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PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS
VOLUME I
CARDINAL NEWMAN'S WORKS.
J. <i. PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS. 8 vols. . . .each 3 6
SELECTION, from the Parochial and Plain Sermons . . . • 3 6 FIFTEEN SERMONS preached before the University of Oxford, between
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PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS
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PREFACE,
'I'^HE Sermons here repubKslied were written and preached at various periods between the years 1825 and 1843.
The fii'st six volumes are reprinted from the six volumes of "Pakoohial Sermons;" the seventh and eighth formed the fifth volume of " Plain Sermons, by Contributors to the Tracts FOE the Times," which was the contribution of its Author to that Series.
All the Sermons are reprinted from the last Editions of the several volumes, pubhshed from time to time by the Messrs. Rivington.
They made, in their day, partly through their publication, but yet more, probably, through their living effect upon those who heard them, a deep and lasting impression for good on the Communion for whose especial benefit they were I.]
vi Preface.
designed ; they exercised an extensive influence very far beyond it ; and their republication will awaken in many minds vivid and grateful re- collections of their first appearance.
They met, at that time, very real and great moral, intellectual, and spiritual needs of man, — in giving depth and precision and largeness to his belief and apprehension of the mysteries of God, and seriousness and accuracy to his study and knowledge of liimself, of his own nature, witli its manifold powers, capacities, and responsibilities, and of his whole relation to the supernatural and unseen. They found a response in the hearts and minds and con- sciences of those to whom they were addressed, in marvellous proportion to the afiectionate and stirring earnestness with whicli their Author appealed to the conscious or dormant sense of their needs, and bis zealous and energetic en- deavours, under God's blessing, to show, in every variety of light, how the grand central Verities of the Christian Dispensation, entrusted as the good " Deposit," to the Church, were revealed and adapted to supply them.
Preface. vii
Many things, indeed, contained in these volumes have become, from the very readiness of their first acceptance, and from their gradual reception into the current of rehgious thought, so familiar, that it requires some retrospect of the time previous to their appearance to ap- preciate the original freshness with which they brought out the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith, and their bearing on the for- mation of the Christian character; and to anderstand the degree in which they have acted, like leaven, on the mind and language and literature of the Church in this Country, and have marked an era in her History.
But, besides their relation to the past, it will be seen in their republication how the spirit w^hich dictated them pierced here and there through the cloud which hung over the future, and how the Author warned us, with some- what of prophetic forecast, of impending trials and conflicts, and of perplexities and dangers, then only dimly seen or unheeded, of which it has been reserved to the present generation to witness the nearer approach. It might seem to
viii Preface.
liave been his callino- at once to warn us of them, and to provide, as best he might, words of guidance and support, and consolation and encouragement under them — an anchor of the soul in the coming storm.
They are republished in the fervent hope and belief that like good to that which, by God's blessing, they have done before, they may, by His mercy, if we be not unworthy of it, do yet again under other circumstances.
To many of this generation they will appear in much of their original freshness ; and to all with the greater power and reality, from the saddening aspect of the times, and the appalling prospects before us ; replete as they are with those ^' many secrets of religion which are not perceived till they be felt, and are not felt, but in the day of great calamity."
In conclusion it is right, though scarcely ne- cessary to observe, that the republication of these Sermons by the Editor is not to be considered as equivalent to a re-assertion by their Author of all that they contain ; inasmuch as, being printed entire and unaltered, except in the most
Preface. ix
insignificant particulars, tliev cannot be free from passages which he certainly now v/ould wish were otherwise, or would, one may be sure, desire to see altered or omitted.
But the alternative plainly lies between pub- lishing all or nothing, and it appears more to the glory of God and for the cause of religion, to publish all, than to destroy the acceptable- ness of the Volumes to those for whom they were written by any omissions and alterations.
W. J. COPELAND.
Farnham REcroRY, Essex, i\I,iy \^ih, 1 868.
TO THE
REV. E. B. PUSEY, B.D.,
CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH,
AND REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN THS
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD,
THIS VOLUME
IS INSCRIBED,
IN AFFECTIONATE ACKNOWLEDGEMSNT
OF THE BLESSING
OF HIS lONO FRIENDSHIP AND EXAMPLB-
Harth tjt, lb 34.
CONTENTS.
SERMON I.
J^olmess Necessarg for Juture Blcssctincss.
" Holiness, without which no man shall s:e the Lord." — HEBREWS xii 14 . I
/
SERMON II.
Wc^z Imm0rtalit2 of tj^e Soul.
What shall a man give i'% exchange for his souli" — MATTHEW ivi. 26 . , . '5 /*
SERMON 111. iSmjiDkUgE of (Soli's TOtll fott^out ©betjfeitct.
*' IJ yt know these things, happy are ye ij ye do them." — ^JOHN
xiii. 17 ^^^
xiv Contents
SERMON IV. Secret Jnulla.
rAos •• Wh) can understand hii errors ? Cleanse Thou m* frfm lecra faults."— V^KX-Wi xix 12
,./
SERMON V. SelMBmfal tf)e STest of ISeligtoug CFarnrstncss.
•• N<m' U is high tirru to awake out of sleep "—ROMANS xiii II 57 ^
SERMON VL CTfje Spiritnal ^fnt.
TTu itngdo^n of God is not in vord, but in p<mtr."~ 1 Cc». I» . » . . r» ^
SERMON VII.
5fng of Ignorance anlt SlMeafetess.
" !^ Hs draw neat with a trttt heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evtl conscience, and our bodies washed -with pure water." — HEBREWS x. 22 . . • 8j v/
Contents. xv
SERMON VIII.
@ot)'3 CDommantiments not ©rtcbous.
PAGB
This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments ; and His commandments are not grievous. ^^ — I JOHN v. 3 . ■ 97 ^^
SERMON IX.
The man ciit of whom the Devils -were departed besought Him that he might be with Him ; but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath done Jtnto thee." — Luke viii. 38, 39 ti2
y
SERMON X. Proftsston tait^^out ifrnctfce.
" When there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another. He began to say unto His disciples first of all. Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." — LuKE xii. I . . . , 124 ^
SERMON XI.
^r0f£S0{on laitl^ciut f^gp0crf32.
" As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on
Christ" — Galatians iii. 27 139 /
xvi Contents.
SERMON XII. ^^roffssfon iuitfjout ©sterttaffon.
" Yi are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hiJ." — Matthew v. u iSa y
SERMON XIII.
promising inUj^out Potng.
" A certain man had htio sons ; and he came to the first, and said. Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I tvill not ; but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, Sit ; and went not.'' — MATTHEW xxi. 28-30 .... 165 ^
SERMON XIV.
lAcIistous Crmottoit,
" Eut Kt spake the more vehemently. If I should die with 7\ct^ 1
will not deny Thee in any wise" — Mark xiv. 31 . . . 177 ">/
SERMON XV. Etlt'sious jFait]^ EatfonaL
"He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief ; but tv-ti strong in faith, giving glory to God ; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised. He was able also to perform. " — Romans iv. 20, 21 190 7
Conte7its.
xvu
SERMON XVI.
STIje OT^mttan ilKggterfffl.
^^ Hmu can ihesi things be?" — John iii. 9
FAGB
»3 ^^
SERMON XVII. 9rf}e S£lf=S2Ei0e Enquirer.
" Lei no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." — I CoR. iii. i8, 19 215 /
SERMON XVIII. ©bcDience tj^e itctnEtig far i^eli'stous Perpleiftg.
Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land." — Psalm xxxvii. 34 .... . 238 y
SERMON XIX.
Cfmea of Pribate ^raget.
*' Thou, when thou pray est, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Fatherwhich seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. " — Matthew vi. 6 244
xviii Contents.
SERMON XX. Jorms of ^n'bate ^rajer.
PAGB
" [jyyd, teoii us (o pray, as John also taught his Jisciflfi. " - Luke
xi. \ 257 /
SERMON XXI. 2r{)£ Bcsurrcction of tijc Botig.
" Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth (he Lord the God of Abrahatn, and the God of /sa/u, end the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living ; for all live unto Him." — LUKE xx. 37, 38 . .271/
SERMON XXII.
OSitn£S0e2 of t|^£ EEgurrtrtujn-
" Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly ; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead." — Acts x. 40, 41 , . T&iJ
SERMON XXIII. Cfjn'stian KcfactEim.
^ Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." — PsALM ii. 11 29s
J
Contents. xix
SERMON XXIV. 5r!)e ISdigfon of t!)e ©a^.
PAGB
*' Ld us have ^race, whereby ve may serve God acceptably vdth reveren,-e and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire." — Hebrews xii. 28, 29 . . i09 sy'
SERMON XXV.
Scripture a Eecortj of Jfeuman Sorrofe.
" There is at Jerusalem by the sheepmarket a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, 0/ blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. "—]on\iv. 2,1 . . . .325/
SERMON XXVI. ijfjrfstian i^anfjoots.
•' When I was a child, I spake as a child, 1 understood as a child, I thought as a child ; but when I became a man, I put away childish things."— I Co-B.. -sill, li . , . . . 336 y
SERMON I. J^oline^jaf f^tu^^^x^ for JFuture Bk00etine00,
** Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." — H^B. xii. 14.
TN this text it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit to -*- convey a chief truth of religion in a few words. It is this circumstance which makes it especially im- pressive ; for the truth itself is declared in one form or other in every part of Scripture. It is told us again and again, that to make sinful creatures holy was the great end which our Lord had in view in taking upon Him our nature, and thus none but the holy will be accepted for His sake at the last day. The whole history of redemption, the covenant of mercy in all its parts and provisions, attests the necessity of holiness in order to salvation; as indeed even our natural con- science bears witness also. But in the text what is elsewhere implied in history, and enjoined by precept, is stated doctrinally, as ,1 momentoui; and necessary fact, the result of some awful irreversible law in the nature of things, and the inscrutable determination of the Divine Will
Now some one may ask, " Why is it that holiness is
W B
2 Holiness Necessary for
a necessary qualification for our being received into heaven ? why is it that the Bible enjoins upon us so strictly to love, fear, and obey God, to be just, honest, meek, pure in heart, forgiving, heavenly-minded, self- denying, humble, and resigned ? Man is confessedly weak and corrupt; why then is he enjoined to be so religious, so unearthly ? why is he required (in the strong language of Scripture) to become ' a new crea- ture * ? Since he is bv nature what he is, would it not be an act of greater mercy in God to save him altogether without this holiness, which it is so difficult, yet (as it appears) so necessary for him to possess ? "
Now we have no right to ask this question. Surely it is quite enough for a sinner to know, that a way has been opened through God's grace for his salvation, with- out being informed why that way, and not another way, was chosen by Divine Wisdom. Eternal life is "the ^ift of God." Undoubtedly He may prescribe the terms on which He will give it ; and if He has deter- mined holiness to be the way of life, it is enough ; it is not for us to inquire why He has so determined.
Yet the question may be asked reverently, and with a view to enlarge our insight into our own condition and prospects; and in that case the attempt to answer it w ill be profitable, if it be made soberly. I proceed, therefore, to state one of the reasons, assigned in Scrip- ture, why present holiness is necessary, as the text declares to us, for future happiness.
To be holy is, in our Church's words, to have ''the true circumcision of the Spirit ; " that is, to be separate from sin. to hate the works of the world, the flesh, and
Future Blessedness 3
the devil ; to take pleasure in keeping God's command- ments ; to do things as He would have us do them ; to live habitually as in the sight of the world to come, as if we had broken the ties of this life, and were dead abeady. Why cannot we be saved without possessing such a frame and temper of mind ?
I answer as follows : That, even supposing a man of unholy life were suffered to enter heaven, he would not he happy there; so that it would be no mercy to permit him to enter.
We are apt to deceive ourselves, and to consider heaven a place like this earth; I mean, a place where every one may choose and take his own pleasure. We see that in this world, active men have their own enjoy- ments, and domestic men have theirs ; men of literature, of science, of political talent, have their respective pursuits and pleasures. Hence we are led to aet as if it will be the same in another world. The only difference we put between this world and the next, is that here, (as we know well,) men are not always sure, but there, we suppose they will he always sure, of obtaining what they seek after. And accordingly we conclude, that any man, whatever his habits, tastes, or manner of life, if once admitted into heaven, would be happy there. Not that w^e altogether deny, that some preparation is necessary for the next world; but we do not estimate its real extent and importance. We think we can reconcile ourselves to God when we will ; as if nothing were required in the case of men in general, but some temporary attention, more than ordinary, to our re- ligious duties, — some strictness, during our last sickness,
4 Holiness Necessary for
in the services of the Church, as men of business arrange their letters and papers on taking a journey or balancing an account. But an opinion like this, though commonly acted on, is refuted as soon as put into words. For heaven, it is plain from Scripture, is not a place where many different and discordant pursuits can be carried on at once, as is the case in this world. Here every man can do his own pleasure, but there he must do God's pleasure. It would be presumption to attempt to deter- mine the employments of that eternal life which good men are to pass in God's presence, or to deny that that state which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind conceived, may comprise an infinite variety of pursuits and occupations. Still so far we are distinctly told, that that future life will be spent in God's presence, in a sense which does not apply to our present life ; so that it may be best described as an endless and uninterrupted worship of the Eternal Father, Son, and Spirit. " They serve Him day and night in His temple, and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them .... The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters." Again, " The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it^." These passages from St. John are sufficient to remind us of many others. Heaven then is not like this world ; I will say what 1 Rev. vii. 15. 17 ; xxi. 23. 24.
Future Blessedness. 5
it is much more like, — a church. For in a place of public worship no language of this world is heard ; there are no schemes brought forward for temporal objects, great or small ; no information how to strengthen our worldly interests, extend our influence, or establish our credit. These things indeed may be right in their way, so that we do not set our hearts upon them; still (I repeat), it is certain that we hear nothing of them in a church. Here we hear solely and entirely of God. We praise Him, worship Him, sing to Him, thank Him, confess to Him, give ourselves up to Him, and ask His blessing. And therefore, a church is like heaven ; viz. because both in the one and the other, there is one single sovereign subject — religion — brought before us.
Supposing, then, instead of it being said that no irreli- gious man could serve and attend on God in heaven (or see Him, as the text expresses it), we were told that no irreligious man could worship, or spiritually see Him in church ; should we not at once perceive the meaning of the doctrine ? viz. that, were a man to come hither, who had suffered his mind to grow up in its own way, as nature or chance determined, without any deliberate habitual effort after truth and purity, he would find no real pleasure here, but would soon get weary jf the place ; because, in this house of God, he would hear only of that one subject which he cared little or nothing about, and nothing at all of those things which excited his hopes and fears, his sympathies and energies. If then a man without religion (supposing it possible) were admitted into heaven, doubtless he would sustain a great disappointment. Before, indeed, he fancied that he could
6 Holiness Necessary for
be happy there ; but when he arrived there, he would find no discourse but that which he had shunned on earth, no pursuits but those he had disliked or despised, nothing- which bound him to aug-ht eUe in the universe, and made him feel at home, nothing which he could enter into and reet upon. He would perceive himself to be an isolated being, cut away by Supreme Power from those objects which were still entwined around his heart. Nay, he would be in the presence of that Supreme Power, whom he never on earth could bring himself steadily to think upon, and whom now he re- garded only as the destroyer of all that was preciou' and dear to him. Ah ! he could not bear the face of tht Living God ; the Holy God would be no object of joy to him. " Let us alone ! What have we to do with thee ? " is the sole thought and desire of unclean souls, even while they acknowledge His majesty. None but the holy can look upon the Holy One ; without holiness no man can endure to see the Lord,
When, then, we think to take part in the joys of heaven without holiness, we are as inconsiderate as if we supposed we could take an interest in the worship of Christians here below without possessing it in our mea- sure. A careless, a sensual, an unbelieving mind, a mind destitute of the love and fear of God, with narrow views and earthly aims, a low standard of duty, and a benighted conscience, a mind contented with itself, and unresigned to God^s will, would feel as little pleasure, at the last day, at the words, " Enter into the joy of thy Lord,'' as it does now at the words, " Let us pray." Nay, much less, because, while we are in a church, we
Future Blessedness. 7
may turn our thoughts to other subjects, and contrive to forget that God is looking on us ; but that will not be possible in heaven.
We see, then, that holiness, or inward separation from the world, is necessary to our admission into heaven, because heaven is not heaven, is not a place of happiness except to the holy. There are bodily indispositions which affect the taste, so that the sweetest flavours become un- grateftil to the palate ; and indispositions which impair the sight, tinging the fair face of nature with some sickly hue. In like manner, there is a moral malady which disorders the inward sight and taste ; and no man labouring under it is in a condition to enjoy what Scrip- ture calls " the fulness of joy in God's presence, and pleasures at His right hand for evermore."
Nay, I will venture to say more than this ; — it is fearful, but it is right to say it ; — that if we wished to imagine a punishment for an unholy, reprobate soul, we perhaps could not fancy a greater than to summon it to heaven. Heaven would be hell to an irreligious man. We know how unhappy we are apt to feel at present, when alone in the midst of strangers, or of men of different tastes and habits from ourselves. How miser- able, for example, would it be to have to live in a foreign land, among a people whose faces we never saw before, and whose language we could not learn. And this is but a faint illustration of the loneliness of a man of earthly dispositions and tastes, thrust into the society of saints and angels. How forlorn would he wander through the courts of heaven ! He would find no one like himself; he would see in every direction the marks
8 Holiness Necessary for
of God's holiness, and these would make him shudder. He would feel himself always in His presence. He could no longer turn his thoughts another way, as he does now, when conscience reproaches him. He would know that the Eternal Eye was ever upon him ; and that Eye of holiness, which is joy and life to holy creatures, would seem to him an Eye of wrath and punishment. God cannot change His nature. Holy He must ever be. But while He is holy, no unholy soul can be happy in heaven. Fire does not inflame iron, but it inflames straw. It would cease to be fire if it did not. And so heaven itself would be fire to those, who would fain escape across the great gulf from the torments of hell. The finger of Lazarus would but increase their thirst. The very " heaven that is over their head ** will be " brass ** to them.
And now I have partly explained why it is that hohness is prescribed to us as the condition on our part for our admission into heaven. It seems to be necessary from the very nature of thing-s. We do not see how it could be otherwise. Now then I will mention two important truths which seem to follow from what has been said.
1. If a certain character of mind, a certain state of the heart and afiections, be necessary for entering heaven, our actions will avail for our salvation, chiefly as they tend to produce or evidence this frame of mind. Good works (as they are called) are required, not as if they had any thing of merit in them, not as if they could of themselves turn away God^s anger for our sins, or pur- chase heaven for us, but because they are the means^
Future Blessedness. 9
under God's grace^ of streDgthening and showing forth that holy principle which God implants in the heart, and without which (as the text tells us) we cannot see Him. The more numerous are our acts of charity, self- denial, and forbearance, of course the more will oui minds be schooled into a charitable, self-denying, and forbearing temper. The more frequent are our prayers, the more humble, patient, and religious are our daily deeds, this communion with God, these holy works, will be the means of making our hearts holy, and of pre- paring us for the future presence of God. Outward acts, done on principle, create inward habits. I repeat, the separate acts of obedience to the will of God, good works as they are called, are of service to iis, as gradually severing us from this world of sense, and impressing our hearts with a heavenly character.
It is plain, then, what works are not of service to our salvation; — ^all those which either have no effect upon the heart to change it, or which have a bad effect. What then must be said of those who think it an easy thing to please God, and to recommend themselves to Him ; who do a few scanty services, call these the walk of faith, and are satisfied with them ? Such men, it is too evident, instead of being themselves profited by their acts, such as they are, of benevolence, honesty, or justice, may be (I might even say) injured by them. For these very acts, even though good in themselves, are made to foster in these persons a bad spirit, a corrupt state of heart ; viz. self-love, self-conceit, self-reliance, instead of tending to turn them from this world to the Father of spirits. In like manner, the mere outward acts of coming
lO Holiness Necessary far
to church, and sayinp^ prayers, which are, of course, duties imperative upon all of us, are really serviceable to those only who do them in a heavenward spirit. Be- cause such men only use these good deeds to the improve- ment of the heart ; whereas even the most exact outward devotion avails not a man, if it does not improve it.
2. But observe what follows from this. If holiness be not merely the doing a certain number of good actions, but is an inward character which follows, under God's grace, from doing them, how far distant from that holiness are the multitude of men ! They are not yet even obedient in outward deeds, which is the first step towards possessing it. They have even to learn to practise good works, as the means of changing their hearts, which is the end. It follows at once, even though Scripture did not plainly tell us so, that no one is able to prepare himself for heaven, that is, make him- self holy, in a short time ; — at least we do hot see how it is possible j and this, viewed merely as a deduction oi the reason, is a serious thought. Yet, alas ! as there are persons who think to be saved by a few scanty per- formances, so there are others who suppose they may be saved all at once by a sudden and easily acquired faith. Most men who are living in neglect of God, silence their consciences, when troublesome, with the promise of repenting some future day. How often are they thus led on till death surprises them ! But we will suppose they do begin to repent when that future day comes. Nay, we will even suppose that Almighty God were to forgive them, and to admit them into His holy heaven. Well, but is nothing more requisite ? are they in a fit
Future Blessedness. 1 1
state to do Him service in heaven ? is not this the very point I have been so insisting* on^ that they are not in a fit state ? has it not been shown that, even if admitted there without a change of heart, they would find no pleasure in heaven ? and is a change of heart wrought in a day ? Which of our tastes or likings can we change at our will in a moment? Not the most superficial. Can we then at a word change the whole frame and character of our minds? Is not holiness the result of many patient, repeated efforts after obedience, gradually working on us, and first modifying and then changing our hearts ? We dare not, of course, set bounds to God's mercy and power in cases of repentance late in life, even where He has revealed to us the general rule of His moral governance ; yet, surely, it is our duty ever to keep steadily before us, and act upon, those general truths which His Holy Word has declared. His Holy Word in various ways warns us, that, as no one will find happiness in heaven, who is not holy, so no one can learn to be so, in a short time, and when he will. It implies it in the text, which names a quali- fication, which we know in matter of fact does ordi- narily take time to gain. It propounds it clearly, though in figure, in the parable of the wedding garment, in which inward sanctification is made a condition distinct from our acceptance of the proffer of mercy, and not negligently to be passed over in our thoughts as if a necessary consequence of it; and in that of the ten virgins, which shows us that we must meet the bride- groom with the oil of holiness, and that it takes time to procure it. And it solemnly assures us in St. Paul's
1 2 Holiness Necessary for
Epistles, that it is ])ossible so to presume on Divine grace, £is to let slip the accepted time, and be sealed even before the end of life to a reprobate mind K
I wish to speak to you, my brethren, not as if aliena from God's mercies, but as partakers of His gracious covenant in Christ ; and for this reason in especial peril, since those only can incur the sin of making void His covenant, who have the privilege of it. Yet neither on the other hand do 1 speak to you as wilful and obstinate sinners, exposed to the imminent risk of forfeiting, or the chance of having forfeited, your hope of heavea But I fear there are those, who, if they dealt faithfully with their consciences, would be obliged to own that they had not made the service of God their first and great concern ; that their obedience, so to call it, has been a matter of course, in which the heart has had no part ; that they have acted uprightly in worldly matters chiefly for the sake of their worldly interest. I fear there are those, who, whatever be their sense of religion, stUl have such misgivings about themselves, as lead them to make resolve to obey God more exactly some future day, such misgivings as convict them of sin, though not enough to bring home to them its heinousness or its peril. Such men are trifling with the appointed season of mercy. To obtain the gift of holiness is the work of a life. No man will ever be perfect here, so sinful is our nature. Thus, in putting off the day of repentance, these men are reserving for a few chance years, when strength and vigour are gone, that work for which a whole life would not be enough. That work is great and
^ Heb. vi. 4—6 ; x. 26—29. Vide also 2 Pet. iL 20. 22.
Future Blessedness.
'3
arduous beyond expression. There is much of sin re- maining even in the best of men, and " if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear * ? " Their doom may be fixed any moment ; and though this thought should not make a man despair to-day, yet it should ever make him tremble for to-morrow.
Perhaps, however, others may say: — "We know something of the power of religion — we love it in a measure — we have many right thoughts — we come to church to pray ; this is a proof that we are prepared for heaven : — we are safe, and what has been said does not apply to us.^^ But be not you, my brethren, in the number of these. One principal test of our being true servants of God is our wishing to serve Him better; and be quite sure that a man who is contented with his own proficiency in Christian holiness, is at best in a dark state, or rather in great peril. If we are really imbued with the grace of holiness, we shall abhor sin as some- thing base, irrational, and polluting. Many men, it is true, are contented with partial and indistinct views of religion, and mixed motives. Be you content with' nothing short of perfection; exert yourselves day by day to grow in knowledge and grace; that, if so be, you may at length attain to the presence of Almighty God.
Lastly; while we thus labour to mould our hearts after the pattern of the holiness of our Heavenly Father, it is our comfort to know, what I have already implied, that we are not left to ourselves, but that the Holy
» 1 Pet. iv. 18.
14 Holiness Necessary for Future B lessed^iess.
Ghost is graciously present with us, and enables us to triumph over, and to chang^e our own minds. It is a comfort and encourag-ement, while it is an anxious and awful thing, to know that God works in and through us '. We are the instruments, but we are x)nly the instruments, of our own salvation. Let no one say that I discourage him, and propose to him a task beyond his strength. All of us have the gifts of grace pledged to us from our youth up. We know this well ; but we do Qot use our privilege. We form mean ideas of the diflB- culty, and in consequence never enter into the great- ness of the gifts given us to meet it. Then afterwards, if perchance we gain a deeper insight into the work we have to do, we think God a hard master, who commands much from a sinful race. Narrow, indeed, is the way of life, but infinite is His love and power who is with the Church, in Christ's place, to guide us along it.
1 Phil. ii. 12, Y6.
SERMON II. W^z 3|mmoctalitp of t|)e »)oul*
" What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? " — Matt. xvi. 26.
T SUPPOSE there is no tolerably informed Christian -*- but considers he has a correct notion of the difference between our religion and the paganism which it sup- planted. Every one, if asked what it is we have gained by the Gospel, will promptly answer, that we have gained the knowledge of our immortality, of our having souls which will live for ever ; that the heathen did not know this, but that Christ taught it, and that His disciples know it. Every one will say, and say truly, that this was the great and solemn doctrine which gave the Gospel a claim to be heard when first preached, which arrested the thoughtless multitudes, who were busied in the pleasures and pursuits of this life, awed them with the vision of the life to come, and sobered them till they turned to God with a true heart. It will be said, and said truly, that this doctrine of a future life was the doctrine which broke the power and the fascination of paganism. The poor benighted heathen were engaged in aU the frivolities and absurdities of a false ritual,
1 6 The Immortality of the Soul.
which had obscured the light of nature. They knew God, but they forsook Him for the inventions of men ; they made protectors and guardians for themselves ; and had "gods many and lords many'/' They had their profane worship, their gaudy processions, their indulgent creed, their easy observances, their sensual festivities, their childish extravagances, such as might suitably be the religion of beings who were to live for seventy oi eighty years, and then die once for all, never to live again. "' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,'' was their doctrine and their rule of life. " To-morrow we die •*' — this the Holy Apostles admitted. They taught so far as the heathen ; " To-morrow we die " but then they added, " And after death the judgment ;" — -judgment upon the eternal soul, which lives in spite of the death of the body. And this was the truth, which awakened men to the necessity of having a better and deeper reli- gion than that which had spread over the earth, when Christ came, — which so wrought upon Ihem that they left that old false worship of theirs, and it fell. Yes ! though throned in all the power of the world, a sight such as eye had never before seen, though supported by the great and the many, the magnificence of kings, and the stubbornness of people, it fell. Its ruins remain scattered over the face of the earth ; the shattered works of its great upholder, that fierce enemy of God, the Pagan Eoman Empire. Those ruins are found even among themselves, and show how marvellously great was its power, and therefore how much more powerful was that which broke its power ; and this was the doctrine
^ 1 Cor. viii 5.
The immortality of the Soul. i^
of the immortality of the soul. So entire is the revo- lution which is produced among iiieii, wherever this high trath is really received.
I have said that every one of us is able fluently tf speak of this doctrine, and is aware that the knowledge of it forms the fundamental difference between our state and that of the heathen. And yet, in spite of our being able to speak about it and our "form of knowledge *'' (as St. Paul terms it), there seems scarcely room to doubt, that the greater number of- those who are called Christians in no true sense realize it in their own minds at all. Indeed, it is a very difficult thing to bring home to us, and to feel, that we have souls ; and there cannot be a more fatal mistake than to suppose we see what the doctrine means, as soon as we can use the words which signify it. So great a thing is it to understand that we have souls, that the knowing it, taken in connexion with its results, is all one with being serious, i. e. truly religious. To discern our immortality is necessarily connected with fear and trembling and repentance, in the case of every Christian. Who is there but would be sobered by an actual sight of the flames of hell fire and the souls therein hopelessly enclosed ? Would not all his thoughts be drawn to that awful sight, so that he would stand still gazing fixedly upon it, and forgetting every thing else ; seeing nothing else, hearing nothing, sngrossed with the contemplation of it ; and when the sight was withdrawn, still having it fixed in his memory, so that he would be henceforth dead to the pleasures and employments of this world, considered in
I Rom. ii. 20.
[I] c
1 8 The Immortality of the Soul.
themselves, thinking- of them only in their rel'erence to that fearful vision ? This would be the overpowering effect of such a disclosui-e, whether it actually led a man to repentance or not. And thus absorbed in the thought of the life to come are they ^ho really and heartily receive the words of Christ and His Apostles. Yet to this state of mind, and therefore to this true knowledge, the multitu«-ie of men called Christians are certainly strangers ; a thick veil is drawn over their eyes ; and in spite of their being, able to talk of the doctrine, they are as if they never had heard of it. They go on just as the heathen did of old : they eat, they drink ; or they amuse themselves in vanities, and live in the world, without fear and without sorrow, just as if God had not declared that their conduct in this life would decide their destiny in the next; just as if they either had no souls, or had nothing or little to do with the saving of them, which was the creed of the heathen.
Now let us consider what it is to bring home to our- selves that we have souls, and in what the especial difficulty of it lies ; for this may be of use to us in our attempt to realize that awful truth.
We are from our birth apparently dependent on things about us. We see and feel that we could not live or go for- ward without the aid of man. To a child this world is every thing : he seems to himself a part of this world, — a part of this world, in the same sense in which a branch is part of a tree ; he has little notion of his own separate and independent existence: that is, he has no just idea he has a souL And if he goes through life with his notions unchanged, he has no just notion, even to the
The Immortality of the Soul. 1 9
end of life, that he has a soul. He views himself merely in his connexion with this world, which is his all; he looks to this world for his good, as to an idol; and when he tries to look beyond this life, he is able to discern nothing in prospect, because he has no idea of any thing, nor can fancy any thing, hut this life. And if he is obliged to fancy something, he fancies this life over again; just as the heathen, when they reflected on those traditions of another life, which were floating among them, could but fancy the happiness of the blessed to consist in the enjoyment of the sun, and the sky, and the earth, as before, only as if these were to be more splendid than they are now.
To understand that we have souls, is to feel our separation from things visible, our independence of them, our distinct existence in ourselves, our indi- viduality, our power of acting for ourselves this way or that way, our accountableness for what we do. These are the great truths which lie wrapped up indeed even in a child's mind, and which God's grace can unfold there in spite of the influence of the external world ; but at first this outward world prevails. We look ofi" from self to the things around us, and forget ourselves in them. Such is our state, — a depending for support on the reeds which are no stay, and overlooking our real strength, — at the time when God begins His process of reclaiming us to a truer view of our place in His great system of providence. And when He visits us, then in a little while there is a stirring within us. The unpro- fitableness and feebleness of the things of this world are forced upon our minds ; they promise but cannot
20 The Immortality of the Soul.
perform, they disappoint us. Or, if they do perform what they promise, still (so it is) they do not satisfy us. We still crave for something, we do not well know what; but we are sure it is something which the world has not given us. And then its changes are so many, so sudden, so silent, so continual. It never leaves changing ; it goes on to change, till we are quite sick at heart: — then it is that our reliance on it is broken. It is plain we cannot continue to depend upon it, unless we keep pace with it, and go on changing too ; but this we cannot do. We feel that, while it changes, we are one and the same ; and thus, under God^s blessing, we come to have some glimpse of the meaning of our independence of things temporal, and our immortality. And should it so happen that misfortunes come upon us, (as they often do,) then still more are we led to under- stand the nothingness of this world ; then still more are we led to distrust it, and are weaned from the love of it, till at length it floats before our eyes merely as some idle veil, which, notwithstanding its many tints, cannot hide the view of what is beyond it ; — and we begin, by degrees, to perceive that there are but two beings in the whole universe, our own soul, and the God who made it. Sublime, unlooked-for doctrine, yet most true ! To every one of us there are but two beings in the whole world, himself and God ; for, as to this outward scene, its pleasures and pursuits, its honours and cares, its contrivances, its personages, its kingdoms, its multitude of busy slaves, what are they to us ? nothing — no more than a show : — " The world passeth away and the lust thereof/' And as to those others nearer to us, who are
The Immortality of the Soul. 21
not to be classed with the vain world, I mean our friends and relations, whom we are right in loving, these, too, after all, are nothing- to us here. They cannot really help or profit us ; we see them, and they act upon us, only (as it were) at a distance, through the medium of sense ; they cannot get at our souls ; they cannot enter into our thoughts, or really be companions to us. In the next world it will, through God's mercy, be otherwise ; but here we enjoy, not their presence, but the anticipation of what one day shall be ; so that, after all, they vanish before the clear vision we have, first, of .our own existence, next of the presence of the great God in us, and over us, as our Governor and Judge, who dwells in us by our conscience, which is His representative.
And now consider what a revolution will take place in the mind that is not utterly reprobate, in proportion as it realizes this relation between itself and the most high God. We never in this life can fully understand what is meant by our living for ever, but we can under- stand what is meant by this world's not living for ever, by its dying never to rise again. And learning this, we learn that we owe it no service, no allegiance ; it has no claim over us, and can do us no matei-ial good nor harm. On the other hand, the law of God written on our hearts bids us serve Him, and partly tells us how to serve Him, and Scripture completes the precepts which nature began. And both Scripture and con- science tell us we are answerable for what we do, and that God is a righteous Judge; and, above all, our Saviour, as our Arisible Lord God, takes the place of the
22 The Immortality of the Soul.
world as the Only-begotten of the Father, having shown Himself" openly, that we may not say that God is hidden. And thus a man is drawn forward by all manner of powerful influences to turn from things temporal to things eternal, to deny himself, to take up his cross and follow Christ. For there are Christ's awful threats and tvarnings to make him serious. His precepts to attract and elevate him. His promises to cheer him, His gracious deeds and sufierings to humble him to the dust, and to bind his heart once and for ever in gratitude to Him who is so surpassing in mercy. All these things act upon him; and, as truly as St. Matthew rose from the receipt of custom when Christ called, heedless what by- standers would say of him, so they who, through grace, obey the secret voice of God, move onward contrary to the world's way, and careless what mankind may say of them, as understanding that they have souls, which is the one thing they have to care about.
I am well aware that there are indiscreet teachers gone forth into the world, who use language such as I have used, but mean something very different. Such are they who deny the grace of baptism, and think that a man is converted to God all at once. But I have no need now to mention the difference between their teaching and that of Scripture. Whatever their peculiar errors are, so far as they say that we are by nature blind and sinful, and must, through God's grace, and our own endeavours, learn that we have souls and rise to a new life, severing ourselves from the world that is, and walking by faith in what is unseen and future, so far they say true, for they speak the words of Scripture ;
The Immortality of the Soul. 23
which says, " Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil ; wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is'."
Let us, then, seriously question ourselves, and beg of God grace to do so honestly, whether we are loosened from the world ; or whether, living as dependent on it, and not on the Eternal Author of our being, we are in fact taking our portion with this perishing outward scene, and ignorant of our having souls. I know very well that such thoughts are distasteful to the minds of men in general. Doubtless many a one there is, who, on hearing doctrines such as I have been insisting on, says in his heart, that religion is thus made gloomy and repulsive ; that he would attend to a teacher who spoke in a less severe way ; and that in fact Christianity was not intended to be a dark burdensome law, but a religion of cheerfulness and joy. This is what young people think, though they do not express it in this argumenta- tive form. They view a strict life as something offensive and hateful; they turn from the notion of it. And then, as they get older and see more of the world, they learn to defend their opinion, and express it more or less in the way in which I have just put it. They hate and oppose the truth, as it were upon principle ; and the more they are told that they have souls, the more re- solved they are to live as if they had not souls. But let us take it as a clear point from the first, and not to be
» Eph. V. 14—17.
24 The Immortality of the Soul.
di6i)uted, that religion must ever be difficult to those who neg-lect it. All things that we have to learn are difficult at first ; and our duties to God, and to man lor His sake, are peculiarly difficult, because they call upon us to take up a new life, and quit the love of this world for the next. It cannot be avoided ; we must fear and be in sorrow, before we can rejoice. The Gospel must be a burden before it comforts and brings us peace. No one can have his heart cut away from the natural objects of its love, without pain during the process and throbbings afterwards. This is plain from the nature of the case ; and, however true it be, that this or that teacher may be harsh and repulsive, yet he cannot materially alter things. Religion is in itself at first a weariness to the worldly mind, and it requires an effort and a self-denial in every one who honestly determines to be religious.
But there are other persons who are far more hopeful than those I have been speaking of, who, when they hear repentance and newness of life urged on them, are frightened at the thought of the greatness of the work ; they are disheartened at being told to do so much. Now let it be well understood, that to realize our own individual accountableness and immortality, of which I have been speaking, is not required of them all at once. I never said a person was not in a hopeful way who did not thus fully discern the world^s vanity and the worth of his soul. But a man is truly in a very desperate way ivho does not wish, who does not try, to discern and feel all this. I want a man on the one hand to confess his immortality with his lips,, and on the other, to live as if
The Immortality of the Soul. 25
he tried to understand his own words, and then he is in tlie way of salvation ; he is in the way towards heaven, even though he has not yet fully emancipated himself from the fetters of this world. Indeed none of us (of course) are entirely loosened from this world. We all use words, in speaking of our duties, higher and fuller than we really understand. No one entirely realizes what is meant by his having a soul ; even the best of men is but in a state of progress towards the simple truth; and the most weak and ignorant of those who seek after it cannot but be in progress. And therefore no one need be alarmed at hearing that he has much to 3o before he arrives at a right view of his own condition in God's sight, i. e. at faith ; for we all ha,ve much to do, and the great point is, are we willing to do it ?
Oh that there were such an heart in us, to put aside this visijle world, to desire to look at it as a mere screen between us and God, and to think of Him who has entered in beyond the veil, and who is watching us, trying us, yes, and blessing, and influencing, and encouraging us towards good, day by day ! Yet, alas, how do we suffer the mere varying circumstances of every day to sway us ! How difficult it is to remain firm and in one mind under the seductions or terrors of the world \ We feel variously according to the place, time, and people we are with. We are serious on Sunday, and we sin deliberately on Monday. We rise in the morning with remorse at our offences and resolutions of amendment, yet before night we have transgressed again. The mere change of society puts us into a new frame of mind ; nor do we sufficientlv understand this great weakness of
26 The Tmmortality of the Soul.
ours, or seek for strength where alone it can be found, in the Unchang-eable God. What will be our thoughts in that day, when at length this outward world drops away altogether, and we find ourselves where we ever have been, in His presence, with Christ standing at His right hand !
On the contrary, what a blessed discovery is it to those who make it, that this world is but vanity and without substance ; and that really they are ever in their Saviour's presence. This is a thought which it is scarcely right to enlarge upon in a mixed congregation, where there may be some who have not given their hearts to God ; for why should the privileges of the true Christian be disclosed to mankind at large, and sacred subjects, which are his pecu- liar treasure, be made common to the careless liver ? He knows his blessedness, and needs not another to tell it him. He knows in whom he has believed ; and in the hour of danger or trouble he knows what is meant by that peace, which Christ did not explain when He gave it to His Apostles, but merely said it was not as the world could give.
" Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is ever- lasting strength ^"
^ Tsa. xxvi. 3. 4.
SERMON in. EnolDleDp o£ (Bod'js m,\\\ Xoit^oiit dietiiencc,
" ^f y know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. " — ^JOHN xiii. 1 7.
rpHERE never was a people or an age to whieli these -*- words could be more suitably addressed than to this country at this time ; because we know more of the way to serve God, of our duties, our privileges, and our reward, than any other people hitherto, as far as we have the means of judging. To us then especially our Saviour says, " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them/^
Now, doubtless, many of us think we know this very well. It seems a very trite thing to say, that it is nothing to know what is right, unless we do it ; an old subject about which nothing new can be said. When we read such passages in Scripture, we pass over them as admitting them without dispute ; and thus we con- trive practically to forget them. Knowledge is nothing compared with doing; but the knowing that knowledge is nothing, we make to be something, we make it count, and thus we cheat ourselves.
This we do in parallel cases also. Many a man in-
28 Knowledge of God's Will
Btoad of learning humility in practice, confesses himself a poor sinner, and next prides himself" upon the con- fession ; he ascribes the glory of his redemption to God, and then becomes in a manner jorowfi? that he is redeemed. He is proud of his so-called humility.
Doubtless Christ spoke no words in vain. 'I'he Eternal Wisdom of God did not utter His voice that we might at once catch up His words in an irreverent manner, think we understand them at a glance, and pass them over. But His word endureth for ever; it has a depth of meaning suited to all times and places, and hardly and painfnlly to be understood in any. They, who think they enter into it easily, may be quite sure they do not enter into it at all.
Now then let us try, by His grace, to make the text a living word to the benefit of our souls. Our Lord says, " If ye know, happy are ye, if ye do.^^ Let us consider how we commonly read Scripture.
We read a passage in the Gospels, for instance, a parable perhaps, or the account of a miracle ; or we read a chapter in the Prophets, or a Psalm. Who is not struck with the beauty of what he reads ? I do not ^sh to speak of those who read the Bible only now and then, and who will in consequence generally find its sacred pages dull and uninteresting ; but of those who study it. Who of such persons does not see the beauty of it ? for instance, take the passage which introduces the text. Christ had been washing His disciples' feet. He did so at a season of great mental suffering ; it was just before He was seized by His enemies to be put to death. The traitor. His familiar friend, was in the
without Obedience. 29
room. All of His disciples^ even the most devoted of them, loved Him much less than they thoug-ht they did. In a little while they were all to forsake Him and flee. This He foresaw; yet He calmly washed their feet, and then He told them that He did so hy way of an example ; that they should be full of lowly services one to the other, as He to them ; that he among* them was in fact the highest who put himself the lowest. This He had said before ; and His disciples must have recollected it. Perhaps they might wonder in their secret hearts why He repeated the lesson ; they might say to themselves, " We have heard this before." They might be surprised that His significant action. His washing their feet, issued in nothing else than a precept aheady delivered, the command to be humble. At the same time they would not be able to deny, or rather they woidd deeply feel, the beauty of His action. Nay, as loving Him (after all) above all things, and re- verencing Him as their Lord and Teacher, they would feel an admiration and awe of Him ; but their minds would not rest sufficiently on the practical direction of the instruction vouchsafed to them. They knew the truth, and they admired it ; they did not observe what it was they lacked. Such may be considered their frame of mind ; and hence the force of the text, delivered primarily against Judas Iscariot, who knew and sinned deliberately against the truth ; secondarily referring to all the Apostles, and St. Peter chiefly, who promised to be faithful, but failed under the trial ; lastly, to us all, — all of us here assembled, who hear the word of life continually, know it, admire it, do all but obey it.
JO Knowledge of God's Will
Is it not so? is not Scripture altogether pleasant except in its strictness ? do not we try to persuade ourselves, that to feel religiously, to confess our love of religion, and to be able to talk of religion, will stand in the place of careful obedience, of that self-denial which is the very substance of true practical religion ? Alas ! that religion which is so delightful as a vision, should be so distasteful as a reality. Yet so it is, whether we ai'e aware of the fact or not.
1. The multitude of men even who profess religion are in this state of mind. We will take the case of those who are in better circumstances than the mass of the community. They are well educated and taught; they have few distresses in life, or are able to get over them by the variety of their occupations, by the spirits which attend good health, or at least by the lapse of time. They go on respectably and happily, with the same general tastes and habits which they would have had if the Gospel had not been given them. They have an eye to what the world thinks of them ; are charitable when it is expected. They are polished in their manners, kind from natural disposition or a feeling of propriety. Thus their religion is based upon self and the world, a mere civilization ; the same (I say), as it would have been in the main, (taking the state of society as they find it,) even supposing Christianity were not the religion of the land. But it is ; and let us go on to ask, how do they in consequence feel towards it ? They accept it, they add it to what they are, they ingraft it upon the selfish and worldly habits of an unrenewed heart. They have been taught to revere it, and to
without Obedience.
3»
believe it to come from God ; so they admire it, and accept it as a rule of life, so far forth as it agrees with the carnal principles which govern them. So far as it does not agree, they are blind to its excellence and its claims. They overlook or explain away its precepts. They in no sense obey because it commands. They do right when they would have done right had it not commanded ; however, they speak well of it, and think they understand it. Sometimes, if I may continue the description, they adopt it into a certain refined elegance of sentiments and manners, and then the irreligion is all that is graceful, fastidious, and luxurious. They love religious poetry and eloquent preaching. They desire to have their feelings roused and soothed, and to secure a variety and rehef in that eternal subject which is un- changeable. They tire of its simplicity, and perhaps seek to keep up their interest in it by means of religious narratives, fictitious or embellished, or of news from foreign countries, or of the history of the prospects or successes of the Gospel ; thus perverting what is in itself good and innocent. This is their state of mind at best ; for more commonly they think it enough merely to show some slight regard for the subject of religion ; to attend its services on the Lord's day, and then only once, and coldly to express an approbation of it. But of course every description of such persons can be but general; for the shades of character are so varied and blended in individuals, as to make it impossible to give an accurate picture, and often very estimable persons and truly good Christians are partly infected with this bad and earthly spirit.
3 2 Knowledge of God's Will
2, Take a^-ain another description of them. They have perhaps turned their attention to the means of pro- moting' the happiness of their fellow-creatures^ and have formed a system of morality and religion of their own ; then they come to Scripture. They are much struck with the high tone of its precepts, and the beauty of its teaching. It is true, they find many things in it which they do not understand or do not approve ; many things they would not have said themselves. But they pass these by; they fancy that these do not apply to the present day, (which is an easy way of removing any thing we do not like,) and on the whole they receive the Bible, and they think it highly serviceable for the lower classes. Therefore, they recommend it, and support the institutions which are the channels of teaching it. But as to their own case, it never comes into their minds to apply its precepts seriously to themselves; they hnouu them already, they consider. They know them and that is enough ; but as for doing them, by which I mean, going forward to obey them, with an unaffected earnest- ness and an honest faith acting upon them, receiving them as they are, and not as their own previously formed opinions would have them be, they have nothing of this right spirit. They do not contemplate such a mode of acting. To recommend and affect a moral and decent conduct (on whatever principles) seems to them to be enough. The spread of knowledge bringing in its train a selfish temperance, a selfish peaceableness, a selfish benevolence, the morality of expedience, this satisfies them. They care for none of the truths of Scripture, on the ground of their being in Scripture; these scarcely
without Obedienct, 33
become more valuable in their eyes for being there written. They do not obey because they are told to obey, on faith ; and the need of this divine principle of conduct they do not comprehend. Why will it not answer (they seem to say) to make men good in one way as well as another ? " Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, are they not better than all the waters of Israel ?^^ as if all the knowledge and the training that books ever gave had power to unloose one sinner from the bonds of Satan, or to effect more than an outward reformation, an appearance of obedience ; as if it were not a far different principle, a principle independent of knowledge, above it and before it, which leads to real obedience, that principle of divine faith, given from above, which has life in itself, and has power really to use knowledge to the soul's welfare ; in the hand of which knowledge is (as it were) the torch lighting us on our way, but not teaching or strengthening us to walk.
3. Or take another view of the subject. Is it not one of the most common excuses made by the poor for being irreligious, that they have had no education ? as if to know much was a necessary step for right practice. Again, they are apt to think it enough to know and to talk of religion, to make a man religious. Why have you come hither to-day, my brethren ? — not as a matter of course, I will hope ; not merely because friends or superiors told you to come. I will suppose you have come to church as a religious act ; but beware of sup- posing that all is done and over by the act of coming. It is not enough to be present here ; though many men act as if they forgot they must attend to what is going
34 Knowledge of God's Will
on, as well as come. It is not enough to listen to what is preached ; though many think they have gone a great way when they do this. You must pray ; now this is very hard in itself to any one who tries (and this is the reason why so many men prefer the sermon to the prayers, because the former is merely the getting know- ledge, and the latter is to do a deed of obedience) : you mustjoray; and this I say is very diflBcult, because our thoughts are so apt to wander. But even this is not all ; — ^you must, as you pray, really intend to try to practise what you pray for. When you say, " Lead us not into temptation," you must in good earnest mean to avoid in your daily conduct those temptations which you have already suffered from. When you say, " Deliver us from evil," you must mean to struggle against that evil in your hearts, which you are conscious of, and which you pray to be forgiven. This is difficult ; still more is behind. You must actually carry your good intentions into effect during the week, and in truth and reality war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And any one here present who falls short of this, that is, who thinks it enough to come to church to learn God's will, but does not bear in mind to do it in his daily con- duct, be he high or be he low, know he mysteries and all knowledge, or be he unlettered and busily occupied in active life, he is a fool in His sight, who maketh the wisdom of this world foolishness. Surely he is but a trifler, as substituting a formal outward service for the religion of the heart ; and he reverses our Lord's words in the text, '^ because he knows these things, most un« happy is he^ because be does them not."
without Obedience. 35
+, But some one may say, ' It is so very difficult to serve God, it is so much against my own mind, such an effort, such a strain upon my strength to bear Christ^s yoke, I must give it over, or I must delay it at least. Can nothing be taken instead ? I acknowledge His law to be most holy and true, and the accounts I read about good men are most delightful. I wish I were like them with all my heart ; and for a little while I feel in a mind to set about imitating them. I have begun several times, I have had seasons of repentance, and set rules to myself; but for some reason or other, I fell back after a while, and was even worse than before. 1 know, but I cannot do. O wretched man that I am ! "
Now to such an one I say. You are in a much more promising state than if you were contented with your- self, and thought that knowledge was every thing, which is the grievous blindness which I have hitherto been speaking of; that is, you are in a better state, if you do not feel too much comfort or confidence in your confession. For this is the fault of many men ; they make such an acknowledgment as I have described a substitute for real repentance ; or allow themselves, after making it, to put off repentance, as if they cordd be suffered to give a word of promise which did not become due (so to say) for many days. You are, I admit, in a better state than if you were satisfied with yourself, hut you are not in a safe state. If you were now to die, you would have no hope of salvation : no hope, that is, if your own sliowing be true, for I am taking your own words. Go before God^s judgment-seat, and there plead that you know the Truth and have not done it. This is
J 6 Knowledge of God's Will
what you frankly own ; — how will it there be taken ? " Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee/^ says our Judge Himself, and who shall reverse His judgment? Therefore such an one must make the confession with great and real terror and shame, if it is to be considered a promising sign in him ; else it is mere hardness of lieart. For instance : I have heard persons say lightly (every one must have heard them) that they own it would be a wretched thing indeed for them or their companions to be taken off suddenly. The young are especially apt to say this ; that is, before they have come to an age to be callous, or have formed excuses to over- come the natural true sense of their conscience. They say they hope some day to repent. This is their own witness against themselves, like that oad prophet at Bethel who was constrained with his own mouth to utter God's judgments while he sat at his sinful meat. But let not such an one think that he will receive any thing of the Lord : he does not speak in faith.
When, then, a man complains of his hardness of heart or weakness of purpose, let him see to it whether this complaint is more than a mere pretence to quiet his con- science, which is frightened at his putting off repent- ance ; or, again, more than a mere idle word, said half in jest and half in compunction. But, should he be earnest in his complaint, then let him consider he has no need to complain. Every thing is plain and easy to the earnest; it is the double-minded who find diflBculties. If you hate your own corruption in sincerity and truth, if you are really pierced to the heart that you do not do what you know you should do, if you would love God if
without Obedience. yj
you could^ then the Gospel speaks to you words of peace and hope. It is a very different thing indolently to say, " I would I were a different man/^ and to close with God^s offer to make you different, when it is put before you. Here is the test between earnestness and insin- cerity. You say you wish to be a different man ; Christ takes you at your word, so to speak ; He offers to make you different. He says, " I will take away from you the heart of stone, the love of this world and its plea- sures, if you will submit to My discipline.'^ Here a man draws back. No ; he cannot bear to lose the love of the world, to part with his present desires and tastes ; he cannot consent to be changed. After all he is well satisfied at the bottom of his heart to remain as he is, only he wants his conscience taken out of the way. Did Christ offer to do this for him, if He would but make bitter sweet and sweet bitter, darkness light and light darkness, then he would hail the glad tidings of peace; — till then he needs Him not.
But if a man is in earnest in wishing to get at the depths of his own heart, to expel the evil, to purify the good, and to gain power over himself, so as to do as well as know the Truth, what is the difficulty ? — a matter of time indeed, but not of uncertainty is the recovery of such a man. So simple is the rule which he must follow, and so trite, that at first he will be sur- prised to hear it. God does great things by plain methods; and men start from them through pride, because they are plain. This was the conduct of Naaman the Syrian. Christ says, " Watch and pray ; " herein lies our cure. To watch and to pray are surely in oui
3 8 Knowledge of God's Will
power, and by these means we are certain of getting strength. You feel your weakness ; you fear to be over- come by temptation : then keep out of the way of it. This is watching. Avoid society which is likely to mislead you; flee from the very shadow of evil; you cannot be too careful ; better be a little too strict than a little too easy, — it is the safer side. Abstain from reading books which are dangerous to you. Turn from bad thoughts when they arise, set about some business, begin conversing with some friend, or say to yourself the Lord's Prayer reverently. When you are urged by temptation, whether it be by the threats of the world, false shame, self-interest, provoking conduct on the part of another, or the world^s sinful pleasures, urged to be cowardly, or covetous, or un- forgiving, or sensual, shut your eyes and think of Christ^s precious blood-shedding. Do not dare to say you cannot help sinning; a little attention to these points will go far (through God's grace) to keep you in the right way. And again, pray as well as watch. You must know that you can do nothing of yourself; your past experience has taught you this ; therefore look to God for the will and the power; ask Him earnestly in His Son's name; seek His holy ordinances. Is not this in your power? Have you not power at least over the limbs of your body, so as to attend the means of grace constantly ? Have you literally not the power to come hither ; to observe the Fasts and Festivals of the Church; to come to His Holy Altar and receive the Bread of Life ? Get yourself, at least, to do this ; to put out the hand, to take His gracious Body
without Obedience. 39
and Blood ; this is no arduous work ; — and you say you really wish to gain the blessings He offers. What would you have more than a free gift, vouchsafed "without money and without price ?'^ So, make no more excuses ; murmur not about your own bad heart, your knowing and resolving, and not doing. Here is your remedy.
Well were it if men could be persuaded to be in earaest; but few are thus minded. The many go on with a double aim, trying to serve both God and mam- mon. Few can get themselves to do what is right, because God tells them; they have another aim; they desire to please self or men. When they can obey God without offending the bad Master that rules them, then, and then only, they obey. Thus religion, instead of oeing the first thing in their estimation, is but the second. They differ, indeed, one from another what to put foremost : one man loves to be at ease, another to be busy, another to enjoy domestic comfort : but they agree in converting the truth of God, which they know to be Truth, into a mere instrument of secular aims; not discarding the Truth, but degrading it.
When He, the Lord of hosts, comes to shake terribly the earth, what number wiU He find of the remnant oi the true Israel? We live in an educated age. The false gloss of a mere worldly refinement makes us decent and amiable. We all know and profess. We think ourselves wise ; we flatter each other ; we make excuses for ourselves when we are conscious we sin, and thus we gradually lose the consciousness that we are sinning. We think our own times superior to all others. " Thou
40 Knowledge of God's Will.
blind Pharisee!" Tliis was the fatal charge brought by our blessed Lord against the falsely enlightened teachers of His own day. As then we desire to enter into life, let us come to Christ continually for the two founda- tions of true Christian faith, — humbleness of mind and earnestness !
SERMON IV. »»eccet jFault0»
■ Who can understand kis errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." — Psalm xix. 12.
O TRANGE as it may seem, multitudes called Christians ^ go through life with no effort to obtain a correct knowledge of themselves. They are contented with general and vague impressions concerning their real state; and, if they have more than this, it is merely such accidental information about themselves as the events of life force upon them. But exact systematic knowledge they have none, and do not aim at it.
When I say this is strange, I do not mean to imply that to know ourselves is easy ; it is very difficult to know ourselves even in part, and so far ignorance of ourselves is not a strange thing. But its strangeness consists in this, viz. that men should profess to receive and act upon the great Christian doctrines, while they are thus ignorant of themselves, considering that self- knowledge is a necessary condition for understanding them. Thus it is not too much to say that all those who neglect the duty of habitual self-examination are using words without meaning. The doctrines of th«
42 Secret Faults.
forgiveness of sins, and of a new birth from sin, cannot be understood without some right knowledge of the nature of sin, that is, of our own heart. We may, in- deed, assent to a form of words which declares those doctrines ; but if such a mere assent, however sincere, is the same as a real holding of them, and belief in them, then it is equally possible to believe in a proposition the terms of which belong to some foreign language, which is obviously absm'd. Yet nothing is more common than for men to think that because they are familiar with words, they understand the ideas they stand for. Educated persons despise this fault in illiterate men who use hard words as if they comprehended them. Yet they themselves, as well as others, fall into the same error in a more subtle form, when they think they understand terms used in morals and religion, because such are common words, and have been used by them all their lives.
Now (1 repeat) unless we have some just idea of our hearts and of sin, we can have no right idea of a Moral Governor, a Saviour or a Sanctifier, that is, in professing to believe in Them, we shall be using words without attaching distinct meaning to them. Thus self-know- ledge is at the root of all real religious knowledge ; and it is in vain, — worse than vain, — it is a deceit and a mischief, to think to understand the Christian doctrines as a matter of course, merely by being taught by books, or by attending sermons, or by any outward means, however excellent, taken by themselves. For it is in proportion as we search our hearts and understand our own natxre, that we understand what is meant by an
Secret Faults. 43
Infinite Governor and Judge; in proportion as we comprehend the nature of disobedience and our actual sinfulness, that we feel what is the blessing of the removal of sin, redemption, pardon, sanctification, which otherwise are mere words. God speaks to us primarily in our hearts. Self-knowledge is the key to the pre- cepts and doctrines of Scripture. The very utmost any outward notices of religion can do, is to startle us and make us turn inward and search our hearts ; and then^ when we have experienced what it is to read ourselves, we shall profit by the doctrines of the Church and the Bible.
Of course self-knowledge admits of degrees. No one perhaps, is entirely ignorant of himself; and even the most advanced Christian knows himself only " in part.'" However, most men are contented with a slight ac- quaintance with their hearts, and therefore a superficial faith. This is the point which it is my purpose to insist upon. Men are satisfied to have numberless secret faults. They do not think about them, either as sins or as obstacles to strength of faith, and live on as if they had nothing to learn.
Now let us consider attentively the strong presumption that exists, that we all have serious secret faults ; a fact which, I beheve, all are ready to confess in general terms, though few like calmly and practically to dwell upon it j as I now wish to do.
1. Now the most ready method of convincing our- selves of the existence in us of faults unknown to our- selves, is to consider how plainly we see the secret faults of others , A.t first sight there is of course no reason for
44 Secret Faults.
supposing that we differ materially from those around us ; and if we see sins in them which they do not see, it is a presumption that they have their own discoveries about ourselves, which it would surprise us to hear. For instance : how apt is an angry man to fancy that he has the command of himself! The very charge of being angry, if brought against him, will anger him more; and, in the height of his discomposure, he will profess himself able to reason and judge with clearness and impartiality. Now, it may be his turn another day, for what we know, to witness the same failing in us ; or, if we are not naturally inclined to violent passion, still at least we may be subject to other sins, equally unknown to ourselves, and equally known to him as his ' anger was to us. For example : there are persons who act mainly from self-interest at times when they conceive they are doing generous or virtuous actions ; they give freely, or put themselves to trouble, and are praised by the world, and by themselves, as if acting on high principle ; whereas close observers can detect desire of gain, love of applause, shame, or the mere satisfaction of being busy and active, as the principal cause of their good deeds. This may be our condition as well as that of others ; or, if it be not, still a parallel infirmity, the bondage of some other sin or sins, which others see, and we do not.
But, say there is no human being sees sin in us, of which we are not aware ourselves, (though this is a bold supposition to make,) yet why should man's accidental knowledge of us limit the extent of our imperfections ? Should all the world speak well of us, and good men
Secret Faults. 45
hail us as brothers, after all there is a Judge who trieth the hearts and the reins. He knows our real state; have we earnestly besought Him to teach us the know- ledge of our own hearts ? If we have not, that very- omission is a presumption against us. Though our praise were throughout the Church, we may be sure He sees sins without number in us, sins deep and heinous, of which we have no idea. If man sees so much evil in human nature, what must God see ? "If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.'^ Not acts alone of sin does He set down against us daily, of which we know nothing, but the thoughts of the heart too. The stirrings of pride, vanity, covetousness, impurity, discontent, resentment, these succeed each other through the day in momentary emotions, and are known to Him. We know them not ; but how much does it concern us to know them !
2. This consideration is suggested by the first view of the subject. Now reflect upon the actual disclosures of our hidden weakness, which accidents occasion. Peter followed Christ boldly, and suspected not his own heart, tin it betrayed him in the hour of temptation, and led him to deny his Lord. David lived years of happy obedience while he was in private life. What calm, clear-sighted faith is manifested in his answer to Saul about Goliath : — " The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear. He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine \''^ Nay, not only in retired life, in severe trial, under ill usage from Saul, he continued faithful to hie God;
' 1 Sam. xvii. 37.
46 Secret Faults.
years and years did he go on, fortifying his heart, and learning the fear of the Lord ; yet power and wealth weakened his faith, and for a season overcame him. There was a time when a prophet could retort upon him, " Thou art the man ' '' whom thou condemnest. He had kept his principles in words, but lost them in his heart. Hezekiah is another instance of a religious man bearing trouble well, but for a season falling back under the temptation of prosperity; and that, after extraordinary mercies had been vouchsafed to him ^. And if these things be so in the case of the favoured saints of God, what (may we suppose) is our own real spiritual state in His sight ? It is a serious thought. The warning to be deduced from it is this : — Never to think we have a due knowledge of ourselves till we have been exposed to various kinds of temptations, and tried on every side. Integrity on one side of our character is no voucher for integrity on another. We cannot tell how we should act if brought under temptations different from those which we have hitherto experienced. This thought should keep us humble. We are sinners, but we do not know how great. He alone knows who died for our sins.
3. Thus much we cannot but allow; that we do not know ourselves in those respects in which we have not been tried. But farther than this ; What if we do not know ourselves even where we have been tried, and found faithful ? It is a remarkable circumstance which has been often observed, that if we look to some of the most eminent saints of Scripture, we shall find their > 2 Sam. xii. 7. » 2 Kings xx. 12—19.
Secret Faults, 47
recorded errors to have occurred in those parts of tlieir duty in which each had had most trials and generally showed obedience most perfect. Faithful Abraham through want of faith denied his wife. Moses, the meekest of men, was excluded from the land of promise for a passionate word. The wisdom of Solomon was seduced to bow down to idols. Barnabas again, the son of. consolation, had a sharp contention with St. Paul. If then men, who knew themselves better than we doubt- less know ourselves, had so much of liidden infirmity about them, even in those parts of their character which were most free from blame, what are we to think of our- selves ? and if our very virtues be so defiled with imperfection, what must be the unknown multiplied circumstances of evil which aggravate the guilt of our sins ? This is a third presumption against us.
4, Think of this too. No one begins to examine himself, and to pray to know himself (with David in the text), but he finds within him an abundance of faults which before were either entirely or almost entirely un- known to him. That this is so, we learn from the written lives of good men, and our own experience of others. And hence it is that the best men are ever the most humble ; for, having a higher standard of excellence in their minds than others have, and knowing themselves better, they see somewhat of the breadth and depth of their own sinful nature, and are shocked and frightened at themselves. The generality of men cannot under- stand this ; and if at times the habitual self-condemna- tion of religious men breaks out into words, they think it arises from aflFectation, or from a strange distempered
48 Secret Faults.
state of mind, or from accidental melancholy and disquiet. Whereas the confession of a good man against himself, is really a witness against all thought- less j)ersons who hear it, and a call on them to examine their own hearts. Doubtless the more we examine ourselves, the more imperfect and ignorant we shall find ourselves to be.
5. But let a man persevere in prayer and watchfulness to the day of his death, yet he will never get to the bottom of his heart. Though he know more and more of himself as he becomes more conscientious and earnest, still the full manifestation of the secrets there lodged, is reserved for another world. And at the last day who can tell the affright and horror of a man who lived to himself on earth, indulging his own evil will, following his own chance notions of truth and falsehood, shunning the cross and the reproach of Christ, when his eyes are at length opened before the throne of God, and all his innumerable sins, his habitual neglect of God, his abuse of his talents, his misapplication and waste of time, and the original unexplored sinfulness of his nature, are brought clearly and fully to his view? Nay, even to the true servants of Christ, the prospect is awful. " The righteous,'^ we are told, ''will scarcely be saved \'* Then will the good man undergo the full sight of his sins, which on earth he was labouring to obtain, and partly succeeded in obtaining, though life was not long enough to learn and subdue them all. Doubtless we must all endure that fierce and terrifying vision cf our real selves, that last fiery trial of the soul * before its » 1 Pet. iv. 18. 3 1 Cor. iii. 18.
Secret Faults, 49
acceptance, a spiritual agony and second death to all who are not then supported by the strength of Him who died to bring them safe through it, and in whom on earth they have believed.
My brethren, I appeal to your reason whether these presumptions are not in their substance fair and just. And if so, next I appeal to your consciences, whether they are new to you ; for if you have not even thought about your real state, nor even know how little you know of yourselves, how can you in good earnest be purifying yourselves for the next world, or be walking in the narrow way ?
And yet how many are the chances that a number of those who now hear me have no sufficient knowledge of themselves, or sense of their ignorance, and are in peril of their souls ! Christ's ministers cannot tell who are, and who are not, the true elect : but when the difficulties in the way of knowing yourselves aright are considered, it becomes a most serious and immediate question for each of you to entertain, whether or not he is living a life of self-deceit, and thinking far more comfortably of his spiritual state than he has any right to do. For call to mind the impediments that are in the way of your knowing yourselves^ or feeling your ignorance, and then judge.
1. First of all, self-knowledge does not come as a matter of course ; it implies an effort and a work. As well may we suppose, that the knowledge of the lan- guages comes by nature, as that acquaintance with our own heart is natural. Now the very effort of steadily
[I] E
5© Secret Faults.
reflecting", is itself painful to many men ; not to speali of the difficulty of reflecting correctly. To ask ourselves why we do this or that, to take account of the principles which govern us, and see whether we act for conscience^ sake or from some lower inducement, is painfvd. We are busy in the world, and what leisure time we have we readily devote to a less severe and wearisome employment.
2, And then comes in our self-love. We hope the best ; this saves us the trouble of examining. Self-love answers for our safety. We think it sufficient caution to allow for certain possible unknown faults at the ut- most, and to take them into the reckoning when we balance our account with our conscience : whereas, if the truth were kno\vii to us, we should find we had nothing but debts, and those greater than we can conceive, and ever increasing.
3. And this favourable judgment of ourselves will especially prevail, if we have the misfortune to have uninterrupted health and high spirits, and domestic com- fort. Health of body and mind is a great blessing, if we can bear it ; but unless chastened by watchings and fastings ', it wiU commonly seduce a man into the notion that he is much better than he really is. Resist- ance to our acting rightly, whether it proceed from within or without, tries our principle ; but when things go smoothly, and we have but to wish, and we can per- form, we cannot tell how far we do or do not act from a sense of duty. When a man's spirits are high, he is pleased with every thing; and with himself especially. He can act with vigour and promptness, and he mistakes
» 2 Cor. xi. 27.
Secret Faults 5 1
this mere constitutional energy for strength of faith. He is cheerful and contented ; and he mistakes this for Christian peace. And, if happy in his family ^ he mis- takes mere natural affection for Christian benevolence, and the confirmed temper of Christian love. In short, he is in a dream, from which nothing could have saved him except deej) humility, and nothing will ordinarily rescue him except sharp affliction.
Other accidental circumstances are frequently causes of a similar self-deceit. While we remain in retirement from the world, we do not know ourselves ; or after any great mercy or trial, which has affected us much, and given a temporary strong impulse to our obedience ; or when we are in keen pursuit of some good object, which excites the mind, and for a time deadens it to temptation. Under such circumstances we are ready to think far too well of ourselves. The world is away ; or, at least, we are insensible to its seductions ; and we mistake our merely temporary tranquillity, or our over-wrought fer- vour of mind, on the one hand for Christian peace, on the other for Christian zeal.
4. Next we must consider the force of habit. Con- science at first warns us against sin ; but if we disregard it, it soon ceases to upbraid us ; and thus sins, once known, in time become secret sins. It seems then (and it is a startling reflection), that the more guilty we Are, the less we know it; for the oftener we sin, the less we are distressed at it. I think many of us may, on reflection, recollect instances, in oui experience of our- selves, of our g-radually forgetting things to be wrong which once shockeo' us. Such is the force of habit. By
52 Secret Faults.
it (for instance) men contrive to allow themselves in NJirious kinds of dishonesty. They bring themselves to affirm what is untrue, or what they are not sure is true, in the course of business. They overreach and cheat ; and still more are they likely to fall into low and selfish ways without their observing it, and all the while to continue careful in their attendance on the Christian ordinances, and bear about them a form of religion. Or, again, they will live in self-indulgent habits; eat and drink more than is right ; display a needless pomp and splendour in their domestic arrangements, without any misgiving; much less do they think of simplicity of manners and abstinence as Christian duties. Now we cannot suppose they always thought their present mode of living to be justifiable, for others are still struck with its impropriety; and what others now feel, doubtless they once felt themselves. But such is the force of habit. So again, to take as a third instance, the duty of stated private prayer ; at first it is omitted with com- punction, but soon with indifference. But it is not the less a sin because we do not feel it to be such. Habit has made it a secret sin.
5. To the force of habit must be added that of custom. Every age has its own wrong ways ; and these have such influence, that even good men, from living in the world, are unconsciously misled by them. At one time a fierce persecuting hatred of those who erred in Christian doc- trine has prevailed ; at another, an odious over-estimation of wealth and the means of wealth ; at another an irre- ligious veneration of the mere intellectual powers; at another, a laxity of morals ; at another, disregard of the •
Secret Faults. 53
forms and discipline of the Church. The most religious meUj unless they are especially watchful, will feel the sway of the fashion of their age ; and suffer from it, as Lot in wicked Sodom, though unconsciously. Yet their ignorance of the mischief does not change the nature of their sin ; — sin it still is, only custom makes it secret sin.
6. Now what is our chief guide amid the evil and seducing customs of the world ? — obviously, the Bible. "The world passeth away, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever'.^' How much extended, then, and strengthened, necessarily must be this seci'et dominion of sin over us, when we consider how little we read Scripture ! Our conscience gets corrupted, — true ; but the words of truth, though effaced from our minds, remain in Scripture, bright in their eternal youth and purity. Yet, we do not study Scripture to stir up and refresh our minds. Ask yourselves, my brethren, what do you know of the Bible ? Is there any one part of it you have read carefully, and as a whole? One of the Gospels, for instance ? Do you know very much more of your Saviour's works and words than you have heard read in church ? Have you compared His precepts, or St. Paurs, or any other Apostle's, with your own dailv conduct, and prayed and endeavoured to act upon them ? If you have, so far is well; go on to do so. If you have not, it is plain you do not possess, for you have not sought to possess, an adequate notion of that perfect Christian character which it is your duty to aim at, nor an ade-
> Isa. xl. 8. 1 Pet. i. 24, 25. 1 John ii. 17.
54 Secret Faults.
quate notion of your actual sinful state ; you are in the number of those who " come not to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved."
These remarks may serve to impress upon us the diffi- culty of knowing ourselves aright, and the consequent danger to which we are exposed, of speaking peace to our souls, when there is no peace.
Many things are against us ; this is plain. Yet is not our future prize worth a struggle ? Is it not worth present discomfort and pain to accomplish an escape from the fire that never shall be quenched ? Can we endure the thought of going down to the grave with a load of sins on our head unknown and unrepented of ? Can we content ourselves with such an unreal faith in Christ, as in no sufiicient measure includes self- abasement, or thankfulness, or the desire or efibrt to be holy? for how can we feel our need of His help, or our dependence on Him, or our debt to Him, or the nature of His gift to us, unless we know ourselves? How can we in any sense be said to have that *' mind of Christ,'^ to which the Apostle exhorts us, if we cannot follow Him to the height above, or the depth beneath ; if we do not in some measure discern the cause and meaning of His sorrows, but regard the world, and man, and the system of Pro\adence, in a light different from that which His words and acts supply ? If you receive revealed truth merely through the eyes and ears, you believe words, not things ; you deceive yourselves. You may conceive yourselves sound in faith, but you know nothing in any true way. Obedience to God^s
Secret Faults. 55
commandments^ whicli implies knowledg-e of sin and of holiness^ and the desire and endeavour to please Him, this is the only practical interpreter of Scripture doc- trine. Without self-knowledge you have no root ill yourselves personally ; you may endure for a time, but under aflBiction or persecution your faith will not last. This is why many in this age (and in every age) be- come infidels, heretics, schismatics, disloyal despisers of the Church. They cast off the form of truth, because it never has been to them more than a form. They endure not, because they never have tasted that the Lord is gracious ; and they never have had experience of His power and love, because they have never known their own weakness and need. This may be the future con- dition of some of us, if we harden our hearts to-day, — apostasy. Some day, even in this world, we may be found openly among the enemies of God and of His Church.
But, even should we be spared this present shame, what will it ultimately profit a man to profess without understanding? to say he has faith, when he has not works 1 ? In that case we shall remain in the heavenly vineyard, stunted plants, without the principle of growth in us, barren; and, in the end, we shall be put to shame before Christ and the holy Angels, " as trees of withering fruits, twice dead, plucked up by the roots," even though we die in outward communion with the Church.
To think of these things, and to be alarmed, is the
^ James ii. 14.
56 Secret Faults.
first step towards acceptable obedience ; to be at ease, is to be unsafe. We must know what the evil of sin is hereafter, if we do not learn it here. God give us all grace to choose the pain of present repentance before the wrath to come '
SERMOIV V. feelt--3Denial tl)e 'QDe^t ot Eelifffou^ (Eanieotne^fo.
" iV^a/ it is high time to awake out of sleep." — Rom. xiii. 1 1.
T)Y '' sleep/^ in this passage, St. Paul means a state of -■-' insensibility to things as they really are in God's sight. When we are asleep, we are absent from this world's action, as if we were no longer concerned in it. It goes on without us, or, if our rest be broken, and we have some slight notion of people and occurrences about us, if we hear a voice or a sentence, and see a face, yet we are unable to catch these external objects justly and truly ; we make them part of our dreams, and pervert them till they have scarcely a resemblance to what they really are; and such is the state of men as regards religious truth. God is ever Almighty and All-knowing. He is on His throne in heaven, trying the reins and the hearts; and Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, is on His right hand; and ten thousand Angels and Saints are ministering to Him, rapt in the contemplation of Him, or by their errands of mercy connecting this lower world with His courts above; they go to and fro, as though upon the ladder which Jacob saw And the
58 Self- Denial the Test of
disclosure of this glorious iuvisible world is made to ua principally by means of the Bible, partly by the course of nature, partly by the floating- opinions of mank'ndj partly by the sug-g-estions of the heart and conscience : — and all these means of information concerning it are collected and combined by the Holy Church, which heralds the news forth to the whole earth, and applies it with power to individual minds, partly by direct in- struction, partly by her very form and fashion, which witnesses to them ; so that the truths of religion circulate through the world almost as the light of day, every corner and recess having some portion of its blessed rays. Such is the state of a Christian country. Mean- while, how is it with those who dwell in it ? The words of the text remind us of their condition. They are asleep. While the Ministers of Christ are using the armour of light, and all things speak of Him, they ' walk '^ not " becomingly, as in the day.'^ Many live altogether as though the day shone not on them, but the shadows still endured; and far the greater part of them are but very faintly sensible of the great truths preached around them. They see and hear as people in a dream ; they mix up the Holy Word of God with their own idle imaginings ; if startled for a moment, still they soon relapse into slumber ; they refuse to be awakened, and think their happiness consists in con- tinuing as they are.
Now I do not for an instant suspect, my brethren, that you are in the sound slumber of sin. This is a miserable state, which I should hope was, on the whole, the condition of few men, at least in a place like this.
Religious Earnestness. 59
But, allowing this, yet there is great reason for fearing that very many of you are not wide awake : that though your dreams are disturbed, yet dreams they are ; and that the view of religion which you think to be a true one, is not that vision of the Truth which you would see were your eyes open, but such a vague, defective, extravagant picture of it as a man sees when he is asleep. At all events^ however this may be_, it will be useful (please God) if you ask youselves, one by one, the question, " How do I know I am in the right way ? How do I know that I have real faith, and am not in a dream V
The circumstances of these times render it very diffi- cult to answer this question. Wlien the world was against Christianity it was comparatively easy. But (in one sense) the world is now for it. I do not mean there are not turbulent lawless men, who would bring all things into confusion, if they could ; who hate religion, and would overturn every established institu- tion which proceeds from, or is connected with it. Doubtless there are very many such, but from such men religion has nothing to fear. The truth has ever flourished and strengthened under persecution. But what we have to fear is the opposite fact, that all the rank, and the station, and the intelligence, and the opulence of the country is professedly with religion. We have cause to fear from the very circumstance that the institutions of the country are based upon the acknowledgment of religion as true. Worthy of all honour are they who so based them ! Miserable is the guilt which lies upon those who have attempted, and
6o Self-denial the Test of
partly succeeded, in shaking- that holy foundation ! Bui it often happens that our most bitter are not our most dangerous enemies ; on the othei hand, greatest blessings are the most serious temptations to the unwary. And our danger, at present, is this, that a man's having a general character for religion, reverencing the Gospel and professing it, and to a certain point obeying it, so fully promotes his temporal interests, that it is difficult for him to make out for himself whether he really acts on faith, or from a desire of this world's advantages. It is difficult to find tests which may bring home the truth to his mind, and probe his heart after the manner of Him who, from His throne above, tries it with an Almighty Wisdom. It can scarcely be denied that attention to their religious duties is becoming a fashion among large portions of the community, — so large, that, to many individuals, these portions are in fact the world. We are, every now and then, surprised to find persons to be in the observance of family prayer, of reading Scrip- ture, or of Holy Communion, of whom we should not have expected beforehand such a profession of faith j or we hear them avowing the high evangelical truths of the New Testament, and countenancing those who main- tain them. All this brings it about, that it is our interest in this world to profess to be Christ's dis- ciples.
And further than this, it is necessary to remark, that, in spite of this general profession of zeal for the Gospel among all respectable persons at this day, nevertheless there is reason for fearing, that it is not altogether the real Gospel that they are zealous for. Doubtless we
Religious Earnestness. 6i
have cause to be thankful whenever we see persons earnest in the various ways I have mentioned. Yet, somehow, after all, there is reason for being dissatisfied with the character of the religion of the day; dissatisfied, first, because oftentimes these same persons are very inconsistent; — often, for instance, talk irreverently and profanely, ridicule or slight things sacred, speak against the Holy Church, or against the blessed Saints of early times, or even against the favoured servants of God, set before us in Scripture ; or act with the world and the worse sort of men, even when they do not speak like them ; attend to them more than to the Ministers of God, or are very lukewarm, lax, and unscrupulous in matters of conduct, so much so, that they seem hardly to go by principle, but by what is merely expedient and convenient. And then again, putting aside our judgment of these men as individuals, and thinking of them as well as we can (which of course it is our duty to do), yet, after all, taking merely the multitude of them as a symptom of a state of things, I own I am suspicious of any religion that is a people's religion, or an age's re- ligion. Our Saviour says, '' Narrow is the way.'' This, of course, must not be interpreted without great caution ; yet surely the whole tenor of the Inspired Volume leads us to believe that His Truth will not be heartily received by the many, that it is against the current of human feeling and opinion, and the course of the world, and so far forth as it is received by a man, will be opposed by himself, i.e. by his old nature which remains about him, next by all others, so far forth as they have not received it. "The light shining in darkness" is the token of
62 Self-denial the Test of
true religion ; and, though doubtless there are seasons when a sudden enthusiasm arises in favour of the Truth (as in the history of St. Jolin the Baptist, in whose " light" the Jews " were willing for a season to rejoice \ " so as even "to be baptized of him, confessing their sins"'), yet such a popularity of the Truth is but sudden, comes at once and goes at once, has no regular growth, no abiding stay. It is error alone which grows and is received heartily on a large scale. St. Paul has set up his warning against our supposing Truth will ever be heartily accepted, whatever show there may be of a general profession of it, in his last Epistle, where he tells Timothy, among other sad prophecies, that '^ evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse ^." Truth, indeed, has that power in it, that it forces men to pro- fess it in words ; but when they go on to act, instead of obeying it, they substitute some idol in the place of it. On these accovmts, when there is much talk of religion in a country, and much congratulation that there is a general concern for it, a cautious mind will feel anxious lest some counterfeit be, in fact, honoured instead of it : lest it be the dream of man rather than the verities of God's word, which has become popular, and lest the received form have no more of truth in it than is just necessary to recommend it to the reason and conscience ; — lest, in short, it be Satan transformed into an angel of light, rather than the Light itself, which is attracting followers.
If, then, this be a time (which I suppose it is) when a general profession of religion is thought respectable 1 John V. 36. " Matt. iii. 6. ^ 2 Tim. iiL 13.
Religious Earnestness 63
and right in the virtuous and orderly classes of the community, this circumstance should not diminish your anxiety about your own state before God, but rather (I may say) increase it ; for two reasons, first, because you are in danger of doing right from motives of this world; next, because you may, perchance, be cheated of the Truth, by some ingenuity which the world puts, like counterfeit coin, in the place ef the Truth.
Some, indeed, of those who now hear me, are in situations where they are almost shielded from the world's influence, whatever it is. There are persons so happily placed as to have religious superiors, who direct them to what is good only, and who are kind to them, as well as pious towards God. This is their happiness, and they must thank God for the gift ; but it is their temptation too. At least they are under one of the two temptations just mentioned ; good behaviour is, in their case, not only a matter of duty, but of interest. If they obey God, they gain praise from men as well as from Him ; so that it is very difficult for them to know whether they do right for conscience' sake, or for the world's sake. Thus, whether in private families, or in the world, in all the ranks of middle life, men lie under a considerable danger at this day, a more than ordinary danger, of self-deception, of being asleep while they think themselves awake.
How then shall we try ourselves ? Can any tests be named which will bring certainty to our minds on the subject? No indisputable tests can be given. We cannot know for certain. We must beware of an impa- tience about knowing what our real state is. St. Paul
64 Self-denial the Test of
himself did not know till the last days of his life (as far as we know), that he was one of God's elect who shall never perish. He said, " I know nothing by my- self, yet am I not hereby justified ^ ;" i. e. though I am not conscious to myself of neglect of duty, yet am I not therefore confident of my acceptance ? Judge nothing before the time. Accordingly he says in another place, " I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway^." And yet though this absolute certainty of our election unto glory be unattain- able, and the desire to obtain it an impatience which ill befits sinners, nevertheless a comfortable hope, a sober and subdued belief that God has pardoned and justified us for Christ's sake (blessed be His name !), is attainable, according to St. John's words, " If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God^" And the question is, how are we to attain to this, under the cir- cumstances in which we are placed ? In what does it consist ?
Were we in a heathen land (as I said just now) it were easy to answer. The very profession of the Gospel would almost bring evidence of ti"ue faitli, as far as we could have evidence ; for such profession among Pagans is almost sure to involve persecution. Hence it is that the Epistles are so full of expressions of joy in the Lord Jesus, and in the exulting hope of salvation. Well might they be confident who had suffered for Christ " Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience
1 1 Cor. iv. 4. » 1 Cor. ix 27. '1 John iii. 21.
Religious Earnestness. 65
and experience hope '^" " Henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus ^." " Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus ; that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body ^." " Our hope of you is stedfast knowing that as ye are partakers of the suffering, S6 shall ye be also of the consolation */' These and such like texts belong to those only who have witnessed for the truth like the early Christians. They are beyond us.
This is certain ; yet since the nature of Christian obe- dience is the same in every age, it still brings with it, as it did then, an evidence of God^s favour. We cannot indeed make ourselves as sure of our being in the number of God's true servants as the early Christians were, yet we may possess our degree of certainty, and by the same kind of evidence, the evidence of self-denial. This was the great evidence which the first disciples gave, and which we can give still. Reflect upon our Saviour's plain declarations, " Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me ^.'> " K any man come to Me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after Me, he cannot be My disciple *." " If thy hand offend thee, cut it off . . . if thy foot offend thee, cut it off . . . if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out : ... it is better for
» Rom. V. 3, 4. * Gal. vi. 17.
3 2 Cor. iv. 10. « 2 Cor. i. 7.
» Mark viii. 34. « Luke xiv. 26, 27. [I]
66 Self-denial l/ie Test of
thee to enter into life maimed . . . halt . . . with one eye than to be cast into hell '/'
Now without attempting to explain perfectly such passages as these, which doubtless cannot be understood without a fulness of grace which is possessed by very few men, yet at least we learn thus much from them, that a rigorous self-denial is a chief duty, nay, that it may be considered the test whether we are Christ's disci- ples, whether we are living in a mere dream, which we mistake for Christian faith and obedience, or are really and truly awake, alive, living in the day, on our road heavenwards. The early Christians went through self- denials in their very profession of the Gospel ; what are our self-denials, now that the profession of the Gospel ia not a self-denial ? In what sense do we fulfil the words of Christ ? have we any distinct notion what is meant by the words " taking up our cross ?'' in what way are we acting, in which we should not act, supposing the Bible and the Church were unknown to this country, and religion, as existing among us, was merely a fashion of this world? What are we doing, which we have reason to trust is done for Christ's sake who bought us ?
You know well enough that works are said to be the fruits and evidence of faith. That faith is said to be dead which has them not. Now what works have we to show of such a kind as to give us " confidence,'" so that we may "not be ashamed before Him at His coming ''P''
In answering this question I observe, first of all, that, according to Scripture, the self-denial which is the test
' Mark ix. 43—47. • 1 John ii. 28.
Religious Earnestness. 67
of our faith must be daily. " If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me ^." It is thus St. Luke records our Sa- viour^s words. Accordingly, it seems that Christian obedience does not consist merely in a few occasional efforts, a few accidental g-ood deeds, or certain seasons of repentance, prayer, and activity ; a mistake, which minds of a certain class are very apt to fall into. This is the kind of obedience which constitutes what the world calls a great man, i. e. a man who has some noble points, and every now and then acts heroically, so as to astonish and subdue the minds of beholders, but who in private life has no abiding personal religion, who does not regu- late his thoughts, words, and deeds, according to the law of God. Again, the word daily implies, that the self- denial which is pleasing to Christ consists in little things. This is plain, for opportunity for great self- denials does not come every day. Thus to take up the cross of Christ is no great action done once for all, it consists in the continual practice of small duties which are distasteful to us.
If, then, a person asks how he is to know whether he is dreaming on in the world's slumber, or is reaUy awake and alive unto God, let him first fix his mind upon some one or other of his besetting infirmities. Every one who is at all in the habit of examining himself, must be con- scious of such within him. Many men have more than one, all of us have some one or other ; and in resisting and overcoming such, self-denial has its first employ- ment, One man is indolent and fond of amusement,
' Luke ix. 23.
68 Self-denial tJie Test of
another man is passionate or ill-tempered, another is vain, another has little control over his tongue ; others are weak, and cannot resist the ridicule of thought- less companions; others are tormented with had pas- sions, of which they are ashamed, yet are overcome. Now let every one consider what his weak point is; in that is his trial. His trial is not in those things which are easy to him, but in that one thing, in those several things, whatever they are, in which to do his duty is against his nature. Never think yourself safe because you do your duty in ninety-nine points ; it is the hundredth which is to be the ground of your self- denial, which must evidence, or rather instance and realize your faith. It is in reference to this you must watch and pray; pray continually for God's grace to help you, and watch with fear and trembling lest you fall. Other men may not know what these weak points of your character are, they may mistake them. But you may know them ; you may know them by their guesses and hints, and your own observation, and the light of the Spirit of God. And oh, that you may have strength to wrestle with them and overcome them ! Oh, that you may have the wisdom to care little for the world's reli- gion, or the praise you get from the world, and your agreement with what clever men, or powerful men, or many men, make the standard of religion, compared with the secret consciousness that you are obeying God in little things as well as great, in the hundredth duty as well as in the ninety-nine ! Oh, that you may (as it were) sweep the house diligently to discover what you lack of \}a&fu,lL measure of obedience ! for be quite sure,
Religious Earnestness. 69
that this apparently small defect will influence your whole spirit and judgment in all things. Be quite sure that your judgment of persons, and of events, and of actions, and of doctrines, and your spirit towards God and man, your faith in tlie high truths of the Gospel, and your knowledge of your duty, all depend in a strange way on this strict endeavour to observe the v/hole law, on this self-denial in those little things in which obe- dience is a self-denial. Be not content with a warmth of faith carrying you over many obstacles even in your obedience, forcing you past the fear of men, and the usages of society, and the persuasions of interest ; exult not in your experience of God''s past mercies, and your assui-ance of what He has already done for your soul, if you are conscious you have neglected the one thing needful, the "one thing^^ which "thou lackest,^^ — daily self-denial. But, besides this, there are other modes of self-denial to try your faith and sincerity, which it may be right just to mention. It may so happen that the sin you are most liable to, is not called forth every day. For in- stance : anger and passion are irresistible perhaps when they come upon you, but it is only at times that you are provoked, and then you are off your guard ; so that the occasion is over, and you have failed, before you were well aware of its coming. It is right then almost to jind out for yourself daily self-denials ; and this because our Lord bids you take up your cross daily, and because it proves your earnestness, and because by doing so you strengthen your general power of self-mastery, and come to have such an habitual command of yourself, as will be a defence ready prepared rt^hen the season of tempta-
yo Self-denial the Test of
tion comes. Rise up then in the morning with the pur- pose that (please God) tlie day shall not pass without ita self-denial, with a self-denial in innocent pleasures and tastes, if none occurs to mortify sin. Let your very risings from your bed be a self-denial ; let your meals be self-denials. Determine to yield to others in things indifferent, to go out of your way in small matters, to inconvenience yourself (so that no direct duty suffers by it), rather than you should not meet with your daily discipline. This was the Psalmist^s method, who was, as it were, '' punished all day long, and chastened every morning .'^' It was St. PauPs method, who " kept under,'''' or bruised " his body, and brought it into sub- jection ?" This is one great end of fasting. A man says to himself, " How am I to know I am in earnest ?*' I would suggest to him, Make some sacrifice, do some distasteful thing, which you are not actually obliged to do, (so that it be lawful,) to bring home to your mind that in fact you do love your Saviour, that you do hate sin, that you do hate your sinful nature, that you have put aside the present world. Thus you will have an evidence (to a certain point) that you are not using mere words. It is easy to make professions, easy to say fine things in speech or in writing, easy to astonish men with truths which they do not know, and sentiments which rise above human nature. " But thou, O servant of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godli- ness, faith, love, patience, meekness.^' Let not your words run on ; force every one of them into action as it goes, and thus, cleansing yourself from all pollution of I Psalm lixiu. 14. * 1 Cor. ix. 27.
Religious Earnestness. 7 1
the flesh and spirit, perfect holiness in the fear of God. In dreams we sometimes move our arms to see if we are awake or not, and so we are awakened. This is the way to keep your heart awake also. Try yourself daily in little deeds, to prove that your faith is more than a deceit.
I am aware all this is a hard doctrine ; hard to those even who assent to it, and can describe it most accurately. There are such imperfections, such inconsistencies in. the heart and life of even the better sort of men, that con- tinual repentance must ever go hand in hand with our endeavours to obey. Much we need the grace of Christ's blood to wash us from the guilt we daily incur ; much need we the aid of His promised Spirit ! And surely He will grant all the riches of His mercy to His true ser- vants ; but as surely He will vouchsafe to none of us the power to believe in Him, and the blessedness of being one with Him, who are not as earnest in obeying Him as if salvation depended on themselves.
SERMON VI. %\)t ^picitual a^iiiD.
" T7ie kingdom of God is not in word, but in power."- -l CoR. iv. 20.
TJOW are we the better for being members of the -^-*- Christian Church ? This is a question which has ever claims on our attention ; but it is right from time to time to examine our hearts with more than usual care, to try them by the standard of that divinely enlightened temper in the Church, and in the Saints, the work of the Holy Ghost, called by St. Paul " the spirit/^ I ask then, how are we the better for being Christ's disciples ? what reason have we for thinking that our lives are very different from what they would have been if we had been heathens? Have we, in the words of the text, received the kingdom of God in word or in power ? I will make some remarks in explanation of this question, which may (through God's grace) assist }'0U, my Brethren, in answering it.
1. Now first, if we would form a just notion how far we are influenced by the power of the Gospel, we must evidently put aside every thing which we do merely in imitation of others, and not from religious principle.
Tlie Spiritual Mind. 73
Not that we can actually separate our good words and works into two classes, and say, what is done from faith, and what is done only by accident, and in a random way ; but without being- able to draw the line, it is quite evident that so very much of our apparent obedience to God arises from mere obedience to the world and its fashions ; or rather, that it is so difficult to say what is done in the spirit of faith, as to lead us, on reflection, to be very much dissatisfied with ourselves, and quite out of conceit with our past lives. Let a person merely reflect on the number and variety of bad or foolish thoughts which he suflers, and dwells on in private, which he would be ashamed to put into words, and he will at once see, how very poor a test his outward demeanour in life is of his real holiness in the sight of God. Or again, let him consider the number of times he has attended public worship as a matter of course because others do, and without seriousness of mind ; or the number of times he has found himself unequal to temptations when they came, which beforehand he and others made light of in conversation, blaming those perhaps who had been overcome by them, and he must own that his outward conduct shapes itself unconsciously by the manners of those with whom he lives, being acted upon by external impulses, apart from any right in- fluence proceeding from the heart. Now, when I say this, am I condemning all that we do without thinking expressly of the duty of obedience at the very time we are doing it ? Far from it ; a religious man, in pro- portion as obedience becomes more and more easy to him, will doubtless do his duty unconsciously. It will
74 The Spiritual Mind.
be natural to him to obey, and therefore he will do it naturally, i. e. without effort or deliberation. It is diffi- cult things which we are obliged to think about before doing them. When we have mastered our hearts in any matter (it is true) we no more think of the duty while we obey, than we think how to walk when we walk, or by what rules to exercise any art which we have thoroughly acquired. Separate acts of faith aid us only while we are unstable. As we get strength, but one ex- tended act of faith (so to call it) influences us all through the day, and our whole day is but one act of obedience also. Then there is no minute distribution of our faith among our particular deeds. Our will runs parallel to God's will. This is the very privilege of confirmed Christians ; and it is comparatively but a sordid way of serving God, to be thinking when we do a deed, " if I do not do this, I shall risk my salvation ; or, if I do it, I have a chance of being saved ; " — comparatively a grovelling way, for it is the best, the only way for sinners such as we are, to begin to serve God in. Still as we grow in grace, we throw away childish things ; then we are able to stand upright like grown men, without the props and aids which our infancy required. This is the noble manner of serving God, to do good without thinking about it, without any calculation or reasoning, from love of the good, and hatred of the evil; —though cautiously and with prayer and watching, yet so generously, that if we were suddenly asked why we BO act, we could only reply "because it is our way,'' or " because Christ so acted /■" so spontaneously as not to know so much that we are doing right, as that we
The spiritual Mind. 75
are not doing' wrong"; I mean, with more of instinctive fear of sinning, than of minute and cai-eful appreciation of the degrees of our obedience. Hence it is that the best men are ever the most humble ; as for other reasons, so especially because they are accustomed to be religious. They surprise others, but not themselves ; they surprise others at their very calmness and freedom from thought about themselves. This is to have a great mind, to have within us that "princely heart of innocence ^" of which David speaks. Common men see God at a distance ; in their attempts to be religious they feebly guide themselves as by a distant light, and are obliged to calculate and search about for the path. But the long practised Christian, who, through God^s mercy, has brought God's presence near to him, the elect of God, in whom the Blessed Spirit dwells, he does not look out of doors for the traces of God ; he is moved by God dwelling in him, and needs not but act on instinct. I do not say there is any man altogether such, for this is an angelic life ; but it is the state of mind to which vigorous prayer and watching tend.
How different is this high obedience from that random unawares way of doing right, which to so many men Beems to constitute a religious life ! The excellent obedience I have been describing is obedience on habit. Now the obedience I condemn as untrue, may be called obedience on custom. The one is of the heart, the other of the lips; the one is in power, the other in word; the one cannot be acquired without much and constant vigilance, generally not without much pain and trouble ; ^ Christian Year, Sixth Sunday after Trinity.
y6 T/ie Spiritual Mind.
the other is the result of a mere passive imitation of those whom we fall in with. Why need I describe what every man^s experience bears witness to? Why do children learn their mother tongue, and not a foreig-n language ? Do they think about it ? Are they better or worse for acquiring one language and not another ? Their character, of course, is just what it would have been otherwise. How then are we better or worse, if we have but in the same passive way admitted into our minds certain religious opinions ; and have but ac- customed ourselves to the words and actions of the world around us ? Supposing we had never heard of the Gospel, should we not do just what we do, even in a heathen country, were the manners of the place, from one cause or another, as decent and outwardly religious? This is the question we have to ask our- selves. And if we are conscious to ourselves that we are not greatly concerned about the question itself, and have no fears worth mentioning of being in the wrong, and no anxiety to find what is right, is it not evident that we are living to the world, not to God, and that whatever virtue we may actually have, still the Gospel of Christ has come to us not in power, but in word only?
I have now suggested one subject for consideration concerning our reception of the kingdom of God ; viz. to inquire whether we have received it more than externally ; but,
1. I will go on to affirm that we may have received it in a higher sense than in word merely, and yet in no re^l sense in power ; in other words, that our obedience may be in some sort religious, and yet hardly deserve the
The Spiritual Mind. 77
title of Christian. This may be at first sight a startling assertion. It may seem to some of us as if there were no diflFerenee between being religious and being Christian ; and that to insist on a difierence is to perplex people. But listen to me. Do you not think it possible for men to do their duty, i. e. be religious, in a heathen country ? Doubtless it is. St. Peter says, that in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him '. Now are such persons, therefore, Christians ? Certainly not. It would seem, then, it is possible to fear God and work righteousness, yet without being Christians ; for (if we would know the truth of it) to be a Christian is to do this, and to do much more than this. Here, then, is a fresh subject for self-examination. Is it not the way of men to dwell with satisfaction on their good deeds, particularly when, for some reason or other, their conscience smites them ? Or when they are led to the consideration of death, then they begin to turn in their minds how they shall acquit themselves before the judgment-seat. And then it is they feel a relief in being able to detect, in their past lives, any deeds which may be regarded in any sense religious. You may hear some persons comforting themselves that they never harmed any one ; and that they have not given in to an openly profligate and riotous life. Others are able to say more ; they can speak of their honesty, their industry, or their general conscientiousness. We will say they have taken good care of their families; they have never defrauded or deceived any one ; and they have a good name in the world ; nay, they have in one sense lived in the fear of
> Acts X. 3.
78 The Spiritual Mind.
God. I will f^rant them this and more ; yet possibly they are not altogether Christians in their obedience. I will grant that these virtuous and religious deeds are really fruits of faith, not external merely, done without thought, but proceeding from the heart. I will grant they are really praiseworthy, and, when a man from want of opportunity knows no more, really acceptable to God ; yet they determine nothing about his having received the Gospel of Christ in power. Why ? for the simple reason that they are not enough. A Christian's faith and obedience is huilt on all this, but is only built on it. It is not the same as it. To be Christians, surely it is not enough to be that which we are enjoined to be, and must be, even without Christ ; not enough to be no better than good heathens ; not enough to be, in some slight measure, just, honest, temperate, and re- ligious. We must indeed be just, honest, temperate, and religious, before we can rise to Christian graces, and to he practised in justice and the like virtues is the way, the ordinary way, in which we receive the fulness of the kingdom of God ; and, doubtless, any man who despises those who try to practise them (I mean conscientious men, who notwithstanding have not yet clearly seen and welcomed the Gospel system) , and slightingly calls them " mere moral men " in disparagement, such a man knows not what spirit he is of, and had best take heed how he speaks against the workings of the inscrutable Spirit of God. I am not wishing to frighten these imperfect Christians, but to lead them on ; to open their minds to the greatness of the work before them, to dissipate the meagre and carnal views in which the Gospel has come
The Spiritual Mind. 79
to them, to warn them that they must never be contented with themselves, or stand still and relax their efforts, but must go on unto perfection ; that till they are much more than they are at present, they have received the king-dom of God in word, not in power ; that they are not spiritual men, and can have no comfortable sense of Christ^s presence in their souls; for to whom much is given, of him is much required.
What is it, then, that they lack ? I will read several passages of Scripture which will make it plain. St. Paul says, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new.^'' Again : " The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." "The love of Christ constraineth us." " Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kind- ness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuflPering, for- bearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye ; and above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." " God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts." Lastly, our Saviour's own memorable words, " If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me *." Now it is
' 2 Cor. V. 14. 17. Gal. ii. 20. CoL iii. 12—16. Gal iv. 6. Luke ix. 23
8o The Spiritual Mind.
plain that this is a very different mode of obedience t'rom any which natural reason and conscience tell us of; — different, not in its nature, but in its excellence and pecu- liarity. It is much more than honesty, justice, and temperance ; and this is to be a Christian. Observe in U'hat respect it is different from that lower deg-ree of relig-ion which we may possess without entering into the mind of the Gospel. First of all in its faith ; which is placed, not simply in God, but in God as manifested in Christ, according to His own words, " Ye believe in God, believe also in Me \" Next, we must adore Christ as our Lord and Master, and love Him as our most gracious Redeemer. We must have a deep sense of our guilt, and of the difficulty of securing heaven ; we must live as in His presence, daily pleading His cross and passion, thinking of His holy commandments, imitating His sinless pattern, and depending on the gracious aids of His Spirit ; that we may really and truly be servants of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in whose name we were baptized. Further, we must, for His sake, aim at a noble and unusual strictness of life, perfecting holiness in His fear, destroying our sins, mastering our whole soul, and bringing it into captivity to His law, denying ourselves lawful things, in order to do Him service, exercising a profound humility, and an im- bounded, never-failing love, giving away much of our substance in religious and charitable works, and dis- countenancing and shunning irreligious men. This is to be a Christian ; a gift easily described, and in a few words, but attainable only with fear and much trembling ;
' Jotm xiv. 1.
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promised, indeed, and in a measure accorded at once to every one who asks for it, but not secured till after many years, and never in this life fully realized. But be sure of this, that every one of us, who has had the opportunities of instruction and sufficient time, and yet does not in some good measure possess it, every one, who, when death comes, has not gained his portion of that gift which it requires a course of years to gain, and which he might have gained, is in a peril so great and fearful, that I do not like to speak about it. As to the notion of a partial and ordinary fulfilment of the duties of honesty, industry, sobriety, and kindness, " availing ' " him, it has no Scriptural encouragement. We must stand or fall by another and higher rule. We must have become what St. Paul calls " new creatures ' ; '^ that is, we must have lived and worshipped God as the redeemed of Jesus Christ, in all faith and humbleness of mind, in reverence towards His word and ordinances, in thankfulness, in resignation, in mercifulness, gentleness, purity, patience, and love.
Now, considering the obligation of obedience which lies upon us Christians, in these two respects, first, as contrasted with a mere outward and nominal profession, and next contrasted with that more ordinary obedience which is required of those even who have not the Gospel, how evident is it that we are far from the kingdom of God ! Let each in his own conscience apply this to himself. I will grant he has some real Christian prin- ciple in his heart ; but I wish him to observe how little that is likely to be. Here is a thought not to keep us
1 Gal. vi. 15. * Gal. vi. 15.
[I] &
82 The Spiritual Mind.
from rejoicing in the Lord Christ, but to make us "re- joice with trembliug\" wait diligently on God, pray Him earnestly to teach us more of our duty, and to impress the love of it on our hearts, to enable us to obey both in that free spirit, which can act right without reasoning and calculation, and yet with tlie caution of those who know their salvation depends on obedience in little things, from love of the truth as manifested in Him who is the Living Truth come upon earth, " the Way, the Truth, and the Life \''
With others we have no concern ; we do not know what their opportunities are. There may be thousands in this populous land who never bad the means of hearing Christ's voice fully, and in whom virtues short of evangelical will hereafter be accepted as the fruit of faith. Nor can we know the hearts of any men, or tell what is the degree in which they have improved their talents. It is enough to keep to ourselves. We dwell in the full light of the Gospel, and the full grace of the Sacraments. We ought to have the holiness of Apostles. There is no reason except our own wilful corruption, that we are not by this time walking in the steps of St. Paul or St. John, and following them as they followed Christ. What a thought is this ! Do not cast it from you, my brethren, but take it to your homes, and may God give you grace to profit by it I * Ps. ii 11. ' Jolin ^''- 6.
SERMON VII. »)fnjS of 3l5i^ocance anti .(LtLleakne^iS*
" Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed 7vith pure water." — Heb. x. 22,
A MONG the reasons which may be assigned for the observance of prayer at stated times, there is one which is very obvious, and yet perhaps is not so care- fully remembered and acted upon as it should be. I mean the necessity of sinners cleansing- themselves from time to time of the ever-accumulating guilt which loads their consciences. V/e are ever sinning ; and though Christ has died once for all to release us from our penalty, yet we are not pardoned once for all, but according as, and whenever each of us supplicates for the gift. By the prayer of faith we appropriate it ; but only for the time, not for ever. Guilt is again con- tracted, and must be again repented of and washed away. We cannot by one act of faith establish our- selves for ever after in the favour of God. It is going beyond His will to be impatient for a final acquittal, when we are bid ask only for our dail^ bread. We
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are still so far in the condition of the Israelites; and though we do not offer sacrifice, or observe the literal washings of the Law, yet we still require the periodical renewal of those blessings which were formerly conveyed in their degree by the Mosaic rites; and though we gain far more excellent gifts from God than the Jews did, and by more spiritual ordinances, yet means of approaching Him we still need, and continual means to keep us in the justification in which baptism first placed us. Of this the text reminds us. It is addressed to Christians, to the regenerate; yet so far from their regeneration having cleansed them once for all, they are bid ever to sprinkle the blood of Christ upon their consciences, and renew (as it were) their baptism, and so continually appear before the presence of Almighty God.
Let us now endeavour to realize a truth, which few of us will be disposed to dispute as far as words go.
1. First consider our present condition, as shown us in Scripture. Christ has not changed this, though He has died ; it is as it was from the beginning, — I mean our actual state as men. We have Adam's nature in the same sense as if redemption had not come to the world. It has come to all the world, but the world is not changed thereby as a whole, — that change is not a work done and over in Christ. We are changed one hy one ; the race of man is what it ever was, guilty; — what it was before Christ came ; with the same evil passions, the same slavish will. The histoiy of redemption, if it is to be effectual, must begin from the beginning with every individual of us, and be carried on through
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our own life. It is not a work done ages before we were born. We cannot profit by the work of a Saviour^ though He be the Blessed Son of God, so as to be saved thereby without our own working; for we are moral agents, we iiave a will of our own, and Christ must be formed in us, and turn us from darkness to light, if God^s gracious nurpose, fulfilled upon the cross, is to be in our case more than a name, an abused, wasted privilege. Thus the world, viewed as in God's sight, can never become wiser or more enlightened than it has been. We cannot mount upon the labours of our fore- fathers. We have the same nature that man ever had, and we must begin from the point man ever began from, and work out our salvation in the same slow, per- severing manner.
(1.) When this is borne in mind, how important the Jewish Law becomes to us Christians ! important in itself, over and above all references contained in it to that Gospel which it introduced. To this day it fulfils its original purpose of impressing upon man his great guilt and feebleness. Those legal sacrifices and purifica- tions which are now all done away, are still evidence to us of a fact which the Gospel has not annulled, — our corruption. Let no one lightly pass over the Book of Leviticus, and say it only contains the ceremonial oi a national law. Let no one study it merely with a critic's eye, satisfied with connecting it in a nicely arranged system with the Gospel, as though it con- tained prophecy only. No; it speaks to us. Are we better than the Jews ? is our nature less unbelieving, sensual, or proud, than theirs ? Surely man is at aH
8 6 Sins of Tgnorance
tini(»s the same being-, as even the philosophers tell us. And if so, that minute ceremonial of the Law presents us with a picture of our daily life. It impressively testifies to our continual sinning-, by suggesting that an expiation is needful in all the most trivial circum- stances of our conduct ; and that it is at our peril if we go on carelessly and thoughtlessly, trusting to our having been once accepted, — whether in baptism, — or (as we think) at a certain season of repentance, or (as we may fancy) at the very time of the death of Christ (as if then the whole race of man were really and at once pardoned and exalted), — or (worse still) if we profanely doubt that man has ever fallen under a curse, and trust idly in the mercy of God, without a feeling of the true misery and infinite danger of sin.
Consider the ceremony observed on the great day of atonement, and you will see what was the sinfulness of the Israelites, and therefore of all mankind, in God's sight. The High Priest was taken to represent the holiest person of the whole world. The nation itself was holy above the rest of the world ; from it a holy tribe was selected ; from the holy tribe, a holy family ; and from that family, a holy person. This was the High Priest, who was thus set apart as the choice specimen of the whole human race; yet even he was not allowed, under pain of death, to approach even the mercy-seat of God, except once a year: nor then in his splendid robes, nor without sacrifices for the sins of himself and the people, the blood of which he carried with him into the holy place.
Or consider the sacrifices necessary according to the
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Law for sins of ignorance ' ; or again^ for the mere touching any thing which the Law pronounced unclean, or for bodily disease ^, and hence learn how sinful oui ordinary thoughts and deeds must be, represented to us as they are by these outward ceremonial transgressions. Not even their thanksgiving might the Israelites offer without an offering of blood to cleanse it ; for our cor- ruption is not merely in this act or that, but in our nature.
(2.) Next, to pass from the Jewish law, you will observe that God tells us expressly in the history of the fall of Adam, what the legal ceremonies implied ; that it is our very nature which is sinful. Herein is the importance of the doctrine of original sin. It is very humbling, and as such the only true introduction to the preaching of the Gospel. Men can without trouble be brought to confess that they sin, i. e. that they com- mit sins. They know well enough they are not perfect; nay, that they do nothing in the best manner. But they do not like to be told that the race from which they proceed is degenerate. Even the indolent have pinde here. They think they can do their duty, only do not choose to do it ; they like to believe (though strangely indeed, for they condemn themselves while they believe it), they like to believe that they do not want assistance. A man must be far gone in degradation, and has lost even that false independence of mind which is often a substitute for real religion in leading to exertion, who, while living in sin, steadily and contentedly holds the opinion that he is born for sin. And much more do the ' Levit. T. * Levit. v. 2. 6 ; liv. 1—32.
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industrious and active dislike to have it forced upon their minds, that, do what they will, they have the taint of corruption about all their doing-s and imaginings. We know how ashamed men are of being low born, or dis- creditably connected. This is the sort of shame forced upon every son of Adam. " Thy first father hath sinned :" this is the legend on our forehead which even the sign of the Cross does no more than blot out, leaving the mark of it. This is our shame; but I notice it here, not so much as a humbling thought, as with a view of pressing upon your consciences the necessity of ap- pearing before God at stated seasons, in order to put aside the continually-renewed guilt of your nature. Who will dare go on day after day in neglect of earnest prayer, and the Holy Communion, while each day brings its own fearful burden, coming as if spontaneously, springing from our very nature, but not got rid of without deliberate and direct acts of faith in the Great Sacrifice which has been set forth for its removal ?
(3.) Further, look into your own souls, my brethren, and see if you cannot discern some part of the truth of the Scripture statement, which I have been trying to set before you. Recollect the bad thoughts of various kmds which come into your minds like darts ; for these wiU be some evidence to you of the pollution and odious- ness of your nature. TruG, they proceed from your ad- versary, the Devil ; and the very circumstance of your experiencing them is in itself no proof of your being sinful, for even the Son of God, your Saviour, suffered from the temptation of them. But you will scarcely deny that they are received by you so freely and heartily,.
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as to show that Satan tempts you through your nature, not ag-ainst it. Again^, let them be ever so external in their first comings do you not make them your own ? Do you not detain them? or do you impatiently and indignantly shake them off? Even if you reject them, still do they not answer Satan^s purpose in inflaming your mind at the instant, and so evidence that the matter of which it is composed is corruptible ? Do you not, for instance, dwell on the thought of wealth and splendour till you covet these temporal blessings ? or do you not suffer yourselves, though for a while, to be envious, or discontented, or angry, or vain, or impure, or proud ? Ah ! who can estimate the pollution hence, of one single day ; the pollution of touching merely that dead body of sin which we put off indeed at our baptism, but which is tied about us while we live here, and is the means of our Enemy's assaults upon us ! The taint of death is upon us, and surely we shall be stifled by the encom- passing plague, unless God from day to day vouchsafes to make us clean.
2. Again, reflect on the habits of sin which we super- added to our evil nature before we turned to God. Here is another source of continual defilement. Instead of checking the bad elements within us, perhaps we in- dulged them for years ; and they truly had their fruit unto death. Then Adam's sin increased, and multiplied itself within us ; there was a change, but it was for the worse, not for the better ; and the new nature we gained, far from being spiritual, was twofold more the child of hell than that with which we were born. So when, at length, we turned back into a better course, what a com-
90 Sins of Ig7iorance
plicated work lay before us, to unmake ourselves ! And however long we have laboured at it, still how much unconscious, unavoidable sin, the result of past trans- gression, is thrown out from our hearts day by day in the energy of our thinking and acting ! Thus, through the sins of our youth, the power of the flesh is exerted against us, as a second creative principle of evil, aiding the malice of the Devil ; Satan from without, — and our hearts from within, not passive merely and kindled by temptation, but devising evil, and speaking hard things against God with articulate voice, whether we will or not ! Thus do past years rise up against us in present offences; gross inconsistencies show themselves in our character; and much need have we continually to im- plore God to forgive us our past transgressions, which still live in spite of our repentance, and act of themselves vigorously against our better mind, feebly influenced by that younger principle of faith, by which we fight against them.
3. Further, consider how many sins are involved in our obedience, I may say from the mere necessity of the case ; that is, from not having that more vigorous and clear-sighted faith which would enable us accurately to discern and closely to follow tlie way of life. The case of the Jews will exemj^lify what I mean. There were points of God^s perfect Law which were not urged upon their acceptance, because it was foreseen that they would not be able to receive them as they really should be received, or to bring them home practically to their minds, and obey them simply and truly. We, Christians, with the same evil hearts as the Jews had, and most of
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us as unformed in holy practice, have, nevertheless, a perfect Law. We are bound to take and use all the precepts of the New Testament, though it stands to reason that many of them are, in matter of fact, quite above the comprehension of most of us. I am speaking of the actual state of the case, and will not go aside to ask why, or under what circumstances God was pleased to change His mode of dealing with man. But so it is ; the Minister of Christ has to teach His sinful people a perfect obedience, and does not know how to set about it, or how to insist on any precept, so as to secure it from being misunderstood and misapplied. He sees men are acting upon low motives and views, and finds it impossible to raise their minds all at once, however clear his statements of the Truth. He feels that their good deeds might be done in a much better manner. There are numberless small circumstances about their mode of doing things, which offend him, as implying poverty of faith, superstition, and contracted carnal notions. He is obliged to leave them to them- selves with the hope that they may improve generally, and outgrow their present feebleness ; and is often per- plexed whether to praise or blame them. So is it with all of us. Ministers as well as people ; it is so with the most advanced of Christians while in the body, and God sees it. What a source of continual defilement is here ; not an omission merely of what might be added to our obedience, but a cause of positive offence in the Eyes of Eternal Purity ! Who is not displeased when a man attempts some great work which is above his powers ? and is it an excuse for his miserable performance that
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the work is above him ? Now this is our case ; we aw bound to serve God with a perfect heart; an exalted work, a work for which our sins disable us. And when we attempt it, necessary as is our endeavour, how miserable must it appear in the eyes of the Angels ! how pitiful our exhibition of ourselves; and, withal, how sinful ! since did we love God more from the heart, and had we served Him from our youth up, it would not have been with us as it is. Thus our very calling, as creatures, and again as elect children of God, and freemen in the Gospel, is by our sinfulness made our shame ; for it puts us upon duties, and again upon the use of privileges, which are above us. We attempt great things with the certainty of failing, and yet the neces- sity of attempting ; and so while we attempt, need continual forgiveness for the failure of the attempt. We stand before God as the Israelites at the passover of Hezekiah, who desired to serve God according to the Law, but could not do so accurately from lack of know- ledge ; and we can but offer, through our Great High Priest, our sincerity and earnestness instead of exact obedience, as Hezekiah did for them. " The good Lord pardon every one, that prepareih his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary * ;" not performing, that is, the full duties of his calling.
And if such be the deficiencies, even of the established Christian, in his ordinary state, how great must be those of the penitent, who has but lately begun the
» 2 Chrou. XXX. 18, 19.
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ser irice of God ? or of the young", who are still within the influence of some unbridled imag-ination, or some domineering passion ? or of the heavily depressed spirit, whom Satan binds with the bonds of bodily ailment, or tosses to and fro in the tumult of doubt and indecision ? Alas ! how is their conscience defiled with the thoughts, nay the words of every hour ! and how inexpressibly needful for them to relieve themselves of the evil that weighs upon their heart, by drawing near to God in full assurance of faith, and washing away their guilt in the Expiation which He has appointed !
What I have said is a call upon you, my brethren, in the first place, to daily private prayer. Next, it is a call upon you to join the public services of the Church, not only once a week, but whenever you have the opportunity; knowing well that your Redeemer is especially present where two or three are gathered to- gether. And, further, it is an especial call upon you to attend upon the celebration of the Lord's Supper, in which blessed ordinance we really and truly gain that spiritual life which is the object of our daily prayers. The Body and Blood of Christ give power and efficacy to our daily faith and repentance. Take this view of the Lord's Supper ; as the appointed means of obtaining the great blessings you need. The daily prayers of the Christian do but spring from, and are referred back to, his attendance on it. Christ died once, long since : by communicating in His Sacrament, you renew the Lord's death; you bring into the midst of you that Sacrifice which took away the sins of the world ; you appropriate the benefit of it, whUe you eat it under the
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elements of bread and wine. These outward signs are simply the means of an hidden grace. You do not expect to sustain your animal life without food ; be but as rational in spiritual concerns as you are in temporal. Look upon the consecrated elements as necessary, under God's blessing-, to your continual sanctification ; ap- proach them as the salvation of your souls. Why is it more strange that God should work through means for the health of the soul^ than that He should ordain them for the preservation of bodily life, as He certainly has done ? It is unbelief to think it matters not to your spiritual welfare whether you communicate or not. And it is worse than unbelief, it is utter insensibility and obduracy, not to discern the state of death and corruption into which, when left to yourselves, you are continually falling back. Rather thank God, that whereas you are sinners, instead of His leaving you the mere general promise of life through His Son, which is addressd to all men. He has allowed you to take that promise to yourselves one by one, and thus gives you a humble hope that He has chosen you out of the world unto salvation.
Lastly, I have all along spoken as addressing true Christians, who are walking in the narrow way, and have hope of heaven. But these are the " few.'''' Are there none here present of the " many *' who walk in the broad way, and have upon their heads all their sins, from their baptism upwards ? Rather, is it not pro- bable that there are persons in this congregation, who, though mixed with the people of God, are really un- forgiven, and if they now died, would die in their sins ?
and Weakness. 95
Firstj let those who neglect the Holy Communion ask themselves whether this is not their condition ; let them reflect whether among the signs by which it is given us to ascertain our state^ there can be^ to a man's own conscience, a more fearful one than thi«, that he is omitting what is appointed, as the ordinary means of his salvation. This is a plain test, about which no one can deceive himself. But next, let him have re- course to a more accurate search into his conscience; and ask himself whether (in the words of the text) he " draws near to God with a true heart,'' i. e. whether in spite of his prayers and religious services, there be not some secret, unresisted lusts within him, which make his devotion a mockery in the sight of God, and leave him in his sins; whether he be not in truth thoughtless, and religious only as far as his friends make him seem so, — or light-minded and shallow in his religion, being ignorant of the depths of his guilt, and resting presumptuously on his own innocence (as he thinks it) and God's mercy ; — whether he be not set upon gain, obeying God only so far as His service does not interfere with the service of mammon ; — whether he be not harsh, evil-tempered, — unforgiving, unpitiful, or high-minded, — self-confident, and secure ; — or whether he be not fond of the fashions of this world, which pass away, desirous of the friendship of the great, and of sharing in the refinements of society ; — or whether he be not given up to some engrossing pursuit, which in- disposes him to the thought of his God and Saviour.
Any one deliberate habit of sin incapacitates a man for receiving the gifts of the Gospel. All such states of
96 Sins of Ig7iorance and Weakness.
mind as these are fearful symptoms of the existence oi some such wilful sin in our hearts ; and in proportion as we trace these symptoms iu our conduct, so much we dread, lest we be reprobate.
Let us then approach God, all of us, confessing that we do not know ourselves ; that we are more guilty than we can possibly understand, and can but timidly hope, not confidently determine, that we have true faith. Let us take comfort in our being still in a state of grace, though we have no certain pledge of salvation. Let us beg Him to enlighten us, and comfort us ; to iorgive us all our sins, teaching us those we do not see, and enabling us to overcome tbem.
SERMON VITT. (Bot)'0 Commanliment0 not (I5ciebou0.
' ' This is the love of God, that we keep His commandvtents ; and Hu commandments are not grievous." — i John v. 3.
TT must ever be borne in mind, that it is a very great -^ and arduous thing to attain to heaven. " Many are called, few are chosen/' " Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way/' " Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able/' " If any man come to Me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple \" On the other hand, it is evident to any one who reads the New Testament with attention, that Christ and His Apostles speak of a religious life as something easy, pleasant, and comfortable. Thus, in the words I have taken for my text : — " This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.'' In like manner our Saviour says, " Come unto Me . , . . and I will give you rest .... My yoke is easyj, and My burden is light*." Solomon, also, in the Old Testament, speaks
' Matt. xxii. 14 ; vii. 14. Luke riii. 24 ; xiv. 26. » Matt. xi. 28— Stt [I] H
98 God's Commandments not Grievous.
in the same way of true wisdom : — " Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her : and happy
is every one that retaineth her When thou liest
down, thou shalt not be afraid : yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet \'^ Again, we read in the prophet Mieah : " What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God '^ ? " as if it were a little and an easy thing BO to do.
Now I will attempt to show how it is that these appa- rently opposite declarations of Christ and His Prophets and Apostles are fulfilled to us. For it may be objected by inconsiderate persons that we are (if I may so ex- press it) hardly treated ; invited to come to Christ and receive His light yoke, promised an easy and happy life, the joy of a good conscience, the assurance of pardon, and the hope of Heaven; and then, on the other hand, when we actually come, as it were, rudely repulsed, frightened, reduced to despair by severe requisitions and evil forebodings. Such is the objection, — not which any Christian would bring forward ; for we, my brethren, know too much of the love of our Master and only Saviour in dying for us, seriously to entertain for an instant any such complaint. We have at least faith enough for this (and it does not require a great deal), viz. to believe that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is not " yea and nay, but in Him is yea. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us *.'* It is for the very reason that none of
» ProT. iii. 17—24, » Micah vi. 8. » 8 Cor. i. 19, 20.
God's Commandments not Grievous. 99
us can seriously put the objection, that I allow myself to state it strongly ; to urge it being in a Christian's judgment absurd, even more than it would be wicked. But though none of us really feel as an objection to the Gospel, this difference of view under which the Gospel is presented to us, or even as a difiiculty, still it may be right (in order to our edification) that we should see how these two views of it are reconciled. We must understand how it is hotli severe and indulgent in its commands, and both arduous and easy in its obedience, in order that we may understand it at all. '' His com- mandments are not grievous," says the text. How is this? — I will give one answer out of several which might be given.
Now it must be admitted, first of all, as matter of fact, that they are grievous to the great mass of Christians. I have no wish to disguise a fact which we do not need the Bible to inform us of, but which common experience attests. Doubtless even those common ele- mentary duties, of which the prophet speaks, '"^ doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God,'' are to most men grievous.
Accordingly, men of worldly minds, finding the true way of life unpleasant to walk in, have attempted to find out other and easier roads ; and have been accustomed to argue, that there must be another way which suits them better than that which religious men walk in, for the very reason that Scripture declares that Christ's commandments are not grievous. I mean, you will meet with persons who say, '^ After all it is not to be supposed that a strict religious life is so necessary as is
s*-
lOO God's Commandments not Grievous.
fcold us in church ; else how should any one be saved ? nay, and Christ assures us His yoke is easy. Doubtless we shall fare well enough, though we are not so earnest in the observance of our duties as we might be ; though we are not regular in our attendance at public worship ; though we do not honour Christ^s ministers and reverence His Church as much as some men do ; though we do not labour to know God^s will, to deny ourselves, and to live to His glory, as entirely as the strict letter of Scripture enjoins/^ Some men have gone so far as boldly to say, " God will not condemn a man merely for taking a little pleasure ;" by which they mean, leading an irreligious and profligate life. And many there are who virtually maintain that we may live to the world, so that we do so decently, and yet live to God; arguing that this world's blessings are given us by God, and therefore may lawfully be used ; — that to use lawfully is to use moderately and thankfully; — that it is wrong to take gloomy views, and right to be innocently cheerful, and so on ; which is all very true thus stated, did they not apply it unfairly, and call that use of the world moderate and innocent, which the Apostles would call being conformed to the world, and serving mammon instead of God.
And thus, before showing you what is meant by Christ's commandments not being grievous, I have said what is not meant by it. It is nx)t meant that Christ dispenses with strict religious obedience; the whole language of Scripture is against such a notion. " Who- soever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in
God's Commandments not Grievous. loi
the kingdom of heaven ^.'' " Whosoever shall keep the whole lawj and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all ^." Whatever is meant by Christ^s yoke being easy, Christ does not encourage sin. And again, whatever is meant, still I repeat, as a matter of fact, most men find it not easy. So far must not be disputed. Now then let us proceed, in spite of this admission, to consider how He fulfils His engagements to us, that His ways are ways of pleasantness.
1. Now, supposing some superior promised you any gift in a particular way, and you did not follow his directions, would he have broken his promise, or you have voluntarily excluded yourselves from the advan- tage ? Evidently you would have brought about your own loss; you might, indeed, think his offer not worth- accepting, burdened (as it was) with a condition annexed to it, stUl you could not in any propriety say that he failed in his engagement. Now when Scripture pro- mises us that its commandments shall be easy, it couples the promise with the injunction that we should seek God early. " I love them that love Me, and those that seek Me early shall find Me ^." Again : " Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth*.''' These are Solomon's words ; and if you require our Lord's own authority, attend to His direction about the children : " Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God ^." Youth is the time of His covenant with us, when He first gives us His Spirit ;
> Matt. V. 19. * James ii. 10. » Prov. viii. 17.
* Eccles. xii. 1. » Mark x. 14.
I02 God's Commandments not Grievous.
first giving then, that we may then forthwith begin our return of obedience to Him ; not then giving it that we may delay our thank-offering for twenty, thirty, or fifty years ! Now it is obvious that obedience to God's com.- mandments is ever easy, and almost without effort to those who begin to serve Him from the beginning of their days; whereas those who wait a while, find it grievous in proportion to their delay.
For consider how gently God leads us on in our early years, and how very gradually He opens upon us the complicated duties of life. A child at first has hardly any thing to do but to obey his parents ; of God he knows just as much as they are able to tell him, and he is not equal to many thoughts either about Him or about •the world. He is almost passive in their hands who gave him life ; and, though he has those latent instincts about good and evil, truth and falsehood, which all men have, he does not know enough, he has not had expe- rience enough from the contact of external objects, to elicit into form and action those innate principles of conscience, or to make himself conscious of the existence of them.
And while on the one hand his range of duty is very confined, observe how he is assisted in performing it. First, he has no bad habits to hinder the suggestions of his conscience : indolence, pride, Ul-temper, do not then act as they afterwards act, when the mind has accus- tomed itself to disobedience, as stubborn, deep-seated impediments in the way of duty. To obey requires an effort, of course ; but an eflPort like the bodily effort of the child's rising from the ground, when he has fallen
God's Commandments not Grievous. 103
on it ; not the effort of shaking off drowsy sleep ; not the effort (far less) of violent bodily exertion in a time of sickness and long weakness : and the first effort made, obedience on a second trial wiU be easier than before, till at length it will be easier to obey than not to obey. A good habit will be formed, where otherwise a bad habit would have been formed. Thus the child, we are sup- posing, would begin to have a character ; no longer in- fluenced by every temptation to anger, discontent, fear, and obstinacy, in the same way as before; but with something of firm principle in his heart to repel them in a defensive way, as a shield repels darts. In the mean time the circle of his duties would enlarge ; and, though for a time the issue of his trial would be doubtful to those who (as the Angels) could see it, yet, should he, as a child, consistently pursue this easy course for a few years, it may be, his ultimate salvation would be actually secured, and might be predicted by those who could see his heart, though he would not know it himself. Doubt- less new trials would come on him ; bad passions, which he had not formed a conception of, would assaU him; but a soul thus born of God, in St. John's words, " sinneth not ; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not*.' " His seed remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, be- cause he is born of God ^■" And so he would grow up to man's estate, his duties at length attaining their full range, and his soul being completed in all its parts for the due performance of them. This might be the blessed
' 1 John V. 18. ' 1 John iii. 9,
104 God's Conwiandments not Grievous.
condition of every one of us^ did we but follow from infancy what we know to be right ; and in Christ's iarly life (if we may dare to speak of Him in connexion with ourselves), it toas fulfilled while He increased day by day sinlessly in wisdom as in stature, and in favour with God and man. But my present object of speaking of this gradual growth of holiness in the soul, is (not to show what we might be, had we the heart to obey God), but to show how easy obedience would in that case be to us ; consisting, as it would, in no irksome ceremonies, no painful bodily discipline, but in the free-will offerings of the heart, of the heart which had been gradually, and by very slight occasional efforts, trained to love what God and our conscience approve.
Thus Christ^s commandments, viewed as He enjoins them on us, are not grievous. They would be grievous if put upon us all at once ; but they are not heaped on us, according to His order of dispensing them, which goes upon an harmonious and considerate plan ; by little and little, first one duty, then another, then both, and so on. Moreover, they come upon us, while the safeguard of virtuous principle is forming naturally and gradually in our minds by our very deeds of obedience, and is follow- ing them as their reward. Now, if men will not take their duties in Christ's order, but are determined to delay obedience, with the intention of setting about their duty some day or other, and then making up for past time, is it wonderful that they find it grievous and difficult to perform ? that they are overwhelmed with the arrears of their great work, that they are entangled and stumble amid the intricacies of the Divine system which has
God's Commandments not Grievous. 105
progressively enlarged upon them ? And is Christ under obligation to stop that system, to recast His providence, to take these men out of their due place m the Church, to save them from the wheels that are crushing them, and to put them back again into some simple and more childish state of trial, where (though they cannot have less to unlearn) they, at least, may for a time have less to do ?
2. All this being granted, it still may be objected, since (as I have allowed) the commandments of God are grievous to the generality of men, where is the use of saying what men ought to be, when we know what they are? and how is it fulfilling a promise that His com- mandments shall not be grievous, by informing us that they ought not to be ? It is one thing to say that the Law is in itself holy, just, and good, and quite a different thing to declare it is not grievous to sinful man.
In answering this question, I fully admit that our Saviour spoke of man as he is, as a sinner, when He said His yoke should be easy to him. Certainly, He came not to call righteous men, but sinners. Doubt- less we are in a very different state from that of Adam before his fall ; and doubtless, in spite of this, St. John says that even to fallen man His commandments are not grievous. On the other hand, I grant, that if man cannot obey God, obedience mu,st be grievous; and I grant too (of course) that man by nature cannot obey God. But observe, nothing has here been said, nor by St. John in the text, of man as by nature born in sin ; but of man as a child of grace, as Christ's purchased posses- sion, who goes before us with His mercy, puts the
[o6 Gods Commandments not Grievous.
blessing- Hrst, and then adds the command ; regenerates us, and then bids us obey. Christ bids us do nothing that we cannot do. ?Ie repairs the fault of our nature, even before it manifests itself in act. He cleanses us from original sin, and rescues us from the wrath of God by the sacrament of baptism. He gives us the gift of His Spirit, and then He says, " What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" and is this grievous?
When, then, men allege their bad nature as an excuse for their dislike of God^s commandments, if, indeed, they are heathens, let them be heard, and an answer may be given to them even as such. But with heathens we are not now concerned. These men make their complaint as Christians, and as Christians they are most unreason- able in making it ; God having provided a remedy for their natural incapacity in the gift of His Spirit. Hear St. Paul's words ; " If through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded
unto many Where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound : that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord'.''
And there are persons, let it nev^er be forgotten, who have so followed God's leading providence from their youth up, that to them His commandments not only are not grievous, but never have been : and that there are such, is the condemnation of all who are not such.
' Rom. V. 15—21.
God's Commandments not Grievous. 107
They have been broug-ht up " in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ' ; " and they now live in the love and "the peace of God^ which passeth all under- standing-^." Such are they whom our Saviour speaks of, as "just persons, which need no repentance '." Not that they will give that account of themselves, for they are full well conscious in their own hearts of sins innumerable, and habitual infirmity. Still, in spite of stumblings and falls in their spiritual course, they have on the whole persevered. As children they served God on the whole ; they disobeyed, but they recovered their lost ground ; they sought God and were accepted. Per- haps their young faith gave way for a time altogether ; but even then they contrived with keen repentance, and strong disgust at sin, and earnest prayers, to make up for lost time, and keep pace with the course of God's providence. Thus they have walked with God, not indeed step by step with Him ; never before Him, often loitering, stumbling, falling to sleep; yet in turn starting and " making haste to keep His commandments,'' " run- ning, and prolonging not the time." Thus they proceed, not, however, of themselves, but as upheld by His right hand, and guiding their steps by His Word ; and though they have nothing to boast of, and know their own unworthiness, still they are witnesses of Christ to all men, as showing what man can become, and what all Christians ought to be ; and at the last day, being found meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, they * condemn the world," as Noah did, and become " heirs
1 Eph. vi. 4. » Phil. iv. 7- '' Luke xv. 7-
io8 God's Commandments not Grievous.
of the righteousness which is by faith/' according to the saying, '^ This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith */'
And now to what do the remarks I have been making tend, but to this ? — to humble every one of us. For, however faithfully we have obeyed God, and however early we began to do so, surely we might have begun sooner tlian we did, and might have sei-ved Him more heartily. We cannot but be conscious of this. Indi- viduals among us may be more or less guilty, as the case may be; but the best and worst among us here assembled, may well unite themselves together so far as this, to confess they have " erred and strayed from God's ways like lost sheep,'' "have followed too much the devices and desires of their own hearts," have ''^no health" in themselves as being "miserable offenders." Some of us may be nearer Heaven, some further from it ; some may have a good hope of salvation, and others, (God forbid! but it may be), others no present hope. Still let us unite now as one body in confessing (to the better part of us such confession will be the more welcome, and to the worst it is the more needful), in confessing ourselves sinners, deserving God's anger, and having no hope except "according to His promises declared imto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord." He who first regenerated us and then gave His commandments, and then was so ungratefully deserted by us. He again it is that must pardon and quicken us after our accumulated guilt, if we are to be pardoned. Let us then trace back
' 1 John V. 4i.
God's Commandments not Grievous. 109
in memory (as far as we can) our early years ; what we were when five years old, when ten, when fifteen, when twenty! what our state would have been as far as we can guess it, had God taken us to our account at any age before the present. I will not ask how it would go with us, were we now taken ; we will suppose the best.
Let each of us (I say) reflect upon his own most gross and persevering neglect of God at various seasons of his past life. How considerate He has been to us ! How did He shield us from temptation ! how did He open His will gradually upon us, as we might be able to bear it ' ! how has He done all things well, so that the spiritual work might go on calmly, safely, surely! How did He lead us on, duty by duty, as if step by step up- wards, by the easy rounds of that ladder whose top reaches to Heaven? Yet how did we thrust ourselves into temptation ! how did we refuse to come to Him that we might have life ! how did we daringly sin against light ! And what was the consequence ? that our work grew beyond our strength ; or rather that our strength grew less as our duties increased; till at length we gave up obedience in despair. And yet then He still tarried and was merciful unto us ; He turned and looked upon us to bring us into repentance; and we for a while were moved. Yet, even then our wayward hearts could not keep up to their own resolves : letting go again the heat which Christ gave them, as if made of stone, and not of living flesh. What could have been done more to His vineyard, that He hath not done in it ' ? " O My people
» 1 Cor. X. 13. » Isa. v. 4.
1 1 o God's Commandments not Grievous.
(He seems to say to us), what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against Me. I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants ; . . . . what doth the Lord require of thee, but justice, mercy, and humbleness of mind ' ?'* He hath showed us what is good. He has borne and carried us in His bosom, " lest at any time we should dash our foot against a stone '." He shed His Holy Spirit upon us that we might love Him. And " this Is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous/^ Why, then, have they been grievous to us? Why have we erred from His ways, and hardened our hearts from His fear? Why do we this day stand ashamed, yea, even con- founded, because we bear the reproach of our youth ?
Let us then turn to the Lord, while yet we may. Difficult it will be in proportion to the distance we have departed from Him. Since every one might have done more than he has done, every one has suffered losses he never can make up. We have made His commands grievous to us : we must bear it ; let us not attempt to explain them away because they are grievous. We never can wash out the stains of sin. God may forgive, but the sin has had its work, and its memento is set up in the soul. God sees it there. Earnest obedience and prayer will gradually remove it. Still, what miserable loss of time is it, in our brief life, to be merely undoing (as has become necessary) the evil which we have done, instead of going on to perfection ! If by God^s grace we
» Micah vi. 3—8. * Ps. ici. 12.
God's Commandments not Grievous.
Ill
shall be able in a measure to sanctify ourselves in spite of our former sins, yet how much more should we have attained, had we always been engaged in His service !
These are bitter and humbling thoughts, but they are good thoughts if they lead us to repentance. And this leads me to one more observation, with which I conclude.
If any one who hears me is at present moved Dy what I have said, and feels the remorse and shame of a bad conscience, and forms any sudden good resolution, let him take heed to follow it up at once by acting upon it. I earnestly beseech him so to do. For this reason ; — because if he does not, he is beginning a habit of in- attention and insensibility. God moves us in order to make the beginning of duty easy. If we do not attend, He ceases to move us. Any of you, my brethren, who will not take advantage of this considerate providence, if you will not turn to God now with a warm heart, you will hereafter be obliged to do so (if you do so at all) with a cold heart; — which is much harder. God keep you from this !
SERMON IX.
" The man out of whom the devils were departed besought Him that hi might be with Him ; but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath dotte unto thee" — Luke viii. 38, 39.
TT was very natural in the man whom our Lord had set -*- free from this dreadful visitation, to wish to continue with Him. Doubtless his mind was transported with joy and gratitude; whatever consciousness he might possess of his real wretchedness while the devils tormented him, now at least, on recovering his reason, he would understand that he had been in a very miserable state, and he would feel all the lightness of spirits and activity of mind, which attend any release from suffering or constraint. Under these circumstances he would imagine himself to be in a new world; he had found deliverance; and what was more, a Deliverer too, who stood before him. And whether from a wish to be ever in His Divine presence, ministering to Him, or from a fear lest Satan would return, nay, with sevenfold power, did he lose sight of Christ, or from an undefined notion that all his duties and hopes were now changed, that his former
The Religious Use of Excited Feelings. 113
pursuits were unworthy of him, and that he must follow up some great undertakings with the new ardour he felt glowing within him ; — from one or other, or all of these feelings combined, he besought our Lord that he might be with Him. Christ imposed this attendance as a command on others ; He bade, for instance, the young ruler follow Him; but He gives opposite commands, according to our tempers and likings ; He thwarts us, that He may try our faith. In the case before us He suffered not, what at other times He had bidden. " Re- turn to thine own house,'' He said, or as it is in St. Mark's Gospel, " Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee *." He directed the current of his newly-awakened feelings into another channel ; as if He said, " Lovest thou Me ? this do ; return home to your old occupations and pursuits. You did them ill before, you lived to the world ; do them well now, live to Me. Do your duties, little as well as great, heartily for My sake; go among your friends ; show them what God hath done for thee; be an example to them, and teach them^" And farther, as He said on another occasion, " Show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them ^" — show forth that greater light and truer love which you now possess in a conscientious, consistent obedience to all the ordinances and rites of your religion.
Now from this account of the restored demoniac, his request, and our Lord's denial of it, a lesson may be
> Mark v. 19. 2 Col. iii. 17. ^ Matt. viii. 4.
LI] I
it4 The Religious Use
drawn for the use of those who, having neglected religion in early youth, at length begin to have serious thoughts, try to repent, and wish to serve God better than hitherto, though they do not know how to set about it. We know that God's commandments are pleasant, and ''rejoice the heart," if we accept them in the order and manner in which He puts them upon us; that Christ's yoke, as He has promised, is (on the whole) very easy, if we submit to it betimes ; that the practice of religion is full of comfort to those who, being first baptized with the Spirit of grace, receive thankfully His influences as their minds open, inasmuch as they are gradually and almost without sensible effort on their part, imbued in all their heart, soul, and strength, with that true heavenly life which will last for ever.
But here the question meets us, "But what are those to do who have neglected to remember their Creator in the days of their youth, and so have lost all claim on Christ's promise, that His yoke shall be easy, and His commandments not grievous ?" I answer, that of course they must not be surprised if obedience is with them a laborious up-hill work all their days ; nay, as having been " once enlightened, and partaken of the Holy Ghost" in baptism, they would have no right to complain even though "it were im- possible for them to renew themselves again unto repentance." But God is more merciful than this just severity; merciful not only above our deservings, but even above His own promises. Even for those who have neglected Him when young, He has found (if they wUl avail themselves of itj some sort of remedy of the
of Excited Feelings. 1 1 5
difficulties in the way of obedience which they have brought upon themselves by sinning; and what this remedy is, and how it is to be used, I proceed to describe in connexion with the account in the text.
The help I speak of is the excited feeling with which repentance is at first attended. True it is, that all the passionate emotion, or fine sensibility, which ever man displayed, will never by itself make us change our ways, and do our duty. Impassioned thoughts, high aspira- tions, sublime imaginings, have no strength in them. They can