{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24256/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24256","id":"gutenberg_24256","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24256","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christianity","Church of England -- Sermons","Sermons, English -- 19th century"],"text":"E-text prepared by Al Haines\n\n\n\nPAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS\n\nby\n\nJOHN HENRY NEWMAN, B.D.\n\nFormerly Vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford\n\nIn Eight Volumes\n\nVOL. VII.\n\nNew Edition\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon\nLongmans, Green, and Co.\nand New York: 15 East 16th Street\n1891\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nSERMON I.\n\nThe Lapse of Time.\n\n\"_Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is\nno work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither\nthou goest._\"--Eccles. ix. 10\n\n\nSERMON II.\n\nReligion a Weariness to the Natural Man.\n\n\"_He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no\nbeauty that we should desire Him._\"--Isaiah liii. 2\n\n\nSERMON III.\n\nThe World our Enemy.\n\n\"_We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in\nwickedness._\"--1 John v. 19\n\n\nSERMON IV.\n\nThe Praise of Men\n\n\"_They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God._\"--John xii.\n43\n\n\nSERMON V.\n\nTemporal Advantages.\n\n\"_We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry\nnothing out.  And having food and raiment let us be therewith\ncontent._\"--1 Tim. vi. 7, 8\n\n\nSERMON VI.\n\nThe Season of Epiphany.\n\n\"_This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested\nforth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him._\"--John ii. 11\n\n\nSERMON VII.\n\nThe Duty of Self-Denial.\n\n\"_Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of\nhis mother: my soul is even as a weaned child._\"--Psalm cxxxi. 2\n\n\nSERMON VIII.\n\nThe Yoke of Christ.\n\n\"_Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in\nheart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for My yoke is easy, and\nMy burden is light._\"--Matt. xi. 29, 30\n\n\nSERMON IX.\n\nMoses the Type of Christ.\n\n\"_The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of\nthee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken._\"--Deut.\nxviii. 15\n\n\nSERMON X.\n\nThe Crucifixion.\n\n\"_He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He\nis brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers\nis dumb, so He openeth not His mouth._\"--Isaiah liii. 7\n\n\nSERMON XI.\n\nAttendance on Holy Communion.\n\n\"_Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life._\"--John v. 40\n\n\nSERMON XII.\n\nThe Gospel Feast.\n\n\"_When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto\nHim, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may\neat?_\"--John vi. 5\n\n\nSERMON XIII.\n\nLove of Religion, a New Nature.\n\n\"_If we lie dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with\nHim._\"--Romans vi. 8\n\n\nSERMON XIV.\n\nReligion Pleasant to the Religious.\n\n\"_O taste and see how gracious the Lord is: blessed is the man that\ntrusteth in Him._\"--Psalm xxxiv. 8\n\n\nSERMON XV\n\nMental Prayer.\n\n\"_Pray without ceasing._\"--1 Thess. v. 17\n\n\nSERMON XVI.\n\nInfant Baptism.\n\n\"_Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into\nthe Kingdom of God._\"--John iii. 5\n\n\nSERMON XVII.\n\nThe Unity of the Church.\n\n\"_And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I\nwill build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against\nit._\"--Matt. xvi. 18\n\n\nSERMON XVIII.\n\nStedfastness in the Old Paths.\n\n\"_Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old\npaths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest\nfor your souls._\"--Jer. vi. 16\n\n\n\n\nSERMON I.\n\nThe Lapse of Time.\n\n\"_Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is\nno work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither\nthou goest._\"--Eccles. ix. 10.\n\n\nSolomon's advice that we should do whatever our hand findeth to do with\nour might, naturally directs our thoughts to that great work in which\nall others are included, which will outlive all other works, and for\nwhich alone we really are placed here below--the salvation of our\nsouls.  And the consideration of this great work, which must be done\nwith all our might, and completed before the grave, whither we go,\npresents itself to our minds with especial force at the commencement of\na new year.  We are now entering on a fresh stage of our life's\njourney; we know well how it will end, and we see where we shall stop\nin the evening, though we do not see the road.  And we know in what our\nbusiness lies while we travel, and that it is important for us to do it\nwith our \"might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor\nwisdom, in the grave.\"  This is so plain, that nothing need be said in\norder to convince us that it is true.  We know it well; the very\ncomplaint which numbers commonly make when told of it, is that they\nknow it already, that it is nothing new, that they have no need to be\ntold, and that it is tiresome to hear the same thing said over and over\nagain, and impertinent in the person who repeats it.  Yes; thus it is\nthat sinners silence their conscience, by quarrelling with those who\nappeal to it; they defend themselves, if it may be called a defence, by\npleading that they already know what they should do and do not, that\nthey know perfectly well that they are living at a distance from God,\nand are in peril of eternal ruin; that they know they are making\nthemselves children of Satan, and denying the Lord that bought them,\nand want no one to tell them so.  Thus they witness against themselves.\n\nHowever, though we already know well enough that we have much to do\nbefore we die, yet (if we will but attend) it may be of use to hear the\nfact dwelt upon; because by thinking over it steadily and seriously, we\nmay possibly, through God's grace, gain some deep conviction of it;\nwhereas while we keep to general terms, and confess that this life is\nimportant and is short, in the mere summary way in which men commonly\nconfess it, we have, properly speaking, no knowledge of that great\ntruth at all.\n\nConsider, then, what it is to die; \"there is no work, device,\nknowledge, or wisdom, in the grave.\"  Death puts an end absolutely and\nirrevocably to all our plans and works, and it is inevitable.  The\nPsalmist speaks to \"high and low, rich and poor, one with another.\"\n\"No man can deliver his brother, nor make agreement unto God for him.\"\nEven \"wise men die, as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave\ntheir riches for other[1].\"  Difficult as we may find it to bring it\nhome to ourselves, to realize it, yet as surely as we are here\nassembled together, so surely will every one of us, sooner or later,\none by one, be stretched on the bed of death.  We naturally shrink from\nthe thought of death, and of its attendant circumstances; but all that\nis hateful and fearful about it will be fulfilled in our case, one by\none.  But all this is nothing compared with the consequences implied in\nit.  Death stops us; it stops our race.  Men are engaged about their\nwork, or about their pleasure; they are in the city, or the field; any\nhow they are stopped; their deeds are suddenly gathered in--a reckoning\nis made--all is sealed up till the great day.  What a change is this!\nIn the words used familiarly in speaking of the dead, they are no more.\nThey were full of schemes and projects; whether in a greater or humbler\nrank, they had their hopes and fears, their prospects, their pursuits,\ntheir rivalries; all these are now come to an end.  One builds a house,\nand its roof is not finished; another buys merchandise, and it is not\nyet sold.  And all their virtues and pleasing qualities which endeared\nthem to their friends are, as far as this world is concerned, vanished.\nWhere are they who were so active, so sanguine, so generous? the\namiable, the modest, and the kind?  We were told that they were dead;\nthey suddenly disappeared; that is all we know about it.  They were\nsilently taken from us; they are not met in the seat of the elders, nor\nin the assemblies of the people, in the mixed concourse of men, nor in\nthe domestic retirement which they prized.  As Scripture describes it,\n\"the wind has passed over them, and they are gone, and their place\nshall know them no more.\"  And they have burst the many ties which held\nthem; they were parents, brothers, sisters, children, and friends; but\nthe bond of kindred is broken, and the silver cord of love is loosed.\nThey have been followed by the vehement grief of tears, and the long\nsorrow of aching hearts; but they make no return, they answer not; they\ndo not even satisfy our wish to know that they sorrow for us as we for\nthem.  We talk about them thenceforth as if they were persons we do not\nknow; we talk about them as third persons; whereas they used to be\nalways with us, and every other thought which was within us was shared\nby them.  Or perhaps, if our grief is too deep, we do not mention their\nnames at all.  And their possessions, too, all fall to others.  The\nworld goes on without them; it forgets them.  Yes, so it is; the world\ncontrives to forget that men have souls, it looks upon them all as mere\nparts of some great visible system.  This continues to move on; to this\nthe world ascribes a sort of life and personality.  When one or other\nof its members die, it considers them only as falling out of the\nsystem, and as come to nought.  For a minute, perhaps, it thinks of\nthem in sorrow, then leaves them--leaves them for ever.  It keeps its\neye on things seen and temporal.  Truly whenever a man dies, rich or\npoor, an immortal soul passes to judgment; but somehow we read of the\ndeaths of persons we have seen or heard of, and this reflection never\ncomes across us.  Thus does the world really cast off men's souls, and\nrecognizing only their bodies, it makes it appear as if \"that which\nbefalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth\nthem, as the one dieth so dieth the other; yea, they have all one\nbreath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence over a beast, for all is\nvanity[2].\"\n\nBut let us follow the course of a soul thus casting off the world, and\ncast off by it.  It goes forth as a stranger on a journey.  Man seems\nto die and to be no more, when he is but quitting us, and is really\nbeginning to live.  Then he sees sights which before it did not even\nenter into his mind to conceive, and the world is even less to him than\nhe to the world.  Just now he was lying on the bed of sickness, but in\nthat moment of death what an awful change has come over him!  What a\ncrisis for him!  There is stillness in the room that lately held him;\nnothing is doing there, for he is gone, he now belongs to others; he\nnow belongs entirely to the Lord who bought him; to Him he returns; but\nwhether to be lodged safely in His place of hope, or to be imprisoned\nagainst the great Day, that is another matter, that depends on the\ndeeds done in the body, whether good or evil.  And now what are his\nthoughts?  How infinitely important now appears the value of time, now\nwhen it is nothing to him!  Nothing; for though he spend centuries\nwaiting for Christ, he cannot now alter his state from bad to good, or\nfrom good to bad.  What he dieth that he must be for ever; as the tree\nfalleth so must it lie.  This is the comfort of the true servant of\nGod, and the misery of the transgressor.  His lot is cast once and for\nall, and he can but wait in hope or in dread.  Men on their death-beds\nhave declared, that no one could form a right idea of the value of time\ntill he came to die; but if this has truth in it, how much more truly\ncan it be said after death!  What an estimate shall we form of time\nwhile we are waiting for judgment!  Yes, it is we--all this, I repeat,\nbelongs to us most intimately.  It is not to be looked at as a picture,\nas a man might read a light book in a leisure hour.  _We_ must die, the\nyoungest, the healthiest, the most thoughtless; _we_ must be thus\nunnaturally torn in two, soul from body; and only united again to be\nmade more thoroughly happy or to be miserable for ever.\n\nSuch is death considered in its inevitable necessity, and its\nunspeakable importance--nor can we ensure to ourselves any certain\ninterval before its coming.  The time may be long; but it may also be\nshort.  It is plain, a man may die any day; all we can say is, that it\nis unlikely that he will die.  But of this, at least, we are certain,\nthat, come it sooner or later, death is continually on the move towards\nus.  We are ever nearer and nearer to it.  Every morning we rise we are\nnearer that grave in which there is no work, nor device, than we were.\nWe are now nearer the grave, than when we entered this Church.  Thus\nlife is ever crumbling away under us.  What should we say to a man, who\nwas placed on some precipitous ground, which was ever crumbling under\nhis feet, and affording less and less secure footing, yet was careless\nabout it?  Or what should we say to one who suffered some precious\nliquor to run from its receptacle into the thoroughfare of men, without\na thought to stop it? who carelessly looked on and saw the waste of it,\nbecoming greater and greater every minute?  But what treasure can equal\ntime?  It is the seed of eternity: yet we suffer ourselves to go on,\nyear after year, hardly using it at all in God's service, or thinking\nit enough to give Him at most a tithe or a seventh of it, while we\nstrenuously and heartily sow to the flesh, that from the flesh we may\nreap corruption.  We try how little we can safely give to religion,\ninstead of having the grace to give abundantly.  \"Rivers of water run\ndown mine eyes, because men keep not Thy law,\" so says the holy\nPsalmist.  Doubtless an inspired prophet saw far more clearly than we\ncan see, the madness of men in squandering that treasure upon sin,\nwhich is meant to buy their chief good;--but if so, what must this\nmadness appear in God's sight!  What an inveterate malignant evil is it\nin the hearts of the sons of men, that thus leads them to sit down to\neat, and drink, and rise up to play, when time is hurrying on and\njudgment coming?  We have been told what He thinks of man's unbelief,\nthough we cannot enter into the depths of His thoughts.  He showed it\nto us in act and deed, as far as we could receive it, when He even sent\nHis Only-begotten Son into the world as at this time, to redeem us from\nthe world,--which, most surely, was not lightly done; and we also learn\nHis thoughts about it from the words of that most merciful Son,--which\nmost surely were not lightly spoken, \"The wicked,\" He says, \"shall go\ninto everlasting punishment.\"\n\nOh that there were such a heart in us that we would fear God and keep\nHis commandments always!  But it is of no use to speak; men know their\nduty--they will not do it.  They say they do not need or wish to be\ntold it, that it is an intrusion, and a rudeness, to tell them of death\nand judgment.  So must it be,--and we, who have to speak to them, must\nsubmit to this.  Speak we must, as an act of duty to God, whether they\nwill hear, or not, and then must leave our words as a witness.  Other\nmeans for rousing them we have none.  We speak from Christ our gracious\nLord, their Redeemer, who has already pardoned them freely, yet they\nwill not follow Him with a true heart; and what can be done more?\n\nAnother year is now opening upon us; it speaks to the thoughtful, and\nis heard by those, who have expectant ears, and watch for Christ's\ncoming.  The former year is gone, it is dead, there it lies in the\ngrave of past time, not to decay however, and be forgotten, but kept in\nthe view of God's omniscience, with all its sins and errors irrevocably\nwritten, till, at length, it will be raised again to testify about us\nat the last day; and who among us can bear the thought of his own\ndoings, in the course of it?--all that he has said and done, all that\nhas been conceived within his mind, or been acted on, and all that he\nhas not said and done, which it was a duty to say or do.  What a dreary\nprospect seems to be before us, when we reflect that we have the solemn\nword of truth pledged to us, in the last and most awful revelation,\nwhich God has made to us about the future, that in that day, the books\nwill be opened, \"and another book opened, which is the book of life,\nand the dead judged out of those things which were written in the books\naccording to their works[3]!\"  What would a man give, any one of us,\nwho has any real insight into his polluted and miserable state, what\nwould he give to tear away some of the leaves there preserved!  For how\nheinous are the sins therein written!  Think of the multitude of sins\ndone by us since we first knew the difference between right and wrong.\nWe have forgotten them, but there we might read them clearly recorded.\nWell may holy David exclaim, \"Remember not the sins of my youth nor my\ntransgressions, according to Thy mercy remember Thou me.\"  Conceive,\ntoo, the multitude of sins which have so grown into us as to become\npart of us, and in which we now live, not knowing, or but partially\nknowing, that they are sins, habits of pride, self-reliance,\nself-conceit, sullenness, impurity, sloth, selfishness, worldliness.\nThe history of all these, their beginnings, and their growth, is\nrecorded in those dreadful books; and when we look forward to the\nfuture, how many sins shall we have committed by this time next\nyear,--though we try ever so much to know our duty, and overcome\nourselves!  Nay, or rather shall we have the opportunity of obeying or\ndisobeying God for a year longer?  Who knows whether by that time our\naccount may not be closed for ever?\n\n\"Remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom[4].\"  Such was\nthe prayer of the penitent thief on the cross, such must be our prayer.\nWho can do us any good, but He, who shall also be our Judge?  When\nshocking thoughts about ourselves come across us and afflict us,\n\"Remember me,\" this is all we have to say.  We have \"no work, nor\ndevice, nor knowledge, nor wisdom\" of our own, to better ourselves\nwithal.  We can say nothing to God in defence of ourselves,--we can but\nacknowledge that we are grievous sinners, and addressing Him as\nsuppliants, merely beg Him to bear us in mind in mercy, for His Son's\nsake to do us some favour, not according to our deserts, but for the\nlove of Christ.  The more we try to serve Him here, the better; but\nafter all, so far do we fall short of what we should be, that if we had\nbut what we are in ourselves to rely upon, wretched are we,--and we are\nforced out of ourselves by the very necessity of our condition.  To\nwhom should we go?  Who can do us any good, but He who was born into\nthis world for our regeneration, was bruised for our iniquities, and\nrose again for our justification?  Even though we have served Him from\nour youth up, though after His pattern we have grown, as far as mere\nman can grow, in wisdom as we grew in stature, though we ever have had\ntender hearts, and a mortified will, and a conscientious temper, and an\nobedient spirit; yet, at the very best, how much have we left undone,\nhow much done, which ought to be otherwise!  What He can do for our\nnature, in the way of sanctifying it, we know indeed in a measure; we\nknow, in the case of His saints; and we certainly do not know the limit\nof His carrying forward in those objects of His special favour the work\nof purification, and renewal through His Spirit.  But for ourselves, we\nknow full well that much as we may have attempted, we have done very\nlittle, that our very best service is nothing worth,--and the more we\nattempt, the more clearly we shall see how little we have hitherto\nattempted.\n\nThose whom Christ saves are they who at once attempt to save\nthemselves, yet despair of saving themselves; who aim to do all, and\nconfess they do nought; who are all love, and all fear, who are the\nmost holy, and yet confess themselves the most sinful; who ever seek to\nplease Him, yet feel they never can; who are full of good works, yet of\nworks of penance.  All this seems a contradiction to the natural man,\nbut it is not so to those whom Christ enlightens.  They understand in\nproportion to their illumination, that it is possible to work out their\nsalvation, yet to have it wrought out for them, to fear and tremble at\nthe thought of judgment, yet to rejoice always in the Lord, and hope\nand pray for His coming.\n\n\n\n[1] Ps. xlix. 2-10.\n\n[2] Eccles. iii. 19.\n\n[3] Rev. xx. 12.\n\n[4] Luke xxiii. 42.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON II.\n\nReligion a Weariness to the Natural Man.\n\n\"_He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is\nno beauty that we should desire Him._\"--Isaiah liii. 2.\n\n\n\"Religion is a weariness;\" such is the judgment commonly passed, often\navowed, concerning the greatest of blessings which Almighty God has\nbestowed upon us.  And when God gave the blessing, He at the same time\nforetold that such would be the judgment of the world upon it, even as\nmanifested in the gracious Person of Him whom He sent to give it to us.\n\"He hath no form nor comeliness,\" says the Prophet, speaking of our\nLord and Saviour, \"and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that\nwe should desire Him.\"  He declared beforehand, that to man His\nreligion would be uninteresting and distasteful.  Not that this\nprediction excuses our deadness to it; this dislike of the religion\ngiven us by God Himself, seen as it is on all sides of us,--of religion\nin all its parts, whether its doctrines, its precepts, its polity, its\nworship, its social influence,--this distaste for its very name, must\nobviously be an insult to the Giver.  But the text speaks of it as a\nfact, without commenting on the guilt involved in it; and as such I\nwish you to consider it, as far as this may be done in reverence and\nseriousness.  Putting aside for an instant the thought of the\ningratitude and the sin which indifference to Christianity implies, let\nus, as far as we dare, view it merely as a matter of fact, after the\nmanner of the text, and form a judgment on the probable consequences of\nit.  Let us take the state of the case as it is found, and survey it\ndispassionately, as even an unbeliever might survey it, without at the\nmoment considering whether it is sinful or not; as a misfortune, if we\nwill, or a strange accident, or a necessary condition of our\nnature,--one of the phenomena, as it may be called, of the present\nworld.\n\nLet me then review human life in some of its stages and conditions, in\norder to impress upon you the fact of this contrariety between\nourselves and our Maker: He having one will, we another; He declaring\none thing to be good for us, and we fancying other objects to be our\ngood.\n\n1. \"Religion is a weariness,\" alas! so feel even children before they\ncan well express their meaning.  Exceptions of course now and then\noccur; and of course children are always more open to religious\nimpressions and visitations than grown persons.  They have many good\nthoughts and good desires, of which, in after life, the multitude of\nmen seem incapable.  Yet who, after all, can have a doubt that, in\nspite of the more intimate presence of God's grace with those who have\nnot yet learned to resist it, still, on the whole, religion is a\nweariness to children?  Consider their amusements, their\nenjoyments,--what they hope, what they devise, what they scheme, and\nwhat they dream about themselves in time future, when they grow up; and\nsay what place religion holds in their hearts.  Watch the reluctance\nwith which they turn to religious duties, to saying their prayers, or\nreading the Bible; and then judge.  Observe, as they get older, the\ninfluence which the fear of the ridicule of their companions has in\ndeterring them even from speaking of religion, or seeming to be\nreligious.  Now the dread of ridicule, indeed, is natural enough; but\nwhy should religion inspire ridicule?  What is there absurd in thinking\nof God?  Why should we be ashamed of worshipping Him?  It is\nunaccountable, but it is natural.  We may call it an accident, or what\nwe will; still it is an undeniable fact, and that is what I insist\nupon.  I am not forgetful of the peculiar character of children's\nminds: sensible objects first meet their observation; it is not\nwonderful that they should at first be inclined to limit their thoughts\nto things of sense.  A distinct profession of faith, and a conscious\nmaintenance of principle, may imply a strength and consistency of\nthought to which they are as yet unequal.  Again, childhood is\ncapricious, ardent, light-hearted; it cannot think deeply or long on\nany subject.  Yet all this is not enough to account for the fact in\nquestion--why they should feel this distaste for the very subject of\nreligion.  Why should they be ashamed of paying reverence to an unseen,\nall-powerful God, whose existence they do not disbelieve?  Yet they do\nfeel ashamed of it.  Is it that they are ashamed of themselves, not of\ntheir religion; feeling the inconsistency of professing what they\ncannot fully practise?  This refinement does not materially alter the\nview of the case; for it is merely their own acknowledgment that they\ndo not love religion as much as they ought.  No; we seem compelled to\nthe conclusion, that there is by nature some strange discordance\nbetween what we love and what God loves.  So much, then, on the state\nof boyhood.\n\n2. \"Religion is a weariness.\"  I will next take the case of young\npersons when they first enter into life.  Here I may appeal to some\nperhaps who now hear me.  Alas! my brethren, is it not so?  Is not\nreligion associated in your minds with gloom, melancholy, and\nweariness?  I am not at present going so far as to reprove you for it,\nthough I might well do so, if I did, perhaps you might at once turn\naway, and I wish you calmly to think the matter over, and bear me\nwitness that I state the fact correctly.  It is so; you cannot deny it.\nThe very terms \"religion,\" \"devotion,\" \"piety,\" \"conscientiousness,\"\n\"mortification,\" and the like, you find to be inexpressibly dull and\ncheerless: you cannot find fault with them, indeed, you would if you\ncould; and whenever the words are explained in particulars and\nrealized, then you do find occasion for exception and objection.  But\nthough you cannot deny the claims of religion used as a vague and\ngeneral term, yet how irksome, cold, uninteresting, uninviting, does it\nat best appear to you! how severe its voice! how forbidding its aspect!\nWith what animation, on the contrary, do you enter into the mere\npursuits of time and the world!  What bright anticipations of joy and\nhappiness flit before your eyes!  How you are struck and dazzled at the\nview of the prizes of this life, as they are called!  How you admire\nthe elegancies of art, the brilliance of wealth, or the force of\nintellect!  According to your opportunities you mix in the world, you\nmeet and converse with persons of various conditions and pursuits, and\nare engaged in the numberless occurrences of daily life.  You are full\nof news; yon know what this or that person is doing, and what has\nbefallen him; what has not happened, which was near happening, what may\nhappen.  You are full of ideas and feelings upon all that goes on\naround you.  But, from some cause or other, religion has no part, no\nsensible influence, in your judgment of men and things.  It is out of\nyour way.  Perhaps you have your pleasure parties; you readily take\nyour share in them time after time; you pass continuous hours in\nsociety where you know that it is quite impossible even to mention the\nname of religion.  Your heart is in scenes and places when conversation\non serious subjects is strictly forbidden by the rules of the world's\npropriety.  I do not say we should discourse on religious subjects,\nwherever we go; I do not say we should make an effort to discourse on\nthem at any time, nor that we are to refrain from social meetings in\nwhich religion does not lie on the surface of the conversation: but I\ndo say, that when men find their pleasure and satisfaction to lie in\nsociety which proscribes religion, and when they deliberately and\nhabitually prefer those amusements which have necessarily nothing to do\nwith religion, such persons cannot view religion as God views it.  And\nthis is the point: that the feelings of our hearts on the subject of\nreligion are different from the declared judgment of God; that we have\na natural distaste for that which He has said is our chief good.\n\n3. Now let us pass to the more active occupations of life.  Here, too,\nreligion is confessedly felt to be wearisome, it is out of place.  The\ntransactions of worldly business, speculations in trade, ambitious\nhopes, the pursuit of knowledge, the public occurrences of the day,\nthese find a way directly to the heart, they rouse, they influence.  It\nis superfluous to go about to prove this innate power over us of things\nof time and sense, to make us think and act.  The name of religion, on\nthe other hand, is weak and impotent; it contains no spell to kindle\nthe feelings of man, to make the heart beat with anxiety, and to\nproduce activity and perseverance.  The reason is not merely that men\nare in want of leisure, and are sustained in a distressing continuance\nof exertion, by their duties towards those dependent on them.  They\nhave their seasons of relaxation, they turn for a time from their\nordinary pursuits; still religion does not attract them, they find\nnothing of comfort or satisfaction in it.  For a time they allow\nthemselves to be idle.  They want an object to employ their minds upon;\nthey pace to and fro in very want of an object; yet their duties to\nGod, their future hopes in another state of being, the revelation of\nGod's mercy and will, as contained in Scripture, the news of\nredemption, the gift of regeneration, the sanctities, the devotional\nheights, the nobleness and perfection which Christ works in His elect,\ndo not suggest themselves as fit subjects to dispel their weariness.\nWhy?  Because religion makes them melancholy, say they, and they wish\nto relax.  Religion is a labour, it is a weariness, a greater weariness\nthan the doing nothing at all.  \"Wherefore,\" says Solomon, \"is there a\nprice in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to\nit[1]?\"\n\n4. But this natural contrariety between man and his Maker is still more\nstrikingly shown by the confessions of men of the world who have given\nsome thought to the subject, and have viewed society with somewhat of a\nphilosophical spirit.  Such men treat the demands of religion with\ndisrespect and negligence, on the ground of their being unnatural.\nThey say, \"It is natural for men to love the world for its own sake; to\nbe engrossed in its pursuits, and to set their hearts on the rewards of\nindustry, on the comforts, luxuries, and pleasures of this life.  Man\nwould not be man if he could be made otherwise; he would not be what he\nwas evidently intended for by his Maker.\"  Let us pass by the obvious\n_answer_ that might be given to this objection; it is enough for my\npurpose that it is _commonly urged_, recognizing as it does the fact of\nthe disagreement existing between the claims of God's word, and the\ninclinations and natural capacities of man.  Many, indeed, of those\nunhappy men who have denied the Christian faith, treat the religious\nprinciple altogether as a mere unnatural, eccentric state of mind, a\npeculiar untoward condition of the affections to which weakness will\nreduce a man, whether it has been brought on by anxiety, oppressive\nsorrow, bodily disease, excess of imagination or the like, and\ntemporary or permanent, according to the circumstances of the disposing\ncause; a state to which we all are liable, as we are liable to any\nother mental injury, but unmanly and unworthy of our dignity as\nrational beings.  Here again it is enough for our purpose, that it is\nallowed by these persons that the love of religion is unnatural and\ninconsistent with the original condition of our minds.\n\nThe same remark may be made upon the notions which secretly prevail in\ncertain quarters at the present day, concerning the unsuitableness of\nChristianity to an enlightened age.  Men there are who look upon the\ninspired word of God with a sort of indulgence, as if it had its use,\nand had done service in its day; that in times of ignorance it awed and\ncontrolled fierce barbarians, whom nothing else could have subdued; but\nthat from its very claim to be divine and infallible, and its\nconsequent unalterableness, it is an obstacle to the improvement of the\nhuman race beyond a certain point, and must ultimately fall before the\ngradual advancement of mankind in knowledge and virtue.  In other\nwords, the literature of the day is weary of Revealed Religion.\n\n5. Once more; that religion is in itself a weariness is seen even in\nthe conduct of the better sort of persons, who really on the whole are\nunder the influence of its spirit.  So dull and uninviting is calm and\npractical religion, that religious persons are ever exposed to the\ntemptation of looking out for excitements of one sort or other, to make\nit pleasurable to them.  The spirit of the Gospel is a meek, humble,\ngentle, unobtrusive spirit.  It doth not cry nor lift up its voice in\nthe streets, unless called upon by duty so to do, and then it does it\nwith pain.  Display, pretension, conflict, are unpleasant to it.  What\nthen is to be thought of persons who are ever on the search after\nnovelties to make religion interesting to them; who seem to find that\nChristian activity cannot be kept up without unchristian party-spirit,\nor Christian conversation without unchristian censoriousness?  Why,\nthis; that religion is to them as to others, taken by itself, a\nweariness, and requires something foreign to its own nature to make it\npalatable.  Truly it is a weariness to the natural man to serve God\nhumbly and in obscurity; it is very wearisome, and very monotonous, to\ngo on day after day watching all we do and think, detecting our secret\nfailings, denying ourselves, creating within us, under God's grace,\nthose parts of the Christian character in which we are deficient;\nwearisome to learn modesty, love of insignificance, willingness to be\nthought little of, backwardness to clear ourselves when slandered, and\nreadiness to confess when we are wrong; to learn to have no cares for\nthis world, neither to hope nor to fear, but to be resigned and\ncontented!\n\nI may close these remarks, by appealing to the consciences of all who\nhave ever set about the work of religion in good earnest, whoever they\nmay be, whether they have made less, or greater progress in their noble\ntoil, whether they are matured saints, or feeble strugglers against the\nworld and the flesh.  They have ever confessed how great efforts were\nnecessary to keep close to the commandments of God; in spite of their\nknowledge of the truth, and their faith, in spite of the aids and\nconsolations they receive from above, still how often do their corrupt\nhearts betray them!  Even their privileges are often burdensome to\nthem, even to pray for the grace which in Christ is pledged to them is\nan irksome task.  They know that God's service is perfect freedom, and\nthey are convinced, both in their reason and from their own experience\nof it, that it is true happiness; still they confess withal the strange\nreluctance of their nature to love their Maker and His Service.  And\nthis is the point in question; not only the mass of mankind, but even\nthe confirmed servants of Christ, witness to the opposition which\nexists between their own nature and the demands of religion.\n\nThis then is the remarkable fact which I proposed to show.  Can we\ndoubt that man's will runs contrary to God's will--that the view which\nthe inspired word takes of our present life, and of our destiny, does\nnot satisfy us, as it rightly ought to do? that Christ hath no form nor\ncomeliness in our eyes; and though we see Him, we see no desirable\nbeauty in Him?  That holy, merciful, and meek Saviour, the Eternal, the\nOnly-begotten Son of God, our friend and infinite benefactor--He who\nleft the glory of His Father and died for us, who has promised us the\noverflowing riches of His grace both here and hereafter.  He is a light\nshining in a dark place, and \"the darkness comprehendeth it not.\"\n\"Light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light.\"\nThe nature of man is flesh, and that which is born of the flesh is\nflesh, and ever must so remain; it never can discern, love, accept, the\nholy doctrines of the Gospel.  It will occupy itself in various ways,\nit will take interest in things of sense and time, but it can never be\nreligious.  It is at enmity with God.\n\nAnd now we see what must at once follow from what has been said.  If\nour hearts are by nature set on the world for its own sake, and the\nworld is one day to pass away, what are they to be set on, what to\ndelight in, then?  Say, how will the soul feel when, stripped of its\npresent attire, which the world bestows, it stands naked and shuddering\nbefore the pure, tranquil, and severe majesty of the Lord its God, its\nmost merciful, yet dishonoured Maker and Saviour?  What are to be the\npleasures of the soul in another life?  Can they be the same as they\nare here?  They cannot; Scripture tells us they cannot; the world\npasseth away--now what is there left to love and enjoy through a long\neternity?  What a dark, forlorn, miserable eternity that will be!\n\nIt is then plain enough, though Scripture said not a word on the\nsubject, that if we would be happy in the world to come, we must make\nus new hearts, and begin to love the things we naturally do not love.\nViewing it as a practical point, the end of the whole matter is this,\nwe must be changed; for we cannot, we cannot expect the system of the\nuniverse to come over to us; the inhabitants of heaven, the numberless\ncreations of Angels, the glorious company of the Apostles, the goodly\nfellowship of the Prophets, the noble army of Martyrs, the holy Church\nuniversal, the Will and Attributes of God, these are fixed.  We must go\nover to them.  In our Saviour's own authoritative words: \"Verily,\nverily, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of\nGod[2].\"  It is a plain matter of self-interest, to turn our thoughts\nto the means of changing our hearts, putting out of the question our\nduty towards God and Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer.\n\n\"He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we see Him, there is no\nbeauty that we should desire Him.\"  It is not His loss that we love Him\nnot, it is our loss.  He is All-blessed, whatever becomes of us.  He is\nnot less blessed because we are far from Him.  It is we who are not\nblessed, except as we approach Him, except as we are like Him, except\nas we love Him.  Woe unto us, if in the day in which He comes from\nHeaven we see nothing desirable or gracious in His wounds; but instead,\nhave made for ourselves an ideal blessedness, different from that which\nwill be manifested to us in Him.  Woe unto us, if we have made pride,\nor selfishness, or the carnal mind, our standard of perfection and\ntruth; if our eyes have grown dim, and our hearts gross, as regards the\ntrue light of men, and the glory of the Eternal Father.  May He Himself\nsave us from our self-delusions, whatever they are, and enable us to\ngive up this world, that we may gain the next;--and to rejoice in Him,\nwho had no home of His own, no place to lay His head, who was poor and\nlowly, and despised and rejected, and tormented and slain!\n\n\n\n[1] Prov. xvii. 16.\n\n[2] John iii. 3.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON III.\n\nThe World our Enemy.\n\n\"_We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in\nwickedness._\"--1 John v. 19.\n\n\nFew words are of more frequent occurrence in the language of religion\nthan \"the world;\" Holy Scripture makes continual mention of it, in the\nway of censure and caution; in the Service for Baptism it is described\nas one of three great enemies of our souls, and in the ordinary\nwritings and conversation of Christians, I need hardly say, mention is\nmade of it continually.  Yet most of us, it would appear, have very\nindistinct notions what the world means.  We know that the world is a\nsomething dangerous to our spiritual interests, and that it is in some\nway connected with human society--with men as a mixed multitude,\ncontrasted with men one by one, in private and domestic life; but what\nit is, how it is our enemy, how it attacks, and how it is to be\navoided, is not so clear.  Or if we conceive some distinct notion\nconcerning it, still probably it is a wrong notion,--which leads us, in\nconsequence, to misapply the Scripture precepts relating to the world;\nand this is even worse than overlooking them.  I shall now, then,\nattempt to show what is meant by the world, and how, in consequence, we\nare to understand the information and warnings of the sacred writers\nconcerning it.\n\n1. Now, first, by the world is very commonly meant the present visible\nsystem of things, without taking into consideration whether it is good\nor bad.  Thus St. John contrasts the world with the things that are in\nit, which are evil, \"Love not the world, _neither_ the things that are\nin the world[1].\"  Again, he presently says, \"The world passeth away,\n_and_ the lust thereof.\"  Here, as in many other parts of Scripture,\nthe world is not spoken of as actually sinful in itself (though its\nlusts are so, of course), but merely as some present visible system\nwhich is likely to attract us, and is not to be trusted, because it\ncannot last.  Let us first consider it in this point of view.\n\nThere is, as a matter of necessity, a great variety of stations and\nfortunes among mankind; hardly two persons are in the same outward\ncircumstances, and possessed of the same mental resources.  Men differ\nfrom each other, and are bound together into one body or system by the\nvery points in which they differ; they depend on each other; such is\nthe will of God.  This system is the world, to which it is plain belong\nour various modes of supporting ourselves and families by exertion of\nmind and body, our intercourse with others, our duty towards others,\nthe social virtues,--industry, honesty, prudence, justice, benevolence,\nand the like.  These spring all from our present lot in life, and tend\nto our present happiness.  This life holds out prizes to merit and\nexertion.  Men rise above their fellows, they gain fame and honours,\nwealth and power, which we therefore call worldly goods.  The affairs\nof nations, the dealings of people with people, the interchange of\nproductions between country and country, are of this world.  We are\neducated in boyhood for this world; we play our part on a stage more or\nless conspicuous, as the case may be; we die, we are no more, we are\nforgotten, as far as the present state of things is concerned; all this\nis of the world.\n\nBy the world, then, is meant this course of things which we see carried\non by means of human agency, with all its duties and pursuits.  It is\nnot necessarily a sinful system; rather it is framed, as I have said,\nby God Himself, and therefore cannot be otherwise than good.  And yet\neven thus considering it, we are bid not to love the world: even in\nthis sense the world is an enemy of our souls; and for this reason,\nbecause the love of it is dangerous to beings circumstanced as we\nare,--things in themselves good being not good to us sinners.  And this\nstate of things which we see, fair and excellent in itself, is very\nlikely (for the very reason that it is seen, and because the spiritual\nand future world is not seen) to seduce our wayward hearts from our\ntrue and eternal good.  As the traveller on serious business may be\ntempted to linger, while he gazes on the beauty of the prospect which\nopens on his way, so this well-ordered and divinely-governed world,\nwith all its blessings of sense and knowledge, may lead us to neglect\nthose interests which will endure when itself has passed away.  In\ntruth, it promises more than it can fulfil.  The goods of life and the\napplause of men have their excellence, and, as far as they so, are\nreally good; but they are short-lived.  And hence it is that many\npursuits in themselves honest and right, are nevertheless to be engaged\nin with caution, lest they seduce us; and those perhaps with especial\ncaution, which tend to the well-being of men in this life.  The\nsciences, for instance, of good government, of acquiring wealth, of\npreventing and relieving want, and the like, are for this reason\nespecially dangerous; for fixing, as they do, our exertions on this\nworld as an end, they go far to persuade us that they have no other\nend; they accustom us to think too much of success in life and temporal\nprosperity; nay, they may even teach us to be jealous of religion and\nits institutions, as if these stood in our way, preventing us from\ndoing so much for the worldly interests of mankind as we might wish.\n\nIn this sense it is that St. Paul contrasts sight and faith.  We see\nthis world; we only believe that there is a world of spirits, we do not\nsee it: and inasmuch as sight has more power over us than belief, and\nthe present than the future, so are the occupations and pleasures of\nthis life injurious to our faith.  Yet not, I say, in themselves\nsinful; as the Jewish system was a temporal system, yet divine, so is\nthe system of nature--this world--divine, though temporal.  And as the\nJews became carnal-minded even by the influence of their\ndivinely-appointed system, and thereby rejected the Saviour of their\nsouls; in like manner, men of the world are hardened by God's own good\nworld, into a rejection of Christ.  In neither case through the fault\nof the things which are seen, whether miraculous or providential, but\naccidentally, through the fault of the human heart.\n\n2. But now, secondly, let us proceed to consider the world, not only as\ndangerous, but as positively sinful, according to the text--\"the whole\nworld lieth in wickedness.\"  It was created well in all respects, but\neven before it as yet had fully grown out into its parts, while as yet\nthe elements of human society did but lie hid in the nature and\ncondition of the first man, Adam fell; and thus the world, with all its\nsocial ranks, and aims, and pursuits, and pleasures, and prizes, has\never from its birth been sinful.  The infection of sin spread through\nthe whole system, so that although the frame-work is good and divine,\nthe spirit and life within it are evil.  Thus, for instance, to be in a\nhigh station is the gift of God; but the pride and injustice to which\nit has given scope is from the Devil.  To be poor and obscure is also\nthe ordinance of God; but the dishonesty and discontent which are often\nseen in the poor is from Satan.  To cherish and protect wife and family\nis God's appointment; but the love of gain, and the low ambition, which\nlead many a man to exert himself, are sinful.  Accordingly, it is said\nin the text, \"The world lieth in wickedness,\"--it is plunged and\nsteeped, as it were, in a flood of sin, not a part of it remaining as\nGod originally created it, not a part pure from the corruptions with\nwhich Satan has disfigured it.\n\nLook into the history of the world, and what do you read there?\nRevolutions and changes without number, kingdoms rising and falling;\nand when without crime?  States are established by God's ordinance,\nthey have their existence in the necessity of man's nature, but when\nwas one ever established, nay, or maintained, without war and\nbloodshed?  Of all natural instincts, what is more powerful than that\nwhich forbids us to shed our fellows' blood?  We shrink with natural\nhorror from the thought of a murderer; yet not a government has ever\nbeen settled, or a state acknowledged by its neighbours, without war\nand the loss of life; nay, more than this, not content with\nunjustifiable bloodshed, the guilt of which must lie somewhere, instead\nof lamenting it as a grievous and humiliating evil, the world has\nchosen to honour the conqueror with its amplest share of admiration.\nTo become a hero, in the eyes of the world, it is almost necessary to\nbreak the laws of God and man.  Thus the deeds of the world are matched\nby the opinions and principles of the world: it adopts bad doctrine to\ndefend bad practice; it loves darkness because its deeds are evil.\n\nAnd as the affairs of nations are thus depraved by our corrupt nature,\nso are all the appointments and gifts of Providence perverted in like\nmanner.  What can be more excellent than the vigorous and patient\nemployment of the intellect; yet in the hands of Satan it gives birth\nto a proud philosophy.  When St. Paul preached, the wise men of the\nworld, in God's eyes, were but fools, for they had used their powers of\nmind in the cause of error, their reasonings even led them to be\nirreligious and immoral; and they despised the doctrine of a\nresurrection which they neither loved nor believed.  And again, all the\nmore refined arts of life have been disgraced by the vicious tastes of\nthose who excelled in them; often they have been consecrated to the\nservice of idolatry; often they have been made the instruments of\nsensuality and riot.  But it would be endless to recount the manifold\nand complex corruption which man has introduced into the world which\nGod made good, evil has preoccupied the whole of it, and holds fast its\nconquest.  We know, indeed, that the gracious God revealed Himself to\nHis sinful creatures very soon after Adam's fall.  He showed His will\nto mankind again and again, and pleaded with them through many ages;\ntill at length His Son was born into this sinful world in the form of\nman, and taught us how to please Him.  Still, hitherto the good work\nhas proceeded slowly: such is His pleasure.  Evil had the start of good\nby many days; it filled the world, it holds it: it has the strength of\npossession, and if has its strength in the human heart; for though we\ncannot keep from approving what is right in our conscience, yet we love\nand encourage what is wrong; so that when evil was once set up in the\nworld, it was secured in its seat by the unwillingness with which our\nhearts relinquish it.\n\nAnd now I have described what is meant by the sinful world; that is,\nthe world as corrupted by man, the course of human affairs viewed in\nits connexion with the principles, opinions, and practices which\nactually direct it.  There is no mistaking these; they are evil; and of\nthese it is that St. John says, \"If any man love the world, the love of\nthe Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of\nthe flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of\nthe Father, but is of the world[2].\"\n\nThe world then is the enemy of our souls; first, because, however\ninnocent its pleasures, and praiseworthy its pursuits may be, they are\nlikely to engross us, unless we are on our guard: and secondly, because\nin all its best pleasures, and noblest pursuits, the seeds of sin have\nbeen sown; an enemy hath done this; so that it is most difficult to\nenjoy the good without partaking of the evil also.  As an orderly\nsystem of various ranks, with various pursuits and their several\nrewards, it is to be considered not sinful indeed, but dangerous to us.\nOn the other hand, considered in reference to its principles and actual\npractices, it is really a sinful world.  Accordingly, when we are bid\nin Scripture to shun the world, it is meant that we must be cautious,\nlest we love what is good in it too well, and lest we love the bad at\nall.--However, there is a mistaken notion sometimes entertained, that\nthe world is some particular set of persons, and that to shun the world\nis to shun them; as if we could point out, as it were, with the finger,\nwhat is the world, and thus could easily rid ourselves of one of our\nthree great enemies.  Men, who are beset with this notion, are often\ngreat lovers of the world notwithstanding, while they think themselves\nat a distance from it altogether.  They love its pleasures, and they\nyield to its principles, yet they speak strongly against men of the\nworld, and avoid them.  They act the part of superstitious people, who\nare afraid of seeing evil spirits in what are considered haunted\nplaces, while these spirits are busy at their hearts instead, and they\ndo not suspect it.\n\n3. Here then is a question, which it will be well to consider, viz. how\nfar the world is a separate body from the Church of God.  The two are\ncertainly contrasted in the text, as elsewhere in Scripture.  \"We know\nthat we are of God, and _the whole world_ lieth in wickedness.\"  Now\nthe true account of this is, that the Church so far from being\nliterally, and in fact, separate from the wicked world, is within it.\nThe Church is a body, gathered together in the world, and in a process\nof separation from it.  The world's power, alas! is over the Church,\nbecause the Church has gone forth into the world to save the world.\nAll Christians are in the world, and of the world, so far as sin still\nhas dominion over them; and not even the best of us is clean every whit\nfrom sin.  Though then, in our idea of the two, and in their\nprinciples, and in their future prospects, the Church is one thing, and\nthe world is another, yet in present matter of fact, the Church is of\nthe world, not separate from it; for the grace of God has but partial\npossession even of religious men, and the best that can be said of us\nis, that we have two sides, a light side and a dark, and that the dark\nhappens to be the outermost.  Thus we form part of the world to each\nother, though we be not of the world.  Even supposing there were a\nsociety of men influenced individually by Christian motives, still this\nsociety, viewed as a whole, would be a worldly one, I mean a society\nholding and maintaining many errors, and countenancing many bad\npractices.  Evil ever floats at the top.  And if we inquire why it is\nthat the good in Christians is seen less than the bad?  I answer,\nfirst, because there is less of it; and secondly, because evil forces\nitself upon general notice, and good does not.  So that in a large body\nof men, each contributing his portion, evil displays itself on the\nwhole conspicuously, and in all its diversified shapes.  And thirdly,\nfrom the nature of things, the soul cannot be understood by any but\nGod, and a religious spirit is in St. Peter's words, \"the hidden man of\nthe heart.\"  It is only the actions of others which we see for the most\npart, and since there are numberless ways of doing wrong, and but one\nof doing right, and numberless ways too of regarding and judging the\nconduct of others, no wonder that even the better sort of men, much\nmore the generality, are, and seem to be, so sinful.  God only sees the\ncircumstances under which a man acts, and why he acts in this way and\nnot in that.  God only sees perfectly the train of thought which\npreceded his action, the motive, and the reasons.  And God alone (if\naught is ill done, or sinfully) sees the deep contrition\nafterwards,--the habitual lowliness, then bursting forth into special\nself-reproach,--and the meek faith casting itself wholly upon God's\nmercy.  Think for a moment, how many hours in the day every man is left\nwholly to himself and his God, or rather how few minutes he is in\nintercourse with others--consider this, and you will perceive how it is\nthat the life of the Church is hid with God, and how it is that the\noutward conduct of the Church must necessarily look like the world,\neven far more than it really is like it, and how vain, in consequence,\nthe attempt is (which, some make) of separating the world distinctly\nfrom the Church.  Consider, moreover, how much there is, while we are\nin the body, to stand in the way of one mind communicating with\nanother.  We are imprisoned in the body, and our intercourse is by\nmeans of words, which feebly represent our real feelings.  Hence the\nbest motives and truest opinions are misunderstood, and the most sound\nrules of conduct misapplied by others.  And Christians are necessarily\nmore or less strange to each other; nay, and as far as the appearance\nof things is concerned, almost mislead each other, and are, as I have\nsaid, the world one to another.  It is long, indeed, before we become\nat all acquainted with each other, and we appear the one to the other\ncold, or harsh, or capricious, or self-willed, when we are not so.  So\nthat it unhappily comes to pass, that even good men retire from each\nother into themselves, and to their God, as if retreating from the rude\nworld.\n\nAnd if all this takes place in the case of the better sort of men, how\nmuch more will it happen in the case of those multitudes who are still\nunstable in faith and obedience, half Christians, not having yet\nwrought themselves into any consistent shape of opinion and practice!\nThese, so far from showing the better part of themselves, often affect\nto be worse even than they are.  Though they have secret fears and\nmisgivings, and God's grace pleads with their conscience, and seasons\nof seriousness follow, yet they are ashamed to confess to each other\ntheir own seriousness, and they ridicule religious men lest they should\nbe themselves ridiculed.\n\nAnd thus, on the whole, the state of the case is as follows: that if we\nlook through mankind in order to find out who make up the world, and\nwho do not, we shall find none who are not of the world; inasmuch as\nthere are none who are not exposed to infirmity.  So that if to shun\nthe world is to shun some body of men so called, we must shun all men,\nnay, ourselves too--which is a conclusion which means nothing at all.\n\nBut let us, avoiding all refinements which lead to a display of words\nonly, not to the improvement of our hearts and conduct, let us set to\nwork practically; and instead of attempting to judge of mankind on a\nlarge scale, and to settle deep questions, let us take what is close at\nhand and concerns ourselves, and make use of such knowledge as we can\nobtain.  Are we tempted to neglect the worship of God for some temporal\nobject? this is of the world, and not to be admitted.  Are we ridiculed\nfor our conscientious conduct? this again is a trial of the world, and\nto be withstood.  Are we tempted to give too much time to our\nrecreations; to be idling when we should be working; reading or talking\nwhen we should be busy in our temporal calling; hoping for\nimpossibilities, or fancying ourselves in some different state of life\nfrom our own; over anxious of the good opinion of others; bent upon\ngetting the credit of industry, honesty, and prudence?  all these are\ntemptations of this world.  Are we discontented with our lot, or are we\nover attached to it, and fretful and desponding when God recalls the\ngood He has given? this is to be worldly-minded.\n\nLook not about for the world as some vast and gigantic evil far\noff--its temptations are close to you, apt and ready, suddenly offered\nand subtle in their address.  Try to bring down the words of Scripture\nto common life, and to recognize the evil in which this world lies, in\nyour own hearts.\n\nWhen our Saviour comes, He will destroy this world, even His own work,\nand much more the lusts of the world, which are of the evil one; then\nat length we must lose the world, even if we cannot bring ourselves to\npart with it now.  And we shall perish with the world, if on that day\nits lusts are found within us.  \"The world passeth away, and the lust\nthereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.\"\n\n\n\n[1] 1 John ii. 15.\n\n[2] John ii. 15, 16.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON IV.\n\nThe Praise of Men.\n\n\"_They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God._\"--John\nxii. 43.\n\n\nThis is spoken of the chief rulers of the Jews, who, though they\nbelieved in Christ's Divine mission, were afraid to confess Him, lest\nthey should incur temporal loss and shame from the Pharisees.  The\ncensure passed by St. John on these persons is too often applicable to\nChristians at the present day; perhaps, indeed, there is no one among\nus who has not at some time or other fallen under it.  We love the good\nopinion of the world more than the approbation of Him who created us,\nredeemed us, has regenerated us, and who still preserves to us the\nopportunity of preparing ourselves for His future presence.  Such is\ntoo often the case with us.  It is well we should be aware that it is\nso; it is well we should dwell upon it, and that we should understand\nand feel that it is wrong, which many men do not.\n\nNow it is an obvious question, Why is it wrong to love the praise of\nmen?  For it may be objected, that we are accustomed to educate the\nyoung by means of praise and blame; that we encourage them by kind\nwords _from us_, that is, from man; and punish them for disobedience.\nIf, then, it may be argued, it is right to regard the opinions of\nothers concerning us in our youth, it cannot be in itself wrong to pay\nattention to it at any other period of life.  This is true; but I do\nnot say that the mere love of praise and fear of shame are evil: regard\nto the corrupt world's praise or blame, this is what is sinful and\ndangerous.  St. John, in the text, implies that the praise of men was,\nat the time spoken of, in opposition to the praise of God.  It must be\nwrong to prefer any thing to the will of God.  To seek praise is in\nitself as little wrong, as it is wrong to hope, and to fear, and to\nlove, and to trust; all depends upon the object hoped, or feared, or\nloved, or trusted; to seek the praise of good men is not wrong, any\nmore than to love or to reverence good men; only wrong when it is in\nexcess, when it interferes with the exercise of love and reverence\ntowards God.  Not wrong while we look on good men singly as instruments\nand servants of God; or, in the words of Scripture, while \"we glorify\nGod in them[1].\"  But to seek the praise of bad men, is in itself as\nwrong as to love the company of bad men, or to admire them.  It is not,\nI say, merely the love of praise that is a sin, but love of the corrupt\nworld's praise.  This is the case with all our natural feelings and\naffections; they are all in themselves good, and implanted by God; they\nare sinful, because we have in us by nature a something more than them,\nviz. an evil principle which perverts them to a bad end.  Adam, before\nhis fall, felt, we may suppose, love, fear, hope, joy, dislike, as we\ndo now; but then he felt them only when he ought, and as he ought; all\nwas harmoniously attempered and rightly adjusted in his soul, which was\nat unity with itself.  But, at the fall, this beautiful order and peace\nwas broken up; the same passions remained, but their use and action\nwere changed; they rushed into extremes, sometimes excessive, sometimes\nthe reverse.  Indignation was corrupted into wrath, self-love became\nselfishness, self-respect became pride, and emulation envy and\njealousy.  They were at variance with each other; pride struggled with\nself-interest, fear with desire.  Thus his soul became a chaos, and\nneeded a new creation.  Moreover, as I have said, his affections were\nset upon unsuitable objects.  The natural man looks to this world, the\nworld is his god; faith, love, hope, joy, are not excited in his mind\nby things spiritual and divine, but by things seen and temporal.\n\nConsidering, then, that love of praise is not a bad principle in\nitself, it is plain that a parent may very properly teach his child to\nlove his praise, and fear his blame, when that praise and blame are\ngiven in accordance with God's praise and blame, and made subservient\nto them.  And, in like manner, if the world at large took a correct and\nreligious view of things, then its praise and blame would in its place\nbe valuable too.  Did the world admire what God admires; did it account\nhumility, for instance, a great virtue, and pride a great sin; did it\ncondemn that spirit of self-importance and sensitiveness of disgrace,\nwhich calls itself a love of honour; did it think little of temporal\nprosperity, wealth, rank, grandeur, and power, did it condemn arrogant\nand irreverent disputing, the noisy, turbulent spirit of ambition, the\nlove of war and conquest, and the perverse temper which leads to\njealousy and hatred; did it prefer goodness and truth to gifts of the\nintellect; did it think little of quickness, wit, shrewdness, power of\nspeech and general acquirements, and much of patience, meekness,\ngentleness, firmness, faith, conscientiousness, purity, forgiveness of\ninjuries,--then there would be no sin in our seeking the world's\npraise; and though we still ought to love God's praise above all, yet\nwe might love the praise of the world in its degree, for it would be\nnothing more nor less than the praise of good men.  But since, alas!\nthe contrary is the case, since the world (as Scripture tells us)\n\"lieth in wickedness,\" and the principles and practices which prevail\non all sides of us are not those which the All-holy God sanctions, we\ncannot lawfully seek the world's praise.  We cannot serve two masters\nwho are enemies the one to the other.  We are forbidden to love the\nworld or any thing that is of the world, for it is not of the Father,\nbut passeth away.\n\nThis is the reason why it is wrong to pursue the world's praise; viz.\nbecause we cannot have it and God's praise too.  And yet, as the\npursuit of it is wrong, so is it common,--for this reason: because God\nis unseen, and the world is seen; because God's praise and blame are\nfuture, the world's are present; because God's praise and blame are\ninward, and come quietly and without keenness, whereas the world's are\nvery plain and intelligible, and make themselves felt.\n\nTake, for instance, the case of the young, on (what is called) entering\ninto life.  Very many, indeed, there are, whether in a higher or lower\nstation, who enter into the mixed society of others early; so early,\nthat it might be thought they had hardly had time to acquire any\nprevious knowledge of right and wrong, any standard of right and wrong,\nother than the world gives, any principles by which to fight against\nthe world.  And yet it cannot quite be so.  Whatever is the first time\npersons hear evil, it is quite certain that good has been beforehand\nwith them, and they have a something within them which tells them it is\nevil.  And much more, if they have been blessed, as most men are, with\nthe protection of parents, or the kind offices of teachers or of God's\nministers, they generally have principles of duty more or less strongly\nimprinted on their minds; and on their first intercourse with strangers\nthey are shocked or frighted at seeing the improprieties and sins,\nwhich are openly countenanced.  Alas! there are persons, doubtless\n(though God forbid it should be the case with any here present!), whose\nconsciences have been so early trained into forgetfulness of religious\nduties, that they can hardly, or cannot at all, recollect the time I\nspeak of; the time when they acted with the secret feeling that God saw\nthem, saw all they did and thought.  I will not fancy this to be the\ncase with any who hear me.  Rather, there are many of you, in different\nranks and circumstances, who have, and ever have had, general\nimpressions on your minds of the claims which religion has on you, but,\nat the same time, have been afraid of acting upon them, afraid of the\nopinion of the world, of what others would say if you set about obeying\nyour conscience.  Ridicule is a most powerful instrument in the hands\nof Satan, and it is most vividly felt by the young.  If any one wishes\nto do his duty, it is most easy for the cold, the heartless, and the\nthoughtless, to find out harsh, or provoking, or ridiculous names to\nfix upon him.  My brethren, so many of you as are sensitive of the\nlaughter or contempt of the world, this is your cross; you must wear\nit, you must endure it patiently; it is the mark of your conformity to\nChrist; He despised the shame: you must learn to endure it, from the\nexample and by the aid of your Saviour.  You must love the praise of\nGod more than the praise of men.  It is the very trial suited to you,\nappointed for you, to establish you in the faith.  You are not tempted\nwith gain or ambition, but with ridicule.  And be sure, that unless you\nwithstand it, you cannot endure hardships as good soldiers of Jesus\nChrist, you will not endure other temptations which are to follow.  How\ncan you advance a step in your after and more extended course till the\nfirst difficulty is overcome?  You need faith, and \"a double-minded\nman,\" says St. James, \"is unstable in all his ways.\"  Moreover, be not\ntoo sure that all who show an inclination to ridicule you, feel exactly\nas they say.  They speak with the loudest speaker; speak you boldly,\nand they will speak with you.  They have very little of definite\nopinion themselves, or probably they even feel with you, though they\nspeak against you.  Very likely they have uneasy, unsatisfied\nconsciences, though they seem to sin so boldly; and are as afraid of\nthe world as you can be, nay, more so; they join in ridiculing you,\nlest others should ridicule them; or they do so in a sort of\nself-defence against the reproaches of their own consciences.  Numbers\nin this bad world talk loudly against religion in order to encourage\neach other in sin, because they need encouragement.  They are cowards,\nand rely on each other for support against their fears.  They know they\nought to be other than they are, but are glad to avail themselves of\nany thing that looks like argument, to overcome their consciences\nwithal.  And ridicule is a kind of argument--such as it is; and numbers\nridiculing together are a still stronger one--of the same kind.  Any\nhow, there are few indeed who will not feel afterwards, in times of\ndepression or alarm, that you are right, and they themselves are wrong.\nThose who serve God faithfully have a friend of their own, in each\nman's bosom, witnessing for them; even in those who treat them ill.\nAnd I suppose no young person has been able, through God's mercy, to\nwithstand the world's displeasure, but has felt at this time or that,\nthat this is so, and in a little time will, with all humility, have the\ncomfort of feeling it while he is withstanding the world.\n\nBut now supposing he has not had strength of mind to withstand the\nworld; but has gone the way of the world.  Suppose he has joined the\nmultitude in saying and doing what he should not.  We know the\ncareless, thoughtless, profane habits which most men live in, making\nlight of serious subjects, and being ashamed of godliness and virtue;\nashamed of going to church regularly, ashamed of faith, ashamed of\nchastity, ashamed of innocence, ashamed of obedience to persons in\nauthority.  Supposing a person has been one of these, and then through\nGod's grace repents.  It often pleases God, in the course of His\nProvidence, to rouse men to reflection by the occurrences of life.  In\nsuch circumstances they certainly will have a severe trial to stand\nagainst the world.  Nothing is more painful in the case of such\npersons, than the necessity often imposed upon them of acting contrary\nto the opinion and wishes of those with whom they have till now been\nintimate,--whom they have admired and followed.  Intimacies have\nalready been formed, and ties drawn tight, which it is difficult to\nsever.  What is the person in question to do? rudely to break them at\nonce? no.  But is he to share in sins in which he formerly took part?\nno; whatever censure, contempt, or ridicule attaches to him in\nconsequence.  But what, then, is he to do?  His task, I say, is painful\nand difficult, but he must not complain, for it is his own making; it\nis the natural consequence of his past neglect of God.  So much is\nplain,--he must abstain from all sinful actions; not converse lightly\nor irreverently where formerly he was not unwilling so to do; not spend\nhis time, as heretofore, in idleness or riot; avoid places whither he\nis not called by actual duty, which offer temptation to sin; observe\ndiligently attendance on church; not idle away the Lord's Day in\nvanity, or worse; not add to the number of his acquaintance any\nthoughtless persons.  All this is quite plain, and in doing this I know\nhe will incur the ridicule of his companions.  He will have much to\nbear.  He must bear to be called names, to be thought a hypocrite, to\nbe thought to be affecting something out of the way, to be thought\ndesirous of recommending himself to this or that person.  He must be\nprepared for malicious and untrue reports about himself; many other\ntrials must he look for.  They are his portion.  He must pray God to\nenable him to bear them meekly.  He must pray for himself, he must pray\nfor those who ridicule him.  He has deserved ridicule.  He has nothing\nto boast of, if he bears it well.  He has nothing to boast of that he\nincurs it.  He has nothing to boast of, as if he were so much better\nthan those who ridicule him; he was once as they are now.  He is now\njust a little better than they are.  He has just begun a new life.  He\nhas got a very little way in it, or rather no way, nothing beyond\nprofessing it; and he has the reproach of the world in consequence of\nhis profession.  Well, let him see to it that this reproach is not in\nvain, that he has a right to the reproach.  Let him see to it that he\nacts as well as professes.  It will be miserable indeed if he incurs\nthe reproach, and yet does not gain the reward.  Let him pray God to\nperfect in him what He has begun in him, and to begin and perfect it\nalso in all those that reproach him.  Let him pray for Christ's grace\nto bear hardships in Christ's spirit; to be able to look calmly in the\nworld's face, and bear its frown; to trust in the Lord, and be doing\ngood; to obey God, and so to be reproached, not for professing only,\nbut for performing, not for doing nothing, but for doing something, and\nin God's cause.  If we are under reproach, let us have something to\nshow for it.  At present, such a one is but a child in the Gospel; but\nin time, St. Peter's words will belong to him, and he may appropriate\nthem.  \"This is thankworthy, if a man for conscience towards God endure\ngrief, suffering wrongfully.  For what glory is it, if when ye be\nbuffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do\nwell and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with\nGod.\"\n\nWhat happens to the young in one way, and to penitent sinners in\nanother, happens in one way or other to all of us.  In the case of all\nof us occasions arise, when practices countenanced by others do not\napprove themselves to our consciences.  If after serious thought we\nfind we cannot acquiesce in them, we must follow our consciences, and\nstand prepared for the censure of others.  We must submit (should it be\nunavoidable) to appear to those who have no means of understanding us,\nself-willed, or self-conceited, or obstinate, or eccentric, or\nheadstrong, praying the while that God's mercy may vouchsafe to us,\nthat we be not really what we seem to the world.\n\nSome are exposed to a temptation of a different kind, that of making\nthemselves seem more religious than they really are.  It may happen,\nthat to advocate right opinions may be profitable to our worldly\ninterests, and be attended by the praise of men.  You may ask, since in\nsuch cases God and man approve the same thing, why should the applause\nof the world be accounted dangerous then?  I answer, it is dangerous\nbecause God requires of us a modest silence in our religion; but we\ncannot be religious in the eyes of men without displaying religion.  I\nam now speaking of display.  God sees our thoughts without our help,\nand praises _them_; but we cannot be praised by men without being seen\nby men: whereas often the very excellence of a religious action,\naccording to our Saviour's precept, consists in the not being seen by\nothers.  This is a frequent cause of hypocrisy in religion.  Men begin\nby feeling as they should feel, then they think it a very hard thing\nthat men should not know how well they feel, and in course of time they\nlearn to speak without feeling.  Thus they have learned to \"love the\npraise of men more than the praise of God.\"--We have to guard against\nanother danger, against the mistake of supposing that the world's\ndespising us is a proof that we are particularly religious; for this,\ntoo, is often supposed.  Frequently it happens that we encumber our\nreligion with extravagances, perversions, or mistakes, with which\nreligion itself has no necessary connexion, and these, and not\nreligion, excite the contempt of the world.  So much is this the case,\nthat the censure of numbers, or of the sober-minded, or of various and\ndistinct classes of men, or censure consistently urged, or continued\nconsistently, ought always to lead a man to be very watchful as to what\nhe considers right to say or do in the line of duty, to lead him to\nexamine his principles; to lead him, however thoroughly he adheres to\nthese after all, to be unaffectedly humble about himself, and to\nconvince him in matter of fact (what he might be quite sure of\nbeforehand, from the nature of the case), that, however good his\nprinciples are in themselves, he is mixing up with them the alloy of\nhis own frail and corrupt nature.\n\nIn conclusion, I would say to those who fear the world's censure,\nthis:--\n\n1. Recollect you cannot please all parties, you must disagree with some\nor other: you have only to choose (if you are determined to look to\nman) with which you will disagree.  And, further, you may be sure that\nthose who attempt to please all parties, please fewest; and that the\nbest way to gain the world's good opinion (even if you were set upon\nthis, which you must not be) is to show that you prefer the praise of\nGod.  Make up your mind to be occasionally misunderstood, and\nundeservedly condemned.  You must, in the Apostle's words, go through\nevil report, and good report, whether on a contracted or a wider field\nof action.  And you must not be anxious even for the praise of good\nmen.  To have, indeed, the approbation of those whose hearts are guided\nby God's Holy Spirit, is indeed much to be coveted.  Still this is a\nworld of discipline, not of enjoyment; and just as we are sometimes\nbound in duty to abstain from indulgences of sense in themselves\ninnocent, so are we sometimes bound to deny ourselves the satisfaction\nderived from the praise even of the religious and conscientious.  Only\nlet us beware in all this, lest we act from pride and self-conceit.\n\n2. In the next place, think of the multitude of beings, who, unseen\nthemselves, may yet be surveying our conduct.  St. Paul charges Timothy\nby the elect Angels[2]; and elsewhere he declares that the Apostles\nwere made \"a spectacle unto the world, and to Angels, and to men[3].\"\nAre we then afraid to follow what is right, lest the world should\nscoff? rather let us be afraid not to follow it, because God sees us,\nand Christ, and the holy Angels.  They rejoice over one sinner that\nrepenteth; how must they mourn over those who fall away!  What\ninterest, surely, is excited among them, by the sight of the\nChristian's trial, when faith and the desire of the world's esteem are\nstruggling in his heart for victory! what rejoicing if, through the\ngrace of God, he overcomes! what sorrow and pity if he is overcome by\nthe world!  Accustom yourselves, then, to feel that you are on a public\nstage, whatever your station of life may be, that there are other\nwitnesses to your conduct besides the world around you; and, if you\nfeel shame of men, you should much more feel shame in the presence of\nGod, and those servants of His that do His pleasure.\n\n3. Still further: you fear the judgment of men upon you.  What will you\nthink of it on your death-bed?  The hour must come, sooner or later,\nwhen your soul is to return to Him who gave it.  Perhaps you will be\nsensible of your awful state.  What will you then think of the esteem\nof the world? will not all below seem to pass away, and be rolled up as\na scroll, and the extended regions of the future solemnly set\nthemselves before you?  Then how vain will appear the applause or blame\nof creatures, such as we are, all sinners and blind judges, and feeble\naids, and themselves destined to be judged for their deeds.  When,\nthen, you are tempted to dread the ridicule of man, throw your mind\nforward to the hour of death.  You know what you will then think of it,\nif you are then able to think at all.\n\n4. The subject is not exhausted.  You fear shame; well, and will you\nnot shrink from shame at the judgment-seat of Christ?  There will be\nassembled all the myriads of men who ever lived, a vast multitude!\nThere will be Apostles, prophets, martyrs, and all saints from the\nbeginning of time.  There will be all the good men you ever heard of or\nknew.  There will be your own kindest and best friends, your pious\nparents, or brothers, or children.  Now what think you of being put to\nshame before all these?  You fear the contempt of one small circle of\nmen; what think you of the Saints of God, of St. Mary, of St. Peter and\nSt. Paul, of the ten thousand generations of mankind, being witnesses\nof your disgrace?  You dread the opinion of those whom you do not love;\nbut what if a father then shrink from a dear son, or the wife, or\nhusband, your earthly companion, then tremble at the sight of you, and\nfeel ashamed of you?  Nay, there is One greater than parents, husbands,\nor brothers; One of whom you have been ashamed on earth; and what will\nHe, that merciful, but neglected Saviour, think of you then?  Hear His\nown words:--\"Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him\nshall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory,\nand in His Fathers, and of the holy Angels.\"  Then such unhappy men,\nhow will they feel shame at themselves! they will despise and loathe\nthemselves; they will hate and abominate their own folly; they will\naccount themselves brutish and mad, so to have been beguiled by the\ndevil, and to have trifled with the season of mercy.  \"Many of them\nthat sleep in the dust of the earth,\" says Daniel, \"shall awake, some\nto everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.\"\n\nLet us, then, rouse ourselves, and turn from man to God; what have we\nto do with the world, who from our infancy have been put on our journey\nheavenward?  Take up your cross and follow Christ.  He went through\nshame far greater than can be yours.  Do you think He felt nothing when\nHe was lifted up on the Cross to public gaze, amid the contempt and\nbarbarous triumphings of His enemies, the Pharisees, Pilate and his\nRoman guard, Herod and his men of war, and the vast multitude collected\nfrom all parts of the world?  They all looked on Him with hatred and\ninsult, yet He endured (we are told), \"despising the shame[4].\"  It is\na high privilege to be allowed to be conformed to Christ; St. Paul\nthought it so, so have all good men.  The whole Church of God, from the\ndays of Christ to the present, has been ever held in shame and contempt\nby men of this world.  Proud men have reasoned against its Divine\norigin; crafty men have attempted to degrade it to political purposes:\nstill it has lasted for many centuries; it will last still, through the\npromised help of God the Holy Ghost; and that same promise which is\nmade to it first as a body, is assuredly made also to every one of us\nwho seeks grace from God through it.  The grace of our Lord and Saviour\nis pledged to every one of us without measure, to give us all necessary\nstrength and holiness when we pray for it; and Almighty God tells us\nHimself, \"Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of\ntheir revilings.  For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and\nthe worm shall eat them like wool; but My righteousness shall be for\never, and My salvation from generation to generation.\"\n\n\n\n[1] Gal. i. 24.\n\n[2] 1 Tim. v. 21.\n\n[3] 1 Cor. iv. 9.\n\n[4] Heb. xii. 2.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON V.\n\nTemporal Advantages.\n\n\"_We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry\nnothing out.  And having food and raiment let us be therewith\ncontent._\"--1 Tim. vi. 7, 8.\n\n\nEvery age has its own special sins and temptations.  Impatience with\ntheir lot, murmuring, grudging, unthankfulness, discontent, are sins\ncommon to men at all times, but I suppose one of those sins which\nbelongs to our age more than to another, is desire of a greater portion\nof worldly goods than God has given us,--ambition and covetousness in\none shape or another.  This is an age and country in which, more than\nin any other, men have the opportunity of what is called rising in\nlife,--of changing from a lower to a higher class of society, of\ngaining wealth; and upon wealth all things follow,--consideration,\ncredit, influence, power, enjoyment, the lust of the flesh, and the\nlust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  Since, then, men now-a-days\nhave so often the opportunity of gaining worldly goods which formerly\nthey had not, it is not wonderful they should be tempted to gain them;\nnor wonderful that when they have gained them, they should set their\nheart upon them.\n\nAnd it will often happen, that from coveting them before they are\ngained, and from making much of them when they are gained, men will be\nled to take unlawful means, whether to increase them, or not to lose\nthem.  But I am not going so far as to suppose the case of dishonesty,\nfraud, double-dealing, injustice, or the like: to these St. Paul seems\nto allude when he goes on to say, \"They that will be rich fall into\ntemptation and a snare;\" again, \"The love of money is the root of all\nevil.\"  But let us confine ourselves to the consideration of the nature\nitself, and the natural effects, of these worldly things, without\nextending our view to those further evils to which they may give\noccasion.  St. Paul says in the text, that we ought to be content with\nfood and raiment; and the wise man says, \"Give me neither poverty nor\nriches; feed me with food convenient for me[1].\"  And our Lord would\nhave us \"take no thought for the morrow,\" which surely is a dissuasion\nfrom aggrandizing ourselves, accumulating wealth, or aiming at\ndistinction.  And He has taught us when we pray to say, \"Give us this\nday our _daily_ bread.\"  Yet a great number of persons, I may say,\nnearly all men, are not content with enough, they are not satisfied\nwith sufficiency; they wish for something more than simplicity, and\nplainness, and gravity, and modesty, in their mode of living; they like\nshow and splendour, and admiration from the many, and obsequiousness on\nthe part of those who have to do with them, and the ability to do as\nthey will; they like to attract the eye, to be received with\nconsideration and respect, to be heard with deference, to be obeyed\nwith promptitude; they love greetings in the markets, and the highest\nseats; they like to be well dressed, and to have titles of honour.\nNow, then, I will attempt to show that these gifts of the world which\nmen seek are not to be reckoned good things; that they are ill suited\nto our nature and our present state, and are dangerous to us; that it\nis on the whole best for our prospects of happiness even here, not to\nsay hereafter, that we should be without them.\n\nNow, first, that these worldly advantages, as they are called, are not\nproductive of any great enjoyment even now to the persons possessing\nthem, it does not require many words to prove.  I might indeed\nmaintain, with no slight show of reason, that these things, so far from\nincreasing happiness, are generally the source of much disquietude;\nthat as a person has more wealth, or more power, or more distinction,\nhis cares generally increase, and his time is less his own: thus, in\nthe words of the preacher, \"the abundance of the rich will not suffer\nhim to sleep,\" and, \"in much wisdom is much grief, and he that\nincreaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow[2].\"  But however this may be,\nat least these outward advantages do not increase our happiness.  Let\nme ask any one who has succeeded in any object of his desire, has he\nexperienced in his success that full, that lasting satisfaction which\nhe anticipated?  Did not some feeling of disappointment, of weariness,\nof satiety, of disquietude, after a short time, steal over his mind?  I\nthink it did; and if so; what reason has he to suppose that that\ngreater share of reputation, opulence, and influence which he has not,\nand which he desires, would, if granted him, suffice to make him happy?\nNo; the fact is certain, however slow and unwilling we may be to\nbelieve it, none of these things bring the pleasure which we beforehand\nsuppose they will bring.  Watch narrowly the persons who possess them,\nand you will at length discover the same uneasiness and occasional\nrestlessness which others have; you will find that there is just a\nsomething beyond, which they are striving after, or just some one thing\nwhich annoys and distresses them.  The good things you admire please\nfor the most part only while they are new; now those who have them are\naccustomed to them, so they care little for them, and find no\nalleviation in them of the anxieties and cares which still remain.  It\nis fine, in prospect and imagination, to be looked up to, admired,\napplauded, courted, feared, to have a name among men, to rule their\nopinions or their actions by our word, to create a stir by our\nmovements, while men cry, \"Bow the knee,\" before us; but none knows so\nwell how vain is the world's praise, as he who has it.  And why is\nthis?  It is, in a word, because the soul was made for religious\nemployments and pleasures; and hence, that no temporal blessings,\nhowever exalted or refined, can satisfy it.  As well might we attempt\nto sustain the body on chaff, as to feed and nourish the immortal soul\nwith the pleasures and occupations of the world.\n\nOnly thus much, then, shall I say on the point of worldly advantages\nnot bringing present happiness.  But next, let us consider that, on the\nother hand, they are positively dangerous to our eternal interests.\n\nMany of these things, if they did no other harm, at least are injurious\nto our souls, by taking up the time which might else be given to\nreligion.  Much intercourse with the world, which eminence and station\nrender a duty, has a tendency to draw off the mind from God, and deaden\nit to the force of religious motives and considerations.  There is a\nwant of sympathy between much business and calm devotion, great\nsplendour and a simple faith, which will be to no one more painful than\nto the Christian, to whom God has assigned some post of especial\nresponsibility or distinction.  To maintain a religious spirit in the\nmidst of engagements and excitements of this world is possible only to\na saint; nay, the case is the same though our business be one of a\ncharitable and religious nature, and though our chief intercourse is\nwith those whom we believe to have their minds set upon religion, and\nwhose principles and conduct are not likely to withdraw our feet from\nthe narrow way of life.  For here we are likely to be deceived from the\nvery circumstance that our employments are religious; and our end, as\nbeing a right one, will engross us, and continually tempt us to be\ninattentive to the means, and to the spirit in which we pursue it.  Our\nLord alludes to the danger of multiplied occupations in the Parable of\nthe Sower: \"He that received seed among thorns, is he that heareth the\nword, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke\nthe word, and he becometh unfruitful.\"\n\nAgain, these worldly advantages, as they are called, will seduce us\ninto an excessive love of them.  We are too well inclined by nature to\nlive by sight, rather than by faith; and besides the immediate\nenjoyment, there is something so agreeable to our natural tastes in the\nhonours and emoluments of the world, that it requires an especially\nstrong mind, and a large measure of grace, not to be gradually\ncorrupted by them.  We are led to set our hearts upon them, and in the\nsame degree to withdraw them from God.  We become unwilling to leave\nthis visible state of things, and to be reduced to a level with those\nmultitudes who are at present inferior to ourselves.  Prosperity is\nsufficient to seduce, although not to satisfy.  Hence death and\njudgment are unwelcome subjects of reflection to the rich and powerful;\nfor death takes from them those comforts which habit has made necessary\nto them, and throws them adrift on a new order of things, of which they\nknow nothing, save that in it there is no respect of persons.\n\nAnd as these goods lead us to love the world, so again do they lead us\nto trust in the world: we not only become worldly-minded, but\nunbelieving; our wills becoming corrupt, our understandings also become\ndark, and disliking the truth, we gradually learn to maintain and\ndefend error.  St. Paul speaks of those who \"having put away a good\nconscience, concerning faith made shipwreck[3].\"  Familiarity with this\nworld makes men discontented with the doctrine of the narrow way; they\nfall into heresies, and attempt to attain salvation on easier terms\nthan those which Christ holds out to us.  In a variety of ways this\nlove of the world operates.  Men's opinions are imperceptibly formed by\ntheir wishes.  If, for instance, we see our worldly prospects depend,\nhumanly speaking, upon a certain person, we are led to court him, to\nhonour him, and adopt his views, and trust in an arm of flesh, till we\nforget the overruling power of God's providence, and the necessity of\nHis blessing, for the building of the house and the keeping of the city.\n\nAnd moreover, these temporal advantages, as they are considered, have a\nstrong tendency to render us self-confident.  When a man has been\nadvanced in the world by means of his own industry and skill, when he\nbegan poor and ends rich, how apt will he be to pride himself, and\nconfide, in his own contrivances and his own resources!  Or when a man\nfeels himself possessed of good abilities; of quickness in entering\ninto a subject, or of powers of argument to discourse readily upon it,\nor of acuteness to detect fallacies in dispute with little effort, or\nof a delicate and cultivated taste, so as to separate with precision\nthe correct and beautiful in thought and feeling from the faulty and\nirregular, how will such an one be tempted to self-complacency and\nself-approbation! how apt will he be to rely upon himself, to rest\ncontented with himself, to be harsh and impetuous; or supercilious; or\nto be fastidious, indolent, unpractical; and to despise the pure,\nself-denying, humble temper of religion, as something irrational, dull,\nenthusiastic, or needlessly rigorous!\n\nThese considerations on the extreme danger of possessing temporal\nadvantages, will be greatly strengthened by considering the conduct of\nholy men when gifted with them.  Take, for instance, Hezekiah, one of\nthe best of the Jewish kings.  He, too, had been schooled by\noccurrences which one might have thought would have beaten down all\npride and self-esteem.  The king of Assyria had come against him, and\nseemed prepared to overwhelm him with his hosts; and he had found his\nGod a mighty Deliverer, cutting off in one night of the enemy an\nhundred fourscore and five thousand men.  And again, he had been\nmiraculously recovered from sickness, when the sun's shadow turned ten\ndegrees back, to convince him of the certainty of the promised\nrecovery.  Yet when the king of Babylon sent ambassadors to\ncongratulate him on this recovery, we find this holy man ostentatiously\ndisplaying to them his silver, and gold, and armour.  Truly the heart\nis \"deceitful above all things;\" and it was, indeed, to manifest this\nmore fully that God permitted him thus to act.  God \"left him,\" says\nthe inspired writer, \"to try him, that he might know all that was in\nhis heart[4].\"  Let us take David as another instance of the great\ndanger of prosperity; he, too, will exemplify the unsatisfactory nature\nof temporal goods; for which, think you, was the happier, the lowly\nshepherd or the king of Israel?  Observe his simple reliance on God and\nhis composure, when advancing against Goliath: \"The Lord,\" he says,\n\"that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the\nbear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine[5].\"  And\ncompare this with his grievous sins, his continual errors, his\nweaknesses, inconsistencies, and then his troubles and mortifications\nafter coming to the throne of Israel; and who will not say that his\nadvancement was the occasion of both sorrow and sin, which, humanly\nspeaking, he would have escaped, had he died amid the sheepfolds of\nJesse?  He was indeed most wonderfully sustained by Divine grace, and\ndied in the fear of God; yet what rightminded and consistent Christian\nbut must shrink from the bare notion of possessing a worldly greatness\nso corrupting and seducing as David's kingly power was shown to be in\nthe instance of so great a Saint?  The case of Solomon is still more\nstriking; his falling away even surpasses our anticipation of what our\nSaviour calls \"the deceitfulness of riches.\"  He may indeed, for what\nwe know, have repented; but at least the history tells us nothing of\nit.  All we are told is, that \"King Solomon loved many strange\nwomen . . . and it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives\nturned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect\nwith the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.  For\nSolomon went after Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after\nMilcom, the abomination of the Ammonites[6].\"  Yet this was he who had\noffered up that most sublime and affecting prayer at the Dedication of\nthe Temple, and who, on a former occasion, when the Almighty gave him\nthe choice of any blessing he should ask, had preferred an\nunderstanding heart to long life, and honour, and riches.\n\nSo dangerous, indeed, is the possession of the goods of this world,\nthat, to judge from the Scripture history, seldom has God given unmixed\nprosperity to any one whom He loves.  \"Blessed is the man,\" says the\nPsalmist, \"whom Thou chastenest, and teachest him out of Thy law[7].\"\nEven the best men require some pain or grief to sober them and keep\ntheir hearts right.  Thus, to take the example of St. Paul himself,\neven his labours, sufferings, and anxieties, he tells us, would not\nhave been sufficient to keep him from being exalted above measure,\nthrough the abundance of the revelations, unless there had been added\nsome further cross, some \"thorn in the flesh[8],\" as he terms it, some\nsecret affliction, of which we are not particularly informed, to humble\nhim, and to keep him in a sense of his weak and dependent condition.\n\nThe history of the Church after him affords us an additional lesson of\nthe same serious truth.  For three centuries it was exposed to heathen\npersecution; during that long period God's Hand was upon His people:\nwhat did they do when that Hand was taken off?  How did they act when\nthe world was thrown open to them, and the saints possessed the high\nplaces of the earth? did they enjoy it? far from it, they shrank from\nthat which they might, had they chosen, have made much of; they denied\nthemselves what was set before them; when God's Hand was removed, their\nown hand was heavy upon them.  Wealth, honour, and power, they put away\nfrom them.  They recollected our Lord's words, \"How hardly shall they\nthat have riches enter into the kingdom of God[9]!\"  And St. James's,\n\"Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs\nof the kingdom[10]?\"  For three centuries they had no need to think of\nthose words, for Christ remembered them, and kept them humble; but when\nHe left them to themselves, then they did voluntarily what they had\nhitherto suffered patiently.  They were resolved that the Gospel\ncharacter of a Christian should be theirs.  Still, as before, Christ\nspoke of His followers as poor and weak, and lowly and simple-minded;\nmen of plain lives, men of prayer, not \"faring sumptuously,\" or clad in\n\"soft raiment,\" or \"taking thought for the morrow.\"  They recollected\nwhat He said to the young Ruler, \"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell\nthat thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in\nheaven, and come and follow Me.\"  And so they put off their \"gay\nclothing,\" their \"gold, and pearls, and costly array;\" they \"sold that\nthey had, and gave alms;\" they \"washed one another's feet;\" they \"had\nall things common.\"  They formed themselves into communities for prayer\nand praise, for labour and study, for the care of the poor, for mutual\nedification, and preparation for Christ; and thus, as soon as the world\nprofessed to be Christian, Christians at once set up among them a\nwitness against the world, and kings and monks came into the Church\ntogether.  And from that time to this, never has the union of the\nChurch with the State prospered, but when the Church was in union also\nwith the hermitage and the cell.\n\nMoreover, in those religious ages, Christians avoided greatness in the\nChurch as well as in the world.  They would not accept rank and station\non account of their spiritual peril, when they were no longer\nencompassed by temporal trials.  When they were elected to the\nepiscopate, when they were appointed to the priesthood, they fled away\nand hid themselves.  They recollected our Lord's words, \"Whosoever will\nbe chief among you, let him be your servant;\" and again, \"Be not ye\ncalled Rabbi, for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are\nbrethren[11].\"  And when discovered and forced to the eminence which\nthey shunned, they made much lament, and were in many tears.  And they\nfelt that their higher consideration in the world demanded of them some\ngreater strictness and self-denial in their course of life, lest it\nshould turn to a curse, lest the penance of which it would defraud them\nhere, should be visited on them in manifold measure hereafter.  They\nfeared to have \"their good things\" and \"their consolation\" on earth,\nlest they should not have Lazarus' portion in heaven.  That state of\nthings indeed is now long passed away, but let us not miss the\ndoctrinal lesson which it conveys, if we will not take it for our\npattern.\n\nBefore I conclude, however, I must take notice of an objection which\nmay be made to what I have been saying.  It may be asked, \"Are not\nthese dangerous things the gifts of God?  Are they not even called\nblessings?  Did not God bestow riches and honour upon Solomon as a\nreward?  And did He not praise him for praying for wisdom?  And does\nnot St. Paul say, 'Covet earnestly the best gifts[12]?'\"  It is true;\nnor did I ever mean to say that these things were bad in themselves,\nbut bad, for us, if we seek them as ends, and dangerous to us from\ntheir fascination.  \"Every creature of God is good,\" as St. Paul says,\n\"and nothing to be refused[13];\" but circumstances may make good gifts\ninjurious in our particular case.  Wine is good in itself, but not for\na man in a fever.  If our souls were in perfect health, riches and\nauthority, and strong powers of mind, would be very suitable to us: but\nthey are weak and diseased, and require so great a grace of God to bear\nthese advantages well, that we may be well content to be without them.\n\nStill it may be urged, Are we then absolutely to give them up if we\nhave them, and not accept them when offered?  It may be a duty to keep\nthem, it is sometimes a duty to accept them; for in certain cases God\ncalls upon us not so much to put them away, as to put away our old\nnatures, and make us new hearts and new spirits, wherewith to receive\nthem.  At the same time, it is merely for our safety to know their\nperilous nature, and to beware of them, and in no case to take them\nsimply for their own sake, but with a view to God's glory.  They must\nbe instruments in our hands to promote the cause of Gospel truth.  And,\nin this light, they have their value, and impart their real pleasure;\nbut be it remembered, that value and that happiness are imparted by the\nend to which they are dedicated; It is \"the altar that sanctifieth the\ngift[14]:\" but, compared with the end to which they must be directed,\ntheir real and intrinsic excellence is little indeed.\n\nIn this point of view it is that we are to covet earnestly the best\ngifts: for it is a great privilege to be allowed to serve the Church.\nHave we wealth? let it be the means of extending the knowledge of the\ntruth--abilities? of recommending it--power? of defending it.\n\nFrom what I have said concerning the danger of possessing the things\nwhich the world admires, we may draw the following rule: use them, as\nfar as given, with gratitude for what is really good in them, and with\na desire to promote God's glory by means of them, but do not go out of\nthe way to seek them.  They will not on the whole make you happier, and\nthey may make you less religious.\n\nFor us, indeed, who are all the adopted children of God our Saviour,\nwhat addition is wanting to complete our happiness?  What can increase\ntheir peace who believe and trust in the Son of God?  Shall we add a\ndrop to the ocean, or grains to the sand of the sea?  Shall we ask for\nan earthly inheritance, who have the fulness of an heavenly one; power,\nwhen in prayer we can use the power of Christ, or wisdom, guided as we\nmay be by the true Wisdom and Light of men?  It is in this sense that\nthe Gospel of Christ is a leveller of ranks: we pay, indeed, our\nsuperiors full reverence, and with cheerfulness as unto the Lord; and\nwe honour eminent talents as deserving admiration and reward, and the\nmore readily act we thus, because these are little things to pay.  The\ntime is short, year follows year, and the world is passing away.  It is\nof small consequence to those who are beloved of God, and walk in the\nSpirit of truth, whether they pay or receive honour, which is but\ntransitory and profitless.  To the true Christian the world assumes\nanother and more interesting appearance; it is no longer a stage for\nthe great and noble, for the ambitious to fret in, and the wealthy to\nrevel in; but it is a scene of probation.  Every soul is a candidate\nfor immortality.  And the more we realize this view of things, the more\nwill the accidental distinctions of nature or fortune die away from our\nview, and we shall be led habitually to pray, that upon every Christian\nmay descend, in rich abundance, not merely worldly goods, but that\nheavenly grace which alone can turn this world to good account for us,\nand make it the path of peace and of life everlasting.\n\n\n\n[1] Prov. xxx. 8.\n\n[2] Eccles. i. 18.\n\n[3] 1 Tim. i. 19.\n\n[4] 2 Chron. xxxii. 31.\n\n[5] 1 Sam. xvii. 37.\n\n[6] 1 Kings xi. 1, 4, 5.\n\n[7] Ps. xciv. 12.\n\n[8] 2 Cor. xii. 7.\n\n[9] Mark x. 23.\n\n[10] James ii. 5.\n\n[11] Matt. xx. 27, xxiii. 8.\n\n[12] 1 Cor. xii. 31.\n\n[13] 1 Tim. iv. 4.\n\n[14] 1 Matt. xxiii. 19.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON VI.\n\nThe Season of Epiphany.\n\n\"_This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and\nmanifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him._\"--John\nii. 11.\n\n\nThe Epiphany is a season especially set apart for adoring the glory of\nChrist.  The word may be taken to mean the manifestation of His glory,\nand leads us to the contemplation of Him as a King upon His throne in\nthe midst of His court, with His servants around Him, and His guards in\nattendance.  At Christmas we commemorate His grace; and in Lent His\ntemptation; and on Good Friday His sufferings and death; and on Easter\nDay His victory; and on Holy Thursday His return to the Father; and in\nAdvent we anticipate His second coming.  And in all of these seasons He\ndoes something, or suffers something: but in the Epiphany and the weeks\nafter it, we celebrate Him, not as on His field of battle, or in His\nsolitary retreat, but as an august and glorious King; we view Him as\nthe Object of our worship.  Then only, during His whole earthly\nhistory, did He fulfil the type of Solomon, and held (as I may say) a\ncourt, and received the homage of His subjects; viz. when He was an\ninfant.  His throne was His undefiled Mother's arms; His chamber of\nstate was a cottage or a cave; the worshippers were the wise men of the\nEast, and they brought presents, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  All\naround and about Him seemed of earth, except to the eye of faith; one\nnote alone had He of Divinity.  As great men of this world are often\nplainly dressed, and look like other men, all but as having some one\ncostly ornament on their breast or on their brow; so the Son of Mary in\nHis lowly dwelling, and in an infant's form, was declared to be the Son\nof God Most High, the Father of Ages, and the Prince of Peace, by His\nstar; a wonderful appearance which had guided the wise men all the way\nfrom the East, even unto Bethlehem.\n\nThis being the character of this Sacred Season, our services throughout\nit, as far as they are proper to it, are full of the image of a king in\nhis royal court, of a sovereign surrounded by subjects, of a glorious\nprince upon a throne.  There is no thought of war, or of strife, or of\nsuffering, or of triumph, or of vengeance connected with the Epiphany,\nbut of august majesty, of power, of prosperity, of splendour, of\nserenity, of benignity.  Now, if at any time, it is fit to say, \"The\nLord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before\nHim[1].\" \"The Lord sitteth above the waterflood, and the Lord remaineth\na king for ever.\"  \"The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is\nour refuge.\" \"O come, let us worship, and fall down, and kneel before\nthe Lord our Maker.\"  \"O magnify the Lord our God, and fall down before\nHis footstool, for He is Holy.\"  \"O worship the Lord in the beauty of\nholiness; bring presents, and come into His courts.\"\n\nI said that at this time of year the portions of our services which are\nproper to the season are of a character to remind us of a king on his\nthrone, receiving the devotion of his subjects.  Such is the narrative\nitself, already referred to, of the coming of the wise men, who sought\nHim with their gifts from a place afar off, and fell down and\nworshipped Him.  Such too, is the account of His baptism, which forms\nthe Second Lesson of the feast of the Epiphany, when the Holy Ghost\ndescended on Him, and a Voice from heaven acknowledged Him to be the\nSon of God.  And if we look at the Gospels read throughout the season,\nwe shall find them all containing some kingly action of Christ, the\nMediator between God and man.  Thus in the Gospel for the First Sunday,\nHe manifests His glory in the temple at the age of twelve years,\nsitting among the doctors, and astonishing them with His wisdom.  In\nthe Gospel for the Second Sunday He manifests His glory at the wedding\nfeast, when He turned the water into wine, a miracle not of necessity\nor urgency, but especially an august and bountiful act--the act of a\nKing, who out of His abundance gave a gift to His own, therewith to\nmake merry with their friends.  In the Third Sunday, the leper worships\nChrist, who thereupon heals him; the centurion, again, reminds Him of\nHis Angels and ministers, and He speaks the word, and his servant is\nrestored forthwith.  In the Fourth, a storm arises on the lake, while\nHe is peacefully sleeping, without care or sorrow, on a pillow; then He\nrises and rebukes the winds and the sea, and a calm follows, deep as\nthat of His own soul, and the beholders worship Him.  And next He casts\nout Legion, after the man possessed with it had also \"run and\nworshipped Him[2].\"  In the Fifth, we hear of His kingdom on earth, and\nof the enemy sowing tares amid the good seed.  And in the Sixth, of His\nsecond Epiphany from heaven, \"with power and great glory.\"\n\nSuch is the series of manifestations which the Sundays after the\nEpiphany bring before us.  When He is with the doctors in the temple.\nHe is manifested as a prophet--in turning the water into wine, as a\npriest--in His miracles of healing, as a bounteous Lord, giving out of\nHis abundance--in His rebuking the sea, as a Sovereign, whose word is\nlaw--in the parable of the wheat and tares, as a guardian and ruler--in\nHis second coming, as a lawgiver and judge.\n\nAnd as in these Gospels we hear of our Saviour's greatness, so in the\nEpistles and First Lessons we hear of the privileges and the duties of\nthe new people, whom He has formed to show forth His praise.\nChristians are at once the temple of Christ, and His worshippers and\nministers _in_ the temple; they are the Bride of the Lamb taken\ncollectively, and taken individually, they are the friends of the\nBridegroom and the guests at the marriage feast.  In these various\npoints of view are they presented to us in the Services during these\nweeks.  In the Lessons from the prophet Isaiah we read of the gifts and\nprivileges, the characteristics, the power, the fortunes of the\nChurch--how widely spreading, even throughout all the Gentiles; how\nawful and high, how miraculously endowed, how revered, how powerful\nupon earth, how rich in temporal goods, how holy, how pure in doctrine,\nhow full of the Spirit.  And in the Epistles for the successive\nSundays, we hear of the duties and distinguishing marks of her true\nmembers, principally as laid down in the twelfth and thirteenth\nchapters of St. Paul to the Romans; then as the same Apostle enjoins\nthem upon the Colossians; and then in St. John's exhortations in his\nGeneral Epistle.\n\nThe Collects are of the same character, as befit the supplications of\nsubjects coming before their King.  The first is for knowledge and\npower, the second is for peace, the third is for strength in our\ninfirmities, the fourth is for help in temptation, the fifth is for\nprotection, and the sixth is for preparation and purification against\nChrist's second coming.  There is none which would suit a season of\ntrial, or of repentance, or of waiting, or of exultation--they befit a\nseason of peace, thanksgiving, and adoration, when Christ is not\nmanifested in pain, conflict, or victory, but in the tranquil\npossession of His kingdom.\n\nIt will be sufficient to make one reflection, which suggests itself\nfrom what I have been saying.\n\nYou will observe, then, that the only display of royal greatness, the\nonly season of majesty, homage, and glory, which our Lord had on earth,\nwas in His infancy and youth.  Gabriel's message to Mary was in its\nstyle and manner such as befitted an Angel speaking to Christ's Mother.\nElisabeth, too, saluted Mary, and the future Baptist his hidden Lord,\nin the same honourable way.  Angels announced His birth, and the\nshepherds worshipped.  A star appeared, and the wise men rose from the\nEast and made Him offerings.  He was brought to the temple, and Simeon\ntook Him in His arms, and returned thanks for Him.  He grew to twelve\nyears old, and again He appeared in the temple, and took His seat in\nthe midst of the doctors.  But here His earthly majesty had its end, or\nif seen afterwards, it was but now and then, by glimpses and by sudden\ngleams, but with no steady sustained light, and no diffused radiance.\nWe are told at the close of the last-mentioned narrative, \"And He went\ndown with His parents, and came to Nazareth, _and was subjected, unto\nthem_[3].\"  His subjection and servitude now began in fact.  He had\ncome in the form of a servant, and now He took on Him a servant's\noffice.  How much is contained in the idea of His subjection! and it\nbegan, and His time of glory ended, when He was twelve years old.\n\nSolomon, the great type of the Prince of Peace, reigned forty years,\nand his name and greatness was known far and wide through the East.\nJoseph, the much-loved son of Jacob, who in an earlier age of the\nChurch, was a type of Christ in His kingdom, was in power and favour\neighty years, twice as long as Solomon.  But Christ, the true Revealer\nof secrets, and the Dispenser of the bread of life, the true wisdom and\nmajesty of the Father, manifested His glory but in His early years, and\nthen the Sun of Righteousness was clouded.  For He was not to reign\nreally, till He left the world.  He has reigned ever since; nay,\nreigned in the world, though He is not in sensible presence in it--the\ninvisible King of a visible kingdom--for He came on earth but to show\nwhat His reign would be, after He had left it, and to submit to\nsuffering and dishonour, that He _might_ reign.\n\nIt often happens, that when persons are in serious illnesses, and in\ndelirium in consequence, or other disturbance of mind, they have some\nfew minutes of respite in the midst of it, when they are even more than\nthemselves, as if to show us what they really are, and to interpret for\nus what else would be dreary.  And again, some have thought that the\nminds of children have on them traces of something more than earthly,\nwhich fade away as life goes on, but are the promise of what is\nintended for them hereafter.  And somewhat in this way, if we may dare\ncompare ourselves with our gracious Lord, in a parallel though higher\nway, Christ descends to the shadows of this world, with the transitory\ntokens on Him of that future glory into which He could not enter till\nHe had suffered.  The star burned brightly over Him for awhile, though\nit then faded away.\n\nWe see the same law, as it may be called, of Divine Providence in other\ncases also.  Consider, for instance, how the prospect of our Lord's\npassion opens upon the Apostles in the sacred history.  Where did they\nhear of it?  \"Moses and Elias on the mountain appeared with Him in\nglory, and spake of His decease, which He should accomplish at\nJerusalem[4].\"  That is, the season of His bitter trial was preceded by\na short gleam of the glory which was to be, when He was suddenly\ntransfigured, \"and the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His\nraiment was white and glistering[5].\"  And with this glory in prospect,\nour Lord abhorred not to die: as it is written, \"Who for the joy that\nwas set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame.\"\n\nAgain, He forewarned His Apostles that they in like manner should be\npersecuted, for righteousness' sake, and be afflicted and delivered up,\nand hated and killed.  Such was to be their life in this world, \"that\nif in this world only they had had hope in Christ, they had been of all\nmen most miserable[6].\"  Well then, observe, their trial too was\npreceded by a season of peace and pleasantness, in anticipation of\ntheir future reward; for before the day of Pentecost, for forty days\nChrist was with them, soothing, comforting, confirming them, \"and\nspeaking of the things pertaining unto the kingdom of God[7].\"  As\nMoses stood on the mount and saw the promised land and all its riches,\nand yet Joshua had to fight many battles before he got possession, so\ndid the Apostles, before descending into the valley of the shadow of\ndeath, whence nought of heaven was to be seen, stand upon the heights,\nand look over that valley, which they had to cross, to the city of the\nliving God beyond it.\n\nAnd so again, St. Paul, after many years of toil, refers back to a time\nwhen he had a celestial vision, anticipatory of what was to be his\nblessedness in the end.  \"I knew a man in Christ,\" he says, meaning\nhimself, \"about fourteen years ago, caught up to the third\nheaven. . . .  And I knew such a man . . . how that he was caught up\ninto Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for\na man to utter[8].\"  St. Paul then, as the twelve Apostles, and as our\nLord before him, had his brief season of repose and consolation before\nthe battle.\n\nAnd lastly: the whole Church also may be said to have had a similar\nmercy vouchsafed to it at first, in anticipation of what is to be in\nthe end.  We know, alas, too well, that, according to our Lord's\naccount of it, tares are to be with the wheat, fish of every kind in\nthe net, all through its sojourning on earth.  But in the end, \"the\nsaints shall stand before the throne of God, and serve Him day and\nnight in His temple: and the Lamb shall feed them, and shall lead them\nunto living fountains of waters,\" and there shall be no more \"sorrow\nnor pain, nor any thing that defileth or worketh abomination,\" \"for\nwithout are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and\nidolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.\"  Now was not this\nfuture glory shadowed forth in that infancy of the Church, when before\nthe seal of the new dispensation was opened and trial began, \"there was\nsilence in heaven for half an hour;\" and \"the disciples continued daily\nwith one accord in the temple, and in prayers, breaking bread from\nhouse to house, being of one heart, and of one soul, eating their meat\nwith gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour\nwith all the people[9];\" while hypocrites and \"liars,\" like Ananias and\nSapphira, were struck dead, and \"sorcerers,\" like Simon, were detected\nand denounced?\n\nTo conclude; let us thankfully cherish all seasons of peace and joy\nwhich are vouchsafed us here below.  Let us beware of abusing them, and\nof resting in them, of forgetting that they _are_ special privileges,\nof neglecting to look out for trouble and trial, as our due and our\nportion.  Trial is our portion here--we must not think it strange when\ntrial comes after peace.  Still God mercifully does grant a respite now\nand then; and perhaps He grants it to us the more, the more careful we\nare not to abuse it.  For all seasons we must thank Him, for time of\nsorrow and time of joy, time of warfare and time of peace.  And the\nmore we thank Him for the one, the more we shall be drawn to thank Him\nfor the other.  Each has its own proper fruit, and its own peculiar\nblessedness.  Yet our mortal flesh shrinks from the one, and of itself\nprefers the other;--it prefers rest to toil, peace to war, joy to\nsorrow, health to pain and sickness.  When then Christ gives us what is\npleasant, let us take it as a refreshment by the way, that we may, when\nGod calls, go in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights\nunto Horeb, the mount of God.  Let us rejoice in Epiphany with\ntrembling, that at Septuagesima we may go into the vineyard with the\nlabourers with cheerfulness, and may sorrow in Lent with thankfulness;\nlet us rejoice now, not as if we have attained, but in hope of\nattaining.  Let us take our present happiness, not as our true rest,\nbut, as what the land of Canaan was to the Israelites,--a type and\nshadow of it.  If we now enjoy God's ordinances, let us not cease to\npray that they may prepare us for His presence hereafter.  If we enjoy\nthe presence of friends, let them remind us of the communion of saints\nbefore His throne.  Let us trust in nothing here, yet draw hope from\nevery thing--that at length the Lord may be our everlasting light, and\nthe days of our mourning may be ended.\n\n\n\n[1] Hab. ii. 20.\n\n[2] Mark v. 6.\n\n[3] Luke ii. 51.\n\n[4] Luke ix. 30, 31.\n\n[5] Luke ix. 29.\n\n[6] 1 Cor. xv. 19.\n\n[7] Acts i. 3.\n\n[8] 2 Cor. xii. 3, 4.\n\n[9] Acts ii. 46, 47.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON VII.\n\nThe Duty of Self-Denial.\n\n\"_Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned\nof his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child._\"--Psalm cxxxi. 2.\n\n\nSelf-denial of some kind or other is involved, as is evident, in the\nvery notion of renewal and holy obedience.  To change our hearts is to\nlearn to love things which we do not naturally love--to unlearn the\nlove of this world; but this involves, of course, a thwarting of our\nnatural wishes and tastes.  To be righteous and obedient implies\nself-command; but to possess power we must have gained it; nor can we\ngain it without a vigorous struggle, a persevering warfare against\nourselves.  The very notion of being religious implies self-denial,\nbecause by nature we do not love religion.\n\nSelf-denial, then, is a subject never out of place in Christian\nteaching; still more appropriate is it at a time like this, when we\nhave entered upon the forty days of Lent, the season of the year set\napart for fasting and humiliation.\n\nThis indeed is not all that is meant by self-denial; but before\nproceeding with the subject, I would ask whether the generality of\nmankind go as far as this: it is plain that they do not.  They do not\ngo so far as to realize to themselves that religious obedience involves\na thwarting of those wishes and inclinations which are natural to them.\nThey do not like to be convinced, much less will they act upon the\nnotion, that religion is difficult.  You may hear men of the world say\nplainly, and as if in the way of argument, \"that God will not punish us\nfor indulging the passions with which we are born; that it is no praise\nto be unnatural; and no crime to be a man.\"  This, however, may seem an\nextreme case; yet are there not a great many decent and respectable\nmen, as far as outward character goes, who at least fix their thoughts\non worldly comfort, as the greatest of goods, and who labour to place\nthemselves in easy circumstances, under the notion that, when they can\nretire from the business of their temporal calling, then they may (in a\nquiet, unexceptionable way of course) consult their own tastes and\nlikings, take their pleasure, and indulge themselves in self-importance\nand self-satisfaction, in the enjoyment of wealth, power, distinction,\npopularity, and credit?  I am not at this moment asking whether such\nindulgences are in themselves allowable or not, but whether the life\nwhich centres in them does not imply the absence of any very deep views\nof sanctification as a process, a change, a painful toil, of working\nout our own salvation with fear and trembling, of preparing to meet our\nGod, and waiting for the judgment?  You may go into mixed society; you\nwill hear men conversing on their friend's prospects, openings in\ntrade, or realized wealth, on his advantageous situation, the pleasant\nconnexions he has formed, the land he has purchased, the house he has\nbuilt; then they amuse themselves with conjecturing what this or that\nman's property may be, where he lost, where he gained, his shrewdness,\nor his rashness, or his good fortune in this or that speculation.\nObserve, I do not say that such conversation is wrong, I do not say\nthat we must always have on our lips the very thoughts which are\ndeepest in our hearts, or that it is safe to judge of individuals by\nsuch speeches; but when this sort of conversation is the customary\nstandard conversation of the world, and when a line of conduct\nanswering to it is the prevalent conduct of the world (and this is the\ncase), is it not a grave question for each of us, as living in the\nworld, to ask himself what abiding notion we have of the necessity of\nself-denial, and how far we are clear of the danger of resembling that\nevil generation which \"ate and drank, which married wives, and were\ngiven in marriage, which bought and sold, planted, and builded, till it\nrained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all[1]?\"\n\nIt is strange, indeed, how far this same forgetfulness and\ntransgression of the duty of self-denial at present spreads.  Take\nanother class of persons, very different from those just mentioned, men\nwho profess much love for religion--I mean such as maintain, that if a\nman has faith he will have works without his trouble, so that he need\nbe at no pains about performing them.  Such persons at best seem to\nsay, that religious obedience is to follow as a matter of course, an\neasy work, or rather a necessary consequence, from having some strong\nurgent motive, or from some bright vision of the Truth acting on the\nmind; and thus they dismiss from their religion the notion of\nself-denial, or the effort and warfare of faith against our corrupt\nnatural will, whether they actually own that they dismiss it or not.  I\nsay that they do this at best, for it often happens, as I just now\nintimated, that they actually avow their belief that faith is\nall-sufficient, and do not let their minds dwell at all on the\nnecessity of works of righteousness.  All this being considered, surely\nI am not wrong in saying that the notion of self-denial as a distinct\nreligious duty, and, much more (as it may well be called), the essence\nof religious obedience, is not admitted into the minds of the\ngenerality of men.\n\nBut let it be observed, I have hitherto spoken of self-denial not as a\ndistinct duty actually commanded in Scripture, but merely as it is\ninvolved in the very notion of sanctification, as necessarily attendant\non that change of nature which God the Holy Spirit vouchsafes to work\nwithin us.  But now let us consider it in the light of the Scripture\nprecepts concerning it, and we shall come to a still more serious view\nof it, serious (I mean) to those who are living to the world; it is\nthis,--that it is our duty, not only to deny ourselves in what is\nsinful, but even, in a certain measure, in lawful things, to keep a\nrestraint over ourselves even in innocent pleasures and enjoyments.\n\nNow the first proof I shall give of this will at the same time explain\nwhat I mean.\n\nFasting is clearly a Christian duty, as our Saviour implies in His\nSermon on the Mount.  Now what is fasting but a refraining from what is\nlawful; not merely from what is sinful, but what is innocent?--from\nthat bread which we might lawfully take and eat with thanksgiving, but\nwhich at certain times we do not take, in order to deny ourselves.\nSuch is Christian self-denial,--not merely a mortification of what is\nsinful, but an abstinence even from God's blessings.\n\nAgain: consider the following declaration of our Saviour: He first\ntells us, \"Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto\nlife, and few there be that find it.\"  And again: \"Strive to enter in,\nfor many, I say unto you, will seek (only seek) to enter in, and shall\nnot be able.\"  Then He explains to us what this peculiar difficulty of\na Christian's life consists in: \"If any man come to Me, and hate not\nhis father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and\nsisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple[2].\"  Now\nwhatever is precisely meant by this (which I will not here stop to\ninquire), so far is evident, that our Lord enjoins a certain\nrefraining, not merely from sin, but from innocent comforts and\nenjoyments of this life, or a self-denial in things lawful.\n\nAgain, He says, \"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,\nand take up his cross daily, and follow Me[3].\"  Here He shows us from\nHis own example what Christian self-denial is.  It is taking on us a\ncross after His pattern, not a mere refraining from sin, for He had no\nsin, but a giving up what we might lawfully use.  This was the peculiar\ncharacter in which Christ came on earth.  It was this spontaneous and\nexuberant self-denial which brought Him down.  He who was one with God,\ntook upon Him our nature, and suffered death--and why? to save us whom\nHe needed not save.  Thus He denied Himself, and took up His cross.\nThis is the very aspect, in which God, as revealed in Scripture, is\ndistinguished from that exhibition of His glory, which nature gives us:\npower, wisdom, love, mercy, long-suffering--these attributes, though\nfar more fully and clearly displayed in Scripture than in nature, still\nare in their degree seen on the face of the visible creation; but\nself-denial, if it may be said, this incomprehensible attribute of\nDivine Providence, is disclosed to us only in Scripture.  \"God so loved\nthe world that He gave His Son[4].\"  Here is self-denial.  And the Son\nof God so loved us, that \"though He was rich yet for our sakes He\nbecame poor[5].\"  Here is our Saviour's self-denial.  \"He pleased not\nHimself.\"\n\nAnd what Christ did when He came on earth, that have all His saints\ndone both before and since His coming.  Even the saints of the Old\nTestament so conducted themselves, to whom a temporal promise was made,\nand who, if any, might have surrendered themselves to the enjoyment of\nit.  They had a temporal promise, they had a present reward; yet, with\na noble faith, and a largeness of soul (how they put us to shame who\nhave so much higher privileges!) the Jewish believers grudged\nthemselves the milk and honey of Canaan, as seeking a better country,\nthat is a heavenly.  Elijah, how unlike is he to one who had a temporal\npromise!  Or take again the instance of Daniel, which is still more\nstriking,--\"They that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.\"  Daniel\nwas first in power in the palace of the greatest monarchs of his time.\nYet what do we read of him?  First of his living upon pulse and water,\nafterwards of his fasting in sackcloth and ashes, at another time of\nhis mourning three full weeks, eating no pleasant bread, neither flesh\nnor wine coming in his mouth, nor anointing himself at all, till those\nthree weeks were fulfilled.  Can any thing more clearly show the duty\nof self-denial, even in lawful things, in the case of Christians, when\neven God's servants, before Christ came and commanded it, in proportion\nas they had evangelical gifts, observed it?\n\nOr again, consider the words of the text spoken by David, who, if any,\nhad riches and power poured upon him by the hand of God.  He says, he\nhas \"behaved and quieted\" himself lest he should be proud, and made\nhimself \"as a weaned child.\"  What an impressive word is \"weaned!\"\nDavid had put away the unreserved love and the use of this world.  We\nnaturally love the world, and innocently; it is before us, and meets\nour eyes and hands first; its pleasures are dear to us, and many of\nthem not in themselves sinful, only in their excess, and some of them\nnot sinful at all;--those, for instance, which we derive from our home,\nour friends, and our prospects, are the first and natural food of our\nmind.  But as children are weaned from their first nourishment, so must\nour souls put away childish things, and be turned from the pleasures of\nearth to those of heaven; we must learn to compose and quiet ourselves\nas a weaned child, to put up with the loss of what is dear to us, nay,\nvoluntarily to give it up for Christ's sake.\n\nMuch more after Christ came does St. Paul give us this same lesson in\nthe ninth chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians: \"Every one\nthat striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things,\" i. e. has\npower over himself, and keeps himself in subjection, as he presently\nsays.  Again, in the seventh chapter, \"The time is short; it remaineth\nthat both they that have wives be as though they had none, and they\nthat weep as though they wept not, and they that rejoice as though they\nrejoiced not, and they that buy as though they possessed not, and they\nthat use this world as not abusing it.\"  Here the same doctrine of\nmoderation or temperance in lawful indulgences is strongly enforced; to\nweep, to rejoice, to buy, to possess, to marry, to use this world, are\nnot unlawful, yet we must not use God's earthly gifts to the full, but\nin all things we must be self-denying.\n\nSuch is Christian self-denial, and it is incumbent upon us for many\nreasons.  The Christian denies himself in things lawful because he is\naware of his own weakness and liability to sin; he dares not walk on\nthe edge of a precipice; instead of going to the extreme of what is\nallowable, he keeps at a distance from evil, that he may be safe.  He\nabstains lest he should not be temperate; he fasts lest he should eat\nand drink with the drunken.  As is evident, many things are in\nthemselves right and unexceptionable which are inexpedient in the case\nof a weak and sinful creature: his case is like that of a sick person;\nmany kinds of food, good for a man in health, are hurtful when he is\nill--wine is poison to a man in a fierce fever.  And just so, many\nacts, thoughts, and feelings, which would have been allowable in Adam\nbefore his fall, are prejudicial or dangerous in man fallen.  For\ninstance, anger is not sinful in itself.  St. Paul implies this, when\nhe says, \"Be ye angry and sin not[6].\"  And our Saviour on one occasion\nis said to have been angry, and He was sinless.  Almighty God, too, is\nangry with the wicked.  Anger, then, is not in itself a sinful feeling;\nbut in man, constituted as he is, it is so highly dangerous to indulge\nit, that self-denial here is a duty from mere prudence.  It is almost\nimpossible for a man to be angry only so far as he ought to be; he will\nexceed the right limit, his anger will degenerate into pride,\nsullenness, malice, cruelty, revenge, and hatred.  It will inflame his\ndiseased soul, and poison it.  Therefore, he must abstain from it, as\nif it were _in itself_ a sin (though it is not), for it is practically\nsuch to him.\n\nAgain, the love of praise is in itself an innocent passion, and might\nbe indulged, were the world's opinion right and our hearts sound; but,\nas things are, human applause, if listened to, will soon make us forget\nhow weak and sinful we are; so we must deny ourselves, and accept the\npraise even of good men, and those we love, cautiously and with reserve.\n\nSo, again, love of power is commonly attendant on a great mind; but he\nis the greatest of a sinful race who refrains himself, and turns from\nthe temptation of it; for it is at once unbecoming and dangerous in a\nson of Adam.  \"Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your\nminister,\" says our Lord; \"and whosoever will be chief among you, let\nhim be your servant[7].\"  His reward will be hereafter; to reign with\nChrist, to sit down with Him on His throne, to judge angels,--yet\nwithout pride.\n\nAgain, even in affection towards our relations and friends, we must be\nwatchful over ourselves, lest it seduce us from the path of duty.  Many\na father, from a kind wish to provide well for his family, neglects his\nown soul.  Here, then, is a fault; not that we can love our relations\ntoo well, but that that strong and most praiseworthy affection for them\nmay, accidentally, ensnare and corrupt our weak nature.\n\nThese considerations will show us the meaning of our Saviour's words\nalready cited, about the duty of hating our friends.  To hate is to\nfeel that perfect distaste for an object, that you wish it put away and\ngot rid of; it is to turn away from it, and to blot out the thought of\nit from your mind.  Now this is just the feeling we must cherish\ntowards all earthly blessings, so far as Christ does not cast His light\nupon them.  He (blessed be His name) has sanctioned and enjoined love\nand care for our relations and friends: Such love is a great duty; but\nshould at any time His guidance lead us by a strange way, and the light\nof His providence pass on, and cast these objects of our earthly\naffection into the shade, then they must be at once in the shade to\n_us_,--they must, for the time, disappear from our hearts.  \"He that\nloveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me.\"  So He\nsays; and at such times, though still loving them, we shall seem to\nhate them; for we shall put aside the thought of them, and act as if\nthey did not exist.  And in this sense an ancient and harsh proverb is\ntrue: we must always so love our friends as feeling that one day or\nother we may perchance be called upon to hate them,--that is, forget\nthem in the pursuit of higher duties.\n\nHere, again, then, is an instance of self-denial in lawful things; and\nif a person says it is painful thus to feel, and that it checks the\nspontaneous and continual flow of love towards our friends to have this\nmemento sounding in our ears, we must boldly acknowledge that it is\npainful.  It is a sad thought, not that we can ever be called upon\nactually to put away the love of them, but to have to act as if we did\nnot love them,--as Abraham when called on to slay his son.  And this\nthought of the uncertainty of the future, doubtless, does tinge all our\nbrightest affections (as far as this world is concerned) with a grave\nand melancholy hue.  We need not shrink from this confession,\nremembering that this life is not our rest or happiness;--\"_that_\nremaineth\" to come.  This sober chastised feeling is the very temper of\nDavid, when he speaks of having composed and quieted his soul, and\nweaned it from the babe's nourishment which this world supplies.\n\nI hope I have made it clear, by these instances, what is meant by\nChristian self-denial.  If we have good health, and are in easy\ncircumstances, let us beware of high-mindedness, self-sufficiency,\nself-conceit, arrogance; of delicacy of living, indulgences, luxuries,\ncomforts.  Nothing is so likely to corrupt our hearts, and to seduce us\nfrom God, as to surround ourselves with comforts,--to have things our\nown way,--to be the centre of a sort of world, whether of things\nanimate or inanimate, which minister to us.  For then, in turn, we\nshall depend on them; they will become necessary to us; their very\nservice and adulation will lead us to trust ourselves to them, and to\nidolize them.  What examples are there in Scripture of soft luxurious\nmen!  Was it Abraham before the Law, who wandered through his days,\nwithout a home? or Moses, who gave the Law, and died in the wilderness?\nor David under the Law, who \"had no proud looks,\" and was \"as a weaned\nchild?\" or the Prophets, in the latter days of the Law, who wandered in\nsheep-skins and goat-skins? or the Baptist, when the Gospel was\nsuperseding it, who was clad in raiment of camel's hair, and ate the\nfood of the wilderness? or the Apostles, who were \"the offscouring of\nall things\"? or our blessed Saviour, who \"had not a place to lay His\nhead\"?  Who are the soft luxurious men in Scripture?  There was the\nrich man, who \"fared sumptuously every day,\" and then \"lifted up his\neyes in hell, being in torments.\"  There was that other, whose \"ground\nbrought forth plentifully,\" and who said, \"Soul, thou hast much goods\nlaid up for many years;\" and his soul was required of him that night.\nThere was Demas, who forsook St. Paul, \"having loved this present\nworld.\"  And, alas! there was that highly-favoured, that\ndivinely-inspired king, rich and wise Solomon, whom it availed nothing\nto have measured the earth, and numbered its inhabitants, when in his\nold age he \"loved many strange women,\" and worshipped their gods.\n\nFar be it from us, soldiers of Christ, thus to perplex ourselves with\nthis world, who are making our way towards the world to come.  \"No man\nthat warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he\nmay please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.  If a man also\nstrive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive\nlawfully.\"  This is St. Paul's rule, as has already been referred to:\naccordingly, in another place, he bears witness of himself that he\n\"died daily.\"  Day by day he got more and more dead to this world; he\nhad fewer ties to earth, a larger treasure in heaven.  Nor let us think\nthat it is over-difficult to imitate him, though we be not Apostles,\nnor are called to any extraordinary work, nor are enriched with any\nmiraculous gifts: he would have all men like himself, and all may be\nlike him, according to their place and measure of grace.  If we would\nbe followers of the great Apostle, first let us with him fix our eyes\nupon Christ our Saviour; consider the splendour and glory of His\nholiness, and try to love it.  Let us strive and pray that the love of\nholiness may be created within our hearts; and then acts will follow,\nsuch as befit us and our circumstances, in due time, without our\ndistressing ourselves to find what they should be.  You need not\nattempt to draw any precise line between what is sinful and what is\nonly allowable: look up to Christ, and deny yourselves every thing,\nwhatever its character, which you think He would have you relinquish.\nYou need not calculate and measure, if you love much: you need not\nperplex yourselves with points of curiosity, if you have a heart to\nventure after Him.  True, difficulties will sometimes arise, but they\nwill be seldom.  He bids you take up your cross; therefore accept the\ndaily opportunities which occur of yielding to others, when you need\nnot yield, and of doing unpleasant services, which you might avoid.  He\nbids those who would be highest, live as the lowest: therefore, turn\nfrom ambitious thoughts, and (as far as you religiously may) make\nresolves against taking on you authority and rule.  He bids you sell\nand give alms; therefore, hate to spend money on yourself.  Shut your\nears to praise, when it grows loud: set your face like a flint, when\nthe world ridicules, and smile at its threats.  Learn to master your\nheart, when it would burst forth into vehemence, or prolong a barren\nsorrow, or dissolve into unseasonable tenderness.  Curb your tongue,\nand turn away your eye, lest you fall into temptation.  Avoid the\ndangerous air which relaxes you, and brace yourself upon the heights.\nBe up at prayer \"a great while before day,\" and seek the true, your\nonly Bridegroom, \"by night on your bed.\"  So shall self-denial become\nnatural to you, and a change come over you, gently and imperceptibly;\nand, like Jacob, you will lie down in the waste, and will soon see\nAngels, and a way opened for you into heaven.\n\n\n\n[1] Luke xvii. 27-29.\n\n[2] Matt. vii. 14.  Luke xiii. 24; xiv. 26.\n\n[3] Luke ix. 23.\n\n[4] John iii. 16.\n\n[5] 2 Cor. viii. 9.\n\n[6] Eph. iv. 26.\n\n[7] Matt. xx. 26, 27.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON VIII.\n\nThe Yoke of Christ.\n\n\"_Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in\nheart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for My yoke is easy, and\nMy burden is light._\"--Matt. xi. 29, 30.\n\n\nThese words, which are brought before us in the Gospel of to-day's\nfestival[1], are also found in the address made to us upon Ash\nWednesday, in which we are told that if we \"return unto Him who is the\nmerciful Receiver of all true penitent sinners, if we will take His\neasy yoke and light burden upon us, to follow Him in lowliness,\npatience, and charity; this, if we do, Christ will deliver us from the\ncurse of the law, and from the extreme malediction which shall light\nupon them that shall be set on the left hand.\"  A few days since we\nwere upon a Fast-day called to take on us Christ's yoke, and now on a\nFestival of an Apostle the call is repeated.\n\nAnd with a particular fitness it occurs, now as often, that we\ncelebrate the feast of St. Matthias, during Lent; for if there be an\nApostle who above the rest may be taken to remind us of the duty of\nmortification, it is he.  Our Lord, when asked why His disciples did\nnot fast, said, they could not fast while He was with them, but that\nthe time would come, when the Bridegroom should be taken away from\nthem, and then should they fast in those days.  That time was now come,\nwhen St. Matthias was chosen to be an Apostle.  Christ _had_ gone away.\nPeace and joy the Apostles had abundantly, more so than when He was\nwith them; but for that very reason, it was not such a joy \"as the\nworld giveth.\"  It was His own joy which arose out of pain and\nchastisement.  This was the joy which St. Matthias received when he was\nmade an Apostle.  He never had been an Apostle under age.  He had\nindeed been with our Lord, but not as an Apostle.  The rest had been\nchosen (as it were) as children; they had been heirs of the kingdom,\nwhile under tutors and governors, and, though Apostles, had not\nunderstood their calling, had had ambitious thoughts or desires after\nriches, and were indulged for a while, ere new made, with the old wine,\nlest the bottles should burst.  But St. Matthias came into his\ninheritance at once.  He took upon him at once, upon his election, the\npower and the penalty of the Apostolate.  No dreams of earthly\nprosperity could flit around that throne, which was reared over the\ngrave of one who had been tried and had fallen, and under the immediate\nshadow of the cross of Him whom he had betrayed.\n\nWell, then, does St. Matthias repeat to us on this day our Lord's\nwords, \"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me,\" for he had taken it on\nhim from the first.  His Pastoral Staff had ever been a crosier.  He\nhad had no youth.  He had borne the yoke in his youth.  He entered at\nonce upon his long Lent, and he rejoiced in it.\n\nThe exhortation, then, which our Saviour gives in today's Gospel, and\nof which St. Matthiases history reminds us, is at the present season\nmost suitable.  Our Saviour says, \"Come unto Me,\" and then He adds,\n\"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.\"  Thus He first calls us to\nHim, and next shows us the way.  \"Come unto Me,\" He says, \"and I will\ngive you rest,\" and then adds, \"Take My yoke upon you, and ye shall\nfind rest for your souls.\"  He told the Apostles that they must come to\nHim, but did not at once tell them the way; He told them they must bear\na yoke, but did not at once tell them what it was.  St. Peter, in\nconsequence, inquired about it on one occasion, and was bid to wait\nawhile, and he should know of it more plainly.  Our Lord had said,\n\"Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow Me\nafterwards.\"  \"Ye shall seek Me,\" He said, \"and whither I go ye cannot\ncome[2].\" He spoke of His yoke, the way of His cross, as St. Peter\nfound when at length, after His resurrection, he was told plainly what\nshould befall him.  \"When thou wast young,\" said our Lord to him, by\nthe lake of Tiberias, when thou wast a child in the faith, and hadst\nthine own way, \"thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou\nwouldest,\" as just before St. Peter had girt his fisher's coat unto\nhim, and cast himself into the sea; \"but when thou shalt be old, thou\nshalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry\nthee whither thou wouldest not[3].\"  And then He added, \"Follow Me.\"\nSt. Peter, indeed, was called upon literally to take Christ's yoke upon\nhim, to learn of Him and walk in His ways; but what he underwent in\nfulness, all Christ's disciples must share in their measure, in some\nway or other.  Again, in another place, our Lord speaks more expressly;\n\"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his\ncross, and follow Me[4].\"  Here we have the words of the text\nemphatically repeated.  To come to Christ, is to come after Him; to\ntake up our cross, is to take upon us His yoke; and though He calls\nthis an easy yoke, yet it is easy because it is His yoke, and He makes\nit easy; still it does not cease to be a yoke, and it is troublesome\nand distressing, because it is a yoke.\n\nLet us set it down then, as a first principle in religion, that all of\nus must come to Christ, in some sense or other, through things\nnaturally unpleasant to us; it may be even through bodily suffering,\nsuch as the Apostles endured, or it may be nothing more than the\nsubduing of our natural infirmities and the sacrifice of our natural\nwishes; it may be pain greater or pain less, on a public stage or a\nprivate one; but, till the words \"yoke\" and \"cross\" can stand for\nsomething pleasant, the bearing of our yoke and cross is something not\npleasant, and though rest is promised as our reward, yet the way to\nrest must lie through discomfort and distress of heart.\n\nThis I say must be taken as a first principle in religion; it concerns\nus all, it concerns young and old, rich and poor, all of whom are apt\nto consider it a valid reason for disregarding and speaking against a\nreligious life, that it is so strict and distasteful.  They shrink from\nreligion as something gloomy, or frightful, or dull, or intrusive, or\nexorbitant.  And, alas, sometimes it is attempted to lead them to\nreligion by making it appear not difficult and severe.  Severe truths\nare put aside, religion is made to consist in a worldly security, or\nagain in a heated enthusiastic state of mind.  But this is a deceit.  I\ndo not of course mean, far from it, that religion is not full of joy\nand peace also; \"My yoke,\" says Christ, \"is easy, and My burden is\nlight:\" but grace makes it so; in itself it is severe, and any form of\ndoctrine which teaches otherwise forgets that Christ calls us to His\nyoke, and that that yoke is a cross.\n\nIf you call to mind some of the traits of that special religious\ncharacter to which we are called, you will readily understand how both\nit, and the discipline by which it is formed in us, are not naturally\npleasant to us.  That character is described in the text as meekness\nand lowliness; for we are told to \"learn\" of Him who was \"meek and\nlowly in heart.\"  The same character is presented to us at greater\nlength in our Saviour's sermon on the Mount, in which seven notes of a\nChristian are given to us, in themselves of a painful and humbling\ncharacter, but joyful, because they are blessed by Him.  He mentions,\nfirst, \"the poor in spirit,\" this is denoted in the text, under the\nword \"lowly in heart,\"--secondly, those \"that mourn;\" and this surely\nis their peculiarity who are bearing on their shoulders the yoke of\nChrist;--thirdly, \"the meek,\" and these too are spoken of in the text,\nwhen He bids us to be like Himself who \"is meek;\"--fourthly, those\nwhich do \"hunger and thirst after righteousness;\" and what\nrighteousness, but that which Christ's Cross wrought out, and which\nbecomes our righteousness when we take on us the yoke of the Cross?\nFifthly, \"the merciful,\" and as the Cross is in itself the work of\ninfinite mercy, so when we bear it, it makes us merciful.  Sixthly,\n\"the pure in heart,\" and this is the very benefit which the Cross first\ndoes to us when marked on our forehead when infants, to sever us from\nthe world, the flesh, and the devil, to circumcise us from the first\nAdam, and to make us pure as He is pure.  Seventhly, \"the\npeace-makers,\" and as He \"made peace by the blood of His Cross,\" so do\nwe become peace-makers after His pattern.  And, lastly, after all\nseven, He adds, those \"which are persecuted for righteousness' sake,\"\nwhich is nothing but the Cross itself, and the truest form of His yoke,\nspoken of last of all, after mention has been made of its fruits.\n\nSuch is the character of which the text speaks.  A man who is poor in\nspirit, meek, pure in heart, merciful, peace-making, penitent, and\neager after righteousness, is truly (according to a term in current\nuse) a mortified man.  He is of a character which does not please us by\nnature even to see, and much less to imitate.  We do not even approve\nor love the character itself, till we have some portion of the grace of\nGod.  We do not like the look of mortification till we are used to it,\nand associate pleasant thoughts with it.  \"And when we shall see Him,\nthere is no beauty, that we should desire Him,\" says the Prophet.  To\nwhom has some picture of saint or doctor of the Church any charm at\nfirst sight?  Who does not prefer the ruddy glow of health and\nbrightness of the eyes?  \"He hath no form nor comeliness,\" as his Lord\nand Master before him.  And as we do not like the look of saintliness,\nneither do we like the life.  When Christ first announced His destined\nsufferings, Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, \"Be it far\nfrom Thee, Lord, this shall not be unto Thee.\"  Here was the feeling of\none who was as yet a mere child in grace; \"When he was a child, he\nspake as a child, he understood as a child, he thought as a child,\"\nbefore he had \"become a man and had put away childish things.\"\n\nThis is St. Paul's language, writing to the Corinthians, and he there\nfurnishes us with another description, under the name of charity, of\nthat same heavenly temper of mind in which Christian manhood consists,\nand which our Lord had already described in the sermon on the Mount; He\nsays, \"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have\nnot charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.\"  And\nthen He describes it as suffering long, kind, envying not, vaunting\nnot, behaving seemly, unselfish, rejoicing in the truth, slow to be\nprovoked, bearing all things and hoping all.  And with this agrees St.\nJames's account of wisdom, that it is \"pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to\nbe entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and\nwithout hypocrisy[5].\"\n\nIn all these passages, one and the same character is described\nacceptable to God, unacceptable to man; unacceptable to man both in\nitself, and because it involves a change, and that a painful one, in\none shape or other.  Nothing short of suffering, except in rare cases,\nmakes us what we should be; gentle instead of harsh, meek instead of\nviolent, conceding instead of arrogant, lowly instead of proud,\npure-hearted instead of sensual, sensitive of sin instead of carnal.\nThis is the especial object which is set before us, to become holy as\nHe who has called us is holy, and to discipline and chasten ourselves\nin order that we may become so; and we may be quite sure, that unless\nwe chasten ourselves.  God will chasten us.  If we judge ourselves,\nthrough His mercy we shall not be judged of Him; if we do not afflict\nourselves in light things.  He will afflict us in heavy things; if we\ndo not set about changing ourselves by gentle measures, He will change\nus by severe remedies.  \"I refrain my soul,\" says David, \"and keep it\nlow, like as a child that is weaned from his mother.\"  \"I keep under my\nbody, and bring it into subjection,\" says St. Paul.  Of course Satan\nwill try to turn all our attempts to his own purposes.  He will try to\nmake us think too much of ourselves for what we do; he would fain make\nus despise others; he will try to ensnare us in other ways.  Of course\nhe turns all things to evil, as far as he can; all our crosses may\nbecome temptations: illness, affliction, bereavement, pain, loss of\nworldly prospects, anxiety, all may be instruments of evil; so likewise\nmay all methods of self-chastisement, but they ought not to be, and\nneed not.  And their legitimate effect, through the grace of the Holy\nSpirit, is to make us like Him who suffered all pain, physical and\nmoral, sin excepted, in its fulness.  We know what His character was;\nhow grave and subdued His speech, His manner, His acts; what calmness,\nself-possession, tenderness, and endurance; how He resisted evil; how\nHe turned His cheek to the smiter; how He blessed when persecuted; how\nHe resigned Himself to His God and Father, how He suffered silently,\nand opened not His mouth, when accused maliciously.\n\nAlas! so it is; not only does the world not imitate such a temper of\nmind as this; but, if the truth must be spoken, it despises it.  As\nregards, indeed, our Lord's instance itself, the force of education,\nhabit, custom, fear of each other, and some remaining awe, keep the\nworld from reflecting upon the notes of character which the Gospels\nascribe to Him, but in His followers, it does discern them, it\nunderstands and it condemns them.  We are bidden lend and give, asking\nfor nothing again; revenge not ourselves; give our cloak when our coat\nis taken; offer the left cheek when the right is smitten; suffer\nwithout complaint; account persons better than they are; keep from\nbitter words; pray only when others would be impatient to act; deny\nourselves for the sake of others; live contented with what we are;\npreserve an ignorance of sin and of the world: what is all this, but a\ncharacter of mind which the world scorns and ridicules even more than\nit hates? a character which seems to court insult, because it endures\nit?  Is not this what men of the world would say of such a one?  \"Such\na man is unfit for life; he has no eye for any thing; he does not know\nthe difference between good and evil; he is tame and spiritless, he is\nsimple and dull, and a fit prey for the spoiler or defrauder; he is\ncowardly and narrow-minded, unmanly, feeble, superstitious, and a\ndreamer,\" with many other words more contemptuous and more familiar\nthan would be becoming to use in Church.  Yet such is the character of\nwhich Christ gave us the pattern; such was the character of Apostles;\nsuch the character which has ever conquered the world.  \"In much\npatience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in\nimprisonments, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by\nlong-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by\nthe word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness\non the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil\nreport and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as chastened and not\nkilled, as sorrowful yet alway rejoicing;\"--these are the weapons of\nour warfare, \"which are not carnal, but mighty through God to the\npulling down of strong holds[6].\"  These are despised by the world, but\nthey have subdued the world.  Nay, though they seem most unmanly, they\nin the event have proved most heroic.  For the heroical character\nsprings out of them.  He who has thrown himself out of this world,\nalone can overcome it; he who has cut himself loose of it, alone cannot\nbe touched by it; he alone can be courageous, who does not fear it; he\nalone firm, who is not moved by it; he alone severe with it, who does\nnot love it.  Despair makes men bold, and so it is that he who has\nnothing to hope from the world, has nothing to fear from it.  He who\nhas really tasted of the true Cross, can taste no bitterer pain, no\nkeener joy.\n\nI have been trying to urge on you, my brethren, that the taking of\nChrist's yoke, and learning of Him, is something very distinct and\nspecial, and very unlike any other service and character.  It is the\nresult of a change from a state of nature, a change so great as to be\ncalled a death or even a crucifixion of our natural state.  Never allow\nyourselves, my brethren, to fancy that the true Christian character can\ncoalesce with this world's character, or is the world's character\nimproved--merely a superior kind of worldly character.  No, it is a new\ncharacter; or, as St. Paul words it, \"a new creation.\"  Speaking of the\nCross of Christ, he says, \"God forbid that I should glory, save in the\nCross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me,\nand I unto the world.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision\navaileth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature[7].\"  It is\na new character, and it is one; it is ever one and the same.  It is not\none in Apostles, and another in the Christian of this day; not one in\nthe high, another in the low; one in rich, another in poor; one in\nEnglishman, another in foreigner; one in man, another in woman.  Where\nChrist is put on, St. Paul tells us, there is neither Jew nor Greek,\nbond nor free, male nor female, but all are one in Christ Jesus[8].\nWhat Lazarus is, that must Dives become; what Apostles were, that must\neach of us be.  The high in this world think it suitable in them to\nshow a certain pride and self-confidence; the wealthy claim deference\non account of their wealth; kings and princes think themselves above\ninstruction from any; men in the middle ranks consider it enough to be\ndecent and respectable, and deem sanctity superfluous in them; the poor\nthink to be saved by their poverty;--but to one and all Christ speaks,\n\"Come unto Me,\" \"Learn of Me.\"  There is but one Cross and one\ncharacter of mind formed by it; and nothing can be further from it than\nthose tempers and dispositions in which the greater part of men called\nChristians live.  To have one's own way, to follow one's own tastes, to\nplease one's self, to have things to one's mind, not to be thwarted, to\nindulge in the comforts of life, to do little for God, to think of Him\nnow and then indeed, but to live to this world; to aim at things of\nthis world; to judge of things by our own accidental judgment, be it\nbetter or worse; to measure religious men, to decide upon right or\nwrong in religion, by our favourite fancy; to take a pride in forming\nand maintaining our own opinion; to stand upon our rights; to fear the\nhard words and cold looks of men, to be afraid of being too religious,\nto dread singularity; to leave our hearts and minds, our thoughts,\nwords, and actions, to take care of themselves:--this, on one side or\nthe other, in this measure or that, is the sort of character which the\nmultitude, even of what are called respectable men, exemplify; and no\nwonder, this being the case, that they speak against those who have, or\nstrive to have, a more serious view of religion, and whose mode of\nliving condemns them.  If there be but one character of heart that can\nplease God, both of these contrary characters cannot please Him, one or\nthe other does not; if the easy religion is right, the strict religion\nis wrong; if strict religion is right, easy religion is wrong.  Let us\nnot deceive ourselves; there are not two ways of salvation--a broad and\na narrow.  The world, which chooses the broad way, in consequence hates\nand spurns the narrow way; and in turn our Blessed Lord, who has chosen\nfor us the narrow way, hates, scorns, spurns, denounces, the broad way.\nSurely He does so; He hates the broad way as entirely as the world\nhates the narrow way; and if we are persuaded to take part with the\nworld, we take part against Him.  When St. Peter said, \"Be it far from\nThee, Lord,\" being shocked at the notice that his Lord should suffer,\nwhat was His answer?  Did He thank him for his zeal?  Did He, at least,\nlet it pass in silence?  He answered, \"Get thee behind Me, Satan, for\nthou art an offence unto Me; for thou savourest not the things that be\nof God, but those that be of men[9].\"  And in like manner to the\ncorrupt church of Laodicea He says, \"Because thou art lukewarm, and\nneither cold nor hot, I will cast thee out of My mouth.  Because thou\nsayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;\nand knowest not, that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor, and\nblind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire,\nthat thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be\nclothed; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.\"\nAnd then He adds: \"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten;\" that is,\nHe puts on them His yoke; \"Be zealous therefore and repent[10].\"\n\nTo conclude.  If Almighty God moves any of us, so that we have high\nthoughts; if from reading Scripture or holy books we find that we can\nembrace views above the world; if it is given us to recognize the glory\nof Christ's kingdom, to discern its spiritual nature, to admire the\nlife of saints, and to desire to imitate it; if we feel and understand\nthat it is good to bear the yoke in our youth, good to be in trouble,\ngood to be poor, good to be in low estate, good to be despised; if in\nimagination we put ourselves at the feet of those mortified men of old\ntime, who, after St. Paul's pattern, died daily, and knew no one after\nthe flesh; if we feel all this, and are conscious we feel it; let us\nnot boast--why? because of a surety such feelings are a pledge to us\nthat God will in some way or other give them exercise.  He gives them\nto us that He may use them.  He gives us the opportunity of using them.\nDare not to indulge in high thoughts; be cautious of them, and refrain;\nthey are the shadows of coming trials; they are not given for nothing;\nthey are given for an end; that end is coming.  My brethren, count the\ncost; never does God give faith but He tries-it; never does He implant\nthe wish to sit on His right hand and on His left, but He fulfils it by\nmaking us wash our brethren's feet.  O fearful imaginations, which are\nsure to be realized!  O dangerous wishes, which are heard and forthwith\nanswered!  Only may God temper things to us, that nothing may be beyond\nour strength!\n\n\n\n[1] Preached on St. Matthias's day during Lent.\n\n[2] John xiii. 36, 33.\n\n[3] John xxi. 18.\n\n[4] Matt. xvi. 24.\n\n[5] James iii. 17.\n\n[6] 2 Cor. vi. 4-10; x. 4.\n\n[7] Gal. vi. 14, 15.\n\n[8] Gal. iii. 28.\n\n[9] Matt. xvi. 23.\n\n[10] Rev. iii. 16-19.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON IX.\n\nMoses the Type of Christ.\n\n\"_The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of\nthee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken._\"--Deut.\nxviii. 15.\n\n\nThe history of Moses is valuable to Christians, not only as giving us a\npattern of fidelity towards God, of great firmness, and great meekness,\nbut also as affording us a type or figure of our Saviour Christ.  No\nprophet arose in Israel like Moses, till Christ came, when the promise in\nthe text was fulfilled--\"The Lord thy God,\" says Moses, \"shall raise up\nunto thee a Prophet like unto me:\" that was Christ.  Now let us consider\nin what respects Moses resembled Christ, we shall find that this inquiry\nis very suitable at this time of year[1].\n\n1. First, if we survey the general history of the Israelites, we shall\nfind that it is a picture of man's history, as the dispensation of the\nGospel displays it to us, and that in it Moses takes the place of Christ.\nThe Israelites were in the land of strangers, viz. the Egyptians; they\nwere slaves, hardly tasked, and wretched, and God broke their bonds, led\nthem out of Egypt, after many perils, to the promised land, Canaan, a\nland flowing with milk and honey.  How clearly this prefigures to us the\ncondition of the Christian Church!  We are by nature in a strange\ncountry, God was our first Father, and His Presence our dwelling-place:\nbut we were cast out of paradise for sinning, and are in a dreary land, a\nvalley of darkness and the shadow of death.  We are born in this\nspiritual Egypt, the land of strangers.  Still we have old recollections\nabout us, and broken traditions, of our original happiness and dignity as\nfreemen.  Thoughts come across us from time to time which show that we\nwere born for better things than to be slaves; yet by nature slaves we\nare, slaves to the Devil.  He is our hard task-master, as Pharaoh\noppressed the Israelites; so much the worse than he, in that his chains,\nthough we do not see them, become more and more heavy every year.  They\ncling about us and grow; they multiply themselves, they shoot out and\nspread forth, and encircle us, those chains of sin, with many links,\nminute but heavy, weighing us down to the earth, till at last we are mere\nslaves of the soil, with an evil husbandry, slaves of that fearful\nharvest which is eternal death.  Satan is a tyrant over us, and it seems\nto us useless to rebel.  If we attempt it, we are but overpowered by his\nhuge might, and his oppressive rule, and are made twice the children of\nhell that we were before: we may groan and look about, but we cannot fly\nfrom his country.  Such is our state by nature.\n\nBut Moses conducted the Israelites from the house of bondage to their own\nland, from which their fathers had descended into Egypt.  He came to them\nfrom God, and, armed with God's power, he smote their cruel enemies, led\nthem out of Pharaoh's territory, divided the Red Sea, carried them\nthrough it, and at length brought them to the borders of Canaan.  And who\nis it that has done this for us Christians?  Who but the Eternal Son of\nGod, our Lord and Saviour, whose name in consequence we bear?  He has\nrescued us from the arm of him who was stronger than we; and therefore I\nsay in this respect first of all, Christ is a second Moses, and a\ngreater.  Christ has broken the power of the Devil.  He leads us forth on\nour way, and makes a path through all difficulties, that we may go\nforward towards heaven.  Most men, who have deliberately turned their\nhearts to seek God, must recollect times when the view of the\ndifficulties which lay before them, and of their own weakness, nearly\nmade them sink through fear.  Then they were like the children of Israel\non the shore of the Red Sea.  How boisterous did the waves look! and they\ncould not see beyond them; they seemed taken by their enemies as in a\nnet.  Pharaoh with his horsemen hurried on to reclaim his runaway slaves;\nthe Israelites sank down in terror on the sand of the sea-shore; every\nmoment brought death or captivity nearer to them.  Then it was that Moses\nsaid, \"Stand still, and see the salvation of God.\"  And in like manner\nhas Christ spoken to us.  When our hearts fainted within us, when we said\nto ourselves, \"How is it possible that we should attain heaven?\"  When we\nfelt how desirable it was to serve God, but felt keenly the power of\ntemptation; when we acknowledged in our hearts that God was holy and most\nadorable, and obedience to His will most lovely and admirable, and yet\nrecollected instances of our past disobedience, and feared lest all our\nrenewed resolutions to serve Him would be broken and swept away by the\nold Adam as mercilessly as heretofore, and that Satan would regain us,\nand yet prayed earnestly to God for His saving help; then He saved us\nagainst our fear, surprising us by the strangeness of our salvation.\nThis, I say, many a one must recollect in his own case.  It happens to\nChristians not once, but again and again through life.  Troubles are\nlightened, trials are surmounted, fears disappear.  We are enabled to do\nthings above our strength by trusting to Christ; we overcome our most\nurgent sins, we surrender our most innocent wishes; we conquer ourselves;\nwe make a way through the powers of the world, the flesh, and the devil;\nthe waves divide, and our Lord, the great Captain of our salvation, leads\nus over.  Christ, then, is a second Moses, and greater than he, inasmuch\nas Christ leads from hell to heaven, as Moses led the Israelites from\nEgypt to Canaan.\n\n2. Next, Christ reveals to us the will of God, as Moses to the\nIsraelites.  He is our Prophet, as well as our Redeemer.  None was so\nfavoured as Moses in this respect: before Christ came, Moses alone saw\nGod face to face; all prophets after him but heard His voice or saw Him\nin vision.  Samuel was called by name, but he knew not who called him in\nthe dark night till Eli told him.  Isaiah saw the vision of the Seraphim,\nand heard them cry \"Holy\" before the Lord; but it was not heaven that he\nsaw, but the mere semblance of the earthly temple in which God dwelt\namong the Jews, and clouds filled it.  But Moses in some sense saw God\nand lived; thus God honoured him.  \"If there be a prophet among you,\"\nsaid Almighty God, \"I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a\nvision, and will speak unto him in a dream.  My servant Moses is not so,\nwho is faithful in all Mine house.  With him will I speak mouth to mouth,\neven apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the similitude of the Lord\nshall he behold[2]:\" and on his death we are told, \"there arose not a\nprophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to\nface[3].\"  When he was in the Mount Sinai it is said of him still more\nexpressly, \"The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh\nunto his friend[4].\"  In the Mount he received from God the revelation of\nthe Law, and the patterns of the holy services which the Jews were to\noffer to God; and so, being favoured with the intimate knowledge of God's\ncounsels, when he came down, his face shone with glory.  The Divine\nmajesty was reflected from it, and the people dared not look upon him.\n\"The skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.  And when Aaron and\nthe children of Israel saw Moses, they were afraid to come nigh him.\"\n\"And till he had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face[5].\"\n\nYet, after all, favoured as he was, Moses saw not the true presence of\nGod.  Flesh and blood cannot see it.  Even when Moses was in the Mount,\nhe was aware that the very fulness of God's glory then revealed to him,\nwas after all but the surface of His infinitude.  The more he saw, the\ndeeper and wider did he know that to be which he saw not.  He prayed, \"If\nI have found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy way, that I may know\nThee, that I may find grace in Thy sight; and God said, My Presence shall\ngo with thee, and I will give thee rest[6].\"  Moses was encouraged to ask\nfor further blessings, he said, \"I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.\"\nThis could not be granted, \"Thou canst not see My face; for there shall\nno man see Me, and live.\"  So, as the greatest privilege which he might\nattain, Moses was permitted to see the skirts of God's greatness--\"The\nLord passed by in a cloud, and proclaimed the Name of the Lord; and Moses\nmade haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped[7].\"  And\nit was this sight of the mere apparel in which God Almighty was arrayed,\nwhich made his face to shine.\n\nBut Christ really saw, and ever saw, the face of God, for He was no\ncreature of God, but the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the\nFather.  From eternity He was with Him in glory, as He says Himself,\ndwelling in the abyss of the infinite greatness of the Most High.  Not\nfor forty days, as Moses on the mount in figure, but for ever and ever\nwas He present as the Counsellor of God, as His Word, in whom He\ndelighted.  Such was He of old, but at the time appointed He came forth\nfrom the Father, and showed Himself in this external world, first as its\nCreator, then as its Teacher, the Revealer of secrets, the Mediator, the\nOff-streaming of God's glory, and the Express Image of His Person.  Cloud\nnor image, emblem nor words, are interposed between the Son and His\nEternal Father.  No language is needed between the Father and Him, who is\nthe very Word of the Father; no knowledge is imparted to Him, who by His\nvery Nature and from eternity knows the Father, and all that the Father\nknows.  Such are His own words, \"No man knoweth the Son but the Father,\nneither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the\nSon will reveal Him[8].\"  Again He says, \"He that hath seen Me hath seen\nthe Father[9];\" and He accounts for this when He tells us, that He and\nthe Father are one[10]; and that He is in the bosom of the Father, and so\ncan disclose Him to mankind, being still in heaven, even while He was on\nearth.\n\nAccordingly, the Blessed Apostle draws a contrast between Moses and\nChrist to our comfort; \"the Law,\" he says, \"was given by Moses, but grace\nand truth came by Jesus Christ[11].\"  In Him God is fully and truly seen,\nso that He is absolutely the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.  All our\nduties are summed up for us in the message He brings us.  Those who look\ntowards Him for teaching, who worship and obey Him, will by degrees see\n\"the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in His face,\" and will be\n\"changed into the same image from glory to glory.\" And thus it happens\nthat men of the lowest class and the humblest education may know fully\nthe ways and works of God; fully, that is, as man can know them; far\nbetter and more truly than the most sagacious man of this world, to whom\nthe Gospel is hid.  Religion has a store of wonderful secrets which no\none can communicate to another, and which are most pleasant and\ndelightful to know.  \"Call on Me,\" says God by the prophet, \"and I will\nanswer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not\nof.\"  This is no mere idle boast, but a fact which all who seek God will\nfind to be true, though they cannot perhaps clearly express their\nmeaning.  Strange truths about ourselves, about God, about our duty,\nabout the world, about heaven and hell, new modes of viewing things,\ndiscoveries which cannot be put into words, marvellous prospects and\nthoughts half understood, deep convictions inspiring joy and peace, these\nare a part of the revelation which Christ, the Son of God, brings to\nthose who obey Him.  Moses had much toil to gain from the great God some\nscattered rays of the truth, and that for his personal comfort, not for\nall Israel; but Christ has brought from His Father for all of us the full\nand perfect way of life.  Thus He brings grace as well as truth, a most\nsurprising miracle of mercy from the freeness of the gift, as well as a\ntrue wisdom from its fulness.\n\nAnd yet, alas! in spite of all this bounty, men called Christians, and\nhow many! live heartlessly, not caring for the gracious benefit.  Look at\nthe world.  Men begin life with sinning; they quench the early promise of\ngrace, and defile their souls; they block up the entrances of the\nspiritual senses by acts of sin, lying and deceit, intemperance,\nprofaneness, or uncleanness,--by a foolish and trifling turn of mind,--by\nneglect of prayer when there is no actual vice,--or by an obstinate\nselfishness.  How many are the ways in which men begin to lose sight of\nGod!--how many are the fallings away of those who once began well!  And\nthen they soon forget that they have really left God; they still think\nthey see His face, though their sins have begun to blind them.  Like men\nwho fall asleep, the real prospect still flits before them in their\ndreams, but out of shape and proportion, discoloured, crowded with all\nmanner of fancies and untruths; and so they proceed in that dream of sin,\nmore or less profound,--sometimes rousing, then turning back again for a\nlittle more slumber, till death awakens them.  Death alone gives lively\nperceptions to the generality of men, who then see the very truth, such\nas they saw it before they began to sin, but more clear and more fearful:\nbut they who are the pure in heart, like Joseph; or the meek among men,\nlike Moses; or faithful found among the faithless, as Daniel; these men\nsee God all through life in the face of His Eternal Son; and, while the\nworld mocks them, or tries to reason them out of their own real\nknowledge, they are like Moses on the mount, blessed and hidden,--\"hid\nwith Christ in God,\" beyond the tumult and idols of the world, and\ninterceding for it.\n\n3. This leads me to mention a third point of resemblance between Moses\nand Christ.  Moses was the great intercessor when the Israelites sinned:\nwhile he was in the mount, his people corrupted themselves; they set up\nan idol, and honoured it with feasting and dancing.  Then God would have\ncut them off from the land of promise, had not Moses interposed.  He\nsaid, \"Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people?  Turn from\nThy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people[12].\"  In\nthis way he gained a respite, and then he renewed his supplications.  He\nsaid to the people, \"Ye have sinned a great sin; but now I will go up\nunto the Lord: peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.\"\nThen he said to their offended Creator, \"Oh, this people have sinned a\ngreat sin, and have made them gods of gold.  Yet now, if Thou wilt,\nforgive their sin.\"\n\nHere Moses, as is obvious, shadows out the true Mediator between God and\nman, who is ever at the right hand of God making intercession, for us;\nbut the parallel is closer still than appears at first sight.  After\nMoses had said, \"If Thou wilt, forgive their sin,\" he added, \"and if not,\nblot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book, which Thou hast written.\"  He was\ntaken at his word.  Observe, rather than Israel should forfeit the\npromised land, he here offered to give up his own portion in it, and the\nexchange was accepted.  He was excluded, dying in sight, not in enjoyment\nof Canaan, while the people went in under Joshua.  This was a figure of\nHim that was to come.  Our Saviour Christ died, that we might live: He\nconsented to lose the light of God's countenance, that we might gain it.\nBy His cross and passion, He made atonement for our sins, and bought for\nus the forgiveness of God.  Yet, on the other hand, observe how this\nhistory instructs us, at the same time, in the unspeakable distance\nbetween Christ and Moses.  When Moses said, \"Blot me, I pray Thee, out of\nThy book,\" God did not promise to accept the exchange, but He answered,\n\"Whosover hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.\"  Moses\nwas not taken instead of Israel, except in figure.  In spite of Moses,\nthe sinful people were plagued and died[13], though their children\nentered the promised land.  And again, Moses, after all, suffered for his\nown sin.  True, he was shut out from Canaan.  But why?  Not in spite of\nhis having \"done nothing amiss,\" as the Divine Sufferer on the cross, but\nbecause he spake unadvisedly with his lips, when the people provoked him\nwith their murmurings.  The meek Moses was provoked to call them rebels,\nand seemed to arrogate to himself the power and authority which he\nreceived from God; and therefore he was punished by dying in the\nwilderness.  But Christ was the spotless Lamb of God, \"who, when He was\nreviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but\ncommitted Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.\"  And His death is\nmeritorious; it has really gained our pardon.\n\nMoreover, it is well to observe now apparently slight a fault it was for\nwhich Moses suffered; for this shows us the infinite difference between\nthe best of a sinful race and Him who was sinless,--the least taint of\nhuman corruption having in it an unspeakable evil.  Moses was the meekest\nof men, yet it was for one sudden transgression of the rule of meekness\nthat he suffered, all his former gentleness, all his habitual humbleness\nof mind, availed him nothing.  It was unprofitable, and without merit,\nbecause it was merely his duty.  It could not make up for a single sin,\nhowever slight.  Thus we see how it would be with us if God were extreme\nto mark what is done amiss: and thus, on the other hand, we see how\nsupremely holy and pure that Saviour must be whose intercession is\nmeritorious, who has removed from us God's anger.  None can bring us to\nHim but He who came from Him.  He reveals God, and He cleanses man.  The\nsame is our Prophet and our Priest.\n\nWe are now approaching the season when we commemorate His death upon the\ncross: we are entering upon the most holy season of the whole year.  May\nwe approach it with holy hearts!  May we renew our resolutions of leading\na life of obedience to His commandments, and may we have the grace to\nseal our good resolutions at His most sacred Supper, in which \"Jesus\nChrist is evidently set forth crucified among us.\"  It is useless to make\nresolves without coming to Him for aid to keep them; and it is useless\ncoming to His table without earnest and hearty resolves; it is provoking\nGod \"to plague us with divers diseases, and sundry kinds of death.\"  But\nwhat shall be said of those who do neither the one nor the other,--who\nneither vow obedience, nor come to Him for grace?--who sin deliberately\nafter they have known the truth--who review their sins in time past in a\nreckless hard-hearted way, or put them aside out of their thoughts--who\ncan bear to jest about them, to speak of them to others unblushingly, or\neven to boast of them, and to determine on sinning again,--who think of\nrepenting at some future day, and resolve on going their own way now,\ntrusting to chance for reconciliation with God, as if it were not a\nmatter to be very anxious about?  This state of mind brings upon man a\njudgment heavier than all the plagues of Egypt,--a judgment compared with\nwhich that darkness which could be felt is as the sun's brightness, and\nthe thunders and hail are as the serene sky,--the wrath to come.\n\nAwake, then, my brethren, with this season, to meet your God, who now\nsummons you from His cross and tomb.  Put aside the sin that doth so\neasily beset you, and be ye holy even as He is holy.  Stand ready to\nsuffer with Him, should it be needful, that you may rise together with\nHim.  He can make bitter things sweet to you, and hard ways easy, if you\nhave but the heart to desire Him to do so.  He can change the Law into\nthe Gospel.  He can, for Moses, give you Himself.  He can write the Law\non your hearts, and thereby take away the hand-writing that is against\nyou, even the old curse which by nature you inherit.  He has done this\nfor many in time past.  He does it for many at all times.  Why should He\nnot do it for you?  Why should you be left out?  Why should you not enter\ninto His rest?  Why should you not see His glory?  O, why should you be\nblotted out from His book?\n\n\n\n[1] Lent.\n\n[2] Numb. xii. 6-8.\n\n[3] Deut. xxxiv. 10.\n\n[4] Exod. xxxiii. 11.\n\n[5] Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30, 33.\n\n[6] Exod. xxxiii. 13, 14.\n\n[7] Exod. xxxiv. 6, 8.\n\n[8] Matt. xi. 27.\n\n[9] John xiv. 9.\n\n[10] John x. 30.\n\n[11] John i. 17.\n\n[12] Exod. xxxii. 11.\n\n[13] Vide Exod. xxxii. 34.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON X.\n\nThe Crucifixion.\n\n\"_He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth;\nHe is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her\nshearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth._\"--Isaiah liii. 7.\n\n\nSt. Peter makes it almost a description of a Christian, that he loves\nHim whom he has not seen; speaking of Christ, he says, \"whom having not\nseen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye\nrejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.\"  Again he speaks of\n\"tasting that the Lord is gracious[1].\"  Unless we have a true love of\nChrist, we are not His true disciples; and we cannot love Him unless we\nhave heartfelt gratitude to Him; and we cannot duly feel gratitude,\nunless we feel keenly what He suffered for us.  I say it seems to us\nimpossible, under the circumstances of the case, that any one can have\nattained to the love of Christ, who feels no distress, no misery, at\nthe thought of His bitter pains, find no self-reproach at having\nthrough his own sins had a share in causing them.\n\nI know quite well, and wish you, my brethren, never to forget, that\nfeeling is not enough; that it is not enough merely to feel and nothing\nmore; that to feel grief for Christ's sufferings, and yet not to go on\nto obey Him, is not true love, but a mockery.  True love both feels\nright, and acts right; but at the same time as warm feelings without\nreligious conduct are a kind of hypocrisy, so, on the other hand, right\nconduct, when unattended with deep feelings, is at best a very\nimperfect sort of religion.  And at this time of year[2] especially are\nwe called upon to raise our hearts to Christ, and to have keen feelings\nand piercing thoughts of sorrow and shame, of compunction and of\ngratitude, of love and tender affection and horror and anguish, at the\nreview of those awful sufferings whereby our salvation has been\npurchased.\n\nLet us pray God to give us _all_ graces; and while, in the first place,\nwe pray that He would make us holy, really holy, let us also pray Him\nto give us the _beauty_ of holiness, which consists in tender and eager\naffection towards our Lord and Saviour: which is, in the case of the\nChristian, what beauty of person is to the outward man, so that through\nGod's mercy our souls may have, not strength and health only, but a\nsort of bloom and comeliness; and that as we grow older in body, we\nmay, year by year, grow more youthful in spirit.\n\nYou will ask, how are we to learn to feel pain and anguish at the\nthought of Christ's sufferings?  I answer, _by_ thinking of them, that\nis, by _dwelling_ on the thought.  This, through God's mercy, is in the\npower of every one.  No one who will but solemnly think over the\nhistory of those sufferings, as drawn out for us in the Gospels, but\nwill gradually gain, through God's grace, a sense of them, will in a\nmeasure realize them, will in a measure be as if he saw them, will feel\ntowards them as being not merely a tale written in a book, but as a\ntrue history, as a series of events which took place.  It is indeed a\ngreat mercy that this duty which I speak of, though so high, is\nnotwithstanding so level with the powers of all classes of persons,\nlearned and unlearned, if they wish to perform it.  Any one can think\nof Christ's sufferings, if he will; and knows well what to think about.\n\"It is not in heaven that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to\nheaven and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?  Neither is\nit beyond the sea that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for\nus? . . . but the word is very nigh unto thee;\" very nigh, for it is in\nthe four Gospels, which, at this day at least, are open to all men.\nAll men may read or hear the Gospels, and in knowing them, they will\nknow all that is necessary to be known in order to feel aright; they\nwill know all that any one knows, all that has been told us, all that\nthe greatest saints have ever had to make them full of love and sacred\nfear.\n\nNow, then, let me make one or two reflections by way of stirring up\nyour hearts and making you mourn over Christ's sufferings, as you are\ncalled to do at this season.\n\n1. First, as to these sufferings you will observe that our Lord is\ncalled a lamb in the text; that is, He was as defenceless, and as\ninnocent, as a lamb is.  Since then Scripture compares Him to this\ninoffensive and unprotected animal, we may without presumption or\nirreverence take the image as a means of conveying to our minds those\nfeelings which our Lord's sufferings should excite in us.  I mean,\nconsider how very horrible it is to read the accounts which sometimes\nmeet us of cruelties exercised on brute animals.  Does it not sometimes\nmake us shudder to hear tell of them, or to read them in some chance\npublication which we take up?  At one time it is the wanton deed of\nbarbarous and angry owners who ill-treat their cattle, or beasts of\nburden; and at another, it is the cold-blooded and calculating act of\nmen of science, who make experiments on brute animals, perhaps merely\nfrom a sort of curiosity.  I do not like to go into particulars, for\nmany reasons; but one of those instances which we read of as happening\nin this day, and which seems more shocking than the rest, is, when the\npoor dumb victim is fastened against a wall, pierced, gashed, and so\nleft to linger out its life.  Now do you not see that I have a reason\nfor saying this, and am not using these distressing words for nothing?\nFor what was this but the very cruelty inflicted upon our Lord?  He was\ngashed with the scourge, pierced through hands and feet, and so\nfastened to the Cross, and there left, and that as a spectacle.  Now\nwhat is it moves our very hearts, and sickens us so much at cruelty\nshown to poor brutes?  I suppose this first, that they have done no\nharm; next, that they have no power whatever of resistance; it is the\ncowardice and tyranny of which they are the victims which makes their\nsufferings so especially touching.  For instance, if they were\ndangerous animals, take the case of wild beasts at large, able not only\nto defend themselves, but even to attack us; much as we might dislike\nto hear of their wounds and agony, yet our feelings would be of a very\ndifferent kind; but there is something so very dreadful, so satanic in\ntormenting those who never have harmed us, and who cannot defend\nthemselves, who are utterly in our power, who have weapons neither of\noffence nor defence, that none but very hardened persons can endure the\nthought of it.  Now this was just our Saviour's case: He had laid aside\nHis glory, He had (as it were) disbanded His legions of Angels, He came\non earth without arms, except the arms of truth, meekness, and\nrighteousness, and committed Himself to the world in perfect innocence\nand sinlessness, and in utter helplessness, as the Lamb of God.  In the\nwords of St. Peter, \"Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His\nmouth; who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered,\nHe threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth\nrighteously[3].\"  Think then, my brethren, of your feelings at cruelty\npractised upon brute animals, and you will gain one sort of feeling\nwhich the history of Christ's Cross and Passion ought to excite within\nyou.  And let me add, this is in all cases one good use to which you\nmay turn any accounts you read of wanton and unfeeling acts shown\ntowards the inferior animals, let them remind you, as a picture, of\nChrist's sufferings.  He who is higher than the Angels, deigned to\nhumble Himself even to the state of the brute creation, as the Psalm\nsays, \"I am a worm, and no man; a very scorn of men, and the outcast of\nthe people[4].\"\n\n2. Take another example, and you will see the same thing still more\nstrikingly.  How overpowered should we be, nay not at the sight only,\nbut at the very hearing of cruelties shown to a little child, and why\nso? for the same two reasons, because it was so innocent, and because\nit was so unable to defend itself.  I do not like to go into the\ndetails of such cruelty, they would be so heart-rending.  What if\nwicked men took and crucified a young child?  What if they deliberately\nseized its poor little frame, and stretched out its arms, nailed them\nto a cross bar of wood, drove a stake through its two feet, and\nfastened them to a beam, and so left it to die?  It is almost too\nshocking to say; perhaps, you will actually say it _is_ too shocking,\nand ought not to be said.  O, my brethren, you feel the horror of this,\nand yet you can bear to read of Christ's sufferings without horror; for\nwhat is that little child's agony to His? and which deserved it more?\nwhich is the more innocent? which the holier? was He not gentler,\nsweeter, meeker, more tender, more loving, than any little child?  Why\nare you shocked at the one, why are you not shocked at the other?\n\nOr take another instance, not so shocking in its circumstances, yet\nintroducing us to another distinction, in which Christ's passion\nexceeds that of any innocent sufferers, such as I have supposed.  When\nJoseph was sent by his father to his brethren on a message of love,\nthey, when they saw him, said, \"Behold, this dreamer cometh; come now,\ntherefore, and let us slay him[5].\"  They did not kill him, however,\nbut they put him in a pit in spite of the anguish of his soul, and sold\nhim as a slave to the Ishmaelites, and he was taken down into a foreign\ncountry, where he had no friends.  Now this was most cruel and most\ncowardly in the sons of Jacob; and what is so especially shocking in it\nis, that Joseph was not only innocent and defenceless, their younger\nbrother whom they ought to have protected, but besides that, he was so\nconfiding and loving, that he need not have come to them, that he would\nnot at all have been in their power, _except_ for his desire to do them\nservice.  Now, whom does this history remind us of but of Him\nconcerning whom the Master of the vineyard said, on sending Him to the\nhusbandmen, \"They will reverence My Son[6]?\"  \"But when the husbandmen\nsaw the Son, they said among themselves, This is the Heir, come, let us\nkill Him, and let us seize on His inheritance.  And they caught Him,\nand cast Him out of the vineyard, and slew Him.\"  Here, then, is an\nadditional circumstance of cruelty to affect us in Christ's history,\nsuch as is suggested in Joseph's, but which no instance of a brute\nanimal's or of a child's sufferings can have; our Lord was not only\nguiltless and defenceless, but He had come among His persecutors in\nlove.\n\n3. And now, instead of taking the case of the young, innocent, and\nconfiding, let us take another instance which will present to us our\nLord's passion under another aspect.  Let us suppose that some aged and\nvenerable person whom we have known as long as we could recollect any\nthing, and loved and reverenced, suppose such a one, who had often done\nus kindnesses, who had taught us, who had given us good advice, who had\nencouraged us, smiled on us, comforted us in trouble, whom we knew to\nbe very good and religious, very holy, full of wisdom, full of heaven,\nwith grey hairs and awful countenance, waiting for Almighty God's\nsummons to leave this world for a better place; suppose, I say, such a\none whom we have ourselves known, and whose memory is dear to us,\nrudely seized by fierce men, stripped naked in public, insulted, driven\nabout here and there, made a laughing-stock, struck, spit on, dressed\nup in other clothes in ridicule, then severely scourged on the back,\nthen laden with some heavy load till he could carry it no longer,\npulled and dragged about, and at last exposed with all his wounds to\nthe gaze of a rude multitude who came and jeered him, what would be our\nfeelings?  Let us in our mind think of this person or that, and\nconsider how we should be overwhelmed and pierced through and through\nby such a hideous occurrence.\n\nBut what is all this to the suffering of the holy Jesus, which we bear\nto read of as a matter of course!  Only think of Him, when in His\nwounded state, and without garment on.  He had to creep up the ladder,\nas He could, which led Him up the cross high enough for His murderers\nto nail Him to it, and consider _who_ it was that was in that misery.\nOr again, view Him dying, hour after hour bleeding to death; and how?\nin peace? no; with His arms stretched out, and His face exposed to\nview, and any one who pleased coming and staring at Him, mocking Him,\nand watching the gradual ebbing of His strength, and the approach of\ndeath.  These are some of the appalling details which the Gospels\ncontain, and surely they were not recorded for nothing, but that we\nmight dwell on them.\n\nDo you think that those who saw these things had much heart for eating\nor drinking or enjoying themselves?  On the contrary, we are told that\neven \"the people who came together to that sight, smote their breasts\nand returned[7].\"  If these were the feelings of the people, what were\nSt. John's feelings, or St. Mary Magdalene's, or St. Mary's, our Lord's\nblessed mother?  Do we desire to be of this company? do we desire,\naccording to His own promise, to be rather blessed than the womb that\nbare Him, and the paps that He sucked? do we desire to be as His\nbrother, and sister, and mother[8]?  Then, surely, ought we to have\nsome portion of that mother's sorrow!  When He was on the cross and she\nstood by, then, according to Simeon's prophecy, \"a sword pierced\nthrough her soul[9].\"  What is the use of our keeping the memory of His\ncross and passion, unless we lament and are in sorrow with her?  I can\nunderstand people who do not keep Good Friday at all; they are indeed\nvery ungrateful, but I know what they mean; I understand them.  But I\ndo not understand at all, I do not at all see what men mean who do\nprofess to keep it, yet do not sorrow, or at least try to sorrow.  Such\na spirit of grief and lamentation is expressly mentioned in Scripture\nas a characteristic of those who turn to Christ.  If then _we_ do not\nsorrow, have _we_ turned to Him?  \"I will pour upon the house of\nDavid,\" says the merciful Saviour Himself, before He came on earth,\nspeaking of what was to come, \"upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the\nspirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom\nthey have pierced, and they shall _mourn_, for Him, as one mourneth for\nhis only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in\nbitterness for his first-born[10].\"\n\nOne thing I will add:--if there be persons here present who are\nconscious to themselves that they do not feel the grief which this\nseason should cause them, who feel now as they do at other times, let\nthem consider with themselves whether perhaps this defect does not\narise from their having neglected to come to church, whether during\nthis season or at other times, as often as they might.  Our feelings\nare not in our own power; God alone can rule our feelings; God alone\ncan make us sorrow, when we would but cannot sorrow; but _will_ He, if\nwe have not diligently sought Him according to our opportunities in\nthis house of grace?  I speak of those who might come to prayers more\nfrequently, and do not.  I know well that many cannot come.  I speak of\nthose who can, if they will.  Even if they come as often as they are\nable, I know well they will not be _satisfied_ with their own feelings;\nthey will be conscious even then that they ought to grieve more than\nthey do; of course none of us feels the great event of this day as he\nought, and therefore we all _ought_ to be dissatisfied with ourselves.\nHowever, if this is not our own fault, we need not be out of heart, for\nGod will mercifully lead us forward in His own time; but if it arises\nfrom our not coming to prayers here as often as we might, then our\ncoldness and deadness _are_ our own fault, and I beg you all to\nconsider that that fault is not a slight one.  It is said in the Book\nof Revelation, \"Behold He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see\nHim, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth\nshall wail because of Him[11].\"  We, my brethren, every one of us,\nshall one day rise from our graves, and see Jesus Christ; we shall see\nHim who hung on the cross, we shall see His wounds, we shall see the\nmarks in His hands, and in His feet, and in His side.  Do we wish to be\nof those, then, who wail and lament, or of those who rejoice?  If we\nwould not lament at the sight of Him then, we must lament at the\nthought of Him now.  Let us prepare to meet our God; let us come into\nHis Presence whenever we can; let us try to fancy as if we saw the\nCross and Him upon it; let us draw near to it; let us beg Him to look\non us as He did on the penitent thief, and let us say to Him, \"Lord\nremember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom[12].\"\n\nLet this be added to the prayer, my brethren, with which you are about\nto leave this church.  After I have given the blessing, you will say to\nyourselves a short prayer.  Well; fancy you see Jesus Christ on the\ncross, and say to Him with the penitent thief, \"Lord, remember me when\nThou comest in Thy kingdom;\" that is, \"Remember me, Lord, in mercy,\nremember not my sins, but Thine own cross; remember Thine own\nsufferings, remember that Thou sufferedst for me, a sinner; remember in\nthe last day that I, during my lifetime, felt Thy sufferings, that I\nsuffered on my cross by Thy side.  Remember me then, and make me\nremember Thee now.\"\n\n\n\n[1] 1 Pet. i. 8; ii. 3.\n\n[2] Passion-tide.\n\n[3] 1 Pet. ii. 22, 23.\n\n[4] Ps. xxii. 6.\n\n[5] Gen. xxxvii. 19, 20.\n\n[6] Matt. xxi. 37-39.\n\n[7] Luke xxiii. 48.\n\n[8] Matt. xii. 46, &c.\n\n[9] Luke ii. 85.\n\n[10] Zech. xii. 10.\n\n[11] Rev. i. 7.\n\n[12] Luke xxiii. 42.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XI.\n\nAttendance on Holy Communion.\n\n\"_Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life._\"--John v. 40.\n\n\nSt. John tells us in to-day's Epistle[1] that \"God hath given unto us\neternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He that hath the Son hath\nlife, and he that hath not the Son hath not life.\"  Yet in the text the\nSon Himself, our Saviour, sorrowfully and solemnly expostulates with\nHis own brethren, \"Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.\"\n\"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.\"  We know from\nhistory, as a matter of fact, that they did not receive Him, that they\ndid not come to Him when He came to them; but He says in the text that\nthey would not come, that they did not wish to come, implying that\nthey, and none else but they, were the cause of their not coming.\n\nDoes it not seem a plain natural instinct that every one should seek\nhis own good?  What then is meant by this unwillingness to come for the\ngreatest of goods, life, an unwillingness, which, guided by the light\nof Scripture and by experience, we can confidently affirm to prevail at\nthis day as widely and as fully as in the age in which Christ said it?\n\nHere is no question of a comparison of good with good.  We cannot\naccount for this unconcern about Christ's gift, by alleging that we\nhave a sufficient treasure in our hands already, and therefore are not\ninterested by the news of a greater.  Far from it; for is not the world\ncontinually taking away its own gifts, whatever they are? and does it\nnot thereby bring home to us, does it not importunately press upon us,\nand weary us with the lesson of its own nothingness?  Do we not confess\nthat eternal life is the best of all conceivable gifts, before which\nnone other deserve to be mentioned? yet we live to the world.\n\nNay, and sin also warns us not to trust to its allurements; like the\nold prophet of Bethel, sin is forced to bear witness against itself,\nand in the name of the Lord to denounce the Lord's judgments upon us.\nWhile it seduces us, it stings us with remorse; and even when the sense\nof guilt is overcome, still the misery of sinning is inflicted on us in\nthe inward disappointments and the temporal punishments which commonly\nfollow upon transgression.  Yet we will not come unto Christ that we\nmay have life.\n\nFurther, it is not that God treats us as servants or slaves; He does\nnot put a burden on us above our strength: He does not repel us from\nHis Presence till we have prepared some offering to bring before Him,\nor have made some good progress in the way of life.  No, He has begun\nHis dealings with us with special, spontaneous acts of mercy.  He has,\nby an inconceivable goodness, sent His Son to be our life.  Far from\nasking any gift at our hands in the first instance, He has from our\ninfancy taken us in charge, and freely given us \"all things that\npertain unto life and godliness.\"  He has been urgent with us in the\nvery morning of our days, and by the fulness of His grace has\nanticipated the first stirrings of pride and lust, while as yet sin\nslept within us.  Is it not so?  What more could have been done for us?\nYet, in spite of all this, men will not come unto Him that they may\nhave life.\n\nSo strange is this, that thoughtful persons are sometimes tempted to\nsuppose that the mass of mankind do not sufficiently know what their\nduty is; that they need teaching, else they would be obedient.  And\nothers fancy that if the doctrines of the Gospel were set before them\nin a forcible or persuasive manner, this would serve as a means of\nrousing them to an habitual sense of their true state.  But ignorance\nis not the true cause why men will not come to Christ.\n\nWho are these willing outcasts from Christ's favour, of whom I speak?\nDo not think I say a strong thing, my brethren, when I tell you that I\nam speaking of some of those who now hear me.  Not that I dare draw the\nline any where, or imagine that I can give any rule for knowing for\ncertain, just who come to Him in heart and spirit, and who do not; but\nI am quite sure that many, who would shrink from giving up their\ninterest in the Gospel, and who profess to cast their lot with Christ,\nand to trust in His death for their salvation, nevertheless do not\nreally seek Him that they may have life, in spite of their fair\nspeeches.  This I say I am too well enabled to know, because in fact so\nit is, that He has shown us _how_ to come to Him, and I see that men do\n_not_ come to Him in that way which He has pointed out.  He has shown\nus, that to come to Him for life is a literal bodily action; not a mere\nfigure, not a mere movement of the heart towards Him, but an action of\nthe visible limbs; not a mere secret faith, but a coming to church, a\npassing on along the aisle to His holy table, a kneeling down there\nbefore Him, and a receiving of the gift of eternal life in the form of\nbread and wine.  There can be no mistaking His own appointment.  He\nsaid indeed, \"He that cometh to Me shall never hunger;\" but then He\nexplained what this coming was, by adding, \"He that eateth Me, even he\nshall live by Me.\"  If then a man does not seek Him where He is, there\nis no profit in seeking Him where He is not.  What is the good of\nsitting at home seeking Him, when His Presence is in the holy\nEucharist?  Such perverseness is like the sin of the Israelites who\nwent to seek for the manna at a time when it was not given.  May not He\nwho gives the gift, prescribe the place and mode of giving it?\n\nObserve how plain and cogent is the proof of what I have been saying.\nOur Lord declares, \"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and\ndrink His blood, ye have no life in you:\" no life, life being the gift\nHe offers in the text; also He says of the bread which He had broken,\n\"_This_ is My Body;\" and of the cup, \"_This_ is My Blood,\" is it not\nvery plain, then, that if we refuse to eat that Bread, and drink that\nCup, we are refusing to come unto Him that we may have life?\n\nThe true reason why people will not come to this Holy Communion is\nthis,--they do not wish to lead religious lives; they do not like to\npromise to lead religious lives; and they think that that blessed\nSacrament does bind them to do so, bind them to live very much more\nstrictly and thoughtfully than they do at present.  Allow as much as we\nwill for proper distrust of themselves, reasonable awe, the burden of\npast sin, imperfect knowledge, and other causes, still after all there\nis in most cases a reluctance to bear, or at least to pledge themselves\nto bear, Christ's yoke; a reluctance to give up the service of sin once\nfor all; a lingering love of their own ease, of their own will, of\nindolence, of carnal habits, of the good opinion of men whom they do\nnot respect; a distrust of their perseverance in holy resolves,\ngrounded on a misgiving about their present sincerity.  This is why men\nwill not come to Christ for life; they know that He will not impart\nHimself to them, unless they consent to devote themselves to Him.\n\nIn what way does He offer Himself to them in Holy Communion? through\nthe commands and sanctions of the Law.  First, we are warned against\nsecret sin, and called to self-examination; a week's preparation\nfollows, then, when the time of celebration is come, we hear the\nCommandments read, we are solemnly exhorted to put off every thing\nwhich may offend God; we confess our sins and our deep sorrow for them;\nlastly, after being admitted to the Sacrament, we expressly bind\nourselves to the service of our Lord and Saviour.  Doubtless _this_ it\nis which the unrenewed heart cannot bear, the very notion of giving up\nsin altogether and once for all.  And thus, though a gracious voice cry\never so distinctly from the altar, \"Come unto Me, and I will refresh\nyou;\" and though it be ever so true that this refreshment is nothing\nshort of life, eternal life, yet we recollect the words which follow,\n\"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me,\" and we forthwith murmur and\ncomplain, as if the gift were most ungracious, laden with conditions,\nand hardly purchased, merely because it is offered in that way in which\nalone a righteous Lord could offer it,--the way of righteousness.\n\nMen had rather give up the promise than implicate themselves in the\nthreats which surround it.  Bright and attractive as is the treasure\npresented to us in the Gospel, still the pearl of great price lies in\nits native depths, at the bottom of the ocean.  We see it indeed, and\nknow its worth; but not many dare plunge in to bring it thence.  What\nreward offered to the diver shall overcome the imminent peril of a\nfrightful death? and those who love sin, and whose very life consists\nin habits and practices short of religious, what promised prize can\nreconcile them to the certain destruction of what they delight in, the\nnecessary annihilation of all their most favourite indulgences and\nenjoyments which are contrary to the rule of the Gospel?  Let us not\nsuppose that any exhortations will induce such men to change their\nconduct; they confess the worth of the soul, their obligation to obey,\nand their peril if they do not; yet, for all this, the present\nsacrifice required of them is too much for them.  They may be told of\ntheir Lord's love for them, His self-denying mercy when on earth, His\nfree gifts, and His long-suffering since; they will not be influenced;\nand why? because the fault is in their heart; they do not like God's\nservice.  _They_ know full well what they would have, if they might\nchoose.  Christ is said to have done all things for us; \"Far from it,\"\nsay they, \"He is not a Mediator suited to our case.  Give life, give\nholiness, give truth, give a Saviour to deliver from sin; this is not\nenough: no, _we_ want a Saviour to deliver _in_ sin.  This is our need.\nIt is a small thing to offer us life, if it be in the way of God's\ncommandments; it is a mockery of our hopes to call that a free gift,\nwhich is, in fact, a heavy yoke.  We want to do nothing at all, and\nthen the gift will be free indeed.  If our hearts _must_ be changed to\nfit us for heaven, let them be changed, only let us have no trouble in\nthe work ourselves.  Let the change be part of the work done for us;\nlet us literally be clay in the hands of the potter; let us sleep, and\ndream, and wake in the morning new men; let us have no fear and\ntrembling, no working out salvation, no self-denial.  Let Christ\nsuffer, but be it ours to rejoice only.  What we wish is, to be at\nease; we wish to have every thing our own way; we wish to enjoy both\nthis world and the next; we wish to be happy all at once.  If the\nGospel promises this, we accept it; but if not, it is but a bondage, it\nhas no persuasiveness, it will receive no acceptance from us.\"  Such is\nthe language of men's hearts, though their tongues do not utter it;\nlanguage most unthankful, most profane, most sinful.\n\nThese reflections I recommend to the serious attention of those who\nlive in neglect of Holy Communion; but, alas! I must not quit the\nsubject without addressing some cautions to those who are in the\nobservance of it.  I would that none of us had need of cautions; but\nthe best of us is in warfare, and on his trial, and none of us can be\nthe worse for them.  I need not remind you, my brethren, that there is\na peril attached to the unworthy reception; for this is the very excuse\nwhich many plead for not receiving; but it often happens, as in other\nmatters also, that men have fears when they should not fear, and do not\nfear when they should fear.  A slight consideration will show this; for\nwhat is the danger in communicating? that of coming to it, as St. Paul\nimplies, _without_ fear.  It is evident then, that, in spite of what\nwas just now said, when persons are in danger of receiving it\nunworthily, they commonly do not really feel their danger; for their\nvery danger consists in their not fearing.  If they did truly and\nreligiously fear the blessed Sacrament, so far they would not be in\ndanger of an unworthy reception.\n\nNow it is plain when it is that persons are in danger of receiving it\nfearlessly and thoughtlessly; not when they receive it for the first\ntime, but when they have often received it, when they are in the habit\nof receiving it.  This is the dangerous time.\n\nWhen a Christian first comes to Holy Communion, he comes with awe and\nanxiety.  At least, I will not suppose the case of a person so little\nin earnest about his soul, and so profane, as to despise the ordinance\nwhen he first attends it.  Perhaps he has no clear doctrinal notion of\nthe sacred rite, but the very title of it, as the Sacrament of his\nLord's Body and Blood, suffices to make him serious.  Let us believe\nthat he examines himself, and prays for grace to receive the gift\nworthily; and he feels at the time of celebration and afterwards, that,\nhaving bound himself more strictly to a religious life, and received\nDivine influences, he has more to answer for.  But after he has\nrepeated his attendance several times, this fear and reverence wear\naway with the novelty.  As he begins to be familiar with the words of\nthe prayers, and the order of the Service, so does he both hear and\nreceive with less emotion and solemnity.  It is not that he is a worse\nman than he was at first, but he is exposed to a greater temptation to\nbe profane.  He had no deeper religious principle when he first\ncommunicated than he has now (probably not so deep), but his want of\nacquaintance with the Service kept him from irreverence, indifference,\nand wandering thoughts: but now this accidental safeguard is removed,\nand as he has not succeeded in acquiring any habitual reverence from\nformer seasons of communicating, and has no clear knowledge of the\nnature of the Sacrament to warn and check him, he is exposed to his own\nordinary hardness of heart and unbelief, in circumstances much more\nperilous than those in which they are ordinarily displayed.  If it is a\nsin to neglect God in the world, it is a greater sin to neglect Him in\nchurch.  Now is the time when he is in danger of not discerning the\nLord's Body, of receiving the gift of life as a thing of course,\nwithout awe, gratitude, and self-abasement.  And the more constant he\nis in his attendance at the sacred rite, the greater will be his risk;\nhis _risk_, I say; that is, if he neglects to be jealous over himself,\nto watch himself narrowly, and to condemn and hate in himself the\nfaintest risings of coldness and irreverence; for, of course, if he so\nacts, the less will be his risk, and the greater will be his security\nthat his heart will not betray him.  But I speak of those who are not\nsufficiently aware of their danger, and these are many.\n\nHere, too, let me mention another sin of a similar character into which\ncommunicants are apt to fall; _viz._ a forgetfulness, after\ncommunicating, that they have communicated.  Even when we resist the\ncoldness which frequent communion may occasion, and strive to possess\nour minds in as profound a seriousness as we felt when the rite was new\nto us, even then there is often a painful difference between our\nfeelings before we have attended it, and after.  We are diligent in\npreparation, we are careless in retrospect; we dismiss from our memory\nwhat we cherished in our expectations; we forget that we ever hoped and\nfeared.  But consider; when we have solemn thoughts about Holy\nCommunion only till we have come to it, what does this imply, but that\nwe imagine that we have received the benefit of it once for all, as a\nthing done and over, and that there is nothing more to seek?  This is\nbut a formal way of worshipping; as if we had wiped off a writing which\nwas against us, and there was an end of the matter.  But blessed are\nthose servants who are ever expecting Him, who is ever coming to them;\nwhether He come \"at even, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or in the\nmorning;\" whereas those who first come to Him for the gift of grace,\nand then neglect to wait for its progressive accomplishment in their\nhearts, how profanely they act! it is as if to receive the blessing in\nmockery, and then to cast it away.  Surely, after so great a privilege,\nwe ought to behave ourselves as if we had partaken some Divine food and\nmedicine (if great things may be compared to ordinary), which, in its\nown inscrutable way, and in its own good time, will \"prosper in the\nthing whereunto God sends it\"--the fruit of the tree of life which Adam\nforfeited, which had that virtue in it, that it was put out of his\nreach in haste, lest he should take and eat, and live for ever.  How\nearnest, then, should be our care lest this gracious treasure which we\ncarry within us should be lost by our own fault, by the unhealthy\nexcitements, or the listless indolence, to which our nature invites us!\n\"Quench not the Spirit,\" says the Apostle; surely our privilege is a\nburden heavy to bear, before it turn to a principle of life and\nstrength, till Christ be formed in us perfectly; and we the while, what\ncause have we to watch, and pray, and fulfil all righteousness, till\nthe day dawn, and the day-star arise in our hearts!\n\nNor let us suppose that by once or twice seeking God in this gracious\nordinance, we can secure the gift for ever; \"Seek the Lord and His\nstrength, seek His face evermore.\"  The bread which comes down from\nheaven is like the manna, \"_daily_ bread,\" and that \"till He come,\"\ntill His \"kingdom come.\"  In His coming at the end of the world, all\nour wishes and prayers rest and are accomplished; and in His present\ncommunion we have a stay and consolation meanwhile, joining together\nthe past and future, reminding us that He has come once, and promising\nus that He will come again.  Who can live any time in the world,\npleasant as it may seem on first entering it, without discovering that\nit is a weariness, and that if this life is worth any thing, it is\nbecause it is the passage to another?  It needs no great religion to\nfeel this; it is a self-evident truth to those who have much experience\nof the world.  The only reason why all do not feel it is, that they\nhave not lived long enough to feel it; and those who feel it more than\nothers, have but been thrown into circumstances to feel it more.  But\nwhile the times wax old, and the colours of earth fade, and the voice\nof song is brought low, and all kindreds of the earth can but wail and\nlament, the sons of God lift up their heads, for their salvation\ndraweth nigh.  Nature fails, the sun shines not, and the moon is dim,\nthe stars fall from heaven, and the foundations of the round world\nshake; but the Altar's light burns ever brighter; there are sights\nthere which the many cannot see, and all above the tumults of earth the\ncommand is heard to show forth the Lord's death, and the promise that\nthe Lord is coming.\n\n\"Happy are the people that are in such a case!\" who, when wearied of\nthe things seen, can turn with good hope to the things unseen; yea,\n\"blessed are the people who have the Lord for their God!\"  \"Come unto\nMe,\" He says, \"all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give\nyou rest.\"  Rest is better than toil; peace satisfies, and quietness\ndisappoints not.  These are sure goods.  Such is the calm of the\nheavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all; and such is their\ncalm worship, the foretaste, of heaven, who for a season shut\nthemselves out from the world, and seek Him in invisible Presence, whom\nthey shall hereafter see face to face.\n\n\n\n[1] First Sunday after Easter.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XII.\n\nThe Gospel Feast\n\n\"_When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto\nHim, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may\neat?_\"--John vi. 5.\n\n\nAfter these words the Evangelist adds, \"And this He said to prove him,\nfor He Himself knew what He would do.\"  Thus, you see, our Lord had\nsecret meanings when He spoke, and did not bring forth openly all His\ndivine sense at once.  He knew what He was about to do from the first,\nbut He wished to lead forward His disciples, and to arrest and open\ntheir minds, before He instructed them: for all cannot receive His\nwords, and on the blind and deaf the most sacred truths fall without\nprofit.\n\nAnd thus, throughout the course of His gracious dispensations from the\nbeginning, it may be said that the Author and Finisher of our faith has\nhid things from us in mercy, and listened to our questionings, while He\nHimself knew what He was about to do.  He has hid, in order afterwards\nto reveal, that then, on looking back on what He said and did before,\nwe may see in it what at the time we did not see, and thereby see it to\nmore profit.  Thus He hid Himself from the disciples as He walked with\nthem to Emmaus; thus Joseph, too, under different and yet similar\ncircumstances, hid himself from his brethren.\n\nWith this thought in our minds, surely we seem to see a new and further\nmeaning still, in the narrative before us.  Christ spoke of buying\nbread, when He intended to create or make bread; but did He not, in\nthat bread which He made, intend further that Heavenly bread which is\nthe salvation of our souls?--for He goes on to say, \"Labour not for the\nmeat\" or food \"which perisheth, but for that food which endureth unto\neverlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you.\"  Yes,\nsurely the wilderness is the world, and the Apostles are His priests,\nand the multitudes are His people; and that feast, so suddenly, so\nunexpectedly provided, is the Holy Communion.  He alone is the same.\nHe the provider of the loaves then, of the heavenly manna now.  All\nother things change, but He remaineth.\n\nAnd what is that Heavenly Feast which we now are vouchsafed, but in its\nown turn the earnest and pledge of that future feast in His Father's\nkingdom, when \"the marriage of the Lamb shall come, and His wife hath\nmade herself ready,\" and \"holy Jerusalem cometh down from God out of\nheaven,\" and \"blessed shall they be who shall eat bread in the kingdom\nof God\"?\n\nAnd further, since to that Feast above we do lift up our eyes, though\nit will not come till the end; and as we do not make remembrance of it\nonce only, but continually, in the sacred rite which foreshadows it;\ntherefore, in like manner, not in the miracle of the loaves only,\nthough in that especially, but in all parts of Scripture, in history,\nand in precept, and in promise, and in prophecy, is it given us to see\nthe Gospel Feast typified and prefigured, and that immortal and\nnever-failing Supper in the visible presence of the Lamb which will\nfollow upon it at the end.  And if they are blessed who shall eat and\ndrink of that table in the kingdom, so too blessed are they who\nmeditate upon it, and hope for it now,--who read Scripture with it in\ntheir thoughts, and endeavour to look beneath the veil of the literal\ntext, and to catch a sight of the gleams of heavenly light which are\nbehind it.  \"Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for\nthey hear; for verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous\nmen have desired to see those things which ye see, but have not seen\nthem; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.\"\n\"Blessed are they which have not seen, and yet have believed.\"  Blessed\nthey who see in and by believing, and who have, because they doubt not.\nLet us, then, at this time of year[1], as is fitting, follow the train\nof thought thus opened upon us, and, looking back into the Sacred\nVolume, trace the intimations and promises there given of that sacred\nand blessed Feast of Christ's Body and Blood which it is our privilege\nnow to enjoy till the end come.\n\nNow the Old Testament, as we know, is full of figures and types of the\nGospel; types various, and, in their literal wording, contrary to each\nother, but all meeting and harmoniously fulfilled in Christ and His\nChurch.  Thus the histories of the Israelites in the wilderness, and of\nthe Israelites when settled in Canaan, alike are ours, representing our\npresent state as Christians.  Our Christian life is a state of faith\nand trial; it is also a state of enjoyment.  It has the richness of the\npromised land; it has the marvellousness of the desert.  It is a \"good\nland, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring\nout of vallies and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and\nfig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil, olive, and honey; a land\nwherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; thou shalt not lack\nany thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills\nthou mayest dig brass.\"  And, on the other hand, it is still a land\nwhich to the natural man seems a wilderness, a \"great and terrible\nwilderness, wherein are fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought,\nwhere there is no water;\" where faith is still necessary, and where,\nstill more forcibly than in the case of Israel, the maxim holds, that\n\"man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out\nof the mouth of the Lord doth man live.\"\n\nThis is the state in which we are,--a state of faith and of possession.\nIn the desert the Israelites lived by the signs of things, without the\nrealities: manna was to stand for the corn, oil, and honey, of the good\nland promised; water, for the wine and milk.  It was a time for faith\nto exercise itself; and when they came into the promised land, then was\nthe time of possession.  That was the land of milk and honey; they\nneeded not any divinely provided compensations or expedients.  Manna\nwas not needed, nor the pillar of the cloud, nor the water from the\nrock.  But we Christians, on the contrary, are at once in the\nwilderness and in the promised land.  In the wilderness, because we\nlive amid wonders; in the promised land, because we are in a state of\nenjoyment.  That we are in the state of enjoyment is surely certain,\nunless all the prophecies have failed; and that we are in a state in\nwhich faith alone has that enjoyment, is plain from the fact that God's\ngreat blessings are not seen, and in that the Apostle says, \"We walk by\nfaith, not by sight.\"  In a word, we are in a super-natural state,--a\nword which implies both its greatness and its secretness: for what is\nabove nature, is at once not seen, and is more precious than what is\nseen; \"the things which are seen are temporal, the things which are not\nseen are eternal.\"\n\nAnd if our state altogether is parallel to that of the Israelites, as\nan antitype to its type, it is natural to think that so great a gift as\nHoly Communion would not be without its appropriate figures and symbols\nin the Old Testament.  All that our Saviour has done is again and again\nshadowed out in the Old Testament; and this, therefore, it is natural\nto think, as well as other things: His miraculous birth, His life, His\nteaching, His death, His priesthood, His sacrifice, His resurrection,\nHis glorification, His kingdom, are again and again prefigured: it is\nnot reasonable to suppose that if this so great gift is really given\nus, it should be omitted.  He who died for us, is He who feeds us; and\nas His death is mentioned, so we may beforehand expect will be\nmentioned the feast He gives us.  Not openly indeed, for neither is His\ndeath nor His priesthood taught openly, but covertly, under the types\nof David or Aaron, or other favoured servants of God; and in like\nmanner we might expect, and we shall find, the like reverent allusions\nto His most gracious Feast,--allusions which we should not know to _be_\nallusions but for the event; just as we should not know that Solomon,\nAaron, or Samuel, stood for Christ at all, except that the event\nexplains the figure.  When Abraham said to Isaac, \"God will provide\nHimself a lamb for a burnt offering,\" who can doubt this is a prophecy\nconcerning Christ?--yet we are nowhere told it in Scripture.  The case\nis the same as regards the Sacrament of Baptism.  Now that it is given,\nwe cannot doubt that the purifications of the Jews, Naaman's bathing,\nand the prophecy of a fountain being opened for sin and all\nuncleanness, have reference to it, as being the visible fulfilment of\nthe great spiritual cleansing: and St. Peter expressly affirms this of\nthe Deluge, and St. Paul of the passage of the Red Sea.  And in like\nmanner passages in the Bible, which speak prophetically of the Gospel\nFeast, cannot but refer (if I may so speak) to the Holy Sacrament of\nthe Lord's Supper, as being, in fact, the Feast given us under the\nGospel.\n\nAnd let it be observed, directly we know that we have this great gift,\nand that the Old Testament history prefigures it, we have a light\nthrown upon what otherwise is a difficulty; for, it may be asked with\nsome speciousness, whether the Jews were not in a higher state of\nprivilege than we Christians, until we take this gift into account.  It\nmay be objected that our blessings are all future or distant,--the hope\nof eternal life, which is to be fulfilled hereafter, God's forgiveness,\nwho is in heaven: what do we gain now and here above the Jews?  God\nloved the Jews, and He _gave_ them something; He gave them present\ngifts; the Old Testament is full of the description of them; He gave\nthem \"the precious things of heaven, and the dew, and the deep that\ncoucheth beneath, and precious things brought forth by the sun, and by\nthe moon, and the chief things of the ancient mountains, and the\nprecious things of the lasting hills, and the precious things of the\nearth, and the fulness thereof,\" \"honey out of the rock, and oil out of\nthe flinty rock, butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs,\nand rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of\nwheat, and the pure blood of the grape[2].\"  These were present real\nblessings.  What has He given _us?--nothing_ in possession? _all_ in\npromise?  This, I say, is in itself not likely, it is not likely that\nHe should so reverse His system, and make the Gospel inferior to the\nLaw.  But the knowledge of the great gift under consideration clears up\nthis perplexity; for every passage in the Old Testament which speaks of\nthe temporal blessings given by God to His ancient people, instead of\nconveying to us a painful sense of destitution, and exciting our\njealousy, reminds us of our greater blessedness; for every passage\nwhich belongs to them is fulfilled now in a higher sense to us.  We\nhave no need to envy them.  God did not take away their blessings,\nwithout giving us greater.  The Law was not so much taken away, as the\nGospel given.  The Gospel supplanted the Law.  The Law went out by the\nGospel's coming in.  Only our blessings are not seen; _therefore_ they\nare higher, _because_ they are unseen.  Higher blessings could not be\nvisible.  How could spiritual blessings be visible ones?  If Christ now\nfeeds us, not with milk and honey, but \"with the spiritual food of His\nmost precious Body and Blood;\" if \"our sinful bodies are made clean by\nHis Body, and our souls washed through His most precious Blood,\" truly\nwe are not without our precious things, any more than Israel was: but\nthey are unseen, because so much greater, so spiritual; they are given\nonly under the veil of what is seen: and thus we Christians are both\nwith the Church in the wilderness as regards faith, and in the Church\nin Canaan as regards enjoyment; having the fulfilment of the words\nspoken by Moses, repeated by our Lord, to which I just now referred,\n\"Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word which proceedeth\nout of the mouth of God.\"\n\nNow, then, I will refer to some passages of both the Old Testament and\nthe New, which both illustrate and are illustrated by this great\ndoctrine of the Gospel.\n\n1. And, first, let it be observed, from the beginning, the greatest\nrite of religion has been a feast; the partaking of God's bounties, in\nthe way of nature, has been consecrated to a more immediate communion\nwith God Himself.  For instance, when Isaac was weaned, Abraham \"made a\ngreat feast[3],\" and then it was that Sarah prophesied; \"Cast out this\nbondwoman and her son,\" she said, prophesying the introduction of the\nspirit, grace, and truth, which the Gospel contains, instead of the\nbondage of the outward forms of the Law.  Again, it was at a feast of\nsavoury meat that the spirit of prophecy came upon Isaac, and he\nblessed Jacob.  In like manner the first beginning of our Lord's\nmiracles was at a marriage feast, when He changed water into wine; and\nwhen St. Matthew was converted he entertained our Lord at a feast.  At\na feast, too, our Lord allowed the penitent woman to wash with tears\nand anoint His feet, and pronounced her forgiveness; and at a feast,\nbefore His passion, He allowed Mary to anoint them with costly\nointment, and to wipe them with her hair.  Thus with our Lord, and with\nthe Patriarchs, a feast was a time of grace; so much so, that He was\nsaid by the Pharisees to come eating and drinking, to be \"a winebibber\nand gluttonous, a friend of publicans and sinners[4].\"\n\n2. And next, in order to make this feasting still more solemn, it had\nbeen usual at all times to precede it by a direct act of religion,--by\na prayer, or blessing, or sacrifice, or by the presence of a priest,\nwhich implied it.  Thus, when Melchizedek came out to meet Abraham, and\n_bless_ him, \"he brought forth bread and wine[5],\" to which it is\nadded, \"and he was the priest of the Most High God.\"  Such, too, was\nthe lamb of the Passover, which was eaten roast with fire, and with\nunleavened bread, and bitter herbs, with girded loins and shoes on, and\nstaff in hand; as the Lord's Passover, being a solemn religious feast,\neven if not a sacrifice.  And such seems to have been the common notion\nof communion with God all the world over, however it was gained; viz.\nthat we arrived at the possession of His invisible gifts by\nparticipation in His visible, that there was some mysterious connexion\nbetween the seen and the unseen; and that, by setting aside the\nchoicest of His earthly bounties, as a specimen and representative of\nthe whole, presenting it to Him for His blessing, and then taking,\neating, and appropriating it, we had the best hope of gaining those\nunknown and indefinite gifts which human nature needs.  This the\nheathen practised towards their idols also; and St. Paul seems to\nacknowledge that in that way they did communicate, though most\nmiserably and fearfully, with those idols, and with the evil spirits\nwhich they represented.  \"The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they\nsacrifice to devils, and not to God; and I would not that ye should\nhold communion with devils[6].\"  Here, as before, a feast is spoken of\nas the means of communicating with the unseen world, though, when the\nfeast was idolatrous, it was the fellowship of evil spirits.\n\n3. And next let this be observed, that the descriptions in the Old\nTestament of the perfect state of religious privilege, viz. that under\nthe Gospel which was then to come, are continually made under the image\nof a feast, a feast of some special and choice goods of this world,\ncorn, wine, and the like; goods of this world chosen from the mass as a\nspecimen of all, as types and means of seeking, and means of obtaining,\nthe unknown spiritual blessings, which \"eye hath not seen nor ear\nheard.\"  And these special goods of nature, so set apart, are more\nfrequently than any thing else, corn or bread, and wine, as the figures\nof what was greater, though others are mentioned also.  Now the first\nof these of which we read is the fruit of the tree of life, the leaves\nof which are also mentioned in the prophets.  The tree of life was that\ntree in the garden of Eden, the eating of which would have made Adam\nimmortal; a divine gift lay hid in an outward form.  The prophet\nEzekiel speaks of it afterwards in the following words, showing that a\nsimilar blessing was in store for the redeemed;--\"By the river, upon\nthe bank thereof, on this side, and on that side, shall grow all trees\nfor meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be\nconsumed.  It shall bring forth new fruits according to his months,\nbecause their waters they issued out of the sanctuary; and the fruit\nthereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine[7].\"  Like\nto which is St. John's account of the tree of life, \"which bare twelve\nmanner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of\nthe tree were for the healing of the nations[8].\"  And hence we read in\nthe Canticles of the apple-tree, and of sitting down under its shadow,\nand its fruit being sweet to the taste.  Here then in type is signified\nthe sacred gift of which I am speaking; and yet it has not seemed good\nto the gracious Giver literally to select fruit or leaves as the means\nof His invisible blessings.  He might have spiritually fed us with\nsuch, had He pleased--for man liveth not by bread only, but by the word\nof His mouth.  His Word might have made the fruit of the tree His\nSacrament, but He has willed otherwise.\n\nThe next selection of gifts of the earth which we find in Scripture, is\nthe very one which He at length fixed on, bread and wine, as in the\nhistory of Melchizedek; and there the record stands as a prophecy of\nwhat was to be: for who is Melchizedek but our Lord and Saviour, and\nwhat is the Bread and Wine but the very feast which He has ordained?\n\nNext the great gift was shadowed out in the description of the promised\nland, which was said to flow with milk and honey, and in all those\nother precious things of nature which I have already recounted as\nbelonging to the promised land, oil, butter, corn, wine, and the like.\nThese all may be considered to refer to the Gospel feast typically,\nbecause they were the rarest and most exquisite of the blessings given\nto the Jews, as the Gospel Feast is the most choice and most sacred of\nall the blessings given to us Christians; and what is most precious\nunder the one Dispensation is signified by what is most precious under\nthe other.\n\nNow let us proceed to the Prophets, and we shall find the like\nanticipation of the Gospel Feast.\n\nFor instance, you recollect, the prophet Hosea says: \"It shall come to\npass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens,\nand they shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn, and\nthe wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel.  And I will sow her\nunto Me in the earth[9].\"  By Jezreel is meant the Christian Church;\nand the Prophet declares in God's name, that the time was to come when\nthe Church would call upon the corn, wine, and oil, and they would call\non the earth, and the earth on the heavens, and the heavens on God; and\nGod should answer the heavens, and the heavens should answer the earth,\nand the earth should answer the corn, wine, and oil, and they should\nanswer to the wants of the Church.  Now, doubtless, this may be\nfulfilled only in a general way; but considering Almighty God has\nappointed corn or bread, and wine, to be the special instruments of His\nineffable grace,--He, who sees the end from the beginning, and who\nviews all things in all their relations at once,--He, when He spoke of\ncorn and wine, knew that the word would be fulfilled, not generally\nonly, but even literally in the Gospel.\n\nAgain: the prophet Joel says, \"It shall come to pass in that day that\nthe mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with\nmilk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a\nfountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the\nvalley of Shittim[10].\"  How strikingly is this fulfilled, if we take\nit to apply to what God has given us in the Gospel, in the feast of the\nHoly Communion!\n\nAgain: the prophet Amos says: \"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,\nwhen the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes\nhim that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all\nthe hills shall melt[11];\" that is, with God's marvellous grace,\nwhereby He gives us gifts new and wonderful.\n\nAnd the prophet Isaiah: \"In this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make\nunto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees; of\nfat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.\"  And\nagain: \"Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine\nenemies, and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the\nwhich thou hast laboured; but they that have gathered it shall eat it,\nand praise the Lord, and they that have brought it together shall drink\nit in the courts of My holiness.\"  And again: \"Behold My servants shall\neat, but ye shall be hungry; behold My servants shall drink, but ye\nshall be thirsty[12].\"\n\nAgain: the prophet Jeremiah says: \"They shall come and sing in the\nheight of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord,\nfor wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock\nand of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they\nshall not sorrow any more at all. . .  And I will satiate the soul of\nthe priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My\ngoodness, saith the Lord[13].\"\n\nAnd the prophet Zechariah: \"How great is His goodness, and how great is\nHis beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the\nmaids[14].\"\n\nAnd under a different image, but with the same general sense, the\nprophet Malachi: \"From the rising of the sun even unto the going down\nof the same, My Name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every\nplace incense shall be offered unto My Name, and a pure offering, for\nMy Name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts[15].\"\n\nFurther, if the Psalms are intended for Christian worship, as surely\nthey are, the Prophetic Spirit, who inspired them, saw that they too\nwould in various places describe that sacred Christian feast, which we\nfeel they do describe; and surely we may rightly call this coincidence\nbetween the ordinance in the Christian Church and the form of words in\nthe Psalms, a mark of design.  For instance: \"Thou shalt prepare a\nTable before me against them that trouble me.  Thou hast anointed my\nhead with oil, and my Cup shall be full.\"  \"I will wash my hands in\ninnocency, O Lord, and so will I go to Thine Altar.\"  \"O send out Thy\nlight and Thy truth, that they may lead me, and bring me unto Thy holy\nhill, and to Thy dwelling; and that I may go unto the Altar of God,\neven unto the God of my joy and gladness.\"  \"The children of men shall\nput their trust under the shadow of Thy wings.  They shall be satisfied\nwith the plenteousness of Thy house, and Thou shalt give them drink of\nThy pleasures as out of the river.  For with Thee is the well of life,\nand in Thy light shall we see light.\"  \"Blessed is the man whom Thou\nchoosest and receivest unto Thee; he shall dwell in Thy court, and\nshall be satisfied with the pleasures of Thy house, even of Thy Holy\nTemple.\"  \"My soul shall be satisfied, even as it were with marrow and\nfatness, when my mouth praiseth Thee with joyful lips . . . because\nThou hast been my helper, therefore under the shadow of Thy wings will\nI rejoice[16].\"\n\nThe same wonderful feast is put before us in the book of Proverbs,\nwhere Wisdom stands for Christ.  \"Wisdom hath builded her house,\" that\nis, Christ has built His Church, \"she hath hewn out her seven pillars,\nshe hath killed her beasts, she hath mingled her wine (that is, Christ\nhas prepared His Supper), she hath also furnished her table (that is,\nthe Lord's Table), she hath sent forth her maidens (that is, the\npriests of the Lord), she crieth upon the highest places of the city.\nWhoso is simple, let him turn in hither; as for him that wanteth\nunderstanding, she saith to him.  Come, eat of My Bread and drink of\nthe Wine which I have mingled[17],\"--which is like saying, \"Come unto\nMe all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will refresh you.\"\nLike which are the prophet Isaiah's words; \"Ho, every one that\nthirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye\nbuy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without\nprice[18].\"  And such too is the description in the book of Canticles:\n\"The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the\ntender grapes give a good smell\" . . . .  \"Until the day break and the\nshadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the\nhill of frankincense\" . . .  \"I have gathered My myrrh with My spice, I\nhave eaten My honeycomb with My honey, I have drunk My wine with My\nmilk; eat, O friends, drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved[19]!\"  In\nconnexion with such passages as these should be observed St. Paul's\nwords, which seem from the antithesis to be an allusion to the same\nmost sacred Ordinance: \"Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but\nbe filled with the Spirit,\" with that new wine which God the Holy\nSpirit ministers in the Supper of the Great King.\n\nGod grant that we may be able ever to come to this Blessed Sacrament\nwith feelings suitable to the passages which I have read concerning it!\nMay we not regard it in a cold, heartless way, and keep at a distance\nfrom fear, when we should rejoice!  May the spirit of the unprofitable\nservant never be ours, who looked at his lord as a hard master instead\nof a gracious benefactor!  May we not be in the number of those who go\non year after year, and never approach Him at all!  May we not be of\nthose who went, one to his farm, another to his merchandise, when they\nwere called to the wedding!  Nor let us be of those, who come in a\nformal, mechanical way, as a mere matter of obligation, without\nreverence, without awe, without wonder, without love.  Nor let us fall\ninto the sin of those who complained that they have nothing to gather\nbut the manna, wearying of God's gifts.\n\nBut let us come in faith and hope, and let us say to ourselves, May\nthis be the beginning to us of everlasting bliss!  May these be the\nfirst-fruits of that banquet which is to last for ever and ever; ever\nnew, ever transporting, inexhaustible, in the city of our God!\n\n\n\n[1] Easter.\n\n[2] Deut. xxxii. 13; xxxiii. 13-15.\n\n[3] Gen. xxi. 10.\n\n[4] Matt. xi. 19.  Luke vii. 34.\n\n[5] Gen. xiv. 18.\n\n[6] 1 Cor. x. 20.\n\n[7] Ezek. xlvii. 12.\n\n[8] Rev. xxii. 2.\n\n[9] Hos. ii. 21-23.\n\n[10] Joel iii. 18.\n\n[11] Amos ix. 13.\n\n[12] Isa. xxv. 6; lxii. 8, 9, lxv. 13.\n\n[13] Jer. xxxi. 12-14.\n\n[14] Zech. ix. 17.\n\n[15] Mal. i. 11.\n\n[16] Ps. xxiii. 5; xxvi. 6; xxxvi. 7-9; xliii. 3, 4, lxv. 4; lxiii. 6-8.\n\n[17] Prov. ix. 1-5.\n\n[18] Isa. lv. 1.\n\n[19] Cant. ii. 13; iv. 6; v. 1\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XIII.\n\nLove of Religion, a New Nature.\n\n\"_If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with\nHim._\"--Romans vi. 8.\n\n\nTo be dead with Christ, is to hate and turn from sin; and to live with\nHim, is to have our hearts and minds turned towards God and Heaven.  To\nbe dead to sin, is to feel a disgust at it.  We know what is meant by\ndisgust.  Take, for instance, the case of a sick man, when food of a\ncertain kind is presented to him,--and there is no doubt what is meant\nby disgust.  Consider how certain scents, which are too sweet or too\nstrong, or certain tastes, affect certain persons under certain\ncircumstances, or always,--and you will be at no loss to determine what\nis meant by disgust at sin, or deadness to sin.  On the other hand,\nconsider how pleasant a meal is to the hungry, or some enlivening odour\nto the faint, how refreshing the air is to the languid, or the brook to\nthe weary and thirsty,--and you will understand the sort of feeling\nwhich is implied in being alive with Christ, alive to religion, alive\nto the thought of heaven.  Our animal powers cannot exist in all\natmospheres; certain airs are poisonous, others life-giving.  So is it\nwith spirits and souls: an unrenewed spirit could not live in heaven,\nhe would die; an Angel could not live in hell.  The natural man cannot\nlive in heavenly company, and the angelic soul would pine and waste\naway in the company of sinners, unless God's sacred presence were\ncontinued to it.  To be dead to sin, is to be so minded, that the\natmosphere of sin (if I may so speak) oppresses, distresses, and\nstifles us,--that it is painful and unnatural to us to remain in it.\nTo be alive with Christ, is to be so minded, that the atmosphere of\nheaven refreshes, enlivens, stimulates, invigorates us.  To be alive,\nis not merely to bear the thought of religion, to assent to the truth\nof religion, to wish to be religious; but to be drawn towards it, to\nlove it, to delight in it, to obey it.  Now I suppose most persons\ncalled Christians do not go farther than this,--to wish to be\nreligious, and to think it right to be religious, and to feel a respect\nfor religious men; they do not get so far as to have any sort of love\nfor religion.\n\nSo far, however, they do go; not, indeed, to do their duty and to love\nit, but to have a sort of wish that they did.  I suppose there are few\npersons but, at the very least, now and then feel the wish to be holy\nand religious.  They bear witness to the excellence of virtuous and\nholy living, they consent to all that their teachers tell them, what\nthey hear in church, and read in religious books; but all this is a\nvery different thing from acting according to their knowledge.  They\nconfess one thing, they do another.\n\nNay, they confess one thing _while_ they do another.  Even\nsinners,--wilful, abandoned sinners,--if they would be honest enough to\nspeak as they really in their hearts feel, would own, while they are\nindulging in the pleasures of sin, while they idle away the Lord's Day,\nor while they keep bad company, or while they lie or cheat, or while\nthey drink to excess, or do any other bad thing,--they would confess, I\nsay, did they speak their minds, that it is a far happier thing, even\nat present, to live in obedience to God, than in obedience to Satan.\nNot that sin has not its pleasures, such as they are; I do not mean, of\ncourse, to deny that,--I do not deny that Satan is able to give us\nsomething in exchange for future and eternal happiness; I do not say\nthat irreligious men do not gain pleasures, which religious men are\nobliged to lose.  I know they do; if they did not, there would be\nnothing to tempt and try us.  But, after all, the pleasures which the\nservants of Satan enjoy, though pleasant, are always attended with pain\ntoo; with a bitterness, which, though it does not destroy the pleasure,\nyet is by itself sufficient to make it far less pleasant, even while it\nlasts, than such pleasures as are without such bitterness, viz. the\npleasures of religion.  This, then, alas! is the state of multitudes;\nnot to be dead to sin and alive to God, but, while they are alive to\nsin and the world, to have just so much sense of heaven, as not to be\nable to enjoy either.\n\nI say, when any one, man or woman, young or old, is conscious that he\nor she is going wrong, whether in greater matter or less, whether in\nnot coming to church when there is no good excuse, neglecting private\nprayer, living carelessly, or indulging in known sin,--this bad\nconscience is from time to time a torment to such persons.  For a\nlittle while, perhaps, they do not feel it but then the pain comes on\nagain.  It is a keen, harassing, disquieting, hateful pain, which\nhinders sinners from being happy.  They _may_ have pleasures, but they\ncannot be _happy_.  They know that God is angry with them; and they\nknow that, at some time or other, He will visit, He will judge, He will\npunish.  They try to get this out of their minds, but the arrow sticks\nfast there; it keeps its hold.  They try to laugh it off, or to be bold\nand daring, or to be angry and violent.  They are loud or unkind in\ntheir answers to those, who remind them of it either in set words, or\nby their example.  But it keeps its hold.  And so it is, that all men\nwho are not very abandoned, bad men as well as good, wish that they\nwere holy as God is holy, pure as Christ was pure, even though they do\nnot try to be, or pray to God to make them, holy and pure; not that\nthey _like_ religion, but that they know, they are convinced in their\nreason, they feel sure, that religion alone is happiness.\n\nOh, what a dreadful state, to have our desires one way, and our\nknowledge and conscience another; to have our life, our breath and\nfood, upon the earth, and our eyes upon Him who died once and now\nliveth; to look upon Him who once was pierced, yet not to rise with Him\nand live with Him; to feel that a holy life is our only happiness, yet\nto have no heart to pursue it; to be certain that the wages of sin is\ndeath, yet to practise sin; to confess that the Angels alone are\nperfectly happy, for they do God's will perfectly, yet to prepare\nourselves for nothing else but the company of devils; to acknowledge\nthat Christ is our only hope, yet deliberately to let that hope go!  O\nmiserable state! miserable they, if any there are who now hear me, who\nare thus circumstanced!\n\nAt first sight, it might seem impossible that any such persons could be\nfound in church.  At first sight, one might be tempted to say, \"All who\ncome to church, at least, are in earnest, and have given up sin; they\nare imperfect indeed, as all Christians are at best, but they do not\nfall into wilful sin.\"  I should be very glad, my Brethren, to believe\nthis were the case, but I cannot indulge so pleasant a hope.  No; I\nthink it quite certain that some persons at least, I do not say how\nmany, to whom I am speaking, have not made up their minds fully to lead\na religious life.  They come to church because they think it right, or\nfrom other cause.  It is very right that they should come; I am glad\nthey do.  This is good, as far as it goes; but it is not all.  They are\nnot so far advanced in the kingdom of God, as to resist the devil, or\nto flee from him.  They cannot command themselves.  They act rightly\none day, and wrongly the next.  They are afraid of being laughed at.\nThey are attracted by bad company.  They put off religion to a future\nday.  They think a religious life dull and unpleasant.  Yet they have a\ncertain sense of religion; and they come to church in order to satisfy\nthis sense.  Now, I say it is right to come to church; but, O that they\ncould be persuaded of the simple truth of St. Paul's words, \"He is not\na Jew which is one outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly;\nand circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, and not in the\nletter, whose praise is not of men, but of God[1];\" which may be taken\nto mean:--He is not a Christian who is one outwardly, who merely comes\nto church, and professes to desire to be saved by Christ.  It is very\nright that he should do so, but it is not enough.  He is not a\nChristian who merely has not cast off religion, but he is the true\nChristian, who, while he is a Christian outwardly, is one inwardly\nalso; who lives to God; whose secret life is hid with Christ in God;\nwhose heart is religious; who not only knows and feels that a religious\nlife is true happiness, but loves religion, wishes, tries, prays to be\nreligious, begs God Almighty to give him the will and the power to be\nreligious; and, as time goes on, grows more and more religious, more\nfit for heaven.\n\nWe can do nothing right, unless God gives us the will and the power; we\ncannot please Him without the aid of His Holy Spirit.  If any one does\nnot deeply feel this as a first truth in religion, he is preparing for\nhimself a dreadful fall.  He will attempt, and he will fail signally,\nutterly.  His own miserable experience will make him sure of it, if he\nwill not believe it, as Scripture declares it.  But it is not unlikely\nthat some persons, perhaps some who now hear me, may fall into an\nopposite mistake.  They may attempt to excuse their lukewarmness and\nsinfulness, on the plea that God does not inwardly move them; and they\nmay argue that those holy men whom they so much admire, those saints\nwho are to sit on Christ's right and left, are of different nature from\nthemselves, sanctified from their mother's womb, visited, guarded,\nrenewed, strengthened, enlightened in a peculiar way, so as to make it\nno wonder that they _are_ saints, and no fault that they themselves are\nnot.  But this is not so; let us not thus miserably deceive ourselves.\nSt. Paul says expressly of himself and the other Apostles, that they\nwere \"men of like passions\" with the poor ignorant heathen to whom they\npreached.  And does not his history show this?  Do you not recollect\nwhat he was before his conversion?  Did he not rage like a beast of\nprey against the disciples of Christ? and how was he converted? by the\nvision of our Lord?  Yes, in one sense, but not by it alone; hear his\nown words, \"Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not _disobedient_ unto the\nheavenly vision.\"  His obedience was necessary for his conversion; he\ncould not obey without grace; but he would have received grace in vain,\nhad he not obeyed.  And, afterwards, was he at once perfect?  No; for\nhe says expressly, \"not as though I had already attained, either were\nalready perfect;\" and elsewhere he tells us that he had a \"thorn in the\nflesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him,\" and he was obliged to\n\"bruise his body and bring it into subjection, lest, after he had\npreached to others, he should be himself a castaway.\"  St. Paul\nconquered, as any one of us must conquer, by \"striving,\" struggling,\n\"to enter in at the strait gate;\" he \"wrought out his salvation with\nfear and trembling,\" as we must do.\n\nThis is a point which must be insisted on for the encouragement of the\nfearful, the confutation of the hypocritical, and the abasement of the\nholy.  In this world, even the best of men, though they are dead to\nsin, and have put sin to death, yet have that dead and corrupt thing\nwithin them, though they live to God; they have still an enemy of God\nremaining in their hearts, though they keep it in subjection.  This,\nindeed, is what all men now have in common, a root of evil in them, a\nprinciple of sin, or what may become such;--what they differ in is\nthis, not that one man has it, another not; but that one lives in and\nto it, another not; one subdues it, another not.  A holy man is by\nnature subject to sin equally with others; but he is holy because he\nsubdues, tramples on, chains up, imprisons, puts out of the way this\nlaw of sin, and is ruled by religious and spiritual motives.  Of Christ\nalone can it be said that He \"did no sin, neither was guile found in\nHis mouth.\"  The prince of this world came and found nothing in Him.\nHe had no root of sin in His heart; He was not born in Adam's sin.  Far\ndifferent are we.  He was thus pure, because He was the Son of God, and\nborn of a Virgin.  But we are conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity.\nAnd since that which is born of the flesh, is flesh, we are sinful and\ncorrupt because we are sinfully begotten of sinners.  Even those then\nwho in the end turn out to be saints and attain to life eternal, yet\nare not born saints, but have with God's regenerating and renewing\ngrace to make themselves saints.  It is nothing but the Cross of\nChrist, without us and within us, which changes any one of us from\nbeing (as I may say) a devil, into an Angel.  We are all by birth\nchildren of wrath.  We are at best like good olive trees, which have\nbecome good by being grafted on a good tree.  By nature we are like\nwild trees, bearing sour and bitter fruit, and so we should remain,\nwere we not grafted upon Christ, the good olive tree, made members of\nChrist, the righteous and holy and well-beloved Son of God.  Hence it\nis that there is such a change in a saint of God from what he was at\nthe first.  Consider what a different man St. Paul was after his\nconversion and before,--raging, as I just now said, like some wild\nbeast, with persecuting fury against the Church, before Christ appeared\nto him, and meekly suffering persecution and glorying in it afterwards.\nThink of St. Peter denying Christ before the resurrection, and\nconfessing, suffering, and dying for Him afterwards.  And so now many\nan aged saint, who has good hope of heaven, may recollect things of\nhimself when young, which fill him with dismay.  I do not speak as if\nGod's saints led vicious and immoral lives when young; but I mean that\ntheir lower and evil nature was not subdued, and perhaps from time to\ntime broke out and betrayed them into deeds and words so very different\nfrom what is seen in them at present, that did their friends know of\nthem what they themselves know, they would not think them the same\npersons, and would be quite overpowered with astonishment.  We never\ncan guess what a man is by nature, by seeing what self-discipline has\nmade him.  Yet if we do become thereby changed and prepared for heaven,\nit is no praise or merit to us.  It is God's doing--glory be to Him,\nwho has wrought so wonderfully with us!  Yet in this life, even to the\nend, there will be enough evil in us to humble us; even to the end, the\nholiest men have remains and stains of sin which they would fain get\nrid of, if they could, and which keep this life from being to them, for\nall God's grace, a heaven upon earth.  No, the Christian life is but a\nshadow of heaven.  Its festal and holy days are but shadows of\neternity.  But hereafter it will be otherwise.  In heaven, sin will be\nutterly destroyed in every elect soul.  We shall have no earthly\nwishes, no tendencies to disobedience or irreligion, no love of the\nworld or the flesh, to draw us off from supreme devotion to God.  We\nshall have our Saviour's holiness fulfilled in us, and be able to love\nGod without drawback or infirmity.\n\nThat indeed will be a full reward of all our longings here, to praise\nand serve God eternally with a single and perfect heart in the midst of\nHis Temple.  What a time will that be, when all will be perfected in us\nwhich at present is but feebly begun!  Then we shall see how the Angels\nworship God.  We shall see the calmness, the intenseness, the purity,\nof their worship.  We shall see that awful sight, the Throne of God,\nand the Seraphim before and around it, crying, \"Holy!\"  We attempt now\nto imitate in church what there is performed, as in the beginning, and\never shall be.  In the Te Deum, day by day we say, \"Holy, Holy, Holy,\nLord God of Sabaoth.\"  In the Creed, we recount God's mercies to us\nsinners.  And we say and sing Psalms and Hymns, to come as near heaven\nas we can.  May these attempts of ours be blest by Almighty God, to\nprepare us for Him! may they be, not dead forms, but living services,\nliving with life from God the Holy Ghost, in those who are dead to sin\nand who live with Christ!  I dare say some of you have heard persons,\nwho dissent from the Church, say (at any rate, they do say), that our\nPrayers and Services, and Holy days, are only forms, dead forms, which\ncan do us no good.  Yes, they are dead forms to those who are dead, but\nthey are living forms to those who are living.  If you come here in a\ndead way, not in faith, not coming for a blessing, without your hearts\nbeing in the service, you will get no benefit from it.  But if you come\nin a living way, in faith, and hope, and reverence, and with holy\nexpectant hearts, then all that takes place will be a living service\nand full of heaven.\n\nMake use, then, of this Holy Easter Season, which lasts forty to fifty\ndays, to become more like Him who died for you, and who now liveth for\nevermore.  He promises us, \"Because I live, ye shall live also.\"  He,\nby dying on the Cross, opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.\nHe first died, and then He opened heaven.  We, therefore, first\ncommemorate His death, and then, for some weeks in succession, we\ncommemorate and show forth the joys of heaven.  They who do not rejoice\nin the weeks after Easter, would not rejoice in heaven itself.  These\nweeks are a sort of beginning of heaven.  Pray God to enable you to\nrejoice; to enable you to keep the Feast duly.  Pray God to make you\nbetter Christians.  This world is a dream,--you will get no good from\nit.  Perhaps you find this difficult to believe; but be sure so it is.\nDepend upon it, at the last, you will confess it.  Young people expect\ngood from the world, and people of middle age devote themselves to it,\nand even old people do not like to give it up.  But the world is your\nenemy, and the flesh is your enemy.  Come to God, and beg of Him grace\nto devote yourselves to Him.  Beg of Him the will to follow Him; beg of\nHim the power to obey Him.  O how comfortable, pleasant, sweet,\nsoothing, and satisfying is it to lead a holy life,--the life of\nAngels!  It is difficult at first; but with God's grace, all things are\npossible.  O how pleasant to have done with sin! how good and joyful to\nflee temptation and to resist evil! how meet, and worthy, and fitting,\nand right, to die unto sin, and to live unto righteousness!\n\n\n\n[1] Rom. ii. 28, 29.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XIV.\n\nReligion pleasant to the Religious.\n\n\"_O taste and see how gracious the Lord is; blessed is the man that\ntrusteth in Him._\"--Psalm xxxiv. 8.\n\n\nYou see by these words what love Almighty God has towards us, and what\nclaims He has upon our love.  He is the Most High, and All-Holy.  He\ninhabiteth eternity: we are but worms compared with Him.  He would not\nbe less happy though He had never created us; He would not be less\nhappy though we were all blotted out again from creation.  But He is\nthe God of love; He brought us all into existence, because He found\nsatisfaction in surrounding Himself with happy creatures: He made us\ninnocent, holy, upright, and happy.  And when Adam fell into sin and\nhis descendants after him, then ever since He has been imploring us to\nreturn to Him, the Source of all good, by true repentance.  \"Turn ye,\nturn ye,\" He says, \"why will ye die?  As I live I have no pleasure in\nthe death of the wicked.\"  \"What could have been done more to My\nvineyard that I have not done to it[1]?\"  And in the text He\ncondescends to invite us to Him: \"O taste and see how gracious the Lord\nis: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.\"  As if He said, \"If you\nwould but make trial, one trial, if you would but be persuaded to taste\nand judge for yourself, so excellent is His graciousness, that you\nwould never cease to desire, never cease to approach Him:\" according to\nthe saying of the wise man, \"They that eat Me shall yet be hungry, and\nthey that drink Me shall yet be thirsty[2].\"\n\nThis excellence and desirableness of God's gifts is a subject again and\nagain set before us in Holy Scripture.  Thus the Prophet Isaiah speaks\nof the \"feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees; of fat\nthings full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined[3].\"  And\nagain, under images of another kind: \"He hath sent Me . . . to\ngive . . . beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment\nof praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called Trees of\nRighteousness[4].\"  Or again, the Prophet Hosea: \"I will be as the dew\nunto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as\nLebanon.  His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the\nolive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.  They that dwell under his shadow\nshall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the\nscent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon[5].\"  And the Psalmist:\n\"O that My people would have hearkened unto Me . . . the haters of the\nLord should have been found liars, but their time should have endured\nfor ever.  He should have fed them also with the finest wheat flour,\nand with honey out of the stony rock should I have satisfied thee[6].\"\nYou see all images of what is pleasant and sweet in nature are brought\ntogether to describe the pleasantness and sweetness of the gifts which\nGod gives us in grace.  As wine enlivens, and bread strengthens, and\noil is rich, and honey is sweet, and flowers are fragrant, and dew is\nrefreshing, and foliage is beautiful; so, and much more, are God's\ngifts in the Gospel enlivening, and strengthening, and rich, and sweet,\nand fragrant, and refreshing, and excellent.  And as it is natural to\nfeel satisfaction and comfort in these gifts of the visible world, so\nit is but natural and necessary to be delighted and transported with\nthe gifts of the world invisible; and as the visible gifts are objects\nof desire and search, so much more is it, I do not merely say a duty,\nbut a privilege and blessedness to \"taste and see how gracious the Lord\nis.\"\n\nOther passages in the Psalms speak of this blessedness, besides the\ntext.  \"Thou hast put gladness in my heart,\" says the Psalmist, \"since\nthe time that their corn and wine and oil increased[7].\"  \"The lot is\nfallen unto me in a fair ground, yea, I have a goodly heritage[8].\"\nAgain, \"The statutes of the Lord are right, and rejoice the\nheart, . . . more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine\ngold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb[9].\"  \"My heart trusted\nin Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart danceth for joy, and in my\nsong will I praise Him[10].\"  Once more: \"Blessed is the man whom Thou\nchoosest and receivest unto Thee: he shall dwell in Thy courts, and\nshall be satisfied with the pleasures of Thy house, even of Thy holy\ntemple[11].\"\n\nI wish it were possible, my brethren, to lead men to greater holiness\nand more faithful obedience by setting before them the high and\nabundant joys which they have who serve God: \"In His presence is\nfulness of joy,\" \"the well of life,\" and they are satisfied with \"the\nplenteousness of His house,\" and \"drink of His pleasures as out of a\nriver,\" but this is, I know, just what most persons will not believe.\nThey think that it is very right and proper to be religious, they think\nthat it would be better for themselves in the world to come if they\nwere religious now.  They do not at all deny either the duty or the\nexpedience of leading a new and holy life, but they cannot understand\nhow it can be pleasant: they cannot believe or admit that it is more\npleasant than a life of liberty, laxity, and enjoyment.  They, as it\nwere, say, \"Keep within bounds, speak within probability, and we will\nbelieve you; but do not shock our reason.  We will admit that we\n_ought_ to be religious, and that, when we come to die, we shall be\nvery glad to have led religious lives: but to tell us that it is a\n_pleasant_ thing to be religious, this is too much: it is not true; we\nfeel that it is not true, all the world knows and feels it is not true;\nreligion is something unpleasant, gloomy, sad, and troublesome.  It\nimposes a number of restraints on us; it keeps us from doing what we\nwould; it will not let us have our own way; it abridges our liberty; it\ninterferes with our enjoyments; it has fewer, far fewer, joys at\npresent than a worldly life, though it gains for us more joys\nhereafter.\"  This is what men say, or would say, if they understood\nwhat they feel, and spoke their minds freely.\n\nAlas!  I cannot deny that this _is_ true in the case of most men.  Most\nmen do not like the service of God, though it be perfect freedom; they\nlike to follow their own ways, and they are only religious so far as\ntheir conscience obliges them; they are like Balaam, desirous of \"the\ndeath of the righteous,\" not of his life.  Indeed, this is the very\nthing I am lamenting and deploring.  I lament, my brethren, that so\nmany men, nay, I may say, that so many of you, do _not_ like religious\nservice.  I do not deny it; but I lament it.  I do not deny it: far\nfrom it.  I know quite well how many there are who do not like coming\nto Church, and who make excuses for keeping away at times when they\nmight come.  I know how many there are who do not come to the Most Holy\nSacrament.  I know that there are numbers who do not say their prayers\nin private morning and evening.  I know how many there are who are\nashamed to be thought religious, who take God's name in vain, and live\nlike the world.  Alas! this is the very thing I lament,--that God's\nservice is not pleasant to you.  It is not pleasant to those who do not\nlike it: true; but it is pleasant to those who _do_.  Observe, this is\nwhat I say; not that it is pleasant to those who like it not, but that\nit is pleasant to those who like it.  Nay, what I say is, that it is\nmuch _more_ pleasant to those who like it, than any thing of this world\nis pleasant to those who do not like it.  This is the point.  I do not\nsay that it is pleasant to most men; but I say that it is in itself the\nmost pleasant thing in the world.  Nothing is so pleasant as God's\nservice to those _to whom_ it is pleasant.  The pleasures of sin are\nnot to be compared in fulness and intensity to the pleasures of holy\nliving.  The pleasures of holiness are far more pleasant to the holy,\nthan the pleasures of sin to the sinner.  O that I could get you to\nbelieve this!  O that you had a heart to feel it and know it!  O that\nyou had a heart to taste God's pleasures and to make proof of them; to\ntaste and see how gracious the Lord is!\n\nNone can know, however, the joys of being holy and pure but the holy.\nIf an Angel were to come down from heaven, even he could not explain\nthem to you, nor could he in turn understand what the pleasures of sin\nare.  Do you think that an Angel could be made to understand what are\nthe pleasures of sin?  I trow not.  You might as well attempt to\npersuade him that there was pleasure in feasting on dust and ashes.\nThere are brute animals who wallow in the mire and eat corruption.\nThis seems strange to us: much stranger to an Angel is it how any one\ncan take pleasure in any thing so filthy, so odious, so loathsome as\nsin.  Many men, as I have been saying, wonder what possible pleasure\nthere can be in any thing so melancholy as religion.  Well: be sure of\nthis,--it is _more_ wonderful to an Angel, what possible pleasure there\ncan be in sinning.  It is _more_ wonderful, I say.  He would turn away\nwith horror and disgust, both because sin is so base a thing in itself,\nand because it is so hateful in God's sight.\n\nLet no persons then be surprised that religious obedience should really\nbe so pleasant in itself, when it seems to them so distasteful.  Let\nthem not be surprised that _what_ the pleasure is cannot be explained\nto _them_.  It is a secret till they try to be religious.  Men know\nwhat sin is, by experience.  They do not know what holiness is; and\nthey cannot obtain the knowledge of its secret pleasure, till they join\nthemselves truly and heartily to Christ, and devote themselves to His\nservice,--till they \"taste,\" and thereby try.  This pleasure is as\nhidden from them, as the pleasures of sin are hidden from the Angels.\nThe Angels have never eaten the forbidden fruit, and their eyes are not\nopen to know good and evil.  And we _have_ eaten the forbidden\nfruit,--at least Adam did, and we are his descendants,--and our eyes\n_are_ open to know evil.  And, alas! on the other hand, they have\nbecome blinded to good; they require opening to see, to know, to\nunderstand good.  And till our eyes _are_ opened spiritually, we\n_shall_ ever think religion distasteful and unpleasant, and shall\nwonder how any one can like it.  Such is our miserable state,--we are\nblind to the highest and truest glories, and dead to the most lively\nand wonderful of all pleasures;--and no one can describe them to us.\nNone other than God the Holy Spirit can help us in this matter, by\nenlightening and changing our hearts.  So it is; and yet I will say one\nthing, by way of suggesting to you how great and piercing the joys of\nreligion are.  Think of this.  Is there any one who does not know how\nvery painful the feeling of a bad conscience is?  Do not you recollect,\nmy Brethren, some time or other, having done something you knew to be\nwrong? and do you not remember afterwards what a piercing bitter\nfeeling came on you?  Is not the feeling of a bad conscience different\nfrom any other feeling, and more distressing than any other, till we\nhave accustomed ourselves to it?  Persons do accustom themselves and\nlose this feeling; but till we blunt our conscience, it is very\npainful.  And why?  It is the feeling of God's displeasure, and\ntherefore it is so painful.  Consider then: if God's displeasure is so\ndistressing to us, must not God's approval and favour be just the\nreverse; like life from the dead, most exceedingly joyful and\ntransporting?  And this is what it is to be holy and religious.  It is\nto have God's favour.  And, as it is a great misery to be under God's\nwrath, so it is a great and wonderful joy to be in God's favour, and\nthose who know what a misery the former is, may fancy, though they do\nnot know, how high a blessing the latter is.  From what you know, then,\njudge of what you do not know.  From the miseries of guilt, which,\nalas! you have experienced, conjecture the blessedness of holiness and\npurity which you have not experienced.  From the pain of a bad\nconscience, believe in the unspeakable joy and gladness of a good\nconscience.\n\nI have been addressing those who do not know what religious peace and\nDivine pleasures are, but there are those present, I hope, who in a\nmeasure are not strangers to them.  I know that none of us gain all the\npleasure from God's service which it might afford us; still some of us,\nI hope, gain some pleasure.  I hope there are some of those who hear\nme, who take a pleasure in coming to Church, in saying their prayers,\nin thinking of God, in singing Psalms, in blessing Him for the mercies\nof the Gospel, and in celebrating Christ's death and resurrection, as\nat this season of the year[12].  These persons have \"tasted\" and tried.\nI trust they find the taste so heavenly, that _they_ will not need any\nproof that religion is a pleasant thing; nay, more pleasant than any\nthing else, worth the following above all other things, and unpleasant\nonly to those who are not religious.\n\nLet such persons then think of this, that if a religious life is\npleasant here, in spite of the old Adam interrupting the pleasure and\ndefiling them, what a glorious day it will be, if it is granted to us\nhereafter to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven!  None of us, even the\nholiest, can guess _how_ happy we shall be; for St. John says, \"We know\nnot what we shall be[13];\" and St. Paul, \"Now we see in a glass darkly,\nbut then face to face.\"  Yet in proportion to our present holiness and\nvirtue, we have some faint ideas of what will then be our blessedness.\nAnd in Scripture various descriptions of heaven are given us, in order\nto arrest, encourage, and humble us.  We are told that the Angels of\nGod are very bright, and clad in white robes.  The Saints and Martyrs\ntoo are clad in white robes, with palms in their hands; and they sing\npraises unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb.  When\nour Lord was transfigured, He showed us what Heaven is.  His raiment\nbecame white as snow, white and glistening.  Again, at one time He\nappeared to St. John, and then, \"His head and His hairs were white like\nwool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His\nfeet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His\ncountenance was as the sun shineth in his strength[14].\"  And what\nChrist is, such do His Saints become hereafter.  Here below they are\nclad in a garment of sinful flesh; but when the end comes, and they\nrise from the grave, they shall inherit glory, and shall be ever young\nand ever shining.  In that day, all men will see and be convinced, even\nbad men, that God's servants are really happy, and only they.  In that\nday, even lost souls, though they will not be able to understand the\nblessedness of religion, will have no doubt at all of what they now\ndoubt, or pretend to doubt, that religion _is_ blessed.  They laugh at\nreligion, think strictness to be narrowness of mind, and regularity to\nbe dulness; and give bad names to religious men.  They will not be able\nto do so then.  They think themselves the great men of the earth now,\nand look down upon the religious; but then, who would not have been a\nreligious man, to have so great a reward? who will then have any heart\nto speak against religion, even though he has not \"a heart to fear God\nand keep all His commandments always?\"  In that day, they will look\nupon the righteous man, and \"be amazed at the strangeness of his\nsalvation, so far beyond all that they looked for.  And they, repenting\nand groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves, This\nwas he, whom we had sometimes in derision, and a proverb of reproach.\nWe fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honour;\nhow is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the\nsaints[15]!\"\n\nThink of all this, my Brethren, and rouse yourselves, and run forward\nwith a good courage on your way towards heaven.  Be not weary in\nwell-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  Strive\nto enter in at the strait gate.  Strive to get holier and holier every\nday, that you may be worthy to stand before the Son of Man.  Pray God\nto teach you His will, and to lead you forth in the right way, because\nof your enemies.  Submit yourselves to His guidance, and you will have\ncomfort given you, according to your day, and peace at the last.\n\n\n\n[1] Ezek. xxxiii. 11.  Isa. v. 4.\n\n[2] Eccles. xxiv. 21.\n\n[3] Isa. xxv. 6.\n\n[4] Isa. lxi. 1-3.\n\n[5] Hos. xiv. 5-7.\n\n[6] Ps. lxxxi. 13-16.\n\n[7] Ps. iv. 7.\n\n[8] Ps. xvi. 6.\n\n[9] Ps. xix. 10.\n\n[10] Ps. xxviii. 7.\n\n[11] Ps. lxv. 4.\n\n[12] Easter.\n\n[13] 1 John iii. 2.\n\n[14] Rev. i. 14-16.\n\n[15] Wisd. v. 2-5.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XV.\n\nMental Prayer.\n\n\"_Pray without ceasing._\"--1 Thess. v. 17.\n\n\nThere are two modes of praying mentioned in Scripture; the one is\nprayer at set times and places, and in set forms; the other is what the\ntext speaks of,--continual or habitual prayer.  The former of these is\nwhat is commonly called prayer, whether it be public or private.  The\nother kind of praying may also be called holding communion with God, or\nliving in God's sight, and this may be done all through the day,\nwherever we are, and is commanded us as the duty, or rather the\ncharacteristic, of those who are really servants and friends of Jesus\nChrist.\n\nThese two kinds of praying are also natural duties.  I mean, we should\nin a way be bound to attend to them, even if we were born in a heathen\ncountry and had never heard of the Bible.  For our conscience and\nreason would lead us to practise them, if we did but attend to these\ndivinely-given informants.  I shall here confine myself to the\nconsideration of the latter of the two, habitual or inward prayer,\nwhich is enjoined in the text, with the view of showing what it is, and\nhow we are to practise it; and I shall speak of it, first, as a natural\nduty, and then as the characteristic of a Christian.\n\n1. At first sight, it may be difficult to some persons to understand\nwhat is meant by praying always.  Now consider it as a natural duty,\nthat is, a duty taught us by natural reason and religious feeling, and\nyou will soon see what it consists in.\n\nWhat does nature teach us about ourselves, even before opening the\nBible?--that we are creatures of the Great God, the Maker of heaven and\nearth; and that, as His creatures, we are bound to serve Him and give\nHim our hearts; in a word, to be religious beings.  And next, what is\nreligion but a habit? and what is a habit but a state of mind which is\nalways upon us, as a sort of ordinary dress or inseparable garment of\nthe soul?  A man cannot really be religious one hour, and not religious\nthe next.  We might as well say he could be in a state of good health\none hour, and in bad health the next.  A man who is religious, is\nreligious morning, noon, and night; his religion is a certain\ncharacter, a mould in which his thoughts, words, and actions are cast,\nall forming parts of one and the same whole.  He sees God in all\nthings; every course of action he directs towards those spiritual\nobjects which God has revealed to him; every occurrence of the day,\nevery event, every person met with, all news which he hears, he\nmeasures by the standard of God's will.  And a person who does this may\nbe said almost literally to pray without ceasing; for, knowing himself\nto be in God's presence, he is continually led to address Him\nreverently, whom he sets always before him, in the inward language of\nprayer and praise, of humble confession and joyful trust.\n\nAll this, I say, any thoughtful man acknowledges from mere natural\nreason.  To be religious is, in other words, to have the habit of\nprayer, or to pray always.  This is what Scripture means by doing all\nthings to God's glory; that is, so placing God's presence and will\nbefore us, and so consistently acting with a reference to Him, that all\nwe do becomes one body and course of obedience, witnessing without\nceasing to Him who made us, and whose servants we are; and in its\nseparate parts promoting more or less directly His glory, according as\neach particular thing we happen to be doing admits more or less of a\nreligious character.  Thus religious obedience is, as it were, a spirit\ndwelling in us, extending its influence to every motion of the soul;\nand just as healthy men and strong men show their health and strength\nin all they do (not indeed equally in all things, but in some things\nmore than in others, because all actions do not require or betoken the\npresence of that health and strength, and yet even in their step, and\ntheir voice, and their gestures, and their countenance, showing in due\nmeasure their vigour of body), so they who have the true health and\nstrength of the soul, a clear, sober, and deep faith in Him in whom\nthey have their being, will in all they do, nay (as St. Paul says),\neven whether they \"eat or drink[1],\" be living in God's sight, or, in\nthe words of the same Apostle in the text, live in ceaseless prayer.\n\nIf it be said that no man on earth does thus continually and perfectly\nglorify and worship God, this we all know too well; this is only saying\nthat none of us has reached perfection.  We know, alas! that in many\nthings all of us offend.  But I am speaking not of what we _do_, but of\nwhat we _ought to do_, and must aim at doing,--of _our duty_; and, for\nthe sake of impressing our duty on our hearts, it is of use to draw the\npicture of a man perfectly obedient, as a pattern for us to aim at.  In\nproportion as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Saviour, so\nshall we approximate to Him in obedience, who is our great example, and\nwho alone of all the sons of Adam lived in the perfection of unceasing\nprayer.\n\nThus the meaning and reasonableness of the command in the text is shown\nby considering it as a natural duty, religion being no accident which\ncomes and goes by fits and starts, but a certain spirit or life.\n\n2. Now, secondly, I will state all this in the language of Scripture;\nthat is, I will confirm this view of our duty, which natural reason\nmight suggest, by that other and far clearer voice of God, His inspired\nword.\n\nHow is religious obedience described in Scripture?  Surely as a certain\nkind of life.  We know what life of the body is; it is a state of the\nbody: the pulse beats; all things are in motion.  The hidden principle\nof life, though we know not how or what it is, is seen in these outward\nsigns of it.  And so of the life of the soul.  The soul, indeed, was\nnot possessed of this life of God when first born into the world.  We\nare born with dead souls; that is, dead as regards religious obedience.\nIf left to ourselves we should grow up haters of God, and tend nearer\nand nearer, the longer we had existence, to utter spiritual death, that\ninward fire of hell torments, maturing in evil through a long eternity.\nSuch is the course we are beginning to run when born into the world;\nand were it not for the gospel promise, what a miserable event would\nthe birth of children be!  Who could take pleasure at the sight of such\npoor beings, unconscious as yet of their wretchedness, but containing\nin their hearts that fearful root of sin which is sure in the event of\nreigning and triumphing unto everlasting woe?  But God has given us\nall, even the little children, a good promise through Christ; and our\nprospects are changed.  And He has given not only a promise of future\nhappiness, but through His Holy Spirit He implants here and at once a\nnew principle within us, a new spiritual life, a life of the soul, as\nit is called.  St. Paul tells us, that \"God hath quickened us,\" made us\n_live_, \"together with Christ, . . . and hath raised us up together\"\nfrom the death of sin, \"and made us sit together in heavenly places in\nChrist Jesus[2].\"  Now how God quickens our souls we do not know, as\nlittle as how He quickens our bodies.  Our spiritual \"life\" (as St.\nPaul says) \"is _hid_ with Christ in God[3].\"  But as our bodily life\ndiscovers itself by its activity, so is the presence of the Holy Spirit\nin us discovered by a spiritual activity; and this activity is the\nspirit of continual prayer.  Prayer is to spiritual life what the\nbeating of the pulse and the drawing of the breath are to the life of\nthe body.  It would be as absurd to suppose that life could last when\nthe body was cold and motionless and senseless, as to call a soul alive\nwhich does not pray.  The state or habit of spiritual life exerts\nitself, consists, in the continual activity of prayer.\n\nDo you ask, where does Scripture say this?  Where?  In all it tells us\nof the connexion between the new birth and faith; for what is prayer\nbut the expression, the voice, of faith?  For instance, St. Paul says\nto the Galatians, \"The _life_ which I now live in the flesh\" (i.e. the\nnew and spiritual life), \"I live by the _faith_ of the Son of God, who\nloved me[4].\"  For what, I say, is faith, but the looking to God and\nthinking of Him continually, holding habitual fellowship with Him, that\nis, speaking to Him in our hearts all through the day, praying without\nceasing?  Afterwards, in the same Epistle, he tells us first that\nnothing avails but faith working by love; but soon after, he calls this\nsame availing principle a new creature: so that the new birth and a\nliving faith are inseparable.  Never, indeed, must it be supposed, as\nwe are indolently apt to suppose, that the gift of grace which we\nreceive at baptism is a mere outward privilege, a mere outward pardon,\nin which the heart is not concerned; or as if it were some mere mark\nput on the soul, distinguishing it indeed from souls unregenerate, as\nif by a colour or seal, but not connected with the thoughts, mind, and\nheart of a Christian.  This would be a gross and false view of the\nnature of God's mercy given us in Christ.  For the new birth of the\nHoly Spirit sets the soul in motion in a heavenly way: it gives us good\nthoughts and desires, enlightens and purifies us, and prompts us to\nseek God.  In a word (as I have said), it gives a spiritual _life_; it\nopens the eyes of our mind, so that we begin to see God in all things\nby faith, and hold continual intercourse with Him by prayer, and if we\ncherish these gracious influences, we shall become holier and wiser and\nmore heavenly, year by year, our hearts being ever in a course of\nchange from darkness to light, from the ways and works of Satan to the\nperfection of Divine obedience.\n\nThese considerations may serve to impress upon our minds the meaning of\nthe precept in the text, and others like it which are found in St.\nPaul's Epistles.  For instance, he enjoins the Ephesians to \"pray\nalways with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.\"  To the\nPhilippians he says, \"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by\nprayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God[5].\"\nTo the Colossians, \"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with\nthanksgiving.\"  To the Romans, \"Continue instant in prayer[6].\"\n\nThus the true Christian pierces through the veil of this world and sees\nthe next.  He holds intercourse with it; he addresses God, as a child\nmight address his parent, with as clear a view of Him, and with as\nunmixed a confidence in Him; with deep reverence indeed, and godly fear\nand awe, but still with certainty and exactness: as St. Paul says, \"I\nknow whom I have believed[7],\" with the prospect of judgment to come to\nsober him, and the assurance of present grace to cheer him.\n\nIf what I have said is true, surely it is well worth thinking about.\nMost men indeed, I fear, neither pray at fixed times, nor do they\ncultivate an habitual communion with Almighty God.  Indeed, it is too\nplain how most men pray.  They pray now and then, when they feel\nparticular need of God's assistance; when they are in trouble or in\napprehension of danger; or when their feelings are unusually excited.\nThey do not know what it is either to be habitually religious, or to\ndevote a certain number of minutes at fixed times to the thought of\nGod.  Nay, the very best Christian, how lamentably deficient is he in\nthe spirit of prayer!  Let any man compare in his mind how many times\nhe has prayed when in trouble, with how seldom he has returned thanks\nwhen his prayers have been granted; or the earnestness with which he\nprays against expected suffering, with the languor and unconcern of his\nthanksgivings afterwards, and he will soon see how little he has of the\nreal habit of prayer, and how much his religion depends on accidental\nexcitement, which is no test of a religious heart.  Or supposing he has\nto repeat the same prayer for a month or two, the cause of using it\ncontinuing, let him compare the earnestness with which he first said\nit, and tried to enter into it, with the coldness with which he at\nlength uses it.  Why is this, except that his perception of the unseen\nworld is not the true view which faith gives (else it would last as\nthat world itself lasts), but a mere dream, which endures for a night,\nand is succeeded by a hard worldly joy in the morning?  Is God\nhabitually in our thoughts?  Do we think of Him, and of His Son our\nSaviour, through the day?  When we eat and drink, do we thank Him, not\nas a mere matter of form, but in spirit?  When we do things in\nthemselves right, do we lift up our minds to Him, and desire to promote\nHis glory?  When we are in the exercise of our callings, do we still\nthink of Him, acting ever conscientiously, desiring to know His will\nmore exactly than we do at present, and aiming at fulfilling it more\ncompletely and abundantly?  Do we wait on His grace to enlighten,\nrenew, strengthen us?\n\nI do not ask whether we use many words about religion.  There is no\nneed to do this: nay, we should avoid a boastful display of our better\nfeelings and practices, silently serving God without human praise, and\nhiding our conscientiousness except when it would dishonour God to do\nso.  There are times, indeed, when, in the presence of a holy man, to\nconfess is a benefit, and there are times when, in the presence of\nworldly men, to confess becomes a duty; but these seasons, whether of\nprivilege or of duty, are comparatively rare.  But we are always with\nourselves and our God; and that silent inward confession in His\npresence may be sustained and continual, and will end in durable fruit.\n\nBut if those persons come short of their duty who make religion a\nmatter of impulse and mere feeling, what shall be said to those who\nhave no feeling or thought of religion at all?  What shall be said of\nthe multitude of young people who ridicule seriousness, and\ndeliberately give themselves up to vain thoughts?  Alas! my brethren,\nyou do not even observe or recognize the foolish empty thoughts which\npass through your minds; you are not distressed, even at those of them\nyou recollect; but what will you say at the last day, when, instead of\nthe true and holy visions in which consists Divine communion, you find\nrecorded against you in God's book an innumerable multitude of the\nidlest, silliest imaginings, nay, of the wickedest, which ever\ndisgraced an immortal being?  What will you say, when heaven and hell\nare before you, and the books are opened, and therein you find the sum\ntotal of your youthful desires and dreams, your passionate wishes for\nthings of this world, your low-minded, grovelling tastes, your secret\ncontempt and aversion for serious subjects and persons, your efforts to\nattract the looks of sinners and to please those who displease God;\nyour hankerings after worldly gaieties and luxuries, your admiration of\nthe rich or titled, your indulgence of impure thoughts, your\nself-conceit and pitiful vanity?  Ah, I may seem to you to use harsh\nwords; but be sure I do not use terms near so severe as you will use\nagainst yourselves in that day.  Then those men, whom you now think\ngloomy and over-strict, will seem to you truly wise; and the advice to\npray without ceasing, which once you laughed at as fit only for the\ndull, the formal, the sour, the poor-spirited, or the aged, will be\napproved by your own experience, as it is even now by your reason and\nconscience.  Oh, that you could be brought to give one serious hour to\nreligion, in anticipation of that long eternity where you _must_ be\nserious!  True, you may laugh now, but there is no vain merriment on\nthe other side of the grave.  The devils, though they repent not,\ntremble.  _You_ will be among those unwilling serious ones then, if you\nare mad enough to be gay and careless now; if you are mad enough to\nlaugh, jest, and scoff your poor moment now on earth, which, is short\nenough to prepare for eternity in, without your making it shorter by\nwasting your youth in sin.  Could you but see who it is that suggests\nto you all your lighter thoughts, which you put instead of Divine\ncommunion, the shock would make you serious, even if it did not make\nyou religious.  Could you see, what God sees, those snares and pitfalls\nwhich the devil is placing about your path; could you see that all your\nidle thoughts which you cherish, which seem so bright and pleasant, so\nmuch pleasanter than religious thoughts, are inspired by that Ancient\nSeducer of Mankind, the Author of Evil, who stands at your side while\nyou deride religion, serious indeed himself while he makes you laugh,\nnot able to laugh at his own jests, while he carries you dancing\nforward to perdition,--doubtless you would tremble, even as he does\nwhile he tempts you.  But this you cannot possibly see, you cannot\nbreak your delusion, except by first taking God's word in this matter\non trust.  You cannot see the unseen world at once.  They who ever\nspeak with God in their hearts, are in turn taught by Him in all\nknowledge; but they who refuse to act upon the light, which God gave\nthem by nature, at length come to lose it altogether, and are given up\nto a reprobate mind.\n\nMay God save us all from such wilful sin, old as well as young, and\nenlighten us one and all in His saving knowledge, and give us the will\nand the power to serve Him!\n\n\n\n[1] 1 Cor. x. 31.\n\n[2] Eph. ii. 5, 6.\n\n[3] Col. iii. 3.\n\n[4] Gal. ii. 20.\n\n[5] Eph. vi. 18.  Phil. iv. 6.\n\n[6] Col. iv. 2.  Rom. xii. 12.\n\n[7] 2 Tim. i. 12.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XVI.\n\nInfant Baptism.\n\n\"_Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into\nthe Kingdom of God._\"--John iii. 5.\n\n\nNone can be saved, unless the blood of Christ, the Immaculate Lamb of\nGod, be imputed to him; and it is His gracious will that it should be\nimputed to as, one by one, by means of outward and visible signs, or\nwhat are called Sacraments.  These visible rites represent to us the\nheavenly truth, and convey what they represent.  The baptismal washing\nbetokens the cleansing of the soul from sin; the elements of bread and\nwine are figures of what is present but not seen, \"the body and blood\nof Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the\nfaithful in the Lord's Supper.\"  So far the two Sacraments agree; yet\nthere is this important difference in their use,--that Baptism is but\n_once_ administered, but the Lord's Supper is to be received\n_continually_.  Our Lord Christ told the Apostles to baptize _at the\ntime_ that they made men His disciples.  Baptism _admitted_ them to His\nfavour once for all; but the Lord's Supper _keeps_ us and secures us in\nHis favour day by day.  He said, \"This do, _as often as_ ye drink it,\nin _remembrance_ of Me.\"\n\nHere, then, a Question at once arises, which it is important to\nconsider:--_At what time_ in our life are we to be baptized, or made\ndisciples of Christ?  The first Christians of course were baptized when\nthey were come to a full age, because then the Gospel was for the first\ntime preached to them; they had no means of being baptized when young.\nBut the case is different with those who are born of Christian parents;\nso the question now is, at what age are the sons of Christians to be\nbaptized?\n\nNow, for fifteen hundred years there was no dispute or difficulty in\nanswering this question all over the Christian world; none who\nacknowledged the duty of baptizing at all, but administered the rite to\ninfants, as we do at present.  But about three hundred years ago\nstrange opinions were set afloat, and sects arose, doing every thing\nwhich had not been done before, and undoing every thing that had been\ndone before, and all this (as they professed) on the principle that it\nwas every one's duty to judge and act for himself; and among these new\nsects there was one which maintained that Infant Baptism was a mistake,\nand that, mainly upon this short argument,--that it was nowhere\ncommanded in Scripture.\n\nLet us, then, consider this subject: and first, it is but fair and\nright to acknowledge at once that Scripture does _not_ bid us baptize\nchildren.  This, however, is no very serious admission; for Scripture\ndoes not name any time at all for Baptism; yet it orders us to be\nbaptized at some age or other.  It is plain, then, whatever age we fix\nupon, we shall be going beyond the letter of Scripture.  This may or\nmay not be a difficulty, but it cannot be avoided: it is not a\ndifficulty of _our_ making.  God has so willed it.  He has kept\nsilence, and doubtless with good reason; and surely we must try to do\nour part and to find out what He would have us do, according to the\nlight, be it greater or less, which He has vouchsafed to us.\n\nIs it any new thing that it should take time and thought to find out\naccurately what our duty is?  Is it a new thing that the full and\nperfect truth should not lie on the very surface of things, in the bare\nletter of Scripture?  Far from it.  Those who _strive_ to enter into\nlife, these alone find the strait gate which leads thereto.  It is no\nproof even that it is a matter of indifference what age is proper for\nBaptism, that Scripture is not clear about it, but hides its real\nmeaning; not commanding but hinting what we should do.  For consider\nhow many things in this life are difficult to attain, yet, far from\nbeing matters of indifference, are necessary for our comfort or even\nwell-being.  Nay, it often happens that the more valuable any gift is,\nthe more difficult it is to gain it.  Take, for instance, the art of\nmedicine.  Is there an art more important for our life and comfort?\nYet how difficult and uncertain is the science of it! what time it\ntakes to be well versed and practised in it!  What would be thought of\na person who considered that it mattered little whether a sick man took\nthis course or that, on the ground that men were not physicians by\nnature, and that if the Creator had meant medicine to be for our good.\nHe would have told us at once, and every one of us, the science and the\npractice of it?  In the same way it does not at all follow, even if it\n_were_ difficult to find out at what age Baptism should be\nadministered, that therefore one time is as good as another.\nDifficulty is the very attendant upon great blessings, not on things\nindifferent.\n\nBut a man may say that Scripture is given us for the very purpose of\nmaking the knowledge of our duty easy to us;--what is meant by a\nrevelation, if it does not reveal?--and that we have no revelation to\ntell us what medicines are good or bad for the body, but that a\nrevelation _has_ been made in order to tell us what is good or bad for\nthe soul:--if, then, a thing _were_ important for our soul's benefit,\nScripture would have plainly declared it.  I answer, who told us all\nthis?  Doubtless, Scripture _was_ given to make our duty _easier than\nbefore_; but how do we know that it was intended to take away _all_\ndifficulty of every kind?  So says not Christ, when He bids us seek and\nstrive and so find; to knock, to watch, and to pray.  No; Scripture has\nnot undertaken to _tell_ us every thing, but merely to give us the\nmeans of _finding_ every thing; and thus much we can conclude on the\nsubject before us, that if it is important, there are _means_ of\ndetermining it; but we cannot infer, either that it must actually be\n_commanded_ in the letter of Scripture, or that it can be found out by\nevery individual _for and by himself_.\n\nBut it may be said, Scripture says that the times of the Gospel shall\nbe times of great light: \"All thy children shall be taught of the Lord,\nand great shall be the peace of thy children[1].\"  This is true: but\nwhose children?  The Church's.  Surely it is a time of light, if we\ncome to the Church for information; for she has ever spoken most\nclearly on the subject.  She has ever baptized infants and enjoined the\npractice; she has ever answered to the prophecy as being \"a word behind\nus, saying, This is the way; walk ye in it.\"  Her teachers surely\n(according to the prophecy) have never been removed into a corner.  But\nif we will not accept this supernatural mercy, then I say it is not\nunnatural that we should find ourselves in the same kind of doubt in\nwhich we commonly are involved in matters of this world.  God has\npromised us light and knowledge in the Gospel, but in His way, not in\n_our_ way.\n\nBut after all, in the present instance, surely there is no great\ndifficulty in finding out what God would have us to do, though He has\nnot told us in Scripture in the plainest way.  I say it is not\ndifficult to see, as the Church has ever been led to see, that God\nwould have us baptize young children, and that to delay Baptism is to\ndelay a great benefit, and is hazarding a child's salvation.  There is\nno difficulty, if men are not resolved to make one.\n\n1. Let us consider, first, what is Baptism?  It is a means and pledge\nof God's mercy, pardon, acceptance of us for Christ's sake; it gives us\ngrace to change our natures.  Now, surely infants, as being born in\nsin, have most abundant _need_ of God's mercy and grace: this cannot be\ndoubted.  Even at first sight, then, it appears _desirable_ (to say the\nleast) that they should be baptized.  Baptism is just suited to their\nneed: it contains a promise of the very blessings which they want, and\nwhich without God's free bounty they cannot have.  If, indeed, Baptism\nwere merely or principally our act, then perhaps the case would be\naltered.  But it is not an act of ours so much as of God's; a pledge\nfrom Him.  And, I repeat, infants, as being by nature under God's\nwrath, having no elements of spiritual life in them, being corrupt and\nsinful, are surely, in a singular manner, objects of Baptism as far as\nthe question of desirableness is concerned.\n\nLet us refer to our Saviour's words to Nicodemus in the text.  Our Lord\ntells him none can enter into the kingdom of God who is not born of\nwater and the Spirit.  And why?  _Because_ (He goes on to say) \"that\nwhich is born of the flesh is flesh[2].\"  We need a new birth, because\nour first birth is a birth unto sin.  Who does not see that this reason\nis equally cogent for _infant_ Baptism as for Baptism at all?  Baptism\nby water and the Spirit is necessary for salvation (He says), because\nman's _nature_ is corrupt; therefore infants must need this\nregeneration too.  If, indeed, sin were not planted deep in man's very\nheart,--if it were merely an accidental evil into which some fell while\nothers escaped it.--nay, even if, though (as a fact) all men actually\nfall into sin, yet this general depravity arose merely from bad\nexample, not from natural bias, then indeed Baptism of water and the\nSpirit would not be necessary except for those who, having come to\nyears of understanding, had actual sin to answer for: but if, as our\nSaviour implies, even a child's heart, before he begins to think and\nact, is under Divine wrath, and contains the sure and miserable promise\nof future sin as the child grows up, can we do otherwise than\nthankfully accept the pledge and means which He has given us of a new\nbirth unto holiness; and since, by not telling us the time for Baptism,\nHe has in a way left it to ourselves to decide upon it, shall we not\napply the medicine given us when we are sure of the disease?  \"Can any\nman _forbid_ water,\" to use St. Peter's words under different\ncircumstances, \"that\" children \"should not be baptized?\"  The burden of\nproof, as it is called, is with those who withhold the Sacrament.\n\nWill it be said that infants are not properly _qualified_ for Baptism?\nHow is this an objection?  Consider the text.--\"Except one be born of\nwater and the Spirit,\" says our Lord, \"he cannot enter into the kingdom\nof God.\"  There is nothing said about qualifications or conditions here\nwhich might exclude infants from Baptism,--nothing about the necessity\nof previous faith, or previous good works, in order to fit us for the\nmercy of God.  Nor indeed could any thing be said.  Christ knew that,\nwithout His grace, man's nature could not bear any good fruit, for from\nabove is every good gift.  Far from it.  Any such notion of man's\nunassisted strength is wholly detestable, contrary to the very first\nprinciples of all true religion, whether Jewish, Christian, or even\nPagan.  We are miserably fallen creatures, we are by nature\ncorrupt,--we dare not talk even of children being naturally pleasing in\nGod's sight.  And if we wait till children are in a condition to bring\nsomething to God, in payment (so to say) of His mercy to them, till\nthey have faith and repentance, they never will be baptized; for they\nwill never attain to that condition.  To defer Baptism till persons\nactually have repentance and faith, is refusing to give medicine till a\npatient begins to get well.  It would be hard indeed, if Satan be\nallowed to have access to the soul from infancy, as soon as it begins\nto think, and we refuse to do what we can, or what promises well,\ntowards gaining for it the protection of God against the Tempter.\n\nOn this first view of the case then, from the original corruption of\nour nature, from the need which all men are under from their birth of\npardon and help from God, from Baptism being a promise of mercy just\nsuited to our need, and from the impossibility of any one (let him be\nallowed to live unbaptized ever so long) bringing any self-provided\nrecommendation of himself to God's favour; on all these accounts, I\nsay, since God has given us no particular directions in the matter, but\nhas left it to ourselves, it seems, on the first view of the case, most\nfitting and right to give children the privilege of Baptism.\n\n2. But, in fact, we are not, strictly speaking, left without positive\nencouragement to bring infants near to Him.  We are not merely left to\ninfer generally the propriety of Infant Baptism; Christ has shown us\nHis _willingness_ to receive children.  Some men have said (indeed most\nof us perhaps in seasons of unbelief have been tempted in our hearts to\nask), \"What good can Baptism do senseless children? you might as well\nbaptize things without life; they sleep or even struggle during the\nceremony, and interrupt it; it is a mere superstition.\"  This, my\nbrethren, is the language of the world, whoever uses it.  It is putting\nsight against faith.  If we are assured that Baptism has been blessed\nby Christ, as the rite of admittance into His Church, we have nothing\nto do with those outward appearances, which, though they might prove\nsomething perhaps, had He not spoken, now that He has spoken lose all\nforce.  To such objections, I would reply by citing our Saviour's \"own\nword and deed.\"  We find that infants were brought to Christ; and His\ndisciples seem to have doubted, in the same spirit of unbelief, what\n_could_ be the good of bringing helpless and senseless children to the\nSaviour of men.  They doubtless thought that His time would be better\nemployed in teaching _them_, than in attending to children; that it was\ninterfering with His usefulness.  \"But when Jesus saw it, He was much\ndispleased[3].\"  These are remarkable words: \"much displeased,\"--that\nis, He was uneasy, indignant, angry (as the Greek word may be more\nliterally translated); and we are told, \"He took them up in His arms,\nput His hands upon them, and _blessed them_.\"  Christ, then, can bless\ninfants, in spite of their being to all appearance as yet incapable of\nthought or feeling.  He can, and did, bless them; and, in the very\nsense in which they then were blessed, we believe they are capable of a\nblessing in Baptism.\n\n3. And we may add this consideration.  It is certain that children\nought to be instructed in religious truth, as they can bear it, from\nthe very first dawn of reason; clearly, they are not to be left without\na Christian training till they arrive at years of maturity.  Now, let\nit be observed, Christ seems distinctly to connect teaching with\nBaptism, as if He intended to convey through it a blessing upon\nteaching,--\"Go ye and teach all the nations, baptizing them.\"  If\nchildren, then, are to be considered as under teaching, as learners in\nthe school of Christ, surely they should be admitted into that school\nby Baptism.\n\nThese are the reasons for Infant Baptism which strike the mind, even on\nthe first consideration of the subject; and in the absence of express\ninformation from Scripture, they are (as far as they go) satisfactory.\nAt _what age_ should we be baptized?  I answer, in childhood; because\nall children _require_ Divine pardon and grace (as our Saviour Himself\nimplies), all are _capable_ of His blessing (as His action shows), all\nare _invited_ to His blessing, and Baptism is a pledge from Him of His\nfavour, as His Apostles frequently declare.  Since infants are to be\nbrought to Christ, we must have invented a rite, if Baptism did not\nanswer the purpose of a dedication.  Again, I say, in childhood;\nbecause all children need Christian instruction, and Baptism is a badge\nand mark of a scholar in Christ's school.  And moreover, I will add,\nbecause St. Paul speaks of the children of Christian parents as being\n\"holy,\" in a favoured state, a state of unmerited blessing; and because\nhe seems to have baptized at once whole families, where the head of the\nfamily was converted to the faith of the Gospel[4].\n\nTo conclude.  Let me beg of all who hear me, and who wish to serve God,\nto remember, in their ordinary prayers, their habitual thoughts, the\ndaily business of life, that they were once baptized.  If Baptism be\nmerely a ceremony, to be observed indeed, but then at once\nforgotten,--a decent form, which it would neither be creditable, nor\nfor temporal reasons expedient to neglect,--it is most surely no\nsubject for a Christian minister to speak of; Christ's religion has no\nfellowship with bare forms, and nowhere encourages mere outward\nobservances.  If, indeed, there be any who degrade Baptism into a mere\nceremony, which has in it no spiritual promise, let such men look to it\nfor themselves, and defend their practice of baptizing infants as they\ncan.  But for me, my brethren, I would put it before you as a true and\nplain pledge, without reserve, of God's grace given to the souls of\nthose who receive it; not a mere form, but a real means and instrument\nof blessing verily and indeed received; and, as being such, I warn you\nto remember what a talent has been committed to you.  There are very\nmany persons who do not think of Baptism in this religious point of\nview; who are in no sense in the habit of blessing God for it, and\npraying Him for His further grace to profit by the privileges given\nthem in it; who, when even they pray for grace, do not ground their\nhope of being heard and answered, on the promise of blessing in Baptism\nmade to them; above all, who do not fear to sin after Baptism.  This is\nof course an omission; in many cases it is a _sin_.  Let us set\nourselves right in this respect.  Nothing will remind us more forcibly\nboth of our advantages and of our duties; for from the very nature of\nour minds outward signs are especially calculated (if rightly used) to\nstrike, to affect, to subdue, to change them.\n\nBlessed is he who makes the most of the privileges given him, who takes\nthem for a light to his feet and a lanthorn to his path.  We have had\nthe Sign of the Cross set on us in infancy,--shall we ever forget it?\nIt is our profession.  We had the water poured on us,--it was like the\nblood on the door-posts, when the destroying Angel passed over.  Let us\nfear to sin after grace given, lest a worse thing come upon us.  Let us\naim at learning these two great truths:--that we can do nothing good\nwithout God's grace, yet that we can sin against that grace; and thus\nthat the great gift may be made the cause, on the one hand, of our\ngaining eternal life, and the occasion to us, on the other, of eternal\nmisery.\n\n\n\n[1] Isa. liv. 13.\n\n[2] John iii. 6.\n\n[3] Mark x. 14.\n\n[4] 1 Cor. vii. 14.  Acts xvi. 15, 33.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XVII.\n\nThe Unity of the Church.\n\n\"_And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I\nwill build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against\nit._\"--Matt. xvi. 18.\n\n\nToo many persons at this day,--in spite of what they see before them,\nin spite of what they read in history,--too many persons forget, or\ndeny, or do not know, that Christ has set up a kingdom in the world.\nIn spite of the prophecies, in spite of the Gospels and Epistles, in\nspite of their eyes and their ears,--whether it be their sin or their\nmisfortune, so it is,--they do not obey Him in that way in which it is\nHis will that He should be obeyed.  They do not obey Him in His\nKingdom; they think to be His people, without being His subjects.  They\ndetermine to serve Him in their own way, and though He has formed His\nchosen into one body, they think to separate from that body, yet to\nremain in the number of the chosen.\n\nFar different is the doctrine suggested to us by the text.  In St.\nPeter, who is there made the rock on which the Church is founded, we\nsee, as in a type, its unity, stability, and permanence.  It is set up\nin one name, not in many, to show that it is one; and that name is\nPeter, to show that it will last, or, as the Divine Speaker proceeds,\nthat \"the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.\"  In like manner,\nSt. Paul calls it \"the pillar and ground of the truth[1].\"\n\nThis is a subject especially brought before us at this time of year[2],\nand it may be well now to enlarge upon it.\n\nNow that all Christians are, in some sense or other, one, in our Lord's\neyes, is plain, from various parts of the New Testament.  In His\nmediatorial prayer for them to the Almighty Father, before His passion,\nHe expressed His purpose that they should be _one_.  St. Paul, in like\nmanner, writing to the Corinthians, says, \"As the body is one, and hath\nmany members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one\nbody, _so also_ is Christ. . . . .  Now ye are _the Body_ of Christ,\nand members in particular.\"  To the Ephesians, he says, \"There is _one\nBody_, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your\ncalling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of\nall[3].\"\n\nAnd, further, it is to this one Body, regarded as one, that the special\nprivileges of the Gospel are given.  It is not that this man receives\nthe blessing, and that man, but one and all, the whole body, as one\nman, one new spiritual man, with one accord, seeks and gains it.  The\nHoly Church throughout the world, \"the Bride, the Lamb's wife,\" is one,\nnot many, and the elect souls are all elected in her, not in isolation.\nFor instance; \"He is our peace who hath made both [Jews and Gentiles]\none, . . . to make in Himself of twain _one new man_.\"  In the same\nEpistle, it is said, that all nations are \"_fellow_-heirs, and of _the\nsame body_, and _fellow-partakers_ of His promise in Christ;\" and that\nwe must \"one and all come,\" or converge, \"in the unity of the faith and\nof the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the\nmeasure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;\" that as \"the husband\nis the head of the wife,\" so \"Christ is the Head of the Church,\" having\n\"loved it and given Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse\nit with the washing of water by the Word[4].\"  These are a few out of\nmany passages which connect Gospel privileges with the circumstance or\ncondition of unity in those who receive them; the image of Christ and\ntoken of their acceptance being stamped upon them _then_, at that\nmoment, when they are considered as _one_; so that henceforth the whole\nmultitude, no longer viewed as mere individual men, become portions or\nmembers of the indivisible Body of Christ Mystical, so knit together in\nHim by Divine Grace, that all have what He has, and each has what all\nhave.\n\nThe same great truth is taught us in such texts as speak of all\nChristians forming one spiritual building, of which the Jewish Temple\nwas the type.  They are temples one by one, simply as being portions of\nthat one Temple which is the Church.  \"Ye are _built up_,\" says St.\nPeter, \"a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual\nsacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.\"  Hence the word\n\"edification,\" which properly means this building up of all Christians\nin one, has come to stand for individual improvement; for it is by\nbeing incorporated into the one Body, that we have the promise of life;\nby becoming members of Christ, we have the gift of His Spirit.\n\nFurther, that unity is the condition of our receiving the privileges of\nthe Gospel is confirmed by the mode in which the Prophets describe the\nChristian Church; that is, instead of addressing individuals as\nindependent and separate from each other, they view the whole as of one\nbody; viz. that one elect, holy, and highly-favoured Mother, of which\nindividuals are but the children favoured through her as a channel.\n\"Lift up thine eyes, and behold,\" says the inspired announcement; \"all\nthese gather themselves together, and come to thee.\"  \"O thou\nafflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay\nthy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. .\n. . .  All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be\nthe peace of thy children.\"\n\nBut here it may be asked, How is this a doctrine to affect our\npractice?  That Christians may be considered in our minds as one, is\nevident; it is evident, too, that they must be one in spirit; and that\nhereafter they will be one blessed company in heaven; but what follows\nnow from believing that all saints are one in Christ?  _This_ will be\nfound to follow: that, as far as may be, Christians should live\ntogether in a visible society here on earth, not as a confused\nunconnected multitude, but united and organized one with another, by an\nestablished order, so as evidently to appear and to act as one.  And\nthis, you will at once see, _is_ a doctrine nearly affecting our\npractice, yet neglected far and wide at this day.\n\nAny complete and accurate proof indeed of this doctrine shall not here\nbe attempted; nay, I shall not even bring together, as is often\ndone[5], the more obvious texts on which it rests; let it suffice, on\nthis occasion, to make one or two general remarks bearing upon it, and\nstrongly recommending it to us.\n\n1. When, then, I am asked, why we Christians must unite into a visible\nbody or society, I answer, first, that the very earnestness with which\nScripture insists upon a spiritual unseen unity at present, and a\nfuture unity in heaven, of itself directs a pious mind to the imitation\nof that unity visible on earth; for why should it be so continually\nmentioned in Scripture, unless the thought of it were intended to sink\ndeep into our minds, and direct our conduct here?\n\n2. But again, our Saviour prays that we may be one in affection and in\naction; yet what possible way is there of many men acting _together_,\nexcept that of forming themselves into a visible body or society,\nregulated by certain laws and officers? and how can they act on a large\nscale, and consistently, unless it be a permanent body?\n\n3. But, again, I might rest the necessity of Christian unity upon one\nsingle institution of our Lord's, the Sacrament of Baptism.  Baptism is\na visible rite confessedly, and St. Paul tells us that, by it,\nindividuals are incorporated into an already existing body.  He is\nspeaking of the visible body of Christians, when he says, \"By one\nSpirit are we all baptized _into one body_[6].\"  But if every one who\nwishes to become a Christian must come to an existing visible body for\nthe gift, as these words imply, it is plain that no number of men can\never, consistently with Christ's intention, set up a Church for\nthemselves.  All must receive their Baptism from Christians already\nbaptized, and they in their turn must have received the Sacrament from\nformer Christians, themselves already incorporated in a body then\npreviously existing.  And thus we trace back a visible body or society\neven to the very time of the Apostles themselves; and it becomes plain\nthat there can be no Christian in the whole world who has not received\nhis title to the Christian privileges from the original apostolical\nsociety.  So that the very Sacrament of Baptism, as prescribed by our\nLord and His Apostles, implies the existence of one visible association\nof Christians, and only one; and that permanent, carried on by the\nsuccession of Christians from the time of the Apostles to the very end\nof the world.\n\nThis is the _design_, of Christ, I say, implied in the institution of\nthe baptismal rite.  Whether He will be merciful, over and above His\npromise, to those who through ignorance do not comply with this design,\nor are in other respects irregular in their obedience, is a further\nquestion, foreign to our purpose.  Still it remains the revealed design\nof Christ to connect all His followers in one by a visible ordinance of\nincorporation.  The Gospel faith has not been left to the world at\nlarge, recorded indeed in the Bible, but there left, like other\nimportant truths, to be taken up by men or rejected, as it may happen.\nTruths, indeed, in science and the arts _have_ been thus left to the\nchance adoption or neglect of mankind; they are no one's property; cast\nat random upon the waves of human opinion.  In any country soever, men\nmay appropriate them at once, and form themselves at their will into a\nsociety for their extension.  But for the more momentous truths of\nrevealed religion, the God, who wrought by human means in their first\nintroduction, still preserves them by the same.  Christ formed a body.\nHe secured that body from dissolution by the bond of a Sacrament.  He\ncommitted the privileges of His spiritual kingdom and the maintenance\nof His faith as a legacy to this baptized society; and into it, as a\nmatter of historical fact, all the nations _have_ flowed.  Christianity\nhas not been spread, as other systems, in an isolated manner, or by\nbooks; but from a centre, by regularly formed bodies, descendants of\nthe three thousand, who, after St. Peter's preaching on the day of\nPentecost, joined themselves to the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship.\n\nAnd to this apostolical body we must still look for the elementary gift\nof grace.  Grace will not baptize us while we sit at home, slighting\nthe means which God has appointed; but we must \"_come_ unto Mount Sion,\nand unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an\ninnumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of\nthe first-born which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of\nall, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the\nmediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that\nspeaketh better things than that of Abel.\"\n\n4. And now I will mention one other guarantee, which is especially\nsuggested by our Lord's words in the text, for the visible unity and\npermanence of His Church; and that is the appointment of rulers and\nministers, entrusted with the gifts of grace, and these in succession.\nThe ministerial orders are the ties which bind together the whole body\nof Christians in one; they are its organs, and they are moreover its\nmoving principle.\n\nSuch an institution necessarily implies a succession, unless the\nappointment was always to be miraculous; for if men cannot administer\nto themselves the rite of regeneration, it is surely as little or much\nless reasonable to suppose that they could become Bishops or Priests on\ntheir own ordination.  And St. Paul expressly shows his solicitude to\nsecure such a continuity of clergy for his brethren: \"I left thee in\nCrete,\" he says to Titus, \"that thou shouldest set in order the things\nthat are wanting, and _ordain elders_ in every city, as I had appointed\nthee[7].\"  And to Timothy: \"The things that thou hast heard of me among\nmany witnesses, the same _commit thou to faithful men_, who shall be\nable to teach others also[8].\"\n\nNow, we know that in civil matters nothing tends more powerfully to\nstrengthen and perpetuate the body politic than hereditary rulers and\nnobles.  The father's life, his principles and interests, are continued\nin the son, or rather, one life, one character, one idea, is carried on\nfrom age to age.  Thus a dynasty or a nation is consolidated and\nsecured; whereas where there is no regular succession and inheritance\nof this kind, there is no safeguard of stability and tranquillity; or\nrather, there is every risk of revolution.  For what is to make a\nsucceeding age think and act in the spirit of the foregoing, but that\ntradition of opinion and usage from mind to mind which a succession\ninvolves?  In like manner the Christian ministry affects the unity,\ninward and without, of the Church to which it is attached.  It is a\ncontinuous office, a standing ordinance; not, indeed, transmitted from\nfather to son, as under the Mosaic covenant, for the vessels of the\nChristian election need to be more special, as the treasure committed\nto them is more heavenly: but still the Apostles have not left it to\nthe mere good pleasure and piety of the Christian body whether they\nwill have a ministry or not.  Each preceding generation of clergy have\nit in charge to ordain the next following to their sacred office.\nConsider what would be sure to happen, were there no such regular\ntransmission of the Divine gift, but each congregation were left to\nchoose and create for itself its own minister.  This would follow,\namong other evil consequences, that what is every one's duty would\nprove, as the proverb runs, to be no one's.  When their minister or\nteacher died or left them, there would be first a delay in choosing a\nfresh one, then a reluctance, then a forgetfulness.  At last\ncongregations would be left without teachers; and the bond of union\nbeing gone, the Church would be broken up.  If a ministry be a\nnecessary part of the Gospel Dispensation, so must also a ministerial\nsuccession be.  But the gift of grace has not thus dropped out of the\nhands of its All-merciful Giver.  He has committed to certain of His\nservants to provide for the continuance of its presence and its\nadministration after their own time.  Each generation provides for the\nnext; \"the parents\" lay up \"for the children.\"  And we know as a fact,\nthat to this day the ministers of the Church universal are descended\nfrom the very Apostles.  Amid all the changes of this world, the Church\nbuilt upon St. Peter and the rest has continued until now in the\nunbroken line of the ministry.  And to put other considerations out of\nsight, the mere fact in itself, that there has been this perpetual\nsuccession, this unforfeited inheritance, is sufficiently remarkable to\nattract our attention and excite our reverence.  It approves itself to\nus as providential, and enlivens our hope and trust, that an ordinance,\nthus graciously protected for so many hundred years, will continue unto\nthe end, and that \"the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.\"\n\nI shall now bring these remarks to an end.  And in ending, let me\nremind you, my brethren, how nearly the whole doctrine of\necclesiastical order is connected with personal obedience to God's\nwill.  Obedience to the rule of order is every where enjoined in\nScripture; obedience to it is an act of faith.  Were there ten thousand\nobjections to it, yet, supposing unity were clearly and expressly\nenjoined by Christ, faith would obey in spite of them.  But in matter\nof fact there are no such objections, nor any difficulty of any moment\nin the way of observing it.  What, then, is to be said to the very\nserious circumstance, that, in spite of the absence of such\nimpediments, vast numbers of men conceive that they may dispense with\nit at their good pleasure.  In all the controversies of fifteen hundred\nyears, the duty of continuing in order and in quietness was professed\non all sides, as one of the first principles of the Gospel of Christ.\nBut now multitudes, both in and without the Church, have set it up on\nhigh as a great discovery, and glory in it as a great principle, that\nforms are worth nothing.  They allow themselves to wander about from\none communion to another, or from church to meeting-house, and make it\na boast that they belong to no party and are above all parties, and\nargue, that provided men agree in some principal doctrines of the\nGospel, it matters little whether they agree in any thing besides.\n\nBut those who boast of belonging to no party, and think themselves\nenlightened in this same confident boasting, I would, in all charity,\nremind that our Saviour Himself constituted what they must, on their\nprinciples, admit to be a party; that the Christian Church is simply\nand literally a party or society instituted by Christ.  He bade us keep\ntogether.  Fellowship with each other, mutual sympathy, and what\nspectators from without call party-spirit, all this is a prescribed\nduty; and the sin and the mischief arise, not from having a party, but\nin having many parties, in separating from that one body or party which\nHe has appointed; for when men split the one Church of Christ into\nfragments, they are doing their part to destroy it altogether.\n\nBut while the Church of Christ is literally what the world calls a\nparty, it is something far higher also.  It is not an institution of\nman, not a mere political establishment, not a creature of the state,\ndepending on the state's breath, made and unmade at its will, but it is\na Divine society, a great work of God, a true relic of Christ and His\nApostles, as Elijah's mantle upon Elisha, a bequest which He has left\nus, and which we must keep for His sake; a holy treasure which, like\nthe ark of Israel, looks like a thing of earth, and is exposed to the\nill-usage and contempt of the world, but which in its own time, and\naccording to the decree of Him who gave it, displays to-day, and\nto-morrow, and the third day, its miracles, as of mercy so of judgment,\n\"lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great\nhail.\"\n\n\n\n[1] 1 Tim. iii. 15.\n\n[2] Easter and Whitsuntide.\n\n[3] John xvii. 23.  1 Cor. xii. 12.  Eph. iv. 4-6.\n\n[4] Eph. ii. 14; iii. 6; iv. 13; v. 23-26.\n\n[5] Vide Tracts for the Times, No. 11.\n\n[6] 1 Cor. xii. 13.\n\n[7] Titus i. 5.\n\n[8] 2 Tim. ii. 2.  Vide also 1 Tim. v. 22.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XVIII.\n\nStedfastness in the Old Paths.\n\n\"_Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the\nold paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find\nrest for your souls._\"--Jer. vi. 16.\n\n\nReverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty.  We look to the\nfuture indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our\ndwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference.\nThis is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the\nPrayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before, not to seek after\nsome new thing, not to attempt discoveries in religion, but to keep\nwhat has once for all been committed to her keeping, and to be at rest.\n\nNow it may be asked, \"Why should we for ever be looking back at past\ntimes? were men perfect then? is it not possible to improve on the\nknowledge then possessed?\"  Let us examine this question.\n\nIn what respect should we follow old times?  Now here there is this\nobvious maxim--what God has given us from heaven cannot be improved,\nwhat man discovers for himself does admit of improvement; we follow old\ntimes then _so far_ as God has spoken in them, but in those respects in\nwhich God has not spoken in them, we are not bound to follow them.  Now\nwhat is the knowledge which God has not thought fit to reveal to us?\n_knowledge connected merely with this present world_.  All this we have\nbeen left to acquire for ourselves.  Whatever may have been told to\nAdam in paradise, or to Noah, about which we know nothing, still at\nleast since that time no divinely authenticated directions (it would\nappear) have been given to the world at large, on subjects relating\nmerely to this our temporal state of being.  How we may till our lands\nand increase our crops; how we may build our houses, and buy and sell\nand get gain; how we may cross the sea in ships; how we may make \"fine\nlinen for the merchant,\" or, like Tubal-Cain, be artificers in brass\nand iron: as to these objects of this world, necessary indeed for the\ntime, not everlastingly important, God has given us no clear\ninstruction.  He has not set His sanction here upon any rules of art,\nand told us what is best.  They have been found out by man (as far as\nwe know), and improved by man, and the first essays, as might be\nexpected, were the rudest and least successful.  Here then we have no\nneed to follow the old ways.  Besides, in many of these arts and\npursuits, there is really neither right nor wrong at all; but the good\nvaries with times and places.  Each country has its own way, which is\nbest for itself, and bad for others.\n\nAgain, God has given us no authority in questions of science.  The\nheavens above, and the earth under our feet, are full of wonders, and\nhave within them their own vast history.  But the knowledge of the\nsecrets they contain, the tale of their past revolutions, is not given\nus from Divine revelation; but left to man to attain by himself.  And\nhere again, since discovery is difficult, the old knowledge is\ngenerally less sure and complete than the modern knowledge.  If we wish\nto boast about little matters, _we_ know more about the motions of the\nheavenly bodies than Abraham, whose seed was in number as the stars; we\ncan measure the earth, and fathom the sea, and weigh the air, more\naccurately than Moses, the inspired historian of the creation; and we\ncan discuss the varied inhabitants of this globe better than Solomon,\nthough \"he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto\nthe hyssop that springeth out of the wall . . . . and of beasts, and of\nfowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes[1].\"  The world is more\nlearned in these things than of old, probably will learn more still; a\nvast prospect is open to it, and an intoxicating one.  Like the\nchildren of Cain, before the flood came and destroyed them all, men may\nincrease and abound in such curious or merely useful knowledge; nay,\nthere is no limit to the progress of the human mind here; we may build\nus a city and a tower, whose top may reach almost to the very heavens.\n\nSuch is the knowledge which time has perfected, and in which the old\npaths are commonly the least direct and safe.  But let us turn to that\nknowledge which God has given, and which therefore does not admit of\nimprovement by lapse of time, this is _religious knowledge_.  Here,\nwhether a man might or might not have found out the truth for himself,\nor how far he was able without Divine assistance, waiving this\nquestion, which is nothing to the purpose, as a fact it has been from\nthe beginning given him by revelation.  God taught Adam how to please\nHim, and Noah, and Abraham, and Job.  He has taught every nation all\nover the earth sufficiently for the moral training of every individual.\nIn all these cases, the world's part of the work has been to pervert\nthe truth, not to disengage it from obscurity.  The new ways are the\ncrooked ones.  The nearer we mount up to the time of Adam, or Noah, or\nAbraham, or Job, the purer light of truth we gain; as we recede from it\nwe meet with superstitions, fanatical excesses, idolatries, and\nimmoralities.  So again in the case of the Jewish Church, since God\nexpressly gave the Jews a precise law, it is clear man could not\nimprove upon it, he could but add the \"traditions of men.\"  Nothing was\nto be looked for from the cultivation of the human mind.  \"To the law\nand to the testimony\" was the appeal, and any deviation from it was,\nnot a sign of increasing illumination, but \"because there was no light\"\nin the authors of innovation.  Lastly, in the Christian Church, we\ncannot add or take away, as regards the doctrines that are contained in\nthe inspired volume, as regards the faith once delivered to the saints.\n\"Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus\nChrist[2].\"\n\nBut it may be said that, though the word of God is an infallible rule\nof faith, yet it requires interpreting, and why, as time goes on,\nshould we not discover in it more than we at present know on the\nsubject of religion and morals?\n\nBut this is hardly a question of practical importance to us as\nindividuals; for in truth a very little knowledge is enough for\nteaching a man his duty: and, since Scripture is intended to teach us\nour duty, surely it was never intended as a storehouse of mere\nknowledge.  Discoveries then in the details of morals and religion, by\nmeans of the inspired volume, whether possible or not, must not be\nlooked out for, as the expectation may unsettle the mind, and take it\noff from matters of duty.  Certainly all curious questions at least are\nforbidden us by Scripture, even though Scripture may be found adequate\nto answer them.\n\nThis should be insisted on.  Do we think to become better men by\nknowing more?  Little knowledge is required for religious obedience.\nThe poor and rich, the learned and unlearned, are here on a level.  We\nhave all of us the means of doing our duty; we have not the _will_, and\nthis no knowledge can give.  We have need to subdue our own minds, and\nthis no other person can do for us.  The case is different in matters\nof learning and science.  There others can and do labour for us; we can\nmake use of _their_ labours; we begin where they ended; thus things\nprogress, and each successive age knows more than the preceding.  But\nin religion each must begin, go on, and end, for himself.  The\nreligious history of each individual is as solitary and complete as the\nhistory of the world.  Each man will, of course, gain more knowledge as\nhe studies Scripture more, and prays and meditates more; but he cannot\nmake another man wise or holy by his own advance in wisdom or holiness.\nWhen children cease to be born children, because they are born late in\nthe world's history, when we can reckon the world's past centuries for\nthe age of this generation, then only can the world increase in real\nexcellence and truth as it grows older.  The character will always\nrequire forming, evil will ever need rooting out of each heart; the\ngrace to go before and to aid us in our moral discipline must ever come\nfresh and immediate from the Holy Spirit.  So the world ever remains in\nits infancy, as regards the cultivation of moral truth; for the\nknowledge required for practice is little, and admits of little\nincrease, except in the case of individuals, and then to them alone;\nand it cannot be handed on to another.  \"As it was in the beginning, is\nnow, and ever shall be,\" such is the general history of man's moral\ndiscipline, running parallel to the unchanging glory of that\nAll-Perfect God, who is its Author and Finisher.\n\nPractical religious knowledge, then, is a personal gift, and, further,\na gift from God; and, therefore, as experience has hitherto shown, more\nlikely to be obscured than advanced by the lapse of time.  But further,\nwe know of the existence of an evil principle in the world, corrupting\nand resisting the truth in its measure, according to the truth's\nclearness and purity.  Whether it be from the sinfulness of our nature,\nor from the malignity of Satan, striving with peculiar enmity against\nDivine truth, certain it is that the best gifts of God have been the\nmost woefully corrupted.  It was prophesied from the beginning, that\nthe serpent should bruise the heel of Him who was ultimately to triumph\nover him; and so it has ever been.  Our Saviour, who was the Truth\nitself, was the most spitefully entreated of all by the world.  It has\nbeen the case with His followers too.  He was crucified with thieves;\nthey have been united and blended against their will with the worst and\nbasest of mankind.  The purer and more precious the gift which God\nbestows on us, far from this being a security for its abiding and\nincreasing, rather the more grievously has that gift been abused.  St.\nJohn even seems to make the greater wickedness in the world the clear\nconsequence and evidence of our Lord's having made His appearing.\n\"Little children, it is the last time\" (i. e. the time of the Christian\nDispensation): \"and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even\nnow are there many Antichrists, _whereby we know_ that it is the last\ntime[3].\"  St. Paul drew the same picture.  So far from anticipating\nbrighter times in store for the Church before the end, he portends evil\nonly.  \"This know\" (he says to Timothy), \"that in the last days\nperilous times will come. . . . .  Evil men and seducers shall wax\nworse and worse, deceiving and being deceived[4].\"  In these and other\npassages surely there is no encouragement to look out for a more\nenlightened, peaceful, and pure state of the Church than it enjoys at\npresent: rather, there is a call on us to consider the old and original\nway as the best, and all deviations from it, though they seem to\npromise an easier, safer, and shorter road, yet as really either\ntending another way, or leading to the right object with much hazard\nand many obstacles.\n\nSuch is the case as regards the knowledge of our duty,--that kind of\nknowledge which alone is really worth earnest seeking.  And there is an\nimportant reason why we should acquiesce in it;--because the conviction\nthat things are so has no slight influence in forming our minds into\nthat perfection of the religious character, at which it is our duty\never to be aiming.  While we think it possible to make some great and\nimportant improvements in the subject of religion, we shall be\nunsettled, restless, impatient; we shall be drawn from the\nconsideration of improving ourselves, and from using the day while it\nis given us, by the visions of a deceitful hope, which promises to make\nrich but tendeth to penury.  On the other hand, if we feel that the way\nis altogether closed against discoveries in religion, as being neither\npracticable nor desirable, it is likely we shall be drawn more entirely\nand seriously to our own personal advancement in holiness; our eyes,\nbeing withdrawn from external prospects, will look more at home.  We\nshall think less of circumstances, and more of our duties under them,\nwhatever they are.  In proportion as we cease to be theorists we shall\nbecome practical men; we shall have less of self-confidence and\narrogance, more of inward humility and diffidence; we shall be less\nlikely to despise others, and shall think of our own intellectual\npowers with less complacency.\n\nIt is one great peculiarity of the Christian character to be dependent.\nMen of the world, indeed, in proportion as they are active and\nenterprising, boast of their independence, and are proud of having\nobligations to no one.  But it is the Christian's excellence to be\ndiligent and watchful, to work and persevere, and yet to be in spirit\n_dependent_; to be willing to serve, and to rejoice in the permission\nto do so; to be content to view himself in a subordinate place; to love\nto sit in the dust.  Though in the Church a son of God, he takes\npleasure in considering himself Christ's \"servant\" and \"slave;\" he\nfeels glad whenever he can put himself to shame.  So it is the natural\nbent of his mind freely and affectionately to visit and trace the\nfootsteps of the saints, to sound the praises of the great men of old\nwho have wrought wonders in the Church and whose words still live,\nbeing jealous of their honour, and feeling it to be even too great a\nprivilege for such as he is to be put in trust with the faith once\ndelivered to them, and following them strictly in the narrow way, even\nas they have followed Christ.  To the ears of such persons the words of\nthe text are as sweet music: \"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the\nways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and\nwalk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.\"\n\nThe history of the Old Dispensation affords us a remarkable\nconfirmation of what I have been arguing from these words; for in the\ntime of the Law there was an increase of religious knowledge by fresh\nrevelations.  From the time of Samuel especially to the time of\nMalachi, the Church was bid look forward for a growing illumination,\nwhich, though not necessary for religious obedience, subserved the\nestablishment of religious comfort.  Now, I wish you to observe how\ncareful the inspired prophets of Israel are to prevent any kind of\ndisrespect being shown to the memory of former times, on account of\nthat increase of religious knowledge with which the later ages were\nfavoured; and if such reverence for the past were a duty among the Jews\nwhen the Saviour was still to come, much more is it the duty of\nChristians, who expect no new revelation, and who, though they look\nforward in hope, yet see the future only in the mirror of times and\npersons past, who (in the Angel's words) \"wait for that same\nJesus: . . . . so to come in like manner as they saw Him go into\nheaven.\"\n\nNow, as to the reverence enjoined and taught the Jews towards persons\nand times past, we may notice first the commandment given them to\nhonour and obey their parents and elders.  This, indeed, is a natural\nlaw.  But that very circumstance surely gives force to the express and\nrepeated injunctions given them to observe it, sanctioned too (as it\nwas) with a special promise.  Natural affection might have taught it;\nbut it was rested by the Law on a higher sanction.  Next, this duty of\nreverently regarding past times was taught by such general injunctions\n(more or less express) as the text.  It is remarkable, too, when Micah\nwould tell the Jews that the legal sacrifices appointed in time past\nwere inferior to the moral duties, he states it not as a new truth, but\nrefers to its announcement by a prophet in Moses' age,--to the answer\nof Balaam to Balak, king of Moab.\n\nBut, further, to bind them to the observance of this duty, the past was\nmade the pledge of the future, hope was grounded upon memory; all\nprayer for favour sent them back to the old mercies of God.  \"The Lord\n_hath been_ mindful of us, He _will_ bless us[5];\" this was the form of\ntheir humble expectation.  The favour vouchsafed to Abraham and Israel,\nand the deliverance from Egypt, were the objects on which hope dwelt,\nand were made the types of blessings in prospect.  For instance, out of\nthe many passages which might be cited, Isaiah says, \"Awake . . .  O\narm of the Lord, _as in the ancient days, in the generations of\nold_[6].\"  Micah, \"Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine\nheritage, which dwell solitary in the wood, in the midst of Carmel; let\nthem feed in Bashan and Gilead, _as in the days of old_; according to\nthe days of thy coming out of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous\nthings[7].\"  The Psalms abound with like references to past mercies, as\npledges and types of future.  Prophesying of the reign of Christ, David\nsays, \"The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring My\npeople again from the depths of the sea,\" and Moses too, speaking to\nthe Israelites--\"_Remember the days of old_, consider the years of many\ngenerations; ask thy father and he will show thee, thy elders, and they\nwill tell thee[8].\"  Accordingly, while a coming Saviour was predicted,\nstill the claims of past times on Jewish piety were maintained, by His\nbeing represented by the prophets under the name and character of\nDavid, or in the dress and office of Aaron; so that, the clearer the\nrevelation of the glory in prospect, in the same degree greater honour\nwas put upon the former Jewish saints who typified it.  In like manner\nthe blessings promised to the Christian Church are granted to it in the\ncharacter of Israel, or of Jerusalem, or of Sion.\n\nLastly, as Moses directed the eyes of his people towards the line of\nprophets which the Lord their God was to raise up from among them,\nending in the Messiah, they in turn dutifully exalt Moses, whose system\nthey were superseding.  Samuel, David, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Daniel,\nEzra, Nehemiah, each in succession, bear testimony to Moses.  Malachi,\nthe last of the prophets, while predicting the coming of John the\nBaptist, still gives this charge, \"_Remember ye the law of Moses_, My\nservant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the\nstatutes and judgments[9].\"  In like manner in the New Testament the\nlast of the prophets and apostles describes the saints as singing \"the\nsong of Moses, the servant of God\" (this is his honourable title, as\nelsewhere), \"_and_ the song of the Lamb[10].\"  Above all, our blessed\nLord Himself sums up the whole subject we have been reviewing, both the\ndoctrine and Jewish illustration of it, in His own authoritative\nwords,--\"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be\npersuaded, though one rose from the dead[11].\"  After this sanction, it\nis needless to refer to the reverence with which St. Paul regards the\nlaw of Moses, and to the commemoration he has made of the Old Testament\nsaints in the eleventh chapter of his Epistle to the Hebrews.\n\nOh that we had duly drunk into this spirit of reverence and godly fear!\nDoubtless we are far above the Jews in our privileges; we are favoured\nwith the news of redemption; we know doctrines, which righteous men of\nold time earnestly desired to be told, and were not.  To us is revealed\nthe Eternal Son, the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and\ntruth.  We are branches of the True Vine, which is sprung out of the\nearth and spread abroad.  We have been granted Apostles, Prophets,\nEvangelists, pastors, and teachers.  We celebrate those true Festivals\nwhich the Jews possessed only in shadow.  For us Christ has died, on us\nthe Spirit has descended.  In these respects we are honoured and\nprivileged, oh how far above all ages before He came!  Yet our honours\nare our shame, when we contrast the glory given us with our love of the\nworld, our fear of men, our lightness of mind, our sensuality, our\ngloomy tempers.  What need have we to look with wonder and reverence at\nthose saints of the Old Covenant, who with less advantages yet so far\nsurpassed us; and still more at those of the Christian Church, who both\nhad higher gifts of grace and profited by them!  What need have we to\nhumble ourselves; to pray God not to leave us, though we have left Him;\nto pray Him to give us back what we have lost, to receive a repentant\npeople, to renew in us a right heart and give us a religious will, and\nto enable us to follow Him perseveringly in His narrow and humbling way.\n\n\n\n[1] 1 Kings iv. 33.\n\n[2] 1 Cor. iii. 11.\n\n[3] 1 John ii. 18.\n\n[4] 2 Tim. iii. 13.\n\n[5] Ps. cxv. 12.\n\n[6] Isa. li. 9.\n\n[7] Micah vii. 14, 15.\n\n[8] Deut. xxxii. 7.\n\n[9] Mal. iv. 4.\n\n[10] Rev. xv. 3.\n\n[11] Luke xvi. 31.\n\n\n\n\nEND OF VOL. VII.","title":"Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII (of 8)","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":66127}