry to have to differ from you, +but I am afraid you are mistaken;” he says: “You are +liars, and there is no truth in you.”</p> +<p>Now this was just what the Pharisees had forgotten. They +had got to think, as too many have nowadays, that the sign of a +man’s having God’s Spirit in him, was his agreeing +with them in doctrine. But if he did not agree with them; +if he would not say the words which they said, and did not belong +to their party, and side with them in despising every one who +differed from them, it was no matter to them, as they proved by +their opinion of Jesus Himself, how good he might be, or how much +good he might do; how loving, gentle, patient, benevolent, +helping, and caring for poor people; in short, how like God he +was; all that went for nothing if he was not of their +party. For they had forgotten what God was like. They +forgot that God was love and mercy itself, and that all love and +mercy must come from God; and, that, therefore, no one, let his +creed or his doctrine be what it might, could possibly do a +loving or merciful thing, but by the grace and inspiration of +God, the Father of mercies. And yet their own prophets of +the Old Testament had told them so, when they ascribed the good +deeds of heathens to the inspiration of God, just as much as the +good deeds of Jews, and agreed, as they do in many a text, with +what St. James, himself a Jew, said afterwards: “Be not +deceived; every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, +and cometh down from the Father of lights.” But the +Pharisees, like too many nowadays, did not think so. They +thought that good and perfect gifts might some of them very well +come from below, from the father of darkness and cruelty. +They saw the Lord Jesus Christ doing good things; driving out +evil, and delivering men from the power of it; healing the sick, +cleansing the leper, curing the mad, preaching the gospel to the +poor: and yet they saw in that no proof that God’s Spirit +was working in Him. Of course, if He had been one of their +own party, and had held the same doctrines as they held, they +would have praised Him loudly enough, and held Him up as a great +saint of their school, and boasted of all His good deeds as +proofs of how good their party was, and how its doctrines came +from God. But as long as He was not one of them, His good +works went for nothing. They could not see God’s +likeness in that loving and merciful character. All His +charity and benevolence made them only hate Him the more, because +it made them the more afraid that He would draw the people away +from them. “And of course,” they said to +themselves, “whosoever draws people away from us, must be +on the devil’s side. We know all God’s law and +will. No one on earth has anything to teach us. And +therefore, as for any one who differs from us, if he cast out +devils, it must be because the devil is helping him, for his own +purposes, to do it.”</p> +<p>In one word, then, the sin of these Pharisees, the +unpardonable sin, which ruins all who give themselves up to it, +was bigotry; calling right wrong, because it did not suit their +party prejudices to call it right. They were fancying +themselves very religious and pious, and all the while they did +not know right when they saw it; and when the Lord came doing +right, they called it wrong, because He did not agree with their +doctrines. They fancied they were the only people on earth +who knew how to worship God perfectly; and yet while they +pretended to worship Him, they did not know what He was +like. The Lord Jesus came down, the perfect likeness of +God’s glory, and the express pattern of His character, +helping, and healing, and delivering the souls and bodies of all +poor wretches whom He met; and these Pharisees could not see +God’s Spirit in that; and because it was certainly not +their own spirit, called it the spirit of a devil, and blasphemed +against the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Right and Love.</p> +<p>This was bigotry, the flower and crown of all sins into which +man can fall; the worst of all sins, because a man may keep from +every other sin with all his might and main, as the Pharisees +did, and yet be led by bigotry into almost every one of them +without knowing it; into harsh and uncharitable judgment; into +anger, clamour, and railing; into misrepresentation and slander; +and fancying that the God of truth needs the help of their lying; +perhaps, as has often happened, alas! already, into devilish +cruelty to the souls and bodies of men. The worst of all +sins; because a man who has given up his heart to bigotry can +have no forgiveness. He cannot; for how can a man be +forgiven unless he repent? and how can a bigot repent? how can he +confess himself in the wrong, while he fancies himself infallibly +in the right? As the Lord said to these very Pharisees: +“If ye had been blind, ye had had no sin: but now ye say We +see; therefore your sin remaineth.”</p> +<p>How can the bigot repent? for repenting is turning to God; and +how can a man turn to God who does not know where to look for +God, who does not know who God is, who mistakes the devil for +God, and fancies the all-loving Father to be a taskmaster, and a +tyrant, and an accuser, and a respecter of persons, without mercy +or care for ninety-nine hundredths of the souls which He has +made? How can he find God? He does not know whom to +look for.</p> +<p>How can the bigot repent? for to repent means to turn from +wrong to right; and he has lost the very notion of right and +wrong, in the midst of all his religion and his fine +doctrines. He fancies that right does not mean love, mercy, +goodness, patience, but notions like his own; and that wrong does +not mean hatred, and evil-speaking, and suspicion, and +uncharitableness, and slander, and lying, but notions unlike his +own. What he agrees with he thinks is heavenly, and what he +disagrees with is of hell. He has made his own god for +himself out of himself. His own prejudices are his god, and +he worships them right worthily; and if the Lord were to come +down on earth again, and would not say the words which he is +accustomed to say, it would go hard but he would crucify the Lord +again, as the Pharisees did of old.</p> +<p>My friends, there is too much of this bigotry, this blasphemy +against God’s Spirit, abroad in England now. May God +keep us all from it! Pray to Him night and day, to give you +His Spirit, that you may not only be loving, charitable, full of +good works yourselves, but may be ready to praise and enjoy a +good, and loving, and merciful action, whosoever does it, whether +he be of your religion or not; for nothing good is done by any +living man without the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of +the Spirit of God, the Father of lights, from whom comes down +every good and perfect gift. And whosoever tries to escape +from that great truth, when he sees a man whose doctrines are +wrong doing a right act, by imputing bad motives to him, or +saying: “His actions must be evil, however good they may +look, because his doctrines are wrong,”—that man is +running the risk of committing the very same sin as the +Pharisees, and blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, by calling +good evil. And be sure, my friends, that whosoever +indulges, even in little matters, in hard judgments, and +suspicions, and hasty sneers, and loud railing, against men who +differ from him in religion, or politics, or in anything else, is +deadening his own sense of right and wrong, and sowing the seeds +of that same state of mind, which, as the Lord told the +Pharisees, is utterly the worst into which any human being can +fall.</p> +<h2><a name="page403"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +403</span><span class="GutSmall">XL.</span><br /> +THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE.</h2> +<blockquote><p>For ye have not received the spirit of bondage +again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, +whereby we cry Abba, Father.—<span +class="smcap">Romans</span> viii. 15.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> of you here may not understand +this text at all. Some of you, perhaps, may misunderstand +it; for it is not an easy one. Let us, then, begin, by +finding out the meaning of each word in it; and, let us first see +what is the meaning of the spirit of bondage unto fear. +Bondage means slavery; and the spirit of bondage means the spirit +which makes men look up to God as slaves do to their +taskmaster. Now, a slave obeys his master from fear only; +not from love or gratitude. He knows that his master is +stronger than he is, and he dreads being beaten and punished by +him; and therefore, he obeys him only by compulsion, not of his +own good will. This is the spirit of bondage; the slavish, +superstitious spirit in religion, into which all men fall, in +proportion as they are mean, and sinful, and carnal, fond of +indulging themselves, and bearing no love to God or right +things. They know that God is stronger than they; they are +afraid that God will take away comforts from them if they offend +Him; they have been taught that He will cast them into endless +torment if they offend Him; and, therefore, they are afraid to do +wrong. They love what is wrong, and would like to do it; +but they dare not, for fear of God’s punishment. They +do not really fear God; they only fear punishment, misfortune, +death, and hell. That is better, perhaps, than no religion +at all. But it is not the faith which <i>we</i> ought to +have.</p> +<p>In this way the old heathens lived: loving sin and not +holiness, and yet continually tormented with the fear of being +punished for the very sins which they loved; looking up to God as +a stern taskmaster; fancying Him as proud, and selfish, and +revengeful as themselves; trying one day to quiet that wrath of +His which they knew they deserved, by all sorts of flatteries and +sacrifices to Him; and the next day trying to fancy that He was +as sinful as themselves, and was well-pleased to see them sinful +too. And yet they could not keep that lie in their hearts; +God’s light, which lights every man who comes into the +world, was too bright for them, and shone into their consciences, +and showed them that the wages of sin was death. The law of +God, St. Paul tells us, was written in their hearts; and how much +soever, poor creatures, they might try to blot it out and forget +it, yet it would rise up in judgment against them, day by day, +night by night, convincing them of sin. So they in their +terror sold themselves to false priests, who pretended to know of +plans for helping them to escape from this angry God, and gave +themselves up to superstitions, till they even sacrificed their +sons and their daughters to devils, in some sort of confused hope +of buying themselves off from misery and ruin.</p> +<p>And in the same way the Jews lived, for the most part, before +the Lord Jesus came in the flesh of man. Not so viciously +and wickedly, of course, because the law of Moses was holy, and +just, and good; the law which the Lord Himself had given them, +because it was the best for them then; because they were too +sinful, and slavish, and stupid, for anything better. But, +as St. Paul says, Moses’s law could not give them life, any +more than any other law can. That is, it could not make +them righteous and good; it could not change their hearts and +lives; it could only keep them from outward wrong-doing by +threats and promises, saying: “Thou shalt not.” +It could, at best, only show them how sinful their own hearts +were; how little they loved what God commanded; how little they +desired what He promised; and so it made them feel more and more +that they were guilty, unworthy to look up to a holy God, +deserving His anger and punishment, worthy to die for their sins; +and thus by the law came the knowledge of sin, a deeper feeling +of guilt, and shame, and slavish dread of God, as St. Paul sets +forth, with wonderful wisdom, in the seventh chapter of +Romans.</p> +<p>Now, let us consider the latter half of the text. +“But ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we +cry Abba, Father.”</p> +<p>What is this adoption? St. Paul tells us in the +beginning of the fourth chapter of his epistle to the +Galatians. He says: As long as a man’s heir is a +child, and under age, there is no difference in law between him +and a slave. He is his father’s property. He +must obey his father, whether he chooses or not; and he is under +tutors and governors, until the time appointed by his father; +that is, until he comes of age, as we call it. Then he +becomes his own master. He can inherit and possess property +of his own after that. And from that time forth the law +does not bind him to obey his father; if he obeys him it is of +his own free will, because he loves, and trusts, and reverences +his father.</p> +<p>Now, St. Paul says, this is the case with us. When we +were infants, we were in bondage under the elements of the world; +kept straight, as children are, by rules which they cannot +understand, by the fear of punishment which they cannot escape, +with no more power to resist their father than slaves have to +resist their master. But when the fulness of time was come, +God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under a law, that +He might redeem those who were under a law, that we might receive +the adoption of sons.</p> +<p>As much as to say: You were God’s <i>children</i> all +along: but now you are more; you are God’s sons. You +have arrived at man’s estate; you are men in body and in +mind; you are to be men in spirit, men in life. You are to +look up to the great God who made heaven and earth, and know, +glorious thought! that He is as truly your Father as the men +whose earthly sons you call yourselves. And if you do this, +He will give you the Spirit of adoption, and you shall be able to +call Him Father with your hearts, as well as with your lips; you +shall know and feel that He is your Father; that He has been +loving, watching, educating, leading you home to Him all the +while that you were wandering in ignorance of Him, in childish +self-will, and greediness after pleasure and amusement. He +will give you His Spirit to make you behave like His sons, to +obey Him of your own free will, from love, and gratitude, and +honour, and filial reverence. He will make you love what He +loves, and hate what He hates. He will give you clear +consciences and free hearts, to fear nothing on earth or in +heaven, but the shame and ingratitude of disobeying your +Father.</p> +<p>The Spirit of adoption, by which you look up to God as your +Father, is your right. He has given it to you, and nothing +but your own want of faith, and wilful turning back to cowardly +superstition, and to the wilful sins which go before +superstition, and come after it, can take it from you. So +said St. Paul to the Romans and the Galatians, and so I have a +right, ay, and a bounden duty, to say to every man and woman in +this church this day.</p> +<p>For, my dear friends, if you ask me, what has this to do with +us? Has it not everything to do with us? Whether we +are leading good lives, or middling lives, or utterly bad +worthless lives, has it not everything to do with us? Who +is there here who has not at times said to himself: “God so +holy, and pure, and glorious; while I am so unjust, and unclean, +and mean! And God so great and powerful; while I am so +small and weak! What shall I do? Does not God hate +and despise me? Will He not take from me all which I love +best? Will He not hurl me into endless torment when I +die? How can I escape from Him? Wretched man that I +am, I cannot escape from Him! How, then, can I turn away +His hate? How can I make Him change His mind? How can +I soothe Him and appease Him? What shall I do to escape +hell-fire?”</p> +<p>Did you ever have such thoughts? But, did you find those +thoughts, that slavish terror of God’s wrath, that dread of +hell, made you any <i>better</i> men? I never did. I +never saw them make any human being better. Unless you go +beyond them—as far beyond them as heaven is beyond hell, as +far above them as a free son is above a miserable crouching +slave, they will do you more harm than good. For this is +all that I have seen come of them: That all this spirit of +bondage, this slavish terror, instead of bringing a man nearer to +God, only drove him further from God. It did not make him +hate what was wrong; it only made him dread the punishment of +it. And then, when the first burst of fear cooled down, he +began to say to himself: “I can never atone for my +sins. I can never win back God to love me. What is +done, is done. If I cannot escape punishment, let me be at +least as happy as I can while it lasts. If it does not come +to-day, it will come to-morrow. Let me alone, thou +tormenting conscience. Let me eat and drink, for to-morrow +I die!” And so back rushed the poor creature into all +his wrong-doing again, and fell most probably deeper than ever +into the mire, because a certain feeling of desperation and +defiance rose up in him, till he began to fancy that his terror +was all a dream—a foolish accidental rising up of old +superstitious words which he learnt from his mother or his nurse; +and he tried to forget it all, and did forget it—God help +him!—and his latter end was worse than his first.</p> +<p>How then shall a man escape shame and misery, and an evil +conscience, and rise out of these sins of his? For do it he +must. The wages of sin is death—death to body and +soul; and from sin he must escape.</p> +<p>There is but one way, my friends. There never was but +one way. Believe the text, and therefore believe the +warrant of your Baptism. Believe the message of your +Confirmation.</p> +<p>Your baptism says to you, God does <i>not</i> hate you, be you +the greatest sinner on earth. He does not hate you. +He loves you; for you are His child. He hateth nothing that +He hath made. He willeth not the death of a sinner, but +that <i>all</i> should come to be saved. And your baptism +is the sign of that to you. But God hates everything that +He has not made; for everything which He has not made is bad; and +He has made all things but sin; and therefore He hates sin, and, +loving you, wishes to raise you out of sin; and baptism is the +sign of that also. Man was made originally in the image and +likeness of God, and of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, the express +image of God the Father; and therefore everything which is sinful +is unmanly, and everything which is truly manful, and worthy of a +man, is like Jesus Christ; and God’s will is, that you +should rise out of all these unmanly sins, to a truly manful +life—a life like the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of +Man. And baptism is God’s sign of this also. +That is the meaning of the words in the Baptism Service which +tell you that you were baptised into Jesus Christ, that you might +put off the old man—the sinful, slavish, selfish, unmanly +pattern of life, which we all lead by nature; and put on the new +man—the holy and noble, righteous and loving pattern of +life, which is the likeness of the Lord Jesus. That is the +message of your baptism to you; that you are God’s +children, and that God’s will and wish is that you should +grow up to become His <i>sons</i>, to serve Him lovingly, +trustingly, manfully; and that He can and will give you power to +do so—ay, that He has given you that power already, if you +will but claim it and use it. But you must claim it and use +it, because you are meant not merely to be God’s wilful, +ignorant, selfish children, obeying Him from mere fear of the +rod; but to be His willing, loving, loyal sons. And that is +the message which Confirmation brings you. Baptism says: +You are God’s child, whether you know it or not. +Confirmation says: Yes; but now you are to know it, and to claim +your rights as His sons, of full age, reasonable and +self-governing.</p> +<p>Baptism says: You are regenerated and born from above, by +water and the Holy Spirit. Confirmation answers: True, most +true; but there is no use in a child’s being born, if it +never comes to man’s estate, but remains a stunted +idiot.</p> +<p>Baptism says: You may and ought to become more or less such a +man as the Lord Jesus was. Confirmation says: You can +become such; for you are no longer children; you are grown to +man’s estate in body, you can grow to man’s estate in +soul if you will. God’s Spirit is with you, to show +you all things in their true light; to teach you to value them or +despise them as you ought; to teach you to love what He loves, +and hate what He hates. God wishes you no longer to be +merely His children, obeying Him you know not why; still less His +slaves, obeying Him from mere brute coward fear, and then +breaking loose the moment that you forget Him, and fancy that His +eye is not on you: but He wishes you to be His sons; to claim the +right and the power which He has given you to trample your sins +under foot; to rise up by the strength which God your Father will +surely give to those who ask Him; and so to be new men, free men, +true men, who do look boldly up to God, knowing that, however +wicked they may have been, and however weak they are still, +God’s love belongs to them, God’s help belongs to +them, and that those who trust in Him shall never be confounded, +but shall go on from strength to strength to the measure of the +stature of a perfect man, to the noble likeness of the Lord Jesus +Christ Himself.</p> +<p>For this is the message of the blessed sacrament of the body +and blood of Christ, to which you have been all called this +day. That sacrament tells you that in spite of all your +daily sins and failings, you can still look up to God as your +Father; to the Lord Jesus Christ as your life; to the Holy Spirit +as your guide and your inspirer; that though you be prodigal +sons, your Father’s house is still open to you, your +Father’s eternal love ready to meet you afar off, the +moment that you cry from your heart: “Father, I have +sinned;” and that you must be converted and turn back to +God your Father, not merely once for all at Confirmation, or at +any other time, but weekly, daily, hourly, as often as you forget +and disobey Him; and that he will receive you. This is the +message of the blessed sacrament, that though you cannot come +there trusting in your own righteousness, you can come trusting +in His manifold and great mercies; that though you are not worthy +so much as to gather up the crumbs under His table, yet He is the +same Lord whose property is ever to have mercy; that He will, as +surely as He has appointed that sign of the bread and wine, grant +you so to eat and drink that spiritual flesh and blood of the +Lord Jesus Christ, which is the life of the world, that your +sinful bodies may be made clean by His body, and your souls +washed in His most precious blood, and that you may dwell in Him, +and He in you, for ever.</p> +<h2><a name="page412"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +412</span><span class="GutSmall">XLI.</span><br /> +THE FALL.</h2> +<blockquote><p>As by one man sin entered into the world, and +death by sin; and so death passed on all men, for that all have +sinned.—<span class="smcap">Romans</span> v. 12.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have been reading the history of +Adam’s fall. With that fall we have all to do; for we +all feel the fruits of it in the sinful corruptions which we +bring into the world with us. And more, every fall which we +have is like Adam’s fall: every time we fall into wilful +sin, we do what Adam did, and act over again, each of us many +times in our lives, that which he first acted in the garden of +Paradise. At least, all mankind suffer for something. +Look at the sickness, death, bloodshed, oppression, spite, and +cruelty, with which the world is so full now, of which it has +been full, as we know but too well from history, ever since +Adam’s time. The world is full of misery, there is no +denying that. How did that come? It must have come +somehow. There must be some reason for all this +sorrow. The Bible tells us a reason for it. If anyone +does not like the Bible reason, he is bound to find a better +reason. But what if the Bible reason, the story of +Adam’s fall, be the only rational and sensible explanation +which ever has been, or ever will be given, of the way in which +death and misery came among men?</p> +<p>Some people will say: What puzzle is there in it? All +animals die, why should not man? All animals fight and +devour each other, why should not man do so too? But why +need we suppose that man is fallen? Why should he not have +been meant by nature to be just what he is? Some scholars +who fancy themselves wise, and think that they know better than +the Bible, will say that now, and pride themselves on having said +a very fine thing; ignorant men, too, often are led into the same +mistake, and are willing enough to say: “What if we are +brutish, and savage, and ignorant, and spiteful, indulging +ourselves, hating and quarrelling with each other? God made +us what we are, and we cannot help it.” But there is +a voice in the heart of every man, and just in proportion as a +man is a man, and not a beast and a savage, that voice cries in +his heart more loudly: No; God did not make you what you +are. You are not meant to be what you are, but something +better. You are not meant to fight and devour each other as +the animals do; for you are meant to be better than they. +You are not meant to die as the animals do; for you feel +something in you which cannot die, which hates death. You +may try to be a mere savage and a beast, but you cannot be +content to be so. And yet you feel ready to fall lower, and +get more and more brutish. What can be the reason? +There must be something wrong about men, something diseased and +corrupt in them, or they would not have this continual discontent +with themselves for being no better than they are; this continual +hankering and longing after some happiness, some knowledge, some +good and noble state which they do not see round them, and never +have felt in themselves. Man must have fallen, fallen from +some good and right state into which he was put at first, and for +which he is hankering and craving now. There must be an +original sin in him; that is, a sin belonging to his origin, his +race, his breed, as we say, which has been handed down from +father to son; an original sin as the church calls it. And +I believe firmly that the heart of man, even among savages, bears +witness to the truth of that doctrine, and confesses that we are +fallen beings, let false philosophers try as they will to +persuade us that we are not.</p> +<p>Then, again, there are another set of people, principally +easy, well-to-do, respectable people, who run into another +mistake, the same into which the Pelagians did in old time. +They think: “Man is not fallen. Every man is born +into the world quite good enough, if he chose to remain +good. Every man can keep God’s laws if he likes, or +at all events keep them well enough.” As for his +having a sinful nature which he got from Adam, they do not +believe that really, though often they might not like to say so +openly. They think: “Adam fell, and he was punished; +and if I fall I shall be punished; but Adam’s sin is +nothing to me, and has not hurt me. I can be just as good +and right as Adam was, if I like.” That is a +comfortable doctrine enough for easy-going well-to-do folks, who +have but few trials, and few temptations, and who love little +because little has been forgiven them. But what comfort is +there in that for poor sinners, who feel sinful and base passions +dragging them down, and making them brutish and miserable, and +yet feel that they cannot conquer their sins of themselves, +cannot help doing wrong, all the while they know that it is +wrong? They feel that they have something more in them than +a will and power to do what they choose. They feel that +they have a sinful nature which keeps their will and reason in +slavery, and makes sin a hard bondage, a miserable prison-house, +from which they cannot escape. In short, they feel and know +that they are fallen. Small comfort, too, to every thinking +man, who looks upon the great nations of savages, which have +lived, and live still, upon God’s earth, and sees how, so +far from being able to do right if they choose, they go on from +father to son, generation after generation, doing wrong, more and +more, whether they like or not; how they become more and more +children of wrath, given up to fierce wars, and cruel revenge, +and violent passions, all their thought, and talk, and study, +being to kill and to fight; how they become more and more +children of darkness, forgetting more and more the laws of right +and wrong, becoming stupid and ignorant, until they lose the very +knowledge of how to provide themselves with houses, clothes, +fire, or even to till the ground, and end in feeding on roots and +garbage, like the beasts which perish. And how, too, long +before they fall into that state, death works in them. How, +the lower they fall, and the more they yield to their original +sin and their corrupt nature, they die out. By wars with +each other; by murdering their own children, to avoid the trouble +of rearing them; by diseases which they know not how to cure, and +which they too often bring on themselves by their own +brutishness; by bad food, and exposure to the weather, they die +out, and perish off the face of the earth, fulfilling the +Lord’s words to Adam: “Thou shalt surely +die.” I do not say that their souls go to hell. +The Bible tells us nothing of where they go to. God’s +mercy is boundless. And the Bible tells us that sin is not +imputed where there is no law, as there is none among them. +So we may have hope for them, and leave them in God’s +hand. But what can we hope for them who are utterly dead in +trespasses and sins? Well for them, if, having fallen to +the likeness of the brutes, they perish with the brutes. I +fancy if you, as some may, ever go to Australia, and there see +the wretched black people, who are dying out there, faster and +faster, year by year, after having fallen lower than the brutes, +then you will understand what original sin may bring a man to, +what it would have brought us to, had not God in His mercy raised +us and our forefathers up from that fearful down-hill course, +when we were on it fifteen hundred years ago.</p> +<p>And another thing which shows that these poor savages are not +as God intended them to be, but are falling, generation after +generation, by the working of original sin, is, that they, almost +all of them, show signs of having been better off long ago. +Many, like the South Sea Islanders, have curious arts remaining +among them in spite of their brutish ignorance, which they could +only have learned when they were far more clever and civilised +than they are now. And almost all of them have some sad +remembrance, handed down from father to son, kept up in songs and +foolish tales, of having been richer, and more prosperous, and +more numerous, a long while ago. They will confess to you, +if you ask them, that they are worse than their +fathers—that they are going down, dying out—that the +gods are angry with them, as they say. The Lord have mercy +upon them! But what is, to my mind, the most awful part of +the matter remains yet to be told—and it is this: That man +may actually fall by original sin too low to receive the gospel +of Jesus Christ, and be recovered again by it. For the +negroes of Africa and the West Indies, though they have fallen +very low, have not fallen too low for the gospel. They have +still understanding left to take it in, and conscience, and sense +of right and wrong enough left to embrace it; thousands of them +do embrace it, and are received unto righteousness, and lead such +lives as would shame many a white Englishman, born and bred under +the gospel.</p> +<p>But the black people in Australia, who are exactly of the same +race as the African negroes, cannot take in the gospel. +They seem to have become too stupid to understand it; they seem +to have lost the sense of sin and of righteousness too completely +to care about it. All attempts to bring them to a knowledge +of the true God have as yet failed utterly. God’s +grace is all-powerful; He is no respecter of persons; and He may +yet, by some great act of His wisdom, quicken the dead souls of +these poor brutes in human shape. But, as far as we can +see, there is no hope for them: but, like the Canaanites of old, +they must perish off the face of the earth, as brute beasts.</p> +<p>I have said so much to show you that man is fallen; that there +is original sin, an inclination to sin and fall, sink down lower +and lower, in man. Now comes the question: What is this +fall of man? I said that the Bible tells us rationally +enough. And I have also made use several times of words, +which may have hinted to some of you already what Adam’s +fall was. I have spoken of the likeness of the beasts, and +of men becoming like beasts by original sin. And this is +why I said it.</p> +<p>If you want to understand what Adam’s fall was, you must +understand what he fell from, and what he fell to. That is +plain.</p> +<p>Now, the Bible tells us, that he fell from God’s grace +to nature.</p> +<p>What is nature? Nature means what is born, and lives, +and dies, and is parted and broken up, that the parts of it may +go into some new shape, and be born and live, and die +again. So the plants, trees, beasts, are a part of +nature. They are born, live, die; and then that which was +them goes into the earth, or into the stomachs of other animals, +and becomes in time part of that animal, or part of the tree or +flower, which grows in the soil into which it has fallen. +So the flesh of a dead animal may become a grain of wheat, and +that grain of wheat again may become part of the body of an +animal. You all see this every time you manure a field, or +grow a crop. Nature is, then, that which lives to die, and +dies to live again in some fresh shape. And, in the first +chapter of Genesis, you read of God creating nature—earth, +and water, and light, and the heavens, and the plants and animals +each after their kind, born to die and change, made of dust, and +returning to the dust again. But after that we read very +different words; we read that when God created man, He said:</p> +<p>“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and +let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the +fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and +over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the +earth.” He was made in God’s likeness; +therefore he could only be right in as far as he was like +God. And he could not be like God if he did not will what +God willed, and wish what God wished. He was to live by +faith in God; he was justified by faith in God, and by that +only.</p> +<p>Never fancy that Adam had any righteousness of his own, any +goodness of which he could say: “This is mine, part of me; +I may pride myself on it.” God forbid. His +righteousness consisted, as ours must, in looking up to God, +trusting Him utterly, believing that he was to do God’s +will, and not his own. His spirit, his soul, as we call it, +was given to him for that purpose, and for none other, that it +might trust in God and obey God, as a child does his +father. He had a free will; but he was to use that will as +we must use our wills, by giving up our will to God’s will, +by clinging with our whole hearts and souls to God.</p> +<p>Adam fell. He let himself be tempted by a beast, by the +serpent. How, we cannot tell: but so we read. He took +the counsel of a brute animal, and not of God. He chose +between God and the serpent, and he chose wrong. He wanted +to be something in himself; to have a knowledge and power of his +own, to use it as he chose. He was not content to be in +God’s likeness; he wanted to be as a god himself. And +so he threw away his faith in God, and disobeyed Him. And +instead of becoming a god, as he expected, he became an animal; +he put on the likeness of the brutes, who cannot look up to God +in trust and love, who do not know God, do not obey Him, but +follow their own lusts and fancies, as they may happen to take +them. Whether the change came on him all at once, the Bible +does not say: but it did come on him; for from him it has been +handed down to all his children even to this day. Then was +fulfilled against him the sentence, In the day thou eatest +thereof, thou shalt surely die. Not that he died that +moment; but death began to work in him. He became like the +branch of a tree cut off from the stem, which may not wither at +the instant it is cut off, but it is yet dead, as we find out by +its soon decaying. He had come down from being a son of +God, and he had taken his place in nature, among the things which +grow only to die; and death began to work in him, and in his +children after him. He handed down his nature to his +children as the animals do; his children inherited his faults, +his weaknesses, his diseases, the seed of death which was in him, +just as the animals pass down to their breed, their defects, and +diseases, and certainty of dying after their appointed life is +past.</p> +<p>For this, my friends, is the lesson which Adam’s fall +teaches us, that in God alone is the life of immortal souls, +whether of men, or of angels, or of archangels; and in God alone +is righteousness; in God alone is every good thing, and all good +in men or angels comes from Him, and is only His pattern, His +likeness; and that the moment either man or angel sets up his +will against God’s, he falls into sin, a lie, and +death. That He has given us reasonable souls for that one +purpose, that with our souls we may look up to Him, with our +souls we may cling to Him, with our souls we may trust in Him, +with our souls we may understand His will, and see that it is a +good, and a right, and a loving will, and delight in it, and obey +it, and find all our delight and glory, even as the Lord Jesus, +the Son of Man, the New Adam, did, in doing not our own will, but +the will of our Father.</p> +<p>For, as St. Augustine says, man may live in two ways, either +according to himself, or according to God; by self-will or by +faith. He may determine to do his own will or to do +God’s will, to be his own master or to let God be his +master, to seek his own glory, and try to be something fine and +grand in himself: or he may seek God’s glory and obey Him, +believing that what God commands is the only good for him, what +makes God to be honoured in the eyes of his neighbours is the +only real honour for him.</p> +<p>But, says St. Augustine, if he tries to live according to +himself, he falls into misery, because he was meant to live +according to God. So he puts himself into a lie, into a +false and wrong state; and because he has cut himself off from +God he falls below what a man should be; and puts on more and +more of the likeness of the beast, and is more and more the slave +of his own lusts, and passions, and fancies, as the dumb animals +are. And, as St. Paul says, the animal man, the carnal man, +understands not the things of God. And we need no one to +tell us that this is the state of nature which we bring into the +world with us. We feel it; from our very childhood, from +the earliest time we can recollect, have we not had the longing +to do what we liked? to please ourselves, to pride ourselves on +ourselves, to set up our own wills against our parents, against +what we learnt out of the Bible? Ay, has not this wilful +will of ours been so strong, that often we would long after a +thing, we would determine to have it, only because we were +forbidden to have it; we might not care about the thing when we +had it, but we would have our own way just because it was our own +way. In short, like Adam, we would be as gods, knowing good +and evil, and choosing for ourselves what we should call good and +what we shall call evil. And, my dear friends, consider: +did not every wrong that we ever did come from this one root of +all sin—determining to have our own way? That +root-sin of self-will first brought death and misery among +mankind; that sin of self-will keeps it up still: that sin of +self-will it is which hinders sinners from giving themselves up +to God; and that sin must be broken through, or religion is a +mockery and a dream.</p> +<p>Oh my friends, say to yourselves once for all, I was made in +God’s likeness; and therefore His will, and not my own, I +must do. I have no wisdom of my own, no strength of mind of +my own, no goodness of my own, no lovingness of my own. God +has them all; God, who is wisdom, strength, goodness, love; and I +have none. And then, when the fearful thought comes over +you: “I have no goodness, and I cannot have any. I +cannot do right. There is no use struggling and trying to +be better. My passions, my lusts, my fancies are too strong +for me. If I am brutish and low, brutish and low I must +remain. If I have fallen in Adam, I must lie in the mire +till I die—”</p> +<p>Then, then, my friends, answer yourselves: “No! +Not so. Man fell in the first Adam: but man rose again in +the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. I belong no more to +the old Adam, who fell in Paradise. I belong to the New +Adam, who was conceived without sin, and born of a pure virgin, +who lived by perfect faith, in perfect obedience, doing His +Father’s will only, even to the death upon the cross, +wherein He took away the sins of the whole world. And now +for His sake my original sin, my fallen, brutish nature, is +forgiven me. God does not hate me for it. He loves +me, because I belong to His Son. My baptism is a witness +and a warrant, a sign and a covenant between me and God, that I +belong not to old Adam of Paradise, but to the Lord Jesus Christ, +who sits at God’s right hand. The cross which was +signed on my forehead when I was baptised is God’s sign to +me that I am to sacrifice myself and give up my own will to do +God’s will, even as the Lord Jesus did when He gave Himself +to die, because it was His Father’s will. And because +I belong to Jesus Christ, because God has called me to be His +child, therefore He will help me. He will help me to +conquer this low, brutish nature of mine. He will put His +Spirit into me, the Spirit of His Son Jesus Christ, that I may +trust Him, cry to Him, My Father! that I may love Him; understand +His will, and see how good, and noble, and beautiful, and full of +peace and comfort it is; delight in obeying Him; glory in +sacrificing my own fancies and pleasures for His sake; and find +my only honour, my only happiness, in doing His will on earth as +saints and angels do it in heaven.”</p> +<h2><a name="page423"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +423</span><span class="GutSmall">XLII.</span><br /> +GOD’S COVENANTS.</h2> +<blockquote><p>I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for +a token of a covenant between me and the earth.—<span +class="smcap">Genesis</span> ix. 13.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> text says that God made a +covenant with Noah, and with his seed after him—that is, +with all mankind; with us who sit here, and our children after +us, and with all human beings who will ever live upon the face of +the earth. God made a covenant with them. Now, what +is a covenant? We say that two men make a covenant with +each other when they make a bargain, an agreement; in this way: +If you will do this thing, then I will do that; but if you will +not do this thing, I will not do that. If you do not keep +to our agreement, I am free of it. If I do not do my part +of the agreement, you are free. Is not that what we call a +covenant—a bargain between two parties, which, if either +party breaks it, becomes null and void, and binds neither? +Let us see whether God’s covenants with man are of this +kind.</p> +<p>Does God say to Noah: “If you and your children are +righteous, I will look upon the rainbow, and remember my +covenant: but if you and your children are unrighteous, I will +not look on the rainbow, and I will break my covenant because you +have broken it?” We read no such words; God made no +conditions with Noah and his sons. Whether they forgot the +covenant or not, God would remember it. It was a covenant +of free grace, even as all God’s covenants are. Not a +bargain, but a promise. “By Myself have I sworn, +saith the Lord, that I will not fail David.” By +Himself He sware to Abraham: “Surely blessing I will bless +thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.” That is +the form of God’s covenants. God swears by +Himself—by God who cannot change. If God can change, +then His covenant can change. If God can fail Himself, then +can He fail His covenant to which He has sworn by Himself. +If it had been a mere bargain, like men’s bargains, and not +a promise out of His absolute love, His free grace, His boundless +mercy, would He have sworn by Himself? Nay, rather, He +would have sworn by Abraham: “By thy obedience or +disobedience I swear to bless thee or curse thee.” +But He swore by Himself, the absolute, the unchangeable, the +Giver whose name is Love.</p> +<p>Consider now the token of the covenant which God gave to +Noah. It was the rainbow. What is the rainbow? +Sunlight turned back to our eye, through drops of falling +rain. What sign could be more simple? And yet what +sign could be more perfect? Noah’s sons would fear +that another flood was coming, perhaps flood after flood. +The token of the rainbow said to them, No. Floods and rain +are not to be the custom of this earth. Sunshine is to be +the custom of it. Do not fear the clouds and storm and +rain; look at the bow in the cloud, in the very rain +itself. That is a sign that the sun, though you cannot see +it, is shining still. That up above, beyond the cloud, is +still sunlight, and warmth, and cloudless blue sky. Believe +in God’s covenant. Believe that the sun will conquer +the clouds, warmth will conquer cold, calm will conquer storm, +fair will conquer foul, light will conquer darkness, joy will +conquer sorrow, life conquer death, love conquer destruction and +the devouring floods; because God is light, God is love, God is +life, God is peace and joy eternal and without change, and +labours to give life, and joy, and peace, to man and beast and +all created things. This was the meaning of the +rainbow. Not a sudden or strange token, a miracle, as men +call it, like as some voice out of the sky, or fiery comet, might +have been; but a regular, orderly, and natural sign, to witness +that God is a God of order. Whenever there was a rainy day +there might be a rainbow. It came by the same laws by which +everything else comes in the world. It was a witness that +God who made the world is the friend and preserver of man; that +His promises are like the everlasting sunshine which is above the +clouds, without spot or fading, without variableness or shadow of +turning.</p> +<p>And do you fancy, my friends, that the new covenant, the +covenant which God made with all mankind in the blood of His +only-begotten Son, is narrower or weaker than the covenant which +He made with Noah, Abraham, and David? He asked no +conditions from them. Do you think He asks them from +us? He called them by free grace. Do you think He +calls us by anything less? He swore by Himself to +them. How much more has He sworn by Himself to us? He +who was born, and died, and rose again for us, who now sits at +the right hand of the Father, very Man of the substance of a +human mother, yet very God of very God begotten.</p> +<p>His covenants of old stood true and faithful, however +disobedient and unfaithful men might be; as it is written: +“I have sworn once for all by my holiness, that I will not +fail David.” And those words, the New Testament +declares to us, again and again, are true of the new covenant, +and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, into whose name we are +baptized. Yes; into whose name we are baptized. There +is the sign of the new covenant; of a covenant of free +grace. Therefore we can bring our children to be baptized +as we were baptized ourselves, before they have done either good +or evil, for a sign that God’s love is over them, +God’s kingdom is their inheritance, God’s love their +everlasting portion.</p> +<p>But we may fall from grace; and then what good will our +baptism be to us? We shall be lost, just as if we had never +been baptized.</p> +<p>My friends, if, though the sun was shining in the sky, you +shut your eyes close, and kept out the light, what use would the +sunlight be to you? You would stumble, and fall, and come +to harm, as certainly as in the darkest night. But would +the sun go out of the sky, my friends, because you were unwise +enough to shut your eyes to it? The sun would still be +there, shining as bright as ever. You would have only to be +reasonable and to open your eyes, and you would see your way +again as well as ever.</p> +<p>So it is with holy baptism. In it we were made members +of Christ, children of God, inheritors of the kingdom of +heaven. God’s love is above us and around us, like a +warm, bright, life-giving sun. We may shut our eyes to it, +but it is there still. We may disbelieve our baptism +covenant, but it is true still. We are children of God; and +nothing that we can do, no sin, no unfaithfulness of ours, can +make us anything else. We can no more become not +God’s children, than a child can become not his own +father’s son. But this we can do by sinning, by +disbelieving that we are God’s children, by behaving as the +devil’s children when we are God’s; we can believe +ourselves not God’s children when we are; we can try to be +what we are not; we can enter into a lie, and into the misery to +which all lies lead; we can walk in darkness, and stumble, and +fall, when all the while we are children of the light, and have +only to open our eyes to walk in the light. Ay, we can shut +our eyes to the light so long, that at last we forget that there +is any light at all; and that is the gate of hell. We may +wrap ourselves up in our selfishness, in selfish pleasures, +selfish cunning, selfish covetousness, and selfish pride, till we +forget that there is anything better for us than selfishness, +till we forget that God is love, and that we His children are +meant to be loving even as He is loving; and that also is the +gate of hell. And worst and darkest of all, when in that +stupid, sinful, loveless state of mind, God’s loving Spirit +still strives and pleads with us, and tries to awaken us, and +terrify us with the sight of the everlasting misery and ruin into +which we have thrown ourselves, we may turn those pleadings of +God’s Spirit, by our own evil wills, into a darker curse +than all which have gone before. We may refuse to believe +that God is love, and fancy Him as hard, and cruel, and proud, +and spiteful, and unloving as we ourselves are. We may +refuse, though Scripture, Prayer-book, sacraments, preachers, +assure us of it, that God is our Father still; and deny His +covenant of baptism, and blaspheme His holy name, by fancying Him +our tyrant and taskmaster, who hates us, and willeth the death of +a sinner, and has pleasure in the death of him that dieth. +And then we may behave according to the lie which we ourselves +have invented, and all sorts of inventions of our own to escape +God’s wrath, when, in reality, it is He who is wishing to +turn His wrath away from us; and to win back His favour, when, in +reality, it is not we who are out of favour with Him, but He who +is out of favour with us, who dread Him and shrink from Him; we +may try to deliver ourselves from Him, when all the while it is +He, the very God whom we are dreading and flying from, who alone +is able and willing to deliver us; and with all our fears, and +self-tormentings, and faithless terrors, and blasphemings of God +by fancying Him the very opposite to what He has declared +Himself, we shall get no peace of conscience, no deliverance from +sins, or from the fear of punishment, but only a fearful and +fiery looking forward to judgment, which is hell. That is +superstition; hell on earth; when men have so utterly forgotten +the likeness of God, which He manifested in His Son Jesus Christ, +that they look on Him as a stern and dreadful taskmaster, a +tyrant, and not a deliverer. Hell on earth, which may and +must lead to hell hereafter; a hell of fear, and doubt, and +hatred of Him who is all lovely; the hell whereof it is written, +that its worst torment is being cast out from the sight of God: +unless the hapless sinner opens his eye and believes the covenant +of his baptism, and sees that God cannot lie, God cannot change, +cannot break His covenant, cannot alter His love; that though he +have left his Father’s house, and wandered into far +countries, and wasted his Father’s substance in riotous +living, he is still his Father’s son, his Father’s +house is still where it was from the beginning, his +Father’s heart still what it was from the beginning; and so +arises and goes back to his Father’s house, confessing that +he is no more worthy to be called His son, willing to be only as +one of His hired servants; and then—sees not the stern +countenance, the cruel punishments which he dreaded: +but—“While he was yet afar off, his Father saw him, +and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him!”</p> +<p>And if, in our sins, our only hope of comfort, and peace, and +strength, lies in remembering our baptismal covenant, and being +sure and certain that though we have changed, God has not; that +though we are dark, God’s love shines bright and clear for +ever, how much more when the dark day of affliction comes? +Why should I speak of this and that affliction? Each heart +knows its own bitterness; each soul has its own sorrow; each +man’s life has its dark days of storm and tempest, when all +his joys seem flown away by some sudden blast of ill-fortune, and +the desire of his eyes is taken from him, and all his hopes and +plans, all which he intended to do or to enjoy, are hid with +blinding mist, so that he cannot see his way before him, and +knows not whither to go, and whither to flee for help; when faith +in God seems broken up for the moment, when he feels no strength, +no will, no purpose, and knows not what to determine, what to do, +what to believe, what to care for; when the very earth seems +reeling under his feet, and the fountains of the abyss are broken +up: then let him think of God’s covenant, and take heart; +let him think of his baptism, and be at peace. Is the +sun’s warmth perished out of the sky, because the storm is +cold with hail and bitter winds? Is God’s love +changed, because we cannot feel it in our trouble? Is the +sun’s light perished out of the sky, because the world is +black with cloud and mist? Has God forgotten to give light +to suffering souls, because we cannot see our way for a few short +days of perplexity?</p> +<p>For this is the gospel, this is the message which we have +received from God, to preach to every sad and desolate heart on +earth, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. +That God is love, and in Him there is no cruelty at all. +That God is one, and in Him there is no change at all. And +therefore, we all, the most ignorant of us as well as the wisest, +the most sinful of us as well as the holiest, the saddest and +most wretched of us as well as the happiest, have a right to join +in that Litany which is offered up here thrice every week during +the time of Lent, and to call upon God to deliver us and all +mankind, not merely because we wish to be delivered from evil, +but because God wishes to deliver us from evil. If we pray +that Litany in any dark dread of God, in doubt of His love and +goodwill towards us, like terrified slaves crying out to a hard +taskmaster, and entreating him not to torment them, we do not +pray that Litany aright; we do not pray it at all. For it +asks God not to leave us alone, but to come to us; not to stop +punishing us, but actually Himself to deliver us, to defend us, +to set us free. Therefore it begins by calling on God the +Father, because He is our Father; on God the Son, because He has +already redeemed and bought us for His own; on God the Holy +Spirit, because He has been striving with our wilful hearts from +our youth up till now, lovingly desiring to teach us, to change +us, to sanctify us. Therefore it calls on the holy, +blessed, and glorious Trinity, three Persons and one God, because +the Son does not love us better than the Father does, or than the +Holy Spirit does, but in the life and death of the Man Christ +Jesus, whom we call on to deliver us by His birth, His baptism, +His death, His resurrection, by all that His manhood did and +suffered here on earth, in His life and death, I say, were shown +forth bodily the glory, and condescension, and love, and goodwill +of the fulness of the Godhead, of all three Persons of the one +and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. +Therefore we may pray boldly to Him to spare us, because we know +that we are already His people, already redeemed with his most +precious blood, already declared by holy baptism to be bound to +Him in an everlasting covenant. Therefore we may pray +boldly to Him not to be angry with us for ever, because we know +that He desires to bless us for ever, if we will only let Him; if +we will only let His love have free course, and not shut our +hearts to it, and turn our backs upon it. Therefore we can +ask Him to deliver us in all time of our tribulation and misery; +in all time of the still more dangerous temptations which wealth +and prosperity bring with them; in the hour of death, whether of +our own death or the death of those we love; in the day of +judgment, whereof it is written: “It is God who justifieth +us, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ who died, yea +rather who is risen again, who even now maketh intercession for +us.” To that boundless love of God which He showed +forth in the life of Christ Jesus; to that utter and perfect will +to deliver us, which God showed forth in the death of Christ +Jesus, when the Father spared not His only-begotten Son, but +freely gave Him for us; to that boundless love we may trust +ourselves, our fortunes, our families, our bodies, our souls, the +souls of those we love. Trusting in that great love, we may +pray in that Litany for deliverance; to be delivered from +distress and accidents, from all sins which drag us down, and +make us miserable, ashamed, confused, terrified, selfish, +hateful, and hating each other. We may pray to be delivered +from evil, because God is righteousness, and hates evil. We +may pray to be delivered from our sins, because God is +righteousness, and hates our sins. We may pray for the +Queen, her ministers, her parliament, because God’s love +and care is over them; for all orders and ranks of men, whether +laymen or clergymen, high or low, in God’s holy church; for +all who are afflicted and desolate; for all who are wandering in +ignorance, and mistakes, and sin; ay, for all mankind, for God +loves them all, the Son of God has bought them all with His most +precious blood. And however dark, and sad, and sinful the +world may seem around us; however dark, and sad, and sinful our +own hearts may be within us, we may find comfort in that Litany, +and pour out in it our sorrows and our fears, if we begin only as +it begins, with the thought of God who is righteousness, God who +is love, God who is the Deliverer. And then, as the rainbow +reflects the sunbeams for a sign and token that the sun is +shining, though we see it not; so will that blessed Litany, with +its sacred name of God, its calls to Him who was born of the +Virgin Mary, and crucified under Pontius Pilate; its entreaties +to God to deliver us, because He is a deliverer; to hear us, and +send us good, because He is a good Lord Himself; its remembrances +of the noble works which God did in our fathers’ days, and +in the old time before them; its noble declaration that God does +not despise the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of a +humble spirit, and that it is the very glory of His name to turn +from us those evils which we most justly have deserved—that +Litany, I say, will be like a rainbow declaring to our dark and +stormy hearts that the sun is shining still above the clouds; +that over and above us, and all mankind, and all the changes and +chances of this mortal life, is the still bright sunshine, the +life-giving warmth of the Sun of Righteousness, the absolute +eternal love of our Father who is in heaven, who, as he has +declared by the mouth of His only-begotten Son, is perfect in +this, that He does not deal with us after our sins, nor reward us +according to our iniquities, but is good to the unthankful and +the evil, sending His rain alike upon the just and on the unjust, +and making His sun to shine alike upon the evil and the good.</p> +<h2><a name="page433"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +433</span><span class="GutSmall">XLIII.</span><br /> +THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Great is the mystery of godliness: God was +manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, +preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up +into glory.—1 <span class="smcap">Timothy</span> iii. +16.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">St. Paul</span> here sums up in one verse +the whole of Christian truth. He gives us in a few words +what he says is the great mystery of godliness.</p> +<p>Now, men had been inventing for themselves all kinds of +mysteries of godliness; all sorts of mysterious and wonderful +notions about God; all sorts of mysterious and strange +ceremonies, and ways of pleasing God, or turning away His +anger.</p> +<p>And Christian men are apt to do so also, as well as those old +heathens. They feel that they are very mysterious and +wonderful beings themselves, simply because they are men. +They say to themselves: “How strange that I should have a +body of flesh and blood, and appetites and passions, like the +animals, and yet that I should have an immortal spirit in +me. How strange this notion of duty which I have, and which +the other animals have not; this notion of its being right to do +some things, and wrong to do others! From whence did that +notion come? And again, this strange notion which I have, +and cannot help having, that I ought to be like God: and yet I do +not know what God is like. From whence did that notion +come?”</p> +<p>Again: “I fancy that God ought to be good. But how +do I know that He really is good? I see the world full of +injustice, and misery, and death. How do I know that this +is not God’s doing, God’s fault in some +way?”</p> +<p>Again, says a man to himself: “I have a fair right to +believe that mankind are not the only persons in the +universe—that there are other beings beside God whom I +cannot see. I call them angels. I hardly know what I +mean by that. The really important question about them to +me is: Will they do me harm? Can they do me good? Are +they stronger than I?—Ought I not to fear them, to try to +please them, to keep them favourable to me?”</p> +<p>Again, he asks: “Does God care whether I know what is +right? Does God care to teach me about Himself? Is +God desirous that I should do my duty? For if He does not +care about my being good, why should I care about it?”</p> +<p>Again, he asks: “But if I knew my duty, might I not find +it something too far-fetched, too difficult, for poor simple folk +to do: so that I should be forced to leave a right life to great +scholars, and to rich people, or to people of a very devout +delicate temper of mind, who have a natural turn that +way?”</p> +<p>And last of all: “Even if I did struggle to do right; +even if I gave up everything for the sake of doing right; how do +I know that it will profit me to do so? I shall die as +every man dies, and then what will become of me? Shall I be +a man still, or only—horrible thought!—some sort of +empty ghost, a spirit without body, of which I dream, and shudder +while I dream of it?”</p> +<p>Men in all ages, heathens and Christians, have been puzzled by +such thoughts as these, as soon as they began to feel that there +was a world which they could not see, as well as a world which +they could see; a spiritual world, wherein God the Spirit, and +their own spirits, and spiritual things, such as right, wrong, +duty, reason, love, dwell for ever; and a strange hidden duty on +all men to obey that unseen God, and the laws of that spiritual +world; in short a mystery of godliness.</p> +<p>Then they have tried to answer these questions for themselves; +and have run thereby into all manner of follies and +superstitions, and often, too, into devilish cruelties, in the +hope of pleasing God according to some mystery of godliness of +their own invention.</p> +<p>But to each of these puzzles St. Paul gives an answer in the +text. Let us take them each in its order, and you will see +what I mean.</p> +<p>The first puzzle was: How is it that while I am like the +animals in some things, and yet feel as if I ought to be, and can +be, like God in other things? How is it that I feel two +powers in me; one dragging me downward to make me lower than the +beasts, the other lifting me upwards—I dare not think +whither? It seems to me to be my body, my bodily appetites +and tempers which drag me down. Is my body me, part of me, +or a thing I should be ashamed of, and long to be rid of? I +fancy that I can be like God. But can my body be like +God? Must I not crush it, neglect it, get rid of it before +I can follow the good instinct which draws me upward?</p> +<p>To which St. Paul told Timothy to answer: God was manifest in +the flesh. God sent down His only-begotten Son, co-equal +and co-eternal with Himself, very God of very God, the very same +person who had been putting into men’s minds those two +notions of which we spoke, that there is a right and a wrong, and +that men ought to be like God; Him the Father sent into the world +that He might be born, and live, and die, and rise again, as a +man; that so men might see from His example, manifestly and +plainly, what God was like, and what man ought to be like. +And so Jesus Christ was God, manifested in the flesh.</p> +<p>Now we do know what God is like. We know that He is so +like man, that He can take upon Him man’s flesh and blood +without changing, or lowering, or defiling Himself. That +proves that man must have been originally made in God’s +likeness; that man’s being fallen, means man’s +falling from the likeness of God, and taking up instead with the +likeness of the brutes which perish; that the fault cannot be in +our bodies, but in our spirits which have yielded to our bodies, +and become their slaves instead of their masters, as +Christ’s Spirit was master of His body. But the Son +of God, by being born and living as a man, showed us that we are +not fallen past hope, not fallen so low that we cannot rise +again. He showed that though mankind are sinful, yet they +need not be sinful; for He was a man as exactly, and perfectly, +and entirely as we are, and yet in Him was no sin. So He +showed that brutishness and sinfulness is not our proper state, +but our disease and our fall; and a disease of which we can be +cured, a fall out of which we can rise and be renewed into the +true and real pattern of mankind, the new Adam, Jesus the sinless +Son of Man and Son of God.</p> +<p>The next question, I said, that rose in men’s mind was: +“How do I know that God is good, as I fancy sometimes that +He must be? I see the world full of sin, and injustice, and +misery, and death. Perhaps that is God’s doing, +God’s fault.” That is a common puzzle enough, +and a sad and fearful one. The sin and the misery and the +death are here. If God did not bring it here, yet why did +He let it come here? He could have stopped if He would, and +kept out all this wretchedness: why did He not? Was He just +or loving in letting sin into the world?</p> +<p>To all which St. Paul answers: “God was justified in the +Spirit.”</p> +<p>You do not see what that has to do with it? Then let me +show you.</p> +<p>To be justified means to be shown and proved to be just, +righteous. Now what justified God to man was the Spirit of +God, as He showed Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. For +when God became man and dwelt among men, what sort of works were +His? What was His conduct, His character; of what sort of +spirit did He show Himself to be? He went, we read, doing +good, for God was with Him. Not of His own will, but to do +His Father’s will, and because He was filled without +measure by the Spirit of God, He did good, He healed the sick, He +rebuked the proud and self-conceited hypocrite, He proclaimed +pardon and mercy to the broken-hearted sinner, wearied and worn +out by the burden of his sins. Thus, in every action of His +life, He was fighting against evil and misery, and conquering it; +and so showing that God hates evil and misery, and that the evil +and the misery in the world are here against God’s +will. Strange as it may seem to have to say it, so it +is. Jesus Christ showed that howsoever sin and sorrow came +into the world, it is God’s will and purpose to root them +out of the world, and that He is righteous, He is loving, He is +merciful, He does and will fight against evil, for those who are +crushed by it; and help poor sufferers always when they call upon +Him, and often, often, of His most undeserved condescension and +free grace, when they are forgetting and disobeying Him. +And so by the good, and loving, and just spirit which Jesus +showed, God was justified before men, and showed to be a God of +goodness and justice.</p> +<p>The next puzzle, I said, was about angels and spirits, whether +we need to pray to them to help us, and not to hurt us. St. +Paul answers: God, when He was manifested in the flesh of a man, +was seen by these angels. And that is enough for us. +They saw the Lord God condescend to be born in a stable, to live +as a poor man, to die on the cross. They saw that His will +to man was love. And they do His will. And therefore +they love men, they help men, they minister to men, because they +follow the Lord’s example, and do the will of their Father +in Heaven, even as we ought to do it on earth. Therefore we +have no need to fear them, for they love us already. And, +on the other hand, we have no need to pray to them to help us, +for they know already that it is their duty to help us. +They know that the Son of God has put on us a higher honour than +He ever put on them; for He took not on Him the nature of angels, +He took on Him the nature of man; and thus, though man was made a +little lower than the angels, yet by Christ’s taking +man’s nature, man is crowned with a glory and honour higher +than the angels. Know ye not, says St. Paul, that we shall +judge angels? And the angels, as they told St. John, are +our fellow-servants, not our masters; and they know that; for +they saw the Son of God doing utterly His Father’s will, +and therefore they know that their duty is to do their +Father’s will also; not to do their own wills, and set +themselves up as our masters, to be pleaded with by us. +They saw the Son of God take our nature on Him, when they sang to +the shepherds on the first Christmas night: “Peace on +earth, and good-will toward men;” and therefore they look +on us with love and honour, because we wear the human nature +which Christ their Master wore, and are partakers of the Holy +Spirit of God, even as they are. For no angel or archangel +could do a right thing, any more than we, except by the Holy +Spirit of God. And that Holy Spirit is bestowed on the +poorest man who asks for it, as freely as upon the highest of the +heavenly host.</p> +<p>And this leads us on to the next puzzle of which I spoke: Men +were apt, and are apt now, to say to themselves: Does God care +whether I know what is right? Does God care to teach me +about Himself? Is God desirous that I should do my +duty? For if He does not care about my being good, why +should I care about it?</p> +<p>To this St. Paul answers: “God, who was manifest in the +flesh, was preached to the Gentiles.”</p> +<p>God does care that men should know about God; for He loves +them. He yearns after them as a father after his children, +and He knows that to know God, to know the truth about God, is +the beginning of all wisdom, the root of all safety and honour +and happiness. He willeth not that any should perish, but +that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. And, +therefore, when the Son of God died for our sins, He did not stop +at that great deed of love; but He ordained Apostles, and put +upon them especially and above all men, His Holy Spirit, that +they might go and preach to all nations the good news that God +had become flesh, and dwelt among men, and borne their sorrows +and infirmities, and to baptize them into the very name of God +itself, into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the +Holy Ghost; that so, instead of fancying now that God did not +care for them, they might be sure that God so longed to teach +them, that He called every child, even from its cradle, to come +into His kingdom, and be taught the whole mystery of +godliness.</p> +<p>The next puzzle I mentioned was: “But this right life, +this mystery of godliness, is it not something very strange and +difficult, and past the understanding of simple men who are not +extraordinarily clever and learned scholars or deep +philosophers?” To that St. Paul answers: No. It +is not past any man. It is not too deep or too difficult +for the simplest, the most unlearned countryman. For, says +St. Paul in the text, we Apostles have had proof of that; we have +tried it; we Apostles preached the mystery of godliness, and it +was believed on in the world. People of the world, plain +working men and women going about their worldly business, who had +no time to be great readers, or great thinkers, or to shut +themselves up in monasteries to meditate on heavenly things, but +had to live and work in the commonplace, busy, workday +world—they believed our message. We Apostles told +them that the Son of God had showed Himself in the likeness of +man, and called on every man to repent, and to be such a man as +He was. And worldly people believed us, and tried, and +found that without giving up their worldly work, or deserting the +station in which God had put them, they could live godlike lives, +and become the sons of God without rebuke. They saw that +scholarship was not wanted, leisure was not wanted, but only the +humble heart which hungers and thirsts after righteousness. +About their daily work, by their cottage firesides, among their +poor neighbours, the Spirit of Almighty God gave them strength to +live as Jesus their pattern lived; He filled them with all holy, +pure, noble, brave, loving thoughts and feelings, fit for angels +and archangels. He enabled them to rise out of their sins, +to trample their temptations under foot, to leave their old low +brutish sinful way of life behind them, and become new men, and +persevere in every word, and thought, and action, in virtues such +as the greatest heathen sages could not copy; ay, even to shed +their life-blood freely and boldly in martyrdom, for the sake of +God and the truth of God. They, these plain simple people, +living in the world, could still live the life of God, and die +like heroes for the sake of God.</p> +<p>And this again brings us to the last puzzle of which I spoke: +“But what became of those holy and godlike people when they +died? What reward did they receive for all they had done, +and given up, and suffered? What will become of us after we +die? What will the next world be like? What is heaven +like? Shall I be able to enjoy it? Shall I be a man +there, or only a ghost, a spirit without a body?”</p> +<p>To this St. Paul answers: That Christ, the Son of God, after +He was manifested in the flesh, was received up into glory. +He does not tell us what heaven is like; for though he had been +caught up into the third heaven, yet what he saw there, he says, +was unspeakable. He neither ought to tell, or could tell, +what he saw. Neither does St. Paul tell us what the next +life will be like; for as far as we can find, God had not told +him. All he says is: The man Christ Jesus, who walked this +earth like other men, was received up into glory; and He did not +leave His man’s mind, His man’s heart, even His +man’s body, behind Him. He carried up into heaven +with Him His whole manhood, spirit, soul, and body, even to the +print of the nails in His hands and in His most holy feet, and +the wound of the spear in His most holy side. And that is +enough for us. Because the man Christ Jesus is in heaven, +we as men may ascend to heaven. Where He is we shall +be. And what He is, in as far as He is man, we shall +be. What we shall be we know not; but this we know, that we +shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And He is +a man still; for it is written: “There is one Mediator +between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” And He +will be a man at the day of judgment; for it is written that: +“God hath ordained a day in which He will judge the world +by a man whom He hath chosen.” And He will be a man +for ever; for it is written: “This man abideth for +ever.” And He Himself said to His disciples: “I +will not drink of this fruit of the vine, till I drink it new +with you in the kingdom of my Father.” And again He +declared, even when he was on earth, that He was the Son of Man +who is in heaven. And in heaven nothing can grow +less. But if Christ were not man for ever as well as God, +He would become less; for He is now God and man also at once; but +if He laid down His manhood, and so became not man any more, but +God only, He would become less, which is not to be believed of +Him of whom it is written: That Jesus Christ is the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever. For, as the Athanasian +creed teaches us, He is not God alone, nor man alone, but God and +man is one Christ; and therefore, when St. John declares that +Christ shall reign for ever and ever, he declares that He shall +reign not only as God, but as man also. Therefore whatever +we do not know about the next life, we know this, that we shall +be men there; not sinful, weak, and mortal, as we are here, but +holy, strong, immortal, after the likeness of our Lord, the +firstborn from the dead, who has ascended up on high and raised +our human nature to the heaven of heavens, and is gone to prepare +a place for us, into which we too shall enter in that day when He +shall change these mortal and fallen bodies which we now wear, +the bodies of our humiliation, the bodies by wearing which we are +now a little lower than the angels; them the Lord will change, +that they may be made like unto His glorious body, according to +the mighty working whereby He subdueth all things unto Himself, +that we may see Him face to face, and dwell with Him in the glory +of God the Father for ever.</p> +<p>Oh my friends, who is sufficient for these things? What +shall we say of man? Is he not indeed fearfully and +wonderfully made? Here we are, weak creatures, more liable +to disease and death than the dumb beasts round us; full of +poverty, and adversity, and longings which are never satisfied; +our minds full of mistakes, our hearts full of false conceit, +full of spite and folly, struggles, murmurings, quarrellings; our +consciences full of the remembrance of sins without number. +The greatest of all heathen poets said, that there was not a more +miserable and pitiable animal upon the earth than man. He +knew no better. He could not know better. How could +he, when God had not yet been manifest in the flesh? How +could he dream that the Lord God would condescend to be made +flesh, and dwell among us, and show man His glory, the glory of +the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and +truth—how could he dream that? And more than all, how +could he dream that God, instead of throwing away our human +nature when He rose again, as if it was too great a degradation +for Him to be a man one moment more, should condescend to take up +His human nature, His man’s body, soul, and spirit, with +Him into everlasting glory, that He might feed with it for ever +the bodies and souls of those who trust in Him, so as to make +them fit for us at the last day, to share in His everlasting +life? The old heathen poet knew as well as you or I that +there was an everlasting life beyond the grave; that men’s +souls were immortal, and could not die: but the thought of it was +all dark, and dreary, and uncertain to him and to all mankind, +till the Son of God brought life and immortality to light, when +He was manifest in the flesh.</p> +<p>Wonderful mystery of godliness! Wonderful love of God to +man! Wonderful condescension of God to man! Still +more wonderful patience of God to man!</p> +<p>Oh you who live still in sin, when the Son of God died and +rose again to make you righteous; you who defile your bodies with +sins worse than the brutes, when the Son of God offers to raise +those bodies of yours to be equal with the angels; how shall you +escape if you neglect so great salvation; if you despise this +unspeakable love; if you trample under foot, like swine, the +everlasting glory and happiness which God offers you freely, +without fee or price, for the sake of His only-begotten Son, +Jesus Christ, who died to buy them for you?</p> +<h2><a name="page445"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +445</span><span class="GutSmall">XLIV.</span><br /> +THE WORK OF GOD’S SPIRIT.</h2> +<blockquote><p>If I go not away, the comforter will not come unto +you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He +is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, +and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me: of +righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more: +of judgment, because the prince of this world is +judged.—<span class="smcap">John</span> xvi. +7–11.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I <span class="smcap">do</span> not pretend to be able to +explain to you the whole meaning of this text, or even more than +a very small part of it. For it speaks of God; of God the +Holy Spirit. And God is boundless; and, therefore, every +text which speaks of God is boundless too, as God is. No +man can ever see the whole meaning of it, or do more than +understand dimly a little of its truth. But what we can +see, we must think over and make use of. What can we see, +now, from this text? First, we may see that the Holy +Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, is a person. Not a +mere thing, or a state of our own hearts, or a feeling in us, or +a power, like the powers and laws by which the trees and plants +grow, and the sun and moon move in their courses; but a person, +just as each of us is a person. He, the Holy Spirit, gives +life to trees and plants, sun and moon: but He is not their +life. He gives them their life; and, therefore, that life +of theirs is not He, or He could not give it; for you can only +give something which is not you.</p> +<p>The Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit, not as it, but as He; +as a person, and not as a thing; as a person who can speak to +men’s souls, guide and teach them.</p> +<p>“When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide +you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself.”</p> +<p>But we may see also that the Holy Spirit is neither God the +Father, nor the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Lord speaks of +Him, the Holy Spirit, as a different person either from Him or +from the Father. “The Spirit,” He says, +“shall glorify me; for He shall receive of mine, and shall +show it unto you.”</p> +<p>But we may see also that there is no difference in will, or +opinion, or love, between the Holy Spirit and the Father and the +Son. For the Spirit does not speak of Himself; there is no +self-will in Him. There is not one will of the Father, and +another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost; or, one love +of the Father, another love of the Son, and another of the Holy +Ghost; or, one righteousness of the Father, another of the Son, +another of the Holy Ghost: or, one mercy and grace of the Father, +another of the Son, another of the Holy Ghost. For then +there would be three Gods and three Lords; and the substance of +God would be divided. But they have all one will, and one +love, and one righteousness, and one mercy. And such as the +Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.</p> +<p>And remember always, that the Holy Spirit is very and indeed +God. For He is the Spirit of holiness itself, of +righteousness itself, of goodness itself, of love itself, of +truth itself; and, therefore, He is the Spirit of God, who is the +perfect holiness, and righteousness, and truth, and love. +All other holiness, and righteousness, and truth, and love, are +only pictures and patterns of God, just as the sun’s +reflection in water, or in a glass, is a picture and pattern of +the sun. As the Epistle for to-day tells us: “Every +good gift and every perfect is from above, and cometh down from +the Father of lights.”</p> +<p>But the Spirit of God must be God. For else what do the +words mean? Is not the spirit of a man, a man? Is not +your spirit, what you call your soul, you? Is not your soul +you, just as much as your body is you; ay, a hundred times +more? Just so, the Spirit of God is God, God Himself; and +the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Ghost, is all +one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.</p> +<p>This, then, is the glorious promise made to you, and to me, +and to all who believe and are baptized into the name of the +Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that that Spirit will come +to us, and take charge of our spirits, and work in them, and +teach them. We cannot see Him with our eyes, or hear Him +with our ears; we cannot even feel Him at work in our hearts and +thoughts. For He is a Spirit; and His likeness, the thing +in this world which is a pattern of Him, is the wind; as indeed +the name Spirit means. You cannot see the wind, you cannot +even really feel the wind or hear it: you only know it by its +effects, by what it does: by the noise among the branches, the +force against your faces, the bending boughs, and flying +dust. The Spirit bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest +the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or +whither it goeth; even so is every one who is born of the +Spirit. On him the Spirit of God will work unseen, and +unfelt, only to be discovered by the change which He makes in the +man’s heart and thoughts; and first by the way in which He +convinces him of sin, because men believe not on Jesus +Christ.</p> +<p>The Holy Spirit shows men that the sins of the world, the sin +of all sins, the sin which is the root of all other sins, is not +believing on the Lord Jesus Christ; that it was because they +would not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that they had been +falling into every other sort of sin.</p> +<p>But you may say: “How could they believe on Him before +He came, and was born in Judæa of the Virgin Mary? +How could they believe on Him when He was not there?” +Ah! my friends, who told you that the Lord Jesus Christ was not +there in the world all along? Not the Bible, +certainly. For the Bible tells us that He is the Light who +lights every man who cometh into the world; that from Him came, +and have come, all the right thoughts and feelings which ever +arose in the heart of every human being. The Bible tells us +that when God created the world, He was daily rejoicing in the +habitable parts of the earth, and His delights were with the sons +of men. The Bible tells us that He was in the world, and +the world knew Him not; that all along, through the dark times of +heathendom, the Lord Jesus Christ was a light shining in +darkness, which the darkness could not close round, and hide and +quench.</p> +<p>Not merely to the Jews, but to all heathens who hungered and +thirsted after righteousness, did the Lord Jesus show something +of His truth; as it is written, God is no acceptor of persons; +that is, no shower of partiality, or unjust favour: but in every +nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted +of Him.</p> +<p>But at the time that the Lord Jesus sent down His Holy Spirit, +men were not working righteousness. There was not one who +did good, no not one. For men had forgotten what +righteousness was like, what a righteous man ought to do and +be. Men are ready to forget it every day. You and I +are ready to forget it, and invent some false righteousness of +our own, not like Jesus Christ, but like what we in our private +fancies think is most graceful, or most agreeable, or most easy; +or most grand, and far-fetched, and difficult. But the Holy +Spirit came to convince men of righteousness; to show them what +true righteousness was like.</p> +<p>And how? In the same way that He must convince us of +righteousness, if we are ever to know what righteousness is, or +are ever to be righteous ourselves. He must show us +goodness; or we shall never see it, or receive it, or copy +it.</p> +<p>And where is this righteousness, this perfect goodness of +which the Holy Spirit will convince us? Where, but in the +Lord Jesus Christ? In the Lord Jesus’s character, the +Lord Jesus’s good works; His love, His patience, His +perfect obedience, His life, His death. The Holy Spirit, if +we give up our hearts to be taught by Him, will make us believe, +and be sure, and feel in our very inmost hearts, how noble, how +beautiful, how holy, how perfectly Godlike, was He who was born +of a poor virgin, who walked this earth for thirty-three years in +toil and sorrow, who gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks +to them that plucked off the hair, and hid not His face from +shame and spitting, who died upon a cross between two +thieves. And the Holy Spirit will convince us of +righteousness, by making us feel what the Lord Jesus’s +righteousness consisted in; what was the root of all His goodness +and holiness, namely His perfect obedience to His Father and our +Father in heaven. That is the righteousness, which is not +our own, but God’s; the righteousness which comes by faith; +not to trust in ourselves, but in God; not to please ourselves, +but God; not to do our own will, but God’s will. That +is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which God set His seal on +and approved, when He exalted Him far above all principality and +powers, and set Him at His own right hand for a sign to all men, +and angels, and archangels; that righteousness means to trust and +to obey God even to the death.</p> +<p>3. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is +judged.</p> +<p>This may seem a puzzling speech at first. We shall +understand it best, I think, by considering who the prince of +this world was in our Lord’s time, and what he was +like. A little before our Lord’s time the Roman +emperor had conquered almost the whole world which was then +known, and kept all nations in slavery, careless about their +doing right, provided they obeyed him and paid him tribute; nay, +forcing them and tempting them into all brutal and foul sin and +ignorance, that he might keep up his own power over man.</p> +<p>But now the Lord of all the earth, and the Prince of +men’s hearts and thoughts, was come to visit that poor +enslaved and sinful world. He came; the princes of this +world knew Him not, and crucified the Lord of Glory. They +crucified the righteous and the just One; and so they were +judged. They judged themselves; they condemned +themselves. For they showed that what they admired and what +they wanted was not righteousness and love, but wealth and +power. They showed that no doing of good, no healing of the +sick, or giving of sight to the blind, or preaching the gospel to +the poor, no holiness, no love, not the perfect likeness of +God’s own goodness, which shone forth in the spotless +Jesus, was anything to them; was any reason why they should not +put Him to death with the most cruel torments, because they were +afraid of His taking away their power. He said He was a +King; and therefore they crucified Him, lest His kingdom should +interfere with theirs; and for the same reason these same Roman +emperors and their magistrates, for hundreds of years afterwards, +persecuted the Christians, and hunted them down like wild beasts, +and put them to death by all horrible tortures, for the same +reason that Cain slew Abel; became his brother’s deeds were +righteous, and his own wicked.</p> +<p>So these Roman emperors, and their magistrates and generals +were judged. They had shown what was in their evil +hearts. They had been tried in God’s balances, and +found wanting. The sentence of the Lord God had gone forth +against them. The man Christ Jesus, whom they rejected, God +accepted, and raised to His own right hand. They crucified +Him; but God gave Him all power in heaven and earth: and the Lord +Jesus used His power; yea, and uses it still. He gave His +saints and martyrs strength to defy those Roman tyrants, and to +witness to all the earth that the righteous Son of God was the +King of heaven and earth, and that the princes of this world, who +wished to break His yoke off their necks, and crush all nations +to powder for their own pleasure, and fatten themselves upon the +plunder of all the earth, would surely come to naught, as it is +written in the second Psalm: “The kings of the earth set +themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the +Lord and His Anointed. Yet have I set my King upon my holy +hill of Zion. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: +thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s +vessel.”</p> +<p>And they did come to naught. That great Roman empire +rotted away miserably after years of such distress as had never +been seen on the earth before; and the emperors came, one after +another, to shameful or dreadful deaths. And all the while +the gospel spread, and the Church grew, till all the kingdoms of +the Roman empire had become the kingdoms of God and of His +Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit working in men’s +hearts, and showing them, as our Lord said He would, that Jesus +of Nazareth was both Lord and King. And so was fulfilled +the Lord’s words in the gospel for to-day: “The Holy +Spirit shall glorify me, for He shall receive of mine, and shall +show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine; +therefore said I that He should take of mine, and show it unto +you.”</p> +<p>Oh my friends, pray for yourselves, and join me while I pray +for you, that the holy and righteous Spirit of God may convince +you, and me, and all mankind, more and more, day by day, of sin, +of righteousness, and of judgment.</p> +<p>Pray to that Holy Spirit to convince you of sin day by day, +whensoever you do the least wrong thing. Pray to Him to +keep your consciences tender and quick, that you may feel +instantly, and lament deeply, every wrong thing you do.</p> +<p>Pray to Him to give you, every time you do wrong, that godly +sorrow which brings peace and health, that heart-repentance never +to be repented of. Pray to Him to convince you more and +more, as you grow older, that all sin comes from not believing in +Jesus Christ, not believing that He is near you, with you, in +you, putting into your hearts all right thoughts and good +desires, and willing, if you will, to help you to put those +thoughts and desires into good practice.</p> +<p>Pray to the Holy Spirit to convince you more and more of +righteousness; to make you see what righteousness is; that it is +the very character and likeness of God the Father, because it is +the character and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the +brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of +His person. Pray to Him to make you see the beauty of +holiness: how fair, and noble, and glorious a thing goodness is; +how truly Solomon says: “that all the things that may be +desired are not to be compared to it.”</p> +<p>Pray to the Holy Spirit to convince you more and more of +judgment, and to make you sure that the Lord is King, a righteous +Judge, of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, whose fan is in His +hand, who thoroughly purges His floor, who comes quickly, and His +reward is with Him, and who surely casts out of His kingdom, +sooner or later, all things that offend, and whosoever loveth and +maketh a lie. Pray to Him to make you sure by faith, though +you cannot see it, that the prince of this world is judged; that +evil doing, oppression, tyranny, injustice, cheating, neglect of +man by man, cannot and will not prosper upon the face of +God’s earth; for the everlasting sentence and wrath of God +is revealed forth every moment against all unrighteousness of +men, which He will surely punish, yea, and does hourly punish by +Him by whom He judges the world, Jesus Christ, the Lord, who is +exalted high above all principalities and powers, and has all +power given to Him in heaven and earth, which He uses, as He used +it in Judæa of old, utterly and always for the good of all +mankind, whom He hath redeemed with His most precious blood.</p> +<h2><a name="page453"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +453</span><span class="GutSmall">XLV.</span><br /> +THE GOSPEL.</h2> +<blockquote><p>Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel +which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and +wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in +memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain: +for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, +how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; +and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day +according to the scriptures.—1 <span +class="smcap">Corinthians</span> xv. 1–4.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is St. Paul’s account of +the gospel; the good news which he preached to the sinful and +profligate Corinthians, when they were sunk lower than the beasts +which perish. And because they believed this good news, he +said, they were saved then and there, and would be safe only as +long as they believed that good news, and kept it in their +memories. Now, from what did this good news save +them? From their sins. There was something in St. +Paul’s good news which made them hate their sins, and +repent of them, and throw them away, and rise up to be new men +and women, living new lives in godliness and purity and justice, +such as they had never lived before. Now mind, it was not +bad news which made the Corinthians repent of their sins; it was +good news. It was not that St. Paul told them that God was +going to cast them into endless torment for their sins, and that +therefore they were terrified and afraid, and so repented. +Doubtless St. Paul told them, as he told other heathens, that the +wrath of God was revealed from heaven against all +unrighteousness; that tribulation and anguish was laid up in +store for every soul of man who worketh evil. But still, +St. Paul says plainly here, that what saved the Corinthians was +not that or any other fearful and terrifying news, but a +gospel—good news. And he says that this good news did +not merely, as some would wish it to do, make them comfortable in +their minds while they went on in their old wicked ways. +No. He says that it made them stand. That is, made +them upright, strong-minded, righteous, self-restraining people; +and that they were saved by it from those sins which had been +dragging them down, and keeping them diseased in soul, weak, +miserable, the slaves of their own passions and foul +pleasures.</p> +<p>What wonderful good news was this, then, which could work so +strange a change in these poor heathens, and how could it change +them?</p> +<p>Let us see, first, what it was.</p> +<p>“That Christ died for our sins, according to the +scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the +third day according to the scriptures; and that He was seen of +Peter, then of the twelve; after that He was seen of above five +hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remained unto +this day, but some are fallen asleep. After that He was +seen of James, then of all the Apostles. And last of all He +was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”</p> +<p>You see here, that St. Paul, for some good reason, says much +more about the Lord’s rising again than even about His most +precious death and passion on the cross, while about His +ascending into heaven he says nothing. And you will find in +the New Testament that the Apostles often did the same. +They spoke of the Lord rising again as if that was the great +wonder, the great glory, the great good news; and as if His most +precious death was not perfect without that. They said that +the especial office for which the Lord had ordained them, was to +be witnesses of His resurrection. They said that the Lord +rose again for our justification. They said: “If thou +shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in +thy heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be +saved.” Here again, just as in the text, believing in +the Lord’s resurrection is made the great article of +faith. Why is this? Because that last verse which I +quoted may tell us, if we consider it carefully.</p> +<p>What does confessing the Lord Jesus with our mouth mean? +It means what we ought to mean when we say, in the +Apostles’ Creed, I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, +our Lord. Not merely, I believe that there is an only Son +of God: but I believe in a certain man, with a certain character, +who is that only Son of God.</p> +<p>And what, you will ask, does that mean?</p> +<p>To know that, I fear, we must go back many many hundred years, +to the times when the old martyrs confessed the Lord Jesus Christ +before the heathen. Those were times in which it was not +enough to say the Apostles’ Creed in church. Men, ay, +and tender women, and little children, had to stand by it through +terror and shame, and to die in torments unspeakable, because +they chose to say: “I believe in Jesus Christ, our +Lord.” Now, what was it which made the heathen hate +and persecute and torture, and murder them for saying that? +What was there in those plain words of the Apostles’ Creed +which made the great heathen emperors of Rome, and their officers +and judges hunt the Christians down like wild beasts for 300 +years, and declare that they were not fit to live? I will +tell you. When the Christians were brought before the +emperor’s judges for being Christians, they did not merely +say: “I believe that Jesus Christ’s blood will save +my soul after death.” They said that: but they said a +great deal more than that. If that had been all that the +Christians said, the judge would have answered: “What care +I for your souls, or for your notions about what will happen to +them when you are dead? Go your way. You may be of +what religion you like, and talk and think about your own souls +as much as you like, provided you do not trouble the Roman +emperor’s power.” But the heathen judge did not +make that answer; because he knew well enough that what the +Christians believed was not a mere religion about what would +happen to their souls after death; but something which, if it +gained ground, would utterly destroy the Roman emperor’s +power. He used generally to say to the Christians only +this: “Will you burn those few grains of incense in honour +of the emperor of Rome?” And he knew, and the +Christians knew well enough, that those words meant: “Will +you confess with your mouth the emperor of Rome? Will you +confess that he is the only lord and king of this whole earth, +and of your bodies and souls, and that there is no power or +authority but of him, for the gods have delivered all things into +his hands?” And then came out what confessing the +Lord Jesus really means. For the Christians used to answer: +“No. The emperor of Rome is the lord and master of +our bodies, and we will obey his laws so far as we can without +doing wrong: but we cannot obey them when they are contrary to +the laws of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. For the Lord +Jesus Christ, who was crucified and rose again the third day, He, +and not the emperor of Rome at all, is the Lord and King of the +whole earth, and of our bodies and souls; and we must obey Him +before we obey anyone else. Power and authority come not +from the emperor of Rome, but from the Lord Jesus Christ; and the +emperor is only His servant and steward, and must obey Him just +as much as we, or the Lord will punish him as surely and easily +as He will the meanest slave. For God has delivered all +things, and the emperor of Rome among the rest, into the hand of +His Son Jesus Christ, who sits a King over all, God blessed for +ever.” That was confessing Christ.</p> +<p>And to that the heathen judges used to make but one +answer—for there was but one to make. Those heathen +judges’ guilty consciences, as well as their worldly +cunning, told them plainly enough exactly what St. Paul told the +Christians; that those Christians, by confessing Christ, were not +fighting against flesh and blood, and setting up their selfish +interests against other people’s selfish interests: but +that the battle they were fighting was a much deeper and more +terrible one; that by saying that One who had walked the earth as +a poor man, and yet a perfectly righteous and loving man, doing +nothing but good, and sacrificing Himself utterly for poor fallen +creatures, they were fighting against the whole state of things +all over the world; against the government, and principles, and +religion of that whole unjust and tyrannical Roman empire, and +all its rulers, and generals, and judges; against principalities, +against powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of those +times; against spiritual wickedness in heavenly things. For +if Jesus Christ’s life was the right life, those rulers +must be utterly wrong; for it was exactly opposite to His.</p> +<p>If Jesus Christ was really the Governor of the earth, there +was no hope for them; for their way of governing was exactly +opposite to His. So as I say, they made but one answer; +because there was but one to make: “You say that Jesus +Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. I say the +emperor of Rome is. You say you must obey Christ first, and +the emperor of Rome afterwards. I say that you must obey +the emperor first, and Christ afterwards. At all events, if +you do not, you have no right on this earth of the +emperor’s; either the emperor’s power must fall, or +your notion about Jesus Christ’s power must. And we +will see whether your heavenly King of whom you talk can deliver +you out of the emperor’s hand.” And then came +the scourge, and the red-hot iron, and the wild beasts, and the +cross, and all devilish tortures which man’s evil will +could invent, brought to bear without shame or mercy upon aged +men, and tender girls, and even little children, just to make +them say that the earth belonged to the emperor, and not to Jesus +Christ. Those who died bravely under those tortures without +denying Christ were called martyrs, which means +witnesses—people who bore witness before God and man that +Jesus Christ was King and Lord. Those who did not die under +the tortures, but escaped after all, were called +confessors—people who had confessed with their mouths that +Jesus Christ was King and Lord, in spite of their terror and +agony. . . . That was what confessing Jesus Christ meant in +the old times. And that was what it ought to mean now, even +though there is no persecution or torture for Christians in these +happier times.</p> +<p>And now, we may see perhaps why St. Paul spoke so much of our +Lord’s rising again as the most important part of the +gospel.</p> +<p>Because he wanted Christians to believe, not merely in a +Christ who once died, but in Him who died and is alive for +evermore; in a Christ who rose again, body, soul, and spirit, and +sat at God’s right hand, praying for poor creatures when +they were tempted, and persecuted, and tormented for +righteousness’ sake. St. Paul knew well that such +fearful times as those of which I have been speaking were coming +on the people to whom he wrote. And he knew equally well +that the only thought which could save them, when the heathen +judges commanded them to deny the Lord Jesus, was the thought +that He was really risen. The only thought which could make +them bold enough to face all the horrors of death, was the +thought that the Lord Jesus had not merely tasted death, but +conquered it, and risen again from it. And therefore it is +that St. Paul speaks so often of Christ’s resurrection, and +that in the text he takes so much pains to prove that Christ had +really risen, by telling them how many persons, well known to him +who wrote to them, had seen the Lord Jesus Christ after He rose, +and talked with Him, and were sure that He was the very same +person still, with the same countenance, and body, and soul, and +spirit, as He had when He was nailed to the cross, and laid in +the sepulchre.</p> +<p>What a thought for a poor creature in the last agony of fear +and shame, expecting presently to be torn in pieces, or burnt +alive: “Death, this horrible death, cannot conquer me, weak +and fearful as I am; for my Lord and Master, for whom I am going +to suffer, has conquered death, and He will not let it conquer +me. He is stronger than death and hell, and He will not +suffer me at my last hour for any pains of death to fall from +Him. He is King of heaven and earth, and He will take care +of His own!” What a comfortable thought to be able to +say: “Ay, I am torn from wife and child, and all which I +love on earth. But not for ever, not for ever. For +Christ rose from the dead. And I who belong to Christ, +shall rise as He did. This poor flesh of mine may be burnt +in flames, devoured by ravenous beasts. What matter? +Christ the King of men, has risen from the dead, and become the +first-fruits of them that slept. That same Spirit of His, +which brought back His body from the grave and hell, will bring +our bodies also from the grave and hell, to a nobler, happier +life with Him in glory unspeakable. Christ is risen, and I +shall rise with Him at the last day. Christ sits at +God’s right hand, watching me, pitying me, and blessing me, +holding out to me a crown of glory which shall never fade +away!” That was the thought which gave Stephen +courage to confess the Lord Jesus Christ, amid to die in peace +and the murderous blows of the Jews. For by faith he saw, +as he said, the heavens opened, and Jesus sitting at the right +hand of God. He knew that his Lord was risen, and that He +would hear his dying cry: “Lord Jesus, receive my +spirit.”</p> +<p>And so with us, my friends; we have no martyrdom to go +through, thank God; but it is just as true of us as it was of the +blessed martyrs and confessors, that there is no other name under +heaven by which we can be saved but the name of the Lord Jesus +Christ. Saved; not only from hell, but from sin, from +giving way to temptation, from denying Christ. Oh, pray for +faith. Pray for faith. Pray to be able really to +confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. Pray to believe +with your hearts that God has raised Him from the dead. +Then when you are tempted to do wrong, you, like Stephen, will +see, not with your bodily eyes, but by faith, the Lord Jesus +sitting at God’s right hand, and be able to say to Him: +“Lord Jesus, who hast conquered all temptation, help me to +conquer this. Thine eye is on me; how can I do this great +wickedness and sin against Thee?” When you are in +terror, and trouble, and affliction, and know not where to turn, +that same blessed thought—“Christ is risen from the +dead”—will be a shield and a strength to you which no +other thought can give. “My Lord is risen; He is here +still—a man, with His man’s body, and His man’s +spirit—His man’s love and tenderness; He has taken +them all up to heaven with Him. He is a man still, though +He is very God of very God. He rose from the dead as a man, +and therefore He can understand me, and feel for me still, now, +here in England in this very year, 1852, just as much as He could +when He was walking upon earth in Judæa of old.”</p> +<p>Ay, and in the black jaws of death, when this world is +vanishing from our eyes, and we are going we know not whither, +leaving behind us all we know, and love, and understand; then +that thought of all thoughts—“Christ is risen from +the dead”—is the only one which will save us from +dark sad thoughts, from fear and despair, or from stupid +carelessness, and the death of a brute beast, such as too many +die. “Christ is risen and I shall rise. Christ +has conquered death for Himself, and He will conquer it for +me. Christ took His man’s body and soul with Him from +the tomb to God’s right hand, and He will raise my +man’s body and soul at the last day, that I may be with Him +for ever, and see Him where He is.” In life and in +death this is the only thing which shall save us from sin, from +terror, and from the dread of death; the same good news which St. +Paul preached to the Corinthians; the same good news which made +St. Stephen, and the martyrs and confessors of old brave to +endure all misery for the sake of the good and blessed news, that +God had raised His Son Jesus from the dead.</p> +<h2><a name="page463"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +463</span><span class="GutSmall">XLVI.</span><br /> +GOD’S WAY WITH MAN.</h2> +<blockquote><p>And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have +wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your +wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of +Israel, saith the Lord God.—<span +class="smcap">Ezekiel</span> xx. 44.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> this chapter the prophet Ezekiel +argues with his sinful and rebellious countrymen, and puts them +in mind of all that God has done for them and with them, from the +time when He brought them out of Egypt to that day.</p> +<p>And now comes the old question, What has this to do with +us! St. Paul tells us that all things which happened to the +old Jews happened for our example. What example can we +learn from this chapter?</p> +<p>This, I think, we may learn: Is not the way in which God +taught these Jews the same way in which He teaches many a +man—perhaps every man? Which of us, when we were +young, has not had his teaching from God? The old Catechism +which our mothers taught us, was not that a word from God Himself +to us? The voice of conscience, which made us happy when we +had done right, and uneasy and ashamed when we had gone wrong; +was not that a word from God to us? Yes, my friends, those +child’s feelings of ours about right and wrong, were none +other than the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, +the Light which lightens every man who comes into the +world. I tell you, every right thought and wish, every +longing to be better than you were, which ever came into any one +of your hearts, came from Him, the Lord Jesus. It was His +word, His voice, His Spirit, speaking to your spirit, just as +really as He spoke to His prophet Ezekiel, of whom we have been +reading. Think of that. Recollect, never, never +forget, that all your good thoughts and feelings are not your +own, not your own at all, but the Lord’s; that without His +light your hearts are nothing but darkness, blind ignorance, and +blind selfishness, and blind passions and lusts; that it is He, +he Himself, who has been fighting against the darkness in you all +your life long. Oh think, then, what your sin has been in +putting aside those good thoughts and longings! You were +turning your back, you were shutting your doors to the Lord God +Himself, very God of very God begotten, by whom all things were +made. The Creator came to visit His creature, and His +creature shut Him out. The Almighty God pleaded with mortal +man, and mortal man bade God go, and come back at a more +convenient season! A voice in your heart seemed to say: +“Oh, if I could but be a better man! How I wish that +I could but give up these bad habits, and mend! I hate and +despise myself for being so bad.” And then you +fancied that that voice was your own voice, that those good +thoughts were your own thoughts. If you had really known +whose they were; if you had really known, as the Bible tells you, +that they were the Word of the Lord, the only-begotten Son of the +Father, speaking to your heart, I hardly think that you would +have been so ready to say yourself: “Well, then, I will +mend; but not just now: some day or other; somehow or other, I +hope, I shall be a better man. It will be time enough to +make my peace with God when I am growing old.” You +would not have dared to thrust away the good thoughts, and keep +them waiting, while you took your pleasure in a few more +years’ sin; if you had guessed <i>whom</i> you were +thrusting away; if you had guessed whom you were keeping +waiting.</p> +<p>And, my good friends, has not God been saying to us many a +time from our youth up, as He did to the Jews of old: “Do +not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor defile yourselves +with their idols?” Do you ask me how? Why, +thus. Have you never said to yourself: “How ill my +father prospered, because he would do wrong!” Or, +again: “See how evil doing brings its own punishment. +There is so and so growing rich, by his cheating and his +covetousness, and yet, for all his money, I would not change +places with him. God forbid that I should have on my mind +what he has on his mind!” Why should I make a long story of +so simple a matter? Which of us has not felt at times that +thought? How much misery has come in this very parish from +the ill-doing of the generation who are gone to their account, +and from the ill-training which they gave their children?</p> +<p>And what was that but the Word of the Lord Himself speaking to +our hearts, and saying to us: “Do not defile yourselves +with their idols; do not hurt your souls by hunting after the +things which they loved better than they loved Me: money, +pleasure, drink, fighting, smuggling, poaching, wantonness, and +lust; I am the Lord your God?”</p> +<p>And yet, young people will not listen to that warning voice of +God. They see other people, even their own fathers and +mothers, punished for their sins; perhaps made poor by their +sins, perhaps made unhealthy by their sins, perhaps made +miserable and ill-tempered by their sins: and yet they go and +fall into, or rather walk open-eyed into, the very same sins +which made their parents wretched. Oh, how many a young +person sees their home made a complete hell on earth by +ungodliness, and the ill-temper and selfishness which come from +ungodliness; and, then, as soon as they have a home of their own, +set to work to make their own family as miserable as their +father’s was before them.</p> +<p>But people say often: “How could we help it? We +had no chance; we were brought up in bad ways; we had a bad +example set us; how can you expect us to be better than our +fathers and mothers, and our elder brothers and sisters? If +we had had a fair chance, we might have been different: but we +had none; and we could not help going the bad way, for we were +set in it the day we were born.”</p> +<p>Well, my dear friends, God shall judge you, not I. If +little is given to a man little is required of him. But not +nothing at all; because more than nothing was given him. A +little is given to every man; and, therefore, a little is +required of every man. And so, he who knew not his +Master’s will shall be beaten with few stripes. But +he will be beaten with some stripes, because he ought to have +known something, at least of his Master’s will. If +you were dumb animals, which can only follow their own lusts and +passions, and must be what nature has made them, then your excuse +would be good enough; but your excuse is not good now, just +because you are men and women, and not dumb beasts, and, +therefore, can rise above your natures, and conquer your lusts +and passions, as they cannot, and can do what you do not like, +because, though you dislike it, you know that it is right. +And, therefore, God does not take that excuse which sinners make, +that they have had no teaching. But what does he do to +them?</p> +<p>Suppose, now, that you had a dog which would not be taught, or +broken in, or cured of biting, or made useful, or bearable in any +way, what would you do to that dog? I suppose that you +would kill it; you would say: “It is an ill-conditioned +animal, and there is no making it any better; so the only thing +is to put it out of the way, and not let it eat food which might +be better spent.” Now, does God deal so with +sinners? When young people rush headlong into sin, and +become a nuisance to themselves and their neighbours, does God +kill them at once, that better men may step into their +place? No. And why? Just because they are not +dumb animals, which cannot be made better, but God’s +children, who can be made better. If there were really no +hope of a sinner repenting and amending, I think God would not +leave him long alive to cumber the ground. But there is +hope for every one; because God the Father loves all; the loving +heart of the Lord Jesus Christ yearns after all; the Holy Spirit, +which proceeds from the Father and the Son, strives with the +hearts of all; therefore God, in His patience and tender mercy, +tries to bring his foolish children to their senses. And +how? Often in the very same way, in which Ezekiel says He +tried to bring the Jews to their senses, by letting them go on in +the road of sin, till they see what an ugly pit that same road +ends in. If your child would not believe you when you +warned and assured him that the fire would burn him, would it not +be the very best way of bringing him to his senses, to tell him: +“Very well; go your own way; put your hand into the fire, +and see what comes of it; you will not believe me; you will +believe your own feelings, when your hand is burnt.” +So did the Lord to those rebellious Jews when they would go after +their fathers’ sins. He gave them statutes which were +not good, and judgments by which they could not live, to the end +that they might know that He was the Lord. God did not make +them commit any sins. God forbid! He only took away +His Spirit, His light and teaching, from them, and let them go on +in the light of their own foolish and bewildered hearts, till +their sin bred misery and shame to them, and they were filled +with the fruit of their own devices. Then, after all their +wealth was gone, and their land was wasted by cruel enemies, and +they themselves were carried away captive into Babylon, they +began to awake, and say to themselves: “We were wrong after +all, and the Lord was right. He knew what was really good +for us better than we did. We thought that we could do +without Him, disobey Him. But He is the Lord after +all. He has been too strong for us; He has punished +us. If we had listened to His warnings years ago, we might +have been saved all this misery.”</p> +<p>Ah, how many a poor foolish creature, in misery and shame, +with a guilty conscience and a sad heart, sits down, like the +prodigal son, among the swinish bad company into which his sins +have brought him, longing to fill his belly with the husks which +the swine eat! but he cannot. He tries to forget his sorrow +by drinking, by bad company, by gambling, by gossiping, like the +fools around him: but he cannot. He finds no more pleasure +in sin. He is sick and tired of it. He has had enough +of it and too much. He is miserable, and he hardly knows +why. But miserable he is. There is a longing, and +craving, and hunger at his heart after something better; at least +after something different. Then he begins to remember his +heavenly Father’s house. Old words which he learnt at +his mother’s knee, good old words out of his Catechism and +his Bible, start up strangely in his mind. He had forgotten +them, laughed at them, perhaps, in his wild days. But now +they come up, he does not know where from, like beautiful ghosts +gliding in. And he is ashamed of them; they reproach him, +the dear old lessons; and yet they seem pleasant to him, though +they make him blush. And at last he says to himself: +“Would God that I were a little child again; once more an +innocent little child at my mother’s knee! I thought +myself clever and cunning. I thought I could go my own way +and enjoy myself. But I cannot. Perhaps I have been a +fool; and the old Sunday books were right after all. At +least I am miserable. I thought I was my own master. +But perhaps He about whom I used to read in the Sunday books is +my Master after all. At least I am not my own master; I am +a slave. Perhaps I have been fighting against Him, against +the Lord God, all this time, and now He has shown me that He is +the stronger of the two. . . . ” And so the poor man +learns in trouble and shame to know, like the Jews of old, who is +the Lord.</p> +<p>And when the Lord has drawn a man thus far, does He +stop? Not so. He does not leave His work half +done. If the work is half done, it is that we stop, not +that He stops. Whosoever comes to Him, howsoever +confusedly, or clumsily, or even lazily they may come, He will in +no wise cast out. He may afflict them still more to cure +that confusion and laziness; but He is a physician who never +sends a willing patient away, or keeps him waiting for a single +hour.</p> +<p>How then does the Lord deal with such a man? Does He +drive him further? Not if he will go without being +driven. You would call it cruel to drive a beast on with +blows, when it was willing to be led peaceably. And be sure +God is not more cruel than man. As soon as we are willing +to be led, He will take His rod off from us, and lead us tenderly +enough. For I have known God do this to a man, and a sinful +man as ever trod this earth. I have known such a man +brought into utter misery and shame of heart, and heavy +affliction in outward matters, till his spirit was utterly +broken, and he was ready to say: “I am a beast and a +fool. I am not worth the bread I eat. Let me lie down +and die.” And then, when the Lord had driven that man +so far, I have seen, I who speak to you now, how the Lord turned +and looked on that man as he turned and looked on Peter, and +brought his poor soul to life again, as He brought Peter’s, +by a loving smile, and not an angry frown. I have seen the +Lord heap that man with all manner of unexpected blessings, and +pay him back sevenfold for all his affliction, and raise him up, +body and soul, and satisfy him with good things, so that his +youth was renewed like the eagle’s. And so the +man’s conversion to God, though it was begun by God’s +chastisements and afflictions, was brought to perfection by +God’s mercy and bounty; and it happened to that man, as +Ezekiel prophesied that it would happen to the Jews, that not +fear and dread, but honour, gratitude, and that noble shame of +which no man need be ashamed, brought him home to God at +last. “And you shall remember your ways, and all your +doings wherein ye have been defiled: and you shall loathe +yourselves in your own sight for all the evils which you have +committed. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I +have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to +your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house +of Israel, saith the Lord God.”</p> +<p>You see that God’s mercy to them would not make them +conceited or careless. It would increase their shame and +confusion when they found out what sort of a Lord He was against +whom they had been rebellious; long-suffering and of tender +mercy, returning good for evil to His disobedient children. +That feeling would awake in them more shame and more confusion +than ever: but it would be a noble shame, a happy confusion, and +tears of joy and gratitude, not of bitterness. Such a +shame, such a confusion, such tears, as the blessed +Magdalene’s when she knelt at the Lord’s feet, and +found that, instead of bating her and thrusting her away for all +her sins, He told her to go in peace, pardoned and happy. +Then she knew the Lord; she found out His character—His +name; for she found out that His name was love. Oh, my +friends, this is the great secret; the only knowledge worth +living for, because it is the only knowledge which will enable +you to live worthily—to know the Lord. That knowledge +will enable you to live a life which will last, and grow, and +prosper for ever, beyond the grave, and death, and judgment, and +eternities of eternities. As the Lord Himself said, when He +was upon earth, “This is eternal life, to know Thee, the +only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” +Therefore there is no use my warning you against sin, and telling +you, do not do this, and do not do that, unless I tell you at the +same time who is the Lord. For till you know that The Good +God is the Lord, you will have no real, sound, heartfelt reason +for giving up your sins; and what is more, you will not be able +to give them up. You may alter your sort of sins from fear +of this and that; but the root of sin will be there still; and if +it cannot bear one sort of fruit it will bear another. If +you dare not drink or riot, you may become covetous and griping; +if you dare not give way to young men’s sins, you will take +to old men’s sins instead; if you dare not commit open sins +you will commit secret ones in your thoughts. Sin is much +too stout a plant to be kept from bearing some sort of +fruit. As long as it is not rooted up the root will breed +death in you of some sort or other; and the only feeling which +can root up sin is to know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is +your Lord, and that your Lord condescended to die upon the cross +for you; that you must be the Lord’s, and are not your own, +but bought with the price of His most precious blood, that you +may glorify God with your body and your soul, which are His.</p> +<p>Just so, the blessed St. Augustine found that he could never +conquer his own sins by arguing with himself, or by any other +means, till he got to know God, and to see that God was the +Lord. And when his spirit was utterly broken; when he saw +himself, in spite of all his wonderful cleverness and learning, +to have been a fool and blind all along, though people round him +were flattering him, and running after him to hear his learning; +then the old words which he learnt at his mother’s knee +came up in his mind, and he knew that God was the Lord after all, +and that God had been watching him, guiding him, letting him go +wrong only to show him the folly of going wrong, caring for him +even when He left him to himself and his sins, and the sad ways +of his sins; bearing with him, pleading with his conscience, +alluring him back to the only true happiness, as a loving father +with a rebellious and self-willed child. And then, when St. +Augustine had found out at last that God was his Lord, who had +been taking the charge of him all through his heathen youth, he +became a changed man. He was able to conquer his sins; for +God conquered them for him. He was able to give up the +profligate life which he had been leading; not from fear of +punishment, but from the Spirit of God—the spirit of +gratitude, honour, trust, and love toward God, which made him +abide in God, and God abide in him. To that blessed state +may God of His great mercy bring us all. To it He will +bring us all unless we rebel and set up our foolish and selfish +will against His loving and wise will. And if He does bring +us to it, it is little matter whether He brings us to it through +joy or through sorrow, through honour or through shame, through +the garden of Eden, or through the valley of the shadow of +death. For, my dear friends, what matter how bitter the +medicine is, if it does but save our lives?</p> +<h2><a name="page474"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +474</span><span class="GutSmall">XLVII.</span><br /> +THE MARRIAGE AT CANA.</h2> +<blockquote><p>There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the +mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called, and +His disciples, to the marriage.—<span +class="smcap">John</span> ii. 1, 2.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is, I think, in the first place, +an important, as well as a pleasant thing, to know that the +Lord’s glory, as St. Paul says, was first shown forth at a +wedding, at a feast. Not at a time of sorrow, but of +joy. Not about some strange affliction or disease, such as +is the lot of very few, but about a marriage, that which happens +in the ordinary lot of all mankind. Not in any fearful +judgment or destruction of sinners, but in blessing wedlock, by +which, whether among saints or sinners, mankind is +increased. Not by helping some great philosopher to think +more deeply, or some great saint to perform more wonderful acts +of holiness, but in giving the simple pleasure of wine to simple +commonplace people, of whom we neither read that they were rich +or righteous. We do not even read whether the master of the +feast ever found out that Jesus had worked a miracle, or whether +any of the company ever believed in Him, on the strength of that +miracle, except His mother and the disciples, and the servants, +who were probably the poor slaves of people in a low or middling +class of life. But that is the way of the Lord. He is +no respecter of persons. Rich and poor are alike in His +sight; and the poor need Him most, and therefore He began his +work with the poor in Cana, as He did in St. James’s time, +when the poor of this world were rich in faith, and the rich of +this world were oppressors and taskmasters. So He does in +every age. Though no one else cares for the poor, He cares +for them. With their hearts He begins His work, even as He +did in England sixty years ago, by the preaching of Whitfield and +Wesley. Do you wish to know if anything is the Lord’s +work? See if it is a work among the poor. Do you wish +to know whether any preaching is the true gospel of the +Lord? See whether it is a gospel, a good news to the +poor. I know no other test than that. By doing that, +by preaching the gospel to the poor, by working miracles for the +poor, He has showed forth His glory, and proved Himself the true, +and just, and loving Lord of all.</p> +<p>But again, the Lord is a giver, and not a taskmaster. He +does not demand from us: He gives to us. He had been giving +from the foundation of the world. Corn and wine, rain and +sunshine, and fruitful seasons had been his sending. And +now He was come to show it. He was come to show men who it +was who had been filling their heart with joy and gladness; who +had been bringing out of the earth and air, by His unseen +chemistry, the wine which maketh glad the heart of man. In +every grape that hangs upon the vine, water is changed into wine, +as the sap ripens into rich juice. He had been doing that +all along in every vineyard and orchard; and that was His +glory. Now He was come to prove that; to draw back the veil +of custom and carnal sense, and manifest Himself. Men had +seen the grapes ripen on the tree; and they were tempted to say, +as every one of us is tempted now: “It is the sun and the +air, the nature of the vine, and the nature of the climate, which +makes the wine.” Jesus comes and answers: “Not +so. I make the wine; I have been making it all along. +The vines, the sun, the weather, are only my tools wherewith I +worked, turning rain and sap into wine; and I am greater than +they; I made them; I do not depend on them; I can make wine from +water without vines or sunshine. Behold, and drink, and see +my glory <i>without</i> the vineyard, since you had forgotten how +to see it <i>in</i> the vineyard! For I am now, even as I +was in Paradise, The Word of the Lord God; and now, even as in +Paradise, I walk among the trees of the garden, and they know me +and obey me, though the world knows me not. I have been all +along in the world, and the world knows me not. Know me +now, lest you lose the knowledge of me for ever!”</p> +<p>Those of the Jews who received that message, as the disciples +did, found out their ancient Lord, and clung to Him, and know +now, in the world of spirits, that His message was indeed a true +one. Those who did not, lost sight of Him; to this day +their eyes are blinded; to this day they have utterly forgotten +that they have a Lord and Ruler, who is the Word and Son of +God. Their faith is no more like the faith of David than +their understanding of the Scriptures is like his. The +Bible is a dead letter to them. The kingdom and government +of God is forgotten by them. Of all God-worshipping people +in the world, the Jews are the least godly, the most given up to +the worship of this world, and the things which they can see, and +taste, and handle, and, therefore, to covetousness, cheating, +lying, tyranny, and all the sins which spring from forgetting +that this world belongs to the Lord and that He rules and guides +it, that its blessings are His gifts, and we His stewards, to use +them for the good of all. May God help, and forgive, and +convert them! Doubt not that He will do so in His good +time. But let us beware, my friends, lest we fall into the +same sin. Do not fancy that we are not in just the same +danger. It would be a cowardly thing of a preacher to call +Jews, or heathens, or any other absent persons hard names, unless +their mistakes and their sins were such as his own people wanted +warnings against, ay, perhaps, had the very root of them in their +hearts already. And we have the root of the Jews’ sin +in our own hearts. Why is this one miracle read in our +churches to this day, if we do not stand just as much in need of +the lesson as those for whom it was first worked? We, as +well as they, are in danger of forgetting who it is that sends us +corn and wine, and fruitful seasons, love and marriage, and all +the blessings of this life. We, as well as the Jews, are +continually fancying that these outward earthly things, as we +call them in our shallow carnal conceits, have nothing to do with +Jesus or His kingdom, but that we may compete, and scrape, even +cheat and lie to get them, and when we have them, misuse them +selfishly, as if they belonged to no one but ourselves, as if we +had no duty to perform about them, as if we owed God no service +for them.</p> +<p>And again, we are, just as much as the Jews were, in danger of +spiritual pride; in danger of fancying that because we are +religious, and have, or fancy we have, deep experiences and +beautiful thoughts about God and Christ and our own souls, +therefore we can afford to despise those who do not know as much +as ourselves; to despise the common pleasures and petty sorrows +of poor creatures, whose souls and bodies are grovelling in the +dust, busied with the cares of this world, at their wits’ +end to get their daily bread; to despise the merriment of young +people, the play of children, and all those everyday happinesses +which, though we may turn from them with a sneer, are precious in +the sight of Him who made heaven and earth. All such proud +thoughts, all such contempt of those who do not seem as spiritual +as we fancy ourselves, is evil. It is from the devil, and +not from God. It is the same vile spirit which made the +Pharisees of old say: “This people—these poor worldly +drudging wretches—who know not the law, are +accursed.” And mind, this is not a sin of rich, and +learned, and highborn men only. They may be more tempted to +it than others; but poor men, when they become, by the grace of +God, wiser, more spiritual, more holy than others, are tempted, +just as much as the rich, to despise their poor neighbours to +whom God has not given the same light as themselves; and surely +in them it shows ugliest of all. A learned and high-born +man may be excused for looking down upon the sinful poor, because +he does not understand their temptations, because he never has +been ignorant and struggling as they are. But a poor man +who despises the poor—he has no excuse. He ought +above all men to feel for them, for he has been tempted even as +they are. He knows their sorrows; he has been through their +dark valley of bad food, bad lodging, want of work, want of +teaching, low cares which drag the soul to earth. Surely a +poor man who has tasted God’s love and Christ’s +light, ought, above all others, instead of turning his back on +his class, to pity them, to make common cause with them, to teach +them, guide them, comfort them, in a way no rich man can. +Yes; after all, it is the poor must help the poor; the poor must +comfort the poor; the poor must teach and convert the poor.</p> +<p>See, in the epistle for this day, St. Paul makes no +distinction between rich and poor. This epistle is joined +with the gospel for the day, to show us what ought to be the +conduct of Christians, who believe in the miracle of Cana; what +men should do who believe that they have a Lord in heaven, by +whose command suns shine, fruits ripen, men enjoy the blessings +of harvest, of marriage, of the comforts which the heathen and +the savage, as well as the Christian man, partake; what men +should do who believe that they have a Lord in heaven who entered +into the common joys and sorrows of lowly men, who was once +Himself a poor villager, who ate with publicans and sinners, who +condescended to join in a wedding feast, and increase the mere +animal enjoyment of the guests. And what is St. +Paul’s command to poor as well as rich? Read the +epistle for this day and see.</p> +<p>You see at once that this epistle is written in the same +spirit as our Lord’s words: by God’s Spirit, in +short; the Spirit which brought the Lord Jesus so condescendingly +to the wedding feast; the Spirit which made Him care so heartily +for the common pleasures of those around Him. My friends, +these are not commands to one class, but to all. Poor as +well as rich may show mercy with cheerfulness, and love without +dissimulation. Poor as well as rich may minister to others +with earnestness, and condescend to those of low estate. +Not a word in this whole epistle which does not apply equally to +every rank, and sex, and age.</p> +<p>Neither are these commands to each of us by ourselves, but to +all of us together, as members of a family. If you will +look through them they are not things to be done to ourselves, +but to our neighbours; not experiences to be felt about our own +souls: but rules of conduct to our fellow-men. They are all +different branches and flowers from that one root: “Thou +shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”</p> +<p>Do we live thus, rich or poor? Can we look each other in +the face this afternoon and say, each man to his neighbour: +“I have behaved like a brother to you. I have +rejoiced at your good fortune, and grieved at your sorrow. +I have preferred you to myself. I have loved you without +dissimulation. I have been earnest in my place and duty in +the parish for the sake of the common good of all. I have +condescended to those of lower rank than myself. I +have—” Ah, my dear friends, I had better not go +on with the list. God forgive us all! The less we try +to justify ourselves on this score the better. Some of us +do indeed try to behave like brothers and sisters to their +neighbours; but how few of us; and those few how little! +And yet we are brothers. We are members of one family, sons +of one Father, joint-heirs with one Lord, the poor Man who sat +eating and drinking at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, and +mixed freely in the joys and the sorrows of the poorest and +meanest. Joint-heirs with Christ; yet how unlike Him! +My friends, we need to repent and amend our ways; we need to +confess, every one of us, rich and poor, the pride, the +selfishness, the carelessness about each other, which keeps us so +much apart, knowing so little of each other, feeling so little +for each other. Oh confess this sin to God, every one of +you. Those who have behaved most like brothers, will be +most ready to confess how little they have behaved like +brothers. Confess: “Father, I have sinned against +heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy +son, for I have not loved, cared for, helped my brothers and +sisters round, who are just as much thy children as I +am.” Pray for the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of +condescension, love, fellow-feeling; that spirit which rejoices +simply and heartily with those who are happy, and feels for +another’s sorrows as if they were its own. Pray for +it; for till it comes, there will be no peace on earth. +Pray for it; for when it comes and takes possession of your +hearts, and you all really love and live like brothers, children +of one Father, the kingdom of God will be come indeed, and His +will be done on earth as it is in heaven.</p> +<h2><a name="page482"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +482</span><span class="GutSmall">XLVIII.</span><br /> +PARABLE OF THE LOWEST PLACE.</h2> +<blockquote><p>And He put forth a parable to those which were +bidden, when He marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying +unto them, when thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not +down in the highest room, lest a more honourable man than thou be +bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to +thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the +lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in +the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say +unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in +the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For +whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth +himself shall be exalted.—<span class="smcap">Luke</span> +xiv. 7–11.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> heard in the gospel for to-day +how the Lord Jesus put forth a parable to those who were invited +to a dinner with Him at the Pharisee’s house. A +parable means an example of any rules or laws; a story about some +rule, by hearing which people may see how the rule works in +practice, and understand it. Now, our Lord’s parables +were about the kingdom of God. They were examples of the +rules and laws by which the kingdom of God is governed and +carried on. Therefore He begins many of His parables by +saying, The kingdom of God is like something—something +which people see daily, and understand more or less. +“The kingdom of God is like a field;” “The +kingdom of God is like a net;” “The kingdom of God is +like a grain of mustard seed;” and so forth. And even +where He did not begin one of His parables by speaking of the +kingdom of God, we may be still certain that it has to do with +the kingdom of God. For the one great reason why the Lord +was made flesh and dwelt among us, was to preach the kingdom of +God, His Father and our Father, and to prove to men that God was +their King, even at the price of his most precious blood. +And, therefore, everything which He ever did, and everything +which He ever spoke, had to do with this one great work of +His. This parable, therefore, which you heard read in the +gospel for to-day, has to do with the kingdom of God, and is an +example of the laws of it.</p> +<p>Now, what is the kingdom of God? It is worth our while +to consider. For at baptism we were declared members of the +kingdom of God; we were to renounce the world, and to live +according to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is +simply the way in which God governs men; and the world is the way +in which men try to manage without God’s help or +leave. That is the difference between them; and a most +awful difference it is. Men fancy that they can get on well +enough without God; that the ways of the world are very +reasonable, and useful, and profitable, and quite good enough to +live by, if not to die by. But all the while God is King, +let them fancy what they like; and this earth, and everything on +it, from the king on his throne to the gnat in the sunbeam, is +under His government, and must obey His laws or die. We are +in God’s kingdom, my good friends, every one of us, whether +we like it or not, and we shall be there for ever and ever. +And our business is, therefore, simply to find out what are the +laws of that kingdom, and obey those laws as speedily as +possible, and live for ever thereby, lest, if we break them, and +get in their way, they should grind us to powder.</p> +<p>Now, here is one of the laws of God’s kingdom: +“Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and whosoever +abaseth himself shall be exalted.” That is, +whosoever, in any way whatsoever, sets himself up, will be pulled +down again: while he who is contented to keep low, and think +little of himself, will be raised up and set on high. Now +the world’s rule is the exact opposite of this. The +world says, Every man for himself. The way of the world is +to struggle and strive for the highest place; to be a pushing +man, and a rising man, and a man who will stand stiffly by his +rights, and give his enemy as good as he brings, and beat his +neighbour out of the market, and show off himself to the best +advantage, and try to make the most of whatever wit or money he +has to look well in the world, that people may look up to him and +flatter him and obey him; and so the world has no objection to +people’s pretending to be better than they are. Every +man must do the best he can for himself, the world says, and +never mind his neighbours: they must take care of themselves; and +if they are foolish enough to be taken in, so much the worse for +them. So the world thinks that there is no harm in a man, +when he has anything to sell, making it out better than it really +is, and hiding the fault in it as far as he can. When a +tradesman or manufacturer sends about “puffs” of his +goods, and pretends that they are better and cheaper than other +people’s, just to get custom by it, the world does not call +that what it is—boasting and lying. It says: +“Of course a man must do the best he can for himself. +If a man does not praise himself, nobody else will praise him; he +cannot expect his neighbours to take him for better than his own +words.” So again, if a man wants a place or +situation, the world thinks it no harm if he gives the most showy +character of himself, and gets his friends to say all the good of +him they can, and a great deal more, and to say none of the +harm—in short, to make himself out a much better, or +shrewder, or worthier man than he really is. The world does +not call that either what it is—boasting, and lying, and +thrusting oneself into callings to which God has not called +us. The world says: “Of course a man must turn his +best side outwards. You cannot expect a man to tell tales +on himself.”</p> +<p>And, my friends, the world would be quite right, and +reasonable, and prudent, in telling us to push, and boast, and +lie, and puff ourselves and our goods, if it were not for one +thing which the foolish blind world is always forgetting, and +that is, that there is a God who judges the earth. If God +were not our King; if He took no care of us men and our doings; +if mankind had it all their own way on earth, and were forced to +shift for themselves without any laws of God to guide them, then +the best thing every man could do would be to fight for himself; +to get all he could for himself, and leave as little as he could +for his neighbours; to make himself out as great, and wise, and +strong, as he could, and try to make his neighbours buy him at +his own price. That would be the best plan for every man, +if God was not King; and therefore the world says that that is +the best plan for every man, because the world does not believe +that God is King, and hates the notion that God is King, and +laughs at and persecutes, as Jesus Christ said it would, those +who preach the kingdom of God, and tell men, as I tell you in +God’s name: “You were not made to be selfish; you +were not meant to rise in the world by boasting and pushing down +and deceiving your neighbours. For you are subjects of +God’s kingdom; and to do so is to break his laws, and to +put yourselves under His curse; and however worldly-wise all this +selfishness and boasting may seem, it is sin, whose wages are +death and ruin.”</p> +<p>For, my friends, let the world try to forget God as it will, +He does not forget the world. Let men try to make rules and +laws for themselves, rules about religion, rules about +government, rules about trade, rules about morals and what they +fancy is just and fair; let them make as many rules as they like, +they are only wasting their time; for God has made His rules +already, and revealed them to us in the Bible, and told us that +the earth and mankind are governed in His way, and not in ours, +and that He will not alter His everlasting rules to suit our new +ones. As David says: “Let the people be never so +unquiet, still the Lord is King.”</p> +<p>Ah, my friends, it is very easy to say all this, but it is not +so easy to believe it. Every one, every respectable person +at least, is ready enough to talk about God, and God’s +will, and so forth. But when it comes to practice; when it +comes to doing God’s will, and not our own; when it comes +to obeying His direct and plain commands, and not the fashions +and maxims which men have invented for themselves; when it comes +to giving up what we long for, because He has said that if we try +after it in our own way, and not in His, we shall never have it +at all, then comes the trial; then comes the time to see whether +we believe that God is the King of the earth or not; then comes +the time to see whether we have renounced the world, and +determined to live as God’s sons in God’s kingdom, or +whether our religion is some form of words, or way of thinking +and feeling which we hope may save our souls from hell, but which +has nothing to do with our daily life and conduct, and leaves us +just as worldly as any heathen, in all our dealings with our +fellow-men, from Monday morning to Saturday night. Then +comes the time to try our faith in God.</p> +<p>And then, alas! it comes out, in these evil, and godless, and +hypocritical times in which we live, that many a man who fancies +himself religious, and respectable, and blameless, and what not, +no more really believes that he is living in God’s kingdom +than the heathen do. And if you ask him, you will find out +most probably that he fancies that God’s kingdom is not on +earth now, but that it will be on earth some day. A cunning +delusion of the devil, that, my friends! To make us go his +way while we fancy that we are going our own way. To make +us say to ourselves: “Ah! it is very unfortunate that God +is not King of the earth now. Of course He will be after +the resurrection, in the new heaven and the new earth, where +there will be no sin. But He is not King now; this world is +given over to sin and the devil, so fallen and ruined and corrupt +that—that—that, in short, we cannot be expected to +behave like God’s children in it, but must just follow the +ways of the world, and live by ambition, and selfishness, and +cunning, and boasting, and competing in this life; a life of +love, and justice, and humbleness, and fellow-help, and mercy, +and self-sacrifice is impossible in such a world as this; we +cannot live like angels, till we get to heaven!” So +say nine people out of ten; the devil deceiving them, and their +own hearts, alas! being but too glad to catch at the excuse for +sin which the devil gives them, when he tells them that this +present earth is not God’s kingdom; and so they go and act +accordingly, selfish, grudging, pushing, boastful, every +man’s hand against his neighbour and for himself, till they +succeed too often in making this earth as fearfully like the +devil’s kingdom as it is possible for God’s kingdom +to be made.</p> +<p>But what, some may ask, has all this to do with the text that +he who sets himself up shall be brought low, he who keeps himself +low shall be set up? What has it to do with the text? +It has everything to do with the text. If people really +believed that they were God’s subjects and children in +God’s kingdom, they would not need to ask that question +long.</p> +<p>If God is really the King of the earth, there can be no use in +anyone setting up himself. If God is really the King of the +earth, those who set up themselves must be certain to be brought +down from their high thoughts and high assumptions sooner or +later. For if God is really the King of the earth, He must +be the one to set people up, and not they themselves. Look +again at the parable. The man who asks the guests to dine +with him has surely a right to place each of them where he +likes. The house is his, the dinner is his. He has a +right to invite whom he likes; and he has a right to settle where +they shall sit. If they choose their own places—if +any guest takes upon himself to seat himself at the head of the +table, because he thinks it his right, he offends against all +rules of right feeling and propriety toward the man who has +invited him. All he has a right to expect is, that his host +will not put him in the wrong place, that he will settle all +places at his table according to people’s real rank and +deserts, and as our Testaments say, put “the worthiest man +in the highest room.” And if people really believed +in God, which very few do, they would surely expect no less of +God. What gentleman, farmer, or labourer is there, with +common sense and good feeling, who would not show most respect to +the most respectable persons who came into his house, and send +his best and trustiest workmen about his most important +errands? True, he might make mistakes, and worse. +Being a weak man, he might be tempted to put the rich sinner in a +higher place than the poor saint: or he might, from private +fancy, be blinded about his workmen’s characters, and so +send a worse man, because he was his favourite, to do what +another man whom he did not fancy as well might do a great deal +better. But you cannot suspect God of that. He is no +respecter of persons—whether a man be rich or poor, no +matter to God: all which He inquires into is—Is he +righteous or unrighteous, wise or foolish, able to do his work or +unable? And God can make no mistakes about people’s +characters. As St. Paul says of the Lord Jesus: “The +Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing through +to the dividing of the very joints and marrow, so that all things +are naked and open in the sight of Him with whom we have to +do.” There is no blinding God, no hiding from God, no +cheating God, just as there is no flattering God. He knows +what each and every one of us is fit for. He knows what +each and every one of us is worth; and what is more, He knows +what we ought to know, that each and every one of us is worth +nothing without Him. Therefore there is no use pretending +to be better than we are. God knows just how good we are, +and will reward us, even in this life only according as we +deserve, in spite of all our boasting. There is no use +pretending to be wiser than we are. For all the wisdom we +have comes from God; and if we pretend to have more than we have, +and by that greatest act of folly, show that we have no wisdom at +all, He will take from us even what we have, and make all our +cunning plans come to nothing, and prove us fools, just when we +fancy ourselves most clever. There is no use being +ambitious and pushing, and trying to scramble up on our +neighbours’ shoulders. For we were not sent into this +world to do what we like, but what God likes; not to work for +ourselves, but to work for God; and God knows exactly how much +good each of us can do, and what is the best place for us to do +it in, and how to teach and enable us to do it; and if we choose +to be taught, He will teach us; and if we choose to go His way, +and do His work, He will help us to it. But if we will not +have his way, He will not let us have our own way—not at +first, at least. He will bring our plans to nothing, and +let us make fools of ourselves, and bring in sudden accidents of +which we never dreamed, just to show us that we are not our own +masters, and cannot cut out our own roads through life. And +if we take His lesson, and go to Him to teach and strengthen +us—well: and if not—then perhaps—which is the +most awful misery which can happen to any man in earth—God +may give up teaching us during this life, and let us have our own +way, and be filled with the fruit of our own devices; from which +worst of punishments may He in His mercy, save you, and me, and +all belonging to us, in this life and in the life to come.</p> +<p>But some of you may say: “We understand the first half +of the text very well, and like it very well; we all think it +just that those who set themselves up should have a fall, and we +are very glad to see them have a fall: but we do not see why he +who abases himself should have any right to be +exalted.” Ah, my friends, it is much easier, and +needs much less knowledge of God, and much less of the likeness +of Christ, to see what is wrong, than to see what is right. +Every man knows when a bone is broken, but it is not every one +who can set it again. Nevertheless, there is a sort of +left-handed reason in that argument. For a man has no more +right to make himself out worse than he is, than he has to make +himself out better than he is. A man should confess to +being just what he is, neither more nor less. Nevertheless, +he who humbles himself shall be exalted.</p> +<p>Of course I do not mean those who, like some I know, make a +fawning humble way of talking a cloak for their own self-conceit; +who call themselves miserable sinners all the time that they are +fancying that they are almost the only people in the world who +are sure of being saved, whatever they do; who, as some do, +actually pride themselves on their own convictions of sin, and +glory in their own shame, and despise those who will not slander +themselves as they do.</p> +<p>They are equally hateful to God and to God’s +enemies. If you and I are disgusted at such hypocritical +self-conceit, be sure the Lord Jesus is far more pained at it +than we are; for as a wise man says: “The devil’s +darling sin is the pride that apes humility.”</p> +<p>But let a man really be convinced of sin; let a man really +believe in the Lord Jesus Christ’s atonement; let a man +really believe in the Holy Spirit; and that man will have little +need to ask why he should humble himself more than he deserves, +and little wish to boast of himself, and push himself forward, +and get praise, or riches, or power in the world. For that +man would say to himself: “I, sinner as I am; I, who know +that I do so many wrong things daily; things so wrong that it +required the blood of the Son of God to wash out the guilt of +them—who am I to set myself up? I cannot be faithful +in a little—why should I try to be ruler over much? I +cannot use properly the blessings and the power which God does +give me—must I not take for granted that, if I had more +riches, more power, I should use them still worse? I know +well enough of a thousand sins, and weaknesses and ignorances in +myself which my neighbours never see. I believe, therefore, +my neighbours have much too good an opinion of me, and not too +bad a one; and therefore I am not going to boast or puff myself +to them. I can only thank God they do not see the inside of +this foolish heart of mine as well as He does! In short, I +am not going to set myself up, and try to get a higher place +among men than I have already, because I am certain that I have +already a ten times better one than I deserve.”</p> +<p>Or again, if a man really believed in the Holy Ghost, which is +much the same as really believing in the kingdom of God; if he +really believed that God was the King and Master of his heart and +soul; if he really believed that everything good, and right, and +wise in him came from God’s Holy Spirit, and that +everything wrong and foolish in him came from himself and the +devil; then he would surely say to himself: “Who am I to +try to set myself up above my neighbours, and get power over +them; what have I that I did not receive? Whatever money, +or station, or cleverness, or power of mind I have, God has given +me, and without Him I should be nothing. Therefore, He only +gave me these talents to use for Him, and if I use them for my +own ends, I shall be misusing them, and trying to rob God of His +own. I am His child, His subject, His steward; He has put +me just in that place in His earth which is most fit for me, and +my business is, not to try to desert my post, and to wander out +of the place here He has put me, but to see that I do the duty +which lies nearest me, so that I shall be able to give an account +to Him. It is only if I am faithful in a few things, that I +can expect God to make me ruler over many things.” +Ah, my friends, if we could but see ourselves, not as we fancy we +are, nor as others fancy we are, but just as we really are, then, +instead of pushing, and boasting, and standing stiffly by our +rights, and fancying that God and man are unjust to us, we should +be crying out all day long with the prodigal son: “Father, +I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more +worthy to be called thy son.” We should say with St. +Paul—who, after all, remember, was the wisest, and most +learned, and noblest-hearted of all the Apostles—that we +are at best the chief of sinners. We should feel like the +dear and blessed Magdalene of old, the pattern for ever of all +true penitents, that it was quite honour enough to be allowed to +wash Christ’s feet with our tears, while every one round us +sneered at us and looked down upon us—as, after all, we +deserve. And so, believe me, we should be exalted. It +would pay us, if payment is what we want. For so we should +be in a more right, more true, more healthy, more wise, more +powerful state of mind; more like Jesus Christ, and therefore +more likely to be sent to do Christ’s work, and share +Christ’s reward. For this is the great law of the +kingdom of God in which we live, that man is nothing, and God is +everything; and that we are strong and wise, and something, only +when we find out that we are weak and foolish, and nothing, and +go to our Father in heaven for strength, and wisdom, and +spiritual eternal life. And then we find out how true it is +that he who humbles himself, as he deserves, will be raised up; +how he who loses his life will save it; how blessed are the poor +in spirit, those who feel that they have nothing but what God +chooses to give them; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! +How blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; +who feel that they are not doing right, and yet cannot rest till +they do right; for they shall be filled! How blessed are +the meek, who do not set up themselves, or try to fight their own +battles, and compete with their neighbours in the great scramble +and struggle of this world; for they—just the last persons +whom the world would expect to do it—shall inherit the +earth! Choose, my friends, choose! The world says: +“Push upwards, praise yourself, help yourself, put your +best side outwards.” The great God who made heaven +and earth says: “Know that you are weak, and foolish, and +sinful in yourself. Know that whatever wisdom you have, I +the Lord lent you; and I the Lord expect the interest of my +loan. Know that you are my child in my Kingdom. Stay +where I have put you, and when I want you for something better, I +will call you; and if you try to rise without my calling you, I +will only drive you back again.” So the only way to +be ruler over much, is first to be faithful in a little. My +friends, which of the two do you think is likely to know best, +man or God?</p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> +<p><a name="footnote217"></a><a href="#citation217" +class="footnote">[217]</a> In 1848–49.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS ON NATIONAL SUBJECTS***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 8202-h.htm or 8202-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/8/2/0/8202 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive +specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this +eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook +for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given +away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks +not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the +trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country outside the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and + most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the + United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you + are located before using this ebook. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The +Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the +mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its +volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous +locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt +Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to +date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and +official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +</pre></body> +</html> |