{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49112/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49112","id":"gutenberg_49112","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49112","summary":null,"tags":["Anglican Communion -- Sermons","Category: British Literature","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church -- Apostolicity -- Sermons","Church and state -- England","Church and state -- Ireland","Church of England -- Sermons","Church of Ireland -- Sermons","England -- Church history -- 19th century -- Sermons","Ireland -- Church history -- 19th century -- Sermons","Sermons, English -- 19th century"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1833 J. H. Parker edition by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                            NATIONAL APOSTASY\n                                CONSIDERED\n                                    IN\n                                 A SERMON\n                     PREACHED IN ST. MARY\u2019S, OXFORD,\n                                  BEFORE\n                     HIS MAJESTY\u2019S JUDGES OF ASSIZE,\n                        ON SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1833.\n\n\n                                    BY\n                            JOHN KEBLE, M. A.\n\n              FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, AND POETRY PROFESSOR\n                       IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 OXFORD,\n          PRINTED BY S. COLLINGWOOD, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY,\n                            FOR J. H. PARKER.\n       SOLD ALSO BY J. G. AND F. RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL\u2019S CHURCHYARD,\n                       AND WATERLOO-PLACE, LONDON.\n                               MDCCCXXXIII.\n\n\n\n\nADVERTISEMENT.\n\n\nSINCE the following pages were prepared for the press, the calamity, in\nanticipation of which they were written, has actually overtaken this\nportion of the Church of GOD.  The Legislature of England and Ireland,\n(_the members of which are not even bound to profess belief in the\nAtonement_,) this body has virtually usurped the commission of those whom\nour SAVIOUR entrusted with _at least one voice_ in making ecclesiastical\nlaws, on matters wholly or partly spiritual.  The same Legislature has\nalso ratified, to its full extent, this principle;\u2014that the Apostolical\nChurch in this realm is henceforth only to stand, in the eye of the\nState, as _one sect among many_, depending, for any preeminence she may\nstill appear to retain, merely upon the accident of her having a strong\nparty in the country.\n\nIt is a moment, surely, full of deep solicitude to all those members of\nthe Church who still believe her authority divine, and the oaths and\nobligations, by which they are bound to her, undissolved and indissoluble\nby calculations of human expediency.  Their anxiety turns not so much on\nthe consequences, to the State, of what has been done, (_they_ are but\ntoo evident,) as on the line of conduct which they are bound themselves\nto pursue.  How may they continue their communion with the Church\n_established_, (hitherto the pride and comfort of their lives,) without\nany taint of those Erastian Principles on which she is now avowedly to be\ngoverned?  What answer can we make henceforth to the partisans of the\nBishop of Rome, when they taunt us with being a mere Parliamentarian\nChurch?  And how, consistently with our present relations to _the State_,\ncan even the doctrinal purity and integrity of the MOST SACRED ORDER be\npreserved?\n\nThe attention of all who love the Church is most earnestly solicited to\nthese questions.  They are such, it will be observed, as cannot be\nanswered by appealing to precedents in English History, because, at most,\nsuch could only shew, that the difficulty might have been raised before.\nIt is believed, that there are hundreds, nay thousands of Christians, and\nthat soon there will be tens of thousands, unaffectedly anxious to be\nrightly guided with regard to these and similar points.  And they are\nmooted thus publicly, for the chance of eliciting, from competent judges,\na correct and early opinion.\n\nIf, under such trying and delicate circumstances, one could venture to be\npositive about any thing, it would seem safe to say, that in such measure\nas it may be thought incumbent on the Church, or on Churchmen, to submit\nto any profane intrusion, it must at least be their sacred duty, to\ndeclare, promulgate, and record, their full conviction, that it _is_\nintrusion; that they yield to it as they might to any other tyranny, but\ndo from their hearts deprecate and abjure it.  This seems the least that\ncan be done: unless we would have our children\u2019s children say, \u201cThere was\nonce here a glorious Church, but it was betrayed into the hands of\nLibertines for the real or affected love of a little temporary peace and\ngood order.\u201d\n\nJuly 22, 1833.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                              1 SAMUEL xii. 23.\n\n    _As for me_, _GOD forbid that I should sin against the LORD in\n    ceasing to pray for you_: _but I will teach you the good and the\n    right way_.\n\nON public occasions, such as the present, the minds of Christians\nnaturally revert to that portion of Holy Scripture, which exhibits to us\nthe will of the Sovereign of the world in more immediate relation to the\n_civil_ and _national_ conduct of mankind.  We naturally turn to the Old\nTestament, when _public_ duties, _public_ errors, and _public_ dangers,\nare in question.  And what in such cases is natural and obvious, is sure\nto be more or less right and reasonable.  Unquestionably it is a mistaken\ntheology, which would debar Christian nations and statesmen from the\ninstruction afforded by the Jewish scriptures, under a notion, that the\ncircumstances of that people were _altogether_ peculiar and unique, and\ntherefore irrelevant to every other case.  True, there _is_ hazard of\nmisapplication, as there is whenever men teach by example.  There is\n_peculiar_ hazard, from the sacredness and delicacy of the subject; since\ndealing with things supernatural and miraculous as if they were ordinary\nhuman precedents, would be not only unwise, but profane.  But these\nhazards are more than counterbalanced by the absolute certainty, peculiar\nto this history, that what is there commended was right, and what is\nthere blamed, wrong.  And they would be effectually obviated if men would\nbe careful to keep in view this caution:\u2014suggested every where, if I\nmistake not, by the manner in which the Old Testament is quoted in the\nNew:\u2014that, as regards reward and punishment, GOD dealt formerly with the\nJewish people in a manner analogous to that in which He deals now, not so\nmuch with Christian _nations_, as with the _souls of individual\nChristians_.\n\nLet us only make due allowances for this cardinal point of difference,\nand we need not surely hesitate to avail ourselves, as the time may\nrequire, of those _national_ warnings, which fill the records of the\nelder church: the less so, as the discrepancy lies rather in what is\nrevealed of GOD\u2019S providence, than in what is required in the way of\nhuman duty.  Rewards and punishments may be dispensed, visibly at least,\nwith a less even hand; but what _tempers_, and what _conduct_, GOD will\nultimately reward and punish,\u2014_this_ is a point which cannot be changed:\nfor it depends not on our circumstances, but on His essential, unvarying\nAttributes.\n\nI have ventured on these few general observations, because the impatience\nwith which the world endures any remonstrance on religious grounds, is\napt to shew itself most daringly, when the _Law_ and the _Prophets_ are\nappealed to.  Without any scruple or ceremony, men give us to understand\nthat they regard the whole as obsolete: thus taking the very opposite\nground to that which was preferred by the same class of persons two\nhundred years ago; but, it may be feared, with much the same purpose and\nresult.  _Then_, the Old Testament was quoted at random for every excess\nof fanatical pride and cruelty: _now_, its authority goes for nothing,\nhowever clear and striking the analogies may be, which appear to warrant\nus in referring to it.  The two extremes, as usual, meet; and in this\nvery remarkable point: that they both avail themselves of the\n_supernatural_ parts of the Jewish revelation to turn away attention from\nthat, which _they_, of course, most dread and dislike in it: its\nauthoritative confirmation of the _plain dictates of conscience_ in\nmatters of civil wisdom and duty.\n\nThat portion, in particular, of the history of the chosen people, which\ndrew from Samuel, the truest of patriots, the wise and noble sentiment in\nthe text, must ever be an unpleasing and perplexing page of scripture, to\nthose, who would fain persuade themselves, that a nation, even a\nChristian nation, may do well enough, as such, without GOD, and without\nHis Church.  For what if the Jews _were_ bound to the Almighty by ties\ncommon to no other people?  What if He _had_ condescended to know _them_\nin a way in which He was as yet unrevealed to all families of the earth\nbesides?  What if, as their relation to Him was nearer, and their\ningratitude more surpassing, so they might expect more exemplary\npunishment?  Still, after all has been said, to exaggerate their guilt,\n_in degree_, beyond what is supposed possible in any nation whatever now,\nwhat can it come to, in _kind_ and in _substance_, but only this;\u2014that\nthey rejected GOD? that they wished themselves rid of the moral restraint\nimplied in His peculiar presence and covenant?  They said, what the\nprophet Ezekiel, long after, represents their worthy posterity as saying,\n\u201c_We will be as the heathen_, _the families of the countries_.\u201d {10}\n\u201cOnce for all, we will get rid of these disagreeable, unfashionable\nscruples, which throw us behind, as we think, in the race of worldly\nhonour and profit.\u201d  Is this indeed a tone of thought, which Christian\nnations cannot fall into?  Or, if they should, has it ceased to be\ndispleasing to GOD?  In other words, has He forgotten to be angry with\nimpiety and practical atheism?  Either this must be affirmed, or men must\nown, (what is clear at once to plain unsophisticated readers,) that this\nfirst overt act, which began the downfall of the Jewish nation, stands on\nrecord, with its fatal consequences, for a perpetual warning to all\nnations, as well as to all individual Christians, who having accepted GOD\nfor their king, allow themselves to be weary of subjection to Him, and\nthink they should be happier if they were freer, and more like the rest\nof the world.\n\nI do not enter into the question, whether visible temporal judgments are\nto be looked for by Christian nations, transgressing as those Jews did.\nSurely common sense and piety unite, in representing this inquiry as,\npractically, one of no great importance.  When it is once known for\ncertain that such and such conduct is displeasing to the KING of kings,\nsurely common sense and piety concur in setting their mark of reprobation\non such conduct, whether the punishment, sure to overtake it, come\nto-morrow, or a year hence, or wait till we are in another world.\n\nWaving this question, therefore, I proceed to others, which appear to me,\nI own, at the present moment especially, of the very gravest practical\nimport.\n\nWhat are the symptoms, by which one may judge most fairly, whether or no\na nation, as such, is becoming alienated from GOD and CHRIST?\n\nAnd what are the particular duties of sincere Christians, whose lot is\ncast by divine Providence in a time of such dire calamity?\n\nThe conduct of the Jews, in asking for a king, may furnish an ample\nillustration of the _first_ point: the behaviour of Samuel, then and\nafterwards, supplies as perfect a pattern of the _second_, as can well be\nexpected from human nature.\n\nI.  The case is at least possible, of a nation, having for centuries\nacknowledged, as an essential part of its theory of government, that,\n_as_ a Christian nation, she is also a part of Christ\u2019s Church, and\nbound, in all her legislation and policy, by the fundamental rules of\nthat Church, the case is, I say, conceivable, of a government and people,\nso constituted, deliberately throwing off the restraint, which in many\nrespects such a principle would impose on them, nay, disavowing the\nprinciple itself; and that, on the plea, that other states, as\nflourishing or more so in regard of wealth and dominion, do well enough\nwithout it.  Is not this desiring, like the Jews, to have an earthly king\nover them, when the LORD their GOD is their king?  Is it not saying in\nother words, \u201cWe will be as the heathen, the families of the countries,\u201d\nthe aliens to the Church of our Redeemer?\n\nTo such a change, whenever it takes place, the immediate impulse will\nprobably be given by some pretence of danger from without,\u2014such as, at\nthe time now spoken of, was furnished to the Israelites by an incursion\nof the children of Ammon; or by some wrong or grievance in the executive\ngovernment, such as the malversation of Samuel\u2019s sons, to whom he had\ndeputed his judicial functions.  Pretences will never be hard to find;\nbut, in reality, the movement will always be traceable to the same decay\nor want of faith, the same deficiency in Christian resignation and\nthankfulness, which leads so many, as individuals, to disdain and forfeit\nthe blessings of the gospel.  Men not impressed with religious principle\nattribute their ill success in life,\u2014the hard times they have to struggle\nwith,\u2014to any thing rather than their own ill-desert: and the institutions\nof the country, ecclesiastical and civil, are always at hand to bear the\nblame of whatever seems to be going amiss.  Thus, the discontent in\nSamuel\u2019s time, which led the Israelites to demand a change of\nconstitution, was discerned by the Unerring Eye, though perhaps little\nsuspected by themselves, to be no better than a fresh development of the\nsame restless, godless spirit, which had led them so often into idolatry.\n\u201cThey have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should\nnot reign over them.  According to all the works, which they have done\nsince the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day,\nwherewith they have forsaken Me, and served other gods, so do they also\nunto thee.\u201d {14a}\n\nThe charge might perhaps surprise many of them, just as, in other times\nand countries, the impatient patrons of innovation are surprised, at\nfinding themselves rebuked on religious grounds.  Perhaps the Jews\npleaded the express countenance, which the words of their Law, in one\nplace, {14b} seemed, by anticipation, to lend to the measure they were\nurging.  And so, in modern times, when liberties are to be taken, and the\nintrusive passions of men to be indulged, precedent and permission, or\nwhat sounds like them, may be easily found and quoted for every thing.\nBut Samuel, in GOD\u2019S name, silenced all this, giving them to understand,\nthat in His sight the whole was a question of _motive_ and _purpose_, not\nof ostensible and colourable argument;\u2014in His sight, I say, to whom we,\nas well as they, are nationally responsible for much more than the\nsoundness of our deductions as matter of disputation, or of law; we are\nresponsible for the meaning and temper in which we deal with His Holy\nChurch, established among us for the salvation of our souls.\n\nThese, which have been hitherto mentioned as omens and tokens of an\nApostate Mind in a nation, have been suggested by the portion itself of\nsacred history, to which I have ventured to direct your attention.  There\nare one or two more, which the nature of the subject, and the palpable\ntendency of things around us, will not allow to be passed over.\n\nOne of the most alarming, as a symptom, is the growing indifference, in\nwhich men indulge themselves, to other men\u2019s religious sentiments.  Under\nthe guise of charity and toleration we are come almost to this pass;\n_that no difference_, _in matters of faith_, _is to disqualify for our\napprobation and confidence_, _whether in public or domestic life_.  Can\nwe conceal it from ourselves, that every year the practice is becoming\nmore common, of trusting men unreservedly in the most delicate and\nimportant matters, without one serious inquiry, whether they do not hold\nprinciples which make it impossible for them to be loyal to their\nCREATOR, REDEEMER, and SANCTIFIER?  Are not offices conferred,\npartnerships formed, intimacies courted,\u2014nay, (what is almost too painful\nto think of,) do not parents commit their children to be educated, do\nthey not encourage them to intermarry, in houses, on which Apostolical\nAuthority would rather teach them to set a mark, as unfit to be entered\nby a faithful servant of CHRIST?\n\nI do not now speak of public measures only or chiefly; many things of\nthat kind may be thought, whether wisely or no, to become from time to\ntime necessary, which are in reality as little desired by those who lend\nthem a seeming concurrence, as they are, in themselves, undesirable.  But\nI speak of the spirit which leads men to _exalt_ in every step of that\nkind; to _congratulate_ one another on the supposed decay of what they\ncall an exclusive system.\n\nVery different are the feelings with which it seems natural for a true\nChurchman to regard such a state of things, from those which would arise\nin his mind on witnessing the mere triumph of _any given set of adverse\nopinions_, exaggerated or even heretical as he might deem them.  He\n_might_ feel as melancholy,\u2014he _could_ hardly feel so indignant.\n\nBut this is not a becoming place, nor are these safe topics, for the\nindulgence of mere _feeling_.  The point really to be considered is,\nwhether, according to the coolest estimate, the fashionable liberality of\nthis generation be not ascribable, in a great measure, to the same temper\nwhich led the Jews voluntarily to set about degrading themselves to a\nlevel with the idolatrous Gentiles?  And, if it be true any where, that\nsuch enactments are forced on the Legislature by public opinion, is\nAPOSTASY too hard a word to describe the temper of that nation?\n\nThe same tendency is still more apparent, because the fair gloss of\ncandour and forbearance is wanting, in the surly or scornful impatience\noften exhibited, by persons who would regret passing for unbelievers,\nwhen Christian motives are suggested, and checks from Christian\nprinciples attempted to be enforced on their public conduct.  I say,\n\u201ctheir public conduct,\u201d more especially; because in that, I know not how,\npersons are apt to be more shameless, and readier to avow the irreligion\nthat is in them;\u2014amongst other reasons, probably, from each feeling that\nhe is one of a multitude, and fancying, therefore, that his\nresponsibility is divided.\n\nFor example:\u2014whatever be the cause, in this country of late years,\n(though we are lavish in professions of piety,) there has been observable\na growing disinclination, on the part of those bound by VOLUNTARY OATHS,\nto whatever reminds them of their obligation; a growing disposition to\nexplain it all away.  We know what, some years ago, would have been\nthought of such uneasiness, if betrayed by persons officially sworn, in\nprivate, legal, or commercial life.  If there be any subjects or\noccasions, now, on which men are inclined to judge of it more lightly, it\nconcerns them deeply to be quite sure, that they are not indulging, or\nencouraging a profane dislike of GOD\u2019S awful Presence; a general\ntendency, as a people, to leave Him out of all their thoughts.\n\nThey will have the more reason to suspect themselves, in proportion as\nthey see and feel more of that _impatience under pastoral authority_,\nwhich our SAVIOUR Himself has taught us to consider as a never-failing\nsymptom of an unchristian temper.  \u201cHe that heareth you, heareth Me; and\nhe that despiseth you, despiseth Me.\u201d {18a}  Those words of divine truth\nput beyond all sophistical exception, what common sense would lead us to\ninfer, and what daily experience teaches;\u2014that disrespect to the\nSuccessors of the Apostles, _as such_, is an unquestionable symptom of\nenmity to Him, who gave them their commission at first, and has pledged\nHimself to be with them for ever.  Suppose such disrespect general and\nnational, suppose it also avowedly grounded not on any fancied tenet of\nreligion, but on mere human reasons of popularity and expediency, either\nthere is no meaning at all in these emphatic declarations of our LORD, or\nthat nation, how highly soever she may think of her own religion and\nmorality, stands convicted in His sight of a direct disavowal of His\nSovereignty.\n\nTo this purpose it may be worth noticing, that the ill-fated chief, whom\nGOD gave to the Jews, as the prophet tells us, in his anger, {18b} and\nwhose disobedience and misery were referred by himself to his \u201cfearing\nthe people, and obeying their voice,\u201d {18c} whose conduct, therefore, may\nbe fairly taken as a sample of what public opinion was at that time\nsupposed to require,\u2014his first step in apostasy was an intrusion on the\nsacrificial office, {19a} as the last and greatest of his crimes was\npersecuting David, whom he well knew to bear GOD\u2019S special commission.\nGOD forbid, that any Christian land should ever, by her prevailing temper\nand policy, revive the memory and likeness of Saul, or incur a sentence\nof reprobation like his.  But if such a thing should be, the crimes of\nthat nation will probably begin in infringement on Apostolical Rights;\nshe will end in persecuting the true Church; and in the several stages of\nher melancholy career, she will continually be led on from bad to worse\nby vain endeavours at accommodation and compromise with evil.  Sometimes\n_toleration_ may be the word, as with Saul when he spared the Amalekites;\nsometimes _state security_, as when he sought the life of David;\nsometimes _sympathy with popular feeling_, as appears to have been the\ncase, when violating solemn treaties, he attempted to exterminate the\nremnant of the Gibeonites, in his zeal for the children of Israel and\nJudah. {19b}  Such are the sad but obvious results of separating\nreligious resignation altogether from men\u2019s notions of civil duty.\n\nII.  But here arises the other question, on which it was proposed to say\na few words; and with a view to which, indeed, the whole subject must be\nconsidered, if it is to lead to any practical improvement.  What should\nbe the tenor of _their_ conduct, who find themselves cast on such times\nof decay and danger?  How may a man best reconcile his allegiance to GOD\nand his Church with his duty to his country, that country, which now, by\nthe supposition, is fast becoming hostile to the Church, and cannot\ntherefore long be the friend of GOD?\n\nNow in proportion as any one sees reason to fear that such is, or soon\nmay be, the case in his own land, just so far may he see reason to be\nthankful, especially if he be called to any national trust, for such a\ncomplete pattern of his duty, as he may find in the conduct of Samuel.\nThat combination of sweetness with firmness, of consideration with\nenergy, which constitutes the temper of a perfect public man, was never\nperhaps so beautifully exemplified.  He makes no secret of the bitter\ngrief and dismay, with which the resolution of his countrymen had filled\nhim.  He was prepared to resist it at all hazards, had he not received\nfrom GOD Himself directions to give them their own way; protesting,\nhowever, in the most distinct and solemn tone, so as to throw the whole\nblame of what might ensue on their wilfulness.  Having so protested, and\nfound them obstinate, he does not therefore at once forsake their\nservice, he continues discharging all the functions they had left him,\nwith a true and loyal, though most heavy, heart.  \u201cGOD forbid that I\nshould sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach\nyou the good and the right way.\u201d\n\nShould it ever happen (which GOD avert, but we cannot shut our eyes to\nthe danger) that the Apostolical Church should be forsaken, degraded, nay\ntrampled on and despoiled by the state and people of England, I cannot\nconceive a kinder wish for her, on the part of her most affectionate and\ndutiful children, than that she may, consistently, act in the spirit of\nthis most noble sentence; nor a course of conduct more likely to be\nblessed by a restoration to more than her former efficiency.  In speaking\nof the Church, I mean of course, the laity, as well as the clergy in\ntheir three orders,\u2014the whole body of Christians united, according to the\nwill of JESUS CHRIST, under the Successors of the Apostles.  It may, by\nGOD\u2019S blessing, be of some use, to shew how, in the case supposed, the\nexample of Samuel might guide her collectively, and each of her children\nindividually, down even to minute details of duty.\n\nThe Church would, first of all, have to be constant, as before, in\nINTERCESSION.  No despiteful usage, no persecution, could warrant her in\nceasing to pray, as did her first fathers and patterns, for the State,\nand all who are in authority.  That duty once well and cordially\nperformed, all other duties, so to speak, are secured.  Candour,\nrespectfulness, guarded language,\u2014all that the apostle meant, in warning\nmen not to \u201cspeak evil of dignities,\u201d may then, and then only, be\npractised, without compromise of truth and fortitude, when the habit is\nattained of praying as we ought for the very enemies of our precious and\nholy cause.\n\nThe constant sense of GOD\u2019S presence and consequent certainty of final\nsuccess, which can be kept up no other way, would also prove an effectual\nbar against the more silent but hardly less malevolent feeling, of\ndisgust, almost amounting to misanthropy, which is apt to lay hold on\nsensitive minds, when they see oppression and wrong triumphant on a large\nscale.  The custom of interceding, even for the wicked, will keep the\nPsalmist\u2019s reasoning habitually present to their thoughts: \u201cFret not\nthyself because of the ungodly, neither be thou envious against the evil\ndoers: for they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and be withered\neven as the green herb . . .  Leave off from wrath, and let go\ndispleasure: fret not thyself, else shalt thou be moved to do evil.\u201d {22}\n\nThus not only by supernatural aid, which we have warrant of GOD\u2019S word\nfor expecting, but even in the way of natural consequence, the _first_\nduty of the church and of churchmen, INTERCESSION, sincerely practised,\nwould prepare them for the _second_;\u2014which, following the words of Samuel\nas our clue, we may confidently pronounce to be REMONSTRANCE.  \u201cI will\nteach you the good and the right way.\u201d  REMONSTRANCE, calm, distinct, and\npersevering, in public and in private, direct and indirect, by word,\nlook, and demeanour, is the unequivocal duty of every Christian,\naccording to his opportunities, when the Church landmarks are being\nbroken down.\n\nAmong laymen, a deep responsibility would appear to rest on those\nparticularly, whose profession leads them most directly to consider the\nboundaries of the various rights and duties, which fill the space of\ncivilized Society.  The immediate machinery of change must always pass\nthrough their hands: and they have also very great power in forming and\nmodifying public opinion.  The very solemnity of this day may remind\nthem, even more than others, of the close amity which must ever subsist\nbetween equal justice and pure religion; Apostolical religion, more\nespecially, in proportion to her superior truth and exactness.  It is an\namity, made still more sacred, if possible, in the case of the Church and\nLaw of England, by historical recollections, associations, and\nprecedents, of the most engaging and ennobling cast.\n\nBut I return to the practical admonition afforded her, in critical\nperiods, by Samuel\u2019s example.\n\nAfter the accomplishment of the change, which he deprecated, his whole\nbehaviour, to Saul especially, is a sort of expansion of the sentiment in\nthe text.  It is all earnest INTERCESSION with GOD, grave, respectful,\naffectionate REMONSTRANCE with the misguided man himself.  Saul is boldly\nrebuked, and that publicly, for his impious liberality in sparing the\nAmalekites, yet so, as not to dishonour him in the presence of the\npeople.  Even when it became necessary for GOD\u2019S prophet to shew that he\nwas in earnest, and give the most effectual of warnings, by separating\nhimself from so unworthy a person;\u2014when \u201cSamuel came no more to see\nSaul;\u201d {24}\u2014even then, we are told, he still \u201cmourned for him.\u201d\n\nOn the same principle, come what may, we have ill learned the lessons of\nour Church, if we permit our patriotism to decay, together with the\nprotecting care of the state.  \u201cThe powers that be, are ordained of GOD,\u201d\nwhether they foster the true Church, or no.  Submission and order are\nstill duties.  They were so in the days of pagan persecution; and the\nmore of loyal and affectionate feeling we endeavour to mingle with our\nobedience, the better.\n\nAfter all, the surest way to uphold or restore our endangered Church,\nwill be for each of her anxious children, in his own place and station,\nto resign himself more thoroughly to his GOD and SAVIOUR in those duties,\npublic and private, which are not immediately affected by the emergencies\nof the moment:\u2014the daily and hourly duties, I mean, of piety, purity,\ncharity, justice.  It will be a consolation understood, by every\nthoughtful Churchman, that, let his occupation be, apparently, never so\nremote from such great interests, it is in his power, by doing all as a\nChristian, to credit and advance the cause he has most at heart; and what\nis more, to draw down GOD\u2019S blessing upon it.  This ought to be felt, for\nexample, as one motive more to exact punctuality in those duties,\npersonal and official, which the return of an Assize week offers to our\npractice; one reason more for veracity in witnesses, fairness in\npleaders, strict impartiality, self-command, and patience, in those on\nwhom decisions depend; and for an awful sense of GOD\u2019S presence in all.\nAn Apostle once did not disdain to urge good conduct upon his proselytes,\nupon the ground, that, so doing, they would adorn and recommend the\ndoctrine of GOD our SAVIOUR. {25}  Surely, then, it will be no unworthy\nprinciple, if any man be more circumspect in his behaviour, more watchful\nand fearful of himself, more earnest in his petitions for spiritual aid,\nfrom a dread of disparaging the holy name of the English Church, in her\nhour of peril, by his own personal fault or negligence.\n\nAs to those who, either by station or temper, feel themselves most deeply\ninterested, they cannot be too careful in reminding themselves, that one\nchief danger, in times of change and excitement, arises from their\ntendency to engross the whole mind.  Public concerns, ecclesiastical or\ncivil, will prove indeed ruinous to those, who permit them to occupy all\ntheir care and thoughts, neglecting or undervaluing ordinary duties, more\nespecially those of a devotional kind.\n\nThese cautions being duly observed, I do not see how any person can\ndevote himself too entirely to the cause of the Apostolical Church in\nthese realms.  There may be, as far as he knows, but a very few to\nsympathise with him.  He may have to wait long, and very likely pass out\nof this world, before he see any abatement in the triumph of disorder and\nirreligion.  But, _if he be consistent_, he possesses, to the utmost, the\npersonal consolations of a good Christian: and as a true Churchman, he\nhas that encouragement, which no other cause in the world can impart in\nthe same degree:\u2014he is calmly, soberly, demonstrably SURE, that, sooner\nor later, HIS WILL BE THE WINNING SIDE, and that the victory will be\ncomplete, universal, eternal.\n\nHe need not fear to look upon the efforts of Antichristian powers, as did\nthe Holy Apostles themselves, who welcomed the first persecution in the\nwords of the Psalmist:\n\n\u201cWhy do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?\n\n\u201cThe kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together,\nagainst the LORD, and against His Anointed.\n\n\u201cFor of a truth against Thy Holy Child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed,\nboth Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of\nIsrael, were gathered together,\n\n\u201cFOR TO DO WHATSOEVER THY HAND AND THY COUNSEL DETERMINED BEFORE TO BE\nDONE.\u201d {27}\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{10}  Ezek. xx. 32.\n\n{14a}  1 Sam. viii. 7, 8.\n\n{14b}  Deut. xvii. 14\u201320.\n\n{18a}  Luke x. 16.\n\n{18b}  Hos. xiii. 11.\n\n{18c}  1 Sum. xv. 24.\n\n{19a}  1 Sam. xiii. 8\u201314.\n\n{19b}  2 Sam. xxi. 2.\n\n{22}  Psalm xxxvii. 1, 2, 8.\n\n{24}  1 Sam. xv. 35.\n\n{25}  Titus ii. 10.\n\n{27}  Acts iv. 25\u201328.","title":"National Apostasy: Considered in a Sermon Preached in St. Mary's Church, Oxford Before His Majesty's Judges of Assize on Sunday July 14th 1833","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5327}