The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to
Advent, by S. Baring-Gould
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Title: The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent
A Complete Course of 66 Short Sermons, or Full Sermon Outlines for Each Sunday, and Some Chief Holy Days of the Christian Year
Author: S. Baring-Gould
Release Date: July 2, 2007 [eBook #21987]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VILLAGE PULPIT, VOLUME II.
TRINITY TO ADVENT***
E-text prepared by Al Haines
THE VILLAGE PULPIT
A Complete Course of 66 Short Sermons, or Full
Sermon Outlines for Each Sunday, and Some
Chief Holy Days of the Christian Year.
by the
REV. S. BARING-GOULD M.A.,
Author of
"A First Series of Village Preaching for a Year."
"A Second Series of Village Preaching for a Year."
"Village Preaching for Saints' Days."
"The Preacher's Pocket."
"The Mystery of Suffering."
"Sermons to Children."
"Sermons on the Seven Last Words." &c.
VOL. II.
TRINITY TO ADVENT.
Second Edition.
London:
Skeffington & Son, 163, Piccadilly.
1886.
CONTENTS.
SERMON XXXVII.
_CHRISTIAN UNITY._
(Trinity Sunday.)
S. Matt. xxviii. 19.
"In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
SERMON XXXVIII.
_GREAT SURPRISES._
(1st Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke xv. 23.
"In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments."
SERMON XXXIX.
_THE HOLY COMMUNION._
(2nd Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke xiv. 16.
"A certain man made a great supper."
SERMON XL.
_RECEIVING AND SELECTING._
(3rd Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke xv. 2.
"This Man receiveth sinners."
SERMON XLI.
_RASH DECISIONS._
(4th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke vi. 37.
"Judge not--condemn not--forgive."
SERMON XLII.
_THE SECRET OF SUCCESS._
(5th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke v. 5.
"We have taken nothing; nevertheless, at Thy word I will let
down the net."
SERMON XLIII.
_PERSISTENCY IN WRONG DOING._
(6th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. v. 25.
"Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the
way with him."
SERMON XLIV.
_THE MEASURE OF SIN._
(7th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Mark viii. 2.
"I have compassion on the multitude."
SERMON XLV.
_CASTING BLAME._
(8th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. vii. 15.
"Inwardly they are ravening wolves."
SERMON XLVI.
_PETTY DISHONESTY._
(9th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke xvi. 3, 4.
"What shall I do?--I am resolved what to do."
SERMON XLVII.
_THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN._
(10th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke xix. 42.
"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the
things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from
thine eyes."
SERMON XLVIII.
_SELF-INSPECTION._
(11th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke xviii. 13.
"The publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be
merciful to me, a sinner."
SERMON XLIX.
_PERFECTION TO BE SOUGHT._
(12th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Mark vii. 37.
"He hath done all things well."
SERMON L.
_ZEAL._
(13th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke x. 25
"What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
SERMON LI.
_GRATITUDE._
(14th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke xvii. 18.
"There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save
this stranger."
SERMON LII.
_TRUST IN GOD._
(15th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. vi. 31.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness."
SERMON LIII.
_THE CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH._
(16th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke vii. 12.
"Behold, there was a dead man carried out."
SERMON LIV.
_HUMILITY._
(17th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Luke xiv. 2.
"Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted."
SERMON LV.
_PROFESSION AND PRACTICE._
(18th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. xxii. 42.
"What think ye of Christ?"
SERMON LVI.
_EVIL THOUGHTS._
(19th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. ix. 4.
"Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?"
SERMON LVII.
_THE HEAVENLY BANQUET._
(20th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. xxii. 4.
"Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings
are killed, and all things are ready; come unto the marriage."
SERMON LVIII.
_EXAMPLE._
(21st Sunday after Trinity.)
S. John iv. 13.
"And himself believed, and his whole house."
SERMON LIX.
_THE PREACHER AND HIS HEARERS._
(22nd Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. xviii. 23.
"The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a certain king, which
would take account of his servants."
SERMON LX.
_THE IMAGE OF SELF._
(23rd Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. xxii. 20.
"Whose is this image?"
SERMON LXI.
DREAD OF RIDICULE.
(24th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. ix. 24.
"And they laughed Him to scorn."
SERMON LXII.
_WHAT LASTS, AND WHAT PASSES AWAY._
(25th Sunday after Trinity.)
S. Matt. xxiv. 35.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not
pass away."
SERMON LXIII.
_THANKFULNESS TO GOD._
(Harvest.)
S. Matt. xxii. 21.
"Render--unto God, the things that are God's."
SERMON LXIV.
_THE FORMATION OF HABITS._
(SCHOOL SERMON.)
Proverbs xxii. 6.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old
he will not depart from it."
SERMON LXV.
_RELIGIOUS ZEAL._
(Dedication Festival.)
Psalm lxix. 9.
"The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up."
SERMON LXVI.
_THE MEETING HEREAFTER._
(Funeral Sermon.)
Joshua iii. 17.
"And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord
stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan,
and all the Israelites
passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed
clean over Jordan."
XXXVII.
_CHRISTIAN UNITY._
Trinity Sunday.
S. Matt. xxviii. 19.
"In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
INTRODUCTION.--An ancient writer informs us that when the Egyptians named
their Greatest God who was over all, they cried thrice, "Darkness!
Darkness! Darkness!" And when we come to speak of the great mystery of
the Holy Trinity, the utmost we can do is to repeat their cry, and say,
"Darkness! Darkness! Darkness! In the name of the Father--Darkness,
and of the Son--Darkness; and of the Holy Ghost--Darkness!" for however
much the mind may strive to penetrate this mystery, it can never attain
to its solution. Just as the eye, looking at the sun, sees the
Overpowering light as a dark ball, being dazzled by its excessive glory,
so the eye of the mind perceives only darkness, when looking into the
infinite splendour of God in Three Persons.
We may, indeed, see sundry likenesses here on earth, which assist us in
believing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, but they are helps, and helps
only; and not explanations. Thus, the sun may shine into a glass, and
the glass reflect in clear water, and we see three suns, a sun in the
heaven, a sun in the glass, and a sun in the water, which proceeds from
both;--and this assists us to understand how the Son of God is of the
Father, and the Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son, and how that
each is God, and yet that there are not three Gods, but one God. But,
after all, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a matter of Faith, and not
of Reason. We must believe, though we cannot understand.
SUBJECT.--In this Holy Trinity of Persons there is perfect unity
existing, an unity of substance, an unity of Godhead, an unity of
perfection, an unity of love.
And on earth, among men, there should be unity. "Be ye perfect," said
our Lord, "even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." The
Father is love, the Son is love, and the Holy Ghost is the love of the
Father and of the Son, and this love requires the same of us--even love,
or unity.
This is what God wills on earth, our living unity, even as it exists in
Heaven between the Three Persons of the glorious Trinity.
But there are three great hindrances to Christian Unity.
I. _Selfishness_. Each man seeks his own interest, not the general
interest. Let his own selfish interests be touched, and all concord is
at an end. Look at two little dogs playing together, they put their paws
on each other's shoulders, and dance round each other, and roll each
other over, and are full of affectionate play. Throw them a bone, and it
is a true bone of contention at once. All their affection is dead, and
they are fighting each other for the bone. It is the same with men, they
are perfectly friendly with each other so long as no little bone comes in
the way--some little money matter--and then there is no end to the
snarling and snapping and growling. How often it is that the dearest
friends fall out about money! This has been so often noticed that it has
become a common saying, "Have no money dealings with your friend." Even
near relations become bitter, and are estranged, over some provision in a
will. All this arises from self-seeking. Each cares for himself, and
not for others.
Now look at the Holy Trinity. The Three Persons share in equal Power,
Majesty, and Eternity. The Father commits all power unto the Son, the
Son gives all honour to the Father, the Son gives over to the Holy Ghost
the government of His Church. The Father shares with the Son and the
Holy Ghost the Divine nature, wisdom, and glory. All three are equally
eternal, equally almighty, equally perfect.
II. _Pride_. Each man seeks to place himself before another. 'I am as
good as another, or I am above so-and-so,' is a common thought. No man
is content with what he is, he desires to thrust himself ahead of
another. The whole of society is like a cabbage-stalk covered with
caterpillars, and none is satisfied till it has crawled to the top. The
caterpillar at the bottom bites the one above him, gets over his back,
and then exults, 'There is a caterpillar nearer the bottom of the
cabbage-stalk than I,' and so all the way up the stalk, those below
scrambling over those above, and they at the top--at the proud elevation
and unique honour of being at the head of a cabbage-stalk--tumble off,
and are buried in the soil.
Was there any such pride of place in the angel host? Yes--once. The
Devil wanted to be at the top, and he fell. The other angels are content
where they are, and they remain angels. If they began pushing ahead of
each other, cherubim wanting to be above seraphim, and angels envious of
archangels, what a falling there would be from heaven! Falling stars
indeed! All turning into devils. Look at the Blessed Trinity. God the
Son says, "My Father is greater than I." He places Himself in the lowest
rank. He calls Himself "The Son of Man"; there is no boasting, "I am the
Son of God."
III. _Obstinacy_. That is the third source of discord. Each man
follows his own will, his dogged, headlong will, regardless of the wishes
and advice of others.
In the Book of Judges we read that Samson caught three hundred foxes and
tied them together by their tails, and put burning brands between them,
where their tails were tied. What was the consequence? The wretched
creatures dashed in opposite directions, each wanted to get away from the
brand that scorched his tail, and so each wanted to go exactly in a
different direction from the fox to which he was tied, and so the whole
lot went dashing in a mad, disorderly manner among the standing corn, and
destroyed a whole harvest.
That is something like a great number of people I know. They will tear
off in their own direction, and drag others after them who wish to go in
another direction, and the fire of discord is between them.
Look at the Blessed Trinity. Christ said, "I came not to do mine own
will, but the will of Him that sent me."
"Let us make man," was said at the Creation. God the Father did not say
"I will make man," nor God the Son "I will make man in My image," nor God
the Holy Ghost "I will make man, and breathe My spirit into him," but all
united in one work, and that work was very good.
CONCLUSION.--When Julian the Apostate was Emperor, three Christian
soldiers were brought before him. Their names were Emmanuel, Sabael, and
Ismael. He ordered them to be examined apart, lest they should encourage
one another in their faith and endurance under torture. Emmanuel, seeing
his object, said, "Tyrant! we Three are one in one Trinity."
Now, listen to our Lord's prayer, "I pray not for these alone, but for
those also which shall believe on Me through their word, that they all
may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee."
XXXVIII.
_GREAT SURPRISES._
1st Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke xvi. 23.
"In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments."
INTRODUCTION.--What a great surprise for Dives! So utterly unawaited!
Dives, who had lived so comfortably, clothed in purple and fine linen,
and had had such a good coat, and such excellent dinners, and such a
cellar of wine, and such good friends at his dinners, goes to sleep one
night after a banquet, and wakes up, and lo!--he is in hell. Surprise
number one.
He feels the flames, he perceives himself surrounded by demons, his
tongue is burning with thirst, and he lifts up his eyes and
sees!--surprise number two!--Lazarus, the poor dirty wretch who had
lain full of sores at his door. He did not know that the fellow was
dead. And--surprise number three!--this wretched fellow is in Paradise.
There is another story of a great surprise in the Gospels. That is of
the man who laid up for himself great possessions, and said to himself,
"Soul! thou hast much goods laid up for many years,--I will pull down
my barns and build greater--take thy ease, eat, drink and be merry."
That night he died, and when his soul came to realise the fact that he
had nothing left of all he had laid by--that was a great surprise, and
a very unpleasant one.
SUBJECT.--Let us take care that we do not have some such a great and
unpleasant surprise ourselves. "Take heed," says our Lord, "to
yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day
come upon you unawares."
I. Now I am going to tell you a story of another great surprise. The
king of Syria was engaged in war with the king of Israel, and one of
the servants of the king of Syria told him that Elisha the Prophet saw
and knew all that was planned by him against the king of Israel, and
that he told the king of Israel, so that the Syrians were never able to
catch him at a disadvantage, and defeat him. Then the king of Syria
enquired where this prophet lived, and was told that he was then at
Dothan.
"Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots, and a great host: and
they came by night and compassed the city about." Then Elisha prayed
to God to deceive and blind the eyes of the soldiers, and he went out
of the gates of Dothan to them, and said, "This is not the way, neither
is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you
seek." So he went before, and led them along the road to Samaria, the
capital of the king of Israel. Then he brought them all in through the
gates, and they followed, as docile as lambs, and when they were in the
market-place, he said, "Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may
see." And the Lord opened their eyes, and lo! they were in the
market-place in the midst of Samaria, and all around them were the
soldiers of their enemy, the king of Israel, with swords drawn, and in
the windows were others armed with stones and javelins and molten lead
to hurl down on them. Here was an unpleasant surprise!
The king of Israel and all his soldiers were eager to be at them and
cut them to pieces, but Elisha was too good-hearted for that, he
persuaded the king to be generous, to give them their breakfast and
send them home. So "He prepared great provisions for them; and when
they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their
master." They were lucky to be let off so easily, and they owed their
lives to there being a Saint of God there to intercede for them. But
you may be assured to their dying day they carried with them a lively
recollection of the very unpleasant surprise it was to them when their
eyes were opened, and they found themselves in the midst of their
enemies, when they fondly supposed themselves in the humble and
undefended little town of Dothan.
II. Now for you!--Whither are you going? Whither are you being led?
Are you at all aware? I very much fear that a great many of you are as
blind and as ignorant of the road you are treading as were those
soldiers of the king of Syria. You are going on headlong, chattering
with one another, laughing and singing, in open order, very little
discipline, and perfectly confident that you will come to no harm.
Take care! Some day your eyes will be opened, and you will experience
an unpleasant surprise. Then, when your eyes are opened you will see
yourselves surrounded by the enemies of your souls, ready to drag you
to destruction, and no help near. Very unexpected was this case of the
Syrians, that the prophet prayed for them, and that instead of being
put to death they were fed and sent away in peace. That is not what
you must expect. Dives, when his eyes were opened, cried to Abraham,
but got no help, no, not even a drop of water to cool his tongue.
III. No man need go blindly to destruction, for God has given him
guidance, and power of seeing whither he goes. The prophet led these
soldiers of Syria into the midst of their enemies, but God's good
Spirit, which is our guide, will lead us into the Land of Righteousness
if we will listen to His voice, and go where he points the way.
We have no right to plead blindness and ignorance, if hereafter we find
that we have gone astray, and our eyes are opened when we are in the
midst of our enemies, for blindness can not come upon us unless we
wilfully shut our eyes to the light, and with the teaching of Christ
and His Church ever sounding in our ears, we have no right to plead
ignorance.
Moreover, God is so merciful, that He never allows any to go to
destruction unwarned of their danger. As He sent His angel to stand in
the way of Balaam, so will He send some check, and throw some obstacle
in the road you are treading, to bring you to your senses in time, and
will not allow you to perish, unless you wilfully and deliberately
persist in the road of evil, knowing the consequences, and knowing
whither you are going.
CONCLUSION.--Lastly. It was a great surprise to Lazarus when he found
himself in Paradise. He had no doubt hoped and prayed to be admitted
there, but when he found himself there, he was amazed to see how far
its happiness and its peace surpassed his expectations. So with those
of us who are found meet to enter Heaven. However great our
anticipations, they will be surpassed. Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, to conceive those
good things which God hath prepared for those who love Him.
May He bring us all to that glad surprise.
XXXIX.
_THE HOLY COMMUNION._
2nd Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke xiv. 16.
"A certain man made a great supper."
INTRODUCTION.--When the fulness of time was come, God the Eternal
Father said: "In burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin, I have no
pleasure." Then said the Son, "Lo, I come." He came that He might
take away the valueless sacrifice, and establish the one full and
perfect propitiation for the sins of the world. And indeed it was
time. All creation was groaning and travailing in pain, and waiting
for redemption, then said He--"Lo, I come." The souls of the faithful
were in Hades, prophets, patriarchs, and kings, desirous to see His
Day, prisoners of Hope, desirous to be released by His Blood of the
Covenant,--then said He--"Lo, I come."
Men wandered in darkness, desiring light, the whole head was sick, and
the whole heart faint, and in their error, darkly, and in their
sickness, faintly, they sought the Lord, if haply they might feel after
Him; then said He--"Lo, I come."
They knew not the way of God how they might walk, and they needed a
guide; then said He--"Lo, I come."
They were sunk in sin, and found that the old bloody sacrifices and
burnt offerings could not take away guilt, they needed a more perfect
sacrifice; then said He--"Lo, I come." They knew not what the nature
of God was, and they formed to themselves gods, in the likeness of men.
How should they know without a teacher? Then said He--"Lo, I come."
Nor is this all. At this day, still His answer is, promptly, when He
is needed--"Lo, I come."
Does any father desire his dear little one to be taken into the arms of
Christ and blessed, still His answer is--"Lo, I come."
Does any man need direction, guidance, help in the way of life? He
says, "Lo, I come; I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
Does any desire sustaining food by the way? He says--"Lo, I come, and
the Bread I give is My flesh, which I give for the life of the world."
Is any burdened with the weight of sin, and desires pardon and
reconciliation, He says--"Lo, I come, though thy sins be as scarlet,
they shall be made as white as wool."
Is any in sorrow, and heart sore? He says, "Lo, I come to bind up the
broken-hearted."
Is any dying?--He is still ready with His answer, "Lo, I come, when
thou goest through the waters I am with thee."
You see how striking is the readiness of Our Blessed Lord. Now look at
to-day's Gospel, and see how this is met by man. Christ is represented
as having made a great supper, the Holy Eucharist, and to that he
invites all Christians, and He sends forth His messengers to bid them
come, then they all with one consent begin to make excuse. The
messengers go to the man who has bought oxen, and invite him to the
supper of his lord, and his answer is, "I pray thee, have me excused."
They go to a man who has bought a farm, and his answer is, "I pray
thee, have me excused." They go to a man who has married a wife, and
his answer is, "I cannot come."
"Lo, I come!" says Christ. "I cannot come," says man. "Lo, I come to
man," says Christ. "I cannot come to Christ," says man.
I. It was the rule among the early Christians to communicate every
Lord's Day. The rule of the Church, as laid down in the service-books,
then ordered that all those who were open and scandalous livers, all
those who had committed some deadly sin, and had not been reconciled to
God, should leave church before the Consecration, after the reading of
the Gospel. Now suppose some good old bishop of that day were to rise
from the dead, and come into this church, what would he see?--Directly
the sermon is over,--a rush of almost all in the church, men, women,
and children, running out of the door, and only three or four, or at
most a dozen, remaining to partake of the Lord's Body. That is what he
would see. Now, what would he say?--He would lift up his hands in
horror, and say, "What is this? All these notorious sinners! All
these open profligates! All these burdened with mortal sin, cutting
them off from the grace of God! Take me back to my grave, I do not
want to see any more of such horrible days."
But if I happened to be present, I would say to him. "You are jumping
to conclusions too rashly. Times are altered. It is not the criminals
and profligates who go out of church before the Consecration of the
Blessed Sacrament, and are unworthy to eat of the Lord's Body, it is
those who cannot make up their minds to do exactly what the Lord
commanded; it is those who are half-hearted, who wish to serve God, but
do not want to serve Him very much." Then, I doubt not, the old bishop
would turn upon me with a wrathful face, and say, "Let me go back to my
grave! This is worse! A thousand times worse! The whole Christian
world has grown cold of heart, and dead of faith, if all with one
consent begin to make excuse, and say, 'I cannot come.' I had rather
they were either hot or cold, but because they are neither hot nor
cold--away! I cannot bear to look at their faces! Let me go back to
my grave."
III. I know what is passing in your minds as well as if you had got
glass skulls. And this is what I see that not a few of you are
thinking. "Ha! there is the Parson at it again! always hammering away
at Communion. Can he not leave us alone? Let him talk to us of other
matters; let him preach to us some real stinging gospel truth, and make
us wince. Anything but this eternal preaching about coming to
Communion." Now I will tell you why I preach about this, and hammer,
hammer, at it. Because it is good stinging gospel truth, and the
grumbling that is going on is because your consciences really are
wincing at what I say.
Listen:--other folks talked like you in olden times. When the children
of Israel came out of Egypt, God in mercy sent them Bread from Heaven,
the manna, to feed them on their way through the wilderness. What said
the people in return for the blessing? Were they very grateful? Were
they very eager to gather up the Angels' food? By no means, they sat
grumbling in their tents and said, "Our soul is dried away; there is
nothing beside this manna before our eyes." Put into modern language
that is, "Our souls have dried up for want of preaching of free
justification, and no good at all in keeping the law; we don't want any
of your Sacramental teaching, no Communion for us, we can do very well
without that, our soul abhorreth this light food, as for this Holy
Communion, there is nothing but that preached to us, year in, year out."
Well! If this Sacramental teaching be not God's own blessed Gospel,
there is no meaning in words. Listen to this! I never said anything
so strong, and this is what Christ Himself spake:--"I am the Bread of
Life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. I
am the living bread which came down from heaven, if any man eat of this
bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My
flesh, which I give for the life of the world." "Verily, verily, I say
unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For
My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed."
Now--mark you. When Jesus said this, many of His disciples said, "This
is a hard saying"--and, from that time they went back, and walked no
more with Him. It is so still, it will be so always. Just as many of
the old Israelites loathed the manna and said, "Our souls are dried
away; there is nothing but this manna before our eyes," so there always
will be faithless disciples who when they hear the invitation to
partake of the Body of Christ, the true Manna, will say, "This is a
hard saying," and will thenceforth no more walk with Him.
XL.
_RECEIVING AND REJECTING._
3rd Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke, xv. 2.
"This Man receiveth sinners."
INTRODUCTION.--In to-day's Gospel our Lord represents Himself as a Good
Shepherd seeking His lost sheep, going out into the wilderness after
them, to bring them back into the fold.
The fold is that place where He keeps His flock shut behind the hurdles
of the Ten Commandments. Every now and then a sheep leaps one of these
hurdles, or pushes his way between them, and runs away into forbidden
pastures. Then the Good Shepherd goes after the erring sheep, and
brings it back. "And when he cometh home, he calleth together his
friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have
found my sheep which was lost."
SUBJECT.--Christ is not always to be regarded as the Saviour receiving
sinners. The time will come when He will be the Judge, rejecting them.
He is a shepherd now, bringing back the straying sheep, and replacing
them in the fold, but one day He will do just the contrary, He will go
to His fold, and pick out the incorrigibly bad sheep, and cast them out.
I. We will consider Him now as the Good Shepherd. What is His purpose
in bringing back the straying sheep? That they may remain within
bounds for the future. Christ has come to save sinners, that is to
say, He brings them to repentance, and pardons their transgressions, in
order that, for the future, they may walk in newness of life, and not
commit the sins of which they were guilty before. Thus if He brings
back one who has been a liar, it is to truth that he returns, and
Christ expects him to speak the truth ever after. If He brings back a
drunkard, it is to temperance, and He expects him to be sober for the
future. If He brings back one who has sinned through impurity, it is
to chastity and modesty. This is what S. Paul means when he says, "Put
off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his
neighbour. Let him that stole steal no more, let no corrupt
conversation proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the
use of edifying. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and
clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And
be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another."
II. We will consider Christ as the Judge. The time will come when He
will separate the bad from the good, when He will go over His fold, and
pick out all those diseased sheep which are good for nothing, and which
taint and infect the others, and will cast them outside.
That is to say, the time will come, when Christ will no more call
sinners to Him, and bring them to His Church, but will examine those
who are in His Church, and unless they have mended their ways, unless
they have become better for being there, He will throw them out, and
have nothing further to do with them.
When Joshua was leading the people of God into the Promised Land, God
said to Joshua, "Up! Sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves
against to-morrow."
In what did this sanctification consist? "Joshua rose early in the
morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was
taken: and he brought the family of Judah; and took the family of the
Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and
Zabdi was taken: and he brought his household man by man; and Achan,
the son of Carmi was taken." Then Joshua learned how this man had
sinned and incurred the anger of God, and he and all Israel carried him
and his family outside the camp unto the valley of Achor, "and all
Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they
had stoned them with stones." That was the sanctification of
Israel,--the putting away the black sheep out of the flock.
When Jesus sat with His Twelve in the supper chamber, at the Last
Supper, Judas rose and went out, and when he was gone forth, Jesus
said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him."
A little while before, while Judas was in the room, we are told, "Jesus
was troubled in spirit." But the moment the evil one among the
Apostles was cast forth, the glorification of the Son of Man began.
So it is now, and so will it be hereafter.
Now, as long as there is evil in the Church, as long as there are
sinners who will not amend, as long as there are tares growing up with
the wheat,--so long "Jesus is troubled in spirit." But when the great
Day comes, when our true Joshua will lead the people of God into the
Promised Land, then He will sanctify His people by casting out from
among them the Achans; then from the company of His Elect the Judases
will be banished, and the Son of Man will be glorified indeed.
CONCLUSION.--Therefore, my Brethren, be careful to amend. You may have
been strayed sheep who have been mercifully brought back to the fold,
if so, amend your ways, and grow in holiness and in spiritual health;
or in the Last Day you will be thrust forth as incurable, and the
Children of God will be sanctified, whilst you are buried in the valley
of Achor.
XLI.
_RASH DECISIONS._
4th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke vi. 37.
"Judge not--condemn not--forgive."
INTRODUCTION.--Our Lord here condemns all rash judgments. We know not
the motives of other men's actions, and therefore have no right to pass
a sweeping condemnation upon them. From our ignorance, we ought to be
cautious and merciful in our judgments, and from our own weakness, we
should be forgiving to those who have trespassed against us.
Rash judgments arise from pride. It is because we are puffed up with a
high opinion of our own selves, our own goodness, the soundness of our
judgment, the sharpness of our perception, that we are so prompt to
pass judgment on others.
SUBJECT.--This same Pride urges us to something else, Persistency in
maintaining that on which we have determined, even after we know it is
unwise. It is of this which I am going to speak to-day. This fault is
so closely akin to rash judgment of others, that I may well address you
on the subject upon a Sunday when our Lord warns against the other.
I. Many a man, out of pride, sticks to what he says after he knows
that it is wrong. He will not admit that he is wrong, or he is moved
by a false sense of what is due to himself to hold to his word, or to
his opinion, when his conscience tells him that he is in error. You
must have met with those stubborn persons who are not to be moved by
any argument, not to be convinced by any proof, that they are wrong.
They have made up their minds once for all, and are no longer open to
reverse their decision.
Let us look to Scripture, and see if we have any examples of such. I
find two; and one of these is in a man of whom we might have hoped
better things--King David.
I. When David came to the kingdom, he was very anxious to show
kindness to any son of Jonathan whom he might find; and he heard of
Mephibosheth, who was lame in both his feet, and at once made over to
him all the landed property that had belonged to King Saul, his
grandfather. After seven years, Absalom, David's son, conspired
against his father, and David was obliged to fly from Jerusalem, with a
few friends. As David was escaping, there came to him Ziba, a servant
of Mephibosheth, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two
hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and an
hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. Then David asked Ziba
what these were for, and Ziba answered that he had brought them to the
king as a present, thinking he might need them in his flight. And the
king asked after Mephibosheth; then Ziba said, "O! he is at home in
Jerusalem, he said in my hearing, A good time is coming to me. To-day
shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father." Now
all this was a wicked lie. Mephibosheth had sent the present, and Ziba
had promised to tell David why his master could not come with him,
because he was crippled in both his feet, and could not get about. As
for any idea of recovering the throne of Saul, it had not once entered
his head. Now when David heard the slander of Ziba, he was very angry
with Mephibosheth, and at once he judged him, and condemned him,
without waiting to hear more, and said to Ziba, "Behold, I will give
thee all that belonged to Mephibosheth, if ever I get back to Jerusalem
and recover my power."
Not long after there was a great battle, and Absalom was slain, and the
enemies of David put to flight. Then David returned over Jordan from
the wilderness where he had taken refuge, and Mephibosheth met him.
This good man, full of love for David, "had neither dressed his feet,
nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes," all the time of David's
absence, to shew his great grief. David at once reproached him for his
disloyalty, and then only he heard how great a lie Ziba had told. Then
David answered, "Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have
said, Thou and Ziba divide the land." Mark the wicked injustice. The
lying, slanderous servant is rewarded with half the property of poor
Mephibosheth,--why?--because David had promised him the whole when
misinformed. David knows that Ziba has acted falsely, yet, because he
had said to him that he should be given the land of his master, he
keeps his word to him, though he knows he is doing an injustice to
Mephibosheth.
There you have a pretty example of an obstinate man sticking to what he
has said, after he is convinced that he has been misled, and doing a
great wrong rather than acknowledge that he had judged rashly, and
condemned on no good grounds.
II. I can give you another example. King Herod was pleased with the
dancing of the daughter of Herodias one evening at a supper, and he
swore to her, when he was half tipsy, that he would give her what she
liked in reward for her display. Then she asked him to cut off the
head of S. John the Baptist, and give it her in a dish. Now, as soon
as she asked this, the king was sorry, for he knew that S. John was a
good man, and he knew also that he had no right to have a man murdered
in prison to please the whim of a wicked woman; however, because he had
passed his word, he was too proud and cowardly to go back from it, and
refuse her what she had no right to ask. Then he sent an executioner,
and he cut off the head of the saint, and put it in a dish, and it was
brought thus to the girl, and she carried it to her mother.
III. A man is right to stick to his word, if his word be right. He is
right to stick to his promise, if he have promised that over which he
has a just right. He is right to stick to his opinion if his opinion
be founded on good grounds, and if he have heard nothing that ought to
cause him to alter it.
But--no man has any right to stick to his opinion simply because it is
his opinion. He has no right to hold a promise which he had no right
to make. He has no right to adhere to a harsh judgment simply because
he has formed that judgment.
When our Lord bids us not judge, He bids us be very cautious in forming
a decided opinion, and in sticking to it through thick and thin. We
know so little here, and so imperfectly, that our opinions must be
formed on uncertain grounds, and therefore we have no right to be
tenacious about them. Yet many persons are as touchy about their
opinions as though it were a sacrilege to dispute them. Some of the
greatest injustices have been done through obstinacy, in clinging to
opinions that have become untenable.
CONCLUSION.--Remember then the lessons taught you by our Lord in this
day's Gospel, and also by the conduct of David. Be very cautious of
forming a judgment, and when you have formed one, do not allow Pride to
stand in the way of confessing your fault, and changing your opinion,
when you are given reasonable grounds for so doing.
XLII.
_THE SECRET OF SUCCESS._
5th Sunday after Trinity
S. Luke v. 5.
"We have taken nothing; nevertheless at Thy word, I will let down the
net."
INTRODUCTION.--S. Peter and the other Apostles had been fishing all
night, and had met with no success at all, then Jesus entered into the
boat of Simon, and bade him launch out and let down his net. S. Peter
did not hesitate. He had met with no success when fishing in the
night, nevertheless now, at the word of Christ, he fishes again, and
this time the net encloses a great multitude, so that the net breaks.
No doubt our Lord desired to show those who were to become fishers of
men that there were two ways of doing a thing, and that one way would
be successful and the other would not.
If they were going to become fishers of men, they must try to catch
them by carrying Christ, _i.e._ a Christlike spirit, with them, and the
spirit of Christ is love and gentleness. If they were to be successful
in winning souls, they must have a loving zeal, and that would gain
more than hard work without love.
SUBJECT.--We are all of us, in our several callings, fishers of souls.
Of course, especially are the clergy fishers, but not they only, every
man who loves God must seek to win souls for God, every man who is in
the net of the Church must seek to draw others into the same net. If
the fisher is to be successful, he must fish in the spirit of Christ,
that is, actuated by love, and must deal gently with the souls he
desires to gain.
I. I say, we are all fishers. Those of us who are parents desire to
draw to Christ the souls of our children, those who are masters, the
souls of their servants. The husband seeks to win the wife, and the
believing wife the husband. "What knowest thou, O wife," says S. Paul,
"whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man,
whether thou shalt save thy wife?"
The servant seeks to win the fellow-servant, the labourer in the field
has the welfare of his fellow-labourer at heart, and seeks to draw him
to God. It was Cain who said, "Am I my brother's keeper?" And the
same isolating, selfish spirit is in those who take no interest in
those they associate with, and do not seek their good.
I was much struck last spring with something a gentleman said to me,
who had been a good deal in America; he was much surprised and struck
with the interest felt in England by the rich for the poor, by the
master and mistress for their servants, by the landowner for his
tenants, and he said to me, "This seems to me the most marvellous thing
I have seen in England. With us a master cares not one snap of the
fingers what becomes of the man he employs, he no more thinks of what
becomes of him than he does of a dollar that passes through his hands.
He sees that he does his work, and if the man dies, the master gets
another in his place to-morrow, and asks nothing about the man who has
disappeared."
Well! I thank God we are not come to that yet, however advanced we may
be in our independent ways; and it is not right and Christian that we
should.
II. Now we come to the way in which we are to try to draw other souls
to Christ, the souls of our children, of our servants, of our
companions, of our fellow-workers. The first principle of success is
gentleness.
In the 4th chapter of the 2nd book of Kings we have this story. There
was a Shunammite woman who had an only son. She was a good
kind-hearted woman, who had shown much hospitality to the prophet
Elijah [Transcriber's note: Elisha?]. One day the little boy ran out
into the harvest field, when the sun was hot, and he had a sunstroke,
and was very ill. "He said unto his father, My head, my head. And he
said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him and
brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then he
died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and
shut the door upon him, and went out." Then she ordered one of the
servants to saddle an ass, and drive her to the prophet; and when she
found him, she told him the piteous story, and how the poor little
fellow whom she loved so dearly, and who was such a darling of his
father, and such a pet of the old Elisha when he paid them his visits,
was lying white and dead upstairs on the bed.
Then Elisha was sorely troubled, and he gave his staff to his servant,
Gehazi, and made him run as fast as he could to the house of the
Shunammite. "Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and
go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute
thee, answer him not again; and lay my staff upon the face of the
child." Gehazi obeyed, but it was of no use. "He laid the staff upon
the face of the child: but there was neither voice, nor hearing." Then
Elisha came himself, and he shut the door, and laid himself beside the
little body, and put his lips to the lips of the child, and his warm
loving heart against the little dead heart, and took the chill hands in
his. Then the spirit of the child came back into him again, and he sat
up, and Elisha delivered him alive to his mother.
Now this story contains some lesson for us. And this is the short
comment on the miracle by an old writer, "Him whom the rod of terror
will not rouse, _love_ will." Or in other words, we may learn by this
that gentleness will succeed where harshness will fail.
In the time when all the north of England was heathen, there was an
assembly held at Iona to decide who should preach the gospel to the
English of Northumbria. Then one missionary was sent, and after having
laboured for some years, he came back to give an account of his
mission. And a council was held, and he said, "Those Northumbrians are
a stiff-necked, hard-hearted people. I threatened them with God's
wrath, I spoke to them of Hell-fire, I warned them of the terrors of
judgment, I denounced the vengeance of God on them, and they would not
be converted." Then one sitting in a bark seat said, "My brother, it
seems to me that you went the wrong way to work. You should have gone
in love, and not in wrath. You should have tried to win, and not to
drive." All eyes were turned en the speaker, and it was decided with
one voice that he should be sent, and he went. His name was Aidan--and
he was the Apostle of all Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire. He
had the joy to see the whole people bow their necks to receive the yoke
of Christ.
What says S. Paul? "What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or
in love, and in the spirit of meekness?" If he had come with the rod,
he would have gone back disappointed.
CONCLUSION.--Let us then, dear brethren, in dealing with the souls of
others, approach them, not with the rod, or we shall fail to awake them
to a new and better life, but in love, and in the spirit of gentleness,
and then we shall meet, I doubt not, with good success.
XLIII.
_PERSISTENCY IN WRONG DOING._
6th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. v. 25.
"Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with
him."
INTRODUCTION.--I spoke to you the Sunday before last about the
obstinacy of persisting in an opinion after you have good cause to
believe that this opinion is unjust, or unreasonable. I am going to
speak to you to-day of another form of obstinacy.
SUBJECT.--My subject is Persistency in doing wrong, because you have
begun wrong. This is only another form of the same fault. The other
is thinking wrong persistently, this is perseverance in doing wrong.
And the source of both is the same, Pride. Pride stands in the way of
altering an erroneous opinion, and in the way of altering a wrongful
course of action.
I. In the tenth chapter of the second book of Samuel we have a
striking story of the way in which a man having once done a wrong,
persists in it, and it brings about his ruin.
King David, when firmly established on his throne, began to look about
him to see who had been kind to him in his day of adversity, and to
reward, or thank them. He showed his gratitude to the memory of his
friend Jonathan by investing his son Mephibosheth with his
grandfather's property. Then he remembered that Nahash the King of
Ammon had shown him hospitality, and he heard also that he was just
dead. So David said, "I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of
Nahash, as his father showed kindness unto me." And David sent to
comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father.
The message was kindly intended. David wished to show that he was not
forgetful of past favours, that he was ready to make a lasting
friendship with Hanun, and he desired to exhibit his sympathy with the
son for the loss of his father. These were the three motives actuating
David, all good. Now, how did Hanun act? One would naturally suppose
that he would appreciate these motives, and that he would be glad, when
scarce settled on his throne, to secure the powerful friendship of King
David. No!--he was young, insolent, inconsiderate, and fond of
practical joking,--a vulgar-minded fellow, puffed up with conceit at
his elevation to power. Hanun took the servants, the ambassadors of
David, and shaved off half their beards, and cut off the lower half of
all their clothes, and sent them back to David. And when it was told
unto David that his messengers had been thus ignominiously treated, "he
sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed, and said,
Tarry at Jericho, until your beards be grown, and then return." As
soon as Hanun and his Ammonites had done this, what was their next
step?--As perhaps you are aware, by the laws of civilized and
uncivilized people, the persons of ambassadors are held to be sacred.
Therefore Hanun had not only done an insolent, and utterly blackguard
trick, but he had gone against one of the first laws of nations. What
he ought to have done, was at once to send to David a most humble
apology, with an acknowledgment that he had acted wrongly. But he was
too proud for this. He would not admit that he had erred. He at once
sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zoba,
twenty thousand foot soldiers, and of King Maacah a thousand men, and
of Ish-tob twelve thousand men, so that this malicious trick began to
shew that it was an expensive one. Then David's army drew up in array
against this army of Ammon and their hired allies, and at once, all the
mercenaries ran away. So then there was nothing for it but for the
Ammonites to return as quickly as possible within the walls of their
city. Now, what should Hanun have done? It was clear that David was
not eager to punish him, for he had not even sent his army against
Ammon till Hanun had collected the great host against him, and as soon
as the Ammonites, deserted by their auxiliaries, had retired within
their walls, the army of David had not pressed them, but gone quietly
back to Jerusalem. What then ought Hanun to have done? Of course, he
should now have sent his apology, and said how wrongly he had acted,
how ashamed of himself he was, and how desirous he was to have the past
forgotten. But no, having done wrong once, his pride would not let him
acknowledge it, and he went on. He now engaged Hadarezar, King of the
Syrians, and this time there was a great battle, and David slew of the
Syrians seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote
the captain of their host, so that he was left dead on the field, and
all the Syrians who could escape ran away for their lives. Then
Hadarezer had had quite enough of fighting against Israel, and he made
peace with David, and "So the Syrians feared to help the children of
Ammon any more." Now the Ammonites were left completely without
auxiliaries. What chance was there for them? Still David did not
press them. A whole year passed, and he made no move. He was waiting
for an apology. But no. That headstrong Hanun was still too proud to
make it. He would die with all his people rather than say he had done
wrong. So, at the end of a year, David sent his army against the
Ammonites, and destroyed them utterly. He killed Hanun, and took away
his crown, and plundered his capital town, and ruined all his cities.
That was the end of one practical joke unapologised for.
II. In the Gospel for to-day, our Lord warns against the same
hard-headedness in persisting in refusing an apology, and to make up
friendship that has been broken. "Agree with thine adversary quickly,
while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary
deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer,
and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no
means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." He
urges Christians when they have done an injury to any, frankly to
confess it, to put their pride in their pocket, and to ask forgiveness.
It is not an easy thing to do, to acknowledge that you have done wrong,
but there is more true courage in doing so, than in persevering in
spite of the consequences, in wrong doing. Many a lasting and
miserable quarrel has arisen because at the outset one little word has
not been said, which would have made all things smooth. Two families
become estranged and bitterly hostile, because some one has reported to
the mother in one, that the mother in the other had made a disparaging
remark about her. A little word, and all would be explained, and set
to rights. "Let not the sun go down on your wrath," says the Apostle,
and an excellent piece of advice this is:--Make up all quarrels the
same day that they break out.
There was a good old bishop of Alexandria called John the Almsgiver,
and he and the Governor of the city were great friends. Something
occurred which made a breach between them. If I remember aright, it
was this. The bishop was very charitable, and was always urging the
rich people to give to the poor, and they were constantly sending him
money to distribute among the sick and needy. Now at this time the
Governor had experienced some difficulty in raising the taxes, and this
ruffled his temper. He was on a visit to the Bishop, when he saw on
the stairs a number of servants of a rich lady bringing up, as a
present to the bishop some pots, labelled "Virgin Honey." The Governor
said he did not believe they were pots of honey, but pots of gold, and
when the bishop offered to open them and let him see for himself, he
dashed out of the door in a rage, and said, "No wonder I can't get
money in taxes when you swindle it out of the people, to feed the
beggars on honey." When the Governor was gone, the old Bishop was very
troubled, and he sat in his room all the rest of the day, waiting for
the Governor to come and make it up with him. But no! the Governor was
fuming with anger and would do no such thing. That evening the
Governor had a party, and as he was sitting at table with the guests, a
little scrap of paper was put on his plate, a servant of the Bishop had
brought it. The Governor took it up and saw, "Dear old Friend--THE SUN
IS SETTING." Then his heart relented, he excused himself to his
guests, and ran to the house of the Bishop, and they fell into one
another's arms and made friends again.
CONCLUSION.--Now remember this story. Whenever you have a quarrel with
another, let not the sun go down on your wrath. Make it up before set
of sun.
XLIV.
THE MEASURE OF SIN.
7th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Mark viii. 2.
"I have compassion on the multitude."
INTRODUCTION.--In to-day's Gospel we see the tender compassion of our
Lord for those who came into the wilderness to hear Him. This is only
one example out of many of His great love and mercy: and indeed "His
mercy is over all His works." "Thou, O Lord," says David, "art full of
compassion and mercy, long-suffering and truth." This is a verity of
which we are so convinced that it is quite possible we may overlook the
other truth, that His mercy, though unlimited in extent, is limited in
its application. His mercy is extended for a definite purpose, and
when it ceases to avail for this purpose, then it ceases to flow. What
that purpose is, S. Paul tells us. "Knowest thou not," he says, "that
the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." That is, God is
merciful that we may amend, not in order that we may continue in sin.
Now, if men thought that when they had fallen into grievous sin there
was no more a hope of recovery, then they would sink into despair, and
become hard and impenitent. But that this may not be the case, God
assures us of His mercy, but he assures us of His mercy only to insure
our amendment.
SUBJECT.--It seems plain from Holy Scripture that to each man there is
a fixed measure of sin, and that if he fills that measure, after that
there is no place for repentance, and no more pardon. This is a very
terrible truth,--but a truth it is, as I shall show you.
I. There was a nation of Canaan called the Amorites, and God promised
to Abraham that He would give their land to his descendants, but that
He could not give it yet without injustice. The land was in the
possession of the Amorites, a people on their trial, and till the day
of their probation was expired, their kingdom could not be taken from
them. "In the fourth generation," God said, "thy seed shall come
hither, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Now
actually it was not till four hundred and seventy years later that the
destruction of the Amorites was accomplished. Four generations after
Abraham, that is some two hundred and forty years after, the measure of
their iniquities was full, and yet they existed on till Joshua crossed
Jordan with the Israelites, and then they were all put to the sword.
In the New Testament we hear the Jews addressed as though they also had
a measure of sin they must fill up before God would forsake them. Our
Lord says to them, "Ye are the children of them which killed the
prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents,
ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell?
Behold I send unto you prophets, and wise-men, and scribes: and some of
them ye shall kill and crucify: and persecute them from city to city:
that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth,
from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of
Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." The Jewish
nation had done great wickedness, but the measure of their iniquities
was not full till they had rejected Christ, and had refused to listen
to His Apostles, and the Holy Ghost speaking through their mouths.
Till then He would not cast them off entirely.
II. David prays to God, "Lord, let me know the number of my days, that
I may be certified how long I have to live." No doubt, God has fixed
for all men a certain length of life. No doubt also He has set for
each a certain limit of forbearance; a line, an invisible line drawn
somewhere, and He says to man, Thus far mayest thou go, and I will
still be merciful and pardon, but no further. Transgress that line,
and I forgive no more. My Spirit will not always strive with man.
In those cases which I have quoted to you, God is dealing with nations,
but He deals with individuals in the same way. His laws are uniform;
as He deals with an assemblage of people, so He deals with single
individuals. If He fixes a bound to nations, beyond which they cannot
go without His forsaking them, it is because there is the law, which is
of general application to all human beings; a law applying to single
persons, and to persons in the aggregate.
In the Prophet Amos we read a message from God to Judah, "Thus saith
the Lord: For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not
turn away the punishment thereof." This means, if I mistake not, Judah
has committed some two or three gross sins, and I was ready to turn
away the punishment, had there been a sign of repentance, but when to
the three they added a fourth, then it was too late. The time of
repentance was past, and the punishment threatened must fall.
And now perhaps you can understand a saying of S. John in his first
Epistle. He says:--"If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not
unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin
not unto death. There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall
pray for it." S. John is not speaking here of what we call mortal
sins, but of mortal sins continued till the measure is filled up, and
when the last sin has been added which completes the measure, that is
the sin unto death, which it avails nothing to pray for, for that sin
ends in death. Before, there was life, spiritual life, perhaps
flickering, but extant, then comes the last sin, and the life is gone
out, all is dark, and dead, and cold, no more fanning of the black
ashes is of any avail, the fire is out and cannot be revived.
III. How does God deal with those who have gone beyond this measure?
In one of two ways. Either:--
1. There comes a sudden call,--a sudden death-sickness or accident
cuts them off. Or:--
2. Dead impenitence settles over the soul, which no longer wishes for
anything better, which feels no desire for pardon.
Of the first case, we have instances in Scripture. King Belshazzar had
committed many transgressions, he was weighed in the balances, but
still found wanting in the final and irreversible act of wickedness,
till that night when he brought out the sacred vessels used in the
temple to drink out of them at his riotous banquet in his palace. That
act of sacrilege was the one sin which weighed down the balance. What
says the sacred text? "In that night was Belshazzar the King of the
Chaldeans slain." I may instance also Judas, who having for long been
a thief, added to his former sins the one last and terrible sin of
selling his Master, and then a fit of madness came over him in which he
hung himself.
But sometimes hardness and impenitence is the result. The conscience
is dead, and, to use S. Paul's words, "there remains no more sacrifice
for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."
CONCLUSION.--Let us, therefore, be very cautious of adding sin to sin,
that grace may abound, but rather fly from it as from the face of a
serpent. We know not what is the number of our days determined by God,
and we know not what is the number of our sins beyond which there is no
forgiveness.
XLV.
_CASTING BLAME._
8th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. vii. 15.
"Inwardly they are ravening wolves."
INTRODUCTION.--A Schoolmaster finds one day that several of his
scholars are playing truant. The morning passes and they do not
arrive. At last, in the afternoon, the truants turn up. The master
has a strong suspicion where they have been: however, he asks, "Why
were you not at school this morning?" "Please, sir, mother kept me at
home to mind the baby." "Indeed--let me look at your mouth." He opens
the mouth, and finds it black inside. "Ah! I thought as much,
rambling in the woods, picking and eating whortleberries." So with the
others, they make their excuses, but he looks into their mouths, and
the black colour betrays them.
Now, my friends, I am almost afraid to look in your mouths, lest I
should see them black, not with whortleberries, but with something much
sweeter, blame and fault-finding. You are, I suspect, all of you
nearly fond of abusing your neighbours, of finding fault, of telling
unkind things of them, of blackening their good names.
SUBJECT.--I am going to take as my subject to-day the Casting of Blame.
I. "Be ye merciful," said our Lord, "even as your Father which is in
heaven is merciful." He did not mean only in our dealings with others,
to be merciful to their bodies, and merciful in not exacting debts, and
merciful in not punishing neglect, and so forth, but He meant also that
we were to be merciful with their characters. We are not to be ready
to impute evil, not ready to cast blame, not ready to believe hard
things of others and retail them to our neighbours, but to be very slow
to suspect evil, very slow to charge it on others, and exceedingly slow
to say what is evil of others.
"Charity," says S. Paul, "is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil,
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
It seems to me, that charity is the exact reverse of this
fault-finding, blame-imputing character. "Charity thinketh no evil,"
but how is it with you? Do you not always suspect that the motives of
people are bad, do you not always think people are worse than they
really are? "Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity." Ha! there is a bit
of scandal, something very bad has come out about So and so. What a
running about from house to house! the village is like a hive of bees
swarming. Do you mean to tell me it is not a delight, a joy to you, to
have this little bit of iniquity to talk about? I know better.
"Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity," but charity is not to be found in
that tittle-tattling, excited crowd of talkers. "Charity believeth all
things"--will, that is, believe and trust, as long as it is possible,
that people are not so bad after all, that the stories told are not
true, and "Charity hopeth all things," hopes even against hope that it
is so.
O! what a blessed thing is charity! S. Paul said he would rather have
that, than be able to speak with tongues, and to prophesy; he would
rather have that than work miracles. It is a better thing even to have
that than Faith. But, alas! if it be such a good thing, it is also a
very rare one.
II. How very often we cast blame when there is no cause, and are
therefore guilty of serious injustice.
I was one day walking in the street of a little town, when a poor
inoffensive dog passed me. He went quietly along without a thought of
doing anyone an injury, when he happened to pass a knot of boys just
come out of school. At once one of the urchins took up a stone and
threw it at him, the others clapped their hands, and hooted after him,
"Hit him! Knock him over! Mad dog!" Away ran the unhappy cur, and
all the boys yelling after him, throwing dirt, and striking at him with
sticks. What next? Everyone in the street ran to the door, and saw
the brute tearing down the way, with his tail between his legs. Then
out of every door rushed all the house-dogs, the butcher's dog, and the
coach-dog, and even the little lap-dog jumped up, and ran down stairs,
and out of the door, to join in the barking, and away went all the dogs
of the place after the poor wretch. There was a tumult! And the
people in their doors and at their windows shouted, and one said, "Kill
him! he is mad!" and another, "He has bitten a woman!" and another, "He
has stolen some meat!" and another, "He has knocked over a child!"
Now all this arose from one boy throwing a stone at a harmless dog.
And all the things said about the dog were untrue. The proverb was
verified, "Give a dog a bad name, and you may hang him."
Is not this very much like what takes place among men? Someone throws
blame on a poor harmless person for no cause in the world but out of
sheer malevolence, or love of mischief, and at once others join in.
Everyone has something to say, everyone joins in the general abuse. No
lack of blame. No lack of unkind things said. And--all untrue, all
unjust!
I do not mean to say that when a person has done what is wrong we are
not to speak of it at all; but what I do say is, that we should be very
careful indeed not to cast blame till we are quite sure that we are
justified in doing so. "As for this way, we know that it is everywhere
spoken against," was what was said of Christianity. All sorts of bad,
lying things were said of the early Christians, that they killed and
ate children, that they practised horrible idolatries: the stories were
not true, but they were believed, simply because everyone said these
things were done.
III. Now this is the advice I give you:--
_a_. Be sure that blame is just before you cast it.
_b_. Be merciful in attributing blame even when it is deserved.
First:--Be sure that you have real cause to cast blame, be sure that
you are not committing a great injustice, and doing another a grievous
injury which is unmerited.
"Do to others as you would they should do to you." Consider how
miserable you would feel were you the subject of unmerited blame.
Secondly:--Be merciful in attributing blame even when it is deserved.
Remember that you yourself are not guiltless. There are things that
you have done which deserve censure quite as much as those things you
blame in others. One day a woman, taken in adultery, was brought
before Christ, and the Jews desired to stone her to death because of
her sin. Then our Lord said, "He that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her." And when they heard it, being
convicted by their own consciences, they went out, one by one,
beginning at the eldest even unto the last.
I say to you: when you are inclined to cast blame, even when just,
think, "Am I without sin, that I should judge and condemn another?"
XLVI.
_PETTY DISHONESTY._
9th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke xvi, 3, 4.
"What shall I do?--I am resolved what to do."
INTRODUCTION.--The dishonest Steward in to-day's Gospel shows us the
natural tendency of the human heart when in a scrape--to have recourse
to dishonesty to escape from it. He knows that he is about to be
turned out of his stewardship because he has been wasteful--not
dishonest, but wasteful. He has not been a prudent and saving steward,
but a sort of happy-go-lucky man who has not kept the accounts
carefully, and has been content so long as he has not lost much money.
So soon as he sees himself about to be turned out of his stewardship,
he is wakened out of his easy-going ways with a shock, and he says to
himself, "Here am I in a predicament! I shall lose my livelihood, and
am not likely to get another situation; I am too old to work with my
hands for my living, and I have too much self-respect to try. What can
I do?--I am resolved what to do. I will cheat my master."
SUBJECT.--I believe that a very similar process goes on now-a-days in a
great many hearts. Bad times come. What is to be done? There is
nothing for it but to be just a little bit dishonest. Honesty won't
pay. So the manufacturer weaves bad silk, and makes shoddy cloth, and
the wine-merchant doctors his wine, and the brewer his ale, and the
milkman puts water into his milk, and the butterman sells butter made
of Thames mud, and the calico is dressed with chalk, and the ready-made
clothes come to pieces because the thread's ends are not fastened, and
the farm work is half done, and the whole trade and commerce of the
country is one great system of adulteration and petty cheating.
I. Abraham was a very scrupulous man. In all his dealings he was
perfectly just and honourable. Once five kings came into the valley of
the Jordan, and made a sudden onslaught on the towns there; they
carried away all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and thoroughly sacked
the cities. They did not only that, but they carried off as well a
great number of the inhabitants as captives. Then Abraham lent his
servants to the king of Sodom to help him to recover the booty and
liberate the captives, and there was a battle, the result of which was
that the five kings were defeated, and all the spoil and the prisoners
recovered. Then the King of Sodom offered Abraham the booty in
repayment for his valuable services. He said, "Give me the persons,
and take the goods to thyself." But Abraham answered, "No! I will not
take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and I will not take any
thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abraham
rich." Now, this was just an occasion when he might have fairly
claimed remuneration from the recovered plunder, but no! he was far too
scrupulous. He knew of what that plunder consisted--it was made up of
the household goods of the inhabitants of the towns of Sodom and
Gomorrah; of all the sticks of furniture, and clothes, and crockery,
and household ornaments that the people valued. He would not deprive
them of one, lest they should think that Abraham had enriched himself
at their expense. He puts an extreme case,--lest some poor woman
should lament that she had lost all her thread wherewith to mend her
torn clothes, and say, "Ah! I had plenty of thread once, but Abraham
has it now," or another should say, "I have no buckle to my shoe,
Abraham has taken of the spoil, and my shoe-buckle he has got now."
Well, now listen to what follows immediately. This upright conduct of
Abraham so pleased God, that we read, "After these things the word of
the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham: I am
thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."
How many are there now who act like Abraham? How many who fear lest it
should be said of them that they had been enriched by those whose money
they had no right to take? There would be fewer failing banks, and the
little stores of widows and orphans swallowed up, were the bankers more
of the mind of Abraham. There would be fewer swindling speculations
swallowing up the savings of the thrifty, if men shrank from taking
that which is not lawfully and fairly their own.
II. All purchases, and all agreements for labour, are contracts. The
purchaser asks for one thing, and of that thing a certain amount, and
if for his money he is given another thing, or a smaller amount than
that for which he has paid, then there is dishonesty. If you went to a
shop and asked for a pound of tea, and were given something which was
not tea, or tea which weighed less than a pound, you would be dealt
with dishonestly. So if you go into another shop to buy flannel, and
purchase three yards, and then when you come home and measure it, you
find that it is six inches short, you would have been dealt with
dishonestly. In both cases you would be exceedingly angry with the
traders, and justly so. But consider, do you always act justly with
your employers? When you are hired for a day's work, do you give good
work? And is the time just measure? Or is there much idling and
talking when you are unobserved?
Let there be honour and fairness all round. How would you like to be
paid in clipped coin, that was not full weight? And yet you have no
scruple in giving clipped time, and work in short weight. I speak
plainly about this, for it is a crying evil of the day. There is
everywhere apparent a lack of conscientiousness in the dealings of man
with man. We used to do a large trade with our manufactures in Europe
and the East, and now we have to a large extent lost it--because we
have sent out bad material and sold it as good. It is a common
complaint that men do not work now as well as of old in every
department of industry. They rob their masters of time and labour,
which they have contracted to give. Then the masters say, "What shall
we do?--we are resolved what we will do, we will make up the loss by
adulteration of our goods." Then purchasers discover this and refuse
to buy, so the trade of the country declines.
III. Remember, then, in all your transactions, how Abraham dealt with
the King of Sodom, and how God rewarded him for his honesty, and you
may be very sure that God will not overlook you if you deal with others
faithfully. The eye of God is over all, and He sees whether you fulfil
your obligations honestly or not, and He will certainly bless
abundantly those who recognise His presence. S. Paul bids all who
serve others--we all do that in one way or another--do their duty, not
with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as though they were working for
Christ, not as if they were doing the will of man, but the will of God,
from the heart, "Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the
same shall he receive of the Lord."
XLVII.
_THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN._
10th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke xix, 42.
"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things
which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes."
INTRODUCTION.--I spoke to you the other day about the measure of sin,
and showed you that there was a certain limit allotted to every man,
beyond which he could not go and still expect forgiveness, a point in
the downward course at which the Holy Spirit will cease to strive to
hold him back. We see in this day's Gospel that there is also a Day of
Grace, a period, that is, during which God is ready to give pardon and
strength and guidance, and that if this Day of Grace be wasted, then
those things belonging to our eternal peace which were offered are
withdrawn, or hidden from the eyes. This is, in fact, the same thing
as what I said about the measure of sin; after a time of sin and
neglect, the opportunity for redeeming the past is lost beyond recall,
and that time is measured out by the amount of the transgressions of
the person or the people with whom God is dealing.
SUBJECT.--I am not, however, going to speak to you again on this
subject from another aspect, but of sin itself, and the consequences it
brings. Those consequences we overlook. We believe that God for
Christ's sake pardons sin and wipes away transgressions, but we forget
altogether that He does not deliver us from the consequences of sin,
or, at least, not from all of them.
I. Sin is the transgression of God's commandment. And it entails
three consequences. 1. It separates from God. 2. It entails
punishment. 3. It leaves a stain.
God has given His Commandments for the good of men. They are the
maxims by which they must rule their conduct, in order that the world
may go on in peace and orderliness, and that they may remain in
communion with Him. Sin is the violation of this law, the break-up of
order, the disturbance of peace, and the interruption of communion.
II. _It separates from God_. When mortal sin has been committed, the
flow of divine grace is arrested, just as when something gets into a
pipe it chokes it, so that the stream of water can no longer run till
the stoppage is removed. Thus the presence of mortal sin in the
conscience at once cuts off from the favour of God, and prevents growth
in the spiritual life. The sinner is guilty in the sight of God, and
if he die in unpardoned deadly sin, stands in great danger of being
lost.
Now, here it is that Christ intervenes. He reconciles the sinner to
the Father, and He takes away the barrier which separates them. He
removes the stoppage which interferes with the flow of Grace. In one
word, He removes the guilt. That is the work of the Atonement. For
this Christ died. But for the Cross of Calvary, man, once alienated
from God by sin, must remain in alienation. "Christ," says S. Paul,
"having made peace through the blood of the Cross, hath reconciled all
things unto Himself. And you, that were sometimes alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, now hath He reconciled in the
body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable
and unreproveable in God's sight."
_It entails suffering_. God's law is that all sin must be
punished--that is, where there is transgression, suffering must follow.
When a man squanders his fortune by extravagance, he may bitterly
repent, but he continues to suffer for his folly. When a man has got
drunk, he may be full of sorrow for what he has done, but he has a
headache next day all the same. When a woman has lost her character,
she may weep tears of bitter repentance, and God may pardon her as He
pardoned Magdalen, but she can never recover her character, and must
suffer the consequences of her act. In this world or in the next, all
sin must be expiated by suffering. Christ by His death removed the
guilt of sin, but not the suffering for sin. S. Peter bids us remember
that suffering remains a consequence, for he exhorts us, "Forasmuch as
Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with
the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from
sin." That is, the sin is wholly expiated only when the suffering it
brings after it has been undergone.
_It leaves a stain or scar_. No man is the same after sinning as he
was before. The sin may be forgiven and suffered for, but the scar
remains on his soul. The soul as it leaves the hand of God is white
and innocent, in its passage through life it meets with many
self-inflicted wounds, these wounds of the soul are sin. Thus it
suffers till the wound is healed, and the medicine of the soul is the
blood of Christ. The blood heals, but the scar remains. The soul, as
seen by God and angels, is marked all over with the traces of the sins
which have torn it. The baptized child is given a robe of innocence
white as snow. Every sin is a stain upon it, and if you could see now,
as angels see, your baptismal garment, you would find it spotted and
smeared all over. Suppose I were to take this surplice and splash it
over with ink, I might with much labour take out the ink stains, but
never so entirely cleanse it that no trace remains. Or I might walk in
it through the bushes, and get it torn with the thorns and brambles.
Then all the rents might be carefully darned up, but--the surplice
would never look as sound and beautiful as when new.
This is precisely like the state of the soul after sin, it is torn and
stained, and although the sins may be forgiven, and the stains washed,
and the rents healed, yet to the end of life the marks remain of where
they have been, the effects are uneffaced.
III. Now what are some of these effects? In the first place, every
sin weakens the soul. It takes from it not only its innocence, but its
power of resistance. Just as a wound weakens you by the loss of blood,
so a sin weakens you by loss of resisting power. You are not so strong
to fight against evil after sinning as you were before.
In the second place, you have become more careless and even hardened
about sin than you were before. When you have a new coat or gown, you
are very careful of it that it be not spotted and torn, but once it
loses its first newness, you are not so particular, and the more
spotted and torn it becomes, the less you care for the injuries done
it, you say, "It is an old dress and very much used, another stain or
patch does not matter." So with the soul, when you have become
accustomed to sinning, you no longer dread sin.
CONCLUSION.--And now remember, in this thy day, the things that belong
to thy peace, and dread sin for its consequences, lest by over much
confidence you may exceed your measure, and then the chance of recovery
will be gone from you for ever.
XLVIII.
_SELF-INSPECTION._
11th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke xviii., 13.
"The Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes
unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me
a sinner."
INTRODUCTION.--I have spoken to you on former occasions pretty strongly
upon the evil of backbiting, slandering, and casting of blame without
sufficient cause. I am not going to address this day those who speak
evil, but those of whom evil is spoken.
The Publican in the Parable stood far from the Pharisee, who had no
good word for him, even in his prayer, and he took a great deal of
blame to heart, and prayed to God for mercy on him for his
shortcomings. No doubt the Publican was well aware in what estimation
he was held by the people, and how utterly he was despised by the
Pharisee. The Publican was the tax-gatherer, and as the tax-gatherers
in those days were often hard men, and exacted more than was due to the
State, that they might pocket the difference, the general opinion was
that they were all of them dishonest men, and men without hearts. This
was not true, we know, of this Publican, nor of Zacchaeus, nor of Levi,
who are commended in the Gospel. Perhaps this Publican who was
praying, saw the Pharisee cast a contemptuous glance at him, perhaps he
even heard the words of his prayer, but if so, he made no attempt at
justifying himself. His prayer was not, "God, I am not what other men
say of me, unjust, hard-hearted, peculating, exacting: on the contrary,
I am strictly honest in my dealings, and I am very forbearing and
tender-hearted, and I do not press for payment when no money is to be
got." No! nothing of the sort! all he says is--"God, be merciful to
me, a sinner."
SUBJECT.--I would have those who are blamed by others, instead of
manifesting great eagerness to excuse themselves, and clamouring
against those who speak against them, look into their own hearts and
lives, and see if there be not something blameworthy there.
I. King Philip of Macedon was informed by some of his courtiers that
one of his officers, Nicanor by name, was always speaking evil of him,
that wherever Nicanor was, there he did nothing but grumble against the
king, and disparage and blame him. What was to be done? Should he be
arrested and thrown into prison. "No!" said King Philip, "Before
punishing Nicanor, I must look and see whether I have not given
occasion for this abuse of me." Then the king thought things over, and
it occurred to him for the first time that he had not rewarded Nicanor
for some signal services he had rendered him. By some oversight no
notice had been taken of Nicanor, though he had risked his life for the
king. Then Philip sent for him, and gave him a good appointment, which
brought him in a handsome income, and was one of great honour. Some
while after, Philip said to his courtiers, "How does Nicanor speak of
me now?" They answered that he was never weary of praising the king.
Then Philip said, "Do you not see? it lies in ourselves whether we are
well or evil spoken of."
It is seldom indeed that you will escape blame, that evil of some sort
will not be spoken about you. When that is the case, remember what
Philip said, "I must look and see whether I have not given occasion."
Always go to your own heart, always examine your own life, and see
whether, after all, there be not something there which is wrong or
unwise, and which may be altered, so as to cut off occasion from evil
speakers. As the proverb says, "There is no smoke without a fire," and
it is not often that blame is cast without there being some cause for
it. It may be attributed unjustly, but it is sometimes just, though
excessive. Everything casts a shadow, and if you see a shadow you may
be sure there is some body to cast it, though the shape and size of the
shadow may be wholly unlike and out of proportion to the object which
throws it. A tree casts a shadow, a house casts a shadow, a needle
casts a shadow, even a hair--where the shadow is, there is some
substance to fling it; where great blame is cast, there is some
occasion for it. You may have stood on a rock, and seen your shadow
thrown all down a valley and up the side of an opposite hill, an
enormous figure, and a ridiculous caricature of yourself. So the blame
cast on you is often excessive and altogether unreasonable and
monstrous. Nevertheless it would never be cast at all unless there
were some little fault to cast it. Stick up a pin on a table when the
sun is low, and it will throw a shadow from one end of the table to the
other, four feet long, and the pin is only an inch in height. So is it
with faults: little faults throw long shadows, cause great talk, but
there would be no talk at all if the little faults were not there.
II. What then is it that you should do? Examine yourselves whenever
you are blamed, and do your utmost to correct what is amiss in you.
"Blessed are ye," said our Lord, "when men shall revile you, and shall
say all manner of evil against you falsely." Why? Why when falsely?
Because it will make you all the more watchful that you give no
offence, that you avoid even the appearance of evil. Blessed are ye
when men revile you, and say all manner of evil against you, for then
you will examine yourselves, and if you see there is any ground
whatever for what they say, you will amend your ways; and blessed are
ye when they speak evil against you falsely, for then, though their
blame be exaggerated and lying, yet it will make you infinitely more
particular to live a blameless life, and to have a conscience void of
offence toward God and men.
CONCLUSION.--If you do not use for your self-correction any blame you
may undergo, then you may be sure that more and more will attach to
you. You may surmount one calumny, but others will follow at its
heels. In Revelation we hear that an angel cried, "One woe is past;
and behold there come two woes more hereafter." So will it be with
you, if the first woe does not profit you to make you better. If the
plague of stinging, tormenting insects had made Pharaoh better, and
amend his ways, the other plagues would not have fallen upon him.
Thus, when you are tormented by evil tongues and spiteful words, if you
do not strive your utmost to live better lives, and undo any wrong you
may have committed, though the first woe may be past: behold, there
will come two more woes hereafter.
XLIX.
_PERFECTION TO BE SOUGHT._
12th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Mark vii., 37.
"He hath done all things well."
INTRODUCTION.--It was said by an old heathen writer that God cares for
Adverbs rather than for Substantives. That is to say, God had rather
have things done _well_, than that the things should be merely done.
He had rather have you pray earnestly than pray, communicate piously
than merely communicate, forgive your enemies heartily than say you
forgive, work diligently than spend so many hours at work, do your duty
thoroughly than solely be content with discharging your duty.
Of Christ, observe what is said. It is not "He hath opened the eyes of
the blind, He hath unstopped the ears of the deaf. He hath loosed the
tongue of the dumb, He hath healed the sick," but--"He hath done all
things well." The eyes do not become dull again, nor the ears again
lose their power of hearing, nor the tongue stutter once more, nor the
sick relapse into their sickness--what He hath done He hath done well
and thoroughly.
SUBJECT.--This, then, is what God desires of you--whatever you
undertake, to do it well. Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with
all your might. If a thing is worth doing at all, it is worth doing
well. It is not sufficient for us to coldly perform our duties, we
must perform them with zeal and thoroughness.
The prophet Amos was one day shown a vision. "Behold, the Lord stood
upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in His hand. And the
Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline.
Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my
people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more."
In this vision we have the work of God, as carried out by the
Israelites, represented under the form of a wall. God had given them
certain duties to perform, so much work in this world to be done for
Him, and He left them to themselves for a while. Then they thought,
"God is not here, He is not a hard overseer, we will work as we like,
and take it easy. So long as the thing is done, it does not matter
very much how it is done." So they did every thing in a careless,
slovenly manner. They neglected their duties or carried them out in a
bare formal manner. If we come back to the comparison of a wall, it
was just as though masons engaged on one put in any sort of stones, any
how, and did not trouble whether they built it in line and upright,
whether some of the stones stuck too far out, and some were too far in.
Then God appears to Amos and says, "I will not again pass by them any
more; there has been too much of this sort of work. I will not
overlook it, I will try it with the plumbline of My justice, and the
bad work shall be pulled down, the jutting stones knocked away, and the
crooked wall made straight."
This vision applies to you quite as much as to the Jews. You have got
a set task: you have to build up the wall of the Lord, that is, day by
day you have to work at your salvation, and put in at least one stone
so as to raise the work, and what you build must be good, and upright,
and in line. You have a prayer to say, say it well, say it with
devotion. Then it is a stone put on the wall in its right place, and
it is a good stone of the right quality. You have quarrelled with a
neighbour, you have made it up, heartily and bear no more malice, that
is a good stone;--forgiveness of injuries--a capital stone that won't
let the water through. Lay it level, and lay it upright. You have a
chance of showing a kindness to someone who needs, do it quietly and
without fuss or show. That will stand. It was otherwise with the
Pharisees. When they did their alms, they made a noise and called
attention to it. That was like putting a stone in the wall that stuck
a long way out, so that all might see it. When the Lord comes with His
plumbline, He will knock it off with His trowel, and it will go all to
pieces like a bit of slate, and be no good at all. You come to church,
and you take my sermon home. What will you do with it? Toss it away
on your road home, and make no use at all of it? I hope not; build the
lesson I am giving you tight into your lives, and it will raise your
wall, and you can lay other good lessons on top of it. What do you do
with your Sunday? Is it wasted in lounging about, ferreting rabbits,
idle talking? If it be so, then it will add nothing to the wall of
your salvation. It will be like a mere lump of earth put in where
there should have been a stone; it will wash out and leave a hole.
Now remember that our great architect, Jesus Christ, is the man with
the plumbline, and He will go over all our work and try how it is done,
and whether it is upright and likely to stand.
II. S. Paul gives another help to us to understand the parable of the
wall. He says that we are building the wall of our salvation on the
cornerstone of Christ, and he goes on to say, "Now if any man build
upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
stubble: every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall
try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which
he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward."
S. Paul, you see, says that the wall will be proved with fire, that is,
that God will try all men's work and see of what sort it is--good,
moderate, or worthless. The worthless will disappear in the judgment,
the moderate will be seen in its faulty condition, but the good will
last for ever.
CONCLUSION.--Try, then, to look upon your life as a time of building up
the work of your salvation, and at every day as contributing something
towards it. Ask yourself each day, What have I done to-day towards
this work set me? And if I have done anything towards it, how has it
been done? Moreover, try to do all things well, to be zealous and
thorough in every thing you undertake.
Also, offer all you do to God, and ask Him to prove it, and to cut off
from it all that is faulty, and to enable you to do better in time to
come.
When Nehemiah had rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, and restored much that
was cast down, and put right many abuses, he prayed, "Remember me, O my
God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done."
Let this also be your prayer, that He may look on all you do for Him
and bless it, and remember it for good, in the day when He tries every
man's work of what sort it is.
L.
_ZEAL._
13th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke x., 23.
"What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
INTRODUCTION.--The Kingdom of Heaven, said our Lord, is like unto a
treasure hid in a field. One day a man is turning over the stones
which lie in a heap in a corner of the field, and he finds under them
an iron chest, and this chest he believes to be full of gold. Then he
carefully covers it up again with stones and earth, and goes off in the
greatest excitement to the owner of the field, and offers him a price,
and when that is refused he sells his house, and garden, and everything
he can turn into money, and gives that to the owner in exchange for the
field.
I fear this is rather a picture of what ought to be than what is. No
doubt whatever that we ought to show just as great eagerness to gain
the Kingdom of Heaven, as did that man to buy the field. No doubt we
ought to be just as eager to cast away everything that stands in the
way, to divest ourselves of every thing we have, in order that we may
gain the Kingdom of Heaven,--but, as a matter of fact, we show very
little eagerness about it, and we are very indifferent whether we gain
it or lose it.
SUBJECT.--What we need is more zeal, more enthusiasm, more earnestness
in our quest.
I. King Solomon built the Temple at Jerusalem. He was engaged on it
seven years, and after that, he built his own house, and on that he
spent thirteen years. He therefore spent very nearly twice as much
time and labour, and I doubt not, money over his own house than he did
over the work of God's house; he was wise and good, and he did a great
deal for God, but he did more for himself, and not only for himself,
but for his wives, since he built for them as well.
It is just so with us, we are ready to do something of God's work, to
seek a little the Kingdom of Heaven, but we do not put our heart in
that work, all our heart and zeal is reserved for our own worldly
affairs and our temporal interests.
One day a heathen maiden came to the princess Pulcheria, sister of the
Emperor Theodosius, to complain to her that she was an orphan, and that
her two brothers had turned her out of the house on her father's death,
and had taken all his inheritance to themselves. Now the Emperor
Theodosius, brother of Pulcheria, a young man, was behind a curtain,
and heard the girl pleading her cause with many tears, and he saw how
beautiful she was, and he loved her, and resolved to make her his wife
and exalt her to be Empress of the East. Pulcheria bade her come
another day, and then she told the maiden what was intended. After
that she was taught the faith of Christ, and was baptized, and is known
in history as the Empress Eudoxia. Now when she came from her baptism,
Pulcheria noticed that she was crying, and she went to her lovingly and
said, "Why are you bathed in tears, Eudoxia?" And then the young girl
answered, "When you told me that I was to become the wife of
Theodosius, and Empress of the East, my heart was like to burst with
joy, but now that I have been made a member of Christ, a child of God,
and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven, I feel no such exceeding
joy, but take it all without any emotion,--and I am grieved at my
coldness and want of faith. That is why I am crying."
Is it not very much the same with us? Anything that concerns our
earthly welfare fills us with excitement, but we trouble ourselves very
little about our spiritual concerns. If we have a chance of getting 50
pounds a-year, we are full of delight, but we receive the precious gift
of God without even gratefulness. If we knew that an inheritance of a
thousand pounds was ours if we applied for it, should we not apply?
But when it comes to our approaching the altar of God to receive the
Bread of Heaven, the priceless gift of the Body of our Lord, which will
infuse into our mortal flesh the germ of immortality, we turn
listlessly away. If we had an acquaintance who, we thought, could put
us into a good way of making our fortune, we would be always at his
heels, but we are cold and careless about seeking God in His house, and
in prayer, and yet our eternal welfare depends on our retaining His
favour.
II. Now, this is not a satisfactory condition to be in. "The Kingdom
of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by storm," said
our Lord, and He meant that if Heaven is to be won, it must be won by
those who are in earnest, and vehement in their desire to get it.
Half-hearted soldiers are not good soldiers. Half-hearted servants are
poor servants, half-hearted workers are unsatisfactory workers, and the
battle we have to fight is a hard one, it is a battle against flesh and
blood, against Satan and all his host, against the world, and against
our own wills. Is such a battle to be won when we go into it without
any desire to be conquerors? We are servants of God, and given a work
in this world to do. Are we likely to do it if half-hearted? Are we
likely to keep His commandments, if we care just a little to please
Him, but only a little? Are we likely to win our wage, Eternal Life,
if we do not work zealously, but waste the time of work in half-hearted
trifling with our task?
No, we must be in earnest. We want zeal. How are we to acquire this?
This is what the Holy Ghost gives. Before Pentecost the disciples were
half-hearted, and when temptation and trial came, they fell away and
did not follow their Master. But after the Holy Ghost came down, then
they were of one heart and mind, and their souls were inflamed with
zeal, they cared nothing what became of them, so long as they won the
Kingdom of Heaven. "I count all things as dung," said S. Paul, "if so
be I may win Christ."
III. The Holy Ghost is still in the Church, and still His mission is
to impart zeal. He will come to you, if you pray, and will inflame you
with that fire which will make your hearts burn within you, and give
you no rest till you have set about the work appointed you by God. "I
am come," said Christ, "to send fire on the earth: and what will I, if
it be already kindled?" That fire is the fire of zeal; and it is for
that fire we pray in the Whitsuntide hymn,
"Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire."
LI.
_GRATITUDE._
14th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke xvii. 18.
"There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this
stranger."
INTRODUCTION,--There is nothing that the merciful God desires more from
man than thanks, and there is nothing of which He receives less. In
the Gospel for to-day we have an example. Christ performs a notable
miracle. He heals ten lepers, and only one returns to thank Him. The
disease from which He delivered them was disgusting, and it was one
which cut the sufferers off from association with other men. They
might not approach, under penalty of death, a man who was sound. All
at once they are healed. The disgusting disease is removed, and they
are restored to the society of their fellow-men. Yet nine out of the
ten are ungrateful, they do not take the trouble to give thanks to Him
who had healed them.
SUBJECT.--That story is repeated over and over again. We are
incessantly receiving blessings from God, and nine to one, but we do
not thank Him: we take them as a matter of course. However, God
expects thanks. S. Paul exhorts us, "In everything give thanks: for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." And again,
"Give thanks always, for all things, unto God and the Father, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ." And again, "Whatsoever ye do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and
the Father by Him."
I. When the children of Israel reached the river Jordan, on their way
into the Promised Land, out of the wilderness in which they had
wandered forty years, Joshua bade the priests that bare the ark go down
into the river. And as soon as their feet were dipped in the water,
the river was divided, "The waters which came down from above stood and
rose up upon an heap; and those that came down towards the sea of the
plain failed, and were cut off, and the people passed over right
against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the
Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed
clean over Jordan."
Now when this had taken place, Joshua ordered twelve men, one out of
every tribe, to go down into the river, and each bring up a large stone
out of the bed of the river, from the place where the priests had
stood, and plant them in the earth, on the bank, at the place where
they lodged that night. But this was not all. They were to carry as
huge stones as they could manage down into the bed of the river, and
set them up also there, so big and strong as to stand above the surface
of the stream, and resist the force of the current. This seems a
curious proceeding, does it not? to take twelve stones out of the bed
of the river and plant them on the ground, and roll twelve great stones
off the bank into the river, and set them up there.
What was the purpose of this? Listen to what Joshua says: "This shall
be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time
to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer
them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, when it passed over Jordan; and these stones
shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever." In one
word, they were to be perpetual reminders to the Israelites to be
grateful to God for having brought them into the land promised to their
fathers, the land flowing with milk and honey.
Very well! how many times has God sent you great deliverances, and
brought great blessings upon you: has carried you through great
dangers: has brought you out of the depths of sickness? Over and over
again has He done this. He blesses you every day. Look around--you,
too, have got your tokens set up as a memorial unto you for ever. Look
at your houses, they are memorials to you of what God has brought you
into. Look at your children, every one of them is a little mark-stone
or memorial of God's goodness to you. Look at your health, your good
strong arms. They should be to you memorials for ever of God's loving
protection extended towards you. Look at your conscience, which stings
you when you do wrong, which approves when you do right. What is that
but a mark-stone or memorial that God's Good Spirit has been given you
to be a guide? Look at this church, it is a mark-stone or memorial to
you that God's word sounds in your ears, and God's Sacraments are
celebrated for your benefit. Look at that altar, it is a memorial for
ever that Christ died for you, and gives His Body and Blood for the
strengthening and refreshing of your souls. Verily, you have only to
look into your homes, and look through your lives, and you will find
many and many a memorial set up to remind you of, the love of God, and
also--mark this!--to be thankful.
II. When Jacob was dying, he said to Joseph, "Behold, I die, but God
shall be with you. I have given to thee one portion above thy
brethren." Now, my brethren, there are diversities of gifts, you have
all received of God many gifts, some of one sort, some of another. I
turn to the rich. You have been given wealth, whilst so many are poor.
"God hath given to thee one portion above thy brethren." What use do
you make of it? Are you thankful?
I turn to those with talents. "God hath given to thee one portion
above thy brethren." What use do you make of the talent committed you?
Are you thankful?
I look at you who are so healthy and robust. There are numbers infirm
and ailing. "God hath given to thee one portion above thy brethren."
How do you show your thankfulness?
You, tradesmen! On all sides I see men failing in business, but to you
work comes, as much as you can execute. Well, "God hath given to thee
one portion above thy brethren." Are you grateful?
And you, good house-wife! You have got a steady, affectionate husband,
and, alas! so many have drunken or unthrifty mates, or husbands with
bad tempers. Verily, "God hath given to thee one portion above thy
sisters." Thank Him, thank Him on your knees.
CONCLUSION.--"In everything give thanks," says S. Paul. Remember, Adam
and Eve were in Paradise surrounded by every blessing, but we do not
hear that they thanked God for them, and they lost them. Beware lest a
thankless spirit forfeit those good things which you now enjoy.
"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits! Who
forgiveth all thy sin: and healeth all thine infirmities: Who saveth
thy life from destruction; and crowneth thee with mercy and
loving-kindness."
LII.
_TRUST IN GOD._
15th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. vi. 31.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness."
INTRODUCTION.--We read in ancient Roman history that a general named
Aemilius Paulus was appointed to the Roman army in a time of war and
great apprehension. He found in the army a sad condition of affairs,
there were more officers than fighting men, and all these officers
wanted to have their advice taken, and the war conducted in accordance
with their several opinions. Then Aemilius Paulus said to them, "Hold
your tongues, and sharpen your swords, and leave the rest to me."
It seems to me that our Lord's advice in this day's Gospel is of
somewhat the same nature. He finds in the army of His Church everyone
clamouring after his worldly affairs, wanting this, and objecting to
that, all seeking their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ. Then
He says, "Hold your tongues, and sharpen your swords, and leave the
rest to Me. Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall
we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? Your heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you."
SUBJECT.--In our great solicitude after our temporal welfare, we do not
seek first our spiritual welfare, but put that altogether in the
background. In fact, we do not trust God, we trust ourselves chiefly.
We fear if we do not devote our whole attention to our worldly
prosperity, we shall not get on. And so we neither seek the kingdom of
God, nor the righteousness of God; we seek only the world and the
things that are in the world. If we had more trust in God, it would
not be so.
I. The Bible is made up of six classes of books. To the first class
belong the historical books. To the second the book of Psalms. To the
third class belong the books that deal with Wisdom. To the fourth the
Prophets. To the fifth the Gospels, and to the sixth the canonical
Epistles.
Now in all these different classes of books we find the same assurance
made by God, that if we will but attend to our spiritual concerns, He
will see that our temporal affairs do not suffer. In one of the first
historical books we have this promise (Levit. xxvi. 3, 4, 5), "If ye
walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments and do them; then I will
give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and
the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and ye shall eat your
bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely." In the book of
Psalms David says (xxiv. 9), "O fear the Lord, ye that are His saints:
for they that fear Him lack nothing," and again (xlv. 23), "O cast thy
burden upon the Lord, and He will nourish thee." In the books that
deal with Wisdom we have (Proverbs x. 3) "The Lord will not suffer the
soul of the righteous to famish." In the Prophets (Isai i. 19), "If ye
be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." In the
Gospels (S. Matt. vi. 33), "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." In the
Epistles (Pet. v. 7), "Cast all your care upon Him, for He careth for
you."
We are generally perfectly satisfied when we have an agreement drawn
out between man and man,--one promise on one scrap of paper is enough,
but here we have at least five, and I could produce you plenty of
others, yet, because it is a bond signed by God, you mistrust it, O ye
of little faith. You will take a bond signed by a Jew, but not one
signed by God.
II. "Your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things." Is God not our Father? There is no Father like to Him, no
Father loves us as He does. If He loves us, will He not care for us?
What good father will neglect his child, and deny it those things that
are necessary for it? Ask any little boy whom you see in rags, 'My
child, why are you in rags? What will you do to get a new suit? You
have nothing of your own.' Certainly, his natural and proper answer
should be, 'I will ask my father. He will supply me.' When a child is
hungry, whither should it go? To whom should it apply? To its father.
Why then do not we trust our Heavenly Father as any little child will
trust its father on earth? Yet we know that He is our Father, and is,
as S. Paul says, "rich in mercies" Our Lord bids us look at the birds
of the air. Who feeds them? Their Creator. Will He not then care for
us far more, who are His noblest creatures?
III. A great poetical and satirical writer (Horace) says that this was
the popular maxim of his day, "Seek money first, and be good
afterwards." [1] What he had the boldness to say, a great people have
the boldness to do. They leave the kingdom of Heaven to be sought,
after they have spent their lives in seeking the things of this world.
But the things of this world sought without God will not profit.
When Isaac set his sons to bring him venison, that he might bless them
and die, Jacob arrived first with the savoury meat; then Isaac lifted
up his voice and blessed his son; "God give thee of the dew of Heaven,
and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine." Afterwards
Esau came in with venison. And when he saw that his brother had
received the first blessing, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter
cry, and said unto his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father."
Then Isaac said to him, "Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of
the earth, and of the dew of Heaven from above." Each had the same,
the richness of golden harvests, the abundance of fruit, and the soft
dews and rains in their season. But there was a notable difference,
adapted to the characters of the two brothers. Esau was a profane man,
he disregarded divine things. He was ready to sell his birthright, his
privilege to be the forefather of Messiah, for a mess of pottage. He
cared not for God, neither was God in all his thoughts. It was
otherwise with Jacob, he regarded God, he sought God, he saw God in the
visions of the night, he strove with God in prayer. He had set God
always before him. And thus these several blessings were apportioned
to them. Esau had the fatness of the earth and the dew of Heaven,
Jacob also had the fatness of the earth and the dew of Heaven, but
Isaac said to Jacob alone "_God give thee_ all these things." To Esau
only "Thou shalt get for thyself all these things." God before all to
Jacob, and all these things added unto him. All these things to Esau,
and God nowhere.
CONCLUSION.--And now, my brethren, try to trust God more. Do not give
up all thought to the concerns of this life, but leave them somewhat on
the hands of God, whilst you consider the concerns of your soul. You
will not suffer for it. "If ye be willing and obedient, and seek the
kingdom of Heaven, He will nourish thee."
[1] "Quaerenda pecunia primum, virtus post nummos."
LIII.
_THE CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH._
16th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke vii. 12.
"Behold, there was a dead man carried out."
INTRODUCTION.--The name of the village where the miracle was wrought
which is recorded in this day's Gospel, was Nain, and the meaning of
the name is "Pleasant" or "Beautiful." A sweet little village, you can
picture it to yourself where you like, in the East, anywhere in Europe,
here in England, it is all the same, an "Auburn" among villages, with
thatched cottages, and green pastures, and the cows coming home lowing
in the evening, when the curfew tolls the knell of passing day. The
grey church tower peeping above the lime trees, and the rooks cawing
and wheeling above the old trees. The trim gardens blazing with
hollyhocks and large white lilies, and the orchards with the apples
shewing their rosy cheeks to the sun. The bell is slowly
tolling--"Behold, a dead man is carried out." Who is it? To-day a
young man, the only son of his mother, and she a widow. To-morrow the
old squire, who can no more mount his cob and go after the hounds, his
whip and red coat are laid aside, and the bell is going. "Behold, a
dead man is carried out." Again the Sexton is working in the
church-yard, and turning up the fresh smelling earth. The bell is
going. For what? Up the steps and along under the avenue come little
girls about a tiny coffin, over which is cast a white pall, and on
which lies a wreath of white hyacinths. "Behold, a dead child is
carried out, the darling of its father." And now the yellow leaves are
falling, and are heaped about the feet of the limes, and fall through
the warm damp air, that smells of dying vegetation, and the priest
stands in surplice waiting in the path, and the dead leaves drop on the
coffin as it is borne along. Who is this? "Behold a dead woman is
carried out, an aged mother, with her weeping grown up sons and
daughters and grandchildren all in black following."
SUBJECT.--It is not a pleasant thing to think of, and yet it is well
for you to contemplate, that some day the same question will be asked
as the church bell tolls, Who is this? Who is dead? And the same
answer will come, "Behold, a dead man is carried out," and that will be
you. Nothing is more commonplace than to say that we must all die, and
nothing is less realised and taken to heart and acted upon.
I. That procession the Saviour met, was coming out of Nain, the
"Pleasant," the "Beautiful." And so, every dead man is carried out of
what is a Nain to him, a pleasant, beautiful world. It is a pleasant,
beautiful world. We cannot deny it. God made it and pronounced it
very good. It has in it many unpleasantnesses, it has in it much that
is ugly, but there is pleasure and beauty in it still, the traces of
its own loveliness before sin drew furrows in its face and saddened its
heart. A very Nain it is. We are now in Autumn, and the leaves are
turning fast. The dogwood leaves are bright carmine, and the maple
yellow as sulphur, the last flowers are out in the hedges, the pink
cranesbill and the blue oxtongue which will hang on till after
Christmas. The elder which was so white and fragrant in May, is
covered now with purple berries, and the ash is hung with scarlet
beads, so bright, so many, and so beautiful, that the swallows are
hovering round them all day impatient to begin, and improvident of the
future. Nature even in its decay is beautiful, and what was it in
spring? Remember the primroses out on every bank, and the anemones in
the wood, and the blue flush of wild hyacinths in the coppice! Verily,
we are in Nain, a pleasant and beautiful place. Alas! alas! my
brother! my sister! Behold there will be a dead man, a dead woman
carried out from it, to see it no more, and that will be one of us. Is
it sad? Yes, no doubt it is.
II. But though sad, the thought of it must not be put away. S. Paul
says, "We have the sentence of death in ourselves." We carry about in
us ever the doom--we are sentenced men--and the sword will fall on us
some day. The story is told of a Norwegian king that he promised to
give a young nobleman any reward he chose to ask for, because of
something he had done for him. Then the young man boldly asked for the
hand of the princess, the only child and heiress to the kingdom. The
king answered him, "Yes! I have promised. You shall have her hand,
and lose your head, the same day." Then a grand wedding was prepared.
And a stately procession moved to the church, of the bride in white,
and the bridegroom in his most gallant apparel, but as he went along,
he heard a sound of a file from the executioner's room, who was
sharpening his axe. And he stood before the altar with his bride, and
the priest joined their hands,--but all the while the executioner was
sharpening his axe. Then the bells of the city pealed, and the heralds
blew their trumpets, and the people shouted, and girls strewed flowers
in the path, and their way went by the executioner's lodging where he
was still engaged on his axe. Then there was a great feast, and wine
flowed, and the most dainty meats were put on table; it was a hot day,
and the windows were open, and above the din of tongues and laughter,
came the thud of a hammer. In the courtyard of the palace the
executioner was setting up the scaffold. And after the banquet came a
grand ball, and the rooms were lighted up, and the ball-room was hung
with festoons of flowers, and the bride and bridegroom led the dance,
but ever as they danced they turned their heads and looked out of the
window, and saw the scaffold, which was being draped in black. At
length, in the midst of all the merriment, the bell began to toll, and
the door flew open, and before all the dancers stood the executioner
with his axe in hand and a black mask over his face, and he beckoned to
the bridegroom to come. "And behold a living man was carried out--to
die."
My Brethren, it is not so very different with us. We carry about the
sentence of death in ourselves. Whatever we do, wherever we go, the
sentence of death is in us. You do your work. You are ploughing the
field and whistling, and you carry, as you make the furrow, the
sentence of death in yourself. You are busy about your house-work,
good-wife, sweeping, dusting, mending, scouring, cooking,--and all the
while you have the sentence of death in yourself. You have a holiday,
and go on a pic-nic, and laugh, and are merry, and come back under the
evening sky singing and making jokes--but you carry with you to your
pic-nic and back again the sentence of death in yourselves.
III. Now if this be so, how ought we to live? Ought we to thrust the
thought away from us as horrible? Ought it to mar our happiness?
Ought it to disquiet us in our work? Far from it. Nain is a pleasant
and beautiful place, but there is one more pleasant and more beautiful,
where the leaves do not fall, nor the flowers wither, where no sickness
comes, and where no dead men are carried out. Let us look to that, the
new Jerusalem, the Heavenly City, the vision of peace, and that will
banish our sadness, we shall not be downcast at leaving so much that is
pleasant behind, but rejoice that we pass on from things temporal to
things eternal.
No! we shall not be saddened by the contemplation of death, but we
shall be made more earnest to use this world without abusing it, to
make the most of our opportunities, to redeem the time because the days
are evil, to run our race temperately, and not uncertainly, and so to
run that we may obtain the incorruptible crown, that we may attain to
the goal, the prize of our high calling.
LIV.
_HUMILITY._
17th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke, xiv. 2.
"Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted."
INTRODUCTION.--Both Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the apostle John saw in vision
the glory of Heaven and the throne of God, and near it four beasts,
"full of eyes, within and without." That is to say the beasts saw all
that was within them as well as all that was outside them. Most of us
here on earth are very different. We are full of eyes without, we see
everything that is going on among our neighbours, and a great deal
which is not there also, but we have no eyes for seeing anything
within, and we know nothing of ourselves, our own faults, and our own
errors.
We see every wrong thing done by a neighbour, we have eyes for this,
but we see no wrong done by ourselves, we have no eyes for that. We
see all the weakness of others, we have eyes for this, but we see none
of our own weakness, we have no eyes for that. We see all the folly of
others, we have eyes for this, but for our own stupid acts and words we
are blind, we have no eyes for that. It would be better if we were
well supplied with eyes within, instead of so many eyes without. It
would be better for our neighbours, and it would be better for
ourselves. In to-day's Gospel we hear of the chief Pharisees watching
Christ. They had eyes for that. They watched Him to find occasion
against Him. But that they were hypocrites and perverters of the law,
they knew not. They had no eyes for this.
SUBJECT.--The first shall be last, and the last first, says our Lord.
That is, those who have eyes without only, for the rest of the world,
who see themselves as perfect, and have no eyes for their own defects,
shall find themselves hereafter at the foot of the ladder, and those
who have eyes within, seeing their own weakness, shortcomings, falls,
who have therefore been humble, and esteemed others more highly than
themselves, these will be exalted to the top of the ladder.
I. Most men value themselves more highly than they have any right, and
value themselves very often for those things which are not their own,
they take the honour paid to their possessions, as though due to
themselves.
This fable is related by an ancient writer. An ass once had the golden
image of the Goddess Isis set on his back, and he was led through the
streets of a city in Egypt. Then the Egyptians fell down on their
faces and worshipped, and raised their hands in supplication. The ass
was puffed up with pride, and began to prick up his ears and prance.
Then the driver brought down his stick upon his back, and said, "You
ass! the honour is given not to you, but to what you bear." There is
many a man who is no less elated by his position, or by some good
fortune that falls to him, than this ass. The man of wealth holds up
his head and expects every one to bow to him; he thinks a great deal of
himself, and he finds that a great many persons cringe to him and
flatter him. "Man! the honour is given, not to you, but to the gold
you carry." It may be the same with office, or title; respect is given
to the magistrate, or the nobleman, or the general, or the captain, or
the poor-law officer, or the policeman, and he thinks much of himself
accordingly. "Man! the honour is given not to you, but to the title or
office, or authority you carry." And there is many a woman who puts on
new and gay clothes, a new bonnet, or a new gown, in the highest
fashion, and she sails into church with her chin in the air, and a
flutter in her heart, knowing that all eyes are upon her. "Woman! all
are admiring--not you,--but the clothes you carry."
Whatever it be that we have, which others have not, it should not
elate, but humble us, for a talent entails a responsibility. He that
has gold has to answer to God what use he makes of it. "How hardly
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven." He that
has office and authority is under great responsibility to discharge his
duties in his office, and exercise the authority entrusted to him well.
It was the fact that he was a man in authority which made the Centurion
humble, and brought on him the commendation of Christ. "Lord, I am not
worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof; neither thought I
myself worthy to come unto Thee, for I am a man set under authority,
having under me, soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to
another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth
it." He that has intellectual gifts must be humble, not proud, because
of them, for he is answerable for the use he makes of them.
II. God is very likely to humble those who set too high a price on
themselves; and better that He should bring them down to a just
appreciation of their own selves, in this world, than hereafter.
King Nebuchadnezzar had a vision. He saw a great image, the head was
of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass,
the legs of iron, and the feet of clay. He called Daniel to interpret
his dream to him, and Daniel said, "Thou, O King, art a King of kings,
for the God of Heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength,
and glory--thou art this head of gold." Then the prophet went on to
speak of other great nations, and how that all would be involved in a
common ruin, a little stone out of the mountain would roll down on the
feet of clay and break them, and then the great image, golden head, and
silver breast, and brazen body, and iron legs, would all go to
pieces--they rested on an infirm footing, fragile clay.
King Nebuchadnezzar, however, thought only of himself as the golden
head. Golden head must have golden breast, and a golden breast must
have a golden trunk, and golden trunk golden legs, and golden legs must
rest on feet of gold. That will stand, and that will represent me
better than this patchwork affair of which I dreamed. So he set him up
the golden image in the plain of Dura. That represented himself as he
regarded himself, the image seen in vision represented him as he was in
reality, as God saw him. What followed? God smote him and he went
mad. He was driven out as a wild beast into the fields, as a raving
madman, and thus he remained till his senses returned, and he
acknowledged with humility, that his prosperity did rest on a fragile
footing, and that God knew better what he was worth than did he himself.
Now apply this to yourselves. No doubt that each of you has his
excellence. One has got a head of gold, another a heart of gold. One
has the strength and endurance of iron, another has means, plenty of
silver, each has something of which he can boast; but take care not to
make golden images of yourselves and set them up, and expect every one
to bow down before them and take you at your own estimation. God will
humble you. The feet are of clay, and the proud statues will fall some
day. Therefore try to see yourselves as you really are, "Let him that
exalteth himself take heed lest he fall." "Be clothed with humility,"
is the exhortation of S. Peter, "for God resisteth the proud and giveth
grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand
of God, that He may exalt you in due time." And S. James says, "Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up."
LV.
_PROFESSION AND PRACTICE._
18th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. xxii. 42.
"What think ye of Christ?"
INTRODUCTION.--Many men are Christians neither in understanding nor in
heart. Some are Christians in heart, and not in understanding. Some
in understanding, and not in heart, and some are Christians in both.
If I were to go into a Temple of the Hindoos, or into a Synagogue of
the Jews, and were to ask, "What think ye of Christ?" the people there
would shake their heads and deny that He is God, and reject His
teaching. The heathens and Jews are Christians neither in
understanding nor affection. But there are, and always have been pious
men who have not known Christ, but have lived good self-denying lives,
lived a great deal better than most Christians, and have died, yearning
to see God, whom they groped after, but did not find. I should say
these were Christians in heart, though not in understanding. If I were
to put the question to you, "What think ye of Christ?" you would answer
at once that He is very God, of one substance with the Father, and also
very Man, of the substance of His Mother, the God-Man, your Redeemer,
and Saviour, and Lord. When I hear the answer, I say--Well! here we
have indeed Christians in their understanding. Now I want to know
further, are you Christians in heart and affection? S. Paul says that
in his time there were some who were Christians in profession, that is,
in understanding, and there their Christianity came to an end. "They
profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being
abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Is
it in any degree so with you?
SUBJECT.--The true Christian is he who is such in understanding and in
affection, or, in other words, in profession and in practice.
I. It is very necessary to have a good understanding of Christ and His
truth. "Without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him." There are certain truths, the
knowledge of which we believe are necessary to salvation. That is,
without an understanding of certain definite revealed truths, there is
not much chance of salvation, for the ignorance of these truths is
proper in a Christian, and without a knowledge of them, a Christian is
not able to live a spiritual and a Christian life. These truths are
contained in the Creed, and are taught to every child. It is not
enough to repeat the Creed like a parrot, but the meaning of the truths
contained in it must be grasped by the mind and understood. This is
the advantage of Christian instruction, and I think it would be well if
we Clergy, instead of so generally appealing to your consciences to
lead good lives, were more frequently to refresh your minds with the
truths which you must embrace with your understandings. I believe one
great reason why you make so little advance in the spiritual life is,
that you so little understand what God requires of you to believe.
After the Children of Israel had been carried into captivity by the
Assyrian king Shalmanezar, a number of persons were sent from Babylon
to inhabit Samaria, the capital, and other cities of Israel. They
settled there, but did not thrive, for this reason, the land was
overrun with lions. You will find the story in 2 Kings xvii. A great
many of the colonists were killed by the lions. "Therefore they spake
to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed,
and placed in the cities of Samaria, have lions among them, and behold,
they slay them." What course did Shalmanezar adopt, on hearing this?
Did he send them hunters, expert in killing lions? No. Or dogs to
drive them? Did he supply them with snares, and teach them how to make
pitfalls for the lions? No!--listen to what he did. "Then the king of
Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye
brought from thence; and let him teach them the manner of the God of
the land."
This succeeded, for we learn that the lions ceased to trouble the
colonists when they had learned to know and fear the God of Israel.
What a lesson this heathen king sets us! "The devil walketh about as a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, whom resist, steadfast in the
faith." Do you notice the words of S. Peter? The lion who seeks to
devour you, who lays waste the land, who destroys so many souls, can be
mastered and expelled, but only if you are steadfast in the faith, only
if, like these settlers in Samaria, you have been taught the manner of
the God of our land. Evil of all sort, temptations and snares, evil
spirits and seductions will draw you into destruction, and you will be
quite powerless to escape or resist, unless you know the manner of the
God of our land, or--in S. Peter's words--are steadfast in the faith.
II. It is not enough to understand, you must also love and follow the
law of your God with all your hearts. You must not only know God, but
you must obey Him. You must not only be instructed in the manner of
the God of our land, but you must also observe it. Now there are a
great many who are Christians in profession only, they draw near to God
with their lips, and say Lord! Lord! but with their hearts they are far
from Him.
One day a philosopher came before king Herod Atticus, and when the king
asked him what profession he was of, what office he held, the
philosopher answered, "Look at my robe and you will see what I am."
For the philosophers affected a certain sort of garment. Then Herod
answered, "Pardon me, I see the habit, but not the philosopher." That
is to say--"I see what you call yourself, and pretend to be, but I do
not know whether you are the wise and learned man for which you give
yourself out."
I fear that if I were to follow and watch you during the week, I should
be obliged to say--"I see the habit, but not the Christian." It is
true there is the profession. You say you are a Christian, you assure
me you believe in God, you undertake to live a sober and godly life, to
resist evil, and cleave to what is good. All this is the outside
habit, the mere name and profession, I see the habit,--but in your acts
I do not see the Christian. No! there is not the Christian in you when
you tell lies. Not the Christian when you slander your neighbour. Not
the Christian when you deal dishonestly with your masters. Not the
Christian when you fly into a passion and swear and curse. Not the
Christian when you use foul words. On Sundays you have on your Sunday
coat, or your Sunday gown, and you are as demure as Saints, and attend
Church regularly. There is the habit. I see the habit. But where is
your Christianity in the week? How much prayer? How much thought of
God? How much self-restraint? I see the habit, but not the Christian.
CONCLUSION.--Remember then that it is not enough to know Christ, and to
believe. You must also love Christ and obey. Only by acting up to
your profession, by walking worthy of the vocation whereby you are
called, can you be regarded as a true disciple of Christ. He is not
the true soldier who is enrolled, and deserts; he is not the good
servant who says to his master, I go, and goeth not. If you know of
Christ, you have a greater obligation laid on you to follow Him in love
and obedience, than if you knew Him not. "What think ye of Christ?"
That is not enough. "How live ye as Christians?" is needed as well.
LVI.
_EVIL THOUGHTS._
19th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. ix. 4.
"Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?"
INTRODUCTION.--Thoughts are only thoughts! who is to beheld accountable
for them? They are clouds blown about by fancy, taking various shapes.
God is not so hard as to judge us for our thoughts; He will try us by
what we have done, not by what we have dreamed. No garden is without
weeds; there are tares in every cornfield. Who speak thus? Is it
those who are conscientious and scrupulous to drive away evil thoughts?
Or those who allow their heads and hearts to be hives in which they
dwell? I allow that evil thoughts must enter the mind, and I add that
they do no harm so long as they are not admitted into the heart. I
allow that it is impossible to keep the mind so closed against evil
that no bad thoughts find admission. There is no sin in the bad
thoughts coming, but the sin begins when they are allowed to settle,
and to fly-blow the heart.
SUBJECT.--I am not going to speak to-day anything that will distress
those good souls who struggle with, and drive away, evil thoughts when
they torment them; God has seen fit to try them with these, as He
suffered the Israelites to lie tried by the remnants of the heathen
nations which remained in the land,--but I am going to speak to those
who indulge in evil thoughts of all kinds, and make no effort to banish
them. I tell them that this is a dangerous thing. If they rely on
being safe so long as they keep their bodies from evil, and allow their
minds and hearts to revel in evil thoughts, they are guilty of sin;
they may not be staining their bodies, but they are corrupting their
souls.
I have lived for some weeks on the side of the Rhine where a bridge
connected the German side of the river with the town on the other side,
which is in Switzerland. When the market-women came over the bridge,
the Custom-House officers made them open their baskets, and they looked
in to see whether they brought over anything taxable. I would have you
examine all the thoughts that come drifting through your head, and if
they are bad, and not allowable, turn them back.
I. "Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" Our Lord tells us that
sin commences in the heart, and is as truly in the thought as in the
act. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt
not kill. But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Ye have heard that
it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I
say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart." S. John Chrysostom
truly said, "Men's souls are not so greatly injured by the temptations
which assail them from outside, as from those evil thoughts which
poison them within." There may be evil thoughts of many kinds, envious
thoughts, discontented thoughts, profane thoughts, unkind thoughts,
angry thoughts, avaricious thoughts, impure thoughts. All these
thoughts come buzzing about the head and heart, and will settle to do
harm, unless driven away. They are only little thoughts. Each is very
small, but altogether they are a great host. They are like flies.
Pharaoh, King of Egypt, was plagued with flies. They came upon his
servants, and the houses of the Egyptians were full of swarms of flies,
"and the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies." The
heads of a great many people are like the houses of the Egyptians--full
of swarms of evil thoughts thick as flies, and all as small, and in
themselves as insignificant. The flies tormented the Egyptians when
they sat in their chambers, flying round them, buzzing in their ears,
lighting on their hands and faces; when they went to their meals the
flies were there, all over the meat and the bread, and falling into
their cups, and defiling every thing. When they went to bed the flies
were in their bedrooms, and all night long were racing over their
faces, and driving away sleep.
Now look at your evil thoughts, you who are plagued with a swarm of
them. When you kneel down to say your prayers, they are there
distracting your attention. When you are at table or with friends,
they are there disturbing your thoughts, perhaps corrupting your
conversation. When you are alone, they are there filling your mind
with images and sounds. When you are in bed, they are there, keeping
you awake. Your thoughts--these evil thoughts, so numerous, in such
swarms, never forsake you. In church they are present, disturbing you.
When you walk, they surround you, when you work, they interrupt you.
And, like the flies in Egypt, "the land is corrupted by reason of the
swarm." Your hearts are corrupted by the bad thoughts always hovering
over them, and settling down on them.
Am I drawing a fanciful picture? Not at all. I know it is so with
many, I do not say all, but with many. They disregard evil thoughts
because they are such trifling things--like flies, so easily brushed
away; like flies, so light and volatile; like flies, so little. And
yet they utterly degrade and corrupt the heart. "The land was
corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies."
II. When Abraham prepared a sacrifice to the Lord, there came down on
it swarms of birds of carrion (Gen. xv.) And when they did so, we are
told that Abraham "drove them away." The chief Baker of Pharaoh had
meats in a basket on his head, and the birds came down on them, and
carried them off. "The birds did eat them out of the basket upon my
head" (Gen. xl.) To Abraham was given a promise of a great blessing
and glorious future. To the Baker was given a warning that he should
be hanged within three days. One drove the birds away, and the other
did not.
Now this applies to evil thoughts. If you will be like Abraham and be
blessed, you will drive the evil thoughts away as fast as they come on.
If you let them come, and make no effort to repel them, they will carry
away from you all the graces wherewith you have been endowed at
baptism, and they will corrupt your heart as well.
LVII.
_THE HEAVENLY BANQUET._
20th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. xxii. 4.
"Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed,
and all things are ready; come unto the marriage."
INTRODUCTION.--The Kingdom of Heaven has two meanings in this parable.
It means in the first place the Catholic Church. Into that the
apostles and pastors of Christ invite men to enter, and many refuse.
In the second place it means the Church Triumphant,--eternal
blessedness, and into that the pastors of Christ's Church invite you
continually, Sunday after Sunday, and many refuse.
SUBJECT.--Our subject to-day shall be the Heavenly Banquet, and the
invitation to it.
I. When God created the world, He did so with a "Let be." He said,
"Let there be light"--and light was. "Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters," and it was so, at once. He said, "Let the waters
be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear," and,
immediately, it was so. And it was the same throughout the work of the
Seven Days. He spake the word and the world was made, and all the host
of heaven by the breath of His mouth.
But when man's salvation was wrought it was otherwise. There was
nothing instantaneous about that. Long ages passed before the time
came for the Son of God to be born. The preparation was lengthy, there
was delay. And when He came, there was no "Let there be," and it was
done, but there were thirty-three years spent on earth, and there were
the laborious ministry, the sufferings, and the death. That was not
all. Still more was done. The Son of God ascended into Heaven after
having spent forty days on earth after His resurrection, founding and
framing His Church. Then He sent the Holy Ghost down on the Church He
had made. Still all is not done. The Church has to battle with the
world, to endure persecution, the blood of martyrs has to flow, and
three hundred years to pass, before she emerges out of her hidden
suffering life into light before the world.
That is not all. Still the work goes on. The Sacraments are
ministered, the word of God is preached. Invitation to the Banquet of
Heaven is given. Salvation is not yet come; the work goes on, and goes
on slowly.
Look at yourselves, and see how slow the process is. You are baptized,
and thereby made a member of Christ. Is all done? By no means, the
work is only begun. You grow older, and your temptations grow
stronger. Then comes Confirmation, the Holy Spirit is given to
strengthen, the seal is put on the Baptismal Contract. Is all done?
By no means, it is only progressing. The Holy Communion is given you.
You partake of the sacred Body and Blood of Christ. Surely now all is
complete, and salvation secured. No--by no means, not yet. All
through life the work goes on. It is not done at death. It will not
be done till the Judgment Day.
Why is this? Because man has Free Will, and can oppose and hinder the
work of God. He can even bring it to naught.
When God made the world it was done at His word, for there was no
opposition, no independent free will had to be taken account of; but in
the salvation of man it is otherwise, man has to be considered, he has
a will which can turn all the good intentions of God from him, and make
them of no avail. God cannot save man without his free consent. God's
grace cannot sanctify him without his co-operation with it. God can
invite and attract, He cannot force. In the parable, the king sends
out to entreat his subjects to come, and when they refuse he punishes
them, but he does not send his soldiers to drive them into his
banqueting hall.
II. All that God can do is to invite; but He invites most pressingly,
and holds out every inducement that He possibly could.
God desires all men to be saved, He willeth not the death of a sinner.
"Christ," says S. Paul, "died for all,"--to reconcile all men to God.
He hung on the cross for all, to save all that will come to Him and be
saved--He died "for us men, and our salvation."
The Amalekites attacked the city of Ziklag, and took it, and burned it
with fire, and departed, carrying away with them the two wives of
David, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, who had been the wife of
Nabal the Carmelite. When David knew this, he fell into great
distress, and he gathered an army and went to the place, and there he
wept "till he had no more power to weep." And he pursued after the
Amalekites with four hundred men, and he fell on them, and the battle
raged four and twenty hours. "He smote them from twilight even unto
the evening of the next day," and he recovered out of their hands his
two wives. Now suppose that one of them, say Abigail, fell into low
spirits, thinking that David did not love her, and would not bring her
into his palace, and show her favour, one would say to her, What is the
meaning of this? Your sad spirits and gloomy doubts are proof of an
unthankful spirit. Look at David. See a clear evidence that you are
wrong. Look! he is covered with dust from the battle, he is so
exhausted that he can scarce breathe. For you he fought, for you he
exposed himself to great risk, for you he conquered. He has redeemed
you out of the power of the enemy. See! he extends to you his hand,
red with his blood shed for you. He holds out his hand to invite you
to follow him, that he may bring you home in safety. Away with these
wicked doubts and this black mistrust!
I may say exactly the same to you. Do you want any token of the love
of Christ? Any assurance of His goodwill towards you? Look at Him!
See what He has done and suffered for you! For you He spent
thirty-three years in struggle, for you He was exposed to the scoffs of
the Jews, for you He was scourged, for you He was crucified. To you He
extends His hand, red with His blood, to beckon you to follow Him, that
where He is there you may be also. He has shown you His love. What
could He have done more? He has promised you Heaven. He has assured
you that He is gone there to prepare a place for you, that He may
receive you unto Himself. He tells you that there is the kingdom He
has prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Could He make
better promises?
III. But He can do no more. He cannot drive you into Heaven. It is
left to you, to your free will to decide. You can accept, or you can
refuse. You can make use of the Sacraments, the means He has provided
for enabling you to gain the Kingdom, or you may turn your backs on
them. He will not drive you. All He will do is to invite, and say,
"Come! for all things are now ready."
LVIII.
_EXAMPLE._
21st Sunday after Trinity.
S. John iv. 13.
"And himself believed, and his whole house."
INTRODUCTION.--As the tree so the fruit, as the parents so the
children, as the master so his men, as the mistress so her household.
This is not indeed a rule without exceptions, but as a general rule it
holds.
No man liveth and dieth to himself, we are all members one of another,
and we all influence the conduct of others, and determine their
careers, more than we ourselves imagine. It is not, indeed, always
true that good parents have good children, but it is generally the
case. It is not always that bad parents have bad children, but it is
exceptional when it is otherwise. Indeed, the virtues of parents
become in some way inherent in their offspring, and the vices of
parents last in the blood of their children, and even descend to their
children's children. How often is this the case with a tendency to
drink! Although the child may have lost his parent young, and not seen
his bad example, yet he has in him a yearning after stimulants, and
very often becomes a drunkard like his father.
SUBJECT.--Let us, to-day, consider the effect of the example of parents
on their children; and of teachers on their pupils.
I. There is a striking passage in the fifth chapter of S. John which
may not hitherto have attracted your attention. One Sabbath Day our
Blessed Lord went to Bethesda, and there healed a man who had had an
infirmity thirty and eight years. He healed him, and bade him take up
his bed, and walk. The Jews were wroth, and said, "It is the Sabbath
Day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed." Then we are told the
Jews did persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done
these things on the Sabbath Day. "But Jesus answered them: My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work." That is to say--My Father worketh on
the Sabbath, He sends His rain, He makes the grass to grow, He feeds
the young ravens, He causes the sun to rise and set, He works good to
all creatures, feeds, and heals, and as I see my Father act, so,
naturally, as a Son, I act also. Whatsoever the Son seeth the Father
do, He doeth likewise. The argument of the Jews avails nothing, that
as the man has lain infirm for thirty-eight years, he may lie another
twelve hours. "My Father worketh hitherto good on the Sabbath, and
therefore I work." It matters nothing what the Law may enjoin, nor how
strict may be the tradition of the Pharisees, "My Father worketh good
on the Sabbath, and therefore I work." Our Lord produces this as an
argument against which there can be no resistance, to which there can
be no reply, an argument commending itself to every man's
understanding--to universal experience--As the father acts, so acts the
son. The example of the father is the law of right and wrong to the
child.
Do you know the fable of the crab and his children? The crab was sore
distressed to see his little ones run crookedly on the sand of the sea
shore, so he said, "My sons, walk straight!" "Yes," answered the
little crabs, "lead thou the way, father, and we will follow thy
footsteps."
Is it a wonder to you, a wonder and a distress, that your sons do not
turn out well, that they go to the public-house too much, and that they
are idle workmen, that they swear and use foul language? If you wish
them to grow up differently, it is of no use saying to them, "My sons,
walk straight!" you must lead the way, that they may follow.
Is it a wonder and grief to a mother that her girls become giddy,
frivolous, and unsteady, and perhaps cause her shame? Do you want them
to be quiet, to stay at home, and be neat, modest, unselfish girls?
then do not be giddy and a gadabout yourself. "Lead thou the way,
mother, and they will follow."
Do you, parents, find that your children ramble about the lanes with
idle companions instead of coming to Church on Sundays, that they do
not love the worship of God, that they do not fear God, and reverence
His sanctuary? Do you want them to be God-fearing, pious, consistent
Christians? Then do you lead the way and they will follow.
Do you want your boys and girls to hold a check on their tongues, and
not to be always wrangling and snapping at one another, scolding, and
finding fault, and quarrelling? Then do you lead the way, that they
may follow. Lead the way by keeping a check on your tongues, by being
gentle and forbearing--you, husband and wife, one with another, not
given to railing, but, contrariwise, to blessing.
II. You may have observed how often in Holy Scripture the expression
recurs, "The God of your Father," or "The God of your Fathers," "The
God of my Father," or "of my Fathers." This is a remarkable
expression. Is God short of Names that He should be thus designated?
Might He not be better termed Almighty, Everlasting, Jehovah? The
expression is of such frequent recurrence that it must have a
meaning--and this is what it means. There is such a thing as an
hereditary religion. As a man regards God, so will his children regard
Him. If a man is reverent and devout, and shows that he honours God,
and regards Him as a just and righteous God, hating iniquity, and
rewarding all those who keep His commandments, then his children will
grow up regarding God as just and righteous; but if a man thinks of God
as indifferent to righteousness, as so ready in His kindness to forgive
everything, and let men do what they like, that He will pardon them for
any and everything they do, then his sons will grow up looking on God
as the great Author of moral disorder among men. If a man regards God
as expecting worship and honour, then the sons will grow up with the
same idea of God, and will worship and honour Him, and if a man has no
God at all, then his sons will also have no God at all.
III. In Exodus God threatens that He will "visit the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the
third and to the fourth generations." In like manner He blesses a
whole posterity for the righteousness of their parents. You see now
how and why this is. It is because when a father and mother are
wicked, their children grow up wicked also, and their children's
children, till the whole family dies out through its vicious habits, or
there rises out of it some redeeming element of good.
In the same way good parents have good children, and these good
children marry, and have also good offspring, and so the goodness of
one pious and righteous pair goes on descending and spreading like a
fertilizing river, bearing blessings to all who are near it. What an
encouragement this is to you parents to lead God-fearing lives! What a
warning to those of you who are careless! The belief of the ruler
brought belief to his whole house. The salvation of Zacchaeus brought
salvation to his whole house also. Righteousness may bring a blessing
to your children, and children's children, for many generations.
LIX.
_THE PREACHER AND HIS HEARERS._
22nd Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matthew xviii. 23.
"The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a certain king, which would take
account of his servants."
INTRODUCTION.--I have been a good deal abroad, over the Continent of
Europe, and whenever I am in a little country inn, I make a point of
going into the room where the men are smoking and drinking wine or
beer, and hearing their opinions on the politics of the day, and of
their country. Now, my experience tells me that in country taverns in
France, and Germany, and Belgium, and Switzerland, and Austria, the
main topic of discussion is--the Parsons. I have not been much about
in this way in England, but I have an idea that it is pretty nearly the
same here. What I have heard often said is this, "Nothing easier than
to preach!" "Ah! they are always preaching at us, it is a pity that
they do not preach to themselves." "Ah! if they would only practice
what they preach, we would listen more readily."
SUBJECT.--To-day I am going to preach to the preacher, to myself, at
least in the first part of my sermon, and you may sit and listen.
After that, I will have a word with you. In to-day's Gospel we hear
that the king will take account of his servants, that is, God will take
account of all those who are His servants, first with those who are His
special Ministers, the Clergy, and preachers of His Word, and secondly,
of those who are the hearers.
I. Now, let me see what God expects of a preacher, and what I ought to
be and to do. S. Paul says: "We preach Christ crucified." That is the
first thing I am bound to do. I must remember to do that. Then, S.
Luke says that Jesus was "mighty in word and deed," and as Christ has
sent us even as He was sent by the Father, so must we preachers be
mighty, as far as we can, both in word and deed, we must speak boldly
and vigorously, and we must act in the same way, we must practice what
we preach. That is a great deal expected of us. If we were only to
preach up to the level of our own lives, it would be easier. But the
preaching goes first; we must preach the highest virtue, and then try
to live up to that. S. John the Baptist was set before us as an
example of a preacher, and "he was a burning and a shining light." We
preachers must give you doctrine which not only shines but also burns,
we must not only enlighten your minds by teaching, but also burn your
consciences. We must instruct the intellect, and warm and fire the
heart. That is requiring a great deal of us. "He maketh his ministers
a burning fire," says David, and S. Paul quotes his words approvingly.
It is a pleasant thing to enlighten, but to burn is not so pleasant.
Yet that is what we preachers are bound to do, we must not speak to you
smooth things, but those things which will sting you and make you arise
and cry out. Not only what you like, but a great deal that you do not
like. That is what is demanded of a preacher.
Then again he must not "use the Word of God deceitfully," twisting it
to enforce what is not God's truth, but his own fancy. We read that at
the trial of Christ there were found two false witnesses who declared
that Christ had said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days will I
build it up." Now when we look at S. John's Gospel we find that He did
say this. How, then, were they false witnesses? They were false
witnesses because they gave His words a meaning He never intended them
to have. He spoke of the temple of His body; they made His words apply
to the temple of Jerusalem.
Moses desired that his preaching might be as the dew. "My doctrine
shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small
rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass" (Deut.
xxxii. 2.) Very pleasant it would be to speak so that one's words came
down like the dew, or even as the small rain on the tender grass. You
would like that, and so would I. You would hold up your heads like the
flowers, and drink the dewy doctrine in. But stay! "As the showers
upon the grass" as well, says Moses. It will not do for the preacher
to speak only gently; his words must come pattering about your heads
like a driving April shower, when you will shrink from the rain and
hide to get out of the way. The preacher must pour out on you a good
strong shower of hard words.
But that is not all. He must use the Word of the Lord as a sword.
"The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and of spirit, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." How will the
hearers like that? The preacher must not ask that, he must use the
Word as it is given him, whether his hearers like it or whether they do
not.
There was at one time at Coimbra two famous preachers, and all the town
ran to hear them; but some thought A. was the best preacher, and some
thought that B. was the best. It was discussed among the professors of
the University, and then it was found that they were divided--some
liked A., and others preferred B.; then an old professor spoke, "I will
tell you what I think. I have heard them both, and have formed my
opinion. When I have listened to a sermon by A., I come away highly
pleased with the preacher; when I come away from a sermon by B., I am
heartily disgusted with myself." Then you see which was the true
preacher. A. sought his own glory and to show his talent, B. only
considered the souls of those he was speaking to.
And now I have said what a preacher ought to speak, and also how he
ought to act. I do not think it is so easy a matter, if he be a
faithful preacher.
II. Now then I turn to you, the hearers. Be ye not hearers of the
Word, but doers. The word preached you will not profit unless you take
hold of it.
One day Agilmund, King of the Lombards, was riding past a river. At
that time it was customary for heathen mothers to drown those of their
children whom they did not care to rear. He saw floating down the
rapid stream a number of little crying babes in baskets in which they
had been cast in. The king's heart was touched, and he went to the
edge of the river where there was a pool and an eddy, and he knelt down
and held out his spear to the children; then one of them extended his
little hands and clasped hold of the spear, and clung to it, and the
king very gently and carefully drew the spear to him with the little
fellow holding tight to it. But all the other babes merely cried and
sank into the water. Then he carried home the child in his arms,
adopted him as his son, and made him his heir to the kingdom.
Now all the preacher can do for you, swimming down the great river of
time, threatened with death, is to hold out the Word to you. He cannot
save you. He cannot do more for you than that. You must lay hold and
cling tight to the Word.
But why do I say the preacher? It is Jesus Christ Himself who really
extends the Word to you, and He will save you if you hold fast to it,
and bring you through the waters, and land you in His country, and
exalt you to His kingdom.
LX.
_THE IMAGE OF SELF._
23rd Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matthew xxii., 20.
"Whose is this image?"
INTRODUCTION.--Some people are very fond of contemplating their own
excellencies, of admiring their good qualities, or their success in
life; they will talk to you of what they have done, how they made this
lucky hit, how they outwitted so-and-so, how they escaped such a danger
by their foresight. But they are not fond of considering their
imperfections, of lamenting their faults, of confessing their failures,
their lost opportunities, their neglected duties, their grave
transgressions. No, no! they do not see them, they see only their own
good qualities and none of their blemishes, they extol their successes,
and hold their tongues over their failures.
SUBJECT.--But it would be well for us to contemplate ourselves as we
really are, and see ourselves in the light in which we are seen by God,
for the Apostle says: "If we would judge ourselves, we shall not be
judged," that is, if we would only see ourselves with all our defects,
and repent our faults here, and judge ourselves and go and amend, then
we should escape the judgment hereafter.
I. King David says, in the 51st Psalm, "I acknowledge my faults, and
my sin is ever before me." Now, think of this! If any man had
occasion to boast it was King David. He had been a poor sheep-boy
attending the flocks of his father, a farmer at Bethlehem, and he was
taken from the sheepfolds and exalted to be king. What an exaltation
for him from a humble origin to the highest place! He might well look
back on that with exultation; but no, a shadow steps between and clouds
the view, "My sin is ever before me."
I daresay his palace walls were hung with tapestry, or painted in
colours with pictures representing his deeds. There he was shewn
fighting the bear, there taking the lamb from the lion's mouth, and
smiting him. There he was pictured with his sling going against the
giant Goliath. There he was represented standing over the fallen
Philistine and hewing off his head. Look! another picture! his
marriage with Michal, the daughter of King Saul. "Whose is this
image?" It is that of the conqueror over Amalek. "Whose is this
image?" It is David crowned king of Judah in Hebron. And here is a
goodly picture; of whom is it? This is David anointed King over all
Israel. There is another! David defeating the Philistines in the
battle under the mulberry trees. There is one more! "Whose is this
image?" It is that of David bringing the ark from Kirjath-jearim, and
playing his harp and dancing before it. What a goodly array of
pictures! All--all about the glories and successes of David. David
paces idly through the halls, he sees the tapestries and paintings, but
he regards them not, "My sin is ever before me." He sees only one
picture, which is not upon the wall, which the flattering painter has
omitted, his guilt with Bathsheba.
He goes to war in his armour, and takes the city of Rabbah. He carries
off the crown of the king and puts it on his own head. The spoil of
the city is great. In the turmoil of battle, in the flush of victory,
"My sin is ever before me."
He flees before his enemies, before his rebellious son, and is in
hiding in the wilderness with a few faithful friends, and then there
rises up before him the remembrance of his great transgression, and
weighs down his heart. "My sin is ever before me."
In joy, in sorrow, in prosperity and in distress it is always the same.
"Whose is this image?" It is that of a great king, a mighty warrior, a
sweet poet,--"No, no!" says David, "It is the image of a grievous
sinner. My sin is ever before me. Let no man call me a good king, I
gave over the innocent Uriah to the sword, and took from him his
beloved wife. Let no man call me a just man, I divided the land of
Mephibosheth with his false, lying slave Ziba, because it went against
my pride to go back from what I had said. Let no man call me merciful,
when I tortured the Ammonites cruelly, putting them under saws, and
under harrows and axes of iron, and made them pass through the
brickkiln. Let no man speak of me as a conqueror, when I was miserably
conquered by my wicked passions."
My brethren! I wish that you would see yourselves in the way in which
David did. I wish that instead of turning away your eyes from those
pictures in your life which do you no honour, you would look at them
with shame. I wish that instead of boasting yourselves as the image of
all perfections, you would see yourselves as sinners.
II. There was a painter called Bonamico, who was engaged by Cardinal
Aretino to paint a series of pictures in his chapel. He began with a
beautiful fresco of Jesus Christ. A day or two afterwards, when he
came to his work in the morning, he found his picture smeared all over
with dabs of colour, red, and black, and blue, and yellow, and utterly
defaced and spoiled. The painter was so angry that he refused to go on
with his work till the culprit was found. A watch was set, and then it
was discovered who had done it. When the painter had left the chapel,
a pet ape of Aretino's came in, and having during the day seen the
artist at work, he took up brush and colours, and began, in mischief or
in imitation, to daub over what the painter had executed.
"Whose is this image?" You were made in the image of God, and redeemed
by Christ. Whose is the image? You are expected to grow to the
stature of the fulness of Christ, to be like Christ, but alas! the
Devil, or your evil passions, deface the image, and obliterate the
likeness. Can I see anything like Christ in you? Where are the traces
of the divine image? I know what Christ is. "I am meek and lowly of
heart." Where is your meekness? Some ape has daubed self-conceit over
it, and I see nothing else but his bold colours. "He shall not strive
nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the street." Where is
this quietness and unobtrusiveness in you? Do I not hear angry words
and quarrelling? Some ape has daubed out this feature of the Saviour.
"I am come not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me."
Where is this readiness to submit to the will of God? Do I not see an
eager following of your own wills? Surely also this characteristic of
the Son of God is effaced.
CONCLUSION.--My brethren, one chief reason why we should see ourselves
as we really are is, that we might be able by penitence to wipe out the
ugly smears that deface the divine image, and that we might go on to
perfection, becoming daily more like unto Him who is our pattern, so
that at the Last Day, when we wake up, it will be with the likeness
complete, for "we shall be like Him."
LXI.
_DREAD OF RIDICULE._
24th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. ix. 24.
"And they laughed Him to scorn."
INTRODUCTION.--"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution" (2 Tim. iii. 12.) This is what S. Paul says. This is
what everyone of you must make up your mind to, if you intend to live
godly lives, and, moreover, to live in Christ. Do you know what that
meant to the early Christians? It meant that if they were going to be
firm in their faith, live up to their profession, and eschew evil, they
should be dragged before governors, and hung on what was called the
"little horse," and their flesh torn with redhot pincers. It meant
that they should be scourged to death, or that they should be roasted
alive over slow fires, or that they should be gored in the amphitheatre
by a bull, or torn to pieces by a lion, or that they should have their
skin taken off, or that their heads should be struck off, or that they
should be crucified. So when they were baptized and professed the
Creed, and were signed with the cross, they knew that they were
enlisted to suffer persecution if they acted up to their profession,
and were worthy of the cross on their brows.
But this is not the sort of persecution you will be subjected to. The
time of such cruel torture is over. The world has become Christian in
name, but in heart it is pagan still.
"_All_ that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
S. Paul does not limit this to his day. It is not only all in the
first century, but all in the nineteenth century as well. Only this is
altered--the mode of persecution.
SUBJECT.--The persecution you will be subjected to, if you live godly
in Jesus Christ is--Ridicule. No one will make you suffer in the body.
No pincers and knives will be brought against you,--only Tongues.
I. Noah was ordered by God to build an ark on dry ground. Imagine the
ridicule he met with! How the people would flock out of an evening, to
see how he was getting on. What jibes! How he was tormented with
questions, When was the great boat to be launched? How was he to bring
the sea up to it? Was he with his three sons to put their shoulders to
it, and push it down to the seashore? But Noah did not heed them, he
went on with his building. It was very unpleasant to bear. It made
him very red with shame and annoyance sometimes. But he did not give
up. If he had done so, he would have been drowned. And one day the
flood came. The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the
windows of heaven opened, and then the water overflowed the land.
Then!--how was it with those men and women who had made fun of Noah?
On whose side was the laugh now?
The Israelites were ordered by God to camp against Jericho. They were
to march round the city once a day, with the priests going before,
blowing their trumpets; this was to be done six days in succession, but
on the seventh day they were to march seven times round the city, with
the priests leading the way, blowing the rams' horns. The first day
the inhabitants of Jericho rushed to their walls, and watched, and
wondered. The second day they saw the same procession go round the
town. It had ended in nothing on Sunday, so they laughed and pointed
at them. What a ludicrous sight! All those men armed with swords and
spears, who do not use them, those priests blowing the horns as to
encourage the Israelites to battle, and not one rushing forward to
scale the walls. The third day all the women and children were on the
walls, marching round and mimicking them, blowing toy trumpets. What
jokes! What jeers shouted from the walls! So on to the Friday. On
the Sabbath the people got rather tired of this same scene. It was
growing monotonous; so they did not come in such numbers. However,
after the Israelites had marched round once, they began to march round
a second time. Here was something new! Something still more
nonsensical; and the people of Jericho came out on their walls again to
flout them, and pass their jokes. When the Israelites had been round
twice, they started to go round a third time, then a fourth, then a
fifth, then a sixth. The mocking grew more excessive, the ridicule
more keen. But, when the circuit of the city was made the seventh
time, then, the walls of the city fell down, and the Israelites rushed
in over the ruins, and killed all they came across. On whose side was
the laugh then?
II. As I told you at the beginning of my sermon, if you will live
godly in Christ Jesus, you must expect persecution, and the only sort
of persecution you will get is Ridicule.
Therefore, if you will live godly in Christ Jesus, you must be prepared
to be taunted, and made fun of, and teased. The tongues will wag and
say all sort of hard things about you; You are a hypocrite, or you are
going too far, or you are a fine person to set up to be a saint! but
be of good cheer, do not mind the laughter, it is only for a while, and
then the tables will be turned, and the laugh will be on your side.
It is very unpleasant to be made a butt for ridicule. Of course it is,
but it is not so unpleasant as to have your flesh torn off with redhot
pincers. The early Christians who would live godly in Christ Jesus had
to expect that.
It is very galling to have bitter things said of you, often unjust and
untrue, only because you have begun to serve God, and lead a better
life. Of course it is, but it is not so bitter to bear as a cruel
death, and that is what the early Christians had to expect if they
would live godly in Christ Jesus.
Then again. As the Master was used, so the servant must expect to be
treated. Jesus Christ had not only to endure the cruelty of wicked
men, but their ridicule as well, "They laughed Him to scorn."
CONCLUSION.--Pluck up a little courage, my brethren, and do not be such
cowards. If you lack courage, ask of God, and He will give it you.
The Spirit of Fortitude is one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. He gave
it to the martyrs to strengthen them under torment, and they were able
to endure and not forsake their Lord. Then surely He will give to you
that measure of fortitude which will enable you to stand up against
Ridicule.
LXII.
_WHAT LASTS, AND WHAT PASSES AWAY._
25th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matthew xxiv., 35.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away."
INTRODUCTION.--Yes! all will pass away! This beautiful world and all
that is on it. Our houses, our churches, our cities, will crumble
away; the very earth with its mountains and rivers, and plains, and
seas, will pass away. The stars will fall from heaven, the sun will
have exhausted its fires, the moon will sink into night. But the words
of Christ will last.
SUBJECT.--Incessant is the change. Ever are things present passing
away, but there is still something that remains. Things pass in their
present fashion, but in substance remain.
I. S. Paul, in his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, says (vii. 31):
"The fashion of this world passeth away." It is as though this world
were a theatre, on which pass many scenes. The curtain rises, and we
see first Eden, all beautiful; there is no sin, no death; how lovely is
the world in its maiden freshness and innocence, the flowers are
blooming, and the birds are singing, and Adam and Eve stand surrounded
by the beasts, which fawn on them, and fear them not. O that this
lovely scene might remain! But no! "The fashion of this world passeth
away."
Another scene. The Angel armed with the flaming sword drives our
parents forth, the earth brings forth thorns and briars. Man slays the
beasts to provide him with food and clothing. The earth is full of
violence, Cain raises his hand against Abel. All flesh is corrupt
before God. "The fashion of this world passeth away."
The flood has purified earth, but now men are scattered through the
confusion of tongues, and go over all the world colonising, cutting
down trees, planting corn, hunting wild beasts, pasturing cattle, and
having flocks of sheep. "The fashion of this world passeth away."
Great empires arise, the Chaldean or Assyrian, the Persian, the Greek,
these three. Do they last? "The fashion of this world passeth away."
A fourth arises; the mighty Roman Empire, extending over the whole
known world. The Roman poet wrote of it in the name of his false god,
Jupiter, "I put no bounds to this empire, neither of space nor of time,
I give it a kingdom without end." Was it so? We find scattered almost
everywhere in the old world where we travel traces of this mighty
empire, its roads, its castles, its palaces, its coins, but it is gone,
gone utterly away, swept away by the hordes of Gothic barbarians. "The
fashion of this world passeth away."
If we look back at the past times of our own country, what changes do
we see! the fashion ever changing, the fashion of government, the
fashion of religion, the fashion of dress, the fashion of architecture,
all is change, change, and change.
Have you ever seen fireworks? Have you seen the rockets rush up into
the air, casting a golden light, pouring forth sparks, and then
bursting, this one into a silvery globe of light, that one into a
thousand stars, crimson, blue, green, yellow, that again into sparks of
curling fire-dust? What became of them? Down they fall, and all that
remains is a stick and a bit of smouldering brown paper. The fashion
has wondrously changed. Are not these rockets figures of the life of
man? Up we rush in the eagerness of youth, and cast a light about us,
up, up, growing brighter, throwing out our stars and globes of light,
and then, "the fashion changeth," and we come down and are laid in our
graves, a little ash. Here is the man who was full of wealth and
honour, how he blazed as a sun, how he scattered his gold. "The
fashion changeth." He is now a crumbling bit of clay.
Here is the man who made such a noise in the parish, such a boaster, so
quarrelsome, so litigious, no one could come near him. "The fashion
changeth." He lies still as a mouse now, and can resent no injury done
to his dust.
Here is the active housewife, whose hand was always busily employed
sewing, darning, scouring, never idle for one minute, keeping her house
clean, and her children tidy. "The fashion changeth." She can stir no
hand, can think for no one any more.
II. Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, was wroth with Daniel, because he
denied that Bel was a god. Meats were placed on the altar before the
idol every night, and before morning they had vanished. "Therefore,"
said the king, "Bel must be a god." But Daniel got fine ashes and
strewed the temple floor, and locked the doors. Next morning he came
with the king to the temple, and when the doors were opened, the king
saw that all the meat was gone, then he cried out that Bel was a god.
But Daniel pointed to the floor, and there, in the ashes, were the
prints of many feet, for the priests had a secret door under the altar,
and in the night they came out with their wives and children, and ate
what had been offered to the idol. Then Evilmerodach had them all
slain.
Now, my brethren! Job says of God: "Thou lookest narrowly unto all my
paths," or, as it might be better rendered, "my footprints." That is,
Thou, O God, seest my traces where I have been, and Thou wilt take
account of what I have done. Mark this!--The steps pass away, but the
footprints do not pass away. The steps go on into Endless Life or
Eternal Death, but the footprints remain to shew where you have walked.
Your fashion in this world may pass away, but your footprints remain to
tell tales of you; they pass not away.
You house-father! You house-mother! you will go your way, but your
traces will remain in your family, the good you have done, or the bad,
these cannot be wiped out.
You who have done any dishonest act, spoken falsehood, dealt
deceitfully, all your dishonest acts, and false words, and deceitful
dealings, will pass away, but the traces will remain, and God will look
narrowly at them.
You have been given talents, intelligence, physical strength, spiritual
opportunities; these pass away, but not their traces.
You have been a boy, a youth, a man, and are now old. Each age has
passed away, but not the footsteps, they shall not pass away. What you
did when first you got your reason, your childish acts, are passed
away, but not the results. Your actions when young,--did you yield to
your passions or conquer them? those acts are passed away, but not the
results. In your manhood, what have you done in your family, what
example have you set? You are now old and white-headed. Vigorous
manhood is over, passed away, but the footsteps, the tell-tale
footsteps remain.
CONCLUSION.--Now then, considering this, I urge you sincerely to live
each day as if the last, to live so that you may not be afraid of your
footsteps that will betray of what sort your life has been.
LXIII.
_THANKFULNESS TO GOD._
Harvest
S. Matthew xxii., 21.
"Render--unto God, the things that are God's."
INTRODUCTION.--David says in the 8th Psalm, "What is man, that Thou art
mindful of him: and the son of man that Thou visitest him? Thou makest
him to have dominion of the works of Thy hands; and Thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet, all sheep and oxen; yea, and the
beast of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea."
I. The mastery of man is even more extensive than this; he controls
the elements. The earth he tills and makes it bring forth fruit and
corn, as he wills. He will not suffer it to run wild, but schools and
disciplines it. He hedges it about, and ploughs, and sows, and reaps.
He burrows into it for fuel and for metals, he cuts roads over its face.
The air he makes use of also, it is his servant to turn the sails of
his wind-mills, to grind his corn, it fills out the sails of his ships
to carry his merchandise from one land to another.
Fire, that most terrible of elements, he dominates and makes into a
slave, it smelts the ore for him, it raises the steam that drives the
engines, it heats his house, it lights it, it cooks his food.
Water is also under control, he leads it where he will in canals and
pipes, he makes it turn the wheels of water-mills, it is used for
drinking, and for washing. And yet even that is not all. Man controls
the lightning, he makes of that a slave to carry messages round the
world, and he carries it into globes, and lights streets and railway
stations, and shop windows with it.
When man was innocent in Eden, the beast and birds were his familiar
friends, but when he sinned they fled from him. God said to Noah, "The
fear of you, and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the
earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the
earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea, into your hand are they
delivered."
See how the animals have been subjected to man; the horse, the useful
cow, the dog, and the sheep have been tamed, the horse which once roved
wild submits to have a saddle on his back, and a bit in his mouth. The
cow gives her milk and her meat, and the sheep both wool and meat, for
the nourishment and the clothing of man; the dog, which, when wild, was
fierce as his brother the wolf, has become the friend and companion of
man; even the gigantic elephant has become docile, and the Indian
mother leaves her babe under its charge, that the monster may brush
away the flies from the sleeping infant with a branch.
We have dominion over the birds in the air, we have tamed the domestic
fowls and make them yield us their eggs, and we keep the pigeons about
our homes that we may kill their young; we snare and shoot them as we
will, their high flight and rapid wings are no protection for them.
We have dominion over the fishes of the sea, we strew the net and bring
them in for our food; we hunt the whale for his oil and for the fringe
of bone in his mouth; we dive into the sea after the oyster that we may
extract from it the pearl, and we strip the shell of its
rainbow-coloured scales to inlay therewith our furniture.
II. What follows from all this? Is not this enough to make man proud,
to exalt him in his own conceit? unfortunately it would seem so, but
the lesson I would draw from all this is, Render unto God that service
which is due to God, as all inferior creatures render unto you the
service you demand of them.
An old writer (Hugo Victorinus) beautifully says--"It is as though the
earth appealed to man, and said to him, See how He loved thee who made
me for thee. I serve thee because I was made for thee, and do thou
serve Him who made thee and me."
Suppose a king were to take you by the hand and lead you into a
beautiful estate, and say to you, "Here, I give you this mansion, with
the park and the fields, and the woods and the river, you may do what
you will with it, hunt, and shoot, and fish, and till the soil, and
pasture sheep, and cattle, I give it you all freely and entirely, I ask
of you nothing but that you will recognise me as your king and not join
my enemies in fighting against me." Then, I think, you would embrace
the offer with the greatest eagerness. Now this is just what God has
done to you; He has brought you into the world, and has given you power
over the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, the fishes of the
sea, He has given you the earth to grow your corn, and on which to
pasture your cattle, He has given you dominion over the elements, and
all He asks in return is that you will recognise Him as the Giver, and
not join His enemies. "Render unto God that honour and homage that be
God's."
III. Balaam, the prophet and seer, rode on his ass to go to Balak,
king of Moab. God had forbidden him to go and curse the chosen people
of God, but Balaam, moved by covetousness, and eager for honours from
the king, started on his way to go. Then an angel stood in the way
with a drawn sword to stop him. Balaam did not see the angel, but the
ass did, and fell down under Balaam. Then he cried out in a rage, "I
would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee," and
he beat the ass savagely with his stick. Do you see! Balaam expects
the ass to obey him blindly, to go where he chooses; but he himself
will not obey God, and refrain from going whither he is forbidden.
How is it with you? Is it not with you as with Balaam? You expect the
earth to yield you what you choose, and are wroth if it withholds the
crop; but you do not yield to God what He desires, and show a harvest
of good fruit unto life everlasting from the seed of Grace He has sown
in you. You expect your sheep to give their wool, and your cows their
milk, and to obey you, and come into the fold, or go out into the
pasture, docile to your will. But do you act thus to God? Are you
docile to His will? Do you eat that heavenly food He has prepared for
you in the pastures of his Church? You expect your orchard to yield
you apples. Do you show any fruit of the Spirit? When Christ comes
and searches among the leaves of your profession, does He find any
fruit of good works there?
CONCLUSION.--Then, Brethren, in your farm-work, bear this ever in mind,
that as you expect the fields and the cattle to yield to you what is
your due, so render also yourselves unto God that honour, that worship,
that gratitude, which are God's.
LXIV.
_THE FORMATION OF HABITS._
School Sermon.
Proverbs xxii. 6.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not depart from it."
INTRODUCTION.--There is a district, high up in the Black Forest, where
the ground is full of springs. It is a plain some nine hundred feet
above the sea. Thousands upon thousands of little springs gush out of
the soil; you seem to be on the rose of a vast watering-can. Now, from
this great source flow a good many rivers, and they flow in very
different, nay, opposite directions. There rises the Danube, which
runs East and dies in the Black Sea, and also the Neckar and a hundred
other tributaries of the Rhine, which flows West, and falls into the
North Sea. A very little thing on that plain--a slight rise or fall in
the ground, this way or that--decides the direction in which a river
shall run. You can easily make a little stream run this way and feed
the Rhine, or that way and swell the Danube; but after a few miles all
control over the stream is gone. It runs on, and will run on to the
end in the direction you have given it, or which it took by chance when
it started.
It is the same with children. All these little springs of vigorous
life are bubbling up round us, and whither shall they flow? To the
right or to the left? To Life or to Death? We can give them their
direction now. A few years hence, and all power over them will be gone.
SUBJECT.--As a habit is formed in early youth, so it remains to old
years.
I. We take our children and we train them for God. God has given them
to us for this, to train them as citizens of His kingdom. We neglect
our duty if we neglect this. He placed the flexible little characters
in our hands to bend this way or that, expecting us to make them grow
upright and not crooked, to look to Heaven, instead of trailing on
earth. They are a solemn trust for which we must give account.
It would have been one of the chief woes of Hell to Dives, if he had
his five brethren there to reproach him for having set them a bad,
selfish, luxurious example. Think how bitter your future state would
be, if your children in the outer darkness were to be for ever
reproaching you, "You brought us up to the world and not to God, you
fed our bodies but not our souls, you set before us the transitory life
as the one thing to care for, and did not teach us to lay up treasure
and toil for the life eternal!" Think, also, how it will increase your
happiness to have your children in Life Eternal, and to receive their
blessing, and experience their gratitude for having so taught them, by
word and example, that they have through life walked in the narrow path
that leads to the gates of Heaven.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not depart from it." You teach your children obedience, in order that
when young they may form the habit of submitting to rule. When they
are old they will not depart from it. God has His laws. God exacts
their obedience. They learn now to bow to the commands of a teacher
whom they can see, they will obey afterwards the invisible Divine
Teacher. You teach your children order and method when young, that
they may live an orderly life when they grow older. You teach them
self-control now, that they may be able to exercise it in greater
matters hereafter.
II. Habits of obedience, and order, and self-control, acquired in
childhood will be confirmed in manhood, and will remain to the end of
life. A man of business, who has spent his youth and manhood in
looking after his shop, or attending to his office, is miserable in old
age when he gives up his business and retires; he misses the old
routine, he would be happier if he could go on in the accustomed round
till he drops. The days hang heavy on his hands. The relaxation to
which he had looked forward, and for which he had worked, palls on him.
And these are habits of industry. Bad habits retain a stronger hold on
man. A bad youth and a bad manhood make a vicious old age. Many an
old man who had led a disorderly life retains his wicked habits, though
they afford him no pleasure. He goes on in vice merely because vice
has become habitual, not because it is pleasurable.
Eli, as we read in the 4th chap. I Sam., when aged ninety and eight
years, and his eyes were dim, that he could not see, "sat upon a seat
by the wayside watching." What is the meaning of this? The old man of
nearly a hundred has his chair brought outside the temple, and sits
there looking up the street, and that although his eyes are so covered
with a mist that he can see nothing. The sacred writer does not say
that Eli sat on the seat by the wayside seeing what went on, but only
straining his sightless eyeballs up the street. If we turn back to the
first chapter, we shall see that this was a habit with Eli. When he
was many years younger, some thirty years before, when Hannah came up
to Shiloh to entreat the Lord to have mercy on her and take away her
reproach, we read "Now Eli, the priest, sat upon a seat by the post of
the temple of the Lord." And his eyes, then sharp and clear, were
peering about and watching all that was going on, and examining the
faces of the people who were coming in and going out, and were engaged
in prayer. One would have thought that common decency would have kept
him from watching the face of the poor woman who was engaged in prayer,
but Eli had not acquired control over his eyes--indeed, his great
amusement was peering into people's faces and guessing what was going
on in their minds. Hannah wept as she prayed, "And it came to pass, as
she continued praying to the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now
Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was
not heard,"--then with that want of charity, and tendency to think evil
which so commonly goes with peeping and prying--"Eli thought she had
been drunk." He saw what was not--drunkenness--in the weeping,
sorrowful-hearted woman, but he saw not the wickedness which was in his
disorderly sons. Here is an illustration of how habits last. Eli had
acquired this habit of sitting in the gate and watching what went on,
when he was a man in the vigour of his days, and when he was a very old
man and blind, the habit continued. He had his chair brought out into
the street that he might look up and down it, though his eyes were dim
and he could see nought.
III. Now the great advantage of a school to a child is that therein
the child is taught good habits. The child has got certain talents,
but cannot turn these talents to any good account without application.
In school he is given the habit of application; that is, of keeping his
attention fixed on one subject.
But application is not all; to that must be added perseverance. No
advance will be made in anything, unless a man first applies his mind
to his task, and then perseveres in it till he has fulfilled what he
undertook. Nothing is more common than to begin a thing and to be
disheartened at the first difficulty, and to throw it up. At school
the child is given the habit of perseverance.
That is not all. No work will be carried out thoroughly without order
and system. You see people who work all day and work hard, but never
make any way, because they work in a muddle, and with no regular plan.
At school the child is given the habit of orderliness.
I have instanced only a few of those necessary habits which we try to
impress on children at school. We endeavour to impress them on the
young, because then they are open to instruction, their characters are
soft and take impressions, as warm wax does from a seal. We train them
up in the way in which they should go, trusting that when they are old
they will not depart from it. We teach what is good, that good may
become a habit with them, and when anything has become a habit, it
sticks. It is not shaken off.
LXV.
_RELIGIOUS ZEAL._
Dedication Festival
Ps. lxix., 9.
"The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up."
INTRODUCTION.--David spoke the truth. The one great desire of his
heart was the glorification of God by the erection of a temple
befitting His worship at Jerusalem. Although he had plenty of cares to
distract him, yet he never had this out of his heart. "I will not come
within the tabernacle of mine house; nor climb up into my bed; I will
not suffer mine eyes to sleep, nor mine eyelids to slumber; neither the
temples of my head to take any rest; until I find out a place for the
temple of the Lord; an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob."
One of the first things he did after he was anointed King over Israel,
was to go to Kirjath-jearim, and bring up thence the ark of God from
the house of Abinadab in which it had lodged. And David went before
the ark playing his harp, and his heart was so full of joy that he
danced before the ark, singing and striking the strings of his harp.
Then Michal his wife, Saul's daughter, looked out of a window, and
sneered at him, "and despised him in her heart." She was one of your
cold-blooded people, with no enthusiasm in her, with no zeal for God,
no heart for God's glory. Better David dancing for joy of heart, than
captious Michal with a contemptuous curl of her lips.
David collected great treasures to build the temple, and directly he
was at peace, his heart began to yearn to be about the work, and build
to the glory of God. "See now," he said, "I dwell in an house of
cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains." But the word of
God came to him by Nathan the prophet, forbidding him to build, because
he was a man of blood, the temple was to be erected by his son Solomon.
Nevertheless, David collected for the temple, and above all, composed
his beautiful psalms to be sung in it. The gold and the cedar that
Solomon set up are gone, but the Psalms remain, and have passed over to
be the heritage of the Church.
SUBJECT.--How striking is the zeal of David, and how little zeal have
we for God's glory, and for the adornment of His house! Let us
consider to-day this zeal for God's house, and for those things that
appertain to the worship of God, and tend to His glory.
I. Of all the pathetic stories in the Bible, there is one which has
struck me for its singular pathos, yet it is one which I dare say has
escaped your notice. You have heard of the zeal of David, how his
enthusiasm carried him away, out of himself, so that he forgot his
royal dignity, and danced before the ark. You have heard of his bitter
disappointment, how when through many years he had longed and planned
to build the temple of God, his desire was not allowed to be carried
into effect, but the honour was reserved for his son. The zeal of
God's house had eaten him up. This was very touching, I think, but I
remember a still more touching story of zeal for God's house, and God's
honour, and that, not in a great man, but in a humble woman.
Eli, the priest and judge of Israel, had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas,
and they were priests in Shiloh. They were utterly bad, profligate
men, utterly regardless of the honour of God, and they disgraced their
sacred calling by their shameless lives. They snatched from the
sacrifices the best portion of the meat, and kept it for themselves,
and they dishonoured the tabernacle by their shameless immoralities
committed with those women who came to Shiloh to worship.
In a great battle fought between the Israelites and the Philistines,
the ark of God was taken, and Hophni and Phinehas were both slain.
Then the news was brought to Eli the priest, and the old man, when he
heard it, fell back off his chair in a fit, and broke his neck and
died. The news also reached the wife of Phinehas. We do not know her
name. We only hear of her this once, but by the one little incident
recorded of her, we know what she was.
"The daughter-in-law of Eli, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be
delivered, and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was
taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed
herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. And about the time
of her death, the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not, for
thou hast borne a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard
it. . . And she said, The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark
of God is taken." Good, God-fearing, loving heart! Not a thought
about herself. She is in great suffering; not a cry from her other
than this, "The ark of God is taken!" They tell her that her
father-in-law, old Eli, has fallen and broken his neck, "But she
answered not, neither did she regard it"--only she said, "The ark of
God is taken." They tell her that her husband has been killed in the
battle. "But she answered not, neither did she regard it"--only she
cried, "The ark of God is taken." They brought to her her new-born
child, a son. What dearer to a mother than the little infant to whom
she has given life? But no, even that does not move her mind from the
one absorbing idea, "She answered not, neither did she regard the
babe," only she cried, "The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark
of God is taken." Then the women who stood by said to her, "What shall
the name of the child be, thy husband who should have named it is dead,
thy father-in-law is dead, thou must name it." "But she answered not,
neither did she regard it,"--only she cried, "The glory is departed
from Israel." Then the women that stood by said, "So shall the name
be," and they called the child Ichabod, which means, "Inglorious." A
few minutes later, and she was dying, and the last murmur on her lips,
and the last thought of her heart were, "The ark of God is taken."
I say this is a singularly touching story, for it shows us a woman
whose whole soul was imbued with zeal for the glory of God, and that
woman was the wife of a man whose whole priestly career was one of
dishonour to God.
II. Now I have given you two striking instances of zeal for God's
honour, one in a man, and one in a woman. Have you any such zeal in
you? Are your thoughts at all taken up with God's church, God's altar,
God's worship? Are you eager that all should be beautiful and seemly
in the temple of God? Does it pain you above every other pain when you
know of something which is to the dishonour of God and of His Church?
Have you any zeal at all like that of David? Have you any
self-forgetfulness in what concerns His honour, like that of the
nameless wife of Phinehas? I think if there were a little of this
zeal, so many of our churches would not be untidy, neglected, ruinous.
There would not be moth-eaten altar-cloths, and worm-eaten altars.
There would not be green mouldering walls, and broken pavements. There
would not be a service slovenly, unmusical, irreverent, or if not
irreverent, at least unworthy of the glory of God.
In heaven flame the golden candles, and the censers fume with
frankincense. In heaven the seven lamps ever burn, and the altar
shines like the sun. In heaven the angels and the saints cease not day
nor night in singing praises, and bowing in worship--and we! how do we
show that we love God's worship? The zeal of God's house does not eat
us up, we do not even know what it is.
LXVI.
_THE MEETING HEREAFTER._
Funeral Service.
Joshua iii. 17.
"And the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood
firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites
passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over
Jordan."
INTRODUCTION.--That must have been a striking sight! The whole of
God's people passing over Jordan. On one side, on that of the
Wilderness, a crowd pressing down, and going into the deep river bed,
on the other, those who had traversed, rising out of it, and spreading
out on the high bank, looking down and watching those who descend into
the bed, and cross through it to rejoin them. They stand in a blaze of
light. The sun is setting, and the whole sky behind them is flaming
with golden clouds, the light strikes in the eyes of those on the
further bank, and they look down into the dark channel and shrink, it
is immersed in shadow, but then again, they look up, and see the glory,
and the forms of their fathers, and brothers, and mothers, and sisters,
and children standing there, steeped in light, and they pluck up
courage and go down.
They have no cause to fear.
In the midst of Jordan stands the Ark of the Covenant, and it will not
move from that place till the last has passed over.
SUBJECT.--That story may serve for our comfort. We, like the
Israelites, are on our journey, and we have to pass through the dark
bed of the stream of Death, before we can enter into the promised land.
And we have two subjects of consolation.
(_a_) We have the Ark of the Covenant standing in Jordan to secure the
path.
(_b_) We have our dear ones watching and waiting for us on the farther
shore.
I. We have the Ark of the Covenant standing in Jordan to secure the
path. "Lo, I am with you always," said Christ, "even unto the end of
the world." That Ark signifies His abiding presence in His Church,
which stands between the living and the dead, a Church on this side,
militant, on the other, triumphant, a Church on this side made up of
good and bad, of tares and wheat, of sheep and goats, on that side, a
Communion of Saints.
The Ark and the priests stood in Jordan, so does God's Church and
priesthood ever remain, so long as the world lasts, and that world will
last till the number of the elect has been made up, till the last of
the people of the Lord is passed over Jordan.
The Ministry will remain to teach the way of the Lord, and point the
path through the river bed, and to cheer those who are downhearted, to
lift up the finger and bid them look to the further shore, and to the
glory there, and to those who stand on it watching.
The Sacrifice will remain, the atoning Blood for the remission of
guilt, the altar will remain as well as the pulpit, the priest as well
as the teacher, sacrifice as well as instruction. Ever throughout the
year, the atoning Blood will be pleaded with the Father for the pardon
of the sins of the people. The Bread of Heaven, the manna will remain,
to be man's spiritual food and sustenance, and strengthen the heart for
the passage of Jordan.
The presence of Christ will remain, "I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee." "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee, and through the waves, they shall not overflow thee." Therefore,
well says David, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
Death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."
II. Metabus, King of the Volsci, was pursued by his enemies. He
carried in his arms a little babe, his niece Camilla. In his flight he
came to the brink of a river, deep, troubled, and strong in current,
and it arrested his flight. He would not have been afraid of the
stream himself, had it not been for the little child. He hesitated.
What should he do? He dare not enter with the babe, as he must use
both arms to battle through so strong a stream. The enemy were behind.
He heard their shouts! From a distant hill-top they had spied him. He
could not find it in his heart to desert the little one whom he loved
so dearly.
Then, what do you suppose Metabus resorted to? There were a great many
reeds by the river side, with his dagger he reaped them down, and he
wrapped the babe up in rushes and reeds thickly round it, and tied them
together with his girdle, and then he raised the little bundle in both
his hands, and flung it with all his might across the river. After
that he sprang into the water and swam across to the other side. He
picked up the dear little bundle, took the child out, found it quite
unharmed, and escaped with it lying next his heart.
My Brethren! Is not this something like us?--we may have our little
ones, and be called on to part with them. There lies the river, the
dark rolling river of death. We must cross sometime ourselves. Safety
is yonder. Danger, destruction, here. In God's name, trusting in Him
when He wills it, we part with those so dear to us. We wrap them up in
their white wraps, and close them from sight in their coffin, and cast
them away. They are gone--over the river, and then we are ready in our
turn to plunge in and follow.
Now it is a great encouragement to us to follow when we know that those
we love are passed and are in safety. You parents who have parted with
your darlings, you have wrapped them up and cast them away. Whither?
They have only flown across the river, and when you leap in and swim
through, you will find them there--your Camillas, safe and smiling on
you, on the other side.
CONCLUSION.--Ah! my brethren, what a happy meeting that will be!
Father, mother, brothers, sisters, children, whole families gathered
together. What embraces! What tears of joy! What stories to tell of
past troubles! What gratitude to God for his mercies shown! What
thankfulness for His Ark that rested in the midst of Jordan, that
supplied direction, sustenance, propitiation, comfort, and nourishment
for the journey.
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VILLAGE PULPIT, VOLUME II.
TRINITY TO ADVENT***
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