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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20138-h.zip b/20138-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4202917 --- /dev/null +++ b/20138-h.zip diff --git a/20138-h/20138-h.htm b/20138-h/20138-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fa058b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/20138-h/20138-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7749 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>True Words for Brave Men</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + TD { vertical-align: top; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: gray;} + + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">True Words for Brave Men, by Charles Kingsley</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, True Words for Brave Men, by Charles Kingsley + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: True Words for Brave Men + + +Author: Charles Kingsley + + + +Release Date: December 19, 2006 [eBook #20138] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE WORDS FOR BRAVE MEN*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from the 1884 Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co., +edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1>TRUE WORDS FOR BRAVE MEN.</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span><br /> +CHARLES KINGSLEY,</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">late rector of +eversley; chaplain to the queen and to the prince of +wales</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>A BOOK FOR SOLDIERS’ AND +SAILORS’ LIBRARIES</i>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">eleventh +thousand</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">London</span>:<br /> +<span class="smcap">kegan paul</span>, <span +class="smcap">trench</span>, <span class="smcap">& +co.</span>, <span class="smcap">1 paternoster square</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">1884.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page ii--><a +name="pageii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. ii</span><i>The Rights +of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved</i>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page iii--><a +name="pageiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +iii</span>Dedicated<br /> +<span class="smcap">by kind permission<br /> +to</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">General Sir</span> WILLIAM CODRINGTON, +G.C.B.,<br /> +<span class="smcap">and</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Admiral</span> WELLESLEY, C.B.,<br /> +<span class="smcap">in memory of</span><br /> +CHARLES KINGSLEY,<br /> +<span class="smcap">who was proud of their friendship</span>,<br +/> +<span class="smcap">and loved and honoured them</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">as he loved and honoured</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">all brave soldiers</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">and sailors</span>.</p> +<blockquote><p><!-- page iv--><a name="pageiv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. iv</span>“Yet was he courteous still to +every wight,<br /> +And loved them that did to armes incline.”</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Spenser</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<h2><!-- page v--><a name="pagev"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +v</span>INTRODUCTORY NOTE.</h2> +<p>This little volume is selected from the unpublished sermons +and addresses of Charles Kingsley by the request of a Colonel of +Artillery, and with the sanction of an Army Chaplain of long +experience, who knew the influence of his writings on soldiers, +and who wish that that influence may live, though he is no longer +here. The Lecture on Cortez was given at Aldershot Camp in +1858, and the Address to Brave Soldiers and Sailors written for +and sent out to the troops before Sebastopol in the winter of +1855, when Mr. Kingsley’s own heart, with that of all +England, was grieving over the sufferings of our noble army in +the Crimea. F. E. K.</p> +<h2><!-- page 1--><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +1</span>I. THE GOOD CENTURION; OR, THE MAN UNDER +AUTHORITY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, +there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him and saying, Lord, +my servant lieth at home, sick of the palsy, grievously +tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal +him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy +that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, +and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under +authority, having soldiers under me, and I say unto this man, Go, +and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my +servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he +marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, +I have not found such great faith, no, not in +Israel.”—<span class="smcap">Matt.</span> viii. +5-10.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>We find in Holy Scripture, that of the seven heathens who were +first drawn to our Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel, three were +soldiers.</p> +<p>The first was the Centurion, of whom our Lord speaks in such +high terms of commendation.</p> +<p>The next, the Centurion who stood by His cross, and said, +“Truly this was the son of God.” Old legends +say that his name was Longinus, and tell graceful tales of his +after-life, which one would fain believe, if there were any +evidence of their truth.</p> +<p><!-- page 2--><a name="page2"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +2</span>The third, of course, was Cornelius, of whom we read in +the Acts of the Apostles.</p> +<p>Now these three Centurions—commanding each a hundred +men—had probably risen from the ranks; they were not highly +educated men; they had seen endless cruelty and immorality; they +may have had, at times, to do ugly work themselves, in obedience +to orders. They were doing, at the time when they are +mentioned in Scripture, almost the worst work which a soldier can +do. For they were not defending their own country against +foreign enemies. They were keeping down a conquered nation, +by a stern military despotism, in which the soldiery acted not +merely as police, but as gaolers and executioners. And yet +three men who had such work as this to do, are singled out in +Scripture to become famous through all time, as the first-fruits +of the heathen; and of one of them our Lord said, “I have +not found such great faith, no, not in Israel.”</p> +<p>Why is this? Was there anything in these soldiers’ +profession, in these soldiers’ training, which made them +more ready than other men to acknowledge the Lord Jesus +Christ? And if so; what was it?</p> +<p>Let us take the case of this first Centurion, and see if it +will tell us. We will not invent any reasons of our own for +his great faith. We will let him give his own +reasons. We will let him tell his own story. We may +trust it; for our blessed Lord approved of it. Our Lord +plainly thought that what the soldier had spoken, he had spoken +well. And yet it is somewhat difficult to understand what +was in his mind. He was plainly no talker; no orator. +Like many a good English soldier, sailor, yeoman, man of +business, he had very sound instincts in him, and drew very sound +conclusions from them: but he could <!-- page 3--><a +name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>not put them +into words. He knew that he was right, but he could not +make a speech about it. Better that, than be—as too +many are—ready to make glib speeches, which they only half +believe themselves; ready to deceive themselves with subtle +arguments and high-flown oratory, till they can give the most +satisfactory reasons for doing the most unsatisfactory and +unreasonable things. No, the good soldier was no orator: +but he had sound sense under his clumsy words. Let us +listen to them once more.</p> +<p>“I am a man under authority, having soldiers under +me. And I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to +another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he +doeth it.” Surely the thought which was in his mind +is to be found in the very words which he +used—Authority. Subordination. +Discipline. Obedience. He was under authority, and +must obey his superior officer. He had soldiers under him, +and they must obey him. There must be not only no mutiny, +but no neglect, no arguing, no asking why. If he said Go, a +man must go; if he said Come, a man must come; and make no words +about it. Otherwise the Emperor’s service would go to +ruin, through laziness, distrust, and mutinous talk. By +subordination, by discipline, by mutual trust and strict +obedience, that empire of Rome was conquering the old world; +because every Roman knew his place, and every Roman did what he +was told.</p> +<p>But what had that to do with our Lord’s power, and with +the healing of the child?</p> +<p>This. The honest soldier had, I think, in his mind, that +subordination was one of the most necessary things in the world; +that without it the world could not go on. <!-- page 4--><a +name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 4</span>Then he said to +himself, “If there must be subordination on earth, must +there not be subordination in heaven?” If he, a poor +officer, could get his commands obeyed, by merely speaking the +word; then how much more could God. If Jesus was—as +He said—as His disciples said—the Lord, the God of +the Jews: then He had no need to come and see a sick man; no need +to lay His hands on him; to perform ceremonies or say prayers +over him. The Laws of Nature, by which health and sickness +come, would obey His word of command without rebellion and +without delay. “Speak the word only, Lord, and my +servant shall be healed.”</p> +<p>But how did the Centurion know—seemingly at first sight, +that Jesus was the Lord God? Ah, how indeed?</p> +<p>I think it was because he had learnt the soldier’s +lesson. He had seen many a valiant officer—Tribunes, +Prefects, Consuls, Emperors, commanding men; and fit to command +men. There was no lack of such men in the Roman empire +then, as the poor, foolish, unruly Jews found out to their cost +within the next forty years. And the good Centurion had +been accustomed to look at such men; and to look up to them +beside, and say not merely—It is a duty to obey these men, +but—It is a delight to obey them. He had been +accustomed—as it is good for every man to be +accustomed—to meet men superior to himself; men able to +guide and rule him. And he had learned—as every good +soldier ought to learn—when he met such a man, not to envy +him, not to backbite him, not to intrigue against him, not to try +to pull him down: but to accept him for what he was—a man +who was to be followed, if need be, to the death.</p> +<p>There was in that good Centurion none of the base <!-- page +5--><a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 5</span>spirit +of envy, which dreads and therefore hates excellence, hates +ability, hates authority; the mutinous spirit which ends, +not—as it dreams—in freedom and equality, but in +slavery and tyranny; because it transforms a whole army—a +whole nation—from what it should be, a pack of staunch and +faithful hounds, into a mob of quarrelsome and greedy curs. +Not of that spirit was the good Centurion: but of the spirit of +reverence and loyalty; the spirit which delights in, and looks up +to, all that is brave and able, great and good; the spirit of +true independence, true freedom, and the true self-respect which +respects its fellow men; and therefore it was, that when the +Centurion came into the divine presence of Christ, he knew at +once, instinctively and by a glance, into what a presence he had +come. Christ’s mere countenance, Christ’s mere +bearing, I believe, told that good soldier who He was. He +knew of old the look of great commanders: and now he saw a +countenance, in spite of all its sweetness, more commanding than +he had ever seen before. He knew of old the bearing of +Consuls and of Emperors: and now, in spite of Christ’s +lowly disguise, he recognised the bearing of an Emperor of +emperors, a King of kings. He had learnt of old to know a +man when he met one; and now, he felt that he had met the Man of +all men, the Son of Man; and that so God-like was His presence, +that He must be likewise the Son of God.</p> +<p>And so had this good soldier his reward; his reward for the +soldierly qualities which he had acquired; for subordination; for +reverence; for admiration of great and able men. And what +was his reward? Not merely that his favourite servant was +healed at his request: but that he learnt to know the Lord Jesus +Christ, <!-- page 6--><a name="page6"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 6</span>whom truly to know is everlasting +life; whom the selfish, the conceited, the envious, the +slanderous, the insolent, the mutinous, know not, and never will +know; for they are not of His Spirit, neither is He of +theirs.</p> +<p>But more: What is the moral which old divines have drawn from +this story? “If you wish to govern: learn first to +obey.” That is a moral lesson more valuable than even +the use of arms. To learn—as the good Centurion +learnt—that a free man can give up his independence without +losing it. Losing it? Independence is never more +called out than by subordination. A man never feels himself +so much of a free man as when he is freely obeying those whom the +laws of his country have set over him. A man never feels so +able as when he is following the lead of an abler man than +himself. Remember this. Make it a point of honour to +do your duty earnestly, scrupulously, and to the uttermost; and +you will find that the habits of self-restraint, discipline, and +obedience, which you, as soldiers, have learned, will stand you +in good stead for the rest of your lives, and make you each, in +his place, fit to rule, just because you have learned to +obey.</p> +<p>But now go on a step, as the good Centurion went on, and +say—If there is no succeeding in earthly things, whether in +soldiering or any other profession, without subordination; +without obeying rules and orders strictly and without question: +then perhaps there is no succeeding in spiritual and heavenly +things. For has not God His moral Laws, His spiritual Laws, +which must be obeyed, if you intend to prosper in this life, or +in the life to come?</p> +<p>“Thou <i>shalt</i> love the Lord thy God with all thy +heart and soul, and thy neighbour as thyself. Thou +<i>shalt</i> <!-- page 7--><a name="page7"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 7</span>honour thy father and thy +mother. Thou <i>shalt not</i> kill, steal, commit adultery, +slander, or covet.” So it is written: not merely on +those old tables of stone on Sinai; but in The Eternal Will of +God, and in the very nature of this world, which God has +made. There is no escaping those Laws. They fulfil +themselves. God says to them, “Go,” and they +go; “Come,” and they come; “Do justice on the +offender,” and they do it. If we are fools and +disobey them, they will grind us to powder. If we are wise +and obey them, they will reward us. For in wisdom’s +right hand is length of days, and in her left hand riches and +honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her +paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay +hold of her, and blessed is every one that retaineth her; as God +grant you all will do.</p> +<p>But you, too, in time may have soldiers under you. +Think, I beseech you, earnestly of this, and for their sake, as +well as for your own, try by God’s help to live worthy of +Christian English men. Let them see you going out and +coming in, whether on duty or by your own firesides, as men who +feel that they are “ever beneath their great +taskmaster’s eye;” who have a solemn duty to perform, +namely, the duty of living like good men toward your superior +officers, your families, your neighbours, your country, and your +God—even towards that Saviour who so loved you that He died +for you on the cross, to set you the example of what true men +should be; the example of perfect duty, perfect obedience, +perfect courage, perfect generosity—in one word—the +example of a perfect Hero.</p> +<p>Live such lives, and then, will be fulfilled to you, and to +your children after you, from generation to generation, the +promises which God made, ages since, to the men of <!-- page +8--><a name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>Judea of +old; promises which are all true still, and will continue true, +in every country of the world, till the world’s end.</p> +<p>“Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be doing good; +dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.</p> +<p>The Lord knoweth the doings of the righteous; and their +inheritance shall endure for ever.</p> +<p>They shall not be confounded in the perilous time; and in the +days of dearth they shall have enough.</p> +<p>The Lord ordereth a good man’s going; and maketh his way +acceptable to himself.</p> +<p>Though he fall, he shall not be cast down; for the Lord +upholdeth him with his hand.</p> +<p>I have been young, and now I am old; yet saw I never the +righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread.</p> +<p>Flee from evil, and do the thing that is good; and dwell for +evermore.</p> +<p>For the Lord loveth the thing that is right; He forsaketh not +his that are godly, but they are preserved for ever.” +Amen.</p> +<h2><!-- page 9--><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +9</span>II. CHRIST IS COME. A CHRISTMAS SERMON.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son +is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his +name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The +everlasting Father, 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 from henceforth even for +ever.”—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> ix. 6, +7.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>It is now more than three thousand years ago that God made to +Abraham the promise, “In thy seed shall all the nations of +the earth be blessed.” Again the promise was renewed +to Moses when he was commanded to tell the Jews, “a prophet +shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me. +Hear ye him . . .” In David’s Psalms, again, +this same strange person was spoken of who was already, and yet +who was to come. David calls him the Son of God, the King +of kings. Again, in the Prophets, in many strange and +mysterious words, is this same being spoken of as a +virgin’s child—“Behold a virgin shall conceive +and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, God with +us;” and again, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a +son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, +the <!-- page 10--><a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +10</span>Mighty God—the Everlasting Father, the Prince of +Peace.” And again, “There shall come forth a +rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his +roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon +him,—the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of +knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And with righteousness +shall He judge the poor,” &c.</p> +<p>And again, “Thou Bethlehem, though thou be little among +the princes of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth He that is +to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from +everlasting. And He shall be great unto the ends of the +earth.”</p> +<p>But time would fail me if I tried to repeat to you half the +passages wherein the old Jewish prophets foretold Him who was to +come, and in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed, +more and more clearly as the time drew nigh.</p> +<p>Well, my friends, surely you know of whom I have been +speaking—of whom Moses and the prophets spoke—of Him +who was born of a village maiden, laid in a manger, proclaimed of +angels to the shepherds, worshipped with hymns of glory by the +heavenly host on the first Christmas day eighteen hundred and +seventy-eight years ago, as we count time. Aye, strange as +it may seem, <i>He is come</i>, and in Him all the nations of the +earth are blessed. <i>He is come</i>—the Conqueror of +Evil—the desire of all nations—the +Law-giver—the Lamb which was to suffer for our +sins—the King of kings—the Light which should lighten +the heathen—the Virgin’s child, of wondrous wisdom, +whose name should be God as well as man—whom all the +heathens, amid strange darkness and mad confusions, had still +been fearing and looking for.</p> +<p><!-- page 11--><a name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +11</span><i>He is come</i>—He came on that first +Christmas-tide. And we here on each Christmas-tide can +thank God for His coming, and say before men and angels, +“Unto us a child is born—the Prince of Peace is +<i>ours</i>—to His kingdom we belong—He has borne +about on Him a man’s body, a man’s soul and +spirit—He was born like us—like us He grew—like +us He rejoiced and sorrowed—tempted in all points like as +we are, yet without sin—able to the uttermost to understand +and help all who come to God by Him. He has bruised the +serpent’s head—He has delivered us from the power of +darkness, and brought us into <i>His</i> kingdom. Through +His blood we have redemption and forgiveness—yes! through +Him who, though He was laid in a manger, was yet the image of the +unseen God. And by Him, and for Him—that Babe of +Bethlehem—were all things created in heaven and +earth—and He is before all things, and by Him all things +consist. All heaven and earth, and all the powers therein, +are held together by Him. For it pleased the Father that in +<i>Him</i> should all fulness dwell; and having made peace +through the blood of His cross, to reconcile by that child all +things unto Himself—all things in heaven—all things +in earth.”</p> +<p>This should be our boast—this should be our +glory—for this do we meet together every Christmas day.</p> +<p>But what is all this to us if that Blessed Man be gone away +from us? Our souls want more than I have told you +yet. Our souls want more than a beautiful and wonderful +story <i>about</i> Christ. They want Christ Himself. +Preaching is blessed and useful if it speaks of Christ. Our +own thoughts are blessed and useful if we think of Christ. +The Bible is most blessed and useful <!-- page 12--><a +name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>containing +all things necessary to salvation, for it speaks of Christ. +Our prayers are blessed and useful if in them we call and cry +earnestly to Christ. But neither preaching, nor thinking, +nor praying are enough. In them we think about Him and +speak to Him. <i>But we want Him to speak to us</i>. +We want not merely a man to say, your sins <i>may</i> be forgiven +you; we want Christ Himself to say, “Your sins <i>are</i> +forgiven you.” We want not merely a wise book to tell +us that the good men of old belonged to Christ’s +kingdom—we want Christ Himself to tell us that we belong to +His kingdom. We want not merely a book that tells us that +He promised always to be with us—we want Him Himself to +tell us that He is really now with us. We want not merely a +promise from a prophet of old that in Him all the nations of the +earth shall be blessed, but a sign from Christ Himself that this +nation of England is really now blest in Him. In short, we +want not words, however true words, however fine words, +<i>about</i> Christ. We want Christ Himself to forgive us +our sins—to give peace and freedom to our hearts—to +come to us unseen, and fill us with thoughts and longings such as +our fallen nature cannot give us—such thoughts and feelings +as we cannot explain in words, for they are too deep and blessed +to be talked about—but thoughts which say to us, as if the +blessed Jesus Himself spoke to us in the depths of our hearts, +“Poor, struggling, sinful brother! <i>thou art +mine</i>. For thee I was born—for thee I +died—thee I will teach—I will guide thee and inform +thee with mine eye—I will never leave thee nor forsake +thee.”</p> +<p>Well—you want <i>Him</i>—and you want a sign of +Him—a sign of His own giving that <i>He is among you +</i><!-- page 13--><a name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +13</span><i>this day</i>—a sign of His own giving that He +has taken you into His kingdom—a sign of His own giving +that He died for you—that He will feed and strengthen your +souls in you with His own life and His own body.</p> +<p>Then—there is a sign—there is the sign which has +stood stedfast and sure to you—and to your +fathers—and your forefathers before them—back for +eighteen hundred years, over half the world. There is the +bread of which He said, “Take, eat, this is my body which +is broken for you.” There is the wine of which He +said, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is +shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of +sins.” There is His sign. Don’t ask +<i>how</i>. Don’t try to explain it away, and fancy +that you can find fitter, and soberer, and safer, and more +gospel-sounding words than Jesus Christ’s own, by which to +speak of His own Sacrament. But say, with the great Queen +Elizabeth of old, when men tried too curiously to enquire into +her opinion concerning this blessed mystery—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Christ made the Word and spake it,<br /> +He took the bread and brake it,<br /> +And what His Word did make it,<br /> +That I believe, and take it.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>He said, “This bread is my body which was broken for +you.” He said, “This cup is the New Testament +in my blood.” Is it? or is it not? And if it +is, is not Christ among us now, indeed? Is not that +something better than all the preaching in the world? Jesus +Christ, the King of kings—the Saviour—the +Deliverer—the Lamb of God—the Everlasting +Son—the Word—the Light—the Life—is here +among us ready to feed <!-- page 14--><a name="page14"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 14</span>our souls in the Holy Sacrament of +His body and blood, as surely as that bread and wine will feed +our bodies—yea—to feed our souls and bodies to +everlasting life. “Ho! every one that thirsteth, come +ye to the waters and drink. Come, buy wine without money +and without price.”</p> +<h2><!-- page 15--><a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +15</span>III. IS, OR IS NOT, THE BIBLE TRUE?</h2> +<blockquote><p>“If I say the truth, why do ye not believe +Me?”—<span class="smcap">John</span> viii. 46.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Is, or is not, the Bible true? To this question we must +all come some day or other. Do you believe that that book +which lies there, which we call the Bible, is a true book, or a +lying book? Is it true or false? Is it right or +wrong? Is it from God, or is it not from God? Let us +answer that. If it is not from God, let it go; but if it +<i>is</i> from God, which we know it is, how dare we disobey +it?</p> +<p>That <i>God</i>, the maker of heaven and earth, should speak +to men—should set His commands down in a book and give it +to them—and that they should neglect it, disobey +it—it is the strangest sight that can be seen on earth! +that God in heaven should say one thing, and a human being, six +feet high at most, should dare to do another!</p> +<p>If the Bible is from God, I say, the question is not whether +it is <i>better</i> to obey it or not. Better? there is no +better or worse in the matter—it is infinitely +necessary. To obey is infinitely right, to disobey is +infinitely wrong. To obey is infinitely wise, to disobey is +infinite folly. There can be no question about the matter, +except in the mind of a fool. Better to obey God’s +word? <!-- page 16--><a name="page16"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 16</span>Better indeed—for to obey is +heaven, to disobey is hell. <i>That</i> is the +difference. And at your better moments does not the voice +within you, witness to, and agree with, the words of that +book? When it tells you to care more for your soul than +your body—more for the life to come, which is eternity, +than for the present life which lasts but a few years—does +not common sense tell you that? The Bible tells you to +reverence and love God the giver of all good—does not +reason tell you that? The Bible tells you loyally to obey, +to love, to worship our blessed King and Saviour in heaven. +Does not common sense tell you that? Surely if there be +such a person as Jesus Christ—if He is sitting now in +heaven as Saviour of all, and one day to be Judge of all—by +all means <i>He</i> is to be obeyed, He is to be pleased, whoever +else we may displease. Reason, one would think, would tell +us that—and it is just want of reason which makes us forget +it.</p> +<p>What have you to say against the pattern of a true and holy +man as laid down in the Bible? The Bible would have you +pure—can you deny that you ought to be that? It would +have you peaceable—can you deny that you ought to be +that? The Bible would have you forgiving, honest, +honourable, active, industrious. The Bible would have you +generous, loving, charitable. Can you deny that that is +right, however some of you may dislike it? The Bible would +have you ask all you want from God, and ask forgiveness of God +for every offence, great and small, against Him. Can you +deny that that is right and reasonable? The Bible would +have you live in continual remembrance that the great eye of God +is on you—in continual thankfulness to the blessed Saviour +who died for you and has <!-- page 17--><a +name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>redeemed you +by His own blood—with daily and hourly prayer for +God’s Spirit to set your heart and your understanding right +on every point. Can you deny that that is all right and +good and proper—that unless the Bible be all a dream, and +there be no Holy and Almighty God, no merciful Christ in heaven, +this is <span class="smcap">the</span> way and the only way to +live? Ay, if there were no God, no Christ, no hereafter, it +would be better for man to live as the Bible tells him, than to +live as too many do. There would be infinitely less misery, +less heart-burnings, less suffering of body and soul, if men +followed Christ’s example as told us in the Bible. +Even if this life were all, and there were neither punishment nor +reward for us after death—does not our reason tell us that +if all men and women were like Christ in gentleness, wisdom, and +purity, the world as long as it lasted would be a heaven?</p> +<p>And do not your own hearts echo these thoughts at moments when +they are quietest and purest and most happy too? Have you +not said to yourselves—“Those Bible words are good +words. After all, if I were like that, I should be happier +than I am now.” Ah! my friends, listen to those +thoughts when they come into your hearts—they are not your +own thoughts—they are the voice of One holier than +you—wiser than you—One who loves you better than you +love yourselves—One pleading with you, stirring you up by +His Spirit, if it be but for a moment, to see the things which +belong to your peace.</p> +<p>But what can you say for yourselves, if having once had these +thoughts, having once settled in your own minds that the Gospel +of God is right and you are wrong, if you persist in disobeying +that gospel—if you agree <!-- page 18--><a +name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>one minute +with the inner voice, which says, “Do this and live, do +this and be at peace with God and man, and your own +conscience”—and then fall back the next moment into +the same worldly, selfish, peevish, sense-bound, miserable +life-in-death as ever?</p> +<p>The reason, my friends, I am afraid, with most of us is, sheer +folly—not want of cunning and cleverness, but want of +heart—want of feeling—what Solomon calls folly (Prov. +i. 22-27), stupidity of soul, when he calls on the simple souls, +How long ye simple ones will you love simplicity or silliness, +and the scorners delight in their scorning (delight in laughing +at what is good), and fools hate knowledge—hate to think +earnestly or steadily about anything—the stupidity of the +ass, who is too stubborn and thick-skinned to turn out of his way +for any one—or the stupidity of the swine, who cares for +his food and nothing further—or worse than all, the +stupidity of the ape, who cares for nothing but play and +curiosity, and the vain and frivolous amusements of the +moment.</p> +<p>All these tempers are common enough, and they may be joined +with cleverness enough. What beast so clever as an ape? yet +what beast so foolish, so mean, so useless? But this is the +fault of stupidity—it blinds our eyes to the world of +spirits; it makes us forget God; it makes us see first what we +can lay our hands on, and nothing more; it makes us forget that +we have souls. Our glorious minds and thoughts, which +should be stretching on through all eternity, are cramped down to +thinking of nothing further than this little hour of earthly +life. Our glorious hearts, which should be delighting in +everything which is lovely, and generous, and pure, and +beautiful, and God-like—ay, delighting <!-- page 19--><a +name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>in God +Himself—are turned in upon themselves, and set upon our own +gain, our own ease, our own credit. In short, our immortal +souls, made in God’s image, become no use to us by this +stupidity—they seem for mere salt to keep our bodies from +decaying.</p> +<p>Whose work is that? The devil’s. But whose +<i>fault</i> is it? Do you suppose that the devil has any +right in you, any power in you, who have been washed in the +waters of baptism and redeemed by Christ from the service of the +devil, and signed with His Cross on your foreheads, <i>unless you +give him power</i>? Not he. Men’s sins open the +door to the devil, and when he is in, he will soon trample down +the good seed that is springing up, and stamp the mellow soil as +hard as iron, so that nothing but his own seeds can grow there, +and so keep off the dews of God’s spirit, and the working +of God’s own gospel from making any impression on that +hardened stupified soil.</p> +<p>Alas! poor soul. And thy misery is double, because thou +knowest not that thou art miserable; and thy misery is treble, +because thou hast brought it on thyself!</p> +<p>My friends—there is an ancient fable of the Jews, which, +though it is not true, yet has a deep and holy meaning, and +teaches an awful lesson.</p> +<p>There lived, says an ancient Jewish Scribe, by the shores of +the Dead Sea, a certain tribe of men, utterly given up to +pleasure and covetousness, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the +eye, and the pride of life. To them the prophet Moses was +sent, and preached to them, warning them of repentance and of +judgment to come—trying to awaken their souls to high and +holy thoughts, and bring them back to the thought of God and +heaven. <!-- page 20--><a name="page20"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 20</span>And they, poor fools, listened to +Him, admired his preaching, agreed that it all sounded very +good—but that he went too far—that it was too +difficult—that their present way of life was very +pleasant—that they saw no such great need of change, and so +on, one excuse after another, till they began to be tired of +Moses, and gave him to understand that he was impertinent, +troublesome—that they could see nothing wise in +him—nothing great; how could they? So Moses went his +way, and left them to go theirs. And long after, when some +travellers came by, says the fable, they found these foolish +people were all changed into dumb beasts; what they had tried to +be, now they really were. They had made no use of their +souls, and now they had lost them; they had given themselves up +to folly, and now folly had taken to her own; they had fancied, +as people do every day, that this world is a great play-ground, +wherein every one has to amuse himself as he likes best, or at +all events a great shop and gambling-house, where the most +cunning wins most of his neighbour’s money; and now +according to their faith it was to them. They had forgotten +God and spiritual things, and now they were hid from their +eyes. And these travellers found them sitting, playing +antics, quarrelling for the fruits of the field—mere +beasts—reaping as they had sown, and filled full with the +fruit of their own devices.</p> +<p>Only every Sabbath day, says the fable, there came over these +poor wretches an awful sense of a piercing Eye watching them from +above—a dim feeling that they had been something better and +nobler once—a faint recollection of heavenly things which +they once knew when they were little children—a blind dread +of some awful unseen ruin, into which their miserable empty <!-- +page 21--><a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +21</span>beast-life was swiftly and steadily sweeping them +down;—and then they tried to think and could not—and +tried to remember and could not—and so they sat there every +Sabbath day, cowering with fear, uneasy and moaning, and +half-remembered that they once had souls!</p> +<p>My friends, my friends, are there not too many now-a-days like +these poor dwellers by the Dead Sea, who seem to have lost all of +God’s image except their bodies? who all the week dote on +the business and the pleasures of this life, going on very +comfortably till they seem to have quite hardened their own +souls; and now and then on Sabbath days when they come to church, +and pretend to pray and worship, sit all vacant, stupid, their +hearts far away, or with a sort of passing uneasiness and dim +feeling that all is not right—<i>try to think and +cannot</i>—<i>try to pray and cannot</i>—and, like +those dwellers by the Dead Sea, once a week on Sabbath day half +remember that they once had souls?</p> +<p>So true it is, that from him that hath not, shall be taken +away even that which he seemeth to have. So true it is, +that the wages of sin is death; death to the soul even in this +life. So true it is that why men do not believe Christ, is +because they cannot hear His word. So true it is, that only +the pure in heart shall see God, or love god-like men and +god-like words. So true it is, that he that soweth the wind +shall reap the whirlwind, and that he who <i>will</i> not hear +Christ’s words, shall soon not be <i>able</i> to hear them; +that he who will not have Christ for his master, must soon be +content to have the devil for his master, and for his wages, +spiritual death. From which sad fate of spiritual death may +the blessed Saviour, in His infinite mercy, deliver us.</p> +<h2><!-- page 22--><a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +22</span>IV. THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE TREE OF LIFE; +OR, THE FALL.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Now the serpent was more subtile than any +beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said +unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every +tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We +may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit +of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, +Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye +die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not +surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat +thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, +knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree +was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a +tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit +thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; +and he did eat.”—<span class="smcap">Genesis</span> +iii. 1-6.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Here is a lesson for us all. You and I, and all men +brought into the world with us a nature which fell in Adam; and, +as it fell <i>before</i> we were born, it is certain enough to +fall, again and again, after we are born, in this life; ay, and +unless we take care, to fall lower and lower, every day, acting +Adam’s sin over again, until we surely die. This is +what I mean—What God said to Adam and Eve, He says to every +one of us. And what the devil said to Adam and Eve, he will +say to every one of us.</p> +<p>First. God says to us, “Of all the trees of the +garden <!-- page 23--><a name="page23"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 23</span>thou mayest freely eat: but of the +tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat, lest thou +die.”</p> +<p>Of all the trees of the garden thou mayest freely eat. +God grudges you nothing good for you. He has put you into +this good and pleasant world, where you will find pleasures +enough, and comforts enough, to satisfy you, if you are wise; but +there are things which God has forbidden you, not out of any +spite or arbitrariness, but because they are bad for you; because +they will hurt you if you indulge in them, and sooner or later, +kill both body and soul.</p> +<p>Now, many of those wrong things look pleasant enough, and +reasonable enough, as the forbidden fruit did. Pleasant to +the eyes and good for food—and to be desired to make you +wise. As people grow up and go out into life, they are +tempted to do many things which their parents forbid, which the +Bible forbids, which the law of the land forbids, and they do not +understand at first why they are forbidden any more than Adam and +Eve understood why they were not to eat of the forbidden +fruit.</p> +<p>Then the devil (who is always trying to slander God to us) +whispers to them, as he did to Eve, “How unreasonable! how +hard on you. People say that this is wrong, and you must +not do it, and yet how pleasant it must be! How much money +you might get by it—how much wiser, and cleverer, and more +able to help yourself you would become, if you went your own way, +and did what you like. Surely God is hard on you, and +grudges you pleasure. Never mind—don’t be +afraid. Surely you can judge best what is good for +you. Surely you know your own business best. Use your +own common sense and do what you like, and what you <!-- page +24--><a name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 24</span>think +will profit you. Are you to be a slave to old rules which +your parents or the clergyman taught you?”</p> +<p>So says the devil to every young man as he goes out in +life. And to many, alas!—to many, the devil’s +words sound reasonable enough; they flatter our fallen nature, +they flatter our pride and our self-will, and make us fancy we +are going up hill, and becoming very fine and manly, and +independent and knowing. +“<i>Knowing</i>”! How many a young man have I +seen run into sin just that he might be <i>knowing</i>; and say, +“Why should I not see life for myself? Why should I +not know the world, and try what is good, and how I like that, +and what is bad too, and how I like that—and then choose +for myself like a man, instead of being kept in like a +baby?”</p> +<p>So he says exactly what Adam and Eve said in their +hearts—“I will eat of the tree of knowledge of good +and evil.” He says in his heart, too, just what +Solomon the wise said, when he, too, determined to eat of the +fruit of the tree of knowledge.</p> +<p>Ay, young people, who love to see the world, and to choose for +yourselves, read that Book of Ecclesiastes, the saddest book on +earth, and get a golden lesson in every verse of it. See +how Solomon determined to see life, from the top to the bottom of +it. How he “gave his heart to know, seek, and search +out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under +heaven. I have seen all the works that are done under the +sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit,” +(Eccles. i. 13).</p> +<p>And then, how he turned round and gave his heart to know +mirth, and madness, and folly, and see whether <i>that</i> was +good for him, and, “I said of laughter, it is <!-- page +25--><a name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>mad: +and of mirth, what doeth it?” (Eccles. ii. 2-26). And +then he gave himself to wine and revelling, and after that to +riches, and pomp, and glory, and music, and the “fine +arts,” as we call them. “I made me great works; +I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens +and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: +I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that +bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had +servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great +and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I +gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of +kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women +singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical +instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and +increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my +wisdom remained with me.” And what was the end? +“Then I looked on all the works that my hand had done, and +on the labour that I had laboured to do: and behold all was +vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the +sun.” Therefore, he says, that he hated all the +labour he had taken under the sun, because he must leave it to +the men who came after him, and found out at last, after years of +labour and sorrow, trying to make himself happy with this and +that, and finding no rest with any of them, that the conclusion +of the whole matter was to “Fear God and keep his +commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God +shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, +whether it be good or evil” (Eccles. xii. 13).</p> +<p>So said Solomon—and God knows, my dear friends, God +knows, he said truly. Ay, and I know it to be true; <!-- +page 26--><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +26</span>and I entreat you this day, in God’s name, to hear +the conclusion of the whole matter. All this you will find +out by eating of the tree of knowledge, and “<i>seeing +life</i>,” and going your own way, and falling into sin, +and smarting for it, for weary years, in anxiety and perplexity, +and shame, and sorrow of heart.</p> +<p>All that you will find out thereby—all that Solomon +found out thereby,—is just what you know already, and +nothing more—just what you have been taught ever since you +could speak. “Fear God and keep his commandments, for +this is the whole duty of man.” Why buy your own +experience dear, when you can get it gratis, for nothing +already?</p> +<p>Yes; a simple, godly, industrious life, doing the duty which +lies nearest you, avoiding sin as you would an adder, because it +is sure sooner or later to sting you, if you touch it, is the +straight road, and the only road, to happiness, either in this +life, or in the life to come. Pleasure and amusement, +drinking and jollity, will not make you happy. Money will +not make you happy. Cleverness, and cunning, and knowledge +of the world will not make you happy. Scholarship and +learning will not. But plain, simple righteousness, simply +doing right, <i>will</i>.</p> +<p>Do right then and be happy. Obey God’s +commandments, and you will find that His commandments are +<i>Life</i>, and in the pathway thereof there is no death.</p> +<p>Make up your minds to do right, to be right, to keep right by +the help of God’s Right and Holy Spirit, in the right +road. Make up your minds whether you will go through the +world in God’s way, or your own way—whether you will +taste what God has forbidden, and so <!-- page 27--><a +name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>destroy +yourselves, or obey Him and live with Him in bliss. The +longer you delay, the more difficult you will find it. Make +up your minds now, and ask God to teach you His own heavenly +wisdom which is a Tree of Life to all that lay hold on it.</p> +<h2><!-- page 28--><a name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +28</span>V. I AM.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“I AM hath sent me into +you.”—<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> iii. 10.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Every day I find it more and more true, that the Bible is full +of good news from beginning to end. The +<i>Gospel</i>—that is good news—and the best of all +good news, is to be found in every book of it; perhaps if we knew +how to search the Scriptures, in every chapter and verse of it, +from beginning to end. For from beginning to end, from +Genesis to Malachi—from the Gospel of St. Matthew to the +end of the Revelation—what our Lord said of the Bible +stands true: “They (the Scriptures) are they which testify +of ME” (John v. 39). The whole Bible testifies, bears +witness of Him, the One Unchangeable Christ, who said to Moses, +“Say unto the people, I AM hath sent me unto +you.”</p> +<p>Now let us think a while what that text means; for it has not +to do with Moses only, but with all God’s prophets, +evangelists, preachers. David might have said the same to +the Jews in his time, “I AM hath sent me unto +you.” Elijah, Isaiah, St. Matthew, St. John, St. +Paul, might have said the same. And so may God’s +ministers now. And I, however sinful, or ignorant, or +unfaithful to my duty I may be, have still a right to say, as I +do now say solemnly and earnestly to you, “I AM hath sent +me unto you” this day.</p> +<p><!-- page 29--><a name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +29</span>But what do I mean by that? That ought to depend +on what Moses meant by it. Moses meant what God meant, and +unless I mean the same thing I must mean something wrong. +And this is what I think it does mean:</p> +<p>First. I AM—the Lord Jesus Christ told Moses that +his name was I AM. Now you perhaps think that this is but a +very common place name, for every one can say of himself—I +am—and it may seem strange that God should have chosen for +His own especial name, words which you and I might have chosen +for ourselves just as well. I daresay you think that you +may fairly say “<i>you are</i>,” and that I can say +fairly that “I am.”</p> +<p>And yet it is not so. If I say “I am,” I say +what is not true of me. I must say “I am +something—I am a man, I am bad, or I am good, or I am an +Englishman, I am a soldier, I am a sailor, I am a +clergyman”—and then I shall say what is true of +me. But God alone can say “I AM” without saying +anything more.</p> +<p>And why? Because God alone <i>is</i>. Everybody +and everything else in the world <i>becomes</i>: but God +<i>is</i>. We are all becoming something from our birth to +our death—changing continually and becoming something +different from what we were a minute before; first of all we were +created and made, <i>and so became men</i>; and since that we +have been every moment changing, becoming older, becoming wiser, +or alas! foolisher; becoming stronger or weaker; becoming better +or worse. Even our bodies are changing and becoming +different day by day.</p> +<p>But God never changes or becomes anything different from what +He is now. What He is, that He was, and ever will be. +God does not even become older. This may seem very strange, +but it is true: for God made <!-- page 30--><a +name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 30</span>Time, God +made the years; and once there were no years to count by, no +years at all. Remember how long had God Himself been, +before He made Time, when there was no Time to pass over? +Remember always that God must have created Time. If God did +not create Time, no one else did; for there is, as the Athanasian +Creed says, “One uncreated and One eternal,” even God +who made Time as well as all things else.</p> +<p>Am I puzzling you? What I want to do is to make you +understand that God’s life is quite utterly different from +our life, or any way of living and being which we can fancy or +think of; lest you make to yourselves the likeness of anything in +heaven above or of the earth beneath, and think that God is like +that and so worship it, and have other gods beside the true God, +and so break the first and second commandments, as thousands do +who fancy themselves good Protestants, and hate Popery and +idolatry, and yet worship a very different sort of god from the +“I AM,” who sent Moses to the children of +Israel. Remember then this at least, that God was before +all things, and all worlds, and all Time; so that there was a +time when there were no worlds, and a time when there was no +Time—nothing but God alone, absolute, eternal, neither made +nor created, the same that He is now and will be for ever.</p> +<p>When I say “God is,” that is a very different +thing from God Himself saying, “I AM.” A +different thing? Oh! my friends, here is the root of the +whole Gospel, the root of all our hope for this world and for the +world to come—for ourselves, for our own future, and the +future of all the world. Do you not see how? Then I +will try to explain.</p> +<p><!-- page 31--><a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +31</span>Many heathen men have known that there was one eternal +God, and that <i>God is</i>. But they did not know that God +Himself had said so; and that made them anxious, puzzled, almost +desperate, so that the wiser they were, the unhappier they +were. For what use is it merely knowing that “<i>God +is</i>”? The question for poor human creatures is, +“But what sort of a being is God? Is He far +off? Millions of miles from this earth? Does He care +nothing about us? Does He let the world go its own way +right or wrong? Is He proud and careless? A +self-glorifying Deity whose mercy is <i>not</i> over all His +works, or even over any of them? Or does He care for +us? Does He see us? Will He speak to us? Has He +ever spoken to any one? Has He ever told any one about +Himself?” <i>There is the question</i>—the +question of all questions. And if a man once begins +thinking about his own soul, and this world, and God,—till +he gets that question answered, he can have no comfort about +himself or the world, or anything—till in fact he knows +whether God has ever spoken to men or not.</p> +<p>And the glory of the Bible, the power of God revealed in the +Bible, is, that it answers the question, and says, “God +<i>does</i> care for men, God <i>does</i> see men, God is not far +off from any one of us.” Ay, God speaks to +men—God spoke to Moses and said, not “God is” +but “I AM.” God in sundry times and in divers +manners <i>spoke</i> to our fathers by the Prophets and said +“I AM.”</p> +<p>But more—Moses said, “I AM hath sent +me.” God does not merely love us, and yet leave us to +ourselves. He sends after us. He sends to us. +In old times He sent prophets and wise men one after the other to +preach repentance and righteousness, and to teach men all that +<!-- page 32--><a name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +32</span>was good for them; and when men would not listen to +them, but shut their ears to them and drove them out, killing +some and beating some, God was so determined to send to men, so +unwearied, so patient, so earnest, so loving still, that He said, +“I will send now my own Son, surely they will hear +Him.”</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, this is the I AM. This is +God—this is our God—this is our Heavenly Father; not +a proud and selfish Being, who looks down haughtily from afar off +on all the misery and ignorance of the world, but as a wise man +of old said, “A most merciful God, a revealer of secrets, +who showeth to man the things which he knew not.” +This is our God—not a tyrant, but a Deliverer—not a +condemning God, but a saving God, who wills that none should +perish, who sends to seek and to save those who are lost, who +sends His sun to shine on the just and the unjust, and is good to +the unthankful and the evil. A God who so loved the world +which He had made, in spite of all its sin and follies, that He +spared not His only begotten Son, but freely gave Him for +it. A God who sits on His throne for ever judging right, +and ministering true judgment among the people, who from His +throne beholds all those who dwell upon the earth, and fashions +the hearts of them, and understandeth all their works. A +God who comes out of His place to visit the wrong done on the +earth, and be a refuge for the oppressed, and a help in time of +trouble, to help the fatherless and poor unto their right, that +the men of this world be no more exalted against them.</p> +<p>This is <i>our God</i>. This is our Father—always +condescending, always patient, always loving, always just. +And always active, always working to <i>do good</i> to all his +creatures, like that exact pattern and copy of Himself, <!-- page +33--><a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>the +Lord Jesus Christ, who said, “My Father worketh hitherto, +and I work.” (John v. 17).</p> +<p>But again: “I AM hath sent me unto +<i>you</i>.”</p> +<p>Unto whom? Who was Moses sent to? To the Children +of Israel in Egypt. And what sort of people were +they? Were they wise and learned? On the contrary +they were stupid, ignorant, and brutish. Were they pious +and godly? On the contrary they were worshipping the +foolish idols of the Egyptians—so fond of idolatry that +they must needs make a golden calf and worship it. Were +they respectable and cleanly livers? Were they teachable +and obedient? On the contrary, they were profligate, +stiff-necked, murmurers, disobedient, unwilling to trust +God’s goodness, though He had shown them all those glorious +signs and wonders for their sakes, and brought them out of Egypt +with a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm. Were they +high-spirited and brave? On the contrary, they were +mean-spirited and cowards, murmuring against Moses and against +God, if anything went wrong, for setting them free; ready to go +back and be slaves to the Egyptians rather than face danger and +fight; looking back and longing after the flesh-pots of Egypt, +where they eat bread to the full, and willing to be slaves again +and have all their men children drowned in the river, and +themselves put to hard labour in the brick kilns, if they could +only fill their stomachs. And even at best when Moses had +brought them to the very edge of that rich land of Canaan, which +God had promised them, they were afraid to go into it, and win it +for themselves; and God had to send them back again, to wander +forty years in the wilderness, till all that cowardly, base, +first generation, who came up out of Egypt was dead, and a new +generation had grown up, made <!-- page 34--><a +name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>brave and +hardy by their long training in the deserts, and taught to trust +and obey God from their youth; and so able and willing to conquer +the good land which God had promised them.</p> +<p>Altogether the Children of Israel, to whom God sent Moses, +were plainly an ignorant, brutish, cowardly set of people, fallen +lower far than the negroes of South America, fit to be slaves and +nothing better.</p> +<p>Then why did God take such trouble for them? Why did God +care for them, and help them, and work wonders for them? +Why? Exactly because they <i>were</i> so bad. He that +hath ears to hear let him hear, and understand by this example of +all examples what manner of God our God is. Just because +they were so bad, His goodness yearned over them all the more, +and longed to make them good. Just because they were so +unclean and brutish His holiness longed all the more to cleanse +them. Because they were so stupid and ignorant, His wisdom +longed to make them wise. Because they were so miserable, +His pity yearned over them, as a father over a child fallen into +danger. Because they were sick, they had all the more need +of a physician. Because they were lost, there was all the +more reason for seeking and saving them. Because they were +utterly weak, God desired all the more to put His strength into +them, that His strength might be made perfect in weakness.</p> +<p>True, God’s goodness seemed of little use to too many of +them. Their history during the next forty years was a very +sad one. With many of them God was not well pleased, the +Bible tells us, and their carcases fell in the Wilderness. +A sad forty years they were for Moses also, as he says in that +sad and glorious Psalm of his (Ps. xc. 7, 8): “We consume +away in thy displeasure, and are <!-- page 35--><a +name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 35</span>afraid of thy +wrathful indignation. Thou hast set our misdeeds before us, +our secret sins in the light of thy countenance, for when Thou +art angry our days are gone: we bring our years to an end as a +tale that is told.”</p> +<p>But that was all their own fault. God never left them +for all those forty years. He fed them with manna in the +wilderness, and the angel of His presence preserved them.</p> +<p>And now, my friends, remember what I have said of God in this +text, “I AM hath sent me unto you,” and see how it +preaches to you an almighty, unchangeable Father, whose mercy is +over all His works, full of love and care for all, longing and +labouring for ever by His Son Jesus Christ to raise us from the +death of sin (which is the only death we need to be afraid of) to +the life of righteousness—the only life worth living here, +the only life which we can live beyond the grave! A just +God, a merciful God, a patient God, a generous God, a gracious +God; a God whose glory is to save—a God who is utterly +worthy of our love and respect—a God whom we can +trust—a God whom it is worth while to obey—a God who +deserves our thanks from our cradle to our grave—a God to +whom we ought honestly, and from the bottom of our hearts to say, +now and for ever:</p> +<p>“We worship Thee, we bless Thee, we praise Thee, we +magnify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory, oh! +Lord God, Heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.”</p> +<h2><!-- page 36--><a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +36</span>VI. THE ENGLISHMAN TRAINED BY TOIL.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“All the commandments which I command thee +this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, +and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your +fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord +thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble +thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether +thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled +thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which +thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might +make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every +word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. +. . . Thou shall also consider in thine heart that, as a man +chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth +thee.”—<span class="smcap">Deut.</span> viii. 1, 2, +3, 5.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>As God led the Jews through the wilderness, so He leads us +through the journey of life. As God called on the Jews to +rejoice in Him, and to bless Him for going with them, and +teaching and training them by dangers and sorrows; so He calls on +us to lift up our hearts and bless Him for teaching and training +us in the battle of life.</p> +<p>But some of you may say, “Why do you ask us to thank God +for lessons which we have bought by labour and sorrow? Are +not our sorrows more than our joys? Our labour far heavier +than our rest can be sweet? You tell us to be joyful and +thank God for His mercies; but why all this toil? Why must +we work on, and on, and on, all our days, in weariness and <!-- +page 37--><a name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +37</span>anxiety? Why must we only toil, toil, till we die, +and lie down, fairly conquered and worn out, on that stern mother +earth, from whom we have been wringing our paltry livelihood from +our boyhood to our grave? What is our life but labour and +sorrow?”</p> +<p>Are not some of you thinking in this way to-day? Have I +not guessed the hearts of some of you at least? And is not +this a strange way of making you joyful to remind you of these +thoughts?</p> +<p>My friends, be sure I only remind you of these sad thoughts, +because they are <i>true</i> thoughts, because God meant you to +bear them and <i>face</i> them like men; because you must have +these thoughts, and let them make you sad, and make up your minds +to face them again and again, before even you can thank God +really like redeemed, immortal Christian men and women. And +believe me, I would not mention these sad thoughts, if I had not +a remedy for them. If I had not a message to you from the +living God, and Christ the King of the earth, whereby I tell you +now to rejoice and give thanks to Him in spite of all your labour +and sorrow. Ay more, I say, Rejoice and give thanks <i>on +account</i> of all your labour and sorrow, and count it all +<i>joy</i> when ye fall into divers tribulations.</p> +<p>It is true, my friends, we are a hard working and a somewhat +sad race of men, we English. The life of the working man is +labour and sorrow, and so is the life of the scholar, and so is +the life of even many a rich man. All things are full of +labour in England. Man cannot utter it, the eye is not +satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing; we are the +wisest of all nations; and yet as Solomon says, behold in much +wisdom is much grief; and in increasing knowledge, we still +increase sorrow.</p> +<p><!-- page 38--><a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +38</span>Truly, I may say of us Englishmen, as Paul said of the +Christians of his time, that if Christ be not raised from the +dead, and if in this life <i>only</i> we have hope in Him, we are +of all nations one of the most unhappy. When we look at all +the hundreds of thousands pent up in our great cities among filth +and smoke, toiling in factories, in workshops, in dark mines +under ground—when we think of the soldier on the march +under the sultry sun of India, the sailor on the stormy +sea—when we think of this our bleak inclement climate, our +five months of winter every year;—no man’s food and +clothing to be gained but by bitter toil, either of himself or of +others—and then when we compare our lot with that of the +dwellers in hot countries, in India and in Africa, and the +islands of the South Seas, where men live with no care, no +labour—where clothes and fire are never needed—where +every tree bears delicious food, and man lives in perpetual +summer, in careless health and beauty, among continual mirth and +ease, like the birds which know no care—then it seems at +moments as if God had been unfair in giving so much more to the +savage than He has to us, of the blessings of this earthly life; +and we are led to long that our lot was cast in those fruitful +and delicious climates of the South, in a continual paradise of +mirth and plenty, and beauty and sunshine.</p> +<p>But no, my friends, we are more blest than the careless Indian +who never knows what labour is; his life is but the life of the +butterfly, which flutters from flower to flower and sports in the +sunshine, and sucks sweets for a brief hour, and then perishes +without hope. His life is a dream, he sees no heaven before +him, he knows no glorious God, with the sight of whom he is to be +blest for ever. His body may be in perpetual ease, and +health, <!-- page 39--><a name="page39"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 39</span>and beauty for a few short years, but +what care has he for his undying spirit, that is blind and dead +within him?</p> +<p>But to bring a man’s soul to life, to train and educate +a man’s soul that it may go on from strength to strength, +and glory to glory till it appears in the presence of +God—that wants a stern and a severe training of sorrow and +labour, of which the poor, pampered, luxurious savage knows +nothing. This is why Christ brought our forefathers into +this bleak, cold, northern land, and forced them to gain their +bread by the sweat of their brows, and the sorrows of their +hearts, and to keep their land by many wars.</p> +<p>Now this is the reason of our carefulness, of our many +troubles, that God is educating and training us English; that He +will not have us be savages, but Christian citizens; He will have +us not merely happy, but <i>blessed</i> through all +eternity. He will not have us to be like the poor Indians, +slaves to our flesh and our appetites—slaves to the +pleasant things around us; but He will have us fill the earth and +subdue it; He will have England the light of the +nations—and Englishmen preach freedom, and wisdom, and +prudence, and the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations of +the earth. Therefore Christ afflicts us because He loves +us, because whom He loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son +whom He receiveth. Because He has ordained England to +preach the Cross, therefore He will have England bear the +cross.</p> +<p>It has often struck me, my friends, as a beautiful and a deep +sign, a blessed ordinance of the great and wise God, that the +flag of England, and especially the flag of our navy—the +flag which is loved and reverenced through all the world, as the +bringer of free communion between nation and nation, the bringer +of order and equal justice <!-- page 40--><a +name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 40</span>and holy +freedom, and the divine majesty of law, and the light of the +blessed gospel wherever it goes; that this flag, I say, should be +the red-cross flag, the flag of the Cross of Christ—a +double sign—a sign to all men that we are a Christian +nation, a gospel people; and a sign, too, to ourselves, that we +are meant to bear Christ’s cross—to bear the +afflictions which He lays upon us—to be made perfect +through sufferings, to crucify the flesh with its affections and +lusts, that we may be brave and self-denying; going forth in +Christ’s strength, remembering that it is He who gives us +power to get wealth; that we ought to fight His battles, that we +ought to spread His name at home and abroad; and rejoice in every +sorrow, which teaches us more and more the blessed meaning of His +saving name, and the share which we have in it.</p> +<p>I have said that we are a melancholy people. Foreigners +all say of us, that we are the saddest of all people; that when +they come to England, they are struck with our silence, and +gloominess, and careworn faces, and our want of merriment and +cheerfulness. And yet, with all this, we are the greatest +of nations at this day—the strongest and the most +industrious and the wisest. The gospel of Jesus Christ is +preached oftener, and more simply, and more fully here in England +than in any nation, and I dare to say it, that in spite of all +our sins, there are as many or more of God’s true saints, +more holy men and women among English people at this moment, than +among any people of the earth. And why? because there are +so many among us who have hope in Christ beyond this life, who +look for everlasting salvation through all eternity to His +name. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, <!-- +page 41--><a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +41</span>truly of all people we should be most miserable; but +Christ is risen from the dead, and He has ascended up on high, +and led captivity captive, and received gifts for men. He +sits even now at God’s right hand praying for us. To +Him all power is given in heaven and earth, and He is our +covenant God and Saviour, He is our King. He is ours; and +He will have us put on His likeness, and with Him be made perfect +through sufferings—<i>through sufferings</i>, for sorrow is +the gate of life. Through much tribulation we enter into +the kingdom of God; without weary pain none of us is born into +the world; without weary labour not a harvest in England is grown +and reaped; without weary thought, and teaching, and correction, +not a child among us is educated to be a man; without weary +thought and weary labour, not one of us can do his duty in that +station of life to which Christ has called him. Not without +weary struggles and arguings and contentions, by martyrdoms, by +desperate wars, our forefathers won for us our religion, our +freedom and our laws, which make England the wonder of the +world. This is the great law of our life—to be made +perfect through sufferings, as our Lord and Master was before +us. He has dealt with us, as my text tells you He dealt +with the Jews, His chosen people of old, as He deals with every +soul of man on whom He sets His love. “All the +commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to +do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the +land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt +remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty +years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to +know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His +commandments, or no. And He <!-- page 42--><a +name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>humbled thee, +and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou +knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make +thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word +that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live . . . +Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man +chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth +thee.”</p> +<p>For, believe me, my friends, whatever nation or whatever man +Christ chooses to be His own, and to be holy and noble and +glorious with Him, He makes them perfect through suffering. +First, He stirs up in them strange longings after what is great +and good. He makes them hunger and thirst after +righteousness, and then He lets them see how nothing on this +earth, nothing beautiful or nothing pleasant which they can get +or invent for themselves will satisfy; and so He teaches them to +look to Him, to look for peace and salvation from heaven and not +from earth. Then He leads them, as He led the Jews of old, +through the wilderness and through the sea, through strange +afflictions, through poverty, and war, and labour, that they may +learn to know that He is leading them and not themselves; that +they may learn to trust not in themselves, but in Him; not in +their own strength: but in the bread which cometh down from +heaven; not in their own courage, but in Him; and just when all +seems most hopeless, He makes one of them chase a thousand, and +by strange and unexpected providences, and the courage which a +just cause inspires, brings His people triumphant through +temptation and danger, and puts to flight the armies of the +heathen, and the inventions of the evil fiend, and glorifies His +name in His chosen people.</p> +<p>So He calls out in the heart of men and of the heart <!-- page +43--><a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 43</span>of +nations, the two great twin virtues, which always go hand in +hand—Faith in God, and Faith in themselves. He lets +them feel themselves foolish that they may learn how to be wise +in His wisdom. He lets them find themselves weak that they +may learn how to be strong in His strength. Then sometimes +He lets them follow their own devices and be filled with the +fruits of their own inventions. He lets their sinful hearts +have free course down into the depths of idolatry and +covetousness, and filthy pleasure and mad self-conceit, that they +may learn to know the bitter fruit that springs from the accursed +root of sin, and come back to Him in shame and repentance, +entreating Him to inform their thoughts, and guide their wills, +and gather them to Him as a hen gathereth her chickens under her +wing, that they may never more wander from Him, their life, their +light, and their Saviour. Then, sometimes, if His children +forsake His laws and break His covenant, He visits their offences +with the rod, and their sin with the stripes of the children of +men. That is, He punishes them as He punishes the heathen, +if they sin as the heathen sin. He lets loose upon them His +wrath, war, disease, or scarcity, that He may drive them back to +Him.</p> +<p>And all the while He will have them <i>labour</i>. He +will make them try their strength, and use their strength, and +improve their strength of soul and body. By making them +labour, Christ teaches His people industry, order, self-command, +self-denial, patience, courage, endurance, foresight, +thoughtfulness, earnestness. All these blessed virtues come +out of holy labour; by working in welldoing we learn lessons +which the savage among his delicious fruits and flowers, in his +life of golden ease, and luxurious laziness, can never learn.</p> +<p><!-- page 44--><a name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +44</span>And all this Christ teaches us because He loves us, +because He would have us perfect. His love is +unchangeable. As He swore by Himself that He would never +fail David, so He has sworn that He will never fail any one of +His Churches, or any one of us. Lo, said He, I am with you +always, even to the end of the world. Nothing shall +separate us from the love of Christ; neither battle nor famine, +nor anything else in heaven or earth. All He wants is to +educate us, because He loves us. He doth not afflict +willingly nor grieve the children of men. And because He is +a God of love, He proves His love to us every now and then by +blessing us, as well as by correcting us; else our spirits would +fail before Him, and the souls which He has made. When He +sees our adversity, He hears our complaint, He thinks upon His +covenant and pities us, according to the multitude of His +mercies. “A fruitful land maketh He barren for the +wickedness of them that dwell therein, yet when they cry unto the +Lord in their trouble, He delivereth them out of their +distress. He maketh the wilderness standing water, and +water springs of dry ground, and there He setteth the hungry that +they may build them a city, that they may sow their lands and +plant vineyards, to yield them fruits of increase. He +blesseth them, so that they multiply exceedingly, and suffereth +not their cattle to decrease; and again, when they are diminished +or brought low through affliction, through any plague or trouble, +though He suffer them to be evil entreated by tyrants, and let +them wander out of the way in the wilderness; yet helpeth He the +poor out of misery, and maketh them households like a flock of +sheep.” (Ps. cvii.)</p> +<p>O my friends, have not these words ever been wonderfully +fulfilled to some of you! Then see how true it is <!-- page +45--><a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 45</span>that +God will not always be chiding, neither keepeth He His anger for +ever; but He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are but +dust, and like as a father pitieth his children, so does He pity +those who fear Him; and oftentimes, too, in His great +condescension, those who fear Him not.</p> +<p>My friends, I have been trying in this sermon to make you feel +that you are under God’s guidance, that His providence is +trying to train and educate you. I have told you that there +is a blessed use and meaning in your very sorrows, and in this +life of continual toil which God has appointed for you; I have +told you that you ought to thank God for those sorrows: how much +more then ought you to thank Him for your joys. If you +should thank Him for want, surely you should thank Him for +plenty. O thank Him earnestly—not only with your +lips, but in your lives. If you believe that He has +redeemed you with His precious blood, show your thankfulness by +living as redeemed men, holy to God—who are not your own, +but bought with a price; therefore show forth God’s glory, +the power of His grace in your bodies and your spirits which are +His. If you feel that it is a noble thing to be an +Englishman—especially an English soldier or an English +sailor—a noble and honourable privilege to be allowed to do +your duty in the noblest nation and the noblest church which the +world ever saw—then live as Englishmen in covenant with +God; faithful to Him who has redeemed you and washed you from +your sins in His own blood. Do you be faithful and obedient +to Christ’s Spirit, and He will be faithful to those +promises of His. Though a thousand fall at thy right hand, +yet the evil shall not come nigh thee. Blessed are all they +that fear the Lord and <!-- page 46--><a name="page46"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 46</span>walk in His ways. For thou +shalt eat the labours of thine hand. O well art thou and +happy shalt thou be. The Lord out of heaven shall so bless +thee, that thou shalt see England in prosperity all thy life +long. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, +and peace upon thy native land.</p> +<p>Oh, remember how God fulfilled that promise to England seventy +years ago, when the French swept in fire and slaughter, and +horrors worse than either, over almost every nation in Europe, +while England remained safe in peace and plenty, and an enemy +never set foot on God’s chosen English soil. Remember +the French war, and our salvation in it, and then believe and +take comfort. Trust in the Lord and be doing good; dwell in +the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.</p> +<h2><!-- page 47--><a name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +47</span>VII. HIGHER OR LOWER: WHICH SHALL WIN?</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to +the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after +the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the spirit do mortify +the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are +led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye +have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye +have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, +Father.”—<span class="smcap">Romans</span> viii. +12-15.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Let us try to understand these words. They are of quite +infinite importance to us all.</p> +<p>We shall all agree, all of us at least who have thought at all +about right and wrong, and tried to do right and avoid +wrong—that there goes on in us, at times, a strange +struggle. We wish to do a right thing, and at the very same +time long to do a wrong one. We are pulled, as it were, two +different ways by two different feelings, feel as if we were two +men at once, a better man and a worse man struggling for the +mastery. One may conquer, or the other. We may be +like the confirmed drunkard who cannot help draining off his +liquor, though he knows that it is going to kill him; or we may +be like the man who conquers his love for drink, and puts the +liquor away, because he knows that he ought not to take it.</p> +<p>We know too well, many of us, how painful this <!-- page +48--><a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +48</span>inward struggle is, between our better selves, and our +worse selves. How discontented with ourselves it makes us, +how ashamed of ourselves, how angry with ourselves. We all +understand too well—or ought to understand, St. +Paul’s words: How often the good which he wished to do, he +did not do, but the evil which he did not wish to do, he +did. How he delighted in the law of God in his inward man; +but he found another law in him, in his body, warring against the +law of his mind—that is his conscience and reason, and +making a slave of him till he was ready at times to cry, +“Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the +body of this death?”</p> +<p>We can understand too, surely the famous parable of Plato, the +greatest of heathen philosophers, who says, that the soul of man +is like a chariot, guided by a man’s will, but drawn by two +horses. The one horse he says is white, beautiful and +noble, well-broken and winged, too, always trying to rise and fly +upward with the chariot toward heaven. But the other horse +is black, evil, and unmanageable, always trying to rush downward, +and drag the chariot and the driver into hell.</p> +<p>Ah my friends, that is but too true a picture of most of us, +and God grant that in our souls the better horse may win, that +our nobler and purer desires may lift us up, and leave behind +those lower and fouler desires which try to drag us down. +But to drag us down whither? To hell at last, says Plato +the heathen. To destruction and death in the meanwhile, +says St. Paul.</p> +<p>Now in the text St. Paul explains this struggle—this +continual war which goes on within us. He says that there +are two parts in us—the flesh and the spirit—and that +the flesh lusts, that is, longs and struggles to have <!-- page +49--><a name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 49</span>its +own way against the spirit, and the spirit against the +flesh. First, there is a flesh in us—that is, a +carnal animal nature. Of that there can be no doubt: we are +animals, we come into the world as animals do—eat, drink, +sleep as they do—have the same passions as they +have—and our carnal mortal bodies die at last, exactly as +the animals die.</p> +<p>But are we nothing more? God forbid. St. Paul +tells us that we are something more—and our own conscience +and reason tell us that we are something more. We know that +to be a man, we must be something more than an animal—a +mere brute—for when we call any one a brute, what do we +mean? That he has lost his humanity, his sense of justice, +mercy, and decency, and given himself up to his flesh—his +animal nature, till the <i>man</i> in him is dead, and only the +<i>brute</i> remains. Mind, I do not say that we are right +in calling any human being a brute, for no one, I believe, is +sunk so low, but there is some spark of humanity, some spark of +what St. Paul calls “the spirit,” left in him, which +may be fanned into a flame and conquer, and raise and save the +man at last—unless he be a mere idiot—or that most +unhappy and brutal of all beings, a confirmed drunkard.</p> +<p>But our giving way to the same selfish shameless passions, +which we see in the lower animals, is letting the +“brute” in us conquer, is giving way to the works of +the flesh. The shameless and profligate person gives way to +the “brute” within him—the man who beats his +wife—or ill-treats his children—or in any wise +tyrannises over those who are weaker than himself, he too gives +way to the “brute” within him. He who grudges, +envies, tries to aggrandise himself at his neighbour’s +expense—he too <!-- page 50--><a name="page50"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 50</span>gives way to the “brute” +within him, and puts on the likeness of the dog which snatches +and snarls over his bone. He who spends his life in cunning +plots and mean tricks, stealthy, crafty, silent, false, he gives +way to the “brute” in him, just as much as the fox or +ferret. And those, let me say, who without giving way to +those grosser vices, let their minds be swallowed up with vanity, +love of admiration, always longing to be seen and looked at, and +wondering what folks will say of them, they too give way to the +flesh, and lower themselves to the likeness of animals. As +vain as a peacock, says the old proverb. And shame it is to +any human being so far to forget his true humanity, as to have +that said of him. And what shall we say of them who like +the swine live only for eating and drinking, and enjoyment? +Or what of those who like the butterflies spend all their time in +frivolous amusement, fluttering in the sunshine, silly and +helpless, without a sense of duty or usefulness, without +forethought for the coming frosts of winter, against which their +gay feathers would be no protection? Do not all these in +some way or other give way to the animal within them, and live +after the flesh? And do they not, all of them, of the +flesh, reap corruption, and fulfil St. Paul’s words, +“If ye live after the flesh ye shall die?”</p> +<p>But some one will say—“Die?—of course we +shall all die—good and bad alike.” Is it so, my +friends? Then why does our Lord say, “He that liveth +and believeth in me shall never die?” And why does +St. Paul say, “If ye through the spirit do mortify,” +that is crush, and as it were kill, “the deeds of the +body,” all those low animal passions and vices, “ye +shall live.”</p> +<p>Let us look at the text again. “If ye live after +the <!-- page 51--><a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +51</span>flesh ye shall die.” If you give way to +those animal passions and vices—low and cruel—or even +merely selfish and frivolous, you shall die; not merely your +bodies—they will die in any case—the animals +do—for animals they are, and as animals die they +must. But over and above that—you yourselves shall +die—your character will die, your manhood or your womanhood +will die, your immortal soul will die. The likeness of God +in you will die. Oh, my friends, there is a second death to +which that first death of the body is a mere trivial and harmless +accident—the death of sin which kills the true man and true +woman within you. And that second death may begin in this +life, and if it be not stopped and cured in time, may go on for +ever. The black horse of which I spoke just now, may get +the mastery and drag us down, down, into bogs out of which we can +never rise—over cliffs which we can never climb +again—down lower and lower—more and more foolish, +more and more reckless, more and more base, more and more +wretched. And then there will be no more use in saying, +“The Lord have mercy on my soul,” for we shall have +no soul left to have mercy on.</p> +<p>This is the dark side of the matter—a very dark one: but +it has to be spoken of, because it is true; and what is more, it +comes true only too often in this world. God grant, my dear +friends, that it may not come true of any of you.</p> +<p>But there is also a bright side to the matter—and on +that I will speak now, in order that this sermon may end, as such +gospel sermons surely should end, not with threats and fear, but +with hope and comfort.</p> +<p>“If ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the +body, ye shall live.” If you will be true to your +better <!-- page 52--><a name="page52"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 52</span>selves, if you will listen to, and +obey the spirit of God, when He puts into your hearts good +desires, and makes you long to be just and true, pure and sober, +kind and useful. If you will cast away and trample under +foot animal passions, low vices, you shall live. <i>You</i> +shall live. Your very soul and self shall live, and live +for ever. Your humanity, your human nature shall +live. All that is humane in you shall live. All that +is merciful and kind in you, all that is pure and graceful, all +that is noble and generous, all that is useful. All in you +that is pleasant to yourselves shall live. All in you that +is pleasant to your neighbours. All in you that is pleasant +to God shall live. In one word, all in you that is like +Christ—all in you that is like God—all in you that is +spirit and not flesh, shall live, and live for ever. So it +must be, for what says St. Paul? “As many as are led +by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” +Those who let the spirit of God lead them upward instead of +letting their own animal nature drag them downward, they are the +sons of God. And how can a son of God perish? How can +that which is like God and like Christ perish? How can he +perish, who like Christ is full of the fruits of the spirit? of +love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, +meekness, temperance? The world did not give them to him, +and the world cannot take them from him. They were not +bestowed on him at his bodily birth—neither shall they be +taken from him at his bodily death—for those blessed fruits +of the spirit belong neither to the flesh nor to the world, but +to Christ’s spirit, and to heaven—to that heaven in +which they dwell before the throne of God—yea, rather in +the mind of God Himself, the eternal forms of the truth, the +beauty, the goodness—<!-- page 53--><a +name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>which were +before all worlds—and shall be after all worlds have passed +away.</p> +<p>Oh! choose my friends, especially you who are young and +entering into life. Remember the parable of the old +heathen, about the two horses who draw your soul. Choose in +time whether the better horse shall win, or the worse; whether +your better self, or your worse, the Spirit of God or your own +flesh, shall be your master—whether you will rise step by +step to heaven, or sink step by step to death and hell? And +let no one tell you. That is not the question. That +is not what we care about. We know we shall do a great many +wrong things before we die. Every one does that; but we +hope we shall be able to make our peace with God before we die, +and so be forgiven at last.</p> +<p>My dear friends, that kind of religion has done more harm than +most kinds of <i>irreligion</i>. It tells you to take your +chance of beginning at the end—that is just before you +die. Common sense tells you that the only way to get to the +end, is by beginning at the beginning, which is <i>now</i>. +Now is the accepted time. <i>Now</i> is the day of +salvation, and you are accepted now, already, long ago.</p> +<p>What do you or any man want with making your peace with +God? You are at peace with God already. He has made +His peace with you. An infinitely better peace than any +priest or preacher can make for you. <i>You are God’s +child</i>. He looks down on you with boundless love. +The great heart of Christ, your King, your Redeemer, your elder +brother, yearns over you with boundless longing to draw you up to +Him, that you may be noble as He is noble, pure as He is pure, +loving as He is loving, just as He is just. Try to be +that. God will <!-- page 54--><a name="page54"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 54</span>at the last day take you as He finds +you. Let Him find you such as <i>that</i>—walking not +after the flesh, but after the Spirit; and then, and then only, +there will be no condemnation for you, for you will be in Christ +Jesus. Do not—do not talk about making your peace +with God some day—like a naughty child playing truant till +the last moment, and hoping that the schoolmaster may forget to +punish it. No, I trust you have received the Spirit. +If you have, then look facts in the face. I trust that none +of you have received the Spirit of bondage, which is slavery +again unto fear. If you have God’s Spirit you will +see who you are, and where you are, and act accordingly—you +will see that you <i>are</i> God’s children, who are meant +to be educated by the Son of God, and led by the Spirit of God, +and raised day by day, year by year, from the death of sin, to +the life of righteousness, from the likeness of the brute animal, +to the likeness of Christ, the Son of Man!</p> +<h2><!-- page 55--><a name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +55</span>VIII. ST. PETER; OR, TRUE COURAGE.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and +John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, +they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had +been with Jesus. And they called them, and commanded them +not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But +Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right +in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge +ye.”—<span class="smcap">Acts</span> iv. 13, 18, +19.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I think that the quality, the grace of God, which St. +Peter’s character and story specially forces on our notice +is courage—the true courage which comes by faith. The +courage which comes by faith, I say. There is a courage +which does not come by faith. There is a brute courage +which comes from hardness of heart; from obstinacy, or anger, or +stupidity, which does not see danger, or does not feel +pain. That is the courage of the brute. One does not +blame it or call it wrong. It is good in its place, as all +natural things are which God has made. It is good enough +for the brute; but it is not good enough for man. You +cannot trust it in man. And the more a man is what a man +should be, the less he can trust it. The more mind and +understanding a man has, so as to be able to foresee danger and +measure it, the more chance there is of his brute courage giving +way. The more feeling a man has, the more keen he is to +feel pain of body, or pain of mind, such as shame, loneliness, +<!-- page 56--><a name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +56</span>the dislike of ridicule, and the contempt of his +fellow-men; in a word, the more of a man he is, the more chance +there is of his brute courage breaking down, just when he wants +it more to keep him up, and leaving him to play the coward and +come to shame.</p> +<p>Yes; to go through with a difficult or dangerous undertaking a +man wants more than brute courage. He wants spiritual +courage, the courage which comes by faith. He needs to have +faith in what he is doing to be certain that he is doing his +duty—to be certain that he is in the right. To give +one example. Look at the class of men who in all England in +times of peace undergo the most fearful dangers; who know not at +what hour of any night they may not be called up to the most +serious and hard labour and responsibility, with the chance of a +horrible and torturing death. I mean the firemen of our +great cities, than whom there are no steadier, braver, +nobler-hearted men. Not a week passes without one or more +of those firemen, in trying to save life and property, doing +things which are altogether heroic. What do you fancy keeps +them up to their work? High pay? The amusement and +excitement of the fires? The vanity of being praised for +their courage? My friends, those would be but weak and +paltry motives, which would not keep a man’s heart calm and +his head clear under such responsibility and danger as +theirs.</p> +<p>No; it is the sense of duty. The knowledge that they are +doing a good and a noble work in saving the lives of human beings +and the wealth of the nation—the knowledge that they are in +God’s hands, and that no evil can happen to him who is +doing right—that to him even death at his post is not a +loss, but a gain. In short, faith in God, more or less +clear, is what gives <!-- page 57--><a name="page57"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 57</span>those men their strong and quiet +courage. God grant that you and I, if ever we have +dangerous work to do, may get true courage from the same fountain +of ghostly strength.</p> +<p>Yes; it is the courage which comes by faith which makes truly +brave men, men like St. Peter and St. John, who can say, +“If I am right, God is on my side, I will not fear what men +can do unto me.” “I will not fear,” said +David, “though the earth be moved, and the mountains +carried into the midst of the sea.” The just man who +holds firm to his duty will not, says a wise old writer, +“be shaken from his solid mind by the rage of the mob +bidding him do base things, or the frown of the tyrant who +persecutes him. Though the world were to crumble to pieces +round him, its ruins would strike him without making him +tremble.”</p> +<p>Such courage has made men, shut up in prison for long weary +years for doing what was right, endure manfully for the sake of +some great cause, and say—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Stone walls do not a prison make,<br /> + Nor iron bars a cage,<br /> +Minds innocent and quiet take<br /> + That for an hermitage.<br /> +If I have freedom in my thought,<br /> + And in my soul am free,<br /> +Angels alone that soar above<br /> + Enjoy such liberty.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Yes; settle it in your hearts, all of you. There is but +one thing you have to fear in heaven or earth—being untrue +to your better selves, and therefore untrue to God. If you +will not do the thing you know to be right, and say the thing you +know to be true, then indeed you are weak. You are a +coward, and sin against God. <!-- page 58--><a +name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 58</span>And you will +suffer the penalty of your cowardice. You desert God, and +therefore you cannot expect Him to stand by you. But who +will harm you if you be followers of that which is right?</p> +<p>What does David say:—“Lord, who shall abide in thy +tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that +walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the +truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, +nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against +his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; +but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth +to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out +his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. +He that doeth these things shall never be +moved.”—Psalm xv. 1-5. Yes, my friends, there +is a tabernacle of God in which, even in this life, He will hide +us from strife. There is a hill of God in which, even in +the midst of danger, and labour, and anxiety, we may rest both +day and night—even Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages—He +who is the righteousness itself, the truth itself. And +whosoever does righteousness and speaks truth, dwells in Christ +in this life, as well as in the life to come. And Christ +will give him courage to strengthen him by His Holy Spirit, to +stand in the evil day, the day of danger, if it shall +come—and having done all to stand.</p> +<p>Pray you then for the Spirit of Faith to believe really in +God, and for the spirit of ghostly strength to obey God +honestly. No man ever asked honestly for that Spirit but +what he gained it at last. And no man ever gained it but +what he found the truth of St. Peter’s own +words—“Who will harm you, if you be followers of what +is good?”</p> +<h2><!-- page 59--><a name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +59</span>IX. THE STORY OF JOSEPH.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“I fear God.” <span +class="smcap">Genesis</span> xlii. 18.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Did it ever seem remarkable to you, as it has seemed to me, +how many chapters of the Bible are taken up with the history of +Joseph—a young man who, on the most memorable occasion in +his life, said “I fear God,” and had no other +argument to use?</p> +<p>Thirteen chapters of the book of Genesis are mainly devoted to +the tale of this one young man. Doubtless his father +Jacob’s going down into Egypt, was one of the most +important events in the history of the Jews: we might expect, +therefore, to hear much about it. But what need was there +to spend four chapters at least in detailing Joseph’s +meeting with his brethren, even to minute accounts of the +speeches on both sides?</p> +<p>Those who will may suppose that this is the effect of mere +chance. Let us have no such fancy. If we believe that +a Divine Providence watched over the composition of those old +Scriptures; if we believe that they were meant to teach, not only +the Jews but all mankind; if we believe that they reveal, not +merely some special God in whom the Jews believed, but the true +and only God, Maker of heaven and earth; if we believe, with St. +Paul, that every book of the Old Testament is inspired by God, +and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, <!-- +page 60--><a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +60</span>for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God +may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works—if +we believe this, I say, it must be worth our while to look +carefully and reverently at a story which takes up so large a +part of the Bible, and expect to find in it something which may +help to make <i>us</i> perfect, and thoroughly furnish <i>us</i> +unto all good works.</p> +<p>Now, surely when we look at this history of Joseph, we ought +to see at the first glance that it is not merely a story about a +young man, but about the common human relations—the ties +which bind any and every man to other human beings round +him. For is it not a story about a brother and brothers? +about a son and a father, about a master and a servant? about a +husband and a wife? about a subject and a sovereign? and how they +all behaved to each other—some well and some ill—in +these relations?</p> +<p>Surely it is so, and surely this is why the story of Joseph +has been always so popular among innocent children and plain +honest folk of all kinds; because it is so simply human and +humane; and therefore it taught them far more than they could +learn from many a lofty, or seemingly lofty, book of devotion, +when it spoke to them of the very duties they had to fulfil, and +the very temptations they had to fight against, as members of a +family or as members of society. “One touch of Nature +(says the poet) makes the whole world kin;” and the touches +of nature in this story of Joseph make us feel that he and his +brethren, and all with whom he had to do, are indeed kin to us; +that their duty is our duty too—their temptations +ours—that where they fell, we may fall—where they +conquered we may conquer.</p> +<p>For what is the story? A young lad is thrown into <!-- +page 61--><a name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +61</span>every temptation possible for him. Joseph is very +handsome. The Bible says so expressly; so we may believe +it. He has every gift of body and mind. He is, as his +story proves plainly, a very clever person, with a strange power +of making every one whom he deals with love him and obey +him—a terrible temptation, as all God’s gifts are, if +abused by a man’s vanity, or covetousness or +ambition. He is an injured man too. He has been +basely betrayed by his brothers; he is under a terrible +temptation, to which ninety-nine men out of one hundred would +have yielded—do yield, alas! to this day, to revenge +himself if he ever has an opportunity. He is an injured man +in Egypt, for he is a slave to a foreigner who has no legal or +moral right over him. If ever there was a man who might be +excused for cherishing a burning indignation against his +oppressors, for brooding over his own wrongs, for despairing of +God’s providence, it is Joseph in Egypt. What could +we do but pity him if he had said to himself, as thousands in his +place have said since, “There is no God, or if there is, He +does not care for me—He does not care what men do. He +looks on unmoved at wrong and cruelty, and lets man do even as he +will. Then why should not <i>I</i> do as <i>I</i> +will? What are these laws of God of which men talk? +What are these sacred bonds of family and society? Every +one for himself is the rule of the world, and it shall be +<i>my</i> rule. Every man’s hand has been against +<i>me</i>; why should not my hand be against every man? +<i>I</i> have been betrayed; why should not <i>I</i> +betray? <i>I</i> have been opprest; why should not <i>I</i> +oppress? I have a lucky chance, too, of enjoying and +revenging myself at the same time; why should I not take my good +luck, and listen to the words of the tempter?”</p> +<p><!-- page 62--><a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +62</span>My dear friends, this is the way in which thousands have +talked, in which thousands talk to this day. This is the +spirit which ends in breaking up society, as happened in France +eighty years ago, in the inward corruption of a nation, and at +last, in outward revolution and anarchy, from which may God in +His mercy deliver us and our fellow-countrymen, and the +generations yet to come. But any nation or any man, will +only be delivered from it, as Joseph was delivered from it, by +saying, “I fear God.” No doubt it is most +natural for a man who is injured and opprest to think in that +way. Most <i>natural</i>—just as it is most natural +for the trapped dog to struggle vainly, and, in his blind rage, +bite at everything around him, even at his own master’s +hand when it offers to set him free. And if men are to be +mere children of nature, like the animals, and not children of +grace and sons of God, like Joseph, and like one greater than +Joseph, then I suppose they must needs tear each other to pieces +in envy and revenge, for there is nought better to be done. +But if they wish to escape from the misery and ruin which envy +and revenge bring with them, then they had better recollect that +they are not children of nature, but children of God—they +had best follow Joseph’s example, and say, “I fear +God.”</p> +<p>For this poor, betrayed, enslaved lad had got into his heart +something above Nature—something which Nature cannot give, +but only the inspiration of the Spirit of God gives. He had +got into his heart the belief that God’s laws were sacred +things and must not be broken, and that whatever befel him he +must fear God. However unjust and lawless the world looked, +God’s laws were still in it, and over it, and would avenge +themselves, <!-- page 63--><a name="page63"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 63</span>and he must obey them at all +risks. And what were God’s laws in Joseph’s +opinion?</p> +<p>These—the common relations of humanity between master to +servant, and servant to master; between parent to child, and +child to parent; brother to brother and sister to sister, and +between the man who is trusted and the man who trusts him. +These laws were sacred; and if all the rest of the world broke +them, he (Joseph) must not. He was bound to his master, not +only by any law of man, but by the Law of God. His master +trusted him, and left all that he had in his hand, and to Joseph +the law of honour was the law of God. Then he must be +justly faithful to his master. A sacred trust was laid on +him, and to be true to it was to fear God.</p> +<p>After a while his master’s wife tempts him. He +refuses; not merely out of honour to his master, but from fear of +God. “How can I do this great wickedness,” says +Joseph, “and sin against God?” His master and +his mistress are heathen, but their marriage is of God +nevertheless; the vow is sacred, and he must deny himself +anything, endure anything, dare any danger of a dreadful death, +and a prison almost as horrible probably as death itself, rather +than break it.</p> +<p>So again, in the prison. If ever man had excuse for +despairing of God’s providence, for believing that +right-doing did <i>not</i> pay, it was poor Joseph in that +prison. But no. God is with him still. He +believes still in the justice of God, the providence of God, and +therefore he is cheerful, active—he can make the best even +of a dungeon. He can find a duty to do even there; he can +make himself useful, helpful, till the keeper of the prison too +leaves everything in his hand.</p> +<p>What a gallant man! you say. Yes, my friends, but <!-- +page 64--><a name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +64</span>what makes him gallant? That which St. Paul says +(in Hebrews xi.) made all the old Jewish heroes +gallant—faith in God; real and living belief that God +is—and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek +Him.</p> +<p>At last Joseph’s triumph comes. He has his +reward. God helps him—because he will help +himself. He is made a great officer of state, married to a +woman of high rank, probably a princess, and he sees his brothers +who betrayed him at his mercy. Their lives are in his hand +at last. What will he do? Will he be a bad brother +because they were bad? Or will he keep to his old +watchword, “I fear God?” If he is tempted to +revenge himself, he crushes the temptation down. He will +bring his brothers to repentance. He will touch their +inward witness, and make them feel that they have been wicked +men. That is for their good. And strangely, but most +naturally, their guilty consciences go back to the great sin of +their lives—to Joseph’s wrong, though they have no +notion that Joseph is alive, much less near them. +“Did I not tell you,” says Reuben, “sin not +against the lad, and ye would not hearken? Therefore is +this distress come upon us.”</p> +<p>Joseph punishes Simeon by imprisonment. It may be that +he had reasons for it which we are not told. But when his +brothers have endured the trial, and he finds that Benjamin is +safe, he has nothing left but forgiveness. They are his +brethren still—his own flesh and blood. And he +“fears God.” He dare not do anything but +forgive them. He forgives them utterly, and welcomes them +with an agony of happy tears. He will even put out of their +minds the very memory of their baseness. “Now, +therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold +me hither, he says; for God <!-- page 65--><a +name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 65</span>sent me +before you, to save your lives with a great +deliverance.”</p> +<p>Is not that Divine? Is not that the Spirit of God and of +Christ? I say it is. For what is it but the likeness +of Christ, who says for ever, out of heaven, to all mankind, +“Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye crucified +me. For God, my Father, sent me to save your souls by a +great salvation.”</p> +<p>My friends, learn from this story of Joseph, and the prominent +place in the Bible which it occupies—learn, I say, how +hateful to God are family quarrels; how pleasant to God are +family unity and peace, and mutual trust, and duty, and +helpfulness. And if you think that I speak too strongly on +this point, recollect that I do no more than St. Paul does, when +he sums up the most lofty and mystical of all his Epistles, the +Epistle to the Ephesians, by simple commands to husbands and +wives, parents and children, masters and servants, as if he +should say,—You wish to be holy? you wish to be +spiritual? Then fulfil these plain family duties, for they, +too, are sacred and divine, and he who despises them, despises +the ordinances of God. And if you despise the laws of God, +they will surely avenge themselves on you. If you are bad +husbands or bad wives, bad parents or bad children, bad brothers +or sisters, bad masters or servants, you will smart for it, +according to the eternal laws of God, which are at work around +you all day long, making the sinner punish himself whether he +likes or not.</p> +<p>Examine yourselves—ask yourselves, each of you, Have I +been a good brother? have I been a good son? have I been a good +husband? have I been a good father? have I been a good +servant? If not, all professions of religion will avail me +nothing. If not, let me <!-- page 66--><a +name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>confess my +sins to God, and repent and amend at once, whatever it may cost +me. The fulfilling these plain duties is the true test of +my faith, the true sign and test whether I really believe in God +and in Jesus Christ our Lord. Do I believe that the world +is Christ’s making? and that Christ is governing it? +Do I believe that these plain family relationships are +Christ’s sacred appointments? Do I believe that our +Lord Jesus was made very man of the substance of His mother, to +sanctify these family relationships, and claim them as the +ordinances of God His Father?</p> +<p>In one word—copy Joseph; and when you are tempted say +with Joseph, “Can I do this great wickedness, and +sin—not against this man or this woman, but +against—<i>God</i>.”</p> +<p>Take home these plain, practical words. Take them home, +and fear God at your own firesides. For at the last day, +the Bible tells us, the Lord Jesus Christ will not reward you and +me according to the opinions we held while in this mortal body, +whether they were quite right or quite wrong, but according to +the deeds which we did in the body, whether they were good or +bad.</p> +<h2><!-- page 67--><a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +67</span>X. SLAVES OF FREE?</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Fear ye not, stand still, and see the +salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to-day: for the +Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no +more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall +hold your peace.”—<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> +xiv. 13, 14.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Why did God bring the Jews out of Egypt? God Himself +told them why. To fulfil the promise which He made to +Abraham, their forefather, that of his children He would make a +great nation.</p> +<p>Now the Jews in Egypt were not a nation at all. A nation +is free, governed by its own laws, one body of people, held +together by one fellow feeling, one language, one blood, one +religion; as we English are. We are a nation. The +Jews were none in Egypt, no more than Negro slaves in America +were a nation. They served a people of a different blood, +as the Jews did in Egypt. They had no laws of their own; +they had no fellow-feeling with each other, which enabled them to +make common cause together, and help each other, and free each +other.</p> +<p>Selfishness and cowardice make some men slaves. Above +all, ungodliness makes men slaves. For when men do not fear +and obey God, they are sure to obey their own lusts and passions, +and become slaves to them. They become ready to sell +themselves soul and body for money, <!-- page 68--><a +name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 68</span>or pleasure, +or food. And their fleshly lusts, their animal appetites, +keep them down, selfish, divided, greedy, and needy, at the mercy +of those who are stronger and cunninger than themselves, just as +the Jews were kept down by the strong and cunning Egyptians.</p> +<p>They had slavish hearts in them, and as long as they had, God +could not make them into a nation. The Jews <i>had</i> +slaves’ hearts in them. They were glad enough to get +free out of Egypt, to escape from their heavy labour in brick and +mortar, from being oppressed, beaten, killed at the will and +fancy of the Egyptians, from having their male children thrown +into the river as soon as they were born, to keep them from +becoming too numerous. They were glad enough, poor +wretches, to escape from all their misery and oppression of which +we read in the first three chapters of Exodus. But if they +could do that, that was all they cared for. They did not +want to be made wise, righteous, strong, free-hearted—they +did not care about being made into a nation. We read that +when by the Red Sea shore (Exodus xiv.), they saw themselves in +great danger, the army of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, following close +upon them to attack them, they lost heart at once, and were sore +afraid, and cried unto Moses, “Is not this the word which +we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve +the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the +Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”</p> +<p>Cowards and slaves! The thing they feared above all, you +see, was death. If they could but keep the miserable life +in their miserable bodies, they cared for nothing beyond. +They were willing to see their children taken from them and +murdered, willing to be beaten, worked like dumb beasts for other +men’s profit, willing to be <!-- page 69--><a +name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 69</span>idolaters, +heathens, worshipping the false gods of Egypt, dumb beasts and +stocks and stones, willing to be despised, wretched, helpless +slaves—if they could but keep the dear life in them. +God knows there are plenty like them now-a-days—plenty who +do not care how mean, helpless, wicked, contemptible they are, if +they can but get their living by their meanness.</p> +<p>“<i>But a man must live</i>,” says some one. +How often one hears that made the excuse for all sorts of +meanness, dishonesty, grasping tyranny. “<i>A man +must live</i>!” Who told you that? It is better +to die like a man than to live like a slave, and a wretch, and a +sinner. Who told you that, I ask again? Not +God’s Bible, surely. Not the example of great and +good men. If Moses had thought that, do you think he would +have gone back from Midian, when he was in safety and comfort, +with a wife and home, and children at his knee, and leave all he +had on earth to face Pharaoh and the Egyptians, to face danger, +perhaps a cruel death in shame and torture, and all to deliver +his countrymen out of Egypt? Moses would sooner die like a +man helping his countrymen, than live on the fat of the land +while they were slaves. And forty years before he had shown +the same spirit too, when though he was rich and prosperous, and +high in the world, the adopted son of King Pharaoh’s +daughter (Exodus ii. 11), he disdained to be a slave and to see +his countrymen slaves round him. We read how he killed an +Egyptian, who was ill-treating one of his brothers, the +Jews—and how he then fled out of Egypt into Midian, +houseless and friendless, esteeming as St. Paul says, “the +reproach of Christ”—that is the affliction and +ill-will which came on him for doing right, “better than +all the treasures of Egypt” (Heb xi. 24-27).</p> +<p><!-- page 70--><a name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +70</span><i>A man must live</i>? The valiant Tyrolese of +old did not say that (more than seventy years ago), when they +fought to the last drop of their blood to defend their country +against the French invaders. They were not afraid to die +for liberty; and therefore they won honour from all honourable +men, praise from all whose praise is worth having for ever.</p> +<p><i>A man must live</i>? The old Greeks and Romans, +heathens though they were, were above so mean a speech as +that. They used to say, it was the noblest thing that can +befall a man to die—not to live in clover, eating and +drinking at his ease—to die among the foremost, fighting +for wife and child and home.</p> +<p><i>A man must live</i>? The martyrs of old did not say +that, when they endured the prison and the scourge, the sword and +the fire, and chose rather to die in torments unspeakable than +deny the Lord Jesus who bought them with His blood, rather than +do what they knew to be <i>wrong</i>. (Hebrews xi.) They +were not afraid of torture and death; but of doing wrong they +were unspeakably afraid. They were <i>free</i>, those holy +men of old, truly free—free from their own love of ease and +cowardice and selfishness, and all that drags a man down and +makes a slave of him. They knew that “life is more +than meat, and the body more than raiment.” What +matter if a man gain the whole world and lose his own soul? +Their souls were free whatever happened to their bodies—the +tormentor could not touch <i>them</i>, because they believed in +God, because they did not fear those who could kill the body, and +after that had no more that they could do.</p> +<p>And do you not see that a coward can never be free, never be +godly, never be like Christ? For by a coward <!-- page +71--><a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 71</span>I +mean not merely a man who is afraid of pain and trouble. +Every one is that more or less. Jesus Himself was afraid +when He cried in agony, “Father, if thou be willing, remove +this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be +done.” (Luke xxii. 42.) But a coward is a man who is +so much afraid that to escape pain and danger, he will do what he +<i>ought not</i>—do what he is ashamed of doing—do +what lowers him; and therefore our Lord Jesus had perfect courage +when He tasted death for all men, and endured the very agony from +which He shrank, and while He said, “Father, if it be +possible, let this cup pass,” said also, +“Nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done.”</p> +<p>The Jews were cowards when they cried, “Let us alone +that we may serve the Egyptians.” While a man is in +that pitiful mood he cannot rise, he cannot serve God—for +he must remain the slave of his own body, of which he is so +mightily careful, the slave of his own fears, the slave of his +own love of bodily comfort. Such a man does not <i>dare</i> +serve God. He dare not obey God, when obeying God is +dangerous and unpleasant. He dare not claim his heavenly +birthright, his share in God’s Spirit, his share in +Christ’s kingdom, because that would bring discomfort on +him, because he will have to give up the sins he loves, because +he will have to endure the insults and ill-will of wicked +men. Thus cowards can never be free, for it is only where +the Spirit of God is that there is liberty.</p> +<p>But the Jews were not yet fit to be made soldiers of. +God would not teach them at once not to be afraid of men. +He did not command them to turn again and fight these Egyptians, +neither did He lead them into the land of Canaan the strait and +short road, through the <!-- page 72--><a name="page72"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 72</span>country of the Philistines, lest they +should be discouraged when they saw war.</p> +<p>Now what was God’s plan for raising the Jews out of this +cowardly, slavish state? First, and above all, to make them +trust in <i>Him</i>. While they were fearing the Egyptians, +they could never fear Him. While they were fearing the +Egyptians, they were ready to do every base thing, to keep their +masters in good humour with them. God determined to teach +them to fear Him more than they feared the Egyptians. God +taught them that He was stronger than the Egyptians, for all +their civilisation and learning and armies, chariots and +horsemen, swords and spears. He would not let the Jews +fight the Egyptians. He told them by the mouth of Moses, +“Stand you still, and the Lord shall fight for you,” +and he commanded Moses to stretch out his rod over the sea. +(Exodus xiv.) The Egyptians were stronger than the +Jews—they would have cut them to pieces if they had come to +a battle. For free civilised men like the Egyptians are +always stronger than slaves, like the Jews; they respect +themselves more, they hold together better, they have order and +discipline, and obedience to their generals, which slaves have +not. God intended to teach the Jews that also in His good +time. But not yet. They were not fit yet to be made +soldiers. They were not even <i>men</i> yet, but miserable +slaves. A man is only a true man when he trusts in God, and +none but God—when he fears God and nothing <i>but</i> +God. And that was the lesson which God had to teach +them. That was the lesson which He taught them by bringing +them up out of Egypt by signs and wonders, that <i>God was the +Lord</i>, <i>God</i> was their deliverer, <i>God</i> was their +King—that let <i>them</i> be as weak as they might, +<i>He</i> was strong—that <!-- page 73--><a +name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 73</span>if they could +not fight the Egyptians God could overwhelm them—that if +they could not cross the sea, God could open the sea to let them +pass through. If they dreaded the waste howling wilderness +of sand, with its pillars of cloud and fire, its stifling winds +which burn the life out of man and beast, God could make the sand +storms and the fire pillars and the deadly east wind of the +desert work for their deliverance. And so He taught them to +fear Himself, to trust in Him, to look up to Him as their +deliverer whose strength was shown most gloriously when they were +weakest and most despairing.</p> +<p>This was the great lesson which God meant to teach the +children of Israel, that the root and ground of all other +lessons, is that this earth belongs to the Lord alone. That +had been what God had been teaching them already, by the plagues +of Egypt. The Egyptians worshipped their great river Nile, +and thought it was a god, and the Lord turned the Nile water into +blood, and showed that He could do what He liked with it. +The Egyptians worshipped dumb beasts and insects, and fancied in +their folly that they were gods. The Lord sent plagues of +frogs and flies and locusts, and took them away again when He +liked, to show them that the beasts and creeping things were His +also.</p> +<p>The Egyptians worshipped false gods who as they fancied +managed the seasons and the weather. God sent them thunder +and hail when it pleased Him, and showed the Jews that <i>He</i>, +not these false gods of Egypt, ruled the heavens. The +Egyptians and many other heathen nations of the earth used to +offer their children to false gods. I do not mean by +killing them in sacrifice, but by naming them after some idol, +and then expecting that the idol would ever afterwards prosper +and strengthen <!-- page 74--><a name="page74"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 74</span>them. Thus the kings were +called after the sun. Pharaoh means the Sun-king; for they +fancied that the sun was a god, and protected their kings one +after the other. And God slew all the first-born of Egypt, +even the first-born of King Pharaoh on his throne. The +Sun-god could not help him. The idols of Egypt could not +take care of their worshippers—only the children of the +Jews escaped. (Exodus xii.) What a lesson for the +Jews! And they needed it; for during the four hundred years +that they had been in Egypt they had almost forgotten the one +true God, the God of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; +at least they thought Him no better than the false gods of +Egypt. After all these wondrous proofs of God’s +almighty power, and His jealousy for His own name, they fell away +to idols again and again. They worshipped a golden calf in +Horeb (Exodus xxxii.); they turned aside to worship the idols of +the nations whom they passed through on their way to +Canaan. Idolatry had been rooted in their hearts, and it +took many years of severe training and teaching on God’s +part to drive it out of them—to make them feel that the one +God, who made heaven and earth, had delivered them—that +they belonged to Him, that they had a share in Him—to make +them join with one heart and voice in the glorious song of +Moses:</p> +<p>“I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed +gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the +sea. The Lord is my strength and song and he is become my +salvation: he is my God and I will prepare him an habitation; my +father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man +of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and +his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains <!-- page +75--><a name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>also +are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them: +they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O +Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath +dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine +excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: +thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as +stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were +gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the +depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy +said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my +lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand +shall deliver them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea +covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who +is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, +glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? +Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed +them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which +thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto +thy holy habitation. The people shall hear, and be afraid: +sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. +Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, +trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of +Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon +them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a +stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass +over, which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in +and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the +place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the +Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. The +Lord shall reign for ever and ever. <!-- page 76--><a +name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span>For the horse +of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into +the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon +them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of +the sea.” (Exodus xv. 1-19.)</p> +<p>This was God’s first lesson to the Jews; the first step +towards making them a free nation. For believe me, my +friends, the only thought which can make men feel free and +strong, the only thought which can keep them from being afraid of +each other, afraid of the seasons, and the elements, and the +chances and changes of this mortal life, the only thought which +can teach them that they are brothers, bound together to help and +love each other, in short the only thought which can make men +citizens—is the thought that the one God is their Father, +and that they are all His children—that they have one God, +one religion, one baptism, one Lord and Saviour, who has +delivered them, and will deliver them again and again from all +their sins and miseries; one God and Father of all, who is in +all, and for all, and over all, to whom they all owe equal duty, +in whom they all have an equal share.</p> +<p>That lesson God began to teach the Jews by the Red Sea. +That lesson God has taught our English forefathers again and +again; and that lesson He will teach us, their children, as often +as we forget it, by signs and wonders, by chastisements and by +mercies, till we all learn to trust in Him and Him only, and know +that there is none other name under heaven by which we can be +saved from evil in this life or in the life to come, but the name +of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Angel of the Covenant, who +led the Jews up out of the land of Egypt.</p> +<h2><!-- page 77--><a name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +77</span>XI. DANGERS—AND THE LITANY.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Then they cried unto the Lord in their +trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And +he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city +of habitation. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his +goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of +men.”—<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cvii. 6-8.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This 107th Psalm is a noble psalm—a psalm which has +given comfort to thousands in suffering and in danger, even in +the sorrows which they have brought on themselves by their own +folly. For it tells them of a Lord who hears them when they +cry to Him in their trouble, and who delivers them from their +distress.</p> +<p>It was written on a special occasion, as all the most +important words of the Bible are written—written seemingly, +after some band of Jews struggling across the desert, on their +return from the captivity in Babylon, had been in great danger of +death. They went astray in the wilderness out of their way, +and found no city to rest in; hungry and thirsty their soul +fainted in them, so they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, +and He delivered them from their distress. He led them +forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where they +dwelt. That was the plain fact, on which the psalmist built +up this noble psalm.</p> +<p>In the blazing sandy desert, without water, food, or shade, +they had lost their path, and were at their wit’s <!-- page +78--><a name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +78</span>end. And they cried unto the Lord their God for +guidance, for they could not guide themselves. And the Lord +answered their prayer and guided them. We do not read that +God worked a miracle for them, or sent an angel to lead +them. Simply, somehow or other, they found their way after +all, and got safe out of the desert; and they believed that it +was God who enabled them to find their way, and praised the Lord +for His goodness; and for His goodness not only to them, but to +the children of men—to all men who had the sense to call on +Him in trouble, and to put themselves in their right place as +men—God’s children, calling for help to their Father +in heaven.</p> +<p>Therefore the psalmist goes on to speak of the cases of +God’s goodness, which he seems to have seen, or at least +heard of. Of wretched prisoners, bound fast in misery and +iron, and that through their own fault and folly, who had cried +unto the Lord in their trouble, and been delivered by Him from +the darkness of the dungeon. Of foolish men who had ruined +their health, or at least their prospects in life, by their own +sin and folly, till their soul abhorred all manner of meat, and +they were hard at death’s door. But of them, too, he +says, when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, He +delivered them from their distress. He sent His +word—what we now foolishly call the laws of Nature, but +which the Psalmist knew to be the ever-working power and +providence of God—and healed them, and they were saved from +their destruction.</p> +<p>Then he goes on to speak of the dangers of the sea which were +especially strange and terrible to him—a Jew. For the +Jews were no sailors; and if they went to sea, would go as +merchants, or supercargoes in ships <!-- page 79--><a +name="page79"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 79</span>manned by +heathens; and the danger was really great. The ships were +clumsy; navigation was ill-understood; the storms of the +Mediterranean sea were then as now, sudden and furious; and when +one came on, the heathen sailors would, I doubt not, be at their +wit’s end, their courage melting away because of the +trouble, and call on all their gods and idols to help them; but +the men of whom the Psalmist speaks, though they were no seamen, +knew on whom to call. It was by the word of the Lord that +the stormy wind arose which lifted up the billows. He could +quell the storm if He would, and when He would; and to Him they +cried and not in vain. “And He made the storm to +cease so that the waves thereof were still. Then were they +glad, because they were at rest, and so He brought them to the +haven where they would be.”</p> +<p>My friends, this was the simple faith of the old Jews. +And this was the simple faith of our forefathers by land and +sea. And this faith, as I believe, made England +great. The faith that there was a living God, a living +Lord, who would hear the cry of poor creatures in their trouble, +even when they had brought their trouble on themselves. Our +forefathers were not mere landsmen like the Jews, but the finest +seamen the world has ever seen. And yet they were not +ashamed in storm and danger to cry like the Jews unto the Lord, +that He might make the storm to cease, and bring them to the +haven where they would be. Yes! faith in God did not make +them the less brave, skilful, cautious, scientific; and it need +not make us so. Skill and science need not take away our +faith in God. I trust it will not take it away, and I +believe it will not take it away, as long as <!-- page 80--><a +name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 80</span>we can hear +what I once heard, on board of one of the finest men of war <a +name="citation80a"></a><a href="#footnote80a" +class="citation">[80a]</a> in the British Navy—the ship in +which and from which, all British sailors may learn their +duty—when I saw some six or eight hundred men mustered on +the deck for daily morning prayer, and heard the noble old +prayer, which our forefathers have handed down to us, to be said +every day in Her Majesty’s navy: <a +name="citation80b"></a><a href="#footnote80b" +class="citation">[80b]</a></p> +<p>“O eternal God who alone spreadest out the heavens, and +rulest the raging of the sea; who hast compassed the waters with +bounds, until day and night come to an end; be pleased to receive +into Thy Almighty and most gracious protection, the persons of us +Thy servants, and the fleet in which we serve. Preserve us +from the dangers of the sea, and from the violence of the enemy, +that we may be a safeguard unto our most gracious Sovereign Lady +Queen Victoria and her dominions, and a security for such as pass +on the seas upon their lawful occasions; that the inhabitants of +our island may in peace and quietness serve Thee our God, and +that we may return in safety to enjoy the blessings of the land, +with the fruits of our labours, and with a thankful remembrance +of Thy mercies, to praise and glorify Thy holy name; through +Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”</p> +<p>Then, as I stood upon that deck, and heard that solemn appeal +to God, before each man went about his appointed duty for the +day, said I to myself, “The ancient spirit is not +dead. It may be that it is sleeping in these prosperous +times. But it is not dead, as long as this nation by those +prayers confesses that we ought at least to believe in a God who +hears our prayers, by <!-- page 81--><a name="page81"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 81</span>land and sea. Those grand words +were perhaps nothing but a form to most of the men who heard +them. But they were a form which bore witness to a truth +which was true, even if they forgot it—a truth which they +might need some day, and feel the need of, and cling to, as the +sailors of old time clung to it. Those words would surely +sink into the men’s ears, and some day, it might be, bear +fruit in their hearts. In storm, in wreck, in battle, and +in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment, these words +would surely rise in many a brave fellow’s memory, and help +him to do his duty like a man, because there was a living Lord +and God above him who knew his weakness and would hear his +prayers.”</p> +<p>And we, my friends, here safe on land, we have a national +prayer, or rather a series of prayers, to Christ as God, which +ought to remind us of that noble truth which the 107th Psalm is +meant to teach. You hear it all of you every Sunday +morning. I mean the Litany. That noble composition, +which seems to me more wise as a work of theology, more beautiful +as a work of art, the oftener I use it—That Litany, I say, +is modelled on the 107th Psalm; and it expresses the very heart +and spirit of our forefathers three hundred years ago. It +bids us pray to be delivered from every conceivable harm, to +Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And then it prays for every +conceivable blessing, not only for each of us separately, but for +this whole nation of England, Great Britain, and Ireland, and for +all the nations on earth, and for the heathen and the savage.</p> +<p>Of course, just because it is a National prayer, and meant for +all Englishmen alike, all of it does not suit each and every one +of us at the same time. Each heart <!-- page 82--><a +name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 82</span>knows its own +bitterness. Each soul has its own special mercy to +ask. But there is a word in the Litany here, and another +there, which will fit each of us in turn, if we will but follow +it. One may have to pray to be delivered from pride, +vain-glory, and hypocrisy—another to be delivered from foul +living and deadly sin—another to be delivered, or to have +those whom he loves delivered, from battle, murder, and sudden +death. Another to be delivered from the dangers of +affliction and tribulation; another from the far worse danger of +wrath; but all have to pray to be delivered from something. +And all have to pray to the same deliverer—Christ, who was +born a Man, died a man, and rose again a man, that He might know +what was in man, and be able to succour those who are tempted, +seeing that He was tempted in all things like as we are, yet +without sin.</p> +<p>But there is a part—the latter part—of that Litany +which, I think, many do not understand or feel. Perhaps +they have reason to thank God that they do not understand or feel +it; yet, the day may come—a day of sadness, fear, +perplexity, sorrow, when they will understand it, and thank God +that their forefathers placed it in the prayer-book, for them to +fall back upon, as comfort and hope in the day of trouble; +putting words into their mouths and thoughts into their hearts, +which they, perhaps, never would have found out for +themselves.</p> +<p>I mean that latter part of the Litany which talks of the evils +which the craft and subtilty of the devil or men work against us, +that they may be brought to nought, and by the providence of +God’s goodness be dispersed, that we may be hurt by no +persecutions—which calls on Christ to arise and deliver us, +for His name’s <!-- page 83--><a name="page83"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 83</span>sake and His honour, which pleads +before God the noble works which He did in the days of our +forefathers; and which continues with short prayers, almost +cries, which have something in them of terror, almost of +agony. What have such words to do with us? Why are +they put into the mouths of us English, safe, comfortable, +prosperous, above almost all the nations upon earth?</p> +<p>Ah! my friends, those prayers, when they were first put into +our prayer-book, were spoken for the hearts of Englishmen. +They were not prayers for one afflicted person here, and another +there,—they, too, were National prayers. They were +the cries of the English nation in agony—in the time when, +three hundred years ago, the mightiest nations and powers of +Europe, temporal and spiritual, were set against this little isle +of England, and we expected not merely to be invaded and +conquered, but destroyed utterly and horribly with sword and +fire, by the fleets and armies of the King of Spain. In +that great danger and war our forefathers cried to God; and they +cried all the more earnestly, because they felt that their hands +were not clean; that they had plenty and too many sins to be +“mercifully forgiven,” and that at best they could +but ask God “mercifully to look upon their +infirmities,” and, “for the glory of His name, turn +from them those evils which they most righteously had +deserved.” But nevertheless they cried unto God in +their great agony, because they had the spirit of the old +Psalmist, who said, “They cried unto the Lord in their +trouble, and He delivered them out of their distress.”</p> +<p>And what answer God made to their prayers all the world knows, +or should know. For if He had not answered their prayer, we +should not be here this day, a great, and <!-- page 84--><a +name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 84</span>strong, and +prosperous nation, with a pure Church and a free Gospel, and the +Holy Bible if he wills, in the hands of the poorest child. +Unless prayer be a dream, and there be no God in heaven worth +calling a God—then did God answer the prayers of our +forefathers three hundred years ago, when they cried unto Him as +one nation in their utter need.</p> +<p>But some will say—this may be all very true and very +fine, but we are in no such utter need now. Why should we +use those prayers?</p> +<p>My dear friends, let me say, if you are not now in utter need, +in terror, anxiety, danger, if you have no need to cry to Christ, +“Graciously look upon our afflictions; pitifully behold the +sorrows of our hearts,” how do you know that there is not +some one in any and every congregation who is? And you and +I, if we have said the Litany in spirit and in truth, have been +praying for them. The Litany bids us speak as members of a +Church, as citizens of a nation, bound together by the ties of +blood and of laws, as well as self-interest. The Litany +bids us say, not selfishly and apart, Graciously look on +<i>my</i> afflictions, but on <i>our</i> afflictions—the +afflictions of every English man, and woman, and child, who is in +trouble, or ever will be in trouble <i>hereafter</i>. Oh, +remember this last word. Generations long since dead and +buried have prayed for you, and God has heard their prayers; and +now you have been praying for your children, and your +children’s children, and generations yet unborn, that, if +ever a dark day should come over England, a time of want and +danger and perplexity and misery, God would deliver them in their +turn out of their distress. And more; you have been +teaching your children, that they may teach their children in +<!-- page 85--><a name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +85</span>turn, and pray and cry to God in their trouble; and thus +this grand old Litany is to us, and to those we shall leave +behind us a precious National heir-loom, teaching us and them the +lesson of the 107th Psalm—that there is a Lord in heaven +who hears the prayers of men, the sinful as well as the +sorrowful, that when they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, He +delivers them out of their distress, and that men should +therefore praise the Lord for His goodness, and declare the +wonders which He doeth for the children of men.</p> +<h2><!-- page 86--><a name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +86</span>XII. WILD TIMES, OR DAVID’S FAITH IN A +LIVING GOD.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“David therefore departed thence, and +escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his +father’s house heard it, they went down thither to +him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that +was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered +themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there +were with him about four hundred men.”—1 <span +class="smcap">Sam.</span> xxii. 1, 2.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In every country, at some time or other, there have been evil +days—days of violence, tyranny, misrule, war, invasion, +when men are too apt, for want of settled law, to take the law +into their own hands; and the land is full of robbers, outlaws, +bands of partizans and irregular soldiers—wild times, in +which wild things are done.</p> +<p>Of such times we here in England have had no experience, and +we forget how common they are; we forget that many great nations +have been in this state again and again. We forget that +almost all Europe was in that wild and lawless state in our +fathers’ times, and therefore we forget that the Bible, +which tells man his whole duty, must needs tell men about such +times as those, and how a man may do his duty, and save his soul +therein. For the Bible is every man’s book, and has +its lesson for every man. It is meant not merely for +comfortable English folk, who sit at home at ease, under just +laws and a good government. It is meant just as much for +the opprest, for the persecuted, for the <!-- page 87--><a +name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 87</span>man who is +fighting for his country, for the man who has been found fighting +in vain, and is simply waiting for God’s help, and crying, +“Lord, how long? how long ere Thou avenge the blood that is +shed?” It is meant as much for such as for you and +me; that every man, in whatever fearful times he may live, and +whatever fearful trials he may go through, and whatever fearful +things he may be tempted to do, and, indeed, may have to do, in +self-defence, may still be able to go to the Bible, there to find +light for his feet, and a lantern for his path, and so that he +may steer through the worst of times by Faith in the Living +God.</p> +<p>Again, such lawless times are certain to raise up bold and +adventurous men, more or less like David. Men of +blood—who are yet not altogether bad men—who are +forced to take the law into their own hands, to try and keep +their countrymen together, to put down tyrants and robbers, and +to drive out invaders. And men, too, suffering from deep +and cruel wrongs, who are forced for their lives’ sake, and +their honour’s sake, to escape—to flee to the +mountains and the forests, and to foreign lands, and there live +as they can till times shall be better. There have been +such men in all wild times—outlaws, chiefs of armed bands, +like our Robin Hood, whose name was honoured in England for +hundreds of years as the protector of the poor and the opprest, +and the punisher of the Norman tyrants: a man made up of much +good and much evil, whom we must not judge, but when we think of +him, only thank God that we do not live in such times now, when +no man’s life or property, or the honour of his family was +safe.</p> +<p>Such men, too, in our fathers’ days, were the Tyrolese +heroes, Hofer and the Good Monk who left, the one his <!-- page +88--><a name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 88</span>farm +and the other his cloister, to lead their countrymen against the +invading French; men of blood, who were none the less men of +God. And such is, in our own days, that famous Garibaldi, +whose portrait hangs in many an English cottage, for a proof that +though we, thank God, do not need such men in peaceful England, +our hearts bid us to love and honour them wherever they be. +There have been such men in all bad times, and there will be till +the world’s end, and they will do great deeds, and their +names will be famous, and often honoured and adored by men.</p> +<p>Now, what does the Bible say of such men? Does it give +any rule by which we may judge them? any rule which they ought to +obey? Can God’s blessing be on them? Can they +obey God in that wild and dark and dangerous station to which He +seems to have called them—to which God certainly called +Hofer and the Good Monk?</p> +<p>I think if the Bible did not answer that question it would not +be a complete book—if it spoke only of peaceful folk, and +peaceful times; when, alas! from the beginning of the world, the +earth has been but too full of violence and misrule, war and +desolation. But the Bible <i>does</i> answer that +question. A large portion of one whole book is actually +taken up with the history of a young outlaw—of David, the +shepherd boy, who rises through strange temptations and dangers +to be a great king, the first man who, since Moses, formed the +Jews into one strong united nation. It does not hide his +faults, even his fearful sins, but it shows us that he <i>had</i> +a right road to follow, though he often turned aside from +it. It shows us that he could be a good man if he chose, +though he was an outlaw at the head of a band of <!-- page +89--><a name="page89"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +89</span>ruffians; and it shows us the secret of his power and of +his success—<i>Faith in the Living God</i>.</p> +<p>Therefore it is that after the Bible has shown us (in the Book +of Ruth) worthy Boaz standing among his reapers in the barley +field, it goes on to show us Boaz’s great-grandson, David, +a worthy man likewise, but of a very different life, marked out +by God from his youth for strange and desperate deeds; killing, +as a mere boy, a lion and a bear, overthrowing the Philistine +giant with a sling and a stone, captain of a band of outlaws in +the wilderness, fighting battles upon battles; and at last a +king, storming the mountain fortress of Jerusalem, and setting up +upon Mount Zion, which shall never be removed, the Throne of +David. A strange man, and born into a strange time. +You all know the first part of David’s history—how +Samuel secretly anoints David king over Israel, and how the +Spirit of the Lord comes from that day forward upon the young lad +(1 Samuel xvi. 12). How king Saul meanwhile fell into dark +and bad humours. How the Spirit of the Lord—of +goodness and peace of mind—goes from him, and an evil +spirit from the Lord troubles him. Then how young David is +sent for to play to him on his harp (1 Samuel xvi.), and soothe +his distempered mind. Already we hear of David as a +remarkable person; we hear of his extraordinary beauty, his skill +in music; we hear, too, how he is already a man of war, and a +mighty valiant man, and prudent in matters, and the Lord is with +him.</p> +<p>Then follows the famous story of his killing Goliath the +Philistine (1 Samuel xvii.). Poor, distempered Saul, it +seems, had forgotten him, though David had cured his melancholy +with his harp-playing, and had actually been for a while his +armour-bearer, for when he <!-- page 90--><a +name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 90</span>comes back +with the giant’s head, Saul has to ask Abner who he is; but +after that he will let him go no more home to his father.</p> +<p>Then follows the beautiful story of Jonathan, Saul’s +gallant son (1 Samuel xviii.), and his love for David. Then +of Saul’s envy of David, and how, in a sudden fit of +hatred, he casts his javelin at him. Then how he grows +afraid of him, and makes him captain of a thousand men, and gives +him his daughter, on condition of David’s killing him two +hundred Philistines. And how he goes on, capriciously, +honouring David one day and trying to kill him the next. +While David rises always, and all Israel and Judah love him, and +he behaves himself more wisely than all the servants of +Saul. At last comes the open rupture. Saul, after +trying to murder David, sends assassins to his house, and David +flees for his life once and for all. He has served his +master Saul loyally and faithfully. There is no word of his +having opposed Saul, set himself up against him, boasted of +himself, or in any way brought his anger down upon him. +Saul is his king, and David has been loyal and true to him. +But Saul’s envy has grown to hatred, and that to +murder. He murders the priests, with all their wives and +children, for having given bread and shelter to David. And +now David must flee into the wilderness and set up for himself, +and he flees to the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel xxii.); and there +you see the Bible does not try to hide what David’s +position was, and what sort of men he had about him—his +brethren and his father’s house, who were afraid that Saul +would kill them instead of him, after the barbarous Eastern +fashion, and among them the three sons of Zeruiah, his sister; +and everyone <!-- page 91--><a name="page91"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 91</span>who was discontented, and everyone +who was in debt, all the most desperate and needy—one can +conceive what sort of men they must have been. The Bible +tells us afterwards of the wicked men and men of Belial who were +among them—wild men, with weapons in their hands, and +nothing to prevent their becoming a band of brutal robbers, if +they had not had over them a man in whom, in spite of all his +faults, was the Spirit of God.</p> +<p>We must remember, meanwhile, that David had his +temptations. He had been grievously wronged. Saul had +returned him evil for good. All David’s services and +loyalty to Saul had been repaid with ingratitude and accusations +of conspiracy against him. What terrible struggles of rage +and indignation must have passed through David’s +heart! What a longing to revenge himself! He knew, +too, for Samuel the prophet had told him, that he should be king +one day. What a temptation, then, to make himself king at +once! It was no secret either. The people knew of +it. Jonathan, Saul’s son, knew of it, and, in his +noble, self-sacrificing way, makes no secret of it (1 Samuel +xx.). What a temptation to follow the fashion which is too +common in the East to this day, and strike down his tyrant at one +blow, as many a man has done since, and to proclaim himself king +of the Jews. Yes, David had heavy +temptations—temptations which he could only conquer by +faith in the Living God. And, because he masters himself, +and remains patient and loyal to his king under every insult and +wrong, he is able to master that wild and desperate band of men, +and set them an example of patience and chivalry, loyalty and +justice; to train them to be, not a terror and a scourge to the +yeomen and peasants round, but a protection and a guard against +<!-- page 92--><a name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +92</span>the Philistines and Amalekites, and, in due time, his +trusty bodyguard of warriors—men who have grown grey beside +him through a hundred battles, who are to be the foundation of +his national army, and help him to make the Jews one strong and +united prosperous kingdom.</p> +<p>All this the shepherd lad has to do, and he does it, by faith +in the Living God, and so makes himself for all ages to come the +pattern of perfect loyalty. And now, let us take home this +one lesson—That the secret of David’s success is not +his beauty, his courage, his eloquence, his genius; other men +have had gifts from God as great as David’s, and have +misused them to their own ruin, and to the misery of their +fellow-men. No; the secret of David’s success is his +faith in the Living God; and that will be the secret of our +success. <i>Without</i> faith in God, the most splendid +talents may lead a man to be a curse to himself and to his +neighbours. <i>With</i> faith in God, a very common-place +person, without any special cleverness, may do great things, and +make himself useful and honoured in his generation.</p> +<h2><!-- page 93--><a name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +93</span>XIII. DAVID AND NABAL, OR SELF-CONTROL.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the +Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And +blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me +this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with +mine own hand.”—1 <span class="smcap">Samuel</span> +xxv. 32, 33.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The story of David and Nabal needs no explanation. It +tells us of part of David’s education—of a great +lesson which he learnt—of a great lesson which we may +learn. It is told with a dignity and a simplicity, with a +grace and liveliness which makes itself understood at once, and +carries its own lesson to any one who has a human heart in +him.</p> +<p>“And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in +Carmel”—the park grass upland with timber +trees—not the northern Carmel where Elijah slew the +prophets of Baal, but the southern one on the edge of the +desert. “And the man was very great, and he had three +thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his +sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the +name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good +understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was +churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of +Caleb.” Caleb was Joshua’s friend, who had +conquered all that land in Joshua’s time. Nabal, +therefore, <!-- page 94--><a name="page94"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 94</span>had all the pride of a man of most +ancient and noble family—and no shame to him if he had had +a noble, courteous, and generous heart therewith, instead of +being, as he was, a stupid and brutal person.</p> +<p>“And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear +his sheep. And David sent out ten young men, and David said +unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and +greet him in my name: And thus shall ye say unto him that liveth +in prosperity, Peace be to thee, and peace be to thine house, and +peace be to all that thou hast. And now I have heard that +thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt +them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the +while they were in Carmel. Ask the young men, and they will +show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine +eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever +cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and unto thy son +David. And when David’s young men came, they spake to +Nabal, according to all thee words of David, and +ceased.”</p> +<p>Nabal refuses; and in a way that shows, as his wife says of +him, how well his name fits him—a fool is his name, and +folly is with him. Insolently and brutally he refuses, as +fools are wont to do. “And Nabal answered +David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the +son of Jesse? there be many servants now-a-days that break away +every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and +my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and +give it unto men whom I know not whence they be?”</p> +<p>“As slaves break away from their master.” +This was an intolerable insult. To taunt a free-born man, +as <!-- page 95--><a name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +95</span>David was, with having been a slave and a runaway. +It is hard to conceive how Nabal dared to say such a thing of a +fierce chieftain like David, with six hundred armed men at his +back; but there is no saying what a fool will not do when the +spirit of the Lord is gone from him, and his own fancy and +passions lead him captive.</p> +<p>So David’s young men came and told David. +“And David said to his men, Gird every man on his +sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David +also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about +four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.”</p> +<p>That is a grand passage—grand, because it is true to +human nature, true to the determined, prompt, kingly character of +David. He does not complain, bluster, curse over the insult +as a weak man might have done. He has been deeply hurt, and +he is too high-minded to talk about it. He will do, and not +talk. A dark purpose settles itself instantly in his +mind. Perhaps he is ashamed of it, and dare not speak of +it, even to himself. But what it was he confessed +afterwards to Abigail, that he purposed utterly to kill Nabal and +all his people. David was wrong of course. But the +Bible makes no secret of the wrong-doings of its heroes. It +does not tell us that they were infallible and perfect. It +tells us that they were men of like passions with ourselves, in +order that by seeing how they conquered their passions we may +conquer ours.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Nabal’s young men, his servants and slaves, +see the danger, and go to Abigail. “One of the young +men told Abigail, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of +the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. +But the men were very good <!-- page 96--><a +name="page96"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 96</span>unto us, and +we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were +conversant with them, when we were in the fields: They were a +wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with +them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider +what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and +against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a +man cannot speak to him. Then Abigail made haste, and took +two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready +dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred +clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them +on asses. And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; +behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband +Nabal.”</p> +<p>And then follows the beautiful scene which has been the +subject of many a noble picture. The fair lady kneeling +before the terrible outlaw in the mountain woods, as she came +down by the covert of the hill, and softening his fierce heart +with her beauty and her eloquence and her prayers, and bringing +him back to his true self—to forgiveness, generosity, and +righteousness.</p> +<p>“And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off +the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to +the ground, and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, let +this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in +thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let +not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: +for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is +with him; but I, thine handmaid, saw not the young men of my +lord, whom thou didst send. Now therefore, my lord, as the +Lord liveth, and as thy soul <!-- page 97--><a +name="page97"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 97</span>liveth, +seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, +and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine +enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. . . . I +pray thee forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord +will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord +fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in +thee all thy days.”</p> +<p>And she conquers. The dark shadow passes off +David’s soul, and he is again the true, chivalrous, +God-fearing David, who has never drawn sword yet in his own +private quarrel, but has committed his cause to God who judgeth +righteously, and will, if a man abide patiently in Him, make his +righteousness as clear as the light, and his just-dealing as the +noonday. Frankly he confesses his fault. +“Blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou which has kept +me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself +with mine own hand. For in very deed, as the Lord God of +Israel liveth, which has kept me back from hurting thee, except +thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not a man +been left unto Nabal by the morning light.” Then +follows the end. Abigail goes back to Nabal. Then the +bully shows himself a coward. The very thought of the +danger which he has escaped is too much for him. His heart +died within him. “And Abigail came to Nabal; and +behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king; +and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very +drunken: wherefore she told him nothing less or more until the +morning light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the +wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these +things, that his heart died within him, and <!-- page 98--><a +name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 98</span>he became as +a stone. And it came to pass, about ten days after, that +the Lord smote Nabal, that he died.” One can imagine +the picture for oneself. The rich churl sitting there in +the midst of all his slaves and his wealth as one thunderstruck, +helpless and speechless, till one of those mysterious attacks, +which we still rightly call a stroke, and a visitation of God, +ends him miserably. And when he is dead, Abigail becomes +the wife of David, and shares his fortunes and his dangers in the +wilderness.</p> +<p>Now, what may we learn from this story? Surely what +David learnt—the unlawfulness of revenge. David was +to be trained to be a perfect king by learning self-control, and +therefore he has to learn that he must not punish in his own +quarrel. If he must not lift up his hand against Saul, on +the ground of loyalty, neither must he lift up his hand against +Nabal, on the deeper ground of justice and humanity.</p> +<p>But from whom did David learn this? From himself. +From his own heart and conscience, enlightened by the Spirit of +God. Abigail gave him no commandment from God, in the +common sense of the word. She only put David in mind of +what he knew already. She appeals to his known nobleness of +mind, and takes for granted that he will hear reason—takes +for granted that he will do right—and so brought him to +himself again. The Lord was withholding him, she says, from +coming to shed blood, and avenging himself with his own +hand. But that would have been of no avail had there not +been something in David’s own heart which answered to her +words. For the Spirit of God had not left David; and it was +the Spirit of God which gave him nobleness of heart—the +Spirit of God which made him answer, <!-- page 99--><a +name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +99</span>“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent thee +this day to meet me; and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be +thou which hast kept me this day from shedding of +blood.”</p> +<p>Though Abigail did not pretend to bring a message from God, +David felt that she had brought one. And she was in his +eyes not merely a suppliant pleading for mercy, but a prophetess +declaring to him a divine law which he dare not resist. +“It has been said by them of old time,” our blessed +Lord tells us, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; +thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.” +This is the first natural law which a savage lays down for +himself. There is a rude sense of justice in it, mixed up +with the same brute instinct of revenge which makes the wild +beast turn in rage upon the hunter who wounds him. But our +Lord Jesus Christ brings in a higher and more spiritual +law. Punishment is to be left to the magistrate, who +punishes in God’s name. And where the law cannot +touch the wrongdoer, God, who is the author of law, can and will +punish. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the +Lord.” Yes! if punishment must be, then let God +punish. Let man forgive. I say unto you, said our +Lord, “Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate +you—bless them that curse you—pray for them that +despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the +children of your Father which is in heaven, for He maketh His sun +to shine upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just +and the unjust.”</p> +<p>It is a hard lesson. But we must learn it. And we +shall learn it, just as far as we are guided by the Spirit of +God, who forms in us the likeness of Christ. And <!-- page +100--><a name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +100</span>men are learning it more and more in Christian +lands. Wherever Christ’s gospel is truly and +faithfully preached, the fashion, of revenge is dying out. +There are countries still in Christendom in which men think +nothing every day of stabbing and shooting the man who has +injured them; and far, very far, from Christ and His Spirit must +they be still. But we may have hope for them; for if we +look at home, it was not so very many years ago that any +Englishman, who considered himself a gentleman, was bound by +public opinion to fight a duel for any slight insult. It +was not so many years ago that among labouring men brutal +quarrels and open fights were common, and almost daily +occurrences. But now men are learning more and more to +control their tempers and their tongues, and find it more and +more easy, and more pleasant and more profitable, as our Lord +forewarned them when He said, “Take my yoke upon you and +learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find +rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is +light.” And Christ’s easy yoke is the yoke of +self-control, by which we bridle the passions which torment +us. Christ’s light burden is the burden and +obligation laid on every one of us, to forgive others, even as +God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us. And the rest +which shall come to our souls is the rest which David found, when +he listened to the voice of God speaking by the lips of Abigail; +the true and divine rest of heart and peace of mind—rest +and peace from the inward storm of fretfulness, suspicion, +jealousy, pride, wrath, revenge, which blackens the light of +heaven to a man, and turns to gall and wormwood every blessing +which God sends.</p> +<p>Ah! my friends, if ever that angry storm rises in our <!-- +page 101--><a name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +101</span>hearts, if ever we be tempted to avenge ourselves, and +cast off the likeness of God for that of the savage, and return +evil for evil,—may God send to us in that day some angel of +His own, as He sent Abigail to David—an angel, though +clothed in human flesh and blood, with a message of peace and +wisdom. And if any such should speak to us words of peace +and wisdom, soothing us and rebuking us at once, and appealing to +those feelings in us which are really the most noble, just +because they are the most gentle, then let us not turn away in +pride, and wrap ourselves up in our own anger, but let us receive +these words as the message of God—whether they come from +the lips of a woman, or of a servant, or even of a little child, +for if we resist them we surely resist God—who has also +given to us His Holy Spirit for that very purpose, that we may +hear His message when He speaks. It was the Spirit of God +in David which made him feel that Abigail’s message was +divine. The Spirit of God, hidden for a while behind his +dark passions, like the sun by clouds, shone out clear again, and +filled all his soul with light, showing him his duty, and giving +back peace and brightness to his mind.</p> +<p>God grant that whenever we are tried like David we may find +that that Holy Spirit has not left us, but that even if a first +storm of anger shall burst, it shall pass over quickly, and the +day star arise in our hearts, and the Lord lift up the light of +His countenance upon us, and give us peace.</p> +<h2><!-- page 102--><a name="page102"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 102</span>XIV. DAVID’S LOYALTY; +OR, TEMPTATION RESISTED.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“So David and Abishai came to the people by +night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his +spear stuck in the ground at his bolster; but Abner and the +people lay round about him. Then said Abishai to David, God +hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now +therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to +the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second +time. And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who +can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and +be guiltless? David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, +the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he +shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that +I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s +anointed; but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at +his bolster, and the cruise of water, and let us +go.”—1 <span class="smcap">Sam.</span> xxvi. +7-11.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>David stands for all times as the pattern of true +loyalty—loyalty under the most extreme temptation. +Knowing that he is to be king himself hereafter, he yet remains +loyal to his king though unjustly persecuted to the death. +Loyal he is to the end, because he has <i>faith</i> and +<i>obedience</i>. Faith tells him that if king he is to be, +king he will be, in God’s good time. If God had +promised, God will perform. He must not make himself +king. He must not take the matter into his own hand. +Obedience tells him that Saul is still his master, and he is +bound to him. If Saul be a bad master, that does not give +him leave to be a bad servant. The sacred bond still +remains, and he must not break it. But Saul <!-- page +103--><a name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 103</span>is +more. He is king—the Lord’s anointed, the +general of the armies of the living God. His office is +sacred; his person is sacred. He is a public personage, and +David must not lift up his hand against him in a private +quarrel.</p> +<p>Twice David’s faith and obedience are tried +fearfully. Twice Saul is in his power. Twice the +temptation to murder him comes before him. The first time +David and his men are in one of the great branching caves of +Engaddi, the desolate limestone cliffs, two thousand feet high, +which overhang the Dead Sea—and Saul is hunting him, as he +says, as a partridge on the mountains. “And it came +to pass when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, +that it was told him saying, Behold David is in the cave of +Engedi. And Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all +Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the +wild goats. And he came to the sheepcotes, and by the way +there was a cave; and Saul went in, and David and his men +remained in the sides of the cave. And the men of David +said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, +Behold I will deliver thine enemy into thy hand, and thou mayest +do to him as seemeth good unto thee. Then David arose, and +cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily. And it came +to pass afterwards, that David’s heart smote him, because +he had cut off Saul’s skirt. And he said unto his +men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, +the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against +him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. So David stayed +his servants.” And afterwards Saul rose up, not +knowing what had happened, and David followed him. And when +Saul looked back, David stooped down with his face to the earth +and <!-- page 104--><a name="page104"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 104</span>bowed himself before Saul, and spoke +many noble words to his king (1 Sam. xxiv. 1-8).</p> +<p><i>And David’s nobleness has its reward</i>. It +brings out nobleness in return to Saul himself. It melts +his heart for a time. “And it came to pass that when +David had made an end of speaking, that Saul said, Is this thy +voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and +wept. And he said to David, ‘Thou art more righteous +than I—for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have +rewarded thee evil. And thou hast shewed me this day how +thou hast dealt with me; for as much as when the Lord delivered +me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. For if a man find +his enemy, will he let him go well away? Wherefore the Lord +reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. +And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and +that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine +hand.’”</p> +<p>And so it will be with you, my friends. “If thine +enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink, for so thou +shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” Thou shalt +melt the hardness of his heart. Thou shalt warm the +coldness of his heart. Nobleness in thee shall bring out in +answer nobleness in him, and if not, thou hast done thy duty, and +the Lord judge between him and thee.</p> +<p>But Saul’s repentance does not last. Soon after we +find him again hunting David in the wilderness, seemingly from +mere caprice, and without any fresh cause of offence. The +Ziphites—dwellers in the forests of the south of +Judea—came to Saul and said, “Doth not David hide +himself in the hill of Hachilah. Then Saul arose and went +down to the wilderness, having three thousand chosen men of +Israel with him, to seek David in <!-- page 105--><a +name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 105</span>the +wilderness of Ziph. And Saul pitched in the hill of +Hachilah. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw +that Saul came after him into the wilderness.” Again +Saul lies down to sleep—in an entrenched camp, and David +and Abishai, his nephew, go down to the camp at night as +spies. Then comes the story of my text—how Abishai +would have slain Saul, and David forbade him to lift his hand +against the Lord’s anointed, and left Saul to the judgment +of God, which he knew must come sooner or later—and merely +took the spear from his bolster and the cruse of water to show he +had been there.</p> +<p>Once again Saul’s heart gives way at David’s +nobleness: for when David and Abishai got away while Saul and his +guards all slept, David calls to Abner (verse 14-25), and rebukes +him for not having guarded his king better. “Art not +thou a valiant man? Wherefore, then, hast thou not kept thy +lord the king? The thing is not good that thou hast done: +As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because you have not +kept your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now see +where the king’s spear is, and the cruse of water that was +at his bolster. And Saul knew David’s voice, and +said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It +is my voice, my lord, O king. Wherefore does my lord then +thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? Now +therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth, for the king of +Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a +partridge. Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son +David, for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was +precious in thine eyes. Behold, I have played the fool, and +have erred exceedingly.”</p> +<p>But David can trust him no longer. Weak, violent, <!-- +page 106--><a name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +106</span>and capricious, Saul’s repentance is real for the +time, but it does not last. He means what he says at the +moment; but when some fresh base suspicion crosses his mind, his +promises and his repentance are all forgotten. A terrible +trial it is to David, to have his noble forgiveness and +forbearance again and again bring forth no fruit—to have to +do with a man whom he cannot trust. There are few sorer +trials than that for living man. Few which tempt him more +to throw away faith and patience, and say, “I cannot submit +to this misconduct over and over again. It must end, and I +will end it, by some desperate action, right or wrong.”</p> +<p>And, in fact, it does seem as if David was very near yielding +to temptation, the last and worst temptation which befalls men in +his situation—to turn traitor and renegade, to go over to +the enemies of his country and fight with them against +Saul. That has happened too often to men in David’s +place; who have so ended a glorious career in shame and +confusion. And we find that David does at last very nearly +fall into it. It creeps on him, little by little, as it has +on other men in his place, but it does creep on. He loses +patience and hope. He says, I shall perish one day by the +hand of Saul, and he goes down into the low country, to the +Philistines, whose champion, Goliath, he had killed, and makes +friends with them. And Achish, king of Gath, gives him a +town called Ziklag, to live in, he and his men. From it he +goes out and attacks the wild Arabs, the Amalekites. And +then he tells lies to Achish, saying, that he has been attacking +his own countrymen, the Jews. And by that lie he brings +himself into a very great strait—as all men who tell lies +are sure to do.</p> +<p>When Achish and his Philistines go next to fight <!-- page +107--><a name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +107</span>against the Jews, Achish asks David and his men to go +with him and his army. And then begins a very dark +story. What David meant to do we are not told; but one +thing is clear, that whatever he did, he must have disgraced +himself for ever, if God had not had mercy on him. He is +forced to go. For he can give no reason why he should +not. So he goes; and in the rear with the Philistine king, +in the post of honour, as his bodyguard. What is he to +do? If he fights against his own people, he covers himself +with eternal shame, and loses his chance of ever being +king. If he turns against Achish and his Philistines in the +battle he covers himself with eternal shame likewise, for they +had helped him in his distress, and given him a home.</p> +<p>But God has mercy on him. The lords of the Philistines +take offence at his being there, and say that he will play +traitor to them in the battle (which was but too likely), and +force king Achish to send him home to Ziklag, and so God delivers +him out of the trap which he has set for himself, by lying.</p> +<p>But God punishes him on the spot. When he comes back to +his town, it is burnt with fire, utterly desolate, a heap of +blackened ruins, without a living soul therein. And now the +end is coming, though David thinks not of it. He had +committed his cause to God. He had said, when Saul lay +sleeping at his feet, and Abishai would have smitten him through, +“Who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s +anointed. As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him, or +he shall come to die, or he shall go down into battle and +perish.”</p> +<p>And on the third day a man—a heathen +Amalekite—comes to Ziklag to David with his clothes rent, +and earth upon his head. Israel has been defeated in <!-- +page 108--><a name="page108"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +108</span>Mount Gilboa with a great slaughter. The people +far and wide have fled from Hermon across the plain, and the +Philistines have taken possession, cutting the land of Israel in +two. And Saul and Jonathan, his son, are dead. The +Amalekite has proof of it. There is the crown which was on +Saul’s head, and the bracelet that was on his arm. He +has brought them to David to curry favour with him. Saul, +he says, was wounded, and asked him to kill him (2 Sam. i. +6-10). It is a lie. Saul had killed himself, falling +on his own sword, to escape torture and insult from the +Philistines, and the Amalekite is caught in his own trap. +Out of his own mouth will David judge him. How dare he +stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed? +Let one of the young men fall on him, and kill him. And so +the wretch dies.</p> +<p>And then bursts forth all the nobleness of David’s +heart. He thinks of Saul no longer as the tyrant who has +hunted him for years, who has put on him the last and worst +insult of taking away his wife, and giving her to another +man. He thinks of him only as his master, his king, the +grand and terrible warrior, the terror of Ammonites, Amalekites, +and Philistines, the deliverer of his country in many a bloody +fight, and he bursts out into that fine old lamentation over Saul +and Jonathan, sentences of which have been proverbs in the mouths +of men to this day. “How are the mighty fallen! +Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; +lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters +of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let +there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields +of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast +away, <!-- page 109--><a name="page109"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 109</span>the shield of Saul, as though he had +not been anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, +from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, +and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan +were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they +were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were +stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over +Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on +ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty +fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast +slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my +brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love +to me was wonderful, passing the love of woman. How are the +mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!” (2 Sam. i. +19-27).</p> +<p>Let each and every one of us, my friends, imitate +David’s loyalty, and be true to our duty, true to our +masters, true to our country and true to our queen, through +whatever trials and temptations. Above all, let us learn +from David to obey; and remember that to obey we need not become +cringing and slavish, or give up independence and high +spirit. David did neither. Unless you learn to obey, +as David did, you will never learn to rule. Imitate +David—and so you will imitate David’s greater son, +even our Lord Jesus Christ. For herein David is a type of +Christ.</p> +<p>One might say truly that David’s spirit was in +Christ—if the very opposite was not the fact, that the +spirit of Christ was in David, even the spirit of loyalty and +obedience, toward God and man. The spirit which made our +Lord fulfil the whole law of Moses—though quite +unnecessary, of course, for him—simply because <!-- page +110--><a name="page110"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 110</span>He +had chosen to be born a Jew, under Moses’ law; the spirit +which made Him obedient to the ordinance of the country in which +He was born, made Him even pay tribute to Cæsar, the +heathen conqueror, because the powers that ruled, were ordained +of God. And yet that same spirit kept Him lofty and +independent, high-minded and pure-minded. He could tell the +people to observe and to do all that the scribes and Pharisees +told them to do, because they sat in Moses’ seat, and yet +He could call those very scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, who +made the law of no effect, and were bringing on themselves utter +destruction.</p> +<p>That spirit, too, made Him loyal and obedient to God His +Father in heaven. Doing not His own will, but the will of +the Father who sent Him. Of Him it is written, that though +He were a Son, yet learned He “obedience by the things +which He suffered;” and that He received the perfect reward +of perfect loyalty, because He had humbled and emptied Himself, +and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. +Therefore God highly exalted Him, and gave Him a name which is +above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should +bow, of things in heaven, of things in the earth, and things +under the earth, and every tongue confess that He is Lord and +God, to the glory of God the Father.</p> +<p>This is a great mystery! How can we understand it? +How can we understand the Divine and eternal bond between Father +and Son? But this at least we can understand, that loyalty +and obedience are Divine virtues, part of the likeness of Jesus +Christ, the eternal Son of God, and therefore divine graces, the +gift of God’s holy Spirit.</p> +<p><!-- page 111--><a name="page111"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +111</span>May God pour out upon us that Spirit, as He poured it +out on David, and make us loyal and obedient to our queen, and to +all whom He has set over us; and loyal and obedient above all to +Christ our heavenly king, and to God the Father, in whom we live, +and move, and have our being.</p> +<h2><!-- page 112--><a name="page112"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 112</span>XV. DAVID’S DEATH +SONG.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“And David spake unto the Lord the words of +this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the +hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: And he +said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer; the +God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the +horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; +thou savest me from violence.”—2 <span +class="smcap">Sam.</span> xxii. 1-3.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This is the death song of David; the last words of the great +man—warrior, statesman, king, poet, prophet. A man of +many joys and many sorrows, many virtues, and many crimes; but +through them all, every inch a man. A man—heaped by +God with every gift of body, and mind, and heart, and especially +with strong and deep intense feeling. Right or wrong, he is +never hard, never shallow, never light-minded. He is in +earnest. Whatever happens to him, for good or evil, goes to +his heart, and fills his whole soul, till it comes out again in +song.</p> +<p>This it is which makes David the Psalmist. This it is +which makes the Psalter a text book still for every soldier or +sailor, for all men who have human hearts in them. This it +is which will make his psalms live for ever. Because they +are full of humanity, of the spirit of man, awakened and +enlightened, and ennobled, by the Spirit of God.</p> +<p>Looking through these psalms of David, one is struck <!-- page +113--><a name="page113"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +113</span>with astonishment at their variety. At what is +called the versatility of his mind, that is, his ability to turn +himself to every kind of subject, as it comes before him, and to +sing of it—as man has never sung since. And one is +the more astonished, when one remembers that many of the most +beautiful of these Psalms must have been written while David was +still a very young man. Though we have them, of course, +only in a translation—though many of the words and phrases +in them are difficult, sometimes impossible to understand, though +they were written in a kind of verse which would give our English +ears no pleasure, and were set to a music so utterly different +from our own, that it would not sound like music to us. +Yet, with all these disadvantages, they are beautiful as they +stand, they sink into the ear, and into the heart, as what they +are, the words of one inspired by God, who found beauty in every +sight which he beheld, in every event which happened, even in +every sorrow and every struggle in his own soul, and could sing +of each and all of them in words and thoughts fresh from God, the +fountain of all beauty and all truth.</p> +<p>But the peculiarity of David’s psalms, after all, is +from his intense faith in God. God is in all his +thoughts. God is near him, guiding him, trying him, +educating him, punishing him, sometimes he thinks for a moment, +deserting him. But even then his mind is still full of +God. It is God he wants, and the light of God’s +countenance, without which he cannot live, and leaving him in +misery, and shame, and darkness, and out of the darkness he +cries—My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And, +therefore, everything which happens to him shapes itself not into +mere poetry, but into a prayer, or a hymn.</p> +<p>It is this which has made David for Christians now, <!-- page +114--><a name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 114</span>as +well as for Jews of old, the great master and teacher of heart +religion. In the early church, in the middle ages, as now, +Catholic alike and Protestant, whosoever has feared God and +sought after righteousness; whosoever has known and sorrowed over +the sinfulness and weakness of his own heart; whosoever has +believed that the Lord God was dealing with him as with a son, +educating him, chastening him, purifying him and teaching him, by +the chances and changes of his mortal life; whosoever, I say, has +had any real taste of vital experimental religion—to +David’s Psalms he has gone, as to a treasure house, to find +there his own feelings, his own doubts, his own joys, his own +thoughts of God and His providence—reflected as in a glass; +everything which he would say, said for him already, in words +which will never be equalled on earth.</p> +<p>There are psalms among them of bitter agony, cries as of a +lost child, like that 6th psalm—“Oh Lord, rebuke me +not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy hot +displeasure,” &c. And yet ending like that, with +a sudden flash of faith, and hope, and joy, which is a peculiar +mark of David’s character, faith in God triumphing over all +the chances and changes of mortal life. “The Lord +hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord will receive +my prayer, all mine enemies shall be confounded and sore +vexed. They shall be turned back and put to +shame.”</p> +<p>There are psalms again which are prayers for guidance and +teaching like the 5th Psalm—“Lead me, O Lord, in thy +righteousness because of mine enemies: make thy way plain before +my face.”</p> +<p>There are psalms, again, of Natural Religion, such as the 8th +and the 19th and the 29th, the words <!-- page 115--><a +name="page115"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 115</span>of a man +who had watched and studied nature by day and night, as he kept +his sheep upon the mountains, and wandered in the desert with his +men. “I will consider thy heavens, the works of thy +hand, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained . . . the +fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea” . . . (Ps. +viii. 3-8). “The heavens declare the glory of God: +and the firmament sheweth his handi-work” (Ps. xix. +1-6). “It is the Lord that commandeth the water: it +is the glorious God that maketh the thunder: it is the Lord that +ruleth the sea: the voice of the Lord breaketh the cedar trees: +the voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire: the voice of +the Lord shaketh the wilderness: the Lord sitteth above the water +flood,” &c. (Ps. xxix.).</p> +<p>There are psalms of deep religious experience like the +32d.—“Blessed is he whose unrighteousness is +forgiven, and whose sin is covered . . . Thou art a place to hide +me in. . . . Thy hand is heavy upon me day and night . . . I will +acknowledge my sin unto Thee.”</p> +<p>There are psalms, and these are almost the most important of +all, such as the 9th, the 24th and 36th Psalms, which declare the +providence and the kingdom of the Living God, with that great and +prophetic 2d Psalm (ver. 1-5): “Why do the heathen so +furiously rage together, and the people imagine vain +things. The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers +take counsel together against the Lord, and against his +anointed,” &c.</p> +<p>There are psalms of deep repentance, of the broken and the +contrite heart, like that famous 51st Psalm, which is used in all +Christian churches to this day, as the expression of all true +repentance, and which, even in our translation, by its awful +simplicity, its slow sadness, expresses <!-- page 116--><a +name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 116</span>in its very +sound the utterly crushed and broken heart. “Have +mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness, according to the +multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences. . . . Behold, I +was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive. . . . +The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit, a broken and a +contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. . . .” +Then there are psalms, like the 26th, of a manful and stately +confidence. The words of one who is determined to do right, +who feels that on the whole he is doing it, and is not ashamed to +say so. “Be thou my judge, for I have walked +innocently. . . . Examine and prove me: try out my reins and my +heart. I have not dwelt with vain persons, neither will I +have fellowship with the deceitful. . . . I have hated the +congregation of the wicked. I have loved the habitation of +thy house.” There are political psalms, full of +weighty advice, to his sons after him, like the 115th Psalm.</p> +<p>There are psalms of the most exquisite tenderness, like the +23d Psalm, written perhaps while he himself was still a shepherd +boy, and he looked upon his flocks feeding on the downs of +Bethlehem, and sang, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not +want,” &c. And lastly, though I should not say +lastly, for the variety of this wonderful man’s psalms is +past counting, there are psalms of triumph and thanksgiving, +which are miracles of beauty and grandeur. Take, for +instance, the 34th, one of the earliest, when David was not more +than twenty-five years old, when Abimelech drove him away, and he +departed and sang, “I will bless the Lord at all times. . . +. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. . . . I sought the +Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me out of all my fear. +Lo the poor man <!-- page 117--><a name="page117"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 117</span>crieth and the Lord heareth him. . . +. The angel of the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear him, +and delivereth them.” And, as the grandest of all, +as, indeed, it was meant to be, that wonderful 18th Psalm which +David, the servant of the Lord, spake to the Lord in the day when +the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies. +“I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is +my strong rock and defence: my Saviour, my God, and my might, in +whom I will trust, my buckler, the horn also of my salvation, and +my refuge.” This is, indeed, David’s +masterpiece. The only one which comes near it is the +144th. The loftiest piece of poetry, taken as mere poetry, +though it is more, much more, in the whole world. Even in +our translation, it rushes on with a force and a swiftness, which +are indeed divine. Thought follows thought, image image, +verse verse, before the breath of the Spirit of God, as wave +leaps after wave before a mighty wind. Even now, to read +that psalm rightly, should stir the heart like a trumpet. +What must it have been like when sung by David himself? No +wonder that those brave old Jews hung upon the lips of their +warrior-poet and felt that the man who could sing to them of such +thoughts, and not only sing them, but feel them likewise, was +indeed a king and a prophet sent to them by God. A prophet, +I say. They loved his songs not merely on account of the +beauty of their poetry. Indeed, one hardly likes to talk of +David’s psalms as beautiful poetry. It seems unfair +to them. For though they are beautiful poetry, they are far +more, they are prophecy and preaching concerning God. They +preach and declare to the Jews the Living God. They are the +speech of a man whose thoughts and works were begun, <!-- page +118--><a name="page118"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +118</span>continued, and ended in God. A man who knew that +God was about his path, and about his bed, and spying out all his +ways. A man whose one fixed idea was, that God was leading +and guiding him through life. That idea, “The Lord +leads me,” is the key-note of David’s psalms, and +makes them what they are, an inspired revelation of Almighty +God.</p> +<p>But is that idea true? Of course, you answer, it is +true, because it is in the Bible. But that is not the +question. That is rather putting the question aside, which +is, Do <i>we</i> believe it to be true, and find it to be +true? We believe that God was leading David because we read +it in the Bible. But do we believe that God is leading +<i>us</i>? If not, what is the use of our reading +David’s psalms, either in private or publicly in church +every Sunday? You all know how largely we use them, but +why? If we are not in the same case as David was, what +right have we to take David’s words into our mouths? +We do not fancy that there is any magical virtue in repeating the +same words, as foolish people used to repeat charms and +spells. Our only right, our only excuse for saying or +singing David’s psalms in public or in private, must be, +that as David was, so are we in this world, under the continual +guidance of God.</p> +<p>And therefore it is that the Church bids us to use these +psalms in our devotions, day by day, all the year +round—that we may know that our God is David’s God, +our temptations David’s temptations, our fears +David’s fears, our hopes David’s hopes, our struggles +and triumphs over what is wrong in our hearts and in the world +around us, are the same as David’s. That we are not +to fancy, because David was an inspired prophet, that therefore +he was in a different case from us, of different <!-- page +119--><a name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +119</span>passions from ours, or that his words are too sacred +and holy for us to use. Not so, we are to believe the very +contrary. We are to believe that no prophecy of Scripture +is of any private interpretation—that is—has not +merely to do with the man who spoke it first—but that +because David spoke by the Spirit of God, who is no respecter of +persons, therefore his words apply to you, and to me, and to +every human being—that David is revealing to us the +everlasting laws of God’s Spirit, and of God’s +providence, whereby He works alike in every Christian soul, and +then, therefore, whatever our sin may be, whatever our sorrows +may be, whatever our station in life may be, we have a right to +offer up to God our repentance, our doubts, our fears, our hopes, +our thanksgivings, in the very words which David used two +thousand years and more ago, certain that they are the right +words, better words than we can find for ourselves, exactly +fitting our own souls, and fitting too the mind and will of +Almighty God, because they are inspired by the same Spirit of God +who descended on us, when we were baptized unto Christ’s +Church.</p> +<p>And for that, my friends, we have an example—as we have +for everything else—in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. +For He, in the hour of His darkest agony, when He hung upon the +cross for our sins, and the sin of all mankind, and when (worse +than all other agony, or shame), there came over Him the deepest +horror of all—the feeling, but for a moment, that God had +forsaken Him—even then, He who spake as never man spake, +did not disdain to use the words of David, and cry, in the +opening verse of that 22d psalm, every line of which applies so +strangely to Him himself, <!-- page 120--><a +name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 120</span>“My +God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” So did our +Lord bequeath, as it were, with His dying breath, to all +Christians for ever, as the fit and true expression of all that +they should ever experience, the psalms of His great earthly +ancestor, David, the sweet singer of Israel.</p> +<p>My friends, neglect not that precious bequest of your dying +Lord. Read those psalms, study them, tune your hearts and +minds to them more and more; and you will find in them an +inexhaustible treasury of wisdom, and comfort, and of the +knowledge of God, wherein standeth your eternal life.</p> +<h2><!-- page 121--><a name="page121"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 121</span>XVI. AHAB AND +MICAIAH—THE CHRISTIAN DEAD ALIVE FOE EVERMORE.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“And the King of Israel said to Jehosaphat, +There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may +enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy +good concerning me, but evil.” . . .—1 <span +class="smcap">Kings</span> xxii. 8.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>If you read the story of Micaiah the Prophet, and King Ahab in +the 22d chapter of the 1st Book of Kings, you will, I think, +agree that Ahab showed himself as foolish as he was wicked. +He hated Micaiah for telling him the truth. And when he +heard the truth and was warned of his coming end, he went +stupidly to meet it, and died as the fool dies. Foolishness +and wickedness often go hand in hand. Certainly they did in +that miserable king’s case.</p> +<p>But now, my friends, while we find fault with wretched Ahab, +let us take care that we are not finding fault with ourselves +also. If we do what Ahab did, we have no right to despise +him for doing what we do. With what judgment we judge we +shall be judged, and the same measure which we measure out to +Ahab, God will measure out to us. All these things are +written for our example, that we may see our faults in other men, +as in a glass, and seeing how ugly sin and folly is, and to what +misery it leads, may learn to avoid it, and look at home, and see +that we are not treading the same path. <!-- page 122--><a +name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 122</span>Else what +use in reading these stories of good men and bad men of old +times? The very use of them is to make us remember that +they were men of like passions with ourselves, and learn from +their example; as we may do easily enough from that of Ahab.</p> +<p>“There remaineth yet one prophet—but I hate +him.” How often have we said that in our +hearts! Do you think not? Let me show you then.</p> +<p>How often when we are in trouble or anxiety do we go +everywhere to get comfort, before we go to God’s +word? When a young lad falls into wild ways, and gets into +trouble by his own folly, then to whom does he go for +comfort? Too often, to other wild lads like himself, or to +foolish and wicked women, who will flatter him, and try to make +him easy in his sins, and say to him as the false prophets said +to Ahab, “Go on and prosper—why be afraid? Why +should you not enjoy yourself? Never mind what your father +and mother say, never mind what the parson says. You will +do well enough. All will come right somehow. Come and +drink, and drive away sorrow.”</p> +<p>And all the while the poor lad gets no comfort from these +false friends. He likes to listen to them, because they +flatter him up in his sins; but all the while his heart is +heavy. Like Ahab, he has a secret fear that all will +<i>not</i> come right; he feels that he will <i>not</i> do well +enough; and he knows that there remaineth yet a prophet of the +Lord, who will not prophesy good of him but evil—and that +is the Bible, and the prayer-book, and the sermon he hears at +church—and therefore he hates them. And so, many a +time he will not go to church for fear of hearing there that he +is wrong, perhaps something in the sermon, which hits him hard, +<!-- page 123--><a name="page123"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +123</span>and makes him ashamed of himself, and angry with the +preacher. So for fear of hearing the truth, and having his +sins set before his face, he stays away from church, and passes +his Sundays like a heathen, because he has no mind to repent and +mend, and be a good Christian.</p> +<p>Foolish fellow! As if he could escape God’s +judgment by shutting his ears to it. As well try to stop +the thunder from rolling in the sky, by stopping his ears to +that! The thunder is there, whether he choose to hear it or +not. And whether he comes to church or not, God’s law +stands sure, that the wages of sin is death. Does the man +fancy that God’s law is shut up within the church walls, +and that so he can keep clear of it by staying away from +church? My friends, God’s law is over the whole +country, and over every cottage and field in it—about our +path and about our bed, and spying out all our ways. The +darkness is no darkness to God. God’s judgments are +in all the earth; and whether or not we choose to find them out, +they will find us out just the same, as they found out Ahab, when +his cup was full, and his time was come.</p> +<p>How many a poor lad, too, who has got into trouble, thinks he +shall escape God’s judgments by going across the sea; but +he finds himself mistaken! He finds that the wages of sin +are misery and shame and ruin, in Australia just as much as in +England, and that all the gold in the diggings cannot redeem his +soul, or prevent his being an unhappy self-condemned man if he +does wrong.</p> +<p>How many a poor lad, too, who has got into trouble, has +fancied that he could escape God’s judgments by going for a +soldier, and has found out that he too was mistaken! +Perhaps God’s judgment has found him out, as it found out +Ahab, on the field of battle, and a chance <!-- page 124--><a +name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 124</span>shot has +taught him, as it taught Ahab, that there is no hiding-place from +the Lord who made him. Or perhaps God’s judgments +have come in fever, and hunger, and cold, and weariness, and +miserable lonely labour; and with that hunger of body has come a +hunger of his soul—a hunger after the bread of life, and +the word of God! Ah! how many a poor fellow in his pain and +misery has longed for the crumbs which used to fall from +God’s table, when he was a boy at home! for a word of good +advice, though it were never so sharp and plain spoken—or a +lesson such as he used to hear at school, or a tract, or a bit of +a book, or anybody or anything which will put his poor wandering +soul in the right way. He used to hate such things when he +was at home, because they warned him of his bad ways; but now he +feels a strange longing for that very good talk which he hated +once, and so like David of old, out of the deep he cries unto the +Lord. And when that cry comes up out of a sinful +conscience-stricken, self-condemned heart, be sure it does not +come up in vain. The Lord hears it, and the Lord answers +it. Yes, I know it for certain; for many a sad and yet +pleasant story I have heard, how brave men who went out from +England, full of strength and health, and full of sin and folly +too,—and there in that blood-stained Crimea, when their +strength and their health had faded, and there was nothing round +them or before them but wounds, and misery, and death; how there +at last they found Christ, or rather were found by Him, and +opened their eyes at last to see God’s judgments for their +sins, and confessed their own sin and God’s justice, and +received His precious promises of pardon, even in the agonies of +death; and found amid the rage and noise of war, the peace of +God, which this <!-- page 125--><a name="page125"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 125</span>world’s pleasures never gave +them, and which this world’s wounds, and fever, and battle, +and sudden death cannot take away.</p> +<p>And after that, it matters little for a man what happens to +him. For if he lives, he lives unto the Lord; and if he +dies, he dies unto the Lord. He may come home, well and +strong, once more to do his duty, where God has put him, a sadder +man perhaps, but at least a soberer and a wiser man, who has +learnt to endure hardship, not merely as a soldier of the Queen, +but as a good soldier of Jesus Christ too, ready to fight against +sin and wrong-doing in himself and in his neighbours.</p> +<p>Or he may come home a cripple, to be honoured and to be kept +too (as he deserves to be) at his country’s expense. +But if he be a wise man he will not regret even the loss of a +limb. That is a cheap price to pay for having gained what +is worth all the limbs in a man’s body, a clear conscience +and a right life. “If thy hand offend thee cut it +off.” Better to enter into life halt and maimed, as +many a gallant man has done in war time, than having two hands +and two feet to be cast out.</p> +<p>Or perhaps his grave is left behind there, upon those lonely +Crimean downs, and his comrades are returning without him, and +all whom he knew, and all whom he loved, are looking for him at +home. There his grave is, and must be; and “the foe +and the stranger will tread on his head, and they far away on the +billow.”</p> +<p>But at least he has not died like Ahab—a shameful and +pitiable death. He has done his work and conquered. +He has died like a man, whom men honour. Even so it is +well. And if he have died in the Lord, a penitent Christian +man, <i>he</i> is not dead at all. <i>He</i> does not lie +in that grave in a foreign land. All of him that <!-- page +126--><a name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +126</span>strangers’ feet can tread upon is but what we +called his body; and yet which was not even his body, but the +mere husk and shell of him, the flesh and bones with which his +body was clothed in this life; while he, he himself, is nearer +God than ever, and nearer, too, than ever to his comrades who +seem to have left him, and to the parents and the friends who are +weeping for him at home. Ay, nearer to them, more able, I +firmly believe, to help and comfort them, now that he is alive +for ever, in the heaven of God, than he would if he were only +alive here on the earth of God—more able perhaps to help +them now by his prayers than he ever would have been by the +labour of his hands. Be that as it may, Blessed are the +dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and +their works do follow them. A fearful labour is the +soldier’s, and an ugly work; and he has done it; and doubt +not it has followed him, and is recorded for him in the book of +God for ever!</p> +<h2><!-- page 127--><a name="page127"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 127</span>XVII. WHAT IS CHANCE?</h2> +<blockquote><p>“By one man sin entered into the world, and +death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, because all have +sinned.”—<span class="smcap">Romans</span> v. 12.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>All death is a solemn and fearful thing. When it comes +to an old person, one cannot help feeling it often a release, and +saying, “He has done his work—he has sorrowed out his +sorrows, he has struggled his last struggle, and wept his last +tear: let him go to his rest and be peaceful at last.”</p> +<p>But when death comes suddenly to people in the prime of life, +who but yesterday were as busy and as lively as any of us, and we +are face to face with death, and see the same face we knew in +life—not wasted, not worn, young and lusty as ever, +seemingly asleep,—something at our heart as well as in our +eyes, tells us that there is more than sleep in that strange, +sharp, quiet smile—and we know in spite of ourselves that +the man is dead. And then strange questions rise in us, +“Is that he whom we knew? that still piece of clay, waiting +only a few days before it returns to its dust? It is the +face of him, the shape of him, it is what we knew him by. +It is the very same body of which when we met it on the road we +said, “He is coming.” And yet is it +<i>he</i>? Where is <i>he</i> himself? Can <i>he</i> +hear us? Can <i>he</i> see <!-- page 128--><a +name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 128</span>us? +Does <i>he</i> remember us as we remember <i>him</i>? +Surely he must. He cannot be gone away—there he lies +still on that bed before us!”</p> +<p>And then we are ready to say to ourselves, “It must be a +mistake, a dream. He cannot be dead. He will +wake. We shall meet him to-morrow in his old place, about +his old work. <i>He</i> dead? Impossible! +Impossible to believe that we shall never see him +again—never any more till we too die!”</p> +<p>And then when such thoughts come over us, we cannot help going +on to say, “What is this death? this horrible thing which +takes husbands from their wives, and children from their parents, +and those who love from those who love them? What is +it? How came this same death loose in the world? What +right has it here, under the bright sun, among the pleasant +fields, this cruel, pitiless death, destroying God’s +handi-work, God’s likeness, just as it is growing to its +prime of beauty and usefulness?”</p> +<p>And then—there—by the bedside of the young at +least, we do feel that death must be God’s enemy—that +it is a hateful, cruel, evil thing—accursed in the sight of +a loving, life-giving God, as much as it is hated by poor mortal +man.</p> +<p>And then, we feel, there must be something wrong between man +and God. Man must be fallen and corrupt, must be out of his +right place and state in some way or other, or this horrible +death would not have got power over us! What right has +death in the world, if man has not sinned or fallen?</p> +<p>And then we cannot help going further and saying, “This +cruel death! it may come to me, young, strong, and healthy as I +am. It may come to-morrow; it may <!-- page 129--><a +name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 129</span>come this +minute; it may come by a hundred diseases, by a hundred +accidents, which I cannot foresee or escape, and carry me off +to-morrow, away from all I know and all I love, and all I like to +see and to do. And where would it take me to, if it did +take me? What should I be? What should I see? +What should I know, after they had put this body of mine into +that narrow house in the church-yard, and covered it out of sight +till the judgment day?” Oh, my friends, what a +thought for you, and me, and every human being! We might +die to-night, even as those whom we know of died!</p> +<p>But perhaps some of you young people are saying to yourselves, +“You are trying to frighten us, but you shall not frighten +us. We know very well that it is not a common thing for a +young person to die—not one in a hundred (except in a war +time) dies in the prime of his years; and therefore the chances +are that we shall not die young either. The chances are +that we shall live to be old men and women, and we are not going +to be frightened about dying forty years before our death. +So in the meanwhile we will go our own way and enjoy +ourselves. It will be time enough to think of death when +death draws near.”</p> +<p>Well then, if you have these thoughts, I will ask you, what do +you mean by <i>chance</i>? You say, the <i>chances</i> are +against your dying young. Pray what are these wonderful +things called chances, which are to keep you alive for thirty or +forty or fifty years more? Did you ever <i>hear</i> a +chance, or <i>see</i> a chance? Or did you ever meet with +any one who had? Did any one ever see a great angel called +Chance flying about keeping people from dying? What is +<i>chance</i> on which you depend as you say for your life? +What is <i>chance</i> which you fancy <!-- page 130--><a +name="page130"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 130</span>so much +stronger than God? For as long as the <i>chance</i> is +against your dying, you are not afraid of neglecting God and +disobeying God, and therefore you must suppose that <i>chance</i> +is stronger than God, and quite able to keep God’s anger +off from you for thirty or forty years, till you choose to repent +and amend. What sort of thing is this wonderful chance, +which is going to keep you alive?</p> +<p>Perhaps you will say, “All we meant when we said that +the chances were against our dying was that God’s will was +against our dying.”</p> +<p>Did you only mean that? Then why put the thought of God +away by foolish words about chance? For you know that it is +God and God only who keeps you alive. You must look at +that, you must face that. If you are alive now, God keeps +you so. If you live forty years more, God will make you +live that time. And He who can make you live, can also let +you <i>not</i> live; and then you will die. God can +withdraw the breath of life from you or me or any one at any +moment. And then where would our <i>chances</i> of not +dying be? We should die here and now, and know that God is +the Lord and not <i>chance</i> . . .</p> +<p>But think again. If God makes you alive He must have +some reason for making you alive. For mind—it is not +as you fancy, that when God leaves you alone you live, and when +He puts forth His power and visits you, you die. <i>Not +that</i>, <i>but the very opposite</i>. For in Adam all +die. Our bodies are dead by reason of sin, and in the midst +of life we are in death. There is a seed of death in you +and me and every little child. While we are eating and +drinking and going about our business, fancying that we cannot +help living, we carry the seeds <!-- page 131--><a +name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 131</span>of disease +in our own bodies, which will surely kill us some day, even if we +are not cut off before by some sudden accident. That is +true, physicians know that it is true. Our bodies carry in +them from the very cradle the seeds of death; and therefore it is +not because God leaves us alone that we live. We live +because God, our merciful heavenly Father, <i>does not</i> leave +us alone, but keeps down those seeds of disease and death by His +Spirit, who is the Lord and Giver of Life.</p> +<p>God’s Spirit of Life is fighting against death in our +bodies from the moment we are born. And then, as Moses +says, when He withdraws that Spirit of His, then it is that we +die and are turned again to our dust. So that our living a +long time or a short time, does not depend on <span +class="smcap">Chance</span>, or on our own health or +constitution, but entirely on how long God may choose to keep +down the death which is lying in us, ready to kill us at any +moment, and certain to kill us sooner or later.</p> +<p>And yet people fancy that they live because they cannot help +living, unless God interferes with them and makes them die. +They fancy, thoughtless and ignorant as they are, that when they +are in <i>health</i>, God leaves them alone, and that therefore +when they are in health they may leave God alone.</p> +<p>My friends, I tell you that it is God, and not our +constitution or chance either which keeps you alive; as you will +surely find out the moment after the last breath has left your +body. And therefore I ask you solemnly the plain question, +“For what does God keep you alive?” <i>For +what</i>? Will a man keep plants in his garden which bear +neither fruit nor flowers? Will a man keep stock on his +farm which will only eat and never make profit; or a servant in +his house who will not work? <!-- page 132--><a +name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 132</span>Much more, +will a man keep a servant who will not only be idle himself, but +quarrel with his fellow servants, lead them into sin and shame, +and teach them to disobey their master? What man in his +senses would keep such plants, such stock, such servants? +And yet God keeps hundreds and thousands in His garden and in His +house for years and years, while they are doing no good to Him, +and doing harm to those around them.</p> +<p>How many are there who never yet did one thing to make their +companions better, and yet have done many a thing to make their +companions worse! Then why are they alive still? Why +does not God rid Himself of them at once and let them die, +instead of cumbering the ground? I know but one +reason. If they were only God’s plants, or His stock, +or His servants, He might rid Himself of them. But they are +something far nearer and dearer to Him than that. They are +His children, and therefore He has mercy on them. They are +redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain +before the foundation of the world; and therefore for the sake of +the Lord Jesus Christ, God looks on them with long-suffering and +tender loving-kindness. Man was made in God’s +likeness at first, and was the son of God. And therefore +howsoever fallen and corrupt man’s nature is now, yet God +loves him still, even though he be a heathen or an infidel. +How much more for you, my friends, who know that you are +God’s children, who have been declared to be His children +by Holy Baptism, and grafted into Christ’s church. +You at least are bound to believe that God preserves you from +death, <i>because He loves you</i>. He protects you every +day and every hour, as a father takes care of His children, and +keeps them out of dangers which they cannot see or +understand.</p> +<p><!-- page 133--><a name="page133"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +133</span>Yes! this is plain truth—your heavenly Father is +keeping you alive! Oh, do not make that truth an excuse for +forgetting and disobeying your heavenly Father!</p> +<p>Why does He keep you alive? Surely because He expects +something of you. And what does He expect of you? +What does any good father expect of his children? Why does +he help and protect them? Not from mere brute instinct, as +beasts take care of their young when they are little, and then as +soon as they are grown up cast them off and forget them. +No. He takes care of his children because he wishes them to +grow up like himself, to be a comfort and a help and a pride to +him.</p> +<p>And God takes care of <i>you</i> and keeps you from death, for +the very same reason. God desires that you should grow up +like Himself, godly and pure, leading lives like His Son Jesus +Christ. God desires that you should grow up to the stature +of perfect men and women, which is the likeness of Jesus Christ +your Lord.</p> +<p>But if you turn God’s grace in keeping you alive into a +cloak for licentiousness and an excuse for sinning—if, when +God keeps you alive that you may lead <i>good</i> lives, you take +advantage of His fatherly love to lead <i>bad</i> lives—if +you go on returning God evil for good, and ungratefully and +basely presume on His patience and love to do the things which He +hates, what must you expect? God loves you, and you make +that an excuse for not loving Him; God does everything for you, +and you make that an excuse for doing nothing for God; God gives +you health and strength, and you make that an excuse for using +your health and strength just in the way He has forbidden. +What can be more ungrateful? What can <!-- page 134--><a +name="page134"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 134</span>be more +foolish? Oh, my friends, if one of our children behaved to +us in return for our care and love a hundredth part as shamefully +as most of us behave to God our Father, what should we think of +them? What should we say of them?</p> +<p>Oh, beware, beware! God is a righteous God, strong and +patient, and God is provoked every day, and bears it according to +His boundless love and patience. But “if a man +<i>will not</i> turn,” says the same text, “He will +whet His sword.” And then—woe to the careless +and ungrateful sinner. God will cut him down and bring him +low. God will take from him his health, or his money, or +his blind peace of mind; and by affliction after affliction, and +shame after shame, and disappointment after disappointment, teach +him that his youth, and his health, and his money, and all that +he has, are his Father’s gifts and not his own +property—and that His Father will take them away from him, +till he feels his own weakness, till he sees that he is really +not his own but God’s property, body and soul, and goes +back to his heavenly Father and cries, “Father, I have +sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am no more worthy to +be called Thy son. I have taken Thy gifts and gone away +with them from Thy house unto the far country of sin, and wasted +them in riotous living, till I have had to fill my belly with the +husks which the swine did eat. I have had no profit out of +all my sins, of which I am now ashamed. I have robbed Thee +and abused Thy gifts and Thy love. Father, take me back, +for I have sinned, and am not worthy to be called Thy +child.”</p> +<h2><!-- page 135--><a name="page135"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 135</span>XVIII. EARTHLY AND HEAVENLY +WISDOM; OR, STOOP TO CONQUER.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; +by understanding hath he established the +heavens.”—<span class="smcap">Prov.</span> iii. +19.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Did it ever strike you as a very remarkable and important +thing, that after saying in Proverbs iii. that Wisdom is this +precious treasure, and bidding his son seek for her because +(verse 16) “Length of days is in her right hand, and in her +left hand riches and honour: Her ways are ways of pleasantness, +and all her paths are peace,”—Solomon goes on +immediately to say (verses 19, 20), “The Lord by Wisdom +hath founded the earth, and established the heavens?”</p> +<p>By Wisdom: by the very same Wisdom, Solomon says, which is to +give men length of days, and riches, and honour. Is not +this curious at least? That there is but one wisdom for God +and man? That man’s true wisdom is a pattern of +God’s wisdom? That a man to prosper in the world must +get the very same wisdom by which God made and rules the +world? Curious. But most blessed news, my friends, if +we will think over what it means. I will try to explain it +to you: first, as to this world which we see; next, as to the +heavenly world of spirits which we do not see.</p> +<p>You have, many of you, heard the word +“Science.” <!-- page 136--><a +name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 136</span>Many of you +of course know what it means. That it means wisdom and +learning about this earth and all things in it. Many more +of you of course know that in the last hundred years science has +improved in a most wonderful way, and is improving every day; +that we have now gas-lights, steam-engines, cotton-mills, +railroads, electric telegraphs, iron ships, and a hundred curious +and useful machines and manufactures of which our +great-grandfathers never dreamed; that our knowledge of different +countries, of medicines, of the laws of health and disease, and +of all in short which has to do with man’s bodily life, is +increasing day by day; and that all these discoveries are very +great blessings; they give employment and food to millions who +would otherwise have had nothing to do; they bring vast wealth +into this country, and all the countries which trade with +us. They enable this land of England to support four times +as many human beings as it did two hundred years ago; they make +many of the necessaries of life cheaper, so that in many cases a +poor man may now have comforts which his grandfather never heard +of.</p> +<p>I know that there is a dark side to this picture; that with +all this increase of wisdom, there has come conceit, and trust in +deceitful riches, and want of trust in God, and obedience to His +law. I know that in some things we are not better, but +worse than our forefathers; God forgive us for it! But the +good came from God; and that man is very unwise and unthankful +too, who despises God’s great gift of science, because +fallen man has defiled His gift as it passed through his unclean +hands.</p> +<p>Look only at this one thing, as I said just now, that by all +these wonderful discoveries and improvements, <!-- page 137--><a +name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 137</span>England is +able to support four times as many Englishmen as it used of old, +and that, if we feared God, and sought His kingdom better, I +believe, England would support many more people yet—and see +if <i>that</i> be not a thing to thank Almighty God for every day +of our lives.</p> +<p>Now how did this wonderful change and improvement take +place—suddenly, and, as it were, in the course of the last +hundred years? Simply by mankind understanding the text +(Prov. iii. 19), and by obeying it. I tell you a real +truth, my friends, and it happened thus.</p> +<p>For more than sixteen hundred years after our Lord’s +time, mankind seem to have become hardly any wiser about earthly +things, nay, even to have gone back. The land was no better +tilled; goods were no more easily made; diseases were no better +cured, than they had been sixteen hundred years before. And +if any learned men longed to become very wise and cunning, and to +get power over this world and the things in it, they flew off to +witchcraft, charms, and magic, deceived by the devil’s old +lie, that the kingdom and the power and the glory of this world +belonged to him and not to God.</p> +<p>But about two hundred and fifty years ago, it pleased God to +open the eyes of one of the wisest men who ever lived, who was +called Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, Lord Chancellor of England, +and to show him the real and right way of learning by which men +can fulfil God’s command to replenish the earth and subdue +it. And Francis Bacon told all the learned men boldly that +they had all been wrong together, and that their wisdom was no +better than a sort of madness, as it is written, “The +wisdom of man is foolishness with God;” that the only <!-- +page 138--><a name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +138</span>way for man to be wise was to get God’s wisdom, +the wisdom with which He had founded the earth, and find out +God’s laws by which He had made this world.</p> +<p>“And then,” he said, “if you can do that, +you will be able to imitate God in your own small way. If +you learn the laws by which God made all things, you will be able +to invent new things for yourselves. <i>For you can only +subdue nature by obeying her</i>.” That was one of +his greatest sayings, and by it he meant, that you can only +subdue a thing and make it useful to you, by finding out the +rules by which God made that thing, and by obeying them.</p> +<p>For instance, you cannot subdue and till a barren field, and +make it useful, without knowing and obeying the laws and rules of +that soil; and then you can subdue and conquer that field, and +change and train it, as I may say, to grow what you like. +You cannot conquer diseases without knowing and obeying the laws +by which God has made man’s body, and the laws by which +fever and cholera and other plagues come.</p> +<p>Let me give you another instance. You all have seen +lightning conductors, which prevent tall chimneys and steeples +from being struck by storms, so that the lightning runs harmless +downward. Now we can all see how this is conquering the +force of lightning in a wonderful and beautiful way. But +before you can conquer the lightning by a conductor, you must +obey the lightning and its laws most carefully. If you make +the conductor out of your own head and fancy, it will be of no +use. You must observe and follow humbly the laws which God +has given to the lightning. You must make the conductor of +metal wire, or it will be useless. You must make it run +through glazed rings, or it will <!-- page 139--><a +name="page139"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 139</span>be only +more dangerous than no conductor at all; for God who made the +lightning chose that it should be so, and you must <i>obey</i> if +you wish to <i>conquer</i>.</p> +<p>Man could not conquer steam, and make it drive his engines and +carry his ships across the seas, till he found out and obeyed the +laws which God had given to steam; and so without breaking the +laws, man turned them to his own use, and set the force of steam +to turn his machines, instead of rushing idly out into the empty +air.</p> +<p>So it is with all things, whether in heaven or earth. If +you want to rule, you must obey. If you want to rise to be +a master, you must stoop to be a servant. If you want to be +master of anything in earth or heaven, you must, as that great +Lord Verulam used to say, obey God’s will revealed in that +thing; and the man who will go his own way, and follow his own +fancy, will understand nothing, and master nothing, and get +comfort out of nothing in earth or heaven.</p> +<p>Well—when Lord Verulam told men his new wisdom, they +laughed and scoffed, as fools always will at anything new. +But one by one, wise men tried his plan, and found him right, and +went on; and from that time those who followed Lord Verulam began +discovering wonders of which they had never dreamed, and those +who did not, but kept to the old way of witchcraft and magic, +found out nothing, and made themselves a laughing stock. +And after a while witchcraft vanished out of all civilised +countries, and in its place came all the wonderful comforts and +discoveries which we have now, and which under God, we owe to the +wisdom of the great Lord Verulam. Cotton mills, steam +engines, railroads, electric telegraphs, sanitary reforms, cheap +books, penny postage, good medicine and surgery, and a <!-- page +140--><a name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +140</span>thousand blessings more. That great Lord +Chancellor has been the father of them all.</p> +<p>And a noble thought it is for us Church people, and a glorious +testimony to the good training which the Church of England gives, +that the three men, who more than any others laid the foundation +of all our wonderful discoveries, I mean Lord Verulam, Mr. Boyle, +and Sir Isaac Newton, were all of them heart and soul members of +the Church of England.</p> +<p>I said just now that the man who will not obey, will never +rule; that the man who will not stoop to be a servant, will never +rise to be a master; that the man who neglects God’s will +and mind about things, and will follow his own will and fancy, +will understand nothing, and master nothing, and get comfort out +of nothing, either in earth or heaven.</p> +<p>Either in earth or heaven, I say. For the same rule +which holds good in this earthly world, which we do see, holds +good in the heavenly world which we do not see. Solomon +does not part the two worlds, and I cannot. Solomon says +the same rules which hold good about men’s bodies, hold +good about their souls. The great Lord Verulam used always +to say the same, and we must believe the same. For see, +Solomon says, that this same wisdom by which God made the worlds, +will help our souls as well as our bodies; that it is not merely +the earthly wisdom which brings a man length of life and riches, +but heavenly wisdom, which is a tree of life to every one who +lays hold of her (Prov. iii. 18). The heavenly wisdom which +begins in trusting in the Lord with all our heart, the heavenly +wisdom which is learnt by chastenings and afflictions, and +teaches us that we are the sons of God, is the very same wisdom +by <!-- page 141--><a name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +141</span>which God founded the earth, and makes the clouds drop +down dew! Strange at first sight; but not strange if we +remember the Athanasian creed, and believe that God is one God, +who has no parts or passions, and therefore cannot change or be +divided.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, God’s wisdom is one—unchangeable, +everlasting, and always like itself; and by the same wisdom by +which He made the earth and the heavens, by the same wisdom by +which He made our bodies, has He made our souls; and therefore we +can, and are bound to, glorify Him alike in our bodies and our +spirits, for both are His.</p> +<p>It may not seem easy to understand this; but I will explain +what I mean by an example. I just told you, that in earthly +matters we must stoop to conquer; we must obey the laws which God +has given to anything, before we can master and use that +thing. And in matters about our own soul—about our +behaviour to God—about our behaviour to our fellow-men, +believe me there is no rule like the golden one of Lord +Verulam’s—stoop to conquer—obey if you wish to +rule. For see now. What is there more common than +this? It happens to each of us every day. We meet a +fellow-man our equal, neither better nor worse than ourselves, +and we want to make him do something. Now there are two +ways in which we may set about that. We may drive our man, +or we may lead him. You know well enough which of those two +ways is likely to succeed best. If you try to drive the +man, you say to yourself, “I know I am right. I see +the thing in this light, and he is a fool if he does not see it +in the same light. I choose to have the thing done, and +done it shall be, and if he is stupid enough not to take my <!-- +page 142--><a name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +142</span>view of it, I will let him know who I am, and we will +see which of us is the stronger!” So says many a man +in his heart. But what comes of it? Nothing. +For the other man gets angry, and determines to have his way in +his turn. There is a quarrel and a great deal of noise; and +most probably the thing is not done. Instead of the man +getting what he wants, he has a fresh quarrel on his hands, and +nothing more. So his blustering is no sign that he is +really strong. For the strong man is the man who <i>can</i> +get what he wants done. Is he not? Surely we shall +all agree to that. And the proud, hot, positive, +dictatorial, self-willed man is just the man, in a free country +like this, who does <i>not</i> get what he wants done. He +will not stoop—therefore he will not conquer.</p> +<p>But suppose we take another plan. Suppose instead of +trying to drive, we try to lead. Suppose if we want a man +to do anything, we begin by obeying him, and serving him, that we +may afterwards lead him, and afterwards make use of him. +There is a base, mean way of doing that, by flattering, and +fawning, and cringing, which are certainly the devil’s +works. For the devil can put on the form of an angel of +light; but we need not do that. We may serve and obey a man +honestly and honourably, in order to get him to do what he ought +to do. I will tell you what I mean.</p> +<p>Suppose when we have dealings with any man, we begin with him, +as I was saying we ought to begin with earthly things—with +a field for instance—we should say, before I begin to make +this field bear the crop I want I must look it through and +understand it. I must see what state it is in—what +its soil is—what has been taken off it already—what +the weather is—what state <!-- page 143--><a +name="page143"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 143</span>of drainage +it is in, and so forth; and I must obey the rules of all these +things, or my crop will come to nothing. So with this +man. First of all, before I get anything out of the man, I +must understand the man. I must find out what sort of +temper and character he has, what his opinions are, how he has +been brought up, how he has been accustomed to look at +things—so as to be able to make allowance for all, else I +shall never be able to understand how he looks at this one +matter, or to make him understand <i>my</i> way of looking at +it. And to do that—to understand the man, or make him +understand me, I must begin by making a <i>friend</i> of him.</p> +<p>There, my friends—there is one of the blessed laws of +the kingdom of Heaven, that in a free country (as this, thank +God, is) the only sure way to get power and influence over +people, is by making <i>friends</i> of them, by behaving like +Christians to them, making them trust you and love you, by +pleasing them, giving way to them, making yourself of service to +them, doing what they like whenever you can, in order that they +may do to you, as you have done to them, and measure back to you +(as the Lord Jesus promises they will), with the same measure +with which you have measured to them. In short, serving +men, that you may rule them, and stooping before them that you +may conquer them.</p> +<p>And if any of you are too proud to try this plan, and think it +fairer to drive men than to lead them, I can tell you of two +persons who were not as proud as you are, and were not ashamed to +do what you are ashamed to do—and yet they are two persons, +before the least of whom you would hang your head, and feel, as I +am sure I should, a very small, and mean, and pitiful person if I +met them in the road.</p> +<p><!-- page 144--><a name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +144</span>For the first, and by far the least of the two, is St. +Paul. Now St. Paul says this was the very plan by which he +got influence over men, and persuaded and converted them, and +brought them home to God, by being himself a servant to all men, +and pleasing all men, being a Jew to the Jews, and a Greek to the +Greeks, and all things to all men, if by any means he might save +some. Giving up, giving way, taking trouble, putting +himself out of the way, as we say here, all day long, to win +people to love him, and trust him, and see that he really cared +for them, and therefore to be ready to listen to him. From +what one can see of St. Paul’s manners, from his own +Epistles, he must have been the most perfect gentleman; a gentle +man, civil, obliging, delicate minded, careful to hurt no +one’s feelings; and when he had (as he had often) to say +rough things and deal with rough men, doing it as tenderly and +carefully as he could, like his Master the Lord Jesus Christ, +lest he should break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking +flax. Which of us can read the Epistle to Philemon (which +to my mind is the most civil, pleasant, kindly, gentlemanlike +speech which I know on earth), without saying to ourselves, +“Ah, if we had but St. Paul’s manners, St. +Paul’s temper, St. Paul’s way of managing people, how +few quarrels there would be in this noisy troublesome +world.”</p> +<p>But I said that there was one greater than St. Paul who was +not ashamed to behave in the very same way, stooping to all, +conciliating all. And so there is—One whose shoes St. +Paul was not worthy to stoop down and unloose—and that is, +the Lord Jesus Christ Himself—who ate and drank with +publicans and sinners, who went out into the highways and hedges, +to bring home <!-- page 145--><a name="page145"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 145</span>into God’s kingdom poor +wretches whom men despised and cast off. It was He who +taught St. Paul to behave in the same way. May He teach us +to behave in the same way also! St. Paul learnt to discern +men’s spirits, and feel for them, and understand them, and +help them, and comfort them, and at last to turn and change them +whichever way he chose, simply because he was full of the Spirit +of Christ, who is the Spirit of God, proceeding both from the +Father and the Son.</p> +<p>For St. Paul says positively, that his reason for not pleasing +himself, but taking so much trouble to please other people, was +because Christ also pleased not Himself. “We that are +strong,” he says, “ought to bear the infirmities of +the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every man please +his neighbour for his good unto edification, for even Christ +pleased not Himself,” (Rom. xv. 1-3.) And again, +“We have a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling +of our infirmities,” (Heb. iv. 15). So it was by +stooping to men, that Christ learned to understand men, and by +understanding men He was able to save men. And again, St. +Paul says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in +Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, and equal with +God,” yet—“made Himself of no reputation, but +took upon Him the form of a slave, and was made in the likeness +of man, and being found in fashion as a man, <i>humbled +Himself</i>, and became <i>obedient unto death</i>, even the +death of the cross,” (Phil. ii. 5, 9, 10).</p> +<p>There, my friends—there was the perfect fulfilment of +the great law—<i>Stoop to conquer</i>. There was the +reward of Christ’s not pleasing Himself. Christ +stooped lower than any man, and therefore He rose again higher +than all men. He did more to please men than any <!-- page +146--><a name="page146"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +146</span>man; and therefore God was better pleased with Him than +with all men, and a voice came from Heaven, saying—This +Person who stoops to the lowest depths that He may understand and +help those who were in the lowest deep—this outcast who has +not where to lay His head, slandered, blasphemed, spit on, +scourged, crucified, because He will help all, and feel for all, +and preach to all; “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am +well pleased,” (Matt. iii. 17). “The brightness +of my glory,—the express image of my person,” (Heb. +i. 3).</p> +<p>My friends, this may seem to you a strange sermon, which began +by talking of railroads and steamships, and ends by talking of +the death and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ; and you may ask +what has the end of it to do with the beginning?</p> +<p>If you want to know, recollect that I began by saying that +there was but <i>One</i> wisdom for earth or heaven, for man and +for God; and that is the wisdom which lies in <i>stooping to +conquer</i>, as the Lord Jesus Christ did. Think over that, +and behave accordingly; and be sure, meanwhile, that whenever you +feel proud, and self-willed, and dictatorial, and inclined to +drive men instead of leading them, and to quarrel with them, +instead of trying to understand them and love them, and bring +them round gently, by appealing to their reason and good feeling, +not to their fear of you—then you are going not God’s +way, no, nor man’s way either, but the devil’s +way. You are going, not the way by which the Lord Jesus +Christ rose <i>to</i> Heaven, but the way by which the devil fell +<i>from</i> Heaven, as all self-willed proud men will fall. +Proud and self-willed men will not get done the things they want +to be done; while the meek, those <!-- page 147--><a +name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 147</span>who are +gentle, and tender, and try to draw men as God does with the +cords of <i>a man</i> and the bands of <i>love</i>, will prosper +in this world and in the next; they will see their heart’s +desire; they will inherit the land, and be refreshed in the +multitude of peace.</p> +<h2><!-- page 148--><a name="page148"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 148</span>XIX. IT IS GOOD FOR THE YOUNG +TO REJOICE.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let +thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the +ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know +thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into +judgment.”—<span class="smcap">Ecclesiastes</span> +xi. 9.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Some people fancy that in this text God forbids young people +to enjoy themselves. They think that the words are spoken +ironically, and with a sneer, as if to say,</p> +<p>“Yes. Enjoy yourself if you will. Go your +own way if you wish. Make a fool of yourself if you are +determined to do so. You will repent it at last. You +will be caught at last, and punished at last.”</p> +<p>Now, I cannot think that there would be in Scripture or in any +word of God a sneer so cruel and so unjust as that. For +surely it would be unjust of God, if after giving young people +the power to be happy, He then punished them for being happy, for +using the very powers which He had given them, obeying the very +feelings which He had implanted in them, enjoying the very +pleasures which He had put in their way. God cannot be a +tempter, my friends. He does not surely send us into a +world full of traps and snares, and then punish us for being +caught in the very snares which He had set. God +forbid. Let us never fancy such things of God the heavenly +Father, from whom comes every good and perfect gift. Let us +leave such fancies for soured and <!-- page 149--><a +name="page149"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +149</span>hard-hearted persons, who make a god in their own +likeness—a god of darkness and not of light—a grudger +and not a giver. And let us take this text literally and +plainly as it stands, and see whether we cannot learn from it a +really wholesome lesson.</p> +<p>“Rejoice! oh, young man, in thy youth.”</p> +<p>The Bible tells you to rejoice, therefore do so without +fear. God has given you health, strength, spirits, hope, +the power of enjoyment. And why, save but that you may +enjoy them, and rejoice in your youth? He has given you +<i>more</i> health, <i>more</i> strength, more <i>spirits</i>, +than you need to earn your daily bread, or to learn your daily +task. And why? To enable you to <i>grow</i> in body +and in soul. And that you will only do if you are +happy. The human soul, says a wise man, is like a plant, +and requires <i>sunshine</i> to make it grow and ripen. And +the heavenly Father has given you sunshine in your hearts that +you may grow into hearty, healthy-minded men. If young +people have not sunshine enough, if they are kept down and +crushed in youth by sorrow, by anxiety, by fear, by over-hard +work, by too much study, by strict and cruel masters, by dark and +superstitious notions about God’s anger, by +over-scrupulousness about this and that thing being sinful, then +their souls and minds do not grow; they become more or less +stunted, unhealthy, unhappy, slavish, and mean people in +after-life, because they have not rejoiced in their youth as God +intended them to do.</p> +<p>Remember this, you parents, and be sure that all harshness and +cruelty to your children, all terrifying of them, all +over-working of them, body or mind, all making them unhappy by +requiring of them more than the plain law of God requires; or by +teaching them to <!-- page 150--><a name="page150"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 150</span>dread, not to love, their Father in +heaven—All these will stunt and hurt their characters in +after-life; and all are, therefore, sins against their heavenly +Father, who willeth not that one little one should perish, and +who will require a strict account of each of us how we have +brought up the children whom He has committed to our +charge. Let their hearts cheer them in the days of their +youth. They will have trouble enough, anxiety enough +hereafter. Do not you forestall the evil days for +them. The more cheerful their growth is the more heart and +spirit they will have to face the trials and sorrows of life when +they come.</p> +<p>But further, the text says to the young man, Walk in the ways +of thy heart. That is God’s permission to free men, +in a free country. You are not slaves either to man or to +God; and God does not treat you as slaves, but as children whom +He can trust. He says, Walk in the ways of thine own +heart. Do what you will, provided it be not wrong. +Choose your own path in life. Exert yourselves boldly to +better yourselves in any path you choose, which is not a path of +dishonesty and sin.</p> +<p>Again, says the text, Walk in the sight of thine eyes. +As your bodies are free, let your minds be free likewise. +See for yourselves, judge for yourselves. God has given you +eyes, brains, understanding; use them. Get knowledge for +yourselves, get experience for yourselves. Educate and +cultivate your own minds. Live, as far as you can, a free, +reasonable, cheerful, happy life, enjoying this world, if you +feel able to enjoy it. But know thou, that for all these +things, God will bring thee into judgment.</p> +<p>Ah! say some, there is the sting. How can we <!-- page +151--><a name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +151</span>enjoy ourselves if we are to be brought into judgment +after all?</p> +<p>My friends, before I answer that question, let me ask +one. Do you look on God as a taskmaster, requiring of you, +as the Egyptians did of the Jews, to make bricks all day without +straw, and noting down secretly every moment that you take your +eyes off your work, that He may punish you for it years hence +when you have forgotten it—extreme to mark what is done +amiss?</p> +<p>Or do you look on God as a Father who rejoices in the +happiness of His children?—Who sets them no work to do but +what is good for them, and requires them to do nothing without +giving them first the power and the means to do it?—A +Father who knows our necessities before we ask for help and a +Saviour who is able and willing to give us help? If you +think of God in that former way as a stern taskmaster, I can tell +you nothing about Him. I know Him not; I find Him neither +in the Bible, in the world, nor in my own conscience and +reason. He is not the God of the Bible, the God of the +Gospel whom I am commanded to preach to you.</p> +<p>But if you think of God as a Father, as your Father in heaven, +who chastens you in His love that you may partake of His +holiness, and of His Son Jesus Christ as your Saviour, your Lord, +who loves you, and desires your salvation, body and soul—of +Him I can speak; for He is the True and only God, revealed by His +Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and in His light I can tell you to +rejoice and take comfort, ever though He brings you into +judgment; for being your Father in heaven, He can mean nothing +but your good, and He would not bring you into judgment if that +too was not good for you.</p> +<p><!-- page 152--><a name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +152</span>Now, you must remember that the judgment of which +Solomon speaks here is a judgment in <i>this</i> life. The +whole Book of Ecclesiastes, from which the text is taken, is +about <i>this</i> life. Solomon says so specially, and +carefully. He is giving here advice to his son; and his +doctrine all through is, that a man’s happiness or misery +in <i>this</i> life, his good or bad fortune in <i>this</i> life, +depend almost entirely on his own conduct; and, above all, on his +conduct in youth. As a man sows he shall reap, is his +doctrine.</p> +<p>Therefore, he says, in this very chapter, Do what if right, +just because it is right. It is sure to pay you in the long +run, somehow, somewhere, somewhen. Cast thy bread on the +waters—that is, do a generous thing whenever you have an +opportunity—and thou shalt find it after many days. +Give a portion to seven, and also to eight, for thou knowest not +what evil shall be on the earth. Every action of yours will +bear fruit. Every thing you do, and every word you say, +will God bring into judgment, sooner or later. It will rise +up against you, years afterwards, to punish you, or it will rise +up for you, years afterwards, to reward you. It must be so, +says Solomon; that is the necessary, eternal, moral law of +God’s world. As you do, so will you be +rewarded. If the clouds be full of rain, they must empty +themselves on the earth. Where the tree falls, there it +will lie. As we say in England, as you make your bed, so +you will lie on it. That does not (as people are too apt to +think) speak of what is to happen to us after we die. It +speaks expressly and only of what will happen before we +die. It is the same as our English proverb.</p> +<p>Therefore, he says, do not look too far forward. Do not +be double-minded, doing things with a mean and <!-- page 153--><a +name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 153</span>interested +after-thought, plotting, planning, asking, will this right thing +pay me or not? He that observeth the wind, and is too +curious and anxious about the weather, will not sow; and he that +regardeth the clouds shall not reap. No; just do the right +thing which lies nearest you, and trust to God to prosper +it. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening +withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not which shall +prosper, this or that, or whether they shall both be alike +good. Thou knowest not, he says, the works of God, who +maketh all. All thou knowest is, that the one only chance +of success in life is to fear God and keep His commandments, for +this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every +work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, +or whether it be evil.</p> +<p>Whether it be good, or whether it be evil.</p> +<p>He does not say only that God will bring your evil deeds into +judgment. But that He will bring your good ones also, and +your happiness and good fortune in this life will be, on the +whole, made up of the sum-total of the good and harm you have +done, of the wisdom or the folly which you have thought and +carried out. It <i>is</i> so. You know it is +so. When you look round on other men, you see that on the +whole men prosper very much as they deserve. There are +exceptions, I know. Solomon knew that well. Such +strange and frightful exceptions, that one must believe that +those who have been so much wronged in this life will be righted +in the life to come. Children suffer for the sins of their +parents. Innocent people suffer with the guilty. But +these are the exceptions, not the rule. And these +exceptions are much more rare than we choose to confess. +When a man complains to you that <!-- page 154--><a +name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 154</span>he has been +unfortunate, that the world has been unjust to him, that he has +not had fair play in life, and so forth, in three cases out of +four you will find that it is more or less the man’s own +fault; that he has <i>deserved</i> his losses, that is, earned +them for himself. I do not mean that the man need have been +a wicked man—not in the least. But he has been +imprudent, perhaps weak, hasty, stupid, or something else; and +his faults, perhaps some one fault, has hampered him, thrown him +back, and God has brought him to judgment for it, and made it +punish him. And why? Surely that he may see his fault +and repent of it, and mend it for the time to come.</p> +<p>I say, God may bring a man’s fault into judgment, and +let it punish him, without the man being a bad man. And +you, young people, will find in after-life that you will have +earned, deserved, merited, and worked out for yourselves a great +deal of your own happiness and misery.</p> +<p>I know this seems a hard doctrine. People are always +ready to lay their misfortunes on God, on the world, on any and +every one, rather than on themselves.</p> +<p>A bad education, for instance—a weakly constitution +which some bring into the world, with or without any fault of +their own, are terrible drawbacks and sore afflictions. The +death of those near and dear to us, of which we cannot always +say, I have earned this, I have brought it on myself. It is +the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth Him good.</p> +<p>But because misfortunes may come upon us without our own +fault, that is no reason why we should not provide against the +misfortunes which will be our own fault. Nay, is it not all +the stronger reason for providing <!-- page 155--><a +name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 155</span>against +them, that there are other sorrows against which we cannot +provide? Alas! is there not misery horrible enough hanging +over our heads daily in this mortal life without our making more +for ourselves by our own folly? We shall have grief enough +before we die without adding to that grief the far bitterer +torment of remorse!</p> +<p>Oh, young people, young people, listen to what I say! +You can be, you will be, you must be, the builders of your own +good or bad fortunes. On <i>you</i> it depends whether your +lives shall be honourable and happy, or dishonourable and +sad. There is no such thing as luck or fortune in this +world. What is called Fortune is nothing else than the +orderly and loving providence of the Lord Jesus Christ, who +orders all things in heaven and earth, and who will, sooner or +later, reward every man according to his works. Just in +proportion as you do the will of your Father in heaven, just so +far will doing His will bring its own blessing and its own +reward.</p> +<p>Instead of hoping for good fortune which may never come, or +fearing bad fortune which may never come either, pray, each of +you, for the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of right-doing, which +<i>is</i> good fortune in itself; good fortune in this world; and +in the world to come, everlasting life. Fear God and keep +His commandments, and all will be well. For who is the man +who is master of his own luck? The Psalmist tells us, in +Psalm xv., “He that leadeth an uncorrupt life, and doeth +the thing which is right, and speaketh the truth from his +heart.” “He that backbiteth not with his +tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach +against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is +contemned; but he honoureth them that fear <!-- page 156--><a +name="page156"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 156</span>the Lord: +he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that +putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the +innocent.”</p> +<p>Whoso doeth these things shall <i>never fall</i>. And as +long as you are doing those things, you may rejoice freely and +heartily in your youth, believing that the smile of God, who gave +you the power of being happy, is on your happiness; and that your +heavenly Father no more grudges harmless pleasure to you, than He +grudges it to the gnat which dances in the sunbeam, or the bird +which sings upon the bough. For He is The Father,—and +what greater delight to a father than to see his children happy, +if only, while they are happy, they are <i>good</i>?</p> +<h2><!-- page 157--><a name="page157"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 157</span>XX. GOD’S BEAUTIFUL +WORLD.—A SPRING SERMON.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my +God, thou art very great: thou art clothed with honour and +majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: +who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: who layeth the +beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his +chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind.”—Ps. +civ. 1-3.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>At this delicious season of the year, when spring time is fast +ripening into summer, and every hedge, and field, and garden is +full of life and growth, full of beauty and fruitfulness; and we +look back on the long winter, and the boughs which stood bare so +drearily for six months, as if in a dream; the blessed spring +with its green leaves, and gay flowers, and bright suns has put +the winter’s frosts out of our thoughts, and we seem to +take instinctively to the warmth, as if it were our natural +element—as if we were intended, like the bees and +butterflies, to live and work only in the summer days, and not to +pass, as we do in this climate, one-third of the year, one-third +of our whole lives, in mist, cold, and gloom. Now, there is +a meaning in all this—in our love of bright, warm weather, +a very deep and blessed meaning in it. It is a sign to us +where we come from—where God would have us go. A sign +that we came from God’s heaven of light and beauty, that +God’s heaven of light and beauty is meant for us +hereafter. That love which we have for spring, is <!-- page +158--><a name="page158"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 158</span>a +sign, that we are children of the everlasting Spring, children of +the light and of the day, in body and in soul; if we would but +claim our birthright!</p> +<p>For you must remember that mankind came from a warm +country—a country all of sunshine and joy. Adam in +the garden of Eden was in no cold or severe climate, he had no +need of clothes, not even of the trouble of tilling the +ground. The bountiful earth gave him all he wanted. +The trees over his head stretched out the luscious fruits to +him—the shady glades were his only house, the mossy banks +his only bed. He was bred up the child of sunshine and +joy. But he was not meant to stay there. God who +brings good out of evil, gave man a real blessing when He drove +him out of the garden of Eden. Men were meant to fill the +earth and to conquer it, as they are doing at this day. +They were meant to become hardy and industrious—to be +forced to use their hands and their heads to the utmost stretch, +to call out into practice all the powers which lay ready in +them. They were meant, in short, according to the great law +of God’s world, to be made perfect through sufferings, and +therefore it was God’s kindness, and not cruelty, to our +forefathers, when He sent them out into the world; and that He +did not send them into any exceedingly hot country, where they +would have become utterly lazy and profligate, like the negroes +and the South Sea islanders, who have no need to work, because +the perpetual summer gives them their bread ready-made to their +hands. And it was a kindness, too, that God did not send +our forefathers out into any exceedingly cold country, like the +Greenlanders and the Esquimaux, where the perpetual winter would +have made them greedy, and stunted, and stupid; but that He sent +us <!-- page 159--><a name="page159"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +159</span>into this temperate climate, where there is a continual +change and variety of seasons. Here first, stern and +wholesome winter, then bright, cheerful summer, each bringing a +message and a lesson from our loving Father in heaven. +First comes winter, to make us hardy and daring, and industrious, +and strips the trees, and bares the fields, and takes away all +food from the earth, and cries to us with the voice of its +storms, “He that will <i>not work</i>, neither shall he +eat.” “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider +her ways, and be wise: who layeth up her meat in the summer, and +provideth her food against the time of frosts.” And +then comes summer, with her flowers and her fruits, and brings us +her message from God, and says to us poor, slaving, hard-worn +children of men, “You are not meant to freeze, and toil, +and ache for ever. God loves to see you happy; God is +willing to feed your eyes with fair sights, your bodies with +pleasant food, to cheer your hearts with warmth and sunshine as +much as is good for you. He does not grieve willingly, nor +afflict the children of men. See the very bees and gnats, +how they dance and bask in the sunbeams! See the very +sparrows, how they choose their mates and build their nests, and +enjoy themselves as if they were children of the spring! +And are not ye of more value than many sparrows? you who can +understand and enjoy the spring, you men and women who can +understand and enjoy God’s fair earth ten thousand times +more than those dumb creatures can. It is for <i>you</i> +God has made the spring. It is for <i>your</i> sakes that +Christ, the ruler of the earth, sends light and fruitfulness, and +beauty over the world year by year. And why? Not +merely to warm and feed your bodies, but to stir up your hearts +with grateful love to Him, the <!-- page 160--><a +name="page160"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 160</span>Blessed +One, and to teach you what you are to expect from Him +hereafter.”</p> +<p>Ay, my friends, this is the message the spring and summer +bring with them—they are signs and sacraments from God, +earnests of the everlasting spring—the world of unfading +beauty and perpetual happiness which is the proper home of man, +which God has prepared for those that love Him—the world +wherein there shall be no more curse, neither sorrow nor sighing, +but the Lord God and the Lamb shall be the light thereof; and the +rivers of that world shall be waters of life, and the trees of +that world shall be for the healing of the nations; and the +children of the Lord God shall see Him face to face, and be kings +and priests to Him for ever and ever. Therefore, I say, +rejoice in spring time, and in the sights, and sounds, and scents +which spring time, as a rule, brings; and remember, once for all, +never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. +Beauty is God’s hand-writing—God’s image. +It is a wayside sacrament, a cup of blessing; welcome it in every +fair landscape, every fair face, every fair flower, and drink it +in with all your eyes, and thank Christ for it, who is Himself +the well-spring of all beauty, who giveth all things richly to +enjoy.</p> +<p>I think, this 104th Psalm is a fit and proper psalm to preach +on in this sweet spring time; for it speaks, from beginning to +end, of God’s earth, and of His glory, and love, and wisdom +which shines forth on this earth. And though, at first +sight, it may not seem to have much to do with Christianity, and +with the great mystery of our redemption, yet, I believe and know +that it has at bottom all and everything to do with it; that this +104th Psalm is as full of comfort and <!-- page 161--><a +name="page161"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 161</span>instruction +for Christian men as any other Psalm in the whole Bible. I +believe that without feeling rightly and healthily about this +Psalm, we shall not feel rightly or healthily about any other +part of the Bible, either Old or New Testament. At all +events God’s inspired psalmist was not ashamed to write +this psalm. God’s Spirit thought it worth while to +teach him to write this psalm. God’s providence +thought it worth while to preserve this psalm for us in His holy +Bible, and therefore I think it must be worth while for <i>us</i> +to understand this psalm, unless we pretend to be wiser than +God. I have no fancy for picking and choosing out of the +holy Bible; <i>all</i> Scripture is given by inspiration of +God—all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, +for correction, for instruction in righteousness, and therefore +this 104th Psalm is profitable as well as the rest; and +especially profitable to be explained in a few sermons as I said +before, at <i>this</i> season when, if we have any eyes to see +with, or hearts to feel with, we ought to be wondering at and +admiring God’s glorious earth, and saying, with the old +prophet in my text, “Praise the Lord, O my soul. O +Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour +and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a +garment: who stretchest out the heavens as with a curtain: who +layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the +clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind . . . +O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them +all: the earth is full of thy riches” (Ps. civ. 1, 2, 3, +24).</p> +<p>First, then, consider those wonderful words of the text, how +God covers Himself with light as it were with a garment. +Truly there is something most divine in <!-- page 162--><a +name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 162</span>light; it +seems an especial pattern and likeness of God. The Bible +uses it so continually. Light is a pattern of God’s +wisdom; for light sees into everything, searches through +everything, and light is a pattern of God’s revelation, for +light shows us everything; without light our eyes would be +useless—and so without God our soul’s eyes would be +useless. It is God who teaches us all we know. It is +God who makes us understand all we understand. He opens the +meaning of everything to us, just as the light shews everything +to us; and as in the sunlight only we see the brightness and +beauty of the earth, so it is written, “In thy light, O +God, we shall see light.” Thus light is God’s +garment. It shows Him to us, and yet it hides Him from +us. Who could dare or bear to look on God if we saw Him as +He is face to face? Our souls would be dazzled blind, as +our eyes are by the sun at noonday. But now, light is a +pattern to us of God’s glory; and therefore it is written, +that light <i>is</i> God’s garment, that God dwells in the +light which no man can approach unto. As a wise old heathen +nobly said, “Light is the shadow of God;” and so, as +the text says, He stretches out those glorious blue heavens above +us as a curtain and shield, to hide our eyes from His unutterable +splendour, and yet to lift our souls up to Him. The +vastness and the beauty of those heavens, with all their +countless stars, each one a sun or a world in itself, should +teach us how small we are, how great is our Father who made all +these.</p> +<p>When we see a curtain, and know that it bides something +beautiful behind it, our curiosity and wonder is awakened, and we +long all the more to see what is behind that curtain. So +the glory of those skies ought <!-- page 163--><a +name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 163</span>to make us +wonder and long all the more to see the God who made the +skies.</p> +<p>But again, the Psalmist says that God lays the beams of His +chambers in the waters, and makes the clouds His chariot, and +walks upon the wings of the wind! that He makes His angels the +storms, and His ministers a flaming fire. You must not +suppose that the psalmist had such a poor notion of the great +infinite God, as to fancy that He could be in any one +<i>place</i>. God wants no chambers—even though they +were built of the clouds, arched with rainbows, as wide as the +whole vault of heaven. He wants no wind to carry +Him—He carries all things and moves all things. In +Him they live, and move, and have their being. Yet +Him—the heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain +Him! He is everywhere and no <i>where</i>—for He is a +Spirit; He is in all things, and yet He is no +<i>thing</i>—for He was before all things, and in Him all +things consist. He is the Absolute, the Uncreated, the +Infinite, the One and the All. And the old Psalmist knew +that as well as we do, perhaps better. What, then, did he +mean by these two last verses? He meant, that in all those +things God was present—that the world was not like a +machine, a watch, which God had wound up at the creation, and +started off to go of itself; but that His Spirit, His providence, +were guiding everything, even as at the first. That those +mists and rain came from Him, and went where He sent them; that +those clouds carried <i>His</i> blessings to mankind; that when +the thunder shower bursts on one parish, and leaves the next one +dry, it is because God will have it so; that He brings the +blessed purifying winds out of His treasures, to sweeten and +fatten the earth with the fresh breath of life, which <!-- page +164--><a name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +164</span>they have drunk up from the great Atlantic seas, and +from the rich forests of America—that they blow whither He +thinks best; that clouds and rain, wind and lightning, are His +fruitful messengers and His wholesome ministers, fulfilling His +word, each according to their own laws, but also each according +to His especial providence, who has given the whole earth to the +children of men. This is the meaning of the Psalmist, that +the weather is not a dead machine, but a living, wonderful work +of the Spirit of God, the Lord and giver of life. Therefore +we may dare to pray for fair and seasonable weather; we may dare +to pray against blight and tempest—humbly, because we know +not what is altogether good for us,—but boldly and freely, +because we know that there is a living, loving God, governing the +weather, who does know what is good for us; who has given us His +only begotten Son, and will with Him also give us all things.</p> +<p>And so ends my first sermon on the 104th Psalm.</p> +<h2><!-- page 165--><a name="page165"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 165</span>XXI. WONDERS OF THE SEA; OR +DAILY MIRACLES.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Thou coverest the earth with the deep sea +as with a garment.”—<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> +civ. 6.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>When we look at a map of the world, one of the first things +that strikes us as curious is, how little dry land there is, and +how much sea. More than half the world covered with deep, +wild, raging, waste salt water! It seems very +strange. Of what use to man can all that sea be? And +yet the Scripture says that the whole earth has God given to the +children of men. And therefore He has given to us the sea +which is part of the earth. But of what use is the sea to +us?</p> +<p>We are ready to say at first sight, “How much better if +the world had been all dry land? There would have been so +much more space for men to spread on—so much more land to +grow corn on. What is the use of all that sea?” +But when we look into the matter, we shall find, that every word +of God stands true, in every jot and tittle of it—that we +ought to thank God for the sea as much as for the land—that +David spoke truly when he said, in this Psalm civ., that the +great and wide sea also is full of God’s riches.</p> +<p>For in the first place—What should we do without +water? Not only to drink, but to feed all trees, and crops +which grow. Those who live in a dry parish <!-- page +166--><a name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +166</span>know well the need of water for the crops. In +fact, strange as it may seem, out of water is made wood. +You know, perhaps, that plants are made out of the salts in the +soil—but not only out of salts—they are made also out +of water. Every leaf and flower is made up only of those +two things—salts from the soil, and water from the +sky. Most wonderful! But so it is. Water is +made up of several very different things. The leaves and +flowers, when they drink up water, keep certain parts of water, +and turn them into wood; and the part of the water which +<i>they</i> do not want, is just the part which <i>we</i> do +want, namely, fresh air, for water is full of fresh air. +And therefore the plants breathe out the fresh air through their +leaves, that we may breathe it into our lungs. More and +more wonders, you see, as we go on!</p> +<p>But where does all the rain water and spring water come +from? From the clouds. And where do the clouds come +from? From the <i>Sea</i>. The sea water is drawn up +by the sun’s heat, evaporated, as we call it, into the air, +and makes mist, and that mist grows together into clouds. +And these clouds empty their blessed life-giving treasures on the +land—to feed man, and beast, and herb.</p> +<p>But what is it which governs these clouds, and makes them do +their appointed work? The Psalmist tells us, “At Thy +rebuke they flee; at the voice of Thy thunder they are +afraid.” He gives the same account of it which wise +men now-a-days give. It is God, he says, and the Providence +of God, which raises the clouds, and makes them water the +earth. And the means which He employs is thunder. Now +this is strictly true. We all know that thunder gathers the +clouds together, and brings <!-- page 167--><a +name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 167</span>rain: but +we do not all know that the power which makes the thunder, which +we call electricity, is working all around us everywhere. +It is only when it bursts out, in flame and noise, which we call +lightning and thunder, that we perceive it—but it is still +there, this wonderful thing called electricity, for ever at +work—giving the clouds their shape, making them fly with +vast weights of water through the sky, and then making them pour +down that water in rain.</p> +<p>But there is another deep meaning in those words of the +Psalmist’s about thunder. He tells us that at the +voice of God’s thunder the waters are afraid—that He +has set them their bounds which they shall not pass, nor turn +again to cover the earth. And it is true. Also that +it is this same thunder power which makes dry land—for +there is thunder beneath us, and lightning too, in the bowels of +the earth. Those who live near burning mountains know this +well. They see not only flames, but <i>real</i> lightning, +<i>real</i> thunder playing about the burning mouths of the fiery +mountains—they hear the roaring, the thundering of the +fire-kingdom miles beneath their feet, under the solid crust of +the earth. And they see, too, whole hills, ay, whole +counties, sometimes, heaved up many feet in a single night, by +this thunder under ground—and islands thrown up in the +midst of the sea—so that where there was once deep water is +now dry land.</p> +<p>Now, in this very way, strange as it may seem, almost all dry +land is made. This whole country of England once lay at the +bottom of the sea. You may now see shells and sea fishes +bedded in high rocks and hill tops. But it was all heaved +up by the thunder which works under ground. There are +places in England where I <!-- page 168--><a +name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 168</span>have seen +the marks of the fire on the rocks; and the solid stone crushed, +and twisted, and melted by the vast force of the fire which +thrust up the land from beneath—and thus the land was +heaved up from under the waters, and the sea fled away and left +its old bed dry—firm land and high cliffs—and as the +Psalmist says, “At the voice of God’s thunder the +waters were afraid. Thou hast set them their bounds which +they shall not pass, neither turn again to cover the +earth.”</p> +<p>Wonderful as all this may seem, all learned men know that it +is true. And this one thing at least it ought to teach us, +what a wonderful and Almighty God we have to deal with, whose +hand made all these things—and what a loving and merciful +God, who makes not only the wind and the sea, and the thunder and +the fire kingdoms obey Him, but makes their violence bring +blessings to mankind. The fire kingdom heaves up dry land +for men to dwell on—the thunder brings mellow +rains—the winds sweep the air clean, and freshen all our +breath—and feed the plants with rich air drawn from far +forests in America, and from the wild raging seas—the sea +sends up its continual treasures of rain—everywhere are +harmony and fitness, beauty and use in all God’s +works. He has made nothing in vain. All His works +praise Him, and surely, also, His saints should give thanks to +Him! Oh! my friends—every thunder shower—every +fresh south-west breeze, is a miracle of God’s mercy, if we +could but see thoroughly into it.</p> +<p>Consider, again, another wonderful proof of God’s +goodness in what we call the Tides of the sea. God has made +the waters so, that they can never stand still—the sea is +always moving. Twice a day it rises, and twice a day it +sinks and ebbs again all along the shore. It <!-- page +169--><a name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +169</span>would take too long to explain why this is—but it +is enough to say, that it must be so, from the way in which God +has made the earth and the water. So that it did not come +from accident. God planned and intended it all when He made +the sea at first. His all-foreseeing love settled it +all. Now of what use are these tides? They keep the +sea from rotting, by keeping it in a perpetual stir. And +the sea, as it ebbs and flows, draws the air after it, and so +keeps the air continually moving and blowing, therefore +continually fresh, and continually carrying in it rich food for +plants from one country to another. There are other reasons +why the winds blow, which I have not time to mention now; but +they all go to prove the same thing.—How wisely and well +the Psalmist said, “Praise the Lord upon earth ye rivers +and all deeps. Fire and hail, snow and vapour, wind and +storm, fulfilling His word” (Ps. cxlviii.).</p> +<p>Another use of the sea, again, is the vast quantity of food +which it gives. Labouring men who live inland have no +notion of the wonderful fruitfulness of those seemingly barren +wastes of water, or how many millions of human beings live mostly +on fish. When we consider those great banks of +Newfoundland, where fish enough perhaps to feed all England are +caught every season, and sent over the whole world; our own +herring fisheries, where thousands of millions of fish are caught +yearly—and all the treasures of food and the creeping +things innumerable, both small and great beasts, of which the +Psalmist speaks; when we consider all this, we shall begin to +bless God for the sea, as much as for the land.</p> +<p>“There go the ships,” too, says the Psalmist, in +this <!-- page 170--><a name="page170"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 170</span>104th Psalm, “and there goeth +that leviathan, whom Thou hast made to take his pastime +therein.” This leviathan is no doubt the +whale—the largest of all living things—often a +hundred feet long, and as thick as a house. And yet even of +him, the monster of all monsters, does God’s Word stand +true, that He has put all things under man’s feet, that all +things are in subjection to man—the fish of the sea, and +whatsoever walketh through the paths of the sea. For even +the great whale cannot stand before the cunning of man—God +has taught man the means of killing even it, and turning it to +his own use. The whalebone which we use, the oil which we +burn in lamps, comes from the bodies of those enormous creatures +which wander in the far seas like floating houses, ten thousand +miles away.</p> +<p>But again, it is promised in the Bible, that in the new +heavens and new earth there shall be no more sea. When the +sea has done its work, God will have done with it—and then +there will be no more division between nation and nation—no +more long dangerous voyages from one country to another.</p> +<p>And strange to say—the sea is even now at work bringing +about this very thing—destroying itself—filling +itself up. Day by day the sea eats away its own shore, and +banks, and carries down their remains to make its own bed +shallower and shallower, till shoals and new lands arise where +there was deep sea before. So that if the world lasts long +enough, the sea by its own laws will be filled up, and dry land +appear everywhere.</p> +<p>The bottom of the sea is full, too, of countless millions of +strange insects—and yet even in these strange insects there +is use; for not only do they give food to countless millions of +fishes, but after a time they turn into stone, <!-- page 171--><a +name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 171</span>and form +fruitful soil. There are now in many parts of the world +great beds of rock and earth, many feet thick, and miles long, +made up entirely out of the skeletons and shells of little +insects which lived at the bottom of the sea thousands of years +ago.</p> +<p>Are not these things wonderful? Well, then, remember who +made these wonders? who keeps them working? Your +Father—and the Son of God, and the Spirit of God. The +Son of God—ay, think of Him—He by whom all things +were made—He by whom all things consist—He to whom +all power is given in heaven and earth. He came down and +died on the cross for you. He calls to you to come and +serve Him loyally and gratefully—dare you refuse +Him—The Maker and King of this glorious world? He +died for you. He loves you. He condescends to beseech +you to come to Him that you may have life. Alas! what can +you expect if you will not come to Him? How will you escape +if you turn your back on your Maker, and despise your own Creator +when He stoops to entreat you? Oh folly—Oh +madness—Oh utter shame and ruin!</p> +<p>There are some people who do not like science and philosophy, +because they say, If you try to explain to people, and make them +understand the wonderful things around them, they will stop +thinking them wonderful, and so you will spoil their reverence, +and “familiarity will breed contempt.” Now, no +doubt a little learning is a dangerous thing, when it makes some +shallow conceited fellow fancy he knows all about +everything. But I can truly say, that the more you really +do know about this earth, the more your astonishment at it will +grow—for the <i>more</i> you understand about trees and +animals, clouds and seas, the <i>less</i> you will find you +understand <!-- page 172--><a name="page172"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 172</span>about them. The more you read +about them and watch them, the more infinitely and inexpressibly +wonderful you find them, and the more you get humbled and +awestruck at the boundless wisdom and love of Our Father in +Heaven, and Christ the Word of God who planned and made this +wondrous world, and the Holy Spirit of God who is working this +wondrous world. I tell you, my friends, that as St. Paul +says, “If a man will be wise, let him become a fool that he +may be wise.” Let him go about feeling how +short-sighted, and stupid, and ignorant he is—and how +infinitely wise Christ the Word of God is, by whom all things +were made, to whom all belong. Let him go about wondering +day and night, always astonished more and more, as everything he +sees gives him some fresh proof of the glory of God; till he +falls down on his knees and cries out with the Psalmist, +“Lord, what is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the son +of man, that Thou so regardest him?” When I consider +Thy Heavens, even the work of Thine hands, I say, What is man? +and yet Thou madest man to have dominion over the works of Thine +hands, and hast put all things in subjection under his +feet—the fowl of the air and the fishes of the sea, and +whatsoever walketh through the paths of the seas. O Lord, +our Governor, how excellent is Thy name in all the world. +In comparison of Thee what is man’s wisdom? What is +man’s power? Thou alone art glorious, for by Thee are +all things, and for Thee they were made, and are created, that +Thou mightest rejoice in the works of Thy own hands, and bless +the creatures which Thy love has made!</p> +<h2><!-- page 173--><a name="page173"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 173</span>XXII. THE SAILOR’S +GOD. PREACHED TO SAILORS AT A LITTLE FISHING VILLAGE IN +CORNWALL, 1843.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“They that go down to the sea in ships, and +occupy their business in great waters; these men see the works of +the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.”—Ps. cvii. 23, +24.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>My brothers—for though I do not know most of you even by +name, yet you are still my brothers, for His sake in whose name +you were baptized—my brothers, it has been often said that +seamen and fishermen ought to be the most religious men in the +country. And why? Because they, more than any set of +men, see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.</p> +<p>The cotton-spinner, who is shut up in a factory all day long, +with nothing before his eyes but his loom, and nothing to look at +beyond his own house but dingy streets and smoking furnace +chimneys—he, poor man, sees very little of the works of the +Lord. <i>Man</i> made the world of streets and shops and +machinery in which that poor workman lives and dies. What +wonder is it if he forgets the God who made him—the God who +made the round world, and set it so fast that it should not be +moved, and has given the sea its bounds that it should not +overflow them at any time? How much better off are you +seamen than such a man as that!</p> +<p>And you are better off too, even, than most field <!-- page +174--><a name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +174</span>labourers and farmers. They are not shut up in +towns, it is true; they have God’s beautiful earth to till +and keep: but they are <i>too safe on shore</i>! Yes; it +may seem a strange thing to say; but you ought to thank God that +your trade is a dangerous one—you have more to put you in +mind of God than the labouring man!</p> +<p>And why? In the first place, as I said, fishermen and +sailors see more of the wonderful works of God than any other set +of men. Man may cut and change the earth—mining and +quarrying and building—till it hardly looks like +God’s earth, but he cannot change the sea! There it +is, just as God made it at first. Millions of rivers have +run into it, yet it is not over full; cliffs have been wearing +away and falling into it for six thousand years, yet is it not +filled up. Millions of vessels have been sailing over it, +yet they have left no mark upon it; it seems unchangeable, like +God who made it. What is the use of my praising the sea to +you? Do you not all know it, and fear it, and love it too? +and does it not put you in mind of God who made it? who made that +mighty water for the use of men, and filled it with thousands of +different kinds of fishes, and weeds, and wonderful things for +your use and comfort; and who has made it so strong that it shall +keep you always in awe and fear and watchfulness, looking to God +to save you—and yet so gentle and calm that you can sail +upon its bosom, and there find food for your families. +Which of you, who has any godly heart in him, can help feeling, +sometimes at least when at sea, that he is seeing the wonderful +works of God!</p> +<p>I said that you ought to thank God that your trade was a +dangerous one, and I said that the sea should always keep you in +fear and watchfulness, and looking to <!-- page 175--><a +name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 175</span>God to +preserve you. Now, do you not see how these two sayings go +together, and make each other plain. You seamen and +fishermen are in continual danger; your lives are in your hands +every moment—the belaying of a sheet, the strength of a bit +of canvas, the toughness of a deal board, may settle your fate in +a moment, and make all the difference between life and +death. If they are sound, you may go back to a happy home, +and see wife and children coming to meet you when you run on +shore at morning from your honest labour; and if they +fail—if that weak cordage, and these planks, and thinner +canvas, on which your lives depend, do but give way, what is left +for you the next moment? what but a grave in the deep, deep sea, +and your wives widows and your children orphans, and your bodies +devoured by ugly creeping things, and your souls gone—gone +where? My good men—you who sit around me now so +strong and full of life and skill and happiness—where would +your souls be if you were drowned at sea to-morrow?</p> +<p>What a question! Oh, ask it yourselves honestly! I +have been out in gales myself, and I cannot understand how you +can go out, in thirty feet of timber, upon that mighty sea, with +the wind howling over your heads like a death-bell, and the great +hungry waves chasing you for miles, each one able and willing to +swallow you up into the deep, and the gulls screaming over you as +if they were waiting to feed upon your floating carcases, and you +alone, in a tiny boat, upon that waste, howling wilderness of +waters!—I cannot understand, I say, how, when a man is in +such a case as that, day after day, year after year, he can +forget his God, the only friend who can save him from the sea! +the only friend who can send him safe out to his work in the +evening, and bring him <!-- page 176--><a +name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 176</span>home safe +to his wife at morning. One would think that when you went +down to the shore in the morning, you would say, “Oh, God! +without whose help I am no stronger than a piece of sea-weed +floating up and down, take care of me! Take care of my wife +and my children; and forgive me my sins, and do not punish me by +calling me away this night to answer for them all!” +And when you come home at night, you would say, “Oh, God! +who hast kept me safe all this day, what can I do to show how +thankful I am to Thee!” Ay! what <i>can</i> you do to +show how thankful you are to God for His care? What +<i>ought</i> you to do to show your thankfulness to Him? +What <i>must</i> you do to show your thankfulness to Him? +He has told you. “If you love me, He says, keep my +commandments. Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with +thy God.”</p> +<p>These, my friends, are the holy and thankful thoughts which +ought to be in your hearts every day and hour. This is the +thought which God meant to put into your hearts when He made +sailors of you, and brought you into the world, by the sea-side, +to take up your business in great waters. You might have +been born in Bristol or Liverpool or London, and never seen +anything but streets and houses, and man’s clumsy +work. But God has been very good to you. He has +brought you up here, in this happy West country, where you may +see His wonderful works day and night; where you ought never to +forget that you have a Father in heaven who made the sea, and who +keeps you safe at sea by night and day. God has given you a +great deal. He has given you two books to read—the +book of God’s Word, the Bible, and the book of God’s +earth, the sky and sea and land, which is above you and below you +and <!-- page 177--><a name="page177"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 177</span>around you day and night. If +you can read and understand them properly, you will find in them +everything which you want; you may learn from them to be holy in +this world and happy in the next. God has given you, too, +fathers, mothers, wives, children, a comfortable home, a holy +trade—the same which the apostles followed. God has +given you England for your country, and the West +country—the best place in England for your home. God +has given you a good Queen, and good magistrates and +landlords. God has given you health and strength, and +seamanship, and clear heads and stout hearts. And God has +made you seamen and fishermen, and given you a business in which +you can see God’s mighty power and wisdom day and night, +and feel Him taking care of you when you cannot take care of +yourselves.</p> +<p>Therefore you ought to thank God that yours is a dangerous +business, because it teaches you to trust in God alone for +safety. And what are you to give Him in return? What +does God require of you? You cannot pay Him back again for +all His mercies, for they are past counting, but you must pay Him +back all you can. And what must you pay Him back? +First, you must trust in God; for he who comes to God and wishes +to walk with God through life, as a good man should, must believe +that there is a God, and that He will reward those who look to +Him.</p> +<p>I never heard of a sailor who did not <i>believe</i> in God; +for how can a man look at the sea, and not say to himself, +<i>God</i> made the sea! But I have seen a great many +sailors who did not <i>trust</i> in God. As long as it is +fine weather, and everything goes right, they will forget God, +and fancy that it is their <!-- page 178--><a +name="page178"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 178</span>own +seamanship, and not God alone, which keeps their boats afloat, +and their own skill in fishing, and not God alone, which sends +the shoals of fish into their nets; and so they are truly +fine-weather sailors—men who are only fit for calm seas and +light breezes, when they can take care of themselves without +God’s help; but when a squall comes their hearts change, by +God’s mercy. For when a man has done all he can to +save himself, and all he can do is no use, and his nets are +adrift, and his boat on her beam ends, and the foaming rocks are +on his lee, then he comes to his senses at last, and prays. +Why did he not pray before? Why did he not save himself +from all that misery and trouble and danger by thanking God for +taking care of him, and praying to God to take care of him +still. “Foolish men are plagued for their offences, +and because of their wickedness. They that go down to the +sea in ships, and occupy their business on great waters; these +men see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep; for +at His word the stormy wind ariseth which lifteth up the waves +thereof; they are carried up to heaven, and down again into the +deep; their soul melteth away because of the trouble; they reel +to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their +wit’s end.” And justly they are punished for +forgetting God. God made the calm as well as the +storm. Could they not remember that? But look at +God’s mercy; for when they cry unto the Lord in their +trouble, He delivers them out of all their distress. For He +makes the storm to cease, so that the waves are still; then are +they glad because they are at rest, and so God brings them to the +harbour where they would be.</p> +<p>Is there an old man sitting here who has not had this <!-- +page 179--><a name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +179</span>happen to him? And what did you <i>do</i>, my +friend, when God had saved you out of that danger? It is +easy to tell what you <i>ought</i> to have done; you ought to +have gone home and fallen on your knees, and prayed to God; you +ought to have said, Oh, Lord, I am a miserable, foolish sinner, +who can only remember Thee when Thou art angry; an ungrateful +son, who only thinks of his father when he beats him! Oh, +God, forgive me, I ought to have trusted in Thee before! I +deserved all my danger and punishment and more. I did not +deserve to be pardoned and saved from it! I deserve to be +at the bottom of the sea at this moment. But forgive me, +forgive me, loving and merciful Father, for the sake of Thy dear +Son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross that I might be saved +from death!</p> +<p>And when you had prayed thus, the next thing you ought to have +asked yourself was—What does God require of me? how can I +try to pay Him back—how can I show that I am +thankful? My good friends, what does God require of +you? “To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk +humbly with your God.” I told you He required of you +first to trust in Him at all hours, in all weathers. This +is the next thing which He requires of you—To do justly, to +cheat no man, not in the price of a pilchard; to love mercy; to +love your neighbours, as Christ loved you; to help your +neighbours, as Christ helped you and all mankind, by dying to +save you; and as Christ has helped you, night after night, when +you might have been buried in the waves, if Christ had not prayed +for you that you might have time to repent, and bring forth +fruits fit for repentance. To love mercy; to forgive every +man who hurts you, for they are all Christian men and your <!-- +page 180--><a name="page180"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +180</span>brothers. Christ loved every one! Why +should not you? If your wife or friend loved anything, you +would be kind to it for their sakes; and so, if you really love +God, and are thankful to Him for all His mercy and kindness, you +will love every man you meet, for God’s sake, who loved +them and gave His Son for them.</p> +<p>“To walk humbly with your God.” That is the +beginning and end of all—you must be humble; you must +confess that you are foolish, and God alone is wise; that you are +weak, and God alone is strong; that you are poor fishermen, whom +any squall may drown, and that God is the Great, Loving, Almighty +God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea and all that is +therein, and who helps all those who put their trust in +Him. This is what God asks you to do in return for all He +has done for you! To pray to Him, to praise Him, to put +your trust in Him, to keep His commandments like thankful, +humble, obedient, loving children. They who do these +things, and only they, shall never fail. By night and day, +in summer and winter, in storm and calm, in health and sickness, +in richness and poverty, God will be with them. Christ will +be with them. He sat in a fisherman’s boat once, on +the sea of Tiberias, and He will sit in your boats if you will +but ask Him. He will steer you, He will save you, He will +take care of your wives and children when you are far away, and +He will bring you through the troublesome waves of this mortal +life, so that, having faith for your anchor, and hope for your +sail, and charity for your crew, you may at last land on the +happy shore of everlasting life, there to live with God, world +without end. God grant it may be so!</p> +<p>My good brothers—for I am a Christian like you, and an +Englishman like you, and a west countryman like <!-- page +181--><a name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +181</span>you—I thank our Father in heaven that He has +brought me from the other end of England, and put this message +into my mouth, to remind you of who you are—that <i>you</i> +are the men who see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the +deep; and that God will say to every one of you at the day of +judgment,—I taught you all this, I gave you all this, I did +all this for <i>you</i>, what have you done for <i>Me</i> in +return?</p> +<p>Go home—read over these verses in 107th Psalm, and think +over what I have said. Do it to-night, for the weather has +broken up—there are gales coming. Which of you can +say that he will be alive next Sunday?</p> +<h2><!-- page 182--><a name="page182"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 182</span>XXIII. THE GOOD SOLDIER OF +JESUS CHRIST.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Thou therefore endure hardship as a good +soldier of Jesus Christ.”—2 <span +class="smcap">Timothy</span> ii. 3.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Suppose a young man went of his own will for a soldier; was +regularly sworn in to serve the Queen; took his bounty; wore the +Queen’s uniform; ate her bread; learnt his drill; and all +that a soldier need learn, as long as peace lasted. But +suppose that, as soon as war came, and his regiment was ordered +on active service, he deserted at once, and went off and hid +himself. What should you call such a man? You would +call him a base and ungrateful coward, and you would have no pity +on him, if he was taken and justly punished.</p> +<p>But suppose that he did a worse thing still. Suppose +that the enemy, the Russians say, invaded England, and the army +was called out to fight them; and suppose this man of whom I +speak, be he soldier or sailor, instead of fighting the enemy, +deserted over to them, and fought on their side against his own +country, and his own comrades, and his own father and brothers, +what would you call that man? No name would be bad enough +for him. If he was taken, he would be hanged without mercy, +as not only a deserter but a traitor. <!-- page 183--><a +name="page183"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 183</span>And who +would pity him or say that he had not got his just deserts?</p> +<p>Now, for God’s sake and your own sakes consider. +Are not all young people, when they are old enough to choose +between right and wrong, if they choose what is wrong and live +bad lives instead of good ones, very like this same deserter and +traitor?</p> +<p>For are you not all Christ’s soldiers, every one of +you? Did not Christ enlist every one of you into His army, +that, as the baptism service says, you might fight manfully under +His banner against sin, the world, and the devil,—in one +word, against all that is wrong and bad? And now when you +are old enough to know that you are Christ’s soldiers, what +will you deserve to be called, if instead of fighting on +Christ’s side against what is good, you forget you are in +His service? What are you but deserters from Christ’s +banner and army, traitors to Christ’s cause?</p> +<p>But some may say, “My case is not like that +soldier’s. I did not enter Christ’s service of +my own free will. My parents put me into it when I was an +infant, without asking my leave. I was not christened of my +own will. My parents had me christened before I knew any +thing about it! I had no choice!”</p> +<p>Is it so? Do you know what your words mean? If +they mean anything, they mean that you had rather <i>not</i> have +been christened, because you are now expected to behave as a +christened man should. Now is there any one of you who dare +say, “I wish I had not been christened?”</p> +<p>Not one! Then if you dare not say that; if you are +content to have been christened, why are you not content to do +what christened people should? If you <!-- page 184--><a +name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 184</span>are content +to have been christened, you are christened people now of your +own free will, and are bound to act accordingly.</p> +<p>But why were you christened? not merely because your parents +chose, but because it was their duty. Every child ought to +be christened, because every child belongs to Christ. Every +child is in debt to Christ,—every child is bound to serve +Christ.</p> +<p>In debt to Christ, you say? Certainly, from the moment +you are born, and before that too. You are in debt to Him +since you were born, for every good thought and feeling which +ever came into your hearts and minds, for He put them +there. And will any of you answer, “Then I wish He +had not put them there, if they are to bring me into debt to Him, +and force me to serve Him. I don’t wish, of course, +that I had been bad; but I wish that I had been neither good nor +bad. I wish I had had no immortal soul, which is bound to +serve Christ.”</p> +<p>Now does any man of you wish that really? Dare any of +you wish that you were like the beasts, without conscience, +without honour, without shame, without knowing right from wrong, +without any life after death, without being able even to +<i>talk</i>—for mind, without immortal souls men could not +<i>speak</i>. The beasts cannot talk to each other; +reasonable speech belongs to our souls, not to our bodies. +Then if you are glad that you have souls, and are better than the +dumb beasts, you confess that you feel in debt to Christ, and are +bound to serve Him. For who gave you your souls but +Christ?</p> +<p>But even if you had had no souls, you would have been in debt +to Christ, and bound to serve Him. <!-- page 185--><a +name="page185"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 185</span>“What +for?” you ask. Why, for life itself. How did +you come here? Who gave you life? Who brought you +into the world? Who but Christ, by whom all things were +made, and you among the rest? Who gave you food? Who +made every atom of food grow which you ate since you were +born? Who made the air you breathe, the water which you +drink, the wool and cotton which clothes you? Who but +Christ? Do you not know that you cannot even breathe a +breath of air, unless Christ first makes the air, and then gives +your lungs life to breathe the air? and yet you cannot understand +that you are in debt to Christ, and have been eating His bread +and living on His bounty ever since you were born?</p> +<p>And mind, all this while I have not said one word about the +greatest debt of all which you owe to the Lord Jesus Christ, even +His own life, which He gave for you! Only think but once +that for <i>your</i> sakes the Lord was crucified—for +<i>your</i> sakes He died the most horrible, painful, shameful +death. And then say, Are you not in debt to Him? +“Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his +life for his friends.” If any mere man had died for +your sake, would you not love him—would you not feel +yourself in debt to him, a deeper debt than you can ever +repay? Then Christ died for you—how can you be more +deeply in debt to any one than to Him?</p> +<p>You have now no <i>right</i> to choose between Christ and the +devil, because Christ has chosen you already—no right to +choose between good and bad, because God, the good God Himself, +has chosen you already, and has been taking care of you, and +heaping you with blessings ever since you were born.</p> +<p><!-- page 186--><a name="page186"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +186</span>And why did Christ choose you? As I have told +you, that you may fight with Him against all that is bad. +Jesus Christ’s work at which He works for ever in heaven +and in earth, is to root out all that is bad, all sin, all +misery; and He will reign, and He will fight till all His +enemies, even Death itself, are put under His feet and +destroyed. And Christ expects you and me to help Him. +He has chosen you and me, and all Christian people, to fight +against what is bad, and to put it down and root it out as far as +we can wherever we find it; and therefore, first, to root it out +of our own hearts and lives; for while we are bad ourselves we +cannot make others good. But if we go on doing bad and +wrong things, are we fighting on Christ’s side? No, +we are fighting on the devil’s side, and helping the devil +against God.</p> +<p>Do you fancy that I am saying too much? I suspect some +do. I suspect some say in their hearts, “He is too +hard on us. <i>We</i> are not like that traitorous +soldier. If an English soldier went over to the enemy, and +fought against the English, and killed Englishmen, <i>that</i> of +course would be too bad; but we do not wish to harm any one, much +less our neighbours. If we do wrong, it is ourselves at +most that we harm. If we do wrong, it is only we that shall +suffer for it. Why does he talk as if we were robbers or +murderers, or had a spite against our neighbours? We do not +wish to hurt any one, we do not want to help the +devil.”</p> +<p>Now, my friends, if any of you say that, do you not say first +what is not true? and next do you not know that it is not +true?</p> +<p>First, It is not true that by doing wrong you hurt no one but +yourself. Every wrong thing which any man <!-- page +187--><a name="page187"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +187</span>does, every wrong way into which he runs, is certain +sooner or later to hurt his neighbours. The worse man a man +is, the worse for those who have to do with him. You know +it is your own case. You know that bad people hurt you, and +make you unhappy; and that good people do you good and make you +happy. You know that bad example does you harm and good +example does you good. Think for yourselves—use your +own common sense. Recollect what you know, what has +happened to you again and again. You know that if any one +uses bad language before you, you are tempted to use bad language +too. If any one quarrels with you, you are tempted to +quarrel with him. You know that if parents do wrong things +before their children, the children learn to copy them. It +is nonsense to talk of a man keeping his sins to himself. +No man does, and no man can. Out of the abundance of a +man’s heart his mouth speaks; and a bad tree will bring +forth bad fruit. If there are bad thoughts in your head, +they will come out in bad words. If there are bad tempers +in your heart, they will come out in bad and unkind and dishonest +actions. You may as well try to keep in fire, as to keep in +sin. It will break out, and it will burn whatever it +touches. And if you, or I, or any one does wrong in any +thing, we shall surely hurt some one or other by it. If +you, or I, or any one is worse than he ought to be, we shall make +the parish we live in worse than it ought to be. You know +that it is so. Who made you different from the rest of the +world? If any body else’s sins are harmful, who will +make your sins harmless? Not the devil, for he wishes to +see as much harm done as possible. And not God, for He will +not be so cruel as to let your sin prosper and go unpunished, +<!-- page 188--><a name="page188"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +188</span>as it would if it did not make people hate it, by +feeling the bad effects of it.</p> +<p>My good friends, if you by doing wrong hurt other people, and +make other people unhappy, are you doing Christ’s work or +the devil’s? Are you fighting for Christ, who wishes +to make all good, or for the devil, who wishes to make all +bad? Are you Christ’s faithful soldier and servant, +or are you a traitor to Christ who has gone over to the +devil’s side, and is helping the devil to make this poor +world (which is bad enough already) worse than it is?</p> +<p>Oh, think of this now, while you have time before you. +Remember all that Christ has done for you, and remember that all +He asks of you in return is to do for Him nothing but good, which +is good for you as well as for your neighbours. The +devil’s wages now are shame, discontent, unhappiness, +perhaps poverty, perhaps sickness, certainly punishment as +traitors to Christ after we die. Christ’s wages are +love, joy, peace, the answer of a good conscience, the respect +and love of all good men, as long as we live, and after death, +life everlasting. Choose; will you be traitors or +deserters, and serve the worst of all masters, the King of Hell, +or be honest, honourable, and brave men, and serve the best of +all masters, the King of Heaven, the Lord of Life, and love, and +goodness without bound, whose ways are ways of pleasantness, and +all His paths are peace?</p> +<h2><!-- page 189--><a name="page189"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 189</span>XXIV. HOLY COMMUNION; CHRIST +AND THE SINNER.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Have mercy upon, me, O God, according to +thy loving-kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender +mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from +mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I +acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before +me. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and +a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not +despise.”—<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> li. 1, 2, +3, 17.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This Psalm was written by David when he was sorrowing for sin, +and if there are any such among you, my dear friends, let me +speak a few words to you. Would to God that I had the +tongue of St. Paul to speak to you with—though even when he +preached some mocked, as it will be to the end. But if to +one of you God has brought home His truth, then to that one +conscience-stricken sinner I will say, “You confess with +David that all your sorrows are your own fault. Thank God +that He has taught you so much.”</p> +<p>But what will you do to be saved from your sins? +“I cannot wait,” you say in your heart, “to go +home and begin leading a new life. I will do that, please +God, but I want to know at once that I am forgiven. I want +to be saved. I cannot save myself. I cannot save +myself from hell hereafter, or from this miserable sinful life, +nearly as bad as hell here. Oh! wretched <!-- page 190--><a +name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 190</span>being that +I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this +death?”</p> +<p>Friend, dost thou not know it is written, “Believe in +the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”</p> +<p>“<i>Ah yes</i>!” <i>says the sinner</i>, +“<i>I have been hearing that all my life</i>, <i>and much +good it has done me</i>! <i>Look at me</i>, <i>I want +something more than those words about Christ</i>, <i>I want +Christ Himself to save me if He can</i>.”</p> +<p>Ah, my brother!—poor sinner! thou hast never believed in +Christ, thou hast only believed <i>about</i> Christ. There +was the fault. But Christ Himself will save thee, though +thou hast been the worst of reprobates, He will save thee. +Only one thing, He <i>will</i> have thee answer first. +“Dost thou wish to be saved from the <i>punishment</i> of +thy sins, or from the sins themselves?”</p> +<p>“<i>From my sins</i>—<i>from my sins</i>,” +says the man who truly repents. “<i>They are what I +hate</i>, <i>even while I commit them</i>. <i>I hate and +despise myself</i>, <i>I dare look neither God nor man in the +face</i>, <i>and yet I go on doing the very things I loathe the +next minute</i>. <i>Oh</i>, <i>for some one to save me from +my own ill-temper</i>, <i>my own bitter tongue</i>, <i>my own +laziness</i>, <i>my own canting habits</i>, <i>my own +dishonesty</i>, <i>my own lustfulness</i>. <i>But who will +save me from them</i>? <i>who will change me and make a new +creature of me</i>? <i>Oh</i>, <i>for a sign from heaven +that I can get rid of these bad habits</i>! <i>I hate +them</i>, <i>and yet I love them</i>. <i>I long to give +them up</i>, <i>and yet</i>, <i>if some one stronger than me does +not have mercy on me</i>, <i>I shall go and do them again +to-morrow</i>. <i>I am longing to do wrong now</i>, <i>and +yet I long not to do wrong</i>. <i>Oh</i>, <i>for a sign +from heaven</i>!”</p> +<p>Poor sinner!—My brother! <i>there</i> is a sign from +heaven <!-- page 191--><a name="page191"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 191</span>for thee! On that table it +stands. A sign that Christ’s blood was shed to wash +out thy sins, a sign that Christ’s blood will feed thee, +and give thy spirit strength to cast away and hate thy +sins. Come to Holy Communion and claim thy share in +Christ’s pardon for the past, in Christ’s strength +for the future.</p> +<p>“<i>What</i>!” says the sinner, “<i>I come +to the Sacrament</i>! <i>I of all men the most +unfit</i>! <i>I who but yesterday committed such and such +sins</i>!”</p> +<p>Friend, as to the sin you committed yesterday, confess that to +God, not me. And if you confess it to Him, He is faithful +and just to forgive it. But just because you think yourself +the most unfit person to come to the Holy Sacrament, for that +very reason I suspect you to be fit.</p> +<p>“<i>How then</i>!” says he in his heart, +“<i>I have but this moment repented of my sins</i>! +<i>I have but this moment</i>, <i>for the first time felt that +God’s wrath is revealed against me</i>, <i>that hell is +open for me</i>!”</p> +<p>For that very reason, come to the Holy Sacrament, and thou +shalt hear there that not hell at all, but heaven is open for +thee.</p> +<p>“<i>What</i>, <i>with all this guilty conscience</i>, +<i>this load of sins against myself</i>, <i>my neighbours</i>, +<i>my children</i>, <i>my masters</i>, <i>my servants</i>, <i>on +my back</i>!”</p> +<p>Yes, bring them all, and say in the words of the Communion +Service: “I do earnestly repent, and am heartily sorry for +these, my misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto me; +the burden of them is intolerable.” Why, for whom +were these words written, but for you who feel that the burden of +your sins is intolerable. They are there, not for those who +feel no burden of sin, but for you—for <!-- page 192--><a +name="page192"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 192</span>you, and +for those like you who feel the burden of your sins +unbearable.</p> +<p>“<i>But how shall I dare to come to the Lord’s +table before I am sure that my sins are forgiven</i>?”</p> +<p>Come and you will hear your minister pray God to pardon and +deliver you from all for Christ’s sake. You will hear +him read God’s promises of free grace and mercy through +Jesus Christ to all who truly repent.</p> +<p>“<i>But I cannot trust your prayers or words</i>, <i>or +any man’s</i>. <i>I want a sign that I have a share +in Christ’s death and merits</i>.”</p> +<p>Then, that bread and wine is a sign. Jesus Himself +ordained them for a sign. He Himself, with His dying voice +declared that that bread was His body, that cup the new covenant +in His blood. St. Paul declares that it is the communion, +the sharing of Christ’s body, that cup the sharing of His +blood. What more sign do you want? Come and claim +your share in Christ, and see if He disappoints you.</p> +<p>“<i>Ah</i>! <i>I believe</i>,” <i>says the +poor man</i>, “<i>I believe</i>, <i>but I am afraid</i>, +<i>afraid of partaking unworthily</i>, <i>and so provoking +God</i>, <i>as the Prayer-book says to plague me with divers +diseases and sundry kinds of death</i>.”</p> +<p>My Friend, if God was the devil, you might be afraid +indeed. But He is the loving, righteous Father, who knows +your weakness, and remembers that you are but dust. Can you +not trust Him to pardon your mistakes about the Sacrament, which +you do not wilfully intend to commit, when He has borne with, and +pardoned all the sins from your youth up until now, which you +have wilfully committed? Surely, you may trust Him in such +a thing as this,—He who has had long-suffering enough to +keep you alive, with a chance of salvation all this time? <!-- +page 193--><a name="page193"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +193</span>and as for sundry diseases, <i>have</i> you avoided +them? You have certainly not avoided them, at least, by +staying away from the Sacrament, and breaking Christ’s +command to take it? If you are so afraid of God’s +anger, are you more likely to provoke Him by disobeying His +strict commands, or by obeying them? It needs no +philosopher, my friend, to find out that.</p> +<p>“<i>But I shall have to make good +resolutions</i>,” <i>says the sinner</i>, “<i>and I +am afraid of breaking them</i>.”</p> +<p>Well, if you break them, you can but make them again. +You would call him a fool who determined never to walk, because +he was afraid of falling. But you are to claim in that +Sacrament your share of Christ’s Spirit, Christ’s +life, and Christ’s strength, which is just what you want to +enable you to keep your good resolutions. You will be no +stronger, no more righteous of yourself after the Sacrament than +before. Your spirit will still be a poor weak sinful +spirit, but you will have claimed your share in God’s +strength, God’s righteousness, God’s Spirit, and +<i>they</i> will make you love the good you hated, and hate the +evil you loved. They will make you strong to do God’s +will whatever it may cost you. Oh believe the good news, +and show that you believe by coming to Christ. He, the +Blessed One, died for you. For you He was born and walked +this earth, a poor suffering, tempted, sorrow-stricken man. +For you He hung upon the shameful cross. For you He +ascended up on high. For you He sent down His Spirit. +For you He sits at the right hand of God, praying for you at this +moment. For you He gave the signs of His body and His +blood, that you might believe, and fall on your knees and cry, +“In spite of all, I am forgiven. In spite of all, God +cares for me. In spite of all, I have a <!-- page 194--><a +name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 194</span>Father and +a Saviour who will never leave me, nor forsake me, wretch as I +have been, till they make a man of me again, in this world, and +for ever!” Oh! come, my dear, dear friends. I +would give my right hand this moment, if I could but see each and +every one of you shewing the truth of your repentance by coming +to Holy Communion. Let this be a day of repentance, and +shew it thus, and say, “We do not come to this, Thy table, +O Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy manifold +and great mercy. We are not worthy to gather up the crumbs +under Thy table, but Thou art the same Lord whose property is +always to have mercy.”</p> +<p>Let this be a day of thanksgiving, too, and shew your +thankfulness by coming to Holy Communion, and lifting up your +voices, once for all, at that table, and saying:—</p> +<p>“We bless Thee, we praise Thee, we glorify Thee, we give +thanks to Thee for Thy great glory.” These are the +words for you this day. Oh! do not turn away. All +your distress, all your sorrows have come from your not having +faith in God. Break at once the accursed charm with which +the devil has enchanted you. Have faith enough to come to +God’s holy table, and see if God does not reward you by +giving you faith enough to conquer yourselves, and lead new lives +like redeemed men in the sunshine of His smile, henceforth and +forever!</p> +<p>My friends, what more can I say, except once and again, Come +ye who labour and are heavy laden, and Christ will give you +rest!</p> +<p>Ay, and He will. I speak only what I know—what I +have felt. But before He will give you rest, be you rich or +poor, young or old, you must learn to say those <!-- page +195--><a name="page195"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +195</span>simple words (they are the best and only preparation +for it), “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Say +them then from your heart, and so come to the Lord’s +Supper.</p> +<h4>A PRAYER.</h4> +<p>“O God and Saviour, Thou hast blest me, and I have +cursed myself. Thou didst die to deliver me from the curse +of sin, and I have brought it back on myself by my own +folly. Thou livest for ever to make me <i>good</i>, and I, +ungrateful and foolish, have made myself <i>bad</i>. In +spite of my ingratitude, in spite of my folly, take me back into +Thy service. I trust utterly in Thy unchangeable goodness +and mercy. I trust that Thy blood will still wash away the +past, that Thy spirit will still give me a clean heart and a +right spirit. I believe that though I have cursed myself, +yet Thou wilt still bless me; for Thou wiliest nought but the +good of every creature Thou hast made. God be merciful to +me a sinner!” Amen.</p> +<h2><!-- page 199--><a name="page199"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 199</span>PART II.</h2> +<h3>I. BRAVE WORDS FOR BRAVE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. <a +name="citation199"></a><a href="#footnote199" +class="citation">[199]</a></h3> +<p>My friends,—I speak to you simply as brave men. I +speak alike to Roman Catholic and Protestant. I speak alike +to godly men and ungodly. I speak alike to soldiers and +sailors. . . . If you are <i>brave</i>, read these words. I +call these <i>brave</i> words. They are not my <i>own</i> +words, or my own message, but the message to you of the bravest +man who ever lived, or who ever will live, and if you will read +them and think over them, He will not <i>make</i> you brave (for +that, thank God, you are already), but <i>keep</i> you brave, +come victory or defeat. I speak to the brave men who have +now fought three bloody battles, and fought them like +heroes. All England has blessed you, and admired you; all +England has felt for you in a way that would do your hearts good +to see. For you know as well as I, that nothing is so +comforting, nothing so endearing, as sympathy, as <i>to know that +people feel for one</i>. If one knows that, one can dare +and do anything. If one feels that nobody cares for +one’s suffering or one’s success, one is ready to lie +down and die. It is so with a horse or a dog even. If +there is any noble spirit in them, a word of encouragement will +make them go till they drop. How much more will the spirit +of a <i>man</i>? I can well <!-- page 200--><a +name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 200</span>believe +that the Queen’s beautiful letter put more heart into you, +than the hope of all the prize money in the world would have +done; and that with the words of that letter ringing in your +ears, you will prove true to the last, to the words of the grand +old song—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Hearts of oak are our ships, hearts of oak +are our men,<br /> +And we’ll fight, and we’ll conquer again, and +again.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>But, my friends, you know as well as I, that there are times +when neither that letter, nor the feeling of duty, nor of honour, +nor of glory, can keep your hearts from sinking. Not in +battle! No. Only cowards’ hearts fail them +there; and there are no cowards among you. But even a brave +man’s heart may fail him at whiles, when, instead of the +enemy’s balls and bayonets, he has to face delay, and +disappointment, and fatigue, and sickness, and hunger, and cold, +and nakedness; as you have, my brave brothers, and faced them as +well as man ever did on earth. Ah! it must be fearful work +to <i>sit still</i>, and shiver and starve in a foreign land, and +to think of those who are in comfort and plenty at home; and +worse, to think of those, who, even if they are in plenty, cannot +be in comfort, because their hearts are breaking for your sake; +to think of brother and sister, wife and child, while you are +pacing up and down those dreary trenches, waiting for your turn +of sickness, perhaps of death. It must be bitter and +disheartening at times; you would not be men, if it was +not. One minute, perhaps, you remember that those whom you +have left at home, love you and pray for you; and that cheers +you; then you remember that all England loves you, and prays for +you in every church throughout the land; and that cheers you; but +even that is not <!-- page 201--><a name="page201"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 201</span>enough, you feel ready to say, +“What is the use of my going through all this misery? +Why am I not at home ploughing the ground, or keeping a shop, +anything rather than throwing away my life by inches thus. +My people at home feel for me, but they cannot know, they never +will know, the half of what I have gone through. The nation +will provide for me if I am crippled, but they cannot make up to +me for losing the best years of my life in such work as this; +and, if I am killed, can they make up to me for that? Who +can make up to me for my life?”</p> +<p>Have you not had such thoughts, my friends, and sadder +thoughts still lately? You need not be ashamed of them if +you have. For hard work you have had, and it must have told +at times on your spirits as heavily as it has on your bodies.</p> +<p>But, my friends, there is an answer for these sad +thoughts. There are brave words for you, and a noble +message from God, which will cheer you when nothing else can +cheer you. If your own people cannot know all that you go +through, there is One who can and does; if your own wives and +mothers cannot feel enough for you, there is One above who does, +and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. You have hungered; so has +He. You have been weary; so has He. You have felt +cold and nakedness; so has He. You have been houseless and +sleepless, so has He. While the foxes had holes, and the +birds of the air had nests, He, the maker of them all, had not +where to lay His head. You have felt the misery of +loneliness and desolation; but never so much as did He, when not +only every earthly friend forsook Him and fled, but He cried out +in His very death pangs, “My God, my God, why hast Thou +forsaken me?”</p> +<p><!-- page 202--><a name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +202</span>Above all, you have felt how difficult it was to die, +not fighting sword in hand, but slowly and idly, and helplessly, +by cholera or fever, hunger or cold. Terrible it is; but +the Lord Jesus Christ has felt that too. For three years He +looked death in the face—a death of shame and misery such +as you can never die—and faced it, and gave Himself up to +it of His own free will; and though He had the most horrible fear +of it to the very last, He determined to submit to it, in spite +of His own fear of it; and He did submit to it, and died, and so +<i>showed</i>, <i>even in His very fear</i>, <i>the most perfect +and glorious courage</i>. So if any one of you has ever +felt for a single moment <i>afraid</i>; even in <i>that</i>, the +Lord Jesus Christ can feel for you; for He, too, has gone through +the agony of fear, when His sweat was as great drops of blood +falling to the ground, that He might be able to help you, and +every man that is tempted, because He can be touched with the +feeling of your infirmities, having gone through every temptation +which flesh is heir to, and conquered them all.</p> +<p>This, then, is one half (and only one half) of my good news; +that you have a Friend in heaven who feels for every trouble of +yours, better than your own mothers can feel for you, because He +has been through it all already; you have a Friend in heaven who +is praying for you day and night, more earnestly, lovingly, +wisely, than your own wives and children are praying for +you. But that is not all. God forbid! You have +a Friend in heaven, for whose sake God will forgive you all your +sins and weaknesses, as often as you heartily confess them to +Him, and trust in Him for a full and free pardon. You have +a Friend in heaven who will help you day by day, where you most +need help, in your hearts and <!-- page 203--><a +name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 203</span>spirits; +who will give you, if you ask Him, <i>His Spirit</i>, the same +spirit of duty, courage, endurance, love, self-sacrifice, which +made Him brave to endure ten thousand times more than any soldier +or sailor can endure, for the sake of doing His Father’s +will, and saving a ruined world.</p> +<p>Oh! open your hearts to Him, my brave men, in your lonely +night-watches—on your sick beds; ay, in the very roar of +battle itself, ask Him to make you true and good, patient, calm, +prudent, honourable, obedient, gentle, even in the hottest of the +fight. Commit to Him your own lives and fortunes, and the +lives and fortunes of those who have been left at home, and be +sure that He, your Unseen Friend of friends, is able and willing +to help to the uttermost all that you put into His charge.</p> +<p>But, again, my men, if the nation cannot reward you for +sacrificing your life in a just war, there is One above who can, +and who will, too; for He is as just as He is loving, and as +loving as He is just, and that is the same of whom I have spoken +already, the Lord Jesus Christ.</p> +<p>I think some of you will fancy this almost too good news to be +true, and yet the very news which you want to hear. I think +some of you have been saying as you read this, “All this is +blessed and comforting news for poor fellows lying wounded in a +hospital, or fretting their souls away about the wives and +children they have left behind; blessed and comforting news; but +we want something more than that even. We have to fight and +to kill; we want to be sure that God’s blessing is on our +fighting and our killing; we have to go into battle; and we want +to know that there, too, we are <!-- page 204--><a +name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 204</span>doing +God’s work, and to be sure that God is on our +side.”</p> +<p>Well, my brave men, <i>Be sure of it then</i>! Be sure +that God’s blessing is as much upon you; be sure that you +are doing God’s work, as much when you are handling a +musket or laying a gun in your country’s battles, as when +you are bearing frost and hunger in the trenches, and pain and +weakness on a sick bed.</p> +<p>For the Lord Jesus Christ is not only the <i>Prince of +Peace</i>; He is the <i>Prince of War</i> too. He is the +Lord of Hosts, the God of armies; and whosoever fights in a just +war, against tyrants and oppressors, he is fighting on +Christ’s side, and Christ is fighting on his side; Christ +is his Captain and his Leader, and he can be in no better +service. Be sure of it; for the Bible tells you so. +The old wars of Abraham against the robber-kings; of Joshua +against the Canaanites; of David against the Philistines; of +Hezekiah against the Assyrians; of the Maccabees against the +Greeks—all tell the soldier the same brave news, that he is +doing God’s work, and that God’s blessing is on him, +when he fights in a just cause. And you are fighting in a +just cause, if you are fighting for freedom and law. If to +you God gives the noble work of fighting for the liberty of +Europe, God will reward you according as you do that work like +men. You will be fighting in that everlasting war which is +in heaven; in God’s everlasting war against all injustice +and wrong, the Captain and Leader whereof is the Lord Jesus +Christ Himself. Believe that—for the Bible tells it +you. You must think of the Lord Jesus Christ, not merely as +a sufferer, but as a warrior; not merely as the Man of Sorrows +(blessed as that thought is), but as the Lord of Hosts—the +God of <!-- page 205--><a name="page205"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 205</span>armies—the King who executes +justice and judgment in the earth, who has sworn vengeance +against all unrighteousness and wrong, and will destroy the +wicked with the breath of His mouth. You must think of Him +as the God of the fatherless and the widow; but you must think of +Him, too, as the God of the sailor and the soldier, the God of +duty, the God of justice, the God of vengeance, the God to whom +<i>your colours were solemnly offered</i>, and <i>His blessing on +them prayed for</i>, when they were given to your regiment.</p> +<p>I know that you would follow those colours into the mouth of +the pit, that you would die twice over sooner than let them be +taken. Good! but remember, too, that those colours are a +sign to you that Christ is with you, ready to give you courage, +coolness, and right judgment, in the charge and in the death +grapple, just as much as He is with those ministering angels who +will nurse and tend your wounds in hospital. God’s +blessing is on them; but do you never forget that your colours +are a sign to you that Christ’s blessing is on +<i>you</i>. If they do not mean that to you, what was the +use of blessing them with prayer? It must have been a lie +and a sham. But it is no lie, brave men, and no sham; it is +a glorious truth, of which those noble rags, inscribed with noble +names of victory, should remind you every day and every hour, +that he who fights for Queen and country in a just cause, is +fighting not only in the Queen’s army, but in +Christ’s army, and that he shall in no wise lose his +reward.</p> +<p>Are not these brave words for brave soldiers? Well: they +are not mine; they are the Bible’s. The book of +Revelation tells us how St. John saw a vision of the Lord Jesus +Christ, and of His everlasting war against <!-- page 206--><a +name="page206"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 206</span>wrong, of +which I spoke just now. And what did the Lord appear +like?</p> +<p>“<i>And I saw heaven opened</i>, <i>and behold a white +horse</i>; <i>and he that sat upon him is called Faithful and +True</i>, <i>and in righteousness He doth judge and make +war</i>. <i>And His eyes were as a flame of fire</i>; +<i>and He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood</i>; <i>and +His name is called the Word of God</i>. <i>And the armies +in heaven followed Him</i>, <i>riding upon white horses</i>, +<i>clothed in fine linen</i>, <i>white and clean</i>. +<i>And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword</i>, <i>that He +should smite the nations</i>; <i>and He shall rule them with a +rod of iron</i>; <i>and He treadeth the winepress of the +fierceness and of the wrath of almighty God</i>” (Rev. xix. +11).</p> +<p>Are not these brave words, my friends? Are not these +soldier-like words? Is not this a general worth +following? Is not this a charge of cavalry worth sharing +in? Then believe that that general, the Lord Jesus Christ, +is your general. Believe that you are sharing in that +everlasting charge, to which the glorious charge of Balaclava was +as nothing; the everlasting war which the Lord Jesus wages +against all sin, and cruelty, and wrong—in which He will +never draw bridle-rein, or sheath His sword, till He has put all +enemies under His feet, and swept all oppression, injustice, and +wickedness off the face of the earth which God has given Him.</p> +<p>Therefore I can say to you other brave words, my friends (and +not my own, but the words of the same Lord Jesus +Christ):—“Fear not them that can kill the body, and +after that have no more that they can do. But I will +forewarn you whom you shall fear; fear him who after he has +killed has power to destroy both body and soul in +hell.”</p> +<p><!-- page 207--><a name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +207</span>Now all England knows already that you do not fear +those who can kill the body; but I sometimes fear that some of +you are not enough afraid of that enemy worst of all, who can +kill the soul too. And who is that? St. Paul tells +us. He is “the devil, who has the power of +death,” who lies in ambuscade to destroy your body and soul +in hell; and will and can do it; <i>but only if you let +him</i>. Now who is the devil? It is worth your while +to know; for many a man may be, as you are, in the ranks of +God’s army, and yet doing the devil’s work all the +while. Many a man may fancy himself a good soldier, and +forget that a soldier is a man, and something more; and that +therefore, before you can be a good soldier, you must first be +more or less of a good man. Do you think not? Look +then, and see whether the most upright and god-fearing men in +your ranks are not in the long run the best soldiers. I +don’t mean merely the best <i>fighters</i>—the +bravest men in battle. There goes more than mere bull-dog +pluck to the making of a soldier; and to make a good soldier, I +hold that a man, though he be afraid of nothing else, must be +horribly afraid of the devil, and <i>that the better and braver +soldier he is</i>, <i>the more afraid of the devil he will +be</i>.</p> +<p>Of course that depends upon who the devil is. I will +tell you. He is what his name means, <i>the accuser and the +divider</i>—the evil spirit who sets men against each +other—men against officers, and officers against men; who +sets men grumbling, puts hard suspicious thoughts into their +minds; makes them selfish and forgetful of their duty, tempts +them to care only for themselves, and help themselves. You +must see that if those tempers once got head in an army, there +would be an <!-- page 208--><a name="page208"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 208</span>end of all discipline—of all +obedience; and what is more, of all courage; for if the devil +could completely persuade every man to care only for himself, the +plain thing for every man to do, would be to turn round and run +for his life. That you will never do; but you may give way +to the devil in lesser matters, and so do God’s work ill, +and lose your own reward from God. All grumbling, and hard +speeches, and tale-bearing is doing the devil’s work. +All disorder and laziness is doing the devil’s work. +All cruelty and brutality is doing the devil’s work.</p> +<p>Now as to cruelty and brutality, some soldiers fancy when +towns are taken in war, that they may do things for which (to +speak the truth) <i>they ought to be hanged</i>. I mean in +plain English, ravishing the women, and ill-treating unarmed men, +to make them give up their money. <i>Whosoever does these +things</i>, <i>God’s curse is on him</i>, and his sin will +surely find him out. No excuse of being in hot blood will +avail him. No excuse of having fought well beforehand will +avail him. Such cant will no more excuse him with God than +it will with truly noble-minded men. He may have been brave +enough before, but he is doing a coward’s deed then; he is +doing the devil’s work, <i>and the devil</i>, <i>and not +God</i>, <i>will pay him his wages</i>, <i>to the uttermost +farthing</i>. But though I tell you to fear the devil, it +is only to fear his getting the command over you. The devil +is a liar, and a liar is always a coward. Be brave in +God’s service. “Resist the devil and he will +flee from you.”</p> +<p>One word more. If any of you are maddened by hearing of +the enemy murdering some of your wounded—recollect that +<i>revenge</i> is one of the devil’s works, of which the +brave men cannot be too much afraid. God <!-- page 209--><a +name="page209"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 209</span>forbid that +you should ever be maddened into imitating such cruelty. +Fight the enemy in God’s name—and strike home; but +never have on your conscience the thought that you struck <i>an +unnecessary blow</i>. <i>You are to kill for the sake of +victory</i>, <i>but never to kill for the sake of +killing</i>. You know who it was who prayed for and excused +His own murderers as He hung upon the cross. “Father, +forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That +was the same Lord Jesus who, as I told you, is the great Warrior +against all wrong. If He was not ashamed to forgive, do you +not be ashamed either. You cannot be more brave than He is; +try, at least, to be merciful like Him. Overcome evil with +good; by returning good for evil you will not only help +England’s cause by softening the hearts of your enemies, +but you will preach Christ’s gospel to them—and in +nowise lose your reward.</p> +<p>Remember then, always, our Lord Jesus Christ is the pattern of +a perfect warrior, whether by land or sea; and if you be like +Him, and fighting <i>not only on His side</i>, <i>but as He likes +to see you fight</i>, that is, righteously and mercifully against +the tyrants of the earth—what harm can happen to you? +Be sure that whether you live, you will live to Him; or whether +you die, you die to Him; that living or dying you will be His; +and that He is merciful (the Bible says) in this, that He rewards +every man according to his work. Do you your work like men, +and be sure that the Lord Jesus Christ will see that you are +right well paid, if not in this life, still in that life to come, +to which may He bring you and all brave men, who will strive to +do their duty in that station of life to which God has called +them.</p> +<h3><!-- page 210--><a name="page210"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 210</span>II. THE STORY OF CORTEZ; OR +PLUCK IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. A LECTURE DELIVERED AT +ALDERSHOT CAMP, NOV. 1858.</h3> +<p>It seemed to me that, having to speak to-night to soldiers, +that I ought to speak <i>about</i> soldiers. Some story, I +thought, about your own profession would please you most and +teach you most. Some story, I say, for it is not my +business to tell you what soldiers ought to be like. That, +I daresay, you know a great deal better than I; and I only hope I +may do my duty as a parson half as well as British soldiers do +their duty, and will always do it.</p> +<p>So I thought of telling you to-night some sort of a +story—a true one, of course, about wars and +battles—some story about the British army; but then I +thought there are plenty of officers who can do that far better +than I,—so I will take some story of foreign armies, and +one of old times too. And though no soldier myself, but +only a scholar, and reader of queer old books, I may make my +scholarship of some use to you who have to drill and fight, and +die too, for us comfortable folks who sit at home and read our +books by our fireside.</p> +<p>Then I thought of the story of Cortez the Spaniard, and how he +conquered the great empire of Mexico with a handful of brave +men. That, I thought, would be an <!-- page 211--><a +name="page211"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 211</span>example to +you of what men can do who have stout hearts and good weapons, +and who have faith too in God, and believe that if they do their +duty God will prosper them. And I thought I could do it all +the better, because I like the story, and enjoy reading it again +and again; for I know no such dashing and desperate deed of +courage in history, except Havelock’s advance upon +Lucknow.</p> +<p>So now I will begin my story, telling you first where Mexico +is, and what it was like when Cortez landed in it, more than +three hundred years ago.</p> +<p>You, all of you, have heard of the West India +station—some of you have been there. Beyond those +West India Islands lies the great Gulf of Mexico, and beyond that +the mainland of North America, and Mexico itself. It is now +thinly peopled by Spaniards, the descendants of settlers who came +over after Cortez’s time; and a very lazy, cowardly set +most of them are,—very different from the old heroes, their +forefathers. Our Yankee cousins can lick them now, one to +five, and will end, I believe, in conquering the whole +country. But in Cortez’s time, the place was very +different. It was full of vast numbers of heathens, +brownish coloured people, something like the Red Indians you see +in Canada, but a fairer, handsomer, stouter, heavier-bodied race; +and much more civilised also. They had great cities and +idol temples, aqueducts for water, and all sorts of noble +buildings, all of most curiously carved stone; which is all the +more wonderful and creditable to them, when we remember that they +had no iron—not a knife—not a nail of iron among +them. But they had found out how to make bronze by mixing +tin and copper, and with it could work the hardest stones, as +<!-- page 212--><a name="page212"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +212</span>well as we can with iron. They had another stuff +which was curious enough, of which they made knives, razors, +arrow heads, and saw-edged swords as keen as razors—and +that was <i>glass</i>. They did not make the +glass—they found it about the burning mountains, of which +Mexico is full; itztli they called it; we call it obsidian. +It is tougher than our glass, and chips to a fine razor +edge. I have seen arrows of it, which I am certain would go +clean through a man, and knives which would take his arm off, +bone and all. I want you to remember these glass weapons, +for Cortez’s Spaniards had cause enough to remember them +when they came to fight. Gunpowder, of course, they knew +nothing of, nor of horses or cattle either. They had no +beasts of draught; and all the stones and timber for their +magnificent buildings were carried by hand. But they were +first-rate farmers; and for handicraft work, such as pottery, +weaving, and making all kinds of ornaments, I can answer for it, +for I have seen a good deal of their work—they had not then +their equals in the world. They made the most beautiful +dresses out of the feathers of birds—parrots, humming +birds, and such like, which fill the forests in hot +countries. And what was more, their country abounded in +gold and jewels, and they knew how to work them, just as well as +we do. They could work gold into the likeness of flowers, +of birds with every feather like life, and into a thousand +trinkets. Their soil was most fruitful of all that man can +want—there was enough of the best for all to eat; and +altogether there never was a richer, and need never have been a +happier people, if they had but been good. But that was +just what they were not. A bad lot they were, cruel and +blood-thirsty, continually at war <!-- page 213--><a +name="page213"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 213</span>with each +other; and as for cruelty, just take this one story. At the +opening of a great temple to one of their idols in 1486, about +thirty years before the Spaniards came, they sacrificed to the +idol seventy-thousand human beings!</p> +<p>This offering in sacrifice of human beings to their idols was +their regular practice. They got these poor creatures by +conquering all the nations round, and carrying back their +prisoners to sacrifice; and if they failed, they took poor people +of their own, for blood they and their false gods must +have. Men, and sometimes women and children, were murdered +by them in their temples, often with the most horrible tortures, +to the number, I am afraid there is no doubt of it, of many +thousands every year; and their flesh afterwards cooked +delicately, was eaten as a luxury by people who, as far as +outward show went, were just as fine gentlemen and ladies as +there are now.</p> +<p>When the Spaniards got into Mexico, they found the walls of +the temples crusted inches thick in blood, the altars of the +idols heaped with smoking human hearts, and whole houses full of +skulls. They counted in one house one hundred and +thirty-six thousand skulls. It was high time to get rid of +those Mexicans off the face of the earth; and in God’s good +time a man was found to rid the earth of them, and that man was +Hernando Cortez.</p> +<p>And who was Cortez? He was a poor young Spanish +gentleman, son of an infantry captain, who, in his youth, was +sickly and weakly; and his father tried to make a lawyer of him, +and would have done it, but young Cortez kicked over the traces, +as we say, right and left, and turned out such a wild fellow, +<!-- page 214--><a name="page214"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +214</span>that he would not stay at college; and after getting +into plenty of scrapes, started as a soldier to the West Indies +when he was only nineteen. Little did people think what +stuff there was in that wild, sickly lad!</p> +<p>How he got on in the Spanish West Indies would be a long +story. I will only tell you that he turned out a thoroughly +good soldier, and a very dashing smart fellow, a first-rate rider +and fencer, a great dandy in his dress; but also—and if you +go to hot climates, keep this in mind—a particularly sober +and temperate man, who drank nothing, and could eat +anything. And he had, it is said, the most extraordinary +power of managing his men. He was always cool and +determined; and what he said had to be done, and they knew it; +but his way with them was so frank and kind, and he was so ready +to be the foremost in daring and enduring, living worse often +than his own men, while he was doing every thing for their +comfort, that there was nothing they would not do for him, as the +event proved—for if those soldiers had not trusted him for +life and death, I should not have this grand story to tell.</p> +<p>At last he married a very pretty woman, and got an estate in +the West Indies, and settled down there; and the chances were ten +to one that no one ever heard of him. However, dim reports +came to the West Indies of this great empire of Mexico, and of +all its wonders and wealth, and that stirred up Cortez’s +blood; and nothing would serve him but that leaving wife and +estate, he must start out again to seek his fortune.</p> +<p>He got a commission from the Governor, such as it was, for +they were lawless places those Spanish West Indies then; and +everybody fulfilled a certain Irishman’s notion of true +liberty—for he did “what was <!-- page 215--><a +name="page215"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 215</span>right in +the sight of his own eyes, and what <i>was wrong +too</i>”—and Cortez’s commission was to go and +discover this country, and trade with the people, and make +Christians of them—that is, if he could.</p> +<p>So he got together a little army, and sailed away with it for +the unknown land. He had about one hundred sailors, five +hundred and fifty soldiers armed with sword and pike, and among +them thirty-two cross-bow men, and thirteen musketeers. +Above all, he had sixteen horses, ten heavy guns—or what +may be called heavy guns in those times—about 9-pounders, I +suppose, and four smaller guns; and with that he set out to +conquer a new world; <i>and he conquered it</i>!</p> +<p>He did not know whither he was going. All he knew was, +that this wonderful country of Mexico was <i>somewhere</i>, and +treasures inestimable in it. And one other thing he knew, +that if mortal man <i>could</i> get there, he <i>would</i>.</p> +<p>He landed at Tabasco—where Vera Cruz city stands +now—fought with the Indians, who ran away at the sight of +the horses and noise of the cannon; and then made friends with +them. From them he got presents, and among others, a +present which was worth more than its weight in gold to him, +namely, a young slave girl, who had been born near Mexico, and +knew the language. She was very clever, and very beautiful; +and soon learnt to speak Spanish. She had been a princess +in her own country, and was sold as a slave by her cruel +stepmother. They made a Christian of her, and called her +Dona Marina,—her Indian name was Malinche,—and she +became Cortez’s interpreter to the Indians, and his +secretary. And she loved him and served him as faithfully +as true woman ever loved man, and saved him <!-- page 216--><a +name="page216"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 216</span>and his +from a hundred dangers. And the Spaniards reverence her +name still; and call a mighty snow mountain after her, Malinche, +to this day.</p> +<p>After that he marched inland, hearing more and more of the +wonders of Mexico, till he came at last, after many adventures, +to a country called Tlascala, up among high mountains.</p> +<p>The men who lived there seem to have been rough honest +fellows; and brave enough they showed themselves. The +Mexicans who lived in the plains below never could conquer them, +though they had been fighting with them for full two hundred +years. These Tlascalans turned out like men, and fought +Cortez—one hundred Indians to one Spaniard they fought for +four mortal hours; but horses and cannon were too much for them, +and by evening they were beaten off. They attempted to +surprise him the same night, and were beaten off again with great +slaughter. Whereon a strange thing happened.</p> +<p>Cortez, through Dona Marina, his interpreter, sent them in +fair terms. If they would make peace he would forget and +forgive all; if not, he would kill every man of them, and level +their city to the ground. Whereon, after more fighting, the +Tlascalans behaved like wise and brave men. They understood +at last that Cortez’s point was not Tlascala, but Mexico; +and the Mexicans were their bitterest enemies; and they had the +good sense to shake hands with the Spaniards, and make all +up. And faithful friends they were, and bravely they fought +side by side during all the terrible campaign that +followed. Meanwhile, Cortez’s own men began to lose +heart. They had had terrible fighting already, and no +plunder. As for getting to Mexico, it <!-- page 217--><a +name="page217"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 217</span>was all a +dream. But Cortez and Dona Marina, this wonderful Indian +girl, kept them up. No doubt they were in awful +danger—a handful of strangers walking blindfold in a vast +empire, not one foot of ground of which they knew: but Cortez +knew the further they went the further they must go, for it was +impossible to go back. So on and on they went; and as they +went they met ambassadors from Montezuma, the great Emperor of +Mexico. The very sight of these men confirmed all that they +had heard of the riches of that great empire, for these Indian +lords came blazing with gold and jewels, and the most magnificent +dresses; and of their power, for at one city which had let Cortez +in peaceably without asking the Emperor’s leave, they +demanded as a fine five and twenty Indian young men and forty +girls to be offered in sacrifice to their idols. Cortez +answered that by clapping them in irons, and then sending them +back to the Emperor, with a message that whether he liked or not, +he was coming to Mexico.</p> +<p>You may call that desperate rashness; but like a good deal of +rashness, it paid. This great Emperor Montezuma was utterly +panic-stricken. There were old prophecies that white gods +should come over the sea and destroy him and his empire; and he +took it into his head that these Spaniards were the white gods, +and that there was no use resisting them. He had been a +brave man in his youth, and a great warrior; but he utterly lost +his head now. He sent magnificent presents to the Spaniards +to buy them off; but that only made them the more keen to come +on; and come they did, till they saw underneath them the city of +Mexico, which must have been then one of the wonders of the +world.</p> +<p><!-- page 218--><a name="page218"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +218</span>It lay in the midst of a great salt lake, and could +only be reached from shore by long causeways, beautifully built +of stone. On this lake were many islands; and what was most +curious of all, floating gardens, covered with all sorts of +vegetables and flowers.</p> +<p>How big the city was no one will ever know now; but the old +ruins of it show how magnificent its buildings must have been, +full of palaces and temples of every kind of carved stone, +surrounded by flower gardens, while the whole city was full of +fountains, supplied with pure water brought in pipes from the +mountains round. I suppose so beautiful a sight as that +city of Mexico has never been seen since on earth. Only one +ugly feature there was in it—great pyramids of stone, +hundreds of them, with idol temples on the top, on each of which +was kept up a perpetual fire, fed with the fat of human +beings.</p> +<p>To their surprise the Emperor received them peaceably, came +out to meet them, gave them such presents, that the common +soldiers were covered with chains of gold; invited them into the +city, and gave them a magnificent palace to live in, and endless +slaves to wait upon them. It sounds all like a fairy tale; +but it is as true as that you and I are here.</p> +<p>But the cunning emperor had been plotting against them all the +while; and no great blame to him; and at last one of those plots +came to light; and Cortez made up his mind to take the Emperor +prisoner. And he did it. Right or wrong, we can +hardly say now. This Montezuma was a bad, false man, a +tyrant and a cannibal; but still it looks ugly to seize a man who +is acting as your friend. However, Cortez had courage, in +the midst of that great city, with hundreds of <!-- page 219--><a +name="page219"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 219</span>thousands +of Indians round him, to go and tell the Emperor that he must +come with him. And—so strong is a man when he chooses +to be strong—the Emperor actually went with Cortez a +prisoner.</p> +<p>Cortez—and that was an unworthy action—put him in +irons for an hour, to show him that he was master; and then took +off his irons, and treated him like a king. The poor +Emperor had all he wanted—all his wives, and slaves, and +finery, and eatables, and drinkables; but he was a mere puppet in +the Spaniard’s hands; and knew it. And strangely +enough, not being able to get out of his mind the fancy that +these Spaniards were gods, or at least, the children of the gods, +he treated them so generously and kindly, that they all loved +him; he obeyed them in everything; took up a great friendship +with several; and ended actually by giving them all his treasures +of gold to melt down and part among themselves. As I say, +it sounds all like a fairy tale, but it happened in this very +month of November 1519.</p> +<p>But Cortez had been too prosperous not to meet with a +mishap. Every great man must be tried by trouble; and so +was Cortez. News came to him that a fresh army of Spaniards +had landed, as he thought at first, to help him. They had +nine hundred men, eighty of whom were horse soldiers, eighty +musqueteers, one hundred and fifty cross-bow men, a good train of +heavy guns, ammunition, &c. What was Cortez’s +disgust when he found that the treacherous Governor of Cuba had +sent them, not to help him, but to take him prisoner as a +rebel? It was a villainous business got up out of envy of +Cortez’s success, and covetousness of his booty. But +in the Spanish colonies in those days, so far from home, there +was very little law; and the governors and <!-- page 220--><a +name="page220"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 220</span>adventurers +were always quarrelling and fighting with each other.</p> +<p>What did Cortez do? made up his mind as usual to do the +desperate thing, and marched against Narvaez with only seventy +men, no guns, and hardly any muskets—seventy against nine +hundred. It was fearful odds; but he was forced to leave +the rest to keep Mexico down. And he armed his men with +very long lances, tipped at both ends with copper—for he +had no iron; with them he hoped to face Narvaez’s +cavalry.</p> +<p>And he did it. Happily on his road he met an old friend +with one hundred and twenty soldiers, who had been sent off to +form a colony on the coast. They were as true as steel to +him. And with that one hundred and ninety he surprised and +defeated by night Narvaez’s splendid little army. And +what is more, after beating them, made such friends with them, +that he engaged them all next morning to march with him wherever +he wanted. The man was like a spider—whoever fell +into his net, friend or foe, never came out again till he had +sucked him dry.</p> +<p>Now he hurried back to Mexico, and terribly good reason he +had; for Alvarado whom he had left in garrison had quarrelled +with the Mexicans, and set upon them at one of their idol feasts, +and massacred great numbers of their leading men. It was a +bloody black business, and bitterly the Spaniards paid for +it. Cortez when he heard it actually lost his temper for +once, and called his lieutenant-general a madman and a traitor; +but he could not afford to cashier him, for after all he was the +best and bravest man he had. But the mischief was +done. The whole city of Mexico, the whole country round, +had risen in fury, had driven the Spanish <!-- page 221--><a +name="page221"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 221</span>garrison +into the great palace; and worst of all, had burnt the boats, +which Cortez had left to get off by, if the bridges were burst +down. So there was Alvarado shut up, exactly like the +English at Lucknow, with this difference, that the Spaniards +deserved what they got, and the English, God knows, <i>did +not</i>. And there was Cortez like another Havelock or +Colin Campbell marching to deliver them. But he met a very +different reception. These crafty Mexicans never struck a +blow. All was as still as the grave. As they came +over the long causeways and bridges, there was not a canoe upon +the lake, not an Indian in the floating gardens. As they +marched through the streets of the glorious city, the streets +were as empty as a desert. And the Spaniard knew that he +was walking into a trap, out of which none of them might come out +alive; but their hearts never failed them, and they marched on to +the sound of their bugles, and were answered by joyful salutes of +cannon from the relieved garrison.</p> +<p>The Mexicans had shut up the markets, and no food was to be +got. Cortez sent to open them. He sent another +messenger off to the coast to say all was safe, and that he +should soon conquer the rebels. But here, a cleverer man +than I must tell the story.</p> +<p>“But scarcely had his messenger been gone half an hour, +when he returned breathless with terror and covered with +wounds. ‘The city,’ he said, ‘was all in +arms! the drawbridges were raised, and the enemy would soon be +upon them! He spoke truth. It was not long before a +hoarse sullen sound became audible, like that of the roaring of +distant waters. It grew louder and louder, till from the +parapet surrounding the enclosure, the great avenues which led to +it might be <!-- page 222--><a name="page222"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 222</span>seen dark with the masses of +warriors, who came rolling on in a confused tide towards the +fortress. At the same time the terraces and flat roofs in +the neighbourhood were thronged with combatants, brandishing +their missiles, who seemed to have risen up as if by magic! +It was a spectacle to appall the stoutest. The Spanish +forces were crowded into a small compact mass in the palace, and +the whole army could be assembled at a moment’s +notice. No sooner, therefore, did the trumpet call to arms, +than every soldier was at his post—the cavalry mounted, the +artillerymen at their guns, and the archers and arquebusiers +stationed so as to give the assailants a warm reception. On +they came, with the companies, or irregular masses, into which +the multitude was divided, rushing forward each in its own dense +column, with many a gay banner displayed, and many a bright gleam +of light reflected from helmet, arrow, and spear head, as they +were tossed about in their disorderly array. As they drew +near, the Aztecs set up a hideous yell, which rose far above the +sound of shell and atabat, and their other rude instruments of +warlike melody. They followed this by a tempest of +missiles—stones, darts, arrows—which fell thick as +rain on the besieged. The Spaniards waited till the +foremost column had arrived, when a general discharge of +artillery and arquebusses swept the ranks of the assailants, and +mowed them down by hundreds.” <a name="citation222"></a><a +href="#footnote222" class="citation">[222]</a> . . .</p> +<p>So the fight raged on with fury for two days, while the +Aztecs, Indians who only fought by day, howled out to the +wretched Spaniards every night. On the third day Cortez +brought out the Emperor Montezuma, and commanded him to quiet the +Indians. The unhappy <!-- page 223--><a +name="page223"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 223</span>man obeyed +him. He had made up his mind that these Spaniards were the +white gods, who were to take his kingdom from him, and he +submitted to them like a sheep to the butcher. He went up +to a tower in all his royal robes and jewels. At the sight +the Indians who filled the great square below were all +hushed—thousands threw themselves on their faces; and to +their utter astonishment, he asked them what they meant by +rebelling. He was no prisoner, he said, but the +Spaniard’s guest and friend. The Spaniards would go +peaceably, if they would let them. In any case he was the +Spaniard’s friend.</p> +<p>The Indians answered him by a yell of fury and contempt. +He was a dog—a woman—fit only to weave and spin; and +a volley of stones and arrows flew at him. One struck him +on the head and dropped him senseless. The Indians set up a +howl of terror; and frightened at what they had done, fled away +ashamed.</p> +<p>The wretched Emperor refused comfort, food, help, tore the +bandages from his wounds, and died in two days. He had been +a bad man, a cannibal, and a butcher, blood-thirsty and covetous, +a ravisher of virgins, and a tyrant to his people. But the +Spaniards had got to love him in spite of all; for a true friend +he had been to them, and a fearful loss to them just now. +The battle went on worse than ever. The great idol temple +commanded the palace, and was covered with Mexican +warriors. And next day Cortez sent a party to storm +it. They tried to get up the winding stairs, and were +driven back three times with fearful loss. Cortez, though +he had but one hand to fight with, sallied out and cleared the +pyramid himself, after a fearful hand-to-hand fight of three +hours, up the winding stairs, along the platforms, <!-- page +224--><a name="page224"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +224</span>and at last upon the great square on the top, an acre +in breadth. Every Mexican was either killed, or hurled down +the sides. The idol, the war god, with its gold disc of +bleeding hearts smoking before it, was hurled down and the whole +accursed place set on fire and destroyed. Three hundred +houses round were also burnt that night; but of what use?</p> +<p>The Spaniards were starving, hemmed in by hundreds of +thousands. They were like a single wasp inside a +bee-hive. Let him kill the bees by hundreds, he must be +killed himself at last. He made up his mind to evacuate the +city, to leave all his conquests behind him. It was a +terrible disappointment, but it had to be done.</p> +<p>They marched out by night in good order, with all their guns +and ammunition, and with immense plunder; as much of poor +Montezuma’s treasures as they could carry. The old +hands took very little; they knew what they were about. The +fresh ones from Narvaez’s army loaded themselves with gold +and jewels, and had to pay dear for them. Cortez, I ought +to tell you, took good care of Dona Marina. He sent her +forward under a strong guard of Tlascalans, with all the other +women. The great street was crossed by many canals. +Then the causeway across the lake, two miles long, was crossed by +more canals, and at every one of these the Indians had taken away +the bridges. Cortez knew that, and had made a movable +bridge; but he had only time to make one, and that of course had +to be taken up at the rear, and carried forward to the front +every time they crossed a dyke; and that made endless +delay. As long as they were in the city, however, all went +well; but the moment they came out upon the lake causeway, out +thundered the serpent-skin drums from the top of every temple, +<!-- page 225--><a name="page225"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +225</span>the conch shells blew, and out swarmed the whole hive +of bees, against the one brave wasp who was struggling. The +Spaniards cleared the dyke by cavalry and artillery, and got to +the first canal, laid down the bridge, and over slowly but +safely, amid a storm of stones and arrows. They got to the +second canal, fifteen or twenty feet broad. Why, in +God’s name, was not the bridge brought on? Instead of +the bridge came news from the rear. The weight of the +artillery had been too great for the bridge, and it was jammed +fast. And there they were on a narrow dyke fifty feet +broad, in the midst of the lake, in the dark midnight, with +countless thousands of Indians, around, before, behind, and the +lord have mercy on them!</p> +<p>What followed you may guess—though some of the brave men +who fought there, and who wrote the story themselves—which +I have read—hardly knew.</p> +<p>The cavalry tried to swim their horses over. Some got +safe, others rolled into the lake. The infantry followed +pell mell, cut down like sheep by arrows and stones, by the +terrible glass swords of the Indians, who crowded round their +canoes. The waggons prest on the men, the guns on them, the +rear on them again, till in a few minutes the canal was choked +with writhing bodies of men and horses, cannon, gold and treasure +inestimable, over which the survivors scrambled to the further +bank. Cortez, who was helping the rear forded the gap on +horseback, and hurried on to find a third and larger canal which +no one dare cross. But the Indians were not so thick here, +and plunging into the water they got through as they could. +And woe that night to the soldier who had laden himself with +Indian treasure. Dragged to the bottom by the weight of +their plunder, <!-- page 226--><a name="page226"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 226</span>hundreds died there drowned by that +very gold to find which they had crossed the seas, and fought so +many a bloody battle.</p> +<p>What is the use of making a sad story long? They reached +the shore, and sat down like men desperate and foredone in a +great idol temple. Several of their finest officers, +three-fourths of their men, were killed and missing, +three-fourths too of their horses—all Cortez’s +papers, all their cannon, all their treasure. They had not +even a musket left. Nothing to face the Indians with but +twenty-three crippled horses, a few damaged crossbows, and their +good old swords. Cortez’s first question was for poor +Dona Marima, and strange to say she was safe. The trusty +Tlascalan Indians had brought her through it all. Alvarado +the lieutenant was safe too. If he had been the cause of +all that misery, he did his best to make up for it. He +stayed behind fighting at the last canal till all were over, and +the Indians closing round him. Then he set his long lance +in the water, and to the astonishment of both armies, leapt the +canal clean, while the Indians shouted, “This is indeed the +Tonatiah, the child of the Sun.” The gap is shown +now, and it is called to this day, Alvarado’s Leap. +God forgive him! for if he was a cruel man, he was at least a +brave one!</p> +<p>Cortez sat down, a ruined man, and as he looked round for his +old comrades, and missed one face after another, he covered his +face with his hands and cried like a child.</p> +<p>And was he a ruined man? Never less. No man is +ruined till his pluck is gone. He got his starving and +shivering men together, and away for the mountains to get back to +the friendly people of Tlascala. The people followed them +along the hills shouting, “Go on! you <!-- page 227--><a +name="page227"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 227</span>will soon +find yourselves where you cannot escape.” But he went +on—till he saw what they meant.</p> +<p>Waiting for him in a pass was an army of Indians—two +hundred thousand, some writers say—all fresh and fully +armed. What could he do? To surrender, was to be +sacrificed every man to the idols; so he marched on. He had +still twenty horses, and he put ten on each flank. He bade +his men not strike with their sword but give the point. He +made a speech to his men. They had beaten the Indians, he +said, many a time at just as fearful odds. God had brought +them through so far, God would not desert them, for they were +fighting on His side against the heathen; and so he went straight +at the vast army of Indians. They were surrounded, +swallowed up by them for a few minutes. In the course of an +hour the Spaniards had routed them utterly with immense +slaughter.</p> +<p>Of all the battles I ever read of, this battle of Otumba is +one of the most miraculous. Some say that Cortez conquered +Mexico by gunpowder: he had none then, neither cannon nor +musket. The sword and lance did it all, and they in the +hands of men worn out with famine, cold, and fatigue, and I had +said broken-hearted into the bargain. But there was no +breaking those men’s hearts—what won that battle, +what won Mexico, was the indomitable pluck of the white man, +before which the Indian, whether American or Hindoo, never has +stood, and never will stand to the world’s end. The +Spaniards proved it in America of old, though they were better +armed than the Indian. But there are those who have proved +it upon Indians as well armed as themselves. Ay, my +friends, I should be no Englishman, if while I told this story, I +could help thinking all the while of our brave comrades <!-- page +228--><a name="page228"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 228</span>in +India, who have conquered as Cortez conquered, and against just +as fearful odds; whose enemies were armed, not with copper arrows +and glass knives, but with European muskets, European cannon, and +most dangerous of all, European discipline. I say Cortez +did wonders in his time; but I say too that our Indian heroes +have done more, and done it in a better cause.</p> +<p>And that is the history of the conquest of Mexico. What, +you may ask, is that the end? When we are leaving the +Spaniards a worn-out and starving handful struggling back for +refuge to Tlascala, without anything but their old swords; do you +call <i>that</i> a conquest?</p> +<p>Yes, I do; just as I call the getting back to Cawnpore, after +the relief of Lucknow, the conquest of India. It showed +which was the better man, Englishman or sepoy, just as the +retreat from Mexico showed which was the better man, Spaniard or +Indian. The sepoys were cowed from that day, just as the +Mexicans were cowed after Otumba. They had fought with all +possible odds on their side, and been <i>licked</i>; and when men +are once cowed, all the rest is merely a work of time.</p> +<p>So it was with Cortez. He went back to Tlascala. +He got by mere accident, as we say, a reinforcement of +Spaniards. He stirred up all the Indian nations round, who +were weary of the cruel tyranny of the Mexicans; he made large +boats to navigate the lake, and he marched back upon Mexico the +next year with about six hundred Spaniards and nine +cannon—about half the force which he had had before; but +with a hundred thousand Indian allies, who, like the sturdy +Tlascalans, proved as true to him as steel. Truly, if he +was not a great general, who is?</p> +<p>He marched back, taking city after city as he went, <!-- page +229--><a name="page229"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +229</span>and besieged Mexico. It was a long and weary +siege. The Indians fought like fiends. The causeways +had to be taken yard by yard; but Cortez, wise by sad experience, +put his cannon into the boats and swept them from the +water. Then the city had to be taken house by house. +The Indians drove him back again and again, till they were +starved to skeletons, and those who used to eat their enemies +were driven to eat each other. Still they would not give +in. At last, after many weeks of fighting, it was all +over. The glorious Mexican empire was crumbled to +dust. Those proud nobles, who used to fat themselves upon +the bodies of all the nations round, were reduced to a handful of +starving beggars. The cross of Christ was set up, where the +hearts of human creatures were offered to foul idols, and Mexico +has been ever since the property of the Spaniards, a Christian +land.</p> +<p>And what became of Cortez? He died sadly and in +disgrace. He sowed, and other men reaped. If he was +cruel and covetous, he was punished for it in this world heavily +enough. He had many noble qualities though. He was a +better man than those around him; and one good thing he did, +which was to sweep off the face of the earth as devilish a set of +tyrants as ever defiled the face of the earth. Give him all +due honour for it, and let him rest in peace. God shall +judge him and not we.</p> +<p>But take home with you, soldiers all, one lesson from this +strange story, that while a man can keep his courage and his +temper, he is not only never really beaten, but no man can tell +what great things he may not do.</p> +<h3><!-- page 230--><a name="page230"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 230</span>III. PICTURE GALLERIES.</h3> +<p>Picture-galleries should be the working-man’s paradise, +<a name="citation230"></a><a href="#footnote230" +class="citation">[230]</a> a garden of pleasure, to which he goes +to refresh his eyes and heart with beautiful shapes and sweet +colouring, when they are wearied with dull bricks and mortar, and +the ugly colourless things which fill the town, the workshop and +the factory. For, believe me, there is many a road into our +hearts besides our ears and brains; many a sight, and sound, and +scent, even, of which we have never <i>thought</i> at all, sinks +into our memory, and helps to shape our characters; and thus +children brought up among beautiful sights and sweet sounds will +most likely show the fruits of their nursing, by thoughtfulness +and affection, and nobleness of mind, even by the expression of +the countenance. The poet Wordsworth, talking of training +up a beautiful country girl, says:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“The floating clouds their state shall +lend<br /> +To her—for her the willow bend;<br /> +Nor shall she fail to see,<br /> +Even in the motions of the storm,<br /> +<!-- page 231--><a name="page231"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +231</span><i>Grace which shall mould the maiden’s +form</i>,<br /> +<i>By silent sympathy</i>.<br /> +* * * * *<br /> +And she shall bend her ear<br /> +In many a secret place<br /> +Where rivulets dance their wayward round,<br /> +<i>And beauty</i>, <i>born of murmuring sound</i>,<br /> +<i>Shall pass into her face</i>.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Those who live in towns should carefully remember this, for +their own sakes, for their wives’ sakes, for their +children’s sakes. <i>Never lose an opportunity of +seeing anything beautiful</i>. Beauty is God’s +handwriting—a wayside sacrament; welcome it in every fair +face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank <i>Him</i> for +it, who is the fountain of all loveliness, and drink it in, +simply and earnestly, with all your eyes; it is a charmed +draught, a cup of blessing.</p> +<p>Therefore I said that picture-galleries should be the +townsman’s paradise of refreshment. Of course, if he +can get the real air, the real trees, even for an hour, let him +take it, in God’s name; but how many a man who cannot spare +time for a daily country walk, may well slip into the National +Gallery in Trafalgar Square (or the South Kensington Museum), or +any other collection of pictures, for ten minutes. +<i>That</i> garden, at least, flowers as gaily in winter as in +summer. Those noble faces on the wall are never disfigured +by grief or passion. There, in the space of a single room, +the townsman may take his country walk—a walk beneath +mountain peaks, blushing sunsets, with broad woodlands spreading +out below it; a walk through green meadows, under cool mellow +shades, and overhanging rocks, by rushing brooks, where he +watches and watches till he seems to <i>hear</i> the foam +whisper, and to <i>see</i> the fishes leap; and his hard <!-- +page 232--><a name="page232"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +232</span>worn heart wanders out free, beyond the grim city-world +of stone and iron, smoky chimneys, and roaring wheels, into the +world of beautiful things—<i>the world which shall be +hereafter</i>—ay, which shall be! Believe it, +toil-worn worker, in spite of thy foul alley, thy crowded +lodging, thy grimed clothing, thy ill-fed children, thy thin, +pale wife—believe it, thou too and thine, will some day +have <i>your</i> share of beauty. God made you love +beautiful things only because He intends hereafter to give you +your fill of them. That pictured face on the wall is +lovely, but lovelier still may the wife of thy bosom be when she +meets thee on the resurrection morn! Those baby cherubs in +the old Italian painting—how gracefully they flutter and +sport among the soft clouds, full of rich young life and baby +joy! Yes, beautiful indeed, but just such a one at this +very moment is that once pining, deformed child of thine, over +whose death-cradle thou wast weeping a month ago; now a +child-angel, whom thou shalt meet again never to part! +Those landscapes, too, painted by loving, wise old Claude, two +hundred years ago, are still as fresh as ever. How still +the meadows are! how pure and free that vault of deep blue +sky! No wonder that thy worn heart, as thou lookest, sighs +aloud, “Oh that I had wings as a dove, then would I flee +away and be at rest.” Ah, but gayer meadows and bluer +skies await thee in the <i>world to come</i>—that +fairy-land made real—“the new heavens and the new +earth,” which God has prepared for the pure and the loving, +the just and the brave, who have conquered in this sore fight of +life!</p> +<p>These thoughts may seem all too far-fetched to spring up in a +man’s head from merely looking at pictures; but it is not +so in practice. See, now, such <!-- page 233--><a +name="page233"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 233</span>thoughts +have sprung up in <i>my</i> head; how else did I write them down +here? And why should not they, and better ones, too, spring +up in your heads, friends? It is delightful to watch in a +picture-gallery some street-boy enjoying himself; how first +wonder creeps over his rough face, and then a sweeter, more +earnest, awestruck look, till his countenance seems to grow +handsomer and nobler on the spot, and drink in and reflect +unknowingly, the beauty of the picture he is studying. See +how some soldier’s face will light up before the painting +which tells him a noble story of bye-gone days. And +why? Because he feels as if he himself had a share in the +story at which he looks. They may be noble and glorious men +who are painted there; but they are still <i>men</i> of like +passions with himself, and his man’s heart understands them +and glories in them; and he begins, and rightly, to respect +himself the more when he finds that he, too, has a fellow-feeling +with noble men and noble deeds.</p> +<p>I say, pictures raise blessed thoughts in me—why not in +you, my brothers? Your hearts are fresh, thoughtful, +kindly; you only want to have these pictures explained to you, +that you may know <i>why</i> and <i>how</i> they are beautiful, +and what feelings they ought to stir in your minds. Look at +the portraits on the walls, and let me explain one or two. +Often the portraits are simpler than large pictures, and they +speak of real men and women who once lived on this earth of +ours—generally of remarkable and noble men—and man +should be always interesting to man.</p> +<h3><!-- page 234--><a name="page234"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 234</span>IV. A PORTRAIT IN THE NATIONAL +GALLERY.</h3> +<p>“Any one who goes to the National Gallery in Trafalgar +Square, may see two large and beautiful pictures—the nearer +of the two labelled ‘Titian,’ representing Bacchus +leaping from a car drawn by leopards. The other, labelled +‘Francia,’ representing the Holy Family seated on a +sort of throne, with several figures arranged below—one of +them a man pierced with arrows. Between these two, low +down, hangs a small picture, about two feet square, containing +only the portrait of an old man, in a white cap and robe, and +labelled on the picture itself, ‘<i>Joannes +Bellinus</i>.’ Now this old man is a very ancient +friend of mine, and has comforted my heart, and preached me a +sharp sermon, too, many a time. I never enter that gallery +without having five minutes’ converse with him; and yet he +has been dead at least three hundred years, and, what is more, I +don’t even know his name. But what more do I know of +a man by knowing his name? Whether the man’s name be +Brown, or whether he has as many names and titles as a Spanish +grandee, what does that tell me about the <i>man</i>?—the +spirit and character of the man—what the man will say when +he is asked—what the man will do when he is stirred up to +action? The man’s name is part of his clothes; his +shell; his husk. Change his <!-- page 235--><a +name="page235"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 235</span>name and +all his titles, you don’t change <i>him</i>—‘a +man’s a man for a’ that,’ as Burns says; and a +goose a goose. Other men gave him his name; but his heart +and his spirit—his love and his hatred—his wisdom and +his folly—his power to do well and ill; those God and +himself gave him. I must know those, and then I know the +<i>man</i>. Let us see what we can make out from the +picture itself about the man whom it represents. In the +first place, we may see by his dress that he was in his day the +Doge (or chief magistrate) of Venice—the island city, the +queen of the seas. So we may guess that he had many a +stirring time of it, and many a delicate game to play among those +tyrannous and covetous old merchant-princes who had elected him; +who were keeping up their own power at the expense of +everyone’s liberty, by spies and nameless accusers, and +secret councils, tortures, and prisons, whose horrors no one ever +returned to describe. Nay, we may guess just the very men +with whom he had to deal—the very battles he may have seen +fought.</p> +<p>“But all these are <i>circumstances</i>—things +which <i>stand round</i> the man (as the word means), and not the +whole man himself—not the character and heart of the man: +that we must get from the portrait; and if the portrait is a +truly noble portrait we shall get it. If it is a merely +vulgar picture, we shall get the man’s dress and shape of +his face, but little or no expression: if it is a <i>pathetic</i> +portrait, or picture of passion, we shall get one particular +temporary expression of his face—perhaps joy, sorrow, +anger, disgust—but still one which may have passed any +moment, and left his face quite different; but if the picture is +one of the noblest kind, we shall read the man’s whole +character there; just all <!-- page 236--><a +name="page236"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 236</span>his +strength and weakness, his kindliness or his sternness, his +thoughtfulness or his carelessness, written there once and for +ever;—what he would be, though all the world passed away; +what his immortal and eternal soul will be, unless God or the +devil changed his heart, to all eternity.</p> +<p>“We may see at once that this man has been very +handsome; but it is a peculiar sort of beauty. How delicate +and graceful all the lines in his face are!—he is a +gentleman of God’s own making, and not of the +tailor’s making. He is such a gentleman as I have +seen among working men and nine-shilling-a-week labourers, often +and often; his nobleness is in his heart—it is God’s +gift, therefore it shows in his noble looking face. No +matter whether he were poor or rich; all the rags in the world, +all the finery in the world, could not have made him look like a +snob or a swell. He was a thoughtful man, too; no one with +such a forehead could have been a trifler: a kindly man, too, and +honest—one that may have played merrily enough with his +grandchildren, and put his hand in his purse for many a widow and +orphan. Look what a bright, clear, straightforward, gentle +look he has, almost a smile; but he has gone through too many sad +hours to smile much: he is a man of many sorrows, like all true +and noble rulers; and, like a high mountain-side, his face bears +the furrows of many storms. He has had a stern life of it, +with the cares of a great nation on his shoulders. He has +seen that in this world there is no rest for those who live like +true men: you may see it by the wrinkles in his brow, and the +sharp-cut furrows in his cheeks, and those firm-set, determined +lips. His eyes almost show the marks of many noble +tears,—tears such as good men shed over their +nation’s <!-- page 237--><a name="page237"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 237</span>sins; but that, too, is past +now. He has found out his path, and he will keep it; and he +has no misgiving now about what God would have him do, or about +the reward which God has laid up for the brave and just; and that +is what makes his forehead so clear and bright, while his very +teeth are clenched with calm determination. And by the look +of those high cheek bones, and that large square jaw, he is a +strong-willed man enough, and not one to be easily turned aside +from his purpose by any man alive, or by any woman either, or by +his own passions and tempers. One fault of character, I +think, he may perhaps have had much trouble with—I mean +bitterness and contemptuousness. His lips are very thin; he +may have sneered many a time, when he was younger, at the follies +of the world which that great, lofty, thoughtful brain and clear +eye of his told him were follies; but he seems to have got past +that too. Such is the man’s character: a noble, +simple, commanding old man, who has conquered many hard things, +and, hardest of all, has conquered himself, and now is waiting +calm for his everlasting rest. God send us all the +same.</p> +<p>“Now consider the deep insight of old John Bellini, who +could see all this, and put it down there for us with pencil and +paint. No doubt there was something in Bellini’s own +character which made him especially best able to paint such a +man; for we always understand those who are most like ourselves; +and therefore you may tell pretty nearly a painter’s own +character by seeing what sort of subjects he paints, and what his +style of painting is. And a noble, simple, brave, godly man +was old John Bellini, who never lost his head, though princes +were flattering him and snobs following him with shouts and <!-- +page 238--><a name="page238"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +238</span>blessings for his noble pictures of the Venetian +victories, as if he had been a man sent from God Himself, as +indeed he was—all great painters are; for who but God makes +beauty? Who gives the loving heart, and the clear eye, and +the graceful taste to see beauty and to copy it, and to set forth +on canvas, or in stone, the noble deeds of patriots dying for +their country? To paint truly patriotic pictures well, a +man must have his heart in his work—he must be a true +patriot himself, as John Bellini was (if I mistake not, he had +fought for his country himself in more than one shrewd +fight). And what makes men patriots, or artists, or +anything noble at all, but the spirit of the living God? +Those great pictures of Bellini’s are no more; they were +burnt a few years afterwards, with the magnificent national hall +in which they hung; but the spirit of them is not passed +away. Even now, Venice, Bellini’s beloved +mother-land, is rising, new-born, from long weary years of +Austrian slavery, and trying to be free and great once more; and +young Italian hearts are lighting up with the thoughts of her old +fleets and her old victories, her merchants and her statesmen, +whom John Bellini drew. Venice sinned, and fell; and sorely +has she paid for her sins, through two hundred years of shame, +and profligacy, and slavery. And she has broken the +oppressor’s yoke. God send her a new life! May +she learn by her ancient sins! May she learn by her ancient +glories!</p> +<p>“You will forgive me for forgetting my picture to talk +of such things. But we must return. Look back at what +I said about the old portrait—the clear, calm, victorious +character of the old man’s face, and see how all the rest +of the picture agrees with it, in a complete harmony. The +dress, the scenery, the light and shade, <!-- page 239--><a +name="page239"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 239</span>the general +‘tone’ of colour should all agree with the character +of the face—all help to bring our minds into that state in +which we may best feel and sympathise with the human beings +painted. Now here, because the face is calm and grand, the +colour and the outlines are quiet and grand likewise. How +different these colours are from that glorious ‘Holy +Family’ of Francia’s, next to it on the right; or +from that equally glorious ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ of +Titian’s, on the left! Yet all three are right, each +for its own subject. Here you have no brilliant reds, no +rich warm browns; no luscious greens. The white robe and +cap give us the thought of purity and simplicity; the very golden +embroidery on them, which marks his rank, is carefully kept back +from being too gaudy. Everything is <i>sober</i> here; and +the lines of the dress, how simple they all are—no rich +curves, no fluttering drapery. They would be quite stiff if +it were not for that waving line of round tassels in front, which +break the extreme straightness and heaviness of the splendid +robe; and all pointing upwards towards that solemn, thin, calm +face, with its high white cap, rising like the peak of a snow +mountain against the dark, deep, boundless blue sky beyond. +That is a grand thought of Bellini’s. You do not see +the man’s hands; he does not want them now, his work is +done. You see no landscape behind—no buildings. +All earth’s ways and sights are nothing to him now; there +is nothing but the old man and the sky—nothing between him +and the heaven now, and he knows it and is glad. A few +months more, and those way-worn features shall have crumbled to +their dust, and that strong, meek spirit shall be in the abyss of +eternity, before the God from whence it came.</p> +<p><!-- page 240--><a name="page240"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +240</span>“So says John Bellini, with art more cunning than +words. And if this paper shall make one of you look at that +little picture with fresh interest, and raise one strong and +solemn longing in you to die the death of the righteous, and let +your last end be like his who is painted there—then I shall +rejoice in the only payment I desire to get, for this my +afternoon’s writing.”</p> +<h3><!-- page 241--><a name="page241"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 241</span>V. THE BRITISH MUSEUM.</h3> +<p>Nature is infinitely more wonderful than the highest art; and +in the commonest hedgeside leaf lies a mystery and beauty greater +than that of the greatest picture, the noblest statue—as +infinitely greater as God’s work is infinitely greater than +man’s. But to those who have no leisure to study +nature in the green fields (and there are now-a-days too many +such, though the time may come when all will have that blessing), +to such I say, go to the British Museum, Bloomsbury Square; there +at least, if you cannot go to nature’s wonders, some of +nature’s wonders are brought to you.</p> +<p>The British Museum is my glory and joy; because it is one of +the only places which is free to English citizens as +such—where the poor and the rich may meet together, and +before those works of God’s Spirit, “who is no +respecter of persons,” feel that “the Lord is the +maker of them all.” In the British Museum and the +National Gallery, the Englishman may say, “Whatever my coat +or my purse, I am an Englishman, and therefore I have a right +here. I can glory in these noble halls, as if they were my +own house.”</p> +<p>English commerce, the joint enterprise and industry of the +poor sailor as well as the rich merchant, brought home these +treasures from foreign lands; and those <!-- page 242--><a +name="page242"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 242</span>glorious +statues—though it was the wealth and taste of English +noblemen and gentlemen (who in that proved themselves truly noble +and gentle) who placed them here, yet it was the genius of +English artists—men at once above and below all +ranks—men who have worked their way up, not by money or +birth, but by worth and genius, which taught the noble and +wealthy the value of those antiques, and which proclaimed their +beauty to the world. The British Museum is a truly +equalising place, in the deepest and most spiritual sense. +And it gives the lie, too, to that common slander, “that +the English are not worthy of free admission to valuable and +curious collections, because they have such a trick of seeing +with their fingers; such a trick of scribbling their names, of +defiling and disfiguring works of art. On the Continent it +may do, but you cannot trust the English.”</p> +<p>This has been, like many other untruths, so often repeated, +that people now take it for granted; but I believe that it is +utterly groundless, and I say so on the experience of the British +Museum and the National Gallery. In the only two cases, I +believe, in which injury has been done to anything in either +place, the destroyers were neither working-men, nor even poor +reckless heathen street-boys, but persons who had received what +is too often miscalled “a liberal education.” +But <i>national property will always be respected</i>, because +all will be content, while they feel that they have their rights, +and all will be careful while they feel that they have a share in +the treasure.</p> +<p>Go to the British Museum in Easter week, and see there +hundreds of thousands, of every rank and age, wandering past +sculptures and paintings, which would be <!-- page 243--><a +name="page243"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 243</span>ruined by a +blow—past jewels and curiosities, any one of which would +buy many a poor soul there a month’s food and +lodging—only protected by a pane of glass, if by that; and +then see not a thing disfigured—much less stolen. +Everywhere order, care, attention, honest pride in their +country’s wealth and science; earnest reverence for the +mighty works of God, and of the God-inspired. I say, the +people of England prove themselves worthy of free admission to +all works of art, and it is therefore the duty of those who can +to help them to that free admission.</p> +<p>What a noble, and righteous, and truly brotherly plan it would +be, if all classes would join to form a free National Gallery of +Art and Science, which might combine the advantages of the +present Polytechnic, Society of Arts, and British Institution, +gratis. <a name="citation243"></a><a href="#footnote243" +class="citation">[243]</a> Manufacturers and men of science +might send thither specimens of their new inventions. The +rich might send, for a few months in the year—as they do +now to the British Institution—ancient and modern pictures, +and not only pictures, but all sorts of curious works of art and +nature, which are now hidden in their drawing-rooms and +libraries. There might be free liberty to copy any object, +on the copyist’s name and residence being registered. +And surely artists and men of science might be found, with enough +of the spirit of patriotism and love, to explain gratuitously to +all comers, whatever their rank or class, the wonders of the +Museum. I really believe that if once <i>the spirit of +brotherhood</i> got abroad among us; if men once saw that here +was a vast means of educating, and softening and <!-- page +244--><a name="page244"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +244</span>uniting those who have no leisure for study, and few +means of enjoyment, except the gin-shop and Cremorne Gardens; if +they could but once feel that here was a project, equally blessed +for rich and poor, the money for it would be at once forthcoming +from many a rich man, who is longing to do good, if he could only +be shown the way; and from many a poor journeyman, who would +gladly contribute his mite to a truly national museum. All +that is wanted is the spirit of self-sacrifice, patriotism and +brotherly love—which God alone can give—which I +believe He is giving more and more in these very days.</p> +<p>I never felt this more strongly than one day, as I was looking +in at the windows of a splendid curiosity-shop in Oxford Street, +at a case of humming-birds. I was gloating over the beauty +of those feathered jewels, and then wondering what was the +meaning, what was the use of it all? why those exquisite little +creatures should have been hidden for ages, in all their +splendours of ruby, and emerald, and gold in the South American +forests, breeding and fluttering and dying, that some dozen out +of all those millions might be brought over here to astonish the +eyes of men. And as I asked myself, why were all these +boundless varieties, these treasures of unseen beauty, created? +my brain grew dizzy between pleasure and thought; and, as always +happens when one is most innocently delighted, “I turned to +share the joy,” as Wordsworth says; and next to me stood a +huge, brawny coal-heaver, in his shovel hat, and white stockings +and high-lows, gazing at the humming-birds as earnestly as +myself. As I turned he turned, and I saw a bright manly +face, with a broad, soot-grimmed forehead, from under which a +pair of keen flashing eyes <!-- page 245--><a +name="page245"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 245</span>gleamed +wondering, smiling sympathy into mine. In that moment we +felt ourselves friends. If we had been Frenchmen, we +should, I suppose, have rushed into each other’s arms and +“fraternised” upon the spot. As we were a pair +of dumb, awkward Englishmen, we only gazed a half-minute, staring +into each other’s eyes, with a delightful feeling of +understanding each other, and then burst out both at once with, +“Isn’t that beautiful?” “Well, that +is!” And then both turned back again, to stare at our +humming-birds.</p> +<p>I never felt more thoroughly than at that minute (though, +thank God, I had often felt it before) that all men were +<i>brothers</i>; that this was not a mere political doctrine, but +a blessed God-ordained fact; that the party-walls of rank and +fashion and money were but a paper prison of our own making, +which we might break through any moment by a single hearty and +kindly feeling; that the one spirit of God was given without +respect of persons; that the beautiful things were beautiful +alike to the coal-heaver and the parson; and that before the +wondrous works of God and of God’s inspired genius, the +rich and the poor might meet together, and feel that whatever the +coat or the creed may be, “A man’s a man for a’ +that,” and one Lord the maker of them all.</p> +<p>For, believe me, my friends, rich and poor—and I beseech +you to think deeply over this great truth—that men will +never be joined in true brotherhood by mere plans to give them a +self-interest in common, as the Socialists have tried to +do. No: to feel <i>for</i> each other, they must first feel +<i>with</i> each other. To have their sympathies in common, +they must have not one object of gain, but an object of +admiration in common; to <!-- page 246--><a +name="page246"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 246</span>know that +they are brothers, they must feel that they have one Father; and +one way to feel that they have one common Father, is to see each +other wondering, side by side, at His glorious works!</p> +<h2>Footnotes:</h2> +<p><a name="footnote80a"></a><a href="#citation80a" +class="footnote">[80a]</a> H.M.S. the Duke of +Wellington.</p> +<p><a name="footnote80b"></a><a href="#citation80b" +class="footnote">[80b]</a> Form of prayer to be used at +sea.</p> +<p><a name="footnote199"></a><a href="#citation199" +class="footnote">[199]</a> This was written and sent out to +the army before Sebastopol in the winter of 1855.</p> +<p><a name="footnote222"></a><a href="#citation222" +class="footnote">[222]</a> Prescott’s “History +of the Conquest of Mexico.” See Book v., ch. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote230"></a><a href="#citation230" +class="footnote">[230]</a> Mr. Kingsley wrote these papers +for London working-men, but his words apply just as much to +soldiers in London barracks, as to artizans. He thought +much of the good of pictures, and all beautiful things for +hard-worked men who could see such things in public galleries, +though they could not afford to have them in their own homes.</p> +<p><a name="footnote243"></a><a href="#citation243" +class="footnote">[243]</a> Since this paper was written in +1848 many such institutions have been opened, at South +Kensington, and in several great towns.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE WORDS FOR BRAVE MEN***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 20138-h.htm or 20138-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/3/20138 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: True Words for Brave Men + + +Author: Charles Kingsley + + + +Release Date: December 19, 2006 [eBook #20138] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE WORDS FOR BRAVE MEN*** + + + +Transcribed from the 1884 Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co., edition by David +Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + +TRUE WORDS FOR BRAVE MEN. + + +BY +CHARLES KINGSLEY, + +LATE RECTOR OF EVERSLEY; CHAPLAIN TO THE QUEEN AND TO THE PRINCE OF +WALES. + +_A BOOK FOR SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' LIBRARIES_. + +ELEVENTH THOUSAND. + +LONDON: +KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO., 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE. + +1884. + +_The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved_. + +Dedicated +BY KIND PERMISSION +TO +GENERAL SIR WILLIAM CODRINGTON, G.C.B., +AND +ADMIRAL WELLESLEY, C.B., +IN MEMORY OF +CHARLES KINGSLEY, +WHO WAS PROUD OF THEIR FRIENDSHIP, +AND LOVED AND HONOURED THEM +AS HE LOVED AND HONOURED +ALL BRAVE SOLDIERS +AND SAILORS. + + "Yet was he courteous still to every wight, + And loved them that did to armes incline." + + SPENSER. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + + +This little volume is selected from the unpublished sermons and addresses +of Charles Kingsley by the request of a Colonel of Artillery, and with +the sanction of an Army Chaplain of long experience, who knew the +influence of his writings on soldiers, and who wish that that influence +may live, though he is no longer here. The Lecture on Cortez was given +at Aldershot Camp in 1858, and the Address to Brave Soldiers and Sailors +written for and sent out to the troops before Sebastopol in the winter of +1855, when Mr. Kingsley's own heart, with that of all England, was +grieving over the sufferings of our noble army in the Crimea. F. E. K. + + + + +I. THE GOOD CENTURION; OR, THE MAN UNDER AUTHORITY. + + + "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a + centurion, beseeching Him and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home, + sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I + will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am + not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word + only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, + having soldiers under me, and I say unto this man, Go, and he goeth; + and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and + he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that + followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found such great faith, + no, not in Israel."--MATT. viii. 5-10. + +We find in Holy Scripture, that of the seven heathens who were first +drawn to our Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel, three were soldiers. + +The first was the Centurion, of whom our Lord speaks in such high terms +of commendation. + +The next, the Centurion who stood by His cross, and said, "Truly this was +the son of God." Old legends say that his name was Longinus, and tell +graceful tales of his after-life, which one would fain believe, if there +were any evidence of their truth. + +The third, of course, was Cornelius, of whom we read in the Acts of the +Apostles. + +Now these three Centurions--commanding each a hundred men--had probably +risen from the ranks; they were not highly educated men; they had seen +endless cruelty and immorality; they may have had, at times, to do ugly +work themselves, in obedience to orders. They were doing, at the time +when they are mentioned in Scripture, almost the worst work which a +soldier can do. For they were not defending their own country against +foreign enemies. They were keeping down a conquered nation, by a stern +military despotism, in which the soldiery acted not merely as police, but +as gaolers and executioners. And yet three men who had such work as this +to do, are singled out in Scripture to become famous through all time, as +the first-fruits of the heathen; and of one of them our Lord said, "I +have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel." + +Why is this? Was there anything in these soldiers' profession, in these +soldiers' training, which made them more ready than other men to +acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ? And if so; what was it? + +Let us take the case of this first Centurion, and see if it will tell us. +We will not invent any reasons of our own for his great faith. We will +let him give his own reasons. We will let him tell his own story. We +may trust it; for our blessed Lord approved of it. Our Lord plainly +thought that what the soldier had spoken, he had spoken well. And yet it +is somewhat difficult to understand what was in his mind. He was plainly +no talker; no orator. Like many a good English soldier, sailor, yeoman, +man of business, he had very sound instincts in him, and drew very sound +conclusions from them: but he could not put them into words. He knew +that he was right, but he could not make a speech about it. Better that, +than be--as too many are--ready to make glib speeches, which they only +half believe themselves; ready to deceive themselves with subtle +arguments and high-flown oratory, till they can give the most +satisfactory reasons for doing the most unsatisfactory and unreasonable +things. No, the good soldier was no orator: but he had sound sense under +his clumsy words. Let us listen to them once more. + +"I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this +man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my +servant, Do this, and he doeth it." Surely the thought which was in his +mind is to be found in the very words which he used--Authority. +Subordination. Discipline. Obedience. He was under authority, and must +obey his superior officer. He had soldiers under him, and they must obey +him. There must be not only no mutiny, but no neglect, no arguing, no +asking why. If he said Go, a man must go; if he said Come, a man must +come; and make no words about it. Otherwise the Emperor's service would +go to ruin, through laziness, distrust, and mutinous talk. By +subordination, by discipline, by mutual trust and strict obedience, that +empire of Rome was conquering the old world; because every Roman knew his +place, and every Roman did what he was told. + +But what had that to do with our Lord's power, and with the healing of +the child? + +This. The honest soldier had, I think, in his mind, that subordination +was one of the most necessary things in the world; that without it the +world could not go on. Then he said to himself, "If there must be +subordination on earth, must there not be subordination in heaven?" If +he, a poor officer, could get his commands obeyed, by merely speaking the +word; then how much more could God. If Jesus was--as He said--as His +disciples said--the Lord, the God of the Jews: then He had no need to +come and see a sick man; no need to lay His hands on him; to perform +ceremonies or say prayers over him. The Laws of Nature, by which health +and sickness come, would obey His word of command without rebellion and +without delay. "Speak the word only, Lord, and my servant shall be +healed." + +But how did the Centurion know--seemingly at first sight, that Jesus was +the Lord God? Ah, how indeed? + +I think it was because he had learnt the soldier's lesson. He had seen +many a valiant officer--Tribunes, Prefects, Consuls, Emperors, commanding +men; and fit to command men. There was no lack of such men in the Roman +empire then, as the poor, foolish, unruly Jews found out to their cost +within the next forty years. And the good Centurion had been accustomed +to look at such men; and to look up to them beside, and say not merely--It +is a duty to obey these men, but--It is a delight to obey them. He had +been accustomed--as it is good for every man to be accustomed--to meet +men superior to himself; men able to guide and rule him. And he had +learned--as every good soldier ought to learn--when he met such a man, +not to envy him, not to backbite him, not to intrigue against him, not to +try to pull him down: but to accept him for what he was--a man who was to +be followed, if need be, to the death. + +There was in that good Centurion none of the base spirit of envy, which +dreads and therefore hates excellence, hates ability, hates authority; +the mutinous spirit which ends, not--as it dreams--in freedom and +equality, but in slavery and tyranny; because it transforms a whole +army--a whole nation--from what it should be, a pack of staunch and +faithful hounds, into a mob of quarrelsome and greedy curs. Not of that +spirit was the good Centurion: but of the spirit of reverence and +loyalty; the spirit which delights in, and looks up to, all that is brave +and able, great and good; the spirit of true independence, true freedom, +and the true self-respect which respects its fellow men; and therefore it +was, that when the Centurion came into the divine presence of Christ, he +knew at once, instinctively and by a glance, into what a presence he had +come. Christ's mere countenance, Christ's mere bearing, I believe, told +that good soldier who He was. He knew of old the look of great +commanders: and now he saw a countenance, in spite of all its sweetness, +more commanding than he had ever seen before. He knew of old the bearing +of Consuls and of Emperors: and now, in spite of Christ's lowly disguise, +he recognised the bearing of an Emperor of emperors, a King of kings. He +had learnt of old to know a man when he met one; and now, he felt that he +had met the Man of all men, the Son of Man; and that so God-like was His +presence, that He must be likewise the Son of God. + +And so had this good soldier his reward; his reward for the soldierly +qualities which he had acquired; for subordination; for reverence; for +admiration of great and able men. And what was his reward? Not merely +that his favourite servant was healed at his request: but that he learnt +to know the Lord Jesus Christ, whom truly to know is everlasting life; +whom the selfish, the conceited, the envious, the slanderous, the +insolent, the mutinous, know not, and never will know; for they are not +of His Spirit, neither is He of theirs. + +But more: What is the moral which old divines have drawn from this story? +"If you wish to govern: learn first to obey." That is a moral lesson +more valuable than even the use of arms. To learn--as the good Centurion +learnt--that a free man can give up his independence without losing it. +Losing it? Independence is never more called out than by subordination. +A man never feels himself so much of a free man as when he is freely +obeying those whom the laws of his country have set over him. A man +never feels so able as when he is following the lead of an abler man than +himself. Remember this. Make it a point of honour to do your duty +earnestly, scrupulously, and to the uttermost; and you will find that the +habits of self-restraint, discipline, and obedience, which you, as +soldiers, have learned, will stand you in good stead for the rest of your +lives, and make you each, in his place, fit to rule, just because you +have learned to obey. + +But now go on a step, as the good Centurion went on, and say--If there is +no succeeding in earthly things, whether in soldiering or any other +profession, without subordination; without obeying rules and orders +strictly and without question: then perhaps there is no succeeding in +spiritual and heavenly things. For has not God His moral Laws, His +spiritual Laws, which must be obeyed, if you intend to prosper in this +life, or in the life to come? + +"Thou _shalt_ love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul, and thy +neighbour as thyself. Thou _shalt_ honour thy father and thy mother. +Thou _shalt not_ kill, steal, commit adultery, slander, or covet." So it +is written: not merely on those old tables of stone on Sinai; but in The +Eternal Will of God, and in the very nature of this world, which God has +made. There is no escaping those Laws. They fulfil themselves. God +says to them, "Go," and they go; "Come," and they come; "Do justice on +the offender," and they do it. If we are fools and disobey them, they +will grind us to powder. If we are wise and obey them, they will reward +us. For in wisdom's right hand is length of days, and in her left hand +riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths +are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold of her, and +blessed is every one that retaineth her; as God grant you all will do. + +But you, too, in time may have soldiers under you. Think, I beseech you, +earnestly of this, and for their sake, as well as for your own, try by +God's help to live worthy of Christian English men. Let them see you +going out and coming in, whether on duty or by your own firesides, as men +who feel that they are "ever beneath their great taskmaster's eye;" who +have a solemn duty to perform, namely, the duty of living like good men +toward your superior officers, your families, your neighbours, your +country, and your God--even towards that Saviour who so loved you that He +died for you on the cross, to set you the example of what true men should +be; the example of perfect duty, perfect obedience, perfect courage, +perfect generosity--in one word--the example of a perfect Hero. + +Live such lives, and then, will be fulfilled to you, and to your children +after you, from generation to generation, the promises which God made, +ages since, to the men of Judea of old; promises which are all true +still, and will continue true, in every country of the world, till the +world's end. + +"Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be doing good; dwell in the land, +and verily thou shalt be fed. + +The Lord knoweth the doings of the righteous; and their inheritance shall +endure for ever. + +They shall not be confounded in the perilous time; and in the days of +dearth they shall have enough. + +The Lord ordereth a good man's going; and maketh his way acceptable to +himself. + +Though he fall, he shall not be cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him +with his hand. + +I have been young, and now I am old; yet saw I never the righteous +forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread. + +Flee from evil, and do the thing that is good; and dwell for evermore. + +For the Lord loveth the thing that is right; He forsaketh not his that +are godly, but they are preserved for ever." Amen. + + + + +II. CHRIST IS COME. A CHRISTMAS SERMON. + + + "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the + government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called + Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, 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 from + henceforth even for ever."--ISAIAH ix. 6, 7. + +It is now more than three thousand years ago that God made to Abraham the +promise, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." +Again the promise was renewed to Moses when he was commanded to tell the +Jews, "a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me. +Hear ye him . . ." In David's Psalms, again, this same strange person +was spoken of who was already, and yet who was to come. David calls him +the Son of God, the King of kings. Again, in the Prophets, in many +strange and mysterious words, is this same being spoken of as a virgin's +child--"Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall +be called Emmanuel, God with us;" and again, "Unto us a child is born, +unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful, +Counsellor, the Mighty God--the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." +And again, "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a +branch shall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall +rest upon him,--the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of +knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And with righteousness shall He +judge the poor," &c. + +And again, "Thou Bethlehem, though thou be little among the princes of +Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth He that is to be ruler in Israel, +whose goings forth have been from everlasting. And He shall be great +unto the ends of the earth." + +But time would fail me if I tried to repeat to you half the passages +wherein the old Jewish prophets foretold Him who was to come, and in whom +all the nations of the earth should be blessed, more and more clearly as +the time drew nigh. + +Well, my friends, surely you know of whom I have been speaking--of whom +Moses and the prophets spoke--of Him who was born of a village maiden, +laid in a manger, proclaimed of angels to the shepherds, worshipped with +hymns of glory by the heavenly host on the first Christmas day eighteen +hundred and seventy-eight years ago, as we count time. Aye, strange as +it may seem, _He is come_, and in Him all the nations of the earth are +blessed. _He is come_--the Conqueror of Evil--the desire of all +nations--the Law-giver--the Lamb which was to suffer for our sins--the +King of kings--the Light which should lighten the heathen--the Virgin's +child, of wondrous wisdom, whose name should be God as well as man--whom +all the heathens, amid strange darkness and mad confusions, had still +been fearing and looking for. + +_He is come_--He came on that first Christmas-tide. And we here on each +Christmas-tide can thank God for His coming, and say before men and +angels, "Unto us a child is born--the Prince of Peace is _ours_--to His +kingdom we belong--He has borne about on Him a man's body, a man's soul +and spirit--He was born like us--like us He grew--like us He rejoiced and +sorrowed--tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin--able to +the uttermost to understand and help all who come to God by Him. He has +bruised the serpent's head--He has delivered us from the power of +darkness, and brought us into _His_ kingdom. Through His blood we have +redemption and forgiveness--yes! through Him who, though He was laid in a +manger, was yet the image of the unseen God. And by Him, and for +Him--that Babe of Bethlehem--were all things created in heaven and +earth--and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. All +heaven and earth, and all the powers therein, are held together by Him. +For it pleased the Father that in _Him_ should all fulness dwell; and +having made peace through the blood of His cross, to reconcile by that +child all things unto Himself--all things in heaven--all things in +earth." + +This should be our boast--this should be our glory--for this do we meet +together every Christmas day. + +But what is all this to us if that Blessed Man be gone away from us? Our +souls want more than I have told you yet. Our souls want more than a +beautiful and wonderful story _about_ Christ. They want Christ Himself. +Preaching is blessed and useful if it speaks of Christ. Our own thoughts +are blessed and useful if we think of Christ. The Bible is most blessed +and useful containing all things necessary to salvation, for it speaks of +Christ. Our prayers are blessed and useful if in them we call and cry +earnestly to Christ. But neither preaching, nor thinking, nor praying +are enough. In them we think about Him and speak to Him. _But we want +Him to speak to us_. We want not merely a man to say, your sins _may_ be +forgiven you; we want Christ Himself to say, "Your sins _are_ forgiven +you." We want not merely a wise book to tell us that the good men of old +belonged to Christ's kingdom--we want Christ Himself to tell us that we +belong to His kingdom. We want not merely a book that tells us that He +promised always to be with us--we want Him Himself to tell us that He is +really now with us. We want not merely a promise from a prophet of old +that in Him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, but a sign +from Christ Himself that this nation of England is really now blest in +Him. In short, we want not words, however true words, however fine +words, _about_ Christ. We want Christ Himself to forgive us our sins--to +give peace and freedom to our hearts--to come to us unseen, and fill us +with thoughts and longings such as our fallen nature cannot give us--such +thoughts and feelings as we cannot explain in words, for they are too +deep and blessed to be talked about--but thoughts which say to us, as if +the blessed Jesus Himself spoke to us in the depths of our hearts, "Poor, +struggling, sinful brother! _thou art mine_. For thee I was born--for +thee I died--thee I will teach--I will guide thee and inform thee with +mine eye--I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." + +Well--you want _Him_--and you want a sign of Him--a sign of His own +giving that _He is among you this day_--a sign of His own giving that He +has taken you into His kingdom--a sign of His own giving that He died for +you--that He will feed and strengthen your souls in you with His own life +and His own body. + +Then--there is a sign--there is the sign which has stood stedfast and +sure to you--and to your fathers--and your forefathers before them--back +for eighteen hundred years, over half the world. There is the bread of +which He said, "Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you." +There is the wine of which He said, "This cup is the New Covenant in my +blood, which is shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins." +There is His sign. Don't ask _how_. Don't try to explain it away, and +fancy that you can find fitter, and soberer, and safer, and more gospel- +sounding words than Jesus Christ's own, by which to speak of His own +Sacrament. But say, with the great Queen Elizabeth of old, when men +tried too curiously to enquire into her opinion concerning this blessed +mystery-- + + "Christ made the Word and spake it, + He took the bread and brake it, + And what His Word did make it, + That I believe, and take it." + +He said, "This bread is my body which was broken for you." He said, +"This cup is the New Testament in my blood." Is it? or is it not? And +if it is, is not Christ among us now, indeed? Is not that something +better than all the preaching in the world? Jesus Christ, the King of +kings--the Saviour--the Deliverer--the Lamb of God--the Everlasting +Son--the Word--the Light--the Life--is here among us ready to feed our +souls in the Holy Sacrament of His body and blood, as surely as that +bread and wine will feed our bodies--yea--to feed our souls and bodies to +everlasting life. "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters +and drink. Come, buy wine without money and without price." + + + + +III. IS, OR IS NOT, THE BIBLE TRUE? + + + "If I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me?"--JOHN viii. 46. + +Is, or is not, the Bible true? To this question we must all come some +day or other. Do you believe that that book which lies there, which we +call the Bible, is a true book, or a lying book? Is it true or false? Is +it right or wrong? Is it from God, or is it not from God? Let us answer +that. If it is not from God, let it go; but if it _is_ from God, which +we know it is, how dare we disobey it? + +That _God_, the maker of heaven and earth, should speak to men--should +set His commands down in a book and give it to them--and that they should +neglect it, disobey it--it is the strangest sight that can be seen on +earth! that God in heaven should say one thing, and a human being, six +feet high at most, should dare to do another! + +If the Bible is from God, I say, the question is not whether it is +_better_ to obey it or not. Better? there is no better or worse in the +matter--it is infinitely necessary. To obey is infinitely right, to +disobey is infinitely wrong. To obey is infinitely wise, to disobey is +infinite folly. There can be no question about the matter, except in the +mind of a fool. Better to obey God's word? Better indeed--for to obey +is heaven, to disobey is hell. _That_ is the difference. And at your +better moments does not the voice within you, witness to, and agree with, +the words of that book? When it tells you to care more for your soul +than your body--more for the life to come, which is eternity, than for +the present life which lasts but a few years--does not common sense tell +you that? The Bible tells you to reverence and love God the giver of all +good--does not reason tell you that? The Bible tells you loyally to +obey, to love, to worship our blessed King and Saviour in heaven. Does +not common sense tell you that? Surely if there be such a person as +Jesus Christ--if He is sitting now in heaven as Saviour of all, and one +day to be Judge of all--by all means _He_ is to be obeyed, He is to be +pleased, whoever else we may displease. Reason, one would think, would +tell us that--and it is just want of reason which makes us forget it. + +What have you to say against the pattern of a true and holy man as laid +down in the Bible? The Bible would have you pure--can you deny that you +ought to be that? It would have you peaceable--can you deny that you +ought to be that? The Bible would have you forgiving, honest, +honourable, active, industrious. The Bible would have you generous, +loving, charitable. Can you deny that that is right, however some of you +may dislike it? The Bible would have you ask all you want from God, and +ask forgiveness of God for every offence, great and small, against Him. +Can you deny that that is right and reasonable? The Bible would have you +live in continual remembrance that the great eye of God is on you--in +continual thankfulness to the blessed Saviour who died for you and has +redeemed you by His own blood--with daily and hourly prayer for God's +Spirit to set your heart and your understanding right on every point. Can +you deny that that is all right and good and proper--that unless the +Bible be all a dream, and there be no Holy and Almighty God, no merciful +Christ in heaven, this is THE way and the only way to live? Ay, if there +were no God, no Christ, no hereafter, it would be better for man to live +as the Bible tells him, than to live as too many do. There would be +infinitely less misery, less heart-burnings, less suffering of body and +soul, if men followed Christ's example as told us in the Bible. Even if +this life were all, and there were neither punishment nor reward for us +after death--does not our reason tell us that if all men and women were +like Christ in gentleness, wisdom, and purity, the world as long as it +lasted would be a heaven? + +And do not your own hearts echo these thoughts at moments when they are +quietest and purest and most happy too? Have you not said to +yourselves--"Those Bible words are good words. After all, if I were like +that, I should be happier than I am now." Ah! my friends, listen to +those thoughts when they come into your hearts--they are not your own +thoughts--they are the voice of One holier than you--wiser than you--One +who loves you better than you love yourselves--One pleading with you, +stirring you up by His Spirit, if it be but for a moment, to see the +things which belong to your peace. + +But what can you say for yourselves, if having once had these thoughts, +having once settled in your own minds that the Gospel of God is right and +you are wrong, if you persist in disobeying that gospel--if you agree one +minute with the inner voice, which says, "Do this and live, do this and +be at peace with God and man, and your own conscience"--and then fall +back the next moment into the same worldly, selfish, peevish, +sense-bound, miserable life-in-death as ever? + +The reason, my friends, I am afraid, with most of us is, sheer folly--not +want of cunning and cleverness, but want of heart--want of feeling--what +Solomon calls folly (Prov. i. 22-27), stupidity of soul, when he calls on +the simple souls, How long ye simple ones will you love simplicity or +silliness, and the scorners delight in their scorning (delight in +laughing at what is good), and fools hate knowledge--hate to think +earnestly or steadily about anything--the stupidity of the ass, who is +too stubborn and thick-skinned to turn out of his way for any one--or the +stupidity of the swine, who cares for his food and nothing further--or +worse than all, the stupidity of the ape, who cares for nothing but play +and curiosity, and the vain and frivolous amusements of the moment. + +All these tempers are common enough, and they may be joined with +cleverness enough. What beast so clever as an ape? yet what beast so +foolish, so mean, so useless? But this is the fault of stupidity--it +blinds our eyes to the world of spirits; it makes us forget God; it makes +us see first what we can lay our hands on, and nothing more; it makes us +forget that we have souls. Our glorious minds and thoughts, which should +be stretching on through all eternity, are cramped down to thinking of +nothing further than this little hour of earthly life. Our glorious +hearts, which should be delighting in everything which is lovely, and +generous, and pure, and beautiful, and God-like--ay, delighting in God +Himself--are turned in upon themselves, and set upon our own gain, our +own ease, our own credit. In short, our immortal souls, made in God's +image, become no use to us by this stupidity--they seem for mere salt to +keep our bodies from decaying. + +Whose work is that? The devil's. But whose _fault_ is it? Do you +suppose that the devil has any right in you, any power in you, who have +been washed in the waters of baptism and redeemed by Christ from the +service of the devil, and signed with His Cross on your foreheads, +_unless you give him power_? Not he. Men's sins open the door to the +devil, and when he is in, he will soon trample down the good seed that is +springing up, and stamp the mellow soil as hard as iron, so that nothing +but his own seeds can grow there, and so keep off the dews of God's +spirit, and the working of God's own gospel from making any impression on +that hardened stupified soil. + +Alas! poor soul. And thy misery is double, because thou knowest not that +thou art miserable; and thy misery is treble, because thou hast brought +it on thyself! + +My friends--there is an ancient fable of the Jews, which, though it is +not true, yet has a deep and holy meaning, and teaches an awful lesson. + +There lived, says an ancient Jewish Scribe, by the shores of the Dead +Sea, a certain tribe of men, utterly given up to pleasure and +covetousness, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride +of life. To them the prophet Moses was sent, and preached to them, +warning them of repentance and of judgment to come--trying to awaken +their souls to high and holy thoughts, and bring them back to the thought +of God and heaven. And they, poor fools, listened to Him, admired his +preaching, agreed that it all sounded very good--but that he went too +far--that it was too difficult--that their present way of life was very +pleasant--that they saw no such great need of change, and so on, one +excuse after another, till they began to be tired of Moses, and gave him +to understand that he was impertinent, troublesome--that they could see +nothing wise in him--nothing great; how could they? So Moses went his +way, and left them to go theirs. And long after, when some travellers +came by, says the fable, they found these foolish people were all changed +into dumb beasts; what they had tried to be, now they really were. They +had made no use of their souls, and now they had lost them; they had +given themselves up to folly, and now folly had taken to her own; they +had fancied, as people do every day, that this world is a great +play-ground, wherein every one has to amuse himself as he likes best, or +at all events a great shop and gambling-house, where the most cunning +wins most of his neighbour's money; and now according to their faith it +was to them. They had forgotten God and spiritual things, and now they +were hid from their eyes. And these travellers found them sitting, +playing antics, quarrelling for the fruits of the field--mere +beasts--reaping as they had sown, and filled full with the fruit of their +own devices. + +Only every Sabbath day, says the fable, there came over these poor +wretches an awful sense of a piercing Eye watching them from above--a dim +feeling that they had been something better and nobler once--a faint +recollection of heavenly things which they once knew when they were +little children--a blind dread of some awful unseen ruin, into which +their miserable empty beast-life was swiftly and steadily sweeping them +down;--and then they tried to think and could not--and tried to remember +and could not--and so they sat there every Sabbath day, cowering with +fear, uneasy and moaning, and half-remembered that they once had souls! + +My friends, my friends, are there not too many now-a-days like these poor +dwellers by the Dead Sea, who seem to have lost all of God's image except +their bodies? who all the week dote on the business and the pleasures of +this life, going on very comfortably till they seem to have quite +hardened their own souls; and now and then on Sabbath days when they come +to church, and pretend to pray and worship, sit all vacant, stupid, their +hearts far away, or with a sort of passing uneasiness and dim feeling +that all is not right--_try to think and cannot_--_try to pray and +cannot_--and, like those dwellers by the Dead Sea, once a week on Sabbath +day half remember that they once had souls? + +So true it is, that from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that +which he seemeth to have. So true it is, that the wages of sin is death; +death to the soul even in this life. So true it is that why men do not +believe Christ, is because they cannot hear His word. So true it is, +that only the pure in heart shall see God, or love god-like men and god- +like words. So true it is, that he that soweth the wind shall reap the +whirlwind, and that he who _will_ not hear Christ's words, shall soon not +be _able_ to hear them; that he who will not have Christ for his master, +must soon be content to have the devil for his master, and for his wages, +spiritual death. From which sad fate of spiritual death may the blessed +Saviour, in His infinite mercy, deliver us. + + + + +IV. THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE TREE OF LIFE; OR, THE FALL. + + + "Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which + the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God + said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman + said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the + garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the + garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch + it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not + surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then + your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and + evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and + that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one + wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto + her husband with her; and he did eat."--GENESIS iii. 1-6. + +Here is a lesson for us all. You and I, and all men brought into the +world with us a nature which fell in Adam; and, as it fell _before_ we +were born, it is certain enough to fall, again and again, after we are +born, in this life; ay, and unless we take care, to fall lower and lower, +every day, acting Adam's sin over again, until we surely die. This is +what I mean--What God said to Adam and Eve, He says to every one of us. +And what the devil said to Adam and Eve, he will say to every one of us. + +First. God says to us, "Of all the trees of the garden thou mayest +freely eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not +eat, lest thou die." + +Of all the trees of the garden thou mayest freely eat. God grudges you +nothing good for you. He has put you into this good and pleasant world, +where you will find pleasures enough, and comforts enough, to satisfy +you, if you are wise; but there are things which God has forbidden you, +not out of any spite or arbitrariness, but because they are bad for you; +because they will hurt you if you indulge in them, and sooner or later, +kill both body and soul. + +Now, many of those wrong things look pleasant enough, and reasonable +enough, as the forbidden fruit did. Pleasant to the eyes and good for +food--and to be desired to make you wise. As people grow up and go out +into life, they are tempted to do many things which their parents forbid, +which the Bible forbids, which the law of the land forbids, and they do +not understand at first why they are forbidden any more than Adam and Eve +understood why they were not to eat of the forbidden fruit. + +Then the devil (who is always trying to slander God to us) whispers to +them, as he did to Eve, "How unreasonable! how hard on you. People say +that this is wrong, and you must not do it, and yet how pleasant it must +be! How much money you might get by it--how much wiser, and cleverer, +and more able to help yourself you would become, if you went your own +way, and did what you like. Surely God is hard on you, and grudges you +pleasure. Never mind--don't be afraid. Surely you can judge best what +is good for you. Surely you know your own business best. Use your own +common sense and do what you like, and what you think will profit you. +Are you to be a slave to old rules which your parents or the clergyman +taught you?" + +So says the devil to every young man as he goes out in life. And to +many, alas!--to many, the devil's words sound reasonable enough; they +flatter our fallen nature, they flatter our pride and our self-will, and +make us fancy we are going up hill, and becoming very fine and manly, and +independent and knowing. "_Knowing_"! How many a young man have I seen +run into sin just that he might be _knowing_; and say, "Why should I not +see life for myself? Why should I not know the world, and try what is +good, and how I like that, and what is bad too, and how I like that--and +then choose for myself like a man, instead of being kept in like a baby?" + +So he says exactly what Adam and Eve said in their hearts--"I will eat of +the tree of knowledge of good and evil." He says in his heart, too, just +what Solomon the wise said, when he, too, determined to eat of the fruit +of the tree of knowledge. + +Ay, young people, who love to see the world, and to choose for +yourselves, read that Book of Ecclesiastes, the saddest book on earth, +and get a golden lesson in every verse of it. See how Solomon determined +to see life, from the top to the bottom of it. How he "gave his heart to +know, seek, and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done +under heaven. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and +behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit," (Eccles. i. 13). + +And then, how he turned round and gave his heart to know mirth, and +madness, and folly, and see whether _that_ was good for him, and, "I said +of laughter, it is mad: and of mirth, what doeth it?" (Eccles. ii. 2-26). +And then he gave himself to wine and revelling, and after that to riches, +and pomp, and glory, and music, and the "fine arts," as we call them. "I +made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made +me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of +fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that +bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants +born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle +above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and +gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me +men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as +musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and +increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom +remained with me." And what was the end? "Then I looked on all the +works that my hand had done, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: +and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit +under the sun." Therefore, he says, that he hated all the labour he had +taken under the sun, because he must leave it to the men who came after +him, and found out at last, after years of labour and sorrow, trying to +make himself happy with this and that, and finding no rest with any of +them, that the conclusion of the whole matter was to "Fear God and keep +his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring +every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or +evil" (Eccles. xii. 13). + +So said Solomon--and God knows, my dear friends, God knows, he said +truly. Ay, and I know it to be true; and I entreat you this day, in +God's name, to hear the conclusion of the whole matter. All this you +will find out by eating of the tree of knowledge, and "_seeing life_," +and going your own way, and falling into sin, and smarting for it, for +weary years, in anxiety and perplexity, and shame, and sorrow of heart. + +All that you will find out thereby--all that Solomon found out +thereby,--is just what you know already, and nothing more--just what you +have been taught ever since you could speak. "Fear God and keep his +commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." Why buy your own +experience dear, when you can get it gratis, for nothing already? + +Yes; a simple, godly, industrious life, doing the duty which lies nearest +you, avoiding sin as you would an adder, because it is sure sooner or +later to sting you, if you touch it, is the straight road, and the only +road, to happiness, either in this life, or in the life to come. Pleasure +and amusement, drinking and jollity, will not make you happy. Money will +not make you happy. Cleverness, and cunning, and knowledge of the world +will not make you happy. Scholarship and learning will not. But plain, +simple righteousness, simply doing right, _will_. + +Do right then and be happy. Obey God's commandments, and you will find +that His commandments are _Life_, and in the pathway thereof there is no +death. + +Make up your minds to do right, to be right, to keep right by the help of +God's Right and Holy Spirit, in the right road. Make up your minds +whether you will go through the world in God's way, or your own +way--whether you will taste what God has forbidden, and so destroy +yourselves, or obey Him and live with Him in bliss. The longer you +delay, the more difficult you will find it. Make up your minds now, and +ask God to teach you His own heavenly wisdom which is a Tree of Life to +all that lay hold on it. + + + + +V. I AM. + + + "I AM hath sent me into you."--EXODUS iii. 10. + +Every day I find it more and more true, that the Bible is full of good +news from beginning to end. The _Gospel_--that is good news--and the +best of all good news, is to be found in every book of it; perhaps if we +knew how to search the Scriptures, in every chapter and verse of it, from +beginning to end. For from beginning to end, from Genesis to +Malachi--from the Gospel of St. Matthew to the end of the Revelation--what +our Lord said of the Bible stands true: "They (the Scriptures) are they +which testify of ME" (John v. 39). The whole Bible testifies, bears +witness of Him, the One Unchangeable Christ, who said to Moses, "Say unto +the people, I AM hath sent me unto you." + +Now let us think a while what that text means; for it has not to do with +Moses only, but with all God's prophets, evangelists, preachers. David +might have said the same to the Jews in his time, "I AM hath sent me unto +you." Elijah, Isaiah, St. Matthew, St. John, St. Paul, might have said +the same. And so may God's ministers now. And I, however sinful, or +ignorant, or unfaithful to my duty I may be, have still a right to say, +as I do now say solemnly and earnestly to you, "I AM hath sent me unto +you" this day. + +But what do I mean by that? That ought to depend on what Moses meant by +it. Moses meant what God meant, and unless I mean the same thing I must +mean something wrong. And this is what I think it does mean: + +First. I AM--the Lord Jesus Christ told Moses that his name was I AM. +Now you perhaps think that this is but a very common place name, for +every one can say of himself--I am--and it may seem strange that God +should have chosen for His own especial name, words which you and I might +have chosen for ourselves just as well. I daresay you think that you may +fairly say "_you are_," and that I can say fairly that "I am." + +And yet it is not so. If I say "I am," I say what is not true of me. I +must say "I am something--I am a man, I am bad, or I am good, or I am an +Englishman, I am a soldier, I am a sailor, I am a clergyman"--and then I +shall say what is true of me. But God alone can say "I AM" without +saying anything more. + +And why? Because God alone _is_. Everybody and everything else in the +world _becomes_: but God _is_. We are all becoming something from our +birth to our death--changing continually and becoming something different +from what we were a minute before; first of all we were created and made, +_and so became men_; and since that we have been every moment changing, +becoming older, becoming wiser, or alas! foolisher; becoming stronger or +weaker; becoming better or worse. Even our bodies are changing and +becoming different day by day. + +But God never changes or becomes anything different from what He is now. +What He is, that He was, and ever will be. God does not even become +older. This may seem very strange, but it is true: for God made Time, +God made the years; and once there were no years to count by, no years at +all. Remember how long had God Himself been, before He made Time, when +there was no Time to pass over? Remember always that God must have +created Time. If God did not create Time, no one else did; for there is, +as the Athanasian Creed says, "One uncreated and One eternal," even God +who made Time as well as all things else. + +Am I puzzling you? What I want to do is to make you understand that +God's life is quite utterly different from our life, or any way of living +and being which we can fancy or think of; lest you make to yourselves the +likeness of anything in heaven above or of the earth beneath, and think +that God is like that and so worship it, and have other gods beside the +true God, and so break the first and second commandments, as thousands do +who fancy themselves good Protestants, and hate Popery and idolatry, and +yet worship a very different sort of god from the "I AM," who sent Moses +to the children of Israel. Remember then this at least, that God was +before all things, and all worlds, and all Time; so that there was a time +when there were no worlds, and a time when there was no Time--nothing but +God alone, absolute, eternal, neither made nor created, the same that He +is now and will be for ever. + +When I say "God is," that is a very different thing from God Himself +saying, "I AM." A different thing? Oh! my friends, here is the root of +the whole Gospel, the root of all our hope for this world and for the +world to come--for ourselves, for our own future, and the future of all +the world. Do you not see how? Then I will try to explain. + +Many heathen men have known that there was one eternal God, and that _God +is_. But they did not know that God Himself had said so; and that made +them anxious, puzzled, almost desperate, so that the wiser they were, the +unhappier they were. For what use is it merely knowing that "_God is_"? +The question for poor human creatures is, "But what sort of a being is +God? Is He far off? Millions of miles from this earth? Does He care +nothing about us? Does He let the world go its own way right or wrong? +Is He proud and careless? A self-glorifying Deity whose mercy is _not_ +over all His works, or even over any of them? Or does He care for us? +Does He see us? Will He speak to us? Has He ever spoken to any one? Has +He ever told any one about Himself?" _There is the question_--the +question of all questions. And if a man once begins thinking about his +own soul, and this world, and God,--till he gets that question answered, +he can have no comfort about himself or the world, or anything--till in +fact he knows whether God has ever spoken to men or not. + +And the glory of the Bible, the power of God revealed in the Bible, is, +that it answers the question, and says, "God _does_ care for men, God +_does_ see men, God is not far off from any one of us." Ay, God speaks +to men--God spoke to Moses and said, not "God is" but "I AM." God in +sundry times and in divers manners _spoke_ to our fathers by the Prophets +and said "I AM." + +But more--Moses said, "I AM hath sent me." God does not merely love us, +and yet leave us to ourselves. He sends after us. He sends to us. In +old times He sent prophets and wise men one after the other to preach +repentance and righteousness, and to teach men all that was good for +them; and when men would not listen to them, but shut their ears to them +and drove them out, killing some and beating some, God was so determined +to send to men, so unwearied, so patient, so earnest, so loving still, +that He said, "I will send now my own Son, surely they will hear Him." + +Yes, my friends, this is the I AM. This is God--this is our God--this is +our Heavenly Father; not a proud and selfish Being, who looks down +haughtily from afar off on all the misery and ignorance of the world, but +as a wise man of old said, "A most merciful God, a revealer of secrets, +who showeth to man the things which he knew not." This is our God--not a +tyrant, but a Deliverer--not a condemning God, but a saving God, who +wills that none should perish, who sends to seek and to save those who +are lost, who sends His sun to shine on the just and the unjust, and is +good to the unthankful and the evil. A God who so loved the world which +He had made, in spite of all its sin and follies, that He spared not His +only begotten Son, but freely gave Him for it. A God who sits on His +throne for ever judging right, and ministering true judgment among the +people, who from His throne beholds all those who dwell upon the earth, +and fashions the hearts of them, and understandeth all their works. A +God who comes out of His place to visit the wrong done on the earth, and +be a refuge for the oppressed, and a help in time of trouble, to help the +fatherless and poor unto their right, that the men of this world be no +more exalted against them. + +This is _our God_. This is our Father--always condescending, always +patient, always loving, always just. And always active, always working +to _do good_ to all his creatures, like that exact pattern and copy of +Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "My Father worketh hitherto, +and I work." (John v. 17). + +But again: "I AM hath sent me unto _you_." + +Unto whom? Who was Moses sent to? To the Children of Israel in Egypt. +And what sort of people were they? Were they wise and learned? On the +contrary they were stupid, ignorant, and brutish. Were they pious and +godly? On the contrary they were worshipping the foolish idols of the +Egyptians--so fond of idolatry that they must needs make a golden calf +and worship it. Were they respectable and cleanly livers? Were they +teachable and obedient? On the contrary, they were profligate, stiff- +necked, murmurers, disobedient, unwilling to trust God's goodness, though +He had shown them all those glorious signs and wonders for their sakes, +and brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm. +Were they high-spirited and brave? On the contrary, they were +mean-spirited and cowards, murmuring against Moses and against God, if +anything went wrong, for setting them free; ready to go back and be +slaves to the Egyptians rather than face danger and fight; looking back +and longing after the flesh-pots of Egypt, where they eat bread to the +full, and willing to be slaves again and have all their men children +drowned in the river, and themselves put to hard labour in the brick +kilns, if they could only fill their stomachs. And even at best when +Moses had brought them to the very edge of that rich land of Canaan, +which God had promised them, they were afraid to go into it, and win it +for themselves; and God had to send them back again, to wander forty +years in the wilderness, till all that cowardly, base, first generation, +who came up out of Egypt was dead, and a new generation had grown up, +made brave and hardy by their long training in the deserts, and taught to +trust and obey God from their youth; and so able and willing to conquer +the good land which God had promised them. + +Altogether the Children of Israel, to whom God sent Moses, were plainly +an ignorant, brutish, cowardly set of people, fallen lower far than the +negroes of South America, fit to be slaves and nothing better. + +Then why did God take such trouble for them? Why did God care for them, +and help them, and work wonders for them? Why? Exactly because they +_were_ so bad. He that hath ears to hear let him hear, and understand by +this example of all examples what manner of God our God is. Just because +they were so bad, His goodness yearned over them all the more, and longed +to make them good. Just because they were so unclean and brutish His +holiness longed all the more to cleanse them. Because they were so +stupid and ignorant, His wisdom longed to make them wise. Because they +were so miserable, His pity yearned over them, as a father over a child +fallen into danger. Because they were sick, they had all the more need +of a physician. Because they were lost, there was all the more reason +for seeking and saving them. Because they were utterly weak, God desired +all the more to put His strength into them, that His strength might be +made perfect in weakness. + +True, God's goodness seemed of little use to too many of them. Their +history during the next forty years was a very sad one. With many of +them God was not well pleased, the Bible tells us, and their carcases +fell in the Wilderness. A sad forty years they were for Moses also, as +he says in that sad and glorious Psalm of his (Ps. xc. 7, 8): "We consume +away in thy displeasure, and are afraid of thy wrathful indignation. Thou +hast set our misdeeds before us, our secret sins in the light of thy +countenance, for when Thou art angry our days are gone: we bring our +years to an end as a tale that is told." + +But that was all their own fault. God never left them for all those +forty years. He fed them with manna in the wilderness, and the angel of +His presence preserved them. + +And now, my friends, remember what I have said of God in this text, "I AM +hath sent me unto you," and see how it preaches to you an almighty, +unchangeable Father, whose mercy is over all His works, full of love and +care for all, longing and labouring for ever by His Son Jesus Christ to +raise us from the death of sin (which is the only death we need to be +afraid of) to the life of righteousness--the only life worth living here, +the only life which we can live beyond the grave! A just God, a merciful +God, a patient God, a generous God, a gracious God; a God whose glory is +to save--a God who is utterly worthy of our love and respect--a God whom +we can trust--a God whom it is worth while to obey--a God who deserves +our thanks from our cradle to our grave--a God to whom we ought honestly, +and from the bottom of our hearts to say, now and for ever: + +"We worship Thee, we bless Thee, we praise Thee, we magnify Thee, we give +thanks to Thee for Thy great glory, oh! Lord God, Heavenly King, God the +Father Almighty." + + + + +VI. THE ENGLISHMAN TRAINED BY TOIL. + + + "All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe + to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land + which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all + the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the + wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in + thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And + he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, + which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might + make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word + that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. . . . Thou + shall also consider in thine heart that, as a man chasteneth his son, + so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee."--DEUT. viii. 1, 2, 3, 5. + +As God led the Jews through the wilderness, so He leads us through the +journey of life. As God called on the Jews to rejoice in Him, and to +bless Him for going with them, and teaching and training them by dangers +and sorrows; so He calls on us to lift up our hearts and bless Him for +teaching and training us in the battle of life. + +But some of you may say, "Why do you ask us to thank God for lessons +which we have bought by labour and sorrow? Are not our sorrows more than +our joys? Our labour far heavier than our rest can be sweet? You tell +us to be joyful and thank God for His mercies; but why all this toil? Why +must we work on, and on, and on, all our days, in weariness and anxiety? +Why must we only toil, toil, till we die, and lie down, fairly conquered +and worn out, on that stern mother earth, from whom we have been wringing +our paltry livelihood from our boyhood to our grave? What is our life +but labour and sorrow?" + +Are not some of you thinking in this way to-day? Have I not guessed the +hearts of some of you at least? And is not this a strange way of making +you joyful to remind you of these thoughts? + +My friends, be sure I only remind you of these sad thoughts, because they +are _true_ thoughts, because God meant you to bear them and _face_ them +like men; because you must have these thoughts, and let them make you +sad, and make up your minds to face them again and again, before even you +can thank God really like redeemed, immortal Christian men and women. And +believe me, I would not mention these sad thoughts, if I had not a remedy +for them. If I had not a message to you from the living God, and Christ +the King of the earth, whereby I tell you now to rejoice and give thanks +to Him in spite of all your labour and sorrow. Ay more, I say, Rejoice +and give thanks _on account_ of all your labour and sorrow, and count it +all _joy_ when ye fall into divers tribulations. + +It is true, my friends, we are a hard working and a somewhat sad race of +men, we English. The life of the working man is labour and sorrow, and +so is the life of the scholar, and so is the life of even many a rich +man. All things are full of labour in England. Man cannot utter it, the +eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing; we are the +wisest of all nations; and yet as Solomon says, behold in much wisdom is +much grief; and in increasing knowledge, we still increase sorrow. + +Truly, I may say of us Englishmen, as Paul said of the Christians of his +time, that if Christ be not raised from the dead, and if in this life +_only_ we have hope in Him, we are of all nations one of the most +unhappy. When we look at all the hundreds of thousands pent up in our +great cities among filth and smoke, toiling in factories, in workshops, +in dark mines under ground--when we think of the soldier on the march +under the sultry sun of India, the sailor on the stormy sea--when we +think of this our bleak inclement climate, our five months of winter +every year;--no man's food and clothing to be gained but by bitter toil, +either of himself or of others--and then when we compare our lot with +that of the dwellers in hot countries, in India and in Africa, and the +islands of the South Seas, where men live with no care, no labour--where +clothes and fire are never needed--where every tree bears delicious food, +and man lives in perpetual summer, in careless health and beauty, among +continual mirth and ease, like the birds which know no care--then it +seems at moments as if God had been unfair in giving so much more to the +savage than He has to us, of the blessings of this earthly life; and we +are led to long that our lot was cast in those fruitful and delicious +climates of the South, in a continual paradise of mirth and plenty, and +beauty and sunshine. + +But no, my friends, we are more blest than the careless Indian who never +knows what labour is; his life is but the life of the butterfly, which +flutters from flower to flower and sports in the sunshine, and sucks +sweets for a brief hour, and then perishes without hope. His life is a +dream, he sees no heaven before him, he knows no glorious God, with the +sight of whom he is to be blest for ever. His body may be in perpetual +ease, and health, and beauty for a few short years, but what care has he +for his undying spirit, that is blind and dead within him? + +But to bring a man's soul to life, to train and educate a man's soul that +it may go on from strength to strength, and glory to glory till it +appears in the presence of God--that wants a stern and a severe training +of sorrow and labour, of which the poor, pampered, luxurious savage knows +nothing. This is why Christ brought our forefathers into this bleak, +cold, northern land, and forced them to gain their bread by the sweat of +their brows, and the sorrows of their hearts, and to keep their land by +many wars. + +Now this is the reason of our carefulness, of our many troubles, that God +is educating and training us English; that He will not have us be +savages, but Christian citizens; He will have us not merely happy, but +_blessed_ through all eternity. He will not have us to be like the poor +Indians, slaves to our flesh and our appetites--slaves to the pleasant +things around us; but He will have us fill the earth and subdue it; He +will have England the light of the nations--and Englishmen preach +freedom, and wisdom, and prudence, and the gospel of Jesus Christ to all +the nations of the earth. Therefore Christ afflicts us because He loves +us, because whom He loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He +receiveth. Because He has ordained England to preach the Cross, +therefore He will have England bear the cross. + +It has often struck me, my friends, as a beautiful and a deep sign, a +blessed ordinance of the great and wise God, that the flag of England, +and especially the flag of our navy--the flag which is loved and +reverenced through all the world, as the bringer of free communion +between nation and nation, the bringer of order and equal justice and +holy freedom, and the divine majesty of law, and the light of the blessed +gospel wherever it goes; that this flag, I say, should be the red-cross +flag, the flag of the Cross of Christ--a double sign--a sign to all men +that we are a Christian nation, a gospel people; and a sign, too, to +ourselves, that we are meant to bear Christ's cross--to bear the +afflictions which He lays upon us--to be made perfect through sufferings, +to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts, that we may be brave +and self-denying; going forth in Christ's strength, remembering that it +is He who gives us power to get wealth; that we ought to fight His +battles, that we ought to spread His name at home and abroad; and rejoice +in every sorrow, which teaches us more and more the blessed meaning of +His saving name, and the share which we have in it. + +I have said that we are a melancholy people. Foreigners all say of us, +that we are the saddest of all people; that when they come to England, +they are struck with our silence, and gloominess, and careworn faces, and +our want of merriment and cheerfulness. And yet, with all this, we are +the greatest of nations at this day--the strongest and the most +industrious and the wisest. The gospel of Jesus Christ is preached +oftener, and more simply, and more fully here in England than in any +nation, and I dare to say it, that in spite of all our sins, there are as +many or more of God's true saints, more holy men and women among English +people at this moment, than among any people of the earth. And why? +because there are so many among us who have hope in Christ beyond this +life, who look for everlasting salvation through all eternity to His +name. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, truly of all people +we should be most miserable; but Christ is risen from the dead, and He +has ascended up on high, and led captivity captive, and received gifts +for men. He sits even now at God's right hand praying for us. To Him +all power is given in heaven and earth, and He is our covenant God and +Saviour, He is our King. He is ours; and He will have us put on His +likeness, and with Him be made perfect through sufferings--_through +sufferings_, for sorrow is the gate of life. Through much tribulation we +enter into the kingdom of God; without weary pain none of us is born into +the world; without weary labour not a harvest in England is grown and +reaped; without weary thought, and teaching, and correction, not a child +among us is educated to be a man; without weary thought and weary labour, +not one of us can do his duty in that station of life to which Christ has +called him. Not without weary struggles and arguings and contentions, by +martyrdoms, by desperate wars, our forefathers won for us our religion, +our freedom and our laws, which make England the wonder of the world. +This is the great law of our life--to be made perfect through sufferings, +as our Lord and Master was before us. He has dealt with us, as my text +tells you He dealt with the Jews, His chosen people of old, as He deals +with every soul of man on whom He sets His love. "All the commandments +which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, +and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto +your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God +led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to +prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep +His commandments, or no. And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to +hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy +fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by +bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the +Lord doth man live . . . Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, +as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." + +For, believe me, my friends, whatever nation or whatever man Christ +chooses to be His own, and to be holy and noble and glorious with Him, He +makes them perfect through suffering. First, He stirs up in them strange +longings after what is great and good. He makes them hunger and thirst +after righteousness, and then He lets them see how nothing on this earth, +nothing beautiful or nothing pleasant which they can get or invent for +themselves will satisfy; and so He teaches them to look to Him, to look +for peace and salvation from heaven and not from earth. Then He leads +them, as He led the Jews of old, through the wilderness and through the +sea, through strange afflictions, through poverty, and war, and labour, +that they may learn to know that He is leading them and not themselves; +that they may learn to trust not in themselves, but in Him; not in their +own strength: but in the bread which cometh down from heaven; not in +their own courage, but in Him; and just when all seems most hopeless, He +makes one of them chase a thousand, and by strange and unexpected +providences, and the courage which a just cause inspires, brings His +people triumphant through temptation and danger, and puts to flight the +armies of the heathen, and the inventions of the evil fiend, and +glorifies His name in His chosen people. + +So He calls out in the heart of men and of the heart of nations, the two +great twin virtues, which always go hand in hand--Faith in God, and Faith +in themselves. He lets them feel themselves foolish that they may learn +how to be wise in His wisdom. He lets them find themselves weak that +they may learn how to be strong in His strength. Then sometimes He lets +them follow their own devices and be filled with the fruits of their own +inventions. He lets their sinful hearts have free course down into the +depths of idolatry and covetousness, and filthy pleasure and mad self- +conceit, that they may learn to know the bitter fruit that springs from +the accursed root of sin, and come back to Him in shame and repentance, +entreating Him to inform their thoughts, and guide their wills, and +gather them to Him as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing, that +they may never more wander from Him, their life, their light, and their +Saviour. Then, sometimes, if His children forsake His laws and break His +covenant, He visits their offences with the rod, and their sin with the +stripes of the children of men. That is, He punishes them as He punishes +the heathen, if they sin as the heathen sin. He lets loose upon them His +wrath, war, disease, or scarcity, that He may drive them back to Him. + +And all the while He will have them _labour_. He will make them try +their strength, and use their strength, and improve their strength of +soul and body. By making them labour, Christ teaches His people +industry, order, self-command, self-denial, patience, courage, endurance, +foresight, thoughtfulness, earnestness. All these blessed virtues come +out of holy labour; by working in welldoing we learn lessons which the +savage among his delicious fruits and flowers, in his life of golden +ease, and luxurious laziness, can never learn. + +And all this Christ teaches us because He loves us, because He would have +us perfect. His love is unchangeable. As He swore by Himself that He +would never fail David, so He has sworn that He will never fail any one +of His Churches, or any one of us. Lo, said He, I am with you always, +even to the end of the world. Nothing shall separate us from the love of +Christ; neither battle nor famine, nor anything else in heaven or earth. +All He wants is to educate us, because He loves us. He doth not afflict +willingly nor grieve the children of men. And because He is a God of +love, He proves His love to us every now and then by blessing us, as well +as by correcting us; else our spirits would fail before Him, and the +souls which He has made. When He sees our adversity, He hears our +complaint, He thinks upon His covenant and pities us, according to the +multitude of His mercies. "A fruitful land maketh He barren for the +wickedness of them that dwell therein, yet when they cry unto the Lord in +their trouble, He delivereth them out of their distress. He maketh the +wilderness standing water, and water springs of dry ground, and there He +setteth the hungry that they may build them a city, that they may sow +their lands and plant vineyards, to yield them fruits of increase. He +blesseth them, so that they multiply exceedingly, and suffereth not their +cattle to decrease; and again, when they are diminished or brought low +through affliction, through any plague or trouble, though He suffer them +to be evil entreated by tyrants, and let them wander out of the way in +the wilderness; yet helpeth He the poor out of misery, and maketh them +households like a flock of sheep." (Ps. cvii.) + +O my friends, have not these words ever been wonderfully fulfilled to +some of you! Then see how true it is that God will not always be +chiding, neither keepeth He His anger for ever; but He knoweth our frame, +He remembereth that we are but dust, and like as a father pitieth his +children, so does He pity those who fear Him; and oftentimes, too, in His +great condescension, those who fear Him not. + +My friends, I have been trying in this sermon to make you feel that you +are under God's guidance, that His providence is trying to train and +educate you. I have told you that there is a blessed use and meaning in +your very sorrows, and in this life of continual toil which God has +appointed for you; I have told you that you ought to thank God for those +sorrows: how much more then ought you to thank Him for your joys. If you +should thank Him for want, surely you should thank Him for plenty. O +thank Him earnestly--not only with your lips, but in your lives. If you +believe that He has redeemed you with His precious blood, show your +thankfulness by living as redeemed men, holy to God--who are not your +own, but bought with a price; therefore show forth God's glory, the power +of His grace in your bodies and your spirits which are His. If you feel +that it is a noble thing to be an Englishman--especially an English +soldier or an English sailor--a noble and honourable privilege to be +allowed to do your duty in the noblest nation and the noblest church +which the world ever saw--then live as Englishmen in covenant with God; +faithful to Him who has redeemed you and washed you from your sins in His +own blood. Do you be faithful and obedient to Christ's Spirit, and He +will be faithful to those promises of His. Though a thousand fall at thy +right hand, yet the evil shall not come nigh thee. Blessed are all they +that fear the Lord and walk in His ways. For thou shalt eat the labours +of thine hand. O well art thou and happy shalt thou be. The Lord out of +heaven shall so bless thee, that thou shalt see England in prosperity all +thy life long. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace +upon thy native land. + +Oh, remember how God fulfilled that promise to England seventy years ago, +when the French swept in fire and slaughter, and horrors worse than +either, over almost every nation in Europe, while England remained safe +in peace and plenty, and an enemy never set foot on God's chosen English +soil. Remember the French war, and our salvation in it, and then believe +and take comfort. Trust in the Lord and be doing good; dwell in the +land, and verily thou shalt be fed. + + + + +VII. HIGHER OR LOWER: WHICH SHALL WIN? + + + "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after + the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye + through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. + For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. + 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. 12-15. + +Let us try to understand these words. They are of quite infinite +importance to us all. + +We shall all agree, all of us at least who have thought at all about +right and wrong, and tried to do right and avoid wrong--that there goes +on in us, at times, a strange struggle. We wish to do a right thing, and +at the very same time long to do a wrong one. We are pulled, as it were, +two different ways by two different feelings, feel as if we were two men +at once, a better man and a worse man struggling for the mastery. One +may conquer, or the other. We may be like the confirmed drunkard who +cannot help draining off his liquor, though he knows that it is going to +kill him; or we may be like the man who conquers his love for drink, and +puts the liquor away, because he knows that he ought not to take it. + +We know too well, many of us, how painful this inward struggle is, +between our better selves, and our worse selves. How discontented with +ourselves it makes us, how ashamed of ourselves, how angry with +ourselves. We all understand too well--or ought to understand, St. +Paul's words: How often the good which he wished to do, he did not do, +but the evil which he did not wish to do, he did. How he delighted in +the law of God in his inward man; but he found another law in him, in his +body, warring against the law of his mind--that is his conscience and +reason, and making a slave of him till he was ready at times to cry, "Oh +wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this +death?" + +We can understand too, surely the famous parable of Plato, the greatest +of heathen philosophers, who says, that the soul of man is like a +chariot, guided by a man's will, but drawn by two horses. The one horse +he says is white, beautiful and noble, well-broken and winged, too, +always trying to rise and fly upward with the chariot toward heaven. But +the other horse is black, evil, and unmanageable, always trying to rush +downward, and drag the chariot and the driver into hell. + +Ah my friends, that is but too true a picture of most of us, and God +grant that in our souls the better horse may win, that our nobler and +purer desires may lift us up, and leave behind those lower and fouler +desires which try to drag us down. But to drag us down whither? To hell +at last, says Plato the heathen. To destruction and death in the +meanwhile, says St. Paul. + +Now in the text St. Paul explains this struggle--this continual war which +goes on within us. He says that there are two parts in us--the flesh and +the spirit--and that the flesh lusts, that is, longs and struggles to +have its own way against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. +First, there is a flesh in us--that is, a carnal animal nature. Of that +there can be no doubt: we are animals, we come into the world as animals +do--eat, drink, sleep as they do--have the same passions as they have--and +our carnal mortal bodies die at last, exactly as the animals die. + +But are we nothing more? God forbid. St. Paul tells us that we are +something more--and our own conscience and reason tell us that we are +something more. We know that to be a man, we must be something more than +an animal--a mere brute--for when we call any one a brute, what do we +mean? That he has lost his humanity, his sense of justice, mercy, and +decency, and given himself up to his flesh--his animal nature, till the +_man_ in him is dead, and only the _brute_ remains. Mind, I do not say +that we are right in calling any human being a brute, for no one, I +believe, is sunk so low, but there is some spark of humanity, some spark +of what St. Paul calls "the spirit," left in him, which may be fanned +into a flame and conquer, and raise and save the man at last--unless he +be a mere idiot--or that most unhappy and brutal of all beings, a +confirmed drunkard. + +But our giving way to the same selfish shameless passions, which we see +in the lower animals, is letting the "brute" in us conquer, is giving way +to the works of the flesh. The shameless and profligate person gives way +to the "brute" within him--the man who beats his wife--or ill-treats his +children--or in any wise tyrannises over those who are weaker than +himself, he too gives way to the "brute" within him. He who grudges, +envies, tries to aggrandise himself at his neighbour's expense--he too +gives way to the "brute" within him, and puts on the likeness of the dog +which snatches and snarls over his bone. He who spends his life in +cunning plots and mean tricks, stealthy, crafty, silent, false, he gives +way to the "brute" in him, just as much as the fox or ferret. And those, +let me say, who without giving way to those grosser vices, let their +minds be swallowed up with vanity, love of admiration, always longing to +be seen and looked at, and wondering what folks will say of them, they +too give way to the flesh, and lower themselves to the likeness of +animals. As vain as a peacock, says the old proverb. And shame it is to +any human being so far to forget his true humanity, as to have that said +of him. And what shall we say of them who like the swine live only for +eating and drinking, and enjoyment? Or what of those who like the +butterflies spend all their time in frivolous amusement, fluttering in +the sunshine, silly and helpless, without a sense of duty or usefulness, +without forethought for the coming frosts of winter, against which their +gay feathers would be no protection? Do not all these in some way or +other give way to the animal within them, and live after the flesh? And +do they not, all of them, of the flesh, reap corruption, and fulfil St. +Paul's words, "If ye live after the flesh ye shall die?" + +But some one will say--"Die?--of course we shall all die--good and bad +alike." Is it so, my friends? Then why does our Lord say, "He that +liveth and believeth in me shall never die?" And why does St. Paul say, +"If ye through the spirit do mortify," that is crush, and as it were +kill, "the deeds of the body," all those low animal passions and vices, +"ye shall live." + +Let us look at the text again. "If ye live after the flesh ye shall +die." If you give way to those animal passions and vices--low and +cruel--or even merely selfish and frivolous, you shall die; not merely +your bodies--they will die in any case--the animals do--for animals they +are, and as animals die they must. But over and above that--you +yourselves shall die--your character will die, your manhood or your +womanhood will die, your immortal soul will die. The likeness of God in +you will die. Oh, my friends, there is a second death to which that +first death of the body is a mere trivial and harmless accident--the +death of sin which kills the true man and true woman within you. And +that second death may begin in this life, and if it be not stopped and +cured in time, may go on for ever. The black horse of which I spoke just +now, may get the mastery and drag us down, down, into bogs out of which +we can never rise--over cliffs which we can never climb again--down lower +and lower--more and more foolish, more and more reckless, more and more +base, more and more wretched. And then there will be no more use in +saying, "The Lord have mercy on my soul," for we shall have no soul left +to have mercy on. + +This is the dark side of the matter--a very dark one: but it has to be +spoken of, because it is true; and what is more, it comes true only too +often in this world. God grant, my dear friends, that it may not come +true of any of you. + +But there is also a bright side to the matter--and on that I will speak +now, in order that this sermon may end, as such gospel sermons surely +should end, not with threats and fear, but with hope and comfort. + +"If ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall +live." If you will be true to your better selves, if you will listen to, +and obey the spirit of God, when He puts into your hearts good desires, +and makes you long to be just and true, pure and sober, kind and useful. +If you will cast away and trample under foot animal passions, low vices, +you shall live. _You_ shall live. Your very soul and self shall live, +and live for ever. Your humanity, your human nature shall live. All +that is humane in you shall live. All that is merciful and kind in you, +all that is pure and graceful, all that is noble and generous, all that +is useful. All in you that is pleasant to yourselves shall live. All in +you that is pleasant to your neighbours. All in you that is pleasant to +God shall live. In one word, all in you that is like Christ--all in you +that is like God--all in you that is spirit and not flesh, shall live, +and live for ever. So it must be, for what says St. Paul? "As many as +are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Those who let +the spirit of God lead them upward instead of letting their own animal +nature drag them downward, they are the sons of God. And how can a son +of God perish? How can that which is like God and like Christ perish? +How can he perish, who like Christ is full of the fruits of the spirit? +of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, +meekness, temperance? The world did not give them to him, and the world +cannot take them from him. They were not bestowed on him at his bodily +birth--neither shall they be taken from him at his bodily death--for +those blessed fruits of the spirit belong neither to the flesh nor to the +world, but to Christ's spirit, and to heaven--to that heaven in which +they dwell before the throne of God--yea, rather in the mind of God +Himself, the eternal forms of the truth, the beauty, the goodness--which +were before all worlds--and shall be after all worlds have passed away. + +Oh! choose my friends, especially you who are young and entering into +life. Remember the parable of the old heathen, about the two horses who +draw your soul. Choose in time whether the better horse shall win, or +the worse; whether your better self, or your worse, the Spirit of God or +your own flesh, shall be your master--whether you will rise step by step +to heaven, or sink step by step to death and hell? And let no one tell +you. That is not the question. That is not what we care about. We know +we shall do a great many wrong things before we die. Every one does +that; but we hope we shall be able to make our peace with God before we +die, and so be forgiven at last. + +My dear friends, that kind of religion has done more harm than most kinds +of _irreligion_. It tells you to take your chance of beginning at the +end--that is just before you die. Common sense tells you that the only +way to get to the end, is by beginning at the beginning, which is _now_. +Now is the accepted time. _Now_ is the day of salvation, and you are +accepted now, already, long ago. + +What do you or any man want with making your peace with God? You are at +peace with God already. He has made His peace with you. An infinitely +better peace than any priest or preacher can make for you. _You are +God's child_. He looks down on you with boundless love. The great heart +of Christ, your King, your Redeemer, your elder brother, yearns over you +with boundless longing to draw you up to Him, that you may be noble as He +is noble, pure as He is pure, loving as He is loving, just as He is just. +Try to be that. God will at the last day take you as He finds you. Let +Him find you such as _that_--walking not after the flesh, but after the +Spirit; and then, and then only, there will be no condemnation for you, +for you will be in Christ Jesus. Do not--do not talk about making your +peace with God some day--like a naughty child playing truant till the +last moment, and hoping that the schoolmaster may forget to punish it. +No, I trust you have received the Spirit. If you have, then look facts +in the face. I trust that none of you have received the Spirit of +bondage, which is slavery again unto fear. If you have God's Spirit you +will see who you are, and where you are, and act accordingly--you will +see that you _are_ God's children, who are meant to be educated by the +Son of God, and led by the Spirit of God, and raised day by day, year by +year, from the death of sin, to the life of righteousness, from the +likeness of the brute animal, to the likeness of Christ, the Son of Man! + + + + +VIII. ST. PETER; OR, TRUE COURAGE. + + + "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that + they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took + knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And they called + them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of + Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be + right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, + judge ye."--ACTS iv. 13, 18, 19. + +I think that the quality, the grace of God, which St. Peter's character +and story specially forces on our notice is courage--the true courage +which comes by faith. The courage which comes by faith, I say. There is +a courage which does not come by faith. There is a brute courage which +comes from hardness of heart; from obstinacy, or anger, or stupidity, +which does not see danger, or does not feel pain. That is the courage of +the brute. One does not blame it or call it wrong. It is good in its +place, as all natural things are which God has made. It is good enough +for the brute; but it is not good enough for man. You cannot trust it in +man. And the more a man is what a man should be, the less he can trust +it. The more mind and understanding a man has, so as to be able to +foresee danger and measure it, the more chance there is of his brute +courage giving way. The more feeling a man has, the more keen he is to +feel pain of body, or pain of mind, such as shame, loneliness, the +dislike of ridicule, and the contempt of his fellow-men; in a word, the +more of a man he is, the more chance there is of his brute courage +breaking down, just when he wants it more to keep him up, and leaving him +to play the coward and come to shame. + +Yes; to go through with a difficult or dangerous undertaking a man wants +more than brute courage. He wants spiritual courage, the courage which +comes by faith. He needs to have faith in what he is doing to be certain +that he is doing his duty--to be certain that he is in the right. To +give one example. Look at the class of men who in all England in times +of peace undergo the most fearful dangers; who know not at what hour of +any night they may not be called up to the most serious and hard labour +and responsibility, with the chance of a horrible and torturing death. I +mean the firemen of our great cities, than whom there are no steadier, +braver, nobler-hearted men. Not a week passes without one or more of +those firemen, in trying to save life and property, doing things which +are altogether heroic. What do you fancy keeps them up to their work? +High pay? The amusement and excitement of the fires? The vanity of +being praised for their courage? My friends, those would be but weak and +paltry motives, which would not keep a man's heart calm and his head +clear under such responsibility and danger as theirs. + +No; it is the sense of duty. The knowledge that they are doing a good +and a noble work in saving the lives of human beings and the wealth of +the nation--the knowledge that they are in God's hands, and that no evil +can happen to him who is doing right--that to him even death at his post +is not a loss, but a gain. In short, faith in God, more or less clear, +is what gives those men their strong and quiet courage. God grant that +you and I, if ever we have dangerous work to do, may get true courage +from the same fountain of ghostly strength. + +Yes; it is the courage which comes by faith which makes truly brave men, +men like St. Peter and St. John, who can say, "If I am right, God is on +my side, I will not fear what men can do unto me." "I will not fear," +said David, "though the earth be moved, and the mountains carried into +the midst of the sea." The just man who holds firm to his duty will not, +says a wise old writer, "be shaken from his solid mind by the rage of the +mob bidding him do base things, or the frown of the tyrant who persecutes +him. Though the world were to crumble to pieces round him, its ruins +would strike him without making him tremble." + +Such courage has made men, shut up in prison for long weary years for +doing what was right, endure manfully for the sake of some great cause, +and say-- + + "Stone walls do not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage, + Minds innocent and quiet take + That for an hermitage. + If I have freedom in my thought, + And in my soul am free, + Angels alone that soar above + Enjoy such liberty." + +Yes; settle it in your hearts, all of you. There is but one thing you +have to fear in heaven or earth--being untrue to your better selves, and +therefore untrue to God. If you will not do the thing you know to be +right, and say the thing you know to be true, then indeed you are weak. +You are a coward, and sin against God. And you will suffer the penalty +of your cowardice. You desert God, and therefore you cannot expect Him +to stand by you. But who will harm you if you be followers of that which +is right? + +What does David say:--"Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall +dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh +righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth +not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a +reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is +contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to +his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to +usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these +things shall never be moved."--Psalm xv. 1-5. Yes, my friends, there is +a tabernacle of God in which, even in this life, He will hide us from +strife. There is a hill of God in which, even in the midst of danger, +and labour, and anxiety, we may rest both day and night--even Jesus +Christ, the Rock of Ages--He who is the righteousness itself, the truth +itself. And whosoever does righteousness and speaks truth, dwells in +Christ in this life, as well as in the life to come. And Christ will +give him courage to strengthen him by His Holy Spirit, to stand in the +evil day, the day of danger, if it shall come--and having done all to +stand. + +Pray you then for the Spirit of Faith to believe really in God, and for +the spirit of ghostly strength to obey God honestly. No man ever asked +honestly for that Spirit but what he gained it at last. And no man ever +gained it but what he found the truth of St. Peter's own words--"Who will +harm you, if you be followers of what is good?" + + + + +IX. THE STORY OF JOSEPH. + + + "I fear God." GENESIS xlii. 18. + +Did it ever seem remarkable to you, as it has seemed to me, how many +chapters of the Bible are taken up with the history of Joseph--a young +man who, on the most memorable occasion in his life, said "I fear God," +and had no other argument to use? + +Thirteen chapters of the book of Genesis are mainly devoted to the tale +of this one young man. Doubtless his father Jacob's going down into +Egypt, was one of the most important events in the history of the Jews: +we might expect, therefore, to hear much about it. But what need was +there to spend four chapters at least in detailing Joseph's meeting with +his brethren, even to minute accounts of the speeches on both sides? + +Those who will may suppose that this is the effect of mere chance. Let +us have no such fancy. If we believe that a Divine Providence watched +over the composition of those old Scriptures; if we believe that they +were meant to teach, not only the Jews but all mankind; if we believe +that they reveal, not merely some special God in whom the Jews believed, +but the true and only God, Maker of heaven and earth; if we believe, with +St. Paul, that every book of the Old Testament is inspired by God, and +profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in +righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished +unto all good works--if we believe this, I say, it must be worth our +while to look carefully and reverently at a story which takes up so large +a part of the Bible, and expect to find in it something which may help to +make _us_ perfect, and thoroughly furnish _us_ unto all good works. + +Now, surely when we look at this history of Joseph, we ought to see at +the first glance that it is not merely a story about a young man, but +about the common human relations--the ties which bind any and every man +to other human beings round him. For is it not a story about a brother +and brothers? about a son and a father, about a master and a servant? +about a husband and a wife? about a subject and a sovereign? and how they +all behaved to each other--some well and some ill--in these relations? + +Surely it is so, and surely this is why the story of Joseph has been +always so popular among innocent children and plain honest folk of all +kinds; because it is so simply human and humane; and therefore it taught +them far more than they could learn from many a lofty, or seemingly +lofty, book of devotion, when it spoke to them of the very duties they +had to fulfil, and the very temptations they had to fight against, as +members of a family or as members of society. "One touch of Nature (says +the poet) makes the whole world kin;" and the touches of nature in this +story of Joseph make us feel that he and his brethren, and all with whom +he had to do, are indeed kin to us; that their duty is our duty too--their +temptations ours--that where they fell, we may fall--where they conquered +we may conquer. + +For what is the story? A young lad is thrown into every temptation +possible for him. Joseph is very handsome. The Bible says so expressly; +so we may believe it. He has every gift of body and mind. He is, as his +story proves plainly, a very clever person, with a strange power of +making every one whom he deals with love him and obey him--a terrible +temptation, as all God's gifts are, if abused by a man's vanity, or +covetousness or ambition. He is an injured man too. He has been basely +betrayed by his brothers; he is under a terrible temptation, to which +ninety-nine men out of one hundred would have yielded--do yield, alas! to +this day, to revenge himself if he ever has an opportunity. He is an +injured man in Egypt, for he is a slave to a foreigner who has no legal +or moral right over him. If ever there was a man who might be excused +for cherishing a burning indignation against his oppressors, for brooding +over his own wrongs, for despairing of God's providence, it is Joseph in +Egypt. What could we do but pity him if he had said to himself, as +thousands in his place have said since, "There is no God, or if there is, +He does not care for me--He does not care what men do. He looks on +unmoved at wrong and cruelty, and lets man do even as he will. Then why +should not _I_ do as _I_ will? What are these laws of God of which men +talk? What are these sacred bonds of family and society? Every one for +himself is the rule of the world, and it shall be _my_ rule. Every man's +hand has been against _me_; why should not my hand be against every man? +_I_ have been betrayed; why should not _I_ betray? _I_ have been +opprest; why should not _I_ oppress? I have a lucky chance, too, of +enjoying and revenging myself at the same time; why should I not take my +good luck, and listen to the words of the tempter?" + +My dear friends, this is the way in which thousands have talked, in which +thousands talk to this day. This is the spirit which ends in breaking up +society, as happened in France eighty years ago, in the inward corruption +of a nation, and at last, in outward revolution and anarchy, from which +may God in His mercy deliver us and our fellow-countrymen, and the +generations yet to come. But any nation or any man, will only be +delivered from it, as Joseph was delivered from it, by saying, "I fear +God." No doubt it is most natural for a man who is injured and opprest +to think in that way. Most _natural_--just as it is most natural for the +trapped dog to struggle vainly, and, in his blind rage, bite at +everything around him, even at his own master's hand when it offers to +set him free. And if men are to be mere children of nature, like the +animals, and not children of grace and sons of God, like Joseph, and like +one greater than Joseph, then I suppose they must needs tear each other +to pieces in envy and revenge, for there is nought better to be done. But +if they wish to escape from the misery and ruin which envy and revenge +bring with them, then they had better recollect that they are not +children of nature, but children of God--they had best follow Joseph's +example, and say, "I fear God." + +For this poor, betrayed, enslaved lad had got into his heart something +above Nature--something which Nature cannot give, but only the +inspiration of the Spirit of God gives. He had got into his heart the +belief that God's laws were sacred things and must not be broken, and +that whatever befel him he must fear God. However unjust and lawless the +world looked, God's laws were still in it, and over it, and would avenge +themselves, and he must obey them at all risks. And what were God's laws +in Joseph's opinion? + +These--the common relations of humanity between master to servant, and +servant to master; between parent to child, and child to parent; brother +to brother and sister to sister, and between the man who is trusted and +the man who trusts him. These laws were sacred; and if all the rest of +the world broke them, he (Joseph) must not. He was bound to his master, +not only by any law of man, but by the Law of God. His master trusted +him, and left all that he had in his hand, and to Joseph the law of +honour was the law of God. Then he must be justly faithful to his +master. A sacred trust was laid on him, and to be true to it was to fear +God. + +After a while his master's wife tempts him. He refuses; not merely out +of honour to his master, but from fear of God. "How can I do this great +wickedness," says Joseph, "and sin against God?" His master and his +mistress are heathen, but their marriage is of God nevertheless; the vow +is sacred, and he must deny himself anything, endure anything, dare any +danger of a dreadful death, and a prison almost as horrible probably as +death itself, rather than break it. + +So again, in the prison. If ever man had excuse for despairing of God's +providence, for believing that right-doing did _not_ pay, it was poor +Joseph in that prison. But no. God is with him still. He believes +still in the justice of God, the providence of God, and therefore he is +cheerful, active--he can make the best even of a dungeon. He can find a +duty to do even there; he can make himself useful, helpful, till the +keeper of the prison too leaves everything in his hand. + +What a gallant man! you say. Yes, my friends, but what makes him +gallant? That which St. Paul says (in Hebrews xi.) made all the old +Jewish heroes gallant--faith in God; real and living belief that God +is--and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. + +At last Joseph's triumph comes. He has his reward. God helps +him--because he will help himself. He is made a great officer of state, +married to a woman of high rank, probably a princess, and he sees his +brothers who betrayed him at his mercy. Their lives are in his hand at +last. What will he do? Will he be a bad brother because they were bad? +Or will he keep to his old watchword, "I fear God?" If he is tempted to +revenge himself, he crushes the temptation down. He will bring his +brothers to repentance. He will touch their inward witness, and make +them feel that they have been wicked men. That is for their good. And +strangely, but most naturally, their guilty consciences go back to the +great sin of their lives--to Joseph's wrong, though they have no notion +that Joseph is alive, much less near them. "Did I not tell you," says +Reuben, "sin not against the lad, and ye would not hearken? Therefore is +this distress come upon us." + +Joseph punishes Simeon by imprisonment. It may be that he had reasons +for it which we are not told. But when his brothers have endured the +trial, and he finds that Benjamin is safe, he has nothing left but +forgiveness. They are his brethren still--his own flesh and blood. And +he "fears God." He dare not do anything but forgive them. He forgives +them utterly, and welcomes them with an agony of happy tears. He will +even put out of their minds the very memory of their baseness. "Now, +therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me +hither, he says; for God sent me before you, to save your lives with a +great deliverance." + +Is not that Divine? Is not that the Spirit of God and of Christ? I say +it is. For what is it but the likeness of Christ, who says for ever, out +of heaven, to all mankind, "Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that +ye crucified me. For God, my Father, sent me to save your souls by a +great salvation." + +My friends, learn from this story of Joseph, and the prominent place in +the Bible which it occupies--learn, I say, how hateful to God are family +quarrels; how pleasant to God are family unity and peace, and mutual +trust, and duty, and helpfulness. And if you think that I speak too +strongly on this point, recollect that I do no more than St. Paul does, +when he sums up the most lofty and mystical of all his Epistles, the +Epistle to the Ephesians, by simple commands to husbands and wives, +parents and children, masters and servants, as if he should say,--You +wish to be holy? you wish to be spiritual? Then fulfil these plain +family duties, for they, too, are sacred and divine, and he who despises +them, despises the ordinances of God. And if you despise the laws of +God, they will surely avenge themselves on you. If you are bad husbands +or bad wives, bad parents or bad children, bad brothers or sisters, bad +masters or servants, you will smart for it, according to the eternal laws +of God, which are at work around you all day long, making the sinner +punish himself whether he likes or not. + +Examine yourselves--ask yourselves, each of you, Have I been a good +brother? have I been a good son? have I been a good husband? have I been +a good father? have I been a good servant? If not, all professions of +religion will avail me nothing. If not, let me confess my sins to God, +and repent and amend at once, whatever it may cost me. The fulfilling +these plain duties is the true test of my faith, the true sign and test +whether I really believe in God and in Jesus Christ our Lord. Do I +believe that the world is Christ's making? and that Christ is governing +it? Do I believe that these plain family relationships are Christ's +sacred appointments? Do I believe that our Lord Jesus was made very man +of the substance of His mother, to sanctify these family relationships, +and claim them as the ordinances of God His Father? + +In one word--copy Joseph; and when you are tempted say with Joseph, "Can +I do this great wickedness, and sin--not against this man or this woman, +but against--_God_." + +Take home these plain, practical words. Take them home, and fear God at +your own firesides. For at the last day, the Bible tells us, the Lord +Jesus Christ will not reward you and me according to the opinions we held +while in this mortal body, whether they were quite right or quite wrong, +but according to the deeds which we did in the body, whether they were +good or bad. + + + + +X. SLAVES OF FREE? + + + "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he + will show to you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, + ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for + you, and ye shall hold your peace."--EXODUS xiv. 13, 14. + +Why did God bring the Jews out of Egypt? God Himself told them why. To +fulfil the promise which He made to Abraham, their forefather, that of +his children He would make a great nation. + +Now the Jews in Egypt were not a nation at all. A nation is free, +governed by its own laws, one body of people, held together by one fellow +feeling, one language, one blood, one religion; as we English are. We +are a nation. The Jews were none in Egypt, no more than Negro slaves in +America were a nation. They served a people of a different blood, as the +Jews did in Egypt. They had no laws of their own; they had no fellow- +feeling with each other, which enabled them to make common cause +together, and help each other, and free each other. + +Selfishness and cowardice make some men slaves. Above all, ungodliness +makes men slaves. For when men do not fear and obey God, they are sure +to obey their own lusts and passions, and become slaves to them. They +become ready to sell themselves soul and body for money, or pleasure, or +food. And their fleshly lusts, their animal appetites, keep them down, +selfish, divided, greedy, and needy, at the mercy of those who are +stronger and cunninger than themselves, just as the Jews were kept down +by the strong and cunning Egyptians. + +They had slavish hearts in them, and as long as they had, God could not +make them into a nation. The Jews _had_ slaves' hearts in them. They +were glad enough to get free out of Egypt, to escape from their heavy +labour in brick and mortar, from being oppressed, beaten, killed at the +will and fancy of the Egyptians, from having their male children thrown +into the river as soon as they were born, to keep them from becoming too +numerous. They were glad enough, poor wretches, to escape from all their +misery and oppression of which we read in the first three chapters of +Exodus. But if they could do that, that was all they cared for. They +did not want to be made wise, righteous, strong, free-hearted--they did +not care about being made into a nation. We read that when by the Red +Sea shore (Exodus xiv.), they saw themselves in great danger, the army of +Pharaoh, King of Egypt, following close upon them to attack them, they +lost heart at once, and were sore afraid, and cried unto Moses, "Is not +this the word which we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that +we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the +Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." + +Cowards and slaves! The thing they feared above all, you see, was death. +If they could but keep the miserable life in their miserable bodies, they +cared for nothing beyond. They were willing to see their children taken +from them and murdered, willing to be beaten, worked like dumb beasts for +other men's profit, willing to be idolaters, heathens, worshipping the +false gods of Egypt, dumb beasts and stocks and stones, willing to be +despised, wretched, helpless slaves--if they could but keep the dear life +in them. God knows there are plenty like them now-a-days--plenty who do +not care how mean, helpless, wicked, contemptible they are, if they can +but get their living by their meanness. + +"_But a man must live_," says some one. How often one hears that made +the excuse for all sorts of meanness, dishonesty, grasping tyranny. "_A +man must live_!" Who told you that? It is better to die like a man than +to live like a slave, and a wretch, and a sinner. Who told you that, I +ask again? Not God's Bible, surely. Not the example of great and good +men. If Moses had thought that, do you think he would have gone back +from Midian, when he was in safety and comfort, with a wife and home, and +children at his knee, and leave all he had on earth to face Pharaoh and +the Egyptians, to face danger, perhaps a cruel death in shame and +torture, and all to deliver his countrymen out of Egypt? Moses would +sooner die like a man helping his countrymen, than live on the fat of the +land while they were slaves. And forty years before he had shown the +same spirit too, when though he was rich and prosperous, and high in the +world, the adopted son of King Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus ii. 11), he +disdained to be a slave and to see his countrymen slaves round him. We +read how he killed an Egyptian, who was ill-treating one of his brothers, +the Jews--and how he then fled out of Egypt into Midian, houseless and +friendless, esteeming as St. Paul says, "the reproach of Christ"--that is +the affliction and ill-will which came on him for doing right, "better +than all the treasures of Egypt" (Heb xi. 24-27). + +_A man must live_? The valiant Tyrolese of old did not say that (more +than seventy years ago), when they fought to the last drop of their blood +to defend their country against the French invaders. They were not +afraid to die for liberty; and therefore they won honour from all +honourable men, praise from all whose praise is worth having for ever. + +_A man must live_? The old Greeks and Romans, heathens though they were, +were above so mean a speech as that. They used to say, it was the +noblest thing that can befall a man to die--not to live in clover, eating +and drinking at his ease--to die among the foremost, fighting for wife +and child and home. + +_A man must live_? The martyrs of old did not say that, when they +endured the prison and the scourge, the sword and the fire, and chose +rather to die in torments unspeakable than deny the Lord Jesus who bought +them with His blood, rather than do what they knew to be _wrong_. +(Hebrews xi.) They were not afraid of torture and death; but of doing +wrong they were unspeakably afraid. They were _free_, those holy men of +old, truly free--free from their own love of ease and cowardice and +selfishness, and all that drags a man down and makes a slave of him. They +knew that "life is more than meat, and the body more than raiment." What +matter if a man gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Their souls +were free whatever happened to their bodies--the tormentor could not +touch _them_, because they believed in God, because they did not fear +those who could kill the body, and after that had no more that they could +do. + +And do you not see that a coward can never be free, never be godly, never +be like Christ? For by a coward I mean not merely a man who is afraid of +pain and trouble. Every one is that more or less. Jesus Himself was +afraid when He cried in agony, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this +cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke xxii. +42.) But a coward is a man who is so much afraid that to escape pain and +danger, he will do what he _ought not_--do what he is ashamed of doing--do +what lowers him; and therefore our Lord Jesus had perfect courage when He +tasted death for all men, and endured the very agony from which He +shrank, and while He said, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup +pass," said also, "Nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done." + +The Jews were cowards when they cried, "Let us alone that we may serve +the Egyptians." While a man is in that pitiful mood he cannot rise, he +cannot serve God--for he must remain the slave of his own body, of which +he is so mightily careful, the slave of his own fears, the slave of his +own love of bodily comfort. Such a man does not _dare_ serve God. He +dare not obey God, when obeying God is dangerous and unpleasant. He dare +not claim his heavenly birthright, his share in God's Spirit, his share +in Christ's kingdom, because that would bring discomfort on him, because +he will have to give up the sins he loves, because he will have to endure +the insults and ill-will of wicked men. Thus cowards can never be free, +for it is only where the Spirit of God is that there is liberty. + +But the Jews were not yet fit to be made soldiers of. God would not +teach them at once not to be afraid of men. He did not command them to +turn again and fight these Egyptians, neither did He lead them into the +land of Canaan the strait and short road, through the country of the +Philistines, lest they should be discouraged when they saw war. + +Now what was God's plan for raising the Jews out of this cowardly, +slavish state? First, and above all, to make them trust in _Him_. While +they were fearing the Egyptians, they could never fear Him. While they +were fearing the Egyptians, they were ready to do every base thing, to +keep their masters in good humour with them. God determined to teach +them to fear Him more than they feared the Egyptians. God taught them +that He was stronger than the Egyptians, for all their civilisation and +learning and armies, chariots and horsemen, swords and spears. He would +not let the Jews fight the Egyptians. He told them by the mouth of +Moses, "Stand you still, and the Lord shall fight for you," and he +commanded Moses to stretch out his rod over the sea. (Exodus xiv.) The +Egyptians were stronger than the Jews--they would have cut them to pieces +if they had come to a battle. For free civilised men like the Egyptians +are always stronger than slaves, like the Jews; they respect themselves +more, they hold together better, they have order and discipline, and +obedience to their generals, which slaves have not. God intended to +teach the Jews that also in His good time. But not yet. They were not +fit yet to be made soldiers. They were not even _men_ yet, but miserable +slaves. A man is only a true man when he trusts in God, and none but +God--when he fears God and nothing _but_ God. And that was the lesson +which God had to teach them. That was the lesson which He taught them by +bringing them up out of Egypt by signs and wonders, that _God was the +Lord_, _God_ was their deliverer, _God_ was their King--that let _them_ +be as weak as they might, _He_ was strong--that if they could not fight +the Egyptians God could overwhelm them--that if they could not cross the +sea, God could open the sea to let them pass through. If they dreaded +the waste howling wilderness of sand, with its pillars of cloud and fire, +its stifling winds which burn the life out of man and beast, God could +make the sand storms and the fire pillars and the deadly east wind of the +desert work for their deliverance. And so He taught them to fear +Himself, to trust in Him, to look up to Him as their deliverer whose +strength was shown most gloriously when they were weakest and most +despairing. + +This was the great lesson which God meant to teach the children of +Israel, that the root and ground of all other lessons, is that this earth +belongs to the Lord alone. That had been what God had been teaching them +already, by the plagues of Egypt. The Egyptians worshipped their great +river Nile, and thought it was a god, and the Lord turned the Nile water +into blood, and showed that He could do what He liked with it. The +Egyptians worshipped dumb beasts and insects, and fancied in their folly +that they were gods. The Lord sent plagues of frogs and flies and +locusts, and took them away again when He liked, to show them that the +beasts and creeping things were His also. + +The Egyptians worshipped false gods who as they fancied managed the +seasons and the weather. God sent them thunder and hail when it pleased +Him, and showed the Jews that _He_, not these false gods of Egypt, ruled +the heavens. The Egyptians and many other heathen nations of the earth +used to offer their children to false gods. I do not mean by killing +them in sacrifice, but by naming them after some idol, and then expecting +that the idol would ever afterwards prosper and strengthen them. Thus +the kings were called after the sun. Pharaoh means the Sun-king; for +they fancied that the sun was a god, and protected their kings one after +the other. And God slew all the first-born of Egypt, even the first-born +of King Pharaoh on his throne. The Sun-god could not help him. The +idols of Egypt could not take care of their worshippers--only the +children of the Jews escaped. (Exodus xii.) What a lesson for the Jews! +And they needed it; for during the four hundred years that they had been +in Egypt they had almost forgotten the one true God, the God of their +forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; at least they thought Him no +better than the false gods of Egypt. After all these wondrous proofs of +God's almighty power, and His jealousy for His own name, they fell away +to idols again and again. They worshipped a golden calf in Horeb (Exodus +xxxii.); they turned aside to worship the idols of the nations whom they +passed through on their way to Canaan. Idolatry had been rooted in their +hearts, and it took many years of severe training and teaching on God's +part to drive it out of them--to make them feel that the one God, who +made heaven and earth, had delivered them--that they belonged to Him, +that they had a share in Him--to make them join with one heart and voice +in the glorious song of Moses: + +"I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse +and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and +song and he is become my salvation: he is my God and I will prepare him +an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man +of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he +cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. +The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy +right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, +hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine +excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou +sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the +blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood +upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the +sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the +spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my +hand shall deliver them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered +them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O +Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in +praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth +swallowed them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou +hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy +habitation. The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold +on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; +the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the +inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon +them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; +till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou +hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain +of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee +to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. +The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went in +with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord +brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel +went on dry land in the midst of the sea." (Exodus xv. 1-19.) + +This was God's first lesson to the Jews; the first step towards making +them a free nation. For believe me, my friends, the only thought which +can make men feel free and strong, the only thought which can keep them +from being afraid of each other, afraid of the seasons, and the elements, +and the chances and changes of this mortal life, the only thought which +can teach them that they are brothers, bound together to help and love +each other, in short the only thought which can make men citizens--is the +thought that the one God is their Father, and that they are all His +children--that they have one God, one religion, one baptism, one Lord and +Saviour, who has delivered them, and will deliver them again and again +from all their sins and miseries; one God and Father of all, who is in +all, and for all, and over all, to whom they all owe equal duty, in whom +they all have an equal share. + +That lesson God began to teach the Jews by the Red Sea. That lesson God +has taught our English forefathers again and again; and that lesson He +will teach us, their children, as often as we forget it, by signs and +wonders, by chastisements and by mercies, till we all learn to trust in +Him and Him only, and know that there is none other name under heaven by +which we can be saved from evil in this life or in the life to come, but +the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Angel of the Covenant, who +led the Jews up out of the land of Egypt. + + + + +XI. DANGERS--AND THE LITANY. + + + "Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them + out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that + they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the + Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of + men."--PSALM cvii. 6-8. + +This 107th Psalm is a noble psalm--a psalm which has given comfort to +thousands in suffering and in danger, even in the sorrows which they have +brought on themselves by their own folly. For it tells them of a Lord +who hears them when they cry to Him in their trouble, and who delivers +them from their distress. + +It was written on a special occasion, as all the most important words of +the Bible are written--written seemingly, after some band of Jews +struggling across the desert, on their return from the captivity in +Babylon, had been in great danger of death. They went astray in the +wilderness out of their way, and found no city to rest in; hungry and +thirsty their soul fainted in them, so they cried unto the Lord in their +trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. He led them forth by +the right way, that they might go to the city where they dwelt. That was +the plain fact, on which the psalmist built up this noble psalm. + +In the blazing sandy desert, without water, food, or shade, they had lost +their path, and were at their wit's end. And they cried unto the Lord +their God for guidance, for they could not guide themselves. And the +Lord answered their prayer and guided them. We do not read that God +worked a miracle for them, or sent an angel to lead them. Simply, +somehow or other, they found their way after all, and got safe out of the +desert; and they believed that it was God who enabled them to find their +way, and praised the Lord for His goodness; and for His goodness not only +to them, but to the children of men--to all men who had the sense to call +on Him in trouble, and to put themselves in their right place as +men--God's children, calling for help to their Father in heaven. + +Therefore the psalmist goes on to speak of the cases of God's goodness, +which he seems to have seen, or at least heard of. Of wretched +prisoners, bound fast in misery and iron, and that through their own +fault and folly, who had cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and been +delivered by Him from the darkness of the dungeon. Of foolish men who +had ruined their health, or at least their prospects in life, by their +own sin and folly, till their soul abhorred all manner of meat, and they +were hard at death's door. But of them, too, he says, when they cried +unto the Lord in their trouble, He delivered them from their distress. He +sent His word--what we now foolishly call the laws of Nature, but which +the Psalmist knew to be the ever-working power and providence of God--and +healed them, and they were saved from their destruction. + +Then he goes on to speak of the dangers of the sea which were especially +strange and terrible to him--a Jew. For the Jews were no sailors; and if +they went to sea, would go as merchants, or supercargoes in ships manned +by heathens; and the danger was really great. The ships were clumsy; +navigation was ill-understood; the storms of the Mediterranean sea were +then as now, sudden and furious; and when one came on, the heathen +sailors would, I doubt not, be at their wit's end, their courage melting +away because of the trouble, and call on all their gods and idols to help +them; but the men of whom the Psalmist speaks, though they were no +seamen, knew on whom to call. It was by the word of the Lord that the +stormy wind arose which lifted up the billows. He could quell the storm +if He would, and when He would; and to Him they cried and not in vain. +"And He made the storm to cease so that the waves thereof were still. +Then were they glad, because they were at rest, and so He brought them to +the haven where they would be." + +My friends, this was the simple faith of the old Jews. And this was the +simple faith of our forefathers by land and sea. And this faith, as I +believe, made England great. The faith that there was a living God, a +living Lord, who would hear the cry of poor creatures in their trouble, +even when they had brought their trouble on themselves. Our forefathers +were not mere landsmen like the Jews, but the finest seamen the world has +ever seen. And yet they were not ashamed in storm and danger to cry like +the Jews unto the Lord, that He might make the storm to cease, and bring +them to the haven where they would be. Yes! faith in God did not make +them the less brave, skilful, cautious, scientific; and it need not make +us so. Skill and science need not take away our faith in God. I trust +it will not take it away, and I believe it will not take it away, as long +as we can hear what I once heard, on board of one of the finest men of +war {80a} in the British Navy--the ship in which and from which, all +British sailors may learn their duty--when I saw some six or eight +hundred men mustered on the deck for daily morning prayer, and heard the +noble old prayer, which our forefathers have handed down to us, to be +said every day in Her Majesty's navy: {80b} + +"O eternal God who alone spreadest out the heavens, and rulest the raging +of the sea; who hast compassed the waters with bounds, until day and +night come to an end; be pleased to receive into Thy Almighty and most +gracious protection, the persons of us Thy servants, and the fleet in +which we serve. Preserve us from the dangers of the sea, and from the +violence of the enemy, that we may be a safeguard unto our most gracious +Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria and her dominions, and a security for such +as pass on the seas upon their lawful occasions; that the inhabitants of +our island may in peace and quietness serve Thee our God, and that we may +return in safety to enjoy the blessings of the land, with the fruits of +our labours, and with a thankful remembrance of Thy mercies, to praise +and glorify Thy holy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." + +Then, as I stood upon that deck, and heard that solemn appeal to God, +before each man went about his appointed duty for the day, said I to +myself, "The ancient spirit is not dead. It may be that it is sleeping +in these prosperous times. But it is not dead, as long as this nation by +those prayers confesses that we ought at least to believe in a God who +hears our prayers, by land and sea. Those grand words were perhaps +nothing but a form to most of the men who heard them. But they were a +form which bore witness to a truth which was true, even if they forgot +it--a truth which they might need some day, and feel the need of, and +cling to, as the sailors of old time clung to it. Those words would +surely sink into the men's ears, and some day, it might be, bear fruit in +their hearts. In storm, in wreck, in battle, and in the hour of death, +and in the day of judgment, these words would surely rise in many a brave +fellow's memory, and help him to do his duty like a man, because there +was a living Lord and God above him who knew his weakness and would hear +his prayers." + +And we, my friends, here safe on land, we have a national prayer, or +rather a series of prayers, to Christ as God, which ought to remind us of +that noble truth which the 107th Psalm is meant to teach. You hear it +all of you every Sunday morning. I mean the Litany. That noble +composition, which seems to me more wise as a work of theology, more +beautiful as a work of art, the oftener I use it--That Litany, I say, is +modelled on the 107th Psalm; and it expresses the very heart and spirit +of our forefathers three hundred years ago. It bids us pray to be +delivered from every conceivable harm, to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. +And then it prays for every conceivable blessing, not only for each of us +separately, but for this whole nation of England, Great Britain, and +Ireland, and for all the nations on earth, and for the heathen and the +savage. + +Of course, just because it is a National prayer, and meant for all +Englishmen alike, all of it does not suit each and every one of us at the +same time. Each heart knows its own bitterness. Each soul has its own +special mercy to ask. But there is a word in the Litany here, and +another there, which will fit each of us in turn, if we will but follow +it. One may have to pray to be delivered from pride, vain-glory, and +hypocrisy--another to be delivered from foul living and deadly +sin--another to be delivered, or to have those whom he loves delivered, +from battle, murder, and sudden death. Another to be delivered from the +dangers of affliction and tribulation; another from the far worse danger +of wrath; but all have to pray to be delivered from something. And all +have to pray to the same deliverer--Christ, who was born a Man, died a +man, and rose again a man, that He might know what was in man, and be +able to succour those who are tempted, seeing that He was tempted in all +things like as we are, yet without sin. + +But there is a part--the latter part--of that Litany which, I think, many +do not understand or feel. Perhaps they have reason to thank God that +they do not understand or feel it; yet, the day may come--a day of +sadness, fear, perplexity, sorrow, when they will understand it, and +thank God that their forefathers placed it in the prayer-book, for them +to fall back upon, as comfort and hope in the day of trouble; putting +words into their mouths and thoughts into their hearts, which they, +perhaps, never would have found out for themselves. + +I mean that latter part of the Litany which talks of the evils which the +craft and subtilty of the devil or men work against us, that they may be +brought to nought, and by the providence of God's goodness be dispersed, +that we may be hurt by no persecutions--which calls on Christ to arise +and deliver us, for His name's sake and His honour, which pleads before +God the noble works which He did in the days of our forefathers; and +which continues with short prayers, almost cries, which have something in +them of terror, almost of agony. What have such words to do with us? Why +are they put into the mouths of us English, safe, comfortable, +prosperous, above almost all the nations upon earth? + +Ah! my friends, those prayers, when they were first put into our prayer- +book, were spoken for the hearts of Englishmen. They were not prayers +for one afflicted person here, and another there,--they, too, were +National prayers. They were the cries of the English nation in agony--in +the time when, three hundred years ago, the mightiest nations and powers +of Europe, temporal and spiritual, were set against this little isle of +England, and we expected not merely to be invaded and conquered, but +destroyed utterly and horribly with sword and fire, by the fleets and +armies of the King of Spain. In that great danger and war our +forefathers cried to God; and they cried all the more earnestly, because +they felt that their hands were not clean; that they had plenty and too +many sins to be "mercifully forgiven," and that at best they could but +ask God "mercifully to look upon their infirmities," and, "for the glory +of His name, turn from them those evils which they most righteously had +deserved." But nevertheless they cried unto God in their great agony, +because they had the spirit of the old Psalmist, who said, "They cried +unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their +distress." + +And what answer God made to their prayers all the world knows, or should +know. For if He had not answered their prayer, we should not be here +this day, a great, and strong, and prosperous nation, with a pure Church +and a free Gospel, and the Holy Bible if he wills, in the hands of the +poorest child. Unless prayer be a dream, and there be no God in heaven +worth calling a God--then did God answer the prayers of our forefathers +three hundred years ago, when they cried unto Him as one nation in their +utter need. + +But some will say--this may be all very true and very fine, but we are in +no such utter need now. Why should we use those prayers? + +My dear friends, let me say, if you are not now in utter need, in terror, +anxiety, danger, if you have no need to cry to Christ, "Graciously look +upon our afflictions; pitifully behold the sorrows of our hearts," how do +you know that there is not some one in any and every congregation who is? +And you and I, if we have said the Litany in spirit and in truth, have +been praying for them. The Litany bids us speak as members of a Church, +as citizens of a nation, bound together by the ties of blood and of laws, +as well as self-interest. The Litany bids us say, not selfishly and +apart, Graciously look on _my_ afflictions, but on _our_ afflictions--the +afflictions of every English man, and woman, and child, who is in +trouble, or ever will be in trouble _hereafter_. Oh, remember this last +word. Generations long since dead and buried have prayed for you, and +God has heard their prayers; and now you have been praying for your +children, and your children's children, and generations yet unborn, that, +if ever a dark day should come over England, a time of want and danger +and perplexity and misery, God would deliver them in their turn out of +their distress. And more; you have been teaching your children, that +they may teach their children in turn, and pray and cry to God in their +trouble; and thus this grand old Litany is to us, and to those we shall +leave behind us a precious National heir-loom, teaching us and them the +lesson of the 107th Psalm--that there is a Lord in heaven who hears the +prayers of men, the sinful as well as the sorrowful, that when they cry +unto the Lord in their trouble, He delivers them out of their distress, +and that men should therefore praise the Lord for His goodness, and +declare the wonders which He doeth for the children of men. + + + + +XII. WILD TIMES, OR DAVID'S FAITH IN A LIVING GOD. + + + "David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and + when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down + thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one + that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered + themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were + with him about four hundred men."--1 SAM. xxii. 1, 2. + +In every country, at some time or other, there have been evil days--days +of violence, tyranny, misrule, war, invasion, when men are too apt, for +want of settled law, to take the law into their own hands; and the land +is full of robbers, outlaws, bands of partizans and irregular +soldiers--wild times, in which wild things are done. + +Of such times we here in England have had no experience, and we forget +how common they are; we forget that many great nations have been in this +state again and again. We forget that almost all Europe was in that wild +and lawless state in our fathers' times, and therefore we forget that the +Bible, which tells man his whole duty, must needs tell men about such +times as those, and how a man may do his duty, and save his soul therein. +For the Bible is every man's book, and has its lesson for every man. It +is meant not merely for comfortable English folk, who sit at home at +ease, under just laws and a good government. It is meant just as much +for the opprest, for the persecuted, for the man who is fighting for his +country, for the man who has been found fighting in vain, and is simply +waiting for God's help, and crying, "Lord, how long? how long ere Thou +avenge the blood that is shed?" It is meant as much for such as for you +and me; that every man, in whatever fearful times he may live, and +whatever fearful trials he may go through, and whatever fearful things he +may be tempted to do, and, indeed, may have to do, in self-defence, may +still be able to go to the Bible, there to find light for his feet, and a +lantern for his path, and so that he may steer through the worst of times +by Faith in the Living God. + +Again, such lawless times are certain to raise up bold and adventurous +men, more or less like David. Men of blood--who are yet not altogether +bad men--who are forced to take the law into their own hands, to try and +keep their countrymen together, to put down tyrants and robbers, and to +drive out invaders. And men, too, suffering from deep and cruel wrongs, +who are forced for their lives' sake, and their honour's sake, to +escape--to flee to the mountains and the forests, and to foreign lands, +and there live as they can till times shall be better. There have been +such men in all wild times--outlaws, chiefs of armed bands, like our +Robin Hood, whose name was honoured in England for hundreds of years as +the protector of the poor and the opprest, and the punisher of the Norman +tyrants: a man made up of much good and much evil, whom we must not +judge, but when we think of him, only thank God that we do not live in +such times now, when no man's life or property, or the honour of his +family was safe. + +Such men, too, in our fathers' days, were the Tyrolese heroes, Hofer and +the Good Monk who left, the one his farm and the other his cloister, to +lead their countrymen against the invading French; men of blood, who were +none the less men of God. And such is, in our own days, that famous +Garibaldi, whose portrait hangs in many an English cottage, for a proof +that though we, thank God, do not need such men in peaceful England, our +hearts bid us to love and honour them wherever they be. There have been +such men in all bad times, and there will be till the world's end, and +they will do great deeds, and their names will be famous, and often +honoured and adored by men. + +Now, what does the Bible say of such men? Does it give any rule by which +we may judge them? any rule which they ought to obey? Can God's blessing +be on them? Can they obey God in that wild and dark and dangerous +station to which He seems to have called them--to which God certainly +called Hofer and the Good Monk? + +I think if the Bible did not answer that question it would not be a +complete book--if it spoke only of peaceful folk, and peaceful times; +when, alas! from the beginning of the world, the earth has been but too +full of violence and misrule, war and desolation. But the Bible _does_ +answer that question. A large portion of one whole book is actually +taken up with the history of a young outlaw--of David, the shepherd boy, +who rises through strange temptations and dangers to be a great king, the +first man who, since Moses, formed the Jews into one strong united +nation. It does not hide his faults, even his fearful sins, but it shows +us that he _had_ a right road to follow, though he often turned aside +from it. It shows us that he could be a good man if he chose, though he +was an outlaw at the head of a band of ruffians; and it shows us the +secret of his power and of his success--_Faith in the Living God_. + +Therefore it is that after the Bible has shown us (in the Book of Ruth) +worthy Boaz standing among his reapers in the barley field, it goes on to +show us Boaz's great-grandson, David, a worthy man likewise, but of a +very different life, marked out by God from his youth for strange and +desperate deeds; killing, as a mere boy, a lion and a bear, overthrowing +the Philistine giant with a sling and a stone, captain of a band of +outlaws in the wilderness, fighting battles upon battles; and at last a +king, storming the mountain fortress of Jerusalem, and setting up upon +Mount Zion, which shall never be removed, the Throne of David. A strange +man, and born into a strange time. You all know the first part of +David's history--how Samuel secretly anoints David king over Israel, and +how the Spirit of the Lord comes from that day forward upon the young lad +(1 Samuel xvi. 12). How king Saul meanwhile fell into dark and bad +humours. How the Spirit of the Lord--of goodness and peace of mind--goes +from him, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubles him. Then how young +David is sent for to play to him on his harp (1 Samuel xvi.), and soothe +his distempered mind. Already we hear of David as a remarkable person; +we hear of his extraordinary beauty, his skill in music; we hear, too, +how he is already a man of war, and a mighty valiant man, and prudent in +matters, and the Lord is with him. + +Then follows the famous story of his killing Goliath the Philistine (1 +Samuel xvii.). Poor, distempered Saul, it seems, had forgotten him, +though David had cured his melancholy with his harp-playing, and had +actually been for a while his armour-bearer, for when he comes back with +the giant's head, Saul has to ask Abner who he is; but after that he will +let him go no more home to his father. + +Then follows the beautiful story of Jonathan, Saul's gallant son (1 +Samuel xviii.), and his love for David. Then of Saul's envy of David, +and how, in a sudden fit of hatred, he casts his javelin at him. Then +how he grows afraid of him, and makes him captain of a thousand men, and +gives him his daughter, on condition of David's killing him two hundred +Philistines. And how he goes on, capriciously, honouring David one day +and trying to kill him the next. While David rises always, and all +Israel and Judah love him, and he behaves himself more wisely than all +the servants of Saul. At last comes the open rupture. Saul, after +trying to murder David, sends assassins to his house, and David flees for +his life once and for all. He has served his master Saul loyally and +faithfully. There is no word of his having opposed Saul, set himself up +against him, boasted of himself, or in any way brought his anger down +upon him. Saul is his king, and David has been loyal and true to him. +But Saul's envy has grown to hatred, and that to murder. He murders the +priests, with all their wives and children, for having given bread and +shelter to David. And now David must flee into the wilderness and set up +for himself, and he flees to the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel xxii.); and +there you see the Bible does not try to hide what David's position was, +and what sort of men he had about him--his brethren and his father's +house, who were afraid that Saul would kill them instead of him, after +the barbarous Eastern fashion, and among them the three sons of Zeruiah, +his sister; and everyone who was discontented, and everyone who was in +debt, all the most desperate and needy--one can conceive what sort of men +they must have been. The Bible tells us afterwards of the wicked men and +men of Belial who were among them--wild men, with weapons in their hands, +and nothing to prevent their becoming a band of brutal robbers, if they +had not had over them a man in whom, in spite of all his faults, was the +Spirit of God. + +We must remember, meanwhile, that David had his temptations. He had been +grievously wronged. Saul had returned him evil for good. All David's +services and loyalty to Saul had been repaid with ingratitude and +accusations of conspiracy against him. What terrible struggles of rage +and indignation must have passed through David's heart! What a longing +to revenge himself! He knew, too, for Samuel the prophet had told him, +that he should be king one day. What a temptation, then, to make himself +king at once! It was no secret either. The people knew of it. Jonathan, +Saul's son, knew of it, and, in his noble, self-sacrificing way, makes no +secret of it (1 Samuel xx.). What a temptation to follow the fashion +which is too common in the East to this day, and strike down his tyrant +at one blow, as many a man has done since, and to proclaim himself king +of the Jews. Yes, David had heavy temptations--temptations which he +could only conquer by faith in the Living God. And, because he masters +himself, and remains patient and loyal to his king under every insult and +wrong, he is able to master that wild and desperate band of men, and set +them an example of patience and chivalry, loyalty and justice; to train +them to be, not a terror and a scourge to the yeomen and peasants round, +but a protection and a guard against the Philistines and Amalekites, and, +in due time, his trusty bodyguard of warriors--men who have grown grey +beside him through a hundred battles, who are to be the foundation of his +national army, and help him to make the Jews one strong and united +prosperous kingdom. + +All this the shepherd lad has to do, and he does it, by faith in the +Living God, and so makes himself for all ages to come the pattern of +perfect loyalty. And now, let us take home this one lesson--That the +secret of David's success is not his beauty, his courage, his eloquence, +his genius; other men have had gifts from God as great as David's, and +have misused them to their own ruin, and to the misery of their fellow- +men. No; the secret of David's success is his faith in the Living God; +and that will be the secret of our success. _Without_ faith in God, the +most splendid talents may lead a man to be a curse to himself and to his +neighbours. _With_ faith in God, a very common-place person, without any +special cleverness, may do great things, and make himself useful and +honoured in his generation. + + + + +XIII. DAVID AND NABAL, OR SELF-CONTROL. + + + "And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which + sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed + be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and + from avenging myself with mine own hand."--1 SAMUEL xxv. 32, 33. + +The story of David and Nabal needs no explanation. It tells us of part +of David's education--of a great lesson which he learnt--of a great +lesson which we may learn. It is told with a dignity and a simplicity, +with a grace and liveliness which makes itself understood at once, and +carries its own lesson to any one who has a human heart in him. + +"And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel"--the park +grass upland with timber trees--not the northern Carmel where Elijah slew +the prophets of Baal, but the southern one on the edge of the desert. +"And the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a +thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of +the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman +of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was +churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb." Caleb +was Joshua's friend, who had conquered all that land in Joshua's time. +Nabal, therefore, had all the pride of a man of most ancient and noble +family--and no shame to him if he had had a noble, courteous, and +generous heart therewith, instead of being, as he was, a stupid and +brutal person. + +"And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. And +David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you +up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: And thus shall +ye say unto him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be to thee, and peace be +to thine house, and peace be to all that thou hast. And now I have heard +that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt +them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they +were in Carmel. Ask the young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore +let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: +give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and +unto thy son David. And when David's young men came, they spake to +Nabal, according to all thee words of David, and ceased." + +Nabal refuses; and in a way that shows, as his wife says of him, how well +his name fits him--a fool is his name, and folly is with him. Insolently +and brutally he refuses, as fools are wont to do. "And Nabal answered +David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? +there be many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his +master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I +have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not whence +they be?" + +"As slaves break away from their master." This was an intolerable +insult. To taunt a free-born man, as David was, with having been a slave +and a runaway. It is hard to conceive how Nabal dared to say such a +thing of a fierce chieftain like David, with six hundred armed men at his +back; but there is no saying what a fool will not do when the spirit of +the Lord is gone from him, and his own fancy and passions lead him +captive. + +So David's young men came and told David. "And David said to his men, +Gird every man on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and +David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four +hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff." + +That is a grand passage--grand, because it is true to human nature, true +to the determined, prompt, kingly character of David. He does not +complain, bluster, curse over the insult as a weak man might have done. +He has been deeply hurt, and he is too high-minded to talk about it. He +will do, and not talk. A dark purpose settles itself instantly in his +mind. Perhaps he is ashamed of it, and dare not speak of it, even to +himself. But what it was he confessed afterwards to Abigail, that he +purposed utterly to kill Nabal and all his people. David was wrong of +course. But the Bible makes no secret of the wrong-doings of its heroes. +It does not tell us that they were infallible and perfect. It tells us +that they were men of like passions with ourselves, in order that by +seeing how they conquered their passions we may conquer ours. + +Meanwhile, Nabal's young men, his servants and slaves, see the danger, +and go to Abigail. "One of the young men told Abigail, saying, Behold, +David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he +railed on them. But the men were very good unto us, and we were not +hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with +them, when we were in the fields: They were a wall unto us both by night +and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now +therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined +against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son +of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. Then Abigail made haste, and +took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready +dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of +raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. And she +said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But +she told not her husband Nabal." + +And then follows the beautiful scene which has been the subject of many a +noble picture. The fair lady kneeling before the terrible outlaw in the +mountain woods, as she came down by the covert of the hill, and softening +his fierce heart with her beauty and her eloquence and her prayers, and +bringing him back to his true self--to forgiveness, generosity, and +righteousness. + +"And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and +fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and fell +at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, let this iniquity be: and let +thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words +of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of +Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and +folly is with him; but I, thine handmaid, saw not the young men of my +lord, whom thou didst send. Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, +and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming +to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let +thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. . . . I +pray thee forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will +certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles +of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days." + +And she conquers. The dark shadow passes off David's soul, and he is +again the true, chivalrous, God-fearing David, who has never drawn sword +yet in his own private quarrel, but has committed his cause to God who +judgeth righteously, and will, if a man abide patiently in Him, make his +righteousness as clear as the light, and his just-dealing as the noonday. +Frankly he confesses his fault. "Blessed be thy advice, and blessed be +thou which has kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from +avenging myself with mine own hand. For in very deed, as the Lord God of +Israel liveth, which has kept me back from hurting thee, except thou +hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not a man been left +unto Nabal by the morning light." Then follows the end. Abigail goes +back to Nabal. Then the bully shows himself a coward. The very thought +of the danger which he has escaped is too much for him. His heart died +within him. "And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in +his house like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within +him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing less or more +until the morning light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the +wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that +his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to +pass, about ten days after, that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died." One +can imagine the picture for oneself. The rich churl sitting there in the +midst of all his slaves and his wealth as one thunderstruck, helpless and +speechless, till one of those mysterious attacks, which we still rightly +call a stroke, and a visitation of God, ends him miserably. And when he +is dead, Abigail becomes the wife of David, and shares his fortunes and +his dangers in the wilderness. + +Now, what may we learn from this story? Surely what David learnt--the +unlawfulness of revenge. David was to be trained to be a perfect king by +learning self-control, and therefore he has to learn that he must not +punish in his own quarrel. If he must not lift up his hand against Saul, +on the ground of loyalty, neither must he lift up his hand against Nabal, +on the deeper ground of justice and humanity. + +But from whom did David learn this? From himself. From his own heart +and conscience, enlightened by the Spirit of God. Abigail gave him no +commandment from God, in the common sense of the word. She only put +David in mind of what he knew already. She appeals to his known +nobleness of mind, and takes for granted that he will hear reason--takes +for granted that he will do right--and so brought him to himself again. +The Lord was withholding him, she says, from coming to shed blood, and +avenging himself with his own hand. But that would have been of no avail +had there not been something in David's own heart which answered to her +words. For the Spirit of God had not left David; and it was the Spirit +of God which gave him nobleness of heart--the Spirit of God which made +him answer, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent thee this day to +meet me; and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou which hast kept +me this day from shedding of blood." + +Though Abigail did not pretend to bring a message from God, David felt +that she had brought one. And she was in his eyes not merely a suppliant +pleading for mercy, but a prophetess declaring to him a divine law which +he dare not resist. "It has been said by them of old time," our blessed +Lord tells us, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; thou shalt +love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy." This is the first natural law +which a savage lays down for himself. There is a rude sense of justice +in it, mixed up with the same brute instinct of revenge which makes the +wild beast turn in rage upon the hunter who wounds him. But our Lord +Jesus Christ brings in a higher and more spiritual law. Punishment is to +be left to the magistrate, who punishes in God's name. And where the law +cannot touch the wrongdoer, God, who is the author of law, can and will +punish. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." Yes! if +punishment must be, then let God punish. Let man forgive. I say unto +you, said our Lord, "Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate +you--bless them that curse you--pray for them that despitefully use you +and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father which is +in heaven, for He maketh His sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and +sendeth rain on the just and the unjust." + +It is a hard lesson. But we must learn it. And we shall learn it, just +as far as we are guided by the Spirit of God, who forms in us the +likeness of Christ. And men are learning it more and more in Christian +lands. Wherever Christ's gospel is truly and faithfully preached, the +fashion, of revenge is dying out. There are countries still in +Christendom in which men think nothing every day of stabbing and shooting +the man who has injured them; and far, very far, from Christ and His +Spirit must they be still. But we may have hope for them; for if we look +at home, it was not so very many years ago that any Englishman, who +considered himself a gentleman, was bound by public opinion to fight a +duel for any slight insult. It was not so many years ago that among +labouring men brutal quarrels and open fights were common, and almost +daily occurrences. But now men are learning more and more to control +their tempers and their tongues, and find it more and more easy, and more +pleasant and more profitable, as our Lord forewarned them when He said, +"Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, +and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my +burden is light." And Christ's easy yoke is the yoke of self-control, by +which we bridle the passions which torment us. Christ's light burden is +the burden and obligation laid on every one of us, to forgive others, +even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. And the rest which shall +come to our souls is the rest which David found, when he listened to the +voice of God speaking by the lips of Abigail; the true and divine rest of +heart and peace of mind--rest and peace from the inward storm of +fretfulness, suspicion, jealousy, pride, wrath, revenge, which blackens +the light of heaven to a man, and turns to gall and wormwood every +blessing which God sends. + +Ah! my friends, if ever that angry storm rises in our hearts, if ever we +be tempted to avenge ourselves, and cast off the likeness of God for that +of the savage, and return evil for evil,--may God send to us in that day +some angel of His own, as He sent Abigail to David--an angel, though +clothed in human flesh and blood, with a message of peace and wisdom. And +if any such should speak to us words of peace and wisdom, soothing us and +rebuking us at once, and appealing to those feelings in us which are +really the most noble, just because they are the most gentle, then let us +not turn away in pride, and wrap ourselves up in our own anger, but let +us receive these words as the message of God--whether they come from the +lips of a woman, or of a servant, or even of a little child, for if we +resist them we surely resist God--who has also given to us His Holy +Spirit for that very purpose, that we may hear His message when He +speaks. It was the Spirit of God in David which made him feel that +Abigail's message was divine. The Spirit of God, hidden for a while +behind his dark passions, like the sun by clouds, shone out clear again, +and filled all his soul with light, showing him his duty, and giving back +peace and brightness to his mind. + +God grant that whenever we are tried like David we may find that that +Holy Spirit has not left us, but that even if a first storm of anger +shall burst, it shall pass over quickly, and the day star arise in our +hearts, and the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon us, and +give us peace. + + + + +XIV. DAVID'S LOYALTY; OR, TEMPTATION RESISTED. + + + "So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul + lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at + his bolster; but Abner and the people lay round about him. Then said + Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this + day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even + to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time. And + David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his + hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless? David said + furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day + shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The + Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's + anointed; but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his + bolster, and the cruise of water, and let us go."--1 SAM. xxvi. 7-11. + +David stands for all times as the pattern of true loyalty--loyalty under +the most extreme temptation. Knowing that he is to be king himself +hereafter, he yet remains loyal to his king though unjustly persecuted to +the death. Loyal he is to the end, because he has _faith_ and +_obedience_. Faith tells him that if king he is to be, king he will be, +in God's good time. If God had promised, God will perform. He must not +make himself king. He must not take the matter into his own hand. +Obedience tells him that Saul is still his master, and he is bound to +him. If Saul be a bad master, that does not give him leave to be a bad +servant. The sacred bond still remains, and he must not break it. But +Saul is more. He is king--the Lord's anointed, the general of the armies +of the living God. His office is sacred; his person is sacred. He is a +public personage, and David must not lift up his hand against him in a +private quarrel. + +Twice David's faith and obedience are tried fearfully. Twice Saul is in +his power. Twice the temptation to murder him comes before him. The +first time David and his men are in one of the great branching caves of +Engaddi, the desolate limestone cliffs, two thousand feet high, which +overhang the Dead Sea--and Saul is hunting him, as he says, as a +partridge on the mountains. "And it came to pass when Saul had returned +from following the Philistines, that it was told him saying, Behold David +is in the cave of Engedi. And Saul took three thousand chosen men out of +all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild +goats. And he came to the sheepcotes, and by the way there was a cave; +and Saul went in, and David and his men remained in the sides of the +cave. And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the +Lord said unto thee, Behold I will deliver thine enemy into thy hand, and +thou mayest do to him as seemeth good unto thee. Then David arose, and +cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. And it came to pass +afterwards, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's +skirt. And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this +thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand +against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. So David stayed his +servants." And afterwards Saul rose up, not knowing what had happened, +and David followed him. And when Saul looked back, David stooped down +with his face to the earth and bowed himself before Saul, and spoke many +noble words to his king (1 Sam. xxiv. 1-8). + +_And David's nobleness has its reward_. It brings out nobleness in +return to Saul himself. It melts his heart for a time. "And it came to +pass that when David had made an end of speaking, that Saul said, Is this +thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. And he +said to David, 'Thou art more righteous than I--for thou hast rewarded me +good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. And thou hast shewed me this +day how thou hast dealt with me; for as much as when the Lord delivered +me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. For if a man find his enemy, +will he let him go well away? Wherefore the Lord reward thee good for +that thou hast done unto me this day. And now, behold, I know well that +thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be +established in thine hand.'" + +And so it will be with you, my friends. "If thine enemy hunger, feed +him; if he thirst, give him drink, for so thou shalt heap coals of fire +on his head." Thou shalt melt the hardness of his heart. Thou shalt +warm the coldness of his heart. Nobleness in thee shall bring out in +answer nobleness in him, and if not, thou hast done thy duty, and the +Lord judge between him and thee. + +But Saul's repentance does not last. Soon after we find him again +hunting David in the wilderness, seemingly from mere caprice, and without +any fresh cause of offence. The Ziphites--dwellers in the forests of the +south of Judea--came to Saul and said, "Doth not David hide himself in +the hill of Hachilah. Then Saul arose and went down to the wilderness, +having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the +wilderness of Ziph. And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah. But David +abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the +wilderness." Again Saul lies down to sleep--in an entrenched camp, and +David and Abishai, his nephew, go down to the camp at night as spies. +Then comes the story of my text--how Abishai would have slain Saul, and +David forbade him to lift his hand against the Lord's anointed, and left +Saul to the judgment of God, which he knew must come sooner or later--and +merely took the spear from his bolster and the cruse of water to show he +had been there. + +Once again Saul's heart gives way at David's nobleness: for when David +and Abishai got away while Saul and his guards all slept, David calls to +Abner (verse 14-25), and rebukes him for not having guarded his king +better. "Art not thou a valiant man? Wherefore, then, hast thou not +kept thy lord the king? The thing is not good that thou hast done: As +the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because you have not kept your +master, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and +the cruse of water that was at his bolster. And Saul knew David's voice, +and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my +voice, my lord, O king. Wherefore does my lord then thus pursue after +his servant? for what have I done? Now therefore, let not my blood fall +to the earth, for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when +one doth hunt a partridge. Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son +David, for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in +thine eyes. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly." + +But David can trust him no longer. Weak, violent, and capricious, Saul's +repentance is real for the time, but it does not last. He means what he +says at the moment; but when some fresh base suspicion crosses his mind, +his promises and his repentance are all forgotten. A terrible trial it +is to David, to have his noble forgiveness and forbearance again and +again bring forth no fruit--to have to do with a man whom he cannot +trust. There are few sorer trials than that for living man. Few which +tempt him more to throw away faith and patience, and say, "I cannot +submit to this misconduct over and over again. It must end, and I will +end it, by some desperate action, right or wrong." + +And, in fact, it does seem as if David was very near yielding to +temptation, the last and worst temptation which befalls men in his +situation--to turn traitor and renegade, to go over to the enemies of his +country and fight with them against Saul. That has happened too often to +men in David's place; who have so ended a glorious career in shame and +confusion. And we find that David does at last very nearly fall into it. +It creeps on him, little by little, as it has on other men in his place, +but it does creep on. He loses patience and hope. He says, I shall +perish one day by the hand of Saul, and he goes down into the low +country, to the Philistines, whose champion, Goliath, he had killed, and +makes friends with them. And Achish, king of Gath, gives him a town +called Ziklag, to live in, he and his men. From it he goes out and +attacks the wild Arabs, the Amalekites. And then he tells lies to +Achish, saying, that he has been attacking his own countrymen, the Jews. +And by that lie he brings himself into a very great strait--as all men +who tell lies are sure to do. + +When Achish and his Philistines go next to fight against the Jews, Achish +asks David and his men to go with him and his army. And then begins a +very dark story. What David meant to do we are not told; but one thing +is clear, that whatever he did, he must have disgraced himself for ever, +if God had not had mercy on him. He is forced to go. For he can give no +reason why he should not. So he goes; and in the rear with the +Philistine king, in the post of honour, as his bodyguard. What is he to +do? If he fights against his own people, he covers himself with eternal +shame, and loses his chance of ever being king. If he turns against +Achish and his Philistines in the battle he covers himself with eternal +shame likewise, for they had helped him in his distress, and given him a +home. + +But God has mercy on him. The lords of the Philistines take offence at +his being there, and say that he will play traitor to them in the battle +(which was but too likely), and force king Achish to send him home to +Ziklag, and so God delivers him out of the trap which he has set for +himself, by lying. + +But God punishes him on the spot. When he comes back to his town, it is +burnt with fire, utterly desolate, a heap of blackened ruins, without a +living soul therein. And now the end is coming, though David thinks not +of it. He had committed his cause to God. He had said, when Saul lay +sleeping at his feet, and Abishai would have smitten him through, "Who +can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. As the Lord +liveth, the Lord shall smite him, or he shall come to die, or he shall go +down into battle and perish." + +And on the third day a man--a heathen Amalekite--comes to Ziklag to David +with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head. Israel has been defeated +in Mount Gilboa with a great slaughter. The people far and wide have +fled from Hermon across the plain, and the Philistines have taken +possession, cutting the land of Israel in two. And Saul and Jonathan, +his son, are dead. The Amalekite has proof of it. There is the crown +which was on Saul's head, and the bracelet that was on his arm. He has +brought them to David to curry favour with him. Saul, he says, was +wounded, and asked him to kill him (2 Sam. i. 6-10). It is a lie. Saul +had killed himself, falling on his own sword, to escape torture and +insult from the Philistines, and the Amalekite is caught in his own trap. +Out of his own mouth will David judge him. How dare he stretch forth his +hand against the Lord's anointed? Let one of the young men fall on him, +and kill him. And so the wretch dies. + +And then bursts forth all the nobleness of David's heart. He thinks of +Saul no longer as the tyrant who has hunted him for years, who has put on +him the last and worst insult of taking away his wife, and giving her to +another man. He thinks of him only as his master, his king, the grand +and terrible warrior, the terror of Ammonites, Amalekites, and +Philistines, the deliverer of his country in many a bloody fight, and he +bursts out into that fine old lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, +sentences of which have been proverbs in the mouths of men to this day. +"How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the +streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest +the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let +there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of +offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the +shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. From the +blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan +turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and +Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they +were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than +lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in +scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your +apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O +Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for +thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love +to me was wonderful, passing the love of woman. How are the mighty +fallen, and the weapons of war perished!" (2 Sam. i. 19-27). + +Let each and every one of us, my friends, imitate David's loyalty, and be +true to our duty, true to our masters, true to our country and true to +our queen, through whatever trials and temptations. Above all, let us +learn from David to obey; and remember that to obey we need not become +cringing and slavish, or give up independence and high spirit. David did +neither. Unless you learn to obey, as David did, you will never learn to +rule. Imitate David--and so you will imitate David's greater son, even +our Lord Jesus Christ. For herein David is a type of Christ. + +One might say truly that David's spirit was in Christ--if the very +opposite was not the fact, that the spirit of Christ was in David, even +the spirit of loyalty and obedience, toward God and man. The spirit +which made our Lord fulfil the whole law of Moses--though quite +unnecessary, of course, for him--simply because He had chosen to be born +a Jew, under Moses' law; the spirit which made Him obedient to the +ordinance of the country in which He was born, made Him even pay tribute +to Caesar, the heathen conqueror, because the powers that ruled, were +ordained of God. And yet that same spirit kept Him lofty and +independent, high-minded and pure-minded. He could tell the people to +observe and to do all that the scribes and Pharisees told them to do, +because they sat in Moses' seat, and yet He could call those very scribes +and Pharisees hypocrites, who made the law of no effect, and were +bringing on themselves utter destruction. + +That spirit, too, made Him loyal and obedient to God His Father in +heaven. Doing not His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him. +Of Him it is written, that though He were a Son, yet learned He +"obedience by the things which He suffered;" and that He received the +perfect reward of perfect loyalty, because He had humbled and emptied +Himself, and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. +Therefore God highly exalted Him, and gave Him a name which is above +every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in +heaven, of things in the earth, and things under the earth, and every +tongue confess that He is Lord and God, to the glory of God the Father. + +This is a great mystery! How can we understand it? How can we +understand the Divine and eternal bond between Father and Son? But this +at least we can understand, that loyalty and obedience are Divine +virtues, part of the likeness of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, +and therefore divine graces, the gift of God's holy Spirit. + +May God pour out upon us that Spirit, as He poured it out on David, and +make us loyal and obedient to our queen, and to all whom He has set over +us; and loyal and obedient above all to Christ our heavenly king, and to +God the Father, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. + + + + +XV. DAVID'S DEATH SONG. + + + "And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that + the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out + of the hand of Saul: And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress + and my deliverer; the God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my + shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my + saviour; thou savest me from violence."--2 SAM. xxii. 1-3. + +This is the death song of David; the last words of the great man--warrior, +statesman, king, poet, prophet. A man of many joys and many sorrows, +many virtues, and many crimes; but through them all, every inch a man. A +man--heaped by God with every gift of body, and mind, and heart, and +especially with strong and deep intense feeling. Right or wrong, he is +never hard, never shallow, never light-minded. He is in earnest. +Whatever happens to him, for good or evil, goes to his heart, and fills +his whole soul, till it comes out again in song. + +This it is which makes David the Psalmist. This it is which makes the +Psalter a text book still for every soldier or sailor, for all men who +have human hearts in them. This it is which will make his psalms live +for ever. Because they are full of humanity, of the spirit of man, +awakened and enlightened, and ennobled, by the Spirit of God. + +Looking through these psalms of David, one is struck with astonishment at +their variety. At what is called the versatility of his mind, that is, +his ability to turn himself to every kind of subject, as it comes before +him, and to sing of it--as man has never sung since. And one is the more +astonished, when one remembers that many of the most beautiful of these +Psalms must have been written while David was still a very young man. +Though we have them, of course, only in a translation--though many of the +words and phrases in them are difficult, sometimes impossible to +understand, though they were written in a kind of verse which would give +our English ears no pleasure, and were set to a music so utterly +different from our own, that it would not sound like music to us. Yet, +with all these disadvantages, they are beautiful as they stand, they sink +into the ear, and into the heart, as what they are, the words of one +inspired by God, who found beauty in every sight which he beheld, in +every event which happened, even in every sorrow and every struggle in +his own soul, and could sing of each and all of them in words and +thoughts fresh from God, the fountain of all beauty and all truth. + +But the peculiarity of David's psalms, after all, is from his intense +faith in God. God is in all his thoughts. God is near him, guiding him, +trying him, educating him, punishing him, sometimes he thinks for a +moment, deserting him. But even then his mind is still full of God. It +is God he wants, and the light of God's countenance, without which he +cannot live, and leaving him in misery, and shame, and darkness, and out +of the darkness he cries--My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And, +therefore, everything which happens to him shapes itself not into mere +poetry, but into a prayer, or a hymn. + +It is this which has made David for Christians now, as well as for Jews +of old, the great master and teacher of heart religion. In the early +church, in the middle ages, as now, Catholic alike and Protestant, +whosoever has feared God and sought after righteousness; whosoever has +known and sorrowed over the sinfulness and weakness of his own heart; +whosoever has believed that the Lord God was dealing with him as with a +son, educating him, chastening him, purifying him and teaching him, by +the chances and changes of his mortal life; whosoever, I say, has had any +real taste of vital experimental religion--to David's Psalms he has gone, +as to a treasure house, to find there his own feelings, his own doubts, +his own joys, his own thoughts of God and His providence--reflected as in +a glass; everything which he would say, said for him already, in words +which will never be equalled on earth. + +There are psalms among them of bitter agony, cries as of a lost child, +like that 6th psalm--"Oh Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither +chasten me in Thy hot displeasure," &c. And yet ending like that, with a +sudden flash of faith, and hope, and joy, which is a peculiar mark of +David's character, faith in God triumphing over all the chances and +changes of mortal life. "The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. +The Lord will receive my prayer, all mine enemies shall be confounded and +sore vexed. They shall be turned back and put to shame." + +There are psalms again which are prayers for guidance and teaching like +the 5th Psalm--"Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine +enemies: make thy way plain before my face." + +There are psalms, again, of Natural Religion, such as the 8th and the +19th and the 29th, the words of a man who had watched and studied nature +by day and night, as he kept his sheep upon the mountains, and wandered +in the desert with his men. "I will consider thy heavens, the works of +thy hand, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained . . . the fowls +of the air and the fishes of the sea" . . . (Ps. viii. 3-8). "The +heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth his handi- +work" (Ps. xix. 1-6). "It is the Lord that commandeth the water: it is +the glorious God that maketh the thunder: it is the Lord that ruleth the +sea: the voice of the Lord breaketh the cedar trees: the voice of the +Lord divideth the flames of fire: the voice of the Lord shaketh the +wilderness: the Lord sitteth above the water flood," &c. (Ps. xxix.). + +There are psalms of deep religious experience like the 32d.--"Blessed is +he whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sin is covered . . . Thou +art a place to hide me in. . . . Thy hand is heavy upon me day and night +. . . I will acknowledge my sin unto Thee." + +There are psalms, and these are almost the most important of all, such as +the 9th, the 24th and 36th Psalms, which declare the providence and the +kingdom of the Living God, with that great and prophetic 2d Psalm (ver. 1- +5): "Why do the heathen so furiously rage together, and the people +imagine vain things. The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers +take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed," &c. + +There are psalms of deep repentance, of the broken and the contrite +heart, like that famous 51st Psalm, which is used in all Christian +churches to this day, as the expression of all true repentance, and +which, even in our translation, by its awful simplicity, its slow +sadness, expresses in its very sound the utterly crushed and broken +heart. "Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness, according +to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences. . . . Behold, I +was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive. . . . The +sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O +God, thou wilt not despise. . . ." Then there are psalms, like the 26th, +of a manful and stately confidence. The words of one who is determined +to do right, who feels that on the whole he is doing it, and is not +ashamed to say so. "Be thou my judge, for I have walked innocently. . . . +Examine and prove me: try out my reins and my heart. I have not dwelt +with vain persons, neither will I have fellowship with the deceitful. . . . +I have hated the congregation of the wicked. I have loved the +habitation of thy house." There are political psalms, full of weighty +advice, to his sons after him, like the 115th Psalm. + +There are psalms of the most exquisite tenderness, like the 23d Psalm, +written perhaps while he himself was still a shepherd boy, and he looked +upon his flocks feeding on the downs of Bethlehem, and sang, "The Lord is +my shepherd, I shall not want," &c. And lastly, though I should not say +lastly, for the variety of this wonderful man's psalms is past counting, +there are psalms of triumph and thanksgiving, which are miracles of +beauty and grandeur. Take, for instance, the 34th, one of the earliest, +when David was not more than twenty-five years old, when Abimelech drove +him away, and he departed and sang, "I will bless the Lord at all times. +. . . My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. . . . I sought the Lord, +and he heard me, and delivered me out of all my fear. Lo the poor man +crieth and the Lord heareth him. . . . The angel of the Lord tarrieth +round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." And, as the +grandest of all, as, indeed, it was meant to be, that wonderful 18th +Psalm which David, the servant of the Lord, spake to the Lord in the day +when the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies. "I will +love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my strong rock and defence: +my Saviour, my God, and my might, in whom I will trust, my buckler, the +horn also of my salvation, and my refuge." This is, indeed, David's +masterpiece. The only one which comes near it is the 144th. The +loftiest piece of poetry, taken as mere poetry, though it is more, much +more, in the whole world. Even in our translation, it rushes on with a +force and a swiftness, which are indeed divine. Thought follows thought, +image image, verse verse, before the breath of the Spirit of God, as wave +leaps after wave before a mighty wind. Even now, to read that psalm +rightly, should stir the heart like a trumpet. What must it have been +like when sung by David himself? No wonder that those brave old Jews +hung upon the lips of their warrior-poet and felt that the man who could +sing to them of such thoughts, and not only sing them, but feel them +likewise, was indeed a king and a prophet sent to them by God. A +prophet, I say. They loved his songs not merely on account of the beauty +of their poetry. Indeed, one hardly likes to talk of David's psalms as +beautiful poetry. It seems unfair to them. For though they are +beautiful poetry, they are far more, they are prophecy and preaching +concerning God. They preach and declare to the Jews the Living God. They +are the speech of a man whose thoughts and works were begun, continued, +and ended in God. A man who knew that God was about his path, and about +his bed, and spying out all his ways. A man whose one fixed idea was, +that God was leading and guiding him through life. That idea, "The Lord +leads me," is the key-note of David's psalms, and makes them what they +are, an inspired revelation of Almighty God. + +But is that idea true? Of course, you answer, it is true, because it is +in the Bible. But that is not the question. That is rather putting the +question aside, which is, Do _we_ believe it to be true, and find it to +be true? We believe that God was leading David because we read it in the +Bible. But do we believe that God is leading _us_? If not, what is the +use of our reading David's psalms, either in private or publicly in +church every Sunday? You all know how largely we use them, but why? If +we are not in the same case as David was, what right have we to take +David's words into our mouths? We do not fancy that there is any magical +virtue in repeating the same words, as foolish people used to repeat +charms and spells. Our only right, our only excuse for saying or singing +David's psalms in public or in private, must be, that as David was, so +are we in this world, under the continual guidance of God. + +And therefore it is that the Church bids us to use these psalms in our +devotions, day by day, all the year round--that we may know that our God +is David's God, our temptations David's temptations, our fears David's +fears, our hopes David's hopes, our struggles and triumphs over what is +wrong in our hearts and in the world around us, are the same as David's. +That we are not to fancy, because David was an inspired prophet, that +therefore he was in a different case from us, of different passions from +ours, or that his words are too sacred and holy for us to use. Not so, +we are to believe the very contrary. We are to believe that no prophecy +of Scripture is of any private interpretation--that is--has not merely to +do with the man who spoke it first--but that because David spoke by the +Spirit of God, who is no respecter of persons, therefore his words apply +to you, and to me, and to every human being--that David is revealing to +us the everlasting laws of God's Spirit, and of God's providence, whereby +He works alike in every Christian soul, and then, therefore, whatever our +sin may be, whatever our sorrows may be, whatever our station in life may +be, we have a right to offer up to God our repentance, our doubts, our +fears, our hopes, our thanksgivings, in the very words which David used +two thousand years and more ago, certain that they are the right words, +better words than we can find for ourselves, exactly fitting our own +souls, and fitting too the mind and will of Almighty God, because they +are inspired by the same Spirit of God who descended on us, when we were +baptized unto Christ's Church. + +And for that, my friends, we have an example--as we have for everything +else--in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For He, in the hour of His +darkest agony, when He hung upon the cross for our sins, and the sin of +all mankind, and when (worse than all other agony, or shame), there came +over Him the deepest horror of all--the feeling, but for a moment, that +God had forsaken Him--even then, He who spake as never man spake, did not +disdain to use the words of David, and cry, in the opening verse of that +22d psalm, every line of which applies so strangely to Him himself, "My +God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" So did our Lord bequeath, as it +were, with His dying breath, to all Christians for ever, as the fit and +true expression of all that they should ever experience, the psalms of +His great earthly ancestor, David, the sweet singer of Israel. + +My friends, neglect not that precious bequest of your dying Lord. Read +those psalms, study them, tune your hearts and minds to them more and +more; and you will find in them an inexhaustible treasury of wisdom, and +comfort, and of the knowledge of God, wherein standeth your eternal life. + + + + +XVI. AHAB AND MICAIAH--THE CHRISTIAN DEAD ALIVE FOE EVERMORE. + + + "And the King of Israel said to Jehosaphat, There is yet one man, + Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I + hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." . . + .--1 KINGS xxii. 8. + +If you read the story of Micaiah the Prophet, and King Ahab in the 22d +chapter of the 1st Book of Kings, you will, I think, agree that Ahab +showed himself as foolish as he was wicked. He hated Micaiah for telling +him the truth. And when he heard the truth and was warned of his coming +end, he went stupidly to meet it, and died as the fool dies. Foolishness +and wickedness often go hand in hand. Certainly they did in that +miserable king's case. + +But now, my friends, while we find fault with wretched Ahab, let us take +care that we are not finding fault with ourselves also. If we do what +Ahab did, we have no right to despise him for doing what we do. With +what judgment we judge we shall be judged, and the same measure which we +measure out to Ahab, God will measure out to us. All these things are +written for our example, that we may see our faults in other men, as in a +glass, and seeing how ugly sin and folly is, and to what misery it leads, +may learn to avoid it, and look at home, and see that we are not treading +the same path. Else what use in reading these stories of good men and +bad men of old times? The very use of them is to make us remember that +they were men of like passions with ourselves, and learn from their +example; as we may do easily enough from that of Ahab. + +"There remaineth yet one prophet--but I hate him." How often have we +said that in our hearts! Do you think not? Let me show you then. + +How often when we are in trouble or anxiety do we go everywhere to get +comfort, before we go to God's word? When a young lad falls into wild +ways, and gets into trouble by his own folly, then to whom does he go for +comfort? Too often, to other wild lads like himself, or to foolish and +wicked women, who will flatter him, and try to make him easy in his sins, +and say to him as the false prophets said to Ahab, "Go on and prosper--why +be afraid? Why should you not enjoy yourself? Never mind what your +father and mother say, never mind what the parson says. You will do well +enough. All will come right somehow. Come and drink, and drive away +sorrow." + +And all the while the poor lad gets no comfort from these false friends. +He likes to listen to them, because they flatter him up in his sins; but +all the while his heart is heavy. Like Ahab, he has a secret fear that +all will _not_ come right; he feels that he will _not_ do well enough; +and he knows that there remaineth yet a prophet of the Lord, who will not +prophesy good of him but evil--and that is the Bible, and the +prayer-book, and the sermon he hears at church--and therefore he hates +them. And so, many a time he will not go to church for fear of hearing +there that he is wrong, perhaps something in the sermon, which hits him +hard, and makes him ashamed of himself, and angry with the preacher. So +for fear of hearing the truth, and having his sins set before his face, +he stays away from church, and passes his Sundays like a heathen, because +he has no mind to repent and mend, and be a good Christian. + +Foolish fellow! As if he could escape God's judgment by shutting his +ears to it. As well try to stop the thunder from rolling in the sky, by +stopping his ears to that! The thunder is there, whether he choose to +hear it or not. And whether he comes to church or not, God's law stands +sure, that the wages of sin is death. Does the man fancy that God's law +is shut up within the church walls, and that so he can keep clear of it +by staying away from church? My friends, God's law is over the whole +country, and over every cottage and field in it--about our path and about +our bed, and spying out all our ways. The darkness is no darkness to +God. God's judgments are in all the earth; and whether or not we choose +to find them out, they will find us out just the same, as they found out +Ahab, when his cup was full, and his time was come. + +How many a poor lad, too, who has got into trouble, thinks he shall +escape God's judgments by going across the sea; but he finds himself +mistaken! He finds that the wages of sin are misery and shame and ruin, +in Australia just as much as in England, and that all the gold in the +diggings cannot redeem his soul, or prevent his being an unhappy self- +condemned man if he does wrong. + +How many a poor lad, too, who has got into trouble, has fancied that he +could escape God's judgments by going for a soldier, and has found out +that he too was mistaken! Perhaps God's judgment has found him out, as +it found out Ahab, on the field of battle, and a chance shot has taught +him, as it taught Ahab, that there is no hiding-place from the Lord who +made him. Or perhaps God's judgments have come in fever, and hunger, and +cold, and weariness, and miserable lonely labour; and with that hunger of +body has come a hunger of his soul--a hunger after the bread of life, and +the word of God! Ah! how many a poor fellow in his pain and misery has +longed for the crumbs which used to fall from God's table, when he was a +boy at home! for a word of good advice, though it were never so sharp and +plain spoken--or a lesson such as he used to hear at school, or a tract, +or a bit of a book, or anybody or anything which will put his poor +wandering soul in the right way. He used to hate such things when he was +at home, because they warned him of his bad ways; but now he feels a +strange longing for that very good talk which he hated once, and so like +David of old, out of the deep he cries unto the Lord. And when that cry +comes up out of a sinful conscience-stricken, self-condemned heart, be +sure it does not come up in vain. The Lord hears it, and the Lord +answers it. Yes, I know it for certain; for many a sad and yet pleasant +story I have heard, how brave men who went out from England, full of +strength and health, and full of sin and folly too,--and there in that +blood-stained Crimea, when their strength and their health had faded, and +there was nothing round them or before them but wounds, and misery, and +death; how there at last they found Christ, or rather were found by Him, +and opened their eyes at last to see God's judgments for their sins, and +confessed their own sin and God's justice, and received His precious +promises of pardon, even in the agonies of death; and found amid the rage +and noise of war, the peace of God, which this world's pleasures never +gave them, and which this world's wounds, and fever, and battle, and +sudden death cannot take away. + +And after that, it matters little for a man what happens to him. For if +he lives, he lives unto the Lord; and if he dies, he dies unto the Lord. +He may come home, well and strong, once more to do his duty, where God +has put him, a sadder man perhaps, but at least a soberer and a wiser +man, who has learnt to endure hardship, not merely as a soldier of the +Queen, but as a good soldier of Jesus Christ too, ready to fight against +sin and wrong-doing in himself and in his neighbours. + +Or he may come home a cripple, to be honoured and to be kept too (as he +deserves to be) at his country's expense. But if he be a wise man he +will not regret even the loss of a limb. That is a cheap price to pay +for having gained what is worth all the limbs in a man's body, a clear +conscience and a right life. "If thy hand offend thee cut it off." +Better to enter into life halt and maimed, as many a gallant man has done +in war time, than having two hands and two feet to be cast out. + +Or perhaps his grave is left behind there, upon those lonely Crimean +downs, and his comrades are returning without him, and all whom he knew, +and all whom he loved, are looking for him at home. There his grave is, +and must be; and "the foe and the stranger will tread on his head, and +they far away on the billow." + +But at least he has not died like Ahab--a shameful and pitiable death. He +has done his work and conquered. He has died like a man, whom men +honour. Even so it is well. And if he have died in the Lord, a penitent +Christian man, _he_ is not dead at all. _He_ does not lie in that grave +in a foreign land. All of him that strangers' feet can tread upon is but +what we called his body; and yet which was not even his body, but the +mere husk and shell of him, the flesh and bones with which his body was +clothed in this life; while he, he himself, is nearer God than ever, and +nearer, too, than ever to his comrades who seem to have left him, and to +the parents and the friends who are weeping for him at home. Ay, nearer +to them, more able, I firmly believe, to help and comfort them, now that +he is alive for ever, in the heaven of God, than he would if he were only +alive here on the earth of God--more able perhaps to help them now by his +prayers than he ever would have been by the labour of his hands. Be that +as it may, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from +their labours, and their works do follow them. A fearful labour is the +soldier's, and an ugly work; and he has done it; and doubt not it has +followed him, and is recorded for him in the book of God for ever! + + + + +XVII. WHAT IS CHANCE? + + + "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death + passed upon all men, because all have sinned."--ROMANS v. 12. + +All death is a solemn and fearful thing. When it comes to an old person, +one cannot help feeling it often a release, and saying, "He has done his +work--he has sorrowed out his sorrows, he has struggled his last +struggle, and wept his last tear: let him go to his rest and be peaceful +at last." + +But when death comes suddenly to people in the prime of life, who but +yesterday were as busy and as lively as any of us, and we are face to +face with death, and see the same face we knew in life--not wasted, not +worn, young and lusty as ever, seemingly asleep,--something at our heart +as well as in our eyes, tells us that there is more than sleep in that +strange, sharp, quiet smile--and we know in spite of ourselves that the +man is dead. And then strange questions rise in us, "Is that he whom we +knew? that still piece of clay, waiting only a few days before it returns +to its dust? It is the face of him, the shape of him, it is what we knew +him by. It is the very same body of which when we met it on the road we +said, "He is coming." And yet is it _he_? Where is _he_ himself? Can +_he_ hear us? Can _he_ see us? Does _he_ remember us as we remember +_him_? Surely he must. He cannot be gone away--there he lies still on +that bed before us!" + +And then we are ready to say to ourselves, "It must be a mistake, a +dream. He cannot be dead. He will wake. We shall meet him to-morrow in +his old place, about his old work. _He_ dead? Impossible! Impossible +to believe that we shall never see him again--never any more till we too +die!" + +And then when such thoughts come over us, we cannot help going on to say, +"What is this death? this horrible thing which takes husbands from their +wives, and children from their parents, and those who love from those who +love them? What is it? How came this same death loose in the world? +What right has it here, under the bright sun, among the pleasant fields, +this cruel, pitiless death, destroying God's handi-work, God's likeness, +just as it is growing to its prime of beauty and usefulness?" + +And then--there--by the bedside of the young at least, we do feel that +death must be God's enemy--that it is a hateful, cruel, evil +thing--accursed in the sight of a loving, life-giving God, as much as it +is hated by poor mortal man. + +And then, we feel, there must be something wrong between man and God. Man +must be fallen and corrupt, must be out of his right place and state in +some way or other, or this horrible death would not have got power over +us! What right has death in the world, if man has not sinned or fallen? + +And then we cannot help going further and saying, "This cruel death! it +may come to me, young, strong, and healthy as I am. It may come +to-morrow; it may come this minute; it may come by a hundred diseases, by +a hundred accidents, which I cannot foresee or escape, and carry me off +to-morrow, away from all I know and all I love, and all I like to see and +to do. And where would it take me to, if it did take me? What should I +be? What should I see? What should I know, after they had put this body +of mine into that narrow house in the church-yard, and covered it out of +sight till the judgment day?" Oh, my friends, what a thought for you, +and me, and every human being! We might die to-night, even as those whom +we know of died! + +But perhaps some of you young people are saying to yourselves, "You are +trying to frighten us, but you shall not frighten us. We know very well +that it is not a common thing for a young person to die--not one in a +hundred (except in a war time) dies in the prime of his years; and +therefore the chances are that we shall not die young either. The +chances are that we shall live to be old men and women, and we are not +going to be frightened about dying forty years before our death. So in +the meanwhile we will go our own way and enjoy ourselves. It will be +time enough to think of death when death draws near." + +Well then, if you have these thoughts, I will ask you, what do you mean +by _chance_? You say, the _chances_ are against your dying young. Pray +what are these wonderful things called chances, which are to keep you +alive for thirty or forty or fifty years more? Did you ever _hear_ a +chance, or _see_ a chance? Or did you ever meet with any one who had? +Did any one ever see a great angel called Chance flying about keeping +people from dying? What is _chance_ on which you depend as you say for +your life? What is _chance_ which you fancy so much stronger than God? +For as long as the _chance_ is against your dying, you are not afraid of +neglecting God and disobeying God, and therefore you must suppose that +_chance_ is stronger than God, and quite able to keep God's anger off +from you for thirty or forty years, till you choose to repent and amend. +What sort of thing is this wonderful chance, which is going to keep you +alive? + +Perhaps you will say, "All we meant when we said that the chances were +against our dying was that God's will was against our dying." + +Did you only mean that? Then why put the thought of God away by foolish +words about chance? For you know that it is God and God only who keeps +you alive. You must look at that, you must face that. If you are alive +now, God keeps you so. If you live forty years more, God will make you +live that time. And He who can make you live, can also let you _not_ +live; and then you will die. God can withdraw the breath of life from +you or me or any one at any moment. And then where would our _chances_ +of not dying be? We should die here and now, and know that God is the +Lord and not _chance_ . . . + +But think again. If God makes you alive He must have some reason for +making you alive. For mind--it is not as you fancy, that when God leaves +you alone you live, and when He puts forth His power and visits you, you +die. _Not that_, _but the very opposite_. For in Adam all die. Our +bodies are dead by reason of sin, and in the midst of life we are in +death. There is a seed of death in you and me and every little child. +While we are eating and drinking and going about our business, fancying +that we cannot help living, we carry the seeds of disease in our own +bodies, which will surely kill us some day, even if we are not cut off +before by some sudden accident. That is true, physicians know that it is +true. Our bodies carry in them from the very cradle the seeds of death; +and therefore it is not because God leaves us alone that we live. We +live because God, our merciful heavenly Father, _does not_ leave us +alone, but keeps down those seeds of disease and death by His Spirit, who +is the Lord and Giver of Life. + +God's Spirit of Life is fighting against death in our bodies from the +moment we are born. And then, as Moses says, when He withdraws that +Spirit of His, then it is that we die and are turned again to our dust. +So that our living a long time or a short time, does not depend on +CHANCE, or on our own health or constitution, but entirely on how long +God may choose to keep down the death which is lying in us, ready to kill +us at any moment, and certain to kill us sooner or later. + +And yet people fancy that they live because they cannot help living, +unless God interferes with them and makes them die. They fancy, +thoughtless and ignorant as they are, that when they are in _health_, God +leaves them alone, and that therefore when they are in health they may +leave God alone. + +My friends, I tell you that it is God, and not our constitution or chance +either which keeps you alive; as you will surely find out the moment +after the last breath has left your body. And therefore I ask you +solemnly the plain question, "For what does God keep you alive?" _For +what_? Will a man keep plants in his garden which bear neither fruit nor +flowers? Will a man keep stock on his farm which will only eat and never +make profit; or a servant in his house who will not work? Much more, +will a man keep a servant who will not only be idle himself, but quarrel +with his fellow servants, lead them into sin and shame, and teach them to +disobey their master? What man in his senses would keep such plants, +such stock, such servants? And yet God keeps hundreds and thousands in +His garden and in His house for years and years, while they are doing no +good to Him, and doing harm to those around them. + +How many are there who never yet did one thing to make their companions +better, and yet have done many a thing to make their companions worse! +Then why are they alive still? Why does not God rid Himself of them at +once and let them die, instead of cumbering the ground? I know but one +reason. If they were only God's plants, or His stock, or His servants, +He might rid Himself of them. But they are something far nearer and +dearer to Him than that. They are His children, and therefore He has +mercy on them. They are redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, +the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world; and therefore for the +sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, God looks on them with long-suffering and +tender loving-kindness. Man was made in God's likeness at first, and was +the son of God. And therefore howsoever fallen and corrupt man's nature +is now, yet God loves him still, even though he be a heathen or an +infidel. How much more for you, my friends, who know that you are God's +children, who have been declared to be His children by Holy Baptism, and +grafted into Christ's church. You at least are bound to believe that God +preserves you from death, _because He loves you_. He protects you every +day and every hour, as a father takes care of His children, and keeps +them out of dangers which they cannot see or understand. + +Yes! this is plain truth--your heavenly Father is keeping you alive! Oh, +do not make that truth an excuse for forgetting and disobeying your +heavenly Father! + +Why does He keep you alive? Surely because He expects something of you. +And what does He expect of you? What does any good father expect of his +children? Why does he help and protect them? Not from mere brute +instinct, as beasts take care of their young when they are little, and +then as soon as they are grown up cast them off and forget them. No. He +takes care of his children because he wishes them to grow up like +himself, to be a comfort and a help and a pride to him. + +And God takes care of _you_ and keeps you from death, for the very same +reason. God desires that you should grow up like Himself, godly and +pure, leading lives like His Son Jesus Christ. God desires that you +should grow up to the stature of perfect men and women, which is the +likeness of Jesus Christ your Lord. + +But if you turn God's grace in keeping you alive into a cloak for +licentiousness and an excuse for sinning--if, when God keeps you alive +that you may lead _good_ lives, you take advantage of His fatherly love +to lead _bad_ lives--if you go on returning God evil for good, and +ungratefully and basely presume on His patience and love to do the things +which He hates, what must you expect? God loves you, and you make that +an excuse for not loving Him; God does everything for you, and you make +that an excuse for doing nothing for God; God gives you health and +strength, and you make that an excuse for using your health and strength +just in the way He has forbidden. What can be more ungrateful? What can +be more foolish? Oh, my friends, if one of our children behaved to us in +return for our care and love a hundredth part as shamefully as most of us +behave to God our Father, what should we think of them? What should we +say of them? + +Oh, beware, beware! God is a righteous God, strong and patient, and God +is provoked every day, and bears it according to His boundless love and +patience. But "if a man _will not_ turn," says the same text, "He will +whet His sword." And then--woe to the careless and ungrateful sinner. +God will cut him down and bring him low. God will take from him his +health, or his money, or his blind peace of mind; and by affliction after +affliction, and shame after shame, and disappointment after +disappointment, teach him that his youth, and his health, and his money, +and all that he has, are his Father's gifts and not his own property--and +that His Father will take them away from him, till he feels his own +weakness, till he sees that he is really not his own but God's property, +body and soul, and goes back to his heavenly Father and cries, "Father, I +have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be +called Thy son. I have taken Thy gifts and gone away with them from Thy +house unto the far country of sin, and wasted them in riotous living, +till I have had to fill my belly with the husks which the swine did eat. +I have had no profit out of all my sins, of which I am now ashamed. I +have robbed Thee and abused Thy gifts and Thy love. Father, take me +back, for I have sinned, and am not worthy to be called Thy child." + + + + +XVIII. EARTHLY AND HEAVENLY WISDOM; OR, STOOP TO CONQUER. + + + "The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he + established the heavens."--PROV. iii. 19. + +Did it ever strike you as a very remarkable and important thing, that +after saying in Proverbs iii. that Wisdom is this precious treasure, and +bidding his son seek for her because (verse 16) "Length of days is in her +right hand, and in her left hand riches and honour: Her ways are ways of +pleasantness, and all her paths are peace,"--Solomon goes on immediately +to say (verses 19, 20), "The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the earth, and +established the heavens?" + +By Wisdom: by the very same Wisdom, Solomon says, which is to give men +length of days, and riches, and honour. Is not this curious at least? +That there is but one wisdom for God and man? That man's true wisdom is +a pattern of God's wisdom? That a man to prosper in the world must get +the very same wisdom by which God made and rules the world? Curious. But +most blessed news, my friends, if we will think over what it means. I +will try to explain it to you: first, as to this world which we see; +next, as to the heavenly world of spirits which we do not see. + +You have, many of you, heard the word "Science." Many of you of course +know what it means. That it means wisdom and learning about this earth +and all things in it. Many more of you of course know that in the last +hundred years science has improved in a most wonderful way, and is +improving every day; that we have now gas-lights, steam-engines, cotton- +mills, railroads, electric telegraphs, iron ships, and a hundred curious +and useful machines and manufactures of which our great-grandfathers +never dreamed; that our knowledge of different countries, of medicines, +of the laws of health and disease, and of all in short which has to do +with man's bodily life, is increasing day by day; and that all these +discoveries are very great blessings; they give employment and food to +millions who would otherwise have had nothing to do; they bring vast +wealth into this country, and all the countries which trade with us. They +enable this land of England to support four times as many human beings as +it did two hundred years ago; they make many of the necessaries of life +cheaper, so that in many cases a poor man may now have comforts which his +grandfather never heard of. + +I know that there is a dark side to this picture; that with all this +increase of wisdom, there has come conceit, and trust in deceitful +riches, and want of trust in God, and obedience to His law. I know that +in some things we are not better, but worse than our forefathers; God +forgive us for it! But the good came from God; and that man is very +unwise and unthankful too, who despises God's great gift of science, +because fallen man has defiled His gift as it passed through his unclean +hands. + +Look only at this one thing, as I said just now, that by all these +wonderful discoveries and improvements, England is able to support four +times as many Englishmen as it used of old, and that, if we feared God, +and sought His kingdom better, I believe, England would support many more +people yet--and see if _that_ be not a thing to thank Almighty God for +every day of our lives. + +Now how did this wonderful change and improvement take place--suddenly, +and, as it were, in the course of the last hundred years? Simply by +mankind understanding the text (Prov. iii. 19), and by obeying it. I +tell you a real truth, my friends, and it happened thus. + +For more than sixteen hundred years after our Lord's time, mankind seem +to have become hardly any wiser about earthly things, nay, even to have +gone back. The land was no better tilled; goods were no more easily +made; diseases were no better cured, than they had been sixteen hundred +years before. And if any learned men longed to become very wise and +cunning, and to get power over this world and the things in it, they flew +off to witchcraft, charms, and magic, deceived by the devil's old lie, +that the kingdom and the power and the glory of this world belonged to +him and not to God. + +But about two hundred and fifty years ago, it pleased God to open the +eyes of one of the wisest men who ever lived, who was called Francis +Bacon, Lord Verulam, Lord Chancellor of England, and to show him the real +and right way of learning by which men can fulfil God's command to +replenish the earth and subdue it. And Francis Bacon told all the +learned men boldly that they had all been wrong together, and that their +wisdom was no better than a sort of madness, as it is written, "The +wisdom of man is foolishness with God;" that the only way for man to be +wise was to get God's wisdom, the wisdom with which He had founded the +earth, and find out God's laws by which He had made this world. + +"And then," he said, "if you can do that, you will be able to imitate God +in your own small way. If you learn the laws by which God made all +things, you will be able to invent new things for yourselves. _For you +can only subdue nature by obeying her_." That was one of his greatest +sayings, and by it he meant, that you can only subdue a thing and make it +useful to you, by finding out the rules by which God made that thing, and +by obeying them. + +For instance, you cannot subdue and till a barren field, and make it +useful, without knowing and obeying the laws and rules of that soil; and +then you can subdue and conquer that field, and change and train it, as I +may say, to grow what you like. You cannot conquer diseases without +knowing and obeying the laws by which God has made man's body, and the +laws by which fever and cholera and other plagues come. + +Let me give you another instance. You all have seen lightning +conductors, which prevent tall chimneys and steeples from being struck by +storms, so that the lightning runs harmless downward. Now we can all see +how this is conquering the force of lightning in a wonderful and +beautiful way. But before you can conquer the lightning by a conductor, +you must obey the lightning and its laws most carefully. If you make the +conductor out of your own head and fancy, it will be of no use. You must +observe and follow humbly the laws which God has given to the lightning. +You must make the conductor of metal wire, or it will be useless. You +must make it run through glazed rings, or it will be only more dangerous +than no conductor at all; for God who made the lightning chose that it +should be so, and you must _obey_ if you wish to _conquer_. + +Man could not conquer steam, and make it drive his engines and carry his +ships across the seas, till he found out and obeyed the laws which God +had given to steam; and so without breaking the laws, man turned them to +his own use, and set the force of steam to turn his machines, instead of +rushing idly out into the empty air. + +So it is with all things, whether in heaven or earth. If you want to +rule, you must obey. If you want to rise to be a master, you must stoop +to be a servant. If you want to be master of anything in earth or +heaven, you must, as that great Lord Verulam used to say, obey God's will +revealed in that thing; and the man who will go his own way, and follow +his own fancy, will understand nothing, and master nothing, and get +comfort out of nothing in earth or heaven. + +Well--when Lord Verulam told men his new wisdom, they laughed and +scoffed, as fools always will at anything new. But one by one, wise men +tried his plan, and found him right, and went on; and from that time +those who followed Lord Verulam began discovering wonders of which they +had never dreamed, and those who did not, but kept to the old way of +witchcraft and magic, found out nothing, and made themselves a laughing +stock. And after a while witchcraft vanished out of all civilised +countries, and in its place came all the wonderful comforts and +discoveries which we have now, and which under God, we owe to the wisdom +of the great Lord Verulam. Cotton mills, steam engines, railroads, +electric telegraphs, sanitary reforms, cheap books, penny postage, good +medicine and surgery, and a thousand blessings more. That great Lord +Chancellor has been the father of them all. + +And a noble thought it is for us Church people, and a glorious testimony +to the good training which the Church of England gives, that the three +men, who more than any others laid the foundation of all our wonderful +discoveries, I mean Lord Verulam, Mr. Boyle, and Sir Isaac Newton, were +all of them heart and soul members of the Church of England. + +I said just now that the man who will not obey, will never rule; that the +man who will not stoop to be a servant, will never rise to be a master; +that the man who neglects God's will and mind about things, and will +follow his own will and fancy, will understand nothing, and master +nothing, and get comfort out of nothing, either in earth or heaven. + +Either in earth or heaven, I say. For the same rule which holds good in +this earthly world, which we do see, holds good in the heavenly world +which we do not see. Solomon does not part the two worlds, and I cannot. +Solomon says the same rules which hold good about men's bodies, hold good +about their souls. The great Lord Verulam used always to say the same, +and we must believe the same. For see, Solomon says, that this same +wisdom by which God made the worlds, will help our souls as well as our +bodies; that it is not merely the earthly wisdom which brings a man +length of life and riches, but heavenly wisdom, which is a tree of life +to every one who lays hold of her (Prov. iii. 18). The heavenly wisdom +which begins in trusting in the Lord with all our heart, the heavenly +wisdom which is learnt by chastenings and afflictions, and teaches us +that we are the sons of God, is the very same wisdom by which God founded +the earth, and makes the clouds drop down dew! Strange at first sight; +but not strange if we remember the Athanasian creed, and believe that God +is one God, who has no parts or passions, and therefore cannot change or +be divided. + +Yes, my friends, God's wisdom is one--unchangeable, everlasting, and +always like itself; and by the same wisdom by which He made the earth and +the heavens, by the same wisdom by which He made our bodies, has He made +our souls; and therefore we can, and are bound to, glorify Him alike in +our bodies and our spirits, for both are His. + +It may not seem easy to understand this; but I will explain what I mean +by an example. I just told you, that in earthly matters we must stoop to +conquer; we must obey the laws which God has given to anything, before we +can master and use that thing. And in matters about our own soul--about +our behaviour to God--about our behaviour to our fellow-men, believe me +there is no rule like the golden one of Lord Verulam's--stoop to +conquer--obey if you wish to rule. For see now. What is there more +common than this? It happens to each of us every day. We meet a fellow- +man our equal, neither better nor worse than ourselves, and we want to +make him do something. Now there are two ways in which we may set about +that. We may drive our man, or we may lead him. You know well enough +which of those two ways is likely to succeed best. If you try to drive +the man, you say to yourself, "I know I am right. I see the thing in +this light, and he is a fool if he does not see it in the same light. I +choose to have the thing done, and done it shall be, and if he is stupid +enough not to take my view of it, I will let him know who I am, and we +will see which of us is the stronger!" So says many a man in his heart. +But what comes of it? Nothing. For the other man gets angry, and +determines to have his way in his turn. There is a quarrel and a great +deal of noise; and most probably the thing is not done. Instead of the +man getting what he wants, he has a fresh quarrel on his hands, and +nothing more. So his blustering is no sign that he is really strong. For +the strong man is the man who _can_ get what he wants done. Is he not? +Surely we shall all agree to that. And the proud, hot, positive, +dictatorial, self-willed man is just the man, in a free country like +this, who does _not_ get what he wants done. He will not stoop--therefore +he will not conquer. + +But suppose we take another plan. Suppose instead of trying to drive, we +try to lead. Suppose if we want a man to do anything, we begin by +obeying him, and serving him, that we may afterwards lead him, and +afterwards make use of him. There is a base, mean way of doing that, by +flattering, and fawning, and cringing, which are certainly the devil's +works. For the devil can put on the form of an angel of light; but we +need not do that. We may serve and obey a man honestly and honourably, +in order to get him to do what he ought to do. I will tell you what I +mean. + +Suppose when we have dealings with any man, we begin with him, as I was +saying we ought to begin with earthly things--with a field for +instance--we should say, before I begin to make this field bear the crop +I want I must look it through and understand it. I must see what state +it is in--what its soil is--what has been taken off it already--what the +weather is--what state of drainage it is in, and so forth; and I must +obey the rules of all these things, or my crop will come to nothing. So +with this man. First of all, before I get anything out of the man, I +must understand the man. I must find out what sort of temper and +character he has, what his opinions are, how he has been brought up, how +he has been accustomed to look at things--so as to be able to make +allowance for all, else I shall never be able to understand how he looks +at this one matter, or to make him understand _my_ way of looking at it. +And to do that--to understand the man, or make him understand me, I must +begin by making a _friend_ of him. + +There, my friends--there is one of the blessed laws of the kingdom of +Heaven, that in a free country (as this, thank God, is) the only sure way +to get power and influence over people, is by making _friends_ of them, +by behaving like Christians to them, making them trust you and love you, +by pleasing them, giving way to them, making yourself of service to them, +doing what they like whenever you can, in order that they may do to you, +as you have done to them, and measure back to you (as the Lord Jesus +promises they will), with the same measure with which you have measured +to them. In short, serving men, that you may rule them, and stooping +before them that you may conquer them. + +And if any of you are too proud to try this plan, and think it fairer to +drive men than to lead them, I can tell you of two persons who were not +as proud as you are, and were not ashamed to do what you are ashamed to +do--and yet they are two persons, before the least of whom you would hang +your head, and feel, as I am sure I should, a very small, and mean, and +pitiful person if I met them in the road. + +For the first, and by far the least of the two, is St. Paul. Now St. +Paul says this was the very plan by which he got influence over men, and +persuaded and converted them, and brought them home to God, by being +himself a servant to all men, and pleasing all men, being a Jew to the +Jews, and a Greek to the Greeks, and all things to all men, if by any +means he might save some. Giving up, giving way, taking trouble, putting +himself out of the way, as we say here, all day long, to win people to +love him, and trust him, and see that he really cared for them, and +therefore to be ready to listen to him. From what one can see of St. +Paul's manners, from his own Epistles, he must have been the most perfect +gentleman; a gentle man, civil, obliging, delicate minded, careful to +hurt no one's feelings; and when he had (as he had often) to say rough +things and deal with rough men, doing it as tenderly and carefully as he +could, like his Master the Lord Jesus Christ, lest he should break the +bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax. Which of us can read the +Epistle to Philemon (which to my mind is the most civil, pleasant, +kindly, gentlemanlike speech which I know on earth), without saying to +ourselves, "Ah, if we had but St. Paul's manners, St. Paul's temper, St. +Paul's way of managing people, how few quarrels there would be in this +noisy troublesome world." + +But I said that there was one greater than St. Paul who was not ashamed +to behave in the very same way, stooping to all, conciliating all. And +so there is--One whose shoes St. Paul was not worthy to stoop down and +unloose--and that is, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself--who ate and drank +with publicans and sinners, who went out into the highways and hedges, to +bring home into God's kingdom poor wretches whom men despised and cast +off. It was He who taught St. Paul to behave in the same way. May He +teach us to behave in the same way also! St. Paul learnt to discern +men's spirits, and feel for them, and understand them, and help them, and +comfort them, and at last to turn and change them whichever way he chose, +simply because he was full of the Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit of +God, proceeding both from the Father and the Son. + +For St. Paul says positively, that his reason for not pleasing himself, +but taking so much trouble to please other people, was because Christ +also pleased not Himself. "We that are strong," he says, "ought to bear +the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every man +please his neighbour for his good unto edification, for even Christ +pleased not Himself," (Rom. xv. 1-3.) And again, "We have a High Priest +who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities," (Heb. iv. 15). +So it was by stooping to men, that Christ learned to understand men, and +by understanding men He was able to save men. And again, St. Paul says, +"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the +form of God, and equal with God," yet--"made Himself of no reputation, +but took upon Him the form of a slave, and was made in the likeness of +man, and being found in fashion as a man, _humbled Himself_, and became +_obedient unto death_, even the death of the cross," (Phil. ii. 5, 9, +10). + +There, my friends--there was the perfect fulfilment of the great +law--_Stoop to conquer_. There was the reward of Christ's not pleasing +Himself. Christ stooped lower than any man, and therefore He rose again +higher than all men. He did more to please men than any man; and +therefore God was better pleased with Him than with all men, and a voice +came from Heaven, saying--This Person who stoops to the lowest depths +that He may understand and help those who were in the lowest deep--this +outcast who has not where to lay His head, slandered, blasphemed, spit +on, scourged, crucified, because He will help all, and feel for all, and +preach to all; "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," +(Matt. iii. 17). "The brightness of my glory,--the express image of my +person," (Heb. i. 3). + +My friends, this may seem to you a strange sermon, which began by talking +of railroads and steamships, and ends by talking of the death and the +glory of the Lord Jesus Christ; and you may ask what has the end of it to +do with the beginning? + +If you want to know, recollect that I began by saying that there was but +_One_ wisdom for earth or heaven, for man and for God; and that is the +wisdom which lies in _stooping to conquer_, as the Lord Jesus Christ did. +Think over that, and behave accordingly; and be sure, meanwhile, that +whenever you feel proud, and self-willed, and dictatorial, and inclined +to drive men instead of leading them, and to quarrel with them, instead +of trying to understand them and love them, and bring them round gently, +by appealing to their reason and good feeling, not to their fear of +you--then you are going not God's way, no, nor man's way either, but the +devil's way. You are going, not the way by which the Lord Jesus Christ +rose _to_ Heaven, but the way by which the devil fell _from_ Heaven, as +all self-willed proud men will fall. Proud and self-willed men will not +get done the things they want to be done; while the meek, those who are +gentle, and tender, and try to draw men as God does with the cords of _a +man_ and the bands of _love_, will prosper in this world and in the next; +they will see their heart's desire; they will inherit the land, and be +refreshed in the multitude of peace. + + + + +XIX. IT IS GOOD FOR THE YOUNG TO REJOICE. + + + "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in + the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the + sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will + bring thee into judgment."--ECCLESIASTES xi. 9. + +Some people fancy that in this text God forbids young people to enjoy +themselves. They think that the words are spoken ironically, and with a +sneer, as if to say, + +"Yes. Enjoy yourself if you will. Go your own way if you wish. Make a +fool of yourself if you are determined to do so. You will repent it at +last. You will be caught at last, and punished at last." + +Now, I cannot think that there would be in Scripture or in any word of +God a sneer so cruel and so unjust as that. For surely it would be +unjust of God, if after giving young people the power to be happy, He +then punished them for being happy, for using the very powers which He +had given them, obeying the very feelings which He had implanted in them, +enjoying the very pleasures which He had put in their way. God cannot be +a tempter, my friends. He does not surely send us into a world full of +traps and snares, and then punish us for being caught in the very snares +which He had set. God forbid. Let us never fancy such things of God the +heavenly Father, from whom comes every good and perfect gift. Let us +leave such fancies for soured and hard-hearted persons, who make a god in +their own likeness--a god of darkness and not of light--a grudger and not +a giver. And let us take this text literally and plainly as it stands, +and see whether we cannot learn from it a really wholesome lesson. + +"Rejoice! oh, young man, in thy youth." + +The Bible tells you to rejoice, therefore do so without fear. God has +given you health, strength, spirits, hope, the power of enjoyment. And +why, save but that you may enjoy them, and rejoice in your youth? He has +given you _more_ health, _more_ strength, more _spirits_, than you need +to earn your daily bread, or to learn your daily task. And why? To +enable you to _grow_ in body and in soul. And that you will only do if +you are happy. The human soul, says a wise man, is like a plant, and +requires _sunshine_ to make it grow and ripen. And the heavenly Father +has given you sunshine in your hearts that you may grow into hearty, +healthy-minded men. If young people have not sunshine enough, if they +are kept down and crushed in youth by sorrow, by anxiety, by fear, by +over-hard work, by too much study, by strict and cruel masters, by dark +and superstitious notions about God's anger, by over-scrupulousness about +this and that thing being sinful, then their souls and minds do not grow; +they become more or less stunted, unhealthy, unhappy, slavish, and mean +people in after-life, because they have not rejoiced in their youth as +God intended them to do. + +Remember this, you parents, and be sure that all harshness and cruelty to +your children, all terrifying of them, all over-working of them, body or +mind, all making them unhappy by requiring of them more than the plain +law of God requires; or by teaching them to dread, not to love, their +Father in heaven--All these will stunt and hurt their characters in after- +life; and all are, therefore, sins against their heavenly Father, who +willeth not that one little one should perish, and who will require a +strict account of each of us how we have brought up the children whom He +has committed to our charge. Let their hearts cheer them in the days of +their youth. They will have trouble enough, anxiety enough hereafter. Do +not you forestall the evil days for them. The more cheerful their growth +is the more heart and spirit they will have to face the trials and +sorrows of life when they come. + +But further, the text says to the young man, Walk in the ways of thy +heart. That is God's permission to free men, in a free country. You are +not slaves either to man or to God; and God does not treat you as slaves, +but as children whom He can trust. He says, Walk in the ways of thine +own heart. Do what you will, provided it be not wrong. Choose your own +path in life. Exert yourselves boldly to better yourselves in any path +you choose, which is not a path of dishonesty and sin. + +Again, says the text, Walk in the sight of thine eyes. As your bodies +are free, let your minds be free likewise. See for yourselves, judge for +yourselves. God has given you eyes, brains, understanding; use them. Get +knowledge for yourselves, get experience for yourselves. Educate and +cultivate your own minds. Live, as far as you can, a free, reasonable, +cheerful, happy life, enjoying this world, if you feel able to enjoy it. +But know thou, that for all these things, God will bring thee into +judgment. + +Ah! say some, there is the sting. How can we enjoy ourselves if we are +to be brought into judgment after all? + +My friends, before I answer that question, let me ask one. Do you look +on God as a taskmaster, requiring of you, as the Egyptians did of the +Jews, to make bricks all day without straw, and noting down secretly +every moment that you take your eyes off your work, that He may punish +you for it years hence when you have forgotten it--extreme to mark what +is done amiss? + +Or do you look on God as a Father who rejoices in the happiness of His +children?--Who sets them no work to do but what is good for them, and +requires them to do nothing without giving them first the power and the +means to do it?--A Father who knows our necessities before we ask for +help and a Saviour who is able and willing to give us help? If you think +of God in that former way as a stern taskmaster, I can tell you nothing +about Him. I know Him not; I find Him neither in the Bible, in the +world, nor in my own conscience and reason. He is not the God of the +Bible, the God of the Gospel whom I am commanded to preach to you. + +But if you think of God as a Father, as your Father in heaven, who +chastens you in His love that you may partake of His holiness, and of His +Son Jesus Christ as your Saviour, your Lord, who loves you, and desires +your salvation, body and soul--of Him I can speak; for He is the True and +only God, revealed by His Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and in His light I +can tell you to rejoice and take comfort, ever though He brings you into +judgment; for being your Father in heaven, He can mean nothing but your +good, and He would not bring you into judgment if that too was not good +for you. + +Now, you must remember that the judgment of which Solomon speaks here is +a judgment in _this_ life. The whole Book of Ecclesiastes, from which +the text is taken, is about _this_ life. Solomon says so specially, and +carefully. He is giving here advice to his son; and his doctrine all +through is, that a man's happiness or misery in _this_ life, his good or +bad fortune in _this_ life, depend almost entirely on his own conduct; +and, above all, on his conduct in youth. As a man sows he shall reap, is +his doctrine. + +Therefore, he says, in this very chapter, Do what if right, just because +it is right. It is sure to pay you in the long run, somehow, somewhere, +somewhen. Cast thy bread on the waters--that is, do a generous thing +whenever you have an opportunity--and thou shalt find it after many days. +Give a portion to seven, and also to eight, for thou knowest not what +evil shall be on the earth. Every action of yours will bear fruit. Every +thing you do, and every word you say, will God bring into judgment, +sooner or later. It will rise up against you, years afterwards, to +punish you, or it will rise up for you, years afterwards, to reward you. +It must be so, says Solomon; that is the necessary, eternal, moral law of +God's world. As you do, so will you be rewarded. If the clouds be full +of rain, they must empty themselves on the earth. Where the tree falls, +there it will lie. As we say in England, as you make your bed, so you +will lie on it. That does not (as people are too apt to think) speak of +what is to happen to us after we die. It speaks expressly and only of +what will happen before we die. It is the same as our English proverb. + +Therefore, he says, do not look too far forward. Do not be +double-minded, doing things with a mean and interested after-thought, +plotting, planning, asking, will this right thing pay me or not? He that +observeth the wind, and is too curious and anxious about the weather, +will not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. No; just +do the right thing which lies nearest you, and trust to God to prosper +it. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine +hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, this or that, or whether +they shall both be alike good. Thou knowest not, he says, the works of +God, who maketh all. All thou knowest is, that the one only chance of +success in life is to fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the +whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with +every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. + +Whether it be good, or whether it be evil. + +He does not say only that God will bring your evil deeds into judgment. +But that He will bring your good ones also, and your happiness and good +fortune in this life will be, on the whole, made up of the sum-total of +the good and harm you have done, of the wisdom or the folly which you +have thought and carried out. It _is_ so. You know it is so. When you +look round on other men, you see that on the whole men prosper very much +as they deserve. There are exceptions, I know. Solomon knew that well. +Such strange and frightful exceptions, that one must believe that those +who have been so much wronged in this life will be righted in the life to +come. Children suffer for the sins of their parents. Innocent people +suffer with the guilty. But these are the exceptions, not the rule. And +these exceptions are much more rare than we choose to confess. When a +man complains to you that he has been unfortunate, that the world has +been unjust to him, that he has not had fair play in life, and so forth, +in three cases out of four you will find that it is more or less the +man's own fault; that he has _deserved_ his losses, that is, earned them +for himself. I do not mean that the man need have been a wicked man--not +in the least. But he has been imprudent, perhaps weak, hasty, stupid, or +something else; and his faults, perhaps some one fault, has hampered him, +thrown him back, and God has brought him to judgment for it, and made it +punish him. And why? Surely that he may see his fault and repent of it, +and mend it for the time to come. + +I say, God may bring a man's fault into judgment, and let it punish him, +without the man being a bad man. And you, young people, will find in +after-life that you will have earned, deserved, merited, and worked out +for yourselves a great deal of your own happiness and misery. + +I know this seems a hard doctrine. People are always ready to lay their +misfortunes on God, on the world, on any and every one, rather than on +themselves. + +A bad education, for instance--a weakly constitution which some bring +into the world, with or without any fault of their own, are terrible +drawbacks and sore afflictions. The death of those near and dear to us, +of which we cannot always say, I have earned this, I have brought it on +myself. It is the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth Him good. + +But because misfortunes may come upon us without our own fault, that is +no reason why we should not provide against the misfortunes which will be +our own fault. Nay, is it not all the stronger reason for providing +against them, that there are other sorrows against which we cannot +provide? Alas! is there not misery horrible enough hanging over our +heads daily in this mortal life without our making more for ourselves by +our own folly? We shall have grief enough before we die without adding +to that grief the far bitterer torment of remorse! + +Oh, young people, young people, listen to what I say! You can be, you +will be, you must be, the builders of your own good or bad fortunes. On +_you_ it depends whether your lives shall be honourable and happy, or +dishonourable and sad. There is no such thing as luck or fortune in this +world. What is called Fortune is nothing else than the orderly and +loving providence of the Lord Jesus Christ, who orders all things in +heaven and earth, and who will, sooner or later, reward every man +according to his works. Just in proportion as you do the will of your +Father in heaven, just so far will doing His will bring its own blessing +and its own reward. + +Instead of hoping for good fortune which may never come, or fearing bad +fortune which may never come either, pray, each of you, for the Holy +Spirit of God, the Spirit of right-doing, which _is_ good fortune in +itself; good fortune in this world; and in the world to come, everlasting +life. Fear God and keep His commandments, and all will be well. For who +is the man who is master of his own luck? The Psalmist tells us, in +Psalm xv., "He that leadeth an uncorrupt life, and doeth the thing which +is right, and speaketh the truth from his heart." "He that backbiteth +not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a +reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is +contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord: he that sweareth to +his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to +usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent." + +Whoso doeth these things shall _never fall_. And as long as you are +doing those things, you may rejoice freely and heartily in your youth, +believing that the smile of God, who gave you the power of being happy, +is on your happiness; and that your heavenly Father no more grudges +harmless pleasure to you, than He grudges it to the gnat which dances in +the sunbeam, or the bird which sings upon the bough. For He is The +Father,--and what greater delight to a father than to see his children +happy, if only, while they are happy, they are _good_? + + + + +XX. GOD'S BEAUTIFUL WORLD.--A SPRING SERMON. + + + "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great: thou + art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light + as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: who + layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds + his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind."--Ps. civ. 1-3. + +At this delicious season of the year, when spring time is fast ripening +into summer, and every hedge, and field, and garden is full of life and +growth, full of beauty and fruitfulness; and we look back on the long +winter, and the boughs which stood bare so drearily for six months, as if +in a dream; the blessed spring with its green leaves, and gay flowers, +and bright suns has put the winter's frosts out of our thoughts, and we +seem to take instinctively to the warmth, as if it were our natural +element--as if we were intended, like the bees and butterflies, to live +and work only in the summer days, and not to pass, as we do in this +climate, one-third of the year, one-third of our whole lives, in mist, +cold, and gloom. Now, there is a meaning in all this--in our love of +bright, warm weather, a very deep and blessed meaning in it. It is a +sign to us where we come from--where God would have us go. A sign that +we came from God's heaven of light and beauty, that God's heaven of light +and beauty is meant for us hereafter. That love which we have for +spring, is a sign, that we are children of the everlasting Spring, +children of the light and of the day, in body and in soul; if we would +but claim our birthright! + +For you must remember that mankind came from a warm country--a country +all of sunshine and joy. Adam in the garden of Eden was in no cold or +severe climate, he had no need of clothes, not even of the trouble of +tilling the ground. The bountiful earth gave him all he wanted. The +trees over his head stretched out the luscious fruits to him--the shady +glades were his only house, the mossy banks his only bed. He was bred up +the child of sunshine and joy. But he was not meant to stay there. God +who brings good out of evil, gave man a real blessing when He drove him +out of the garden of Eden. Men were meant to fill the earth and to +conquer it, as they are doing at this day. They were meant to become +hardy and industrious--to be forced to use their hands and their heads to +the utmost stretch, to call out into practice all the powers which lay +ready in them. They were meant, in short, according to the great law of +God's world, to be made perfect through sufferings, and therefore it was +God's kindness, and not cruelty, to our forefathers, when He sent them +out into the world; and that He did not send them into any exceedingly +hot country, where they would have become utterly lazy and profligate, +like the negroes and the South Sea islanders, who have no need to work, +because the perpetual summer gives them their bread ready-made to their +hands. And it was a kindness, too, that God did not send our forefathers +out into any exceedingly cold country, like the Greenlanders and the +Esquimaux, where the perpetual winter would have made them greedy, and +stunted, and stupid; but that He sent us into this temperate climate, +where there is a continual change and variety of seasons. Here first, +stern and wholesome winter, then bright, cheerful summer, each bringing a +message and a lesson from our loving Father in heaven. First comes +winter, to make us hardy and daring, and industrious, and strips the +trees, and bares the fields, and takes away all food from the earth, and +cries to us with the voice of its storms, "He that will _not work_, +neither shall he eat." "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, +and be wise: who layeth up her meat in the summer, and provideth her food +against the time of frosts." And then comes summer, with her flowers and +her fruits, and brings us her message from God, and says to us poor, +slaving, hard-worn children of men, "You are not meant to freeze, and +toil, and ache for ever. God loves to see you happy; God is willing to +feed your eyes with fair sights, your bodies with pleasant food, to cheer +your hearts with warmth and sunshine as much as is good for you. He does +not grieve willingly, nor afflict the children of men. See the very bees +and gnats, how they dance and bask in the sunbeams! See the very +sparrows, how they choose their mates and build their nests, and enjoy +themselves as if they were children of the spring! And are not ye of +more value than many sparrows? you who can understand and enjoy the +spring, you men and women who can understand and enjoy God's fair earth +ten thousand times more than those dumb creatures can. It is for _you_ +God has made the spring. It is for _your_ sakes that Christ, the ruler +of the earth, sends light and fruitfulness, and beauty over the world +year by year. And why? Not merely to warm and feed your bodies, but to +stir up your hearts with grateful love to Him, the Blessed One, and to +teach you what you are to expect from Him hereafter." + +Ay, my friends, this is the message the spring and summer bring with +them--they are signs and sacraments from God, earnests of the everlasting +spring--the world of unfading beauty and perpetual happiness which is the +proper home of man, which God has prepared for those that love Him--the +world wherein there shall be no more curse, neither sorrow nor sighing, +but the Lord God and the Lamb shall be the light thereof; and the rivers +of that world shall be waters of life, and the trees of that world shall +be for the healing of the nations; and the children of the Lord God shall +see Him face to face, and be kings and priests to Him for ever and ever. +Therefore, I say, rejoice in spring time, and in the sights, and sounds, +and scents which spring time, as a rule, brings; and remember, once for +all, never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. Beauty is +God's hand-writing--God's image. It is a wayside sacrament, a cup of +blessing; welcome it in every fair landscape, every fair face, every fair +flower, and drink it in with all your eyes, and thank Christ for it, who +is Himself the well-spring of all beauty, who giveth all things richly to +enjoy. + +I think, this 104th Psalm is a fit and proper psalm to preach on in this +sweet spring time; for it speaks, from beginning to end, of God's earth, +and of His glory, and love, and wisdom which shines forth on this earth. +And though, at first sight, it may not seem to have much to do with +Christianity, and with the great mystery of our redemption, yet, I +believe and know that it has at bottom all and everything to do with it; +that this 104th Psalm is as full of comfort and instruction for Christian +men as any other Psalm in the whole Bible. I believe that without +feeling rightly and healthily about this Psalm, we shall not feel rightly +or healthily about any other part of the Bible, either Old or New +Testament. At all events God's inspired psalmist was not ashamed to +write this psalm. God's Spirit thought it worth while to teach him to +write this psalm. God's providence thought it worth while to preserve +this psalm for us in His holy Bible, and therefore I think it must be +worth while for _us_ to understand this psalm, unless we pretend to be +wiser than God. I have no fancy for picking and choosing out of the holy +Bible; _all_ Scripture is given by inspiration of God--all Scripture is +profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in +righteousness, and therefore this 104th Psalm is profitable as well as +the rest; and especially profitable to be explained in a few sermons as I +said before, at _this_ season when, if we have any eyes to see with, or +hearts to feel with, we ought to be wondering at and admiring God's +glorious earth, and saying, with the old prophet in my text, "Praise the +Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed +with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a +garment: who stretchest out the heavens as with a curtain: who layeth the +beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: +who walketh upon the wings of the wind . . . O Lord, how manifold are thy +works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy +riches" (Ps. civ. 1, 2, 3, 24). + +First, then, consider those wonderful words of the text, how God covers +Himself with light as it were with a garment. Truly there is something +most divine in light; it seems an especial pattern and likeness of God. +The Bible uses it so continually. Light is a pattern of God's wisdom; +for light sees into everything, searches through everything, and light is +a pattern of God's revelation, for light shows us everything; without +light our eyes would be useless--and so without God our soul's eyes would +be useless. It is God who teaches us all we know. It is God who makes +us understand all we understand. He opens the meaning of everything to +us, just as the light shews everything to us; and as in the sunlight only +we see the brightness and beauty of the earth, so it is written, "In thy +light, O God, we shall see light." Thus light is God's garment. It +shows Him to us, and yet it hides Him from us. Who could dare or bear to +look on God if we saw Him as He is face to face? Our souls would be +dazzled blind, as our eyes are by the sun at noonday. But now, light is +a pattern to us of God's glory; and therefore it is written, that light +_is_ God's garment, that God dwells in the light which no man can +approach unto. As a wise old heathen nobly said, "Light is the shadow of +God;" and so, as the text says, He stretches out those glorious blue +heavens above us as a curtain and shield, to hide our eyes from His +unutterable splendour, and yet to lift our souls up to Him. The vastness +and the beauty of those heavens, with all their countless stars, each one +a sun or a world in itself, should teach us how small we are, how great +is our Father who made all these. + +When we see a curtain, and know that it bides something beautiful behind +it, our curiosity and wonder is awakened, and we long all the more to see +what is behind that curtain. So the glory of those skies ought to make +us wonder and long all the more to see the God who made the skies. + +But again, the Psalmist says that God lays the beams of His chambers in +the waters, and makes the clouds His chariot, and walks upon the wings of +the wind! that He makes His angels the storms, and His ministers a +flaming fire. You must not suppose that the psalmist had such a poor +notion of the great infinite God, as to fancy that He could be in any one +_place_. God wants no chambers--even though they were built of the +clouds, arched with rainbows, as wide as the whole vault of heaven. He +wants no wind to carry Him--He carries all things and moves all things. +In Him they live, and move, and have their being. Yet Him--the heaven, +and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him! He is everywhere and no +_where_--for He is a Spirit; He is in all things, and yet He is no +_thing_--for He was before all things, and in Him all things consist. He +is the Absolute, the Uncreated, the Infinite, the One and the All. And +the old Psalmist knew that as well as we do, perhaps better. What, then, +did he mean by these two last verses? He meant, that in all those things +God was present--that the world was not like a machine, a watch, which +God had wound up at the creation, and started off to go of itself; but +that His Spirit, His providence, were guiding everything, even as at the +first. That those mists and rain came from Him, and went where He sent +them; that those clouds carried _His_ blessings to mankind; that when the +thunder shower bursts on one parish, and leaves the next one dry, it is +because God will have it so; that He brings the blessed purifying winds +out of His treasures, to sweeten and fatten the earth with the fresh +breath of life, which they have drunk up from the great Atlantic seas, +and from the rich forests of America--that they blow whither He thinks +best; that clouds and rain, wind and lightning, are His fruitful +messengers and His wholesome ministers, fulfilling His word, each +according to their own laws, but also each according to His especial +providence, who has given the whole earth to the children of men. This +is the meaning of the Psalmist, that the weather is not a dead machine, +but a living, wonderful work of the Spirit of God, the Lord and giver of +life. Therefore we may dare to pray for fair and seasonable weather; we +may dare to pray against blight and tempest--humbly, because we know not +what is altogether good for us,--but boldly and freely, because we know +that there is a living, loving God, governing the weather, who does know +what is good for us; who has given us His only begotten Son, and will +with Him also give us all things. + +And so ends my first sermon on the 104th Psalm. + + + + +XXI. WONDERS OF THE SEA; OR DAILY MIRACLES. + + + "Thou coverest the earth with the deep sea as with a garment."--PSALM + civ. 6. + +When we look at a map of the world, one of the first things that strikes +us as curious is, how little dry land there is, and how much sea. More +than half the world covered with deep, wild, raging, waste salt water! It +seems very strange. Of what use to man can all that sea be? And yet the +Scripture says that the whole earth has God given to the children of men. +And therefore He has given to us the sea which is part of the earth. But +of what use is the sea to us? + +We are ready to say at first sight, "How much better if the world had +been all dry land? There would have been so much more space for men to +spread on--so much more land to grow corn on. What is the use of all +that sea?" But when we look into the matter, we shall find, that every +word of God stands true, in every jot and tittle of it--that we ought to +thank God for the sea as much as for the land--that David spoke truly +when he said, in this Psalm civ., that the great and wide sea also is +full of God's riches. + +For in the first place--What should we do without water? Not only to +drink, but to feed all trees, and crops which grow. Those who live in a +dry parish know well the need of water for the crops. In fact, strange +as it may seem, out of water is made wood. You know, perhaps, that +plants are made out of the salts in the soil--but not only out of +salts--they are made also out of water. Every leaf and flower is made up +only of those two things--salts from the soil, and water from the sky. +Most wonderful! But so it is. Water is made up of several very +different things. The leaves and flowers, when they drink up water, keep +certain parts of water, and turn them into wood; and the part of the +water which _they_ do not want, is just the part which _we_ do want, +namely, fresh air, for water is full of fresh air. And therefore the +plants breathe out the fresh air through their leaves, that we may +breathe it into our lungs. More and more wonders, you see, as we go on! + +But where does all the rain water and spring water come from? From the +clouds. And where do the clouds come from? From the _Sea_. The sea +water is drawn up by the sun's heat, evaporated, as we call it, into the +air, and makes mist, and that mist grows together into clouds. And these +clouds empty their blessed life-giving treasures on the land--to feed +man, and beast, and herb. + +But what is it which governs these clouds, and makes them do their +appointed work? The Psalmist tells us, "At Thy rebuke they flee; at the +voice of Thy thunder they are afraid." He gives the same account of it +which wise men now-a-days give. It is God, he says, and the Providence +of God, which raises the clouds, and makes them water the earth. And the +means which He employs is thunder. Now this is strictly true. We all +know that thunder gathers the clouds together, and brings rain: but we do +not all know that the power which makes the thunder, which we call +electricity, is working all around us everywhere. It is only when it +bursts out, in flame and noise, which we call lightning and thunder, that +we perceive it--but it is still there, this wonderful thing called +electricity, for ever at work--giving the clouds their shape, making them +fly with vast weights of water through the sky, and then making them pour +down that water in rain. + +But there is another deep meaning in those words of the Psalmist's about +thunder. He tells us that at the voice of God's thunder the waters are +afraid--that He has set them their bounds which they shall not pass, nor +turn again to cover the earth. And it is true. Also that it is this +same thunder power which makes dry land--for there is thunder beneath us, +and lightning too, in the bowels of the earth. Those who live near +burning mountains know this well. They see not only flames, but _real_ +lightning, _real_ thunder playing about the burning mouths of the fiery +mountains--they hear the roaring, the thundering of the fire-kingdom +miles beneath their feet, under the solid crust of the earth. And they +see, too, whole hills, ay, whole counties, sometimes, heaved up many feet +in a single night, by this thunder under ground--and islands thrown up in +the midst of the sea--so that where there was once deep water is now dry +land. + +Now, in this very way, strange as it may seem, almost all dry land is +made. This whole country of England once lay at the bottom of the sea. +You may now see shells and sea fishes bedded in high rocks and hill tops. +But it was all heaved up by the thunder which works under ground. There +are places in England where I have seen the marks of the fire on the +rocks; and the solid stone crushed, and twisted, and melted by the vast +force of the fire which thrust up the land from beneath--and thus the +land was heaved up from under the waters, and the sea fled away and left +its old bed dry--firm land and high cliffs--and as the Psalmist says, "At +the voice of God's thunder the waters were afraid. Thou hast set them +their bounds which they shall not pass, neither turn again to cover the +earth." + +Wonderful as all this may seem, all learned men know that it is true. And +this one thing at least it ought to teach us, what a wonderful and +Almighty God we have to deal with, whose hand made all these things--and +what a loving and merciful God, who makes not only the wind and the sea, +and the thunder and the fire kingdoms obey Him, but makes their violence +bring blessings to mankind. The fire kingdom heaves up dry land for men +to dwell on--the thunder brings mellow rains--the winds sweep the air +clean, and freshen all our breath--and feed the plants with rich air +drawn from far forests in America, and from the wild raging seas--the sea +sends up its continual treasures of rain--everywhere are harmony and +fitness, beauty and use in all God's works. He has made nothing in vain. +All His works praise Him, and surely, also, His saints should give thanks +to Him! Oh! my friends--every thunder shower--every fresh south-west +breeze, is a miracle of God's mercy, if we could but see thoroughly into +it. + +Consider, again, another wonderful proof of God's goodness in what we +call the Tides of the sea. God has made the waters so, that they can +never stand still--the sea is always moving. Twice a day it rises, and +twice a day it sinks and ebbs again all along the shore. It would take +too long to explain why this is--but it is enough to say, that it must be +so, from the way in which God has made the earth and the water. So that +it did not come from accident. God planned and intended it all when He +made the sea at first. His all-foreseeing love settled it all. Now of +what use are these tides? They keep the sea from rotting, by keeping it +in a perpetual stir. And the sea, as it ebbs and flows, draws the air +after it, and so keeps the air continually moving and blowing, therefore +continually fresh, and continually carrying in it rich food for plants +from one country to another. There are other reasons why the winds blow, +which I have not time to mention now; but they all go to prove the same +thing.--How wisely and well the Psalmist said, "Praise the Lord upon +earth ye rivers and all deeps. Fire and hail, snow and vapour, wind and +storm, fulfilling His word" (Ps. cxlviii.). + +Another use of the sea, again, is the vast quantity of food which it +gives. Labouring men who live inland have no notion of the wonderful +fruitfulness of those seemingly barren wastes of water, or how many +millions of human beings live mostly on fish. When we consider those +great banks of Newfoundland, where fish enough perhaps to feed all +England are caught every season, and sent over the whole world; our own +herring fisheries, where thousands of millions of fish are caught +yearly--and all the treasures of food and the creeping things +innumerable, both small and great beasts, of which the Psalmist speaks; +when we consider all this, we shall begin to bless God for the sea, as +much as for the land. + +"There go the ships," too, says the Psalmist, in this 104th Psalm, "and +there goeth that leviathan, whom Thou hast made to take his pastime +therein." This leviathan is no doubt the whale--the largest of all +living things--often a hundred feet long, and as thick as a house. And +yet even of him, the monster of all monsters, does God's Word stand true, +that He has put all things under man's feet, that all things are in +subjection to man--the fish of the sea, and whatsoever walketh through +the paths of the sea. For even the great whale cannot stand before the +cunning of man--God has taught man the means of killing even it, and +turning it to his own use. The whalebone which we use, the oil which we +burn in lamps, comes from the bodies of those enormous creatures which +wander in the far seas like floating houses, ten thousand miles away. + +But again, it is promised in the Bible, that in the new heavens and new +earth there shall be no more sea. When the sea has done its work, God +will have done with it--and then there will be no more division between +nation and nation--no more long dangerous voyages from one country to +another. + +And strange to say--the sea is even now at work bringing about this very +thing--destroying itself--filling itself up. Day by day the sea eats +away its own shore, and banks, and carries down their remains to make its +own bed shallower and shallower, till shoals and new lands arise where +there was deep sea before. So that if the world lasts long enough, the +sea by its own laws will be filled up, and dry land appear everywhere. + +The bottom of the sea is full, too, of countless millions of strange +insects--and yet even in these strange insects there is use; for not only +do they give food to countless millions of fishes, but after a time they +turn into stone, and form fruitful soil. There are now in many parts of +the world great beds of rock and earth, many feet thick, and miles long, +made up entirely out of the skeletons and shells of little insects which +lived at the bottom of the sea thousands of years ago. + +Are not these things wonderful? Well, then, remember who made these +wonders? who keeps them working? Your Father--and the Son of God, and +the Spirit of God. The Son of God--ay, think of Him--He by whom all +things were made--He by whom all things consist--He to whom all power is +given in heaven and earth. He came down and died on the cross for you. +He calls to you to come and serve Him loyally and gratefully--dare you +refuse Him--The Maker and King of this glorious world? He died for you. +He loves you. He condescends to beseech you to come to Him that you may +have life. Alas! what can you expect if you will not come to Him? How +will you escape if you turn your back on your Maker, and despise your own +Creator when He stoops to entreat you? Oh folly--Oh madness--Oh utter +shame and ruin! + +There are some people who do not like science and philosophy, because +they say, If you try to explain to people, and make them understand the +wonderful things around them, they will stop thinking them wonderful, and +so you will spoil their reverence, and "familiarity will breed contempt." +Now, no doubt a little learning is a dangerous thing, when it makes some +shallow conceited fellow fancy he knows all about everything. But I can +truly say, that the more you really do know about this earth, the more +your astonishment at it will grow--for the _more_ you understand about +trees and animals, clouds and seas, the _less_ you will find you +understand about them. The more you read about them and watch them, the +more infinitely and inexpressibly wonderful you find them, and the more +you get humbled and awestruck at the boundless wisdom and love of Our +Father in Heaven, and Christ the Word of God who planned and made this +wondrous world, and the Holy Spirit of God who is working this wondrous +world. I tell you, my friends, that as St. Paul says, "If a man will be +wise, let him become a fool that he may be wise." Let him go about +feeling how short-sighted, and stupid, and ignorant he is--and how +infinitely wise Christ the Word of God is, by whom all things were made, +to whom all belong. Let him go about wondering day and night, always +astonished more and more, as everything he sees gives him some fresh +proof of the glory of God; till he falls down on his knees and cries out +with the Psalmist, "Lord, what is man that Thou art mindful of him, or +the son of man, that Thou so regardest him?" When I consider Thy +Heavens, even the work of Thine hands, I say, What is man? and yet Thou +madest man to have dominion over the works of Thine hands, and hast put +all things in subjection under his feet--the fowl of the air and the +fishes of the sea, and whatsoever walketh through the paths of the seas. +O Lord, our Governor, how excellent is Thy name in all the world. In +comparison of Thee what is man's wisdom? What is man's power? Thou +alone art glorious, for by Thee are all things, and for Thee they were +made, and are created, that Thou mightest rejoice in the works of Thy own +hands, and bless the creatures which Thy love has made! + + + + +XXII. THE SAILOR'S GOD. PREACHED TO SAILORS AT A LITTLE FISHING VILLAGE +IN CORNWALL, 1843. + + + "They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in + great waters; these men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in + the deep."--Ps. cvii. 23, 24. + +My brothers--for though I do not know most of you even by name, yet you +are still my brothers, for His sake in whose name you were baptized--my +brothers, it has been often said that seamen and fishermen ought to be +the most religious men in the country. And why? Because they, more than +any set of men, see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. + +The cotton-spinner, who is shut up in a factory all day long, with +nothing before his eyes but his loom, and nothing to look at beyond his +own house but dingy streets and smoking furnace chimneys--he, poor man, +sees very little of the works of the Lord. _Man_ made the world of +streets and shops and machinery in which that poor workman lives and +dies. What wonder is it if he forgets the God who made him--the God who +made the round world, and set it so fast that it should not be moved, and +has given the sea its bounds that it should not overflow them at any +time? How much better off are you seamen than such a man as that! + +And you are better off too, even, than most field labourers and farmers. +They are not shut up in towns, it is true; they have God's beautiful +earth to till and keep: but they are _too safe on shore_! Yes; it may +seem a strange thing to say; but you ought to thank God that your trade +is a dangerous one--you have more to put you in mind of God than the +labouring man! + +And why? In the first place, as I said, fishermen and sailors see more +of the wonderful works of God than any other set of men. Man may cut and +change the earth--mining and quarrying and building--till it hardly looks +like God's earth, but he cannot change the sea! There it is, just as God +made it at first. Millions of rivers have run into it, yet it is not +over full; cliffs have been wearing away and falling into it for six +thousand years, yet is it not filled up. Millions of vessels have been +sailing over it, yet they have left no mark upon it; it seems +unchangeable, like God who made it. What is the use of my praising the +sea to you? Do you not all know it, and fear it, and love it too? and +does it not put you in mind of God who made it? who made that mighty +water for the use of men, and filled it with thousands of different kinds +of fishes, and weeds, and wonderful things for your use and comfort; and +who has made it so strong that it shall keep you always in awe and fear +and watchfulness, looking to God to save you--and yet so gentle and calm +that you can sail upon its bosom, and there find food for your families. +Which of you, who has any godly heart in him, can help feeling, sometimes +at least when at sea, that he is seeing the wonderful works of God! + +I said that you ought to thank God that your trade was a dangerous one, +and I said that the sea should always keep you in fear and watchfulness, +and looking to God to preserve you. Now, do you not see how these two +sayings go together, and make each other plain. You seamen and fishermen +are in continual danger; your lives are in your hands every moment--the +belaying of a sheet, the strength of a bit of canvas, the toughness of a +deal board, may settle your fate in a moment, and make all the difference +between life and death. If they are sound, you may go back to a happy +home, and see wife and children coming to meet you when you run on shore +at morning from your honest labour; and if they fail--if that weak +cordage, and these planks, and thinner canvas, on which your lives +depend, do but give way, what is left for you the next moment? what but a +grave in the deep, deep sea, and your wives widows and your children +orphans, and your bodies devoured by ugly creeping things, and your souls +gone--gone where? My good men--you who sit around me now so strong and +full of life and skill and happiness--where would your souls be if you +were drowned at sea to-morrow? + +What a question! Oh, ask it yourselves honestly! I have been out in +gales myself, and I cannot understand how you can go out, in thirty feet +of timber, upon that mighty sea, with the wind howling over your heads +like a death-bell, and the great hungry waves chasing you for miles, each +one able and willing to swallow you up into the deep, and the gulls +screaming over you as if they were waiting to feed upon your floating +carcases, and you alone, in a tiny boat, upon that waste, howling +wilderness of waters!--I cannot understand, I say, how, when a man is in +such a case as that, day after day, year after year, he can forget his +God, the only friend who can save him from the sea! the only friend who +can send him safe out to his work in the evening, and bring him home safe +to his wife at morning. One would think that when you went down to the +shore in the morning, you would say, "Oh, God! without whose help I am no +stronger than a piece of sea-weed floating up and down, take care of me! +Take care of my wife and my children; and forgive me my sins, and do not +punish me by calling me away this night to answer for them all!" And +when you come home at night, you would say, "Oh, God! who hast kept me +safe all this day, what can I do to show how thankful I am to Thee!" Ay! +what _can_ you do to show how thankful you are to God for His care? What +_ought_ you to do to show your thankfulness to Him? What _must_ you do +to show your thankfulness to Him? He has told you. "If you love me, He +says, keep my commandments. Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with +thy God." + +These, my friends, are the holy and thankful thoughts which ought to be +in your hearts every day and hour. This is the thought which God meant +to put into your hearts when He made sailors of you, and brought you into +the world, by the sea-side, to take up your business in great waters. You +might have been born in Bristol or Liverpool or London, and never seen +anything but streets and houses, and man's clumsy work. But God has been +very good to you. He has brought you up here, in this happy West +country, where you may see His wonderful works day and night; where you +ought never to forget that you have a Father in heaven who made the sea, +and who keeps you safe at sea by night and day. God has given you a +great deal. He has given you two books to read--the book of God's Word, +the Bible, and the book of God's earth, the sky and sea and land, which +is above you and below you and around you day and night. If you can read +and understand them properly, you will find in them everything which you +want; you may learn from them to be holy in this world and happy in the +next. God has given you, too, fathers, mothers, wives, children, a +comfortable home, a holy trade--the same which the apostles followed. God +has given you England for your country, and the West country--the best +place in England for your home. God has given you a good Queen, and good +magistrates and landlords. God has given you health and strength, and +seamanship, and clear heads and stout hearts. And God has made you +seamen and fishermen, and given you a business in which you can see God's +mighty power and wisdom day and night, and feel Him taking care of you +when you cannot take care of yourselves. + +Therefore you ought to thank God that yours is a dangerous business, +because it teaches you to trust in God alone for safety. And what are +you to give Him in return? What does God require of you? You cannot pay +Him back again for all His mercies, for they are past counting, but you +must pay Him back all you can. And what must you pay Him back? First, +you must trust in God; for he who comes to God and wishes to walk with +God through life, as a good man should, must believe that there is a God, +and that He will reward those who look to Him. + +I never heard of a sailor who did not _believe_ in God; for how can a man +look at the sea, and not say to himself, _God_ made the sea! But I have +seen a great many sailors who did not _trust_ in God. As long as it is +fine weather, and everything goes right, they will forget God, and fancy +that it is their own seamanship, and not God alone, which keeps their +boats afloat, and their own skill in fishing, and not God alone, which +sends the shoals of fish into their nets; and so they are truly +fine-weather sailors--men who are only fit for calm seas and light +breezes, when they can take care of themselves without God's help; but +when a squall comes their hearts change, by God's mercy. For when a man +has done all he can to save himself, and all he can do is no use, and his +nets are adrift, and his boat on her beam ends, and the foaming rocks are +on his lee, then he comes to his senses at last, and prays. Why did he +not pray before? Why did he not save himself from all that misery and +trouble and danger by thanking God for taking care of him, and praying to +God to take care of him still. "Foolish men are plagued for their +offences, and because of their wickedness. They that go down to the sea +in ships, and occupy their business on great waters; these men see the +works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep; for at His word the +stormy wind ariseth which lifteth up the waves thereof; they are carried +up to heaven, and down again into the deep; their soul melteth away +because of the trouble; they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken +man, and are at their wit's end." And justly they are punished for +forgetting God. God made the calm as well as the storm. Could they not +remember that? But look at God's mercy; for when they cry unto the Lord +in their trouble, He delivers them out of all their distress. For He +makes the storm to cease, so that the waves are still; then are they glad +because they are at rest, and so God brings them to the harbour where +they would be. + +Is there an old man sitting here who has not had this happen to him? And +what did you _do_, my friend, when God had saved you out of that danger? +It is easy to tell what you _ought_ to have done; you ought to have gone +home and fallen on your knees, and prayed to God; you ought to have said, +Oh, Lord, I am a miserable, foolish sinner, who can only remember Thee +when Thou art angry; an ungrateful son, who only thinks of his father +when he beats him! Oh, God, forgive me, I ought to have trusted in Thee +before! I deserved all my danger and punishment and more. I did not +deserve to be pardoned and saved from it! I deserve to be at the bottom +of the sea at this moment. But forgive me, forgive me, loving and +merciful Father, for the sake of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, who died on +the cross that I might be saved from death! + +And when you had prayed thus, the next thing you ought to have asked +yourself was--What does God require of me? how can I try to pay Him +back--how can I show that I am thankful? My good friends, what does God +require of you? "To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly +with your God." I told you He required of you first to trust in Him at +all hours, in all weathers. This is the next thing which He requires of +you--To do justly, to cheat no man, not in the price of a pilchard; to +love mercy; to love your neighbours, as Christ loved you; to help your +neighbours, as Christ helped you and all mankind, by dying to save you; +and as Christ has helped you, night after night, when you might have been +buried in the waves, if Christ had not prayed for you that you might have +time to repent, and bring forth fruits fit for repentance. To love +mercy; to forgive every man who hurts you, for they are all Christian men +and your brothers. Christ loved every one! Why should not you? If your +wife or friend loved anything, you would be kind to it for their sakes; +and so, if you really love God, and are thankful to Him for all His mercy +and kindness, you will love every man you meet, for God's sake, who loved +them and gave His Son for them. + +"To walk humbly with your God." That is the beginning and end of all--you +must be humble; you must confess that you are foolish, and God alone is +wise; that you are weak, and God alone is strong; that you are poor +fishermen, whom any squall may drown, and that God is the Great, Loving, +Almighty God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea and all that is +therein, and who helps all those who put their trust in Him. This is +what God asks you to do in return for all He has done for you! To pray +to Him, to praise Him, to put your trust in Him, to keep His commandments +like thankful, humble, obedient, loving children. They who do these +things, and only they, shall never fail. By night and day, in summer and +winter, in storm and calm, in health and sickness, in richness and +poverty, God will be with them. Christ will be with them. He sat in a +fisherman's boat once, on the sea of Tiberias, and He will sit in your +boats if you will but ask Him. He will steer you, He will save you, He +will take care of your wives and children when you are far away, and He +will bring you through the troublesome waves of this mortal life, so +that, having faith for your anchor, and hope for your sail, and charity +for your crew, you may at last land on the happy shore of everlasting +life, there to live with God, world without end. God grant it may be so! + +My good brothers--for I am a Christian like you, and an Englishman like +you, and a west countryman like you--I thank our Father in heaven that He +has brought me from the other end of England, and put this message into +my mouth, to remind you of who you are--that _you_ are the men who see +the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep; and that God will say +to every one of you at the day of judgment,--I taught you all this, I +gave you all this, I did all this for _you_, what have you done for _Me_ +in return? + +Go home--read over these verses in 107th Psalm, and think over what I +have said. Do it to-night, for the weather has broken up--there are +gales coming. Which of you can say that he will be alive next Sunday? + + + + +XXIII. THE GOOD SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST. + + + "Thou therefore endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."--2 + TIMOTHY ii. 3. + +Suppose a young man went of his own will for a soldier; was regularly +sworn in to serve the Queen; took his bounty; wore the Queen's uniform; +ate her bread; learnt his drill; and all that a soldier need learn, as +long as peace lasted. But suppose that, as soon as war came, and his +regiment was ordered on active service, he deserted at once, and went off +and hid himself. What should you call such a man? You would call him a +base and ungrateful coward, and you would have no pity on him, if he was +taken and justly punished. + +But suppose that he did a worse thing still. Suppose that the enemy, the +Russians say, invaded England, and the army was called out to fight them; +and suppose this man of whom I speak, be he soldier or sailor, instead of +fighting the enemy, deserted over to them, and fought on their side +against his own country, and his own comrades, and his own father and +brothers, what would you call that man? No name would be bad enough for +him. If he was taken, he would be hanged without mercy, as not only a +deserter but a traitor. And who would pity him or say that he had not +got his just deserts? + +Now, for God's sake and your own sakes consider. Are not all young +people, when they are old enough to choose between right and wrong, if +they choose what is wrong and live bad lives instead of good ones, very +like this same deserter and traitor? + +For are you not all Christ's soldiers, every one of you? Did not Christ +enlist every one of you into His army, that, as the baptism service says, +you might fight manfully under His banner against sin, the world, and the +devil,--in one word, against all that is wrong and bad? And now when you +are old enough to know that you are Christ's soldiers, what will you +deserve to be called, if instead of fighting on Christ's side against +what is good, you forget you are in His service? What are you but +deserters from Christ's banner and army, traitors to Christ's cause? + +But some may say, "My case is not like that soldier's. I did not enter +Christ's service of my own free will. My parents put me into it when I +was an infant, without asking my leave. I was not christened of my own +will. My parents had me christened before I knew any thing about it! I +had no choice!" + +Is it so? Do you know what your words mean? If they mean anything, they +mean that you had rather _not_ have been christened, because you are now +expected to behave as a christened man should. Now is there any one of +you who dare say, "I wish I had not been christened?" + +Not one! Then if you dare not say that; if you are content to have been +christened, why are you not content to do what christened people should? +If you are content to have been christened, you are christened people now +of your own free will, and are bound to act accordingly. + +But why were you christened? not merely because your parents chose, but +because it was their duty. Every child ought to be christened, because +every child belongs to Christ. Every child is in debt to Christ,--every +child is bound to serve Christ. + +In debt to Christ, you say? Certainly, from the moment you are born, and +before that too. You are in debt to Him since you were born, for every +good thought and feeling which ever came into your hearts and minds, for +He put them there. And will any of you answer, "Then I wish He had not +put them there, if they are to bring me into debt to Him, and force me to +serve Him. I don't wish, of course, that I had been bad; but I wish that +I had been neither good nor bad. I wish I had had no immortal soul, +which is bound to serve Christ." + +Now does any man of you wish that really? Dare any of you wish that you +were like the beasts, without conscience, without honour, without shame, +without knowing right from wrong, without any life after death, without +being able even to _talk_--for mind, without immortal souls men could not +_speak_. The beasts cannot talk to each other; reasonable speech belongs +to our souls, not to our bodies. Then if you are glad that you have +souls, and are better than the dumb beasts, you confess that you feel in +debt to Christ, and are bound to serve Him. For who gave you your souls +but Christ? + +But even if you had had no souls, you would have been in debt to Christ, +and bound to serve Him. "What for?" you ask. Why, for life itself. How +did you come here? Who gave you life? Who brought you into the world? +Who but Christ, by whom all things were made, and you among the rest? Who +gave you food? Who made every atom of food grow which you ate since you +were born? Who made the air you breathe, the water which you drink, the +wool and cotton which clothes you? Who but Christ? Do you not know that +you cannot even breathe a breath of air, unless Christ first makes the +air, and then gives your lungs life to breathe the air? and yet you +cannot understand that you are in debt to Christ, and have been eating +His bread and living on His bounty ever since you were born? + +And mind, all this while I have not said one word about the greatest debt +of all which you owe to the Lord Jesus Christ, even His own life, which +He gave for you! Only think but once that for _your_ sakes the Lord was +crucified--for _your_ sakes He died the most horrible, painful, shameful +death. And then say, Are you not in debt to Him? "Greater love has no +man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." If any mere +man had died for your sake, would you not love him--would you not feel +yourself in debt to him, a deeper debt than you can ever repay? Then +Christ died for you--how can you be more deeply in debt to any one than +to Him? + +You have now no _right_ to choose between Christ and the devil, because +Christ has chosen you already--no right to choose between good and bad, +because God, the good God Himself, has chosen you already, and has been +taking care of you, and heaping you with blessings ever since you were +born. + +And why did Christ choose you? As I have told you, that you may fight +with Him against all that is bad. Jesus Christ's work at which He works +for ever in heaven and in earth, is to root out all that is bad, all sin, +all misery; and He will reign, and He will fight till all His enemies, +even Death itself, are put under His feet and destroyed. And Christ +expects you and me to help Him. He has chosen you and me, and all +Christian people, to fight against what is bad, and to put it down and +root it out as far as we can wherever we find it; and therefore, first, +to root it out of our own hearts and lives; for while we are bad +ourselves we cannot make others good. But if we go on doing bad and +wrong things, are we fighting on Christ's side? No, we are fighting on +the devil's side, and helping the devil against God. + +Do you fancy that I am saying too much? I suspect some do. I suspect +some say in their hearts, "He is too hard on us. _We_ are not like that +traitorous soldier. If an English soldier went over to the enemy, and +fought against the English, and killed Englishmen, _that_ of course would +be too bad; but we do not wish to harm any one, much less our neighbours. +If we do wrong, it is ourselves at most that we harm. If we do wrong, it +is only we that shall suffer for it. Why does he talk as if we were +robbers or murderers, or had a spite against our neighbours? We do not +wish to hurt any one, we do not want to help the devil." + +Now, my friends, if any of you say that, do you not say first what is not +true? and next do you not know that it is not true? + +First, It is not true that by doing wrong you hurt no one but yourself. +Every wrong thing which any man does, every wrong way into which he runs, +is certain sooner or later to hurt his neighbours. The worse man a man +is, the worse for those who have to do with him. You know it is your own +case. You know that bad people hurt you, and make you unhappy; and that +good people do you good and make you happy. You know that bad example +does you harm and good example does you good. Think for yourselves--use +your own common sense. Recollect what you know, what has happened to you +again and again. You know that if any one uses bad language before you, +you are tempted to use bad language too. If any one quarrels with you, +you are tempted to quarrel with him. You know that if parents do wrong +things before their children, the children learn to copy them. It is +nonsense to talk of a man keeping his sins to himself. No man does, and +no man can. Out of the abundance of a man's heart his mouth speaks; and +a bad tree will bring forth bad fruit. If there are bad thoughts in your +head, they will come out in bad words. If there are bad tempers in your +heart, they will come out in bad and unkind and dishonest actions. You +may as well try to keep in fire, as to keep in sin. It will break out, +and it will burn whatever it touches. And if you, or I, or any one does +wrong in any thing, we shall surely hurt some one or other by it. If +you, or I, or any one is worse than he ought to be, we shall make the +parish we live in worse than it ought to be. You know that it is so. Who +made you different from the rest of the world? If any body else's sins +are harmful, who will make your sins harmless? Not the devil, for he +wishes to see as much harm done as possible. And not God, for He will +not be so cruel as to let your sin prosper and go unpunished, as it would +if it did not make people hate it, by feeling the bad effects of it. + +My good friends, if you by doing wrong hurt other people, and make other +people unhappy, are you doing Christ's work or the devil's? Are you +fighting for Christ, who wishes to make all good, or for the devil, who +wishes to make all bad? Are you Christ's faithful soldier and servant, +or are you a traitor to Christ who has gone over to the devil's side, and +is helping the devil to make this poor world (which is bad enough +already) worse than it is? + +Oh, think of this now, while you have time before you. Remember all that +Christ has done for you, and remember that all He asks of you in return +is to do for Him nothing but good, which is good for you as well as for +your neighbours. The devil's wages now are shame, discontent, +unhappiness, perhaps poverty, perhaps sickness, certainly punishment as +traitors to Christ after we die. Christ's wages are love, joy, peace, +the answer of a good conscience, the respect and love of all good men, as +long as we live, and after death, life everlasting. Choose; will you be +traitors or deserters, and serve the worst of all masters, the King of +Hell, or be honest, honourable, and brave men, and serve the best of all +masters, the King of Heaven, the Lord of Life, and love, and goodness +without bound, whose ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are +peace? + + + + +XXIV. HOLY COMMUNION; CHRIST AND THE SINNER. + + + "Have mercy upon, me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness; + according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my + transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me + from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever + before me. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a + contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."--PSALM li. 1, 2, 3, 17. + +This Psalm was written by David when he was sorrowing for sin, and if +there are any such among you, my dear friends, let me speak a few words +to you. Would to God that I had the tongue of St. Paul to speak to you +with--though even when he preached some mocked, as it will be to the end. +But if to one of you God has brought home His truth, then to that one +conscience-stricken sinner I will say, "You confess with David that all +your sorrows are your own fault. Thank God that He has taught you so +much." + +But what will you do to be saved from your sins? "I cannot wait," you +say in your heart, "to go home and begin leading a new life. I will do +that, please God, but I want to know at once that I am forgiven. I want +to be saved. I cannot save myself. I cannot save myself from hell +hereafter, or from this miserable sinful life, nearly as bad as hell +here. Oh! wretched being that I am, who shall deliver me from the body +of this death?" + +Friend, dost thou not know it is written, "Believe in the Lord Jesus +Christ, and thou shalt be saved." + +"_Ah yes_!" _says the sinner_, "_I have been hearing that all my life_, +_and much good it has done me_! _Look at me_, _I want something more +than those words about Christ_, _I want Christ Himself to save me if He +can_." + +Ah, my brother!--poor sinner! thou hast never believed in Christ, thou +hast only believed _about_ Christ. There was the fault. But Christ +Himself will save thee, though thou hast been the worst of reprobates, He +will save thee. Only one thing, He _will_ have thee answer first. "Dost +thou wish to be saved from the _punishment_ of thy sins, or from the sins +themselves?" + +"_From my sins_--_from my sins_," says the man who truly repents. "_They +are what I hate_, _even while I commit them_. _I hate and despise +myself_, _I dare look neither God nor man in the face_, _and yet I go on +doing the very things I loathe the next minute_. _Oh_, _for some one to +save me from my own ill-temper_, _my own bitter tongue_, _my own +laziness_, _my own canting habits_, _my own dishonesty_, _my own +lustfulness_. _But who will save me from them_? _who will change me and +make a new creature of me_? _Oh_, _for a sign from heaven that I can get +rid of these bad habits_! _I hate them_, _and yet I love them_. _I long +to give them up_, _and yet_, _if some one stronger than me does not have +mercy on me_, _I shall go and do them again to-morrow_. _I am longing to +do wrong now_, _and yet I long not to do wrong_. _Oh_, _for a sign from +heaven_!" + +Poor sinner!--My brother! _there_ is a sign from heaven for thee! On +that table it stands. A sign that Christ's blood was shed to wash out +thy sins, a sign that Christ's blood will feed thee, and give thy spirit +strength to cast away and hate thy sins. Come to Holy Communion and +claim thy share in Christ's pardon for the past, in Christ's strength for +the future. + +"_What_!" says the sinner, "_I come to the Sacrament_! _I of all men the +most unfit_! _I who but yesterday committed such and such sins_!" + +Friend, as to the sin you committed yesterday, confess that to God, not +me. And if you confess it to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive it. +But just because you think yourself the most unfit person to come to the +Holy Sacrament, for that very reason I suspect you to be fit. + +"_How then_!" says he in his heart, "_I have but this moment repented of +my sins_! _I have but this moment_, _for the first time felt that God's +wrath is revealed against me_, _that hell is open for me_!" + +For that very reason, come to the Holy Sacrament, and thou shalt hear +there that not hell at all, but heaven is open for thee. + +"_What_, _with all this guilty conscience_, _this load of sins against +myself_, _my neighbours_, _my children_, _my masters_, _my servants_, _on +my back_!" + +Yes, bring them all, and say in the words of the Communion Service: "I do +earnestly repent, and am heartily sorry for these, my misdoings; the +remembrance of them is grievous unto me; the burden of them is +intolerable." Why, for whom were these words written, but for you who +feel that the burden of your sins is intolerable. They are there, not +for those who feel no burden of sin, but for you--for you, and for those +like you who feel the burden of your sins unbearable. + +"_But how shall I dare to come to the Lord's table before I am sure that +my sins are forgiven_?" + +Come and you will hear your minister pray God to pardon and deliver you +from all for Christ's sake. You will hear him read God's promises of +free grace and mercy through Jesus Christ to all who truly repent. + +"_But I cannot trust your prayers or words_, _or any man's_. _I want a +sign that I have a share in Christ's death and merits_." + +Then, that bread and wine is a sign. Jesus Himself ordained them for a +sign. He Himself, with His dying voice declared that that bread was His +body, that cup the new covenant in His blood. St. Paul declares that it +is the communion, the sharing of Christ's body, that cup the sharing of +His blood. What more sign do you want? Come and claim your share in +Christ, and see if He disappoints you. + +"_Ah_! _I believe_," _says the poor man_, "_I believe_, _but I am +afraid_, _afraid of partaking unworthily_, _and so provoking God_, _as +the Prayer-book says to plague me with divers diseases and sundry kinds +of death_." + +My Friend, if God was the devil, you might be afraid indeed. But He is +the loving, righteous Father, who knows your weakness, and remembers that +you are but dust. Can you not trust Him to pardon your mistakes about +the Sacrament, which you do not wilfully intend to commit, when He has +borne with, and pardoned all the sins from your youth up until now, which +you have wilfully committed? Surely, you may trust Him in such a thing +as this,--He who has had long-suffering enough to keep you alive, with a +chance of salvation all this time? and as for sundry diseases, _have_ you +avoided them? You have certainly not avoided them, at least, by staying +away from the Sacrament, and breaking Christ's command to take it? If +you are so afraid of God's anger, are you more likely to provoke Him by +disobeying His strict commands, or by obeying them? It needs no +philosopher, my friend, to find out that. + +"_But I shall have to make good resolutions_," _says the sinner_, "_and I +am afraid of breaking them_." + +Well, if you break them, you can but make them again. You would call him +a fool who determined never to walk, because he was afraid of falling. +But you are to claim in that Sacrament your share of Christ's Spirit, +Christ's life, and Christ's strength, which is just what you want to +enable you to keep your good resolutions. You will be no stronger, no +more righteous of yourself after the Sacrament than before. Your spirit +will still be a poor weak sinful spirit, but you will have claimed your +share in God's strength, God's righteousness, God's Spirit, and _they_ +will make you love the good you hated, and hate the evil you loved. They +will make you strong to do God's will whatever it may cost you. Oh +believe the good news, and show that you believe by coming to Christ. He, +the Blessed One, died for you. For you He was born and walked this +earth, a poor suffering, tempted, sorrow-stricken man. For you He hung +upon the shameful cross. For you He ascended up on high. For you He +sent down His Spirit. For you He sits at the right hand of God, praying +for you at this moment. For you He gave the signs of His body and His +blood, that you might believe, and fall on your knees and cry, "In spite +of all, I am forgiven. In spite of all, God cares for me. In spite of +all, I have a Father and a Saviour who will never leave me, nor forsake +me, wretch as I have been, till they make a man of me again, in this +world, and for ever!" Oh! come, my dear, dear friends. I would give my +right hand this moment, if I could but see each and every one of you +shewing the truth of your repentance by coming to Holy Communion. Let +this be a day of repentance, and shew it thus, and say, "We do not come +to this, Thy table, O Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy +manifold and great mercy. We are not worthy to gather up the crumbs +under Thy table, but Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to +have mercy." + +Let this be a day of thanksgiving, too, and shew your thankfulness by +coming to Holy Communion, and lifting up your voices, once for all, at +that table, and saying:-- + +"We bless Thee, we praise Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee +for Thy great glory." These are the words for you this day. Oh! do not +turn away. All your distress, all your sorrows have come from your not +having faith in God. Break at once the accursed charm with which the +devil has enchanted you. Have faith enough to come to God's holy table, +and see if God does not reward you by giving you faith enough to conquer +yourselves, and lead new lives like redeemed men in the sunshine of His +smile, henceforth and forever! + +My friends, what more can I say, except once and again, Come ye who +labour and are heavy laden, and Christ will give you rest! + +Ay, and He will. I speak only what I know--what I have felt. But before +He will give you rest, be you rich or poor, young or old, you must learn +to say those simple words (they are the best and only preparation for +it), "God be merciful to me a sinner." Say them then from your heart, +and so come to the Lord's Supper. + + +A PRAYER. + + +"O God and Saviour, Thou hast blest me, and I have cursed myself. Thou +didst die to deliver me from the curse of sin, and I have brought it back +on myself by my own folly. Thou livest for ever to make me _good_, and +I, ungrateful and foolish, have made myself _bad_. In spite of my +ingratitude, in spite of my folly, take me back into Thy service. I +trust utterly in Thy unchangeable goodness and mercy. I trust that Thy +blood will still wash away the past, that Thy spirit will still give me a +clean heart and a right spirit. I believe that though I have cursed +myself, yet Thou wilt still bless me; for Thou wiliest nought but the +good of every creature Thou hast made. God be merciful to me a sinner!" +Amen. + + + + +PART II. + + +I. BRAVE WORDS FOR BRAVE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. {199} + + +My friends,--I speak to you simply as brave men. I speak alike to Roman +Catholic and Protestant. I speak alike to godly men and ungodly. I +speak alike to soldiers and sailors. . . . If you are _brave_, read these +words. I call these _brave_ words. They are not my _own_ words, or my +own message, but the message to you of the bravest man who ever lived, or +who ever will live, and if you will read them and think over them, He +will not _make_ you brave (for that, thank God, you are already), but +_keep_ you brave, come victory or defeat. I speak to the brave men who +have now fought three bloody battles, and fought them like heroes. All +England has blessed you, and admired you; all England has felt for you in +a way that would do your hearts good to see. For you know as well as I, +that nothing is so comforting, nothing so endearing, as sympathy, as _to +know that people feel for one_. If one knows that, one can dare and do +anything. If one feels that nobody cares for one's suffering or one's +success, one is ready to lie down and die. It is so with a horse or a +dog even. If there is any noble spirit in them, a word of encouragement +will make them go till they drop. How much more will the spirit of a +_man_? I can well believe that the Queen's beautiful letter put more +heart into you, than the hope of all the prize money in the world would +have done; and that with the words of that letter ringing in your ears, +you will prove true to the last, to the words of the grand old song-- + + "Hearts of oak are our ships, hearts of oak are our men, + And we'll fight, and we'll conquer again, and again." + +But, my friends, you know as well as I, that there are times when neither +that letter, nor the feeling of duty, nor of honour, nor of glory, can +keep your hearts from sinking. Not in battle! No. Only cowards' hearts +fail them there; and there are no cowards among you. But even a brave +man's heart may fail him at whiles, when, instead of the enemy's balls +and bayonets, he has to face delay, and disappointment, and fatigue, and +sickness, and hunger, and cold, and nakedness; as you have, my brave +brothers, and faced them as well as man ever did on earth. Ah! it must +be fearful work to _sit still_, and shiver and starve in a foreign land, +and to think of those who are in comfort and plenty at home; and worse, +to think of those, who, even if they are in plenty, cannot be in comfort, +because their hearts are breaking for your sake; to think of brother and +sister, wife and child, while you are pacing up and down those dreary +trenches, waiting for your turn of sickness, perhaps of death. It must +be bitter and disheartening at times; you would not be men, if it was +not. One minute, perhaps, you remember that those whom you have left at +home, love you and pray for you; and that cheers you; then you remember +that all England loves you, and prays for you in every church throughout +the land; and that cheers you; but even that is not enough, you feel +ready to say, "What is the use of my going through all this misery? Why +am I not at home ploughing the ground, or keeping a shop, anything rather +than throwing away my life by inches thus. My people at home feel for +me, but they cannot know, they never will know, the half of what I have +gone through. The nation will provide for me if I am crippled, but they +cannot make up to me for losing the best years of my life in such work as +this; and, if I am killed, can they make up to me for that? Who can make +up to me for my life?" + +Have you not had such thoughts, my friends, and sadder thoughts still +lately? You need not be ashamed of them if you have. For hard work you +have had, and it must have told at times on your spirits as heavily as it +has on your bodies. + +But, my friends, there is an answer for these sad thoughts. There are +brave words for you, and a noble message from God, which will cheer you +when nothing else can cheer you. If your own people cannot know all that +you go through, there is One who can and does; if your own wives and +mothers cannot feel enough for you, there is One above who does, and He +is the Lord Jesus Christ. You have hungered; so has He. You have been +weary; so has He. You have felt cold and nakedness; so has He. You have +been houseless and sleepless, so has He. While the foxes had holes, and +the birds of the air had nests, He, the maker of them all, had not where +to lay His head. You have felt the misery of loneliness and desolation; +but never so much as did He, when not only every earthly friend forsook +Him and fled, but He cried out in His very death pangs, "My God, my God, +why hast Thou forsaken me?" + +Above all, you have felt how difficult it was to die, not fighting sword +in hand, but slowly and idly, and helplessly, by cholera or fever, hunger +or cold. Terrible it is; but the Lord Jesus Christ has felt that too. +For three years He looked death in the face--a death of shame and misery +such as you can never die--and faced it, and gave Himself up to it of His +own free will; and though He had the most horrible fear of it to the very +last, He determined to submit to it, in spite of His own fear of it; and +He did submit to it, and died, and so _showed_, _even in His very fear_, +_the most perfect and glorious courage_. So if any one of you has ever +felt for a single moment _afraid_; even in _that_, the Lord Jesus Christ +can feel for you; for He, too, has gone through the agony of fear, when +His sweat was as great drops of blood falling to the ground, that He +might be able to help you, and every man that is tempted, because He can +be touched with the feeling of your infirmities, having gone through +every temptation which flesh is heir to, and conquered them all. + +This, then, is one half (and only one half) of my good news; that you +have a Friend in heaven who feels for every trouble of yours, better than +your own mothers can feel for you, because He has been through it all +already; you have a Friend in heaven who is praying for you day and +night, more earnestly, lovingly, wisely, than your own wives and children +are praying for you. But that is not all. God forbid! You have a +Friend in heaven, for whose sake God will forgive you all your sins and +weaknesses, as often as you heartily confess them to Him, and trust in +Him for a full and free pardon. You have a Friend in heaven who will +help you day by day, where you most need help, in your hearts and +spirits; who will give you, if you ask Him, _His Spirit_, the same spirit +of duty, courage, endurance, love, self-sacrifice, which made Him brave +to endure ten thousand times more than any soldier or sailor can endure, +for the sake of doing His Father's will, and saving a ruined world. + +Oh! open your hearts to Him, my brave men, in your lonely +night-watches--on your sick beds; ay, in the very roar of battle itself, +ask Him to make you true and good, patient, calm, prudent, honourable, +obedient, gentle, even in the hottest of the fight. Commit to Him your +own lives and fortunes, and the lives and fortunes of those who have been +left at home, and be sure that He, your Unseen Friend of friends, is able +and willing to help to the uttermost all that you put into His charge. + +But, again, my men, if the nation cannot reward you for sacrificing your +life in a just war, there is One above who can, and who will, too; for He +is as just as He is loving, and as loving as He is just, and that is the +same of whom I have spoken already, the Lord Jesus Christ. + +I think some of you will fancy this almost too good news to be true, and +yet the very news which you want to hear. I think some of you have been +saying as you read this, "All this is blessed and comforting news for +poor fellows lying wounded in a hospital, or fretting their souls away +about the wives and children they have left behind; blessed and +comforting news; but we want something more than that even. We have to +fight and to kill; we want to be sure that God's blessing is on our +fighting and our killing; we have to go into battle; and we want to know +that there, too, we are doing God's work, and to be sure that God is on +our side." + +Well, my brave men, _Be sure of it then_! Be sure that God's blessing is +as much upon you; be sure that you are doing God's work, as much when you +are handling a musket or laying a gun in your country's battles, as when +you are bearing frost and hunger in the trenches, and pain and weakness +on a sick bed. + +For the Lord Jesus Christ is not only the _Prince of Peace_; He is the +_Prince of War_ too. He is the Lord of Hosts, the God of armies; and +whosoever fights in a just war, against tyrants and oppressors, he is +fighting on Christ's side, and Christ is fighting on his side; Christ is +his Captain and his Leader, and he can be in no better service. Be sure +of it; for the Bible tells you so. The old wars of Abraham against the +robber-kings; of Joshua against the Canaanites; of David against the +Philistines; of Hezekiah against the Assyrians; of the Maccabees against +the Greeks--all tell the soldier the same brave news, that he is doing +God's work, and that God's blessing is on him, when he fights in a just +cause. And you are fighting in a just cause, if you are fighting for +freedom and law. If to you God gives the noble work of fighting for the +liberty of Europe, God will reward you according as you do that work like +men. You will be fighting in that everlasting war which is in heaven; in +God's everlasting war against all injustice and wrong, the Captain and +Leader whereof is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Believe that--for the +Bible tells it you. You must think of the Lord Jesus Christ, not merely +as a sufferer, but as a warrior; not merely as the Man of Sorrows +(blessed as that thought is), but as the Lord of Hosts--the God of +armies--the King who executes justice and judgment in the earth, who has +sworn vengeance against all unrighteousness and wrong, and will destroy +the wicked with the breath of His mouth. You must think of Him as the +God of the fatherless and the widow; but you must think of Him, too, as +the God of the sailor and the soldier, the God of duty, the God of +justice, the God of vengeance, the God to whom _your colours were +solemnly offered_, and _His blessing on them prayed for_, when they were +given to your regiment. + +I know that you would follow those colours into the mouth of the pit, +that you would die twice over sooner than let them be taken. Good! but +remember, too, that those colours are a sign to you that Christ is with +you, ready to give you courage, coolness, and right judgment, in the +charge and in the death grapple, just as much as He is with those +ministering angels who will nurse and tend your wounds in hospital. God's +blessing is on them; but do you never forget that your colours are a sign +to you that Christ's blessing is on _you_. If they do not mean that to +you, what was the use of blessing them with prayer? It must have been a +lie and a sham. But it is no lie, brave men, and no sham; it is a +glorious truth, of which those noble rags, inscribed with noble names of +victory, should remind you every day and every hour, that he who fights +for Queen and country in a just cause, is fighting not only in the +Queen's army, but in Christ's army, and that he shall in no wise lose his +reward. + +Are not these brave words for brave soldiers? Well: they are not mine; +they are the Bible's. The book of Revelation tells us how St. John saw a +vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of His everlasting war against +wrong, of which I spoke just now. And what did the Lord appear like? + +"_And I saw heaven opened_, _and behold a white horse_; _and he that sat +upon him is called Faithful and True_, _and in righteousness He doth +judge and make war_. _And His eyes were as a flame of fire_; _and He was +clothed in a garment dipped in blood_; _and His name is called the Word +of God_. _And the armies in heaven followed Him_, _riding upon white +horses_, _clothed in fine linen_, _white and clean_. _And out of His +mouth goeth a sharp sword_, _that He should smite the nations_; _and He +shall rule them with a rod of iron_; _and He treadeth the winepress of +the fierceness and of the wrath of almighty God_" (Rev. xix. 11). + +Are not these brave words, my friends? Are not these soldier-like words? +Is not this a general worth following? Is not this a charge of cavalry +worth sharing in? Then believe that that general, the Lord Jesus Christ, +is your general. Believe that you are sharing in that everlasting +charge, to which the glorious charge of Balaclava was as nothing; the +everlasting war which the Lord Jesus wages against all sin, and cruelty, +and wrong--in which He will never draw bridle-rein, or sheath His sword, +till He has put all enemies under His feet, and swept all oppression, +injustice, and wickedness off the face of the earth which God has given +Him. + +Therefore I can say to you other brave words, my friends (and not my own, +but the words of the same Lord Jesus Christ):--"Fear not them that can +kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will +forewarn you whom you shall fear; fear him who after he has killed has +power to destroy both body and soul in hell." + +Now all England knows already that you do not fear those who can kill the +body; but I sometimes fear that some of you are not enough afraid of that +enemy worst of all, who can kill the soul too. And who is that? St. +Paul tells us. He is "the devil, who has the power of death," who lies +in ambuscade to destroy your body and soul in hell; and will and can do +it; _but only if you let him_. Now who is the devil? It is worth your +while to know; for many a man may be, as you are, in the ranks of God's +army, and yet doing the devil's work all the while. Many a man may fancy +himself a good soldier, and forget that a soldier is a man, and something +more; and that therefore, before you can be a good soldier, you must +first be more or less of a good man. Do you think not? Look then, and +see whether the most upright and god-fearing men in your ranks are not in +the long run the best soldiers. I don't mean merely the best +_fighters_--the bravest men in battle. There goes more than mere bull- +dog pluck to the making of a soldier; and to make a good soldier, I hold +that a man, though he be afraid of nothing else, must be horribly afraid +of the devil, and _that the better and braver soldier he is_, _the more +afraid of the devil he will be_. + +Of course that depends upon who the devil is. I will tell you. He is +what his name means, _the accuser and the divider_--the evil spirit who +sets men against each other--men against officers, and officers against +men; who sets men grumbling, puts hard suspicious thoughts into their +minds; makes them selfish and forgetful of their duty, tempts them to +care only for themselves, and help themselves. You must see that if +those tempers once got head in an army, there would be an end of all +discipline--of all obedience; and what is more, of all courage; for if +the devil could completely persuade every man to care only for himself, +the plain thing for every man to do, would be to turn round and run for +his life. That you will never do; but you may give way to the devil in +lesser matters, and so do God's work ill, and lose your own reward from +God. All grumbling, and hard speeches, and tale-bearing is doing the +devil's work. All disorder and laziness is doing the devil's work. All +cruelty and brutality is doing the devil's work. + +Now as to cruelty and brutality, some soldiers fancy when towns are taken +in war, that they may do things for which (to speak the truth) _they +ought to be hanged_. I mean in plain English, ravishing the women, and +ill-treating unarmed men, to make them give up their money. _Whosoever +does these things_, _God's curse is on him_, and his sin will surely find +him out. No excuse of being in hot blood will avail him. No excuse of +having fought well beforehand will avail him. Such cant will no more +excuse him with God than it will with truly noble-minded men. He may +have been brave enough before, but he is doing a coward's deed then; he +is doing the devil's work, _and the devil_, _and not God_, _will pay him +his wages_, _to the uttermost farthing_. But though I tell you to fear +the devil, it is only to fear his getting the command over you. The +devil is a liar, and a liar is always a coward. Be brave in God's +service. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." + +One word more. If any of you are maddened by hearing of the enemy +murdering some of your wounded--recollect that _revenge_ is one of the +devil's works, of which the brave men cannot be too much afraid. God +forbid that you should ever be maddened into imitating such cruelty. +Fight the enemy in God's name--and strike home; but never have on your +conscience the thought that you struck _an unnecessary blow_. _You are +to kill for the sake of victory_, _but never to kill for the sake of +killing_. You know who it was who prayed for and excused His own +murderers as He hung upon the cross. "Father, forgive them, for they +know not what they do." That was the same Lord Jesus who, as I told you, +is the great Warrior against all wrong. If He was not ashamed to +forgive, do you not be ashamed either. You cannot be more brave than He +is; try, at least, to be merciful like Him. Overcome evil with good; by +returning good for evil you will not only help England's cause by +softening the hearts of your enemies, but you will preach Christ's gospel +to them--and in nowise lose your reward. + +Remember then, always, our Lord Jesus Christ is the pattern of a perfect +warrior, whether by land or sea; and if you be like Him, and fighting +_not only on His side_, _but as He likes to see you fight_, that is, +righteously and mercifully against the tyrants of the earth--what harm +can happen to you? Be sure that whether you live, you will live to Him; +or whether you die, you die to Him; that living or dying you will be His; +and that He is merciful (the Bible says) in this, that He rewards every +man according to his work. Do you your work like men, and be sure that +the Lord Jesus Christ will see that you are right well paid, if not in +this life, still in that life to come, to which may He bring you and all +brave men, who will strive to do their duty in that station of life to +which God has called them. + + + +II. THE STORY OF CORTEZ; OR PLUCK IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. A LECTURE +DELIVERED AT ALDERSHOT CAMP, NOV. 1858. + + +It seemed to me that, having to speak to-night to soldiers, that I ought +to speak _about_ soldiers. Some story, I thought, about your own +profession would please you most and teach you most. Some story, I say, +for it is not my business to tell you what soldiers ought to be like. +That, I daresay, you know a great deal better than I; and I only hope I +may do my duty as a parson half as well as British soldiers do their +duty, and will always do it. + +So I thought of telling you to-night some sort of a story--a true one, of +course, about wars and battles--some story about the British army; but +then I thought there are plenty of officers who can do that far better +than I,--so I will take some story of foreign armies, and one of old +times too. And though no soldier myself, but only a scholar, and reader +of queer old books, I may make my scholarship of some use to you who have +to drill and fight, and die too, for us comfortable folks who sit at home +and read our books by our fireside. + +Then I thought of the story of Cortez the Spaniard, and how he conquered +the great empire of Mexico with a handful of brave men. That, I thought, +would be an example to you of what men can do who have stout hearts and +good weapons, and who have faith too in God, and believe that if they do +their duty God will prosper them. And I thought I could do it all the +better, because I like the story, and enjoy reading it again and again; +for I know no such dashing and desperate deed of courage in history, +except Havelock's advance upon Lucknow. + +So now I will begin my story, telling you first where Mexico is, and what +it was like when Cortez landed in it, more than three hundred years ago. + +You, all of you, have heard of the West India station--some of you have +been there. Beyond those West India Islands lies the great Gulf of +Mexico, and beyond that the mainland of North America, and Mexico itself. +It is now thinly peopled by Spaniards, the descendants of settlers who +came over after Cortez's time; and a very lazy, cowardly set most of them +are,--very different from the old heroes, their forefathers. Our Yankee +cousins can lick them now, one to five, and will end, I believe, in +conquering the whole country. But in Cortez's time, the place was very +different. It was full of vast numbers of heathens, brownish coloured +people, something like the Red Indians you see in Canada, but a fairer, +handsomer, stouter, heavier-bodied race; and much more civilised also. +They had great cities and idol temples, aqueducts for water, and all +sorts of noble buildings, all of most curiously carved stone; which is +all the more wonderful and creditable to them, when we remember that they +had no iron--not a knife--not a nail of iron among them. But they had +found out how to make bronze by mixing tin and copper, and with it could +work the hardest stones, as well as we can with iron. They had another +stuff which was curious enough, of which they made knives, razors, arrow +heads, and saw-edged swords as keen as razors--and that was _glass_. They +did not make the glass--they found it about the burning mountains, of +which Mexico is full; itztli they called it; we call it obsidian. It is +tougher than our glass, and chips to a fine razor edge. I have seen +arrows of it, which I am certain would go clean through a man, and knives +which would take his arm off, bone and all. I want you to remember these +glass weapons, for Cortez's Spaniards had cause enough to remember them +when they came to fight. Gunpowder, of course, they knew nothing of, nor +of horses or cattle either. They had no beasts of draught; and all the +stones and timber for their magnificent buildings were carried by hand. +But they were first-rate farmers; and for handicraft work, such as +pottery, weaving, and making all kinds of ornaments, I can answer for it, +for I have seen a good deal of their work--they had not then their equals +in the world. They made the most beautiful dresses out of the feathers +of birds--parrots, humming birds, and such like, which fill the forests +in hot countries. And what was more, their country abounded in gold and +jewels, and they knew how to work them, just as well as we do. They +could work gold into the likeness of flowers, of birds with every feather +like life, and into a thousand trinkets. Their soil was most fruitful of +all that man can want--there was enough of the best for all to eat; and +altogether there never was a richer, and need never have been a happier +people, if they had but been good. But that was just what they were not. +A bad lot they were, cruel and blood-thirsty, continually at war with +each other; and as for cruelty, just take this one story. At the opening +of a great temple to one of their idols in 1486, about thirty years +before the Spaniards came, they sacrificed to the idol seventy-thousand +human beings! + +This offering in sacrifice of human beings to their idols was their +regular practice. They got these poor creatures by conquering all the +nations round, and carrying back their prisoners to sacrifice; and if +they failed, they took poor people of their own, for blood they and their +false gods must have. Men, and sometimes women and children, were +murdered by them in their temples, often with the most horrible tortures, +to the number, I am afraid there is no doubt of it, of many thousands +every year; and their flesh afterwards cooked delicately, was eaten as a +luxury by people who, as far as outward show went, were just as fine +gentlemen and ladies as there are now. + +When the Spaniards got into Mexico, they found the walls of the temples +crusted inches thick in blood, the altars of the idols heaped with +smoking human hearts, and whole houses full of skulls. They counted in +one house one hundred and thirty-six thousand skulls. It was high time +to get rid of those Mexicans off the face of the earth; and in God's good +time a man was found to rid the earth of them, and that man was Hernando +Cortez. + +And who was Cortez? He was a poor young Spanish gentleman, son of an +infantry captain, who, in his youth, was sickly and weakly; and his +father tried to make a lawyer of him, and would have done it, but young +Cortez kicked over the traces, as we say, right and left, and turned out +such a wild fellow, that he would not stay at college; and after getting +into plenty of scrapes, started as a soldier to the West Indies when he +was only nineteen. Little did people think what stuff there was in that +wild, sickly lad! + +How he got on in the Spanish West Indies would be a long story. I will +only tell you that he turned out a thoroughly good soldier, and a very +dashing smart fellow, a first-rate rider and fencer, a great dandy in his +dress; but also--and if you go to hot climates, keep this in mind--a +particularly sober and temperate man, who drank nothing, and could eat +anything. And he had, it is said, the most extraordinary power of +managing his men. He was always cool and determined; and what he said +had to be done, and they knew it; but his way with them was so frank and +kind, and he was so ready to be the foremost in daring and enduring, +living worse often than his own men, while he was doing every thing for +their comfort, that there was nothing they would not do for him, as the +event proved--for if those soldiers had not trusted him for life and +death, I should not have this grand story to tell. + +At last he married a very pretty woman, and got an estate in the West +Indies, and settled down there; and the chances were ten to one that no +one ever heard of him. However, dim reports came to the West Indies of +this great empire of Mexico, and of all its wonders and wealth, and that +stirred up Cortez's blood; and nothing would serve him but that leaving +wife and estate, he must start out again to seek his fortune. + +He got a commission from the Governor, such as it was, for they were +lawless places those Spanish West Indies then; and everybody fulfilled a +certain Irishman's notion of true liberty--for he did "what was right in +the sight of his own eyes, and what _was wrong too_"--and Cortez's +commission was to go and discover this country, and trade with the +people, and make Christians of them--that is, if he could. + +So he got together a little army, and sailed away with it for the unknown +land. He had about one hundred sailors, five hundred and fifty soldiers +armed with sword and pike, and among them thirty-two cross-bow men, and +thirteen musketeers. Above all, he had sixteen horses, ten heavy guns--or +what may be called heavy guns in those times--about 9-pounders, I +suppose, and four smaller guns; and with that he set out to conquer a new +world; _and he conquered it_! + +He did not know whither he was going. All he knew was, that this +wonderful country of Mexico was _somewhere_, and treasures inestimable in +it. And one other thing he knew, that if mortal man _could_ get there, +he _would_. + +He landed at Tabasco--where Vera Cruz city stands now--fought with the +Indians, who ran away at the sight of the horses and noise of the cannon; +and then made friends with them. From them he got presents, and among +others, a present which was worth more than its weight in gold to him, +namely, a young slave girl, who had been born near Mexico, and knew the +language. She was very clever, and very beautiful; and soon learnt to +speak Spanish. She had been a princess in her own country, and was sold +as a slave by her cruel stepmother. They made a Christian of her, and +called her Dona Marina,--her Indian name was Malinche,--and she became +Cortez's interpreter to the Indians, and his secretary. And she loved +him and served him as faithfully as true woman ever loved man, and saved +him and his from a hundred dangers. And the Spaniards reverence her name +still; and call a mighty snow mountain after her, Malinche, to this day. + +After that he marched inland, hearing more and more of the wonders of +Mexico, till he came at last, after many adventures, to a country called +Tlascala, up among high mountains. + +The men who lived there seem to have been rough honest fellows; and brave +enough they showed themselves. The Mexicans who lived in the plains +below never could conquer them, though they had been fighting with them +for full two hundred years. These Tlascalans turned out like men, and +fought Cortez--one hundred Indians to one Spaniard they fought for four +mortal hours; but horses and cannon were too much for them, and by +evening they were beaten off. They attempted to surprise him the same +night, and were beaten off again with great slaughter. Whereon a strange +thing happened. + +Cortez, through Dona Marina, his interpreter, sent them in fair terms. If +they would make peace he would forget and forgive all; if not, he would +kill every man of them, and level their city to the ground. Whereon, +after more fighting, the Tlascalans behaved like wise and brave men. They +understood at last that Cortez's point was not Tlascala, but Mexico; and +the Mexicans were their bitterest enemies; and they had the good sense to +shake hands with the Spaniards, and make all up. And faithful friends +they were, and bravely they fought side by side during all the terrible +campaign that followed. Meanwhile, Cortez's own men began to lose heart. +They had had terrible fighting already, and no plunder. As for getting +to Mexico, it was all a dream. But Cortez and Dona Marina, this +wonderful Indian girl, kept them up. No doubt they were in awful +danger--a handful of strangers walking blindfold in a vast empire, not +one foot of ground of which they knew: but Cortez knew the further they +went the further they must go, for it was impossible to go back. So on +and on they went; and as they went they met ambassadors from Montezuma, +the great Emperor of Mexico. The very sight of these men confirmed all +that they had heard of the riches of that great empire, for these Indian +lords came blazing with gold and jewels, and the most magnificent +dresses; and of their power, for at one city which had let Cortez in +peaceably without asking the Emperor's leave, they demanded as a fine +five and twenty Indian young men and forty girls to be offered in +sacrifice to their idols. Cortez answered that by clapping them in +irons, and then sending them back to the Emperor, with a message that +whether he liked or not, he was coming to Mexico. + +You may call that desperate rashness; but like a good deal of rashness, +it paid. This great Emperor Montezuma was utterly panic-stricken. There +were old prophecies that white gods should come over the sea and destroy +him and his empire; and he took it into his head that these Spaniards +were the white gods, and that there was no use resisting them. He had +been a brave man in his youth, and a great warrior; but he utterly lost +his head now. He sent magnificent presents to the Spaniards to buy them +off; but that only made them the more keen to come on; and come they did, +till they saw underneath them the city of Mexico, which must have been +then one of the wonders of the world. + +It lay in the midst of a great salt lake, and could only be reached from +shore by long causeways, beautifully built of stone. On this lake were +many islands; and what was most curious of all, floating gardens, covered +with all sorts of vegetables and flowers. + +How big the city was no one will ever know now; but the old ruins of it +show how magnificent its buildings must have been, full of palaces and +temples of every kind of carved stone, surrounded by flower gardens, +while the whole city was full of fountains, supplied with pure water +brought in pipes from the mountains round. I suppose so beautiful a +sight as that city of Mexico has never been seen since on earth. Only +one ugly feature there was in it--great pyramids of stone, hundreds of +them, with idol temples on the top, on each of which was kept up a +perpetual fire, fed with the fat of human beings. + +To their surprise the Emperor received them peaceably, came out to meet +them, gave them such presents, that the common soldiers were covered with +chains of gold; invited them into the city, and gave them a magnificent +palace to live in, and endless slaves to wait upon them. It sounds all +like a fairy tale; but it is as true as that you and I are here. + +But the cunning emperor had been plotting against them all the while; and +no great blame to him; and at last one of those plots came to light; and +Cortez made up his mind to take the Emperor prisoner. And he did it. +Right or wrong, we can hardly say now. This Montezuma was a bad, false +man, a tyrant and a cannibal; but still it looks ugly to seize a man who +is acting as your friend. However, Cortez had courage, in the midst of +that great city, with hundreds of thousands of Indians round him, to go +and tell the Emperor that he must come with him. And--so strong is a man +when he chooses to be strong--the Emperor actually went with Cortez a +prisoner. + +Cortez--and that was an unworthy action--put him in irons for an hour, to +show him that he was master; and then took off his irons, and treated him +like a king. The poor Emperor had all he wanted--all his wives, and +slaves, and finery, and eatables, and drinkables; but he was a mere +puppet in the Spaniard's hands; and knew it. And strangely enough, not +being able to get out of his mind the fancy that these Spaniards were +gods, or at least, the children of the gods, he treated them so +generously and kindly, that they all loved him; he obeyed them in +everything; took up a great friendship with several; and ended actually +by giving them all his treasures of gold to melt down and part among +themselves. As I say, it sounds all like a fairy tale, but it happened +in this very month of November 1519. + +But Cortez had been too prosperous not to meet with a mishap. Every +great man must be tried by trouble; and so was Cortez. News came to him +that a fresh army of Spaniards had landed, as he thought at first, to +help him. They had nine hundred men, eighty of whom were horse soldiers, +eighty musqueteers, one hundred and fifty cross-bow men, a good train of +heavy guns, ammunition, &c. What was Cortez's disgust when he found that +the treacherous Governor of Cuba had sent them, not to help him, but to +take him prisoner as a rebel? It was a villainous business got up out of +envy of Cortez's success, and covetousness of his booty. But in the +Spanish colonies in those days, so far from home, there was very little +law; and the governors and adventurers were always quarrelling and +fighting with each other. + +What did Cortez do? made up his mind as usual to do the desperate thing, +and marched against Narvaez with only seventy men, no guns, and hardly +any muskets--seventy against nine hundred. It was fearful odds; but he +was forced to leave the rest to keep Mexico down. And he armed his men +with very long lances, tipped at both ends with copper--for he had no +iron; with them he hoped to face Narvaez's cavalry. + +And he did it. Happily on his road he met an old friend with one hundred +and twenty soldiers, who had been sent off to form a colony on the coast. +They were as true as steel to him. And with that one hundred and ninety +he surprised and defeated by night Narvaez's splendid little army. And +what is more, after beating them, made such friends with them, that he +engaged them all next morning to march with him wherever he wanted. The +man was like a spider--whoever fell into his net, friend or foe, never +came out again till he had sucked him dry. + +Now he hurried back to Mexico, and terribly good reason he had; for +Alvarado whom he had left in garrison had quarrelled with the Mexicans, +and set upon them at one of their idol feasts, and massacred great +numbers of their leading men. It was a bloody black business, and +bitterly the Spaniards paid for it. Cortez when he heard it actually +lost his temper for once, and called his lieutenant-general a madman and +a traitor; but he could not afford to cashier him, for after all he was +the best and bravest man he had. But the mischief was done. The whole +city of Mexico, the whole country round, had risen in fury, had driven +the Spanish garrison into the great palace; and worst of all, had burnt +the boats, which Cortez had left to get off by, if the bridges were burst +down. So there was Alvarado shut up, exactly like the English at +Lucknow, with this difference, that the Spaniards deserved what they got, +and the English, God knows, _did not_. And there was Cortez like another +Havelock or Colin Campbell marching to deliver them. But he met a very +different reception. These crafty Mexicans never struck a blow. All was +as still as the grave. As they came over the long causeways and bridges, +there was not a canoe upon the lake, not an Indian in the floating +gardens. As they marched through the streets of the glorious city, the +streets were as empty as a desert. And the Spaniard knew that he was +walking into a trap, out of which none of them might come out alive; but +their hearts never failed them, and they marched on to the sound of their +bugles, and were answered by joyful salutes of cannon from the relieved +garrison. + +The Mexicans had shut up the markets, and no food was to be got. Cortez +sent to open them. He sent another messenger off to the coast to say all +was safe, and that he should soon conquer the rebels. But here, a +cleverer man than I must tell the story. + +"But scarcely had his messenger been gone half an hour, when he returned +breathless with terror and covered with wounds. 'The city,' he said, +'was all in arms! the drawbridges were raised, and the enemy would soon +be upon them! He spoke truth. It was not long before a hoarse sullen +sound became audible, like that of the roaring of distant waters. It +grew louder and louder, till from the parapet surrounding the enclosure, +the great avenues which led to it might be seen dark with the masses of +warriors, who came rolling on in a confused tide towards the fortress. At +the same time the terraces and flat roofs in the neighbourhood were +thronged with combatants, brandishing their missiles, who seemed to have +risen up as if by magic! It was a spectacle to appall the stoutest. The +Spanish forces were crowded into a small compact mass in the palace, and +the whole army could be assembled at a moment's notice. No sooner, +therefore, did the trumpet call to arms, than every soldier was at his +post--the cavalry mounted, the artillerymen at their guns, and the +archers and arquebusiers stationed so as to give the assailants a warm +reception. On they came, with the companies, or irregular masses, into +which the multitude was divided, rushing forward each in its own dense +column, with many a gay banner displayed, and many a bright gleam of +light reflected from helmet, arrow, and spear head, as they were tossed +about in their disorderly array. As they drew near, the Aztecs set up a +hideous yell, which rose far above the sound of shell and atabat, and +their other rude instruments of warlike melody. They followed this by a +tempest of missiles--stones, darts, arrows--which fell thick as rain on +the besieged. The Spaniards waited till the foremost column had arrived, +when a general discharge of artillery and arquebusses swept the ranks of +the assailants, and mowed them down by hundreds." {222} . . . + +So the fight raged on with fury for two days, while the Aztecs, Indians +who only fought by day, howled out to the wretched Spaniards every night. +On the third day Cortez brought out the Emperor Montezuma, and commanded +him to quiet the Indians. The unhappy man obeyed him. He had made up +his mind that these Spaniards were the white gods, who were to take his +kingdom from him, and he submitted to them like a sheep to the butcher. +He went up to a tower in all his royal robes and jewels. At the sight +the Indians who filled the great square below were all hushed--thousands +threw themselves on their faces; and to their utter astonishment, he +asked them what they meant by rebelling. He was no prisoner, he said, +but the Spaniard's guest and friend. The Spaniards would go peaceably, +if they would let them. In any case he was the Spaniard's friend. + +The Indians answered him by a yell of fury and contempt. He was a dog--a +woman--fit only to weave and spin; and a volley of stones and arrows flew +at him. One struck him on the head and dropped him senseless. The +Indians set up a howl of terror; and frightened at what they had done, +fled away ashamed. + +The wretched Emperor refused comfort, food, help, tore the bandages from +his wounds, and died in two days. He had been a bad man, a cannibal, and +a butcher, blood-thirsty and covetous, a ravisher of virgins, and a +tyrant to his people. But the Spaniards had got to love him in spite of +all; for a true friend he had been to them, and a fearful loss to them +just now. The battle went on worse than ever. The great idol temple +commanded the palace, and was covered with Mexican warriors. And next +day Cortez sent a party to storm it. They tried to get up the winding +stairs, and were driven back three times with fearful loss. Cortez, +though he had but one hand to fight with, sallied out and cleared the +pyramid himself, after a fearful hand-to-hand fight of three hours, up +the winding stairs, along the platforms, and at last upon the great +square on the top, an acre in breadth. Every Mexican was either killed, +or hurled down the sides. The idol, the war god, with its gold disc of +bleeding hearts smoking before it, was hurled down and the whole accursed +place set on fire and destroyed. Three hundred houses round were also +burnt that night; but of what use? + +The Spaniards were starving, hemmed in by hundreds of thousands. They +were like a single wasp inside a bee-hive. Let him kill the bees by +hundreds, he must be killed himself at last. He made up his mind to +evacuate the city, to leave all his conquests behind him. It was a +terrible disappointment, but it had to be done. + +They marched out by night in good order, with all their guns and +ammunition, and with immense plunder; as much of poor Montezuma's +treasures as they could carry. The old hands took very little; they knew +what they were about. The fresh ones from Narvaez's army loaded +themselves with gold and jewels, and had to pay dear for them. Cortez, I +ought to tell you, took good care of Dona Marina. He sent her forward +under a strong guard of Tlascalans, with all the other women. The great +street was crossed by many canals. Then the causeway across the lake, +two miles long, was crossed by more canals, and at every one of these the +Indians had taken away the bridges. Cortez knew that, and had made a +movable bridge; but he had only time to make one, and that of course had +to be taken up at the rear, and carried forward to the front every time +they crossed a dyke; and that made endless delay. As long as they were +in the city, however, all went well; but the moment they came out upon +the lake causeway, out thundered the serpent-skin drums from the top of +every temple, the conch shells blew, and out swarmed the whole hive of +bees, against the one brave wasp who was struggling. The Spaniards +cleared the dyke by cavalry and artillery, and got to the first canal, +laid down the bridge, and over slowly but safely, amid a storm of stones +and arrows. They got to the second canal, fifteen or twenty feet broad. +Why, in God's name, was not the bridge brought on? Instead of the bridge +came news from the rear. The weight of the artillery had been too great +for the bridge, and it was jammed fast. And there they were on a narrow +dyke fifty feet broad, in the midst of the lake, in the dark midnight, +with countless thousands of Indians, around, before, behind, and the lord +have mercy on them! + +What followed you may guess--though some of the brave men who fought +there, and who wrote the story themselves--which I have read--hardly +knew. + +The cavalry tried to swim their horses over. Some got safe, others +rolled into the lake. The infantry followed pell mell, cut down like +sheep by arrows and stones, by the terrible glass swords of the Indians, +who crowded round their canoes. The waggons prest on the men, the guns +on them, the rear on them again, till in a few minutes the canal was +choked with writhing bodies of men and horses, cannon, gold and treasure +inestimable, over which the survivors scrambled to the further bank. +Cortez, who was helping the rear forded the gap on horseback, and hurried +on to find a third and larger canal which no one dare cross. But the +Indians were not so thick here, and plunging into the water they got +through as they could. And woe that night to the soldier who had laden +himself with Indian treasure. Dragged to the bottom by the weight of +their plunder, hundreds died there drowned by that very gold to find +which they had crossed the seas, and fought so many a bloody battle. + +What is the use of making a sad story long? They reached the shore, and +sat down like men desperate and foredone in a great idol temple. Several +of their finest officers, three-fourths of their men, were killed and +missing, three-fourths too of their horses--all Cortez's papers, all +their cannon, all their treasure. They had not even a musket left. +Nothing to face the Indians with but twenty-three crippled horses, a few +damaged crossbows, and their good old swords. Cortez's first question +was for poor Dona Marima, and strange to say she was safe. The trusty +Tlascalan Indians had brought her through it all. Alvarado the +lieutenant was safe too. If he had been the cause of all that misery, he +did his best to make up for it. He stayed behind fighting at the last +canal till all were over, and the Indians closing round him. Then he set +his long lance in the water, and to the astonishment of both armies, +leapt the canal clean, while the Indians shouted, "This is indeed the +Tonatiah, the child of the Sun." The gap is shown now, and it is called +to this day, Alvarado's Leap. God forgive him! for if he was a cruel +man, he was at least a brave one! + +Cortez sat down, a ruined man, and as he looked round for his old +comrades, and missed one face after another, he covered his face with his +hands and cried like a child. + +And was he a ruined man? Never less. No man is ruined till his pluck is +gone. He got his starving and shivering men together, and away for the +mountains to get back to the friendly people of Tlascala. The people +followed them along the hills shouting, "Go on! you will soon find +yourselves where you cannot escape." But he went on--till he saw what +they meant. + +Waiting for him in a pass was an army of Indians--two hundred thousand, +some writers say--all fresh and fully armed. What could he do? To +surrender, was to be sacrificed every man to the idols; so he marched on. +He had still twenty horses, and he put ten on each flank. He bade his +men not strike with their sword but give the point. He made a speech to +his men. They had beaten the Indians, he said, many a time at just as +fearful odds. God had brought them through so far, God would not desert +them, for they were fighting on His side against the heathen; and so he +went straight at the vast army of Indians. They were surrounded, +swallowed up by them for a few minutes. In the course of an hour the +Spaniards had routed them utterly with immense slaughter. + +Of all the battles I ever read of, this battle of Otumba is one of the +most miraculous. Some say that Cortez conquered Mexico by gunpowder: he +had none then, neither cannon nor musket. The sword and lance did it +all, and they in the hands of men worn out with famine, cold, and +fatigue, and I had said broken-hearted into the bargain. But there was +no breaking those men's hearts--what won that battle, what won Mexico, +was the indomitable pluck of the white man, before which the Indian, +whether American or Hindoo, never has stood, and never will stand to the +world's end. The Spaniards proved it in America of old, though they were +better armed than the Indian. But there are those who have proved it +upon Indians as well armed as themselves. Ay, my friends, I should be no +Englishman, if while I told this story, I could help thinking all the +while of our brave comrades in India, who have conquered as Cortez +conquered, and against just as fearful odds; whose enemies were armed, +not with copper arrows and glass knives, but with European muskets, +European cannon, and most dangerous of all, European discipline. I say +Cortez did wonders in his time; but I say too that our Indian heroes have +done more, and done it in a better cause. + +And that is the history of the conquest of Mexico. What, you may ask, is +that the end? When we are leaving the Spaniards a worn-out and starving +handful struggling back for refuge to Tlascala, without anything but +their old swords; do you call _that_ a conquest? + +Yes, I do; just as I call the getting back to Cawnpore, after the relief +of Lucknow, the conquest of India. It showed which was the better man, +Englishman or sepoy, just as the retreat from Mexico showed which was the +better man, Spaniard or Indian. The sepoys were cowed from that day, +just as the Mexicans were cowed after Otumba. They had fought with all +possible odds on their side, and been _licked_; and when men are once +cowed, all the rest is merely a work of time. + +So it was with Cortez. He went back to Tlascala. He got by mere +accident, as we say, a reinforcement of Spaniards. He stirred up all the +Indian nations round, who were weary of the cruel tyranny of the +Mexicans; he made large boats to navigate the lake, and he marched back +upon Mexico the next year with about six hundred Spaniards and nine +cannon--about half the force which he had had before; but with a hundred +thousand Indian allies, who, like the sturdy Tlascalans, proved as true +to him as steel. Truly, if he was not a great general, who is? + +He marched back, taking city after city as he went, and besieged Mexico. +It was a long and weary siege. The Indians fought like fiends. The +causeways had to be taken yard by yard; but Cortez, wise by sad +experience, put his cannon into the boats and swept them from the water. +Then the city had to be taken house by house. The Indians drove him back +again and again, till they were starved to skeletons, and those who used +to eat their enemies were driven to eat each other. Still they would not +give in. At last, after many weeks of fighting, it was all over. The +glorious Mexican empire was crumbled to dust. Those proud nobles, who +used to fat themselves upon the bodies of all the nations round, were +reduced to a handful of starving beggars. The cross of Christ was set +up, where the hearts of human creatures were offered to foul idols, and +Mexico has been ever since the property of the Spaniards, a Christian +land. + +And what became of Cortez? He died sadly and in disgrace. He sowed, and +other men reaped. If he was cruel and covetous, he was punished for it +in this world heavily enough. He had many noble qualities though. He +was a better man than those around him; and one good thing he did, which +was to sweep off the face of the earth as devilish a set of tyrants as +ever defiled the face of the earth. Give him all due honour for it, and +let him rest in peace. God shall judge him and not we. + +But take home with you, soldiers all, one lesson from this strange story, +that while a man can keep his courage and his temper, he is not only +never really beaten, but no man can tell what great things he may not do. + + + +III. PICTURE GALLERIES. + + +Picture-galleries should be the working-man's paradise, {230} a garden of +pleasure, to which he goes to refresh his eyes and heart with beautiful +shapes and sweet colouring, when they are wearied with dull bricks and +mortar, and the ugly colourless things which fill the town, the workshop +and the factory. For, believe me, there is many a road into our hearts +besides our ears and brains; many a sight, and sound, and scent, even, of +which we have never _thought_ at all, sinks into our memory, and helps to +shape our characters; and thus children brought up among beautiful sights +and sweet sounds will most likely show the fruits of their nursing, by +thoughtfulness and affection, and nobleness of mind, even by the +expression of the countenance. The poet Wordsworth, talking of training +up a beautiful country girl, says:-- + + "The floating clouds their state shall lend + To her--for her the willow bend; + Nor shall she fail to see, + Even in the motions of the storm, + _Grace which shall mould the maiden's form_, + _By silent sympathy_. + * * * * * + And she shall bend her ear + In many a secret place + Where rivulets dance their wayward round, + _And beauty_, _born of murmuring sound_, + _Shall pass into her face_." + +Those who live in towns should carefully remember this, for their own +sakes, for their wives' sakes, for their children's sakes. _Never lose +an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful_. Beauty is God's +handwriting--a wayside sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every +fair sky, every fair flower, and thank _Him_ for it, who is the fountain +of all loveliness, and drink it in, simply and earnestly, with all your +eyes; it is a charmed draught, a cup of blessing. + +Therefore I said that picture-galleries should be the townsman's paradise +of refreshment. Of course, if he can get the real air, the real trees, +even for an hour, let him take it, in God's name; but how many a man who +cannot spare time for a daily country walk, may well slip into the +National Gallery in Trafalgar Square (or the South Kensington Museum), or +any other collection of pictures, for ten minutes. _That_ garden, at +least, flowers as gaily in winter as in summer. Those noble faces on the +wall are never disfigured by grief or passion. There, in the space of a +single room, the townsman may take his country walk--a walk beneath +mountain peaks, blushing sunsets, with broad woodlands spreading out +below it; a walk through green meadows, under cool mellow shades, and +overhanging rocks, by rushing brooks, where he watches and watches till +he seems to _hear_ the foam whisper, and to _see_ the fishes leap; and +his hard worn heart wanders out free, beyond the grim city-world of stone +and iron, smoky chimneys, and roaring wheels, into the world of beautiful +things--_the world which shall be hereafter_--ay, which shall be! Believe +it, toil-worn worker, in spite of thy foul alley, thy crowded lodging, +thy grimed clothing, thy ill-fed children, thy thin, pale wife--believe +it, thou too and thine, will some day have _your_ share of beauty. God +made you love beautiful things only because He intends hereafter to give +you your fill of them. That pictured face on the wall is lovely, but +lovelier still may the wife of thy bosom be when she meets thee on the +resurrection morn! Those baby cherubs in the old Italian painting--how +gracefully they flutter and sport among the soft clouds, full of rich +young life and baby joy! Yes, beautiful indeed, but just such a one at +this very moment is that once pining, deformed child of thine, over whose +death-cradle thou wast weeping a month ago; now a child-angel, whom thou +shalt meet again never to part! Those landscapes, too, painted by +loving, wise old Claude, two hundred years ago, are still as fresh as +ever. How still the meadows are! how pure and free that vault of deep +blue sky! No wonder that thy worn heart, as thou lookest, sighs aloud, +"Oh that I had wings as a dove, then would I flee away and be at rest." +Ah, but gayer meadows and bluer skies await thee in the _world to +come_--that fairy-land made real--"the new heavens and the new earth," +which God has prepared for the pure and the loving, the just and the +brave, who have conquered in this sore fight of life! + +These thoughts may seem all too far-fetched to spring up in a man's head +from merely looking at pictures; but it is not so in practice. See, now, +such thoughts have sprung up in _my_ head; how else did I write them down +here? And why should not they, and better ones, too, spring up in your +heads, friends? It is delightful to watch in a picture-gallery some +street-boy enjoying himself; how first wonder creeps over his rough face, +and then a sweeter, more earnest, awestruck look, till his countenance +seems to grow handsomer and nobler on the spot, and drink in and reflect +unknowingly, the beauty of the picture he is studying. See how some +soldier's face will light up before the painting which tells him a noble +story of bye-gone days. And why? Because he feels as if he himself had +a share in the story at which he looks. They may be noble and glorious +men who are painted there; but they are still _men_ of like passions with +himself, and his man's heart understands them and glories in them; and he +begins, and rightly, to respect himself the more when he finds that he, +too, has a fellow-feeling with noble men and noble deeds. + +I say, pictures raise blessed thoughts in me--why not in you, my +brothers? Your hearts are fresh, thoughtful, kindly; you only want to +have these pictures explained to you, that you may know _why_ and _how_ +they are beautiful, and what feelings they ought to stir in your minds. +Look at the portraits on the walls, and let me explain one or two. Often +the portraits are simpler than large pictures, and they speak of real men +and women who once lived on this earth of ours--generally of remarkable +and noble men--and man should be always interesting to man. + + + +IV. A PORTRAIT IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY. + + +"Any one who goes to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, may see +two large and beautiful pictures--the nearer of the two labelled +'Titian,' representing Bacchus leaping from a car drawn by leopards. The +other, labelled 'Francia,' representing the Holy Family seated on a sort +of throne, with several figures arranged below--one of them a man pierced +with arrows. Between these two, low down, hangs a small picture, about +two feet square, containing only the portrait of an old man, in a white +cap and robe, and labelled on the picture itself, '_Joannes Bellinus_.' +Now this old man is a very ancient friend of mine, and has comforted my +heart, and preached me a sharp sermon, too, many a time. I never enter +that gallery without having five minutes' converse with him; and yet he +has been dead at least three hundred years, and, what is more, I don't +even know his name. But what more do I know of a man by knowing his +name? Whether the man's name be Brown, or whether he has as many names +and titles as a Spanish grandee, what does that tell me about the +_man_?--the spirit and character of the man--what the man will say when +he is asked--what the man will do when he is stirred up to action? The +man's name is part of his clothes; his shell; his husk. Change his name +and all his titles, you don't change _him_--'a man's a man for a' that,' +as Burns says; and a goose a goose. Other men gave him his name; but his +heart and his spirit--his love and his hatred--his wisdom and his +folly--his power to do well and ill; those God and himself gave him. I +must know those, and then I know the _man_. Let us see what we can make +out from the picture itself about the man whom it represents. In the +first place, we may see by his dress that he was in his day the Doge (or +chief magistrate) of Venice--the island city, the queen of the seas. So +we may guess that he had many a stirring time of it, and many a delicate +game to play among those tyrannous and covetous old merchant-princes who +had elected him; who were keeping up their own power at the expense of +everyone's liberty, by spies and nameless accusers, and secret councils, +tortures, and prisons, whose horrors no one ever returned to describe. +Nay, we may guess just the very men with whom he had to deal--the very +battles he may have seen fought. + +"But all these are _circumstances_--things which _stand round_ the man +(as the word means), and not the whole man himself--not the character and +heart of the man: that we must get from the portrait; and if the portrait +is a truly noble portrait we shall get it. If it is a merely vulgar +picture, we shall get the man's dress and shape of his face, but little +or no expression: if it is a _pathetic_ portrait, or picture of passion, +we shall get one particular temporary expression of his face--perhaps +joy, sorrow, anger, disgust--but still one which may have passed any +moment, and left his face quite different; but if the picture is one of +the noblest kind, we shall read the man's whole character there; just all +his strength and weakness, his kindliness or his sternness, his +thoughtfulness or his carelessness, written there once and for ever;--what +he would be, though all the world passed away; what his immortal and +eternal soul will be, unless God or the devil changed his heart, to all +eternity. + +"We may see at once that this man has been very handsome; but it is a +peculiar sort of beauty. How delicate and graceful all the lines in his +face are!--he is a gentleman of God's own making, and not of the tailor's +making. He is such a gentleman as I have seen among working men and nine- +shilling-a-week labourers, often and often; his nobleness is in his +heart--it is God's gift, therefore it shows in his noble looking face. No +matter whether he were poor or rich; all the rags in the world, all the +finery in the world, could not have made him look like a snob or a swell. +He was a thoughtful man, too; no one with such a forehead could have been +a trifler: a kindly man, too, and honest--one that may have played +merrily enough with his grandchildren, and put his hand in his purse for +many a widow and orphan. Look what a bright, clear, straightforward, +gentle look he has, almost a smile; but he has gone through too many sad +hours to smile much: he is a man of many sorrows, like all true and noble +rulers; and, like a high mountain-side, his face bears the furrows of +many storms. He has had a stern life of it, with the cares of a great +nation on his shoulders. He has seen that in this world there is no rest +for those who live like true men: you may see it by the wrinkles in his +brow, and the sharp-cut furrows in his cheeks, and those firm-set, +determined lips. His eyes almost show the marks of many noble +tears,--tears such as good men shed over their nation's sins; but that, +too, is past now. He has found out his path, and he will keep it; and he +has no misgiving now about what God would have him do, or about the +reward which God has laid up for the brave and just; and that is what +makes his forehead so clear and bright, while his very teeth are clenched +with calm determination. And by the look of those high cheek bones, and +that large square jaw, he is a strong-willed man enough, and not one to +be easily turned aside from his purpose by any man alive, or by any woman +either, or by his own passions and tempers. One fault of character, I +think, he may perhaps have had much trouble with--I mean bitterness and +contemptuousness. His lips are very thin; he may have sneered many a +time, when he was younger, at the follies of the world which that great, +lofty, thoughtful brain and clear eye of his told him were follies; but +he seems to have got past that too. Such is the man's character: a +noble, simple, commanding old man, who has conquered many hard things, +and, hardest of all, has conquered himself, and now is waiting calm for +his everlasting rest. God send us all the same. + +"Now consider the deep insight of old John Bellini, who could see all +this, and put it down there for us with pencil and paint. No doubt there +was something in Bellini's own character which made him especially best +able to paint such a man; for we always understand those who are most +like ourselves; and therefore you may tell pretty nearly a painter's own +character by seeing what sort of subjects he paints, and what his style +of painting is. And a noble, simple, brave, godly man was old John +Bellini, who never lost his head, though princes were flattering him and +snobs following him with shouts and blessings for his noble pictures of +the Venetian victories, as if he had been a man sent from God Himself, as +indeed he was--all great painters are; for who but God makes beauty? Who +gives the loving heart, and the clear eye, and the graceful taste to see +beauty and to copy it, and to set forth on canvas, or in stone, the noble +deeds of patriots dying for their country? To paint truly patriotic +pictures well, a man must have his heart in his work--he must be a true +patriot himself, as John Bellini was (if I mistake not, he had fought for +his country himself in more than one shrewd fight). And what makes men +patriots, or artists, or anything noble at all, but the spirit of the +living God? Those great pictures of Bellini's are no more; they were +burnt a few years afterwards, with the magnificent national hall in which +they hung; but the spirit of them is not passed away. Even now, Venice, +Bellini's beloved mother-land, is rising, new-born, from long weary years +of Austrian slavery, and trying to be free and great once more; and young +Italian hearts are lighting up with the thoughts of her old fleets and +her old victories, her merchants and her statesmen, whom John Bellini +drew. Venice sinned, and fell; and sorely has she paid for her sins, +through two hundred years of shame, and profligacy, and slavery. And she +has broken the oppressor's yoke. God send her a new life! May she learn +by her ancient sins! May she learn by her ancient glories! + +"You will forgive me for forgetting my picture to talk of such things. +But we must return. Look back at what I said about the old portrait--the +clear, calm, victorious character of the old man's face, and see how all +the rest of the picture agrees with it, in a complete harmony. The +dress, the scenery, the light and shade, the general 'tone' of colour +should all agree with the character of the face--all help to bring our +minds into that state in which we may best feel and sympathise with the +human beings painted. Now here, because the face is calm and grand, the +colour and the outlines are quiet and grand likewise. How different +these colours are from that glorious 'Holy Family' of Francia's, next to +it on the right; or from that equally glorious 'Bacchus and Ariadne' of +Titian's, on the left! Yet all three are right, each for its own +subject. Here you have no brilliant reds, no rich warm browns; no +luscious greens. The white robe and cap give us the thought of purity +and simplicity; the very golden embroidery on them, which marks his rank, +is carefully kept back from being too gaudy. Everything is _sober_ here; +and the lines of the dress, how simple they all are--no rich curves, no +fluttering drapery. They would be quite stiff if it were not for that +waving line of round tassels in front, which break the extreme +straightness and heaviness of the splendid robe; and all pointing upwards +towards that solemn, thin, calm face, with its high white cap, rising +like the peak of a snow mountain against the dark, deep, boundless blue +sky beyond. That is a grand thought of Bellini's. You do not see the +man's hands; he does not want them now, his work is done. You see no +landscape behind--no buildings. All earth's ways and sights are nothing +to him now; there is nothing but the old man and the sky--nothing between +him and the heaven now, and he knows it and is glad. A few months more, +and those way-worn features shall have crumbled to their dust, and that +strong, meek spirit shall be in the abyss of eternity, before the God +from whence it came. + +"So says John Bellini, with art more cunning than words. And if this +paper shall make one of you look at that little picture with fresh +interest, and raise one strong and solemn longing in you to die the death +of the righteous, and let your last end be like his who is painted +there--then I shall rejoice in the only payment I desire to get, for this +my afternoon's writing." + + + +V. THE BRITISH MUSEUM. + + +Nature is infinitely more wonderful than the highest art; and in the +commonest hedgeside leaf lies a mystery and beauty greater than that of +the greatest picture, the noblest statue--as infinitely greater as God's +work is infinitely greater than man's. But to those who have no leisure +to study nature in the green fields (and there are now-a-days too many +such, though the time may come when all will have that blessing), to such +I say, go to the British Museum, Bloomsbury Square; there at least, if +you cannot go to nature's wonders, some of nature's wonders are brought +to you. + +The British Museum is my glory and joy; because it is one of the only +places which is free to English citizens as such--where the poor and the +rich may meet together, and before those works of God's Spirit, "who is +no respecter of persons," feel that "the Lord is the maker of them all." +In the British Museum and the National Gallery, the Englishman may say, +"Whatever my coat or my purse, I am an Englishman, and therefore I have a +right here. I can glory in these noble halls, as if they were my own +house." + +English commerce, the joint enterprise and industry of the poor sailor as +well as the rich merchant, brought home these treasures from foreign +lands; and those glorious statues--though it was the wealth and taste of +English noblemen and gentlemen (who in that proved themselves truly noble +and gentle) who placed them here, yet it was the genius of English +artists--men at once above and below all ranks--men who have worked their +way up, not by money or birth, but by worth and genius, which taught the +noble and wealthy the value of those antiques, and which proclaimed their +beauty to the world. The British Museum is a truly equalising place, in +the deepest and most spiritual sense. And it gives the lie, too, to that +common slander, "that the English are not worthy of free admission to +valuable and curious collections, because they have such a trick of +seeing with their fingers; such a trick of scribbling their names, of +defiling and disfiguring works of art. On the Continent it may do, but +you cannot trust the English." + +This has been, like many other untruths, so often repeated, that people +now take it for granted; but I believe that it is utterly groundless, and +I say so on the experience of the British Museum and the National +Gallery. In the only two cases, I believe, in which injury has been done +to anything in either place, the destroyers were neither working-men, nor +even poor reckless heathen street-boys, but persons who had received what +is too often miscalled "a liberal education." But _national property +will always be respected_, because all will be content, while they feel +that they have their rights, and all will be careful while they feel that +they have a share in the treasure. + +Go to the British Museum in Easter week, and see there hundreds of +thousands, of every rank and age, wandering past sculptures and +paintings, which would be ruined by a blow--past jewels and curiosities, +any one of which would buy many a poor soul there a month's food and +lodging--only protected by a pane of glass, if by that; and then see not +a thing disfigured--much less stolen. Everywhere order, care, attention, +honest pride in their country's wealth and science; earnest reverence for +the mighty works of God, and of the God-inspired. I say, the people of +England prove themselves worthy of free admission to all works of art, +and it is therefore the duty of those who can to help them to that free +admission. + +What a noble, and righteous, and truly brotherly plan it would be, if all +classes would join to form a free National Gallery of Art and Science, +which might combine the advantages of the present Polytechnic, Society of +Arts, and British Institution, gratis. {243} Manufacturers and men of +science might send thither specimens of their new inventions. The rich +might send, for a few months in the year--as they do now to the British +Institution--ancient and modern pictures, and not only pictures, but all +sorts of curious works of art and nature, which are now hidden in their +drawing-rooms and libraries. There might be free liberty to copy any +object, on the copyist's name and residence being registered. And surely +artists and men of science might be found, with enough of the spirit of +patriotism and love, to explain gratuitously to all comers, whatever +their rank or class, the wonders of the Museum. I really believe that if +once _the spirit of brotherhood_ got abroad among us; if men once saw +that here was a vast means of educating, and softening and uniting those +who have no leisure for study, and few means of enjoyment, except the gin- +shop and Cremorne Gardens; if they could but once feel that here was a +project, equally blessed for rich and poor, the money for it would be at +once forthcoming from many a rich man, who is longing to do good, if he +could only be shown the way; and from many a poor journeyman, who would +gladly contribute his mite to a truly national museum. All that is +wanted is the spirit of self-sacrifice, patriotism and brotherly +love--which God alone can give--which I believe He is giving more and +more in these very days. + +I never felt this more strongly than one day, as I was looking in at the +windows of a splendid curiosity-shop in Oxford Street, at a case of +humming-birds. I was gloating over the beauty of those feathered jewels, +and then wondering what was the meaning, what was the use of it all? why +those exquisite little creatures should have been hidden for ages, in all +their splendours of ruby, and emerald, and gold in the South American +forests, breeding and fluttering and dying, that some dozen out of all +those millions might be brought over here to astonish the eyes of men. +And as I asked myself, why were all these boundless varieties, these +treasures of unseen beauty, created? my brain grew dizzy between pleasure +and thought; and, as always happens when one is most innocently +delighted, "I turned to share the joy," as Wordsworth says; and next to +me stood a huge, brawny coal-heaver, in his shovel hat, and white +stockings and high-lows, gazing at the humming-birds as earnestly as +myself. As I turned he turned, and I saw a bright manly face, with a +broad, soot-grimmed forehead, from under which a pair of keen flashing +eyes gleamed wondering, smiling sympathy into mine. In that moment we +felt ourselves friends. If we had been Frenchmen, we should, I suppose, +have rushed into each other's arms and "fraternised" upon the spot. As +we were a pair of dumb, awkward Englishmen, we only gazed a half-minute, +staring into each other's eyes, with a delightful feeling of +understanding each other, and then burst out both at once with, "Isn't +that beautiful?" "Well, that is!" And then both turned back again, to +stare at our humming-birds. + +I never felt more thoroughly than at that minute (though, thank God, I +had often felt it before) that all men were _brothers_; that this was not +a mere political doctrine, but a blessed God-ordained fact; that the +party-walls of rank and fashion and money were but a paper prison of our +own making, which we might break through any moment by a single hearty +and kindly feeling; that the one spirit of God was given without respect +of persons; that the beautiful things were beautiful alike to the coal- +heaver and the parson; and that before the wondrous works of God and of +God's inspired genius, the rich and the poor might meet together, and +feel that whatever the coat or the creed may be, "A man's a man for a' +that," and one Lord the maker of them all. + +For, believe me, my friends, rich and poor--and I beseech you to think +deeply over this great truth--that men will never be joined in true +brotherhood by mere plans to give them a self-interest in common, as the +Socialists have tried to do. No: to feel _for_ each other, they must +first feel _with_ each other. To have their sympathies in common, they +must have not one object of gain, but an object of admiration in common; +to know that they are brothers, they must feel that they have one Father; +and one way to feel that they have one common Father, is to see each +other wondering, side by side, at His glorious works! + + + + +Footnotes: + + +{80a} H.M.S. the Duke of Wellington. + +{80b} Form of prayer to be used at sea. + +{199} This was written and sent out to the army before Sebastopol in the +winter of 1855. + +{222} Prescott's "History of the Conquest of Mexico." See Book v., ch. +1. + +{230} Mr. Kingsley wrote these papers for London working-men, but his +words apply just as much to soldiers in London barracks, as to artizans. +He thought much of the good of pictures, and all beautiful things for +hard-worked men who could see such things in public galleries, though +they could not afford to have them in their own homes. + +{243} Since this paper was written in 1848 many such institutions have +been opened, at South Kensington, and in several great towns. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE WORDS FOR BRAVE MEN*** + + +******* This file should be named 20138.txt or 20138.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/3/20138 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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