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diff --git a/old/snsb10.txt b/old/snsb10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..26bb2ce --- /dev/null +++ b/old/snsb10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14219 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sermons on National Subjects, by Charles Kingsley + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Sermons on National Subjects + +Author: Charles Kingsley + +Release Date: June, 2005 [EBook #8202] +[This file was first posted on July 1, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, SERMONS ON NATIONAL SUBJECTS *** + + + + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +SERMONS ON NATIONAL SUBJECTS + + + + +I--THE KING OF THE EARTH + + + +FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. +[Preached in 1849.] + +Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.--MATTHEW xxi. 4. + +This 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. + +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." + +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 MUST 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." + +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 NOW, 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?" + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + + + +II--HOLY SCRIPTURE + + + +SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. + +Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our +example, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, +might have hope.--ROMANS xv. 4. + +"Whatsoever 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." + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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 WILL 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 NOT 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." + +"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 WE 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? + +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 PATIENT, +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. + +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. + + + +III--THE KINGDOM OF GOD + + + +THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. + +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.--ISAIAH lxi. 1. + +My 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 HIM"--Isaiah--"because the Lord had appointed HIM +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 Judaea 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 HE 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 WAS the +Christ, because He was fulfilling that prophecy; because He WAS +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? + +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 IS 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. + +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 Judaea of old? + +Less powerful! less compassionate! One would have expected that +Christ was MORE powerful, MORE 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. + +What does that mean? How can I tell you? + +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 NOT 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. + +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. + +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 THAT 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 THAT--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." + +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 THAT? 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 +THAT, 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 NOW, we cannot tell. But this we can tell, that it +is His will that none should perish. This we CAN 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 CAN tell; that He will go on doing so more and more, year by year, +and age by age. This we CAN 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 CAN +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 DEATH. 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 Judaea. + +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. + +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? + +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 THAT 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? + +Now, recollect that this is an Advent sermon--a sermon which +proclaims to you that Christ is COME; 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. + + + +IV--A PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS + + + +FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. + +Rejoice in the Lord always.--PHILIPPIANS iv. 4. + +This 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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 MERRY AND WISE. 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. + +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." + +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. + +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 +NOT 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!" + +True, my friend, but on Christmas-day the Son of God was born into +the world, a man like you. + +"Well," says the poor man, "but what has that to do with my anxiety +and my ill-temper?" + +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. THE PERFECT +MAN--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. + +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. + +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? + + + +V--CHRISTMAS-DAY + + + +He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a +slave.--PHILIPPIANS ii. 7. + +On 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. + +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. + +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 +Judaea, 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. + +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-- +THE MAN 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. + +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? + +If you do not, I must remind you of the song, which, St. Luke says, +the shepherds in Judaea 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. + +"Glory to God in the highest," they sang, "and on earth peace, good +will to men." + +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. + +"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. + +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." + +Yes, it is not in the NATURE 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. + + + +VI--TRUE ABSTINENCE + + + +FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. + +I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.--1 COR. ix. 27. + +In 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +"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?" + +Just as much need, my good friends, if you could see it. + +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. + +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! + +"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? + +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? + +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? + +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. + +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 YOURSELVES. 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. + + + +VII--GOOD FRIDAY + + + +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.--ISAIAH lxiii. +9. + +On 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! + +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 YOU wish for? + +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 Caesar?--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 Caesar? 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 Caesar 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: + + +The night is darkest before the dawn; +When the pain is sorest the child is born; +And the day of the Lord is at hand. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +VIII--EASTER-DAY + + + +If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, +where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God--COLOSSIANS iii. 1. + +I know 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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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: + +"Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them +that slept. + +"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of +the dead. + +"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +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? + +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. + + + +IV--THE COMFORTER + + + +FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. + +If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I +depart, I will send Him unto you--JOHN xvi. 7. + +We 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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 WITH and TO STRENGTHEN. 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 HIM; 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 SPIRITUAL DEATH. +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. THAT 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? + +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! + +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. + +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. + + + +X--WHIT-SUNDAY + + + +The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, +gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance--against such there +is no law.--GALATIANS v. 22, 23. + +In 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." + +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. + +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 LOVE 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. + +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? + +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 WE 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 SHALL 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. + +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, +PRAY 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 ME," but "give US +our daily bread;" not "forgive ME," but "forgive US our trespasses," +and that only as we forgive others; not "lead ME not," but "lead US +not into temptation;" not "deliver ME," but "deliver US from evil." +After THAT 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 HEAR 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 THEM. 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. + +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 WISH 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?" + +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. + + + +XI--ASCENSION-DAY + + + +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--LUKE xxiv. 50- +53. + +On 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 THIS 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. + +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. + +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 HIM? 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? + +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. + + + +XII--THE FOUNT OF SCIENCE + + + +(A Sermon Preached at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, May 4th, +1851, in behalf of the Westminster Hospital.) + +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.--PSALM lxviii. 18, and EPHESIANS iv. 8. + +If, 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 THAT 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 BEING +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. + +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?" + +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 +GIVEN," 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 HELP 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? + +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? + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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 DUTY, +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 HE rules the world, and will rule it, and CAN 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 MERCY, 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? + +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 THAT 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 WAS 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. + +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 +Manichaean 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. + +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 Judaea 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. + +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 GIVING, AS IT IS CALLED, to this hospital for +which I now plead. + +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! + +I might have taken some other and more popular method of drawing your +attention to this institution. + +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 +SENTIMENT, but JUSTICE. The Bible knows nothing of the "religious +sentiments and emotions," whereof we hear so much talk nowadays. It +speaks of DUTY. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we OUGHT to love one +another." + +I might also have attempted to flatter you into giving, by +representing this as a "GOOD WORK," 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 COMMANDS. 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. + +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. + + + +XIII--FIRST SERMON ON THE CHOLERA + + + +(Sunday Morning, September 27th, 1849.) + +God's judgments are from above, out of the sight of the wicked.-- +PSALM X. 5. + +We 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 WHICH 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 THAT +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 THIS sin or THAT sin which he has committed, and is not +afraid to confess to God, "THIS sin and THAT sin have I done--THIS +bad habit and THAT 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. + +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 THAT. 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. + +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 LIKE 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 DO 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 HOME question, and begin mumbling +commonplaces about the inscrutable decrees of Providence, and so on. +It is most sad, all this; and most fearful also. + +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 OPINION 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 CORRECT 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 BREAK HIS LAWS +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. WE 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 HE 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. + +So with pestilence and cholera. They come only because we break +God's laws; as the wise poet well says: + + +Voices from the depths OF NATURE borne +Which vengeance on the guilty head proclaim. + + +--"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 +GOD'S 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? + + + +XIV--SECOND SERMON ON THE CHOLERA + + + +Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children.--EXODUS xx. 5. + +In 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. + +But there is an objection which may arise in some of your minds, and +if it has not risen in YOUR 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 IS 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 THAT, I say, shall we +act upon this very matter of public cleanliness. + +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 MAN'S 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. + +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? + +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? + +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? + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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." + +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. + + + +XV--THIRD SERMON ON THE CHOLERA + + + +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.--EXODUS xx. 6. + +Many 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. + +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: "THIS life and +THIS 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!" + +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. + +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, ARE 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 WILL 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. + +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 TAME 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 SAVAGE 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 GOOD MAN. + +Ay, that is what I want to come to, my friends--that word MAN, 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 THIS--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. + +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 NOT 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 NOT +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. + +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 ARE 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 CAN, 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. + +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." + + + +XVI--ON THE DAY OF THANKSGIVING + + + +(Nov. 15th, 1849.) + +God hath visited his people.--LUKE vii. 16. + +We 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. + +Now I do not know what people may think in this parish, but I suspect +that very many all over England do NOT 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 NOT 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. + +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. + +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, PRAYS 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." + +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 REALLY to believe in God and Jesus Christ, and that they +WILL teach people. God knows we need, and thanks be to Him that He +DOES 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 WITHIN 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." + +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 WE are our SOULS, +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. + +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. + + + +XVII--THE COVENANT + + + +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.--PSALM cxxxv. 4, +5, 6. + +Were 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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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 Judaea 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 LOST 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. + +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 Judaea 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." + +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? + +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." + +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. + +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." + + + +XVIII--NATIONAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS + + + +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.-- +EZEKIEL xx. 32, 33, 38. + +A father 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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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. + + + +XIX--THE DELIVERANCE OF JERUSALEM + + + +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 KINGS xix. 35. + +You 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. + +But to find out that, we must hear the whole story. Before we can +find out why God drove the Assyrians out of Judaea, we must find out, +it seems to me, why He sent them, or allowed them to come into +Judaea; 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. + +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. + +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 Judaea, 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." . . . + +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. + +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 Judaea, +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. + +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. + + + +XX--PROFESSION AND PRACTICE + + + +Though they say, "The Lord liveth," surely they swear falsely.-- +JEREMIAH v. 2. + +I spoke 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 Judaea, and ravage the whole country except +the one small city of Jerusalem. + +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. + +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. + +Now, what was this? + +One very remarkable thing strikes us at once. That when the +Assyrians came into Judaea, the Jews were NOT 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 Judaea 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, SEE was God's opinion of +these religious Jews? Listen, my friends, and take it solemnly to +heart! + +"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." . . . + +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. + +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 Judaea, 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 WE 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." + +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? + +"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 YOUR +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." + +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. + +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! + +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. + + + +XXI--THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT + + + +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.--LUKE xii. 45, 46. + +But 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? + +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: + + +Heaven lies about us in our infancy. + + +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 IN 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 HEARTS that you are saying, The +Lord delays His coming? + +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. + +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 IN HIS HEART, that his master would be long away. It +was his heart put the thought into his head. He took to the notion +HEARTILY, 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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +So He did, only three years ago, to many kings and princes on the +Continent. {217} 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. + +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. + +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. + + + +XXII--THE WAY TO WEALTH + + + +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.--ISAIAH lv. +6, 7. + +Some 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. + +And what is its message? What was God's word to the old Jews, among +all their sin, and sorrow, and labour? + +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?" + +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?" + +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." + +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?" + +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-- + +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: + +"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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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." + +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?" + +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. + +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 Judaea, 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. + + + +XXIII--THE LOVE OF CHRIST + + + +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 COR. v. 14, 15. + +What 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 DO what is right?--much less LOVE 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? + +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 +SIN, 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. + +What WILL 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. + +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 +ME. 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 WHY we do it?" + +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 RIGHT? Does that make YOU +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 IS 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. + +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. + +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. AND THERE +IS ONE, 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? + +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." + +We may say that St. Paul was an exceedingly benevolent man, and THAT +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 ME, 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. THAT 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. + +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 NOT love +Him, and that yet you LONG 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." + + + +XXIV--DAVID'S VICTORY + + + +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 SAMUEL xvii. 45. + +We 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. + +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 NOT 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 MODESTY. 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 DELIVERED HIM 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 HIS 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 CHOOSES FIVE SMOOTH 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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--FAITH IN GOD. + + + +XXV--DAVID'S EDUCATION + + + +Made perfect through sufferings.--HEBREWS ii. 10. + +That 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, +IN 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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +XXVI--THE VALUE OF LAW + + + +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.--ROMANS +xiii. 1. + +What 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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +XXVII--THE SOURCE OF LAW + + + +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.--ROMANS +xiii. 1. + +In 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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. + + + +XXVIII--THE EDUCATION OF A HEATHEN + + + +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.--DANIEL iv. 37. + +We 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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 HIS 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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 IN THE EARTH; for in +these things I delight, saith the Lord." + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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? + +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. + + + +XXIX--JEREMIAH'S CALLING + + + +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.--JEREMIAH xxiii. 5. + +At 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? + +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. + +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. + +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 +Judaea, 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." + +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. + + + +XXX--THE PERFECT KING + + + +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.--MATTHEW +xxi. 5. + +You 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 Judaea, just as it +is in Eastern countries now. + +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. + +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. + +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 Caesar, 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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + + + +XXXI--GOD'S WARNINGS + + + +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.--JEREMIAH +xxxvi. 3. + +The 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 HIM, 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. + +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." + +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.'" + +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. + + + +XXXII--PHARAOH'S HEART + + + +And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people +go.--Exodus ix. 17. + +What 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? + +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? + +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. + +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 "NOT LETTING THE PEOPLE GO." + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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: + +"O come, let us worship, and fall down and kneel before the Lord our +Maker. + +"For He is the Lord our God; and we are the people of His pasture, +and the sheep of His hand. + +"To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, + +"Lest He sware in His wrath that you shall not enter into His rest!" + +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? + +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. + +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. + +What, then, are we to do when our sins bring us, as they certainly +will some day bring us, into trouble? + +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. + +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. + +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." + + + +XXXIII--THE RED SEA TRIUMPH + + + +Preached Easter-day Morning, 1852. + +This is a night to be much observed unto the Lord, for bringing the +children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.--EXODUS xii. 42. + +You 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. + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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 EVERY 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? + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +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? + + +XXXIV--CHRISTMAS-DAY + + + +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.--ISAIAH ix. 6, 7. + +In the time when the prophet Isaiah wrote this prophecy, everything +round him was exactly opposite to his words. The king of Judaea, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +And then the Holy Spirit of God answered that anxious question of +Isaiah's, and convinced him of judgment. + +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 MAN. 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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + + + +XXXV--NEW YEAR'S DAY + + + +(1853.) + +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.--ISAIAH +xliii. 1-4. + +The 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." + +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, FAITH. 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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." + +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? + + + +XXXVI--THE DELUGE + + + +My spirit shall not always strive with man.--GENESIS vi. 3. + +Last Sunday we read in the first lesson of the fall. This Sunday we +read of the flood, the first-fruits of the fall. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 WOULD +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 Judaea 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." + + + +XXXVII--THE KINGDOM OF GOD + + + +The kingdom of God is within you.--LUKE xvii. 21. + +These words are in the second lesson for this morning's service. Let +us think a little about them. + +What they mean must depend on what the kingdom of God means; for that +is the one thing about which they speak. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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 WILL 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? + +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? + +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 THE +LORD 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?" + +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. + +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. + + + +XXXVIII--THE LIGHT + + + +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.--EPHESIANS v. 13, 14. + +St. Paul 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! CHRIST gives us the light, +and therefore we need not be afraid of it, but trust it, and welcome +it. And Christ GIVES 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. + +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. + +And this is made still more plain and certain by the next word in the +text: "Christ shall GIVE thee light:" not sell thee light, or allow +thee to find light after great struggles, and weary years of study: +but, GIVE 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. + +But, someone will say: You surely cannot mean that we shall have +understanding without study? + +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. + +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. + + + +XXXIX--THE UNPARDONABLE SIN + + + +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.--MATTHEW xii. 31, 32. + +These 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." + +What was it now which made this speech of the Pharisees so terrible a +sin, past all forgiveness? + +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 POWER 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +XL--THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE + + + +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.-- +ROMANS viii. 15. + +Some 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 WE ought to +have. + +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. + +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. + +Now, let us consider the latter half of the text. "But ye have +received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father." + +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. + +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. + +As much as to say: You were God's CHILDREN 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. + +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. + +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?" + +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 +BETTER 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. + +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. + +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. + +Your baptism says to you, God does NOT 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 ALL 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 SONS, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +XLI--THE FALL + + + +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.--ROMANS v. 12. + +We 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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Now, the Bible tells us, that he fell from God's grace to nature. + +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: + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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--" + +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. + + + +XLII--GOD'S COVENANTS + + + +I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a +covenant between me and the earth.--GENESIS ix. 13. + +The 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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!" + +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? + +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. + + + +XLIII--THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS + + + +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 TIMOTHY iii. 16. + +St. Paul 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. + +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. + +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?" + +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?" + +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?" + +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?" + +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?" + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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? + +To all which St. Paul answers: "God was justified in the Spirit." + +You do not see what that has to do with it? Then let me show you. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +To this St. Paul answers: "God, who was manifest in the flesh, was +preached to the Gentiles." + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +Wonderful mystery of godliness! Wonderful love of God to man! +Wonderful condescension of God to man! Still more wonderful patience +of God to man! + +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? + + + +XLIV--THE WORK OF GOD'S SPIRIT + + + +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.--JOHN xvi. 7-11. + +I no 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. + +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. + +"When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all +truth; for He shall not speak of Himself." + +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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +But you may say: "How could they believe on Him before He came, and +was born in Judaea 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +3. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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 Judaea of old, utterly and always for the good of all +mankind, whom He hath redeemed with His most precious blood. + + + +XLV--THE GOSPEL + + + +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 CORINTHIANS xv. +1-4. + +This 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. + +What wonderful good news was this, then, which could work so strange +a change in these poor heathens, and how could it change them? + +Let us see, first, what it was. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +And what, you will ask, does that mean? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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 +Judaea of old." + +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. + + + +XLVI--GOD'S WAY WITH MAN + + + +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.-- +EZEKIEL xx. 44. + +In 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. + +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? + +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 +WHOM you were thrusting away; if you had guessed whom you were +keeping waiting. + +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? + +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?" + +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. + +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." + +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? + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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? + + + +XLVII--THE MARRIAGE AT CANA + + + +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.--JOHN ii. 1, 2. + +It 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. + +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 +WITHOUT the vineyard, since you had forgotten how to see it IN 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!" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + + + +XLVIII--PARABLE OF THE LOWEST PLACE + + + +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.--LUKE xiv. 7-11. + +We 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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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? + + + +Footnotes: + +{217} In 1848-49. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, SERMONS ON NATIONAL SUBJECTS *** + +This file should be named snsb10.txt or snsb10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, snsb11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, snsb10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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