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/^•)i ■

SERMONS,

PUBLISHED A^T THE REQUEST OF MANY OF

HIS LATE PARISHIONERS.

JOHN, BISHOP OF FREDERIOTON.

EXETER: P. A. HANNAFORD.
LONDON : FRANCIS & JOHN RIVINGTON.

1845.

3^-

t-^

\ ,

LONDON :

GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,

ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.

• • • • •

- • »

' I**

• 4 ••

••••..

•::•

•r'

• ••

oh '• a •?ni7

• *•'

•A

JAMES WENTWORTH BULLER, ESQ.

OF DOWNES,

CJese Sermons,

PREACHED CHIEFLY IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF

ST. THOMAS, EXETER,

ARE DEDICATED,

IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF HIS UNSOLICITED KINDNESS,

BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND,

JOHN FREDERICTON.

Exeter, May, 1845.

A 3

PREFACE.

These Sermons would never have been printed,
but in compliance with the earnest request of
many of my late valued Parishioners. Conscious
of the defects which an unfriendly eye may detect
in them, and having little time to amend such
faults, I can only pray that those who read them
may read, not for criticism, but for edification ;
and that He who makes use of the weakest in-
struments, may not disdain to accept and bless
the seed which has been watered by my unworthy

prayers.

J. F.

A 3

CONTENTS.

SERMON I.

WAITING FOR CHRIST REWARDED.

Isaiah xxv. 9.

PAQE

And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we
have waited for Him, and He will save us : this is the
Lord ; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and
rejoice in His salvation

SERMON II.

ON PATIENCE.

St. Luke xxi. 19.
In your patience possess ye your souls

. 17

SERMON III.

THE STATE OF SEPARATE SPIRITS.

St. John xiii. 36.

Simon Peter said unto him. Lord, whither goest thou?
Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow
me now ; but thou shalt follow me afterwards .... 31

A 4

Vlll

CONTENTS.

I t

SERMON IV.

FEARS ON THE SUBJECT OF THE HOLY COMMUNION.

P8ALMXXVi.6,7. ^^^^

T will wash mine hands in innocency : so will I compass
^ i^L aC, Lord. That I may publish with the voice
of thLksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works . . 40

SERMON V.

THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES OF RICHES.
St. Matthew xix. 23—30.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you.
That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of
heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel
S) go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
X iSto tL kingdL of God. When His ^.^f «« ^^^
it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying. Who then cwi
he saved 1 But Jesus beheld them, and «ud unto theit^
With men this is impossible ; but with God a 1 thingB axe
possible. Then answered Peter and said unto H'", Be-
hold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee ; what shall
we have therefore 1 And Jesus said unto them, Venly I
say unto vou, That ye which have followed Me, m the
J^ge^ration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne
of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath for-
saken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother,
or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall
receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting
life

SERMON VI.

god's PROVIDENTIAL CARE.
St. Matthew ii. 28—33.

Consider the lilies of the field how they grow : they toU
not, neither do they spin : and yet I say unto you, that

CONTENTS.

PAGE

even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the held,
which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall ho
not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith 1 Therefore
take no thought, saying, What shall we oat 1 or, what
shall we drink 1 or, wherewithal shall we be clothed 1
For after all these things do tho Gentiles seek : for vour
heavenly Father knoweth that ye ha need of all these
things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto
you

SERMON VII.

INFANT BAPTISM.

1 Cor. vii. 14.

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and
the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband, else
were your children unclean, but now are they holy . . 88

SERMON VIII.

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

St. Matthew vi. 21.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also

107

SERMON IX.

THE OLD TESTAMENT, ITS RELATION TO THE NEW.

Rom. XV. 4.

Whatsoever thmgs were written aforetime, were written
for our learning

121

CONTENTS.

SERMON X.

THE TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, IN RELATION

TO THE NEW.

COLOSSIANS ii. 17>

P„GE

Which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body is of

Christ

137

SERMON XI.

THE PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, IN RELATSON

TO THE NEW.

Gal. iii. 17.

nd this I say, that the covenant which was confirmed be-
fore of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundrad
and thirty years aftsr, cannot disannul, that it should
make the promise of none effect . . . 151

SERMON XII.

THE PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, IN THEIR
RELATION TO THE NEW.

Psalm cxix. 97—105.

how love I Thy law ! it is my maditatiou all the day.
Thou ihroagh Thy commandments hast made me wiser
than mine enemies : for they are ever with me. I have
more understanding than all my teachers : for Thy testi-
monies arc my meditation. I understand more than the
ancients, because I keep Thy precepts. I have refrnmed
my feet from everv evil way, that I might keep Thy jrd.
I have not departed from Thy judgments : for Thou hast
taught me. How sweet ur j Thy words unto my tasje I
yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth ! Through Thy
precepts I get understanding : therefore I hate every
false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my fe-jt^ and a light
unto iT>y p4,th ,......•

169

CONTENTS.

SERMON XIII.

P„GE

. 137

AN ADVENT SERMON,

2 Tim. iv. 1.

PAGE

Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing
and His kingdom ***'

SERMON XIV.

. 151

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

Isaiah vii. 10 — 16.

Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee
a sign of the Lord thy God ; ask it either in the depth or
in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask,
neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye
now, O house of David ; Is it a small thmg for you to
weary men, but will ye weary my God also 1 Therefor©
the Loird Himself shall give you a sign ; Behold a virgm
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may
know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before
the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the
good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of
both her kings

205

SERMON XV.

. 169

A PASSION SERMON.

Hebrews v. 7, 8.

Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up
prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears,
unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was
heard in that He feared ; though He were a Son, yet
learned He obedience by the things which He suffered .

218

Xll

CONTENTS.

SERMON XVI.

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.
John xx. 29.

PAGE

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, ^^T' %??W nors^n'
thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, ^^

and yet have beUeved

SERMON XVII.

A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY,

Ps. xxiv. 7—10.

Lift up your heads, ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye ever-
lasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in Who
is this Kin^ of glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, the
Lrd migh?y inlJle. Lift up your heads O ye gates ;
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors ; and the Kmg of
glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory 1 The
Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory -»"

SERMON XVIII.

A HARVEST SERMON.

St. Matthew xiii. 39—43.

The harvest is the end of the world ; and the reapers are
the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire ; so shall it be in the end of this world
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shaU
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them
which do iniquity ; and shall cast them mto a ^""^^0 of
fire : there shall be wailing and gnashmg of teeth. Ihen
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun m the kingdom
of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear . .

264

CONTENTS.

SERMON XIX.

PAGE

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.
Genesis vi. 9.

PAGE

Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and
Noah walked with God 280

234

SERMON XX.

JAEL AND SISERA.

Judges v. 24 — 28.

Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the
Kenite be ; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth
butter in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the nail, and
her right hand to the workman's hammer ; and with the
hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when
she had pierced and stricken through his temples. At her
feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down : at her feet he bowed,
he fell : where he bowed, there he fell down dead. The
mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through
the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming ? why
tarry the wheels of his chariots 1

296

264

SERMON XXI.

AHAB's fall and END.
1 Kings xxii. 20—24.

And the Lord said. Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may
go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead ? And one said on this
manner, and another said on that manner. And there
came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I
will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him. Where-
with 1 And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying
spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said. Thou
shalt persuade him, and prevail also : go forth and do so.

XIV

CONTENTS.

Chenaanah, went near ^"f «7*^;^t'of Sie Lord from me
and said, Which way went the bpint 01 xne

to speak unto thee ? ..••••'

PAGE

312

SERMON XXII.

JEHU.
2 Kings x. 30, 31.

A.a the Lord »^,j;ria.\''ri;rU,Mine»

to Mme heart, *y "h'M'f "''J^Jr^rn "heed to walk
sit on the throne of l>ra»>- »"' Si*^* all his heart :

Israel to sin

329

K ' 'i

SERMON XXIII.

JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL.
Jee. xxxvi. 21—24.

so the king sen. f^hudi .. fetch^*e roU : .jd he^
out of Eliahama the scribe » chamber, auu u •

SJ the ears of the king, and m ^^^^^ling satCthe
which stood beside the ^^^°g- .^ow the king^ ^^

winter-house, in t^T^^v InS it came trpaas, that
the hearth burning before hmi. ^nd it came to p , ^.^^

heard all these words

345

i ii

CONTENTS.

FAQB

b in
ath
I of
3ek,

312

SERMON XXIV.

ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

Acts v. 1 — 4.

PAGE

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife,
sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife
also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid
it at the Apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath
Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to
keep back part of the price of the landl Whiles it re ■
mained, was it not thine own 1 and after it was sold, was it
not in thine own power ? why hast thou conceived this thing
in thine heart ? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 363

done
, and
t was
shall
I walk
eart :
made

SERMON XXV.

ON CHURCH MUSIC.
ISA. vi. 3.

And om ! cried unto another, and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is
the Lord of hosts : the whole earth is full of His glory . . 376

took it
read it
princes
in the
, fire on
iss, that
; it with
, on the
ire that
!nt their
uta that

345

SERMON XXVI.

THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION.

John v. 70, 71.

Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and
one of you is a devil I He spake of Judas Iscariot the son
of Simon : for he it was that should betray him, being one
>f the twelve 392

SERMON XXVII.

THE BLESSINGS BESTOWED ON THE CHURCH OF

ENGLAND.

Deut. iv. 32—36.

" For ask now of the days that are past, which were before
thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth,

XVI

CONTENTS.

•o

-L-

",; \ 1-

■^<

i 1

PAGE

and ask from the one side of heaven ^-^o .f ^^^J^^^^^^^^
r/there hath been any su h thmg a^^th gr
or hath been heard l^^f/*\y,e midst of the fire, as thou
voice of God «P?^kmg out of the nn ^^ ^

hast heard, and ^^^J^^^^^^^Sst of another nation, by
take Him a nation ^o^^^f J "bonders, and by war, and
Smptations, by signs, wid by ^^^^^^ ^ arm, and by
by a mighty hand, and by a «teetc^^^ ^^^

OTeat terrors, according to all tnai in j .^ ^^

Cyou in Egypt h«f«^^«.yrknow that the Lord He is
shewed, that thou "l^g^i^^* f ^ '"^ Out of heave: He
God ; there is none else ^jef « ^mi- Uu .^^^^^ .^

Ide thee to bear H. Jf^^^^^^ ^ ^ fi,e ; and thou
reLTe^t^rlrdV^oUe midst o^ • • ' • ^««

SERMON XXVIII.

«X BELIEVE IK THE COMMUNION O. SAINTS."

Hebrews 3ui. 22—24.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and -^^

^lXrGod,thebeavj.„ly^^^^^^^^

ble company of angels, *« "*« §. ^^^ j^ heaven, and to God
of the firstborn, winch are wnu ^^^ ^^^^ p

Se Judge of all, and to the SPJ"*^ ^ J covenant, and

g:t, ani to Jesus the m^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^U better things

to the blood of sprinkling, i"* i-

than that of Abel

SERMON XXIX.

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

1 Peter iv. 12, 13.

..Beloved, thtak " ""'jS^H^r rSn^: S ^
which U to try y^^^^S" inasmuch M yo «« S«:
pened unto you : B"' ^s • that «hen His glory »1»U

fci^y'-r'egX'-"''^--^^^"'' • •"'

j'A

424

PAGE

de-
ls,
the
iiou
Etnd

and

did

was

.6 is

hee:

thou

SERMON T.

WAITING FOR CHRIST REWARDED.

T8.

of the
imera-
;hurch
to God
ie per-
at, and
things

jry trial
ing hap-
are par-
jry shall

oy . •

Isaiah xxv. ii.

« And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we have
waited for Him, and He will save us : this is the Lord ; we have
waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."

The first and second coming of our blessed Lord
are mingled in prophecy in a very remarkable
manner. There is often no perceptible point of
transition from one to the other. But the prophet,
who has been just speaking of the huroiUation and
suffering of the Son of God, or of the low, afflicted
state of His Church, suddenly, as it were with a
bound, darts into another subject, and introduces
us to the end of all things, the coming of the
Son of man in gloryj and the fulfilment of all
the prophecies, and of all men's expectations con-
cerning Him.
The reason of this seems to be twofold : first.

jj WAITING FOR CHRIST [SEBM.

,Kat"onedayiswiththeWasa*ous-^

:rn^rl^o:runas. wi. .«...;

• • ^ and time has no existence. All tne
Te" wtt wtc:!! ti^e, all tHn,s that have

tappened, or that ever will happen, al pos-
sible contingencies, are not -ly 'c-^'J"^ ^'J
as present to His mind as this instant is to us^
He knows not the measure of time, for He created
S and will destroy it. He sits "^one >n "
measureless eternity, of which our feeble minds
1 form no distinct idea; and of which the

utmost that we can attain unto, is to say, It .^
When therefore God speaks by His prophets
He speaks not as man speaks. Man speaks of
The coming of Christ as far distant, God spe ks
of it as present: and for this reason m prophe^
the two events are blended together as one. They
are so to the all-seeing Mind.

But, secondly, this way of delivering prophecy
is, no doubt, intended to benetit us. We mea^
sure all things by our own petty notions A
year to us is a long period to look forward o
The term and limit of man's life in youth appears
at a vast distance. And though as years roll on,

I 2 Pet. iu. 8.

:f 11

'•]

REWARDED.

and our life draws to an end, we obtain some
little insight into the rapidity of time's motion,
yet it is but little. We hear of the Lord's coming,
thouffh we cannot believe that it is at hand.
Centuries pass away, and He comes not ; and the
event seems more distant than ever. But what
are ten thousand years, if time itself be but a
point in eternity? So that when the prophet
blends the two comings of Christ — one to save,
the other to judge the world— together, he speaks
the exact truth. They are close together in reality.
And he would lead us by this into a more
correct notion of the value of time, and of the
awfulness of our day of trial, and of the fearful
responsibility that hangs over us, sounding in our
ears, as it were, the loud and startling trumpet-
call of the great day of doom, "The end of all
things is at hand:" "Behold the Bridegroom
cometh, go ye out to meet Him:" "Awake ye
dead, and come to judgment." This is to my
mind, as far as it goes, a satisfactory explanation
of the remarkable language in this and the 26th
chapter of the book which the Church has selected
for the lessons, in which you will find the two
CO' ' igs of Christ so completely mixed and blended
together, that it is almost impossible to say when
one subject ends, and another begins.

Let us not only then understand this, but act

B 3

4 WAITING FOR CHRIST [sERM.

upon it. Let us live in consciousness of our
Lord's coming, and watch, as if we knew Him
near "Let us not sleep as do others, but le
us watch and be sober." « For if that evil servant
say in his heart, my Lord delayeth His coming,
the Lord of that servant shall come in a day tbat
he looketh not for Him, and sball appoint him
his portion with the hypocrites '." In endeavour-
ing to unfold to you the meaning and force of the
text, I shall have occasion to call your attention
to the following things :— ^^

1 To the remarkable expression, " in that day.

2. To the Person expected; "I^o, this is our

God." ^ .

3. To the time of waiting, and what that im-
plies, n . , r 1

4. To the reward of patient and faithful ex-

pectation.-" We have waited for Him, and He
will save us : we have waited for Him, we will be
glad and rejoice in His salvation."

The expression "in that day" is remarkable,
because it so often occurs in Holy Scripture in
reference to the day of judgment : it is the usual
phrase to denote the coming of Christ, sometimes
in the flesh, but more commonly to judgment.

Thus in the 3nd chapter of Isaiah, "the day of

2 1 Thess. V. 6 ; Matt. xxiv. 48—51.

»•]

REWARDED.

the Lord of hosts;" in Joel, "the day of the Lord
Cometh ;" in Malachi, "upon the coming of
the great and terrible day ;'' in 1 Cor. v. " that
the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus ;" in 2 Thess. " the day of the Lord will
come as a thief." Sometimes it is used merely
as the day : " The day shall declare it, because it
shall be revealed by fire ;" and in Hebrews, " the
day approaching;" and thus the destruction of Je-
rusalem is called " the day of the Lord," as on the
other hand the time of its trial is called its day,
" O that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in
this thy day."

The meaning of the expression seems to be an
appointed time of salvation or of judgment, known
only to God, limited by His good will and plea-
sure, and though it may seem distant, actually
close at hand. Thus connecting the expression
with the other words of the text, it may serve as
a consolation to those who are in darkness ; full
of vexing thoughts, and anxious cares : tossed on
the waves of a troublesome world ; surrounded by
men of perverse and corrupt minds, and wearied
with the hardness of their hearts. O vexed souls,
the day is at hand. Be patient, stablish your
hearts, faint not, slumber not, be not " careful and
troubled about many things." It is but a moment,
and the Saviour will appear. At His coming

B 3

^li

hi i

WAITING FOR CHRIST

[SKRM.

cc crooked things shall be made straight, and
rough ways smooth," darkness shall become a
light before Him, and "the shadows shall flee
away:" say not, «my way is hid from the Lord,
and my judgment is passed over from my Ood.
Men may cover you with obloquy and shame, may
misrepresent your intentions and judge unjustly,
but His going forth is prepared as the mornmg.
He will "bring to light the hidden things of dark-
ness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts,
and then shall the righteous shine as the sun,
and as the stars for ever and ever." Such seems
to be the meaning of the words, " m Mfl/ </«y"

But let us consider further, how the Judge is
described, ^'Lo, this is our God" The words are
the joyful cry oi <^ vried faith, rewarded at last
with the sight o eliverer. How expressive

of the feeUngs with which aged Simeon beheld
the long-desired Saviour, and as he took up in
his arms the Redeemer of the worid, cried out
with holy exultation, "Lord, now lettest Thou
Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have
seen Thy salvation." How full of the same
adoration are the words of St. Thomas, "My
Lord and my God." The expression there
evidently supposes both the divine and human
nature of Christ. His divine nature is evidently
declared in these words, our God. And if we ask

>•]

REWARDED.

who is our God ? Who but our Saviour. Who
but He, of whom it is said, " He shall save us."
Who but He whose name was to be called Jesus,
for He shall save : of whom it was said, '* This God
is our God, He shall be our guide unto death ;"
of whom Isaiali says, " His name shall be called
the mighty God" and St. Paul, " God manifest in
the flesh," and St. John, "This is the true God."
and St. John in his gospel, "The Wor(J was God,"
and St. Paul, " our great God and Saviour Jesus
Christ ;" and St. Jude, " our only Lord God and
Lord Jesus Christ'." To deny the divinity of
Christ is to deny a truth so plainly revealed in
Scripture, that no evidence can be sufficient if
this is not. It is to shake the force of all testi-
mony, and to suppose that truth must be so
revealed, as to leave no possibility of gainsaying
it, which in our imperfect state is altogether
impossible. And perhaps this sort of testimony
which the text contains^ which comes in not as a
formal proof, but as supposed and taken for
granted, is to an honest mind as convincing as
any. But the slipperiness with which persons
contrive to elude the grasp of Scripture shows
the value of the Athanasian Creed. It is a mas-
terly exhibition of the united force of Scripture

8 Isa. ix. 6 ; 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; 1 John v. 20 ; Tit. ii. 13 ; Jude 4.

B 4

WAITING FOR CHRIST

[SERM.

testimony. Objectors say, it is hard, I cannot
understand it. No ! the truth is, they understand
it too well, for it leaves them no place to stand
upon. They slip by the single text, and get out
of the difficulty by a quibble ; but th.y cannot
evade the accumulative force of united testimo-
nies. It is too much for them : and therefore
they would have the Church well rid of it. When
the Church is well rid of her Creeds, she will be
soon rid of her doctrines : as they know right well,
who dislike the Creed for the doctrines' sake.

But to return ; the words imply the human as
well as divine nature of our blessed Lord, if we
search them out a little. " Lo, this is our God."

Cur's, by His voluntarily taking upon Himself
our nature, for '' He chose not the nature of angels,
but He chose the seed of Abraham." Therefore,
"He is not ashamed to call us brethren," inasmuch
as He is partaker of our flesh and blood. Cur's,
by His enduring in that nature all the extremities
of cold and hunger, want and weariness, toil and
fasting, contempt and insult, contradiction and
railing, scorn and pain, bitter, cruel, torturing
pain, and ignominious death. Our's, by His
birth at Bethlehem, His baptism in Jordan, His
temptation in the wilderness. His teaching in the
Mount, His feeding the assembled thousands,
His sorrowing with our sorrows, His meekly bear-

«•]

REWART)ED.

ing our load of sin. His going down to the grave
for us. Our^s, by His rising from our tomb,
ascending to our Father, interceding for our sal-
vation, communicating to us His flesh and blood,
promising to come again and receive us to our
home. Is not this our God? Immanuel, God
with us. O how divine and comfortable an ex-
pectation, how sweet the surprise of joy : " For
this is our God, we have waited for Him, and He
will save us." This brings us then to the prophet's
description of the state of mind ia which we are
to live till He comes. "We have waited for
Him.''

This implies three things, faith, trial, and
patience. First, we cannot wait for one in whom
we do not believe. Nor do we wait for that which
we immediately enjoy. Neither do we wait for
what we have no hope of possessing. Nor, again,
do we wait for what is not worth staying for. So
that all these things, the character and greatness
of Him who makes the promise, the fact of our
seeing it afar off, the certainty of our having it
if we persevere, and the infinite worth and ex-
cell«^ncy of the blessing promised us, concur to
establish our faith in waiting. He who promises
is one who is as able to save as He is willing :
who has all power in His hands, who knows
all our wants, has experienced all our miseries.

B 5

WAITING FOR CHRIST

[SERM.

I i

■;. (

was tempted with all our temptations, and went
through fire and water, through bitter sufferings
and an agonizing death, that He might make the
promise sure. What He offers is the heavenly
Canaan, a blessing which seems afar off, but of
which He gives the earnest by the gift of the Holy
Spirit in our hearts. He promises us deliverance
from the curse of the law and terror of God's
wrath, and rest for ever, where neither sin nor
sorrow can reach us, and joys which are at "God's
right hand for evermore." A portion of the inhe-
ritance He vouchsafes us now. He adopts us as
the family of God, seals us with His Spirit, for-
gives us all our sins, makes us partakers of His
body and blood, and bids us wait for the re-
mainder. And is not this worth staying for?
What a hope is this ! The possession of Christ as
our portion, the certainty of heaven as our inhe-
ritance, the enjoyment of the blessed as our
company, the eternal rest of heaven as our home.
Who would not wait for such a blessing, and live
in hope of such a reward ? But every posture of
waiting implies that we are not counting our
treasures and seeking our inheritance below ; but
that our brightest treasure, our chief object, is
above, that our " life is hid with Christ in God ;"
that we are loosening our hold of earthly bless-
ings, that we may the more firmly grasp the

«•]

REWARDED.

heavenly. "These all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar
off." And 2ndly, waiting supposes trial ; all his-
tory teaches us this : we are taught it by the types
of the Old Testament, and the examples, precepts,
and consolations of the New. The types of the
Old Testament show that we must be tried. The
life of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was a life of
trial and sojourning and wandering from place
to place. The descendants of Jacob go down
into Egypt, and are there evil entreated for four
hundred years. The ransomed Israelites pass
through the Red Sea, and wander foi forty years
in the wilderness, before they enter into rest. The
grapes of Eshcol are seen and eaten, but it is
only an earnest. There is the Jordan, a dark
and foaming torrent, to be crossed: there are
enemies, gigantic in stature and mighty in prowess,
to be overcome. And even IsraePs history after-
wards shows the same truth; the fiery trial of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, is a type of
the Christian's difficulties and temptations. But
if this be typically set forth in the Old Testa-
ment, it is actually exhibited in the New ; for our
Lord's blessings begin with mourning and with
tears : His life was a life of bitter trial and suffer-
ings. His precepts are such as these ; " Let your
loins be girded about. Take ye heed ; watch

B 6

WAITING FOR CHRIST

[SERM.

and pray. Blessed are they that mourn." The
Apostolic precepts are of the same description,
" Take unto you the whole armour of God, watch
ye, stand fast, quit you like men, be strong."
« Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ," " wherefore we labour, that whether pre-
sent or absent, we may be accepted of Him*."
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you." The very consolations
of the blessed are of a similar kind. "Because thou
hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep
thee from the hour of temptation which shall
come upon all the world, to try them that dwell
upon the earth," "Be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of life. Hold fast that
thou hast, that no man take thy crown." " Fear
not them that kill the body, and after that have no
more that they can do." " We are perplexed but
not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast
down but not destroyed. God is faithful, who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able; but will with the temptation also make a
way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it '."
What do all these things imply, but long and

* Eph. vi. 13 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 13 ; 2 Tim. ii. 3 ; 2 Cor. v. 9.

» Rev. ii. 10 ; iii. 11 ; Matt. x. 28 ; 2 Cor. iv. 8, 9 ; 1 Cor. x. 13.

«.]

REWARDED.

anxious waiting for that which is delayed ? But
the longer it is waited for, the more welcome will
it be when it comes. Therefore waiting supposes,
3rdly, patience. Be patient, says St. James, " unto
the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman
waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and
hath long patience for it, until he receive the early
and latter rain. Be ye also patient, stablish your
hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh "."
Delays in earthly things are dangerous, because
we fear that we shall lose what is deferred. Men
are fickle, and human things make themselves
wings and are gone from us. But God knows no
variableness or shadow of turning, and therefore
delays to fit us for the possession, and to increase
our desires afler it. He only detains us on earth,
that we may be transplanted to Paradise. We must
wait till we have put on our robes, till our lamps
are bright, our faith is riper, and our graces more
abundant, and our patience and love perfected.
He keeps us waiting that we may wait on Him,
as well as for Him ; that we may be earnest in
prayer, diligent in all the means of grace, that we
may pray in private for a blessing on the ordi-
nances in public, that we may go up to the house
of God with others, and mutually reap the benefit

8 Chap. V. 7.

■WAITING FOR CHRIST

[SERM.

of what we have sown in secret and watered with
our tears. Happy are those who can thus say,
«we have waited for Him." It is a sad and bitter
thing to be waiting upon the great men of earth,
suing for what perhaps is never granted, or just
as we think to grasp it, given to some one else ;
or when we get that which we have been tediously
expecting with all the anxiety of vexed mmds,
at last it proves like the apples of Sodom, bitter
as ashes to the taste,-empty, unprofitable, and
worthless. But no man ever waited upon God
and was sent empty away. « My soul," says
the Psalmist, " shall be satisfied as with marrow
and fatness, when I remember Thee upon my
bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches."
God who made the soul alone can satisfy it ;
there are no wants which He cannot supply,
no desires which He cannot fill: no sufferings
which He cannot recompense: no labours which
He cannot reward; and that reward is sure.
« We have waited for Him, let us be glad and
rejoice." How emphatically does this language
express the joyful acclamations of those blessed
souls which are wafted to the desired port by the
breath of the blessed Paraclete Himself, and set
free from the noise and clamour, and licentious
disorder of this restless world, find themselves
hasting to meet their long-expected Saviour in

■•]

REWARDED.

the air, and amidst a countless multitude from
the North and South, and East and West, are
called to sit down in peace at the marriage Supper
of the Lamb.

We have waited for Him. — How long and dreary
did the time of our expectation seem to us ! How
much used we to dread that momentary pain, that
little cross, that small self-denial, that limited
exercise of faith and patience ! Those labours
seemed above our strength, those provocations
more than we could bear; we almost fainted
under the yoke, and thought the Lord would never
come. But He is come ! Our eyes behold Him,
our hearts go forth to meet Him, joy and glad-
ness, thanksgiving and the voice of melody, are
heard amongst us. For He will save us! The
elements melt, and the earth and all that is in it
are destroyed, but our treasure is untouched !
Our hopes survive the wreck of all things, our
life is imperishable, our treasure incorruptible,
and from the midst of the judgment-seat the ap-
proving welcome voice is heard, "Come, ye blessed
of my Father."

Thus shall it be said in that day by some,
but not by all; and shall we be among that
number ? Are we waiting for Christ ? Is this our
desire, our labour, our anxiety ? Do we seek to
please Him in all things, and by patient con-

16 WAITING FOB CIIBIST REWARDED.

tinuance in well-doing seek for glory, honour,

and immortality?

On this Sunday in Advent I commend this
suWect to your thoughts, meditation, and prayers.
Pray now before you go. Pray afterwards when
you return home. Pray in secret durmg the
week. Pray with your families, and for them.
Pray at Church during the week. Pray always
and faint not, for prayer will end in praise. Sup-
plications on earth will be hallelujahs in heaven.

ur.

his

srs.

tien

the

em.

ays

lup-

SERMON II.

ON PATIENCE.

St. Luke xxi. 19.
" In your patience possess ye your souls."

Man, who looks on the outward appearance of
things, admires most those graces which are most
seen, and can be most talked of. But God, who
looks on the heart, values most those graces which
are hidden from the world, and which prove most
clearly the life of God within the soul of man.
Thus, many admire the martyr for his courage, who
are unable to estimate the value of that meek pa-
tience which is resigned to affliction, and submits
to injuries, although in the sight of God the one
grace may be more precious than the other.
For to go on quietly and perseveringly in the
path of duty, taking meekly and patiently what-
ever befalls us, and desiring only the approbation
of God at the great day of account, requires far
more grace than most men are aware of.

ON PATIENCE.

[SERM.

And it is thus that patience is learned : it was
thus that St. Paul learned it: it was thus that our
Lord taught it to His disciples : it is thus that we
must learn it. " In your patience possess ye your
souls." Consider what need the disciples had of pa-
tience. What was the doctrine which they preached
to mankind? what was the manner in which they
preached it? and what was its reception ?

What they taught was from heaven ; Christ had
revealed it. It was what all mankind needed,
what all men had so long been expecting; the
true balm for all wounds ; the true remedy for all
evils; peace with God, good-will amongst men,
glory in the highest. This heavenly truth they
taught with the utmost meekness, wisdom, and
charity, without fee or reward, and were ready to
lay down their lives to save others.

Yet what treatment did it meet with ? nothing
but a storm of reviling and calumny, misrepresen-
tation and obloquy; their names cast out as evil,
their lives exposed to danger, their persons scourged
and buffeted, and cast out as the offscouring of the
world, and this in every place, and by all parties,
Jews and Gentiles alike. How provoking must it
have been to hear the message from God held up
to public scorn : to find all their motives miscon-
strued, and all their actions vilified, and themselves
in jeopardy every hour, for no other reason than

...]

ON PATIENCE.

that they preached the gospel of peace, and sought
the good of all mankind. So much reason was
there for our Saviour's exhortation in the text.
So that when we feel ourselves becoming impatient
at any time, we have only to look into the New
Testament, and consider the severe and cruel trials
of the disciples, men of angelic holiness and purity
of life, and compare their sufferings with our own,
and we may be satisfied how little we have to bear.
And yet in his measure it may be true of every
Christian, that " in his patience he must learn to
possess his soul." Let us consider, 1st. what the
grace of patience is ; and 2ndly, what is the com-
fort of it.

It is the great glory of patience, that it is a
special attribute of God. Of Him it is said, that
" He is strong and patient, and is provoked every
day." Indeed, of all the virtues of the Lord Jesus,
patience is one of the mcst striking. "He was
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not
His mouth \" When He was reviled by the thief.
He answered nothing ; " being reviled. He reviled
not again ; but committed Himself to Him that
judgeth righteously '." And it is that patient endur-
ance of injuries, and watching over sinners for their

* Isaiah liii^

» 1 Pet. ii. 23.

ON PATIENCE.

[SERMi

good, which characterises His presence in His
Church at this time. He bears with our innumer-
able provocations, in hopes that by His long suf-
fering He may win us to repentance, and wean us
from the present evil world, and fit us for heaven.

And as He chose the most patient and endurmg
of all animals to bear Him into the scene of His suf-
ferings and indignities, so the emblem of His reli-
gion, the cross, is the emblem of patient suffering,
of suffering amidst indignity and scorn. Nothing
in the eyes of a heathen or a Jew, so disgrace-
ful as the cross ; nothing they feared and shunned
so much as the cross ; nothing which the proud
Roman, the polished and learned Greek, the
rude and savage barbarian, despised and hated
so much as the cross. All these were motives of
patience, so that without it, a Christian in the
earlier ages could hardly continue in the profes-
sion of a Christian for a day.

The grace of patience then may be considered :—
1st. In relation to affliction laid on us by God ; or,
2nd. To the conduct of men towards us ; or, 3rd.
To the long delay of our blessed Lord's coming.

1. In relation to the afflictions laid on us by
God, we htive need of patience. No doubt, if we
could choose our own time for pain, and trouble,
and distress, and could say when it should lea 'c
us, as well as when it should come upon us, we

...]

ON PATIENCE.

could bear it very well. Such is the perverseness
of the human heart, that whatever it lays upon
itself it will bear, though it be ten times as heavy
a burden as that laid upon it by God. Let God
impose upon us the easiest possible yoke, let Him
demand of us ever so small a portion of our time
or money, and men complain of it, and chafe and
fume against it, as if it were an intolerable burden ;
but to please their own wills, they will tax them-
selves to the uttermost, yea, beyond their power
to bear, and will waste hours and days in restless
and unprofitable toil, when in the service of God
they would have grudged a few moments of time.
Even so it is in affliction. It is not the affliction
itself, which it is always so hard to bear, but the
submission which is required ; the unexpectedness
of it, the disappointment to our eager hopes or
long-cherished intentions, the inconvenient time,
the length of its duration, the proof that we are in
the hands of another who deals with us as He sees
fit and best for us. And no doubt, this was one
of the great difflculties on the minds of the disci-
ples till they learned the grace of patience. For
patience has but one symbol before her eyes, the
cross ; and one badge, endurance ; and one precept,
submission ; and one encouragement, hope of the
"grace which is to be brought unto us at the
revelation of Jesus Christ."

ON PATIENCE.

fsERM.

And vet no one can go through life and mark the

~:ltr;as\een less sudden, or t^
i::— not so great, or the malady 1- pa.n-

+V. io oTpater. or our lorlune, or wc
fill • our strength is greaiei, ui
have fewer about us, and so less care-somethmg
friver thrown in by Providence to make our lot
^ore tolerable and teach us patience ; as when we
Tre overtaken by a storm on the h.ll-sxde, even
Xle we stand wet and cold and comfortless, we
i descry the sunbeams afar off embracmg h
Tummit of some distant peak, or playing with the
wa"" that beat upon the western ^^^ore, and we
L comforted by the thought that those kmdty
beams will soon revisit us, whUe our ne.ghbo^
^111 in his turn feel the storm. So .t .s in afflic-
L-we leara patience by considering the evils
of others, and by the hope of escape. And so
the Apostles, whom our Lord was addressing,
olht refuge at Pella from the storm that fell
1 Jerusalem, and were in peac, and security

*r But patience becomes more necessary when
we are injured by men. When God afflicts us,

BM.

the

not
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tiers.
s are
rings
r the
pain-
or we
thing
ur lot
en we
, even
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ng the
th the
md we
kindly
rhbour
I aiflic-
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^.nd so
:essing5
hat fell
security

•y when
licts us,

II.]

ON PATIENCE.

we must all feel it is justly done. We suffer
because we deserve the suffering, though we all
suffer far less than we deserve. But when we are
wronged by our fellow-creatures, our pride mounts
up, and we say we are injured. Then should we
do well to remember the golden saying of St.
Chrysostom, that no man is really injured but by
himself. Wherein, says that holy father, has thy
brother injured thee? in thy property? hear what
the apostle says, why do ye not take wrong,
why do ye not bear it patiently, and you will have
better riches bestowed upon you. Is it in your
reputation and character? By patient continu-
ance in well doing, put to silence the ignorance of
sinful men. Has envy or calumny assailed thee ?
thank Him who hath given thee the grace to suffer ;
for if thou suffer as a Christian, Christ will be thy
reward. But some one will say, I could bear it if
it were true, but it is hard to bear an unjust
calumny. Would you wish the calumny to be
true, that you might be patient ? " What glory is it,
if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take
it patiently ? But if when ye do well and suffer
for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with
God ^" Every unjust reproach, every false accu-
sation, only adds to the glory of Him who bears

» 1 Pet. ii. 20.

> i

ON PATIENCE.

[SERM.

11 thP shame and indignity

'^ ^t"'=^' r heUo o- Saviour was turned
heaped upon the head ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^y

to His greater glory, u y_

Him? that was >n f«lffl"«"^° these scourges

pld the soldiers ™;«-„„,, Did they

-"''' *Him :?th1r„srand put a reed in H.
crown Hun «.t ^^^ ^^^^^^^ <,f h.s

right hand? these w ^^.^^ ^ ^^^^^^^

T'"Tcr ss> th^t n.arUed His kingly power
title on the cross ^^^ ^j^^ ^„„„„

by the P-«;; «/ ^^ J He hang between

two thieves? one oi , ^ . xi.. jgws to be
^'- ^^^"tl'SS^tl tL^He might
^""tthhrffistt was He pierced hy the
save both by nis .^^.i^ned to the tomb?

-'' ^tirnT^i^ -h "s from the darU
'' -Z Jou e and ifear us with Himself to glory
prison-house, an Think not then of

[SERM.

I..]

ON PATIENCE.

idignity
i turned

betray
ropbecy.
scourges
lid tbey
d in His

of His
mocking
rly power
tie known
p between
i to Para-
ews to be
He migbt
3ed by tbe
the tomb?

the dark
If to glory,
ot then of
cy in per-
by bearing
ed that the

e thought of
e suffer pain
and we sub-
ands of our

fellow-creatures, we seem to lose sight of the
first cause, in om sense of the injury done us by
the second ; it is as if man were the whole, and
God did not even permit it.

But how often is this permitted for a trial of
our temper, our patience, our obedience. So that
if patience had her perfect work in those wrongs,
we should refer all to God, and remember that
if we suffer with Christ, and like Christ, we shall
reign with Him in glory.

Again, we require patience in well doing as
in suffering. " Let us not be weary in well
doing," says St. Paul, "for in due season we
shall reap if we faint not ^" What a mere shadow
are we pursuing, if we do good, expecting human
gratitude, or thirsting for human praise. We
have read the Scriptures to little purpose if we
depend on either one or the other. Gratitude
will fail us where we have most right to expect it,
and praise will be denied us where we most deserve
it. He only will be crowned at last who goes on
patiently doing his great Master's work, desirous
of that Master's love and approbation, daily and
hourly setting before his eyes the time when God
shall bring every work to judgment, and punish the
wrong doer. But we must expect severe trials

» Gal. vi. 9.

ON PATIENCE.

[SERM.

Mness of others *e dj'= ^ ^^^.^.^^ ^^^^ „iU

any great end f^^^j^J^g^Hness and vanity
always be made to .t by the ^^^^^^^^

of the world, rende. the « ^^ ^^^^^ ^„

and at times terrible. And non

gothroughthat-ug^^'.-^^^^^^^^
Master before them, as f ^^P „,, ^^e

^-'^'^ :Vr;iC rshamtand hazard every
Tg ler r surrender a principle or betray

, * ,.t In all these things the great

a solemn trust. In all ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^

motive to patience is that wm

^-^^- ^^^^ Jfa:* i"i- trL of it.

"r.'wLto yourselves, lest at any time
«Take I'f "7J^i, d with surfeiting, and

s"r ...,>.«. J.-—

waiteth for the precious ^"f/*^ *'''?.. '..^

.• f^^ U imtilhe receive the eany

hath long patience for^t, until ^ ^^^^^.^^

and the latter ram. Be ye also p >

your hearts, for the coming of the Lord a

[SERM.

le deceit-
mplishing
^hich will
and vanity
s arduous,
»e found to
jtting their

and High
endure the
izard every
le or betray
s the great
A'hole of the
ih our Lord
verses of it.
at any time
irfeiting, and
d so that day

ye therefore,
lunted worthy
come to pass,
" And so St.
iren, unto the
} husbandman
the earth, and
jceive the early
latient, stablish
; Lord draweth

II.]

ON PATIENCE.

nigh.?' "Take, my brethren, the prophets, who
have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an
example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye
have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen
the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful,
and of tender mercy*." For how well may we
be patient when we remember that the great Judge
Himself, who is provoked every day, and could
in a moment usher in the great day of judgment,
patiently waits for the repentance of sinners, and
strives with them so many years.

- If we ourselves will call to mind how often we
have tried that patience, how often we ourselves
might have been cut off, how often, but for infi-
nite long-suffering, "our sins have cried to heaven
against us, and our iniquities called for vengeance
on us," and still the Judge lingers, and gives us
"times of refreshing from the presence of the
Lord S" we shall surely find it more easy to be
patient with our brethren. In the latter days,
when the early prophecies of our Lord are ful-
filling again, "' when there are five in one house
divided, three against two and two against three,
when the father in law is against the mother
in law, and the mother in law against her

* James v. 7, 8, 10, 11.

' Acts iii. 19.

c 2

b\ ^

ON PATIENCE.

[SERM.

law

6 .»

^when« the hearts of men are

daughter

once more faiUng tne™ ,^-^^^ ^^^^^ „„

ing after those W J ^^^..^ns are

the earth, because the pow«so ^^^^

shaken'," we should feel ™-y; fj the pros-

^^^Ti2:t:'ou:Lo:dsa-.d,"iu,our

pect of such times tni ^ ^^ patient we

patience possess r^y^^^^^^^ ^,M around
should be even w>th he ung y ^,^^.^^ ^^^^^
us, lest by any unkmd or ^^ ^^_

v.Qna]e to v/icked men w i'
we give a handle to ..^Ue our Master ;

patient «^ ^^°"^f^^ J.' J „ „ith aU long-suffering
them, strmng w.th thm peradventure will give
anddoctnne, ^ 7^y,,^„„„iedging of the
them repentance to the acK s ^.^^

truth " Patient we should be stui

^^ .u in the same Church, united in the
our brethren in the Bam ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^

same bond of love. K all ao

truths, or in the same manner e^-^^^^^^^^^

accuse or intemperately Bnd f*""^' j^ ^

f.,1 taunts and threatenmg language
.eornful taunts ^^^ ^^ ^^^i,,e the

come brethren in ^^,t

rVtS lit; -omeW knowing that
::;::^e but S time and leisure for religious

^ , •■ to 7 Luke xxi. 21.

Luke xii. 52. ^"''■'^

8 Luke xxi. 19.

[SERM. ^

f men are

for look-
oming on
eavens are
r than ever

the pros-
[, " in your
Patient we
,rld around
tian words
) speak re-
our Master ;
praying for
)ng-9uffering
Lre will give
sing of the
1 more with
inited in the
see the same
iis not rashly
th each other ;
iguage ill o^"
s helieve the
e clergy must
, knowing that
•e for religious

8 Luke xxt. 19.

II.]

ON PATIENCE.

I
1

studies, and cannot be expected to know what
it must be confessed they have been so little
instructed in. And the laity may well bear with
the clergy in other things, and believe that if
they desire to revive what has been very generally
neglected, it is after all from a sincere desire
for their good and the welfare of the Church,
from a readiness to obedience, and an honest in-
tention to fulfil those solemn vows which they
have publicly and repeatedly made. Patience
with each other, abstaining from mutual recri-
mination, and needless distrust and jealousy, will
surely do much towards a good understanding ;
p-«d the interest of all will be promoted if all
agree to obey what all acknowledge to be in the
main a sound, scriptural, and pure standard of
devotion. For patience is the sister of obedience,
and without obedience pa Jence cannot exist.

And observe the blessed fruit of patience. It is
the " possession of the soul :" that quietness and
serenity of mind, which seems to keep the soul
whole and entire, and does not suffer it to be dis-
tracted with diverse opinions, or torn with con-
tending passions ; that perception and thoughtful
enjoyment of all that is really good, which miti-
gates every evil where it cannot wholly remove
it ; that constant ability to do good, which the
impatient and unthankful never possess, who mar

c 3

nN PATIENCE.

• * ^ tn do by their impetuosity
every thing they intend to do^y^^^^ ^^^^ „„!

i„ doing it, and never -'=-'='^^^^tf«l, cheerful,
not wait God's time ; that h ^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^

elevated P-^^' ^''^t "t very evil, which has
blessing, and the least o ev J ^^^^^.^„ ^„

petuosity
they will
cheerful,
of every
Mch has
evotion to
on to His

SERMON III.

THE STATE OF SEPARATE SPIRITS.

St. John xiii. 36.

" Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou 1 Jesus
answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now ;
but thou shalt follow me afterwards."

Among the various points of peculiar interest
which belong to the Gospel of St. John, must
be reckoned the few but expressive references to
the future lives and deaths of the Apostles.

Thus in the last chapter we have a remarkable
hint of the crucifixion of St. Peter, given by our
Saviour in the words, "When thou shalt be old thou
shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall
gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest
not'.'* "This," adds the evangelist, "he spake,
signifying by what kind of death he should glorify
God." Church history enables us to follow up
the hint, and supplies us with the information

1 John xxi. 18.
C 4

THE STATE OF

[SERM.

..at St. Pete, out of his .«- ^^^^i^i

2ir: t:oW even on.e post.e 0.

the Cross of Christ. ^^j^^

It is possible that some hint oi the „.

, • . ^.A here- "Whither I go, thou
may be intended here ,
canst not foUow me now, b"* *- sh^t

■"^T^rtor^^rthiiH; present
irrselnade:; weakness., thou thinUe^
r: thou canst endure .i^n^es^-;.^-;

but thy faith IS weak, l^^l then thou

to enable thee to suffer after me, ana
Shalt read in my sufferings a type -d « J
of thine own. This meaning -«™? "f "™
to be intended. At the same time it is evid "tly
not the whole, nor perhaps the V^'-'^^f^'^^
!f the text. For looking back to vei. 33, ye
of the texi. children, yet a little

find our Lord saying ^•*;': Xu se k me: and
while I am with you . . . >:e shan
as I said unto the Jews, Whither 1 go, ye
Inot come; so now I say to you." N^ on
turning back to the passages m chap. vm. 31,
Z vl. 33, in which, on two occasions onr
Totd is said to have spoken thus to the ews
we find an express reference to His gomg o^t
of the world to the Father. Jesus said unto

[SERM.

', refused

Lord, but

his bead

josture of

III.]

SEPARATE SPIRITS.

I tben tbou
nd example
not unlikely
is evidently
ncipal sense
ver. 33, we
n, yet a little
eek me : and
er I go, ye
1." Now on
hap. viii. 21,
ceasions, our
to the Jews,
iis going out
ms said unto

them, "Yet a little while am I with you, and
then I go to Him that sent me. Ye shall seek
me and shall not find me; and where I am
thither ye cannot come/' ch. vii. 34. And again in
ch. viii. 21, " I go my way, and ye shall seek me,
and shall die in your sins : whither I go ye can-
not come." Now it is plain from the tenor of
the words, that our Lord was speaking of His
going out of the world to the Father; and as
He refers in the text to that discourse, we must
explain the words here by those which went
before.

This then would shew that the principal mean-
ing of our Lord's saying to St. Peter is, I am
now going to the kingdom and glory of my Father
in Paradise; thither thou canst not follow me
now, but when thy appointed time comes, thou,
like myself, shalt pass through the bitter suffer-
ings of the Cross, to be with me where I am,
and to be numbered with my saints in glory
everlasting.

Again, it is remarkable that our Lord should
say, "As I said unto the Jews, Whither I go ye
cannot come ; so now I say to you." Because He
had said to the Jews, " Ye shall die in your sins,
whither I go, ye cannot come ;" which was ob-
viously inapplicable to the disciples. But the
whole force lies in the word now. So now I

i-^

THE STATE OF

[SEUM.

For the present you, like the Jews,
»ay to you. ^°IJ\\^^^ ^yther 1 go : but

are not Pf "'"'='! ^^.""tion between you:
there shall soon be a separ ^^^

k„ii follow roe afterwards, the veu
r". it Tent ; and while they that would
flesh shall be rem , ^.^

not believe on me 'l^"';.,,, ^^ where I

„y faithful discples, ^l^^V! ; ^„„.

ai and never be separated frro roe y^ ^^^^^

In this world there « a un^n ^^^ ^^^^^
between believers and unbe^^v ^ ^^^ ^

shall soon be a -P^*'"";., V ,temal. In

""-"^"Nf r^^rTsepalio: between the
this world there is asp ^^^^^

Redeemer and His people -, but there
be a re-union : the -P-'^ l^i hout end.
ment, the """"^ f !.!"'* Tje from thee for
«In a little wrath 1 hid my faee trom

f h,,t with everlasting kindness win
a moment, but Jitb ^^^^ ^^^^ ^_

\ »>- roerey on ^.e, ;^^ ^^^^^^^ ^„,,,

Sr n;o tt; chamber" (the dark and sUen
thou into tiijr (loors about

1. f +V.A crravel " and shut thy Qooia au

rhi::rys7iitwere.ralitaemo^^
nntU the indignation e orpa^ F^r^^;^^^^

the Lord cometh out of His P^^ J , „ .
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity . W hy

a Isa. Uv. 8.

3 Isa. xxvi. 20, 21.

[SEUM.

the Jews,
[ go: but
veen you :
veil of the
that would
ir sins, ye,
Tie where I
; any more.
i the flesh
^ but there
ion is for a
eternal, ii^
between the
re shall soon
s for a mo-
without end.
from thee for
kindness will
Lord thy Re-
r people, enter
trk and silent
hy doors about

Uttle moment,
•. For behold
e to punish the
Equity'." Why

,. xxvi. 20, 21.

III.]

SEPARATE SPIRITS.

then was it necessary that St. Peter should not
follow our Lord now ? " Whither I go, thou canst
not follow me now." The Apostle indeed was
of another mind : " Lord," answered he, " why
cannot I follow thee now ?" The subsequent his-
tory contains a sufficient answer to the question.

L For his own sake it was better that he
should not follow Christ now. His faith was
weak, temptation was strong, his own mind in-
experienced, ardent, self-confident, ill-grounded
in the truth, was not yet fitted to bear that
exceeding weight of glory which his blessed
Master had in store for him. The service for
the Visitation of the Sick, in our Prayer-book,
seems to embody the thought which I am sug-
gesting. "There should be no greater comfort
to Christian persons than to be made like unto
Christ, by suffering patiently adversities, troubles,
and sicknesses. For He Himself went not up to
joy, but first He suffered pain : He entered not
into His glory before He was crucified. So truly
our way to eternal joy is to suffer here with
Christ; and our door to enter into eternal life
is gladly to die with Christ, that we may rise
again from death, and dwell with Him in ever-
lasting life." And how thoroughly this purifying
effect of sanctified affliction wrought on St. Peter's
own mind, may be gathered both from the Acts

1 '

THE STATE OP

[SERM.

of the Apostles, where we find him with all his
natural ardour, but supported by a stronger,
riper faith : and from his own Epistles, which
are full of the blessings of suffering. " Wherein
ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season if
need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations*." And again, « For even hereunto
were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example that ye should follow His
steps \" "If ye suffer for righteousness' sake happy
are ye. Beloved, think it not strange concern-
ing the fiery trial which is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened unto you. But
rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's
suffering8«.'\ And in chap. ii. "The Lord know-
eth how to djiver the godly out of temptations."
So manifest afterwards was the reason why
St. Peter should not follow his Lord now.

II. For the cause of the Gospel it was neces-
sary. That testimony which he bore to the
cause of truth would never have reached us but
through the subsequent Ufe and labours and
trials of the Apostle. We should have heard
of his fall, but not of the abundant evidence of
his repentance. And he who was peculiarly fit-
ted to be the Apostle of the Jews, would not

* 1 Pet. i. 6.

s 1 Pet. ii. 21.

6 1 Pet. iii. 14.

III.]

SEPARATE SPIRITS.

,h all his
stronger,
es, which
' Wherein
season, if
manifold
hereunto
red for us,
follow His
ake happy
J concern-
as though
^ou. But
of Christ's
lOrd know-
nptations."
;ason why

QOW.

was neces-
ore to the
hed us but
ibours and
have heard
evidence of
jculiarly fit-
would not

have been enabled to speak to three thousand at
one time, who became obedient to the faith.

III. For the increase and abundance of his own
eternal reward it was necessary. For they were
Christ's own words, " Ye which have followed me,
in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall
sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit
upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel \" And again, " I appoint unto you a king-
dom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that
ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom,
and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel \" " And behold, I come quickly, and my
reward is with me, to give every man accord-
ing as his work shall be '." Thus did St. Peter,
in a subordinate sense, follow our Lord here
upon earth ; and from earth he speedily passed
to Paradise, to be with our Saviour till the
morninc of the Resurrection.

That this is the meaning of the words before
us, I have already, I think, shewn, by com-
paring them with the context ; but with a view
to establish a truth on which so much of our
comfort, as Christians, depends, it may be use-
ful to compare them also with other passages
of Holy Scripture.

Pet. iii. 14.

^ Matt. xix. 28.

8 Luke xxii. 29.

9 Rev. xxii. 12.

THE STATE OF

[seem.

An error has risen and spread among us more
MAt is to be feared, than sineere beheyers
wiaeiy, it ^'^ ., . -^^ notions

soul, Uke the body, continues m a state of sleep
.fte; death, and remains —s.ous dl be
momine of the resurrection. 1 have no
~er, that this notion is one of those porson-
::Toots;finfidelitywhichoccasiom.l^ya^^f^^^^^^^^^

even in the minds of pious and «°\™7 ' '°
Je It well suits indeed those who hve for th.s
:;idasifitweretheonlyworld;whoar.glad

I put the next world out of mind, because i is

1 of sight; who have no solemn assocattons or

nsjring thoughts connected with the world of

3 • who are glad to forget the dead as soon as

h"aregone,thattheymay.withthemoreunt.„ng

eaSrness, betake themselves to the pursmt of their
oXtheir only treasure, itwellsuitssuchtod^y

the existence of the Communion of SainU But
tat real.practical,pious Christians should dosois

indeed a matter of astonishment, nor could they
allow themselves in an error at once so noxious
miserable, and selBsh, did they know that the
„hole voice of the ancient church is unquestion-
ably against them; that the Jewish church was
a JgeL of another mind ; that the great doners
and divines of our own branch, Bevendge and Hall,

III.]

SEPARATE SPIRITS.

[ig US, more
re believers
vith notions
lay, that the
^ate of sleep
,us till the
e no doubt
hose poison-
tlly are found
-minded jieo-
live for this
who are glad
because it is
ssociations or
the world of
i&d as soon as
more untiring
mrsuit of their
3 such to deny
• Saints. But
should do so is
lor could they
ice so noxious,
tnovf that the
is unquestion-
sh church was
le great doctcrs
Bridge and Hall,

Andrewes and Laud, Hooker and Taylor and Pear-
son, are all against them ; and that, above all. Holy
Scripture itself in many passages speaks a lan-
guage altogether different, and uses terms which
would be wholly and entirely inapplicable, if the
saints departed were not alive, and conscious of
existence. Indeed, so strong is the belief of the
Church on the point, that it is perfectly mar-
vellous it should ever have been missed. What
are the words in the Te Deum? "The glorious
company of the Apostles, praise Thee. The
goodly fellowship of the Prophets, praise Thee.
The noble army of Martyrs, praise Thee." How
can this glorious company praise God if they be
all asleep, and unconscious of the existence both
of God and of themselves ? Is this the kind of
praise which we mean, the praise of mute stones,
dumb beasts, or senseless stocks ? Away with such
gross fallacies, sueh idle perversion of plain words.
If they praise God, and praise Him with the
angels, they must be living and conscious and
intelligent.

But to return to the Scriptures. The first
passage I shall mention is that remarkable passage
in St. Matthew (xxii. 32), where our Saviour
confutes the unbelieving Sadducees. He there
argues for the truth of the resurrection, from the
fact that Moses called God " the God of Abraham,

THE STATE OF

[SERM.

the God of Uaae, and the God of J-ob ^ ^^^
says our Lord, "God is not the God of the dead
blof the livi;g ;" and our Lord adds these wo^s
as His own inference. So that our Saviour^s argu-
1" is not that Abraham, and Isa.c, and Jaeob
are dead, but that Moses says they shall me
again: but it is this; when Moses calls on God
af the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
shows that they must be living persons, for t is
Tot their death on which our Saviour dwells as
the proof of the resurrection, but the.r Imng m
another state. Their present existence shows that
one day their bodies will be raised A stronger
"of I cannot conceive of the truth of the doc nne
^ a state of separate spirits. But to the doctrme
we add evidence of fact. For Moses, who thus
spoke of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared
alive with Elijah at the transfiguration of our
Saviour, and spake of Hisdecease which He should
accomplish at Jerusalem'.

The words of our Lord in St. John xvn. are of
a similar kind. We read in His prayer, « Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory which thou hast given me ; for thou
lovedst me before the foundation of the world;

1 Luke ix. 31.

HI.]

SEPARATE SPIRITS.

b." Now,
)f the dead
;hese words
iour's argu-
and Jacob,
r shall rise
alls on God
of Jacob, it
ns, for it is
ir dwells as
jir living in
5 shows that
A stronger
the doctrine
the doctrine
5S, who thus
)b, appeared
ition of our
ch He should

n xvii. are of
jrer, " Father,
ist given me
may behold
ae; for thou
f the world ;"

and in xii. 26, " where I am, there shall also my
servant be.'' If we ask for an explanation of this
language, and inquire, where shall also our Lord's
servant be ? we have an answer in the words of
our Lord to the penitent thief; '* To-day shalt thou
be with me in paradise." Now paradise cannot be
the region of lost spirits ; nor can it be heaven,
properly so called, viz. the state of the blessed
after the day of judgment. It must therefore be
the place of departed spirits, as is still more
plainly shown in the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus.

But it may be said, the case of the dying thief
was an extraordinary one, and is therefore not to
be relied on. To this I answer first, that no
evidence appears that, though extraordinary, it
was not intended as a pattern; for otherwise, what
becomes of all the comfort which we derive from
the language of the Apostles? If because their
faith was greater than ours, we may not take com-
fort from their language, we may as well shut up
the New Testament at once, and bi - farewell to
the hopes and joys of the bk^aed. But as this
lis too absurd to need refutation, lot us turn to St.
Paul. " Having a desire to depart and to be with
Christ.^' To be with Christ ? Is it a state of slumber,
10 blessed Paul, that thou dost bid us think of
land hope for, after thy example ? Was this the

THE STATE OF

[SERM.

Eii

Apostle's great and earnest longing and desire,
that he might be unconscious? According to this
reasoning, it were much better for him to have
been in the flesh, for there he would have both
been doing his Master service, and conscious ol
his Master's presence. To such absurdities are
we driven when we deny the plain statements of
the Holy Scriptures.

Turn again to 2 Cor. v. 8, vvhere you will find
him applying the same language to all sincere
Christians. " Therefore we are always confident ;
knowing that whilst we are at home in the body
we are absent from the Lord: we are confident, I
say, and willing rather to be absent from the
body, and to be present with the Lord.- Now
this is perfectly conclusive as to the point in hand.
His argument is, we are so perfectly sure of the
ground on which we stand, that if we are sincere
Christians, we believe that as soon as we quit the
body we are with the Lord. Now it is impossible
to apply the words to the resurrection of the body,
because he expressly says absent from the body;
and the word rendered absent means a sojourning ;
so that it can be applicable to the soul only ; and
how we are to rejoice and be comforted because
our souls are to be with Christ in a state of sleep,
unconscious whether we live or no, is, 1 confess,
past my comprehension.

III.]

SEPARATE SPIRITS.

and desire,
rding to this
him to have
Id have both
conscious of
jsurdities are
statements of

you will find
to all sincere
ays confident ;
le in the body
re confident, I
sent from the
Lord.'' Now
point in hand,
tly sure of the
we are sincere
as we quit the
it is impossible
on of the body,
from the body;
IS a sojourning ;
soul only ; and
nforted becaxise
a state of sleep,
10, is, I confess,

But to pass on to the Revelation of St. John.
Without entering into mysteries too deep for us,
one fact, I think, must be admitted, that the
description given of saints and angels in glory, is
not a description of any thing that takes place on
earth. And if not on earthy it is not of the state
after the resurrection; for the persons who are
described in chapters 4, 5, 7, and elsewhere, are
spoken of as longing for the great event to take
place, the great battle to be ended, the great woes
to be past, the kingdom of Christ to come, the
oppression and sin of the world to be done away ;
and the joy at the close of the book is, that
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
Now the conclusion that this is meant of a state
of separate spirits is entirely independent of any
interpretation of the prophecies ; and is, I think,
the only inference that can fairly be drawn from
the tenor of the book. Put then all these
testimonies together, and sum up the accumu-
lative force of the whole, the words of our Lord
to St. Peter, his reproof of the Sadducees, his
answer to the penitent thief, the assurances of
the Old Testament, and the expressions in the
Revelation, and you will find abundant reason
for holding fast to what the consentient testimony
of the Church has handed down to us as part
and parcel of our faith — " I believe in the Com-

44, THE STATE OF SEPARATE SPIRITS.

munion of Saints," i. e. of believers in the body,
bound by holy brotherhood on earth ; of be hevers
out of the body, bound by the same holy ties
in Paradise.

SERMON IV.

FEARS ON THE SUBJECT OF THE HOLY
COMMUNION.

Psalm xxvi. 6, 7-

" I will wash mine hands in innocency : so will I compass
Thine altar, Lord. That 1 may publish with the voice of
thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works."

Timid but conscientious persons often feel distres-
sed lest they should come unworthily to the Holy
Communion, and so increase their condemnation.
And perhaps when they see others less scrupulous
and less conscientious (joming without any fears
I at all, partaking of the Holy Supper apparently
I without reverence and devotion, and living a life
I of careless unconcern about their souls, their
minds are the more disquieted. They should re-
collect, however, that the strictest discipline would
lot altogether exclude unworthy communicants,
[provided they did not live in open sin ; and that
they as individuals have nothing to do with the

46 FEARS ON THE SUBJECT [sEBM.

evil conduct of others, except by way of charity to
uarn, pity, and pray for them. But the abuse of
he HoVsacralnt on the part of their brethren
™ust not deter them from its right and careful
use ; and it should be their endeavour to get then-
fears and their scruples quieted, and the.r mmds
assured by the benefit of communicating, that all
doubtfulness being done away, they '"yj"* a
safe and quiet conscience partake of the body
and blood of the Lord. To such persons a few
remarks may this morning be profitably, under
God's blessing, addressed.

In the first place then it may be very safely
laid down, that though a state of fear is better
than living in careless security, it is not a
satisfactorv state. "There .s no fear m o e,
says the Apostle St. John, « for perfect love
casteth out fear. He that feareth is not made
perfect in love '." He who feareth may love, but
is not made perfect in that grace. His apprehen-
sions render him uneasy and distrustful ; he is
occupied more with thinking on himself than of
the mercy of his Saviour, and finds himself
doubting, when he Aould be saying, « O my God
thou art good ! O my soul thou art happy.

From what then do such scruples anse, and

I 1 John iv. 18.

[SERM.

.v.]

OF THE HOLY COMMUNION.

of charity to
the abuse of
heir brethren
t and careful
ir to get their
1 their minds
ating, that all
y may with a
of the body
persons a few
)fitably5 under

be very safely
fear is better
it is not a
fear in love,"
r perfect love
ti is not made
I may love, but
His apprehen-
trustful; he is
tiimself than of
finds himself
ig, « O my God
•t happy."
iples arise, and

what remedies may be suggested for them? It
has been very properly remarked by Mr. Kettle-
well, in his admirable discourse on the Lord's
Supper, that if Christians thought as much of
the danger of sinful abstaining as they do of un-
tvorthily communicating, they would more dili-
gently set themselves to remove the hindrances
that lie in their way. For as the same judicious
divine observes, there is no more cause of com-
plaint against the difficulty of communicating
rightly, than against all religion. The same duties
[required of us to worthy receiving, are required
to make any of us a good Christian : nay, to a
worthy prayer, promise, or thanksgiving. So that
if a man will not come to the Sacrament because
he is deficient, and has not all those virtues re-
quired of a worthy communicant, he must on
sthe same principle abstain from prayers and
praises, and all duties of religion whether public
or private. For unless he perform them in a
[right spirit he cannot perform them worthily, and
therefore being unfit for the Holy Sacrament, he
|is unfit for every thing else. Thus, when the
iPsalmist says in the text, " I will wash mine hands
in innocency, and so will I compass Thine altar,
|0 Lord,'* he must be understood to mean that
Integrity and sincerity of heart and conduct, which
Is the best preparation for every duty, and not

4g FEARS ON THE SUBJECT [sEllM.

merely for the Holy Communion; that habitual
Ipition which is best manifested by a holy
Ufe, as well as that actual preparation which con-
sists in acts of self-examination, calling to mind
"past sins, sorrow for them, prayer for forg.ve-
Z' and m;ditation on the sufferings and love

of Christ our Saviour.

There are, however, two causes which seem to
me to lie at the root of many of these fears and
scruples. The first is the notion which is sup-
ported and fostered by low views of Sacramental
Lee, that certain intense and rapturous feelings
are required of us, in order to our receiving any

benefit from the Holy Communion. Now un-
doubtedly , if we think of receiving the Commumon

as we ought, if we come to receive the Lord s
body, we cannot feel too deeply and reverently,
our prayers cannot be too fervent nor our affe^
tions too lively: but this is very different from
excessive transports of emotion, and over-wrought
and excited feeling, which is not required of any
one, not desirable in all, and only tolerable m any
where it corresponds to the general disposition of
the receiver; and even in such a case a calm
and serene aspect, a composed and orderly frame
of mind, a holy and sacred reserve, seem more
lowly, more reverent, more becoming the unwor-
thiness of a creature entering the immediate pre-

IV.]

OP THE HOLY COMMUNION.

;hat habitual
d by a holy
n which con-
ling to mind
)r for forgive-
ngs and love

hich seem to
lese fears and
which is sup-
f Sacramental
urous feeUngs

receiving any
m. Now un-
le Communion
ive the Lord's
ind reverently,

nor our affec-

different from
d over-wrought
•equired of any
tolerable in any
il disposition of

a case a calm
d orderly frame
pve, seem more
ling the unwor-
i immediate pre-

sence of its Creator, than any excessive outburst
of feeling. At the courts of earthly sovereigns
it is not permitted, much less expected, that we
should rush forward, and with loud and tumul-
tuous expression of loyalty embrace our sovereign's
feet ; quietness, order and decorum, established
usages, and lowly prostration are required. But
the error of supposing that certain feelings expe-
rienced by others are required of us, and that
their emotions are the measure and standard of
our own, is very common, and must be traced
to that further error, that feeling , not action, is the
test of the life of God in the soul of man. It
would be easy to show that this tends to great
self-deception. Feeling seems to partake of bodily,
at all events of animal power. Our state of health,
our natural dispositions, circumstances of worldly
pleasure or pain, all contribute in a greater or
less degree to feelings of a pleasurable or sorrow-
ful kind, but surely these are not to be the
measure of the benefit we are to receive, nor are
they the true preparation for it.

I am not now contending, let it be observed, for
the absence of feeling in matters of religion. God
forbid I should! Religion demands our very
deepest and most intense feelings. We cannot
feel too deeply, too fervently, too intensely on
religious matters in general, more especially on

FEARS ON THE SUBJECT [SERM.

love Of our blessed Lord, in giving

but then this feeling

the

r f Tt If n.r; n;;:tter of display. It
r ;l;«ptd'nl. and freely within o„r
t„ .inds, and display itself by acUo. K J
sees others observe it, it should rather h.de >Uelf
from the gaze of the world, and Je n>os Iwe X
when alone and in the presence of ats God In
short, the deeper and more real our feehng .s^f
any Wnd, the more will this be the case^ The

depth and reality of it will make itself felt by

L, not by mere sentiment. Those who fed

most deeply, whether in sorrow or joy, generally

X lea^t! whUe others are in ecstasies or bursting

;L grief, they are sUent: but their e^nggo^

on, its reaUty makes them not anxious to be seen

to feel. They feel by action, if one may so speak

Now whoever of us has treasured up our blessed

Lord's sayings, will remember, that such is the

purport of manyofthem. "Ifyeknowthese thing ,

happy are ye if ye do them'." «Ye are My friends^
^whatsoever 1 command you'." " Many will
L to me in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not pro-
phesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cas
outdevils? andinThy name done many wonderful
works? and thenwUl I profess unto them, 1 never

« John xiii. !?•

> John XV. 14.

[SERM.

.v.]

OF THE HOLY COMMUNION.

giving us
this feeling
display. It
r within our
iction. If it
ler hide itself
; most lively-
its God. In
r feeling is, of
le case. The
itself felt by
bose who feel
joy, generally
les or bursting
ir feeling goes
ous to be seen
may so speak,
up our blessed
it such is the
)W these things,
re My friends if
" " Many will
lave we not pro-
name have cast
many wonderful
to them, I never

XV. 14.

knew you : depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine
and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man
which built his house upon a rock : and the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell not : for
it was founded upon a rock ^" " If any man serve
Me, let him follow Me \" And so His apostle says :
" He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as
He is righteous. Let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth '." " Blessed
are they that do His commandments, that they may
have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city \" Thus we see that
the Scripture speaks not of feeling, but of doing :
when we do what is right, we may be thankful if
we feel comfort ; but the feeling comfort is no satis-
faction without doing right ; it is, on the contrary,

^a delusion.

So that if you would gain real comfort, you
mst seek it by continuance in well-doing, with-
)ut looking for comfort ; leaving it to Him who is
the Comforter to impart it to you in what measure
md after what manner He sees fit. But above all
things, avoid endeavouring to make yourselves

|comfortable by imitation of the feelings of others.

* Matt. vii. 22—26.

* 1 John iii. 7.

' John xii. 26.
' Rev. xxii. 14.

ill

i ] X

=^ ■ I!

FEARS ON

For

THE SUBJECT [sERM.

of wood

ror imitations of feeUng, lite imitations
stone, generally speaking, serve no other purpose
In to hide what is defective, to g ve support
lere it is not wanted, and to display the bad
taste of those who use them.

Another eause of men's doubts and scruples
about the Holy Communion is an expectaUon
which they form of some present, and as .t were
visible benefit from communicating. They expect
this comfort to shed itself visibly over the affec-
tions and emotions of their souls.

Now undoubtedly here I would not say any
thing to discourage the assurance that we shall
find comfort, but we arc not to be too anxK>us
about it. We are not to suppose that we hnd no
benefit if it be withheld from us. The very fact
of our having done as was commanded us, the
wish to communicate rightly, the endeavour to act
up to our conviction, ought to be a comfort to us,
and will tend to keep us from falling into tempta-
tion, and if this be the only benefit, it is a grea
one. We are so prone to fall, that to be kept
steadily in our course is of itself a great thmg;
although we must not be satisfied with this ; we
must advance, that "our path may shine more and
more unto the perfect day"."

< Prov. "v. 18.

IV.]

OP THE HOLY COMMUNION.

ns of wood or
)ther purpose
give support
iplay the bad

and scruples

n expectation

and as it were

They expect

)ver the affec-

i not say any
that we shall
be too anxious
that we find no
The very fact
nanded us, the
ndeavour to act
a comfort to us,
ng into tempta-
fit, it is a great
^hat to be kept
' a great thing;
d with this ; we
y shine more and

But we should remember, that if the Holy Com-
munion be a visible sign of invisible grace, inas-
much as that grace is invisible, we must not
expect its immediate effects to be visible. It
descends, certainly, as the dew, but silently. It
comes not as the earthquake, or the fire, or the
tempest, but as a still small voice ^ Divine grace
will make itself felt, but it will be by action. He
who diligently and continually seeks it, will find
himself able to do more for God, to surmount
temptations, to deny himself for works of charity,
prayer in secret will become habitual to him, and
not irksome, the Holy Sacrament itself will seem
increasingly necessary; he may not always be
equally comforted, but he will never like to be
absent, till at last he will find that he cannot go
without it. It will be as much the food of his
soul as bread is the support of his body.

I would recommend you then to attend to the
following suggestions : —

1. To be present at the Lord's table whenever
it is possible. To neglect any duty, at any time,
when the performance of it is practicable, is a poor
way of obtaining that comfort which is only to
be expected in the discharge of our duty.

2. To be more engaged in thinking of the love

° 1 Kings xix. 12.

i l

1 ^'

1 '^

54 FEARS ON THE SUBJECT [SERM.

and mercy of God, than in brooding over your

own deficiencies.

3. To turn to Him for the measure of comfort
which He shall impart, and not make feehng the
measure and rule of /aiM. , , . .•

4. To remember how very simple the duties
required of you are. "To examine yourselves whe.
ther you repent truly of your former sms stedfastly
purposing to lead a new life, have a lively faith m
God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful re-
membrance of His death, and be in charity with all
men " You can hardly perform any duty well with
less difficulty; more is not required to discharge
one of the greatest : and in order to excite you to
greater diligence in communicating, remark how
many motives to bless and praise the Giver of all
good '^That I may pubUsh » (says the Psalmist)
« with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy
wondrous works'."

What an inexhaustible source of meditation is
the sum of benefits received at the Holy Commu-
nion. The elements themselves representing all
God's gifts to us of a temporal kind, and all that we
offer back to Him ; recalling to our minds all that
our Lord said of Himself ; of His being the sup-
port and stay of our soul, of His blood shed for

1 Psalm xxvi. 7.

IV.]

OF THE HOLY COMMUNION.

re of comfort
ke feeling the

le the duties
urselves, whe-
3ins, stedfastly
Uvely faith in
1 thankful re-
3harity with all
duty well with
d to discharge
excite you to
v, remark how
ha Giver of all
s the Psalmist)
i tell of all Thy

)f meditation is
; Holy Commu-
representing all
, and all that we
ir minds all that
\ being the sup-
blood shed for

the remission of our sins, of His readiness to for-
give all our offences. His tender compassion. His
willing sympathy. His earnest entreaties. His fer-
vent intercessions in our behalf, His promises of
bliss eternal, union uninterrupted, glory unspeak-
able in the world to come. How do such thoughts
call for our praise, our high and solemn praise of
Him who is our sacrifice, our altar, our propitia-
tion, our righteousness, our redemption ! But if
from the memorial we pass to the mystery of the
Sacrament, to our union with the Lord by means
of our reception of the elements, to His promise
of being with us, of making us one body
with Himself; what a subject for thanksgiving is
here !

How fervently does the Church express the very
highest language of faith in contemplation of the
wondrous mystery of her present Lord. Then "we
dwell in Christ, and Christ in us, we are one with
Christ, and Christ with us.*' And if we add, as
the language of Scripture fully authorises us to
do, that we celebrate the mysteries, seen of angels
who do honour to their Lord, and that tho -e who
are absent from us for a season, though perhaps
not locally present, still worship the same Saviour,
are supported by the same heavenly nutriment, and
enjoy the light of the same reconciled face bent on
them for evermore in love and mercy, without

D 4

FEARS

ON THE SUBJECT, &C.

the clouds of sin to hide it, surely we may say
with the Psalmist, "Lord, I have loved the habi-
tation of Thy house, and the place where Thine
honour dwelleth' ;" and pgain, «My soul thirsteth
for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee ; to see Thy
power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee m
the sanctuary'." "For a day in thy courts is better
than a thousand; 1 had rather be a doorkeeper m
the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents
of wickedness*." Let us comfort one another
with these words as we press to the threshold ol
our heavenly King: for it is only His threshold.
How blessed then must it be to enter His palace,
to worship at His feet, to behold His glory, to
rejoice in His goodness, to have His joy fulfilled
in our souls, and that joy without measure and
end. What has the Lord there prepared for His
servants, who bestows such pledges of His bounty
here ! What does He reserve there for us in His
promised kingdom, when He gives us Himself in
this our place of sojourning, weariness and banish-
ment!

2 Psalm ^ .: /i. 8. » PsaJm Ixiii. 1,2. * PBalm Ixxxiv. 10.

tc.

we may say
ed the habi-
where Thine
oul thirsteth

to see Thy
seen Thee in
.urts is better
loorkeeper in

in the tents

one another
2 threshold of
lis threshold.
r His palace,
His glory, to
s joy fulfilled

measure and
)ared for His
of His bounty
for us in His
us Himself in
ss and banish-

PBalm Ixxxiv. 10.

SERMON V.

THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES OF RICHES.

St. Matthew xix. 23—30.

" Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That
a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And
again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly
amazed, saying, Who then can be saved ? But Jesus beheld
them, and said unto them. With men this is impossible ; but
with God all things are possible. Then answered Peter and
said unto him. Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed
thee ; what shall we have therefore ? And Jesus said unto them.
Verily I say unto you. That ye which have followed Me, in the
regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of
His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundred-
fold, and shall inherit everlasting life."

I SUPPOSE I should hardly err much from the
truth if I should say, that if these words had
been written in any other book than the Bible,
they would have been msidered to be little better

D 5

•^td^^

li I

».

i-;

i ::

liil

lill

ipi

,.:ki

58 THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES [SERM.

than enthusiasm. This may seem somewhat
startling at first sight, yet it is evident what the
generahty of men would have thought of them:
and the proof of it is this ; these words are m the
Bible, which we know to be the word of God ;
yet how very little even now are they thought
of, or believed ; of all who hear or read them, is
there one person in a hundred who has any firm
conviction left upon his mind, that it is a great
spiritual hindrance and disadvantage to be rich
and that any person possessed of a good deal ot
this world's possessions, must be very earnest and
very serious, very pains-taking and self-denying,
in fact, must dc more than others do, in order
to get to heaven at all? For my part, I am sure
that such a notion never enters into the mmds
c,f mankind in general; yet here it is as plainly
and broadly stated as can be, without any ex-
ception, with an asseveration which our Lord
used when He wished to assure His hearers of
something most true and important, and to con-
vince them of its truth, « Verily I say unto you,"
repeated with a similitude most striking, to show
that there is an immense difficulty in the case.
« Again I say unto you f so far from qualifying
what T just declared, or softening it down, or
allowing it to be a mere figure of speech, I repeat
it, I declare it to be true; "it is as easy for a

ES [SERM.

v.]

OF RICHES.

! somewhat
2nt what the
rht of them:
•ds are in the
ord of God;
:hey thought
read them, is

has any firm

it is a great
;e to be rich,
good deal of
•y earnest and

self-denying,
1 do, in order
art, I am sure
ito the minds

is as plainly
thout any ex-
ich our Lord
lis hearers of
it, and to con-
say unto you,"
iking, to show
;y in the case,
irom qualifying
ig it down, or
peech, I repeat
; as easy for a

camel to go through the eye of a needle as for a
rich man to enter into the kingdom of God," i. e.
by mere human strerigth ; so great are the tempta-
tions and difficulties by which rich men are sur-
rounded, that it is humanly speaking impossible
that they can be saved, and only by God's grace
enabling them to overcome the difficulties of their
situation that they can be. Now to test the real
conviction and belief in the words in the minds
of men in general, let any one imagine, that on
awaking some morning, a letter were brought to
him informing him, that to some friend of his, or
we will suppose to himself, had been bequeathed
a fortune of ten thousand pounds a year. Do
you suppose it would ever enter into that person's
mind (generally speaking) that such an event was
of a very solemn, serious character, that it might
prove a great misfortune, that it might be in
truth a punishment and not a blessing, and that
at all events it had placed him in a situation
not only of immense responsibility, but of actual
spiritual disadvantage ? I am sure no man who
knows the world would ever think that such
would be the case; and so little is the force of
the truths of the Gospel understood, that perhaps
there is none of us who would be sure that he
should feel rightly in such a conjecture. The
intoxication of worldly joy would prove too strong

THE SP

IMITUAL DISADVANTAGES [SERM.

for t>c words of our Lord to find any entrance
into the mind, and each person would flatter him-
self, that if there were any danger, he should now
be able to do so much good with the money as

to escape it.

Yet if there was any period of the world's history
when it behoved us to consider our Lord's words
well, it is the present time. The love of money was
always the root of all evil, but it is more than ever
so now. In former times men sinned against God
by fierceness, cruelty, and barbarous plunder of
their fellow creatures. The rich oppressed the
poor, and had them in subjection. The nobility
and gentry formed parties, and engaged in bloody
wars, for ambition sake, or for honour, and the land
was defiled with blood. But now none of these
things take place; every man is free; the poor
are respected and relieved; education is general,
and men are outwardly more at peace with each
other. Wealth flows in more numerous and even
channels, and no man's little all is at the mercy of
another. Those fierce times then, which are now
only recollected as history, being passed away,
the love of money and of the world is naturally
stronger than ever, for more persons are exposed
to the temptation, and there are more means for
gratifying the passion. As long as riches v^ere
confined to a few, multitudes might conceive

<r^^sssBS

3ES [SERM.

v.]

OF RICHES.

ny entrance
flatter him-
should now

le money as

)rlrrs history
Lord's words
)f money was
)re than ever

against God
s plunder of
ppressed the

The nobihty
red in bloody
, and the land
lone of these
ee; the poor
►n is general,
ace with each
•ous and even

the mercy of
/hich are now
passed away,
1 is naturally
IS are exposed
»re means for
3 riches M^ere
ight conceive

. themselves out of risk, arid then the text could only
.'; apply to those few, but now this surprising decla-
; ration of our Saviour may suit us all in some
4 measure. It may be thought that God never can
I or never will punish so many. But numbers make
no difference to Him. "Though hand join in hand,
the wicked shall not be unpunished *.*'

So far then from the march of inteUigence having
, lessened the importance of our Lord's warning, it
Ihas increased its awfulness beyond measure, inas-
much as now not a few very rich men only, but a
I vast multitude of men engaged in trade, who
I labour to be rich, whose only desire is to be rich,
: who are rich, though not moving in high stations
Hn society, are exposed to the danger. Let us
consider then, as far as we may, the reasons of
^ our Lord's saying, that " it is easier for a camel
Ho go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich
;^man to enter into the kingdom of God." What
^then are the spiritual disadvantages of riches ?

1 . There is a great tendency in riches to make
|us selfish, and regardless of others. Consider how
the Scriptures point it out to our notice in the case
)f Nabal. Here was a man immensely rich, who
jeems to have had no family to provide for, and
iDavid had protected his cattle and servants from

pnjury, and had been of real service to him. Yet

I » Prov. xi. 21.

62 THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES [SERM.

when he was asked for a little present in time of
need, he churlishly replied, "Shall I then take my
bread and my water, and my flesh that I have killed
for my shearers, and give it unto m.n whom I know
not whence they be ' ?" He never thought that it
was God's bread and God's substance, not his
own ; he only thought of himself. Observe again
what our Lord says of the rich fool in the parable,
which, like all parables, seems intended to de-
scribe a large class of persons: "Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry'." First, it is for many
years: he thinks nothing of the uncertainty of life,
he is sure to live, and his only wish is to enjoy it,
eat, drink, and be merry. Now this is the ten-
dency of all riches, the tendency, though not
always the effect. Happily, by God's grace there
are many things which counteract it. The nume-
rous calls of Christian charity ; the various socie-
ties estabhshed for great ends ; the objects which
force themselves on our notice and compassion ;
the laws which insist on relief being given to the
poor; the example of good rich men; the cus-
toms of a Christian country ; the exhortation of
Scripture, the public reading of it in our churches ;
the Christian ministry, all are blessed counteract-
ing influences ; still sin will fight hard, struggle

I ,::!'

> 1 Sam. XXV. 11.

' Luke xii. 19.

u u

\GE8 [SERM.

v.]

OF RICHES.

int in time of
then take my
it I have killed
whom I know
hought that it
;ance, not his
Observe again
in the parable,
itended to de-
oul, thou hast
;ake thine ease,
it is for many
ertainty of life,
1 is to enjoy it,
his is the ten-
f, though not
)d's grace there
it. The nume-
e various socie-
3 objects which
d compassion ;
ng given to the
men; the cus-
exhortation of
n our churches;
jsed counteract-
c hard, struggle

ike xii. 19.

long, and never cease to struggle till death puts
an end to its reign. Besides, we do not always
put off our selfishness because we give liberally.
A person may be extremely selfish, and yet be
called munificent ; he may give what he does not
want, and gratify himself in every thing he sets
his heart upon. So great is the subtlety of self-
deceit. And we know that a very selfish person
cannot see God ; for our Lord said, " If any man
will come after Me, let him deny himself*."

2. The great disadvantage of riches is, that they
tend to make us think that our wants are many
more than they really are, and so we refuse to
give because we fancy that we cannot atford to
give : whereas the fact is that we could well have
afforded it, had we not spent so much upon our-
selves. This tendency is also greatly increased by
the manners of the age. No man can revisit any
great town or place of importance after twenty
years' absence from it, without seeing how won-
derfully the comforts and conveniencies of life have
increased ; every thing is better and finer than it
was ; the luxuries of life are become necessaries ;
the lower classes of society treading on the heels
of the upper ; smart dressing is become universal;
the commonest houses are furnished with handsome
furniture; every one is on the move, and our wants

* Matt. xvi. 24.

THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES [SERM.

seem to multiply in proportion to our comforts,
till they are so many that we really know not how
to live with them or without them. And as men
become really wealthy, these artificial wants grow
on them, till they swallow up a great part of real
charity; and what might have maintained a mis-
sionary for half-a-year, or built a portion of a school
or a church, or relieved many a score of the poor,
is wasted in a single dinner or supper ; so that
instead of, like Zaccheus, giving half their goods ',
most give not one-twentieth part, many not one-
fiftieth. And it is a notorious and extraordinary
fact, that many who when they were poor gave
with extraordinary liberality, as soon as they
became rich suddenly drew in their hand, and said
they could not afford it. This is the second
spiritual disadvantage of riches, that they increase
the number of our artificial wants, and make us
seem to be needy when we are in abundance.

3. The third is, that they tend to make us fancy
ourselves independent of God, and forget the Giver.
Moses saw that this was the temptation to the
IsraeUtes, for he said, " when thy silver and gold
is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied,
then beware lest thine heart be lifted up, and thou
forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee
forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of

* Luke ix. 8.

►4i v»i

GES [SERM.

)ur comforts,
now not how
And as men
il wants grow
it part of real
tained a mis-
on of a school
3 of the poor,
)per ; so that
their goods *,
lany not one-
extraordinarv
re poor gave
oon as they
and, and said
s the second
they increase
and make us
andance.
aake us fancy
get the Giver.
)tation to the
Iver and gold
is multiplied,
. up, and thou
brought thee
1 the house of

v.]

OP RICHES.

bondage*. — But thou shalt remember the Lord
thy God, for it is He that giveth thee power to
get wealth '." How hard it is for a man born to
a high estate, and nursed in luxury and ease, to
think of himself as a dependent being. All things
around him are subservient to his wish, he is lord
of all he surveys, and master, if not of the lives,
yet of the happiness of numbers ; he never knows
what it is to want a comfort or a pleasure, and
has only to give an order and it is obeyed. How
difficult for him to realize the great lesson of daily
dependence on God for everything, to believe that
he is after all " poor, and miserable, and blind, and
naked." It seems as if he had nothing to ask God
for in this world, as he has every thing at his com-
mand ; he has no privations to expect, and there-
fore no motive to trust in the bounty of his Maker.
I do not mean that such is always the case ; God
be thanked that it is often otherwise ; but that such
is the tendency of riches.

Again, take the case of a man of a different
class, one who has risen by his own industry;
who, born with no advantages of fortune, has
carved out his own; who, by honesty, punc-
tuality, and great diligence in business, has made
his way in the woild, and seen the prodigal and

i m

■ in

Deut. viii. 13.

^ Deut. viii. 18.

THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES [SERM.

* ii;

»• '^.

p. ji

;

1. i

foolish sinking into the pit which their own extra-
vagance has dug for them. This man as he rises
in the world, and becomes looked up to and
respected, is apt to think that his success all
depends on himself. Who else has done anything
for him ? Are not his industry and his business-
habits, his punctuality and uprightness, all his own?
Who ever helped him but himself? Or what has
religion done for him ? He has seen those so-called
religious men, who could play a sly trick as well
as other men, or whom he heartily despised for their
want of method, and fooHsh extravagant ways.
With such a person, the notion of his success
depending on God never entered his thoughts.
He has no doubt religion is of use to prevent
people from being thievish and indolent, and make
them respectable, but he has no other notion of it.
And can a more serious disadvantage be imagined
than arises from such a state of mind, in which
every access of fortune ministers fresh evil ? Had
this man been poor and pinched with want, he
might have been led to call on God for help ; but
now he thinks he has no need of God, and can
help himself. Whereas if his view of life were the
true view, of what use would be all the Scripture
warnings, consolations, and promises? We should
learn little from the gospel which we could not
have learned as well from a Jew, or even a heathen.

v.]

OP RICHES.

eir own extra-
lan as he rises
i up to and
is success all
lone anything

his business-
ss,allhisown?

Or what has
;hose so-called
jr trick as well
jpised for their
ivagant ways.
)f his success
his thoughts,
se to prevent
ent, and make
er notion of it.
e be imagined
lind, in which
ish evil? Had
ivith want, he
for help ; but
God, and can
►f life were the
the Scripture
8? We should
we could not
^en a heathen.

Alas ! how awful must it be to open one's eyes
in eternity, and find that all one has lived for is
a dream ! The world of independence gone ;
riches come utterly to an end for evermore, and
mere worldly industry of no use. How awfully
mistaken must he be, who lives in fancied inde-
pendence of his Creator, and never realizes his
own sinfulness and pollution ! Such is the danger
of trusting in riches. In short, the great spiritual
disadvantage of riches is to make men live as if
this were the only world, forgetting that it is
made to be burnt up and perish, and that a world
of a different kind is preparing for all who, by
Divine grace and by the practice of holiness, are
fitted to enjoy it.

And when once the fatal snare has taken posses-
sion of the mind, and this world is chosen as our
portion, all things soon appear to conspire to the
same end. The desire of wealth increases with
its accumulation. The very magnitude of the ob-
ject gives it a nobleness in our eyes which it does
not really possess, as shadows often seem to oc-
cupy a larger space in nature than the substances.
Woe be unto us if God grant us our portion here,
and say, " Verily I say unto you, they have their
reward." They hm^s it ; they have it all ; they
have it in full ; they shall have no other.

We have hitherto been dwelling on the spocial

■m'

f l!

THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES [SERM.

iii*

ri |i :

disadvantages of riches ; but there is a merciful
encouragement in the latter part of the text,
without which the subject would be incomplete.
"Every one that hath forsaken houses, or bre-
thren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive
an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
That these words belong, in their first and literal
sense, to the Apostle, is evident from St. Peter's
question, " Behold, we have forsaken all, and fol-
lowed Thee ; what shall ve have therefore?" They
had nobly given up all — houses, and brethren, and
sisters, they had left at Christ's command ; yea,
life itself, the most valued of all earthly gifts, tbev
were ready to lay down for Christ's sake. " They
were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were
tempted, were slain with the sword: they wan-
dered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins ; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented ^" Of self-denial
so severe, of ambition so noble, of heroism so
unparalleled, the world was not worthy.

But let us not suppose that because God, in
mercy to our weakness, has spared us such severe
and protracted suffering, that therefore the direc-
tion in the text belongs not to us. Let us not
imagine, that because we cannot attain to theii

« Heb. xi. 37.

rmm

GES [SERM.

s a merciful
Df the text,

incomplete,
ises, or bre-
', or wife, or

shall receive
rlasting life."
it and literal
n St Peter's

all, and fol-
fore?" They
)rethren, and
imand; yea,
ly gifts, thev
ake. "They
under, were
: they wan-
skins; being
)f self-denial

heroism so

Luse God, in
I such severe
ire the direc-
Let us not
;ain to theii

v.]

OF RICHES.

degree, that we are not to follow them in kind,
in principle ; let us not think, that because Christ
does not say to each of ua. Sell all at once — leave
nothing for thyself— no house, no domestic com-
forts, no quiet resting-place, no land, nor personal
property; regard not the entreaties of all thy
friends, the love of a sister, the grey hairs of a
mother ; abandon all, come, and follow the pain-
ful steps of the Saviour of mankind ; — let us not
think, that because Christ does not say this now
to all of us, that therefore He says nothing; that
the text gives us no command ; that there are no
domestic comforts, no houses and lands to be
forsaken ; no personal sacrifices to be made.
The text speaks not to the Apostles but to
every one; and these words, every one, are as
universal in application as when our Lord says,
If any man will come after me. It is evident,
then, that our Lord's command cannot, in any
true sense, be fulfilled without a great personal
sacrifice on our part. In short, v/e cannot come
up to the standard of holiness which the Gospel
requires, or, in other words, we cannot enter
heaven, without that personal sacrifice. The sacri-
fice may not be the same in degree in all times,
nor in all persons. Some have no houses or lands
to give up, but all have something; and our
Lord^s words show us plainly, that if we thmk

'.I**!

: I

II- ■'

THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES [SERM.

to go to heaven with the notion of heaping all
the comforts of life upon ourselves, we are most
fearfully mistaken as to the way. I repeat it,
holiness cannot be produced and grow in the
soul under the influence of the Holy Ghost with-
out a great personal sacrifice on our part. It is
true that God must begin, continue, and end the
work, and that to Him is to be ascribed all the
glory of it. But this is not now the question ;
the question is, is any thing required of us, and
what is required ?

And the answer to this question is in the text,
that we must forsake worldly property in order to
promote the cause of Christ and his Gospel in
every way ; that we must not be envious when we
see others rich, but be thankful if we are not so
encumbered ; that we must be ready to disburden
ourselves of our riches, and be thankful for every
call of charity, as another faggot taken out of our
load, another help in the difficult path, another
evidence of love to Christ, and of our belief that
Christ's words are really true; that heaven is a
real place, and that Christ is really coming, and
that His coming is at hand; that we must not
measure our gifts by subscription-lists, where the
rich often cloaks his avarice under the self-deny-
ing subscriptions of the less wealthy ; but we
must take our own means, not as they were once,

v.]

OF RICHES.

but as they are now; not as others are doing
around us, but as the Gospel tells us to do ; and
give what in justice, in the fear of God, in obedi-
ence to His commands, with stint and self-denial,
with the fear of God's dreadful judgment-seat
before our eyes, and with the love of a dying
Redeemer as our pattern, we ought to give : and
further, that when we have done so, it should not
be in a vain, boasting, ostentatious way, but as
often as we can in secret, unless where it is neces-
sary that our light should shine before men ; and
above all, with a full conviction that we do not
purchase salvation by so doing, nor deserve any
grace, but that God is no man's debtor, and that
we are saved by God's free mercy and grace from
first to last.

Whether this rule may appear to any too strict
and severe, I know not. One thing I know, that
it is the rule of the Gospel ; and that for us who
are ambassadors for Christ to take on ourselves to
add to or diminish aught from the word of God, as
it would be most cruel and uncharitable to you, so
it would be most awfully dangerous for ourselves.
But we should consider the comfort as well as the
strictness of the rule. Our Lord promises such
as obey it an hundred-fold even in this life; not,
perhaps, in actual return of money, but in real
substantial peace and consolation ; and how great

I! I

■r

'ri

hi'

72 SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES OF RICHES.

the comfort is, those only know who thus employ
their riches. And then the life to come is well worth
waiting for ; it is a regeneration, when God will
make all things new ; it is a harvest that will well
repay the reapers ; it is a ''pleasure that is at God's
right hand for evermore." Only let us be careful
that we do not take out of the Gospel all the pro-
mises and consolations by themselves, and say,
this is the Gospel : we must take the Gospel as a
whole, we must believe it as a whole, we must
try by God's help to obey it as a whole, and then
all will be in harmony together.

We all like (by nature) to go to heaven by an
easy road ; let us take care that it is not the broad
road of which we read in the Scriptures. Let us
not labour to be rich ; let us cease from our own
wisdom ; let us become fools in the world, but
wise in Christ; let us be rich towards God,
and heirs of heaven ; let us remember that God
sees what we give, when we give, how we give ;
and that as the covetous is an abomination to the
Lord, He loveth a simple, liberal, humble, cheer-
ful giver. In short, let us " believe in the name of
His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He
gave us commandment. — For hereby we know
that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He
hath given us ^"

> I John iii. 23, 24.

F RICHES.

thus employ
B is well worth
hen God will
that will well
lat is at God's t

us be careful
A all the pro-
ves, and say,
e Gospel as a
ole, we must
Lole, and then

heaven by an
not the broad
iires. Let us
from our own
e world, but
owards God,
ber that God
low we give ;
[nation to the
imble. cheer-
i the name of
nother as He
3y we know
it which He

SERMON VI.

GOD S PROVIDENTIAL CARE.

St. Matthew ii. 28—33.

" Consider the lilies of the field how they grow : they toil not,
neither do they spin : and yet I say unto you, that even Solo-
mon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Where-
fore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and
to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe
you, ye of little faith ? Therefore take no thought, saying.
What shall we eat ? or, what shall we drink ? or, wherewithal
shall we be clothed ? For after all these things do the Gentiles
seek : for your heavenly Father luioweth that ye have need of
all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you."

There is something very remarkable in the way
in which our blessed Lord singles out natural
objects, and remarks upon them in his parables
and discourses. The number of such objects
which He brings together, the care with which He
seems to make the selection, the aptness and
beauty of his comparisons, strike one's mind most
forcibly : we feel it is the Mighty Maker walking

god's providential care. [serm.

I,-

abroad in the field of His own works, and conde-
scending to explain to His creatures the lessons
to be derived from His own handywork. One is
reminded at such times of that sublime passage in
the 40th chapter of Isaiah, verse 26, "Lift up
your eyes on high, and behold who hath created
these things, that bringeth out their host by num-
ber; He calleth them all by uames by the great-
ness of His might, for that He is strong in power,
not one faileth."

Nor is it only the divinity of our blessed Saviour
which shines forth as with the light of a sunbeam
from such a passage as this, but we see also the
wonderful proof of God's love in His care for the
smallest and meanest of His works. " The very
least are the objects of His care, the greatest are
not exempted from His power.*' He who made
Orion and the Pleiades, who controls the motions
of the planets and fixed the f^un in his seat,
clothed also the lily, protects the ant, and watches
over the animated dust which escapes the notice
of mortal eyes ; and thus even the lowest things
may be a glass to reflect His image who is the
greatest of all ; and whenever we walk abroad we
may converse with God through His works, we
may see how great and glorious and lovely He is,
we may send up to Him the adoration of our
hearts, the incense of our prayers, and with hearts

U3«IIB»"W»¥»-'

VI.]

god's providential care.

and conde-
the lessons
rk. One is
J passage in
1, "Lift up
ath created
>st by num-
Y the great-
g in power,

sed Saviour
' a sunbeam
see also the
care for the

" The very
greatest are
I who made
the motions
n his seat,
ind watches
3 the notice
west things
who is the
: abroad we

workSj we
vely He is,
tion of our
with hearts

full of love for our faithful and merciful Creator,
utter the inspiring words, "O Lord, how manifold
are thy works ! in wisdom hast Thou made them
all, tho earth is full of Thy riches '." « Thy mercy,
O Lord, is in the heavens, and Thy faithfulness
reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like
the strong mountains ; thy judgments are a great
deep : O Lord, thou preservest man and beast \"
But our blessed Redeemer has taught us a
lesson of a higher and somewhat more difficult
kind in the passage, which is, that the con-
sideration of God's works should not only lead
us to admire and adore the Creator, and to
trust Him, but to seek Him rather than His
works, although we may find Him in His works.
The great master sin of the human heart is to
make God's works the object and end of life,
instead of the great God who made them all ; to
fix and centre the affections on earth instead of
heaven, and so to miss our aim after all ; for the
secret of happiness and satisfaction must lie in
Him who is the source of it; and He who goes to
the stream when he is bid to slake his thirst at
the fountain-head, will thirst, and seek water where
there is none; like the brooks in the desert, which
are most empty when they are most needed. And

' Psal. civ. 24.

E 2

* Psalm xxxvi. 6, 6.

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god's providential care. [serm.

I'!.

this is one of the cautions to be given to those whose
business or profession leads them to an examina-
tion of God's works. Take care, lest in your
admiration of the creature you forget the Creator ;
and that your own skill in the discovery does not
make you unmindful of Him, without whom you
would never have had anything to discover. But
to return to the text, where we observe,

1. A remarkable contrast between two things
very different in their nature, the one a lowly lily,
growing in the field, and the other the greatest
and wisest monarch who ever lived, king Solomon ;
and this not before he came to the throne, but
after it ; at the time when his power, and wisdom,
and pleasure, and glory, were at their height, and
yet we find the preference given to the single lily
of the field. " I say unto you, that even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

2. The application of the conclusion to our-
selves, to induce us to put our whole trust in God,
who cares for us : " Wherefore, if God so clothe
the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-
morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?" The real
lesson uf the whole is, to seek first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness, i.e. to make God the
chief object of our affection, veneration, and love.

To speak of the first: is it not every way a

VI.]

god's providential care.

remarkable contrast which our blessed Saviour
draws between the lilies of the field, and Solo-
mon in all his glory ? To our undiscerning
eyes, what so strange as the comparison? The
lily of the field, a small and not uncommon
flower, beautiful indeed as a flower, but still
only a flower, and the great monarch of the
east, surrounded by all that wealth could pur-
chase, luxury devise, wisdom provide, or plea-
sure fancy. Let us hear the account Solomon
gives of himself in the book of Ecclesiastes '.
"I made me great works, I builded me houses,
I planted me vineyards, I made me gardens and
orchards. I gathered me also silver and gold and
the peculiar treasure of kings, and of the pro-
vinces. I gat me men singers and women singers,
and the delights of the sons of men, as musical
instruments, and that of all sorts. And whatso-
ever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I
withheld not my heart from any joy." What an
assemblage of pleasures was here. The eye, the
ear, the mouth, the head, the hands, the feet, the
touch, the taste, all tasked to discover a fresh
satisfaction, and all equally gratified and taking
their fill of earthly pleasure ; and yet of all this
vast accumulation of delights, how little could the

3 Ch. ii. 4—10.

god's providential care. [serm.

great monarch enjoy at any one time ! how little
could he properly call his own ! above all, with
how little of it could he be arrayed or clothed !
for here lies the point of the comparison. Man's
clothing (let him be as rich as Solomon) can con-
sist only of a few articles, and those few, compared
with the clothing of a plant or flower, most un-
skilfully and rudely made. For after all, how
small is the skill that can be exercised in clothes
and raiment ! Examine such things by aid of the
microscope, and how rude and clumsy do the
finest works of art appear. How little of real
genius and power of invention and contrivance is
there in them. Their properties soon known,
their beauty soon tires and palls upon the eye, and
we fling it away and take up something else. But
it is not so with flowers, with the very commonest
flower we have. All here is skill, contrivance,
ingenuity, art, wisdom of the very highest kind ;
art and wisdom so complicated, so profound, as to
baffle not only our understanding, but our dis-
covery. First, as to the outward appearance of
the lily ; the naked eye reveals to us but very
little of its real beauty. Examine it by help of a
powerful glass, and what wondrous beauties will
discover themselves at the first view ; every part
seems as if wrought in a mould peculiar to itself;
nothing unseemly, clumsy, unfinished ; all elegance

tLJiKiya::. jijuim

v.]

god's providential care.

and finish of the highest kind ; each part forms a
separate picture and invites the eye to dwell upon
it, but leaves new beauties unexplored; for as
those parts upon which we used the glass seemed
common and uninteresting, but after it is applied
assume a beauty which to the naked eye is invi-
sible; so could we obtain glasses of higher powers,
fresh beauties would r*', cover themselves which
now are hidden from us. So that what hinders
us from seeing the perfection of the lily is simply
the imperfection of our own eyes.

But this is not ah ; the clothing of the lily does
not consist merely in its flower ; the combination
of all its parts, their arrangement, the order and
provision made for the production of the plant
and flower itself; the countless vessels by which
air and moisture are supplied to it, and a thou-
sand things invisible to our eyes, which are yet
known to exist, the discovery of which surpasses
all the wisdom of the greatest philosophers ; and all
this wisdom and beauty combined in the clothing of
one single lily of the field. So that our Saviour's
conclusion is justified, that much more beautiful is
the clothing of the lily than the glittering raiment
of king Solomon in all his glory. But our Lord only
makes the comparison, to lead us by it to a higher
subject. " If then God so clothe the grass of the
field, v/hich to-day is and to-morrow is cast into

E 4

?• !i t ■

I if

I! i

80 god's providential care. [serm.

the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O
ye of little faith?" Distrust of God, as it is one
of the most common of our daily sins, so methinks
it is, or should be, most unnatural, and certainly
is most ungrateful, and therefore deservedly meets
that just and severe rebuke in the passage, « O
thou of little faith/'

The duty of trusting God in all the concerns of
life is enforced on us here by two reasons ; first,
the little value which we set on grass ; secondly,
the great value which God sets on us. God, as
it would seem, counts nothing so mean as to be
beneath His wisdom ; and therefore, in making
plants and flowers, which are without life, He
did not make them as if they were of no import-
ance in the creation, but made them perfect in
their kind. But man deals with the plants and
productions of his Maker, as if they were his
own, and makes but little account of them. Look,
then, says our Saviour, O faithless one, at the
grass : to-day it is ; it lives in all its greenness,
freshness, and beauty ; it refreshes the eye ; it
adorns the landscape: it blooms forth full of
fragrance; but it lives no longer. Man cuts it
down, and casts it at once into the oven, where it
is at once burned up. Consider then how God
clothed this short-lived fading flower; with what
powers and juices He tarnished it; with what

VI-]

god's providential care.

hidden wondrous beauty He adorned it, and all
for thy sake, that thou mightest employ it as thou
wouldest. Was this one little thing the object of
His care, wisdom, and providence, and dost thou
think thyself forgotten ? Thou, for whose sake
all plants and flowers, all beasts and cattle, the
fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and what-
soever things were made, and to whom was given
the dominion of all? Thou, whose own frame was
so curiously and wondrously made, and no less
marvellously preserved to this very hour? Thou,
for whose benefit the sun rises and sets, the rain
and dews descend, the rivers flow, the whole work
of nature rolls wondrously around? Thou, who art
clothed not only with a body, but invested with a
soul, a portion of thy Creator's self, and who art
thus a partaker of the Divine nature ? Thou, for
whose benefit the Infinite Eternal Son humbled
Himself to redeem thy wretched lost nature, and
raise it to the height of His own eternal glory ?
O faithless one, distrust not Him who died to
redeem thy soul. If He so gloriously clothe the
grass, with what robes of everlasting beauty will
He not adorn and ennoble thee ; how much more,
then, will He grant thee, O fading man, garments
which thy poverty needs, or thy miseries require ?
Thus does our Saviour reprove our needless
cares, teaching us first, to " cast all our burden

E 5

111

82 god's providential care. [serm.

upon the Lord, and He will nourish us;" se-
condly, to be less anxious about the clothing of
our bodies; and thirdly, to be more diligent to
be « clothed upon with our house which is from
heaven." On the two first of the lessons I may
say a few words. The last will fall more pro-
perly under the third branch of our subject.

I say then, first, our Lord teaches us the les-
son of entire, absolute reliance : not presumptuous
desire, but reliance. To trust in God in the use
of means is reliance: without the use of means is
presumption. The one is the work of the fanatic
enthusiast, the other, of the sincere, sober-minded
Christian. Yet such reliance is not common;
more common among the sincerely religious poor
than among those who have not so much to trust
God for. It is for this reason, no doubt, that
God visits us with sickness, disappoints our hopes,
brings clouds and darkness about us, that we may
trust Him when difficulties arise, and become care-
less for the world when we have more to care for,
because He careth for us. For how very certain it
is that God will nourish us if we trust in Him. As
to our earthly possessions and earthly pleasures,
nothing can be more uncertain than our tenure
of them ; but his care of us is as certain as that
there is a God above us, or a heaven in store for
us; nay,Ve see it daily by our own experience.

VI.]

god's providential care.

Multitudes rise up every day, pot knowing how
they shall get food for the day, yet God feeds
them. Multitudes find themselves placed in
straits through which it seems impossible to
walk, yet God brings them through ; the very
fire loses its force, and instead of consuming,
purifies ; the waters which threaten to overwhelm,
rise up on either side, and are as a wall for them
on the right hand and on the left. O how blessed
is it thus to depend on God ; to put ourselves in
his hand, willing to do, to be, to suffer, to enjoy
none other than He allots ; that so He may fill,
and possess, and sanctify our souls, and make
them fit for His glorious presence for ever.

And if God undertake to add His blessing to
our labour, and so clothe us, should we not be
less anxious about our own clothing? Above all,
should we not be less solicitous about expensive
clothing ? It is right to speak of this, because of
the extravagance in which persons indulge who
even make a considerable profession of religion.
This is an age of outward show. Our forefathers
lavished gold upon God's house ; we more pru-
dently spend it on ourselves, though not more
prudently in the end. For what a wretched satis-
faction it is to take pleasure in dressing up that
which must soon come to dust and ashes, while
the clothing of the soul or the poor is neglected.

E 6

84 god's providential care. [serm.

It is granted that the poor are as much in fault as
others ; but that does not justify others. I have
indeed often known the poorest persons spend
their Uttle all in extravagant dress of their famdy;
but do not those above them set them the ex-
ample ? Compare the sums which persons, who
complain of hard times when they are asked for a
subscription, lay out upon one single article of
clothing, and you will soon see how miserably low
our views of Christianity are. Is it not notorious
that three, four, and five pounds are often given
for single articles of dress by persons who, when
they hear a sermon on charity, or come to the
communion, put sixpence in the plate, and go
away quite satisfied, as if they had done some
great thing? Do you think when these things
are brought before us at Christ's judgment-seat,
we shall be able to look them well in the face, and
give a good account of them? Will it be well
then to say, I gave my five or ten pounds for an
expensive dress, I laid out my fortune to keep up
a handsome appearance, I was noticed as being
more handsomely attired than my neighbours,
when the word of God said so plainly, "Why
take ye thought for raiment?" " Whose adorn-
ing, let it not be that outward adorning of wearing
of gold, or of putting on of apparel ; but let it be
the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not

V..]

god's providential care.

corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of
great price." I say, will all this give us any satis-
faction then ? Shall we make friends of the mam-
mon of unrighteousness by expensively dressing
up our bodies ? Will Christ or his poor members
thank us for that kind of ornament? So far from
it, that He tells us He will say, " Inasmuch as ye
did it not unto the least of these, ye did it not

to me *."

Last of all then, from what has been said we see
how the great duty is enforced on us ; " Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."

Seek the kingdom of God. Seek admission in
it as sons and subjects ; this you have already :
but you must endeavour not only to have the
blessing, but to reahse and enjoy and improve it ;
for of what use is it to the undutiful son, or the
rebellious subject? of what use is admission to
the king's presence, if we insult him to his face ?

Seek possession of the kingdom as heirs. All the
riches of the kingdom are yours, the riches, the
substantial enduring treasure, " whatsoever things
are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure," this
is what God offers you. Seek and you will find it.

* Matt. XXV. 45.

A I

86 god's providential care. [serm.

and leave all else to Him. Seek the reward of
the kingdom as good soldiers of Jesus Christ for
«no man thatwarreth entangleth nimself with the
affairs of this life," and "the husbandman that la-
boureth must be first partaker of the fruits," and if
others do it to obtain a corruptible crown, "let us
80 run that we may obtain an incorruptible one \"
Seek his righteousness, seek to be made nghte-
ous like Him : not only justified and accounted
righteous, but sanctified, and actually so, for the
one cannot be without the other.

Seek all this first, with most earnest desires,
with most intense application, with most ardent
hopes, with most vigilant prayers, with your most
unceasing perseverance. « Be sober, and hope to
the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto
you at the revelation of Jesus Christ ' :" and so
earthly things will be added unto you, and what
is better, heavenly things shall be added also.
For if God so clothe the lily, the beauteous yet
fading lily, how much more gloriously will He
clothe them who put on His own bright wedding
robe in the kingdom of heaven? Even the lily
is a hidden beauty, it invites the examination :
it bears, and yet defies it. But the Christian's
clothing is Christ Himself, Christ is his meat and

5 1 Cor. ix. 25.

« 1 Pet. i. 13.

VI.]

god's providential care.

drink, Christ is his bridal robe, Christ his eternal
home. In Him he lives, by Him he acts, on Him
he feeds, for Him he works, and labours not in
vain. Called for a little season to put off this
tabernacle, he awakes up out of the dust at the
word of his Lord, and puts on clothing new, un-
fading, glorious.
I Oh ! these thoughts are too bright for us to dwell

upon : like the gleams of sunshine that dart upon
us from underneath the thunder cloud, they seem
too strong for our weak sight to endure. Heavenly
Father, purify our hearts, that we may see Thee
face to face and our lives may be still preserved ;
and that, feeding on the precious banquet of life-
giving food, we may not only " have life, but have
it more abundantly."

SERMON VII.

INFANT BAPTISM.

1 Cor. vii. 14.

« For the unbelievir-' husband is sanctified by the wife, and the
unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband, else were your
children unclean, but now are they holy."

We are told by the apostle St. Peter that it is
our duty not only to believe, but to be able to
give a reason for our faith, provided we do so
not in a contentious or angry spirit, but with
« meekness and fear." It is for this reason among
others that I design to dwell on the subject of
Infant Baptism.

We have this afternoon consecrated our infant
children to God : we have surrendered them
into the arms of Christ : we have admitted them
into the pale of the Christian covenant. They
are now members of Christ, and heirs of the

INFANT BAPTISM.

, and the
'ere your

it it is
able to
! do so
it with
among
)ject of

' infant

I them

d them

They

of the

kingdom of heaven with ourselves. They have
the title, and also the right to all the blessings
of the Gospel. Forgiveness of sin, and with
it the love of the Father, the grace of the
eternal Son, the presence and consolation of the
indwelling Spirit, all these are theirs : theirs at
present by that grace of God which always loves
us before we love Him; and hereafter also, if
when they come to years of reason they call
upon God, pray for the Spirit's help, and by
that help lead a new life. These are simple
truths within the reach and understanding of
all. But it is right that we should know why
and how these things are so : that we see the
foundation on which they are built : not only
because some are disposed to cavil at them, and
reproach us for so doing, but because much of
our wisdom and all our comfort depends on the
assurance of our faith, on our being thoroughly
persuaded in our own minds. If we bring our
children to baptism half doubting, half afraid,
and not knowing whether we do right or no,
we lose all the comfort of doing well, even wh^n

we do so.

The reasons for Infant Baptism, and the ad-
vantages to all parties concerned, will form the
first part of my discourse.

The duties which belong to parents, sponsors,

"i S !

'i S

INFANT BAPTISM.

[SERM.

IK \i

\ t! :

and young persons who have been baptized, will
naturally form the second.

In the passage which I have read to you
from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, St.
Paul is considering the duties of married per-
sons to each other. In early times these duties
gave rise to questions of considerable difficulty.
For supposing two parties to have been married
whilst living as heathens, and one of them (say
the wife) became converted to Christianity, the
question would immediately arise, what is she to
do ? Is she to continue to live with her idolatrous
husband? Is she, who has been called out of
darkness into God's marvellous lights to remain
bound by the marriage tie to one who still knows
not God ? The answer of the apostle is, that she
ought so to continue. For, says he, it may be that
in answer to her prayers, the unbelieving husband
may become Christian. Besides, the unbeliev-
ing husband is sanctified by the believing wife,
and the unbeUeving wife is sanctified by the
husband. The marriage union remains the same
as it was; the grace of the Gospel is so far
from dissolving it, that it sanctifies both. The
husband is in a manner accounted holy for the
sake of his wife : for the wife being a member

» 1 Pet. ii. 9.

[SERM.

d, will

to you
ns, St.
d per-

duties
[ficulty.
narried
m (say
ty, the

she to
)latrous
out of
remain
i knows
hat she
be that
lusband
ibeliev-
ig wife,
by the
tie same

so far
1. The
for the
member

VII.]

INFANT BAPTISM.

of Christ, and so one with Christ, and also one
with the husband, it is as if he already belonged
to the same spiritual body, though he do not at
present form part of it. So is it with your
children, they are now holy and clean : not like
heathen children, shut out from the Gospel pri-
vileges and blessings, and pronounced by the law
unclean : but like Jewish children, like the chil-
dren of Abraham, brought within the pale of the
covenant, sanctified by admission into the visible
Church, through the Christian ordinance of

Baptism.

The Apostle does not, you see, here merely
mean those children who were legitimate, for
had both the parents been unbelievers, their
union would still have been lawful: but he
uses the words clean, holy, and sanctified; the
circumstance of their having a Christian parent
who would bring them to baptism making them
so. For as the promise given to Abraham was
to him and to his seed, so the promise made by
Christ is to Christians and their seed. If there-
fore the holy seed among the Jews were to be
circumcised and admitted into the visible Church,
and so accounted clean and holy, so by like
reason arc the children of a Christian parent
to receive the sign of the covenant, be admit-
ted into the Christian Church, and be accounted

i 1 ^

> i II

INFANT BAPTISM.

[SERM.

thereby clean, holy, and separate from the hea-
then world around them. The argument which
may be drawn from the words of the apostle
for infant baptism is, I think, clear and strong.
But it proceeds on the analogy between the
rite of circumcision, as the sign of admission
into the covenant made with Abraham; and
the rite of baptism, as the sign of admission
into the covenant made with believers in

Christ.

Let us now consider the similitude between
them. The words of the covenant into which
Abraham was brought were these :— " I am the
Almighty God : walk before me, and be thou per-
fect. I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after
thee ; and I will give unto thee and to thy seed
after thee all the land of Canaan ; and this is
my covenant which ye shall keep between me
and you, and thy seed after thee. Every man-
child among you shall be circumcised. He that
is not circumcised shall be cut off from my
people; he hath broken my covenant'." Now
St. Paul informs us expressly, that this was the
same covenant, in fact, which is made with be-
lievers in Christ. He tells us that under the
temporal promises were hid the better things of

* Gen. xvii.

SCRM.

e hea-
which
ipostle
itrong.
n the
lission
; and
aission
;rs in

etween
which
im the
)u per-
d after
ly seed
this is
en me
7 man-
le that
im my
Now
NHS the
ith be-
ler the
ings of

VII.]

INFANT BAPTISM.

the Gospel ; and that these good things to come
formed the chief desire of the patriarchs, that
they were the objects of their faith, and the reward
they sought for. "All these died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth'." So that
these blessings were not promised to Abiaham and
his seed only, but to all who should hereafter
believe ; for " if ye be Christ's then are ye Abra-
ham's seed, and heirs according to the promise *."
Since then the promise given to Abraham was
substantially a Gospel promise; since Abraham
was the father of believing Gentiles as well as
of circumcised Jews, and the heir of the cove-
nant, not by himself or his carnal seed, but by
Christ and His spiritual seed ; it is evident that
the promises connected with circumcision are the
same substantially with those that are made over
to us by baptism; and therefore if Abraham's
infants were iien admitted into the covenant, so
may our's : if, in the case of Isaac, circumcision
was a sign and seal of the promises of God, so
in the case of our children, baptism is a sign
and seal of the same. For observe what would

s Ileb. xi. 13.

* Gal. iv. 29.

■

2 'i 'I

INFANT BAPTISM.

[SERM.

follow if infants were admitted into the Jew-
ish covenant, but denied admission into the
Christian covenant. What I say would follow,
but that the mercies of God are straitened and
diminished under the Gospel : that God, who
sent His blessed Son into the world to fulfil all
the promises, and bring life and immortality to
light through the Gospel, and bring in a dis-
pensation of peculiar and abundant grace and
mercy and truth,— that God has in this His won-
derful storehouse of grace, made less provision
for the children of parents who live after the
death of His Son, than He did before our
Saviour came into the world. As if there could
be less light and heat now the Sun of righteous-
ness has arisen with healing in His wings, than
there was before the world saw Him rise. As
if the blessed Redeemer, who was much dis-
pleased when His disciples rebuked those who
brought children to Him, and blamed those that
would have kept them from Him, had made no
provision for the lambs of His flock, whom He
is said '^to gather with His arm and carry
in His bosom." God forbid that we should en-
tertain so unworthy a thought ; " for 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

[SERM.

le Jew-
ito the
follow,
led and
»d, who
iilfil all
ality to
I a dis-
ice and
[is won-
roviaion
'ter the
ore our
•e could
rhteous-
rs, than
ise. As
ch dis-
(se who
ose that
nade no
lom He
i carry
mid en-
through
!h more
ivhich is
ed unto

VII.]

INFANT BAPTISM.

r5 J9

many'.'' We have thus spoken of the argument
for infant baptism from the covenant given to
Abraham, and have shown that Christianity
more especially is a dispensation of more abun-
dant grace. Indeed it is incredible that this
objection would not have at once occurred to
the Jews. If a Jew, when solicited to embrace
Christianity, had found that his children, hitherto
members of the stock of Abraham, and in cove-
nant with God, were now become aliens from
the covenant of promise, what must have been
his reflections? Must he not have said, Shall
I, to whom the promise is given, forsake the
religion of my fathers, for one which offers me
no compensatory promise, no comfortable hope,
no covenant love for my children, as well as for
myself? You tell me that grace and truth come
by Jesus Christ; that more love, more mercy,
more abundant grace is now to be obtained.
How is this, when I find that the seal of the
covenant is wanting ?

The fact that no such objection occurs is a
strong indication that it was met at once by the
admission of infants to the fold of Christ. But
we proceed to another reason for infant baptism.
Truants are born in original sin. This is evident

* Rom. V. 16.

INFANT BAPTISM.

[SERM.

both from Scripture and from experience : from
Scripture, which says, «in Adam all die'- "Be-
I was shapen in wickedness, and in sin did my
mother conceive me^- "If one died for all,
then were all dead*:" from experience, because
infants who commit no actual sin are sick, suffer,
and die. Infants who therefore are, without any
sin of their own, partakers of their fathers' sin,
i e. of the guilt and corruption of it, must be
made partakers of Christ's death, and the Bible
teaches us that by baptism we are so made par-
takers ; St. Paul says, "Therefore we are buried
with Him by baptism into death: that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life \" And if God has appointed that
adults who come to baptism with a heavy load of
actual sin hanging over them may still, as St. Peter
said to the Jews, obtain "remission of their sins,"
how much more may infants (who have no actual
sin to repent of) if they be brought to baptism.
How is it that infants innocent of actual sin suffer
and die ? Not for their own sin, but the sin of that
nature wherewith they were born, and which came
not upon them by their own reason and choice.

« 1 Cor. XV, 22.
8 2 Cor. V. 14.

' Paalm li. 5.
• Rom. vi. 4.

VII.]

INFANT BAPTISM.

but by the permission of God. Surely then
it is but reasonable to bring them to God at
once, that He may cleanse them from sin, and
make them His children. But here an objection
meets us at first starting, and as it is an objection on
which the opponents of Infant Baptism in a great
measure rest the strength of their cause, it may be
proper to notice it. Remission of sin is promised
in baptism to those who repent and believe ; for
it is said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved '." Now infants are not capable of re-
pentance ard faith, therefore not proper subjects
for baptism.

But what does this notable argument prove?
To what end does it proceed ? Far otherwise than
those who rely on it suppose ; for if the words
of our Saviour are to be taken in the sense, that
none but such as believe (whether they are capa-
ble of the act of faith or no) may be baptized,
they must be taken to mean a great deal more
than this, that none but such as actually believe
can be saved ; and so the same declaration which
excludes them from baptism will shut them out of
heaven altogether : and who will dare to say this ?
But God, it 1 be said, saves infants by ex-
traordinary means. Has God any where in His

8 Mark xvi. 16.

INFANT BAPTISM.

[SERM-

Word told us so? If infants may go to heaven
without faith, why not to the font ; if to the crown
why not to the cross? if they can obtain that
.lorious end, in order to which the Sacrament of
baptism was appointed as one of the means, then
why not to the means themselves? for why, says
Bishop Taylor, will any keep infants from the
Church, when they cannot keep them from God?
or require harder conditions for being baptized
than for being saved? Now it is observable that
those who refuse to take their children to baptism,
are themselves of necessity guilty of the same in-
consistency they espy in others. For suppose I
deprive my child of the benefit of the ordinance
of baptism, still I must not leave him without
any teaching : he must be taught some prayers,
must be taken to the house of God, and bid to
worship with the visible Church in the congrega-
tion. What shall I then teach him? To say
the Lord's prayer? And how does the Lord's
prayer begin? ''Our Father which art in hea-
ven." And who that is unbaptized, that is not in
covenant with God, that is not a member of the
visible Church, has a right to say that prayer
which our Lord taught His disciples to use ? The
very fact of the child's calling God, '' Our Father,"'
implies that he is a member of Christ's Church,
and belongs to God as the child of a reconciled

SERM.

VII.]

INFANT BAPTISM.

leaven
crown,
n that
lent of
8, then
y, says
im the
iGod?
aptized
)le that
aptism,
ame in-
jpose I
dinance
without
prayers,

bid to
ngrega-
To say
i Lord's

in hea-
ls not in
r of the
: prayer
ie? The
Father,''
Church,
jconciled

and covenant Father, related to the covenant Head,
even to Christ Jesus : which is the very thing
that is done for the child in baptism. But we
meet this argument further by that on which our
Church so justly lays great stress, — our Lord's
invitation to poor weak sinful babes, " Suffer the
little children to come unto me "." It seems that
there were then some persons, and these Christ's
own disciples, who deemed the little ones un-
worthy of a place in the Redeemer's arms ; of an
entrance into His kingdom ; and therefore to
correct such, and as if to anticipate an error.
He said, " forbid them not * ;" and added,
" of such is the kingdom of heaven." And here
observe the whole force of the argument. These
infants came not to Him themselves, they were
too young ; they were brought by others : the
disciples blame not the children, but those who
brought them ; and Christ is much displeased
with them. He further takes occasion from this,
to establish a general precept ; " Suffer the little
children to come unto me ;" and more than that,
" forbid them not ;" as if He knew that men would
forbid them. Then He gives them His blessing,
no temporal good we are assured; then He says,
" the kingdom of heaven belongs to them, and is

9 Mark x. 14.

* Mark x. 15.

p 2

100

INFANT BAPTISM.

[SERM,

composed of such; the least part of which is, that
they are admissible to that kingdom, and if to the
kingdom, surely to the Sacrament ; and last oi all
that the kingdom is not of these but of mch : not
of the infants there present, but of such as them,
I e. it belongs to all infants. Why, then, should
they be hindered? No;— unless they who could
come to Christ on earth may not now come to
Him when He Is in heaven ; unless they who had
the honour of being placed in Christ's own arms,
may not be placed in the hands of His ministering
servants ; unless to be admitted into the Church
on earth, be more than to be admitted into the
Church above ; it cannot reasonably be pretended
that infants are to be shut out from this Sacra-
ment'. And then if we conyider ths manifold
advantages which this rite giv ^' m m our conflict
with the world, the flesh, and the devil, we shall
see its importance more distinctly. We all know
the value of first impressions and early recollec-
tions ; and if parents would only recall these
impressions to the minds of their children, tell
them what was done for them, why it was done,
what they are expected to do ; if sponsors would
follow up the duties they have undertaken, and
recollect if these things are not done as they ought

* » See Bishop Taylor, vol. viii. 183.

vn.]

INFANT BAPTISM.

101

to be, the fault is not in baptism, the fault is not
in the Church, it is in ourselves ; I say if all this
were done, the effect would be blessed indeed.
Even as it is, many good effects arise. Is re-
mission of original sin, and the promise of the
sponsors, and the membership of Christ, and the
title to heaven, nothing in our eyes ? Is it nothing
to us that we can go and spread all our desires
before the Lord for each one of our baptized
children, and say, " Lord, this child I received
from Thy hands ; lo ! I bring him back to Thee,
according to my Saviour's command: I place
him in Thy arms ; he is a sheep of Thy fold, a
lamb of Thy flock, a member of Thy Church, a
partaker of the death of Thy Son, an heir of Thy
promises, a branch, though a tender one, of the
true vine. O keep him from the snares that are
in the world. Fulfil the designs of Thy covenant
love, by which Thou didst say, ' He shall feed His
flock like a shepherd ; He shall gather the lambs
with His arm, and carry them in His bosom ^'
Let Thy bowels of mercy rescue Thy own off-
spring from the power of eternal death. O Thou
physician of souls ! heal the soul of this child. O
Thou well of living water ! spring up within him to
everlasting life." Is all this nothing? Is it nothing

a Isa. xl. 2. *

F 3

102

INFANT BAPTISM.

[SERM.

to be able to turn to the sponsors, and say, "You
undertook to remind this my child of his duty to
God ; you promised to co-operate with me in my
charge of him. I ask you to join me in prayer,
in daily heartfelt prayer, to the throne of heavenly
grace, that the vows which he has made through
you may be accomplished. I ask you to regard
this child with an interest and affection which
belongs to those who place it in the arms of
Christ. I ask you to instruct it, as need be and
occasion given. I ask you by your own example
and steadiness in Christian conduct to go before
and lead the way to heaven." Is all this, again 1
say, nothing ? Tell me not, I repeat it, that this
is not done. What then ? Doth your " unbeHef
make the promise of God of none effect? God
forbid ! let God be true and every man a liar *."
O let us truly value baptism as we ought ; let us
look on it more as the Primitive Christians looked
on it ; let us pray the Lord to increase our faith,
and then we shall be strengthened to fulfil the
responsibilities which are involved in the office we
have undertaken.

I have omitted one important part of the argu-
ment for Infant Baptism : — the testimony of the
Church. And by the testimony of the Church,

^ Rom. iii. 3, 4.

VII.]

INFANT BAPTISM.

103

I mean not the testimony of one good man, or
two, or three, or twenty good men who took up
this as an opinion ; but the whole entire consent
ir doctrine and practice of the various branches
of the Christian Church, for the first fifteen-hun-
dred years; and not only their consent to the
doctrine of infant baptism, but their clear and
decided testimony that such was the doctrine and
practice of the Apostles, and that as they taught,
so the Church believed, and handed on from age
to age what was transmitted to them. And if any
man is bold enough to say that he thinks the
uncontradicted testimony of Christians of the
Catholic Church is of no weight or avail with
him, I set him down for one of the headstrong
persons whom Job rebuked, saying, "No doubt ye
are the people, and wisdom shall die with you *."
Enough has now been said for one discourse, to
shew the reasons for Infant Baptism, viz. the
analogy which it bears to the rite of circumcision,
both being rites under the same covenant of grace ;
the necessity that infants born in original sin should
be made partakers of the benefits of the death of
Christ; the express injunctions of our Saviour
respecting it ; and the testimony of the Church.
Let me conclude with a few words of affectionate

J si

* Job xii. 2.
F 4

104.

INFANT BAPTISM.

[SERM.

I t ' 1

advice to parents, sponsors, and young persons in
general. Parents, I may congratulate you on the
blessings your children have received, that blessing
which a Saviour's love hath purchased and a
Saviour's grace bestowed, viz. that of baptism ;
they are now members incorporate of the Church
of Christ, this is their spiritual birth-day. May it
be to them the beginning of a new life ! You may
rejoice that, though not out of the reach of the
enemy of souls, nor out of danger from his attacks,
nor free from indwelling sin and natural corrup-
tion, the effects of which will soon manifest them-
selves in their hearts and lives, yet still they are
under the care of their Saviour ; His wisdom is their
shield. His arm their support ; and if they call
upon Him, He will regard their prayers. These
blessings, however, lay on you a heavier respon-
sibility to strive by all your care and diligence
that the good seed be not lost, to water it with
your prayers and tears, remembering what was
said of St. Augustine, "The child of so many
prayers cannot be lost.^*

One word as to your choice of sponsors ;
you ought not only to choose those whom you
believe entertain a serious sense of the duties
of that office, but not to select any but com-
municants for it. That will be one security,
though not the only one necessary, that they

VII.]

INFANT BAPTISM.

105

will be taught to respect the words of Christ,
and it is to be hoped, may have a good ex-
ample before their eyes. And now to sponsors :
yours is a very serious, solemn, important duty ;
and you should enter on it with a deep humility,
with an entire distrust of yourselves, with repeated
prayer to God that He would impress you with a
conscientious determination to perform those en-
gagements which you have undertaken. You need
not fear with such views to enter upon the respon-
sibility; you need not be driven from it by a
superstitious fear that you are to bear the sins,
or discharge the duties of the child. This is a
mere vulgar error : what your part is, the Church
has told you, to see that the child be taught
so soon as he shall be able to learn, what a solemn
vow, promise, and profession he hath made by
you. But enter not on it in a spirit of light-
ness ! What a shocking crime it is for a sponsor
to come and promise these things for a child,
whilst he knows in his heart that he has no inten-
tion of fulfilling them. I do not believe that any
of you would act in this manner ; but fly from
every profanation of this sacred rite. Take the
ofFice in sincerity and prayer, or do not take it
on you at all.

And now, what shall I say to those dear babes
in Christ, whom I have this afternoon committed

p 5

a 1

106

INFANT BAPTISM.

to my Saviour's arms, knowing that He is "able
to keep that which I have committed unto him
against that day«." They cannot understand
our voice, but "out of the mouths of babes
and suckUngs God will perfect praise ^" Christ
has impressed them with His cross, has sealed
them with the tokens of His love ; let us give
thanks and praise Him for the benefit, and join
in the devout prayer of our spiritual mother;
« God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy
Ghost, bless, preserve, and keep you ; the Lord
mercifully with His favour look upon you ; and so
fill you with all spiritual benediction and grace,
that' ye may so live to His glory in this life, that in
the world to come ye may have life everlasting."

6 2 Tim. i. 12.

' Psalm viii. 2.

able

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Lord

id so

pace,

at in

SERMON VIII.

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

St. Matthew vi. 21.
" For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

It is very remarkable to hear our blessed Lord
discourse with poor and mean people about the
danger of riches. Looking at the surface of
things only, one might have said. How needless
to tell a few poor fishermen not to accumulate
wealth, when they had no wealth to lay up ;
how superfluous to caution them about earthly
treasures, when their nets were their all, and
even these they had left behind them at Christ's
command. Are the followers of the Son of man,
who had not where to lay his head, in danger
of being too rich ?

This kind of superficial reasoning is no doubt
often thought of by many, who, because they

F 6

I !

108

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

[SERM.

are poor, or at all events not very rich, fancy
themselves out of the reach of such cautions and
exhortations, and that they who must labour for
their bread, and with some difficulty make both
ends meet, are in no danger whatever from the
love of riches. And evil disposed persons are
sure to be found, who will teach themselves and
others to point with a malignant, envious eye
at their brethren, and imagine that the exhorta-
tion is both very suitable, and very much needed
by them, who are, as it is supposed, the only
persons who require it. Now all this is gross
trifling with the Word of God. Our Lord, who
never looked upon the surface of things, but
always into the very depths of the human heart,
saw that the love of earth in preference to heaven
is the great ruling passion of the human mind ;
that this is the chief thing which needs cor-
rection in us all ; and that, therefore, the poor
require to be as much reminded of this as the
rich. Greediness, covetousness, sensuality, low
earthly desires, are not peculiar to one class of
men, but the common and besetting sin of all ;
and as in speaking to His disciples our blessed
Lord spake to us, and not to this or that per-
son among us, but to each and all of us; so
let us be assured that in heating or reading this
passage, a special warning is intended for each

i i

VIII.]

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

109

of US, in some matter in which we are more
tempted and less on our guard than our neigh-
bour. In short, those who wish to profit by ser-
mons, should come not to criticise but to pray.
For a sad and bitter thought it is for us who
preach, that the discourses on which we have
bestowed both labour and prayer seem to be
thrown away on many who listen to them for
the moment, if they listen at all, as an idle tale,
which serves but to pass away the time, and is
then cast aside. However, it is not so, happily,
with all; and even if it were, our duty is still
the same. One soul saved out of this present
evil world, and made eternally happy in the
world to come, is worth a whole life of prayer
and preaching. But there is a reason why we
should especially pray over this passage, because
it is one of those selected by the Church for the
offertory at the communion service. "Lay not
up for yourselves" (it is a passage which goes to
prove the text) " treasures upon earth, where moth
and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break
through and steal. But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not
break through and steaP." And that which fol-

1 Matt. vi. 19, 20.

itj

110

TREASURE IN HEAVEN. [SERM,

lows is to the same purpose. " The light of the body
is the eye. If, therefore, thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light. But if
thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full
of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in
thee be darkness, how great is that darkness ».*'
We are here, then, called on to consider the
danger of laying up treasures upon earth — for
several reasons which our blessed Lord assigns.
But what is this treasuring up of treasures, of
which our blessed Lcrd here speaks ?

Now all earthly things have both a real and
a relative, or a supposed value. Their relative,
or supposed value, is their relation to time.
Their real value is, their relation to eternity.
In themselves they have no real value at all.
Of what value is a piece of gold, or silver, or
stone in itself, except as to the use we put it
to, and the esteem we have of it ? Thus, when
the Spaniards discovered Cuba, they found the
natives perfectly ignorant that there was any
value in gold, and astonished why they made
so many inquiries after it. To them a piece of
glass or iron was more valuable than all the
gold mines in the world. I mention this to
show that it is not the possession of great sums

2 Matt. vi. 22, 23.

VIII.]

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

Ill

of money to whicli our Lord is alluding, but to
making earthly things a treasure, and esteem-
ing them as our real, our only treasure. For
we may turn any thing we please into a trea-
sure, and esteem it so dearly as to be willing
to part with half our substance for it. Collectors
of curiosities do not value things for their beauty,
but for their rarity ; and often give ten times
the price for a thing because it is ugly, if it
happen to be very uncommon. So that you
see it is not the thing itself, but our choice
and esteem of it that makes it so valuable to
us. One may illustrate this further, by con-
sidering how we deal with the self-same things
under different circumstances. Suppose, for ex-
ample, a person going to Australia or the East
Indies : how common it is for him tc sell the
very things on which he set so much value
here ; and to say. It is of no use for me to take
them, they will not be of any use to me when I
get there ; or, I need not take them out with me,
for I shall find them in abundance when I get
there. So that which he would not have parted
with on any consideration, had he stayed at
home, he lets go without a pang in the thought
of his far-journey. So it was when St. Paul
was shipwrecked, they cast every thing into the
sea, the wheat, the wares, the very tackling of

1:11

112

TREASURE IN HEAVEN. [SERM.

the ship, all went overboard to preserve what
was of more value than all— life ; nor did they
regret that they had cast them away. Now our
Lord will have us measure and value every thing
by its relation to heaven. Heaven is the uni-
versal measure of all things on earth, and they
assume a greater or less value according to the
actual relation which they sustain to heaven.
Riches are valuable, if they may be laid up there.
Honour is valuable, if it may be continued there.
Pleasure is valuable, if it may be enjoyed there.
And as here vast riches are conveyerl in a small
compass, so the diminution of the bulk of our
treasures does not detract from their value, if
they be treasures in heaven. This will explain
to you, I think, what our blessed Lord probably
means by "treasuring up treasures" on earth. It
is giving to any thing whatever such a value in
our own minds, that we are unwilling to part
with it for the kingdom of heaven's sake. It
is not merely things absolutely sinful that He
means, for these we are always called on to part
with, and that at once ; but things of which God
has given us the possession, and of which, ac-
cording to our use or abuse of them, they will
be treasures, or no treasures to us. If we use
them in reference to eternity, they are real trea-
sures. If we use them in reference to earth,

VIII.]

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

113

they are only imaginary treasures, and of no
more value than a piece of base coin. It is not
that a person is required to have the impression
of eternity before him in every single action
that he does, as if he must work, and eat,
and buy, and sell, and think of heaven all
the while : this would be mere pretence : but
that he should have such an habitual intent,
such a single-hearted desire to glorify God, and
hope for heaven, and not for earth, as to be
ready to part with this or that whenever God
calls for it, and to dispose of every thing he
has as God sees fit to have it disposed of. For
example, does God call him to a high station
and give him wealth? He is not obliged im-
mediately to sell all he has and give it away.
If he choose to do so for the love of God, it
would indeed be an acceptable offering to the
Lord ; for there was one young man 1 1 whom
our Lord said, " If thou wilt be perfect, go and
sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven'." But He
does not intimate that no young men would be
saved who did not, but He would try the strength
and the love of that young man. There were
again many in the Apostles' times who sold all

9 Matt. xix. 21.

114

TREASURE IN tIEAVEN. [SERM.

j ;.

■M

that they had ; but, as Peter says, there was
no obhgation to do so; and St. Paul expressly
says, " Charge them who are rich in this world,
that they be not high-minded, nor trust in un-
certain riches, but in the living God, who giveth
us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good,
that they be rich in good works, ready to dis-
tribute, willing to communicate * :" which he
would not have done if all had sold all that
they had, because there would have been no
riches left: but what such a person u called to
do, is to take care that his riches are neither
wasted in idle extravagance and riotous living,
nor penuriously hoarded up to his own dishonour
and the injury of his brethren ; and that instead
of continually accumulating vast sums, he should
be laying out, in proportion to his incomings,
to the glory of God. But perhaps those who
have not the responsibility of great riches, are
quite as much in danger of laying up treasures
upon earth. For being used to get all that they
possess by very small sums, and so prudently
to take care of every farthing, they are easily
tempted to set an inordinate value upon money,
and to be very reluctant to part with it. They
know its relative value better than most others,

* 1 Tim. vi. 7, 8.

VIII.]

TREA8TTRE IN HEAVEN.

115

but they forget that this is not its real value,
which is to be measured by eternity ; and so all
their delight being fixed upon money-getting,
they look no higher. A sad thought it is, that
an immortal soul, born for eternity, redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ, more precious
than all the money in the world, more precious
than the world itself, more precious than a thou-
sand such worlds as ours, should throw itself
away upon mere dust and trash.

You may now, my brethren, (if you have at-
tended to this discourse,) have seen what it is
to lay up treasures in heaven, what it is to love
things earthly more than God, the setting our
affections any lower than heaven. Ask yourselves,
I beseech you, Is this the case with me? Let
me appeal to such as attend the holy table, and
profess to feast upon a Saviour's body and blood.
Is this your besetting sin ? Have you such a
love of money, or of any earthly treasures, that
you cannot part with them at your Lord's com-
mand ? On what are your chief affections fixed ?
What is your one ruling desire? Is it to live
to God's glory here, and to live with Him for
ever? Let me also entreat such as do not at-
tend, seriously to think what keeps them away.
Whether any thing short of having our treasures
on earth can detain a truly loving soul from its

€

■lu

116

TREASURE IN HEAVEN. [SERM.

Redeemer's table ? Whether any excuse be really
sufficient? Whether the ordinary reasons given
are not mere pretences ? Whether the reason in
your case be not after all some shallow excuse,
which you never will venture to urge before God
Almighty, your Eternal Judge, at His tribunal ?
Whether, if you thought you should depart out
of the world to-night, any one who can attend,
would stay away, and not rather trim his lamp,
and fit himself for the marriage'* ? Whether many
waverers and loiterers on the road would not be
determined by the summons to the grave ? Well !
you cannot tell but it may be so. You have
often met without a summons, but you may be
summoned unexpectedly ; there are frequent in-
stances of such events, and some such lately
within our recollection. O why should you need
so frequent admonitions? Why should you not
hasten without any admonition at all, to save and
benefit yourselves, and enrich yourselves with a
Saviour's love and blessing, the greatest boon in
all the world ?

But let us meditate a little on the reason our
Lord gives for not setting our affections and lay-
ing up treasures here below, but above. In the
former verses He says, it is useless, for they may

* Matt. XXV. 7.

VIII.]

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

117

be taken from you ; if you heap up clothes, the
moth will eat them ; if you hoard up metals, the
rust will corrupt them ; or if not, thieves often
break through and steal them ; but there are
treasures imperishable. But suppose all your
treasure safely deposited, still, as your heart is
with your treasure, you are chained and bound
down to earth, grovelling here below, and unable
to mount up to heavenly things. And think what
a thing it is for a soul born for eternity to throw
itself away on time ; for that which is in itself im-
mortal, incorruptible, and imperishable, to set its
affections on that which is mortal, corrupt, and
perishable. Think what a low grovelling pleasure
it is; how thoroughly contemptible; how truly
miserable.

Your treasure is on earth : it is in a world un-
certain, changing every hour ; the face of which is
never a month together the same ; in a world full
of sin and pollution, made to be destroyed, so that
your treasure must eventually perish with it ; and
you perish with your treasure, if you have no
other. Think how you will look back on your
treasure when you see it vanishing away before
your eyes; when you see this, your much-loved
world, so small a portion of which was ever yours,
not half what you wished for and expected,
and not only a little portion gone, but all gone ;

118

TREASURE IN HEAVEN. [SERM.

I I

how will you look back upon it, and think,
for this wretched morsel I have sold my birth-
right ; for this poor decaying portion of a world
now come to nought, I have bartered away my
best, my only, my eternal treasure, which others
enjoy, and I might have enjoyed, which was my
proper birthright as a Christian, my own posses-
sion, purchased for me at so dear a price as my
Saviour's precious life and body and blood. And
when you see that blessed Saviour as He is, and
behold how glorious and divine a Being laid down
His hfe that He might save yours, and give Him-
self for you, how will you despise yourself for
neglecting a treasure so vast and incalculable, to
seize at a shadow which eludes your grasp, to
please and delight yourself with a phantom and
a dream !

" Where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also." How truly delightful is it to have our
treasure above, to be really and earnestly seeking a
better inheritance than the world can afford at the
best ; to be wiUing to part with it for our Saviour's
sake ; and to be daily learning to think less of
earth and more of heaven ; to be conscious that
our better part is there, where no rust can wear it
out, no moth consume it, no robbers steal it from
us ; to know that it is imperishable in itself, that
" it neither moulders by time, nor is swept off by

VIII.]

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

119

the floods of ungodly men, nor blown away by the
breath of calumny, nor undermined by envy," nor
are there any seeds of mortality and dissolution
about it ; to have a lively hope that it is waiting
for us, hid with Christ in God, ready to be mani-
fested the moment He shall appear in his glory.

A sincere belief in such a treasure as this must
carry our hearts along with it. In proportion to
our belief in its existence must be our sense of its
power ; our affections will be raised towards it in
accordance with our faith, and though our bodies
must be here, our hearts will be there. We shall
desire to depart and to be with Christ. Death will
be deprived of its sting when it is following our
Lord ; and the grave will lose its victory when it
becomes our bridal chamber. *^ Looking for," says
an apostle, "and hasting unto the coming of
Jesus Christ * ;" not clinging to the world as long
as we can, and only giving it up when we can
get nothing more from it; but willing to part
with it at a moment's notice, being thoroughly
persuaded that it has nothing to offer us in
comparison with Heaven. Let us come to the
holy feast, to seek that grace which alone can
guide our apprehension of these glorious truths,
and make us live as if we felt and appreciated

« 2 Pet. iii. 12.

w I

■ m

; I

120

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

them ; that when the day breaks and the shadows
flee away, we may "revive as the corn, and grow
as the vine," as the true branches of that heavenly
vine, whose fruit we shall then "drink new in the
kingdom of Heaven."

I 1:111

SERMON IX.

THE OLD TESTAMENT, ITS RELATION TO THE

NEW.

Rom. XV. 4.

** Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for

our learning."

It is very often thought by persons who look
only on the surface of things, that the Bible is
the simplest and plainest book in the world, so
that a person has only to take it into his hands
at once to imderstand it. This is partly true
and partly false. In one respect it is true. There
is so much in the Scriptures that is very plain
and simple, that if a person takes up the sacred
volume with a view to learn his duty, and with
a humble and sincere mind, it is not probable
that he will err very greatly. But in another
respect the notion of the Bible's plainness is
totally false. If a person takes in his hands

ill

122

THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

the Bible \r- lisputatious spirit, or with a view
of finding a text to support him in previous
notions, which he has embraced without sufficient
information to guide him to a right conclusion,
he is likely enough indeed to find texts for his
purpose, but is almost certain to be misled.
For the Scripture is not only full of plain and
easy precepts which cannot mislead, but of deep
and difficult arguments which may be very easily
misunderstood. Even in the fundamental doctrines
of our faith, collected in the Apostles' Creed, such
as the Trinity, the Holy Catholic Church, our
belief in the Holy Ghost — as belief requires sub-
mission and humility, and heresy is very easy,
a man had need to be very cautious lest he err.
And, probably, none of us would have been able
to have formed a list of fundamental doctrines for
himself out of the Bible. One thing is certain,
that when men try to make a list separate from
that which we find in the creeds, they can never
agree as to what it shall be, so that we may be
very thankful that it has been made for us, and
we may be quite sure that we cannot make a
better.

Now among the difficult points of Holy Scrip-
ture, and it is a difficulty which comes home to
every man's mind who thinks at all, the relation
which the Old Testament bears to the New Tes-

[SERM.

IX.]

ITS RELATION TO THE NEW.

123

or with a view
n in previous
:hout sufficient
;lit conclusion,
i texts for his
to be misled.
1 of plain and
d, but of deep
be very easily
ental doctrines
es' Creed, such
) Church, our
f requires sub-
j is very easy,
us lest he err.
have been able
al doctrines for
ling is certain,
; separate from
they can never
lat we may be
ide for us, and
:annot make a

of Holy Scrip-
comes home to
ill, the relation
o the New Tes-

tament is one. We find two Testaments bound
up in one volume, called the Bible. These two
Testaments contain an account of two different
dispensations, the Jewish and the Christian, and
of God's founding two Churches, the Jewish and
the Christian, which more properly are but one
Church.

Now many persons may have asked the ques-
tion of themselves, without being able to answer
it, what have we to do with the Old Testament ?
as the Jewish dispensation is removed to make way
for the Christian, is the Old Testament removed
too? We no longer circumcise infants, we no
longer sacrifice oxen and doves, we have no longer
a single temple to which all men must resort
three times a year, women are no longer excluded
from holy rites, we have no more a high-priest
going alone once a year into an inner sanctuary —
all these things are gone, — is the book which con-
tains them a dead letter? This is a very natural
question, and it is plain that it might be answered
in the affirmative; and, indeed, I have often
heard poor persons express their conviction that
it is so, considering what they call the Bible,
the Old Testament, as no longer necessary for
our instruction. That this, however, is not the
case, is at once and for ever decided by several
passages in the New Testament. In one, our

G 2

',< I

•Si-

' \

Ilii

124 THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

blessed Saviour says, « Seareh th; Scriptures-
where He is obviously speaking of the Old Testa-
xnent, because none of the New Testament had
then been written. And He would not have
bidden us to search had there been nothing
for us to find. Secondly, St. Paul says, "all
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for cor-
rection, for instruction in righteousness'." In
the expression "all Scripture," is included the
Old and the New Testament. Thirdly, my text
asserts, that, "Whatsoever things were writ-
ten aforetime, were written for our learning;"
by which expression, " were written aforetime,"
is evidently meant the Scriptures of the Old
Testament. So that the Old Testament is
no less a guide and help to patience, comfort,
and hope than the New. Fourthly, St. Paul,
warning the Corinthian Church against certain
sins into which they were in danger of falling,
draws his arguments from the privileges of the
Jewish Church, as types, and examples of the
Christian ; " Now all these things happened unto
them for ensamples %" or to render the word lite-
rally, as types. Here, then, is a large fund of
instruction to be drawn from the Old Testament,

1 John V. 39.

2 2 Tim. iii. 16.

3 1 Cor. X. 6.

IX.]

ITS RELATION TO THE NEW.

125

which is described as typical, and intended for us.
I need not multiply texts ; these are sufficient to
establish the point, that the Old Testament is not
a dead letter, but full of important instruction, if
we know how to use it. And so the article of
our Church, " The Old Testament is not contrary
to the New, and they are not to be heard who
feign that the old fathers did look for transitory
promises." But still the question recurs, if the
Old Testament be not contrary to the New, and
not only not contrary, but abounding in important
instruction, and if nevertheless the Jewish rites
and ceremonies be not practised in the Christian
Church, how shall we make the one square with
the other ? What relation has the Jewish economy
to the Christian ? What similitude has Judaism
to Christianity? Do the two dispensations run
in parallel lines, like two equal and concurrent
streams, or is one the foundation and type of the
other ? This is a subject that requires time and
thought, and cannot conveniently be brought
within the compass of a single discourse ; I there-
fore purpose to devote three or four mornings to
it, as the subject may require ; considering, first,
the types; secondly, the promises; and thirdly^
the precepts of the Old Testament. For the
present, I shall confine myself to the general
question of the relation of the Old Testament

'■H
1^

126

THE OLD TESTAMENT,

[SERM.

with the New. The subject, then, may be ex-
plained first, by a reference to our Lord's remark-
able sayings in His Sermon x>n the Mount, m
St Matt. V. 17. He there says, "Think not that
I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." The
words « think not/' are a caution to those who
might naturally speak of Him as a new teacher,
who would begin (as new teachers are apt to do)
by destroying and doing away with all that others
had done before Him. " This is not," says he, "my
purpose ; I came not to annul, to cancel, to olot out
the law and the prophets, and to make the Old
Testament a dead letter ; I came to fulfil, to give
effect to all that has gone before, to give a sub-
stance to the shadow, a soul to the body. And
as when the body is present, the shadow of which
had been seen preceding it, the shadow is not
done away because the body is there, but follows
it, instead of going before it ; so I came to fulfil
the law and the prophets. They spake of me.
I am referred to in them. I appeal to them
as the witnesses to my Divine character, mission,
and authority. I bid you look to them as the
types of all that I shall do for the salvation of
mankind ; I act agreeably to them, inasmuch as
my actions are the subject of the several prophe-
cies therein contained. Li the promises which

IX.]

ITS RELATION TO THE NEW.

127

I shall make to my Church, you will see the full
meaning and development of the concealed pro-
mises of the Old Testament, and in my precepts
you may discover the perfect explanation of what
was by the ancients spoken, bul improperly un-
derstood." The words of our blessed Lord are
still further explained by reference to a passage
in St. John's first Epistle; "A new command-
ment I write unto you. Again, I write no
new commandment unto you, but an old com-
mandment which ye had from the beginning.
The old commandment is the word which ye have
heard from the beginning*." How could the
commandment to love one another be both old and
new at the same time ? It was old, because it
was delivered from the first ; it was as old as the
creation, though the terms in which it was con-
veyed are obscure, and therefore its force and
extent were not understood. It was new, because
it was now explained ; it was enlarged to its full
extent, it was delivered in a new manner, it was
enforced by new motives, new examples, and new
promises. It was old, as the acorn is the germ
of the mighty oak; it was new, as the plant
springs up out of its mother earth, and becomes a
huge and spreading tree, the progenitor of other

* 1 John ii. 7.
o 4

128

THE OLD TESTAMENT,

[SERM.

trees, and the reward of the toil and enterprise of
mankind.

But our Lord's meaning may receive addi-
tional illustration by reference to the word teS'
tament. A. testament is the will of a testator.
Let us suppose then a father to make a will
containing his bequests to his family, and his
directions for the management of his estates.
The whole will, however, has reference to his
son's coming of age, who is the lawful heir to all
his property. The son comes of age, takes pos-
session of the property, according to the pro-
visions of his father's will, ratifies the covenants
and conditions made with different parties, and
having added a codicil to the old will, embodying
many of its provisions, himself departs out of
this life into a better. Would it not naturally
be supposed, that as the new will was formed
upon the basis of the old, and contained in it,
that where no special instructions were found,
either annulUng the provisions of the former
covenant, or enacting new, that the old will
would be regarded as expressing the son's tes-
tamentary intentions ? The like seems to be the
case between the Old and New Testament.

The Old Testament contains God's injunctions
to the Jews, his chosen people, till the "seed
should come to whom the promise was made;

IX.]

ITS RELATION TO THE NEW,

129

and it was ordaine^ by angels in the hand of
a Mediator'," till He should come, to whom
"give all the prophets witness, that, through
His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall re-
ceive remission of sins'," and in whom all the
prophecies were to have their accomplishment.
When our Lord comes. He issues various in-
junctions, some altogether new, some annulling,
but many more only extending the precepts of
the old law, and giving it additional force and
efficacy, as when our Saviour expressly dis-
claimed any intent of destroying the Old Testa-
ment, and expressly declared his purpose to
fulfil it, we naturally conclude, not only that
the first Testament is the type and representation
of the second, but that in many cases where no
mention is made of abrogation, and the com-
mand or promise of the Old Testament is plain, the
former law or promise continues, because it has
never been repealed. We are further confirmed
in this view by the fact, that the Apostles and
early founders of the Church evidently acted
upon this impression, continuing the customs
of the Jewish Church, when no express direc-
tions were given, and adapting them to the
altered circumstances of the Christian. This

Gal. iii. 19.

> Acts X. 43.

G O

fri

130 THE OLD TESTAMENT, [sE*"-

,-ill account for what otherwise is an extremely
lingular part of the New Testament; its almost
singuKu p perpetual Chns-

total silence on some points oi p p
tian practice, as the Lord's day, and the Bap-
tsm of infants, and the contrast between the
iteness with which the details of Jewish
Irship are recorded, and the scanty records of
nius of Christian worship. With regard,
indeed, to the Lord's day, there is a remarkable
want of evidence in the New Testament on the
,ubiect. There is not, I believe, one smgle text
containing a direct command for the change from
the seventh day to the first; nor is there any
thiftg whatever to authorize it, > at the perpetual
practice of the Christian Church, handed down
as we know it to be from the age of the Apostles
to our own ; founded, as we believe it to be,
on their authority, as intimated in a few short
hints in the Gospels and Revelation of St.

°But our surprise ceases when we recollect
that the sanctification of one day in seven was
an act of God at the creation of the world, and
that, as the substance of the moral law which
embodied that command is still unrepealed, the
command to observe one day in seven is ob-
served, while the authority to alter the day from
the first to the seventh is clearly vested in the

IX.]

ITS RELATION TO THE NEW.

131

Apostles, by the powers with which Christ in-
vested them. So that the seventh day passes into
the first with such alterations as are suitable to
the greater liberty of the Christian covenant.
The general command is unrepealed, the par-
ticular strictness of the Jewish ceremonial is
abrogated, and that by our Lord Himself. The
same remarks apply to the question of infant
baptism. Infants were by name included as
members of the Jewish covenant ; unless, there-
fore, they were by name or by the terms of the
Gospel excluded from the Christian covenant,
the command to admit them would naturally
pass on from the Jewish to the Christian dis-
pensation. And as the Jewish was an exclusive,
the Christian an inclusive dispensation; as the
terms of the one were much narrower than those
of the other, the <^,)nclusion is obvious, that in-
fants, who form so large a portion of the human
race, ought never to be shut out fi'om the bless-
ings of that Gospel which authorizes all nations
to be baptized. In fact, the silence of the New
Testament makes for the baptism of infants
rather than against it. For the Old Testament
commands and the New Testament does not
forbid — or rather may we not say, that the New
Testament takes up what the old had affirmed
in these words, so comforting to every parent's

G 6

132

THE OLD TESTAMENT,

[SERM.

heart, « Suffer little children to come unto me,
and forbid them not^"

The relation, then, in which the Old Testa-
ment stands to us, as Christians, would seem
to be this :— It is an old will, to which a new
codicil is attached, repealing some of the pro-
visions of the old, but not all, and explaining
or modifying others ; and above all, throwing
light on the original intentions of the testator,
and informing us what his object originally
was, though for wise reasons he did not see fit
to explain it so fully at first. The new part
of the will, (for it is, in fact, but one will,) is of
use to explain and enforce the provisions of the
old, as well as to put some things in a new
light ; but we may also say, that the old will
is necessary to explain the new, for when the
new is silent or deficient, we conclude that the
old still has force. The testator is one; the
will is one ; his objects are one and the same,
though at different periods, and under different
circumstances, and in relation to different persons.
This view, then, of the relation of the Old
Testament to the New will, if I mistake not,
help us much in our solution of some difficul-
ties much agitated at the present time.

» Matt. xix. 14.

IX.]

ITS RELATION TO THE NEW.

133

First. It is a sufficient answer to those who
maintain the entire abolition of the moral law, and
consequently, to be consistent, of the Old Testa-
ment. For there is no reason why the book should
be retained, and the law abolished. Now accord-
ing to the view I have unfolded to you, nothing
is abolished. All is fulfilled, each part as it is
respectively capable of fulfilment. The types are
fulfilled in Christ, and in His body the Church.
The prophecies are fulfilled and are fulfilling
in Christ, and the onward course of Christian-
ity, and its impression on the world. The pre-
cepts of the ceremonial law are some of them
abrogated by the fulfilment of the types; their
spirit is incorporated into the larger system of the
Gospel, and the commands of the moral law are
fulfilled by our obedience to it. For the notion
of moral duties being fulfilled in any way but
by obedience, seems to me, I confess, not worth
refuting.— Secondly. The view I have taken also
suppHes an answer to those who think that the
Gospel is all spirituality, as they term it, and that
there are no forms or rites in religion. Now,
to say nothing to the fact that Christ Himself
ordained two forms, expressing in each case
their perpetuity to the end of the world, in
either case connecting them with the Jewish
ritual by the very words He used; if the view

134

THE OLD TESTAMENT,

[SERM.

W' m

I have taken be correct, the Jewish rites will
be typical of corresponding leading features of
the Christian Church, with the difference that
Christians pay more regard to principles and
less to minute details, and that we are not taught
to expect in Christianity an exact counterpart of
the Jewish ceremonial. — Thirdly. This view will
also, I think, throw considerable doubt on some
of the interpretations of prophecy which are
fashionable in our day ; those I mean, which
speak so certainly of the return of the Jews to
their own land, and which predict, with unhesi-
tating boldness, the means which are to bring
it about. I would not presume to be positive
on the other side; but it is a singular circum-
stance, that the Old Testament has been taken
from the Jews and given over to us ; a strong
argument, I think, that Jewish prophecies are
to be taken in a Christian sense. Had the
Jews been obedient, they might possibly have
continued in their own land to this day, but
having rejected Christ, the whole covenant was
changed from a temporal to a spiritual cove-
nant : and being so changed, it would seem as
if the prophecies made originally to the Jews,
with the temporal conditions annexed to them,
were now rather to be interpreted in the larger
and Christian sense, not in the original Jewish,

IX.]

ITS RELATION TO THE NEW.

135

les are

and therefore narrow, explanation of them. And
I am confirmed in this view, by the breathless
haste with which people seem to determine
that prophecy shall be fulfilled in their own
way; being well assured, by experience, that
uninspired prophets are of all men the least in-
fallible.—Fourthly. I will only make one more
remark, that this view suggests very great com-
fort to those who read the Jewish law and
prophets, and see in them by analogy, the state
of the Christian Church described, and who,
mindful of their own backslidings from God,
would fain see in His mercy to the Jews a
ray of hope and consolation for themselves.
Assuredly the God of the Gospel is not less
merciful than the God of the Jew; nor are
those who "walk in the steps of the faith of
our father Abraham," less certain of accept-
ance than the father of the faithful. Those
that read in the New Testament, that " God
so loved the world that He gave His only
bep-otten Son, that whosoever believeth i-i Him
should not perish, but have everlasting hie ,''
may surely remember in the Old, " I, even
I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions
for Mine own sake, and will not remember

* John iii. 16.

136

THE OLD TESTAMENT, &C.

;( f

thy sins\'* Those that rejoice in the promise
of the New Testament, " Who hath saved us
by the washing of regeneration, and renewing
of the Holy Ghost'," may certainly receive the
prophecy of the Old, " Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ;
from all your filthiness, and from all your idols
will I cleanse you'." Those that find the pro-
mise of the New Testament their sure stay in
the time of trouble, " Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to
try you, as though some strange thing hap-
pened unto you, but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings ; that when His
glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also
with exceeding joy* ;" may surely remember the
good wine of the former dispensation, " When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee, and through the rivers, they shall not over-
flow thee: when thou walkest through the fire,
thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame
kindle upon thee";" and may recollect the fact
as a comment on the prophecy, " I see four men
loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth
is like the Son of God"."

* Isa. xliii. 25.
8 1Pet.iv. 12.

« Tit. iii. 5.
' Isa. xliii. 2.

' Ezek. xxvi. 25.
" Dan. iii. 26.

SERMON X.

THE TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, IN
RELATION TO THE NEW.

COLOSSIANS ii. 17*

« Which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body is of

Christ."

It is very remarkable how large a portion both of
the Old Testament and of the New may be called
typical, or symbolical teaching. Persons, rites,
places, and things, are selected by God as types or
shadows of events to come, in so very marked and
peculiar a manner, that we must be perfectly blind
if we do not see that this is one principal method
of Divine teaching. Thus we have the apostle
Paul's authority for saying, that the whole of the
five books of Moses are typical of the Christian
dispensation, and are to be understood to have a
reference to those better things, which we as
Christians enjoy. "Now all these things happened

;

i I.

! '

i (
il

138 TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

unto them for ensamples, or types '/* If from the
law we pass to the Psalms, we find our Saviour
continually applying them in the Christian sense,
and giving us a key to unlock the meaning of the
whole. Passing on to the prophets, a similar mode
of instruction by type and parable presents itself,
instruction often ill understood by the hearers,
as when the people said to Ezekiel, "Doth he
not speak parables'?" Thus in the prophet
Zechariah, Joshua and Zerubbabel (the one
the civil, the other the ecclesiastical governor)
are called typical men, men of sign or wonder,
as it is rendered ; persons who were selected
to represent by their actions certain great events
then future, connected with our Saviour and
His Church. But this method of teaching is
not confined to the Old Testament ; our Lord
frequently instructed His hearers in the same
manner. It was by parables that He conveyed
to His hearers the deepest and most solemn
truths of the Christian religion. And in the prin-
cipal prophecies of the New Testament, more
especially in the book of Revelation, the same
figurative mode of teaching is kept up, manifesth
with a reference to the Old Testament, inasmuch
as the figures used are principally borrowed from

» 1 Cor. X. 11.

' Ezek. XX. 49.

X.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

139

the Old Testament prophets. This thtm will
serve to strengthen the notion which on a
former occasion I set before you, of the rela-
tion of the Old to the New Testament. I then
compared the two Testaments to two wills, or
rather to two parts of the same will, made with
the same design, but by different persons ; and
showed, that on the supposition that the second
will was made by a son on the basis of the will
of his father, adopting it as his own, recognising
its validity, and enlarging its provisions ; that the
natural construction would be, that where the
new will did not express itself fully, we should fall
back on the provisions of the old. Now the case
of the two Testaments seems to be something of
this kind. The Old Testament is typical of the
New, it refers to events to be fulfilled, to anticipa-
tions to be reaUzed, to things yet to come, which
had their shadows and images in the New Testa-
ment. But as the New Testament does not pro-
fess to explain to us all the types and images of
the Old, but selects some, apparently as a key to
the rest, it would seem to follow that there are
many other matters, not plainly spoken of in the
New Testament, the key to which is given us in
the types and prophecies of the Old. So that the
Old Testament (regarded as it may be as one vast
type or shadow) is perpetually fulfilling in the

140 TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

Christian Church, which is, as it were, its proper
body; as the shadow which goes before implies
a body which is to follow it. And thus the
Apostle in the text, who is cautioning the Colos-
sians against returning to the Jewish law, grounds
his caution not upon the destruction of the Jewish
law, but upon its fulfilment; not upon the fact
that a dispensation of a totally different kind had
now been introduced, but upon the fact that the
new dispensation was the body, the other the
shadow, — that the substance of all that had been
before was included in it, and included only to
give a reality, a body, a new force to that which
had been before only indistinct, obscure, and
shadowy. The subject for our present conside-
ration may therefore be, the relation of the Old
Testament to the New Testament in respect of
its types; and the use of those types to us as
Christians.

What then is a type ? A type is a prophecy,
not expressed in words, but in things ; a mode
of teaching by action instead of expression,
like the fingers that wrote upon the wall, which
sufficiently indicated what was to follow, even
before the writing was written. Typical teach-
ing is like teaching by pictures. It is the re-
presenting to the mind's eye what will surely
come to pass, and which has an historical event

X.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

141

which corresponds to it. And as we teach a
child by pictures what he could not otherwise
comprehend, so God taught the world in its
infancy by types ; and even after the event it is
often useftil to look back to the picture, and we
may derive important instruction by so doing.
Thus a person who by studying a picture had
gained a perfect notion of the form and figure of
a man, would be able the better to identify him
when the individual himself stood before him.
Again, typical teaching is like the moulding of a
statue. The sculptor first conceives the design in
his mind, and then works it in the model, from
which he afterwards completes the original con-
ception. So the type is a model; it is not the
thing itself intended; it is, perhaps, of inferior
materials and workmanship, but it is enough to
convey the artist's mind, and to show what the
whole design will be when it is finished. Thus it
is obvious for what purpose types were intended,
to enable persons to identify the things so re-
presented when they happened, to assist and
strengthen their faith, and to form an evidence
similar to that of prophecy, but subordinate to it,
to strengthen the faith of succeeding generations.
Thus, then, there is this difference between pro^
phecies and types. Types express by action what
prophecies express by speech; the type is the

Ml'

142

TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

image which we see, the prophecy the prediction
which we hear. Both were given us at the very
time of man's creation and fall ; (or rather type
went before the prophecy ;) the forming of Eve
out of Adam's side being a type of the redemp-
tion of the Church by the blood flowing from
our Lord's wounded side (as is intimated in the
Epistle to the Ephesians), even before man fell ;
and as soon as man fell, the prophecy of his
restoration by the woman's seed in Christ was
immediately vouchsafed him. We have thus then
considered the general use of types, and their
place in the whole scheme of revelation ; but we
have now further to illustrate the subject, by con-
sidering the manner in which they may be said to
be fulfilled in the New Testament and in the
Christian Church.

One point, then, ought particularly to be noticed
and weighed, that all types of the Old Testa-
ment may be said to have their fulfilment in
Christ and His Church. I say in Christ and the
Church, because the Church is always regarded
as His body. His spouse, placed in so near and
intimate a relation to Him, that whatever He
did is for her benefit, v/hatever He did in some
degree belongs to us. Thus even the types which
relate to the person of Christ, and which might be
supposed to be fulfilled in Him only, belong also

X.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

143

to US as His members. Was He the woman's
seed, and aa that seed trampled on ? Yet " both
He who sanctifieth and they who are sanctified
are all of one '," and the Church is in the New
Testament called the woman in the wilderness.
Did Isaac as a type of Christ submit to bear the
wood of the burnt offering, to be bound and laid
on the altar on the wood, while the sacrificing
knife was stretched out, and the father took the
knife to slay his son ? The same type applies to
us, and it is remarkable that the very defect of the
type in that case, (I mean the fact that Isaac was
not sacrificed by his father, whereas Christ was,)
only shows its nearer resemblance to us. We as
Christians go forth in this world at the command
of our Father. God calls for a sacrifice, and we
submit to it. We mount up to the hill Moriah,
we tread the path of patient self-denial, and yield
ourselves to be bound and sacrificed, but the real
victim remains behind; the ram caught in the
thicket by the horns represents Him who bears
our sins away in His own body, and we, as the
original Isaac, are let go, and return to our Father's
house rejoicing.

Again, did Melchisedeck, king of Salem, the
priest of the Most High God, bring forth bread

» Heb. ii. 11.

! ■ I

'- I

144 TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

and wine and bless Abraham, " returning from the
slaughter of the kings * }" Not only does that type
show forth Christ in the most significant manner as
our great High Priest, and His bearing bread and
wine, the emblems of His body and blood, to all
the faithful of whom Abraham was the first father;
but we may also see in it the Christian priesthood
themselves made the ministers of the same ele-
ments which Christ blessed, invested by Him with
the government of His Church, and by Him ex-
pressly sent to convey His blessing to the faithful.
Was the ordinance of circumcision made the door
of entrance into the Jewish covenant, so that
Christ Himself submitted to be circumcised,
though He needed it not, for our sakes? He
Himself ordained a similar way of entrance into
His covenant by a purer rite, that of Baptism,
and was Himself baptized that He might connect
the two ordinances together, and inspired His
Apostles to declare that Baptism was the Chris-
tian circumcision, the circumcision made without
hands. Was the ordinance of the passover made
for all the Jewish people, so that none who re-
fused to eat of it had any right to expect salvation
from the plague which smote all the first born of
Egypt? In all this we trace the most minute and

♦ Keb. vii. 1.

.'-••-i

X.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

145

exact resemblance to the Paschal lamb, the lamb
of God, and to the great feast of the Christian
Church, emphatically called the Lord's Supper,
in commemoration of our great Sacrifice. The
Paschal lamb was sacrificed, Christ is slain;— ^
the Paschal lamb was eaten, Christ is fed upon ;
the Paschal lamb was eaten whole, Christ's
body and blood are given, taken, and received by
the faithful in the Lord's Supper; the Paschal
lamb was not to be eaten by strangers, none but
baptized persons must receive the body and blood
o£ Christ: — the Paschal lamb was to be eaten
with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, which
figures St. Paul himself translates for us into
Christian language, " Christ our passover is sacri-
ficed for us : therefore let us keep the feast, not
with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice
and wickedness ; but with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth '." The Paschal lamb was
to be eaten by persons clothed as pilgrims, and
ready to depart;— the Lord's Supper is to be
partaken of with especial reference to our neces-
sities in the wilderness, and to our preparation
for the promised land of everlasting rest. The
same kind of typical application may be made tq
the government as well as to the rites of the

» 1 Cor. V. 7, 8.

-■^gmmmtimmmmm

146 TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

Jewish law. We have the high priesthood, the
priesthood, and the Levitical ministers, which
Clemens, the fellow-labourer of the Apostles, in
his epistle to the Corinthian Church, notices
as obviously shadowing forth the orders which
Christ Himself instituted; the three ranks of
bishops, priests, and deacons being evidently
recognized in the epistles to Timothy and Titus,
after the great High Priest had been withdrawn
from the world. In short, the whole history
of Israel seems to be one vast type, answering
to the constitution of the Christian Church.
Sarah and Hagar are an allegory or type of the two
covenants of the law and the Gospel, the one of
bondage, the other of spiritual freedom ; Jacob and
Esau represent, the rejection of the Jews the elder
brother, the calling of the Gentiles the younger.
Jacob's family going down into Egypt, Christ's
journey there, and the darkness out of which
Christ's Church is called. Pharaoh and his bloody
persecutions, the enmity of Satan and heathen kings
against the Christian Church, and the plagues
their punishment and discomfiture. The passover
represents our redemption; the Red Sea, our Bap-
tism ; the law given from Mount Sinai, by way of
contrast answers to the Gospel and Mount Sion ;
the pillar of fire and of the cloud, to God's provi-
dential guidance of the Christian Church; the

" •sP^^BRjtS'i,

X.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

147

wandering in the wilderness, to the subsequent
errors, divisions, and fall of the Church of Christ
since its first establishment; and their entering
into Canaan, to the Church's final triumph.

Then the rites and ceremonies of the Jews,
many of them obviously, and probably all in
some sense, have relation to us. Their multi-
plied washings and cleansings terminate in our
one Baptism for the remission of sins; their
sacrifices, in our great Sacrifice and its comme-
moration ; their incense in our daily prayer ; their
courses of the priests in the services of our
ministry. The very numbers of the Old Testa-
ment seem purposely selected in some instances
to be types. We find forty days of fasting ap-
pointed for Moses, the representative of the law ;
forty for Elias, the chief of the prophets ; forty
for our Lord before the temptation; forty for
Lent before Easter. We have the number seven
occurring singularly often, as a type of the seven-
fold gifts of the Spirit. We have twelve tribes,
twelve prophets, twelve apostles, and twenty-four
elders in the Book of Revelation. We have the
bow in the cloud as the sign of God's promise
to the new world ; and the rainbow round about
the throne of God was the sign of promise to
the Christian Church. We have the golden
candlesticks in the Jewish law, and our Lord

H 2

148 TYPES

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

of !

If i

speaking of seven stars and golden candlesticks
as the Christian Church in the first chapter of
Revelation. We have the high priest wearing
on his breast the names of the twelve tribes ; we
have Christ bearing on His heart the names of
the faithful. We have the ark of the mercy-seat,
with the Shechinah, or visible manifestation of
the presence of God, in the one covenant; we
have the holy table or altar, with the emblems of
Christ's passion, and Hi« invisible, yet real and
spiritual presence vouchsafed ; we have the shew-
bread in the one, the one loaf in the other ; we
have Aaron's rod that budded in the one, we have
apostolic descent and evangelical fruitfulness in
the other ; we have Aaron ministering in the Holy
of Ho'ies, we have Christ interceding in heaven,
and His servants ministering within the rails at
the table or altar ; in the one we have the vow of
the Nazarite, in the Christian Church we have the
vow of Baptism. Thus there is scarcely any thing
in the Jewish Church which has not its proper
antitype in the Christian ; not always a thing of
the same material kind, nor always a separate
rite answering to a Jewish rite ; for the Christian
ceremonies are fewer, and more simple, and more
full than the Jewish ; but some rite or doctrine
answering to a whole class of Jewish symbols,
and expressing them all by its single fulness and

X.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

149

sufficiency. And what was exclusive in them is
inclusive in us; what was then narrow, is now
large ; what was formerly meagre, is now ampli-
fied and made wide ; what belonged to one nation
only, is now intended for the world. They had
their separate courts for priests, Israel, women,
and Gentiles ; we have our one Church which
holds them all; they had their many washings,
we our one baptism; they had their numerous
sacrifices of divers kinds, we our one Sacrifice and
perpetual commemoration. But the time reminds
me that I must endeavour to bring to some prac-
tical conclusion what I have now said concerning
the types of the Old Testament.

This view of the types of the Old Testament is
exceedingly comforting and profitable. We see in
them, as in a glass, our own wants and woes, and
God's mercy in our redemption vividly pour-
trayed. The very number of the types only places
the same object before us in a variety of lights,
and imparts to every page of the Old Testament
additional beauty and interest. We see that the
Jewish Church is one Church with our own, that
both are parts of the Israel of God, both included
in the same covenant of grace, and as we hope,
eventually both to be united in the same redemp-
tion. And not only do the types thus show us
our interest as Christians in the Old Testament,

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150

TYPES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, &C.

and in the people of whom the Old Testament
was written, but they strengthen our interest in
each other as members of the Church. For they
were written for us. They were pictures of our
own state ; models of our Temple ; shadows of
the body to which we belong. How great a bless-
ing must it be to be engrafted into that Church
which was the subject of all the types and pro-
phecies of the Old Testament; for which the
world itself was made, and through whose prayers
alone it is preserved. Thus, then, let us read the
types of the Old Testament with increased dis-
cernment of our common portion in them ; with
increasing thankfulness that our lot is cast in the
days of their fulfilment ; with diligence and fear,
lest we be found unworthy of the benefit. Let
us, as we read them, look off from all the world
beside unto Him who is the centre in which all
these lines of beauty meet; and while we so look
unto Him, may we be ourselves transformed into
His likeness, that we may see Him as He is !

SERMON XT.

THE PROMISES OF THE OLD TECTAMENT, IN
RELATION TO THE NEW.

Gal. iii. 17.

" And this I say, that the covenant which was confirmed before
of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty
years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise
of none effect."

The subject which we considered on Sunday
morning last, was the relation which the types
of the Old Testament bore to the facts of the
New Testament. Let us now, then, speak of the
promises of the Old Testament compared with
those of the New Testament.

And the apostle in the text teaches us to dis-
tinguish between the promises of the Law and
promises of the Gospel. His purpose in this the
chapter is (which, as appointed for the second
lesson for one of the services of le day, it may

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152 PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

be well thus far to explain) to prove to the Jews
and Judaizing Christians, that they were in error
in wishing to go back to the Jewish law for jus-
tification. He argues that the covenant of the
law was but an intermediate state between the
original promise given to Abraham, and the Gos-
pel which was the fulfilment of that promise ; and
that so far from the law disannulling, i. e. cancel-
ling or making void the original promise respect-
ing Christ our Saviour, it could only be regarded
as intended to prepare a way for the accomplish-
ment of that promise, by preserving the Jews as
a distinct and separate people till Christ should
come in the fulness of time; and that conse-
quently, to rely on the law in opposition to the
Gospel, was not only to frustrate the grace of
God, but to overt ^^ row the original promise made
to Abraham and his seed, i. e., according to the
language of the Gospel, to Christ, and all who
should tread in the steps of Abraham by be-
lieving or Him. So that the apostle concludes,
the law is not against the promises of God, but
the law is "our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ \"

We have, on a former occasion, endeavoured
practically to illustrate the same argument by

Gal. iii. 24.

XI.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

153

showing, that the types of the Old Testament
send us on to Christ and the Christian dispen-
sation, and that they are fulfilled both in Him
and in His Church, of which we are members.
The promises of the Old Testament, then, we
are assured in the text, are of a similar kind;
their entire fulfilment is to be looked for, not
in the Jewish law, nor in the Jewish nation only,
but in Christ and His Church. There are, in-
deed, some which seem to belong to the Jews
only as a nation, but even those have a typical
and spiritual meaning, and look beyond the ex-
istence of the Jews as a separate people, to that
time when the fulness of the Gentiles should
come in, when there should be no longer " Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barba-
rian, Scythian, bond nor free : but Christ is all,
and in all'.'* So that the promises with the
prophecies of the Old Testament are not, as St.
Peter tells us, " of private interpretation,*' not to
be applied only to single and separate wants, but
to be viewed in connexion with the whole scheme
of Divine grace, which embraces both the Old
Testament and the New Testament.

It is satisfactory to find that our main argu-
ment concerning the correspondence of the Old

» Col. iii. 11.

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154 PROMISES OF THE OLD T£ TAMENT, [sERM.

Testament and the New Testament is so tho-
roughly Scriptural, and may be depended on;
and we may, therefore, the more safely proceed
to consider the promises of the Old Testament
in the same light. In considering, then, what is
properly applicable to ourselves in the Old Tes-
tament, and what is not, we should attend to the
following distinctions. First, there is a diiOFerence
between the promises of the law and the pro-
mises of the Gospel, between what belongs more
peculiarly in its primary application to the Jews,
as a nation, and what is Catholic or universal in
its meaning. Secondly, we must distinguish be-
tween the promises to particular persons under
peculiar circumstances, and promises which are
general, and belong to us and all mankind.
Thirdly, we must remember the difference be-
tween absolute and conditional promises, between
God's absolute will that Christ should be bom
and die for the salvation of mankind, and His con-
ditional promise to this or that individual that
he should be saved.

Let us consider, then, the first of the distinc-
tions which is to be borne in mind in interpreting
the promises of the Old Testament, viz. that some
belong in their primary application to the Jews
as a nation, others are unrestricted and obviously
applicable to ourselves. Those promises, then,

XI.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW,

155

are in their literal application to be restricted to
the Jews as a nation, which, being found in the
law of Moses, are of a directly temporal character.
Such are those which promise deliverance from
temporal enemies, the Amalekites, the Hittites,
and others ; those which speak of admittance into
the " land flowing with milk and honey," and de-
scribe its temporal advantages ; those which pro-
mise to the obedient that they shall be ^' blessed in
their basket and in their store, in the fruit of
their ground, the increase of their kine, and the
flocks of their sheep."

So, again, the threatenings to the Jews as a
nation cannot be directly and primarily applied to
ourselves. We cannot threaten sinners, that if they
do not obey God "they shall be smitten before
their enemies, that God shall smite them with a
fever and an inflammation, and an extreme burn-
ing, and with the sword, and with blasting and
mildew ; that their ox shall be slain before their
eyes, and they shall not eat thereof; and that the
fruit of the land, a nation which they know not
shall eat up." The Gospel does not make any such
direct and immediate temporal promises or threat-
enings to whole nations and individuals. It in-
foims us that " through much tribulation we must
enter into the kingdom of God ' ;" that " all that

3 Acts xiv. 22.
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156 PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SEHM.

will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer perse-
cution*." But at the same time, it does not
overthrow the general providential arrangement,
that virtue and vice do more or less bring their
punishment with them even in this life, only it
does not allow us to consider ourselves under the
same sort of dispensation with the Jews, in which
a direct temporal reward was promised to every
act of obedience, but rather bids us look on to
those better and brighter hopes, those things " not
seen and eternal," which have taken the place of
those poor temporal rewards which were promised
to the Jews. The reward is not abolished, but
delayed ; the wages paid to the labourer are gold
instead of silver. On the other hand, there are
many promises of so heavenly a character even in
the five books of Moses, that we may fairly regard
them as intended to belong to us, but they are
obviously not confined to the Jews. Such as when
it is said of Enoch, that '*he was not, for God had
translated him;" of Jacob, that "he waited for the
salvation of God;" of Abraham, that "his faith was
imputed to him for righteousness;" of Moses, that
"he found grace in the eyes of the Lord:" — These,
and other such Uke sayings, are indications of that
better, brighter hope which the pious Jew never

* 2 Tim. iii. 12.

XI.J

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

157

lost sight of, though it was comparatively obscure;
and we find these glimpses of the peri'ect day
waxing brighter before the day dawned. As we
proceed in the Old Testament, the intimations of
a future state and of Gospel blessings become
clearer, and in the Psalms we have many a pro-
mise which belongs clearly to the better times of
the Gospel. We find David saying, " Thou wilt
not leave my soul in hell ; neither wilt Thou
suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption '." And
again, " as for me I will behold Thy face in right-
eousness ; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with
Thy likeness * ;" and, " my flesh and my heart
faileth ; but God is the strength of my heart,
and my portion for ever ' ;" and, " the righteous
shall have dominion over them in the morning;
their beauty shall consume in the grave from
their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul
from the power of the grave ; for He shall receive
me ','* and long before David's time the holy man
Job had emphatically declared, '^ I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth : and though after my
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh
shall I see God '.** As the light of prophecy was
lighted in a dark place '' to give light to them that

5 Ps. xvi. 10. 8 Ps. xvii. 15. ' Ps. Ixxiii. 26.

« Ps. xlix. 14, 15. » Job xix. 25, 26.

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158 PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [sERM.

sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death '/'
so it burned more brightly as it proceeded. The
intimation was more express and full. Thus
Isaiah said, speaking of the resurrection of Christ,
" Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead
body shall they arise ' f and Hosea declared, " I
will redeem them from death " f and Daniel says,
" they shall awake, some to everlasting life, and
some to shame and everlasting contempt '.''
Again, as the time of Christ's birth drew near,
it is clear that the promises of the forgiveness of
sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, were much
more dwelt upon, and made prominent and leading
features in the preaching of the Old Testament
prophets. The law speaks of obedience but dwells
little on forgiveness, and though now and then
we find a single passage or two, such as that in
the twenty-sixth chapter of Leviticus, '^ If they
shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of
their fathers, I also will remember ray covenant
which I made with Jacob, and I will not cast them
away to destroy them utterly," — yet the general
tenor of the law is forbidding ; it is mount Sinai,
the "mount which gendereth to bondage'," ^^'^
mount Zion, with its "innumerable company of
angels, and Jesus the Mediator of the new cove-

* Ps. cvii. 10. 2 Isa. xxvi. 19.

* Dan. xii. 2.

* Ho8. xiii. 14.
» Gal. iv. 24.

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XI.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

159

nant'." But the language of the prophets is,
" I, even I, am He that comforteth you ' ;" " Ho
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and
eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money,
and without price ^ ;" " I will open rivers in high
places, and fountains in the midst of the valleya;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and
the dry land springs of water " ;" " I will pour My
Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy
offspring^;" "The redeemed of the Lord shall
return, and come with singing unto Zion; and
everlasting joy shall be upon their head; they
shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and
mourning shuU flee away ' ;" " From all your
filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleflnse
you ; a new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you ; and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give
you an heart of flesh ^ -" " When the wicked man
turneth away from his wickedness that he hath
committed, and doth that which is lawful and
right, he shall save his soul alive * ;" " only ac-
knowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast trans-
gressed against the Lord thy God, and hast

« Heb. xii. 22. 24.
Isa. xli. 18.
' Ezek. xxxvi. 25. 36.

' Isa. li. 12. « Isa. Iv. 1.

» Isa. xliv. 3. 2 Isa. li. 11.

* Ezek. xviii. 27.

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160 PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

scattered thy ways to the strangers under every
green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice,
saith the Lord';" "Return, O ye backsliding
children, and I will heal your backslidings « ;" « I
will betroth thee to Me for ever; yea, I will be-
troth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judg-
ment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies : I
will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness;
and thou shalt know the Lord'." These, and
numberless other passages which would occupy
too much time in the quotation, but which are the
stay and comfort of every sincere Christian, are
obviously promises intended for us, for two rea-
sons. First, many of them occur in the midst of
prophecies which speak directly of Christ our
Saviour; so that if we refuse to admit that the
promise is applicable to ourselves, we can hardly
admit the application of the promises of the Gospel
at all. Such are particularly the prophecies of
Isaiah, in the fortieth and following chapters of
his book. Secondly, the promises are so expressed,
in such general terras, and are so very comprehen-
sive, and there is so little that is narrowed (as it
were) to the peculiar circumstances of the Jew,
that it seems doing violence to Holy Scripture to
suppose that they ar^ meant for Jews only. They

* Jer. iii. 13.

6 Jer. iii. 22.

' Hos. ii. 19, 20.

t^-:^V'

XI.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

161

seem rather to describe that willingness to show
mercy and pity on the part of the Almighty, which
is surely as great under the Gospel dispensation
as it could ever be under the law ; and which is,
in fact, far more fully and gloriously displayed.

What, then, becomes, it may be asked, of those
promises which, in their primary sense, belong
exclusively to the Jews ; such as those temporal
blessings promised to particular acts of obedi-
ence. I answer, we must be very cautious about
applying such to ourselves, and especially that
we do not apply them as the Jews did, because
we have no warrant for so doing. It was the
fashion in the times of the great rebellion thus to
apply all the promises of the law; and a great
mistake it was. If the king was to be murdered,
it was Amalek who was to be rooted out; if a
church was to be plundered, the Caiiaanites were
to be smitten, or the walls of Jericho to fall down
flat. " Up and slay them "," was a favourite text,
borrowed from the mouth of Gideon, and inter-
preted to mean, that loyal subjects were to be
cut to pieces, or clergy were to be turned out of
doors, their livings sequestered, and their fami-
lies left to starve. Thus there is no !j|ind of
wickedness which may not be justified by this

- si

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Si ;

' Judges viii. 20.

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163 PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

fanatical misinterpretation of the Old Testament.
But we must have a Divine warrant for extermi-
nating before we can apply the sentence of exter-
mination; our warrant is to bless, not to curse;
to love, not to hate and revile; to pray, not to
persecute.

In v'hat sense, then, are we to apply the pas-
sages to ourselves ? I answer, in a spiritual sense.
The promises and threatenings of the law, like
the types of the law, are transferred to the Gos-
pel. The nations of Canaan, as regards us, are
our spiritual foes, the devil and his angels, and
the lusts and wickedness of the world ; the land
of promise is to us that good and glorious land of
Paradise to which we hasten, that place of peace,
where "the wicked cease from troubling, and
where ^he weary be at rest "."

The command to save alive nothing that breathed,
is directed against the lusts that war in our mem-
bers, which are to be destroyed ; the promises of
blessing are those which our Lord gives His people
in the sermon on the Mount : " Blessed are the
poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be
comforted. Blessed are the meek : for they shall
inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do

» Job iu. 17.

XI.]

IN RELATION TO THE NKW.

163

hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they
shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful : for they
shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart:
for they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-
makers : for they shall be called the children of
God. Bles, d are they which are persecuted for
righteousness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile
you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner
of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice,
and be exceeding glad ; for great is your reward
in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you *." And thus the Gospel
is a covenant " established upon better promises ;"
better in their object, better in the means of ac-
complishing it, better in their endurance and ever-
lasting stability.

We have considered, then, one of the distinc-
tions; viz., that between the promises made to
the Jews as a nation, and between that which is
catholic or '^iversal in its meaning.

Secondly, let us apply the same caution to those
promises made to individuals under peculiar cir-
cumstances.

We cannot infer, that because Noah was saved

J Matt.v. 3— 12.

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164 PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM,

I ^

in the ark, while the world was destroyed, that
we ourselves, although upright before God, should
escape the calamity of a flood or pestilence in
which others are involved ; nor can we conclude,
because God said He would build David's house
as a reward of his zeal for the God of Hosts, that
we ourselves shall be conspicuous for our family
hono'ir or wealth; nor ought we to infer, that
because Solomon, when he asked for an under-
standing heart, was rewarded with wisdom, that
we shall be blessed with wisdom above all the
rest of mankind. These are peculiar instances,
not intended for general rules ; a general rule,
however, may be drawn from them, which is this,
— that God will certainly reward us for our obedi-
ence to His commandments ; though the parti-
cular manner of His doing so must be left to His
wisdom to decide upon. At the same time, when
we read in the book of Proverbs (a book obviously
intended as a treasury of maxims of profound
wisdom, not for the Jews only, but for the world),
we can hardly help concluding, that even in this
life godliness has a promise, has a reward, though
it has not all its reward. The better part is to
come, but the earnest is not wanting : " Her ways
are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are
peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold

XI.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

165

upon her ; and happy is every one that retaineth
her'.".

But we proceed to the third and last distinction,
and a very important one it is, between absolute
and conditional promises. We cannot argue from
God's absolute promise of eternal life in Christ,
to the absolute salvation of particular persons.
God absolutely determined that Christ should be
born, suffer, and die for the salvation of mankind,
and that all those who believe in Him and obey
Him shall be saved; but we nowhere read that
He has determined that this or that person shall
be saved. God made an absolute promise that
Israel should enter the promised land, and He
made it before the Israelites quitted Egypt, yet
only two :' that generation rtaliy entered it ; the
rest fell in the wilderness. Yet there was no
unfaithfulness in God. The promise was absolute
as to the event of their entrance into Canaan, and
conditional as to the persons of whom Israel was
composed. They were disobedient, and so fell,
and their children enjoyed the promise. The
same sort of conditional promise seems to me to
apply to all God's dealings with the Jews. There
are many very strong assurances of their restora-
tion to their own land. Partially they were restored;

» Prov. iii. 17, 18.

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166 PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [sERM.

and had the people been obedient, God would have
fulfilled His promise to the letter : but they were
disobedient, and so the covenant was changed; and
after the crucifixion of Christ, the Lord of Glory,
the whole promise was changed, and turned into
a spiritual promise to the true Israel of God.
And you will find, that though there are several
intimations of the conversion of the Jews, there
is not a word in the New Testament that I know
of, which intimates their return now to their own
land as a nation. This silence is remarkable, be-
cause it seems to strengthen the view I have
been proposing. The conversion of Israel seems
an absolute promise : " God hath concluded all in
unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all \"
The restoration of the Jewish nation to temporal
privileges, was a conditional promise, and is not
renewed under the charter of the New Testament
dispensation. If it be objected, that this notion
of conditional promises leaves us, after all, in a
state of painful doubt and uncertainty ; I answer,
that the objection goes further, and applies to the
whole state of trial and probation in which God's
providence has placed us, and which must be, as
long as it continues, a state of uncertainty, al-
though of hope.

* Rom. xi. 32.

XI.]

IN RELATION TO THE NEW.

167

Trial and moral discipline are ^^ not joyous but
grievous f and to see " through a glass darkly,"
is to strain our eyes after what is only imperfectly
and at a distance discerned : but the question is,
not why are we here ? but, what is our great busi-
ness here ? If all doubts were cleared up, where
were our trial? If all uncertainty were gone,
how could we " see through a glass darkly ?" So
that if we object at all to conditional promises,
we must object to the whole scheme of revelation
at once; not only of revelation, but of provi-
dence ; we must, as it seems to me, cease to be
believers, which God forbid.

We arrive, then, at the following conclusions
respecting the promises of the Old Testament :—
First, they may be received by us, and thankfully
enjoyed, with these cautions and limitations,—
that we do not apply to ourselves those things
which belong solely to the Jews as a nation, or
that if we apply them, it be done in a Gospel,
not in a Jewish sense, spiritually, not carnally.
Secondly, that we do not apply to all what was
only meant to individual j under peculiar circum-
stances. Thirdly, that w( remember that our own
faith, patience, and charily are essential qualifica-
tions for our enjoyment of the comfort and secu-
rity of the Old Testament promises. Fourthly,
we may rejoice to find in the Old Testament

^ M ii

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168 PROMISES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, &C.

intimations of every article of the faith which we
profess. The doctrines of the fall of man, of our
redemption by Christ, of His divine nature, in-
carnation, life, passion, death, resurrection, ascen-
sion, and intercession ; of a Trinity of persons
in the Godhead; of the Holy Ghost, the holy
Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting ; are all partially, though
not fully, revealed in the Old Testament, and pro-
gressively revealed; the light breaking in upon
the world as the light of the rising sun leaps
from one hill-top to another, until at last hills
and valleys alike shine out in the full light of day.
Lastly, we may rejoice with greater joy in the
abundance of the revelation of the New Testa-
ment. There we have promises sufficient to cheer,
and restore, and comfort us in our pilgrimage
through life ; we have precepts sufficient to guide
us in our perplexed and difficult path ; we have
examples sufficient to encourage us when we are
faint and weak-hearted, that we may follow the
footsteps of those of whom " the world was not
worthy." And thus, by attending to the promises
as the voice of invitation, to the precepts as the
voice of authority, and to the examples as the
voice of sympathy and warning, we shall attain the
end of our faiih, even the salvation of our souls.

1 S'

SERMON XII.

THE PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, IX
THEIIl RELATION TO THE NEW.

Psalm cxix. 97 to 106.

« how love I Thy law ! it is my raeditatior. all the day. Thou
through Thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine
enemies : for they are ever with me. I have more under-
standing than all my teachei-s : for Thy testimonies are my
meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I
keep Thy precepts. 1 have refrained my feet from every evil
way, that I might keep Thy word. I have not departed from
Thy judgments : for Thou hast taught me. How sweet are
Thy words unto my taste ! yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth ! Through Thy precepts I get understanding : there-
fore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my
feei, and a light unto my path,"

These words demand our particular attention,
because they throw great light on the subject
we have been considering for several Sundays,
the relation of the Old Testament to the New
Testament. We have considered that relation in

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170 PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

respect of the types and the promises of the Old
Testament. We )iave now to consider it in re-
spect of its precepts. And the words of the
Psalmist demand our attention, as I have said^
because they show us the importance not only of
the Old Testament as a whole, but of a small part
of the Old Testament, the five books of Moses.
For the Psalmist wrote before any of the pro-
phets, except Samuel, had been inspired to pro-
phesy ; he wrote when scarcely any part of the Old
Testament, except the five books of Moses, and
perhaps the book of Job, were in existence.
So that it is of those few books, and of none else,
that he uses the glowing expressions which I
have just read, and will now repeat again. " O
how love I Thy law ! it is my meditation all the
day. Thou through Thy commandments hast
made me wiser than mine enemies : for they are
ever with me. I have more understanding than
all my teachers: for Thy testimonies are my
meditation. I understand more than the ancients,
because I keep Thy precepts. I have refrained
my feet from every evil way, that I might keep
Thy word. I have not departed from thy judg-
ments: for Thou hast taught me. How sweet
are thy words unto my taste ! yea, sweeter than
honey to my mouth ! Through Thy precepts I
get understanding: therefore I hate every false

XII.] IN THEIR RELATION TO THE NEW. 171

way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path." These are not the words,
my brethren, of one who thought the Old Testa-
ment and the law of Moses a fable, or a tale, or
a compilation of ceremonies with which the world
has little to do. It is true, they are the words of
a Jew, and as such, bound to the Jewish law with
a fervent love which, it is to be feared, few of us
feel even for the whole Bible, the Old and New
Testaments ; but they are the words of a Jew
inspired, and that by the Holy Ghost Himself.
They are the words of one who had found the
way of salvation in those scanty records which
some affect to despise ; they are the words of one
who declares, that in danger and in war, at home
and abroad, by day and by night, in the stillness
of the chamber and at the council-board of his
kingdom, he had made these precepts his study,
and was not ashamed to say of them, that they
were a " lamp unto his feet and a light unto his
path."

Nay, he holds the same language in Psalm xix. ;
he there declares, that what was sufficient for
himself is sufficient also for others, and that the
law (or precepts of the Old Testament) was able
to "convert the soul, to make wise the simple,
to enlighten the eyes, to rejoice the heart." Many
other passages might be brought forward, were it

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172 PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

necessary, but I shall refer only to two in the
New Testament. The one occurs in the second
lesson for the day, where our Lord, being asked,
" What shall I do to inherit eternal life }" answers,
" What is written in the law * ? " an answer which
He would not have made, had He intended at
once to repeal, annul, and make void the precepts
of the Old Testament. And the other passage
I would quote is one probably familiar to most
of you, in which St. Paul says, *^A11 Scripture
is given by inspiration of God, and is profitaole
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in-
struction in righteousness ' ;" and by the expres-
sion, ^^ all Scripture," we know he must have
intended to include the Old Testament, because
the volume of the New Testament was not then
completed. So that we may safely come to the
conclusion, that the precepts of the Old Testa-
ment are in many cases binding upon us, in all
instances profitable for us, and profitable even
when not binding. Indeed, the very solemn de-
claration of our Lord at the beginning of His
ministry, warns us not to despise the precepts of
the Old Testament ; " Think not that I am come
to destroy the law or the prophets ; I am not
come to destroy, but to fulfil '."

1 Luke X. 26, 26. 2 2 Tim. iii. 16.

» Matt. V. 17.

XII.] IN THEIR RELATION TO THE NEW. 173

The precepts of the Old Testament are usually
divided iato three classes^ — ceremonial, judicial,
and moral.

By ceremonial precepts, we understand the rites
and ceremonies which belong more properly to
the Jewish Church, but which are as a whole
typical of the Christian, and their place supplied
in some instances with corresponding rites in the
Christian religion.

By judicial precepts, we mean the code of the
Jewish nation relating to civil government, which
was given by Moses as the civil governor, imme-
diately after the law of the ten commandments
was delivered from Mount Sinai, and which we
find in the books of Exodus and Leviticus.

And by moral precepts, we mean the ten com-
mandments, and all those precepts which may be
considered as illustrating and enforcing them.

In reference, then, to the first, the ceremonial
law, it seems that it is not binding on us Christians
as a law, by the very words of our Saviour, in
which He says, " I come not to destroy, but to
fulfil ;" for if it be fulfilled, it is not now binding.
And we have several express testimonies in the
New Testament to the fact, that the ceremonial
law no longer binds us as Christians. " Let no
man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect
of an holy day, or of a new moon, or of a Sabbath-

.ifiiil

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174 PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

day*:" i, e, Jewish ordinances are now, by the
new covenant, abolished and done away. And the
very terms — of the aboHtion of the old covenant
and making a new— imply that the ceremonial
law would be dispensed with. That the ceremo-
nies then, as such, are not binding on a Christian's
conscience is clear, but they are profitable, though
not binding. For in them, as in a glass, we see
reflected clearly the whole Christian scheme. In
the ceremonial law we see the need of our redemp-
tion, the misery and defilement of our nature, the
person, office, and character of our Redeemer, and
many significant emblems of the rites ordained
by Christ Himself, and by His authority practised
in the Christian Church. This I have shown at
length in considering the types. If, then, the
ceremonial law be abolished, is a Christian man
left, under the Christian dispensation, at liberty
to frame ceremonies for himself, to be his own
lawgiver, his own ruler, his own judge, so that
every man may " do that which is right in his own
eyes?" By no means. The power which for-
merly belonged to the Jewish Church, by Divine
right, of ordering the rites and ceremonies of the
Jewish religion, is by our Saviour conferred upon
the Christian. It is Christ who gave His Apostles

* Col. iii. 16.

XII.] IN THEIR RELATION TO THE NEW. 175

power to retain and remit, to bind and loose, to
admit or reject from communion, and if He
bestowed these greater powers, much more hath
the Church power to decree rites and ceremo-
nies. But this matter a passage from St. Paul
will effectually settle. There was a dispute among
the Corinthian Christians about what might seem
a trifling matter, — the wearing long hair. The
Apostle, after reproving them for not attending
to the custom of nature, which would have
taught them what was right, ended thus : " But
if any man seem to be contentious," if any man
still persist in his opposition to what is seemly
and natural in itself, what then ? — let him have
his custom to himself? — no, but tell him this,
" we have no such custom, neither the Church of
God'." Let this be sufficient to stop his cavil-
lings, the custom of the Church is otherwise;
and thus he ends the matter.

There are two of the Thirty-nine Articles which
are very clear and decisive upon the point.
The first is the twentieth: "The Church hath
power to decree rites and ceremonies, and autho-
rity in controversies of faith." Now she could
not have the power, unless it were given it her
of God. And the other is the thirty-fourth, —

5 1 Cor. xi. 16.
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176 PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [sERM.

" Whosoever, through his private judgment, wil-
lingly and purposely doth openly break the tradi-
tions and ceremonies of the Church, which be not
repugnant to the word of God, and be ordained
and approved by common authority, ought to
be rebuked openly, that others may fear to do the
like." Thus we see, first, in respect of the cere-
monies of the Jewish law, that they are abolished
and taken away ; secondly, they are typical of
certain rites in the Christian Church; thirdly,
the power to ordain, change, and abolish rites
and ceremonies lies not in each man's private
judgment, but in the whole Church. I may
add, that we must take care not to confound
(as many do) the Sacraments with the ceremo-
nies of the Church. The two Sacraments were
ordained by Christ Himself for everlasting me-
morials, and means of grace ; and the Church
has no power to abolish or alter them ; though,
with regard to the external circumstances of her
ritual, she has the power ; and we may observe
also, that in exercising this power the Church
has exhibited her usual discretion, by steering
between the two extremes — of Romanism on the
one hand, and dissent on the other.

" It has ever been the wisdom of the Church
of England," (say the compilers of our Prayer-
book, in the preface to the liturgy), " to keep the

XII.] IN THEIR RELATION TO THE NEW. 177

mean between the two extremes." And again,
in regard to the observation of ceremonies,—
" and although the keeping or omitting of a cere-
mony, in itself considered, is but a small thing ;"
" yet, so that the main body and essentials of it,
(as well in the chiefest materials, as in the frame
and order thereof), have still continued the same
unto this day."

Let so much, then, be said for the ceremonial
law. We proceed to the judicial law, or the code
of the Israelites, as a nation. And this, too, seems
not to be binding on us as a nation, with the ex-
ception of those points of natural equity and jus-
tice, which are the foundation of all laws, and are
therefore incorporated into our own. Such, for
example, is the law of intermarriages with kindred,
from which our table of degrees of affinity is taken;
a table which is thus sanctioned by God himself,
and which cannot be changed or altered without
great moral injury to the nation which so alters
it. And, indeed, England has no reason to go
to foreign nations to learn her moral duties.
The manners of foreigners are no recommen-
dation to a change of the law, and those are
the worst enemies of their country who would
recommend it^

« It is nol unworthy of observation, that the 'ndicial law of

178 PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

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There are, again, many other points of interest
in the judicial law of Moses, the spirit of which
must be preserved in all good laws. The re-
markable tenderness enjoined towards servants,
at that time so inhumanly treated, the kindness
even towards cattle, the prohibition of cruelty
in various injunctions, the precept to love our
neighbour as ourselves, the laws respecting in-
fliction of injuries, theft, and manslaughter ; all
indicate the merciful source from whence they
spring, especially if we compare them with the
institutions of some of the most free and en-
lightened nations of antiquity. How superior
must they have been then to the laws (if any
such there were) of the Canaanitish nations.

But there is a third class of the precepts of the
Old Testament— the moral; and we may observe,
that this constitutes by far the largest part of
the volume. For, dividing the Old Testament
into two parts; first, what more strictly and
literally relates to the Jews as a nation, either to
the rites and ceremonies of their religion, or to
their government as a state ; and, secondly, what
relates to the whole human race, though primarily
spoken to the Jews or the patriarchs ; we see how
much is of this latter kind, and not of the former.

Moses was incorporated into the English statute law by King
Alfred.

XII.] IN THEIR RELATION TO THE NEW. 179

How little of the Old Testament is occupied with
Jewish rites only ! How much, for example, is
spent in biographies and histories,— of all modes
of instruction the most interesting 1 How large a
portion in a manual of devotion for all nations in
the Psalms, and in maxims for general conduct
in the Proverbs ! And of the writings of the pro-
phets, a great part obviously belongs to Gospel
times, and consequently to us. So that if we
except a few chapters in Exodus, Leviticus, and
Deuteronomy, there is scarcely any thing else
which is not as necessary and profitable for us as it
was for the Jews ; in one sense more so, because
we have not only the precept itself, but we have
experience to assist us in interpreting it, and the
example of others as a warning to ourselves.
And indeed our Lord by His quotations from
the Old Testament, shows in what light its pre-
cepts are to be regarded by us. On one occasion,
when His disciples were accused by some hypo-
critical Pharisees for taking so much liberty on
the Sabbath-day as to take a walk in the corn-
fields, and to pluck the ears of corn as they went
along, He vindicated that liberty by observing,
that had they known what that meant, "I will
have mercy and not sacrifice V they would not

7 Matt. xii. 7>

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180 PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [sERM.

have condemned the guiltless. Now that passage
came from Rosea", and the prophet was not
speaking of the same subject, but our Lord ap-
plied it as a principle, showing how widely the
precepts of the Old Testament extend, and
with what veneration they are to be received
by us.

Again, St. Paul, in the ninth chapter of the
First Epistle to the Corinthians, speaking of the
claim which ministers of the Gospel have of a
due maintenance, uses the argument. " Say I
these things as a man," i. e. by mere human
reasoning, irrespective of revelation, "or saith
not the law the same also?" You observe, he
was writing to Gentiles, and yet he lays stress
upon the law : " For it is written in the law of
Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the
ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take
care for oxen? or saith He it altogether for our
sakes ? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written,
that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and
that he that thresheth in hope should be par-
taker of his hope'." So that the whole argu-
ment of the Apostle turns on the spiritual
meaning of this law of Moses, which he applies
to the times of the Gospel, intimating, that if

' Hosea vi. 6.

9 I Cor. ix. 9, 10.

XII.] IN THEIR RELATION TO THE NEW. 181

such a law were made for the benefit of beasts,
much more should it be applied tu Christ's am-
bassadors.

And again^ in the writings of the prophets,
what can be mor instructive than the precepts
of Isaiah? what more suitable for the penitent
than the lamentations of Jeremiah over Israel?
what more encouraging to the young than the
history of Daniel? what more alarming to the
sinner than the writings of the lesser prophets ?
For even in their prophecy of the future they
were also inspired to dwell upon those great
moral truths which concern men in every age,
as a sinner needing a Saviour, seeking the pardon
of sin, and deliverance from its power, and learn-
ing, by God's grace, to rid himself of its yoke
altogether. So that, from the view of Old Testa-
ment types, promises, and precepts, we may gather
this truth, that every part of the Old Testament
has its proper use, if we read it aright. The cere-
monial part, in its witness to Christ and to the
Christian Church, as the proper guide to the
ceremonies which belong to the Christian dispen-
sation ; the judicial law, in the equity of its pre-
cepts, and in the spirit which is incorporated in
the laws of Christian states, and ought to direct
the actions of Christian men; and the moral part,
making up by far the larger part of the Old

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183 PRECEPTS OP THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

Testament, serving as a guide of onr actions, an
accuser of our sins, a handmaid to direct us to
Christ, a rule of life when we are in the way, an
example of that obedience which we all ought to
follow. And, together with this, the biography
of the Old Testament has its use ; the lives of
the good and the evil serving for imitation or
for warning, or sometimes for both in the sam-C
person; the end being justifiable, but the means
trken to bring about that end wholly, or in part,

unjustifiable.

Practically, then, we may gather,— First, that
the moral and preceptive part of the Old Testa-
ment, apart from the ceremonial and judicial law
of the Jews, is intended fo: our obedience ; and
that, unless there be in the command something
which is abolished by the Gospel dispensation,
or fulfilled in some other way, we are bound to
obey it ; and that even where the particular act
enjoined is not binding on us, tht spirit of that
act is absolutely binding.

Thus, to name two or three cases as examples :
—It is not incumbent on us to put to death pro-
fligate idolaters ; but the spirit of that obedience
is binding on ua, the obedience which shrinks
from no co^amand of God, however painful, and
which wages war against the lusts that " war in
our members."

Mjf

XII.] IN THEIR RELATION TO THE NEW.

183

Again, David was commanded to rear an " altar
unto the Lord in the threshing-floor of Araunah
the Jebusite," and he refused to offer unto the
Lord of that "which had cost him nothing';"
and his heart smote him when he remembered
that he dwelt " in an house of cedar, but the ark
of God dwelt within curtains'." The principle
to be extracted from the act of David is obvious,
and one of everlasting importance, that we must
give to God of the best of what we have, and that
to build a house to Him of mean materials, in a
poor, beggarly manner, and spend all our in-
comes in making our own houses as comfortable
as possible, is to mock God and condemn our-
selves.

So, again, the act of Solomon, in magnificently
furnishing the temple, accompanied as it was by
the direct blessing and remarkable presence of
God, which could not have been unless He ap-
proved it, and further, by the expUcit promise,
« In this place will I give peace '," supplies us
with a principle of a similar kind, that without
copying all the measurements of Solomon's tem-
ple, we should copy Solomon's largeness of heart,
and love for the service of God. Where people
have no money at all to give, God may be wor-

» 2 Sam. xxiv. 18. 24. » 2 Sam. vii. 2. ' Hag. ii. 9.

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184 PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, [SERM.

shipped in a barn as well as in a temple ; but
where they have money, but prudently keep it
all to themselves, we read in the New Testament,
not in the old, that "they who sow little shall
reap little, and they that sow plenteously shall
reap plenteously \" Only we must distinguish in
all these cases, between that which is the act of
the individual, and has no precept or promise to
support it, and that which, as in David's case,
has the promise, " Go, do all that is in thine
heart ; for the Lord is with thee ' ;" and the act
of Solomon was even the subject of a prophecy,
'He shall build a house for My name, and
I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for

ever

6 >i

I may also, in reference to the precepts of
the Old Testament, repeat the remark made be-
fore, of the progressive character of its commands.
The Old Testament intimates, but the New Tes-
tament enlarges and expands, gives to the shadow
its body, gives to the command its motive and
ea^tent. And of this we have a striking instance
in our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. The pre-
cept, " Thou shalt not kill," was in the Old Tes-
tament, but its true meaning was to be explained
in the New. The command, "Thou shalt love

* 2 Cor. ix. 6, 7-

5 2 Sam. vii. 3.

6 2 Sam. viJ. 13.

XII.] IN THEIR RELATION TO THE NEW. 185

thy neighbour as thyself/' was in the Old Testa-
ment ; but it is our Lord who tells us who is our
neighbour, and what is to be the extent of that
love which we are to bear to him. And if this
be so with the precepts of the Old Testament,
much more with its examples, the infirmity of
man never coming up to the standard of the
divine law, and in almost every human example
there being something to shun as well as to
imitate.

On the whole, I think the subject we have
here considered may teach us the necessity of
greater reverence and caution in reading, quoting,
and handling the Old Testament ; of greater dili-
gence in searching it according to Christ's com-
mand; and, above all, of more earnest prayer,
that He who indited it for our instruction, may
mercifully keep us from slighting or underrating
any, even the least portion of it, and not lay
upon us any of those awful plagues which be-
long to those who add to or diminish aught
from the word of God. This prayer we cannot
possibly express better, perhaps not so well, as
in the collect of our Church. "Blessed Lord,
who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written
for our learning ; grant that we may in such wise
hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest

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186 PRECEPTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, &C.

them, that by patience, and comfort of Thy
Holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold
fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which
Thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen '^

1 Collect for the second Sunday in Advent.

SERMON XIII.

AN ADVENT SERMON.

2TiM.iv. 1.

« Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and

His kingdom."

A VAST number of persons are very prone to
forget, and very unwilling to hear, of the subject
of the last judgment. That very wicked people
should be unwilHng to hear of it, is not surprising;
for their deeds condemn themselves ; no man who
loves darkness and deeds of darkness can be
willing to come to the light, and to behold the
blaze of that light which no man hath seen nor
(while he lives in the flesh) can see. But it is not
the very wicked only who try to put it away from
theme Careless, slumbering Christians, self-right-
eous and self-deluded professors, and even persons
of better minds, but mistaken views, too often
shun the appalling thought. A fearful thought,

188

AN ADVENT SERMON.

[SERM.

XIII.]

(
I

indeed, it must be to every one of us ; for how
can mortal flesh bear to behold God even as the
Son of man without exceeding fear and dread ? But
what makes most persons wish to put the subject
from them is this. Men love to be at ease, and
dislike any thing which gives them any trouble ;
more especially, when they have long since pursued
habits of self-indulgence in one way or another,
they particularly dislike any doctrine which re-
minds them of their danger, which shakes off their
easy, quiet slumbers, which awakens them to a
painful sense of perpetual responsibility, which
would force them to feel thai they must give
account of every deed they perform, every word
they utter, every thought they imagine. They
have been so httle in the habit of self-examina-
tion, and so long accustomed to regard them-
selves as safe, that they cannot bear to be called
to account. The very notion oi a judgment to
come, contradicts all their established notions,
all the usages and habits of the circle in which
they move. Accustomed to spend their time in
habits of business or leisure (as the case may
be), and to devote that leisure to any amusement
which may be in fashion, the notion of a judg-
ment is one of the last which crosses their minds.
How shocking it would be to speak of such a

XIII.]

AN ADVENT SERMON.

189

subject in the festivities and pleasures of the
world. And so life rolls on ; and though one and
another are called away, yet the world misses
them not ; others occupy their places, the giddy
dance continues, and the judgment is forgotten !
It is true they say in the creed, " From thence
He shall come to judge the quick and the dead ;"
it is true they pray in the liturgy, " In the hour
of death, and in the day of judgment, good Lord
deUver us;" and they hear occasional reference
to the subject from the pulpit, but these things
are soon forgotten, when custom and fashion put
rehgion out of countenance. And even preachers
are often found to suit their doctrines to the
palate of their hearers, and forbear to urge what
is so much less pleasing than the comfortable
doctrine of assurance, or the not less pleasing
hope, that if all the congregation are not among
the elect, at all events some are, and they there-
fore have no cause to fear. And so each man
hopes for himself and fears for his neighbour.
Whereas, the Scripture doctrine is, hope for
others, fear for yourselves. « Who shall judge
the quick and dead at His appearing and His
kingdom." It is astonishing what a multitude
of references there are in Scripture to the last
judgment. Enoch, we are told, only the seventh
from Adam, prophesied, saying, " Behold the Lord

I A

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190

AN ADVENT SERMON.

[SERM.

It r.

11 !

f ;

Cometh with ten thousand of His saints '." The
Psalms of David are full of declarations to the
same eifect : " God is a righteous Judge, strong
and patient ; and God is provoked every day. If
a man will not turn, He will whet His sword ;
He hath bent His bow, and made it ready '."
"Arise, thou Judge of the world; and reward
the proud after their deserving'." "The Lord
is in His holy temple; the Lord's seat is m
heaven. His eyes consider the poor; and His
eye-Uds try the children of men. Upon the un-
godly He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone,
storm and tempest : this shall be their portion
to drink*." "The Lord hath prepared His seat
in heaven ; and His kingdom ruleth over all ^"
« With righteousness shall He judge the world,
and the people with equity «." « The earth trem-
bled, and was still, when God arose to judgment,
and to help all the meek upon earth '." " Our
God shall come, and shall not keep silence : there
shall go before Him a consuming fire, and a
mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about
Him. He shall call the heaven from above, and
the earth, that He may judge His people'." " He
Cometh, He cometh to judge the earth ; and with

1 Jude 14. » Ps. vii. 12, 13. ' Ps. xciv. 2.

* Ps. xi. 4, 5. 7. » Ps- ciii. 19. ' ?»• '^cviii. 10.

1 Ps. Ixxvi. 8, 9. * Ps. 1. 3, 4.

XIII.]

AN ADVENT SERMON.

191

righteousness to judge the world, and the people
with His truth \"

The prophets abound with majestic descrip-
tions of Jehovah coming to judgment. " In that
day," says Isaiah, " shall a man cast his idols
of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made
each one for himself to worship, to the moles
and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the
rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for
fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His ma-
jesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the
earth \" " They shall say," says Hosea, " to the
mountains, Cover us, and to the hills. Fall on
us '." " He shall sit," says Malachi, " as a refin .r
and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the
sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering
in righteousness. But who may abide the day
of His coming? and who shall stand when He
appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and
like fullers' soap \" And one of the boldest and
most magnificent images in the Old Testament
is found in the prophet Habakkuk, when de-
scribing the Almighty coming to judgment at
Mount Sinai as a type of the last day ; — " God
came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount

9 Ps. xcvi. 13.
» Hos. X. 8.

» Is. ii. 20, 21.
3 Mai. iii. 2, 3.

192

AN ADVENT SERMON.

[SERM.

i,!

Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and the
earth was full of His praise. And His bright-
ness was as the light; He had horns coming out
of his hand : and there was the hiding of His
power. Before Him went the pestilence, and
burning coals went forth at His feet. He stood
and measured the earth : he beheld and drove
asunder the nations ; and the everlasting moun-
tains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow :
His ways are everlasting *."

Can we forget the frequent references of our
Saviour to the same subject? "Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son
of God ; and they that hear shall live. All that
are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall
come forth ; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done
evil, unto the resurrection of damnation \" Seve-
ral of our Lord's parables, as that of the talents,
the ten virgins, the unjust judge, the two debtors

all have reference to the same subject, and

from one of them He passes on immediately to
the declaration, « When the Son of Man shall
come in His glory, and all the holy angels with
Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His

I' s'1

♦ Hab. iii. 3—6.

» John V. 26. 29.

i >

XTII.]

AN ADVENT SERMON.

193

glory: and before Him shall be gathered all
nations "."

The subject of the last judgment occupied a
prominent part of the preaching of the Apostles.
St. Peter speaks of it in his second Epistle'.
St. Paul declared it to the polished Athenians ',
and to the hard-hearted Jews ' ; St. John writes
of it in his epistles of love '. St. Paul is perpe-
tually alluding to it. In his epistles we find
these sentences: — "In the day when God shall
judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ*;"
« for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat
of Christ'." "The fire shall try every man's
work of what sort it is *." For we must all ap-
pear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that
every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad*." For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first"."
"The Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the quick

« Matt. XXV. 31, 32. See also to the end of the chapter.

"> 2 Pet. iii. 7—12;, " Acts xvti. 31.

9 Heb. ix. 27, 28. ^ 1 John iv. 17.

« Rom. ii. 16. ^ Rom. xiv. 10.

♦ 1 Cor. iii. 13. * 2 Cor. v. 10.

« 1 Thess. iv. 16.

1 i

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194

AN ADVENT SERMON.

[SERM.

and the dead at Hi« appearing and His king-
dom'." " If we rin wilfully, after that we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there re-
maineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain
fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indigna-
tion, which shall devour the adversaries '." « Let
us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of
entering into His rest, any of you should seem
to come short of it»." "Serve God acceptably
with reverence and godly fear ; for our God is
a consuming fire *."

St. Peter and St. Jude dwell at length on the
same subject :—" The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night ; in which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the
eiemenls shall melt with fervent heat; the earth
»)t.o, .aid the works that are therein, shall be
burnt up'." "Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment
upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly
among them of all their ungodly deeds which
they have ungodly committed, and of all their
hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken
against Him'." And one of the last verses in
the Bible says, "Behold, 1 come quickly; and

7 2 Tim. iv. 1.
9 Heb. iv. 1.
2 2 Pet. iii. 10.

« Heb. X. 26, 27-
1 Heb. xii. 28, 29.
8 Jude 14, 15.

XIIl.]

AN ADVENT SERMON.

195

My reward is with Me, to give every man ac-
cording as his work shall be *."

Thus, so far from our preaching on the hist
judgment being not to preach the Gospel; we
cannot preach the Gospel at all if we do not often
speak of it, inasmuch as it forms so large a part
of Gospel truth and apostolic teaching ; and it is
remarkable that the Apostle, in two places, when
speaking of the last judgment, adds, " according
to my Gospel."

The text, then, speaks of four things: — first,
the Judge ; secondly, the act of judgment ; thirdly,
the persons on whom pronounced; fourthly, the
time.

The Judge is our Lord Jesus Christ, for judg-
ment belongs to the Mediator of men, Christ Jesus.
"The Father judgeth no man, but hath com-
mitted all judgment unto the Son; and hath
given Him authority to execute judgment also,
because He is the Son of man'," And why is
it said, "because He is the Son of man?" We
may suppose that this is done on several accounts :
first, if we are to be judged of things done in the
body, it has been well said, who can be so fit a
judge of them, who so competent to temper jus-
tice with mercy, and exactly discriminate between

* Rev. xxii. 12.

= John V. 22, 27.

196

AN ADVENT SERMON.

[SERM.

the real and the apparent in human actions, as
He, who, " though He thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, toik upon Him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likenejs of men '?"
To whom could we lommit our cause with so
much confidence as to the Saviour, who, though
He be an impartial judge, is still the sinner's
friend? AH that can be alleged on our behalf
will be admitted by one who was " tempted in
all points like as we are, yet without sin '/' Se-
condly, it seems fitting that Christ should be the
Judge, to show the glory of His Godhead, as well
as the truth of His manhood. For though it is
said, that God will "judge the world in righteous-
ness by that man whom He hath ordaiued' ;" yet
nothing is more certain than that God will be
the Judge. Indeed, the Bible so often and so
plainly tells this, that no other truth is declared
with more fulness and assurance. " God is the
judge," says the Psalmist, "He putteth down
one, and setteth up another ^" " God shall judge
the secrets of men's hearts*," says the Apostle
Paul. Indeed, who but God can? or who but
a divine person can judge mankind righteously?
Thirdly, the committing judgment to the Son,

! t

I !

6 Phil. ii. 6, 7. ' Heb. iv. 15.

9 Ps. Ixxv. 7.

» Acts xvii. 31.
» Rom. ii. 16.

XIII.]

AN ADVENT SERMON.

197

seems proper to vindicate the insulted majesty
of the Son of God when on earth. Therefore,
when our Saviour stood before Caiaphas and the
council, and they adjured Him, required Him
under the solemn sanction of an oath, to tell them
whether He were the Christ ; He answered, " I
am : and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on
the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds
of heaven ^" Novir it was on this answer that
they proceeded to pass sentence upon their future
Judge. So crooked and perverse is human judg-
ment. The very Judge of all. Himself was arraigned
at the bar of human justice, pronounced guilty with-
out evidence, and even against it, and condemned
as a blasphemer for asserting the prerogative of
His office. Where will these men hide their guilty
heads, who blasphemously railed, insulted, and cru-
cified Him ? And what emphasis does such a scene
give to the words of the prophet, " Fear ye not the
reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their re-
viUngs ^f " Cease ye from man, whose breath is in
his nostrils : for wherein is he to be accounted of*?"
But the text speaks, secondly, of the act of judg-
ment. A vast number of qualities and perfections
belong to the act, which none but God can exer-
cise. That accurate discerning of spirits which

i u .

i 1 »

iili'. i

2 Mark xiv. 62.

a Isa. li. 7.

* Ibid. ii. 22.

•"or

IK,

198

AN ADVENT SERMON.

[SERM.

will enable Him to separate men one from an-
other, as "a shepherd divideth the sheep from
the goats," reading instantaneously their whole
character and history, their talents, opportuni-
ties, privileges, desires, hopes, motives ; the dis-
covery of each separate action in the whole life,
and the pourtraying it before the conscience,
just as the picture which is now taken by the
help of the rays of the sun, contains in miniature
all the lines (how many soever they be) of the
whole countenance ; the attaching to each action
and thought its proper motive, and assigning to
mixed motives their proper place ; the separating*
individuals from classes among whom found, and
giving them their proper place ; and the summing
up with right, but merciful exactness, the entire
character of the whole man, and this in the case
of all mankind ; what a tremendous work is this,
how impossible to be performed by any but by
God. Let us remember, then, the principle on
which this sentence will proceed ; " To them who
by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for
glory, honour, and immortality, eternal life; but
unto them that are contentious, and do not obey
the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation
and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every
soul of man that doeth evil ^" When, then, our

* Rom. ii. 7 — 9.

XIII.]

AN ADVENT SERMON.

199

Saviour in the 25th of St. Matthew, mentions love
to the brethren as the sole ground on which the
final reward is to be made, He does it, not surely
to exclude any of the graces which St. Paul here
mentions, but inasmuch as love is the fulfilling of
the law, the parent and progenitor of all the rest.

Thirdly, the persons. The quick and the dead —
the quick, who shall be alive at that awful day —
the dead, who shall rise from their graves ; all
mankind included, none exempt.

Now surely this is one of the facts of that last
day which we should most often think upon in
our closets. "Commune,"' says the Psalmist,
"with your own heart upon your bed, and be
still'." We should remember, that we shall all
be there and be judged ; high and low, rich and
poor, one with another ; and that as none of us
will be able to " redeem his brother, nor give to
God a ransom for him ^," so we still all have to
answer for our own individual acts. Is there not
something in these thoughts which should pre-
vent us from setting up as judges of our brethren?
which should check proud or ill-natured censures,
provoking comparisons, uncharitable imputations,
bitter and hasty quarrels, and above all, malice
and revenge? For we shall each be judged.

Ps. iv. 4.

7 Ibid. xlix. 7.

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200

AN ADVENT SERMON.

[SERM.

How unspeakably awful is the thought of a sen-
tence for eternity! A sentence so just that we
cannot accuse it : so exact that we cannot evade
it: which, when once pronounced, no intreaties,
no lamentations, no repentance, can possibly
change or recall. All the accompaniments of that
day are awful. The surprise (for it will come
suddenly), the whole universe shaken to pieces,
the elements melting away, the true characters of
all men at once appearing, the sight of the angels
who ministered, and the devils who tempted us,
the thought of all things that ever we did, the ex-
pectation of the endless life to come, the conscious-
ness of the nothingness of human fears, and hopes,
and joys, the sight of our Judge ;-surely, if some
supernatural comfort were not vouchsafed us
amidst these terrors, what heart could endure?
That such peace will be granted to sincere Chris-
tians may be inferred from several passages of
Holy Writ. I name but two. One in the pro-
phet Isaiah, which seems to apply to the last day:
« It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ;
we have waited for Him, and He will save us : this
is the Lord ; we have waited for Him, we will be
glad and rejoice in His salvation » f the other in
the Epistle to the Thessalonians, "When He shaU

* Isa. XXV. 9.

XIII.]

AN ADVENT SERMON,

201

come to be glorified in His saints, and to be
admired in all them that believe, (because our
testimony among you was believed,) in that
day ®." We cannot but think that these passages
imply that a special gift of peace and hope shall
be vouchsafed to those who have trusted in the
Saviour : and if such grace be necessary to sup-
port the righteous, what will be the fear of those
who have it not?

There remains one more point ; The time of His
appearing and His kingdom, i. e. when He shall
appear to take possession of His kingdom, when
the words shall be fulfilled which say, " Thy
kingdom come" This may serve to illustrate
another text which has been much misunderstood.
"Then shall He deliver up the kingdom to God,
even the Father; when He shall have put down
all rule, and all authority and power. Then shall
the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that
put all things under Him, that God may be all in
all \" The words have been construed to mean,
that God the Father shall be the only King, and
the Son's dominion shall have an end. Where-
fore, then, does the Apostle say, "Of the Son
He saith. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever'," if the Son's kingdom shall then be

9 2 Thess. i. 10.

1 1 Cor. xxiv. 28.
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2 Heb. i. 8.

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203

AN ADVENT SERMON.

[SERM.

ended? The Apostle in that place seems to
speak of His kingdom as Mediator, that which
He holds as sent by the Father, as commissioned
to reconcile man to God ; that service having been
performed, He resigns it into His hands from
whom He received it, and God is " all in all ;»
the eternal Word resumes that glory which He
laid aside when He condescended to take upon
Himself our nature, and take on Himself the
form of a servant ; the act of subjection to the
Father being the last act of the mediatorial king-
dom. But He can no more cease to be King than
He can cease to be God; and He who was from the
beginning with God, must be always the living and
true God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit
in that Godhead which always is one.

Having now considered this all-important sub-
ject as regards the Judge, the act, persons, time ;
—what remains, but that I exhort and implore
you all, as those that must soon stand before the
Judge of all, to " search and examine yourselves;
and that not Ughtly, and after the manner of
dissemblers with God," but fully and completely,
as in His sight; or rather, what ought we to do
but to pray for and with one another, that we may
Hve more like those who wait for their Lord, " and
do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with

XIII.]

AN ADVENT SERMON.

203

our God ^" Ought we not, then, to think with
ourselves first, whether we bear the subject in
mind as we ought ? whether it forms a consider-
able part of our thoughts ? whether it has a per-
ceptible influence on our habits, tempers, and
affections? whether we cherish the sense of daily
responsibility which those must feel who reflect
that they must soon stand before an all-seeing,
holy, but merciful Judge ? Should it be said, that
too frequently thinking on this would so absorb
our thoughts that we should not be able to attend
to the business of life, I answer, God does not
require us to desist from business, but so to engage
in it as in His work, and do it for Him and for
His glory. But surely we need not fear that we
shall think too much of eternal realities : the
great fear is, we all think of them too little. The
great, all-absorbing interest of the world, carries
us all down the stream of time too fast for us to
fear being too much absorbed with the things
which belong to a future state. No, my brethren,
our only regret when we come to die will be, that
we minded time too much, and eternity too little.
Take warning, then, from the instances of mor-
tality around you ; " Let your loins be girt about
with truth, and have on the breastplate of righte-

' Mic. vi. 8.
K 6

r f ^

204

AN ADVENT SERMON.

ousness * ;" that so, being weaned from the world
and weary of its corruption, we may desire, when
God's work is done in us, to lie down in our grave
as a place where neither sin nor sorrow can reach
us, a place of sweet and quiet rest for our weary
bodies, and that our souls may be gradually pre-
paring for the everlasting glories of heaven.

♦ Eph. vi. 14.

< 4-

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

ll 1

)ri|

SERMON XIV.

Isaiah vii. 10 — 16.

" Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee
a sign of the Lord thy God ; ask it either in the depth or in the
height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I
tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, house of David ;
Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weai'y
my God also ? Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a
sign ; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a sou, and shall
call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that
he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For
before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the
good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both
her kings."

On a day which brought light to them that " sat
in darkness/' pardon to the condemned, and com-
fort to the despairing, what can be more profit-
able than to compare the Old Testament with the
New Testament; prophecy with its fulfilment?
The prophecies of Isaiah were uttered during the
reigns of Jotham, Uzziah, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,

206

A CHRISTMAS SERMON. [SERM,

kings of Judah ; of these five, Jotham and Uzziah
died at an early period of Isaiah's ministry. And
Ahaz appears to have been of all the kings of
Judah (if we except Manasseh) the most depraved.
Succeeding two pious kings, he rushed into ini-
quity with a greediness which showed the revolt-
ing wickedness of his heart. Every kind of ido-
latry was now revived, and he even made his own
son to pass through the fire, and sacrificed him
to Moloch. Provoked by his idolatries, God
raised up against him several formidable enemies.
The Edomites on the south, and the Philistines
on the west, invaded his land, and on the north
Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel
attacked him. In his distress, Ahaz applied to
the king of Assyria for help, who, instead of
giving him any effectual succour, only added to
his misery by insisting on his paying largely for
promises which were never fulfilled. And Ahaz,
having cut off the gold and silver from the house
of God, in his infatuation sacrificed to the gods
of Damascus, and this, says the sacred history,
was the ruin of him and of all Israel. The two
most formidable opponents of Ahaz, the kings of
Syria and Israel, were not slow to take advantage
of his perplexity, and marched their united forces
against Jerusalem, for the purpose of taking the
city, and setting up in it a king dependent on

XIV.]

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

207

themselves. But prophecy here interposed. It
was not the purpose of God at the time that
the kingdom of Judah should be destroyed, and
Isaiah, the neglected prophet of the Lord, was
sent (without Ahaz asking) to assure him that the
invasion should come to nothing, and to remind
him that his want of faith was the cause of all
his present troubles, and would be the source of
future calamities ; " If ye will not believe, surely
ye shall not be established '." " Moreover (it is
said) the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, {i. e. pro-
bably on another occasion,) saying, Ask thee a
sign of the Lord thy God ;" if thou doubtest the
word of the prophet, abundant proof shall be
given thee, thou hast only to ask ; the depth
beneath, or the heaven above shall yield confir-
mation to the faith. But Ahaz, in the true spirit
of infidelity, which multiplies ingenious objections
in proportion to the sufficiency of proof, and
tempts God no less when, like Ahaz, it refuses
to ask for what He does offer, than when, like the
Jews in our Saviour's time, it demands what He
does notf met the prophet's request with a peremp-
tory refusal : " I will not ask," and with a pre-
tence of piety, " neither will I tempt the Lord."
Ahaz having now by his obstinacy placed him-

* Isa. vii. 9.

i^^oM

208

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

[SERM.

1 I

self out of the reach of help, the prophet turns
from him to the house of David ; for the transition
is remarkable, and speaks of what concerned
not merely Ahaz, but the whole line of David's
race, from whom the promised Messiah was to
spring. The words " hear now" are always sig-
nificant of some important event in the prophetic
declarations, and the words "house of David"
would connect them with what God had said to
David before concerning his house on the first estab-
lishment of the temporal kingdom. I speak no
more to this abandoned, graceless being, but to
all who belong to David's favoured family. Is it
not enough that ye resist the prophet's words,
but will ye oppose yourselves to the express com-
mands of God? Therefore, whether ye will or
no, a new and marvellous sign shall be given you;
not a sign suited to your low and carnal under-
standings, but one hidden, mysterious, and per-
plexing ; for since you refuse what is plain, you
shall now have what is obscure. You might have
asked a suspension of the laws of nature, you
shall now have a contradiction to them : " Behold,
a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall
he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and
choose the good. For before the child shall know
to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land

XIV.]

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

209

that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her
kings."

There are several things here which require
explanation ; viz., First, the Person to whom the
whole of the prophecy relates. Secondly, the sign
of His birth. Thirdly, His remarkable name.
Fourthly, the mode of His bringing up, and the
removal of the cause of the apprehensions of Ahaz
before His appearance.

It has been a matter of some question, whether
this prophecy is to be taken in a double sense,
the sign relating first to some child soon to be
bom, either in the prophet's family or some other,
and secondly to our Saviour ; or whether it apply
wholly and entirely to our Lord : and it seems
most probable, that it is one of those prophecies
which apply solely to Christ. For although the
wife of Isaiah had sons who were themselves
selected as signs of events which were soon to
take place, no mention is made in this place of
the prophet's family, nor had he, as far as we can
gather, any child named Immanuel, nor does the
sign itself correspond in any of its leading features
with any event but the birth of our Saviour. The
principal part of it, the birth by a virgin, is ex-
clusive of any other event, and restricts it to that
one alone. Nor could the birth of any of Isaiah's
children in the ordinary course of nature, nor the

^j ^f^tr y si ^- : ! »g..... . T- .: .

210

A CHRISTMAS SERMON. [SERM.

^^tH---

subsequent marriage of some other young woman,
then a virgin, be any proper types of so great and
marvellous an event as that here foretold. If
again it be asked, what assurance of comfort to
Ahaz could the birth of our Saviour be, an evert
not to occur for seven hundred years ; the answer
is obvious, that Ahaz, having perversely rejected
the sign offered him, what was now foretold was
not intended as a consolation to him, not was it
addres 3ed to him, but to the house of David, i. e,
to the whole family of the house of Judah, from
whom the Messiah was to spring; a mode of
dealing of frequent occurrence in the Old Testa-
ment history, in which we find the perverse rejec-
tion of a temporal mercy often giving rise to the
offer of the spiritual and greater blessing. So
that on all these accounts, as well as from the
general testimony of the early Christian writers,
we may gather that this prophecy is to be regarded
as referable chiefly, if not entirely, to our Lord
Himself. And the language in which the pro-
phecy is clothed, the expressive summons to
attend to it as something new, the remarkable
phrase, that the "Lord Himself shall give you a
sign," with the references to it in the New Testa-
ment, all combine to favour this interpretation.

Let us mark, then, the sign itself. " Behold, a
virgin," or the virgin, for the article is emphatic,

3ERM.

XIV.]

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

211

Oman,
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[iphatic,

"shall conceive and bear a Son/' a prophecy
which, compared with its fulfilment in all its con-
ditions by the blessed Virgin, is conclusive against
the Jews. Their verbal objection, that the word
translated " virgin '' may mean a young married
woman, being sufficiently confuted not only by
the fact that the word is seven times used in the
Bible, and never in any other sense, but by the
fact of its being a sign, which, on their supposi-
tion, would be no sign at all.

Let us, however, who believe, silently and
humbly adore this great mystery of godliness,
and admire the riches of that wisdom which
effectea our redemption by a union of our nature
with His own, not by debasing His, but by en-
nobling ours ; not by mixing with our corrup-
tions, but by coming into the world pure and
spotless, to cleanse us from the stain of all sin,
original as well as actual. It is remarkable also,
what pains the wisdom of God has taken to vin-
dicate the sanctity and purity of the blessed
Virgin. The testimony of her purity is both
human and divine ; divine, for an angel from God
was sent to announce to her the tidings of our
Saviour's birth, addressing her with the high and
solemn title, " Hail, thou that art highly favoured,
the Lord is with thee " ;" human, proceeding from

» Luke i. 28.

212

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

[SERM.

her own espoused husband, who was too just to
do a dishonourable action, and too charitable to
do an unkind one, and whose testimony was suf-
ficient to protect her innocence and guard her
purity ; and, finally, the testimony of two other
married and aged persons, Zacharias and EUza-
beth, to whom Mary paid a visit in the hill
country of Judea, and who, inspired by the Holy
Ghost, proclaimed to the world her innocence,
her purity, the grace of God that was upon her,
and the fulfilment of the prophecy in her person.

From the sign we pass to the name which was to
be given to the child that should be born to her.
She shall call His name Emmanuel, " which is,"
says the Evangelist, " being interpreted, God with
us\" It may be asked, how was this fulfilled,
since the name given to our Saviour was not
Emmanuel, but Jesus : nor do we ever hear that
he took the name of Emmanuel ? The answer is,
that it was the custom of the Jews to give names
to their children expressive of their character, or
of the expectations that were formed of them.
Hence, a child was often said to be called by such
a name when the events of His life or His per-
sonal character corresponded to it. Thus John
the Baptist was called Elias, because he came in

3 Matt. i. 23.

XIV.]

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

213

the spirit and power of Elias. In this way the
Evangelist St. Matthew records the fulfilment
of the prophecy in the text. His name was called
Jesus. *' Now all this was done that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall
call His nanle Emmanuel, which, being inter-
preted, is God with us*;" i.e, when the name
Jesus was given, which signifies Jehovah the Sa-
viour, the prophecy was fulfilled which declared
that His name should be called Emmanuel; for
if He be God our Saviour, He must also be God
with us, dwelling in a tabernacle of flesh as man.
And this is another part of the prophecy which
obviously can relate to no other person but to our
Lord.

Another remarkable circumstance in the pro-
phecy is this : " Butter and honey shall He eat,
that," or more probably, when He shall know to
refuse the evil and choose the good ; i.e. taking the
latter part of the sentence first, "He shall know
how to refuse the evil and choose the good ;" He
shall exhibit a perfect pattern of obedience and
holiness at a time when children eat butter and
honey, or during the period of His infancy : show-

11 f ii

* Matt. i. 22, 23.

314

A CHRISTMAS SERMON. [sERM.

''•

ing on the one hand, that though Emmanuel, or
Divine, He shall still be a man, partaking of the
food of other mortal men ; and yet, though a man.
He shall even as a child choose between good and
evil, rejecting the one and preferring the other,
as none of Adam's children do, as none can do
but He who is born without spot of sin, and who
Himself continues clean from all sin.

This allusion to our Lord's early life may be
supposed to have been fulfilled when, being twelve
years of age. He stayed behind in Jerusalem to do
the work of his heavenly Father, and yet went
down with His earthly parents to Nazareth, and
was subject to them. The prophet proceeds :
" For before the child shall know to refuse the
evil and choose the good, the land that thou ab-
horrest shall be forsaken of both her kings ;" of
which we have a perfect fulfilment in the person
of our Saviour, The land which Ahaz abhorred,
which was the subject of his fears and appre-
hensions, was the land of Syria and Israel ; and
long before the birth and infancy of our blessed
Lord, Israel, or the ten tribes, had been carried
into captivity, and the land of Syria had passed
into the power of the Romans, and the fears of
Ahaz from that quarter had been proved to be
entirely groundless.

On the whole, then, the passage we have been

I! '» 1

XIV.]

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

215

considering is best explained by that method of
interpreting which confines it to our blessed Lord;
and considered in its exclusive reference to Him,
it shows the importance of that article of our
Creed, " born of the Virgin Mary." It pleased
God for the perfecting of the work of our redemp-
tion, that as the first Adam, the fountain of our
unrighteousness, had communicated a taint which
descended to all posterity born to him, the second
Adam, sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet by
His miraculous birth wdthout sin, might be mani-
fested to take away our sins. And thus the value
of His all-sufficient sacrifice is derived from His
undefiled purity as man, as well as His infinite
dignity as God. At the same time, so profound
and unsearchable a mystery is best left shrouded
in that obscurity in which God purposely con-
ceals the greatness of His own glory. Evidence
of the purity and peculiar grace bestowed upon
the mother of our Lord and God, we have abun-
dantly in the Bible ; but minute and unprofitable
inquiries are obviously discouraged by the ex-
pressive silence of the word of God respecting
her in after-life, and by the studious omission of
every thing which could lead us to exalt the
blessed mother at the expense of her divine Son
and Lord. The aspect of the passage before us
shows this; the expressive terms of the other

V )

316

A CHRISTMAS SERMON. [SERM.

lesson for the day, "that the government shall
be upon His shoulders V that His is the myste-
rious secret name, is sufficient to guard us against
ascribing to her whom we delight to honour as
the Blessed Virgin Mary, any further dignity,
which belongs alone to her divine Son. And
when we see that, not only in the practice of her
members (which we admit is not always a fair
test of the faith of a Church), but in public and
authorized books of devotion, and in the writings
of canonized saints, both ancient and modern,
direct prayers for health and salvation, bodily and
spiritual, are addressed to the blessed Virgin by
Roman Catholic writers without any reprehension
from public authority, it is a duty continually to
protest against a practice which has as little war-
rant in the Bible as in primitive usage, and which
must needs be, according to Bible rules, most
offensive to Almighty God. And when one single
passage can be alleged out of the Word of God
in which any example of such prayers is found, it
will then be time to consider the benefits which
are supposed to flow from the mysterious tender-
ness connected with the devotion of the blessed
Virgin. Till then, we may be well content to
beheve that our Lord^s own directions are suffi-

' Is. ix. 6.

XIV.]

A CHRISTMAS SERMON.

217

ciently explicit, that "if we ask anything in His
name He will do it ^"

Let us come, then, at this happy season, and
put on the wedding garment of faith and charity
to meet our Saviour. Let us nourish the holy flame
of interior religion by meditating on the great
mystery of our salvation with fixed, adoring love.
Let us dedicate to Him afresh every faculty of
body and mind ; let us open our hands wide to
His sick and poor members ; let us prepare for
beholding Him in the clouds, not in the lowliness
of a man, but in the glory and majesty of the
Father. This day we may celebrate the double
festival of His birth and resurrection, and we
shall do well to begin a new year by celebrating
the mystery of His sacrifice. For what but divine
strength can carry us through all the unknown
perils of another year ? seeing that, on every year,
as it swiftly rolls on into the mighty deep of
eternity, this solemn warning is written, " Boast
not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not
what a day may bring forth '."

^ John xiv. 14.

' Prov. xxvii. 1.

r~"

SERMON XV.

A PASSION SERMON.

i \

Hebrews v. 7j 8.
"Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayei-s
and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto Him that
was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He
feared ; though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by
the things which He suffered."

The Church has selected for our meditation during
this week several passages from the Epistle to the
Hebrews, and we may suppose the subject of that
Epistle to be the ground of the selection. The
Divine nature of Christ before He came into the
world, the nature and reason of His sufferings,
the perfection and glory of His priesthood com-
pared with that of the priesthood of Aaron and
his family, the various types of Christ under the
law, and their exact fulfilment in Him, and the
power of faith to enable us to follow Him in His
sufferings,— these are the principal subjects of
this most sublime, though somewhat difficult

A PASSION SERMON.

219

Epistle. It is a saying of Bishop Ken, that we
should nail ourselves to the cross of Christ during
Lent, that we may be prepared for the great sacri-
fice at Easter ; and certainly we cannot meditate
too much nor too sorrowfully on our Saviour's
passion, the great fear being, not that we shall
think too much of it, but too little. Who, indeed,
(if he looked merely to the conduct of Christians)
could scarcely believe that Christ was crucified at
this time? Who could believe that they were
Christian men, if he thought merely of their utter
indifference to the sufferings of Christ? Lent
comes to remind them of His fasting, but they
jest upon it ; Palm Sunday approaches, but Christ
is no more in their thoughts ; Passion week be-
gins, but they are not so superstitious as to
observe it; Good Friday, but they make it a
season of feasting, turning the very cross of Christ
into a mockery ; Easter, last of all, and they rise,
not to set their " affections on things above," but
to grovel in sensuality and debauchery.

This is infidelity, downright infidelity, call it by
what name you please ; soften it down as much
as you may, it is the same spirit which cried out
at the sight of Christ, "Away with Him, away
with Him, crucify Him." It is the very same
spirit which St. James has described as " earthly,
sensual, devilish." Do not think it much, my

L 2

I ~i

220

A PASSION SERMON.

[SERM.

brethren, to set apart some time for the service of
God this week. Prove yourselves really to belong
to the Church, by a holy, thankful observance of
the services of the Church ; a continual meditation
on the benefits of Christ's passion wil' prepare
our minds for joyfully celebrating that memorial
of His sufferings, the commemorative sacrifice of
the Gospel, the test of faith and obedience, the
blessed means and assurance of pardon, strength,

and renewal.

And let us now, praying for His aid, devote our
thoughts to that remarkable description of our
Lord's sufferings and humiliation which the
Apostle gives us, " Who in the days of His flesh,
when He had offered up prayers and supplications,
with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was
able to save Him from death, and was heard
in that He feared; though He were a Son, yet
learned He obedience by the things which He

suffered."

The words of the Apostle describe, first, the
state of humiliation to which our Lord and Saviour
voluntarily subjected Himself; "Who in the days
of His flesh." Secondly, the earnest and repeated
prayers of our Saviour, and the answer to those
prayers, "offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was
able to save Him from death, and was heard in

XV.]

A Passion sermon.

221

that He feared." Thirdly, the obedience which
He performed, and the remarkable mangier in
which He learned it, by the things which He
suffered.

Firrjt, His humiliation is here called, " the days
of His flesh ," an expression implying, not only
a state of former glory which He left when
He came down upon earth, but a similar state
to which He returned, for the Apostle adds,
that He was crowned, or "made perfect." Now
no language could be more unnatural or more
strained than this and similar expressions of the
Apostle, on the supposition that our Lord was a
mere man; since a man is flesh, and does not become
so, or take it to himself when he is born, for he
does not exist before he is flesh. But let the Bible
explain and illustrate itself. If we inquire, what
are "the days of His flesh ?*^ Had He any other
days besides those of His flesh which are spoken
of here ? We meet with a full answer in other
passages from the holy volume, " The Word was
made flesh '." What Word ? the same that " was
in the beginning with God, by whom all things
were made, and without whom was not any thing
made that was made ^^' " The only begotten Son
which is in the bosom of the Father V' says St.

-;!

' John i. 14.

2 John i. 2, 3.

3 John i. 18.

222

A PASSION SERMON.

[SERM.

John, speaking of Him not only after His return
to heaven, but while He was ministering upon
earth. Thus tlie days of His flesh were the days
of His brief sojourn here on earth, in contrast with
those endless days, or rather that everlasting day,
to which, without excluding other senses, the
Psalmist may be supposed to allude, when he
says, "Thou art my Son," i. e. my only everlasting
Son, "this day have I begotten Thee*;" the day
of eternity, Thou art from everlasting to everlast-
ing Mine.

Secondly, the expression " days of His flesh," sup-
poses His entire subjection to the Father, and His
taking on Himself those weaknesses and infirmities
of human nature which do not imply sin. Thus, as
one flesh with us. He not only felt as we do, hunger
and thirst, cold and heat and weariness; but sorrow,
suffering, fear, and apprehension of danger, and
desire to escape and to be released from suffering.
The religion of Christ does not enjoin upon any
of us a cold apathy, a stoical indifference to our
own sufferings, as if we could wrap ourselves up
in hardness of heart, and bid defiance to sorrow.
He who has no feeling for himself can hardly
feel for others, and his assumed indifference is,
after all, another form of selfishness. And to show

* Ps. ii. 7.

XV.]

A PASSION SERMON.

223

the truth of His humanity, our Lord, though as
God He is without passions, as man suffered,
felt, and desired to be released from suffering.

Let us in this view contemplate our Saviour's
prayer, of which the Apostle speaks. "When He had
offered up prayers and supplications, with stronji^
crying and tears." There can be little doubt that
the Apostle here refers to the agony of our Lord
in the garden of Gethsemane ; for we read in one
Evangelist that He said, " My soul is exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death';" and St. Mark adds,
that He " began to be very heavy V' (as it is ren-
dered,) in exceeding amazement and perplexity;
and St. Luke says, " Being in an agony He prayed
more earnestly, and His sweat was as it were great
drops of blood falling down to the ground \"
During this awful scene He prayed " three times,
saying the same words."

We cannot fail to observe in this prayer of our
blessed Lord, that as it was offered up with all
the sense of pain, agony, fear, and grief, which
belongs to our nature, and to one suffering as
man, so the most singular part of it is, that duti-
ful obedience, that submissive reverence which
ought to be the principal feature in our prayers,
but was every way remarkable in His. If famili-

5 Matt. xxvi. 38.

Mark xiv. 33.

' Luke xxii. 44.

224

A PASSION SERMON.

[SERM.

arity had been lawful in any prayer, it must have
been so with one who knew the Father, even as
the Father knew Him, yet we find on the con-
trary, the prayers of our Lord characterized by
the deepest humility, by the profoundest reve-
rence. What an awful lesson does this read to
us, not to trifle in our prayers to the Almighty ;
to take care that our spirit be sober, serious, full
of self-abasement, and prostration of mind. For
God is in heaven, and we upon earth. But an
intense earnestness likewise marks the character
of our Lord's prayer. The Apostle has used a
variety of expressions to show this ; he speaks of
'' prayers" ^^ mpplications" ^'with strong crying
and tears ;" and this was shown (as far as appears)
not by the lengthened expressions that fell from
Him, but by that inward half-suppressed anguish
which manifested itself in His countenance, and
in the mysterious bloody sweat that brake forth
from the pores of His sacred body.

The subject of our Lord's prayer was, first, as
the Apostle declares, " deliverance from death"
that the bitter cup might, if it were possible, pass
from Him. What the bitterness of these suffer-
ings was, when the whole weight of the sins of
the whole world fell on Him at once, it is impos-
sible to conceive, and it would be presumption to
attempt to describe ; but we may suppose (without

11 ^

■»«^ O —>,;■■»— --1

XV.]

A PASSION SERMON.

225

irreverence) that part of His supplication was,
that His human nature might be supported in
so dreadful an extremity, and that God would
glorify Himself by strengthening Him to suffer
and to die.

It is added, He was " h jard in that He feared ;"
i. e. either He was heard touching the object of
His fear, or He was beard because of His fear
Either way it is remarkable, that while it is said
" He was heard," God did not see fit to answer
His prayer in that way which His human nature
requested at first. For He said, " Let this cup
pass from me, if it be possible ' ;" but it was not
possible, and He drank it to the dregs. May we
not, from this example, learn to be satisfied when
God does not answer our petitions in the way
our weakness wishes that they should be answered ?
May we not, above all, be taught never to oflPer
a prayer for the removal of any afiliction, however
heavy, without adding the express condition,
" not as I will, but as Thou wilt."

But we pass to the third part of the text, the obe-
dience which our Lord is here said to have learned,
and the manner in which He learned it. " Though
He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the
things which He suffered." " Though He were a

I It

8 Matt. xxvi. 39.

. 1»

: ..I

226

A PASSION SERMON.

[SERM.

Son/' or perhaps the Son, and so exempted from
all necessity of suffering, having no sin to suffer
for ; for as God He had nothing to learn : but as
man He learned. The children of God are not as
sinners exempt from suffering, on the contrary,
it is part of their inheritance as children. " If
ye endure chastening, God dealeth wich you as
with sons : for what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not^" But Christ owed no such
debt of punishment to the Father. How, then,
or why did He suffer? The answer is, it was
necessary that He should suffer, as our surety
and our priest. If He would become our surety.
He must bear the punishment of our iniquity :
"the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us
all \" If He would be at once the victim and
the offerer, the priest and the sin-offering. He
must learn to offer for us by suffering for us.
That kind of obedience which He was now to render
to God as an atonement for the sins of the whole
world, could only be rendered by the sacrifice of
Christ; He learned it, and could only learn to
exercise it by suffering.

But the words of the text may be further ex-
plained, by comparing the expressions of the
Evangelist and the prophets concerning His pas-

» Heb. xii. 7-

1 Isa. Ixiii. 6.

...„...,_«•,<;.,,.,

XV.]

A PASSION SERMON.

227

sion. To those which I have already quoted,
St. John adds a remarkable passage, that in the
contemplation of His speedily approaching suf-
ferings, He said, " What shall I now say ?
Father, save me from this hour: but for this
cause came I unto this hour^" St. Augustine
has a remarkably instructive comment on these
words in his fifty-second Tract on St. John.
"I hear Him saying above, ^The hour is come
that the Son of man should be glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that
hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto
life eternal.^ Nor am I allowed merely to wonder,
but am bid to follow Him : and again, I hear my
Lord saying, 'Now is my soul troubled?^ What is
is this ? How dost Thou bid my soul follow Thee,
if I see Thy soul troubled? How shall I suffer
what Thy firmness feels so heavy ? What foun-
dation shall I seek if the Rock itself give way ?
But I seem to hear my Lord answer me, and say,
'Thou wilt the more follow me, because I interpose
myself that Thou mayest pass over; Thou hast
heard the voice of My strength calling thee to

2. i

%
'«-.

« John xii. 27.

228

A PASSION SERMON.

[SERM.

sutfer ; now hear in Me the voice of thy weakness ;
I transfer to Myself thy trembhng, and lay Myself
down as a way for thee to pass over/ O Lord, the
Mediator, who art God over us, and Man for our
sake, I acknowledge Thy mercy in being, through
Thy good will, voluntarily troubled, that Thou
mightest comfort those who are troubled by the
sense of their weakness."

In like manner the prophet Isaiah and the
Psalmist speak of our Lord's learning obedience
by suffering. In the prophetical descriptions of
the Old Testament, as in the narrative of the
Evangelists, there is the same anxiety not to
suffer if it were God's will, combined with the
same entire submission to that will, and the same
willingness to bear it, which mark the character
of the only perfect Sufferer. " He was oppressed,
and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His
mouth : He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so
He opened not His mouth *." " I gave My back
to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair : I hid not My face from
shame and spitting*." "The plowers plowed
upon My back, and made long their furrows K"
"O my God, I cry in the day time, but Thou

» Is. liii. 7.

* 18.1.6.

* Pb. cxxix. 3.

XV.]

A PASSION SERMON.

229

! I.,

hearest not; and in the night season, and am
not silent \" "I am feeble and sore broken: I
have roared by reason of the disquietness of my
heart. Lord, all My desire is before Thee ; anc^
My groaning is not hid from Thee. My heart
panteth, My strength faileth Me : as for the light
of Mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers
and My friends stand aloof from My sore, and
My kinsmen stand afar off^" "Save Me, O
God, for the waters are come in unto My soul.
I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing ;
I am come into deep waters, where the floods
overflow Me. I am weary of crying ; My throat
is dried ; Mine eyes fail while I wait for My God.
They that hate Me without a cause are more than
the hairs of Mine head : they that would destroy
Me, being Mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty ;
then I restored that which I took not away'."
"Thy fierce wrath goeth over Me; Thy terrors
have cut Me off. They came round about Me
daily like wa*.er; thty compassed Me about to-
gether ^" Thus decs the Old Testament illus-
trate the words, '^ He learned obedience by the
things which He suffered."
What, then, do we learn from this view of our

» Ps. xxii. 2.
^ Ps. Ixix. 1 — 4.

' Ps. xxxviii. 8 — 11.
» Ps. Ixxxviii. 16—18.

€r

' i

230

A PASSION SERMON.

[SERM.

Saviour's' passion ? First, we see in it a certain
proof of His sufficiency as our Redeemer. The
atonement which He made was complete in all
its parts. It was a sacrifice without any blemish
or stain which could render it unacceptable in
the eyes of God, and full of that perfection
which the Father could justly accept as a ran-
som for the sons of men. It was a voluntary
sacrifice, a freewill offering,, as the Psalmist in
the 40th Psalm maintains. It was, above all, a
Divine sacrifice ; it was the blood of the Son of
God, — of Him who in His eternal Sonship or
Divine nature, offered Himself without spot to
the Father. It was this which gave that infinite
value to the sacrifice itself, and made it a suffi-
cient propitiation for the sins of the whole
world.

But the two principal graces which are taught us
at this time, are Patience and Repentance, We
may see here, also, that we should never think it
hard to pass through the same path of suffering
to eternal glory. Did I say hard ? — Ought I not
rather to say, we should esteem it our greatest
joy and glory ? For if we suffer with Him, i, e.,
according to the will of God, righteously and
patiently as He did, we shall also be glorified
with Him. For recollect the cause of our Lord's
suffering : " He died the just for the unjust, that

XV.]

A PASSION SERMON.

231

He might bring us to God \" " We receive the
due reward of our deeds.'^ Compare our suffer-
ings, as to number, weight, and measure, with the
Lord's. Think of the contradiction of sinners,
the poverty, shame, cruel usage, barbarous indig-
nities, which He bore; and above all, that un-
known agony. Then should we remember His
words: "The disciple is not above his master:
but every one that is perfect shall be as his
master '."

But surely the great call of this week is to
repentance. Christ looks on us by the sacred
narrative of His passion, as He looked on St.
Peter, and recalled him by that look. Devote
this week, then, brethren, to the meditating on
the sufferings of Christ. Think of your own sins,
so many in number, so heavy in account ; sins in
thought, word, and deed; sins of youth, child-
hood, age; sins of station, as rich or as poor;
sins of relation — as husband or wife, master or
servant, parent or child, ministers or people ;
sins of omission and neglect; sins of positive
breach of a known law; sins against your bap-
tismal vow ; against God's offered, covenanted,
repeatedly offered mercy ; against the sacramental

I ■

>-. I

: n y

» 1 Pet. iii. 18.

? Luke vi. 40.

^•:i

{

232

A PASSION SERMON.

[SERM.

pledge ; sins of the first and second table, infide-
lity, profaneness, loving other things more than
God, neglect of His worship, word, and sacra-
ments, and holy day; sins against your parents or
neighbours, in person, property, character ; sins of
uncleanness, profaneness, hypocrisy, and not least
of all, that idolatrous sin of covetousness, which
makes you think this world the only thing worth
having, the only thing worth striving for. Think
on these things, and compare them with the
sufferings of Christ; and remember that those
sufferings were a ransom for these sins. That
crown of thorns; that bloody sweat; those tor-
turing nails ; that bitter taunt; that cruel scourge;
that scornful jeer; that wrongful sentence; the
very cross itself, with all its shame and all its
pain, were the bitter fruit of those sins you have
perhaps this very day, without fear, without shame,
without remorse, without repentance, without
compunction, heedlessly, wilfully committed.

O what a subject is here for going out, as
St. Peter, to weep bitterly ; for confession with the
penitent thief; for reti ning with the prodigal;
for humiliation with the publican ; for restitution
with Zaccheus ; for trembling with the jailor ; for
attention with Lydia; for prayer with David.
" Harden not your heart, as in the provocation.

XV.]

A PASSION SERMON.

233

and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness,
lest He swear in His wrath, They shall not enter
into my restV One thing you cannot say— I
was not warned.

3 Ps. xcv. 8. 1

•i.

h ?l

\f}

„

SERMON XVI.

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

' '

m '

•'•

John xx. 29.

" Jesus saith unto hira, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou
hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, and yet
have believed.''

It has been well observed, that if there be any
part of the Bible which seems to invite our pecu-
liar study, it would seem to be the Gospels. No
doubt all holy Scripture is profitable; but parts of
the sacred volume require so much previous in-
struction on the part of the reader, that ordinary
persons often finc^ themselves at a loss to discover
the meaning of tie dark prophetic phrases, or to
fathom the profound arguments of the learned
Paul. But the Gospels seem especially written
for all mankind. Simple unpretending narrations,
delightful for their simplicity, yet full of the deep-
est study of human nature, they captivate alike
the peasant and the philosopher, the fisherman

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

235

and the sage. But they seem peculiarly valuable,
because they give us so much insight into our
own hearts. The Epistles, even where they arc not
deep, are in the form of precepts and arguments,
and do not come home so closely to every-day life.
The Gospels tell us, not only what ought to be
done, but how our blessed Lord Himself thought,
and felt, and spoke, and acted, and how His dis-
ciples thought, and felt, and acted. And as the
characters of mankind in all ages are, more or
less, a repetition of each other, at least in the
main features of character, so what our Lord then
said to them, and what they thought of His deal-
ings with them, is a perpetual lesson to us.

Dark, and hidden, and extraordinary as the
doings of our Lord and Saviour appeared to His
disciples, so do His ways appear to us ; we cannot
fathom, we cannot unravel them ; we grope like
bUnd men in the way, feeling after One whose
footsteps we cannot see, and following Him with
fear and trembling through the deep waters, even
though these waters are a wall unto us on our
right hand and on our left. The Gospels, then,
serve as landmarks and guides in the journey;
we often may trace in our dispositions some like-
ness to an incident or character recorded there,
and we may profit by their manifest tions of the
wisdom and loving-kindness of the Lord. We

236

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON. [SERM.

* 1

m J

(■

have several incidents of the kind mentioned in
the second lesson for the morning service, such
as the visit of St. Peter and St. John to the
sepulchre of our Saviour, the devotion of Mary
Magdalene, and last, the unbelief and wonderful
confession of St. Thomas. I say wonderful confes-
sion ; for though St. Thomas has been sometimes
called the unbelieving disciple, let it be remem-
bered that he first of all made the acknowledg-
ment of the supreme Divinity of our Saviour, and
is the only one of the disciples who did so during
His life-tirje in those express terms, at least as far
as is on record. And this acknowledgment of so
very marvellous and surprising a truth may be
compared with what our Lord said to Mary just
before, on her offering to approach Him with
somewhat of human familiarity, and probably to
touch His hand : " Touch me not.'^ He would
no longer, afler His resurrection, be approached
as man; His body had already undergone a
change ; and He was about to resume His former
glory, which He had with the Father before He
came down from heaven and was made man.
Well then does Thomas say at such a time, " My
Lord and my God.*' Yet striking and well-timed
as the confession was, the disposition which re-
quired so much palpable evidence, was not suf-
fered to pass without a gentle reproof. And

XVI.]

AX EASTER-DAY SERMON.

237

our Lord, in His usual manner, discerning the
" thoughts and intents of the heart *," proceeded
to show Thomas the unreasonableness of that un-
belief of his, and to compare faith and sight as
the two great principles which divide the world,
and to point out the superiority of the one over
the other. " Thomas, because thou hast seen Me,
thou hast believed ; blessed are they that have
not seen, and yet have believed ;" where it is
evident that our Lord acknowledges that his be-
lief was right, and that his ascription of the Divine
nature to Him was justifiable, which alone is suf-
ficient to set the question at rest of the Godhead
of our Saviour ; for if He were not God, why did
He commend St. Thomas for it, blaming him
only, if for any thing, that he had not made the
confession sooner.

Let us, then, now endeavour to follow on in
the track of our Lord's declaration in the passage ;
and show, first, the superiority of faith over sight
as a quality of the mind and heart ; and secondly,
the blessedness of that believing heart which re-
quires not that strong and iiTesistible proof which
Thomas seemed to be looking out for.

Now, first of all, faith in its highest exercise, is
peculiarly a Gospel grace. Acts of natural piety,

> Heb. iv. 12.

•I

V ( :

I i

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AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

[SERM.

■)■!

('if

■ 1

,1 ',

such as the worship of God as Maker of the world,
the keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest, obedi-
ence to our parents and masters, and loving our
brethren, depend more or less on sight. We
admire the power, wisdom, and love of God in His
works. It were blindness and madness not to
do so.

It requires a judicial infatuation not to see the
hand of the Lord all around us ; it is visible to
the eye of sense, it is impressed as a seal upon the
whole creation, it forces itself upon us by a kind of
irresistible demonstration. But acts of what may be
properly termed Christian piety all depend on un-
seen realities. The incarnation of Christ, His con-
ception by the Holy Ghost and birth of a Virgin,
the astonishing union of the Divine and human
nature in one person, the atonement and vicarious
sacrifice of the Redeemer, the doctrine of the
influences of the Holy Ghost, and of a Trinity of
three persons in one Godhead, the use of the two
Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, the
last judgment, and the resurrection of the body,
are all specially apprehended not by sight, but
by faith ; sight rather contradicts than establishes
them, and we believe them rather in opposition
to all established notions than in consequence of
them. What can sight tell us of the way in which
the Son of God could be born of the blessed Virgin

[SERM.

XVI.]

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON,

239

; world,
> obedi-
ing our
:. We
I in His
not to

see the
sible to
pon the
kind of
mav be
\ on un-
lis con-
Virgin,
human
icarious
of the
'inity of
the two
per, the
e body,
;ht, but
ablishes
position
lence of
n which
d Virgin

as man, .ill the while continuing God ? living on
earth, yet being, as Himself tells us, "in heaven?"
What can sight inform us of the resurrection of
our own bodies, which we see decaying, dissolv-
ing, bereft of life, motion, sense, and continuance,
and reduced to ashes, or resolved into thin air,
ana scattered to the winds of heaven? What
can sight tell us of the benefit of Baptism and the
Lord's Supper ? In short, what can we learn by
sight either of God or of ourselves, which can
lead us on in the way to heaven ? He who will
believe only what he can see, must make a pre-
sent of faith to the infidel, and distrust Chris-
tianity itself; and he, who believing something of
Christianity, proceeds on the principles of sight,
may call Himself a believer, but is little better
than an unbeliever. In short, sight proceeds
on demonstration, faith on testimony; sight on
what is visible, material, palpable, tangible ; faith
on what is absent, spiritual, invisible, but real;
sight is distrustful and jealous, faith is almost
credulous, and if error there be, would rather
believe too much than too little. Sight makes
the hard, selfish worldling, contented with the
world and anxious to secure and keep fast hold
of it, discharging the duties of religion as an offset
to his worldliness ; and faith makes the humble,
contented, self-denying, patient Christian, liberal

I il'

240

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

[SERM.

of what he has, and contented to be denied what
he has not, and in the worldly man's eyes, one
of the most foolish and enthusiastick, if not con-
temptible persons in the world.

Again ; is it not evident that God's dealings
with mankind, as recorded by Himself in the
Holy Scriptures, are all practical instances' of
the superiority of faith over sight, and of His
wish to teach us the superiority ? Look at the
whole history of the Jewish nation ; what a lead-
ing by faith and not by sight from Abraham to
Simeon. Abraham suffered to live on in per-
petual expectation, perpetual disappointment of
his hope, and called on, even after the sacrifice
of his beloved Isaac, to die a sojourner in a
strange land. What a history is the history of
Israel in the wilderness ; and after their entrance
into Canaan, how are they oppressed, led cap-
tive, and almost exterminated. And though aged
Simeon did at last clasp the holy child in his
arms, yet he had waited all his life long for It,
and was on the eve of departing when he ob-
tained the promised blessing.

So it is with our Lord's own sojourning in the
world. He lived, it is supposed, about thirty-three
years, yet of these thirty were spent in retirement,
out of sight, and only three in sight, and those
three so full of contradiction, contumely, and

XVI.]

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

241

insult, that at the close of them, after all His mira-
cles, men only "mused in their hearts whether
He were the Christ or no." So little had sight
done for the recovery of the world. And no man
who has ever thought of God's dealings with him,
but must have seen the same purpose working,
the same eternal lesson coming round, Live bv
faith and not by sight ; trust God in spite of
appearances; believe in His mercy, power, and
goodness. How many of our earnest hopes have
been disappointed, our hopes blighted in the
bud, our schemes all brought to nothing in a
moment. God's way is still in the sea, His
path in the great waters, and His footsteps are
not known ^

But what a vast superiority has faith as a prac-
tical agent over sight. For real faith is no more
an act of the understanding and intellect only
than love is, it is from first to last the work of
the heart. A mere intellectual faith, which learns
the doctrines of the Gospel as a man may learn
a new language, as a mere intellectual exercise, is
worth nothing ; but that faith which purifies the
heart, which removes mountains, which is the
nurse and parent of love, is indeed a mighty
power. What a narrow-minded, petty thing is

2 Ps. Ixxvii. 19.

('1

243

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

[SERM.

sight as a principle of action ! To see men slaving
on year after year in abject slavery to the world,
to see them toiling like the drudges of some
terrible task-master, never happy but when they
have made some choice bargain, or taken some
advantage, to see them put all that is real, and
valuable, and good, utterly from them, and cling
to what is mean and paltry and vanishing away,
what a wretched sight it is ! To see them again
incapable of generous feelings and lofty aims,
never raising their eyes above their mere sordid
interests, and clinging to their treasure faster and
faster just as they are about to lose it, what a
wretched life is theirs ! One cannot compare them
to any thing else than to those miserable quacks of
whom one has read in history, who used to deceive
high^ and even royal masters, with the hope of find-
ing the philosopher's stone, and ^ing able to turn
every thing into gold. They shut themselves up
in their room filled with the poisonous fumes of
their crucible ; day and night, day and night, they
continued their unwearied search, but in vain, —
till either nature was worn out in pursuit of an
imaginary treasure, or some poisonous blast from
the furnace blew out their life and their hopes
together. So it is with men who walk by sight.
They attempt nothing generous, because they
believe nothing real. The world which they see

XVI.]

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

243

is their all; eternity is as nothing in their eyes.
And the blessed music of the heavenly choir, and
the heart-cheering promises of the Gospel, and
the stirring exhortations of the Apostles, and the
awful changes of the great day of judgment, are
out of mind. What, do we require the last trump
to rouse us from our slumbers, and bid us seek
for oil which cannot then be bought, and light
the lamps which are fast going out? But faith
bids us "work while it is day," for "the night
Cometh when no man can work '." Faith looks
not to present effects, but to God's promise and
reward. Faith originates great enterprises, and
is as venturesome and bold in action, as it is
humble in opinion, and submissive to authority.
So that while sight is cavilling at evidence, faith
has mastered the difficulty; while sight stands
waiting on the brink of the stream, faith has
plunged in and buffeted with the waves, and is
nearly landed on the opposite shore ; while all the
projects of sight vaoij^h on the approach of death,
faith's actions are treasured up where all fchat is
good is remembered, while the memory of evil
things will come to nothing.

" Because thou hast seen Me thou hast believed.^'
Are we, then, walking by faith in an unseen Sa-

' John ix. 4.
M 2

244

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AN EASTER-DAY SERMON. [SERM.

viour, or by sight in a seen world ? Is the present or
the future the commanding object of interest with
us ? Is it our advancement or our duty ? God's
will, or our own ? The treasures of Egypt, or Him
who is invisible ? Recollect, brethren, outward
respectability of character will not rightly deter-
mine the question. Morality and decency are
good, and not to be thought lightly of, but there
must be more ; there must be an interior religion,
a growth in holiness, a real inward love for Divine
things, if we would attain to what our Lord sets be-
fore us. It is well, no doubt, to be free from gross
and open crime ; would to God we had all got as far
as this ! But we must not stop here. There is a
blessed region beyond, and we cannot think of
safety till we have reached that region, and walk
on steadily in it. If you wish to attain this spirit,
you must learn to submit yourselves to the prac-
tical rules of the Gospel, and endeavour to carry
them into every-day life. The fashion of the
world, the custom of society, the habits of your
neighbours, must not be your rule, except as
fnr as they coincide with the Gospel, and are
agreeable to it. Where they diverge, you must
diverge too. It may be disagreeable, and expose
you to ridicule, but it must be done ; and yet not
done ostentatiously, or in an unchristian spirit,
but done humbly and tremblingly ; and by de-

XVI.]

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

24t

grees you will find the path more easy, and less
irksome to you. You will learn to " walk by faith
and not by sight."

Now our Lord declares there is a blessedness
in faith ; and when our Saviour emphatically pro-
nounces a thing blessed, we may be sure that it is
so in a very eminent degree; for His blessing in-
cludes all possible comfort, joy, and happiness.
There is a threefold blessedness in it. First, it
is a blessing which belongs to the thing itself; —
secondly, it is a blessing which is great by com-
parison of it with all other things ; — thirdly, it is
a blessing which is beyond all comparison, ex-
ceeding all our desires and thoughts in the glory
of the world to come.

First, take the blessing of walking by faith in
itself. Surely there is a contentment, resignation,
and solid joy about it, which is incredibly blessed.
To find God's word a sure word, God's promises
sure promises, to live upon His word all the day
long, to live in an unseen world, and in the pre-
sence of eternal realities, when we cannot see
them, is of itself a world of delight.

Again, by comparison, take, for example, the

case of a man who believes what he cannot see in

reference to the two Sacraments of Baptism and

the Lord's Supper. Which is the happier man of

the I wo ; — the man who brings his child to be

M 3

246

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON. [sERM.

baptized, believing in the promised grace of the
Holy Ghost, and not doubting or cavilling at the
words of the Church, but trusting that it shall be
so, though he cannot see it, and thinking the
Church's authority much better than his own ; or
the man who cavils at every word, or has just
read some fine ingenious piece of reasoning, to
prove that regeneration does not mean regenera-
tion, and grace does not mean grace ; and that
"' this child is regenerate," means that it is not so,
and that the washing away of sin means sprink-
ling with water. I say, which of the two is the
happier man ; — he who waits till he can see be-
fore he believes, or he who cannot see, and yet
believes ?

So again, in regard to the Lord's Supper : —
Which is the happier man ? He who comes to
the Lord's Table, believing that it is a mystery,
and that Christ is present, and is given, taken,
and eaten spiritually by the faithful, and yet that
the bread and wine are bread and wine, and cares
not to reconcile the two, but contents himself with
receiving in simplicity the words of the Lord Jesus;
or is it the man who refines, and disputes, and
cavils, and evades, and doubts, and deals in ques-
tions and strifes of words, and after all is no wiser,
and goes lean and hungry away ? Depend upon it,
no man is the happier for a disputatious temper.

iL_

XVI.]

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

247

He may gratify his own love of subtlety ; he may
raise a hard question which nobody can answer ;
he may take the lead in a circle of disputants, but
he is not the more at ease in his own soul ; he is
vexing and tormenting himself in secret after all ;
ever hearing, and yet never the nearer truth all
the while. Truth is not attained by controversy ;
and they who spend their time in controversy,
especially when they are not called to it by their
station, will be sure to miss it.

And as with the Sacraments, so with the Creeds.
Which is the happier man: he who is humble
enough to think the Prayer-book is authority
enough for a man who has no great pretension to
learning, or he who with a little learning (that
most dangerous thing), a little second-hand smat-
tering of objections borrowed from some super-
ficial teacher, is offended by what the deepest
divines, the soundest scholars, the most devout,
rational, and pious Christians, have continually
approved, and vexes himself by a perpetual irri-
tation whenever it is read ? The fact speaks for
itself. Objectors are the most unhappy of man-
kind ; whereas submission to authority and humble
belief always bring a present reward of peace and
solid contentment. And viewing the matter in
another light, as to practice. Which is the
more blessed : he who leans upon the world for

M 4

ii:

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IH'

"irm

Fff

N I

i -m

■in- ;lf,f!

248

AN EASTER-DAY SERMON.

[SERM.

support, or he who leans upon the arm of the
Almighty ? The one knows if his earthl^ blessings
are taken from him, it is in mercy ; it is only for
a while ; it is only a little sooner than he must
have lost them ; it is less than he deserves ; it is
to work out some greater boon. The other has
lost his all ; his happiness is gone when the world
is gone, for he has no other in prospect. So that
here, too, the gain on the side of faith is incal-
culable. But the very name of faith implies, that
if sight appear to have some advantage here, it
can have none hereafter. There the believer must
be a gainer, not merely by comparison, but abso-
lutely, superlatively ; " exceeding abundantly
above all that we can ask or think *."

Oh! what must that " exceeding weight of
glory be," the very glimpses of whi h, when
vouchsalcd on earth, in the transfiguration of our
Saviour, in the appearances of angels, in the vision
of our Lord to Saul of Tarsus, and in the mani-
festation of our Saviour to His beloved disciple,
were enough to overwhelm and overpower the
senses, and strike the holiest man dumb with
amazement and with dread !

No ! faith alone can realize faith's reward ; and
even faith itself, when the reality comes, will be

♦ Ephes. iii. 20.

XVI.]

AN EASTER- IJAY SERMON.

210

forced to give way to a higher and dobler grace,
that of* love ; which is the great enduring grace,
the true copy of our Blessed Saviour's image and
likeness, the restoration of man to the favour of
God.

' '■ !

1 I

i h ^■'

M 5

(iffi!aKfl?r'Tf

SERMON XVII.

A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY.

Ps. xxiv. 7—10.

*' Lift up your heads, ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors ; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in
battle. Lift up your heads, ye gates ; even lift them up, ye
everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in. Who
is this King of glory ? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of
glory."

The Psalm in which these words occur is one of
the most sublime in the whole range of Hebrew
poetry. It seems (as far as we can conjecture) to
have been composed by David on the occasion of
the ark being carried to Mount Zion, and may
have been used on that occasion^ unless we sup-
pose it first used after the building of Solomon's
temple. Whatever it be, the words were evidently
sung by alternate choirs of the Levites, after the
manner of the Hebrews. It is, moreover, one of
those Psalms which most clearly admit of a fuller

A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY.

251

and higher sense, and which has always been
understood by the Church to apply to the ascen-
sion of our Blessed Saviour. So the Church has
ever understood it; so our own Church has re-
ceived it from them, and so it is our privilege this
day to explain it to you. The Psalm opens thus :
" The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof;
the world and they that dwell therein: for He
hath founded it upon the seas, and established it
upon the floods." How great, how glorious, is
the Almighty Maker ; how astonishing His favour
and condescension; how extraordinary the tes-
timony of His love, when He chose out of all
nations one peculiar people, one holy Mount, to
be His earthly throne. Who, then, is fit to enter
His presence, and abide in His courts ? What
thankfulness, what purity, what righteousness,
are required ! " Who shall ascend into the hill of
the Lord? He that hath clean hands, and a pure
heart ; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully." Such holy souls shall, as
they enter the sanctuary, receive a blessing from
the Lord, and be sanctified and accepted by the
God of their salvation. At the close of the words
there is a break or interval in the Psalm, for the
procession seems to have reached the gates of the
tabernacle, and the Levites, as the ark slowly and
solemnly enters, begin the alternate strain ; " Lift

M 6

252

A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. [SERM.

up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye
everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall
come in/' Unworthy as ye are to admit the great
Lord of all, give Him a welcome entrance. The
alternate singers answer, and inquire, " Who is
this King of glory ?" The answer is, " The Lord
strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle."
Once more the attendp,nt ministers exclaim, " Lift
up your heads, O ye gates ; even lift them up, ye
everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall
come in." The former question is repeated, " Who
is this King of glory?" The answer is, "The
Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory."

But though to the Jews this scene presented all
that could be imagined that was noble, subHme,
and impressive, we in the Christian Church can
speak of something far more glorious, far more
subHme. The Almighty Maker Himself de-
scended to build up a temple, not of stone,
but of flesh, and having consecrated it by His
death, to present it as a spotless sacrifice to His
Father ; and on His ascension into glory, attended
possibly by the saints, who were the first fruits of
His resurrection, and as we are certainly assured
by the angels who ministered to Him throughout
His Hfe, the everlasting doors of heaven itself are
bid to open and admit the conquering King, clothed
in a human body, to take His seat upon His

XVII.] A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. 253

Father's throne. So that in the higher sense, we
may understand the inspired Psalmist to describe
what took place immediately after the disciples,
who stood gazing upon Him as He rose from
amongst them, saw Him vanish from their sight
amidst the clouds of heaven.

Here, too, we ourselves may stand and wonder,
and with the Church, as at this time, wait in ex-
pectation of His coming again. For He that as-
cended, will He not also again descend ? He went
up in the clouds ; '• Behold, He cometh with
clouds ; and every eye shall see Him, and they
also which pierced Him ; and all kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of Him ^ ;" but the pa-
tient follower of his Lord shall say. "Amen.
Even so, come. Lord Jesus ^" May it be our
earnest desire and endeavour, my brethren, so to
Hve for the unseen world, and for Him who is the
Lord of it, that we may be found worthy to behold
His face, and be numbered by Him with His
saints in glory everlasting. I^et us consider to-
day, therefore, such of the circumstances con-
nected with our Lord's ascension into glory, as
seem to mark that great event as something pecu-
liar, and demanding a separate consideration.

First, then, let it be remembered, that we must

i ^'

I ' *

1.'

* Rev. i. 7.

» Rev. xxii. 20.

254

A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. [SERM.

, \

I m

not confound the Ascension with the Resurrection
of our Lord. Many persons do so confound them,
and speak of the Resurrection in a way that only
belongs to the Ascension ; and, indeed, it is one of
the glaring defects of the popular theology of our
day to confound things that differ, and to merge
many separate and distinct truths in one or two
leading doctrines, and so obscure the general
truths themselves. This is the case with those
who confound the Resurrection and Ascension of
our Lord, and lose sight of several important and
most comforting truths.

Now we infer, from our Lord's declaration to
the dying penitent thief, and from His address to
Mary Magdalene, as well as from other passages
in the Gospels, that our Saviour did not go into
Heaven till His ascension. For to the penitent thief
He said, " To-day shalt thou be with me in para-
dise ^ ;" and to Mary Magdalene, " I am not yet
ascended to My Father*;" and when He pre-
sented Himself at several times to His disciples,
it is never said He went up into Heaven, but
simply He became invisible to them; implying
that a change was effected in His body, but that
He had not yet entirely left them. And St. Luke
describes His ascension in words which are still

' Luke xxiii. 43.

* John XX. 17.

XVII.] A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. 255

stronger. ** So then, after He had blessed them.
He was parted from them, and carried up into
Heaven ^" And so St. Peter, in discoursing with
the Jews after His ascension, says, "Whom the
Heaven must receive till the times of restitution
of all things ® ;" implying that when He had once
ascended, He would not return to earth until the
great day of His second coming. And when our
Lord says, " In my Father's house are many
mansions : if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and pre-
pare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may
be also V' — He evidently implies that He would
not come again when He had once gone, till His
second coming to receive them to Himself. And
all the descriptions of the Apostles in the Epistles,
of the Mediatorial reign of our Lord, suppose Him
to remain on His throne, when once seated there,
till the day of judgment.

So that the resurrection and ascension of our
blessed Lord thus differ. The resurrection is the
completion of the atonement and humiliation.
The ascension is the completion of the sacrifice
and the whole of the mediatorial work. By the
resurrection we are assured that we shall rise;

', \

> II

I I'm ' *

* Luke xxiv. 61.

" Acts iii.

' John xiv. 2, 3.

A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. [SERM.

by the ascension, that we shall be with Him in
glory. By the resurrection we are assured of
justification ; by the ascension, of an everlasting
reward. And as our Lord's glorified body is pro-
bably the only body actually in heaven, bee ise it
is the only body spotless and without sin ; so our
bodies, as the bodies of sinners, remain, and see
corruption, and wait His call : so our departure
hence to the Lord answers in one sense to our
Saviour's rising again, and our resurrection to

His ascension.

It is at our departure that we are tianslated to
Paradise, and rest till the number of our brethren
is completed; it is at our resurrection that our
souls and bodies, being in a moment united, we
shall be « caught up together with them m the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall
we ever be with the Lord^'^ And this view especi-
ally connects us with those who are departed ; be-
cause it shows that in both there is something yet
left unfinished. For they, like ourseV e. ait in
hope of the resurrection, only they wait m peace,
and are present with the Lord ; we wait, struggling
hard with a body of sin and death in our members.
They look for that full and entire peace which
follows victory ; we are still in the midst of battle,
fightings without, and fears within.

8 i Thess. iv. 17-

XVII.] A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. 257

And this enables us to see another proof of our
communion with saints departed into bliss — that
the ascension of our Saviour must be a source of
unspeakable comfort to them as it is to us; — to
them, indeed, of infinitely greater comfort ; for
how weak a e our notions after all. Let our faith
be as strong as it will, still it is weak at the best ;
and how often is it like the strings of an instru-
ment, which remain in tune while the skilful musi-
cian is playing on them, but lose their tempera-
ment as soon as the instrument is put by ! So
it is often with ourselves. We are wrought up
to high and heavenly feelings ; but we sink, and
flag again, and fall down to earth. But it is not
so with them. The bitterness of death is past ;
the events of time are gone by , the doubts, and
fears, and sins, and infirmities which harass us
are past; and they can calmly contemplate our
Lord^s ascension and coming again with all the
certainty that belongs to their most peaceful state.
How earnest, yet how comfortable, the longing
which they feel for the great day of the Lord,
when all the enemies of Jie cross shall be put
under their feet.

So, indeed, the Scripture describes them : — " I
saw the souls of them that were slain for the
word of God, and for the testimony which they
held : and they cried, saying, How long, O Lord.

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258 A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. [SERM.

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holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge
our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And
it was said unto them, that they should rest for a
little season, till the number of their brethren was
fulfilled ® ;" a passage which seems to harmonize
with one in Isaiah : " Come, my people, enter
thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about
thee : hide thyself as it were for a little moment,
until the indignation be overpast ^"

Further, as regards ourselves. The ascension
of our Lord shows us, that as a higher bliss than
that of Paradise is intended, Christ is gone into
heaven to prepare that very bliss for us. And we
are assured of its being given to us, by tho very
nature with which He is still clothed ; a aature
like our own. What an overwhelming thought
it is, that the great God of heaven and earth, the
Ruler of all worlds, has taken on Himself the
nature of man, and made it one with Himself!
What an absolute assurance is it of His compas-
sion for us. How much better must He have
loved us, than we can any of us love one another,
or even ourselves, so to regard and visit us. What
efficacy does it impart to His intercession for us ;
what tenderness to His rule over us. How fully
may we be assured, not only that what He has

Rev. vi. 9-11.

1 Is. xxvi. 20.

;

XVII.] A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY.

259

promised He is able also to perform, but that " not
one good thing hath failed of all that the Lord
hath spoken ^" And then, as to the bliss itself
which He is preparing, we can say but little of it,
because we know but little ; only we know that
" when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ;
for we shall see Him as He is \" Still, even what
we do know so very imperfectly, how transporting
is the thought of it. The first and principal part
of it is, the presence of the Lord. One can hardly
realize this truth at all ; yet to stretch out as it
were the withered hand, and just faintly lay hold
of it, how truly glorious is it !

We have never yet any of us seen our Redeemer ;
^ut as Job said, " yet in my flesh shall I see God ;
whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall
behold, and not another; though my reins be
consumed within me * ;" even so shall it be with
us. We shall see Him "as He is," not as He
was, in weakness, agony, and death, but as He is,
in the majesty of the Father. How may the
thought of being suddenly caught up in the air,
swift as an eagle flies, to meet the coming Saviour,
make our very souls thrill with awe and joy, with
fear and with delight. What will the world seem to
us at that moment ? And you will recollect, there

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3 1 John iii. 2.

* Job xix. 26, 27.

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will be another circumstance of a very astonishing
kind, the reunion of soul and body, and this in an
instant. Souls depart from the body amidst
bitter agony and pain ; even with those who are
mercifully spared much suffering, there is terror
and distress in the last struggle. But with those
who love the Saviour, the re-entering of the soul
into the body will be not painful but blissful in
the highest degree. One cannot describe the feel-
ing of their separation though we see it ; but their
uniting again, what must that be ? A union no
longer burdensome and unprofitable, but full of
comfort to both;— the soul no longer polluted
with sin, the body no longer beset by infirmity ;
rising from the corruption, weakness, and dis-
honour of the grave, incorruptible, vigorous, im-
mortal, glorious ; a union everlasting in the glories
of heaven. And then we must add to this, that the
reward will be before us. For immediately on the
re-union of the soul with the body, the great assize
will be held, and the sentence passed ; which leads
us on to another thought, that the reward will be
given to the servants of God in that very body in
which they served God on earth ; glorified indeed
and spirituahzed, but still substantially the same.
This will surely make the reward sweeter, because
it seems to include the happiness of association
and recollection, which is so closely interwoven

XVII.] A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. 261

with our nature. The recollection of our sore and
terrible trials, so bitter to the flesh and spirit,
will be unspeakably grateful then ; " Because
thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also
will keep thee from the hour of temptation which
shall come upon all the world, to try them that
dwell upon the earth '." " Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life '."

Add to this another notion which flows from
it, the thought of the mutual recognition of those
whom we love. For my part, I do not doubt this
for a moment ; all our natural feelings long for it,
and the Bible seems to imply it in many places,
more particularly when the Apostle says, " them
that sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him ^"
But what comfort would it be to those to whom
the Apostle wrote, if they were not the same
persons, and capable of being recognized as such?
When Moses and Ellas came down from Paradise
to earth at the transfiguration, they were Moses
and Elias still, and known as such. God has
not implanted in us the feehngs of mutual love,
to quench and extinguish them in the world to
come. They will burn only with a purer ardour,
more intensely, more seraphically. And how great
will be the bliss of an instant recognition of de-

' Rtv. iii. 10.

* Rev, ii. 10.

7 1 Thess. iv. 14.

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262 A SERMON FOR \SCENSION-DAY. [SERM.

parted friendS; a recognition accompanied with
the delightful sight of millions of happy souls
rising upwards to meet their Redeemer, and seeing
in Him their Saviour and their friend. Oh!
friend of sinners, God of the spirits of all flesh,
suffer not any of us here present to be sepa-
rated from those we love at that dread hour!
Strengthen us to endure this life's fiery trial, that
we may be accepted of Thee, and stand in our
lot at the end of the days.

And then what shall we say of the reward itself,
when the Apostle himself confesses himself unable
to describe it? for "eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that
love Him '." Yet something we are told of it in the
Bible, that our faith may not wax feeble, nor our
love grow cold. We are told, " Come, ye blessed,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world \" It is a kingdom, there
is power; we are told of mansions, there are riches
and pleasures; we are told there shall be living
fountains of water, there is everlasting delight; we
are told that they serve God day and night in His
temple, there is the unwearying service of heaven;
we are told there shall be no more curse, no more

8 1 Cor. ii. 9.

» Matt. XXV. 34.

XVII.] A SERMON FOR ASCENSION-DAY. 263

sin and sorrow, there is freedom from all things evil;
we are told of the vision of God and of the Lamb,
there is what will change us into the same image.
And yet, after all, we neither know it truly nor can
des'*ribe it. Yet let us think on it, let us gaze
after it, and strain our wearied eyes with wonder
and with love, for it is near at hand ; soon shall
we hear the Archangel's trump, and see the ever-
lasting doors give way to all who in faith and
hope and charity have served God here on earth,
and the dead will arise, and the New Jerusalem
descend ; we shall see the angels in mid-air, and
all the spirits of the just along with them, and we
shall hear our Saviour's voice.

Can it be real ? It is.

" Grant therefore, O Lord, that like as we do
believe our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended
into the heavens ; so we may also in heart and
mind thither ascend, and with Him continually
dwell, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the
Holy Ghost, one God, world without end *."

* Collect for Ascension-day.

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SERMON XVIII.

A HARVEST SERMON.

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St. Matthew xiii. 39 — 43.

« The harvest is the end of the world ; and the reapers are the
angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the
tire ; so shall it he in the end of this world. The Son of man
shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His
kingdom all things that offend, and them which do ini(iuity ;
and shall cast them into a furnace of fire ; there shall be wail-
ing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath
ears to hear, let him ear."

Few things remind us more strikingly that we
live in a sinful, disordered world than this : that
our blessed Lord selects the most joyous season
in the whole year, as a type of the most awful and
stupendous event that can be conceived, the last
judgment. Undoubtedly we do well to rejoice in
the harvest season if it be favourable, and to give
God thanks that, whatever it be, it is sure to be
better than we tieserve ; but our TiOrd here seems

A HARVEST SERMON.

265

to check and chasten our joy when He bids us
look upon the harvest. There, He seems to say,
look upon the type of your own condition. This
world is but the field in which the good and evil
are growing together for a future separation ; the
one to be gathered into God's eternal garner, the
other to be cast out into everlasting fire. When
you see the corn bending under its weight, and
the tares growing by its side, think you see holy
men, by the assistance of God's grace, " doing all
such good works as God has prepared for them
to walk in," and ripening for eternity. Ima-
gine you see also unholy persons, blasphemers,
thieves, liars, fornicators, adulterers, covetous, de-
spisers of God, vain boasters, implacable, unmer-
ciful, all who forget God, and obey not the Gospel
of His Son, waxing worse and worse, and ripening
for their doom. Nay, carry your minds still fur-
ther. When you enter the harvest field, and either
yourselves ply the sickle, or witness others doing
it, behold the awful work of those mighty spirits
who are appointed to make the separation be-
tween the just and unjust at the last judgment.
Without being able to make any more resistance
than the sheaves of corn and the tares make to
those who cut them down, the wicked shall be
seized and 'consigned to that place of torment for
which their obstinate rejection of God's long for-

266

A HARVEST SERMON.

[SERM.

MP\

bearance and offered mercy has fitted them, while
the righteous shall shine with a lustre and glory
unknown in a world of sin and woe ; made like to
their Saviour, and the holy angels.

Such being the general import of our T^ord's
words, let us, with prayer, and fear, and self-
examination, humbly meditate on the several
points of instruction which He has conveyed to
us by the latter part of the parable : " The harvest
is the end of the world." The first truth which
we here learn is, that an end will soon be put to
all our opportunities and means of grace, and
that the character which is now forming in us,
will then be more fully displayed. All that we
have enjoyed from our infancy till now, all the
blessings which we at present enjoy, are means
for our gathering in our spiritual harvest. The
corn or the tares are ripening. The grace of God
which fell on us at Baptism, the striving of the
Spirit in our hearts since that period, the voice of
conscience, the authority and example of parents,
the words of Holy Writ, the lessons of the Prayer-
book, the advice of friends, the scourge of afflic-
tions, the pressure of poverty, the turn of prospe-
rity—all are intended for Ma end. We never
hear a sermon, but it either profits or injures us ;
we are never present at prayers, but we may sow,
or reap, or neglect our field; there is a vast, a

3ERM.

XVIII.]

A HARVEST SERMON.

267

while

glory

like to

FiOrd's
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several
yed to
harvest

which

put to
le, and

in us,
;hat we
all the

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of God
; of the
voice of
parents,
Prayer-
)fafflic-
prospe-
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tires us ;
lay sow,

vast, a

present, a growing responsibility upon us. Would
that we were aware of it ! Would that we thought
more frequently, Do I revive and grow as the corn
in the field of the Lord ? Are the fruits of the
Holy Spirit growing in my heart, and visible in
my hfe and conversation, the fruits of love and
peace, meekness and gentleness, temperance and
sobriety, liberality and goodwill? For these are
the full corn in the ear which the heavenly
Husbandman looks for, the only fruit which
pleases Him, and which He will acknowledge as
such.

But the passage before us rather leads us to
dwell on the certainty, that when the harvest is
ripe, there will be no time to grow fruits, but to
gather them. The virtues of the Christian life,
the good works which the Christian is to show
forth, are not to be produced all at once, and in a
day, much less in the day of harvest. That truth
is enforced upon us in another similitude by our
blessed Lord, when He says, that the foolish
virgins went to purchase oil when there was none
to be sold.

And further, the very trials of our present
state are necessary for the gradual formation of
the fruits. Patience cannot be ripened without
provocation ; Icve without enmity ; temperance
without temptation to excess; joy without sor-

N 2

H Yi,{

268

A HARVEST SERMON.

[SERM.

row ; hope without adversity. But when trial is
ended, then it is too late to think of beginning to
be in earnest about these graces. They must be in
actual possession, or they cannot be had at all.
The time of our trial will then be past. Let us
dwell a little upon this awful, yet most needful
thought.

The time of our trial. Few persons probably
reahze that this present state is in all its parts a
time of trial. To us who live in the midst of a
careless, sinful world, eternity seems at so vast, so
immeasurable a distance, that it is as if it would
never come. Men die and pass away from the
scene of their earthly pilgrimage, but the world
forgets them ; the sympathy of the world is brief,
its friendship is hollow and selfish, its cares are
many, its business is pressing, its pleasures ai'e
multiplied, and in the midst of this bustling, noisy
life, it seems as if it would never come to an end.
Responsibility is forgotten; the account which
each of us shall give of himself is hid and out of
sight ; life seems the reality, but eternity an un-
real and shadowy thing, a tale of priests, a jest, a
dream. Such is too often our view of life ; but
this shadow (as we term it) lengthens upon us,
and draws nigh in spite of all; life, though it
grows busier, waxes feebler, character is rapidly
formed and fixed, and ere we are aware of it> we

mmm

XVIIl.]

A HARVEST SERMON.

ripen for eternity, and pass rapidly into it.
trial is no longer — our fixed state begins.

Now as this should make us especially anxious
what kind of characters we form, what kind of
company we keep, what life we lead, and how we
spend our days, so it should make us think more
of ever ortun'^y of improvement. Means of

grace s, j,s time passes, to be many (too many
for most of us) ; we neglect prayers in the week,
because we can come on Sunday; we come to
church only once on Sunday, because we may
come twice, or can go to an evening service ; or
we intend to do what we never perform: but
measure these means by eternity, and what do
they appear? From the longest life one must
always deduct the days of infancy, when we could
not understand ; the days of childhood and youth,
when we often would not ; the days of old age
when we cannot ; the days of sickness, when we
are so hindered ; and how few clear days re-
main !

Measure, then, these few clear days, if you can,
against a measureless eternity; against millions,
millions, millions of years ; against something we
know not what it is, — it is not time, it is not
to be counted by time, a dark unfathomable
gulph, into which all time is but a single drop
poured down the cataract, and lost at once. How

N 3

:i:

270

A HARVEST SERMON.

[SERM.

precious will time appear, yet how short, when
eternity resumes its mighty reign ! How blessed
will those be, whose seed in time has been a
harvest for eternity !

Again, our Lord uses the expression, " the end
of the world." Let us dwell upon this thought
a little. What is it the end of? of the world in
its present state, not of ourselves. Not a coming
to nothing, but a change, an end of our present
state. Those who have gone out of the world are
as truly alive as when they were here with us,
only they are not in the body. It is an end of
the business of the world. All that mankind have
ever esteemed their chief end and sole delight,
will in one hour come to nought ; all that feasts
the eye, gratifies the palate, ravishes the ear ; all
the schemes and intricate meshes of life, political
contentions and rivalries in trade, the whole will
have passed away into the great account which
each must give of his share in the transactions of
life. The hopes of life will be at an end also : there
will be no more to expect from it;— no more
dreams of ambition, business, pleasure ; no more
building on the chances of prosperity, and looking
forward to plans and prospects of wealth, or for-
tune, or ease;— it will all be gone. The joys and
the sorrows of the world will also be ended.
"Those that wept will be as though they wept

XVIII.]

A HARVEST SERMON.

271

not, and those that rejoiced as though they re-
joiced not ; for the fashion of this world passeth
away '." And therefore the wise man says, " It is
better to go to the house of mourning than to go
to the house of feasting ; for that is the end of all
men ; and the living will lay it to his heart ' ;"
and our Saviour says, " Woe to you that laugh
now, for ye shall mourn and weep \" Not that
our blessed Lord intended to condemn innocent
mirth, but that He meant to show us, that so very
fleeting and unsubstantial are the world's joys,
that those who laugh as if there were nothing else
to do but to make merry, had better turn their
laughter into mourning and their joys into heavi-
ness, than be surprised at the last to find them-
selves passing into a world for which they had
made no preparation, with all their joys ended,
and their mirth become a vain dream.

It is a comfort to those who are afflicted to
know that their sorrows will be as fleeting as their
joys have been ; while on the other hand, sorrow
is so much the better than joy, that it serves as
a forerunner of that higher joy which is at God's
right hand for evermore. " Ye now therefore have
sorrow ; but I will see you again, and your heart
shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from

» 1 Cor. vii.30, 31.

2 Eccles. vii. 2.
N 4

3 Luke vi. 25.

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A HARVEST SERMON.

[SERM.

4 ff

III

you '/' The sins of the world will then be ended.
What a eonsolation is this to a soul grieved for
the transgressions of sinners; to one that feels as
Lot, whose " righteous soul was vexed day by day
with their ungodly deeds." How thankful may
such feel, that our life is not prolonged like the
Patriarch's, for what greater punishment could
there be to a soul which is sore beset with sorrows,
or oppressed by a sense of the evil which seems
incurable, than to be set down in this disordered
world for so long a term of years. Happy rather
are they (if prepared) whose term of life is almost
ended, and who are soon to bid farewell to
disorder, misery, and sin. Thus the harvest is
the end of the world; the end of all man's
estate ; then it undergoes its last change, for the
better or the worse; "for the reapers are the
angels"

There is something very mysterious in the whole
connexion of angels with ourselves. Whether
man in Paradise, had he not fallen, would have
been raised up to immortality with the angels we
know not ; but we are told that an angel, though
fallen, sought our fall and effected it ; that there
is a continual conflict between the good angels
and the bad, that the one part are perpetually

* John xvi. 22.

XVIII.]

A HARVEST SERMON.

273

plotting our ruin, and the other endeavouring to
defeat their wiles. Yet, what the angels are we
know not, nor their mode of access to us, nor
whether they know all our thoughts, or come
to us at all times or no, nor how they are
present. One thing is clear, that we think of
them far less than we ought, and that it is one
part of the infidelity of the day, to disbelieve
the ministry of good angels, and the attacks
of evil angels. In this life the ministry of good
angels seems chiefly concerned with assistance
and ministration ; but as soon as the trump is
sounded, and the dead in countless numbers rise,
the angels will, after the sentence is pronounced,
immediately "go forth and gather out of His
kingdom all things which do offend, and them
which do iniquity, and cast them into a furnace of
fire."

An awful sight to think upon; — what must it
be to realize ? Even in this life the appearance of
a single angel to the very best of men, with words
of comfort and of blessing, has always been at-
tended with fear and trembling. It seems that
the sight of a being superior to ourselves, and
without sin, is such as no human being can witness
without fear. But how terrible must be the sight
of thousands of angels, each one fearful to behold,
clothed with power to sever the wicked from the

N 5

274

A HARVEST SERMON.

[SERM.

righteous, and to hurl amongst them the thunder-
bolts of Almighty wrath.

Let us remember then,— First, the act of separa-
tion. It will be certain and inevitable ; here good
men lie hid, and are unknown and unnoticed, bad
men escape amidst the crowd, and think to hide
themselves from the all -penetrating eye of God.
But in that moment the discovery and the separa-
tion will go together. How truly awful for a
man to find himself suddenly severed from all
that is good and loving and just and lovely, and
placed in his appropriate company, amongst the
ungodly, malicious, lewd, bitter, scornful, and
blaspheming, for ever. T implore and beseech the
careless to listen to me for a few moments, while
I set before them this scene, and entreat them to
think on the stupendous reality.

Carry yourself forwards, O unthinking soul, a
few fleeting years, or moments it may be, and
think;— you will stand before your Judge, the
sentence pronounced is irreversible, the angels
hasten to carry it into execution. They look upon
you no longer as the object of their care, but as
the enemy of God. They prepare to sever you
from the assembly of the just, and from the pre-
sence of God. With what eyes will you look up
and behold these mighty sinless beings, each shin-
ing as the sun in his strength, ready to execute

xvni.]

A HARVEST SERMON.

275

a sentence, the justice of which even you dare
not arraign: you look around for a friend, but
there is none ; you call upon God, but He will
not hear you ; you would fain hide yourself, but
it is impossible. Should you not think of these
things? should you turn sober realities into a
jest, and make merry with your own destruction?
should you not rather fear God, seeing you are
in danger of such condemnation? You may be
nearer to all this than you imagine. Before the
end of another year, the tongue which is now
filled with laughter, and the heart which says to
itself, " eat, drink, and be merry," may be silent
in the grave, and the soul awaiting its final sen-
tence. Merciful Father, if there be any such now
in Thy presence, whom Thou hast determined soon
to summon hence, may they be prepared before
they pass into that dreadful gulf, and may these
unworthy entreaties not be lost on unwilling ears
and hardened hearts. For they are not mine,
but Thy sacred words, which follow, " and shall
cast them into a furnace of fire."

What that fire may be, whether spiritual or
material, matters not ; if it be fire, it must be
painful beyond the power of words to utter. Can
sinners trifle with a holy God, and sin on with a
high hand, and yet not suffer pain? Is there no

N 6

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276

A HARVEST SERMON.

[SERM.

pain in wicked passions, felt but not gratified,
in burning lusts, filthy covetousness, gnawing
envy, disappointed pride ? When do sinners ever
meet together, as sinners, that they do not hate,
revile, and torment one another? And if to this be
added, the presence of the evil one himself, the
author of all mischief, there is enough in this to
make the greatest misery. So that, despise not
the notion of fire, here is enough of torment ; for
the same Saviour adds, "there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth ;" the oitterest self-reproach
and unceasing anguish at the thought of paradise
lost by pride, self-will, and unbelief, by rejecting
what was so freely offered, so dearly purchased, so
abundantly given.

But our Lord adds, " Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father.^^ This part of the subject is too im-
portant to be passed over hastily, and may be re-
served for another occasion. Let us, therefore,
go home with our Lord's words impressed on
our hearts, " Whoso hath ears to hear, let him
hear." Though the power both to will and to
do come of God, and thou canst neither think
those things that be good no?' keep His com-
mandments without Him, yet to listeuj to medi-
tate, to reject is in thy power. He wno refuses

XVIII.]

A HARVEST SERMON.

277

to listen to the gracious voice which cries, " Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden *,"
must soon hear another voice, crying, "Awake,
ye dead, and come to judgment;" or, still more
terrible, " Because I have called, and ye refused ;
I have stretched out my hand, and no man re-
garded ; but ye have set at nought all my counsel,
and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh
at your calamity, I will mock when your fear
cometh *."

Reflect, then, on what you hear. Follow up
these truths with earnest prayer to God for His
grace, carry them with you into the ensnaring
world in which you live; and as business, or
pleasure, or sin invite you in their turn to neglect
daily preparation for eternity, sound these words
in the ears of the tempter, " the harvest is the end
of the world," and the corn is daily ripening, " and
the reapers are the angels," and m-y account is at
hand. You have a sin that " easily besetteth" you,
and sometimes these are the sins of which we are
least aware, or for which we make excuses, saying,
I cannot help it. But the grace of Christ may
enable you to overcome any sin, though without
watchfulness and prayer none will be overcome.
And if there are here any aged persons, let

* Matt. xi. 28.

« Prov. i. 24—26.

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A HARVEST SERMON.

[SERM.

me remind ycu that your time cannot be long,
though with the youngest it will be shorter
than we reckon on. If you are serving God faith-
fully, redouble your diligence ; for in proportion
to your labour will be your reward. Shake off
the hindrances of your salvation of which you are
painfully conscious. Strive against the infirmity
of temper, the weakness of resolution, the doubts
and hard thoughts of God, the love of this vain
and evil world, the reluctance to part with money,
by which you may be occasionally overcome.
Think of the pure and blessed spirits who now
enjoy rest and peace, who are witnesses of the
reality of our faith, and examples for us to follow,
a mighty cloud of apostles, prophets, evangelists,
confessors, martyrs, and infants, vast numbers
of whvom, new washed in the Redeemer's blood,
with their baptismal robe unstained, are by a gale
more favourable than that which has been allotted
to us, wafted at once to the haven where we would
be. All these have run their race, and wait, anxi-
ously wait, for us, crying, " Lord, how long?"
Their number is countless, but their faith is
one. Their tribulation was great, but their joy is
greater. Let us pant after the same rest, and
echo back their longing for the end, not with im-
patience, though witii sorrow; not with irrever-
ence, but with fear, and love, and hope, and joy.

! 'I?

XVIII.]

A HARVEST SERMON.

279

For " yet a little while, and He that shall come,
will come ® ;" and " we know that, when He
shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall
see Him as He is'."

« Heb. X. 37.

9 1 John iii. 2.

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SERMON XIX.

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

Genesis vi. 9.

" Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah

walked with God."

It was evidently with a design to adapt the reve-
lation of God's love to the wants and feelings of
man, that God provided that a large portion of
Holy Scriptures should be filled with the moral
portraiture of separate persons. The human mind,
ever fond of imitation, delights in biography, pre-
fers example to precept, and gladly retires from
the severity of the one, to the meekness and
gentleness of the other. What curiosity induces
us to look into, admiration leads us to copy, and
by degrees we find that to be possible, which
before seemed quite beyond our reach.

Among the most remarkable of Scripture por-
traits, stands pre-eminent the father of the old
world and the new, a man selected by God with

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

281

two others, as specially approved by Him and
specially beloved. For Noah, Daniel, and Job,
are the three mentioned by God Himself, as
persons to vs^hose intercessions He would have
listened, had it been possible at that time to
listen to any. To be an object of favour with
Him who is no respecter of persons ; to be spe-
cially singled out by name, to have that name
recorded by an inspired writer in the holy Scrip-
tures, and handed down to posterity as pre-
eminent for virtue, wisdom, and holiness, is so
very rare an honour, that only three of all man-
kind from the beginning of the world to the end
have attained unto it; but of these three Noah
was one.

Some points of resemblance and some of dis-
similarity appear between the three. Noah, Daniel,
and Job, stood alone and single in their genera-
tion ; Noah, exhibiting a pattern of justice amidst
continual rapine, of filial and paternal affection
amidst universal brutishness, of devotion amidst
general riot, r'" faith amidst prevailing unbelief;
Job, setting us an example of faith amidst uni-
versal idolatry, of temperance amidst general
sensuality, of unbounded charity to the poor, of
patience amidst unparalleled suffering. Daniel,
one of the few who sought the Lord God of
Israel as captive in a strange land, and chief

28S

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH. [SERM.

among those few : a man royally descended, yet
a captive, and though a captive a Jew ; a stranger
beloved by five succeeding monarchs in three suc-
cessive universal empires ; a prime minister in five
corrupt courts, yet alone untainted, uncorrupted ;
himself surrounded by sensual pleasures, yet a
man of abstinence from his youth ; having in his
hands all the business of that vast monarchy, yet
never omitting secret devotion three several times
each day ; remarkable for his loyalty to his king,
and still more signal for devotedness to his God ;
a man who, to use bishop Ken's words, " reconciled
policy and religion, abstinence and abundance,
greatness and goodness, power and subjection,
heaven and the court, the favour of God and the
favour of the king, and was alike beloved by God
and man." Such were these three men, Noah,
Daniel, and Job. Equally remarkable were they
also in their connection with the Gospel. Noah,
as a type, whose ark floating on the water is
compared to the Church with its water of baptism
reposing upon the covenant mercy of God, en-
closing within its bosom those who by God's
mercy take refuge in it. Job, as an example of
the faith and patience of the saints in the king-
dom and patience of Jesus Christ, who *' through
much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God \"

» Acts xiv. 22.

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XIX.]

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

283

Daniel, as a prophet to whom was vouchsafed the
choicest revelation in all the Old Testament, of the
precise time of the coming of the Messiah, of His
being cut off as a sacrifice for sin, of His kingdom
the Church Catholic, of the destruction of Jeru-
salem, of Antichrist, and of the day of Judgment.
Yet though the three thus resemble each
other, there is also a remarkable contrast in
the times in which they lived. Noah flourished
in a time which we have reason to hope can
never occur again, when one family stood alone
in the midst of the earth, and all else was brutish
impiety, bloodshed, and blasphemy. Daniel, in
the busy crowd and voluptuous splendour of an
Eastern court, at that time the centre of the world.
Job, in the pastoral simplicity of the Arabian desert,
sitting as a chief among his people ; showing us,
that however times may alter, or circumstances
vary, real virtue and holiness are the same sub-
stantially at all times, and that the love of God
is the only thing that, like Mount Zion, " cannot
be removed, but standeth fast for ever^"

Proceed we then to view the excellences of one
of these remarkable men, Noah, whose life the
Church has brought before us in this and the
preceding Sunday. We observe first in the de-

' Psalm cxxv. 1.

284

THE CHARACTER OP NOAH. [sERM.

scription, his justice and integrity : Noah was a
just man. That he was a justified man we know,
for he walked with God by that faith of which
Abel became the first martyr, by which Abraham
went out from the land of his birth to a strange
land, and of which St. Paul records God's ap-
probation. But of his justification he gave the
only true evidence, that he was a just man : both
accounted righteous, and actually righteous, for he
could not have continued in justification unless
" his faith had wrought with his works, and by
works was faith made perfect.''

Justice and integrity are always valuable, be-
cause they cannot easily be imitated. Professions
of religion are easily made, religious phraseology
is soon caught and copied, the Shibboleth of reli-
gious party may admit the indulgence of irritating
and unchristian feelings ; the external appearance
of devotion it is very possible to assume ; but real
honesty of character, integrity of purpose, and
justice unbending to take an advantage or inflict
a wrong, is neither easy to be attained nor easy
to be counterfeited. But to say that Noah was
thus just, is not to exhibit the main features of
his character. He was not merely just, but the
only just man amidst a world of injustice. Of
truly just men in our days there are but few;
few who never use dishonest arguments in a good

XIX.]

THE CHARACTER OP NOAH.

285

cause, nor practise dishonest arts to promote a bad
one ; few who never take advantage of the igno-
rance of their neighbour to gain their own end ;
few who speak the truth always, never equivocate,
hate and abhor lying. But of that justice which
passes current among us, how much is produced
by the standard of public opinion and public
shame ! How many are influenced unconsciously
in their integrity by the fear of losing caste and
station, and not by pure love of honesty and
truth, and the love of God ! But in Noah's days
public opinion had no existence. Written revela-
tion there was probably none, and all that re-
mained was a mass of iniquity, so corrupt and
cankered that its very touch was pollution. Yet
then was Noah just: his workmen who helped
to raise the ark might defraud him, but he re-
paid them not as they deserved ; his neighbours
might embark in schemes of injustice and rapine,
but they found in him no partner ; the gigantic
tyrants of his day might return home laden with the
spoils of their iniquitous oppression, with none to
reprove their sin, none to vindicate the oppressed,
but Noah remained faithful to his God and to
his neighbour, u* ^verved by interest, undaunted
by oppression. There is nothing in which men
are more in danger of being led astray, than by
the earnest desire at all hazards of promoting

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THE CHARACTER OF NOAH. [SERM.

what seems to them to be a good cause. And
those who to serve their cause scruple not to
employ dishonest means themselves, or allow
their agents to do what is technically called the
dirty work of a party, are obviously preventing
the ultimate success of righteousness and truth,
furnishing their adversaries with the weapons
which may be turned against themselves, and
while they gain a soldier, they lose a fortress.

But we pass to another excellency of this
remarkable man, that he was " perfect in his gene-
rations." In all the relations of life he was per-
fect and sincere. Whether as a father, husband, or
child, he walked before God in His ordinances
blameless. But the phrase " in his generations,"
compared with other expressions of like import,
seems rather to signify, according to the general
sense of interpreters, that among the men of that
generation he was perfect; that when sincerity and
uprightness, and religious observance of God's
ways were almost fallen to the ground, Noah alone
stood upright.

When one looks abroad upon the world, and
sees how few men are ever able to stand alone,
one sees at once the loftiness of the proportions of
Noah's character. Noah stood alone, he boldly
stemmed the torrent, and posterity has done him
justice: and while the men of Noah's days, the

XIX.]

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

287

famous men, who thought to secure for themselves
an undying fame, are gone out of mind, and their
memory has rotted and come to nothing, Noah's
name alone remains enshrined in the book of
God's remembrance, in the everlasting register of
heaven.

Never was this lesson more needed than it is
now. Every day men are pronouncing that certain
things are right in theory but impossible in prac-
tice ; right, i. e. if what they say be true, agree-
able to the truth of God, to honesty and justice.
Can a thing be agreeable to God's word, right,
honest, and true, and yet impossible to be done ?
Impossible it may be, consistently with the attain-
ment of other advantages of a present and worldly
kind, which we hoped to secure for ourselves toge-
ther with it, but it cannot be impossible in itself;
for God has not so placed us in the world between a
sea of contradictions, as to make His commands im-
practicable, or his ways impossible of performance.
The real difficulty lies in our own miserable sys-
tem of expediency, which leads us to view a thing
as impossible, because it cannot be effected by the
means which we think necessary to bring it to
pass.

Noah's character may teach us, that while in
matters of discretion, and judgment, and expe-
rience, we cannot too carefully weigh the argu-

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THE CHARACTER OP NOAH. [SERM.

ments of others, nor too readily listen to their
suggestions ; that in matters of plain honesty, and
justice, and sincerity, we cannot too boldly- take
our stand, and stand, if need be, alone. For our
great danger obviously lies the other way. Con-
siderations of interest, honour, and worldly gain,
will always make our minds, corrupted as they are
by connexion with the world, to turn the scale, and
we are generally skilful casuists where emolument
and party interest are concerned. It is difficult,
indeed it is almost impossible, to form a sufficiently
high estimation, in this respect, of the character
of Noah. For our very familiarity with the
Bible produces an undervaluing of the characters
recorded in it, especially of those whose history is
so concisely told.

Yet how much is included ^^ 'he Scriptural
word perfection. Not indeeu wi^uifymg a righteous-
ness without spot, or a life free from every stain,
but such an ardent thirst for righteousness, such an
imiversal practice of it, such an union of different
excellencies, difficult in their separate attainment,
and much more difficult in their combination, as
few Christians in the days of the Gospel even seem
to desire, much less actually to attain. It is this
very pressing forward to perfection, the want of
which is so evident among us. Our Christianity
is stunted, dwarfish, suppressed ; Noah's religion,

XIX.]

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

289

anterior to it, was high-toned, fresh, and vigorous.
He, like a single tree of giant stature, stood forth
alone, in a wide spreading plain, a mighty con-
trast to the barrenness around. We in a rich
and fruitful soil, in the very vineyard and garden
of the Lord, think it much if we have not become
degenerate plants of a strange vine', our very
luxuriance is dwarfishness, our fruitfulness is
poverty.

How few Christians do we behold of the larger
growth which was not uncommon in earlier days.
When men were not content to live in decency,
but aspired to perfection ; when calls of charity
were considered to be blessings not burdens ; when
the solemn season of Lent was universally acknow-
ledged, not a mockery which the clergy read and
the laity despise ; when men did not inquire how
the commandments might be narrowed, and limited,
and restrained, but how they might be expanded
and enlarged, and taken most comprehensively;
when to serve God was a pleasure, and to give
accounted more blessed than to receive, and to
pray a holy joy, and to fast a means to make the
body fit for the exercises of the soul ; and to love
the poor, and the Church, and God, was placed in
the same category of Christian graces. We may

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290

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

[SERM.'

safely allow, that some in their zeal to attain
these graces went beyond their knowledge, and
others, in their eagerness to attain particular graces,
failed in securing what was of more importance ;
but this will not justify us in our low and superfi-
cial notions, our few and scanty attainments. A
Christian who finds that year by year no actual
progress in the Divine life is made, no increased
love for the duties of religion, no greater fervency
and holiness of character, no higher, holier longing
after perfection, has great reason to suspect the
staple character of his Christianity ; and to fear
that possibly he may be ignorant of the real nature
of the plant itself; and instead of the goodly vine
bringing forth much fruit, he may only have
attained to a name, and nothing more, to the pro-
prieties and decent selfishness of the world, not
to the self-denying holiness of the gospel.

But to return to the third excellence of the cha-
racter before us, his faith and devotion. Noah
walked with God. It is remarkable, that in the
two signal instances of holiness exhibited at that
time in the world, Enoch and Noah, the one trans-
lated at once to Paradise, as a flower too precious
to breathe corrupted air, the other reserved to be
the repairer of the old world, and the father of the
new, this same phrase is used, they walked with
God— a most full and significant expression. They

sir

XIX.]

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

291

were evidently men whose minds were given to con-
templation, who finding nothing congenial in the
world of sinners, betook themselves to Him who
aloi.e can fill and satisfy the soul, and regained
the bliss (which Adam had lost) of converse wiih
the Father of their spirits. And as Isaac went
out to meditate in the field at eventide^ keeping
up as it were the Paradisiacal custom, so Enoch
and Noah, we may suppose, armed themselves by
devout contemplation for the difficult task of
resisting the torrent of iniquity that swept all
before it.

They walked with God. We read of Noah build-
ing an altar to the Lord, and offering a sacrifice
of clean beasts to Him who had appointed sacri-
fices, as the great commemoration and type of the
incarnate Saviour. Nor can we doubt, that both
by words and deeds in his family and out of it,
the holy patriarch strove to turn from the error of
their ways the wretched beings who surrounded
him; but strove for sixscore years in vain. But
most of all, these expressions seem to imply that
high-fixed, single-rainded faith, which led Noah
to regard himself as a pilgrim and stranger upon
earth, and thus to devote himself to the service
and work of God ; to take God's word (as far as
revealed) for his guide, and God's promises for his
portion,

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THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

[SERM.

:\ I

Thus we understand by his walk with God,
a constant worship of God, performed with all
the exactness and devotion which reverence and
love could inspire, a humble thankfulness to God
;or His providential guidance; a sure trust in
God, not only for the things of this life, but
for higher blessings in the life to come ; and a
simple obedience to God's commandments cheer-
fully performed, without fear of consequences,
without distrust or hesitation. This is indicated
by the expression which occurs at the end of the
chapter ; " Thus did Noah, according to all that
God commanded him, so did he\" The happiness
of such a mind, how is it possible adequately to
appreciate ? Like the ark into which he entered,
his faith bore him up above the waters, and set him
in a sure haven, full of peace and safety, while the
wicked were hke the troubled sea whose waters
rage without ceasing. How vainly do we look to
excitement for peace, when it is to be had in
one way only, in the path of uniform obedience.
How foolishly do we seek it in things without us,
when it is to be obtained within. " For the work of
righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of right-
eousness quietness and assurance for ever \" This
was Noah's character ; just, sincere, devoted. But

* Gen. vi. 22.

' Isaiah xxxii. 17-

XIX.J

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

293

he is remarkable also as a typical person. For as
all things in the Old Testament were figures and
shadows of better things to come, so in the old
world we discern the image of the new. The
waters that bare up the ark in which the righ-
teous souls were saved, St. Peter selects as the
image of Baptism, that ordinance which places
us in a state of salvation, and saves us if we con-
tinue in it ; and (to complete the image) the ark
evidently betokens the Church, which is God's
appointed instrument to effect our salvation, and
by which we become members of Christ's body,
and partakers of all the saving blessings of the
new covenant. But as the ark saved none but
those who continued therein to the end of the
voyage, so Baptism saves none who remain not
in the body of Christ, bringing forth the fruits
of righteousness to His praise. And as the ark,
which was the instrument of their temporal salva-
tion, bore them safely above the deluge of the
old world to the landing-place on the new; so
safely borne within our ark, and preserved by
God's mercy, we may " pass through the waves
of this troublesome world," and preserved from
the second deluge of fire, may be landed at length
on the mountains of the heavenly Jerusalem.
One instance, indeed, of the frailty of the Pa-
triarch, and but one, is recorded ; an instance the

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THE CHARACTER OF NOAH. [SERM.

more painful because it occurs in a life so pious
and sincere; the more pardonable, perhaps, be-
cause it seems likely that he was unacquainted
with the intoxicating nature of the fruit he had
planted: but at all events the more important,
because while it fully proves the entire faithful-
ness of the sacred history which represents men
and things to us as they are, not as they ought
to be, it leaves impressed indelibly in our minds
the solemn lesson of our own weakness and sin-
fulness. Yet Noah committed but one such
offence : let us take heed how we imitate him in
his sin instead of copying his hohness. Let us
learn from Noah the virtues which are the main
pillars of the divine life in every age—justice and
integrity towards man, faith and devotedness to
God. We live in times whose artificial refinements
and luxurious indulgences are perhaps even more
fatal to holiness, than the brutish impiety and
reckless tyranny of the men in the days of
Noah. For the one disgusts by its grossness,
and the other allures by its decency. Let
us more thoroughly devote ourselves to God,
to the Father, Redeemer, Sanctifier, whose love
has placed us in the ark, that we may be saved
through Christ for ever. Let us not fear to take
our stand for religion ; let us arm ourselves with
Noah's courage, constancy, and faith; let us avoid

It .

XIX.]

THE CHARACTER OF NOAH.

2^5

as the very gates of hell every mean subterfuge,
and the lie which God abhors; let us cleanse
ourselves from the secret indulgence of those
greedy, sensual lusts, which enfeeble the body
and dishonour the soul, which defile the temple
of the Holy Ghost, and provoke Him to depart
from us. For may we not fear that He has
departed from some of us ? that we have by care-
less, presumptuous, profane irreverence, or secret
indulgence of sin, already done despite to the
Holy Ghost, and put our Saviour to an open
shame ? It is, indeed, greatly to be feared. O
that we may at the last, even at the latest hour
of the day, relent, and not yet more harden our
hearts. For, as bitter were his reflections and sad
his looks, who saw the ark safely floating past
him, and at last discerned the dire necessity of
seeking the mercy he had till that hour despised,
so much more intolerable will be his case, who
once placed within the very ark itself, madly
betook himself to the waves without, which toss
but cannot satisfy the soul, and must in the end
drown it in destruction and perdition.

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SERMON XX.

JAEL. AND SISERA.

il. ■■!

Judges v. 24 — 28.

" Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite
be ; blessed shall she be above women in the tent. He asked
water, and she gave him milk ; she brought forth butter in a
lordly dish. She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand
to the workman's hammer ; and with the hammer she smote
Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and
stricken through his temples. At her feet he bowed, he fell,
he lay down : at her feet he bowed, he fell : where he bowed,
there he fell down dead. The mother of Sisera looked out
at a window, and cried through the lattice. Why is his chariot
so long in coming ? why tarry the wheels of his chariots ?"

Were we to consider the chapter selected for
the first lesson of the day merely as a piece of
poetry, or as a subject for a picture, certainly finer
could not possibly be imagined. With what extra-
ordinary power and beauty does the Hebrew poet
describe in this spirit-stirring song, the history of
Israel's captivity, and Sisera's discomfiture. Here
we have graphically depicted the deplorable deso-

JAEL AND SISERA.

297

lation of the villages in Israel— the grass growing
in the streets — the travellers afraid to proceed on
their journey — the inhabitants of the villages
retiring to the mountains — the bands of armed
men who infested the wells and fountains of
Canaan — and then the masculine courage of De-
borah—the timidity of Barak — the devotedness and
heroism of some of the tribes, and the apathy and
cowardice of others— the mighty host of Sisera,
eager to swallow up the dauntless Israelites — the
valour of the chosen people — the tempestuous floods
which aided in the discomfiture of the Canaanites
— their vain attempt to cross the swollen and im-
petuous river Kishon, where in thousands they
were swept away— the mingled confusion of their
army — the escape of Sisera to the house of his
former friend, his reception and death by the
hand of a woman, as the Lord had foretold by
Deborah— all these events, though they occurred
three thousand years ago, are as freshly and as
vividly before our eyes, as if they were of yester-
day. But it is not as an historical or poetic
description that we are to take this remarkable
passage of Holy Writ— a deeper moral lies hid
under the words, and more profitable instruction is
conveyed to us by them. In order to that end, I
shall consider the following questions :—

First, whether the conduct of Jael on the occa-

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sion were justifiable or not. Secondly, the pro-
bable nature of her reward ; " Blessed above
women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be ;
blessed shall she be above women in the tent."
Thirdly, whether it is in any sense recorded for our
imitation, and if so, how far we are to imitate it.
Fourthly, what lessons we learn from it in refe-
rence to the Christian's spiritual warfare with the
world, the flesh, and the devil.

First, whether the conduct of Jael was justifi-
able. Let us, then, review the circumstances
of the case. It is to be borne in mind, that the
Israelites at that time lived under an extraordi-
nary and miraculous dispensation, under which,
in order to their settlement in Canaan, God had
expressly enjoined it upon them to root out and
destroy all those wicked nations whose abomina-
ble idolatry and filthy vices had drawn down upon
them His displeasure. It did not lie in their choice
to prefer one person above another in this execu-
tion of the Divine will ; and their neglect of the
Divine command was the cause of their subse-
quent captivities and miseries. Some of the
Canaanites were suffered to remain, and they
proved, as Moses had told them, scourges in their
sides, and thorns in their eyes ', snares to them

' Josli. xxii.i. 13.

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JAEL AND SISERA.

299

XX.]

when weak, and oppressors when strong. By
these very Canaanites then did God punish them,
and for their departure from Him gave them up into
the hand of " Jabin, king of Canaan, that reigned
in Hazor '." But the time came that the people
were awakened to repentance for their sins ; and
Deborah raised up for their deUverance, descended
to the field, and " came to the help of the Lord "
(as the sacred historian narrates) ; i. e. avenged
the cause of God and His people against the
ancient and devoted enemies of God and His
Church. Of these wretched idolaters, thus doomed
to destruction, all were either slain in battle, or
were drowned in the river Kishon. Their general,
Sisera (as fierce and sensual as the rest), sought
shelter at the tent of his former friend, Heber the
Kenite. His wife Jael, at first received him
courteously, and treated him hospitably, but while
he lay asleep in the tent she took a nail, and
smote it into his temples. The question is, was
this an act of treachery or an act of duty? In
considering whether the act was justifiable or no,
the whole question turns upon this, whether Jael
had the authority of God for so doing? If she
had, it was an act of duty ; if she had not, we
should be inclined to say it was an act of trea-
chery. For the authority of God decides the

* Judges iv. 2.

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JAEL AND SISERA.

[SERM.

question. He who gave life to His creatures has
a right to take it away, and may authorize us to be
the instruments in depriving them of it. In fact,
the case occurs continually in human laws, and
no one disputes^ the matter. For example : the
jury who bring in their verdict against a murderer
— the judge who passes sentence upon him — the
jailor who delivers him up to be executed — and
the hangman who suspends the rope to the un-
happy victim, are all causes in some sense of his
blood being shed, but not in the same sense
guilty with himself of shedding b) jod. In their
case they act in obedience to the law under the
Divine sanction, in his case he acted in violation of
the law, and contrary to the Divine sanction. The
principle on which Jael acted may, therefore, be
thus fairly vindicated. The wretch (for such he
was) who sought a shelter at the tent of Jael, was
by God^s law condemned to die. To give him
shelter, to protect him against the Israelites, was,
therefore, to fight against Israel and against God.
The cause of Israel was God's cause, and in taking
part with Israel against Sisera, she took part in
fact with the Lord against his enemies, and so far
did that which was right in the sight of the Lord ;
several expressions in the account put this beyond
doubt. " Curse ye Meroz, (said the angel of the
Lord,) curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;

XX.]

JAEL AND SISERA.

301

because they came not to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty ' ;"
again, " So God subdued Jabin, the king ot
Canaan, before the children of Israel * ;" and at
the conclusion, " So let all thine enemies perish
O Lord ; but let them that love Thee be as the
sun when he goeth forth in his might '." With
regard to the manner of Sisera's death, it may
be observed, that as a woman and unarmed, Jael
had no opportunity of destroying him in open
fight, and it was, therefore, natural that she should
do it (if at all) in the manner she did.

The great point is, however, the principle; which
can only be justified by the consideration of the
command of God to destroy all the Canaanites ;
and on that supposition, it was plainly a duty she
owed to God to destroy the man whom He had
condemned. On the same principle Jehu justified
his slaughter of the worshippers of Baal, though
the spirit in which he did it was not equally com-
mendable. In the same way we find in the book
of Kings, that " one of the sons of the prophets
said unto his neighbour, in the word of the Lord,
Smite me, I pray thee. But the man refused to
smite him. And it came to pass, that as he de-
parted, a Hon met him and slew him \" Thus an

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5 Judges V. 31.

* Judges iv. 23.

6 1 Kings XX. 35, 36.

303

JAEL AND SISERA.

[herm.

'ii

action wrong in itself without a special command,
becomes by that command not only justifiable,
but necessary, and he who did it not was slain
for refusing to take his part in the transaction.
But we turn to the second question. The nature of
the reward bestowed upon Jael. " Blessed above
women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite
be."

It must be remembered then, that there are two
kinds of blessings spoken* of in Scripture^ tem-
poral prosperity, and spiritual grace and comfort.
The blessing which God gave to Abraham con-
tained both. To Isaac He promised, not only
that he should *' become a great nation," but that,
through him, all mankind should be blessed : " I
will establish My covenant with him for an ever-
lasting covenant, and with his seed after him."
But the blessing of Ishmael was only of a tem-
poral character. " Twelve princes shall he beget,
and I will make him a great nation ^" So, when
Jacob on his death-bed blessed his children, he
made no reference whatever to the posterity of
Ishmael ^ In regard, therefore, to the case before
us, we are not called on to pronounce on Jael's
spiritual state; her reward was suited to her
action. As an act of faith she had destroyed the
enemy of God, and so it was foretold that she

^ Gen. xvii. 19, 20.

s Gen. xlix.

XX.]

JAEL AND 8ISERA.

303

would be distinguished above all women, re-
nowned for her action in all ages, and prospered
in some particular manner. Thus, in the 137th
Psalm, " Blessed," i. e., prosperous, " shall he be,
that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against
the stones.'*

But thirdly, was the action recorded at all for
our imitation ; and if at all so recorded, in what
sense ?

To make this clear, it may be observed, that
the Jewish dispensation differs entirely from the
Christian. It was a temporal dispensation. It
was intended only to last until the coming of our
Saviour. It was instituted with a view to the pre-
serving the national church of the Jews, and keep-
ing them a distinct people till the time came for
introducing that better covenant. The law was
enforced chiefly by temporal sanctions, and the
promises referred chiefly to the promised land.
In the Christian dispensation all things are
changed. The promised land to us is not Canaan,
but heaven. The good things which belong to the
promise are not the grapes of Eshcol ; the goodly
houses, the wells digged, the vineyards; but
they are the comforts of the Spirit, the pardoning
grace of the Gospel, the ministry of angels, the
presence of God, the hope of eternal glory through
Christ. Our rest remaineth, it is enduring, it is

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JAEL AND SISERA.

[SERM.

in heaven ; " here we have no continuing city,
but we seek one to come ^" The enemies with
whom we have to contend are chiefly of a spiritual
kind: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places \" Or if
wicked men may in any sense be called our
enemies, as being the enemies of God and His
Church, the weapons by which we are to oppose
them are not those of the sword and the spear,
but the weapons of reason, kindness, the word of
God, and prayer.

The action, therefore, of Jael is only so far to
be imitated, as it is transferred typically to our
spiritual foes, "the lusts that war in our mem-
bers," and the devils who continually plot our
destruction ; with these, indeed, we are to wage
the same war, to " buckle on the armour of God,"
to "fight the good fight of faith," to go forth
"conquering and to conquer." With these we
are to have no peace, to esteem them as deadly
enemies, and to pray earnestly for their subjuga-
tion and destruction. To them we are to transfer
the language of the inspired Psalmist, " Do I not
hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee? and am

9 Heb. xiii. 14.

» Eph. vi. 12.

XX.]

JAEL AND SISERA.

305

not I grieved with those that rise up against
Thee ? I hate them with perfect hatred ; I count
them mine enemies ^"

And we may profitably inquire of ourselves
here, Have we, brethren, this stern, fixed deter-
mination against the enemies of the kingdom oF
Christ ? Is there no lust too dear for us to sacri-
fice at the cross of the Redeemer ? Specious as
the excuse may be for sparing them, do we with-
out delay or remorse cut them all off, and with
faith and love join in the service of the Captain
of our salvation, "enduring the cross, despising

the shame?"

The contest is long, difficult, and severe. We

cannot expect to win the battle, if we enter it with

faint hearts and weak resolutions. We must be

decided, resolute, prayerful, and vigilant; our

hearts must be fixed, trusting in God, our eye

constantly looking unto Jesus, our hand ready

to ward or to strike the blow, our walk steadily

advancing towards Zion. Like Jael, we must

disregard the entreaties of ungodly acquaintances,

and the fears of a coward heart ; weak as we are,

we must venture on great things, and in the

strength of our God shall surely prevail.

But let us bring together a few practical lessons

3 Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22.

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[SERM.

arising from the history thus typically considered,
with reference to the experience of the Christian
warrior.

First, in the captivity of Israel, we see the evil
effects and deceitful promises of sin. So " the
wages of sin is death ^^' It is sure to work out
the misery and destruction of the sinner. In the
case of Israel, what was the end of their sparing
the people whom God had commanded them to
destroy ? What resulted from their alliances with
them, their marriaj^es with those monsters of ini-
quity — those foul and sensual idolaters ? Just
what might have been expected; exactly what
was foretold. " They will turn away their hearts
from Me, that they may serve other gods * ;"
" and it shall come to pass, that as all good things
are come upon you, so shall the Lord bring upon
you all evil things, until He have destroyed you
from off this good land, which the Lord your
God hath given you'.^' How awfully fulfilled
was the threatening in Leviticus °. How exactly
has every evil fallen upon them which is there
enumerated.

Now is it not so with the believer under the
Christian dispensation ? What must ever be the

3 Rom. vi. 23.

' Josh, xxiii. 15.

* Deut. vii. 4.

« Lev. xxvi. 14—39.

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XX.]

JAEL AND SISERA.

307

result of concession of principle but evil? We
may purchase peace it is true for a time,— but
what kind of peace will it be? a peace hollow,
insincere, unsatisfactory, and at best, temporary,
— a peace sanctioned neither by the word of God,
nor by the experience of the people of God, — a
peace which the world giveth, and which, there-
fore, the world can easily take away.

Concession of principle has been in all ages the
bane of good men, and the policy of bad men.
The man of God who came from Judah tried it,
and was slain by a lion ; Jehu tried it, and was
condemned ; Pilate tried it, and was despised by
the Jews and forsaken of God; Caiaphas proposed
it, and the evil which he feared came upon him ;
St. Peter fell into the snare, and was rebuked
severely by St. Paul at Antioch. Let us, bre-
thren, endeavour to act consistently and deci-
dedly on those principles which we profess. As
Christians, let us firmly and zealously, but mo-
destly, confess our great Master in the midst of
the world, believing that the course which is most
for His glory and for our profit, is the decided
course. As consistent members of the Church,
let us not scruple to avow our attachment to
her communion and her principles; and while,
with full and free toleration, we allow others to
differ from us in their views of truth, let us not

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JAEL AND SISERA.

[SERM.

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imagine that we shall really advance the cause of
truth by merging or compromising Church-prin-
ciples. In short, in all our conduct let us follow
the apostolic injunction, " Prove all things, hold
fast that which is good ^'^

But, my brethren, if we derive some profitable
instruction from the conduct of Jael, considered
typically, and with due limitation in reference to our
own course, if we apply it practically, how fearful
a lesson do we learn of the wages of sin from the
example of Sisera. He came to the tent thinking
to save himself from destruction, but he finds a
fatal enemy where he expected a stedfast and
faithful friend. He is offered milk and butter in
a lordly dish, but he knew not that the nails and
the hammer were behind. How mean does the
proud captain look, fallen dead at a woman's feet,
and slain by a woman's hand ! Where was the
boasted prowess of his arm ? where his nine hun-
dred iron chariots, his exulting hosts ? where the
proud expectations of his mother and her com-
panions? where that impudent delight in the grati-
fication of his lusts, in the vanity of his sordid ap-
petites ? How wonderfully is the shame of these
idolaters exhibited ! " Have they not sped ? have
they not divided the prey ? to every man a damsel

7 1 Thess. V. 21.

XX.]

JAEL AND SISERA.

309

or two ; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey
of divers colours of needle-work, of divers colours
of needle- work on both sides, meet for the necks
of them that take the spoil? So," says the vic-
torious Deborah, " so let all thine enemies perish,
O Lord : but let them that love Him be as the
sun when he goeth forth in his might *." So shall
it be at the last with every sinner, and with every
sin; the sinner shall be destroyed like Sisera,
while his sins shall be published to his everlasting

disgrace.

Oh how earnestly should we all pray to be deli-
vered from the flattering arts and delusions of
sin, to have our nature renewed and our souls
inwardly strengthened, our understanding enUght-
ened to see its danger, and our wills subdued that
we may flee from it and resist it. And to be deli-
vered from the love of sin, the love of Christ must
be implanted in our hearts more firmly. Then
every cross will be cheerfully borne, and every
burden light ; then every thought will be brought
into subjection, and every unholy desire rejected;
we shall increase in faith and the fruits of faith ;
to faith we shall add manly courage and holy
energy; to courage and energy, sound knowledge of
the doctrines we profess, and the duties that devolve

(, V

8 Judges V. 30, 31.

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JAEL AND SISERA.

[SERM.

upon us; to knc e a temperate and thank-
ful use of all our blessings, and a moderate and
holy restraint in the enjoyment of all earthly
good; to a holy temper, the love and fear of a
reconciled God ; to godliness, brotherly and kindly
affection; to brotherly kindness, that expansive and
unfeigned charity which shall live when prophe-
cies, tongues, and knowledge shall all have passed
away, and which will increase and abound through
the ages of eternity. Finally, let us bless God
that under the Gospel dispensation, the weapons
of our warfare are not carnal. To a feeling mind,
the duty of extirpating the Canaanites must have
been a most painful duty. No such sacrifice is
required of us. We are come to a better cove-
nant, established on better promises, and the
command to us is universally, " Love your ene-
mies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despite-
fully use you, and persecute you"." Are any of us
ready to censure the conduct of those who act in
this manner ? Let such ask themselves, whether
they fulfil the Saviour's dying injunction, " By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
if ye love one another'." You that think the
slaying of Sisera cruel and unjustifiable, is your

» Matt. V. 44.

^ John xiii. 35.

XX.]

JAEL AND SISERA.

311

conduct marked by obedience to God's commands,
or are you living in malice, or envy, or covetous-
ness, or any known sin ? How easy, compara-
tively, is your task : how light your burden. " Put
on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, long-suffering ; forbearing one another,
and forgiving one another, if any man have a
quarrel against any : even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye ^'' For "He that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him ' ;" and " here-
by we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit
which He hath given us *."

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3 1 John iv. 16. M John iii. 24.

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SERMON XXI.

ahab's fall and end.

1 Kings xxii. 20—24.

" And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go
up and fall at Ramoth-gilead ? And one said on this manner,
and another said on that manner. And there came forth a
spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
And the Lord said unto him. Wherewith ? And he said, I
will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all
his prophets. And he said. Thou shalt persuade him, and pre-
vail also : go forth and do so. Now therefore, behold, the
Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy
prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee. But
Zedekiah, the son of Clienaanah, went near and smote Micaiah
Qn the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord
from me to speak unto thee ? "

The Bible history differs in one respect from all
other history ; it is the history not of facts only, but
of motives and principles. It not only tells us what
things men did, but why they did them. It leads
us behind the scenes, shows the secret springs
of human action, places before us in a most clear

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AHAB'S PALL AND END.

313

and convincing light the real character of ungodly
men, and then sends us away to " commune with
our own hearts and to be still." In ordinary histo-
ries, the number of the forces on either side, the
bravery of the soldiers, the skill of the com-
manders, and all the pomp and circumstance
of war are theatrically displayed, while the great
Disposer of all events seems to be forgotten. In
the Scripture account the reverse of this is the
case. The glare and noise and pomp of the bat-
tle are forgotten ; but there is a still small voice
which speaks of Jehovah's hand overruling all ;
and some one event is singled out from the rest,
and placed prominently before our view, to show
us the amazing wisdom, the wonderful forbear-
ance, or the awfully retributive justice of God.
Such is the case in the histoiy before us ; every
line is full of interest — every word has a moral
lesson, which comes home to the sinner's heart,
which says, remember Naboth, remember Elijah,
remember the interview in the garden ; " heaven
and earth may pass away, but God's word shall
not pass away."

The chapter opens with an account of a viola-
tion of a treaty between Ahab and Benhadad the
king of Syria, by the latter. Bad as Ahab was.
Benhadad was probably worse, a thoroughly pro-
fligate and unprincipled man. Ahab had been re-

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ahab's fall and end. [serm.

markably kind to Benhadad, and therefore his
pride was the more hurt at the ingratitude of a
man whose life he had spared, and who in spite
of a solemn covenant, refused to restore one of the
principal cities which had been formerly in the
possession of the kings of Israel. About this time
Jehoshaphat, who, it seems, had allowed a family
connexion between himself and the Israehtish
monarch, came down to Samaria to pay him a

visit.

We little know what events a day may bring
forth, nor how an ordinary visit to a friend may be
pregnant with the most disastrous consequences to
both of us. But Jehoshaphat was evidently not in
his place: for what concord had the pious monarch
of Judah, who still loved and adored God, with
ti ^. idolatrous king whose hands were imbrued
in the blood of the prophets of the Lord, and
whose doom had been already publicly pro-
nounced by Elijah ? But when Ahab inquired
whether he would aid him in the recovery of
Ramoth-gilead, Jehoshaphat tendered his will-
ing services, and at once acquiesced in the pro-
posal. This gives us a view of Jehoshaphat's
character.

In the parallel passage in the 2nd book of Chro-
nicles, we learn that Jehoshaphat stood very high as
a pious devoted servant of God. He was one who

' i

XXI.]

AIlAn S FALL AND END.

315

it' I) 'r

set himself to serve God with all his heart ; he
had the courage to put down idolatry, to restore ,
the reading of the law in all the cities of Judah,
and he was remarkably successful in his wars
wiih heathen nations. It is of Jehoshaphat that
we read that beautiful instance of dependence on
the power of God, that when attacked by an in-
vading army of very superior force, he set himself
to seek the T^ord God by fasting and prayer, and
obtained an answer to his petitions. But Jeho-
shaphat was a man who loved to please every one.
He had, no doubt, an amiable, facile, pHable tem-
per, and he carried it to excess. It led him not
only to engage in the society of persons who could
do him no good, but to give way in matters of
right imd wrong ; to sacrifice his duty to the wish
to please.

Into how much danger to their own souls, into
what painful and humiUating circumstances, are
persons of this temper conthiually brought. The
ungodly only seek their acquaintance that they
may please themselves^ and obtain a kind of coun-
tenance from them; and thus the only chance of
continuing the friendship is, by frequent conces-
sions, by conniving at conduct which they must
in their consciences disapprove, through fear of
being deemed uncourteous and uncivil. They find
it necessary to " become all things to all men,''

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AH ad's fall and end. [serm.

not " that they may be able to save some/* but
that they may keep up a hollow friendship, with-
out producing any good effect on the hearts of
their acquaintances, and certainly to the injury
of their own sovls.

It is a great attainment in Christian conduct,
though it is one that few of us exactly reach,
to be courteous and yet decided, affable yet not
compromising, easily entreated, yet not easily
turned from the right way. Certainly to be
either weakly giving way to the world on the
one hand, or superciliously unbending on the
other, is by far the easiest way. Yet Jehoshaphat
went as far as he could. He was accustomed
never to undertake any thing without asking
counsel of God, and this was too important a
business to proceed in without asking His guid-
ance. "And Jehoshaphat said. Is there here a
prophet of the Lord besides, that we might en-
quire of him ^ ?" But how could Ahab inquire of
God, who had been a wicked idolater and a cruel
oppressor for twenty-two years? No; he must
go to men of smoother tongues and lying hearts ;
to the four hundred prophets of Baal, who yet
remained, and flattered him in his iniquities.

He had almost forgotten by this time Elijah's

* 1 Kings xxii. 7.

XXI.]

AHAn'S FALL AND END.

317

sentence; and amidst the luxurious splendour
and revelry of the court, his mind would easily
turn from it. Baal's prophets seeing him bent
upon undertaking the expedition, found no diffi-
culty in complying with his inclination, and con-
cluding, from Jehoshaphat's alliance, that he would
probably be victorious, were unanimous in their
predictions : " Go up, and prosper ; for the Lord
shall deliver it into the hand of the king '." But
Jehoshaphat was not satisfied ; he must have re-
garded tne men as deceivers and sycophants,
whose object was to gain the favour of the king
by flattery. Where were Elijah and Elisha, those
famous prophets of Israel? Was there no prophet
of the Lord besides to whom they might repair ?
This proposal was not at all pleasing to Ahab.
" There is one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah,
by whom we may enquire of the Lord; but I hate
him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning

me, but evil ^"

How clearly do we see, that the moment ungodly
men find their favourite lusts are thwarted by their
religious companions, they demur to it ; they can-
not bear to be interrupted or checked in their
course of sin ; they hate the faithful monitor, they

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* 1 Kings xxii. 8.

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318

ahab\s fall and end.

[SERM.

hate the person that will not let them sleep in
sin, but forces them to reflect on their iniquities.
" I hate him !" That confession might be made
by many a heart which perhaps is less honest,
but equally opposed to the truth. " I hate him !"
and why does he hate him? because he does not
speak good of him ; that is, because without any
of those qualifications or reserves which the heart
of the impenitent sinner loves, he declares the
"wrath of God as revealed from heaven against
every soul of man that doeth evil;" because in
charity to Ahab, he had warned him to "flee
from the wrath to come."

Oh how awful a proof it is of the depravity of
our nature, of the base ingratitude tliat reigns in
our hearts, that we should hate the person that
would do us good? And have we not been in
some respects guilty of this crying sin ? Have we
not turaed against Him that chastised us for our
profit, and our rebellious hearis have been filled
with murmurings against the Lord our God?
When we have felt a restraint put upon us by the
authority of parents, the checks of conscience,
the advice of friends, the warnings of God's minis-
ters ; have we not sometimes rebelled against the
hardness of the precept, and wished we were al-
lowed to have our own way ?

XXI.]

AHAB S FALL AND END.

319

" 1

Jehoshaphat gently checked the guilty monarch,
saying, "Let not the king say so*." Unwilling
to disoblige his ally, Ahab sends for Micaiah, and
during the interval, again the false prophets raise
their united voices with shouts of exultation and
triumph, as if the victory had been already gained;
*•' Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper ; for the
Lord shall dehver it into the king's hands ^" One
of the foremost of them, " Zedekiah, the son of
Chenaanah, made him horns of iron; and he
said, Thus saith the Lord, with these shalt thou
push the Syrians, until thou have consumed

them \"

Unity is not a decisive mark of truth ; hand may
join in hand against it, multitudes may contrive
to overthrow^ it ; even ministers of the Gospel may
be led away by the popular cry, and positively
declare that such is the will of God. But in such
times, the true beUever will resort to the law and
to the testimony. Though all men deny and for-
sake the Saviour, he will stand firm and unshaken
as a rock ; and such was Micaiah.

We cannot conceive a more severe trial of
principle than this ; four hundred false prophets
against one man, standing unsupported even by
the vacillating Jehoshaphat, his friends around

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* 1 Kings xxii. 8.

5 1 Kings xxii. 12.
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ti Ver. 24.

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320

ARAB'S FALL AND END.

[SERM.

him urging him to speak smooth things, and pro-
phesy good to the king ; even a dubious or equi-
vocal answer might save him ; but Micaiah stands
firm, "as the Lord Uveth, what the Lord saith
unto me, that will I speak ^" "And the king
said unto him, Micaiah, Shall we go against
Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?
And he answered him, Go, and prosper : for the
Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king ^"
At first we are ready to ask, what, is Micaiah
false ? O no ; — there is a grave but cutting irony
in the words that forbids any such conception.
His tone, his manner, his concealed indignation,
made even Ahab see that he intended it as a
rebuke. You wish to be deceived, — " he that hates
truth shall be the dupe of lies;" go then, and
prosper. But Ahab, impelled by a kind of irre-
sistible impulse and curiosity, which even wicked
men have to know the truth, adjures him to tell
him that which was "true in the name of the
Lord." And Micaiah then intimated, that the
Israelites would soon be deprived of their king,
and, having no master, would return home as
sheep without a shepherd. "I told thee," says
Ahab to Jehoshaphat, " that he was bent on speak-
ing evil of me." Thus in a sinner's eyes, those who

7 Ver. 14.

8 Ver. 15.

XXI.]

ARAB'S FALL AND END.

321

tell him of the danger he is in speak evil of him.
Micaiah then follows up the graver message by
a prophetic vision which he had seen, representing,
in a way accommodated to the capacities of man,
the determination of God to permit Ahab to follow
his own delusions, and to listen to the voice of the
false prophets who led him to destruction. And
by the lying spirit who went forth from the Lord,
we may either suppose is meant Satan, the father
of lies, who never acts but by Divine permission
though not by Divine authority, or, more simply,
the pasisage may merely mean, that when a sinner
is bent upon hardening his heart against God, the
worst punishment that can befal him is that God
should give him up to the wilful blindness which
he loves. But the vision which Micaiah saw is a
clear representation of the truth. The two kings
sit majestically on their thrones; but, says the
prophet, I see by the eye of faith a throne invi-
sible to mortal eyes, on which sits the eternal,
immortal, and only wise God, surrounded by all
the host of heaven, " who doeth all things accord-
ing to His will, both in heaven and on earth, who
putteth down one and setteth up another; with
Him is strength and wisdom, the deceived and
the deceiver are His. He leadeth counsellors
away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. He
poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth

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ahab's fall and end. [serm.

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the strength of the mighty." All evil counsels
come from the evil and malignant spirit ; but that
evil spirit could have no power but by the per-
mission and decree of the Almighty. And when
God gives up men to strong delusions that work
their destruction, Satan is merely the permitted
executioner of the vengeance of God, who is as
far from doing evil as from not punishing it. How
bold, how faithful, how noble a heart is that of
Micaiah ; in spite of the affronts of Zedekiah, and
the menaces of Ahab, and his order to imprison
him, and feed him with the bread and water of
affliction, he still persists in his faithful message :
"If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not
spoken by me *." Micaiah being thus led off to
the dungeon, to lie there in misery till Ahab re-
turned to see what other tortures he could inflict
upon him,, Jehoshaphat and Ahab prepare for the
battle, and Ahab devises by what means he may
defeat the counsel of the Lord. He craftily pro-
poses to change robes with Jehoshaphat, and
giving the king of Judah the post of honour, he
retires to the ranks unknown.

Here we see the danger in which good men
place themselves by their connexion with the un-
godly. The selfish proposition of Ahab nearly

• 1 Kinga xxii. 28.

XXI.]

AHAB S FALL AND END.

323

cost Jehoshaphat his life. But Ahab bears no
charmed life against the dart whose course is
winged by Heaven. No armour of steel can beat
off the stroke ; no Damascus blade ward off the
blow. It comesj though from a hand unseen,
yet with unerring certainty ; it pierces the joints
of his armour ; it was shot at a venture ; it fell by
God's appointment, for His right hand finds out
them that hate Him. " If a man will not turn,"
says David, " He will whet His sword ; He hath
bent His bow, and made it ready. He hath also
prepared for him the instruments of death ; He
ordaineth His arrows against the persecutor'."
Ahab feels himself wounded, and struggUng
against a conviction that his doom is come, com-
mands himself to be stayed up in his chariot;
but his wound is fatal ; the blood gushes out into
the midst of the chariot, and while it is being
washed in the pool of Samaria, the dogs lick up
his blood, according to the word of the Lord by
Elijah; "and thus," says Bishop HpU, "M'^aiah
is justified, Naboth revenged, the BLJites con-
founded, Ahab judged, and God is show.i to be
righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His

works 1"

And now let us take the three prominent cha-

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» Ps. vii. 12, 13.

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324

ahab's fall and end.

[SERM.

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racters in this awful history, Jehoshaphat, Micaiah,
and Ahab, and reflect on the lessons that we
should learn from each of them.

First, Jehoshaphat.— -The blemishes in this good
man's character are intended to teach us the im-
portance of decision in religion. Let every one
at the beginning of his course sit down and count
the cost, and having done so, make his choice. A
vacillating, undecided mode of acting, is not accept-
able to God, nor respectable in the eyes of man,
and cannot be successful in the end. If, from an
excess of amiable feeling we suffer ourselves to be
led away by ungodly men, who to suit their own
purposes will be sure to flatter us for our libe-
rality, freedom from bigotry, and all those specious
phrases which they know how to apply with effect,
at what point shall we stop ? Here is Jehoshaphat
urgently enquiring for a prophet of the Lord, yet
afraid to support him ; wishing for his opinion,
yet ashamed to approve it ; suffering the prophet
to be hated and imprisoned without a single re-
monstrance, and endangering his own life to please
his crafty and hardened associate. Let us beware
of going to the verge of what is doubtful, lest we
speedily fall into what is criminal. An ungodly
friend is a real enemy; and he who is God's
enemy ought not to be our associate.

Secondly, Micaiah, too, claims our regard. —

XXI.]

AHAB S FALL AND END.

325

Oh how does the eye of faith pierce through the
crowd of fears and apprehensions, and soaring
above man's threats, and man's frowns, reach
the eternal throne of God. A believing view of
the glory of heaven, my brethren, sets us above
the world, and makes us more than conquerors
over it. Nature is weak, but grace is strong ; our
arm is feeble and powerless, but we lean on the
arm of Omnipotence ; hosts of angry foes sur-
round us, but there is an invisible host, countless
in number, mighty in power, that surround us
as with a wall of fire, and protect us from their
bonds. They may frown, they may threaten,
they may lay hands on us, they may proceed
to deeds of violence and blood, but they cannot
overthrow the faith of the feeblest saint, if he is
found upon his knees trusting in Jesus; they
cannot hurt one hair of his head. Sooner shall
the powers of heaven be shaken, and all the
elements of the world melt away, and the earth
be burnt up, than shall one jot or tittle of God's
promises be brought to nought. Therefore, O
believing soul, rejoice in the midst of trials. Con-
sider what God's servants formerly endured. You
are not beaten on the cheek for the Gospel's sake,
nor thrust into prison, nor fed with the " bread pf
affliction, and the water of affliction," nor are
your feet made fast in the stocks, nor are you

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326

ahab's fall and end. [serm.

'I. i 7.

forced to fly into a distant land, nor are you here
tortured with the extremities of hunger and thirst,
impaled, or burnt ahve ; yet perchance your free-
dom from trial may prove more dangerous to you
than the persecutions of these good men were to
them. Therefore hold fast, and watch and pray
against temptation of every kind ; for we are more
easily allured into sin by the smiles of the world,
than driven into it by its terrors and threats.
And may we who are ministers learn from
Micaiah's example not to give flattering words,
nor call base crimes by soft names, nor buoy up
the hopes of hypocrites with specious falsehoods,
but declare the whole counsel of God, and speak
what is profitable, though it be displeasing.

Lastly, from the history of Ahab, let us beware
of self-deception, wilful self-deception. The worst
punishment that God can inflict, is to give us up
to the delusions of Satan and our own hearts. The
Jews in their blindness wanted a king, but rejected
the King of kings, and crucified Him. They called
for a sign from heaven ; yet though the Saviour
did so many miracles, " they did not believe on
Him.'' They declared, that if all men believed
on Christ, the Romans would "come, and take
away their place and nation," and into what a
pitch of madness did they rush when the Ro-
mans did come and besiege them. They fought

XXI.]

AIIAUS FALL AND END.

327

amongst themselves ; they stopped their own
supplies ; they devoured each other with the
sword ; and still refusing to believe in a crucified
Saviour, they themselves were crucified, until
there were not crosses found for them.

Are there any of you, my brethren, who are
thus trifling with your convictions, and dealing
deceitfully with God and with yourselves. Re-
member, then, the history before us. Remember
AhaVs fall at Ramoth-gilead. Remember the
warnings he heard — the prophets that preached
to him — the false promises on which he leaned,
and how all gave way at the last. Such is your
case, whether you will believe it or not. Invitation
after invitation, conviction upon conviction, has
been impressed upon you ; yet you have blinded
yourselves, framed some ingenious excuse by
which you could get over it, and your hearts
have become harder than before. Beware lest
God put a lying spirit into your heart, and give
you up to the evil which continually luriis there.
If Ahab, blind idolatrous Ahab, was guilty, what
is our guilt who trample under foot the Blood of
the Cross ? For when the time is come for retri-
bution, in vain will you endeavour to avoid, or to
evade it ; in vain will you disguise yourself when
you enter into the battle with God; the unerring
shaft of Divine displeasure will find its way to

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328

aiiab's fall and end.

your heart, will pierce into your inmost soul, and
force you to cry out, in the agony and sore amaze-
ment of your spirit, I see the truth, but it is now
too late.

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SERMON XXIL

JEHU.

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2 Kings x. 30, 31.

•* And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in
executing that which is right in Mine eyes, and hast done unto
the house of Ahab according to all that was in Mine heart, thy
children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of
Isi-ael. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord
God of Israel with all his heart : for he departed not from the
sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin."

" The sins of some men/' says St. Paul, " are
open beforehand, going before to judgment ; and
some they follow after ^" The marks of gross
and open ungodliness are so evident in some of
the characters of the Bible, that we find no diffi-
culty in deciding on them at once. There are
others, however, of a more questionable nature.
When the individual sets out well, but is grossly

1 I Tim. V. 24.

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330

JEHU.

[SERM.

inconsistent ; when one part of his life differs from
that of another ; when his professions and his ac-
tions are at variance, and the Scripture says very
little on the subject, we are sometimes at a loss how
to come to a right decision. The difficulty becomes
greater when the Bible speaks of God's approba-
tion of actions which appear at first sight to be
contrary to His commands. No Scripture diffi-
culty is, however, so great as that which presents
to us the same individual first commended by
God for what appears, on a superficial view of
the case, to be a very wicked action, and after-
wards punished (in his posterity at least) for
the same action for which he had been at first
commended. This difficulty lies in the chapter
before us; and in considering Jehu's history, it
is our duty to endeavour to solve it.

When we enter upon Jehu's history, one of the
first things we read of him is his murder of his
sovereign, then of all Ahab's sons by means of
a letter dispatched to the elders of Samaria ; fur-
ther, of the whole house of Ahab ; and finally, by
a stratagem, of all the worshippers of Baal in
Israel. At the end of this series of crimes, we
find, to our surprise, that the Lord said unto
Jehu, " Because thou hast done well in executing
that which is right in Mine eyes, and hast done
unto the house of Ahab according to all that was

XXII.]

JEIIU.

331

in Mine heart, thy children of the fourth genera-
tion shall sit on the throne of Israel." Yet, if
we turn to Hosea, we read, " And 1 will avenge
the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and
I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of
Israel'." Thus we find the following, as it ap-
pears, strange combination of circumstances. Jehu
approved and commended for conspiring against
his master, and murdering the descendants of
Ahab ; and yet the house of Jehu punished, in
succeeding generations, for that blood, in shed-
ding which they had no share, and for shedding
of which their ancestor had been commended.

I have thus, I believe, fairly given the utmost
strength of the objection. Let us now consider
how it may be answered.

First, we may lay it down as a sure position,
that God never commands anything to be done
which is morally wrong, nor punishes anything
which is morally right. We are sure of this, for
" God cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth

He any man '."

Secondly, God may command certain things
to be done, which it would be wrong in us to do
if He did not command them, because no one
would be invested with any right or power to do

a Hos. i. 4.

3 James i. 13.

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JEHU.

[SERM.

them independently of God's command. The right
to take away life for certain offences is vested in
the magistrate ; no private individual has the right
to exercise that power. Those who do so indepen-
dently of such authority are, ordinarily speaking,
guilty of murder. But the magistrate is not
guilty of murder when he orders the guilty to
be executed, because the power of the sword is
put into his hands by God. Those, therefore,
that act under his authority, and are the imme-
diate instruments of the execution, are free from
the charge of murder, because they act in the
performance of their duty, in obedience to the
authority of the magistrate, which is derived from
God.

Thirdly, we may easily conceive it possible
for a magistrate to act in the discharge of his
duty, and do nothing more than the law permitted
him, and yet to act with motives and dispositions
so contrary to the spirit of the law, that it might
be doubtful whether he were discharging a greater
duty, or committing a greater sin. If a magis-
trate, for example, had a personal enemy whose
life were forfeit to the law, if in the execution
of the sentence his motive were merely to gratify
his own hatred and revenge, to accomplish his
own selfish ambition, and to raise himself on the
ruins of another, if he merely looked to his own

XXII.]

JEHU.

333

selfish ends in passing sentence upon him, then
though the execution may be an act of justice,
it is at the same time a great sin ; not a sin as far
as the pubUc is concerned, but a sin as regards
himself. This, then, was Jehu's case. Jehu we
are to consider, not as a private person, but as a
magistrate ; set apart to the office by God Him-
self, for the purpose of executing judgment on
the wicked family of Ahab. That king had been
guilty of two wrongs, for both of which he de-
served to suffer death ; first, the murder of Na-
both; secondly, idolatry. The whole family of
Ahab participated in his crimes, and God, there-
fore, taking the matter into His hands, invested
Jehu with this authority, and bid him slay the
descendants of Ahab. So far the action was to
be commended, as it was an act of public justice,
executed on public and most atrocious offenders.

But in the execution of it, Jehu had other ends
in view than the pleasing of God. Personal am-
bition, personal vanity, the estabUshing himself
on the throne of Israel, these were Jehu's ends,
and when he had done this, he had done all that
he could do. The destruction of idolatry was
a secondary object in his eyes, the possession of
the throne was the main object; when he had
gained this, he took no heed to walk in the ways
of the Lord. While, therefore, Jehu was com-

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JEHU.

[SERM.

mended for the one, he was reproved for the
other. But why should Jehu's house be punished
for Jehu's sin ? Because, though they had not been
guilty of the same blood, they were actuated by
the same blood-thirsty spirit. They walked in
the steps of that idolater whom Jehu their father
had slain; and as they filled up the measure of
those iniquities which Jehu their father had
practised, the cup of the punishment of those
iniquities was given them to drink, just as our
Saviour had said to the Jews, "Truly ye bear
witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers ;
for they indeed killed them, and ye build their
sepulchres. Therefore, also, said the wisdom of
God, I will send them prophets and apostles,
and some of them they shall slay and persecute :
that the blood of all the prophets which was shed
from the foundation of the world may be required
from this generation'." "Fill ye \ip then the
measure of your fathers ; ye serpents, ye genera-
tion of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation
of hell*?" Thus, there are three reasons why
God commended the action of Jehu in his zeal for
the Lord of hosts, and yet avenged it on his house ;
first, because though Jehu did that which God
commanded him to do, yet he did it not to please

3 Luke xi. 48—56.

* Matt, xxiii. 32, 3r..

XXII.]

JEHU.

335

God, but to gratify the evil desires of his own
heart. Secondly, because, though he destroyed
Ahab's house, he did not destroy AhaVs idols.
Thirdly, because he followed in the way of Jero-
boam, and his children after him. The tem-
poral reward, therefore, was granted to him,
because he had destroyed the enemies of God,
though in an improper spirit ; but the visitation
followed in its time. And let us learn the lesson
here, to beware of only going so far in obedience
to God as serves our inclination. Saul went
according as he was commanded by God, to slay
the Amalekites, and he came back full of self-
complacency at what he had done. " Yea, I have
obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the
way which the Lord sent me, and have brought
Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly des-
troyed the Amalekites. But the people took of
the spoil, sheep and oxen," the chief of the things
which should have been utterly destroyed, "to
sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal." But
he was met with the reply, " Hath God as great
dehght in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in
obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey
is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the
fat of rams '." It is a very awful, it is a tremend-

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5 1 Sam XV. 20—22.

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336

JEHU.

both for us and for

[SERM.

ou, that

ous consideratic ,

we may be employed in God's s-rvice, we may
be doing in one sense God's work, and yet may
be doing it with a heart so disobedient, with
motives so defective, that the more we do, the
more do we displease God by doing it ; and we
may have our reward. We may obtain the ap-
plause of men, the favour of the great, the honour,
or the wealth, or the pleasure that we sought
after, but it is all nothing, it is all vanity in God's
sight. Thus we may enter the house of God, go
through the whole service with decent and appa-
rently devout regularity ; but if God sees our heart
is after our idols, if He sees that while we are
here n ^e are seeking amusement and pleasure, or
setting up the stumbling-block of our iniquity,
will the Lord be inquired of by us ? " As I live,
saith the Lord God, surely, because thou hast
defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things,
and with all thine abominations, therefore will I
also diminish thee ; neither shall mine eye spare ;
neither will I have any pity *'." But let us turn
to Jehu's conduct in another instance. After the
slaughter of Ahab's family, as he is going to Sama-
ria to destroy the worshippers of Baal, he meets
with Jehonadab the Kenite, son of Rechab : will-

« Ezek. V. 11.

It'

XXII.]

JEHU.

337

ing to engage in his service a man who was proba-
bly, celebrated for a somewhat austere and gloomy,
piety, he cried out to him, « Is thine heart right
as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab
answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And
he gave him his hand; and he took him up to
him into the chariot. And he said, Come with
me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made
him ride in his chariot \" If Jehonadab were a
good man, he was imposed on by this show of
piety, and expecting that Jehu would continue
as he had begun, he rode with him in the chariot
to proceed with the expected reformation. But
if he expected this he was wofuUy deceived.
No sooner had Jehu seated himself firmly on
the throne, than he was as ready to sacrifice to
the golden calves of Bethel and Dan, as he had
before been to destroy those who worshipped
them. We may learn from this passage how to
discern real piety, from the affectation of it. No
doubt we must make great allowances for different
tempers, and persons of lively dispositions and
fluency in language may express themselves very
differently from others of more thoughtful minds,
and yet be sincere ; but false zeal makes ostenta-
tion the object, and piety the means of display.

i '.

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' 2 Kings X. 15, 16.

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JEHU.

[SERM.

' 1-

In what danger are we in the present day from
imitating the conduct of Jehu ; " Come with me,
and see my zeal for the Lord/' Nothing is
thought well of now, unless we can see the im-
mediate effects of it. What arts are put in prac-
tice to make proselytes, to gain followers, to
attract congregations, to please men's eyes, to
tickle their ears and their fancy. Those who can
talk the loudest, and pray the most fluently, and
give the most interesting detail of their own ex-
perience, are the most pious ; and those who say
little, but are in secret on " the Lord's side," are
considered as cold and carnal persons, having very
Httle of the spirit of religion. For my part, I
believe that a great deal of what is called religion
amongst us is little more than "Come and see
my zeal for the Lord," while we forget that our
Saviour said, " Blessed are the poor in spirit ; for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven "." And this (I
will not call it bad taste, though it is so) but, I
should rather say, unsound principle goes through,
in a greater or less degree, the whole of the reli-
gious world.

What meretricious arts ; re practised to attract
public notice, to blazon forth our own good deeds,
till, as we have reason to fe. r,. when we have thus
before all the world proclaimed our own virtues,

» Matt. V. 3.

ill

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XXII.]

JEHU.

339

God will say of us, " They have then- reward."
And this delusion goes further; it not only accom-
panies us through life, but reaches even the bed
of death. There, where it might be supposed that
every delusion would be dissipated, that hypocrisy
would throw aside her mask, that amidst the
awful and agitating prospect of eternal retribu-
tion, truth only would be desired and sought for ;
even there it is still said, " Come and see my zeal
for the Lord," and the sick are taught to say
what they do not feel, and if they can but put on
an appearance of departing in peace and dying
happy, their souls are sure to be saved ; as if a
life of ungodHness and alienation from God were
to be cancelled by the empty pretence of dying
happy. For my own part, I should have more
hope of a man who died in despair, than of those
who die in such delusions, who lay the flattering
unction to their souls, and cry "Peace, peace,
where there is no peace."

A true contrite sorrow for sin, a hearty deter-
mination to forsake it, a humble but stedfast
reliance on the merits of Christ, a submissive
resignation to God's will, a love for holiness and
constant endeavour after it, can alone make death
safe and eternity glorious. Let us not, brethren,
let us not deceive ourselves, en there are such
plain marks of Christians as these ; " If any man

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JEHU.

[

SERM.

have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His " ;"
*^ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kinj^dom of heaven ; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven^;" "Think not to say within yourselves,
We have Abraham to our father : for I say unto
you, that God is able of these stones to raise up
children unto Abraham ' ;" " But now, being made
free from sin, and become servants to God, ye
have your fruit unto hohness, and the end ever-
lasting life ' ;" " and. Let every one that nameth
the name of Christ depart from iniquity *."

Last of all, let us contempbte Jehu in his
treatment of the worshippers of Baal. So far
he might have been justified or excused, that
all those worshinpers of Baal were guilty of idola-
trv, and as such, by the law of Israel punishable
with death ; and that in another instance the tribe
of Levi was approved by God for having assisted
in destroying the ' 'orshippers of the golden calf*.
But the manner of doing it, it is impossible to
approve. It savours of the wisdom that is from
beneath, which is " earthly, sensual, and deviUsh."

The truth of God, says an eminent divine, needs
no man's lie. Jehu might have destroyed the
place, and forbid the crime, and punished all who

^ Rom. viii. 9.
3 Rom. vi. 22.

1 Matt. vii. 21.
* 2 Tim. ii. 19.

2 Matt. iii. 9.
* Exod. xxxii.

XXII.]

JEIIU.

341

I I

were guilty of it, without this treacherous mode of
action. But do we not here see a representation
of the ensnaring nature of sin ? How came the
worshippers of Baal to be so infatuated as not
to suspect some evil design, when they were all
requested so urgently to assemble in the same
place ? But sin blinds men's eyes, leads them to
cry peace and safety, when sudden destruction is
coming upon them.

Forty years before the total destruction of
Jerusalem, the infatuated Jews cried out, when
Pilate declared he was innocent of the blood of
Christ, "His blood be on us, and on our chil-
dren";" and at the very time of the last fatal
siege, when all was ruin and misery, and when
Titus promised to spare both them and their city
on condition that they would surrender to him,
so obstinately bent were they on their own de-
struction, that they would rather kill themselves
and one another, and see their children devoured,
than listen to his propositions.

And here, impenitent sinner, is your case ; God
in His word declares that those that " obey not
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, shall be
punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His

« Matt, xxvii. 25.
Q 3

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342

JEIIU.

[SERM.

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power'/' The ministers of that word read this
declaration to you; they show you the certain
misery in which you are involved ; they open and
apply the gracious invitations of the Saviour to
you ; conscience seconds their efforts, and says to
you, thou art surely lost through eternity, unless
thou hast an interest in this "great salvation;"
but you have one and another ingenious excuse,
by which you delude yourself, that at " a more
convenient season '' you will prepare for another
world, and turning a deaf ear to our remon-
strances, you continue still to lo^ sin, and work
iniquity. Thus, like the Baalites, at the very time
that death and destruction come upon you, you
are thinking of golden days, and expecting peace
and comfort. Well may we use to you the words
of Jehu, " What peace," so long as sin reigns in
your hearts, so long as the altar of God in your
hearts is overturned, and you sacrifice to "your
net and burn incense unto your drag * ? " Oh ! I
beseech you, consider the safety of your own souls ;
— consider that peace has no foundation except in
obedience to Christ, the testimony of a good con-
science, and faith unfeigned : other refuge there is
none; all others are refuges of lies. You are
not, however, yet in the situation of the Baalites.

' 2 Thess. i. 8, 9.

« Habak. i. 16.

XXII.]

JEHU.

343

Though sin lieth at your door, there is a way to
escape. " I am," says the Saviour, " the door ; by
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and
shall go in and out, and find pasture " ;" " he that
believeth on me hath everlasting life '." And
ye virho like Jehu take no heed to walk in the
" law of the Lord," remember that you have to
do with a God whose name is jealous, who cannot
endure to hear the lips express one thing, and
the life say another ; who will have us strive
against all sin, against the sin of thought aa
much as against the sin of action; against the
evil eye as much as against the covetous hand;
against the malicious word as much as against
the deed of dishonour and blood. You have to
do with a God who reads the heart, who searches
into every corner of it, who fathoms its depths,
penetrates into the chambers of imagery, and sees
the abominations inscribed on the walls. Your
careless worship in the house of God, your cold,
formal, and heartless petitions, your vain-glorious
motives, your secret pride, your concealed sensu-
ality, your love of pleasure more than your love
of God ; all these are known unto Him who has
weighed you in the balances of His justice, and
found you wanting. Take heed to yourselves,

« John X. 9.

^ John vi. 47.

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JEHU.

lest that wrath come upon you, which ye vainly
imagine to escape : " It were better for that man
if he had not been born '."

Lastly, we see here the happiness of those who
can truly say, " Lord, thou knowest all things ;
Thou knowest that I love Thee '\" In what de-
lightful contrast with the sins of Ahab, Ahaziah,
and Jehu, appear the characters of Elijah and
Elisha. Those bright and glorious spirits, with
the seven thousand that never bent the knee to
Baal, are now rejoicing and blessing God, that
by His grace they "fought a good fight, they
finished their course, they kept the faith * ;" that
their perils are all past, that they " hunger no
more, neither thirst any more; neither doth the
sun light on them, nor any heat * ;" that they have
no wilderness to pass through, no persecuting
tyrants to meet, no insincere professions to grieve
over. Let us cast in our lot with those "who
through faith and patience inherit the promises."
" For yet a little while, and He that shall come
will come, and will not tarry. Now the just
shall live by faith; but if any man draw back,
my soul shall have no pleasure in him"."

a Matt. xxvi. 24. » John xxi. 17. * 2 Tim. iv. ^.

5 Rev. vii. 16. Heb. x. 37, 38.

■I .

SERMON XXIII.

J£UOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL.

Jer. xxxvi. 21—24.

" So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll : and he took it out of
Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears
of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood be-
side the king. Now the king sat in the winter-house, in the
ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before
him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three
or four leaves, he cut it with the pen-knife, and cast it into the
fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in
the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid, nor
rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants
that heard all these words."

The records of God's dealings with His people in
past ages, may be considered as so many standing
prophecies of His dealings with us at present.
And as in the book of God every line of comfort
addressed to Israel of old may be considered as
addressed to the contrite and believing among
ourselves, so in the roll of God's judgments,

■m

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346 JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. [SERM.

every sinner that has not followed Christ may see
his own name inscribed in legible characters.
Every instance of obdurate impenitence in sin-
ners, and of long forbearance, and at last tre-
mendous punishment, on the part of God, is not
only a call from God to our souls, " Repent, and
be converted," but it is a positive prophetic decla-
ration concerning us. And in vvhat list, then, is
your name and mine inscribed? Where shall we
be found when the heavens shall be no more, and
the earth shall be burnt up, and the two books
shall be opened, the one containing all God's
judgments of men's actions, the other the names
of the heirs of eternal glory ? May we not, then,
all look back to this fact of Jehoiakim's burning
the roll which Jeremiah had dictated to Baruch,
with feelings of intense and solemn interest?
What if I should be found to have burned the
roll, to have elTaced and destroyed the memory of
the warnings of Heaven, to have wasted the mo-
ments given me for repentance, to have cast under
my feet the discourses of my minister, to have
"dealt proudly and hardened my heart, and
hearkened not unto God's commandments?"
How bitter will be my recollections, how keen my
self-reproach, when God shall take again another
roll, when He shall recall the memory of by-
gone days, of warnings despised, entreaties neg-

XXIII.] JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. 347

i 1

lected, of convictions never followed up by a
speedy, deep, and saving repentance. God grant
there may not be one of us who shall then crv
out with grief and amazement too great to be
expressed, It is too late — too late !

The circumstances before us require a careful
and attentive consideration to the history, before
we attempt directly to improve them. Jehoiakim,
who is the subject of God's anger, was the son
of good king Josiah, that bright star in the dark
and troubled firmament of Israel's history; that
king whw, . hen he heard the word of the Lord,
called his people together, proclaimed a solemn
fast, wept at the thought of his people's sins, and
set himself to effect a thorough and complete
reformation of all the crying abuses that were
bringing down God's judgments on the nation.
He brought forth all the vessels of Baal out of
the temple of the Lord, and burned them; he
put to death the idolatrous priests that burned
incense to strange gods; he broke in pieces the
graven image of Astaroth, which Solomon had
built in his fall ; every remnant of idolatrous cor-
ruption he removed ; and " like unto him there
was no king before him, that turned to the Lord
with all his heart, and with all his soul, and
with all his might, according to all the law of
Moses ; neither after him arose there any like

Q 6

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348 JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. [sERM.

him \" This good man was taken away from the
evil to come, and his son, corrupted by the un-
godly princes of the court, walked not in the
ways of his father, but turned from the command-
ments of the Lord. It was at this period of
abounding wickedness, that Jeremiah the prophet
was called to declare the will of God. He had
been preaching and prophesying incessantly for
more than twenty years; but his preaching had
little effect on the hardened hearts of his hearers.
His lamentation was, " The harvest is past, the
summer is ended, and we are not saved * ;" " the
prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear
rule by their means ; and my people love to have
it so : and what will ye do in the end thereof?"

What a tremendously aggravated case was that
of Jehoiakim. With all the advice and example
of a pious parent before him, with the warnings
of the prophet Jeremiah thundering in his ears,
he pours contempt on the very message sent to
him by God to call him to repentance ! He had
reigned about three years when Jeremiah was
ordered to " take a roll of a book, and write therein
all the words that I have spoken unto thee against
Israel, and against Judah, and against all the na-
tions, from the day I spake unto thee, from the

2 Kings xxiii. 25.

2 Jer. viii. 20.

3 Jer. V. 31.

XXIII.] JEIIOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. 349

days of Josiah, even unto this day*." Baruch,
whose profession was that of a scribe, wrote on a
roll all that the prophet dictated to him, and on
the day of a public fast, the whole was read be-
fore the people by Baruch, but it appears to have
made little impression upon them. Michaiah was
anxious that the princes (who were too indolent
or hardened to attend the fast) should hear it
also; and Baruch was called on to read it again.
A momentary alarm was excited in their minds;
conscience told them that they had not obeyed
the commandments of the Lord, but they were
afraid to venture on the king's displeasure. They
therefore expressed their intention of telling the
king all these words, advising Jeremiah and Ba-
ruch to go and hide themselves, lest Jehoiakim's
anger should be awakened against them. The
king sent one of his pages to fetch the roll, but
when he had read three or four leaves, instead of
humbling himself because of his sins and the sins
of his people, exasperated at the plain dealing of
the prophet, he took it, and " cut it with his pen-
knife, and cast it into the fire that was on the
hearth."

Perhaps we can hardly find in the whole Bible

* Jer. xxxvi. 2.

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JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. [SERM.

a more awful instance of hardened impiety. Here
is a man, who with all the advice, and prayers,
and actions of his father to guide him, after a day
of public and solemn humiliation for his own sins
and the sins of the nation, not only shows that he
has no contrition, but flies in the face of God,
rends and tramples underfoot the message of the
Almighty, and seeks to slay the messengers of the
Divine threatening. But mercy despised only
makes way for heavier judgment. The word of
the Lord came to Jeremiah again, saying, " Take
thee another roll, and write in it all the former
words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim
the king of Judah hath burnt. And thou shalt
say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the
Lord, Thou hast burnt this roll, saying. Why
hast thou written therein, saying, The king of
Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this
land, and shall cause to cease from thence man
and beast? Therefore, thus saith the Lord of
Jehoiakim king of Judah, He shall have none to
sit upon the throne of David; and his dead body
shall be cast out in the day lo the heat, and in
the night to the frost. And I will punish him,
and his seed, and his servants, for their iniquity ;
and I will bring upon them, and upon the inha-
bitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah,

XXIII.] JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. 351

all the evil that I have pronounced against them :
but they hearkened not '."

Let us now consider what instruction we may
gather from these awful events.

Our fiist lesson has regard to the duties of minis-
ters of the Gospel. We are not merely to administer
comfort, it is our duty to rebuke as well as to ex-
hort, to alarm as well as to console. We are not to
send people away pleased and satisfied with them-
selves. " Son of man," says the Lord to the pro-
phcl; Ezekiel, "if thou warn the wicked, and he
turn not away from his wickedness, nor from his
•icked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but
thou hast delivered thy soul ^" It is said again,
" Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show
my people their transgression, and the house
of Jacob their sins ^ ;" and of those who spake
smooth things it is said, " Because they have
seduced my people, saying. Peace, and there was
no p-"i> ; and one built up a wall, and lo, others
dauben. it with untempered mortar: say unto
them which daub it with untempered mortar,
that it shall fall : there shall be an overflowing
shower; and ye, O grear hailstones, shall fall;
and a stormy wind shall rend it*.' The fact is,

* Jer. xxxvi, 28 — -'il.
^ Is. Iviii. 1.

Ezek. iii. VJ.

» Ezek. xiii. 10, 11.

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352 JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. [SERM.

we may speak of Gospel truths, and yet not
preach the Gospel; we may so deliver our mes-
sage as to lead every one to suppose that they
are in the right way, and build them all up in
an easy self-righteous delusion by which they
*' feed on ashes : a deceived heart hath turned
them aside, that they cannot deliver their souls,
nor say. Is there not a lie in our right hands ^ ?"
We may tell them of Christ,, and declare Christ
crucified as the remedy for sinners, but if we
administer indiscriminate comfort to all classes,
we do but build again the things which we have
destroyed ; and palatable as that strain must ever
be to the lukewarm, the indolent, the self-righte-
ous, and the mere talking professor, it is not the
method of the prophets, nor of the apostles, nor
of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Let us not,
my brethren, appear harsh and uncharitable if we
do but declare that awful message which God
has put into our mouths — if we warn you " that
the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all them
that forget God," — if we testify unto you, that if
any man be in Christ he is a new creature, and that
whoever is not found walking in the way of holi-
ness must perish eternally. It becomes us in the
exercise of our duty, to separate the chaff from the

9 Is. xliv. 20.

XXIII.] JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. 353

wheat, to expose the delusions by which the minds
of men are deceived, to hold up the glass of the
Gospel to every sinner, and bring all men in
guilty before God. When we think how soon
we must give account of all that we have said
and done amongst our people to the Judge of
all the earth, it ought to make us comparatively
indifferent to the mere applause or censure of
others, and anxious chiefly to approve ourselves
to Him in whose sight many an action that
passes current among men is condemned and
rejected.

Indeed, how awful is the contempt which men
manifest towards the warnings of the Almighty.
In this roll was inscribed the substance of all
the sermons that Jeremiah had ever preached,
all those affecting lamentations over Israel which
we find in the first part of his prophecy, all the
threatenings of the Divine displeasure against
sin ; and this roll was cast into the fire and
burnt. Let us examine whether the conduct
of some of us has not been equally daring.
Look at the roll which has been put into our
hands. It contains first, a long catalogue of
mercies^ blessed invitations, precious promises.
If the heathen were without excuse because
"they glorified Him not as God, neither were
thankful," what shall be said of us who, with

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354 JEIIOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. [SERM.

all they had, and so much more, with the written
word displaying all the *' riches of God's grace
in Christ," are yet found to "neglect so great
salvation." Providence also has furnished us
with a roll of temporal mercies. We have
seen others cut off, and we remain the living
to praise God ; plague, pestilence, and famine
have been all spared us ; and though we deserve
no more than others, yet our mercies are " new
every morning." Yet in the roll there is judg-
ment mixed with mercy ; something to terrify as
well as to comfort ; a word of rebuke as well as
of consolation. For us it is written, "Thou
thinkest that thou art rich, and hast need of
nothing ; and knowest not that thou art wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked \"
For us it is written, " That servant which knew
his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither
did according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes ''.^ For us it is written, "If we
sin wilfully after that we have received the know-
ledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacri-
fice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation, which shall de-
vour the adversaries'." For us it is written,
"When once the Master of the house is risen

» Rev. iii. 17-

* Luke xii. 47.

3 Heb. X. 2fi, 27.

;i:

XXIII.] JEIIOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. 355

up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to
stand without, and to knock at the door, saying,
Lord, Lord, open unto us ; He shall answer and
say unto you, 1 know you not whence ye are *."
For us it is written, "The Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know
not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ *." For us it is written, " Be-
cause I have called, and ye refused ; I have
stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and
would none of my reproof; I also will laugh
at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
Cometh"." Every sermon that we have heard,
every mercy that we have experienced, every
affliction that we have suifered, is part of the
writing of the roll; and is it not in many cases
like the handwriting on the wall, "Thou art
weighed in the balances, and art found wanting^?"
Further, the manner in which men show their
contempt of the Gospel message resembles that
of Jehoiakim. He :ead three or four leaves, and
then cast it away. So, many out of curiosity
attend the ministry of the word, and if it touch

'? •

■: l '.

^ Luke xiii. 25.
Prov. i. 24—26.

* 2 Thess. i. 7, 8.
7 Dan. V. 27.

I I

J.R»' «i.-

35G JEIIOIAKIM BURXTNG THE ROLL. [SEFM.

them closely, they either on some vain pretence
forsake it, or make frequent excuses for neglect-
ing it, or else they give themselves up to a care-
less, drowsy manner of hearing, and forget all
they have heard soon after.

This leads us to observe, thirdly, that every
aggravation of the sin of Jehoiakim is tenfold
greater in us who live under the Gospel.

First, his knowledge was great. The whole
volume of the law, the Psalms, and a considerable
portion of the prophets lay open to his view, if he
would love the commandments of the Lord ; and
that volume spoke loudly of the anger of God
against idolatry ; thirty years had not elapsed since
his father Josiah had extirpated that abomination,
and restored the worship of the true God. If the
predictions of Moses seemed too terrible ever to
be realized, his faith might have been confirmed
by the slaughter of the prophets of Baal by Elijah,
the destruction of Ahab's house, the miserable
end of Jezebel. But how much greater is our
knowledge than his. The whole case of the
Jewish nation lies before us, that great standing
miracle, that astonishing proof of the goodness
and severity of God, His goodness in sparing.
His severity in punishing. The fall of Jeru-
salem, the captivity of the Jews, is a more awful
lesson than the destruction of all the Gentile

jstasMaaaM

maum

XXIII.] JEHOIAKIM nURNlXG THE ROLL. 357

nations. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are
sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered
thy children together, even as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings, and ye would
not '." Yet more ; we live in an age of boasted
knowledge, an age that is puffed up with imagined
superiority over all others, that deems all former
ages dark and feeble and foolish in comparison
with itself. And though much of this is the
arrogance of self-conceit, yet the most sober-
minded cannot deny that knowledge is more
widely diffused, that is, that our responsibility
is greater now than ever it was before. And alas !
how sadly have we abused it.

Secondly, the aggravation of Jehoiakim's sin
was the forbearance of God towards the Jewish
people. Though they provoked Him ten times
in the desert, " Yet many a time He turned his
anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath ^"
How striking is the picture which Nehemiah
draws of God's forbearance and their obstinacy '.
How wonderfully, my brethren, has God borne
with us. How considerate has He been to us.
How has He shielded us from temptation, how has

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» Matt, xxiii. 37. ^ I's. Ixxviii. 38.

1 Nell. ix. 13. to the end.

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358

JEHOTAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. [SERM.

He led us on, step by step, towards His heavenly
kingdom, and yet how have we thrust ourselves into
temptation, sinned against the hght, and refused
to come to Him that we might have life. And
yet even then He waited and was merciful to us,
He turned and looked upon us to bring us to
repentance; "Yea, many a time turned He His
anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath;
for He remembered that they were but flesh ;^ a
wind that passeth away, and cometh not again \"
"What could have been done more to my vine-
yard," He asks, « that 1 have not done in it ?
wherefore, when I looked that it should bring
forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes ^ ? " "I
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and
redeemed thee out of the house of servants * ; '
and have « showed thee, O man, what is good ; and
what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do
justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God \" All this is treasuring up « wrath
against the day of wrath," for every one who adds
sin to sin, and wearies out even the patience and
wonderful forbearance of God. And one of the
subordinate but not unimportant lessons to be
learnt from the account is, that sinners harden

3. Ps. Ixxviii. 38, 39.
♦ Mic. vi. 4.

> Isa. V. 4.
' Mic. vi. 8.

iERM.

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in it?

XXIII.] JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL.

359

bring
«I
3t, and
mts * ;"
d; and
; to do
humbly
" wrath
ho adds
nee and
; of the
s to be

harden

one another in sin, more especially men of influ-
ence and station. Before the princes had con-
sulted the king they were afraid, and might have
been v/rought upon to do something further, but
when the king burnt the roll, they grew hardened
in impiety, and some threw off all regard to reli-
gion. But we proceed to observe, that when
sinners have lost all sense of shame in sinning,
heavier judgments are prepared for them, and
they may be sure their sin shall find them
out. I have before referred to the case of the
Jews, and our Lord beautifully illustrates it in
the parable of the vineyard and husbandman''.
In fact, it is the doctrine of nature, and of revela-
tion ; the wisdom and experience of ages has
only confirmed the great truth, that there is no
" darkness, nor shadow of death, where the work-
ers of iniquity may hide themselves"' and that
«' God shall bring every work into judgment, with
every secret thing, whether it be good or whether
it be evil '." How many ways has God of bring-
ing sin home to a man's soul, and of making him
feel that it is " an evil and bitter thing" to rebel
against God. Sometimes an unusual concur-
rence of unexpected events brings to light the
transgressions of the soul ; the instruments of sin

i..

1 1

■•I

•la

• Matt. xxi. 33— 41.

1 Job xxxi^'. 22.

« Ecel. xii. 14.

f^r*'"

. I

360 JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE BOLI-. [SEBM.

are made the mean of chastisement, as in the case
of Pharaoh. Sometimes God smites a sinner with
blindness and destruction, so that he is at once
awakened, but unable to find relief; He lets loose
His conscience on him, so that he is a burden to
himself: or suppose the end of all things to take
place ; judgment follows him into the next world,
where there can be no longer any denial or con-
cealment of it. What fruit has he now, then, ol
"those things whereof he will be then ashamed?
" Could any of us," says a forcible writer," per-
suade the mountains to cover us, could we betake
ourselves to the bosom of the great deep, could
we wrap ourselves in the darkness of hell, sin
would fetch us out of all, and present us naked
and defenceless before that tribunal where we
must receive the sentence of everlasting confusion
and where the devil, our tempter, will never fa.
to be our accuser." And how should this thought
lead us every minute of our lives to remember
that we are under the eye of that God who seeth
in secret and will reward us openly."

Fourthly, how sure is the foundation on which
the word of God is built. "The word of the
Lord endureth for ever'." "Heaven and earth
shall pass away : but my word shall not pass

1 Pet. i. 25.

lERMt

e case
r with
b once
J loose
den to
o take
world,
T con-
hen, of
med?"
," per-
betake
, could
ell, sin
J naked
lere we
nfusion,
ever fail
thought
member
) " seeth

)n which
i of the
nd earth
not pass

XXIIl.] JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE ROLL. 361

1 »

away '." It is, like its great Author, " the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever *." The floods of
hell cannot shake it, the rolling ages of eternity
cannot impair it; it is imperishable, inexhaust-
ible. Time was when the founders of the four
greatest monarchies did not exist, but the word
of prophecy pointed them out to the world.
Their founders arose, built a few huts, gathered
a few followers ; they increased in numbers and
power, conquered tiie surrounding nations, till,
like a great tree, they spread their fohage on all
sides, and all nations rested under their shade.
Where are those giant empires now? One by
one they have gone on their way to ruin, and the
nation which they despised and persecuted still
survives, though in captivity. But " the word of
God is not bound," chains of adamant cannot
restrain its power, the mightiest intellects bow
before its sway ; undestroyed by persecution,
unimpaired by time, it rises above all, the same
simple, sure word of prophecy which gains
strength from the fall of every empire around
it, and triumphs on the ruins of those that are
arrayed against it. It is an unspeakable com-
fort to those that trust in God that there is a
roll of promise as well as a roll of judgment,

111

'lis. '

• Mark xiii. 13.

a Heb. xiii. 8.
R

362 JEHOIAKIM BURNING THE EOLJ-.

that as not one evil thing shall fail, so not one
good thing shall diminish. Let us learn from
the faithfulness of God to love Him better and
to trust Him more, to harbour no unjust suspi-
cions of His goodness even when He most sorely
tries us ; let us wean cnrselves from every other
ground of confidence, knowing that, « as the hUls
stand round about Jerusalem, even so is the Lord
round about his people from this time forth for
evermore '."

» Ps. cxxxvi. 2.

f
t

is'

1 '

•• 1

1 1

SERMON XXIV.

ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

T i|

Acts v. 1 — 4.

" But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold
a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being
privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the Apos-
tles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the
price of the land ? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own ?
and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power ? why hast
thou conceived this thing in thine heart 1 thou hast not lied
unto men, but unto God."

The dispensation of the Gospel is commonly
called a dispensation of love. If by the expression
be meant, that the love of that God, who is from
eternity the same, is more fully manifested under
the Gospel, in the life and sufferings of His well-
beloved Son, and that the means of saving mercy
are more fully placed within every sinner's reach,
and that motives to love God are more abundant,
no doubt it is true ; but if we mean by the Gospel
being a dispensation of love, that it is a system of

R 2

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364 ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. [sERM.

weak indulgence in sin, and of winWng at iniquity,
a more erroneous notion cannot be held God is
a God to be feared as well as loved ; for He can
onTy be loved when He is obeyed, and to the d.s-
obedient even our God is a « consuming fire^

Indeed, every serious reader of the New Testa-
ment must remember many a pass^e both m the
Gospels and Epistles which has made h,m tremble
as he reads, and ask himself .ith jealous earnest^
ness, who is able to stand before the holy L d
God? who can dwell with a devouring fire.
Such, no doubt, is the great lesson from the history
befor us. And as we tread upon the threshold o
th earlv Church, and enter within the sacred
portals of the Redeemer of sinners, we still seem
to hear the self-same voice which made even
Moses' heart to quake, uttering the solemn words
«Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground .

Reverence for God Almighty, reverence for His
Church and His ministers, because sanctified by
Him; honesty and uprightness in our dea^mgs
w^^ Him, a'purel^eart and clean hands^these

are the qualifications which are more than ever

UedV us when we draw nigh to the Div.n

Presence, and especially when we come to the

» Exod. iii. 5.

8ERM.

XXIV.] ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

365

iquity,
jod is
^e can
he dis-
e."

Testa-
i in the
tremble
earnest-
ly Lord
ig fire?

history
shold of
; sacred
till seem
de even
tn words,
the place

e for His
itified by
dealings
ds; these
than ever
he Divine
ne to the

table of the Lord. For how dreadfully provoking
must it be to see persons come, like Ananias and
Sapphira, with a pretence of piety, professing to
offer what after all is not really given, secretly
keeping back the half, while in words giving up
the whole, and striving as it were by an unholy
mockery of the most solemn act of our holy reli-
gion, to weary out the almost unwearied patience
of God. May God in His mercy keep all of us
this day from any sin approaching in principle if
not in extent to the foul crime of Ananias and
Sapphira.

The Church in its infancy was placed in a
peculiar position. Its members having cast off
Judaism, were in their turn cast off by the Jews.
Temporally as well as spiritually they were out-
casts from mankind. Property as a Church they
had none, and they therefore resorted to the na-
tural self-protection of having all things common ;
the rich and the poor living on the common stock
which each, according to his abiUty, gave into the
hands of the Apostles, for distribution as every
man had need. It is possible that this custom
even then was not adopted by all, but only by
converts of more generous dispositions ; it is cer-
tain that it was not compulsory on any. " Whiles
it remained," that is, unsold, says St. Peter, "was
it not in thine own power ?" that is, did we force

R 3

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'if

366

ANANIAS AND SAPPIHRA.

[SERM.

i! ^

thee to sell all? was it not thine own act and not
from compulsion ? It is, I think, equally certam
that this custom did not prevail for any great
length of time, and that twenty or th.r^ years
afterwards, when St. Paul wrote h.s Ep.stles^
society was in a different state ; for he could
hardly have said, « Charge them that are noA m
this world, that they be not h.gh-mmded , had
every man's possessions been thrown into a com-
mon stock ; and when he commends the poor
churches for giving to their poorer brethren at
Jerusalem, and cites them as an example to the
richer Church of Corinth, his words obviously
prevent us from supposing that at that time the
Lctice prevailed of having all things common.
We observe, therefore, that voluntary poverty as
a general practice prevailed only for a short t.me
under peculiar pressure, and was never compul-
sory ; that when practised it was w.thm the
Church and not out of it ; but that when em-
braced for the glory of God it was accounted
honourable in His sight, and no doubt where the
motives are pure it always is so. This statemen
of facts leads us the better to understand m what
the sin of Ananias consisted. It was a double
crime, involving both sacrilege and fraud. There

2 1 Tim. vi. 17-

XXIV.]

ANANIAS AND SAPPIIIRA.

867

was fraud in presenting one half of his posses-
sion, and implying that it was the whole ; there
was sacrilege in pretending to present it to the
Church and the clergy, and through them to God.
For inasmuch as it was placed under the care of
the Apostles, it became sacred; and the fraudu-
lent keeping back of any part of it was therefore
51 sacrilegious act. And this fraud and sacrilege
were rendered far worse by the time when the sin
was committed, that is, when the Church was
under the immediate and miraculous guidance of
the Holy Ghost, who had just descended on the
Apostles on the day of Pentecost. So that whe-
ther we consider the double crime itself, lying
and sacrilege, two of the most foul sins that can
pollute the human heart, or whether we take into
account the fact of the peril to which the Gospel
was then exposed, or the commission which the
Apostles bore, or the visible guidance of God the
Holy Ghost, it would seem to be an offence of the
most complicated and atrocious kind, and, as such,
deserving instant and condign punishment. And
this seems evident from the remarkable words
which St. Peter uses, " Why hath Satan filled thine
heart T' words similar to those in which the Evan-
gelist records the crime of Judas, « And after the
sop Satan entered into him;" implying, as it
would seem, a more than ordinary malignity, and

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308

ANANIAS AND SAPPIHRA.

[SEIIM.

of his whole heart and soul to that

according

a surrend
accursed

will. . , .

It is right to obaerve also, tlint ncitlicr Ananias

nor his wife were guilty of a direct lie, but only

of an equivocation ; but so far was that from

lesseuing the sin, that it seems to have increased

if for there is more deception and pretence about

an equivocation, and therefore it is in one sense

a worse act ; and that should be a lesson to those

who are often guilty of deception. When you

prevaricate you lie. and liars are an abommat.on

to Almighty God. .

By this awful judgment which befel both
Ananias and his wife, who not only shared her
husband's guilt, but convicted herself (when St.
Peter by his question gave her an opportunity ot
acknowledging her sin), the Apostles' author, y
was established, and their divine message fully
attested ; " of the rest," that is, as some suppose,
of other believers, " durst no man jom himself
to them'." It is sometimes said, by those who
make no scruple of showing their contempt for
the clergy, show us such a miracle as that of bt.
Peter, and we will believe you. God forbid tha
we should be invested with such a power. But

> Acts V. 13.

Ill

EllM.

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:o his

iiinlas
t only

from
reused

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sense
> those
en you
in at ion

il both
red her
hen St.
unity of
uthority
ge fully
suppose,
himself
lose who
empt for
lat of St.
rbid that
er. But

XXIV.]

ANANIAS ANn SAIMMIIRA,

369

the cessation of miraculous power does not under-
mine the authority of our mission. Even our
Lord Himself wrought not perpetual miracles, nor
did He work any for those who would not believe.
But having done it once, the sign once wrought is
of perpetual designation, and the author' <' once
committed can only be recalled by the same hand
that gave it. Has He who said, " to the end of the
world" ever recalled His words? Are not His gifts
to His Church " without repentance ? " So that
our inference would be, that contempt and irre-
verence, if not so signally punished, are quite as
offensive in the eyes of God as they were in the
days of the infancy of the Church.

Let us again observe the signal proof here given
of the Divinity and Personality of the Holy Ghost.
"Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the
Holy Ghost ? thou hast not lied unto men, but
unto God." So that if Ananias in lying to the
Holy Ghost lied to God, which seems to be the
meaning of the Apostle, the Holy Ghost is God.
For how could Ananias lie to the Holy Ghost but
as lying to Him, by whose authority the Apostles
spoke and acted, which was in fact the authority

of God ?

Having thus noticed some of the prmcipal
points in the history before us, let us for our

R 5

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370

ANAXIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

[SERM.

instruction consider' what may be drawn :rom
the several facts here related.

First, That what we give to the Church we give
to God. This is a great principle which it would
be well if Christians could more clearly see and
act upon ; for it would tend greatly to promote
the cheerfulness of giving. « God loveth a cheer-
ful giver." Now too many when they give, give
reluctantly ; their gifts seem, as it were, wrung
from their very bowels, as if they were parting
with their heart's blood, thjir very charities are a
sore burden to them ; instead of rejoicing to
minister to Christ and His spouse, they lament
over every call, murmur at every apphcation, and
when they come to the end of the year, complain
that they should have so much to give. This
kind of compulsory charity is hardly worth ac-
ceptance.

" Freely Thou giveat, gracious Lord,
Freely Thy gifts should be restored ;
He only who forgets to hoard
Has learned to live *."

But how little are we moved by the love of
Christ, or with the transporting thought of giving
to our Maker, if we give grudgingly. Our Lord

* Christian Year.

ERM.

.Tom

B give
tvould
e and
omote
cheer-
3, give
wrung
larting
are a
ng to
lament
»n, and
mplain
This
rtb ac-

XXIV.] ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

371

love of
f giving
ir Lord

said, " It is more blessed to give than to receive %"
more blessed in the act, which more resembles
God ; more blessed in the disposition which it
fosters ; more blessed in the hope of His approba-
tion ; and therefore, if we value His words, if we
are in real earnest about our religion, we shall
act on our Lord's principles.

Secondly, This passage also warns us, when we
have promised to God, never to draw back from
our promise. "It is a snare to the man who
devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to
make enquil7^" "Pay that which thou hast
vowed '." The sin of sacrilege may be committed
in many way^. ; either by directly laying hands on
God's property, as many of the nobility did at
the time of the Reformation, or by giving to God
only a portion of what is His, as those do who try
to defraud and take away from the Church as
much as they can ; or it may be committed by
those who steal and convert to their own uses the
goods and ornaments of the Church, as people
have been doing ever since the Reformation to this
very hour ; and perhaps there never was a nation
more tainted with that foul sin of sacrilege than our
own. What would our ancestors say, if they
could rise up and see the shameful things we, as

1 1 ;

* Acts XX. 35.

6 Prov* XX. 25.
R 6

7 Eccles. V. 4.

37^

ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. [SERM.

a nation, have done ? Their graves dishonoured,
their names blotted out of the brass for very cove-
tousness, sold and melted down, their memorials
all mildewed and rusted, their Churches emptied
of all that was seemly, solemn, and glorious, and
filled with seats, for the benefit of those who
now and then come to Church, to the exclusion
of many who would be always there ; whilst
amidst increasing luxury there is scarcely now one
single Church or Cathedral in as good a state as
they left it. Yet, we who have done all this
wickedness (for sacrilegious wickedness it is) boast
of our good deeds, cast reproach upon their me-
mory, and speak of them with contemptuous
insult, as ignorant idolaters. "Thou that abborrest
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege'?"

But, alas 1 no man feels that he is responsible
for national sins, and we shift the responsibility
on our rulers, or on one another. The Bible will
teach us to apply to ourselves individually the
sins of the nation. Let us recall to our minds
the prayers of Nehemiah and Daniel, " O Lord,
to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings,
to our princes, and to our fathers, because we
have sinned against Thee ' ;" and let the punish-
ment of Ananias make us fear lest we be counted
guilty of so great a sin.

8 Rom. ii. 22. ' Dan. ix. 8 ; Neh. ix. 32.

XXIV.]

ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

373

Thirdly, we learn also that dissembling with
God in any way is most hateful in His sight.
Sacrilege is odious, but so likewise is hypocrisy.
Let us who come to the Lord's table, pray ear-
nestly that we may be delivered from this sin.
For if among mankind no persons are so tho-
roughly disliked as those who artfully fawn upon
us with pretended blandishments, whose words
" are smoother than oil, yet be they very swords,"
what must our services seem in the eyes of Him
to whom we must give account, if they be offered
without any real earnestness and sincerity ? Even
the most sincere have many a foolish wandering
thought, many an unclean offering to mourn over,
and pray God's forgiveness of it for Christ's sake ;
but how shall those appear before Him in the
dread summons to judgment, who have come to
Church to sport, to play, to turn the service into
a mockery, to laugh at others when they should
weep for themselves, to jest at the very foot of the
throne of the infinite all-seeing God? Or how
shall any of us venture to ask for mercy, if with
profane mouths, malicious breasts, or careless,
heartless indevotion, we have come up to the
Lord's own table, and there bowed the knee be-
fore Him m scorn as the Gentile of old, and taken
into our hands what might have conveyed to us
the Body and Blood of the Lord ? How miserable

• i

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374

ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. [SERM.

must he be who so comes, and feeds on bread and
wine and nothing more-sent empty away without
Christ as his Divine and heavenly food, a godless
worshipper in God's own dwelling-place, deaf
to the hymn of angels, blind to Christ his true
and only hght, regardless of the Spirit's frequent
call ; without love, where all is love around ?

Yet the existence of such evils, which not even
the strictest discipline can wholly prevent, must
not deter the sincere and earnest Christian from
approaching. Painfully conscious of sins which
admit of no valid excuse, of infirmities of mind as
well as of body, of weakness, indecision, forgetful-
ness of duty, and vatiity in the performance of it,
still he presses on to the saving fount of mercy,
and asks for " help in time of need." He sees this
cordial for his wounds, this staff of life, this means
of intimate union with his Incarnate God, who is
the very truth and life itself. He knows himself
sincere, though feeble; earnest, though incon-
sistent; and resolved to "resist the devil that he
may flee from him." He -stretches forth his hand
and cries with trembling awe, " Lord, I believe ;
help Thou mine unbelief \" Lord, teach me to
trust in Thee, to fear Thee, to praise Thee, to
offer the incense of a grateful heart, and, above

» Mark ix. 24.

XXIV.] ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

375

all; rightly to receive Thee, perfectly to love and
to obey Thee ! My heart is empty and longs for
Thee to fill it, to possess it wholly, to raise it
above the stream of sensual, grovelling affections,
and make it the abode of purity, lowliness, and
peace.

Brethren, are you thus coming to your Saviour's
presence? Think when you approach you see
Him there ; the heavens unveiled ; the angels
standing around in solemn awe, the Son of man
enquiring of each communicant, "Lovest thou
Me ?" " If ye love me, keep my commandments ^"

V !

2 John xiv. 15.

I .

IS'

i .

SERMON XXV.

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

IsA. vi. 3.

« And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, Holy, HcV, is the
Lord of hosts : the whole earth is full of his glory."

The responsive system of music in use in our
cathedrals, and not in our cathedrals only, but
generally throughout Christendom, has been sup-
posed to have come down to us from the time
of St. Ignatius, who is said first to have taught
the Christian Church at Antioch to sing alternate
verses of Psalms in responsive strains. But as the
great Hooker justly observes, even were this tra-
dition not trustworthy, we may trace the custom to
higher authority than St. Ignatius, even to the bless-
ed angels themselves, whom the prophet Isaiah,
in the vision recorded in this chapter, describes as
singing the praise of Jehovah of Hosts in alternate
choirs. For " one cried to another," or as the
margin more literally and more forcibly expresses?

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

377

Ic'y, is the
.ry."

i in our
nly, but
leen sup-
the time
e taught
alternate
lut as the
this tra-
justom to
the bless-
;t Isaiah,
scribes as
alternate
)r as the
expresses

it, this angel cried to this ; which cannot be more
clearly interpreted than by reference to a custom
which carries with it the Divine authority of Him
who regulated all things in the Jewish Church ac-
cording to a heavenly pattern, and whose exam-
ple has been therefore most properly followed in
the Christian. It may be therefore not uninter-
esting, nor unsuitable to a discourse delivered in
this place \ to show how fully the system of respon-
sive cathedral music fulfils the apparent intentions
of the Heavenly mind, agrees with the practice of
the Jewish and primitive Church, and brings out
more satisfactorily than any other method the
sense of Holy Writ itself. Few persons, I sup-
pose, at all endowed with nature's eye, ever enter
a cathedral, without some unhidden homage of
awe, veneration, and delight. God's majesty and
man's httleness are the dominant ideas which
prevail, and the mere curiosity of discovery is
subdued by feelings of a more chaste and holy
nature. So it seems to be with cathedral music.
Other harmonies ravish and entrance the soul,
and seem to bid it float away into some unknown
region of ecstasy far above the din and tumult of
sublunary things. But these feehngs may be
(as they are accused of being) dependent chiefly
on setise. There may be (and doubtless there is)

» This Sermon was p eached in Exeter Cathedral.

i I 1

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P'k

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378

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

[SERM.

il'

flM

.#!!

'M '

' i

in many instances, a mere voluptuous luxury of*
hearing, the ?ust of the ear, which makes no more
use of concord of sweet sounds than does the
ordinary visitor to the cathedral of those symbols
of reverence, faith, and love, which are visible
around him. But there is something deeper in
the external beauty, as well as in the solemn
music of our cathedrals. And if it can be shown that
the manner of performing the service is in accord-
ance with the genius (if we may so speak) of the
holy volume itfielf, it is plain there must be im-
portant lessons in it, to serve the highest efforts
of the really spiritual mind.

Chanting then, in its largest signification, may
be divided into three kinds. First, that gentle,
plaintive, and supplicatory intonation, or as Hooker
terms it, " melodious pronunciation, " which
belongs to the priest who leads the devotions of
the people ; of which there is not, as far as I am
aware, any direct authority in the Holy Scriptures,
but which is recommended by the earliest usage
of the primitive Church, by its suitableness to
acts of supplication and intercession, and by its
enabling the speaker to be well heard at a con-
siderable distance. Secondly, the system of respon-
sive chanting of the Psalms, and other parts of
Holy Writ, for which those parts seem designedly
written, and of which we have numerous instances

in fVkp S^rinfiirp? nnd fhirrllv- thp ohant swplh'nP"
-" i • J' " o

[SERM.

axury of
no more
loes the
symbols
; visible
eeper in

solemn
Dwn that
[ accord-
:) of the

be im-
jt efforts

on, may
; gentle,
Hooker
which
)tions of
as I am
riptures,
st usage
sness to
d by its
t a con-
'respon-
parts of
signedly
istances

swellinp"

.- .. j_,

XXV.]

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

379

out into the fulness of the anthem, implying
greater intenseness of expression, either of joy or
grief, and a more compHcated variety of parts,
but still preserving the responsive form. For
this also there is ample Scripture authority. The
writer of the second book of Chronicles thus
describes the dedication of Solomon's temple.
" It came to pass, when the priests were come
out of the holy place, (where they had deposited
the ark of the Lord,) also the Levites which were
the singers, all of them of Asaph; of Heman, of
Jeduthun, (the great leaders of the choir, in fact
the precentors,) being arrayed in white linen,
(according to the order still observed in our
cathedrals,) having cymbals and psalteries and
harps, stood at the east end of the altar, (or, as
we should say, in the choir,) and with them
an hundred and twenty priests sounding with
trumpets ; it came even to pass, as the trumpeters
and singers were as one, (singing in full chorus,)
to make one sound, to be heard in praising and
thanking the Lord ; and when they lifted up their
voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instru-
ments of music, and praised the Lord, saying,
For he is good ? "'^r his mercy endureth for ever :
that then the house was filled with a cloud, even
the house of the Lord ^"

1 2 Chron.v. 11—13.

%l :\ i

fi^

^11

■jl

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380

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

[SERM.

Now with the slight difference of the use of
the organ, which comprehends in its own fulness
the variety of the connbined Jewish instruments,
we have here a complete cathedral choir and a
perfect Christian anthem performed in the middle
of the service, before the king addressed the
whole assembled congregation; and the choice
of the subject shows that it was executed in
the same responsive way with which the 136th
Psalm, or any other part of the Psalms, would
still be performed in our own times. Nay, it
is remarkable that when an express revelation
was made to the beloved disciple of mysteries
too great to be at once unfolded, the glimpse
of the heavenly glory contains a similar picture,
and similar expressions ; " I heard a voice as the
voice of many waters,^' deep, solemn, combined,
multitudinous, but in unison ; I heard " the voice
of harpers harping with their harps *." " And they
sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and
the song of the Lamb, saying. Great and marvel-
lous are thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just and
true are thy ways, thou King of saints ' ;" where
we observe not only singing by a number of voices,
but the same responsive form in the selected
words. But without entering into conjectures
respecting heavenly things, let us consider how

' Rev. xiv. 2.

^ Rev. XV. 3.

XXV.]

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

381

the responsive chant still used, is adapted to the
structure and mode of expression of the Scriptures
themselves.

A very large part of the sacred volume is, as is
well known, written in poetry; almost all the
book of Job, the whole of the Psalms, the chief
part of all the prophets, and many portions of the
other books being entirely poetical, and even the
historical books partaking in a considerable de-
gree of the same form, which distinguishes the
poetry of the Hebrews from that of most ancient
nations. Now Hebrew poetry differs from the
poetry of the Greeks and Romans, and from our
own, in this remarkable respect ; it has a kind of
melody without having metre. It possesses a
certain definite and harmonious arrangement of
syllables, without the consonance of sound in
which English poets dehght, and even without
that peculiar modulation which is characteristic
of the Latins and Greeks. Bishop Jebb justly
observes that the arrangement of Hebrew poetry
is made with reference to the sense, not to the
sound. " Classical poetry," he observes, " is the
poetry of one language, of one people ; Hebrew
poetry is universal poetry ; the collocation of the
words is directed to secure the clearest announce-
ment of the sense ; nothing is sacrificed to metrical
necessity, so that let a translator be only literal,

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382

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

[SERM.

and preserve the original order of the words, and
he will put the reader in possession of nearly nil
that the Hebrew text can give to the Hi brew
scholar." The characteristic of Hebrew poetry,
then, is parallelism ; that is, a certain equality or
resemblance between two or more lines of the
same sentence, so that things answer to things
and words to words, either by agreement or by
opposition to each other.

To illustrate this (which to some here present
may be obscure) by a few brief examples : —

The principal kinds of parallelism in the Scrip-
tures are three, — the synonymous parallelism, the
antithetic parallelism, the gradational or construc-
tive parallelism.

First, in the synonymous parallelism we have
similar ideas conveyed in Jitrcvf nt but nearly
equivalent terms, and thi; j^e;ici"2ay speaking in
a stanza of two lines, as in the Psalm for the
morning service : —

" O come, let us sing unto the Lord ;

Let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our
salvation :

Let us come before His presence with thanks-
giving;

And show ourselves glad in Him with psalms *,"

* Fs. xcv. 1, 2.

[SERM.

rds, and
early nU
Hi brew
poetry,
uality or
i of the
things
it or by

present

e Scrip-
ism, the
onstruc-

we have

; nearly

iking in

for the

1 of our
thanks-
salms *."

XXV.]

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

383

i Here each line answers to that which preceded

it, not in exact length of syllables, but in sense ;
the latter being generally somewhat stronger than
the preceding, but nearly synonymous with it. Of
this we have numerous instances in the book of
Proverbs, as, —
" Her ways are ways of pleas^antness ;
And all her paths are peace *."
And in the New Testament an example in the
song of the blessed Virgin : —

" My soul doth magnify the Lord ;
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour"."
Of the antithetic parallelism we have numerous
instances in the Psalms, but especially in the
Proverbs. Here there is an opposition of sense
to sense, word to word, in the two propositions ;
as, —

" A true witness delivereth souls :
But a deceitful witness speaketh lies '."
And—

" Righteousness exalteth a nation :
But sin is a reproach to any people ^"
The degrees of antithesis are various, but the
principle is the same.

We have, thirdly, the gradational or construc-

• Prov. iii. I7.
' Prov. xiv. 26.

« Luke i. 46, 47.
• Prov. xiv. 34.

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384

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

[SERM.

tive parallelism, which is very common. The first
Psalm is a notable instance of it : —

" Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly,

Nor standeth in the way of sinners,

Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful ' ;"
each member of the sentence rising to some higher
point of wickedness which the good man will
avoid. The same form of parallel is often used
in the book of Job, as

" Hast thou given the horse strength ?

Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper ?

The glory of his nostrils is terrible.

He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his
strength :

He goeth on to meet the armed men.

He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted ;

Neither turneth he back from the sword '."
We have another fine instance of it in Isaiah :

"Is not this the fast that I have chosen ;

To loose the bands of wickedness,

To undo the heavy burdens,

And to let the oppressed go free.

And that ye break every yoke ?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungrj',

* Job xxxix. 19-

[SERM.

The first
ot in the

9 .J>
?

me higher
man will
ften used

[ier?
chopper ?

;th in his

XXV.]

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

ted;
rd \"
;aiah :

^0'»

22.

385

And that thou bring the poor that are cast out
to thy house ?

When thou seest the naked that thou cover
him ;

And that thou hide not thyself from thine ovn
flesh ?"

There is no necessity to multiply instances, for
the same things are observable in all— a rise or
gradation in the sense from member to member^
each member containing some accumulation of
the original idea, which is preserved unbroken in
the construction of the whole period.

These, then, are the principal forms of paral-
lelism in the Hebrew poetry. In all we see a
forcible sententious way of expression, capable of
easy translption into another language, but re-
quiring in music something peculiar and of its
own kind to give it force and effect. And this is
attained in no way so well as by the responsive
method of chanting. This will be seen at once
by any one who attentively reads the 24th Psalm,
where the alternate method is most clearly seen.
There, as the ark approaches the holy hill of Sion,
one part of the choir exclaim,

" Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ?

Or who shall stand in His holy place ?"
The other part give the answer,

" He that hath clean hands and a pure heart."

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386

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

[SERM.

Ao-ain, as the ark enters its place, one part of the

priests say,

'^ Lift up your heads, O ye gates : even lift
them up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King
of glory shall come in."

" Who is this King of glory ?" ask the alternate
singers :

« The Lord of Hosts," is the reply ; " He is the
King of glory ^"

Now let these words be reduced to ordinary
English metre, as in our singing Psalms, and they
lose great part of their force and beauty, because
in metre, where the poet is tied to the necessities of
rhyme, he must sacrifice the collocation, the sen-
tentious, and, as has been well said, the lightning-
like force of the original. But in the chant all
this is preserved, and admirably preserved.

The parallelism absolutely synonymous, if there
be any such, is preserved in the single chant.
The parallelism in which the latter member of
the sentence varies a little, though very little,
from the former, is preserved in those chants in
which the latter half of the music answers nearly
to the former, with the exception of the latter
chords. The antithetic parallel is preserved in
those chants where the latter members consist
not only of different, but as it were opposing

« Ps.xxiv. 3, 4. 9, 10.

[SERM.

irt of the

even lift
:he Kinp;

alternate

Be is the

ordinary
and they
, because
jssities of
the sen-
i^htning-
chant all
d.

i, if there
le chant,
ember of
try little,
chants in
irs nearly
he latter
served in
8 consist
opposing

XXV.]

0\ CHURCH MUSIC.

387

strains, though in the same key ; and the grada>
tional and constructive parallelism is worked out
in the anthem, which admits of greater length.
At all events, the responsive method brings out
the sententious fulness of the sacred word as no
other method could bring it out, without any re-
construction or dislocation of the words.

Seeing, then, that there is a kind of natural
aptness in the chant to express the words of the
Hebrew poets ; seeing that the Jews themselves,
writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost^
so sang the sweet strains of the Psalms ; seeing
that our Saviour on the eve of His passion sang
a Psalm or collection of Psalms of the same kind
(viz.. Psalm 113 to 118, or the great Hallel
as is generally supposed), and as it seems pro-
bable in the same manner ; seeing that the Chris-
tian Church, from the earhest ages, has adopted
the method, we have every reason for believing it
the best " for conveying the treasure of good things
to our minds, and inflaming our devotion towards
Almighty God.^^

But not to omit the practical part of this im-
portant subject, we may say something on the
music itself, on the manner in which it should be
performed, and on our own duties who engage
in it.

First, the kind of music is dictated by the

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388

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

[SERM.

1 /)

words which are to be sung ; no light and operatic
strains become the solemn words of men who spake
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Shall
we sing the subjects of the Psalms, or the birth,
the sufferings, and the victories of the Son of
God, the conflicts of His Church, the mercies of
His covenant-love, the dread realities of an ap-
proaching judgment, the glories of heaven, the
terrors of hell, in strains of light and earthly fes-
tivity ? These surely require a severe and mascu-
line style, a sober, dignified, awful devotion. The
strains which delight the world are foreign to the
Church, and should be banished from her walls.
The sententious gravity, solemn grandeur, and rich
fulness of the words to be sung, dictate beyond all
question the kind of music to which those words
are to be set ; a kind which is as distinct from all
other music as the Bible is distinct from every
other kind of writing. Happily, there is no lack
of such music in the works of our older masters,
and never was the saying of our Saviour more
appropriate than in reference to this subject, that
"No man having drunk old wine straightway
desireth new ; for he saith, The old is better'."

Secondly, if the music should be of a holy kind,
what manner of persons ought those who engage

» Luke V. 39.

ji'.

[SERM.

operatic
10 spake
. Shall
le birth,
! Son of
ercies of
■ an ap-
ven, the
thly fes-
i mascu-
m. The
ra to the
ler walls.
, and rich
eyond all
>se words
t from all
)m every
s no lack
' masters,
our more
(ject, that
'aightway
tter'."
doly kind,
10 engage

XXV.]

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

389

in it to be ? If they who sing in the presence
of kings think no pains too great, no labour ill-
bestowed in winning the favour of princes, or in
earning the paltry and perishable recompense of a
little silver and gold, — ye who utter God's own
words in the presence of God Himself, what
ought ye to be ? No hurried, careless manner, no
indevout gesture, becomes you ; the word which
ye utter is that which will waft thousands into
heaven, and cast down many souls into eternal
fire. The songs which ye sing are the songs of
angels and just spirits before the throne of God,
and require a just man's pains to do them justice.
And I would beseech the youngest amongst you
to think of this. You are not too young to set a
good example to some that are your elders, as well
as to profit by the example of some that are your
elders. Young as you are, you know not to how
many pious persons you may give offence, and
give them a dislike to the very system under
which you live, if you perform the service in a
hurried, unchristian manner. Samuel was even
younger than you when he lay down in his place
in the temple of the Lord, and heard God caUing
to him, " Samuel, Samuel," and he answered,
« Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth*." This

* I Sam. iii. 10.

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390

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

[SERM.

Samuel was in the temple from a child; and
though a child in years, he was a man in grace,
and meekness, and godliness; and when he be-
came an old man, he had all the freshness and
simplicity of a child. Remember, then, that you
are responsible to God for what has now been
said to you. And while, indeed, the noble system
of chanting and singing one to another the high
praises of our God should make us all beware lest
we "offer the sacrifice of fools," it should also
make us "joyful in the house of prayer."

What solemn associations, what inspiring
thoughts are here; what high illustrious names
have trod these aisles, meditated beneath these
ancient walls, and listened with a trembling joy
to the alternate strains that echoed from this
glorious roof. Their memorials still repose in
hallowed silence round us ; but their record is
on high ; their names are written in heaven ;
their spirits, in the calm of that unbroken rest,
look out for the morning of the resurrection-day.
They who have trod the pilgrim's path before us
are still linked with us in the most endearing
ties ; our Redeemer is the same, our brotherhood
is the same, our Father's home is one and the
There, if we follow the faith and patience

same.

of the saints, we yet shall meet: where they
that built the house and they that worshipped

[SERM.

Id ; and
n grace,
1 he be-
less and
that you
ow been
B system
ihe high
rt^are lest
uld also

inspiring
IS names
th these
)ling joy
:om this
epose in
'ecord is
heaven ;
<en rest,
tion-day.
Defore us
ndearing
therhood
and the
patience
ere they
rshipped

XXV.]

ON CHURCH MUSIC.

391

in it shall be one: where "he that soweth and
he that reapeth shall rejoice together."

Here below, the visible Church is larger than
the invisible ; the finest voices may conceal the
vilest hearts, the best and most pious may be the
most unmelodious. But there all hearts and all
voices shall be in tune ; the instruments shall be
as perfect as the worship shall be spiritual and
true. For "who are these arrayed in white robes?
and whence come they? These are they that
came out of great tribulation, and washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of
God, and serve Him day and night in His temple:
and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell
among them. They shall hunger no more, nei-
ther thirst any more, neither shall the sun light
on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which
is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto the living fountains of
water, and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes'.'*

5 Rev. vii. 13—17.

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SERMON XXVI.

THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION.

St. John vi. 70, 71.

" Jesus answered them, have not I chosen you twelve, and one of
you is a devil ? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon :
for he it was that should betray Him, being one of the twelve."

The character of Judas Iscariot is shrouded in
dark and awful mystery. Of his history, pre-
vious to his call to the Apostleship, we know no-
thing; of his life during his ministry we know
nothing, and only a few intimations are given us
of that secret mystery of wickedness which was
working in his heart during his intercourse with
our blessed Lord, and which ended in Satan filling
his heart to be the betrayer of his Maker. It
would seem probable, however, that Judas dis-
played the tendency of his mind at an eaily period
of his ministry, and in the same year in which
our Lord ordained him ; foi the narrative in the
chapter is supposed to relate to the events occur-

THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION.

393

,nd one of
>f Simon :
» twelve."

ided in

y, pre-
ow no-
I know
Lven us
ch was
se with
L filling
er. It
as dis-
period
which
in the
occur-

ring shortly after the ordination of the Apostles,
and in the second year of our Lord's ministry.
What kind of man Judas was at the time of his
ordination we are not told, but reverence forbids
our supposing that our blessed Lord laid hands
on any one so entirely unfitted for the work of an
Evangelist as Judas proved himself afterwards to
be. The temptation of covetousness seems to have
beset him afterwards. Yet, be this as it may, the
facts of the history are these. That our blessed
Saviour, on His laying the foundation of the
Christian Church, chose, ordained, and sent forth
one who in a very short time proved himself a son
of perdition, a man dead to every good principle,
blinded by avarice, and sold to Satan. Such a
man, though warned of his sins, and severely re-
proved for them, was permitted still to occupy
his station among the Apostles, still to hold his
commission, and to be ranked among the twelve.
For our Lord's words are, " Have not I chosen
you twelve?" Judas being among the number,
" and one of you is a devil." Two most important
lessons are obviously to be drawn from the his-
tory ; first, as regards ourselves as ministers, that
there is no greater sin in us than covetousness,
none which seems so thoroughly to blind the eyes
and steel the heart against good impressions, none
which exercises a more fatal power over the mind,

s 5

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894

THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. [sERM.

inasmuch as it planned and wrought the greatest
crime in the world's bad history, the betrayal and
murder of the eternal Son of God. Secondly, as
regards the people, it should surely be a lesson
to you not to judge (as is the way of the world)
by mere outward appearances. Judas was ob-
viously not marked as a bad man by any thing
outward; his fellow-apostles seem to have been
ignorant of his character; his covetousness was
dissembled under a mask of piety and zeal for the
interests of the poor ; none but the Lord himself
knew of it, it was no open flagrant transgression.
"Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until
the Lord come, who will both bring to light the
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest
the counsels of the hearts ; and then shall every
man have praise of God \" But we may also
connect the words with the two articles which I
design to explain this morning, the 2»3rd and
26th, especially with the latter of them, the sub-
ject of which is the unworthiness of evil minis-
ters.

Art. XXIII. — " It is not lawful for any man to
take upon him the office of public preaching, or
ministering the sacraments in the congregation,
before he be lawfully called, and sent to execute

^ 1 Cor. iv. 5.

XXVI.] THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. .395

the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully
called and sent, which be chosen and called to
this work by men who have public authority given
unto them in the congregation, to call and send
ministers into the Lord's vineyard."

Art. XXVI. — " Although in the visible Church
the evil be ever mingled with the good, and some-
times the evil have chief authority in the minis-
tration of the word and sacraments, yet forasmuch
as they do not the same in their own name, but
in Christ's, and do minister by His commission
and authority, we may use their ministry, both in
hearing the word of God, and in receiving of the
sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's
ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor
the grace of God's gifts diminished from such as
by faith and rightly do receive the sacraments
ministered unto them ; which be eflPectual, because
of Christ's institution and promise, although they
be ministered by evil men.

" Nevertheless, it appertaineth to the disciphne
of the Church, that enquiry be made of evil minis-
ters, and that they be accused by those that have
knowledge of their offences; and finally being
found guilty, by just judgment be deposed."

Now the 23rd Article treats of a very im-
portant subject— the ministerial commission and
authority ; not only important as regards us, but

s 6

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396

TIIK MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. [sERM.

as regards your own happiness and comfort as the
sheep of Christ's flock. For if we are not assured
that we are your true and lawful pastors, if we
have no right and title to minister to you, if we
are intruders into the fold, and come in by some
other way, and not by the door, then what busi-
ness have you here ? What comfort can you have
in our ministrations ? What security can you have
that you are not blinded and deluded, and we
blind leaders of the blind ? If there be no mark,
no title to the ministry by which you may know
a true pastor from an untrue, what security can
you have that this is God's house, in the which it
pleaseth Him to dwell, and that here ye " may
with joy draw water out of the wells of salva-
tion ' ?" What mark then would you set upon us
by which you may know this ? Would you take
the common popular notion of a comfortable minis-
ter, an awakening minister, a persuasive preacher,
an eloquent orator ? Alas, these marks are blind
guides, for a man may be all this and yet be but
as " sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal \"

Would you take, then, the better test of a holy
and religious life ? This is, indeed, a sure test of
our faithfulness or unfaithfulness, but it is not
the only test you require ; for Judas was an

' Isa. xii. 3.

' 1 Cor. xiii. 1.

XXVI.] THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. 397

apostle, and was sent forth to preach, and to work
miracles. And our Lord who bids us apply the
very test, « by their fruits shall ye know them,"
nevertheless says, "the Scribes and Pharisees sit
in Moses' seat. All whatsoever they bid you ob-
serve, that observe and do : but do not ye after
their works, for they say and do not\" They
were to know them by their fruits, and so refuse
to copy their example, and yet they were to ob-
serve and do all that they bid them, because they
sat in Moses' chair, and so had a divine commis-
sion. They were to be listened to as ambassadors,
but shunned as examples. Their words were fair,
but their practice was bad. Hear and do after
the one, hate and avoid the other. Indeed, if
all the people's comfort depended on the actions
and intentions of the minister, what lasting com-
fort could you have ? Is our faithfulness or un-
faithfulness to be made the measure of your
growth in grace? If you come hungering and
thirsting after the bread and water of life, are
you to be sent empty away, because your minis-
ter cannot rightly feed you? This, indeed, is
a commonly received notion, but it seems to be
as unscriptural and pernicious an error as can be
conceived.

♦ Matt, xxiii. 2, 3.

1
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398 THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. [SERM.

Are God's ordinances dependent on us? Are
our intentions, our fancies, our feelings, our mani-
fold infirmities, to be the measure of your bless-
ings ? What a dreadful delusion is this ! In what
a pitiable situation are the sheep of Christ, if this
be true. According to this doctrine, if a minister
makes use of the baptismal service, and believes not
the words he uses, then no grace accompanies the
act of faith ; if a minister administer the sacred
elements, and is in his heart polluted or a traitor,
then no blessing descends on faithful, humble
souls; if a minister read prayers without pray-
ing, then no answer is vouchsafed those who pray
themselves ; in fact, this vicarious religion depends
on the good-will of another, and that othe^* a mere
man, of like passions with yourselves, and as
prone to fall as yourselves are. This error exalts
the man at the expense of the ordinances of Christ ;
it exalts the man, and forgets the God who saves ;
and yet do we not hear this every day ? "I shall
not go to Church to-day, because my favourite
minister does not preach." " I shall not attend
the Holy Communion, because our minister does
not act as he preaches." And are you justified
in the neglect of your duty, because another
neglects his ? Shall man be exalted in the place
of God? Is it not God's word you hear read,
God's ordinances you partake of, the Lord's table

[SERM.

IS ? Are
ur mani-
ur bless-
In what
st, if this
minister
ieves not
anies the
le sacred
a traitor,
humble
ut pray-
^ho pray
depends
)i.' a mere
, and as
•or exalts
f Christ ;
10 saves ;
« I shall
favourite
3t attend
ster does
justified
another
the place
sar read,
d's table

XXVI.] THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION.

399

at which you kneel, Christ's body and blood that
are reverently offered you? Is not this what
the prophet Ezekiel spake of, when God said
unto them, " Son of man, these men have set up
their idols in their heart, aud put the stumbling-
block of then iniquity before their face : should
I be enquired of at all by them ' ?" My brethren,
let me warn you to beware how you indulge in
such manner of speech. The more you make
an idol of man, the less will you love God ; the
more you set up us, the less good will you derive
from the ordinances as such. You may be thank-
ful if what you have heard preached is any way
useful or a comfort to you, God grant it may be
so ; but your great comfort ought to be from the
Scripture read, from prayer offered, from the
Lord's Supper administered; and in these you
should think of your Lord, not of us, the mere
servants and instruments of the Lord. The grace
is His, not ours ; and if you depend on us, not
on Him, you wdll find nothing ; and, for my part,
I had rather a thousand times take my place with"
the lowest among you, than in any way counte-
nance the delusion of making an idol of man.
And if I have in any way ever done or said any thing
which might foster this notion, I humbly pray God

* Ezek. xiv. 3.

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400 THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION'. [SERM.

to forgive it. Well then, if we are not to depend on
man as a mere idol of our own making, as is the
popular notion, what are we to depend on ? We
are to look to God's commission and authority,
and depend on that as our security for a lawfully
constituted pastor, and we are to receive him as
the ambassador of Christ ; and if he be inefficient,
ignorant, or unfaithful, we are to look to God
for His blessing upon the means of grace, which,
as a pastor does not make, he cannot unmake,
nor deprive us of the blessing conveyed by a right
use of such means.

How then may we know whether a pastor be
lawfully called or no ? Here you see the article
directs us : — First, no man is a true pastor who
takes on himself the office of preaching or adminis-
tering the Sacraments in the congregation, without
a lawful call ; and what is a lawful call ? *' Those,"
says the article, " we judge lawfully called and
sent, which be chosen and called to this work by
men who have publick authority given unto them
in the congregation, to call and send ministers into
the Lord's vineyard." And who are those who
have public authority given to them in the con-
gregation ? The answer you will find where you
might expect to see it, in the preface to the ordina-
tion service. " It is evident unto all men diligently
reading the Holy Scripture and ancient authors,

[SERM.

;pend on
as is the
n? We
ithority,
lawfully
; him as
efficient,
to God
, which,
unmake,
y a right

astor be
e article
stor who
idminis-
without
Those,"
[led and
work by
ito them
ters into
3se who
ihe con-
lere you
I ordina-
iligently
authors,

XXVI.] THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION.

401

that from the apostles' time, there have been
these orders of ministers in Christ's Church;
bishops, priests, and deacons. Which offices were
evermore had in reverend estimation, that no
man might presume to execute any of them ex-
cept he were first called, tried, examined, and
known to have such qualities as are requisite for
the same ; and also by public prayers with impo-
sition of hands, were approved and admitted
thereunto by lawful authority." This, in the
judgment of the compilers of the prayer book,
settles the question, and shows that no man can
be pronounced lawfully called and sent (where the
means of such calling are afforded) who is not
rightly ordained by the bishop of the Church. We
are not discussing the case of those who in other
countries may have somewhat to say for them-
selves ; we speak of our own nation, where a law-
ful succession of pastors can be with perfect accu-
racy traced up to the Apostles, where there were
always bishops ; and in this country we fearlessly
appeal to the article and the ordination service as
declaring what is a lawful call. Nor is Holy
Scripture silent upon this matter. The Jewish
Church was formed according to the pattern given
by God Himself. Was there not a pecuUar care,
a special promise made for the line of priesthood,
and that in a particular family, to ensure its sta-

* !:

':. I

♦T'K;

tt#H

-t

402 THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. [SERM.

bility, and to make it lasting ? Was any chance
person permitted to take on himself the order of
Aaron, without being set apart by solemn rites ?
Does not the book of Leviticus show with what
minute exactness all things were to be done,
according to the pattern which God showed
Moses in the mount. And if these things be
typical of our dispensations, can we suppose that
less care is requisite in a purer dispensation?
Further, when Kcrah, Dathan, and Abiram brake
in on this established order, was there no severe
punishment that followed that presumption ?

But what are the facts of the case? When
our Lord laid the foundation of the Church, did
He say to all the multitude that heard Him, let
every one of you take on himself the office of
minister, be all of you apostles, let all preach,
let all cast out devils, let all go forth with my
commission. On the contrary, after solemn and
intense prayer He chose only twelve, whom He
named apostles, and after these other seventy
also, and his commission to them is given at
several times in terms so weighty, so awful, and
so exclusive, that language has no terms in which
a greater degree of authority and dignity could
be assigned. He said to Peter, " Behold, I give
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be

[SERM.

ly chance
; order of
nn rites?
ith what
be done,

showed
bings be
30se that
;nsation ?
im brake
ao severe
on?

» When
urch, did
Him, let
office of
[ preach,
with my
emn and
hom He

seventy
given at
rful, and
in which
ty could
I, I give
heaven :
shall be

XXVI.] THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION.

403

bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven "." Re
said also to the twelve, "Receive ye the Holy
Ghost: as my Father hath sent Me, even so
send T you : whosesoever sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye
retain, they are retained'." "Go ye, therefore,
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things what-
soever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am
with you always, even unto the end of the
worlds" It is wonderful how very irreverently
persons who affect to know the Bible by heart
pass over such expressions as these. Is it not
gross trifling with these texts, to suppose that our
Lord meant to extend them to all Christians alike,
that such expressions are become obsolete, and
now have no meaning at aU. Yet if they applied
to all, why was Matthias elected into the number
of the twelve when Judas was dead ?

Let us again turn to the Acts of the Apostles.
There we find the deacons baptizing, but the
apostles going down to confirm and ordain ; we
find St. Paul appointing Timothy as bishop of
Ephesus, with power to do the "work of a

i I

* i

^,'-

Matt. xiv. 19.

7 John XX. 23.

« Matt, xxviii. 20.

ft •4^;

404

THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. [SERM.

bishop;" and froF> -hia tinic, the succession of
pastors, founded b^ primitive Christians with

the most jealous care, has descended to us. Should
any one imagine that in times of confusion and
disorder some mistakes might have been made,
some links in the chain been wanting, we answer,
the ancient writers thought nothing of more im-
portance than preserving the list entire. It was
this witness to which they constantly appealed to
distinguish themselves from heretics; although
even were a link wanting through mere defect of
copies, it would net, in the eyes of a fair reasoner,
vitiate the succession. For who would doubt the
line of Enghsh kings, merely because the name of
some one Saxon monarch could not be found?
However, in the case of the bishops, the evidence
is far stronger from there being so many inde-
pendent lines all converging to one point, and
tracing their origin to one stock.

This, then, is the security you have for the
lawfulness of our ministration ; as to your faith-
fulness, your comfort, it does not depend wholly
on that. Seek you God^s grace in the use of
God's means, and when we be unfaithful, which
God forbid, nevertheless you shall find it. But
beware how you rest your peace on the weak
foundation of a creature-good, for it will fail
you; whereas, if, knowing your pastor to be

[SERM.

ssion of
ms with

Should
iion and
1 made,
answer,
Lore im-

It was
ealed to
Ithough
lefett of
easoner,
»ubt the
name of
found ?
vidence
y inde-
nt, and

for the

ir faith-

whoUy

use of

, which

t. But

3 weak

^ill fail

to be

XXVI.] THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. 405

lawfully called, you follow him as far as he follows
Christ, but look above him to those means which
the Lord Himself has promised to bless, you will
be sure to obtain a blessing, you will " go in and
out and find pasture." I ask any honest mind
among you, whether the words of the Article do
not express the very self-same truth I am now
delivering to you : " yet forasmuch as they do not
the same in their own name, but in Christ's,
and do minister by His commission and authority,
we may use their ministry, both in hearing the
Word of God, and in receiving of the Sacraments.
Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken
away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's
gifts diminished from such as by faith and rightly
do receive the Sacraments ministered unto them ;
which be effectual, because of Christ's institution
and promise, although they be ministered by evil

men.

Undoubtedly, as the Article proceeds to say,
" it appertaineth to the discipline of the Church,
that inquiry be made of evil ministers, and that
they be accused of those that have knowledge of
their offences ; and finally, being found guilty, by
just judgment be deposed'." But this is one
part of that discipline which the Church earnestly

' Article xxvi.

4ki.

i Is

(

406

THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. [sERM.

wishes to restore, but which circumstances have
hitherto prevented her from restoring. May God
grant that a more wholesome state of discipline
may, in His good time, be permitted to prevail
among us.

Finally, we learn from the whole subject, to
think more deeply of our own separate responsi-
bilities as ministers and people, and pray for each
other. Every man, my brethren, may easily set
himself up as a judge. Now, to be a judge
requires judgment, learning, charity, and discre-
tion. To seem so in our own eyes requires very
little of either.

But instead of judging, if you value your own
comfort, if you wish for our usefulness, if you
love the peace and unity and fruitfulness of the
Church, "pray for us," More will be done by
prayer than by criticism. A humble, quiet tem-
per, a subdued and reverent spirit, a loving heart,
a pure and blameless life, are worth all the criti-
cism in the world. Let us each mutually remem-
ber that we shall stand at the judgment-seat of
our common Lord; that we shall all, whatever
be our present attainments, then stand in need of
mercy. Let the thought of that "fiery trial"
make us "judge ourselves, that we be not
judged;" and strive, by the discharge of our
respective duties in the faith and fear of God,

[SERM.

XXVI.] THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. 407

Pes have

ray God

iscipline

prevail

)ject, to
esponsi-
for each
asily set
a judge
discre-
res very

and in dependence on His seasonable aid, that we
may be " found of Him in peace, without spot and
blameless.''

In short, let us judge less; let us love, and
believe, and obey more.

3ur own
, if you
J of the
lone by
iet tem-
g heart,
hie criti-
remem-
-seat of
hatever
need of
T trial"
be not
of our
>f God,

■ h

i! <^

. (I

SERMON XXVII.

THE BLESSINGS BESTOWED ON THE CHURCH

OF ENGLAND.

h '■' I

i if''

Deui. iv. 32—36.

" For ask now of the days that are past, which were before *hee,
since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask
from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether tliere hath
been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard
like it ? Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out
of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live ? Or hath
God assayed to go and take Him a nation from the midst of
. aother nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and
by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm, R,nd
by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for
you in Egypt before your eyes ? Unto thee it was shewed, that
thou mightest know that the Lord He is God ; there is none else
beside Him. Out of heaven He made thee to hear His voice,
that He might instruct thee : and upon earth He shewed thee
His great fire ; and thou heanlest His words out of the midst
of the fire."

Few parts of the books of Moses are more sub-
lime, more affecting, and more instructive, than
the chapter we have read this morning. It is

CHURCH

i before *hee,
irth, and ask
er there hath
,h been heard

speaking out
v'e ? Or hath

the midst of
wonders, and
■out arm, p.nd
r God did for
> shewed, that
re is none else
;ar His voice,
J shewed thee
t of the midst

more sub-
ctive, than
ing. It is

BLESSINGS BESTOWED ON THE CHURCH. 409

impossible to read it, I imagine, without feeUng
that Moses was indeed, as St. Stephen has de-
scribed him, mighty in words, as well as in deeds.
We gain from it also a higher notion of what
Moses gave up m hen he chose " rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season'." There is some-
thing, too, peculiarly touching in some of the
expressions of the great lawgiver. When we hear
him say, " But I must die in this land, I must
not go over Jordan';" we seem to enter into all
the yearnings of his mind. It was for this people
he had sacrificed all that the world counts dear ;
he had given up all the dreams of a fond ambi-
tion, all the stores of Egyptian learning, all the
fame and reputation o\ the greatest court in the
world; he had taken in exchange persecution
and poverty, he had wearied himself for forty
years with the ignorance, rebellion, the dogged
stubbornness of a nation retaining all the vices of
slaves amidst their emancipation from slavery ; he
was now a very aged man, he had but one wish
left, that he might lead his people into the land
to the borders of which he had conducted them,
and that after all their wanderings, he might lie
down and die in the midst of his people. This

> Heb. xi. 25.

2 Deut. iv. 22.
T

■p

410

THE BLESSINGS BESTOWED [SERM.

natural wish was, however, to be denied him ; but
so far from murmuring at the Divine will, he
records the reason of it, viz. a want of acknow-
ledgment of God before the people, and some
fretfulness and impatience on the part of himself
and Aaron ; and, along with that record, he only
leaves us the expression of his own sorrowful but
subdued feeling, mixed with joy on the people's
account ; " I must die in this land, I must not go
over Jordan ; but ye shall go over and possess
the land\" But besides this, there is abundance
of instruction to be gathered from the chapter;
and without entering into all that might be said
upon it, I design in the present discourse to con-
sider it in two points of view : —

First, I shall explain the words of the text
itself; and, secondly, point out the resemblance
of our own privileges, as a Christian people, to
those of the Jews. As regards the Jews, then,
let us observe the points to which Moses refers.
He bids them search into times gone by, inquire
into the history of every nation under heaven,
whether any such events had ever taken place in
the world as these which themselves had seen,
and in which they had been the principal agents.

" Ask of the times that are past" It is a good

3 Deut. iv. 22.

"XXVII.] ON THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 41]

thing to make the mind familiar with past history,
and the paths of Providence in times before us!
If we are only acquainted with present times, we
are too much influenced by present things to be
able to form a right judgment of our real position.
True wisdom can only be gained by looking back
to the past, and forward to the future, and so
shaping our course for the present. Thus Jere-
miah says, « Stand ye in the ways, and see, and
ask for the old path, where is the good way, and
walk therein ;" and he names the result, "and ye
shall find rest for your souls *."

There are two points, then, to which Moses
bids them look back. The first is the giving of
the law from Mount Sinai : « Did ever people hear
the voice of God, speaking out of the midst of the
fire, as thou hast heard, and live ?"

To the world God speaks by the universal
language of His works. "There is," says the
Psalmist, " no place where His voice is not
heard';" and this voice is in the heavens and in
the earth, in the sea and in the sky, in the field
and in the chamber, in the height and in the
depth, in infinite greatness and infinite littleness.
But it is a voice which may be rather felt than
heard, and which is unknown to a vast multitude
of mankind.

* Jer. vi. 16.

s Ps. xix. 3.

!■

il'

h ^^

413

THE BLESSINGS BESTOWED

[SERM.

I ,!i

But God spake to the Israelites with the voice
of men, only far louder and more tremendous ; a
voice so terrible, that even Moses said, " I exceed-
ingly fear and quaked" But there was not only
a voice, and that uttering the Ten Command-
ments, but darkness, and fire more vivid than the
lightning to make the darkness more terrible, and
a fearful thunderstorm, and an earthquake. Never
any people heard or saw the like ; and yet, though
Nature trembled at the presence of her God, the
Israelites stood unharmed and heard it all. This
was without precedent. Such honour no nation
beside had ever enjoyed.

But was this all ? No ; he bids them look back
to what had preceded this appear- mce, viz. to
their exodus, or departure from Egypt. He recalls
to their minds the river swollen not with water
but with blood, the plague of tormenting and
resistless insects, the vain attempts of the magi-
cians to counterfeit them, the cattle dying by
thousands in the fields, the sweeping hail that
destroyed all the green vegetables, the ravenous
swarms of locusts that devoured what the hail had
spared, the more terrible darkness that seemed to
consign the Egyptians to the tomb, while light
shone upon the dwellings of Goshen, and the

6 Heb. xii. 21.

[SERM.

;he voice
idous; a
[ exceed-
not only
immand-
than the
ible, and
3. Never
, though
God, the
11. This
nation

Dok back
viz. to
le recalls
ith water
ting and
tie magi-
lying by
hail that
ravenous
hail had
eemed to
lile light
and the

XXVII.] ON THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

413

desolation of Egypt at the death of the first-
born. He bids them look back to that morning,
when, as the tyrant of Egypt was midway be-
tween his own and the opposite shore, his chariot-
wheels broke under him, his army was thrown
into confusion, and the waves which he had seen
standing up like walls on either side rolled back,
and with irresistible fury overwhelmed them all,
"and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the
sea-shore ^" These were the sights their eyes had
seen— these the terrors by which they had been
delivered, and could they now forget them ? Could
they prove so base, so ungrateful to their deli-
verer as to turn from the holy commands thus
delivered unto them ? Could they, who had heard
a voice but never seen any manner of simiUtude,
worship, not that which they had seen, but that
which was no similitude of God at all, a vain,
senseless, dumb idol, that which their own hands
had made, in which there was not even the breath
of life, nor power to speak, to touch, to taste, to
smell ? And yet the words of the lawgiver, bid-
ding them look back to the past, were a keen
rebuke of their unfaithfulness, as well as the
fearful prophecy of their future sins. For they
had been guilty of this very sin of idolatry. They

■. ,

it ♦

I >

.■*i|

7 Exod. xiv. 30.

[Li

>i r

"■ »^f *B - ;^m j»iM

g^y^J W —i i> ii j iiw nw».iw m w ■!

mmam

414

TiiE BLESSINGS BESTOWED

[SERM.

1 i

had committed it within a month. Nay, the very
brother of Moses had shared in it, and made the
calf which the people had worshipped. And at
the very time that they thus stood on the borders
of that goodly land of promise, which they could
only enter by fresh victories, and new marks of
God's wondrous mercy towards them, the Spirit
of God predicted, (as Moses more fully records in
a subsequent chapter,) that that very land they
would defile by their abominable idolatries, rival-
ling the heathen who had been cast out of it in
the very crimes for which they had themselves
expelled them, and be at last themselves cast out
by the long-delayed but retributive justice of
God.

What a picture is here ! What points of history
are brought together by the pen of inspiration
for our instruction ! Well may we look back to
the past ; well may we consider the case of the
Jews as a warning to ourselves. Here we have
in one and the self-same history, at one moment
Israel emerging from the Red Sea, while the
" Egyptians lie dead upon the shore ;" at another
moment standing before Mount Sinai, listening
to the terrible voice of God Himself; within an-
other month dancing amidst abhorred and licen-
tious rites before the golden calf; after forty years
wandering for their sins, standing on the plains of

lii

[SERM.

XXVII.] ON THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

415

the very
[nade the
And at
2 borders
ley could
marks of
be Spirit
ecords in
and they
ies, rival-
; of it in
emselves
cast out
ustice of

>f history
spiration

back to
je of the
! we have

moment
labile the
t another
listening
ithin an-
nd licen-
rty years
plains of

Moab with the same great lawgiver at their head,
who, as he beheld the river Jordan before him, and
the mountain tops of the goodly land swelling on
his sight, declared the solemn sentence on himself
for his own lesser sin, " I must die in this land."

Then we have at another moment Israel, after
their entrance into the very land, overfed and
giddy vvith prosperity, gradually corrupting them-
selves, sparing the Canaanites, mixing with them,
learning their customs, setting up their idols; and
finally, we behold the sure, though long-tarrying
ruin overtaking them, and their very temple a
heap of ashijs, their city of God pillaged, sacked,
and burnt, their men destroyed or enslaved, their
women and children led captive to Babylon, and
a still more stubborn remnant hurrying away with
them the prophet Jeremiah, who had vainly en-
deavoured to warn or terrify them from their
wickedness, and after stoning him, themselves in
great numbers going back to Egypt, and perishing
there.

And is all this nothing to us ? Indeed it is a
fearful lesson; would that it were not in some
respects a type of the Christian Church, and in
this light, secondly, I propose to consider it.

It would detain us too long to go into the
whole subject; after, therefore, a glance at our
fall and sinfulness, I shall, on the present occasion,
T 4

t )

1- 'I

;!;

'Vi

ill

■if

Sp 1

N-

416

THE BLESSINGS BESTOWED [SERM.

dwell on our privileges still remaining to us as
members of the Church of Christ in England.

First, then, of the fallen state of the Church
catholic in all lands. I speak not now of parti-
cular branches, more or less pure, but of the
universal Church, which we must lament over as
not yet brought to that state which Christ de-
signed, and which we hope He may have yet in
store for her, when all shall be one, when we shall
no more be as children, " tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby
they lie in wait to deceive ^" But we are^ alas!
so accustomed to division, that we see little to
mourn over in our fall. We think so little of
other branches of the Church, that we forget the
fearful breaches which have happened in Zion,
the rending asunder of east and west, the jealou-
sies, the corruptions, the angry contentions which
have so long prevailed. But no truly Christian
mind can soberly think over these things without
deploring that such a state of things exists, what-
ever be the causes, even though he may not see
the immediate remedies. We ought, then, daily,
hourly, yearly, not only in public but in private,
to pray for the peace and unity of the Church.

* Ephcs. iv. 14.

*!1

[S£RM.

to US as
land.

Church
of parti-
t of the
t over as
lirist de-
m yet in

we shall

I fro, and

e, by the

whereby

are^ alas !

little to

little of
brget the
in Zion,
le jealou-
ns which
Christian
3 without
its, what-
r not see
en, daily,
1 private.

Church.

XXVII.] ON THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 417

Let us recollect what the Psalmist says, « Pray for
the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that
love thee°;" and this applies to the Christian
even more than to the Jewish Church. We may,
I think, learn a lesson from our Roman Catholic
brethren in foreign parts in this matter. It is
said, that the Roman Catholics have agreed, in
considerable numbers, to pray for the conversion
of England. Now of course we cannot join in
their prayers in the same sense in which they use
them, but we may return their prayers, and pray
for the conversion of Rome. It is a new thing to
hear the Romish Church talking of prayer for
conversion. Her former talk was of converting
by fire and sword ; and I think if their prayers
be sincere, as I doubt not in many cases they are,
God may be pleased to answer them in another
manner than they expect, viz. by enabling Rome
to see her own errors, which present so tremendous
an obstacle in the way of the unity of the Church ;
and so, though we may not live to see it, our
posterity may live to witness the reunion of t te
whole Church on a sound and Scriptuiai erd
primitive basis ; and let every heart say, Amtn,
so be it.

But my object rather was to point out to you

' Ps. cxxii. 6,

1' 5

.i i

1 1

'. !

418 THE BLESSINGS BESTOWED [sERM.

especially, as many may not have thought of the
subject in this light, how very greatly God has
blessed our branch of the Church, after a manner,
indeed, not dissimilar to that of the Jews. As a
nation, indeed, God has signally and wonderfully
blessed us. His selection of us, at one time a
poor degraded race of savage men, trampled on
or unheeded, at the uttermost ends of the earth,
is most remarkable. The whole history of Bntam,
from the first landing of Caesar on the shores to
the present day, presents to the mind a combma-
tion of circumstances, though not so strictly mira-
culous, yet almost as wonderful as the history of
the Jews. For if we think of the founding, the
estabUshment, progress, trials, and present state
of the Church amongst us,— what can be more
marvellous or more providential?

The British Church was founded either by one
of the Apostles, or by their immediate successors.
British bishops assisted at one, if not more, of the
first four general councils, and at several subordi-
nate ones. But this early Church was confined to
the extremities of the island, and was almost extin-
guished by the violence of the Saxons. Then
came our second founding by Augustine, the mis-
sionary of the Bishop of Rome. But the British
Church even then showed symptoms of its inde-
pendence, and asserted its Catholic rights in a

SERM.

of the
)d has
lanner,
As a
erfuUy
time a
lied on
; earth,
Britain,
ores to
)mbina-
[y mira-
story of
ing, the
nt state
36 more

p by one
ccessors.
e, of the
subordi-
afined to
)st extin-
. Then
the mis-
le British
' its inde-
rhts in a

XXVII.] ON THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 419

manner which did it infinite honour, and which
was in after ages to be put in practice on a larger
scale at the Reformation. Long and vigorous were
the struggles which both princes and priests of
our Church made against the tyranny of the
Bishop of Rome ; and at length, in God's good
time, the stand was made ; and though the first
author of that resistance was actuated by his own
selfish and unchristian motives, yet it must never
be forgotten, that the work was mainly accom-
plished by the Church itself.

And then, as to what appear to be the principles
of the Reformation itself in doctrine and in disci-
pline. It appears to be an endeavour to return,
as far as the circumstances of the time would
permit, to the doctrine and discipline of the pri-
mitive Church, as not only founded by apostolic
men, and built on truth, but most agreeable to
the real sense and meaning of Holy Scripture
itself. The leading principle of the Reformation
was, the right use of Holy Scripture ; of Scrip-
ture, whose fundamental truths are embodied in
the creeds, and whose best interpretation in the
great doctrines of the Christian faith is found
in the primitive Church. Hence our accusation
against Rome has ever been, the introduction of

novelties.

Consider what was to be removed, and what our

T 6

^m ifWidM*«M— >

: !

420

THE BLESSINGS BESTOWED [SERM.

Church has retained. She has retained the Bible
itself, as a book to be known and read of all men.
She has retained the three creeds, as to be proved
by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture, and
as the unadulterated and universally received
sense of the whole Catholic Church. She has
retained in reality the ancient liturgies, the sense
and fulness of which are embodied in our prayer-
book. She gives honour to the four first general
councils, which she esteems as of especial value
in determining controversies of faith. She has
retained the Catholic doctrine of the sacraments,
rejecting the Puritan diminution of the one, and
the Romish addition to the other. She has re-
tained the order of Bishops as that of Christ's
own appointment, of apostolic usage, and un-
broken succession. She has retained all that can
be proved necessary by the word of God, and
universally received by the voice of the Church.
—What then has she cast off? All Romish addi-
tions to the three creeds, which at once and for
ever fixed the sense of Holy Scripture on those
points; the supremacy of the pope over all
Churches, as the visible centre of unity to Chris-
tendom ; the doctrine of transubstantiation, of
purgatory, of adoration of images, of communion
in one kind, with other like errors. She has re-
moved from her these errors, as having no Scrip-

I'M

SERM.

XXVII.] ON THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 421

i Bible
11 men.
proved
•e, and
eceived
he has
e sense
prayer-
general
al value
)he has
aments,
me, and
has re-
Christ's
ind un-
that can
od, and
Church,
sh addi-
and for
)n those
over all
to Chris-
ition, of
nmunion
e has re-
10 Scrip-

tural authority to recommend them, and the voice
of the primitive Church absolutely against them.
Thus in her Liturgy she strives, as far as may
be, to reflect the image of the primitive Church,
and bids us say, " I believe in the Cathohc
Church;" meaning, of which I am a member.
In her articles she enters a solemn protest against
divers forms of error — first, and chiefly, against
the novelties and corruptions of Rome ; secondly,
against those who deny the Divinity of Christ ;
thirdly, against those who undervalue or deny
the grace of the Sacraments; fourthly, against
those who refuse to submit to the authority and
voice of the Church. When she teaches truth,
she calls herself Catholic ; when she protests
ao-ainst error, she is termed Protestant. And in
so doing, she only exercises that right which St.
Paul once exercised towards St. Peter, "with-
standing him to the face, because he was to be
blamed'."

We have spoken of the principles of our Church;
let us think on the trials of it. Those trials have
been singularly severe, and yet most providenti-
ally ordered.

The persecution of Queen Mary showed clearly
the Hne to be adopted in keeping clear of popery.

1 Gal. ii. 11.

■ :

:l\

THE BLESSINGS BES'l'OWED [sEBM.

The fatal rebellion under king Charles developed
the mischievous results of puritanism Both evils
^ere suffered to proceed to the very height, that
our Church might be proved and preserved from
both. After these there came upon her a worse
evil, a time of spiritual declension and sluggish-
ness, but from this God has awakened her. Her
energies are roused. Her strength is put forth,
not like that of Samson, when he arose to pull
down the house upon his own head as well as
on the heads of his enemies, but Uke that of the
Psalmist when he exclaimed, « I will go forth in
the strength of the Lord God, and make vnention
of His righteousness only '."

At such a time as this, are her sons to forsake
her? At such a time as this, when north, south,
east, and west are calling on her to help them,
when the fruits of the good seed are seen on the
American shore, when her bishops are going ou
to repair the deficiencies in her colonies , does it
become us to be forgetful of the good hand of our
God upon us? No ; let us ask of the days that
are past, whether God has ever blessed a Church
and nation as He is blessing us, and surely that
we may bless others, and impart to others what
we have ourselves received.

> Ps. Ixxi. 16.

3 These words have not been added at this time.

SERM.

eloped
h evils
t, that
d from
I worse
aggish-
. Her
t forth,
to pull
well as
t of the
forth in
mention

> f( rsake
1, south,
[p them,
n on the
;oing out
', does it
id of our
lays that
a Church
irely that
tiers what

XXVII.] ON THE CnURCU OF ENGLAND.

423

Tie.

We do not favour the Church hy labouring in
her cause, but God favours us by permitting us
to labour in His cause. We should regard it as
a favour done to us, as a blessing, the value of
which we cannot too highly estimate, to be al-
lowed, in our small and narrow sphere, to work
for God. What can any of us do for the Church,
in comparison of that which God has done for us by
her and in her ? Let us keep, then, the example of
the Jews before our eyes ; let us flee from idolatry,
which was their deadly sin ; let us flee from the
idolatry of corrupt doctrine, such as that wherewith
we fear many members of the Church of Rome are
entangled ; let us flee from the idolatry of corrupt
practice, such as too many of our own people have
fallen into, who profess that they know God, but
in works deny Him; let us flee from the idolatry
of covevous mammon, which is the most ensnaring
idol of all ; let us remember, if we would avoid
the fate of the Jews, that to make an idol of our
money, ia to despise the Church of God, to despise
the Word of God, to despise God Himself, and m
place of the everlasting riches of heaven, to ding
to what cankers as we hoard it, flies from us as
we pursue it, pierces our hearts through with a
thousand sorrows when we clasp it to our bosoms,
and leads us by sure, though unperceived steps,
ill the downward patK to ruin.

:i-^ !

SERMON XXVIIl.

« I BELIEVE IN THE

COMMUNION OF SAINTS

Hebrews xii. 22—24.

„ But ,e a.e co^e u„.o .„«u„t Sio„. a,.a u„W ^ ^^

n A «l,f. li.avenlv Jerusalein, and to an
Uvmc God, tne n* avem;' « ^ , ,

„™;„y »; ...c,., t., th. «c„era. a.,emMy andChu ^ ofh
««L„, which are wrmcn in ''--•;;'' j^^tr.o.cl
ofa.-, ..d to the »„U-... of i-'7_;; ™^ ;::: 'of .p™«n«,
the mediator ot the new eovcnant,and to Ue mo
thatspeaketh better things than that ol Abel.

1 ADDBESS you, my brethren and -«*««'" C*'™'

our Lord, looking up to God for H.s help, bu

1 the nidst of no ordinary trial. Yet, pa.nfu

l; it is to „.e to speak to you at all, I can no longe.

hold my peace, though "my sorrow is stirred.

1 know by experience how soon good .mpressmn

i awa/froL the minds of those who are n

actually suffering themselves, and pensh more

. This and the following sermon wonld not have formed a part

,jrnn,e. b.t at - --rdC::":^ -'^

had found comfort from the perusal, and expressea
conviction, that others might find thfe same.

THE COMMUNION OF 8A1NT8.

425

AINTS

city of the
mumerable

lurch of the
I the Ju(lg<^
ind to JesuB
f sprinkling,

in Christ
help, but
et, painful
1 no longer
3 stirred."
npressions
lo are not
srish more

formed a part
le persons who
3d to me their

(juickly than the leaf itself, whose withering they
deplore ; and therefore 1 am anxious, while the
impression remains, to do something to deepen

it not lo let the most awful summons to myself

pass witho\it a warning voice from me : to make
you, if possible, partakers both in my sorrow and
in my joy : that we may also be partakers both of
«< the fellowship of Christ's sufferings," and of
« the power of His Resurrection."

My brethren, I have often spoken to you of the
fleeting nature of all earthly hopes ; and I believed
what I said, though I had no particular sorrow as
a ground for that belief. But now I not only
believe, but I see it. The vivid reality is before
me : / know that it is so. And so it will be with
you And this makes me anxious to address you ;
not from a want of feeling of my loss, but from the
vivid consciousness of it- not from the absence ot
sorrow, but from the fulness and abundance of it ;
for the heart must have vent in some way, or it
would burst. Let us meet then in God's house,
and before God's altar; let the place where the
Lord Jesus is, where the blessed and holy angels
are, our fellow-servants who condescend to minister
to us, where " the spirits of the just made perfect
are, I doubt not, in thought, if not in act, where
those who are departing long to be, that they may
praise God in the Church once more ; m this
house of the living God let us meet in sorrow and

I' I

426

in joy

« I BELIEVE IN

[SERM.

and as you assure me by your sympathy

. - . .1 i >y AtTc^-n an

even so

that you « weep with them that weep
do 1 call on you to "rejoice with them that do
rejoice." For joy and sorrow meet together m
Christ our Saviour; sorrow at the departure joy
at the assurance of bliss: sorrow at the desola e
estate joy at the promised return. And there
iriers'too who L joined with me in the same
yoke of sorrow ; for their sakes therefore I speak,
that through my joy they also may be comforted

The text I have chosen speaks of comfort. It
is not the hard indifference of the worldly philoso-
pher, neither is it the sullen despair of them that
have no hope ; but it is the language of hopeful,
thankful, cheerful piety, such as it becomes us to
adopt, when speaking of departed samts, or when
thinking of our own departure. It gave comfort
to her who is gone from us at the hour of her
trial, and therefore it gives comfort to us. Let
us then by God's help consider its clauses. But
ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city
of the Uving God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and Church of the first-born which are
written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to
Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to
the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better
things than that of Abel."

SERM.

apathy
ven so
hat do
ther in
ire, joy
lesolate
d there
lie same

speak,
iforted.
•ort. It
philoso-
lem that
hopeful,
les us to
or when
! comfort
T of her
us. Let
;s. "But

the city
n, and to
e general
which are
ge of all,
;ct, and to
nt, and to
!th better

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS." 427

There is, first, a strong contrast intended be-
tween the dispensation of the Gospel, under which
we live, and the dispensation of the Law, under
which the Jews lived. The contrast is every way
remarkable, and worthy of attention. That dis-
pensation was called the lam : this, the gospel
That was chiefly precept, this chiefly promise, for
its precepts are enclosed in its promises. That
told you what to do; this, hovv to do it. That
threatened the disobedient ; this rewards and
blesses the obedient. That was ushered in with
visible signs of God's wrath, instruments of terror,
danger, and awe ; a whole mountain on fire, shak-
inp; to its foundation ; a whole people terrified and
affrighted, a loud thunder-storm burstmg over
them, lightnings darting around them ; angels
standing as ministers of judgment; a voice more
terrible than aU, crying, Come and be judged.
That was the law.-This is ushered in with gentle
strains of the heavenly choir, coming in the stdl-
ness of the night to quiet shepherds, breathmg
peace and good-will, and ascribing " Glory to
God," and inviting them to come and seek a
Saviour, a babe, and yet a God.

All the signs, and instruments, and effects ot
the two dispensations are different. In the
Law, was visible wrath; in the Gospel, invisible
grac . In the Law, the covenant of circum-

J-

'i n

^1'

„A-»

. i '

1 11

l! mi'

1' ^H

!■

>
1

428

« I BELIEVE IN

[SERM.

cision, a rite exclusive, and savouring of bondage ;
in the Gospel, the two Sacraments, breathing
liberty, emblems of peace and purity; water to
cleanse, wine to invigorate, sure witnesses, eflec-
tual signs, chosen means to convey the grace so
signiBed. In the Law, was a mountain that might
be touched; in the Gospel, a mountain and a city
far above, which cannot be touched, but which
are as real and abiding as the other was transitory.
In the Law, clouds, and darkness, and tempest;
in the Gospel, He who " comes in clouds" is the
Saviour of men. In the Law, a voice of words,
forbidding even a beast to approach ; in the Gos-
pel, a voice crying, "Come unto Me, ye weary
and heavy laden ;" come unto Me, ye sinful sons
of men; come unto me, ye departing souls, and I
will give you rest'. In the Law, Angels are
ministers of vengeance; in the Gospel, ministers
of salvation. In the Law, Christ appeared as
God the Judge; in the Gospel, as Jesus the Me-
diator. In the Law, is no promise of atonement ;
in the Gospel, the blood of sprinkling. In the
Law, no promise of a future life; in the Gospel,
"the spirits of just men made perfect » form part
of our society, wait for us, call on us to follow
them quickly, pray for our speedy consummation.
What a mighty contrast is here! What fear in

J Matt, xi, 28.

[SERM.

Dndage ;
reathing
vater to
is, effec-
zrace so
at might
ad a city
it which
■ansitory.
tempest ;
3" is the
of words,
the Gos-
ye weary
inful sons
uls, and I
ngels are
, ministers
peared as
s the Me-
tonement ;
T. In the
he Gospel,
form part
\ to follow
mmmation.
hat fear in

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS

429

the one, what hope in the other ! What terror in
the Law! what joy in the Gospel ! And yet that
we may " serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice
with trembling," to those who reject this mercy a
condemnation follows more awfully severe.

2. But you will observe, secondly, that this
contrast is not only between things which once
were, and things which shall be hereafter, but
between things that once were, and things that
are now, even now, to be enjoyed by us. The
Apostle is peculiarly nice and accurate in his
choice of words, and therefore his words must be
marked, or we shall miss his sense. He does not
say, ye shall come, but ye are come, or have come,
intimating a full certainty of present communion.
The bUss of which he speaks is not a future bhss
only, but a present bliss; not a communion at
some distant time to be enjoyed, but at this very
hour now enjoyed. The invisible world is not
away from us ; it is among us, and we among
them. A little veil only hides what is real, actual,
present. For what is there that is not here ?
" Mount Sion" is here, for that is the Church of
which we are members. The - Angels" are here,
for the Apostle has assured us that they are now
in the Church. The "first-born" are here, for
our names are enrolled in theirs. The " spirits of
the just" are here, for God keeps them with us in

. -,

i>i

430

« 1 BELIEVE IN

[SERM.

|i - ■•

the hollow of His hand. " Je.us, the Mediator of
the covenant," is here, for He has sa,d, Lo, 1

am with you always."

What more is wanted to make us nappy? What
but faith is wanted ;-faith, but as « a gram of
mustard-seed;" faith, looking out for the promises,
realising what is unseen, to make us live as among
those present inhabitants of that glomus wor d .
and when we lie down at night, to th.nk of the
An-els who are our watchers, and when we rise in
the^morning, think of the Sun of rig^'teousn-
who is o,.r light; and when we come to Church
and receive the communion, think of the blessed
spirits of the just, who once meekly but joyfoUy
received it with us, and are stdl our fellow-
worshippers; and when we see the sun settmg,
or the leaves falling, think of our own speedy
following after them; and where we see the
fresh burst and vivid hues of spring, think oi
that bright unfolding morn, when the dead m
Christ shall all rise together, and springing upon
their feet, which were turned towards the east,
waiting for the morning of the Resurrection, they
shall, as with one bound, mount up to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall "be for ever with

the Lord."

But to explain yet further the expressive sen-

tences of the Holy Apostle.

[SERM.

liator of
"Lo, I

? What
grain of
iromises,
IS among
s world :
k of the
ve rise in
teousness
) Church
e blessed
t joyfully
,r fellow-
n setting,
m speedy
; see the
, think of
; dead in
ging upon
, the east,
ction, they
> meet the
' ever with

essive sen-

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS."

431

\^ « Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and to the

city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem."
Sion was the mountain on which the temple was
built, Jerusalem the city in which it was situated.
These are opposed,— Sion to the burning mountain
Sinai, on which the law was given ; and Jerusalem,
the holy city, to the desert in which the Israelites

encamped.

But I do not doubt that by these expressions is
intended the Church of Christ, the whole congre-
gation and fellowship of the faithful. For this is
Mount Zion. And St. Paul, in the Epistle to the
Galatians, uses the same language concerning the
Church, and so explains this passage. For oppos-
ing Sinai and Jerusalem as the two covenants of
the law and the Gospel, he says, « But Jerusalem
which is above," or, as it is here, "the heavenly
Jerusalem," '' ia free," not in bondage, « which is
the mother of us all," that is, by baptism, calling,
md sanctification. This then is one great bless-
ing we are called upon to realize, that we have
been born into the Christian Church. Sion is
our home, Jerusalem our mother, heaven our final
habitation, paradise our intermediate resting place,
earth our place of brief sojourning and wandermg,
and the Church the common centre of union for
us all Those that are here, and those that are
gone:* those that were before the day of Christ,

432

«* I BELIEVE IN

[SEHM.

»nd those who live after it : all who love God and

obey m™. - -»''- "' *''^ ""'^' """'""
this present and everlasting communion.

2 !!« Ye are come unto an innumerable com-
pany of angels." It is highly probable that the
Trds, "the general assembly," also he ong^
these, so that the Apostle's -eanmg . , Y a^
come to the innumerable company of angels m

;:,: assembly." A"-! ^^ ^ 7 ^J ^ ^
angels? The angels, or sons of God, we are
told rejoiced when the world was made. Angels
Sed'on good men, such as Abraham Isaac

Jacob, David, Daniel, and others; "ur^;^;'
Himself, as their head, is called the Jehovah
Arel In Jacob's dream, angels were seen a -
tnlg nd descending, and bearing the reques s
of God's children upwards, andbringmg messag s
live and mercy down. Our Lord s.ms o
allude to the same fact, saymg, H^f^'ftf ^^
111 see heaven opened, and the ^^^^f^^°t
ascending and descending up^n the Son^o^^^-^^
And as the Psalmist says, T.e angel ot
en-ampeth around about then, ihat fear H.m, and
deliver'eth them' ;" so St. Paul, « Ar. they not aU
ministering spirits, sent iorth to — f *I™
who shall be heirs of salvaium ? The angels

a Ps. xxxiv. /.

3 Heb. i. 14.

SERM.

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OP SAINTS."

433

od and
mpany,

ie com-
bat the
(long to
« Ye are
[igels in
} to the
we are
Angels
n, Isaac,
ur Lord
Jehovah-
seen as-
; requests
messages
seems to
reafter ye
;ls of God
I of man."
f the Lord
Him, and
■hey not all
er for them
The angels

ib. i. 14.

brought the good tidings to the world, an angel
announced it to Mary, Joseph, Zacharias ; angels
ministered to our Lord in His fasting and temp-
tation, in His agony, and at His death, burial, and
resuri'ection. Angels (as St. Paul says) are with
us in our Churches, present in all our acts of
worship; for as it would seem, he speaks of a
token of subjection worn by women, because of
(the presence of) " the s.ngels *." Angels bear
departed spirits, as soon as they depart out of
this life, into paradise, to be with the Lord ^, and
perhaps those who watched over them in this life,
and carried their souls up to Christ, may still be
permitted to make themselves known to them,
and (it is not impossible) to inform them of what-
ever is proper for them to know respecting cir
welfare and happiness. For evidently the parable
of Dives and Lazarus supposes the same feelings
of love towards brethren to exist in another state
which did exist in this ; and if, as our Lord inti-
mates, they exist in the minds of those who are lost,
how much more in those who are saved ! At all
events, we may comfort ourselves with the thought,
that angels who watch over us do hkewise pre-
sent themselves to those who are gone, and so
keep up the fellowship which still exists between

'ii m

♦ 1 Cor. xi. 10.

» Luke xvi. 22.

ill

II'

1 ll

1 '^^^

m ^ ^^

B v i

«fl BELIEVE IN

[SERM.

For our Lord tells us that « our angels be-
God," which those who are de-

UB.

hold the face oi «-'—;; ^.'o "behold. And
parted hence - ^jj^"^^^ ,„ ,,„aer is the care

^'"' r? he 1 int are the objects of their
remains of the sa ^^ ^^^_

matching; for one of '^<-- ^^ of Moses',

tended with Satan about the boay o
Ills then are our company, our fnends, our
Angeis me j^^^j. f^end-

associates, our examples . awlui

a holy n>y^ten-_ awe, J^; ^^^^ ^, „„t

'°'' *:^^e "the eyes o?EUsha's servant, yet may
Tel Jot: Xd be enlightened to see those
ZZ who are, to ordina^ observers, mv.s.ble,

and to " reioice in believing."

^T: To Me a«.cA 0/ «e first-tom .W «r

.H««« i« ^«-" By this ^-v^^°l^^,Xi

tie has been understood to mean the Apostles

c Verse 9.

ill 1 :

jiBRM.

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.*'

435

i\% he-
re de-
And
le care
e dear
f their
Is con-
vloses ".
ds, our
friend-
;e them
evil and

« There-
h all the
[lify Thy
ever with
oach the
58 he not
, yet may
see those
, invisible,

which are

the Apos-

postles and

early Martyrs, who may properly be considered
as the first-fruits of the resurrection. So that
we " are come " even unto them. High as they
stand in glory, objects of God's special grace and
favour, even such as we may not only hope to be
among them, but consider ourselves as by God's
mercy enrolled in the same blessed list, and join-
ing with them in the same communion.

4. " And to God the Judge of all." To Him
who is by the Gospel proclaimed to be the Judge,
who will finally crown His faithful servants at the
great day of account, and from whose hand each
one shall receive the promised everlasting reward ;
even to Him " are ye come ;" to Him may ye
draw nigh, and commit your departing spirits
into His hand as unto a merciful and faithful
Creator, trusting that being washed in the blood
of the immaculate Lamb of God, they shall be
found well-pleasing in His sight.

5. ''And to the spirits of just men made per-
fect." This is indeed the most consoling truth
of all to those who suffer from the loss, the bitter
loss of departed friends. For the bitterest thing
of all is separation from those we love ; a separa-
tion which death tells us is irrevocable, and which
seems in the grave to be eternal. Not so, how-
ever, the Apostle; for he here assures us from
the mouth cf God, that they are still with us, and

u 3

« I BELIEVE IN

[SERM.

r. inrleed not visible to the
-' "'' TV^Z Si, not the objects
sight, not P-'lP'!^'^ ;;; ^,t «tiU in some sense
of „.ort.l sense >" -y ^^ ^„, ,i,ey our's: no
present; we are still theirs, ^

Lvocab. bar separate «.^^^^^

^'"\:r"::dweaSt-.-».ain. "For,"

:;rth;Aro«tK«r---'°'^^'^'"''"^

>,^ m.« made perfect:' ^^ ^^^^ .

^^*"^°'Tattt -Tave come, and are
and then in what sense

coming to them. cumbered with

1. They are ^"'^^^'l^^ ,„a .rthly fears,

earthly clay, ^^^l'^^'^l'^:Zn.. All this
sorrows, anxieties, disapp ^^^^ ^^^^

feverish restless world s gone ^^^ ^^^ ^^^

• -4 , iV^PV have not lost mc" ,

as «P>"^^' "';yj^; o„, ,„,„wed them they retain :
graces with which U ^^^.^^ , ^^ j^^^py

t:ir::thrim%, -^ .10. ..ndship

„tt„^ Pternal, undecaying !
unspotted, eterna ^^ ^^ ^„.

And as spints ^Wj; " j^e nnlike our

their mode of access to us may ^ ^j,

own, who cannot n^ovebut^^^^J^^^

"''^ '^ rll 2 ^eTmysteries of our redemp-
rMt 1 1 iXth «I beyond all doubt.
''Trde .^ri^^ -ade perfect or eonsurn-

erm.

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OP SAINTS." 487

o the
bjects
sense
's: no
only a
a little
^ For,"
irits of

' them ;
and are

red with
ily fears

this
m. Yet,
)r us, the
jy retain :
O happy
[riendship

s we are;
unlike our
ody; they
miles dis-
jv redemp-
. doubt,
or consum-

mate. Not that they have yet received their
crown, for that is reserved for the last day ; not
that they are yet in the highest state of perfection,
for that will not take place till the reunion of soul
and body ; but that they are so far consummated,
that their work, and labour, and toil are done :
they have no more battles to fight, no more pains
to undergo, only to wait a brief space for us,
beholding the vision of God, in the clear Hght of
their Saviour's countenance. To these happy
expectant spirits we are come,— and this in four

ways : —

\^ By our caUing, adoption, and common

redemption. They are redeemed from sin, so are

we; they are ransomed by the precious blood of

Christ, so are we ; they are sons of God, heirs

and joint heirs in Christ, so are we ; they look for

the hope of the resurrection, so do we: their's is

the :alm, still waiting for that which they are

not ; our's is the earnest struggle to put off this

body.of corruption, of which they are now happily

unclad.

2.— We are come to them likewise m all acts ot
solemn worship. The same new song is put into
our mouths which they more cheerfully and
gloriously sing : we, like them, pray to one Father,
look for one Saviour, rejoice in one Comtorter,
and make our boast of the righteousness and salva-

v.
1 1

umimiw*'-*

|H i"

flt .■

438

« I BELIEVB IN

[SERM.

i i

tion of one common Head. Though they do not
rtake in the Sacraments by actual corporeal
pariaKe m " ,. • i.^ ;„ the crace which

reception, they participate " t^Jf „„;„„

those Sacraments convey, the bapt win

those sac ^^^^ ^j^^j^ ^„ ^^rth,

remains which unKeu uo „ • „ rKrUt

and the body and blood of our a. .^^^^^^^^^

rriri:. ru. . The ..

Teml strains of our earthly -rsh-P a. he
significant emblems chosen by the HMyG^^^^^
eo„vey to us the not^n^f heir^^ ^^ ^^^^^^.^^

=iedsU. are capable o^^^^^^^^

ra:rtht^j::j:trce-:L^^^^^^^^

anTblessingM" Our heart, are with yov. our
desires are with you, our worship is -^^0"^-^
vour Saviour and Lord is with us. K no earthly

your oavi" . j^ f gan

trials can separate us from »'' '°^«'
separate us from you, or you from us? VVe re
fee o think that your love for us Jas no* <iim
nished aught by your removal from the body, that
This Tncreased iu purity, and augmented in
L:;; our joy is that you still pray forth

whole mystical body in paradise with more

7 Rev. V. 12.

!■'

ERM.

not
poreal
which
union
earth,
IJhrist,
ti, the
e very
re the
host to
exalted
celestial

, as dis-
spirits !
^ is the

1 power,
on, our
^ou, and
I earthly
v^hat can

We re-
lot dimi-
ody, that
ented in
y for the
more in-

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OP SAINTS

))

489

tenseness than you did on earth ; and we, as tar
as our frail sinful bodies will allow us, join our
prayers to yours for the whole body of Christ,
and above all for ourselves, that we may speedily
follow after ; that our work being done, and God's
will done in us, we may leave the world and its
restless cares behind, and join your peaceful, holy

society*.

3^ We are come to them almost in time. Time

« " The Saints havo communion with the Saints and Angels
above. They pray in general for us. Rev. vi. 10. Minister to us,
and rejoice at our good.'^-Bidwp BeuiUge, vol. vii. p. 116.
« I believe, O most holy Jesu, that Thy Saints here below have
' communion with Thy Saints above, they praying for us in heaven,
we celebrating their memorials, rejoicing at their bliss, givmg
Thee thanks for their labours of love, and imitating their exam-
ples; for which all love, all glory be to Thee."-Mop AT.n o»

the Creed. ,

" Let no man think that because those blessed souls are out of
aicht, far distant in another world, and we are here toiling m a
vale of tears, we have, therefore, lost all mutual regard to each
other • as there is still and ever will be a secret but unfaihng
correspondence between heaven and earth. The present happi-
ness of those heavenly citizens cam^ot have abated aught of then-
knowledge or their charity, but must needs have raised them o a
higher pitch of both. They, therefore, cannot but, m a generality,
tain L notice of the sad condition of us poor travellers here
"e^ panting towards our rest together with them, and m
below, pant g eonsummation of this our weary

common wish for the nappy t-ouo
pilgrimage, in the fruition of theiv glory."-£*P «, tM

Mystical.

U 4

44.0

" 1 BELIEVE IN

[SERM.

passes slowly oa amidst the agony of grief. Days
seem li e years, and moments seem like days ; but
still time is rolling on like a dark troubled sea,
wave upon wave, wave upon wave, with mcreasing
rapidity ; and be our last end soon or late m hfe
it must be soon. " That which still letteth" is but
a moment in the unbroken day of eternity, the
Judge is at the door, the midnight cry is dai.y
heard, the veil is pressing to be lifted up, the
world fast hastening to its end, human life in all
of us like a vestme folding up, like a troubled
sleeper, painfully awaking, like the great flood
of waters rushing on to its exit,-a little moment,
and we are with them again.

4 _We are come to them, therefore, in desire,
and hope, and anxious expectation. We would
not wish them back again-we would not unrobe
them of the wedding garment-we would not
place before their eyes this restless, anxious, trou-
bled world; but we would put on the same robe
with them. We would pray that we may learn
the spirit of the blessed Paul, " I desire to depart,
and to be with Christ, which is far better ; never-
theless to abide in the flesh is more needful for
you'" O that God would deepen, strengthen,
purify this our desire, and make us all 6t for His
kingdom, and crown us with His glory 1

» Phil. i. 23, 24.

SRM.

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.'* 441

Days

; but
L sea,
lasing
[1 life,
IS but
f, the

daily
p, the

in all
jubled
; flood
oment,

desire,

would

unrobe

dd not

s, trou-

ne robe

y learn

depart,

; never-

dful for

jngthen,

for His

The last of the sentences of the Apostle is, "and
to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant."
This is indeed the highest hope of all: for on
it all the rest depend. We are come to Him
already, we are come to Him in His word, we are
come to Him in His Sacraments, we are come to
Him in His Church, we are come to Him by faith
in His unchanging comfortable promise, "Him
that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out^"
Our onlv hope of the bliss of paradise, with the
higher bliss of heaven, after the resurrection, con-
sists in our being for ever with the Lord ; doing
His will, praising His name, enjoying His pre-
sence, contemnlating the exhaustless wonders of
His love. To Him we are come as the way, the
truth, and the Ufe ; and " when He who is our
life shall appear, then" we trust also to "appear
with Him in glory '."

Here I might close, but my desire and prayer
for you all will not allow me to send you away
without a few words of earnest affectionate en-
treaty and exhortation on the subject before us.

When I came amongst you, my Brethren, three
years since, full of hope and comfort, I little
thought in my blindness to the future what was
preparing for me, and now that " such things have
befallen me," let me speak especially to those who

! %
I

\
' I

» Johii vi. 37.

a Col. iii. 2.

-**1

442
heard

" I BELIEVE IN

[SERM.

them then, and have often done

; address
so since, yet have never profited by my ministry.
If my unworthy voice have no power to reach
your hearts, at least let another voice impress and
affect you. Let a voice from the bed of sickness
and of death, and from a tomb, alas! so early
prepared, remind you of your own latter end,
remind you that a sick bed is the place rather to
testify to the survivors of grace already ripening
for a better world, than to begin the work of re-
pentance and reformation. O then at last relent :
spurn not your own salvation: reject not the
entreaties of one who speaks to you amidst sorrow
and anguish of heart, and would fain see in you
some means of comfort and of joy.

For what can there be so sad as to think of souls
under our ministry continuing in sin, with all the
graces and privileges of the Gospel? Living :n
darkness amidst noonday light, choosmg death
when life is offered, rushing out of heavenly
bliss into the miseries of eternal suffering, and by
their own obstinate unbelief fitting themselves for
destruction ! Think, O think of what you have
neglected to do ! of your drowsy prayers, your
indifference to the calls of God's providence, of
your hearing to no profit, because you have
prayed so little in the Church, or out of the
Church ; think how often you have omitted to

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS."

443

come and pray during the week, when you had
leisure, and might have done it, and nothing but
your self-will prevented you.

The only regret which our departed sister ever
expressed to me, during her sickness, was the
being deprived of the opportunity of attending
God's house and the Communion. Let me be-
seech you to remember this : you who come only
occasionally, or through mere indolence once a
day, and seldom or never in the morning. To
you too I speak, whose hearts are swallowed up
with cares of this life, and the love of this evil
world. This is sad work, sad preparation for
death I What good will those cares do you then ?
What will be left but bitter unavailing regret that
you had not sooner hstened to me, and taken
warning ? To you likewise I address myself, who
fail to attend the Holy Sacrament, or attend only
once or twice a year. Why, my brethren, will you
continue to neglect so holy, so comforting, so
needful an ordinance ? If you thought rightly of
it, if you looked on it as the participation of your
Saviour's body and blood, you would much sooner
go without your meal all Sunday than neglect at
any time to come. Will you feed the body and
starve the soul? nourish the weak decaying body,
and let the soul perish for lp.ok of spiritual sus-
tenance? And to the young especially 1 would

u 6

444

" I BELIEVE IN

[sEaM.

not 1 that speak, but

speak; or rather, it »„ f ■,>,!

another. Youth is the time to dedicate to God
the freshness, the vigour, the vivid impressions ot
early Ufe. Those who serve Him in their youth
will find that, as they grow older, they will have
a comfort and confidence in God which canno
otherwise be acquired. Abstaining from youthful
sins is the way to make old age, if ever we reach
it, cheerful to ourselves and profitable to others.
At all events, what so instructive and edifying,
what so lovely and delightful, as the piety o4 the
voung' A special favour attends it; a special
young . *^ ... « I love them that love

reward belongs to it. 1 love uie „

Me, and they that seek Me early shall hnd me.
There is no gloom and bitterness in true rehg.on :
there is a cheerfulness, a comfort in it, which,
while it is far from careless and riotous mirth, is
equally far from sullen despondency and gloom.
But you see the uncertainty even of V^rh^'^-
A month or two of sickness is sufficient. V^ ould
it not be wise in you to h.ten to your pastor to-
day, whose desire is to see you devote yourselves
to God, and live to His glory, in peace and happi-

"'lI me speak also to those who have been
spared the severity of sufl-ering. How thankful
should you be, my brethren, for the gracious
exemption:- Your comfort is still whole within

aM.

XXVIII.] THE COMMUNION OP SAINTS." 445

but
[iod
IS of
3Uth

have
nnot
thful
•each
hers.

f the
pecial
, love

me."
igion :
vhich,
rth, is
ylooin.

lives,
^^ould
iter to-
rselves

happi-

e been
hankful
rraciouR
i within

you. Human life in your case has not yet lost
its object. The accustomed smile still greets you
on your return, tempering your joy, and sweeten-
ing care, and making your house still a home.
Your present joy is unbroken, and you can dwell
on the recollections of the past without the bitter
consciousnes-. of separation. The sorrows of your
brethren may teach you how to prize those mer-
cies, the real value of which, as they will tell you,
they never knew until they lost them ; and while
you learn more duly to appreciate God's goodness
to yourselves, you will with the more holy fear and
caution possess every blessing which " droppeth
upon you out of heaven," " as though you pos-
sess' d not."

In snort, I address you all as one whom I would
fain hope God has placed here for some good to
you, one who thankfully acknowledges all your
kindness and all your sympathy, and beseech you
tor the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, to be more in
earnest than you have been hitherto. Strive with
more nn y for an eternal crown. Seek to be
more dil?|^;mt in your caiungs, more foithM and
upright in the discharge of the several duties of
lite, more patient amidst contradiction and suffer-
ing, more humble in your own opinion of your-
selves, more meek and gentle towards all men,
more united as Churchmen, more loving as bre-

h i

y -1 j

l\ i.

446 « I BELIEVE," &C.

thren, more roady to assist your pastor in works
of charity, and especially now that the solace of
his life is taken from him.

Arise, then, ere it be too late. Th.nk o Chnst s
bitter sufferingH for all your sins; think of His
many calls, times without number, and your ne-
glect of them. Think of the present ca 1, yet
Lider tlian before, and you will not, surely you
cannot harden your heart in the day of visitation
and say, Lord, I will not "come unto Thee that

I may have life." , , , i

And let us, who have turned to the Lord, and
tried to serve and please Him, thank and bless
His holy name, when He afflicts, chastises, and
even scourges us for our good. Let us believe
that so it is best: that severe pain is necessary
for us : that too much comfort here might rum us,
and remember to whom it was said, "Thou in thy
life time receivedst thy good things ;» and so bless
God for pain and trouble. Let us take up our
Master's cross and bear it for His sake, with joy :
counting it our highest honour to be called to
sufter, and desiring earnestly to suffer according
to the will of God. For every suffering will be
over when sin shall be no more: when we shall
find

" All our sorrows left below,

And eartli exchanged for heaven."

i E

,'orks
ce of

irist's
f His
ir ne-
.1, yet

y you

tation,
e that

d, and
I bless
ss, and
believe
cessary
■uin us,
L in thy
so bless
up our
ith joy :
lUed to
jcording
; will be
we shall

SERMON XXIX.

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

1 Peter iv. 12, 13.

« Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is
to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you :
But 'rejo?ce, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings;
that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also
with exceeding joy."

That God's ways are not i* our ways, and His
thoughts as our thoughts, is a deep truth which
we can never thoroughly understand in this im-
perfect state, and which we seem often to lose
sight of till we find the will of God and our de-
sires crossing each other. For God looks to
eternity, and man to time ; God watches our
eternal salvation, man has regard to his pre-
sent visible comfort ; God orders our path and
our ways according to His unerring view of what
on the whole is best ; man, who cannot look be-
vond the present hour, and knows not what a day

fell

,!i:

mm''

;ii '

[11

■f /, s -

448 THE JOV OF SUFFERING. [sEBM.

™ay bring forth, boasts himself of to-morrow
before he knows what to-morrow may be. For
as high as the heaven is above the earth, so are
God's ways higher than our ways and His
thoughts deeper than our thoughts. That it
is so with His power, ^.<^ must all acknowledge;
but we are sometimes tempted to think that it .s
not so with His love. Let us reject the vain,
selfish, foolish thought. As if the God who rnade
„s, the Saviour who redeemed us, the Sanctifier
who comforts us, could love us less than we love
ourselves, or so loving us, were not able to do
more and better for us than we can desire or con-

"The text I have chosen to-day seems framed to
meet these wayward thoughts of poor frail, miser-
able man. « Beloved, think it not strange con-
cerning the fiery trial that is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened unto you Here
is an admission that it is natural to think any
great and sore trial "strange," to judge u not
only mysterious, but unusual and almost harsh,
to compare it with our own modes of thinking
and acting, and examine it by them ; and no
doubt it is natural so to do; but havmg for our
comfort made the admission, that God might show
us how truly He sympathises with us. He adds
the remarkable exhortation, " But rejoice, mas-

-m'%

RM.

row,
For
) are
His
at it
;dge;
it is
vain,
made
ctifier
3 love
to do
r con-
ned to
miser-
je con-
though

Here
nk any

it not
; harsh,
hinking
and no
for our
;ht show
He adds

36, mas-

XXIX.]

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

449

much as ye are mude partakers of Christ's suffer-
ings ;"• not only do not think it strange, but even
reioice. This seems almost impossible, but then
to strengthen us. He sets before us the grounds
of joy, which are great.

First, let these sufferings be what they will. If
you suffer as a Christian, they are an evidence of
your being one with Christ in the fellowship of His
blessed, mystical body. Secondly, let them be as
secure as they may, He shall come to put an end
to them, His glory shall be revealed. Thirdly,
what He shall then give you will put all suffer-
ings out of mind, and leave no room for any thing
but joy, for ye shall be " glad also with exceeding

joy-"

I am sure 1 need make no apology to those
whom I now address, for speaking on a subject so
congenial to my own feehngs at this time. But,
my brethren, in speaking from my own heart, 1
speak to the hearts of all those who are not very
indifferent to the subject ; for I can assure you
that your own trials, though not present, are
only deferred. Some of you who hear me have
probably been already severely tried, and may
be so again; and therdore you may now, from
the experience of the afflicted, lay up a store
of comfort for yourselves against the tempest
comes.

450

THE JOY OF SUFFERING. [SERM.

said iust now that the apostle admitted, that

.t was natural to think trml strange. Our nature,
indeed, shrinks from trial, and rebels agamst ,t ,
but when that trial is either unexpected, or
comes after some promise of blessmg, or seem
the reward of service, or is compared with the
prosperity of many who have no « fe« "^ ^r*
before their eyes," and yet never seem to suffer
at all, but go on through life f"» f ;-' ""^^
wealth, and honour, and comfort, filled w.th the
world, and devoted to it,-then .t does seem

V t„ n. For how speaks the Psalmist:

strange to us. ror uuv» =^

"All the day long have I been plagued, and
chastened every morning. Verily, I have cleansed
my heart in vain, and washed my hands m mno-
cency." But what is his language at the end of
the Psalm: "When 1 thought to know th.s it
was too painful for me, until I went mto the
sanctuary of the Lord; then understood I their
end." And how does he conclude? He was
taught to find his all in God •, he let earth go
that he might win his way to heaven: My
flesh and my heart faileth: but God .s the
strength of my heart and my portion for ever
"Whom have 1 in heaven but Thee ? and there
is none upon earth that I desire bes.de Thee .

> Ps. Ixxiii. 13, 14. 16, 17. 25, 26.

;rm.

that
ture,
it it ;
, or
eems
ti the

God
suffer
I, and
:h the

seem
Imist :
i, and
eansed
L inno-
end of
this, it
ito the
I their
le was
rth go,
" My

is the
or ever,
id there
Thee'."

.iXIX.]

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

451

Again, how speaks the prophet Habakkuk ? " O
Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not
hear ? eVv cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou
wilt not save ? Why dost Thou show me iniquity,
and cause me to behold grievance " ?" Yet, how
does he conclude! "Though the fig-tree shall
not blossom, neithei shall fruit be in the vines ;
the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields
shall yield no meat ; yet will I rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation '." Nay,
we have a higher example to go to for this lan-
guage. The eternal Son felt Himself, as a man,
for a moment forsaken : " O my God, I cry in
the daytime, but Thou hearest not; and in the
night season, and am not silent." Yet how does
He teach us to conclude? " He hath not despised
nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither
hath He hid His face from him; but when he
cried unto Him, He heard. My praise shall be
of Thee in the great congregation : I will pay my
vows before them that fear Him *."

Let us compare these sentences of the prophets
with our Lord's own dealings with the apostles.
If there were any on whom Christ might be
thought to have set His love above others, surely
they were His own apostles ; those whom He had

2 Hab. i. 2, 3. =• Hab. iii. 17, 18. * Ps- xxii. 2. 24, 25.

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I.I

11.25

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1.8

U. 111.6

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Coiporation

^^sy

^v^* ^1

"<b

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER N.Y. 145^0

(716) 872-4503

452

THE JOY OF SUFFERING. [SERM.

Himself called, chosen, sent, and ordained; those
who had forsaken all to follow Him; those who
were His friends, His companions ; who had ate
bread with Him, continued with Him in His
temptations, had been present with Him at His
miracles, in His journeys, on the holy mount of
transfiguration, and who were His witnesses to
the world of all that they had seen and heard.
Yet how does He deal with them? Were His
ways a6 our ways? were His thoughts as our
thoughts? Did He deal with them as a mother
treats her much-loved child, indulging it in all its
humours, feeding it with every dainty, seeking
for it every worldly honour, praying that it may
be spared every affliction? Far otherwise. No
sooner had He brought them to the full know-
ledge of Himself, and displayed all His tenderness
and love for them, than He left them apparently
alone, bereft of every solace, destitute of every
comforter; He never bestowed on them or.fi
worldly honour, He never vouchsafed them one
piece of w( rldly fortune ; He gave them neither
houses, nor lands, nor riches, nor ease, nor ad-
vancement, nor any thing to bind them to the
world. He took it all away, and made them feel
His love by His spiritual presence, His mystical
fellowship ; by the progress of the Gospel ; y
the comfort of the Spirit ; by the sympathy of the

XXIX*]

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

453

faithful; by the witness of the Holy Ghost in
themselves ; " by honour and dishonour, by evil
report and good report ; as deceivers and yet true :
as unknown and yet well known; as poor yet
making many rich ; as having nothing and yet pos-
sessing all things." This was His (to human eyes)
strange method of dealing with those He so ten-
derly loved. Ought it, then, to seem strange to
us, if we are in any small measure dealt with in
the same path of suffering? "Beloved, think it

not strange."

There is another admission here, which is
remarkable. " Think it not strange concern-
ing the fiery trial that is to try you." It is a
fiery trial, and it is in or within you, so the
word signifies, and its use is specified— for the
trial. A trial by fire is of all trials the most
severe. We know what happens to most things
in nature when they are tried by fire; that they
are thrown down, consumed, and brought to
nothing. The most glorious works of man, erected
with the utmost care and skill, and at vast ex-
pense, will seldom resist fire ; and we have no
words to express the durability of any thing
greater than that it is fire-proof. And so in our
own persons, fire is what does us most injury,
and we shrink from it more than fi-om almost any
thing besides. Martyrdom by fire is thought to

454

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

[SERM.

be the most horrible of deaths. But here is fire
spoken of, and trial by fire, and the thing cer-
tain, for we are not to think that any " strange,
unusual thing happens to us," for we are ap-
pointed thereunto. But here is our comfort, that
whereas ordinary fire consumes, this fire purifies ;
all that it consumes is our dross ; all that it re-
tains and purifies is our gold. "That the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of
gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire,
might be found unto praise, and honour, and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ »." These
are the words of the same apostle. And the pro-
phet Malachi tells us, that Christ the Lord of the
temple, that is. His Church, sits as a refiner and
purifier of gold. Isaiah says, « Behold I have
refined thee, but not with silver ; I have chosen
thee in the furnace of affliction \" What a com-
fort it is, then, to be able by faith to know that
our Lord thinks it worth while (so to speak) to
purify and refine us.

We do not cast rubbish, stones, and dirt into
the crucible, it is only gold and silver that is put
there ; and so if God tries us with fiery trials, it
is an evident proof of His love. His watching over
us with a master's eye, hoping that when He has

s 1 Pet. i. 7.

6 Is. xlviii. 10.

XXIX.]

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

455

sufficiently proved us, we shall be fit for His use
and His work. For man's greatest glory is, to be
made fit for the service of God, just as the great-
est honour that can be put on gold and silver is
to place it in the service of the sanctuary, or con-
vert it to the use of Christ's poor. And when we
think how much alloy there is mixed with our
best works, we may conceive how much purifica-
tion is wanted to fit us for the service of the sanc-
tuary, or the enjoyment of heaven.

An honour, indeed, and an advancement it is
to be any how so fitted ; to be any way one with
Him who is the great Author and end of all.

We have hitherto considered what the Apostle
grants by way of concession and sympathy to
nature; let us now see what he demands from
grace. " But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are par-
takers of Christ's sufferings." Here is his de-
mand from those who might think it strange to
be tried with a fiery trial, « Rejoice:'

Here, indeed, the blessed Apostle carries us up
to a height, which it ^^^ms impossible to reach;
and with man it is imposrlble. To bear with
resignation and silent submission the deep strokes
of an afflicting God, seems but the duty of one
who feels himself a sinner ; but to rejoice, and
that in a fiery trial, what a height is this 1 Yet
we have examples before us even here.

i il

{ *

456

THE JOY OF SUFFERING. [SERM.

But I think they belong more to the New
Testament than to the Old, where the doctrine of
the resurrection was but imperfectly understood.
For before Christ, who is the resurrection and the
life, had appeared, submission was more natural
than joy ; but now Christ, by His death and
passion and joyful rising again, having sweetened
every cross, and eased every pain, and made every
thing possible to us, and brought near to us the
doctrine of our own resurrection, and taught us
to think of His coming as near, and to expect it
(so to speak) at every watch of the night, at every
morning's dawn, we may rejoice even in affliction.
There is, indeed, if we come to think on it,
something very mysterious in deep joy ; we seldom
rejoice without a secret trembling, or without
tears being ready to flow. The mother's first
thrill of joy on the sight of her first new-born
infant, the sudden outburst of affliction on any
good news being brought to us, the return of
friends and kindred to each other's arms from a far
distant land, that is, the purest and hohest earthly
joys, are often scenes of joy and sorrow mingled
together, we hardly know why ; thus it is said of
Joseph, " that he fell upon his brother Benjamin^s
neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his
neck'.'' So that we need not wonder that some

' Gen. xlv. 14.

XXIX.] THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

457

joy is mixed in our heaviest cup of sorrow, seeing
that some sorrow seems strangely to blend with
our highest heart's joy. But if we examine the
grounds of that joy of which the Apostle speaks,
we shall find them to be solid and durable ; such
as our Saviour felt, when He " rejoiced in spirit ;"
such as the wise men shared, when they saw the
bright star of Bethlehem ; such as was shed over
the blessed Apostles, when they counted it all joy
to be counted worthy to suffer for their Master's
sake ; such a joy as our Lord describes, when He
says, "that they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves"."

The first ground of the Apostle's exhortation to

rejoice is, that by suffei ing, especially by severe

suffering, we are partakers with Christ in His cup

of woe. For that cup how bitter, how very bitter

it was, how it forced the very blood from His

heart upon His pores, how on the ground, on

a cold night, He sweat that bloody sweat. He

uttered that loud and piercing cry, we know ; and

yet we know it not, for none but He who felt it

can tell what and how dreadful a suffering it was.

Yet He mercifully accounts our suffering part of

His own. Though He suffered, " the just for the

unjust, to bring us to God," and we suffer, the

9 John xvii. 13.

458

THE JOY OF SUFFERING. [SERM.

unjust, for our departures from God, yet He puts
our suffering in the same lot with His own ; it is
all one ; He and His members are together joined
in the fellowship of the Spirit, joined in the cup
of sorrow, joined in the covenant of love, joined
in the bonds of eternity, and neither pain, nor
shame, nor death itself can separate them. Now
here is a continual and a solid ground of joy.
Here we may rejoice of a surety, let our sorrow
be as bitter as it may ; for the more bitter it is, if
we bear it for IJis sake, the more are we partakers
of Christ's cup ; the more nearly does our sorrow
approach to His ; infinitely distant from it at the
highest, both in amount and in merit, but still
accounted as part of His by our oneness with
Him while His members here.

Here, then, is a Gethsemane where we may
watch with Him our hour; here is a painful,
blood-stained track, along which we may carry our
cross after Jesus ; here is the cross itself, erected
full in sight, where the world may be " crucified
to us, and we unto the world.'' Thus, as that
blessed service for the Visitation of the Sick in
our Prayer-book says, « truly our way to eternal
joy is to suffer here with Christ, and our door to
enter into eternal life is gladly to die with Christ;
for He Himself went not up to joy, but first He
suffered pain; He entered not into glory before

XXIX.]

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

459

He was crucified." And this is the Apostle's nrst
ground of rejoicing.

But we may point out a second. " When His
glory shall be revealed.'' The cross is not the end,
but the way ; and though we may rejoice in the
way, our chief joy is reserved for the end of our
course. We live in hope, and " if we hope for
that we see not, then do we with patience wait for
it'." And you will observe how the Apostle con-
nects a second ground of joy with the first. " Re-
joice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's suf-
ferings, that when His glory shall be revealed, ye
may be glad also with exceeding joy." For Christ
suffered only for a little while ; He soon shook off"
the fetters of death and the grave, and amidst joy
and glory entered the eternal gates. And though
our joy is not as immediate as His, for our bodies
lie in the grave till the general resurrection, yet a
part of that joy is vouchsafed all who depart in
the faith of the Lord Jesus; for the Apostle tells
us that "they are with the Lord;" they see His
glory, though they are not fully glorified them-
selves. But it is plain that the Apostle bids us
here rejoice, because soon, very soon. His glory
shall be revealed ; the heavens shall open, the Son
of Man shall descend, the joyful summons shall

• Rom. viii. 25.

X 3

460

THE JOY OK SlJFFEllING. [SERM.

be heard, the welcome to the marriage feast, the
return to our long-dcsircd home. Then, "they
that sow in tears shall reap in joy;" then, "he
that now goeth and weepeth, bearing precious
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him ^"

" When His glory shall be revealed.'' The reve-
lation of Christ's glory is an expression often
found in Holy Scripture, and there is much in it.
For though on earth Christ was revealed, yet it
was, as it were, in secret, to a few, in an obscure
corner of the world, only to chosen witnesses, by
degrees, and His power hid itself, as if afraid to
break forth in a world so sinful and unable to
contain it. And so it is now ; the Gospel is hid
from multitudes even in Christian countries, and
from the heathen world almost entirely, and
Christ's glor>' is little seen. Buc in that bright
and joyful day, when all sin shall be gone, and all
sorrow and sighing clean vanished away, and His
people all brought together to meet Him in the
air, and they shall be all righteous, then shall His
glory be revealed ; they shall see Him as He is,
without fear and without shame, in the matchless
brightness of His own glorious person.

"Then," says the Apostle, "ye shall be glad

2 Ps. cxxvi. 5. 6.

XXIX.] THE JOY OP SUFFERING.

461

with exceeding joy ;" exulting, leaping for joy, as
it were, at one bound from earth to heaven; re-
entering no more a diseased, languishing, decaying
body, but one pure, immortal, and glorious ! So
that all the joy you now feel in suffering with
Christ is only like a drop, compared with that sea
of joy where you shall rejoice with Him. The
worst things of Christ are indeed better than the
best things of the world ; His reproaches better
than the treasures in Egypt; His stripes better
than thousands of gold and silver; His cross
better than their crown. What, then, must His
joy and crown of rejoicing be !

We all know, that even here on earth no de-
scription is ever like the reality, when we come to
see and enjoy it for ourselves; so that we can
readily understand that the knowledge of suffering
being all past, and of God's eternal kingdom being
come, the meeting of all those who have shot that
dreadful gulf of death, and felt the pangs of se-
paration, the sight of all those glories, the pos-
session of that rich inheritance, the fellowship of
the blest, must be beyond what any words or
thoughts of man can now express. Surely, then,
this is enough to make any heart glad, and to raise
us above any sorrow, however severe and searching
the fiery trial may be.

Having thus then dwelt at some length on these

4G2

THK JOY OK HIJFKKUING.

[herm.

everlasting truths, which give comfort to my own
soul, I will not conclude without addressing you
on some points which are ui)permost in my mind
at the present moment. For I need not say, that
I deeply feel that every affliction of mine is in-
tended for you as well as myself. '' Whether we
be afflicted," says the Apostle, "it is for your
consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the
enduring of the same sufferings which we also
suffer ; or whether we be comforted, it is for your
consolation and salvation'." The minister and
his flock are bound up together by the ordinances
of God. I hope I can truly say, that I know of
no greater pleasure than to do you good, and that
your welfare in all I think or do is uppermost in
my mind. If this be not the case, indeed I have
lived and laboured in vain. But you must recol-
lect, on the other hand, that in every thing that
befalls me you are concerned. Warnings to me,
are warnings to you ; bereavements of mine, are
bereavements to you ; hindrances and trials in the
work, are hindrances also to you. And so on the
use which you make of my trials, as well as your
own, may depend somewhat of the usefulness of
my ministry among you. Whether God may in-
tend, by these repeated admonitions, to intimate

» 2 Cor. i. 6.

XXIX.]

THE JOY OP 8TIPPRRING.

463

to me that my own course on earth may not be
prolonged, I know not ; but no doubt lie intends
that I Hhould quicken my steps, and prepare to
meet Him : and then I know that I must give an
account of my ministry among you. I would
affectionately then audress you all, beseeching you
that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

Are there here any who suffer with me ? I call
on you to rejoice with me in sufferings. These
trials are neither so many nor so severe as those
before us have endured. The great fight of afflic-
tions, the resisting unto blood, the perils of an
Apostle, are not our portion. Let us be thankful
for what remains ; thankful for what we are spared,
and thankful for the cup of Christ's sufferings
which He puts into our hands. Let us not afflict
ourselves with apprehensions of troubles yet to
come,but know that His strength is "sufficient for
us" in this our day, and believe that if we suflfer,
and watch and depend upon Him, He will bring
us safely through all, though men should ride over
our heads, and we should go through fire and
through water.

There are some here, too, who I know rejoice in
the services of the house of God ; and think no
time so well spent, no hours so delightful, as those
they spend in the sanctuary of God. You are
never absent, but from sickness, when the church

464 THE JOY OF SUFFERJNO. [sEBM.

bell calls to prayer ; you think communion with
your Saviour to be a more blessed feast than all
the world's rich dainties ; you know you cannot
enjoy His presence too often, nor be found too
frequently confessing your sins, imploring His
srace, breaking bread in His house, aud commu-
nicating with Him at His table. The frequency
of such returns kindles your zeai afresh, and
like the Psalmist of old, you sing, « O v.hen
wilt Thou come unto Me ' ;» " For a day in Thy
courts is better than a thousand '." Unlike those
lukewarm guests invited, but each finding h>s
separate excuse, uniting only in rejection of the
offer, your heart says, « Thy face. Lord, will
I seek." Brought up by God's grace in the
communion of His Church, you desire no other.
Having seen the use, beauty, and value of the
Prayer-book, you use it, and you love it; you
know it to be scriptural, and you find it to be
good for your soul ; and you use it all, not wish-
L to go beyond it into superstition, nor to stop
short of it in indifference. Trials, my brethren,
only strengthen the conviction which I feel that
vou are right. The principles I have taught you
'are not meant for political enc , or party par-
poses, or to b .sk in the sunshine of religion ; I

* Ps. ci. 2.

* Ps. Ixxxiv. 10.

XXIX.]

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

465

find them useful to my own soul in the depth of
sorrow, and the severity of affliction. And I call
then on lukewarm, inconsistent Churchmen, not
indeed to unite with me in reviling, railing, or
bitterness— far be it from us all — but in conscien-
tious and thankful obedience to the Prayer-book
as the best comfort in affliction next to the Bible.
Where will you find any prayers which breathe
the very spirit of Holy Scripture more than these
which you profess to use ? I entreat you to think
also, whether you can fairly justify yourselves in
neglecting, some of you the prayers, and some
the Sacraments of the Gospel. If you look to the
Bible examples, they are all against you ; if you
look to the Bible commands, they are all against.
you. Remember what our Lord says of luke-
warm Christians; "So, then, because thou art
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue
thee out of my mouth ^" I know all the excuses
that are, or can be made, for neglecting the Com-
munion, and I know that they are all hollow, and
that none of them will stand. What, are we to
neglect God's positive command, because some
may come in superstition, or others in hypocrisy ?
Alas ! can we for one moment dream that such an
excuse will be accepted? or think ourselves in a

6 Rev. iii. 15.

466

THE JOY OF SUFFERING. [SERM.

fit State to die, when we acknowledge ourselves
unfit to be present with the Lord ? And if unfit
to die, why do we live any longer as we are,
when the means are put into our hands? "The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ; a broken
and contrite heart, O God, Thou will not de-
spise '." I beseech, I implore you, not to reject
intreaties offered, as it were, fresh from the bed
of death, and advice, the soundness of which is
tested by the fire of affliction. 1 beseech you re-
collect what a mistake is for eternity, and how
near you may be to it. Think of the day when
you must meet your Lord in the air, and give
account to Him who reads the heart. Remember,
too, how your own necessary businesses, and pro-
vision for your families, swallows up the greater
part of your time, and leaves you little absolutely
at your disposal. Surely, then, the one talent
that remains you should not hide, the little fleet-
ing fragment of life you should not waste. Think
of eternity, and be wise in time.

And once more let me speak to the young,
though but a few words. I too, like yourselves,
had reckoned on youth and health and strength ;
I saw them usefully employed, and rejoiced in
them ; but you see there is no security for yoir

t Ps. li. 17.

XXIX.]

THE JOY OF SUFFERING.

467

own possession of them for one single day. Had
I possessed an undutiful or thoughtless child, I
could not have had the comfort which I bless God
I now have even in the loss of them. I would
entreat you first, then, to remember the shortness
of your own lives, the necessity of diligence, pa-
tience, honesty, and truth ; the dreadful sin of
irreverence in the house of God, of lying, swear-
ing, backbiting, and all deception ; and of that
unruliness, high-mindedness, which is a snare to
youth. I can tell you from experience that re-
ligion is no bar to cheerfulness, to innocent mirth,
and yet is the only safe-guard against evil. Let
this day be a day of remembrance to you. Never
neglect your daily prayers to God. I will say no
more to you but this, that God has said, "I love
them that love me, and those that seek me early
shall find me ^" And now I commend the dis-
course to Him who alone can bless what I have
said to your good, and on whose mercy only I
depend for a passage through a world of sin
and sorrow into that kingdom where all that are
sick shall be made whole, and whatsoever is want-
ing shall be perfected.

> Prov. viii. l?.

THE END.

LONDON:

GILBERT AND RIVIN070N, PRINT.iRS,

ST. JOHN'S StlUARK.

i •