FEMALE CHARACTERS

OF

HOLY SCRIPTURE,

IN A SERIES OF

SERMONS.

BY THE

BEY. ISAAC WILLIAMS, B.D.

LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.

LONDON:

RIVINGTONS, WATERLOO PLACE.
1859.LONDON:

GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,

st. John's square.PREFACE.

Guidance for women is mucli asked for. And
whence shall it be supplied for substantial piety, but
from Holy Scripture ? And what in Scripture is
\ more powerful than example P

An attempt is here made to bring forth such ex-
j- amples, but it may be considered disappointing; for
5 one cannot draw out Scriptural characters with that
5 marked individuality and strong relief, which arrests
..... the interest in secular history or fiction; we have not
given us and cannot supply such accessories of person,
or mind, or incident, which add life to description; for
c fin so doing we might be substituting something else,
< for the persons spoken of in Scripture. In most cases
it is the lesson, not the character, that we can give,
fi On the other hand, in some instances it may appear
i) as if the character or reflection founded upon it were
£ too definitely inferred for the slight mention in Scrip-
&ture, of perhaps little more than the name as in the
a 2IV

PEEEACE.

case of Joanna, or of the person as in that of Pilate’s
wife. There are certain pictures which represent
rural scenes and the like, which are so formed as to
lose themselves on an attentive survey and to disclose
a distinct human countenance; but when once dis-
cerned it occupies all the foreground and nothing else
is seen.

The writer has himself to learn from those whom he
would instruct. Great changes are upon the earth,—
the whirlwind, the earthquake, and the fire; but the
still Yoice of God shall be heard among gentle, earn-
est, and stedfast hearts, who shall do His will, and
by so doing shall regulate unseen the changes of the
world, and hasten that Kingdom for which we look and
pray. He that would hear that Yoice must “wrap
his face in his mantle,” and be still.

Stinchcombe,

October, 1839.CONTENTS,

SEEMON I.

EYE.

Genesis iii. 20.

PAGE

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the
. mother of all living ...................................1

SEEMON II.

SABAH.

1 St. Peter iii. 6.

Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daugh-
ters ye are, as long as ye do well .	.	.	.	.13

SEEMON III.

lot’s wife.

St. Luke xvii. 32.

Remember Lot’s wife................... 24VI

CONTENTS.

SERMON IV.

REBEKAH.

^Genesis xxiv. 48.

PAGE

And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and
blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had
led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s
daughter unto his son .......	37

SERMON V.

LEAH AND RACHEL.1
Genesis xxix. 20.

And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed

unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her .	48

SERMON YI.

MIRIAM.

Exodus xv. 20.

And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tim-
brel in her hand; and all the women went out after her
with timbrels and with dances .	.	.	.	.61

SERMON VII.

RAHAB.

Hebrews xi. 31.

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that be-
lieved not, when she had received the spies with peace .	78CONTENTS.

Vll

SEEMON VIII.

DEBORAH.

Judges iv. 4.

PAGE

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged

Israel at that time .	.	.	.	.	.	.86

SEEMON IX.

RUTH.

Ruth i. 16.

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return
from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will
go ; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall
be my people, and thy God my God .	.	.	.99

SEEMON X.

HANNAH.

1 Samuel i. 13.

Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved,
but her voice was not heard : therefore Eli thought she
had been drunken..........................HI

SEEMON XL

THE WITCH OE ENDOR.

1 Samuel xxviii. 7> 8.

And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that
hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised him-
self, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men
with him, and they came to the woman by night .	. 123VU1

CONTENTS.

SERMON XII.

BATHSHEBA.

1 Kings ii. 19.

PAGE

Bathsheba therefore went unto King Solomon, to speak unto
him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and
bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and
caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she
sat on his right hand .	.	.	.	...	. 135

SERMON XIII.

RIZPAH.

2 Samuel xxi. 11.

And it was told David what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah,

the concubine of Saul, had done .	.	.	.	.144

SERMON XIY.

THE QUEEN OE SHEBA.

St. Matthew xii. 42.

The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with
this generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from
the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of
Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here . 154

SERMON XY.

THE WIDOW OE ZAREPHATH.

St. Luke iv. 26.

But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a

city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow .	.166CONTENTS.

IX

SEEMOJST XYI.

JEZEBEL.

1 Kings xxi. 25.

PAGE

But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself
to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jeze-
bel his wife stirred up .	.	.	.	.	.	.178

SEEMON XVII.

THE SHTTNAMMITE.

2 Kings iv. 8.

And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was
a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread.

And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in
thither to eat bread .	.	.	.	.	.	.189

SEEMON XVIII.

ESTHEE.

Esther iv. 15, 16.

Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, Go,
gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan,
and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days,
night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise;
and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according
to the law: and if I perish, I perish .... 202

SEEMOJST XIX.

ELISABETH.

St. Luke i. 41, 42.

And Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost; and she spake
out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among
women .	.	.	.	.	.	.	. 213

aX

CONTENTS.

SEBMON XX.

ANNA.

St. Luke ii. 37.

PAGE

She was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which
departed not from the temple, but served God with fast-
ings and prayers night and day ..... 224

SEBMON XXI.

THE WOMAN OE SAMAETA.

St. John iv. 10.

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift
of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to
drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would
have given thee living water .	.	.	.	.	. 234

SEBMON XXII.

JOANNA.

St. Luke viii. 3.

Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward .	.	.	. 246

SEBMON XXIII.

THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

St. Luke viii. 48.

And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy

faith hath made thee whole; go in peace .	.	. 255CONTENTS.

XI

SEBMOX XXIY.

THE WOMAN OE CANAAN.

St. Matthew xv. 22.

PAGE

And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts,
and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord,
thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with
a devil....................................269

SEBMOX XXY.

MAETHA.

St. Luke x. 41, 42.

Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things : but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen
that good part, which shall not be taken away from her . 281

SEBMOX XXYI. ■

MAEY.

St. Luke x. 41, 42.

Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things : but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen
that good part, which shall not be taken away from her . 291

SEBMOX XXYII.

SALOME.

St. Matthew xx. 20.

Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her
sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of
him....................................... 302XU

CONTENT'S.

SERMON XXYIII.

THE WIFE OF PILATE.

St. Matthew xxvii. 19.

PAGE

When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent
unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just
man ; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream
because of him ........ 315

SERMON XXIX.

DORCAS.

Acts ix. 39.

All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats
and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with
them .	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	. 328

SERMON XXX.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN".
St. Luke i. 28.

Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou among women .	.	.	.	340SERMON I.

EYE.

NATURAL GIETS.

Genesis iii. 20.

“ And Adam called his wife’s name Eve ; because she was the*
mother of all living/7

Eve differs from all other women in the innocence
and sinless perfection in which she was created, as
being not born in sin,-but made in the image of God;
as endowed to all fulness with gifts of body and
mind; and rich in every external blessing without
spot or alloy. We cannot therefore compare her
original and natural character with that of others, and
draw from it as such any example to ourselves; but
there is one great lesson of instruction we may learn
from her history, which may well serve as the very
foundation and groundwork of all the wisdom of
women:—

That no grace and beauty of body and mind,,
nothing that belongs to the excellency of nature is to
be the object of a woman’s desires; for here was-
every thing that could be admired and loved in a
creature, the complete endowment of beauty and2

EYE.

wisdom in all perfection and grace, as fresh from the
hand of God, whose, birth-dews were of the womb of
the morning; yet were they followed by sin and
ruin. Much more now that sin has passed upon them
are they not to be mixed up with the aspirations of
the soul: they are but the wrecks of that nobleness of
nature; the possession of the like in any degree is of
Eve; and liable to danger and temptation ; not to be
desired and longed for, envied or coveted; but if
possessed, to be possessed with fear. For the posses-
sion of them is then alone safe, when the possessor is
in possessing as if she possessed not.

Again: not only hath sin passed upon them, but
death also ; at best they are of the earth earthy; they
are of time, and but for a time; our calling in the
New Man is heavenly; our duration is eternity.
Their goodliness is but that of the passing flower ; and
the immortal spirit within can then alone rightly
estimate them when it is filled with a lively sense of
the shortness of time, and the little value of this
passing Now, when compared with the great For Ever.

Ye graces of the field, the glory of creation, beau-
tiful, and fragrant, ye are but perishable! The new
Jerusalem is not of these, but of precious stones, the
emblems of endurance.

Death has taken up in them his stronghold. Oh,
what a mysterious thing is it that we have to die!
what a mystery is death! What else does it seem to
say to man at his best estate but this, “ Though thou
set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee
down F ” Yet this is the one great truth we derive
from our first parents. “ In Adam all die.”

The desire of the eyes, the excellency of life, the
intellectual powers which are as music to the soul, andNATURAL GIFTS.

3

the influence and dominion that they give, come to
nought, because on them is the displeasure of G-od.
And while they continue they lead to that pride which
proverbially goes before a fall; they exalt only that
they may more abase and humble at the last: they fill
the sail to shipwreck the soul, or urge it further from
its true haven.

All these things our own hearts and the experience
of the world would teach us, but we have a higher
w'isdom; to estimate their true value, they must be-
taken to the foot of the Cross, in order that we may"
know what they come to. There they may be sancti-
fied and made an offering to God; and if there
accepted by Him they shall have a new worth not their
own, and shall have their possession and use hallowed*
to us; even as the incense of His Temple, acceptable
to Him as it passes away. Let Eve be brought there,,
with all the perfections and endowments which nature
can give; but let her stand there not as in herself
but as in the Blessed Virgin; she who is the true
“ mother of all living,” for she is the Mother of our
Life. And when the sword pierces her soul, there
let her learn what the end is of all that is most excellent
and good in human nature.

Eor where is the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of our
Lord, presented to us ? it is there only ; she is with-
drawn from view, and set as it were aside on every
other occasion, that she may be brought before us, and
pointed out there. The visit of the Angel to the
“ highly favoured among women,” before the birth of
our Immanuel, and the Mount of Calvary afterwards
at His death, are the two occasions of beholding her
that was Blessed. She there sees to what she has
given birth in the perfection of Man’s nature united
B 24

EYE.

with G-od: she hears the words “ Mother, behold thy
son;” and there it is said to him who by faith and
love is made one with the dying, “Behold thy
mother.” There life and death are come together;
and death is swallowed up of life; that all may die in
Eve, and all that die in her may be found in the
Mother of our Life.

It is not at the Marriage Eeast, it is not in the crown
of earthly bliss, and its richest endowments that the
Blessed Mother is acknowledged by her Son. Eor
there it is “ Woman, what have I to do with thee P
Mine hour is not yet come.” But that hour was
come at the Cross ; there and then it is that in
the Incarnate Word, the excellency of our humanity,
the Mother of all Eve-born perfection, is acknow-
ledged ; there can we see what it comes to, and be in
safety under that shadow—that cloud of darkness
which is upon the Son of Man—the Image of God
and Pattern Man; and under that mantle of sorrow
under which the Blessed Mother hath wrapt her
countenance.

When Adam, as it is said in the text, “ called his
wife’s name Eye ; because she was the mother of all
living,” it is immediately added “unto Adam also
and to his wife did the Lord G-od make coats of skins,
and clothed them.” Henceforth in the clothing of
that sacrifice alone shall the living be found. Hath
human nature any “form or comeliness” or any
6 beauty that we should desire” it? Here it may
draw nigh and read what is said of our Life: “As
many were astonished at Thee; His visage was so marred
more than any man, and His form more than the sons
of men h” Dost thou seek admiration for graces of
1 Isa. lii. 14.NATURAL GIFTS.

5

body or mind ? these are of Eve—by whom we die:
wouldst thou know how to estimate them aright?
here mayest thou learn what they come to.

Here mayest thou learn where all the excellence of
the first Adam must end, and all that crown of
womanly perfection with which Eve was endowed;
but wait here awhile and unlearn that lesson, and thou
shalt know wherein a better creation shall be found,
worthy alone of the “new Heavens and new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness V’ For there in that
deep sleep of death from the side of the Second Adam
shall the Hew Bride be found, bone of His bone, and
flesh of His flesh, that leaving her father and mother
the old Adam and Eve, the mother of death, she may
cleave unto Him alone, and be one with Him in entire
subjection to Him.

“ Male and female created He them, and called their
name Adam3.” He called them both by one name;
both are one; one body; Grod called them both Adam,
as of the dust: but soon Adam, taught of Grod, called
his wife Eve; for she, the woman, was the Mother of
the Living, without the man. As then she led the
way to death, so now to life. “ There is neither male
nor femaleV’ says St. Paul; they are no longer Adam,
of the dust; but born of Eve, and living.

The harmonies of creation are out of tune; for the
Magnificat of the Blessed Virgin was reversed in Eve*,
in Eve the proud are scattered in the imagination of
their heart; but in Mary they of low estate are raised,
and taught again a new song.

And here again is another part of that great mys-
tery whereby evil hath become good in Christ; for in

2 2 St. Pet. iii. 13.

3 Gen. v. 2.

4 Gal. iii. 28.6

EYE.

the punishment of the woman it had been said, “ And
thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule
over thee.’5 This was her punishment for that self-
exaltation in her own perfections and love of pre-
eminence in which she fell and drew down Adam with
her; and this subjection is set as her safety by God
Himself. Thus St. Paul states it as owing to her
transgression. “ Let the woman,” he says, “ learn in
silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman
to usurp authority over the man. . . . For Adam was
first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived,
but the woman, being deceived, was in the transgres-
sion5.” This, then, was the judgment on her dis-
obedience ; but it is also, as grounded upon this, put
forth by St. Paul as the peculiar grace and perfection
of the woman. Even as St. Peter also speaks of the
same,—that silent subjection, that “ ornament of a
meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of
great price6.” In this subordination was her punish-
ment and also her safety, and it would redound to her
highest grace in the kingdom of God. But now at
the foot of the Cross, how is this seen to be but a
small part of that Divine fulfilment infinitely great
and good—yet intimately bound up and associated
with it, so that St. Paul cannot speak of one, without
at the same time being carried into a consideration of
the other. “Eor this cause shall a man leave his
father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife,
and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great
mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the
Church7.”

Thus the second creation was in the first; and

5 1 Tim. ii. 11—14.	6 1 St. Pet. iii. 1—4.

7 Eph. v. 31, 32.NATURAL GTETS.

7

much more in the penalty and judgment of the fall
was the Redemption—as in those words, “ And thy
desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over
thee.” How has this penalty become a blessing at
the foot of the Cross; when the soul has no more its
own pleasure, its own will, its own excellence, and
dominion, and love of power, but is glad to lose all
these in Christ, finding no rest but in Him! “ the
desire of our soul is to Thy Name, and the remem-
brance of Thee8.”	“ Thou art a place to hide me in”

from my sin and shame. “ How mine eye seeth Thee,
wherefore I hate and abhor myself;” but “when I
rise up after Thy likeness I shall be satisfied with it,”
and be no more ashamed. “And they shall be one
flesh;” and “therefore shall a man leave his father
and his mother,” for He hath said, “ Whoso loveth
father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of
Me.”

That was a strange love in Eve for her husband,
when she gave him death, rather than that he should
have life without her. This was the firstfruits of the
fall; for when she had lost the love of God, she could
have no true love for any. This was the effect of all
those excellencies with which God had endowed her;
the loveliest and fairest of all the creatures that were
upon the earth, she admired and loved herself rather
than God. And not only did these her perfections
of nature become a snare to herself, as ministering to
pride and self-confidence, but on account of these her
gifts did her husband fall also ; he loved her the crea-
ture more than the Creator; she became to him in
the place of God; he obeyed her rather than his

8 Isa. xxvi. 8.8

EYE.

Maker; and chose rather to die with her, than to
live with God.

Here again is another abundant source of evil, con-
nected with these the best gifts which human nature
can bestow—that they lead others also to idolatrous
admiration and love, so as to forget God. Better to
be without them, than to lead others to offend: to
tempt another to give unto us that first place in the
heart which is due to God only. Yet this it is which
evil spirits themselves are ever doing; endeavouring
to lead us to the worship of themselves rather than of
God.

These were the firstfruits, and what was the harvest P
We soon read: turn over another page in the fall of
man. “The sons of God saw the daughters of men
that they were fair; and they took them wives of all
which they chose9.” And the Spirit of God -would
no longer strive with man.

But to return. It is not that personal gifts have
in themselves aught of evil, but that every thing be-
comes so which leads to the exaltation of self; for
then the heart departs from God, and brings evil and
death, even to those we love. Whatever we now see
of what is lovely, and fair, and admirable, in the body
and mind by nature, is but the remains and wreck of
that humanity as it came from the hands of God,
♦ when God looked on His works, and declared them
good: these, therefore, are in themselves the marks of
the Creator’s hands Who is to be seen and admired,
and loved, in all His works; and in these also: they
are not evil in themselves; for they are the work of
God, and not of man. But the possession of them is

9 Gen. vi. 2.KATUBAL GIFTS.

9

accompanied with danger, for it tempts to self-esteem,
to the worship of the creature, rather than the Crea-
tor. So much so that when God would denounce
the evil pride of Tyre, it is likened by His Prophet to
the state of Eve. “ Eull of wisdom, and perfect in
beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God;
. . . thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; . . .
thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou
wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. . . .
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou
hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy bright-
ness : I will cast thee to the ground V’

But even where there are hot these gifts of person or
estate, yet very injurious to the female character is the
desire of influence and dominion ; it will soon lend an
ear to the serpent; and afterwards take part with
him; and this too even when it has begun with
religion; has desired efficiency and power for religion’s
sake. It is all contrary to that subjection of spirit in
which the penalty consists, and in which the remedy
will be found; a part of that humiliation which alone
exalts.

And this is alone the true way of peace; for the
peace of God consists in loving others, not in being
loved by them ; nor in a desire to be loved ; but I say
in loving: this alone is Divine charity: and herein
the curse becomes the blessing ; “ and thy desire shall
be to thy husband.” The most fruitful source of all
disquietude of mind arises from a desire to be loved
and honoured by others, instead of loving them—and
this is all of Eve. Hence arise distresses, disappoint-
ments, dissensions, in friendships, in families, in neigh-

1 Ezek. xxviii. 12—17.10

EYE.

bourhoods, and more than all, that secret aching void
of heart which has not found, because it has not
sought rest in God.

And more especially is this the case -when such self-
esteem is connected with those perishable endowments
which may be considered as the wrecks of Paradise.
What anxieties, what envyings, what disappointments,
and sorrows, which are all a part of death, which dwell
on the confines and thresholds of death, are bound up
in all these, the highest gifts of our nature ! if not pos-
sessed,^ endeavours to persuade ourselves that wre have
them ; if possessed, in their fleeting nature; for they
make themselves wings—at best—as soon as found.
And if the heart has been in these, there is something
peculiarly sad and melancholy in the departure of
them, when body and mind, from illness or age, are
failing or changed.

Prom all these things, then, let us come with the
Mother of all Living to the Cross of Christ. Christ,
the Bridegroom of the soul, loves us, not because of
our perfections, but on account of our weakness.
aI am black, but comely,” says the Bride; “black”
because of my deformities, yet “ comely” in Thine eyes,
because of Thy love. “ Look not upon me, because
I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me2.”
I would hide myself, for the sun of this wrorld hath
looked upon my shame; but in my shame and sin
Thou hast chosen me to be Thine, that I may be made
anew in Thee.

And here we may observe how very instructive is
the very position which this Divine Book of the
Canticles holds in the Holy Volume. Por immediately

2 Song of Sol. i. 5, 6.tfATUBAL GIFTS.

11

preceding it is the Book of Ecclesiastes, which gives
so deeply sad and true an account of the vanity and
vexation which attends upon every thing that belongs
to this world:-—the beauty of Eve, the relics of
Paradise, the glory and the wisdom, and the riches,
and the power, they sound aloud throughout with
mournful hollow cries from the grave ; and then as it
were with a still and small voice, as of a second spring,
follows the Song of Solomon, “ Draw me, we will run
after Thee: we will be glad and rejoice in Thee, we
will remember Thy love3.”

And then all that follows^ is but expressive of the
desires of a soul that is set on the Heavenly Bride-
groom ; and ruled entirely by Him, as fulfilling the
words of God. “ Thy desire shall be to thy husband,
and He shall rule over thee.” And observe in it the
longing restless desire as for one that is out of sight,
sought for throughout the night, sought often but not
found4; and then sought for the more earnestly, and
found the more fully—ever present, yet ever absent;
held the more stedfastly for having been lost; and yet
in holding, feeling as if not to have apprehended, it
presses forward if by any means it may apprehend;
full of joy and hope and love, yet still as one that looks
for the dawn, and waits for the shadows to flee.

If our desire is unto Christ—and He rules over us
—if our first and chief love is to Him who is God and
Man, then we may love all things with a full and
perfect love. And in Him we shall have that dominion
which the first Adam hath lost—for God hath crowned
Him with glory and worship, and put all things in
subjection under His feet.

3 Song of Sol. i. 4.

4 lb. iii. 2. 4; v. 6.12

EYE.

Come ye forth then, ye flowers of spring, ye tender
remembrances of Eden; come ye forth, and hasten
away as ye speak, for ye tell us of Eesurrection;
hasten away, and depart when your tale is told; that
we likewise together with you may be ready to depart
also, into the dust, and sleep there awhile, till our New
Spring shall come, and awaken us to a better morning;
when the winds of God shall come forth and blow upon
my garden, that it again may live 5.

Come unto this garden of death by the “ place of a
skull.” Here thou mayest be born to a better birth,
to be as the children of the Eesurrection, and as the
Angels of God; here mayest thou put off these that
are of the earth earthy; that thou mayest put on the
New Man, and bear the image of the Heavenly. What
though the fading leaves and flowers drop off, if they
leave the seed—and the seed vessel of God which is
for the Everlasting.

5 Song of Sol. iv. 16. Ezek. xxxvii. 9.SERMON II.

SARAH.

SUBORDINATION.

1 St. Peter iii. 6.

“ Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord : whose daughters
ye are, as long as ye do well.”

St. Peter here mentions Sarah as the great example
of conjugal obedience ; it is at the end of that beautiful
description he has given us of a Christian woman,
adorned in “ the hidden man of the. heart ” with “ a
meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of
great price,” even as “ in the old time the holy women,
who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in
subjection unto their own husbands.” To this he
adds the remarkable expression of the text that in so
doing they are the daughters of Sarah; or more literally
“ whose children ye have become.” Prom this it would
appear that as they who live by faith are the true
children of Abraham, so, in some like sense, married
women adorned with the spirit of obedience are the
children of Sarah. But the faith of Abraham is the
very type of the Church ; and to be sons of Abraham
is to be in Christ, "Who is the true seed of Abraham;14

SAEAH.

and therefore to be the daughters of Sarah is in like
manner sanctified to some excellent mystery—that it
should be thus held forth as the end of dutiful subjec-
tion.

And now it is this mystery which St. Paul explains
to us, telling us that marriage sets forth that spiritual
union which is between Christ and His Church. Por
which reason he places the obedience of the wife, and
not the fifth commandment, as in the Law, as the first
head of all domestic duties, as of children, and servants,
and the like; making this the foundation of all, from
its resemblance to the loving obedience of the Church
to Christ. And St. Paul more than once speaks of
Sarah as thus by faith representing to us the Church
of God, which by faith lives, and moves, and has its
being. Thus in the Epistle to the Hebrews he says,
“ Through faith Sara received strength to conceive seed
. . . because she judged Him faithful who had pro-
mised1.” And to the Galatians he shows that Sarah
sets forth the true Church of Christ—“the Jerusalem
which is above, which is the Mother of us all2,” in
distinction from Hagar, which represents Israel after
the flesh. For Sarah speaks of that which is in faith,
and by promise, and is free—and therefore is carried
on in those who live on God’s promises by faith in
Christ, and have that perfect freedom which is alone
found in His service, and thus belong to the Heavenly
Jerusalem.

From this we may see the peculiar force there is in
St. Peter’s words, when he says of Sarah, “whose
daughters ye are, as long as ye do well.” The
daughters of Sarah, both as she is by faith the figure of

1 Heb. xi. 11.

2 Gal. iv. 26'.SUBOKDINATIOtf.

15

the true Church of God, and also as she is the pattern
of that womanly subjection of which he speaks.
Subject to Abraham, persecuted of Hagar, she is
clothed with the very spirit of meekness. As the
true sons of Abraham are those who have the like
faith with Abraham; and the true Israelite is he
who is without guile ; so the true daughter of Sarah is
found in this conjugal obedience. And while the
Apostle in this description speaks so much of this
adorning, not of gold or apparel, but of that “ meek
and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
price,” we cannot but see the fulfilment of the
Prophet’s words, “ My soul shall be joyful in my God ;
for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation-9
He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness . .
as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels 3.”

It is of this spirit of glad loving obedience which
St. Peter speaks in this passage, as of that “ perfect
love which casteth out fear.” We may observe in
this and other places, that St. Peter speaks of fear as
being the cause of shaking this - stedfastness of
Christian love, as if mindful of his own failing through
fear, and sinking in the mighty waters. Thus he says,
“ whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and
are not afraid with any amazement.” And again, “ Be
not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.”
“ Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of
that which is good ?” And he dwells especially on
this, that outward evils are rather a subject of rejoicing
than of fear to the Christian, who is thus clothed with
the spirit of loving obedience, inasmuch as it is the
partaking of Christ’s sufferings.

3 Isa. lxi. 10.16

SARAH.

And here we must observe that while Holy Scripture
speaks of marriage as representing the great mystery
of Christ and His Church—the bond which God
makes and man cannot put asunder, as setting forth
that love with which the Church must look to Christ,
and the redeemed soul to its Eedeemer: yet all this
is not high and mysterious doctrine which is above us,
—which we may think of in church, or in retired
spiritual meditation alone; but it comes down to our
daily life and thought, and may mix most intimately
with our conversation and habits. It teaches and
encourages, and may strengthen us in well-doing all
the day long.

For instance, to take the- example of another
relationship; we are often told in Scripture that
parental love sets forth the love which God has for
us, His children; and filial love our love in return to
Him as our Father in Heaven. It runs so through-
out the whole language of Holy Scripture that it
becomes before we know it a very part of our religion.
“ Like as a father pitieth his own children, even so
is the Lord merciful to them that fear Him4.” “ If
ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto
your children, how much more shall your Father
which is in Heaven give good things to them that
ask Him 5 ? ” And then this knowledge and this
language goes before and comes into every thought
that looks upward, beginning our prayer with the words,
“ Our Father.” How I suppose that there is not in
the world any more constantly-constraining motive to
prayer and trust in God than this ; the most simple
Christian and the most advanced in wisdom and holi-

4 Ps. ciii. 13.

5 St. Matt. vii. 11.STJBOBDIlS'ATIOJr.

17

ness have it alike. It reaches, it touches all; it is the
universal bond, sanctified indeed to an excellent
mystery, but affecting all in .the most ordinary
thoughts and actions, by turning the heart to God.
But especially when a parent is anxious for a child or
a child for a parent, it is forced upon his reflection
that God is more loving and careful for him and his
than we can be for each other in these tender rela-
tionships. We feel this, and feeling it we cannot
but pray. “ Because ye are sons, God hath sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Bather6.” We cannot but pray, I say, from
this natural feeling of sonship ; and praying, we cannot
but feel assured that we have what we pray for, by a
wrell-grounded confidence founded upon this know-
ledge. How whatever piety there exists in the world
is very much made up of this knowledge,—this rela-
tionship whereby an earthly paternity is made to
be the image of the Heavenly,—this wisdom re-
vealed to babes. It is the chain that unites to the
throne of God; nay, it brings forth God from His
throne to meet us when we are most conscious of this
bond. His Bather saw him and hastened to meet
him ; and said, “ Bring forth the best robe and put it
on him ; and shoes on his feet; and kill the fatted calf;
and let us eat and be merry. Bor this my son is
alive again.”

How all this is so powerful within us,—blessed be
God!—because we all are either children or parents, or
both; we must all feel as such more or less, it enters
into the hearts and reins: and not only this, but as
none can be unconscious of it unless they are utterly

e Gal. iv. 6.

018

SAE.AU.

lost to all sense of good, so the better they are as
parents or as children, the more loving and dutiful as
such, the more also will they be sensible of the
Fatherly love of God ; the more strongly and the
more constantly will this consciousness be moving and
influencing their hearts to the love of God.

How the case is not unlike this in this other rela-
tionship of which we now speak. That meek loving
subjection to their husbands which Holy Scripture
enjoins on married women is, wherever it is found,
the crown of earthly blessings, the fountain-head of
all domestic good in servants and children; the
alleviation of all worldly calamity ; the soothing of all
enmities from without. But not this only; so far it is
looked upon on the earthly side ; it has also a heavenly.
For it is the constant memorial of a higher love and
obedience; as the Bride and the Bridegroom is the
frequent figure by which the union is represented to
us between the soul and Christ. “ Turn ye, saith the
Lord, for I am married unto you7.” In married
women submission, obedience, hardship, labours, and
watching are rendered light and easy by love.
And this is that service which Christ requires of us;
it is in itself a hard self-denying service, but endeared,
sanctified, and lightened by love. It is a bondage, but
it is rendered the most perfect freedom by love. It is
a yoke and a burden, but in it is found by meekness
perfect rest, through Him who says, “Learn of Me,
for I am meek and lowly, and ye shall find rest for
your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is
light.”

But what we would now observe is this, that as in

7 Jer. iii. 14.SUBORDINATION.

19

the former instance of the fatherly relation being our
continual incentive to the love of God, so marriage
is not the mere dead figure or type of this union and
affectionate obedience to Christ; but serves as a con-
stant instigation to it, leading on to that peace which
passeth understanding, and that love which is beyond
knowledge. It is not as a mere pillar of remembrance,
but a school of instruction. And such is implied in'
this passage of St. Peter, for he says, that faithful
wives by this meek subjection to their husbands, which
he describes, become the true daughters of Sarah;
but to be daughters of Sarah, is by faith to inherit the
promises which are in Christ. And indeed St. Peter
throughout speaks of this conjugal meekness being in
itself the living light of the Gospel, so as to influence
others and lead them into Christian truth. “ Be in
subjection,” he says, “ to your own husbands; that if
any obey not the word, they also may without the
word be won by the conversation of the wives; while
they behold your chaste conversation coupled with
fear.” He here contemplates what would appear a very
hard case, that of an unbelieving husband, yet the wife
not complaining of this burden or struggling to be free
from it, but all the more adorned with meekness and
in faithful love looking to Christ; finding her rest in
Him, and making the bearing of this yoke the proof
and pledge of her faith in Him. When God might
most of all appear as a hard Master by afflictions
which He sends, then is love in Him most cherished ;
so in like manner in the hardest case of an afflicted
wife may shine the most brightly that fidelity which
is the pearl of great price.

St. John says, “He that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he
o 220

SABAH.

hath not seen8?” and in like manner we might say,
if a wife lives not in faithful love with one to whom
God hath bound her on earth, how can she live in
loving obedience to Him who hath bound her to Him-
self in Heaven ? In this case, as in that of the love of
God and our neighbour, one cannot exist without the
other.

So much so that the Prophets and our Lord Him-
self when they speak of Israel, and of the generation
in which they lived, as “ adulterous,” on account of
their falling away from God, signifying thereby the
spiritual adultery of a heart alienated from the love of
the true God;—yet they leave the expression in some
respects doubtful, from their alluding to both; they
dwell so much on the same occasions on the breaking
of the laws of marriage. In like manner it may be
observed that when any country is divorcing itself
from its covenant with God, and breaking the bonds
of His Church, it at the same time loosens the sacred
bonds of marriage, and by legalizing divorces sets
asunder those whom God hath joined.

But, Christian brethren, it shall not be so among
us. Por thus is this earthly bond to be a constant
incentive to a higher and better love, the image of it;
through the daily practice of meekness, submission,
and obedience, in this lower relation, training to bear
Christ’s yoke, and to have that constant joy in Christ’s
love, which is the wedding-garment of the soul; to be
reminded by it of those good things which eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into
the heart of man, but which God reveals to those that
love Him. Thus marriage, then, should be like the

1 St. John iv. 20,SUBORDINATION.

21

voice of St. John, ever speaking in our ears of Divine
love: “ Herein is love; not that we loved God, but
that He loved us;” and should be made at the same
time to be a part and exercise of it. “ Beloved, if
God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
Or with St. Paul, “ Ho man ever yet hated his own
flesh.”

These affections interfere not with each other, but
co-operate ; conjugal duty as the earth revolving on its
own axis; fidelity of the soul to Christ as the same
earth revolving on its solar circuit; both combined
that it may offer every part to the Sun of Bighteous-
ness. Thus is it in St. Paul’s teaching; the lesser
being sanctified by the more excellent; and by it
receiving its light; itself the Sacramental sign of the
everlasting union, of the bond that cannot be broken,
of the community of goods, of the one heart and one
interest, of the obedience and love, and all the dotal
gifts of .the Spirit, by which the Incarnate Word hath
wedded the Church unto Himself. -

But while this bond is made to be the reflection of
a better love, we are reminded not to seek our rest in
it, but in that substance of which it is the semblance;
for one is of earth, and the other of Heaven; the one
passes away, the other does not; but is found where
the Heavenly Bridegroom is revealed, in that state
in which there is neither marrying, nor giving in
marriage, but they that are accounted worthy are as
the Angels in Heaven. Conjugal obedience is no
burden because of love ; and this should teach us daily
what should be the obedience of the soul to God; for
no service is to Him acceptable without love; love
that makes His will to be our will; for thus love
bursts every fetter; there is no freedom for man but22

SARAH.

in the love of God; love alone is stronger than death ;
for death is the casting off of earthly impediments,
that we may go forth to meet the Lord and Master of
the soul.

St. Peter says in the text, “ as Sarah obeyed Abra-
ham, calling him lord;” in putting forth Sarah as the
pattern of a wife’s obedience, he grounds it upon this
slight circumstance, that in speaking of Abraham she
calls him “Lord.” But that expression—so full of
meaning is the Inspired Word of God—contains in
it her whole character. It is the first indication of
what was said to the woman that sinned, “ Thy desire
shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
Thus in her, the first set apart to be the mother of
Christ, the penalty laid on Eve hath become a blessing;
and the subjection to her husband her crown of ac-
ceptance ; while Sarah sets forth what should be in
the household of faith. As Eliezer the servant of
Abraham is the pattern of a religious servant to all
time; so is Sarah of the wife. In both cases they
partook of Abraham’s faith, in both obedience was the
fruit of faith.

By faith Sarah conceived beyond nature: it was not
only in itself a miracle wrought by faith, but it was an
earnest of something far greater, even the Incarnation
of Christ. And all the circumstances marked it as
such. The child was named from that laugh with
which Sarah received the Angel’s word; and though
at first afraid and ashamed of that laugh, yet, when it
had been marked and accepted by the Angel, confirmed
in faith by him 9, she rejoiced in that sign, and when
the child was born, she said, “ God hath made me ta

9 See St. Aug. Civ. Dei, lib. xvi. cap. 31.SUBORDINATION.

23

laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.” And,
indeed, so significant was it, that it is said, Abraham
himself, at the news, “ fell upon his face, and laughed.”

But now what does laughter imply ? it is on account
of something strange and incongruous ; it is found in
man, but not in brutes, nor in angels; because in man
there is something very low, and very great; very
miserable, and very blessed ; very evil, approaching to
devils; and very good, approaching to God: and all
this as connected with the fall of Adam, and the birth
of Christ. It was as a pledge of the Incarnation, that
the miraculous child of promise, born of faith, was
called from laughter.

Thus faith receives in things human the promise of
things divine; and in earthly blessings, such as mar-
riage, sees the preparation and sign of the heavenly:—
of that greatness and goodness which is beyond all
the deservings and the desires of man: —even as Israel
in their redemption said, “ Then was our mouth filled
with laughter.” And of a far greater redemption our
Lord says, “ Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall
laugh1:”—that is, that there is an “ amazement at the
strangeness of their salvation, so far beyond all that
they looked for2.” Which the sad Prophet Jeremiah
speaks of by a far different expression, of the voice of
the Bride being again heard in joy—so that the na-
tions of the earth “ shall fear and tremble for all the
goodness3” which they hear of. They shall hear of
the children of promise, so strangely bom of faith,
“ leaping for joy” in the midst of persecutions, and
44 glorifying God in the fires.”

1 St. Luke vi. 21.

2 Wisd. y. 2.

3 Jer. xxxiii. 9.SERMON III.

LOT’S WIFE.

EALLIN0- EROM GRACE.

St. Luke xvii. 32.

“ Remember Lot's wife."

Vratever we may omit or pass by among the women
of Holy "W rit, yet there is one whom we cannot forget,
though we know not who she was, of what race or
family, of what life or character, nay, not even her
name; for one little incident alone contains all that
we know of her; yet remember her we must, for it is
written in burning characters by the finger of God,
“Bemember Lot’s wife!” Let us, then, forget all,
rather than cease to remember Lot’s wife. And what
is it we have to remember concerning her? it is all
contained in one short verse in the Book of G-enesis,
“ But his wife looked back from behind him, and she
became a pillar of salt.”

It has been the ambition of some men to raise a
memorial column to keep their name in remembrance,
and Absalom’s pillar was long all that remained to
him of that earthly glory to which he aspired; but
with Lot’s wife it has been like a burning brand oncePALLING PROM GRACE.

25

saved, but cast again into the fire, which smoulders
on, and its smoke still ascends for ever. That desolate
region marks the judgment that has passed; and con-
tinues to foretell the Judgment yet to come, looking
before and after. As we read in the Book of Wisdom,
“ Of whose wickedness even to this day the waste land
that smoketh is a testimony,” and “a standing pillar
of salt is a monument of an unbelieving soul1.” Nay,
it is not now a solitary pillar, for in all the pillars of
salt that mark that region of death, some say, “ This
is the pillar of Lot’s wife,” and some say, “that;” so
much does her remembrance haunt and people the
plain—nay, every country under Heaven. And all
this on account of the awful mention which is made of
her in the Book of God; that one short verse in the
Old Testament, and that one yet shorter sentence in
the New.

Bor one act of piety the good Mary has her me-
morial wherever the Gospel is preached in the whole
world; the precious spikenard has. not lost its fra-
grance, nor the alabaster box its lustre; in like
manner wherever the Gospel is preached in all lands,
it is written for all that come after, “ Bemember Lot’s
wife.”

But to come to the account itself,—there is nothing,
at first sight, in the history which proves it to have
any thing to do with good or evil at all, still less as
applicable to general conduct. It only appears that
Lot’s wife, in his escape from Sodom, was “behind
him,” as was perhaps natural from her weaker sex or
age; and being behind, that she “ looked back ” to the
city and home she had left, on which the burning ven-

1 Wisd, x. 7.26

lot’s wile.

geance was pouring down. This was all quite natural.
And being behind, and still lingering, as the turning
to look back implies, it is very naturally to be ac-
counted for that she should have been overtaken by
that shower of sulphurous destruction, and became
like that which she had left behind. It is not there
stated that there was any thing moral or religious in
it, but merely the fact of her destruction in that re-
markable manner, on account of her being the hind-
most in the party that escaped. And yet as the whole
narrative is so full of the approbation and the judg-
ment of God,—in all the conduct of Lot, and the
Angel guide, and his sons-in-law, and the guilty na-
tion, and the mountain, and Zoar,—we might infer
that there was also a like trial of faith in this that is
related of Lot’s wife. Yet assuredly this would be
denied by the wise of this generation, were it not so
declared by our Lord Himself.

But again, yet further; neither does our Lord in this
place strictly and literally apply the words of the text
to human conduct generally; but He is speaking of
one particular occasion, the time of His last coming,
when He says it shall be as it was in the days of Lot;
and then in continuance of this subject He adds, “In
that day, he which shall be upon the house-top, and
his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take
it away; and he that is in the field, let him likewise
not return back. Bemember Lot’s wife.” He then
proceeds, “ I tell you in that night there shall be two
men in one bed—” and the like. It is therefore
spoken of one particular occasion—one night—and
one day—at the second Advent. But yet no Christian
ever doubted but that our Lord meant to apply this
saying, “ Bemember Lot’s wife,” to all Christians ofFALLING FROM GRACE.

27

all times as a warning. And indeed His coming is to
be as the lightning, in which there can be literally no
turning back. Rut it may be observed that the force
of Scripture is very much increased by the way in
which it thus singles out one action, one occurrence,
and applies it as a principle, like a mirror reflecting
every way, before and after and around. Eor indeed
the same is often stated in other ways ; as by St. Paul,
“ If any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure
in him2.” And by St. Peter, “It had been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness,
than, after they had known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered unto them3.” And again, by
our Lord, in St. John’s Revelation, “ Thou hast left thy
first love,—remember whence thou art fallen, and
repent4.” And in the Prophet Ezekiel, “ When a
righteous man turneth away from his righteousness,—
for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die5.” And
our Lord Himself, “ No man, having put his hand to
the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
Heaven.” Eut now none of these are so startling
and impressive, have the same force, or admit of such
universal application, as this short warning, “ Re-
member Lot’s wife.”

And what is it but a monument which Christ has
set up for all times in His Church, as a sad expressive
figure of those who, having been called through the
grace of God, once rescued, and set on their heavenly
road, are not ever after like St. Paul, “ forgetting the
things that are behind, and stretching forward to the
things that are before,” but “turn back the eyes of

2 Heb. x. 38.

4 Rev. ii. 4, 5.

3 2 St. Pet. ii. 21.

5 Ezek. xviii. 26.28

lot’s wipe.

their mind to what they have renounced?” The
Angel’s expressive words of command are, “ Escape
for thy life; look not behind thee, nor stay thou in all
the plain.” And what does this signify to us less
than this, that, as St. Augustin says, “ to them who
have been once by Baptism set free, there must be no
returning to that old life, which the regenerate hath
put off, if we think to escape the last Judgment6?”
Our Lord Himself seems to give this interpretation to
that saying of the Angel, for He implies that the fate
of Lot’s wife is an awful comment on those words, and
a type of what will be found on the Great Day.

It is one act, one look only, and one lingering step,
that has thus passed irrevocably into the Bock for ever
associated with her name; but as with the saint or
martyr in one great and good act of faith, there is
much going before, preparing for that trial of a mo-
ment, so must it have been with Lot’s wife. How
much may be contained in one hesitating step, and
one sigh of regret! An act, a word, a look, nay, even
a thought or resolution which has had no opportunity
of showing itself in act, word, or glance, has decided
for ever the lot of the human soul. Was it not bv
one short transgression of Eve that all was lost ? But
why is it thus ? because though such may stand singly
in the life of any one as it comes out to man, yet in
the secret history of the soul, as seen by the eye of
G-od, such cannot stand alone; much must have been
going on before the will has taken its decided bent for
good or evil.

There is perhaps for some time a mixed, doubtful
state, in which the steps stumble not, but falter; the

St. Aug. vol. vii. 703; vol. viii. 598.FALLING FROM GRACE.

29

heart flags, yet onward bears; and we begin to think
ourselves safe, while the evil from behind is stealing
its way upon us, and one occasion discloses all. The
world may be winning over the heart, yet there are
intervals when it may appear to slacken its hold; and
these deceive; the tide is gaining ground upon the
shore, but as each wave recedes, the passer by may
for a time doubt whether it ebbs or flows, till the sea
comes in its strength, effacing and covering all. Win-
ter may be advancing upon us, yet there are occasional
interruptions of warmer suns and clearer skies; and
thus good feelings, and charitable deeds, and devotional
seasons intervene, yet the fixed unalterable state comes
on, when the heart has become hardened and cold;
when the Good Spirit struggles with us no more.
This looking back to the world, too, is often, not that
we love the world in a general way, but that there is
some particular point, some one past sin, some taint
of evil, like the dead fly in the ointment, by degrees
corrupting all: some hidden weed that has spread its
roots till it has possessed the heart too strong for the
good seed.

And together with this looking back there is a want
of faith in pressing forward, and that too with the
very goal in sight; so was it with the children of
Israel, while their hearts were turning back again to
Egypt; in the very borders of the promised land their
faith failed ; and after all their deliverances and travels?
trials endured by them and mercies shown, their long
communions with God, and His guiding presence that
led them, they are shut out at the last. So was it
with Judas Iscariot, only a few days more and he
would have been with the Apostles rejoicing in the
Eesurrection.30

lot’s wiee.

[First of all is the not valuing, and then the not
hoping for; and then follows the lingering step and
the looking behind ; they are rescued, but they lift
not their eyes to the mountain from weak faith, but
look to the little city of refuge, the Zoar below; and
then in this case not even to that, and then the look-
ing back to Sodom. But in all alike under whatever
form of frailty, or besetting temptation, or wrong
affection that may occur, there is the faith failing, and
with faith failing all is lost; for what is faith but the
universal remedy, the only source of strength, the very
breath and life of the regenerate soul, the anchor of
the wavering, the staff of the feeble, the lamp of the
ignorant, the treasure of the poor in spirit ? She was
set free—she was taken by the hand—she was shown
the way—the Angel is before pointing onward—and
there is a voice attending her, saying, “ This is the way
but the world she hath left is powerful in regretful
remembrance, and Satan is pursuing step by step from
behind, and unseen because from behind. She was
saved, she was on the heavenly road, she had tasted
of the powers of the world to come—the night is far
spent, the day is at hand, it is already the dawn, she
is well nigh at the place of safety, her race is all but
accomplished, but in a moment all is lost.

Oh, what a world for the future does that one look
contain! what a world of the past does it disclose 1
what checks of conscience slighted, what merciful calls
of God, what drawings of the Holy Spirit resisted,
what voices unheeded! “ He that being often reproved,
hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and
thatwithout remedy7,” “suddenly,” when not expecting

7 Prov. xxix. 1.FALLING EEOM GEACE.

81

it; “ and without remedy/5 when it is too late to repair
it; “suddenly and without remedy/5 but “yet often
reproved/5 and therefore long forborne, long waited
for; but any one forbearance may be the last. Oh,
what an accumulation of the past, and of the future,
in that one short act of misgiving ; of the short past,
the long future ! Oh the sad, sad contrast, in one
short moment all is forfeited, all is gone! Oh the
melancholy and dismal change, from Heaven to Hell;
from the company of Angels to that of devils; from
the presence of Grod to the everlasting banishment
from Him! Oh that one short moment! “ Couldst
thou not have watched one hour?55 Couldst thou
not have endured one brief night P Oh the. sad, sad,
sad reverse! One effort more and all would have been
well. Oh, sad thus to sink with the shore in sight,
where thine anchor in a few short minutes might have
been cast which would have bound thee for ever to the
Bock of Ages! The song of Angelic welcome was well
nigh heard—and thou at the door—and the door open
for thee. But all is lost—the Heavens seem to echo
back a sigh;—yea, and hell itself from its lowest
depths sends forth a laugh at thee—at the foolish great
exchange. And now to knock at the door—and find
it has been just closed, only just closed. Too late, too
late, too late! And evil spirits henceforth to be thy
companions are heard to repeat the words, “ Too late!55

Is this an imaginary case? Is it not our Lord
Himself that bids us remember it ? And does not
our own experience of ourselves and of the world,
and of the Christian religion as it is seen in the world,
testify to us that it will be found real and true, and
that in many cases* when all shall be revealed ?
Indeed it is not at all from want of knowing this that82

lot’s wile.

we fail, but from not remembering it. Therefore our
Blessed .Saviour says, “ Remember Lot’s wife.” Let
the remembrance of it be ever present with thee, while
thy case is yet uncertain and the issue for good or evil
unknown; be as anxious for thyself as others that
love thee are for thee, as God and thy Blessed Saviour
and His good angels, and perhaps the spirits of the
dead to whom thou art dear. Let that remembrance
be as a spur to thy flagging will and doubting mind;
bind it for a sign upon thine hand, that thou act
aright; and as a frontlet between thine eyes, that thou
see aright; and on the posts of thy house, that going
out and in thou mayest “ remember Lot’s wife.” Let
not any deliverances in the past, any graces given, or
powers of faith exercised, or charities loved, deceive
thee into thinking that thou art safe before the time;
or canst loiter on the way, or cease to lament and flee
from thy past self, as a serpent that stealthily pursues
thee and is on its way. Much grace may have been
given thee in time past, and works done by that grace;
but if the grace of perseverance be withheld all will
be in vain, for all will be lost at last—and the more
surely so because thou hast forgotten it, and remem-
berest not Lot’s wife.

Baptism indeed, and the new life therein bestowed,
is the bringing forth from the city of destruction, and
the Angel guide is then given, but with many baptized
persons who have been brought up in ungodliness, or
who have fallen into sin, and continued in that state,
there have been also other merciful calls from God,
and as it were interferences, or some signal one,
whether it be by sickness or affliction or otherwise.
In many such cases there has been perhaps some one
person sent beyond all hope as a Deliverer, someEALLXKG EEOM GEACE.

33

religious man or minister, or perhaps unexpectedly a
teacher or friend—whom God in a signal manner sends
to persons when they were in a state of death, and
must otherwise have perished. He has thus delivered
them from death—set their feet upon a Hock and
ordered their goings. But after awhile the old sin
revives in their affections, and weighs heavily on the
springs of life.

But, observe, the sin is not returned to ; Lot’s wife
does not return to what she had left, nor think of
doing so; there is too much fear for that; but the sin
is looked upon without repentance, is remembered
without pain; this is the meaning of looking back.
And again, this very looking back itself may appear a
very slight and pardonable matter, that is, it may seem
of very small importance to one that is lukewarm ;
but it is not so with God; when He has once so
interfered to rescue us, it is not a light matter with
Him when we thus trifle and look back. Bor them that
hear Him and hear in vain, to whom His kingdom has
come but without acceptance, it shall be more intole-
rable, He says, in the Judgment than for Sodom.

And here it may be added that to have been called
by God’s Providence to any high duty, any peculiar
privilege of serving Him, or post of rescuing lost
souls, of religious usefulness, or of devotedness to
God’s service, and to have relinquished it, can scarcely
be without some danger and detriment to the soul.

To be without zeal and earnestness in God’s service
is to Him the greatest of all aggravations; to have
been loved by Him, and not love Him in return; to
have been singled out by Him as the object of His
loving-kindness, to have tried Him and tasted of His
love, and then in heart to prefer the world; this is of

n8 4

lot’s wile.

all things the most offensive to Him. And what is
the highest mark of His displeasure in this world P it
is to be allowed to look back ; to love again the sin of
which we have once repented and from which we have
been rescued, this is a sign of reprobation, of the de-
parture of the Holy Spirit from us.

“ Upon the ungodly He shall rain snares,” says the
Psalmist, “ fire and brimstone; ” if not overtaken by the
fire and brimstone, yet may they be by the snares of a
darkened conscience.

But, mark, there is this great difference between
the case of Lot’s wife, and these other instances to
which our Lord would apply the warning; the one is
seen, the others are not seen. The case of Lot’s wife
is an outward and visible type or token; but we are
speaking of what is going on in secret; cases in which
there is no monument, no visible transformation; no
falling on the plain; or place in the world’s history;
nor is it known that there is any fall at all except to
the all-seeing eye of G-od; it is only on the Great Day
when the Books shall be opened, and all things shall
be revealed, that it shall be known in this or that case,
—in any of yours, my brethren, or in mine, that the
fall and reprobation has taken place, and that it was
like that of Lot’s wife—once saved, but at last lost,
through an evil heart that departed from God.

The Day of Judgment and the great trial of the soul
having relation to things out of sight, God has been
pleased in every way to set it before our minds by
images from things seen and temporal, by numerous
parables, by histories, and prophecies fulfilled, and
earthly judgments and striking visitations; and this
short narrative of the escape from Sodom is entirely of
that character ; it is a history; it is a prophecy; it isFALLING FEOM GRACE.

35

both together; it is a type, sign, or representation of
what is going on between the soul and the Father of
Spirits.

But lastly ; consider who they are who may be safe
from this character of Lot’s wife, and this danger of
so fatal a relapse; it is not to be found with such as
Abraham and Sarah; with those who in faith press
onward. This state of doubt and likelihood to look
back is of itself a fearful condition; but they who
always with Abraham have chosen the good part and
continue to do so may be free from its terrors; while
those who live after Lot’s example, who have been
content with lower degrees of faith and holiness, who
would dwell on the confines of good and evil, can never
be safe from this doubtful, fearful condition—this pro-
bability of falling away at the last, and that irrecover-
ably.

Yet in all there must be a fear; there is most safety
where there is the most wTholesome fear; it w'as to
chosen Apostles this warning was first given ; St. Paul
himself, though always pressing forward, yet always
feared.

There must be a bold venturing, a casting of all care
upon Grod, a denial of self, a continual mortification
going on; for our Lord adds to this His warning,
“ Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it;
and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.”
Abraham could look up to the mountain in faith, and
direct his earnest steps thither, when it was to slay his
son; Lot could not lift up his eyes to the mountain,
nor direct thither his faltering feet, though it was to
save his own life. What then can be expected of her
who was content to follow from behind, and at best
d 236

lot’s wife.

but to bold as it were to the skirt of bis garment, wbo
was himself so weak-hearted and trembling ?

But Abraham, the sojourner in tents, with bis
pilgrim soul bad never admired the rich plain of Sodom,
nor made bis abode there. She bad her dwelling-place
in Sodom; she may have kept herself from the
pollutions of that city; looked upon herself #as of a
purer household separate from them; but there was a
contamination in the very place; the influence of an
evil generation secretly infects the soul to a degree
which is scarce known by the person herself till the
trial comes.

Indeed we are mostly so mixed up in our inter-
course with the world in these days that we can hardly
any of us feel secure, whether we shall stand or fall :
our self-love blinds our self-knowledge; but this one
thing may well be impressed on our hearts, that it is
He Who knows us and loves us better than we know
or love ourselves, Who has left us this caution,—1“ Ee-
member Lot’s wife.”SERMON IV.

REBEKAH.

THE LEADINGS OE GOD.

Genesis xxiv. 48.

“ And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and
blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me
in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his
son.”

There is something peculiarly interesting in that
long and detailed account of Abraham’s sending his
servant to the East to bring from thence a wife for his
son. The especial praise which God speaks of Abra-
ham is, “ I know him, that he will command his house-
hold after him, and they shall keep the way of the
Lord1.” And we have a remarkable instance of this
his religious care in this “ the eldest servant of his
househe seems so entirely to partake of the holiness
and faith of his master: in all his bearing and con-
duct on this occasion he seems as one formed on the
character of Abraham, like a part or counterpart of his
master; at every step he seems like him to acknow-
ledge God, to bow his head, and worship; so full

1 Gen. xviii. 19.38

EEBEKAII.

throughout of the same remarkable confidence in God
and reverential fear.

The occasion is in itself of the deepest interest;
Abraham sends him forth with such a full trust.
“ The Lord G-od of Heaven,” he says, “ which took me
from my father s house .... He shall send His Angel
before thee.” And when the servant arrives at the
city, before he has yet any token of success, he says,
“ 0 Lord God of my master AbrahamI pray Thee,
send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto
my master Abraham.” And then he prays for
guidance, and on the first sign of God’s acceptance of
his prayer, it is added in an emphatic manner, “ And
the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the
Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my
master Abraham, . . . which hath led me in the right
way.” And afterwards still further in the house,
when he has stated his commission and is accepted, it
is said, “ And it came to pass when Abraham’s servant
heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing
himself to the earth.” In all this, how is he as one
who at every step saw the Invisible; and in seeing
Him was strengthened, like his master Abraham.

The circumstance also is marked throughout as one
which God takes in a signal manner under His
especial Providence, and therefore such as requires on
the part of man the greatest watchfulness and care
not to offend, and so let go His guiding hand. This
His Providence, so marked that the agency of it comes
as it were almost sensibly to sight, is expressed by
Abraham’s saying, “The Lord God shall send His
Angel before thee,” an assurance afterwards so dutifully
remembered by his servant; “ My Master said unto
me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send HisTHE LEADINGS OE GOD.

39

Angel witli thee.” We may remember how the same
peculiar Providence is shown in the Apocryphal Book
of Tobit, where the Angel is represented as accom-
panying his son Tobias throughout his journey on a
like occasion. But the mention of it by Abraham
indicates not only his full trust in God’s guiding
superintendence in this peculiar matter, but also
the necessity of acknowledging throughout by a re-
ligious fear that Divine Presence. As afterwards in
the Book of Exodus, “ Behold, I send an Angel before
thee, to keep thee in the way .... beware of him,
and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not
pardon your transgressions: for My Name is in
him 2.”

When on great occasions of life we put ourselves
into the hands of God, seeking first by prayer and
then looking out for tokens of His will, we must walk
with the greatest circumspection lest we take our own
will for His will; lest we be secretly influenced by
some desire of our own which has grown up in a
corrupt heart, like Balaam who first sought to know
God’s will, and then sought it again as if he knew it
not, till he had made it to appear the same as his own
will, and followed that; and saw not that the Angel of
God was against him because his eyes were blinded.
The great blessedness of a single eye is that it gives light
to the whole body, and the power of discerning God;
so was it with Abraham and his servant. They saw
His Angel leading them, and in beholding him were
strengthened, guided, comforted. What to others
might have appeared as mere accidents or chances, were
to them the tokens of His guidance and Presence. Such

2 Exod. xxiii. 20, 21.40

EEBEKAH.

•tokens may be indeed judicial raisleadings of our own
spirit; they maybe tokens of evil, when the heart misgives
us that our desires and purposes are not right before
Him: but in this case they were tokens of nothing
but good, of assured success and blessing. Por they
only sought with an undivided heart to know and to
follow God’s will. “ He shall give His Angels charge
over thee,” not for tempting of God as Satan suggested,
but for humble trust as our Lord has taught. How care-
ful should we be to pluck out the mote that is in the
eye, lest it hinder us from seeing God; and when we
behold Him how watchful should we be of our steps
that we walk as in His Presence with reverence and
thanksgiving.

And now as on the part of Abraham and his servant
all was characterized with such holiness and faith, so
was it also met with conduct corresponding on the
part of her for whom they were sending. “ The pre-
parations of the heart are from the Lord; ” and as in the
calling of the Gentiles to His Baptism, God, at the
same time, prepared Cornelius and his household at
Cscsarea, and St. Peter at Joppa, to receive their mis-
sion, uniting them both together in one mind to carry
on the great designs of His will, although unknown to
each other, and at a distance; so on this occasion
Eebekah appears throughout as one of like mind with
them, and ready in all the circumstances to acknow-
ledge the Divine Presence, and to follow the Divine
purpose. All her behaviour is becoming and suitable for
one thus called of God, and led by His Spirit to obey
the call. When first seen, like the woman of Samaria
at the well, she hears and answers with kindness the
request of a stranger, and this pledge is in both the
beginning of great things. “And she said, Drink,THE LEADINGS OE GOD.

41

my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher
upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she
had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water
for thy camels also.”

And then when she had hastened back, as was most
becoming to her maiden character, and told££ them,” it
is said, “ of her mother’s house,” she has at once im-
pressed them with the like feeling with herself, both
of kindness and of respect, as for a messenger of God.
For Laban, on her communication, comes forth and
says, “ Come in, thou blessed of the Lord ; wherefore
standest thou without ?” And afterwards, when upon
entering the house he makes known to them whose
servant he was, and on what errand he had come, her
father and brother, Bethuel and Laban, “answered
and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord; we
cannot speak unto thee bad or good.” And then when,
on her departure, her mother and brother wish for her
longer continuance for a few days among them, she
acquiesces rather in the desire of the good servant,
and in all readiness to his will, leaves father and
mother, and country and home, for a far distant land,
as one meet to walk in the steps of Abraham’s faith.
Nor is it without a purpose that Scripture then
describes her demeanour on first meeting with him
whose wife she was chosen to be. “ And Isaac went
out to meditate in the field at the eventide,” and when
“ she lifted up her eyes and saw him, she lighted off
the camel,” and “ she took a veil and covered herself.”
“ For after this manner,” says the Apostle, speaking
of meekness, “ in the old time the holy women who
trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjec-
tion.”

Thus is her conduct through all these circumstances42

KEBEKAH.

uniform and alike; so that we see in her one of great
energy and faith, of ready kindness, of much openness
yet modest and meek, but this chiefly, that as she was
the chosen of God, so throughout she looked to, and
followed the leadings of God. It might indeed be
questioned whether she is not brought forward in the
history as representing the faith of Abraham, as much as
if not more than Isaac, of whom so little is said. For
of him we know scarcely more than what is implied in
that slight circumstance of his evening meditation.
Whereas she is in many respects not unlike Israel
himself; indeed the successive patriarchs, Isaac, Jacob,
and Joseph, all three, as also Samuel afterwards,
seem to have partaken more of the character of their
mother than of their father. It is with her that God
communicates respecting her children yet unborn; it
is she that is grieved at Esau’s taking a heathen wife,
fearing the same for Jacob ; it is she that acts through-
out as knowing which of the two sons God had chosen.
Like other holy mothers in Scripture given to represent
the mystery of Redemption, she was by nature barren,
and her bearing children was the signal gift of prayer
on her husband’s entreaty. Setting forth the Church
of God throughout the world—the Jew and the Chris-
tian—the evil and the good contending in her womb,
she laboureth in sorrow, travailing in birth, and eateth
the bread of affliction. And not only this, but even
after she hath brought forth, still throughout this life
trouble is her portion, and doubt rests upon her name,
till the Resurrection of the just; even as her nurse
Deborah, buried beneath Bethel under “ the oak of
weeping3,’’ in like piety and goodness, by her son.

3 Gen. xxxv. 8.THE LEADEN"GS OE GOD.

43

‘ Now I have mentioned all these things which may
serve to indicate the character of Rebekah, and of her
being one under the immediate interposition and guid-
ance of God for His especial purposes respecting
Christ, and also of the mystery of the Christian
Church being set forth in her history and that of her
sons; because all these circumstances should induce
us not to form too hasty a judgment respecting that
memorable act of her life, when she persuaded Jacob
to deceive his father. For, indeed, if we take this action
by itself alone, without any of these considerations, as
if it were recorded of another person, then indeed she
were most guilty and blameable,—to set the younger
brother before the elder, to induce him even against
his will to deceive his aged and blind parent. But
then as God had evidently in some degree communi-
cated His will to her respecting these two sons, and
had signally chosen her to carry out His purposes, we
cannot tell whether even in all this she was not acting
under the Divine guidance. For if so, this made all
the difference. To hate father and mother were a
heinous sin, but when it is at Christ’s command, and
from the greater love to Him, it is most holy. It
would have been a great crime in Abraham to have
thought of killing his son, had it not been for God’s
command; but that rendered it the highest act of
faith: it would have been highly sinful in Joshua to
have destroyed cities and slain the inhabitants, had it
not been for God’s commission; but that his conduct
has given him a crown among the saints. There are
numberless instances of this kind, especially such as
bear on the Incarnation and the Divine purposes con-
nected with it. For a man to marry the wife of a de-
ceased brother would have been against the law both44

BEBEKAH.

natural and revealed, but when in certain cases God
commanded it, to bave left it undone was accounted a
sin and shame4. Now we do not know of any such
command expressed or implied in this case of B»e-
bekah’s; but there is sufficient to render it not im-
probable, so that we must be content to leave the
circumstance in that doubt in which Holy Scripture
has left it. She says to Jacob, “Upon me be thy
curse, my son,” as if knowing that it were not a curse,
but a blessing; for on Jacob, throughout Scripture, is
the blessing. And at all events we may observe that
it is no where said that God wTas displeased with her;
nor is her conduct ever mentioned with blame in
Scripture; nor does Isaac himself condemn her, but
rather falls in with, and sanctions what she had done,
after he has known it, confirming it with his blessing,
as if she had been more watchful of God than he.

Let us then be silent on the subject as Scripture is,
committing it, as we must so many things, to the
judgment of God. “It is a small thing,” as the
Apostle saith, “ that I be judged of you or of man’s
judgment, yea, I judge not mine own self—but he
that judgeth me is the Lord.” “ Judge nothing before
the time.”

But to take her history and character upon the
whole—she leaves her country once and for ever at
the calling of God, never to see it again; she lingers
not nor casts one look behind, like the Gentile Church,
forgetting her kindred and her father’s home. And
in like manner at last when she sends Jacob away, it
is with little prospect of beholding him again; nor
can this be said to have been altogether the result she

4 Deut. xxv. 9,THE LEADINGS OE GOD.

45

had brought upon herself by Jacob’s having offended
his brother; for it does not appear how it could have
been otherwise; if he allies not himself to the people
of the land he must depart; Edom may make his
strong place in the rock ; but Jacob with his staff in
hand, and taking the stones for his pillow, departs and
sees his mother no more. And here in all these things
she does not follow worldly interest nor ease, or she
might have stayed with her kindred; and for Jacob
she might have formed an alliance with the princes of
Canaan, and strengthened herself in that Canaan, not
by faith in God, but by trust in man.

To return then more particularly to the subject of the
text—the great care that was shown by Abraham in
sending to the East for his son’s wife; and her corre-
sponding carefulness in answering that call;—of all the
turning-points of our existence marriage and death are
the most important; but the circumstances of the
latter are not much in our power to choose, when or
where or how we die; but marriage is more in our
own choice, and no other event has such power for
good or evil. Eor what an effect on the heart and life
must be the daily and hourly influence of one taken
to be a part of ourselves! And our own choice for
good or evil on a matter of such moment, and the
motives that actuate us on such a choice must of
themselves have very great weight on our final condi-
tion, as placing us in the favour or disapprobation of
God. It is on such an occasion beyond all others that
a good person would wish to be taken from himself
into the protection and leadings of God. In a case
such as that of Dinah what can there be but a curse
instead of a blessing P Or for a person to marry one
living in known sin, unrepented of; what is this but46

EEBEKAH.

to be made one with him who is under the wrath of
God, to take the wrath of God for our portion and
dower; to make a covenant with death, and say to
him, “ Thou art mine, and I am thine ?”

If the heart be not right towards God—if worldly
interest or any unworthy passion sways our choice,
all may for a time seem prosperous; it may be
that an evil angel has come to lead, in the guise of an
Angel of Light; and if so, he may for a time lead
through pleasant places to allure us further from the
right way. And such indeed is the wish of the men
of this world—to follow their own desires and have
their own way; but this which they so much covet is
mentioned in Scripture as the heaviest of God’s judg-
ments on earth, “ I gave them up unto their own
hearts’ lusts, and let them follow their own imagina-
tions 5.” Whereas “ if a man commit himself unto”
Wisdom, “ she will walk with him by crooked ways, and
torment him with her discipline, until she may trust
his soul, and show him ” the secrets of wisdom that
are in Christ6.

For a time thou mayest be perplexed, but wait for
God ; in all the great occasions of life that affect thy-
self or others, look out for the signs of His will in
patience, and the Pillar and the Cloud will not be
wanting; he who is on the watch will see on all sides
signs of God; his own soul “ will tell him more than
seven watchmen that sit above in an high tower”—
but “ above all,” adds the wise man to these his words,
“ above all pray to the most High, that He will direct
thy way in truth7.”

Meanwhile the way of God is the way of the Cross

5 Ps. lxxxi. 13.	6 Ecclus. iv. 16. 18.

7 Ecclus. xxxvii. 14, 15.THE LEADINGS OE GOD.

47

—and it is felt to be the right way because it is the
way of the Cross, because it requires self-denial. The
leaving of home and kindred, the lonely journey, the
solitary staff, the stones for a pillow, if looked upon as
man judges, may seem to be desolation ; but as dis-
closed to the vision of faith the Angels of Heaven are
seen thereon ascending and descending on the minis-
trations of G-od.SERMON V.

LEAH AND EACHEL.

DUTY AND AEEECTIQN.

Genesis xxix. 20.

il And Jacob served seven years for Racbel; and they seemed unto
him but a few days, for the love he had to her.”

The promised inheritance of Abraham was for some
time the subject of faith only; there were no adequate
signs of the fulfilment of that promise that his seed
should be as the stars of Heaven. But in Jacob these
signs are distinctly seen, and as they are seen the
good and evil are mingled; he is a man of many
children and many sorrows. And while hope looks
forward the sentence passed on the woman becomes
also more strongly marked—“her sorrow and her
conception are greatly multiplied ”—and Israel of
himself testifies that in sorrow he eats bread all the
days of his life.

But again; while in Jacob the children of Abraham
are thus multiplied, and the twelve foundations of the
City of God are seen, there are poured forth on him
wonderful indications of the great spiritual fulfilments
which were bound up with that inheritance and withDUTY AND AFFECTION.

49

that land of promise, which was to be the place of
their rest. Visible tokens of the unseen were multi-
plied around him: on the night of his leaving that
land, he sees the vision of the ladder leading from
thence to Heaven, filled with ministering Angels. On
his approaching that land on his return, “ the Angels
of God met him,” even “ the host of God.” And before
he reaches the place of his destination and beholds
the face of Esau, a still greater manifestation of the
TJnseen awaits him, when he wrestles all night with the
Angel—or with One greater than an Angel, whose
Name is Secret. “ Eor I have seen,” he says, “ God
face to face, and my life is preserved.” And he bears
ever afterwards the tokens of that vision in the halting
thigh, which intimated the weakness and sorrow of
the flesh while God draws near to fulfil His promises.

Every place where he plants his foot in that earthly
inheritance is taking its name from some reference to
the spiritual kingdom; he calls one place “Bethel,”
the House of God; another “ Mahanaim,” the host
of God; and another “ Peniel,” the face of God.
When he looked homeward from the Eastern place of
his sojourn, he saw “the Gate of Heaven” opening
on that Western land ; and all things filled with those
glorious lights which spoke of the Sun of Eighteous-
ness there to arise. So much in him became the
heavenly mixed with the earthly. What appeared at
first to wear a human form is found to have a face
Divine; and the wing and movement of an Angel.

Add to these things the many communications from
God, the directions, the warnings, the visions to him-
self and others by which, his movements were guided,
his doubts removed, his infirmities strengthened, his
protection ensured. All these were like preparatory50

LEAH AND EACHEL.

openings of the Gospel on that Land of the Morning,
like the streaks of light, and the varied changing
colours of the dawn which are upon the distant hills,
and stain the moving clouds before the day appears.
The greetings that awaited him on his return were
like the faint murmurs already heard in Heaven of
what was to be, when St. Paul says to these same
Hebrews, “ But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and
unto the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of Angels V’

Such then were the changes that were taking place
in the dispensations of God towards Jacob from those
of the two patriarchs before him. The great faith of
Abraham is not there, but the fruits of that faith are
more seen, the manifestations from God by His
ministering spirits are more frequent; the branches of
that tree which was but as the grain of mustard spread
forth, and the fowls of the air, even the Angels of God,
are among the branches, while the beasts of the field
find rest below, beneath its shade.

I mention these things in order to account for the
manner in which the Holy Writers of old speak of
Jacob, and all that appertains to him; they do not
dwell so much on these incidents of history as such,
but speak of them as full of the Gospel in type and
figure. But more especially I would notice on this
occasion what is said respecting his two wives, Leah
and Bachel. It may be also partly owing to the evil
and sorrow which is bound up with the history
of them and their children, that good men have
delighted to let their minds rest on the goodness of
God and the things prepared for them that love Him,

1 Heb. xii. 22.DUTY A.-NT) AITECTIOlSr.

51

which He foreshadowed and brought about through
their instrumentality, and to meditate therein on the
mysteries of faith, rather than on the earthly side of
that picture. So it has been that Leah and Eachel
have been considered in the Church as representing
the two states of those who by faith are made partakers
with the Israel of God. Leah speaks of action, Eachel
of contemplation; both must be combined in the true
Israelite of God; they cannot be separated; labour
and love ; toil and rest; nor cam we have one without
the other.

This indeed is not intimated in Scripture, but as we
there read that Sarah and Hagar represented the
heavenly and the earthly Jerusalem ; and that Jacob
and Esau set forth the younger and elder brother, the
Gentile and the Jew; it seemed to follow in the like
mode of interpretation that mysteries of Christian
wisdom might be found in the detailed accounts that
are given of the two wives of Jacob. And when it
had been once shown by St. Augustin how their
histories throughout were capable of this application,
others also, the wisest and holiest men in their gene-
rations, as St. Gregory, St. Bernard, and others, have
adopted the same.

How all this is in some degree foreign to our present
purpose, which is more concerned with these persons
themselves as women, their dispositions, and the
incidents of their lives: yet even these considerations
naturally lead on the thoughts from earthly incidents
and human affections to the subjects of Divine love,
until we find at last that we have passed from the
image of the earthly to that of the heavenly.

The history of itself is in many respects a painful
one,—the deceivings of Laban, the double marriage, the
E 2

UHiVEKSiTY Of SLUftfW,

iMUAm52

LEAH AHD EACHEL.

envyings of Rachel, her complainings to her husband,
rather than as Hannah in like case to Grod, her retaining
and hiding secretly the images of idolatry ; the unde-
served humiliation and sorrows of Leah that move the
compassions of Grod to espouse her cause; the sinful
children of Leah; these are sad and evil. Yet not-
withstanding these there is a thread of deepest interest
running through the whole history, in the religious
thankfulness and patience of Leah; and in all memo-
rials of her who was the mother of the holy Joseph,
beloved of Grod and man, and of the blameless Ben-
jamin. And who is there that can forget the well of
Rachel, where Jacob when he first beheld her “ lifted
up his voice and wept ? ” and the tomb of [Rachel, where
it is said “ Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is
the pillar of [Rachel’s grave unto this day2 P ” To all
ages were the remembrances of that tomb, on the way
to Bethlehem-Ephrata, as the fragrance that remained
of a fair and sweet flower. [For it was of that grave
that the Grospel speaks in the mourning for the little
children at Christ’s birth as “ Rachel weeping for her
children.” Thus, I say, while the literal and plain history
is full of sacred associations, we are glad to find in the
history lessons of further good; and to dwell on those
beautiful treasures of Christian wisdom which it has
been supposed to contain. The goodly and fair
flower fadeth, but the healthful medicine extracted from
it remains.

Further, in excuse for thus considering it we may
observe how often Holy Scripture dwells on the images
of human love in speaking of that which is Divine.
And to those who have had, it may be, feeling tokens of

2 Gen. xxxy. 20.DUTY AND AFFECTION.

53

the love of Christ in the conversion of the soul, in
drawing it off from earthly things to Himself, there
cannot but be always something very moving in the
recollections of it ever afterwards, when looked back
upon in hours of affliction after many years. It is
this which Gfod appeals to in Scripture, of the sweet-
ness and strength of first love : “ I remember thee, the
kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals3.”

As the dews and fragrance of morning, as the
sunshine and showers of spring, as-the smiles and tears
of an infant, as the sad or sweet dreams of childhood, so
the sorrows and consolations of that first awakening to
Grod’s truth may ever be in remembrance upon the soul;
when, it may be, amongst bitter sorrows and despond-
ency we beheld the gracious look of Christ’s counte-
nance upon ourselves, pleading with us and calling us
back unto Himself, when we were entangled as the
lost sheep among the thorns, when He extricated us
from them—from the effects of which He Himself
and we also with Him are bleeding.

Such is the first love of Hachel through the heat of
the day to the end. “ Tell me, 0 thou whom my soul
loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy
flock to rest at noon; for why should I be as one that
turneth aside4 ?” In the approaches of death it is as
the evening sun coming forth on the Eastern hills from
whence first it arose.

Such then is that lesson which as a type this
history contains; both may be found in the kingdom
of Grod as serving one Lord and united to one Lord ;
Leah is of Christian righteousness; Hachel of Chris-
tian wisdom: Leah sets forth the practical life,

3 Jer. ii. 2.

4 Song of Sol. i. 7*51

LEAH AND EACHEL.

Rachel that of devotion ; Leah, whose very name
signifies labour, is expressive of this temporal life in
which we toil; Rachel of that eternal life to which
through these toils we aspire. This life of labour we
choose not for its own sake, but for that which comes
after. Righteousness must come first, and then wisdom.
“If thou desire wisdom,” says the wise man, “keep
the commandments, and G-od shall give her unto
thee5.” Good and beautiful is that which thou
desirest, but it must not be yet, till thou hast passed
in self-denial the labours of repentance. Leah speaks
of Christ’s Passion ; Rachel of His Resurrection ; His
Passion wherein we suffer together with Him must
come first; and then His Resurrection wherein we
find rest and joy in Him: His Passion wherein we
are to be as He Who “ hath no form nor comeliness
and “ no beauty that we should desire Him 6; ” His
Resurrection wherein “ Thou hast made Him glad with
the joy of Thy countenance “ full of grace are Thy
lips, because God hath blessed Thee for ever 7.”

But Leah is not loved or chosen for her own sake;
and the sufferings and labours of religion are only
undergone for that in which they afterwards find
rest, the affections which are in Christ. The desire
indeed of these came first, but it is not till afterwards
that we enter into the full possession of them : they
come indeed after, but they were before ; the first and
the last is in them.

Again, Leah is of the Law wherein there are many
commandments, but one with promise; Rachel of the
G-ospel where every commandment is with a blessing;
Leah is of godly fear which comes first; Rachel of

5 Ecclus. i. 20.

6 Isa. liii. 2.

7 Ps. xxi. 6; xlv. 3.DUTY AND AFFECTION.

55

godly love which comes afterwards; in Leah is felt the
spirit of bondage; in Rachel that of adoption ; when
Israel served for Rachel his bondage became glad
filial service.

The seven years for Leah must first be fulfilled: the
seven commandments which speak of duty to our
neighbour must be kept; to honour parents; not to
kill; not to commit adultery; not to steal; not to
bear false witness ; not to covet thy neighbour’s wife ;
not to covet thy neighbour’s goods: and when these
have been fulfilled, then to these we must add the
seven of Rachel, the laws of the New Testament, the
seven that are with the beatitudes, full of joy, in the
fulfilment of them for love’s sake ; to be poor in spirit;
to mourn; to be meek; to hunger and thirst after
righteousness; to be merciful; to be pure in heart;
to be peace-makers. In these are the seven graces of
the Spirit, full of consolation, because in them God is
found. Nay, in both the seven may we rejoice to-
gether, for both are endured for love’s sake; and love
“beareth all things, endureth all things, hopeth all
things,”—and “when that which is perfect is come”
passeth not away. Leah hath tender eyes; she sees
not afar off, her eyes are dimmed with present sorrow.
“Ror the thoughts of mortal men are miserable, and our
devices uncertain8.”. Rut Rachel is fair and bright with
that illumination which is from God. “ Thine eyes shall
see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the
land that is very far off9.” "Wisdom “is more beautiful
than the sun, and above all the order of stars; being
compared with light she is found before it1.” Yet
the former is more fruitful; for the works of patient

8 Wisd. ix. 14. St. Aug.	9 Isa. xxxiii. 17.

1 Wisd. vii. 20.56

LEAH AND RACHEL.

endurance bring many sons unto Christ: while con-
templation alone is comparatively barren; till by
prayers to God she at length obtaineth increase ; and
in death is fruitful, and after death remembered.

Thus may these two be interpreted in spiritual ap-
plication, like the Martha and Mary of the Gospels.
Happy is that house wherein Martha complains not of
Mary, and Bachel envies not Leah: but blessed be-
yond all is he in whom both are found; the Leah of
much toil, the Bachel of much love; the toil which
is not loved for its own sake, but brings many sons
unto God through many tribulations and temptations
in preaching the Gospel; and is meanwhile refreshed
by the consolations of His Spirit. Such was he in
after time—born of Eachel—of the tribe of Benjamin,
whom his mother would have called “ the son of my
sorrow,” but his father named “ the son of the right
hand2he “ born after due time,” whose mother, the
Jewish synagogue, died as she gave him birth, and
called the son of her sorrow; he in whom it is said
the prediction respecting Benjamin was fulfilled,
that “ in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at
night shall divide the spoil3.” Such, I say, was St.
Paul; “ in labours more abundant; in stripes above
measure; in deaths oft4;” in order to bear children
unto Christ who were his joy and crown \ “ Labouring
night and day,” “in much patience,” “ in watchings and
fastings;” but exceedingly comforted in all tribula-
tions, rejoicing in infirmities, in distresses for Christ’s
sake. Oh, how does this blessed Apostle overflow with
labours and with love; so that one doubts at which
most to be astonished, the exceeding greatness of his

2 Gen. xxxv. 18.

4 2 Cor. xi. 23. St. Aug.

3 Gen. xlix. 27.
5 Phil. iv. 1.DUTY A1XD AFEECTIOK.

57

toils, or the exceeding greatness of his affections: but
mark this, that his affections are with, and arise out of,
his toils ; his love is increased by his labours; and his
labours are on account of his love: he loved his chil-
dren in Christ because he had travailed in birth for
them with anguish and many tears ; this is the bond
of his love. He walks as it were in the Resurrection,
as one himself risen from the dead; but the marks of
the Lord Jesus are borne about in the body; the scars
and wounds remain as with his Lord, and by these
scars and wounds he is known, the tokens of his suf-
ferings and of his love. Thus righteousness and wis-
dom, thus action and contemplation, thus Leah and
Rachel, were in him combined; in revelations and
Divine visions he was in the third Heaven, and heard
the unspeakable mysteries of Christ; but in the mean-
while he suffered with the thorn in the -flesh below.
With a heart enlarged by love, in possessing he was
as if he possessed not; in suffering as if he suffered
not: and though this was for many years—for seven,
and seven twice told; yea, till seven times seven—yet
it appeared to him but a few days, from the greatness
of his love; “ the time is short/’ he says ; he ever speaks
of the shortness of the time; for “ our light affliction,”
he says, “ which is but for a moment ”—it was for many
years, but he calls it “ for a momentit was heavy
beyond the lot of man, but he calls it “ our light afflic-
tion;” and why? for, he adds, it “ worketh for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

Indeed the whole of this subject is full of instruction
in Christ’s kingdom; for it teaches us the right place
which the feelings and affections ought to have in
religion; they cannot stand alone; they cannot be
sustained and cherished without self-denial and la-58

LEAH AND KACHEL.

hours; Bachel cannot be without Leah; neither on
the other hand is Leah taken but for the love of
[Rachel; that love comes first in some sense; that love
continues under all and through all, and gives life to
all; and for that love is labour endured. Lull of
beauty is that love; it allures the heart, and binds
with its own cords, and makes the labour light. Say
not then that the feelings and affections are nothing
in religion, for they are not only goodly in themselves
and fair, but the heart without them would be barren.
“Thou hast given me a southern land,” says the
daughter of Caleb to her father, “ give me also springs
of water6,” the fair land is unfruitful without the
watersprings. That promised inheritance is of rich
affections, “ of fountains and depths that spring out of
valleys and hills7.” Oh the depth and the height of that
love in St. Paul which, amidst humiliations or successes,
as out of valleys and hills, broke forth in many tears!

But these affections and feelings come not first as
any thing in which we have to rest; we cannot have
them so if we would; we must undergo the seven
years, and then the seven years, and the affections and
feelings may be lawfully ours. The bearing of the
Cross must be first in order, that we may be carried
by it. Por, as Laban says, “ in our country it must
not be so done, to give the younger before the first-
born.” It must be so in this our old country of death
and sin, out of which we are called; Leah must come
first before Bach el; we must die first with Christ, in
order that we may be risen with Him. But we are
beguiled and taken in as it were unawares ; for no one
would choose Leah for her own sake; but for the love

6 Josh. xv. 19.

7 Deut. viii. 7.DUTY AND AFFECTION.

59

which is in Christ, we serve and labour, and are be-
guiled.

Jacob wrestled all night with the Angel, and said,
“ I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me,” and in
like manner he laboured long before Hachel crowned
his labours. And so if we wrestle long we shall see
the face of God; if we labour in righteousness we
shall be crowned with wisdom; if we mourn we shall
be comforted.

God seems to hide His countenance ; He bears long
and seems to put us off; we looked for possession, but
find toil; we were promised peace, but find division;
we were invited to a marriage feast, but find it labour
in a vineyard ; and the marriage of the Lamb is yet to
come. So was it with Israel after the flesh ; God holds
forth the land of Canaan as the object of their rest, and
for which they labour; but they find at length that this is
not their rest, it is yet afar off, the rest that remaineth
for the people of God; they looked for the inheritance
of sons, but it was the bondage of servants; and in like
manner we also who have obtained the adoption and
the sonship—we also are as servants, and yet sons—
both together, while we both suffer and rejoice.

Thus St. Paul, while bearing fruit unto God, says,
as with the voice of Leah, “ though the more abund-
antly I love you, the less I be loved,” but “I have
caught you with guile.” The serpent and the dove
are found together. The wisdom of the serpent hath
beguiled us, but the sting of the serpent is taken
away, and the eye of the dove remains.

Por we, my brethren, have entered the kingdom of
Heaven, of which our Lord spake as already come to
those to whom His Gospel is preached; we have
entered, and yet we pray for its Coming as for that60

LEAH AHD EACHEL.

which is yet afar off. "Woe to him who would seek
for rest and refreshment before his time! We looked
for possession, but behold labour; yet again and again
is it put off, but the more is love kindled, and in love
itself is the reward.

To love the time at most is short; to love it must
ever appear so. “Jacob served seven years for Hachel;
and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love
he had to her.” For she was near, and shared, as it
were, his labours. So is it with us. The evil man
says in his heart, “My Lord delayeth His coming,”
and “Where is the promise of His coming?” but to
love “ looking for and hasting unto the coming of the
Hay of Grod” it is but a few days—she beholds her
Lord ever present, and even now at the doors. For
He Himself says, “I come quickly;” and they who
come to the mind of Christ, who by love are joined to
Him, feel that it is so.

He “ served seven years for Hachel; and they seemed
unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.”SERMON VI.

MIRIAM.

SACRED SONG-'.

Exodus xv. 20.

“ And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in
her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels
and with dances.”

The circumstance here spoken of is very remarkable;
Miriam, which is the same as Mary, the sister of
Aaron the Priest, and of Moses the Lawgiver, and
herself a prophetess, leading the festal songs of thanks-
giving on the miraculous deliverance of Israel from the
Led Sea. The act thus described seems so strongly to
look forward to something future. She is a prophetess,
and not her words only, but the act itself, is full of the
inspiration of Grod.

There is a circumstance afterwards of a like kind no
less striking, where Deborah, the prophetess, sings that
inspired song of victory when the king of Canaan is
overcome, with this additional circumstance, that she
is herself there the cause of that victory; it is by
her means; and Sisera likewise is sold “ into the hand
of a woman.”

Both of these look like parts and tokens of the
same, Miriam with Moses, Deborah with Barak, and62

MIEIAM.

we wait for the fulness and completion of the inspired
strain, which may explain some great mystery, till we
find it in the Hymn of the Blessed Virgin.

Well therefore might the women of old have taken
the lead in Hymns of thanksgiving which showed
beforehand of that great deliverance which was to be
by Him Who was born of a woman—till she herself
took up the strain. It was as the tuning of instru-
ments long before, the sounds of harpers indistinctly
trying their chords, and bringing them in unison to
some great symphony ; till another Miriam appears in
the fulness of time, taking the lead for all ages in the
Eucharistic Hymn.

But Miriam, the sister of Aaron, on this occasion
going before in the music and festive procession,
was rather an expressive figure than an example
literally to be followed in the Christian Church. In
that age and country there was the religious dance
and song, which celebrated triumph and thanksgiving,
hallowed by God to His service. Thus we read of
the daughter of Jephthah, that on her father’s return
she “ came out to meet him with timbrels and with
dances1that “ the women came out of all the cities
of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul,”
“ and . answered one another as they played, and said,
Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten
thousands2.” And not only this, but in the removal
of the Ark of God by King David with so much religious
care, with the sacred dance and song, the women also
took part, as we read in the Psalm of Whitsunday3.
“ The singers go before, the minstrels follow after; in
the midst are the damsels playing with the timbrels V’

1 Judges xi. 34.	2 1 Sam. xviii. 7*

3 Ps. lxviii. 25.	4 Ps. lxviii. 25.SACRED SONU.

63

Thus in the triumphant celebration the woman leads
as in the song of Miriam; and in the sacred festal
procession as that of the Ark, the women take part in
the celebration. JSTow these things render it the more
remarkable that women never seem to have been
admitted into the public ministrations of the Temple,
nor to have had any official or ostensible part in the
choral services of the Sanctuary.

And this is the subject of which nowT I wish to
speak. The question may have occurred to some of us,
why it is that in what is called secular music, and in
congregational singing such as is usual in some
churches, but more especially among those bodies of
Christians which are separate from the Church, the
female voice prevails; whereas in the choral services
of the Church the singing is confined to men and boys
—that is, in its official and presiding character; for the
congregation taking part in the same with one heart
and one voice is only subordinate to this. If then we
are asked our reason for this, our answer must be, as
in almost all other ecclesiastical or sacred matters,
that it is the custom handed down to us, that this
usage has always existed in the Church, and appears
to have descended from the early ages; and that
this is the reason why we retain it, because we have
received it. But then yet further, we find, as is
usual in such cases, that reasons and warranty for it
are to be found in Holy Scripture.

Eirst of all then it appears to have been so in the
Levitical ministrations of the Temple of old, upon
which it is probable that the Divine services and
Liturgies of the early Church were formed by the
Apostles. And thus in the Apocalypse wherein the
ministrations in Heaven appear to be partly taken64

MIKIAM.

from the Temple and partly from the Christian Church,
or rather from the former as fulfilled in the latter, with
the Angels are the voices of the Twenty-four Elders and
of the Eour Beasts ; and we may add of the “ hundred
forty and four thousand,” perhaps children, for such
appear to be those spoken of as “ the firstfruits unto
God and the Lamb ”—“ which were not defiled with
women”—66 singing the new songbefore the throne ”—
but amidst these like “ the voice as of many waters, and
as the voice of a great thunder, and the voice of
harpers harping with their harps”—there is never
any allusion throughout to a female voice, or to any
female ministration as supplying the figure.

But we must consider this custom of the Church as
founded upon that great principle laid down by St.
Paul of female modesty and retirement—especially in
the services of God. In the rich and luxurious city of
the Heathen Corinth great abuses came into the church
as soon as St. Paul had left it; and among these,
together with great irreverence in the celebration of
the Holy Eucharist, there was a boldness and want of
due propriety in women in Divine services. As a
remedy for this he urges that the woman should in
church remember her due place as in subordination to
the man, which implied a certain meek propriety of
demeanour ; that in the House of God she should have
a covering on her head “ because of the Angels ”—that
is, that a certain awe and modesty became her there, as
in the presence of those ministering spirits that attend
on the Presence of God. As Solomon says, “ Neither
say thou before the Angel, that it was an error5.”
And again, “ Let your women,” says St. Paul, “ keep

5 Eccles. v. 6.SACRED SONG.

65

silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto
them to speak; hut they are commanded to be under
obedience, as also saith the Law6.” And in like
manner in his directions to Timothy, “ Let the woman
learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not
a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the
man, but to be in silence7.”

JSTow all this shows that St. Paul was labouring for
a certain meekness and propriety in the conduct of
woman in the service of God, and confirms the well-
grounded impression that neither in the Apostolic
Churches any more than the Levitical ministrations,
did women take any prominent or leading part in
conducting the sacred Psalmodies—but only joined
with the general congregation in so doing; the thunder
of many voices to which the service was likened. And
we may observe that even now where it is otherwise,
as on some great Musical Festivals and the like, it
promotes rather certain worldly effects which are
looked to than Christian edification. Prominence and
pre-eminence in public celebrations cannot be without
danger to that spirit which Apostles inculcate. As
St. Paul says, “ Let women adorn themselves with
shamefacednessSt. Peter, adorning themselves “ in
subjection.”

And we cannot but remember that of old, Miriam,
who took the lead in the sacred music and dance, was
not blameless before God—but tempted to an undue
exaltation; so that, like King TJzziah for invading the
Priests’ office, she was struck with leprosy, and shut
out of the camp for seven days, till on the intercession
of Moses she was restored8. We might add that if

6 1 Cor. xiv. 34.	7 1 Tim. ii. 11, J2.	8 Numb. xii.66

MIRIAM.

Jephfhah’s daughter took the lead in thanksgiving to
meet her father, it was not well for him that she did
so: and the women that met Saul and David with the
song tended more to envy and sadness than gladness
and peace.

But let it be granted that out of the Church it was
so ; that women led the triumphal processions; that
the damsels in the midst with the timbrel formed part
of the company that conducted the Ark to the place of
its rest; that “ singing men and singing women spake
of Josiah,” as it is said, “ iu their lamentations9that
they were among those that wept by the waters of
Babylon, and returned with Ezra, a number of “ singing
men and singing women1that “singing women”
were heard in the palace of David, to which the aged
Barzillai alludes2; but what we observe is, that all this
was without, not within the Temple of Grod; not
admitted as part of the Divine ministrations in the
•sanctuary itself.

Such then was the case with vocal musicin the Church.
But to all this it must be added, on the other hand, that
in what is less of public ministration but of itself far
higher, as more internal and spiritual, there was a
blameless equality of the female character—not to say
even in some respects something of priority and pre-
eminence. Miriam was also a prophetess; by woman
came the great inspired songs in the Christian Church,
of Deborah, of Hannah, of Judith, and, to crown all,
the hymn of the Blessed Virgin. Hor did such inspi-
ration cease with her, for the Prophet Joel has said of
these latter times, “ On My servants and on My hand-
maidens, I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and

9 2 Chron. xxxv. 25.	1 Ezra ii. 65.	? 2 Sam. xix. 35.SACRED SONG.

67

they shall prophesy3.55 In the spiritual gifts of pro-
phecy poured forth on the early Church women partook
together with men, as appears in St. Paul’s Epistles.
And Philip the Evangelist, at whose house he abode,
had four daughters, we read, “ virgins which did pro-
phesy.55

In this then the melody of the heart let the figure
be fulfilled of the timbrel and the dance of Miriam.
In this sense we may indeed say with the Prophets,
“ Sing, 0 daughter of Zion; be glad and rejoice with
all the heart, 0 daughter of Jerusalem V4 5 “ Shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh V’ In
this sense the Prophet Joel speaks. And the Prophet
Zechariah, that “ corn shall make cheerful the young
men,” and that the “new wine,” of the Gospel, “ shall
make glad the maids6.”

Thus then it is in those marvels of Divine grace by
which the soul is filled with wisdom, by which “ the
Word of Christ dwells richly 55 within ; “ teaching and
admonishing in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ”
“ singing and making melody in the heart to the
Lord7;” meekness of wisdom in the hidden man of
the heart, out of which are the issues of life, streams
issuing forth to refresh and fertilize the souls of those
around. The prophets of old were filled with the
knowledge of God, seeing His judgments afar off, and
discerning good and evil; and Evangelists were wit-
nesses of power and wisdom, and made the depositories
of that grace and meekness which were on the coun-
tenance of Jesus ; but in the Kingdom pf Heaven, in
the household of faith, holy women are inspired and

4 Zeph. iii. 14.	5 Zech. ix. 9.

7 Col. iii. 16. Eph. v. 19.

E 2

3 Acts ii. 18.

6 Zech. ix. 17*68

MIRIAM.

instructed of God to no less than this,—to more
than all the wisdom of Greece and Some. But every
thing must be in its own place, every thing in its own
order in the dispensation of the Spirit. It is not so
in the w7orld, the harmonies of the Spirit are not
there.

"Whatever is good and of God is imitated by the evil
one, and in the great revolutions of empires women in-
stigated of Satan have become prominent ; and where
due order is overthrown in popular states women are
put forward, and exalt themselves, and by exalting
are abased; but we have not so learned Christ.

Blessed be God, it is not so in the harmonies of
His kingdom, natural and revealed ! The feathered
chorister that sings the highest in the blue sky lies
lowest with her nest on the ground; shaking the dust
from her wings, and the mire that would weigh her
down, she contends against the adverse wind and cloud,
and rises higher and higher towards the chaunt of
the angels, till all her whole body seems full of thanks-
giving at the gate of heaven.

It is the Gospel that hath raised woman from the
dust, by faith of the Virgin Mother, and hath set her
as it were among the stars of Heaven. “ There
appeared a great wonder in Heaven ; a woman clothed
with the Sun, and the moon under her feet; and upon
her head a crown of twelve stars V’ But while thus
exalted in Heaven, on earth she is still pursued by her
enemy the serpent, and her only escape from him is by
flight; and “ the wings of a great eagle were given her
that she might fly into the wilderness9,” powers of God
are given her, not for contest, but for escape.

8 Rev. xii. 1.

9 Rev. xii. 14.SACKED SONG.

69

In this her exaltation her only safety is in humility ;
and the more highly she is uplifted the more need;
the more thou art exalted the more humble thyself;
great in meekness, in submission, in subordination; to
go beyond is to lose the grace and dignity of nature,
and the peculiar power of redemption; nothing is
great or good but in its proper sphere: woman is
greater than man by being less ; Eve by placing herself
above Adam was set below, by subjection she over-
comes and reigns with Christ. She that wTent before
is herself to follow; she that led is to look for
guidance.

All is order and harmony in Heaven, but even the
angels veil their faces before the throne of Christ1;
and because of the Angels, themselves also all reve-
rence and worship, the woman is to be reverential and
humble in her demeanour before God. And there
before the throne of God they sing a new song, the
song of Moses and of the Lamb, that of Miriam and of
Mary, for they are both one: and together with the
Angels and the ministering attendants'in that Temple
of the New Jerusalem, “ having every one of them
harps and golden vials full of odours, which are the
prayers of the Saints,” the innumerable company
of the redeemed unite in giving glory to the Lamb.
None are shut out, but all are in appropriate place.

The harp and the song are there to be found, though
it be in some manner not now to be understood by
human ears. And there, though there be “ neither
male nor female,” but all one in Christ, all as the
Angels of God;—no pride, no envy, no rivalry, no
unseemliness to mar those divine harmonies ;—yet all

1 Isa. vi. 2.70

MIRIAM.

will be in its own order, as one star differeth from
another star, but all full of light and of melodies
unknown to man.

In these Heavenly representations while all is so
studiously in its own place, yet it is impossible for any
to hear and not to take part in the same. So should
it be in our Church on earth. Who indeed could
hear that strain and be altogether silent ?

And we may notice that our own Church is espe-
cially after the primitive pattern in this, that it
combines Congregational Psalmody with that lead
which is taken by the Chancel and Choral Ministra-
tions. In various times of the Church since the
beginning there have been seasons in which one of
these has prevailed to the disparagement of the other ;
or one has become exclusive without the other. At
one time it has been the general Congregation; at
another it has been exclusively for the more perfect and
instructed part of appointed singers. But when the due
order has been established both have become united;
“ with the spirit and the understanding also,” with the
heart and with the voice, with the outer and the inner
man hath been combined also, in due co-operation and
adjustment, the more and less perfect; to form as it
were one habitation of the Spirit, wherein all harmony
may dwell. The Oil on the Sacerdotal Head goeth
down to the skirts of the sacred raiment: down to the
lowest and the least Divine love hath its fragrance,
and finds its utterance in sacred song.

And where else shall we look for the expression
of Divine order, for the embodiment as it were of
Christian grace, but in the service of the Sanctuary,
in harmony, in “ the beauty of holiness P ” There all
stand as in the presence of Grod, amidst ministeringSACRED SONG.

71

spirits, with prayer and praise ; while the sounds of
melody represent the wings of the Spirit which bear
the soul upward to God, and aid the weak endeavour
to raise itself above earthly passions and desires. All
there should be Divine suitableness and peace.

The Grecian Philosopher of old would make music
to have a great part in the education of the young,
because he thought it the means of attuning and
moulding the soul to goodness. But the Christian
Church by bringing Divine airs as it were from above
into the cultivation of the heart and life, has become
in this respect far more than all that he contemplated';
and Holy Scripture confirms the same.

When the evil spirit of gloom and envy was cast out
of Saul, it was by the minstrelsy of “ the sweet Psalmist
of Israel; ” when Elisha would bring to himself the
Divine Inspirations amidst evil kings and the tumultu-
ous strifes of war, he called for the minstrel, and “ when
the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon
him2;” when miraculous deliverance brought out
Israel through the mighty waters the timbrel of Miriam
and her companions alone could speak; when Paul
and Silas were made more than conquerors through
Him that loved them, amidst stripes, and chains, and
the prison of darkness the voices of song were heard,
and from themselves and all that heard them all fetters
fell off, and all prison bars were opened ; and who could
fail to join in that their hymn which had such power to
save ?

How expressive are all these occasions ! In all these
the passions of the world were shut out by the harmony
of the Spirit; and so, surely, if ever there ought to be

2 2 Kings iii. 15.72

MIRIAM.

deadness to every feeling of self, it ought to be in
Divine melodies, though, alas! it be not so. Dor the
evil one delighteth in perversion to contraries; he
makes the Least of Love the great occasion of con-
troversial hate ; and the harmonies of God to be the
sources of strife. Yet nevertheless with the holy all
shall be holy, and on these, as on the wings of Love,
they shall arise to the songs of Angels and ministering
spirits ; like those saintly men who have been amongst
us, whether in court and city, or in rural retirement,
such as holy Ken and holy Herbert, passing from
earthly melodies to those in Heaven.SERMON VII.

RAHAB.

SAVING FAITH.

Hebrews xi. 31.

“ By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed
not, when she had received the spies with peace.”

The name of Eahab has become sanctified and en-
nobled in Christ’s kingdom ; mentioned in our Lord’s
genealogy, the mother of kings and prophets, and of
Christ Himself; held forth by St. Pa,ul as an example
of faith; and by St. James as an evidence of works
also, together with Abraham. “Likewise also,” he
says, “was not Eahab the harlot justified by works,
when she had received the messengers, and sent them
out another way1 ?”

But now the question may occur to us, what was it
that rendered the betrayal of her country in her an
act so great and good? what knowledge had she of
the true God that made her faith so acceptable ? Eor
she must have had reason for what she did, founded
on knowledge. The same inquiry might be made re-
specting many things recorded even in the Gospels

1 St. James ii. 25.74

BAHAB.

themselves. For instance, it is said, “As Jesus passed
forth from thence, He saw a man named Matthew,
sitting at the receipt of custom; and He saith unto
him, Follow Me.” “And he left all, rose up, and
followed Him2.” Why was this in St. Matthew the
turning-point of his salvation, more than if he had fol-
lowed any other mere human teacher that called him P
The same may be asked in other cases, as in that of
Mary Magdalene, the Penitent Thief, and the like.
Why was it that to have seen One who appeared as
man, and to have instantly obeyed Him was saving
faith in God ?

How to account for these we must conclude, first of
all, that sufficient indications had been given to St.
Matthew and others of our Lord’s power and good-
ness, by what they had heard or themselves witnessed;
and secondly, that they had been called within by the
grace of God,—a call which they might have obeyed or
resisted. For our Lord says, “ Ho man can come to
Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.
And I will raise him up at the last day3.” “ Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in Hea-
ven4.” And St. Paul attributes his conversion to the
same, “ When it pleased God, who called me by His
grace, to reveal His Son in me5.”

Something, then, of this kind must have been the
case with the harlot Bahab; that she had signs given
her that they were the people of God who were
approaching; and that they were executing His will;
and that to take part with them was to take part with
God. And this the history itself intimates. For she

2 St. Matt. ix. 9. St. Luke v. 28.	3 St. John vi. 44.

4 St. Matt. xvi. 17.	5 Gal. i. 15.SAYING FATTH.

75

says to the spies, “ I know that the Lord hath given
you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us
. . . Lor we have heard how the Lord dried up the
water of the Led Sea for you, when ye came out of
Egypt. . . . Eor the Lord your God, He is God in
Heaven above, and in earth beneath6.”

That in addition to this there was also in her mind,
however unknown to herself, a distinct call from God,
cannot be doubted; for it is He alone that worketh
great wonders, and her faith was altogether marvellous
and singular; there was a voice within from God,
saying to her, “ Come thou out, and be separate from
among them, and touch not the unclean thing; and I
will receive you, and will be a Lather unto you 7.”
Hot only was she singled out from her own people,
like the firstfruits of the Gentile Church in the Gos-
pels, but she went also beyond the chosen nation who,
though they had seen and witnessed all,yet in their heart
fainted, and entered not, because of unbelief.

She had a call from God to sacrifice her nation—as
Abraham had to sacrifice his son8—though it came to
her in another way; for nothing but a call from God
could have made that to be holy, which would otherwise
have been unholy; or made faith in God to be con-
sistent with what would have been otherwise unfaith-
fulness to man.

But now, there is also another subject which will
occur to us in considering the character of Bahab; is
there any thing to redeem her name from her former
evil life? St. James says that she was “justified by
works,” but the works he mentions are but the ex-
pression of that faith for which she was distinguished,

6 Josh. ii. 9— i 1.	7 2 Cor. vi. ]7*	8 Cor. a Lapid.76

BAIIAB.

when she received and rescued the messengers of God;
he says nothing of that faith working in her repent-
ance from a state of sin; nor does Scripture any where
record it. Now in answer to this we must observe
that she does not appear at first as a sin-abandoned
person, or one lost to home duties and affections; she
intercedes for the lives of her father and mother, her
brethren and sisters, with whom she was dwelling ;■
and like Noah from the old world, and like Lot from
Sodom, she saves not herself only, but her family also
out of the ruins of that doomed city. That her sub-
sequent life was without reproach may be inferred
from this, that she was married to one of the princes
of a chief house in Israel, Salmon, the father of Boaz.
And it may be inferred from her singular faith, for if
she gave up that wicked race as accursed of God for
their crimes, she must herself have abhorred for the
future those sins for which they were cut off. Lor
how could she be joined by so strong a faith to the
people of God, and been yet disobedient to His law of
holiness P

But still notwithstanding she is distinguished in
Holy Scripture by this evil name, nor has it been
pleased to state any thing to redeem her from it.
Nay, doubtless, designedly chosen of God for this
purpose, as Mary Magdalene, as the thief on the
Cross, and as that Syro-Phoenician mother coming
forth from the borders of Tyre and Sidon. The whole
circumstance of her call, and the name applied to her,
is stamped in the strongest manner, as by prophecy,
with the peculiar grace of the Gospel, the mercy
which there is in Christ. Before the fall flower was
expanded it contained in the bud the hidden mystery.
Before the seed of Abraham had entered the land ofSATING- EAITH.

77

promise, the descendant of Ham, a citizen of the ac-
cursed city, one bearing the name of “ harlot,” is chosen
to be the mother of Christ. In the same manner that
Israel’s prophet Hosea, at the very outset, is bidden to
take “ a wife of whoredoms,” making one greatly polluted
holy by marriage, the object of lore, the part of him-
self. All as representing the power of faith in over-
coming even an evil life; strength out of weakness ;
life out of corruption ; holiness out of uncleanness;
from pollution, from the dregs of a wicked race, by
betrayal of country, she sets forth the goodness and
power of God in the abasement of all human pride, as
to be seen hereafter in His Church, called forth out
of the Gentile world. Here is the miracle of Divine
grace in the heart; the miraculous yearning after
God; self-abandonment; faith overcoming; faith and
works combined; no deceit of an unreal faith.

“ Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard
his spots9?” Tes, they can; the child of Ham
hath become white; the spotted one hath put off
her nature; that which within was the leopard, is
henceforth as the lamb; not the skin only shall be
changed by the putting on of Christ, but the inner
man shall be renewed, and the leprous one become as
a little child. “Though your sins be as scarlet,” as
the scarlet dye of the accursed city, “ they shall be as
white as. snow ; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool1; ” white as the garment of the Son
of Man on the mount of His change.

Is the very name—“ the harlot Kahab”—a stumbling-
block to the world, a reproach ? yet it is one with the
Gospel, and the Church of the Gentiles; all consistent

9 Jer. xiii. 23,

1 Isa. i. 18.78

BAHAB.

and uniform; to the unbeliever a reproach; to the
believer inexpressible comfort. We may say in the
words of the Psalmist, “ I will think of Eahab and
Babylon with them that know Me.5’ Of the Egypt of
the Old Testament, of the Babylon of the Apocalypse,.
God will speak to His own children by faith; but the
world will not understand the mysteries of His King-
dom. They see not His tokens; nor mark the signs
of His Coming. “ Out of Egypt,” out of Babylon,
“have I called My Son,”—this is written on the fore-
front of the Gospel2. Out of Egypt and out of
Babylon, as gold purified in the furnace, they come;
and the harlot Eahab has become a mother in Israel,
and crowned with the everlasting Gospel, the illumi-
nation of God3.

Every thing in nature knows its refuge and the
place of its strength—-the instinct of its kind within
leads the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field,
and the smallest insect, with unfailing guidance, to their
haven, their home, their life,—and shall not the Spirit
of God in man lead the creature to its Creator F the
redeemed soul to its Saviour F the defiled one to the
Spirit of Holiness F nay more—man lost and ruined to
the One True Man in the Image of God F Eaith saving
out of sin embraces not the Sacrifice of the Cross
only, but the One Man alone Holy—the Incarnate God.

As from the old world to ISToah, as from Sodom—
as from Jericho—so from this doomed world they
that are His stretch forth their hands to Him, and see
the signs of His coming, and hold out His standard,
the scarlet sign—the token of Him Who wore the
scarlet robe, Who is known of the Prophet by His

? St. Matt, ii, 15.

Bar. iv. v.SAYING PAITH.

79

garments dyed in blood, not like St. Peter, who sbed
the blood of his neighbour in the cause of God; but
Christ Who for His neighbour and for God with
His own blood watered the ground; this is the sign of
the Son of Man, the zeal that He put on as a fiery
cloke, not that of St. Peter or of the Joshua of old,
but of Jesus Christ; and they that are His ; they hold
out to Him the sign by which He may know His own.
They have no arms to defend themselves with but the
token of His deliverance. And now He Himself shall
fight for them, and go before them—and they shall
follow Him, not with their own arms—but by Him
“ clothed in white 4,” in the regenerating Baptism of
His Blood. “ Though ye have lien among the . pots,
yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove.” And what is
this Hove, but the Holy Spirit of God, the emblem of
innocence and love, covered with wings and feathers of
silver and gold, as the hues come forth in the light of
the Sun of righteousness ?

Por is it not the very characteristic of the Gospel
that it heals the leper; and raises the dead ? Is it
not “ in the lowest pit, in the place of darkness, and in
the deep 5 ” that its light is most seen, and the stars
of Heaven are discerned ?	“ One deep calleth unto

another, because of the noise of the water pipes 6.”
The deep of man’s sin calleth unto the deep of man’s
misery, and a yet lower deep answereth them both,
which is the deep of God’s mercy.

Is it not for the lost one that the good Shepherd
hath come ? Is it not His saying that “ the publicans
and harlots go into the Kingdom of God,” yea, and
take the lead, before the righteous? And why?

4 Rev. xix. 14; vii. 14.

Ps. lxxxviii. 5.

6 Ps. xlii. 9.80

It ARAB.

because they press in with violence, and the violent
take it by force.

“ I am not come but for the lost sheep,” says the
good Shepherd: “lam come to heal the sick,” says the
Physician of life; if most lost, then most found; if
most sick, then most healed. To state otherwise were
to dim the brightest crown among the many crowns of
the Conqueror of death7,

But is not this an encouragement to sin ? Because
the Gospel hath “brought life and immortality to
light8,” shall a man therefore lay violent hands on
himself in order to depart hence and obtain that better
life ? this were indeed to lose that life and to die
eternally. And shall any one sin that grace may
abound in his recovery ? this were at once to tempt
and grieve that Holy Spirit by which alone he can be
restored. So much so that it is the very mercy of
God which makes Him so much to be feared. Man
is not to be feared, and evil spirits are not to be feared
—but God is to be feared above all things; and why ?
because there is no mercy and help in man, and none
in evil spirits, but in God there is mercy equal to His
power. Why is He a “jealous God?” it is because
He showeth mercy unto thousands. What is the
Name of God declared among the terrors of Mount
Sinai, as a token that He will “ by no means clear the
guilty ?” it is this, that He is “ long-suffering and
forgiving iniquity.” What is the signal mark of His
infinite goodness which He sets on His own people ?
it is this, “ Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy
people I will do marvels, such as have not been done
in all the earth;—and all the people among which

7 Rev. xix. 12.

8 2 Tim. i. 10.SATING- FAITH.

81

' thou art shall see the work of the Lord; for it is a
terrible thing that I will do with thee V’ And what
is this terrible thing, thus darkly alluded to F Go to
Mount Calvary and thou wilt find it there. Go and
ask for the scarlet sign and thou wilt understand it
there. There deep calleth unto deep—and when we
see the darkness, and beneath the darkness hear the
cry, “ My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” then
we find that it is out of the very depths of God’s
mercy that there is something far more terrible than
could have entered into the thoughts of man. Then
we remember that it is Christ Himself alone—the
good Shepherd, the kind Physician, the charitable
Samaritan, the only merciful One, Whose name is Love ;
it is He who has revealed to us that place where the
worm dieth not, and the fire shall never be quenched
—that everlasting banishment from the Presence of
God which is called “ damnation.”

Shall it then be otherwise while the gate is still
open—or rather will be opened on knocking—but that
the greatest sin and the greatest misery, as it needs,
so shall it receive the greatest help from God ?

What are the Ministers of Christ, but His messen-
gers sent before Him as spies into the condemned
City ? And who shall receive them there ? not the
sons of Anak, but the Rahab of the Old Testament,
and the Mary Magdalene of the Gospel, who hath
loved much because she hath much forgiven. This
may be found as a principle in Pastoral ministrations
—in which it ever comes forth again and again in letters
of light as written by the finger of God, that “ the first
shall be the last, and the last first.”

1 Exod. xxxiv. 7- 10.

a82

HA.HAB.

Naj, jet more—take it jet more literallj—if the1
Messengers of God. penetrate as it were bj stealth
into the verj haunts or strongholds of vice, even there
will thej find some—I do not saj manj—but some,
who with passionate jearnings and zeal will stretch
forth “ both hands earnestlj ” unto God ; as thej who
would take hold, and in taking hold will not let go Him
Who hath power to save from death. From a mass of
foul worms, grovelling and festering in corruption and
perishing, what if one be found to survive, which has
become dead to its former self, and issues forth into the
pure skj with angel-like wings and as a new creature ?*
What if it be but one or two out of manj, jet is not
one soul of infinite worth in the sight of God F And
is not a life well bestowed that can rescue one
soul ?

And this that I saj must at once applj to the
subject of Penitentiaries, Houses of Mercj as thej are
called; what if thej fail in manj instances, naj in most
—or let it be in nearlj all—in working anj great
good—jet what if after much time and much labour—
and some little necessarj expense, thej rescue one soul
from perdition, is not this ample recompense for
all ? But what if in this dark spot there should be
found a brighter light—in this dark “ vallej of Achor
a door of hope 2,” more than in whole parishes and
whole churches richlj furnished with their own
pews ?

And what if when Bahab is received into the Citj
of the Living God—into the House of Mercj which is
His Church, she brings with her also all her household
and kindred P One rescued soul must rescue and save

2 Hos. ii. 15.SAYING- FAITH.

83

others and do the work of God ; as one corrupted and
defiled does the work of Satan in corrupting and
defiling others. And what if she who was once the
Magdalene—the sinner of many tears 3—is afterwards
found in the good Mary that sits at Christ’s feet and
hears His word; what if it be the same who should
afterwards be the first to declare Christ risen, becoming
as it were the first Apostle to Apostles, an Evangelist
to Evangelists ? That which appeared a smoking brand
at our feet plucked from the burning, is seen to be a
little star above our head glimmering in Heaven, the
closest attendant on the setting sun, and of His rising
again. It is not without much import, and that to
us, that such things are written—that none may
despair, but all may fear—but most of all that they
who are first may fear, and they who are last may
hope.

It is not that a heart hardened by sin can receive
the Word of God ; nor that one who hath done despite
unto the Spirit of Grace and trampled under foot the
Son of God by habitual sin can be renewed unto
repentance; but that to one overtaken by temptation
and under the cloud of this world’s reproach, a fear of
being lost may be more deeply present, and arising out
of that fear a cry for aid, and then a hope of acceptance,
and then a sense of the goodness of God in Christ,
which bursts as it were and breaks the heart.

Eor it is the lukewarm whom God loathes4, they
that are self-satisfied—indifferent—they that are at
ease—they who seek but strive not. These He shuts
out.

He is as a travelling man, He goes on His way,

s 2

3 St. Luke vii.

4 Rev. iii. 16.84

RAHAB.

He tarries not; He is as if He hears not, and they
who would arrest Him ere He departs must follow after,
and call aloud; they who would hold Him must
seize His garment and constrain Him, or He will have
gone by. By constraint alone and by violence is He
retained.

Or again ; to state the same in another way;—the
throne of God moves on—all fire—and all motion ; all
wings and all wheels: and as it moves onward leaves
behind what is not of itself; all that is cold, all that is
sluggish, all that is turned to other ways. And that
rthrone of God’s Kingdom gathers the hearts of all
that are His ; it passes on ; nothing is still; nothing
is dark ; nothing is dead ; “ wheel within wheel,” for
every act ministers to another ; fire in each wheel, for
every work must be “ fervent in spiritfull of eyes,
as ever watchful and filled with the knowledge of God;
the wheels are on earth, as “ not slothful in business; ”
the wings ever in motion, as “ continuing instant in
prayer ;” and wings joined every one to another, as
united in joint supplications. “And they went every
one,” says the Prophet, “ straight forward: whither
the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not
when they went5.” Ho looking back—no stopping.
Por rapidly as the world moves on, still more speedily
hastes onward the time of our probation—for the
everlasting ages which are to come.

It is now with us as it was with Kahab when from
amidst the doomed City she heard the sound; the
coming of God drew near—and as it approached the
sound of wings was heard, and their sound was “ as the
voice of the Almighty when He speaketh.” And one

^ Ezek. i. 12.SAYING FAITH.

85

went in between the wheels, and took coals of fire and
scattered them over the City6.

In a little while that throne of God’s Mercy shall
have passed—and the tribunal of His Justice shall
remain.

6 Ezek. x. 2.SERMON VIII.

DEBOKAH.

HEROIC WOMEN.

Judges iv. 4.

“ And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged
Israel at that time.”

When God raised up from time to time Deliverers and
Judges in Israel there was among these one very
remarkable woman—of whom the text speaks; nor is
there any other female character altogether like her
mentioned in Scripture. She was the Divinely ap-
pointed Judge. “ She judged Israel,” it is said, “ at
that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of
Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel; and the children
of Israel came up to her for judgment.” We have no
other instance of a female Judge or Governor in Israel
appointed of God. She was a prophetess, but different
from any other prophetess mentioned in Holy Scripture.
She in some respects resembled Miriam, the sister of
Aaron, inasmuch as she also was a prophetess and sang
the triumphant songof victory—hut she greatly differed,
as for instance, that she was a judge, which Miriam was
not; and again Miriam only took the lead in the hymnHEROIC WOMEN.

87

of thanksgiving: whereas Deborah was herself the
cause of the victory—she was herself the inspired
Leader and Chief. She sent for Barak, the captain
of the host, and directed his goings, and gave him the
success from God, and accompanied him to the war.
“ If thou wilt go with me,” said Barak unto her, “ then
I will go : but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will
not go.”

Again; in this respect it might be said that thus
acting in conjunction with Barak, she was more like
Huldah the prophetess to whom the good King Josiah
referred; and with whom he acted as it were in union
in the restoration of Israel. But from her also she
entirely differed in another respect, that Huldah was
more of a priestly character and dwelling in the sacred
college of the Temple; Huldah the wife of Shallum
spoke of repentance and humiliation before God; but
Deborah of glory and victory before men. Mention
of any other prophetess in Scripture will serve to show
the stronger contrast between them. Elisabeth, the
wife of Zacharias, was inspired of God, but it was to
acknowledge the blessed Mother of our Lord. And
Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, was a prophetess, but
it was to recognize in His Temple and to preach the
Prince of Peace. But how unlike to all this is
Deborah 1 We might call her the warrior prophetess ;
a queen as it were of battles ; her inspired song is as
the war-cry; stirring as the trumpet’s sound in every
note : “ the battle of the warrior,” says Isaiah, is “ with
confused noise and garments rolled in blood,” but he
adds, to us “ a Child is born, the Everlasting Father, the
Prince of Peace1.” The strain of Deborah is of ven-

1 Isa. ix. 5, 6.88

DEBOEAH.

geance unsparing, not as a herald of the Merciful One.
Hebrew names are full of significancy, and the Word
of God often mentions such; the name Deborah means
a Bee; filled with the honey of Divine song and
prophecy, but armed as those creatures of God are
with a sting and lightning-like impulse on the wing.

But how are we to account for her occupying
so great a place in the Divine Word ? the narrative is
dwelt upon; and the song is given at length ; our Churcb
has appointed the subject to-day for our two Sunday
lessons. Moreover she celebrates the mode of that
victory; she blesses Jael who was the author of it by
treacherously slaying one who had relied on her hospi-
tality; she exults in the sorrows of the mother of
Sisera, looking out at a window in expectation of her
son’s return.

Now it might be said that all this carried on a
secret prophecy respecting Eedemption2 and the victory
over sin and death by means of a woman: it was keeping
up a memorial of the promise made to Eve—of her
seed bruising the serpent’s head. Nay, that the very
stratagem itself of Jael by which the enemy was slain,
like that of Judith, intimated that Satan our great
enemy should be over-reached as it were, and thus
unawares overcome, in a way that he thought not of,
by the faith of the blessed Yirgin. That altogether
these great things through the means of women con-
tained the great mystery that God had chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the strong.
Moreover there are expressions which allude to some-
thing more than the mere history; as speaking of some

2 St. Augustin supposes that it may be interpreted of Christ,
though he does not explain, it. Civ. Dei xviii. 15. .HEROIC WOMEN.

89

supernatural circumstance that occurred to aid them,
it is said, “ they fought from Heaven, the stars in their
courses fought against Sisera.” And Barak himself
who was combined with Deborah was a remarkable
person: he is mentioned by St. Paul among the Saints
who overcame by faith3. The saying is applied to
him, “ Arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive,
thou son of Abinoam ”—the expression used of our
Lord Himself, “ Thou hast gone up on high, thou hast
led captivity captive V’

Let us consider this subject a little more at large.
Wars and victories are by God’s permission and
providence for the punishment of sinners, and He may
use holy persons to become by faith the instruments
of these His chastisements, and at the same time make
them to represent the hidden things of His kingdom.
He uses earthquakes and famines and pestilences to
execute His judgments on the wicked, or ravenous
beasts His creatures ; and for the same purpose in His
hand are the hearts of the children of men. As the
rivers of water He turneth them wheresoever He wills
to cherish or destroy. And on the Great Day of His
final Judgment, when His will shall be their will, they
will rejoice in all His dispensations, in a way they
cannot now understand. “The righteous,” it is said,
“ shall rejoice, when he seeth the vengeance; he
shall wash his footsteps in the blood of the un-
godly.”

Further, I would ask, is not our Lord Himself often
seen by His Prophets as a victorious warrior p
“Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed
garments from Bozrah ? this that is glorious in His

3 Heb. xi. 32.

4 Judges v. 12. Ps. lxviii. 18.90

DEBORAH.

apparel, travelling in tlie greatness of His strength ? ”
Are not His “lips full of indignation5?” And is
there not a sharp sword going forth out of His mouth ?
Are not His words, “I will tread them in Mine anger,
and trample them in My fury ; and their blood shall be
sprinkled upon My garments.” “ For the day of ven-
geance is in Mine heart ? ” He is not only the Lamb of
God, but also the Lion of Judah, wdiose roar makes the
forest to tremble. He is “ as a leopard by the way,” or
“ bear bereaved of her whelps 6.” Is He not on the
White War Horse with the bow in His hand ? Is not
our Merciful Saviour seen in Joshua, and David’s
victories, and in Samson ? Why then should not the
Blessed Virgin and the Church of Christ be set forth
in Deborah ? nay, even in Jael and Judith ?

Yet further; Christ is seen not in the goodness
only, but in the power and victories of men, “going
forth conquering and to conquer.” If indeed we come
to meekness, mercy and goodness wrho shall re-
present Him ? what Angel or man shall reflect His
Image ? Wo, all alike are as nothing before Him ;
and no flesh can glory in His Presence. “ Behold, He
putteth no trust in His saints : yea, the Heavens are
not clean in His sight7.”

Way, the very diversity adds a force to the figures, and
prevents any confusion with Christ. If even in the
noble and great women inspired of God and overcoming
by faith there was something of exultation and revenge
—the Spirit of Christ hath taught us what the joy and
the revenge of a Christian is.

But as to the righteous—who are they that shall
stand before Him ? Are we not all sinners ? And

5 Isa. lxiii. 1 ; xxxi. 27.	6 Hos. xiii. 8.	7 Job xv. 15.HEROIC WOMER.

91

has He not by His Gospel chosen sinners ? And is not
this His mercy to sinners the very characteristic of
His Church—and set forth darkly in them of old?
Tamar was incestuous. Bahab a harlot. Samson
was joined to Delilah—and had his strength restored
in death. Bathsheba, who had been an adulteress,
was the mother of Solomon. He hath sent forth
to gather to the Marriage both bad and good.
Nothing is clean before Him; nothing perfect;
nothing as He is but by His Spirit. Let us all be
covered with the robe of Christ—it is large enough
for all; it has no parts or divisions; all alike have
sinned and come short of His glory; all need
mercy; all require Him alone for a Saviour. The
Old Testament is full of the power of faith, of faith
to work wonders in Him ; but it is the New Testament
that tells us what the nature of these wonders is—by
setting Him before us, and by writing His law in the heart.

To explain then a little further—if He is on the
White War Horse, and a sharp sword goeth out of
His mouth : yet His sword we know is the Word of
God. If He is followed by an army of victorious
warriors on white horses in Heaven, yet their armour
is but the white linen winch is the righteousness
of saints8. If like Elijah He brings down fire from
Heaven on His enemies, yet that fire is the Spirit of
Love. If He is known by His garments all stained
with blood from the battle, yet it is His own Blood.
And the day of victorious vengeance in His heart is the
day of His unspeakable humiliations.

To come then to the account itself. However op-
posite in character such prophetic types may appear

8 Rev. xix. 8.92

DEBOKAH.

as they go before, they are found full of grace and
mercy as they draw near: and all this history of
Deborah and her victories may represent to us some-
thing of the Gospel itself in that very same ground
where it afterwards appeared; breaking forth in those
very places themselves in marvellous fulfilment, like
indistinct shadows disclosing the dawn of morning
which they seemed for awhile to hide.

There are great prophecies moving onward, and as
they move, assuming awful signs, and we know not
what is behind. As we may have seen a cloud with
many and fearful shapes coming from afar, loaded with
thunder and storm, and very terrible in the gloom, and
its voice is heard; but when it has come near it is
illumined with colours of the rainbow, and turns to
refreshing and fertilizing rain, and the sun breaks
forth, and all nature rejoices, and the violet beneath
the hedge-row sends forth its fragrance for a thank-
offering, and the little birds lift up their songs, and
the lambs are joyful in the field, and the valleys of
corn laugh and sing. So is it with awful events such
as these, when they disclose and break up, and are
found to contain the Gospel and the kingdom of
God’s mercy upon earth.

“ The children of Israel,” it is said, “ cried unto the
Lord.” And there dwelt under the palm-tree, be-
tween Bethel and Eamah, Deborah, a judge and a
prophetess. What can more fitly represent the
Church of God than the judge and the prophetess ?
for this is precisely what the Church is, dwelling
under the palm-tree, the sign of victory; and in those
sacred places in Judaea where the Kingdom of Heaven
was first announced by our Lord Himself, and His
forerunner the Baptist.HEROIC WOMEIST.

93

But the chief scene of our Lord’s miracles and
teaching is in Galilee and at the foot of Mount
Tabor. It is here that the great enemy is to be dis-
comfited with all his host. “ And Deborah sent and
called Barak, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord
God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw
toward Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thou-
sand men of the children of Haphtali and of the
children of Zebulun P And I will draw unto thee to
the river Kishon Sisera,, . . and I will deliver him into
thine hand.” How Zebulun and Naphtali, mentioned
by Deborah, and so often alluded to in her account, is
the very region of this our Lord’s ministry, as St.
Matthew describes it in his Gospel, “The land of
Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of
the sea . . . the people which sat in darkness saw
great light9.” It was from Mount Tabor—the mount
of His Transfiguration—where Moses and Elias, the
heralds of His judgment, had yielded up all to Him—
and He came down in meekness to die, and by dying
to overcome the enemy. And -where is the enemy?
It is he whose name is Legion. “And Sisera,” it is
said, “ gathered together all his chariots, even nine
hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were
with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the
river of Kishon.” And Barak hath gone up and is
now come down from Mount Tabor. And surely all
this was fulfilled when our Lord went about healing
all those that were oppressed of the devil. It was of
the success of His Gospel with His Apostles that our
Lord said, “ I saw Satan like lightning fall from Hea-
ven.” And when did He avenge Himself on Canaan?

9 St. Matt. iv. 15.94

DEBOEAH.

when He received that poor suppliant that remained
in their coasts into His protection, and cast the evil
spirit out of her daughter. Then was the enemy
avenged and smitten through his temples with his
mortal death-blow. “ Awake, awake, Deborah ; awake,
utter a song.” But there is no mention in the Gospel
of Kish on—“ tbat ancient river, the river Kishon that
swept them away,”—that Kishon full of slaughtered
hosts, as afterwards of the slain priests of Baal. This
river is not mentioned in the Gospels, though it must
have been the scene of our Lord’s miracles ; but there
is a stream spoken of in another place, which may
exhibit the difference. It is a stream whose banks
are wet with blood—and that is the brook of sorrow
by the garden of Gethsemane, the brook Cedron,
where David wept, and Christ sweat drops of blood.
Such is the cup of which He drinks in His agony,
and invites us to be with Him, and to drink of
that cup with Him, that by His sorrows we may be
refreshed.

Such, then, is our Salvation,;, such our Divine
Pattern, in Whom we shall find rest, if we follow the
example of His meekness. But oh, how different is
all this to Deborah, and Jael, and Barak! How far
otherwise is the fulfilment to what man might have
divined from the signs going before ! how unlike the
victory and the vengeance of man is the victory and
the vengeance of God! Where is the conqueror, the
battle, and the triumph ? It is enough that through
the strength seen of man, God is pleased to set before
us His own power in overcoming the world, the
strength and wisdom and victory of His Church
through faith.

But, then, how is it to be explained that it shouldHEROIC WOMEH.

95

be shown in things so unlike the Divine fulfilment F
Now it has been observed that the saints of God in
the Old Testament represent as types something that
was to be in our Blessed Lord Himself; some one
point, some another. In like manner it seems to be
the case that the remarkable women through Holy
Scripture may set forth respectively—not only dif-
ferent characters in the Christian Church, but some
one aspect of the Church itself—some feature, atti-
tude, position, or history. Sarah, its subjection to
Christ; Bebekah, its being brought to Him from afar;
Miriam, its songs of thanksgiving; Bahab, its faith in
Christ; Hannah, its prevailing through prayer; Buth,
its cleaving to Him from among the heathen; the
daughter of Aiah, its care of the dead; the Queen of
Sheba, its seeking for wisdom; the daughter of Pha-
raoh, its care of little children; the wife of Pilate, its
bearing witness through dreams of the heathen; Mary
Magdalene, its penitence ; Dorcas, its works of mercy.
In like manner Deborah, with her victorious might
and her triumphant song, speaks of the Church in its
victory over the world,—the judge and the prophetess.
“Know ye not,” says St. Paul of the Church, “that
we shall, judge Angels?” She sitteth “on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” And
thus “He shall send forth judgment unto victory.”
And she is a prophetess, for she speaks from God, and
of God, and to God. And she overcomes, “ for what-
soever is born of God overcometh the world ”—“ even
our faith.” She is said in the sweet Song of Solomon
to be not only “looking forth as the morning, fair as
the moon, clear as the sun,” but it is added, “and
terrible as an army with banners1.”

1 Song of Sol. vi. 10.96

DEBORAH.

Now this point, with respect to the final victory of
the Church of God, is not by any means one of little
consequence; it is a truth we have much need to re-
member, to receive it by faith, and be impressed with
it, that God’s Church must prosper and overcome;
every weapon against her shall fail; every enemy be
overthrown. The world indeed does not believe this,
and cannot receive it; and appearances are often so
against it, that a Christian is inclined to despair, to
forget it, to temporize and falter in his conduct, as if
he were afraid that otherwise the world would be too
much for the Church. As the disciples in the boat
when it was wTell nigh covered with the waves. They
began to be afraid, as if Christ would fail them. They
had to learn this lesson—they were reproved. As
when Deborah arose and gave deliverance unto Israel,
so was it then. He arose, and His voice was heard
rebuking the wind and the storm, and there was a
great calm. “ And the land had rest forty years.”

An important lesson may be added, that perhaps
there is no part of the Bible more full of encourage-
ment to repentance than the Book of Judges: de-
liverance follows so immediately on prayer and amend-
ment. As soon as they turn, they are rescued.

But then again, yet further, what shall wTe say of
such a character as Deborah ? Bor Saints of God are
great, not in doing, but in suffering; and suffering is
woman’s portion. And what are we taught by women
being thus raised to places of authority ? for it seems
to reverse the order of God, which is that the woman
should be in subordination to the man; whereas here
she is the ruling, guiding powder in the hands of God.
It seems to intimate that we are to look to the place,
and not to the power, to the ordinance of God. ItHEBOIC WOMEN'.

97

comes before us more strongly in the weaker vessel,
teaching us submission to powers ordained of God,
because they are of God. Men are sometimes raised
up of great power, by whom, as by “ the hammer ” of
God2, or His scourge, or the sword3 in His hand, the
nations are broken in pieces, or chastened, or cut off;
and such instruments in the hand of God, men are
prone to worship and to fear rather than God. But
when the feebler sex are thus placed in legitimate
station of authority we are the more strongly re-
minded that it is of God. It is, moreover, a part of
His dispensation, Whose strength is perfected in
weakness; Who hath gathered women around the
foot of His Cross; and made a woman first to an-
nounce His Besurrection.

But to conclude,—such a remarkable woman as this
has also a lesson to individual women in the Christian
Church; what she does is as a prophetess, as one
inspired of God to do great things; it is not of herself,
but of this inspiration by faith. And this inspiration
is not now confined to one, as it was in the single
types going before, but it is poured forth on all in the
Christian Church; and there is no heroic action, great
and good, but which women may be equal to, from a
like inspiration by faith. There are seasons wherein
they are called to some great exertion; there are still
more seasons when arduous trials are put upon them
which no eye of man discerns, yet wherein the good
of others depends upon their exertions, their influence,
or, perhaps, their authority. By faith and prayer they
shall be inspired of God; and by that inspiration they
shall do marvellous things—Hey shall be with Him

2 Jer. 1. 23.	3 Ps, xvii. 13.

H98

DEBORAH.

Who came down from Mount Tabor in the strength
of God—they shall find captivity led captive, and the
enemy overtaken as one that slept, and bruised on the
head by Him that was born of woman—and they
shall leave a memorial not on the page of history,
but in that Book which shall be opened in the Day
of God.SERMON IX.

KUTH.

FIDELITY.

Ruth i. 16.

“ And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from
following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and
where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God.”

The Scriptural story and name of Buth is not im-
frequently taken hold of by writers of the day as the
groundwork for popular reflections; and the reason is
because it is in itself so engaging. Observe the very
touching and simple manner in which the account is
given; a history so romantic, so natural, and yet
wdthal in many respects singular and strange; the
place in which it occurs in the Bible, amidst the wars
and stirring public events described in the Books of
Judges, of Samuel, and the Kings; intervening with
its domestic narrative like a quiet cottage and home
scene in the midst of fields of war; the picture it re-
presents of a young female leaving her home and
country, attendant on the steps of her mother-in-law,
cleaving to her in her desolation and bereavement,
and partaking of her poverty: her quiet fidelity con-
h 2100

BTJTH.

trasted with the show of more passionate affection in
another. “They lifted up their voice,” it is said of
the two daughters-in-law, “ and wept; and Orpah
kissed her mofcher-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her.”

Again ; consider her piety, almost more sacred than
to a mother, for it was to a mother-in-law, connected
with fidelity to the dead; and the disinterested and
gentle character of Naomi herself, entreating her
daughter-in-law to leave her. Add to this, together
with her loving fidelity to her mother-in-law, was her
piety to the true God, for whom she had relinquished
her idolatrous country, so expressively mentioned in
the text,—“ Intreat me not to leave thee; ... for
whither thou goest, I will go; . . . thy people shall
be my people, and thy God my God;”—and spoken of
afterwards by Boaz as the very crown of her goodness.
“A full reward,” he says to her, “be given thee of
the Lord God of Israel, under Whose wings thou art
come to trust.”

Moreover the very spot to which they were going
casts a deep sacred interest over the whole narrative,
for it was Bethlehem itself, of all places upon earth
the most hallowed. She came out of Moab, and from
the hills of Moab she saw, as it were, in the distance,
like Balaam, the “ Star that shall come out of Jacob 1,”
and that was the Star of Bethlehem—the Star which
over her own dwelling should stand and be at rest.

But as yet she knew not—she went step by step in
the dark, and duty and piety were her light in the
darkness, which God had sent to lead the way2.
“ Call me not Naomi,” i. e. pleasant, said her mother-
in-law on her return, but “ call me Mara,” i. e. bitter,

1 Num. xxiv. 17.

2 Mic. vii. 8.FIDELITY.

101

“ for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home
again empty.” She had gone forth a mother in Israel
with her sons, but had returned a widow, childless,
and poor; for having no male issue the inheritance
of her fathers was to depart from her. But the
Moabitish woman who was cleaving to her in be-
reavement and affliction was by her goodness and
piety to bring about the building up of her house,
while they thought not of it, so that through her she
was to be the mother of kings and prophets; and she
who called herself “ Mara ” shall again be well named
“ Naomi.”

We may notice also, by the way, another point that
adds an interest to this Book,—the character of Boaz,
as it comes out in connexion with Buth and her his-
tory ; the piety of this man of the fields, as it appears,
is the simplicity of the detail. Observe his salutation
to his reapers; “ And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-
lehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with
you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee.”
And then the descriptive account of the gleaners, and
the home charities prescribed by the law fulfilled in
the spirit of love. “ And Boaz commanded his young
men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves;
. . . and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose
for her, and leave them that she may glean them, and
rebuke her not.” Then follows the careful knowledge
and thought he seemed to have had beforehand of one
who was a stranger, and his testimony to her virtues.

But above all add to these things the sacred veil
that is on all the history, as that of the mother of
David and of Christ; the woman of Moab grafted into
the true Israel, and partaking of the fatness of the102

EUTH.

olive tree; the Gentile Church united to the Israel of
God by faith; “forgetting her own people and her
father’s house —“ an Israelite,” as it has been said,
“ not in race, but in mind; not in blood, but in faith ;
not by tribe, but by virtue and goodness 3setting
forth in that mirror of fidelity the nature of Christ’s
Kingdom; gathering in of every nation, reconciling
the heathen, enriching the poor, forgiving the
enemy, accepting the alien.

While, moreover, the mere moral and religious
teaching of the Book is instructive to all times as
indicating the great things which God has in store for
humble piety, it had also a peculiar lesson as addressed
to the Jews; for the tenderness and beauty of the
narrative, and the whole story and character of Buth,
connected as she was with David, might well have
opened the heart of the Jews to more compassion for
the stranger and the heathen, amidst their desolating
and destructive wars, and so prepared their heart for
Christ more than it was at His Coming. For here
was a stranger wearing the very crown of faith and
love, and as such, accepted and blessed of God, and
acknowledged of Israel. “ Thy daughter-in-law,” said
the women of Israel to Haomi, “ which loveth thee, is
better to thee than seven sons.” A Gentile stranger
by faith better than seven children of Abraham.

How there are, then, two points to be considered in
this most interesting character; first of all, her piety
to her mother-in-law; and secondly, her turning from
an idolatrous country to the true God; the former as
expressed in the first words of the text, “ Intreat me
not to leave thee; for whither thou goest I will go:”

3 St. Jer. See Cor. a Lapid.FIDELITY.

103

the latter in the last words of the same verse, “ thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”
The first leads on to the second, and is grounded on
it; fidelity to man disposes to faith in God, till both
together form one crown, one light, one bridal ring;
both are united in the knowledge of God, which is
eternal life.

Thus the love of our neighbour goes before the love
of God: and our Blessed Saviour, when He would try
the hearts of men, put forward the second table of the
commandments,—as He said to the young Euler who
asked what he should do to inherit eternal life, “If
thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments ”—
and then He specified of these, do not kill, do not
steal, and the like, such as contain duties to our
neighbour. In like manner to the Scribe to whom
He had shown that love is the fulfilment of the Law,
wherein is to be found eternal life, He spoke the
parable of the Good Samaritan as an instance of that
love which first leads the way. The same lesson was
contained in all the teaching of the holy Baptist, when
he preached the particular duties of repentance, as
necessary to all who would be the true children of
Abraham, and enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Hence we may observe that while the Gentiles enter
into the Kingdom by faith, taking possession of it, and
becoming incorporated with the true Israel of God,
there is also with that faith a fulfilment of brotherly
love, as seen in meekness, dutifulness, and the courtesies
and charities of daily life.

Both in the rejection of the Jews, and in the ac-
ceptance of the Gentiles, it is remarkable how this
rule holds good. The unbelieving Pharisees were
hardhearted and cruel; the Gentiles showed that104

'■RUTH.

mercy to men which they needed of God. Thus was
it with that Centurion at Capernaum, at the greatness
of whose faith our Lord marvelled. It would appear
that he must have been of a very tender and loving dis-
position in his duties to men, not only from his having
won the hearts even of those Jewish elders who inter-
ceded for him, hut because all the object of his care,
and which led him in his distress to apply to Christ,
was a sick slave “who was dear unto him,” and on
whom he evidently was tending with all anxiety as if
it had been his own child. So also was it with that
other Centurion, Cornelius, at Caesarea—he “gave
much alms to the people,” and his “alms had come
up with his prayers for a memorial before God;”
waited on by a soldier of like character, and his house-
hold meet to be made partakers with the saints. It
was in the midst of these things that the Spirit of
God found him, and made him to become by baptism
the firstfruits of the Gentile Church.

So was it with other instances of Gentile faith
mentioned in the Gospels; and those who from with-
out pressed into the Kingdom. Was it not her great
love for her daughter, possessed by a devil, that urged
the woman of Canaan to such importunity, and such
humiliation before God? Her faith was deep because
it took root in that goodly ground of a loving heart.
Was it not so with the woman of Samaria by the
well ? She did what she could, she gave the cup of
cold water to her enemy the Jew, before she found in
that Stranger the Well of Life. Was it not so with
Zaccheus, when he hastened to welcome our Lord’s
coming into his house, by saying, while all were mur-
muring against him that he was a sinner, “Behold,
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor?”FIDELITY.

105

And may we not see an indication of the same kind
and neighbourly disposition in that other Publican,
St. Matthew, also P—of whom all we know in the
Gospels is, that he “ made a great feast in his own
house,” where there was “ a great company of Pub-
licans ” and sinners, whom he thus brought under the
gracious eye of the Physician of souls; and yet, not-
withstanding, neither were the proud Scribes and
Pharisees excluded; and the bereaved and fasting
disciples of John found with him at the same time a
welcome home in their distress.

Thus, likewise, in the Old Testament, in the case of
persons singled out for any great blessing, it is re-
markable how God found them out, as it were, or they
found God, in some act of kindness or hospitality. So
was it with the widow of Sarepta; the last handful of
meal she had left for herself and her son, she gave up
to Elijah; so was it with the rich Shunammite, when
she so kindly received and provided for Elisha. So
was it with the mothers in Israel, distinguished of
God; thus Eebekah freely and courteously gave water
to the stranger, when she was known to him by that
circumstance to be the chosen of God. And thus
Abraham and even Lot also, after his example, hos-
pitably entertained strangers, when they received
Angels thereby unawares, the bearers and authors of
salvation.

And to apply the same principle to cases of another
kind;—was not uprightness in all his dealings with
men, and earnest affection to king and people as re-
markable in Samuel as the intercessions with God,
and devotion for which he was so remarkable ? Did
not David first of all show constant fidelity to his king
before he was himself set upon the throne of Israel ?106

HTJTH.

How all this, I think, we may apply to the case here
before us. Buth is remarkable for her filial fidelity
and fulfilment of the fifth commandment, to which is
attached the promise. And she has length of days in
the land which God gives; nay, in all its fulness, for
out of this her obedience springs forth out of Beth-
lehem Ephrata, He “ Whose goings forth have been
from everlasting.” It was not to her own mother to
whom she was thus faithful, but as our Blessed Lord
showed subjection to Joseph, though not His father,
so it was in her more than filial obedience, a willing
and sacred attachment to the mother of her husband
who was yet no more. It is observed in the world
that the ties of relationship are wont to become
weak between a widow and the family of her deceased
husband; but this cannot be so where the sacramental
nature of marriage and the communion of Saints are
objects of that faith which governs the heart. Eor in
that case there is a fidelity to the dead which adds a
power and sacredness to the like fidelity to the living
who were united to those that are gone. Hot a little
of the impressive charm of this sacred Book arises
from this circumstance; the heart of each tells him
that there is something unusual and lovely in the
narrative of this piety.

Moreover the secret value of‘the history consists
much in that solid ground of stedfastness which one
feels to be in this gentle character; that test of true
love that it “beareth all things, and endureth all
thingsthat pure gold of the temple which is tried
by affliction; for she chose rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God. Oh! of how great value are
deeds in comparison with mere words. Good feelings
and good words only may be but as gleams of sunshineFIDELITY.

107

on a barren desert. But love, both in deed and word,
-is as the sun on the rich teeming earth, or as the
fountain in the wilderness, flowing from the smitten
rock, when brought out by the rod of affliction; and
wherever it goes this world ceases to be a desert, and
becomes as the garden of the Lord, rich in all that is
fair and good.

And though, indeed, the crown of such love may be
found in martyrdom and saintly perfection, yet it owes
its growth and increase in the heart to the perform-
ance of home duties, which strike deep roots unseen,
and gather about them those tender fibres under-
ground, which, if rudely broken off or transplanted,
impair the life and beauty of the tree. According to
that precept of St. Paul, “ let them learn first to show
piety at home, and to requite their parents : for that
is good and acceptable before God4.5’ Let this house-
hold piety come first.

Now all the narrative of the affectionate Euth is of
this kind; she makes herself an exile to attend on the
steps of a poor and aged woman, with the intention of
tending on her at her home, and laying her in the
grave. “ Where thou lodgest, I will lodge; . . . where
thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.”
Then she is seen, as one poor, gleaning in the harvest-
field. And afterwards, when she is led to aspire to a
higher destiny, even the recovery of her husband’s
house, which was considered as so sacred a duty
among the Jews who looked for the Messiah, the
part she takes in this is entirely that of dutiful obe-
dience to her mother-in-law. “And she said unto
her,” the account is, “ all that thou sayest unto me I
will do.”

4 1 Tim. v. 4.108

RTJTH.

To apply what has been said to ourselves; there
can be no true fidelity to God without fidelity to man ;
and no true love of God except it be exercised in the
lower duties of love to man; such as are about our
path and bed, our home and table, our fields and our
neighbourhood.

Orpah and Kuth were evidently two different
characters ; both attached to their mother-in-law; both
of them “ lifted up their voice and w~ept ” at the
thought of her departure; both alike said “ Surely we
will return with thee unto thy people;” both were
importuned by her to stay among their own kindred
and leave her. “ Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but
Ruth clave unto her.” How much is contained in
these words! let us consider the principle in the case
of Divine love by which the soul as a widow mourns
for One out of sight. It may serve to exemplify
various dispositions as found in the mystical Body of
Christ, members of His Church.

There may be two persons brought by circumstances
together in the same neighbourhood—or connexion—or
living together perhaps in the same house; two sisters
it may be ; or two friends: both living in harmony to-
gether ; both esteemed religious women; but with a
difference in their characters; one full of passionate
yearnings ; the other of duty. The former full of pious
sentiments and beautiful feelings; looking on the
ordinary affairs of life as hindrances to the purer
aspirations of the soul; desiring and longing for the
first places in Christ’s Kingdom ; jealous of being
interfered with as having chosen the higher and better
part; and yet still more pained at being little esteemed
or to be passed by unheeded. Love burns upward in
both, but in this case it is not the hallowed oil thatFIDELITY.

109

kindles it: it burns not up the dross, pride, temper,
self-love. And what is the result to be apprehended
in such a case ? life in the mean while passes on; and
there is nothing found in the empty hands, or rather
in the heart, but barren resolutions of great things;
opportunities gone by; ways of perfection dreamed of,
thought of, practised to the neglect of meaner things;
and yet no advance made in real goodness, in humility,
and charity, because “ the day of small things” has
been despised; the sails have been full of wind; bu
the vessel has been still, clogged up, amid the sea-
weeds, by the shore.

The other in the mean while without aiming at any
thing out of the way, as one deeming herself unmeet
to sit at the lowest step of Christ’s throne, and beneath
the feet of His Saints; yet from the love of G-od
hidden within the heart active and stedfast in ful-
filling with a lively faith all duties that lie about her
path; in works of piety and charity, in daily labours
for the poor, in attending on the sick, in dutiful sub-
jection to parents, and all other relative duties of home
or position; and these last may be a very grievous
Cross, and the more so from not being known or
supposed to be a Cross at all. In thus fulfilling
neighbourly and home charities a habit is formed, till
self-denial has become a denial of self no longer, but
comes as a matter of course; in other words the Cross
that was once heavy has become light; once grievous
on the shoulders now carried light in the hands; nay,
more, the Cross has become a plank on the mighty
waters and bears itself; and the oars that are never
idle remove it from all obstructions, and the Blessed
Spirit fills the sail.

In such a case it sometimes happens that there is no110

EUTH.

character for religion, because duty and love have
become like a second nature; it is thought all natural
that such things should be done by such a person;
that is, that such has become a part of her very being;
it is without effort, without display, without show or
outward approbation ; it is herself: but this is indeed
the highest perfection of grace; it is like the goodness
of Angels which is their nature; luminous from within
and not dependent on light reflected from without.
Such see not themselves in earthly mirrors; but they
shall see themselves in that sea of glass which is
before the throne, where there shall be no pride or
self-esteem; nothing to intervene between them and
the vision of God.

In conclusion—to state it yet more strongly in a
few words ; when the King shall come in to see the
guests He will say to the one, “ Go up higherit will
be well for the other if He says not, “ How earnest
thou in hither, not having a wedding garment ?”SERMON X.

HANNAH.

PRAYER AND INTERCESSION.

1 Samuel i. 13.

“ Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but
her voice was not heard : therefore Eli thought she had been
drunken/ ’

These words allude to a circumstance so well remem-
bered in connexion with Hannah, that they may
briefly serve to remind us of all her history; of the
charge of the High Priest; of her prayer in the
temple; of the lowliness of that prayer; for “ her
voice was not heard;” the urgency and depth of her
supplication, “ she spake in her heart, only her lips
moved:” the greatness of her sorrow ; for she was as
one beside herself; and her meek reply “ Ho, my
lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have
drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured
out my soul before the Lord.” The imputation itself
cannot but remind us of a like charge made on the
day of Pentecost against those who were filled with
the Holy Ghost. “ These men,” said the Jews, “are
full of new wine.” And doubtless this her prayer
was by the Holy Spirit of God, for it was so abundantly112

HANNAH.

answered; when she received from God a son in
consequence of her request, and gave him a name from
that her prayer, Samuel, one “ asked of God.” More-
over from his very childhood she gave him up to the
Lord as a thank-offering ; and he continued according
to his name, and in likeness to his mother’s prayer, a
man of prayer and intercession all his days—and beyond
all men had power with God from the same.

There is also another circumstance connected with
this subject which has rendered the name of Hannah
very memorable ; and that is the hymn of thanksgiving
which she spake on this occasion. Lor it will be found
to be the groundwork of the Hymn of the Blessed
Virgin, as spoken by One and the same Spirit—and as
such, prophetic also of the Christian Church. Thus
it commences, “ My heart rejoiceth in the Lord . . .
X rejoice in Thy salvation.” So that she may be placed
together with Elisabeth who spake by the Holy Ghost
before the birth of the Baptist; and the Blessed Virgin
before the birth of our Lord—the mothers as it were
of sacred song. Bearing sons by faith beyond or
above nature, by the same faith through the Holy
Ghost they were inspired also with Divine Psalm and
prophecy, feeding and nurturing spiritual sons as yet
unborn with the “ sincere milk ” of the Life-giving
word, and forming their tongues to praise.

But now let us consider a little more distinctly what
lesson we may learn from the history and character of
Hannah. It may be much the same as we are taught by
her son Samuel, and from the name that she gave him,
viz. of the value of prayer and intercession. But
while the subject may be thus stated generally, yet
there will be found considerable difference between
the mother and the son when it comes to be applied toPE AYER- AND INTERCESSION.

118

them. To see this more clearly let us take another
woman of the same name in the New Testament, who
welcomed our Blessed Saviour when presented as an
infant in the Temple-—both of them alike are well
named Anna, which signifies grace. But Anna the
aged prophetess in one respect more resembled her
son Samuel than his mother, in that Samuel spent his
days in the Temple, and of the aged widow Anna it is
said that “she departed not from the temple, but
served Grod with fastings and prayers night and day.”
Whereas Hannah the mother of Samuel, though she
came to offer that her solemn prayer in the Temple,
gave up her child to the service of the Temple, and
was there herself in love and heart, yet her life was
not so, but spent in her household at Mount Ephraim
amidst the troubles and afflictions of the world ; nay,
her prayer itself and all the depth and urgency of that
her prayer arose out of those very troubles and sorrows.
She is an example of earnest and importunate prayer,
not apart from, but amidst domestic relationships and
the like; whereas Anna the prophetess of the New
Testament would appear from the short description of
her to be living apart from them in the sacred retire-
ment of devotion.

Let us then consider them in this point of view as
furnishing types or tokens of this difference, both of
them as their name imports as spirits of grace; both
full of thankfulness ; both having waited long; both
as engaged in devotion, but one as in the world, the
other disengaged from it. Let us endeavour to form
an estimate of the two states with regard to which is
the most favourable to prayer and intercession, or in
what point of view either of these may be preferable
to the other as conducing to this purpose. The114

HANNAH.

, example of Anna the prophetess casts its sacred shadow
over that mode of life, as retired from the world and
dwelling night and day in fastings and prayers in the
Temple of God. Now the question is this, is such the
best life as conducive to intercessory prayer for others,
for sinners especially—or for our church or country or
neighbourhood p Or is it that both kinds of life are
conducive to this end, but each in a different manner,
each with its own peculiar advantages, and each also
with its peculiar dangers and temptations P

Let us take then a strong case of this kind; i. e. of
retirement and intercessory prayer. In other ages
and countries, and indeed even in our own age and
country, attempts have been made to carry on a system
of intercessions night and day without any intermission,
either by societies withdrawn entirely from the world
for this purpose, or by means of individuals succeeding
one another, so that the necessary cessation of one
may be supplied without intermission by another.
Such a course of continued and unceasing prayer is
indeed worthy of the greatest admiration and love.
It is like a counterpart upon earth of our Lord’s con-
tinual intercession at the right hand of God; a
realizing of the Holy Spirit’s interceding at all times;
of the Angels and Saints in Heaven which rest not
day or night before the throne of God; it is an
endeavour to act up in their fulness to our Lord’s words
of His elect which, He says, “ cry day and night unto
Him,” as the Widow in the Parable1. Such, too, is
the warning of the Apostle, that we “pray without
ceasing”—that the “widow indeed who trusteth in
God, continueth in supplications and prayers night
and day2.” It is carrying out to the very letter the
1 St. Luke xviii. 7.	2 1 Tim. v. 5.PRAYER AND INTERCESSION.

115

characteristic of the Church both Jewish and Christian,
as “instantly serving God day and night3.”

A life indeed thus removed from the world into a
state of unceasing prayer is but like the taking to
heart our Lord’s warning that we watch and pray
always, remembering the shortness of the time ; having,
as the ready Virgins, lamps trimmed and lights burning,
and loins girded, as in expectation of the Bridegroom’s
return. It is like the solemn silence4 in the Temple,
at the time of incense, the space allotted to prayer.
The High Priest hath entered within the veil, and for
half an hour we are waiting without, but joining our
intercessions with His.

How the very attempt at this is holy; the thought
worthy to have come from God ; full of love to Christ
and to all men; while the world continues day and
night to provoke God, that with the cry for judgment
there should ascend also a cry for mercy: to pray for
those that pray not for themselves ; to fast for those
that are feasting; to be kneeling in sackcloth for
those that walk in purple: to bring the shield of God’s
protection over those on whom the fiery darts of the
enemy are falling : to seize, as it were, and hold by the
hand those who are dropping fast into the bottomless
pit.

What can we sufficiently say in praise of this ?
words are weak to speak its goodness and its blessed-
ness ; for if good it must be blessed. It is to breathe
the air of Heaven while on earth; it is to bring indeed
the Kingdom of Heaven among us. How blessed to
be thus removed from the sad disquietudes and vicissi-
tudes of this world, above the sound of wars and

i 2

3 Acts xxvi. 7.

4 Rev. viii. 1.116

HANNAH.

rumours of wars into this blessed atmosphere of peace
—to be like the Angels beholding all things in the
mirror of God’s countenance, for it is turning the eyes
continually from earth to God, seeing all things as
they are in Him.

But then comes this serious question, is all this
attainable P is the system itself practicable ? is it not
too high a state for us sinners, compassed about with
our own sins, and because with sins with cares also and
sorrows ? Does this course when pursued obtain its
own object ? It is to be feared that it does not so ;
at all events it requires much care lest attempting to
rise too high we fall the more low ; and by seeking too
easily to escape from the infirmities of our fallen
nature be the more entangled therein. Nor is this at all
to be wondered at, for the more excellent any thing is
the more difficult must it be, the more liable to mis-
carriage ; especially in any thing of this kind where
the end is so transcendent, so like Angelic life. It
may seem moreover to have this danger peculiar to
itself; that this interceding for others rather than for
ourselves, and repenting for others, may be drawing
too near to the Great Sacrifice, to the Office of the
One Mediator between God and man. “ Bor it cost
more to redeem their souls; so that he must let that
alone for ever.” The sinless One alone can intercede
worthily for sinners.

It is true that such interference, with the part of
the One Intercessor, is very far from their minds ; for
their only hope is to intercede in, through, and by
Him; for His sake, by His example, in union with
Him. But then what lowliness does this require, to
be allowed to take part with Him ? Hence St.
Augustin and other such teachers of old, dwell onPRATER AND INTERCESSION.

117

the peculiar need of humility to those who follow after
counsels of perfection; and this of which we are speaking
may seem to be something even beyond such counsels
of perfection. It is self-sacrifice of the highest kind.
And under such circumstances the difficulty becomes
twofold. A life so pre-eminent, and set apart, cannot
be without danger of secret self-esteem and the subtle
influences of presumption. And yet it is a case in
which if self-satisfaction once creeps in, all is lost—one
proud self-exalting thought ruins all. The very ground
of the heart that prays must be self-abasement and
contrition.

Moreover the life of prayer is desire; if removed
from human interests desire is wont to flag; and
where desire fails there must be in prayer a want of
earnestness; the heart goes not along with the lips;
and hence it may lead to hypocrisy, i. e. a deceiving of
ourselves and others. Hay more, the result will be
found to be bitterness of spirit. And all this not of
course from fulfilling but from falling short in the
execution of such great things. Strange, that a life of
highest charity should end in uncharitableness; the
practice of humiliation lead to pride.

Yet further—such a system of devotion has in it
something of excitement, and on that account sets at
nought human relationships; tends to an undervalu-
ing of Church ordinances; and from restlessness of
mind may assume the form of some heresy. The
danger is greater when such a system is not according
to any institutions of the Church under which we live.
Anna was in the Temple; Samuel was in the Temple ;
there is much in this. Church protection is of great
avail in preserving us from ourselves.

But now the importance of prayer earnest, importu-118

HATWAIE.

nate, and continual, to the glory of God and for the
salvation of souls, is beyond all things ; and let us
consider whether Providence has not so placed every
one of us, so constituted and stationed, as that none of
us need fall short of so great a privilege and duty;
and such as may not be encompassed with the tempta-
tions and dangers of those who are called upon to a
life more withdrawn from the world ; and such, I think,
is the lesson we have in this character before us.
Here is the instance of a prayer than which none could
have been more availing, or on which greater conse-
quences depended; for it was due to the prayer of
Hannah that Samuel was born and given to God, to whose
life and intercessions the people of God were so much
indebted.

And to what was this her prayer owing? The
account is “ The Lord had shut up her womb. And
her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her
fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb.” “ And
she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the
Lord, and wept sore.” Here we see that her prayer
was owing to her distress; had it not been for that
distress the prayer would not have been; had it not
been for the poignancy of that distress the prayer
would not have been so earnest; nor again would she
have had that distress but for her desire, and for the
bitterness of reproach in that family of Elkanah.
Thus all was owing to that household grief. And not
only this, but yet further; if a child had been granted
in the natural course of things without that want, and
that distress and that prayer—he would have been as
other children, not as the holy Samuel, so pre-eminently
the child and the man of God.

Let me here add one word on the subject of herPRAYER AND INTERCESSION.

119

grief. It is difficult for us to realize the strong desire
of the Israelite for children, so earnestly were they
looking forward for a Deliverer, to be born of their
nation, perhaps of their tribe, their family, possibly of
themselves—yet more, it was something even to have
children that might witness His Coming. This desire
was intimately connected with their faith; it was
sanctioned of Grod ; supported by miracles; interwoven
with the Law; appealed to by the Prophets; it
covered as with a cloke many things which we cannot
understand : hence the many wives of good men, as of
Jacob, of David and others; hence the close inter-
marrying required by the Law in cases otherwise
incestuous; hence too the heart-consuming sorrow as
of Bachel and Hannah. There was something sacred
in that sorrow; it was a part of the same faith in
which the widowed Anna the prophetess looked for
Christ’s coming, which made Hannah comfortless in
being herself shut out from ministering to that hope.
It was then from the depth and bitterness of that
sorrow her prayer arose, as a cloud from the sea drawn
up by the sun of love and to fall in blessing. As in
the great prayer of Elijah ; the famine occasioned the
prayer, the prayer brought forth the little hand, and
the little hand became, a cloud, and the cloud filled the
Heavens. She longed and prayed for that child; as
Monica the mother of St. Augustin did for her son’s
second birth; and what could have served more the
glory of G-od and the good of man than those prayers P
But now it is precisely in this manner that sorrow
may meet any one of us, in our household, our state,
our substance; some object of the heart’s desire de-
nied to us : “ trouble springs not from the ground5
5 Job v. 6.120

HANKAH.

neither let it fall to the ground; let it not go for
nought: for it is from Heaven. It is intended to
urge us to God; and if it serves this end, great may
be the consequences to ourselves and others.

And mark the progress of this prayer; how it be-
comes sanctified in its course; expanding as the grain
of mustard seed; she grieves, and because grieving
she prays; and praying she seeks the House of God,
to “pour out her soul,” as she says, “before the
Lord;” under false reproach she is patient, still look-
ing to God; and while yet praying, she is comforted
and rejoices; feeling assured in faith that her prayer
is answered, from that token from God, the blessing
of His priest. “ Then Eli answered and said, Go in
peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition.
... So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her
countenance was no more sad6.” In some sense, even
as it is said of the Blessed Virgin herself, she had
conceived in her heart by faith, before she had con-
ceived in the womb. Then she yields up her child to
God; and, having given him up, she is inspired, and
prophesies; and in prophesying, is the forerunner of
the mother of our Lord.

It is thus when persons are urged by grief to
prayer, that by prayer they are led on, and thus faith
increases. Nor is there any thing peculiar in this
grief of Hannah, that it should have had such conse-
quences ; it is the case with every sorrow, that prayer
is the remedy for that sorrow; and not that only, but
it is the fruit of that sorrow; it was for the sake of
that prayer that the sorrow was sent; for prayer
unites the soul to God.

This is the object of our domestic sorrows and
c 1 Sam. i. 17, 18.PRAYER AND INTERCESSION.

121

fears; to stir us up to take hold of prayer, and by
prayer to take hold of God; and of His hand which
alone can lift us up.

And as this is the case with those prayers that be-
long to ourselves, so does the same apply also to
intercessions for others. Our circumstances in life
impel, constrain, and should habituate us to inter-
cessory prayer, in a way that no life can do separated
from the interests of mankind. ¥e are compassed
all about, and thick set with occasions and calls for
intercession. "Which of us has not some one to pray
for, some relative, some friend, some neighbour; some-
thing with respect to others, some sin, some unkind-
ness, some affliction? To those withdrawn from the
concerns of life, the heart becomes dull and inactive;
it is not stirred with such occasions for prayer, which,
like the air and wind, must kindle and support the
flame, or it flags, falters, and goes out.

How, I say, this is the state which God has appointed
for each one of us, as ministering to intercession; such
is His order of providence and grace; and who can
tell what the effect may be of any one acting up to
this his calling, both in time and eternity ?

The great instances of intercessors with God in
Holy Scripture are Hoah, Job, Samuel, and Daniel;
and all these were mixed up with the affairs of life:
Hoah was a preacher of righteousness; the inter-
cessions of Job were for his sons, and for his three
friends; Samuel was a prophet, a judge, and ruler in
Israel; Daniel was a governor of kingdoms.

All these were full of labour and sorrow, and there-
fore prayed; and through prayer turned many to
righteousness and shine as the stars for ever7. We
7 Dan. xii. 3.122

HANNAH.

also after our measure have each of us his appointed
sphere of intercession. And what is it F It is this—
that whenever we have occasion to think or speak of
others—of their sorrows, or their faults, or their
dangers; or of the evils we suffer from them or for
them; nay, whatever evils may occur to us in public
or in private, from the very mention of them we
should always be stirred to the practice of the
Psalmist, “But I give myself unto prayer8.”

We are each of us beset with troubles, enemies, and
difficulties, from which, humanly speaking, there is no
escape, in order that we may give ourselves unto
prayer. Ever since the fall of Adam, man is doomed
to eat bread in the sweat of his brow; and this con-
dition of temporal life is as the outward memorial of
thus obtaining the spiritual and true Bread of the
soul. Thorns and thistles is the earth to bring forth
to man, vexation of spirit and vanity ever attend him,
that he may be exercised thereby, and trained to look
to Heaven in prayer. Every thing whatever in this
life is to sustain in us this duty of unceasing prayer.
All things are to be made the subjects of prayer, and
this requires continual pains; nor can the strife cease
as long as we are in the body. “ In sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life ”—“ till thou return
unto the ground.” On all occasions then of com-
plaint, both great and small, the answer of the Chris-
tian’s heart will be found in this his conduct,—“ But I
give myself unto prayer.”

8 Ps. cix. 3.SERMON XI.

THE "WITCH OE ENDOE.

CHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

1 Samuel xx"viii. 7, 8.

“ And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath
a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised himself, and put
on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they
came to the woman by night.”

Yes, thou art come by night, 0 guilty king, to the
woman of darkness, and to commune with the spirits
of night; but, O night! canst thou cover him ? can
thy mantle of the dark hide him from himself, and
from God, and from the stars which look upon us in
the darkness P Shall not a star come forth from its
peaceful orbit in another world to bear witness
against him ?

There is nothing in all the Bible history more striking
to the natural man than this account of Saul’s inter-
view with the witch at Endor; that he himself should
have recourse at last to one of those whom he himself
had been cutting off out of the land; the extreme
desolation and misery of the unhappy king; his turn-
ing to evil spirits when he was deserted by the good
Spirit of God; the remarkable judgment of God in124	THE WITCH OE EHDOB.

sending His own prophet to him in a way that he
looked not for,—even Samuel who had anointed him,
and had warned him, and prayed and mourned for
him, and so singularly loved him, but now rising up as
it were in the Eesurrection and the Judgment, as
a witness against him, and to declare his doom. This
awful interference of Grod, when he was applying to
evil spirits, taking upon Himself to answer him by
His prophet, throws an awful and solemn impression
upon the scene.

Again, the wild and fearful character of the whole
transaction, the woman herself deceived and crying
with a loud voice, and seeing, aghast and unexpectedly,
the graves opened, and what she called “ gods ascend-
ing out of the earth;” and in some unexplained
manner, at the same time, having Saul her great
enemy disclosed to her under his disguise. Tor the
account is, “and when the woman saw Samuel, she
cried with a loud voice ; and the woman spake to Saul,
saying, Why hast thou deceived me P for thou art
Saul.” And then in the words of Samuel himself a
mysterious disclosure of the blissful i*est of the dead
in the bosom of Abraham, when he complains of being
brought again to this troublous world. “ Why hast
thou disquieted me, to bring me up ?” And then the
heavy judgment upon Saul, pronounced from the lips
of one whom amidst all his aberrations he had so con-
tinued to love, and even now to cling to, as of yore to
the skirt of his mantle; that severest of all reproofs
which is from a friend.

Add to this the effect of the answer on the guilty
king, as a voice from the thunder-cloud, when he “ fell
straightway all along on the earth;” and that inci-
dental mention indicating his distress, that all thatCHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

125

day and that night he had eaten no bread. And then
to crown the whole, very touching, too, is the com-
passionate kindness and hospitality of that evil woman,
when moved by the deep misery which she witnessed,
she and his servants importuned him in vain, and at
length compelled him to eat; and then after she had
set him up from the earth on which he lay, hastening
to prepare the fat calf, and the flour for bread.

There is moreover over the whole circumstance a
deep veil of mystery; so much so that it is considered
doubtful even to this day, how the supernatural ap-
pearance is to be explained. In the first place whether
it was Samuel himself who was thus seen, or not; for
some suppose it was not the prophet himself, but an
illusion of the evil spirit, who was thus allowed of God
at the command of the witch to personate the Prophet
whom Saul had expressed a desire to see. That it was
but a phantasm or semblance of Samuel that appeared,
even as the figure of a man we have known may appear
to us in a dream or vision, and not the man himself;
that as Satan and his ministers may transform them-
selves into the appearance of an Angel of Light, so
also of a saintly Prophet; and if he foretold what was
true, yet it was as the unclean spirits in the Gospels
spake truth, confessing the Holy One of God; and
as “the damsel,” in the Acts of the Apostles, “pos-
sessed with a spirit of divination,” pointed out St.
Paul and the ministers of the Most High God.

Or secondly, it has been supposed that it was in-
deed the true Samuel that appeared, but not by the
direct intervention of God, or sent by Him, but raised
by the arts of the Witch; that by some hidden “ dis-
pensation of the Divine will *,” as St. Augustin says,
1 St. Aug. vol. vi. 193. 883.126

THE WITCH OE EKDOR.

the Prophet allowed himself to be thus made use of,
even as our Lord Himself in the days of His humiliation
submitted to be taken by Satan, and set by him on
the pinnacle of the Temple. In short, that it was the
Witch by her diabolical means that raised from the
dead the true Samuel.

Thirdly, it has been held, as we have been sup-
posing, that it was indeed Samuel himself, but thus
sent of God to the consternation of the woman
herself while she was about to have recourse to her
usual arts; that God thus Himself interfered to
answer Saul by His Prophet. In like manner as by
the idolatrous fires of Moab, and amidst the enchant-
ments which he sought, through the mouth of the
wicked Palaam, God spake by His Holy Spirit to the
great discomfort of Balak. And as when Ahaziah the
king of Israel sent to inquire of Beelzebub, he was
met by Elijah, declaring against him his death, and
the judgment of God2. And we may8add, as Elijah
met Ahab in the garden of Naboth, so in the witch’s
cave which he had sought, God now sends His own
prophet from the grave to bear witness against Saul.
Thus Moses in whom they trusted shall arise in the
Judgment to accuse the Jews. In confirmation of
this last interpretation we may observe that none but
a prophet sent from God could foretell things to come;
and in the Apocryphal Book of Ecclesiasticus, indicating
the opinion of the Jewish Church, it is so understood,
where it is said of Samuel, that “ after his death he
prophesied, and showed the king his end3.”

But let us allow that it is uncertain; why should

2	2 Kings i. 3. Cor. a Lapid.

3	Ecclus. xlvi. 20,CHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

127

not this cloud of doubt remain upon it even as Scrip-
ture hath left it ? Why should not even this doubt
and mystery minister to instruction, as it is one with
many other cases of this kind ? For what we need on
these subjects is not knowledge, but guidance in the
way of righteousness; not what to know, but what to
do; and one of these things, indeed our chief duty on
matters of this kind, is to repress curiosity into the
hidden things of God; curiosity to know good and
evil is the beginning of much that is sinful, it is the
first bait of Satan; Come and learn of me, and ye shall
be as gods, is the beginning of his yoke.

It might perhaps be thought that this subject of
witchcraft is a very limited one, that it belongs to a
state of things which is now passed by, confined to
certain ages and countries; but the principle con-
tained in it is not so, but very extensive, as much so
as is the human mind; of all time, and among all
people, especially as they fall away from God. For
under some of its manifold shapes it has always pre-
vailed. Such Scripture speaks of under a variety
of names as “ enchantments ” and “ sorceries,” of “ one
that hath a familiar spirit55 or is a “ wizard,” of “ the
observer of times,” the “dreamer of dreams,” “di-
viners,” “charmers,” “necromancers,” i. e. consulters
of the dead. And the New Testament as “lying
prophets,” “ seducers,” “ deceiving and deceived by
seducing spirits,” “ unclean spirits, working miracles4.”
Such, again, were the heathen priestesses, and oracles,
and arts of divination; such are various forms of
fortune-telling and witchcrafts in many places at this
day; such abound and bear sway among Heathen

4 Rev. xvi. 13, 14.128

THE WITCH OE ENDOR.

and idolatrous nations, peopling, as it were, whole
countries with evil spirits and their rites; men and
women mixed up with arts of devils, so that it were
difficult to mark the line between what is human and
what is diabolical; and the same again under more
subtle forms amidst educated nations; under new
names of mesmerism, spiritual rapping, and the like;
and what must be classed under the same head, little
arts and spells of healing diseases by charms, and what
may be called rural superstitions.

Now on all these there is something of doubt and
mystery, in like manner as in the appearance of
Samuel and the Witch of Endor; as for instance, in
the case of the heathen oracles; were they deceits of
men, or were they from the instigation of evil spirits ?
none can tell or explain, probably they were both;
some again suppose that even the God of Truth was
speaking through them on some occasions to bring
about the purposes of His providence, as He did by
Balaam, and by the confessions of unclean spirits in
the Gospel.

There are some subjects in which we find ourselves
on the confines of another world, on the borders of the
invisible; in all of these there is great uncertainty ;
they touch upon the hidden things of God, and the
spiritual kingdoms. We hardly know oftentimes how
things are to be accounted for, whether they belong to
our human nature, or something beyond it. There are
some states of disease in which the senses are quickened
beyond nature; it would seem as if in some instances
new powers were given to the soul, of hearing, seeing,
and feeling beyond its usual faculties. We are on the
borders of the invisible world, of which we know so
little. Meanwhile we have reason to believe thatCHAEMS AND SUPEESTITIOtfS.

129

things beyond our sight are carried on somehow by
spiritual agents good or had. At all events that it is
so to a great degree. Scripture gives us to understand
that evil spirits influence our minds, suggest thoughts,
bring temptations, get into the very mind itself and
possess it, we know not how; nor can we detect the
differences between the natural workings of our own
mind, and their influences; nay, w'e cannot separate
even the effects of our own bodies from them; we do
not know how far thoughts of despondency, or of
sensuality, or of pride, may be owing to ill health or
pampering of the body or to the suggestions of devils.
This being the case, the analogy of nature seems to
suggest to us something respecting the government
of Grod, who carries on His Providence by living
multitudes seen or unseen. Every thing we see is full
of living creatures; a drop of foul water; a spot of
decay on a leaf is peopled with living things ; nothing
is without living beings as far as our sight extends by
artificial means ; and we reasonably conclude that so it
is above us and beyond us, out of the reach of our
faculties and beyond all thought; that all is carried on
by means of living agents. And this Holy Scripture
confirms in an awful manner—even bodily infirmity is
connected with them. “ This woman,” says our Lord,
“ whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years5.”
Much more, when the mind is impaired, the reason is
unseated. How this being the case, we never know
when we may be tampering and dealing with them ; if
wre have any thing to do with things of this nature.

In certain disordered states of mind we know that
spirits of evil have power; in all such cases we know

5 St. Luke xiii. 16.

K180

THE WITCH OE ENDOR.

that we must abide under the keeping of God, and the
care of His Spirit; as in dreams so in mental diseases
we cannot help ourselves; but this we can do, wait on
God and watch with God. Whereas quite the opposite
to this is the seeking for unknown agencies, whether
they be supposed to be in some secrets of our spiritual
being, or some hidden sensual powers in the nature of
man, or it may be to enter into intercourse with evil
spirits instead of God. It may be all a matter of
doubt; mystery must mingle with all these subjects;
it may be denied that it is connected with evil spirits ;
or it may not be denied; but here Holy Scripture is
our guide; and much more so from this very doubt in
which it leaves the subject; Scripture does not explain,
but by its not explaining teaches us the more clearly
and fully. It forbids us to have any intercourse or
dealing with such arts. It does not say that a witch
is to be put to death because such have dealings with
Satan; whatever we might infer from such a penalty.
But whatever doubts there may be on this subject,
this we do know, that to have recourse to any thing of
the kind is prohibited. It is spoken of as “ abomina-
tion unto the Lord.” “ An idol ” may be, as St. Paul
says, “nothing in the world;” yet to communicate
with idols is, he says, to “ have fellowship with devils.”
And consider what may be inferred from the awful
penalties and denunciations of God Himself; He says
by Moses, that “ a man or woman that hath a familiar
spirit shall surely be put to death6;” that “a witch
shall not be suffered to live7;” that all “seeking
after” such is “to be defiled by them8.” That these
were the abominations—mentioning expressly the

Lev. xx. 27.

7 Exod. xxii. 18.

8 Lev. xix. 31.CHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

131

11 charmer, the consnlter with familiar spirits, the
necromancer ” and the like,—because of which God
drove out the nations 9. And not only this, hut the
people of God were forbidden all idle curiosity concern-
ing them, because such curiosity implies a sinful
interest in trifling with things so awful; it is said,
“ Take heed to thyself that thou inquire not after
them V5 Among the worst sins of Manasseh is men-
tioned his “ using enchantments and dealing with
familiar spirits and wizards 2.”

But here we may observe that all the fearful things
which Scripture discloses, and all the terrors of the
Law, are in the Gospels covered over, and as it were
swallowed up by the wonders of Divine Love to those that
are in Christ. Thus when in the Book of Deuteronomy
all these abominations are detailed so expressly and
forbidden, it is immediately added in the same chapter,
in connexion with and in continuance of the same
subject: “ The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee
a Prophet from the midst of thee—of thy brethren;
unto Him ye shall hearken.” And then after dwelling
at length on this secret of God, the Incarnate Word
coming to dwell among us, unto Whose words we shall
hearken, it returns again to say that the prophet
which speaks from other gods shall die.

Now whether it was Samuel himself who appeared
to Saul in the witch’s cave may be a matter of doubt;
but there is no matter of doubt whether it was this
our own Prophet, raised from the dead, Who appeared
to the Twelve and “to witnesses chosen of God.”
His gracious invitation was, “ Behold My hands and
My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see; for

0 Deut. xviii. 10. 14.	1 Deut. xii. 30.	2 2 Kings xxi. 6.

K 2132	THE WITCH OF ENDOE.

a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.”
And yet further, as our weak nature craves so much
for outward signs and sensible tokens, He has given us
these unto the world’s end, saying, “ This is My Body,
which is given for you.” “ This is My Blood, which is
shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins.”
“ This do in remembrance of Me.” There is moreover
this difference, the appearance of Samuel was unto death;
that of Christ was unto life. The promise of one is,
u To-morrow shalt thou be with the dead that of the
other, “ Because I live ye shall live also.” Samuel was
sought for in the witch’s cave with an evil purpose
and through evil means; Christ risen is only sought
for through the Spirit of the Bather—His guidance—
His command.

Again, in the divinations of old, and the like charms
and superstitions at this day, much is to be attributed
to the strong persuasion of the mind which gives
efficacy to them and often works wonders. Among
the Heathen difficulties were overcome, cities founded
and established, victories gained, on account of a
powerful belief in such signs. And even now, and at
all times, this is especially the case in the healing of
diseases: the mind itself will oftentimes effect a cure
on account of its earnest faith in such charms. But
here how strongly does this bring before us the power
of faith in Christ! if even faith in a charm, a super-
stitious sign, an oracle can produce almost a miraculous
effect, because God hath given such power to faith,
shall not we have faith in the true God, Who alone
worketh great marvels, and in all the gracious tokens
of His Presence ? If even a false belief, a faith in that
which is naught or is evil, can do so much, what shall
we not expect of a true faith in. the power of theCHAEMS AND SUPEESTITIONS.

133

Living God, of a faith to which are attached such
great promises P

The natural fallen man seeks for mediators between
him and God, hut there is but One Mediator between
God and man, the Man Christ Jesus ; all things were
made by Him, and are filled by Him and His mediations
through which He would bring us to God.

If then God has given even to the weak shadow of
faith such power, what shall there be in the living
substance ? that faith of which it is said by our Lord
Himself that if ever so small, yet true and genuine, it
shall remove mountains ; that to it nothing shall be im-
possible—that, as St. John says, it “overcometh the
worldand St. Paul, testifying of it as of arms he
had well—well tried, that through it he could do all
things.

If a light arising in the dark from a foul marsh, or
a rotting piece of wood, is followed because it sheds a
gleam and guidance on a path that leadeth to destruc-
tion ; shall not the true light lead us on to our true
home, the city of God, through faith exalting, purify-
ing, enlightening the soul P

In those false divinations of old every thing was
filled and peopled with signs; every thing ministered to
superstition; the flight. of a bird, the feeding of a
fowl, the inner parts of a dead animal, the embers in
the fire, the burning of a candle, a false step, a word
spoken, a dream, the most trivial accident, they were
all considered by the Heathen as tokens from the
unseen world, full of significance. Surely all this is not
without a meaning to us. Is it not the part of faith
to be always watching, and looking out for, and seizing
hold of tokens of God in every thing around, all the
day long ? is it not the very life of faith to be doing134	THE WITCH OE ENDOK.

so ? are we not always to be praying about every thing,
and always watching for and accepting the tokens of
our prayers being heard ? And are we not told that
this care of Grod extends to the minutest things ? and
therefore our faith should also do the same. We are
assured that not a bird falleth to the ground, nor a
hair from our head without our Father. Shall not the
superstitions of the Heathens condemn us, if wre see
not the tokens of His Presence P Are not all things
that occur to us each day His orderings ? and are
they not mere dead signs to us unless we give life
to them by faith P

Our Blessed Saviour, when speaking of these His
all-pervading Providences over each one of us, of our
daily support and the like, says not merely they are
of Grod, but throughout He speaks of Grod as a Father.
He says, they are of “ your Father,”—“your Heavenly
Father—“your Father which is in Heaven;”—“your
Father knoweth that ye have need of these things—
“ your Father which seeth in secret—He speaks of
Him as “ Our Father” and “ My Father.” That is,
such are loving, life-giving tokens, pledges of a
Father’s care, marks of a Father’s hand, indications
of a Father’s presence; they are not unto death, but
unto life.SERMON XII.

BATHSHEBA.

THE ADULTERESS RESTORED.

1 Kings ii. 19.

“ Bathslieba therefore went unto King Solomon, to speak unto him
for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed
himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a
seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right
hand.”

Such is the honour paid at last to the adulteress of
whom we read to-day; set on the right hand of the
wisest of men and the greatest of kings. Nor is this
all, for a yet higher honour awaits her; as she is
expressly mentioned in the first chapter of St. Matthew
as one from whom Christ was descended, “ Solomon born
of her that had been the wife of Urias.” Yet Scripture
mentions no repentance in her as it does in David,
who after his great crime went heavily, and broken-
hearted, and full of sorrows for the rest of his days.
What are we to learn from this ? It is indeed a
case not uncommon in this which is God’s world;
where great sin is followed by no repentance that we
know of, but comes to prosperity, and is not expressly
marked with the condemnation of God by His minister,136

BA.THSHEBA.

or the voice of His Church or otherwise. Doubtless
this is in order that we may think more of God’s
unseen and secret judgment, unseen now but to be
revealed on the Great Day.

It is the case especially with sins of this kind, that
they are not visited in this world ; “ adulterers,” says
Scripture, “ God will judge;” He reserves them for
His own final account; God’s Law has pronounced
them worthy of death ; but human laws do not punish
adultery; nay, in times of great corruption may even
sanction it—but they cannot make that to be marriage
which Christ declares to be adultery. It is therefore
intended by these things to warn us not to be too
easily satisfied before God, because our sin hath not
yet found us out or overtaken us in the eyes of men ;
—but rather, on that account, the more to judge our-
selves, as fearing that we are reserved for a more
momentous tribunal.

Alas, how common among us is sin before marriage,
where it is supposed that marriage afterwards has done
away with that sin; surely it is very far otherwise in
the sight of God ; there is a root of bitterness in such
a marriage which must bring forth evil fruits; there
is a cloud between the soul and God, which hinders
His blessing, although the sun of this world may shine
upon them.

But yet with respect to any particular person, as in
the case now before us, it is not for us but for God to
judge ; while we cannot hate the sin too much, yet we
may love the sinner; whereas the world would hate
the sinner, while it loves the sin; add to which that
the most charitable judgment of others is often the
most true. And especially in a case of such deep
interest as this, it is our duty to consider what may beTHE ADULTERESS RESTORED,

137

suggested by that charity which “thinketh no evil,”
“and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but in the truth.”

In the first account it would appear as if her sin
was not in the sight of Glod so heinous as that of
David; she does not seem to have taken part in the
temptation or to have been willing or desirous to be
tempted: in the parable of Nathan she is described as
loving and faithful to her husband; she is the “ one
little ewe lamb which did eat of his own meat, and
drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was
unto him as a daughter,” when she is forcibly taken
from him by the rich man. The customs and the
power of the Eastern kings of old over their subjects
render such a case quite different to any thing which
could now take place among ourselves. These things
do not justify her, but may have lessened her guilt in
the sight of Grod. Add to which it is not likely that
she would have been so loved and honoured by David
unto the last, if she had been guilty of instigating him
willingly to that crime. For when they eat the bitter
fruit of their doings, partners and tempters of mutual
guilt hate each other.

Another consideration may be added; whatever her
guilt may have been in the first instance, she may
have shared with David in his very deep repentance;
and therefore may have drunk with him of that cup of
large forgiveness. It could scarce have been other-
wise : her heart must have been touched by so great
a sorrow ; nor could one so holy as David have failed
to join with him in his repentance the partner of his
crime.

We may further consider her, as in the passage from
which the text is taken, in relation to her son. She
had gone to David on a former occasion at the instiga-138

EATHSHEBA.

tion of Nathan, the prophet of God; that she should
have been the friend of this holy man of God would
lead one to suppose that she herself was in favour with
God. In this instance it is on a purpose of kindness
to one she might have considered her enemy, Adonijah,
the son of Haggith, against whom she had before
interfered with David b And in the reception which
she receives from her son there is something more
than filial respect. It would seem as if she herself on
this occasion might have been described at the end of
the Proverbs,—“ She openeth her mouth with wis-
dom ; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”
“ Her children arise up, and call her blessed2.” And
indeed it has been supposed that this last chapter of
theBook of Proverbs contains a dialogue or conversation
between her and her son, being an account of the
advice which she gave her son, and his reply to her.
However this may be, we may infer much of the
character of her who was the mother of Solomon from
this Book of Scripture which bears his name. Is it
not probable that she had instructed him in his early
years, and prepared him for the Divine wisdom which
afterwards was given him P We cannot but think so
from the Book of Proverbs ; how often does he recur
to the value of the wise and good woman! what stress
does he lay at the very outset of his Proverbs, and
throughout, on the mother’s instructions and the value
of filial obedience!	“ My son, keep thy father’s com-

mandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother;
bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them
about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee;
when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and wdien thou

1 1 Kings i. 11.

2 Prov. xxxi. 28. 28.THE ADULTERESS RESTORED.	139

awakest, it shall talk with thee3.” This beautifully
describes the touching remembrances of a mother’s
love, early and late about the bed of her child.

And now we come to another consideration, why is
she so expressly mentioned in the Gospel genealogy F
It may be indeed from this, that as our Lord in His
humiliation came to bear our shame and sin, He marks
these things of His own ancestors in the fallen race
from which He was sprung. Lor the four women re-
corded among those of His line have all of them some
deep moral or legal stain,—Tamar, guilty of incest,
Bahab the harlot, Buth the Heathen—and this, the
wife of Uriah—but the other three have some good
thing which may have made them precious in God’s
sight, for they had that great test of Jewish accept-
ance, faith in the Messiah which was to be. Thus, for
instance, of Tamar Judah well said, “ She hath been
more righteous than I V’ Bahab is numbered by St.
Paul among the saints ; and of Buth, what tongue can
speak worthily ? In like manner we might venture to
hope that Bathsheba also, the adulteress, was not be-
fore God without faith and repentance in her after
life.

And thus it is that the Gospel opens with that
which it was afterwards so fully to reveal, and whereby
it would reach the hearts of many in the very depths
of sin; signs going before of His Coming, who was
called “ the Priend of sinners,” of Whom it wras said,
“this Man receiveth sinners;” and Who Himself
said, “the publicans and the harlots go into the
Kingdom of God before you ”—the self-righteous.
This is He Who sat on the well conversing with that

3 Prov. vi. 20—22.

4 Gen. xxxviii. 26.140

EATHSHEBA.

Samaritan woman wlio had had five husbands, and was
living with one who was not her husband; this is He
Who accepted that sinner washing His feet with her
tears, who had her many sins forgiven, because she
loved much. This is He Who condemned not the
adulteress, but bade her sin no more; and Who said
that He had not come to judge the world, but to save.

The world says of some it is difficult and impossible
to save such; but the salvation of those who thus
speak is sometimes far more hopeless than that of
those whom they speak of. Simon the Pharisee said,
“ This man, if He were a prophet, would have known
who and what manner of woman this is ;” while in the
all-seeing eye of that Prophet, the woman he spoke of
had the love of God, and a sense of holiness which he
had not.

But with regard to that sad history which the lesson
for this day brings before us, we may observe that the
most signal instance of adultery on record—from the
fall of one so holy—was by one to whom, after the
manner of Eastern kings, God had permitted the
licence of many wives; by which we see that the
greater licence does not lessen, but increases the
power of temptation. So that when our Blessed Sa-
viour brought us back to the original law of God,—
that a man shall have but one wife,—and utterly cut
off all power of divorce and marrying again by saying,
“What God hath joined together, let not man put
asunder;” yet in this He hath not laid upon us a
hard law, but only His own yoke which is easy, and
His burden which is light; it is light and easy because
His grace is sufficient for all things. Eor in this case
nature itself points it out as the higher and better
way; and the Spirit of God in Christ both sanctifiesTHE ADULTERESS RESTORED.

141

and enables. But not only does the grace promised
of God make Christian marriage to he in no need of
divorce, allowing no one to break that bond but God
Himself in death; but to us is fully revealed a parti-
cular providence of God, leading each one of us through
a scene of trial best adapted for us. And therefore, if
a marriage were between parties the most unsuitable,
a case in which it were most hard to bear and forbear,
yet as it is the especial appointment of God, to cast
it off is to throw aside His yoke—a heavy trial per-
haps, but the one most needful for us to bring us to
eternal life; a burden perhaps brought upon us by
our own sins, yet in which there is the best remedy
for those sins; and however grievous, yet might it be
made tolerable by His grace. And therefore a heathen
law wdiich comes in, contrary to the Law of God, and
allows of another marriage, may utterly frustrate and
make void the gracious purposes of God, and undo
His own most wise orderings for the salvation of the
soul.

But to conclude,—"What is the lesson we are to
learn from the record of this woman? She was an
adulteress, we must not make light of that, nor has
God given us any knowledge of her repentance; but,
allowing this, I have mentioned what might incline us
to a favourable judgment of her, as far as circum-
stances would permit us to do so. It may have been
that she had been a woman virtuous and wise as she
was beautiful, until she fell into sin; and that she was
afterwards, by God’s mercy, restored to her strength
and to His favour ; and yet that her sin bore very
heavily upon her in after life, as it did upon David; it
may be, for aught we can tell, that even in this life it
found her out in some way the most grievous and142

BATHSHEBA.

terrible of all. In short, what was the history of her
son? IN’o sooner was Solomon born than it is said,
“the Lord loved him,” and sent by His Prophet
Hathan, and gave him a name that signified “beloved
of the Lord.” May we not infer that at that time his
mother as well as his father were beloved of G-odP
And then we may suppose that she brought up her son
in all godly diligence and care, as the Book of Proverbs
may well intimate; and that she gave him all those
warnings against the flatteries of the strange woman
with which that Book abounds. But what if, after all,
deeper and stronger than all her instructions, there
lay beneath his heart of hearts a secret fountain of
impurity, and that connected with knowledge of his
mother’s sin, which mingling with other temptations,
brought on the grievous fall of Solomon p And oh, my
brethren! next to that of the eternal woe, is there any
more fearful punishment of evil than to have our sins
visited by bringing forth sin in our children ? How
earnestly have all who have sinned after this manner
to entreat Grod not to bring on their children a
calamity so intolerable!

“Train up a child,” says Solomon, “in the way he
should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from
it5;” but what if with a mother or a father’s instruc-
tions there is imbibed the knowledge of their parent’s
sin ? or what if it is not at all known by them, but in
the secret judgments of Grod the sin thus works on
the hearts of their children? This is a most awful
consideration.

But again,—-there is another circumstance which I
cannot but mention before I conclude,—if we may

5 Prov. xxii. 6.THE AETTLTEEESS EESTOEED.

143

judge favourably of sucb a one; if our Lord has been
pleased to have her recorded among those from whom
He was sprung; and if He was so earnest and so
merciful in accepting such sinners on their repentance;
so inviting to them ; especially because He knew that
among none were His gracious invitations so needed,
and often so availing; then surely we ought to do
what we can in restoring such. When persons have
been long lost in such sins it may be a matter of very
great difficulty, and beyond the reach of man to re-
claim them. But it is not so after the first fall, very
much may then be done to restore and recover, and
such an attempt is much aided by judging most
charitably, and hoping the best; not by making light
of the sin—far from it, for such were only to confirm
and corrupt the sinner; but mercifully to aid and
rescue, because the sin is so fearful; and to lend an
aiding hand, because the fall is so terrible.SERMON XIII.

RIZPAH.

PIETY TO THE DEAD.

2 Samuel xxi. 11.

u And it was told David what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, the
concubine of Saul, had done.”

While we are all passing through this short scene of
trial into eternity, generation after generation, families
on families, men, women, and children, and for the
most part leaving no trace behind, yet out of this vast
multitude God has given some few an abiding memo-
rial unto the end of the world, by recording them in
His Holy Word; not always their histories or their
characters, but sometimes some incident respecting
them, and thus leaving engraven in the rock for ever,
not their full form nor countenance, nor the outline of
it, but only some one single feature; and when this is
the case we cannot, as it were, fill up the whole pic-
ture, for that would be merely to draw from our own
mind; but we must take that one feature which Scrip-
ture has given us by itself, that one incident recorded,
and see what lesson it is intended to convey; without
attempting to know more of the whole character than
that incident implies.PIETY TO THE HEAD.

115

Such is the case with the circumstance mentioned
in this morning’s lesson of Bizpah, the daughter of
Aiah. Let us consider the whole occasion on which
it occurred, for it is very remarkable. Many years
after the death of Saul a famine of three years’ con-
tinuance took place through the land of Israel, and
David, on inquiry, was informed of God that it was in
consequence of Saul’s slaying the Gibeonites. Now
this, wTe see, often takes place in the world, that people
suffer for the sins of their rulers and for after gene-
rations ; the Scripture therefore points out to us that
such are the visitations and orderings of God, what-
ever they may appear to us. What follows is of the
same kind, but still more remarkable; the Gibeonites,
apparently with a religious motive, require that seven
sons of Saul should be hung up “before the Lord,” in
expiation for what their father had done. This also is
what we daily witness in the providence of God, inno-
cent children bearing heavily the punishment of their
fathers’ sins. The Word of God, therefore, only in-
forms us that in these things it is He that visits; we
are to see and acknowledge in all things His hand,
though His judgments be unsearchable, and His ways
past finding out, and His footsteps in the dark waters.

But now in this our. darkness respecting the ways
of God, there breaks forth a glimpse of the great
mystery which is to reconcile all things; for we see in
that “hill before the Lord” the shadow of the Cross
of Christ. These innocent persons were to be hanged,
or as it is in the Latin version, to be crucified, to make
an atonement for sin; bearing the curse of the Law,
for “cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”
The Law indeed had been teaching the Jews as its
one great lesson that an atonement must be made for146

EIZPAH.

sin; and this it did by the constant sacrifices of animals;
but it was evident that such could not be its end, for
the blood of bulls and of goats could never take away
sin. But here there was now a much nearer approach
to the secret of God—His covenant in the doctrine of
redemption; for they were not brute beasts, but men
made in the image of God, seven men given to be an
atonement, not for their own sin, but for that of an-
other, and this atonement accepted of God; “seven”
—known at all times as the number of expiation
Thus you see that already is this history sanctified to
us, for we see on that hill of Gibeah the shadow of
the one great expiatory Sacrifice. And this will give a
new life and interest to that very touching incident
which follows.

Of the seven descendants of that house that were
taken it is said, “five were the sons of Michal the
daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel.”
How we cannot but remember that it was this Michal
which, though she had faithfully loved David as a
successful warrior, princely among princes, and noblest
among nobles, yet despised him in her heart for his
love of God, when he danced before the Ark. David
at once saw her haughty spirit of irreligion; such was
not the faith which would stand in a dark hour.
However that may be, the mention of her in this
place suggests a character which stands in contrast
with that which follows.

“ And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth,
and spread it for her upon the rock, from the begin-
ning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of
heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest

1 See Num. xxiii. 1. 29. Gen. iv. 15.PIETY TO THE DEAD.

147

on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.”
Thus, day after day, and night after night, and week
after week, and it may be even for months, she con-
tinued watching the mouldering bodies of the dead,—
until the Heavens gave rain. It was a very affecting
instance of a mother’s love, strong as death. Eut
was this all ? If it had been so, David, the man after
God’s own heart, and the Prophet of Christ, would
not have been so struck with it; there was in it some-
thing that had reached his own heart and conscience.
For immediately on hearing of it he sent and took the
bones of Saul and Jonathan, and, together with the
bones of these seven, had them placed in an honourable
burial in the sepulchre of ICish their father. It was
not merely the yearnings of a mother’s love, but the
piety, and a secret instinct of Divine faith, which
moved him in this touching example, and is found so
worthy of record.

And here it may be observed that some of the best
actions are those in which men know not what they
do, nor why they do it; but are actuated by a strong
faith and hope in God. For it is not t,o be supposed
that this woman or David himself had any distinct
notion of the resurrection of Christ, and the rising of
the dead in Plim. The Prophet Jeremiah says indeed
to the mourner on a like occasion of bereavement,
“Kefrain thy voice from weeping ... for there is
hope in thine end, that thy children may come
again2.” And perhaps the Spirit of God may in-
distinctly have suggested such a hope; but it is not
necessary to suppose this; we may infer that in ex-
treme desolation the helpless soul found rest and

? Jer. xxxi. 16, 17
L 2148

ETZPAH.

repose in God. This is enough, such a soul cannot
despair. And thus another prophet is asked of God,
“Son of man, can these dry bones live?” but his
answer is, “0 Lord God, Thou knowest3.” Thus
the Spirit of God searcheth the heart to know how it
will trust Him, suggesting an inquiry and a doubtful
hope;—but the heart itself cannot answer whether
there be a resurrection of the body or not; it learns
like Job in his nakedness of every stay, as Abraham
in his dark trial hour, to leave it as the secret of God.
“ O Lord God, Thou knowest.” Yet care of the dead
implies an instinctive sense of resurrection. This
piety marked the faith of Tobit in the Apocrypha ;
and among ourselves the care of the dead is reckoned
among the seven acts of mercy.

But there is one point in the account itself which
seems to intimate that the act was one of piety to
God, as well as that of maternal affection; for she
continued this her painful watch in sackcloth on the
dead, until God showed that He was about to accept
that expiation, and withdraw His judgment,—“ until
the water dropped upon them out of heaven;” then
she recognized that token of God’s mercy, and her
work was done. “Befrain thine eyes from tears,—
thy work shall be rewarded,—they shall come again
from the land of the enemy.” She seemed to say, “ I
am desolate and in misery,” “ show some token upon
me for good;” and that her prayer was heard.

Thus she was not overwhelmed by that heavy blow,
but leaned, and in leaning was strengthened,—for she
leaned upon God. A widow, and childless, and sitting
under the curse of the law, which was upon her chil-

3 Ezek. xxxvii. 3.PIETY TO THE HEAD.

149

dren, in that hour of extreme desolation and darkness,
she fainted not, and like that dying thief, speaking
himself from his cross, she lost not hope ; while on the
other side was one greater and nobler than she, Michal
the daughter of Saul, who, as she understood not the
rejoicing of David, probably could not comprehend the
mournful consolation of Bizpah.

She might have considered in that long season of
watching, that if God would accept the death of the
innocent for the guilty ; if not in slain beasts, but in
the death of man was the atonement for sin to be
looked for; then there might be with God some
expiation for the sins of herself and of us all, which
separate us from Him ; trusting with a faith like that
of her father Abraham, that “ God will provide Him-
self a Lamb 4.” But how could that be P for no man
could bear the weight of his own or others’ sins,
any more than he could bear up the Heavens on his
shoulders. The Second Commandment, which declares
sins visited to a third and fourth generation, speaks
of mercy to thousands ; and that Commandment is of
Christ,-—of Man made in the Image of God, whom
alone we may worship. But yet, as the prophet
Ezekiel declares, no son shall bear the iniquity of his
father5. Thus all was dark. Therefore in that per-
plexity the soul can do nothing else but throw herself
upon God—committing herself to Him, “ as unto a
faithful Creator, in well-doing6.” Ho one by searching
can find out God, for no one can think of Him
worthily, but there is a way of approaching Him, and
that is in well-doing. In the dark hour something
must be done; action is the life of the soul; it can

4	Gen. xxii. 8.

5	Ezek. xviii. 20.

6	1 Pet. iv. 19.150

EIZPAH.

never be motionless and still; it is then most at
repose when most in motion, as the heavenly bodies.
God’s rest is in unceasing work, and that work is
love. A mother’s love is planted in the heart by God
Himself, as a likeness of His own love to us ; and
therefore must be pleasing to Him ; and in following
the suggestions of a mother’s love, she was led to do
great and mysterious things which she knew not of
and thought not of. Can a mother forget the son of
her love P can she grieve without hope if she believes
in the mercies of God ? They that honour the bodies
of the dead express their hope of Resurrection, by a
secret instinct of faith; and by so doing touch as it
were the garment of Christ, or the linen clothes in
which His body was laid. Mary Magdalene sat over
against the sepulchre watching the place where Christ
was buried, when others had departed; she did so in
extreme sorrow, for she thought not of His Resurrec-
tion, but that her piety was not forgotten of God;
and from a like feeling she hastened early in the
morning to His grave, to embalm His body. And
therefore it was that before all, even Apostles and
Evangelists, Christ risen appeared unto her. She was
led to do these things, it might be said, by a sort of
natural love and sorrow ; but this sorrowing love,
which thus waited on the dead, surpassed all wisdom
and knowledge, and wore as it were the first crown
of the redeemed. And thus this poor widowed and
childless woman, the daughter of Aiah, following up
the spirit of love, became like an Evangelist and
Apostle to David himself—not by precept, but by
example, stirring the heart-depths by the searchings of
the Spirit even of one that himself said, “ Thou shalt
not leave my soul in hell,”—among the dead,—PIETY TO THE HEAD.

151

“neither shalt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see
corruption.”

How this case of Bizpah the daughter of Aiah is
one of extreme misery, but it does not on that account
come the less home to us all, nay much more; there
is no case we feel so much our own, so much akin to
us, and moving our sympathies; it is most like that
holy remembrance to which the soul of every child of
Adam must turn; for our estate at best is that of
looking at a dead Body, and watching One upon a
Cross. And that Jerusalem on which the Spirit of
grace and supplication is poured, is described by the
prophet as looking on One that is pierced, and mourn-
ing in bitterness for Him as for an only son7. It
wins the heart more than any other scene; as it is
said, “ If I be lifted up I shall draw all men unto
Me:”—for it is by “the cords of a man,” of suffering
humanity.

It is indeed as a voice from the lowest depths, for
what can be as sons to a widowed mother? It is not only
death, but beyond death, for nature itself says, let me
“ bury my dead out of my sight8.” But this is to be
with the dead. Yet what if even this is to be made
more conformable unto Christ’s death, and hallowed
by expressions that speak of union with Him in His
death ? for the soul that would live is not only to be
dead, but also “ buried together ” with Him in His
death.

It might indeed be said that this is to be in us with
the consolation and hope of a Christian ; but it was not
so with her, the bereaved daughter of Aiah. This is
true to a certain extent, yet cannot be altogether
so, that she “ sorrowed even as others that have no
7 Zech. xii. 10.	8 Gen. xxiii. 4.152

BIZPAH.

hope.” Eor if the prophet says, “when I sit in dark-
ness the Lord shall be a light unto me9,” he implies
that the greater the darkness is the greater also is
that light. And if there is something even in sorrow
itself that almost blesses and sanctifies, the greater
that sorrow is the more does it hold some secret and
mysterious union with Christ, and that peace which is
beyond knowledge. What if of her it might be said
in the words which the daughter of Zion speaks in the
person of Christ Crucified, “ Behold, and see if there be
any sorrow like unto my sorrow, wherewith the Lord
hath afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger1?”
Her sense of desolation and bereavement may not
have had the comforts of the Christian, who hath, seen
the Hay of Pentecost, but it may be more like that
sorrow of the Blessed Virgin herself by the Cross, or
of Mary Magdalene at the tomb.

But it is not only for its open and manifest con-
nexion with Calvary and Gethsemane, that this instance
of affliction so arrests us all, and appeals to us; there
is something in our nature itself that looks to it; who
does not turn with a more lively interest to that
afflicted concubine on the mountain of Gibeah, than
to Bathsheba sitting enthroned on the right hand of
Solomon ? Who, does not in this latter case infer that
some great evil or downfall may be nigh ? Who does
not in the former suspect that it may be near some
unspeakable good ? So much so that the Preacher in
the Book of Ecclesiastes, speaking of what is good in
this world says, “the day of death” is better “than
the day of one’s birth,” it is “better to go to the
house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting,”

9 Mic. vii. 8.

1 Lam. i. 12.PIETY TO THE HEAD.

153

—and “ sorrow is better than laughter”—and “the
heart of the wise is in the house of mourning2.”
Thus nature itself and its interpreter would say, that
sorrow was much more suitable for man, and that
wisdom and goodness dwelt with her; but it remained
for Christ Himself to crown it with His own Beatitude,
saying that His comfort also is with the mourner,
and that in Him they that mourn shall find rest. Hot
only with “the Preacher” that death is better than
life, but why ? that to die with Him is gain—for it is
to be nearer unto Him ; to be with Him; and that
His loving-kindness is better than the life itself.

There is another reason why this example of sorrow
is not afar off, but comes home to us all; that every
one is so liable to a like season of trial, when the soul
is left alone with God; when that on which it had
leaned is taken away, and perhaps quite suddenly, by
some great bereavement, loss or change. But if not
before, yet the approach of death itself may bring this
desolation.

Even then in the exercise of natural piety and
affection the soul may be drawing nearer to God than
it knows, under the dark and heavy cloud which
hides Him awhile from its sight; not only as those
holy women wrho stood by the Cross when Apostles
had fled, and by pious duties to the dead soothed
their sorrow; but also even as He Himself, "Who,
when darkness had hidden the sun, and God had with-
drawn His light from His soul, yet continued His
offices of love, and left no duty of pious affection un-
done ; comforting and remembering His holy Mother
when the sword had pierced her soul.

2 Eccles. vii. 1. 4.SERMON XIV.

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA.

LOVE OE WISDOM IN WOMEN.

St. Matthew xii. 42.

“ The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this
generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from the utter-
most parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and,
behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”

These are words of heavy condemnation; yet they
may afford consolation and encouragement to a faith-
ful Christian. The storm that breaks the cedar-trees
may refresh with rain, and lift up the head of the
humble lily of the vale. Por here it appears that even
this Heathen Queen is not forgotten before God, and
will be remembered by Him hereafter; and, secondly,
that gracious as was her acceptance by King Solomon,
and great as was her wonder and delight at his
wisdom, yet far more than this may the Christian
find in Christ. And that too not as of One afar off,
after a long pilgrimage from the ends of the earth, but
ever close at hand; as implied in those expressive
words, “a greater than Solomon is here.” What
encouragement to come! what ample recompense in
coming! what warning if we come not!LOYE OE WISDOM IN WOMEK.

155

Observe, this does not speak of the grace and salva-
tion to be found in Christ, but of wisdom, to which
that of Solomon is not to be compared. This is a
lesson peculiarly suitable to us at the present day;
for is not this the age of intellect, of progress in
knowledge ? are not persons carried away and, as it
were, intoxicated with the great promise of advance-
ment in science, so that they despise [Revelation on
account of its simplicity and want of progress P But
what are we to think of this subject ? Now Solomon
may be considered as the type of the very highest and
best wisdom to be found in nature. “ He spake,” it
is said, “of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in
Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of
the wall; he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of
creeping things, and of fishes V’ But not only of
natural science, he abounded in sententious maxims of
wisdom, “he spake three thousand proverbs;” and in
poetry also, for “his songs were a thousand and five.”
And what is more, his wisdom applied to the practice of
human life and the worship of Grod ; it was this latter
chiefly that took away the heart and overwhelmed with
wTonder this Queen that sought wisdom. “ She com-
muned with him of all that was in her heart,” stored
difficulties of all knowledge; but when she saw the
ordering of his household and kingdom, and especially
of Divine worship, this exceeded all besides. “ Grod
gave him,” it is said, “ understanding exceeding much,
and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the
sea shore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the
wisdom of all the children of the East, and all the
wisdom of Egypt.” Among the nations of old the

1 1 Kings iv. 33.156

THE QUEEIST 0E SIIEBA.

great seat of wisdom was Greece; but Greece derived
it from Egypt and from the East. Therefore the
name of Solomon may be well considered to represent
the most extensive and most exalted wisdom that this
world can supply; but yet it fell far short of that
wisdom which is in Christ; it is far exceeded in its
own line, its own order of wisdom and knowledge.
So also must it be writh the Christian. Let science
and knowledge and wisdom advance age after age, to
all fulness, perfection, and wonder, yet there is in
Christ what will far surpass them. What if human
science may “ compass the circuit of Heaven, and walk
in the bottom of the deep,” yet is there a wisdom
higher than Heaven, and deeper than the earth below,
and the Creator hath caused her “ tabernacle to rest ”
in Jacob 2.

But some may be alarmed when we speak of progress
in religion. It may be said, is not the Bible one and
the same for every age, which may not be added to ?
Is not “ the faith once for all delivered to the Saints”
never to be changed, or improved, or enlarged P This
is very true. But again, is not the Holy Scripture
the wisdom of God ? is it not therefore so great and
good that we may daily learn of it more and more ?
Is it not the very character of the Gospel of Christ,
that in Him “ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge3 ?” “ treasures,” as never to be exhausted;
“hidden,” as more and more to be brought to light;
“ in Christ,” as distinguished from the world. Is not
“ growing ” in wisdom and being “ built up ” in wisdom
the very description of the progressive Christian ?

Again, is it not of such a nature that no other

2 Ecclus. xxiv. 5. 8.

3 Col. ii. 3.LOYE OE WISDOM IN ¥OME2f.

157

wisdom is to be compared with it? Por instance,
Solomon, in speaking of the vanity of the world, says,
“In much wisdom is much grief; and he that in-
creaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow4.’5 And great
indeed is the sadness in wise men and Prophets, as
they approach Him who is the Man of sorrows ; yet
He is also the God of consolation ; and that sorrow is
not far from peace and joy; filling the heart with
melody, and giving songs in the night. But yet
further, St. Paul says, “ knowledge puffeth uphe
contrasts it with charity ; he says, that knowledge
shall vanish away. But this is not the knowledge of
God which is said of itself to be eternal life 5; such
cannot be that which puffs up and passes away, but
is itself a part of love; it is put for love; it is the
light of God, which is both wisdom and love; ever
increasing more and more as the heart opens to know
God. It is the especial gift of God Who dwelleth
with the humble spirit, and reveals Plis wisdom unto
babes.

Moreover, does it not stand to reason that it must
be so ? for if there are two worlds about us and in
which we live, one earthly and the other heavenly,
then all the marks of God in the earthly must be but
a faint counterpart of all that His hand is doing in the
Heavenly: if the forms and ways of plants, of animals,
of insects are so wonderful that they ever minister to
fresh instruction; opening more and more on every
search new subjects of admiration; must it not be so
in the ways of God in training the human soul, in His
daily tendings and exercises and leadings of it by His
intimate and continual Presence ? Ho not even the

4 Eccles. i. 18.

5 St. John xvii. 3.158

THE QTTEEH OE SHEBA.

very signs of God’s hand in nature act as ancillary and
subordinate to those in the Kingdom of Grace ? Our
Blessed Saviour says, “ Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow.” All the regal array of Solomon is
not to be compared to the beauty of the lily; we may
look at it and say, as we gaze, “ Behold a greater than
Solomon is here.” But observe, much as there is in
this truth when spoken to the natural philosopher, it
is much more so to the Christian. It is not that the
flower of the field is exquisitely fashioned, brilliantly
adorned, wonderfully sustained; but it has to the
Christian an eloquent living wisdom as reminding him
of God’s Presence ; it is in this sense that “ a greater
than Solomon is hereit is an evidence of the living
watchfulness of our own King, the greater Son of
Solomon, in His own kingdom of peace. It is with
this view that our Lord points it out to us as teaching
His own Christian wisdom.

Or, on the other hand, if we turn from nature with-
out to the inspired "Word of God itself, and apply the
subject in a manner entirely different, we may ask,
does not a wise and holy Christian see much more in
a passage or in a text of Holy Scripture than a man of
the world P and if he were wiser and holier would he
not see still more in it ? and so on for ever. Is there
any limit to such wisdom ?

And surely in the Old Testament there are allusions
to a higher knowledge than any thing to be found in
nature or earthly things. As Job says, “ Where shall
wisdom be found ? and where is the place of under-
standing ? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither
is it found in the land of the living. The depth saith,
It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with
me.” “Destruction and death say, Wre have heardLOYE 0E "WISDOM IN WOMEN.

159

the fame thereof with our ears. God understandeth
the way thereof.” “ And unto man He saith, Behold,
the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom G.” And in the
Book of Proverbs how does Solomon dwell throughout
upon Wisdom, as of some mystery of godliness, some-
thing beyond him of unspeakable value which is with
God ? “ The Lord possessed me in the beginning, before
His works of old, when He prepared the Heavens I
was there.” “ I was by Him as one brought up with
Him; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always
before Him.” “ And my delights were with the sons
of men 7.” The same is more fully drawn out in the
Apocryphal Books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus.
“ She is the brightness of the everlasting light, the
unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image
of His goodness.” “ Bemaining in herself, she maketh
all things new; and in all ages entering into holy souls,
she maketh them friends of God.” “ To live with her
hath no sorrow.” “To be allied unto Wisdom is
immortality.” “ When I perceived that I could not
otherwise obtain her, except God gave her me, I
prayed unto the Lord, and besought Him.” “ 0,
send her out of Thy holy Heavens,” “that being
present she may labour with me8.”

And how amply is all this confirmed by the Hew
Testament, that God reveals a heavenly wisdom and
knowledge infinitely beyond all that the unbelieving
heart can know; that there are things which even the
Angels desire to look into which God reveals by His
Spirit, beyond the eye and ear and heart of the natural
man; that even “ unto principalities and powers in
heavenly places” is “made known by the Church the

6 Job xxviii. 12. 14. 22. 28.	7 Prov. viii. 22—31.

8 Wisd. vii. viii. ix.160

THE QUEEN OE SHEBA.

manifold wisdom of God9.” “¥e speak wisdom,”
says St. Paul, “ among them that are perfect: yet not
the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this
world, that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom \” He
speaks of Christians as being “ filled with knowledge ”
“in all wisdom and spiritual understanding2.” And
exclaims himself with adoring wonder on his insight
into that mystery, “ O the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God31 ”

It is evident, therefore, that there is a wisdom and
knowledge which is alluded to and anticipated in the
Old Testament, and confirmed and bestowed under
the Hew, which is of infinite worth, and is attainable
by us. Great, therefore, as are the advances which
are now being made in the knowledge of the stars, of
the earth, and of the sea, and all natural sciences,
compared with former ages; yet far greater are the
stores of wisdom and knowledge which are to be
gained in Christ; increasing ever more and more as
advance is made in the study of God, in His "Word,
and in His works. And not only this, but it is such
that in comparison with it all other knowledge is, as
it were, dead knowledge, and this is peculiarly a living
knowledge. It is connected wTith life and with love,
is loving and life-giving; so that life and love, and
light or knowledge, seem often spoken of in the Di-
vine Word as if they were all one, or intimately
united. Thus the Psalmist says, “With Thee is the
well of life, and in Thy light shall we see light4;” as
if that light were to be found in the well of life which
is with God. Such knowledge kindles, quickens, and

9 Eph. iii. 10.	i 1 Cor. ii. 6, 7-	2 Col. i. 19.

3 Rom. xi. 33.	4 Ps. xxxvi. 9.LOYE 0E WISDOM IN' WOMEN.

161

enlarges the soul itself with a Divine life, like the
warmth and light of the sun in nature. It not only
brings objects great and wonderful before the eye, but
it enlightens the eye itself. It is said of it especially
that it gives eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to
understand. It is within “ a well of water, springing
up into everlasting life5.” And it is more than any
human knowledge attainable, progressive, satisfying.

And now we come to another consideration: it may
be asked, Can a woman give herself up to the studies
of knowledge P Is it becoming and suitable to her cha-
racter ? And, indeed, it may be questionable whether
a woman is right in the ardent pursuit of human
knowledge; “knowledge is power,” and a sense of
power begets pride; whereas meekness is the brightest
ornament of the female character; and it must surely
be a warning to us that the desire of knowledge was
so blended with the temptation of Eve. But this
danger and warning can only apply to human science
and its pursuits, not to Divine. If the coming to
Solomon wras commendable in the Queen of the South,
how much more the coming to Christ for wisdom!
And how is this wisdom obtained P Hot of man, but of
God; not by study, but by prayer. “ If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all
men liberally, . . . and it shall be given him6.” By
what means is it gathered, and knowledge added to
knowledge ? not by induction from earthly things, but
by “ comparing things spiritual with spiritualnot
by searches into lifeless matter, but into the Living
Word. And what qualifications are the most needful
for this pursuit P It is for them who partake most of the

5 St. John iv. 14.

6 St. James i. 5.162

THE QtTEEH OE SHEEA.

Spirit "Who dwelleth with the humble, and with those
who tremble at God’s word. The worldly-prudent,
those who are wise in their own eyes, are excluded,
and these are received. This was the one and great
occasion of joy to the Man of Sorrows. “ In that hour
Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank Thee, O
Eather, Lord of Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast re-
vealed them unto babes!” Such was the disposition
of this Southern Queen. She came not from vanity,
nor display of scientific research, but for the love of
wisdom. And what if she were called of God from
afar by His Spirit within, through this her love of
wisdom, even as the Eastern astrologers afterwards
by their star, to the City of God P And it may be
that this her good deed was remembered by Him as
an earnest of what was to be hereafter. If she came
from Ethiopia, the far South, as it has been supposed,
she may have been the ancestor and forerunner of that
Ethiopian Queen, Candace, whose great minister, the
Eunuch, had gone up to Jerusalem to worship, and
on his return was reading the Prophet Isaiah in his
chariot. Surely he was seeking for wisdom of One
greater than Solomon, when the Holy Spirit sent
Philip to instruct him. And no doubt both of these
circumstances were preparations for the time when
the children of the South should come with those
from the East and West, and should sit down in the
kingdom of God.

The Queen of the South seems in her character to
be quite an example of those who should seek wisdom
of God, so teachable and humble, so full of love and
veneration, and so earnest in the desire of knowledge,
as to think nothing of travel, toil, and hardship, inLOYE OE WISDOM IK WOMEK.

163

order to obtain it. “ If thou criest after knowledge,”
says Solomon, “and liftest up thy voice for under-
standing ; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest-
for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou find the
knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom.”
And again, “ Write my commandment upon the table
of thine heart. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister;
and call understanding thy kinswoman7.”

Such, then, is the mode of obtaining, and such the
dispositions and affections needful for those who
would obtain wisdom, the especial gift of God. And
the effect of such wisdom is twofold, to order our
steps aright upon earth, and to open the eyes to the
knowledge of what is heavenly; and these two, not as
things separate from each other, but as one and the
same; walking aright on earth, because of the know-
ledge of Heaven; the feet proceeding in safety, be-
cause of the eyes being enlightened by Divine light;
by the feet and eyes of the soul, seeing and advancing
towards the great end of our being.

And even to consider this wisdom in its most
obvious point of view, of its influence on human life,
how much is there wrong in human conduct, all
around us, for want of knowledge! many admire
science and intellectual progress to the disparagement
of faith and revelation, for want of knowledge; many
are influenced by a schismatic aversion to the Church
and its doctrines, and to some of its practices, for
want of knowledge; many are actuated by bitterness
against better Christians than themselves, for want of
knowledge; even the Jews put to death the Son of
God, for want of knowledge.

7 Prov. ii. 3—6; vii. 3, 4.
M 2164	THE QTJEEH OE SHEBA.

But now, if this wisdom is founded in the fear of
God, if it requires a humble and loving heart, if it is
given only by the Spirit of God, and to be obtained
by prayer; if the wisdom of this world is rather a
hindrance to the acquirement of it than otherwise;
yet, notwithstanding, the question arises, should not
this Divine "Wisdom also be so furnished with the
knowledge and wisdom of the unbelieving world, as to
be able to answer it, when it argues against revelation
and the truths of God ?

Now it may be very well that some should be able
to do this, who may have, perhaps, an especial call
from God to do so, but it cannot be generally
necessary or desirable in order to introduce the
knowledge and wisdom which is of God. There has
been the wisdom and knowledge of Greece and Borne,
and that of the East, both in the early ages of the
world, and also now, as in India; and there is the
like infidel philosophy of Germany, endeavouring to
spread itself into this country; but it is not at all
necessary to enter into this, for the faith of a child or
of a simple and poor woman, giving a reason for her
faith in meekness and fear, is sufficient to answer and
refute it all. It is far better to be free from it; the
very knowledge of it is injurious.

Again, it may be added that as earthly love impairs
the power of Divine, and carnal joys those that are
spiritual, and earthly treasures endanger those that
are heavenly; so it is the case also, that human
knowledge may impede that which is of God. And
therefore “not many wise are called“from the wise
and prudent ” it is “hidden.”

St. Paul, in overthrowing the wisdom of the world,
enters not into it further than alluding to the mostLOYE OE WISDOM TN WOMEN-.

165

elementary truths known to all, that there is a God,
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him, that He has never left Himself without witness,
giving fruitful seasons; that in Him we live, and
move, and have our being; that there is a Judgment
to come, as the Heathen themselves acknowledge;
that there is an Unknown God, whom they ignorantly
worship; that even in nature itself are found intima-
tions of the Resurrection of the body. But as to the
knowledge of God, he says plainly that the natural
man cannot understand it; that the truths of God are
spiritually discerned; not learned of human reason,
but by faith. The philosophies, therefore, of the East,
or those of Christian countries now, require no refu-
tation from learning and study, in order that the
Gospel may be planted in their place, but a living
faith in Christ, ever growing in the knowledge of God.

All the strength of the Christian whereby he over-
comes the world is faith * as to human reason, he
feels like David when he rejected the armour of Saul,
saying, “ I cannot go with these, for I have not proved
them8.” When our Blessed Saviour would teach
wisdom, He took a little child into His arms, and set
him in the midst of the Twelve,—the Teachers of His
Church. And if the Bather which is in Heaven hath
revealed His own knowledge unto babes, then of such
a little child we may venture also to say, “ Behold, a
greater than Solomon is here.” Bor “of such is the
Kingdom of Heaven;” and the least in the Kingdom
of God is greater than Solomon, Or as St. John
says, “ Little children, ye have an unction from the
Holy One, and ye know all things9.”

8 1 Sam. xvii. 39.

9 1 St. John ii. 20.SERMON XV.

THE WIDOW OF ZAKEPHATH.

FAITH IN GIYING.

St. Luke iv. 26.

But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city
of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow/ ’

The widow of Zarephath, of whom we read in this
evening’s lesson \ claims our peculiar attention as one
selected by our Lord Himself for His especial mention.
In the synagogue at Nazareth He pointed out this
incident in the Old Testament as a sign that God was
about to call the Gentiles, saying, that “ many widows
were in Israel in the days of Elias,” but unto none of
them in the time of the famine was Elias sent, but
unto this widow of Sarepta. The case of this Heathen
woman thus visited of God was like that of the Gentile
converts afterwards mentioned in the Gospels, which
our Lord received with so much welcome; inasmuch as
they were marked by Him as tokens of what He was
about to do, in receiving the Heathen for His in-
heritance. But those instances which come before

1 1 Kings xvii. Eighth Sunday after Trinity.FAITH IN HI YIN H.

167

ns in tlie Gospels were not merely signs and outward
tokens of the Gentiles being received, but they were
also in themselves very remarkable examples of faith,
such as were not found in Israel. Of these was that
Centurion at Capernaum, at the greatness of whose
faith it is said the Lord “marvelled;” and that
Canaanitish woman in these very parts about Tyre
and Sidon, who, by a sort of holy violence, entered
the Kingdom, and forced, as it were, from Christ
Himself that confession, “ O woman, great is thy
faith.” We may conclude, therefore, that in those
instances mentioned in the Old Testament as going
before, the same was the case ; and that in like manner
this widow of Zarephath, who was thus favoured of
God beyond all the widows in Israel, had also beyond
them all that faith which is accepted with Him.

And, indeed, as if to show that God is no respecter
of persons, this case stands forth, not only as of one
pre-eminent in faith beyond the daughters of Israel,
but in especial contrast to that of the Queen Jezebel.
She, too, was of Zidon; she had brought into Israel
the false gods of Zidon; she had occasioned this
famine; and, in the midst of it all, He Whose “ eyes
are in every place, beholding the evil and the good,”
had seen one in her own country of Zidon, poor and
unknown, more meet to sustain His Prophet, than
any that were in Israel; and, like the fleece of wool,
filled with the dews of Heaven in the sign of Gideon2,
to be in abundance while the famine was all around.

The account is as follows;—Pirst of all, God sent
His Prophet, saying, “ Get thee to Zarephath, which
belongeth unto Zidon . . . behold, I have commanded a

Judges vi. 37.168

THE WIDOW OE ZAKEPHATH.

widow wToman there to sustain thee;” not that she
had received any express command from God, or knew
of His purpose, for she was preparing to die ; but that
He, in whose hand are the hearts of men, knew of her
faith, and that faith was to execute His will. Thus
those whom He foreknows are by God predestinate
and called by Him, though they know it not, while in
the full assurance of faith they follow His guidance.
Meanwhile He prepares their heart to pray, and His
ear hearkens unto their prayer. Tor all is of God.
As our Lord says to His disciples, “Ye have not
chosen Me, but I have chosen you.”

And first, the Prophet asks her to “fetch him a
little water in a vessel, that he might drinkand this,
it appears from the account, she immediately proceeds
to do. This was at once a very remarkable instance
of goodness ; for a stranger, and one of another nation,
she is about to bring water, while she and her house
were perishing of thirst. Surely such as this is
that cup of cold water given for His sake, of which
our Blessed Saviour spake, which shall in no wise lose
its reward. But it was our Lord’s custom in the
Gospels, when there was an indication of great faith,
not immediately to reward or crown it with His
praise, but first to try it more heavily; and so it was
now. When the great Elijah found this wonderful
obedience, he was not content, but adds to the weight;
a voice overtook her, as it overtakes us all when we do
what is good, calling for higher service. “ And as she
was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring
me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.”
How, her last drop of water she was willing to give,
for she was going for it, but the bread she had not;
all that remained to her, she said, was a handful ofPAITH IN GIVING.

169

meal and a little oil, and she was now gathering two
sticks to dress it for herself and her son, that they
might “eat it and die;” they were both now utterly
exhausted by famine ; they were, as her words imply,
in this their extremity at the last gasp. And the
man of God bids her to go on in this her purpose,
“ Go and do as thou hast said,” but first of all to take
part of this little that remained, and to make thereof
a cake for himself. But to this he adds the promise
that she shall not want. And in faith she accepts this
promise. It was this faith that he wished to draw out
and prove, as our Lord does in the Gospels. It does
not appear whether she at first knew him to be a pro-
phet of God; but now she must have done so, as she
receives his word as from God. It may have been
that in that first act of fetching the water—that more
than hospitality to a stranger—she received not only,
as the Apostle says, an Angel unawares, but more,
Christ, the promised Messiah of Israel, in His own
Prophet; and that she will be found at last as one of
those to whom He will say, “Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto the least of these My brethren, ye have
done it unto Me.” Por in showing mercy they draw
unspeakably near to the Merciful One, though they
know it not at the time. He was rewarding the cup
of cold water even now in secret, by giving yet holier
thought, and greater faith.

But in order to read this history in the light of
Christ’s own Presence in the Gospels, to what shall
we liken it ? To what act of faith that was marked
with His acceptance or approval ? It may remind us
of those holy women of Galilee who ministered unto
Him of their substance, when the Son of Man had not
where to lay His head. And blessed indeed were they170

THE WIDOW OE ZAREPHATH.

in so doing; but this good deed of the widow of
Zarephath seems in some respects even to surpass
theirs, though it be but as the light shining in a dark
place before the day-star arose; while theirs is as the
glowing dawn around the sun of righteousness. Or
shall we compare it to the self-renunciation of
Apostles, when they gave up all their means of liveli-
hood at Christ’s word to follow Him, in faith that He
would sustain them ; knowing “ that man doth not
live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of the Lord?” But in difficulty and
in self-sacrifice this woman of Zidon seems to surpass
even that faith of the disciples. Perhaps we may find
an instance with which we may more suitably balance
and compare it in the good deed of that poor widow in
the Gospels, who cast her two mites into the treasury
of God, whom our Lord has left for a memorial with
His especial approval; for “she of her penury,” He
said, had “ cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
The two deeds are indeed in spirit and faith so much
alike, that we might consider it almost like an instance
of the same self-sacrifice, after a long time, coming up
again; and thus marked by our Lord Himself under
different circumstances, which render it so very ap-
plicable as an example to Christians of all times. Por
we have not all the pressure of extreme famine, like
the widow of Sarepta; we have not all a prophet of
God coming to us and asking support, as she had; we
are not called upon to one heroic martyr-like act of
self-denying sacrifice, as she was; but we all of us
have a treasury of God in His Church, into which we
are called to cast something from our poverty, and
from our abundance; and the poor may be tempted to
think as that poor widow might have done, that theFAITH Itf HIYIHa.

171

little which they can do can make no difference among
the costlier offerings of richer neighbours; but all alike
may consider that although no one around them can
tell what they do, yet that the Eye of the Judge is
watching them, as it did that poor widow, and that in
His balance—the scales of eternity—the two mites of
her poverty are most prized.

The poor famished widow, indeed, of Zarephath was
fulfilling, while she knew it not, our Lord’s highest
precept, and the crown of Christian grace. “ Sell that
ye have . . . and give alms”—“behold the fowls of
the air”—“consider the ravens, they have neither
storehouse nor barn ”—“ seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all other things shall
be added unto you.” She fulfilled the command, and,
in so doing, received the promise. When all around
were perishing of famine, she was abundantly sustained
wfith the bread that strengthens man’s heart, and with
the oil that gives the cheerful countenance; her me-
morial may well be treasured in the Christian Church
as an emblem of those who in faith give unto God,
and are sustained in an evil world by that true Bread
of which he that eateth shall never die ; and in glad-
ness of heart partake of the anointing of the Great
Comforter.

But a higher lesson and heavier trial awaits her.
“ My son, if thou come to serve the Lord,” says the
Wise man, “prepare thy soul for temptation3.” Those
that are found faithful are led on from one trial to
another, as was Abraham of old; in order that they
may receive that better “ crown which the Lord hath
promised to them that love Him V’ Thus when it is

3 Ecclus. ii. 1.

4 St. James i. 12.172

THE WIDOW OE ZA.HEPHA.TTT.

said that “ the Lord loved Martha and her sister and
Lazarus,” it is to mention this proof of His love, that
Lazarus was sick, and his sisters in distress; nay, that
because He loved them his sickness was unto death,
and they without hope. And why should we add that
even she who was nearest and dearest of all, the
Elessed Yirgin herself, had to mourn over her Son in
the bitterness of death ?

The son of the widow had been preserved from
death by famine—but what is it to him or to any of
us to be rescued for a time from death—if it is only
afterwards to die at last ? She has therefore, like the
faithful Abraham, to learn as it were in a figure the
mystery of the resurrection, otherwise life were no life,
unless it be that life which is the especial gift of God,
the life which is in His Son.

“After these things,” it is said, “the son of the
woman fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that
there was no breath left in him.” The prophet Elijah
had been now sojourning with her, and no doubt in
the holiness of that man of God she had learned a
deeper sense of sin; her sins old and new had come
forth to her remembrance ; and she judged aright that
sorrow and death are the wages of sin. “ And she
said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou
man of God P art thou come to call my sin to remem-
brance, and to slay my son?” It was the natural
expression of her grief and her humility, like that of
St. Peter when, made sensible of the Presence of God
in Christ by a miracle, he fell at His knees saying,
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord.”
And what if it be so, if chastening is the sign of God’s
love, and if He scourgeth those whom He receives,
even the coming of a man of God may bring sorrow.FAITH m GIVING.

173

When God drew near to David in His prophet Hathan,
with forgiveness and acceptance, did He not bring his
sin to remembrance by saying that his child should
die ? and was not the very pledge of his pardon mixed
up with those his after sorrows—when calling his sin
to remembrance he repeated that memorable bitter
cry, “ My Son, My Son 1 ” And much had she still
need of trial; even the disciples long after they had
given up all for Christ’s sake, after they had confessed
their full belief in His Godhead, and after He had
been so long time with them, yet even at the last they
were still as if they had all to learn. aDo ye now
believe ? ” said our Lord to them at the Last Supper, as
if they were only then beginning to believe ; and to St.
Peter at the same time, as if all were yet wanting,—
“ When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
Ho wonder therefore if this Zidonian widow needed
yet greater trials and greater faith and a yet greater
miracle—and that she should then say to Elijah at
last, as if not convinced till then, “ How by this I know
that thou art a man of God.”

Like the piece of wool filled with moisture, she had
a sign in the dews of God’s blessing; she needed yet
another sign when the wool should be wrung dry by
exceeding sorrow and burned up by the sun of affliction.
And is not this the case with the best among Chris-
tians ? So infinitely great is the knowledge of God,
that His Divine light but opens the soul more and
more to acknowledge and bewail its ignorances of
Him—all that is past seems as nothing, as the soul
opens to know God; and the state of the most saintly
heart is as if it had not already attained or were already
perfect, but forgetting those things that are behind,
and reaching forth unto the things that are before, if174

THE WIDOW OR ZAEEPHATH.

by any means it may attain unto—tbe Eesurrection
from tbe dead.

And Elijah “ said unto her, Give me thy son. And
he took him out of her bosom, and laid him upon his
own bed, and stretched himself upon the child three
times. And the soul of the child came into him
again.” “ And Elijah delivered him unto his mother,
and said, See, thy son liveth.”

What a very lively and interesting figure is this of
Christian Baptism, when the child is taken from its
mother’s bosom as one dead in sin, into Christ’s arms
by His minister, and restored unto her again with
these expressive words, “ See, thy son liveth.” Eor
thus mast it be with every one who is born of God,
after the likeness of Christ Himself; “ this is he that
was dead, and is alive again, and behold he liveth for
evermore.” “Bor in that he died he died unto sin
once; but in that he liveth he liveth unto God5.”
“ See, thy son liveth,” emblem of the regenerate soul
that liveth in true life as one born of God. Bor better
were it not to be born at all, unless born again; better
not to live, unless it be to live that new life which is
of God. Bor as the body without the soul is dead, so
is the soul itself dead without God.

But the life which is begun by faith, by faith also
must be sustained; it is Christ that says, “ Give me
thy son;” and the Church as a widowed mother by
faith commits her son into His arms, and has the same
committed unto her again, that by the same faith by
which it is born again, it may live in her keeping.

To be bom in sin, a child of wrath, under the curse
of God, this indeed is a miserable inheritance; and a

5 Rev. i. 18. Rom. vi. 10.FAITH IN GIVING.

175

parent might well weep over such a gift, as the Heathen
did of old, to have given birth to an heir of eternal
sorrow. But how different is the case since Christ
took the little children up in His arms and blessed
them and said, “ Suffer the little children to come unto
Me 55 . . . “of such is the Kingdom of Heaven ”...
“ their Angels do always behold the face of My Bather.”
How great is the change when a mother receives back
her child from Him in Baptism! she remembereth no
more the sorrow for joy that a child is born unto God.
She cannot but rejoice, yet surely she must rejoice
with trembling, even as we must do over our own new
birthright in Christ. Bor is it not still true, even of
those that have been regenerate, that few find the gate
of life ? And therefore equal to the joy and hope must
be the fear for every Christian child; precious un-
speakably is the gift, but as perishable as it is precious,
while in this dangerous world. Bor the pearl of great
price is not yet landed on the shore.

And what is to watch over a child in this uncertain
condition ? what but a mother’s prayers, or the Church’s
prayers through his sponsors and others ? what is to
sustain him in this frail and feeble, but infinitely
precious life ? what but faith, the faith of those to
whom he is given in charge ? And surely if bound to
sustain the life of the body lest it die, no less that of
the soul lest it die eternally. “ Art thou come hither
to slay my son?” said the anxious mother to the
Prophet; and so likewise may the trembling parent
say unto Christ, Art Thou come to declare unto us
the death eternal of the soul that sinneth, and is bom
in sin P And the answer which He made at Baptism
He continues to repeat, Give Me thy son, that it may
escape that second death; by thy prayers, by thy176

THE WIDOW OE ZAEEPHATH.

watching, by thine example, by thy teaching bring it
nnto Me. Nature itself teaches thee to feed and
clothe the helpless infant, or the body must perish, and
no less needful are these, the very food and clothing of
the soul, without which it dies.

And now I would say something on this occasion6
on the subject of Christian schools. Of course the
most important thing in training a child must be the
prayers and example of parents at home ; but the next
to this is education at school; and for this reason, not
only that it gives him the power of reading God’s
Word, but especially that it brings him into contact
with, to the more intimate knowledge and care of, his
appointed Pastor, -who has to watch for his soul; of
whom it is said, after the example of the Chief
Shepherd, not only that he knoweth his sheep, but
also that he carrieth the lambs in his bosom. But the
great drawback to schools for the poor is, that as
soon as a child can earn a little, his parents are tempted
to keep him away from school:—on this subject one
cannot say much, but if the spiritual good of the child
is concerned, faith, like that of the poor widow’s
spoken of, would often incline the heart to think less
of present advantage, even to endure present hard-
ship, if they might give in faith to God, although
it might be like casting their bread upon the waters,
being assured that they should find it after many
days.

And with regard to those whose assistance is needed
to support such schools for the benefit of others ; it is
a great evil to yourselves to think that your richer
neighbours are able to support them without your aid;

6 A Collection made for a Parochial School.faith m giving.

177

such was not tlie mind of that poor widow in the
Gospel, when she obtained the praise of the Great
Judge: for it is for your own sakes that your offerings
and aid are needed. Christian giving is not only a
duty, but also a privilege and a blessing. And that one
saying of the Lord Jesus, not written in the Gospel,
but embalmed by the Holy Ghost in the memory of
all the Churches, was this, “ It is more blessed to give
than to receive

7 Acts xx. 35.

SERMON XVI.

JEZEBEL.

WICKEDNESS IN POWER.

1 Kings xxi. 25.

“ But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to
work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife
stirred up.”

Thus was Ahab pre-eminent in wickedness beyond
the wicked kings of Israel, and the reason was because
he was stirred up to crime by one even worse than
himself, and that was Jezebel. If Ahab, then, was
such, what must Jezebel have been P And it is re-
markable that in the case of Ahab there are stirrings
of conscience, warnings from God, and continual
appeals from His prophets throughout; merciful deal-
ings with him, and on his part misgivings and re-
lentings; and so it is with almost every other case in
Scripture, with Pharaoh, with Saul, with Solomon,
with Herod, with Judas; but none such interferences
of God with Jezebel in her course of crime;—not that
there had not been such, but that none such are
mentioned.

She appears like the type or example in Holy Scrip-
ture of what has sometimes appeared in the history ofWICKEDNESS IN POWEE.

179

the world,—women in high place of surpassing wicked-
ness, committing themselves, and instigating men to
commit, great crimes; cases that appear like awful
repetitions of what first occurred in Paradise, where
Satan tempts the woman, and having gained her has,
through her, power over the man;—women who have
seemed as if they themselves were more fully and
directly under the influence of evil spirits, and were
used by them as instruments to seduce and confirm in
guilt more hesitating minds. That Jezebel herself was
peculiarly connected with evil spirits is stamped on
the history itself; and her influence on Ahab was
almost like the embodying of a wicked familiar at his
side, and in his bosom; a tempter, a seducer, one that
mocked at his conscientious scruples, and entangled
and bound him in all wickedness as with strong chains.

The weaker vessel carried onward by the stream of
evil passion, bears with it in its current the more
sluggish nature. Moved by no relentings or visitings
of Grod, with her own strong will and determination
of character, she impels those around her in her own
course.

We must observe that Jezebel is no ordinary per-
son ; she is not merely an upholder of false gods, great
in worldly influence and crime; but like the Anti-
christ of the last ages, she is herself filled with
wonderful powers of spiritual wickedness. Or rather,
she is like that scarlet-robed harlot spoken of in the
Eevelation, sitting on a beast of vast strength, and
having in her hand a golden cup, full of abominations
and seduction, with which she makes drunk the in-
habitants of the earth b Por this Jezebel changes the

1 Rev. xvii. 2. 4.
N 2180

JEZEBEL.

religion of a whole nation. And this her character
was so strongly marked, that when Jehu was sent of
God to execute His judgments on the house of Ahab,
he thus speaks of her,—“ What peace,” he answered
to Joram, “ so long as the whoredoms of thy mother
Jezebel, and her witchcrafts are so many2 ?” In like
manner is she described in the Eevelation;—to the
Church of Thyatira our Lord says, “ Thou sufferedst
that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess,
to teach and to seduce My servants to commit forni-
cation, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols3.” Here
she is spoken of as one that herself pretended to in-
spiration, as a prophetess, an adulteress, and seducer,
leading men to partake of the table of devils. Her
adulteries spoken of in the same passage seem to
imply, as so often in Scripture, the worship of false
gods, together with all those impurities with which it
was connected, and its power of drawing away the
heart from God. Our Lord in saying that He will
“cast into great tribulation them that commit adul-
tery with her, except they repent,” speaks of others
who have not this doctrine, nor known “ the depths of
Satan.”

Such, then, is the character of Jezebel, a name
which has become to all ages a very proverb for
seductive power and wickedness. Tyre and Sidon,
from whence she came, were famed for wisdom4, and
she stands forth as representing this their worldly
subtilty, and not only as full of their idolatry; but it
may be observed that when even heathenism itself
comes into nearer contact with the worship of the
true God, its wickedness becomes more intense; as

2	Kings ix. 22.

3	Rev. ii. 20.

4	Zech. ix. 2.WICKEDNESS IN POWEK.

181

the evil spirits in the Gospels become more violent
and malignant at the presence of Christ. For the
histories of the Heathen world itself scarce show any
thing more wicked than Jezebel. Add to which, that
she herself must have been rendered worse by seeing
and knowing something of the true God, and rejecting
Him. For was not the good Obadiah of the royal
household P was not Elijah before her and all the pro-
phets of God ?

In the next place, with regard to her history, or
rather the successive indications of it in Scripture.
For it may be observed that she only comes before
us as it were incidentally, not as if it was the purpose
of Scripture to mention God’s dealings with her, but
only her history as it becomes mixed up with that of
God’s people. The first mention of her, and introduc-
tion into Israel is spoken of as the proof of Ahab’s
great falling away from God, and deliberate choice of
evil; “ As if it had been a light thing for him to walk
in the sins of Jeroboam, he took to wife Jezebel, the
daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians5.” And,
oh! a wife of evil is a thing so fearful, that God would
not permit it, we may be sure, but as a heavy judg-
ment on great impiety. The next allusion to her is in
speaking of the faithful Obadiah, that “when Jezebel
cut off the prophets of the Lord, he took an hundred
prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave6.” She had
therefore, it appears from this, taken upon herself to
root out and utterly destroy all the worship of God
from Israel, and'that by slaying His prophets. Jero-
boam had done much to corrupt the true religion, and
prepare the way; and Israel had provoked God to give

5 .1 Kings xvi. 31.

6 1 Kings xviii. 4.182

JEZEBEL.

them up to seducing spirits, and a worse fall; but this
idolatrous and murderous woman would have put out
the Name of God altogether, and substituted the
worship of evil spirits under the name of Baal; whose
very ministers “cut themselves after their manner
with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out
upon them,” in order to propitiate those evil beings
whom they served. Thus were they mutually instigat-
ing and instigated, as at this day among Heathen
nations, diviners or false prophets, working on the
minds of their chiefs all cruelty and lust; and these
false prophets very many, like the devils themselves
•whose name was legion, “ of Baal, four hundred and
fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred,
which eat at Jezebel’s table.”

But yet further, when the miraculous interference
of Elijah had brought the abundance of rain, and
opened the Heavens, so as to have won over the voice
of the people, and even of the wicked Ahab, yet his
wife is still unrelenting. * And like those Pharisees of
whom we read in the Gospels, that they were ex-
asperated even unto blood by the very mercies and
miracles of Christ; and that when they had heard
that He had raised Lazarus from the dead, imme-
diately took counsel to put Him to death; so the
manifestation of God in Elijah only hardens against
him the heart of the impenitent Queen. Eor the next
thing we read of her is that, when “ Ahab told Jezebel
all that Elijah had done,” she sent a messenger unto
him, swearing by her gods that before another day
had passed, she would take away his life.

But thus far she appears only as a violent upholder
of the false gods of her country,—what was her cha-
racter with regard to moral good and evil, when theseWICKEDNESS IN POWEK.

183

were not concerned ? for truth and honesty P Here
we must observe that although many things may be
done ignorantly in unbelief, with regard to matters of
fact, yet deliberate rejection of the worship of God is
always accompanied with depravity of heart; and this
appears in the next and crowning act of Jezebel’s
wickedness. When Ahab, sullen and displeased, is
coveting what he dares not take, she comes to him,
scorning his scruples, and says, “ Arise, and eat bread,
and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the
vineyard of Haboth the Jezreelite7.” The people of
her country were perfidious to a proverb, but with
more than Tyrian perfidy, full of all malice, and the
child of evil, she seems to rejoice in her power of
iniquity, and the very intensity of her crimes. Tor
she has a fast proclaimed as if JSTaboth had been guilty
of some great impiety, and then under the very name
and sanction of religion she has him stoned to death
through false witnesses; like Caiaphas rending his
clothes amidst that wicked council of the Jews, when
they suborned false witnesses, and condemned of blas-
phemy the Holy One of God, when they “ cast Him
out of the vineyard and slew Him,” that they might
“ seize on His inheritance.”

Once more in the history of Israel does the mention
of Jezebel occur, and that is long after the death of
Ahab. “ And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jeze-
bel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired
her head, and looked out at a window. And as Jehu
entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who
slew his master8?” Here we have the same adul-
terous woman to the last, “ she painted her face and

1 I Kings xxi. 7.

8 2 Kings ix. 30, 31.184

JEZEBEL.

tired her head;” and the same wily tongue of the
Zidonian Queen, full of the wisdom of the serpent,
suggesting peace; the whoredom and the witchcraft
of one who herself had little to do with peace. As
the evil spirits confessed Christ, so her last words
speak of peace, “Had Zimri peace, who slew his
master ?” as if she had said, “There is no peace,
saith my God, to the wicked9!”

And what was her end P “ Go, see now this cursed
woman,” said Jehu, “and bury her; for she is a king’s
daughter:” but the Word of God was more powerful
than the purpose of man,—she had been trodden under
foot of horses in death, and now her remains had been
devoured of dogs, “ so that they shall not say, This is
Jezebel.”

Tet after all it might be thought, this was an end
that might have happened to the good and innocent,
for as Solomon says, “ there is one event to the righte-
ous and to the wicked1.” Notwithstanding, she had
upon the whole a long and prosperous course in
wickedness; and it may be said that even the evil
that overtook her was rather after than before death;
and what does it signify what becomes of the lifeless
remains, when I am no more ? Yet this was the
chief, if not the only, judgment pronounced on Jeze-
bel, that there should be “ none to bury her.” And
what does this imply, but that there is no full requital
or judgment of God in this world, and that the worst
vengeance of God is to be found in this, the being cut
off from the hope of resurrection which the peaceful
sepulchre implied F so that the heaviest of all things
which God threatened on evil kings was that they

9 Isa. lvii. 21.

1 Eccles. ix. 2.WICKEDNESS IN POWER.

185

should not be gathered unto the sepulchre of their
fathers. The one mark of this world’s good on the
Man of Sorrows was that His burial should be with
honour.

What, therefore, is the lesson we are to learn from
this very awful and impressive history ? It teaches
us, I think, of the very wonderful forbearance of God,
and that when evil reigns, and we can do nothing, wo
are to learn with Him to bear and forbear. It speaks
of God bearing long and long, and putting off even
to posterity His judgments; and in the case of Ahab
and Jezebel herself, merely marking the place of their
crime as remembered by Him, for the sake of the
innocent man whom they had murdered. “In the
portion of Haboth the Jezreelite”—“as the dogs
licked the blood of ISTaboth, shall dogs lick thy blood.”
And the heavier burden of judgments even taken off
at last from Ahab, and put upon his children, on
account of his weak show of repentance.

Yet consider how sore a trial it must have been to
those who were good and faithful, while all this wicked-
ness wras going on, and apparently triumphing, and
bearing down all before it for many years. Tor it
appeared to be a case in which nothing could be done
but to suffer—humanly speaking, there was no con-
tending against it. Elijah indeed struggled with Ahab
for his good and for his repentance, but not with Jeze-
bel; as in the counterpart of this, afterwards, John
the Baptist long laboured for his good with Herod,
but not with the mother of Herodias. Yet no doubt
God had His own secret dealings of mercy with
Jezebel, and it is said even of her in the Bevelation,
“ I gave her time to repent, but she repented not.”
But in the eyes of man she was beyond all power of186

JEZEBEL.

reclaiming; and like all existence of evil it must have
been at the time a great mystery and a sore trial.
For it might have been said, Is it not God Himself
that gives her station, and power, and great abilities,
with which she works so great evil and suffering; and
is it not God Himself Who allows her to continue in
this course P All this severe trial to the true Israelites
at the time comes as it were to a head, and finds ex-
pression in the person of the Prophet Elijah, for even
he despaired unto death, asking God that he might
die, and thought in his despondency that no one else
but himself remained; yet all this mysterious evil was
working for good to himself, and with him for many
others. For yet were there seven thousand in Israel
whose names were written in the Book of God,—
written in characters which, though unseen of men,
yet with God and His Angels came out the more
distinct and full of light on account of the darkness
of these trials below, in which they were involved.
And in that dark hour in the cave of Horeb, Elijah
was himself taught, that not in the whirlwind, or the
earthquake, or the fire, was God to be found; not in
the tempestuous powers of human passions which
shake the earth, but in the still small voice that
afterwards remained. And what was he to learn
from that voice ? Hot that speedy vengeance and
judgment which man would seek, but a still further
lesson of the unspeakable forbearance of God. He
was sent to anoint a future king of Israel, and a
future prophet, that they might execute God’s judg-
ments, which he was not himself permitted to behold2.
He was thus in merciful condescension allowed to see

2 1 Kings xix. ] 6.WICKEDNESS IK POWEE.

187

that God, though forbearing long, had not forgotten,
and this is all that was allowed him.

Eut the one point to which I would wrish to call
attention throughout is this,—that in such cases it is
not good men only that suffer, but Christ Himself;
it is this His forbearance as suffering Himself and
in His members that marks the history. It is not
merely as He suffers with us in all our sufferings,
as we are told, and that as in all our afflictions He
is afflicted, but that these persecutions caused by
Jezebel were peculiarly against Him, the Lord God
of Israel. It was not against the prophets and
faithful Israelites that her hate and vengeance was
turned for any thing in themselves, but because they
belonged to Him; if they would have given Him up,
they would have been unmolested by her; it was
against Him, and Him only, that her wrath was,—
against His honour, His worship, His people as such;
and this He expressed in His judgments, they were
“ to avenge the blood of My servants the prophets,
and the blood of all My servants at the hand of
Jezebel3.” It was then His patience, His forbearance,
that was tried.

It wras the very same thing which is shown to us
more fully, and as it were sensibly before our bodily
eyes, when Christ Himself went about upon earth;
when His forerunner the Baptist was slain; when
He fled about for His life from place to place; when
St. Peter would have drawn his sword to avenge His
cause; but He still was forbearing and long-suffering,
and threatened not. So that it wTas to this His ex-
ample the Apostle to the Hebrews points the eyes of

3 2 Kings ix. 7*188

JEZEBEL.

all men. “ Eor consider Him that endured such con-
tradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be
■wearied and faint in your minds4.”

I will add but one word more, as a reason for our
patience, let us remember that it is not with Jezebel
only that God is thus forbearing and long-suffering,
but with ourselves also.

4 Heb. xii. 3.SERMON XVII.

THE SHUNAMMITE.

PASTORAL GUIDANCE.

2 Kings iv. 8.

(( And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a
great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it
was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat
bread.”

There are many accounts in Scripture of women
brought into connexion with men of God, Prophets,
and Apostles, and with our Blessed Saviour Himself,
on the occasion of some distress or want, or it may be
in the incidental intercourses of life. Such are many
spoken of in the Gospels; such was the widow of
Zarephath, relieved by Elijah; and that other poor
widow with her pot of oil, rescued by Elisha. Again;
there are throughout the Scriptures women in all
the circumstances of domestic or public life;—wives,
mothers, queens, prophetesses. But the account of
the woman of Shunem differs from all of these; it is
the description of a great and good woman, in her
general behaviour and deportment towards a holy
man of God; and of his conduct towards her, his
bearing towards her, and mode of treating her. The190

THE SHTOAMMITE.

detailed account is of much value; and it is a subject
of great interest. For cases of the kind have been of
frequent occurrence in the Church; from the reception
of St. Paul in the house of Lydia of Tbyatira, and the
short and beautiful'Epistle of St. John to the Elect
Lady, there have been continual accounts in the
Church of the dealings of holy servants of God with
distinguished women; women remarkable for their
piety, and many of them also at the same time for
their intellectual ability, or rank and worldly station.
Nor is it confined to the early Church, but the same
has continued in all ages and countries in the Church
of God; and even, too, in our own Church has there
been something of the same kind; not only before
the [Reformation, but even since, more especially in
troublous and evil times, such as came on the Church
by the Great [Rebellion, when there were saintly
bishops tried by adversity, and women eminent for
their goodness and afflictions, in constant communica-
tion with them.

As the Holy Spirit is ever One and the Same, so,
I think, we shall find in all these, under all dis-
tinctions of time and circumstance, one pervading
character, one foundation of conduct and deportment
never departed from; unless it be under such aberra-
tions as quite remove them from the class here de-
scribed, viz., that of holy men and women in the
keeping of the Church of God. Of this we have
proofs, from letters now existing, which passed be-
tween them; or treatises of advice; or books of devo-
tion written for their use, or by them, in consequence
of such intercourse; or sermons, giving an account of
such saintly women after their deaths. In all these
there is one and the same Spirit directing the conductPASTOEAL GUIDANCE.

191

of holy men of G-od in such intercourse, under all
variety of circumstances, and in different ages ; and
this it is which we shall find so distinctly narrated in
this Scriptural history.

Other cases in Scripture do not furnish a like oc-
casion for such an account of general and lengthened
intercourse; as when our Lord puts forth His hand
and lifts up an afflicted woman; or St. Peter raises
Tabitha from the dead; or St. Paul mentions the
names of saintly women in his Epistles; but here the
description is given at length.

Let us then inquire, is there any thing in this
history that particularly strikes us, and arrests our
attention? It is, I think, the remarkable deference
with which this woman of Shunem .treats the man of
God; and the no less remarkable deference with which
the Prophet throughout deals with her. Although
she is a great and good woman, yet he never forgets
that he is, not a mere friend and adviser, but an
ambassador from God; and she again on her part
seems to set aside all worldly considerations in her
respect for one who is sent to her from God, and
humbles herself before him as his disciple. And here
it may be observed that the test of the rich and great
is submission to the Church of God; the trial of that
poverty of spirit which is the entrance to the king-
dom.

In the first instance she makes preparations to re-
ceive him, not as a guest at her table, not as one who
needed superfluities, or prized an honourable worldly
reception, but as a man of meditation and prayer,
whose fellowship was with Angels, and whose com-
munion was with God. “And she said unto her
husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy192

THE SHTTKAMMITE.

man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us
make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and
let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool,
and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to
us, that he shall turn in thither.” Thus she honoured
him greatly, by showing that she knew he was one
that sought not honour.

But a messenger of God comes with a hand open
and full of gifts, as representing Him ’Whom he
serves, Who is the Giver of all good things in Provi-
dence and in Grace; Who is the Great Comforter,
our Advocate with the Bather; as setting forth Him
Who says, “ Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it
Who only waits for us to ask, in order that He may
give; that in His gifts we may know Him; and in
their perishable nature may know again how much
more there is in the Giver than in the gift, that in
Him are better gifts that perish not. “Length of
days,” says Scripture of Wisdom, “is in her right
hand; and in her left hand riches and honour h”

But mark his manner of dealing with her, as a
servant of the Most High;—no human friendship
expressed, no social familiarity, no worldly courtesy;
so much so that he speaks not to her but through his
servant, while, through his offers of what she needed
not, he leads her on to her heart’s desire, or rather to
what was beyond her desires.

“And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this
Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood
before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto
her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this
care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be

1 Prov. iii. 16.PASTORAL GUIDANCE.

193

spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host ?
And she answered, I dwell among mine own people
as one in station and importance among her depend-
ants, and needing no favour of court or camp. In
these offers of serving her by Elisha, there seems
something prophetic; for she afterwards has need
to cry to the king for both house and land, and
by the interference of the prophet’s servant, and the
mention of what Elisha had done, she recovers them,
as it were from the king, through the Prophet’s hand2.
“ And he said, What then is to be done for her ? And
Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her
husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when
he had called her, she stood in the door.” So full is
all the account of this deference, surely mentioned to
us for our instruction.

It is this gift to which the Prophet was leading, the
sign of the mystery of the Incarnation, the pledge of
that cherished treasure, the promise laid up in Israel.
Eor the great gift of the Old Testament may be said
to be the birth of a son, granted to faith beyond
nature, as indicative of hope in the Christ yet to
come, as in the promise made to Abraham; whereas
the great gift of the New may be said to be in some
sense the opposite to this, as of death, not of life;
the gift of martyrdom, as indicative of faith in Christ
Who is gone. As the promise was to St. Peter, “ Thou
shalt stretch forth thy hands3 ” on the Cross ; and to
James and John, “ Ye shall indeed drink of My Cup
and to St. Paul, “ I will show him how great things he
must suffer for My Name’s sake and to the Virgin
Mother, “ A sword shall pierce through thy own soul

2 2 Kings viii. 5, 6.	3 St. John xxi. 18.

O194

THE SHUNAMMITE.

and to those most worthy, “ Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

But something of this latter also at times appears
in the Old Testament, as where the shadow of death
passes over Abraham’s child of promise; and so also
now with the Shunammite’s son, given her of God,
when he is sent home dying to his mother from the
harvest-field. And now she has in her heart what she
hides there, as a deep treasure she is afraid to disclose
to any one, the secret of faith. As a grain of mustard-
seed it is there, beginning to expand, and warm, and
enlarge her heart. She ventures not to express it to
her husband, the partner of her sorrow; nor after-
wards to Gehazi, the attendant of the Man of God,
when he is sent to meet her. It is this assurance,
that He "Who hath power of birth, hath also of resur-
rection ; He that killeth can also make alive. “ She
went up and laid” the dead child “on the bed of the
man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went
out. And she called unto her husband, and said,
Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one
of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and
come again. And he said, "Wherefore wilt thou go to
him to-day ? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath.”
Prom this observation of her husband’s it appears
that this holy woman was in the habit of attending
on the man of God at the appointed Jewish festivals
and seasons of devotion. This of itself is a circum-
stance of no little interest in this history.

Observe again the account of their meeting; it is
throughout characterized with the same mutual de-
ference which we noticed before, there is a strong love
and reverence on both sides, as in the fear of God,
but over it there is a marvellous becoming dignity, inPASTOKAL GUIDANCE.

195

him as of a servant of God, in her as of a woman, his
disciple. “ So she went and came unto the man of
God to Mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when
the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to
Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunam-
mite : Bun now, I pray thee, to meet her.” But she
mentions not to Gehazi her loss, nor her secret con-
fidence in God; but keeps them both for the ear only
of the man of God, and hastens on to him with all
earnestness. “ And when she came to the man of
God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but
Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man
of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed
within her.” In this as in many other parts of this
history we are forcibly reminded of our Lord with
Iiis disciples, when He pleaded writh them the cause
of some one in distress. But with her the same im-
portunity and resolute cleaving to the man of God
continues; while he sends forth his servant Gehazi to
lay his staff upon the face of the child. “ And the
mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as
thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose,
and followed her.” But still the same marked line
of conduct continues,—distant, as it were, yet com-
passionate ; full of condescension, yet full of dignity
on the part of the Prophet; when, on coming to the
house and finding the staff of Gehazi upon the child,
as it were under the keeping of the Cross, yet not yet
reviving, he sets the anxious mother still apart, while
he enters into the room, and closes himself in with
the child, until he has at length restored him to life.
Then it is said, “ He called Gehazi, and said, Call this
Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was
come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then
o 2196

THE SHTTHAMMITE.

she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to
the ground, and took up her son, and went out.”
And thus the account terminates.

How there are one or two little points that seem
more particularly to connect the transaction with our
Lord Himself and His Christian ministry. Thus the
words of Elisha to Gehazi, “ Go thy way; if thou
meet any man, salute him not,” seem alluded to in
our Lord’s commission,—“ Go your ways . . . salute
no man by the way.” And the holy woman’s usual
mode of receiving the Prophet with necessaries, but
no superfluity; and his mode of accepting the same as
his due and nothing more, seems likewise set forth in
those our Lord’s injunctions, “Into whatsoever city
ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are
set before you.” “ Go not from house to house.”
“ Inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye
go thence4.”

Our Lord’s injunctions imply the same kind of
holding aloof from mere social intercourse, from the
interchange of personal favours, and the like mere
worldly courtesies and compliances, or any kind of
self-seeking, and its subtle influences. They come as
having the bestowal of their Lord’s gift of Divine
peace, which is to descend on the head of those who
are worthy to receive it, and on none else5. Thus
were they to be holding aloof from the world, while
entering into it, yet full of the gifts of God; as of
those who shall be in the world, but not of the world.
But in the account before us there is more than this
general principle of conduct; the mutual deportment
towards each other in a continued course of life, be-

4 St. Matt. x. 11. St. Luke x.

5 St. Luke x. 5, 6.PASTORAL GUIDANCE.

197

tween a distinguished and faithful woman and the
guide of souls. It is the same principle illustrated by
a striking example throughout, though not precisely
in circumstances of the same kind.

It could not have been otherwise in this case,—it
could not have been Elisha the man of God whom we
revere, and the Shunammite hostess of so much sacred
interest, were it not thus. For how would it have
been P One shrinks even from imagining such a case.
If forgetting himself as an ambassador of the Most
High he had given way to human feelings, whether
from admiration of her piety or other goodly endow-
ments, or from his own imagination that supplied
them, she might have gained a sympathizing friend,
such as the world would furnish, but she would have
lost a Prophet of God; she would have derived some-
thing of lively human interest, but would not at the
same time have had the gifts of God, the single eye,
the Divine Guide. She would have had engaging
sympathy in her troubles, in her difficulties, in her
faults, nay, even in her sins,—but the fine gold of the
sanctuary would have become dim; the jewels might
sparkle on the breast, but they would no longer con-
tain the XJrim and Thummim, the voice and oracle of
God.

Hothing can compensate for the greatness of such
a loss; for consider the immense value of this treasure,
committed to earthen vessels; with us it is to be the
stewards of God’s mysteries; and what does a steward
mean ? one that has entrusted to him, and has the
disposal and dispension of gifts; what delicate and
sacred care is needed that the excellency and power
may be of God, and not soiled or impaired by the
infirmities of man 1 It is not that man is to lay aside198

THE SHUNAMMITE.

humanity; or that God is straitened in His gifts.
Dor He puts us afar from Him, that He may draw us
more near; that we may learn His faith and fear,
without which we cannot approach Him. The monitor
of souls, and bearer of the keys of God must be beyond
all, like his Divine Master, touched with the feeling
of human infirmities; but on that very account is it
the more needful that he should be strengthened
within, and shielded without, by the sense of his
mission from God. He should be—I do not mean
literally or externally, but in soul and spirit—clothed
with the sacerdotal garment; “ Holiness unto the
Lord” upon his head, in knowledge; and the breast-
plate of Israel upon his breast, by intercession; and
the holy oil preserved from all unsanctified uses, the
fragrant breath of the Divine sanctuary on all that he
touches. As the servant especially of Him Who is
God as well as man, that sacramental office which he
bears must not be lowered by mere natural sympathies
and affections.

This is more essential and needful in a state of
society in which the separation is less marked between
the Church and the world, between the priesthood
and the laity; not by raising of the latter, but by
lowering of the former; and when in such a state of
things an effort is made to strengthen the ministry of
God in the fulfilment of their proper office, yet from
the long habitual blending of a common society, there
will creep into the highest intercourse too much of
human sentiment and passion, from which some degree
of confusion and subtle evil will arise. We have re-
course to God to heal what is diseased within us, to
straighten what is crooked, to enlighten what is dark;
so must it be in some degree in having recourse toPASTORAL GUIDANCE.

199

His servant or minister; not as the depository of
domestic grievances, of personal prejudices, of weak
animosities, of troubles, rather than of sins ; not to be
seeking human sympathies under the semblance of
Divine consolation ; nor to be setting aside for self-
chosen ministrations the sterner appointments of
God’s providence in parental and pastoral super-
intendence. The loss in such a case would be very
great; for what may be gained in what is human is
lost in what is Divine. What is humiliating, sancti-
fying, purifying, is impaired; partiality, respect of
persons, and blindness of human affection, takes away
from the excellency of those gifts which are of God.
Yet there can be no substitute for so great a treasure
as is laid up in the ministry of God. It were like the
ignorant woman of Samaria, to seek the waters of
Jacob’s well from Him Who hath the fountain of life.
But with the private Counsellor it is much as with
the public Preacher, human respects and worldly sym-
pathies will come in to the abuse of a Divine appoint-
ment, especially with apt and impressible natures, and
the softer understanding.

So manifold are the deceits of the human heart.
Hor is this all, for on the other hand respect of per-
sons may proceed to idolatry, and the disciple become
a teacher, and from a teacher, a prophetess. More-
over, even with those that are strong in themselves,
consideration is due to weaker brethren, that no ca-
lumnious report or suspicion should become an offence,
for charity will “provide things honest in the sight
of all men.”

After all there must be numberless cases in which
God alone can be the Guide and Comforter, the Con-
fessor and Absolver, by the conscience within; under200

THE SHUHAMMITE.

very many circumstances it must be so ; and to a great
degree in all. He has not only laid up such great
gifts in the ministry of His Church, but He has like-
wise made us all priests unto His Father; He has
poured upon all the spirit of grace and supplication;
He has fulfilled the desire of Moses, and made all His
people prophets 6; He has set within the heart His
own witness; He has placed His own Judge on His
throne within, that must second every sentence, and
sanction every appeal. For who can be to any one a
guide altogether like his own soul; or a substitute for
it ? Who after all can tell him what is right and wrong
so correctly as that Divine Monitor within, if his
voice be attended to in the fear of God ? Who can
know all his own inmost workings, his obliquities, and
fostered temptations and the like, to the same degree
as the spirit within him r Who can be to a man as
his own self? To seek a spiritual guide is sometimes,
alas for our frail nature! must it be said ? is some-
times to seek a tempter, one that will palliate and
excuse, not willingly, but from partiality and want of
sufficient knowledge, that on which the mind secretly
misgives; and will sanction and embolden a wish that
had better have been suppressed.

Great are the assistances in the way of holiness
which God has provided for us in His Church;—yet
after all, as the Apostle says, “ Let every man prove
his own work ... for every man shall bear his own
burden7.”	“ So then every one of us shall give

account of himself to God8.55

There is sufficient in the world to disparage Sacra-
mental Ordinances, Confession, Absolution, and the

6 Num. xi. 29.	r Gal. vi. 4, 5.	8 Rom. xiv. 12.PASTOEAL GUIDANCE.

201

like, the best answer to which, for the humble Chris-
tian, will be found in the healthful and right use of
them,—not to supersede or weaken, but to guide and
raise the individual conscience, to deepen the sense of
sin, to increase humiliation; thus to strengthen the
feeble knees and the hands that hang down, and revive
in the heart the unspeakable peace. This has for itself
the answer in itself, and no other is needed.SERMON XVIII.

ESTHER

VENTURES OE EAITH.

Esther iv. 15, 16.

“ Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, Go, gather
together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and’fast ye
for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I
also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto
the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I
perish.”

At the end of the historical books of the Old Testa-
ment is the book of Esther, which gives an account of
the deliverance of the Jews that were left in the cap-
tivity from a plot that was laid against them. In
this book there is no mention of Grod, no miracle, no
prophecy, one might almost say, no example or pre-
cepts of holy living. Yet it is full of interest, and
that interest is centered on the person of Esther,
who was raised from being a captive, to be the Queen
of Ahasuerus, and thus brings about that wonderful
deliverance of her people, when they had been doomed
to destruction.

The account is not unlike some others which we
find in our Bibles; thus the Apocryphal Book of
Judith, which is read in our churches for so many
days at this season, contains the history of a likeTEXTURES OE EA.ETH.

203

deliverance by the hands of a woman, with circum-
stances which are not such as a Christian could
imitate; which, though it be not an Inspired Book,
yet it expresses the impression on people’s minds
through Revelation. Such in the Old Testament were
Deborah, Miriam, and others, not to mention Sarah
and Rebekah. And all these running up, as it were,
into a head or final close in the Apocalypse, which
combines throughout the teaching of the Old and
JSTew Testaments, where our salvation is set forth by
the woman contending with the Dragon. It wmuld
appear as if in all these things going before, God was
pleased to bring before people’s minds, and darkly to
foreshadow, that great and strange deliverance which.
He was about to effect by means of a woman, in a
manner beyond all that was looked for; and the salva-
tion which should be in His Church. The royal de-
cree of death, which cannot be annulled, hath gone
forth through all lands, on the sinful race of Adam;
but through the Christian Church, raised on high
among the Gentiles to rescue the people of God,
there hath gone forth another decree, to arm them
against this death and this destruction.

But the difference between the history of Esther
and others of like character, recorded in Scripture, is
that the deliverance is not wrought by miracle or any
sensible intervention of God, but brought about by a
peculiar and marked concurrence of circumstances.
The reason of this may be that the whole is in some
sense external to God’s Church; it is after Jerusalem,
the great depository of the faith, and seat of miracles,
has been restored, and it indicates the wratchful care
of God over those still left in the East. It is typical
of the Church, not of the early ages, but as now in20 I

ESTHER.

the world, finding a place among thrones, and bears
directly on ourselves, as calling on us for that prayer
and fasting, through which deliverance will be ob-
tained. “ The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord,
as the rivers of water; He turneth it whithersoever He
will1.” Nor is this all that is indicated, but a suc-
cession of incidents apparently fortuitous form the
wonderful chain of Providence, any one link of which
being wanting would have marred the whole; the
fall of Vashti, the rise of Esther, Mordecai at the
gate, the sleepless night of Ahasuerus, the reading to
him of the records on that night, the records being
concerning Mordecai. And such concurrence of events
in the secret disposings of Providence is more inte-
resting, one might almost say more wonderful, than
miracles themselves; and the contemplation of which,
both in the history of nations and also in that of our
own lives, is calculated to fill us with adoration and
delight; and to promote that full-grounded trust in
the ways of God which is like an anchor to the soul.

In all these cases mentioned in Scripture it is to be
observed that it is faith, faith in the power of God,
which is the one great lesson conveyed; all other
things are as it were set aside, or thrown into the
shade, in order more strongly to set forth faith as the
one living power by which all such marvellous de-
liverances are accomplished. It is this alone gives
life and power to all those characters and circum-
stances of which we have been speaking, because it
was to be through the faith of the Yirgin Mother that
Christ was to be born; and through faith His Church
is to overcome the world. And as faith unites to God,

1 Prov. xxi. 1.TEXTURES OE EA1TXI.

205

and is fruitful of all good, we shall find in Esther
something more worthy of praise than the beauty of
her countenance. She is “all glorious within,” from
the truth of her character; and her “ clothing of
wrought gold,” as coming well tried from the furnace
of affliction; and her “vesture wrought about with
divers colours,” from the graces that adorn her meek
spirit; and wearing the crown of faith, which is the
constellation of all virtues. Eor faith is like the light
within, that kindles all the jewels that adorn the City
of Glod, which hath no other light but that of the
Lamb to lighten it.

But this her faith must be estimated according to
her knowledge, and in comparison with the women of
her country at that day. In order, therefore, to under-
stand this, we must consider what are the accounts
given of them, and how are their characters described.
"We shall find distinct descriptions of them in the pro-
phets of those and earlier times; and the royal Esther
in the comparison will appear by faith as much ex-
alted above them, as the like faith now, with a better
knowledge, would render a woman pre-eminent above
the world.

In the third chapter of the Prophet Isaiah we have
allusions, in a long detail, of what Jewish women were
in their prosperity at Jerusalem ; where the lavish
adornings of their dress are particularly specified in
the judgments of Grod against them. “Moreover the
Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes ;”
—“ in that day the Lord will take away the bravery
of their tinkling ornaments.” And then are men-
tioned, among many other such particulars, “ their
round tires like the moon/’ their “chains and brace-206

ESTHEIt.

lets,” their “ rings, and jewels,” and “ changeable suits
of apparel,” their mantles, their glasses, and sweet
odours. The whole description sets before us in a
very strong manner women that were living without
any regard to the coming judgments of God, without
any heed to His warnings, sporting on the very brink
of their destruction,—they were without faith. Thus
living in the costly care of their persons they had
strangely forgotten that in a moment they shall have
to say, “ Corruption, thou art my father ; to the worm,
thou art my mother and my sister2.”	“ I spake unto

thee in thy prosperity,” says the Prophet Jeremiah
to them, “ but thou saidst, I will not hear3.”

And if the daughters of Israel were such when the
sun of this world for a while shone upon them, what
shall we find them afterwards, when in their captivity
like Esther ? They are changed by adversity, but for
the most part not amended; as we find them again
addressed by Ezekiel, the Prophet of the captivity,
with the same particular mention as Isaiah, before.
In times of great calamity such women can no longer
be seen in these outward vanities, which are then
quenched by the heavy hand of God ; but in spiritual
deceits, and the presumptuous beguiling of unstable
souls, with lying flatterings for the sake of gain.
“ Likewise, thou son of man,” we read in the thir-
teenth chapter of Ezekiel, “ set thy face against the
daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their
own heart; and prophesy thou against them, and say,
Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that
sew pillows to all armholes,” i. e., who make things
easy to those that love ease, “and make kerchiefs

2 Job xvii. 14.

3 Jer. xxii. 21.YENTTTEES OE EAITH.

207

upon the head of every stature,” i. e., add to the pride
of the proud, “to hunt souls.” “ And will ye pollute
Me among My people for handfuls of barley, and for
pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die,
and to save the souls alive that should not live ?”

Now, how beautifully comes forth the character of
Esther among such a people, both in prosperity and in
adversity! With much natural timidity and retiring
she is strengthened by faith in G-od, and love for her
people, to do great things. Her character is seen in
good and evil fortune alike, and especially in a great
and perplexing trial. Uplifted by the king she might
have been the more cautious of offending him; and
again when neglected by him might have had the
more cause to fear his anger; but obedient to
Mordecai, the guardian of her youth, she puts her
life in her hand, and wdth fastings and prayers both
of herself and her people, she girds herself for the
task of their deliverance, as one prepared to rescue
them or to die. And the like spirit had been seen
before in her great elevation. A captive and an
orphan she had been chosen before all in the kingdom
because, it is said, she was “fair and beautiful;” and
“ Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that
looked upon her.” “ And the king loved Esther above
all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in
his sight, so that he set the royal crown upon her
head, and made her Queen instead of Vashti.” But
Esther, as it is added, “ did the commandment of
Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with
him.” And then came the time of her great trial.
“Haman, the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy,” had obtained
a decree that ail the Jews throughout the kingdom
should be destroyed. And when Mordecai in his203

ESTHER.

distress applied to Esther to intercede for them with
the king; she tells him in answer that the law was,
that whosoever appeared before the king unasked
was to be put to death, “ except such to whom the
king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may
live,” and that she had not been called before him for
thirty days. But on the remonstrance of Mordecai
who says, “Who knoweth whether thou art come to
the kingdom for such a timers this?” she consents
to undergo this peril, and expresses her determination
in those remarkable words of the text. It is not
relying on her beauty and grace, but, on the contrary,
on her fastings and prayers; and these not of herself
alone, but of her attendants, and especially of “all the
Jews present in Shushan,” that she might go before
the king, not in her own strength, but in that of
God.

And now, after she had been made the instrument
of so great a deliverance, she seems as it were to join
that choir of holy women of all time, which singly,
and from age to age, had taken up the prelude of the
Blessed Virgin’s song; it is all so fully applicable to
her case, “My soul doth magnify the Lord”—“He
remembering His mercy hath holpen His servant
Israel, as He promised to our forefathers, Abraham
and his seed, for ever.”

Thus, in the Old Testament, individual men are
singly raised up, doing great things by faith in order
to represent Christ; and in like manner individual
women also, singly, from time to time, to represent
His Church. But in the Hew Testament one is lost
in many, “ a little one hath become a thousand ;” and
for single persons we have the Communion of Saints,
many members of the One Body. Eor all thoughTENTUKES OE EAITII.

209

many are one in Christ. But even these women in
the Old Testament are very few, and seem rather
intended to set forth one great act of deliverance
through faith, than any consistent form of goodness
for our imitation. Thus in the catalogue of Saints,
mentioned by St. Paul in the eleventh chapter to the
Hebrews, two women only are recorded,—Sara, who
conceived through faith in old age; and Bahab. Con-
sider what a contrast we find to this in the Hew
Testament, where the women, like little children also,
throng around Christ with their prayers and their
ministrations, and the Blessed Virgin among them,
and fill from thenceforth the Christian Church. The
sun hath gone down, and left the sky full of stars,
mildly partaking of his radiance, while he is himself
unseen. In the Old Testament the women seem
still under the shadow of Eve; in the Hew they are
seen with the Virgin Mother of Christ at the foot of
the Cross, and its sanctifying shadow rests upon them.

Bub in the Jewish Church the name of Esther was
embalmed in continual remembrance, by the yearly
feast of Purim, by which -the Jews celebrated that
great rescue of their nation, thus wrought by her
means. So was it ordained of God, that there should
ever be kept before their minds this prophetic type of
the deliverance through woman, and the Christian
Church thence arising to rescue the people of G-od
through all lands. Her history seemed to embody
the description of the Church. “Upon thy right
hand did stand the queen in a vesture of gold, wrought
about with divers colours. Hearken, 0 daughter, and
consider, incline thine ear.” . . . “ So shall the king
have pleasure in thy beauty; for He is thy Lord God,
and worship thou Him.” And Holy Scripture, having210

ESTHER.

preserved the like memorial in the inspired Canon,
hath handed it down as sacred for ourselves.

And as this Queen in this great act is the image of
the Church of Christ, so must she be also the example
to every Christian soul within it, which is brought
unto God. In the words of the text she is putting off
her natural fears, and clothing herself with self-abase-
ment and mortification before God, and strengthening
herself in God, as one about to make a great venture,
and put her life on the cast of a die, saying, “ and if I
perish, I perish.5’ If it had been a small matter, there
had been no need of so great a preparation; but as for
a hazard so great, she undertakes it not without being
armed beforehand with fastings and prayers for herself
and her people. But with what a strong sanction is
this enforced upon us in the Gospels! Thus our
Lord Himself, speaking of a great deliverance, of the
faith needful to cast out the unclean spirit, says,
“This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
And when He Himself would go forth on His Minis-
try to rescue us from the powers of darkness, it was
by the same means, by arming Himself beforehand in
the same manner, with the forty days’ fast, and with
prayer. And before sending forth His Apostles, He
continued Himself all night in prayer, and called upon
His disciples to pray.

Thus by our Church fasting and prayer are mentioned
in the Prayer Book as the necessary preparation for
adult Baptism; and fasting and prayer on the part of
the Church for the ordination of its ministers, that
they may go forth for rescuing souls; and fasting and
prayer for our yearly approach to the season of our
Lord’s victory over death and the grave, that we may
the more abundantly partake of the same with Him.YEKTTJRES OE EAITH.

211

And all these things mark this as the great means of
success for the Christian in every trial, the armour
needful before every contest, the preparation before
every undertaking, every work, every difficulty.

In these days, blessed be God, there are many
undertakings of Christian women for that work which
Christ hath gone forth to do upon earth, for visitations
of the poor, for hospitals for the sick, for schools for
the orphans, for houses of mercy for sinners, for
rescuing from the decree of death, gone forth in
Adam. But now these things are sometimes fruit-
less, or merely like the many schemes of this world,
moving on the surface of things, but not at all reach-
ing the depths of human wickedness, or of Christian
salvation,—powerless for any real good, and come to
nought. And the effect of such failures is that they
lead men to doubt the strength of faith in the world
altogether. It is because, to use our Blessed Saviour’s
own expression, many “seek,” but few “strive;” and
therefore they prevail not. There is not earnestness
in proportion to the greatness of the work, for the
preparations of fasting and prayer indicate earnest-
ness of purpose. The greatness of the work is not
realized, it is not as if life and eternity were at
stake.

And as this applies to great undertakings, and such
as are of a more public or social character, so does it
also to something which must meet every one in this
life. Who has not souls to save besides his own, and
his own also as wrapt up in the salvation of others,
and others in his own P Every thing indeed is weighty
and momentous to a Christian, for eternity adds its
own weight and moment to every thing in this short
passing life.212

ESTHEE.

Our religion is tlie same as that of the Jew of old;
we have the same God, the same faith, hut with
greater knowledge. Since Christ has appeared “ with-
out form or comeliness,” we look not to outward
beauty; since He was “ despised and rejected of
men,” we think not of high place; nor of a royal
diadem, since He wore a crown of thorns; and we
remember that His throne was the Cross: but the
Church has to approach Him as this Queen did the
King of old, with the preparations of humiliation and
prayer. “For how,” she said, “can I endure to see
the evil that shall come unto my people P or how can
I endure to see the destruction of my kindred4?”

And not to speak of the various occasions of life
which will always be requiring this, our whole life
should be nothing else but a preparation of this kind;
nothing could express it better than the text I have
this day set before you. We also have each one of us
to go forth and appear before the king, and in so
doing if we perish, we perish indeed; it is a very
great and solemn appearing, once and for ever; for no
one can appear before Him and live, except that fa-
voured and accepted one to whom He shall hold forth
the golden sceptre; our life is nothing else but a pre-
paration for this appearing in the King’s Presence;
and well indeed may it be to us a time of fasting and
prayer; well may we, like her of old, call on others,
and on the Church, to join in the same, that we may
be admitted to see His face, and live.

4 Esth. vim 6.SERMON XIX.

ELISABETH.

THE PRIEST’S WIFE.

St. Luke i. 41, 42.

“ And Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost; and she spake
out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women.”

This passage introduces to us the aged Elisabeth in
that light in which we ever desire to contemplate her,
viz., in connexion with the Blessed Virgin. It is on
that interview so full of interest, when the Virgin
Mary had hastened into the hill country to see her,
not only as her kinswoman, but as one connected
with herself in the Angel’s message; she comes to
her, and stands with her almost as with a mother, or
priestly mother. Nor is Elisabeth herself one un-
worthy of so great a privilege; on this occasion she is
fdled with the Holy Ghost; she by faith acknowledges
Christ, as yet unborn, in the Mother of her Lord ; she
by inspiration addresses her in the very same words
as the Angel had done. Moreover she is one and the
same throughout; when she had conceived in her old
age, she gave thanks to God, and hid herself in a holy
retirement for five months, in wdiich Mary now finds214

ELISABETH.

her among the hills; and afterwards at the birth of
her son, before the tongue of her husband Zacharias
is loosed, she declares, as by the like inspiration, that
his name is John, as the Angel had declared it should

be.

Nor is it only in the New Testament that Elisabeth
and the Holy Mary are thus associated together;
their types in the Old Testament are in like manner
combined; for there is a remarkable circumstance
which set forth beforehand what was now taking
place, and there wre find them brought into a like
connexion. Elisabeth herself was, it is said by St.
Luke, of the daughters of Aaron; but it is mentioned
in the Book of Exodus, that Aaron’s own wife was
named Elisheba, i. e., Elisabeth1; again, we find in
St. Luke, that the Yirgin Mary was the cousin of
Elisabeth, so in the former instance the sister of
Aaron was named Miriam, i. e., Mary, for it is the
same name; Miriam, or Mary, the virgin prophetess,
who took the lead of all the other women in singing
the song of thanksgiving for the miraculous de-
liverance of Israel2. Thus even now the Blessed
Mary is followed by all other women in singing
her Magnificat; the virgin and the prophetess, she
leads the sacred company in the Church unto this
day.

But while we look on Elisabeth as thus in close
attendance, beyond all other women, on the Yirgin
Mary, there is also another connexion in which we
have likewise to consider her, and that is with her
husband Zacharias the Priest. She is indeed the very
pattern of such, and the more so from this double

1 Exod. vi. 23.

2 Exod. xv. 20.THE PRIEST’S WIFE.

215

connexion, the combination of the two, the friend of
Mary, the wife of Zacharias. She is therefore a person
of no little dignity, coming forth prominently and pre-
eminently as the true daughter of Aaron, as standing
between the Law and the Gospel; fulfilling the Law,
ministering to the Grospel; about to give birth to him
who was to be the greatest of all that had been bom
of women ; the kinswoman of her who was the Mother
of our Immanuel; herself the parent of him who here-
after should point out and baptize the Son of God;
and who bore witness to Him even now, while yet in
the womb.

All these things render Elisabeth a pattern for all
women in the like “holy estate.” The first mention
of her is with her husband Zacharias,—“And they
were both,” it is said, “righteous before God, walking
in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord
blameless.” Both irreproachable and worthy of the
line of Aaron, holy vessels of the Temple. So far
from having been an hindrance to him, she seems to
have been rather his strength and support in holy
ministrations and waiting upon God. Eor Zacharias
appears to have had something of doubtful misgiving
on the communication from above; and there wras
something of reproof in the sign that was given him
that he should be dumb for a season. But he was
strengthened, and afterwards in fulness believed. And
this might have been brought about by the stronger
faith, and the example, and the intercessions of his
wife; while in her devout withdrawing into the moun-
tains or “ hill country of Judsea,” she became the meet
mother of “the voice crying in the wilderness;” and
by thus communing with God, and not with man, the
meet wife of him whose lot was to bum incense in the216

ELISABETH.

temple of tlie Lord, while the multitude were praying
without.

All this has a peculiar suitableness to the wife of
the Priest; she is made an help meet for him, by
ministering not unto him, but unto God, unto God
first, and then to man. In this she must, if not
differ from, yet surpass the wives of others; the
peculiar strength and support of him that should
minister at God’s Altar is not she that is virtuous
among men, but she that is “ righteous before God
not she that is cumbered with much serving, as holy
Martha; but she who, like holier Mary, is withdrawn
to be with Christ, to sit at His feet; not she that
hath many endowments, but she that hath one, that
of prayer; one that she hath so pre-eminently, that
in it all others are lost. Who, like the inspired
Elisabeth, serves her husband, and prepares for her
son vet' unborn, by hiding herself from man, and
withdrawing unto God P

Such, I say, is the peculiar helpmate of him who is
the minister and steward of God’s mysteries. The
properties of the wise and virtuous woman are set
forth at length by Solomon in the Book of Proverbs ;
but well suited as such are to other departments of
life, may we not venture to say there is a crown and
excellency in this life of prayer which is above that
description P It is said, “ her price is far above
rubies; the heart of her husband doth safely trust
her;” “she will do him good, and not evil, all the
days of her life; she riseth while it is yet night, and
giveth meat to her household;” “she stretcheth out
her hand to the poor;” “ strength and honour are her
clothing;” “she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and
in her tongue is the law of kindness. She lookethTHE PKIEST’s WIFE.

217

well to tlie ways of her household”—“Her children
arise up, and call her blessed3.” This is much, very
much; “her own works,” it is added, “praise her in
the gates.” Eut there is something higher than this,
“ whose praise is not of man, but of God;” for the
saintly Elisabeth, the Priest’s wife, is in some respects
different from this character. That which is noted
and marked in her is of a different kind. Eor she
retires from man to be alone with God; she is wholly
bent to obtain all things from God; and therefore she
may appear to some to be wanting in practical duties ;
but it is not so, it is because she looks to acquire these
things from God by prayer ; her love to man is not less
because she loves God more; she is serving her husband,
and her children, and her household, most effectually
when she is praying to God for them, though she may
appear less to do so. Even these home and household
duties described by Solomon may be fulfilled by her,
but in a different manner, by the spirit of prayer,
which hallows and raises all things. If she seeks to
do them good, if she riseth while it is yet night, if she
provides food at home, and stretches forth her hand
abroad, it is, chiefly of all and peculiarly, through
prayer that she does so; if she is clothed with
strength, and on her tongue is wisdom and kindness,
if she looks well to her household, it is on account of
her secret communion with God ; or it is in order not
to impair, but to increase that communion. If she
loves those immediately around her, it is in God, it is
because God loves them. If her countenance is bright,
it is from her having been with God; if in her mouth
is the law of kindness, it is because she hath been

3 Prov. xxxi.218

ELISABETH.

drinking at the fountain of love. If, like Elisabeth,
she is able to strengthen the weak hands, and confirm
the feeble knees of those who are to be witnesses and
ministers of God, it is because she is strong in His
strength. If her loins are girded, and her lamp is
burning, it is as one that watcheth for the Bride-
groom, even as the mother of him who is “ the friend
of the Bridegroom,” and “rejoiceth greatly to hear
the Bridegroom’s voice.” Hay, though the Bride-
groom hath not yet appeared, yet even now in faith
and hope she rejoices at His Presence.

Thus it maybe that such devout prayer will be rich
in every grace and virtue, as it is said, “ The wilder-
ness and the solitary place shall be glad, the desert
shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. The glory of
Lebanon, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, the
excellency of our God4,” shall be there. It may be
that a life of retirement to be with God may be thus
blessed. Eor the waters of God are in that desert
and the smitten rock, and it needs must be as the
garden of Eden. But without saying any thing of
such fruits, it is enough that a soul thus dedicated to
God is called apart to be in the wilderness.

But now if such a life of strict union with God is
the highest and best of all lives ; even higher and
better than that which has most skill in the fulfilment
of every domestic and social duty; then it may be
said it is most desirable for all women in all stations
of life, and not merely for such as Elisabeth, the
daughter of Aaron, the wife of the Priest. And so
indeed it is; but what I would observe is, that it has
a peculiar suitableness to this state of life, so much

4 Isa. xxxv. ], 2.THE PRIEST’S WIFE.

219

so that any other is in some degree out of place and
out of character.

It were good for any man of business or worldly
station to withdraw from the things of this life, and
give up himself to retirement and prayer; but in a
minister of G-od any other life were unsuitable and
unbecoming. The husbandman may sow and plant,

. and gather in his harvests, and be industrious, honest,
and charitable, without that strict self-retirement
which contemplates God in all things in unceasing
prayer. And the tradesman may fulfil the works of
his calling in like manner, so as to be blameless and
irreproachable before men. But the Priest of God
has by his very calling to give himself continually
unto prayer; it is his very occupation, his business;
so that nothing he does can be done without it. The
object and end of his life is the saving of souls; and
this is a work of marvellous grace, only to be obtained
by prayer. This is a seed that can only be sown by
prayer; this is a fruit that cannot ripen without
prayer; this is a harvest that can be gathered in by
no other means without prayer. Or again, this is a
trade and a merchandise where no increase or profit
can be made but by prayer.

Or if it be said that the end and object of the
priest’s life is to minister at God’s altar, here again a
life of private devotion is so necessary to hallow the
heart and affections, that to fulfil the outward duties
of his calling were hypocrisy without it, and cannot be
without sin. Prayer rises up as incense before God
in His sanctuary, but the censer by means of w'hich it
is offered is the heart. The heart must be hallowed
by the Holy Spirit, and that can only be by continual
prayer. The priest must pray in private, that his220

ELISABETH.

public prayers may be sanctified; that bis heart may
go along with them; so that they be not to his con-
demnation.

It were indeed very good and desirable for any one
engaged in the business of the world, such as his
household or station requires, to withdraw himself as
much as possible from the same, to communion with
God in prayer, even though it might be accompanied
with some outward detriment or inconvenience; but
to the minister of God his calling in life requires
this, it is indeed his very calling itself; it is the very
thing which he takes upon himself to do. It is his
profession, his office, the lot assigned him, to burn
incense in the house of God.

Such therefore being the proper calling and life of
the priest, it is necessary that a priest’s wife also, in
order that she may be a help to him and not a
hindrance, should be one pre-eminently by habit and
choice given to prayer; such as requires retirement of
spirit; like that set forth in the holy Elisabeth, when
she went apart into the hill country before the birth
of him who was “the voice crying in the wilderness.”
And this while her husband’s tongue was dumb from a
doubting faith, which God alone could loosen to speak
His praise.

How this is so essential, that if a person were
endowed with all other qualities that are excellent
and good, yet if needing this one, all is needed; and
not only so, but if a person were wanting in all other
wise and useful qualifications, yet having this they
would be more than abundantly supplied, as far as
this state and condition in life requires. "Whatever
may be the seeming weakness and discouragement,
yet if the spirit and habit of earnest prayer is sus-THE PEIEST’S WIPE.

221

tained all will be well. And any appearance of success
without it is of little worth. A person may be com-
passed with great infirmities, and even wanting in
practical wisdom and abilities, yet by the inward
clothing of prayer will be found at length more
crowned with success than others who have appeared
for a time more highly favoured. As the Wise Man
hath observed, “ There is another that is slow, and
hath need of help, wanting ability, and full of poverty;
yet the eye of the Lord looked upon him for good,

. . . so that many that saw it marvelled at him5,” A
person may be “full of poverty” in every sense of
that most expressive term, both as to abilities and
endowments of mind and body, and as to circurn-
stances of outward condition, and not only that, but
also as to apparent successes in household or parochial
matters and the like; and yet at the end may be rich
and successful beyond all, through these very de-
ficiencies ; if all the while they have been hallowed by
unceasing prayer.

But in this especially we walk by faith, not by
sight. It may not be seen to be so. All may be
most successful with God, when least apparently so
with men. We must not judge of success as the
world.judges. Where faith is there must be prayer,
and where prayer is there must be success. Bor
it is impossible that the prayer of faith should be
unavailing. Of other consequences we cannot be
sure, but of this we are certain, because it is the
promise of God, and it depends on His truth.

We must not judge as man judges, for wisdom is
justified not of the world, but of her own children.

5 Ecclus. xh 12.222

ELISABETH.

Take the example of the case before us. The holy
Elisabeth withdrew during five months for retirement
and prayer, before that wonderful birth; the child
sanctified to God in his mother’s womb, drew from
her even now the spirit of the wilderness, of mortifi-
cation and devotion. She was signally great, even
beyond all other mothers in the choice of God, as the
mother of that great forerunner and prophet beyond
all other prophets. And her prayer was heard and
answered in all its fulness. Yet in the eyes of that
generation how little of success might have been
supposed to have crowned her hopes! Her son was
for thirty years in the wilderness, unknown of men.
In all this who could see any fruit of her labours, or
any thing that answered to the rejoicing at his birth ?
and when at length the day arrived of “ his showing
unto Israel,” how short and apparently unsuccessful
was the period allotted him ! cut off even at the be-
ginning of his career by an untimely death. Yet
whatever might have appeared for the time, the pur-
poses of God were fully accomplished in him, and the
voice in the wilderness, which began in that holy
retirement of Elisabeth, hath filled the world with the
calling to repentance.

But even before that voice of repentance had been
heard, the aged mother had probably gone to her rest,
she had prayed, and hoped, and died.

Thus must it be with whosoever labours to draw
near to God, to find all things in Him by prayer; and
by prayer to leave all things to Him: a thousand
years are with Him as one day, but we serve our
generation, and quickly pass away. We live not to
see the success of our labours, the good or evil that
we do upon earth. And therefore we cannot compareTHE PEIEST’S WIEE.

223

such a life of strict union with God with another
which has more of the wisdom of this life, and of
more apparent usefulness.

The management of schools, the training of the
young, visiting the sick, superintending the poor,
adorning and enriching the sacred edifice and sanc-
tuary of God, the ordering of Divine services and
ehoral psalmodies, the profession of the highest prin-
ciples ; one or more of these may be found in a case
where something is needed to give value to the whole.
There may be a hidden place within kept for ambition,
vanity, or covetousness, for personal or family exalta-
tion. And the reason has been because the candle
of the Lord that searcheth the heart hath not been
kept burning by continual prayer.

This being the case, this spirit of prayer being the
jewel of great price alone fit for the sanctuary of God,
with what infinite care ought it to be preserved and
cherished ! While it is in this world it is very perish-
able, easily dimmed and soiled, and even shattered and
broken, so that nothing of it but scattered fragments
remain. How heavy must be the charge and re-
sponsibility of any one who has the keeping of this
which is so precious in the sight of God! The world
is full of offences, entirely filled with things that will
ruin this temper, but woe to him by whom the offence
cometh ! This is the temper of those little ones who
are so high in God’s favour, even, He says, as the
apple of an eye; but the eye itself, how easily is it
destroyed! and such is one who is as the Eye of God
in this world. Every one must know how any sin, and
all intercourse with the world, dims and deadens the
spirit of prayer.SERMON XX.

ANNA.

HOLY WIDOWHOOD.

St. Luke ii. 37-

u She was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which de-
parted not from the temple, but served God with fastings and
prayers night and day.”

Such is the description of Anna the prophetess; one
of those two persons to whom it was given to see and
acknowledge the Infant Christ, when He was first
presented in the Temple; and this very high privilege,
together with this description connected with it, stamps
this life with a Divine acceptance and sanction. It
wras the first fulfilment of the prophecy of Malachi,
with which the Old Testament had closed four hun-
dred years before, that “the Lord should suddenly
come to His temple;” but that few should abide that
His appearing, for He would be “like a refiner’s
fire V’ And thus the two whom God brought to His
Temple on this occasion, and revealed unto them His
Son, were very distinguished types of those whom He
would choose in this trying manifestation of Himself.

1 Mai. iii. 1. 3.HOLY WIDOWHOOD.

225

In addition to Simeon so full of the Holy Ghost,
“there was,” it is said, “one Anna, a prophetess, the
daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser;” a pro-
phetess, one schooled in the knowledge of God, and
inspired with His wisdom, like lluldah the pro-
phetess in the times of Josiah, the wife of the keeper
of the robes; and the four daughters of Philip the
Evangelist afterwards. “ She was of a great age, and
had lived with an husband seven years from her vir-
ginity;” being now “a widow of fourscore and four
years;” either now being eighty-four years of age, or
having been a widow for that space of time. “ Of the
tribe of Aser,” and as it were the Evangelical type of
that tribe, of which Moses said in prophecy, “ As thy
days, so shall thy strength be,” and “blessed with
children2.” “For the desolate,” says St. Paul, “hath
many more children than she which hath an hus-
band 3.”

Let us then consider her as the type, representing
this kind of life, serving God night and day with
fastings and prayers in His Temple. And here we
may observe that there are two different aspects in
which it may be looked upon; the one such as it
naturally appears to us, according to the judgment of
this world; the other as Christians. In the first
point of view it is indeed a state most cheerless and
desolate; “a widow,” the very expression implies de-
solation in the strongest sense, bereavement of the
soul from every stay in this world; as St. Paul uses
the term, “ she that is a widow indeed, and desolate.”
ETor is it merely solitariness and absence of consola-
tion, but sense of privation and loss, “ she had lived

2 Deut. xxxiii. 24, 25.	3 Gal iv. 27.

Q226

ANNA.

with an husband seven years from her virginity;”
that solitude is peopled with remembrances of a
happier day; as the lonely shadows of evening close
around, they are haunted with sad recollections of
what can never again return; with unavailing regrets
and tearful images which revive the more fresh as the
evil days draw on. And if the past so ministers to
sadness, still more does the future, “ she was of a great
age ... a widow of about fourscore and four years.”
Loneliness and feebleness for the present, and these
daily increasing, as aid becomes more and more
needed, and ending in the cold and blank grave. But
what to a worldly view is yet more dreary than all,
the spirit itself within denying itself such genial sup-
ports as nature seeks; “ in fastings and prayers night
and day;” nay, more, prayer itself is expressive of
want and sorrow, for when do men most pray but
when most in need F and this sense of want and
sorrow increased by self-mortification. Tea, even
widowhood and old age itself the world would esteem
as the best excuse for a life which it looks upon with
such aversion, as useless, cold, and desolate, a life of
unceasing prayer and fasting.

But there is a word which St. Paul adds, which, to
the eye of faith, makes all the difference, “ a widow
indeed and desolate trusteth in God.”

As man judges is one thing, and as man speaks, as
we find his mind expressed, in worldly books and
newspapers, in parliaments, in worldly society, and in
the popular religion of the day; but it is quite an-
other thing how God judges, and His good Angels,
and the Saints that are with Him; and I may add as
we must judge of things, if we would wish to be with
them, and hope even now to look on this life withHOLT WIDOWHOOD.

227

“ the mind which is in Christ.” To such, as there is
no life more worthy of an immortal being than this,
none greater or nobler, so there is none happier than
this. And it has this beyond any other condition
upon earth, that in length of days, as age and its
natural infirmities increase, its value also, and incom-
parable blessedness appear also the more, and its
happiness increases to the close. As strength decays,
its strength increases; as night comes on, its day ap-
proaches. Tor its strength increases with the strength
of God, which is greater in our weakness ; and it has in
Him that light which increaseth ever more and more
unto the perfect day. “ The hoary head is a crown of
glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness4.”
And what if its meat and drink long hath been by
fasting and prayer to put off its own righteousness
and to put on the righteousness of God; wTat if it be
filled writh that righteousness for which it hungers
and thirsts; we need not speak its praise, for Christ
Himself hath declared its blessedness. But wre may
say with the Psalmist, “ Blessed are they that dwell
in Thy house, they will be alway praising Thee.”
“ They will go from strength to strength; and unto
the God of gods appeareth every one of them in
Sion.” . “ Tor one day in Thy courts is better than a
thousand5.” But if one day in God’s house is so
good, what is it for all our days to be there F to have
habits of prayer so formed in youth, that now in
old age Communion with God has become like a
second nature ? This is to “ go from strength to
strength,” for their strength, it is said, “is in God.”
What life, then, can be equal to this P “ One thing

Q 2

4 Prov. xvi. 31.

5 Ps. lxxxiv.228

AMA.

have I desired of the Lord, even that I mav dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” In
what other state is there repose for the soul? “Blessed
is the man whom Thou receivest unto Thee; he shall
dwell in Thy court, and shall be satisfied with the
pleasures of thy holy Temple.”

She is a widow, that is, God hath withdrawn her
from earthly iove to lead her to that which is heavenly;
He hath by His own hand, by His own appointed
Providence, taken her from the world unto Himself.
When David would describe a lowly spirit that hangs
upon God, he likens it to a child that is weaned from
its mother. And whom is it that God weans from
the world that He Himself might take it up, so much
as a widow ? But far more than this, our Blessed
Saviour Himself, when He would give us a pattern or
type of importunate and most availing prayer, puts it
in the person of a widow. “ And He spake a parable
unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray,
and not to faint; saying, that in a certain city there
was a widow.” She had an adversary, and so have we
all, in the enemy of our salvation. And she had one
who would avenge her speedily, though he appeared
to wait long; and so have we all. But she is the in-
stance of that faith which prays always, and faints
not. The strong man of the world is in prayer faint-
hearted, but not so the aged and feeble widow6.
“ The soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping
and feeble, and the eyes that fail, will give Thee
praise7.” And St. Paul’s account of the widow is
very much akin to this, “Now she that is a widow
indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth
in supplications and prayers night and day.” “Night
6 St. Luke xviii.	1 Bar. ii. 18.HOLY WIDOWHOOD.

229

and day she continueth,” and in our Lord’s parable
there is the “continual coming,” the “cry day and
night.”

JSTow in the riches of this world age tells very much
for accumulated treasure, one who has been every year
laying up in store, at eighty-four years of age is much
more wealthy than he was at twenty. And surely
much more in the things of God, she who in a long
life of continual prayer has been laying up treasure
with God cannot be otherwise than rich in His grace.
We honour old age, but how much must we reverence
and love an old age that is full of prayers P

Again, in this solitude so much dreaded of the
world is her great gain, for she “ departed not from
the Temple.” What a harbour and refuge does this
express from those importunate interferences of the
world which distract and weigh down the heart in
prayer! Such solitude, if used aright, is a blessed
privilege; when the Psalmist would call us to such
devotion, he says, “ Commune with thine own heart,
and in thy chamber, and be still.” And our Lord
Himself, when He gives us advice concerning ac-
ceptable prayer, says, “ When thou prayest, enter
into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door,
pray to thy Lather which is in secret.” And that
God accepts such service He shows by this, that by
such means He powerfully withdraws the soul from
the world unto Himself, for it is into His Presence
that they come by such opportunities, and His Pre-
sence stills the voice of the world. “ Thou shalt hide
them privily by Thine own Presence from the pro-
voking of all men: Thou shalt keep them secretly in
Thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues8.”

8 Ps. xxxi. 22.230

ANNA.

Yet further,—the widow of this world is saddened
by reflections of past happiness, but to the widow that
seeks her rest in God, all recollections of the past are
blessed; they are in God, they come clothed in His
consolations; losses and bereavements are seen to
work for good; earthly blessings are seen to have
been given and withdrawn by a loving Hand. “ The
Lord appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with
loving-kindness have I drawn thee9.”

And what if it be true that solitude is most desolate
in the midst of many F for this aged widow' was amidst
a populous city, and the crowded Temple, in the
lonely life of continual prayer. But in the devout
soul such contrast only increases the spirit of devotion
by the sight of continued energies that are without;
and there are more objects which supply occasions of
prayer, and thus sympathy and love are increased, and
fill the heart all the more with unspeakable peace and
joy. Bor where love is, there is no solitude.

But there is yet another point, of which the world
complains in such a life, that it deadens the intellect,
that it renders the mind itself, as well as the affections,
dull and blank, and at length altogether impoverished.
How Anna was “a prophetess,” one through whom
God speaks, one to whom it was given to know
things before and after. And this may be considered
as a sort of type of the holy wdsdom, to be attained in
such a life. Learned and wise men have said that
they got more knowledge by their prayers than by
their studies. And it is said that “ love,” “ the love of
the Lord passeth all things for illumination1.” "What

9 Jer. xxxi. 3.

1 Ecclus. xxv. 11.HOLY WIDOWHOOD.

281

knowledge of nature, of Providence, of history, of the
stars above our heads, or the stones beneath our feet,
can be equal to that knowledge which sees indeed,
and knows these things, but sees and knows them as
they are in God ?	“ The Lord hath poured out wis-

dom upon all His works,” but “she is with'all flesh
according to His gift, and He hath given her to them
that love Him2.” The “treasures of wisdom and
knowledge are in Christ.” And surely they only can
truly advance in all knowledge who study in God
what He Himself has made, and supports, and
governs. The mind which is taught of God, of itself
divines wonderful truths; nor is the natural eye less
clear of sight, or the ear made dull because the love
of God is cherished in the heart; the love of Him
Who made the eye, and formed the ear, and teacheth
man knowledge; Who by His Spirit giveth the heart
to understand what eye hath not seen, nor ear beard.
And surely to this prophetess was given to know
infinitely more than all learning or wisdom through-
out the world could attain to, even to know the Holy
One of God in His Temple.

This widow indeed may represent the Jewish
Church, not as she was, corrupt and fallen, but as
she was intended of God to be, waiting for Christ in
His Temple; as St. Paul describes it, “Unto wrhich
promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day
and night, hope to come3.” And much more the
Christian Church, waiting for Christ’s second Coming,
and as such represented as a widow. As St. Paul
says, “Por though we have known Christ after the
flesh, yet henceforth know we Him no more.” And

2 Ecclus. i. 9, 10.

Acts xxvi. 7*232

JlKSA.

onr Lord Himself, “ The days will come when the
Bridegroom shall he taken away from them, and then
shall they fast in those days;” and again, “Watch,
and pray, lest coming suddenly He find yon sleeping.”
And the Church is the “ prophetess,” for with her is
all wisdom and knowledge, and all her children are
taught of God.

But how under our present circumstances are we
to apply this example, for we have not now, as some
had of old, services throughout the whole day and
night, whereby persons might continually serve God
in retirement P The nearest approach we have to it
may be found, I think, in the morning and evening
service of our Church, where it may be two only, as
the devout Simeon and Anna, wait upon God. It is
of great value and importance, for it tends to form
regular habits of devotion; and without regular habits
of prayer, and fixed stated times, there can be no
religious life. It is of itself the way of peace. It
lessens the power of worldly distractions; it cheers
and strengthens in tribulation; and diminishes the
power of exciting pleasures.

But with regard to that higher and better life we
speak of, that of the saintly widows—or widowed
saints, continuing night and day in prayer. These
our daily public prayers are the best foundation for
it; they furnish the outline which will be filled up in
private; for fixed times of public service lead to fixed
times also in addition to them of private devotion:
none are so likely to adhere to regular hours of
prayer during the day, and to rise in the night to a
fixed time of prayer, as those who are most regular in
their attendance on public prayer.

But now, if this appears too high a standard ofHOLY "WIDOWHOOD.

238

duty for ns to aim at, "we must consider that of all
those who thronged the streets of Jerusalem and the
courts of the Temple, Simeon and Anna alone were
found worthy to recognize Christ at His Coming; and
that in the parable of the importunate Widow, wherein
our Lord speaks of His elect crying unto Him day
and night, with His assured promise that those their
prayers are heard by Him, yet He adds a mournful
question, prophetic of the few which, like Simeon and
Anna, will be prepared for Him at His Coming.
“Nevertheless,” He says, “when the Son of Man
cometh, shall He find faith on the earth ?” The spirit
and the power of Elijah went forth to prepare for our
Lord’s first Coming; and they who partook of this
power and spirit received Him; and Elijah is to go
forth before His second Coming; the spirit of prayer
and supplication shall be poured forth, and they who
live in this spirit shall welcome His Coming with joy.SERMON XXL

THE WOMAN OE SAMAEIA.

MERCY BEYOND THE COVENANT.

St. John iv. 10.

u Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of
God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou
wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water.’’

¥e now come upon quite a new era in the history of
women,—short and pre-eminent,—of those who came
into the presence of our Lord Himself, and personal
intercourse with Him; many of them shown by brief
and apparently fortuitous incidents, passing and tran-
sient, but rich in fruits of varied instruction, extensive
and universal in application; traits discovering the
depth of the heart, and events drawing them out into
permanent lines of character; all peculiar in this, that
as they appear before us, they are passing under the
eye of the Judge of mankind.

And now with regard to this woman of Samaria who
conversed with our Lord at the well; she differs in
some respects from the other women mentioned as
coming before Him in the Gospels. They seem
for the most part with great humiliation to haveMEBCY BEYOJSD THE COYEHAKT.

235

pressed into the Kingdom of God,—to have taken
the Kingdom by violence with the earnestness of their
prayer. Such was the woman of Canaan, who fell at
Christ’s feet; and she that touched the hem of His
garment; and the sinner that washed His feet with
her tears; and Anna, the prophetess, who spent her
nights and days in fastings and prayers; and we may
add that widow of Ham, who moved our Lord’s com-
passion by her silent weeping and great bereavement.
There is nothing of this kind in the Samaritan woman
who stands by Him as He sits on Jacob’s well.

Keither, again, in this case is there any great ac-
ceptance expressed, or petition granted, or miracle
wrought; no declaration like that of “ Great is thy
faith or, “ Go in peace.” But on the other hand the
Lord confesses to her that He is the Christ; this is
very remarkable, for He did not usually do so to any
one, not even to His own disciples, but left them to
ascertain it for themselves, and perceive His Godhead
from His mighty works and miracles of mercy. But
in this He is fulfilling another description of Himself
by His Prophet—“ I am found of them that sought
Me not1.” Hor is this all, for He did not usually
offer His gifts unasked, but waited till He wras sought
and importuned; but in this case He seems to offer,
as it were, on His part, “the unspeakable gift,” in-
viting her to receive it by communicating Himself to
her, saying to her unsolicited, “If thou knewest the
gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give
Me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and
He would have given thee living water.” Still further;
it is peculiar in this, and differs from other instances,

1 Isa. Ixv. I.286

THE WO MAH OF SAMAEIA.

that not only does she not ask of Him, but our
Lord Himself asks relief of the woman. A stranger,
thirsty and weary, He was sitting on the well when
she came, “and He saith unto her, Give Me to
drink.’ *

Great indeed is the variety in our Lord’s deeds of
kindness and mercy throughout the Gospels. In the
needs of the marriage feast, where His mother and
brethren were, He supplies the miraculous wine ; and
from that time He meets every desire and want which
suffering nature could present to Him; bread He
affords to hungry multitudes; health to disease; sight
to the blind; consolation to the afflicted ; teaching to
the ignorant: He opens wide His hand; and shows
in a visible form the goodness of God in His provi-
dential care which is over all His works ; meting out
to every man severally according as he needs ; feeding
“the young ravens that call upon Him,” and the lions
that “ seek their meat from God.” But here He goes
forth to meet her who knows not she has any need of
Him; she comes not as a suppliant to Him, but, like
Elijah to the widow of Sarepta, He applies as a sup-
pliant to her. O, wonderful sight! the Son of God, the
Maker of all things, is Himself athirst, and applies inHis
need to one of His creatures for water to drink. And
as she comes not as a suppliant, neither does it appear
from the account of herself as it comes forth in the
narrative that her life was such as rendered her worthy
of so great a favour,—“She had had five husbands,
and was living then with one who was not her hus-
band.” Hor does she appear quick in discernment of
spiritual things; for when our Lord speaks to her of
the water of life, she says, “ Sir, Thou hast nothing to
draw with, and the well is deep: from whence thenMEECY BEYOND THE COYENANT.

237

hast Thou this living water P” And when He further
explains that He speaks of water of which he that
drinketh shall never thirst; that it shall he a well of
water in himself “ springing up into everlasting life;”
then indeed she makes the request, “ Sir, give me
this water, that I thirst not;” hut it is still only
in a low and carnal sense she says this, for she adds,
“ neither come hither to draw.”

How all this being the case, how can we account for
our Blessed Saviour’s selecting this woman for so great
a privilege and gift, as this manifestation of Himself?
He knew the hearts of all men; and as He has told
us “not to give that which is holy to dogs, or cast
our pearls before swine,”—we may be sure that there
was something in this Samaritan woman, and in this
occasion not unmeet for so great a blessing; not un-
suitable for the ways of His grace. In this as in
every other case of His mercy it is as He said to His
disciples, “ Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen
you;” but He chooses and calls those whom He fore-
knows ; and the sequel shows it to have been true of
this woman as of His disciples, “I have chosen you
and ordained you, that ye should bring forth fruit; and
that your fruit should remain.”

Let us then consider, what is it that invites Him ?
what are the qualities that bring Him near P to love
and to forgive; this is what He requires of us all.
So that to the Scribe who saw that love was the first
and great commandment, He said, “ Thou art not far
from the Kingdom of Heaven.” And to this we may
add, a desire to know the truth, and when known, to
embrace and follow it. These are the things which
He requires of the Church of the Gentiles, when He
chose her as yet unclean, and washed and sanctified238

THE WO MAH OE SAMAEIA.

her with His Blood. And these we shall find through-
out the description of this Samaritan woman.

Eirst of ail we read, “ Jesus saith unto her, Give Me
to drink.” And it may be inferred that she imme-
diately fulfils this request, while at the same time she
says, “ How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink
of me, which am a woman of Samaria?” And the
Evangelist adds, “Eor the Jews have no dealings with
the Samaritans.” Here then it seems from this ob-
servation as if she were gratified by the request, and
glad of the opportunity of granting it to one who,
being a Jew, might be supposed to have been her
enemy; one who hated her nation, with whom the
Samaritan was as one who hath a devil2. And in
this respect she is not unlike that good Samaritan in
our Lord’s parable, who relieved the half-dying Jew
by the wayside when the Priest and Levite had passed
him by. Eor our Lord was now retiring from Judea,
on account of the enmity of the Pharisees; the Priest
and Levite would have sought to take away His life,
when He is relieved by this woman of Samaria. And
while she looked upon Him as a Jew, she was fulfilling
towards Him the Christian law, “If thine enemy
hunger, give him meat; if he thirst, give him drink.”
Thus our Lord took occasion to anticipate His pro-
mise, and the cup of water in His Hame loses not
its reward3. He draws out her desires that He might
give. He “ said unto her, If thou hadst known the
gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give
Me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and
He would have given thee living water.” Thus for
every little charitable duty performed for His sake

2 St. John viii. 48.

3 St. Matt. x. 42.MERCY BEYOND THE COYENANT.

289

He gives eternal and great promises; and a pledge
and token of these even in this present time, on the
fulfilment of every such duty, pouring into the mind
good thoughts, as every Christian must know from
experience. Thus He promises, and thus He ever
fulfils in the daily order of His providence in His
spiritual kingdom. Tor so slight a gift He gives
Himself, the God of all consolation and hope, en-
larging her heart with desires after Himself; holy
desires and loving thoughts which are the dews of the
everlasting morning, the drops from that well of water
which springs up unto never-dying life within the soul
itself. As His own Evangelical Prophet had said,
“ Every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters . . .
wherefore spend ye your labour for that which satis-
fieth not ? Come unto Me, and your soul shall live ;
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
even the sure mercies of David4.”

And now she indeed asks for this living water,
though she understands it not; but He is desirous to
grant her request, not according to her ignorance and
earthly desires, but by His own Divine and spiritual
gift. But not alluding to her reply, He says, “ Go,
and call thy husband.” His reason for doing this is
not explained, but it may have been that before He
could impart unto her this peace which passeth under-
standing, this rest in God for which, though she knew
not, her spirit longed; that she and this man must,
stand before Him, and by His words, and by His
grace, be convinced of sin, that so repenting they
might be capable of that gift of God which JLe wished
to bestow. And even now, before she has gone, and

4 Isa. lv. 1. 3.240

THE WOMAN- OE SAMARIA.

while He is yet speaking. His words already find her
out, and discerning that He is One from God, she
says, “ Sir, I perceive that Thou art a Prophet.”

And instantly on finding that He is a Prophet, she
makes known the desire of her heart, no doubt the
deep, long-cherished, continual desire; and His know-
ing this secret of her heart may have been the cause
which brought our Blessed Saviour to this well, in
order to converse with her; her desire was to know
the truth,—the truth of God,—how, in what place,
the true God was to he worshipped. Therefore, imme-
diately on perceiving Him to be a Prophet, she says,
“ Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye
say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought
to worship.” She had before professed herself to be
of the stock of Abraham, for she had said, “ Our
father Jacob gave us this well;” but, notwithstanding,
she was a Samaritan, and thereby separate from the
Israel of God, and broken off from His true Church
and worship; an alien, and apart from the appointed
ordinances and promises of God. “For salvation,”
said our Lord to her, “ is of the Jews.”

It may have been no fault of her own, for she may
have been born and nurtured in Samaria, in that im-
perfect faith; but she seems to represent to us the
right disposition of one so situated. She is ready
charitably to assist a stranger who differs from her
in his faith. She is earnest and eager to know the
good and right way of serving God. And therefore
our Blessed Saviour comes to meet her in her igno-
rance ; while, yet further, like a pious Israelite, she is
waiting for God, and looking forward with hope to
the Coming of Christ; not like the chief priests and
Pharisees, for the exaltation of their nation, but inMEUCI BEYOND THE COVENANT.

241

order that she might know from Him the truth of
God. She “ saith unto Him, I know that Messias
cometh, which is called Christ; when He is come, He
will tell us all things.” And she has in an instant
that manifestation made to her for which prophets
and kings had longed and desired in vain. “Jesus
saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He.”

She had desired wisdom; it might be said of her,
“I stretched forth my hands . . . and bewailed my
ignorances of her5.” And knowing this her desire
our Lord had come to her, and chosen her to be the
guide and witness to her people. And how is it that
she at once received Him on this declaration ? As
she had waited for the Christ in order that she might
know of Him, so it was on account of His knowledge
that she believed in Him, His knowledge of herself
and her own life. “ Come and see a man,” she says,
“ which told me all things which ever I did: is not
this the Christ?” It was for the same reason, this
knowledge of their hearts, that the Apostles even at
last came to the fulness of faith. “ How are we sure,”
they said to Him at the Last Supper, “that Thou
knowest all things, and needest not that any man
should ask Thee; by this we believe,” i. e., by this
Thy knowledge of our thoughts, “ that Thou earnest
forth from God6.” And to us at this day, what
greater assurance of faith is there than the knowledge
of our own hearts and lives which we find in the
Word of God ? The most unlearned Christian, taught
of God, to the disputer of this world is able to say
with the man who was born blind, “ One thing I
know, that whereas I was blind, now I see7.”

5 Ecclus. li. 19.

6 St. John xvi. 30.

7 St. John ix. 25a242

THE WOMAK OE SAMABTA.

Such was this woman whom our Lord thus chose to
be the first messenger and preacher of good tidings to
her nation, that city of Samaria which afterwards be-
came the place of refuge for the early Church, when
driven from Jerusalem; and the firstfruits of the
Gentile world. It was a prelude of what was to be,
when, persecuted of the Jews, His infant Church
should find shelter under the shadow of Mount Ge-
rizim, and thence send forth her beatitudes like
streams to water the earth. For soon she hastens
back with that crown of Apostleship, the many whom
she brings to Christ. “ And many of the Samaritans
of that city believed on Him for the saying of the
woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I
did”

But although our Lord was rejected by the Jews,
and thus acknowledged and received by this Samaritan
woman and her city; yet He continued not there, nor
called them away: He had prepared their hearts, as
He usually does before His great comings; and now
they had to wait His own good time, wrhen the good
Shepherd Who laid down His life for His sheep
should come again, and open the door, and receive
them into His fold. He goes to meet her who could
not come to Him. In her He meets by the well the
Church of the Gentiles, as Jacob his bride of old, and
Moses and others. He leaves them for a time, but
bears them in His mind; and of these, and such as
these, He spoke when He said to His disciples,
“ Other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them
also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and
there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd.”

Thus then has St. John in this instance furnished
us with a type, as it were, of a woman, who—whileMEECY BEYOHD THE COYEHAHT.	243

placed of God in a situation external to His Church,
jet in charity with those who despised her, and with
a heart desirous to be taught of God—knew the good
Shepherd’s voice, and was known of Him ; and in her
appointed place, waited for Him in His own good
time. But it is not this particular lesson alone which
is in St. John. He would in all things lift ns up unto
the high and transcendent lesson of Divine love, and
bring us unto Him with "Whom is the well of life.
“They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of
Thy house, and Thou shalt give them drink of Thy
pleasures, as out of the river. Dor with Thee is the
well of life8.” It is a well that is with God; it is a
well in the soul itself; it is both at the same time.
“The Lamb shall lead them,” says St. John, “to
living fountains of waters ”—“ they shall thirst no
more.” “ He showed me a pure river of water of life,
clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God
and of the Lamb9.” In all of which we may observe
that it is with our Blessed Saviour Himself that this
living fountain is connected. It is the Lamb that
leads to it. It is from the throne of the Lamb and
His Godhead that it proceeds. It is from Himself,
the smitten Bock, from which the water flows. Which
is in other ways expressed, as, “ This is life eternal,
that they might know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent1.”

And this meaning of the Well of Life is brought
before us throughout all this narrative—as consisting
in knowing God, and being known of God; indeed
these two are by St. Paul put together as one—“ After

9 Rev. vii. 17; xxii. 1.
1 St. John xvii. 3.

E 2

8 Ps. xxxvi. 8, 9.244

THE WOMAN- OE SAMABIA.

that ye have known God, or rather,” he adds, “ are
known of God2. Thus our Lord shows that He
knows her as God only could know; and she in con-
sequence knows Him also as the Christ. And this
then, the knowledge of Himself, we cannot but suppose
is connected with that gift of the living water He was
desirous to bestow. Such, therefore, we have as the
fountain of life within the heart; when God, Who
knows all things, knows us with a saving knowledge,
warning us within, correcting our thoughts, reproving,
judging, condemning, comforting; and when we also,
in consequence, know God in Christ, by instantly and
at all times turning to Him as God, as the Sacrifice
for sin, the living Fountain which replenishes, and
alone satisfies, filling the heart with the peace and
the love of God. And this, when rising in the soul,
immediately overflows, and communicates itself to
others; as the disciples, when the Lamb of God had
been pointed out to them by the Baptist, went to
each other, saying, “ Come and see, is not this the
Christ?” and as this woman of Samaria hastened to
her fellow-citizens with the same words.

Again; we may observe our Lord calls it “ the gift
of God,” i. e., the one great gift, as if there were no
other gift worthy of the name when compared with it.
In like manner as when He says, “ How much more
shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him?” He alters the expression with
the same promise, saying, “ How much more shall your
Father which is in Heaven give good things to them
that ask Him3 ? ” That is, that all good things are in
that one gift of the Holy Ghost. This He promises, to

3 Gal. iv. 9.

3 St. Matt. vii. 11. St. Luke xi. 13.MERCY BEYOND THE COVENANT.

245

give to all that ask. In like manner, as He says in
this place, “ Thou wouldest have asked, and He would
have given.” Hone ask in vain, who ask in time.

Lastly; this is the water which satisfies, of which
he that drinks, thirsts no more. This woman had had
five husbands ; she had therefore endeavoured to make
this world her home; she had drunk of the cup of
this world’s consolations, and that, too, even to the
dregs; for she now was with one who was not her
husband. Such may represent to us all that the world
can give, and how it comes to nought, and leaves no
rest. But wfhen she had found God in Christ, it was
no doubt to her like life from the dead.

“She left her water-pot,” says the Evangelist, “and
went.” Something must be left behind when Christ
is found. She had forgotten all things else. In like
manner, no doubt, from that time every earthly tie
was loosed. The heart must be emptied, that it may
be filled. And nothing can fill it but Divine love. It
was love which brought down God from Heaven to be
with man. Love must lift up man to Heaven to be
with God.SERMON XXII.

JOANNA.

THE WITNESS IN KINGS’ COURTS.

St. Luke viii. 3.

“ Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward.”

St. Luke lias been bere mentioning that as onr Lord
went through the cities and villages of Galilee He was
attended by His disciples and by certain women
which ministered unto Him of their substance, and
among these he thus mentions Joanna. But what
light do we derive either respecting herself or others
in the sacred narrative from this short designation of
her—“ Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward ? ”

How many subjects of inquiry occur to us as we
read of our Lord’s manifesting Himself in Galilee;
for instance, when He was persecuted from place to
place by the Pharisees and preached the Gospel to
the poor, we may wish to know what effect all this
had on the great, as on the king of Galilee himself,
Herod Antipas, and his attendants; and then even
these few words of the text may supply us with
matter of thought. Por it appears from this that
even from the king’s own household, even in the wifeTHE WITNESS IN KINGS’ COTJKTS.	247

of his steward was found one of those holy women,
who attended upon Christ, and ministered unto His
personal wants.

To enter into this more fully let us first consider
what we know of this Herod himself. He was in
some respects the counterpart of Ahab, the king of
Israel; as Ahab had Elijah to warn him, so had
Herod John the Baptist; as Jezebel persecuted
Elijah to the death, so the guilty Herodias had John
the Baptist imprisoned and slain; and further in like
manner we may here observe that as Ahab had for
his steward the faithful Obadiah, so we may learn
from the text that Herod had probably in his steward
himself, or at all events in his wife, a follower of Jesus
Christ. And what effect is this likely to have had on
Herod himself from what we know of his character ?
He was not at first utterly wicked and irreclaimable, but
had, like Ahab, visitings of conscience, and was open
to good; he heard John the Baptist gladly, “ and ob-
served him and did many things because of him A
but when reproved by him for doing what was con-
trary to the Law in taking Herodias, his brother
Philip’s wife, he imprisoned the Man of God; and then
taken in the wiles of Satan, and instigated from crime
to crime, he, though unwillingly and grieved, ordered
him to be put to death. Ho doubt from that time
he became much more hardened, but not even then
altogether dead in wickedness. The next thing we
read of him is that he heard of Christ and was desirous
to see Him, saying, “ Who is this of whom I hear
such things?” And his guilty conscience suggested
to him that it was John the Baptist who was risen
again from the dead, “ and therefore,” said he,
“ mighty works do show forth themselves in him ;” or248

JOANNA.

rather, others around him were glad to co-operate with
these his fears by suggesting it, for, says St. Luke, “ it
was said of some, That John was risen from the
dead1.” It was probably then at this time that it
was not through the enemies of Christ that he heard
of Him, but through those who were more or less
deeply impressed with His miracles and teaching.
Chuza his own steward must have known much even
through his wife, and probably had been himself among
those who witnessed His mighty works. It was
through his own honoured and faithful servant Oba-
diah that God was pleased to let Ahab know of
Elijah; and perhaps through the like mercy He or-
dained that Herod should hear of Christ through those
who would wish that he should be brought to belief
and repentance. But the wicked Herod was dealing
falsely with his own conscience and with others; as
before he would himself have put John the Baptist to
death had he not feared the multitude, so now, partly
out of deference to others, he withheld his hand, and
with a mixture of good and evil wished to see Christ.
Yet some, perhaps knowing him better, said to Christ
that Herod would. kill Him. Our Lord Himself
called him “ that foxand knowing that His three
years should be first accomplished, and that He should
die at Jerusalem, left it till that time when the full-
grown wickedness of Herod should be consummated;
and he with his soldiers should set Him at nought
and mock Him, while he acknowledged His miracles.
“ Eor he was desirous to see Him of a long season,”
says the account, “ because he had heard many things
of Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by
Him.” It was three years before that our Lord had
1 St. Mark vi. 14. St. Luke ix. 7.THE WITNESS IN KINGS’ COTJETS.	249

said to a nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum,
that is, as it appears, to one of this king’s courtiers
or lords, “ Except ye see signs and wonders ye will
not believe.” But even after abundance of signs and
miracles this Herod Antipas was still hardened ; he
believed, but it was like the belief of evil spirits,
except that he trembled not*

Such then was this king, and such had been God’s
gracious dealings with him and long forbearance, and
it is as one thus belonging to or connected with him
that this holy woman is mentioned, u Joanna the wife
of Chuza Herod’s steward.” And we know not how
much God may have done through her means in
making her a witness of His truth to this man and
his household—the name of Chuza and of Herod thus
in connexion with her suggests much to us. And we
may consider her as representing those women whose
lot in life it has been to be placed amongst wicked or
worldly persons. Eor such may be laid up a very
bright crown amongst the saints of God. This woman
has not only been thought worthy to be recorded by
name in God’s book as waiting upon Christ, but also
to be mentioned with Mary Magdalene herself, and
next to her, -so that Joanna has become a holy name
as well as that of Mary, to be sanctified in the memory
of all ages. Hor is this the only place where this
name occurs; on the morning of our Lord’s resurrec-
tion St. Luke again speaks of Joanna in conjunction
with Mary Magdalene, as conveying tidings to the
Apostles. Erom which we may infer that she is pro-
bably included also in those women, mentioned by St.
Matthew and St. Mark, as having followed Him from
Galilee and ministering unto Him, who were behold-
ing the Cross from afar off.250

JOANNA.

Let us then consider these two in that connexion
with each other which is suggested to us in the pas-
sage from which the text is taken. “ Mary called
Magdalene,” it is said, “out of whom went seven
devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s
steward,” these wnre eminent among “many others
which ministered unto Him.” Perhaps the description
here given of these two saintly women may suggest
two classes of trials to which these two severally had
been subject: the trials of Mary were mostly from
within, from herself, her body had been possessed by
seven devils, her soul by many sins; and out of both
of these Christ had delivered her by His mercy and
grace. The trials of Joanna were more from without,
which are often no less severe than those from within.
By the disposals of God to be connected with, or placed
under those with whom there can be no peace and
sympathy, who are at enmity with God, and despise
or hate and persecute those who love and are faithful
to Him; this has been to many a very sore probation.
It is not in this way or that way only, or in one defi-
nite form, but in many and .manifold ways it may
beset them. Under masters, or landlords, or parents,
or clergymen, or near relatives, or neighbours, persons
may be so situated as scarce to be able to look for
comfort all their days. "What a painful state must it
have been to Obadiah to have belonged to Ahab and
to Jezebel, stained with the blood of Naboth! and
yet more miserable to have belonged to the household
of that Galilean king who was guilty of the blood of
St John, the great forerunner; and wrho could make a
mock of Christ • and who in all his conduct wras as the
crafty and cruel beast of prey, lying in wait to deceive
and destroy. But if God in His mercy had not givenTHE WITNESS IN KINGS5 COTJETS.

251

them up, who shall complain at being made the in-
strument of His goodness F

Pirst of all then let us consider it with respect to
those unrepenting or unbelieving persons, for whose
sake God is pleased to put this trial upon others by
placing them in contact with them. It is not an un-
frequent case, for the most unprincipled masters will
wish to have honest and faithful servants; their own
self-interest makes them to lean upon them: and
manifold are the other relations and occasions of life
which will bring such persons together. In all these
cases alluded to there is naturally some affection; I
mean that nature itself inclines persons to feel some
affection towards those who are made by Providence
to be dependent on them, as parents towards their
children, kings towards their subjects, pastors towards
their flock; affection mutual and on both sides; and
indeed so it is also in some degree between persons
connected in any manner by any tie of relationship,
neighbourhood, or worldly business and the like; there
is something of love where man is made to draw near
to man. Such indeed may be impaired and destroyed,
may be converted even into hate and ill-will by perse-
cution or contention, or secret envy; but it may also
be cherished and improved; at all events there it
naturally exists. ~Nor is it peculiar to mankind, it is
the same even throughout the animal creation.

"When therefore a holy and religious person is
placed in such connexion with evil and fro ward men,
it is graciously intended of God that a good example
should influence them through these affections; that
the witness of God’s truth should thus be brought
near to them and their hearts thus softened to em-
brace it. Perhaps there is no -way in the world by252

JOANNA.

which more souls are won to God than by this. If a
parent is ever so wicked, a dutiful child loving God
must have some effect upon him: if a child through
impatience should withdraw itself from such a situa-
tion wherein God has placed it, and leave its parent;
allured by the hope of greater usefulness or higher
holiness elsewhere; such a parent may thus lose his
best chance of salvation. We are all made dependent
one upon another, not only with regard to our tem-
poral, but also our eternal and spiritual interests.
Nay, as Christians we are members one of another;
and one member must minister to another, or both
will suffer; no one can say to another, “ I have no
need of thee.” I do not say that every one is to
preach to another with whom he may be thus con-
nected, nor even to admonish or warn, nor to bear
purposed and direct testimony, but in the disposals of
God it is intended that the conduct of one is to bear
silent witness to another. What is here spoken of
parent and child is in its degree true of every other
state of dependency. Where God has placed our lot
we know not what consequences to others may be in-
volved in our due fulfilment of it, and our not desert-
ing it. While Herod was becoming more and more
bewildered in paths of crime and his steps overtaken
by the eternal darkness, we know not what light from
time to time may have broken in upon his path, from
a faithful woman who ministered unto Christ and fol-
lowed His steps. He may have heard of her faith
and good deeds ; or others more near to himself may
have been influenced by her, and thus brought near to
him the knowledge of Christ. One incident, one
saying may have knocked at his heart at the dead of
night, or in some other communing with his own breast.THE WITNESS m KIMS’ COTTETS.

258

A good angel may thus have passed the gloom where-
in he was surrounded by evil spirits, and showed him a
way to escape ere the last pit had shut her mouth
upon his soul.

It is not for nought that Joseph and Moses are in
the house of the Pharaohs; that Daniel is a captive in
the palace of Babylonian kings; that Pluldah the
prophetess, the wife of the keeper of the wardrobe, is
in the college of falling Jerusalem ; that the little
captive maid of Israel waits on the wife of Naaman;
that jNaaman himself is in the court of his Syrian
master; the baptized eunuch in that of the distant
Ethiopian queen; that the voice of St. Paul the cap-
tive is heard in the imperial household at Borne ; that
the faithful Onesimus is returned as a slave to the
house of Philemon his master.

What if, when the shadow of a daughter’s presence
is no longer seen, or the echo of her voice heard in
a house, a more fixed dislike to religion settles and
broods on a parent’s heart; such were no good disco-
very to make at last in another world.

But again;—there may be another reason why a
person is placed by the disposal of God among the
evil and unkind, and that is for the trial and disci-
pline of his own soul. Such a cross may be quite
needful for his own salvation. It is an easy thing for
persons to choose a cross for themselves according to
their own fancy : but that which is imposed on us by
God Himself, i. e. by a clear call of duty or charity,
may after all be best suited for the particular disorder
of our own hearts, that failing by which we are most
of all deceived or led astray. An evil parent, or
master, or clergyman may be imposed upon us as a
scourge for our sins, and at the same time as a most2 54

JOAMA.

necessary remedy for them, the best trial of onr
humility, of our patience, or charity; the best proof
of our submission to the will of God. All the crosses
in the world may be unable to produce in us that
good which this one is intended for; the last we
should have chosen for ourselves perhaps, but one
sent to us of God by His own good angel, and
weighed out for us in the scales of His own eternal
love. One scene of trial may be necessary for Mary
Magdalene, another for Joanna; but both alike, if
they minister to Christ and hear His word, will be
directed and guided by Him in the way that He
would choose ; and in the end it will be seen how in-
finitely better His choice for them has been than any
thing they could have chosen for themselves.

It is only necessary to add that those whose duty
places them amongst evil men, or in any way in de-
pendence on them, must learn from this example, that
they do not on that account omit their attendance on
God, rather they must be more careful to continue
Christ’s faithful servants. Por “ if the salt have lost
his savour, wherewith shall it be salted p ”

The maxim given by St. Paul is this, “ Let every
man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God2.”
But observe it must be “ with God.” The flame must
burn within, the oil of God’s grace must be there,
and the lamp constantly trimmed and replenished,
that it may minister light to others.

2 1 Cor. vii. 24.SERMON XXIII.

THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

THE TOUCH OE EAITH.

St. Luke viii. 48.

11 And he said unto her, Daughter, he of good comfort; thy faith
hath made thee whole; go in peace.”

The account of the woman who was healed on touching
the hem of our Lord’s garment is familiar to us all,
and is often brought before us as recorded in three
Evangelists. She had been suffering from an issue of
blood for twelve years, and had full faith in Christ’s
Divine power to heal her; but how could she ap-
proach Him, for she was legally unclean? whatever
she touched would be unclean also, and she was shut.
out from the service of Grod; how then could she
communicate with the Holy One ? The lepers indeed
who were in a like condition stood afar off, and with a
loud voice called to Him; but she could not do this.
She might indeed throw herself at His feet, and state
her complaint; but modesty and humility forbad this,
and the pressure of the crowd rendered it impossible
for one that was unclean. This being the case, she
said within herself, “ If I may but touch His garment,258 THE WO MAH WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

I shall be whole.” “ And she came in the press behind
Him, and touched the border of His garment.” And
here we may observe how her faith went beyond the
Law, and took hold of Christ, the Giver of the Law;
for according to the Law the garment which she thus
touched would be unclean: but she may have seen
how He Himself had pat forth His hand, and touched
the leper, taking upon Himself our sin; and she knew
that His body, being full of life and Godhead, must
therefore be altogether incapable of uncleanness. She
touched, and felt instantly in her body that she was
healed.

All this might have passed unnoticed; but for her
sake, and for our sakes, the Lord stopped, “turned
about Him in the press,” and drew particular atten-
tion to what had taken place. Many had thronged
Him and pressed Him, but there had been one pecu-
liar touch, the touch of faith. And after calling the
attention of the disciples to it, “He looked round
about,” it is said, “to see her that had done this
thing.” And now the -woman, “when she saw that
she was not hid, came, trembling, and falling down
before Him, she declared unto Him, before all the
people, for what cause she had touched Him, and how
she was healed immediately.”

How it is obvious from this whole account that our
Lord was much pleased with this woman; for the
thought of her heart was instantly granted; and He
singled her out to express and show His approval of
her before all; He addressed her with the loving term,
“Daughter;” He raised her trembling heart, saying,
“Be of good comfort;” He told her that it was her
faith that had done all; and bade her “ Go in peace.”
But now, what would have been the judgment of menTHE TOUCH OE EAITH.

257

in these days of this action ? No doubt it would be
quite the contrary, she would be very generally con-
demned as guilty of gross and ignorant superstition—
in supposing that the hem of a garment could have
any thing to do with healing. Yet this is not a soli-
tary instance in the Gospels ; on one occasion it is
said by St. Luke himself, the beloved Physician, “ And
the whole multitude sought to touch Him; for there
went virtue out of Him, and healed them all b” And
at another time St. Matthew says, they u brought
unto Him all that were diseased ; and besought Him
that they might only touch the hem of His garment:
and as many as touched were made perfectly whole2.”
The Jews had the words of the Law written on the
borders of their garments, and the Pharisees made
broad these phylacteries or hems of their robes in
order to render this more conspicuous; but the hem
of our Lord’s garment was mercy. Like the fragrant
oil poured upon the head of the High Priest, which
“ went down,” says the Psalmist, “ to the skirts of his
clothing,” so the very borders of our Lord’s raiment
were overflowing with love and power; even as on the
Mount of the Transfiguration they were seen full of
Divine light and glory.

Nor is this the only instance in the New Testament
which appears to partake of this character, such as
would be now considered superstitious. Thus we
read in the Acts of the Apostles, “ And God wrought
special miracles by the hands of Paul; so that from
his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or
aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the
evil spirits went out of them3.”

1 St. Luke vi. 19. 2 St. Matt. xiv. 35, 36.	3 Acts xix. II, 12.

S258 THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

It is also something of the same kind where it is
said, “ They brought forth the sick into the streets,
and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least
the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow
some of them V’

Prom these things we may conclude that a disposi-
tion like that of this woman is not unpleasing to God;
it is very unlike that of the Sadducee who believed not
in Angel or spirit; and of the Pharisee who kept the
letter of the law without love; but it is one which we
Christians must not despise, as it is accepted of
Christ. It shows us that our danger is not of too
much veneration, but of too little. So much so that
all the grace we shall receive will be according to our
faith in the Godhead of Christ. It may be observed
that these instances we have spoken of arise from
faith in His Divine Person. It was this that sancti-
fied the very garment which He wore; it was this
that made the shadow of St. Peter, and the things
that touched St. Paul’s body to be full of healing
power; because whatever they did they wrought solely
and expressly “in the JName of Jesus Christ5.” It
was faith that took to itself all that belonged to Him;
and looking upon it for His sake as holy and Divine
made it to be full of power. Does not nature itself
teach us something of this kind? is it not so with
human love ? if a mother has lost an only son, is not
every thing the child used full of love and remem-
brance to her ? does it not kindle up her very soul
and fill her with him again ? So it needs must be
that faith in Christ as God, must in all things that
belong to Him awaken up in the heart that faith.

i Acts v. 15.

5 Acts iii. 6. 16; iv. 10. 30.THE TOUCH OE EAITH.

259

which takes hold of Him. And faith, if it be but as a
grain of mustard seed, shall do great things.

But in what would this loving and adoring temper
show itself now among ourselves F Surely in all
things that pertain to our Lord’s Most Sacred Body.
There is a very remarkable circumstance recorded in
the Gospel which will tend to illustrate this. The
first who believed in our Lord’s Resurrection without
having seen Him was the disciple of Divine love.
And what were the circumstances which led him to
believe ? He came, we are told, to the sepulchre—
and looking in saw the linen clothes lying; this
arrested his attention—but he went not in—from a
feeling probably of awe and veneration, like the Angels
who cover their faces with their wings before the
Throne. But St. Peter went in “ and saw,” says St.
John, “the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was
about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but
wrapped together in a place by itself.” And then it
was added that St. John also himself entering in saw
this : “ and he saw,” he says, “ and believed.” What
was it that he had seen that produced in him so mar-
vellous a change ? It was because he saw the Divine
care that had been taken even with the very grave-
clothes that had been on his Lord’s Body. Love,
which surpasseth all things for illumination, from this
slight circumstance inferred the whole, that the Lord
had risen. From this—which would have been to
others a trivial circumstance, unregarded, and which
even St. Peter himself had not thus observed—from
this faith apprehended all, the very mystery of mys-
teries—and from that little clue penetrating through
the veil entered into the Holy of Holies. It was the
s 2260 THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

reverential care which had thus been shown to that
which had wrapped that sacred Head, and the linen
that had been on that sacred Body. But who is it
that had taken this great care ? might we not have
expected that these things which had wrapped the
dead would have been any how cast aside, without a
thought, and unheeded, in that great rising? Was it
done by our Blessed Saviour Himself P or was it not
rather by the Angels who were in the tomb P At all
events, and in either case, it was for our instruction
that the account is given, and the care is shown ; and
the fruits are immediately seen, for the beloved Dis-
ciple “ saw and believed.”

I speak of this circumstance because ij; seems
to refer so immediately to the subject we are now
considering; but how are we to apply it ? how are
we to understand it as speaking to ourselves at
this day ? We have also the Lord’s Body in more
senses than one even now among us; and there
is one very deep and mysterious subject on which
I am not about to enter, that of the adoration due
to our Lord’s Presence at the Holy Eucharist; for
we are not now speaking of our Lord’s Body, but
of His raiment; or rather of the hem of His gar-
ment ; and we are considering to what we can apply
this among ourselves, wherein this temper so approved
of by Him may be shown. To those who would think
aright of His Sacred Body, His Divine Person, so full
of power and mercy, all things connected with the ser-
vice of the Altar must be of this kind, like the raiment
of the Lord’s Body. And these observations of what
took place ip our Lord’s tomb will immediately sug-
gest to a thoughtful mind the words of St. PaulTHE TOUCH OE EAITH.

261

respecting Divine Service, “ Let all things be done
decently and in order6.” But this incident of the
healing going forth from the hem of our Lord’s gar-
ment, gives a peculiar life and interest to this subject,
as suggesting not so much a command or a duty con-
nected with it, as a blessing. It is so throughout the
New Testament in all things respecting our Lord’s
Person and the ordinances of His Church, as in the
Laying on of hands and the like; it speaks to us
not so much of duty to be performed by us, as of
spiritual gifts to be received, of privilege and blessing;
suggesting a fear lest on our part we fall short of that
privilege, and lose the gift and the blessing. To
devout minds many of the holy rites of our religion
must be of this kind, like the clothing of Christ;
held in much reverence and honour, and therefore
healing and hallowing to their souls. We do not
look now for sensible miracles, the hem of Christ’s
garment does not work any thing of this kind now;
for He, “ Who alone worketh great marvels,” performs
now greater miracles in sanctifying the soul through
faith, and making it fit for His Presence. And she
who in much trembling, but in faithful adoring love
would touch the hem of His garment, or gather up
the crumbs under His table, is of that spirit which
will obtain these blessings. Holy things are holy to
holy persons, and to such there goes forth from them
a cleansing, quickening, hallowing power, inasmuch as
they are connected with Christ and remind of Him.

Again; there are in like manner many other things
which such a person cannot but look upon with re-
verence and love, from their like nearness to Christ;

6 1 Cor. xiv. 40.262 THE WOMAH WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

'as the Cross, the most endearing and solemn token of
His sufferings; the Bible, as containing His revealed
Will for us; a Church, as being His “ House of
Prayer ;” and the Chancel yet more, as being in com-
parison with the Church, as the napkin which had
been about His Head compared with the linen clothes
which had wrapped His sacred Body. In like manner
the very days of His Crucifixion, and His burial, and
His Eesurrection and Ascension, joining us on to Him
in remembrance, are full of virtue going forth from
Him. And must we not add also His ministry, as
being like the shadow of Peter passing by ? for of these
our Lord Himself saith, “ Whosoever receiveth you
receiveth Me.” All these things are trials of our
faith and reverence, because they belong to Christ;
they are indeed in some sense “ of the earth, earthy,”
for, as St. Paul says, “we have this treasure in earthen
vessels ;” and so likewise were His poor garments upon
earth made of perishable materials and by human
hands. But all these things connected with the worship
and remembrance of Him, seem to wrap around the
sacred Person of His Incarnate Godhead, which He
has promised shall be with us even unto the end of the
world.

We are sure that we are safe and right in thus
applying these things, from the extreme care which
was prescribed under the Law to every part of the
worship of God, and that the same is sanctioned by
our Blessed Saviour in the very strongest manner in
the Gospel. “ He would not suffer,” says St. Mark,
“ that any man should carry any vessel through the
temple.” Upon this subject beyond all others Pie
was transported as it were beyond Himself into an
impassioned zeal—so that the disciples saw that ofTHE TOUCH OE EAITH.

268

Him it was written, “ the zeal of thine House hath
eaten Me up7.” And all this His lesson, of the
deepest veneration and care which is due to the things
of God, was directed to us Christians especially, be-
cause that temple of the Jews was then about to be
forsaken of God and destroyed, with all its services;
but the Prophet, to whom He referred, spoke, He
said, of His House which should be “ the House of
Prayer for all nations8.”

So full of instruction, then, is the deed of this
woman,—rich it may be in worldly station, yet poor
in spirit,—whom the world would consider as weak
and superstitious, but whom Christ accepts as His
own daughter, the child of faith, whom He cleansed
and healed of her plague, and filled with His own con-
solation and peace. It is a token of the spirit in
which God delights, and affords a sufficient defence of
those who, with a like spirit of reverence, would
regard all those Christian privileges under which they
live.

But the incident seems still more applicable to
another case, the very opposite to this, but in which
a similar spirit is shown,—that of those who are with-
out these privileges. Por it may be observed that
this woman thus approached Christ because she had
no other means of doing so; she was cut off from all
access to Him, such as others enjoyed, by her legal
uncleanness. “ She did what she could.” Her adora-
tion of His Divine Person extended to every thing
that belonged to Him; she conceived the border of
His clothes to be full of His holiness and Divine
power; and her faith made it to be. How, the visible

r St. John ii. ]?.

8 St. Mark xi. 17.264 THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

Church of Christ has been often likened to the raiment
which He wore, which was one and indivisible, being
without seam throughout. But now, many there are
who are without all Christian privileges, who have no
Church, no appointed Ministry, no Sacraments, no
ordained channels of Divine grace, who may be said
to be almost, as it were, outside the visible Church;
yet they hear of Christ, they may read of Him, and
embrace Him with humble faith and love, and make
some advances towards holiness of life, having within
them thereby a cleansing power that delivers from sin.
But now how is this? if they are without the ap-
pointed means of grace, they are not, as it were,
under that His Divine robe, which, like the mantle of
Elijah, was so full of power. How, then, can their
lives indicate the fruits of the Spirit ? It is because
they have looked to Him in faith, and in faith have
touched the hem of His garment, and that the virtue
going forth thence hath healed and strengthened
them. It may be, whether through their own fault
or that of others, that they have no other access to
Him. They have done all that lay in their power
to do. And God hath met them in His mercy, which
overflows all bounds.

And as this applies to those who are beyond and
without the ordinances and privileges of Christ’s
Church, so does it also to those who have these much
impaired, or in scanty and slight measure. The cir-
cumstance may afford inexpressible consolation to
some who are thus situated ; to those who have but
few opportunities of Holy Communion, or, it may be,
are shut out by sickness or otherwise from the visible
means of grace in such measure as they would wish.
To them this instance may be a very treasure of com-THE TOUCH OE EAITH.

265

fort. For in like manner their want may become
their wealth; their loss their great gain ; if it promotes
in them humility and reverence like this, so as by
faith to touch and “take hold of the skirt ” of Christ9.
For thus our gracious Lord is sometimes drawing
those the most near to Him whom He seems to be
putting afar off. Thus consider this very occasion;
our Lord was going with the Euler of the Synagogue
to lay His hand upon his daughter—according to the
Euler’s request. He was, so to speak, taking all this
trouble, and going to a distance, on account of the
weak faith of the Euler; for instead of saying, “ Speak
the word only, and my daughter shall be healed,” he
said, “ Come, and lay Thy hand upon her.” How this
man as Euler of the Synagogue must have been in the
height of Jewish privileges; but this meek woman,
shut out from such altogether, presses before Him
into the Kingdom of God, and coming behind without
a word obtains instant health.

And oh, my brethren, how infinitely great is our
blessedness, and the goodness of God towards us! the
Jew’s phylactery, i. e. his preservative, was in the
hem of his own raiment, and the commandments
written therein; but our phylactery is the hem of
Christ’s garment. Blessed is the sickness and be-
reavement which so humbles us that we take hold of
that, apprehending in faith Christ’s Godhead. When
the glare of this world’s day is about us, we do not
see the stars of Heaven; but in a dark pit, “ in dark-
ness and the deep,” we should do so even in the day-
time. And thus they who are made low do best ap-
prehend the things that are highest, while their faith

9 Zech. viii. 23.286 THE "WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

surpasseth knowledge; and in the pit, and the deep of
afflictions, when the bars of death and darkness are
about them, they behold in faith the Heavens opened,
and Jesus Christ standing on the right hand of
God.

“We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that
we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which
raiseth the dead V’

Many imagine what a very religious and peaceful
life they would lead amongst holy persons and Church
ordinances, and when they fail to obtain these to their
mind they are discouraged, their faith fails; whereas
this is not the temper required of us; it is that which
feels itself unworthy of the lowest of Christ’s gifts
through His Church ; and therefore, while it earnestly
embraces all that it can obtain, is, if I may say so,
“ ready to give thanks, and live,” on the least. For
faith will make the least to be the greatest in many
senses; it will make the least privileges to be the
greatest through the spirit of reverence and humility.
It is the altar that sanctifies the gift; it is the Pre-
sence of Christ crucified that makes the meanest
things connected with the remembrance of Him to be
life-giving to the soul.

But it may be asked, is there not a danger on this
subject P to which it must be answered that we have
been only considering throughout what Holy Scrip-
ture says, where all the cautions are not against
too much, but against too little veneration for the
things of God. All things may be corrupted by the
evil heart of man; holiest things abused, and the
pearls of God trampled under foot; and some outside

1 2 Cor. i. 9.THE TOUCH OE EAITH.

267

forms and shadows of religion put in place of the
keeping of the heart. But I am here merely unfolding
the guidance of Scripture.

When Hezekiah broke down the idolatrous altars
and images which the children of Israel had raised, he
destroyed also the brazen serpent that Moses had
made2; but why did he do so P not because it was
held in veneration as the memorial of the healing in
the wilderness, and the emblem of sin destroyed by
Christ’s Cross; but because that wicked and apostate
nation, like the children of Ham and the worst
idolaters of Canaan, worshipped and burnt incense
to the serpent that was thereon. And in like manner
Antichrist will come in the place of Christ, with lying
wonders and all deceivableness of unrighteousness in
them that perish, who are given over to believe a lie.

But this is quite another matter to our looking with
the utmost possible awe and love to all things con-
nected with the worship of Christ; not asking of
Him for sensible miracles, but for cleansing grace,
and power against sin; “ the plague of his own heart,”
which each one knows.

Bemember our Lord’s words, “ Thy faith hath made
thee whole,”—not My garment, but thy faith. The
disciples bear witness, “ Master, many throng Thee
and press Theeso we may say now, Many throng
Thy courts, and approach Thee; many touch Thy
garments through Thine ordinances; nay, many touch
even Thy Sacred Body through Thy Sacraments; but
one only hath found the healing virtue going forth
from Thee; she that hath touched Thy garment in
faith. Hot faith without that touch; not that touch

2 2 Kings xviii. 4.268 THE WOMAH WITH THE ISSUE OE BLOOD.

without faith; but both being together, these through
Thy Church visible have reached Thee.

Come, then, thou weary, heavy-laden, trembling
soul, unclean and labouring for twelve years, who
hast been to many physicians, yet art no better, but
rather worse; put it to the test, and try if the mercies
of Christ be straitened, or His hand shortened.SERMON XXIV.

THE WOMAN OE CANAAN.

IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER.

St. Matthew xy. 22.

“ And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts,
and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou
son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”

We have often occasion to notice how great is the
variety of persons set before us in Holy Scripture; as
one star differs from another star; as one countenance
from another; as one flower from another with every
distinction of hue, form, and fragrance. And not only
of persons, but of the occasions and incidents under
which they are shown, there is the like diversity.
Thus the memorable occurrence of which St. Matthew
here speaks stands alone, and unlike any other. It is
not of a marvellous change from evil to good as in
Mary Magdalene; not of one like Salome desirous of
the first place for her children; but of one content to
be at the feet of the lowest in Christ’s kingdom; not
of a continuance night and day in the Temple in fast-
ings and prayers as Anna the Prophetess; but of one
great act of importunity in prayer; and that in a270

THE WO MAH OE C AH A AH.

heathen afar off. Yet there is no one character, no
one circumstance more held up to our imitation. She
is lifted up from the dust by our Lord Himself, and
set among the stars of Heaven to give light unto the
world even unto the end. God had said to Abraham,

4 ‘ Look now toward Heaven and tell the stars ... so
shall thy seed be V’ And not least among those stars
is the woman of Canaan. She has His praise like “ a
diadem on her head of the glory of the Everlasting.”

“ All the meek of the earth ” they come to Thee 2, “ as
the doves to their windows ” they fly3.

But what a treasury does this incident contain of
Divine knowledge! what a type for Christian philo-
sophy! what a living symbol of God’s providential
dealings in His spiritual kingdoms! Eor consider
what is signified by God requiring of us importunity
in prayer. It implies that God often hears our
prayers when He seems not to hear them, that He
often continues silent and answers not our request for
some time; nay more, that if on such occasions we
give over and cease to ask, we lose the good which He
designs for us. And this is so important that if we
fail of grace now and of glory hereafter, nay, of our
final salvation altogether, it is more owing to this
cause than to any other. Eor what is the reason
why there is such a want of substantial piety around
us, to say nothing of saintly perfection P it is not that
Christians do not pray; they pray well and often; but
they do not pray with that importunity which the
case requires. And this our Lord indicates wThen,
speaking of the few that find the gate of life, He says,
“ Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say

1 Gen, xv. 5.	2 Zeph. ii. 3.	3 Isa. lx. 8.IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER.

271

unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able,
when once the Master of the bouse is risen up, and
batb shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and
to knock4.” That is, that many will seek to enter,
many will pray, but they will not strive, they will not
pray and knock with that importunity, which is ne-
cessary, until it be too late, then they will “ begin
to knock.” They will begin then, as if for the first
time, to see the extreme urgency and need there had
been of importunate prayer, when it is too late.

We may observe that when our Blessed Saviour
went about in the flesh, His life was the manifestation
of Godhead. He showed in His treatment of man-
kind the way in which God deals with us in His pro-
vidence, and in the kingdom of grace. And there is
nothing so remarkable as the way in which He delayed
and put off answering requests, when He intended to
answer them ; and that especially when He was most
pleased with such requests; waiting that He might be
gracious, and in order that He might be so more
abundantly. Such, for instance, is His delay in
granting the request of that good Centurion at whose
faith He marvelled : and of blind Bartimseus calling out
to Him in vain, whom He passed by; and His put-
ting off going to see Lazarus when He was sick and
dying; and His passing by walking on the sea until
the disciples called out to Him; and His sleeping in
the storm at sea until they awoke Him. There are
manifold circumstances of this kind mentioned in the
Gospels, of which all we can say is, that unlike as they
are to the ways of men with each other, they are mar-
vellously like the ways of God with man. Christ is

4 St. Luke xiii. 24, 25.272

THE WOMAN OE CANAAN.

the same yesterday and to-day and for ever, whether
seen in the flesh or known by the experiences of daily
life.

Thus in many ways we acknowledge as a matter of
course, that God is long in answering. The very
words of our prayers which the Holy Ghost puts into
our mouths by the Psalmist imply this, as “ O my
God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not;
and in the night season also I take no rest. And
Thou continuest holy, O Thou worship of Israel.”
“ 0 God, wherefore art Thou absent from us so
long ? ”	“ Hide not Thy face from me in the time of

my trouble.” And especially is it implied in that stir-
ring up of the spirit within unto patience, “ My soul,
wait thou still upon God5.”

The same thing, of God’s being so long in answering
prayer, is implied in our Lord’s parables when He
exhorts us to pray, as when He represents God as
like the unjust judge who will not grant the request of
the importunate widow until He is wearied out by her
continual coming; or like the man in bed at midnight
who, unwilling to be disturbed, refuses to arise and
assist his friend from any feelings of friendship, until
at length compelled to do so to get rid of his impor-
tunities. This is extremely like our Lord’s own con-
duct : on more than one occasion His disciples inter-
fered to put a stop to the persevering importunities of
those whom their Lord seemed unwilling to hear.
But these parables describe the dealings of God as
they may appear unto man, when He is so long in
answering prayer. As the disciples said when He
was asleep in the storm, “ Master, carest Thou not

5 Ps. xxii. lxxiv. cii. lxii.IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER.

273

that we perish6 ?” Yet under all these is implied
what our Lord says on another occasion, “ If ye being
evil know how to give good gifts,” how much more
God who is good ? And there is this vast difference,
that to those persons in the parables the request is
unpleasant and the importunity still more so ; they
wish to get rid of both. But it is much otherwise
with God; He hears every prayer and is much
pleased to hear, and out of very love and goodness He
makes as if He heard not, that those prayers in which
He so much delights may be continued, and He have
the more to give. Lor the more is asked, the more He
gives ; and it is to give that He desires. “ Open thy
mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Extend thy desires,
expand thy soul, that thou mayest be the better able
to receive what God desires to give. Hor is it long
waiting, it is only described as long, because it so
appears to man, impatient of delay. It is not so in
reality, for it is not so with God. “ Shall not God
avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto
Him, though He bear long with them ? I tell you
that He will avenge them speedily7.”

In. the mean time He numbers their sighs, “ puts
their tears into His bottle,” as it is said, that is, lets
no sorrow pass unnoticed: nor indeed is it that He
answers not even at the time, for He is often then
answering most when unperceived, stirring up the
heart to more prayer, to stronger desires, deeper
humility, greater faith.

How all this, which is going on between God and
our souls, is put before us in a living picture in what
takes place between our Lord and this woman of

7 St. Luke xviii. 7> 8.

T

6 St. Mark iv. 38.274

THE WO MAH OE CAHAAH.

Canaan. The account as we make it out from com-
paring St. Matthew and St. Mark together is as
follows. When the Pharisees were offended at Caper-
naum, our Lord, as His custom was, retired from
them into those parts of the country occupied by the
heathen. For He was thus wont to withdraw from
persecution in great meekness, according to that de-
scription given of Him by the Prophet Isaiah on one
of these occasions, that He should not strive 8. And
when in the neighbourhood of those cities so famed of
old for their Heathen wickedness, Tyre and Sidon,
there came forth a woman of Canaan, one of that
accursed race that still lingered in the borders of the
land; “a Syro-Phoenician,55 one out of the dregs of
those idolatrous cities of Damascus and Tyre. “ And
she cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O
Lord, Thou son of David; my daughter is grievously
vexed with a devil.55 The Pharisees who knew the
Law and the Prophets, who had in their hands the
oracles of God, the seed of Abraham, and taught and
schooled so long by miracle and sign, by Moses and
the Prophets, and lastly by the Baptist, drove Him
from them, and rejected Him ; and He is acknow-
ledged by her as the true Messiah that was to come*
for she appeals to Him as the “ Son of David.53

Her prayer too is not for herself, but in charity, for
another, her daughter; and not to be delivered from
mere bodily sickness, but from the possession of a
devil, which is of all others the very work of God.
u The Jews sought to kill Him,35 says St. John, so
that “He would not walk in Jewry9.35 He hid Him-
self from them. In great uncharitableness they were

§ St. Matt, xii, 19.

9 St. John vii. 1.IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER.

275

displeased because He cast out devils: she in tender
love for her child seeks of Him that which can only
be done by the Finger and Spirit of God, the great
sign of His kingdom. With such a prayer therefore
He cannot have been displeased, yet it might appear
as if Fie were so. For it is said, “ He answered her
not a word.” But she would not be set aside or
silenced, but followed them along the way, and became
troublesome with her importunate cries, when they
wished to avoid notice. “ And His disciples came
and besought Him, saying, Send her away; for she
crieth after us.” In like manner they rebuked those
who brought little children to Christ, and blind Bar-
timseus for calling out on the way from Jericho. And
now the Lord turns and answers her, but it is only to
reject her request, and to take part as it were with
His disciples in sending her away. “ But He answered
and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the
house of Israel.” As if He had said, “ You acknow-
ledge Me for the Son of David, but the Son of David,
the Great Shepherd, the King of Israel, has for the
object of His care the children of Israel and not the
Canaanite. They are shut out from the Israel and
Temple of God.” And now humanly speaking there
might have been an end. But the all-merciful One
was no doubt all the while moved with great compas-
sions and drawing her more nearly unto Himself,
kindling and expanding her heart and desires after
Him that she might be more abundantly filled, while
neither she nor His disciples knew of this. He
hid His face with a cloud, till that cloud became
illumined, and departing revealed Him that shall
“ arise with healing in His wings.”

And now, the account proceeds, “ He entered into
t 2276

THE WOMAN OE CANAAN.

an house, and would have no man know it;” for He
was retiring from the hatred and persecution of the
Jews, and hiding Himself from them among these Gen-
tiles: “but He could not be hid.” For now the
woman had followed after Him into the house, “ and
came and fell at His feet“ worshipping Him, and
saying, Lord, help me2.” Here is already a deeper
faith, for she now worships Him as God with power to
save. But He refuses again, and returns to the same
denial He had made by the way, but in words more
humiliating and degrading, adding as it were insult,
as St. Augustine says, to His rejection. “But He
answered and said, It is not meet to take the chil-
dren’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” But she puts
on this very shame even as the dogs which lick the
stone that is cast at them3. She accepts the reproach
and degradation, being clothed all over with humility,
and even on that very degradation she grounds again
her plea for mercy. “And she said, Truth, Lord:
yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their
masters’ table.” As if she had said, I acknowledge it
all, they are the children, we the unclean and the out-
casts, bearing the iniquities of our forefathers which
have multiplied from our father Canaan of old, and
“ Sidon his firstborn4but Thy compassions fail not,
and Thy mercies overflow all bounds. We are not
worthy of the least of Thy mercies, but they abound
to us. Thy sun ariseth on the evil and the good.
And Thy mercy is over all Thy works.

And here we may observe that as importunity in
prayer seems to be the great lesson which this inci-
dent would teach us, so the character in which this

1 Sfc. Mark vii. 25.	2 St. Matt. xv. 25.

3 St. Aug.	4 Gen. x, 15.IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER.

277

importunity is found is that of very great humility.
And this humility is connected with faith in Christ as
God. Prom pride the angels fell from Heaven ; from
pride our first parents sinned in Paradise ; from pride
the Pharisees now rejected Christ, vaunting them-
selves as the true children of Abraham. But Christ
came down from Heaven, and being God was made
Man, to teach us the great lesson of humility, and
hath made this the one great law of His kingdom,
“ He that humbleth himself shall be exalted ; and he
that exalteth himself shall be abased.” And we may
observe how this our Lord’s long delay in answering
and apparent rejection exercised in her more and more
this humility, and with her humility her faith in-
creased. Por humility arises from a right knowledge
of ourselves and of God, from a sense of our own
weakness and of His power, from a due understanding
of our own condition before Him, and of His disposi-
tion towards us.

Yet farther; another point we may observe in her
is this, that the disadvantages humanly speaking of
her position, her state as a Heathen, a Canaanite, an
alien to the Israel of Grod, these all were likewise the
means of fostering and strengthening in her this ines-
timable grace of humility. She clothed herself with
her humiliations as with sackcloth, and crowned her
head with her dishonours as with ashes ; that she might
stand a more acceptable suppliant before God. Thus
she comes forth to all ages the firstfruits of the Gen-
tiles ; the acceptance of Canaan, from whence St.
Cyprian and St. Augustine should arise; the coming
of the East in the Syrian; of the Isles in the Phoeni-
cian ; of human wisdom in the Greek; all as the
true offspring of Abraham taking possession of the
true Canaan by faith.278

THE WOMAH OE CAHAAH.

The things that should have been for their wealth
were to the Jews an occasion of falling; but to these
the things of their falling become the occasions of their
great wealth. The Gentile Church hath found by
humiliation what the Jewish had lost by pride; the
Prodigal Son from among the swine would seek not the
bread of sons ; the Publican, half-heathen, stands afar
off, nor dares to lift his eyes to Heaven ; the Centurion
thinks himself not worthy that Christ should enter
into his house, or that he himself should appear before
Him; and the Samaritan falls down at His feet.
But while the violent thus take the kingdom by force,
yet all is by the door of the true fold. Por “ salvation
is of the Jews.” The Publican is in the Temple; the
Centurion comes through the Jewish Elders; the Pn>
digal Son appears in the best robe of his Bather’s
house; and now this Canaanite by the name of the
“ Son of David ” W'Ould approach Him. Thus the
younger son appears in the raiment of the firstborn,
and that clothing is faith,

Hence our Lord accepts her as the true child of
Abraham. This His word hath gone forth into the
ends of the world, and there is nothing hid from the
heat thereof. So high is she now placed by His
answer that follows: —

“ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, 0 woman,
great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.”
By her prayers the devil is cast out of her daughter,
yea, and out of her nation also. And more than this,
the fulness of every wish is put into her hands in these
words, “ Even as thou wilt.” To faith nothing shall
be impossible, He says on another occasion; and now,
44 Great is thy faithwhatever thou wilt is thine.
Canaan of old has been the stronghold of evil spirits ;
but now her daughter shall be freed; rich in faith, sheIMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER.

279

shall inherit the true Canaan; wherein every desire is
fulfilled in God. It shall be “ even as thou wilt,” and
what henceforth does she will, but what God wills P
not riches, or honour, or ease, but the crumbs under
liis table are sufficient below, to be satisfied hereafter
with the plenteousness of His house. Eor humility
below is our best portion, and therefore that which
feeds humility our best means of increase. Angels
have not riches nor honours, neither gold, nor land, nor
possession, because they have all things in God, and
are exceeding rich; and the more we approach to this
state, and to be in God, and to live in God, we shall
need them not.

Hence all is humility ; yesterday it was the hem of
His garment; to-day it is the crumbs under the
table ; all is humility.

In so lively a manner is this woman represented to
us, as one under very pressing necessity and in great
straits, under every disadvantage, and cut off from
every privilege of grace, yet with great importunity
prevailing with God. Her need was very great, but
it was rendered thus great by love—love for her
daughter; her hope of release was rendered very great
by love—love of God. Therefore she fainted not. As
Abraham interceded so off for Sodom; as Jacob
wrestled all night with the angel and would not be put
by; as “ Elias prayed earnestly as St. Paul “ thrice”
to be relieved from the messenger of Satan that hum-
bled him; as our Lord Himself returned three times to
pray, and prayed with strong crying and tears, and
spent whole nights in prayer; so He has given us
this example of that importunity in prayer which He
requires.

In fine, amongst men in the Gentile Church the280

THE WOMAN OE CANAAN.

type and pattern is tliat Centurion at whose faith the
Lord marvelled: amongst women this Canaanite to
whom He said, “ O woman, great is thy faith.” She
who would be most accepted with Him, must most
resemble this woman who first opened unto us Gen-
tiles the door of faith, and had us grafted into the
stock of Abraham. While in her is fulfilled what St.
James says, “ Humble yourselves in the sight of the
Lord, and He shall lift you up5:” to us another
Apostle adds, “ Thou standest by faith. Be not high-
minded, but fear6.”

5 St. James iv. 10.

6 Rom. xi. 20.SERMON XXV.

MABTHA.

WORLDLY TROUBLES.

St. Luke x. 41, 42.

u Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that
good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Some on hearing these words suppose that the differ-
ence between these sisters was that the one was
religious, and the other worldly. It seems rather to
have been the case that both were holy women, but
one of them taken up with active service; the other
more entirely given up to the love of Grod. For the
house of Martha was more like the home of Christ
than any other upon earth; when He was teaching at
Jerusalem it was to Bethany He went out to spend
the night; and St. John says, “ How Jesus loved
Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus V’ And the very
words here in St. Luke are full of affection, as in the
repetition of her name, “ Martha, Martha.” Both the
sisters were loving and beloved of Christ, but there

1 St. John xi. 5.282

MARTHA.

was a difference of character between the two. Here
Martha was engaged about serving, but Mary sat at
Jesus’ feet; and on the other occasion in St. John
“ Martha served,” while Mary poured the precious
ointment. But on both occasions the service of
Martha was good; at this time it was hospitably to
receive Christ in her house; at the other she was
assisting at the Leper’s house at the table where her
brother Lazarus and Christ sat,—a blessed indeed and
kind ministry. With a like active earnestness at her
brother’s death Martha went forth to meet Christ,
saying, “ Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother
had not died but Mary “ fell down at His feet.”

We must consider both then as holy women: and
indeed it has been usual with early writers to consider
the two as representing two estates of life in the
Church, the active and the contemplative, of which
one is better than the other; as if the difference were
mainly owing to line of life and outward circum-
stances ; like stars in Heaven, both moving and shining
in their own courses, but the one with more, the
other with less of brightness. But I would here con-
sider them not as separate estates of life, nor take our
Lord’s words merely as a defence of the good Mary;
but rather look on it as an occasion wherein He
invited Martha to the one thing needful, drawing her
out from a multitude of cares more to Himself. Bor
in fact the active life, i. e. a holy life engaged in active
services of charity, is the best suited for devotion, and
without such devotion it is dead. In the life of our
Blessed Saviour Himself both were combined: He was
always actively doing good, always praying: His days
were given to works of charity, His nights to prayer.

We may therefore, I think, consider Martha to re-WOELDLY TEOUBLES.

283

present those religious women who allow themselves
to he distracted too much with the cares of this
world; and that our Blessed Saviour addressing them
with this voice of tender concern calls upon them to
give up their hearts more entirely to Himself. "We
are not therefore thinking of those whose hearts are
set upon this world, but of those whose hopes and
desires are upon the whole turned to a better, but yet
allow the passing concerns of this life to have too
great hold upon them ; who even in the active occupa-
tions of charity may allow such works to distract them
and trouble them; not bringing all things to God ;
and thus let the world dry up the heart. Bor in the
gifts of God men may forget the Giver ; in charitable
services Him Whom they serve ; in holy ministrations
Him on Whom they minister. Such indeed in any
great trouble, like Martha at her brother’s death, will
look to Christ, and be able to say, “ In the multitude
of the sorrows that I had in my heart, Thy comforts
have refreshed my soul,” but even in so doing they
look to Him more feebly and faintly than they ought
to have done; and He seems to mingle something of
reproof in His tender and compassionate answers to
them, as if saying, “ But oh, why are these thy multi-
tude of sorrows ? ”

Nothing is so desirable as a holy indifference, ab-
sence of care about trifles; and all things are trifles,
except sin.

How Martha appears to have been the mistress of a
household; thus she is mentioned by St. John before
the other two, “ Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus ;”
and St. Luke says, “ Martha received Him into her
house.” It is in such a situation that women are
most apt to be distracted by many cares, and thus to284

MARTHA.

be withdrawn by degrees from a single-hearted devo-
tion to G-od, The necessity of providing for others,
the manifold circumstances of this world’s business
which each day brings with it, its little and great dis-
quietudes ; these are wont to occupy the mind, and
take up the passing hours; and thus to keep the heart
from that entire stay which should be upon God. On
waking in the morning they intrude into the mind,
and prevent those first thoughts which ought to be
given to God and eternity; they then lead to wander-
ings and distractions in prayer; and as the day pro-
ceeds they have still further this power; and things
that occur are not looked upon as coming from God,
or at least but feebly and partially so ; and that
soothing and affectionate voice of Christ is forgotten,
which bids us cast all our care upon Him. Hence
are “many troubles,” for many are the calls of the
world ; “there be gods many, and lords many2,” but
our God is but One, and one thing only is needful,
which is to love Him, with one service, one heart, one
soul, and a single eye. Many are the days of this
world’s labour, but the Sabbath is one; and the
Christian’s Sabbath swallows up all the days of the
week, for it is to him all one Sabbath, for this Sabbath
is Christ, and signifies rest in Him. He has no
labour but in Christ; of the many days of the week
there is none but in which he keeps his Sabbath in
Christ, his true rest3.

Much was the noise at that feast, many voices,
much coming and going, many preparations; but in

2	1 Cor. viii. 5.

3	“ He to whom all things are one, who draweth all things to
one, and seeth all things in one, may enjoy true peace and rest of
spirit.” Thomas a Kempis.WORLDLY TROUBLES.

285

one side of that room was a still and small voice
which, when Martha drew near, spake to her of that
rest. And this voice of Christ speaking to Martha
while Mary is at His feet, is one and the same as that
by which He speaks to us by His Apostle again, “ Be
careful for nothing ; but in every thing by prayer and
supplication let your requests be made known unto
God V’ The heart that is entirely with God goes
forth as it were from prayer into the business of the
day; but that which is not entirely given to God,
prays indeed, but goes from the business of life to
prayer, and its prayers are cumbered and made heavy
by earthly thoughts. The world is not lifted up to
Heaven, but weighs down the wings of the spirit which,
would soar thither.

And again, this being cumbered about much serving
may imply the want of that regularity which will be
found in the best ordered life; this was not the time
for much serving, but for listening to Christ; prepara-
tions for receiving ought to have been before. Seasons
of devotion are lost for want of this order.

But to return: this is the case with many as they
advance in life who have been at some time more
thoroughly devoted to God. In youth or childhood
they made God their portion, and now when they hear
the words of the Psalmist, “ Whom have I in Heaven
but Thee F and there is none upon earth that I desire
in comparison of Thee 5,” and the like, they are much
struck and embrace them, but with a sad sigh or a
tear. They would still wish and desire, and indeed
long to serve Him better; but in the mean while a
multitude of cares grows on them and increases, and

4 Phil. iv. 6.

5 Ps. lxxiii. 24.28G

MAETHA.

though they occasionally drive them away, yet like
importunate flies they continually return, and hinder
their growth in grace. And what is the result of
this P they look back upon the years that are past,
or they are taken away in the midst of their career,
and other affectionate hearts look back for them on
the years they spent on earth, and oh, what a sad
sight! enough indeed to wring the heart with sorrow,
to move, it may be, an Angel’s tears, or as we are sure
it does the compassionate lament of Him Who hath
so intimately cared for us: days on earth, and weeks,
and months, and years, all a history of vain dis-
quietudes, empty troubles that came to nothing, petty
griefs and continual interferences of sorrow, which all
the while kept the heart from its true home in God:
thoughts perhaps which at the very hour of death led
the soul to cast longing and lingering looks behind,
rather than to look forward with one absorbing love
and hope to the coming change.

I have been here speaking of household duties
occupying too much the mind of women as years ad-
vance, and thus drawing away the heart from its “ first
love.” But there may be an instance of another kind,
as in those whose affections seek too much to find
rest in mankind: there are some plants which cannot
bear themselves up alone to the dews and rains and
sun, but sustain and lift themselves up on another
tree or plant; and thus among mankind some feel as
if they could not support themselves without leaning
on others. And thus they become all their days filled
with disappointments and disquietudes and many sor-
rows—-for this which they seek can never be—for God
hath said, “ Cursed is he thattrusteth in man.” And
He hath made Himself in Christ to be to us all thatWOKLDLY TEOTJBLES.

287

in this way the soul can need. He hath called upon
us to give up for Himself all the most tender relation-
ships in life; saying that if we do not we are not
worthy of Him. And even more than this, He has
invited us in the very strongest manner to cast every
care upon Him, He has expressly forbidden us to
lean on any thing but Himself, He has with all sor-
, rowful concern and tenderness expostulated with those
His most intimate disciples, who in want of faith had
misgivings of this His most intimate love and care,
saying, “ Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith ? ”
And again, “ Why are ye troubled P and why do
thoughts arise in your hearts ?” And again, “ Let
not your heart be troubled,” twice repeated, “ neither
let it be afraid V’

Yet notwithstanding all these assurances of our
Blessed Saviour, some still speak as if all these things
might be found in some earthly affection—they speak
of man and of the rest for the soul to be found in
man, in words which are indeed very true and most
beautiful as applied to Christ, but are to be spoken of
Him only without sin.

Bor instance, a book fell into my hands lately, of
one giving advice to women, in which I read these
words spoken of domestic affection:—

“ Dependence is in itself an easy and pleasant
thing; dependence upon one we love being the
sweetest thing in the world. To resign one’s self
totally and contentedly into the hands of another; to
have no longer any need of asserting one’s rights or
one’s personality, knowing that both are as precious
to that other as they ever were to ourselves ; to cease

6 St. John xiv. 1 and 27.288

MAETHA.

taking thought about one’s self at all, and rest safe, at
ease, assured that in great things and small we shall
be guided and cherished, guarded and helped—in fact,
thoroughly ‘ taken care of' ”

And then this writer goes on to say how delightful
all this is, so much so “ that it seems granted to very
few, and to still fewer as a permanent condition of
being.” These words allude to an earthly attachment
to “ father, brother, or husband.” But oh, how well and
how truly do they describe what Christ may be to the
soul, such as He has repeatedly promised and declared
Himself to be, saying, “ Whosoever shall do the will
of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and
mother7.” It is granted not to a “few” only, but
unto us all; and it is granted to us “ as a permanent
condition of being,” if we have faith to embrace it.
The passage I have quoted goes on to testify from the
sad experience of the world, that such a picture as it
describes of dependence and rest in human love is
scarce to be found among mankind, and even when
found to be of very short duration. But why is this,
but that God is a jealous God, that He knows the
soul can never find such rest but in Himself? It
were sinful and idolatrous to look for it elsewhere, but
in God as manifested to us in Christ. Yet hence I
say—from this secret leaning of the heart on human
stays—what a world of sorrows arise! what doubts,
what misgivings, what jealousies are to be found in all
such inordinate love of any creature! what sad for-
getfulness of God and blank aching void at heart! for
though it be leaning on a reed, yet the hollow staff
when broken pierces the side, and enters the heart

7 St. Mark iii. 35.WORLDLY TROUBLES.

289

with many sorrows. God forbids it, because God
knows this; because He loves us so much that He
would not have us thus disappointed by grasping at
wrhat vanishes away; because He loves us, He asks
our love; for He knows that in that love only is
our life.

Kind relatives, friends, parents, children, riches,
honours, knowledge—all these are blessings from God,
for which we are to be thankful; but a far greater
blessing than any one or all of these it is to have
a heart disengaged from them, in having to be as
though we had not; in possessing as though we pos-
sessed not; and why ?. because as St. Paul adds, “ the
fashion of this world passeth away,” or as our Lord in
His kind rebuke to Martha, Mary hath chosen the
good part which she shall not lose.

Our Lord in the text puts the “ many ” troubles of
Martha in contrast with the “one” object of Mary’s
choice; “ but one thing is needfulobjects of the
world are superfluous and vain, and yet manifold ; one
thing is needful; it is alone needful, for without it
all is as nothing; with it is all in all. It is indispen-
sable, abiding, everlasting. And why is it one ? be-
cause God is One, and all things in Him and all
persons in Him are drawn to One in the mystery of
the Three Persons in One God8. Por God is Love.
Love draws all into One, into Itself. The soul of man
seeks for life and the means of life, but seeking for it
in things seen and sensible it must ever be disquieted
in vain ; for the true riches are alone to be found in
God; and to seek for them in God is to draw all
cares into one. And what is honour and character

8 St. John xvii. 2].

V290

MAETHA.

among men? how full of many desires that bring
unprofitable pleasures and pains! for the soul seeks
in them for that praise which is truly to be found in
God, for in Him is to be found riches and honour, in
Him as One, and that One the Everlasting. And what
are relatives and friends ? they are not needful, we
can exist without them ; and they will leave us or we
them ; but there is One Whom we cannot exist with-
out, One Who will remain; and it matters not, if He
say to us at last, “ I am thine, and thou art Mine.”

How all these things, I say, are to be found in
Christ alone, and I would observe in conclusion that
the cause of this falling short in the good Martha
seems to have been connected with the want of an
adequate faith in the Godhead of Christ. The Lord
loved Martha, and Martha loved her Lord, yet not
with that Divine charity which is one with the un-
speakable peace.

And one thing of great value which we learn in this
incident is this, that what our Lord requires is practi-
cable ; the love of God which He asks of us is attain-
able ; it is not merely as where in many places He
tells us we are to love God; but He sets an instance
before us of that already done, “ Mary hath chosen the
good part.” It is not a perfection above thy reach, it
is here, though thou in thy busy troubled life art com-
plaining of it as wanting to the world. In other
places He hath said, “ Come unto Me,” thou anxious
soul, “and I will give thee rest.” But this is more,
she that sitteth at My feet—she hath found that rest.SERMON XXYI.

MAET.

THE GOOD PART.

St. Luke x. 41, 42.

iS Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things : but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that
good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

We naturally feel the deepest interest to learn all
we can respecting that good Mary who is thus spoken
of; and it may be as well first to put together a few
notices that occur respecting her. On this occasion
St. Luke says, she “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His
word.” This sitting at our Lord’s feet seems to speak
of humility and reverence; and St. John, when he first
has occasion to speak of her, gives her character by an
action expressive of still deeper adoration and love, as
the “ Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment,
and wiped His feet with her hair.” On both occasions
she is at His feet.

But what is this anointing of which St. John speaks ?
for there are two anointings described in the Gospels;
one which is mentioned by St. Luke by a woman that
was “ a sinner,” which occurred in Galilee at an
XT 2292

MART.

earlier period of our Lord’s ministry; the other re-
corded by the other three Evangelists, which took
place at Bethany only six days before His Crucifixion.
It may be that to this latter only St. John here
alludes, for this he afterwards describes as the act of
this good Mary; and as it was to be spoken of
throughout the whole world, “ as a memorial of her,”
it may be mentioned as her most appropriate descrip-
tion. But the action was a very peculiar one,
“ anointing His feet with the ointment, and wiping
them with the hair of her headit was so remarkable
that we cannot conceive it to have been done by two
different women; or that in such a case it could have
been mentioned by St. John as the one peculiar cha-
racteristic and mark of the good Mary. We must
therefore conclude that when St. Luke describes the
very same thing as occurring two years before in
Galilee it was by this same Mary ; who is then spoken
of as “ a sinner,” but as one that “ loved much.”

We meet then with her on three different occasions,
but in each of these at Jesus’ feet; we find her again
at the same place on another mention of her; it was
at her brother’s death, when St. John says, “ Then
when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him,
she fell down at His feet.” Nothing of this kind is
stated of Martha on the same occasion when she con-
versed with Christ. Again at the Crucifixion she is
at the foot of the Cross. And at the memorable
account of our Lord’s first appearing to her, on His
rising from the dead, she seems to have been em-
bracing His feet, though it is not expressly mentioned,
when He says to her, “ Touch Me not.”

All this is remarkable, for nothing of the kind is
said of any other person, but it is all one and consis-THE GOOD PAET.

293

tent in her throughout; and implies the humblest
adoration of Him Whom His Father in Heaven had
revealed to her as God; although in knowing she was
as if she knew it not.

Again, there is another point which occurs when-
ever she is mentioned, which may furnish us with an-
other token of her character; and that is a remark-
able silence. The sinner spoken of in the Seventh
Chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel anoints our Lord’s feet,
and is spoken to, but says nothing. Mary, the sister
of Martha, who had chosen the good part, sits at
Jesus’ feet, but says nothing. The same Mary in the
anointing at Bethany does not speak. And Mary
Magdalene, when she recognizes her risen Lord in the
garden, says one word only, “ Babboni.” These things
seem to indicate a marked character, a part of that
meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of
great price; and not altogether unlike what is said
more than once of the blessed Virgin herself, “ Mary
kept all these things, and pondered them in her
heart.”

Deep principle and ardent feeling are usually silent.
“ The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth
keep silence before Him V’

There appears also another circumstance on the dif-
ferent occasions referred to, which seems to imply one
little esteemed by the world; all these notices of her
are but to mention how she was found fault with.
Simon the Pharisee considered it a disparagement to
our Lord’s character as a Prophet, that He should not
know how bad she was. Our Lord’s defence of the

1 Hab. ii. 20.294

MART.

good Mary was on account of her sister Martha’s
complaint. And her anointing at Bethany caused
indignation. All this implies one little esteemed by
those around her ; she can do nothing but what seems
amiss.	"When she came with the tidings of our

Lord’s Resurrection, the account seemed to the
Apostles themselves “ as idle tales.” It is said by St.
Mark “ they believed her not.” If one might venture
to say it, it seems as if her Lord alone knew and valued
her. “ Thou shalt answer for me, 0 Lord my God ! ”
Considering, then, the sinner mentioned in St. Luke,
and Mary the sister of Martha, and St. Mary Magda-
lene as one and the same person under three different
designations, let us trace out in the successive inci-
dents recorded of her the history of that Divine love
which marked her character. She is known to all for
that very deep and calm, and yet at the same
most intense and, as it were, if the expression may be
allowed, impassioned love for Jesus Christ. But how
are we to distinguish that love which is human, which
man may have for man, a disciple for his master, a
dependent for his benefactor, a friend to his friend,
from this Divine love in her which was of such worth
and dignity, the “one thing needful,” the “charity”
which “never faileth?” It was because she loved
Christ as God; not only as the Word of God, but
also as the Word which is God; it was because it
was given her to know Him Whom to know is eternal
life. And that knowledge is love. Hence that intense
adoration; hence always at His feet; hence that pros-
tration of self before Him; hence that remarkable
silence as of one in the Presence of God. It might
be said of her as of Daniel and of St. John in theTHE GOOD PAET.

295

Revelation, “ I fell at His feet as dead ;” “ my come-
liness in me was turned into corruption,” but He
lifted me up and I received strength.

In her was set forth most especially the marvellous
power of grace, the strength of our Incarnate God,
the victorious might of the Lamb of God who taketh
away the sin of the world. For what is her name
and designation ?	“ Mary Magdalene out of whom

went seven devils.” It was to Christ she clung in
adoring love, not as to man, but as to One who had
power to deliver her from that sevenfold chain. We
read of a man, out of whom He had cast a legion of
devils, sitting at His feet, and desirous afterwards to
be with Him and not parted from Him2. Can we
wonder that one thus rescued should ever afterwards
thus cling to her Deliverer, although in His Divine
Presence her sins came heavily to her remembrance P

But there is a worse bondage than that of seven
devils possessing the body; it is when by sin unclean
spirits become as it were incorporated with the very soul
itself, obtaining power in the inner man and secret
spirit; and it is as one marvellously delivered by the
power of Christ from this worse slavery that she next
appears before us. As one already delivered and
rescued. For when she is described as the sinner in the
house of Simon the Pharisee,—“ behind Him, weeping
and washing His feet with tears, and wiping them
with the hairs of her head, and kissing His feet and
washing them with the ointment,”—she had already
passed from death unto life, for her “ many sins” were
turned into “ much love.” Here again can we won-
der in unbelief if the “ touching” of her Incarnate

2 St. Luke viii. 35. 38.296

MAEY.

God, of which the Pharisee complained, could have
turned corruption into health ? And when His “ praise,
which is better than life,” had sanctioned her, and He
declared unto her His “ peace,” shall we doubt bat
that His word of power from henceforth might haie
filled her with that peace of God which passeth all
understanding ?

But the reason why I mention all this is to show,
what her whole deportment on this occasion proves,
that it was the love of Christ not as man but as God,
which was now filling her soul; that thereby her feet
were set upon the rock, her goings were so ordered,
and her footsteps so upheld that henceforth she
should not fall. On the next occasion, when in her
sister’s house she sits at Christ’s feet and hears
His word, what can this be but- to love, not man
who comes to nought, but to love God with all the
soul and with all the mind P for what were the words
of Him who spake as never man spake, what were
they but the manifestation of God ? To hear that
word wns to be born again and made a child of God.
To have ears to hear and eyes to see belonged to the
new man. And if on that occasion she had forgotten
her sister, her household ministrations, and all that
appertained to the bread that perisheth, it was be-
cause her soul was fed with that Bread which cometh
down from Heaven and giveth life unto the world. It
cannot be but that the love which kept her at His feet
was the love of God.

All these things are in St. Luke; but so again is it
in St. John : take for instance the account of the rais-
ing of Lazarus. The difference between the two holy
sisters on that occasion appears to consist in this—
that while both loved Christ, Mary loved Him with anTHE GOOD PABT.

297

adoring love as God. Hence the difference of de-
portment between the two ; Martha conversed with
Christ, Mary fell at His feet. Both used the same
words, for both said “ If Thou hadst been here my
brother had not died.” "With the wmeping Mary
“ Jesus wept,” but said nothing. To Martha He said
much, as if needing something yet lacking in her faith.
She believed in Christ as of God, for she said, “ I
know that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of
God, God will give it Thee.” But this was not enough .
She believed too in the general Resurrection, for she
said, “I knowr that my brother shall rise again at the
last day.” But there was one thing yet needful in
her faith which the Lord would teach her. “I am,”
He says, as if unsatisfied with her present faith, m I am
the Resurrection and the Life . . . whosoever liveth
and believeth on Me shall never die—believest thou
this F ” This it was that the good Martha lacked;
this it w'as which Mary had found; that even in this
present time Christ is the Resurrection and the Life,
by belief in His Godhead raising us up from this
dying life to partake of His eternity. To lose one’s
dying self, like Mary, and to be found in Him ; this is
the one thing needful, the good part which shall not
be taken away, the love that never faileth; to be risen
again in Him “ Who only hath immortality before
Whose coming, and before Whose face on the white
throne the Heavens and the earth even now fly away,
and there is no place found for them.

But to come to that which is the great character-
istic of St. Mary, as St. John expresses it, and given
to be the memorial of her to all ages, the anointing of
her Lord’s feet with the ointment, that singular act
so expressive of her, which she twice repeated—what298

MAKY.

is there in it to indicate the good part and the immor-
tal love ? Now it may at first have happened in some
such way as this ; when she loved the world, the pre-
cious ointment which she spent on herself, was very
expressive of that love; it was the very emblem of
festivity, and of worldly rejoicing, and of self-adorning.
But after she had been raised from a twofold death,
from the seven devils, and the sevenfold power of sin,
the heart overwhelmed with thankfulness laboured to
give utterance to itself; but what could she do ? she
had no words, and if she had they were vain, her
heart was too big for speech; and as to gifts, what
could the costliest offering be to Him P utterly insig-
nificant and vain; but the overloaded soul must find
vent, and when with her tears she washed His feet
and wiped them with her hair, the alabaster box of
ointment on His feet expressed with silent eloquence,
how unspeakably unworthy of Him was that ointment,
which was poured on the head and made glad the
countenance of them that sit at feasts. As if she
said, “ I blend with my tears and give all, but only to
speak how unworthy I am to give, and how infinitely
too worthy Thou art to receive, not on thine Head, as
with them that sit at feasts, but I pour it on Thy feet
as unworthy of Thee. The precious odour that fills the
house, only to pass away, speaks how unmeet is any
gift with Thee to remain.” But when even this, the
weak and fond expression of a broken and bursting
heart, found a gracious and kind acceptance from Him,
the All-merciful One, then indeed that poor action,
the utterance of her first love, must have been un-
speakably consoling and precious to her in remem-
brance ; and when at last, two years after, in that dark
interval of dread suspense, when the clouds of perse-THE GOOD PART.

299

cution had gathered and the thunder was about to
hurst over the Head of her Lord, how natural was it
to her to think of the same action again ! She had
now indeed no tears, for He that wipeth away tears
from all eyes had turned her sorrows into joy. But she
“anointed His feet,” says St. John, and “ wiped them
with her hair.” And by a new action, to express the
new life and wonderful intercourse with Himself to
which she had been now admitted by Him ;—and re-
membering perhaps the Law, which had hallowed the
fragrant oil by pouring it on the Head of the High
Priest,—she adds this also which she had not done
before, and, according to St. Matthew and St. Mark’s
account, she pours it also “ on His Head3.” Nor was
it any mean gift, for it was one of great cost. And
now He that knew her heart, and is pleased with all
tokens of our love, sanctifies it with a yet higher
and nobler approval, accepting it as our High Priest,
and marking it as the token not of festivity, but of
burial, as expressive not of this world’s joy, but of the
hope of [Resurrection.

Hence it is that the good Mary and this her
anointing has been in the Church so much associated
with the Song of Solomon, which speaks in mystery
of Divine Love. “ I have found Him Whom my soul
loveth; I held Him, and would not let Him go.”
“ Thy Name is as ointment poured forth4.”

And where do we next find her ? It cannot be but
that she beyond all who had “loved much,” she who
had “chosen the good part” would have been pre-
sent with her Lord at the last. And we next find
that with the blessed Mother and the beloved Dis-

3	St. Matt. xxvi. 7. St. Mark xiv. 3.

4	Song of Sol. iii. 4; i. 3.300

MARY.

ciple was Mary Magdalene at the Cross; and as<
that terrible day drew to a close, and St. John had
taken our Lord’s Mother to his home, after she had
watched the dead Body “laid ” in the grave,—-as St.
Mark mentions,—Mary Magdalene was,—as St. Mat-
thew then adds,—“ sitting over against the sepulchre.”
And when the Sabbath had passed she prepared the
anointing for the Body; but her Lord, knowing that
this her purpose would be frustrated, had already ac-
cepted her pious anointing for His burial.

And now early in the morning, when it was yet
dark and before the dawn, she beholds while yet she
knows Him not, Him Mho is called the Morning
Star; nay, she herself, we may say, as the morning
star, is seen in the rising of the Sun of Bighteous-
ness, and is made the first witness and messenger of
Besurrection, like the same star that marks the setting
and the rising sun.

But now how is it that to her who had kissed
and anointed His feet, whose place was to be ever
there, He says, “ Touch Me not, for I am not yet
ascended to My Father ?” For a little while after He
allows the holy women to hold Him by the feet;
and to the assembled Apostles He says, “Handle
and feel Me;” but to her that loved much and had
chosen the good part He seems to say, “ Touch Me
not now as thou art wont, as in the poor perishable
Body which thou didst once anoint, but henceforth
thou shalt with a higher and Hiviuer love touch that
same Body ascended into Heaven, and given to be
more intimately thine.” She had said in the Can-
ticles in the weakness of her knowledge, “ My Be-
loved is mine and I am His; until the day break
and the shadow flee away.” The Hay, the one greatTHE GOOD PAET.

301

Lay, is now breaking and the shadows are fleeing
away, and He is not to be taken away from her.
The “ winter ” of her sorrows “ is past,” and there is a
voice that says, “Arise and come away5.” “Though
we have known Christ after the flesh,” as St. Paul
says, “ yet henceforth know we Him no more.” It
is of His Body coming to be more intimately and
really ours, and of the faith needful to receive those
His spiritual words concerning that Body, that He
says, “ What and if ye shall see the Son of Man
ascend up where He was before6 P ”

“ Touch Me not;” this touch is of faith. On one
occasion, “Many throng Thee, and press Thee, and
yet sayest Thou, who touched Me?” said the dis-
ciples ; but one only had touched the hem of His
garment with that touch of which He spake. So now
He seems to say; “ Prom the touching of My feet
of old virtue went forth and healed thee ; but now
thou shalt touch no more the persecuted and crucified
Body of the Son, of Man, but shalt have for thine
own in faith Him Who is ascended to the Father, to
Him who is henceforth His Father and thy Father,
His God and thy God.”

And now one word on the text; it may be said,
Great will it be for him to whom the Lord shall say
at last, “ Well done, good and faithful servant, . . .
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;” and next to
that one can conceive nothing greater to fill the heart
than this; “ She hath chosen the good part, which
shall not be taken away from her.”

5 Song of Sol. ii.

6 St. John vi. 62.SERMON XXVII.

SALOME.

THE MOTHER OE SAINTS.

St. Matthew xx. 20.

“ Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her
sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.”

Blessed indeed, almost above all mothers, must have
been the mother of two such sons, as St. James the
great, and the beloved Disciple. ISTor is it merely on
account of her sons that “the mother of Zebedee’s
children” is to be highly esteemed by us, but on her
own account also. On two great and trying occasions
her name appears in God’s Book together with that of
the holy Mary Magdalene, and she is associated with
her among the women of Galilee that ministered unto
the Lord. She is therefore herself one not unworthy
of such sons. Yet the very designation of her com-
bines her memory more especially with them. St.
Matthew, we may observe, who was himself like her a
native of Galilee, always speaks of her by this general
description under which she was known to him, as
“the mother of Zebedee’s children.” But in St.
Mark’s Gospel she is not thus spoken of, but herTHE MOTHEE OE SAINTS.

303

name Salome is mentioned; and it may be for this
reason, that to St. Peter, who superintended the
writing of St. Mark’s Gospel, she was thus familiarly
knowrn by name, as the mother of his own two inti-
mate friends and partners, and belonging to his own
native village of Bethsaida. This accounts for the
circumstance that, where “the mother of Zebedee’s
children” occurs in St. Matthew, St. Mark alters that
expression and substitutes the word “ Salome and in
a manner which shows that it is the same person who
is spoken of. “ There were women beholding afar
off,” says St. Matthew, “ among whom was Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James . . . and
the mother of Zebedee’s children.” “ There were
women looking on afar off,” says St. Mark, “ among
whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome1.”

Now I think we may infer that she must have been
herself a woman of great piety to have had two such
sons; for the holiness of children we find depends
very much on the training of their parents, and espe-
cially of their mother; it is with a mother’s tender
affections that they imbibe from infancy the love of
God, so that it becomes as it were a part of their
nature. Por what is there on earth equal to a
mother’s love P what enters more deeply into the
heart and abides there more tenderly for ever ? so
that if with that love there is the example and teach-
ing of goodness, there is no stronger nor sweeter
antidote in the world against the power of sin, both
from within and without. But more particularly is it
the case, when as in this instance more than one in

1 St. Matt, xxvii. 58. St, Mark xv. 40.304

SALOME.

a family are pre-eminent for holiness, that we natu-
rally attribute this to the early impressions of a
parent.

Yet further; nothing is said of their father Zebe-
dee, there is no incident recorded and no mention
made which can afford us an insight into his character;
but when his name occurs it rather detaches and
separates him from Christ and His followers than
otherwise; for when James and John are called by
our Lord and obeyed His call, it is said, “ they imme-
diately left the ship and their father2.”	“ They left

their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired ser-
vants, and went after Him3.” With the ship which
is of this world, and the servants of this world’s hire,
they are parted from him for the service of a Hea-
venly Master; nor is there any further mention of
Zebedee; whether he might have been removed from
the scene by death or by the occupations of this life.
But it is not so with their mother, Salome; their new
life and Divine calling has not separated her sons from
her, for she is among those holy women that attended
their Lord from place to place, ministering to His
wants, and following Him at last to Jerusalem, and
not parted from Him in His death. And therefore, if
we are to attribute the piety of such holy sons to
either parent, we have more grounds in Holy Scripture
for referring it to Salome than to Zebedee. It may
have been owing to both, but whatever it might have
been with their father Zebedee, at all events we can-
not but estimate very highly the holiness of a mother,
who should have sent forth two sons to be the disciples
of John the Baptist first, and afterwards of Christ;

2 St. Matt. iv. 22.

3 St. Mark L 20.THE MOTHER, OE SAINTS.

305

and who when they were parted from the world were
not parted from her.

But at the same time we must remember that there
are degrees of goodness, and there is nothing to indi-
cate that her faith and love was such as that of the
good Mary named from Magdala. They are indeed
both mentioned together, this is much, very much.
More than once we read “ Mary Magdalene and Sa-
lome.” But yet they are also found apart. And this
little circumstance may serve to exemplify the differ-
ence. When at the Crucifixion “ the women that fol-
lowed from Galilee ” are spoken of as “ looking on
afar off ” both Salome and Mary Magdalene are men-
tioned ; but when in St. John’s Gospel the blessed
Yirgin with her sister stand at the foot of the Cross
together with St. John, and they receive our Lord’s
last injunctions, Mary Magdalene is spoken of as
being with them, but not Salome. Thus the mother
of Zebedee’s children was indeed faithful unto death,
with the other holy women; but had not as yet
attained to the most intimate faith and knowledge.
She beheld the Cross as it were “ afar off,” and was
not as yet admitted to draw near and gaze into the
unfathomable depths of that awful mystery, of Him
Who is God and Man, dying for man. She caught not
as yet a glimpse of that immeasurable depth, and
height, and length, and breadth, which is in Christ
Crucified. She had not as yet been admitted to the
dread insight into that Cup of Sorrows filled with His
Blood, and seen her own image reflected there. This
difference is much to be noted, that we may come to
the incident to which the text refers; for it is to be
observed that this occasion, which Scripture has se-
lected for the mention of her, is not such as those306

SALOME.

recorded of Mary Magdalene who is ever at His feet,
hearing, or weeping, or adoring, or loving much;
but rather in weakness of faith and knowledge “ the
mother of Zebedee’s children ” looked to seats of
honour on the right and left hand of His throne.

Yet at the same time the mention of her here in con-
junction with the Apostles, her children, sanctifies in a
manner her request, and indicates, as every thing else
recorded of her does, her love both of Christ and of
them. And it is of great interest to observe that, in
those the last scenes of all, not only does the occur-
rence of her name testify her love and faithfulness, but
in one instance where her name is omitted, even that
omission, when we reflect on the circumstance and the
reasons that may have occasioned it, seems to imply the
same. She is mentioned as beholding the Crucifixion
together with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,
the mother of St. James the less; she is mentioned
also afterwards as being together with these two in
buying the sweet spices that they might come and
anoint Him. But there is an intervening occasion
when the other two are spoken of as being together,
but there is no mention of Salome being with them,
her name is omitted, and that is at the laying of
our Lord’s Body in the grave; and we naturally ask
where is Salome at that time apart from the other
two ? Now we read that when our Lord at His
death committed His mother to the care of St. John,
“ from that hour that disciple took her unto his own
home.” And we hear of them no more upon that
day. But when the beloved Disciple was taking the
blessed Virgin to his home, from the place and last
scene of the Crucifixion, we may well suppose that his
mother Salome was with them, turning with her ownTHE MOTHER OE SAIHTS.

307

son St. John from the Dead to the nearest living
memorial of Him who was being placed in the grave ;
and therefore that she was absent from her two com-
panions at the tomb. But as being together with
those, the two Marys, is she again mentioned on the
morning of the Besurrection.

Thus therefore must we very highly esteem this
mother so blessed among women; a widow that had
Christ for her portion, and two sons so intimately
near to Him, and herself not alienated from them, but
sharing in their sympathies and affections. But as
her great blessedness consisted in this, that she had
given birth to and reared two such children, and had
partaken with them in their self-devotion to Christ,
having renounced all things for His sake and in order
to be with Him : so it was in this point especially that
her weakness found her out. Bor we have sometimes
had occasion to observe of the saints of Grod that they
are tried and proved, and their infirmity overtakes
them, and is recorded, in that thing especially in which
they become by Divine grace most excellent and pre-
eminent. Want of faith is recorded in the faithful
Abraham, of patience in the patient Job, of firmness
in the Bock, St. Peter, of love in John the disciple of
love, of loyalty of heart in the loyal-hearted David:
these are the instances of failing recorded of them in
Scripture. And thus Salome is. reproved together with
her two sons, in that she who beyond all had borne
children unto Christ, children of whom it is in express
record that they forsook all—both their father and
their trade to follow Him—yet with their love to
Christ had still mixed up some worldly thoughts of pre-
eminence and honour. They had been with Him on
the Mount, and were witnesses of His glory, and found
x 2308

SALOME.

it good to be there; but they knew not as yet that
they had first to partake of His Passion, and to be
drawn near to Him by a more endearing bond in
Gethsemane. They understood not as yet that ]aw
of Christ’s kingdom as St. Paul expresses it, “ if so be
that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified
together V* And again, “ if we suffer we shall reign
with Him V’

But so little was this, the mystery of Christ’s
Cross, known at the time, that we may observe, that
whenever our Lord spoke of His approaching suffer-
ings and Passion, it was then most especially that a
contest took place among His disciples respecting the
first places in His kingdom. Nine times it is ex-
pressly mentioned in the different Gospels, that He
endeavoured to impress on them a sense of His
coming death and humiliation; a subject beyond all
others, if rightly understood, which would have allayed
in their hearts every feeling of selfishness or pride.
But they comprehended it not; all that they per-
ceived was that His kingdom was about to be esta-
blished ; nor did they at all know that in this life it
was a kingdom of suffering, and of glory only in the
next. It was on one of these most solemn occasions
that this circumstance alluded to took place. He had
set His face stedfastly to go up to Jerusalem to
meet His sufferings; with this set purpose Pie ad-
vanced before them in a manner so unusual, that un-
derstanding it not, they were overcome with astonish-
ment and fear, The description of it is as follows.
u And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem ;
and Jesus went before them; and they were amazed:

4 .Rom. viii. 17*

5 1 Tim. ii. 12.THE MOTHER OE SAINTS.

309

and as they followed, they were afraid6.” “ And He
took the twelve disciples apart in the wav7.” And
then, as having some secret of great moment to make
known to them in confidence, having taken them
aside, in this impressive manner He disclosed to them
His betrayal, and sufferings, and crucifixion, and Re-
surrection. “ And they,” says St. Luke, “ understood
none of these things: and this saying was hid from
them, neither knew they the things that were
spoken8.” To which it is immediately added, “ Then
came to Him the mother of Zebedee’s children with
her sons, worshipping Him, and desiring a certain
thing of Him ; and He said unto her, What wilt thou ?
She saith unto Him, Grant that these my two sons
may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on
the left in Thy kingdom.” They had given up them-
selves to Christ, they had no thought of being parted
from Him, but of still being most intimately near to
Him, but the desire was connected with their own
pre-eminence also; they had been with Him in His
temptations, and shared His teaching and His toils,
and they thought that they might be with Him in His
coming glory also. The wish was of this world, but
He was not of this world. As He had said in the
Sermon on the Mount, the Gentiles do good to those
that do good to them, but this is no Christian law;
so now, the Gentiles love to be called benefactors, to
receive praise and honour for the good they do, but
the law of Christ is far better than this. It is to
suffer for others, and do good to them, and to serve
them, and love them, as Christ does. To be nearest
unto Christ is to suffer most. They knew not this

6 St. Mark x 32.	7 St. Matt. xx. 17.

8 St. Luke xviii. 34.810

SALOME.

the mystery of Christ Crucified. They knew not that
the Cross was His throne, His only throne upon earth;
and that to he more intimately His is to enter into
the fellowship of His sufferings, and to he made con-
formable unto His death. But “ to him that over-
cometh” in this warfare, who overcometh the world and
the selfish desires of the world from the love of God
and of man, He will give more than to sit on His right
Hand. “ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and
am set down with My Bather in His throne9.” And
surely there is no blessing upon earth greater than
this, to reign with Christ even now in His kingdom,
to partake of the power of His Resurrection, and so
to have all enemies put under our feet; to sit with
Him in Heavenly places by affections being in Heaven;
and this can only be by drinking of His Cup, and
being baptized with His Baptism of sorrows.

And here we may observe that our Blessed Saviour
does not reject the petition of the mother with her
children, but corrects it, and accepts it in a way they
thought not of; for surely intimately near Him on His
throne of suffering were James the Martyr and St.
John. The latter thus writes to us of himself, “ I John,
your companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ,” “Who loved us, and
washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made
us kings unto God1.” When they better understood
they looked and longed for no higher honour than thus
to suffer and die for Him, as He had suffered and died
for them. Nor was our Lord so displeased with the
request as if it were sinful, but rather compassionates

9 Rev. iii. 21.

1 Rev. i. 9. 5.THE MOTHER OE SAINTS.

3D

tlieir ignorance and infirmity, as knowing not as yet
“ what manner of spirit they were of2.”

Their request indeed was in one sense granted, hut
in the same way that our poor and ignorant desires
and prayers often are, when we ask not for what wre
should do, but in our infirmity seek of Grod for things
that we ought not; as being unworthy of His great-
ness and goodness towards us. Eut in His mercy He
grants them to us in ways far higher and better than
we thought for. Por He is pleased that our requests
should be made known to Him, though they be im-
perfect and dark; and corrects and sanctifies those our
requests, and then bestows them according to His own
excellent purpose and grace. Thus St. Paul prayed
and desired to preach the Glospel at Borne, but knew
not that it would be by his chains and death. He
prayed to be released from that “ thorn in the flesh,”
but the effect of his prayers was, that he gloried and re-
joiced in that infirmity, and wished not to be released
from it, that the Spirit of Christ might rest upon him
more abundantly.

I speak of desires such as are innocent, and imper-
fect only through our ignorance, as might have been
in some measure those of Salome and her children:
but to us since Christ has died such desires for honours
and first places in His Church would not be innocent.
Such tempers are subject to the Woe denounced on
Pharisees, who loved the first place, and could not
believe because they received honour one of another,
and sought not the honour which cometh from Grod
only. But to St. James and St. John our Lord
seems to say, Come indeed unto Me, as ye desire,

2 St. Luke ix. 55.312

SALOME.

and learn of Me. Ye shall indeed be on the right
and the left hand of My throne here on earth, but
in a way ye think not of, that of suffering; but as
to the first places by My throne of glory, the Day
of Judgment alone must decide that. It will be
by no partial choice. But generally unto all it is
said, “Ye that have followed Me, in the regenera-
tion, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne
of His glory, ye also shall sit on thrones. And every
one that hath forsaken ” earthly things “ for My
Hame’s sake shall receive an hundredfold.”

What therefore are we to learn from this character
of Salome, and from this incident that brings forth
her character, and sets her before us as standing
with her two sons by the side of Christ, or rather
as “worshipping Him,” as it is said, and at His feet,
acknowledging Him as the promised King of Israel P
Much indeed may we learn, and most important is the
lesson which she thus represents. The one thing
now above all which is needed in these our times,
to preserve the world from corruption, is the godly
mother, who will bring up children unto Christ, to
serve at His altar and be entirely His, and promote
His kingdom without looking for reward or honour
in this world. This is needed, I say, above all things,
and this above all things is now failing us. What-
ever good there exists in the world is mostly from
this source; as Samuel the child of his mother’s
prayers, and devoted by her to the service of God;
as St. John the Baptist sanctified from his mother’s
womb; as St. Augustin, the light of the Church, bom
as it were a second time by his mother’s long wrest-
ling with God in supplication for him. And even now,
though doubtless in many ways unknown to man, ifTHE MOTHEB OE SAIHTS.

313

religion has for a time been revived among ns, it has
been probably owing to some holy mother, who hath
brought up a son in the love of Grod.

On that great Day, when all things shall be re-
vealed, blessed indeed will those be, and Salome not
the least blessed among them, who shall stand before
Christ, and say, “ Behold, I and the children which
Grod hath given me3.”

In the meanwhile, how are the Saints led on
to the great consummation! they walk in the dark
in “the day of small things;” they see not what
awaits them; they are full of errors in judgment, in
their opinion and estimate of things; but as they
advance step by step their views are corrected, their
thoughts purified and raised, exercised and humbled
by afflictions, and infirmities, and sins: the mother
watches and knows not; she would shrink from the
Cup and the Baptism, if she had known it in her
weakness and ignorance; but as she is strengthened
and enlightened the Cross is disclosed to her. She
has to descend from the Mount, and has to walk
the vale of woe, and to pass Cedron the brook of
sorrows. She dreams of crowns, but finds a Cross;
and the crown upon it is one of thorns; but it gives a
heavenly for an earthly crown; and even that she
has learned to deem of little worth, for the excellency
of the love of Christ ; where in better knowledge
“they cast their crowns before the throne4;” in ado-
ration of the Lamb that was slain, and “Him that
sitteth upon the throne.”

And what is it now to look back upon the home

3 Heb, ii. 13.

4 Bev. iv. 10 ; v. 13.814

SALOME.

at Bethsaida, the cradle and mother’s watching, the
seashore and the boat ? nay, what is now even the
vision of Patmos and of the City descending from
above F The eagle was feeding her unfledged and
formless young, and by little and little training them
to fly, but after a while has soared with them out
of sight in the blue heavens, and is gazing on the sun.SERMON XXVIII.

THE WIFE OF PILATE.

THE HEATHEN HREAM.

St. Matthew xxvii. 19.

“ When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto
him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man : for I
have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.”

This verse which, occurs in this Morning’s Lesson is
very mysterious; it suggests so much which it does
nob explain; it stands alone, with nothing before or
after referring to it. Who was this wife of Pilate ?
A noble Bo man we may suppose and a Heathen. And
what was this dream P was it from G-od ? it could
scarce have been otherwise. But these her own suf-
ferings of which she speaks, what could they have
been ? Could it have been that her husband’s future
miseries on account of this death were disclosed to
her ? or rather must it not have been something far
greater and more awful with respect to the Person of
Christ Himself? But what is her own character?
Would Holy Scripture from this short mention lead
us to think well of her ? It would certainly seem so ;
for she was thought worthy of this communication316

THE WIEE OE PILATE.

from God; and she bore good and faithful testimony
unto Christ, saying, “that Just Man;” like that
Roman Centurion afterwards by the Cross, saying,

“ Certainly this was a righteous man V’ convinced by
the signs that he saw; while the Jews denied, as St.
Peter says, “the Holy One and the Just1 2.”

But the question thus mysterious leads us further
to inquire what Scripture tells us of other Heathen
women, of God’s dealings with them and of their con-
dition in His sight. "We may observe that the notices
of them are exceedingly slight, and only such as arise
from their coming in contact with the people of God.
Thus our Lord Himself singles out and speaks of one:
“ The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judg-
ment with the men of this generation, and condemn
them: for she came from the utmost parts of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a
greater than Solomon is here3.” This Queen of the
South is spoken of in the Old Testament as the Queen
of Sheba, who hearing of the fame of Solomon came to
Jerusalem to try him with hard questions; and was
overwhelmed with admiration at all which she heard
and saw. And when she witnessed his wisdom and
“ his ascent by which he went up unto the house of
the Lordit is said, “ there was no more spirit in
her.” And she ended with this what we may call a
good confession, “ Blessed be the Lord thy God,
which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of
Israel; because the Lord loved Israel for ever4.”
How we learn from this our Lord’s express mention of
this Queen that we are not to consider such a record

1 St. Luke xxiii. 47.

3 St. Luke xi 31.

2 Acts iii. 14.

4 1 Kings x. 1.9.THE HEATHEH DREAM.

817

in the Book of God merely as the history of the
things of this world which come to nought; but that
it was a part of His probation of the Heathen; that it
was the trial of the human soul; that it will be
brought forward on the great Hay of Judgment, and be
to the praise of this Queen; that when the hearts and
actions of all mankind are tried by the Great Judge,
those of the Heathen will then be weighed in the
balance with those Jews and Christians who have had
higher privileges and better knowledge. It is not the
part of Holy Scripture to reveal to us God’s dealings
with the Heathen, for His revealed will is for those
to whom His written word comes; but thus much we
learn, that they will also have to appear in the final
Judgment as well as ourselves, to give an account of
the things done in the body. “ Is He the God of the
Jews only P is He not also of the Gentiles P ” says St.
Paul, “ Yes, of the Gentiles also5.”

We learn then from our Lord’s words that the
attempt which this Southern Queen made to approach
the true God through His chosen people of old will
be towards her acceptance on the great Hay; and we
may infer the same of others in whom there was found
some good thing, when they were brought into con-
nexion with His servants. Of these a very few are
mentioned.

Thus in the Babylonian captivity when the impious
Belshazzar brought forth at the feast the vessels of the
temple, and the Hand of Hire was seen on the wall;
the Queen came forth and spoke to him of Haniel, in
whom was the spirit of wisdom, who might interpret
to him the will of God in those miraculous signs6.

5 Rom. iii. 29.

6 Dan. v. 10.318

THE WIEE OE PILATE.

Nothing more is said of her. Eat if the Queen of
Sheba is remembered before God, because she sought
and knew, and bore witness to Solomon in his prospe-
rity : it may in like manner on the last Day be not
forgotten of this Babylonian Queen, that she knew
and bore testimony to Daniel in his captivity. We
know not indeed how deeply she may herself have
availed herself of that knowledge.

Again; we may mention another instance wherein
a Heathen princess is chosen of God as an instrument
of great things, when she is actuated by the spirit of
love and compassion in connexion with His people.
It is when Pharaoh’s daughter saw the ark in which
Moses was. She “ sent her maid to fetch it. And when
she had opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the
babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and
said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” And she
gives him to an Hebrew, even his own mother, to rear
for her. “ And the child grew,” it is added, “ and she
brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became
her son7.” We may well suppose that this good deed
also will be remembered of God in the day of recom-
pense ; even it may be with Bahab also, the Gentile
and the harlot who received the spies; and is set so
high among those who overcame by faith. And if the
good deeds wrhich came forth in the Heathen, when in
connexion with God’s people, are not forgotten, neither
will be the evil. The adulterous wife of the Egyptian
Potiphar, who falsely accused Joseph; the Philistine
Delilah, who ensnared and betrayed Samson; the
idolatrous and murderous Jezebel in the kingdom of
Israel, and her no less stern-hearted daughter, Atha-

7 Exod. ii. 5, 6. 10.THE HEATHEH DREAM.

319

liah, on tlie throne of Jerusalem ; these are no doubt
written in those Books which will be brought forth at
last.

But to return to these better things of which we
speak; as the Ethiopian queen bore witness to Solo-
mon ; and the Babylonian queen to Daniel; as the
Egyptian princess rescued Moses; so now this Homan
lady would rescue and bears witness to Christ. Nor
is her voice altogether lost, for it pleads with the
governor together with his own conscience on the
judgment seat, and in consequence he lingers long,
and washes his hands. Yea, thus would he wash his
hands unto this day, but cannot, because he regarded
not this warning of his wife—of his—may we not say
inspired—wife P

Yery wonderful was the revealing of hearts, as
Simeon had foretold, on that great day of the crucifixion;
then was manifested till then unknown the covetous-
ness of Judas, the envy of Caiaphas and the Chief
Priests, the dissimulation of Herod, the infidelity of
the multitude, the cowardice of Pilate, the constancy
of John. But one only in that judgment pleaded for
the Just One, and that was the wife of Pilate. Early
on that morning the Eoman lady in the palace, at
mid-day the Eoman slave on the cross, and in the
evening of that terrible day the Eoman centurion on
his watch bore witness. Thus was God stirring the
hearts of the Gentiles to acknowledge Him Whom
the Jews disowned, preparing for Him a place in their
hearts, when He could find no lodging-place in the
souls of His own people. And this, which is thus
shortly recorded of Pilate’s wife, seems a sort of token
of what God may have been doing with the Heathen
world. In the darkness and sleep which had over-320

THE WIEE OE PILATE.

whelmed them the truth of God often mingled with
their dreams, and bore witness to the Holy One
of God. In their searchings after wisdom He com-
muned with them ; in their superstitions they acknow-
ledged the Unknown God, and worshipped Him Whom
they knew not; and at this time in an unconscious
waiting for Him that was to come, they were giving
names of gods to men. In many ways they spoke of
Him in their dreams. One of the wisest of their
philosophers has left on record this saying, that if an
example of perfect goodness should appear in the
world, he would be put to a cruel and torturing death
by mankind.

How it seems due to a right understanding of God,
that we should consider no part of mankind to be
beyond His judgment: the heathen are indeed outside
of His covenant, without the knowledge of His saving
mercy and grace, but still they are under His hand.
They have His law written in their hearts, as St. Paul
says ; they acknowledge a judgment to come, and they
are all amenable to that judgment. They may efface
that law out of their hearts by sin, and may forget
that judgment to come; but nevertheless they will
have to undergo that judgment, and to be judged by
that law, which is stamped on their soul. If we go
into the Heathen parts of the world at this day we
shall find in every thing the marks of God’s provi-
dence, in tree, herb, and flower, in animals and creep-
ing things and birds, in the stones of the field, in the
seasons, and every thing that sustains life; indeed,
the accounts of travellers consist for the most part of
interesting details of these wonders in objects un-
known to us, the minutest tokens of God’s immediate
Presence. Are we then to suppose that God shouldTHE HEATHEN DEE AM.

321

be thus so distinctly seen in these perishable things,
and yet that He should not be equally present in the
workings of the human soul, because they are Hea-
thens ;—in the knowledge of their thoughts, in
their intentions and desires, “ accusing or else ex-
cusing,” and bearing witness to Himself and to them?

If He hears them not, it is not because they do not
know, but because they do not seek Him. “ None
saith, Where is God my Maker, Who giveth songs in
the night; Who teacheth us more than the beasts of
the earth?” “Although thou sayest thou shalt not
see Him, yet judgment is before Him8.”

I mention this because in a sort of unbelief we are
apt to limit the accountableness of us all before God;
and to suppose that those who are without God in the
world are more free than ourselves, less amenable to
Him. And from thence to imagine that even among
ourselves those that forget Him are forgotten of Him.
As the Prophet Ezekiel said to the Jews at Babylon,
“ That which cometh into your mind shall not be at
all, that ye say, We will be as the Heathen9.” Men
have a sort of thought that they can thus, as it were,
get away from God, and escape from Him as they would
from a man. To which allusion is made by anothei^
Prophet, •“ Though they hide themselves in the top of
Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and
though they be hid from My sight in the bottom of the
sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall
bite them1.” Neither height, nor depth, neither the
greatest saint nor the most ignorant Heathen will
escape that Judgment, before which, as St. Paul says,
“ we must all appear.” And if all from the highest to

8 Job xxxv. 10, 11.14.	0 Ezek. xx. 32.	1 Amos ix. 3,

Y322

THE WIEE OE PILATE.

the lowest are to be judged, then of course God must
be in the minds of all at all times, every day and hour,
taking account of tbeir thoughts, and noting them
down in the book of His remembrance: He must be
in the sou] of the most ignorant Heathen warning him
of good and evil, stirring up and encouraging or re-
proving. According to that saying of the Psalmist,
“ He that planted the ear, shall He not hear ? or He
that made the eye, shall He not see P or He that nur-
tureth the Heathen: it is He that teacheth man
knowledge, shall not He punish2 ? ”

But Holy Scripture, as I observed, does not speak
to us of the Heathen in order to let us know what the
Judge of all the earth is about to do with them at the
last, but with quite another purpose. We find that
our Blessed Saviour in the Gospels does oftentimes
introduce the mention of the Heathen, but it is always
with one object. It is always to warn us that much
more will be required of us, that we must be far
better than they. Thus He pointed out to His dis-
ciples the examples of those Heathens that were
among them, and their good deeds, saying, “ Ho not
even the publicans so ? ” you must show a much
higher love than they, for ye are sons of God. Or,
“ Por after all these things do the Gentiles seek;” ye
must show that ye have another end and aim of life
than they. To do only what they do is your condem-
nation. Or again, “ The great among the Heathen do
this“ it shall not be so among you3.” And thus when
He speaks of the judgment that awaits those cities in
which He had taught in vain, He puts them in the
balance with the neighbouring Heathen cities. Woe

2 Ps, xciv. .9,10.

3 St. Matt. v. 47 ; vi. 32; xx. 26.THE HEATHEN DEEAM.

323

unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!”
“ It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and, Sidon at the
judgment, than for you4.” Or again, more generally,
He brings forth Heathen cities from history for the
same purpose. “ The men of Nineveh shall rise in
judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it:
because they repented at the preaching of Jonas.”
And, “ It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Go-
morrha in the day of judgment, than for that city5.”
Now this is our Lord’s invariable custom in speaking
of the Heathen; but it is quite opposite to what is
usual among ourselves. In the publications of the
day we find Heathen cities and countries of old, and
those now existing, are constantly alluded to with a
sort of self-gratulation in comparison with ourselves.
*We are proud of our better knowledge; and being
proud of it we do not communicate even that to them:
not considering how our Lord always warns us of this
better knowledge; on account of the responsibility it
entails upon us ; and not remembering that if it were
a living knowledge, it would spread itself to others;
but if it be a dead knowledge, it will only be to our
condemnation.

Brom all these things we must consider that this
testimony of Pilate’s wife to the Just One—whatever
it may have been to herself—is to others the witness
of God; and is one of those things that will come
forth in the Judgment to condemn the chief priests
who had so much knowledge. And it is with a like
purpose that I have mentioned all these dealings which
God must necessarily have with the hearts of the
Heathen. Bor if He is so present to their minds both

5 St. Matt, xii. 41 ; X, 15.

T 2

4 St. Luke x. 13.324

THE WIFE OE PILATE.

waking and sleeping, what must He be to ours ? And
consider bow very far this His knowledge, and His
notice, and His remembrance extends, not only to
our deeds in tbe day, but even to our dreams at night.
It was a proverbial saying among the Heathen that a
dream is from God6. “In a dream, in a vision of the
night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumber-
ings upon the bed; then He openeth the ears of men,
and sealeth their instruction, that He may withdraw
man from his purpose7.” Neither the top of Carmel,
nor the bottom of the sea, neither life nor death, nor
day nor night, can escape the searching Eye and Pre-
sence of God. On that dread time of Christ’s suffer-
ings when all hearts were tried, it might have been
thought that this Bom an woman in her palace would
have been entirely removed from the sight and hearing
of Him. But He was judging all men when He
appeared to be judged by them. She was neither in
the garden as the disciples, nor in the council as the
chief priests, nor with multitude in the streets, nor in
the palace of Herod, nor in the judgment hall of Pilate,
where He might be seen; but God’s witness found
her out in sleep on her bed. Even as those Wise men
of the East, it might have been supposed, were removed
from Law or Prophecy which might speak to them of
Christ; but as they were at their nightly occupation
of watching the stars, the star of Bethlehem was sent
to them, and made them to bear testimony to Him.
So was it in all the Heathen world, in their oracles,
their sacrifices, their dreams. Yea, even the voices of
evil spirits themselves were made to confess the Holy
One of God.

6 ovctp h Aloq kaTivt Horn. A.

7 Job xxxiii. 15—17.THE HEATHEH DREAM.

825

And now to come to ourselves, let us consider; is
not the evil one often in our dreams, as the pestilence
that walketh in darkness P When the covetous man
dreams of his gains ; the impure man of his lusts ; the
unforgiving man of his enmities, are not these the
stirrings of Satan, the marks of his footsteps ? In the
bars of that prison, in the bottom of the deep, as it
were, the serpent finds them out. The most remark-
able cases of remorse have made themselves known in
sleep ; and the deepest touch of misery which has
reached man’s heart has been the unwilling voice of a
sleeper. Do not dreams mark the state of the heart
as well as our doings when awake ? and if so, will they
not be brought forth by the Accuser on the great day ?
It is said, “ A man’s mind is sometime wont to tell
him more than seven watchmen, that sit above in an
high tower8.” And this is true, in some measure, even
as a man’s mind may be ascertained from his thoughts
in sleep.

All these things show how exceedingly needful it is
for every one to close the day with solemn and serious
prayers and thoughts of God and eternity, that the
dews of God’s blessiug may be with him when he has
no power over himself. If the last thoughts at death
are so important, so in their measure are the last
thoughts wherewith. we close our eyes at night.
Indeed, there is something mysteriously refreshing to
a good man’s mind in sleep, because he is then nearer
to God: being in himself more helpless, he is more in
God’s hand: being unable to protect himself from the
wiles of evil spirits, he is wholly and entirely de-
pendent on God: he is in some sense more removed

Ecclus. xxxvii. 14.326

THE WIEE OE PILATE.

from the chains of the body, he is often then in com-
pany with the absent and with the dead. The state of
sleep is not altogether unlike the state of death, which
is called a sleep; and as it is said of the Christian’s
death, that it is to be “ with God so may it be in
some sense of his sleep also. And of both may be
used St. Paul’s words, “ whether we wake or sleep, we
should live together with Him9.”

Therefore God hath at all times taken these occa-
sions for His communicating with man: to Pharaoh,
and Nebuchadnezzar; to Abimelech, and Laban; to
Abraham; to Jacob, and Joseph; to Solomon; to
Daniel; and in the New Testament to Joseph, and
St. Peter and St. Paul, to all these did God speak in
dreams. And of these last days when His kingdom is
established on earth, and His Spirit poured on all
flesh, it is said especially by the Prophet Joel—that
one of the signs of this close intercourse of God will
be this, “ Your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams V’

Thus it is that in these our Christian times the inti-
mate knowledge of God will bathe and imbue both our
waking and sleeping thoughts. "We are brought into
a spiritual kingdom, into mysterious communications
with the Unseen. What a difference is there in the
face of night from that of day ; when the Heavens are
disclosed and things of this world are hidden or dimly
seen! there is the same kind of difference between
sleep and waking hours; the interchanges of both weave
together the web of life; both clothe one spirit within
us; in both our souls live, and move, and have their
being in God. What we are when awake we also are

9 1 Thess. v. 10.

1 Acts ii. 17.THE HEATHEH DREAM.

327

when asleep; what we are in this life we shall he when
released from the body by death. In the day then we
must labour—labour with all our might—that God
may protect us when we cannot protect ourselves;
that when we lie down at night, and when we close
our eyes in the sleep of death, and make our bed in
the dark, we may not be afraid.

To Him, therefore, our Protector and Guide, let us
turn and pray with His whole Church: <£ Almighty
Grod, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to
help ourselves ; keep us both outwardly in our bodies
and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended
from all adversities which may happen to the body,
and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt
the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord2.”

2 Collect for Second Sunday in Lent,SERMON XXIX.

DORCAS.

CLOTHING THE POOR.

Acts ix. 39*

“ All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and
garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.”

One example in Holy Scripture speaks to us of one
grace or work of mercy; one of another. Rizpah, the
daughter of Aiah, of burying the dead; the widow of
Zarephath, of giving bread to the hungry; Anna, the
prophetess, of fastings and prayers night and day;
Martha, of hospitality; Mary, of Divine love; the
Widow with the two mites, of offerings to the Church
of God; Joanna, of ministering to Him Who had not
where to lay His head. “I was an hungred, and ye
gave Me meat;” but Dorcas especially of clothing the
naked, “ I was naked, and ye clothed Me.”

Indeed the name of Dorcas has passed into a sort
of proverb from this memorial of her; as Mary
Magdalene, for the sinner; Lazarus, for the sick
poor; so the name of Dorcas is applied to that
charity which consists in making garments for theCLOTHING THE POOE.

829

poor. But this common use of it takes off from the
freshness and reality of this passage itself, and from
her name. Bor while the application of Holy Scrip-
ture raises and hallows worldly associations, yet they,
in their turn, detract something from the holiness of
Scripture. Hence from this familiar use we cannot
quite appreciate the very interesting short record con-
tained in these words ; how it sets before us one
shape of a life of piety in the early Church; and
what a comment on our Lord’s own words such a
living example supplies, when those His words were
yet fresh in remembrance, and engraven by the Holy
Ghost on their hearts. Bor the memorable saying of
our Lord has left us this duty in a most touching
manner, when He says that He Himself is thus
clothed in His poor, and that He will bring forward
such acts on the Last Day as done unto Himself. Bor
we might ask, are we to understand from this that a
life may be devoted to such an object P And here the
Holy Ghost seems to say to us, not only is it en-
joined, not only may it be done, but it has been.
This is the instance of it. The commandment is here
written for you, not in lettered characters, but by the
finger of the Holy Ghost in the short record of a
heart and life.

Again; her good life might have been stated more
generally, as it is on the first mention ; “ There was
at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by
interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full
of good works and almsdeeds which she did.” And
other employments of saintly women in those early
days are sometimes specified, as where St. Paul says
of the holy widow, “ well reported of for good works;

. . . if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed830

DOECAS.

the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted1—
hut here this one thing is brought forward, and in
such a manner as to excite our most lively interest,
and dwell in the memory;—“All the widows stood by
him weeping, and showing the coats and garments
which Dorcas made;”—perishable garments indeed,
which the moth would devour, but which, far better
than the white winding-sheet wherein her body was
laid, spoke of the clothing of God, and of those
meek graces which had arrayed her soul with immor-
tality.

Let us then consider what is to be said for a life
devoted for the most part to this kind of charity.
ISTow, in the first place, it is the fulfilling of our Lord’s
own command. “ They cannot recompense thee,” but
“ thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the
just2.” But to the fulfilment of each of Christ’s com-
mands there is not only annexed a promised reward
on the Great Day, but even in this present time there
is found in the fulfilling of it something far more than
is known to the natural man, or the world takes ac-
count of. “ Thou shalt show us wonderful things in
Thy righteousness,” says the Psalmist. And when it
is said that there are treasures of wisdom and know-
ledge hid in Christ, it is evident that they must be
such as He imparts to those who keep His words,
while they remain concealed from the world. And
there is one thing of great value in an active life of
this kind of humble charity, that it brings persons to
religious truth more than any controversy or dis-
cussion can do; and strengthens and establishes them
in the same; so that they are not so liable to be tossed

1 1 Tim. y. 10.

2 St. Luke xiv. 14.CLOTHING THE POOH.

331

about with winds of doctrine ; but become grounded
and settled in the faith. For it not only gives practi-
cal wisdom in the affairs of daily life, as it is said,
“ the commandment of the Lord giveth light unto the
eyes,” but it opens the soul to the reception of the
highest Divine truth. “ If thou desire wisdom, keep
the commandments, and the Lord shall give her onto
thee3.” As our Lord Himself says, “ If any man will
do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it
be of God4.” And here this doing of God’s will is
spoken of in distinction from seeking our own glory,
it is merely doing what God enjoins because He
enjoins it; this keeps the soul in meekness and hu-
mility, and therefore fit for the indwelling of the
Comforter. Lor “mysteries are revealed unto the
meek5.” And thus when our Blessed Saviour was
about to bring forward the highest of all doctrines at
His Last Supper with His disciples, and to speak so
much of things heavenly in that Feast of Divine love,
He first commences by setting them the example of
the most lowly charity, by washing His disciples’ feet,
and saying, “ I have given you an example, that ye
should do as I have done to you.”

Hence it is that in times of religious or worldly
excitement, when divisions and controversies abound,
there is great safety in this mode of life; the winds,
that agitate the Church abroad, move them not in
their lowly path of duty. The storms that rend the
forests of Carmel disturb not “the rose of Sharon
and the lily of the valleys6 ” which hide their heads
in their lowly shelter at their feet, nor rob them of

3 Ecclus. i. 26.

5 Ecclus. iii. 19.

4 St. John vii. 17.
6 Cant, ii. 1.832

DORCAS.

their beauty and fragrance. Hor is it only the great
and learned who lose the eye of wisdom in such times,
but the vainest and weakest are made a prey; “ silly
women,” as St. Paul says, or “ weak women7,” are
led captive, “ ever learning, and never able to come to
the knowledge of the truth.” But the “meek and
quiet spirit,” “the hidden man of the heart ” adorned
with good works, which is so precious in the sight of
God, He hideth as a jewel in His tabernacle, and
the strife of tongues reacheth it not.

Hot indeed that such a life engaged in making
garments for the poor can of itself teach religious
truth, or compensate for the want of communion with
God through the appointed channels of His grace;
for some have been devoted to this and the like active
charities, who have been without even the Sacraments
of the Church, and faith in Christ as God. But even
this has shown the great excellency of it, that in evil
days God has vouchsafed even to this imperfect faith,
thus working by love, so much of brotherly good will
and peace. Of what great value, then, must such a
life be when combined with the promises laid up in
the Church of God! For no doubt such a life pre-
pares the heart for the reception of higher degrees of
Divine grace.

Moreover, when the heart is beset with scruples
and misgivings respecting the will of God, or the
saving fold of His true Church, or faint-hearted
doubts of our own final salvation, there is something
very healing and restorative in pursuing a course of
such active and charitable employment, when the Pro-
vidence of God allows it. It puts the soul in tune, as

7 jvvaiKapia, 2 Tim. iii. 6.CLOTHING THE POOR.

333

it were, to receive the Divine harmonies; it calms and
quiets the troubled waters, so that the image of the
deep skies may be reflected in them again. When
persons are first awakened on the subject of religion,
they are desirous of great things; if used to a life of
worldly excitement, they seek that in religion which
excites; they go far beyond what their feeble spiritual
powers are able to sustain. To them such a life is
humbling, yet strengthening, and thence calming and
hopeful, while they hear that still voice from behind,
which says, “ This is the way of safety.” The name
of Mary Magdalene first occurs on her ministering to
Christ’s wants, after her recovery.

And the reason of all this is that Eevelation has
made known to us that the perfection of man consists
not in wisdom or strength, but in love; man is to be
made again in the image of God, and that image is
love; for God is Love. God is made known to us,
not as a God of intellect or of power, but of Love;
we are called upon to imitate Him, not in knowledge
or power, but in love. And all knowledge and all
power worthy of the name are to be found in love.
Therefore it is that in the lowest duties of brotherly
love is found a light to guide our paths, a light that
will best of all manifest to us the things of God, and
of man as he is to be found in God, It is in lowly
duties that we are most safe. Love hath entered into
the schools of philosophy, and made them her own.
It was when one speaking on Mars’ Hill at Athens
was mocked as “a babbler,” at his apparent foolish-
ness, love overcame wisdom; and when the same per-
son was despised at Home, as a prisoner in bonds,
love was overcoming the power of the world. Thus, I
say, in lowliest duties where God’s calling invites us is334

DOECAS.

the school of wisdom, and the tower of strength; such
as the world knows not of. And let it be remembered
that love consists not in receiving, but in giving
love.

It would appear from the account as if Dorcas was
a person of some wealth and consideration; this seems
implied where it is said, “ this woman was full of good
works and almsdeeds which she did.” Dor although
the charities of the poor are most acceptable with
God, they are not thus mentioned as known of men.
And the account of the weeping widows, and of their
showing the things that Dorcas had made, seems to
indicate a feeling of loss as for one who had power to
relieve their wants. It appears, therefore, more to mark
this as her choice, of herself with her own hands making
garments for the poor. Dor as far as the poor were
concerned, their clothing might have been purchased,
or made by the hands of others; and it would be said
by some of the present day, more largely and effec-
tively ; but she chose it for her own employment, as
considering that Christ Himself was to be clothed in
His own poor; “'I was naked, and ye clothed Me.”
In these the lowest of His members it was like wash-
ing our Lord’s feet; and thus, like that woman in the
Gospels, deriving healing for herself from the touch of
His sacred Body; or, we may add, even from the hem
of His garment. It is following out the example of
self-humiliating charity, which is set before us in Him
Who for our sakes became poor, that by His poverty
we might be made rich. The swelling of the natural
heart would do some great thing; but Divine love
makes every thing great which is done for the sake of
God, and considers it a sacred privilege to be clothing
Christ in His poor. His own poor and mean garmentsCLOTHING- THE POOE.

335

on the Mount of Transfiguration became white as
snow, so as no fuller on earth could whiten them,
and full of His glory; and in like manner does He
change the poor and mean services of those that love
Him into what is most precious in God’s sight,
thereby “clothing with humility” their own souls,
and with that “ fine linen, clean and white, which is
the righteousness of saints8.”

There is another reason why a life devoted to
employments of this kind is very valuable. Ever
since the fall of our first parents, labour has been
the appointed lot of man; and such being by the
sentence of God, that state of labour is the best con-
dition for him, remedial and healthful for both body
and soul. It is like the running of water which be-
comes pure, clean, and healthful in its course; but
which, if it were to stand still and stagnate, would
become corrupt and putrified. And hence this our
life of probation consists in action; by our works we
shall be judged; our constant, daily, hourly actions
form habits, and habits form the character; they
change the heart and affections; according to what
a man’s actions are, such he himself becomes. How
the whole world, that is all mankind, is in a state of
probation; and the whole world is in action; one and
all are busy doing something; and these their doings
are forming them for good or evil.

If, then, such constant employment is needful for
all; and whatever our object in life may be, whether
it be riches, or honour, or learning, or devotion, or
charity, still, from the very nature of our being, we
must always be at work: how desirable is it that this

8 Rev. xix. 8.336

DORCAS.

our usual employment should be such as to improve
the heart; such as can have no other motive, but that
of love! So that as we grow in years we should
grow in love. Such a life, too, has the witness in
itself, for there is none other that so conduces to
peace. It was the saying of a holy man, that all
pleasures grow less as we grow old, but that of doing
good; and the reason of this is because it partakes of
that charity which abideth ever. It is a wonderful
mystery, that by doing good we partake of the nature
of God, as we do by no other course of action. And
we are told to be merciful, even as our Father in
Heaven is merciful.

It might be said, is not teaching the poor a higher
and better employment than that of clothing the poor,
inasmuch as the mind is better than the body P It
might indeed appear so to our human reason. But it
must be observed how much Holy Scripture has com-
bined the care of the body with that of the soul; not
only did our Lord Himself in His own Ministry do
good to the bodies of men while He taught them, but
in His solemn designation of others He united the
two, “ Heal the sick, preach the Word.” The Church
on the Hay of Pentecost did the same; while they
converted souls to immortal life, “ they distributed to
all, as each had need.” It is indeed the more peculiar
office of some to instruct the ignorant; the calling of
others to clothe the naked. But it may appear strange
to say that as a work of Christian charity, it might
be difficult to prefer one of these to the other. For
though indeed it may seem to us to be a matter of
greater dignity and worth to clothe the soul than to
clothe the body; yet for this very reason it may be,
that what appears to be the less worthy is, on thatCLOTHING THE POOR.

337

account, the more so, inasmuch as it partakes the
more of that humility and charity which is in Christ.
To wash the disciples’ feet may appear less beneficial,
less profitable, less worthy, than the sublime and
Heavenly discourses which unfolded the mysteries of
the Three Persons in One God, and of that unspeak-
able love which is in God. Yet both of these were
combined in our Blessed Saviour on that great and
memorable night.

To this may be added—which is most remarkable—
that in those acts of mercy mentioned by our Lord,
as brought forth by Him on the Last Day to decide
the condition of the soul, these and such charitable
works to the bodies of men alone are specified.
Nothing is said of teaching or preaching in the cata-
logue of those things that have been done or omitted.
It may indeed be that these lowly charitable duties
asre in themselves the most effectual mode of preaching
Christ.

There is one more point to be spoken of in the
interesting mention of this holy woman in the Acts of
the Apostles. She is overtaken by death in the midst
of these occupations. “ It came to pass in those days,
that she was sick, and died.” Most persons die in
what they live; in the midst of the employments of
life, its engagements, its thoughts. Of what great
importance, therefore, is it that our life should be so
ordered, that death should remove us hence in the
midst of works of charity! And this can only be by
making such charity the work of our life. We all
naturally look for some preparation, some time of
preparing for death, but such is very rarely granted;
and if the opportunity be granted of God, it is still
more rarely accepted of man. The fact is that our338

DORCAS.

usual and settled ordinary life is the best, if not tbe
only preparation. Or if it be a mortal sickness that
brings death, then this mode of life, of which we are
speaking, has a peculiar suitableness. “ Blessed is he
that considereth the poor and needy: the Lord shall
deliver him in the time of trouble.” “ The Lord com-
fort him when he lieth sick upon his bed: make Thou
all his bed in his sickness9.” The two things are re-
markably associated together; he that in health and
strength considereth the poor, shall find God to be
health and strength to himself when sick on his bed.

Yet further, he has the poor for his advocates with
God, both in death and in Judgment after death ; and
they are with God very powerful advocates. This is
set forth in the very interesting and touching narrative
of the text, “all the widows stood by,” interceding
for her after death; and the arms of their intercession
were these, the bringing forth of “ the coats and gar-
ments which Dorcas had made.”

In the mystery of Christ the very highest things
are thus wonderfully combined with the lowest, nay,
the highest in Heaven with the lowest on earth. And
thus the Eighth Psalm which describes the Ascension,
that is our nature in Christ taken into the Godhead,
and exalted to the right hand of Power, after speaking
of that “glory” as “set above the Heavens,” imme-
diately adds, “ out of the mouths of babes and suck-
lings Thou hast ordained strength,that Thou
mightest still the enemy and the avenger,”—-who fell
by pride.

The little children, whom the Pharisees at one time
would have set at nought, and the Disciples at anotherl,

9 Ps. xli. h 3.

1 Sfc. Matt. xxi. 15; six. 13.CLOTHING- THE POOR.

339

were alone faultless before Him, and were combined
with the highest Angels in His praise2.

In like manner on the subject of which we have
been now speaking, it may be said on earth, what
life can be more contemptible? but it is said in
Heaven, what life is more worthy and glorious than
this ?

2 St. Matt, xviii. 10.

z 2SERMON XXX.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

THE VICTORY OE EAITH.

St. Luke i. 28.

“ Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women.”

In considering the characters of holy women it is
difficult to speak of the Blessed Virgin; it is like
treating of the character of one’s parent, or king, or
guardian, or pastor ; not that we stand in this relation
towards her; but that something of this feeling is due
to the Mother of our Lord, which would dispose us
rather to reverence and love than to praise or judge,
and compare her with others. Following the example
of Holy Scripture and of herself also, we would rather
think and observe much, and say little. And may
God of His mercy grant that we think not amiss of
one so highly exalted. But yet as she is doubtless
given as an example to us, it seems desirable to ob-
serve a few things for the right understanding of her.

How as she was “ blessed among women,” as being
chosen for so high a privilege, are we to consider that
she had also that greater blessing, if we may so speak,THE YICTOEY OF FAITH.

341

of being also holy amongst women; or in other words
as amongst blessed women she was the most blessed;
was she also amongst holy women the most holy P For
that memorable saying of our Lord’s has marked this
as the greater blessedness, when to the woman that
exclaimed, “ Blessed is the womb that bare Thee,” He
said, “Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the
word of God, and keep it.”

Or again, on the other hand, might it not be said,
that although whatever so nearly approached to Christ
must in some sense be most Holy, yet that there is
no reason to suppose that she who was thus chosen
was necessarily better than others ? For that as our
Blessed Lord condescended to be born of our sinful
race, to take upon Himself our sin and shame, and as
among His ancestors according to the flesh from Adam
downwards there are many evil men ; for the record of
them is not like St. Paul’s catalogue of the Saints,
but a mixture throughout of good and bad; so it does
not follow that He should have chosen for His own
Mother one pre-eminent among the Saints, or more
holy than others.

But there is a great mistake in this view of the
matter. For as the soul cannot be born again with-
out its co-operating with God by faith; as all our
Lord’s miracles were according to the faith of those
that received them ; and without faith He wrought no
miracle; as it was by faith that barren women, which
were the signs going before of this wondrous birth,
conceived beyond nature, as Sarah, and Hannah, and
Elisabeth, and the mother of Samson and the Shu-
nammite; so it was by the faith of the Blessed Vir-
gin that our Incarnate Lord was to be born of her;342

THE BLESSED YIBGIH.

yea, even “as a root out of a dry ground1.” And
consider what that faith must have been which should
have been found equal to so great a miracle: for the
miracle wrought is usually according to the degree of
faith. And how stupendous was this miracle! the
miracle of all miracles, the mystery of all mysteries!
the centre, the foundation, the fountain-head of all;
the centre of that salvation whose circumference is
eternity; the foundation of that Church which is in
Heaven; the well-spring of everlasting life for those
spirits that are to live with God. But let us not lose
ourselves in words. As Eve in Paradise fell away
from God for want of faith, as Holy Scripture through-
out is a record to us of all that is great and good
being wrought through faith; and as the Apostle, in
the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
records nothing but these acts of faith from the be-
ginning ; so it was requisite that Christ should take
upon Him our nature by that act of faith which sur-
passes and transcends all; when the Virgin Mary
received and believed the Word of God, and by so be-
lieving, conceived, and gave birth to the Son of God.
As St. Augustin says2, she first conceived Christ in
her heart by faith, before she had conceived in the
womb. And this is the testimony of Elisabeth, which
may be said in a few words to express and stamp the
whole character of the Blessed Virgin. Her words are,
“ And blessed is she that believed.” She, we may sup-
pose, “ that believed ” beyond all others, who wore the
crown of faith, which was the true crown of David.
And indeed it appears in some degree as if, like as

1 Isa. liii. 2.

2 Serm. ccxv.THE YICTOEY OE EAITH.	343

John the Baptist bore witness to Christ, so did Elisa-
beth bear witness to the Mother of our Lord. Eor her
words are, “ And whence is this to me, that the Mother
of my Lord should come to me P ”	“ Eor, lo, as soon

as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears,
the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is
she that believed.” And it is very remarkable that
the inspired Elisabeth uses the very same words with
the angel Gabriel; as if to indicate that they spake by
One and the Same Spirit; and that both angels and
men with one mind and one voice combined together
to call her Blessed.

Let us then consider the occasion of her faith, and
we shall find reason to say, “ Many daughters have
done virtuously, but thou excellest them all3.” When
the Angel first appeared and came in unto Mary with
that salutation, how much depended on her answer, on
her co-operation with G od by faith! On the faith of
the woman of Canaan depended her daughter’s re-
lease; on that of Jairus his daughter’s recovery from
death; on Abraham’s great act of faith the choice of
his seed ; on that of David his overcoming the armies
of Israel. But how awful was that moment when
God had made known His will to the Blessed Yirgin
before she had given the answer, “Be it unto me
according to Thy word ! ” May we not say that the
salvation of all mankind depended on that her accept-
ance P "When the serpent spake to Eve our death hung
on her reply; and in like manner when the Angel
spake to the Holy Mary our life hung on her reply.
It was that for which all generations had looked from
the beginning, Adam, and Noah, and Abraham, and

3 Prov. xxxi. 29.THE BLESSED VIEGOT.

844

all the Prophets, all who from the beginning had de-
parted this life in hope were waiting for that hour;
the places of the Dead, and all the ends of the Earth,
and Heaven itself waited as it were in awful suspense,
for what her answer might be4, whether faith could be
found among men to give birth to our Incarnate God.
If it required great faith for the dead to be raised; or
for women long barren to bear; how much greater
faith must have been needed for this; this birth, not
only beyond nature as with barren women; but con-
trary to nature as with a virgin mother! We may
well be lost in wonder at the contemplation of it.
And not in wonder only, but in love and gratitude
also; for how much to ourselves, to each one of us
was at stake, wrhen that great trial of faith was put
upon her! Other miracles of faith do not in the
same way concern ourselves. We have to be thankful
for many acts of faith, as for those mentioned in Holy
Scripture, which brought about the calling of us Gen-
tiles ; and for many that are written for our example ;
but there is none like this, none of which we can each
of us say, My salvation is bound up in that her
reply.

Thus, I say, we cannot judge of her as we would of
other women from that love and veneration which is
due to her from us, for all that her faith hath wrought
for us, as she becomes the Mother of our Lord. More
truly than Eve is she to be called “ the mother of all
livingfor Eve is the mother of all that die; but she
that is the Mother of Christ is the mother of that life
which is in Him. O mother more than motherly!
mother of mercy, for thou art the mother of the mer-

See St. Bernard, De laud. Virg. Mat. vol. i. p. 759.THE VICTOItX OX EAITH.

345

ciful One! mother of life, for thou art the mother of
the Giver of life!

Again; this act of faith in the Blessed Virgin
stands wonderful and alone in this respect also, that it
is the very type and sign of salvation, that Christ, the
Son of God, should be born by faith within us. “ Who
wrere born,” says St. John, “not of the will of man,
but of God5.” And St. Paul speaking as in the per-
son of the Church, “ My little children, of whom I
travail in birth again till Christ be formed in you6.”
And again, “ Know ye not that Christ is in you,
except ye be reprobates7?” In this wonderful birth
of the Virgin, the power is of God, but it needs the
consenting faith of man, and man’s will to be with
God; and thus is it the sign of our Virgin mother the
Church. So much indeed is this the case, so much
are the two bound up together, that in some places in
Holy Scripture we know not whether it is the blessed
Virgin, or the Church itself that is spoken of. As in
that description in the Apocalypse of the Woman
which, it is said, “ appeared a great wonder in Hea-
ven,” bringing forth the man child which the dragon
was seeking to devour. And thus as it required so
great a faith in the blessed Virgin to give birth to
Christ; so it appears throughout the Gospels to be a
great and marvellous faith which receives Christ into
the soul as the Son of God; it is the one great gift of
God, that the Bather in the heart should reveal His
Son ; that in Him we should be born anew and made
sons of God; that Christ’ should be born and live in
the heart by faith. And not only does our Lord
speak of the greater blessedness of those “ that hear

5 St. John i. 13.

6 Gal. iv. 19.

7 2 Cor. xiii. 5.346

THE BLESSED YIRGItf.

the word of God, and keep it8but on another occa-
sion He puts them into equal honour and nearness to
Himself with His own mother, saying, 44 Whosoever
shall do the will of My Father which is in Heaven,
the same is My brother, and sister, and mother9.”

Thus most intimately and closely does the example
of the Blessed Mary come home to ourselves; touch-
ing most deeply and passionately all human affection ;
inasmuch as she was our Lord’s Mother according to
the flesh ; and still more deeply reaching and affecting
in us all Divine love, inasmuch as she is the very ex-
ample beyond all others of that “ faith which worketh
by lovehaving in fervent love and faith conceived
Christ in spirit before she conceived in the body.
And thus has she become the very pattern of all obe-
dience, saying unto us in those memorable words re-
corded of her, ‘‘Whatsoever He saith unto you, do
it V* This striking and impressive lesson she seems
thus brought forward to speak to the Church of all
time in that the first manifestation of Christ’s king-
dom, at the marriage feast of Cana.

And here we must observe that this, the act of faith
in the Holy Virgin, so transcendent and pre-eminent,
could scarcely have stood alone; but as we find in
Abraham that before that one great crowning act of
bis life, he had been a long while trained and per-
fected by a previous course of trial; so we cannot
but suppose that, before that praise of God by His
Angel, she had been known of God by an extraordinary
life of faith. We may conclude this of her life from
childhood. She was, as St. Augustin says2, and as he

8 St. Luke xi. 28.	9 St. Matt. xii. 50. St. Aug.

1 St. John ii. 5.	2 See St. Aug. Serm. ccxci. adfinem.THE YICTOBY OE EAITH.	347

infers from the Angelic salutation as translated in the
Latin Scriptures, “ Lull of grace.”

And again, we may infer another point with respect
to her character; as in Scripture it is faith alone that
renders acceptable with God; and degrees of accept-
ance are according to degrees of faith, so this living
faith forms the whole man and fills all the soul; it is
not like one grace amongst many, but as one that con-
tains in itself all other graces, and gives life to them.
Lor it unites the soul unto God; it makes the whole
man to be pleasing unto God ; which it could not be
without obedience in all things to the will of God;
which will is our sanctification. And therefore we
must conclude that according to the faith in the
Blessed Virgin, must also have been all goodness,
every grace and virtue. So it was in Abraham ; tem-
perance, meekness, justice, largeness of heart, and
charity were in him the fruits of faith. As the light
on the breast of the High Priest was in twelve different
coloured stones, so faith with its Divine light kindles
all graces, being itself the indwelling Power and Voice
of God.

But before entering into, this subject, we may
notice one thing which must have struck all persons
in what is recorded of the Blessed Virgin, and that is
a very remarkable thoughtfulness. It is seen on all
occasions. Thus on the first appearing of the Angel
Gabriel, we do not find, as some might have expected,
any great emotion, or terror, or transport; but deep
meditation. “ She cast in her mind what manner of
salutation this should be.” And afterwards, in like
thoughtful inquiry, she says, “How shall this be?”
And this continued after our Lord was born. Thus,
when “ all wondered at those things which were told348

THE BLESSED YIBGIH.

them of the shepherds/* it is added, “ But Mary kept
all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
And when our Lord spoke unto them when He was
twelve years old, it is said, “ They understood not the
saying which He spake unto them“ But His Mother
kept all these sayings in her heart.” Now, what is
the reason of this ? To understand it we must con-
sider that wonderful nearness unto God into which
she was brought, to whom it was given to be the
Mother of the Incarnate Word, Who is God over all.
As that which is finite can in no way comprehend the
Infinite, nor that which is human the Divine, so all
union with God must be accompanied with both
adoration and wonder;—with adoring wonder at what
is so incomprehensibly great and good, both in itself
and to ourselves in particular. In that love wdiich is
beyond knowledge, and that peace which passeth
understanding, there is always an endeavouring to
reach after something too high and excellent for us.
Thus was it with Abraham, when in a sort of rejoicing
wonder he says, “ Lord God, what wilt Thou give
me ?” Childless, and without inheritance, I am lost
in wonder at what great and good thing Thou art
about to do with me. So, often, with David in the
Psalms. Nor is this only the case with mankind, the
Angels desire to look into the things of our salva-
tion.

Thus in all revelation there must be mystery; and
when God reveals Himself to the heart, it turns to
the contemplation of that mystery: when the light
breaks in upon darkness, we cannot but look and
behold, though yet we see but in a glass darkly.

Thus was the Blessed Mother ever pondering in
heart, inquiring, reflecting, as lost in the contem-THE "VICTORY OE EAITH.

349

plation of those things so unspeakable, of which she
was made partaker, too large for the human heart to
contain. “ Such knowledge is too wonderful and ex-
cellent for me, I cannot attain unto it3.” She thought
over them in silence, and in knowing was as if she
understood not; believing, as if she believed not; in
loving, as if she loved not; on account of the incom-
prehensible greatness of those things which she knew,
and believed, and loved. The blessed Angels in the
Old Testament are spoken of as covering their faces4
before God; but in the New, as beholding His face5;
and in this beholding there is love, and joy, and also
inquiry.

But now it is from thus beholding the immeasurable
greatness of God, we are made sensible of our own
littleness; and therefore in this faith which is the
turning of the soul to God, what appears to men is
humility. Thus in all the remarkable instances of
acceptance recorded in the Gospels, as our Lord
speaks of their faith, saying, “ 0 woman, great is thy
faith;” or, “ I have not found such great faith ;” and,
“Thy faith hath made thee whole;”—yet in all these
cases, what appears to men is humility. It is said,
the Lord “marvelled” at the “faith;” but what we
should have marvelled at is the lowliness. .

Hence it is that the great characteristic which the
Church of all ages has noticed in the Elessed Mary is
her humility. It was this that first called forth the
wonder of Elisabeth, “ Whence is this to me, that the
Mother of my Lord should come to me?” In her
great answer to the Angel, her first words are ex-
pressive of humility, “Behold the handmaid of the

3 Ps, cxxxix. 5.	4 Isa. vi. 2.	5 St. Matt, xviii. 10.350

THE BLESSED YIBGIH.

Lord the second of faith, “ Be it unto me according
to thy word.5’ And so in the Song of the Blessed
Virgin, the beginning of all is humility, “For He
hath regarded the low estate of His handmaidand
on this is founded in faith her rejoicing in God. And
it may be observed, that as our Blessed Lord de-
lighted to call Himself the Son of Man, and as the
Evangelist says He was subject to His parents, so the
Virgin Mother says in like humility and subordina-
tion, “ Thy father and I have sought Thee.”

For poverty of spirit is the very threshold of the
kingdom, being the first beatitude; and not only
poverty of spirit, but of estate also; for “ blessed be
ye poor6.” But her low estate was not poverty only,
but the keenest of all poverty, the low estate of one
of Boyal birth.

And now to conclude;—I have said that not only is
the Blessed Virgin an example—the most moving and
constraining—to us all, but likewise the very type of
salvation; both to the Church at large, and to each
individual in it. And this is brought before us every
day in a very solemn remembrance, both of her, and
of ourselves, by the use of the Magnificat. So it has
always been, and so it continues from year to year,
and from day to day. And therefore I cannot do
better than repeat what was said of it by a Latin
writer of old. “By the wise ordering of the Holy
Spirit, the Church has appointed this most sweet
hymn, so brief, yet so comprehensive, to be sung in
the evening; that as the day declines, the mind may
withdraw itself from the outer world to that which is
within; and lifting up itself to God, and pondering

6 St. Luke vi. 20.THE YICTOEY OE FAITH.

351

on all His goodness, may do Him honour in word and
deed, and with all affection give Him thanks7.”

It has been often pointed out how the Holy Women,
from time to time, seem to join in, as it were, in the
choir, and take up this strain of the Magnificat; not
only as Miriam, and Deborah, and Hannah, vocally
and expressly in their inspired hymns, but in a
certain tone of character—the tongue of the heart—
continued in fainter accents, till it finds full and
distinct utterance in the Virgin herself; and then the
Church carries on the same with the voice of all her
members. “ Clothed with the sun,” and walking in
Heaven, as partaking of Christ's righteousness, and
uplifted by Him, and with “ the moon under her feet,”
as treading upon all sublunary changes, she renews
each day, as night approaches, in this the evening of
the world, that her note of praise.

7 Dion. Carthus. Exp. Cant. Mar. p. cccxi.

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Western Labours and Chronology; Romanism and the Christian
Church of Britain; Scepticism; Faith ; Future Life; and the
Hope of the Lord’s Glorious Advent. By W. B. GALLOWAY,
M.A., Incumbent of St. Mark’s, St. Pancras. In small 8vo. 5s.

XXVI.

The MARTYR of the PONGAS; a Memoir of the Rev.

HAMBLE JAMES LEACOCK, first West Indian Missionary
to WESTERN AFRICA. By the Rev. HENRY CASWALL,
D.D., Yicar of Figheldean, Author of “ America and the Ameri-
can Church,” &c. &c. In small 8vo. With Portrait. 5s. 6d.

XXVII.

A New ILLUSTRATED EDITION of SACRED ALLE-
GORIES. Contents:—The Shadow of the Cross—The Distant
Hills—The Old Man’s Home; and The King’s Messengers. By
the Rev. WILLIAM ADAMS, M.A., late Fellow of Merton
College, Oxford. In small 4to. 1/. Is.

***. This New Edition contains numerous Engravings on Wood

from Original Designs by C.W. Cope, R.A.; I. C. Horsley, A.R.A.;

Samuel Palmer , Birket Foster ; and George E. Hicks.BY MESSRS. RIVINGTON.	5

XXVIII.

A Second Edition of the FIRST of JUNE ; or, SCHOOL-
BOY RIVALRY; a Second Tale of Charlton School. By the
Rev. H. C. ADAMS, M.A., late Fellow of Magdalen College,
Oxford; Editor of “ The Cherry Stones.” In small 8vo. 3s. 6d.

XXIX.

A CATECHISM on the APOSTLES’ CREED, based on
BISHOP PEARSON’S EXPOSITION, and adapted to the use
of Junior Students in Theology and Pupils in Training Colleges
for National School Masters. By the Rev. JOHN WILLIAM
TREVOR, M.A., Chancellor of the Diocese of Bangor. In
small 8vo. 2s. 6d.

XXX.

The DOCTRINE of the ATONEMENT deduced from

Scripture, and Vindicated from Misrepresentations and Objections,
in Six Discourses, preached before the University of Dublin;
being the Donnellan Lecture for the Year 1857. By JOHN
COTTER MACDONNELL, B.D., Vicar of Laracor, Diocese of
Meath. In 8vo. 76'.

XXXI.

The Fifth Edition of the FIRST GERMAN BOOK,

on the Plan of “ Henry’s First Latin Book.” By the Rev.
THOMAS KERCHEVER ARNOLD, M.A., late Rector of
Lyndon, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; and J. W.
Fradersdorff, formerly of the University of Berlin. In 12mo.
5s. 6d.

A KEY to the Exercises may he had. Price 2s. 6d.

XXXII.

The ACTS for Promoting the BUILDING and ENDOW-
ING of CHURCHES and CHAPELS in Populous Parishes and
Places, and forming New Parishes and Districts. Edited by
JAMES THOMAS LAW, A.M., Chancellor of the Diocese of
Lichfield. Fourth Edition. In Six Parts. 8vo. 9s.

The object of this Work is to bring, together into one view, under
separate heads, for the convenience of the Clergy, all that relates to
each branch of this important subject.

XXXIII.

The Second Edition of the FIRST HEBREW BOOK;

on the Plan of “ Henry’s First Latin Book.” By the Rev. THOMAS
KERCHEVER ARNOLD, M.A., late Rector of Lyndon, and
formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. In P2mo. 7s. 6d.6	BOOKS PUBLISHED

xxxiv.

The MORAL of a SAD STORY ; Four Sermons on the
INDIAN MUTINY, with copious Notes. By JOHN HAMP-
DEN GURNEY, M.A., Prebendary of St. Paul’s, and Rector of
St. Mary’s, Marylebone. In small 8vo. 2s. 6d.

XXXV.

AGONISTES; or, PHILOSOPHICAL STRICTURES,

suggested by Opinions, chiefly, of Contemporary Writers. By
ALFRED LYALL, B.A., Rector of Harbledown, Kent.

In this Work the opinions of the following Authors (amongst others)
are discussed, viz. Abp. Wliately—Whewell—Chalmers—Grote—Lord
Brougham—SydneySmith—Jeffrey—Mill—Brown—Paley—Macaulay
—Baden Powell—J. H. Newman—Mackintosh—and Sir W. Hamil-
ton. In post 8vo. 7s. 6d.

XXXVI.

SERMONS preached before the QUEEN. By SAMUEL
WILBERFORCE, D.D., Lord Bishop of Oxford. Sixth Edition.
In 12mo. 6s.

XXXVII.

The Fifth Edition of the WARNINGS of the HOLY
WEEK ; being a COURSE of PAROCHIAL LECTURES for
the WEEK before EASTER, and the EASTER FESTIVALS.
By the Rev. WILLIAM ADAMS, M.A., late Fellow of Merton
College; Author of “ The Old Man’s Home,” and other Works.
In small 8vo. 4s. 6d.

XXXVIII.

The INSPIRATION of HOLY SCRIPTURE, its Nature

and Proof; Eight Discourses preached before the University of
Dublin. By WILLIAM LEE, D.D., Fellow and Tutor of
Trinity College, and Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the
University of Dublin. Second Edition, revised, with Index. In
8vo. 14s.

XXXIX*

SERMONS, VOL. II. ; preached in the Cathedral Church
of Bangor. By CHRISTOPHER BETHELL, D.D., Lord
Bishop of Bangor. In 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Also, by the same Author {lately published),

SERMONS preached in the Cathedral Churches of Chichester,
Gloucester, and Bangor, and in Chapels Royal. 10s. 6d.

XL.

CATECHESIS; or, CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION pre-
paratory to CONFIRMATION, and FIRST COMMUNION.
By the Right Rev. CHARLES WORDSWORTH, D.C.L.,
Bishop of St. Andrew’s, Dunkeld, and Dunblane. Third Edition.
In small 8vo. 3s. 6d.BY MESSRS. RIVINGTON.	7

XLI.

ECHOES from MANY MINDS; a Collection of SACRED
POETRY. Edited by LADY CHARLOTTE MARIA
PEPYS. Inl8mo. 2s. 6d.

XLII.

The PARABLES of OUR LORD Explained and Exem-
plified, in Sunday School Dialogues. By TWO SISTERS.
Edited by a Clergyman of the Church of England. In small 8vo.
3s.

XLIII.

DISCOURSES and ESSAYS on the UNITY of GOD’S
WILL as revealed in SCRIPTURE. By JOHN. WILLIAMS,
A.M., Archdeacon of Cardigan. In 8vo. 10s. 6c?.

XLIV.

A Theological and Scholastic TREATISE on the
SPIRITUAL EATING of the BODY OF CHRIST, and the
SPIRITUAL DRINKING of HIS BLOOD, in the HOLY
SUPPER of the LORD. Translated from the original Latin of
ANTOINE DE LA ROCHE CHANDIEU, commonly called
ANTHONY SADEEL. In crown 8vo. 4s.

XLV.

ECHOES from EGYPT; or, the Type of Antichrist.

Concluding with the Number of the Beast (Rev. xiii. 18). By the
Rev. W. J. GROVES, M.A., sometime Vicar of Chewton Mendip,
Somerset. In 8vo. 10s. 6d.

XLVI.

PRINCIPLES of NATURAL THEOLOGY. By

ROBERT ANCHOR THOMPSON, M.A. In crown 8vo. 4s.

Also, by the same Author,

CHRISTIAN THEISM: the Testimony of Reason and Revelation
to the Existence and Character of the SUPREME BEING. In
2 vols. 8vo. 21s. (This Work gained the First Burnet Prize in
a competition of 208 Writers.)

XLVII.

The FOUR GOSPELS and ACTS of the APOSTLES.
With EXPLANATORY NOTES by LORD LYTTELTON.
In post 8vo. 8s. Qd.

XLVIII.

SERMONS on the CHARACTERS of the OLD TESTA-
MENT, By the Rev. ISAAC WILLIAMS, B.D., late Fellow
of Trinity College, Oxford; Author of a “ Harmony of the Gospels
with Reflections,” in 8 vols. In small 8vo. 5s. 6d8 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. RIVINGTON.

XLIX.

THEOPHILUS ANGLICANUS; or, INSTRUCTION

concerning the CHURCH, and the Anglican Branch of it. For
the Use of Schools, Colleges, and Candidates for Holy Orders. By
CHR. WORDSWORTH, D.D., Canon of Westminster. Eighth
Edition. In post 8vo. 8s. 6d.

L.

The Third Edition of a HISTORY of the PROTESTANT
EPISCOPAL CHURCH in AMERICA. By SAMUEL
WILBERFORCE, D.D., Lord Bishop of Oxford. 5s.

LI.

HYMNS and POEMS for the SICK and SUFFERING.

In connexion with the Service for the VISITATION of the SICK.
Selected from various Authors. Edited by the Rev. T. V. FOS-
BERY, M. A., Perpetual Curate of Sunningdale. Fourth Edition.
In small 8vo. 6s. Qd.

This Volume contains 233 separate pieces ; of which about 90 are by
writers who lived prior to the 18th Century : the rest are modern, and
some of these original. Amongst the names of the writers (between
70 and 80 in number) occur those of Sir J. Beaumont—Sir T. Browne
—F. Davison—Elizabeth of Bohemia—P. Fletcher—G. Herbert.—
Dean Hickes—Bp. Ken—Norris—Quarles—Sandys—Bp. J. Taylor—
Henry Vaughan—and Sir H. Wotton. And of modern writers:—
Miss E. B. Barrett—The Bishop of Oxford—S. T. Coleridge—Sir R.
Grant—Miss E. Taylor—W. Wordsworth—Rev. Messrs. Chandler—
Keble—Lvte-—Monsell—Moultrie—and Trench.

LII.

A Second Edition of the HISTORY of the CHURCH of
ENGLAND in the COLONIES and FOREIGN DEPEND-
ENCIES of the BRITISH EMPIRE. By the Rev. JAMES
S. M. ANDERSON, M.A., Preacher of Lincoln’s Inn, and Rector
of Tormarton. In 3 vols. small 8vo. H. 4s.

LTII.

COMFORT for the AFFLICTED. Selected from various
Authors. Edited by the Rev. C. E. KENNAWAY. With a
Preface by S. WILBERFORCE, D.D.', Lord Bishop of Oxford.
Ninth Edition. In small 8vo. 5s.

LIV.

QUIET MOMENTS: aFour Weeks’ Course of THOUGHTS

and MEDITATIONS, before Evening Prayer and at Sunset.
By LADY CHARLOTTE MARIA PEPYS. Third Edition.
In small 8vo. 3s. 6d.

Lately published,

MORNING NOTES of PRAISE, a Companion Volume.

3s. 6c/.