I '^^v^, -.» CIHM« Microfichd Series (MQnographs) - .'.'• 'V ■fes- • il ^F ICMH Collection de microfiches tmonogi^^phies) t ^ Canadian Instituta for Hiatorical Microraproduclioht / Inatitut Canadian, da microraproductiona hiatoriquaa 'A'. *-".*•■ w^ •7; TmImMmI avHl •iMlofra^M Nptn / MolM iMlinMiuM •« iMMiofltaKhMiuM Th« ImtMuta ha* «tt«mpt«. II sa paut quacartainas p«gas blanches afoutAas lors d'ui|i« rastaqration apparaissant dans la taxta. mais, lorsqua cala *tait possibla. cas pagas n'ont • pas M f ilmias. d Additional, contmants:/ Commantairas supplim^tairas: This itam is filmad at th signifia "A 8UIVRE". la' , symbola Y signifia "FIN". Las cartas, ^nehaa, taMMux. ate. pauvantJHra filmte A daa taux da reduction diffAranM. ^oraqua la documant ast trop grand pour Ati^ raprodult an un saul clichA. 11 ast f ifmA A partlr df I'angla aupAriaur gaucha, da gaucha A drbita. at da haut an bas. an pranant la nombra [ ^'Imagaa nAcassalra. Las diagrammaa sulvanta illuatrant la mAthoda. « 6 ♦ • Miaiocorv ■houition tist chait (ANSI and ISO ttST CMAUT No. 2) ' l: \ 1.0* IM tii |Z2 IL& » 1.25 lii.4 1.6 nV 4 J APPLIED IN/HC3E li nc 1653 EotI Main SIrMt Rochaitar, New York 14609 -USA (716) 462 - 0300 - f»hont . (716) aM-S98»-rax \ : ,^,. I. 'i '',■ lA fr: The KiNaooM and its Resource? : I B Sermon PRKACIIKI) IIKfOUK TfIR t CONYOCATION OF TRINITY UNIVERSITY. IN TIIR COLLEGE CHAPEL, ON J-TJnSTK 2 5Tli, 18 04s, BY THE REV. THE PROVOST. y % -t J V.'l TORONTO > ROWSELL AND IIU TCIIISON, PRINTERS. 1894. Y^ ^'mw ^''fr^p '% I: r f The Kinqdom and its Rksourgbs; rf If n 1 i*' H Sermon rniAciiitt NKroKR TtiK ■^s^ CONVOCATION OP TRINITY UNIVERSITY, ' IM TH» COTJ.F.GE CHAPEL. WITH THE PROVOST'S^ COMPLIMENTS ^' o HV THE REV. TMR PROVOST. ft-,," % •1 .-'--it ■ ■ •" ■' • T(M t» *» iiiiiglt MP ..*' N^ ^3r* # ■i: 4 h ■% Thr Kingdom ahd its Rksourcks; B Sermon rHKAi-'iiMii nnroiM riift CONVOCATION OP TRINITY UNIVERSITY. m Ttfn COLLEGE CHAPEL, OM O" XJ UCJH .2 5 a* aa , 1 8 O ctwc<}ii lti« Krfatne«* of ihc Church'* claim and the a|>|Ktr»iit inDagrv ncM of the Mcam nt her i)ii|)OsAt for hn (H.'com|>llnhiiiciit. For n timt, It nuiy Ik?, »II iiccm» to |o well, (itid then wd- cicnl) , rtPi In n momtnt of irtvcltition, tfic whole »cenc ii lit up M with (I c old, Hdd HRht, while the Hcarchfng ((ucntioif i» ira'»iMibly U)fiic in ujkmi vm that will brook tio ttV(i»ion, " How iiwny loaye* have ye"? iWhai nieaiw have yow at your dlH|)Oiial wherewith to carry througli U»e high renotve ? And nf length we niunter courage to make our coutu 4nd give our annwcr. We have hut five Iwrley loaviJii and two ftjhci, and what are ttvey amongst »o many ? Vcs, It is nO old exiHTJence, an old m the day* of the ftr»t apostle* on the CallKan hills, jwrt of that discipline of necessary trial which the Church of Jewus Christ in a sinful world can never escape. The uhccasrng demand for faith ami hope— faith to distribute when the stock seein* so scanty; hofHs to go forward when theo()slacles seem so great. It is the necessary law of the growth of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. As true in the and and 3rd centuries as ever in the 19th, that the mass of the |K)wer and of the-jyealth of the world so frequently ranges itself on the opi)osing side, X^ t.-iiM~-fi'&* iLiEi (whf r 'i t\ refusing its adhesion to the greatest and most stupendous of all the heroic- tasks that have entered into the minds of men. , ^ ' Thrco^^t^ast, as I have said, is familiar to us in the Cana- dian Clni^rh. There are a thousand causes incident to the present stage of our progress, \Mliich bring it home sharply and unceasingly to all those who set themselves to any high emprisif in the great Master's Name. ()nt/thin[<, however, is (piite certain. 'I'he contrast can ncvcr/in the very darkest hour of the Church's struggle, he half as lerrihie as it was in the throes of the Church's birth, at tli'e.time when the great Master first uttered the words of the text, v^ — 7 '--'^~ 7 ' * The picture has been drawn by a.masterhand in the Gospel. Oil the one side, the Roman governor with the strong legions at his back, conscious that he represented the whole might and power of Imi)erial Rome ; and on the other, the helpless prisoner, so soon to die, spurned and • rejected by every human force on which he could count, the very emixxdimcnt of abject failure, of absolute weakness. How impo-isible it seems not to sympathi/c with the sharp, searching fpicstion, "Art thou a King, then " ? How diffi- cult to banish all misgivings, all sense of apparent unreality, as wc watch those sacred lips that cannot lie, frame so calmly, so unhesitatingly .the strong undaunted claim, " My king- dom is not of this world," and ^et, if wc will but listen, the very words themselves go far to answer our difficulty. My kingdom springs not out of this order in its present fallen, /imperfect state. Its foundations are laid strong, firm, and / immovable, buf not based upon the changing, shifting phe- ' hpmena of this world ; rather are they imbedded deep in that spiritual order and constitution of things which no human r ■sr* 5 . , ■ ; wilfulncHS cin ever shake, fixed a»"iti 5\ll the bahol ton^uetl -voices of human contrailii:lion% upon the iiniuov.ihlo ■4>asis of an irrcvocahle Divine Decree. Yc», the turn (if the eon- versation shows that another scene, altogether reinovoil from the juUKiiuni of Tilate, wa.n passing before the mind of our I,ord. 'I'he vociferating crowd, (the relentless ruKrs, the vacillating judge, all have given place in our Lord's sight to the vision of that worhj^ (iod from whence He tamo --the source of His abiding sSvcreignty. The trained a< iimon of the Roiiun judge once again I'inds itself at fault while he re- cognizee his entire inability to grasp the workings of the ' prisoner's mind as he pr()cechas given this principle the higliest sanction ', T # ^. 4' 14 howpcrsislcutly it lm» always been exhibited in" the actual historical workings of the Church. A|id yet there it A subtle danger here which lies very close to this undoubted truth- a danger against which we arc consjtantly warned, whether in Holy Scripture! or in the sad record of the Church's past. It is the danger of mistaking the body for thu life, the casket for the jewel, the institution for the Spirit by which it was created. We know, would to (lod we may never forget, the necessary judgment which ever follows upon so fatal an error—the unfailing protection is with- Iplrawn, the seed of ijnmortality is lacking— the institution which has thus Injcome false to its. own origin is left to share ,the common fate of all earthly things, deprived of the true spirit of its i)crmanence. ■ Wc know well how the sad i)rocess is begun. The suc- cessive steps by which the purity of the ideal is obscured, and the world of divine things is dimmed by the attractions of the world of sense. We begin to " number the ^)c{)l>le," . to count ui) the opposing forces. We make concessions to the spirit and temper of the world, instead of diawing closer to ourselves the forces of the unseen order, the mighty forces of Prayer aniC Eucharist and Sacrifice. I need not remind you of the position of the RomanChurch a§ an obvious evidence of the results of yielding to this temptation. We know how glorious was the estimation of that Church in its purer days in the sight of Western Christe^idom, which loved to see there the one Apostolic See of all. the Western, world. How splendid were the victories ^h^ won for the cause of Christ, as amid the throes of the dying Empire of Rome she brought the barbaric peoples beneath the yoke of Jesus Christ. Yet the very greatness of the triumph proved the secret source of her j^ril, the temptation to give way to ■»' 1^ € '< ' ':! '^1 W^^^W^^^^^^' •« '.ft"; *t^i. •m' . , the iccmin^^ ncccHsilicH of her rude environment, to lower her high ident at least to the comprehension of titesc rude Honn of the faith, to im|)ose upon them wlmt she considered tlic necessary yoke of Roman Immlage rather than (Kitiently to labour on and train them at length into the full freedom of the sons of (lod. The pages of hintory record in clear cut letters the neces-- sary judgment which has followed upon such a surrender to the world-spirit. • The corrupti(wi and decay of modia'val Christcuilom, the coiuradiclions and failure of modern Pal)alism ; all emphasi/c ihy lessons of fidelity to Ihc truth, to the highest aspects of our work, whalevxr our . • ■■ .■■■■' » ' -'J ■ . ' .ii*'" * ■ •^''" - . • ' i # ' - 1 ^ ■ '■ '--m _.:..^..^^^ ■#v ■'■ ■ .-fiiffifipH ■1' ■•■ . ■ ■- cp ^ K '^ '»■€•■ y Hf ^w^ ■'H **^l^ I m^ •• f ,*.:_- ^ li^^. y