{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24284/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24284","id":"gutenberg_24284","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24284","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","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. VIII.\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\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nSERMON I.\n\nReverence in Worship.\n\n\"_Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen\nephod._\"--1 Sam. ii. 18\n\n\nSERMON II.\n\nDivine Calls.\n\n\"_And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel,\nSamuel.  Then Samuel answered, Speak: for Thy servant heareth._\"--1\nSam.  iii. 10\n\n\nSERMON III.\n\nThe Trial of Saul.\n\n\"_And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace\nofferings.  And he offered the burnt offering._\"--1 Sam. xiii. 9\n\n\nSERMON IV.\n\nThe Call of David.\n\n\"_So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a\nstone._\"--1 Sam. xvii. 50\n\n\nSERMON V.\n\nCuriosity of Temptation to Sin.\n\n\"_Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil\nmen.  Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away._\"--Prov.\niv. 14, 15\n\n\nSERMON VI.\n\nMiracles no Remedy for Unbelief.\n\n\"_And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me?\nand how long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs which I\nhave showed among them?_\"--Num. xiv. 11\n\n\nSERMON VII.\n\nJosiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.\n\n\"_Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before\nthe Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and\nagainst the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation\nand a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have\nheard thee, saith the Lord.  Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto\nthy fathers, and thou shall be gathered into thy grave in peace; and\nthine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this\nplace._\"--2 Kings xxii. 19, 20\n\n\nSERMON VIII.\n\nInward Witness to the Truth of the Gospel.\n\n\"_I have more understanding than my teachers, for Thy testimonies\nare my study; I am wiser than the aged, because I keep Thy\ncommandments._\"--Psalm cxix. 99, 100\n\n\nSERMON IX.\n\nJeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.\n\n\"_Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee,\nsaith the Lord._\"--Jer. i. 8\n\n\nSERMON X.\n\nEndurance of the World's Censure.\n\n\"_And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them; neither be afraid of\ntheir words, though briars and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell\namong scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their\nlooks, though they be a rebellious house._\"--Ezek. ii. 6\n\n\nSERMON XI.\n\nDoing Glory to God in Pursuits of the World.\n\n\"_Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to\nthe glory of God._\"--1 Cor. x. 31\n\n\nSERMON XII.\n\nVanity of Human Glory.\n\n\"_The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not._\"--1 John iii. 1\n\n\nSERMON XIII.\n\nTruth hidden when not sought after.\n\n\"_They shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned\nunto fables._\"--2 Tim. iv. 4\n\n\nSERMON XIV.\n\nObedience to God the Way to Faith in Christ.\n\n\"_When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou\nart not far from the kingdom of God._\"--Mark xii. 34\n\n\nSERMON XV.\n\nSudden Conversions.\n\n\"_By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed\nupon me was not in vain._\"--1 Cor. xv. 10\n\n\nSERMON XVI.\n\nThe Shepherd in our Souls.\n\n\"_I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd gaveth His life for the\nsheep._\"--John x. 11\n\n\nSERMON XVII.\n\nReligious Joy.\n\n\"_And the Angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good\ntidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is\nborn this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the\nLord._\"--Luke ii. 10, 11\n\n\nSERMON XVIII.\n\nIgnorance of Evil.\n\n\"_And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to\nknow good and evil._\"--Gen. iii. 22\n\n\n\n\nSERMON I.\n\nReverence in Worship.\n\n\"_Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen\nephod._\"--1 Samuel ii. 18.\n\n\nSamuel, viewed in his place in sacred history, that is, in the course\nof events which connect Moses with Christ, appears as a great ruler and\nteacher of his people; this is his prominent character.  He was the\nfirst of the prophets; yet, when we read the sacred narrative itself,\nin which his life is set before us, I suppose those passages are the\nmore striking and impressive which represent him, in the office which\nbelonged to him by birth, as a Levite, or minister of God.  He was\ntaken into God's special service from the first; he lived in His\nTemple; nay, while yet a child, he was honoured with the apparel of a\nsacred function, as the text tells us, \"he ministered before the Lord,\nbeing a child, girded with a linen ephod.\"\n\nHis mother had \"given him unto the Lord all the days of his life[1],\"\nby a solemn vow before his birth; and in him, if in any one, were\nfulfilled the words of the Psalmist, \"Blessed are they that dwell in\nThy house, they will be always praising Thee[2].\"\n\nSuch a constant abode in God's house would make common minds only\nfamiliar with holy things, and irreverent; but where God's grace is\npresent in the heart, the effect is the reverse; which we might be sure\nwould happen in the case of Samuel.  \"The Lord was with him,\" we are\ntold; and therefore the more the outward signs of that Lord met his\neye, the more reverent he became, not the more presuming.  The more he\nacquainted himself with God, the greater would be his awe and holy fear.\n\nThus the first notice we have of his ministering before the Lord,\nreminds us of the decency and gravity necessary at all times, and in\nall persons, in approaching Him.  \"He ministered before the Lord, being\na child, girded with a linen ephod.\"  His mother had made him yearly a\nlittle coat for his common use, but in Divine Service he wore, not\nthis, but a garment which would both express, and impress upon him,\nreverence.\n\nAnd, in like manner, in his old age, when Saul sent to seek David at\nNaioth, where Samuel was, his messengers found Samuel and the prophets\nunder him all in decent order.  \"They saw the company of prophets\nprophesying, and Samuel over them.\"  And this was so impressive a\nsight, that it became an instrument of God's supernatural power towards\nthem, and they prophesied also.\n\nOn the other hand, if we would have an example of the want of this\nreverence, we have it in Saul himself, the reprobate king, who, when he\nwas on his way to Naioth, and was visited by God's Holy Spirit, did not\nthereupon receive the garment of salvation, nor was clothed in\nrighteousness, but behaved himself in an unseemly wild way, as one\nwhose destitution and shame were but detected by the visitation.  He\nstript off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel, and lay down in\nthat state all that day and all that night.\n\nThis difference we see even at this day:--of persons professing\nreligion, some are like Samuel, some like Saul; some (as it were) cast\noff their garments and prophesy in disorder and extravagance; others\nminister before the Lord, \"girded with a linen ephod,\" with \"their\nloins girt and their lamps burning,\" like men awfully expecting the\ncoming of their great and glorious Judge.  By the latter, I mean the\ntrue children of the Holy Catholic Church, by the former, I mean\nheretics and schismatic.\n\nThere have ever been from the first these two kinds of\nChristians--those who belonged to the Church, and those who did not.\nThere never was a time since the Apostles' day, when the Church was\nnot; and there never was a time but men were to be found who preferred\nsome other way of worship to the Church's way.  These two kinds of\nprofessed Christians ever have been--Church Christians, and Christians\nnot of the Church; and it is remarkable, I say, that while, on the one\nhand, reverence for sacred things has been a characteristic of Church\nChristians on the whole, so, want of reverence has been the\ncharacteristic on the whole of Christians not of the Church.  The one\nhave prophesied after the figure of Samuel, the other after the figure\nof Saul.\n\nOf course there are many exceptions to this remark in the case of\nindividuals.  Of course I am not speaking of inconsistent persons and\nexceptional cases, in the Church, or out of it; but of those who act up\nto what they profess.  I mean that zealous, earnest, and faithful\nmembers of the Church have generally been reverent; and zealous,\nearnest, and faithful members of other religious bodies have generally\nbeen irreverent.  Again, after all, there will be real exceptions in\nthe case of individuals which we cannot account for; but I mean that,\non, the _whole_, it will be found that reverence is one of the marks or\nnotes of the Church; true though it may be that some particular\nindividuals, who have kept apart from it, have not been without a\nreverential spirit notwithstanding.\n\nIndeed so natural is the connexion between a reverential spirit in\nworshipping God, and faith in God, that the wonder only is, how any one\ncan for a moment imagine he has faith in God, and yet allow himself to\nbe irreverent towards Him.  To believe in God, is to believe the being\nand presence of One who is All-holy, and All-powerful, and\nAll-gracious; how can a man really believe thus of Him, and yet make\nfree with Him? it is almost a contradiction in terms.  Hence even\nheathen religions have ever considered faith and reverence identical.\nTo believe, and not to revere, to worship familiarly, and at one's\nease, is an anomaly and a prodigy unknown even to false religions, to\nsay nothing of the true one.  Not only the Jewish and Christian\nreligions, which are directly from God, inculcate the spirit of\n\"reverence and godly fear,\" but those other religions which have\nexisted, or exist, whether in the East or the South, inculcate the\nsame.  Worship, forms of worship--such as bowing the knee, taking off\nthe shoes, keeping silence, a prescribed dress, and the like--are\nconsidered as necessary for a due approach to God.  The whole world,\ndiffering about so many things differing in creed and rule of life, yet\nagree in this--that God being our Creator, a certain self-abasement of\nthe whole man is the duty of the creature; that He is in heaven, we\nupon earth; that He is All-glorious, and we worms of the earth and\ninsects of a day.\n\nBut those who have separated from the Church of Christ have in this\nrespect fallen into greater than pagan error.  They may be said to form\nan exception to the concordant voice of a whole world, always and every\nwhere; they break in upon the unanimous suffrage of mankind, and\ndetermine, at least by their conduct, that reverence and awe are not\nprimary religious duties.  They have considered that in some way or\nother, either by God's favour or by their own illumination, they are\nbrought so near to God that they have no need to fear at all, or to put\nany restraint upon their words or thoughts when addressing Him.  They\nhave considered awe to be superstition, and reverence to be slavery.\nThey have learnt to be familiar and free with sacred things, as it\nwere, on principle.  I think this is really borne out by facts, and\nwill approve itself to inquirers as true in substance, however one man\nwill differ from another in the words in which he would express the\nfact itself.\n\nSamuel was a little child who had never fallen away from God, but by\nHis grace had ever served Him.  Let us take a very different instance,\nthe instance of a penitent sinner as set before us in the parable of\nthe Publican and Pharisee.  I need hardly say which of the two was the\nmost pleasing to God--the Publican; whereas the Pharisee was not\naccepted by Him.  Now what did the Pharisee do?  He did not even go so\nfar as to behave in an unseemly, extravagant way: he was grave and\nsolemn, and yet what he did was enough to displease God, because he\ntook too much upon himself, and made too much of himself.  Though grave\nand solemn, he was not reverent; he spoke in a haughty, proud way, and\nmade a long sentence, thanking God that he was not as other men are,\nand despising the Publican.  Such was the behaviour of the Pharisee;\nbut the Publican behaved very differently.  Observe how he came to\nworship God; \"he stood afar off; he lift not up so much as his eyes\nunto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a\nsinner[3].\"  You see his words were few, and almost broken, and his\nwhole conduct humble and reverent; he felt that God was in heaven, he\nupon earth, God All-holy and Almighty, and he a poor sinner.\n\nNow all of us are sinners, all of us have need to come to God as the\nPublican did; every one, if he does but search his heart, and watch his\nconduct, and try to do his duty, will find himself to be full of sins\nwhich provoke God's wrath.  I do not mean to say that all men are\nequally sinners; some are wilful sinners, and of them there is no hope,\ntill they repent; others sin, but they try to avoid sinning, pray to\nGod to make them better, and come to Church to be made better; but all\nmen are quite sinners enough to make it their duty to behave as the\nPublican.  Every one ought to come into Church as the Publican did, to\nsay in his heart, \"Lord, I am not worthy to enter this sacred place; my\nonly plea for coming is the merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour.\"  When,\nthen, a man enters Church, as many do, carelessly and familiarly,\nthinking of himself, not of God, sits down coldly and at his ease,\neither does not say a prayer at all, or merely hides his face for\nform's sake, sitting all the while, not standing or kneeling; then\nlooks about to see who is in the Church, and who is not, and makes\nhimself easy and comfortable in his seat, and uses the kneeler for no\nother purpose than to put his feet upon; in short, comes to Church as a\nplace, not of meeting God and His holy Angels, but of seeing what is to\nbe seen with the bodily eyes, and hearing what is to be heard with the\nbodily ears, and then goes and gives his judgment about the sermon\nfreely, and says, \"I do not like this or that,\" or \"This is a good\nargument, but that is a bad one,\" or \"I do not like this person so much\nas that,\" and so on; I mean when a man acts in all respects as if he\nwas at home, and not in God's House,--all I can say is, that he\nventures to do in God's presence what neither Cherubim nor Seraphim\nventure to do, for they veil their faces, and, as if not daring to\naddress God, praise Him to each other, in few words, and those\ncontinually repeated, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.\n\nWhat I have said has been enough to suggest what it is to serve God\nacceptably, viz. \"with reverence and godly fear,\" as St. Paul says.  We\nmust not aim at forms for their own sake, but we must keep in mind\nwhere we are, and then forms will come into our service naturally.  We\nmust in all respects act as if we saw God; that is, if we believe that\nGod is here, we shall keep silence; we shall not laugh, or talk, or\nwhisper during the Service, as many young persons do; we shall not gaze\nabout us.  We shall follow the example set us by the Church itself.  I\nmean, as the words in which we pray in Church are not our own, neither\nwill our looks, or our postures, or our thoughts, be our own.  We\nshall, in the prophet's words, not \"do our own ways\" there, nor \"find\nour own pleasure,\" nor \"speak our own words;\" in imitation of all\nSaints before us, including the Holy Apostles, who never spoke their\nown words in solemn worship, but either those which Christ taught them,\nor which the Holy Ghost taught them, or which the Old Testament taught\nthem.  This is the reason why we always pray from a book in Church; the\nApostles said to Christ, \"Lord, teach us to pray,\" and our Lord\ngraciously gave them the prayer called the Lord's Prayer.  For the same\nreason we too use the Lord's Prayer, and we use the Psalms of David and\nof other holy men, and hymns which are given us in Scripture, thinking\nit better to use the words of inspired Prophets than our own.  And for\nthe same reason we use a number of short petitions, such as \"Lord, have\nmercy upon us,\" \"O Lord, save the Queen,\" \"O Lord, open Thou our lips,\"\nand the like, not using many words, or rounding our sentences, or\nallowing ourselves to enlarge in prayer.\n\nThus all we do in Church is done on a principle of _reverence_; it is\ndone with the thought that we are in God's presence.  But irreverent\npersons, not understanding this, when they come into Church, and find\nnothing there of a striking kind, when they find every thing is read\nfrom a book, and in a calm, quiet way, and still more, when they come a\nsecond and a third time, and find every thing just the same, over and\nover again, they are offended and tired.  \"There is nothing,\" they say,\n\"to rouse or interest them.\"  They think God's service dull and\ntiresome, if I may use such words; for they do not come to Church to\nhonour God, but to please themselves.  They want something new.  They\nthink the prayers are long, and wish that there was more preaching, and\nthat in a striking oratorical way, with loud voice and florid style.\nAnd when they observe that the worshippers in Church are serious and\nsubdued in their manner, and will not look, and speak, and move as much\nat their ease as out of doors, or in their own houses, then (if they\nare very profane) they ridicule them, as weak and superstitious.  Now\nis it not plain that those who are thus tired, and wearied, and made\nimpatient by our sacred services below, would most certainly get tired\nand wearied with heaven above? because there the Cherubim and Seraphim\n\"rest not day and night,\" saying, \"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God\nAlmighty.\"  Such as this, too, will be the way of the Saints in glory,\nfor we are told that there will be a great voice of much people saying,\nAlleluia; and again they said Alleluia, and the four-and-twenty elders\nsaid Alleluia, and a voice of many waters and of mighty thunderings\nsaid Alleluia.  Such, too, was our Lord's way, when in His agony He\nthree times repeated the same words, \"Thy will, not Mine, be done.\"  It\nis the delight of all holy beings, who stand around the Throne, to use\none and the same form of worship; they are not tired, it is ever new\npleasure to them to say the words anew.  They are never tired; but\nsurely all those persons would be soon tired of hearing them, instead\nof taking part in their glorious chant, who are weaned of Church now,\nand seek for something more attractive and rousing.\n\nLet all persons, then, know for certain, and be assured beforehand,\nthat if they come to Church to have their hearts put into strange and\nnew forms, and their feelings moved and agitated, they come for what\nthey will not find.  We wish them to join Saints and Angels in\nworshipping God; to say with the Seraphim, \"Holy Lord God of Sabaoth,\"\nto say with the Angels, \"Glory to God in the highest, and in earth\npeace, good-will towards men,\" to say after our Lord and Saviour, \"Our\nFather, which art in heaven,\" and what follows; to say with St. Mary,\n\"My soul doth magnify the Lord;\" with St. Simeon, \"Lord, now lettest\nThou Thy servant depart in peace;\" with the Three Children who were\ncast into the fiery furnace, \"O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the\nLord, praise Him, and magnify Him for ever,\" with the Apostles, \"I\nbelieve in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in\nJesus Christ His only Son our Lord; and in the Holy Ghost.\"  We wish to\nread to them words of inspired Scripture, and to explain its doctrine\nto them soberly after its pattern.  This is what we wish them to say,\nagain and again: \"Lord, have mercy;\" \"We beseech Thee to hear us, O\nLord;\" \"Good Lord, deliver us;\" \"Glory be to the Father, and to the\nSon, and to the Holy Ghost.\"  All holy creatures are praising God\ncontinually--we hear them not, still they are praising Him and praying\nto Him.  All the Angels, the glorious company of the Apostles, the\ngoodly fellowship of the Prophets, the noble army of Martyrs, the Holy\nChurch universal, all good men all over the earth, all the spirits and\nsouls of the righteous, all our friends who have died in God's faith\nand fear, all are praising and praying to God: we come to Church to\njoin them; our voices are very feeble, our hearts are very earthly, our\nfaith is very weak.  We do not deserve to come, surely not;--consider\nwhat a great favour it is to be allowed to join in the praises and\nprayers of the City of the Living God, we being such sinners;--we\nshould not be allowed to come at all but for the merits of our Lord and\nSaviour.  Let us firmly look at the Cross, that is the token of our\nsalvation.  Let us ever remember the sacred Name of Jesus, in which\ndevils were cast out of old time.  These are the thoughts with which we\nshould come to Church, and if we come a little before the Service\nbegins, and want something to think about, we may look, not at who are\ncoming in and when, but at the building itself, which will remind us of\nmany good things; or we may look into the Prayer Book for such passages\nas the 84th Psalm, which runs thus: \"O how amiable are Thy dwellings,\nThou Lord of hosts! my soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the\nCourts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh rejoice in the Living God.\"\n\nSuch will be our conduct and our thoughts in Church, if we be true\nChristians; and I have been giving this description of them, not only\nfor the sake of those who are not reverent, but for the sake of those\nwho try to be so,--for the sake of all of us who try to come to Church\nsoberly and quietly, that we may know why we do so, and may have an\nanswer if any one asks us.  Such will be our conduct even when we are\nout of Church.  I mean, those who come to Church again and again, in\nthis humble and heavenly way, will find the effect of it, through God's\nmercy, in their daily walk.  When Moses came down from Mount Sinai,\nwhere he had been forty days and forty nights, his face quite shone and\ndazzled the people, so that he was obliged to put a veil over it.  Such\nis the effect of God's grace on those who come to Church in faith and\nlove; their mode of acting and talking, their very manner and\nbehaviour, show they have been in God's presence.  They are ever sober,\ncheerful, modest, serious, and earnest.  They do not disgrace their\nprofession, they do not take God's Name in vain, they do not use\npassionate language, they do not lie, they do not jest in an unseemly\nway, they do not use shameful words, they keep their mouth; they have\nkept their mouth in Church, and avoided rashness, so they are enabled\nto keep it at home.  They have bright, smiling, pleasant faces.  They\ndo not wear a mock gravity, and, like the hypocrites whom Christ speaks\nof, make themselves sad countenances, but they are easy and natural,\nand without meaning it cannot help showing in their look, and voice,\nand manner, that they are God's dear children, and have His grace\nwithin them.  They are civil and obliging, kind and friendly; not\nenvious or jealous, not quarrelsome, not spiteful or resentful, not\nselfish, not covetous, not niggardly, not lovers of the world, not\nafraid of the world, not afraid of what man can do against them.\n\nSuch are they who worship God in spirit and in truth in Church; they\nlove Him and they fear Him.  And, besides those who profess to love\nwithout fearing, there are two sorts of persons who fall short; first,\nand worst, those who neither fear nor love God; and, secondly, those\nwho fear Him, but do not love Him.  There are, every where, alas! some\nbold, proud, discontented persons, who, as far as they dare, speak\nagainst religion altogether; they do not come to Church, or if they\ncome, come to see about what is going on, not to worship.  These are\nthose who neither love nor fear; but the more common sort of persons\nare they who have a sort of fear of God without the love of Him, who\nfeel and know that some things are right, and others wrong, yet do not\nadhere to the right; who are conscious they sin from time to time, and\nthat wilfully, who have an uneasy conscience, who fear to die; who\nhave, indeed, a sort of serious feeling about sacred things, who\nreverence the Church and its Ordinances, who would be shocked at open\nimpiety, who do not make a mock at Baptism, much less at the Holy\nCommunion, but, still, who have not the heart to love and obey God.\nThis, I fear, my brethren, may be the state of some of you.  See to it,\nthat you are clear from the sin of knowing and confessing what is your\nduty, and yet not doing it.  If you be such, and make no effort to\nbecome better; if you do not come to Church honestly, for God's grace\nto make you better, and seriously strive to be better and to do your\nduty more thoroughly, it will profit you nothing to be ever so reverent\nin your manner, and ever so regular in coming to Church.  God hates the\nworship of the mere lips; He requires the worship of the heart.  A\nperson may bow, and kneel, and look religious, but he is not at all the\nnearer heaven, unless he tries to obey God in all things, and to do his\nduty.  But if he does honestly strive to obey God, then his outward\nmanner will be reverent also; decent forms will become natural to him;\nholy ordinances, though coming to him from the Church, will at the same\ntime come (as it were) from his heart; they will be part of himself,\nand he will as little think of dispensing with them as he would\ndispense with his ordinary apparel, nay, as he could dispense with\ntongue or hand in speaking or doing.  This is the true way of doing\ndevotional service; not to have feelings without acts, or acts without\nfeelings; but both to do and to feel;--to see that our hearts and\nbodies are both sanctified together, and become one; the heart ruling\nour limbs, and making the whole man serve Him, who has redeemed the\nwhole man, body as well as soul.\n\n\n\n[1] Sam. i. 11.\n\n[2] Ps. lxxxiv. 4.\n\n[3] Luke xviii. 13.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON II.\n\nDivine Calls.\n\n\"_And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel;\nSamuel.  Then Samuel answered, Speak; for Thy servant heareth._\"--1\nSamuel iii. 10.\n\n\nIn the narrative of which these words form part, we have a remarkable\ninstance of a Divine call, and the manner in which it is our duty to\nmeet it.  Samuel was from a child brought to the house of the Lord; and\nin due time he was called to a sacred office, and made a prophet.  He\nwas called, and he forthwith answered the call.  God said, \"Samuel,\nSamuel.\"  He did not understand at first who called, and what was\nmeant; but on going to Eli he learned who spoke, and what his answer\nshould be.  So when God called again, he said, \"Speak, Lord, for Thy\nservant heareth.\"  Here is prompt obedience.\n\nVery different in its circumstances was St. Paul's call, but resembling\nSamuel's in this respect, that, when God called, he, too, promptly\nobeyed.  When St. Paul heard the voice from heaven, he said at once,\ntrembling and astonished, \"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do[1]?\"\nThis same obedient temper of his is stated or implied in the two\naccounts which he himself gives of his miraculous conversion.  In the\n22nd chapter he says, \"And I said, What shall I do, Lord?\"  And in the\n26th, after telling King Agrippa what the Divine Speaker said to him,\nhe adds what comes to the same thing, \"Whereupon, O King Agrippa, _I\nwas not disobedient_ unto the heavenly vision.\"  Such is the account\ngiven us in St. Paul's case of that first step in God's gracious\ndealings with him, which ended in his eternal salvation.  \"Whom He did\nforeknow, He also did predestinate[2];\"--\"whom He did predestinate,\nthem He also called\"--here was the first act which took place in\ntime--\"and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He\njustified, them He also glorified.\"  Such is the Divine series of\nmercies; and you see that it was prompt obedience on St. Paul's part\nwhich carried on the first act of Divine grace into the second, which\nknit together the first mercy to the second.  \"Whom He called, them He\nalso justified.\"  St. Paul was called when Christ appeared to him in\nthe way; he was justified when Ananias came to baptize him: and it was\nprompt obedience which led him from his call to his baptism.  \"Lord,\nwhat wilt Thou have me to do?\"  The answer was, \"Arise, and go into\nDamascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are\nappointed for thee to do[3].\"  And when he came to Damascus, Ananias\nwas sent to him by the same Lord who had appeared to him; and he\nreminded St. Paul of this when he came to him.  The Lord had appeared\nfor his call; the Lord appeared for his justification.\n\nThis, then, is the lesson taught us by St. Paul's conversion, promptly\nto obey the call.  If we do obey it, to God be the glory, for He it is\nworks in us.  If we do not obey, to ourselves be all the shame, for sin\nand unbelief work in us.  Such being the state of the case, let us take\ncare to act accordingly,--being exceedingly alarmed lest we should not\nobey God's voice when He calls us, yet not taking praise or credit to\nourselves if we do obey it.  This has been the temper of all saints\nfrom the beginning--working out their salvation with fear and\ntrembling, yet ascribing the work to Him who wrought in them to will\nand do of His good pleasure; obeying the call, and giving thanks to Him\nwho calls, to Him who fulfils in them their calling.  So much on the\npattern afforded us by St. Paul.\n\nVery different in its circumstances was Samuel's call, when a child in\nthe temple, yet resembling St. Paul's in this particular,--that for our\ninstruction the circumstance of his obedience to it is brought out\nprominently even in the words put into his mouth by Eli in the text.\nEli taught him what to say, when called by the Divine voice.\nAccordingly, when \"the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other\ntimes, Samuel, Samuel.  Then Samuel answered, Speak, Lord, for Thy\nservant heareth.\"\n\nSuch, again, is the temper of mind expressed by holy David in the 27th\nPsalm, \"When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face, my heart said unto Thee, Thy\nface, Lord, will I seek.\"\n\nAnd this temper, which in the above instances is illustrated in words\nspoken, is in the case of many other Saints in Scripture shown in word\nand deed; and, on the other hand, is illustrated negatively by being\nneglected in the case of others therein mentioned, who might have\nentered into life, and did not.\n\nFor instance, we read of the Apostles, that \"Jesus, walking by the sea\nof Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his\nbrother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.  And He\nsaith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.  _And\nthey straightway_ left their nets and followed Him[4].\"  Again; when He\nsaw James and John with their father Zebedee, \"He _called_ them; and\nthey _immediately left the ship, and their father_, and _followed_\nHim.\"  And so of St. Matthew at the receipt of custom, \"He said unto\nhim, Follow Me, and he left all, rose up, and followed Him.\"\n\nAgain, we are told in St. John's Gospel, \"Jesus would go forth into\nGalilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto Him, _Follow_ Me.\"  Again,\n\"Philip findeth Nathanael,\" and in like manner says to him, \"Come and\nsee.\"  \"Jesus saw Nathanael coming unto Him, and saith of him, Behold\nan Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.\"\n\nOn the other hand, the young ruler shrunk from the call, and found it a\nhard saying, \"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and\ngive to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, and\nfollow Me.  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away\nsorrowful, for he had great possessions[5].\"  Others who seemed to\nwaver, or rather who asked for some little delay from human feeling,\nwere rebuked for want of promptitude in their obedience;--for time\nstays for no one; the word of call is spoken and is gone; if we do not\nseize the moment, it is lost.  Christ was on His road heavenward.  He\nwalked by the sea of Galilee[6]; He \"passed forth[7];\" He \"passed\nby[8];\" He did not stop; all men must join Him, or He would be calling\non others beyond them[9].  \"He said to another, Follow Me.  But he\nsaid, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  Jesus said unto\nhim, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom\nof God.  And another also said, Lord, I will follow Thee: but let me\nfirst go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.  And Jesus\nsaid unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking\nback, is fit for the kingdom of God[10].\"\n\nNot unlike these last instances are the circumstances of the call of\nthe great prophet Elisha, though he does not seem to have incurred\nblame from Elijah for his lingering on the thoughts of what he was\nleaving.  \"He found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing . . .\nElijah passed by him, and cast his mantle over him.\"  He did not stay;\nhe passed on, and Elisha was obliged to run after him.  \"And he left\nthe oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my\nfather and my mother, and then I will follow thee.\"  This the prophet\nallowed him to do, and after that \"he arose and followed Elijah, and\nministered unto him.\"\n\nOr once more consider the circumstances of the call of Abraham, the\nfather of all who believe.  He was called from his father's house, but\nwas not told whither.  St. Paul was bid go to Damascus, and there he\nwas to receive further directions.  In like manner Abraham left his\nhome for a land \"that I _will_ show thee[11],\" says Almighty God.\nAccordingly he went out, \"not knowing whither he went.\"  \"Abram\n[Transcriber's note: Abraham?] departed as the Lord had spoken unto\nhim.\"\n\nSuch are the instances of Divine calls in Scripture, and their\ncharacteristic is this; to require instant obedience, and next to call\nus we know not to what; to call us on in the darkness.  Faith alone can\nobey them.  But it may be urged, How does this concern us now?  We were\nall called to serve God in infancy, before we could obey or disobey; we\nfound ourselves called when reason began to dawn; we have been called\nto a state of salvation, we have been living as God's servants and\nchildren, all through our time of trial, having been brought into it in\ninfancy through Holy Baptism, by the act of our parents.  Calling is\nnot a thing future with us, but a thing past.\n\nThis is true in a very sufficient sense; and yet it is true also that\nthe passages of Scripture which I have been quoting do apply to us\nstill,--do concern us, and may warn and guide us in many important\nways; as a few words will show.\n\nFor in truth we are not called once only, but many times; all through\nour life Christ is calling us.  He called us first in Baptism; but\nafterwards also; whether we obey His voice or not, He graciously calls\nus still.  If we fall from our Baptism, He calls us to repent; if we\nare striving to fulfil our calling, He calls us on from grace to grace,\nand from holiness to holiness, while life is given us.  Abraham was\ncalled from his home, Peter from his nets, Matthew from his office,\nElisha from his farm, Nathanael from his retreat; we are all in course\nof calling, on and on, from one thing to another, having no\nresting-place, but mounting towards our eternal rest, and obeying one\ncommand only to have another put upon us.  He calls us again and again,\nin order to justify us again and again,--and again and again, and more\nand more, to sanctify and glorify us.\n\nIt were well if we understood this; but we are slow to master the great\ntruth, that Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by His hand,\nor eye, or voice, bidding us follow Him.  We do not understand that His\ncall is a thing which takes place now.  We think it took place in the\nApostles' days; but we do not believe in it, we do not look out for it\nin our own case.  We have not eyes to see the Lord; far different from\nthe beloved Apostle, who knew Christ even when the rest of the\ndisciples knew Him not.  When He stood on the shore after His\nresurrection, and bade them cast the net into the sea, \"that disciple\nwhom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord[12].\"\n\nNow what I mean is this: that they who are living religiously, have\nfrom time to time truths they did not know before, or had no need to\nconsider, brought before them forcibly; truths which involve duties,\nwhich are in fact precepts, and claim obedience.  In this and such-like\nways Christ calls us now.  There is nothing miraculous or extraordinary\nin His dealings with us.  He works through our natural faculties and\ncircumstances of life.  Still what happens to us in providence is in\nall essential respects what His voice was to those whom He addressed\nwhen on earth: whether He commands by a visible presence, or by a\nvoice, or by our consciences, it matters not, so that we feel it to be\na command.  If it is a command, it may be obeyed or disobeyed; it may\nbe accepted as Samuel or St. Paul accepted it, or put aside after the\nmanner of the young man who had great possessions.\n\nAnd these Divine calls are commonly, from the nature of the case,\nsudden now, and as indefinite and obscure in their consequences as in\nformer times.  The accidents and events of life are, as is obvious, one\nspecial way in which the calls I speak of come to us; and they, as we\nall know, are in their very nature, and as the word accident implies,\nsudden and unexpected.  A man is going on as usual; he comes home one\nday, and finds a letter, or a message, or a person, whereby a sudden\ntrial comes on him, which, if met religiously, will be the means of\nadvancing him to a higher state of religious excellence, which at\npresent he as little comprehends as the unspeakable words heard by St.\nPaul in paradise.  By a trial we commonly mean, a something which if\nencountered well, will confirm a man in his present way; but I am\nspeaking of something more than this; of what will not only confirm\nhim, but raise him into a high state of knowledge and holiness.  Many\npersons will find it very striking on looking back on their past lives,\nto observe what different notions they entertained at different\nperiods, of what Divine truth was, what was the way of pleasing God,\nand what things were allowable or not, what excellence was, and what\nhappiness.  I do not scruple to say, that these differences may be as\ngreat as that which may be supposed to have existed between St. Peter's\nstate of mind when quietly fishing on the lake, or Elisha's when\ndriving his oxen, and that new state of mind of each of them when\ncalled to be Apostle or Prophet.  Elisha and St. Peter indeed were also\ncalled to a new mode of life; that I am not speaking of.  I am not\nspeaking of cases when persons change their condition, their place in\nsociety, their pursuit, and the like; I am supposing them to remain\npretty much the same as before in outward circumstances; but I say that\nmany a man is conscious to himself of having undergone inwardly great\nchanges of view as to what truth is and what happiness.  Nor, again, am\nI speaking of changes so great, that a man reverses his former opinions\nand conduct.  He may be able to see that there is a connexion between\nthe two; that his former has led to his latter; and yet he may feel\nthat after all they differ in kind; that he has got into a new world of\nthought, and measures things and persons by a different rule.\n\nNothing, indeed, is more wonderful and strange than the different views\nwhich different persons take of the same subject.  Take any single\nfact, event, or existing thing which meets us in the world; what\nvarious remarks will be made on it by different persons!  For instance,\nconsider the different lights in which any single action, of a striking\nnature, is viewed by different persons; or consider the view of wealth\nor a wealthy man, taken by this or that class in the community; what\ndifferent feelings does it excite--envy, or respect, or ridicule, or\nangry opposition, or indifference, or fear and compassion; here are\nstates of mind in which different parties may regard it.  These are\nbroad differences; others are quite as real, though more subtle.\nReligion, for instance, may be reverenced by the soldier, the man of\nliterature, the trader, the statesman, and the theologian; yet how very\ndistinct their modes of reverencing it, and how separate the standard\nwhich each sets up in his mind!  Well, all these various modes of\nviewing things cannot one and all be the best mode, even were they all\ngood modes; but this even is not the case.  Some are contrary to\nothers; some are bad.  But even of those that are on the whole good,\nsome are but in part good, some are imperfect, some have much bad mixed\nwith them; and only one is best.  Only one is the truth and the perfect\ntruth; and which that is, none know but those who are in possession of\nit, if even they.  But God knows which it is; and towards that one and\nonly Truth He is leading us forward.  He is leading forward His\nredeemed, He is training His elect, one and all, to the one perfect\nknowledge and obedience of Christ; not, however, without their\nco-operation, but by means of calls which they are to obey, and which\nif they do not obey, they lose place, and fall behind in their heavenly\ncourse.  He leads them forward from strength to strength, and from\nglory to glory, up the steps of the ladder whose top reacheth to\nheaven.  We pass from one state of knowledge to another; we are\nintroduced into a higher region from a lower, by listening to Christ's\ncall and obeying it.\n\nPerhaps it may be the loss of some dear friend or relative through\nwhich the call comes to us; which shows us the vanity of things below,\nand prompts us to make God our sole stay.  We through grace do so in a\nway we never did before; and in the course of years, when we look back\non our life, we find that that sad event has brought us into a new\nstate of faith and judgment, and that we are as though other men from\nwhat we were.  We thought, before it took place, that we were serving\nGod, and so we were in a measure; but we find that, whatever our\npresent infirmities may be, and however far we be still from the\nhighest state of illumination, then at least we were serving the world\nunder the show and the belief of serving God.\n\nOr again, perhaps something occurs to force us to take a part for God\nor against Him.  The world requires of us some sacrifice which we see\nwe ought not to grant to it.  Some tempting offer is made us; or some\nreproach or discredit threatened us; or we have to determine and avow\nwhat is truth and what is error.  We are enabled to act as God would\nhave us act; and we do so in much fear and perplexity.  We do not see\nour way clearly; we do not see what is to follow from what we have\ndone, and how it bears upon our general conduct and opinions: yet\nperhaps it has the most important bearings.  That little deed, suddenly\nexacted of us, almost suddenly resolved on and executed, may be as\nthough a gate into the second or third heaven--an entrance into a\nhigher state of holiness, and into a truer view of things than we have\nhitherto taken.\n\nOr again, we get acquainted with some one whom God employs to bring\nbefore us a number of truths which were closed on us before; and we but\nhalf understand them, and but half approve of them; and yet God seems\nto speak in them, and Scripture to confirm them.  This is a case which\nnot unfrequently occurs, and it involves a call \"to follow on to know\nthe Lord[13].\"\n\nOr again, we may be in the practice of reading Scripture carefully, and\ntrying to serve God, and its sense may, as if suddenly, break upon us,\nin a way it never did before.  Some thought may suggest itself to us,\nwhich is a key to a great deal in Scripture, or which suggests a great\nmany other thoughts.  A new light may be thrown on the precepts of our\nLord and His Apostles.  We may be able to enter into the manner of life\nof the early Christians, as recorded in Scripture, which before was\nhidden from us, and into the simple maxims on which Scripture bases it.\nWe may be led to understand that it is very different from the life\nwhich men live now.  Now knowledge is a call to action: an insight into\nthe way of perfection is a call to perfection.\n\nOnce more, it may so happen that we find ourselves, how or why we\ncannot tell, much more able to obey God in certain respects than\nheretofore.  Our minds are so strangely constituted, it is impossible\nto say whether it is from the growth of habit suddenly showing itself,\nor from an unusual gift of Divine grace poured into our hearts, but so\nit is; let our temptation be to sloth, or irresolution, or worldly\nanxiety, or pride, or to other more base and miserable sins, we may\nsuddenly find ourselves possessed of a power of self-command which we\nhad not before.  Or again, we may have a resolution grow on us to serve\nGod more strictly in His house and in private than heretofore.  This is\na call to higher things; let us beware lest we receive the grace of God\nin vain.  Let us beware of lapsing back; let us avoid temptation.  Let\nus strive by quietness and caution to cherish the feeble flame, and\nshelter it from the storms of this world.  God may be bringing us into\na higher world of religious truth, let us work with Him.\n\nTo conclude.  Nothing is more certain in matter of fact, than that some\nmen do feel themselves called to high duties and works, to which others\nare not called.  Why this is we do not know, whether it be that those\nwho are not called, forfeit the call from having failed in former\ntrials, or have been called and have not followed, or that though God\ngives baptismal grace to all, yet He really does call some men by His\nfree grace to higher things than others; but so it is; this man sees\nsights which that man does not see, has a larger faith, a more ardent\nlove, and a more spiritual understanding.  No one has any leave to take\nanother's lower standard of holiness for his own.  It is nothing to us\nwhat others are.  If God calls us to greater renunciation of the world,\nand exacts a sacrifice of our hopes and fears, this is our gain, this\nis a mark of His love for us, this is a thing to be rejoiced in.  Such\nthoughts, when properly entertained, have no tendency to puff us up;\nfor if the prospect is noble, yet the risk is more fearful.  While we\npursue high excellence, we walk among precipices, and a fall is easy.\nHence the Apostle says, \"Work out your own salvation with fear and\ntrembling, for it is God that worketh in you[14].\"  Again, the more men\naim at high things, the more sensitive perception they have of their\nown shortcomings; and this again is adapted to humble them especially.\nWe need not fear spiritual pride then, in following Christ's call, if\nwe follow it as men in earnest.  Earnestness has no time to compare\nitself with the state of other men; earnestness has too vivid a feeling\nof its own infirmities to be elated at itself.  Earnestness is simply\nset on doing God's will.  It simply says, \"Speak, Lord, for Thy servant\nheareth,\" \"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?\"  Oh that we had more of\nthis spirit!  Oh that we could take that simple view of things, as to\nfeel that the one thing which lies before us is to please God!  What\ngain is it to please the world, to please the great, nay, even to\nplease those whom we love, compared with this?  What gain is it to be\napplauded, admired, courted, followed, compared with this one aim, of\nnot being disobedient to a heavenly vision?  What can this world offer\ncomparable with that insight into spiritual things, that keen faith,\nthat heavenly peace, that high sanctity, that everlasting\nrighteousness, that hope of glory, which they have who in sincerity\nlove and follow our Lord Jesus Christ?\n\nLet us beg and pray Him day by day to reveal Himself to our souls more\nfully, to quicken our senses; to give us sight and hearing, taste and\ntouch of the world to come, so to work within us that we may sincerely\nsay, \"Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and after that receive me\nto glory.  Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth\nthat I desire in comparison of Thee: my flesh and my heart faileth; but\nGod is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.\"\n\n\n\n[1] Acts ix. 6.\n\n[2] Rom. viii. 29.\n\n[3] Acts xxii. 10.\n\n[4] Matt. iv. 18-20.\n\n[5] Matt. xix. 21, 22.\n\n[6] Matt. iv. 18.\n\n[7] Matt. ix. 9.\n\n[8] Mark 11. 14.\n\n[9] Matt. xx. 6, 7.\n\n[10] Luke ix. 59-62.\n\n[11] Gen. xii. 1.\n\n[12] John xxi. 7.\n\n[13] Hosea vi. 3.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON III.\n\nThe Trial of Saul.\n\n\"_And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace\nofferings.  And he offered the burnt offering._\"--1 Samuel xiii. 9.\n\n\nWe are all on our trial.  Every one who lives is on his trial, whether\nhe will serve God or not.  And we read in Scripture of many instances\nof the trials upon which Almighty God puts us His creatures.  In the\nbeginning, Adam, when he was first created, was put upon his trial.  He\nwas placed in a beautiful garden, he had every thing given him for his\npleasure and comfort; he was created innocent and upright, and he had\nthe great gift of the Holy Spirit given him to enable him to please\nGod, and to attain to heaven.  One thing alone he was forbidden--to eat\nof the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; this was his trial.  If\nhe did not eat of the fruit, he was to live, if he did, he was to die.\nAlas, he did eat of the fruit, and he did die.  He was tried and found\nwanting; he fell; such was the end of _his_ trial.\n\nMany other trials, besides Adam's, are recorded in Scripture, and that\nfor our warning and instruction, that we may be reminded that we too\nare on trial, that we may be encouraged by the examples of those who\nhave stood their trial well and not fallen, and may be sobered and put\non our guard by the instances of others who have fallen under their\ntrial.  Of these latter cases, Saul is one.  Saul, of whom we have been\nreading in the course of this service[1], is an instance of a man whom\nGod blessed and proved, as Adam before him, whom He put on his trial,\nand who, like Adam, was found wanting.\n\nNow the history, I say, of this melancholy and awful fall is contained\nin the chapter which we have been reading, and from which the text is\ntaken; and I will now attempt to explain to you its circumstances.\n\nSaul was not born a king, or the son of a great family; he was a man of\nhumble birth and circumstances, and he was raised by God's free grace\nto be the ruler and king of His people Israel.  Samuel, God's prophet,\nrevealed this to him, anointed him with oil, and after he became king,\ninstructed him in his duty: and, moreover, put him on his trial.  Now\nhis trial was this.  God's people, the Israelites, over whom Saul was\nappointed to reign, had been very much oppressed and harassed by their\nenemies round about; heathen nations, who hated the true God and His\nworship, rose and fought against them; and of these nations the\nPhilistines were the chief at that time.  They overran the country, and\nbrought the Israelites into captivity.  They tyrannized over them, and\nto make sure that they should never be free, they even took away from\nthem the means of forging weapons to fight with.  \"There was no smith\nfound through all the land of Israel,\" says the chapter, \"for the\nPhilistines said, Lest the Hebrews (i.e. the Israelites) make them\nswords or spears.  But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines,\nto sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his ax, and his\nmattock.\"  Saul was raised up to throw off this heavy yoke, and to\ndestroy the cruel oppressors of his people.  He \"chose him three\nthousand men, and with a third of them Jonathan, his son, smote the\ngarrison of the Philistines which was in Geba.\"\n\nUpon this, as was naturally to be supposed, these powerful enemies the\nPhilistines became highly incensed, and assembled together a great army\nto chastise the insurgent people, their subjects as they would call\nthem, who were making head against them.  They had \"thirty thousand\nchariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on\nthe sea-shore in multitude.\"  On the other hand, Saul on his part,\n\"blew the trumpet through all the land,\" and summoned all Israelites to\nhim.  They came together to him at Gilgal.  And the Philistines came\nwith their great host, and pitched over against him.  Thus the two\narmies remained in sight of each other, and then it was that Saul's\ntrial began.\n\nBefore Saul went to battle, it was necessary to offer a burnt sacrifice\nto the Lord, and to beg of Him a blessing on the arms of Israel.  He\ncould have no hope of victory, unless this act of religious worship was\nperformed.  Now priests only and prophets were God's ministers, and\nthey alone could offer sacrifice.  Kings could not, unless they were\nspecially commanded to do so by Almighty God.  Saul had no leave to\noffer sacrifice; yet a sacrifice must be offered before he could fight;\nwhat must he do?  He must wait for Samuel, who had said that he would\ncome to him for that purpose.  \"Thou shalt go down before me to\nGilgal,\" says Samuel to him, \"and behold, I will come down unto thee,\nto offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace\nofferings; seven days shalt thou tarry till I come unto thee, and show\nthee what thou shalt do[2].\"  Saul, you see, was told to wait seven\ndays till Samuel came; but meanwhile this great trial came upon him.\nThe people he had gathered together to fight against the Philistines\nwere far inferior to them in military qualities.  They were not even\nsoldiers; they were country-people brought together, rising against a\npowerful enemy, who was used to rule, as they were used to subjection.\nAnd, as I have already observed, they had no regular arms: \"It came to\npass,\" says Scripture, \"in the day of battle, that there was neither\nsword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with\nSaul and Jonathan.\"  No wonder, under these circumstances, that many\ndid not come to Saul's army at all; many hid themselves; many fled out\nof the country; and of those who joined him, all were in a state of\nalarm, and numbers began to desert.  \"When the men of Israel,\" says\nScripture, \"saw that they were in a strait, then the people did hide\nthemselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places,\nand in pits.  And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of\nGad and Gilead; as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people\nfollowed him trembling.  And he tarried seven days, according to the\nset time that Samuel had appointed; but Samuel came not to Gilgal, and\nthe people were scattered from him.\"\n\nWhat a great trial this must have been!  Here was a king who had been\nmade king for the express purpose of destroying the Philistines; he is\nin presence of his powerful enemy, he is anxious to fulfil his\ncommission; he fears to fail; his reputation is at stake; he has at\nbest a most difficult task, as his soldiers are very bad ones, and are\nall afraid of the enemy.  His only chance, humanly speaking, is to\nstrike a blow; if he delays, he can expect nothing but total defeat;\nthe longer he delays, the more frightened his men will become.  Yet he\nis told to wait seven days; seven long days must he wait; he does wait\nthrough them, and to his great mortification and despair, his soldiers\nbegin to desert; day after day more and more leave him: what will be\nthe end of this?  Yet does he govern his feelings so far, as to wait\nall through the seven days.  So far he acquits himself well in the\ntrial; he was told simply to wait seven days, and in spite of the risk,\nhe does wait.  Though he sees his army crumbling away, and the enemy\nready to attack him, he obeys God; he obeys His prophet; he does\nnothing; he looks out for Samuel's coming.\n\nAt length the seven days are gone and over, those weary wearing days,\nthat long trial of a week, through every hour of which he was tempted\nto advance against the enemy, yet every hour had to restrain his fierce\nand impatient spirit.  Now then is the time for Samuel to come; he said\nhe would come at the end of seven days, and the days are ended.  Now at\nlength is the time for Saul to be relieved.  For seven days the\nPhilistines, for some cause or other, have not attacked him; a\nwonderful chance it is; he may breathe freely; every hour, every minute\nhe expects to hear that Samuel has joined the camp.  But now, when his\ntrial seemed over, behold a second trial--Samuel comes not.  The\nprophet of God said he would come, the prophet of God does not come as\nhe said.\n\nWhy Samuel did not come, we are not informed; except that we see it was\nGod's will to try Saul still further; however, he did not come, and now\nlet us observe what was Saul's conduct.\n\nHitherto he had acquitted himself well; he had obeyed to the letter the\ncommand of God by His prophet.  He had waited in faith though in fear;\nhe feared the Philistines, but had faith in God.  Oh that he had\ncontinued in his faith! but his faith gave way when his trial was\nprolonged.\n\nWhen Samuel did not come, there was no one of course to offer\nsacrifice; what was to be done?  Saul ought to have waited still\nlonger, till Samuel did come.  He had had faith in God hitherto, he\nshould have had faith still.  He had hitherto trusted that God would\nsave him from the enemy, though his army was scattered, in God's own\nway.  God fights not with sword and bow; He can give victory to whom He\nwill, and when He will; \"with His own right hand, and His holy arm,\"\ncan He accomplish His purposes.  Saul was God's servant, and therefore\nhe might securely trust in God.  He had trusted for seven days; he\nmight go on trusting for eight, nine, or ten.  And let it be observed,\nthat this fresh trial was hardly a greater trial than before, for this\nreason--that his faith hitherto had met with its reward.  Though the\nPhilistines were in his front, and his own men were deserting, yet,\nstrange to say, the Philistines had not attacked him.  Thus he had had\nproof that God could defend him from them.  He who had kept him so\nsafely for seven days, why should He not also on the eighth? however,\nhe did not feel this, and so he took a very rash and fatal step.\n\nThat step was as follows: since Samuel had not come, he determined to\noffer the burnt sacrifice instead of him; he determined to do what he\ncould not do without a great sin; viz. intrude into a sacred office to\nwhich he was not called; nay, to do what he really could not do at all;\nfor he might call it a sacrifice, but it would not be really such,\nunless a priest or prophet offered it.  You know how great a crime it\nis for persons now to become teachers and preachers, or to baptize or\nadminister the Lord's Supper without authority; this was Saul's crime,\nhe determined on sacrificing, without being an appointed minister of\nGod.  This is a crime often denounced in Scripture, as in the case of\nKorah, and Jeroboam, and Uzziah.  Korah was swallowed up by the earth\non account of it; Jeroboam had his hand withered, and was punished in\nhis family; and Uzziah was smitten with leprosy.  Yet this was Saul's\nsin.  \"And Saul said,\" in the words of the text, \"Bring hither a burnt\noffering to me, and peace offerings; and he offered the burnt\noffering.\"  Now observe what happened immediately afterwards.  \"And it\ncame to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt\noffering, behold, Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him, that he\nmight salute him.\"  You see, if he had waited but one hour more, he\nwould have been saved this sin; in other words, he would have succeeded\nin his trial instead of failing.  But he failed, and the consequence\nwas, he lost God's favour, and forfeited his kingdom.\n\nLet us observe what Samuel said to him, and what he answered; \"And\nSamuel said, What hast thou done?  And Saul said, Because I saw that\nthe people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the\ndays appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together\nto Michmash; therefore, said I, The Philistines will come down now upon\nme to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced\nmyself, therefore, and offered a burnt offering.\"  Such was his excuse;\nand now hear what Samuel thought of it: \"And Samuel said to Saul, Thou\nhast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy\nGod, which He commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established\nthy kingdom upon Israel for ever.  But now thy kingdom shall not\ncontinue: the Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart, and the\nLord hath commanded him to be captain over His people, because thou\nhast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.\"  Such was the end of\nSaul's trial: he fell; he was not obedient; and in consequence he\nforfeited God's favour.\n\nHow much is there in this melancholy history which applies to us, my\nbrethren, at this day, though it happened some thousand years ago!  Man\nis the same in every age, and God Almighty is the same; and thus what\nhappened to Saul, the king of Israel, is, alas! daily fulfilled in us,\nto our great shame.  We all, as Saul, have been raised by God to great\nhonour and glory; not, indeed, glory of this world, but unseen\nspiritual glory.  We were born in sin, and the children of wrath; and\nHe has caused us to be baptized with water and the Spirit in the Name\nof Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and as Saul, by being anointed with oil\nby Samuel, was made king of Israel, so we, by baptism, are made kings,\nnot kings of this world, but kings and princes in the heavenly kingdom\nof Christ.  He is our head, and we are His brethren; He has sat down on\nHis throne on high, and has been crowned by His Eternal Father as Lord\nand Christ; and we, too, by being made His brethren, partake His\nunseen, His heavenly glory.  Though we be poor in this world, yet, when\nwe were baptized, we, like Saul, were made strong in the Lord, powerful\nprinces, with Angels to wait upon us, and with a place on Christ's\nthrone in prospect.  Hence, I say, we are, like Saul, favoured by God's\nfree grace; and in consequence we are put on our trial like Saul--we\nare all tried in one way or another; and now consider how many there\nare who fall like Saul.\n\n1. How many are there who, when in distress of any kind, in want of\nmeans, or of necessaries, forget, like Saul, that their distress,\nwhatever it is, comes from God; that God brings it on them, and that\nGod will remove it in His own way, if they trust in Him: but who,\ninstead of waiting for His time, take their own way, their own bad way,\nand impatiently hasten the time, and thus bring on themselves judgment!\nSometimes, telling an untruth will bring them out of their\ndifficulties, and they are tempted to do so.  They make light of the\nsin; they say they cannot help themselves, that they are forced to it,\nas Saul said to Samuel; they make excuses to quiet their conscience;\nand instead of bearing the trial well, enduring their poverty, or\nwhatever the trouble may be, they do not shrink from a deliberate lie,\nwhich God hears.  Or, again, in like circumstances, they are tempted to\nsteal; and they argue that they are in greater want than the person\nthey injure, or that he will never miss what they take; and that they\nwould not take it, were not their distress so great.  Thus they act\nlike Saul, and thus they tempt God in turn to deprive them of their\nheavenly inheritance.  Or further, perhaps, they both steal and lie\nalso; first steal, and then lie in order to hide their theft.\n\n2. Again, how many are there who, when in unpleasant situations, are\ntempted to do what is wrong in order to get out of them, instead of\npatiently waiting God's time!  They have, perhaps, unkind parents, and\nthey are so uncomfortable at home, that they take the first opportunity\nwhich presents itself of getting away.  They marry irreligious persons,\nnot asking themselves the question whether they are irreligious, merely\nfrom impatience to get out of their present discomfort; \"Any thing but\nthis,\" they say.  What is this but to act like Saul? _he_ had very\nlittle peace or quiet all the time he remained in presence of the\nenemy, with his own people falling away from him; and he, too, took an\nunlawful means to get out of his difficulty.  And so, again, when\npersons have harsh masters and employers, or troublesome neighbours, or\nare engaged in employments which they do not like, they often forget\nthat all this is from God's providence, that to Him they must look up,\nthat He who imposed it can take it away, can take it away in His good\ntime, and without their sin.  But they, like Saul, are impatient, and\nwill not wait.  And, again, are not some of us tempted to be impatient\nat the religious disadvantages we lie under; and instead of waiting for\nGod's time, and God's prophet, take the matter into our own hand, leave\nthe place where God has put us, and join some other communion, in order\n(as we hope) to have clearer light and fuller privileges?\n\n3. Again, how many are there who, though their hearts are not right\nbefore God, yet have some sort of religiousness, and by it deceive\nthemselves into an idea that they are religious!  Observe, Saul in his\nway was a religious man; I say, in _his_ way, but not in God's way; yet\nHis very disobedience _he_ might consider an act of religion.  He\noffered sacrifice _rather_ than go to battle without a sacrifice.  An\nopenly irreligious man would have drawn up his army and fallen upon the\nPhilistines without any religious service at all.  Saul did not do\nthis; no, he wished that an act of worship and prayer should precede\nthe battle; he desired to have God's blessing upon him; and perversely,\nwhile he felt that blessing to be necessary, he did not feel that the\nonly way of gaining it was seeking it _in the way_ which God had\nappointed; that, whereas God had not made him His minister, he could\nnot possibly offer the burnt offering acceptably.  Thus he deceived\nhimself; and thus many men deceive themselves now; not casting off\nreligion altogether, but choosing their religion for themselves, as\nSaul did, and fancying they can be religious without being obedient.\n\n4. Again, how many are there, who bear half the trial God puts on them,\nbut not the whole of it; who go on well for a time, and then fall away!\nSaul bore on for seven days, and fainted not; on the eighth day his\nfaith failed him.  Oh may we persevere to the end!  Many fall away.\nLet us watch and pray.  Let us not get secure.  Let us not think it\nenough to have got through one temptation well; through our whole life\nwe are on trial.  When one temptation is over, another comes; and,\nperhaps, our having got through one well, will be the occasion of our\nfalling under the next, if we be not on our guard; because it may make\nus secure and confident, as if we had already conquered, and were safe.\n\n5.  Once more, how many are there, who, in a narrow grudging\ncold-hearted way, go by the letter of God's commandments, while they\nneglect the spirit!  Instead of considering what Christ wishes them to\ndo, they take His words one by one, and will only accept them in their\nbare necessary meaning.  They do not throw their hearts upon Scripture,\nand try to consider it as the voice of a Living and Kind Lord and\nMaster speaking to them, but they take it to mean as little as it can.\nThey are wanting in love.  Saul was told to wait seven days--he _did_\nwait seven days; and then he thought he might do what he chose.  He, in\neffect, said to Samuel, \"I have done just what you told me.\"  Yes, he\nfulfilled Samuel's directions literally and rigidly, but not in the\nspirit of love.  Had he loved the Word of God, he would not have been\nso precise and exact in his reckoning, but would have waited still\nlonger.  And, in like manner, persons now-a-days, imitating him, too\noften say, when taxed with any offence, \"Why is it wrong?  Where is it\nso said in Scripture?  Show us the text:\" all which only shows that\nthey obey carnally, in the letter, and not in the spirit.\n\nHow will all excuses, which sinners now make to blind and deaden their\nconsciences, fail them in the Last Day!  Saul had his excuses for\ndisobedience.  He did not confess he was wrong, but he argued; but\nSamuel with a word reproved, and convicted, and silenced, and sentenced\nhim.  And so in the Day of Judgment all our actions will be tried as by\nfire.  The All-knowing, All-holy Judge, our Saviour Jesus Christ, will\nsit on His throne, and with the breath of His mouth He will scatter\naway all idle excuses on which men now depend; and the secrets of men's\nhearts will be revealed.  Then shall be seen who it is that serveth\nGod, and who serveth Him not; who serve Him with the lips, who with the\nheart; who are hypocrites, and who are true.\n\nGod give us grace to be in the number of those whose faith and whose\nlove is without hypocrisy or pretence; who obey out of a pure heart and\na good conscience; who sincerely wish to know God's will, and who do it\nas far as they know it!\n\n\n\n[1] Fourth Sunday after Trinity.\n\n[2] 1 Sam. x. 8.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON IV.\n\nThe Call of David.\n\n\"_So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a\nstone._\"--1 Samuel xvii. 50.\n\n\nThese words, which are taken from the chapter which you heard read just\nnow in the course of the Service[1], declare the victory which David,\nthe man after God's own heart, gained over Goliath, who came out of the\narmy of the Philistines to defy the Living God; and they declare the\nmanner of his gaining it.  He gained it with a sling and with a stone;\nthat is, by means, which to man might seem weak and hopeless, but which\nGod Almighty blessed and prospered.  Let no one think the history of\nDavid's calling, and his victory over Goliath, of little importance to\nhimself; it is indeed interesting to read for its own sake; it raises\nthe mind of the Christian to God, shows us His power, and reminds us of\nthe wonderful deliverances with which He visits His Church in every\nage; but besides all this, this history is useful to us Christians, as\nsetting before us our own calling, and our conflict with the world, the\nflesh, and the devil; as such I shall now briefly consider it.\n\nDavid, the son of a man in humble life, and the youngest of his\nbrethren, was chosen by Almighty God to be His special servant,--to be\na prophet, a king, a psalmist; he was anointed by Samuel to be all\nthis; and in due time he was brought forward by Almighty God, and as a\nfirst act of might, slew the heathen giant Goliath, as described in the\ntext.  Now let us apply all this to ourselves.\n\n1. David was the son of a Bethlehemite, one among the families of\nIsrael, with nothing apparently to recommend him to God; the youngest\nof his brethren, and despised by them.  He was sent to feed the sheep;\nand his father, though doubtless he loved him dearly, yet seems to have\nthought little of him.  For when Samuel came to Jesse at God's command,\nin order to choose one of his sons from the rest as God might direct\nhim, Jesse did not bring David before him, though he did bring all his\nother children.  Thus David seemed born to live and die among his\nsheep.  His brothers were allowed to engage in occupations which the\nworld thinks higher and more noble.  Three of them served as soldiers\nin the king's army, and in consequence looked down upon David; on his\nasking about Goliath, one of them said to him in contempt, \"With whom\nhast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?\"  Yet God took him\nfrom the sheepfolds to make him His servant and His friend.  Now this\nis fulfilled in the case of all Christians.  They are by nature poor,\nand mean, and nothing worth; but God chooses them, and brings them near\nunto Himself.  He looks not at outward things; He chooses and decrees\naccording to His will, and why He chooses these men, and passes over\nthose, we know not.  In this country many are chosen, many are not, and\nwhy some are chosen, others not, we cannot tell.  Some men are born\nwithin the bounds of holy Church, and are baptized with her baptism;\nothers are not even baptized at all.  Some are born of bad parents,\nirreligious parents, and have no education, or a bad one.  We, on the\ncontrary, my brethren, are born in the Church; we have been baptized by\nthe Church's ministers; and why this is our blessedness, and not the\nblessedness of others, we cannot tell.  Here we differ from David.  He\nwas chosen above his brethren, because he was better than they.  It is\nexpressly said, that when Samuel was going to choose one of his elder\nbrethren, God said to him, \"I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not\nas man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord\nlooketh on the heart[2];\" implying, that David's heart was in a better\nstate than his brother's whom Samuel would have chosen.  But this is\nnot our case; we are in nowise better by nature than they whom God does\nnot choose.  You will find good and worthy men, benevolent, charitable,\nupright men, among those who have never been baptized.  God hath chosen\nall of us to salvation, not for our righteousness, but for His great\nmercies.  He has brought us to worship Him in sacred places where His\nsaints have worshipped for many hundred years.  He has given us the aid\nof His ministers, and His Sacraments, and His Holy Scriptures, and the\nAncient Creed.  To others, Scripture is a sealed book, though they hold\nit in their hands; but to us it is in good measure an open book,\nthrough God's mercy, if we but use our advantages, if we have but\nspiritual eyes and ears, to read and hear it faithfully.  To others,\nthe Sacraments and other rites are but dead ordinances, carnal\nceremonies, which profit not, like those of the Jewish Law, outward\nforms, beggarly elements, as they themselves often confess; but to us,\nif we have faith, they are full of grace and power.  Thus all we have\nbeen chosen by God's grace unto salvation, in a special way, in which\nmany others around us have not been chosen, as God passed over David's\nseven brethren, and chose him.\n\n2. Observe, too.  God chose him, whose occupation was that of a\nshepherd; for He chooses not the great men of the world.  He passes by\nthe rich and noble; He chooses \"the poor, rich in faith, and heirs of\nthe kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him[3],\" as St.\nJames says.  David was a shepherd.  The Angel appeared to the shepherds\nas they kept watch over their sheep at night.  The most solitary, the\nmost unlearned, God hears, God looks upon, God visits, God blesses, God\nbrings to glory, if he is but \"rich in faith.\"  Many of you are not\ngreat in this world, my brethren, many of you are poor; but the\ngreatest king upon earth, even Solomon in all his glory, might well\nexchange places with you, if you are God's children; for then you are\ngreater than the greatest of kings.  Our Saviour said, that even the\nlilies of the field were more gloriously arrayed than Solomon; for the\nlily is a living thing, the work of God; and all the glories of a king,\nhis purple robe, and his jewelled crown, all this is but the dead work\nof man; and the lowest and humblest work of God is far better and more\nglorious than the highest work of man.  But if this be true, even of\nGod's lower works, what shall be said of His higher?  If even the\nlilies of the field, which are cut down and cast into the oven, are\nmore glorious than this world's greatest glory, what shall be said of\nGod's nobler works in the soul of man? what shall be said of the\ndispensation of the Spirit which \"exceeds in glory?\" of that new\ncreation of the soul, whereby He makes us His children, who by birth\nwere children of Adam, and slaves of the devil, gives us a new and\nheavenly nature, implants His Holy Spirit within us, and washes away\nall our sins?  This is the portion of the Christian, high or low; and\nall glories of this world fade away before it; king and subject, man of\nwar and keeper of sheep, are all on a level in the kingdom of Christ;\nfor they one and all receive those far exceeding and eternal blessings,\nwhich make this world's distinctions, though they remain distinctions\njust as before, yet so little, so unimportant, in comparison of the\n\"glory that excelleth,\" that it is not worth while thinking about them.\nOne person is a king and rules, another is a subject and obeys; but if\nboth are Christians, both have in common a gift so great, that in the\nsight of it, the difference between ruling and obeying is as nothing.\nAll Christians are kings in God's sight; they are kings in His unseen\nkingdom, in His spiritual world, in the Communion of Saints.  They seem\nlike other men, but they have crowns on their heads, and glorious robes\naround them, and Angels to wait on them, though our bodily eyes see it\nnot.  Such are all Christians, high and low; all Christians who remain\nin that state in which Holy Baptism placed them.  Baptism placed you in\nthis blessed state.  God did not wait till you should do some good\nthing before He blessed you.  No!  He knew you could do no good thing\nof yourselves.  So He came to you first; He loved you before you loved\nHim; He gave you a work which He first made you able to do.  He placed\nyou in a new and heavenly state, in which, while you remain, you are\nsafe.  He said not to you, \"Obey Me, and I will give you a kingdom;\"\nbut \"Lo I give you a kingdom freely and first of all; now obey Me\nhenceforth, for you can, and you shall remain in it;\" not \"Obey Me, and\nI will then give you the Holy Spirit as a reward,\" but \"I give you that\ngreat gift in order that you may obey Me.\"  He first gives, and then\ncommands; He tells us to obey Him, not to gain His favour, but in order\nnot to lose it.  We are by nature diseased and helpless.  We cannot\nplease Him; we cannot move hand or foot; He says not to us, \"Get well\nfirst, and I will receive you;\" but He begins a cure in us, and\nreceives us, and then says, \"Take care not to go back; take care of\nyourselves; beware of a relapse; keep out of danger.\"  Such then is\nyour state, my brethren, unless you have fallen from Christ.  If you\nare living in His faith and fear, you are kings--kings in God's unseen\nand spiritual kingdom; and that, though like David, you are but keeping\nsheep, or driving cattle, or, again, working with your hands, or\nserving in a family, or at any other lowly labour.  God seeth not as\nman seeth.  He hath chosen you.\n\n3. Next, observe God chose David by means of the Prophet Samuel.  He\ndid not think it enough to choose him silently, but He called him by a\nvoice.  And, in like manner, when God calls us, He does so openly; He\nsent His minister, the Prophet Samuel, to David, and He sends His\nministers to us.  He said to Samuel, \"Fill thy horn with oil, and go,\nand I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided Me\na king among his sons.\"  God was looking out for a king, and sent\nSamuel to David.  And so, in like manner, God is looking out now for\nkings to fill thrones in His Son's eternal kingdom, and to sit at His\nright hand and His left; and He sends His ministers to those whom He\nhath from eternity chosen.  He does not say to them, \"Fill thy horn\nwith oil,\" but \"Fill thy font with water;\" for as He chose David by\npouring oil upon his head, so does He choose us by Baptism.  So far,\nthen, God chooses now as He did then, by an outward sign.  Samuel was\ntold to do then, what Christ's ministers are told to do now.  The one\nchose David by means of oil, and the other choose Christians by means\nof water.  In this, however, there is a difference.  Samuel could\nchoose but one.  He was not allowed to choose more than one; him,\nnamely, whom God pointed out; but now Christ's ministers (blessed be\nHis name!) may choose and baptize all whom they meet with; there is no\nrestriction, no narrowness; they need not wait to be told whom to\nchoose.  Christ says, \"Compel them to come in.\"  Again, the Prophet\nsays, \"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.\"  Now every\none by nature thirsteth; every soul born into the world is in a\nspiritual sickness, in a wasting fever of mind; he has no rest, no\nease, no peace, no true happiness.  Till he is made partaker of Christ\nhe is hopeless and miserable.  Christ then, in His mercy, having died\nfor all, gives His ministers leave to apply His saving death to all\nwhom they can find.  Not one or two, but thousands upon thousands are\ngifted with His high blessings.  \"Samuel took the horn of oil, and\nanointed\" David \"in the midst of his brethren.\"  And so Christ's\nministers take water, and baptize; yet not merely one out of a family,\nbut all; for God's mercies are poured as wide as the sun's light in the\nheavens, they enlighten all they fall upon.\n\n4. When Samuel had anointed David, observe what followed.  \"Samuel took\nthe horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the\nSpirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.\"  And so,\nalso, when Christ's ministers baptize, the Spirit of the Lord comes\nupon the child baptized henceforth; nay, dwells in him, for the\nChristian's gift is far greater even than David's.  God's Spirit did\nbut come upon David, and visit him from time to time; but He vouchsafes\nto dwell within the Christian, so as to make his heart and body His\ntemple.  Now what was there in the oil, which Samuel used, to produce\nso great an effect? nothing at all.  Oil has no power in itself; but\nGod gave it a power.  In like manner the Prophet Elisha told Naaman the\nSyrian to bathe in Jordan, and so he was healed of his leprosy.  Naaman\nsaid, What is Jordan more than other rivers? how can Jordan heal?  It\ncould not heal, except that God's power made it heal.  Did not our\nSaviour feed five thousand persons with a few loaves and fishes? how\ncould that be? by His power.  How could water become wine? by His\npower.  And so now, that same Divine power, which made water wine,\nmultiplied the bread, gave water power to heal an incurable disease,\nand made oil the means of gifting David with the Holy Spirit, that\npower now also makes the water of Baptism a means of grace and glory.\nThe water is like other water; we see no difference by the eye; we use\nit, we throw it away; but God is with it.  God is with it, as with the\noil which Samuel took with him.  Water is something more than water in\nits effects in the hand of Christ's Minister, with the words of grace;\nit does, what by nature it cannot do; it is heavenly water, not earthly.\n\n5. Further, I would have you observe this.  Though David received the\ngift of God's Holy Spirit, yet nothing came of it all at once.  He\nstill seemed like any other man.  He went back to the sheep.  Then Saul\nsent for him to play to him on the harp; and then he went back to the\nsheep again.  Except that he had strength given him to kill a lion and\na bear which came against his flock, he did no great thing.  The Spirit\nof the Lord had come upon him, yet it did not at once make him a\nprophet or a king.  All was to come in good time, not at once.  So it\nis with Christian Baptism.  Nothing shows, for some time, that the\nSpirit of God is come into, and dwells in the child baptized; it looks\nlike any other child, it is pained, it frets, is weak, is wayward, like\nany other child, for \"the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh\nat the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.\"  And \"He\nwho seeth the heart,\" seeth in the child the presence of the Spirit,\n\"the mind of the Spirit\" \"which maketh intercession for the Saints.\"\nGod the Holy Ghost leads on the heirs of grace marvellously.  You\nrecollect when our Saviour was baptized, \"immediately the Spirit of God\nled Him into the wilderness.\"  What happened one way in our Saviour's\ncourse, happens in ours also.  Sooner or later that work of God is\nmanifested, which was at first secret.  David went up to see his\nbrothers, who were in the battle; he had no idea that he was going to\nfight the giant Goliath; and so it is now, children are baptized before\nthey know what is to happen to them.  They sport and play as if there\nwas no sorrow in the world, and no high destinies upon themselves; they\nare heirs of the kingdom without knowing it, but God is with those whom\nHe has chosen, and in His own time and way He fashions His Saints for\nHis everlasting kingdom; in His own perfect and adorable counsels He\nbrings them forward to fight with Goliath.\n\n6. And now, let us inquire who is our Goliath? who is it we have to\ncontend with?  The answer is plain; the devil is our Goliath: we have\nto fight Satan, who is far more fearful and powerful than ten thousand\ngiants, and who would to a certainty destroy us were not God with us,\nbut praised be His Name, He is with us.  \"Greater is He that is with\nus, than he that is in the world.\"  David was first anointed with God's\nHoly Spirit, and then, after a while, brought forward to fight Goliath.\nWe too are first baptized, and then brought forward to fight the devil.\nWe are not brought to fight him at once; for some years we are almost\nwithout a fight, when we are infants.  By degrees our work comes upon\nus; as children we have to fight with him a little; as time goes on,\nthe fight opens; and at length we have our great enemy marching against\nus with sword and spear, as Goliath came against David.  And when this\nwar has once begun, it lasts through life.\n\n7. What then ought you to do, my brethren, when thus assailed?  How\nmust you behave when the devil comes against you? he has many ways of\nattack; sometimes he comes openly, sometimes craftily, sometimes he\ntempts you, sometimes he frightens you, but whether he comes in a\npleasing or a frightful form, be sure, if you saw him himself with your\neyes, he would always be hateful, monstrous, and abominable.  Therefore\nhe keeps himself out of sight.  But be sure he is all this; and, as\nbelieving it, take the whole armour of God, that you may be able to\nstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Quit you like\nmen, be strong.  Be like David, very courageous to do God's will.\nThink what would have happened had David played the coward, and refused\nto obey God's inward voice stirring him up to fight Goliath.  He would\nhave lost his calling, he would have been tried, and have failed.  The\nProphet's oil would have profited him nothing, or rather would have\nincreased his condemnation.  The Spirit of God would have departed from\nhim as He departed from Saul, who also had been anointed.  So, also,\nour privileges will but increase our future punishment, unless we use\nthem.  _He_ is truly and really born of God in whom the Divine seed\ntakes root; others are regenerated to their condemnation.  Despise not\nthe gift that is in you: despise not the blessing which by God's free\ngrace you have, and others have not.  There is nothing to boast in,\nthat you are God's people; rather the thought is an anxious one; you\nhave much more to answer for.\n\nWhen, then, Satan comes against you, recollect you are already\ndedicated, made over, to God; you are God's property, you have no part\nwith Satan and his works, you are servants to another, you are espoused\nto Christ.  When Satan comes against you, fear not, waver not; but pray\nto God, and He will help you.  Say to Satan with David, \"Thou comest\nagainst me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I\ncome to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts.\"  Thou comest to me with\ntemptation; thou wouldest allure me with the pleasures of sin for a\nseason; thou wouldest kill me, nay, thou wouldest make me kill myself\nwith sinful thoughts, words, and deeds; thou wouldest make me a\nself-murderer, tempting me by evil companions, and light conversation,\nand pleasant sights, and strong stirrings of heart; thou wouldest make\nme profane the Lord's day by riot; thou wouldest keep me from Church;\nthou wouldest make my thoughts rove when they should not; thou wouldest\ntempt me to drink, and to curse, and to swear, and to jest, and to lie,\nand to steal: but I know thee; thou art Satan, and I come unto thee in\nthe name of the Living God, in the Name of Jesus Christ my Saviour.\nThat is a powerful name, which can put to flight many foes: Jesus is a\nname at which devils tremble.  To speak it, is to scare away many a bad\nthought.  I come against thee in His All-powerful, All-conquering Name.\nDavid came on with a staff; my staff is the Cross--the Holy Cross on\nwhich Christ suffered, in which I glory, which is my salvation.  David\nchose five smooth stones out of the brook, and with them he smote the\ngiant.  We, too, have armour, not of this world, but of God; weapons\nwhich the world despises, but which are powerful in God.  David took\nnot sword, spear, or shield; but he slew Goliath with a sling and a\nstone.  Our weapons are as simple, as powerful.  The Lord's Prayer is\none such weapon; when we are tempted to sin, let us turn away, kneel\ndown seriously and solemnly, and say to God that prayer which the Lord\ntaught us.  The Creed is another weapon, equally powerful, through\nGod's grace, equally contemptible in the eyes of the world.  One or two\nholy texts, such as our Saviour used when He was tempted by the devil,\nis another weapon for our need.  The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is\nanother such, and greater; holy, mysterious, life-giving, but equally\nsimple.  What is so simple as a little bread and a little wine? but, in\nthe hands of the Spirit of God, it is the power of God unto salvation.\nGod grant us grace to use the arms which He gives us; not to neglect\nthem, not to take arms of our own!  God grant us to use His arms, and\nto conquer!\n\n\n\n[1] Fifth Sunday after Trinity.\n\n[2] 1 Sam. xvi. 7.\n\n[3] James ii. 6.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON V.\n\nCuriosity a Temptation to Sin.\n\n\"_Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil\nmen.  Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away._\"--Proverbs\niv. 14, 15.\n\n\nThe chief cause of the wickedness which is every where seen in the world,\nand in which, alas! each of us has more or less his share, is our\ncuriosity to have some fellowship with darkness, some experience of sin,\nto know what the pleasures of sin are like.  I believe it is even thought\nunmanly by many persons (though they may not like to say so in plain\nwords), unmanly and a thing to be ashamed of, to have no knowledge of sin\nby experience, as if it argued a strange seclusion from the world, a\nchildish ignorance of life, a simpleness and narrowness of mind, and a\nsuperstitious, slavish fear.  Not to know sin by experience brings upon a\nman the laughter and jests of his companions: nor is it wonderful this\nshould be the case in the descendants of that guilty pair to whom Satan\nin the beginning held out admittance into a strange world of knowledge\nand enjoyment, as the reward of disobedience to God's commandment.  \"When\nthe woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant\nto the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the\nfruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and\nhe did eat[1].\" A discontent with the abundance of blessings which were\ngiven, because something was withheld, was the sin of our first parents:\nin like manner, a wanton roving after things forbidden, a curiosity to\nknow what it was to be as the heathen, was one chief source of the\nidolatries of the Jews; and we at this day inherit with them a like\nnature from Adam.\n\nI say, curiosity strangely moves us to disobedience, in order that we may\nhave experience of the pleasure of disobedience.  Thus we \"rejoice in our\nyouth, and let our heart cheer us in the days of our youth, and walk in\nthe ways of our heart, and in the sight of our eyes[2].\"  And we thus\nintrude into things forbidden, in various ways; in reading what we should\nnot read, in hearing what we should not hear, in seeing what we should\nnot see, in going into company whither we should not go, in presumptuous\nreasonings and arguings when we should have faith, in acting as if we\nwere our own masters where we should obey.  We indulge our reason, we\nindulge our passions, we indulge our ambition, our vanity, our love of\npower; we throw ourselves into the society of bad, worldly, or careless\nmen; and all the while we think that, after having acquired this\nmiserable knowledge of good and evil, we can return to our duty, and\ncontinue where we left off; merely going aside a moment to shake\nourselves, as Samson did, and with an ignorance like his, that our true\nheavenly strength is departed from us.\n\nNow this delusion arises from Satan's craft, the father of lies, who\nknows well that if he can get us once to sin, he can easily make us sin\ntwice and thrice, till at length we are taken captive at his will[3].  He\nsees that curiosity is man's great and first snare, as it was in\nparadise; and he knows that, if he can but force a way into his heart by\nthis chief and exciting temptation, those temptations of other kinds,\nwhich follow in life, will easily prevail over us; and, on the other\nhand, that if we resist the beginnings of sin, there is every prospect\nthrough God's grace that we shall continue in a religious way.  His plan\nof action then lies plain before him--to tempt us violently, while the\nworld is new to us, and our hopes and feelings are eager and restless.\nHence is seen the Divine wisdom, as well as the merciful consideration,\nof the advice contained in so many parts of Scripture, as in the text,\n\"Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not into the way of evil\nmen.  Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.\"\n\nLet us, then, now for a few moments give our minds to the consideration\nof this plain truth, which we have heard so often that for that very\nreason we are not unlikely to forget it--that the great thing in religion\nis to set off well, to resist the beginnings of sin, to flee temptation,\nto avoid the company of the wicked.  \"Enter not into the path of the\nwicked . . . . avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, pass away.\"\n\n1. And for this reason, first of all, because it is hardly possible to\ndelay our flight without rendering flight impossible.  When I say, resist\nthe beginnings of evil, I do not mean the first act merely, but the\nrising thought of evil.  Whatever the temptation may be, there may be no\ntime to wait and gaze, without being caught.  Woe to us if Satan (so to\nsay) sees us first; for, as in the case of some beast of prey, for him to\nsee us is to master us.  Directly we are made aware of the temptation, we\nshall, if we are wise, turn our backs upon it, without waiting to think\nand reason about it; we shall engage our mind in other thoughts.  There\nare temptations when this advice is especially necessary; but under all\nit is highly seasonable.\n\n2. For consider, in the next place, what must in all cases be the\nconsequence of allowing evil thoughts to be present to us, though we do\nnot actually admit them into our hearts.  This, namely,--we shall make\nourselves familiar with them.  Now our great security against sin lies in\nbeing shocked at it.  Eve gazed and reflected when she should have fled.\nIt is sometimes said \"Second thoughts are best:\" this is true in many\ncases, but there are times when it is very false, and when, on the\ncontrary, first thoughts are best.  For sin is like the serpent, which\nseduced our first parents.  We know that some serpents have the power of\nwhat is called \"fascinating.\"  Their eye has the power of subduing--nay,\nin a strange way, of alluring--their victim, who is reduced to utter\nhelplessness, cannot flee away, nay, rather is obliged to approach, and\n(as it were) deliver himself up to them; till in their own time they\nseize and devour him.  What a dreadful figure this is of the power of sin\nand the devil over our hearts!  At first our conscience tells us, in a\nplain straightforward way, what is right and what is wrong; but when we\ntrifle with this warning, our reason becomes perverted, and comes in aid\nof our wishes, and deceives us to our ruin.  Then we begin to find, that\nthere are arguments available in behalf of bad deeds, and we listen to\nthese till we come to think them true; and then, if perchance better\nthoughts return, and we make some feeble effort to get at the truth\nreally and sincerely, we find our minds by that time so bewildered that\nwe do not know right from wrong.\n\nThus, for instance, every one is shocked at cursing and swearing when he\nfirst hears it; and at first he cannot help even showing that he is\nshocked; that is, he looks grave and downcast, and feels uncomfortable.\nBut when he has once got accustomed to such profane talking, and been\nlaughed out of his strictness, and has begun to think it manly, and has\nbeen persuaded to join in it, then he soon learns to defend it.  He says\nhe means no harm by it; that it does no one any harm; that it is only so\nmany words, and that every body uses them.  Here is an instance in which\ndisobedience to what we know to be right makes us blind.\n\nAgain, this same confusion frequently happens in the case of temptations\nfrom the world.  We fear worldly loss or discredit; or we hope some\nadvantage; and we feel tempted to act so as to secure, at any rate, the\nworldly good, or to avoid the evil.  Now in all such cases of conduct\nthere is no end of arguing about right or wrong, if we once begin; there\nare numberless ways of acting, each of which may be speciously defended\nby argument, but plain, pure-hearted common sense, generally speaking, at\nthe very first sight decides the question for us without argument; but if\nwe do not listen promptly to this secret monitor, its light goes out at\nonce, and we are left to the mercy of mere conjecture, and grope about\nwith but second-best guides.  Then seeming arguments in favour of deceit\nand evil compliance with the world's wishes, or of disgraceful indolence,\nurge us, and either prevail, or at least so confuse us, that we do not\nknow how to act.  Alas! in ancient days it happened in this way, that\nChristians who were brought before their heathen persecutors for\npunishment, because they were Christians, sometimes came short of the\ncrown of martyrdom, \"having loved this present world[4],\" and so lost\ntheir way in the mazes of Satan's crafty arguments.\n\nTemptations to unbelief may also be mentioned here.  Speculating wantonly\non sacred subjects, and jesting about them, offend us at first; and we\nturn away: but if in an evil hour we are seduced by the cleverness or wit\nof a writer or speaker, to listen to his impieties, who can say where we\nshall stop?  Can we save ourselves from the infection of his profaneness?\nwe cannot hope to do so.  And when we come to a better mind (if by God's\ngrace this be afterwards granted to us), what will be our state? like the\nstate of men who have undergone some dreadful illness, which changes the\nconstitution of the body.  That ready and clear perception of right and\nwrong, which before directed us, will have disappeared, as beauty of\nperson, or keenness of eye-sight in bodily disorders; and when we begin\nto try to make up our minds which way lies the course of duty on\nparticular trials, we shall bring enfeebled, unsteady powers to the\nexamination; and when we move to act, our limbs (as it were) will move\nthe contrary way, and we shall do wrong when we wish to do right.\n\n3. But there is another wretched effect of sinning once, which sometimes\ntakes place;--not only the sinning that once itself, but being so seduced\nby it, as forthwith to continue in the commission of it ever afterwards,\nwithout seeking for arguments to meet our conscience withal; from a mere\nbrutish, headstrong, infatuate greediness after its bad pleasures.  There\nare beasts of prey which are said to abstain from blood till they taste\nit, but once tasting it, ever seek it: and, in like manner, there is a\nsort of thirst for sin which is born with us, but which grace quenches,\nand which is thus kept under _till_ we, by our own act, rouse it again;\nand which, when once aroused, never can be allayed.  We sin, while we\nconfess the wages of sin to be death.\n\n4. Sometimes, I say, this is the immediate effect of a first\ntransgression; and if not the immediate effect, yet it is always the\ntendency and the end of sinning at length, viz. to enslave us to it.\nTemptation is very powerful, it is true, when it comes first; but, then,\nits power lies in its own novelty; and, on the other hand, there is power\nin the heart itself, divinely given, to resist it; but when we have long\nindulged sin, the mind has become sinful in its habit and character, and\nthe Spirit of God having departed, it has no principle within it of\nstrength sufficient to save it from spiritual death.  What being can\nchange its own nature? that would be almost ceasing to be itself: fire\ncannot cease to burn; the leopard changes not its spots, and ceases not\nto rend and devour; and the soul which has often sinned, cannot help\nsinning; but in this respect awfully differing from the condition of the\nsenseless elements or brute animals,--that its present state is all its\nown fault; that it might have hindered it, and will have one day to\nanswer for not having hindered it.\n\nThus, easy as it is to avoid sin first of all, at length it is (humanly\nspeaking) impossible.  \"Enter not into its path,\" saith the wise man; the\ntwo paths of right and wrong start from the same point, and at first are\nseparated by a very small difference, so easy (comparatively) is it to\nchoose the right instead of the wrong way: but wait awhile, and pursue\nthe road leading to destruction, and you will find the distance between\nthe two has widened beyond measurement, and that between them a great\ngulf has been sunk, so that you cannot pass from the one to the other,\nthough you desire it ever so earnestly[5].\n\nNow to what do considerations such as these lead us, but to our Lord's\nsimple and comprehensive precept, which is the same as Solomon's, but\nmore impressively and solemnly urged on us by the manner and time of His\ngiving it?  \"Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.\"  To enter\nnot the path of the wicked, to avoid it, and pass by it, what is this but\nthe exercise of _watching_?  Therefore He insists upon it so much,\nknowing that in it our safety lies.  But now, on the other hand, consider\n_how_ many are there among us who can be said to watch and pray?  Is not\nthe utmost we do to offer on Sunday some kind of prayer in Church to God;\nor sometimes some short prayer morning and evening in the week; and then\ngo into the world with the same incaution and forgetfulness as if we had\nnever entertained a serious thought?  We go through the business of the\nday, quite forgetting, to any practical purpose, that all business has\nsnares in it, and therefore needs caution.  Let us ask ourselves this\nquestion, \"How often do we think of Satan in the course of the day as our\ngreat tempter?\"  Yet surely he does not cease to be active because we do\nnot think of him; and surely, too, his powers and devices were revealed\nto us by Almighty God for the very purpose, that being not ignorant of\nthem, we might watch against them.  Who among us will not confess, that\nmany is the time that he has mixed with the world, forgetting who the god\nof this world is? or rather, are not a great many of us living in\nhabitual forgetfulness that this world is a scene of trial; that is, that\nthis is its _chief_ character, that all its employments, its pleasures,\nits occurrences, even the most innocent, the most acceptable to God, and\nthe most truly profitable in themselves, are all the while so handled by\nSatan as may be the most conducive to our ruin, if he can possibly\ncontrive it?  There is nothing gloomy or superstitious in this, as the\nplain words of Scripture will abundantly prove to every inquirer.  We are\ntold \"that the devil, our adversary, as a roaring lion walketh about,\nseeking whom he may devour[6];\" and therefore are warned to \"be sober, be\nvigilant.\" And assuredly our true comfort lies, not in disguising the\ntruth from ourselves, but in knowing something more than this;--that\nthough Satan is against us, God is for us; that greater is He that is in\nus, than he that is in the world[7]; and that He in every temptation will\nmake a way for us to escape, that we may be able to bear it[8].\n\nGod does His part most surely; and Satan too does his part: we alone are\nunconcerned.  Heaven and hell are at war for us and against us, yet we\ntrifle, and let life go on at random.  Heaven and hell are before us as\nour own future abode, one or other of them; yet our own interest moves us\nno more than God's mercy.  We treat sin, not as an enemy to be feared,\nabhorred, and shunned, but as a misfortune and a weakness; we do not pity\nand shun sinful men, but we enter into their path so far as to keep\ncompany with them; and next, being tempted to copy them, we fall almost\nwithout an effort.\n\nBe not you thus deceived and overcome, my brethren, by an evil heart of\nunbelief.  Make up your minds to take God for your portion, and pray to\nHim for grace to enable you so to do.  Avoid the great evils of leisure,\navoid the snare of having time on your hands.  Avoid all bad thoughts,\nall corrupt or irreligious books, avoid all bad company: let nothing\nseduce you into it.  Though you may be laughed at for your strictness;\nthough you may lose thereby amusements which you would like to partake\nof; though you may thereby be ignorant of much which others know, and may\nappear to disadvantage when they are talking together; though you appear\nbehind the rest of the world; though you be called a coward, or a child,\nor narrow-minded, or superstitious; whatever insulting words be applied\nto you, fear not, falter not, fail not; stand firm, quit you like men; be\nstrong.  They think that in the devil's service there are secrets worthy\nour inquiry, which you share not: yes, there are secrets, and such that\nit is a shame even to speak of them; and in like manner you have a secret\nwhich they have not, and which far surpasses theirs.  \"The secret of the\nLord is with them that fear Him.\"  Those who obey God and follow Christ\nhave secret gains, so great, that, as well might we say heaven were like\nhell, as that these are like the gain which sinners have.  They have a\nsecret gift given them by their Lord and Saviour in proportion to their\nfaith and love.  They cannot describe it to others; they have not\npossession of it all at once; they cannot have the enjoyment of it at\nthis or that time when they will.  It comes and goes according to the\nwill of the Giver.  It is given but in small measure to those who begin\nGod's service.  It is not given at all to those who follow Him with a\ndivided heart.  To those who love the world, and yet are in a certain\nsense religious, and are well contented with such a religious state, to\nthem it is not given.  But those who give themselves up to their Lord and\nSaviour, those who surrender themselves soul and body, those who honestly\nsay, \"I am Thine, new-make me, do with me what Thou wilt,\" who say so not\nonce or twice merely, or in a transport, but calmly and habitually; these\nare they who gain the Lord's secret gift, even the \"white stone, and in\nthe stone a new name written which no man knoweth, saving he that\nreceiveth it[9].\"  Sinners think that they know all that religion has to\ngive, and over and above that, they know the pleasures of sin too.  No,\nthey do not, cannot, never will know the secret gift of God, till they\nrepent and amend.  They never will know what it is to see God, till they\nobey; nay, though they are to see Him at the last day, even that will be\nno true sight of Him, for the sight of that Holy One will then impart no\ncomfort, no joy to them.  They never will know the blessedness which He\nhas to give.  They do know the satisfaction of sinning, such as it is;\nand, alas! if they go on as they are going, they will know not only what\nsin is, but what hell is.  But they never will know that great secret\nwhich is hid in the Father and in the Son.\n\nLet us not then be seduced by the Tempter and his promises.  He can show\nus no good.  He has no good to give us.  Rather let us listen to the\ngracious words of our Maker and Redeemer, \"Call unto Me, and I will\nanswer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest\nnot[10].\"\n\n\n\n[1] Gen. iii. 6.\n\n[2] Eccles. xi. 9.\n\n[3] 2 Tim. ii. 26.\n\n[4] 2 Tim. iv. 10.\n\n[5] Luke xvi. 26.\n\n[6] 1 Pet. v. 8.\n\n[7] 1 John iv. 4.\n\n[8] 1 Cor. x. 13.\n\n[9] Rev. ii. 17.\n\n[10] Jer. xxxiii. 3\n\n\n\n\nSERMON VI.\n\nMiracles no Remedy for Unbelief.\n\n\"_And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me?\nand how long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs which I\nhave showed among them?_\"--Numbers xiv. 11.\n\n\nNothing, I suppose, is more surprising to us at first reading, than the\nhistory of God's chosen people; nay, on second and third reading, and\non every reading, till we learn to view it as God views it.  It seems\nstrange, indeed, to most persons, that the Israelites should have acted\nas they did, age after age, in spite of the miracles which were\nvouchsafed to them.  The laws of nature were suspended again and again\nbefore their eyes, the most marvellous signs were wrought at the word\nof God's prophets, and for their deliverance, yet they did not obey\ntheir great Benefactor at all better than men now-a-days who have not\nthese advantages, as we commonly consider them.  Age after age God\nvisited them by Angels, by inspired messengers, age after age they\nsinned.  At last He sent His beloved Son; and He wrought miracles\nbefore them still more abundant, wonderful, and beneficent than any\nbefore Him.  What was the effect upon them of His coming?  St. John\ntells us, \"Then gathered the Chief Priests and the Pharisees a council,\nand said, What do we? for this Man doeth many miracles. . . . .  Then\nfrom that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to\ndeath[1].\"\n\nIn matter of fact, then, whatever be the reason, nothing is gained by\nmiracles, nothing comes of miracles, as regards our religious views,\nprinciples, and habits.  Hard as it is to believe, miracles certainly\ndo not make men better; the history of Israel proves it.  And the only\nmode of escaping this conclusion, to which some persons feel a great\nrepugnance, is to fancy that the Israelites were much worse than other\nnations, which accordingly has been maintained.  It has often been\nsaid, that they were stiff-necked and hard-hearted beyond the rest of\nthe world.  Now, even supposing, for argument's sake, I should grant\nthat they were so, this would not sufficiently account for the strange\ncircumstance under consideration; for this people was not moved at all.\nIt is not a question of more or less: surely they must have been\naltogether distinct from other men, destitute of the feelings and\nopinions of other men, nay, hardly partakers of human nature, if other\nmen would, as a matter of course, have been moved by those miracles\nwhich had no influence whatever upon them.  That there _are_, indeed,\nmen in the world who would have been moved, and would have obeyed in\nconsequence, I do not deny; such were to be found among the Israelites\nalso; but I am speaking of men in general; and I say, that if the\nIsraelites had a common nature with us, surely that insensibility which\nthey exhibited on the whole, must be just what we should exhibit on the\nwhole under the same circumstances.\n\nIt confirms this view of the subject to observe, that the children of\nIsrael _are_ like other men in all points of their conduct, save this\ninsensibility, which other men have not had the opportunity to show as\nthey had.  There is no difference between their conduct and ours in\npoint of _fact_, the difference is entirely in the external discipline\nto which God subjected them.  Whether or not miracles ought to have\ninfluenced them in a way in which God's dealings in Providence do not\ninfluence us, so far is clear, that looking into their modes of living\nand of thought, we find a nature just like our own, not better indeed,\nbut in no respect worse.  Those evil tempers which the people displayed\nin the desert, their greediness, selfishness, murmuring, caprice,\nwaywardness, fickleness, ingratitude, jealousy, suspiciousness,\nobstinacy, unbelief, all these are seen in the uneducated multitude\nnow-a-days, according to its opportunity of displaying them.\n\nThe pride of Dathan and the presumption of Korah are still instanced in\nour higher ranks and among educated persons.  Saul, Ahithophel, Joab,\nand Absalom, have had their parallels all over the world.  I say there\nis nothing unlike the rest of mankind in the character or conduct of\nthe chosen people; the difference solely is in God's dealings with\nthem.  They _act_ as other men; it is their religion which is not as\nother men; it is miraculous; and the question is, how it comes to pass,\ntheir religion being different, their conduct is the same? and there\nare two ways of answering it; either by saying that they were worse\nthan other men, and were not influenced by miracles when others would\nhave been influenced (as many persons are apt to think), or (what I\nconceive to be the true reason) that, after all, the difference between\nmiracle and no miracle is not so great in any case, in the case of any\npeople, as to secure the success or account for the failure of\nreligious truth.  It was not that the Israelites were much more\nhard-hearted than other people, but that a miraculous religion is not\nmuch more influential than other religions.\n\nFor I repeat, though it be granted that the Israelites were much worse\nthan others, still that will not account for the fact that miracles\nmade no impression whatever upon them.  However sensual and obstinate\nthey may be supposed to have been in natural character, yet if it be\ntrue that a miracle has a necessary effect upon the human mind, it must\nbe considered to have had some effect on their conduct for good or bad;\nif it had not a good effect, at least it must have had a bad; whereas\ntheir miracles left them very much the same in outward appearance as\nmen are now-a-days, who neglect such warnings as are now sent them,\nneither much more lawless and corrupt than they, nor the reverse.  The\npoint is, that while they were so hardened, as it appears to us, in\ntheir conduct towards their Lord and Governor, they were not much worse\nthan other men in social life and personal behaviour.  It is a rule\nthat if men are extravagantly irreligious, profane, blasphemous,\ninfidel, they are equally excessive and monstrous in other respects;\nwhereas the Jews were like the Eastern nations around them, with this\none peculiarity, that they had rejected direct and clear miraculous\nevidence, and the others had not.  It seems, then, I say, to follow,\nthat, guilty as were the Jews in disobeying Almighty God, and blind as\nthey became from shutting their eyes to the light, they were not much\nmore guilty than others may be in disobeying Him, that it is almost as\ngreat a sin to reject His service in the case of those who do not see\nmiracles, as in the case of those who do; that the sight of miracles is\nnot the way in which men come to believe and obey, nor the absence of\nthem an excuse for not believing and obeying.\n\nNow let me say something in explanation of this, at first sight,\nstartling truth, that miracles on the whole would not make men in\ngeneral more obedient or holy than they are, though they were generally\ndisplayed.  It has sometimes been said by unbelievers, \"If the Gospel\nwere written on the Sun, I would believe it.\"  Unbelievers have said so\nby way of excusing themselves for not believing it, as it actually\ncomes to them; and I dare say some of us, my brethren, have before now\nuttered the same sentiment in our hearts, either in moments of\ntemptation, or when under the upbraidings of conscience for sin\ncommitted.  Now let us consider, why do we think so?\n\nI ask, why should the sight of a miracle make you better than you are?\nDo you doubt at all the being and power of God?  No.  Do you doubt what\nyou ought to _do_?  No.  Do you doubt at all that the rain, for\ninstance, and sunshine, come from Him? or that the fresh life of each\nyear, as it comes, is His work, and that all nature bursts into beauty\nand richness at His bidding?  You do not doubt it at all.  Nor do you\ndoubt, on the other hand, that it is your duty to obey Him who made the\nworld and who made you.  And yet, with the knowledge of all this, you\nfind you cannot prevail upon yourselves to do what you know you should\ndo.  Knowledge is not what you want to make you obedient.  You have\nknowledge enough already.  Now what truth would a miracle convey to you\nwhich you do not learn from the works of God around you?  What would it\nteach you concerning God which you do not already believe without\nhaving seen it?\n\nBut, you will say, a miracle would startle you; true; but would not the\nstartling pass away? could you be startled for ever?  And what sort of\na religion is that which consists in a state of fright and disturbance?\nAre you not continually startled by the accidents of life?  You see,\nyou hear things suddenly, which bring before your minds the thoughts of\nGod and judgment, calamities befall you which for the time sober you.\nStartling is not conversion, any more than knowledge is practice.\n\nBut you urge, that perhaps that startling might issue in amendment of\nlife; that it might be the beginning of a new course, though it passed\naway itself; that a miracle would not indeed convert you, but it would\nbe the first step towards thorough conversion; that it would be the\nturning point in your life, and would suddenly force your path into the\nright direction, and that in this way shocks and startlings, and all\nthe agitation of the passions and affections, are really the means of\nconversion, though conversion be something more than they.  This is\nvery true: sudden emotions--fear, hope, gratitude, and the like, all do\nproduce such effects sometimes; but why is a miracle necessary to\nproduce such effects?  Other things startle us besides miracles; we\nhave a number of accidents sent us by God to startle us.  He has not\nleft us without warnings, though He has not given us miracles; and if\nwe are not moved and converted by those which come upon us, the\nprobability is, that, like the Jews, we should not be converted by\nmiracles.\n\nYes, you say; but if one came from the dead, if you saw the spirit of\nsome departed friend you knew on earth: what then?  What would it tell\nyou that you do not know now?  Do you now in your sober reason doubt\nthe reality of the unseen world? not at all; only you cannot get\nyourself to act as if it _were_ real.  Would such a sight produce this\neffect? you think it would.  Now I will grant this on one supposition.\nDo the startling accidents which happen to you now, produce _any_\nlasting effect upon you?  Do they lead you to _any habits_ of religion?\nIf they do produce some effect, then I will grant to you that such a\nstrange visitation, as you have supposed, would produce a greater\neffect; but if the events of life which now happen to you produce no\nlasting effect on you, and this I fear is the case, then too sure I am,\nthat a miracle too would produce no lasting effect on you, though of\ncourse it would startle you more at the time.  I say, I fear that what\nhappens to you, as it is, produces no lasting effect on you.  I mean,\nthat the warnings which you really have, do not bring you to any\nhabitual and regular religiousness; they may make you a little more\nafraid of this or that sin, or of this or that particular indulgence of\nit; but they do not tend at all to make you break with the world, and\nconvert you to God.  If they did make you take up religion in earnest,\nthough in ever so poor a way, then I will grant that miracles would\nmake you _more_ in earnest.  If God's _ordinary_ warnings moved you,\nHis extraordinary would move you more.  It is quite true, that a\nserious mind would be made more serious by seeing a miracle, but this\ngives no ground for saying, that minds which are _not_ serious,\ncareless, worldly, self-indulgent persons, who are made not at all\nbetter by the warnings which _are_ given them, would be made serious by\nthose miraculous warnings which are not given.\n\nOf course it might so happen in this or that particular case,--just as\nthe same person is moved by one warning, not by another, not moved by a\nwarning to-day, moved by a warning to-morrow; but I am sure, taking men\nas we find them, miracles would leave them, as far as their conduct is\nconcerned, very much as they are.  They would be very much startled and\nimpressed at first, but the impression would wear away.  And thus our\nSaviour's words would come true of all those multitudes who have the\nBible to read, and know what they ought to do, but do it not:--\"If they\nhear not Moses and the Prophets,\" He says, \"neither will they be\npersuaded though one rose from the dead.\"  Do we never recollect times\nwhen we have said, \"We shall never forget this; it will be a warning\nall through our lives\"? have we never implored God's forgiveness with\nthe most eager promises of amendment? have we never felt as if we were\nbrought quite into a new world, in gratitude and joy?  Yet was the\nresult what we had expected?  We cannot anticipate more from miracles,\nthan before now we have anticipated from warnings, which came to nought.\n\nAnd now, what is the real reason why we do not seek God with all our\nhearts, and devote ourselves to His service, if the absence of miracles\nbe not the reason, as most assuredly it is not?  What was it that made\nthe Israelites disobedient, who _had_ miracles?  St. Paul informs us,\nand exhorts _us_ in consequence.  \"Harden not your hearts, _as_ in the\nprovocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness . . . take heed\n. . . lest there be in any of _you_\" (as there was among the Jews) \"an\nevil heart of unbelief in departing from the Living God.\"  Moses had\nbeen commissioned to say the same thing at the very time; \"Oh that\nthere were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep My\nCommandments always!\"  We cannot serve God, because we want the will\nand the heart to serve Him.  We like any thing better than religion, as\nthe Jews before us.  The Jews liked this world; they liked mirth and\nfeasting.  \"The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to\nplay;\" so do we.  They liked glitter and show, and the world's\nfashions.  \"Give us a king like the nations,\" they said to Samuel; so\ndo we.  They wished to be let alone; they liked ease; they liked their\nown way; they disliked to make war against the natural impulses and\nleanings of their own minds; they disliked to attend to the state of\ntheir souls, to have to treat themselves as spiritually sick and\ninfirm, to watch, and rule, and chasten, and refrain, and change\nthemselves; and so do we.  They disliked to think of God, and to\nobserve and attend His ordinances, and to reverence Him; they called it\na weariness to frequent His courts; and they found this or that false\nworship more pleasant, satisfactory, congenial to their feelings, than\nthe service of the Judge of quick and dead; and so do we: and therefore\nwe disobey God as they did,--not that we have not miracles; for they\nactually had them, and it made no difference.  We act as they did,\nthough they had miracles, and we have not; because there is one cause\nof it _common_ both to them and us--heartlessness in religious matters,\nan evil heart of unbelief, both they and we disobey and disbelieve,\nbecause we do not love.\n\nBut this is not all; in another respect we are really far more favoured\nthan they were, they had outward miracles, we too have miracles, but\nthey are not outward but inward.  Ours are not miracles of evidence,\nbut of power and influence.  They are secret, and more wonderful and\nefficacious because secret.  Their miracles were wrought upon external\nnature; the sun stood still, and the sea parted.  Ours are invisible,\nand are exercised upon the soul.  They consist in the sacraments, and\nthey just do that very thing which the Jewish miracles did not.  They\nreally touch the heart, though we so often resist their influence.  If\nthen we sin, as, alas! we do, if we do not love God more than the Jews\ndid, if we have no heart for those \"good things which pass men's\nunderstanding,\" we are not more excusable than they, but less so.  For\nthe supernatural works which God showed to them were wrought outwardly,\nnot inwardly, and did not influence the will; they did but convey\nwarnings; but the supernatural works which He does towards us are in\nthe heart, and impart grace; and if we disobey, we are not disobeying\nHis command only, but resisting His presence.\n\nThis is our state; and perhaps so it is that, as the Israelites for\nforty years hardened their hearts in the wilderness, in spite of the\nmanna and the quails, and the water from the rock, so we for a course\nof years have been hardening ours in spite of the spiritual gifts which\nare the portion of Christians.  Instead of listening to the voice of\nconscience, instead of availing ourselves of the aid of heavenly grace,\nwe have gone on year after year with the vain dream of turning to God\nsome future day.  Childhood and boyhood are past; youth, perhaps middle\nage, perhaps old age is come; and now we find that we cannot \"love the\nthing which God commandeth, and desire that which He doth promise;\" and\nthen, instead of laying the blame where it is due, on ourselves, for\nhaving hardened ourselves against the influences of grace, we complain\nthat enough has not been done for us; we complain we have not enough\nlight, enough help, enough inducements; we complain we have not seen\nmiracles.  Alas! how exactly are God's words fulfilled in us, which He\ndeigned to speak to His former people.  \"O inhabitants of Jerusalem,\nand men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard.  What\ncould have been done more to My vineyard that I have not done in it?\nwherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it\nforth wild grapes[2]?\"\n\nLet us then put aside vain excuses, and, instead of looking for outward\nevents to change our course of life, be sure of this, that if our\ncourse of life is to be changed, it must be from within.  God's grace\nmoves us from within, so does our own will.  External circumstances\nhave no real power over us.  If we do not love God, it is because we\nhave not wished to love Him, tried to love Him, prayed to love Him.  We\nhave not borne the idea and the wish in our mind day by day, we have\nnot had it before us in the little matters of the day, we have not\nlamented that we loved Him not, we have been too indolent, sluggish,\ncarnal, to attempt to love Him in little things, and begin at the\nbeginning; we have shrunk from the effort of moving from within; we\nhave been like persons who cannot get themselves to rise in the\nmorning; and we have desired and waited for a thing impossible,--to be\nchanged once and for all, all at once, by some great excitement from\nwithout, or some great event, or some special season; something or\nother we go on expecting, which is to change us without our having the\ntrouble to change ourselves.  We covet some miraculous warning, or we\ncomplain that we are not in happier circumstances, that we have so many\ncares, or so few religious privileges, or we look forward for a time\nwhen religion will come easy to us as a matter of course.  This we used\nto look out for as boys; we used to think there was time enough yet to\nthink of religion, and that it was a natural thing, that it came\nwithout trouble or effort, for men to be religious as life went on; we\nfancied that all old persons must be religious; and now even, as grown\nmen, we have not put off this deceit; but, instead of giving our hearts\nto God, we are waiting, with Felix, for a convenient season.\n\nLet us rouse ourselves, and act as reasonable men, before it is too\nlate; let us understand, as a first truth in religion, that _love_ of\nheaven is the only _way_ to heaven.  Sight will not move us; else why\ndid Judas persist in covetousness in the very presence of Christ? why\ndid Balaam, whose \"eyes were opened,\" remain with a closed heart? why\ndid Satan fall, when he was a bright Archangel?  Nor will reason subdue\nus; else why was the Gospel, in the beginning, \"to the Greeks\nfoolishness\"?  Nor will excited feelings convert us; for there is one\nwho \"heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;\" yet \"hath no\nroot in himself,\" and \"dureth\" only \"for a while.\"  Nor will\nself-interest prevail with us; or the rich man would have been more\nprudent, whose \"ground brought forth plentifully,\" and would have\nrecollected that \"that night his soul\" might be \"required of him.\"  Let\nus understand that nothing but the love of God can make us believe in\nHim or obey Him; and let us pray Him, who has \"prepared for them that\nlove Him, such good things as pass man's understanding, to pour into\nour hearts such love towards Him, that we, loving Him above all things,\nmay obtain His promises, which exceed all that we can desire.\"\n\n\n\n[1] John xi. 47, 53.\n\n[2] Isa. v. 3, 4.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON VII.\n\nJosiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.\n\n\"_Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before\nthe Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and\nagainst the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation\nand a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have\nheard thee, saith the Lord.  Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto\nthy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and\nthine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this\nplace._\"--2 Kings xxii. 19, 20.\n\n\nKing Josiah, to whom these words are addressed, was one of the most\npious of the Jewish kings, and the most eminent reformer of them all.\nOn him, the last sovereign of David's house (for his sons had not an\nindependent rule), descended the zeal and prompt obedience which raised\nthe son of Jesse from the sheep-fold to the throne, as a man after\nGod's own heart.  Thus, as an honour to David, the blessing upon his\nposterity remained in its fulness even to the end; its light not waxing\n\"dim,\" nor \"its natural force abating.\"\n\nBoth the character and the fortunes of Josiah are described in the\ntext, his character, in its saying that his \"heart was tender,\" and\nthat he feared God; and his fortunes, viz. an untimely death, designed\nas a reward for his obedience: and the text is a part of the answer\nwhich the Prophetess Huldah was instructed to make to him, when he\napplied for encouragement and guidance after accidentally finding the\nbook of Moses' Law in the Temple.  This discovery is the most\nremarkable occurrence of his reign, and will fitly serve to introduce\nand connect together what I wish now to set before you concerning\nJosiah.\n\nThe discovery of Moses' Law in the Temple is a very important\noccurrence in the history, because it shows us that Holy Scripture had\nbeen for a long while neglected, and to all practical purposes lost.\nBy the book of the law is meant, I need scarcely say, the five books of\nMoses, which stand first in the Bible.  These made up one book or\nvolume, and were to a Jew the most important part of the Old Testament,\nas containing the original covenant between God and His people, and\nexplaining to them what their place was in the scheme of God's\nprovidence, what were their duties, and what their privileges.  Moses\nhad been directed to enforce the study of this law on the Israelites in\nvarious ways.  He exhorts them to \"lay up his words in their heart and\nin their soul, and to bind them for a sign upon their hand, that they\nmight be as frontlets between their eyes.\"  \"And ye shall teach them\nyour children,\" he proceeds, \"speaking of them when thou sittest in\nthine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down,\nand when thou risest up.  And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts\nof thine house, and upon thy gates[1].\"  Besides this general\nprovision, it was ordered that once in seven years the law should be\nread to the whole people assembled at the feast of tabernacles[2].  And\nfurther still, it was provided, that in case they ever had kings, each\nking was to write out the whole of it from the original copy which was\nkept in the ark.  \"And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein\nall the days of his life . . . that his heart be not lifted up above\nhis brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the\nright hand or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in\nhis kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel[3].\"\n\nHowever, considering how soon the nation fell into a general disregard\nof the law and worship which God gave them, it is not wonderful that\nthese wholesome precepts were neglected, which could not be performed\nwithout testifying against their multiplied transgressions.  And much\nmore when they took to themselves idols, did they neglect, of course,\nto read the law which condemned them.  And when they had set a king\nover them against the will of God, it is not strange that their kings,\nin turn, should neglect the direction given them to copy out the law\nfor themselves, such kings especially as fell into idolatry.\n\nAll this applies particularly to the age in which Josiah succeeded to\nthe throne, so that it is in no way surprising that he knew nothing of\nthe law till it was by chance found in the Temple some years after his\naccession.  The last good king of Judah before him was Hezekiah, who\nhad been dead sixty or seventy years.  That religious king had been\nsucceeded by his son Manasseh, the most profane of all the line of\nDavid.  He it was who committed those inexpiable sins which sealed the\nsentence of Judah's destruction.  He had set up an idol in the Temple;\nhad made his son pass through the fire; had dealt with familiar spirits\nand wizards; had \"shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled\nJerusalem from one end to another,\" in a word, had \"done wickedly above\nall that the Amorites did which were before him[4].\"  On his return\nfrom captivity in Babylon, whither he was taken captive, Manasseh\nattempted a reformation; but, alas! he found it easier to seduce than\nto reclaim his people[5].  Amon, who succeeded him, followed the first\nways of his father during his short reign.  Instead of repenting, as\nhis father had done, he \"trespassed more and more[6].\"  After a while,\nhis subjects conspired and slew him.  Josiah was the son of this wicked\nking.\n\nHere, then, we have sufficient explanation of Josiah's ignorance of the\nlaw of Moses.  He was brought up among very wicked men--in a corrupt\ncourt--after an apostasy of more than half a century; far from God's\nProphets, and in the midst of idols.\n\nIn such times was Josiah born; and, like Manasseh, he came to the\nthrone in his boyhood.  As if to show us that religion depends on a\nman's self (under God, who gives grace), on the state of his heart, not\non outward circumstances, Manasseh was the son of the pious Hezekiah,\nand Josiah was the son of wicked Amon.  Josiah was but eight years old\nwhen his father was slain.  We hear nothing of his boyhood; but\nscarcely was he of age to think for himself, and to profess himself a\nservant of the true God, but he chose that \"good part which could not\nbe taken away from him[7].\"  \"In the eighth year of his reign\" (i.e.\nwhen he was sixteen years of age), \"while he was yet young, he began to\nseek after the God of David his father[8].\"  Blessed are they who so\nseek, for they shall find.  Josiah had not the aid of a revealed\nvolume, at least not of the Law; he was surrounded by the diversities\nof idol-worship, the sophistries of unbelief, the seductions of sinful\npleasure.  He had every temptation to go wrong; and had he done so, we\nmight have made allowances, and said that he was not so bad as the\nother kings, for he knew no better, he had not sinned against light.\nYes, he would have sinned against light--the event shows it; for if he\nhad light enough to go right (which he had, for he did go right), it\nfollows, that if he had gone wrong, it would have been against light.\nNot, indeed, so strong and clear a light as Solomon disobeyed, or\nJoash; still against his better knowledge.  This is very important.\nEvery one, even the poorest and most ignorant, has knowledge enough to\nbe religious.  Education does not make a man religious: nor, again, is\nit an excuse for a man's disobedience, that he has not been educated in\nhis duty.  It only makes him less guilty than those who have been\neducated, that is all: he is still guilty.  Here, I say, the poorest\nand most unlearned among us, may take a lesson from a Jewish king.\nScarcely can any one in a Christian land be in more disadvantageous\ncircumstances than Josiah--nay, scarcely in a heathen: he had idolatry\naround him, and at the age he began to seek God, his mind was unformed.\nWhat, then, was it that guided him? whence his knowledge?  He had that,\nwhich all men have, heathen as well as Christians, till they pervert or\nblunt it--a natural sense of right and wrong; and he did not blunt it.\nIn the words of the text, \"his heart was _tender_;\" he acknowledged a\nconstraining force in the Divine voice within him--he heard and obeyed.\nThough all the world had told him otherwise, he could not believe and\nwould not, that he might sin without offence--with impunity; that he\nmight be sensual, or cruel, after the manner of idolaters, and nothing\nwould come of it.  And further, amid all the various worships offered\nto his acceptance, this same inward sense of his, strengthened by\npractice, unhesitatingly chose out the true one, the worship of the God\nof Israel.  It chose between the better and the worse, though it could\nnot have discovered the better of itself.  Thus he was led right.  In\nhis case was fulfilled the promise, \"Who is among you that feareth the\nLord; that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness,\nand hath no light?  Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay\nupon his God[9].\"  Or, in the Psalmist's words, \"The fear of the Lord\nis the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do\nHis commandments[10].\"  Or (as he elsewhere expresses it), \"I\nunderstand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy precepts[11].\"\n\nSuch was the beginning of Josiah's life.  At sixteen he began to seek\nafter the God of his fathers; at twenty he commenced his reformation,\nwith a resolute faith and true-hearted generous devotion.  From the\nlanguage of Scripture, it would seem, he began of _himself_; thus he is\nleft a pattern to all ages of prompt obedience for conscience' sake.\nJeremiah did not begin to prophesy till _after_ the king entered on his\nreformation, as if the great prophet's call were delayed on purpose to\ntry the strength of Josiah's loyalty to his God, while his hands were\nyet unaided by the exertions of others, or by the guidance of inspired\nmen.\n\nWhat knowledge of God's dealings with his nation and of His revealed\npurposes Josiah had at this time, we can only conjecture; from the\npriests he might learn much generally, and from the popular belief.\nThe miraculous destruction of Sennacherib's army was not so long since,\nand it proved to him God's especial protection of the Jewish people.\nManasseh's repentance was more recent still; and the Temple itself, and\nits service, contained much doctrine to a religious mind, even apart\nfrom the law or the prophets.  But he had no accurate knowledge.\n\nAt twenty, then, he commenced his reformation.  At first, not having\nthe Book of the Law to guide him, he took such measures as natural\nconscience suggested; he put away idolatry generally.  Thus he set out,\nnot knowing whither he went.  But it is the rule of God's providence,\nthat those who act up to their light, shall be rewarded with clearer\nlight.  To him that hath, more shall be given.  Accordingly, while he\nwas thus engaged, after a few years, he found the Book of the Law in\nthe course of his reformations.  He was seeking God in the way of His\ncommandments, and God met him there.  He set about repairing the\nTemple; and it was in the course of this pious work that the high\npriest found a copy of the Law of Moses in the Temple, probably the\noriginal copy which was placed in the ark.  Josiah's conduct on this\ndiscovery marks his character.  Many men, certainly many young men, who\nhad been so zealous as he had already shown himself for six years,\nwould have prided themselves on what they had done, and though they\nbegan humbly, by this time would have become self-willed,\nself-confident, and hard-hearted.  He had already been engaged in\nrepressing and punishing God's enemies--this had a tendency to infect\nhim with spiritual pride: and he had a work of destruction to do--this,\ntoo, might have made him cruel.  Far from it: his peculiar praise is\nsingleness of mind, a pure conscience.  Even after years of activity\nagainst idolatry, in the words of the text, \"his heart was tender,\" and\nhe still \"humbled himself before God.\"  He felt full well the\nimmeasurable distance between himself and his Maker; he felt his own\nblindness and weakness; and he still earnestly sought to know his duty\nbetter than he did, and to practise it more entirely.  His was not that\nstern enthusiasm which has displayed itself in some so-called\nreformations, fancying itself God's peculiar choice, and \"despising\nothers.\"  Here we have the pattern of reformers; singleness of heart,\ngentleness of temper, in the midst of zeal, resoluteness, and decision\nin action.  All God's Saints have this union of opposite graces;\nJoseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Nehemiah, St. Paul: but in which of them\nall is the wonder-working power of grace shown more attractively than\nin Josiah?  \"Out of the strong came forth sweetness[12];\" or perhaps,\nas we may say more truly, Out of the sweet came forth strength.\n\nObserve, then, his conduct when the Law was read to him: \"When the king\nhad heard the words of the book of the law, _he rent his clothes_[13].\"\nHe thought far more of what he had not done, than of what he had done.\nHe felt how incomplete his reformation had been, and he felt how far\nmore guilty his whole people were than he had supposed, receiving, as\nthey had, such precise guidance in Scripture what to do, and such\nsolemn command to do it; and he learned, moreover, the fearful\npunishment which was hanging over them; for in that Book of the Law\nwere contained the threats of vengeance to be fulfilled in case of\ntransgression.  The passages read to him by the high priest seem to\nhave been some of those contained in the Book of Deuteronomy, in which\nMoses sets good and evil before the people, to choose their portion.\n\"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and\nevil. . . . .  I call heaven and earth to record this day against you,\nthat I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing[14].\"\n\"A blessing and a curse; a blessing if ye obey the commandments of the\nLord your God: . . . a curse if ye will not obey[15].\"  And there was\nmore than the mere words to terrify him; there had been a fulfilment of\nthem.  Samaria, the ten revolting tribes, the kingdom of Israel, had\nbeen led away captive.  Doubtless he already knew that their sins had\ncaused it; but he found in the Book of the Law that it had been even\nthreatened them beforehand as the punishment; and he discovered that\nthe same punishment awaited his own people, should they persist in sin.\nNay, a judgment had already taken place in Judah; for Manasseh, his\ngrandfather, had been carried away into Babylon, and only restored upon\nhis repentance.\n\nIn the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, you will see what was to\nbe the curse of disobedience: or again, consider the words of the\ntwenty-ninth chapter: \"Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord\nyour God . . . that thou shouldest enter into covenant with Him, and\ninto His oath; . . . neither with you _only_ do I make this covenant\nand this oath; but with him that standeth here with us this day before\nthe Lord our God, and _also_ with him that is not here with us this\nday: . . . lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or\ntribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God\" (alas!\nas it had happened in the event, even all _ten_ tribes, and then the\nwhole twelve had fallen away) \"to go and serve the gods of these\nnations, lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and\nwormwood; and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse,\nthat he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though\nI walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:\nthe Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and His\njealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are\nwritten in this book shall lie upon him, . . . so that . . . the\nstrangers that shall come from a far land . . . when they see the\nplagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon\nit . . . that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth\ntherein, . . . even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done\nthus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?  Then\nmen shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God\nof their fathers, . . . for they went and served other gods, . . . and\nthe Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and cast them into\nanother land.\"  These words, or such as these, either about the people\nor relating to his own duties[16], Josiah read in the Book of the Law,\nand thinking of the captivity which had overtaken Israel already, and\nthe sins of his own people Judah, he rent his clothes.  Then he bade\nthe priests inquire of God for him what he ought to do to avert His\nanger.  \"Go,\" he said, \"inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that\nare left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that\nis found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon\nus, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after\nall that is written in this book[17].\"\n\nIt is observable, that not even yet does he seem to have known the\nprophets Jeremiah or Zephaniah, though the former had been called to\nhis office some years.  Such was God's pleasure.  And the priests and\nscribes about him, though they seconded his pious designs, were in no\nsense his guides: they were unacquainted with the Law of Moses, and\nwith the prophets, who were interpreters of that Law.  But prophets\nwere, through God's mercy, in every city: and though Jeremiah might be\nsilent or might be away, still there were revelations from God even in\nJerusalem.  To one of these prophets the priests applied.  Shallum was\nkeeper of the king's wardrobe--his wife Huldah was known to be gifted\nwith the spirit of prophecy.  To her they went.  She answered in the\nwords of which the text forms a part: \"Thus saith the Lord God of\nIsrael, Tell ye the man that sent you to Me, Thus saith the Lord,\nBehold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants\nthereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath\nread; because they have forsaken Me, and have burnt incense unto other\ngods . . .  My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not\nbe quenched.  But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of\nthe Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,\nas touching the words which thou hast heard; because thine heart was\ntender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou\nheardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants\nthereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast\nrent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the\nLord.  Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou\nshall be gathered into thy grave in peace: and thine eyes shall not see\nall the evil which I will bring upon this place.  And they brought the\nking word again.\"\n\nHow King Josiah conducted himself after this message I need not\ndescribe at any length.  We have heard it in the First Lesson of this\nService[18].  He assembled all Judah at Jerusalem, and publicly read\nthe words of the Book of the Law, then he made all the people renew the\ncovenant with the God of their fathers; then he proceeded more exactly\nin the work of reformation in Judah and Israel, keeping closely to the\ndirections of the Law; and after that he held his celebrated passover.\nThus his greater knowledge was followed by stricter obedience: his\naccurate attention to the whole ritual is the very praise bestowed on\nhis passover; \"Surely there was not holden such a passover from the\ndays of the judges[19].\"  Whatever he did, he did it with all his\nheart: \"Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the\nLord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might,\naccording to all the Law of Moses[20].\"\n\nPassing by the particulars of his reformation, let us come to the\nfulfilment of the promise made to him by Huldah, as the reward of his\nobedience.  \"Behold therefore, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and\nthou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall\nnot see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.\"  His reward\nwas an early death; the event proved that it was a violent one also.\nThe king of Egypt came up against the king of Assyria through the land\nof Judah; Josiah, bound perhaps by an alliance to the king of Assyria,\nor for some strong reason unknown, opposed him; a battle followed;\nJosiah disguised himself that he might not be marked out for death; but\nhis hour was come--the promise of release was to be accomplished.  \"And\nthe archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants,\nHave me away; for I am sore wounded.  His servants, therefore . . .\nbrought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in one of the\nsepulchres of his fathers[21].\"  Thus the best king of Judah died like\nAhab, the worst king of Israel; so little may we judge of God's love or\ndispleasure by outward appearances.  \"The righteous perisheth, and no\nman layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none\nconsidering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.  He\nshall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking\nin his uprightness[22].\"\n\nThe sacred narrative continues: \"And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned\nfor Josiah.  And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men\nand the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this\nday, and made them an ordinance in Israel:\" probably there was a yearly\ncommemoration of his death; and so great was the mourning at the time,\nthat we find it referred to in the Prophet Zechariah[23] almost as a\nproverb.  So fell the last sovereign of the house of David.  God\ncontinued His promised mercies to His people through David's line till\nthey were too corrupt to receive them; the last king of the favoured\nfamily was forcibly and prematurely cut off, in order to make way for\nthe display of God's vengeance in the captivity of the whole nation.\nHe was taken out of the way; they were carried off to Babylon.  \"Weep\nye not for the dead,\" says the prophet, \"neither bemoan him: but weep\nsore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his\nnative country[24].\"  As for Josiah, as it is elsewhere written of him,\n\"His remembrance . . . is sweet as honey in all mouths, and as music at\na banquet of wine.  He behaved himself uprightly in the conversion of\nthe people, and took away the abominations of iniquity.  He directed\nhis heart unto the Lord, and in the time of the ungodly he established\nthe worship of God.  All, except David, and Ezekias, and Josias, were\ndefective; for they forsook the law of the Most High, even the kings of\nJuda failed[25].\"\n\nIn conclusion, my brethren, I would have you observe in what Josiah's\nchief excellence lay.  This is the character given him when his name is\nfirst mentioned; \"He did . . . right in the sight of the Lord, and\nwalked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the\nright hand or to the left[26].\"  He kept the narrow middle way.  Now\nwhat is this strict virtue called? it is called _faith_.  It is no\nmatter whether we call it faith or conscientiousness, they are in\nsubstance one and the same: where there is faith, there is\nconscientiousness--where there is conscientiousness, there is faith;\nthey may be distinguished from each other in words, but they are not\ndivided in fact.  They belong to one, and but one, habit of\nmind--dutifulness; they show themselves in obedience, in the careful,\nanxious observance of God's will, however we learn it.  Hence it is\nthat St. Paul tells us that \"the just shall live by faith\" under\n_every_ dispensation of God's mercy.  And this is called _faith_,\nbecause it implies a reliance on the mere word of the unseen God\noverpowering the temptations of sight.  Whether it be we read and\naccept His word in Scripture (as Christians do), or His word in our\nconscience, the law written on the heart (as is the case with\nheathens); in either case, it is by following it, in spite of the\nseductions of the world around us, that we please God.  St. Paul calls\nit faith; saying after the prophet, \"The just shall live by faith:\" and\nSt. Peter, in the tenth chapter of the Acts, calls it \"fearing and\n_working righteousness_,\" where he says, that \"in every nation he that\nfeareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him.\"  It is all\none: both Apostles say that God loves those who prefer Him to the\nworld; whose _character and frame_ of mind is such.  Elsewhere St. Paul\nalso speaks like St. Peter, when he declares that God will render\neternal life to them, who by \"patient _continuance_ in well-doing seek\nfor glory[27].\"  St. John adds his testimony: \"Little children, let no\nman deceive you.  He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He\nis righteous[28].\"  And our Saviour's last words at the end of the\nwhole Scripture, long after the coming of the Spirit, after the death\nof all the Apostles but St. John, are the same: \"Blessed are they that\n_do His_ commandments, that they may _have right_ to the tree of\nlife[29].\"\n\nAnd if such is God's mercy, as we trust, to all men, wherever any one\nwith a perfect heart seeks Him, what think you is His mercy upon\nChristians?  Something far greater, and more wonderful; for we are\nelected out of the world, in Jesus Christ our Saviour, to a glory\nincomprehensible and eternal.  We are the heirs of promise; God has\nloved us before we were born.  He had us taken into His Church in our\ninfancy.  He by Baptism made us new creatures, giving us powers which\nwe by nature had not, and raising us to the unseen society of Saints\nand Angels.  And all this we enjoy on our faith; that is, on our\nbelieving that we have them, and seriously trying to profit by them.\nMay God grant, that we, like Josiah, may improve our gifts, and trade\nand make merchandise with them, so that, when He cometh to reckon with\nus, we may be accepted!\n\n\n\n[1] Deut. xi. 18-20.\n\n[2] Deut. xxxi. 9-13.\n\n[3] Deut. xvii. 19, 20.\n\n[4] 2 Kings xxi. 11.\n\n[5] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 15-25.\n\n[6] Ibid. 23.\n\n[7] Luke x. 43.\n\n[8] 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3.\n\n[9] Isa. l. 10.\n\n[10] Ps. cxi. 10.\n\n[11] Ps. cxix. 100.\n\n[12] Judges xiv. 14.\n\n[13] 2 Kings xxii. 11.\n\n[14] Deut. xxx. 16, 19.\n\n[15] Deut. xi. 26-28.\n\n[16] Vide Deut. xvii.\n\n[17] 2 Chron. xxxiv. 21.\n\n[18] Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.\n\n[19] 2 Kings xxiii. 22.\n\n[20] 2 Kings xxiii. 25.\n\n[21] 2 Chron. xxxv. 23-25.\n\n[22] Isa. lvii. 1.\n\n[23] Zech. xii. 11.\n\n[24] Jer. xxii. 10.\n\n[25] Eccles. xlix. 1-4.\n\n[26] 2 Kings xxii. 2.\n\n[27] Rom. ii. 7.\n\n[28] 1 John iii. 7.\n\n[29] Rev. xxii. 14.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON VIII.\n\nInward Witness to the Truth of the Gospel.\n\n\"_I have more understanding than my teachers, for Thy testimonies\nare my study; I am wiser than the aged, because I keep Thy\ncommandments._\"--Psalm cxix. 99, 100.\n\n\nIn these words the Psalmist declares, that in consequence of having\nobeyed God's commandments he had obtained more wisdom and understanding\nthan those who had first enlightened his ignorance, and were once more\nenlightened than he.  As if he said, \"When I was a child, I was\ninstructed in religious knowledge by kind and pious friends, who told\nme who my Maker was, what great things He had done for me, how much I\nowed to Him, and how I was to serve Him.  All this I learned from them,\nand I rejoice that they taught it me: yet they did more; they set me in\nthe way to gain a knowledge of religious truth in another and higher\nmanner.  They not only taught me, but trained me; they were careful\nthat I should not only know my duty, but do it.  They obliged me to\nobey; they obliged me to begin a religious course of life, which\n(praised be God!) I have ever pursued; and this obedience to His\ncommandments has brought me to a clearer knowledge of His truth, than\nany mere instruction could convey.  I have been taught, not from\nwithout merely, but from within.  I have been taught by means of a\npurified heart, by a changed will, by chastened reins, by a mortified\nappetite, by a bridled tongue, by eyes corrected and subdued.  'I have\nmore understanding than my teachers, for Thy testimonies,' O Lord, 'are\nmy study; I am wiser than the aged, because I keep Thy commandments.'\"\n\nWe may sometimes hear men say, \"How do you know that the Bible is true?\nYou are told so in Church; your parents believed it; but might they not\nbe mistaken? and if so, you are mistaken also.\"  Now to this objection\nit maybe answered, and very satisfactorily, \"Is it then nothing toward\nconvincing us of the truth of the Gospel, that those whom we love best\nand reverence most believe it?  Is it against reason to think that they\nare right, who have considered the matter most deeply?  Do we not\nreceive what they tell us in other matters, though we cannot prove the\ntruth of their information; for instance, in matters of art and\nscience; why then is it irrational to believe them in religion also?\nHave not the wisest and holiest of men been Christians? and have not\nunbelievers, on the contrary, been very generally signal instances of\npride, discontent, and profligacy?  Again, are not the principles of\nunbelief certain to dissolve human society? and is not this plain fact,\ncandidly considered, enough to show that unbelief cannot be a right\ncondition of our nature? for who can believe that we were intended to\nlive in anarchy?  If we have no good reason for believing, at least we\nhave no good reason for disbelieving.  If you ask why we are\nChristians, we ask in turn, Why should we not be Christians? it will be\nenough to remain where we are, till you do what you never can do--prove\nto us for certain, that the Gospel is not Divine; it is enough for us\nto be on the side of good men, to be under the feet of the Saints, to\n'go our way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and to feed our kids\nbeside the shepherds' tent[1].'\"\n\nThis would be quite a sufficient answer, had we nothing else to say;\nbut I will give another, and that in connexion with the text; I will\nshow you that the most unlearned Christian may have a very real and\nsubstantial argument, an intimate token, of the truth of the Gospel,\nquite independent of the authority of his parents and teachers; nay,\nthat were all the world, even were his teachers, to tell him that\nreligion was a dream, still he would have a good reason for believing\nit true.\n\nThis reason, I say, is contained in the text--\"I have more\nunderstanding than the aged, _because_ I keep Thy commandments.\"  By\nobeying the commands of Scripture, we learn that these commands really\ncome from God; by trying we make proof; by doing we come to know.  Now\nhow comes this to pass?  It happens in several ways.\n\n1. Consider the Bible tells us to be meek, humble, single-hearted, and\nteachable.  Now, it is plain that humility and teachableness are\nqualities of mind necessary for arriving at the truth in any subject,\nand in religious matters as well as others.  By obeying Scripture,\nthen, in practising humility and teachableness, it is evident we are at\nleast _in the way_ to arrive at the knowledge of God.  On the other\nhand, impatient, proud, self-confident, obstinate men, are generally\nwrong in the opinions they form of persons and things.  Prejudice and\nself-conceit blind the eyes and mislead the judgment, whatever be the\nsubject inquired into.  For instance, how often do men mistake the\ncharacters and misconstrue the actions of others! how often are they\ndeceived in them! how often do the young form acquaintances injurious\nto their comfort and good! how often do men embark in foolish and\nruinous schemes! how often do they squander their money, and destroy\ntheir worldly prospects!  And what, I ask, is so frequent a cause of\nthese many errors as wilfulness and presumption?  The same thing\nhappens also in religious inquiries.  When I see a person hasty and\nviolent, harsh and high-minded, careless of what others feel, and\ndisdainful of what they think,--when I see such a one proceeding to\ninquire into religious subjects, I am sure beforehand he cannot go\nright--he will not be led into all the truth--it is contrary to the\nnature of things and the experience of the world, that he should find\nwhat he is seeking.  I should say the same were he seeking to find out\nwhat to believe or do in any other matter not religious,--but\nespecially in any such important and solemn inquiry; for the _fear_ of\nthe Lord (humbleness, teachableness, reverence towards Him) is the very\n_beginning_ of wisdom, as Solomon tells us; it leads us to think over\nthings modestly and honestly, to examine patiently, to bear doubt and\nuncertainty, to wait perseveringly for an increase of light, to be slow\nto speak, and to be deliberate in deciding.\n\n2. Consider, in the next place, that those who are trained carefully\naccording to the precepts of Scripture, gain an elevation, a delicacy,\nrefinement, and sanctity of mind, which is most necessary for judging\nfairly of the truth of Scripture.\n\nA man who loves sin does not wish the Gospel to be true, and therefore\nis not a fair judge of it; a mere man of the world, a selfish and\ncovetous man, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, is, from a sense of\ninterest, against that Bible which condemns him, and would account that\nman indeed a messenger of good tidings of peace who could prove to him\nthat Christ's doctrine was not from God.  \"Every one that doeth evil\nhateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be\nreproved[2].\"  I do not mean to say that such men necessarily reject\nthe word of God, as if we could dare to conclude that all who do not\nreject it are therefore sure to be not covetous, drunkards,\nextortioners, and the like; for it is often a man's interest not openly\nto reject it, though it be against him; and the bulk of men are\ninconsistent, and have some good feelings left, even amid their sins\nand vices, which keep them from going all lengths.  But, while they\nstill profess to honour, at least they try to pervert and misinterpret\nScripture, and that comes to the same thing.  They try to persuade\nthemselves that Christ will save them, though they continue in sin; or\nthey wish to believe that future punishment will not last for ever; or\nthey conceive that their good deeds or habits, few and miserable as\nthey are at best, will make up for the sins of which they are too\nconscious.  Whereas such men as have been taught betimes to work with\nGod their Saviour--in ruling their hearts, and curbing their sinful\npassions, and changing their wills--though they are still sinners, have\nnot within them that treacherous enemy of the truth which misleads the\njudgments of irreligious men.\n\nHere, then, are two very good reasons at first sight, why men who obey\nthe Scripture precepts are more likely to arrive at religious truth,\nthan those who neglect them; first, because such men are teachable men;\nsecondly, because they are pure in heart; such shall see God, whereas\nthe proud provoke His anger, and the carnal are His abhorrence.\n\nBut to proceed.  Consider, moreover, that those who try to obey God\nevidently gain a knowledge of themselves at least; and this may be\nshown to be the first and principal step towards knowing God.  For let\nus suppose a child, under God's blessing, profiting by his teacher's\nguidance, and trying to do his duty and please God.  He will perceive\nthat there is much in him which ought not to be in him.  His own\nnatural sense of right and wrong tells him that peevishness,\nsullenness, deceit, and self-will, are tempers and principles of which\nhe has cause to be ashamed, and he feels that these bad tempers and\nprinciples are in his heart.  As he grows older, he will understand\nthis more and more.  Wishing, then, and striving to act up to the law\nof conscience, he will yet find that, with his utmost efforts, and\nafter his most earnest prayers, he still falls short of what he knows\nto be right, and what he aims at.  Conscience, however, being\nrespected, will become a more powerful and enlightened guide than\nbefore; it will become more refined and hard to please; and he will\nunderstand and perceive more clearly the distance that exists between\nhis own conduct and thoughts, and perfection.  He will admire and take\npleasure in the holy law of God, of which he reads in Scripture; but he\nwill be humbled withal, as understanding himself to be a continual\ntransgressor against it.  Thus he will learn from experience the\ndoctrine of original sin, before he knows the actual name of it.  He\nwill, in fact, say to himself, what St. Paul describes all beginners in\nreligion as saying, \"What I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that\ndo I.  I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see\nanother law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and\nbringing me into captivity.  I know that in my flesh dwelleth no good\nthing[3].\"  The effect of this experience will be to make him take it\nfor granted, as an elementary truth, that he cannot gain heaven for\nhimself; to make him feel himself guilty before God; and to feel,\nmoreover, that even were he admitted into the Divine presence, yet,\ntill his heart be (so to say) made over again, he cannot perfectly\nenjoy God.  This, surely, is the state of self-knowledge; these are the\nconvictions to which every one is brought on, who attempts honestly to\nobey the precepts of God.  I do not mean that all that I have been\nsaying will necessarily pass through his mind, and in the same order,\nor that he will be conscious of it, or be able to speak of it, but that\non the whole thus he will feel.\n\nWhen, then, even an unlearned person thus trained--from his own heart,\nfrom the action of his mind upon itself, from struggles with self, from\nan attempt to follow those impulses of his own nature which he feels to\nbe highest and noblest, from a vivid natural perception (natural,\nthough cherished and strengthened by prayer, natural, though unfolded\nand diversified by practice, natural, though of that new and second\nnature which God the Holy Ghost gives), from an innate, though\nsupernatural perception of the great vision of Truth which is external\nto him (a perception of it, not indeed in its fulness, but in glimpses,\nand by fits and seasons, and in its persuasive influences, and through\na courageous following on after it, as a man in the dark might follow\nafter some dim and distant light)--I say, when a person thus trained\nfrom his own heart, reads the declarations and promises of the Gospel,\nare we to be told that he believes in them merely because he has been\nbid believe in them?  Do we not see he has besides this a something in\nhis own breast which bears a confirming testimony to their truth?  He\nreads that the heart is \"deceitful above all things and desperately\nwicked[4],\" and that he inherits an evil nature from Adam, and that he\nis still under its power, except so far as he has been renewed.  Here\nis a mystery; but his own actual and too bitter experience bears\nwitness to the truth of the declaration; he feels the mystery of\niniquity within him.  He reads, that \"without holiness no man shall see\nthe Lord[5];\" and his own love of what is true and lovely and pure,\napproves and embraces the doctrine as coming from God.  He reads, that\nGod is angry at sin, and will punish the sinner, and that it is a hard\nmatter, nay, an impossibility, for us to appease His wrath.  Here,\nagain, is a mystery: but here, too, his conscience anticipates the\nmystery, and convicts him; his mouth is stopped.  And when he goes on\nto read that the Son of God has Himself come into the world in our\nflesh, and died upon the Cross for us, does he not, amid the awful\nmysteriousness of the doctrine, find those words fulfilled in him which\nthat gracious Saviour uttered, \"And I, if I be lifted up from the\nearth, will draw all men unto Me\"?  He cannot choose but believe in\nHim.  He says, \"O Lord, Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed.\"\n\nHere then, I say, he surely possesses an evidence perfectly distinct\nfrom the authority of superiors and teachers; like St. Paul, he is in\none way not taught of men, \"but by the revelation of Jesus Christ[6].\"\nOthers have but bid him look within, and pray for God's grace to be\nenabled to know himself; and the more he understands his own heart, the\nmore are the Gospel doctrines recommended to his reason.  He is assured\nthat Christ does not speak of Himself, but that His word is from God.\nHe is ready, with the Samaritan woman, to say to all around him, \"Come,\nsee a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the\nChrist[7]?\"  Or, again, in the words which the Samaritans of the same\ncity used to the woman after conversing with Christ; \"Now we believe,\nnot because of thy saying\" (not merely on the authority of friends and\nrelatives), \"for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is\nindeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.\"\n\nThe Bible, then, seems to say,--God is not a hard master to require\nbelief, without affording grounds for believing; only follow your own\nsense of right, and you will gain from that very obedience to your\nMaker, which natural conscience enjoins, a conviction of the truth and\npower of that Redeemer whom a supernatural message has revealed; do but\nexamine your thoughts and doings; do but attempt what you know to be\nGod's will, and you will most assuredly be led on into all the truth:\nyou will recognize the force, meaning, and awful graciousness of the\nGospel Creed; you will bear witness to the truth of one doctrine, by\nyour own past experience of yourselves; of another, by seeing that it\nis suited to your necessity; of a third, by finding it fulfilled upon\nyour obeying it.  As the prophet says, \"Bring ye\" your offering \"into\nMine house,\" saith the Lord, \"and prove Me now herewith, if I will not\nopen you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there\nshall not be room enough to receive it[8].\"\n\nMy brethren, it is always reasonable to insist upon these subjects; but\nit is peculiarly so in times when a spirit of presumptuous doubting is\nin many places abroad.  As many of us as live in the world must expect\nto hear our faith despised, and our conscientious obedience ridiculed;\nwe must expect to be taunted and scorned by those who find it much\neasier to attack another's creed than to state their own.  A little\nlearning is a dangerous thing.  When men think they know more than\nothers, they often talk for the sake of talking, or to show their\nability (as they think), their shrewdness and depth; and they speak\nlightly of the All-Holy God, to gratify their empty self-conceit and\nvanity.  And often it answers no purpose to dispute with such persons;\nfor not having been trained up to obey their conscience, to restrain\ntheir passions, and examine their hearts, they will assent to nothing\nyou can say; they will be questioning and arguing about every thing;\nthey have no common ground with you, and when they talk of religion\nthey are like blind persons talking of colours.  If you urge how great\na gift it is to be at peace with God, or of the arduousness and yet\ndesirableness of perfection, or the beauty of saintliness, or the\ndangerousness of the world, or the blessedness of self-control, or the\nglory of virginity, or the answers which God gives to prayer, or the\nmarvellousness and almost miraculousness of His providences, or the\ncomfort of religion in affliction, or the strength given you over your\npassions in the Most Holy Sacrament, such persons understand you not at\nall.  They will laugh, they will scoff, at best they will wonder: any\nhow what you say is no evidence to _them_.  You cannot convince them,\nbecause you differ from them in first principles; it is not that they\nstart from the same point as you, and afterwards strike off in some\nwayward direction; but their course is altogether distinct, they have\nno point in common with you.  For such persons then you can only pray;\nGod alone can bring down pride, self-conceit, an arrogant spirit, a\npresumptuous temper; God alone can dissipate prejudice; God alone can\novercome flesh and blood.  Useful as argument may be for converting a\nman, in such cases God seldom condescends to employ it.  Yet, let not\nsuch vain or ignorant reasoners convert you to unbelief in great\nmatters or little; let them not persuade you, that your faith is built\non the mere teaching of fallible men; do not you be ridiculed out of\nyour confidence and hope in Christ.  You may, if you will, have an\ninward witness arising from obedience: and though you cannot make them\nsee it, you can see it yourselves, which is the great thing; and it\nwill be quite sufficient, with God's blessing, to keep you stedfast in\nthe way of life.\n\nLastly, let me remark how dangerous their state is who are content to\ntake the truths of the Gospel on trust, without caring whether or not\nthose truths are realized in their own heart and conduct.  Such men,\nwhen assailed by ridicule and sophistry, are likely to fall; they have\nno root in themselves; and let them be quite sure, that should they\nfall away from the faith, it will be a slight thing at the last day to\nplead that subtle arguments were used against them, that they were\naltogether unprepared and ignorant, and that their seducers prevailed\nover them by the display of some little cleverness and human knowledge.\nThe inward witness to the truth lodged in our hearts is a match for the\nmost learned infidel or sceptic that ever lived: though, to tell the\ntruth, such men are generally very shallow and weak, as well as wicked;\ngenerally know only a little, pervert what they know, assume false\nprinciples, and distort or suppress facts: but were they as\naccomplished as the very author of evil, the humblest Christian, armed\nwith sling and stone, and supported by God's unseen might, is, as far\nas his own faith is concerned, a match for them.  And, on the other\nhand, the most acute of reasoners and most profound of thinkers, the\nmost instructed in earthly knowledge, is nothing, except he has also\nwithin him the presence of the Spirit of truth.  Human knowledge,\nthough of great power when joined to a pure and humble faith, is of no\npower when opposed to it, and, after ail, for the comfort of the\nindividual Christian, it is of little value.\n\nMay we, then, all grow in heavenly knowledge, and, with that end,\nlabour to improve what is already given us, be it more or be it less,\nknowing that \"he that is faithful in little is faithful also in much,\"\nand that \"to him that hath, more shall be given.\"\n\n\n\n[1] Cant. i. 8.\n\n[2] John iii. 20.\n\n[3] Rom. vii. 15, 18, 22, 23.\n\n[4] Jer. xvii. 9.\n\n[5] Heb. xii. 14.\n\n[6] Gal. i. 12.\n\n[7] John iv. 29.\n\n[8] Mal. iii. 10.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON IX.\n\nJeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.\n\n\"_Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith\nthe Lord._\"--Jeremiah i. 8.\n\n\nThe Prophets were ever ungratefully treated by the Israelites, they were\nresisted, their warnings neglected, their good services forgotten.  But\nthere was this difference between the earlier and the later Prophets; the\nearlier lived and died in honour among their people,--in outward honour;\nthough hated and thwarted by the wicked, they were exalted to high\nplaces, and ruled in the congregation.  Moses, for instance, was in\ntrouble from his people all his life long, but to the end he was their\nlawgiver and judge.  Samuel, too, even though rejected, was still held in\nreverence; and when he died, \"all the Israelites were gathered together\nand lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah[1].\"  David died\non a royal throne.  But in the latter times, the prophets were not only\nfeared and hated by the enemies of God, but cast out of the vineyard.  As\nthe time approached for the coming of the true Prophet of the Church, the\nSon of God, they resembled Him in their earthly fortunes more and more;\nand as He was to suffer, so did they.  Moses was a ruler, Jeremiah was an\noutcast: Samuel was buried in peace, John the Baptist was beheaded.  In\nSt.  Paul's words, they \"had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea,\nmoreover, of bonds and imprisonment.  They were stoned; they were sawn\nasunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in\nsheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom\nthe world was not worthy; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and\nin dens and caves of the earth[2].\"\n\nOf these, Elijah, who lived in the wilderness, and the hundred prophets\nwhom Obadiah fed by fifty in a cave, are examples of the wanderers.  And\nMicaiah, who was appointed the bread of affliction and the water of\naffliction by an idolatrous king, is the specimen of those who \"had trial\nof bonds and imprisonment.\"  Of those who were sawn asunder and slain\nwith the sword, Isaiah is the chief, who, as tradition goes, was by order\nof Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, sawn asunder with a wooden saw.  And of\nthose who were stoned, none is more famous than Zechariah, the son of\nJehoiada, \"who was slain between the temple and the altar[3].\"  But of\nall the persecuted prophets Jeremiah is the most eminent; i. e. we know\nmore of his history, of his imprisonments, his wanderings, and his\nafflictions.  He may be taken as a representative of the Prophets; and\nhence it is that he is an especial type of our Lord and Saviour.  All the\nProphets were types of the Great Prophet whose way they were preparing;\nthey tended towards and spoke of Christ.  In their sufferings they\nforeshadowed His priesthood, and in their teaching His prophetical\noffice, and in their miracles His royal power.  The history of Jeremiah,\nthen, as being drawn out in Scripture more circumstantially than that of\nthe other Prophets, is the most exact type of Christ among them; that is,\nnext to David, who, of course, was the nearest resemblance to Him of all,\nas a sufferer, an inspired teacher, and a king.  Jeremiah comes next to\nDavid; I do not say in dignity and privilege, for it was Elijah who was\ntaken up to heaven, and appeared at the Transfiguration; nor in\ninspiration, for to Isaiah one should assign the higher evangelical\ngifts; but in typifying Him who came and wept over Jerusalem, and then\nwas tortured and put to death by those He wept over.  And hence, when our\nLord came, while some thought Him Elijah, and others John the Baptist,\nrisen from the dead, there were others who thought Him Jeremiah.  Of\nJeremiah, then, I will now speak, as a specimen of all those Prophets\nwhom St. Paul sets before us as examples of faith, and St. James as\nexamples of patience.  Jeremiah's ministry may be summed up in three\nwords, good hope, labour, disappointment.\n\nIt was his privilege to be called to his sacred office from his earliest\nyears.  Like Samuel, the first prophet, he was of the tribe of Levi,\ndedicated from his birth to religious services, and favoured with the\nconstant presence and grace of God.  \"Before I formed thee . . .  I knew\nthee[4],\" says the word of the Lord to him when He gave him his\ncommission, \"and before thou camest out of the womb I sanctified thee,\nand I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.\"  This commission was\ngiven the year after Josiah began his reformation.  Jeremiah returned for\nanswer, \"Ah! Lord God! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.\" He felt\nthe arduousness of a prophet's office; the firmness and intrepidity which\nwere required to speak the words of God.  \"But the Lord said unto him,\nSay not I am a child; for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee,\nand whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.  Be not afraid of their\nfaces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.  Then the Lord\nput forth His hand and touched my mouth, and said unto me, Behold I have\nput My words in thy mouth.\"\n\nNo prophet commenced his labours with greater encouragement than\nJeremiah.  A king had succeeded to the throne who was bringing back the\ntimes of the man after God's own heart.  There had not been a son of\nDavid so zealous as Josiah since David himself.  The king, too, was\nyoung, at most twenty years of age, in the beginning of his reformation.\nWhat might not be effected in a course of years, however corrupt and\ndegraded was the existing state of his people?  So Jeremiah might think.\nIt must be recollected, too, that religious obedience was under the\nJewish covenant awarded with temporal prosperity.  There seemed, then,\nevery reason for Jeremiah at first to suppose that bright fortunes were\nin store for the Church.  Josiah was the very king whose birth was\nforetold by name above three hundred years before, when Jeroboam\nestablished idolatry; who was the promised avenger of God's covenant,\n\"the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in[5].\"\nIsrael (the ten tribes) having gone into captivity, schism had come to\nits end; the kings of the house of David again ruled over the whole\nextent of the promised land; idolatry was destroyed by Josiah in all the\ncities.  Such were the present blessings which the Jewish remnant\nenjoyed.  At first sight, then, it seemed reasonable to anticipate\nfurther and permanent improvement.  Every one begins with being sanguine;\ndoubtless then, as now, many labourers in God's husbandry entered on\ntheir office with more lively hopes than their after fortunes warranted.\nWhether or not, however, such hope of success encouraged Jeremiah's first\nexertions, very soon, in his case, this cheerful prospect was overcast,\nand he was left to labour in the dark.  Huldah's message to the king, on\nhis finding the Book of the Law in the temple, fixed the coming fortunes\nof Judah.  Huldah foretold a woe,--an early removal of the good Josiah to\nhis rest as a mercy to him, and to the nation, who were unworthy of him,\na fierce destruction.  This prophecy was delivered five years after\nJeremiah entered upon his office; he ministered in all forty years before\nthe captivity, so early in his course were his hopes cut away.\n\nBut even though Huldah's message be supposed not to reach him, still he\nwas doubtless soon undeceived as to any hopes he might entertain,\nwhether, by the express Word of God informing him, or by the actual\nhardened state of sin in which the nation lay.  Soon, surely, were his\nhopes destroyed, and his mind sobered into a more blessed and noble\ntemper,--resignation.\n\nI call resignation a more blessed frame of mind than sanguine hope of\npresent success, because it is the truer, and the more consistent with\nour fallen state of being, and the more improving to our hearts; and\nbecause it is that for which the most eminent servants of God have been\nconspicuous.  To expect great effects from our exertions for religious\nobjects is natural indeed, and innocent, but it arises from inexperience\nof the kind of work we have to do,--to change the heart and will of man.\nIt is a far nobler frame of mind, to labour, not with the hope of seeing\nthe fruit of our labour, but for conscience' sake, as a matter of duty;\nand again, in faith, trusting good will be done, though we see it not.\nLook through the Bible, and you will find God's servants, even though\nthey began with success, end with disappointment; not that God's purposes\nor His instruments fail, but that the time for reaping what we have sown\nis hereafter, not here; that here there is no great visible fruit in any\none man's lifetime.  Moses, for instance, began with leading the\nIsraelites out of Egypt in triumph; he ended at the age of an hundred and\ntwenty years, before his journey was finished and Canaan gained, one\namong the offending multitudes who were overthrown in the wilderness[6].\nSamuel's reformations ended in the people's wilfully choosing a king like\nthe nations around them.  Elijah, after his successes, fled from Jezebel\ninto the wilderness to mourn over his disappointments.  Isaiah, after\nHezekiah's religious reign, and the miraculous destruction of\nSennacherib's army, fell upon the evil days of his son Manasseh.  Even in\nthe successes of the first Christian teachers, the Apostles, the same\nrule is observed.  After all the great works God enabled them to\naccomplish, they confessed before their death that what they experienced,\nand what they saw before them, was reverse and calamity, and that the\nfruit of their labour would not be seen, till Christ came to open the\nbooks and collect His saints from the four corners of the earth.  \"Evil\nmen and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being\ndeceived[7],\" is the testimony of St.  Peter, St. Paul, St. John, and St.\nJude.\n\nNow, in the instance of Jeremiah, we have on record that variety and\nvicissitude of feelings, which this transition from hope to\ndisappointment produces, at least in a sensitive mind.  His trials were\nvery great, even in Josiah's reign; but when that pious king's\ncountenance was withdrawn on his early death, he was exposed to\npersecution from every class of men.  At one time we read of the people\nconspiring against him[8], at another, of the men of his own city,\nAnathoth, \"seeking his life[9],\" on account of his prophesying in the\nLord's name.  At another time he was seized by the priests and the\nprophets in order to be put to death, from which he was only saved by\ncertain of the princes and elders who were still faithful to the memory\nof Josiah[10].  Then, again, Pashur, the chief governor of the temple,\nsmote him and tortured him[11].  At another time, the king, Zedekiah, put\nhim in prison[12].  Afterwards, when the army of the Chaldeans had\nbesieged Jerusalem, the Jews accused him of falling away to the\nenemy[13], and smote him, and imprisoned him, then they cast him into a\ndungeon, where he \"sunk in the mire,\" and almost perished from\nhunger[14].  When Jerusalem had been taken by the enemy, Jeremiah was\nforcibly carried down to Egypt; by men who at first pretended to\nreverence and consult him[15], and there he came to his end--it is\nbelieved, a violent end.  Nebuchadnezzar, the heathen king of Babylon and\nconqueror of Jerusalem, was one of the few persons who showed him\nkindness.  This great king, who afterwards honoured Daniel, and was at\nlength brought to acknowledge the God of heaven by a severe chastisement,\non the taking of the city delivered Jeremiah from prison[16], and gave\ncharge to the captain of his guard concerning him, to \"look well to him,\nand to do him no harm; but to do unto him even as he should say . . . .\"\nAn Ethiopian, another heathen, is also mentioned as delivering him from\nthe dungeon.\n\nSuch were his trials: his affliction, fear, despondency, and sometimes\neven restlessness under them are variously expressed; that succession and\ntide of feelings which most persons undergo before their minds settle\ninto the calm of resignation.  At one time he speaks as astonished at his\nfailure: \"O Lord, art not Thine eyes upon the truth?  Thou hast stricken\nthem, but they have not grieved; Thou hast consumed them, but they have\nrefused to receive correction[17].\"  Again, \"A wonderful and horrible\nthing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the\npriests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so[18].\"\nAt another time, he expresses his perplexity at the disorder of the\nworld, and the successes of the wicked: \"Righteous art Thou, O Lord, when\nI plead with Thee; yet let me talk with Thee of Thy judgments: wherefore\ndoth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that\ndeal very treacherously? . . . but Thou, O Lord, knowest me; Thou hast\nseen me, and tried mine heart towards Thee[19].\"  Then, in turn, his mind\nfrets at the thought of its own anxious labours and perplexities: \"Woe is\nme, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of\ncontention to the whole earth!  I have neither lent on usury, nor men\nhave lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. . .  Why\nis my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable? . . . wilt Thou be\naltogether unto me as a deceiver, and as waters that fail[20]?\"  These\nare the sorrows of a gentle and peaceable mind, forced against its will\ninto the troubles of life, and incurring the hatred of those whom it\nopposes against its nature.  This he elsewhere expresses thus: \"As for\nme, I have not . . . desired the woeful day\" (which he foretold); \"Thou\nknowest: that which came out of my lips was right before Thee.  Be not a\nterror unto me: Thou art my hope in the day of evil[21].\"  When Pashur\nput him to torture he was still more agitated, and said, \"O Lord, Thou\nhast deceived me, and I was deceived.  Thou art stronger than I, and hast\nprevailed.  I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me . . .  Cursed be\nthe day wherein I was born\" (here certainly is the language even of\nimpatience), \"let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed[22].\"\n\nHowever, of such changes of feelings what was the end?--resignation.  He\nelsewhere uses language which expresses that chastened spirit and weaned\nheart, which is the termination of all agitation and anxiety in the case\nof religious minds.  He, who at one time could not comfort himself, at\nanother was sent to comfort a brother, and, in comforting Baruch, he\nspeaks in that nobler temper of resignation which takes the place of\nsanguine hope and harassing fear, and betokens calm and clear-sighted\nfaith and inward peace.  \"Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel unto\nthee, O Baruch.  Thou didst say, Woe is me now, for the Lord hath added\ngrief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. . .\nBehold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have\nplanted I will pluck up, even this whole land.  And seekest thou great\nthings for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon\nall flesh; . . . but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all\nplaces whither thou goest,\" that is, seek not success, be not impatient,\nfret not thyself--be content, if, after all thy labours, thou dost but\nsave thyself, without seeing other fruit of them.\n\n\nAnd now, my brethren, does what I have been saying apply to all of us, or\nonly to Prophets?  It applies to all of us.  For all of us live in a\nworld which promises well, but does not fulfil; and all of us (taking our\nlives altogether apart from religious prospects) begin with hope, and end\nwith disappointment.  Doubtless, there is much difference in our\nrespective trials here, arising from difference of tempers and fortunes.\nStill it is in our nature to begin life thoughtlessly and joyously; to\nseek great things in one way or other; to have vague notions of good to\ncome; to love the world, and to believe its promises, and seek\nsatisfaction and happiness from it.  And, as it is our nature to hope, so\nit is our lot, as life proceeds, to encounter disappointment.  I know\nthat there are multitudes, in the retired ranks of society, who pass\ntheir days without any great varieties of fortune; though, even in such\ncases, thinking persons will have much more to say of themselves than at\nfirst sight might appear.  Still, that disappointment in some shape or\nother is the lot of man (that is, looking at our prospects apart from the\nnext world) is plain, from the mere fact, if nothing else could be said,\nthat we begin life with health and end it with sickness; or in other\nwords, that it _comes_ to an _end_, for an end is a failure.  And even in\nthe quietest walks of life, do not the old feel regret, more or less\nvividly, that they are not young?  Do not they lament the days gone by,\nand even with the pleasure of remembrance feel the pain?  And why, except\nthat they think that they have lost something which they once had,\nwhereas in the beginning of life, they thought of gaining something they\nhad not?  A double disappointment.\n\nNow is it religion that suggests this sad view of things?  No, it is\nexperience; it is the _world's_ doing; it is fact, from which we cannot\nescape, though the Bible said not a word about the perishing nature of\nall earthly pleasures.\n\nHere then it is, that God Himself offers us His aid by His Word, and in\nHis Church.  Left to ourselves, we seek good from the world, but cannot\nfind it; in youth we look forward, and in age we look back.  It is well\nwe should be persuaded of these things betimes, to gain wisdom and to\nprovide for the evil day.  Seek we great things?  We must seek them where\nthey really are to be found, and in the way in which they are to be\nfound; we must seek them as He has set them before us, who came into the\nworld to enable us to gain them.  We must be willing to give up present\nhope for future enjoyment, this world for the unseen.  The truth is\n(though it is so difficult for us to admit it heartily), our nature is\nnot at first in a state to enjoy happiness, even if we had it offered to\nus.  We seek for it, and we feel we need it; but (strange though it is to\nsay, still so it is) we are not fitted to be happy.  If then at once we\nrush forward to seek enjoyment, it will be like a child's attempting to\nwalk before his strength is come.  If we would gain true bliss, we must\ncease to seek it as an end; we must postpone the prospect of enjoying it.\nFor we are by nature in an unnatural state; we must be changed from what\nwe are when born, before we can receive our greatest good.  And as in\nsickness sharp remedies are often used, or irksome treatment, so it is\nwith our souls; we must go through pain, we must practise self-denial, we\nmust curb our wills, and purify our hearts, before we are capable of any\nlasting solid peace.  To attempt to gain happiness, except in this\napparently tedious and circuitous way, is a labour lost; it is building\non the sand; the foundation will soon give way, though the house looks\nfair for a time.  To be gay and thoughtless, to be self-indulgent and\nself-willed, is quite out of character with our real state.  We must\nlearn to know ourselves, and to have thoughts and feelings becoming\nourselves.  Impetuous hope and undisciplined mirth ill-suit a sinner.\nShould he shrink from low notions of himself, and sharp pain, and\nmortification of natural wishes, whose guilt called down the Son of God\nfrom heaven to die upon the cross for him?  May he live in pleasure here,\nand call this world his home, while he reads in the Gospel of his\nSaviour's life-long affliction and disappointment?\n\nIt cannot be; let us prepare for suffering and disappointment, which\nbefit us as sinners, and which are necessary for us as saints.  Let us\nnot turn away from trial when God brings it on us, or play the coward in\nthe fight of faith.  \"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like\nmen, be strong[23];\" such is St. Paul's exhortation.  When affliction\novertakes you, remember to accept it as a means of improving your hearts,\nand pray God for His grace that it may do so.  Look disappointment in the\nface.  \"Take . . . the Prophets . . . for an example of suffering\naffliction, and of patience.  Behold, we count them happy who endure.\"\nGive not over your attempts to serve God, though you see nothing come of\nthem.  Watch and pray, and obey your conscience, though you cannot\nperceive your own progress in holiness.  Go on, and you cannot but go\nforward; believe it, though you do not see it.  Do the duties of your\ncalling, though they are distasteful to you.  Educate your children\ncarefully in the good way, though you cannot tell how far God's grace has\ntouched their hearts.  Let your light shine before men, and praise God by\na consistent life, even though others do not seem to glorify their Father\non account of it, or to be benefited by your example.  \"Cast your bread\nupon the waters, for you shall find it after many days. . . .  In the\nmorning sow your seed, in the evening withhold not your hand; for you\nknow not whether shall prosper, either this or that; or whether they both\nshall be alike good[24].\"  Persevere in the narrow way.  The Prophets\nwent through sufferings to which ours are mere trifles; violence and\ncraft combined to turn them aside, but they kept right on, and are at\nrest.\n\nNow, I know full well, that this whole subject is distasteful to many\nmen, who say we ought to be cheerful.  \"We are bid rejoice, why then do\nyou bid us mourn?\"  I bid you mourn in order that you may rejoice more\nperfectly.  \"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be\ncomforted[25].\"  \"They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy.\"  I bid you\ntake up the cross of Christ, that you may wear His crown.  Give your\nhearts to Him, and you will for yourselves solve the difficulty, how\nChristians can be sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing[26].  You will find that\nlightness of heart and cheerfulness are quite consistent with that new\nand heavenly character which He gives us, though to gain it in any good\nmeasure, we must for a time be sorrowful, and ever after thoughtful.  But\nI give you fair warning, you must at first take His word on trust; and if\nyou do not, there is no help for it.  He says, \"Come unto Me, . . . and I\nwill give you rest.\"  You must begin on faith: you cannot see at first\nwhither He is leading you, and how light will rise out of the darkness.\nYou must begin by denying yourselves your natural wishes,--a painful\nwork; by refraining from sin, by rousing from sloth, by preserving your\ntongue from insincere words, and your hands from deceitful dealings, and\nyour eyes from beholding vanity; by watching against the first rising of\nanger, pride, impurity, obstinacy, jealousy; by learning to endure the\nlaugh of irreligious men for Christ's sake; by forcing your minds to\nfollow seriously the words of prayer, though it be difficult to you, and\nby keeping before you the thought of God all through the day.  These\nthings you will be able to do if you do but seek the mighty help of God\nthe Holy Spirit which is given you; and while you follow after them,\nthen, in the Prophet's language, \"your light shall rise in obscurity, and\nyour darkness shall be as the noonday.  And the Lord shall guide you\ncontinually, and satisfy your soul in drought: and you shall be like a\nwatered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not[27].\"\n\n\n\n[1] 1 Sam. xxv. 1.\n\n[2] Heb. xi. 36-38.\n\n[3] Matt. xxiii. 35.\n\n[4] Jer. i. 6.\n\n[5] Isa. lviii. 12.\n\n[6] 1 Cor. x. 5.\n\n[7] 2 Tim. iii. 13.\n\n[8] Jer. xviii. 18.\n\n[9] Ibid. xi. 21.\n\n[10] Ibid. xxvi. 16, &c.\n\n[11] Ibid. xx. 2.\n\n[12] Ibid. xxxii. 3.\n\n[13] Ibid. xxxvii. 14.\n\n[14] Ibid. xxxviii. 6, 9.\n\n[15] Jer. xlii. xliii.\n\n[16] Ibid. xxxix. 14.\n\n[17] Ibid. v. 3.\n\n[18] Ibid. v. 30, 31.\n\n[19] Jer. xii. 1-3.\n\n[20] Ibid. xv. 10-18.\n\n[21] Ibid. xvii. 16,17.\n\n[22] Jer. xx. 7-14.\n\n[23] 1 Cor. xvi. 13.\n\n[24] Eccl. xi. 1, 6.\n\n[256] Matt. v. 4.\n\n[26] 2 Cor. vi. 10.\n\n[27] Isa. lviii. 10, 11.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON X.\n\nEndurance of the World's Censure.\n\n\"_And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them; neither be afraid of\ntheir words, though briars and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell\namong scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their\nlooks, though they be a rebellious house._\"--Ezekiel ii. 6.\n\n\nWhat is here implied, as the trial of the Prophet Ezekiel, was\nfulfilled more or less in the case of all the Prophets.  They were not\nTeachers merely, but Confessors.  They came not merely to unfold the\nLaw, or to foretell the Gospel, but to warn and rebuke; not to rebuke\nonly, but to suffer.  This world is a scene of conflict between good\nand evil.  The evil not only avoids, but persecutes the good; the good\ncannot conquer, except by suffering.  Good men seem to fail; their\ncause triumphs, but their own overthrow is the price paid for the\nsuccess of their cause.  When was it that this conflict, and this\ncharacter and issue of it, have not been fulfilled?  So it was in the\nbeginning.  Cain, for instance, was envious of his brother Abel, and\nslew him.  Enoch walked with God, and was a preacher of righteousness,\nand God took him.  Ishmael mocked at Isaac; Esau was full of wrath with\nJacob, and resolved to kill him.  Joseph's brethren were filled with\nbitter hatred of him, debated about killing him, cast him into a pit,\nand at last sold him into Egypt.  Afterwards, in like manner, Korah,\nDathan, and Abiram rose up against Moses.  And, later still, Saul\npersecuted David; and Ahab and Jezebel, Elijah; and the priests and the\nprophets the Prophet Jeremiah.  Lastly, not to dwell on other\ninstances, the chief priests and Pharisees, full of envy, rose up\nagainst our Lord Jesus Christ, and delivered Him to the heathen\ngovernor, Pontius Pilate, to be crucified.  So the Apostles, after Him,\nand especially St. Paul, were persecuted by their fierce and revengeful\ncountrymen; and from the way in which St. Paul speaks on the subject we\nmay infer that it is ever so to be: \"All that will live godly in Christ\nJesus shall suffer persecution:\" or, as he says, after referring to the\nhistory of Isaac and Ishmael, \"As then he that was born after the flesh\npersecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now:\" and\nindeed we see this fulfilled in its measure before our eyes even at\nthis day.  Hence our Saviour, to console all who suffer for His sake,\ngraciously says, \"Blessed are they which are persecuted for\nrighteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven[1].\"\n\nThe case seems to be this:--those who do not serve God with a single\nheart, know they ought to do so, and they do not like to be reminded\nthat they ought.  And when they fall in with any one who does live to\nGod, he serves to remind them of it, and that is unpleasant to them,\nand that is the first reason why they are angry with a religious man;\nthe sight of him disturbs them and makes them uneasy.\n\nAnd, in the next place, they feel in their hearts that he is in much\nbetter case than they are.  They cannot help wishing--though they are\nhardly conscious of their own wish--they cannot help wishing that they\nwere like him; yet they have no intention of imitating him, and this\nmakes them jealous and envious.  Instead of being angry with themselves\nthey are angry with him.\n\nThese are their first feelings: what follows? next they are very much\ntempted to deny that he _is_ religious.  They wish to get the thought\nof him out of their minds.  Nothing would so relieve their minds as to\nfind that there were no religious persons in the world, none better\nthan themselves.  Accordingly, they do all they can to believe that he\nis making a pretence of religion, they do their utmost to find out what\nlooks like inconsistency in him.  They call him a hypocrite and other\nnames.  And all this, if the truth must be spoken, because they hate\nthe things of God, and therefore they hate His servants.\n\nAccordingly, as far as they have power to do it, they persecute him,\neither, as the text implies, with cruel untrue words, or with cold, or\nfierce, or jealous looks, or in some worse ways.  A good man is an\noffence to a bad man.  The sight of him is a sort of insult, and he is\nirritated at him, and does him what harm he can.  Thus Christians, in\nformer times, were put to death by the heathen.  As righteous Abel by\nCain, as our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by the Jews, as St.\nPaul too by the heathen; so, many after him were put to death also, and\nthat by the most cruel torments.  It would not be right to describe the\nhorrible inflictions which the children of God once endured at the\nhands of the children of the flesh; but we have some allusion to what\nhad taken place in an earlier age, in a passage from St. Paul's Epistle\nto the Hebrews, from which you may judge of the more cruel trials which\nChristians afterwards endured.  They \"had trial of cruel mockings and\nscourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned,\nthey were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they\nwandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins; being destitute,\nafflicted, tormented, (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered\nin deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth[2].\"\n\nPraised be God, we live in times when this cannot take place!\nHitherto, at least, He has guarded us in a wonderful way.  If any bad\nman did any serious harm to a religious man, he knows he would incur\nsome punishment from the law of the land.  Religious persons are\nprotected in this day from all great persecutions, and they cannot\nsufficiently be thankful for it.  The utmost they can suffer from the\nworld is light indeed compared with what men suffered of old time.  Yet\nSt. Paul calls even his and their sufferings \"our light affliction;\"\nand if their suffering was but light, compared with the glory which was\nto follow after death, much more is ours light, who cannot undergo\npersecution, if we would, and at best can only suffer very slight\ninconveniences from serving God faithfully.\n\nAnd yet, nevertheless, most true is it, that even now, no one can give\nhis mind to God, and show by his actions that he fears God, but he will\nincur the dislike and opposition of the world; and it is important he\nshould be aware of this, and be prepared for it.  He must not mind it,\nhe must bear it, and in time (if God so will) he will overcome it.\n\nThere are a number of lesser ways in which careless ungodly persons may\nannoy and inconvenience those who desire to do their duty humbly and\nfully.  Such, especially, are those, which seem intended in the text,\nunkind censure, carping, slander, ridicule, cold looks, rude language,\ninsult, and, in some cases, oppression and tyranny.  Whoever,\ntherefore, sets about a religious life, must be prepared for\nthese,--must be thankful if they do not befall him; but must not be put\nout, must not think it a strange thing, if they do.\n\nNow, my brethren, observe this; in bidding you endure reproach for\nChrist's sake, I am bidding you nothing which, as a minister of Christ,\nI do not wish to practise myself.  Nay, it is what all ministers of\nChrist are obliged to practise; for, in all ages, _who_ do you think it\nis that the world will first attack and oppose?  Christ's ministers, of\ncourse.  Who is there who can possibly so offend this bad world, as\nthey whose very office is to remind the world of God and heaven?  If\nall serious persons are disliked by the world, because they bring\nbefore it unpleasant truths, which it would fain forget if it could,\nthis trial surely applies still more to those whose very profession and\nbusiness it is to remind men of the truths of religion.  A religious\nman does not intend to remind his neighbours; he goes on his own way;\nbut they see him and cannot help being reminded.  They see that he is\nwell-conducted, and sober-minded, and reverent, and conscientious; that\nhe never runs into any excess, that he never uses bad language; that he\nis regular at his prayers, regular at Church, regular at the most Holy\nSacrament; they see all this, and, whether he will or no, they _are_\nreminded of their duty, and, as disliking to be reminded, they dislike\nhim who reminds them.  But if this be so in the case of common men, who\nwish to go on in a religious way without making any profession, how do\nyou think it will fare with us, Christ's ministers, whose very duty it\nis to make a profession?  Every thing about a clergyman is a warning to\nmen, or ought to be, of the next world, of death and judgment, heaven\nand hell.  His very dress is a memento.  He does not dress like other\nmen.  His habits are a memento.  His mode of speech is graver than that\nof others.  His duties too are a memento.  He is seen in Church reading\nprayers, baptizing, preaching; or he is seen teaching children; he is\nseen in works of charity; or he is seen studying.  His life is given to\nobjects out of sight.  All that he does is intended to remind men that\ntime is short, death is certain, and eternity long.  And, this being\nso, do you think that men, being as they mostly are, careless and\nirreligious, do you think they like this?  No; and still less, when he\ngoes on to tell men of their errors and faults, and, as far as he can,\nto restrain them.  And so in all ages you will find that the world has\nresisted and done its utmost to get rid of the preachers of repentance\nand holiness.  It would stone Moses, it cast Daniel into the den of\nlions, and the three Children into the fiery furnace: St. Paul it\nbeheaded, St. Peter it crucified, others it burnt, others it tortured\neven to death.  And so it went on for many generations.  But at last,\nas I said just now, religious persons have by degrees been sheltered by\nthe law of the land from persecution, and Christ's ministers among\nthem.  And the world has got more humane and generous, if not more\nreligious; and God is sovereign over all.  But though the devil cannot\npersecute us, he does what he can to oppose us.  Surely this is so; for\nno one can look into the many publications of the day, without having\nproof of it; no one can go into places where persons meet together for\nrefreshment, or for recreation, without hearing it, no one can travel\non the road, without at times being witness to it.  Christ's ministers\nare called names, untruths are told of them, they are ridiculed; and\nmen encourage each other to oppose them, and to deceive them.  And why?\nfor this simple short reason, because they are God's messengers; and\nmen in general do not like to be told of God.  They say that they could\ndo well enough without ministers of Christ; which really means, that\nthey wish to do without God in the world.\n\nSuch is the portion to which all we, ministers of Christ, are called by\nour profession; and therefore, when we bid you prepare for the\nopposition of the world, we are calling you to nothing which we do not\nbear ourselves.  It were well, could we, in all things, do first what\nwe bid you do.  There is no temptation or trial which you have, which\nin its kind we may not have to endure, or at least would not wish to\nendure, so far as it is lawful to wish it.  St. Paul said to certain\nheathens, \"We also are men of like passions with you[3].\"  St. Paul,\nand the Apostles, and all Christ's ministers after them, are of one\nnature with other men.  They have to go through what other men go\nthrough.  They suffer pain, sorrow, bereavement, anxiety, desolateness,\nprivations; and they have need, as other men, of patience,\ncheerfulness, faith, hope, contentment, resignation, firmness, to bear\nall that comes on them well.  But even more than other men are they\ncalled on to bear the opposition of the world.  They have to bear being\nridiculed, slandered, ill-treated, overreached, disliked.  All this is\nnot pleasant to them naturally, any more than to other people.  But\nthey find it must be so; they cannot alter it; and they learn\nresignation and patience.  This patience and resignation then I exhort\nyou to cherish, my brethren, when the world scorns you for your\nreligion; and withal cheerfulness and meekness, that you may bear your\ncross lightly, and not gloomily, or sadly, or complainingly.\n\nFor instance, persons may press you to do something which you know to\nbe wrong--to tell an untruth, or to do what is not quite honest, or to\ngo to companies whither you should not go; and they may show that they\nare vexed at the notion of your not complying.  Still you must not\ncomply.  You must not do what you feel to be wrong, though you should\nthereby displease even those whom you would most wish to please.\n\nAgain: you must not be surprised, should you find that you are called a\nhypocrite, and other hard names; you must not mind it.\n\nAgain: you may be jeered at and mocked by your acquaintance, for being\nstrict and religious, for carefully coming to Church, keeping from bad\nlanguage, and the like: you must not care for it.\n\nAgain, you may, perhaps, discover to your great vexation, that untruths\nare told of you by careless persons behind your backs, that what you do\nhas been misrepresented, and that in consequence a number of evil\nthings are believed about you by the world at large.  Hard though it\nbe, you must not care for it; remembering that more untruths were told\nof our Saviour and His Apostles than can possibly be told of you.\n\nAgain: you may find that not only the common run of men believe what is\nsaid against you, but even those with whom you wish to stand well.  But\nif this happens through your conscientiousness you must not mind it,\nbut must be cheerful, leaving your case in the hand of God, and knowing\nthat He will bring it out into the light one day or another, in His own\ngood time.\n\nAgain: persons may try to threaten or frighten you into doing something\nwrong, but you must not mind that, you must be firm.\n\nIn many, very many ways you may be called upon to bear the ill-usage of\nthe world, or to withstand its attempts to draw you from God; but you\nmust be firm, and you must not be surprised that they should be made.\nYou must consider that it is your very calling to bear and to\nwithstand.  This is what you offer to God as a sort of return for His\ngreat mercies to you.  Did not Christ go through much more for you than\nyou can possibly be called upon to undergo for Him?  Did He bear the\nbitter cross who was sinless, and do you, who are at best so sinful,\nscruple to bear such poor trials and petty inconveniences?\n\nIn conclusion, I will but call your attention to two points, to which\nwhat I have said leads me.\n\nFirst; Do not be too eager to suppose you are ill-treated for your\nreligion's sake.  Make as light of matters as you can.  And beware of\nbeing severe on those who lead careless lives, or whom you think or\nknow to be ill-treating you.  Do not dwell on such matters.  Turn your\nmind away from them.  Avoid all gloominess.  Be kind and gentle to\nthose who are perverse, and you will very often, please God, gain them\nover.  You should pray for those who lead careless lives, and\nespecially if they are unkind to you.  Who knows but God may hear your\nprayers, and turn their hearts, and bring them over to you?  Do every\nthing for them but imitate them and yield to them.  This is the true\nChristian spirit, to be meek and gentle under ill-usage, cheerful under\nslander, forgiving towards enemies, and silent in the midst of angry\ntongues.\n\nSecondly, I would say, recollect you cannot do any one thing of all the\nduties I have been speaking of, without God's help.  Any one who\nattempts to resist the world, or to do other good things by his own\nstrength, will be sure to fall.  We _can_ do good things, but it is\nwhen God gives us power to do them.  Therefore we must pray to Him for\nthe power.  When we are brought into temptation of any kind, we should\nlift up our hearts to God.  We should say to Him, \"Good Lord, deliver\nus.\"  Our Lord, when He was going away, promised to His disciples a\nComforter instead of Himself; that was God the Holy Ghost, who is still\namong us (though we see Him not), as Christ was with the Apostles.  He\nhas come in order to enlighten us, to guide us in the right way, and in\nthe end to bring us to Christ in heaven.  And He came down, as His name\n\"Comforter\" shows, especially to stand by, and comfort, and strengthen\nthose who are in any trouble, particularly trouble from irreligious\nmen.  The disciples, when Christ went, had to go through much trouble,\nand therefore He comforted them by the coming of the Holy and Eternal\nSpirit, the Third Person in the Blessed Trinity.  \"These things I have\nspoken unto you,\" He says, \"that in Me ye might have peace; in the\nworld ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome\nthe world[4].\"  When, then, religious persons are in low spirits, or\nare any way grieved at the difficulties which the world puts in their\nway, when they earnestly desire to do their duty, yet feel how weak\nthey are, let them recollect that they are \"not their own,\" but \"bought\nwith a price,\" and the dwelling-places and temples of the All-gracious\nSpirit.\n\nLastly, I am quite sure that none of us, even the best, have resisted\nthe world as we ought to have done.  Our faces have not been like\nflints; we have been afraid of men's words, and dismayed at their\nlooks, and we have yielded to them at times against our better\njudgment.  We have fancied, forsooth, the world could do us some harm\nwhile we kept to the commandments of God.  Let us search our\nconsciences; let us look back on our past lives.  Let us try to purify\nand cleanse our hearts in God's sight.  Let us try to live more like\nChristians, more like children of God.  Let us earnestly beg of God to\nteach us more simply and clearly what our duty is.  Let us beg of Him\nto give us the heart to love Him, and true repentance for what is past.\nLet us beg Him to teach us _how_ to confess Him before men; lest if we\ndeny Him now.  He may deny us before the Angels of God hereafter.\n\n\n\n[1] 2 Tim. iii. 12.  Gal. iv. 29.  Matt. v. 10.\n\n[2] Heb. xi. 36-38.\n\n[3] Acts xiv. 15.\n\n[4] John xvi. 33.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XI.\n\nDoing Glory to God in Pursuits of the World.\n\n\"_Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to\nthe glory of God._\"--1 Cor. x. 31.\n\n\nWhen persons are convinced that life is short, that it is unequal to\nany great purpose, that it does not display adequately, or bring to\nperfection the true Christian, when they feel that the next life is all\nin all, and that eternity is the only subject that really can claim or\ncan fill their thoughts, then they are apt to undervalue this life\naltogether, and to forget its real importance.  They are apt to wish to\nspend the time of their sojourning here in a positive separation from\nactive and social duties: yet it should be recollected that the\nemployments of this world, though not themselves heavenly, are, after\nall, the way to heaven--though not the fruit, are the seed of\nimmortality--and are valuable, though not in themselves, yet for that\nto which they lead: but it is difficult to realize this.  It is\ndifficult to realize both truths at once, and to connect both truths\ntogether; steadily to contemplate the life to come, yet to act in this.\nThose who meditate, are likely to neglect those active duties which\nare, in fact, incumbent on them, and to dwell upon the thought of God's\nglory, till they forget to act to His glory.  This state of mind is\nchided in figure in the words of the holy Angels to the Apostles, when\nthey say, \"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven[1]?\"\n\nIn various ways does the thought of the next world lead men to neglect\ntheir duty in this, and whenever it does so we may be sure that there\nis something wrong and unchristian, not in their thinking of the next\nworld, but in their manner of thinking of it.  For though the\ncontemplation of God's glory may in certain times and persons allowably\ninterfere with the active employments of life, as in the case of the\nApostles when our Saviour ascended, and though such contemplation is\neven freely allowed or commanded us at certain times of each day; yet\nthat is not a real and true meditation on Christ, but some counterfeit,\nwhich makes us dream away our time, or become habitually indolent, or\nwhich withdraws us from our existing duties, or unsettles us.\n\nYet the thought of the world unseen is apt to do so in various ways,\nand the worst way of all is when we have taken up a notion that it\n_ought_ to do so.  And indeed this is a temptation to which persons who\ndesire to be religious are exposed in one shape or another in every\nage, and in this age as well as in times past.  Men come to fancy that\nto lose taste and patience for the businesses of this life is\nrenouncing the world and becoming spiritually-minded.  We will say a\nperson has been thoughtless and irreligious; perhaps openly so; or at\nleast careless about religion, and though innocent of any flagrant sin,\nyet a follower of his own will and fancy, and unpractised in any\nregular and consistent course of religion.  He has, perhaps, been\noutwardly respectful to sacred things and persons, but has had no\nserious thoughts about the next world.  He has taken good and\nevil--religion and the world--as they came, first one and then the\nother, without much consideration.  He has been fond of gaiety and\namusements, or he has been deeply interested in some pursuit or other\nof time and sense,--whether it be his own trade or profession, or some\nof the studies and employments now popular.  He has fallen in with the\nways of the company in which he has found himself; has been profane\nwith the profane; then, again, has had for a season religious\nimpressions, which in turn have worn away.  Thus he has lived, and\nsomething has then occurred really to rouse him and give him what is\ncalled a serious turn.  Such a person, man or woman, young or old,\ncertainly does need to take a serious turn, does require a change; and\nno one but must be very glad to hear that a change has taken place,\nthough at the same time there may be changes not much better than the\nchange which happened to him, whose soul, in our Lord's language, was\nbut \"swept and garnished;\" not really changed in a heavenly way, and\nhaving but the semblance of faith and holiness upon it.\n\nNow the cases I am speaking of are somewhat like that which our Saviour\nseems to speak of in the passage referred to.  When a man has been\nroused to serious resolutions, the chances are, that he fails to take\nup with the one and only narrow way which leads to life.  The chances\nare that \"then cometh the wicked one,\" and persuades him to choose some\npath short of the true one--easier and pleasanter than it.  And _this_\nis the kind of course to which he is often seduced, as we frequently\nwitness it; viz. to feel a sort of dislike and contempt for his\nordinary worldly business as something beneath him.  He knows he must\nhave what Scripture calls a spiritual mind, and he fancies that to have\na spiritual mind it is absolutely necessary to renounce all earnestness\nor activity in his worldly employments, to profess to take no interest\nin them, to despise the natural and ordinary pleasures of life,\nviolating the customs of society, adopting a melancholy air and a sad\ntone of voice, and remaining silent and absent when among his natural\nfriends and relatives, as if saying to himself, \"I have much higher\nthoughts than to engage in all these perishing miserable things;\"\nacting with constraint and difficulty in the things about him; making\nefforts to turn things which occur to the purpose of what he considers\nspiritual reflection; using certain Scripture phrases and expressions;\ndelighting to exchange Scripture sentiments with persons whom he meets\nof his own way of thinking; nay, making visible and audible signs of\ndeep feeling when Scripture or other religious subjects are mentioned,\nand the like.  He thinks he lives out of the world, and out of its\nengagements, if he shuts (as it were) his eyes, and sits down doing\nnothing.  Altogether he looks upon his worldly occupation simply as a\nburden and a cross, and considers it all gain to be able to throw it\noff; and the sooner he can release himself from it, and the oftener, so\nmuch the better.\n\nNow I am far from denying that a man's worldly occupation _may_ be his\ncross.  Again, I am far from denying that under circumstances it may be\nright even to retire from the world.  But I am speaking of cases when\nit is a person's duty to remain in his worldly calling, and when he\ndoes remain in it, but when he cherishes dissatisfaction with it:\nwhereas what he ought to feel is this,--that _while_ in it he is to\nglorify God, not _out_ of it, but _in_ it, and _by means_ of it,\naccording to the Apostle's direction, \"not slothful in business,\nfervent in spirit, serving the Lord.\"  The Lord Jesus Christ our\nSaviour is best served, and with the most fervent spirit, when men are\nnot slothful in business, but do their duty in that state of life in\nwhich it has pleased God to call them.\n\nNow what leads such a person into this mistake is, that he sees that\nmost men who engage cheerfully and diligently in worldly business, do\nso from a worldly spirit, from a low carnal love of the world; and so\nhe thinks it is _his_ duty, on the contrary, _not_ to take a cheerful\npart in the world's business at all.  And it cannot be denied that the\ngreater part of the world is _absorbed_ in the world; so much so that I\nam almost afraid to speak of the duty of being active in our worldly\nbusiness, lest I should seem to give countenance to that miserable\ndevotion to the things of time and sense, that love of bustle and\nmanagement, that desire of gain, and that aiming at influence and\nimportance, which abound on all sides.  Bad as it is to be languid and\nindifferent in our secular duties, and to account this religion, yet it\nis far worse to be the slaves of this world, and to have our hearts in\nthe concerns of this world.  I do not know any thing more dreadful than\na state of mind which is, perhaps, the characteristic of this country,\nand which the prosperity of this country so miserably fosters.  I mean\nthat ambitious spirit, to use a great word, but I know no other word to\nexpress my meaning--that low ambition which sets every one on the\nlook-out to succeed and to rise in life, to amass money, to gain power,\nto depress his rivals, to triumph over his hitherto superiors, to\naffect a consequence and a gentility which he had not before, to affect\nto have an opinion on high subjects, to pretend to form a judgment upon\nsacred things, to choose his religion, to approve and condemn according\nto his taste, to become a partizan in extensive measures for the\nsupposed temporal benefit of the community, to indulge the vision of\ngreat things which are to come, great improvements, great wonders: all\nthings vast, all things new,--this most fearfully earthly and\ngrovelling spirit is likely, alas! to extend itself more and more among\nour countrymen,--an intense, sleepless, restless, never-wearied,\nnever-satisfied, pursuit of Mammon in one shape or other, to the\nexclusion of all deep, all holy, all calm, all reverent thoughts.\n_This_ is the spirit in which, more or less (according to their\ndifferent tempers), men do commonly engage in concerns of this world;\nand I repeat it, better, far better, were it to retire from the world\naltogether than thus to engage in it--better with Elijah to fly to the\ndesert, than to serve Baal and Ashtoreth in Jerusalem.\n\nBut the persons I speak of, as despising this world, are far removed\nfrom the spirit of Elijah.  To flee from the world, or strenuously to\nresist it, implies an energy and strength of mind which they have not.\nThey do neither one thing nor the other; they neither flee it, nor\nengage zealously in its concerns; but they remain in the midst of them,\ndoing them in an indolent and negligent way, and think this is to be\nspiritually minded; or, as in other cases, they really take an interest\nin them, and yet speak as if they despised them.\n\nBut surely it is possible to \"serve the Lord,\" yet not to be \"slothful\nin business;\" not over devoted to it, but not to retire from it.  We\nmay do _all things_ whatever we are about to God's glory; we may do all\nthings _heartily_, as to the Lord, and not to man, being both active\nyet meditative; and now let me give some instances to show what I mean.\n\n1. \"Do all to the glory of God,\" says St. Paul, in the text; nay,\n\"whether we eat or drink;\" so that it appears nothing is too slight or\ntrivial to glorify Him in.  We will suppose then, to take the case\nmentioned just now; we will suppose a man who has lately had more\nserious thoughts than he had before, and determines to live more\nreligiously.  In consequence of the turn his mind has taken he feels a\ndistaste for his worldly occupation, whether he is in trade, or in any\nmechanical employment which allows little exercise of mind.  He now\nfeels he would rather be in some other business, though in itself his\npresent occupation is quite lawful and pleasing to God.  The\nill-instructed man will at once get impatient and quit it; or if he\ndoes not quit it, at least he will be negligent and indolent in it.\nBut the true penitent will say to himself, \"No; if it be an irksome\nemployment, so much the more does it suit _me_.  I deserve no better.\nI do not deserve to be fed even with husks.  I am bound to afflict my\nsoul for my past sins.  If I were to go in sackcloth and ashes, if I\nwere to live on bread and water, if I were to wash the feet of the poor\nday by day, it would not be too great an humiliation; and the only\nreason I do not, is, that I have no call that way, it would look\nostentatious.  Gladly then will I hail an inconvenience which will try\nme without any one's knowing it.  Far from repining, I will, through\nGod's grace, go cheerfully about what I do not like.  I will deny\nmyself.  I know that with His help what is in itself painful, will thus\nbe pleasant as done towards Him.  I know well that there is no pain but\nmay be borne comfortably, by the thought of Him, and by His grace, and\nthe strong determination of the will; nay, none but may soothe and\nsolace me.  Even the natural taste and smell may be made to like what\nthey naturally dislike; even bitter medicine, which is nauseous to the\npalate, may by a resolute will become tolerable.  Nay, even sufferings\nand torture, such as martyrs have borne, have before now been rejoiced\nin and embraced heartily from love to Christ.  I then, a sinner, will\ntake this light inconvenience in a generous way, pleased at the\nopportunity of disciplining myself, and with self-abasement, as needing\na severe penitence.  If there be parts in my occupation which I\nespecially dislike, if it requires a good deal of moving about and I\nwish to be at home, or if it be sedentary and I wish to be in motion,\nor if it requires rising early and I like to rise late, or if it makes\nme solitary and I like to be with friends, all this unpleasant part, as\nfar as is consistent with my health, and so that it is not likely to be\na snare to me, I will choose by preference.  Again, I see my religious\nviews are a hindrance to me.  I see persons are suspicious of me.  I\nsee that I offend people by my scrupulousness.  I see that to get on in\nlife requires far more devotion to my worldly business than I can give\nconsistently with my duty to God, or without its becoming a temptation\nto me.  I know that I ought not, and (please God) I will not, sacrifice\nmy religion to it.  My religious seasons and hours shall be my own.  I\nwill not countenance any of the worldly dealings and practices, the\nover-reaching ways, the sordid actions in which others indulge.  And if\nI am thrown back in life thereby, if I make less gains or lose friends,\nand so come to be despised, and find others rise in the world while I\nremain where I was, hard though this be to bear, it is an humiliation\nwhich becomes me in requital for my sins, and in obedience to God; and\na very slight one it is, merely to be deprived of worldly successes, or\nrather it is a gain.  And this may be the manner in which Almighty God\nwill make an opening for me, if it is His blessed will, to leave my\npresent occupation.  But leave it without a call from God, I certainly\nmust not.  On the contrary, I will work in it the more diligently, as\nfar as higher duties allow me.\"\n\n2. A second reason which will animate the Christian will be a desire of\nletting his light shine before men.  He will aim at winning others by\nhis own diligence and activity.  He will say to himself, \"My parents\"\nor \"my master\" or \"employer shall never say of me, Religion has spoiled\nhim.  They shall see me more active and alive than before.  I will be\npunctual and attentive, and adorn the Gospel of God our Saviour.  My\ncompanions shall never have occasion to laugh at any affectation of\nreligious feeling in me.  No, I will affect nothing.  In a manly way I\nwill, with God's blessing, do my duty.  I will not, as far as I can\nhelp, dishonour His service by any strangeness or extravagance of\nconduct, any unreality of words, any over-softness or constraint of\nmanner; but they shall see that the fear of God only makes those who\ncherish it more respectable in the world's eyes as well as more\nheavenly-minded.  What a blessed return it will be for God's mercies to\nme, if I, who am like a brand plucked out of the burning, be allowed,\nthrough His great mercy, to recommend that Gospel to others which He\nhas revealed to me, and to recommend it, as on the one hand by my\nstrictness in attending God's ordinances, in discountenancing vice and\nfolly, and by a conscientious walk; so, on the other hand, by all that\nis of good report in social life, by uprightness, honesty, prudence,\nand straightforwardness, by good temper, good-nature, and brotherly\nlove!\"\n\n3. Thankfulness to Almighty God, nay, and the inward life of the Spirit\nitself, will be additional principles causing the Christian to labour\ndiligently in his calling.  He will see God in all things.  He will\nrecollect our Saviour's life.  Christ was brought up to a humble trade.\nWhen he labours in his own, he will think of his Lord and Master in\nHis.  He will recollect that Christ went down to Nazareth and was\nsubject to His parents, that He walked long journeys, that He bore the\nsun's heat and the storm, and had not where to lay His head.  Again, he\nknows that the Apostles had various employments of this world before\ntheir calling; St. Andrew and St. Peter fishers, St. Matthew a\ntax-gatherer, and St. Paul, even after his calling, still a tent-maker.\nAccordingly, in whatever comes upon him, he will endeavour to discern\nand gaze (as it were) on the countenance of his Saviour.  He will feel\nthat the true contemplation of that Saviour lies _in_ his worldly\nbusiness, that as Christ is seen in the poor, and in the persecuted,\nand in children, so is He seen in the employments which He puts upon\nHis chosen, whatever they be; that in attending to his own calling he\nwill be meeting Christ; that if he neglect it, he will not on that\naccount enjoy His presence at all the more, but that while performing\nit, he will see Christ revealed to his soul amid the ordinary actions\nof the day, as by a sort of sacrament.  Thus he will take his worldly\nbusiness as a gift from Him, and will love it as such.\n\n4. True humility is another principle which will lead us to desire to\nglorify God in our worldly employments if possible, instead of\nresigning them.  Christ evidently puts His greater blessings on those\nwhom the world despises.  He has bid His followers take the lowest\nseat.  He says that he who would be great must be as the servant of\nall, that he who humbleth himself shall be exalted; and He Himself\nwashed His disciples' feet.  Nay, He tells us, that He will gird\nHimself, and serve them who have watched for Him, an astonishing\ncondescension, which makes us almost dumb with fear and rejoicing.  All\nthis has its effect upon the Christian, and he sets about his business\nwith alacrity, and without a moment's delay, delighting to humble\nhimself, and to have the opportunity of putting himself in that\ncondition of life which our Lord especially blest.\n\n5. Still further, he will use his worldly business as a means of\nkeeping him from vain and unprofitable thoughts.  One cause of the\nheart's devising evil is, that time is given it to do so.  The man who\nhas his daily duties, who lays out his time for them hour by hour, is\nsaved a multitude of sins which have not time to get hold upon him.\nThe brooding over insults received, or the longing after some good not\ngranted, or regret at losses which have befallen us, or at the loss of\nfriends by death, or the attacks of impure and shameful thoughts, these\nare kept off from him who takes care to be diligent and well employed.\nLeisure is the occasion of all evil.  Idleness is the first step in the\ndownward path which leads to hell.  If we do not find employment to\nengage our minds with, Satan will be sure to find his own employment\nfor them.  Here we see the difference of motive with which a religious\nand a worldly-minded man may do the same thing.  Suppose a person has\nhad some sad affliction, say a bereavement: men of this world, having\nno pleasure in religion, not liking to dwell on a loss to them\nirreparable, in order to drown reflection, betake themselves to worldly\npursuits to divert their thoughts and banish gloom.  The Christian\nunder the same circumstances does the same thing; but it is from a fear\nlest he should relax and enfeeble his mind by barren sorrow; from a\ndread of becoming discontented; from a belief that he is pleasing God\nbetter, and is likely to secure his peace more fully, by not losing\ntime; from a feeling that, far from forgetting those whom he has lost\nby thus acting, he shall only enjoy the thought of them the more really\nand the more religiously.\n\n6. Lastly, we see what judgment to give in a question sometimes\nagitated, whether one should retire from our worldly business at the\nclose of life, to give our thoughts more entirely to God.  To wish to\ndo so is so natural, that I suppose there is no one who would not wish\nit.  A great many persons are not allowed the privilege, a great many\nare allowed it through increasing infirmities or extreme old age; but\nevery one, I conceive, if allowed to choose, would think it a privilege\nto be allowed it, though a great many would find it difficult to\ndetermine _when_ was the fit time.  But let us consider what is the\nreason of this so natural a wish.  I fear that it is often not a\nreligious wish, often only partially religious.  I fear a great number\nof persons who aim at retiring from the world's business, do so under\nthe notion of their then enjoying themselves somewhat after the manner\nof the rich man in the Gospel, who said, \"Soul, thou hast much goods\nlaid up for many years.\"  If this is the predominant aim of any one, of\ncourse I need not say that it is a fatal sin, for Christ Himself has\nsaid so.  Others there are who are actuated by a mixed feeling; they\nare aware that they do not give so much time to religion as they ought;\nthey do not live by rule; nay, they are not satisfied with the\ncorrectness or uprightness of some of the practices or customs which\ntheir way of life requires of them, and they get tired of active\nbusiness as life goes on, and wish to be at ease.  So they look to\ntheir last years as a time of retirement, in which they may _both_\nenjoy themselves _and_ prepare for heaven.  And thus they satisfy both\ntheir conscience and their love of the world.  At present religion is\nirksome to them; but then, as they hope, duty and pleasure will go\ntogether.  Now, putting aside all other mistakes which such a frame of\nmind evidences, let it be observed, that if they are at present _not_\nserving God with all their hearts, but look forward to a time when they\nshall do so, then it is plain that, when at length they _do_ put aside\nworldly cares and turn to God, if ever they do, that time must\nnecessarily be a time of deep humiliation, if it is to be acceptable to\nHim, not a comfortable retirement.  Who ever heard of a pleasurable,\neasy, joyous repentance?  It is a contradiction in terms.  These men,\nif they do but reflect a moment, must confess that their present mode\nof life, supposing it be not so strict as it should be, is heaping up\ntears and groans for their last years, not enjoyment.  The longer they\nlive as they do at present, not only the more unlikely is it that they\nwill repent at all; but even if they do, the more bitter, the more\npainful must their repentance be.  The only way to escape suffering for\nsin hereafter is to suffer for it here.  Sorrow here or misery\nhereafter; they cannot escape one or the other.\n\nNot for any worldly reason, then, not on any presumptuous or\nunbelieving motive, does the Christian desire leisure and retirement\nfor his last years.  Nay, he will be content to do without these\nblessings, and the highest Christian of all is he whose heart is so\nstayed on God, that he does not wish or need it; whose heart is so set\non things above, that things below as little excite, agitate, unsettle,\ndistress, and seduce him, as they stop the course of nature, as they\nstop the sun and moon, or change summer and winter.  Such were the\nApostles, who, as the heavenly bodies, went out \"to all lands,\" full of\nbusiness, and yet full too of sweet harmony, even to the ends of the\nearth.  Their calling was heavenly, but their work was earthly; they\nwere in labour and trouble till the last; yet consider how calmly St.\nPaul and St. Peter write in their last days.  St. John, on the other\nhand, was allowed in a great measure, to retire from the cares of his\npastoral charge, and such, I say, will be the natural wish of every\nreligious man, whether his ministry be spiritual or secular; but, not\nin order to _begin_ to fix his mind on God, but merely because, though\nhe may contemplate God as truly and be as holy in heart in active\nbusiness as in quiet, still it is more becoming and suitable to meet\nthe stroke of death (if it be allowed us) silently, collectedly,\nsolemnly, than in a crowd and a tumult.  And hence it is, among other\nreasons, that we pray in the Litany to be delivered \"from _sudden_\ndeath.\"\n\nOn the whole, then, what I have said comes to this, that whereas Adam\nwas sentenced to labour as a punishment, Christ has by His coming\nsanctified it as a means of grace and a sacrifice of thanksgiving, a\nsacrifice cheerfully to be offered up to the Father in His name.\n\nIt is very easy to speak and teach this, difficult to do it; very\ndifficult to steer between the two evils,--to use this world as not\nabusing it, to be active and diligent in this world's affairs, yet not\nfor this world's sake, but for God's sake.  It requires the greater\neffort for a minister of Christ to speak of it, for this reason;\nbecause he is not called upon in the same sense in which others are to\npractise the duty.  He is not called, as his people are, to the\nprofessions, the pursuits, and cares of this world; his work is\nheavenly, and to it he gives himself wholly.  It is a work which, we\ntrust, is not likely to carry him off from God; not only because it is\nHis work, but, what is a more sure reason, because commonly it gains no\ngreat thanks from men.  However, for this reason it is difficult for\nChristian ministers to speak about your trial in this matter, my\nbrethren, because it is not theirs.  We are tried by the command to\nlive out of the world, and you by the command to live in it.\n\nMay God give us grace in our several spheres and stations to do His\nwill and adorn His doctrine; that whether we eat and drink, or fast and\npray, labour with our hands or with our minds, journey about or remain\nat rest, we may glorify Him who has purchased us with His own blood!\n\n\n\n[1] Acts i. 11.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XII.\n\nVanity of Human Glory.\n\n\"_The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not._\"--1 John iii. 1\n\n\nOf St. Simon and St. Jude, the Saints whom we this day commemorate,\nlittle is known[1].  St. Jude, indeed, still lives in the Church in his\nCatholic epistle; but of his history we only know that he was brother\nto St. James the Less, and nearly related to our Lord and that, like\nSt. Peter, he had been a married man.  Besides his name of Jude or\nJudas, he is also called Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus in the Gospels.  Of St.\nSimon we only know that he was called the Canaanite, or Zealot, for the\nwords have the same meaning, belonging, before his conversion, to a\ncertain fierce sect, who, under the idea they were doing God service,\ntook upon themselves to execute the law upon offenders without legal\nauthority, and without formal accusation or trial.  It is said that\nboth Apostles were at length martyred in the course of their efforts to\ngather together God's elect into His fold.\n\nLittle is known of St. Simon and St. Jude; they laboured and they\ntaught in their generation; they were gifted with miraculous powers,\nand by their preaching founded churches and saved souls; they travelled\ninto the East and West, till at last they were taken away from the\nearth.  Yet we know little of their history now.  Although \"honoured in\ntheir generation, and the glory of their times,\" yet they \"have no\nmemorial, but are perished as though they had never been[2].\"  St.\nJude's Epistle, indeed, is a standing monument, yet not of his doings,\nbut of his gifts.  What he wrote leads us to conjecture indeed what he\nwas; but of his history, we know no more than of that of St. Simon.\n\nAnd hence we draw an important lesson for ourselves, which, however\nobvious, is continually forgotten by us in the actual business of life;\nviz. to do our duty without aiming at the world's praise.  Mankind\nknows nothing of St. Simon's and St. Jude's deeds and sufferings,\nthough these were great; yet there is One who \"knows their works, and\nlabour, and patience, . . . and how they bore . . . and for His Name's\nsake laboured, and fainted not[3].\"  Their deeds are blotted out from\nhistory, but not from the Lamb's book of life; for \"blessed are they\nwho die in Him, . . . that they may rest from their labours; and their\nworks do follow them[4].\"\n\nOn this great practical rule, viz. to do what we do heartily, as unto\nthe Lord, and not unto men, I shall now make some remarks; and in doing\nso, I shall be pointing out a mode in which we may follow these blessed\nSaints, whose lives at first sight seem to have left no pattern behind\nthem for our imitation.\n\nIn heathen times, when men understood that they had souls, yet did not\nknow what was the soul's true happiness, or how it was to be gained,\nmuch was thought, and more talked, of what they called _glory, fame,\nhonour_.  This was natural, as a little consideration will show.  For\nbefore men begin to exercise their minds, while they remain ignorant\nand dull, the common pleasures of sense satisfy them--eating, drinking,\nand making merry.  They do not think of the morrow.  They have no end\nin view, and act on no plan.  But when intelligence is awakened, and\nthey learn to feel, reflect, hope, plan, and exert themselves, then\nmere animal indulgences are not enough for them, and they look about\nfor some higher pleasures, more lasting and more refined.  This is the\nreal effect of that civilization which is so much extolled; it gives\nmen refined wishes, and sets them on gratifying them.  An enlightened\nage is one which feels the wants of human nature.  Knowledge and mental\ncultivation render men alive to the things around them, busy, and\nrestless; but they do no more than make men sensible of their wants;\nthey find no remedy for them; they bring no appropriate food to the\nhunger they create: for it is religion alone can do this.\n\nNow the ancient heathen whom I speak of were just in this state; having\nminds cultivated and refined intellectually, they felt the capabilities\nof man for acting on a large field, and the need of some stimulus to\nmake him act thus.  They saw that human nature was capable of great\nthings, and they perceived that some great goods must be attainable in\nsome way or other, though they did not well know what they were.\nFeelings such as these, acting upon men in the tumult of life, with\ntheir passions awake, keenly set on (what are called) political\nobjects, and averse to those self-denying habits which conscience (if\nlistened to) would have suggested to be the way to that unknown\nhappiness which their heart was imagining, led them to think of what\nthey called glory and popularity as the greatest of goods, and that to\nwhich they ought especially to aspire.\n\nNow what exactly they wished to signify by the word \"glory,\" is\ndifficult to say, for they were apt to speak of it as if it were some\nreal thing, and that, too, which one could possess and make one's own;\nyet, if we come to consider its real meaning, it plainly stands for\nnothing else than the praise of other men, the being admired, honoured,\nand feared; or, more commonly, having a celebrated name; that is, for a\nsomething external to ourselves.  But whatever precise notions they\nwished to attach to the word, they used to talk in glowing language of\nthe necessity of going through dangers and sufferings for glory's\nsake,--labouring to benefit the world for glory,--and dying for glory.\n\nNow when we read of poor heathens using this language, it is our duty\nto pity them, for it is plain enough to any sober reasoner, that\nnothing is so vain as to talk of this glory being a real and\nsubstantial good; for there is no better reason for my being happy\nbecause my name is celebrated, than because any thing else is\ncelebrated which, accidentally, and for a time, is connected with\nmyself, and called mine.  My name is my own only in the case of those\nwho use it in speaking of me; i. e. of those who happen to see and know\nme.  But when those who never saw me talk much of my name, they do me\nno more good or harm than if they celebrated any thing else which _I_\nmay know to be mine.  They may praise a house that was once mine--that\nis not praising me; nor, in like manner, is it doing me any good, or\nhonouring me, when those who never saw me use my name respectfully.  It\nis a mere imagination, which can give no solid or lasting pleasure.\nThere is some meaning and sense (though great wickedness) in coveting\nour neighbour's house or garden, horse or ass; the unjust steward,\nthough a bad man, at least acted wisely, i. e. according to a worldly\nwisdom; but those who covet honour, I mean a great name, really covet\nno substantial thing at all, and are not only \"the most offending men\nalive,\" inasmuch as this passion for fame may carry them on to the most\natrocious crimes, but also the most foolish of men.\n\nNow, in the ancient heathen we may blame, but we must pity this sin,\nbecause it at least evidenced in them a knowledge of a great want of\nhuman nature, and was so far the sign of a higher state of mind than\nthat of others who did not feel any wants at all, who had no notion of\nany but selfish enjoyments, and were content to live and die like the\nbrutes that perish.  Their sin lay, not in being anxious for some good\nor other, which was not before their eyes, but in not consulting their\nown hearts on the subject, and going the way which their conscience\ntold them.  But, I say, they were heathens,--they had no Bible, no\nChurch; and therefore we pity them; and by their errors are reminded to\nlook to ourselves, and see how far we are clean from their sin.\n\nNow it is a most melancholy fact, that Christians are chargeable, for\nall their light, with the same foolish irrational sin.  This was not at\nfirst sight to be expected.  This is a peculiar case.  Observe; I do\nnot say it is wonderful that we should seek the praise of persons we\nknow.  This I can understand.  We all naturally love to be respected\nand admired, and in due limits perhaps we may be allowed to do so; the\nlove of praise is capable of receiving a religious discipline and\ncharacter.  But the surprising thing is, that we should leave the\nthought of present goods, whether sensual enjoyments, or the more\nrefined pleasure which the praise of our friends brings us, yet without\ngoing on to seek the good of the next world; that we should deny\nourselves, yet not deny ourselves for a reality, but for a shadow.  It\nis natural, I say, to love to have deference and respect paid us by our\nacquaintance; but I am speaking of the desire of glory, that is, the\npraise of a vast multitude of persons we never saw, or shall see, or\ncare about; and this, I say, is a depraved appetite, the artificial\nproduce of a falsely enlightened intellect; as unmeaning as it is\nsinful, or rather more sinful, because it is so very unmeaning;\nexcusable indeed in heathen, not only because they knew no better, but\nbecause they had no better good clearly proposed to them; but in\nChristians, who have the favour of God and eternal life set before\nthem, deeply criminal, turning away, as they do, from the bread of\nheaven, to feed upon ashes, with a deceived and corrupted imagination.\n\nThis love of indiscriminate praise, then, is an odious, superfluous,\nwanton sin, and we should put it away with a manly hatred, as something\nirrational and degrading.  Shall man, born for high ends, the servant\nand son of God, the redeemed of Christ, the heir of immortality, go out\nof his way to have his mere name praised by a vast populace, or by\nvarious people, of whom he knows nothing, and most of whom (if he saw\nthem) he would himself be the first to condemn?  It is odious, yet\nyoung persons of high minds and vigorous powers, are especially liable\nto be led captive by this snare of the devil.  If reasoning does not\nconvince them, let facts,--the love of glory has its peculiar\ncondemnation in its consequences.  No sin has been so productive of\nwide-spread enduring ruin among mankind: wars and conquests are the\nmeans by which men have most reckoned on securing it.  A tree is known\nby its fruit.\n\nThese remarks apply to the love of indiscriminate praise in all its\nshapes.  Few persons, indeed, are in a condition to be tempted by the\nlove of glory; but all persons may be tempted to indulge in vanity,\nwhich is nothing else but the love of general admiration.  A vain\nperson is one who likes to be praised, whoever is the praiser, whether\ngood or bad.  Now consider, how few men are not in their measure vain,\ntill they reach that period of life when by the course of nature vanity\ndisappears?  Let all Christians carefully ask themselves, whether they\nare not very fond, not merely of the praise of their superiors and\nfriends--this is right,--but of that of any person, any chance-comer,\nabout whom they know nothing.  Who is not open to flattery? and if he\nseems not to be exposed to it, is it not that he is too shrewd or too\nrefined to be beguiled by any but what is delicate and unostentatious?\nA man never considers who it is who praises him.  But the most\ndangerous, perhaps, of all kinds of vanity is to be vain of our\npersonal appearance, most dangerous, for such, persons are ever under\ntemptation--I may say, ever sinning.  Wherever they go they carry their\nsnare with them; and their idle love of admiration is gratified without\neffort by the very looks of those who gaze upon them.\n\nNow I shall say something upon the natural and rational love of praise,\nand how far it may be safely indulged.  As I have already said, it is\n_natural_ to desire the esteem of all those with whom we have\nintercourse, all whom we love.  Indeed, Almighty God intends us to do\nso.  When we love a person, we cannot but wish he should love us; but\nhe cannot love us, without also feeling respect and esteem towards us.\nAnd as to the question, from whom we should desire praise, and how far,\nwe have this simple rule--from all who stand to us in Christ's place.\nChrist Himself is our great Judge; from Him we must supremely seek\npraise; and as far as men are in His place, so far may we seek it from\nmen.  We may desire the praise of our parents and superiors, and the\npraise of good men--in a word, all whom we have a value for; but the\ndesire of indiscriminate praise, the praise of those for whom we have\nno respect or regard, this is the mischief.  We may desire the praise\nof those we have never seen, if we believe them to be good men.  St.\nPaul not only speaks of the mutual rejoicing between himself and the\nCorinthians[5], who knew each other, but likewise returns thanks that\nthe fame of the faith of the Romans was spread all over the Christian\nworld[6].  And in this way we may desire the praise of good persons yet\nunborn--I mean the Church of God, to the end of time.  St. Mary, in the\nhymn we daily use, returns thanks that \"from henceforth all generations\nshall call her blessed[7].\"  But this feeling of hers is very different\nfrom the desire of what is called glory, posthumous fame, fame after\ndeath; as if, forsooth, it were a great thing to have one's name\nfamiliar to the mouths of the mixed multitude of this world, of\nswearers, and jesters, and liars, and railers, and blasphemers, and of\nall those men, who even if they do not sin grossly in deed, yet use\ntheir tongues for evil, speak the words of the world, slander the\nChurch, speak evil of dignities, propagate error, and defend sinners; a\ngreat thing truly, and much to be desired, to be honoured by that evil\nworld which dishonours God and His Son!\n\nOne additional caution I must add, about allowing ourselves the praise\nof others; not only must we desire the praise of none but good men, but\nwe must not earnestly desire to be known even by many good men.  The\ntruth is, we cannot know, really know, many persons at all, and it is\nalways dangerous to delight in the praises of strangers, even though we\nbelieve them to be good men, and much more to seek their praises, which\nis a kind of ambition.  And further than this, it is more agreeable to\nthe Christian temper to be satisfied rather to know and to be known by\na few, and to grow day by day in their esteem and affection, than to\ndesire one's name to be on the lips of many, though they profess\nreligion, and associate us with religious objects.  And it is our great\nprivilege to have the real blessing in our power, while the fancied\ngood alone is difficult to be gained.  Few Christians can be great or\ncan leave a name to posterity; but most Christians will, in the length\nof their lives, be able to secure the love and praise of one or two,\nwho are to them the representatives of Him whom \"having not seen they\nlove,\" and in whose presence, or at least in whose memory, they may\ncomfort their heart till He come.  This doubtless has been the\nhappiness of many saints who have not even left their names behind\nthem.  It was the privilege doubtless of St. Simon and St. Jude.  They,\nindeed, were not simply unknown to the world in their lifetime, but\neven hated and persecuted by it.  Upon them came our Saviour's\nprophecy, that \"men should revile them . . . and say all manner of evil\nagainst them falsely for His sake[8].\"  Yet in the affection the Church\nbore them, in the love they bore to each other, and, above all, the\npraise of that Saviour whom they had followed on earth, and who named\nthem in the number of those who had continued with Him in His\ntemptations[9], and were written in heaven, they had a real glory, not\nas the world giveth.  Who can estimate, who can imagine the deep, the\nwonderful, the awful joy which the approbation of Christ would impart\nto them?  When we consider how intimately they were allowed to\nassociate with Him, how they were witnesses of His heavenly\nconversation through the days of His flesh, of His acts of mercy, of\nHis Divine words, of the grace, the tenderness, the sanctity, the\nmajesty, the calmness, which reigned within Him; of His knowledge, His\nwisdom, His perfect love of God, His zeal for God's service, His\npatient obedience,--and much more when they knew the dread secret of\nwhat He was before He came on earth, what He was even while on earth in\npresence,--to have had a smile, an encouraging word, from Him, was it\nnot a privilege to treasure in memory beyond any thing else, a\nremembrance so bright that every thing else looked discoloured and dim?\nand would it not have amounted to a loss of reason in them to have even\nhad the thought of seeking the praise of weak, ignorant, sinful mortals?\n\nLet us seek this praise which cometh of God, though we shall not have\nthat sensible experience of it which the Apostles were vouchsafed.  Let\nus seek it, for it is to be obtained; it is given to those worthy of\nit.  The poorest, the oldest, and most infirm among us, those who are\nliving not merely in obscurity, but are despised and forgotten, who\nseem to answer no good purpose by living on, and whose death will not\nbe felt even by their neighbours as a loss, these even may obtain our\nSaviour's approving look, and receive the future greeting, \"Well done,\ngood and faithful servant.\"\n\nGo on, then, contentedly in the path of duty, seeking Christ in His\nhouse and in His ordinances, and He will be your glory at His coming.\nHe will own you before His Father.  Let the world record in history the\nnames of heroes, statesmen, and conquerors, and reward courage, and\nability, and skill, and perseverance, with its proud titles of honour.\nVerily, these have their reward.  Your names will be written in Heaven,\nwith those of St. Simon and St. Jude, and the other Apostles.  You will\nhave the favour of Him whose favour is life.  \"The secret of the Lord\nis with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant[10].\"\n\n\n\n[1] Preached on the Festival of St. Simon and St. Jude.\n\n[2] Eccles. xliv. 7, 9.\n\n[3] Rev. ii. 2, 3.\n\n[4] Rev. xiv. 18.\n\n[5] 2 Cor. i. 4\n\n[6] Rom. i. 8.\n\n[7] Luke i. 48.\n\n[8] Matt. v. 11.\n\n[9] Luke xxii. 28-30.\n\n[10] Ps. xxv. 14.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XIII.\n\nTruth hidden when not sought after.\n\n\"_They shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned\nunto fables._\"--2 Tim. iv. 4.\n\n\nFrom these words of the blessed Apostle, written shortly before he\nsuffered martyrdom, we learn, that there is such a thing as religious\ntruth, and therefore there is such a thing as religious error.  We\nlearn that religious truth is _one_--and therefore that all views of\nreligion _but_ one are wrong.  And we learn, moreover, that so it was\nto be (for his words are a prophecy) that professed Christians,\nforgetting this, should turn away their ears from the one Truth, and\nshould be turned, not to one, but to many fables.  All this is\nfulfilled before our eyes; our religious creeds and professions at this\nday are many; but Truth is one: therefore they cannot all be right, or\nrather almost all of them must be wrong.  That is, the multitude of men\nare wrong, so far as they differ, and as they differ, not about trivial\npoints, but about great matters, it follows that the multitude of men,\nwhether by their own fault or not, are wrong even in the greater\nmatters of religion.\n\nThis is a most solemn thought, and a perplexing one.  However, there is\nanother which, though it ought not to be perplexing, is perplexing\nstill, and perhaps has greater need to be considered and explained; I\nmean that men of learning and ability are so often wrong in religious\nmatters also.  It is a stumbling-block to many, when they find that\nthose who seem the legitimate guides furnished by God's providence, who\nare in some sense the natural prophets and expounders of the truth,\nthat these too are on many sides, and therefore many of them on the\nside of error also.  There are persons who can despise the opinions of\nthe _many_, and feel that _they_ are not right, but that truth, if it\nbe to be found, lies with the _few_; and since men of ability _are_\namong the few, they think that truth lies with men of ability, and when\nafter all they are told that able men are ranged on contrary sides in\nreligious questions, they either hastily deny the fact, or they are\nstartled, and stagger in their faith.\n\nBut on the contrary, let us honestly confess what is certain, that not\nthe ignorant, or weakminded, or dull, or enthusiastic, or extravagant\nonly turn their ears from the Truth and are turned unto fables, but\nalso men of powerful minds, keen perceptions, extended views, ample and\nvarious knowledge.  Let us, I say, confess it; yet let us not believe\nin the Truth the less on account of it.\n\nI say that in the number of the adversaries of the Truth, there are\nmany men of highly endowed and highly cultivated minds.  Why should we\ndeny this?  It is unfair to do so; and not only unfair, but very\nunnecessary.  What is called ability and talent does not make a man a\nChristian; nay, often, as may be shown without difficulty, it is the\noccasion of his rejecting Christianity, or this or that part of it.\nNot only in the higher ranks of society do we see this; even in the\nhumble and secluded village, it will commonly be found, that those who\nhave greater gifts of mind than others around them, who have more\nnatural quickness, shrewdness, and wit, are the very persons who are\nthe most likely to turn out ill--who are least under the influence of\nreligious principles--and neither obey nor even revere the Gospel of\nsalvation which Christ has brought us.\n\nNow if we consult St. Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians, we shall find\nthe same state of things existing even in the first age of\nChristianity.  Even the Apostle speaks of those who were blind, or to\nwhom his Gospel was hid; and he elsewhere describes them, not as the\nuneducated and dull of understanding, but as the wise of this world,\nthe scribe and the disputer.  Even then, before the Apostle's prophecy\nin the text was fulfilled, there were many who erred from the truth\neven in the midst of light, and in spite of superior intellectual\nendowments and acquirements.\n\nDoes not our Saviour Himself say the same thing, when He thanks His\nFather, Lord of heaven and earth, that He hath hid these things from\nthe wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes?\n\nNow it should not surprise us when men of acute and powerful\nunderstandings more or less reject the Gospel, for this reason, that\nthe Christian revelation addresses itself to our hearts, to our love of\ntruth and goodness, our fear of sinning, and our desire to gain God's\nfavour, and quickness, sagacity, depth of thought, strength of mind,\npower of comprehension, perception of the beautiful, power of language,\nand the like, though they are excellent gifts, are clearly quite of a\ndifferent kind from these spiritual excellences--a man may have the one\nwithout having the other.  _This_, then, is the plain reason why able,\nor again why learned men are so often defective Christians, because\nthere is no necessary connexion between faith and ability, because\nfaith is one thing and ability is another; because ability of mind is a\n_gift_, and faith is a _grace_.  Who would ever argue that a man could,\nlike Samson, conquer lions or throw down the gates of a city, because\nhe was able, or accomplished, or experienced in the business of life?\nWho would ever argue that a man could see because he could hear, or run\nwith the swift because he had \"the tongue of the learned[1]\"?  These\ngifts are different in kind.  In like manner, powers of mind and\nreligious principles and feelings are distinct gifts; and as all the\nhighest spiritual excellence, humility, firmness, patience, would never\nenable a man to read an unknown tongue, or to enter into the depths of\nscience, so all the most brilliant mental endowments, wit, or\nimagination, or penetration, or depth, will never of themselves make us\nwise in religion.  And as we should fairly and justly deride the savage\nwho wished to decide questions of science or literature by the sword,\nso may we justly look with amazement on the error of those who think\nthat they can master the high mysteries of spiritual truth, and find\ntheir way to God, by what is commonly called reason, i. e. by the\nrandom and blind efforts of mere mental acuteness, and mere experience\nof the world.\n\nThat Truth, which St. Paul preached, addresses itself to our spiritual\nnature: it will be rightly understood, valued, accepted, by none but\nlovers of truth, virtue, purity, humility, and peace.  Wisdom will be\njustified of her children.  Those, indeed, who are thus endowed may and\nwill go on to use their powers of mind, whatever they are, in the\nservice of religion; none but they can use them aright.  Those who\nreject revealed truth wilfully, are such as do not love moral and\nreligious truth.  It is bad men, proud men, men of hard hearts, and\nunhumbled tempers, and immoral lives, these are they who reject the\nGospel.  These are they of whom St. Paul speaks in another Epistle--\"If\nour Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the god of\nthis world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.\"  With\nthis agree the instances of turning the ears from the truth which the\nNew Testament affords us.  Who were they who were the enemies of Christ\nand His Apostles?  The infidel Sadducees, the immoral, hard-hearted,\nyet hypocritical Pharisees, Herod, who married his brother Philip's\nwife[2], and Felix, who trembled when St. Paul reasoned of\nrighteousness, temperance, and judgment to come[3].  On the other hand,\nmen of holy and consistent lives, as Cornelius the Centurion, and those\nwho were frequenters of religious ordinances, as Simeon and Anna, these\nbecame Christians.  So it is now.  If men turn unto fables of their own\nwill, they do it on account of their pride, or their love of indolence\nand self-indulgence.\n\nThis should be kept in mind when Christians are alarmed, as they\nsometimes are, on hearing instances of infidelity or heresy among those\nwho read, reflect, and inquire, whereas, however we may mourn over such\ninstances, we have no reason to be surprised at them.  It is quite\nenough for Christians to be able to show, as they well can, that belief\nin revealed religion is not inconsistent with the highest gifts and\nacquirements of mind, that men even of the strongest and highest\nintellect have been Christians, but they have as little reason to be\nperplexed at finding _other_ men of ability not true believers, as at\nfinding that certain _rich_ men are not true believers, or certain\n_poor_ men, or some in every rank and circumstance of life.  A belief\nin Christianity has hardly more connexion with what is called talent,\nthan it has with riches, station, power, or bodily strength.\n\nNow let me explain what I have said by a further remark.  Is it not\nplain that earnestness is necessary for gaining religious truth?  On\nthe other hand, is it not a natural effect of ability to save us\ntrouble, and even to tempt us to dispense with it, and to lead us to be\nindolent?  Do not we see this even in the case of children--the more\nclever are the more idle, because they rely on their own quickness and\npower of apprehension?  Is indolence the way to gain knowledge from\nGod?  Yet this surely is continually forgotten in the world.  It is\nforgotten in a measure even by the best of Christians, for no man on\nearth seeks to know God's will, and to do His duty with an earnestness\nsuitable to the importance of the object.  But not to speak thus\nrigorously, let us consider for an instant how eagerly men in general\npursue objects of this world; now with what portion of this eagerness\ndo they exert themselves to know the truth of God's word?  Undeniable,\nthen, as is the doctrine that God does not reveal Himself to those who\ndo not seek Him, it is certain that its truth is not really felt by us,\nor we should seek Him more earnestly than we do.\n\nNothing is more common than to think that we shall gain religious\nknowledge as a thing of course, without express trouble on our part.\nThough there is no art or business of this world which is learned\nwithout time and exertion, yet it is commonly conceived that the\nknowledge of God and our duty will come as if by accident or by a\nnatural process.  Men go by their feelings and likings; they take up\nwhat is popular, or what comes first to hand.  They think it much if\nthey now and then have serious thoughts, if they now and then open the\nBible; and their minds recur with satisfaction to such seasons, as if\nthey had done some very great thing, never remembering that to seek and\ngain religious truth is a long and systematic work.  And others think\nthat education will do every thing for them, and that if they learn to\nread, and use religious words, they understand religion itself.  And\nothers again go so far as to maintain that exertion is not necessary\nfor discovering the truth.  They say that religious truth is simple and\neasily acquired; that Scripture, being intended for all, is at once\nopen to all, and that if it had difficulties, that very circumstance\nwould be an objection to it.  And others, again, maintain that there\nare difficulties in religion, and that this shows that it is an\nindifferent matter whether they seek or not as to those matters which\nare difficult.\n\nIn these and other ways do men deceive themselves into a carelessness\nabout religious truth.  And is not all this varied negligence\nsufficient to account for the varieties of religious opinion which we\nsee all around us?  Do not these two facts just illustrate each other;\nthe discordance of our religious opinions needing some explanation; and\nour actual indolence and negligence in seeking the truth accounting for\nit?  How many sects, all professing Christianity, but opposed to each\nother, dishonour this country!  Doubtless if men sought the truth with\none tenth part of the zeal with which they seek to acquire wealth or\nsecular knowledge, their differences would diminish year by year.\nDoubtless if they gave a half or a quarter of the time to prayer for\nDivine guidance which they give to amusement or recreation, or which\nthey give to dispute and contention, they would ever be approximating\nto each other.  We differ in opinion; therefore we cannot all be right;\nmany must be wrong; many must be turned from the truth; and why is\nthis, but on account of that undeniable fact which we see before us,\nthat we do not pray and seek for the Truth?\n\nBut this melancholy diversity is sometimes explained, as I just now\nhinted, in another way.  Some men will tell us that this difference of\nopinion in religious matters which exists, is a proof, not that the\nTruth is withheld from us on account of our negligence in seeking it,\nbut that religious truth is not worth seeking at all, or that it is not\ngiven us.  The present confused and perplexed state of things, which is\nreally a proof of God's anger at our negligence, these men say is a\nproof that religious truth cannot be obtained; that there is no such\nthing as religious truth; that there is no right or wrong in religion;\nthat, provided we _think_ ourselves right, one set of opinions is as\ngood as another; that we shall all come right in the end if we do but\nmean well, or rather if we do not mean ill.  That is, we create\nconfusion by our negligence and disobedience, and then excuse our\nnegligence by the existence of that confusion.  It is no uncommon\nthing, I say, for men to say, \"that in religious matters God has willed\nthat men should differ,\" and to support their opinion by no better\nargument than the fact that they _do_ differ; and they go on to\nconclude that _therefore_ we need not perplex ourselves about matters\nof _faith_, about which, after all, we cannot be certain.  Others,\nagain, in a similar spirit, argue that forms and ordinances are of no\naccount; that they are little matters; that it is uncertain what is\nright and what is wrong in them, and that to insist on them as\nimportant to religion is the mark of a narrow mind.  And others, again,\nit is to be feared, go so far as to think that indulgence of the\npassions, or self-will, or selfishness, or avarice, is not wrong,\nbecause it is the way of the world and cannot be prevented.\n\nTo all such arguments against religious truth, it is sufficient to\nreply, that no one who does not seek the truth with all his heart and\nstrength, can tell what is of importance and what is not; that to\nattempt carelessly to decide on points of faith or morals is a matter\nof serious presumption; that no one knows _whither_ he will be carried\n_if_ he seeks the Truth perseveringly, and therefore, that since he\ncannot see at first starting the course into which his inquiries will\nbe divinely directed, he cannot possibly say beforehand whether they\nmay not lead him on to certainty as to things which at present he\nthinks trifling or extravagant or irrational.  \"What I do,\" said our\nLord to St. Peter, \"thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know\nhereafter.\"  \"_Seek_, and ye shall find;\" this is the Divine rule, \"If\nthou _criest_ after knowledge, and _liftest up_ thy voice for\nunderstanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as\n_for hid_ treasures; _then_ shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,\nand find the knowledge of God[4].\"\n\nThis is a subject which cannot too strongly be insisted on.  Act up to\nyour light, though in the midst of difficulties, and you will be\ncarried on, you do not know how far.  Abraham obeyed the call and\njourneyed, not knowing whither he went; so we, if we follow the voice\nof God, shall be brought on step by step into a new world, of which\nbefore we had no idea.  This is His gracious way with us: He gives, not\nall at once, but by measure and season, wisely.  To him that hath, more\nshall be given.  But we must begin at the beginning.  Each truth has\nits own order; we cannot join the way of life at any point of the\ncourse we please; we cannot learn advanced truths before we have\nlearned primary ones.  \"Call upon Me,\" says the Divine Word, \"and I\nwill answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou\nknowest not[5].\"  Religious men are always learning; but when men\nrefuse to profit by light already granted, their light is turned to\ndarkness.  Observe our Lord's conduct with the Pharisees.  They asked\nHim on what authority He acted.  He gave them no direct answer, but\nreferred them to the mission of John the Baptist--\"The baptism of John,\nwhence was it? from heaven or from men[6]?\"  They refused to say.  Then\nHe said, \"Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.\"\nThat is, they would not profit by the knowledge they already had from\nSt. John the Baptist, who spoke of Christ--therefore no more was given\nthem.\n\nAll of us may learn a lesson here, for all of us are in danger of\nhastily finding fault with others, and condemning their opinions or\npractices; not considering, that unless we have faithfully obeyed our\nconscience and improved our talents, we are no fit judges of them at\nall.  Christ and His Saints are alike destitute of form or comeliness\nin the eyes of the world, and it is only as we labour to change our\nnature, through God's help, and to serve Him truly, that we begin to\ndiscern the beauty of holiness.  Then, at length, we find reason to\nsuspect our own judgments of what is truly good, and perceive our own\nblindness; for by degrees we find that those whose opinions and conduct\nwe hitherto despised or wondered at as extravagant or unaccountable or\nweak, really know more than ourselves, and are above us--and so, ever\nas we rise in knowledge and grow in spiritual illumination, they (to\nour amazement) rise also, while we look at them.  The better we are,\nthe more we understand their excellence; till at length we are taught\nsomething of their Divine Master's perfections also, which before were\nhid from us, and see why it is that, though the Gospel is set on a hill\nin the midst of the world, like a city which cannot be hid, yet to\nmultitudes it is notwithstanding hid, since He taketh the wise in their\nown craftiness, and the pure in heart alone can see God.\n\nHow are the sheep of Christ's flock scattered abroad in the waste\nworld!  He came to gather them together in one; but they wander again\nand faint by the way, as having lost their Shepherd.  What religious\nopinion can be named which some men or other have not at some time\nheld?  All are equally confident in the truth of their own doctrines,\nthough the many must be mistaken.  In this confusion let us, my\nbrethren, look to ourselves, each to himself.  There must be a right\nand a wrong, and no matter whether others agree with us or not, it is\nto us a solemn practical concern not to turn away our ears from the\ntruth.  Let not the diversity of opinion, in the world dismay you, or\ndeter you from seeking all your life long true wisdom.  It is not a\nsearch for this day or that, but as you should ever grow in grace, so\nshould you ever grow also in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour\nJesus Christ.  Care not for the perplexing question which many will put\nto you, \"How can you be sure that you are right more than others?\"\nOthers are nothing to you, if they are not holy and devout in their\nconversation--and we all know what is meant by being holy; we know whom\nwe should call holy; to be holy is to be like an Apostle.  Seek truth\nin the way of _obedience_; try to act up to your conscience, and let\nyour opinions be the result, not of mere chance reasoning or fancy, but\nof an improved heart.  This way, I say, carries with it an evidence to\nourselves of its being the right way, if any way be right; and that\nthere is a right and a wrong way conscience also tells us.  God surely\nwill listen to none but those who strive to obey Him.  Those who thus\nproceed, watching, praying, taking all means given them of gaining the\ntruth, studying the Scriptures, and doing their duty; in short, those\nwho seek religious truth by principle and habit, as the main business\nof their lives, humbly not arrogantly, peaceably not contentiously,\nshall not be \"turned unto fables.\"  \"The secret of the Lord is with\nthem that fear Him;\" but in proportion as we are conscious to ourselves\nthat we are indolent, and transgress our own sense of right and wrong,\nin the same proportion we have cause to fear, not only that we are not\nin a safe state, but, further than this, that we do not know what is a\nsafe state, and what an unsafe--what is light and what is darkness,\nwhat is truth and what is error; which way leads to heaven and which to\nhell.  \"The way of the wicked is in darkness; they know not at what\nthey stumble[7].\"\n\nI know we shall find it very hard to rouse ourselves, to break the\nforce of habit, to resolve to serve God, and persevere in doing so.\nAnd assuredly we must expect, even at best, and with all our efforts,\nperhaps backslidings, and certainly much continual imperfection all\nthrough our lives, in all we do.  But this should create in us a horror\nof disobedience, not a despair at overcoming ourselves.  We are not\nunder the law of nature, but under grace; we are not bid do a thing\nabove our strength, because, though our hearts are naturally weak, we\nare not left to ourselves.  According to the command, so is the gift.\nGod's grace is sufficient for us.  Why, then, should we fear?  Rather,\nwhy should we not make any sacrifice, and give up all that is naturally\npleasing to us, rather than that light and truth should have come into\nthe world, yet we not find them?  Let us be willing to endure toil and\ntrouble; and should times of comparative quiet be given to us, should\nfor a while temptation be withdrawn, or the Spirit of comfort poured\nupon us, let us not inconsiderately rest in these accidental blessings.\nWhile we thank God for them, let us remember that in its turn the time\nof labour and fear, and danger and anxiety, will come upon us; and that\nwe must act our part well in it.  We live here to struggle and to\nendure: the time of eternal rest will come hereafter.\n\n\"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.\nBlessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the\nwhole heart[8].\"  \"The path of the just is as the shining light, that\nshineth more and more unto the perfect day[9].\"\n\n\n\n[1] Isa. l. 4.\n\n[2] Matt. xiv. 3.\n\n[3] Acts xxiv. 25.\n\n[4] Prov. ii. 3-6.\n\n[5] Jer. xxxiii. 3.\n\n[6] Matt. xxi. 25.\n\n[7] Prov. iv. 19.\n\n[8] Ps. cxix. 1, 2.\n\n[9] Prov. iv. 18.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XIV.\n\nObedience to God the Way to Faith in Christ.\n\n\"_When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou\nart not far from the kingdom of God._\"--Mark xii. 34.\n\n\nThe answer of the scribe, which our blessed Lord here commends, was\noccasioned by Christ's setting before him the two great commandments of\nthe Law.  When He had declared the love of God and of man to comprehend\nour whole duty, the scribe said, \"Master, Thou hast said the truth: for\nthere is one God; and there is none other but He: and to love Him with\nall the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul,\nand with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is\nmore than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.\"  Upon this\nacknowledgment of the duty of general religious obedience, Christ\nreplied, in the words of the text, \"Thou art not far from the kingdom\nof God,\" i. e. Thou art not far from being a Christian.\n\nIn these words, then, we are taught, first, that the Christian's faith\nand obedience are not the same religion as that of natural conscience,\nas being some way beyond it; secondly, that this way is \"not far,\" not\nfar in the case of those who try to act up to their conscience; in\nother words, that obedience to conscience leads to obedience to the\nGospel, which, instead of being something different altogether, is but\nthe completion and perfection of that religion which natural conscience\nteaches.\n\nIndeed, it would have been strange if the God of nature had said one\nthing, and the God of grace another; if the truths which our conscience\ntaught us without the information of Scripture, were contradicted by\nthat information when obtained.  But it is not so; there are not two\nways of pleasing God; what conscience suggests, Christ has sanctioned\nand explained; to love God and our neighbour are the great duties of\nthe Gospel as well as of the Law; he who endeavours to fulfil them by\nthe light of nature is in the way towards, is, as our Lord said, \"not\nfar from Christ's kingdom;\" for to him that hath more shall be given.\n\nIt is not in one or two places merely that this same doctrine is\ndeclared to us; indeed, all revelation is grounded on those simple\ntruths which our own consciences teach us in a measure, though a poor\nmeasure, even without it.  It is One God, and none other but He, who\nspeaks first in our consciences, then in His Holy Word; and, lest we\nshould be in any difficulty about the matter, He has most mercifully\ntold us so in Scripture, wherein He refers again and again (as in the\npassage connected with the text) to the great Moral Law, as the\nfoundation of the truth, which His Apostles and Prophets, and last of\nall His Son, have taught us: \"Fear God, and keep His commandments; for\nthis is the whole duty of man[1].\"\n\nYet though this is so plain, both from our own moral sense, and the\ndeclarations of Scripture, still for many reasons it is necessary to\ninsist upon it; chiefly, because, it being very hard to keep God's\ncommandments, men would willingly persuade themselves, if they could,\nthat strict obedience is not necessary under the Gospel, and that\nsomething else will be taken, for Christ's sake, in the stead of it.\nInstead of labouring, under God's grace, to change their wills, to\npurify their hearts, and so prepare themselves for the kingdom of God,\nthey imagine that in that kingdom they may be saved by something short\nof this, by their baptism, or by their ceremonial observances (the\nburnt offerings and sacrifices which the scribe disparages), or by\ntheir correct knowledge of the truth, or by their knowledge of their\nown sinfulness, or by some past act of faith which is to last them\nduring their lives, or by some strong habitual persuasion that they are\nsafe; or, again, by the performance of some one part of their duty,\nthough they neglect the rest, as if God said a thing to us in nature,\nand Christ unsaid it; and, when men wish a thing, it is not hard to\nfind texts in Scripture which may be ingeniously perverted to suit\ntheir purpose.  The error then being so common in practice, of\nbelieving that Christ came to gain for us easier terms of admittance\ninto heaven than we had before (whereas, in fact, instead of making\nobedience less strict, He has enabled us to obey God more strictly, and\ninstead of gaining _easier_ terms of _admittance_, He has gained us\n_altogether_ our admittance into heaven, which before was closed\nagainst us); this error, I say, being so common, it may be right to\ninsist on the opposite truth, however obvious, that obedience to God is\nthe way to know and believe in Christ.\n\n1. Now, first, let us consider how plainly we are taught in Scripture\nthat perfect obedience is the standard of Gospel holiness.  By St.\nPaul: \"Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the\nrenewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and\nacceptable, and perfect, will of God[2].\"  \"Circumcision is nothing,\nand uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of\nGod[3].\"  \"Whatsoever things are true . . . honest . . . just . . .\npure . . . lovely . . . of good report: if there be any virtue, and if\nthere be any praise, think on these things[4].\"  By St. James:\n\"Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is\nguilty of all[5].\"  By St. Peter: \"Giving all diligence, add to your\nfaith virtue . . . knowledge . . . temperance . . . patience . . .\ngodliness . . . brotherly kindness . . . charity[6].\"  By St. John:\n\"Hereby do we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.\"\nLastly, by our Lord Himself: \"He that hath My commandments, and keepeth\nthem, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me, shall be loved of\nMy Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him[7].\"\nAnd, above all, the following clear declaration in the Sermon on the\nMount: \"Whosoever . . . shall break one of these least commandments,\nand shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of\nheaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called\ngreat in the kingdom of heaven[8].\"\n\nThese texts, and a multitude of others, show that the Gospel leaves us\njust where it found us, as regards the necessity of our obedience to\nGod; that Christ has not obeyed instead of us, but that obedience is\nquite as imperative as if Christ had never come; nay, is pressed upon\nus with additional sanctions; the difference being, not that He relaxes\nthe strict rule of keeping His commandments, but that He gives us\nspiritual aids, which we have not except through Him, to enable us to\nkeep them.  Accordingly Christ's service is represented in Scripture,\nnot as different from that religious obedience which conscience teaches\nus naturally, but as the perfection of it, as I have already said.  We\nare told again and again, that obedience to God leads on to faith in\nChrist; that it is the only recognized way to Christ; and that,\ntherefore, to believe in Him, ordinarily implies that we are living in\nobedience to God.  For instance: \"Every man . . . that hath heard and\nhath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me[9];\" \"He that doeth truth,\ncometh to the light[10],\" i.e. to Christ; \"No man can come to Me,\nexcept the Father which hath sent Me, draw him;\" \"If any man will do\nthe will of God, he shall know of the doctrine[11].\"  On the other\nhand: \"He that hateth Me, hateth My Father also[12];\" \"If ye had known\nMe, ye should have known My Father also[13];\" \"Whosoever denieth the\nSon, the same hath not the Father[14];\" \"Whosoever transgresseth, and\nabideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in\nthe doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son[15].\"\n\nIn these and other passages of Scripture we learn, that though Christ\ncame to be the light of the world, yet He is not and cannot be a light\nto all, but to those only who seek Him in the way of His commandments;\nand to all others He is hid, the god of this world \"blinding the minds\nof them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of\nChrist, who is the Image of God, should shine unto them[16].\"\n\n2. And if we look to the history of the first propagation of the\nGospel, we find this view confirmed.  As far as we can trace the\nhistory, we find the early Christian Church was principally composed of\nthose who had long been in the habit of obeying their consciences\ncarefully, and so preparing themselves for Christ's religion, that\nkingdom of God from which the text says they were not far.  Zacharias\nand Elisabeth, to whom the approach of Christ's kingdom was first\nrevealed, are described as \"both righteous before God, walking in all\nthe commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless[17].\"  Joseph,\nSt. Mary's husband, is called \"a just man[18];\" Simeon is spoken of as\n\"a just and devout[19]\" man; Nathaniel, as \"an Israelite in whom was no\nguile[20];\" Joseph of Arimathea was \"a good man and a just[21];\"\nCornelius, the centurion, was a \"religious man, and one that feared God\nwith all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God\nalway[22].\"  And in the book of Acts generally, we shall find (as far\nas we are told any thing) that those chiefly were addressed and\nconverted by St. Paul, who had previously trained themselves in a\nreligious life:--At Perga, St. Paul addressed the Israelites and those\nwho feared God, not the mere thoughtless heathen; and many of these\nfollowed him[23].  At Thessalonica a great multitude of religious\nGreeks believed[24]; and at Athens the Apostle still disputed with the\nJews, and with the professedly religious persons, though he also\naddressed the educated heathens who lived there.  Here then is much\nevidence that Christ and His Apostles chiefly sought and found their\nfirst followers, not among open sinners, but among those who were\nendeavouring, however imperfectly, to obey God.\n\nBut it may be asked, Did Christ hold out no hope for those who had\nlived in sin?  Doubtless He did, if they determined to forsake their\nsin.  He came to save all, whatever their former life, who gave\nthemselves up to Him as their Lord and Saviour; and in His Church He\ngathered together of every kind, those who had departed from God, as\nwell as those who had ever served Him well.  Open sinners must have a\nbeginning of repentance, if they are to repent; and on this first\nbeginning Christ invites them to Him at once, without delay, for pardon\nand for aid.  But this is not the question; of course all who come to\nHim will be received; none will be cast out[25].  But the question is,\nnot this, but whether they are likely to come, to hear His voice, and\nto follow Him; again, whether they will, generally speaking, prove as\nconsistent and deeply-taught Christians as those who, compared with\nthem, have never departed from God at all; and here all the advantage,\ndoubtless, is on the side of those who (in the words of Scripture) have\nwalked in the ordinances of the Lord blameless[26].  When sinners truly\nrepent, then, indeed, they are altogether brothers in Christ's kingdom\nwith those who have not in the same sense \"need of repentance;\" but\nthat they should repent at all is (alas!) so far from being likely,\nthat when the unexpected event takes place it causes such joy in heaven\n(from the marvellousness of it) as is not even excited by the ninety\nand nine just persons who need no such change of mind[27].  Of such\nchanges some instances are given us in the Gospels for the\nencouragement of all penitents, such as that of the woman, mentioned by\nSt. Luke, who \"loved much.\"  Christ most graciously went among sinners,\nif so be He might save them; and we know that even those open sinners,\nwhen they knew that they were sinners, were nearer salvation, and in a\nbetter state, than the covetous and irreligious Pharisees, who added to\ntheir other gross sins, hypocrisy, blindness, a contempt of others, and\na haughty and superstitious reliance on the availing virtue of their\nreligious privileges.\n\nAnd, moreover, of these penitents of whom I speak--and whom, when they\nbecome penitents, we cannot love too dearly (after our Saviour's\npattern), nay, or reverence too highly, and whom the Apostles, after\nChrist's departure, brought into the Church in such vast\nmultitudes--none, as far as we know, had any sudden change of mind from\nbad to good wrought in them; nor do we hear of any of them honoured\nwith any important station in the Church.  Great as St. Paul's sin was\nin persecuting Christ's followers, before his conversion, that sin was\nof a different kind; he was not transgressing, but obeying his\nconscience (however blinded it was); he was doing what he thought his\nduty, when he was arrested by the heavenly vision, which, when\npresented to him, he at once \"obeyed;\" he was not sinning _against\nlight_, but _in_, darkness.  We know nothing of the precise state of\nhis mind immediately before his conversion; but we do know thus much,\nthat years elapsed after his conversion before he was employed as an\nApostle in the Church of God.\n\nI have confined myself to the time of Christ's coming, but not only\nthen, but at all times and under all circumstances, as all parts of the\nBible inform us, obedience to the light we possess is the way to gain\nmore light.  In the words of Wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, \"I love\nthem that love Me, and those that seek Me early shall find Me. . . . I\nlead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of\njudgment[28].\"  Or, in the still more authoritative words of Christ\nHimself, \"He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also\nin much[29];\" and, \"He that hath, to him shall be given[30].\"\n\nNow let us see some of the consequences which follow from this great\nScripture truth.\n\n1. First of all, we see the hopelessness of waiting for any sudden\nchange of heart, if we are at present living in sin.  Far more persons\ndeceive themselves by some such vain expectation than at first sight\nmay appear.  That there are even many irreligious men, who, from\nhearing the false doctrines now so common, and receiving general\nimpressions from them, look forward for a possible day when God will\nchange their hearts by His own mere power, in spite of themselves, and\nwho thus get rid of the troublesome thought that now they are in a\nstate of fearful peril; who say they can do nothing till His time\ncomes, while still they acknowledge themselves to be far from Him; even\nthis I believe to be a fact, strange and gross as the self-deception\nmay appear to be.  And others, too, many more, doubtless, are there\nwho, not thinking themselves far from Him, but, on the contrary, high\nin His favour, still, by a dreadful deceit of Satan, are led to be\nindolent and languid in their obedience to His commandments, from a\npretence that they can do nothing of themselves, and must wait for the\nsuccessive motions of God's grace to excite them to action.  The utmost\nthese persons do is to talk of religion, when they ought to be up and\nactive, and waiting for the Blessed Spirit of Christ by obeying God's\nwill.  \"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ\nshall give thee light[31].\"  This is the exhortation.  And doubtless to\nall those who live a self-indulgent life, however they veil their\nself-indulgence from themselves by a notion of their superior religious\nknowledge, and by their faculty of speaking fluently in Scripture\nlanguage, to all such the word of life says, \"Be not deceived; God is\nnot mooted,\" He tries the heart, and disdains the mere worship of the\nlips.  He acknowledges no man as a believer in His Son, who does not\nanxiously struggle to obey His commandments to the utmost; to none of\nthose who seek without striving, and who consider themselves safe, to\nnone of these does He give \"power to become sons of God[32].\"  Be not\ndeceived; such have fallen from that state in which their baptism\nplaced them and are \"far from the kingdom of God.\"  \"Whatsoever a man\nsoweth, that shall he also reap[33].\"  And if any one says that St.\nPaul was converted suddenly, and without his exerting himself, it is\nsufficient to reply, that, guilty as St. Paul was, his guilt was not\nthat of indolence, and self-indulgence, and indifference.  His sin was\nthat of _neglecting the study of Scripture_; and thus, missing the\ngreat truth that Jesus was the Christ, he persecuted the Christians;\nbut though his conscience was ill-informed, and that by his own fault,\nyet he obeyed it such as it was.  He did what he did ignorantly.  If\nthen the case really be that St. Paul _was_ suddenly converted, hence,\nit is true, some kind of vague hope may be said to be held out to\nfurious, intolerant bigots, and bloodthirsty persecutors, if they are\nacting in consequence of their own notions of duty; none to the\nslothful and negligent and lukewarm; none _but_ to those who can say,\nwith St. Paul, that they have \"lived in all good conscience before God\nuntil this day[34];\" and that not under an easy profession, but in a\nstraitest religious sect, giving themselves up to their duty, and\nfollowing the law of God, though in ignorance, yet with all their heart\nand soul.\n\n2. But, after all, there are very many more than I have as yet\nmentioned, who wait for a time of repentance to come while at present\nthey live in sin.  For instance, the young, who consider it will be\ntime enough to think of God when they grow old; that religion will then\ncome as a matter of course, and that they will then like it naturally,\njust as they now like their follies and sins.  Or those who are much\nengaged in worldly business, who confess they do not give that\nattention to religion which they ought to give; who neglect the\nordinances of the Church; who desecrate the Lord's day; who give little\nor no time to the study of God's word; who allow themselves in various\nsmall transgressions of their conscience, and resolutely harden\nthemselves against the remorse which such transgressions are calculated\nto cause them; and all this they do under the idea that at length a\nconvenient season will come when they may give themselves to religious\nduties.  They determine on retiring at length from the world, and of\nmaking up for lost time by greater diligence then.  All such persons,\nand how many they are! think that they will be able to seek Christ when\nthey please, though they have lived all their lives with no true love\neither of God or man; i. e. they do not, in their hearts, believe our\nLord's doctrine contained in the text, that to obey God is to be near\nChrist, and that to disobey is to be far from Him.\n\nHow will this truth be plain to us in that day when the secrets of all\nhearts shall be revealed!  _Now_ we do not believe that strict\nobedience is as necessary as it is.  I say we do _not_ believe it,\nthough we say we do.  No one, of course, believes it in its fulness,\nbut most of us are deceived by words, and say we accept and believe,\nwhen we hardly do more than profess it.  We say, indeed, that obedience\nis absolutely necessary, and are surprised to have our real belief in\nwhat we say questioned; but we do not give the truth that place in the\nscheme of our religion which this profession requires, and thus we\ncheat our consciences.  We put something _before_ it, in our doctrinal\nsystem, as _more_ necessary than it, one man puts faith, another\noutward devotion, a third attention to his temporal calling, another\nzeal for the Church; that is, we put a part for the whole of our duty,\nand so run the risk of losing our souls.  These are the burnt-offerings\nand sacrifices which even the scribe put aside before the weightier\nmatters of the Law.  Or again, we fancy that the means of gaining\nheaven are something stranger and rarer than the mere obvious duty of\nobedience to God; we are loth to seek Christ in the waters of Jordan\nrather than in Pharpar and Abana, rivers of Damascus; we prefer to seek\nHim in the height above, or to descend into the deep, rather than to\nbelieve that the word is nigh us, even in our mouth and in our\nheart[35].  Hence, in false religions some men have even tortured\nthemselves and been cruel to their flesh, thereby to become as gods,\nand to mount aloft; and in our own, with a not less melancholy, though\nless self-denying, error, men fancy that certain strange effects on\ntheir minds--strong emotion, restlessness, and an unmanly excitement\nand extravagance of thought and feeling--are the tokens of that\ninscrutable Spirit, who is given us, not to make us something _other\nthan_ men, but to make us, what without His gracious aid we never shall\nbe, upright, self-mastering men, humble and obedient children of our\nLord and Saviour.\n\nIn that day of trial all these deceits will be laid aside; we shall\nstand in our own real form, whether it be of heaven or of earth, the\nwedding garment, or the old raiment of sin[36]; and then, how many (do\nwe think) will be revealed as the heirs of light, who have followed\nChrist in His narrow way, and humbled themselves after His manner\n(though not in His perfection, and with nothing of His merit) to the\ndaily duties of soberness, mercy, gentleness, self-denial, and the fear\nof God?\n\nThese, be they many or few, will then receive their prize from Him who\ndied for them, who has made them what they are, and completes in heaven\nwhat first by conscience, then by His Spirit, He began here.  Surely\nthey were despised on the earth by the world; both by the open sinners,\nwho thought their scrupulousness to be foolishness, and by such\npretenders to God's favour as thought it ignorance.  But, in reality,\nthey had received from their Lord the treasures both of wisdom and of\nknowledge, though men knew it not; and they then will be acknowledged\nby Him before all creatures, as heirs of the glory prepared for them\nbefore the beginning of the world.\n\n\n\n[1] Eccles. xii. 13.\n\n[2] Rom. xii. 2.\n\n[3] 1 Cor. vii. 19.\n\n[4] Phil. iv. 8.\n\n[5] James ii. 10.\n\n[6] 2 Pet. i. 5-7.\n\n[7] John xiv. 21.\n\n[8] Matt. v. 19.\n\n[9] John vi. 46.\n\n[10] John iii. 21.\n\n[11] John vii. 17.\n\n[12] John xv. 23.\n\n[13] John viii. 19.\n\n[14] 1 John ii. 23.\n\n[15] 2 John 9.\n\n[16] 2 Cor. iv. 4.\n\n[17] Luke i. 6.\n\n[18] Matt. i. 19.\n\n[19] Luke ii. 25.\n\n[20] John i. 47.\n\n[21] Luke xxiii. 50.\n\n[22] Acts x. 2.\n\n[23] Acts xiii.\n\n[24] Acts xvii.\n\n[25] John iv. 3, 7.\n\n[26] Luke i. 6.\n\n[27] Luke xv. 7.\n\n[28] Prov. viii. 17, 20.\n\n[29] Luke xvi. 10.\n\n[30] Mark iv. 25.\n\n[31] Eph. v. 14.\n\n[32] John i. 12.\n\n[33] Gal. vi. 7\n\n[34] Acts xxiii. 1.\n\n[35] Rom. x. 8.\n\n[36] Zech. iii. 4.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XV.\n\nSudden Conversions.\n\n\"_By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed\nupon me was not in vain._\"--1 Cor. xv. 10.\n\n\nWe can hardly conceive that grace, such as that given to the great\nApostle who speaks in the text, would have been given in vain; that is,\nwe should not expect that it would have been given, had it been\nforeseen and designed by the Almighty Giver that it would have been in\nvain.  By which I do not mean, of course, to deny that God's gifts are\noftentimes abused and wasted by man, which they are; but, when we\nconsider the wonderful mode of St. Paul's conversion, and the singular\nprivilege granted him, the only one of men of whom is clearly recorded\nthe privilege of seeing Christ with his bodily eyes after His\nascension, as is alluded to shortly before the text; I say, considering\nthese high and extraordinary favours vouchsafed to the Apostle, we\nshould naturally suppose that some great objects in the history of the\nChurch were contemplated by means of them, such as in the event were\nfulfilled.  We cannot tell, indeed, why God works, or by what rule He\nchooses, we must always be sober and humble in our thoughts about His\nways, which are infinitely above our ways; but what would be\nspeculation, perhaps venturous speculation, before the event, at least\nbecomes a profitable meditation after it.  At least, now, when we read\nand dwell on St. Paul's history, we may discern and insist upon the\nsuitableness of his character, before his conversion, for that display\nof free grace which was made in him.  Not that he could merit such a\ngreat mercy--the idea is absurd as well as wicked; but that such a one\nas he was before God's grace, naturally grew by the aid of it into what\nhe was afterwards as a Christian.\n\nHis, indeed, was a \"wonderful conversion,\" as our Church in one place\ncalls it, because it was so unexpected, and (as far as the appearance\nwent) so sudden.  Who of the suffering Christians, against whom he was\nraging so furiously, could have conceived that their enemy was to be\nthe great preacher and champion of the despised Cross?  Does God work\nmiracles to reclaim His open malevolent adversaries, and not rather to\nencourage and lead forward those who timidly seek Him?\n\nIt may be useful, then, to mention one or two kinds of what may be\ncalled sudden conversions, to give some opinion on the character of\neach of them, and to inquire which of them really took place in St.\nPaul's case.\n\n1. First; some men turn to religion all at once from some sudden\nimpulse of mind, some powerful excitement, or some strong persuasion.\nIt is a sudden resolve that comes upon them.  Now such cases occur very\nfrequently where religion has nothing to do with the matter, and then\nwe think little about it, merely calling the persons who thus change\nall at once volatile and light-minded.  Thus there are persons who all\nof a sudden give up some pursuit which they have been eagerly set upon,\nor change from one trade or calling to another, or change their\nopinions as regards the world's affairs.  Every one knows the\nimpression left upon the mind by such instances.  The persons thus\nchanging may be, and often are, amiable, kind, and pleasant, as\ncompanions; but we cannot depend on them; and we pity them, as\nbelieving they are doing harm both to their temporal interests and to\ntheir own minds.  Others there are who almost profess to love change\nfor change-sake; they think the pleasure of life consists in seeing\nfirst one thing, then another; variety is their chief good; and it is a\nsufficient objection in their minds to any pursuit or recreation, that\nit is old.  These, too, pass suddenly and capriciously from one subject\nto another.  So far in matters of daily life;--but when such a person\nexhibits a similar changeableness in his religious views, then men\nbegin to be astonished, and look out with curiosity or anxiety to see\nwhat is the meaning of it, and particularly if the individual who thus\nsuddenly changed, was very decided before in the particular course of\nlife which he then followed.  For instance, supposing he not merely\nprofessed no deep religious impressions, but actually was unbelieving\nor profligate; or, again, supposing he not merely professed himself of\nthis creed or that, but was very warm, and even bitter in the\nenforcement of it; then, I say, men wonder, though they do not wonder\nat similar infirmities in matters of this world.\n\nNor can I say that they are wrong in being alive to such changes; we\n_ought_ to feel differently with reference to religious subjects, and\nnot be as unconcerned about them as we are about the events of time.\nDid a man suddenly inform us, with great appearance of earnestness,\nthat he had seen an accident in the street, or did he say that he had\nseen a miracle, I confess it is natural, nay, in the case of most men,\ncertainly in the case of the uneducated, far more religious, to feel\ndifferently towards these two accounts; to feel shocked, indeed, but\nnot awed, at the first--to feel a certain solemn astonishment and pious\nreverence at the news of the miracle.  For a religious mind is ever\nlooking towards God, and seeking His traces; referring all events to\nHim, and desirous of His explanation of them; and when to such a one\ninformation is brought that God has in some extraordinary way showed\nHimself, he _will_ at first sight be tempted to believe it, and it is\nonly the experience of the number of deceits and false prophecies which\nare in the world, his confidence in the Catholic Church which he sees\nbefore him, and which is his guide into the truth, and (if he be\neducated) his enlightened views concerning the course and laws of God's\nprovidence, which keep him steady and make him hard to believe such\nstories.  On the other hand, men destitute of religion altogether, of\ncourse from the first ridicule such accounts, and, as the event shows,\nrightly; and yet, in spite of this, they are not so worthy our regard\nas those who at first were credulous, from having some religious\nprinciple without enough religious knowledge.  Therefore, I am not\nsurprised that such sudden conversions as I have been describing\ndeceive for a time even the better sort of people--whom I should blame,\nif I were called on to do so, not so much for the mere fact of their\nbelieving readily, but for their not believing the Church; for\nbelieving private individuals who have no authority more than the\nChurch, and for not recollecting St. Paul's words, \"If any man . . .\nthough we, or an Angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you\nthan that ye have received, let him be accursed[1].\"\n\n2. In the cases of sudden conversion I have been speaking of, when men\nchange at once either from open sin, or again from the zealous\npartizanship of a certain creed, to some novel form of faith or\nworship, their light-mindedness is detected by their frequent\nchanging--their changing again and again, so that one can never be\ncertain of them.  This is the test of their unsoundness;--having no\nroot in themselves, their convictions and earnestness quickly wither\naway.  But there is another kind of sudden conversion, which I proceed\nto mention, in which a man perseveres to the end, consistent in the new\nform he adopts, and which may be right or wrong, as it happens, but\nwhich _he_ cannot be said to recommend or confirm to us by his own\nchange.  I mean when a man, for some reason or other, whether in\nreligion or not, takes a great disgust to his present course of life,\nand suddenly abandons it for another.  This is the case of those who\nrush from one to the other extreme, and it generally arises from strong\nand painful feeling, unsettling and, as it were, revolutionizing the\nmind.  A story is told of a spendthrift who, having ruined himself by\nhis extravagances, went out of doors to meditate on his own folly and\nmisery, and in the course of a few hours returned home a determined\nmiser, and was for the rest of his life remarkable for covetousness and\npenuriousness.  This is not more extraordinary than the fickleness of\nmind just now described.  In like manner, men sometimes will change\nsuddenly from love to hatred, from over-daring to cowardice.  These are\nno amiable changes, whether arising or not from bodily malady, as is\nsometimes the case; nor do they impart any credit or sanction to the\nparticular secular course or habit of mind adopted on the change:\nneither do they in religion therefore.  A man who suddenly professes\nreligion after a profligate life, merely because he is sick of his\nvices, or tormented by the thought of God's anger, which is the\nconsequence of them, and without the love of God, does no honour to\nreligion, for he might, if it so chanced, turn a miser or a\nmisanthrope; and, therefore, though religion is not at all the less\nholy and true because he submits himself to it, and though doubtless it\nis a much better thing for _him_ that he turns to religion than that he\nshould become a miser or a misanthrope, still, when he acts on such\nmotives as I have described, he cannot be said to do any honour to the\ncause of religion by his conversion.  Yet it is such persons who at\nvarious times have been thought great saints, and been reckoned to\nrecommend and prove the truth of the Gospel to the world!\n\nNow if any one asks what test there is that this kind of sudden\nconversion is not from God, as instability and frequent change are the\ntest, on the other hand, in disproof of the divinity of the conversions\njust now mentioned, I answer,--its moroseness, inhumanity, and\nunfitness for this world.  Men who change through strong passion and\nanguish become as hard and as rigid as stone or iron; they are not fit\nfor life; they are only fit for the solitudes in which they sometimes\nbury themselves; they can only do one or two of their duties, and that\nonly in one way; they do not indeed change their principles, as the\nfickle convert, but, on the other hand, they cannot apply, adapt,\naccommodate, modify, diversify their principles to the existing state\nof things, which is the opposite fault.  They do not aim at a perfect\nobedience in little things as well as great; and a most serious fault\nit is, looking at it merely as a matter of practice, and without any\nreference to the views and motives from which it proceeds; most opposed\nis it to the spirit of true religion, which is intended to fit us for\nall circumstances of life as they come, in order that we may be humble,\ndocile, ready, patient, and cheerful,--in order that we may really show\nourselves God's servants, who do all things for Him, coming when He\ncalleth, going when He sendeth, doing this or that at His bidding.  So\nmuch for the practice of such men; and when we go higher, and ask _why_\nthey are thus formal and unbending in their mode of life, what are the\nprinciples that make them thus harsh and unserviceable, I fear we must\ntrace it to some form of selfishness and pride; the same principles\nwhich, under other circumstances, would change the profligate into the\ncovetous and parsimonious.\n\nI think it will appear at once that St. Paul's conversion, however it\nwas effected, and whatever was the process of it, resembled neither the\none nor the other of these.  That it was not the change of a fickle\nmind is shown by his firmness in keeping to his new faith--by his\nconstancy unto death, a death of martyrdom.  That it was not the change\nof a proud and disappointed mind, quitting with disgust what he once\nloved too well, is evidenced by the variety of his labours, his active\nservices, and continued presence in the busy thoroughfares of the\nworld; by the cheerfulness, alacrity, energy, dexterity, and\nperseverance, with which he pleaded the cause of God among sinners.  He\nreminds us of his firmness, as well as gentleness, when he declares,\n\"What mean ye to weep, and break my heart? for I am ready not to be\nbound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord\nJesus,\" and of his ready accommodation of himself to the will of God,\nin all its forms, when he says, \"I am made all things to all men, that\nI might by all means save some[2].\"\n\n3. But there is another kind of sudden conversion, or rather what\nappears to be such, not uncommonly found, and which may be that to\nwhich St. Paul's conversion is to be referred, and which I proceed to\ndescribe.\n\nWhen men change their religious opinions really and truly, it is not\nmerely their opinions that they change, but their hearts; and this\nevidently is not done in a moment--it is a slow work; nevertheless,\nthough gradual, the change is often not uniform, but proceeds, so to\nsay, by fits and starts, being influenced by external events, and other\ncircumstances.  This we see in the growth of plants, for instance; it\nis slow, gradual, continual; yet one day by chance they grow more than\nanother, they make a shoot, or at least we are attracted to their\ngrowth on that day by some accidental circumstance, and it remains on\nour memory.  So with our souls: we all, by nature, are far from God;\nnay, and we have all characters to form, which is a work of time.  All\nthis must have a beginning; and those who are now leading religious\nlives have begun at different times.  Baptism, indeed, is God's time,\nwhen He first gives us grace; but alas! through the perverseness of our\nwill, we do not follow Him.  There must be a time then for beginning.\nMany men do not at all recollect any one marked and definite time\n_when_ they began to seek God.  Others recollect a time, not, properly\nspeaking, when they began, but when they made what may be called a\nshoot forward, the fact either being so, in consequence of external\nevents, or at least for some reason or other their attention being\ncalled to it.  Others, again, continue forming a religious character\nand religious opinions as the result of it, though holding at the same\ntime some outward profession of faith inconsistent with them; as, for\ninstance, suppose it has been their unhappy condition to be brought up\nas heathens, Jews, infidels, or heretics.  They hold the notions they\nhave been taught for a long while, not perceiving that the character\nforming within them is at variance with these, till at length the\ninward growth forces itself forward, forces on the opinions\naccompanying it, and the dead outward surface of error, which has no\nroot in their minds, from some accidental occurrence, suddenly falls\noff; suddenly,--just as a building might suddenly fall, which had been\ngoing many years, and which falls at this moment rather than that, in\nconsequence of some chance cause, as it is called, which we cannot\ndetect.\n\nNow in all these cases one point of time is often taken by religious\nmen, as if the very time of conversion, and as if it were sudden,\nthough really, as is plain, in none of them is there any suddenness in\nthe matter.  In the last of these instances, which might be in a\nmeasure, if we dare say it, St. Paul's case, the time when the formal\noutward profession of error fell off, is taken as the time of\nconversion.  Others recollect the first occasion when any deep serious\nthought came into their minds, and reckon this as the date of their\ninward change.  Others, again, recollect some intermediate point of\ntime when they first openly professed their faith, or dared do some\nnoble deed for Christ's sake.\n\nI might go on to show more particularly how what I have said applies to\nSt. Paul; but as this would take too much time I will only observe\ngenerally, that there was much in St. Paul's character which was not\nchanged on his conversion, but merely directed to other and higher\nobjects, and purified; it was his creed that was changed, and his soul\nby regeneration; and though he was sinning most grievously and awfully\nwhen Christ appeared to him from heaven, he evidenced then, as\nafterwards, a most burning energetic zeal for God, a most scrupulous\nstrictness of life, an abstinence from all self-indulgence, much more\nfrom all approach to sensuality or sloth, and an implicit obedience to\nwhat he considered God's will.  It was pride which was his inward\nenemy--pride which needed an overthrow.  He acted rather as a defender\nand protector, than a minister of what he considered the truth; he\nrelied on his own views; he was positive and obstinate; he did not seek\nfor light as a little child; he did not look out for a Saviour who was\nto come, and he missed Him when He came.\n\nBut how great was the change in these respects when he became a servant\nof Him whom he had persecuted!  As he had been conspicuous for a proud\nconfidence in self, on his privileges, on his knowledge, on his birth,\non his observances, so he became conspicuous for his humility.  What\nself-abasement, when he says, \"I am the least of the Apostles, that am\nnot meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of\nGod; but by the grace of God I am what I am.\"  What keen and bitter\nremembrance of the past, when he says, \"Who was before a blasphemer,\nand a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it\nignorantly in unbelief[3].\"  Ah! what utter self-abandonment, what\nscorn and hatred of self, when he, who had been so pleased to be a\nHebrew of Hebrews, and a Pharisee, bore to be called, nay gloried for\nChrist's sake in being called, an apostate, the most odious and\nmiserable of titles!--bore to be spurned and spit upon as a renegade, a\ntraitor, a false-hearted and perfidious, a fallen, a lost son of his\nChurch; a shame to his mother, and a curse to his countrymen.  Such was\nthe light in which those furious zealots looked on the great Apostle,\nwho bound themselves together by an oath that they would neither eat\nnor drink till they had killed him.  It was their justification in\ntheir own eyes, that he was a \"pestilent fellow,\" a \"stirrer of\nseditions,\" and an abomination amid sacred institutions which God had\ngiven.\n\nAnd, lastly, what supported him in this great trial? that special mercy\nwhich converted him, which he, and he only, saw--the Face of Jesus\nChrist.  That all-pitying, all-holy eye, which turned in love upon St.\nPeter when he denied Him, and thereby roused him to repentance, looked\non St. Paul also, while he persecuted Him, and wrought in him a sudden\nconversion.  \"Last of all,\" he says, \"He was seen of me also, as of one\nborn out of due time.\"  One sight of that Divine Countenance, so\ntender, so loving, so majestic, so calm, was enough, first to convert\nhim, then to support him on his way amid the bitter hatred and fury\nwhich he was to excite in those who hitherto had loved him.\n\nAnd if such be the effect of a momentary vision of the glorious\nPresence of Christ, what think you, my brethren, will be their bliss,\nto whom it shall be given, this life ended, to see that Face eternally?\n\n\n\n[1] Gal. i. 8, 9.\n\n[2] Acts xxi. 13.  1 Cor. ix. 22.\n\n[3] 1 Tim. i. 13.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XVI.\n\nThe Shepherd of our Souls.\n\n\"_I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the\nsheep._\"--John x. 11.\n\n\nOur Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been\nforetold by the Prophets.  \"David My servant shall be king over them,\"\nsays Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: \"and they all shall have one\nShepherd.\"  And in the book of Zechariah, \"Awake, O sword, against My\nShepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of\nHosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.\"  And in\nlike manner St. Peter speaks of our returning \"to the Shepherd and\nBishop of our souls[1].\"\n\n\"The good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.\"  In those countries\nof the East where our Lord appeared, the office of a shepherd is not\nonly a lowly and simple office, and an office of trust, as it is with\nus, but, moreover, an office of great hardship and of peril.  Our\nflocks are exposed to no enemies, such as our Lord describes.  The\nShepherd here has no need to prove his fidelity to the sheep by\nencounters with fierce beasts of prey.  The hireling shepherd is not\ntried.  But where our Lord dwelt in the days of His flesh it was\notherwise.  There it was true that the good Shepherd giveth His life\nfor the sheep--\"but he that is an hireling, and whose own the sheep are\nnot, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the\nwolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep.  The hireling fleeth,\nbecause he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.\"\n\nOur Lord found the sheep scattered; or, as He had said shortly before,\n\"All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers;\" and in\nconsequence the sheep had no guide.  Such were the priests and rulers\nof the Jews when Christ came; so that \"when He saw the multitudes He\nwas moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were\nscattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd[2].\"  Such, in like\nmanner, were the rulers and prophets of Israel in the days of Ahab,\nwhen Micaiah, the Lord's Prophet, \"saw all Israel scattered on the\nhills, as sheep that have not a shepherd, and the Lord said, These have\nno Master, let them return every man to his house in peace[3].\"  Such,\ntoo, were the shepherds in the time of Ezekiel, of whom the Prophet\nsays, \"Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves!\nshould not the shepherd feed the flocks? . . .  They were scattered,\nbecause there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of\nthe field, when they were scattered[4]:\" and in the time of the Prophet\nZechariah, who says, \"Woe to the idle shepherd that leaveth the\nflock[5]!\"\n\nSo was it all over the world when Christ came in His infinite mercy \"to\ngather in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.\"  And\nthough for a moment, when in the conflict with the enemy the good\nShepherd had to lay down His life for the sheep, they were left without\na guide (according to the prophecy already quoted, \"Smite the Shepherd\nand the sheep shall be scattered\"), yet He soon rose from death to live\nfor ever, according to that other prophecy which said, \"He that\nscattered Israel will gather him, as a shepherd doth his flock[6].\"\nAnd as He says Himself in the parable before us, \"He calleth His own\nsheep by name and leadeth them out, and goeth before them, and the\nsheep follow Him, for they know His voice,\" so, on His resurrection,\nwhile Mary wept, He did call her by her name[7], and she turned herself\nand knew Him by the ear whom she had not known by the eye.  So, too, He\nsaid, \"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me[8]?\"  And He added, \"Follow\nMe.\"  And so again He and His Angel told the women, \"Behold He goeth\nbefore you into Galilee . . . go tell My brethren, that they go into\nGalilee, and there shall they see Me.\"\n\nFrom that time the good Shepherd who took the place of the sheep, and\ndied that they might live for ever, has gone before them: and \"they\nfollow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth[9];\" going their way forth by\nthe footsteps of the flock, and feeding their kids beside the\nshepherds' tents[10].\n\nNo earthly images can come up to the awful and gracious truth, that God\nbecame the Son of man--that the Word became flesh, and was born of a\nwoman.  This ineffable mystery surpasses human words.  No titles of\nearth can Christ give to Himself, ever so lowly or mean, which will\nfitly show us His condescension.  His act and deed is too great even\nfor His own lips to utter it.  Yet He delights in the image contained\nin the text, as conveying to us, in such degree as we can receive it,\nsome notion of the degradation, hardship, and pain, which He underwent\nfor our sake.\n\nHence it was prophesied under this figure by the Prophet Isaiah,\n\"Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall\nrule for Him . . . .  He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall\ngather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall\ngently lead those that are with young[11].\"  And, again, He promises by\nthe mouth of Ezekiel, \"Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep,\nand seek them out.  As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that\nhe is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep,\nand will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered\nin the cloudy and dark day[12].\"  And the Psalmist says of Him, \"The\nLord is my Shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing.  He shall feed me in\na green pasture, and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort[13].\"\nAnd he addresses Him, \"Hear, O thou Shepherd of Israel, Thou that\nleadest Joseph like a sheep, show Thyself also, Thou that sittest upon\nthe Cherubims[14].\"  And He Himself says in a parable, speaking of\nHimself, \"What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of\nthem, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go\nafter that which is lost, until he find it?  And when he hath found it,\nhe layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing[15].\"\n\nObserve, my brethren, it is here said that Christ, the Lord of Angels,\ncondescends to lay the lost sheep on His shoulders: in a former passage\nof the Prophet Isaiah it was said that He should \"gather them with His\narm, and carry them in His bosom.\"  By carrying them in His bosom is\nmeant the love He bears them, and the fulness of His grace; by carrying\nthem on His shoulders is signified the security of their\ndwelling-place; as of old time it was said of Benjamin, \"the beloved of\nthe Lord shall dwell in safety by Him . . . and the Lord shall cover\nhim all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders[16];\"\nand again, of Israel, \"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth\nover her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them\non her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange\ngod with him.\"  And again, in the Prophet Isaiah, \"Bel boweth down,\nNebo stoopeth; their idols were upon the beasts and upon the\ncattle . . . hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob . . . which are carried\n_by Me_ from the womb . . .  Even to your old age I am He, and even to\nhoary hairs will I carry you; I have made and I will bear, even I will\ncarry, and will deliver you[17].\"  He alone, who \"bowed Himself and\ncame down,\" He alone could do it; He alone could bear a whole world's\nweight, the load of a guilty world, the burden of man's sin, the\naccumulated debt, past, present, and to come; the sufferings which we\nowed but could not pay, the wrath of God on the children of Adam; \"in\nHis own body on the tree[18],\" \"being made a curse for us[19],\" \"the\njust for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God,\" \"through the\nEternal Spirit offering Himself without spot to God, and purging our\nconscience from dead works to serve the Living God[20].\"  Such was the\ndeed of Christ, laying down His life for us: and therefore He is called\nthe Good Shepherd.\n\nAnd hence, in like manner, from the time of Adam to that of Christ, a\nshepherd's work has been marked out with special Divine favour, as\nbeing a shadow of the good Shepherd who was to come.  \"Righteous Abel\"\nwas \"a keeper of sheep,\" \"and in process of time\" he \"brought of the\nfirstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.  And the Lord had\nrespect unto Abel and to his offering[21].\"  And who were they to whom\nthe Angels first brought the news that a Saviour was born?  \"Shepherds\nabiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night[22].\"\nAnd what is the description given of the chosen family when they\ndescended into Egypt?  \"Thy servants,\" they say, \"are shepherds, both\nwe and also our fathers[23];\" and what, in consequence, was their\nrepute in Egypt, which surely is a figure of the world?  \"Every\nshepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians[24].\"\n\nBut there are three favoured servants of God in particular, special\ntypes of the Saviour to come, men raised from low estate to great\nhonour, in whom it was His will that His pastoral office should be thus\nliterally fulfilled.  And the first is Jacob, the father of the\npatriarchs, who appeared before Pharaoh.  He became, as Abraham before\nhim, a father of many nations; he \"increased exceedingly, and had much\ncattle, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and\nasses[25],\" and he was visited by supernatural favours, and had a new\nname given him--Israel for Jacob.  But at the first he was, as his\ndescendants solemnly confessed year by year, \"a Syrian ready to\nperish;\" and what was his employment? the care of sheep; and with what\ntoil and suffering, and for how many years, we learn from his\nexpostulation with his hard master and relative, Laban--\"This twenty\nyears have I been with thee,\" he says; \"thy ewes and thy she-goats have\nnot cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.  That\nwhich was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of\nit; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen\nby night.  Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the\nfrost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.  Thus have I been\ntwenty years in thy house; . . . and thou hast changed my wages ten\ntimes[26].\"\n\nWho is more favoured than Jacob, who was exalted to be a Prince with\nGod, and to prevail by intercession?  Yet, you see, he is a shepherd,\nto image to us that mystical and true Shepherd and Bishop of souls who\nwas to come.  Yet there is a second and a third as highly favoured in\nvarious ways.  The second is Moses, who drove away the rival shepherds\nand helped the daughters of the Priest of Midian to water their flock,\nand who, while he was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law,\nsaw the Angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.  And the third\nis David, the man after God's own heart.  He was \"the man who was\nraised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet\nPsalmist of Israel[27];\" but he was found among the sheep.  \"He took\nhim away from the sheep-folds; as he was following the ewes great with\nyoung ones, He took him; that he might feed Jacob His people, and\nIsrael His inheritance.  So he fed them with a faithful and true heart,\nand ruled them prudently with all his power[28].\"  Samuel came to\nJesse, and looked through his seven sons, one by one, but found not him\nwhom God had chosen: \"And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy\nchildren?  And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold,\nhe keepeth the sheep.\"  And when he came \"he was ruddy, and withal of a\nbeautiful countenance, and goodly to look to; and the Lord said, Arise,\nanoint him, for this is he[29].\"  And again, after he had been in\nSaul's court, he \"went and returned from Saul, to feed his father's\nsheep at Bethlehem[30];\" and when he came to the army his brother\nreproached him for \"leaving those his few sheep in the wilderness;\" and\nwhen he was brought before Saul, he gave an account how a lion and a\nbear \"took a lamb out of the flock,\" and he went after them, and slew\nthem both, and delivered it.  Such were the shepherds of old times, men\nat once of peace and of war; men of simplicity, indeed, \"plain men\nliving in tents,\" \"the meekest of men,\" yet not easy, indolent men,\nsitting in green meadows, and by cool streams, but men of rough duties,\nwho were under the necessity to suffer, while they had the opportunity\nto do exploits.\n\nAnd if such were the figures, how much more was the Truth itself, the\ngood Shepherd, when He came, both guileless and heroic?  If shepherds\nare men of simple lives and obscure fortunes, uncorrupted and unknown\nin kings' courts and marts of commerce, how much more He who was \"the\ncarpenter's Son,\" who was \"meek and lowly of heart,\" who \"did not\nstrive nor cry,\" who \"went about doing good,\" who \"when He was reviled,\nreviled not again,\" and who was \"despised and rejected of men\"?  If, on\nthe other hand, they are men of suffering and trial, how much more so\nHe who was \"a man of sorrows,\" and who \"laid down His life for the\nsheep\"?\n\n\"That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee,\" says Jacob; \"I\nbare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it.\"  And has not\nChrist undertaken the charge of our souls?  Has He not made Himself\nanswerable for us whom the devil had rent?  Like the good Samaritan,\n\"Take care of him,\" He says, \"and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I\ncome again I will repay thee[31].\"  Or, as in another parable, under\nanother image: \"Lord, let it alone this year also . . . and if it bear\nfruit, well; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down[32].\"\n\"In the day the drought consumed me,\" says Jacob; and who was He who at\nmidday sat down at that very Jacob's well, tired with His journey, and\nneeding some of that water to quench His thirst, whereof \"Jacob drank\nhimself, and his children and his cattle\"?  Yet whereas He had a living\nwater to impart, which the world knew not of.  He preferred, as became\nthe good Shepherd, to offer it to one of those lost sheep whom He came\nto seek and to save, rather than to take at her hand the water from the\nwell, or to accept the offer of His disciples, when they came with meat\nfrom the city, and said, \"Master, eat.\"  \"The frost\" consumed me \"by\nnight,\" says Jacob, \"and my sleep departed from mine eyes,\" and read we\nnot of One whose wont it was to rise a long while before day, and\ncontinue in prayer to God? who passed nights in the mountain, or on the\nsea? who dwelt forty days in the wilderness? who, in the evening and\nnight of His passion, was forlorn in the bleak garden, or stripped and\nbleeding in the cold judgment hall?\n\nAgain: Moses, amid his sheep, saw the vision of God and was told of\nGod's adorable Name; and Christ, the true Shepherd, lived a life of\ncontemplation in the midst of His laborious ministry; He was\ntransfigured on the mountain, and no man knew the Son but the Father,\nnor the Father but the Son.\n\nJacob endured, Moses meditated--and David wrought.  Jacob endured the\nfrost, and heat, and sleepless nights, and paid the price of the lost\nsheep; Moses was taken up into the mount for forty days; David fought\nwith the foe, and recovered the prey--he rescued it from the mouth of\nthe lion, and the paw of the bear, and killed the ravenous beasts.\nChrist, too, not only suffered with Jacob, and was in contemplation\nwith Moses, but fought and conquered with David.  David defended his\nfather's sheep at Bethlehem; Christ, born and heralded to the shepherds\nat Bethlehem, suffered on the Cross in order to conquer.  He came \"from\nEdom, with dyed garments from Bozrah[33];\" but He was \"glorious in His\napparel,\" for He trod the people \"in His anger, and trampled them in\nHis fury, and their blood was sprinkled upon His garments, and He\nstained all His raiment.\"  Jacob was not as David, nor David as Jacob,\nnor either of them as Moses; but Christ was all three, as fulfilling\nall types, the lowly Jacob, the wise Moses, the heroic David, all in\none--Priest, Prophet, and King.\n\nMy brethren, we say daily, \"We are His people, and the sheep of His\npasture.\"  Again, we say, \"We have erred and strayed from Thy ways,\nlike lost sheep:\" let us never forget these truths; let us never\nforget, on the one hand, that we are sinners; let us never forget, on\nthe other hand, that Christ is our Guide and Guardian.  He is \"the Way,\nthe Truth, and the Life[34].\"  He is a light unto our ways, and a\nlanthorn unto our paths.  He is our Shepherd, and the sheep know His\nvoice.  If we are His sheep, we shall hear it, recognize it, and obey\nit.  Let us beware of not following when He goes before: \"He goes\nbefore, and His sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.\"  Let us\nbeware of receiving His grace in vain.  When God called Samuel, he\nanswered, \"Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.\"  When Christ called\nSt. Paul, he \"was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.\"  Let us\ndesire to know His voice; let us pray for the gift of watchful ears and\na willing heart.  He does not call all men in one way, He calls us each\nin His own way.  To St. Peter He said, \"Follow thou Me;\" of St. John,\n\"If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?\"  Nor is it\nalways easy to know His voice.  St. John knew it, and said, \"It is the\nLord,\" before St. Peter.  Samuel did not know it till Eli told him.\nSt. Paul asked, \"Who art Thou, Lord?\"  We are bid, \"try the spirits,\nwhether they be of God.\"  But whatever difficulty there be in knowing\nwhen Christ calls, and whither, yet at least let us look out for His\ncall.  Let us not be content with ourselves; let us not make our own\nhearts our home, or this world our home, or our friends our home; let\nus look out for a better country, that is, a heavenly.  Let us look out\nfor Him who alone can guide us to that better country; let us call\nheaven our home, and this life a pilgrimage; let us view ourselves, as\nsheep in the trackless desert, who, unless they follow the shepherd,\nwill be sure to lose themselves, sure to fall in with the wolf.  We are\nsafe while we keep close to Him, and under His eye; but if we suffer\nSatan to gain an advantage over us, woe to us!\n\nBlessed are they who give the flower of their days, and their strength\nof soul and body to Him; blessed are they who in their youth turn to\nHim who gave His life for them, and would fain save it to them and\nimplant it in them, that they may live for ever.  Blessed are they who\nresolve--come good, come evil, come sunshine, come tempest, come\nhonour, come dishonour--that He shall be their Lord and Master, their\nKing and God!  They will come to a perfect end, and to peace at the\nlast.  They will, with Jacob, confess Him, ere they die, as \"the God\nthat fed them all their life long unto that day, the Angel which\nredeemed them from all evil[35];\" with Moses, that \"as is their day, so\nshall their strength be,\" and with David, that in \"the valley of the\nshadow of death, they fear no evil, for He is with them, and that His\nrod and His staff comfort them,\" for \"when they pass through the waters\nHe will be with them, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow\nthem; when they walk through the fire, they shall not be burnt, neither\nshall the flame kindle upon them, for He is the Lord their God, the\nHoly One of Israel, their Saviour.\"\n\n\n\n[1] Ezek. xxxvii. 24.  Zech. xiii. 7.  1 Pet. ii. 25.\n\n[2] Matt. ix. 36.\n\n[3] 1 Kings xxii. 17.\n\n[4] Ezek. xxxiv. 2, 5.\n\n[5] Zech. xi. 17.\n\n[6] Jer. xxxi. 10.\n\n[7] John xx. 16.\n\n[8] John xxi. 16.\n\n[9] Rev. xiv. 4.\n\n[10] Cant. i. 8.\n\n[11] Isa. xl. 10, 11.\n\n[12] Ezek. xxxiv. 11, 12.\n\n[13] Ps. xxiii. 1, 2.\n\n[14] Ps. lxxx. 1.\n\n[15] Luke xv. 4, 6.\n\n[16] Deut. xxxiii. 12.\n\n[17] Deut. xxxii. 11.  Isa. xlvi. 1-4.\n\n[18] 1 Pet. ii. 24.\n\n[19] Gal. iii. 13.\n\n[20] 1 Pet. iii. 18.  Heb. ix. 14.\n\n[21] Gen. iv. 2, 4.\n\n[22] Luke ii. 8.\n\n[23] Gen. xlvii. 3.\n\n[24] Gen. xlvi. 34.\n\n[25] Gen. xxx. 43.\n\n[26] Gen. xxxi. 38-41.\n\n[27] 2 Sam. xxiii. 1.\n\n[28] Ps. lxxviii. 71-73.\n\n[29] 1 Sam. xvi. 11, 12.\n\n[30] 1 Sam. xvii. 15, 28, 35-37.\n\n[31] Luke x. 35.\n\n[32] Luke xiii. 8, 9.\n\n[33] Isa. lxiii. 1-3.\n\n[34] John xiv. 6.\n\n[35] Gen. xlviii. 15, 16.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XVII.\n\nReligious Joy.[1]\n\n\"_And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good\ntidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born\nthis day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the\nLord._\"--Luke ii. 10, 11.\n\n\nThere are two principal lessons which we are taught on the great Festival\nwhich we this day celebrate, lowliness and joy.  This surely is a day, of\nall others, in which is set before us the heavenly excellence and the\nacceptableness in God's sight of that state which most men have, or may\nhave, allotted to them, humble or private life, and cheerfulness in it.\nIf we consult the writings of historians, philosophers, and poets of this\nworld, we shall be led to think great men happy; we shall be led to fix\nour minds and hearts upon high or conspicuous stations, strange\nadventures, powerful talents to cope with them, memorable struggles, and\ngreat destinies.  We shall consider that the highest course of life is\nthe mere pursuit, not the enjoyment of good.\n\nBut when we think of this day's Festival, and what we commemorate upon\nit, a new and very different scene opens upon us.  First, we are reminded\nthat though this life must ever be a life of toil and effort, yet that,\nproperly speaking, we have not to seek our highest good.  It is found, it\nis brought near us, in the descent of the Son of God from His Father's\nbosom to this world.  It is stored up among us on earth.  No longer need\nmen of ardent minds weary themselves in the pursuit of what they fancy\nmay be chief goods; no longer have they to wander about and encounter\nperil in quest of that unknown blessedness to which their hearts\nnaturally aspire, as they did in heathen times.  The text speaks to them\nand to all, \"Unto you,\" it says, \"is born this day in the city of David a\nSaviour, which is Christ the Lord.\"\n\nNor, again, need we go in quest of any of those things which this vain\nworld calls great and noble.  Christ altogether dishonoured what the\nworld esteems, when He took on Himself a rank and station which the world\ndespises.  No lot could be more humble and more ordinary than that which\nthe Son of God chose for Himself.\n\nSo that we have on the Feast of the Nativity these two lessons--instead\nof anxiety within and despondence without, instead of a weary search\nafter great things,--to be cheerful and joyful; and, again, to be so in\nthe midst of those obscure and ordinary circumstances of life which the\nworld passes over and thinks scorn of.\n\nLet us consider this more at length, as contained in the gracious\nnarrative of which the text is part.\n\n1. First, what do we read just before the text? that there were certain\nshepherds keeping watch over their flock by night, and Angels appeared to\nthem.  Why should the heavenly hosts appear to these shepherds?  What was\nit in them which attracted the attention of the Angels and the Lord of\nAngels?  Were these shepherds learned, distinguished, or powerful?  Were\nthey especially known for piety and gifts?  Nothing is said to make us\nthink so.  Faith, we may safely say, they had, or some of them, for to\nhim that hath more shall be given; but there is nothing to show that they\nwere holier and more enlightened than other good men of the time, who\nwaited for the consolation of Israel.  Nay, there is no reason to suppose\nthat they were better than the common run of men in their circumstances,\nsimple, and fearing God, but without any great advances in piety, or any\nvery formed habits of religion.  Why then were they chosen? for their\npoverty's sake and obscurity.  Almighty God looks with a sort of especial\nlove, or (as we may term it) affection, upon the lowly.  Perhaps it is\nthat man, a fallen, dependent, and destitute creature, is more in his\nproper place when he is in lowly circumstances, and that power and\nriches, though unavoidable in the case of some, are unnatural appendages\nto man, as such.  Just as there are trades and callings which are\nunbecoming, though requisite; and while we profit by them, and honour\nthose the more who engage in them, yet we feel we are glad that they are\nnot ours; as we feel grateful and respectful towards a soldier's\nprofession, yet do not affect it; so in God's sight greatness is less\nacceptable than obscurity.  It becomes us less.\n\nThe shepherds, then, were chosen on account of their lowliness, to be the\nfirst to hear of the Lord's nativity, a secret which none of the princes\nof this world knew.\n\nAnd what a contrast is presented to us when we take into account who were\nour Lord's messengers to them!  The Angels who excel in strength, these\ndid His bidding towards the shepherds.  Here the highest and the lowest\nof God's rational creatures are brought together.  A set of poor men,\nengaged in a life of hardship, exposed at that very time to the cold and\ndarkness of the night, watching their flocks, with the view of scaring\naway beasts of prey or robbers; they--when they are thinking of nothing\nbut earthly things, counting over the tale of their sheep, keeping their\ndogs by their side, and listening to the noises over the plain,\nconsidering the weather and watching for the day--suddenly are met by far\nother visitants than they conceived.  We know the contracted range of\nthought, the minute and ordinary objects, or rather the one or two\nobjects, to and fro again and again without variety, which engage the\nminds of men exposed to such a life of heat, cold, and wet, hunger and\nnakedness, hardship and servitude.  They cease to care much for any\nthing, but go on in a sort of mechanical way, without heart, and still\nmore without reflection.\n\nTo men so circumstanced the Angel appeared, to open their minds, and to\nteach them not to be downcast and in bondage because they were low in the\nworld.  He appeared as if to show them that God had chosen the poor in\nthis world to be heirs of His kingdom, and so to do honour to their lot.\n\"Fear not,\" he said, \"for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy,\nwhich shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city\nof David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.\"\n\n2. And now comes a second lesson, which I have said may be gained from\nthe Festival.  The Angel honoured a humble lot by his very appearing to\nthe shepherds; next he taught it to be joyful by his message.  He\ndisclosed good tidings so much above this world as to equalize high and\nlow, rich and poor, one with another.  He said, \"Fear not.\"  This is a\nmode of address frequent in Scripture, as you may have observed, as if\nman needed some such assurance to support him, especially in God's\npresence.  The Angel said, \"Fear not,\" when he saw the alarm which his\npresence caused among the shepherds.  Even a lesser wonder would have\nreasonably startled them.  Therefore the Angel said, \"Fear not.\"  We are\nnaturally afraid of any messenger from the other world, for we have an\nuneasy conscience when left to ourselves, and think that his coming\nforebodes evil.  Besides, we so little realize the unseen world, that\nwere Angel or spirit to present himself before us we should be startled\nby reason of our unbelief, a truth being brought home to our minds which\nwe never apprehended before.  So for one or other reason the shepherds\nwere sore afraid when the glory of the Lord shone around about them.  And\nthe Angel said, \"Fear not.\"  A little religion makes us afraid; when a\nlittle light is poured in upon the conscience, there is a darkness\nvisible; nothing but sights of woe and terror; the glory of God alarms\nwhile it shines around.  His holiness, the range and difficulties of His\ncommandments, the greatness of His power, the faithfulness of His word,\nfrighten the sinner, and men seeing him afraid, think religion has made\nhim so, whereas he is not yet religious at all.  They call him religious,\nwhen he is merely conscience-stricken.  But religion itself, far from\ninculcating alarm and terror, says, in the words of the Angel, \"Fear\nnot;\" for such is His mercy, while Almighty God has poured about us His\nglory, yet it is a consolatory glory, for it is the light of His glory in\nthe Face of Jesus Christ[2].  Thus the heavenly herald tempered the too\ndazzling brightness of the Gospel on that first Christmas.  The glory of\nGod at first alarmed the shepherds, so he added the tidings of good, to\nwork in them a more wholesome and happy temper.  Then they rejoiced.\n\n\"Fear not,\" said the Angel, \"for behold I bring you good tidings of great\njoy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the\ncity of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.\"  And then, when he\nhad finished his announcement, \"suddenly there was with the Angel a\nmultitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in\nthe highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.\" Such were the\nwords which the blessed Spirits who minister to Christ and His Saints,\nspoke on that gracious night to the shepherds, to rouse them out of their\ncold and famished mood into great joy; to teach them that they were\nobjects of God's love as much as the greatest of men on earth; nay more\nso, for to them first He had imparted the news of what that night was\nhappening.  His Son was then born into the world.  Such events are told\nto friends and intimates, to those whom we love, to those who will\nsympathize with us, not to strangers.  How could Almighty God be more\ngracious, and show His favour more impressively to the lowly and the\nfriendless, than by hastening (if I may use the term) to confide the\ngreat, the joyful secret to the shepherds keeping watch over their sheep\nby night?\n\nThe Angel then gave the first lesson of mingled humility and joyfulness;\nbut an infinitely greater one was behind in the event itself, to which he\ndirected the shepherds, in that birth itself of the Holy Child Jesus.\nThis he intimated in these words: \"Ye shall find the babe wrapped in\nswaddling clothes, lying in a manger.\"  Doubtless, when they heard the\nLord's Christ was born into the world, they would look for Him in kings'\npalaces.  They would not be able to fancy that He had become one of\nthemselves, or that they might approach Him; therefore the Angel thus\nwarned them where to find Him, not only as a sign, but as a lesson also.\n\n\"The shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,\nand see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known\nto us.\"  Let us too go with them, to contemplate that second and greater\nmiracle to which the Angel directed them, the Nativity of Christ.  St.\nLuke says of the Blessed Virgin, \"She brought forth her first-born Son,\nand wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger.\"  What a\nwonderful sign is this to all the world, and therefore the Angel repeated\nit to the shepherds: \"Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling\nclothes, lying in a manger.\"  The God of heaven and earth, the Divine\nWord, who had been in glory with the Eternal Father from the beginning,\nHe was at this time born into this world of sin as a little infant.  He,\nas at this time, lay in His mother's arms, to all appearance helpless and\npowerless, and was wrapped by Mary in an infant's bands, and laid to\nsleep in a manger.  The Son of God Most High, who created the worlds,\nbecame flesh, though remaining what He was before.  He became flesh as\ntruly as if He had ceased to be what He was, and had actually been\nchanged into flesh.  He submitted to be the offspring of Mary, to be\ntaken up in the hands of a mortal, to have a mother's eye fixed upon Him,\nand to be cherished at a mother's bosom.  A daughter of man became the\nMother of God--to her, indeed, an unspeakable gift of grace; but in Him\nwhat condescension!  What an emptying of His glory to become man! and not\nonly a helpless infant, though that were humiliation enough, but to\ninherit all the infirmities and imperfections of our nature which were\npossible to a sinless soul.  What were His thoughts, if we may venture to\nuse such language or admit such a reflection concerning the Infinite,\nwhen human feelings, human sorrows, human wants, first became His?  What\na mystery is there from first to last in the Son of God becoming man!\nYet in proportion to the mystery is the grace and mercy of it; and as is\nthe grace, so is the greatness of the fruit of it.\n\nLet us steadily contemplate the mystery, and say whether any consequence\nis too great to follow from so marvellous a dispensation; any mystery so\ngreat, any grace so overpowering, as that which is already manifested in\nthe incarnation and death of the Eternal Son.  Were we told that the\neffect of it would be to make us as Seraphim, that we were to ascend as\nhigh as He descended low--would that startle us after the Angel's news to\nthe shepherds?  And this indeed is the effect of it, so far as such words\nmay be spoken without impiety.  Men we remain, but not mere men, but\ngifted with a measure of all those perfections which Christ has in\nfulness, partaking each in his own degree of His Divine Nature so fully,\nthat the only reason (so to speak) why His saints are not really like\nHim, is that it is impossible--that He is the Creator, and they His\ncreatures; yet still so, that they are all but Divine, all that they can\nbe made without violating the incommunicable majesty of the Most High.\nSurely in proportion to His glory is His power of glorifying; so that to\nsay that through Him we shall be made _all but_ gods--though it is to\nsay, that we are infinitely below the adorable Creator--still is to say,\nand truly, that we shall be higher than every other being in the world;\nhigher than Angels or Archangels, Cherubim or Seraphim--that is, not\nhere, or in ourselves, but in heaven and in Christ:--Christ, already the\nfirst-fruits of our race, God and man, having ascended high above all\ncreatures, and we through His grace tending to the same high blessedness,\nhaving the earnest of His glory given here, and (if we be found faithful)\nthe fulness of it hereafter.\n\nIf all these things be so, surely the lesson of joy which the Incarnation\ngives us is as impressive as the lesson of humility.  St.  Paul gives us\nthe one lesson in his epistle to the Philippians: \"Let this mind be in\nyou, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God,\nthought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no\nreputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the\nlikeness of men[3]:\" and St. Peter gives us the lesson of joyfulness:\n\"whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet\nbelieving, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory: receiving\nthe end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.\"\n\nTake these thoughts with you, my brethren, to your homes on this festive\nday; let them be with you in your family and social meetings.  It is a\nday of joy; it is good to be joyful--it is wrong to be otherwise.  For\none day we may put off the burden of our polluted consciences, and\nrejoice in the perfections of our Saviour Christ, without thinking of\nourselves, without thinking of our own miserable uncleanness; but\ncontemplating His glory, His righteousness, His purity, His majesty, His\noverflowing love.  We may rejoice in the Lord, and in all His creatures\nsee Him.  We may enjoy His temporal bounty, and partake the pleasant\nthings of earth with Him in our thoughts; we may rejoice in our friends\nfor His sake, loving them most especially because He has loved them.\n\n\"God has not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation through our\nLord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we\nshould live together with Him.\"  Let us seek the grace of a cheerful\nheart, an even temper, sweetness, gentleness, and brightness of mind, as\nwalking in His light, and by His grace.  Let us pray Him to give us the\nspirit of ever-abundant, ever-springing love, which overpowers and sweeps\naway the vexations of life by its own richness and strength, and which\nabove all things unites us to Him who is the fountain and the centre of\nall mercy, lovingkindness, and joy.\n\n\n\n[1] For Christmas Day.\n\n[2] 2 Cor. iv. 6.\n\n[3] Phil. ii. 6-7.  1 Pet. i. 8, 9.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON XVIII.\n\nIgnorance of Evil.\n\n\"_And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to\nknow good and evil._\"--Gen. iii. 22.\n\n\nIt is plain that the temptation under which man fell in paradise was\nthis, an ambitious curiosity after knowledge which was not allowed him:\nnext came the desire of the eyes and the flesh, but the forbidden tree\nwas called the tree of _knowledge_; the Tempter _promised_ knowledge;\nand after the fall Almighty God pronounced, as in the text, that man\nhad gained it.  \"Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to _know_ good\nand evil.\"\n\nYou see it is said, \"man is become _as one of Us_, to know good and\nevil,\" because God does know evil as well as good.  This is His\nwonderful incommunicable attribute; and man sought to share in what God\nwas, but he could not without ceasing to be what God was also, holy and\nperfect.  It is the incommunicable attribute of God to know evil\nwithout experiencing it.  But man, when he would be as God, could only\nattain the shadow of a likeness which as yet he had not, by losing the\nsubstance which he had already.  He shared in God's knowledge by losing\nHis image.  God knows evil and is pure from it--man plunged into evil\nand so knew it.\n\nOur happiness as well as duty lies in not going beyond our measure--in\nbeing contented with what we are--with what God makes us.  They who\nseek after forbidden knowledge, of whatever kind, will find they have\nlost their place in the scale of beings in so doing, and are cast out\nof the great circle of God's family.\n\nIt is, I say, God's incommunicable attribute, as He did not create, so\nnot to experience sin--and as He permits it, so also to know it; to\npermit it without creating it, to know it without experiencing it--a\nwonderful and incomprehensible attribute truly, yet involved, perhaps,\nin the very circumstance that He permits it.  For He is every where and\nin all, and nothing exists except in and through Him.  Mysterious as it\nis, the very prison beneath the earth, its chains and fires and\nimpenitent inmates, the very author of evil himself, is sustained in\nexistence by God, and without God would fall into nothing.  God is in\nhell as well as in heaven, a thought which almost distracts the mind to\nthink of.  The awful God!  \"Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or\nwhither shall I go from Thy Presence?  If I climb up into heaven, Thou\nart there; if I go down to hell, Thou art there also.\"  Where life is,\nthere is He; and though it be but the life of death--the living death\nof eternal torment--He is the principle of it.  And being thus\nintimately present with the very springs of thought, and the first\nelements of all being, being the sustaining cause of all spirits,\nwhether they be good or evil, He is intimately present with evil, being\npure from it--and knows what it is, as being with and in the wretched\natoms which originate it.\n\nIf there be this sort of connexion between God's knowledge and\nsufferance of evil, see what an ambition it was in our first parents to\ndesire to know it without experiencing it; it was, indeed, to desire to\nbe as gods,--to know the secrets of the prison-house, and to see the\nworm that dieth not, yet remain innocent and happy.\n\nThis they understood not; they desired something which they knew not\nthat they could not have, remaining as they were; they did not see how\nknowledge and experience went together in the case of human nature; and\nSatan did not undeceive them.  They ate of the tree which was to make\nthem wise, and, alas! they saw clearly what sin was, what shame, what\ndeath, what hell, what despair.  They lost God's presence, and they\ngained the knowledge of evil.  They lost Eden, and they gained a\nconscience.\n\nThis, in fact, is the knowledge of good and evil.  Lost spirits do not\nknow good.  Angels do not know evil.  Beings like ourselves, fallen\nbeings, fallen yet not cast away, know good and evil; evil not external\nto them, nor yet one with them; but in them, yet not simply of them.\nSuch was the fruit of the forbidden tree, as it remains in us to this\nday.\n\nWe do not know in what the duty and happiness of other beings consist;\nbut at least this seems to have been man's happiness in Paradise, not\nto think about himself or to be conscious of himself.  Such, too, to\nrecur to the parallel especially suggested on this day, seems to be the\nstate of children.  They do not reflect upon themselves.  Such, too,\nseems to be the state of those orders of Angels whose life is said to\nconsist in contemplation--for what is contemplation but a resting in\nthe thought of God to the forgetfulness of self?  Hence the Saints are\ndescribed as \"Virgins who _follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth_.\"\nBut Adam, discontented with what he was, pined after a knowledge which\nhe could not obtain from without--which he could only have from\nmiserable experience within--from moral disorders within him, and from\nhaving his mind drawn to the contemplation of himself in consequence of\nthose disorders.  He obtained the wished for knowledge; and his first\nrecorded act afterwards was one of reflection upon self, and he hid\nhimself among the trees of the garden.  He was no longer fitted for\ncontemplating glories without him; his attention was arrested to the\nshame that was upon him.\n\nWhat is so miserably seen in the history of our first parents has been\nthe temptation and sin of their posterity ever since,--indulgence in\nforbidden, unlawful, hurtful, unprofitable knowledge; as some instances\nwill show.\n\n1. I ought to notice in the first place that evil curiosity which\nstimulates young persons to intrude into things of which it is their\nblessedness to be ignorant.  Satan gains our souls step by step; and\nhis first allurement is the knowledge of what is wrong.  He first\ntempts them to the knowledge, and then to the commission of sin.\nDepend on it that our happiness and our glory, in these matters, is to\nbe ignorant, as well as to be guiltless.  St. Paul says that \"it is a\nshame even to speak\" of those things which are done by the sons of\nBelial in secret.  Oh, thoughtless, and worse, oh, cruel to your own\nselves, all ye who read what ye should not read, and hear what ye\nshould not hear!  Oh, how will you repent of your folly afterwards!\nOh, what bitter feelings, oh, what keen pangs, will shoot through your\nsouls hereafter, at the memory, when you look back, of what has come of\nthat baneful curiosity!  Oh, how will you despise yourselves, oh, how\nweep at what you have brought on you!  At this day surely there is a\nspecial need of this warning; for this is a day when nothing is not\npried into, nothing is not published, nothing is not laid before all\nmen.\n\n2. In the next place I would observe, that the pursuit of science,\nwhich characterizes these times, is very likely to draw us aside into a\nsin of a particular kind, if we are not on our guard.  We read, in the\nbook of Acts, of many who used curious arts burning their books; that\nis, there are kinds of knowledge which are forbidden to the Christian.\nNow this seems strange to the world in this day.  The only forbidden\nsubjects which they can fancy, are such as are not _true_--fictions,\nimpostures, superstitions, and the like.  Falsehood they think wrong;\nfalse religions, for instance, _because_ false.  But they are perplexed\nwhen told that there may be branches of real knowledge, yet forbidden.\nYet it has ever been considered in the Church, as in Scripture, that\nsoothsaying, consulting the stars, magic, and similar arts, are\nunlawful--unlawful, even though not false; and Scripture certainly\nspeaks as if at least some of them were more than merely a pretended\nknowledge and a pretended power; whereas men now-a-days have got to\nthink that they are wrong, merely because _frauds_ and _impostures_;\nand if they found them not so, they would be very slow to understand\nhow still they are unlawful.  They have not mastered the idea that real\nknowledge may be forbidden us.\n\n3. Next it is obvious to speak of those melancholy persons who boast\nthemselves on what they call their knowledge of the world and of life.\nThere are men, alas not a few, who look upon acquaintance with evil as\nif a part of their education.  Instead of shunning vice and sin, they\ntry it, if for no other reason, simply for this--that they may have\nknowledge of it.  They mix with various classes of men, and they throw\nthemselves into the manners and opinions of all in turn.  They are\nready-witted perhaps, prompt and versatile, and easily adapt themselves\nso as to please and get acquainted with those they fall in with.  They\nhave no scruples of conscience hindering them from complying with\nwhatever is proposed; they are of any form of religion, have lax or\ncorrect morals, according to the occasion.  They can revel with those\nthat revel, and they can speak serious things when their society is\nserious.  They travel up and down the country perhaps, or they are of\nprofessions or pursuits which introduce them to men of various\nlanguages, or which take them abroad, and they see persons of opposite\ncreeds and principles, and whatever they fall in with they take as so\nmany facts, merely as facts of human nature, not as things right or\nwrong according to a certain fixed standard independent of themselves.\nNow whatever of religion or truth remains in our fallen nature is not\non the surface: these men, then, studying what is uppermost, are in\nfact but studying all that is evil in man, and in consequence they have\nvery low notions of man.  They are very sceptical about the existence\nof principle and virtue; they think all men equally swayed by worldly,\nselfish, or sensual motives, though some hide their motives better than\nothers, or have feelings and likings of a more refined character.  And\nhaving given in to sin themselves, they have no higher principle within\nthem to counteract the effect of what they see without; all their\nnotions of man's nature, capabilities, and destinies, are derived from,\nand are measured by, what goes on in the world, and accordingly they\napply all their knowledge to bad purposes.  They think they know, and\nthey do know too truly on the whole, the motives and inducements which\nwill prevail with men; and they use their knowledge to overreach,\ndeceive, seduce, corrupt, or sway those with whom they have to do.\n\n4. Another very different class of persons who study evil, and pride\nthemselves upon it, and are degraded by it, are those who indulge\nthemselves in contemplating and dwelling on the struggle between right\nand wrong in their own minds.  There have been from time to time men of\nmorbid imaginations, of any or no religious creed, who have so\nexercised themselves.  Indeed there has been a large school of writers\nin very various departments, for years, I may say centuries past,\nthough happily they are diminishing now, who delight in bringing out\ninto open day all the weaknesses and inconsistencies of human nature;\nnay worse, take pains to describe bad men, and how they feel, and what\nthey say; who interest the mind in bad men, nay in bad Angels, as if\nSatan might be thought of otherwise than with shuddering.  And there\nare others, men of mistaken religious views, who think that religion\nconsists in dwelling on and describing the struggle between grace and\ncorrupt nature in the soul.  Christ has brought us light and life, and\nwould have us put off what we are, and follow Him, who knew no sin.\nBut these men, far from rising even to the aspiration after perfection,\ndo not advance in their notion of spiritual religion beyond the idea of\ndeclaring and lamenting their want of it.  Confession is with them\nperfection; nay, it is almost the test of a Christian, to be able to\ndiscourse upon his inward corruption.  It is well to confess sin in\ndetail with shame as an act of penitence; it is a snare to speak of it\nvaguely and in public.\n\n5. Lastly, even when used rightly, the knowledge of sin is not without\nits danger.  As mediciners would not exist were there no illness or\ndisease, so it is mental disease which gives rise to casuists.  Pain\nleads us to think of our bodies, and sin of our souls.  Were our souls\nin perfect harmony, they would act like an instrument in tune; we\nshould with difficulty divide the sounds, even if we would; but it is\nthe discordance, the jar within us, which leads us to a serious\ncontemplation of what we are.  The same remark obviously applies to a\ngreat deal of theological knowledge, on which men who have it are\ntempted to pride themselves; I mean exact knowledge of heresies and the\nlike.  The love of God alone can give such knowledge its right\ndirection.  There is the danger lest men so informed find themselves\nscrutinizing when they should be adoring, reasoning when they should be\nbelieving, comparing when they should be choosing, and proving when\nthey should be acting.  We know two things of the Angels--that they cry\nHoly, Holy, Holy, and that they do God's bidding.  Worship and service\nmake up their blessedness; and such is our blessedness in proportion as\nwe approach them.  But all exercises of mind which lead us to reflect\nupon and ascertain our state; to know what worship is, and why we\nworship; what service is, and why we serve; what our feelings imply,\nand what our words mean, tend to divert our minds from the one thing\nneedful, unless we are practised and expert in using them.  All proofs\nof religion, evidences, proofs of particular doctrines, scripture\nproofs, and the like,--these certainly furnish scope for the exercise\nof great and admirable powers of mind, and it would be fanatical to\ndisparage or disown them; but it requires a mind rooted and grounded in\nlove not to be dissipated by them.  As for truly religious minds, they,\nwhen so engaged, instead of mere disputing, are sure to turn inquiry\ninto meditation, exhortation into worship, and argument into teaching.\n\n\nReflections such as these, followed up, show us how different is our\nstate from that for which God made us.  He meant us to be simple, and\nwe are unreal; He meant us to think no evil, and a thousand\nassociations, bad, trifling, or unworthy, attend our every thought.  He\nmeant us to be drawn on to the glories without us, and we are drawn\nback and (as it were) fascinated by the miseries within us.  And hence\nit is that the whole structure of society is so artificial; no one\ntrusts another, if he can help it; safeguards, checks, and securities\nare ever sought after.  No one means exactly what he says, for our\nwords have lost their natural meaning, and even an Angel could not use\nthem naturally, for every mind being different from every other, they\nhave no distinct meaning.  What, indeed, is the very function of\nsociety, as it is at present, but a rude attempt to cover the\ndegradation of the fall, and to make men feel respect for themselves,\nand enjoy it in the eyes of others, without returning to God.  This is\nwhat we should especially guard against, because there is so much of it\nin the world.  I mean, not an abandonment of evil, not a sweeping away\nand cleansing out of the corruption which sin has bred within us, but a\nsmoothing it over, an outside delicacy and polish, an ornamenting the\nsurface of things while \"within are dead men's bones and all\nuncleanness;\" making the garments, which at first were given for\ndecency, a means of pride and vanity.  Men give good names to what is\nevil, they sanctify bad principles and feelings; and, knowing that\nthere is vice and error, selfishness, pride, and ambition, in the\nworld, they attempt, not to root out these evils, not to withstand\nthese errors;--that they think a dream, the dream of theorists who do\nnot know the world;--but to cherish and form alliance with them, to use\nthem, to make a science of selfishness, to flatter and indulge error,\nand to bribe vice with the promise of bearing with it, so that it does\nbut keep in the shade.\n\nBut let us, finding ourselves in the state in which we are, take those\nmeans which alone are really left us, which alone become us.  Adam,\nwhen he had sinned, and felt himself fallen, instead of honestly\nabandoning what he had become, would fain have hid himself.  He went a\nstep further.  He did not give up what he now was, partly from dread of\nGod, partly from dislike of what he had been.  He had learnt to love\nsin and to fear God's justice.  But Christ has purchased for us what we\nlost in Adam, our garment of innocence.  He has bid us and enabled us\nto become as little children; He has purchased for us the grace of\n_simplicity_, which, though one of the highest, is very little thought\nabout, is very little sought after.  We have, indeed, a general idea\nwhat love is, and hope, and faith, and truth, and purity, though a poor\nidea; but we are almost blind to what is one of the first elements of\nChristian perfection, that simple-mindedness which springs from the\nheart's being _whole_ with God, entire, undivided.  And those who think\nthey have an idea of it, commonly rise no higher than to mistake for it\na mere weakness and softness of mind, which is but its counterfeit.  To\nbe simple is to be like the Apostles and first Christians.  Our Saviour\nsays, \"Be ye harmless,\" or simple, \"as doves.\"  And St. Paul, \"I would\nhave you wise unto that which is good, and _simple concerning\nevil_[2].\"  Again, \"That ye may be _blameless_ and _harmless_, the sons\nof God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse\nnation[3].\"  And he speaks of the \"testimony of\" his own \"conscience,\nthat in _simplicity_ and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but\nby the grace of God,\" he had his conversation in the world and towards\nhis disciples.  Let us pray God to give us this great and precious\ngift; that we may blot out from our memory all that offends Him;\nunlearn all that knowledge which sin has taught us; rid ourselves of\nselfish motives, self-conceit, and vanity, littlenesses, envying,\ngrudgings, meannesses; turn from all cowardly, low, miserable ways; and\nescape from servile fears, the fear of man, vague anxieties of\nconscience, and superstitions.  So that we may have the boldness and\nfrankness of those who are as if they had no sin, from having been\ncleansed from it; the uncontaminated hearts, open countenances, and\nuntroubled eyes of those who neither suspect, nor conceal, nor shun,\nnor are jealous; in a word, so that we may have confidence in Him, that\nwe may stay on Him, and rest in the thoughts of Him, instead of\nplunging amid the thickets of this world; that we may bear His eye and\nHis voice, and know no knowledge but the knowledge of Him and Jesus\nChrist crucified, and desire no objects but what He has blessed and bid\nus pursue.\n\n\n\n[1] for Innocents' Day.\n\n[2] Rom. xvi. 19.\n\n[3] Phil. ii. 16.\n\n\n\n\nEND OF VOL. VIII.","title":"Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII (of 8)","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":69578}