»'" '; :;.? ^ %}.' s --*;'-, '-i^ ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA GENERAL SYNOD ARCHIVES Church House Toronto # ';ir Ka ^ Eooking on I|f 'Flings of Ql^m. A. SERMON PREACHED IN ST. JAMES'S CATHEDEAL AT THE OPENING OF THE SYNOD OF THE DIOCESE OF TORONTO, 1884=. BY WILLIAM CLARK, M. A. Professor in Trinity Gollkge, Toronto. I J V TORONTO: Printed by Rowsell & HtrTCHisos, 1884 / W^ • ^ y •'"**:^.* ANGUCAN CHUWW Of CANADA CENiRAL Ji TO THE BIGHT BEV. Jlrthar, LORD BISHOP or TOB02*TO, THIS SERMOS, PKEACHEI) BY HIS LOEDSHIP's APPOINTMEKT ASD SOW PUBLISHED AT HIS BEQUEST AND THAT OF THE SYNOD, IS DEDICATED, WITH SINCERE BE8PECT. Wrd Looking at the Things of Others. A SERMON. Phil, ii., 4 — '^ Look not every man on his ovm things; but every man also on the things of others." Men have in all ages been disposed to dwell upon the peculiar difficulties of the times in which their lot is cast, and doubtless every age has its own special trials, discouragements, and dangers. History never repeats itself to the letter. When, however, we look below the surface of things, we speedily discover that, whilst the differences between one age and another are, for the most part, superficial, the resemblances are deep and fundamental. The forms of good and evil are continually changing ; but the essential principles of good and evil are alwaj'^s the same. There is no good but that which is rooted in love and matured in sacrifice ; there is no evil which has not selfishness for its first principle and beginning. From the days of the Apostles, from the very birth- day of the Christian Church, to the moment which is now passing, there never has been a time when the exhortation of the text was unneeded ; and there never can be a time when the spirit which is bore inculcated will be otherwise than blessed and full of blessing. Under whatever light we study the subject, whether we follow the guidance of Holy Scripture, or that of the enlightened conscience, or the teaching of history, we shall come to the same conclusion. From all eternity love has been the principle of holiness, for God, the Holy One, is love; and ever since moral evil has invaded the universe, selfishness has been its source and its element. Hence the universal application of the text — to every relation of human life and to every state of human society, whether in the commonwealth or the Churcli. And certainly 't would be difficult to find, in the whole compass of Holy Scripture, words more appli. cable to the solemn occasion on which we are now assembled — the meeting of the Synod of this Diocese, where the members of the Church, Clei'gy and Laity alike, are met together under the presidency of their Chief Pastor, to take counsel for the best interests of the Church, and for the more perfect fulfilment of the work entrusted to her by God for the enlightenment the regenei'ation, and tiic salvation of mankind. May the blessed Spirit of God, whose aid we should never fail to invoke, be present with us now and throughout our delibeiations. What in us is "dark, may He illu- minate, what is low, raise and support," so that in all our works begun, continued, and ended, we may glorify •God's holy Name. I. Now, in approaching this subject, we are met at once by an apparent difficulty — there would appear to "be what we might call another side to the duty which Is here enforced. In other words, there is a true and important sense in which each one is bound to look on liis own thin;:j.s before he can look on the thingrs ■of others, a sense which is indeed implied in the use of the word " also," in the second half of the verse. Yes, we must all admit, and even insist, that it is our first duty, to God and to man, to consider our own posi- tion, relations, responsibilities, and the duties which the ^ may seem to prescribe. It will not suffice to meet our responsibilities if we can plead that we have given heed to the vineyards of others, while our own vineyards we have not kept. If it be a duty to bear one another's burdens, yet in another sense every one must bear his own burden. There is no precept Avhich has a prior claim upon us than that which bids us know and do our own work in the world: " What- soever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.' ' And we may be well assured that we have not rightly understood the mind of Christ if we imagine that we can ever benefit His Church, edify His people, glorify His Name by neglecting the special work which He has given us to perform. II. But here, as ever, good and evil lie side by side, and we extract venom from the honeyed blossoms of grace. We pervert that which is good, until it may indeed preserve its outward semblance, but its inward beauty and excellence are gone. Such is the blight that has fallen upon the nature of man that we can hardly work out a principle, however good, without its getting degraded and distorted. Yea, sometimes, after a period, " one good custom " may " corrupt the world." So it is here. We begin, it may be, with a deep and living sense of the work which God has given us to do, and of the solemn responsibility which is connected with it. " This one thing " we feel that we must do. We are fired by a holy zeal. We are overpowered by a holy fear least we should be found unfaithful. We work our work with joj^ but also with fear and trembling. But alas, the root evil of our nature, that original sin of self-will, twines itself around all the fibres of our spiritual life ; and instead of subordinating all our thoughts and feelings and purposes to the love of God and man, to the great ends of the Church, we too often make a god of our own thoughts, preferences, and plans. And so subtle and deceptive is this self-idolatry that men sometimes are able to convince themselves that they are toiling simply and disinterestedly in the work of God, for the extension and confirmation of the Church, and for the good of human souls, when they are in fact labouring for their own glory, or to give effect to th^ Ir own personal wishes, which they have suc- ceeded in identifying with the highest interests of the Church of Christ. It would appear that some such spirit of self-will and self-assertion, had mar 'ed itself in the Church at Philippi, before S. Paul wrote this letter. These Philippians were very dear to the Apostle, and they were lovingly loyal and devoted to him. There were many circumstances which tended to cement the affec- tionate friendship which existed between them. They were the first Europeans to whom S. Paul had deliver- ed the Gospel message, and they never forgot what they owed to him, nor the lessons which he hail taught them. They never questioned his apostolical authority- No Judaizing tendencies had appeared at Philippi, like those w^ '-^h caused the Apostle such anxiety in the ^\. X Galatia. No schisms had broken out like t^ ,. hich rent the Church of Corinth. More than ,e they had sent to the Apostle's relief. The whole letter bears testimony to the affectionate relationship in which S. Paul stood to this Church. None of all his epistles is written in a strain of more tender affection. He gave thanks at every remembrance of them ; he felt confident that the good work which had been begun in them, would be carried on to perfection. But there was one drawback to the jjeneral feelinn; of sat- isfaction with which he regarded them. A spirit of contention, of rivalry, had sprung up amongst them. Over and over again he cautions them against these tendencies, and exhorts them to cultivate an oppojite temper. He bids them to " be of one mind," to do nothing "through parfy spirit or vain glory," to " esteem others better than themselves," to " have the mind which was in Christ Jesus." Two ladies he actually mentions by name, and beseeches to come to an agreement, to "be of the same mind." The spirit of self might be expected of Gentiles wdio knew not God. The}' might well "seek their own, and not the things that are Jesus Christ's ;" but this was not becoming in the disciples of Christ. " Let this mind be in you," he says, " which w^as also in Christ Jesus,' a loving, lowly mind, shewinr-- itself in self-sacrifice. Such was the mind of Christ, such should be the mind of Christians. ' Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." 6 And we know that this si)irit has marked the faith- ' ful followers of Christ from the begii ning. " Behold," says S. Peter, " we have forsaken all," or, as it is accord- ing to another reading. " we have forsaken our own^ and followcu Thee." And this is the true idea of the life of grace. To cling to all that we have as our own, to have no thought except for our o'vn interests, aye even though those interests be eterna', is to abide in death. Where this spirit enters in, wl ether to the in- dividual or to the community, it work =, as a i)oison in the constitution of which it has gained possession, pro- ducing manifold forms of disease, until by the power of grace and of God it is cast out again. It is when the spirit of love, which is the Spirit of God, works mightily in us, bidding us forget and deny ourselves, and serve one another, submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord, it is then that God is in the midst of us, working in us and by us, stining us up to do his work, and blessing our humble endeav- ours to glorify his Name. III. The general statement of these principles will liardly excite opposition even among those who are not deeply taught by the Spirit of Christ ; and every well informed Christian must be aware that they can- not be cfainsaid without a distinct contradiction of the evangelical law of life. It is when we set these princi- ples over against the evils which they condenm. that we become conscious of the resistance which is practi- cally offered to ideas and rules which are theoretically accepted. And this is what S. Paul is doing in this passage. He is not merely asserting general truths, and such as have all application, more or less, to all men every- where. Hi ; teaching has reference to distinct eviU which he specifitjs, and which he wishes to see eradi- cated from the Christian community in Philippi, and it 'S not merely for the inculcation of good in general, but for the destruction of these particular evils, that he commends to the Philippians the noble and Christian spirit of unselfish love. Look at the verse which precedes the text: "Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Here is the wrong spirit and the right; and the evil was to be corrected, and the good to be substituted, by the unseltish care for the things of others. So it was then, and so it is in all ages of the Church — the great hindrances to united, earnest, loving, suc- cessful action are what are here called "strife and vain- glory." The word strife is, in the revised version, rendered "faction," and there is no doubt that this is the true meaning of the word. The Apostle, therefore admonishes the Philippians to do nothing through per- sonal vanity or pai'ty spirit. Can we believe, my brethren, that this admonition is unneeded in the present age of the Chui'ch of Christ ? On the conti-ary, we may be sure that there is no age of the Church in which it will not be needed. It was not so in the first age, as we learn from many places in the New Testament. It will not be so in the last age, for then, we are told, "men shall be lovers of their own selves." Indeed, we may well fear that, if we were to take away from any age of the Church all the work M'liieh is done from personal vanity and from pari/ spirit, we shoulJ be surprised to find how imperfect were the motives of many even of those who were ani- mated b}^ the love of God, and by a concern for the best interests of men. Let us, for a moment, glance at these two motives in succession. 1. Vain-glory, 2>/ lived was the life of faith, of love, of lowly self-sacrifice; in short, that of Christ who lived in him- And it is thus, and thus alone, that we in our measure may understand his words, and make them a power in our life, so that w^e can each look not on our own things, but also on the things of others. Much might be said on the application of these truths to the Christian life, and to the pre.sent needs of the Church. But I will pennit myself only a very brief reference to two points. 1. In regard to the appeal which is now made to you on behalf of the Missions of the Church. No one needs any proof of the necessity and importance of missions, or of the duty of the Church with respect to them. But most of us need to have our own duty with respect to missions impressed upon us more deeply. Can we believe that the mission work of the Church is being prosecuted in an adequate degree ? And if it is not, can we acquit ourselves of blame in the matter ? Why is it that there are none to enter through many a door that stands open for the work of the evangelist ? Why is it that so many a work already undertaken is languishing for lack of the necessary support ? We hear many answers given to these questions ; but there is only one which is true and complete. Our zeal is so languid, because our love is so cold. If we did but 10 live nenrer to the heart of Christ, and become more thoroughly pei'Viuled b}- His love, then we sliould so look upon the thin(;;s of others, that we could not bear to think that the work of the Gospel was left undone, or that those who were toiling in the mission Held weie deprived of the sympathy and support which they so greatly need, and which it is in our powei to afford. Let us, this morning, remember God's goodness to ourselves, and the appeal which our blessed Lord bases upon it : " Freely ye have received : freely give." 2. And assuredly it is this same spirit of Christ- like, self-forgetting love that will bring a blessinir into every department of the work of the Church, and not least into the delibei*ations of her assem- bled children. It ma}' be said, without a moment's hesitation or doubt, that nothing has ever so marred the Councils and Sj'nods of the Church, from their first assembling to the present day, as the tendency of men to look exclusively on their own things and not at all on the things of others. It is this selfish determination of men to have their own way, and not to think of what is best for the Church at lar^e, that has made the best endeavoui-s of the Church often prove abortive. God forbid that such a spirit should prevail or even exist in youi* assemblies. May this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Let nothing be done through faction or vain-glory. Yea, may "the God of pa- tience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus." Amen. <^