BX 
 
 5149 
 
 C7M83 
 
 Confirmation 
 
 KV. VnANCIS MORST. M.A. 
 
 Il,*«' 
 
 I % f/>S&
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 Confirniation : 
 
 WHAT IT IS, AND WHAT IT REQUIRES. 
 
 in liinc ^UUrrssre; 
 
 REV. FRANCIS MORSE, :\I.A, 
 
 Canon of Lincoln^ Vua: of St. Mary, NottingJuuti, 
 and late Huhean Lecturer, 
 
 PublisljrU iinUer tj)t Direction cf \%t Tract (Committee. 
 
 LONDON: '-^ ? N V 
 
 SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, 
 
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 ©ottfirmation. 
 
 I. 
 
 WHAT CONFIRMATION IS. 
 
 Jeremiah 1. 5. 
 
 "They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces 
 thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves 
 to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not 
 be forgotten." 
 
 HESE striking words were written 
 to picture out the starting of the 
 Israelites on their return from 
 captivity in Babylon to their 
 homes in Jerusalem. That return and 
 the prophetic words which tell of it are 
 also pictures of Christian times and of the 
 coming of penitent and earnest souls to 
 seek and find their rest in Jesus Christ 
 A 2 
 
 
 140
 
 4 Confii'inatioji. 
 
 their Saviour. Jeremiah's words are thus 
 exactly applicable to those who are now 
 seeking Confirmation. Their faces are 
 Zionward. They are asking the way to 
 Jesus their Lord, their rest, and their home, 
 and resolving to join themselves to Him in 
 a perpetual Covenant that shall never be 
 forgotten. I place these words, therefore, 
 at the head of these addresses in the hope 
 that from their beauty they may strike the 
 eye, and possibly touch the heart, of some 
 one who may open the Book. 
 
 The subject of this first address is Con- 
 firmation itself, what it is, what reasons 
 lead us to practise it, and what duties 
 follow it. 
 
 I. What is Confirmation } 
 
 It is a rite of the Church in which those 
 persons, mostly those young persons, who 
 have been baptized, and are now come to 
 years of discretion and are religiously 
 disposed, come forward, after careful in- 
 struction, for the double purpose of *' con- 
 firmiing" and "being confirmed"; that is, 
 Of confirming tJicinselves their baptismal 
 promises ; and of being confirmed by God 
 in their baptismal privileges. 
 
 Each one of them for himself confirms 
 his own baptismal promises in the words
 
 ]V/iat Coufinnatioii Is. 5 
 
 he has to say aloud — " I do" — in answer to 
 the Bishop's question, 
 
 "Do ye here, in the presence of God, 
 and of this congregation, renew the solemn 
 promise and vow that was made in your 
 name at your Baptism; ratifying and con- 
 firming the same in your own persons, and 
 acknowledging yourselves bound to believe, 
 and to do, all those things which your 
 Godfathers and Godmothers then under- 
 took for you?" 
 
 And they all, one by one, have the 
 visible sign and seal of God's favour and 
 gracious goodness towards them, to coiifirnt 
 them in their baptismal privileges, when 
 after prayer the Bishop lays his hand on 
 each one and says : " Defend, O Lord, this 
 Thy Child with Thy heavenly grace that he 
 may continue Thine for ever ; and daily 
 increase in Thy Holy Spirit more and more 
 until he come unto Thine everlasting king- 
 dom." 
 
 Thus in a double sense the rite is called 
 Confinnation, expressing alike what ive con- 
 firm and what God confirnis. 
 
 It is also called '' The laying on of Jiandsy 
 
 The laying on of hands is an ancient 
 Scriptural custom used to indicate the ^'con- 
 veyance of blessing from God'' 
 
 Thus when Jacob would bless the two
 
 6 Confirmation, 
 
 sons of Joseph, he laid his hands upon each 
 of them and said : " God, before whom my 
 Fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the 
 God which fed me all my life long unto 
 this day, the Angel which redeemed me 
 from all evil, bless the lads." Gen. xlviii. 
 15, 16. 
 
 Our Lord Himself followed this example, 
 for in blessing little children, "He took 
 them up in His arms, laid His hands upon 
 them and blessed them." Mark x. 16. 
 
 And the Apostles in the conveyance of 
 the miraculous gift of the Holy Ghost were 
 accustomed to do the same, as in the case 
 of Peter and John at Samaria. " Who, 
 when they were come down, prayed for 
 them that they might receive the Holy 
 Ghost. Then laid they their hands upon 
 them, and they received the Holy Ghost." 
 Acts viii. 15, 17. 
 
 Thus, then, from each of the names, 
 whether ** Confirmation" or "Laying on of 
 hands," we gather this to be the meaning of 
 this ordinance ; it is a rite of the Church in 
 which baptized persons confirm their bap- 
 tismal vows, and are confirmed in their 
 baptismal privileges ; are separated unto, 
 and are blessed of, God 
 
 Confirmation is also called by the Church 
 of Rome a Sacrament. But it is not a
 
 JV/ial Coifinimtion Is. 7 
 
 Sacrament according to our definition of 
 the word Sacrament, because though an 
 outward sign and an inward grace belong 
 to it, it was not appointed by Christ Him- 
 self 
 
 II. This brings us to our second question, 
 
 " Why, then, does our Church practise 
 this rite of Confirmation ?" 
 
 She does so — 
 
 I. "Because," as is expressed in the Ser- 
 vice, it is "after the example of the Holy 
 Apostles." 
 
 ** We make our humble supplications 
 unto Thee" — so runs the Bishop's prayer — • 
 " for these Thy servants, upon whom (after 
 the example of Thy Holy Apostles) we have 
 now laid our hands, to certify them, by this 
 sign, of Thy favour and gracious goodness 
 towards them." 
 
 This example is recorded in the follow- 
 ing passages — 
 
 {a) "Then Philip went down to the city 
 of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. 
 
 " And the people with one accord gave 
 heed unto those things which Philip spake, 
 hearing and seeing the miracles which he 
 did. 
 
 " For unclean spirits, crying with loud 
 voice, came out of many that were pos-
 
 8 Confirmation. 
 
 sessed with them : and many taken with 
 palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 
 
 " And there was great joy in that city." 
 
 " But when they believed Philip preaching 
 the things concerning the kingdom of God, 
 and the name of Jesus Christ, they were 
 baptized, both men and women." 
 
 " Now when the apostles which were at 
 Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received 
 the word of God, they sent unto them Peter 
 and John: who, when they were come 
 down, prayed for them, that they might 
 receive the Holy Ghost :" . . . 
 
 "Then laid they their hands on them, 
 and they received the Holy Ghost." Acts 
 viii. 5—9, 12, 14, 15, 17.^ 
 
 Observe, — they heard the preaching of 
 the Gospel of Christ, they saw the miracles, 
 they believed themselves and were baptised. 
 Then the Apostles came, laid their hands 
 upon them with prayer, and they received the 
 Holy Ghost. After this example, whenj^^?^ 
 have been instructed in the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, and become believers in Him, and 
 have been baptized, — for these, in whatever 
 order they come, are the essential prepara- 
 tives for Confirmation, — then the Bishop, 
 like the Apostles, comes and with prayer 
 lays his hands upon you, to assure you 
 of God's gracious goodness to bestow
 
 JV/iaf Confiniiaiion Is. 9 
 
 upon you the i^ift of the Holy Ghost ; and 
 that gift, not the less real, because, not now 
 in His miraculous, but only in His ordinary, 
 influence of Christian graces and powers. 
 
 {b) There is a similar statement, with re- 
 ference to the Ephesians, in a subsequent 
 chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 "It came to pass, that, while Apollos was 
 at Corinth, Paul having passed through the 
 upper coasts came to Ephesus : and find- 
 ing certain disciples, he said unto them, 
 Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye 
 believed ? And they said unto him. We 
 have not so much as heard whether there 
 be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto 
 them, Unto what then were ye baptized ? 
 And they said. Unto John's baptism. 
 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with 
 the baptism of repentance, saying unto 
 the people, that they should believe on 
 Him which should come after him, that is, 
 on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, 
 they were baptized in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands 
 upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; 
 and they spake with tongues, and pro- 
 phesied." Acts xix. I — 7. 
 
 (<r) The doctrine of " laying on of hands," 
 which from its position can hardly be 
 interpreted of any other than this of what
 
 10 Confirmation. 
 
 we call Confirmation, is mentioned in 
 the Epistle to the Hebrews among the 
 " foundations of the doctrine of Christ." 
 
 " Therefore leaving the principles of the 
 doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto per- 
 fection ; not laying again the foundation of 
 repentance from dead works, and of faith 
 toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, 
 and of laying on of hands, and of resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, and of eternal judgment." 
 Heb. vi. I, 2. 
 
 2. The Church of England practises the 
 rite of Confirmation also, because, as the 
 sixtieth Canon of the Church expresses it, 
 — "It has been a solemn, ancient, and 
 laudable custom in the Church of God, 
 continued from the apostles' times, that 
 all bishops should lay their hands upon 
 children baptized and instructed in the 
 catechism of the Christian religion, praying 
 over them and blessing them, which is 
 called Confirmation." 
 
 3. She practises it, thirdly, because it 
 gives a definite opportunity at a most impor- 
 tant season of life, for the decided choice, 
 and public confession, of Jesus Christ. It 
 is thus the natural complement of Infant 
 Baptism, the spiritual coming of age, when 
 the young Christian, not only *'with the 
 heart believeth unto righteousness," but
 
 lV//rrf Coiifinuation Is. 1 1 
 
 " uitli the mouth makcth confession unto 
 salvation." Rom. x. lo. 
 
 I should like to ask any one who objects 
 to Confirmation whether he could devise 
 anythin^^ more sensible than this ; anything 
 better adapted to the need ; anything more 
 likely to fix a young person in his faith, and 
 to secure him, as he enters upon active life, 
 for the Lord's service. 
 
 A Covenant, to which God in Holy 
 Scripture gives him an invitation and a 
 right, has been made for him at his Baptism. 
 But now he has come to years when he 
 can understand it, and he must consent to it 
 of his own will, and with his own mouth, or 
 it can now be no longer of avail to him. 
 But when shall he do so? We know he 
 may do it at any time. But what may be 
 done at any time is commonly done at no 
 time, especially if it is anything we shrink 
 from. And all men, young ones especially, 
 shrink from decision in religion, shrink 
 particularly from any public profession of 
 such decision. 
 
 Just at this time, then, when one is wish- 
 ing, but not quite daring, to confess Christ 
 openly and in public, he needs to be 
 invited and encouraged; he needs the affec- 
 tionate friendship, and the gentle pressure 
 of those older than himself; he needs the
 
 1 2 Confirmation. 
 
 sympathy of numbers ; he needs above all 
 some definitely fixed time, and place, and 
 way, which, when once decided for him, 
 makes his effort easier. 
 
 And just at this time In his experience, 
 comes the repeated notice of an approach- 
 ing Confirmation, a call in itself Sunday 
 after Sunday from God to his conscience ; 
 and then parents speak of it; and friends 
 speak of it; and the clergyman speaks of 
 it, in private as in public. 
 
 And so a little help here and a little 
 there encourages one and another to come 
 forward as a candidate ; and then under 
 earnest and affectionate instruction many 
 make up their minds that it would be a 
 very happy thing to be brave Christians, 
 and so when the day comes they solemnly 
 pledge themselves to be such, amidst the 
 prayers of the Congregation, and in the 
 face of all men. 
 
 It is urged, I am well aware, against 
 Confirmation, that some come to it ill-pre- 
 pared, and so take harm rather than good 
 from it themselves, and bring scandal 
 rather than honour to the Christian name. 
 
 Alas, this is the case in all Christian 
 ordinances. 
 
 Some come, we know, to the Lord's 
 Supper and eat and drink unworthily
 
 II 7/(7 1 Coufin)iatio]i Is. 13 
 
 to their own condemnation. But are we 
 therefore to cease administering the Lord's 
 Supper, which is so great a blessing to 
 those who worthily partake of it ? Some 
 come to church for other purposes than 
 prayer and praise. Are we therefore to 
 close the churches altogether, even to those 
 ^\•ho come to pray and to praise "^ 
 
 We are not to give up means of grace 
 because some abuse them. We take all 
 pains to teach and examine our candidates 
 for Confirmation ; but we cannot read all 
 hearts, or all, indeed, of any heart. We 
 must leave that to God alone. But there 
 are no means of grace which God more 
 blesses than Confirmation, and if some 
 abuse it, many have reason to thank God 
 for it all the days of their life, and will 
 have throughout all the ages of eternity. 
 
 III. What then is required of persons to 
 be confirmed .^ 
 
 1. That they have been baptized, that 
 they have come to }'ears of discretion, and 
 that they know, and understand, the Church 
 Catechism. 
 
 2. That they have used their privileges, 
 and made their Baptism a reality; that 
 they are penitent, trusting, striving souls, 
 and so, indeed, may be in every sense
 
 14 Confirmation. 
 
 pronounced "regenerate," as they are in 
 the Confirmation Service ; and that thus of 
 their own will they come forward, asking 
 for this further privilege. 
 
 3. That they make special preparation of 
 heart and mind for this solemn rite, obey- 
 ing God's Word, which bids us "Prepare 
 to meet thy God" (Amos iv. 12); and 
 trusting in His promise, which assures 
 us " Thou meetest those that remember 
 Thee in Thy ways " (Isa. Ixiv. 5). 
 
 And now let me ask any one in whose 
 hands this book may be placed, who has 
 not yet made any decided stand for Christ 
 and His religion, who comes to church it 
 may be and is interested and perhaps 
 attracted to wish for, though not yet to 
 take some further steps towards a religious 
 life — Do you think you will ever have a 
 better opportunity than this, of the approach- 
 ing Confirmation, for stopping in a career 
 of thoughtlessness, with which indeed you 
 are not satisfied, and turning heart and 
 soul to live for God ? Here is at hand a 
 definitely fixed opportunity. Here is a 
 time-hallowed ordinance after the example 
 of the Apostles. Here are sympathising 
 companions daring, as I hope you will dare, 
 to confess and not to be ashamed of 
 Christ. Everything conspires to help you,
 
 JV/hJl Confirmation Is. 1 5 
 
 and never again will it be so easy for you 
 as now. Like those spoken of by Jeremiah, 
 in the words at the head of this address, 
 your faces are Zionward or you would not 
 have read thus far. You are inquiring the 
 way thither, or you would not be thus 
 patiently bearing with my attempt to show 
 it you. Will }'ou go on with the words and 
 say now, one to another, brother to sister, 
 friend to friend, "Come" now "and let 7is 
 join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual 
 covenant that shall not be forgotten .?" 
 
 Oh, if you have any such desire, as you 
 love your life do not let it be quenched. It 
 comes from God's Holy Spirit striving with 
 your soul: do not bid Him be silent. Let 
 your clergyman at once have your name as 
 a candidate. All depends upon speedy 
 and decided action ; once having made the 
 resolve, once having pledged yourself to 
 God, you will find the next steps com- 
 paratively easy. 
 
 Let me give you an example from a 
 soldier's life. When the great Duke of 
 Wellington was a very young man and had 
 just entered the army, he was quartered at 
 Dublin, and was spending his life in idle- 
 ness and gaiety amidst the attractions of 
 that city. Suddenly there came an order 
 for his regiment to go to India. Young
 
 1 6 Confirmation. 
 
 Wellesley was altogether disconcerted at 
 the thought of having to give up his en- 
 joyments in the best of Irish society. His 
 first thought was to sell out. His second 
 and his better thought was to consult an 
 older friend whom he happily had near 
 him in the Duke of Richmond. The Duke 
 said, " Go home and think well over the 
 whole question, and come to me again 
 to-morrow." He went home. He thought 
 of it all night. He came back again and 
 said, "I will go to India; and I will be a 
 soldier yet." 
 
 Are you, in your best days, thus living a 
 life of thoughtlessness, of pleasure, if not of 
 sin } And as you now read the order from 
 the King to go forth and fight your Lord's 
 battles, in a land far off from such occu- 
 pation, are you saddened, vexed, inclined 
 to evade the order } Follow the great 
 soldier's example, for you too are a soldier. 
 Go and be alone with God. Think well 
 over, on your knees, what will be the conse- 
 quence of putting off His order now; what 
 will be the result of now yielding to it ; and 
 then and there, God helping you, resolve, 
 and let your Confirmation tell out to the 
 world your resolution, 
 
 *T will go where Christ my Lord is 
 bidding me, I will be Christ's .soldier yet."
 
 II. 
 
 PRIVILEGES OF CHRISTIANS. 
 
 St. John X. 4. 
 
 "And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He 
 goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him." 
 
 NE of the most attractive views 
 of Confirmation is that in which 
 it represents Christ's putting forth 
 His own into action. He comes 
 by invitations, and sermons, and earnest 
 teachings, to arouse those who are lying 
 Hke sheep inactive in the fold, and to 
 thrust them forth into the open confession 
 and active service of their Lord. It requires 
 some pressure upon their hearts and con- 
 sciences to effect this; and so much is 
 exactly expressed in the words of St. John 
 before us. *' When He putteth forth " is
 
 1 8 ■ Cofifinnaiion. 
 
 rather " When he tkriistct'- forth." There 
 is a certain amount oi gentle force used. 
 The sheep is so nuich at ease and at home 
 in the fold that it is unwilling, unless pressed, 
 to rise and go out. But it is good for 
 Christ's sheep that the\- should be thus 
 aroused and thrust out into active Christian 
 life. They are " His own.'" and He will do 
 what is best for them. He will thrust out 
 His own. But observe what He will also 
 do at the same time for their encourage- 
 ment and protection. 
 
 He i.'i!l ^0 ccfcr: thc'.n Hi/usclf. This is 
 the picture, and this is the thought, with 
 which I ^^•ould attract an\- one who is 
 thinking oi being contirmed. 
 
 The Lord is pressing }-ou into His active 
 sen-ice in the world ; but He would have 
 }-ou start with a clear sense oi your privi- 
 leges. You are His own. and He is going 
 before }-ou. 
 
 This is the first thought expressed in the 
 Church Catechism, the leading points of 
 which I am now proposing to examine with 
 t-liose who are candidates for Confirmation. 
 It begins by setting forth \X\^ prhilegcs of a 
 Christian. For notice the two first questions 
 and answers. They are as follows : "What 
 is your name 1 " " X. or ^l." " Who gave 
 \-ou this name.^"' "]\h' Godt'athers and God-
 
 Privileges of Christians. 19 
 
 mothers in my Baptism ; wherein I was made 
 a member of Christ, the child of God, and 
 an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 The Christian is in right and title "a 
 member of Christ, the child of God, and an 
 inheritor of the kingdom of heaven." He 
 is one of Christ's own. 
 
 The teaching of the Church is thus at 
 one with the words of Christ. In sending 
 forth her young disciples into the world 
 she would send them forth with a full sense 
 of their privileges as Christ's own, His 
 members, God's children, heirs of Heaven, 
 joint-heirs with Him who is leading them 
 there. 
 
 I desire — 
 
 1. To compare with Holy Scripture, and 
 to illustrate, this statement of the Church 
 Catechism concerning our privileges as 
 being Christ's own. 
 
 2. To dwell on these privileges as en- 
 couragements to come forth at the Saviour's 
 bidding and to follow Him. 
 
 The statement is this, which is put into 
 each of our mouths, in answer to the 
 question, "Who gave you this name.'^" — 
 "My Godfathers and my Godmothers in my 
 Baptism ; wherein I was made a member ot 
 Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor 
 of the kingdom of heaven." 
 I^. 2
 
 20 Confirmation. 
 
 Each of these expressions denoting our 
 relation to Christ and to God is taken from 
 Holy Scripture and is there connected with 
 Baptism. 
 
 That thus we become members (limbs, 
 that is, in a spiritual sense) of Christ's body 
 is thus stated; "By one Spirit are we all 
 baptized into one body," *' for the body is 
 not one member, but many." " Now ye 
 are the body of Christ, and members in 
 particular." i Cor xii. 13, 14, 27. 
 
 That thus, likewise, becoming members 
 of Christ the Son of God, we become the 
 children of God, is with equal clearness 
 announced : " Ye are all the children of 
 God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many 
 of you as have been baptized into Christ 
 have put on Christ." Gal. iii. 26, 27. 
 
 And for the last expression, "inheritors 
 of the kingdom of heaven," we have the 
 terse and striking words of St. Paul, " If 
 children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint 
 heirs with Christ." Rom. viii. 17. 
 
 All these privileges flow out of the one 
 great gift of the Holy Ghost, of the gift of 
 whom at Baptism St. Peter speaks in these 
 strong words; "Repent, and be baptized 
 every one of you in the name of Jesus 
 Christ for the remission of sins, and ye 
 shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
 
 Privileges of Christians. 21 
 
 For the promise is unto you, and to your 
 children, and to all that are afar off, even 
 as many as the Lord our God shall call." 
 Acts ii. 38, 39. 
 
 Thus the language of the Catechism is the 
 language of Holy Scripture on the subject 
 of Christian privileges being made ours in 
 Baptism. 
 
 But this needs explanation,lest we presume 
 on privileges ^'7'^;/, if I may so say, but not 
 takcfi. Baptism is a Sacrament, or solemn 
 covenant between God and man. The 
 force and efficacy of Sacraments is perhaps 
 better expressed in a sentence from one of 
 the Homilies than elsewhere. " In Sacra- 
 ments," it is there written, " God embraces 
 us, and offers Himself to be embraced by us." 
 
 Thus the Baptism of infants is exactly 
 parallel to our Lord's taking little children 
 in His arms (St. Mark x. 16), embracing 
 them, and offering Himself to be embraced 
 by them. If they are but little infants they 
 can only passively receive Him ; but as 
 soon as they are old enough they can either 
 take hold of Him and hold Him, or shake 
 themselves from His embrace and leave 
 Him. And if, when we, who have been 
 embraced by Him as infants in our Bap- 
 tism, become old enough to understand 
 Christ's gift of Himself to us, we do not
 
 22 Confirmation. 
 
 ourselves take it making our will in receiving 
 one with His will in giving, then His gift 
 not being taken can avail us nothing. 
 
 This is expressed by St. John in such 
 words as the following : 
 
 "As many as received Him, to them gave 
 He power to become the sons of God, even 
 to them that believe on His name : which 
 were born, not of blood, nor of the will of 
 the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
 God" (St. John i. 12, 13). 
 
 ** He that believeth on the Son hath 
 everlasting life : and he that believeth not 
 the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath 
 of God abideth on him " (St. John iii. 36). 
 
 "He that hath the Son hath life ; and 
 he that hath not the Son of God hath not 
 life" (i John v. 12). 
 
 That these privileges, however, of which 
 we have been speaking, have been really 
 taken by, as well as given to, the duly 
 prepared candidate for Confirmation, is 
 assumed in one of the prayers, the first in 
 the Confirmation Service, which begins thus : 
 
 "Almighty and everlasting God, who 
 hast vouchsafed to regenerate these Thy 
 servants by Water and the Holy Ghost, and 
 hast given unto them forgiveness of all 
 their sins ; strengthen them, we beseech 
 Thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost the
 
 Privileges of Christians. 23 
 
 Comforter, and daily increase in them Thy 
 manifold gifts of grace ..." 
 
 These truths may be put in another way. 
 Baptism is a solemn covenant signed and 
 sealed of God, and made with each in- 
 dividual who is baptized. It is the ap- 
 pointment of Christ Himself to assure us 
 of our adoption by God. "Go ye" (He 
 said) " and make Christians of all nations " 
 (by) '* baptizing them in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost" (St. Matt, xxviii. 19). 
 
 Let us look at a similar case in transac- 
 tions between man and man. Suppose I 
 say to you, " I give you my house." That, 
 like the promises of forgiveness and accep- 
 tance in Holy Scripture, puts it in your 
 power to accept and appropriate the gift 
 if you will. But that does not convey it 
 to you. For the purpose of conveyance, 
 and for making it legally and actually, and 
 to your own conviction, yours, you need a 
 deed of conveyance duly signed and sealed 
 by him who has the right of conveying it 
 to you. Baptism is like such a deed of 
 conveyance of God's adoption, signed and 
 sealed by Christ Himself, who alone has 
 power to convey it to you. 
 
 Now suppose, further, that you have thus 
 by a deed of conveyance obtained rightful
 
 24 Cotifirmaiion. 
 
 possession of my house thus offered you, 
 but that, neglectful of its value, you do not 
 take actual possession of it ; suppose that 
 you neither live in it, nor let it, but leave it, 
 as of no value, to itself. You know the 
 consequences. It will become a ruin itself, 
 and a disgrace, rather than a valuable pos- 
 session, to you. It will still be yours indeed, 
 and you can take up its rights and uses, all 
 injured, however, by your neglect, and 
 needing much trouble to restore, if you de- 
 termine to do so ; but such as it has become 
 and is now through your neglect it will 
 not cover your head nor give you shelter. 
 You cannot rest in it at night nor start 
 from it by day refreshed for your daily toil. 
 And such is the position of the man to 
 whom by Baptism has been conveyed the 
 privileges of being made a member of 
 Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor 
 of the kingdom of heaven ; but who has 
 never of his own will, and by his own faith, 
 actually taken possession of them and used 
 them. They are his indeed by right, yet 
 being only possessed but not occupied by 
 him are useless to him, nay are a disgrace 
 and condemnation to him. They tell out 
 indeed God's love to him, but they tell also 
 his unthankfulness to God. They do not 
 shelter, but leave him shelterless.
 
 Privileges of Chris tia?is. 25 
 
 He has a name that he lives, but is dead 
 (Rev. iii. i). 
 
 But it is very different with those who 
 actually take God's gifts of grace, who not 
 only have been embraced by God in Christ, 
 but have accepted His offer and have 
 embraced and are embracing Him, They 
 are in all reality alike of title and pos- 
 session, " Members of Christ, the children 
 of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of 
 heaven." They are put forth as such into 
 the world's conflicts by the Lord Jesus 
 Christ their Saviour, but when He putteth 
 them forth He goeth before them Himself. 
 
 (2). Let us dwell upon these privileges 
 themselves, thus endowed with which you 
 are now being called by your Lord to come 
 forth into life's conflicts, with sin, the world, 
 and the devil. 
 
 You are " a member of Christ.'' Consider 
 what that means. It expresses the condi- 
 tion of one who is spiritually as much a 
 part of Christ's body, as physically your 
 hand or your foot is part of your body. 
 You know the intimate connection which 
 your hand, for instance, has with your 
 body. Its life depends upon its connection 
 with the living body ; separated from it, 
 it is a dead thing. It is protected by it ; 
 all the body is engaged for the protection
 
 26 Conjirmatioji. 
 
 of every limb ; all its wisdom and power is 
 exercised to save even your little finger 
 from harm. You spare no pains to protect 
 it from injury, and to heal it if injured. 
 Would you lose it ? Would you let it be 
 cut off ? Never, if you could help it ; never 
 so long as it were possible to save it. All 
 means and efforts would be exhausted 
 first. 
 
 See in all this a picture of your privileges 
 as a " member of Christ." You live on 
 Him ; without Him you can do nothing ; 
 you are kept safe by Him ; all His power 
 and His love are engaged for your salva- 
 tion. However feeble and insignificant 
 you may be in yourself, He will spare no 
 pains to save you to the uttermost. Give 
 you up ! How can He give you up while 
 your salvation is possible } Does He not 
 love you with a love so lasting that it is an 
 everlasting love } Does He not love you 
 with a love so deep that when you were a 
 sinner He died for you } You are His 
 own, and where He puts you forth He 
 goes before you. Who then can harm 
 you 1 
 
 Are you, trusting in this your Saviour, 
 and yet afraid to confess Him, afraid to 
 meet the world as His disciple } Think, 
 then, of being " a member of Christ."
 
 Privileges of Christians. 27 
 
 Consider how you love, cherish, protect, 
 your own members however feeble. And 
 see the cheering picture of the way in which 
 the Lord Jesus Christ loves, cherishes, pro- 
 tects you. 
 
 Only remember, that whilst you thus 
 protect your members, you expect them to 
 obey you. Your will is law immediately 
 to them. You wish the hand to open, the 
 foot to walk ; the one opens, the other 
 walks at once if sound in health. 
 
 And what you expect from your mem- 
 bers Christ expects from His. And they 
 give it Him as readily, if they too are 
 spiritually sound and in health. He wishes, 
 and it is done. 
 
 But further. If you are a member of 
 Christ, then as in Christ, as spiritually part 
 of His body, you are also " the child 
 of God." And God is now calling you 
 forth out of the crowd to confess Him, and 
 to be confessed by Him as His own, as a 
 member of His body, nay as His child. 
 And how truly and how beautifully does 
 this image assure us of the truth of our 
 Saviour's words, **When He putteth forth 
 His own He goeth before them." Did 
 you ever see a loving father thrusting his 
 little son into a trying and difficult place 
 without taking him by the hand and leading
 
 28 Confirmation, 
 
 him ? Never ! he feels for his child's every 
 fear ; he is anxious about his child's every 
 danger; the danger is his as well as his 
 child's ; sympathy makes the two one. 
 
 And thus it is that the Lord God 
 Almighty, infinite in power, and infinite in 
 love, is calling you to come forward and 
 confess Him, and Jesus Christ, whom He 
 has sent ; He is speaking loudly to your 
 conscience as one who would thrust you 
 out of an indolent Christianity, into bold 
 and active service for Him. Are you 
 afraid thus to come forward ? Do you 
 shrink from the sneers of your fellows ? 
 Do you fear lest the demands should be 
 too much for you? and are you saying, 
 " Not yet, not yet ; perhaps another year?" 
 Look up, then, and see whose hand it is 
 that is stretched out to take yours if you 
 will venture it. It is the Hand of God 
 Himself, of God Himself your Father. 
 
 And yet further. " If children, then 
 heirs." If you are members of Christ, if 
 you are therefore also children of God, 
 then are you also " inheritors of the king- 
 dom of heaven." 
 
 And it is as heirs of heaven too that the 
 Lord is calling you to come out from the 
 world for Him. You, then, who still being 
 young have not hardened your hearts
 
 Privileges of CJiristians. 29 
 
 against God ; who have not yet forgotten 
 the impressions of your mother's early 
 teaching ; who, though possibly inclining 
 towards the world, do yet keep some hold 
 of your Saviour's words, remember who 
 and what you are. You are heirs of a 
 kingdom, and that kingdom the king- 
 dom of heaven. Will you be content to 
 live as if this world were all "i as if its 
 prizes were the highest, and its joys the 
 sweetest you could possibly attain to "i 
 Will you be content to forget eternity, to 
 forego everlasting life, to deem a place beside 
 the throne of Christ an object not worthy 
 of your ambition .'' That is what you do 
 if you neglect the call of God to a higher 
 and more earnest life, year after year, and 
 Hve calling yourselves Christians, but taking 
 no step forward to prove yourselves such. 
 
 Again, let me remind you that when the 
 Lord putteth forth His own sheep He 
 goeth before them. He has gone the way 
 of an heir of God to the throne, and that 
 way the way of conflict, of work, of self- 
 denial, of battling for His Father's honour, 
 and suffering for His brethren's salvation. 
 " No cross, no crown," says the Christian 
 proverb. " If we suffer with Him, we shall 
 reign with Him," writes the apostle of 
 the Lord. The easy self-complacent life,
 
 30 Confirmation. 
 
 half of pleasure, half of business, with little 
 or no room for religion, is not the way to 
 heaven, and will not take you there. The 
 Lord is come to thrust you forth out of 
 this into the path of life. He has led by 
 His life, He is leading now by His Spirit. 
 Will you try to follow Him } 
 
 I have endeavoured thus to set before 
 you the Christian's privileges: the first 
 thought suggested by the angels when 
 Christ was born, ''good tidings of great 
 joy" (St. Luke ii. lo) ; the first uttered by 
 our Lord in His first great Sermon on the 
 Mount, ''Blessed " (St. Matt. v. 2—12) ; the 
 first teaching of the Church to her children 
 when she names them as " members of 
 Christ, children of God, and heirs of 
 heaven." 
 
 These privileges are God's free gifts, 
 given to us at the beginning — not our wages, 
 earned at the end — of our Christian life. 
 
 We are bidden to believe in, and start 
 as possessed of, them, while we look unto 
 Christ, our Leader and our Lord, going on 
 before us in the way. It is an attractive 
 thought this that we should ever keep in 
 mind. And we have a special help towards 
 its remembrance in our Christian name. 
 That name was given us at our Baptism, 
 wherein we were made Christians ; and
 
 P^'ivilcges of CJi7'istians. 31 
 
 whenever we are called by it, we are called 
 as Christians with Christian privileges to 
 Christian life. Happy they who hearing 
 it hear God's call as well as man's. Man's 
 call indeed it may be to some earthly 
 occupation — God's call also it is to do it, 
 whatever it may be, for Him, and in His 
 Name, as "members of Christ, the children 
 of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of 
 heaven."
 
 III. 
 
 RENUNCIATION. 
 
 Gen. xii. i. 
 
 ** Now the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out 
 of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from 
 thy father's house, unto a land that I will show 
 thee." 
 
 T has been truly said that into 
 whatever profession a man enters 
 he must give up something. If 
 he becomes a soldier, he must give 
 up home and personal choice and liberty, 
 and come and go as he is commanded. If 
 he would be a man of learning, he must give 
 up sleep and rise early and late take rest, 
 that he may devote his time to reading. 
 And if he becomes a Christian, he must also 
 give up something, you may be sure, as a 
 Soldier and a Disciple of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The approaching Confirmation is calling 
 many to give themselves up to God. We
 
 Reiinnciation. 33 
 
 liavc every claim upon us to yield to such a 
 call, and every encouragement. The Lord 
 Himself has sealed us as His own in our 
 Baptism; and He has promised to go 
 before us in every difficulty to which He 
 thrusts us forth. 
 
 The words which I have placed at the 
 head of this address are God's call to Abram, 
 expressing what he must give up to become 
 the "Father of the faithful," and the 
 " Friend of God/' 
 
 " Get thee out of thy country," God said 
 to him, "and from thy kindred, and from 
 thy father's house, into a land that I will 
 show thee." 
 
 His home and his country were amongst 
 those who knew not God, but they were 
 his home, his country, and his life, all with 
 which he was familiar and all which he 
 loved ; yet he was bidden to give them all 
 up and venture himself upon God. And 
 he did so. 
 
 My subject in this address is concerning 
 those things which you are called upon as 
 Christians to give up at God's call to you ; 
 namely, what was promised for you at your 
 Baptism that you would give up, and what 
 you yourselves at your Confirmation will 
 shortly promise for yourselves to give up 
 for ever. And although they are not house 
 C
 
 34 Confirmation. 
 
 and home and friends, yet very often they 
 are so mixed up with what we love and 
 whafc we possess, that it is as hard to give 
 them up as country and kindred and home 
 themselves. 
 
 What is it, then, that we are called upon 
 to renounce f The answer in the Catechism 
 is as follows : *' The devil and all his works, 
 the pomps and vanity of this wicked world, 
 and all the sinful lusts of the flesh." 
 
 To renounce these is to say " No " to 
 them, when they tempt us as they did even 
 our Saviour ; ** not to follow or be led by 
 them," as our Baptismal Service expresses 
 it, but '* to fight manfully against them," 
 and so " to continue Christ's faithful soldiers 
 and servants unto our lives' end." 
 
 Now when these enemies of ours are 
 thus expressed, and stand before us in 
 their rough naked aspect, we are shocked 
 at the idea of being so debased and 
 fallen from our high estate as God's 
 children as to be ever overcome by them. 
 But they present themselves in so many 
 and in such insinuating forms, that having, 
 by our fall, a bias away from God, we all 
 yield in a measure to some of their attacks, 
 and unless we realise our danger and resist 
 them manfully with all the help we can 
 obtain we shall certainly be overcome by
 
 Renunciation, 35 
 
 them. But we need not be overcome. It 
 is in the power of our will with the help of 
 God's Holy Spirit to overcome them all 
 He has called us, as He called Abram, to 
 come away from them to the land which 
 He will show us. He has bidden us in the 
 words of His Apostle, ''Let not sin reign 
 in your mortal body, that ye should obey 
 it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your 
 members as instruments of unrighteousness 
 unto sin : but yield yourselves unto God, 
 as those that are alive from the dead, and 
 your members as instruments of righteous- 
 ness unto God." And promised us likewise, 
 " For sifi shall not have dominion over you ; 
 for ye are not under the law but under 
 grace" (Rom. vi. 12, 13, 14). 
 
 I. What then are the works of the devil 
 which we are commanded to renounce } 
 
 They are all shown, at least in outline, 
 in the first appearance of the devil in 
 Holy Scripture, at the Temptation in the 
 Garden. 
 
 I. The yf;^^^ is, ''distrust of God!' God 
 had shown His love to Adam and Eve 
 in creating them, and giving them one 
 another for their happiness and all else 
 that they could desire in the enjoyment of 
 Himself and Hijs creatures. And then
 
 36 Confinnation. 
 
 Satan comes and tries to give them hard 
 thoughts of God ; to persuade them that 
 He is neither loving nor true, but unloving 
 in keeping from them some of the fruit in 
 the garden, and untrue in threatening what 
 He did not mean to perform. The serpent 
 said unto the woman, " Yea, hath God said. 
 Ye shall not e<it of every tree of the garden ? " 
 (Gen. iii. i). And again, "Ye shall not 
 surely die" (Gen. iii. 4). 
 
 There is nothing in which the same 
 tempter is more successful now. God is 
 Love. God is Truth. But how often is 
 each of these suggestions against His Love 
 alike and His Truth made, and, alas ! how 
 often is it listened to ! The Bible, from one 
 end to the other, presses upon us to rest in 
 God's Love, to be sure of it, and, come 
 what may, to trust it. But men, neverthe- 
 less, are continually suspicious of Him, 
 have hard rather than loving thoughts of 
 Him, and shrink from venturing their souls 
 upon Him even though Christ has died for 
 them. 
 
 On the other hand the Bible undoubtedly 
 contains denunciations of impenitentsinners, 
 that they "shall surely die," and that 
 their deaths shall involve them in terrible 
 punishment for their sins ; and yet, when- 
 ever they wish to sin, they listen to the
 
 Renunciation. 37 
 
 voice, " Ye shall not surely die." " These 
 threatenings are not true. God does not 
 mean them. You may risk the chance." 
 And so they sin. 
 
 2. Another class of the devil's special 
 works is lying, in all its kinds and varieties. 
 It was a lie, and he knew it when he said, 
 *' Thou shalt not surely die," and it was a 
 malicious lie, for its object was to ruin the 
 happiness and destroy the life of man. 
 Hence our Lord says of him, " He was a 
 murderer from the beginning, and abode 
 not in the truth, because there is no truth 
 in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speak- 
 eth of his own : for he is a liar, and the 
 father of it" (St. John viii. 44). 
 
 All that is false in word or deed, being 
 hateful to God, who is absolute truth, is 
 hateful to Him, and must be renounced 
 if we would dwell with Him. But the 
 tempter succeeds in this art of temptation 
 now, too, as ever. He persuades either 
 that there is no harm, or too little harm to 
 be thought of, in lying ; that it must be 
 done, that you can't prosper, you can't get 
 on either in society or in business without 
 a certain amount of it ; that all do it, and 
 that what all do must have some reason for 
 it. And so men glide into it, get used to it, 
 get hardened to it, live in it, and die in it,
 
 38 Confirmation. 
 
 as if it were a mere nothing, and as if God 
 had not said, "All liars shall have their 
 portion in the lake which burneth with fire 
 and brimstone" (Rev. xxi. 8). 
 
 3. Closely connected with this, and often, 
 as in the passage before us from Genesis, 
 expressed by Satan and his followers in 
 lying, come other works of his ; malice, 
 for instance, hatred, tmkindness, all that is 
 unlike that Charity, which " suffereth long, 
 and is kind ; envieth not ; seeketh not her 
 own ; is not easily provoked ; thinketh no 
 evil ; beareth all things" (i Cor. xiii. 4, 5, 7). 
 
 You must give up all unkindness, and 
 practice all love, even towards those you 
 do not like, even towards those who dislike 
 and are unkind to you, if you would re- 
 nounce the works of the devil. 
 
 4. There is also among the devil's works, 
 manifest in his daring accusations, in this 
 passage, of God, and in his still more auda- 
 cious attempt to persuade our Lord Himself 
 to sin (St. Matt. iv. i — 12), that which St. 
 Paul calls peculiarly the property of the 
 devil— " Pride " (i Tim. iii. 6). Self- 
 importance, self satisfaction, self in fact 
 in all forms, a high estimate of one's own 
 rights, and an independence of God ; pride^ 
 which the wise man truly says, "was not 
 made for man," though man often rather
 
 Renunciation. 39 
 
 applauds it as high spirit than condemns 
 it as unbecoming spirit, and the very oppo- 
 site of that meekness which our Saviour 
 pronounces blessed. 
 
 5. And there is also the peculiar work 
 above all others of the tempter, that I mean 
 of trying, as in the case of Adam and Eve, 
 to make others sin, the leading them into 
 temptation, the inducing them either for 
 your own selfish pleasure, or for com- 
 panionship sake, or for the very love of evil, 
 to sin with you — a horrible sin, of which 
 our Lord has spoken in these very solemn 
 words, "Whoso shall offend one of these 
 little ones that believe in Me (that is, cause 
 them to stumble and sin), it were better for 
 him that a millstone were hanged about 
 his neck, and that he were drowned in the 
 depths of the sea " (St. Matt, xviii. 6). 
 
 Now, " to renounce these works of the 
 devil," means to believe that he is a reality 
 and that these are his works, and then once 
 for all in principle, and day by day in 
 actual practice as each temptation arises, 
 resolutely to say "No" to it. "No. I 
 am a member of Christ, the child of God, 
 I will not, I dare not, I cannot do this." 
 And for this it is needful and it is enough 
 the moment you feel the temptation arising 
 to pray for God's Holy Spirit to help you
 
 40 Cofifirj/iation. 
 
 to resist it ; for of that help, and of its 
 efficacy we have the sufficient promise in 
 the words, " Resist the devil and he will 
 flee from you ; draw nigh to God and He 
 will draw nigh to you " (St. James iv. 7). 
 
 11. The second great foe or class of foes 
 whom we are to renounce is called " the 
 pomps and vanity of this wicked world." 
 *' Love not the world " (wrote St. John, 
 I Epist. ii. 15), " neither the things that are 
 in the world. If any man love the world, 
 the love of the Father is not in him." All 
 must know that there are many things in 
 the world which have a tendency either to 
 arrest the affections and turn them away, or 
 to engross them and keep them away, from 
 Christ. It may be a mere toy, it may be 
 any other pleasure, it may be business, it 
 may be science or art, it may be dress and 
 appearance, it may be and very constantly 
 is what is called " public opinion," with 
 its censure we so dread, and its applause 
 we so desire ; but whatever it is in things 
 seen which prevents our giving our affec- 
 tions to things not seen ; whatever it is in 
 persons or things about us, in our friends 
 or foes, in our amusements, occupations, 
 what we desire, and what we dread, here, 
 which attracts our thoughts more than the
 
 RciiHuciatioiL 41 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ, His Love, His service, 
 and His reward, tJiat is to us among " the 
 pomps and vanity of this wicked world," 
 the mere outward appearance and empty 
 name and semblance of good, which we 
 must renounce lest it occupy our hearts 
 and keep out the real and the good. 
 
 " No man can serve two masters : for 
 either he will hate the one, and love the 
 other ; or else he will hold to the one, and 
 despise the other. Ye cannot serve God 
 and mammon " (St. Matt. vi. 24). 
 
 We must examine ourselves and find 
 out in each case what oar temptation of 
 this kind is. That there is such a reality, 
 and that it is a temptation to each one of 
 us we may be very sure. 
 
 HI. Our third enemy to be renounced 
 is what the Catechism calls " the sinful 
 lusts of the flesh." 
 
 A *' lust " is a desire. And the desires 
 of the flesh are not altogether sinful. 
 We are only called upon to renounce 
 them when they are sinful, and so far as 
 they are sinful. They are sinful when 
 they are in excess, when they are out of 
 place, when they become masters rather 
 than servants. Thus, for instance, hunger 
 and thirst are lusts of the flesh, but it is no
 
 42 Confirmation. 
 
 sin to eat and to drink. It only becomes 
 sin when the one or the other is done in 
 excess. And so with other lusts. They 
 have their purpose. God has implanted 
 them in us. But they are to be kept 
 under control, otherwise they soon make 
 slaves of us. Hence St. Paul writes of 
 himself, " I keep under my body and bring 
 it into subjection ; lest that by any means, 
 when I have preached to others, I myself 
 should be a castaway" (i Cor. ix. 27). 
 Look at a terrible contrast to this in the 
 drunkard. The thirst for drink drives him 
 as a very slave whither it wills. He feels 
 as if he could not resist it. He vows, re- 
 solves, promises, and breaks all at its 
 bidding. There are other sinful lusts of 
 the flesh. Listen to Jesus Christ and to 
 St. Paul, and pray for a pure heart to 
 keep their words, " Ye have heard," said 
 our Saviour, ** that it was said by them of 
 old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery : 
 but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh 
 on a woman to lust after her, hath com- 
 mitted adultery with her already in his 
 heart (St. Matt. v. 27, 28). 
 
 '' The works of the flesh," writes St. Paul, 
 " are manifest, which are these ; adultery, 
 fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
 idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emu-
 
 Renunciation. 43 
 
 lations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
 envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, 
 and such Hke ; of the which I tell yoa 
 before, as I have also told you in time 
 past, that they which do such things shall 
 not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. v. 
 19,20, 21). 
 
 The best way to escape these tempta- 
 tions when they beset you, is to flee from 
 them. Be as shocked as Joseph was when 
 tempted. " How can I do this great wicked- 
 ness and sin against God } " (Gen. xxxix. 9), 
 and act as he did ; flee from the very pre- 
 sence of such sins into the presence of God, 
 and let the thought of them be driven away 
 by thoughts of Him. 
 
 You are called to do so because you are 
 called to be Christ's own, members of 
 Christ, the children of God, and heirs of 
 heaven. 
 
 Shall a member of Christ take this body 
 of his which is one with Christ and make it 
 one with an harlot } 
 
 Shall a child of God, made to be like 
 God, and to enjoy God, be satisfied with 
 the vain and fleeting things of this world, 
 and sacrifice heaven for earth, eternity for 
 a day } 
 
 Shall an inheritor of the kingdom of 
 heaven, the king's son, the king's heir,
 
 44 Confirmation. 
 
 forfeit his inheritance, and lose his throne 
 at the suggestion of the tempter, the lying 
 suggestion that his Father is not to be 
 trusted for the future, and that he had 
 better make the most he can of pleasure 
 for the present ? God forbid. 
 
 But times occur when a man cannot so 
 easily flee from temptation, tied as he is 
 still and bound by the chain of his former 
 habits. What then shall he do 1 Dare to 
 defy it. 
 
 There is a grand story in ancient Roman 
 history, perhaps the grandest story upon 
 record, which may lend us an illustration 
 and urge us on to confidence in contest 
 with our enemy. 
 
 *' Marius, the man who rose from the 
 ranks to be seven times Consul at Rome, 
 was in a dungeon, and a slave was sent in 
 to put him to death. Here stood then face 
 to face the two extremities of forlorn hu- 
 manity, its vanward and Its rereward man, 
 a Roman Consul and an abject slave. But 
 the Consul now was In chains, and the slave 
 for the moment seemed the arbiter of his 
 fate. By what marvel then did Marius re- 
 instate himself in his natural prerogative, 
 and In the twinkling of an eye wrench 
 from the assassin the power which circum- 
 stances had placed within his grasp t
 
 ReiuDiciation. 45 
 
 Standing" like a rock before him he smote 
 him with his eye and said, * Dost thou, man, 
 dare to kill Caius Marius ? ' and the wretch, 
 quaking under the voice, sank gently to the 
 ground, turned round upon his hands and 
 feet, and crawling out of the prison left 
 Marius standing as stedfast and immovable 
 as the Capitol of Rome itself." 
 
 Sin comes in like that crouching slave at 
 Satan's bidding, because in your old nature 
 you are bound with the chains of evil ten- 
 dencies. How shall you drive it from your 
 presence } Not, indeed, as Marius, merely 
 by the supremacy of your own natural 
 mind, but by the mighty supremacy of 
 Christ's indwelling Spirit. Stand as a rock 
 on Christ the Rock. Look the sin in its 
 cringing face and say, " Dost tJioic dare to 
 kill a vicinber of Christ, the Child of God, 
 and an in heritor oiih^ kingdom of Heaven V 
 Thus ''resist the devil, and he will flee from 
 you ; " thus, " let not sin reign in your 
 mortal body . . . and it shall not have 
 dominion over you, for you are not under 
 the law but under grace." 
 
 I began this subject with an allusion to 
 the call of Abraham to renounce his country 
 and his friends. Let me return to it for a 
 close. In calling Abram away from his
 
 46 Confirmation. 
 
 home, God called him to a land he knew 
 not, but which God promised to show him. 
 He calls you similarly to a land you know 
 not, but which He will show you. The 
 joy of being Christ's indeed, and knowing 
 it ; the joy of being loved by, and of loving, 
 Him ; the joy of seeking to honour Him 
 on earth, with the hope of being honoured 
 by Him in Heaven ; the joy of being able 
 to say with St. Paul, '* To me to live is 
 Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. i. 21), all 
 this is a. land which possibly you do not 
 know yet, but God will show it you. 
 
 With such a prospect and such a title as 
 you have to it you may well be persuaded, 
 like Abram, at once to arise and seek it, 
 leaving all other attractions behind you. 
 And the example of God's call to Abram 
 puts the need of this immediate action 
 before you all in a striking manner ; and 
 speaks not only to those who may have 
 fallen into such sins as I have been speak- 
 ing of and the Catechism sets before us, 
 but all who are living in danger of them, at 
 least in their more subtle, if not in their 
 grosser forms. And who then is not in 
 danger } God's call to us is not only to 
 give up actual sin, but all that may lead to 
 it, and henceforth to walk with God as the 
 friends of God. Happy they that do so ;
 
 Renunciatiofi. 47 
 
 for escaping the sins they will escape the 
 worst of the sorrows of the world ; and 
 giving- up the love of the things of time, 
 they will have all their hearts open for the 
 love of the things of eternity.
 
 IV. 
 FAITH. 
 
 St. John xiv, I. 
 
 " Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe 
 in God, believe also in Me." 
 
 ^UR religion requires of us that we 
 live above the world, in it, but not 
 of it. But we can only rise thus 
 above ourselves and our natural 
 sphere by the help of some one who is 
 above us and our sphere. This our God 
 offers to do for us : and the faculty by 
 which we suffer Him to do so, and with 
 which we clasp His proffered hand, is " our 
 Faith " ; our power of seeing the unseen, 
 of accepting, and relying upon Him. 
 
 When therefore we are taught that, as 
 the " children of God," we must give up 
 •'the world," and have our "conversation 
 in heaven," and we ask, " How is this
 
 Faith. 49 
 
 possible?" the reply is in our Saviour's 
 words, " If thou canst believe, all things 
 are possible to him that believeth" (St. 
 Mark ix. 23). Accordingly, in our Church's 
 instruction to her children after she has 
 taught them what they must renounce, viz., 
 "the devil, the world, and the flesh," she 
 goes on to teach them what they must 
 believe, in the Creed, the chief instruction 
 of which she sums up in the following 
 words : — 
 
 " First, I learn to believe in God the 
 Father, who hath made me and all the 
 world ; 
 
 Secondly, in God the Son, who hath 
 redeemed me and all mankind ; 
 
 Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who 
 sanctifieth me and all the elect people of 
 God." 
 
 In this address I attempt to illustrate — 
 (I.) What Christian faith is. (II.) What 
 Christian faith does. 
 
 I. Firstly, then, what is Christian faith } 
 I. The religious faculty which we call 
 faith is in its simplest form " taking God 
 at His word " ; believing, as on rational 
 grounds we are bound to believe, that 
 the Bible contains the " Word of God," 
 and accepting it, with all its wonderful 
 D
 
 50 Confirmation. 
 
 revelations to us, as true and containing 
 all things needful for our salvation. 
 
 We have a simple and beautiful illustra- 
 tion of such faith in the case of the noble- 
 man recorded by St. John, who entreated 
 the Lord to come down at once to his house 
 ere his child died. " Go thy way," was our 
 Lord's reply, " thy son liveth." " And the 
 man believed the word that Jesus had 
 spoken unto him, and he went his way " 
 (St. John iv. 50). He took the Lord at 
 His word, though that word announced a 
 miracle of mercy. Like Abraham, "he 
 staggered not at the promise of God 
 through unbelief ; but was strong in faith, 
 giving glory to God ; and being fully 
 persuaded that what He had promised, He 
 was able also to perform " (Rom. iv. 20, 21). 
 
 This is the intellectual side of faith. 
 
 2. It has also a moral side. Indeed, it 
 is a moral, or rather a spiritual, habit, the 
 soul's rest in the Almightiness and love of 
 God. 
 
 " Abraham," we read, who was the father 
 of the faithful, "believed in the Lord, and 
 He counted it to him for righteousness " 
 (Genesis xv. 6). 
 
 " He believed in God." It is said that 
 no English word can fully express all that 
 is attempted to be expressed in " believed "
 
 Faith. 5 1 
 
 here. "He supported himself; he built 
 himself up ; he reposed in the strength of 
 God as a child in its mother's arms " (such 
 seems the force of the root of the Hebrew- 
 word). Yes, in the strength of God, whom 
 he did not see, more than in the bright 
 lights of heaven, or the claims of tribe and 
 kindred which w^ere always before him. 
 
 Taking God at His word ; and resting 
 on Him as a child in its mother's arms — 
 these tw^o thoughts give us the idea of 
 religious faith. 
 
 But we are seeking for Christian faith, 
 which is a step higher. 
 
 You will have noticed that the faith I am 
 speaking of as religious faith is faith in a 
 Person ; not merely faith in a statement, or 
 theory, or conclusion, but faith in a Person, 
 and that Person God. Now the strength of 
 faith in a person will vary very much 
 according to our knowledge of that person. 
 A son would have faith in his father, though 
 he had lived away from him in India all 
 his life, and he had never seen him since 
 his childhood, simply because he was his 
 father ; but he would have much clearer and 
 stronger faith in him if he had been with 
 him, and if he had all along received from 
 him the kindness of a father. Our Saviour, 
 therefore, to sustain His disciples by inten- 
 D 2
 
 52 Confirmation. 
 
 sifying their faith in God, said to them when 
 about to leave them, " Ye beHeve in God, 
 believe also in Me!' For He was God mani- 
 fested to them, dwelling with them, so that, 
 as He shortly afterwards expressed it. " He 
 that hath seen Me hath seen the Father " 
 (St. John xiv. 9). And as He here identifies 
 the Godhead of the Father with His own, 
 so a few verses later He identifies His own 
 Godhead with that of the Holy Spirit ; for 
 He speaks of the coming of the Spirit as 
 the coming of another Self, as the coming 
 of His own Self. ''If ye love me, keep 
 the commandments. And I will pray the 
 Father, and He shall give you another 
 Comforter . . . even the Spirit of truth. 
 I will not leave you comfortless. I will 
 come to you " (15, 16, 17, 18). 
 
 Hence the Persons our faith is trained to 
 rest upon are : God the Father, who made 
 us ; God the Son, who redeemed us ; God 
 the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies us. And 
 this is revealed to us to assist our faith. For 
 our relation to God, or, at all events, our 
 acting in accordance with our relation to 
 God, depends upon our knowing what He 
 is to lis ; not what He is in Himself, but 
 what He is to us. What He is in Himself 
 we do not, perhaps cannot, know. What 
 He is to us is what we need to know, and
 
 Faith, 53 
 
 what all men can and may know. It is not 
 necessary for men to know what the sun in 
 the heavens is ; but it is necessary for them 
 to know what the sunshine is, that is, what 
 the sun is to thcvi ; what its rays will do, 
 and what its light effect. And thus it is 
 not needful for us to know and understand 
 the essence of the Godhead, the mysterious 
 Trinity in unity — what He is in Himself. 
 But what is needful for us to know is 
 what He is to us : and He is revealed to 
 us 
 
 As the Father, who made us and all the 
 world. *' In the beginning God created the 
 heavens and the earth." 
 
 " So God created man in His own image, 
 in the image of God created He him, male 
 and female created He them " (Genesis i. 
 I, 27). 
 
 As the Son, who redeemed us and all 
 mankind, thus setting us free from penalty 
 and bondage. *' Christ hath redeemed us 
 from the curse of the law, being made a 
 curse for us" (Gal. iii. 13). 
 
 As the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies us, 
 thus helping us to be holy and good. "The 
 fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
 ness, temperance" (Gal. v. 22, 23). 
 
 God manifested in Jesus Christ is not as
 
 54 Confirmation. 
 
 a Father who has Hved away from us, 
 unseen and unknown all our life, but as one 
 with whom we have lived and been familiar 
 from our childhood to the present day. 
 
 And God revealed to us as Creator, Re- 
 deemer and Sanctifier, He is to us all we 
 need. In the Father as our Creator, He 
 meets man's first great inquiry, "Who am 
 I, and whence do I come ?" 
 
 In Jesus Christ as our Redeemer He 
 meets man's first great want, of pardon as 
 sinful man. 
 
 And in the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier 
 He meets man's constant great need, of 
 strength and holiness as weak and erring 
 man. 
 
 We may well have faith in such a God. 
 Faith in God thus revealed is Christian 
 faith. 
 
 II. And now I come to the question as 
 to " What Christian faith does." 
 
 I. It sets us right with God. It puts us 
 back into the right relation to Him. By 
 sin we had got wrong. He was made angry 
 with us, and we became suspicious of Him. 
 The only possible thing that man can do 
 to have this put right is to take God at His 
 word, and rest in Him. He has promised 
 for Christ's sake to accept us again on these
 
 Faith. 55 
 
 conditions, and to treat us as again " all 
 right with Him." '' Therefore being justified 
 by faith, we have peace with God through 
 Jcsiis Christ our Lord'' (Rom. v. i). 
 
 ** Behold, a woman in the city, which was 
 a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at 
 meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an 
 alabaster box of ointment, and stood at 
 His feet behind Him weeping, and began 
 to wash His feet with tears, and did wipe 
 them with the hairs of her head, and kissed 
 His feet, and anointed them with the oint- 
 ment." 
 
 What brought her there ? 
 
 Hear our Lord's own answer : " He said 
 to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee ; 
 go in peace" (St. Luke vii. 37, 38, 50). 
 
 2. Faith keeps us right with God. 
 
 By it we work acceptably to God. " With- 
 out faith it is impossible to please Him ; 
 for he that cometh to God must believe 
 that He is, and that He is a rewarder of 
 them that diligently seek Him" (Heb. xi. 
 6). 
 
 And thus, for example, " By faith Moses, 
 when he was come to years, refused to be 
 called the Son of Pharaoh's daughter ; 
 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the 
 people of God than to enjoy the pleasures 
 of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach
 
 56 Confirmation. 
 
 of Christ greater riches than the treasures 
 in Egypt : for he had respect unto the 
 recompence of the reward. By faith he 
 forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the 
 king : for he endured, as seeing Him who 
 is invisible" (Heb. xi. 24 — 28). 
 
 By it we are kept unto the end and 
 actually and completely saved. '' Blessed 
 be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, which according to His abundant 
 mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively 
 hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
 from the dead, to an inheritance incor- 
 ruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 away, reserved in heaven for you, who are 
 kept by the power of God tJirongh faith 
 unto salvation " (i Pet. i. 3, 4, 5). 
 
 It is no wonder that much is made of our 
 faith when it works all this ; no wonder 
 that our Church makes much of the Creed 
 when salvation is thus revealed as hanging 
 upon our faith. 
 
 And now with this explanation of faith 
 and its influence in Christian life, I should 
 like to call your attention to the way in 
 which it is commended to us by our services 
 in church. 
 
 I. You never go to church without saying 
 the Creed. Why is this ? Is it a prayer }
 
 FaitJi. 37 
 
 No. Is it a passage of Holy Scripture ? 
 No. Is it a hymn of praise ? No, nor yet 
 that exactly. Why, then, do we say it in 
 all our services ? 
 
 Consider what the Christian Church is. 
 It is a society. And every society has its 
 symbol — its code of rules. And the code of 
 rules of the Christian Society is not " What 
 we are bound to do ? " but the groundwork 
 of that — " What we are bound to believe." 
 Upon the walls where any other society 
 meets or in the books of its associations, 
 you find written its Rules. In the hearts 
 and on the lips of the Society of Christians 
 you have its Faith. For Christendom is 
 not held together by a code of laws, nor 
 by a ritual, but by its faith. Christianity 
 is "The faith." And therefore it is that 
 standing up as if to declare what we stand 
 and walk by, we sing, or say — 
 
 " I believe in God the Father Almighty, 
 Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus 
 Christ His only Son our Lord . . . 
 
 ... I believe in the Holy Ghost ..." 
 
 It is the public profession of the founda- 
 tion of our religion. 
 
 2. There is a peculiarity in the expres- 
 sions of the Creed. In rehearsing it we 
 speak in language different to that of all the 
 rest of the service. When we pray, we say,
 
 58 Confirinatio7t. 
 
 " Our Father." When we praise, we say, 
 " We praise Thee, O God." When we 
 recite the Creed, we say, " / beheve." 
 
 Faith, which is the most intimate con- 
 nection of the soul with God, is a personal 
 work. No one can believe for another. In 
 the Creed you speak for yourself and your- 
 self alone, to God, before all the world, 
 
 " I BELIEVE." 
 
 And indeed it is a very solemn thing 
 thus to say the Creed. At best we can 
 hardly close such a profession so publicly 
 made without adding in our hearts the 
 words of the distressed father in the Gospel, 
 " Lord, I believe ; help Thou mine unbelief " 
 (St. Mark ix. 24). 
 
 I spoke at the beginning of this address of 
 having to live above this world though walk- 
 ing in it ; of the need of having some hand 
 from heaven to lift us up above ourselves ; 
 and of this our faith being that faculty by 
 which we surrender ourselves to be taken 
 hold of by God, and by which we ourselves 
 take hold of Him. A common scene on 
 earth may picture it out to us. A loving 
 father is leading his little son along a rough 
 and dirty way. He holds his willing hand 
 fast in his loving grasp. He lifts him over 
 the rough, carries him through the wet,
 
 Faith. 59 
 
 places. The way is wearisome and long, 
 but the child is with his father, and he cares 
 little for all else. His father's presence, his 
 father's voice, his father's love lift him 
 above all. He looks to his father, not to 
 the way, and is gladdened with his smile, 
 not wearied with its toil. He is above it, 
 for he is with his father, and they are going 
 home. Look up and see the everlasting 
 arm of your loving Father stretched out in 
 Christ and His Spirit to pardon, strengthen, 
 lead, and carry you. Lean your weight on 
 it, for it is " underneath you," and let it lift 
 you up above the common ways of life, in 
 nearness to the very heart of God. When 
 difficulties arise and perplexities come, and 
 the way seems dark and long, say, " I 
 believe in God the Father, my Father. He 
 made me. He will keep me. He will do 
 what is best for me." I will leave myself in 
 His hands." 
 
 When sin accuses, and conscience backs 
 the accusation, and you know not what to 
 do, say, " I believe in God the Son, my 
 Redeemer. He. died for me. He lives for 
 me. He is able to save me to the utter- 
 most, and He will save mc." 
 
 When you are wearied, and depressed, 
 and weak, and unfit for work, hardly able 
 to say " I believe " at all ; think then of
 
 6o Co7ifirmation, 
 
 the blessed Comforter, the Holy Ghost the 
 Comforter, and try to say, pray for grace 
 to say, *' I believe in God the Holy Ghost 
 my Comforter. He has strengthened. He 
 will strengthen me. I look to Him. I will 
 trust yet and not be afraid." 
 
 You may trust. And that trust will 
 sustain and lift you up, and make you brave 
 and strong to work. For it will make God's 
 strength yours, and in His strength you 
 will be strong indeed. You may say as one 
 has beautifully said — 
 
 " I know not the way I am going". 
 But well do I know my Guide, 
 With a childlike trust I give my hand 
 To the mighty Friend by my side. 
 
 "The only thing that I say to Him, 
 As He takes it is, * Hold me fast. 
 Suffer me not to lose my way. 
 And bring me home at last.' 
 
 *' As when some helpless wanderer. 
 Alone in an unknown land. 
 Tells the guide his destined place of rest. 
 And leaves all else in his hand ; 
 
 " 'Tis home, 'tis home we wish to reach. 
 He who guides may choose the way. 
 Little we heed the path we take. 
 If nearer home each day."
 
 V. 
 
 OBEDIENCE. 
 
 St. Matthew xxii. 37 — 40. 
 
 "Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
 all thy mind. This is the first and great com- 
 mandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." 
 
 i-^^OLLOWING the instruction of our 
 I ^Sj Church to the young in the Cate- 
 ii^^ chism in order to prepare them 
 for Confirmation, I have endea- 
 voured to illustrate and enforce her Vvords 
 as they explain — 
 
 1. What they are, — " Members of Christ, 
 the children of God, and inheritors of the 
 kingdom of 'heaven." 
 
 2. What they must as such give up, — 
 " The devil and all his works, the pomps 
 and vanity of this wicked world, and all 
 the sinful lusts of the flesh."
 
 62 Confirmation. 
 
 3. What they must beHeve in, — " God 
 the Father, God the Son, and God the 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
 And now we come to what they must 
 do, — " Keep God's holy will and Command- 
 ments, and walk in the same all the days of 
 their life." 
 
 These commandments, expressing our 
 duty towards God and towards man, are 
 the subject of this address. 
 
 Our Lord sums them all up in the words, 
 " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
 with all thy mind." And, " Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbour as thyself" And the Cate- 
 chism explains them in words of matchless 
 force and simplicity in "The Duty towards 
 God " and " The Duty towards our neigh- 
 bour." 
 
 But before I enter upon the command- 
 ments themselves I must dwell for a few 
 minutes upon the preface to them. It 
 brings before us again what we are so apt to 
 forget, though we so much need to remem- 
 ber it — the right motive for Christian life. It 
 is stated in the words with which the Lord 
 commenced the giving of the Law — 
 
 " I am the Lord, thy God, which have 
 brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out 
 of the house of bondage." And then im-
 
 Obedience. 63 
 
 mediately follows, " Thou slialt have no 
 other gods before Me" (Exodus xx. 2, 3). 
 
 Observe, then, the reason and the motive 
 given by God to the Israelites for keeping 
 His Law. 
 
 It was because He was " the Lord," the 
 one ever-existing Jehovah ; it was because 
 He was " their God," their own God, all that 
 is conceivable of good to them ; it was 
 because He had proved this by a special 
 act of most wonderful deliverance, " which 
 brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out 
 of the house of bondage." It was because 
 of all this, that out of thankfulness for all 
 they owed Him, they should endeavour to 
 please Him by keeping His commandments. 
 
 And observe the motive by which God 
 would induce tis also to serve Him, is the 
 same exactly in principle, though it is in 
 itself much stronger. It is the substance of 
 which that was the shadow. It is indeed 
 now as then, because He is " the Lord," and 
 has an absolute right to our service ; it is 
 because He is our God, a God of infinite 
 goodness revealed to us in Jesus Christ ; 
 and it is because He has, by the sacrifice 
 of Jesus Christ, redeemed us from the bond- 
 age of sin and death, that we are called 
 upon to obey and serve Him.
 
 64 Confirmation. 
 
 "Ye are not your own," writes St. Paul, 
 " for ye are bought with a price : therefore 
 glorify God in your body, and in your 
 spirit, which are God's " (i Cor. vi. 19, 20). 
 
 The same motive which at the beginning 
 of the Catechism is pressed upon us to in- 
 duce us to renounce sin, viz., that we are 
 ** members of Christ, the children of God, 
 and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven," 
 is here repeated to induce us to do good, 
 viz., because Christ has purchased us for 
 Himself by His own blood to do Him 
 service. 
 
 Consider then what service we are to 
 render to God, and what to our neighbour, 
 that is our fellow man, whenever we are 
 thrown in the way with him, because we 
 are God's children, Christ's members, re- 
 deemed by His blood, and assisted by His 
 Spirit for His service. You know the com- 
 mandments. There is abundance, of course, 
 in each one of them for separate treatment, 
 but there may be also an advantage in 
 treating them altogether. 
 
 They have a simple division into the first 
 and second tables, what our Saviour calls 
 the first and the second commandment ; 
 the first four commandments relating to 
 our duty to God, the last six relating to 
 our dutv to man.
 
 Obedience. 65 
 
 Firstly then as regards those which tell 
 us the particulars of our duty towards God. 
 
 1. The first coinniandment relates to our 
 choosing and serving, and so " having " as 
 God, only the true God, who is revealed to 
 us as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He 
 is really our God, TJiat is really our God, 
 which of all persons or things we love most ; 
 and therefore above all other persons or 
 things, above friends, money, pleasure, even 
 life itself, we are to love Him, 
 
 "With all our heart, and all our mind, 
 and all our soul, and all our strength." 
 Thus — 
 
 " Thou shalt have none other gods but 
 Mc." 
 
 " Me " indeed thou shalt have, but none 
 other. 
 
 2. The second commandment relates not 
 so much to the worship of the l7'iie God, 
 already commanded in the first, as to the 
 ivay in which He is to be worshipped. If 
 the first commands you to worship only 
 the true God, the second commands you to 
 worship Him in the only true way, that is 
 not by means of any image or likeness of 
 Him, but as " He is a Spirit, in spirit and 
 in truth." St. John iv. 24. 
 
 " Thou shalt not make to thyself any 
 graven image, nor the likeness of anything
 
 66 Coufinnaiiott. 
 
 that is in heaven above, or in the earth 
 beneath. . . . Thou shalt not bow down to 
 
 them nor worship them " No ! but 
 
 on the contrary. Thou shalt worship Him, 
 as revealed in Jesus Christ, and give Him 
 thanks, and put your whole trust in Him, 
 and call upon Him. What is condemned 
 in this commandment is the worship of the 
 true God in a wrong way ; what is therefore 
 commanded is the worship of Him in the 
 right way, with spiritual worship through 
 one only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 3. The third commandment touches that 
 by which God is known and revealed to 
 us, His name. It condemns all profaneness 
 in common conversation, especially in the 
 thoughtless use of any of His names ; and 
 also all carelessness in worship when God's 
 Name is in people's mouths, but not in 
 their hearts. It also condemns all irreve- 
 rent treatment of God's Holy Word, which 
 is in a true sense His Name as being that 
 which tells us who He is, and what He is 
 to us. 
 
 Thus in its true spirit it commands that 
 alike in conversation and in worship we 
 treat His great and holy Name with 
 reverence, and study His Holy Word with 
 prayer.
 
 Obedience. 67 
 
 " Thou shalt not take the Name of the 
 Lord thy God in vain," is the letter of what 
 this Law forbids. "Thou shalt honour Mis 
 holy Name and \\\s Word " is the spirit of 
 what it commands. 
 
 Perhaps you have been struck with the 
 words with which this commandment, and 
 this only, concludes, 
 
 " For the Lord will not hold him guiltless 
 that taketh His Name in vain." 
 
 God foresaw what has but too surely 
 come to pass, that men would think the 
 violation of this commandment a trifle. 
 They use God's Name merely to adorn 
 their oaths, or to add emphasis to their 
 assertions, in the mere wantonness of pro- 
 fane irreverence ; and if spoken to on the 
 subject ask in astonishment, " What harm 
 have I done in that .? " What harm } why 
 you are habituating yourself to a practice 
 which is destructive of all reverence. You 
 are harming all around you by your ex- 
 ample, and doing yourself such harm, that 
 whatever you may think, God has expressly 
 and solemnly warned you that He " will 
 not hold such guiltless." 
 
 4. The fourth commandment, which bids 
 
 us work on six days and rest on one in the 
 
 week, has thus these words only left for its 
 
 explanation in "the duty towards God " ot 
 
 E 2
 
 68 Confirmation. 
 
 the Catechism, but you will admit that 
 they are very expressive words, *' and to 
 serve Him truly all the days of my lite " ; 
 that is *'to serve Him by true and honest 
 work for six days, as well as by true and 
 religious rest for one day in each week. 
 
 "This," our Saviour says, all this re- 
 lating to our duty towards God, " is the 
 first and great commandment." 
 
 He adds, ** And the second is like unto it," 
 that is in its principle, " Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbour as thyself." This brings 
 us to the second table. And as each 
 commandment of the first table requires 
 for its fulfilment that **we love God with 
 all our heart and soul, and mind and 
 strength," so each commandment of the 
 second table requires that **we love our 
 neighbour as ourself." Our Lord has given 
 us a practical explanation of this in His 
 words, "All things whatsoever ye would that 
 men should do to you, do ye even so to 
 them." St. Matt. vii. 12. And in "the duty 
 towards our neighbour " this is adopted and 
 added as an explanation of the command, 
 " My duty towards my neighbour is to love 
 him as myself, and to do to all men, as I 
 would they should do unto Me." 
 
 H. Now just apply this principle of doing
 
 Obedience. v'5SE)a 
 
 to another as, it circumstances were chang'eCT; 
 
 you would desire him to do to you, and see 
 how it explains and enforces each of the 
 six last commandments. 
 
 5. The fifth commandment is concern- 
 ing the duty of parents, and all who stand 
 in the relation of parents, such as rulers, 
 teachers, pastors, to children, and such as 
 stand in the relation of children, to them. 
 Are you then children ? Behave to your 
 parents as you would wish them, if your 
 children, to behave to you. Should you 
 ever become parents, act to your children 
 as you would wish them, if your parents, to 
 act to you. 
 
 6. The sixth commandment forbids mur- 
 der. It is explained as commanding " to 
 hurt nobody by deed," " to bear no malice 
 nor hatred in your heart." You do not like 
 any one to bear malice towards, or to hurt 
 you. You are vexed at the thought of any 
 one's feeling unkindly towards you. Take 
 care then that you do not vex another by 
 hurting, or even by feeling unkindly towards, 
 him. Love even your enemies. 
 
 7. The seventh forbids adultery, or as 
 our Lord explains it, the mere look with the 
 thought of any such sin. (St. Matt. v. 28.) 
 Take care you never cast such a look upon 
 another. Keep your body, if you would
 
 •JO Confirmation. 
 
 keep this commandment, and keep yourself, 
 heart as well as body, " in temperance, 
 soberness, and chastity." Be " pure in 
 heart." Abstain from impure books and 
 thoughts and words. 
 
 8. The eighth is '* Thou shalt not steal." 
 Now you sorely complain if any one is dis- 
 honest in any way to you. Be then as 
 honest to all others, in all transactions, as 
 you would have them honest to you. 
 
 " True and honest in all your dealings," 
 this will be the principle of your life: 
 ** keeping your hands from picking and 
 stealing," this will be its action in all 
 particulars. 
 
 9. The ninth, ** Thou shalt not bear false 
 witness against thy neighbour," enjoins 
 truthfulness. " To keep your tongue from 
 evil speaking, and slandering"; "to hurt 
 nobody by word," but to be charitable in all 
 you say as well as in all you do. 
 
 Consider but one moment how you wish 
 people to speak of you. Speak of them in 
 the same spirit ; and you will never, as 
 long as you live, say another unkind or 
 untrue word. 
 
 10. The tenth and last commandment 
 enjoins "contented industry," "not to covet 
 nor desire other men's goods," not to 
 desire gain by their loss as in betting and
 
 Obedience. 7 1 
 
 gambling, but to learn and labour truly to 
 get }'Our own living. 
 
 Even in this commandment which ex- 
 pressly concerns the inner and unseen man, 
 the thoughts and desires of the heart, the 
 same principle holds good. You would 
 not like, if you knew it, and it is wonderful 
 how even men's thoughts do let themselves 
 be known, that others should be coveting 
 and desiring to possess themselves of your 
 property. Take care then to treat them, 
 even in your desires, as you wish to be 
 treated by them. Do not covet what is 
 theirs. " Be content with such things as 
 you have ; for He hath said I will never 
 leave thee nor forsake thee." Heb. xiii. 5. 
 And He is enough for man. 
 
 Thus true it is that the words of our 
 Saviour, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour 
 as thyself," covers the whole of the second 
 table of the commandments ; and hence 
 St. Paul writes, " Owe no man anything 
 but to love one another ; for he that loveth 
 another hath fulfilled the law. For this, 
 Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt 
 not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt 
 not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet ; 
 and if there be any other commandment, it 
 is briefly comprehended in this saying, 
 namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
 
 72 Co nfij'i nation . 
 
 thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neigh- 
 bour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the 
 law." Rom. xiii. 8 — ii. 
 
 III. I have spoken of the motive we have 
 to keep the comm-andments, namely, the 
 fact that Christ has redeemed us ; and of the 
 commandments themselves. I should like 
 to add something about the object of these 
 commandments. Why has God given us 
 commands } Why does He bid us keep 
 them if we love Him, and if we believe 
 that we are His } Is it His mere arbitrary 
 will } Does He lay upon us these restric- 
 tions simply because He can command, and 
 we must obey } God is Love, and what- 
 ever He does for us He does in love to us. 
 When He gives laws He gives them in love. 
 Their object is our happiness. 
 
 Which of these commandments could we 
 spare 1 Could we do as well, or could we 
 do at all, without honour to parents, or 
 kindness to one another, or temperance, or 
 chastity, or honesty, or faithfulness, or con- 
 tent .'* Remove any one of them and you 
 break yp the happiness of society. If all 
 men obeyed these commandments how 
 happy the world would be. If we obeyed 
 them how happy we should be. The one 
 thing which makes us truly miserable, the
 
 Obedience. 73 
 
 one thinfT only which is intolerable in its 
 burden, is " Sin, the transgression of the 
 
 IV. Mark then this step further in our 
 Church's guidance on this subject. 
 
 The commandments are read every 
 Sunday morning in church. One by one, 
 in all their clear and piercing simplicity, 
 are these words of God read out aloud to 
 tell us what we shall Jiot do : " Thou shalt 
 not," '' Thou shalt not," " Thou shalt not." 
 And they are not the least solemn and im- 
 pressive part of our very impressive service. 
 They have before now, one or other of them, 
 struck home to the sinner's conscience, and 
 sent him away convinced that he was fight- 
 ing against God. 
 
 But we are not left by our Church thus 
 to dwell upon our transgressions and sins 
 without guidance as to what we shall do 
 with them, or without hope as to how we 
 shall overcome them. As the sound of 
 each command of God ceases to ring in our 
 ears, we are instructed to respond, and com- 
 monly in penitential tones, with the lan- 
 guage of confession and of prayer. Scarcely 
 has the word of God's minister closed with 
 "Thou shalt not kill." "Thou shalt not 
 commit adultery," " Thou shalt not steal,"
 
 74 Confirmation, 
 
 &c., &c., than God's people with one voice 
 reply, " Lord have mercy upon us, and in- 
 cline our hearts to keep this law." We 
 pray for mercy, because in the past, as we 
 acknowledge, we have broken the command- 
 ment ; we pray for the inclination of our 
 hearts by God that in the future we may 
 break it no m,ore. 
 
 And we know, for it is with that thought 
 that the commandments were ushered in, 
 we know that He will hear such prayer, 
 because He is our God, because He has re- 
 deemed us, and we are His children. A 
 penitent child never cries in vain to a loving 
 father. And '* if any man sin, we have an 
 Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous ; and He is the propitiation for 
 our sins." i John ii. i, 2. 
 
 If our covenant with God in Christ 
 were thus defined by Him, " Keep the com- 
 mandments, and so become My children and 
 \ive," we could have no hope ; for we have 
 not kept the commandments, and we can 
 win no life by keeping them. But since 
 God rather expressed it thus, " Ye are my 
 children, live as my children and keep the 
 commandments;" we thank God for the 
 life He has given us in Christ ; we praise 
 Him for His adopting love, we try to please 
 Him by keeping His commandments, and
 
 Obedience. 75 
 
 when we fail, as fail we often do, we go and 
 tell Him, and ask His forgiveness for the 
 past, and His help for the future. 
 
 " Lord have mercy upon us, and incline 
 our hearts to keep this law." " Lord have 
 mercy upon us, and write all these Thy laws 
 in our hearts, we beseech Thee."
 
 ^M 
 
 mmmmmm^mm^<\ 
 
 ^K^^^^^ 
 
 VI. 
 PRAYER. 
 
 St. Luke xi. i. 
 " Lord, teach us to pray.' 
 
 HEN we dwell upon the Command- 
 ments of God as interpreted by 
 our Saviour, and think of all they 
 forbid and all they enjoin, we feel 
 the truth of what the Church in her Cate- 
 chism puts into her teacher's lips, namely, 
 that we cannot keep these commandments 
 without God's special grace. 
 
 Many persons, perhaps most, give up 
 at once the attempt to keep them. They 
 say it is impossible to keep them ; that 
 nobody ever does keep them, and that it is 
 of no use trying to do so. And so while 
 they retain the name, and flatter them- 
 selves that they retain the hope, of Chris- 
 tians, they abandon the reality.
 
 Prayer. 77 
 
 But others, believing that they are indeed 
 the children of God and inheritors of the 
 kingdom of heaven, with much thankful- 
 ness for all that Christ has done for them, 
 and with some trust in all that He may yet 
 do for them, determine honestly and heartily 
 that they will walk in God's command- 
 ments and keep them as nearly as they can. 
 
 And the first outpouring of their hearts 
 as they enter upon such a life is that of 
 prayer. " Lord help me ; Lord give me 
 Thy grace to serve Thee." 
 
 Such a state of mind is, in our days, 
 frequently met with a variety of objections. 
 " What is the use of prayer t " it is said, 
 " How can it affect God } " " Do you sup- 
 pose He will alter the laws of the universe 
 to help you 1 " " Why then should you 
 waste your time in praying at all } " 
 
 L Then, let us reply to this question, 
 Why are we to pray t 
 
 I. Because it is part of our very nature 
 to do so. Prayer to some one stronger 
 than ourselves is one of our instincts. In 
 sudden danger, when the real man speaks 
 out, it is ever, ** God help me." In deep 
 distress, when the soul has no other com- 
 fort, it is constrained to ask for it of God. 
 
 This is seen outside the pale of Chris-
 
 yS ConfirviatioiL 
 
 tianity as well as within it. Thus Chunder 
 Sen, an Indian Deist, writing of his 
 struggles, says, " Feeble in body, feeble in 
 mind, feeble still in spirit, how could I stand 
 in the face of enemies outside and enemies 
 within contending for the mastery of my 
 soul ? In deep agony I consulted my soul, 
 and my soul said in language exceedingly 
 simple and impressive, ' Pray, and pray, if 
 you want salvation ; none but God can 
 save sinners.' " 
 
 A Christian scholar, fully alive to all 
 the difficulties of the question, the late 
 Mr. Conington, thus expresses, in kindred 
 language, the answer of Ids soul : ** My own 
 belief is, that in personal matters whatever 
 is worth serious anxiety is worth making a 
 subject of prayer ; that praying is a better 
 attitude towards the future than fretting." 
 
 2. We are to pray not only because our 
 nature requires it, but because God com- 
 mands it. I suppose I might say with 
 truth that our nature requiring it is one 
 way, and perhaps the strongest way, of 
 God's commanding it. But there is another 
 way in which He commands it, and that is 
 in His Word. He has bidden us ''Pray 
 ivithout ceasing'' (i Thess. v. 17). 
 
 Of course, if we do not believe in the 
 Bible as the revelation of God's will, we
 
 Prayer. 79 
 
 shall not be moved by any commands it 
 may put forth. But if we do, such positive 
 injunctions as this are enough to silence 
 all objections to prayer. An unbeliever 
 may say indeed, " I cannot see the use of 
 prayer " ; but your reply, satisfactory to you 
 if not to him, is this: *' It is God's com- 
 mand. I do not pretend to solve all mys- 
 teries, but I trust God rather than you. 
 I choose to follow the teaching of the Bible 
 rather than your objection. Even if the 
 words were only St. Paul's, I think St. Paul 
 a wiser and a better man than you, and I 
 sJiall pray!' 
 
 3. We are to pray because Jesus Christ, 
 our example, prayed. 
 
 "It came to pass," writes St. Luke, *'in 
 those days that He went out into a moun- 
 tain to pray, and continued all night in 
 prayer to God " (St. Luke vi. 12). 
 
 We believe Him to be the perfect man 
 and the Very God ; and He, in His man- 
 hood, to do His work as man and to set us 
 a perfect example, spent more time in 
 prayer than any other man we read of. 
 Prayer was a reality to Him, and so were 
 God's answers. *' I know," He said, **that 
 Thou hearest me always " (St. John xi. 
 42). 
 
 " More things are wrought by prayer
 
 8o Confirmation. 
 
 than this world dreams of." But not more 
 than He dreamt of. He knew its power, 
 its efficacy, and its comfort, and therefore 
 He prayed, and so must you. 
 
 n. Then, " What is prayer t " 
 
 1. It is first of all simply telling God all 
 that is in your heart, in the childlike con- 
 fidence that He will hear, attend, and do 
 what is best for you. Thus Martha and 
 Mary sent and told Jesus of their brother's 
 sickness in t'nese words : " Lord, behold 
 he whom Thou lovest is sick" (St. John 
 xi. 3). This was surely praying Him to 
 come and help. Just so St. Paul bids us 
 " Be careful for nothing ; but in everything 
 by prayer and supplication with thanks- 
 giving, let your requests be made known 
 unto God " (Phil. iv. 6). 
 
 And this exactly meets what we know by 
 experience to be the cravings of our hearts. 
 It bids us tell out all our care to God, and 
 assures us of relief, if in no other way, at 
 least in the sense of knowing that He will 
 either remove the trouble, or strengthen us 
 to bear it. 
 
 2. Then, again, prayer is asking for de- 
 finite gifts of God to ourselves and others. 
 There cannot be a better illustration of this 
 than these requests of the Lord's Prayer :
 
 Prayer. 8 1 
 
 " Give us this day our daily bread, and for- 
 give us our trespasses," &c., &c. 
 
 These are the simple plain petitions 
 which Christ Himself has taught us. If we 
 may ask thus at all, we may ask thus for 
 anything which concerns our good. And 
 He has promised an answer. " Ask and it 
 shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; 
 knock, and it shall be opened unto you." 
 (St. Matt. vii. 7.) 
 
 And this is what may be done at any 
 and at every hour of the day, whenever a 
 temptation arises, or a danger meets us in 
 our path. We can then and there call to 
 mind the presence of God. We can reve- 
 rently place ourselves before Him ; and 
 waiting there a few moments to remember 
 who He is, and what we are, we can fer- 
 vently pray Him to help us as He knows 
 to be best for us. And such prayer will 
 not be in vain. But what can and should 
 thus be done on every occasion of need, 
 should be more fully done with reference 
 to all the needs of our life and circum- 
 stances at least every morning and evening 
 as they come. Neither work nor weariness 
 should ever be allowed to break through this 
 habit ; for if you once begin to put off your 
 ]M-aycrs, depend upon it you have taken the 
 first step to put off your religion altogether. 
 F
 
 82 Confirmation. 
 
 3. Further, tJianksgiving is an essential of 
 prayer. In the passage just quoted from the 
 Epistle to the Philippians, '* with thanks- 
 giving" is an emphatic addition, " in every- 
 thing by prayer and supplication zvith 
 thanksgiving let your requests be made 
 known unto God." We cannot approach 
 God at all without a deep sense of thank- 
 fulness for what he has done for us ; " for 
 our creation, preservation, and all the bless- 
 ings of this life, but, above all, for His 
 inestimable love in the redemption of the 
 world by our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 Judge as far as the analogy will carry 
 you from yourselves. What would you 
 think of a beggar, or even of your own 
 child, who came to you continually asking, 
 but never thanking, in whose manner and 
 expression there was a constant complain- 
 ing of want, but little or no expression of 
 gratitude 1 It would not be a pleasure to 
 you to encourage such a spirit. And God 
 would have us kept in all the brightness of 
 thankful spirits. Thankfulness is a very 
 joyous condition ; and God wills to have 
 His children live " in love, and joy, and 
 peace." 
 
 4. Once more, an essential part of prayer 
 is adoration, not asking for anything nor
 
 Prayer. Zt^ 
 
 thanking for anything-, but "adoring, wor- 
 shipping, praising God, for what He is in 
 Himself." It is the natural outburst of 
 the Christian's heart. We have beautiful 
 illustrations of it in the hymns of our Com- 
 munion Service, in which from age to age 
 the Church has expressed its feelings — 
 
 *' Therefore, with angels and archangels, 
 and with all the company of heaven, we 
 laud and magnify Thy glorious name, ever- 
 more praising Thee, and saying, * Holy 
 holy, holy. Lord God of hosts, heaven and 
 earth are full of Thy glory : glory be to 
 Thee, O Lord most high.' " 
 
 " Glory be to God on high, and on earth 
 peace, good will towards men. We praise 
 Thee, we bless Thee, we glorify Thee, we 
 give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory, 
 O Lord God, heavenly King, God the 
 Father Almighty." 
 
 in. And now we come to the forvt 
 which our prayers should take ; and we 
 have it given us by our Lord Himself, 
 who taught his disciples "after this man- 
 ner " to " pray " when Pie gave them the 
 Lord's Prayer ; not, that is, necessarily or 
 exclusively in these words, but after the 
 form and in the order and spirit of them. 
 
 " Our Father, which art in heaven . . . ." 
 F 2
 
 84 Confirmation. 
 
 In this, the Lord's Prayer, you should 
 observe how every word lays down a prin- 
 ciple of prayer. The first word, for in- 
 stance, " Our," bids us pray not as indi- 
 viduals only, but as members of a society ; 
 not for ourselves only, but for others. The 
 next word, " Father," " Our Father," assures 
 of the loving character of Him whom we 
 approach in Christ, and encourages us, as 
 we enter upon our petitions, to believe they 
 will be granted ; for " if we, being evil, 
 know how to give good gifts unto our 
 children, how much more shall our Father 
 which is in heaven give good things to 
 them that ask him ? " (St. Matt. vii. 1 1.) 
 
 The words which complete this address, 
 *' which art in heaven," lift up our thoughts 
 above this world, remind us that we are 
 approaching the Lord of heaven as of 
 earth, though that Lord in infinite com- 
 passion is our Father. '' Our Father, which 
 art in heaven." As " the desire " in the 
 Catechism expresses it : "I desire my Lord 
 God, ozir Heavenly Father " — {fuijie indeed, 
 though 02trs also) — " who is the giver of 
 all goodness, to send His grace unto vie 
 and to all people." 
 
 We pass on to the petitions, and are 
 struck first with this, that all the earlier 
 ones relate to the advancement of God's
 
 Prayer. 85 
 
 f^lory. Before we may venture to ask 
 for any of our temporal wants, we are to 
 implore God to give us His grace, that 
 we and all others *' may worship Him, serve 
 Him, and obey Him as we ought to do." 
 " Hallowed " by me and by all others " be 
 Thy name." " Thy kingdom come " — Thy- 
 self be King in my heart and the heart of all 
 mankind. " Thy wdll," as angels do it in 
 heaven, " be done " by me and by all on 
 earth. 
 
 After thus praying for God's glory we are 
 encouraged to go on and ask as simply 
 for "all things that be needful both for 
 our souls and bodies," daily food, daily 
 forgiveness, daily deliverance from all 
 evil. " After this manner " our Saviour 
 would teach us to tell to our God in 
 detail, one by one, all the special needs 
 which each one has ; for whatsoever is 
 of sufficient importance to interest us is 
 of sufficient importance to interest Him 
 for us. 
 
 And then the whole concludes with the 
 grand ascription of all power and glory to 
 Him, so that, whereas w^e began with the 
 recognition of the love of our Father, and 
 of His willingness to hear, we conclude 
 with the proclamation of the Majesty of 
 our God, and of His power to help us.
 
 86 Confirmation. 
 
 " For thine is the kingdom, and the power^ 
 and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
 IV. To this our Lord's form of prayer 
 I would add next His remark on praying 
 in fait Ji. 
 
 "What things soever," he said, "ye de- 
 sire when ye pray, believe that ye receive 
 them and ye shall have them " (St. Mark 
 xi. 24). 
 
 St. James gives similar directions. " If 
 any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of 
 God, that giveth to all men liberally, and 
 upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. 
 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering " 
 (St. James i. 5, 6). 
 
 We have a very striking illustration of 
 what this faith in prayer should be in the 
 story of Jacob wrestling with the angel of 
 God, with the Son of God Himself while 
 anticipating for a season the human form 
 which now he has put on, never to be laid 
 aside again. 
 
 " And Jacob was left alone, and there 
 wrestled a man with him until the breaking 
 of the day." 
 
 "And he said. Let me go, for the day 
 breaketh." And he said, "I will not let 
 thee go except Thou bless me" (Genesis 
 xxxii. 24, 26).
 
 Prayer. Sy 
 
 With reverence we may say it, and God 
 would have us say it, " I will not let Thee 
 go except Thou bless me." 
 
 It was exactly in this spirit of importu- 
 nate faith that the woman of Canaan 
 pleaded with our Lord, and would take no 
 denial for mercy to her afflicted daughter. 
 His silence did not silence her. His an- 
 swer, worse than silence, did not make 
 her hold her peace or cease to cry unto 
 Him or cease to believe in Him. She 
 went on unmoved by what seemed the 
 most bitter rebuke. She acknowledged 
 herself a very dog, and yet drew conso- 
 lation and argument even from that. " It 
 is not meet," He said, " to take the chil- 
 dren's bread and cast it to dogs." " Truth, 
 Lord," she replied, " and yet the dogs eat 
 of the crumbs that fall from their master's 
 table." Then said He, "O woman, great 
 is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou 
 wilt" (St. Matt. XV. 21—29). 
 
 It is most likely that St. Paul had this 
 same story of Jacob's wrestling in his mind 
 when he described by this very word to 
 the Colossians his own prayers and those 
 of Epaphras (Coloss. i. 29, iv. 12). 
 
 You can tell whether the faith with which 
 you pray is at all like this which is thus 
 described ; whether your prayers are in
 
 88 Confirmation. 
 
 any sense a wrestling with God, or whether 
 they are rather mere utterances of words to 
 which you never think of looking for an 
 answer. " I am bound to acknowledge," 
 wrote a noble Christian, the late Sir F. 
 Buxton, " I am bound to acknowledge that 
 I have always found that my prayers have 
 been heard and answered. Not that I have 
 in every instance — although in almost every 
 instance I have — received what I asked 
 for ; nor do I expect or wish it. I always 
 qualify my petitions by adding, provided 
 that what I ask for is for my real good, 
 and according to the will of my Lord. 
 With this qualification I submit my wants 
 and wishes in all things small and great 
 to God. I understand literally the injunc- 
 tion, * Be careful for nothing, but in every- 
 thing by prayer and supplication with 
 thanksgiving let your requests be made 
 known unto God ' ; and I cannot but notice 
 how amply these prayers have been met." 
 
 This, remember, was one of a noble 
 band of men who won over the House of 
 Commons and the people of Great Britain 
 to banish slavery from the empire, and to 
 declare that henceforth no subject of the 
 Queen should ever be anything but free. 
 He did nothing and spoke nothing without 
 casting himself on God in prayer.
 
 Prayer. 89 
 
 I am speaking to many young men and 
 young women, who are about to commence 
 at their Confirmation the profession of a 
 Christian Hfe. I have tried to say many 
 things to you, but above all let me say, 
 "Pray." As you rise in the morning, as 
 you go to bed at night, ** Pray." As you 
 go along the streets or roads to your 
 work, and as you come home, " Pray." 
 When you feel an evil thought rising in 
 your heart, " Pray." When you are con- 
 scious of a wicked desire stealing over you, 
 "Pray." Are you entering upon a business 
 or a situation } " Pray." Are you making 
 an intimate friend ? ** Pray." Are you 
 thrown with those who are doing you 
 harm } " Pray.'' In all things and at all 
 times seek God's guidance. " Pray without 
 ceasing." 
 
 It need not occupy much of your time, 
 though you ought always to secure some 
 time for it ; a word or an exclamation, a 
 sigh or a secret wish will often express 
 it. For God is very near, and His ear is 
 quick of hearing, and His hand close by to 
 help. Nay, *' before we call He answers, and 
 while we yet speak He hears our prayer." 
 At all events we know of one prayer that 
 has been fully answered. " Lord, teach us 
 to pray," was the disciples' prayer, the
 
 90 
 
 Confirmation, 
 
 prayer of the Church of God represented 
 by them. He taught them, and has taught 
 us by them. We know how to pray, and 
 we know what priceless blessings are pro- 
 mised to our prayers. Which then shall 
 be written in our history : He was a man 
 of prayer t or. He was a prayerless man }
 
 VII. 
 SACRAMENTS. 
 
 1. — "THE OUTWARD AND VISIBLE SIGN." 
 
 N these addresses preparatory to 
 Confirmation, I have dwelt upon 
 the leading points of our holy 
 religion. Following the order of 
 the Church Catechism, I have considered, 
 " What a Christian is " ; *' What he must 
 give up " ; " What he must believe " ; 
 "What he must do"; "How he must 
 pray." I pass on to those means of grace 
 which combine all these subjects in their 
 teaching, I mean the Sacraments. 
 
 God in His mercy teaches us not only 
 through the ear, but through the eye, and
 
 92 Confirmation. 
 
 not merely by verbal promises, but by 
 sealed covenants. These latter we call 
 Sacraments ; of which there are but two, 
 Baptism and the Supper of the Lord, 
 which come under our Church's definition 
 of a Sacrament. 
 
 This definition is as follows : By the 
 word Sacrament we mean " an outward 
 and visible sign of an inward and spiritual 
 grace given unto us, ordained by Christ 
 Himself, as a means whereby we receive 
 the same, and a pledge to assure us there- 
 of." 
 
 I propose to consider this definition. 
 
 Observe then there are three things 
 essential to a Sacrament as we understand 
 that word. 
 
 1. There must be an outward sign. 
 
 2. There must be an inward grace, of 
 which this outward sign is the sign, the 
 means, and the pledge. 
 
 3. There must be the appointment of 
 Christ Himself to make the outward sign 
 the means and the pledge of our receiving 
 the inward grace. 
 
 The two first, the outward and the in- 
 ward, the outward and visible sign, and 
 the inward and spiritual grace, are the two 
 parts of the Sacrament itself.
 
 Sacraments. 93 
 
 The third, namely Christ's appointment, 
 IS that which unites them and makes them 
 of efficacy. 
 
 First, then, with reference to these two 
 parts, let us consider the outward as a sign 
 of the inward. 
 
 It is so difficult for us to realise the spi- 
 ritual, to be assured that we possess and 
 have that which we cannot touch, or taste, 
 or see, or realise, with any of our outward 
 senses, that God helps us to such an 
 assurance by outward symbols, stamped 
 and authenticated by Himself. 
 
 Such an outward sign, if it were ordained 
 to be a sign or symbol of an inward 
 reality, we should expect to be something 
 as like to that reality as in the nature of 
 the case it is possible for it to be ; some- 
 thing that would naturally point to it, and 
 picture it out, and so in itself be a sort of 
 parable of it, and a parable simple and 
 easy for all men to understand. 
 
 Such outward signs are admirably pro- 
 vided for the purpose in the water of 
 Baptism, and the Bread and Wine of the 
 Lord's Supper. What is the use of water 
 outwardly applied to the body } Is it not 
 to wash away all filth 1 What is the spi- 
 ritual meaning of Baptism } Is it not the
 
 94 Confirmation. 
 
 washing away of sin ? " Arise," said Ana- 
 nias to Saul, " and be baptized, and wash 
 away thy sins, calling on the name of the 
 Lord." Acts xxii. 16. 
 
 There is a remarkable Greek inscription 
 round the font in St. Mary's Church, Not- 
 tingham, copied, I believe, from an ancient 
 Greek church, remarkable in thisthatwhich- 
 ever way you read its letters they make the 
 same words, 
 
 vf^ov avo\x.-\]\xara firj fxofav oyj/iv. 
 
 It expresses both the outward and inward 
 of what is ordained to take place there. 
 " Wash your sins, not your face only." 
 
 Could any outward and visible thing be 
 a more suggestive sign of the forgiving and 
 cleansing away of our sin than washing 
 by water ? 
 
 The Bread and Wine of the Lord's 
 Supper are as simple and suggestive. What 
 is the use of bread and wine ? Is it not 
 to feed, sustain, strengthen, refresh us ? 
 And what are the spiritual benefits of 
 the Lord's Supper ? Are they not the 
 strengthening and refreshing of our souls ? 
 
 These signs then are in their simplicity 
 and in their adaptation to the purpose for 
 which they are ordained, the best possible. 
 
 They are ordained as si^yis of grace ;
 
 Sacramejits. 95 
 
 " outward and visible signs of inward and 
 spiritual grace." What is Grace? God's 
 mercy given gratis ; given without our 
 having done anything to deserve it. And 
 this mercy which God gives gratis is, first 
 of all, the mercy of forgiveness to the 
 sinner, and then the mercy of strength and 
 refreshment to the forgiven. 
 
 That God does for Christ's sake give 
 this mercy gratis — the mercy of forgive- 
 ness, and the mercy of refreshment, to 
 those who are rightly disposed to receive 
 it — is the very key-note of the Gospel, the 
 glad tidings of great joy to all who will 
 believe and accept it. It is proclaimed 
 from the first to the last page of the New 
 Testament in every variety of language ; 
 and it is stamped as on a visible deed of 
 conveyance, easy to read, and simple to be 
 understood of all, in the Sacraments of 
 Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. 
 
 II. And this brings us to the second 
 point we have to consider, namely the 
 ordaining of these signs as means and 
 pledges by Christ Himself. 
 
 Of course no outward thing like water, 
 or bread, or wine, can of itself convey to 
 us anything more than in its own nature it' 
 contains. But if appointed to do so, if
 
 g6 Co?tfirmatwn, 
 
 ordained by Christ Himself to be a channel 
 of His gifts, it is impossible for us to say 
 that it cannot. 
 
 We may not be able to understand how 
 outward things are able to become means 
 or channels for the conveyance of spiritual 
 things ; but in fact all spiritual things are 
 conveyed to us through the instrumentality 
 of outward ones. The written word is 
 something outward ; the spoken word is 
 something outward ; the warnings alike 
 and the promises, the arguments and rea- 
 sonings v/hich excite our interest in spiritual 
 things, convince us of their reality, and 
 incline us to receive them, are all outzvard ; 
 and if not visible to the eye are intelligible 
 to one or other of the senses of the man. 
 
 And Christ has ordained the water of 
 Baptism and the Bread and Wine of the 
 Lord's Supper, which in themselves are 
 nothing more than water, and bread and 
 wine, to be the means of conveying grace, 
 and a pledge that it is conveyed to those 
 who rightly receive them. Of course what- 
 ever is such a means and pledge can only 
 be so when ordained by Him who is Himself 
 the fountain of grace, and has the power 
 to convey it. 
 
 The gas pipes in our churches and houses 
 are the means of conveying light to us.
 
 Sacraments. 97 
 
 They are not such by any power of their 
 own to produce light, but only by special 
 provision when they are connected with the 
 gasometer on the owa hand and the burners 
 on the other ; they are only a means of 
 light by virtue of their being ordained to 
 be so by those who have power over the 
 gas. And the water of Baptism and the 
 bread and wine of the Lord's Supper only 
 become means of grace to us by being 
 ordained for such a purpose by Christ Him- 
 self, who is the Lord of all grace. 
 
 Again, the deed of conveyance oi an estate 
 is a means of making over an estate from 
 one person to another, because the law of 
 the land has so appointed it. It is not the 
 estate itself, but it represents it and con- 
 veys it. And thus by the appointment of 
 Christ Himself the water in Baptism conveys 
 to the penitent believer the washing away 
 of his sins ; and the bread and wine in the 
 Lord's Supper become to him in effect all 
 that is meant by the words, " the Body and 
 Blood of Christ." What that is we shall 
 see in the next address. 
 
 There may be in such means of convey- 
 ing grace much more than we can explain 
 or understand. But if we may assume 
 that grace usually is conveyed to us by 
 natural rather than supernatural means, 
 G
 
 98 Cojifirniation. 
 
 and enters our souls by the ordinary rather 
 than by any extraordinary channels ; then 
 repentance is that which prepares us for 
 its reception, and faith that which actually 
 receives it : and Sacraments are means of 
 grace in' that they manifestly set forth 
 Christ crucified among us and given to us, 
 thus exciting repentance, quickening faith, 
 and intensifying all means and capabilities 
 of receiving the grace which God at all 
 times and in all ways is ever waiting to 
 pour out upon us. 
 
 But we speak of the " outward and vis- 
 ible sign " in the Sacraments as being not 
 only " the means of grace," but ** a pledge 
 to assure us thereof." 
 
 A pledge is something visible that we can 
 look at, and by doing so assure ourselves 
 of the reality of that which it pledges. 
 
 Such a pledge is a marriage ring. It is 
 a token and assurance of the reality of the 
 marriage. No woman looking at her mar- 
 riage ring could entertain a doubt of her 
 marriage. 
 
 We want to be assured of God's love to, 
 and union with, us in Christ ; for we are 
 very suspicious. Sin makes us suspicious 
 and doubtful even of His love. We often 
 have such questionings as these : " Did the 
 Son of God really become incarnate t " " Did
 
 Sacrai/iOifs. 99 
 
 He really die in the fiesli ? " *' Did He die 
 for me ?" " May I really appropriate Him, 
 His merits, His work, Himself crucified and 
 risen, to myself, as my salvation ? " 
 
 Here, then, in the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper is the very assuring token 
 and pledge which we need. Here is a simpkt 
 institution which has come down from our 
 Saviour's own time, and by His own ap- 
 pointment. Here is the bread broken, the 
 picture of the broken body of Christ. Here 
 is the wine poured out, the symbol of His 
 shed blood. And here is God's ministei 
 acting in God's name, singling out each 
 one and saying, " The Body of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ which was given for thee pre- 
 serve thy body and soul unto everlasting 
 life ; take and eat this in remembrance that 
 Christ died for thee, and feed on Him in 
 thy heart by faith with thanksgiving." 
 
 It is a pledge than which none can be 
 stronger, to assure us that Christ has be- 
 come incarnate, that Christ's body was 
 broken, Christ's blood poured out for us, 
 for each one of us, for thee and for me. 
 
 There is another answer in the Church 
 Catechism to which in this place I wish to 
 call attention. The question is, *' What is 
 the outward part in the Lord's Supper .-' " 
 and the answer, ** Bread and Wine, which 
 G 2
 
 I oo Confirmation . 
 
 the Lord hath commanded to be re- 
 ceived." 
 
 This command is recorded by St. Mat- 
 thew xxvi. 26 — 29 ; St. Mark xiv. 22 — 25 ; 
 St. Luke xxii. 19, 20, and St. Paul, i Cor. 
 xi. 23—34. 
 
 But why does our Church call special 
 attention to this command with reference 
 to the ontzvard sign of the bread and wine .-^ 
 Clearly to meet the objections of those 
 who think that they can do without Sacra- 
 ments. There are some, we know, who 
 spiritualise all these commands, and believe 
 they can feed upon Christ and live in union 
 with Him better without the outward sign 
 than with it. And there are others who 
 for various reasons shrink from coming to 
 the Lord's Supper, though as far as men 
 can judge, they are in other respects living 
 Christian lives. Let them all remember 
 that " The Lord hath commanded the bread 
 and wine to be received." And do you, 
 especially, who ?.re just going to be con- 
 firmed remember it, and begin at once, and 
 as long as you live maintain the habit of 
 being regular communicants. Your Confir- 
 mation is the step that leads you on to Com- 
 munion, and if you do not take that step now 
 you will never have so happy an opportunity 
 as long as you live. The Lord has com-
 
 Sacraments. lOi 
 
 manded it ; and the King's command is 
 enough for a loyal subject's guidance ; His 
 serious entreaty should be more than 
 enough for a loving Christian's obedience. 
 If you have difficulties, take means to 
 overcome those difficuities. They are not 
 insuperable. If sin prevents you, give up 
 your sin ; it is far better surely to do so 
 than to give up your soul or your Saviour. 
 If scruples are in your way and you cannot 
 quiet your conscience, go to your clergy- 
 man and let him help you. At all events 
 be determined, for the Lord has com- 
 manded it, and difficulties and objections 
 will disappear.
 
 ^^[^^^^^^^ 
 
 ^^M?^^^^^ 
 
 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^I^S 
 
 VIII. 
 SACRAMENTS. 
 
 IL— "THE INWARD AND SPIRITUAL GRACE. 
 
 SACRAMENT is defined by our 
 Church to be **an outward and 
 I visible sign of an inward and 
 spiritual grace given unto us, 
 ordained by Christ Himself, as a means 
 whereby we receive the same, and a pledge 
 to assure us thereof" 
 
 In the last address I dwelt upon the 
 " outward sign," and its appointment by 
 Christ to be a means of conveying to us the 
 inward grace, and a pledge to assure us of 
 its conveyance. I now come to consider 
 the other part of the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, "the inward and spiritual 
 grace given unto us."
 
 Sacraments. 103 
 
 This is a subject on which there have 
 been many disputes, but our Church Cate- 
 chism has put the whole gist of the matter 
 in a few words ; and we shall be saved much 
 difficulty if we simply adhere to that ex- 
 planation. There are two questions and 
 answers upon the subject. 
 
 1. What is the inward part or thing sig- 
 nified in the Lord's Supper.^ 
 
 "The Body and Blood of Christ, which 
 are verily and indeed taken and received by 
 the faithful in the Lord's Supper." 
 
 2. What are the benefits whereof we are 
 partakers thereby } 
 
 " The strengthening and refreshing of our 
 souls by the Body and Blood of Christ, as 
 our bodies are by the Bread and W^ine." 
 
 L Now, first of all, let me ask you to 
 keep clearly in mind that what is here 
 spoken of as " the Body and Blood of 
 Christ " has been previously declared to be 
 something *' inward and spiritual." 
 
 A Sacrament is " an outward and visible 
 sign of an inward and spiritual grace . . . . " 
 Well, the outward and visible sign is 
 " Bread and Wine," that which we can see 
 and feel and take in our hands, and feed our 
 bodies with : " the inward and spiritual 
 grace " that which we cannot see, and can
 
 1 04 Cojifirmation . 
 
 only receive, and feed our souls upon by 
 faith, is *' the Body and Blood of Christ." 
 
 But in what sense, then, can " Body and 
 Blood," which properly describe "outward 
 and visible " things, be used to express only 
 '' inward and spiritual " ones ? And further, 
 why does our Church add that this " Body 
 and Blood of Christ" are verily and indeed 
 taken and received by the faithful, when 
 they are taken not literally but in a spiritual 
 sense ? 
 
 I think that if you carefully consider the 
 words you will see that none other could so 
 well, so briefly, so pointedly, so fully, convey 
 their meaning. 
 
 The question is not so much what the 
 " Body and Blood of Christ " are in them- 
 selves, but what they are to us. What do 
 they represent, what in the Lord's Supper 
 do they convey to us ? 
 
 The words, ** The Body and Blood of 
 Christ" represent to us that the Eternal 
 Son of God took our flesh upon Him and 
 became possessed of a Body ; that he lived 
 as man in this Body, and died as man, 
 shedding His Blood upon the Cross; and 
 the offer of the Body and Blood of Christ 
 to us represents the offer of all that by 
 His Incarnation, His Life, His Death, 
 His Resurrection, and Ascension, He has
 
 Saa'ameiits. 105 
 
 wrought out for us. It is the offer of Him- 
 self, all that He is, and all that He has 
 done, to us. Could any other words tell 
 us all this so well ? 
 
 And if we further ask why our Church 
 expresses it so strongly as to say that " the 
 Body and Blood of Christ are verily and 
 indeed taken and received by the faithful in 
 the Lord's Supper/' the answer and the 
 explanation is, that this is the highest 
 and truest meaning of "the Body and Blood 
 of Christ" for us. Just as our Saviour Him- 
 self said, "My flesh is meat indeed'' (John 
 vi. 55), and *' I am the trne (or very) vine" 
 (John XV. i), so our Church says, "The 
 Body and Blood of Christ are verily and 
 indeed taken and received by the faithful," 
 that is, in their highest and truest sense. If 
 His actual Body, His very flesh and blood 
 were eaten and drunk by us, that would 
 not be so real and true a reception of 
 Christ, if indeed it would be a reception at 
 all, as is this. It might be a literal recep- 
 tion of His body, but it would not be a 
 spiritual reception of Himself, ''verily and 
 indeed taken.'' The spirit is only fed, can 
 only be fed, by what a spirit can receive 
 with its understanding, affections, and con- 
 science. A spirit cannot feed on actual 
 flesh and blood.
 
 io6 Confirmation. 
 
 Our Church evidently assumes that some 
 food, and that food of the highest spiritual 
 kind, is received by the faithfid in the 
 Lord's Supper; and so does our Saviour 
 Himself. For if He had intended by it no 
 more than a bare commemoration, it would 
 have been enough for Him to say " Eat this 
 bread broken," " Drink this wine poured 
 out, in remembrance of Me" : there could 
 have been no further need to add in that 
 strong emphatic manner, " This is My 
 Body; This is My Blood." And though 
 these words cannot mean the actual 
 "Body and Blood" of the Lord which 
 hung upon the cross eighteen hundred 
 years ago, yet we must give them as high 
 a meaning as the nature of the case admits 
 of. They are His Body and Blood in 
 spiritual effect and use to us. They repre- 
 sent and convey Him, living and dying 
 for us, to our souls, enlightening our under- 
 standing, attracting our affections, satisfy- 
 ing our conscience. 
 
 n. This comes out even more clearly in 
 the next question and answer. 
 
 "What are the benefits whereof we are 
 partakers thereby t " 
 
 " The strengthening and refreshing of our 
 SOULS by the Body and Blood of Christ,
 
 Sacramatts. 107 
 
 as our bodies are " (strengthened) " by the 
 Bread and Wine." 
 
 The benefits are, then, " the strengthen- 
 ing and refreshing of our souls" But souls 
 require spiritual food for their refreshment. 
 And this spiritual food is here called " the 
 Body and Blood of Christ." 
 
 Be sure there is no magic in this. The 
 soul of man does not get fed of God by 
 a man merely coming to His table and 
 receiving a morsel of bread and a drop of 
 wine. Feeding is a reality to the soul as to 
 the body. The soul, like the body, has its 
 food, its faculty for receiving it, its power 
 of assimilating it to itself It has, too, its 
 hunger and its thirst, without which it will 
 not care for its food. 
 
 Let us try to realise the soul feeding at 
 the Lord's Supper, and see how it comes to 
 pass. 
 
 The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was 
 ordained, we are told, '* For the continual 
 remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of 
 Christ, and of the benefits which we receive 
 thereby." 
 
 This, then, is the great thought for our 
 souls to contemplate as we approach the 
 Holy Table, — " the sacrifice of the death of 
 Christ," — not merely "the death of Christ," 
 but **the full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice.
 
 loS Cofifirmation. 
 
 oblation, and satisfaction, which He then 
 made for the sins of the whole world, 
 whereby alone we obtain remission of our 
 sins, and are made partakers of the kingdom 
 of heaven." 
 
 This great thought is vividly presented 
 to us in our Service. The Bread is broken 
 before our eyes ; the Wine poured out. 
 " Before our eyes Jesus Christ is evidently 
 set forth, crucified among us ; " and we are 
 invited to eat of His Sacrifice. We may 
 think of this at all times ; we must now, 
 when it is as it were all present as on Calvary 
 again. And what reflections are likely to 
 arise while the Bread and Wine are thus 
 before our eyes, and while these words are 
 being sounded in our ears 1 — 
 
 "Almighty God, our heavenly Father, 
 who of Thy tender mercy didst give Thine 
 only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon 
 the Cross for our redemption ; who made 
 there (by His one oblation of Himself once 
 offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacri- 
 fice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins 
 of the whole world ; and did institute, and 
 in His holy Gospel command us to continue, 
 a perpetual memory of that His precious 
 death, until His coming again ; Hear us, 
 O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech 
 Thee, and grant that we receiving these Thy
 
 Sacra})ie}its. 109 
 
 creatures of bread and wine, according to 
 Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy 
 institution, in remembrance of His death 
 and passion, may be partakers of His most 
 blessed Body and Blood : who, in the same 
 night that He was betrayed, took bread ; 
 and, when He had given thanks. He brake 
 it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, 
 Take, eat, this is My Body, which is given 
 for you ; do this in remembrance of Me. 
 Likewise after Supper he took the Cup, 
 and, when He had given thanks, He gave 
 it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this ; foi 
 this is My Blood of the New Testament, 
 which is shed for you and for many for the 
 remission of sins: Do this, as oft as ye shall 
 drink it, in remembrance of Me." 
 
 What reflections, I say, are likely to 
 arise in our minds as we see the Bread and 
 Wine, or hear these words ? Something 
 surely of this kind — 
 
 " The Eternal Son of God, very God of 
 very God, made man, living, dying, dying 
 a slave's death upon the cross ; those tender 
 hands pierced with rough nails, that fore- 
 head of Piim who is God Himself, all torn 
 and bleeding from that mock crown of 
 thorns ; He Himself, His whole soul and 
 body, shaken to His very centre, and ex- 
 claiming, ' My God, My God, why hast
 
 1 10 Confin/iahon. 
 
 Thou forsaken Me ?' And all this, too, for 
 sinners, ' God commending His love unto 
 us, that while we were sinners Christ died 
 for us ;' yet while we were yet sinners. We 
 then, / then, had a share in that horrible 
 tragedy ; I, by my sins, helped to press 
 that crown upon His head, to fasten those 
 nails into His feet and hands; aye, and I, 
 too, by virtue only of the same fact that I 
 am a sinner, have an interest in the glorious 
 issue of that event — He died/6'r sijiners'' 
 
 There is some food for thought there, 
 something to put the soul in its proper state 
 of penitence before the cross, something, too, 
 to arouse and call out its faith — that He 
 who, at such a cost, made a sacrifice for the 
 sins of the whole world, made therefore a 
 sacrifice for me. For if He died for all He 
 died for me. Oh, that I could be sure of 
 this. Oh, that I could receive the benefit of 
 this. Oh, that I could appropriate and 
 make my own this sacrifice, this Body and 
 ]51ood of Christ. 
 
 This is the arising of a spiritual appetite 
 for Him ; a hunger which He Himself has 
 promised shall be satisfied. 
 
 What follows in our Service } There 
 comes to the penitent's ears the constant 
 repetition of those striking words : " The 
 Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was
 
 "S lie ra?;ir fits. I 1 1 
 
 ^ivcn for thee, the blood of our Lord Jesus 
 Clirist which was shed for thee, preserve 
 thy body and soul unto everlasting life." 
 He looks up. He sees the Minister of God 
 giving by God's command, " the bread and 
 the wine " to each one, one by one, as he 
 repeats the words. He hears exactly what 
 he craves, the offer of "Christ's Body and 
 Christ's Blood," made one by one to indi- 
 viduals. He is helped to believe that if it 
 is for this one and for that one it is cer- 
 tainly also for ///;;/; and he, too, takes it by 
 faith and feeds thereby, he believes, on 
 Christ. He is strengthened and refreshed 
 by the Body and Blood of Christ as his 
 body is by the bread and wine. The body 
 receives the refreshment it needs and can 
 receive, and in the way it can receive it, 
 bread and wine. The soul receives the 
 refreshment it needs and can receive, 
 spiritual refreshment ; and in the way it 
 can receive it, by faith. 
 
 What sort of spiritual refreshment does 
 the faithful connnunicant thus receive } 
 
 He is in doubt whether he may claim 
 Christ as his very own. Here Christ is 
 offered to him as if he were the only soul 
 in the v'orld, and offered in a way to inspire 
 confidence and give rest. He is in fear lest 
 being so sinful he may not hope for pardon.
 
 1 1 2 Confirmation. 
 
 Here Christ is set forth as a sacrifice for the 
 sins of the world, as dying a propitiation 
 for all sinners, and therefore a sacrifice 
 for Jiis sins, a propitiation for Jiim a sinner. 
 He is alone, and therefore weak indeed in 
 his conflicts with sin ; here, and by this 
 means and in this way, Christ comes to him, 
 and dwells in him, he becomes one with 
 Christ, and Christ one with him. He is in 
 low spirits, wanting the peace and the joy 
 which a Christian should have, not able to 
 realise Christ as near, hardly able to realise 
 Him as his Saviour at all. Here is the 
 assurance of His being very near, even in 
 his very soul, to cheer, refresh, and comfort 
 him. 
 
 Thus the benefits of the Lord's Supper 
 are "the strengthening and refreshing of 
 our souls by the Body and Blood of 
 Christ, as our bodies are by the bread and 
 wine." 
 
 The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper sets 
 before us the reception of Christ into our 
 souls under the image of eating and drink- 
 ing. I need hardly say that we do not eat 
 or drink heartily unless we are hungry 
 and thirsty ; what we need, then, when we 
 are coming to the Lord's Supper is hunger 
 and thirst after Christ, and that not merely 
 to obtain His forgiveness, but to be trans-
 
 Sacraments. 113 
 
 formed into His likeness. This is the 
 higliest longing that man can have, and 
 man is by his true nature so great that 
 without satisfaction of this he cannot be 
 satisfied at all. All other things are nothing 
 in comparison. A world is not enough 
 for us when we really hunger and thirst 
 after God, desiring to be like Him, and 
 thus as pure and good and noble as man 
 can be, and so to enjoy God. But who 
 shall give us this hunger } How shall this 
 thirst be excited } Of course it is God's 
 gift ; but God gives by certain laws. How, 
 for instance, do we obtain an appetite for 
 daily food .'* Not merely by thinking of 
 it, or by wishing for it, but by heartily 
 doing the work appointed us without think- 
 ing of the appetite at all. In due time it 
 comes. 
 
 Are you a Christian, then, and yet have 
 little hunger after Christ } Well, do at least, 
 and do as well as you can, the first Christian 
 works that come in your path of duty. 
 Begin your day with fervent prayer, and go 
 about your daily work as a Christian trying 
 to act in all your dealings as for Christ. 
 Maintain this course if you can for a day 
 You will soon feel your need of Christ's 
 pardon, of Christ's help, of Christ Him- 
 self, of all He is, and all He may be, to 
 H
 
 114 
 
 Sacraments. 
 
 your soul. You will hunger and thirst 
 after Him : and hunger and thirst look for 
 ways of satisfying themselves ; and spiritual 
 hunger and thirst will find their satisfaction 
 only in " the Body and Blood of Christ."
 
 IX. 
 
 SELF-EXAMINATION. 
 
 I Cor. xi. 28. 
 
 ** Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat 
 of that bread and drink of that cup." 
 
 T is a very common saying indeed, 
 and it is felt even more commonly 
 than it is said, that ** Every one 
 wants looking after." Men appoint 
 overlookers in their places of work, but they 
 overlook their overlookers themselves. They 
 keep, it may be, their own accounts ; but 
 they submit them from time to time to an 
 accountant, to be sure that they have cor- 
 rectly kept them. They have confidence, 
 perhaps, in all upon their premises, and be- 
 lieve that all is conducted in their house 
 with honesty ; but they take stock of their 
 goods every year at least, to prove by actual 
 examination how their affairs stand. For 
 II 2
 
 I T 6 Confirmation. 
 
 they do not doubt but that if any man 
 neglected to examine the state of his busi- 
 ness, kept no accounts, took no stock, it 
 would very soon go wrong; errors and mis- 
 takes would creep in, dishonesty would be 
 encouraged, little losses would lead to great 
 ones, and suddenly, when the man thought 
 himself in the midst of prosperity, he would 
 find himself utterly ruined. 
 
 Is it not to be expected that that over- 
 looking which is so necessary in all our 
 earthly concerns, should be even more 
 necessary in our spiritual ones ? If our 
 goods need examining, do not ive our- 
 selves ? And yet this superintendence, this 
 overlooking, is hardly thought of. It is 
 the advice of the wise man, says Cole- 
 ridge in his Aids to Reflection : ''Dwell 
 at home," that is with yourself, but the 
 greater part of mankind cannot be per- 
 suaded even to visit themselves sometimes. 
 And yet to do so, is one of the highest 
 faculties we have. Self-superintendence! 
 That any thing should overlook itself! It 
 is a paradox indeed, very hard to under- 
 stand ; but yet most truly has it been said — - 
 
 ** Unless above himself he can 
 Erect himself, how mean a thing is man." 
 
 The words of St. Paul before us bid us thus
 
 Self-Exaviination. 117 
 
 examine ourselves, watch ourselves, and 
 report to ourselves where we are, and how 
 we are going on. 
 
 The occasion on which St. Paul here 
 especially commands Self-Examination is 
 that of coming to the Lord's Supper; and 
 I close this set of addresses on the Confir- 
 mation subjects with this, the last sentence 
 of our Church's instruction in the Catechism 
 on the subject. 
 
 "What is required of them who come to 
 the Lord's Supper.?" 
 
 "To examine themselves, whether they 
 repent them truly of their former sins, 
 steadfastly purposing to lead a new life ; 
 have a lively faith in God's mercy through 
 Christ with a thankful remembrance of His 
 death, and be in charity with all men." 
 
 This is a very wide subject. To examine 
 oneself as to any one "subtle bosom sin"; 
 to keep one's mind at it, not to shirk the 
 disagreeable discovery, but to track one's 
 sin home, and there to face it, and with 
 it all uncovered to face God, would be 
 enough, and more than enough, if fully de- 
 scribed and illustrated, for the time allotted 
 to one of these addresses. But I must en- 
 deavour to combine some general with some 
 particular instruction in this matter. 
 
 St. Paul, I have said, connects the duty
 
 1 1 8 Confirmation^ 
 
 of self-examination with the Lord's Supper, 
 and it is well indeed to have some special 
 time set apart for a duty which otherwise 
 we are inclined, from time to time, to put 
 off. He has, however, another very strong 
 remark upon it. '' Examine yourselves," 
 he writes, " whether ye be in the faith ; 
 prove your own selves. Know ye not your 
 own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, 
 except ye be reprobates V 2 Cor. xiii. 5. 
 
 I. The words of the Church's instruction 
 in the Catechism will guide us very much 
 in this inquiry. She bids us examine our- 
 selves on three points, which form the essen- 
 tials of Christian character : — 
 
 I. "Whether we repent us truly of our 
 former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead 
 a new life." 
 
 Recollect that "sins" includes not only 
 what you have done that you ought not to 
 have done, but what you have left undone 
 that you ought to have done; and recollect 
 also that your best service is altogether due 
 to Almighty God — and what a swarm of 
 words that you might have spoken, and 
 deeds that you might have done; of desires 
 ill desired, of words ill spoken, of deeds 
 ill done, arise and thicken in your view ! 
 
 Let us suppose ourselves entering upon
 
 Self- Examination. 119 
 
 this investigation. Those who have the 
 opportunity will go to their own rooms and 
 shut the door, securing a time when they 
 can be alone with their God. Those who 
 cannot have such privacy must try and 
 make such opportunity by an effort, as they 
 walk along the streets, or in the country, 
 or where it should be possible for all, in 
 the ever open church of their parish. Let 
 us then and there try to shut out all other 
 sights and all other thoughts but those of 
 our own souls and of our Saviour God. 
 Let us, if possible, fall on our knees ; let 
 us, with humbled souls, pray — "Almighty 
 God, unto whom all hearts be open, all 
 desires known, and from whom no secrets 
 are hid — Thou God who seest me, who 
 art about my path, and about my bed, 
 and spiest out all my ways — show me m)^- 
 self, help me to see myself as Thou seest 
 me, and to know my sins as Thou know^est 
 them, and to be sorry for them as Thou 
 wouldest have me be sorry, in whose pre- 
 sence there is joy over one sinner that re- 
 pcnteth." Then in the Lord's own presence, 
 and asking His help, let us compare com- 
 mandment after commandment, as ex- 
 plained in "The Duty towards God," and the 
 " Duty towards our neighbour," with our 
 own life, till we face our most besetting sin
 
 120 Confirmation. 
 
 be it what it may — perhaps of ungodliness 
 and irreverence, perhaps of want of love, per- 
 haps of intemperance, perhaps of dishonesty, 
 or untruthfulness, perhaps of indolence and 
 selfishness. Let us uncover it and look it 
 well in the face ; let us take away the ex- 
 cuses we are ever making for it. Let us 
 hear God speak, and conscience speak ; and 
 then let us ask, '* Do I truly repent of this, 
 as of all other sins .'' Do I steadfastly pur- 
 pose to give it up and lead a new life .'' 
 We ca7i tell this. 
 
 2. Let us go on to the next point of 
 examination, whether we "have a lively 
 faith in God's mercy, through Christ, with 
 a thankful remembrance of His death." 
 
 If we have little or no repentance, we 
 may be sure we shall equally have little 
 or no faith. If sin is not a burden to us, 
 if we are not anxious about it, if we do 
 not fear to distress our Saviour by dis- 
 obedience, we shall not be anxious to rest 
 on Him and cling to Him by faith. But if 
 we are " steadfastly purposing to lead a new 
 life," the very suggestion that we may " have 
 a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ" 
 is encouraging. The command to examine 
 ourselves, whether we have such faith, is a 
 strong inducement to us to have it. For 
 it amounts to this, " Those who are best able
 
 Self-Exaniijiation. 121 
 
 to teach me evidently expect this of me ; 
 then God in His mercy, I am sure, wills 
 me thus to trust Him." Wherefore half 
 trembling, yet half trusting-, I will say, "Lord, 
 1 believe, help Thou mine unbelief." Thus, 
 step by step, the examination of ourselves 
 leads us to bless God with our hearts for 
 what He has done for us in Christ, and to 
 trust Him wuth a lively trust for what He 
 may yet do to save us. And I think we 
 can tell this too, namely, whether we have 
 taken and cast our souls for life and for 
 death on Jesus Christ, and are resting on 
 Him for pardon, peace, strength, and eternal 
 life. 
 
 3. The third point of Christian character 
 which we are to test is, " Whether we be 
 in charity with all men"; forgiving and 
 loving as we hope to be forgiven and loved. 
 This is a question, too, that we surely can 
 decide. But we niust be quite honest with 
 ourselves, or we shall not decide aright. I 
 have heard it said, "Oh, yes, I forgive; but 
 I cannot forget. I cannot ever again have 
 anything to do with such a person." But 
 if any one compares the expression in the 
 Lord's Prayer, *' Forgive us our trespasses 
 as we forgive them that trespass against 
 us " with this measure of forgiveness, he 
 will see that it is no forgiveness at all.
 
 122 Confirmation. 
 
 Conceive what it would be to us if God 
 said, " I forgive them, but will never again 
 have anything to do with them." 
 
 II. But further, self-examination is not 
 only for the beginning of Christian life, nor 
 only when w^e approach the Lord's Supper 
 for the first time or at any time, but 
 for every stage of Christian life, indeed for 
 every day of Christian life, to ascertain and 
 be clearly conscious how we are going on. 
 
 We are all too much in the habit of 
 taking things for granted in matters of 
 religion ; and even when we have really 
 turned to God we are in the same danger. 
 We are then inclined to take for granted that 
 all will be well for ever, and so to neglect 
 the watchfulness which then as much as ever 
 is required of us, for we shall certainly go 
 back if we do not go forward in religion as in 
 all else. Men are not satisfied in business 
 to know that they have got a competency : 
 they want to get more each year, and to 
 know that they have got it, and they take 
 effectual means to know it. They are 
 interested in the matter, and their steps 
 are definitely marked and their progress 
 definitely known. 
 
 But vagueness, indefiniteness, want of 
 clear knowledge, and absence of clearly-
 
 Self-Examination. 123 
 
 marked steps of progress, are common 
 faults of Christians. And they will hardly 
 be removed but by definite and regular 
 self-examination upon definite besetting 
 sins, or definitely clear but half-neglected 
 or feebly-performed duties. 
 
 Let us consider one or two instances. 
 There is no Christian probably who does 
 not recognise the duty of private prayer 
 and study of the Holy Scriptures. And 
 yet I am convinced that God, who knows 
 all things, could call up from amongst 
 almost any congregation many an one with 
 a fair Christian reputation, many a com- 
 municant even, whose private prayers and 
 whose study of the Holy Scriptures are 
 very brief, very shallow, often omitted 
 altogether, and never very earnest. 
 
 This results partly from indolence, and 
 self-indulgence, partly from a want of taste 
 for the Holy Scriptures, brought on very 
 often by exciting rather than useful read- 
 ing. It is felt to be too great an effort to 
 rise early enough in the morning to 
 secure the first and best half-hour for com- 
 munion with God. As the day goes on 
 business or pleasure thrusts everything 
 else out ; and at night the mind and the 
 body also are too wearied for what needs 
 fixed and earnest attention. Here then
 
 124 Confirmation. 
 
 is a habit of indolence to be overcome, a 
 habit of devotion to be acquired. From 
 week to week and from day to day you 
 may test and examine yourself, whether 
 you are overcoming the one, whether you 
 are putting on the other. You have often 
 been overcome ; are you overcoming now .-^ 
 Or, to take another instance, all of us 
 know, who ever try to pray, how very 
 hard it is to pray really. Our public 
 worship, what is it } We listen to the sing- 
 ing, we follow some of the prayers ; but 
 continually we catch our thoughts wander- 
 ing far away ; we are thinking of anything 
 but God and His love, and his readiness 
 to help us : yesterday's occupation, to- 
 morrow's hope, our friends, our homes, 
 anything, no matter how trifling, has ar- 
 rested and occupied our hearts. Do we 
 acquiesce in this } We know it takes 
 place. Do we review it at night } Do we 
 humble ourselves for it, and strive to over- 
 come it, and make records of our conquests 
 or our failures } If our self-superintendence 
 is a reality, we shall do so, and we shall 
 grow in the spirit of devotion. Our thoughts 
 will wander less ; our hearts will be less 
 cold. Or, at all events, we shall be clearly 
 conscious, reminded continually by our- 
 selves, that we pray as ill and as little as
 
 Self -Examination. 1 2 5 
 
 ever, that we are going backwards, and are 
 in danger. So we shall make new efforts. 
 
 Or, to take a different kind of example, 
 we are bound to be in charity with all 
 nicii. A large part of that charity has its 
 sphere at home : it is shown in loving- 
 temper, in kind manner, in gentle words 
 to all there, from father to son, husband 
 to wife, mother to daughter, sister to sister ; 
 and a vast deal of the happiness of the 
 home depends upon it. Now Christian 
 people do not always show this sweet 
 loving charity at home ; and they are 
 sometimes conscious of it. Here again is 
 a definite part of oneself to overlook with 
 the possibility of marking definite improve- 
 ment. Self-examination will call up the 
 remembrance of each day's temptations to 
 unkindness, and each day's resistance or 
 yielding to it. And the record of self- 
 examination will show whether we are 
 overcoming this sin or whether it is over- 
 coming us. 
 
 Unless we make our self-examination 
 thus definite and practical, it will be of 
 little use to us, and indeed, I am confident, 
 it will be little used by us. It is one of 
 those hard, unpleasant duties which a man 
 will not do unless he is in real earnest about 
 it. There is nothing which the heart is
 
 126 Confirmation. 
 
 more inclined to shirk. It requires, as you 
 well know who have tried it, all a man*s 
 determination to keep to it. The thoughts 
 will wander, the mind will plead its inability 
 for the work, and he only will do it who is 
 determined to have it done, and who in 
 that determination casts himself in faith on 
 God and cries, " Search me, O God, and 
 know my heart ; try me and know my 
 thoughts, and see if there be any wicked- 
 ness in me, and lead me in the way ever- 
 lasting" (Ps. cxxxix. 24). 
 
 THE END. 
 
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