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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:28:48 -0700 |
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diff --git a/7051-h/7051-h.htm b/7051-h/7051-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2779a80 --- /dev/null +++ b/7051-h/7051-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9374 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>The Good News of God, by Charles Kingsley</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Good News of God, by Charles Kingsley + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + + + + +Title: The Good News of God + + +Author: Charles Kingsley + + + +Release Date: January 10, 2015 [eBook #7051] +[This file was first posted on March 2, 2003] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1887 Macmillan and Co. edition by David +Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1>THE<br /> +GOOD NEWS OF GOD</h1> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">SERMONS</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="GutSmall">BY</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHARLES KINGSLEY M.A.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><b>London</b><br /> +MACMILLAN AND CO.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND NEW YORK</span><br /> +1887</p> +<p style="text-align: center">[<i>The Right of Translation is +Reserved</i>]</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">Transferred +from Messrs. </span><span class="GutSmall"><span +class="smcap">Longman</span></span><span class="GutSmall"> & +</span><span class="GutSmall"><span +class="smcap">Co</span></span><span class="GutSmall">., +1863</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">Reprinted, Fcap. 8vo, 1866, 1874, 1877, +1878</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">Reprinted, Crown 8vo, 1878, 1880, 1881, +1883, 1885, 1887</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">SERMON</span></p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">I.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE BEATIFIC VISION</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">II.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE GLORY OF THE CROSS</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page10">10</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">III.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE LIFE OF GOD</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page16">16</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">IV.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE SONG OF THE THREE CHILDREN</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page26">26</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">V.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE ETERNAL GOODNESS</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page34">34</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>WORSHIP</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page43">43</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>GOD’S INHERITANCE</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page51">51</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>‘DE PROFUNDIS’</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page57">57</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">IX.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE LOVE OF GOD ITS OWN REWARD</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page67">67</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">X.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE RACE OF LIFE</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>SELF-RESPECT AND SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page84">84</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>TRUE REPENTANCE</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page94">94</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page105">105</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XIV.</p> +</td> +<td><p>HEROES AND HEROINES</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page116">116</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XV.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE MEASURE OF THE CROSS</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page124">124</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XVI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE PURE IN HEART</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page132">132</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XVII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>MUSIC</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page140">140</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XVIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE CHRIST CHILD</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page148">148</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XIX.</p> +</td> +<td><p>CHRIST’S BOYHOOD</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page155">155</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XX.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE LOCUST-SWARMS</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page161">161</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>SALVATION</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page169">169</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE BEGINNING AND END OF WISDOM</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page174">174</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>HUMAN NATURE</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page181">181</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXIV.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE CHARITY OF GOD</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page190">190</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXV.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE DAYS OF THE WEEK</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page195">195</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXVI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE HEAVENLY FATHER</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page203">203</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXVII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE GOOD SHEPHERD</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page211">211</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXVIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>DARK TIMES</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page219">219</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXIX.</p> +</td> +<td><p>GOD’S CREATION</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page229">229</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXX.</p> +</td> +<td><p>TRUE PRUDENCE</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page236">236</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE PENITENT THIEF</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page249">249</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE TEMPER OF CHRIST</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page258">258</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE FRIEND OF SINNERS</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page268">268</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXIV.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE SEA OF GLASS</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page278">278</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXV.</p> +</td> +<td><p>A GOD IN PAIN</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page291">291</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXVI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>ON THE FALL</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page297">297</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXVII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE WORTHY COMMUNICANT</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page304">304</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXVIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>OUR DESERTS</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page310">310</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XXXIX.</p> +</td> +<td><p>THE LOFTINESS OF GOD</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page317">317</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>SERMON +I.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE BEATIFIC VISION.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxii. 27.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Thou shalt love the Lord thy God +with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy +mind.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">These</span> words often puzzle and pain +really good people, because they seem to put the hardest duty +first. It seems, at times, so much more easy to love +one’s neighbour than to love God. And strange as it +may seem, that is partly true. St. John tells us +so—‘He that loves not his brother whom he hath seen, +how can he love God whom he hath not seen?’ Therefore +many good people, who really do love God, are unhappy at times +because they feel that they do not love him enough. They +say in their hearts—‘I wish to do right, and I try to +do it: but I am afraid I do not do it from love to +God.’</p> +<p>I think that they are often too hard upon themselves. I +believe that they are very often loving God with their whole +hearts, when they think that they are not doing so. But +still, it is well to be afraid of oneself, and dissatisfied with +oneself.</p> +<p>I think, too—nay, I am certain—that many good +people do not love God as they ought, and as they would wish to +do, because they have not been rightly taught who God is, and +what He is like. They have not been taught that God is +loveable; they have been taught that God feels feelings, and does +deeds, which if a man felt, or did, we should call him arbitrary, +proud, revengeful, cruel: and yet they are told to love him; and +they do not know how to love such a being as that. Nor do I +either, my friends.</p> +<p>Let us therefore think over to-day for ourselves why we ought +to love God; and why both Bible and Catechism bid child as well +as man to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, and +minds, before they bid us love our neighbours. And keep +this in mind all through, that the reason why we are to love God +must depend upon what God’s character is. For you +cannot love any one because you are told to love them. You +can only love them because they are loveable and worthy of your +love. And that they will not be, unless they are loving +themselves; as it is written, we love God because he first loved +us.</p> +<p>Now, friends, look at this one thing first. When we see +any man do a just action, or a kind action, do we not like to see +it? Do we not like the man the better for doing it? A +man must be sunk very low in stupidity and ill-feeling—dead +in tresspasses and sins, as the Bible calls it—if he does +not. Indeed, I never saw the man yet, however bad he was +himself, who did not, in his better moments, admire what was +right and good; and say, ‘Bad as I may be, that man is a +good man, and I wish I could do as he does.’</p> +<p>One sees the same, but far more strongly, in little +children. From their earliest years, as far as I have ever +seen, children like and admire what is good, even though they be +naughty themselves; and if you tell them of any very loving, +generous, or brave action, their hearts leap up in answer to +it. They feel at once how beautiful goodness is.</p> +<p>But why?</p> +<p>St. John tells us. That feeling comes, he tells us, from +Christ, the light who is the life of men, and lights every man +who comes into the world; and that light in our hearts, which +makes us see, and admire, and love what is good, is none other +than Christ himself shining in our hearts, and showing to us his +own likeness, and the beauty thereof.</p> +<p>But if we stop there; if we only admire what is good, without +trying to copy it, we shall lose that light. Our corrupt +and diseased nature (and corrupt and diseased it is, as we shall +surely find, as soon as we begin to try to do right) will quench +that heavenly spark in us more and more, till it dies +out—as God forbid that it should die out in any of +us. For if it did die out, we should care no more for what +is good. We should see nothing beautiful, and noble, and +glorious, in being just, and loving, and merciful. And +then, indeed, we should see nothing worth loving in God +himself:—and it were better for us that we had never been +born.</p> +<p>But none of us, I trust, are fallen as low as that. We +all, surely, admire a good action, and love a good man. +Surely we do. Then I will go on, to ask you one question +more.</p> +<p>Did it ever strike you, that goodness is not merely <i>a</i> +beautiful thing, but <span class="GutSmall">THE</span> beautiful +thing—by far the most beautiful thing in the world; and +that badness is not merely <i>an</i> ugly thing, but the ugliest +thing in the world?—So that nothing is to be compared for +value with goodness; that riches, honour, power, pleasure, +learning, the whole world and all in it, are not worth having, in +comparison with being good; and the utterly best thing for a man +is to be good, even though he were never to be rewarded for it: +and the utterly worst thing for a man is to be bad, even though +he were never to be punished for it; and, in a word, goodness is +the only thing worth loving, and badness the only thing worth +hating.</p> +<p>Did you ever feel this, my friends? Happy are those +among you who have felt it; for of you the Lord says, Blessed are +they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall +be filled. Ay, happy are you who have felt it; for it is +the sign, the very and true sign, that the Holy Spirit of God, +who is the Spirit of goodness, is working in your hearts with +power, revealing to you the exceeding beauty of holiness, and the +exceeding sinfulness of sin.</p> +<p>But did it never strike you besides, that goodness was one, +and everlasting? Let me explain what I mean.</p> +<p>Did you never see, that all good men show their goodness in +the same way, by doing the same kind of good actions? Let +them be English or French, black or white, if they be good, there +is the same honesty, the same truthfulness, the same love, the +same mercy in all; and what is right and good for you and me, now +and here, is right and good for every man, everywhere, and at all +times for ever. Surely, surely, what is noble, and +loveable, and admirable now, was so five thousand years ago, and +will be five thousand years hence. What is honourable for +us here, would be equally honourable for us in America or +Australia—ay, or in the farthest star in the skies.</p> +<p>But, some of you may say, men at different times and in +different countries have had very different notions—indeed +quite opposite notions, of what men ought to be.</p> +<p>I know that some people say so. I can only answer that I +differ from them. True, some men have had less light than +others, and, God knows, have made fearful mistakes enough, and +fancied that they could please God by behaving like devils: but +on the first principles of goodness, all the world has been +pretty well agreed all along; for wherever men have been taught +what is really right, there have been plenty of hearts to answer, +‘Yes, this is good! this is what we have wanted all along, +though we knew it not.’ And all the wisest men among +the heathen—the men who have been honoured, and even +worshipped as blessings to their fellow men, have agreed, one and +all, in the great and golden rule, ‘Thou shalt love God, +with all thy heart and soul, and thy neighbour as +thyself.’</p> +<p>Believe about this as you may, my friends, still I believe, +and will believe; I preach, and will preach, this, and nought +else but this:—That there is but one everlasting goodness, +which is good in men, good in all rational beings—yea, good +in God himself.</p> +<p>These last are solemn words, but they are true; and the more +you think over them, the more, I tell you, will you find them +true. And to them I have been trying to lead you; and will +try once more.</p> +<p>For, did it never strike you, again—as it has +me—and all the world has looked different to me since I +found it out—that there must be ONE, in whom all goodness +is gathered together; ONE, who must be perfectly and absolutely +good? And did it never strike you, that all the goodness in +the world must, in some way or other, come from HIM? I +believe that our hearts and reasons, if we will listen fairly to +them, tell us that it must be so; and I am certain that the Bible +tells us so, from beginning to end. When we see the million +rain-drops of the shower, we say, with reason, there must be one +great sea from which all these drops have come. When we see +the countless rays of light, we say, with reason, there must be +one great central sun from which all these are shed forth. +And when we see, as it were, countless drops, and countless rays +of goodness scattered about in the world, a little good in this +man, and a little good in that, shall we not say, there must be +one great sea, one central sun of goodness, from whence all human +goodness comes? And where can that centre of goodness be, +but in the very character of God himself?</p> +<p>Yes, my friends; if you would know what God is, think of all +the noble, beautiful, loveable actions, tempers, feelings, which +you ever saw or heard of. Think of all the good, and +admirable, and loveable people whom you ever met; and fancy to +yourselves all that goodness, nobleness, admirableness, +loveableness, and millions of times more, gathered together in +one, to make one perfectly good character—and then you have +some faint notion of God, some dim sight of God, who is the +eternal and perfect Goodness.</p> +<p>It is but a faint notion, no doubt, that the best man can have +of God’s goodness, so dull has sin made our hearts and +brains: but let us comfort ourselves with this thought—That +the more we learn to love what is good, the more we accustom +ourselves to think of good people and good things, and to ask +ourselves why and how this action and that is good, the more +shall we be able to see the goodness of God. And to see +that, even for a moment, is worth all sights in earth or +heaven.</p> +<p>Worth all sights, indeed. No wonder that the saints of +old called it the ‘Beatific Vision,’ that is, the +sight which makes a man utterly blessed; namely, to see, if but +for a moment, with his mind’s eye what God is like, and +behold he is utterly good!</p> +<p>No wonder that they said (and I doubt not that they spoke +honestly and simply what they felt) that while that thought was +before them, this world was utterly nothing to them; that they +were as men in a dream, or dead, not caring to eat or to move, +for fear of losing that glorious thought; but felt as if they +were (as they were most really and truly) caught up into heaven, +and taken utterly out of themselves by the beauty and glory of +God’s perfect goodness. No wonder that they cried out +with David, ‘Whom have I in heaven, O Lord, but Thee? and +there is none on earth whom I desire in comparison of +Thee.’ No wonder that they said with St. Peter when +he saw our Lord’s glory, ‘Lord, it is good for us to +be here,’ and felt like men gazing upon some glorious +picture or magnificent show, off which they cannot take their +eyes; and which makes them forget for the time all beside in +heaven and earth.</p> +<p>And it was good for them to be there: but not too long. +Man was sent into this world not merely to see, but to do; and +the more he sees, the more he is bound to go and do +accordingly. St. Peter had to come down from the mount, and +preach the Gospel wearily for many a year, and die at last upon +the cross. St. Augustine, in like wise, though he would +gladly have lived and died doing nothing but fixing his +soul’s eye steadily on the glory of God’s goodness, +had to come down from the mount likewise, and work, and preach, +and teach, and wear himself out in daily drudgery for that God +whom he learnt to serve, even when he could not adore Him in the +press of business, and the bustle of a rotten and dying +world.</p> +<p>But see, my dear friends, and consider it well—Before a +man can come to that state of mind, or anything like it, he must +have begun by loving goodness wherever he saw it; and have +settled in his heart that to be good, and therefore to do good, +is the most beautiful thing in the world. So he will begin +by loving his brother whom he has seen, and by taking delight in +good people, and in all honest, true, loving, merciful, generous +words and actions, and in those who say and do them. And so +he will be fit to love God, whom he has not seen, when he finds +out (as God grant that you may all find out) that all goodness of +which we can conceive, and far, far more, is gathered together in +God, and flows out from him eternally over his whole creation, by +that Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is +the Lord and Giver of life, and therefore of goodness. For +goodness is nothing else, if you will receive it, but the eternal +life of God, which he has lived, and lives now, and will live for +evermore, God blessed for ever. Amen.</p> +<p>So, my dear friends, it will not be so difficult for you to +love God, if you will only begin by loving goodness, which is +God’s likeness, and the inspiration of God’s Holy +Spirit. For you will be like a man who has long admired a +beautiful picture of some one whom he does not know, and at last +meets the person for whom the picture was meant—and behold +the living face is a thousand times more fair and noble than the +painted one. You will be like a child which has been +brought up from its birth in a room into which the sun never +shone; and then goes out for the first time, and sees the sun in +all his splendour bathing the earth with glory. If that +child had loved to watch the dim narrow rays of light which shone +into his dark room, what will he not feel at the sight of that +sun from which all those rays had come Just so will they feel +who, having loved goodness for its own sake, and loved their +neighbours for the sake of what little goodness is in them, have +their eyes opened at last to see all goodness, without flaw or +failing, bound or end, in the character of God, which he has +shown forth in Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the likeness of his +Father’s glory, and the express image of his person; to +whom be glory and honour for ever. Amen.</p> +<h2><a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>SERMON +II.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE GLORY OF THE CROSS.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">John</span> xvii. 1.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Father, the hour is come. +Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I spoke to you lately of the beatific vision of God. I +will speak of it again to-day; and say this.</p> +<p>If any man wishes to see God, truly and fully, with the eyes +of his soul: if any man wishes for that beatific vision of God; +that perfect sight of God’s perfect goodness; then must +that man go, and sit down at the foot of Christ’s cross, +and look steadfastly upon him who hangs thereon. And there +he will see, what the wisest and best among the heathen, among +the Mussulmans, among all who are not Christian men, never have +seen, and cannot see unto this day, however much they may feel +(and some of them, thank God, do feel) that God is the Eternal +Goodness, and must be loved accordingly.</p> +<p>And what shall we see upon the cross?</p> +<p>Many things, friends, and more than I, or all the preachers in +the world, will be able to explain to you, though we preached +till the end of the world. But one thing we shall see, if +we will, which we have forgotten sadly, Christians though we be, +in these very days; forgotten it, most of us, so utterly, that in +order to bring you back to it, I must take a seemingly roundabout +road.</p> +<p>Does it seem, or does it not seem, to you, that the finest +thing in a man is magnanimity—what we call in plain +English, greatness of soul? And if it does seem to you to +be so, what do you mean by greatness of soul? When you +speak of a great soul, and of a great man, what manner of man do +you mean?</p> +<p>Do you mean a very clever man, a very far-sighted man, a very +determined man, a very powerful man, and therefore a very +successful man? A man who can manage everything, and every +person whom he comes across, and turn and use them for his own +ends, till he rises to be great and glorious—a ruler, king, +or what you will?</p> +<p>Well—he is a great man: but I know a greater, and +nobler, and more glorious stamp of man; and you do also. +Let us try again, and think if we can find his likeness, and draw +it for ourselves. Would he not be somewhat like this +pattern?—A man who was aware that he had vast power, and +yet used that power not for himself but for others; not for +ambition, but for doing good? Surely the man who used his +power for other people would be the greater-souled man, would he +not? Let us go on, then, to find out more of his +likeness. Would he be stern, or would he be tender? +Would he be patient, or would he be fretful? Would he be a +man who stands fiercely on his own rights, or would he be very +careful of other men’s rights, and very ready to waive his +own rights gracefully and generously? Would he be extreme +to mark what was done amiss against him, or would he be very +patient when he was wronged himself, though indignant enough if +he saw others wronged? Would he be one who easily lost his +temper, and lost his head, and could be thrown off his balance by +one foolish man? Surely not. He would be a man whom +no fool, nor all fools together could throw off his balance; a +man who could not lose his temper, could not lose his +self-respect; a man who could bear with those who are peevish, +make allowances for those who are weak and ignorant, forgive +those who are insolent, and conquer those who are ungrateful, not +by punishment, but by fresh kindness, overcoming their evil by +his good.—A man, in short, whom no ill-usage without, and +no ill-temper within, could shake out of his even path of +generosity and benevolence. Is not that the truly +magnanimous man; the great and royal soul? Is not that the +stamp of man whom we should admire, if we met him on earth? +Should we not reverence that man; esteem it an honour and a +pleasure to work under that man, to take him for our teacher, our +leader, in hopes that, by copying his example, our souls might +become great like his?</p> +<p>Is it so, my friends? Then know this, that in admiring +that man, you admire the likeness of God. In wishing to be +like that man, you wish to be like God.</p> +<p>For this is God’s true greatness; this is God’s +true glory; this is God’s true royalty; the greatness, +glory, and royalty of loving, forgiving, generous power, which +pours itself out, untiring and undisgusted, in help and mercy to +all which he has made; the glory of a Father who is perfect in +this, that he causeth his rain to fall on the evil and on the +good, and his sun to shine upon the just and on the unjust, and +is good to the unthankful and the evil; a Father who has not +dealt with us after our sins, or rewarded us after our +iniquities: a Father who is not extreme to mark what is done +amiss, but whom it is worth while to fear, for with him is mercy +and plenteous redemption;—all this, and more—a Father +who so loved a world which had forgotten him, a world whose sins +must have been disgusting to him, that he spared not his only +begotten Son, but freely gave him for us, and will with him +freely give us all things; a Father, in one word, whose name and +essence is love, even as it is the name and essence of the Son +and of the Holy Ghost.</p> +<p>This, my friends, is the glory of God: but this glory never +shone out in its full splendour till it shone upon the cross.</p> +<p>For—that we may go back again, to that great-souled man, +of whom I spoke just now—did we not leave out one thing in +his character? or at least, one thing by which his character +might be proved and tried? We said that he should be +generous and forgiving; we said that he should bear patiently +folly, peevishness, ingratitude: but what if we asked of him, +that he should sacrifice himself utterly for the peevish, +ungrateful men for whose good he was toiling? What if we +asked him to give up, for them, not only all which made life +worth having, but to give up life itself? To die for them; +and, what is bitterest of all, to die by their hands—to +receive as their reward for all his goodness to them a shameful +death? If he dare submit to that, then we should call his +greatness of soul perfect. Magnanimity, we should say, +could rise no higher; in that would be the perfection of +goodness.</p> +<p>Surely your hearts answer, that this is true. When you +hear of a father sacrificing his own life for his children; when +you hear of a soldier dying for his country; when you hear of a +clergyman or a physician killing himself by his work, while he is +labouring to save the souls or the bodies of his +fellow-creatures; then you feel—There is goodness in its +highest shape. To give up our lives for others is one of +the most beautiful, and noble, and glorious things on +earth. But to give up our lives, willingly, joyfully for +men who misunderstand us, hate us, despise us, is, if possible, a +more glorious action still, and the very perfection of perfect +virtue. Then, looking at Christ’s cross, we see that, +and even more—ay, far more than that. The cross was +the perfect token of the perfect greatness of God, and of the +perfect glory of God.</p> +<p>So on the cross, the Father justified himself to man; yea, +glorified himself in the glory of his crucified Son. On the +cross God proved himself to be perfectly just, perfectly good, +perfectly generous, perfectly glorious, beyond all that man could +ever have dared to conceive or dream. That God must be +good, the wise heathens knew; but that God was so utterly good +that he could stoop to suffer, to die, for men, and by +men—that they never dreamed. That was the mystery of +God’s love, which was hid in Christ from the foundation of +the world, and which was revealed at last upon the cross of +Calvary by him who prayed for his murderers—‘Father, +forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ That +truly blessed sight of a Saviour-God, who did not disdain to die +the meanest and the most fearful of deaths—that, that came +home at once, and has come home ever since, to all hearts which +had left in them any love and respect for goodness, and melted +them with the fire of divine love; as God grant it may melt +yours, this day, and henceforth for ever.</p> +<p>I can say no more, my friends. If this good news does +not come home to your hearts by its own power, it will never be +brought home to you by any words of mine.</p> +<h2><a name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 16</span>SERMON +III.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE LIFE OF GOD.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">1 <span +class="smcap">John</span> i. 2.</p> +<p>For the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear +witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the +Father and was manifested unto us!</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">What</span> do we mean, when we speak of +the Life everlasting?</p> +<p>Do we mean that men’s souls are immortal, and will live +for ever after death, either in happiness or misery?</p> +<p>We must mean more than that. At least we ought to mean +more than that, if we be Christian men. For the Bible tells +us, that Christ brought life and immortality to light. +Therefore they must have been in darkness before Christ’s +coming; and men did not know as much about life and immortality +before Christ’s coming as they know—or ought to +know—now.</p> +<p>But if we need only believe that we shall live for ever after +death in happiness or misery, then Christ has not brought life +and immortality to light. He has thrown no fresh light upon +the matter.</p> +<p>And why? For this simple reason, that the old heathen +knew as much as that before Christ came.</p> +<p>The old Greeks and Romans, and Persians, and our own +forefathers before they became Christians, believed that +men’s souls would live for ever happy or miserable. +The Mussulmans, Mahommedans, Turks as they are called in the +Prayer-book, believe as much as that now. They believe that +men’s souls live for ever after death, and go to +‘heaven’ or ‘hell.’</p> +<p>So those words ‘everlasting Life’ must needs mean +something more than that. What do they mean?</p> +<p>First. What does everlasting mean?</p> +<p>It means exactly the same as eternal. The two words are +the same: only everlasting is English, and eternal Latin. +But they have the same sense.</p> +<p>Now everlasting and eternal mean something which has neither +beginning nor end. That is certain. The wisest of the +heathen knew that: but we are apt to forget it. We are apt +to think a thing may be everlasting, because it has no end, +though it has a beginning. We are careless thinkers, if we +fancy that. God is eternal because he has neither beginning +nor end.</p> +<p>But here come two puzzles.</p> +<p>First. The Athanasian Creed says that there is but one +Eternal, that is, God; and never were truer words written.</p> +<p>But do we not make out two Eternals? For God is one +Eternal; and eternal life is another Eternal. Now which is +right; we, or the Athanasian Creed? I shall hold by the +Athanasian Creed, my friends, and ask you to think again over the +matter: thus—If there be but one Eternal, there is but one +way of escaping out of our puzzle, which makes two Eternals; and +that is, to go back to the old doctrine of St. Paul, and St. +John, and the wisest of the Fathers, and say—There is but +one Eternal; and therefore eternal life is in the Eternal +God. And it is eternal Life because it is God’s life; +the life which God lives; and it is eternal just because, and +only because, it is the life of God; and eternal death is nothing +but the want of God’s eternal life.</p> +<p>Certainly, whether you think this true or not, St. John +thought it true; for he says so most positively in the +text. He says that the Life was manifested—showed +plainly upon earth, and that he had seen it. And he says +that he saw it in a man, whom his eyes had seen, and his hands +had handled. How could that be?</p> +<p>My friends, how else could it be? How can you see life, +but by seeing some one live it? You cannot see a +man’s life, unless you see him live such and such a life, +or hear of his living such and such a life, and so knowing what +his life, manners, character, are. And so no one could have +seen God’s life, or known what life God lived, and what +character God’s was, had it not been for the incarnation of +our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made flesh, and dwelt among us, +that by seeing him, the Son, we might see the Father, whose +likeness he was, and is, and ever will be.</p> +<p>But now, says St. John, we know what God’s eternal life +is; for we know what Christ’s life was on earth. And +more, we know that it is a life which men may live; for Christ +lived it perfectly and utterly, though He was a man.</p> +<p>What sort of life, then, is everlasting life?</p> +<p>Who can tell altogether and completely? And yet who +cannot tell in part? Use the common sense, my friends, +which God has given to you, and think;—If eternal life be +the life of God, it must be a good life; for God is good. +That is the first, and the most certain thing which we can say of +it. It must be a righteous and just life; a loving and +merciful life; for God is righteous, just, loving, merciful; and +more, it must be an useful life, a life of good works; for God is +eternally useful, doing good to all his creatures, working for +ever for the benefit of all which he has made.</p> +<p>Yes—a life of good works. There is no good life +without good works. When you talk of a man’s life, +you mean not only what he feels and thinks, but what he +does. What is in his heart goes for nothing, unless he +brings it out in his actions, as far as he can.</p> +<p>Therefore St. James says, ‘Thou hast faith, and I have +works. Shew me thy faith <i>without</i> thy works,’ +(and who can do that?) ‘and I will shew thee my faith by my +works.’</p> +<p>And St. John says, there is no use <i>saying</i> you +love. ‘Let us love not in word and in tongue, but in +deed and in truth;’ and again—and would to God that +most people who talk so glibly about heaven and hell, and the +ways of getting thither, would recollect this one plain +text—‘Little children, let no man deceive you. +He that <i>doeth</i> righteousness is righteous, even as God is +righteous.’ And therefore it is that St. Paul bids +rich men ‘be rich also in noble deeds,’ generous and +liberal of their money to all who want, that they may ‘lay +hold of that which is really life,’ namely, the eternal +life of goodness.</p> +<p>And therefore also, my friends, we may be sure that God loves +in deed and in truth: because it is written that God is love.</p> +<p>For if a man loves, he longs to help those whom he +loves. It is the very essence of love, that it cannot be +still, cannot be idle, cannot be satisfied with itself, cannot +contain itself, but must go out to do good to those whom it +loves, to seek and to save that which is lost. And +therefore God is perfect love, and his eternal life a life of +eternal love, because he sends his Son eternally to seek and to +save that which is lost.</p> +<p>This, then, is eternal life; a life of everlasting love +showing itself in everlasting good works; and whosoever lives +that life, he lives the life of God, and hath eternal life.</p> +<p>What I have just said will help you, I think, to understand +another royal text about eternal life.</p> +<p>For now’ we may understand why it is written, that this +is life eternal, to know the true and only God, and Jesus Christ +whom he has sent. For if eternal life be God’s life, +we must know God, and God’s character, to know what eternal +life is like: and if no man has seen God at any time, and +God’s life can only be seen in the life of Christ, then we +must know Christ, and Christ’s life, to know God and +God’s life; that the saying may be fulfilled in us, God +hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.</p> +<p>One other royal text, did I say? We may understand many, +perhaps all, the texts which speak of life, and eternal life, if +we will look at them in this way. We may see why St. Paul +says that to be spiritually minded is life; and that the life of +Jesus may be manifested in men: and how the sin of the old +heathen lay in this, that they were alienated from the life of +God. We may understand how Christ’s commandment is +everlasting life; how the water which he gives, can spring up +within a man’s heart to everlasting life—all such +texts we may, and shall, understand more and more, if we will +bear in mind that everlasting life is the life of God and of +Christ, a life of love; a life of perfect, active, +self-sacrificing goodness, which is the one only true life for +all rational beings, whether on earth or in heaven.</p> +<p>In heaven, my friends, as well as on earth. Form your +own notions, as you will, about angels, and saints in heaven, for +every one must have some notions about them, and try to picture +to himself what the souls of those whom he has loved and lost are +doing in the other world: but bear this in mind: that if the +saints in heaven live the everlasting life, they must be living a +life of usefulness, of love and of good works.</p> +<p>And here I must say, friends, that however much the Roman +Catholics may be wrong on many points, they have remembered one +thing about the life everlasting, which we are too apt to forget; +and that is, that everlasting life cannot be a selfish, idle +life, spent only in being happy oneself. They believe that +the saints in heaven are <i>not</i> idle; that they are eternally +helping mankind; doing all sorts of good offices for those souls +who need them; that, as St. Paul says of the angels, they are +ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who are +heirs of salvation. And I cannot see why they should not be +right. For if the saints’ delight was to do good on +earth, much more will it be to do good in heaven. If they +helped poor sufferers, if they taught the ignorant, if they +comforted the afflicted, here on earth, much more will they be +able, much more will they be willing, to help, comfort, teach +them, now that they are in the full power, the full freedom, the +full love and zeal of the everlasting life. If their hearts +were warmed and softened by the fire of God’s love here, +how much more there! If they lived God’s life of love +here, how much more there, before the throne of God, and the face +of Christ!</p> +<p>But if any one shall say, that the souls of good men in heaven +cannot help us who are here on earth, I answer, When did they +ascend into heaven, to find out that? If they had ever been +there, friends, be sure they would have had better news to bring +home than this—that those whom we have honoured and loved +on earth have lost the power which they used to have, of +comforting us who are struggling here below. That notion +springs altogether out of a superstitious fancy that heaven is a +great many millions of miles away from this earth—which +fancy, wherever men get it from, they certainly do not get it +from the Bible. Moreover it seems to me, that if the saints +in heaven cannot help men, then they cannot be happy in +heaven. Cannot be happy? Ay, must be miserable. +For what greater misery for really good men, than to see things +going wrong, and not to be able to mend them; to see poor +creatures suffering, and not to be able to comfort them? +No, my friends, we will believe—what every one who loves a +beloved friend comes sooner or later to believe—that those +whom we have honoured and loved, though taken from our eyes, are +near to our spirits; that they still fight for us, under the +banner of their Master Christ, and still work for us, by virtue +of his life of love, which they live in him and by him for +ever.</p> +<p>Pray to them, indeed, we need not, as if they would help us +out of any self-will of their own. There, I think, the +Roman Catholics are wrong. They pray to the saints as if +the saints had wills of their own, and fancies of their own, and +were respecters of persons; and could have favourites, and grant +private favours to those who especially admired and (I fear I +must say it) flattered them. But why should we do +that? That is to lower God’s saints in our own +eyes. For if we believe that they are made perfect, and +like perfectly the everlasting life, then we must believe that +there is no self-will in them: but that they do God’s will, +and not their own, and go on God’s errands, and not their +own; that he, and not their own liking, sends them whithersoever +he wills; and that if we ask of <i>him</i>—of God our +Father himself, that is enough for us.</p> +<p>And what shall we ask?</p> +<p>Ask—‘Father, thy will be done on earth, as it is +in heaven.’</p> +<p>For in asking that, we ask for the best of all things. +We ask for the happiness, the power, the glory of saints and +angels. We ask to be put into tune with God’s whole +universe, from the meanest flower beneath our feet, to the most +glorious spirit whom God ever created. We ask for the one +everlasting life which can never die, fail, change, or +disappoint: yea, for the everlasting life which Christ the only +begotten Son lives from eternity to eternity, for ever saying to +his Father, ‘Thy will be done.’</p> +<p>Yes—when we ask God to make us do his will, then indeed +we ask for everlasting life.</p> +<p>Does that seem little? Would you rather ask for all +manner of pleasant things, if not in this life, at least in the +life to come?</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, consider this. We were not put into this +world to get pleasant things; and we shall not be put into the +next world, as it seems to me, to get pleasant things. We +were put into this world to do God’s will. And we +shall be put (I believe) into the next world for the very same +purpose—to do God’s will; and if we do that, we shall +find pleasure enough in doing it. I do not doubt that in +the next world all manner of harmless pleasure will come to us +likewise; because that will be, we hope, a perfect and a just +world, not a piecemeal, confused, often unjust world, like this: +but pleasant things will come to us in the next life, only in +proportion as we shall be doing God’s will in the next +life; and we shall be happy and blessed, only because we shall be +living that eternal life of which I have been preaching to you +all along, the life which Christ lives and has lived and will +live for ever, saying to the Eternal Father—I come to do +thy will—not my will but thine be done.</p> +<p>Oh! may God give to us all his Spirit; the Spirit by which +Christ did his Father’s will, and lived his Father’s +life in the soul and body of a mortal man, that we may live here +a life of obedience and of good works, which is the only true and +living life of faith; and that when we die it may be said of +us—‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; for +they rest from their labours, and their works do follow +them.’</p> +<p>They rest from their labours. All their struggles, +disappointments, failures, backslidings, which made them unhappy +here, because they could not perfectly do the will of God, are +past and over for ever. But their works follow them. +The good which they did on earth—that is not past and +over. It cannot die. It lives and grows for ever, +following on in their path long after they are dead, and bearing +fruit unto everlasting life, not only in them, but in men whom +they never saw, and in generations yet unborn.</p> +<h2><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span>SERMON +IV.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE SONG OF THE THREE +CHILDREN.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Daniel</span> iii. 16, 17, 18.</p> +<p>O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this +matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to +deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and He will deliver us +out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto +thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the +golden image which thou hast set up.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> read this morning, instead of +the Te Deum, the Song of the Three Children, beginning, ‘Oh +all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and +magnify him for ever.’ It was proper to do so: +because the Ananias, Azarias, and Misael mentioned in it, are the +same as the Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, whose story we heard +in the first lesson; and because some of the old Jews held that +this noble hymn was composed by them, and sung by them in the +burning fiery furnace, wherefore it has been called ‘The +Song of the Three Children;’ for child, in old English, +meant a young man.</p> +<p>Be that as it may, it is a glorious hymn, worthy of the Church +of God, worthy of those three young men, worthy of all the noble +army of martyrs; and if the three young men did not actually use +the very words of it, still it was what they believed; and, +because they believed it, they had courage to tell Nebuchadnezzar +that they were not careful to answer him—had no manner of +doubt or anxiety whatsoever as to what they were to say, when he +called on them to worship his gods. For his gods, we know, +were the sun, moon, and planets, and the angels who (as the +Chaldeans believed) ruled over the heavenly bodies; and that +image of gold is supposed, by some learned men, to have been +probably a sign or picture of the wondrous power of life and +growth which there is in all earthly things—and that a sign +of which I need not speak, or you hear. So that the meaning +of this Song of the Three Children is simply this:</p> +<p>‘You bid us worship the things about us, which we see +with our bodily eyes. We answer, that we know the one true +God, who made all these things; and that, therefore, instead of +worshipping <i>them</i>, we will bid them to worship +<i>him</i>.’</p> +<p>Now let us spend a few minutes in looking into this hymn, and +seeing what it teaches us.</p> +<p>You see at once, that it says that the one God, and not many +gods, made all things: much more, that things did not make +themselves, or grow up of their own accord, by any virtue or life +of their own.</p> +<p>But it says more. It calls upon all things which God has +made, to bless him, praise him, and magnify him for ever. +This is much more than merely saying, ‘One God made the +world.’ For this is saying something about +God’s character; declaring what this one God is like.</p> +<p>For when you bless a person—(I do not mean when you pray +God to bless him—that is a different thing)—when you +bless any one, I say, you bless him because he is blessed, and +has done blessed things: because he has shown himself good, +generous, merciful, useful. You praise a person because he +is praiseworthy, noble, and admirable. You magnify a +person—that is, speak of him to every one, and everywhere, +in the highest terms—because you think that every one ought +to know how good and great he is. And, therefore, when the +hymn says, ‘Bless God, praise him, and magnify him for +ever,’ it does not merely confess God’s power. +No. It confesses, too, God’s wisdom, goodness, +beauty, love, and calls on all heaven and earth to admire him, +the alone admirable, and adore him, the alone adorable.</p> +<p>For this is really to believe in God. Not merely to +believe that there is a God, but to know what God is like, and to +know that He is worthy to be believed in; worthy to be trusted, +honoured, loved with heart and mind and soul, because we know +that He is worthy of our love.</p> +<p>And this, we have a right to say, these three young men did, +or whosoever wrote this hymn; and that as a reward for their +faith in God, there was granted to them that deep insight into +the meaning of the world about them, which shines out through +every verse of this hymn.</p> +<p>Deep? I tell you, my friends, that this hymn is so deep, +that it is too deep for the shallow brains of which the world is +full now-a-days, who fancy that they know all about heaven and +earth, just because they happen to have been born now, and not +two hundred years ago. To such this old hymn means nothing; +it is in their eyes merely an old-fashioned figure of speech to +call on sun and stars, green herb and creeping thing, to praise +and bless God. Nevertheless, the old hymn stands in our +prayer-books, as a precious heir-loom to our children; and long +may it stand. Though we may forget its meaning, yet perhaps +our children after us will recollect it once more, and say with +their hearts, what we now, I fear, only say with our lips and +should not say at all, if it was not put into our months by the +Prayer-book.</p> +<p>Do you not understand what I mean? Then think of +this:—</p> +<p>If we were writing a hymn about God, should we dare to say to +the things about us—to the cattle feeding in the +fields—much less to the clouds over our heads, and to the +wells of which we drink, ‘Bless ye the Lord, praise him, +and magnify him for ever?’</p> +<p>We should not dare; and for two reasons.</p> +<p>First—There is a notion abroad, borrowed from the old +monks, that this earth is in some way bad, and cursed; that a +curse is on it still for man’s sake: but a notion which is +contrary to plain fact; for if we till the ground, it does +<i>not</i> bring forth thorns and thistles to us, as the +Scripture says it was to do for Adam, but wholesome food, and +rich returns for our labour: and which in the next place is +flatly contrary to Scripture: for we read in Genesis viii. 21, +how the Lord said, ‘I will not again curse the ground any +more for man’s sake;’ and the Psalms always speak of +this earth, and of all created things, as if there was no curse +at all on them; saying that ‘all things serve God, and +continue as they were at the beginning,’ and that ‘He +has given them a law which cannot be broken;’ and in the +face of those words, let who will talk of the earth being cursed, +I will not; and you shall not, if I can help it.</p> +<p>Another reason why we dare not talk of this earth as this hymn +does is, that we have got into the habit of saying, ‘Cattle +and creeping things—they are not rational beings. How +can they praise God? Clouds and wells—they are not +even living things. How can they praise God? Why +speak of them in a hymn; much less speak to them?’</p> +<p>Yet this hymn does speak to them; and so do the Psalms and the +Prophets again and again. And so will men do hereafter, +when the fashions and the fancies of these days are past, and men +have their eyes opened once more to see the glory which is around +them from their cradle to their grave, and hear once more +‘The Word of the Lord walking among the trees of the +garden.’</p> +<p>But how can this be? How can not only dumb things, but +even dead things, praise God?</p> +<p>My friends, this is a great mystery, of which the wisest men +as yet know but little, and confess freely how little they +know. But this at least we know already, and can say +boldly—all things praise God, by fulfilling the law which +our Lord himself declared, when he said ‘Not every one who +saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: +but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in +heaven.’</p> +<p>By doing the will of the heavenly Father. By obeying the +laws which God has given them. By taking the shape which he +has appointed for them. By being of the use for which he +intended them. By multiplying each after their kind, by +laws and means a thousand times more strange than any signs and +wonders of which man can fancy for himself; and by thus showing +forth God’s boundless wisdom, goodness, love, and tender +care of all which he has made.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, in this sense (and this is the true sense) +all things can serve and praise God, and all things do serve and +praise Him. Not a cloud which fleets across the sky, not a +clod of earth which crumbles under the frost, not a blade of +grass which breaks through the snow in spring, not a dead leaf +which falls to the earth in autumn, but is doing God’s +work, and showing forth God’s glory. Not a tiny +insect, too small to be seen by human eyes without the help of a +microscope, but is as fearfully and wonderfully made as you and +me, and has its proper food, habitation, work, appointed for it, +and not in vain. Nothing is idle, nothing is wasted, +nothing goes wrong, in this wondrous world of God. The very +scum upon the standing pool, which seems mere dirt and dust, is +all alive, peopled by millions of creatures, each full of beauty, +full of use, obeying laws of God too deep for us to do aught but +dimly guess at them; and as men see deeper and deeper into the +mystery of God’s creation, they find in the commonest +things about them wonder and glory, such as eye hath not seen, +nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to +conceive; and can only say with the Psalmist, ‘Oh Lord, thy +ways are infinite, thy thoughts are very deep;’ and confess +that the grass beneath their feet, the clouds above their +heads—ay, every worm beneath the sod and bird upon the +bough, do, in very deed and truth, bless the Lord who made them, +praise him, and magnify him for ever, not with words indeed, but +with works; and say to man all day long, ‘Go thou, and do +likewise.’</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, let us go and do likewise. If we wish +really to obey the lesson of the Hymn of the Three Children, let +us do the will of God: and so worship him in spirit and in +truth. Do not fancy, as too many do, that thou canst praise +God by singing hymns to him in church once a week, and disobeying +him all the week long, crying to him ‘Lord, Lord,’ +and then living as if he were not thy Lord, but thou wast thine +own Lord, and hadst a right to do thine own will, and not +his. If thou wilt really bless God, then try to live his +blessed life of Goodness. If thou wilt truly praise God, +then behave as if God was praiseworthy, good, and right in what +he bids thee do. If thou wouldest really magnify God, and +declare his greatness, then behave as if he were indeed the Great +God, who ought to be obeyed—ay, who <i>must</i> be obeyed; +for his commandment is life, and it alone, to thee, as well as to +all which He has made. Dost thou fancy as the heathen do, +that God needs to be flattered with fine words? or that thou wilt +be heard for thy much speaking, and thy vain repetitions? +He asks of thee works, as well as words; and more, He asks of +thee works first, and words after. And better it is to +praise him truly by works without words, than falsely by words +without works.</p> +<p>Cry, if thou wilt, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of +hosts;’ but show that thou believest him to be holy, by +being holy thyself. Sing, if Thou wilt, of ‘The +Father of an Infinite Majesty:’ but show that thou +believest his majesty to be infinite, by obeying his +commandments, like those Three Children, let them cost thee what +they may. Join, and join freely, in the songs of the +heavenly host; for God has given thee reason and speech, after +the likeness of his only begotten Son, and thou mayest use them, +as well as every other gift, in the service of thy Father. +But take care lest, while thou art trying to copy the angels, +thou art not even as righteous as the beasts of the field. +For they bless and praise God by obeying his laws; and till thou +dost that, and obeyest God’s laws likewise, thou art not as +good as the grass beneath thy feet.</p> +<p>For after all has been said and sung, my friends, the sum and +substance of true religion remains what it was, and what it will +be for ever; and lies in this one word, ‘If ye love me, +keep my commandments.’</p> +<h2><a name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>SERMON +V.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE ETERNAL GOODNESS.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxii. 39.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Thou shalt love thy neighbour as +thyself.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Why</span> are wrong things wrong? +Why, for instance, is it wrong to steal?</p> +<p>Because God has forbidden it, you may answer. But is it +so? Whatsoever God forbids must be wrong. But, is it +wrong because God forbids it, or does God forbid it because it is +wrong?</p> +<p>For instance, suppose that God had not forbidden us to steal, +would it be right then to steal, or at least, not wrong?</p> +<p>We must really think of this. It is no mere question of +words, it is a solemn practical question, which has to do with +our every-day conduct, and yet which goes down to the deepest of +all matters, even to the depths of God himself.</p> +<p>The question is simply this. Did God, who made all +things, make right and wrong? Many people think so. +They think that God made goodness. But how can that +be? For if God made goodness, there could have been no +goodness before God made it. That is clear. But God +was always good, good from all eternity. But how could that +be? How could God be good, before there was any goodness +made? That notion will not do then. And all we can +say is that goodness is eternal and everlasting, just as God is: +because God was and is and ever will be eternally and always +good.</p> +<p>But is eternal goodness one thing, and the eternal God, +another? That cannot be, again; for as the Athanasian Creed +tells us so wisely and well, there are not many Eternals, but one +Eternal. Therefore goodness must be the Spirit of God; and +God must be the Spirit of goodness; and right is nothing else but +the character of the everlasting God, and of those who are +inspired by God.</p> +<p>What is wrong, then? Whatever is unlike right; whatever +is unlike goodness; whatever is unlike God; that is wrong. +And why does God forbid us to do wrong? Simply because +wrong is unlike himself. He is perfectly beautiful, +perfectly blest and happy, because he is perfectly good; and he +wishes to see all his creatures beautiful, blest, and happy: but +they can only be so by being perfectly good; and they can only be +perfectly good by being perfectly like God their Father; and they +can only be perfectly like God the Father by being full of love, +loving their neighbour as themselves.</p> +<p>For what do we mean when we talk of right, righteousness, +goodness?</p> +<p>Many answers have been given to that question.</p> +<p>The old Romans, who were a stern, legal-minded people, used to +say that righteousness meant to hurt no man, and to give every +man his own. The Eastern people had a better answer still, +which our blessed Lord used in one place, when he told them that +righteousness was to do to other people as we would they should +do to us: but the best answer, the perfect answer, is our +Lord’s in the text, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as +thyself.’ This is the true, eternal +righteousness. Not a legal righteousness, not a +righteousness made up of forms and ceremonies, of keeping days +holy, and abstaining from meats, or any other arbitrary commands, +whether of God or of man. This is God’s goodness, +God’s righteousness, Christ’s own goodness and +righteousness. Do you not see what I mean? Remember +only one word of St. John’s. God is love. Love +is the goodness of God. God is perfectly good, because he +is perfect love. Then if you are full of love, you are good +with the same goodness with which God is good, and righteous with +Christ’s righteousness. That as what St. Paul wished +to be, when he wished to be found in Christ, not having his own +righteousness, but the righteousness which is by faith in +Christ. His own righteousness was the selfish and +self-conceited righteousness which he had before his conversion, +made up of forms, and ceremonies, and doctrines, which made him +narrow-hearted, bigoted, self-conceited, fierce, cruel, a +persecutor; the righteousness which made him stand by in cold +blood to see St. Stephen stoned. But the righteousness +which is by faith in Christ is a loving heart, and a loving life, +which every man will long to lead who believes really in Jesus +Christ. For when he looks at Christ, Christ’s +humiliation, Christ’s work, Christ’s agony, +Christ’s death, and sees in it nothing but utter and +perfect <i>Love</i> to poor sinful, undeserving man, then his +heart makes answer, Yes, I believe in that! I believe and +am sure that that is the most beautiful character in the world; +that that is the utterly noble and right sort of person to +be—full of love as Christ was. I ought to be like +that. My conscience tells me that I ought. And I can +be like that. Christ, who was so good himself, must wish to +make me good like himself, and I can trust him to do it. I +can have faith in him, that he will make me like himself, full of +the Spirit of love, without which I shall be only useless and +miserable. And I trust him enough to be sure that, good as +he is, he cannot mean to leave me useless or miserable. So, +by true faith in Christ, the man comes to have Christ’s +righteousness—that is, to be loving as Christ was. He +believes that Christ’s loving character is perfect beauty; +that he must be the Son of God, if his character be like +that. He believes that Christ can and will fill him with +the same spirit of love; and as he believes, so is it with him, +and in him those words are fulfilled, ‘Whosoever shall +confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he +in God;’ and that ‘If a man love me,’ says the +Lord, ‘I and my Father will come to him, and take up our +abode with him.’ Those are wonderful words: but if +you will recollect what I have just said, you may understand a +little of them. St. John puts the same thing very simply, +but very boldly. ‘God is Love,’ he says, +‘and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in +him.’ Strange as it may seem, it must be so if God be +love. Let us thank God that it is true, and keep in mind +what awful and wonderful creatures we are, that God should dwell +in us; what blessed and glorious creatures we may become in time, +if we will only listen to the voice of God who speaks within our +hearts.</p> +<p>And what does that voice say? The old commandment, my +friends, which was from the beginning, ‘Love one +another.’ Whatever thoughts or feeling in your hearts +contradict that; whatever tempts you to despise your neighbour, +to be angry with him, to suspect him, to fancy him shut out from +God’s love, that is not of God. No voice in our +hearts is God’s voice, but what says in some shape or +other, ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself. Care for him, +bear with him long, and try to do him good.’</p> +<p>For love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, +and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for +God is love. Still less can he who is not loving fulfil the +law; for the law of God is the very pattern and picture of +God’s character; and if a man does not know what God is +like, he will never know what God’s law is like; and though +he may read his Bible all day long, he will learn no more from it +than a dumb animal will, unless his heart is full of love. +For love is the light by which we see God, by which we understand +his Bible; by which we understand our duty, and God’s +dealings, in the world. Love is the light by which we +understand our own hearts; by which we understand our +neighbours’ hearts. So it is. If you hate any +man, or have a spite against him, you will never know what is in +that man’s heart, never be able to form a just opinion of +his character. If you want to understand human beings, or +to do justice to their feelings, you must begin by loving them +heartily and freely, and the more you like them the better you +will understand them, and in general the better you will find +them to be at heart, the more worthy of your trust, at least the +more worthy of your compassion.</p> +<p>At least, so St. John says, ‘He that saith he is in the +light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even till now, and +knoweth not whither he goeth. But he that loveth his +brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of +stumbling in him.’</p> +<p>No occasion of stumbling. That is of making mistakes in +our behaviour to our neighbours, which cause scandal, drive them +from us, and make them suspect us, dislike us—and perhaps +with too good reason. Just think for yourselves. What +does half the misery, and all the quarrelling in the world come +from, but from people’s loving themselves better than their +neighbours? Would children be disobedient and neglectful to +their parents, if they did not love themselves better than their +parents? Why does a man kill, commit adultery, steal, bear +false witness, covet his neighbour’s goods, his +neighbour’s custom, his neighbour’s rights, but +because he loves his own pleasure or interest better than his +neighbour’s, loves himself better than the man whom he +wrongs? Would a man take advantage of his neighbour if he +loved him as well as himself? Would he be hard on his +neighbour, and say, Pay me the uttermost farthing, if he loved +him as he loves himself? Would he speak evil of his +neighbour behind his back, if he loved him as himself? +Would he cross his neighbour’s temper, just because he +<i>will</i> have his own way, right or wrong, if he loved him as +himself? Judge for yourselves. What would the world +become like this moment if every man loved his neighbour as +himself, thought of his neighbour as much as he thinks of +himself? Would it not become heaven on earth at once? +There would be no need then for soldiers and policemen, lawyers, +rates and taxes, my friends, and all the expensive and heavy +machinery which is now needed to force people into keeping +something of God’s law. Ay, there would be no need of +sermons, preachers and prophets to tell men of God’s law, +and warn them of the misery of breaking it. They would keep +the law of their own free-will, by love. For love is the +fulfilling of the law; and as St. Augustine says, ‘Love you +neighbour, and then do what you will—because you will be +sure to will what is right.’ So truly did our Lord +say, that on this one commandment hung all the law and the +prophets.</p> +<p>But though that blessed state of things will not come to the +whole world till the day when Christ shall reign in that new +heaven and new earth, in which Righteousness shall dwell, still +it may come here, now, on earth, to each and every one of us, if +we will but ask from God the blessed gift; to love our neighbour +as we love ourselves.</p> +<p>And then, my friends, whether we be rich or poor, fortunate or +unfortunate, still that spirit of Love which is the Spirit of +God, will be its exceeding great reward.</p> +<p>I say, its own reward.</p> +<p>For what is to be our reward, if we do our duty earnestly, +however imperfectly? ‘Well done, thou good and +faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’</p> +<p>And what is the joy of our Lord? What is the joy of +Christ? The joy and delight which springs for ever in his +great heart, from feeling that he is for ever doing good; from +loving all, and living for all; from knowing that if not all, yet +millions on millions are grateful to him, and will be for +ever.</p> +<p>My friends, if you have ever done a kind action; if you have +ever helped any one in distress, or given up a pleasure for the +sake of others—do you not know that that deed gave you a +peace, a self-content, a joy for the moment at least, which +nothing in this world could give, or take away? And if the +person whom you helped thanked you; if you felt that you had made +that man your friend; that he trusted you now, looked on you now +as a brother—did not that double the pleasure? I ask +you, is there any pleasure in the world like that of doing good, +and being thanked for it? Then that is the joy of your +Lord. That is the joy of Christ rising up in you, as often +as you do good; the love which is in you rejoicing in itself, +because it has found a loving thing to do, and has called out the +love of a human being in return.</p> +<p>Yes, if you will receive it, that is the joy of +Christ—the glorious knowledge that he is doing endless +good, and calling out endless love to himself and to the Father, +till the day when he shall give up to his Father the kingdom +which he has won back from sin and death, and God shall be all in +all.</p> +<p>That is the joy of your Lord. If you wish for any +different sort of joy after you die, you must not ask me to tell +you of it; for I know nothing about the matter save what I find +written in the Holy Scripture.</p> +<h2><a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 43</span>SERMON +VI.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WORSHIP.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Isaiah</span> i. 12, 13.</p> +<p>When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at +your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain +oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and +sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is +iniquity, even the solemn meeting.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is a very awful text; one of +those which terrify us—or at least ought to terrify +us—and set us on asking ourselves seriously and +honestly—‘What do I believe after all? What +manner of man am I after all? What sort of show should I +make after all, if the people round me knew my heart and all my +secret thoughts? What sort of show, then, do I already +make, in the sight of Almighty God, who sees every man exactly as +he is?’</p> +<p>I say, such texts as this ought to terrify us. It is +good to be terrified now and then; to be startled, and called to +account, and set thinking, and sobered, as it were, now and then, +that we may look at ourselves honestly anti bravely, and see, if +we can, what sort of men we are.</p> +<p>And therefore, perhaps, it is that this chapter is chosen for +the first Advent Lesson; to prepare us for Christmas; to frighten +us somewhat; at least to set us thinking seriously, and to make +us fit to keep Christmas in spirit and in truth.</p> +<p>For whom does this text speak of?</p> +<p>It speaks of religious people, and of a religious nation; and +of a fearful mistake which they were making, and a fearful danger +into which they had fallen. Now we are religious people, +and England is a religious nation; and therefore we may possibly +make the same mistake, and fall into the same danger, as these +old Jews.</p> +<p>I do not say that we have done so; but we may; for human +nature is just the same now as it was then; and therefore it is +as well for us to look round—at least once now and then, +and see whether we too are in danger of falling, while we think +that we are standing safe.</p> +<p>What does Isaiah, then, tell the religious Jews of his +day?</p> +<p>That their worship of God, their church-going, their sabbaths, +and their appointed feasts were a weariness and an abomination to +him. That God loathed them, and would not listen to the +prayers which were made in them. That the whole matter was +a mockery and a lie in his sight.</p> +<p>These are awful words enough—that God should hate and +loathe what he himself had appointed; that what would be, one +would think, one of the most natural and most pleasant sights to +a loving Father in heaven—namely, his own children +worshipping, blessing, and praising him—should be horrible +in his sight. There is something very shocking in that; at +least to Church people like us. If we were Dissenters, who +go to chapel chiefly to hear sermons, it would be easy for us to +say—‘Of course, forms and ceremonies and appointed +feasts are nothing to begin with; they are man’s invention +at best, and may therefore be easily enough an abomination to +God.’ But we know that they are not so; that forms +and ceremonies and appointed feasts are good things as long as +they have spirit and truth in them; that whether or not they be +of man’s invention, they spring out of the most simple, +wholesome wants of our human nature, which is a good thing and +not a bad one, for God made it in his own likeness, and bestowed +it on us. We know, or ought to know, that appointed feast +days, like Christmas, are good and comfortable ordinances, which +cheer our hearts on our way through this world, and give us +something noble and lovely to look forward to month after month; +that they are like landmarks along the road of life, reminding us +of what God has done, and is doing, for us and all mankind. +And if you do not know, I know, that people who throw away +ordinances and festivals end, at least in a generation or two, in +throwing away the Gospel truth which that ordinance or festival +reminds us of; just as too many who have thrown away Good Friday +have thrown away the Good Friday good news, that Christ died for +all mankind; and too many who have thrown away Christmas are +throwing away—often without meaning to do so—the +Christmas good news, that Christ really took on himself the whole +of our human nature, and took the manhood into God.</p> +<p>So it is, my friends, and so it will be. For these forms +and festivals are the old landmarks and beacons of the Gospel; +and if a man will not look at the landmarks, then he will lose +his way.</p> +<p>Therefore, to Church people like us, it ought to be a shocking +thing even to suspect that God may be saying to us, ‘Your +appointed feasts my soul hateth;’ and it ought to set them +seriously thinking how such a thing may happen, that they may +guard against it. For if God be not pleased with our coming +to his house, what right have we in his house at all?</p> +<p>But recollect this, my dear friends, that we are not to use +this text to search and judge others’ faults, but to search +and judge our own.</p> +<p>For if a man, hearing this sermon, looks at his neighbour +across the church, and says in his heart, ‘Ay, such a bad +one as he is—what right has he in church?’—then +God answers that man, ‘Who art thou who judgest +another? To his own master he standeth or +falleth.’ Yes, my friends, recollect what the old +tomb-stone outside says—(and right good doctrine it +is)—and fit it to this sermon.</p> +<blockquote><p>When this you see, pray judge not me<br /> + For sin enough I own.<br /> +Judge yourselves; mend your lives;<br /> + Leave other folks alone.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>But if a man, hearing this sermon, begins to say to himself, +Such a man as I am—so full of faults as I am—what +right have I in church? So selfish—so +uncharitable—so worldly—so useless—so unfair +(or whatever other faults the man may feel guilty of)—in +one word, so unlike what I ought to be—so unlike +Christ—so unlike God whom I come to worship. How +little I act up to what I believe! how little I really believe +what I have learnt! what right have I in church? What if +God were saying the same of me as he said of those old Jews, +‘Thy church-going, thy coming to communion, thy +Christmas-day, my soul hateth; I am weary to bear it. Who +hath required this at thy hands, to tread my courts?’ +People round me may think me good enough as men go now; but I +know myself too well; and I know that instead of saying with the +Pharisee to any man here, ‘I thank God that I am not as +this man or that,’ I ought rather to stand afar off like +the publican, and not lift up so much as my eyes toward heaven, +crying only ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner.’</p> +<p>If a man should think thus, my friends, his thoughts may make +him very serious for awhile; nay, very sad. But they need +not make him miserable: need still less make him despair.</p> +<p>They ought to set him on thinking—Why do I come to +church?</p> +<p>Because it is the fashion?</p> +<p>Because I want to hear the preacher?</p> +<p>No—to worship God.</p> +<p>But what is worshipping God?</p> +<p>That must depend entirely my friends, upon who God is.</p> +<p>As I often tell you, most questions—ay, if you will +receive it, all questions—depend upon this one root +question, who is God?</p> +<p>But certainly this question of worshipping God must depend +upon who God is. For how he ought to be worshipped depends +on what will please him. And what will please him, depends +on what his character is.</p> +<p>If God be, as some fancy, hard and arbitrary, then you must +worship him in a way in which a hard arbitrary person would like +to be addressed; with all crouching, and cringing, and slavish +terror.</p> +<p>If God be again, as some fancy, cold, and hard of hearing, +then you must worship him accordingly. You must cry aloud +as Baal’s priests did to catch his notice, and put +yourselves to torment (as they did, and as many a Christian has +done since) to move his pity; and you must use repetitions as the +heathen do, and believe that you will be heard for your much +speaking. The Lord Jesus called all such repetitions vain, +and much speaking a fancy: but then, the Lord Jesus spoke to men +of a Father in heaven, a very different God from such as I speak +of—and, alas! some Christian people believe in.</p> +<p>But, my friends, if you believe in your heavenly Father, the +good God whom your Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to you; and if +you will consider that he is good, and consider what that word +good means, then you will not have far to seek before you find +what worship means, and how you can worship him in spirit and in +truth.</p> +<p>For if God be good, worshipping him must mean praising and +admiring him—adoring him, as we call it—for being +good.</p> +<p>And nothing more?</p> +<p>Certainly much more. Also to ask him to make us +good. That, too, must be a part of worshipping a good +God. For the very property of goodness is, that it wishes +to make others good. And if God be good, he must wish to +make us good also.</p> +<p>To adore God, then, for his goodness, and to pray to him to +make us good, is the sum and substance of all wholesome +worship.</p> +<p>And for that purpose a man may come to church, and worship God +in spirit and in truth, though he be dissatisfied with himself, +and ashamed of himself; and knows that he is wrong in many +things:—provided always that he wishes to be set right, and +made good.</p> +<p>For he may come saying, ‘O God, thou art good, and I am +bad; and for that very reason I come. I come to be made +good. I admire thy goodness, and I long to copy it; but I +cannot unless thou help me. Purge me; make me clean. +Cleanse thou me from my secret faults, and give me truth in the +inward parts. Do what thou wilt with me. Train me as +thou wilt. Punish me if it be necessary. Only make me +good.’</p> +<p>Then is the man fit indeed to come to church, sins and +all:—if he carry his sins into church not to carry them out +again safely and carefully, as we are all too apt to do, but to +cast them down at the foot of Christ’s cross, in the hope +(and no man ever hoped that hope in vain)—that he will be +lightened of that burden, and leave some of them at least behind +him. Ay, no man, I say, ever hoped that in vain. No +man ever yet felt the burden of his sins really intolerable and +unbearable, but what the burden of his sins was taken off him +before all was over, and Christ’s righteousness given to +him instead.</p> +<p>Then a man is fit, not only to come to church, but to come to +Holy Communion on Christmas-day, and all days. For then and +there he will find put into words for him the very deepest +sorrows and longings of his heart. There he may say as +heartily as he can (and the more heartily the better), ‘I +acknowledge and bewail my manifold sins and wickedness. The +remembrance of them is grievous unto me; the burden of them is +intolerable:’ but there he will hear Christ promising in +return to pardon and deliver him from all his sins, to confirm +and strengthen him in all goodness. That last is what he +ought to want; and if he wants it, he will surely find it.</p> +<p>He may join there with the whole universe of God in crying, +‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are +full of Thy glory:’ and still in the same breath he may +confess again his unworthiness so much as to gather up the crumbs +under God’s table, and cast himself simply and utterly upon +the eternal property of God’s eternal essence, which +is—always to have mercy. But he will hear forthwith +Christ’s own answer—‘If thou art bad, I can and +will make thee good. My blood shall wash away thy sin: my +body shall preserve thee, body, soul, and spirit, to the +everlasting life of goodness.’</p> +<p>And so God will bless that man’s communion to him; and +bless to him his keeping of Christmas-day; because out of a true +penitent heart and lively faith he will be offering to the good +God the sacrifice of his own bad self, that God may take it, and +make it good; and so will be worshipping the everlasting and +infinite Goodness, in spirit and in truth.</p> +<h2><a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>SERMON +VII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">GOD’S INHERITANCE.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Gal</span>. iv. 6, 7.</p> +<p>Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son +into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art +no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God +through Christ.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is the second good news of +Christmas-day.</p> +<p>The first is, that the Son of God became man.</p> +<p>The second is, why he became man. That men might become +the sons of God through him.</p> +<p>Therefore St. Paul says, You are the sons of God. +Not—you may be, if you are very good: but you are, in order +that you may become very good. Your being good does not +tell you that you are the sons of God: your baptism tells you +so. Your baptism gives you a right to say, I am the child +of God. How shall I behave then? What ought a child +of God to be like? Now St. Paul, you see, knew well that we +could not make ourselves God’s children by any feelings, +fancies, or experiences of our own. But he knew just as +well that we cannot make ourselves behave as God’s children +should, by any thoughts and trying of our own.</p> +<p>God alone made us His children; God alone can make us behave +like his children.</p> +<p>And therefore St. Paul says, God has sent the Spirit of his +Son into our hearts: by which we cry to God, Our Father.</p> +<p>But some will say, Have we that Spirit?</p> +<p>St. Paul says that you have: and surely he speaks truth.</p> +<p>Let us search, then, and see where that Spirit is in us. +It is a great and awful honour for sinful men: but I do believe +that if we seek, we shall find that He is not far from any one of +us, for in Him we live and move, and have our being; and all in +us which is not ignorance, falsehood, folly, and filth, comes +from Him.</p> +<p>Now the Bible says that this Spirit is the Spirit of +God’s Son, the Spirit of Christ:—and what sort of +Spirit is that?</p> +<p>We may see by remembering what sort of a Spirit Christ had +when on earth; for He certainly has the same Spirit now—the +Spirit which proceedeth everlastingly from the Father and from +the Son.</p> +<p>And what was that Like? What was Christ Like? What +was his Spirit Like? It was a Spirit of Love, mercy, pity, +generosity, usefulness, unselfishness. A spirit of truth, +honour, fearless love of what was right: a spirit of duty and +willing obedience, which made Him rejoice in doing His +Father’s will. In all things the spirit of a perfect +<i>Son</i>, in all things a lovely, noble, holy spirit.</p> +<p>And now, my dear friends, is there nothing in you like +that? You may forget it at times, you may disobey it very +often: but is there not something in all your hearts more or +less, which makes you love and admire what is right?</p> +<p>When you hear of a noble action, is there nothing in you which +makes you approve and admire it? Is there nothing in your +hearts which makes you pity those who are in sorrow and long to +help them? Nothing which stirs your heart up when you hear +of a man’s nobly doing his duty, and dying rather than +desert his post, or do a wrong or mean thing? Surely there +is—surely there is.</p> +<p>Then, O my dear friends, when those feelings come into your +hearts, rejoice with trembling, as men to whom God has given a +great and precious gift. For they are none other than the +Spirit of the Son of God, striving with your hearts that He may +form Christ in you, and raise up your hearts to cry with full +faith to God, ‘My Father which art in heaven!’</p> +<p>‘Ah but,’ you will say, ‘we like what is +right, but we do not always do it. We like to see pity and +mercy: but we are very often proud and selfish and +tyrannical. We like to see justice and honour: but we are +too apt to be mean and unjust ourselves. We like to see +other people doing their duty: but we very often do not do +ours.’</p> +<p>Well, my dear friends, perhaps that is true. If it be, +confess your sins like honest men, and they shall be forgiven +you. If you can so complain of yourselves, I am sure I can +of myself, ten times more.</p> +<p>But do you not see that this very thing is a sign to you that +the good and noble thoughts in you are not your own but +God’s? If they came out of your own spirits, then you +would have no difficulty in obeying them. But they came out +of God’s Spirit; and our sinful and self-willed spirits are +striving against his, and trying to turn away from God’s +light. What can we do then? We can cherish those +noble thoughts, those pure and higher feelings, when they +arise. We can welcome them as heavenly medicine from our +heavenly Father. We can resolve not to turn away from them, +even though they make us ashamed. Not to grieve the Spirit +of the Son of God, even though he grieves us (as he ought to do +and will do more and more), by showing us our own weakness and +meanness, and how unlike we are to Christ, the only begotten +Son.</p> +<p>If we shut our hearts to those good feelings, they will go +away and leave us. And if they do, we shall neither respect +our neighbours, nor respect ourselves. We shall see no good +in our neighbours, but become scornful and suspicious to them; +and if we do that, we shall soon see no good in ourselves. +We shall become discontented with ourselves, more and more given +up to angry thoughts and mean ways, which we hate and despise, +all the while that we go on in them.</p> +<p>And then—mark my words—we shall lose all real +feeling of God being our Father, and we his sons. We shall +begin to fancy ourselves his slaves, and not his children; and +God our taskmaster, and not our Father. We shall dislike +the thought of God. We shall long to hide from God. +We shall fall back into slavish terror, and a fearful looking +forward to of judgment and fiery indignation, because we have +trampled under foot the grace of God, the noble, pure, tender, +and truly graceful feelings which God’s Spirit bestowed on +us, to fill us with the grace of Christ.</p> +<p>Therefore, my dear friends, never check any good or right +feelings in yourselves, or in your children; for they come from +the spirit of the Son of God himself. But, as St. Paul +says, Phil. iv. 3, ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things +are honourable, whatsoever things are just, what soever things +are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of +good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, +think on these things’, . . . ‘and the God of peace +shall be with you.’ Avoid all which can make you +mean, low, selfish, cruel. Cling to all which can fill your +mind with lofty, kindly, generous, loyal thoughts; and so, in +God’s good time, you will enter into the meaning of those +great words—Abba, Father. The more you give up your +hearts to such good feelings, the more you will understand of +God; the more nobleness there is in you, the more you will see +God’s nobleness, God’s justice, God’s love, +God’s true glory. The more you become like +God’s Son, the more you will understand how God can stoop +to call himself your Father; and the more you will understand +what a Father, what a perfect Father God is. And in the +world to come, I trust, you will enter into the glorious liberty +of the sons of God—that liberty which comes, as I told you +last Sunday, not from doing your own will, but the will of God; +that glory which comes, not from having anything of your own to +pride yourselves upon, but from being filled with the Spirit of +God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, by which you shall for ever look +up freely, and yet reverently, to the Almighty God of heaven and +earth, and say, ‘Impossible as the honour seems for man, +yet thou, O God, hast said it, and it is true. Thou, even +thou art my Father, and I thy son in Jesus Christ, who became +awhile the Son of man on earth, that I might become for ever the +son of God in heaven.’</p> +<p>And so will come true to us St. Paul’s great +words:—If we be sons, then heirs of God, joint heirs with +Christ.</p> +<p>Heirs of God: but what is our inheritance? The same as +Christ’s.</p> +<p>And what is Christ’s inheritance? What but God +himself?—The knowledge of our Father in heaven, of his love +to us, and of his eternal beauty and glory, which fills all +heavens and all worlds with light and life.</p> +<h2><a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 57</span>SERMON +VIII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">‘DE PROFUNDIS.’</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxxx. 1.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Out of the deep have I cried unto +thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">What</span> is this deep of which David +speaks so often? He knew it well, for he had been in it +often and long. He was just the sort of man to be in it +often. A man with great good in him, and great evil; with +very strong passions and feelings, dragging him down into the +deep, and great light and understanding to show him the dark +secrets of that horrible pit when he was in it; and with great +love of God too, and of order, and justice, and of all good and +beautiful things, to make him feel the horribleness of that pit +where he ought not to be, all the more from its difference, its +contrast, with the beautiful world of light, and order, and +righteousness where he ought to be. Therefore he knew that +deep well, and abhorred it, and he heaps together every ugly +name, to try and express what no man can express, the horror of +that place. It is a horrible pit, mire and clay, where he +can find no footing, but sinks all the deeper for his +struggling. It is a place of darkness and of storms, a +shoreless and bottomless sea, where he is drowning, and drowning, +while all God’s waves and billows go over him. It is +a place of utter loneliness, where he sits like a sparrow on the +housetop, or a doleful bird in the desert, while God has put his +lovers and friends away from him, and hid his acquaintance out of +his sight, and no man cares for his soul, and all men seem to him +liars, and God himself seems to have forgotten him and forgotten +all the world. It is a dreadful net which has entangled his +feet, a dark prison in which he is set so fast that he cannot get +forth. It is a torturing disgusting disease, which gives +his flesh no health, and his bones no rest, and his wounds are +putrid and corrupt. It is a battle-field after the fight, +where he seems to lie stript among the dead, like those who are +wounded and cut away from God’s hand, and lies groaning in +the dust of death, seeing nothing round him but doleful shapes of +destruction and misery, alone in the outer darkness, while a +horrible dread overwhelms him. Yea, it is hell itself, the +pit of hell, the nethermost hell, he says, where God’s +wrath burns like fire, till his tongue cleaves to his gums, and +his bones are burnt up like a firebrand, till he is weary of +crying; his throat is dry, his heart fails him for waiting so +long upon his God.</p> +<p>Yes. A dark and strange place is that same deep pit of +God—if, indeed, it be God’s and God made it. +Perhaps God did not make it. For God saw everything that he +had made, and behold it was very good: and that pit cannot be +very good; for all good things are orderly, and in shape; and in +that pit is no shape, no order, nothing but contradiction and +confusion. When a man is in that pit, it will seem to him +as if he were alone in the world, and longing above all things +for company; and yet he will hate to have any one to speak to +him, and wrap himself up in himself to brood over his own +misery. When he is in that pit he shall be so blind that he +can see nothing, though his eyes be open in broad noon-day. +When he is in that pit he will hate the thing which he loves +most, and love the thing which he hates most. When he is in +that pit he will long to die, and yet cling to life desperately, +and be horribly afraid of dying. When he is in that pit it +will seem to him that God is awfully, horribly near him, and he +will try to hide from God, try to escape from under God’s +hand: and yet all the while that God seems so dreadfully near +him, God will seem further off from him than ever, millions and +millions of miles away, parted from him by walls of iron, and a +great gulf which he can never pass. There is nothing but +contradiction in that pit: the man who is in it is of two minds +about himself, and his kin and neighbours, and all heaven and +earth; and knows not where to turn, or what to think, or even +where he is at all.</p> +<p>For the food which he gets in that deep pit is very hunger of +soul, and rage, and vain desires. And the ground which he +stands on in that deep is a bottomless quagmire, and doubt, and +change, and shapeless dread. And the air which he breathes +in that deep is the very fire of God, which burns up +everlastingly all the chalk and dross of the world.</p> +<p>I said that that deep was not merely the deep of +affliction. No: for you may see men with every comfort +which wealth and home can give, who are tormented day and night +in that deep pit in the midst of all their prosperity, calling +for a drop of water to cool their tongue, and finding none. +And you may see poor creatures dying in agony on lonely sick +beds, who are not in that pit at all, but in that better place +whereof it is written, ‘Blessed are they who, going through +the vale of misery, use it for a well, and the pools are filled +with water;’ and again, ‘If any man thirst, let him +come to me, and drink;’ and ‘the water that I shall +give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up to +everlasting life.’</p> +<p>No—that deep pit is a far worse place; an utterly bad +place; and yet it may be good for a man to have fallen into it; +and, strangely enough, if he do fall in, the lower he sinks in +it, the better for him at last. That is another strange +contradiction in that pit, which David found, that though it was +a bottomless pit, the deeper he sank in it, the more likely he +was to find his feet set on a rock; the further down in the +nethermost hell he was, the nearer he was to being delivered from +the nethermost hell.</p> +<p>Of course, if he had staid in that pit, he must have died, +body and soul. No mortal man, or immortal soul could endure +it long. No immortal soul could; for he would lose all +hope, all faith in God, all feeling of there being anything like +justice and order in the world, all hope for himself, or for +mankind, lying so in that living grave where no man can see +God’s righteousness, or his faithfulness in that land where +all things are forgotten.</p> +<p>And his mere mortal body could not stand it. The misery +and terror and confusion of his soul would soon wear out his +body, and he would die, as I have seen men actually die, when +their souls have been left in that deep somewhat too long; shrink +together into dark melancholy, and pine away, and die. And +I have seen sweet young creatures too, whom God for some purpose +of his own (which must be good and loving, for <i>He</i> did it) +has let fall awhile into that deep of darkness; and then in +compassion to their youth, and tenderness, and innocence, has +lifted them gently out again, and set their weary feet upon the +everlasting Rock, which is Christ; and has filled them with the +light of his countenance, and joy and peace in believing; and has +led them by green pastures and made them rest by the waters of +comfort; and yet, though their souls were healed, their bodies +were not. That fearful struggle has been too much for frail +humanity, and they have drooped, and faded, and gone peacefully +after a while home to their God, as a fair flower withers if the +fire has but once past over it.</p> +<p>But some I have seen, men and women, who have arisen, like +David, out of that strange deep, all the stronger for their fall; +and have found out another strange contradiction about that deep, +and the fire of God which burns below in it. For that fire +hardens a man and softens him at the same time; and he comes out +of it hardened to that hardness of which it is written, ‘Do +thou endure hardness like a good soldier of Jesus Christ;’ +and again, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have kept the +faith, I have finished my course:’ yet softened to that +softness of which it is written, ‘Be ye tenderhearted, +compassionate, forgiving one another, even as God for +Christ’s sake has forgiven you;’—and again, +‘We have a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling +of our infirmities, seeing that he has been tempted in all things +like as we are, yet without sin.’</p> +<p>Happy, thrice happy are they who have thus walked through the +valley of the shadow of death, and found it the path which leads +to everlasting life. Happy are they who have thus writhed +awhile in the fierce fire of God, and have had burnt out of them +the chaff and dross, and all which offends, and makes them vain, +light, and yet makes them dull, drags them down at the same time; +till only the pure gold of God’s righteousness is left, +seven times tried in the fire, incorruptible, and precious in the +sight of God and man. Such people need not +regret—they will not regret—all that they have gone +through. It has made them brave, made them sober, made them +patient. It has given them</p> +<blockquote><p>The reason firm, the temperate will,<br /> +Endurance, foresight, strength and skill;</p> +</blockquote> +<p>and so has shaped them into the likeness of Christ, who was +made perfect by suffering; and though he were a Son, yet in the +days of his flesh, made strong supplication and crying with tears +to his Father, and was heard in that he feared; and so, though he +died on the cross and descended into hell, yet triumphed over +death and hell, by dying and by descending; and conquered them by +submitting to them. And yet they have been softened in that +fierce furnace of God’s wrath, into another likeness of +Christ—which after all is still the same; the character +which he showed when he wept by the grave of Lazarus, and over +the sinful city of Jerusalem; which he showed when his heart +yearned over the perishing multitude, and over the leper, and the +palsied man, and the maniac possessed with devils; the character +which he showed when he said to the woman taken in adultery, +‘Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more;’ +which he showed when he said to the sinful Magdalene, who washed +his feet with tears, and wiped them with her hair, ‘her +sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much;’ +the likeness which he showed in his very death agony upon the +torturing cross, when he prayed for his murderers, ‘Father, +forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ This +is the character which man may get in that dark deep.—To +feel for all, and feel with all; to rejoice with those who +rejoice, and weep with those who weep; to understand +people’s trials, and make allowances for their temptations; +to put oneself in their place, till we see with their eyes, and +feel with their hearts, till we judge no man, and have hope for +all; to be fair, and patient, and tender with every one we meet; +to despise no one, despair of no one, because Christ despises +none, and despairs of none; to look upon every one we meet with +love, almost with pity, as people who either have been down into +the deep of horror, or may go down into it any day; to see our +own sins in other people’s sins, and know that we might do +what they do, and feel as they feel, any moment, did God desert +us; to give and forgive, to live and let live, even as Christ +gives to us, and forgives us, and lives for us, and lets us live, +in spite of all our sins.</p> +<p>And how shall we learn this? How shall the bottomless +pit, if we fall into it, be but a pathway to the everlasting +rock?</p> +<p>David tells us:</p> +<p>‘Out of the deep have I cried unto thee, O +Lord.’</p> +<p>He cried to God.</p> +<p>Not to himself, his own learning, talents, wealth, prudence, +to pull him out of that pit. Not to princes, nobles, and +great men. Not to doctrines, books, church-goings. +Not to the dearest friend he had on earth; for they had forsaken +him, could not understand him, thought him perhaps beside +himself. Not to his own good works, almsgivings, +church-goings, church-buildings. Not to his own +experiences, faith’s assurances, frames or feelings. +The matter was too terrible to be plastered over in that way, or +in any way. He was face to face with God alone, in utter +weakness, in utter nakedness of soul, He cried to God +himself. There was the lesson.</p> +<p>God took away from him all things, that he might have no one +to cry to but God.</p> +<p>God took him up, and cast him down: and there he sat all +alone, astonished and confounded, like Rizpah, the daughter of +Aiah, when she sat alone upon the parching rock. Like +Rizpah, he watched the dead corpses of all his hopes and plans, +all for which he had lived, and which made life worth having, +withering away there by his side. But it was told David +what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, had done. And it is told +to one greater than David, even to Jesus Christ, the Son of +David, what the poor soul does when it sits alone in its +despair. Or rather it need not be told him; for he sees +all, weeps over all, will comfort all: and it shall be to that +poor soul as it was to poor deserted Hagar in the sandy desert, +when the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast her +child—the only thing she had left—under one of the +shrubs and hurried away; for she said, ‘Let me not see the +child die.’ And the angel of the Lord called to her +out of heaven, saying, ‘The Lord hath heard the voice of +the lad where he is;’ and God opened her eyes, and she saw +a well of water.</p> +<p>It shall be with that poor soul as it was with Moses, when he +went up alone into the mount of God, and fasted forty days and +forty nights amid the earthquake and the thunderstorm, and the +rocks which melted before the Lord. And behold, when it was +past, he talked face to face with God, as a man talketh with his +friend, and his countenance shone with heavenly light, when he +came down triumphant out of the mount of God.</p> +<p>So shall it be with every soul of man who, being in the deep, +cries out of that deep to God, whether in bloody India or in +peaceful England. For He with whom we have to do is not a +tyrant, but a Father; not a taskmaster, but a Giver and a +Redeemer. We may ask him freely, as David does, to consider +our complaint, because he will consider it well, and understand +it, and do it justice. He is not extreme to mark what is +done amiss, and therefore we can abide his judgments. There +is mercy with him, and therefore it is worth while to fear +him. He waits for us year after year, with patience which +cannot tire; therefore it is but fair that we should wait a while +for him. With him is plenteous redemption, and therefore +redemption enough for us, and for those likewise whom we +love. He will redeem us from all our sins: and what do we +need more? He will make us perfect, even as our Father in +heaven is perfect. Let him then, if he must, make us +perfect by sufferings. By sufferings Christ was made +perfect; and what was the best path for Jesus Christ is surely +good enough for us, even though it be a rough and a thorny +one. Let us lie still beneath God’s hand; for though +his hand be heavy upon us, it is strong and safe beneath us too; +and none can pluck us out of his hand, for in him we live and +move and have our being; and though we go down into hell with +David, with David we shall find God there, and find, with David, +that he will not leave our souls in hell, or suffer his holy ones +to see corruption. Yes; have faith in God. Nothing in +thee which he has made shall see corruption; for it is a thought +of God’s, and no thought of his can perish. Nothing +shall be purged out of thee but thy disease; nothing shall be +burnt out of thee but thy dross; and that in thee shall be saved, +and live to all eternity, of which God said at the beginning, Let +us make man in our own image. Yes. Have faith in God; +and say to him once for all, ‘Though thou slay me, yet will +I love thee; for thou lovedst me in Jesus Christ before the +foundation of the world.’</p> +<h2><a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 67</span>SERMON +IX.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE LOVE OF GOD ITS OWN +REWARD.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Deut</span>. xxx. 19, 20.</p> +<p>I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I +have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; +therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live; that +thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest cleave +unto him, for he is thy life and the length of thy days, that +thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord God sware unto thy +fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give them.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I <span class="smcap">spoke</span> to you last Sunday on this +text. But there is something more in it, which I had not +time to speak of then.</p> +<p>Moses here tells the Israelites what will happen to them if +they keep God’s law.</p> +<p>They will love God. That was to be their reward. +They were to have other rewards beside. Beside loving God, +it would be well with them and their children, and they would +live long in the land which God had given them. But their +first reward, their great reward, would be that they would love +God.</p> +<p>If they obeyed God, they would have reason to love him.</p> +<p>Now we commonly put this differently.</p> +<p>We say, If you love God, you will obey him; which is quite +true. But what Moses says is truer still, and deeper +still. Moses says, If you obey God, you will love him.</p> +<p>Again we say, If you love God, God will reward you; which is +true; though not always true in this life. But Moses says a +truer and deeper thing. Moses says that loving God is our +reward; that the greatest reward, the greatest blessing which a +man can have, is this—that the man should love God. +Now does this seem strange? It is not strange, +nevertheless.</p> +<p>For there are two sorts of faith; and one must always, I +sometimes think, come before the other.</p> +<p>The first is implicit faith—blind faith—the sort +of faith a child has in what its parents tell it. A child, +we know, believes its parents blindly, even though it does not +understand what they tell it. It takes for granted that +they are right.</p> +<p>The second is experimental faith—the faith which comes +from experience and reason, when a man looks back upon his life, +and on God’s dealings with him; and then sees from +experience what reason he has for trusting and loving God, who +has helped him onward through so many chances and changes for so +many years.</p> +<p>Now some people cry out against blind implicit faith, as if it +was childish and unreasonable. But I cannot. I think +every one learns to love his neighbour, very much as Moses told +the Jews they would learn to love God; namely, by trusting them +somewhat blindly at first.</p> +<p>Is it not so? Is it not so always with young people, +when they begin to be fond of each other? They trust each +other, they do not know why, or how. Before they are +married, they have little or no experience of each other; of each +other’s tempers and characters: and yet they trust each +other, and say in their hearts, ‘He can never be false to +me;’ and are ready to put their honour and fortunes into +each other’s hands, to live together for better for worse, +till death them part. It is a blind faith in each other, +that, and those who will may laugh at it, and call it the folly +and rashness of youth. I do not believe that God laughs at +it: that God calls it folly and rashness. It surely comes +from God.</p> +<p>For there is something in each of them worth trusting, worth +loving. True, they may be disappointed in each other; but +they need not be. If they are true to themselves; if they +will listen to the better voice within, and be true to their own +better feelings, all will be well, and they will find after +marriage that they did not do a rash and a foolish thing, when +they gave up themselves to each other, and cast in their lot +together blindly to live and die.</p> +<p>And then, after that first blind faith and love in each other +which they had before marriage, will come, as the years roll by, +a deeper, sounder faith and love from experience.—An +experience of which I shall not talk here; for those who have not +felt it for themselves would not know what I mean; and those who +have felt it need no clumsy words of mine to describe it to +them.</p> +<p>Now, my dear friends, this is one of the things by which +marriage is consecrated to an excellent mystery, as the +Prayer-book says. This is one of the things in which +marriage is a pattern and picture of the spiritual union which is +between Christ and his Church.</p> +<p>First, as I said, comes blind faith. A young person, +setting out in life, has little experience of God’s love; +he has little to make him sure that the way of life, and honour, +and peace, is to obey God’s laws. But he is told +so. His Bible tells him so. Wiser and older people +than he tell him so, and God himself tells him so. God +himself makes up in the young person’s heart a desire after +goodness.</p> +<p>Then he takes it for granted blindly. He says to +himself, I can but try. They tell me to taste and see +whether the Lord is gracious. I will taste. They tell +me that the way of his commandments is the way to make life worth +loving, and to see good days. I will try. And so the +years go by. The young person has grown middle-aged, +old. He or she has been through many trials, many +disappointments; perhaps more than one bitter loss. But if +they have held fast by God; if they have tried, however clumsily, +to keep God’s law, and walk in God’s way, then there +will have grown up in them a trust in God, and a love for God, +deeper and broader far than any which they had in youth; a love +grounded on experience. They can point back to so many +blessings which the Lord gave them unexpectedly; to so many +sorrows which the Lord gave them strength to bear, though they +seemed at first sight past bearing; to so many disappointments +which seemed ill luck at the time, and yet which turned out good +for them in the end. And so comes a deep, reasonable love +to their Heavenly Father. Now they have <i>tasted</i> that +the Lord is gracious. Now they can say, with the +Samaritans, ‘Now we believe, not because of thy saying, but +because we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed +the Christ, the Saviour of the world.’ And when +sadness and affliction come on them, as it must come, they can +look back, and so get strength to look forward. They can +say with David, ‘I will go on in the strength of the Lord +God. I will make mention only of his righteousness. +Oh my God, thou hast taught me from my youth up until now; +hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also, when +I am old and grey-headed, oh Lord, forsake me not, till I have +showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to those +whom I leave behind me.’</p> +<p>And so, by remembering what God <i>has</i> been to them, they +can face what is coming. ‘They will not be afraid of +evil tidings,’ as David says; ‘for their heart is +fixed, trusting in the Lord.’</p> +<p>And when old age comes, and brings weakness and sickness, and +low spirits, still they have comfort. They can say with +David again, ‘I have been young, and now am old, but never +saw I the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their +bread.’</p> +<p>Oh my dear friends, young people especially—there are +many things which you may long for which you cannot have: much +happiness which is <i>not</i> within your reach. But +<i>this</i> you can have, if you will but long for it: this +happiness <i>is</i> within your reach, if you will but put out +your hand and take it.—The everlasting unfailing comfort of +loving God, and of knowing that God loves you. Oh choose +that now at once. Choose God’s ways which are +pleasantness, and God’s paths which are peace; and then in +your old age, whether you become rich or poor, whether you are +left alone, or go down to your grave in peace with children and +grandchildren to close your eyes, you will still have the one +great reward, the true reward, the everlasting reward which Moses +promised the old Israelites. You will have reason to love +God, who has carried you safe through life, and will carry you +safe through death, and to say with all his saints and martyrs, +‘Many things I know not; and many things I have lost: but +this I know.—I know in whom I have believed; and this I +cannot lose; even God himself, whose name is faithful and +true.’</p> +<h2><a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 73</span>SERMON +X.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE RACE OF LIFE.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">John</span> i. 26.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">There standeth one among you whom +ye know not.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is a solemn text. It +warns us, and yet it comforts us. It tells us that there is +a person standing among us so great, that John the Baptist, the +greatest of the prophets, was not worthy to unloose his +shoes’ latchet.</p> +<p>Some of you know who he is. Some of you, perhaps, do +not. If you know him, you will be glad to be reminded of +him to-day. If you do not know him, I will tell you who he +is.</p> +<p>Only bear this in mind, that whether you know him or not, he +is standing among us. We have not driven him away, and +cannot drive him away. Our not seeing him will not prevent +his seeing us. He is always near us; ready, if we ask him, +as the Collect bids us, to ‘come among us, and with great +might succour us.’</p> +<p>For, my friends, this is the meaning of the text, as far as it +has to do with us. The noble Collect for to-day tells this, +and explains to us what we are to think of the Epistle and the +Gospel.</p> +<p>The Epistle tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is at hand, +and that therefore we are to fret about nothing, but make our +requests known to him. The Gospel tells us that he stands +among us. The Collect tells us what we are to do, because +he is at hand, because he stands among us.</p> +<p>And what are we to do?</p> +<p>Recollect my friends, what John the Baptist said, according to +St. Matthew, after the words in the text—‘He shall +baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.’</p> +<p>The Collect asks him to do that—the first half of it at +least. To baptize us with the Holy Ghost, lest he should +need to baptize us with fire.</p> +<p>For the Collect says, we have all a race to run. We have +all a journey to make through life. We have all so to get +through this world, that we shall inherit the world to come; so +to pass through the things of time (as one of the Collects says) +that we finally lose not the things eternal. God has given +each of us our powers and character, marked out for each of us +our path in life, set each of us our duty to do.</p> +<p>But how shall we make the proper use of our powers?</p> +<p>How shall we keep to our path in life?</p> +<p>How shall we do our duty faithfully?</p> +<p>In short, so as St. Paul puts it—How shall we run our +race, so as not to lose, but to win it?</p> +<p>For the Collect says—and we ought to have found it out +for ourselves before now—Our sins and wickedness hinder us +sorely in running the race which is set before us.</p> +<p>Our sins and wickedness. The Collect speaks of these as +two different things; and I believe rightly, for the New +Testament speaks of them as two different things. Sin, in +the New Testament, means strictly what we call +“failings,” “defects” a missing the mark, +a falling short; as it is written—All have sinned, and come +short of the glory of God, that is, of the likeness of a perfect +man. <a name="citation75"></a><a href="#footnote75" +class="citation">[75]</a></p> +<p>Thus, stupidity, laziness, cowardice, bad temper, greediness +after pleasure—these are strictly speaking what the New +Testament calls sins. Wickedness—iniquity—seem +to be harder words, and to mean worse offences. They mean +the evil things which a man does, not out of the weakness of his +mortal nature, but out of his own wicked will, and what the Bible +calls the naughtiness of his heart. So wickedness means, +not merely open crimes which are punishable by the law, but all +which comes out of a man’s own wilfulness and +perverseness—injustice (which is the first meaning of +iniquity), cunning, falsehood, covetousness, pride, self-conceit, +tyranny, cruelty—these seem to be what the Scripture calls +wickedness. Of course one cannot draw the line exactly, in +any matters so puzzling as questions about our own souls must +always be: but on the whole. I think you will find this +rule not far wrong—</p> +<p>That all which comes from the weakness of a man’s soul, +is sin: all which comes from abusing its strength, is +wickedness. All which drags a man down, and makes him more +like a brute animal, is sin: all which puffs him up, and makes +him more like a devil, is wickedness. It is as well to bear +this in mind, because a man may have a great horror of sin, and +be hard enough, and too hard upon poor sinners; and yet all the +time he may be thoroughly, and to his heart’s core, a +wicked man. The Pharisees of old were so. So they are +now. Take you care that you be not like to them. Keep +clear of sin: but keep clear of wickedness likewise.</p> +<p>For, says the Collect, both will hinder you in your race: +perhaps cause you to break down in it, and never reach the goal +at all.</p> +<p>Sin will hinder you, by dragging you back.</p> +<p>Wickedness will hinder you, by putting you altogether out of +the right road.</p> +<p>If a man be laden with sins; stupid, lazy, careless, over fond +of pleasure;—much more, if he be given up to enjoying +himself in bad ways, about which we all know too well—then +he is like a man who starts in a race, weak, crippled, +over-weighted, or not caring whether he wins or loses; and who +therefore lags behind, or grows tired, or looks round, and wants +to stop and amuse himself, instead of pushing on stoutly and +bravely. And therefore St. Paul bids us lay aside every +weight (that is every bad habit which makes us lazy and +careless), and the sin which does so easily beset us, and run +with patience our appointed race, looking to Jesus, the author of +our faith—who stands by to give us faith, confidence, +courage to go on—Jesus, who has compassion on those who are +ignorant, and out of the way by no wilfulness of their own; who +can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; who can help +us, can deliver us, and who will do what he can, and do all he +can.</p> +<p>He can and will strengthen us, freshen us, encourage us, +inspirit us, by giving us his Holy Spirit, that we may have +spirit and power to run our race, day by day, and tide by +tide. And so, if he sees us weak and fainting over our +work, he will baptize us with the Holy Ghost.</p> +<p>And yet there are times when he will baptize a sinner not only +with the Holy Ghost, but with fire—I am still speaking, +mind, of a sinner, not of a wicked man.</p> +<p>And when? When he sees the man sitting down by the +roadside to play, with no intention of moving on. I do not +say—if he sees the man sitting down to play at all. +God forbid! How can a man run his life-long race—how +can he even keep up for a week, a day, at doing his best at the +full stretch of his power, without stopping to take breath? +I cannot, God knows. If any man can—be it so. +Some are stronger than others: but be sure of this; that God +counts it no sin in a man to stop and take breath. +‘Press forward toward the mark of your high calling,’ +St. Paul says: but he does not forbid a man to refresh and amuse +himself harmlessly and rationally, from time to time, with all +the pleasant things which God has put into this world. They +do refresh us, and they do amuse us, these pleasant things. +And God made them, and put them here. Surely he put them +here to refresh and amuse us. He did not surely put them +here to trap us, and snare us, and tempt us not to run the very +race which he himself has set before us? No, no, my +friends. He made pleasant things to please us, amusing +things to amuse us. Every good gift comes from him.</p> +<p>But if a man thinks of nothing but amusing himself, he is like +a horse who stands still in the middle of a journey, and begins +feeding. Let him do his day’s journey, and feed +afterwards; and so get strength for his next day’s +work. But if he will stand still, and feed; if he will +forget that he has any work at all to do; then we shall punish +him, to make him go on. And so will God do with us. +He will strike us then; and sharply too. Much more, if a +man gives himself up to sinful pleasure; if he gives himself up +to a loose and profligate life, and, like many a young man, +wastes his substance in riotous living, and devours his heavenly +Father’s gifts with harlots—then God will strike that +man; and all the more sharply the more worth and power there is +in the man. The more God has given the man, the sharper +will be God’s stroke, if he deserves it.</p> +<p>And why?</p> +<p>Ask yourselves. Suppose that your horse had plunged into +a deep ditch, and was lying there in mire and thorns; would you +not strike him, and sharply too, to make him put out his whole +strength, and rise, and by one great struggle clear himself?</p> +<p>Of course you would: and the more spirited, the more powerful +the animal was, the sharper you would be with him, because the +more sure you would be that he could answer to your call if he +chose.</p> +<p>Even so does God with us. If he sees us lying down; +forgetting utterly that we have any work or duty to do; and +wallowing in the mire of fleshly lusts, and thorns of worldly +cares, then he will strike; and all the more sharply, the more +real worth or power there is in us; that he may rouse us, and +force us to exert ourselves and by one great struggle, like the +mired horse, clear ourselves out of the sin which besets us, and +holds us down, and leap, as it were, once and for all, out of the +death of sin, into the life of righteousness.</p> +<p>But much more if there be not merely sin in us, but +wickedness; self-will, self-conceit, and rebellion.</p> +<p>For see, my friends. If we were training a young animal, +how should we treat it? If it were merely weak, we should +strengthen and exercise it. If it were merely ignorant, we +should teach it. If it were lazy, we should begin to punish +it; but gently, that it might still have confidence, faith in us, +and pleasure in its work.</p> +<p>But if we found wickedness in it—vice, as we rightly +call it—if it became restive, that is, rebellious and +self-willed, then we should punish it indeed. Seldom, +perhaps, but very sharply; that it might see clearly that we were +the stronger, and that rebellion was of no use at all.</p> +<p>And so does the Lord with us, my friends. If we will not +go his way by kindness, he will make us go by severity.</p> +<p>First, when we are christened, and after that day by day, if +we ask him—and often when we ask him not—he gives us +the gentle baptism of his Holy Spirit, freshening, strengthening, +encouraging, inspiriting. But if we will not go on well for +that; if we will rebel, and try our own way, and rush out of +God’s road after this and that, in pride and self-will, as +if we were our own masters; then, my friends—then will God +baptize us with fire, and strike with a blow which goes nigh to +cut a man in two. Very seldom he strikes; for he is +pitiful, and of tender mercy: but with a rod as of fire, of which +it is written, that it is sharper than a two-edged sword, and +pierces through the joints and marrow. Very seldom: but +very sharply, that there may be no mistake about what the blow +means, and that the man may know, however cunning, or proud, or +self-righteous he may be, that God is the Lord, God is his +Master, and will be obeyed; and woe to him, if he obey him +not. And what can a man do then, but writhe in the +bitterness of his soul, and get back into God’s highway as +fast as he can, in fear and trembling lest the next blow cut him +in asunder? And so, by the bitterness of disappointment, or +bereavement, or sickness, or poverty, or worst of all, of shame, +will the Lord baptize the man with fire.</p> +<p>But all in love, my friends; and all for the man’s +good. Does God <i>like</i> to punish his creatures? +<i>like</i> to torment them? Some think that he does, and +say that he finds what they call ‘satisfaction’ in +punishing. I think that they mistake the devil for +God. No, my friends; what does he say himself? +‘Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked; and not +rather that he should turn from his ways, and live?’ +Surely he has not. If he had, do you think that he would +have sent us into this world at all? I do not. And I +trust and hope that you will not. Believe that even when he +cuts us to the heart’s core, and baptizes us with fire, he +does it only out of his eternal love, that he may help and +deliver us all the more speedily.</p> +<p>For God’s sake—for Christ’s sake—for +your own sake—keep that in mind, that Christ’s will, +and therefore God’s will, is to help and deliver us; that +he stands by us, and comes among us, for that very purpose. +Consider St. Paul’s parable, in which he talks of us as men +running a race, and of Christ as the judge who looks on to see +how we run. But for what purpose does Christ look on? +To catch us out, as we say? To mark down every fault of +ours, and punish wherever he has an opportunity or a +reason? Does he stand there spying, frowning, +fault-finding, accusing every man in his turn, extreme to watch +what is done amiss? If an earthly judge did that, we should +call him—what he would be—an ill-conditioned +man. But dare we fancy anything ill-conditioned in +God? God forbid! His conditions are altogether good, +and his will a good will to men; and therefore, say the Epistle +and the Collect, we ought not to be terrified, but to rejoice, at +the thought that the Lord is looking on. However badly we +are running our race, yet if we are trying to move forward at +all, we ought to rejoice that God in Christ is looking on.</p> +<p>And why?</p> +<p>Why? Because he is looking on, not to torment, but to +help. Because he loves us better than we love +ourselves. Because he is more anxious for us to get safely +through this world than we are ourselves.</p> +<p>Will you understand that, and believe that, once for all, my +friends?—That God is not <i>against</i> you, but <i>for</i> +you, in the struggles of life; that he <i>wants</i> you to get +through safe; <i>wants</i> you to succeed; <i>wants</i> you to +win; and that therefore he will help you, and hear your cry.</p> +<p>And therefore when you find yourselves wrong, utterly wrong, +do not cry to this man or that man, ‘Do <i>you</i> help me; +do you set me a little more right, before God comes and finds me +in the wrong, and punishes me.’ Cry to God himself, +to Christ himself; ask <i>him</i> to lift you up, ask him to set +you right. Do not be like St. Peter before his conversion, +and cry, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord; +wait a little, till I have risen up, and washed off my stains, +and made myself somewhat fit to be seen.’—No. +Cry, ‘Come quickly, O Lord—at once, just because I am +a sinful man; just because I am sore let and hindered in running +my race by my own sins and wickedness; because I am lazy and +stupid; because I am perverse and vicious, <i>therefore</i> raise +up thy power, and come to me, thy miserable creature, thy lost +child, and with thy great might succour me. Lift me up for +I have fallen very low; deliver me, for I have plunged out of thy +sound and safe highway into deep mire, where no ground is. +Help myself I cannot, and if thou help me not, I am +undone.’</p> +<p>Do so. Pray so. Let your sins and wickedness be to +you not a reason for hiding from Christ who stands by; but a +reason, the reason of all reasons, for crying to Christ who +stands by.</p> +<p>And then, whether he deliver you by kind means or by sharp +ones, deliver you he will; and set your feet on firm ground, and +order your goings, that you may run with patience the race which +is set before you along the road of life, and the pathway of +God’s commandments, wherein there is no death.</p> +<p>This, my friends, is one of the meanings of Advent. This +is the meaning of the Collect, the Epistle, and the +Gospel.—That God in Christ stands by us, ready to help and +deliver us; and that if we cry to him even out of the lowest +depth, he will hear our voice. And that then, when he has +once put us into the right road again, and sees us going bravely +along it to the best of the power which he has given us, he will +fulfil to us his eternal promise, ‘Thy sins—and not +only thy sins, but thine iniquities—I will remember no +more.’</p> +<h2><a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 84</span>SERMON +XI.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">SELF-RESPECT AND +SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Psalm</span> vii. 8.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Give sentence for me, O Lord, +according to my righteousness; and according to the innocency +that is in me.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Is</span> this speech +self-righteous? If so, it is a bad speech; for +self-righteousness is a bad temper of mind; there are few +worse. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, +and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is +faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from +all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we +make him a liar.</p> +<p>This is plain enough; and true as God is true. But there +is another temper of mind which is right in its way; and which is +not self-righteousness, though it may look like it at first +sight. I mean the temper of Job, when his friends were +trying to prove to him that he must be a bad man, and to make him +accuse himself of all sorts of sins which he had not committed; +and he answered that he would utter no deceit, and tell no lies +about himself. ‘Till I die I will not remove mine +integrity from me; my righteousness I will hold fast, and will +not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I +live.’ I have, on the whole, tried to be a good man, +and I will not make myself out a bad one.</p> +<p>For, my friends, with the Bible as with everything else, we +must hear both sides of the question, lest we understand neither +side.</p> +<p>We may misuse St. John’s doctrine, that if we say we +have no sin, we deceive ourselves. We may deceive ourselves +in the very opposite way.</p> +<p>In the first place, some people, having learnt that it is +right to confess their sins, try to have as many sins as possible +to confess. I do not mean that they commit the sins, but +that they try to fancy they have committed them. This is +very common now, and has been for many hundred years, especially +among young women and lads who are of a weakly melancholy temper, +or who have suffered some great disappointment. They are +fond of accusing themselves; of making little faults into great +ones; of racking their memories to find themselves out in the +wrong; of taking the darkest possible view of themselves, and of +what is going to happen to them. They forget that Solomon, +the wise, when he says, ‘Be not over-much wicked; neither +be thou foolish—why shouldst thou die before thy +time?’—says also, ‘Be not righteous over-much; +neither make thyself over-wise. Why shouldst thou destroy +thyself?’</p> +<p>For such people do destroy themselves. I have seen them +kill their own bodies, and die early, by this folly. And I +have seen them kill their own souls, too, and enter into strong +delusions, till they believe a lie, and many lies, from which one +had hoped that the Bible would have delivered any and every +man.</p> +<p>One cannot be angry with such people. One can only pity +them, and pity them all the more, when one finds them generally +the most innocent, the very persons who have least to +confess. One can but pity them, when one sees them applying +to themselves God’s warnings against sins of which they +never even heard the names, and fancying that God speaks to them, +as St. Paul says that he did to the old heathen Romans, when they +were steeped up to the lips in every crime.</p> +<p>No—one can do more than pity them. One can pray +for them that they may learn to know God, and who he is: and by +knowing him, may be delivered out of the hands of cunning and +cruel teachers, who make a market of their melancholy, and hide +from them the truth about God, lest the truth should make them +free, while their teachers wish to keep them slaves.</p> +<p>This is one misuse of St. John’s doctrine. There +is another and a far worse misuse of it.</p> +<p>A man may be proud of confessing his sins; may become +self-righteous and conceited, according to the number of the sins +which he confesses.</p> +<p>So deceitful is this same human heart of ours, that so it is I +have seen people quite proud of calling themselves miserable +sinners. I say, proud of it. For if they had really +felt themselves miserable sinners, they would have said less +about their own feelings. If a man really feels what sin +is—if he feels what a miserable, pitiful, mean thing it is +to be doing wrong when one knows better, to be the slave of +one’s own tempers, passions, appetites—oh, if man or +woman ever knew the exceeding sinfulness of sin, he would hide +his own shame in the depths of his heart, and tell it to God +alone, or at most to none on earth save the holiest, the wisest, +the trustiest, the nearest and the dearest.</p> +<p>But when one hears a man always talking about his own +sinfulness, one suspects—and from experience one has only +too much reason to suspect—that he is simply saying in a +civil way, ‘I am a better man than you; for I talk about my +sinfulness, and you do not.’</p> +<p>For if you answer such a man, as old Job or David would have +done, ‘I will not confess what I have not felt. I +have tried and am trying to be an upright, respectable, sober, +right-living man. Let God judge me according to the +innocency that is in me. I know that I am not perfect: no +man is that: but I will not cant; I will not be a hypocrite; and +if I accuse myself of sins which I have not committed, it seems +to me that I shall be mocking God, and deceiving myself. I +will trust to God to judge me fairly, to balance between the good +and the evil which is in me, and deal with me +accordingly.’</p> +<p>If you speak in that way, the other man will answer you +plainly enough, ‘Ah! you are utterly benighted. You +are building on legality and morality. You have not yet +learnt the first principles of the Gospel.’ And with +these, and other words, will give you to understand +this—That he thinks he is going to heaven, and you are +going to hell.</p> +<p>Now, my dear friends, you are partly right, and he is partly +right. St. Paul will show you where you are right and where +he is right. He does so, I think, in a certain noble text +of his in which he says, ‘I judge not mine own self; for I +know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby justified: but +he that judgeth me is the Lord.’</p> +<p>Now remember that no man was less self-righteous than St. +Paul. No man ever saw more clearly the sinfulness of +sin. No man ever put into words so strongly the struggle +between good and evil which goes on in the human heart. In +one place, even, when speaking of his former life, he calls +himself the chief of sinners. Yet St. Paul, when he had +done his duty, knew that he had done it, and was not afraid to +say—as no honest and upright man need be afraid to +say—‘I know nothing against myself.’ For +if you have done right, my friend, it is God who has helped you +to do it; and it is difficult to see how you can honour God, by +pretending instead that he has left you to do wrong.</p> +<p>This, then, seems to be the rule. If you have done +wrong, be not afraid to confess it. If you have done right, +be not afraid to confess that either. And meanwhile keep up +your self-respect. Try to do your duty. Try to keep +your honour bright. Let no man be able to say that he is +the worse for you. Still more let no woman be able to say +that she is the worse for you; for if you treat another +man’s daughter as you would not let him treat yours, where +is your honour then, or your clear conscience? What cares +man, what cares God, for your professions of uprightness and +respectability, if you take good care to behave well to men, who +can defend themselves, and take no care to behave well to a poor +girl, who cannot defend herself? Recollect that when Job +stood up for his own integrity, and would not give up his belief +that he was a righteous man, he took care to justify himself in +this matter, as well as on others. ‘I made a covenant +with mine eyes,’ he says; ‘why then should I think +upon a maid? If mine heart have been deceived by a woman; +or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;’ +‘Then,’ he says in words too strong for me to repeat, +‘let others do to my wife as I have done to +theirs.’</p> +<p>Avoid this sin, and all sins. Let no man be able to say +that you have defrauded him, that you have tyrannized over him; +that you have neglected to do your duty by him. Let no man +be able to say that you have rewarded him evil for evil. If +possible, let him not be able to say that you have even lost your +temper with him. Be generous; be forgiving. If you +have an opportunity, be like David, and help him who without a +cause is your enemy; and then you will have a right to say, like +David, ‘Give sentence with me, O Lord, according to my +righteousness, and according to the cleanness of my hands in thy +sight.’</p> +<p>True—that will not justify you. In God’s +sight shall no man living be justified, if justification is to +come by having no faults. What man is there who lives, and +sins not? Who is there among us, but knows that he is not +the man he might be? Who does not know, that even if he +seldom does what he ought not, he too often leaves undone what he +ought? And more than that—none of us but does many a +really wrong thing of which he never knows, at least in this +life. None of us but are blind, more or less, to our own +faults; and often blind—God forgive us!—to our very +worst faults.</p> +<p>Then let us remember, that he who judges us <i>is the +Lord</i>.</p> +<p>Now is that a thought to be afraid of?</p> +<p>David did not think so, when he had done right. For he +says, in this Psalm, ‘Judge me, O Lord!’</p> +<p>And when he has done wrong, he thinks so still less; for then +he asks God all the more earnestly, not only to judge him, but to +correct him likewise. ‘Purge me,’ he says, +‘and I shall be clean. Cleanse thou me from my secret +faults, and make me to understand wisdom secretly. For thou +requirest truth in the inward parts.’</p> +<p>That is bravely spoken, and worthy of an honest man, who +wishes above all things to be right, whatsoever it may cost +him.</p> +<p>But how did David get courage to ask that?</p> +<p>By knowing God, and who God was.</p> +<p>For this, my friends, is the key to the whole matter—as +it is to all matters—Who is God?</p> +<p>If you believe God to be a hard task-master, and a cruel +being, extreme to mark what is done amiss, an accuser like the +devil, instead of a forgiver and a Saviour, as he really +is;—then you will begin judging yourself wrongly and +clumsily, instead of asking God to judge you wisely and well.</p> +<p>You will break both of the golden rules which St. Anthony, the +famous hermit, used to give to his scholars.—‘Regret +not that which is past; and trust not in thine own +righteousness.’ For you will lose time, and lose +heart, in fretting over old sins and follies, instead of +confessing them once and for all to God, and going boldly to his +throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help you in the time +of need; that you may try again and do better for the +future. And so it will be true of you—I am sure I +have seen it come true of many a poor soul—what David +found, before he found out the goodness of God’s free +pardon:—‘While I held my tongue, my bones waxed old +through my daily complaining. For thy hand was heavy upon +me night and day; my moisture was like the drought in +summer.’</p> +<p>And all that while (such contradictory creatures are we all), +you may be breaking St. Anthony’s other golden rule, and +trusting in your own righteousness.</p> +<p>You will begin trying to cleanse yourself from little outside +faults, and fancying that that is all you have to do, instead of +asking God to cleanse you from your secret faults, from the deep +inward faults which he alone can see; forgetting that they are +the root, and the outside faults only the fruit. And so you +will be like a foolish sick man, who is afraid of the doctor, and +therefore tries to physic himself. But what does he +do? Only tamper and peddle with the outside symptoms of his +complaint, instead of going to the physician, that he may find +out and cure the complaint itself. Many a man has killed +his own body in that way; and many a man more, I fear, has killed +his own soul, because he was afraid of going to the Great +Physician.</p> +<p>But if you will believe that God is good, and not evil; if you +will believe that the heavenly Father is indeed <i>your</i> +Father; if you will believe that the Lord Jesus Christ really +loves you, really died to save you, really wishes to deliver you +from your sins, and make you what you ought to be, and what you +can be: then you will have heart to do your duty; because you +will be sure that God helps you to do your duty. You will +have heart to fight bravely against your bad habits, instead of +fretting cowardly over them; because you know that God is +fighting against them for you. You will not, on the other +hand, trust in your own righteousness; because you will soon +learn that you have no righteousness of your own: but that all +the good in you comes from God, who works in you to will and to +do of his good pleasure.</p> +<p>And when you examine yourself, and think over your own life +and character, as every man ought to do, especially in Advent and +Lent, you will have heart to say, ‘O God, thou knowest how +far I am right, and how far wrong. I leave myself in thy +hand, certain that thou wilt deal fairly, justly, lovingly with +me, as a Father with his son. I do not pretend to be better +than I am: neither will I pretend to be worse than I am. +Truly, I know nothing about it. I, ignorant human being +that I am, can never fully know how far I am right, and how far +wrong. I find light and darkness fighting together in my +heart, and I cannot divide between them. But thou +canst. Thou knowest. Thou hast made me; thou lovest +me; thou hast sent thy Son into the world to make me what I ought +to be; and therefore I believe that he will make me what I ought +to be. Thou willest not that I should perish, but come to +the knowledge of the truth: and therefore I believe that I shall +not perish, but come to the knowledge of the truth about thee, +about my own character, my own duty, about everything which it is +needful for me to know. And therefore I will go boldly on, +doing my duty as well as I can, though not perfectly, day by day; +and asking thee day by day to feed my soul with its daily +bread. Thou feedest my soul with <i>its</i> daily +bread. How much more then wilt thou feed my mind and my +heart, more precious by far than my body? Yes, I will trust +thee for soul and for body alike; and if I need correcting for my +sins, I am sure at least of this, that the worst thing that can +happen to me or any man, is to do wrong and <i>not</i> to be +corrected; and the best thing is to be set right, even by hard +blows, as often as I stray out of the way. And therefore I +will take my punishment quietly and manfully, and try to thank +thee for it, as I ought; for I know that thou wilt not punish me +beyond what I deserve, but far below what I deserve; and that +thou wilt punish me only to bring me to myself, and to correct +me, and purge me, and strengthen me. For this I +believe—on the warrant of thine own word I believe +it—undeserved as the honour is, that thou art my Father, +and lovest me; and dost not afflict any man willingly, or grieve +the children of men out of passion or out of spite; and that thou +willest not that I should be damned, nor any man; but willest +have all men saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.</p> +<h2><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 94</span>SERMON +XII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">TRUE REPENTANCE.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Ezekiel</span> xviii. 27.</p> +<p>When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness which he +hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he +shall save his soul alive.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> hear a great deal about +repentance, and how necessary it is for a man to repent of his +sins; for unless a man repent, he cannot be forgiven. But +do we all of us really know what repentance means?</p> +<p>I sometimes fear not. I sometimes fear, that though this +text stands at the opening of the Church service, and though +people hear it as often as any text in the whole Bible, yet they +have not really learnt the lesson which God sends them by it.</p> +<p>What, then, does repentance mean?</p> +<p>‘Being sorry for what we have done wrong,’ say +some.</p> +<p>But is that all? I suppose there are few wicked things +done upon earth, for which the doers of them are not sorry, +sooner or later. A man does a wrong thing, and his +conscience pricks him, and makes him uneasy, and he says in his +heart, ‘I wish after all I had left that +alone.’ But the next time he is tempted to do the +same thing, he does it, and is ashamed of himself afterwards +again: but that is not repentance. I suppose that there +have been few murders committed in the world, after which sooner +or later the murderer did not say in his heart—‘Ah, +that that man were alive and well again!’ But that is +not repentance.</p> +<p>For aught I can tell, the very devil is sorry for his +sin;—discontented, angry with himself, ashamed of himself +for being a devil. He may be so to all eternity, and yet +never repent. For the dark uneasy feeling which comes over +every man sooner or later, after doing wrong, is not repentance; +it is remorse; the most horrible and miserable of all feelings, +when it comes upon a man in its full strength; the feeling of +hating oneself, being at war with oneself, and with all the +world, and with God who made it.</p> +<p>But that will save no man’s soul alive. Repentance +will save any and every soul alive, then and there: but remorse +will not. Remorse may only kill him. Kill his body, +by making him, as many a poor creature has done, put an end to +himself in sheer despair: and kill his soul at least, by making +him say in his heart, ‘Well, if bad I am, bad I must +be. I hate myself, and God hates me also. All I can +do is, to forget my unhappiness if I can, in business, in +pleasure, in drink, and drive remorse out of my head;’ and +often a man succeeds in so doing. The first time he does a +wrong thing, he feels sorry and ashamed after it. Then he +takes courage after awhile, and does it again; and feels less +sorrow and shame; and so again and again, till the sin becomes +easier and easier to him, and his conscience grows more and more +dull; till at last perhaps, the feeling of its being wrong quite +dies within—and that is the death of his soul.</p> +<p>But of true repentance, it is written, that he who repents +shall save his soul <i>alive</i>. And how?</p> +<p>The word for repentance in Scripture means simply a change of +mind. To change one’s mind is, in Scripture words, to +repent.</p> +<p>Now if a man changes his mind, he changes his conduct +also. If you set out to go to a place and change your mind, +then you do not go there. If as you go on, you begin to +have doubts about its being right to go, or to be sorry that you +are going, and still walk on in the same road, however slowly or +unwillingly, that is not changing your mind about going. If +you do change your mind, you will change your steps. You +will turn back, or turn off, and go some other road.</p> +<p>This may seem too simple to talk of. But if it be, why +do not people act upon it? If a man finds that in his way +through life he is on the wrong road, the road which leads to +shame, and sorrow, and death and hell, why will he confess that +he is on the wrong road, and say that he is very sorry (as +perhaps he really may be) that he is going wrong, and yet go on, +and persevere on the wrong path? At least, as long as he +keeps on the road which leads to ruin, he has not changed his +mind, or repented at all. He may find the road unpleasant, +full of thorns, and briars, and pit-falls; for believe me, +however broad the road is which leads to destruction, it is only +the <i>gate</i> of it which is easy and comfortable; it soon gets +darker and rougher, that road of sin; and the further you walk +along it, the uglier and more wretched a road it is: but all the +misery which it gives to a man is only useless remorse, unless he +fairly repents, and turns out of that road into the path which +leads to life.</p> +<p>Now the one great business of foolish man in all times has +been to save his soul (as he calls it) without doing right; to go +to heaven (as he calls it) without walking the road which leads +to heaven. It is a folly and a dream. For no man can +get to heaven, unless he be heavenly; and being heavenly is +simply being good, and neither more or less. And sin is +death, and no man can save his soul alive, while it is dead in +sin. Still men have been trying to do it in all ages and +countries; and as soon as one plan has failed, they have tried +some new one; and have invented some false repentance which was +to serve instead of the true one. The old Jews seem to have +thought that the repentance which God required was +burnt-offerings and sacrifices: that if they could only offer +bullocks and goats enough on God’s altar, he would forgive +them their sins. But David, and Isaiah after him, and +Ezekiel after him, found out that <i>that</i> was but a dream; +that that sort of repentance would save no man’s soul; that +God did not require burnt-offerings and sacrifice for sin: but +simply that a man should do right and not wrong. +‘When ye come before me,’ saith the Lord, ‘who +has required this at your hand, to tread my courts?’ +They were to bring no more vain offerings: but to put away the +evil of their doings; to cease to do evil, to learn to do well; +to seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, +plead for the widow; and then, and then only, though their sins +were as scarlet, they should be white as snow. For God +would take them for what they were—as good, if they were +good; as bad, if they were bad. And this agrees exactly +with the text. ‘When the wicked man turneth away from +his wickedness which he hath committed, and doeth that which is +lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.’</p> +<p>The Papists again, thought that the repentance which God +required, was for a man to punish himself bitterly for his sins; +to starve and torture himself, to give up all that makes life +pleasant, and so to atone. And good and pious men and +women, with a real hatred and horror of sin, tried this: but they +found that making themselves miserable took away their sins no +more than burnt-offerings and sacrifices would do it. Their +consciences were not relieved; they gained no feeling of comfort, +no assurance of God’s love. Then they said, ‘I +have not punished myself enough. I have not made myself +miserable enough. I will try whether more torture and +misery will not wipe out my sins.’ And so they tried +again, and failed again, and then tried harder still, till many a +noble man and woman in old times killed themselves piecemeal by +slow torments, in trying to atone for their sins, and wash out in +their own blood what was already washed out in the blood of Jesus +Christ. But on the whole, that was found to be a +failure. And now the great mass of the Papists have fallen +back on the wretched notion that repentance merely means +confessing their sins to a priest, and receiving absolution from +him, and doing some little penance too childish to speak of +here.</p> +<p>But is there no false repentance among us English, too, my +friends? No paltry substitute for the only true repentance +which God will accept, which is, turning round and doing +right? How many there are, who feel—‘I am very +wrong. I am very sinful. I am on the road to +hell. I am quarrelling and losing my temper, and using bad +language.—Or—I am cheating my neighbour. +Or—I am living in adultery and drunkenness: I must repent +before it is too late.’ But what do they mean by +repenting? Coming as often as they can to church or chapel, +and reading all the religious books which they can get hold of: +till they come, from often reading and hearing about the Gospel +promises, to some confused notion that their sins are washed away +in Christ’s blood; or perhaps, on the strength of some +violent feelings, believe that they are converted all on a +sudden, and clothed with the robe of Christ’s +righteousness, and renewed by God’s Spirit, and that now +they belong to the number of believers, and are among God’s +elect.</p> +<p>Now, my dear friends, I complain of no one going to hear all +the good they can; I complain of no one reading all the religious +books they can: but I think—and more, I know—that +hearing sermons and reading tracts may be, and is often, turned +into a complete snare of the devil by people who do not wish to +give up their sins and do right, but only want to be comfortable +in their sins.</p> +<p>Hear sermons if you will; read good books if you will: but +bear in mind, that you know already quite enough to lead you to +<i>repentance</i>. You need neither book nor sermon to +teach you those ten commandments which hang here over the +communion table: all that books and tracts and sermons can do is +to teach you how to <i>keep</i> those commandments in spirit and +in truth: but I am sure I have seen people read books, and run +about to sermons, in order to enable them to forget those ten +commandments; in order to find excuses for not keeping them; and +to find doctrines which tell them, that because Christ has done +all, they need do nothing;—only <i>feel</i> a little +thankfulness, and a little sorrow for sin, and a little liking to +hear about religion: and call that repentance, and conversion, +and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.</p> +<p>Now, my dear friends, let me ask you as reasonable beings, Do +you think that hearing me or any man preach, can save your souls +alive? Do you think that sitting over a book for an hour a +day, or all day long, will save your souls alive? Do you +think that your sins are washed away in Christ’s blood, +when they are there still, and you are committing them? +Would they be here, and you doing them, if they were put +away? Do you think that your sins can be put away out of +God’s sight, if they are not even put out of your own +sight? If you are doing wrong, do you think that God will +treat you as if you were doing right? Cannot God see in you +what you see in yourselves? Do you think a man can be +clothed in Christ’s righteousness at the very same time +that he is clothed in his own unrighteousness? Can he be +good and bad at once? Do you think a man can be +converted—that is turned round—when he is going on +his old road the whole week? Do you think that a man has +repented—that is, changed his mind—when he is in just +the same mind as ever as to how he shall behave to his family, +his customers, and everybody with whom he has to do? Do you +think that a man is renewed by God’s Spirit, when except +for a few religious phrases, and a little more outside +respectability, he is just the old man, the same character at +heart he ever was? Do you think that there is any use in a +man’s belonging to the number of believers, if he does not +do what he believes; or any use in thinking that God has elected +and chosen him, when he chooses not to do what God has chosen +that every man must do, or die?</p> +<p>Be not deceived. God is not mocked. What a man +sows, that shall he reap. Let no man deceive you. He +that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as Christ is +righteous, and no one else.</p> +<p>He who tries to do as Christ did, and he only, has +Christ’s righteousness imputed to him, because he is trying +to do what Christ did, that which is lawful and right. He +who does righteousness, and he only, has truly repented, changed +his mind about what he should do, and turned away from his +wickedness which he has committed, and is now doing that which is +lawful and right. He who does righteousness, and he only, +shall save his soul alive: not by feeling this thing, or +believing about that thing, but by doing that which is lawful and +right.</p> +<p>We must face it, my dear friends. We cannot deceive God: +and God will certainly not deceive himself. He sees us as +we are, and takes us for what we are. What is right in us, +he accepts for the salvation of Jesus Christ, in whom we are +created unto good works. What is wrong in us, he will +assuredly punish, and give us the exact reward of the deeds done +in the body, whether they be good or evil. Every work of +ours shall come into judgment, unless it be repented of, and put +away by the only true repentance—not doing the thing any +more.</p> +<p>God, I say, will judge righteous judgment, and take us as we +are.</p> +<p>For the sake of Jesus the Lamb slain from the foundation of +the world, there is full, free, and perfect forgiveness for every +sin, when we give it up. As soon as a man turns round, and, +instead of doing wrong, tries to do right, he need be under no +manner of fear or terror any more. He is taken back into +his Father’s house as freely and graciously as the prodigal +son in the parable was. Whatsoever dark score there was +against him in God’s books is wiped out there and then, and +he starts clear, a new man, with a fresh chance of life. +And whosoever tells him that the score is not wiped out, lies, +and contradicts flatly God’s holy word. But as long +as a man does <i>not</i> give up his sins, the dark score +<i>does</i> stand against him in God’s books; and no +praying, reading, devoutness of any kind will wipe it out; and as +long as he sins, he is still in his sins, and his sins will be +his ruin. Whosoever tells him that they are wiped out, he +too lies, and contradicts flatly God’s holy word.</p> +<p>For God is just, and true; and therefore God takes us for what +we are, and will do so to all eternity; and you will find it so, +my dearest friends. In spite of all doctrines which men +have invented, and then pretended to find in the Bible, to drug +men’s consciences, and confuse God’s clear light in +their hearts, you will find, now and for ever, that if you do +right you will be happy even in the midst of sorrow; if you do +wrong, you will be miserable even in the midst of pleasure. +Oh believe this, my dear friends, and do not rashly count on some +sudden magical change happening to you as soon as you die to make +you fit for heaven. There is not one word in the Bible +which gives us reason to suppose that we shall not be in the next +world the same persons which we have made ourselves in this +world. If we are unjust here, we shall, for aught we know, +or can know, try to be unjust there; if we be filthy here, we +shall be so there; if we be proud here, we shall be so there; if +we be selfish here, we shall be so there. What we sow here, +we shall reap there. And it is good for us to know this, +and face this. Anything is good for us, however unpleasant +it may be, which drives us from the only real misery, which is +sin and selfishness, to the only true happiness, which is the +everlasting life of Christ; a pure, loving, just, generous, +useful life of goodness, which is the righteousness of Christ, +and the glory of Christ, and which will be our righteousness and +our glory also for ever: but only if we live it; only if we be +useful as Christ was, generous as Christ was, just as Christ was, +gentle as Christ was, pure as Christ was, loving as Christ was, +and so put on Christ, not in name and in word, but in spirit and +in truth, that having worn Christ’s likeness in this world, +we may share his victory over all evil in the life to come.</p> +<h2><a name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +105</span>SERMON XIII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Twelfth Sunday after +Trinity</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="GutSmall">II</span> <span class="smcap">Cor</span>. iii. +6.</p> +<p>God, who hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not +of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the +Spirit giveth life.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> we look at the Collect, +Epistle, and Gospel for to-day one after the other, we do not +see, perhaps, what they have to do with each other. But +they have to do with each other. They agree with each +other. They explain each other. They all three tell +us what God is like, and what we are to believe about God, and +why we are to have faith in God.</p> +<p>The Collect tells of a God who is more ready to hear than we +are to pray; and is ‘wont to give’—that is, +usually, and as a matter of course, every day and all day long, +gives us—‘more than either we desire or +deserve,’ of a God who gives and forgives, abundant in +mercy. It bids us, when we pray to God, remember that we +are praying to a perfectly bountiful, perfectly generous God.</p> +<p>Some people worship quite a different God to that. They +fancy that God is hard; that he sits judging each man by the +letter of the law; watching and marking down every little fault +which they commit; extreme to mark what is done amiss; and that +in the very face of Scripture, which says that God is <i>not</i> +extreme to mark what is done amiss; for if he were, who could +abide it?</p> +<p>Their notion of God is, that he is very like themselves; +proud, grudging, hard to be entreated, expecting everything from +men, but not willing to give without a great deal of continued +asking and begging, and outward reverence, and scrupulous fear +lest he should be offended unexpectedly at the least mistake; and +they fancy, like the heathen, that they shall be heard for their +much speaking. They forget altogether that God is their +Father, and knows what they need before they ask, and their +ignorance in asking, and has (as any father fit to be called a +father would have) compassion on their infirmities.</p> +<p>There is a great deal of this lip-service, and superstitious +devoutness, creeping in now-a-days; a spirit of bondage unto +fear. St. Paul warns us against it, and calls it +will-worship, and voluntary humility. And I tell you of it, +that it is not Christian at all, but heathen; and I say to you, +as St. Paul bids me say, God, who made the world, and all +therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not +in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with +men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing that he +giveth to all life and breath, and all things. For in him +we live and move, and have our being, and are the +offspring—the children—of God.</p> +<p>Away, then, with this miserable spirit of bondage and fear, +which insults that good God which it pretends to honour; and in +spirit and in truth, not with slavish crouchings and cringings, +copied from the old heathen, let us worship <i>The +Father</i>.</p> +<p>But this leads us to the Epistle.</p> +<p>St. Paul tells us how it is that God is wont to give us more +than we either desire or deserve: because he is the Lord and +Giver of life, in whom all created things live and move and have +their being. Therefore in the Epistle he tells us of a +Spirit which gives life.</p> +<p>But some may ask, ‘What life?’</p> +<p>The Gospel answers that, and says, ‘All life.’</p> +<p>It tells us that our Lord Christ cared not merely for the life +of men’s souls, but for the life of their bodies. +That wherever he went he brought with him, not merely health for +men’s souls by his teaching, but health for their bodies by +his miracles. That when he saw a man who was deaf and had +an impediment in his speech, he sighed over him in compassion; +and did not think it beneath him to cure that poor man of his +infirmity, though it was no such very great one.</p> +<p>For he wished to show men that his heavenly Father cared for +them altogether, body as well as soul; that all health and +strength whatsoever came from him.</p> +<p>When we hear, therefore, of the Spirit giving life, we are not +to fancy that means only some high devout spiritual life, or that +God’s Spirit has to do only with a few elect saints. +That may be a very pleasant fancy for those who believe +themselves to be the elect saints; but the message of the Gospel +is far wider and deeper than that, or any other of vain +man’s narrow notions. It tells us that life—all +life which we can see; all health, strength, beauty, order, use, +power of doing good work in God’s earthly world, come from +the Spirit of God, just as much as the spiritual life which we +cannot see—goodness, amiableness, purity, justice, virtue, +power of doing work in God’s heavenly world. This +latter is the higher life: and the former the lower, though good +and necessary in its place: but the lower, as well as the higher, +is life; and comes from the Spirit of God, who gives life and +breath to all things.</p> +<p>And now, perhaps, we may see what St. Paul meant, by his being +a minister ‘not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the +letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.’</p> +<p>Do you not see yet, my friends? Then I will tell +you.</p> +<p>If I were to get up in this pulpit, and preach the terrors of +the law, and the wrath of God, and hell fire: if I tried to bind +heavy burdens on you, and grievous to be borne, crying—You +<i>must</i> do this, you <i>must</i> feel that, you <i>must</i> +believe the other—while I having fewer temptations and more +education than you, touched not those burdens with one of my +fingers; if I tried to make out as many sins as I could against +you, crying continually, this was wrong, and that was wrong, +making you believe that God is always on the watch to catch you +tripping, and telling you that the least of your sins deserved +endless torment—things which neither I nor any man can find +in the Bible, nor in common justice, nor common humanity, nor +elsewhere, save in the lying mouth of the great devil +himself;—or if I put into your hands books of +self-examination (as they are called) full of long lists of sins, +frightening poor innocents, and defiling their thoughts and +consciences, and making the heart of the righteous sad, whom God +has not made sad;—if I, in plain English, had my mouth full +of cursing and bitterness, threatening and fault-finding, and +distrustful, and disrespectful, and insolent language about you +my parishioners: why then I might fancy myself a Christian +priest, and a minister of the Gospel, and a very able, and +eloquent, and earnest one; and might perhaps gain for myself the +credit of being a ‘searching preacher,’ by speaking +evil of people who are most of them as good and better than I, +and by taking a low, mean, false view of that human nature which +God made in his own image, and Christ justified in his own +man’s flesh, and soul, and spirit; but instead of being an +able minister of the New Covenant, or of the Spirit of God, I +should be no such man, but the very opposite.</p> +<p>No. I should be one of those of whom the Psalmist says, +‘Their mouths are full of cursing and +bitterness’—and also, ‘Their feet are swift to +shed blood.’</p> +<p>To shed blood; to kill with the letter which killeth; and your +blood, if I did succeed in killing your souls, would be upon my +foolish head.</p> +<p>For such preaching as that does kill.</p> +<p>It kills three things.</p> +<p>1. It kills the Gospel. It turns the good news of +God into the very worst news possible, and the ministration of +righteousness into the ministration of condemnation.</p> +<p>2. It kills the souls of the congregation—or would +kill them, if God’s wisdom and love were not stronger than +his minister’s folly and hardness. For it kills in +them self-respect and hope, and makes them say to themselves, +‘God has made me bad, and bad I must be. Let me eat +and drink, for to-morrow I die. God requires all this of +me, and I cannot do it. I shall not try to do it. I +shall take my chance of being saved at last, I know not +how.’ It frightens people away from church, from +religion, from the very thought of God. It sets people on +spying out their neighbours’ faults, on judging and +condemning, on fancying themselves righteous and despising +others; and so kills in them faith, hope, and charity, which are +the very life of their spirits.</p> +<p>3. And by a just judgment, it kills the soul of the +preacher also. It makes him forget who he is, what God has +set him to do; and at last, even who God is. It makes him +fancy that he is doing God’s work, while he is simply doing +the work of the devil, the slanderer and accuser of the brethren; +judging and condemning his congregation, when God has said, +‘Judge not and ye shall not be judged, condemn not and ye +shall not be condemned.’ It makes him at last like +the false God whom he has been preaching (for every man at last +copies the God in whom he believes), dark and deceiving, proud +and cruel;—and may the Lord have mercy upon his soul!</p> +<p>But I will tell you how I can be an able minister of the New +Testament, and of the Spirit who gives life.</p> +<p>If I say to you—and I do say it now, and will say it as +long as I am here—Trust God, because God is good; obey God, +because God is good.</p> +<p>I preach to you the good God of the Collect, even your +heavenly Father; who needs not be won over or appeased by +anything which you can do, for he loves you already for the sake +of his dear Son, whose members you are. He will not hear +you the more for your much speaking, for he knows your +necessities before you ask, and your ignorance in asking. +He will not judge you according to the letter of Moses’ +law, or any other law whatsoever, but according to the spirit of +your longings and struggles after what is right. He will +not be extreme to mark what you do amiss, but will help you to +mend it, if you desire to mend; setting you straight when you go +wrong, and helping you up when you fall, if only your spirit is +struggling after what is right.</p> +<p>This all-good heavenly Father I preach to you, and I say to +you, Trust <i>him</i>.</p> +<p>I preach to you a Spirit who is the Lord and Giver of life; +who hates death, and therefore wills not that you should die; who +has given you all the life you have, all health and strength of +body, all wit and power of mind, all right, pure, loving, noble +feelings of heart and spirit, and who is both able and willing to +keep them alive and healthy in you for ever.</p> +<p>This all-good Spirit of life I preach to you; and I say to +you, Trust <i>him</i>.</p> +<p>I preach to you a Son of God, who is the likeness of his +Father’s glory, and the express image of his person; in +order that by seeing him and how good he is, you may see your +heavenly Father, and how good he is likewise; a Son of God who is +your Saviour and your Judge; who judges you that he may save you, +and saves you by judging you; who has all power given to him in +heaven and earth, and declares that almighty power most chiefly +by showing mercy and pity; who, when he was upon earth, made the +deaf to hear, the lame to walk, the blind to see; who ate and +drank with publicans and sinners, and was the friend of all +mankind; a Son of God who has declared everlasting war against +disease, ignorance, sin, death, and all which makes men +miserable. Those are his enemies; and he reigns, and will +reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet, and there is +nothing left in God’s universe but order and usefulness, +health and beauty, knowledge and virtue, in the day when God +shall be all in all.</p> +<p>This all-good Son of God I preach to you, and I say to you, +Trust <i>him</i>, and obey him. Obey him, not lest he +should become angry and harm you, like the false gods of the +heathen, but because his commandments are life; because he has +made them for your good.</p> +<p>Oh! when will people understand that—that God has not +made laws out of any arbitrariness, but for our good?—That +his commandments are <i>Life</i>? David of old knew as much +as that. Why do not we know more, instead of knowing, most +of us, much less? It is simple enough, if you will but look +at it with simple minds. God has made us; and if he had not +loved us, he would not have made us at all. God has sent us +into the world; and if he had not loved us, he would not have +sent us into the world at all. In him we live, and move, +and have our being, and are the offspring and children of +God. And therefore God alone knows what is good for us; +what is the good life, the wholesome, the safe, the right, the +everlasting life for us. And he sends his Son to tell +us—This is the right life; a life like Christ’s; a +life according to God’s Spirit; and if you do not live that +life you will die, not only body but soul also, because you are +not living the life which God meant for you when he made +you. Just as if you eat the wrong food, you will kill your +bodies; so if you think the wrong thoughts, and feel the wrong +feelings, and therefore do the wrong things, you will kill your +own souls. God will not kill you; you will kill +yourselves. God grudges you nothing. God does not +wish to hurt you, wish to punish you. He wishes you to live +and be happy; to live for ever, and be happy for ever. But +as your body cannot live unless it be healthy, so your soul +cannot live unless it be healthy. And it cannot be healthy +unless it live the right life. And it cannot live the right +life without the right spirit. And the only right spirit is +the Spirit of God himself the Spirit of your Father in heaven, +who will make you, as children should be, like your Father.</p> +<p>But that Spirit is not far from any of you. In him you +live, and move, and have your being already. Were he to +leave you for a moment you would die, and be turned again to your +dust. From him comes all the good of body and soul which +you have already. Trust him for more. Ask him for +more. Go boldly to the throne of his grace, remembering +that it is a throne of <i>grace</i>, of kindness, tenderness, +patience, bountiful love, and wealth without end. Do not +think that he is hard of hearing, or hard of giving. How +can he be? For he is the Spirit of the all-generous Father +and of the all-generous Son, and has given, and gives now; and +delights to give, and delights to be asked. He is the +charity of God; the boundless love by which all things consist; +and, like all love, becomes more rich by spending, and glorifies +himself by giving himself away; and has sworn by +himself—that is, by his own eternal and necessary +character, which he cannot alter or unmake—‘This is +the new covenant which I will make with my people. I will +write my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write +them; and I will dwell with them, and be their God.’</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, take these words to yourselves; and trust in +that good Father in heaven, whose love sent you into this world, +and gave you the priceless blessing of life; whose love sent his +Son to show you the pattern of life, and to redeem you freely +from all your sins; whose love sends his Spirit to give you the +power of leading the everlasting life, and will raise you up +again, body and soul, to that same everlasting life after +death. Trust him, for he is your Father. Whatever +else he is, he is that. He has bid you call him that, and +he will hear you. If you forget that he is your Father, you +forget him, and worship a false God of your own invention. +And whenever you doubt; whenever the devil, or ignorant +preachers, or superstitious books, make you afraid, and tempt you +to fancy that God hates you, and watches to catch you tripping, +take refuge in that blessed name, and say, ‘Satan, I defy +thee; for the Almighty God of heaven is my Father.’</p> +<h2><a name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +116</span>SERMON XIV.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">HEROES AND HEROINES.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Whitsunday</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxxii. 8.</p> +<p>I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou +shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is God’s promise; which +he fulfilled at sundry times and in different manners to all the +men of the old world who trusted in him. He informed them; +that is, he put them into right form, right shape, right +character, and made them the men which they were meant to +be. He taught them in the way in which they ought to +go. He guided them where they could not guide +themselves.</p> +<p>But God fulfilled this promise utterly and completely on the +first Whitsuntide, when the Holy Spirit came down on the +apostles.</p> +<p>That was an extraordinary and special gift; because the +apostles had to do an extraordinary and special work. They +had to preach the Gospel to all nations, and therefore they +wanted tongues with which to speak to all nations; at least to +those of their countrymen who came from foreign parts, and spoke +foreign tongues, that they might carry home the good news of +Christ into all lands. And they wanted tongues of fire, +too, to set their own hearts on fire with divine zeal and +earnestness, and to set on fire the hearts of those who heard +them.</p> +<p>But that was an extraordinary gift. There was never +anything like it before; nor has been, as far as we know, since; +because it has not been needed.</p> +<p>It is enough for us to know, that the apostles had what they +needed. God called and sent them to do a great work: and +therefore, being just and merciful, he gave them the power which +was wanted for that great work.</p> +<p>But if that is a special case; if there has been nothing like +it since, what has Whitsuntide to do with us? We need no +tongues of fire, and we shall have none on this Whitsunday or any +Whitsunday. Has Whitsunday then no blessing for us? +Do we get nothing by it? God forbid, my friends.</p> +<p>We get what the apostles got, and neither more nor less; +though not in the same shape as they did.</p> +<p>God called them to do a work: God calls us, each of us, to do +some work.</p> +<p>God gave them the Holy Spirit to make them able to do their +work. God gives <i>us</i> the Holy Spirit, to make us able +to do <i>our</i> work, whatsoever that may be.</p> +<p>As their day, so their strength was: as our day is, so our +strength shall be.</p> +<p>For instance.—</p> +<p>How often one sees a person—a woman, say—easy and +comfortable, enjoying life, and taking little trouble about +anything, because she has no need. And when one looks at +such a woman, one is apt to say hastily in one’s heart, +‘Ah, she does not know what sorrow is—and well for +her she does not; for she would make but a poor fight if trouble +came on her; she would make but a poor nurse if she had to sit +months by a sick bed. She would become down-hearted, and +peevish, and useless. There is no strength in her to stand +in the evil day.’</p> +<p>And perhaps that woman would say so of herself. She +might be painfully afraid of the thought of affliction; she might +shrink from the notion of having to nurse any one; from having to +give up her own pleasure and ease for the sake of others; and she +would say of herself, as you say of her, ‘What would become +of me if sorrow came? <i>I</i> have no strength to stand in +the evil day.’</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, and you say true, and she says true. +And yet not true either. She has no strength to stand: but +she will stand nevertheless, for God is able to make her +stand. As her day, so her strength shall be. A day of +suffering, anxiety, weariness, all but despair may come to +her. But in that day she shall be baptized with the Holy +Spirit and with fire; and then you shall be astonished, and she +shall be astonished, at what she can do, and what she can endure; +because God’s Spirit will give her a right judgment in all +things, and enable her, even in the midst of her sorrow, to +rejoice in his holy comfort. And people will call +her—those at least who know her—a +‘heroine.’ And they speak truly and well, and +give her the right and true name. Why, I will tell you +presently.</p> +<p>Or how often it happens to a man to be thrown into +circumstances which he never expected. An officer, perhaps, +in war time in a foreign land—in India now. He has a +work to do: a heavy, dangerous, difficult, almost hopeless +work. He does not like it. He is afraid of it. +He wishes himself anywhere but where he is. He has little +or no hope of succeeding; and if he fails, he fears that he will +be blamed, misunderstood, slandered. But he feels he must +go through with it. He cannot turn back; he cannot +escape. As the saying is, the bull is brought to the stake, +and he must bide the baiting.</p> +<p>At first, perhaps, he tries to buoy himself up. He +begins his work in a little pride and self-conceit, and notion of +his own courage and cunning. He tries to fancy himself +strong enough for anything. He feeds himself up with the +thought of what people will say of him; the hope of gaining +honour and praise: and that is not altogether a wrong +feeling—God forbid!</p> +<p>But the further the man gets into his work, the more difficult +it grows, and the more hopeless he grows. He finds himself +weak, when he expected to be strong; puzzled when he thought +himself cunning. He is not sure whether he is doing +right. He is afraid of responsibility. It is a heavy +burden on him, too heavy to bear. His own honour and good +name may depend upon a single word which he speaks. The +comfort, the fortune, the lives of human beings may depend on his +making up his mind at an hour’s notice to do exactly the +right thing at the right time. People round him may be +mistaking him, slandering him, plotting against him, rebelling +against him, even while he is trying to do them all the good he +can. Little comfort does he get then from the thought of +what people at home may say of him. He is set in the snare, +and he cannot find his way out. He is at his own +wits’ end; and from whence shall he get fresh wits? +Who will give him a right judgment in all things? Who will +give him a holy comfort in which he can rejoice?—a comfort +which will make him cheerful, because he knows it is a right +comfort, and that he is doing right? His heart is sinking +within him, getting chill and cold with despair. Who will +put fresh fire and spirit into it?</p> +<p>God will. When he has learnt how weak he is in himself, +how stupid he is in himself;—ay, bitter as it is to a brave +man to have to confess it, how cowardly he is in +himself—then, when he has learnt the golden lesson, God +will baptize him with the Holy Ghost and with fire.</p> +<p>A time will come to that man, when, finding no help in +himself, no help in man, he will go for help to God.</p> +<p>Old words which he learnt at his mother’s knee come back +to him—old words that he almost forgot, perhaps, in the +strength and gaiety of his youth and prosperity. And he +prays. He prays clumsily enough, perhaps. He is not +accustomed to praying; and he hardly knows what to ask for, or +how to ask for it. Be it so. In that he is not so +very much worse off than others. What did St. Paul say, +even of himself? ‘We know not how to ask for anything +as we ought: but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with +groanings that cannot be uttered’—too deep for +words. Yes, in every honest heart there are longings too +deep for words. A man knows he wants something: but knows +not what he wants. He cannot find the right words to say to +God. Let him take comfort. What he does not know, the +Holy Spirit of Whitsuntide—the Spirit of Jesus +Christ—does know. Christ knows what we want, and +offers our clumsy prayers up to our heavenly Father, not in the +shape in which we put them, but as they ought to be, as we should +like them to be; and our Father hears them.</p> +<p>Yes. Our Father hears the man who cries to him, however +clumsily, for light and strength to do his duty. So it is; +so it has been always; so it will be to the end. And then +as the man’s day, so his strength will be. He may be +utterly puzzled, utterly down-hearted, utterly hopeless: but the +day comes to him in which he is baptized with the Holy Ghost and +with fire. He begins to have a right judgment; to see +clearly what he ought to do, and how to do it. He grows +more shrewd, more prompt, more steady than he ever has been +before. And there comes a fire into his heart, such as +there never was before; a spirit and a determination which +nothing can daunt or break, which makes him bold, cheerful, +earnest, in the face of the anxiety and danger which would have, +at any other time, broken his heart. The man is lifted up +above himself, and carried on through his work, he hardly knows +how, till he succeeds nobly, or if he fails, fails nobly; and be +the end as it may, he gets the work done which God has given him +to do.</p> +<p>And then when he looks back, he is astonished at +himself. He wonders how he could dare so much; wonders how +he could endure so much; wonders how the right thought came into +his head at the right moment. He hardly knows himself +again. It seems to him, when he thinks over it all, like a +grand and awful dream. And the world is astonished at him +likewise. They cry, ‘Who would have thought there was +so much in this man? who would have expected such things of +him?’ And they call him a hero—and so he +is.</p> +<p>Yes, the world is right, more right than it thinks in both +sayings. Who would have expected there was so much in the +man? For there was not so much in him, till God put it +there.</p> +<p>And again they are right, too; more right than they think in +calling that man a hero, or that woman a heroine.</p> +<p>For what is the old meaning, the true meaning of a hero or a +heroine?</p> +<p>It meant—and ought to mean—one who is a son or a +daughter of God, and whom God informs and strengthens, and sends +out to do noble work, teaching them the way wherein they should +go. That was the right meaning of a hero and of a heroine +even among the old heathens. Let it mean the same among us +Christians, when we talk of a hero; and let us give God the +glory, and say—There is a man who has entered, even if it +be but for one day’s danger and trial, into the blessings +of Whitsuntide and the power of God’s Spirit; a man whom +God has informed and taught in the way wherein he should +go. May that same God give him grace to abide herein all +the days of his life!</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, may God give us all grace to under stand +Whitsuntide, and feed on the blessings of Whitsuntide; not merely +once in a way, in some great sorrow, great danger, great +struggle, great striving point of our lives; but every day and +all day long, and to rejoice in the power of his Spirit, till it +becomes to us—would that it could to-day become to +us;—like the air we breathe; till having got our +life’s work done, if not done perfectly, yet still done, we +may go hence to receive the due reward of our deeds.</p> +<h2><a name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +124</span>SERMON XV.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE MEASURE OF THE CROSS.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Ephesians</span> iii. 18, 19.</p> +<p>That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the +breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of +Christ, which passeth knowledge.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">These</span> words are very deep, and +difficult to understand; for St. Paul does not tell us exactly of +what he is speaking. He does not say what it is, the +breadth and length, and depth, and height of which we are to +comprehend and take in. Only he tells us afterwards what +will come of our taking it in; we shall know the love of +Christ.</p> +<p>And therefore many great fathers and divines, whose names +there is no need for me to tell you, but whose opinions we must +always respect, have said that what St. Paul is speaking of is, +the Cross of Christ.</p> +<p>Of course they do not mean the wood of which the actual cross +was made. They mean the thing of which the cross was a sign +and token.</p> +<p>Now of what is the cross a token?</p> +<p>Of the love of Christ, which is the love of God.</p> +<p>But of what kind of love?</p> +<p>Not the love which is satisfied with sitting still and +enjoying itself, as long as nothing puts it out, and turns its +love to anger—what we call mere good nature and good +temper; not that, not that, my friends: but love which will dare, +and do, and yearn, and mourn; love which cannot rest; love which +sacrifices itself; love which will suffer, love which will die, +for what it loves;—such love as a father has, who perishes +himself to save his drowning child.</p> +<p>Now the cross of Christ is a token to us, that God’s +love to us is like that: a love which will dare anything, and +suffer anything, for the sake of saving sinful man.</p> +<p>And therefore it is, that from the earliest times the cross +has been the special sign of Christians. We keep it up +still, when we make the sign of the cross on children’s +foreheads in baptism: but we have given up using the sign of the +cross commonly, because it was perverted, in old times, into a +superstitious charm. Men worshipped the cross like an idol, +or bits of wood which they fancied were pieces of the actual +cross, while they were forgetting what the cross meant. So +the use of the cross fell into disrepute, and was put down in +England.</p> +<p>But that is no reason why we should forget what the cross +meant, and means now, and will mean for ever. Indeed, the +better Christians, the better men we are, the more will +Christ’s cross fill us with thoughts which nothing else can +give us; thoughts which we are glad enough, often, to forget and +put away; so bitterly do they remind us of our own laziness, +selfishness, and love of pleasure.</p> +<p>But still, the cross is our sign. It is God’s +everlasting token to us, that he has told us Christians something +about himself which none of the wisest among the heathen knew; +which infidels now do not know; which nothing but the cross can +teach to men.</p> +<p>There were men among the old heathens who believed in one God; +and some of them saw that he must be, on the whole, a good and a +just God. But they could not help thinking of God (with +very rare exceptions) as a respecter of persons, a God who had +favourites; and at least, that he was a God who loved his +friends, and hated his enemies. So the Mussulmans believe +now. So do the Jews; indeed, so they did all along, though +they ought to have known better; for their prophets in the Old +Testament told them a very different tale about God’s +love.</p> +<p>But that was all they could believe—in a God who was not +unjust or wicked, but was at least hard, proud, unbending: while +the notion that God could love his enemies, and bless those who +used him despitefully and persecuted him—much less die for +his enemies—that would have seemed to them impossible and +absurd. They stumbled at the stumbling-block of the +cross. God, they thought, would do to men as they did to +him. If they loved him, he would love them. If they +neglected him, he would hate and destroy them.</p> +<p>But when the apostles preached the Gospel, the good news of +Christ crucified, they preached a very different tale; a tale +quite new; utterly different from any that mankind had ever heard +before.</p> +<p>St. Paul calls it a mystery—a secret—which had +been hidden from the foundation of the world till then, and was +then revealed by God’s Spirit; namely, this boundless love +of God, shown by Christ’s dying on the cross.</p> +<p>And, he says, his great hope, his great business, the thing on +which his heart was set, and which God had sent him into the +world to do, was this—to make people know the love of +Christ; to look at Christ’s cross, and take in its breadth, +and length, and depth, and height. It passes knowledge, he +says. We shall never know the whole of it—never know +all that God’s love has done, and will do: but the more we +know of it, the more blessed and hopeful, the more strong and +earnest, the more good and righteous we shall become.</p> +<p>And what is the breadth of Christ’s cross? My +friends, it is as broad as the whole world; for he died for the +whole world, as it is written, ‘He is a propitiation not +for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world;’ +and again, ‘God willeth that none should perish;’ and +again, ‘As by the offence judgment came on all men to +condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the gift came +upon all men to justification of life.’</p> +<p>And that is the breadth of Christ’s cross.</p> +<p>And what is the length of Christ’s cross? The +length thereof, says an old father, signifies the time during +which its virtue will last.</p> +<p>How long, then, is the cross of Christ? Long enough to +last through all time. As long as there is a sinner to be +saved; as long as there is ignorance, sorrow, pain, death, or +anything else which is contrary to God and hurtful to man, in the +universe of God, so long will Christ’s cross last. +For it is written, he must reign till he hath put all enemies +under his feet; and God is all in all. And that is the +length of the cross of Christ.</p> +<p>And how high is Christ’s cross? As high as the +highest heaven, and the throne of God, and the bosom of the +Father—that bosom out of which for ever proceed all created +things. Ay, as high as the highest heaven; for—if you +will receive it—when Christ hung upon the cross, heaven +came down on earth, and earth ascended into heaven. Christ +never showed forth his Father’s glory so perfectly as when, +hanging upon the cross, he cried in his death-agony, +‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they +do.’ Those words showed the true height of the cross; +and caused St. John to know that his vision was true, and no +dream, when he saw afterwards in the midst of the throne of God a +lamb as it had been slain.</p> +<p>And that is the height of the cross of Christ.</p> +<p>And how deep is the cross of Christ?</p> +<p>This is a great mystery, and one which people in these days +are afraid to look at; and darken it of their own will, because +they will neither believe their Bibles, nor the voice of their +own hearts.</p> +<p>But if the cross of Christ be as high as heaven, then, it +seems to me, it must also be as deep as hell, deep enough to +reach the deepest sinner in the deepest pit to which he may +fall. We know that Christ descended into hell. We +know that he preached to the spirits in prison. We know +that it is written, ‘As in Adam all die, even so in Christ +shall all be made alive.’ We know that when the +wicked man turns from his wickedness, and does what is lawful and +right, he will save his soul alive. We know that in the +very same chapter God tells us that his ways are not +unequal—that he has not one law for one man, and another +for another, or one law for one year, and another for +another. It is possible, therefore, that he has not one law +for this life, and another for the life to come. Let us +hope, then, that David’s words may be true after all, when +speaking by the Spirit of God, he says, not only, ‘if I +ascend up to heaven, thou art there;’ but ‘if I go +down to hell, thou art there also;’ and let us hope that +<i>that</i> is the depth of the cross of Christ.</p> +<p>At all events, my friends, I believe that we shall find St. +Paul’s words true, when he says, that Christ’s love +passes knowledge; and therefore that we shall find this +also;—that however broad we may think Christ’s cross, +it is broader still. However long, it is longer +still. However high, it is higher still. However +deep, it is deeper still. Yes, we shall find that St. Paul +spoke solemn truth when he said, that Christ had ascended on high +that he might fill all things; that Christ filled all in all; and +that he must reign till the day when he shall give up the kingdom +to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all.</p> +<p>And now do you take all this about the breadth and length of +Christ’s cross to be only ingenious fancies, and a pretty +play of words?</p> +<p>Ah, my friends, the day will come when you will find that the +measure of Christ’s cross is the most important question +upon earth.</p> +<p>In the hour of death, and in the day of judgment; then the one +thing which you will care to think of (if you can think at all +then, as too many poor souls cannot, and therefore had best think +of it now before their wits fail them)—the one thing which +you will care to think of, I say, will be—not, how clever +you have been, how successful you have been, how much admired you +have been, how much money you have made:—‘Of course +not,’ you answer; ‘I shall be thinking of the state +of my soul; whether I am fit to die; whether I have faith enough +to meet God; whether I have good works enough to meet +God.’</p> +<p>Will you, my friend? Then you will soon grow tired of +thinking of that likewise, at least I hope and trust that you +will. For, however much faith you may have had, you will +find that you have not had enough. However so many good +works you may have done, you will find that you have not done +enough. The better man you are, the more you will be +dissatisfied with yourself; the more you will be ashamed of +yourself; till with all saints, Romanist or Protestant, or other, +who have been worthy of the name of saints, you will be +driven—if you are in earnest about your own soul—to +give up thinking of yourself, and to think only of the cross of +Christ, and of the love of Christ which shines thereon; and +ask—Is it great enough to cover my sins? to save one as +utterly unworthy to be saved as I. And so, after all, you +will be forced to throw yourself—where you ought to have +thrown yourself at the outset—at the foot of Christ’s +cross; and say in spirit and in truth—</p> +<blockquote><p>Nothing in my hand I bring,<br /> +Simply to the cross I cling—</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In plain words, I throw myself, with all my sins, upon that +absolute and boundless love of God which made all things, and me +among them, and hateth nothing that he hath made; who redeemed +all mankind, and me among them, and hath said by the mouth of his +only-begotten Son, ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise +cast out.’</p> +<h2><a name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +132</span>SERMON XVI.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE PURE IN HEART.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Titus</span> i. 15.</p> +<p>Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are +defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure: but even their mind and +conscience is defiled.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> seems at first a strange and +startling saying: but it is a true one; and the more we think +over it, the more we shall find it true.</p> +<p>All things are pure in themselves; good in themselves; because +God made them. Is it not written, ‘God saw all that +he had made, and behold, it was very good?’ Therefore +St. Paul says, that all things are ours; and that Christ gives us +all things richly to enjoy. All we need is, to use things +in the right way; that is, in the way in which God intended them +to be used.</p> +<p>For God is a God of truth; a true, a faithful, and—if I +may so speak—an honest and honourable, and fair God: not a +deceiving or unfair God, who lays snares for his creatures, or +leads them into temptation. That would be a bad God, a +cruel God, very unlike the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. +He has put us into a good world, and not a wilderness, as some +people call it. If any part of this world be a wilderness, +it is because men have made it so, or left it so, by their own +wilfulness, ignorance, cowardice, laziness, violence. No: +God, I say, has put us into a good world, and given us pure and +harmless appetites, feelings, relations. Therefore all the +relations of life are holy. To be a husband, a father, a +brother, a son, is pure and good. To have property and to +use it: to enjoy ourselves in this life as far as we can, without +hurting ourselves or our neighbours; all this is pure, and good, +and holy. God does not grudge or upbraid. He does not +frown upon innocent pleasure. For God is light, and in him +is no darkness at all. Therefore he rejoices in seeing his +creatures healthy and happy. Therefore, as I believe, +Christ smiles out of heaven upon the little children at their +play; and the laugh of a babe is heavenly music in his ears.</p> +<p>All things are pure which God has given to man. And +therefore, if a man be pure in heart, all which God has given him +will not only do him no harm, but do him good. All the +comforts and blessings of this life will help to make him a +better man. They will teach him about his own character; +about human nature, and the people with whom he has to do; +ay—about God himself, as it is written, ‘Blessed are +the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’</p> +<p>All the blessings and comforts of this life, my friends (as +well as the anxieties which must come to those who have a family, +or property, even if he do not meet with losses and afflictions), +ought to help to improve a man’s temper, to call out in him +right feelings, to teach him more and more of the likeness of +God.</p> +<p>If he be a married man, marriage ought to teach him not to +live for himself only, but to sacrifice his own fancies, his own +ease, his own will, for the sake of the woman whom God has given +him; as Christ sacrificed himself, and his own life, for +mankind. And so, by the feelings of a husband, he may enter +into the mystery of the love of Christ, and of the cross of +Christ; and so, if only he be pure in heart, he will see God.</p> +<p>If he have parents, he may learn by being a son how blessed it +is to obey, how useful to a man’s character to submit: ay, +he will find out more still. He will find out that not by +being self-willed and independent does the finest and noblest +parts of his character come out, but by copying his Father in +everything; that going where his Father sends him; being jealous +of his Father’s honour; doing not his own will, but his +Father’s; that all this, I say, is its own reward; for +instead of lowering a man, it raises him, and calls out in him +all that is purest, tenderest, soberest, bravest. I tell +you this day—Just as far as you are good sons to your +parents, so far will you be able to understand the mystery of the +co-equal and co-eternal Son of God; who though he were in the +form of God, did not snatch greedily at being on the same footing +with his Father, but emptied himself, and took on him the form of +a slave, that he might do his Father’s will, and reveal his +Father’s glory. And so, if you be only pure in heart, +you will see God.</p> +<p>If, again, a man have children—how they ought to teach +him, to train him;—teach him to restrain his own temper, +lest he provoke them to anger; to be calm and moderate with them, +lest he frighten them into lying; to avoid bad language, +gluttony, drunkenness, and every coarse sin, lest he tempt them +to follow his example. I tell you, friends, that you will +find, if you choose, all the noblest, most generous, most Godlike +parts of your character called out to your children; and by +having the feelings of a father to your children, learn what +feelings our Father in heaven has toward us, his human +offspring. And so, if only you be pure in heart, you will +see God.</p> +<p>If again, a man has money, money can teach him (as it teaches +hundreds of pure-hearted men) that charity and generosity are not +only a duty, but an honour and a joy; that ‘mercy is twice +blest; it blesses him that gives, and him that takes;’ that +giving is the highest pleasure upon earth, because it is +God’s own pleasure; because the blessedness of God, and the +glory of God is this, that he giveth to all liberally, and +upbraideth not. And so in his wealth—if only he be +pure in heart, a man will see God.</p> +<p>If, again, a man has health, and strength, and high spirits, +they too will teach him, if his heart be pure. He will +learn from them to look up to God as the Lord and Giver of life, +health, strength; of the power to work, and the power to delight +in working: because God himself is ever full of life, ever busy, +ever rejoicing to put forth his almighty power for the good of +the whole universe, as it is written, ‘My Father worketh +hitherto, and I work.’ And so—in every relation +of life—if only a man’s heart be pure, he will see +God.</p> +<p>How, then, can we get the pure heart which will make all +things pure to us? By asking for the Spirit of God, the +Holy Spirit, the Pure Spirit, in whom is no selfishness.</p> +<p>For if our hearts be selfish, they cannot be pure. The +pure in heart, is the same as the man whose eye is single, and +that is the man who is not caring for himself, thinking of +himself. If a man be thinking of himself, he will never +enjoy life. The pure blessings which God has given him will +be no blessings to him; as it is written, ‘He that saveth +his life shall lose it.’</p> +<p>Do you not know that that is true? Do not the miseries +of life (I do not mean the afflictions, like loss of friends or +kin), but the miseries of life which make a man dark, and +fretful, and prevent his enjoying God’s gifts—do they +not come, nineteen-twentieths of them, from thinking about +oneself; from lusting and longing after this and that; from +spite, vanity, bad temper, wounded pride, disappointed +covetousness? ‘I cannot get this or that; that money, +that place; this or that fine thing or the other: and how can I +be contented?’ There is a man whose heart is not +pure. ‘That man has used me ill, and I cannot help +thinking of it, brooding over it. I cannot forgive +him. How can I be expected to forgive him?’ +There is a man whose heart is not pure; and more, there is a man +who is making himself miserable.</p> +<p>See again, how a man may make marriage a curse to him instead +of a blessing, without being unfaithful to his wife (which we all +know to be simply abominable and unmanly, and far below anything +of which I am talking now). And how? Simply by bad +temper, vanity, greediness, and selfish love of his own dignity, +his own pleasure, his own this, that, and the other. So, +too, he may make his children a torment to him, instead of +letting them be God’s lesson-book to him, in which he may +see the likeness of the angels in heaven.</p> +<p>He may make his wealth a continual anxiety to him: ay, he may +make it, by ambition, covetousness, and wild speculation, the +cause of his shame and ruin; if only his heart be not pure.</p> +<p>Ay, there is not a blessing on earth which a man may not turn +into a curse. There is not a good gift of God out of which +a man may not get harm, if only his heart be not pure; as it is +written, ‘To those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing +is pure: but even their mind and conscience are +defiled.’</p> +<p>But defiled with what? Fouled with what? There is +the question. Many answers have been invented by people who +did not believe in that faithful and true God of whom I told you +just now; people who fancied that this world was a bad world, and +that God laid snares for his creatures and tempted his +creatures. But the true answer is only to be got, like most +true answers, by observing; by using our eyes and ears, and +seeing what really makes people turn blessings into curses, and +suck poison out of every flower.</p> +<p>And that is, simply, self.</p> +<p>If you want to spoil all that God gives you; if you want to be +miserable yourself, and a maker of misery to others, the way is +easy enough. Only be selfish, and it is done at once. +Be defiled and unbelieving. Defile and foul God’s +good gifts by self, and by loving yourself more than what is +right. Do not believe that the good God knows your needs +before you ask, and will give you whatsoever is good for +you. Think about yourself; about what <i>you</i> want, what +<i>you</i> like, what respect people ought to pay <i>you</i>, +what people think of <i>you</i>: and then to you nothing will be +pure. You will spoil everything you touch; you will make +sin and misery for yourself out of everything which God sends +you; you will be as wretched as you choose on earth, or in heaven +either.</p> +<p>In heaven either, I say. For that proud, greedy, +selfish, self-seeking spirit would turn heaven into hell. +It did turn heaven into hell, for the great devil himself. +It was by pride, by seeking his own glory—(so, at least, +wise men say)—that he fell from heaven to hell. He +was not content to give up his own will and do God’s will, +like the other angels. He was not content to serve God, and +rejoice in God’s glory. He would be a master himself, +and set up for himself, and rejoice in his own glory; and so, +when he wanted to make a private heaven of his own, he found that +he had made a hell. When he wanted to be a little God for +himself, he lost the life of the true God, to lose which is +eternal death. And why? Because his heart was not +pure, clean, honest, simple, unselfish. Therefore he saw +God no more, and learnt to hate him whose name is love.</p> +<p>May God keep our hearts pure from that selfishness which is +the root of all sin; from selfishness, out of which alone spring +adultery, foul living, drunkenness, evil speaking, lying, +slandering, injustice, oppression, cruelty, and all which makes +man worse than the beasts. May God give us those pure +hearts of which it is written, that the fruit of the Spirit is +love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, +temperance. Against such, St. Paul says, there is no +law. And why? Because no law is needed. For, as +a wise father says—‘Love, and do what thou +wilt;’ for then thou wilt be sure to will what is right; +and, as St. Paul says, If your heart be pure, all things will be +pure to you.</p> +<h2><a name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +140</span>SERMON XVII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">MUSIC.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Christmas Day</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Luke</span> ii. 13, 14.</p> +<p>And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the +heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the +highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">You</span> have been just singing +Christmas hymns; and my text speaks of the first Christmas +hymn. Now what the words of that hymn meant; what Peace on +earth and good-will towards man meant, I have often told +you. To-day I want you, for once, to think of +this—that it was a hymn; that these angels were singing, +even as human beings sing.</p> +<p>Music.—There is something very wonderful in music. +Words are wonderful enough: but music is even more +wonderful. It speaks not to our thoughts as words do: it +speaks straight to our hearts and spirits, to the very core and +root of our souls. Music soothes us, stirs us up; it puts +noble feelings into us; it melts us to tears, we know not +how:—it is a language by itself, just as perfect, in its +way, as speech, as words; just as divine, just as blessed.</p> +<p>Music has been called the speech of angels; I will go further, +and call it the speech of God himself—and I will, with +God’s help, show you a little what I mean this Christmas +day.</p> +<p>Music, I say, without words, is wonderful and blessed; one of +God’s best gifts to men. But in singing you have both +the wonders together, music and words. Singing speaks at +once to the head and to the heart, to our understanding and to +our feelings; and therefore, perhaps, the most beautiful way in +which the reasonable soul of man can show itself (except, of +course, doing <i>right</i>, which always is, and always will be, +the most beautiful thing) is singing.</p> +<p>Now, why do we all enjoy music? Because it sounds +sweet. But <i>why</i> does it sound sweet?</p> +<p>That is a mystery known only to God.</p> +<p>Two things I may make you understand—two things which +help to make music—melody and harmony. Now, as most +of you know, there is melody in music when the different sounds +of the same tune follow each other, so as to give us pleasure; +there is harmony in music when different sounds, instead of +following each other, come at the same time, so as to give us +pleasure.</p> +<p>But why do they please us? and what is more, why do they +please angels? and more still, why do they please God? Why +is there music in heaven? Consider St. John’s visions +in the Revelations. Why did St. John hear therein harpers +with their harps, and the mystic beasts, and the elders, singing +a new song to God and to the Lamb; and the voices of many angels +round about them, whose number was ten thousand times ten +thousand?</p> +<p>In this is a great mystery. I will try to explain what +little of it I seem to see.</p> +<p>First—There is music in heaven, because in music there +is no self-will. Music goes on certain laws and +rules. Man did not make those laws of music; he has only +found them out: and if he be self-willed and break them, there is +an end of his music instantly; all he brings out is discord and +ugly sounds. The greatest musician in the world is as much +bound by those laws as the learner in the school; and the +greatest musician is the one who, instead of fancying that, +because he is clever, he may throw aside the laws of music, knows +the laws of music best, and observes them most reverently. +And therefore it was that the old Greeks, the wisest of all the +heathens, made a point of teaching their children <i>music</i>; +because, they said, it taught them not to be self-willed and +fanciful, but to see the beauty of order, the usefulness of rule, +the divineness of law.</p> +<p>And therefore music is fit for heaven; therefore music is a +pattern and type of heaven, and of the everlasting life of God, +which perfect spirits live in heaven; a life of melody and order +in themselves; a life of harmony with each other and with +God. Music, I say, is a pattern of the everlasting life of +heaven; because in heaven, as in music, is perfect freedom and +perfect pleasure; and yet that freedom comes not from throwing +away law, but from obeying God’s law perfectly; and that +pleasure comes, not from self-will, and doing each what he likes, +but from perfectly doing the will of the Father who is in +heaven.</p> +<p>And that in itself would be sweet music, even if there were +neither voice nor sound in heaven. For wherever there is +order and obedience, there is sweet music for the ears of +Christ. Whatsoever does its duty, according to its kind +which Christ has given it, makes melody in the ears of +Christ. Whatsoever is useful to the things around it, makes +harmony in the ears of Christ. Therefore those wise old +Greeks used to talk of the music of the spheres. They said +that sun, moon, and stars, going round each in its appointed +path, made as they rolled along across the heavens everlasting +music before the throne of God. And so, too, the old Psalms +say. Do you not recollect that noble verse, which speaks of +the stars of heaven, and says—</p> +<blockquote><p>What though no human voice or sound<br /> +Amid their radiant orbs be found?<br /> +To Reason’s ear they all rejoice,<br /> +And utter forth a glorious voice;<br /> +For ever singing as they shine,<br /> +The hand that made us is divine.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>And therefore it is, that that noble Song of the Three +Children calls upon sun and moon, and stars of heaven, to bless +the Lord, praise him, and magnify him for ever: and not only upon +them, but on the smallest things on earth;—on mountains and +hills, green herbs and springs, cattle and feathered fowl; they +too, he says, can bless the Lord, and magnify him for ever. +And how? By fulfilling the law which God has given them; +and by living each after their kind, according to the wisdom +wherewith Christ the Word of God created them, when he beheld all +that he had made, and behold, it was very good.</p> +<p>And so can we, my friends; so can we. Some of us may not +be able to make music with our voices: but we can make it with +our hearts, and join in the angels’ song this day, if not +with our lips, yet in our lives.</p> +<p>If thou fulfillest the law which God has given thee, the law +of love and liberty, then thou makest music before God, and thy +life is a hymn of praise to God.</p> +<p>If thou art in love and charity with thy neighbours, thou art +making sweeter harmony in the ears of the Lord Jesus Christ, than +psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music.</p> +<p>If thou art living a righteous and a useful life, doing thy +duty orderly and cheerfully where God has put thee, then thou art +making sweeter melody in the ears of the Lord Jesus Christ, than +if thou hadst the throat of a nightingale; for then thou in thy +humble place art humbly copying the everlasting harmony and +melody which is in heaven; the everlasting harmony and melody by +which God made the world and all that therein is, and behold it +was very good, in the day when the morning stars sang together, +and all the sons of God shouted for joy over the new-created +earth, which God had made to be a pattern of his own +perfection.</p> +<p>For this is that mystery of which I spoke just now, when I +said that music was as it were the voice of God himself. +Yes, I say it with all reverence: but I do say it. There is +music in God. Not the music of voice or sound; a music +which no ears can hear, but only the spirit of a man, when +awakened by the Holy Spirit, and taught to know God, Father, Son, +and Holy Spirit.</p> +<p>There is one everlasting melody in heaven, which Christ, the +Word of God, makes for ever, when he does all things perfectly +and wisely, and righteously and gloriously, full of grace and +truth: and from that all melody comes, and is a dim pattern +thereof here; and is beautiful only because it is a dim pattern +thereof.</p> +<p>And there is an everlasting harmony in God; which is the +harmony between the Father and the Son; who though he be co-equal +and co-eternal with his Father, does nothing of himself, but only +what he seeth his Father do; saying for ever, ‘Not my will, +but thine be done,’ and hears his Father answer for ever, +‘Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.’</p> +<p>Therefore, all melody and all harmony upon earth, whether in +the song of birds, the whisper of the wind, the concourse of +voices, or the sounds of those cunning instruments which man has +learnt to create, because he is made in the image of Christ, the +Word of God, who creates all things; all music upon earth, I say, +is beautiful in as far as it is a pattern and type of the +everlasting music which is in heaven; which was before all +worlds, and shall be after them; for by its rules all worlds were +made, and will be made for ever, even the everlasting melody of +the wise and loving will of God, and the everlasting harmony of +the Father toward the Son, and of the Son toward the Father, in +one Holy Spirit who proceeds from them both, to give melody and +harmony, order and beauty, life and light, to all which God has +made.</p> +<p>Therefore music is a sacred, a divine, a Godlike thing, and +was given to man by Christ to lift our hearts up to God, and make +us feel something of the glory and beauty of God and of all which +God has made.</p> +<p>Therefore, too, music is most fit for Christmas day, of all +days in the year. Christmas has always been a day of songs, +of carols and of hymns; and so let it be for ever. If we +had no music all the rest of the year in church or out of church, +let us have it at least on Christmas day.</p> +<p>For on Christmas day most of all days (if I may talk of +eternal things according to the laws of time) was manifested on +earth the everlasting music which is in heaven.</p> +<p>On Christmas day was fulfilled in time and space the +everlasting harmony of God, when the Father sent the Son into the +world, that the world through him might be saved; and the Son +refused not, neither shrank back, though he knew that sorrow, +shame, and death awaited him, but answered, ‘A body hast +thou prepared me . . . I come to do thy will, oh +God!’ and so emptied himself, and took on himself the form +of a slave, and was found in fashion as a man, that he might +fulfil not his own will, but the will of the Father who sent +him.</p> +<p>On this day began that perfect melody of the Son’s life +on earth; one song and poem, as it were, of wise words, good +deeds, spotless purity, and untiring love, which he perfected +when he died, and rose again, and ascended on high for ever to +make intercession for us with music sweeter than the song of +angels and archangels, and all the heavenly host.</p> +<p>Go home, then, remembering how divine and holy a thing music +is, and rejoice before the Lord this day with psalms and hymns, +and spiritual songs (by which last I think the apostle means not +merely church music—for that he calls psalms and +hymns—but songs which have a good and wholesome spirit in +them); and remembering, too, that music, like marriage, and all +other beautiful things which God has given to man, is not to be +taken in hand unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly; but, even when +it is most cheerful and joyful (as marriage is), reverently, +discreetly, soberly, and in the fear of God. Amen.</p> +<h2><a name="page148"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +148</span>SERMON XVIII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE CHRIST CHILD.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Christmas Day</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Luke</span> ii. 7.</p> +<p>And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapt him in +swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Mother</span> and child.—Think of +it, my friends, on Christmas day. What more beautiful sight +is there in the world? What more beautiful sight, and what +more wonderful sight?</p> +<p>What more beautiful? That man must be very far from the +kingdom of God—he is not worthy to be called a man at +all—whose heart has not been touched by the sight of his +first child in its mother’s bosom.</p> +<p>The greatest painters who have ever lived have tried to paint +the beauty of that simple thing—a mother with her babe: and +have failed. One of them, Rafaelle by name, to whom God +gave the spirit of beauty in a measure in which he never gave it, +perhaps, to any other man, tried again and again, for years, +painting over and over that simple subject—the mother and +her babe—and could not satisfy himself. Each of his +pictures is most beautiful—each in a different way; and yet +none of them is perfect. There is more beauty in that +simple every-day sight than he or any man could express by his +pencil and his colours. And yet it is a sight which we see +every day.</p> +<p>And as for the wonder of that sight—the mystery of +it—I tell you this. That physicians, and the wise men +who look into the laws of nature, of flesh and blood, say that +the mystery is past their finding out; that if they could find +out the whole meaning, and the true meaning of those two words, +mother and child, they could get the key to the deepest wonders +of the world: but they cannot.</p> +<p>And philosophers, who look into the laws of soul and spirit, +say the same. The wiser men they are, the more they find in +the soul of every new-born babe, and its kindred to its mother, +wonders and puzzles past man’s understanding.</p> +<p>I will say boldly, my friends, that if one could find out the +full meaning of those two words, mother and child, one would be +the wisest philosopher on earth, and see deeper than all who have +ever yet lived, into the secrets of this world of time which we +can see, and of the eternal world, which no man can see, save +with the eyes of his reasonable soul.</p> +<p>And yet it is the most common, every-day sight. That +only shows once more what I so often try to show you, that the +most common, every-day things are the most wonderful. It +shows us how we are to despise nothing which God has made; above +all, to despise nothing which belongs to human nature, which is +the likeness and image of God.</p> +<p>Above all, upon this Christmas day it is not merely ignorant +and foolish, but quite sinful and heretical, to despise anything +which belongs to human nature. For on this day God appeared +in human nature, and in the first and lowest shape of it—in +the form of a new-born babe, that by beginning at the beginning, +he might end at the end; and being made in all things like as his +brethren, might perfectly and utterly take the manhood into +God.</p> +<p>This, then, we are to think of, at least on Christmas +day—God revealed, and shown to men, as a babe upon his +mother’s bosom.</p> +<p>Men had pictured God to themselves already in many +shapes—some foolish, foul, brutal—God forgive +them;—some noble and majestic. Sometimes they thought +of him as a mighty Lawgiver, sitting upon his throne in the +heavens, with solemn face and awful eyes, looking down upon all +the earth. That fancy was not a false one. St. John +saw the Lord so.</p> +<p>‘And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like +unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and +girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his +hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were +as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they +burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many +waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out +of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; and his countenance +was as the sun shining in his strength.’</p> +<p>Sometimes, again, they thought of him as the terrible warrior, +going forth to conquer and destroy all which opposed him; to kill +wicked tyrants, and devils, and all who rebelled against him, and +who hurt human beings.</p> +<p>And that was not a false fancy either. St. John saw the +Lord so.</p> +<p>‘And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and +he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in +righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as +a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a +name written, that no man knew but he himself: and he was clothed +with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called, The Word +of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him +upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. +And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should +smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and +he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty +God.’</p> +<p>But all these were only, as it were, fancies about one side of +God’s character. It was only in the Babe of Bethlehem +that the <i>whole</i> of God’s character shone forth, that +men might not merely fear him and bow before him, but trust in +him and love him, as one who could be touched with the feeling of +their infirmities. <a name="citation151"></a><a +href="#footnote151" class="citation">[151]</a></p> +<p>It was on Christmas day that God appeared among men as a child +upon a mother’s bosom. And why? Surely for this +reason, among a thousand more, that he might teach men to feel +for him and with him, and to be sure that he felt for them and +with them. To teach them to feel for him and with him, he +took the shape of a little child, to draw out all their love, all +their tenderness, and, if I may so say, all their pity.</p> +<p>A God in need! A God weak! God fed by mortal +woman! A God wrapt in swaddling clothes, and laid in a +manger!—If that sight will not touch our hearts, what +will?</p> +<p>And by that same sight he has taught men that he feels with +them and for them. God has been through the pains of +infancy. God has hungered. God has wept. God +has been ignorant. God has grown, and increased in stature +and in wisdom, and in favour both with God and man.</p> +<p>And why? That he might take on him our human +nature. Not merely the nature of a great man, of a wise +man, of a grown up man only: but <i>all</i> human nature, from +the nature of the babe on its mother’s bosom, to the nature +of the full-grown and full-souled man, fighting with all his +powers against the evil of the world. All this is his, and +he is all; that no human being, from the strongest to the +weakest, from the eldest to the youngest, but may be able to say, +‘What I am, Christ has been.’</p> +<p>Take home with you, then, this thought, on this Christmas day, +among all the rest which Christmas ought to put into your +minds. Respect your own children. Look on them as the +likeness of Christ, and the image of God; and when you go home +this day, believe that Christ is in them, the hope of glory to +them hereafter. Draw them round you, and say to +them—each in your own fashion—‘My children, God +was made like to you this day, that you might be made like +God. Children, this is your day, for on this day God became +a child; that God gives you leave to think of him as a child, +that you may be sure he loves children, sure he understands +children, sure that a little child is as near and as dear to God +as kings, nobles, scholars, and divines.’</p> +<p>Yes, my dear children, you may think of God as a child, now +and always. For you Christ is always the Babe of +Bethlehem. Do not say to yourselves, ‘Christ is grown +up long ago; he is a full-grown man.’ He is, and yet +he is not. His life is eternal in the heavens, above all +change of time and space; for time and space are but his +creatures and his tools. Therefore he can be all things to +all men, because he is the Son of man.</p> +<p>Yes; all things to all men. Hearken to me, you children, +and you grown-up children also, if there be any in this +church—for if you will receive it, such is the sacred heart +of Jesus—all things to all; and wherever there is the true +heart of a true human being, there, beating in perfect answer to +it, is the heart of Christ.</p> +<p>To the strong he can be strongest; and to the weak, weakest of +all. With the mighty he can be the King of kings; and yet +with the poor he can wander, not having where to lay his +head. With quiet Jacob he goes round the farm, among the +quiet sheep; and yet he ranges with wild Esau over battle-field, +and desert, and far unknown seas. With the mourner he weeps +for ever; and yet he will sit as of old—if he be but +invited—and bless the marriage-feast. For the +penitent he hangs for ever on the cross; and yet with the man who +works for God his Father he stands for ever in his glory, his +eyes like a flame of fire, and out of his mouth a two-edged +sword, judging the nations of the earth. With the aged and +the dying he goes down for ever into the grave; and yet with you, +children, Christ lies for ever on his mother’s bosom, and +looks up for ever into his mother’s face, full of young +life, and happiness, and innocence, the everlasting Christ-child +in whom you must believe, whom you must love, to whom you must +offer up your childish prayers.</p> +<p>The day will come when you can no longer think as a child, or +pray as a child, but put away childish things. I do not +know whether you will be the happier for that change. God +grant that you may be the better for it. Meanwhile, go +home, and think of the baby Jesus, <i>your</i> Lord, <i>your</i> +pattern, <i>your</i> Saviour; and ask him to make you such good +children to your mothers, as the little Jesus was to the Blessed +Virgin, when he increased in knowledge and in stature, and in +favour both with God and man.</p> +<h2><a name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +155</span>SERMON XIX.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">CHRIST’S BOYHOOD.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Luke</span> ii. 52.</p> +<p>And Jesus increased in wisdom, and in stature, and in favour +both with God and man.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I <span class="smcap">do</span> not pretend to understand +these words. I preach on them because the Church has +appointed them for this day. And most fitly. At +Christmas we think of our Lord’s birth. What more +reasonable, than that we should go on to think of our +Lord’s boyhood? To think of this aright, even if we +do not altogether understand it, ought to help us to understand +rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; the right faith +about which is, that he was very man, of the substance of his +mother. Now, if he were very and real man, he must have +been also very and real babe, very and real boy, very and real +youth, and then very and real full-grown man.</p> +<p>Now it is not so easy to believe that as it may seem. It +is not so easy to believe.</p> +<p>I have heard many preachers preach (without knowing it), what +used to be called the Apollinarian Heresy, which held that our +Lord had not a real human soul, but only a human body; and that +his Godhead served him instead of a human soul, and a man’s +reason, man’s feelings.</p> +<p>About that the old fathers had great difficulty, before they +could make people understand that our Lord had been a real +babe. It seemed to people’s unclean fancies something +shocking that our Lord should have been born, as other children +are born. They stumbled at the stumbling-block of the +manger in Bethlehem, as they did at the stumbling-block of the +cross on Calvary; and they wanted to make out that our Lord was +born into the world in some strange way—I know not +how;—I do not choose to talk of it here:—but they +would fancy and invent anything, rather than believe that Jesus +was really born of the Virgin Mary, made of the substance of his +mother. So that it was hundreds of years before the fathers +of the Church set people’s minds thoroughly at rest about +that.</p> +<p>In the same way, though not so much, people found it very hard +to believe that our Lord grew up as a real human child. +They would not believe that he went down to Nazareth, and was +subject to his father and mother. People believe generally +now—the Roman Catholics as well as we—that our Lord +worked at his father’s trade—that he himself handled +the carpenter’s tools. We have no certain proof of +it: but it is so beautiful a thought, that one hopes it is +true. At least our believing it is a sign that we do +believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ more rightly +than most people did fifteen hundred years ago. For then, +too many of them would have been shocked at the notion.</p> +<p>They stumbled at the carpenter’s shop, even as they did +at the manger and at the cross. And they invented false +gospels—one of which especially, had strange and fanciful +stories about our Lord’s childhood—which tried to +make him out.</p> +<p>Most of these stories are so childish I do not like to repeat +them. One of them may serve as a sample. Our Lord, it +says, was playing with other children of his own age, and making +little birds out of clay: but those which our Lord made became +alive, and moved, and sang like real birds.—Stories put +together just to give our Lord some magical power, different from +other children, and pretending that he worked signs and wonders: +which were just what he refused to work.</p> +<p>But the old fathers rejected these false gospels and their +childish tales, and commanded Christian men only to believe what +the Bible tells us about our Lord’s childhood; for that is +enough for us, and that will help us better than any magical +stories and childish fairy tales of man’s invention, to +believe rightly that God was made man, and dwelt among us.</p> +<p>And what does the Bible tell us? Very little +indeed. And it tells us very little, because we were meant +to know very little. Trust your Bibles always, my friends, +and be sure, if you were meant to know more, the Bible would tell +you more.</p> +<p>It tells us that Jesus grew just as a human child grows, in +body, soul, and spirit.</p> +<p>Then it tells us of one case—only one—in which he +seemed to act without his parents’ leave. And as the +saying is, the exception proves the rule. It is plain that +his rule was to obey, except in this case; that he was always +subject to his parents, as other children are, except on this one +occasion. And even in this case, he <i>went</i> back with +them, it is expressly said, and was subject to them.</p> +<p>Now, I do not pretend to explain <i>why</i> our Lord stayed +behind in the temple.</p> +<p>I cannot explain (who can?) the why and wherefore of what I +see people do in common daily life.</p> +<p>How much less can one explain why our Lord did this and that, +who was both man and God.</p> +<p>But one reason, and one which seems to me to be plain, on the +very face of St. Luke’s words—he stayed behind to +learn; to learn all he could from the Scribes and Pharisees, the +doctors of the law.</p> +<p>He told the people after, when grown up, ‘The Scribes +and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. All therefore which +they command you, that observe and do.’ And he was a +Jew himself, and came to fulfil all righteousness; and therefore +he fulfilled such righteousness as was customary among Jews +according to their law and religion.</p> +<p>Therefore I do not like at all a great many pictures which I +see in children’s Sunday books, which set the child Jesus +in the midst, as on a throne, holding up his hand as if <i>he</i> +were laying down the law, and the Scribes and Pharisees looking +angry and confounded. The Bible says not that they heard +him, but that he heard them; that they were astonished at his +understanding, not that they were confounded and angry. +No. I must believe that even those hard, proud Pharisees, +looked with wonder and admiration on the glorious Child; that +they perhaps felt for the moment that a prophet, another Samuel, +had risen up among them. And surely that is much more like +the right notion of the child Jesus, full of meekness and +humility; of Jesus, who, though ‘he were a Son, learnt +obedience by the things which he suffered;’ of Jesus, who, +while he increased in stature, increased in favour with +<i>man</i>, as well as with God: and surely no child can increase +in favour either with God or man, if he sets down his elders, and +contradicts and despises the teachers whom God has set over +him. No let us believe that when he said, ‘Know ye +not that I must be about my Father’s business?’ that +a child’s way of doing the work of his Father in heaven is +to learn all that he can understand from his teachers, spiritual +pastors, and masters, whom God the Father has set over him.</p> +<p>Therefore—and do listen to this, children and young +people—if you wish really to think what Christ has to do +with <i>you</i>, you must remember that he was once a real human +child—not different outwardly from other children, except +in being a perfectly good child, in all things like as you are, +but without sin.</p> +<p>Then, whatever happens to you, you will have the comfort of +feeling—Christ understands this; Christ has been through +this. Child though I am, Christ can be touched with the +feeling of my weakness, for he was once a child like me.</p> +<p>And then, if trouble, or sickness, or death come among +you—and you all know how sickness and death <i>have</i> +come among you of late—you may be cheerful and joyful +still, if you will only try to be such children as Jesus +was. Obey your parents, and be subject to them, as he was; +try to learn from your teachers, pastors, and masters, as he did; +try and pray to increase daily in favour both with God and man, +as he did: and then, even if death should come and take you +before your time, you need not be afraid, for Jesus Christ is +with you.</p> +<p>Your childish faults shall be forgiven you for Jesus’ +sake; your childish good conduct shall be accepted for Jesus +Christ’s sake; and if you be trying to be good children, +doing your little work well where God has put you, humble, +obedient, and teachable, winning love from the people round you, +and from God your Father in heaven, then, I say, you need not be +afraid of sickness, not even afraid of death, for whenever it +takes you, it will find you about your Father’s +business.</p> +<h2><a name="page161"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +161</span>SERMON XX.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE LOCUST-SWARMS.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Joel</span> ii. 12, 13.</p> +<p>Therefore also now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with +all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with +mourning; and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn +unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to +anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is one of the grandest +chapters in the whole Old Testament, and one which may teach us a +great deal; and, above all, teach us to be thankful to God for +the blessings which we have.</p> +<p>I think I can explain what it means best by going back to the +chapter before it.</p> +<p>Joel begins his prophecy by bitter lamentation over the +mischief which the swarms of insects had done; such as had never +been in his days, nor in the days of his fathers. What the +palmer worm had left, the locust had eaten; what the locust had +left, the cankerworm had eaten; and what the cankerworm had left, +the caterpillar had eaten. Whether these names are rightly +rendered, or whether they mean different sorts of locusts, or the +locusts in their different stages of growth, crawling at first +and flying at last, matters little. What mischief they had +done was plain enough. They had come up ‘a nation +strong and without number, whose teeth were like the teeth of a +lion, and his cheek-teeth like those of a strong lion. They +had laid his vines waste, and barked his fig-tree, and made its +branches white; and all drunkards were howling and lamenting, for +the wine crop was utterly destroyed: and all other crops, it +seems likewise; the corn was wasted, the olives destroyed; the +seed was rotten under the clods, the granaries empty, the barns +broken down, for the corn was withered; the vine and fig, +pomegranate, palm, and apple, were all gone; the green grass was +all gone; the beasts groaned, the herds were perplexed, because +they had no pasture; the flocks of sheep were +desolate.’ There seems to have been a dry season +also, to make matters worse; for Joel says the rivers of waters +were dried up—likely enough, if then, as now, it is the dry +seasons which bring the locust-swarms. Still the locusts +had done the chief mischief. They came just as they come +now (only in smaller strength, thank God) in many parts of the +East and of Southern Russia, darkening the sky, and shutting out +the very light of the sun; the noise of their innumerable jaws +like the noise of flame devouring the stubble, as they settled +upon every green thing, and gnawed away leaf and bark; and a fire +devoured before them, and behind them a flame burned; the land +was as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate +wilderness; <a name="citation162"></a><a href="#footnote162" +class="citation">[162]</a> till there was not enough left to +supply the daily sacrifices, and the meat offering and the drink +offering were withheld from the house of God.</p> +<p>But what has all this to do with us? There have never, +as far as we know, been any locusts in England.</p> +<p>And what has this to do with God? Why does Joel tell +these Jews that God sent the locusts, and bid them cry to God to +take them away? For these locusts are natural things, and +come by natural laws. And there is no need that there +should be locusts anywhere. For where the wild grass plains +are broken up and properly cultivated, there the locusts, which +lay their countless eggs in the old turf, disappear, and must +disappear. We know that now. We know that when the +East is tilled (as God grant it may be some day) as thoroughly as +England is, locusts will be as unknown there as here; and that is +another comfortable proof to us that there is no real curse upon +God’s earth: but that just as far as man fulfils +God’s command to replenish the earth and subdue it, so far +he gets rid of all manner of terrible scourges and curses, which +seemed to him in the days of his ignorance, necessary and +supernatural.</p> +<p>How, then, was Joel right in saying that God sent the +locusts?</p> +<p>In this way, my friends.</p> +<p>Suppose you or I took cholera or fever. We know that +cholera or fever is preventible; that man has no right to have +these pestilences in a country, because they can be kept out and +destroyed. But if you or I caught cholera or fever by no +fault or folly of our own, we are bound to say, God sent me this +sickness. It has some private lesson for <i>me</i>. +It is part of my education, my schooling in God’s +school-house. It is meant to make me a wiser and better +man; and that he can only do by teaching me more about +himself. So with these locusts, and still more so; for Joel +did not know, could not know, that these locusts could be +prevented. But even if he had known that, it was not his +fault or folly, or his countrymen’s which had brought the +locusts. Most probably they were tilling the ground to the +best of their knowledge. Most probably, too, these locusts +were not bred in Palestine at all; but came down upon the +north-wind (as they are said to do now), from some land hundreds +of miles away; and therefore Joel could say—Whatever I do +not know about these locusts, this I know; that God, whose +providence orders all things in heaven and earth, has sent them; +that he means to teach you a lesson by them; that they are part +of his schooling to us Jews; that he intends to make us wiser and +better men by them: <i>and that he can only do by teaching us +more about himself</i>.</p> +<p>What, then, does Joel say about the locusts, which he might +say to you or me, if we were laid down by cholera or fever? +He does not say, these troubles have come upon you from devils, +or evil spirits, or by any blind chance of the world about +you. He says, they have come on you from <i>the Lord</i>; +from the same good, loving, merciful Lord who brought your +fathers out of Egypt, and made a great nation of you, and has +preserved you to this day. And do not fancy that he is +changed. Do not fancy that he has forgotten you, or hates +you, or has become cruel, or proud, or unlike himself. It +is you who have forgotten him, and have shown that by living bad +lives; and all he wishes is, to drive you back to him, that you +may live good lives. Turn to him; and you will find him +unchanged; the same loving, forgiving Lord as ever. He +requires no sacrifices, no great offerings on your part to win +him round. All he asks is, that you should confess +yourselves in the wrong, and turn and repent. Turn +therefore to the Lord with all your heart, and with weeping, and +with fasting, and with mourning—(which was, and is still +the Eastern fashion); and rend your heart, and not your +garments. And why? Because the Lord is very dreadful, +angry and dark, and has determined to destroy you all? Not +so: but because he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and +of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends: and this, you will find, is at the bottom of +all true repentance and turning to God. If you believe that +God is dark, and hard, and cruel, you may be afraid of him: but +you cannot repent, cannot turn to him. The more you think +of him the more you will be terrified at him, and turn from +him. But if you believe that God is gracious and merciful, +then you can turn to him; then you can repent with a true +repentance, and a godly sorrow which breeds joy and peace of +mind.</p> +<p>So Joel thought, at least; for he tells them, that if they +will but turn to God, if they will but confess themselves in the +wrong, all shall be well again, and better than before.</p> +<p>Now, if Joel had been a heathen, worshipping the false gods of +the Canaanites, he would have spoken very differently; he would +have said, perhaps—Baal, the true God, is angry with you, +and he has sent the drought.</p> +<p>Or, Ashtoreth, the Queen of Heaven, by whose power all seeds +grow and all creatures breed, is angry with you, and she has +destroyed the seeds, and sent the locusts.</p> +<p>Or, Ammon, the Lord of the sheep, is angry, and he has +destroyed your flocks and herds.</p> +<p>But one thing we know he would have said—These angry +gods want <i>blood</i>. You cannot pacify them without +human blood. You must give them the most dear and precious +things you have—the most beautiful and pure. You must +sacrifice boys and girls to them; and then, perhaps, they will be +appeased.</p> +<p>We <i>know</i> this. We know that the heathen, whenever +they were in trouble, took to human sacrifices.</p> +<p>The Canaanites—and the Jews when they fell into +idolatry—used to burn their children in the fire to +Moloch.</p> +<p>We know that the Carthaginians, who were of the same blood and +language as the Canaanites, used human sacrifices; and that once +when their city was in great danger, they sacrificed at one time +two hundred boys of their highest families.</p> +<p>We know that the Greeks and Romans, who had much more humane +and rational notions about their gods, were tempted, in times of +great distress, to sacrifice human beings. It has always +been so. The old Mexicans in America used to sacrifice many +thousands of men and women every year to their idols; and when +the Spaniards came and destroyed them off the face of the earth +in the name of the Lord—as Joshua did the Canaanites of +old—they found the walls of the idol temples crusted inches +thick with human blood. Even to this day, the wild Khonds +in the Indian mountains, and the Red men of America, sacrifice +human beings at times, and, I fear, very often indeed; and +believe that the gods will be the more pleased, and more certain +to turn away their anger, the more horrible and lingering +tortures they inflict upon their wretched victims. I say, +these things were; and were it not for the light of the Gospel, +these things would be still; and when we hear of them, we ought +to bow our heads to our Father in heaven in thankfulness, and +say—what Joel the prophet taught the Jews to say dimly and +in part—what our Lord Jesus and his apostles taught us to +say fully and perfectly—</p> +<p>It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, at all times and +in all places—whether in joy or sorrow, in wealth or in +want, to give thanks to thee, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, +Everlasting God.</p> +<p>Through Jesus Christ our Lord, according to whose most true +promise the Holy Ghost came down from heaven upon the apostles, +to teach them and to lead them into all truth, and give them +fervent zeal, constantly to preach the Gospel to all nations, by +which we have been brought out of darkness and error into the +clear light and true knowledge of thee and of thy Son Jesus +Christ.</p> +<p>Yes, my friends, this is the lesson which we have to learn +from Joel’s prophecy, and from all prophecies. This +lesson the old prophets learnt for themselves, slowly and dimly, +through many temptations and sorrows. This lesson our Lord +Jesus Christ revealed fully, and left behind him to his +apostles. This lesson men have been learning slowly but +surely in all the hundreds of years which have past since; to +know that there is one Father in heaven, of whom are all things, +and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things; that they may, +in all the chances and changes of this mortal life, in weal and +in woe, in light and in darkness, in plenty and in want, look up +to that heavenly Father who so loved them that he spared not his +only begotten Son, but freely gave him for them, and say, +‘Father, not our will but thine be done. All things +come from thy hand, and therefore all things come from thy +love. We have received good from thy hand, and shall we not +receive evil? Though thou slay us, yet will we trust in +thee. For thou art gracious and merciful, long-suffering +and of great goodness. Thou art loving to every man, and +thy mercy is over all thy works. Thou art righteous in all +thy ways, and holy in all thy doings. Thou art nigh to all +that call on thee; thou wilt hear their cry, and wilt help +them. For all thou desirest, when thou sendest trouble on +them, is to make them wiser and better men. <i>And that +thou canst only make them by teaching them more about +thyself</i>.’</p> +<h2><a name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +169</span>SERMON XXI.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">SALVATION.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lix. 15, 16.</p> +<p>And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no +judgment. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered +that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought +salvation unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> text is often held to be a +prophecy of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I +certainly believe that it is a prophecy of his coming, and of +something better still; namely, his continual presence; and a +very noble and deep one, and one from which we may learn a great +deal.</p> +<p>We may learn from it what ‘salvation’ really +is. What Christ came to save men from, and how he saves +them.</p> +<p>The common notion of salvation now-a-days is this. That +salvation is some arrangement or plan, by which people are to +escape hell-fire by having Christ’s righteousness imputed +to them without their being righteous themselves.</p> +<p>Now, I have nothing to say about that this morning. It +may be so; or, again, it may not; I read a good many things in +books every week the sense of which I cannot understand. At +all events it is not the salvation of which Isaiah speaks +here.</p> +<p>For Isaiah tells us very plainly, from <i>what</i> God was +going to save these Jews. Not from hell-fire—nothing +is said about it: but simply from their <i>sins</i>. As it +is written, ‘Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall +save his people from <i>their sins</i>.’</p> +<p>The case is very simple, if you will look at Isaiah’s +own words. These Jews had become thoroughly bad men. +They were not ungodly men. They were very religious, +orthodox, devout men. They ‘sought God daily, and +delighted to know his ways, like a nation that did righteousness, +and forsook not the ordinances of their God: they asked of him +the ordinances of justice; they took delight in approaching unto +God.’</p> +<p>But unfortunately for them, and for all with whom they had to +do, after they had asked of God the ordinances of justice, they +never thought of doing them; and in spite of all their religion, +they were, Isaiah tells them plainly, rogues and scoundrels, none +of whom stood up for justice, or pleaded for truth, but trusted +in vanity, and spoke lies. Their feet ran to evil, and they +made haste to shed innocent blood; the way of peace they knew +not, and they had made themselves crooked paths, speaking +oppression and revolt, and conceiving and uttering words of +falsehood; so that judgment was turned away backward, and justice +stood afar off, for truth was fallen in the street, and equity +could not enter. Yea, truth failed; and he that departed +from evil made himself a prey (or as some render it) was +accounted mad.</p> +<p>And this is in the face of all their religion and their +church-going. Verily, my friends, fallen human beings were +much the same then as now; and there are too many in England and +elsewhere now who might sit for that portrait.</p> +<p>But how was the Lord going to save these hypocritical, false, +unjust men? Was he going to say to them, Believe certain +doctrines about me, and you shall escape all punishment for your +sins, and my righteousness shall be imputed to you? We do +not read a word of that. We read—not that the +Lord’s righteousness was imputed to these bad men, but that +it sustained the Lord himself.—Ah! there is a depth, if you +will receive it—a depth of hope and comfort—a +well-spring of salvation for us and all mankind.</p> +<p>You may be false and dishonest, saith the Lord, but I am +honest and true. Unjust, but I am just; unrighteous, but I +am righteous. If men will not set the world right, then I +will, saith the Lord. My righteousness shall sustain me, +and keep me up to my duty, though man may forget his. To me +all power is given in heaven and earth, and I will use my power +aright.</p> +<p>If men are bringing themselves and their country, their +religion, their church to ruin by hypocrisy, falsehood, and +injustice, as those Jews were, then the Lord’s arm will +bring salvation. He will save them from their sins by the +only possible way—namely, by taking their sins away, and +making those of them who will take his lesson good and righteous +men instead. It may be a very terrible lesson of vengeance +and fury, as Isaiah says. It may unmask many a hypocrite, +confound many a politic, and frustrate many a knavish trick, till +the Lord’s salvation may look at first sight much more like +destruction and misery; for his fan is in his hand, and he will +thoroughly purge his floor, and gather the wheat into his garner: +but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.</p> +<p>But his purpose is, to <i>save</i>—to save his people +from their sins, to purge out of them all hypocrisy, falsehood, +injustice, and make of them honest men, true men, just +men—men created anew after his likeness. And this is +the meaning of his salvation; and is the only salvation worth +having, for this life or the life to come.</p> +<p>Oh my friends, let us pray to God, whatsoever else he does for +us, to make honest men of us. For if we be not honest men, +we shall surely come to ruin, and bring all we touch to ruin, +past hope of salvation. Whatsoever denomination or church +we belong to, it will be all the same: we may call ourselves +children of Abraham, of the Holy Catholic Church (which God +preserve), or what we will: but when the axe is laid to the root +of the tree, every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn +down, and is cast into the fire; and woe to the foolish fowl who +have taken shelter under the branches of it.</p> +<p>And we who are coming to the holy communion this day—let +us ask ourselves, What do we want there? Do we want to be +made good men, true, honest, just? Do we want to be saved +from our sins? or merely from the punishment of them after we +die? Do we want to be made sharers in that everlasting +righteousness of Christ, which sustains him, and sustains the +whole world too, and prevents it from becoming a cage of wild +beasts, tearing each other to pieces by war and oppression, +falsehood and injustice? <i>Then</i> we shall get what we +want; and more. But if not, then we shall not get what we +want, not discerning that the Lord’s body is a righteous +and just and good body; and his blood a purifying blood, which +purifies not merely from the punishment of our sins, but from our +sins themselves.</p> +<p>And bear in mind, my friends, when times grow evil, and rogues +and hypocrites abound, and all the world seems going wrong, there +is one arm to fall back upon, and one righteousness to fall back +upon, which can never fail you, or the world.—</p> +<p>The arm of the Lord, which brings salvation to him, that he +may give it to all who are faithful and true; which cannot weaken +or grow weary, till it has cast out of his kingdom all which +offends, and whosoever loveth or maketh a lie.—</p> +<p>And the eternal righteousness of the Lord, which will do +justice by every living soul of man, and which will never fail or +fade away, because it is his own property, belonging to his own +essence, which if he gave up for a moment he would give up being +God. Yes, God is good, though every man were bad; God is +just, though every man were a rogue; God is true, though every +man were a liar; and as long as that is so, all is safe for you +and me, and the whole world:—<i>if we will</i>.</p> +<h2><a name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +174</span>SERMON XXII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE BEGINNING AND END OF +WISDOM.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Proverbs</span> ii. 2, 3, 5.</p> +<p>If thou incline thine ear to wisdom, and apply thine heart to +understanding; yea, if thou criest after wisdom, and liftest up +thy voice for understanding; then shalt thou understand the fear +of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> shall see something curious in +the last of these verses, when we compare it with one in the +chapter before. The chapter before says, that the fear of +the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That if we wish to be +wise at all, we must <i>begin</i> by fearing God. But this +chapter says, that the fear of the Lord is the <i>end</i> of +wisdom too; for it says, that if we seek earnestly after +knowledge and understanding, <i>then</i> we shall understand the +fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.</p> +<p>So, according to Solomon, the fear of the Lord is the +beginning of wisdom, and the end likewise. It is the +starting point from which we are to set out, and the goal toward +which we are to run.</p> +<p>How can that be?</p> +<p>If by wisdom Solomon meant high doctrines, what we call +theology and divinity, it would seem more easy to understand: but +he does not mean that, at least in our sense; for his rules and +proverbs about wisdom are not about divinity and high doctrines, +but about plain practical every-day life; shrewd maxims as to how +to behave in this life, so as to thrive and prosper in it.</p> +<p>And yet again they must be about divinity and theology in some +sense. For what does he say about wisdom in the text? +‘If thou search after wisdom, thou shalt understand the +fear of the Lord;’ and is that all? No. He says +more than that. Thou shalt find, he says, the knowledge of +God. To know God.—What higher theology can there be +than that? It is the end of all divinity, of all +religion. It is eternal life itself, to know God. If +a man knows God, he is in heaven there and then, though he be +walking in flesh and blood upon this mortal earth.</p> +<p>How can all this be?</p> +<p>Let us consider the words once again.</p> +<p>Solomon does not say, To understand the fear of the Lord is +the beginning of wisdom, but simply the fear of the Lord is the +beginning of it. But the end of wisdom, he says, is not +merely to fear the Lord, but to understand the fear of the +Lord.</p> +<p>This then, I suppose, is his meaning: We are to begin life by +fearing God, without understanding it: as a child obeys his +parents without understanding the reason of their commands.</p> +<p>Therefore, says Solomon to the young man, begin with +that—with the solemn, earnest, industrious, God-fearing +frame of mind—without that you will gain no wisdom. +You may be as clever as you will, but if you are reckless and +wild, you will gain no wisdom. If you are violent and +impatient; if you are selfish and self-conceited; if you are weak +and self-indulgent, given up to your own pleasures, your +cleverness will be of no use to you. It will be only +hurtful to you and to others. A clever fool is common +enough, and dangerous enough. For he is one who never sees +things as they really are, but as he would like them to be. +A bad man, let him be as clever as he may, is like one in a +fever, whose mind is wandering, who is continually seeing figures +and visions, and mistaking them for actual and real things; and +so with all his cleverness, he lives in a dream, and makes +mistake upon mistake, because he knows not things as they are, +and sees nothing by the light of Christ, who is the light of the +world, from whom alone all true understanding comes.</p> +<p>Begin then with the fear of the Lord. Make up your mind +to do what you are told is right, whether you know the reason of +it or not. Take for granted that your elders know better +than you, and have faith in them, in your teachers, in your +Bible, in the words of wise men who have gone before you: and do +right, whatever it costs you.</p> +<p>If you do not always know the reason at first, you will know +it in due time, and get, so Solomon says, to <i>understand</i> +the fear of the Lord. In due time you will see from +experience that you are in the path of life. You will be +able to say with St. Paul, I <i>know</i> in whom I have believed; +and with Job, ‘Before I heard of thee, O Lord, with the +hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.’</p> +<p>And why? Because, says Solomon, God himself will show +you, and teach you by his Holy Spirit. As our Lord says, +‘The Holy Spirit shall take of mine, and show it unto you, +and lead you into all truth.’ And therefore Solomon +talks of wisdom, who is the Holy Ghost the Comforter, as a person +who teaches men, whose delight is with the sons of men. He +speaks of wisdom as calling to men. He speaks of her as a +being who is seeking for those that seek her, who will teach +those who seek after her.</p> +<p>Yes, this, my friends, is, I believe, the secret of +life. At least it is the secret both of Solomon’s +teaching, and our Lord’s, and St. Paul’s, and St. +John’s, that true wisdom is not a thing which man finds out +for himself, but which God teaches him. This is the secret +of life—to believe that God is your Father, schooling and +training you from your cradle to your grave; and then to please +him and obey him in all things, lifting up daily your hands and +thankful heart, entreating him to purge the eyes of your soul, +and give you the true wisdom, which is to see all things as they +really are, and as God himself sees them. If you do that, +you may believe that God will teach you more and more how to do, +in all the affairs of life, that which is right in his sight, and +therefore good for you. He will teach you more and more to +see in all which happens to you, all which goes on around you, +his fatherly love, his patient mercy, his providential care for +all his creatures. He will reward you by making you more +and more partaker of his Holy Spirit and of truth, by which, +seeing everything as it really is, you will at last—if not +in this life, still in the life to come—grow to see God +himself, who has made all things according to his own eternal +mind, that they may be a pattern of his unspeakable glory; and +beyond that, who needs to see? For to know God, and to see +God, is eternal life itself.</p> +<p>And this true wisdom, which lies in knowing God, and +understanding his laws, is within the reach of the simplest +person here. As I told you, cleverness without godliness +will not give it you; but godliness without cleverness may.</p> +<p>Therefore let no one say, ‘We are no scholars, nor +philosophers, and we never can be. Are we, then, shut out +from this heavenly wisdom?’ God forbid, my +friends. God is no respecter of persons. Only +remember one thing; and by it you, too, may attain to the +heavenly wisdom. I said that the fear of the Lord was the +beginning of wisdom. I said that the fear of the Lord was +the end of wisdom. Now let the fear of the Lord be the +middle of wisdom also, and walk in it from youth to old age, and +all will be well.</p> +<p>That is the short way, the royal road to wisdom. To be +good and to do good. To keep the single eye—the eye +which does not look two ways at once, and want to go two ways at +once, as too many do who want to serve God and mammon, and to be +good people and bad people too both at once. But the single +eye of the man, who looks straightforward at everything, and has +made up his mind what it ought to do, and will do, so help him +God. As stout old Joshua said, ‘Choose ye whom ye +will serve: but as for me and my house, we will serve the +Lord.’ That is the single eye, which wants simply to +know what is right, and do what is right.</p> +<p>And if a man has that he may be a very wise man indeed, though +he can neither read nor write.</p> +<p>It is good for a man, of course, to be able to read, that he +may know what wiser men than he have said: above all, that he may +know what his Bible says. But, even if he cannot read, let +him fear God, and set his heart earnestly to know and do his +duty. Let him keep his soul pure, and his body also (for +nothing hinders that heavenly wisdom like loose living), and he +will be wise enough for this world, and for the world to come +likewise.</p> +<p>I tell you, my friends, I have known women, who were neither +clever women, nor learned women, nor anything except good women, +whose souls were pure and full of the Holy Spirit, and who lived +lives of prayer, and sat all day long with Mary at the feet of +Jesus.—I have known such women to have at times a wisdom +which all books and all sciences on earth cannot give. I +have known them give opinions on deep matters which learned and +experienced men were glad enough to take. I have known them +have, in a wonderful degree, that wisdom which the Scripture +calls discerning of spirits, being able to see into +people’s hearts; knowing at a glance what they were +thinking of, what made them unhappy, how to manage and comfort +them; knowing at a glance whether they were honest or not, +pure-minded or not—a precious and heavenly wisdom, which +comes, as I believe, from none other than the inspiration of the +Spirit of Christ, who is the discerner of the secret thoughts of +all hearts: and when I have seen such people, altogether simple +and humble, and yet most wise and prudent, because they were full +of the fear of the Lord, and of the knowledge of God, I could not +but ask—Why should we not be all like them?</p> +<p>My friends, I believe that we may all be more or less like +them, if we will make the fear of the Lord the beginning of our +wisdom, and the middle of our wisdom, and the end of our +wisdom.</p> +<p>Nine-tenths of the mistakes we make in life come from +forgetting the fear of God and the law of God, and saying not, I +will do what is right: but—I will do what will profit me; I +will do what I like. If we would say to ourselves manfully +instead all our lives through, I will learn the will of God, and +do it, whatsoever it cost me; we should find in our old age that +God’s Holy Spirit was indeed a guide and a comforter, able +and willing to lead us into all truth which was needful for +us. We should find St. Paul had spoken truth, when he said +that godliness has the promise of <i>this</i> life, as well as of +that which is to come.</p> +<h2><a name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +181</span>SERMON XXIII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">HUMAN NATURE.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Septuagesima Sunday</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Genesis</span> i. 27.</p> +<p>So God created man in his own image; in the image of God +created he him; male and female created he them.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> this Sunday the Church bids us +to begin to read the book of Genesis, and hear how the world was +made, and how man was made, and what the world is, and who man +is.</p> +<p>And why?</p> +<p>To prepare us, I think, for Lent, and Passion week, Good +Friday, and Easter day.</p> +<p>For you must know what a thing ought to be, before you can +know what it ought not to be; you must know what health is, +before you can know what disease is; you must know how and why a +good man is good, before you can know how and why a bad man is +bad. You must know what man fell from, before you can know +what man has fallen to; and so you must hear of man’s +creation, before you can understand man’s fall.</p> +<p>Now in Lent we lament and humble ourselves for man’s +fall. In Passion week we remember the death and suffering +of our blessed Lord, by which he redeemed us from the fall. +On Easter day we give him thanks and glory for having conquered +death and sin, and rising up as the new Adam, of whom St. Paul +writes, ‘As in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall all +be made alive.’</p> +<p>And therefore to prepare us for Lent and Passion week, and +Easter day, we begin this Sunday to read who the first man was, +and what he was like when he came into the world.</p> +<p>Now we all say that man was created good, righteous, innocent, +holy. But do you fancy that man had any goodness or +righteousness of his own, so that he could stand up and say, I am +good; I can take care of myself; I can do what is right in my own +strength?</p> +<p>If you fancy so, you fancy wrong. The book of Genesis, +and the text, tell us that it was not so. It tells us that +man could not be good by himself; that the Lord God had to tell +him what to do, and what not to do; that the Lord God visited him +and spoke to him: so that he could only do right by faith: by +trusting the Lord, and believing him, and believing that what the +Lord told him was the right thing for him; and it tells us that +he fell for want of faith, by not believing the Lord and not +believing that what the Lord told him was right for him. So +he was holy, and stood safe, only as long as he did not stand +alone: but the moment that he tried to stand alone he fell. +So that it was with Adam as it is with you and me. The just +man can only live by faith.</p> +<p>And St. John explains this more fully, when he tells us that +the voice of the Lord, the Word of God whom Adam heard walking +among the trees of the garden, was our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, +who was the life of Adam and all men, and the light of Adam and +all men. All death and misery, and all ignorance and +darkness, come at first from forgetting the Lord Jesus Christ, +and forgetting that he is about our path and about our bed, and +spying out all our ways; as St. John says, that Christ’s +light is always shining in the darkness of this world, but the +darkness comprehendeth it not; that he came to his own, but his +own received him not; but as many as received him, to them gave +he power to become the sons of God, as he gave to man at first; +for St. Luke says, that Adam was the Son of God. But a son +must depend on his father; and therefore man was sent into the +world to depend on God. So do not fancy that man before he +fell could do without God’s grace, though he cannot +now. If man had never fallen, he would have been just as +much in need of God’s grace to keep him from falling. +To deny that is the root of what is called the Pelagian +heresy. Therefore the Church has generally said, and said +most truly, that ‘Adam stood by grace in Paradise;’ +and had a ‘supernatural gift;’ and that as long as he +used that gift, he was safe, and only so long.</p> +<p>Now what does supernatural mean?</p> +<p>It means ‘above nature.’</p> +<p>Adam had a human nature: but he wanted something to keep him +above that nature, lest he should die, as all natural things on +earth must. Trees and flowers, birds and beasts, yea, the +great earth itself must die, and have an end in time, because it +has had a beginning.</p> +<p>Man had and has still a human nature; the most beautiful, +noble, and perfect nature in the world; high above the highest +animals in rank, beauty, understanding, and feelings. Human +nature is made, so the Bible tells us, in some mysterious way, +after the likeness of God; of Christ, the eternal Son of man, who +is in heaven; for the Bible speaks of the Word or Voice of God as +appearing to man in something of a human voice: reasoning with +him as man reasons with man; and feeling toward him human +feelings. That is the doctrine of the Bible; of David and +the prophets, just as much as of Genesis or of St. Paul.</p> +<p>That is a great mystery and a great glory: but that alone +could not make man good, could not even keep him alive.</p> +<p>For God made man for something more noble and blessed than to +follow even his own lofty human nature. God made the +animals to follow their natures each after its kind, and to do +each what it liked, without sin. But he made man to do more +than that; to do more than what he <i>likes</i>; namely, to do +what he <i>ought</i>. God made man to love him, to obey +him, to copy him, by doing God’s will, and living +God’s life, lovingly, joyfully, and of his own free will, +as a son follows the father whose will he delights to do.</p> +<p>All animals God made to live and multiply, each after their +kind: and man likewise: but the animals he made to die again, and +fresh generations, ay, and fresh kinds of animals to take their +place, and do their work, as we know has happened again and +again, both before and since man came upon the earth. But +of man the Bible says, that he was not meant to die: that into +him God breathed the breath, or spirit, of life: of that life of +men who is Jesus Christ the Lord; that in Christ man might be the +Son of God. To man he gave the life of the soul, the moral +and spiritual life, which is—to do justly, and to love +mercy, and to walk humbly with his God; the life which is always +tending upward to the source from which it came, and longing to +return to God who gave it, and to find rest in him. For in +God alone, in the assurance of God’s love to us, and in the +knowledge that we are living the life of God, can a man’s +spirit find rest. So St. Augustine found, through so many +bitter experiences, when (as he tells us) he tried to find rest +and comfort in all God’s creatures one after another, and +yet never found them till he found God, or rather was found by +God, and illuminated (so he says himself) with that grace which +by the fall he lost.</p> +<p>What then does holy baptism mean? It means that God +lifts us up again to that honour from whence Adam fell. +That as Adam lost the honour of being God’s son, so Jesus +Christ restores to us that honour. That as Adam lost the +supernatural grace in which he stood, so God for Christ’s +sake freely gives us back that grace, that we may stand by faith +in that Christ, the Word of God, whom Adam disbelieved and fell +away.</p> +<p>Baptism says, You are not true and right men by nature; you +are only fallen men—men in your wrong place: but by grace +you become men indeed, true men; men living as man was meant to +live, by faith, which is the gift of God. For without grace +man is like a stream when the fountain head is stopped; it stops +too—lies in foul puddles, decays, and at last dries up: to +keep the stream pure and living and flowing, the fountain above +must flow, and feed it for ever.</p> +<p>And so it is with man. Man is the stream, Christ is the +fountain of life. Parted from him mankind becomes foul and +stagnant in sin and ignorance, and at last dries up and perishes, +because there is no life in them. Joined to him in holy +baptism, mankind lives, spreads, grows, becomes stronger, better, +wiser year by year, each generation of his church teaching the +one which comes after, as our Lord says, not only, ‘If any +man thirst, let him come to me and drink;’ but also, +‘He that believeth in me, out of him shall flow rivers of +living water.’</p> +<p>Yes, my brethren, if you want to see what man is, you must not +look at the heathens, who are in a state of fallen and corrupt +nature, but at Christians, who are in a state of grace; for they +only (those of them, I mean, who are true to God and themselves), +give us any true notion of what man can be and should be.</p> +<p>Heathendom is the foul and stagnant pool, parted from Christ, +the Fount of life. Christendom, in spite of all its sins +and short-comings, is the stream always fed from the heavenly +Fountain. And holy baptism is the river of the water of +life, which St. John saw in the Revelations, clear as crystal, +proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, the trees of +which are for the healing of the nations. And when that +river shall have spread over the world, there shall be no more +curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the city +of God; and the nations of them that are saved shall grow to +glory and blessedness, such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, +nor hath entered into the heart of man to conceive, but God hath +prepared for those who love him.</p> +<p>Oh, may God hasten that day! May he accomplish the +number of his elect and hasten his kingdom, and the day when +there shall not be a heathen soul on earth, but all shall know +him from the least to the greatest, and the knowledge of the Lord +shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea!</p> +<p>Then—when all men are brought into the fold of +Christ’s holy Church—then will they be men indeed; +men not after nature, but after grace, and the likeness of +Christ, and the stature of perfect men: and then what shall +happen to this earth matters little; no, not if the earth and all +the works therein, beautiful though they be, be burned up; for +though this world perish, man would still have his portion sure +in the city of God which is eternal in the heavens, and before +the face of the Son of man who is in heaven.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, think of this. Think of what you say +when you say, ‘I am a man.’ Remember that you +are claiming for yourselves the very highest honour—an +honour too great to make you proud; an honour so great that, if +you understand it rightly, it must fill you with awe, and +trembling, and the spirit of godly fear, lest, when God has put +you up so high, you should fall shamefully again. For the +higher the place, the deeper the fall; and the greater the +honour, the greater the shame of losing it. But be sure +that it was an honour before Adam fell. That ever since +Christ has taken the manhood into God, it is an honour now to be +a man. Do not let the devil or bad men ever tempt you to +say, I am only a man, and therefore you cannot expect me to do +right. I am but a man, and therefore I cannot help being +mean, and sinful, and covetous, and quarrelsome, and foul: for +that is the devil’s doctrine, though it is common +enough. I have heard a story of a man in +America—where very few, I am sorry to say, have heard the +true doctrine of the Catholic Church, and therefore do not know +really that God made man in his own image, and redeemed him again +into his own image by Jesus Christ—and this man was rebuked +for being a drunkard; and what do you fancy his excuse was? +‘Ah,’ he said, ‘you should remember that there +is a great deal of human nature in a man.’ That was +his excuse. He had been so ill-taught by his Calvinist +preachers, that he had learnt to look on human nature as actually +a bad thing; as if the devil, and not God, had made human nature, +and as if Christ had not redeemed human nature. Because he +was a man, he thought he was excused in being a bad man; because +he had a human nature in him, he was to be a drunkard and a +brute.</p> +<p>My friends, I trust that you have not so learned Christ. +And if you have, it is from no teaching of your Bible, of your +Catechism, or your Prayer-book; and, I say boldly, from no +teaching of mine. The Church bids you say, Yes; I have a +human nature in me; and what nature is that but the nature which +the Son of God took on himself, and redeemed, and justified it, +and glorified it, sitting for ever now in his human nature at the +right hand of God, the Son of man who is in heaven? Yes, I +am a man; and what is it to be a man, but to be the image and +glory of God? What is it to be a man? To belong to +that race whose Head is the co-equal and co-eternal Son of +God. True, it is not enough to have only a human nature +which may sin, will sin, must sin, if left to itself a +moment. But you have, unless the Holy Spirit has left you, +and your baptism is of none effect, more than human nature in +you: you have divine grace—that supernatural grace and +Spirit of God by which man stood in Paradise, and by neglecting +which he fell.</p> +<p>Obey that Spirit; from him comes every right judgment of your +minds, every good desire of your hearts, every thought and +feeling in you which raises you up, instead of dragging you down; +which bids you do your duty, and live the life of God and Christ, +instead of living the mere death-in-life of selfish pleasure and +covetousness. Obey that Spirit, and be men: men indeed, +that you may not come to shame in the day when Christ the Son of +Man shall take account of you, how you have used your manhood, +body, soul, and spirit.</p> +<h2><a name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +190</span>SERMON XXIV.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE CHARITY OF GOD.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Quinquagesima Sunday</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Luke</span> xviii. 31, 32, 33.</p> +<p>All things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son +of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered +unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, +and spitted on: and they shall scourge him and put him to death; +and the third day he shall rise again.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is a solemn text, a solemn +Gospel; but it is not its solemnity which I wish to speak of this +morning, but this—What has it to do with the Epistle, and +with the Collect? The Epistle speaks of Charity; the +Collect bids us pray for the Holy Spirit of Charity. What +have they to do with the Gospel?</p> +<p>Let me try to show you.</p> +<p>The Epistle speaks of God’s eternal charity. The +Gospel tells us how that eternal charity was revealed, and shown +plainly in flesh and blood on earth, in the life and death of +Jesus Christ our Lord.</p> +<p>But you may ask, How does the Epistle talk of God’s +charity? It bids men be charitable; but the name of God is +never mentioned in it. Not so, my friends. Look again +at the Epistle, and you will see one word which shows us that +this charity, which St. Paul says we must have, is God’s +charity.</p> +<p>For, he says, Charity never faileth; that though prophecies +shall fail, tongues cease, knowledge vanish away, charity shall +never fail. Now, if a thing never fail, it must be +eternal. And if it be eternal, it must be in God. +For, as I have reminded you before about other things, the +Athanasian Creed tells us (and never was truer or wiser word +written) there is but one eternal.</p> +<p>But if charity be not in God, there must be two eternals; God +must be one eternal, and charity another eternal; which cannot +be. Therefore charity must be in God, and of God, part of +God’s essence and being; and not only God’s saints, +but God himself—suffereth long, and is kind; envieth not, +is not puffed up, seeketh not his own, is not easily provoked, +thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but in the truth; +beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, +endureth all things.</p> +<p>So St. Augustine believed, and the greatest fathers of old +time. They believed, and they have taught us to believe, +that before all things, above all things, beneath all things, is +the divine charity, the love of God, infinite as God is infinite, +everlasting as God is everlasting; the charity by which God made +all worlds, all men, and all things, that they might be blest as +he is blest, perfect as he is perfect, useful as he is useful; +the charity which is God’s essence and Holy Spirit, which +might be content in itself, because it is perfectly at peace in +itself; and yet <i>cannot</i> be content in itself, just because +it is charity and love, and therefore must be going forth and +proceeding everlastingly from the Father and the Son, upon +errands of charity, love, and mercy, rewarding those whom it +finds doing their work in their proper place, and seeking and +saving those who are lost, and out of their proper place.</p> +<p>But what has this to do with the Gospel? Surely, my +friends, it is not difficult to see. In Jesus Christ our +Lord, the eternal charity of God was fully revealed. The +veil was taken off it once for all, that men might see the glory +of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and know that the glory of +God is charity, and the Spirit of God is love.</p> +<p>There was a veil over that in old times; and the veil comes +over it often enough now. It was difficult in old times to +believe that God was charity; it is difficult sometimes now.</p> +<p>Sad and terrible things happen—Plague and famine, +earthquake and war. All these things have happened in our +times. Not two months ago, in Italy, an earthquake +destroyed many thousands of people; and in India, this summer, +things have happened of which I dare not speak, which have turned +the hearts of women to water, and the hearts of men to fire: and +when such things happen, it is difficult for the moment to +believe that God is love, and that he is full of eternal, +boundless, untiring charity toward the creatures whom he has +made, and who yet perish so terribly, suddenly, strangely.</p> +<p>Well, then, we must fall back on the Gospel. We must not +be afraid of the terror of such awful events, but sanctify the +Lord God, in our hearts, and say, Whatever may happen I know that +God is love; I know that his glory is charity; I know that his +mercy is over all his works; for I know that Jesus Christ, who +was full of perfect charity, is the express image of his +Father’s person, and the brightness of his Father’s +glory. I know (for the Gospel tells me), that he dared all +things, endured all things, in the depth of his great love, for +the sake of sinful men. I know that when he knew what was +going to happen to him; when he knew that he should be mocked, +scourged, crucified, he deliberately, calmly, faced all that +shame, horror, agony, and went up willingly to Jerusalem to +suffer and to die there; because he was full of the Spirit of +God, the spirit of charity and love. I know that he was +<i>so</i> full of it, that as he went up on his fatal journey, +with a horrible death staring him in the face, still, instead of +thinking of himself, he was thinking of others, and could find +time to stop and heal the poor blind man by the way side, who +called ‘Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on +me.’ And in him and his love will I trust, when there +seems nothing else left to trust on earth.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, believe this with your whole heart. +Whatever happens to you or to your friends, happens out of the +eternal charity of God, who cannot change, who cannot hate, who +can be nothing but what he is and was, and ever will +be—love.</p> +<p>And when St. Paul tells you, as he told you in the Epistle +to-day, to have charity, to try for charity, because it is the +most excellent way to please God, and the eternal virtue, which +will abide for ever in heaven, when all wisdom and learning, even +about spiritual things, which men have had on earth, shall seem +to us when we look back such as a child’s lessons do to a +grown man;—when, I say, St. Paul tells you to try after +charity, he tells you to be like God himself; to be perfect even +as your Father in heaven is perfect; to bear and forbear because +God does so: to give and forgive because God does so; to love all +because God loves all, and willeth that none should perish, but +that all should come to the knowledge of the truth.</p> +<p>How he will fulfil that; how he fulfilled it last summer with +those poor souls in India, we know not, and never shall know in +this life. Let it be enough for us that known unto God are +all his works from the foundation of the world, and that his +charity embraces the whole universe.</p> +<h2><a name="page195"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +195</span>SERMON XXV.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE DAYS OF THE WEEK.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">James</span> i. 17.</p> +<p>Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and +cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is neither +variableness, nor shadow of turning.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> seems an easy thing for us here +to say, ‘I believe in God.’ We have learnt from +our childhood that there is but one God. It seems to us +strange and ridiculous that people anywhere should believe in +more gods than one. We never heard of any other doctrine, +except in books about the heathen; and there are perhaps not +three people in this church who ever saw a heathen man, or talked +to him.</p> +<p>Yet it is not so easy to learn that there is but one +God. Were it not for the church, and the missionaries who +were sent into this part of the world by the church, now 1200 +years ago, we should not know it now. Our forefathers once +worshipped many gods, and not one only God. I do not mean +when they were savages; for I do not believe that they ever were +savages at all: but after they were settled here in England, +living in a simple way, very much as country people live now, and +dressing very much as country people do now, they worshipped many +gods.</p> +<p>Now what put that mistake into their minds? It seems so +ridiculous to us now, that we cannot understand at first how it +ever arose.</p> +<p>But if we will consider the names of their old gods, we shall +understand it a little better. Now the names of the old +English gods you all know. They are in your mouths every +day. The days of the week are named after them. The +old English kept time by weeks, as the old Jews did, and they +named their days after their gods. Why, would take me too +much time to tell: but so it is.</p> +<p>Why, then, did they worship these gods?</p> +<p>First, because man must worship something. Before man +fell, he was created in Christ the image and likeness of God the +Father; and therefore he was created that he might hear his +Father’s voice, and do his Father’s will, as Christ +does everlastingly; and after man fell, and lost Christ and +Christ’s likeness, still there was left in his heart some +remembrance of the child’s feeling which the first man had; +he felt that he ought to look up to some one greater than +himself, obey some one greater than himself; that some one +greater than himself was watching over him, doing him good, and +perhaps, too, doing him harm and punishing him.</p> +<p>Then these simple men looked up to the heaven above, and round +on the earth beneath, and asked, Who is it who is calling for +us? Who is it we ought to obey and please; who gives us +good things? Who may hurt us if we make him angry?</p> +<p>Then the first thing they saw was the sun. What more +beautiful than the sun? What more beneficent? From +the sun came light and heat, the growth of all living things, ay, +the growth of life itself.</p> +<p>The sun, they thought, must surely be a god; so they +worshipped the sun, and called the first day of the week after +him—Sunday.</p> +<p>Next the moon. Nothing, except the sun, seemed so grand +and beautiful to them as the moon, and she was their next god, +and Monday was named after her.</p> +<p>Then the wind—what a mysterious, awful, miraculous thing +the wind seemed, always moving, yet no one knew how; with immense +power and force, and yet not to be seen; as our blessed Lord +himself said, ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou +hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or +whither it goeth.’ Then—and this is very +curious—they fancied that the wind was a sort of pattern, +or type of the spirit of man. With them, as with the old +Jews and Greeks, the same word which meant wind, meant also a +man’s soul, his spirit; and so they grew to think that the +wind was inhabited by some great spirit, who gave men spirit, and +inspired them to be brave, and to prophesy, and say and do noble +things; and they called him Wodin the Mover, the Inspirer; and +named Wednesday after him.</p> +<p>Next the thunder—what more awful and terrible, and yet +so full of good, than the summer heat and the thunder +cloud? So they fancied that the thunder was a god, and +called him Thor—and the dark thunder cloud was Thor’s +frowning eyebrow; and the lightning flash Thor’s hammer, +with which he split the rocks, and melted the winter-ice and +drove away the cold of winter, and made the land ready for +tillage. So they worshipped Thor, and loved him; for they +fancied him a brave, kindly, useful god, who loved to see men +working in their fields, and tilling the land honestly.</p> +<p>Then the spring. That was a wonder to them +again—and is it not a wonder to see all things grow fresh +and fair, after the dreary winter cold? So the spring was a +goddess, and they called her Freya, the Free One, the Cheerful +One, and named Friday after her; and she it was, they thought, +who gave them the pleasant spring time, and youth, and love, and +cheerfulness, and rejoiced to see the flowers blossom, and the +birds build their nests, and all young creatures enjoy the life +which God had given them in the pleasant days of spring. +And after her Friday is named.</p> +<p>Then the harvest. The ripening of the grain, that too +was a wonder to them—and should it not be to us?—how +the corn and wheat which is put into the ground and dies should +rise again, and then ripen into golden corn? That too must +be the work of some kindly spirit, who loved men; and they called +him Seator, the Setter, the Planter, the God of the seed field +and the harvest, and after him Saturday is named.</p> +<p>And so, instead of worshipping him who made all heaven and +earth, they turned to worship the heaven and the earth itself, +like the foolish Canaanites.</p> +<p>But some may say, ‘This was all very mistaken and +foolish: but what harm was there in it? How did it make +them worse men?’</p> +<p>My friends, among these very woodlands here, some thirteen +hundred years ago, you might have come upon one of the places +where your forefathers worshipped Thor and Odin, the thunder and +the wind, beneath the shade of ancient oaks, in the darkest heart +of the forest. And there you would have seen an ugly sight +enough.</p> +<p>There was an altar there, with an everlasting fire burning on +it; but why should that altar, and all the ground around be +crusted and black with blood; why should that dark place be like +a charnel house or a butcher’s shambles; why, from all the +trees around, should there be hanging the rotting carcases, not +of goats and horses merely, but of <i>men</i>, sacrificed to Thor +and Odin, the thunder and the wind? Why that butchery, why +those works of darkness in the dark places of the world?</p> +<p>Because that was the way of pleasing Thor and Odin. To +that our forefathers came. To that all heathens have come, +sooner or later. They fancy gods in their own likeness; and +then they make out those gods no better than, and at last as bad +as themselves.</p> +<p>The old English and Danes were fond of Thor and Odin; they +fancied them, as I told you, brave gods, very like themselves: +but they themselves were not always what they ought to be; they +had fierce passions, were proud, revengeful, blood-thirsty; and +they thought Thor and Odin must be so too.</p> +<p>And when they looked round them, that seemed too true. +The thunder storm did not merely melt the snow, cool the air, +bring refreshing rain; it sometimes blasted trees, houses, men; +that they thought was Thor’s anger.</p> +<p>So of the wind. Sometimes it blew down trees and +buildings, sank ships in the sea. That was Odin’s +anger. Sometimes, too, they were not brave enough; or they +were defeated in battle. That was because Thor and Odin +were angry with them, and would not give them courage. How +were they to appease Thor and Odin, and put them into good humour +again? By giving them their revenge, by letting them taste +blood; by offering them sheep, goats, horses in sacrifice: and if +that would not do, by offering them something more precious +still, living men.</p> +<p>And so, too often, when the weather was unfavourable, and +crops were blasted by tempest or they were defeated in battle by +their enemies, Thor’s and Odin’s altars were turned +into slaughter-places for wretched human beings—captives +taken in war, and sometimes, if the need was very great, their +own children. That was what came of worshipping the heaven +above and the earth around, instead of the true God. Human +sacrifices, butchery, and murder.</p> +<p>English and Danes alike. It went on among them both; +across the seas in their old country, and here in England, till +they were made Christians. There is no doubt about +it. I could give you tale on tale which would make your +blood run cold. Then they learnt to throw away those false +gods who quarrelled among themselves, and quarrelled with +mankind; gods who were proud, revengeful, changeable, spiteful; +who had variableness in them, and turned round as their passions +led them. Then they learnt to believe in the one true God, +the Father of lights, in whom is neither variableness nor shadow +of turning. Then they learnt that from one God came every +good and perfect gift; that God filled the sun with light; that +God guided the changes of the moon; that God, and not Thor, gave +to men industry and courage; God, and not Wodin, inspired them +with the spirit which bloweth where it listeth, and raised them +up above themselves to speak noble words and do noble deeds; that +God, and not Friga, sent spring time and cheerfulness, and youth +and love, and all that makes earth pleasant; that God, and not +Satur, sent the yearly wonder of the harvest crops, sent rain and +fruitful seasons, filling the earth with food and gladness.</p> +<p>But what was there about this new God, even the true God, +which the old missionaries preached, which won the hearts of our +forefathers?</p> +<p>This, my friends, not merely that he was one God and not many, +but that he was a Father of lights, from whom came good gifts, in +whom was neither variableness nor shadow of turning.</p> +<p>Not merely a master, but a Father, who gave good gifts, +because he was good himself; a God whom they could love, because +he loved them; a God whom they could trust and depend on, because +there was no variableness in him, and he could not lose his +temper as Thor and Odin did. That was the God whom their +wild, passionate hearts wanted, and they believed in him.</p> +<p>And when they doubted, and asked, ‘How can we be sure +that God is altogether good?—how can we be sure that he is +always trustworthy, always the same?’—Then the +missionaries used to point them to the crucifix, the image of +Christ upon his cross, and say, ‘There is the token; there +is what God is to you, what God suffered for you; there is the +everlasting sign that he gives good gifts, even to the best of +all gifts, even to his own self, when it was needed; there is the +everlasting sign that in him is neither darkness, passion, nor +change, but that he wills all men to be saved from their own +darkness and passions, and from the ruin which they bring, and to +come to the knowledge of the truth, that they have a Father in +heaven.’</p> +<h2><a name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +203</span>SERMON XXVI.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE HEAVENLY FATHER.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Acts</span> xvi. 24–28.</p> +<p>God that made the world, and all that therein is, seeing that +he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with +hands . . . For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as +certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his +offspring.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I <span class="smcap">told</span> you last Sunday of the +meaning of the days of the week; but one day I left +out—namely, Tuesday. I did so on purpose. I +wish to speak of that day by itself in this sermon.</p> +<p>I told you how our forefathers worshipped many gods, by +fancying that various things in the world round them were +gods—sun and moon, wind and thunder, spring and +harvest.</p> +<p>But if that seems to you at times wrong and absurd, it seemed +so to them also. They, like all heathens, had at times +dreams of one God.</p> +<p>They thought to themselves—All heaven and earth must +have had a beginning, and they cannot have grown out of nothing, +for out of nothing nothing comes. They must have been made +in some way. Perhaps they were made by some <i>One</i>.</p> +<p>The more they saw of this wonderful world, and all the order +and contrivance in it, the more sure they were that one mind must +have planned it, one will created it.</p> +<p>But men—they thought—persons, living +souls—are not merely made; they are begotten; they must +have a Father, whose sons they are. Perhaps, they thought, +there is somewhere a great Father; a Father of all persons, from +whom all souls come, who was before all things, and all persons, +however great, however ancient they may be. And so, like +the Greeks and Romans, and many other heathen nations, they had +dim thoughts of an All-Father, as they called him; Father of gods +and men; the Father of spirits.</p> +<p>They looked round them too, in this world, and saw that +everything in it must die. The tree, though it stood for a +thousand years, must decay at last; the very rocks and mountains +crumbled to dust at last: and so they thought—truly and +wisely enough—Everything which we see near us, perishes at +last: why should not everything which we can see, however far +off, however great, perish? Why should not this earth come +to an end? Why should not sun and moon, wind and thunder, +spring and harvest, end at last? And then will not these +gods, who are mixed up with the world, and live in it, and govern +it, die too? If the sun perishes, the sun-god will perish +too. If the thunder ceases for ever, then there will be no +more thunder-god. Yes, they thought—and wisely and +truly too—everything which has a beginning must have an +end. Everything which is born, must die. The sun and +the earth, wind and thunder, will perish some day; the gods of +sun and earth, wind and thunder, will die some day. And +then what will be left? Will there be nothing and +nowhere? That thought was too horrible. God’s +voice in their hearts, the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, who +lights every man who comes into the world, made them feel that it +was horrible, unreasonable; that it could not be.</p> +<p>But it was all dim to them, and uncertain. Of one thing +only they were certain, that death reigned, and that death had +passed upon all men, and things, and even gods. Evil +beasts, evil gods, evil passions, were gnawing at the root of all +things. A time would come of nothing but rage and +wickedness, fury and destruction; the gods would fight and be +slain, and earth and heaven would be sent back again into +shapeless ruin: and after that they knew no more, though they +longed to know. They dreamed, I say, at moments of a new +and a better world, new men, new gods: but how were they to +come? Who would live when all things died? Was there +not somewhere an All-Father, who had eternal life?</p> +<p>Then they looked round upon the earth, those simple-hearted +forefathers of ours, and said within themselves, Where is the +All-Father, if All-Father there be? Not in this earth; for +it will perish. Not in the sun, moon, or stars, for they +will perish too. Where is He who abideth for ever?</p> +<p>Then they lifted up their eyes and saw, as they thought, +beyond sun, and moon, and stars and all which changes and will +change, the clear blue sky, the boundless firmament of +heaven.</p> +<p>That never changed; that was always the same. The clouds +and storms rolled far below it, and all the bustle of this noisy +world; but there the sky was still, as bright and calm as +ever. The All-Father must be there, unchangeable in the +unchanging heaven; bright, and pure, and boundless like the +heavens; and like the heavens too, silent, and afar off.</p> +<p>So they named him after the heaven, Tuith, Tuisco, +Divisco—The God who lives in the clear heaven; and after +him Tuesday is called: the day of Tuisco, the heavenly +Father. He was the Father of gods and men; and man was the +son of Tuisco and Hertha—heaven and earth.</p> +<p>That was all they knew; and even that they did not know; they +contradicted themselves and each other about it. After a +time they began to think that Odin, and not Tuisco, was the +All-Father; all was dim and far off to them. They were +feeling after him, as St. Paul says he had intended them to do: +but they did not find him. They did not know the Father, +because they did not know Jesus Christ the Son; as it is written, +‘No man cometh to the Father, but through me;’ and, +‘No man hath seen God at any time; only the only-begotten +Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared +him.’</p> +<p>Many other heathens had the same thought and the same word; +the old Greeks and Romans, for instance, who many thousand years +ago spoke the same tongue as we did then, called him Zeus or Deus +Pater; Jupiter; the heavenly Father, Father of gods and men; +using the same word as our Tuisco, a little altered. And +that same word, changed slightly, means God now, in Welsh, +French, and Italian, and many languages in Europe and in Asia; +and will do so till the end of time.</p> +<p>That, I say, was all they knew of their Father in heaven, till +missionaries came and preached the Gospel to them, and told them +what St. Paul told the Greeks in my text.</p> +<p>Now, what did St. Paul tell the Greeks? He came, we +read, to Athens in Greece, and found the city wholly given to +idolatry, worshipping all manner of false gods, and images of +them. And yet they were not content with their false +gods. They felt, as our forefathers felt, that there must +be a greater, better, more mighty, more faithful God than all: +and they thought, ‘We will worship him too: for we are sure +that he is, though we know nothing about him.’ So +they set up, beside all the altars and temples of the false gods +‘To the Unknown God.’ And St. Paul passed by +and saw it; and his heart was stirred within him with pity and +compassion; and he rose up and preached them a sermon—the +first and the best missionary sermon which ever was preached on +earth, the model of all missionary sermons; and said, ‘That +God whom you ignorantly worship, Him I will declare unto +you.’</p> +<p>Now, here was a Gospel; here was good news. St. Paul +told them—as the missionaries afterwards told our +forefathers—that one, at least, of their heathen fancies +was not wrong. There was a heavenly Father. Mankind +was not an orphan, come into the world he knew not whence, and +going, when he died, he knew not whither. No, man was not +an orphan. From God he came; to God, if he chose, he might +return. The heathen poet had spoken truth when he said, +‘For we are the offspring of God.’</p> +<p>But where was the heavenly Father? Far away in the clear +sky, in the highest heaven beyond all suns and stars? +Silent and idle, caring for no one on earth, content in himself, +and leaving sinful man to himself to go to ruin as he chose?</p> +<p>‘No,’ says St. Paul, ‘He is not far off from +any one of us; for in him we live, and move, and have our +being.’</p> +<p>Wonderful words! Eighteen hundred years have past since +then, and we have not spelt out half the meaning of them. +It is such good news, such blessed news, and yet such awful news, +that we are afraid to believe it fully. That the Almighty +God should be so near us, sinful men; that we, in spite of all +our sins, should live, and move, and have our being in God. +How can it be true?</p> +<p>My friends, it would not be true, if something more was not +true. We should have no right to say, ‘I believe in +God the Father Almighty,’ unless we said also, ‘I +believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.’ St. +Paul, after he had told them of a Father in heaven, went on to +tell them of <i>a man</i> whom that Father had sent to judge the +world, having raised him from the dead.—And there his +sermon stopped. Those foolish Greeks laughed at him; they +would not receive the news of Jesus Christ the Son; and therefore +they lost the good news of their Father in heaven. We can +guess from St. Paul’s Epistle what he was going on to tell +them. How, by believing in Jesus Christ the Son, and +claiming their share in him, and being baptized into his name, +they might become once more God’s children, and take their +place again as new men and true men in Jesus Christ. But +they would not hear his message.</p> +<p>Our forefathers did hear that message, and believed it; they +had been feeling after the heavenly Father, and at last they +found him, and claimed their share in Christ as sons of the +heavenly Father; and therefore we are Christian men this day, +baptized into God’s family, and thriving as God’s +family must thrive, as long as it remembers that God dwelleth not +in temples made with hands, and needs nothing from man, seeing +that he gives to all life and breath and all things; and is not +far from any one of us, seeing that in him we live, and move, and +have our being, and are the offspring, the children of God.</p> +<p>Bear that in mind. Bear it in mind, I say, that in God +you live, and move, and have your being. Day and night, +going out and coming in, say to yourselves, ‘I am with God +my Father, and God my Father is with me. There is not a +good feeling in my heart, but my heavenly Father has put it +there: ay, I have not a power which he has not given, a thought +which he does not know; even the very hairs of my head are all +numbered. Whither shall I go then from his presence? +Whither shall I flee from his Spirit? For he filleth all +things. If my eyes were opened, I should see at every +moment God’s love, God’s power, God’s wisdom, +working alike in sun and moon, in every growing blade and +ripening grain, and in the training and schooling of every human +being, and every nation, to whom he has appointed their times, +and the bounds of their habitation, if haply they may seek after +the Lord, and find him in whom they live, and move, and have +their being. Everywhere I should see life going forth to +all created things from God the Father, of whom are all things, +and God the Son, by whom are all things, and God the Holy Spirit, +the Lord and Giver of that life.’</p> +<p>A little of that glorious sight we may see in this life, if +our hearts and reasons are purified by the Spirit of God, to see +God in all things, and all things in God: and more in that life +whereof it is written, ‘Beloved, we are now the sons of +God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but this we +know, that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall +see him as he is.’ To that life may he in his mercy +bring us all. Amen.</p> +<h2><a name="page211"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +211</span>SERMON XXVII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE GOOD SHEPHERD.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">John</span> x. 11.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">I am the good shepherd.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Here</span> are blessed words. They +are not new words. You find words like these often in the +Bible, and even in ancient heathen books. Kings, priests, +prophets, judges, are called shepherds of the people. David +is called the shepherd of Israel. A prophet complains of +the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves, and will not feed +the flock.</p> +<p>But the old Hebrew prophets had a vision of a greater and +better shepherd than David, or any earthly king or +priest—of a heavenly and almighty shepherd. +‘The Lord is my shepherd,’ says one; ‘therefore +I shall not want.’ And another says, ‘He shall +feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather his lambs +in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead +those who are with young.’</p> +<p>This was blessed news; good news for all mankind, if there had +been no more than this. But there is more blessed news +still in the text. In the text, the Lord of whom those old +prophets spoke, spoke for himself, with human voice, upon this +earth of ours; and declared that all they had said was true; and +that more still was true.</p> +<p>I am the good shepherd, he says. And then he adds, The +good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, consider these words. Think what endless +depths of wonder there are in them. Is it not wonderful +enough that God should care for men; should lead them, guide +them, feed them, condescend to call himself their shepherd? +Wonderful, indeed; so wonderful, that the old prophets would +never have found it out but by the inspiration of Almighty +God. But what a wider, deeper, nobler, more wonderful +blessing, and more blessed wonder, that the shepherd should give +his life for the sheep;—that the master should give his +life for the servant, the good for the bad, the wise one for the +fools, the pure one for the foul, the loving one for the +spiteful, the king for those who had rebelled against him, the +Creator for his creatures. That God should give his life +for man! Truly, says St. John, ‘Herein is love. +Not that we loved him: but that he loved us.’ Herein, +indeed, is love. Herein is the beauty of God, and the glory +of God; that he spared nothing, shrank from nothing, that he +might save man. Because the sheep were lost, the good +shepherd would go forth into the rough and dark places of the +earth to seek and to save that which was lost. That was +enough. That was a thousand times more than we had a right +to expect. Had he done only that he would have been for +ever glorious, for ever adorable, for ever worthy of the praises +and thanks of heaven and earth, and all that therein is. +But that seemed little in the eyes of Jesus, little to the +greatness of his divine love. He would understand the +weakness of his sheep by being weak himself; understand the +sorrows of his sheep, by sorrowing himself; understand the sins +of his sheep, by bearing all their sins; the temptations of his +sheep, by conquering them himself; and lastly, he would +understand and conquer the death of his sheep, by dying +himself. Because the sheep must die, he would die too, that +in all things, and to the uttermost, he might show himself the +good shepherd, who shared all sorrow, danger and misery with his +sheep, as if they had been his children, bone of his bone and +flesh of his flesh. In all things he would show himself the +good shepherd, and no hireling, who cared for himself and his own +wages. If the wolf came, he would face the wolf, and though +the wolf killed him, yet would he kill the wolf, that by his +death he might destroy death, and him who had the power of death, +that is, the devil. He would go where the sheep went. +He would enter into the sheepfold by the same gate as they did, +and not climb over into the fold some other way, like a thief and +a robber. He would lead them into the fold by the same +gate. They had to go into God’s fold through the gate +of death; and therefore he would go in through it also, and die +with his sheep; that he might claim the gate of death for his +own, and declare that it did not belong to the devil, but to him +and his heavenly Father; and then having led his sheep in through +the gate of death, he would lead them out again by the gate of +resurrection, that they might find pasture in the redeemed land +of everlasting life, where can enter neither devil, nor wolf, nor +robber, evil spirit, evil man, or evil thing. This, and +more than this, he would do in the greatness of his love. +He would become in all things like his sheep, that he might show +himself the good shepherd. Because they died, he would die; +that so, because he rose, they might rise also.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, who is sufficient for these things? Not +men, not saints, not angels or archangels can comprehend the love +of Christ. How can they? For Christ is God, and God +is love; the root and fountain of all love which is in you and +me, and angels, and all created beings. And therefore his +love is as much greater than ours, or than the love of angels and +archangels, as the whole sun is greater than one ray of +sun-light. Say rather, as much greater and more glorious as +the sun is greater and more glorious than the light which +sparkles in the dew-drop on the grass. The love and +goodness and holiness of a saint or an angel is the light in that +dew-drop, borrowed from the sun. The love of God is the sun +himself, which shineth from one part of heaven to the other, and +there is nothing hid from the life-giving heat and light +thereof. When the dew-drop can take in the sun, then can we +take in the love of God, which fills all heaven and earth.</p> +<p>But there is, if possible, better news still +behind—‘I am the good shepherd; and know my sheep, +and am known of mine.’</p> +<p>‘I know my sheep.’ Surely some of the words +which I have just spoken may help to explain that to you. +‘I know my sheep.’ Not merely, I know who are +my sheep, and who are not. Of course, the Lord does +that. We might have guessed that for ourselves. What +comfort is there in that? No, he does not say merely, +‘I know <i>who</i> my sheep are; but I know <i>what</i> my +sheep are. I know them; their inmost hearts. I know +their sins and their follies: but I know, too, their longing +after good. I know their temptations, their excuses, their +natural weaknesses, their infirmities, which they brought into +the world with them. I know their inmost hearts for good +and for evil. True, I think some of them often miserable, +and poor, and blind, when they fancy themselves strong, and wise, +and rich in grace, and having need of nothing. But I know +some of them, too, to be longing after what is good, to be +hungering and thirsting after righteousness, when they can see +nothing but their own sin and weakness, and are utterly ashamed +and tired of themselves, and are ready to lie down in despair, +and give up all struggling after God. I know their +weakness—and of me it is written, ‘I will carry the +lambs in mine arms.’ Those who are innocent and +inexperienced in the ways of this world, I will see that they are +not led into temptation; and I will gently lead those that are +with young: those who are weary with the burden of their own +thoughts, those who are yearning and labouring after some higher, +better, more free, more orderly, more useful life; those who long +to find out the truth, and to speak it, and give birth to the +noble thoughts and the good plans which they have conceived: I +have inspired their good desires, and I will bring them to good +effect; I will gently lead them,’ says the Lord, ‘for +I know them better than they know themselves.’</p> +<p>Yes. Christ knows us better than we know ourselves: and +better, too, than we know him. Thanks be to God that it is +so. Or the last words of the text would crush us into +despair—‘I know my sheep, and am known of +mine.’</p> +<p>Is it so? We trust that we are Christ’s +sheep. We trust that he knows us: but do we know him? +What answer shall we make to that question, Do you know +Christ? I do not mean, Do you know <i>about</i> +Christ? You may know <i>about</i> a person without knowing +the person himself when you see him. I do not mean, Do you +know doctrines about Christ? though that is good and +necessary. Nor, Do you know what Christ has done for your +soul? though that is good and necessary also. But, Do you +know Christ himself? You have never seen him. True: +but have you never seen any one like him—even in +part? Do you know his likeness when you see it in any of +your neighbours? That is a question worth thinking +over. Again—Do you know what Christ is like? +What his character is—what his way of dealing with your +soul, and all souls, is? Are you accustomed to speak to him +in your prayers as to one who can and will hear you; and do you +know his voice when he speaks to you, and puts into your heart +good desires, and longings after what is right and true, and fair +and noble, and loving and patient, as he himself is? Do you +know Christ?</p> +<p>Alas! my friends, what a poor answer we can make to that +question? How little do we know Christ?</p> +<p>What would become of us, if he were like us?—If he were +one who bargained with us, and said—‘Unless you know +me, I will not take the trouble to know you. Unless you +care for me, you cannot expect me to care for you.’ +What would become of us, if God said, ‘As you do to me, so +will I do to you?’</p> +<p>But our only hope lies in this, that in Christ the Lord is no +spirit of bargaining, no pride, no spite, no rendering evil for +evil. In this is our hope; that he is the likeness of his +Father’s glory, and the express image of his person; +perfect as his Father is perfect; that like his Father, he +causeth his rain to fall on the evil and the good; and his sun to +shine on the just and on the unjust; and is good to the +unthankful and the evil—to you and me—and knows us, +though we know him not; and cares for us, though we care not for +him; and leads us his way, like a good shepherd, when we fancy in +our conceit that we are going in our own way. This is our +hope, that his love is greater than our stupidity; that he will +not tire of us, and our fancies, and our self-will, and our +laziness, in spite of all our peevish tempers, and our mean and +fruitless suspicions of his goodness. No! He will not +tire of us, but will seek us, and save us when we go +astray. And some day, somewhere, somehow, he will open our +eyes, and let us see him as he is, and thank him as he +deserves. Some day, when the veil is taken off our eyes, we +shall see like those disciples at Emmaus, that Jesus has been +walking with us, and breaking our bread for us, and blessing us, +all our lives long; and that when our hearts burned within us at +noble thoughts, and stories of noble and righteous men and women, +and at the hope that some day good would conquer evil, and heaven +come down on earth, then—so we shall find—God had +been dwelling among men all along—even Jesus, who was dead, +and is alive for evermore, and has the keys of death and hell, +and knows his sheep in this world, and in all worlds, past, +present, and to come, and leads them, and will lead them for +ever, and none can pluck them out of his hand. Amen.</p> +<h2><a name="page219"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +219</span>SERMON XXVIII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">DARK TIMES.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">1 <span +class="smcap">John</span> iv. 16–18.</p> +<p>We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. +God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and +God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may +have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we +in this world. There is no fear in love but perfect love +casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that +feareth is not made perfect in love.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Have</span> we learnt this lesson? +Our reading, and thinking, and praying, have been in vain, unless +they have helped us to believe and know the love which God has to +us. But, indeed, no reading, or thinking, or praying will +teach us that perfectly. God must teach it us +himself. It is easy to say that God is love; easy to say +that Christ died for us; easy to say that God’s Spirit is +with us; easy to say all manner of true doctrines, and run them +off our tongues at second-hand; easy for me to stand up here and +preach them to you, just as I find them written in a book. +But do I believe what I say? Do you believe what you +say? There is an awful question. We believe it all +now, or think we believe it, while we are easy and comfortable: +but should we have boldness in the day of judgment?—Should +we believe it all, if God visited us, to judge us, and try us, +and pierce asunder the very joints and marrow of our heart with +fearful sorrow and temptation? O Lord, who shall stand in +that day?</p> +<p>Suppose, for instance, God were to take away the desire of our +eyes, with a stroke. Suppose we were to lose a wife, a +darling child; suppose we were struck blind, or paralytic; +suppose some unspeakable, unbearable shame fell on us to-morrow: +could we say then, God is love, and this horrible misery is a +sign of it? He loves me, for he chastens me? Or +should we say, like Job’s wife, and one of the foolish +women, ‘Curse God and die?’ God knows.</p> +<p>Ah, when that dark day seems coming on us, and bringing some +misery which looks to us beforehand quite unbearable—then +how our lip-belief and book-faith is tried, and burnt up in the +fire of God, and in the fire of our own proud, angry hearts, +too! How we struggle and rage at first at the very thought +of the coming misery; and are ready to say, God will not do +this! He cannot—cannot be so unjust, so cruel, as to +bring this misery on me. What have I done to deserve +it? Or, if I have deserved it, what have these innocents +done? Why should they be punished for my sins? After +all my prayers, too, and my church-goings, and my tryings to be +good. Is this God’s reward for all my trouble to +please him? Then how vain all our old prayers seem; how +empty and dry all ordinances. We cry, I have cleansed my +hands in vain, and in vain washed my heart in innocency. We +have no heart to pray to God. If he has not heard our past +prayers, why should we pray anymore? Let us lie down and +die; let us bear his heavy hand, if we must bear it, sullenly, +desperately: but, as for saying that God is love, or to say that +we know the love which God has for us, we say in our hearts, Let +the clergyman talk of that; it is his business to speak about it; +or comfortable, easy people, who are not watering their pillow +with bitter tears all night long. But if they were in my +place (says the unhappy man), they would know a little more of +what poor souls have to go through: they would talk somewhat less +freely about its being a sin to doubt God’s love. He +has sent this great misery on me. How can I tell what more +he may not send? How can I help being afraid of God, and +looking up to him with tormenting fear?</p> +<p>Yes, my friends. These are very terrible +thoughts—very wrong thoughts some of them, very foolish +thoughts some of them, though pardonable enough; for God pardons +them, as we shall see. But they are real thoughts. +They are what really come into people’s minds every day; +and I am here to talk to you about what is really going on in +your soul, and mine; not to repeat to you doctrines at +second-hand out of a book, and say, There, that is what you have +to believe and do; and, if you do not, you will go to hell: but +to speak to you as men of like passions with myself; as sinning, +sorrowing, doubting, struggling human beings; and to talk to you +of what is in my own heart, and will be in your hearts too, some +day, if it has not been already. This is the experience of +all <i>real</i> men, all honest men, who ever struggled to know +and to do what is right. David felt it all. You find +it all through those glorious Psalms of his. He was no +comfortable, book-read, second-hand Christian, who had an answer +ready for every trouble, because he had never had any real +trouble at all. David was not one of them. He had to +go through a very rough training—very terrible and fiery +trials, year after year; and had to say, again and again, +‘I am weary of crying; my heart is dry; my heart faileth me +for waiting so long upon my God. All thy billows and storms +are gone over me. Thou hast laid me in a place of darkness, +and in the lowest deep.’—</p> +<p>Not by sitting comfortably reading his book, but by such +terrible trials as that, was David taught to trust God to the +uttermost; and to learn that God’s love was so perfect that +he need never dread him, or torment himself with anxiety lest God +should leave him to perish.</p> +<p>Hezekiah felt it, too, good man as he was, when he was sick, +and like to die. And it was not for many a day that he +found out the truth about these dark hours of misery, that by all +these things men live, and in all these things is the life of the +Spirit.</p> +<p>And this was Jacob’s experience, too, on that most +fearful night of all his life, when he waited by the ford of +Jabbok, expecting that with the morning light the punishment of +his past sins would come on him; and not only on him, but on all +his family, and his innocent children; when he stood there alone +by the dark river, not knowing whether Esau and his wild Arabs +would not sweep off the earth all he had and all he loved; and +knowing, too, that it was his own fault, that he had brought it +all upon them by his own deceit and treachery. Then, when +his sins stared him in the face, and God rose up to judgment +against him, he learnt to pray as he had never prayed +before—a prayer too deep for words.</p> +<p>‘And Jacob was left alone: and there wrestled a man with +him till the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he +prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of Jacob’s +thigh; and the hollow of his thigh was out of joint as he +wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day +breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, till thou +bless me. And he blessed him there. And Jacob called +the name of that place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, +and my life is preserved.’</p> +<p>So it may be with us. So it must be with us, in the dark +day when our faith is really tried by terrible affliction.</p> +<p>We must begin as Jacob did. Plead God’s promises, +confess the mercies we have received already. ‘I am +not worthy of the least of all the mercies which thou hast showed +to thy servant.’</p> +<p>Ask for God’s help, as Jacob did: ‘Deliver me, I +pray thee, out of the hand of Esau my brother.’ Plead +his written promises, and the covenant of our baptism, which tell +us that we are God’s children, and God our Father, as Jacob +did according to his light—‘And thou saidst, I will +surely do thee good.’</p> +<p>So the proud angry heart will perhaps pass out of us, and we +shall set ourselves more calmly to face the worst, and to try if +God’s promises be indeed true, and God be indeed as he has +said, ‘Love.’</p> +<p>But do not be astonished, do not be disheartened, if, when the +trouble comes, there comes with it, as to Jacob, a more terrible +struggle far, a struggle too deep for words; if you find out that +fine words and set prayers are nothing in the hour of need, and +that you will not be heard for your much speaking. Ah! the +darkness of that time, which perhaps goes on for days, for +months, all alone between you and God himself. Clergymen +and good people may come in with kind words and true words: but +they give no comfort; your heart is still dark, still full of +doubt; you want God himself to speak to your heart, and tell you +that he is love. And you have no words to pray with at +last; you have used them all up; and you can only cling humbly to +God, and hold fast. One moment you feel like a poor slave +clinging to his stern master’s arm, and entreating him not +to kill him outright. The next you feel like a child +clinging to its father, and entreating him to save him from some +horrible monster which is going to devour it: but you have no +words to pray with, only sighs, and tears, and groans; you feel +that you know not what to pray for as you ought, know not what is +good for you; dare ask for nothing, lest it should be the wrong +thing. And the longer you struggle, the weaker you become, +as Jacob did, till your very bones seem out of joint, your very +heart broken within you, and life seems not worth having, or +death either.</p> +<p>Only hold fast by God. Only do not despair. Only +be sure that God cannot lie; be sure that he who cared for you +from your birth hour cares for you still; that he who loved you +enough to give his own Son for you hundreds of years before you +were born, cannot but love you still; do not despair, I say; and +at last, when you are fallen so low that you can fall no lower, +and so weak that you are past struggling, you may hear through +the darkness of your heart the still small voice of God. +Only hold fast, and let him not go until he bless you, and you +shall find with Jacob of old, that as a prince you have power +with God and with man, and have prevailed. And so God will +answer you, as he answered Elijah, at first out of the whirlwind +and the blinding storm: but at last, doubt it not, with the still +small voice which cannot be mistaken, which no earthly ear can +hear, but which is more precious to the broken heart than all +which this world gives, the peace which passes understanding, and +yet is the surest and the only lasting peace.</p> +<p>But what is the secret of this strange awful struggle? +Can you or I change God’s will by any prayers of +ours? God forbid that we should, my friends, even if we +could; for his will is a good will to us, and his name is +Love.</p> +<p>Do not be afraid of him. If you do, you are not made +perfect in love; you have not yet learnt perfect the lesson of +his great love to you. But what is the secret of this +struggle? Why has any poor soul to wrestle thus with God +who made him, before he can get peace and hope? Why is the +trouble sent him at all? It looks at first sight a strange +sort of token of God’s love, to bring the creatures whom he +has made into utter misery.</p> +<p>My friends, these are deep questions. There are plenty +of answers for them ready written: but no answers like the Bible +ones, which tell us that ‘whom the Lord loveth he +chasteneth; that these sorrows come on us, and heaviness, and +manifold temptations, in order that the trial of our faith, being +much more precious than that of gold, which perishes though it be +tried with fire, may be found to praise, and honour, and glory at +the appearance of Jesus Christ.’ This is the only +answer but it does not explain the reason. It only gives us +hope under it. We do not know that these dreadful troubles +come from God. The Bible tells us ‘that God tempts no +man; that he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children +of men.’ The Bible speaks at times as if these dark +troubles came from the devil himself; and as if God turned them +into good for us by making them part of our training, part of our +education; and so making some devil’s attempt to ruin us +only a great means of our improvement. I do not know: but +this I do know, the troubles are here, and God is love. At +least this is comfortable, that God will let no man be tempted +beyond what he is able: but will with the temptation make a way +for us to escape, that we may be able to bear it. At least +this is comfortable, that our prayers are not needed to change +God’s will, because his will is already that we should be +saved; because we are on his side in the battle against the +devil, or the flesh, or the world, or whatever it is which makes +poor souls and bodies miserable, and he on ours: and all we have +to do in our prayers, is to ask advice and orders and strength +and courage from the great Captain of our salvation; that we may +fight his battle and ours aright and to the end. And, my +friends, if you be in trouble, if your heart be brought low +within you, remember, only remember, who the Captain of our +salvation is. Who but Jesus who died on the +cross—Jesus who was made perfect by sufferings, Jesus who +cried out, ‘My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken +me?’</p> +<p>If Christ had to be made perfect by sufferings, much more must +we. If he needed to learn obedience by sorrow, much more +must we. If he needed in the days of his flesh, to make +supplication to God his Father with strong crying and tears, so +do we. And if he was heard in that he feared, so, I trust, +we shall be heard likewise. If he needed to taste even the +most horrible misery of all; to feel for a moment that God had +forsaken him; surely we must expect, if we are to be made like +him, to have to drink at least one drop out of his bitter +cup. It is very wonderful: but yet it is full of hope and +comfort. Full of hope and comfort to be able, in our +darkest and bitterest sorrow, to look up to heaven, and say, At +least there is one who has been through all this. As Christ +was, so are we in this world; and the disciple cannot be above +his master. Yes, we are in this world as he was, and he was +once in this world as we are, he has been through all this, and +more. He knows all this and more. ‘We have a +High Priest above us who can be touched with the feeling of our +infirmities, because he has been tempted in all things like as we +are. yet without sin.’</p> +<p>Yes, my friends. Nothing like one honest look, one +honest thought, of Christ upon his cross. That tells us how +much he has been through, how much he endured, how much he +conquered, how much God loved us, who spared not his +only-begotten Son, but freely gave him for us. Dare we +doubt such a God? Dare we murmur against such a God? +Dare we lay the blame of our sorrows on such a God—our +Father? No; let us believe the blessed message of our +confirmation, which tells us that it is his Fatherly hand which +is ever over us, and that even though that hand may seem heavy +for awhile, it is the hand of him whose very being and substance +is love, who made the world by love, by love redeemed man, by +love sustains him still. Though we went down into hell, +says David, he is there; though we took the wings of the morning, +and fled into the uttermost part of the sea, yet there his hand +would hold us, and his right hand guide us still. It is +holding and guiding every one of us now, through storm as well as +through sunshine, through grief as well as through joy; let us +humble ourselves under that mighty hand, and it will exalt us in +due time. He knows, and must know, when that due time is, +and, till then, he is still love, and his mercy is over all his +works.</p> +<h2><a name="page229"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +229</span>SERMON XXIX.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">GOD’S CREATION.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Genesis</span> i. 31.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">And God saw everything that he had +made, and behold it was very good.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is good news, and a +gospel. The Bible was written to bring good news, and +therefore with good news it begins, and with good news it +ends.</p> +<p>But it is not so easy to believe. We want faith to +believe; and that faith will be sometimes sorely tried.</p> +<p>Yes; we want faith. As St. Paul says: ‘Through +faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of +God; so that things which are seen were not made of things which +appear.’</p> +<p>No one can prove to us that God made the world; yet we must +believe it; and what is more, we <i>do</i> believe it, and are +certain of it. But all the proving and arguments in the +world will not make us <i>certain</i> that God made the world; +they will only make us feel that it is probable, that it is +reasonable to think so. What, then, does make us +<i>certain</i> that God made the world?—as certain as if we +had seen him make it? <i>Faith</i>, which is stronger than +all arguments. Faith, which comes down from heaven to our +hearts, and is the gift of God. Faith, which is the light +with which Jesus Christ lights us. Faith, which comes by +the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit.</p> +<p>So, again, when we have to believe not only that God made the +world, but that all things which he has made are very good.</p> +<p>So it is, and you must believe it. God is good, the +absolute and perfect good; and from good nothing can come but +good: and therefore all which God has made is good, as he is; and +therefore if anything in the world seems to be bad, one of two +things must be true of it.</p> +<p>1. Either it is <i>not</i> bad, though it seems so to +us; and God will bring good out of it in his good time, and +justify himself to men, and show us that he is holy in all his +works, and righteous in all his ways.</p> +<p>Or else—If the thing be really bad, then God did not +make it. It must be a disease, a mistake, a failure, of +man’s making, or some person’s making, but not of +God’s making. For all that he has made he sees +eternally; and behold, it is very good.</p> +<p>Now, I can say that; and I believe it; and God grant I may +never say anything else. And yet I cannot prove it to you +by any argument. But I believe it; and I dare say many of +you believe it (you all must believe it, before all is over), by +something better than any argument. By faith—faith, +which speaks to the very core and root of a man’s heart and +reason, and teaches him things surer and deeper than all sermons +and books, all proofs and arguments.</p> +<p>May God, our Heavenly Father, fill our hearts with his Holy +Spirit of faith, that we may believe utterly in his goodness, and +therefore believe in the goodness of all that he has made.</p> +<p>For at times we shall need that faith very much indeed, not +only about our neighbours, but about ourselves. We shall +find it hard to believe that there is goodness in some of our +neighbours; and the better we know ourselves, we shall find it +very difficult to believe that there is goodness in us.</p> +<p>For surely this is a great puzzle.</p> +<p>‘God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was +very good.’ And God made you and me. Are we +therefore very good? Or were we ever very good? Here +is a great mystery. It would seem as if we must have been +very good if God made us. For God can make nothing +bad. Surely not. For he who makes bad things is a bad +maker; he who makes bad houses is a bad builder; and he who makes +bad men is a bad maker of men. But God cannot be a bad +maker; for he is perfect and without fault in all his +works. Yet men are bad.</p> +<p>Yet, on the other hand, if God made us, and the Bible be true, +there must be good in us. When God said, Let that man be; +when God first thought of us, if I may so speak, before the +foundation of the world—he thought of us as good. He +created each of us good in his own mind, else he would not have +created us at all. But why were we not good when we came on +earth? Why do we come into this world sinful? Why +does God’s thought of us, God’s purpose about us, +seem to have failed? We do not know, and we need not +know. St. Paul tells us that it came by Adam’s fall; +that by Adam’s fall sin entered into the world, and each +man, as he came into it, became sinful. How that was we +cannot understand—we need not understand. Let us +believe, and be silent; but let us believe this also, that St. +Paul speaks truth not in this only but in that blessed and +glorious news with which he follows up his sad and bad +news. ‘As by the offence of one, judgment came upon +all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the +free gift came upon all men to justification of life.’</p> +<p>Yes; we may say boldly now, Whatever has been; whatever sin I +inherited from Adam; however sinful I came into this world, God +looks on me now, not as I am in Adam, but as I am in +Christ. I am in Christ now, baptized into Christ, a new +creature in Christ; to Christ I belong, and not to Adam at all; +and God looks now, not on the old corrupt nature which I +inherited from Adam, but on the new and good grace which God +meant for me from all eternity, which Christ has given me +now. It is that good and new grace in me which God cares +for; it is that good and new grace which God is working on, to +strengthen and perfect it, that I may grow in grace, and in the +likeness of Christ, and become at last what God intended me to +be, when he thought of me first before the foundation of all +worlds, and said, ‘Let us make man [not one man, but all +men, male and female] in our image, after our +likeness.’</p> +<p>This, again, is a great mystery. Yet our own hearts will +tell us, if we will look at them, that it is true. Are +there not, as it were, two different persons in us, fighting for +the mastery? Are we not so different at different times, +that we seem to ourselves, and to our neighbours, perhaps, to be +two different people, according as we give way to the better +nature or to the worse? Even as David—one year living +a heroic and noble life by faith in God, writing Psalms which +will live to the world’s end, and the next committing +adultery and murder. Were those two Davids the same +David? Yes; and yet No. The good and noble David was +David when he obeyed the grace of God. The base and foul +David was David when he gave way to his fallen and corrupt +nature.</p> +<p>Even so might we be. Even so, in a less degree, are we +sometimes so unlike ourselves, so ashamed of ourselves, so torn +asunder with passions and lusts, delighting in God’s law +and all that is good in our hearts, and yet finding another law +in us which makes us slaves at moments to our basest +passions—to anger, fear, spite, covetousness—that +when we think of it we are ready to cry with St. Paul, ‘Oh, +wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of +this death?’</p> +<p>Who? Who but he of whom St. Paul tells us, gives the +answer in the very next verse, ‘I thank God, that God +himself will, through Jesus Christ our Lord.’</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, whosoever of you have ever felt angry with +yourselves, discontented with yourselves, ashamed of yourselves +(and he that has not felt so knows no more about himself than a +dumb animal does)—you that have felt so, listen to St. +Paul’s glorious news and take comfort. Do you wish to +be right? Do you wish to be what God intended you to be +before all worlds? Do you wish that of you the glorious +words may come true, ‘And God saw all that he had made, and +behold it was very good?’</p> +<p>Then believe this. That all which is good in you God has +made; and that he will take care of what he has made, for he +loves it; that all which is bad in you, God has <i>not</i> made, +and therefore he will destroy it; for he hates all that he has +not made, and will not suffer it in his world; and that if you, +your heart, your will, are enlisted on the good side, if you are +wishing and trying that the good nature in you should conquer the +bad, then you are on the side of God himself, and God himself is +on your side; and ‘if God be for you, who shall be against +you?’ Before all worlds, from eternity itself, God +said, ‘Let us make man in our own likeness;’ and +nothing can hinder God’s word but the man himself. +The word of God comes down, says the prophet, as the rain and the +dew from heaven, and, like the rain and dew, returns not to him +void, but prospers in the thing whereto he sends it; only if the +ground be hard and barren, and determined to bring forth thorns +and briars, rather than corn and fruit, is it cursed, and near to +burning; and only if a man loves his fallen nature better than +the noble, just, loving, generous grace of God, and gives himself +willingly up to the likeness of the beasts which perish, can +God’s purpose towards him become of none effect.</p> +<p>Take courage, then. If thou dislikest thy sins, so does +God. If thou art fighting against thy worse feelings, so is +God. On thy side is God who made all, and Christ who died +for all, and the Holy Spirit who alone gives wisdom, purity, +nobleness. How canst thou fail when he is on thy +side? On thy side are all spirits of just men made perfect, +all wise and good souls and persons in earth and heaven, all good +and wholesome influences, whether of nature or of grace, of +matter or of mind. How canst thou fail if they are on thy +side? God, I say, and all that God has made, are working +together to bring true of thee the word of God—‘And +God saw all that he had made, and behold it was very +good.’ Believe, and endure to the end, and thou shalt +be found in Christ at the last day; and, being in Christ, have +thy share at last in the blessing which the Father pronounces +everlastingly on Christ, and on the members of Christ, +‘This is my beloved son, in whom I am well +pleased.’ Amen.</p> +<h2><a name="page236"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +236</span>SERMON XXX.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">TRUE PRUDENCE.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Matthew</span> vi. 34.</p> +<p>Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow: for the morrow +shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient +unto the day is the evil thereof.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Let</span> me say a few words to you on +this text. Be not anxious, it tells you. And +why? Because you have to be prudent. In practice, +fretting and anxiety help no man towards prudence. We must +all be as prudent and industrious as we can; agreed. But +does fretting make us the least more prudent? Does anxiety +make us the least more industrious? On the contrary, I know +nothing which cripples a man more, and hinders him working +manfully, than anxiety. Look at the worst case of +all—at a man who is melancholy, and fancies that all is +going wrong with him, and that he must be ruined, and has a mind +full of all sorts of dark, hopeless, fancies. Does he work +any the more, or try to escape one of these dangers which he +fancies are hanging over him? So far from it, he gives +himself up to them without a struggle; he sits moping, helpless, +and useless, and says, ‘There is no use in +struggling. If it will come, it must come.’ He +has lost spirit for work, and lost the mind for work, too. +His mind is so full of these dark fears that he cannot turn it to +laying any prudent plan to escape from the very things which he +dreads.</p> +<p>And so, in a less degree, with people who fret and are +anxious. They may be in a great bustle, but they do not get +their work done. They run hither and thither, trying this +and that, but leaving everything half done, to fly off to +something else. Or else they spend time unprofitably in +dreaming, and expecting, and complaining, which might be spent +profitably in working. And they are always apt to lose +their heads, and their tempers, just when they need them most; to +do in their hurry the very last things which they ought to have +done; to try so many roads that they choose the wrong road after +all, from mere confusion, and run with open eyes into the very +pit which they have been afraid of falling into. As we say +here, they will go all through the wood to cut a straight stick, +and bring out a crooked one at last. My friends, even in a +mere worldly way, the men whom I have seen succeed best in life +have always been cheerful and hopeful men, who went about their +business with a smile on their faces, and took the changes and +chances of this mortal life like men, facing rough and smooth +alike as it came, and so found the truth of the old proverb, that +‘Good times, and bad times, and all times pass +over.’ Of all men, perhaps, who have lived in our +days, the most truly successful was the great Duke of Wellington; +and one thing, I believe, which helped him most to become great, +was that he was so wonderfully free from vain fretting and +complaining, free from useless regrets about the past, from +useless anxieties for the future. Though he had for years +on his shoulders a responsibility which might have well broken +down the spirit of any man; though the lives of thousands of +brave men, and the welfare of great kingdoms—ay, humanly +speaking, the fate of all Europe—depended on his using his +wisdom in the right place, and one mistake might have brought +ruin and shame on him and on tens of thousands; yet no one ever +saw him anxious, confused, terrified. Though for many years +he was much tried and hampered, and unjustly and foolishly kept +from doing his work as he knew it ought to be down, yet when the +time came for work, his head was always clear, his spirit was +always ready; and therefore he succeeded in the most marvellous +way. Solomon says, ‘Better is he that ruleth his +spirit, than he that taketh a city.’ Now the Great +Duke had learnt in most things to rule his spirit, and therefore +he was able not only to take cities, but to do better still, to +deliver cities,—ay, and whole countries—out of the +hand of armies often far stronger, humanly speaking, than his +own.</p> +<p>And for an example of what I mean I will tell you a story of +him which I know to be true. Some one once asked him what +his secret was for winning battles. And he said that he had +no secret; that he did not know how to win battles, and that no +man knew. For all, he said, that man could do, was to look +beforehand steadily at all the chances, and lay all possible +plans beforehand: but from the moment the battle began, he said, +no mortal prudence was of use, and no mortal man could know what +the end would be. A thousand new accidents might spring up +every hour, and scatter all his plaits to the winds; and all that +man could do was to comfort himself with the thought that he had +done his best, and to trust in God.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, learn a lesson from this, a lesson for the +battle of life, which every one of us has to fight from our +cradle to our grave—the battle against misery, poverty, +misfortune, sickness; the battle against worse enemies even than +they—the battle against our own weak hearts, and the sins +which so easily beset us against laziness, dishonesty, +profligacy, bad tempers, hard-heartedness, deserved disgrace, the +contempt of our neighbours, and just punishment from Almighty +God. Take a lesson, I say, from the Great Duke for the +battle of life. Be not fretful and anxious about the +morrow. Face things like men; count the chances like men; +lay your plans like men: but remember, like men, that a fresh +chance may any moment spoil all your plans; remember that there +are thousand dangers round you from which your prudence cannot +save you. Do your best; and then like the Great Duke, +comfort yourselves with the thought that you have done your best; +and like him, trust in God. Remember that God is really and +in very truth your Father, and that without him not a sparrow +falls to the ground; and are ye not of more value than many +sparrows, O ye of little faith? Remember that he knows what +you have need of before you ask him; that he gives you all day +long of his own free generosity a thousand things for which you +never dream of asking him; and believe that in all the chances +and changes of this life, in bad luck as well as in good, in +failure as well as success, in poverty as well as wealth, in +sickness as well as health, he is giving you and me, and all +mankind good gifts, which we in our ignorance, and our natural +dread of what is unpleasant, should never dream of asking him +for: but which are good for us nevertheless; like him from whom +they come, the Father of lights, from whom comes every good and +perfect gift; who is neither neglectful, capricious, or spiteful, +for in him is neither variableness, nor shadow of turning, but +who is always loving unto every man, and his mercy is over all +his works.</p> +<p>Bear this in mind, my friends, in all the troubles of +life—that you have a Father in heaven who knows what you +have need of before you ask him, and your infirmity in asking, +and who is wont—is regularly accustomed all day +long—to give you more than either you desire or +deserve. And bear it in mind even more carefully, if you +ever become anxious and troubled about your own soul, and the +life to come.</p> +<p>Many people are troubled with such anxieties, and are +continually asking, ‘Shall I be saved or not?’ +In some this anxiety comes from bad teaching, and the hearing of +false, cruel, and superstitious doctrine. In others it +seems to be mere bodily disease, constitutional weakness and +fearfulness, which prevents their fighting against dark and sad +thoughts when they arise; but in both cases I think that it is +the devil himself who tempts them, the devil himself who takes +advantage of their bodily weakness, or of the false doctrines +which they have heard, and begins whispering in their ears, +‘You have no Father in heaven. God does not love +you. His promises are not meant for you. He does not +will your salvation, but your damnation, and there is no hope for +you;’ till the poor soul falls into what is called +religious melancholy, and moping madness, and despair, and dread +of the devil; and often believes that the devil has got complete +power over him, and that he is the slave of Satan for ever, till, +in some cases, the man is even driven to kill himself in the +agony of his despair.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, the true answer to all such dark thoughts is, +‘Your Heavenly Father knows what you have need of before +you ask him; therefore be not anxious about the morrow, for the +morrow shall take care for the things of itself; sufficient for +the day is the evil thereof.’</p> +<p>For in the first place, my friends, the devil was a liar from +the beginning, and therefore the chances are a million to one +against his speaking the truth in any case; and if he tells you +that you are going to be damned, I should take that for a fair +sign that you were <i>not</i> going to be damned, simply because +the devil says it, and therefore it <i>cannot</i> be true. +No, my friends, the people who have real reason to be afraid are +just those who are not afraid—the self-conceited, +self-satisfied souls; for the devil attacks them too, as he does +every one, by their weakest point, and has his lie ready for +them, and whispers, ‘You are all right; you are safe; you +cannot fall; your salvation is sure.’ Or else, +‘You hold the right doctrine; you are orthodox, and +perfectly right, and whoever differs from you must be +wrong;’ and so tempts them to vain confidence and unclean +living, or else into pride, hardness of heart, self-willed and +self-conceited quarrelling and slandering and lying for the sake +of their own party in the Church. It is the self-confident +ones who have reason to fear and tremble; for after pride comes a +fall. They have reason to fear, lest while they are crying +peace and safety, and thanking God that they are not as other men +are, sudden destruction come on them; but you anxious, trembling +souls, who are terrified at the sight of your own sins you who +feel how weak you are, and ignorant, and confused, and unworthy +to do aught but cry, ‘God be merciful to me a +sinner!’ you are the very ones who have least reason to be +afraid, just because you are most afraid: you are the true +penitents over whom your Father in heaven rejoices; you are those +of whom he has said, ‘I am the High and Holy One who +inhabiteth eternity; yet I dwell with him that is of an humble +and contrite heart, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to +comfort the soul of the contrite ones;’ as he will revive +and comfort you, if you will only have faith in God, and take +your stand on your baptism, and from that safe ground defy the +devil and all his dark imaginations, saying, ‘I am +God’s child, and God is my father, and Christ’s blood +was shed for me, and the Holy Spirit of God is with me; and in +the strength of my baptism, I will hope against hope; I trust in +the Lord my God, who has called me into this state of salvation, +that he will keep to the end the soul which I have committed to +him through Jesus Christ my Lord.’</p> +<p>Yes. Be not anxious for the morrow, and much more, be +not anxious for the life to come. Your Heavenly Father knew +that you had need of salvation long before you asked him. +Eighteen hundred years before you were born, he sent his Son into +the world to die for you; when you were but an infant he called +you to be baptized into his Church, and receive your share of his +Spirit. Long before you thought of him, he thought of you; +long before you loved him, he loved you; and if he so loved you, +that he spared not his only begotten Son, but freely gave him for +you, will he not with that Son freely give you all things? +Therefore, fear not, little flock; it is your Father’s good +pleasure to give you the kingdom.</p> +<p>And be not anxious about the morrow; for the morrow shall be +anxious about the things of itself. Be anxious about +to-day, if you will; and ‘work out your salvation with fear +and trembling;’ for it is God who works in you to will and +to do of his good pleasure; and therefore you can do right; and +therefore, again, it is your own fault if you do not do +right. And yet, for that very reason, be not over anxious; +for ‘if God be with you, who can be against +you?’ If God, who is so mighty that he made all +heaven and earth, be on our side, surely stronger is he that is +with you than he that is against you. If God, who so loved +you that he gave his only begotten Son for you, be on your side, +surely you have a friend whom you can trust. ‘What +can part you from his love?’ St. Paul asks you; from +God’s love, which is as boundless and eternal as God +himself; nothing can part you from it, but your own sin.</p> +<p>‘But I do sin,’ you say, ‘again and again, +and that is what makes me fearful. I try to do better, but +I fall and I fail all day long. I try not to be covetous +and worldly, but poverty tempts me, and I fall; I try to keep my +temper, but people upset me, and I say things of which I am +bitterly ashamed the next minute. Can God love such a one +as me?’ My answer is, If God loved the whole world +when it was dead in trespasses and sins, and <i>not</i> trying to +be better, much more will he love you who are not dead in +trespasses and sins, and are trying to be better. If he +were not still helping you; if his Spirit were not with you, you +would care no more to become better than a dog or an ox +cares. And if you fall—why, arise again. Get +up, and go on. You may be sorely bruised, and soiled with +your fall, but is that any reason for lying still, and giving up +the struggle cowardly? In the name of Jesus Christ, arise +and walk. He will wash you, and you shall be clean. +He will heal you, and you shall be strong again. What else +can a traveller expect who is going over rough ground in the +dark, but to fall and bruise himself, and to miss his way too +many a time: but is that any reason for his sitting down in the +middle of the moor, and saying, ‘I shall never get to my +journey’s end?’ What else can a soldier expect, +but wounds, and defeat, too, often; but is that any reason for +his running away, and crying, ‘We shall never take the +place?’ If our brave men at Sebastopol had done so, +and lost heart each time they were beaten back, not only would +they have never taken the place, but the Russians would have +driven them long ago into the sea, and perhaps not a man of them +would have escaped. And, be sure of it, your battle is like +theirs. Every one of us has to fight for the everlasting +life of his soul against all the devils of hell, and there is no +use in running away from them; they will come after us stronger +than ever, unless we go to face them. As with our men at +Sebastopol, unless we beat the enemy, the enemy will destroy us; +and our only hope is to fight to-day’s battle like men, in +the strength which God gives us, and trust him to give us +strength to fight to-morrow’s battle too, when it +comes. For here again, as it was at Sebastopol, so it is +with our souls. Let our men be as prudent as they might, +they never knew what to-morrow’s battle would be like, or +where the enemy might come upon them; and no more do we. +They in general could not see the very enemy who was close on +them; and no more can we see our enemy, near to us though he +is. To-morrow’s temptations may be quite different +from to-day’s. To-day we may be tempted to be +dishonest, to-morrow to lose our tempers, the day afterwards to +be vain and conceited, and a hundred other things. Let the +morrow be anxious about the things of itself, then; and face +to-day’s enemy, and do the duty which lies nearest +you. Our brave men did so. They kept themselves +watchful, and took all the precautions they could in a general +way, just as we ought to do each in his own habits and temper; +but the great business was, to go steadily on at their work, and +do each day what they could do, instead of giving way to vain +fears and fancies about what they might have to do some day, +which would have only put them out of heart, and confused and +distracted them. And so it came to pass, that as their day +so their strength was; that each day they got forward somewhat, +and had strength and courage left besides to drive back each new +assault as it came; and so at last, after many mistakes and many +failures, through sickness and weakness, thirst and hunger, and +every misery except fear which can fall on man, they conquered +suddenly, and beyond their highest hopes:—as every one will +conquer suddenly, and beyond his highest hope, who fights on +manfully under Christ’s banner against sin; against the sin +in himself, and in his neighbours, and in his parish, and faces +the devil and his works wheresoever he may meet them, sure that +the devil and his works must be conquered at the last, because +God’s wrath is gone out against them, and Christ, who +executes God’s wrath, will never sheath his sword till he +has put all enemies under his feet, and death be swallowed up in +victory.</p> +<p>Therefore be not anxious about the morrow. Do +to-day’s duty, fight to-day’s temptation; and do not +weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things which +you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them. +Enough for you that your Saviour for whom you fight is just and +merciful; for he rewardeth every man according to his work. +Enough for you that he has said, ‘He that is faithful unto +death, I will give him a crown of life.’ Enough for +you that if you be faithful over a few things, he will make you +ruler over many things, and bring you into his joy for +evermore.</p> +<p>But as for vain fears, leave them to those who will not +believe God’s message concerning himself—that he is +love, and his mercy over all his works. Leave them for +those who deny God’s righteousness, by denying that he has +had pity on this poor fallen world, but has left it to itself and +its sins, without sending any one to save it. And for real +fears, leave them for those who have no fears; for those who +think they see, and yet are blind; who think themselves orthodox +and infallible, and beyond making a mistake, every man his own +Pope; who say that they see, and therefore their sin remaineth; +for those who thank God that they are not as other men are, and +who will find the publicans and harlots entering into the kingdom +of heaven before them; and for those who continue in sin that +grace may abound, and call themselves Christians, while they +bring shame on the name of Christ by their own evil lives, by +their worldliness and profligacy, or by their bitterness and +quarrelsomeness; who make religious profession a by-word and a +mockery in the mouths of the ungodly, and cause Christ’s +little ones to stumble. Let them be afraid, if they will; +for it were better for them that a millstone were hanged about +their neck, and they were drowned in the midst of the sea. +But those who hate their sins, and long to leave their sins +behind; those who distrust themselves—let them not be +anxious about the morrow; for to-morrow, and to-day, and for +ever, the Almighty Father is watching over them, the Lord Jesus +guiding them wisely and tenderly, and the Holy Spirit inspiring +them more and more to do all those good works which God has +prepared for them to walk in, and to conquer in the life-long +battle against sin, the world, and the devil.</p> +<h2><a name="page249"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +249</span>SERMON XXXI.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE PENITENT THIEF.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Luke</span> xxiii. 42, 43.</p> +<p>And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest +into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say +unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> story of the penitent thief is +a most beautiful and affecting one. Christians’ +hearts, in all times, have clung to it for comfort, not only for +themselves, but for those whom they loved. Indeed, some +people think that we are likely to be too fond of the +story. They have been afraid lest people should build too +much on it; lest they should fancy that it gives them licence to +sin, and lead bad lives, all their days, provided only they +repent at last; lest it should countenance too much what is +called a death-bed repentance.</p> +<p>Now, God forbid that I should try to narrow Christ’s +Gospel. Who am I, to settle who shall be saved, and who +shall not? When the disciples asked the Lord Jesus, +‘Are there few that be saved?’ he would not tell +them. And what Christ did not choose to tell, I am not +likely to know.</p> +<p>But I must say openly, that I cannot see what the story of the +penitent thief has to do with a death-bed repentance; and for +this plain reason, that the penitent thief did not die in his +bed.</p> +<p>On the contrary, he received the due reward of his +deeds. He was crucified; publicly executed, by the most +shameful, painful, and lingering torture; and confessed that it +was no more than he deserved.</p> +<p>Therefore, if any man say to himself—and I am afraid +that some do say to themselves—‘I know I am leading a +bad life; and I have no mind to mend it yet; the penitent thief +repented at the last, and was forgiven; so I dare say that I +shall be;’ one has a right to answer him—‘Very +well; but you must first put yourself in the penitent +thief’s place. Are you willing to be hanged, or worse +than hanged, as a punishment for your sins in this world? +For, till then, the penitent thief would certainly not be on the +same footing as you.’</p> +<p>If a man says to himself, I will go on sinning now, on the +chance of repenting at last, and ‘making my peace with +God,’ he is not like the penitent thief, he is much more +like a famous Emperor of Rome, who, though a Christian in name, +put off his baptism till his death-bed, fancying that by it his +sins would be washed away, once and for all, and made use of the +meantime in murdering his eldest son and his nephew, and +committing a thousand follies and cruelties. Whether his +death-bed repentance, purposely put off in order to give him time +to sin, was of any use to him, let your own consciences +judge.</p> +<p>Has, then, this story of the penitent thief no comfort for +us? God forbid! Why else was it put into +Christ’s Gospel of good news? Surely, there is +comfort in it.</p> +<p>Only let us take the story honestly, and word for word as it +stands. So we may hope to be taught by it what it was meant +to teach us.</p> +<p>He was a robber. The word means, not a petty thief, but +a robber; and his being put to such a terrible death shows the +same thing. Most probably he had belonged to one of the +bands of robbers which haunted the mountains of Judea in those +days, as they used in old times to haunt the forests in England, +and as they do now in Italy and Spain, and other waste and wild +countries. Some of these robbers would, of course, be +shameless and hardened ruffians; as that robber seems to have +been who insulted our Lord upon the very cross. Others +among them would not be lost to all sense of good. Young +men who got into trouble ran away from home, and joined these +robber-bands, and found pleasure in the wild and dangerous +life.</p> +<p>There is a beautiful story told of such a young robber in the +life of the blessed Apostle St. John. A young man at +Ephesus who had become a Christian, and of whom St. John was very +fond, got into trouble while St. John was away, and had to flee +for his life into the mountains. There he joined a band of +robbers, and was so daring and desperate that they soon chose him +as their captain. St. John came back, and found the poor +lad gone. St. John had stood at the foot of the cross years +before, and heard his Lord pardon the penitent thief; and he knew +how to deal with such wild souls. And what did he do? +Give him up for lost? No! He set off, old as he was, +by himself, straight for the mountains, in spite of the warnings +of his friends that he would be murdered, and that this young man +was the most desperate and bloodthirsty of all the robbers. +At last he found the young robber. And what did the robber +do? As soon as he saw St. John coming—before St. John +could speak a word to him, he turned, and ran away for shame; and +old St. John followed him, never saying a harsh word to him, but +only crying after him, ‘My son, my son, come back to your +father!’ and at last he found him, where he was hidden, and +held him by his clothes, and embraced him, and pleaded with him +so, that the poor fellow burst into tears, and let St. John lead +him away; and so that blessed St. John went down again to Ephesus +in joy and triumph, bringing his lost lamb with him.</p> +<p>Now, such a man one can well believe this penitent thief to +have been. A man who, however bad he had been, had never +lost the feeling that he was meant for better things; whose +conscience had never died out in him. He may have been such +a man. He <i>must</i> have been such a man. For such +faith as he showed on the cross does not grow up in an hour or a +day. I do not mean the feeling that he deserved his +punishment (that might come to a man very suddenly) but the +feeling that Christ was the Lord, and the King of the Jews. +He must have bought that by terrible struggles of mind, by bitter +shame and self-reproach. He had heard, I suppose, of +Christ’s miracles and mercy, of his teaching, of his being +the friend of publicans and sinners, had admired the Lord Jesus, +and thought him excellent and noble. But he could not have +done that without the Holy Spirit of God. It was the Holy +Spirit striving with his sinful heart, which convinced him of +Christ’s righteousness. But the Holy Spirit would +have convinced him, too, of his own sin. The more he +admired our Lord, the more he must have despised himself for +being unlike our Lord; and, doubt it not, he had passed many +bitter hours, perhaps bitter years, seeing what was right, and +yet doing what was wrong from bad habits or bad company, before +he came to his end upon the gallows-tree. And there while +he hung in torture on the cross, the whole truth came to him at +last. God’s Spirit shone truly on him at last, and +divided the light from the darkness in his poor wretched +heart. All the good which had been in him came out once and +for all. Christ’s light had been shining in the +darkness of his heart, and the darkness had been trying to take +it in, and close over it, but it could not; and now the light had +conquered the darkness, and all was clear to him at last. +He never despised himself so much, he never admired Christ so +much, as when they hung side by side in the same +condemnation. Side by side they hung, scorned alike, +crucified alike, seemingly come alike to open shame and +ruin. And yet he could see that though he deserved all his +misery, that the man who hung by him not only did not deserve it, +but was his Lord, the Lord, the King of the Jews, and +that—of course he knew not how—the cross would not +destroy him; that he would come in his kingdom. How he +found out that, no man can tell; the Spirit of God taught him, +the Spirit of God alone, to see in that crucified man the Lord of +glory, and to cast himself humbly before his love and power, in +hope that there might be mercy even for him—‘Lord, +remember me when thou comest to thy kingdom.’ There +was faith indeed, and humility indeed; royal faith and royal +humility coming out in that dying robber. And so, if you +ask—How was that robber justified by his works? How +could his going into Paradise be the receiving of the due reward +of the deeds done in his body whether they be good or evil. +I say he <i>was</i> justified by his works. He <i>did</i> +receive the due reward of his deeds. One great and noble +deed, even that saying of his in his dying agony,—that +showed that whatever his heart had been, it was now right with +God. He could not only confess God’s justice against +sin in his own punishment, but he could see God’s beauty, +God’s glory, yea, God himself in that man who hung by him, +helpless like himself, scourged like himself, crucified like +himself, like himself a scorn to men. He could know that +Christ was Christ, even on the cross, and know that Christ would +conquer yet, and come to his kingdom. That was indeed a +faith in the merits of Christ enough to justify him or any man +alive.</p> +<p>Now what has all this to do with you or me living an easy, +comfortable life in sin here, and hoping to die an easy, +comfortable death after all, and get to heaven by having in a +clergyman to read and pray a little with us; and saying a few +words of formal repentance, when perhaps our body and our mind +are so worn out and dulled by illness that we hardly know what we +say? No, my friends, if our hearts be right, we shall not +think of the penitent thief to give us comfort about our own +souls; but we shall think of it and love it, to give us comfort +about the souls of many a man or woman for whom we care.</p> +<p>How many men there are who are going wrong, very wrong; and +yet whom we cannot help liking, even loving! In the midst +of all their sins, there is something in them which will not let +us give them up. Perhaps, kind-heartedness. Perhaps, +an honest respect for good men, and for good and right conduct; +loving the better, while they choose the worse. Perhaps, a +real shame and sorrow when they have broken out and done wrong; +and even though we know that they will go and do wrong again, we +cannot help liking them, cannot give them up. Then let us +believe that God will not give them up, any more than he gave up +the penitent thief. If there be something in them that we +love, let us believe that God loves it also; and what is more, +that God put it into them, as he did into the penitent thief; and +let us hope (we cannot of course be certain, but we may hope) +that God will take care of it, and make it conquer, as he did in +the penitent thief. Let us hope that God’s light will +conquer their darkness; God’s strength conquer their +weakness; God’s peace, their violence; God’s heavenly +grace their earthly passions. Let us hope for them, I +say.</p> +<p>When we hear, as we often hear, people say, ‘What a +noble-hearted man that is after all, and yet he is going to the +devil!’ let us remember the penitent thief and have +hope. Who would have seemed to have gone to the devil more +hopelessly than that poor thief when he hung upon the +cross? And yet the devil did not have him. There was +in him a seed of good, and of eternal life, which the devil had +not trampled out; and that seed flowered and bore fruit upon the +very cross in noble thoughts and words and deeds. Why may +it not be so with others? True, they may receive the due +reward of their deeds. They may end in shame and misery, +like the penitent thief. Perhaps it may be good for them to +do so. If a man will sow the wind, it may be good for him +to reap the whirlwind, and so find out that sowing the wind will +not prosper. The penitent thief did so. As the +proverb is, he sowed the gallows-acorn, poor wretch, and he +reaped the gallows-tree; but that gallows-tree taught him to +confess God’s justice, and his own sin, and so it may teach +others.</p> +<p>Yes, let us hope; and when we see some one whom we love, and +cannot help loving, bringing misery on himself by his own folly, +let us hope and pray that the day may come to him when, in the +midst of his misery, all that better nature in him shall come out +once and for all, and he shall cry out of the deep to Christ, +‘I only receive the due reward of my deeds; I have earned +my shame; I have earned my sorrow. Lord, I have deserved it +all. I look back on wasted time and wasted powers. I +look round on ruined health, ruined fortune, ruined hopes, and +confess that I deserve it all. But thou hast endured more +than this for me, though thou hast deserved nothing, and hast +done nothing amiss. Thou hast done nothing amiss by +me. Thou hast been fair to me, and given me a fair chance; +and more than that, thou hast endured all for me. For me +thou didst suffer; for me thou hast been crucified; and me thou +hast been trying to seek and to save all through the years of my +vanity. Perhaps I have not wearied out thy love; perhaps I +have not conquered thy patience. I will take the blessed +chance. I will still cast myself upon thy love. Lord, +I have deserved all my misery; yet, Lord, remember me when thou +comest into thy kingdom.</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, let us hope that that prayer will go up, even +out of the wildest heart, in God’s good time; and that it +will not go up in vain.</p> +<h2><a name="page258"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +258</span>SERMON XXXII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE TEMPER OF CHRIST.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Philippians</span> ii. 4.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Let this mind be in you, which was +also in Christ Jesus.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">What</span> mind? What sort of mind +and temper ought to be in us? St. Paul tells us in this +chapter, very plainly and at length, what sort of temper he +means; and how it showed itself in Christ; and how it ought to +show itself in us.</p> +<p>‘All of you,’ he tells us, ‘be like-minded, +having the same love; being of one accord, of one mind. Let +nothing be done through strife or vain-glory: but in lowliness of +mind let each esteem others better than himself. Look not +every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of +others.’</p> +<p>First, be like-minded, having the same love. Men cannot +all be of exactly the same opinion on every point, simply because +their characters are different; and the old proverb, ‘Many +men, many minds,’ will stand true in one sense to the end +of the world. But in another sense it need not. +People may differ in little matters of opinion, without hating +and despising, and speaking ill of each other on these points; +they may agree to differ, and yet keep the same love toward God +and toward each other; they may keep up a kindly feeling toward +each other; and they will do so, if they have in their hearts the +same love of God. If we really love God, and long to do +good, and to work for God; if we really love our neighbours, and +wish to help them, then we shall have no heart to +quarrel—indeed, we shall have no time to +quarrel—about <i>how</i> the good is to be done, provided +<i>it is</i> done; and we shall remember our Lord’s own +words to St. John, when St. John said, ‘Master, we saw one +casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: wilt +thou therefore that we forbid him?’</p> +<p>And Jesus said, ‘Forbid him <i>not</i>.’</p> +<p>‘Forbid him not,’ said Jesus himself. He +that hath ears to hear his Saviour’s words, let him +hear.</p> +<p>‘Therefore,’ St. Paul says, ‘let nothing be +done through strife or vain-glory.’ It is a very sad +thing to think that the human heart is so corrupt, that we should +be tempted to do good, and to show our piety, through strife or +vain-glory. But so it is. Party spirit, pride, the +wish to show the world how pious we are, the wish to make +ourselves out better and more reverent than our neighbours, too +often creep into our prayers and our worship, and turn our feasts +of charity into feasts of uncharitableness, vanity, ambition.</p> +<p>So it was in St. Paul’s time. Some, he says, +preached Christ out of contention, hoping to add affliction to +his bonds. Not that he hated them for it, or tried to stop +them. Any way, he said, Christ was preached, whether out of +party-spirit against him, or out of love to Christ; any way +Christ was preached: and he would and did rejoice in that +thought. Again I say, ‘He that hath ears to hear, let +him hear.’</p> +<p>‘Esteem others better than ourselves?’ God +forgive us! which of us does that? Is not one’s first +feeling not ‘Others are better than me,’ but ‘I +am as good as my neighbour, and perhaps better too?’ +People say it, and act up to it also, every day. If we +would but take St. Paul’s advice, and be humble; if we +would take more for granted that our neighbours have common sense +as well as we, experience as well as we, the wish to do right as +well as we—and perhaps more than we have; and therefore +listen <i>humbly</i> (that is St. Paul’s word, bitter +though it may be to our carnal pride), listen humbly to every one +who is in earnest, or speaks of what he knows and feels! +People are better than we fancy, and have more in them than we +fancy; and if they do not show that they have, it is three times +out of four our own fault. Instead of esteeming them better +than ourselves, and asking their advice, and calling out their +experience, we are too in such a hurry to show them that we are +better than they, and to thrust our advice upon them, that we +give them no encouragement to speak, often no time to speak; and +so they are silent and think the more, and remain shut up in +themselves, and often pass for stupider people and worse people +than they really are. Because we will not begin by doing +justice to our neighbours, we prevent them doing justice to +themselves.</p> +<p>Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on +the things of others. Ah, my friends, if we could but do +that heartily and always, what a different world it would be, and +what different people we should be! If, instead of saying +to ourselves, as one is so apt to do, ‘Will this suit my +interest? will this help me?’ we would recollect to say +too, ‘Will this suit my neighbours’ interest? +Will this harm my neighbours, though it may help me? For if +it hurts them, I will have nothing to do with it.’</p> +<p>If, again, instead of saying to ourselves, as we are too apt +to do, ‘This is what I like, and done it shall be,’ +we would generously and courteously think more of what other +people like; what will please them, instruct them, comfort them, +soften for them the cares of life, and lighten the burden of +mortality—how much happier would not only they be, but we +also!</p> +<p>For this, my friends, is the very likeness of Christ, who +pleased not himself; the very likeness of Christ, who sacrificed +himself.</p> +<p>And for this very reason St. Paul puts it the last of all his +advices, because it is the greatest; the summing up of all; the +fulfilment of the whole law, which says, ‘Thou shalt love +thy neighbour as thyself;’ and therefore after it he can +give no more advice, for there is none better left to give: but +he goes on at once to speak of Christ, who fulfilled that whole +law of love, and more than fulfilled it; for instead of merely +loving his neighbours <i>as</i> he loved himself (which is all +God asks of us), Christ loved his enemies better than himself, +and died for them.</p> +<p>So says St. Paul.—‘Look not every man on his own +things, but on other people’s interest and comfort +also. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ +Jesus.’ What mind? The mind which looks not +merely on its own things, its own interest, its own reputation, +its own opinions, likes, and dislikes, but on those of others, +and has learnt to live and let live.</p> +<p>Yes, this, he says, is the mind of Christ. And this +mind, and spirit, and temper, he showed before all heaven and +earth, when, though he was in the form of God, and therefore, (as +some interpret the text) would have done no robbery, no +injustice, by remaining for ever equal with God (that is, in the +co-equal and co-eternal glory which he had with the Father), yet +made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a +slave, and was obedient to death, even the death of the +cross.</p> +<p>My friends, I beseech you, young and old, rich and poor, +remember the full meaning of these glorious words, and of those +which follow them.</p> +<p>‘Wherefore God hath highly exalted him.’ +Why? What was it in Christ which was so precious, so +glorious, in the eyes of the Almighty Father, that no reward +seemed too great for him? What but this very spirit of +fellow-feeling and tenderness, charity, self-sacrifice—even +the Holy Spirit of God himself, with which Christ was filled +without measure?</p> +<p>Because Christ utterly and perfectly looked not on his own +things, but on the things of others: because he was pity itself, +patience itself, love itself, in the soul and body of a human +being; therefore his Father declared of him, ‘This, this is +my well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ +Therefore it was that he highly exalted him; therefore it was +that he proclaimed him to be worthy of all honour and worship, +the most perfect, lovely, admirable, and adorable of all beings +in heaven and earth; not merely because he showed himself to be +light of light, or wisdom of wisdom, or power of power; but +because he showed himself to be love of love, and therefore very +God of very God begotten, whom men and angels could not +reverence, admire, adore, imitate too much, but were to see in +him the perfection of all beauty, all virtue, all greatness, the +likeness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of +his person.</p> +<p>And therefore it is a very good and beautiful old custom to +bow when the name of Jesus is mentioned; at least, when it is +mentioned for the first time, or under any very solemn +circumstances. It helps to remind us that he is really our +King and Lord. It helps, too, to remind us that he is +actually and really near us, standing by us, looking at us face +to face, though we see him not; and I am willing to say for +myself that whenever I recollect that he is looking at me (alas! +that is not a hundredth part often enough), I cannot help bowing +almost without any will of my own. But, remember, there is +no commandment for it. It is just one of those things on +which a Christian is free to do what he likes, and for which +every Christian is forbidden to judge or blame another, according +to St. Paul’s rule, He that observeth the day, to the Lord +he observeth it; and he that observeth it not, to the Lord he +observeth it not. Who art thou that judgest another? +To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, and he shall +stand, for God is able to make him stand. Beside, the text +says, if we are to take it literally, as we always ought with +Scripture, not that every <i>head</i> shall bow at the name of +Jesus, but every knee. And to kneel down every time we +repeat that holy name would be impossible. While, on the +other hand, we <i>do</i> bow our knees, literally and in earnest, +at the name of Jesus every time we kneel down in church, every +time we kneel down to say our prayers. And if any man is +content with that, no one has the least right to blame him.</p> +<p>Besides, my friends, there is, I know too well, a great danger +in making too much of these little outward ceremonies, especially +with children and young people. For the heart of man is +just as fond as it ever was of idolatry, and superstition, and +will-worship, and voluntary humility, and paying tithe of mint, +anise, and cummin, while it neglects the weightier matters of the +law, justice, mercy, and judgment: and, therefore, there is very +great danger, if we make too much of these ceremonies, harmless +and even good as many of them may be, of getting to rest in them, +and thinking that God is pleased with them themselves. +Whereas, what God looks at is the heart, the spirit, the soul; +and whether it is right or wrong, proud or humble, hard or +loving: and if we think so much of the outward and visible form, +that we forget the inward and spiritual grace, for which it ought +to stand, then we lay a snare for our own souls to turn them away +from the worship of the living God, and break the second +commandment. Much more, if we pride ourselves on being more +reverent than our neighbours in these outward forms, and look +down on, and grudge at, those who do not practise them; for then +we turn our humility into pride, and our reverence to Christ into +an insult to him; for the true way to honour Christ is to copy +Christ. No one really honours and admires Christ’s +character who does not copy him; and to esteem ourselves better +than others, to say in our hearts, ‘Stand by, for I am +holier than thou,’ to offend and drive away Christ’s +little ones, and wound the consciences of weak brethren by +insisting on things against which they have a prejudice, is to +run exactly counter to Christ and the mind of Christ, and to be +more like the Pharisees than the Lord Jesus. That is not +surely esteeming others better than ourselves: that is not surely +looking not merely on our own things, but also on the things of +others; that is not fulfilling the law of love; that is not +following St. Paul’s example, who gave up, he says, doing +many things which he thought right, because they offended weaker +spirits than his own. ‘All things,’ he says, +‘are lawful to me, but all things are not +expedient.’ ‘Ay,’ says he, ‘I would +eat no meat while the world standeth, if it cause my brother to +offend.’</p> +<p>No, my dear friends, let us rather, in this coming Passion +week, take the lesson which the services of the Church give us in +this Epistle. Let us keep Passion week really and in +spirit, by remembering that it means the week of suffering, in +which Christ, instead of pleasing himself, conquered himself, and +gave up himself, and let wicked men do with him whatsoever they +would. Let us honour the holy name of Jesus in spirit and +in truth, and bend not merely our necks or our knees, when we +hear his name, but bend those stiff necks of our souls, and those +stubborn knees of our hearts; let us conquer our self-will, +self-opinion, self-conceit, self-interest, and take his yoke upon +us, for he is meek and lowly of heart. This is the Passion +week which he has chosen;—to distrust ourselves, and our +own opinions, likings and fancies. This is the repentance, +and this is the humiliation which he has chosen;—to entreat +him (now and at once, lest by pride we give place to the devil, +and fall while we think we stand) to forgive us every hard, and +proud, and conceited, and self-willed thought, and word, and +deed, to which we have given way since we were born; to pray to +him for really new hearts, really tender hearts, really humble +hearts, really broken and contrite hearts; to look at his +beautiful tenderness, patience, sympathy, understanding, +generosity, self-sacrifice; and then to look at ourselves, and be +shocked, and ashamed, and confounded, at the difference between +ourselves and him; and so really to honour the name of Jesus, who +humbled himself, even to the death upon the cross.</p> +<p>I am not judging you, my friends; I am judging myself lest God +judge me; and telling you how to judge yourselves, lest God judge +you. Believe me, if you will but take his yoke on you, you +will find it an easy yoke and a light burden; you will find +yourselves happier, your duty simpler, your prospects clearer, +your path through life smoother, your character higher and more +amiable in the eyes of all, and you yourselves holy and fit to +share on Easter day in the precious body and blood of him who +gave himself up to death that he might draw all men to himself; +and so draw them all to each other, as children of one common +Father, and brothers of Jesus Christ your Lord.</p> +<h2><a name="page268"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +268</span>SERMON XXXIII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE FRIEND OF SINNERS.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Preached in London</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Mark</span> ii. 15, 16.</p> +<p>And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, +many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his +disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And +when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and +sinners they said onto his disciples, How is it that he eateth +and drinketh with publicans and sinners?</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> cannot wonder at the scribes and +Pharisees asking this question. I think that we should most +of us ask the same question now, if we saw the Lord Jesus, or +even if we saw any very good or venerable man, going out of his +way to eat and drink with publicans and sinners. We should +be inclined to say, as the scribes and Pharisees no doubt said, +Why go out of his way to make fellowship with them? to eat and +drink with them? He might have taught them, preached to +them, warned them of God’s wrath against their sins when he +could find them out in the street. Or, even if he could not +do that, if he could not find them all together without going +into their house, why sit down and eat and drink? Why not +say, No—I am not going to join with you in that? I am +come on a much more solemn and important errand than +eating. I have no time to eat. I must preach to you, +ere it be too late. And you would have no appetite to eat, +if you knew the terrible danger in which your souls are. +Besides, however anxious for your souls I am, you cannot expect +me to treat you as friends, to make companions of you, and accept +your hospitality, while you are living these bad lives. I +shall always feel pity and sorrow for you: but I cannot be a +table companion with you, till you begin to lead very different +lives.</p> +<p>Now if the scribes and Pharisees had said that, should we have +thought them very unreasonable? For whatsoever kinds of +sinners the sinners were, these publicans were the very worst and +lowest of company. They were not innkeepers, as the word +means now; they were a kind of tax-gatherers: but not like ours +in England. For first, these taxes were not taken by the +Jewish government, but by the Romans—heathen foreigners who +had conquered them, and kept them down by soldiery quartered in +their country. So that these publicans, who gathered taxes +and tribute for the heathen Cæsar of Rome from their own +countrymen, were traitors to their country, in league with their +foreign tyrants, as it were devouring their own flesh and blood; +and all the Jews looked on them (and really no wonder) with +hatred and contempt. Beside, these publicans did not merely +gather the taxes, as they do in free England; they farmed them, +compounded for them with the Roman emperor; that is, they had +each to bring in to the Romans a stated sum of money, each out of +his own district, and to make their own profit out of the bargain +by grinding out of the poor Jews all they could over and above; +and most probably calling in the soldiery to help them if people +would not pay. So this was a trade, as you may easily see, +which could only prosper by all kinds of petty extortion, +cruelty, and meanness; and, no doubt, these publicans were +devourers of the poor, and as unjust and hard-hearted men as one +could be. As for those ‘sinners’ who are so +often mentioned with them, I suppose this is what the word +means. These publicans making their money ill, spent it ill +also, in a low profligate way, with the worst of women and of +men. Moreover, all the other Jews shunned them, and would +not eat or keep company with them; so they hung all together, and +made company for themselves with bad people, who were fallen too +low to be ashamed of them. The publicans and harlots are +often mentioned together; and, I doubt not, they were often +eating and drinking together, God help them!</p> +<p>And God did help them. The Son of God came and ate and +drank with them. No doubt, he heard many words among them +which pained his ears, saw many faces which shocked his eyes; +faces of women who had lost all shame; faces of men hardened by +cruelty, and greediness, and cunning, till God’s image had +been changed into the likeness of the fox and the serpent; and, +worst of all, the greatest pain to him of all, he could see into +their hearts, their immortal souls, and see all the foulness +within them, all the meanness, all the hardness, all the unbelief +in anything good or true. And yet he ate and drank with +them. Make merry with them he could not: who could be merry +in such company? but he certainly so behaved to them that they +were glad to have him among them, though he was so unlike them in +thought, and word, and look, and action.</p> +<p>And why? Because, though he was so unlike them in many +things, he was like them at least in one thing. If he could +do nothing else in common with them, he could at least eat and +drink as they did, and eat and drink with them too. +Yes. He was the Son of man, the man of all men, and what he +wanted to make them understand was, that, fallen as low as they +were, they were men and women still, who were made at first in +God’s likeness, and who could be redeemed back into +God’s likeness again.</p> +<p>The only way to do that was to begin with them in the very +simplest way; to meet them on common human ground; to make them +feel that, simply because they were men and women, he felt for +them; that, simply because they were men and women, he loved +them; that, simply because they were men and women, he could not +turn his back upon them, for the sake of his Father and their +Father in heaven. If he had left those poor wretches to +themselves; if he had even merely kept apart from their common +every-day life, and preached to them, they would never have felt +that there was still hope for them, simply because they were men +and women. They would have said in their hearts, +‘See; he will talk to us: but he looks down on us all the +time. We are fallen so low, we cannot rise; we cannot +mend. What is there in us that can mend? We are +nothing but brutes, perhaps; then brutes we must remain. +Heaven is for people like him, perhaps; but not for such as +us. We are cut off from men. We have no brothers upon +earth, no Father in heaven.’ ‘Let us eat and +drink, for to-morrow we die.’</p> +<p>Yes; they would have said this; for people like them will say +it too often now, here in Christian England.</p> +<p>But when our Lord came to them, ate and drank with them, +talked with them in a homely and simple way (for our Lord’s +words are always simple and homely, grand and deep and wonderful +as they are), then do you not see how <i>self-respect</i> would +begin to rise in those poor sinners’ hearts? Not that +they would say, ‘We are better men than we thought we +were.’ No; perhaps his kindness would make them all +the more ashamed of themselves, and convince them of sin all the +more deeply; for nothing, nothing melts the sinner’s hard, +proud heart, like a few unexpected words of kindness—ay, +even a cordial shake of the hand from any one who he fancies +looks down on him. To find a loving brother, where he +expected only a threatening schoolmaster—that breaks the +sinner’s heart; and most of all when he finds that brother +in Jesus his Saviour. That—the sight of God’s +boundless love to sinners, as it is revealed in the loving face +of Jesus Christ our Lord—that, and that alone, breeds in +the sinner the broken and the contrite heart which is in the +sight of God of great price. And so, those publicans and +sinners would not have begun to say, We are better than we +thought: but, We can become better than we thought. He must +see something in us which makes him care for us. Perhaps +God may see something in us to care for. He does not turn +his back on us. Perhaps God may not. He must have +some hope of us. May we not have hope of ourselves? +Surely there is a chance for us yet. Oh! if there +were! We are miserable now in the midst of our drunkenness, +and our covetousness, and our riotous pleasures. We are +ashamed of ourselves: and our countrymen are ashamed of us: and +though we try to brazen it off by impudence, we carry heavy +hearts under bold foreheads. Oh, that we could be +different! Oh, that we could be even like what we were when +we were little children! Perhaps we may be yet. For +he treats us as if we were men and women still, his brothers and +sisters still. He thinks that we are not quite brute +animals yet, it seems. Perhaps we are not; perhaps there is +life in us yet, which may grow up to a new and better way of +living. What shall we do to be saved?</p> +<p>O blessed charity, bond of peace and of all virtues; of +brotherhood and fellow-feeling between man and man, as children +of one common Father. Ay, bond of all virtues—of +generosity and of justice, of counsel and of understanding. +Charity, unknown on earth before the coming of the Son of man, +who was content to be called gluttonous and a wine-bibber, +because he was the friend of publicans and sinners!</p> +<p>My friends, let us try to follow his steps; let us remember +all day long what it is to be <i>men</i>; that it is to have +every one whom we meet for our brother in the sight of God; that +it is this, never to meet any one, however bad he may be, for +whom we cannot say, ‘Christ died for that man, and Christ +cares for him still. He is precious in God’s eyes; he +shall be precious in mine also.’ Let us take the +counsel of the Gospel for this day, and love one another, not in +word merely—in doctrine, but in deed and in truth, really +and actually; in our every-day lives and behaviour, words, +looks—in all of them let us be cordial, feeling, pitiful, +patient, courteous. Masters with your workmen, teachers +with your pupils, parents with your children, be cordial, and +kind, and patient; respect every one, whether below you or not in +the world’s eyes. Never do a thing to any human being +which may lessen his self-respect; which may make him think that +you look down upon him, and so make him look down upon himself in +awkwardness and shyness; or else may make him start off from you, +angry and proud, saying, ‘I am as good as you; and if you +keep apart from me, I will from you; if you can do without me, I +can do without you. I want none of your +condescension.’ It is <i>not</i> so. You cannot +do without each other. We can none of us do without the +other; do not let us make any one fancy that he can, and tempt +him to wrap himself up in pride and surliness, cutting himself +off from the communion of saints, and the blessing of being a man +among men.</p> +<p>And if any of you have a neighbour, or a relation fallen into +sin, even into utter shame;—oh, for the sake of Him who ate +and drank with publicans and sinners, never cast them off, never +trample on them, never turn your back upon them. They are +miserable enough already, doubt it not. Do not add one drop +to their cup of bitterness. They are ashamed of themselves +already, doubt it not. Do not you destroy in them what +small grain of self-respect still remains. You fancy they +are not so. They seem to you brazen-faced, proud, +impenitent. So did the publicans and harlots seem to those +proud, blind Pharisees. Those pompous, self-righteous fools +did not know what terrible struggles were going on in those poor +sin-tormented hearts. Their pride had blinded them, while +they were saying all along, ‘It is we alone who see. +This people, which knoweth not the law, is accursed.’ +Then came the Lord Jesus, the Son of man, who knew what was in +man; and he spoke to them gently, cordially, humanly; and they +heard him, and justified God, and were baptized, confessing their +sins; and so, as he said himself, the publicans and harlots went +into the kingdom of God before those proud, self-conceited +Pharisees.</p> +<p>Therefore, I say, never hurt any one’s +self-respect. Never trample on any soul, though it may be +lying in the veriest mire; for that last spark of self-respect is +as its only hope, its only chance; the last seed of a new and +better life; the voice of God which still whispers to it, +‘You are not what you ought to be, and you are not what you +can be. You are still God’s child, still an immortal +soul: you may rise yet, and fight a good fight yet, and conquer +yet, and be a man once more, after the likeness of God who made +you, and Christ who died for you!’ Oh, why crush that +voice in any heart? If you do, the poor creature is lost, +and lies where he or she falls, and never tries to rise +again. Rather bear and forbear; hope all things, believe +all things, endure all things; so you will, as St. John tells you +in the Epistle, know that you are of the truth, in the true and +right road, and will assure your hearts before God. For +this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of +his Son Jesus Christ, and believe really that he is now what he +always was, the friend of publicans and sinners, and love one +another as he gave us commandment. That was Christ’s +spirit; the fairest, the noblest spirit upon earth; the spirit of +God whose mercy is over all his works; and hereby shall we know +that Christ abideth in us, by his having given us the same spirit +of pity, charity, fellow-feeling and love for every human being +round us.</p> +<p>And now, I will also give you one lesson to carry home with +you—a lesson which if we all could really believe and obey, +the world would begin to mend from to-morrow, and every other +good work on earth would prosper and multiply tenfold, a +hundredfold—ay, beyond all our fairest dreams. And my +lesson is this. When you go out from this church into those +crowded streets, remember that there is not a soul in them who is +not as precious in God’s eyes as you are; not a little +dirty ragged child whom Jesus, were he again on earth, would not +take up in his arms and bless; not a publican or a harlot with +whom, if they but asked him, he would not eat and +drink—now, here, in London on this Sunday, the 8th of June, +1856, as certainly as he did in Jewry beyond the seas, eighteen +hundred years ago. Therefore do to all who are in want of +your help as Jesus would do to them if he were here; as Jesus is +doing to them already: for he is here among us now, and for ever +seeking and saving that which was lost; and all we have to do is +to believe that, and work on, sure that he is working at our +head, and that though we cannot see him, he sees us; and then all +will prosper at last, for this brave old earth whereon we are +living now, and for that far braver new heaven and new earth +whereon we shall live hereafter.</p> +<h2><a name="page278"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +278</span>SERMON XXXIV.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE SEA OF GLASS.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Trinity Sunday</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Revelation</span> iv. 9, 10, 11.</p> +<p>And when those beasts give glory, and honour, and thanks to +him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the +four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the +throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast +their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, +to receive glory, and honour, and power: for thou hast created +all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Church bids us read this +morning the first chapter of Genesis, which tells us of the +creation of the world. Not merely on account of that most +important text, which, according to some divines, seems to speak +of the ever-blessed Trinity, and brings in God as saying, +‘Let <i>us</i> make man in <i>our</i> image;’ not, +Let me make man in my image; but, Let <i>us</i>, in <i>our</i> +image.—Not merely for this reason is Gen. i. a fit lesson +for Trinity Sunday: but because it tells us of the whole world, +and all that is therein, and who made it, and how. It does +not tell us why God made the world; but the Revelations do, and +the text does. And therefore perhaps it is a good thing for +us that Trinity Sunday comes always in the sweet spring time, +when all nature is breaking out into new life, when leaves are +budding, flowers blossoming, birds building, and countless +insects springing up to their short and happy life. This +wonderful world in which we live has awakened again from its +winter’s sleep. How are we to think of it, and of all +the strange and beautiful things in it? Trinity Sunday +tells us; for Trinity Sunday bids us think of and believe a +matter which we cannot understand—a glorious and +unspeakable God, who is at the same time One and Three. We +cannot understand that. No more can we understand anything +else. We cannot understand how the grass grows beneath our +feet. We cannot understand how the egg becomes a +bird. We cannot understand how the butterfly is the very +same creature which last autumn was a crawling caterpillar. +We cannot understand how an atom of our food is changed within +our bodies into a drop of living blood. We cannot +understand how this mortal life of ours depends on that same +blood. We do not know even what life is. We do not +know what our own souls are. We do not know what our own +bodies are. We know nothing. We know no more about +ourselves and this wonderful world than we do of the mystery of +the ever-blessed Trinity. That, of course, is the greatest +wonder of all. For, as I shall try to show you presently, +God himself must be more wonderful than all things which he has +made. But all that he has made is wonderful; and all that +we can say of it is, to take up the heavenly hymn which this +chapter in the Revelations puts into our mouths, and join with +the elders of heaven, and all the powers of nature, in saying, +‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and +power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure +they are and were created.’</p> +<p>Let us do this. Let us open our eyes, and see honestly +what a wonderful world we live in; and go about all our days in +wonder and humbleness of heart, confessing that we know nothing, +and that we cannot know; confessing that we are fearfully and +wonderfully made, and that our soul knows right well; but that +beyond we know nothing; though God knows all; for in his book +were all our members written, which day by day were fashioned, +while as yet there were none of them. ‘How great are +thy counsels, O God! they are more than I am able to +express,’ said David of old, who knew not a tenth part of +the natural wonders which we know; ‘more in number than the +hairs of my head, if I were to speak of them.’</p> +<p>This will keep us from that proud and yet shallow temper of +mind which people are apt to fall into, especially young men who +are clever and self-educated, and those who live in great towns, +and so lose the sight of the wonderful works of God in the fields +and woods, and see hardly anything but what man has made; and +therefore forget how weak and ignorant even the wisest man is, +and how little he understands of this great and glorious +world.</p> +<p>Such people are apt to fancy men are clever enough to +understand anything. Then they say, ‘Why am I to +believe anything I cannot understand?’ And then they +laugh at the mysteries of faith, and say, ‘Three Persons in +one God! I cannot understand that! Why am I expected +to believe it?’</p> +<p>Now, here is the plain answer to such unwise speech (for +unwise it is, let it be dressed up in all fine long words, and +show of wisdom), whether the doctrine be true or not, your not +understanding the matter is no reason against it. Here is +the answer: ‘You <i>do</i> believe all day long a hundred +things which you do not understand; which quite surpass your +reason. You believe that you are alive: but you do not +understand how you live. You believe that, though you are +made up of so many different faculties and powers, you are one +person: but you cannot understand how. You believe that +though your body and your mind too have gone through so many +changes since you were born, yet you are still one and the same +person, and nobody else but yourself; but you cannot understand +that either. You know it is so; but how and why it is so, +you cannot explain; and the greatest philosopher would not be +foolish enough to try to explain; because, if he is a really +great scholar, he knows that it cannot be explained. You +lift your hand to your head: but how you do it, neither you nor +any mortal man knows; and true philosophers tell you that we +shall probably never know. True philosophers tell you that +in the simplest movement of your body, in the growth of the +meanest blade of grass, let them examine it with the microscope, +let them think over it till their brains are weary, there is +always some mystery, some wonder over and above, which neither +their glasses nor their brains can explain, or even find and see, +much less give a name to. They know that there is more in +the matter, in the simplest matter, than man can find out; and +they are content to leave the wonder in the hands of God who made +it; and when they have found out all they can, confess, that the +more they know, the less they find they know.</p> +<p>I tell you frankly, my friends, if you were to see through the +microscope a few of the wonderful things which are going on round +you now in every leaf, and every gnat which dances in the +sunbeam; if you were to learn even the very little which is known +about them, you would see wonders which would surpass your powers +of reasoning, just as much as that far greater wonder of the +ever-blessed Trinity; things which you would not believe, if your +own eyes did not show them you.</p> +<p>And what if it be strange? What is there to surprise us +in that? If the world be so wonderful, how much more +wonderful must that great God be who made the world, and keeps it +always living? If the smallest blade of grass be past our +understanding, how much more past our understanding must be the +Absolute, Eternal, Almighty God? Do you not see that common +sense and reason lead us to expect that God should be the most +wonderful of all beings and things; that there must be some +mystery and wonder in him which is greater than all mysteries and +wonders upon earth, just as much as <i>he</i> is greater than all +heaven and earth? Which must be most wonderful, the maker +or the thing made? Thou art man, made in the likeness of +God. Thou canst not understand thyself. How much less +canst thou understand God, in whose likeness thou art made!</p> +<p>For my part, instead of keeping people from learning, lest +they should grow proud, and despise the mysteries of faith, I +would make them learn, and entreat them to learn, and look +seriously and patiently at all the wonderful things which are +going on round them all day long; for I am sure that they would +be so much astonished with what they saw on earth, that they +would not be astonished, much less staggered, at anything they +heard of in heaven; and least of all astonished at being told +that the name of Almighty God was too deep for the little brain +of mortal man; and that they would learn more and more to take +humbly, like little children, every hint which the experience of +wise and good men of old time gives us of the everlasting mystery +of mysteries, the glory of the Triune God, which St. John saw in +the spirit.</p> +<p>And what did St. John see? Something beyond even an +apostle’s understanding. Something which he could +only see himself dimly, and describe to us in figures and +pictures, as it were, to help us to imagine that great +wonder.</p> +<p>He was in the spirit, he says, when he saw it. That is, +he did not see it with his bodily eyes, but with his soul, his +heart and mind. Not with his bodily eyes (for no man hath +seen God at any time), but with his mind’s eye, which God +had enlightened by his Holy Spirit.</p> +<p>He sees a throne in heaven, and one sitting on it, bright and +pure as richest precious stone; and round his throne a rainbow +like an emerald, the sign to us of hope, and faithfulness, mercy +and truth, which he himself appointed after the flood, to comfort +the fearful hearts of men. Around him are elders crowned; +men like ourselves, but men who have fought the good fight, and +conquered, and are now at rest; pure, as their white garments +tell us; and victorious, as their golden crowns tell us. +And from the throne come thunderings, and lightnings, and voices, +as they did when he spoke to the Jews of old—signs of his +terrible power, as judge, and lawgiver, and avenger of all the +wrong which is done on earth. And there are there, too, +seven burning lamps, the seven spirits of God, which give light +and life to all created things, and most of all to righteous +hearts. And before the throne is a sea of glass; the same +sea which St. John saw in another vision, with us human beings +standing on it, and behold it was mingled with fire;—the +sea of time, and space, and mortal life, on which we all have our +little day; the brittle and dangerous sea of earthly life; for it +may crack any moment beneath our feet, and drop us into eternity, +and the nether fire, unless we have his hand holding us, who +conquered time, and life, and death, and hell itself.</p> +<p>It seems to us to be a great thing now, time, and space, and +the world; and yet it looked small enough to St. John, as it lies +in heaven, before the throne of Christ; and he passes it by in a +few words. For what are all suns and stars, and what are +all ages and generations, and millions and millions of years, +compared with eternity; with God’s eternal heaven, and God +whom not even heaven can contain?—One drop of water in +comparison with all the rain clouds of the western sea.</p> +<p>But there is one comfort for us in St. John’s vision; +that brittle, and uncertain, and dangerous as life may be, yet it +is before the throne of God, and before the feet of Christ. +St. John saw it lying there in heaven, for a sign that in God we +live, and move, and have our being. Let us be content, and +hope on, and trust on; for God is with us, and we with God.</p> +<p>But St. John saw another wonder. Four beasts—one +like a man, one like a calf, one like an eagle, one like a lion, +with six wings each.</p> +<p>What those living creatures mean, I can hardly tell you. +Some wise and learned men say they mean the four Evangelists: +but, though there is much to be said for it, I hardly think that; +for St. John, who saw them, was one of the four Evangelists +himself. Others think they mean great and glorious +archangels; and that may be so. But certainly the Bible +always speaks of angels as shaped like men, like human beings, +only more beautiful and glorious. The two angels, for +instance, who appeared to the three men at our Lord’s tomb, +are plainly called in one place, young men. I think, +rather, that these four living creatures mean the powers and +talents which God has given to men, that they may replenish the +earth, and subdue it. For we read of these same living +creatures in the book of the prophet Ezekiel; and we see them +also on those ancient Assyrian sculptures which are now in the +British Museum; and we have good reason to think that is what +they mean there. The creature with the man’s head +means reason; the beast with the lion’s head, kingly power +and government; with the eagle’s head, and his piercing +eye, prudence and foresight; with the ox’s head, labour, +and cultivation of the earth, and successful industry. But +whatsoever those living creatures mean, it is more important to +see what they do. They give glory, and honour, and thanks +to him who sits upon the throne. They confess that all +power, all wisdom, all prudence, all success in men or angels, in +earth or heaven, comes from God, and is God’s gift, of +which he will require a strict account; for he is Holy, Holy, +Holy, Lord God Almighty; and all things are of him, and by him, +and for him, for ever and ever.</p> +<p>But who is he who sits upon the throne? Who but the Lord +Jesus Christ? Who but the Babe of Bethlehem? Who but +the Friend of publicans and sinners? Who but he who went +about doing good to suffering mortal man? Who but he who +died on the cross? Who but he on whose bosom St. John +leaned at supper, and now saw him highly exalted, having a name +above every name?</p> +<p>Oh, blest St. John, to see that sight! To see his dear +Master in his glory, after having seen him in his +humiliation! God grant us so to follow in St. John’s +steps, that we may see the same sight, unworthy though we are, in +God’s good time.</p> +<p>And where is God the Father? Yes, where? The +heaven, and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain him, whom no +man hath seen, or can see; who dwells in the light, whom no man +can approach unto. Only the only begotten Son, who dwells +in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him, and shown to +men in his own perfect loveliness and goodness, what their +heavenly Father is. That was enough for St. John; let it be +enough for us. He who has seen Christ has seen the Father, +as far as any created being can see him. The Son Christ is +merciful: therefore the Father is merciful. The Son is +just: therefore the Father is just. The Son is faithful and +true: therefore the Father is faithful and true. The Son is +almighty to save: therefore the Father is almighty to save. +Let that be enough for you and me.</p> +<p>But where is the Holy Spirit? There is no <i>where</i> +for spirits. All that we can say is, that the Holy Spirit +is proceeding for ever from the Father and the Son; going forth +for ever, to bring light and life, righteousness and love, to all +worlds, and to all hearts who will receive him. The lamps +of fire which St. John saw, the dove which came down at +Christ’s baptism, the cloven tongues of fire which sat on +the Apostles—these were signs and tokens of the Spirit; but +they were not the Spirit itself. Of him it is written, +‘He bloweth where he listeth, and thou hearest the sound +thereof, but canst not tell whence he cometh or whither he +goeth.’</p> +<p>It is enough for us that he is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of +the Holy Father, and of the Holy Son; like them eternal, like +them incomprehensible, like them almighty, like them all-wise, +all-just, all-loving, merciful, faithful, and true for ever.</p> +<p>This is what St. John saw—Christ the crucified, Christ +the Babe of Bethlehem, in the glory which he had before all +worlds, and shall have for ever; with all the powers of this +wondrous world crying to him for ever, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, +Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come; and the +souls of just men made perfect answering those mystic animals, +and joining their hymns of praise to the hymn which goes up for +ever from sun and stars, from earth and sea,—when they find +out the deepest of all wisdom—the lesson which all the +wonders of this earth, and all which ever has happened, or will +happen, in space and time, is meant to teach us:—</p> +<p>‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, +and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure +they are and were created.’</p> +<p>This is all that I can tell you. It may be a very +little: but is it not enough? What says Solomon the +wise? ‘Knowest thou how the bones grow in the +womb?’ Not thou. How, then, wilt thou know God, +who made all things? Thou art fearfully and wonderfully +made, though thou art but a poor mortal man. And is not God +more fearfully and wonderfully made than thou art? It is a +strange thing, and a mystery, how we ever got into this world: a +stranger thing still to me, how we shall ever get out of this +world again. Yet they are common things enough—birth +and death. ‘Every moment dies a man, every moment one +is born:’ and yet you do not know what is the meaning of +birth or death either: and I do not know; and no man knows. +How, then, can we know the mystery of God, in whose hand are the +issues of life and death?—God to whom all live for ever, +living and dead, born and unborn, in heaven and in hell?</p> +<p>So it is in small things as well as great, in great as well as +small; and so it ever will be. ‘All things begin in +some wonder, and in some wonder all things end,’ said Saint +Augustine, wisest in his day of all mortal men; and all that +great scholars have discovered since prove more and more that +Saint Augustine’s words were true, and that the wisest are +only, as a great philosopher once said, and one, too, who +discovered more of God’s works than any man for many a +hundred years, even Sir Isaac Newton himself: ‘The wisest +of us is but like a child picking up a few shells and pebbles on +the shore of a boundless sea.’</p> +<p>The shells and pebbles are the little scraps of knowledge +which God vouchsafes to us, his sinful children; knowledge, of +which at best St. Paul says, that we know only in part, and +prophesy in part, and think as children; and that knowledge shall +vanish away, and tongues shall cease, and prophecies shall +fail.</p> +<p>And the boundless sea is the great ocean of time—of +God’s created universe, above which his Spirit broods over, +perfect in love, and wisdom, and almighty power, as at the +beginning, moving above the face of the waters of time, giving +life to all things, for ever blessing, and for ever blest.</p> +<p>God grant us all to see the day when we shall have passed +safely across that sea of time, up to the sure land of eternity; +and shall no more think as children, or know in part; but shall +see God face to face, and know him even as we are known; and find +him, the nearer we draw to him, more wonderful, and more +glorious, and more good than ever;—‘Holy, Holy, Holy, +Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to +come.’ And meanwhile, take comfort, and recollect +however little you and I may know, God knows: he knows himself, +and you, and me, and all things; and his mercy is over all his +works.</p> +<h2><a name="page291"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +291</span>SERMON XXXV.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">A GOD IN PAIN.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Good Friday</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Hebrews</span> ii. 9, 50.</p> +<p>But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels +for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that +he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. +For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all +things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of +their salvation perfect through sufferings.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">What</span> are we met together to think +of this day? God in pain: God sorrowing; God dying for man, +as far as God could die. Now it is this;—the blessed +news that God suffered pain, God sorrowed, God died, as far as +God could die—which makes the Gospel different from all +other religions in the world; and it is this, too, which makes +the Gospel so strong to conquer men’s hearts, and soften +them, and bring them back to God and righteousness in a way no +other religion ever has done. It is the good news of this +good day, well called Good Friday, which wins souls to Christ, +and will win them as long as men are men.</p> +<p>The heathen, you will find, always thought of their gods as +happy. The gods, they thought, always abide in bliss, far +above all the chances and changes of mortal life; always young, +strong, beautiful, needing no help, needing no pity; and +therefore, my friends, never calling out our love. The +heathens never <i>loved</i> their gods: they admired them, +thanked them when they thought they helped them; or they were +afraid of them when they thought they were offended.</p> +<p>But as far as I can find, they never really loved their +gods. Love to God was a new feeling, which first came into +the world with the good news that God had suffered and that God +had died upon the cross. That was a God to be loved, +indeed; and all good hearts loved him, and will love him +still.</p> +<p>For you cannot really love any one who is quite different from +you; who has never been through what you have. You do not +think that he can understand you; you expect him to despise you, +laugh at you. You say, as I have heard a poor woman say of +a rich one, ‘How can she feel for me? She does not +know what poor people go through.’</p> +<p>Now it is just that feeling which mankind had about God till +Christ died.</p> +<p>God, or the gods, were beautiful, strong, happy, +self-sufficient, up in the skies; and men on earth were full of +sorrow and trouble, disease, accidents, death; and sin, too; +quarrelling and killing, hateful and hating each other. How +could the gods love men? And then men had a sense of sin; +they felt they were doing wrong. Surely the gods hated them +for doing wrong. Surely all the sorrows and troubles which +came on them were punishments for doing wrong. How +miserable they were! But the gods sat happy up in heaven, +and cared not for them. Or, if the gods did care, they +cared only for special favourites. If any man was very +good, or strong, or handsome, or clever, or rich, or prosperous, +the gods cared for him—he was a favourite. But what +did they care for poor, ugly, deformed, unfortunate, foolish +wretches? Surely the gods despised them, and had sent them +into the world to be miserable. There was no sympathy, no +fellow-feeling between gods and men. The gods did not love +men as men. Why should men love them? And so men did +not love them.</p> +<p>And as there was no love to God before Good Friday, so there +was no love to men.</p> +<p>If God despised the poor, the deformed, the helpless, the +ignorant, the crazy, why should not man? If God was hard on +them, why should not man oppress and ill-use them? And so +you will find that there was no charity in the world.</p> +<p>Among some of the Eastern nations—the Hindoos, for +instance—when they were much better men than now, charity +did spring up for a while here and there, in a very beautiful +shape; but among Greeks and Romans there was simply no charity; +and you will find little or none among the Jews themselves.</p> +<p>The Pharisees gave alms to save their own souls, and feed +their own pride of being good; but had no +charity—‘This people, who knoweth not the law, is +accursed.’ As for poor, diseased people, they were +born in sin: either they or their parents had sinned. We +may see that the poor of Judea, as well as Galilee, were in a +miserable, neglected, despised state; and the worst thing that +the Pharisees could say of our Lord Jesus was, that he ate and +drank with publicans and sinners. Because there was no love +to God, there was no love to man. There was a great gulf +fixed between every man and his neighbour.</p> +<p>But Christ came; God came; and became man. And with the +blood of his cross was bridged over for ever the gulf between God +and man, and the gulf between man and man.</p> +<p>Good Friday showed that there was sympathy, there was +fellow-feeling between God and man; that God would do all for +man, endure all for man; that God so desired to make man like +God, that he would stoop to be made like man. There was +nothing God would not do to justify himself to man, to show men +that he did care for them, that he did love the creatures whom he +had made. Yes; God had not forgotten man; God had not made +man in vain. God had not sent man into the world to be +wicked and miserable here, and to perish for ever +hereafter. Wickedness and misery were here; but God had not +put them here, and he would not leave them here. He would +conquer them by enduring them. Sin and misery tormented +men; then they should torment the Son of God too. Sin and +misery killed men; then they should kill the Son of God, too: he +would taste death for every man, that men might live by +him. He would be made perfect by sufferings: not made +perfectly good (for that he was already), but perfectly able to +feel for men, to understand them, to help them; because he had +been tempted in all things like as they.</p> +<p>And so on Good Friday did God bridge over the gulf between God +and men. No man can say now, Why has God sent man into the +world to be miserable, while he is happy? For God in Christ +was miserable once. No man can say, God makes me go through +pain, and torture, and death, while he goes through none of such +things: for God in Christ endured pain, torture, death, to the +uttermost. And so God is a being which man can love, +admire, have fellow-feeling for; cling to God with all the noble +feelings of his heart, with admiration, gratitude, and +tenderness, even on this day with pity.—As Christ himself +said, ‘When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to +me.’</p> +<p>And no man can say now, What has God to do with +sufferers—sick, weak, deformed wretches? If he had +cared for them, would he have made them thus? For we can +answer, However sick, or weak they may be, God in Christ has been +as weak as they. God has shared their sufferings, and has +been made perfect by sufferings, that they might be made perfect +also. God has sanctified suffering, pain, and sorrow upon +his cross, and made them holy; as holy as health, and strength, +and happiness are. And so on Good Friday God bridged over +the gulf between man and man. He has shown that God is +charity and love; and that the way to live for ever in God is to +live for ever in that charity and love to all mankind which God +showed this day upon the cross.</p> +<p>And, therefore, all <i>charity</i> is rightly called +<i>Christian</i> charity; for it is Christ, and the news of Good +Friday, which first taught men to have charity; to look on the +poor, the afflicted, the weak, the orphan, with love, pity, +respect. By the sight of a suffering and dying God, God has +touched the hearts of men, that they might learn to love and +respect suffering and dying men; and in the face of every +mourner, see the face of Christ, who died for them. Because +Christ the sufferer is their elder brother, all sufferers are +their brothers likewise. Because Christ tasted pain, shame, +misery, death for all men, therefore we are bound this day to +pray for all men, that they may have their share in the blessings +of Christ’s death; not to look on them any longer as +aliens, strangers, enemies, parted from us and each other and +God; but whether wise or foolish, sick or well, happy or unhappy, +alive or dead, as brothers. We are bound to pray for his +Holy Church as one family of brothers; for all ranks of men in +it, that each of them may learn to give up their own will and +pleasure for the sake of doing their duty in their calling, as +Christ did; to pray for Jews, Turks, Heathens, and Infidels; as +for God’s lost children, and our lost brothers, that God +would bring them home to his flock, and touch their hearts by the +news of his sufferings for them; that they may taste the +inestimable comfort of knowing that God so loved them as to +suffer, to groan, to die for them and all mankind.</p> +<h2><a name="page297"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +297</span>SERMON XXXVI.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">ON THE FALL.</span></h2> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Sexagesima Sunday</i>.)</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Genesis</span> iii. 12.</p> +<p>And the man said, The woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, +she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> morning we read the history of +Adam’s fall in the first Lesson. Now does this story +seem strange to you, my friends? Do you say to yourselves, +If I had been in Adam’s place, I should never have been so +foolish as Adam was? If you do say so, you cannot have +looked at the story carefully enough. For if you do look at +it carefully, I believe you will find enough in it to show you +that it is a very <i>natural</i> story, that we have the same +nature in us that Adam had; that we are indeed Adam’s +children; and that the Bible speaks truth when it says, +‘Adam begat a son after his own likeness.’</p> +<p>Now, let us see how Adam fell, and what he did when he +fell.</p> +<p>Adam, we find, was not content to be in the image of +God. He wanted, he and his wife, to be as gods, knowing +good and evil. Now do, I beseech you, think a moment +carefully, and see what that means.</p> +<p>Adam was not content to be in the likeness of God; to copy God +by obeying God. He wanted to be a little god himself; to +know what was good for him, and what was evil for him; whereas +God had told him, as it were, You do <i>not</i> know what is good +for you, and what is evil for you. I know; and I tell you +to obey me; not to eat of a certain tree in the garden.</p> +<p>But pride and self-will rose up in Adam’s heart. +He wanted to show that he <i>did</i> know what was good for +him. He wanted to be independent, and show that he could do +what he liked, and take care of himself; and so he ate the fruit +which he was forbidden to eat, partly because it was fair and +well-tasted, but still more to show his own independence.</p> +<p>Now, surely this is natural enough. Have we not all done +the very same thing in our time, nay, over and over again? +When we were children, were we never forbidden to do something +which we wished to do? Were we never forbidden, just as +Adam was, to take an apple—something pleasant to the eye, +and good for food? And did we not long for it, and +determine to have it all the more, because it was forbidden, just +as Adam and Eve did; so that we wished for it much more than we +should if our parents had given it to us? Did we not in our +hearts accuse our parents of grudging it to us, and listen to the +voice of the tempter, as Eve did, when the serpent tried to make +out that God was niggardly to her, and envious of her, and did +not want her to be wise, lest she should be too like God?</p> +<p>Have we not said in our heart, Why should my father grudge me +that nice thing when he takes it himself?</p> +<p>He wants to keep it all to himself. Why should not I +have a share of it? He says it will hurt me. How does +he know that? It does not hurt him. I must be the +best judge of whether it will hurt me. I do not believe +that it will: but at least it is but fair that I should +try. I will try for myself. I will run the +chance. Why should I be kept like a baby, as if I had no +sense or will of my own? I will know the right and the +wrong of it for myself. I will know the good and evil of it +myself.</p> +<p>Have we not said that, every one of us, in our hearts, when we +were young?—And is not that just what the Bible says Adam +and Eve said?</p> +<p>And then, because we were Adam’s children, with his +fallen nature in us, and original sin, which we inherited from +him, we could not help longing more and more after what our +parents had forbidden; we could think, perhaps, of nothing else; +cared for no pleasure, no pay, because we could not get that one +thing which our parents had told us not to touch. And at +last we fell, and sinned, and took the thing on the sly.</p> +<p>And then?</p> +<p>Did it not happen to us, as it did to Adam, that a feeling of +shame and guiltiness came over us at once? Yes; of +shame. We intended to feed our own pride: but instead of +pride came shame and fear too; so instead of rising, we had +fallen and felt that we had fallen. Just so it was with +Adam. Instead of feeling all the prouder and grander when +he had sinned, he became ashamed of himself at once, he hardly +knew why. We had intended to set ourselves up against our +parents; but instead, we became afraid of them. We were +always fancying that they would find us out. We were afraid +of looking them in the face. Just so it was with +Adam. He heard the word of the Lord God, Jesus Christ, +walking in the garden. Did he go to meet him; thank him for +that pleasant life, pleasant earth, for the mere blessing of +existence? No. He hid himself among the trees of the +garden. But why hide himself? Even if he had given up +being thankful to God; even if he had learned from the devil to +believe that God grudged him, envied him, had deceived him, about +that fruit, why run away and hide? He wanted to be as God, +wise, knowing good and evil for himself. Why did he not +stand out boldly when he heard the voice of the Lord God and say, +I am wise now; I am as a God now, knowing good and evil; I am no +longer to be led like a child, and kept strictly by rules which I +do not understand; I have a right to judge for myself, and choose +for myself; and I have done it, and you have no right to complain +of me?</p> +<p>Perhaps Adam had intended, when he ate the fruit, to stand up +for himself, with some such fine words; as children intend when +they disobey.</p> +<p>But when it came to the point, away went all Adam’s +self-confidence, all Adam’s pride, all Adam’s fine +notions of what he had a right to do; and he hides himself +miserably, like a naughty and disobedient child. And then, +like a mean and cowardly one, when he is called out and forced to +answer for himself, he begins to make pitiful excuses. He +has not a word to say for himself. He throws the blame on +his wife; it was all the woman’s fault now—indeed, +God’s fault. ‘The woman whom thou gavest to be +with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’</p> +<p>My dear friends, if we want a proof that the Bible is a true, +divine, inspired book, we need go no further than this one +story. For, my friends, have we never said the same? +When we felt that we had done wrong; when the voice of God and of +Christ in our hearts was rebuking us and convincing us of sin, +have we never tried to shift the blame off our own shoulders, and +lay it on God himself, and the blessings which he has given us? +on one’s wife—on one’s family—on +money—on one’s youth, and health, and high +spirits?—in a word, on the good things which God has given +us?</p> +<p>Ah, my friends, we are indeed Adam’s children; and have +learned his lesson, and inherited his nature only too fearfully +well. For what Adam did but once, we have done a hundred +times; and the mean excuse which Adam made but once, we make +again and again.</p> +<p>But the loving Lord has patience with us, as he had with Adam, +and does not take us at our word. He did not say to Adam, +You lay the blame upon your wife; then I will take her from you, +and you shall see then where the blame lies. Ungrateful to +me! you shall live henceforth alone. And he does not say to +us, You make all the blessings which I have given you an excuse +for sinning! Then I will take them from you, and leave you +miserable, and pour out my wrath upon you to the uttermost!</p> +<p>Not so. Our God is not such a God as that. He is +full of compassion and long-suffering, and of tender mercy. +He knows our frame, and remembers that we are but dust. He +sends us out into the world, as he sent Adam, to learn experience +by hard lessons; to eat our bread in the sweat of our brow, till +we have found out our own weakness and ignorance, and have +learned that we cannot stand alone, that pride and +self-dependence will only lead us to guilt, and misery, and +shame, and meanness; and that there is no other name under heaven +by which we can be saved from them, but only the name of our Lord +Jesus Christ.</p> +<p>He is the woman’s seed, who, so God promised, was to +bruise the head of the serpent. And he has bruised +it. He is the woman’s seed—a man, as we are +men, with a human nature, but one without spot of sin, to make us +free from sin.</p> +<p>Let us look up to him as often as we find our nature dragging +us down, making us proud and self-willed, greedy and +discontented, longing after this and that. Let us trust in +him, ask him, for his grace day by day; ask him to shape and +change us into his likeness, that we may become daily more and +more free; free from sin; free from this miserable longing after +one thing and another; free from our bad habits, and the sin +which does so easily beset us; free from guilty fear, and coward +dread of God. Let us ask him, I say, to change, and purify, +and renew us day by day, till we come to his likeness; to the +stature of perfect men, free men, men who are not slaves to their +own nature, slaves to their own pride, slaves to their own +vanity, slaves of their own bad tempers, slaves to their own +greediness and foul lusts: but free, as the Lord Christ was free; +able to keep their bodies in subjection, and rise above nature by +the eternal grace of God; able to use this world without abusing +it; able to thank God for all the <i>blessings</i> of this life, +and learn from them precious lessons; able to thank God for all +the <i>sorrows</i> of this life, and learn from them wholesome +discipline: but yet able to rise above them all, and say, +‘As long as I hold fast to Christ the King of men, this +world cannot harm me. My life, my real human life, does not +depend on my being comfortable or uncomfortable here below for a +few short years. My real life is hid in God with Jesus +Christ, who, after he had redeemed human nature by his perfect +obedience, and washed it pure again in the blood of his cross, +for ever sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; that +so, being lifted up, he might draw all men unto +himself—even as many as will come to him, that they may +have eternal life.</p> +<h2><a name="page304"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +304</span>SERMON XXXVII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE WORTHY COMMUNICANT.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Luke</span> xviii. 14.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">I tell you, this man went down to +his house justified rather than the other.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Which</span> of these two men was the more +fit to come to the Communion? Most of you will answer, The +publican: for he was more justified, our Lord himself says, than +the Pharisee. True: but would you have said so of your own +accord, if the Lord had not said so? Which of the two men +do you really think was the better man, the Pharisee or the +publican? Which of the two do you think had his soul in the +safer state? Which of the two would you rather be, if you +were going to die? Which of the two would you rather be, if +you were going to the Communion? For mind, one could not +have <i>refused</i> the Pharisee, if he had come to the +Communion. He was in no open sin: I may say, no outward sin +at all. You must not fancy that he was a hypocrite, in the +sense in which we usually employ that word. I mean, he was +not a man who was leading a wicked life secretly, while he kept +up a show of religion. He was really a religious man in his +own way, scrupulous, and over-scrupulous to perform every duty to +the letter. He went to his church to worship; and he was no +lip-worshipper, repeating a form of words by rote, but prayed +there honestly, concerning the things which were in his +heart. He did not say, either, that he had made himself +good. If he was wrong on some points, he was not on +that. He knew where his goodness, such as it was, came +from. ‘God, I thank thee,’ he says, ‘that +I am what I am.’ What have we in this man? one would +ask at first sight. What reason for him to stay away from +the Sacrament? He would not have thought himself that there +was any reason. He would, probably, have +thought—‘If I am not fit, who is? Repent me +truly of my former sins? Certainly. If I have done +the least harm to any one, I shall be happy to restore it +fourfold. If I have neglected one, the least of God’s +services, I shall be only too glad to keep it all the more +strictly for the future.</p> +<p>‘Intend to lead a new life? I am leading one, and +trying to lead one more and more every day. I shall be +thankful to any one who will show me any new service which I can +offer to God, any new act of reverence, any new duty.</p> +<p>‘I must go in love and charity with all men? I do +so. I have not a grudge against any human being. Of +course, I know the world too well to be satisfied with it. +I cannot shut my eyes to the fact that millions are living very +sinful, shocking lives—extortioners, unjust, adulterers; +and that three people out of four are going straight to +hell. I pity them, and forgive them any wrong which they +have done to me. What more can I do?’</p> +<p>This is what the Pharisee would have said. Is this man +fit to come to the Communion? At least he himself thinks +so.</p> +<p>On the other hand, was the publican fit? That is a +serious question; one which we cannot answer, without knowing +more about him than our Lord has chosen to tell us. Many a +person is ready enough, in these days, to cry ‘God be +merciful to me a sinner!’ who is fit, I fear, neither to +come to the Communion, nor to stay away either.</p> +<p>It was not so, I suppose, with the old Jews in our +Lord’s time. The Pharisees then were hard legalists, +who stood all on works; and, therefore, if a man broke off from +them, and threw himself on God’s grace and mercy, he did it +in a simple, honest, effectual way, like this publican.</p> +<p>But now, I am sorry to say, our Pharisees have contrived to +make themselves as proud and self-righteous about their own faith +and repentance, as the Jewish Pharisees did about their own works +and observances; and there has risen up in England and elsewhere +a very ugly new hypocrisy. People now-a-days are too apt to +pride themselves on their own convictions of sin, and their own +repentance, till they trust in their repentance to save them, and +not in Christ, just as the Pharisee trusted in his works to save +him, and not in Christ; and when they pray, I cannot help fearing +(for I am sure many of their religious books teach them it) that +they pray very much like that Pharisee, ‘God, I thank thee +that I am not as other men are, carnal, unconverted, unconvinced +of sin, nor even as that plain, moral, respectable man. I +am convinced of sin; I am converted; I have the right frames, and +the right feelings, and the right experiences.’ Oh, +of all the cunning snares of the devil, that I think is the +cunningest. Well says the old proverb—‘The +devil is old, and therefore he knows many things.’</p> +<p>In old times he made men trust in their own righteousness: and +that was snare enough; now he has learnt how to make men actually +trust in their own sinfulness, and so turn the grace of God into +a cloak of pride, and contempt of their fellow-creatures.</p> +<p>My friends, do you think that if the publican, after he had +said, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’ had said to +himself, ‘There—how beautifully I have +repented—how honest I have been to God—I am all right +now’—he would have gone down to his house justified +at all? Not he. No more will you and I, my +friends. If we have sinned, what should we be but ashamed +of it? Ay, utterly ashamed. And if we really know +what sin is—if we really see the sinfulness of sin—if +we really see ourselves as God sees us—we shall be too much +shocked at the sight of our own hearts to have time to boast of +our being able to see our own hearts. We shall be too full +of loathing and hatred for our sins, too full of longing to get +rid of our sins, and to become righteous and holy, even as God is +righteous and holy, to give way to any pride in our own frames +and feelings; and, instead of thinking ourselves better men than +our neighbours because we see our sins, and fancy they do not see +theirs, we shall be almost ready to think ourselves worse than +our neighbours, to think that they cannot have so much to repent +of as we; and as we grow in grace, we shall see more and more sin +in ourselves, till we actually fancy at times that no one can be +as bad as we are, and in lowliness of mind esteem others better +than ourselves. We may carry that too far, too. +Certainly there is no use in accusing ourselves of sins which we +have not committed; we have all quite enough real sins to answer +for without inventing more. But still that is a better +frame of mind than the other; for no man can be too humble, while +any man can be too proud.</p> +<p>But let us all ask God to open our eyes, that we may see +ourselves just as we are, let our sins be many or few. Let +us ask God to convince us really of sin by his Holy Spirit, and +show us what sin is, and its exceeding sinfulness; how ugly and +foul sin is, how foolish and absurd, how mean and ungrateful +toward that good God who wishes us nothing but good, and wishes +us, therefore, to be good, because goodness is the only path to +life and happiness; and then we shall be so ashamed of ourselves, +so afraid of our own weakness, so shocked at the difference +between ourselves and the spotless Lord Jesus, that we shall have +no time to despise others, no time to admire our own frames, and +feelings, and repentances. All we shall think of is our own +sinfulness, and God’s mercy; and we shall come eagerly, if +not boldly, to the throne of grace, to find grace and mercy to +help us in the time of need; crying, ‘Purge thou me, O +Lord, or I shall never be pure; wash thou me, and then alone +shall I be clean. For thou requirest, not frames or +feelings, not pride and self-conceit, but truth in the inward +parts; and wilt make me to understand wisdom secretly.’</p> +<p>Then, indeed, we shall be fit to come to the Holy Communion; +for then we shall be so ashamed of ourselves that we shall truly +repent of our sins—so ashamed of ourselves that we shall +long and determine to lead a new life—so ashamed of +ourselves that we shall have no heart to look down on any of our +neighbours, or pass hard judgments on them, but be in love and +charity with all men; and so, in spite of all our past sins, come +to partake worthily of the body and blood of Him who died for our +sins, whose blood will wash them out of our hearts, whose body +will strengthen and refresh us, body and soul, to a new and +everlasting life of humbleness and thankfulness, honesty and +justice, usefulness and love.</p> +<h2><a name="page310"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +310</span>SERMON XXXVIII.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">OUR DESERTS.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Luke</span> vi. 36–38.</p> +<p>Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is +merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn +not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be +forgiven. Give, and it shall be given unto you; good +measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, +shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure +that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">One</span> often hears complaints against +this world, and against mankind; one hears it said that people +are unjust, unfair, cruel; that in this world no man can expect +to get what he deserves. And, of course, there are great +excuses for saying so. There are bad men in the world in +plenty, who do villanous and cruel things enough; and besides, +there is a great deal of dreadful misery in the world, which does +not seem to come through any fault of the poor creatures who +suffer it; misery of which we can only say, ‘Neither did +this man sin, nor his parents: but that the glory of God may be +made manifest in him.’</p> +<p>But still our Lord tells us in the text, that, on the whole, +there is order lying under all the disorder, justice under all +the injustice, right under all the wrong; and that on the whole +we get what we deserve. ‘Be ye therefore merciful, as +your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not +be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, +and ye shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given unto +you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running +over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same +measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you +again.’</p> +<p>Of course, as I said just now, it is not always so. None +knew that better than the blessed Lord: else why did he come to +seek and save that which was lost? But still the more we +look into our own lives, the more we shall find our Lord’s +words true; the more we shall find that on the whole, in the long +run, men will be just and fair to us, and give us, sooner or +later, what we deserve.</p> +<p>Now, to deserve a thing, properly means to serve for it, to +work for it and earn it, as a natural consequence. If a man +puts his hand into the fire, he <i>deserves</i> to burn it, +because it is the nature of fire to burn, and therefore it burns +him, and so he gets his deserts; and if a man does wrong, he +deserves to be unhappy, because it is the nature of sin to make +the sinner unhappy, and so he gets his deserts. God has not +to go out of his way to punish sin; sin punishes itself; and so +if a man does right, he becomes in the long run happy. God +has not to go out of his way to reward him and make him happy; +his own good deeds make him happy; he earns happiness in the +comfort of a good conscience, and the love and respect of those +about him; and so he gets his deserts. For our Lord says, +‘People in the long run will treat you as you treat +them. If they feel and see by experience that you are +loving and kind to them, they will be loving and kind to you; as +you do to them, they will, in the long run, do to +you.’ They may mistake you at first, even dislike you +at first. Did they not mistake, hate, crucify the Lord +himself? and yet his own rule came true of him. A few +crucified him; but now all civilized nations worship him as +God. Be sure, then, that his rule will come true of you, +though not at first, yet in God’s good time. +Therefore hold still in the Lord, and abide patiently; and he +shall make thy righteousness as clear as the light, and thy just +dealing as the noon-day.</p> +<p>Now this is a very blessed and comfortable thought. +Would to God that all of us, young people especially, would lay +it to heart. How are we to get comfortably through this +life? Or, if we are to have sorrows (as we all must), how +can we make those sorrows as light as possible? How can we +make friends who will comfort us in those sorrows, instead of +leaving us to bear our burden alone, and turning their backs on +us just when our poor hearts are longing for a kind look and a +kind word from our neighbours? Our Lord tells us now. +The same measure that you mete withal, it shall be measured to +you again.</p> +<p>There is his plan. It is a very simple one. It +goes on the same principle as ‘He that saveth his life +shall lose it, and he that loseth his life shall save +it.’ If we are selfish, and take care only of +ourselves, the day will come when our neighbours will leave us +alone in our selfishness to shift for ourselves. If we set +out determining through life to care about other people rather +than ourselves, then they will care for themselves more than for +us, and measure their love to us by our measure of love to +them. But if we care for others, they will learn to care +for us; if we befriend others, they will befriend us. If we +show forth the Spirit of God to them, in kindliness, generosity, +patience, self-sacrifice, the day will surely come when we shall +find that the Spirit of God is in our neighbours as well as in +ourselves; that on the whole they will be just to us, and pay us +what we have deserved and earned. Blessed and comfortable +thought, that no kind word, kind action, not even the cup of cold +water given in Christ’s name, can lose its reward. +Blessed thought, that after all our neighbours are our brothers, +and that if we remember that steadily, and treat them as brothers +now, they will recollect it too some day, and treat us as +brothers in return. Blessed thought, that there is in the +heart of every man a spark of God’s light, a grain of +God’s justice, which may grow up in him hereafter, and bear +good fruit to eternal life.</p> +<p>Yes; it is a pleasant thing to find men better than we fancied +them. A pleasant thing; for first, it makes us love them +the more, and there is nothing so pleasant as loving. And +more; it does this—it makes us more inclined to trust +God’s justice. We say to ourselves, Men are, we find, +really more just and fair than they seem to us at times; surely +God must be more just and fair than he seems to us at +times. For there are times when it does seem a hard thing +to believe that God is just; times when the devil tempts poor +suffering creatures sorely, and tries to make them doubt their +heavenly Father, and say with David, What am I the better for +having done right? Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart; +in vain have I washed my hands in innocency. All the day +long have I been punished, and chastened every morning. +Yes; when some poor woman, working in the field, with all the +cares of a family on her, looks up at great people in their +carriages, she is tempted, she must be tempted to say at times, +‘Why am I to be so much worse off than they? Is God +just in making me so poor and them so rich?’ It is a +foolish thought. I do believe it is a temptation of the +devil, a deceit of the devil; for rich people are not really one +whit happier or lighter-hearted than poor ones, and all the devil +wishes is to make poor people envy their neighbours, and mistrust +God. But still one cannot wonder at their faith failing +them at times. I do not judge them, still less condemn +them; for the text forbids me. Or again, when some poor +creature, crippled from his youth, looks upon others strong and +active, cheerful and happy. Think of a deformed child +watching healthy children at play; and then think, must it not be +hard at times for that child not to repine, and cry to God, +‘Why hast thou made me thus?’</p> +<p>Yes. I will not go on giving fresh instances. The +world is but too full of them.</p> +<p>But when such thoughts trouble us, here is one +comfort—ay, here is our only comfort—God must be more +just than man. Whatsoever appearances may seem to make +against it, he must be. For where did all the justice in +the world come from, but from God? Who put the feeling of +justice into every man’s heart, but God himself? He +is the glorious sun, perfectly bright, perfectly pure; and all +the other goodness in the world is but rays and beams of light +sent forth from his great light. So we may be certain that +God is not only as just as man, but millions of times <i>more</i> +just; more just, and righteous, and good than all the just men on +earth put together. We can believe that. We must +believe it. Thousands have believed it already. +Thousands of holy sufferers, in prisons and on scaffolds, in +poverty and destitution, on sick-beds of lingering torture, have +believed still that God was just and righteous in all his +dealings with them; and have cried in the hour of their bitterest +agony, ‘Though thou slay me, O Lord, yet will I trust in +thee!’</p> +<p>Yes. God is just. He has revealed that in the +person of his Son Jesus Christ. There is God’s +likeness. There is proof enough that God is not one who +afflicts willingly, or grieves the children of men out of any +neglect or spite, or respecteth one person more than +another. It may seem hard to be sure of that: unless we +believe that Jesus is the Christ, the co-equal and co-eternal Son +of the Father, we never shall be sure of it. Believing in +the message of the ever-blessed Trinity, we shall be sure; for we +shall be sure that, ‘Such as the Father is, such is the +Son, and such is the Holy Ghost’—perfect love, +perfect justice, perfect mercy; and therefore we can be sure that +in the world beyond the grave the balance will be made even, +again, and for ever; and every mourner be comforted, and every +sufferer be refreshed, and every one receive his due +reward—if they will only now in this life take the lesson +of the text, ‘Judge not, and you shall not be judged: +condemn not, and you shall not be condemned: forgive, and you +shall be forgiven; for if you forgive every one his brother their +trespasses, in like wise will your heavenly Father forgive +you.’ Do that; and then you will get your +<i>deserts</i> in the life to come, and by forgiving, and +helping, and blessing others, <i>deserve</i> to be forgiven, and +comforted, and blessed yourselves, for the sake of that Saviour +who is day and night presenting all your good works to his Father +and your Father, as a precious and fragrant offering—a +sacrifice with which the God of love is well pleased, because it +is, like himself, made up of love.</p> +<h2><a name="page317"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +317</span>SERMON XXXIX.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE LOFTINESS OF GOD.</span></h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lvii. 15.</p> +<p>For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth +eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place; +with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive +the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite +ones.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is a grand text; one of the +grandest in the whole Old Testament; one of those the nearest to +the spirit of the New. It is full of Gospel—of good +news: but it is not the whole Gospel. It does not tell us +the whole character of God. We can only get that in the +New. We can get it there; we can get it in that most awful +and glorious chapter which we read for the second +lesson—the twenty-seventh chapter of St. Matthew. +Seen in the light of that—seen in the light of +Christ’s cross and what it tells us, all is clear, and all +is bright, and all is full of good news—at least to those +who are humble and contrite, crushed down by sorrow, and by the +feeling of their own infirmities.</p> +<p>But what does the text tell us?</p> +<p>Of a high and lofty One, who inhabits eternity.</p> +<p>Of a lofty God, Almighty, incomprehensible; so far above us, +so different from us, that we cannot picture him to ourselves; of +a glory and majesty utterly beyond all human fancy or +imagination.</p> +<p>Of a holy God, in whom is no sin, nor taint of sin; who is of +purer eyes than to behold iniquity; who is so perfect, that he +cannot be content with anything which is not as perfect as +himself; who looks with horror and disgust on evil of every +shape; who cannot endure it, will at last destroy it.</p> +<p>Of a God who abides in eternity—who cannot +change—cannot alter his own decrees and laws, because his +decrees and laws are right and necessary, and proceed out of his +own character. If he has said a thing, that thing must be; +because it is the thing which ought to be.</p> +<p>How, then, shall we think of this lofty, holy, unchangeable +God—we who are low, unholy, changing with every wind that +blows?</p> +<p>Shall we say, ‘He is so far above us, that he cannot +feel for us? He is so holy that he must hate us, and will +our punishment, and our damnation for all our sins?’</p> +<p>‘He is eternal, and cannot change his will; and, +therefore, if he wills us to perish, perish we must.’</p> +<p>We may think so of God, and dread God, and cry ‘Whither +shall I flee from thy Spirit, and whither shall I go from thy +presence?’ We may call to the mountains to fall on +us, and to the hills to cover us, till we try to forget at all +risks the thought of God: and if we do not, there are plenty who +will do it for us. The devil, who slanders and curses God +to men, and men to God, and to each other—he will talk to +us of God in this way.</p> +<p>And men who preach the devil’s doctrine, will talk to us +likewise, and say, ‘Yes, God is very dreadful, and very +angry with you. God certainly intends to damn you. +But <i>I</i> have a plan for delivering you out of God’s +hands; <i>I</i> know what you must do to be saved from +God—join <i>my</i> sect or party, and believe and work with +me, and then you will escape God.’</p> +<p>But, after all, would it not be wiser, my friends, to hold +your own tongues, and let God himself speak?</p> +<p>If he had not spoken in the first place, what should we have +known of him? Can man by searching find out God? We +should not have known that there was a high and lofty One, who +inhabits eternity, if he had not told us. Had we not better +hear the rest of his message, and let God finish his own +character of himself?</p> +<p>And what does he say?</p> +<p>‘I dwell—I, the high and lofty One, who inhabit +eternity—with him also, who is of a contrite and humble +spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the +heart of the contrite ones.’</p> +<p>Oh, my friends, is not this news? good news and unexpected +news, perhaps, but still as true as what went before it? +God hath said the one, and we believe it: and now he says the +other; and shall we not believe it too?</p> +<p>Come, then, thou humble soul; thou crushed and contrite soul; +thou who fearest that thou art not worthy of God’s care; +thou from whom God has taken so much, that thou fearest that he +will take all—come and hear the Lord’s message to +thee—God’s own message; no devil’s message, or +man’s message, but God’s own.</p> +<p>‘I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always +wroth; for then the spirit would fail before me, and the souls +which I have made. I have seen thy ways, and will heal +thee. I will lead thee, also, and restore comforts to thee +and to thy mourners. I create the fruit of the lips. +I give men cause to thank me, and delight in giving. Peace, +peace to him that is near, and to him that is far off, saith the +Lord. If thou art near me, thou art safe; for if I were to +take all else from thee, I should not take myself from +thee. Though thou walkest through the valley of the shadow +of death, I will be with thee. And if thou art far off from +me, wandering in folly and sin, I cry peace to thee still. +Why should I wish to be at war with any of my creatures? saith +the Lord. My will is, that thou shouldst be at peace. +I am at peace myself, and I wish to make all my creatures at +peace also, and thee among the rest. I am whole and perfect +myself, and I wish to heal all my creatures, and make them whole +and perfect also, and thee among the rest.</p> +<p>‘But the wicked? Ay, this is their very misery, +that there is no peace to them. I want them to enter into +my peace, and they will not. I am at peace with them, saith +the Lord. I owe them no grudge, poor wretches. But +they will not be at peace with themselves. They are like +the troubled sea, which casts up mire and dirt, and fouls +itself. I cast up no mire nor dirt. I foul +nothing. I tempt no man. I, the good God, create no +evil. If the troubled sea fouls itself, so do the wicked +make themselves miserable, and punish themselves by their own +lusts, which war in their members. But they cannot alter +<i>me</i>, saith the Lord; they cannot change my temper, my +character, my everlasting name. I am that I am, who inhabit +eternity; and no creature, and no creature’s sin, can make +me other than I am.</p> +<p>And what is that? What is the name, what is the +character, what is the temper of him who inhabits eternity? +Look on the cross, and see.</p> +<p>The cross, at least, will tell you what kind of a God your God +is. A good God; a God of love; a God of boundless +forbearance and long-suffering. Good God! The folly +and madness of men’s hearts, who look on God dying on the +cross for them, and begin forthwith puzzling their brains as to +<i>how</i> he died for them; how Christ’s blood washes away +their sins; how it is applied, and to whom; puzzling their brains +with theories of the atonement, and with predestination, and +satisfaction, and forensic justification, and particular +redemption, and long words which (four out of five of them) are +not in the Bible, but are spun out of men’s own minds, as +spiders’ webs are from spiders—and, like them, mostly +fit to hamper poor harmless flies.</p> +<p>How Christ’s death takes away thy sins, thou wilt never +know on earth—perhaps not in heaven. It is a mystery +which thou must believe and adore. But why he died, thou +canst see at the first glance—if thou hast a human heart, +and wilt look at what God means thee to look at—Christ upon +his cross. He died because he was <i>love</i>—love +itself—love boundless, unconquerable, +unchangeable—love which inhabits eternity, and therefore +could not be hardened or foiled by any sin or rebellion of man, +but must love men still; must go out to seek and save them; must +dare, suffer any misery, shame, death itself, for their sake; +just because it is absolute and perfect love, which inhabits +eternity.</p> +<p>Look at that—look at the sight of God’s character, +which the cross gives thee; and then, instead of being terrified +at God’s will and decree being unchangeable and eternal, it +will be the greatest possible comfort to thee that God’s +will is unchangeable and eternal, because thou wilt see from the +cross that it is a <i>good</i> will—a will of mercy, +forbearance, long-suffering towards thee and all mankind, eternal +in the heavens as God himself.</p> +<p>Then let those be afraid who are not afraid; and let those who +are afraid, take heart. Let those who think they stand, +take heed lest they fall. Let those who think they see, +take care that they be not blind. Let those be afraid who +fancy themselves right and above all mistakes, lest they should +be full of ugly sins when they fancy themselves most religious +and devout. Let those be afraid who are fond of advising +others, lest they should be in more need of their own medicine +than their patients are. Let those fear who pride +themselves on their cunning, lest with all their cunning they +only lead themselves into their own trap.</p> +<p>But those who are afraid, let them take heart. For what +says the high and holy One, who inhabits eternity? ‘I +dwell with him that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive +the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite +ones.’</p> +<p>Let them take heart. Do you feel that you have lost your +way in life? Then God himself will show you your way. +Are you utterly helpless, worn out, body and soul? Then +God’s eternal love is ready and willing to help you up, and +revive you. Are you wearied with doubts and terrors? +Then God’s eternal light is ready to show you your way; +God’s eternal peace ready to give you peace. Do you +feel yourself full of sins and faults? Then take heart; for +God’s unchangeable will is, to take away those sins and +purge you from those faults.</p> +<p>Are you tormented as Job was, over and above all your sorrows, +by mistaken kindness, and comforters in whom is no comfort; who +break the bruised reed and quench the smoking flax; who tell you +that you must be wicked, and God must be angry with you, or all +this would not have come upon you? Job’s comforters +did so, and spoke very righteous-sounding words, and took great +pains to justify God and to break poor Job’s heart, and +made him say many wild and foolish words in answer, for which he +was sorry afterwards; but after all, the Lord’s answer was, +‘My wrath is kindled against you three, for you have not +spoken of me the thing which was right, as my servant Job +hath. Therefore my servant Job shall pray for you, for him +will I accept;’ as he will accept every humble and contrite +soul who clings, amid all its doubts, and fears, and sorrows, to +the faith that God is just and not unjust, merciful and not +cruel, condescending and not proud—that his will is a good +will, and not a bad will—that he hateth nothing that he +hath made, and willeth the death of no man; and in that faith +casts itself down like Job, in dust and ashes before the majesty +of God, content not to understand his ways and its own sorrows; +but simply submitting itself and resigning itself to the good +will of that God who so loved the world that he spared not his +only begotten Son, but freely gave him for us.</p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> +<p><a name="footnote75"></a><a href="#citation75" +class="footnote">[75]</a> Compare Rom. iii. 23 with I Cor. +xi. 7. Let me entreat all young students to consider +carefully and honestly the radical meaning of the words +αμαρτια and +αμαρτανειν. +It will explain to them many seemingly dark passages of St. Paul, +and perhaps deliver them from more than one really dark +superstition.</p> +<p><a name="footnote151"></a><a href="#citation151" +class="footnote">[151]</a> I do not quote the Crishna +Legends, because they seem to be of post-Christian date; and also +worthless from the notion of a real human babe being utterly lost +in the ascription to Crishna of unlimited magical powers.</p> +<p><a name="footnote162"></a><a href="#citation162" +class="footnote">[162]</a> See, as a counterpart to every +detail of Joel’s, the admirable description of +locust-swarms in Kohl’s <i>Russia</i>.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 7051-h.htm or 7051-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/7/0/5/7051 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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