339
EMONS PREACHED IN SACKV ILLE
COLLEGE CHAPEL .
S E RM O N S
PREACHED IN
SACKV ILLE COLLEGE CHAPEL .
BY THE LATEREV . J . M . NEALE
,D .D . ,
WARDEN OF THE COLLEGE .
V OL . IV .
Minor festifials of the Ma rch of Zi nglanh .
f ourth ?Eh it ion .
LONDON
J . MASTERS AND CO . , 78, NEW BOND STREET.
MDCCCLXXXII .
TO THE
REV. C . A . FOWLER,M .A.,
RECTOR OF CRAW LEY,
amaz e i mmuns
ARE D ED I C AT E D.
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE .
THE Second V olume of “Readings for the Agedhaving been for some time out of print
,i t wa s thought
well, soon after the death of the Author, to prepare a
N ew Edition . Several Sermons have, however, beenadded, and in order to commend the volume to gen eralreaders the titl e has been changed from tha t which
seemed to co nfi n e i t to a fe w only, to one which thewriter appears to have contemplated orig inal ly himself,for in his Journal
, October 3 t d, 1852, there is the following entry
,Began my introductory sermon for the
s e t o n the ‘ Bla ck Letter Days z’
qu od D . O . M . beneve r t a t . W ith this prayer this New Edition i s given tothe publi c .
J . H .
EAST BARKWITH RECTORY.
Fe a s t of S . Ma rg a r e t , 1 868.
PREFACE.
THE following Readings were,like those in the
First Series, written for a congregation consi sting, forthe most part, of aged persons and With a special viewto their requirements . Their aim has been to chooseon each day the lesson most suitable for th at particularclass a class for whom so little has as yet been publish e d .
It i s proper to observe that the XIII . ,XIV . , XV III.,
and XXIV . , are very much indebted to the sermons ofthe great Portuguese divine
, Antonio V i eyra that theXV . i s mainly fr om S . Augustine that the XXIII . i sprincipally taken fr om a meditation of Henry He rph ,
the third fr om a Kempis,
” on the same text andthat the XXXIII. i s fr om th e V II. of S . Hildebe r t
’s
Sermons for Lent .
BATALHA, PORTUGAL,Rog a tion Sund ay , 1 854 .
CONTENTS.
SERMON I .
flutroh ut torp .
WHAT ARE THESE ? WHENCE CAME THEY ?PAGE
Wha t a r e the se Which a r e ar r aye d in Whit e ro be s, an d whe n cecame they —Re v. V ii . 1 3
SERMON II .THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS.
S . Eilarp . Elanua rg 1 3 .
Th e LORD ga v e th e wo rd : g re a t w a s th e compa ny of th e
pre a che r s . Kin gs with the i r a rm ie s d id fle e an d w e re d iscomfi t e dan d they ofth e hou seho ld d i vid e d th e spo il .”—Psa lm lxvii i . 1 1 , 1 2 .
SERMON III .
THE HIDDEN MANNA . THE WH ITE STONE .
5 . M a s s . jfrbrua rp 3 .
To him tha t o ve rcom e th W i ll I give t o e a t ofth e hidd e n man n a ,
an d wil l give h im a whi t e st o n e a n d in th e sto n e a n ew n am e
wr itt en , Whi ch n o m an kn owe th sa v in g h e tha t re ce i ve th i t .”Rev. ii . 1 7
SERMON IV .
THE PENI’I‘ENT CLOTHED IN WH ITE, AND NOT BLOTTED OUT OF THE
BOOK OF LIFE .
S . va lentine . fi ebrua rp 1 4 .
He tha t o ve rcom e th , th e sam e sha ll be clo the d in whit e r a i
m en t an d I W ill n o t blo t o u t h is n am e o u t of th e bo ok of life ,bu t I W ill co nfe ss hi s n am e b efo re My FATHER an d befo re Hi sAn ge ls .”—Rev . in
'
. 5 .
Con ten ts .
SERMON V .
FRUIT IN OLD AGE.
5 . B antu. ma rsh 1 .
They a lso sha ll brin g fo rth m o re fr uit in the ir a ge .
Psa lm xcu . 1 3 .
SERMON VI .
GOD’S JUDGMENT UPON SINNERS .
5 . 6 135111 . W a rd) 2 .
An d a ll Isra e l sha ll he a r a n d fe a r an d sha ll d o n o m o re any
su ch wicke dn e ss a s thi s i s am o n g yo u .
—D e u t . xi ii . 1 1 .
SERMON VII .THE NEW WAY .
S . fl lban. Slum: 1 7.
Ye ha ve n o t pa sse d thi s w ay he re tofo re .
—Jo sh . i i i . 4 .
SERMON VIII .HOW OUR LORD COMES TO US.
vis ita tion of the 18125c virgin fi nin g . 3lm 2 .
An d whe n ce is thi s to m e, tha t th e m o the r ofmy LORD sho u ld
com e to m e —S. Luke i . 43 .
SERMON IX .
THE BESURREOTION OF THE BODY .
Gra ns la t ion of S . M a r t in. 31n 4 .
Th e re shall be a re su rre ctio n ofth e d e a d , bo th ofthe ju st an du nju st .
”—Act s xxiv . 1 5 .
SERMON X .
WHAT WE ARE TO LEARN FROM THE RAIN .
5 . i mitbin . 31q 1 5 .
An d th e r a in wa s upon th e e a rth fo rty d ays an d fo rty n ight s .Ge n e s is vi i . 1 2.
PAGE
Con te n ts .xii i
PAGESERMON XI .
WHAT THE ONE PEARL Is .
5 . fi la rga rct . 3lm 20.
Am e r ch an tman ,s e e kin g go o d ly p e a rls, wh o whe n h e h a d found
o n e pe a r l ofgre a t pric e , w e n t a n d so ld a ll tha t h e h a d , an d boughtit .
”—S. Ma t t . xiii . 45 , 46 .
SERMON XII .
THE TWO SAINT MARIES AT THE cno ss .
5 . M ary fi l ag‘
a a lene . $n 22 .
The re sto o d by th e Cro ss of JESUS, His mo the r, an d Ma ryMagda le n e .
”—S. John xix . 25 .
SERMON XIII .
WHY SERMONS DO so LITTLE GOOD .
2 . anne . 3q 26 .
A sowe r w e n t o u t t o sow h is seed .
”-S. Luke v iii . 5 .
SERMON XIV .
S . PETER WITH THE KEYS, AND 8 . PETER BOUND .
?Lammasd ffiap. august 1 .
An d JBSUS an swe re d an d sa i d u n t o Pe t e r, I will give un to
the e th e keys of th e Kingd om of H e a ve n : a n d wha t so e v e r tho usha lt bind o n e a rth sha ll be bo u nd in Hea ven .
”—S. Ma t t . xvi .1 7 19.
Pe te r w a s sle e pin g be twe e n two so ld i e rs, bo un d with tw o
chain s . —Act s xii . 6 .
SERMON XV .
THE THREE TABERNACLES .mt ansfi gura t ion . august 6 .
Fo r w e ha ve n o t fo llowe d cun n ingly d e vise d fable s , whe n w ema d e kn own un t o you th e powe r an d comin g of o u r LORD JBSUSCHR IST, bu t we re eye
-w itn e sse s ofHi s Maje sty whe n we we re withHim in th e ho ly Mo un t .
”—2 S. Pe te r i . 1 6, 18.
Con te n ts .
SERMON XVI .
WHAT THE NAME o r JESUS IS TO HIS PEOPLE .
fl ame of 5 25 115 . augus t 7 .
Be i t kn own u n to you a l l , a nd to a ll th e pe o ple ofIsra e l, tha tby th e Nam e of JESUS CHRIST ofNa z a r e th , W hom ye cr ucifi e d ,
Whom GOD ra i se d from th e d e a d , e v e n by Him d o th thi s man
stand he re befo re yo u who le Ne ithe r i s the re sa lva t io n inany o the r : fo r the re i s n o n e o the r Nam e u n d e r He a ve n giv e namo ng m e n , whe re by w e mu st be sa v e d .
”—Act s vi . 1 0, 1 2 .
SERMON XVII .WHAT i s THE END OF CHRISTIAN CONVERSATION .
5 . I aurcnce . augus t 1 0.
Who se fa ith fo llow, co n s id e ring th e e n d of the ir con ve rsat io n .
—Heb . x iii . 7
SERMON XVIII .
OWNING ONESELF IN THE WRONG .
5 . augus t ine . augus t 28.
Wha t I ha ve writ t e n , I ha ve writ t e n .—S. John xix. 22 .
SERMON XIX .
SPEAKING THE TRUTH BOLDLY .
ZIBew IIa t ion of 5 . 3mm i fiaptis t . augus t 29.
An d h e se n t an d behe ad e d John in th e priso n .
” —S. Ma t t
xiv . 1 0 .
SERMON XX.
THE STAG AND THE CITY o r REFUGE .
5 . G ile s . 5 eptember 1 .
De live r My sou l from th e swo rd : My d a rling from th e powe rofthe d og .
”—Psa lm xxii . 20.
SERMON XXI .
THROUGH MUCH TRIBULAT ION .
5 . ?Enurcbus . 5 cpt tmbcr 7 .
An d tha t w e mu st , thro ugh much tribu la tio n , e n t e r into th eKingdom ofGOD .
”—Act s xiv. 22 .
PAGE
Con ten ts . xv
PAGESERMON XXII .
THE LORD’
s COMING TO H IS TEMPLE .
fi a tibitp of the 381mm virgin man) . 5 eptembt r 8 .
Th e LORD Whom ye se ek , sha ll s udd e n ly come to His Tem
ple .—Ma lachi i ii . 1 .
SERMON XXIII .
HOW CHRIST IS A BUNDLE OF MYRRH .
Eo lp QDros s 18mg . 5 eptembt r 1 4 .
A bun d le ofmyrrh i s my W e ll-be lo v e d u n t o m e He sha ll l iea ll n ight be twixt my bre a st s .”—Can t ic. i . 1 3 .
SERMON XXIV.
IGNORANT PRAYERS .5 . Eambe rt . 5 eptember 1 7.
Ye kn o w n o t wha t ye a sk .
”—S. Ma t t . xx . 22 .
SERMON XXV .
HE THAT OVERCOMETH .
5 . Gflppr ian . 5 tptemhcr 26 .
He tha t o v e rcom e th sha ll n o t be hu rt ofth e se con d d e ath .
Rev. i i . 1 1 .
SERMON XXVI .
THE FOUR CARPENTERS .
5 . 312mm . 5 ept tmbt r 30
An d th e LORD showe d m e fou r ca rpe n t e rs . —Z ech . i . 20.
SERMON XX VII .THE DEATH OF A SERVANT.5 . Remigius . QBctobe r 1 .
The refo re , my be lo ve d bre thre n , b e ye st e a dfa st , unmo veable ,a lways a bo un d in g in th e wo rk ofth e LORD .
” —1 Co r . xv . 58.
Con ten ts .
PAGESERMON XXVIII .
HOW WE COULD MEET MARTYRDOM NOW .
5 . f a ith. QBt tohcr 6 .
Wh e n thou pa sse st thro ugh th e wa te rs, I wi ll be with the e ;a n d through th e r iv e rs, they sha ll n o t o ve rflow the e : whe n tho uwa lke st thro ugh th e fi r e , tho u sha lt n o t be bur n e d n e i the r sha llth e flame kin d le u po n the e .
”—Isa iah xliii. 2 .
SERMON XXIX .
8 . PAUL ON m s’ H ILL .
5 . lIBionps ius tbs: a reopa git e . QBctohcr
Howbe it ce rt a in m e n cla ve un to h im , an d be lie ve dwhich wa s Dio nysiu s, th e Ar e opa git e .
”—Act s xvii . 34 .
SERMON XXX .
A BROTHER BORN FOR ADVERS ITY.
QIransIa tion ofKing Q bma rn. QBt tobe r 1 3 .
A bro the r i s bo rn fo r a d ve rsity .
”—Pro ve rbs xvi i. 1 7.
SERMON XXXI .SUFFERING IN VAIN .
5 . QEtbcIUrc‘
a a . QBt tobcr 1 7.
Ha ve ye suffe re d so m any things in vai n ? if it be ye t inva in .
—Ga l . i i i . 4 .
SERMON XXXII .HEARTILY WORK FOR GOD’S BAKE .
5 5 . flirtspin ant ! QEr tspian . QBctohcr 25 .
An d wha t so e v e r ye d o , d o it he artily, a s to the LORD, a nd n o t
u n to m e n .
”—Co l . i i i. 23 .
xvii i Conten ts .
PAGESERMON XXXVIII .
THE DEATH o r A GREAT MAN .
5 . QEUmunU, ?King an‘
a m a rtian fi obcmbt r 20 .
An d th e Kin g sa id t o h is se rva n t s, Kn ow ye n o t tha t the re i sa Pr in ce an d a gre a t ma n fa ll e n thi s day in Isra e l —2 Sam . i ii . 38. 222
SERMON XXXIX .
WHAT so a r o r MUSIC THE OLD CAN MAKE .
5 . Q t t tl ia . fi ohcmbt r 22 .
An d whe n J eho shapha t h a d co n su lte d wi th th e pe ople h eappo in te d sin ge rs u n to th e LORD, a n d tha t sho ul d pra ise th e
be a u ty of ho lin e ss , a s the y w e n t o u t befo re th e a rmy, an d t o say,
Pra ise th e LORD,fo r His m e rcy en dur e th fo r ever .
” —2 Chron . xx . 21 .
SERMON XL .
THE SEA G IV ING UP HER DEAD .
5 . GDIcment . fi obembe r 23 .
An o the r bo o k w a s Ope n e d , wh ich is th e Bo ok of Life : An d
th e se a ga v e up h e r d e a d which w e re in i t . —Rev . xx . 1 2,1 3
SERMON XLI .
THE WEAK THINGS OF TH IS WORLD CONFOUND ING THE WISE .
5 . ?Ka tbsr ine . fi obcmbcr 25
Th e fe a r ofth e LORD i s th e be ginn in g ofwi sdom .-Pr o v . ix . 1 0. 239
SERMON XLII.UNKNOWN SAINTS .
5 . fi tt fio las . ZIBt t cmbcr 6 .
Thy FATHER, whi ch se e th in se cre t , Himse lfshall re wa rd theeo pe n ly .
—8. Ma t t . vi . 4 .
SERMON XLIII .THE BUSH THAT BURNED , AND WAS NOT BURNT .
(‘Doncrpt ion of the IBIcs s e‘
a virgi n W arp. mct tmbcr 8 .
An d th e An ge l of th e LORD appe a re d u n to Mo se s in a flame
offi r e o u t ofth e m id st ofa bu sh . An d h e lo oke d , a n d beho ld , th ebu sh bu rn e d w ith fi r e , a n d th e bu sh wa s n o t con sum e d .
Exo d u s i ii . 2 .
Con tents .
PAGESERMON XLIV .
TAKE NO THOUGHT WHAT YE SHALL SPEAK .
5 . Ea rn. ZIBm mbe r 1 3 .
Bu t when they d e live r you up, t ake n o tho ught h ow o r wha tye sha ll spe ak : fo r i t sha ll be giv e n you in tha t sam e hou r wha tye sha ll spe ak .
—8. Ma t t . x . 1 9 .
SERMON XLV .
CHRIST OUR TRUE WISDOM .
GB 5 apient ia . me t zmbcr 1 6 .
W i sd om re a che th from on e e n d t o a n o the r mightily : an d
swe e t ly d o th sh e o rd e r a l l thin gs .”—W i sd om viii . 1 .
SERMON XLVI .
CHRIST OUR LAWGIVER.
QB fl h ona i . B z cembz r 1 7
Th e LORD is ou r Lawgiv e r : He will sa v e u s .—Isa iah xxxiii. 22 . 266
SERMON XLVII .THE 3 0 0 1: o r JESSE .
QBB al m3125 5 2 . ZIBer emhcr 1 8.
The re shall com e fo rth a r o d o u t of th e stem of Je sse .
Isa iah xi . 1 .
SERMON XLVIII .CHRISTMAS CAROLs .
fi br is tma s QBbz .
Ye sha ll ha ve a son g, a s in th e n ight whe n a ho ly so lemn ity i sk e pt .”—Isa iah xxx . 29.
SERMON XLIX .
JESUS STAND ING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD .
Gbr is tmas B ap, QBbening .
Th e se a r e they tha t w en t o v e r Jo rdan in th e fi r st mon th, whe ni t h a d ove rflow e d a l l hi s ban ks .” —1 Chr on . xii . 1 5 .
xx Con ten ts .
PAGESERMON L .
o u ) MEN AND CH ILDREN .
5 unh ap after Q br is tmas , a ls o 15019 Ennmm ts .
Old m e n a n d chil dren , pra ise th e Nam e of th e LORD .
Psa lm cxl viii. 1 2 .
SERMON LI .
JESUS CHRI ST, THE SAME FOB EVER.
5 . 5 iIbes te r . ZIBecemhz r 3 1 .
JBSUS CHRIST, th e same ye st e rd ay, a n d to -day, a n d fo r ever .
—Heb . x iii. 8 .
SERMON LII .CHANGE .
Elbe Eas t fl ight of tbe QBIU g ear .
Beho ld , I sho w you a myst e ry w e sha ll n o t a ll s le e p , bu t wesha ll all be change d .
”—1 Co r . xv. 51 .
S ERMON l .
{txttrohucto ru
WHAT ARE THESE ? WHENCE CAME THEY?
WHAT ARE THESE WH ICH ARE ABRAYED IN WH ITE BOBES, ANDWHENCE CAME THEY —REV . VI I . 1 3 .
ONE of Satan’ s most favou ri te temptations, (no doubtbecause he has found it one of the m ost useful
,) i s thi s,that i t i s a very easy thing to be saved . W hat i s theuse
,
” he asks u s, of taking so much pains ? O therpeople lead easy lives
,and please themselves
,and are
thought good fathers,and good neighbours
,and good
Christians, and they W i l l do very wel l ; and why needyou try to be better than they ? All will come right atlast
,a n d your prayers a nd your efforts to keep Gon’ s
law so very strictly are quite needless . Do as the worlddoes
,and do not pretend to be more religious than your
neighbours .”
W e know that this i s a temptation, and we oughtn o t to be deceived by i t . W e know that to l ive a goodlife i s a trade
,like every other trade ; that, i f we do
n o t take the utmost pains, we shall never learn it atall ; and that, with a l l the pains we can take
,we shal l
fi n d i t a d iffi cu lt matter enough to succeed ; The
B
2 Wha t a r e the s e wh e nce came they [Serm .
righteous shall scarcely be saved .
” It will,as the com
mon saying is,be a very near thing . W e want all the
hel ps we can have ; we must tak e al l that we can get,and thank GOD that we can get so many .
Now,in looking round me to see what help to lead
good lives you might have which as yet you have not,I see one which
,wi th Gon ’ s grace
,we will try . An d
this evening,I wil l explain to you what it is
,and how
we may use i t .
You know that, ever since I fi r s t came amongs t you,we have always observed those days which we commonlycall Saints’ Days that i s
,those Festivals of Saints for
which a n Epistle and Gospel are appointed . An d theyare those of the twelve Apostles
,of S . John the Baptist,
of the Conversion of S . Paul, of the Holy In n ocents, ofS . Barnabas, a n d of S . Stephen
,besides the glorious
festival of All Saints . Before GOD, perhaps for ouro wn sins, suffered wicked men to take away from u s
the power of celebratin g the Holy Communion,we
always,as some of you well remember, celebrated i t o n
those days . An d even n ow,we go oftener into chapel ;
a n d in the evening , as you know, I speak to you of thelesson that we should learn from the Festival which weare then keeping .
But n o w, i f you look in th e Calendar at the beginningof the Prayer Book, you wil l fi nd a great many otherdays marked with the name of some Saint . TakeJan uary, for example . O u the 8th you fi nd the nameof S . Lucian ; o n the 13 th , of 8 . Hilary ; on the 1 8th ,of S . Prisca ; o n the 20th , of S . Fabian ; o n the 2 l s t
,
of S . Agn es ; on the 22md , of S . V incent . There aresix days, the n , which the Church sets before u s , as themeans of helping u s in our way to heaven ; and which,
I.] Wha t a r e the se whe nce came they 2 3
therefore,I wish that you should understand something
about . I do not like that you should only look onthem as names which you cannot understand,—as long,d iffi cu l t words
,with which yo u have nothing to do .
I wish that,when yo u see the altar vested in red, to
signify that it i s the d ay of some Martyr who shed hisblood for the N ame of CHR I ST : o r , when you see i t inwhite, to set forth to you that we are keeping the feast ofsome one of those V irgin s whom Holy Scripture teachesu s to cal l th e brides of the Spotless Lamb ; then thatyou should know somethin g abou t that Martyr or thatV i rg in . It i s impossibl e to love those of whom weknow nothing . W e may believe, indeed, that they weretrue and faithful servants of CHR I ST
,and so far we may
admire them,and desire to follow thei r example ; but
love them we cannot,unless we know somethin g abou t
them o n which our love can fi x .
Now, therefore, I intend, by Gon’ s g race, beginningfrom this time, as each of these days comes round ,to tel l you why we keep i t , and who it i s that we arethen called upon to think about . Ifwe were travellingto some place where we were to l ive al l th e rest of ourl ives
,should we not wi sh to know what sort of peopl e
we were going among ? Should we n o t be very glad t ofi n d any one who could tel l u s about them ? Should wenot beg him to l et u s know what h e could, as to thei rnames
,and thei r ways of going o n
,and what they l iked
a n d disliked ? W e should say, “ They are to be mycompanions by-and-by, and I should like to becomeacquainte d with them as far as I can, before I really goto see them .
”
So i t i s with u s . W e are j ourneying to the landwhich the LORD hath promised to them that love Him .
4 Wha t a r e th e s e wh e nce came they [Se rm .
There a r e those, al ready there, who, i f ever we arecounted w orthy to reach i t
,will be our eternal friends .
Ifwe real ly believe that th ere i s such a place ; i f wereally believe that they are there n ow
,must we not of
n ecessity desi re to know something of them ? Th e
half of their doin gs wil l n o t be told u s in thi s life ;never theless, stil l we shal l rej oice to hear that whichh a s been recorded of them .
Now , to go back on ce again to the Calendar . I daresay y o u will a l l have noticed that there are certainl etters at the end of the n ames of the Saints of whomwe have been speaking , a n d you may have been puzzledto know what some of them may mean . Le t me n o wexplain this .There are two great divisions of those men whom the
Church reckons among the Saints—the Ma r tyr s andthe Co nfe s s o r s . By the Ma r tvr s we mean those wh olaid down their l ives for the true faith
,whether their
murderers were heathen s, as in the case of the Apostles,or Jew s
,as i t was wi th S . Stephen ,
or heretics,as i t
has been with some other Saints . By the word Co nfe s so r s , at fi r s t , they on ly were meant who, though theyhad n o t the glory of dyin g for CHRI ST , yet confessedHim by suffering for Him ; whether by being throwninto pri son
,or being put to the torture
,or sufferin g
anythin g else at the han ds of wicked men for H isN ame’ s sake : but i n time
,i t came to pass that al l
those Sa in ts wh o,by the excellen cy of their l ives and
the puri ty of thei r fai th,had confessed CHRI S T
,were
cal led H is Confesso rs ; a n d that i s the way in whicht he word i s n ow use d by th e Church . Every Sain t,the r efo re
,bein g a m a n
,i s either aMartyr or a Confesso r .
Bu t th e Ch urch gives honour where honour i s due . She
6 Wha t a r e these whence came they [Se rm .
h ave m e n who were of like passions with ourselves .They did nothing that
,the HOLY GHOST helping u s, we
may not do also . They had no other means of gracethan we have . In CHRI ST, we see what we ought to doIn His Saints, we see what we can do . And the knowledge that al l this li es in o ur power, that al l this wonderful strength is really ours
,ought to be our comfort and
our encouragement in running with patience the racethat i s set before u s .
But this i s not all we say daily,I be li eve in the Com
mun i on of Sa in ts . That i s,between all holy persons,
whether n ow i n the flesh,or n o w with GOD, there i s a
real a n d true communion . And by the word commu
nion I mean th is—that there i s a doing someth ing foreach other
,a nd wi th each other . W i th those who are
u pon earth i t i s manifestly so . W e pray for each other,we are prayed for by each other we all ea t the sameBody of our LORD
,and drink the same Blood we use
the same prayers,we keep the same festival s ; we feel
the same sorrows,and we have th e same hope that those
sorrows wil l one day be swal lowed up in everlasting joy .
But how do we hold communion with Saints th at aregone before u s ? It i s not by fol lowing thei r exam ples,there i s no communion in that . That, so to speak, i sall on one side . That i s what we do ; not what we alsoreceive . How then ?If
,in keeping the days of Saints, we think of them
and prai se Go o for them,we are not for a moment to
doubt that theythink of u s, and pray to Gon for u s .
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avai leth much .
” But i t were strange indeed if the prayerof a righteous man availed much while he was in thefi e sh—bu t directly he was gone to appear before GOD,
I .] Wha t a r e the s e whence came they 7
directly he i s in a higher and a better state, i t availedno longer. GOD forbi d ! There i s no such exception inthe B ible many instances to the contrary . Fo r example
, Elij ah , j ust before h e went up by a whirlwind toheaven
,said to Eli sha
,Ask what I shal l give thee be
fore I be taken away from thee . As soon, then, asEl ij ah stood before the throne of GOD
,he made his r e
quest, a n d i t was granted . Again , S . Peter, a li ttl e time
before hi s death,wrote in h is epistle
,
“Moreover I wil lendeavour
,after my decease
,that ye may be able to
have these thin gs always in remembrance . That i s,that h e would intercede in heaven for those whom hehad loved on earth . In deed
,how could i t be otherwise ?
Take any one of u s . Suppose th at some one of you wereat thi s moment cal led out of the world
,and by Gon ’s in fi
nite m ercy were received into Paradise do you thinkfor a moment that h e would forget the rest of a s ? thath e would not have th e same feel in g to this Col lege thathe had while in the world ? that h e would not rej oi cein its welfare ? It i s good to bring these things hometo ourselves because then w e feel th e more stronglywhat a glorious thing i s this to which we profess tobelong—the Communion of Saints . An d i f i t were agreat Saint that was taken away from u s (Saints beforen o w have often enough l ived in places l ike this) shouldI doubt for a moment that
,a s he h ad often prayed for
u s in thi s l ife,so he would pray for u s , all the more fer
ve n t ly, a l l the more effectually, after his blessed departure ? I say again , GOD forbidOn e remarkabl e instance how departed Saints have
con cerned themselves in the affairs of the world,written
fo r our instruction in Holy Scripture,I wil l mentio'n
, be
cause yo u may never have noticed i t . It i s in the twenty
8 Wha t a r e the s e wh e nce came they [Se rm . I.
fi r s t chapter of the seco nd book of Chronicles . Therewe fi n d that long after El lJa ll was taken to GOD , Jehoram
,king of Judah
,did very wickedly : and Elij ah sent
him a letter out of heaven, telling him that Gon ’ s ve n
g e a n ce would fall upon him,as i t shortly afterwards did .
If these thin gs are s o , what a mu ltitude of friendsa n d h elpers have we i n that heavenly kingdom whichwe are professing to seek . Those are they , whothrough faith subdued kingdoms
,wrought righteous
ness,obtained promises
,stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the vi olence of fi r e,escaped the edge of the
sw o rd,out of weakness were m ade strong
,waxed valiant
in fi gh t , turned to fligh t the armies of the aliens (of
whom the world was not worthy they wandered i ndeserts
,and in mountains
,and in dens and caves of the
earth .
”
N ow I h ave told you how I purpose that we shouldlearn something of these holy servants of GOD
,and
why ; a n d I have only to say, that on W ednesday next,whi ch you wil l fi n d in your Prayer Books to be S .
Faith’ s Day, i t i s my hope to begin .
Go o grant that al l these means of salvation may bringu s at l ast to that place, where, with the glorious company of the Apostles, the goodly fellowship of the Pr o
ph e t s , the noble army of Martyrs, we shall praise andbless Him for ever and ever. Amen .
SERMON I I .
THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS.
5 . fi tlarg . Slanuarg 1 3 .
“ THE LORD GAVE THE WORD ; GREAT WAS THE COMPANY o r THE
PBEACHERS : KINGS WITH THEIR ARMIES D ID FLEE AND WEREDISCOMFITED
,AND THEY o r THE HOUSEHOLD D IVIDED THE SPOIL .
”
—PSALM LXVIII . 1 1 , 1 2 .
THE Saint of to-d a y , S . Hilary, was in hi s day one ofthe greatest defenders of the tru e Faith whom the worldever s aw . After the Church had rest from her heath enpersecutors
,th e devil
,always seeking to do her harm ,
always on the look-out for Opportunities of hurtin g her,raised up a more dreadful danger . S . Paul had proph e si e d that, after h is departure, grievous wolves shouldenter in
,not sparin g the flo ck : and n ow one of these
ungodly men rose up, and taught that our Loa n JE SU SCH R I ST was not real ly and truly GOD, but only a manfi ll e d with the wisdom and the power of GOD . He
d rew away a great number of people after him,and for a
while i t seemed as if the Church itself were about toperish . But Go n raised up two great Saints : the oneS. Athanasius
,from whom the Creed is named, he
came o u t of the east the other, S . Hil ary, who came
1 0 The Fa i th of the Sa ints . [Se rm.
out of France . Both these holy men suffered the lossof al l things for the Name of our LORD S . Hilary wasbanished
,threatened
,driven here and there
,promised
great rewards if he would give in to the n ew doctrine,and would only say that JE SUS CHRI ST was not of onesubstance with the FATHER. He was, l ike S . Paul , i nj ourneyings often , in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,i n perils amon g his own countrymen
,in peri ls among
the heathen , i n perils in th e city, in pe ri ls in the wilderness, in peril s in the sea, in peril s among false brethrenin wearin ess and painfulness
,in wat chings often
,i n
hunger and thirst,in fastings often
,in cold and na
ke dn e s s .
All these things were the pri ce at which our Faithwas bought for u s . These holy men of old thoughtn o thing of al l their sufferings
,i f only they might keep
that Fai th whole and un d e fi le d they came to the hel pof the Loa n, to the help of the Loa n against themighty .
”Every line of the Athana sian Creed is, as i t
were, written with th e b lood of Saints . There i s n o t asingle sen tence in the whole, on which I could not laymy fi ng e r and say, Such a Saint died in defence of this,such a Saint was cast into p ri son because he would notdeny that . Take those that speak of our Loa n ’s coming into the world : Fo r the right Faith i s , that webelieve and confess that our Loa n JBSU S CHR I ST, theSON of GOD, i s GOD and Man : GOD , of the Substanceof the FATHER, begotten before the worlds .” Fo r thosewords an innumerable host of m artyrs have died
,have
been “ stoned,sawn asunder
,tempted
,slain with th e
sword ; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins ; being destitute, afflict e d , tormented ; of whomthe world was not worthy and these things they suf
II .) The Fa i th of the Sa in ts . 1 1
fe r e d, not from h eathens,but from those that called
themselves Christi ans . It goes on , An d Man , of thesubstance of His Mother
,born in the world and here,
again,another army of martyrs, at a different time,
t e s t ifi e d to thi s truth with thei r blood . Perfect GOD,a n d perfect Man z
” those words,in themselves, cost
another tremendous struggle . Of a reasonabl e souland human fle sh subsi sting ;” and there again, many holybishops took j oyfully th e spoiling of their good s becausethey would n o t deny the truth here set down . So Imight go o n ,
verse by verse, and line by l ine, an d stil li t would be the same thing over and over again . So
that the Church,when she had conquered al l her
enemies,might wel l break forth into that hymn
,—fo r
a hymn i t is,
Whosoever wil l b e saved : before al lthings i t i s necessary that b e hold the Catholi c Faith .
Which Faith except every one do keep whole and n u
d e fi le d : without doubt he sh all perish everlastingly .
This i s the Catholi c Faith : which except a man bel ievefaithfully , he cannot be saved .
”
This Faith, by the mercy of Go o has been preachedin al l th e world the Loa n gave the word : great wa sthe company of the preach ers and so has come evento u s . An d th e fi r s t feel ing we must have i s, What agloriou s thing i t i s to belong to a Church that has sucha Fai th
,—s o come down , so fought for, so victoriou s .
Look at those who do not belong to the Church, andsee where thei r fai th comes from . There are the We s
l eyan s : thei r faith comes from John Wesley, about100 years ago . There are the Q uakers : their faithcomes from one George Fox, and is about 200 yearsold . There are the Bapti sts : thei r faith i s about 300years old . But we Catholic Christians take our name
12 Th e Fa i th of the Sa in ts . [Se rm .
from no man . W e have no Master but JE SUS CHRI ST .
O ur Fai th comes from Him , through His Apostl es ,through Hi s Bishops
,through His Martyrs . They
taught i t,they preached i t throughout the world
,and
we thi s d ay have i t . It was opposed by the kin gs a n d
great men of the earth ; but what of that ? the more itwas afflict e d
,th e more i t multipl ied and grew . Ki ngs
with their armies did fle e and were d iscomfi t e d ; an dthey of the household divided the spoil .” They of thehousehold
,that is
,of Gon’ s household ; in His might,
and by the truth that was in Him,they overcame .
In the world,
” our LORD said, “ ye shall h ave t r ibulation : but be of good cheer
,I have overcome the world .
”
An d so did they too .
But o n e thing more ! i f i t i s a glorious thing to havetheir Faith , so also i t i s a most fearful thing . If wedishonour it by our behaviour
,i f we lead li ves of which
hereti cs or heathens might be ashamed,if w e do our
best to give our Loa n t he'
l ie,when He said, “By their
fruits ye shal l know them ,
”a n d in stead of that to say,
By thei r fruits ye shal l n o t know them ,
” what remainsfor u s bu t the punishment of that servant that knewhis Lord’ s will
,and did it not ? Take
,for example ,
S Hilary this day . He suffered for this truth—thatW e worship On e GOD in Trinity, a n d Trinity inUnity .
” But now,i f we l ive as though we knew no
thing of Him that on ce came to save u s, and hereafter
will come to j udge u s—n othing of Him that regeneratedu s in Baptism
,and Whose temples we are, what i s al l
our knowledge doing for o s,but heapin g up for u s a
more fearful j udgment ? If we say, “There is onePerson of the FA THER,” and yet break His commandments day after day : if we say, “ There is another
S E R M O N I I I .
THE HIDDEN MANNA . THE WHITE STONE .
9 . 3315152. dfebruarg 3 .
To HIM THAT ovs a ooms r a WILL I GIVE fr o EAT o r THE HIDDENMANNA, AND WILL GIVE H IM A wa rm: STONE ; AND IN THE STONEA NEW NAME WRITTEN
,WH ICH NO MAN KNOWETH, SAVING HE
THAT RECE IVETH Ir .
”—REV . I I . 1 7 .
TH I S promise i s to the Church of Pergamos , and wemust look back
,as we did before
,to understan d i t . I
know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even whereSatan’ s seat i s .” That is
,the heathen around were
more openly and desperately wicked than in the otherseven church es ; and the fruits of thi s we see, for theEpistle goes o u thou holdest fast My Name, and hastnot denied My fai th , even in those days wherein Antipaswas My faithful martyr .
”The promise then to-night
i s to a true-hearted servan t of CHRI S T, i n the midst ofan adulterous a n d sin ful generation
,and who I S ready
to suffer for His N ame’s sake, and for the Faith of theChurch .
Now,th e prom ise to h im that overcometh at
Smyrna and Ephesus wa s only o n e fhere i t i s twofold .
Se e therefore the great honour that CHRI ST puts on the
Se rm . III.) The Hi dd en Ma nna . The Whi te Stone . 1 5
confession of H is Name before men . Just as in theSermon on the Moun t
,whereas the meek , the merciful,
the peacemakers,have each one blessing, they that are
persecuted for righteousness’ sake have two .
To h im that overcometh wil l I give to eat of th ehidden manna .
” Manna,the food that came down from
heaven into the wilderness to support the Israeli tes,that continued with them day by day til l they enteredthe land of Canaan, that was enough for all , and toomuch for none, that, as the Je ws tel l u s, had fo r eachm an the taste that he liked best, this manna is a typeof our Loa n ’ s Body and Blood as given to u s in th eHoly Communion . That also i s inte nded to feed u s al lthe days of our pilgrimage in the desert of this world
,
until we come to the heavenly Canaan that also comesdown from heaven : that also has al l sweetness in itself.But it does not say that he that overcometh shall eat ofthe manna, but of the h idd e n manna . Al l, both goodand ba d
,receive the Blessed Sacrament but the good
o n lv have the strength and comfort and sweetness thatI t can give . An d see h ow victory over our enemies i sreferred to our feedin g upon CHR I ST . Al l through theOld Testament, in the types and fi g u r e s that we haveof the Holy Commun ion
,the same thing i s set forth to
u s . It was j ust after the rock was s truck in Horeb,
and water came out from i t—a type of the blood andwater shed out of our Lo n n ’
s most B lessed Side o n
the Cross—that Israel fought with their fi r s t enemy,
Amalek, a n d overcame him . It wa s j ust after David’ sstooping down to drink of the brook in the valley o f
Elah that he slew Goliath the giant,and took away the
reproach from Israel . Ho w should this not be s o ?
I t was j ust before our Loa n went forth to His victory
1 6 The Hi d d e n Ma nna . The Whi te Stone . [Se rm .
over the devil,that He
,for the fi r s t time
,gave H is
Apostles H is Flesh and Blood . In His Flesh andBlood He con quered : and w e , feeding upon Them ,
mustconquer too . Fo r thi s reason it i s, that i n al l straitsand difficulties
,before al l great struggles
,when about
to en ter into all danger, more especially before thegreates t strait
,th e most fearful struggle
,the most terri
bl e danger , before the hour of death , Gon’ s peopl e havewi th desire desired to eat of that B read and drink ofthat Cup . By thi s CHR I ST
’S faithful servants h ave gone
forth cheerfully to martyrdom : for they knew thatcarrying Him alon g with them
,they must be more than
conquerors . Strong men have known that,excepting
for that,their strength would be weakness ; women and
children have felt that,with this, they were able to do
all things . Therefore,receivin g for the last time their
LORD’s Body a nd Blood here
,they have gone by a
short rough passage to si t down at the Supper of theLAMB on high . An d that supper of the LAMB , thatMarriage feast, whatever he the full meaning of thattype
,whatever h e the pleasures which are set forth by
i t,all these are set forth by the h i d d e n ma nna in the
text : all are promised to h im that overcometh . Hiddenthose pleasures are for the presen t : eye hath not seenthem
,nor ear heard them
,but there they a r e
,and de
pend upon it there they are only for the conqueror.But the text goes on “ I wil l give him a white
stone,and in the stone a new name written .
”N ow we
are told all the ground about Pergamos is even to thisday covered with such white stones, and therefore theChristians of that city could not sti r out without bein greminded of the promise “ to him that overcometh .
”
An d what is this white stone ? The Church has gene
III.] The Hidd en Ma nn a . Th e Whi te Sto ne . 1 7
rally believed that it means the body which CHa i s r ’s trueservants wi l l receive at th e resurrection day . Fo r j ustas nothing is more lastin g than a stone
,as it cannot be
destroyed,as it cannot be worn away
,so our bodies wil l
be raised incorruptible, and never more subj ect to sickness or decay. An d a wh ite stone
,because they wil l be
glorious and shining ; j ust as the face of our LORD inHis
l
Tr an sfi g ur a t io n became white and shining, so as nofuller on earth can whiten “ I will give him a whitestone
,
” then,i s th e same thing as saying
,I will give
him a new and glorious body,when this corruptible
shal l have put on incorruption,a n d thi s mortal shal l
have put o n immortal ity, and the say in g shal l bebrought to pass that i s written
,D eath is swallowed up
in victory . An d this,coming directly after the
promise about the hidden mann a,i s j ust as our LORD
said Himself,He that eateth My Flesh, and drin keth
My Blood, hath everlasting life, and I wil l raise him upagain at the Last Day .
”
“ An d i n the stone a new name written, which nom a n knoweth saving he that receiveth i t .
” When weare born into this world, we are ch ildren of wrath an d
of the devil ; but when we are born , so to speak, at theResurrection, we shal l b e the children of GOD at ourbirth . That wil l be our n ew name ; we shall have i twi th our n ew nature ; “ old things shal l h ave passedaway ; behold all things shal l have become new .
”An d
that i s a name,indeed, the bl essing of which none
knoweth save he that receiveth . What i t i s to be so thechildren of GOD, as to serve Him without weariness, tolove Him fully
,to sin no more, to be entirely H is, thi s
who can tell,save those who stand before Him ? An d
they not as ye t fully—they have not yet received theC
1 8 Th e Hidd e n Ma nna . The Wh ite Stone . [Se rm . III .
white stone of their Resurrection-bodies they withoutu s are not to be made perfect .But, in part, they see Gon ’ s glory ; and they that
have been martyrs see Him face to face,enj oying, as
the Church believes,the Be a tifi c V ision
,that i s
,th e
immediate sight of GOD . Of thi s number was, and is,S . Blasius
,an Armenian Bishop
,whose feast we keep
thi s day . He , after suffering great things for the nameof CHR I ST
,was torn i n pieces with wool - combs ; and ,
accordingly,in those parts of Engl and where they have
to do wi th wool,they make much of his day even n ow .
It i s thus that he n ow eats of the hidden manna,
” andthat he will at the l ast day receive the white stone .
”
W hich Go n grant that w e also may do, for JE SU SCHR I ST’ S sake : to Whom ,
with the FATHER and theHOLY GHOST, be al l honour and glory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N I V.
THE PENITENT CLOTHED IN WHITE, AND NOT
BLOTTED OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE .
9 . valentine . dfebruarn 14 .
HE THAT OVERCOMETH, THE SAME SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITERAIMENT ;—AND I WILL NOT BLOT OUT H IS NAME o u r OF THEBOOK OF LIFE
,BUT I WILL CONFESS H IS NAME BEFORE MY FA
THEE AND BEFORE HIS ANGELS .
”—REV . m . 5 .
TH I S promise to him that overcometh differs fromthose that h ave gone before . They were al l declarationsthat GOD wou ld give this and that blessing ; thi s i s,I will n o t blot out his n ame out of the Book of Li fe .
Now,i f w e look back, we shal l see the reason . The
verse I j ust read to you i s taken from the Epistl e to theChurch at Sardi s a Church that had grievously fallenaway from its fi r s t l ove .
“Thou hast a name that thoul ivest a n d art dead . Remember therefore h o w thou hastreceived and heard
,and hold fast and repent . If there
fore thou shal t not watch,I wil l come on thee as a thief.”
An d n ow notice, that Gon ’ s threaten ings are j ust astrue as His prom i ses . Sardis did not repent . An d
therefore,while al l the other churches of which I have
spoken,Ephesus , and Smyrna
,and Pergamos, and
20 The P e n i te n t clo the d in Wh i te , [Se rm .
Thyatira, n otwithstanding the persecutions of the cruelTurks
,remain to this day ; Sardis has been utterly
swept away . There are n ow but a fe w Christians in al lthat ci ty ; and they have no priest, no sacraments, andno church .
The promise then i s to those that overcome afterhaving fallen away from GOD
,and committed great sin .
Therefore, it i s a message to al l of u s .
In the fi r s t place, He that overcometh,the same
shall be clothed in white raiment .” We have soi led thewhite robe of innocence which was given to u s in ourbaptism ; there are the dark and deadly stain s of manysins
,— some more
,some less grievous ; some of longer,
some of shorter,standin g . Yet, even so , we are not l eft
altogether without hope . If n ow we fi gh t the fi gh t offaith
,i f now we gird u p ourselves to battle with the
devil,i f n o w we repent with all our hearts
,and confess
our sins,an d that no t l ightly, and after the manner of
those that would try to deceive GOD,but earnestly and
steadily,and perseveringly
,—then the Prophet Isaiah
says for our comfort, Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shal l be white as snow : though they be red likecrimson
,they sh all be as wool then the Apostle Jo hn
also bears record , sayin g, If we walk i n the light,as
He i s in th e light, the B lood of JE SUS CHRI ST His SONcleanseth u s from al l s in .
”Go o did not give the power
of absolving to His priests for nothing . It was the chiefmean s He devised , whereby His ban ished ones shouldbe brought back to Him . It i s this power
,which
,o n
the true repentance of the sinner can cl e an se away thes tain of al l past sins : and though here those that havefallen in to grievous iniqui ties can never be as if theyhad n o t so fallen—yet the time will come when they
22 The P e n i te n t clo the d in I'
t’
te , [Se rm .
This, i t i s true, was not th e way i n which the Martyrsovercame but i f G0 1) grant u s to come within a thousand degrees of them in glory
,i t wil l be enough . They
have a more glorious portion . The shi eld of themighty men
,
” says N ahum,i s made red ; th e valian t
men are in scarlet .” Th e mighty men are the Marty rsth e scarlet i s the glorious colour of thei r o wn blood .
An d so again, Solomon , speaking of the Church , says ,
She shal l not be afraid when the cold cometh , for herhousehold are clothed in scarlet .” That i s, she shal lhave no cause to fear when others are fallin g away fromGo o ; seein g that she has so man y who have given thei rl ives to prove the strength of their love to Him .
An d in thi s sense also we may understand the promise to him that overcometh .
” He that overcomeththe wrongs done to him by others by forgivin g them,
shal l be clothed in white raiment : that i s,sh al l have
his o wn sin s forgiven and put away . If y e forgivemen their trespasses, your heavenly FA THER will alsoforgive you .
” But this remember,we can overcome
nothing wi thout love,and to-day gives u s an example
of this love .
It was this love for which 8 . V alentine,the Saint of
thi s day,was so distinguished . He was a Bishop, or
as others say , a Priest i n Asi a, i n the time of that greatand fi e r ce persecution ,
the tenth a n d last persecutionthat ever heathens raised up against the Church . Butthough h e was honoured to be a martyr for CH R I ST ’ Ssake
,he has been held in even more hon our for the
greatness of his love to poor distressed peopl e,and to
al l men . O ther Sain ts a n d their deed s have been forgotten ; thi s we sti l l remember . Lik e man y anothergood custom, i t may have become an abuse : but the
IV .] a nd n o t blo tte d ou t of the Bo ok ofLife . 23
custom of choosing V alentines on this day had its risein the remembran ce of th e love of thi s holy B ishop ;and so had the fable that the birds choose their matesat this time .
He overcame,therefore
,in many ways : al l his life
long he overcame evi l with good and at last he overcame all that the malice of Satan and his servantscould do . Fo r he is one of those of whom it i s written,“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, andby the word of His testimony : and they loved nottheir lives unto the death .
”An d n o w he h a s the r e
ward of him that overcometh,
” and i s clothed w iththe white robes of a saint, and with th e scarlet of amartyr .
An d n ow to Him in Whose strength he overcame,JE SU S CHRI ST
,be ascribed
,with the FA THER and the
HOLY GHO ST,all honour and glory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N V.
FRU IT IN OLD AGE.
9 . 33 813111. {Hard! 1 .
“THEY ALso SHALL BRING r o a m MORE FRUIT IN THEIR AGE.
Ps . xcn . 1 3 .
TH I S day call s to our remembrance a saint,who h a s l eft,
as i t were,a pattern of what the old ough t to be like .
S . David , who was Archbishop of the place in W alessince called S . David ’s from him
,not only served Go o
from his youth up, but con tinued to serve Him in thi sworld til l he was one hundred and forty- six years old .
His hoary head was indeed to h im a crown of glory,
for he brought in multitudes of sinners to serve the trueand l ivin g GOD . He indeed bore th e burden and heatof the day, —and a very long day i t was —a n d no doubth is reward on high was as great as his l abours here .
Now as thi s sain t i s an example to the o ld , h o w thatup to the last moment of their lives they should be o ccupied in the work of Go n
,—so the text I j ust read to you
ought to be the comfort of th e old,—that if they arethus occupied
,they shal l bring forth more fruit .
Mo r e fruit than what ? The sense must be ,—morefruit than they ever did before . They may be weak ,
Se rm . Fr u i t in Old Ag e . 25
they may be poor,—they may be sickly
,- they may be
able to do little,
- th eir strength,as th e prophet speaks,
m ay be to si t still —but here i s the promise they shal lbrin g forth m ore fruit .” No w thi s i s a most importantquestion for most of you —for
,i f i t be a promise to you
that you shall bring forth more fruit,that i s
,that you
shal l do more for Gon ’ s service,now th a t you are old ,
than you did when you were young,then it is your
parts and duties to see that thi s promise be fulfi ll e d .
When Go o gives u s a promise that we shal l be able todo any good deed
,then
,depend upon i t , He in tends
that we shal l avail ourselves of it .
But now,what i s thi s fruit which you are n ow able
to bring forth —Why, there are several kinds .An d the fi r s t i s
,patience . It i s not an easy thing
for the old to be contented with that state of l ife towhich they are called . It i s not easy to say of thosewhose weak childhood we can remember
,bu t whom we
n ow see starting up to take our places, He must increase
,but I must decrease .
” It i s not pleasant to feelthat becoming a burden which was once no burden atal l —to have less and less to do with things as they g oon around u s ;
—to feel,as the proverb goes, that our
d ay i s over . An d therefore we know that complainin gn e ss and peevi shness are generally the faults of oldage ;—faults the more l ikely to be committed, because,at fi r st sight
,they do not seem so very great . Those
wh o would shrink back with horror from some greatsin , such as steal in g, or lyin g, or blasphemy, will fal lwithout any d iffi cu l ty into that which seems to them afar less sin
,discontent and mournin g al l the day long .
An d the more natural this i s,the greater example of
grace we give when it i s overcome . Those who have
26 Fr ui t in Old Ay e . [Se rm .
old age, and sickness, and poverty together,—if theyare cheerful , i f they are thankful , thi s i s indeed so letting their light sh ine before m e n
,that their heavenly
FATHER may be glo r ifi e d . They have more opportuni tyto show forth this grace in their old age —i t i s an c c
casion of pleasing Gon which He gives them n ow, butwhich He never gave them before .
Ag a in z—they have more time to serve H im . He
graciously cal ls th em off from the busin ess of this l ife ,and forces them
,as it were
,to look to the Life to come .
An d for this reason i t often happens—whatever youmay think to the con trary
,—that the old age of the poor
has a greater advantage in i t than that of the rich . A
poor m a n,who has worked hard with his body al l his
l ife, cannot go on working in the same way to the endof his days . He must stop . He i s l aid aside whetherhe will or not . But those who have worked with theirminds, are not necessarily l aid aside in the same way .
I do not know a sadder sight than to see an old manbusied about the business of the worl d
,which he n e ce s
s a r ily must give up so soon —the lawyer , for example,studyin g hi s cases of l aw to the l a st z—the merchantmaking up his books and reckonin g his gains to thelast . But n ow from this the poor are laid aside .
An d to what e n d ? That they m ay have time forrepentance
,and time for prayer . You
,for example,
when you were in your working days could n o t, with
out s in,have given up that time to GOD , which, now,
you cannot without sin,keep back from Him . Then
you had families to attend to ;—then you had yourb read to earn in the sweat of your brow ; a n d , as i t i swritten
,I f a ny provide not for his own , and especially
for those of his own house,he hath denied the faith,
V J Fr u i t in Old Ag e . 27
a nd i s worse than an infidel .” N o w you have no suchthing . N ow you may serve GOD as much as you will .Now, as you are drawing nigh to that other world, soHe gives you a breathing time to prepare for i t .
An d this i s true,i f of any
,m ost of al l of you . Would
to Go v that, in every town in the land there were acol lege like th is
,where those who are aged might be
gathered together, might, to a great degree, be takenout of the world
,—where the word of GOD might be
brought very near them,—where the means of grace
might be almost forced upon them l—Think ho w manya poor servant of Go o has been left in his old age insome cottage
,far from the church
,and no means of his
getting there,—far from the priest
,—and but few oppo r
t un i t ie s of being visited by him,—far from all the com
m o n means of grace,—and then compare his state with
yours —I might use our Loa n ’ s words Many rightecus men have desired to see the things which ye see,and have not seen them
,—and to hear the things which
ye hear, and have not heard them An d all this, tothe end that you should bring forth fruit.An d n ow one more reason for the saying in the text .
Old age i s in itself a talent . It gives people influ e n ceover others . Just as we think that a learned man’ sadvice must be good, because he has read much,—j ustas we think that a man who has mixed much withothers i s worth listening to
,because he has seen much
,
—so what an old man says has weight, because he hashad so much experi ence . W e see thi s in the B ibl eitself. When David i s telling u s that the righteous arenever forsaken
,—h e does not say,—I h ave read much,
and am therefore learned,—o r , I have had the o ppo r
t un i tie s of knowing much, because I em a king : bu t
28 Fr u i t in Old Ag e . [Se rm . V .
I have been youn g and now am old . That h e gi v esas the reason why we should bel ieve what h e says .So constantly we read of the honour due to old age .
El ihu said to Job a n d to his three friends, “ I am
young,and ye are very old : wherefore I durst not
Speak, nor show you min e Opin ion .
”—Solomon saysTh e hoary head is a crown of glory : i f i t be foun d inthe way of righteousness .
”All this gives you influ e n ce ,
—which GOD expects you to u s e for Him . If yourwords have more weight n ow than they h ad fi fty yearsago all the more careful you must be then that theyare to His glory . All th e more zealous you must bethat what influ e n ce you have should be on Gon’ s side,and not on the devi l’s . V ery soon indeed, you wil lstand before that Judgment seat
,where in quiry will be
made whether you did bring forth more fruit in old ageor not . W hat answer you wil l then be able to give,depends on what l ives you n o w l ead . An d Lent comesto help you stil l further . GOD gives you every meansof salvation . If you are con demned
,there wil l be no
possibility of excuse for you . As Moses said of theIsrael ites
,so I say of y o u , Oh that they were wise,
that they would understand this,—that they would con
sider their latter endAn d n ow to Go v
,the FATHER, th e SON, and the HOLY
GHOST, be all glory for ever . Amen .
30 God’s Judgme n t up on Sinn e r s . [Se rm .
Book, - th ey hated all thin gs that were to the glory ofGo o in His service
,—they hated al l cli u r eh e s
,—but
above all things they hated cathedrals,as bein g richer
a n d more beautiful than th e oth ers . On e of the chiefm e n of that party was called Lord B rooke
,—and he
l ived in that part of the country where Lichfi e ld cathedral stands .Accordingly, when the war broke out, he made a vo w
that he would not leave one stone standing u pon a n
other in S . Chad’ s church . An d i t was a favourite wishof his that he might l ive to see with his own eyes thedestruction of al l the cathedral s in England . Accordin g ly he gathered a troop of men together, and marchedtowards Lich fi e ld . Th e night before he reached theplace
,th at is
,the night of the fi r s t of March
,two hun
dred and nin e years ago,he ordered his chaplain to
pray that G0 1) would give him a sign whether the workon which he went were pl easing to Him or not .Th e men of Licl i fi e ld were greatly afraid and dis
tressed . They knew that their walls were weak,and
they themselves few in number , and the enemy strong ;—and they knew what Lord B rooke had vowed to doto their holy and beautiful house, where their fathershad worshipped GOD for so many hundred years
,and
where they themselves h ad been baptized,and had
prayed,and had been fed with the Body and Blood of
CHRI ST . Th e cathedral being strong, they determinedto hold it out to the last 5—and accordingly a numberof soldiers were sent to defend i t .Next day,—that i s, as o n to -day, —Lord Brooke and
his soldiers appeared before the place . On S . Chad’sD ay he was determined to assaul t S . Chad ’ s church .
A ccordingly,as he was about to give the orders to begin
VI .) God’s Judgmen t up on S inn e r s . 3 1
th e attack,and hi s army were al l around him on one
side and on the other,he stood forth in th e midst
,and
with a loud voice began to make again the same prayerthat he had made before . I beseech Thee, 0 Loa n ,”
h e said , to give me a sign,whether the work that we
are going about be pleasing to Thee ; whether i t be Thywill that mine eyes should behold this house of Baal
- so he wickedly called the cathedral, cast down tothe ground .
”
Go n heard hi s prayer . There stood amon g otherso n the great middle tower of the cathedral
,a m an who
was deaf and dumb from hi s birth . Th is man restinghis gun on th e battlement
,took aim at Lord B rooke
,
who had j ust fi n ish e d his prayer . The others tried tohinder him from fi r in g z—a gun , they said, could notcarry so far
,—m u e h less could i t do any harm at that
d i stance . But,however
,fi r e he would ; and Go o di
r e ct e d the bullet . Lord Brooke, when he began hi sprayer
,had raised the upper part of hi s helmet
,so as
to uncover his forehead . Just as h e said Ame n , th edeaf and dumb man pulled the trigger . Th e bulletentered at Lord Brooke ’ s eye ; and stretched him deadon the ground . He had asked for a sign, an d GOD gavei t him . He had asked for a sign, and he had such asign as h e i s like to be known by as long as Englishhi s tory i s read . The bul let was guided to such a distance as good soldiers thought i t impossibl e for i t torea ch : i t found out the only part of his body which wasnot armed ; and i t entered at the eye by which he hadhoped to see the destruction of all cathedrals .It i s a fearful thin g to fal l in to the hands of the l iving
GOD . An d now,th en
,i t i s our place to beware lest we
fall into the like condemnation . If we allow sin to
32 God’
s Judgmen t up on Sinne r s . [Se rm .
reign in those bodies which are temples of the HOLYGHO S T, Gon ’ s vengeance may n o t come so suddenly onu s as i t did o n thi s miserable m an
,—but it will be as
certain, and i t wil l be a s fearful . W e may not bemarked to all ages with such a sign of GOD’S punishment as Lord Brooke : but h ow shall we be the betterfo r that, if, for our sins in the body, we are con demnedto the worm that cann ot die
,and the fi r e that never
shal l be quen ched ? The u se of speaking of such examples of Gon ’s vengeance i s told u s in the text
, Al l
Israel shal l hear and fear,a n d shal l do no more such
wickedn ess as thi s i s among you .
But n ow let me go on to tel l you what became afteral l of thi s church of S . Chad . Al though Lord Brookewas slain
,hi s soldiers took i t ; a n d though they did not
destroy i t,they hurt it very much
,a n d for sixteen
years i t lay almost in ruins . Then the Church wasagain restored to this country
,and a most holy man
,
his name was John Hacket,—was appointed Bishop of
Li e h fi e ld . Th e cathedral had been turned into a stable ;heaps of fi l th and rubbish blocked it u p, and i t seemedalmost hopeless to try to restore i t again . But on thefi r s t morn ing, the Bishop set out for the building wi thhis servants
,and ordered his carriage horses to be
brought al so . An d there they all l aboured , day afterday . All th e mon ey that came from his bishopric thebishop gave to the restoration of his church . He said,as David did of old, I wil l not come within the tabern a e le of mine house, n o r climb up into my bed ; I wil lnot suffer mine eyes to sleep
,nor mine eyelids to slum
h e r , neither the temples of my head to take any restun ti l I fi n d out a place for the temple of the Loa n, a nhabitation for the mighty G0 1) of Jacob And at las t
,
VI .] God’s Judgmen t up on Sinn e r s . 33
exactly one thousand years after 8 . Chad ’s death, hehad the j oy of consecrating his church again
,and so it
stands to this day .
Now, al l thi s story ought to be a comfort to u s . It
shows u s that the Loa n ’s arm is not shortened,that
it cannot save, neither H is ear heavy, that it cannothear.” It teaches u s the fulness of meaning in wh ichwe may take the collect for this week Stretch forththe right h and of ThyMaj esty to be our defence againstal l our enemies .” W e say the words—and yet howli ttl e we think what the prayer i s ! Th e right hand ofGon ’ s Maj esty ! Why, how can we dare to be afraidof al l that men or evi l Spirits can do
,i f that be on our
side ? Th e strongest forms of l anguage too—not onlyth e right hand of Go o , but the right hand of His Ma
j esty,—that is
,His power in i ts most glorious and fear
ful form . And, thinking of that, how can I end betterthan with the words of S . Paul ! If GOD be for u s,who ca n be against u s ? I am persuaded”—h e doesnot
,you see
,speak rashly
,as i t were, he has thought
it over and made up hi s mind I am persuaded thatneither death
,nor l ife, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers,nor th ings present
,nor things to come
,nor
height,nor depth
,nor any other creature, shall be abl e
to separate u s from the love of Go o which i s in CHRI STJE SUS our LORD .
”
To Him,with the FATHER, and the HOLY GHOST, be
ascribed al l honour and glory,for ever and ever . Amen .
S E R M O N V I I.
THE NEW WAY.
9 . w a tt . Slum 1 7.
YE HAVE NOT PASSED THIS WAY HERETOFORE .-JOSHUA III . 4 .
TH I S d ay i s very interesting to u s for two reasons : fi r s t,
because S . Alban was an English Martyr and secondly,
because he was the fi r s t English Martyr . He l ived ata town in Hertfordshire, which was then called V erulam,
but n ow has taken its n ame from him, and is call edS . Alban’ s . A soldier he was, and a heathen ; but,notwithstanding
,when the persecution broke out
,he
took in and sheltered a Christian Priest, gave him foodand lodging
,and preserved him from his enemies . No
doubt Go n was well pleased with this d eed, even in aheathen . Fo r al though good works done before baptismcannot deserve favour, yet He sometimes is pleased toreward them . An d so i t was here . He gave Albanthe grace to become a Christian ; He gave him thegrace not to fear them that kil l the body
,and after
that have no more that they can do and so his headwas struck off, and he entered into the j oy of his Loa n .
Se rm . VII .] The New Way . 35
Th e great church that they bui lt over his tomb standsto this day
,and you may still see the stone th at l ies on
the very spot where he suffered .
But this,of al l things
,i s his great glory—that what
8 . Stephen was to the whole Catholic Church , that S .
A lban was to our own dear Church of England— i tsfi r st Martyr . To be the fi r s t to do or to hear any thin gfor Gon ’s sake i s a n honour which we shal l not ful lyunderstand till that Great Day when the secrets of al lh earts shal l be Opened . In th e fi r st place
,i t requires
more faith . So you read in that chapter of the Bookof Jo shu a where my text i s, that when the children ofIsrael were abou t to pass over the river Jordan
,where
there was no bridge,where the water had o ve rflow e d
all hi s banks, where they were to trust, simply andquietly
,to Gon ’ s word that He woul d bring them
through ; i t was the priests, His more immediate servants
,who had to g o down to the bank, and as soon as
their feet were dipped in the water, but not a momentbefore
,then the waters stood u p on one sid e on a h eap,
and left a dry passage for al l the mul t itude . ThosePriests had the more glor ious part, th ey were the fi r stto obey Gon ’ s command, though i t seemed to leadthem to their certain destruction . An d S . Alban’ sfaith was like theirs . Go o called him to die for theTrue Faith . W e have heard and read of multitudesthat h ave done s o ; not men on ly, but women, girls,even infants
,that out of weakness have be e n m ade
strong . But Alban h a d no such examples b e fore him .
Ye have not passed this way heretofore” was exactlytrue of him . There had then been no martyrdoms inthi s Englan d of ours . But i t was en ough for him tofollow where Go v led .
‘
He was a soldier,and he
36 Th e New Way . [Se rm .
knew that in all wars some man must march fi r s t .
He was a Christian , and he could say, “N e ve r th e
l ess I am not ashamed ; for I know Whom I havebelieved
,and am persuaded that He i s able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him against thatDay .
”
And another reason why it i s more glorious to bethe fi r st to obey Go n ’
s‘
comm an d s i s, that i t makes u s
m ore l ike CHR I ST . He was the fi r s t that conqueredSatan 3 He was the fi r s t that burst the bars of deathHe was th e fi r st to ascend into heaven . Therefore He
i s cal led the Captain of our salvation,our Leader,
Who bids u s do nothing that He h a s not done Himsel f.He tell s u s , when He putteth forth His own sheep, He
goeth before them . Therefore,when we can go before
others,and show them h ow to obey Go o , we become i n
some degree like Him Who went before u s all . No t
th at this going fi r st i s e a sy'
o r pleasant . Se e where i tled our LORD . It led H im to suffer hunger
,thirst
,
weariness ; to b e in the wilderness forty days and fortyn ights ; i t l e d Him to be revi led
,mocked
,spitted o n ;
i t led Him in the company of two thieves to the hil l ofCalvary ; i t led H im as high as the Cross , as an exampleto those that should come after Him . Yes
,i t i s not a n
easy thing to serve G0 1) at al l ; bu t least of al l easy i si t to serve Him fi r st . It i s d iffi cu l t enough to followa good example . It i s a great deal more d iffi cul t toset i t .
N ow,in one sense, these words of Joshua, ye have
not passed this way heretofore,” are true to u s all everyhour of every day . Always n e w temptations are coming
,
always n ew d iffi cu l t i e s are rising u p, always new troublesare threatening u s . W e may have had like things before
,
38 Th e New Way . [S e rm .
city of Paris, where multitudes of peopl e go up everyd ay to see them . But the most interesting part I havenot tol d you yet . There was one amon g these martyrswho was kept to the l ast ; he had suffered tormentsfor the sake of CHR I ST , but h e saw a l l the others b eheaded fi r s t
,and then his own turn was to come .
He was j ust about to be put to ' death, (it was by
the sea- shore,) when a French ship came into the
bay, and the savages were afraid, and let him go .
He al so i s in Paris,with the remains of his com
panions, and you may see the marks of the knives onhis arms and hands
,of which he has lost the u s e .
It was GOD’ S will,” he says, “ but, had it not beenfor that unfortunate French vessel
,I sh ould now be
in Heaven .
”
W i th al l these exam pl es, th en, not only of what GODh a s done, as i t was with S . Alban, but of what He sti lldoes
,as i t was with the thirty martyrs of last year
,what
business have we to doubt that He wil l not be able totake care of u s through this l ife
,and out of i t ? What
business have we to fea r when we come to any n ew
trial,any place or thing of which i t may be more
particularly said,
“Ye have not passed this way heretofore
,
” that nevertheless we shal l not pass i t safely ?Only let u s be ready to d o or to bear what He sendsu s ; only let u s try to be the fi r s t to hear what HisW i l l i s, and the fi r s t to attend to i t , and if we , theHOLY GHo s r helping u s, take care of that, He wil l tak ecare of al l the rest . They that are fi r s t i n His service ,are fi r s t in His favour : They that seek Me early shal lfi n d Me This indeed would be grievous, i f we desiredto be the fi r s t in al l earthly things—man ’ s good Opinion ,money, comfort, and what not else—but in that which
VII .] The New Way . 39
really alone matters—Gon’ s favour—we are content tobe last . Last in everything else
,i f you will but let
u s try to be fi r st in that .An d n ow to Go v, the FATHER, th e SON, and the
HOLY GHOST,be all honour and g lory, for ever .
Amen .
S E R M O N V I I I .
HOW OUR LORD COMES TO US.
V isitation of the 331255211 V irgin mart). SluIy 2 .
AND WHENCE IS THIS TO ME, THAT THE MOTHER o r MY LORD
SHOULD COME TO ME —S. LUKE 1 . 43 .
TH I S d ay—the V i sitation of S . Mary—we here in
England look upon as in the very height and best partof summer : wh i le the days are at the longest
,while
the woods and hedges are at the greenest,whil e th e
h ay i s in the fi e lds, before the great heats have parchedthe earth or withered th e leaves . It i s a pleasantsummer feast
,both the time and the thing we are
called to remember . An d i t i s a fi t day to be , as it i s,the birthday of that divine Hymn, My soul dothmagnify the Loa n .
”To -day i t was that S . Mary
uttered i t : th e fi r st Christian hymn that ever wasmade
,the fi r st of a whole multitude of glorious songs
that the Saints of the Church have written ; Kings,Bishops
,Priests, Martyrs, Confessors, who are now
singing the song of Moses an d of the Lamb . They al lsay in different words the same thing which S . Maryn ow said My soul doth magnify the LORD, and myspirit hath rej oiced in Gon my SAV IOUR. An d notice
Se rm . VIII .] How our Lo r d come s to a s . 4 1
this : as Miriam—which i s the same name as Marywas the fi r st to sing a Hymn in the Old Testament,when the children of Israel had escaped from Pharaoh“ Sing ye to the Loa n, for He hath triumphed glorio usly : the horse and his rider hath He thrown intothe sea ;” so now
,th e Blessed V i rgin was the fi r st in
the N ew Testament to praise Go o with a Hymn fordelivering u s from him of whom Phar aoh was a typethe devi l .But i t wa s not real ly in summer that this happened
i t was towards the beginning of April . April there i snot as it i s with u s, the month of cold winds and manyshowers . The Vines and the fi gs are j ust in fu l l leaf ;the winter i s past the rain is over and gone ; thevoice of the turtle is heard in the l and and the fi r eflie sglitter backwards and forwards over the hedges and inthe damp grass . I wonder whether S . Mary, i n passing along the beautiful val leys of Judah
,would call to
mind the Song of the Three Children,—“O ye nights
an d days, bless ye the LORD O ye mountains and hil ls,bless ye th e LORD ; 0 let the earth bless the Loa n '”—o r whether rather sh e were so taken up by th ewonderful message which she had received but a fewdays before
,that she had no eyes, nor ears, nor thoughts
for anything but this Th e HOLY GHO ST shall comeupon thee
,and the power of the Highest shall over
shadow thee .
”
O ur dear LORD was to travel many weary m i les forour sake after His birth ; as an Infant when He wascarried into Egypt ; as a Chi ld, when He went up toJe r us a lem every year at the feast of the Passover as aMan
,when He went about doing good, and healing al l
that were vexed of devils . An d twice before H is B irth
42 How our Lor d come s to a s . [Se rm .
He j ourneyed ; fi r st to-day, when His Blessed Motherwent to see her cousin
, S . El izabeth ; and afterwards,at the end of the same year
,when there went out a
decree from Caesar Augustus that all the worl d shouldbe taxed, and Jo se ph a n d Mary went up to Bethlehem ,
because they were of the house and lineage of David .
To -day’ s travel wa s His fi r st j ourney of all—a j ourneyof gladness . His last j ourney was to the top of theMount of O l ives, where His Blessed feet stood uponthis earth for the last time before He shal l come toj udge the quick and the dead ; and that also wa s aj ourney of gladness . But between those two , what aworld of suffering and bitterness did He go through inH is j ourneys for u s m e n and for our salvation
,til l He
j ourneyed up Mount Calvary with th e wood of theCross, and there said, It i s fi n ish e dAn d n ow think for a moment of S . Mary, as she
went o u . That she was chosen to be the Mother ofGo o ; that she wa s containing Him W hom heaven andthe heaven of heavens cannot hold ; that she was bearing Him
,Who even then m ight have said, The earth
i s weak and all the inh abiters thereof ; I hear up thepillars of it that she was nourishing Him Whose areall the beasts of the forest
,and so are the cattle upon
a thousand hills . As yet it had not been prophesied toher
,
“Yea,a sword shall pierce through thine own
soul also .
”As yet she l ittle knew by what agonies
thi s great work would be brought to pass ; she couldn o t tel l what she herself would suffer in th e Passion ofher So n (for holy men have not feared to call her thegreatest of all the Martyrs .) It must have been all oneglorious prospect to her : the Seed of the woman shouldbruise the serpent’s head . She knew that from her
VIII .] How ou r Lo r d come s to a s . 43
should come the SON Wh o should destroy the devil ;should ransom from the power of the grave ; shou ldOpen the kingdom of heaven to all bel ievers . She
knew that now the prophecy wa s on the point of beingfulfi l le d —“ Behold
,a Vi rgin shal l conceive and bear a
So n , and they shal l cal l His name IMMANUEL, G0 1)with u s . Fo r unto u s a Child i s born
,unto u s a Son
i s given, and the government shal l be upon His shoulder,a n d His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,the Mighty Go n , the Everlasting Father, the Prince ofPeace .
”An d were not these her thoughts, passing
almost what we can imagine,as she went through the
hil l country of Judae a ? Yes : I think she could nothave had eyes and ears for anything else.An d look at S . Elizabeth waiting for her visit : she
also to be honoured she also a mother by miracle ;she to bring forth a son who should be great
,and
should go before the LORD Go n in the spirit and powerof Eli as . Th e mother of a Saint—of one of whom i tshould be said
,Among them that are born of women
,
there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist-but yet only a Saint—and h ow must sh e have lookedforward to the coming of her that was the Mother ofGOD ? An d when they drew nigh, she herself tell s u swhat she felt : An d whence i s this to me that theMother of my LORD should come unto me An d
notice this : the fi r s t time that our Loa n JB SU S CHRI STwas called by the two names which n ow we most commouly give Him
,our Loa n and our SAV IOUR, was now .
Mary said, My spirit hath rej oiced in GOD my SAV IOUR Elizabeth said, That the Mother of my Loa nshould come unto me .
Whence indeed ? An d whence is i t to al l of us, that
44 How our Lor d come s to a s . [Se rm .
our Loa n Himself should come to u s—should comefrom th e Bosom of th e FATHER into a world that hatedHim—should come unto H is o wn
,His own receiving
Him not—should come to the very m e n that shouldpersecute Him
,revile H im , and slay H im ? Whence
i s thi s to u s that He should come to the Garden ofGethsemane—should come to the j udgment- seat ofAnnas
, Caiaphas, and Herod,—should come and standbefore the pe0 p1e, when Pi late said, Behold theMan 1
”
should come to Calvary,and to the Cross
An d again ; whence i s this to u s,that He should
come to u s on the Al tar ? That as He gave His Bodyto be cr ucifi e d for u s on th e Cross, there He shouldgive i t u s to be our food ? W hence i s thi s that theLORD of Glory, the KING of Kings, should vouchsafeH imself to come to His sick and dying servants
,- to
enter miserable cottages,to be received in wretched
beds, —to comfort the meanest and the lowest ? Why,when an earthly king goes anywhere
,peopl e ever after
mark th e room where he lodged with honour,set u p
pillars where he stood,point out the road by which he
travel led . An d yet, probably, there i s not a singleroom in this College in which CHR I ST H imself has notthus visi ted His servants . Whence i s thi s to u s
, thatin such a way as this our Loa n should come to u s ?S John the Baptist has his part in thi s day .
“ As
soon,sai d S . Elizabeth , as the voice of thy salutation
sounded in mine ears,the babe leaped in my womb for
j oy .
”Th e Lo nn
’s messenger was in haste to give
His message . An d think what a cottage that musthave been where
,with their Loa n and with the Mother
of GOD, al l those Saints were met together ! Neverwas there one like i t
,except only that cottage at
S E R M O N I X .
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY .
Qtr ausla tiou of5 . Martin . 31111334 .
“THERE SHALL BE A RESURBECTION OF THE DEAD, BOTH o r THEJUST AND UnJus r .
”—Ac'r s XXIV . 1 5 .
I SHALL have to speak to you of S . Martin himself, byGon’ s g race, in November . To -day i s kept in m emoryof his Tr a ns la ti on , that i s, of the removal of his bodyfrom the grave
,where i t had at fi r st been buried
,into a
church buil t to receive i t . Therefore,we are led to-day
to think how much care the Church takes of the bodiesof her saints, because they were once the temples of theHOLY GHOST, and because she knows that they will riseagain to glory in the last day .
Now I am afraid that there are many persons, whosay that they believe in the Resurrection, and who dobelieve in it after a sort
,who yet do not really feel that
i t i s the very same bodies which we now have, the verysame fle sh, and skin, and bones, -which wil l rise ag ainat the Judgment Day . If they were honestly to saywhat they believe, i t would be that at the Resurrectionwe should have something like our present bodies,something that would do as well
,—not that we should
Se rm . IX.] The Resur r e cti on of the Body . 47
be exactly as we are n ow,—th e same body, the same
soul, j oined together, never more to be separated . Yetas i t was with our Loa n
,so it will also be with u s .
Handl e Me , He said to His Apostles , and see : fora spirit hath not fle sh and bones, as ye see Me have .
”
An d so truly and perfectly had He a body like ours ,after His Resurrection , that we even read how He ateof a broiled fi sh and of a honey-comb .
Th e differences between our bodies as they are n ow,
and as they wil l be then,are only three : l et u s see
what they are .
In the fi r st place,they can no more sin . This i s
certain : because,i f they could sin
,we might be cast
out of heaven . But if we once enter that blessed place,we can never be driven out. In S . John’ s Revelationwe read
,Him that overcometh will I make a pill ar
in the Temple of My GOD, and he shall go no moreout .” An d S . Paul says
,So shall we ever be with
the Loa n . No : heaven would be no heaven i f wecould lose i t . But we are tol d expressly
,He that i s
d ead hath ceased from sin . Think n ow what a greatmultitude of sins come from the body, and so enter intothe soul
,and then think what a blessed and glorious
thing i t wil l be when they are all cast off for ever ! Sincame into the world by the body
,—namely
,by gluttony
the fi r s t thing that Eve saw concerning the forbiddenfruit was, that i t was good for food . But after theResurrection
,no more slothfulness, no more gluttony,
no more impurity : the former things shal l be passedaway . That i s the chief change . Th e body
,which
was always hindering u s in Gon ’ s service here,wil l
there help u s in i t . It cannot grow weary,i t cannot
interrupt u s by its own feel ings ; there we shall truly
48 Th e Re sur r e cti on of the Body . [S e rm .
a n d perfectly glorify G0 1) in our body and in ourspirit
,which are Gon ’ s .”
Th e next great difference i s, that the body wil l beincorruptible . Thi s does not only m ean that it cannever die
,but it tel ls u s a great d eal more . Here
,i n
this world,our bodies are wearing out day by day 5 and
therefore day by d ay we have to keep them up by food ,and by rest . But there, they cannot wear out therefore they wil l not want food nor rest ; at least that i sth e belief of the Church . Rest
,we know they do not
want for S . John tell s u s that they rest not d ay nornight .” An d since our Loa n has told u s that theywho shal l be counted worthy to enter into the kingdomof heaven shal l neither marry n o r be given in marr i age , but sh al l be like the Angels,
” i t seems most likelythat they wil l also be like the Angel s in not requiringmeat and drink . But i t i s certain there can be no wear in e ss ; i t i s certain there can be no sickness ; the inhabitant
,says Isaiah
,shal l not say
,I am sick it i s
certain there can be no age or decay . As a ho ly Bishopof old wrote in a hymn
He re they live in e n d le s s be in g,Pa ssingn e s s h a s pa sse d a way ;
He re th ey blo om , they g ro w, they flour ish ,Fo r d e cay e d is a l l d e cay
Life , an d h e a lth, a n d st re ngth ha v e swa llow e dW e akn e s s, p a in , a n d d e a th fo r aye .
”
But there i s yet a third difference between our bodiesas they are n ow,
and as they wil l be . All in heavenwil l be perfect . Therefore how can children, who havenot come to perfection
,or the old, l ike yourselves, who
have long passed i t,—how can they be found there ?
Now Holy Scripture tells u s very littl e on this point .
IX .] The Re sur r e ct i on of the Body . 49
But th e belief of the Church is that the old wil l beraised again
,not withered
,and decayed
,and worn out
,
but as they were when they were in the best part oftheir earthly lives ; and that children will be raised ,not as they were when they were lai d in the grave
,bu t
as they would have been if they had been spared totheir ful l growth and strength . You are to understandthat this i s not what we cal l an article of faith thati s, not a thing which a m a n must believe
,or he cannot
be saved It i s only what i s generally named a “ piousOpinion : that i s, a belief which the Church r e com
mends u s to have,or praises u s for having
, bu t doesnot requi r e u s to hold . An d there are one or two textsin the Bible which seem to s ay as much . Isaiah
,
speaking of heaven, says, “ There shal l be no morethence an infant
,n o r an old man .
”An d S . Paul says
that we shall be all i n the measure of the statureof the fulness of CHRI ST .
” N ow o u r LORD diedfor u s in the very prime of l ife, at thirty-three yearsof age accordin g to the fle sh : therefore holy m e n
have thought that at our resurrection we also shal lawake up i n the prime of l ife
,even as our Loa n did
at His .But now
,wh at a thin g is thi s which we say day by
day,night by night
,I believe in the Resurrection of
the body I believe,that i s
,that al l the bodies that
ever were,or ever wil l be ,—those that have mouldered
quietly away in country churchyards, those that havebeen fl ung into great pits on fi e ld s of battle, those thatare tossin g about in the huge sea, those that have beenburned
,those that have been eaten by wild beasts
,those
that in plagues have been destroyed by quick- l ime,
those that have been swal lowed by sea-monsters,—a ll
E
50 Th e Re sur r e ct ion of th e Bo dy . [Se rm .
wil l come together,muscle to muscl e
,bon e to bone,
l imb to limb,—yes
,and hair t o hai r, (“ even the hairs
of your head are all numbered z”) of those hundreds ofthousan ds of millions not one wrong
,not one mistake ;
brought together from al l parts of the earth,mountain s,
caves,seas
,rivers
,l akes
,forests
,churchyards ; all ar
rayed as they were,al l j oined by His wisdom Who
cann ot be deceived . This i s what we Christian s bel ievein our Creed . As to the heathens, they laughed at thethought . 8 . Paul was preaching at Athens to thewi sest people on the face of the earth . They listenedwhen he spoke to them of the On e GOD, Whom theyignorantly worshipped . But when he spoke of theResurrection of the Dead, some mocked , and otherssaid
,W e wil l hear thee again of this mat ter .
”Even
the Jews , many of them ,could not believe i t . The
Sadducees in our Loa n ’ s time denied i t . An d indeedin the O ld Testament there a r e only three clear prom i ses of i t . On e of them is that glorious pro phecy ofJob ’s which we heard the other day : I know thatmy Redeemer live th , and that He shall stan d at thel atter day upon the earth : and though after my skinworms destroy this body
,yet in my flesh shall I see
Go o .
” The other i s in Isaiah, where it i s our Loa nspeakin g : Thy dead men shal l l ive, tog ether with Mydead body shall they arise . Awake an d sing, ye thatdwel l in dust ; for t hy d ew i s as the d e w of he r bs, a ndthe earth shal l cast out the dead .
”And the third is in
Dan i el : Man y of them that s leep in the dust of theearth shal l awake . But al l thi s our very childrenkn ow . O u t of the mouths of babes and sucklings praisei s ordained .
O n e th ing more . To be with the LORD JE SUS wil l
IX .] The Re sur r e ction of the Body . 51
be the great blessedness of heaven . But neverthelessi t will be a blessedness to be with the holy men of old
,
and with those whom we have loved here . Some peopleh ave asked
,whether we shall know each other
,i f we
are counted worthy of that happy place ? There is nokind of doubt that we shall . The rich man in the
parable knew Abraham ; and h ow i s i t possible thatbeing the same as we have been , we shall not knoweach other ? I might j ust as reasonably have doubted
,
when I was in a foreign country,and counting th e
days til l I should return here, whether I shouldknow you
,whether you would remember m e , when I
came back .
Now to end . Remember to whom it is that theseglorious things are promised : “They that have don egood shal l go into life everlasting, and they that h avedone evil into everlasting fi r e .
” Have done evi l ? buthow ? No t , Go n forbid, those who have done a ny e vi l,else who could be saved ? but those who have d one e vi land have not repented of i t ; but those who h ave persistedin sin, and gone out of the world in i t : those who havequietly given themselves to be servants of the d evil
,they
indeed sha lt g o into everlasting fi r e . Bu t no t tho sewho
,though they have sinned, have sought forgiveness ;
not those who grieve and mourn for their evi l doings,n o t those who are trying, with however many fa ilures ,to fi gh t the good fi ght of faith . Only bear this inmind : there are but these two classes of persons, theythat ha ve done good, a n d they that have don e. evil .There i s no middle class of ind ifferen t persons, with an
indifferent place,neither so good as heaven
,nor so bad
as hel l,provided for them . Gon ’ s or the Devil’s yo u
must b e . No man can serve two masters he re, and
52 Th e Re su r r e ct ion of the Body . [Se rm . IX .
every man shal l receive the wages of that master whomh e hath served
,there .
GOD grant that we m ay then be found on the righthand
,for JE SU S CHRIs r ’ s sake to Whom with the
FATHER and the HOLY GHO S T be all honour and gloryfor ever . Amen .
54 Wha t we a r e to le a r n fr om the Ra in [Se rm .
church i s cal led after him . Peopl e then came up fromfar and near to keep his feast ; and i t was a high holiday . That i s now past but it i s curious that stil l theday should be spoken of by those who care, not for theSaint, but for the weather by those who are labouring,not as he laboured for the bread that perisheth not,but for that earthly food for which i t is also our dutyto work . Le t u s for once do as the world does . Everyone to-dav is talking of the rain 5 I wil l also speak ofit n ow .
No w see how many things we might learn, i f wewould
,from every shower . Go o has made the rain a
type to u s both of His mercy and of His j udgment .Le t u s see how .
There was no rain in the Garden of Eden . Th e
Loa n Go o ,” says Moses, “ had not caused i t to rainu pon the earth ; but there went up a mist from theearth
,and watered the whole face of the ground .
”
But some learned men have believed,and I think so
too,that til l the flo o d i t never rained . Imagine then
the terror,when water began to fal l from the sky !
W here I was travel l ing this spring,i t had snowed for
the fi r s t time ; a n d the people ran to the churches,
thinking that the end of the worl d was come . Ju dg e
then h ow those must have fel t,who could no more
imagine water falling from the sky than we can imaginea fall of stones ! An d see how Moses describes to us
th e coming on of this rain . Th e fountains of thegreat deep were broken up, and the win dows of heavenwere opened . An d the waters increased and bare upthe ark and the waters prevailed
,and were in
creased greatly u pon the earth,and the ark went upon
the face of the waters and the waters prevailed
X .] Wha t we a r e to le a r n fr om the Ra in . 55
upon th e earth and all th e high hills were coveredfi ft e e n cubits and upward s did the waters prevail
,a n d
th e moun tains were covered .
”That i s, after the high
est m ountains, which a r e about fi ve m i les high,were
covered, th e waters sti ll wen t o n increasing,ti l l they
stood twelve yards higher still,and then they began t o
decrease .
The fi r st thought we have about rain, then , i s that ofj udgment. Bu t notice somethin g else . I have oftentold you h ow GOD u ses the same thing to save that He
had permitted to destroy . As David slew Goliath withhis own sword
,as Benaiah ki lled the Egyptian of great
stature with his o wn spear, a s Judith cut off the head ofHolofernes with his o wn falchion , so our Loa n by deathd estroyed death
,by His crown of thorn s changed the
curse,thorns also shal l the earth bear un to thee
,
by the tree of the Cross atoned for the tree of theknowledge of good and evi l
,in a garden triumphed
over the si n that had been committed in a garden . So
here ; as water destroyed every livin g thin g whereinwas the breath of l ife
,so water bore up t he ark, and
saved those that were in i t .Afte r the flo o d, GOD made a promise to Noah, that
He would no m ore destroy the earth by water . An d
He said, I do set My how in the cloud ; and i t shal lcome to pass when I brin g a cloud over the earth , thatthe bo w shal l be seen in the cloud ; and I wil l rememberMy covenant .
”Th e plain sense of the words i s, that
there had never been a rainbow before . Therefore i ti s that I think that there had never been rain before ;for if there had been
,there must al so, in two thousan d
years,have been a rainbow. An d notice this : th e
rainbow was the fi r st thing that was at a l l l ike a Sacra
56 PVha t we a r e to le a r n fr om the Ra in . [Se rm .
ment . It was an outward and visible sign of a graceor favour given to u s . So , yo u see, in the fi r s t accountwe have of rain
,we fi n d j udgment and mercy together .
So we do i n the secon d . This was the seventh plaguein the lan d of Egypt—the plague of rain and hail . Th ej udgment i s clear enough . Th e Loa n rained hai lupon the land of Egypt . So there was hail, and fi r e
min g led with th e bail, very grievous and the fi r e r an
along upon the ground .
” But there w a s mercy also .
This was the only plague of which the Egyptians hadwarning “ Send therefore n o w
,
”Go n said the day
before, and gather thy cattle,and al l thou hast in the
fi e ld,for upon every m an and beast which shal l be
found in the fi e ld s , and shall not be brought home, th ehai l shal l come down u pon them
,and they shall die .
”
Mercy and truth,you see
,met together ; any might be
saved that would ; all that believed Gon’ s word, a n d
showed by their deeds that they did believe i t , were saved .
There i s another thing to remember when i t rain s .N ext we come to Gideon’ s story . GOD commanded
him to deliver Israel from Midian . He wa s slow tobelieve
,and asked fo r two signs . The fi r s t was that he
should put a fle e ce out at night,and that the dews,
which in that country are heavier than with u s,should
be upon that fle e ce only ; while al l the groun d shouldbe dry . Th e second was that the d e w should comedown u pon al l the groun d
,while the fleece on ly was
dry . These things are a type . Th e fle e ce meant theJews. While the knowledge of Go o belon ged to theJews, then the rest of the world was without it ; n ow
that the kingdom of Go o i s spread all over the earth ,the Jews only are left without i t . Here is j udgmentand mercy again : where the d e w fell
,mercy ; where the
X.] Wha t we a r e to le a r n fr om the Ra in . 5 7
d ew fel l not,j udgment . An d there is anoth er sense,
which David explain s to u s in one of the Psalms whichyou heard last night . As the d ew fell on the fle e ce ofwo o l
,wi th ou t hurting or corrupting i t
,so our LORD JE SU S
CHRI ST descended in to the womb of S . Mary, sh e remaining a most pure virgin both before and after His birth .
Now we go on again to Job . El ihu was speaking toJo b and to his three friends . He begins in the thirtysecond chapter . At the end of the thirty-sixth hementions the rain . Any one who will read that andthe next chapter wil l see that
,as he was talking
,a
storm came o u . Fi rst,he says
,He make th small the
drops of water ; they pour down rain according to thevapour thereof.” Then the storm grows blacker : hesays : W i th clouds He covereth the light
,and com
mands it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt .”
Then we have th e thunder . Go n,
” says Elihu,
thundereth marvellously with His voice great thingdoeth He
, which we cannot comprehend . Still thestorm continues : “Al so by watering He wearieth thethick cloud ; He scattereth the bright cloud Theni t begins to pass off: The wind ,” he says, passethand scattereth them . After this
,there is some glo
rions appearance in the sky for Elihu goes o u,Gold
cometh out of the north that i s,a bright light
,yellow
as gold ; with GOD i s terribl e maj esty .
”An d imme
dia t e ly it follows, “ Then the Loa n answered Job outof the whirlwind
,and said
,Wh o i s thi s that d arkeneth
counsel by words without knowledge That stormwent before the presence of GOD
,and when i t was past
,
He spoke . Here we have j udgment and mercy alsoj udgment
,for Gon j udges Job for his boastings
,and
for his thinking that he had been hardly used ; mercy,
58 Wha t we a r e to le a r n fr om the Ra in . [Se rm .
for He restored to him heal th and riches, and state, andall that he had before .
Take an other example . Th e kings of Judah , Israel,and Edom
,wen t out to b a ttle again st the king of
Moab . They marched through the desert, a nd wereready to perish with thirst . El isha
,who was there
,
comman ded th em to make ditches al l round the camp .
Fo r thus sai th the Loa n ; Ye shall not see wind ,nei ther shall ye see rain ; yet that valley shal l be fi lle dw ith water . The rain , therefore, fel l at a distance ;for i t goes o u
,In the morn i ng
,when the meat offer
ing was o fi ‘
e r e d,—behold
,there came water by the way
of Edom,a n d the co u n t r v was fi l le d w i th water . But
the Bl o abi t e s, see ing the su n shin in g red ly upon i t,took i t for blood
,a n d thought that the three kings had
fought with each other, a n d came out h a stily to thespoil
,and were delivered into the hands of the Israel ites .
Thus there was mercy fo r the peopl e of GOD,who were
saved from dying by thirst ; but j udgment for H isenemies
,who were cut to pieces .
On e thing o nly further : I mean the parable whichour LORD spake con cern in g the rain .
“Whosoeverheareth these sayings of Min e, a n d doeth them,
I willl iken him unto a wise man
,which buil t his house upon
a rock : An d th e rain d escended,a n d the floods came
,
and the winds blew,a n d beat u pon that house ; and i t
fell not ; for i t was founded upon a rock . An d everyone that h e are th these sayin gs o fMine
,and doeth them
not,shal l be l ikened un to a foolish m a n
,which buil t
his house u pon th e san d : And the rain d es ce nded,and
the floo ds came, a n d th e wi nds blew,an d beat u po n
that house ; a n d i t fel l : a n d great was the fall of i t .
”
That i s the great thing after all,—t li e only really great
X .) Wha t we a r e to le a r n fr om the Ra in . 59
thing,—the only thing that truly matters, wh ether weare keeping His sayin gs and doing them , or not . Ifwe could only remember tha t, whenever we see i t rain,happy should we be indeedAnd now I have given you someth ing to think about
for these forty days,i f th e old say ing i s tru e
,an d we
have a wet season . This w i l l be more pr o fi t able thancompl aining and lamenting
,as every one i s so apt to
do, for the hay or the cr0 ps . Go n knows best what wereally need ; an d we should all do wel l i f we could trulym ake such an answer as an old shepherd once d id . A
travel ler going by, said, What sort of wea ther shallwe have to-day “Whatever weather I lik e
,
” sai dthe shepherd . Whatever weather you like ? Why,how can that be Because i t wil l be whatever Go npleases ; and what He pleases, th at I like .
”This i s
the same thing as sayin g,l ike the Three Holy Children
,
O ye showers and dews, bless ye the LORD praiseH im and m agni fy Him for ever . And i t wil l be thel ikely way to make u s say wi th David
,Thou visi test
the earth and blessest i t : Thou makest i t very pl e nt e o u s . Thou waterest her furrows, Thou sendes t raininto the l ittl e vall eys thereof Thou makest i t soft withthe drops of rain
,and blessest the in crease of i t . Thou
crownest the year with Thy goodness : and Thy cloudsdrop fatness . They shal l drop u pon the dwellings ofthe wilderness : an d the l ittl e h ills shal l rej oi ce o n
every side . The folds shall be full of sheep : th e'
va l
leys also shal l stand so thick with corn,that they shall
laugh and sing .
”
An d n ow to Go n the FATHER, Gon the SON, andGo v the HOLY GHO S T
,be al l honour and glory for
ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X1 .
WHAT THE ONE PEARL IS.
5 . fi fla rgaret. 311i
A MERCHANTMAN,SEEKING GOODLY PEARLS , wn o WHEN HE HAD
FOUND ONE PEARL o r GREAT PRICE,WENT ‘AND SOLD ALL THAT HE
HAD , AND BOUGHT IT.
”—S . MATT. XIII . 45, 46 .
TH I S day i s fi t t e d for that which we have been doingon i t , and the text suits both . It suits th e festival ofS . Margaret ; i t suits al so the bri nging an infant intothe Church
,a n d signin g it with the sign of the Cross,
in token that hereafter she shal l not be ashamed toconfess the faith of CHRI S T Cr ucifi e d , a n d manfully tofi gh t under His banner , against sin, the world, and thedevil
,a n d to continue CH i t i s '
r’
s faithful soldier and servant unto her life’s end .
”
It suits the festival of S . Margaret . The nameMa rg a r e t s ign ifi e s a Pearl . An d this Holy V irginknew well what was that “ Pearl of great price” ofwhich our Lo a n spake ; namely, the Salvation of thesoul . The m e r cli a n tm a n in the text wen t and sold al lthat he had
,and bought i t ; Margaret laid down all
1 Be ing th e d ay ofth e r e ce p t io n ofa n infa n t in to th e Chu rch .
62 Wha t th e on e P e a r l is . [Se rm .
for the remission of sins ; never,
“ I believe hal f abaptism .
”
What d id we do,then
,to-day ? The Church, in her
love for ch ildren,h a s thought i t only right that those
who were,by some necessity, baptized at home , —who
could not, in the hurry, have godfathers and go dm o
th e r s ,—who possibly might be i n such imminen t dangerthat even all the prayers could not be said over them
,
she ha s thought i t only right that such children shouldnot go without the privil eges of others . Therefore, forthem
,she divides the service of baptism into two parts .
Whereas, for others , she makes them fi r st enter into acovenant or agreement with GOD, and then baptizesthem ; these she fi r st baptizes, and then , i f they live,she makes them enter in to that covenant. And theoutward token of this coven ant is the sign of the Cross .Just as when a man takes service with a master, heputs on his l ivery ; so we , when we take service withour Great Master
,JE SUS CHRI S T
,put on His l ivery
,
namely,the Cross . This i s what we have been doing
to-day ; not pretendin g to add anyth ing—Go n forbid !—to that which the HOLY GHO S T did before ; but proclaiming for thi s infant that i t i s our glory, and that wetrust
,i n time to come
,i t w i l l be hers
,that she is a
servant of CHR I S T Cr ucifi e d , and so may h a ve her partwith the holy Margarets that have been before herwith Margaret, the saint of th is day ; with Margaret ofScotland
,who
,though a queen
,gave up all earthly
things fo r the love of CHRI S T ; and w i th Margaret ofCortona
,who
,after fall ing most foully into sin
,rose to
a height of grace that has been given to few .
I said that the text of the Pearl was fi t t e d for thed ay . The m e r cli an tma n went and sold al l that he had,
XL] Wha t the on e P e a r l i s . 63
and bought that Pearl . Thi s Pearl,I told you
,means
Salvation . Ou r Loa n h ere tell s u s h o w we are to geti t : we must buy i t . He tel ls u s al so at what price wemust buy i t : we must give all we have for i t . W e
must give al l our time to Go o for i t—that i s, al l ourtime must be spent for Him
,in doin g His work ;
either in serving Him directly,or in doin g other busi
ness for His sake . W e must give al l our love for itthat i s
,we must love other things l ess th an GOD : we
must on ly love them as far as He would have u s ; wemust be ready to give them u p when He call s for them .
So of everything else—heal th,stren gth
,money
,talents
,
influ e n ce with others—w e must give them all for thisPearl—Salvation . GOD wil l have all
,or He will have
none . If we serve Him to-day, and ourselves to-morrow,that wil l not do . If we serve Him with some of ourpowers, and keep the rest back from His service
,that
wil l not do . The merchantman went and sold al l thathe had ; he did not keep back his houses, or some ofhi s land
,or his ships
,or his j ewels he gave all . An d
a wise merchan tman he was . He knew that the On ePearl was worth infi n i t e ly more than al l he had, andthat if he could get i t at that price it wa s a barga in,the excel lency of which could not be told .
Now, what has Baptism to do with this ? Everythin g . Ti l l a man is baptized
,he has nothing to buy thi
Pearl with . He can do no good works—I m ean goodworks in a Christian sense . If that merchantman hadhad nothing to buy with he clearly never would have go tthe pearl . If you have nothing to give to GOD, youw ill never obtain Salvation and til l you are baptized
,
you can have nothing . Th e HOLY GHOS T then givesyo u the power of doing good works . As i t was with
64 Wha t the on e P e a r l i s . [Se rm .
the servants in the parable,—if their LORD, when He
went away,had given them nothin g to begin with , they
could have gain ed nothing . He gave them fi ve talents,two talents
,one talent ; and h a ving them ,
they couldgo and in crease them . He gave them their goods atfi r s t
, and then He rewarded them,because they brought
Him the pr o fi ts .
These two things, then ,always keep in your mind .
The fi r s t,that i t i s by doin g good works th at you wil l
h ave a right to heaven,and in no other way ; the
secon d,that you have no glory or praise in doin g them ,
because G0 1) gave you the power,and the will .
Does it seem diffi cul t to you to u nderstand h ow youmay have a right to heaven
,while yet heaven i s a gift ?
S . John tell s you that you have a right to i t : Blessedare they that do His commandments
,that they may
have right to the tree of l ife .” S . Paul tells you thati t is a free gift : By grace ye are saved through faith ,and that n o t of yourselves : i t i s the gift of Go o .
Take a plain example h ow thi s i s . At fi r st , clearly,none of you had the least right to the pensions youh ave from the College . If they had not been givenyou at al l, there would have been no inj ustice don e you .
Th e Patrons might have said,Is i t not lawful for me
to do what I wil l wi th mine ownThen
,when you were admitted pensioners
,you were
put in to possession, u nd e r ce r ta in cond i t i ons , mind you ,
of the rights that belong to u s . What were the words ?“Who i s to have such lodgin g
,pension
,allowance
,and
other privileges,as the rest of the Brotherhood ; b e com
plyin g in al l things with the statutes of the College .
”
So here was a covenant between you and the Patrons .They, for their part, promised to give you certain gifts,
XL] Wha t the on e P e a r l i s . 65
y o u , for your part, promised to obey certain laws . Iti s an exact type of Baptism . Gon there
,for His part,
promised to give you His heavenly kingdom ; you, foryour part, promised to keep His commandmen ts .But suppose you do not keep the statutes of the
College . Then would you have a right to its privileges ?Certainly not . You would lose your pensions
,and be
expelled from your rooms . An d,in l ike manner
,i f you
do not keep Gon ’ s laws,you wi ll have no right to the
privi leges He gave you at your Bapti sm ,and will be
cast out of His kin gdom .
Ou th e other hand,let u s imagine that, after yo u had
been admitted pensioners,and while you were keeping
the statutes,your pensions were to be paid you no longer .
Why, you would come to me a n d say, W e have a rightto our pension s ; we claim them as a right ; they areours .
”An d you would say true . All comes from the
Patrons’ favour, fi r st and last . They admitted yo u , they
pay you but sti ll yo u have a right to the payment . Theyadmitted you freely
,without any meri t of your o wn ;
they pay you al so without any desert of your o wn , exceptwhat comes from their promise ; bu t that i s s uffi cie n t .
This comparison is n ear enough for our purpose ;but it i s not quite exact . I wonder i f any of you haveseen where i t fail s ?The Patrons freely , and of thei r own kindness, a d
mi t te d you in to this College by warrant . Gon, freelyand of His love
,admitted you into His Church by
Bapti sm . Is that a true type Yes .Th e Patron s admitted you into this College on con
dition that you obeyed i ts laws . Go o admitted yo uinto His Church o n conditi on that you kept H is com
m a n dm e n t s . Is the type sti l l true ? Yes .F
66 Wha t the on e P e a r l i s . [Se rm . XI .
If you do keep the College statutes, you have a right(entirely owin g to the Patrons’ kindnes s) to your pe nsions . If you keep Gon
’ s laws,you have a right (em
t i r e ly owing to Gon’ s love) to heaven . That i s a good
type al so .
Where does my example fail,then ?
Here . Wh o gives you power to observe Gon’s l aws ?Why, Go n the HOLY GHO S T Himself. The Patron s
do not give you power to keep the statutes : th ey madethem, and they in sist on thei r being obeyed ; but theydo not enable you to obey them .
Yes : GOD gave you the promise, He gives you the
power to cl aim i t , He gives you the reward for claimin gi t . Of Him ,
an d through Him,and to Him
,are al l
things . Th e glory is His, fi rst and last . “ No t untou s , 0 Loa n ,
n o t unto u s,but unto Thy Name give the
prai se,for Thy lovin g mercy a n d truth
’s sake .
”Loving
mercy in giving the promise ; truth in fu lfi lling i t .
No w, then , we are sti ll to be engaged in buyin g thePearl . Every day we are to pay down something towards i t . GOD i s no hard task-master ; He l ets u s pay “
by instalments . No t a sin gle day of our l ives shouldbe without making one ; for n o t one day of our l ives i salso without doing something which tends to depriveu s of the Pearl .Le t thi s name, Ma rg a r e t, remind u s of i t : and r e
min d u s also of that city,whereof the gates are twelve
Pearl s, each several gate one Pearl . Where GOD ofHis mercy vouchsafe to bring u s al l
,for JE SU S CHRIST’
s
sake ! To Whom, with the FATHER a n d th e HOLYGHO S T
,be all honour and glory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N Xl l .
THE TWO SAINT MARIE S AT THE CROSS.
5 . MaryMagn um. Slab) 22 .
“THERE sr o on BY THE CROSS OF JESUS, HIS MOTHER AND MARYMAGDALENE .
—S. JOHN XIX . 25 .
IF I had not read i t i n the Gospel,I would not have
believed i t . GOD dying for the sins of the world, Go obecome a scorn and derision to men
,Go n made a wo n
der to the Angels ;—whom did He choose to be nearHim whi le He was bearing the burden and heat of theday
,—while He was tread ing the win e-press alone
,
whil e He was en ga ged in H is great and tremendousbattle with the devil ? His Blessed Mother,—that i sbut natural
,to speak after th e manner of m e n . She
that was pure enough to carry Him in her womb,was
pure enough to stan d by Him at th e Cross . But MaryMagdalene ! She ,
—the woman t hat was a sinner ; she—out of whom He had cast seven devil s she,—whosepresence Simon the Pharisee had thought a disg race tohi s house Think of them,
the two together : S . Marythe Mother of GOD, the purest and holies t of all createdbeings : S. Mary Magdalene
,that had been the slave
68 The Tw o Sa in t Ma r i e s a t th e Cr oss . [S e rm .
of Satan , wel l known to all amon g the impure a n d u n
h o ly . An d learn h o w mighty i s th e grace of GOD : i twas the same grace which made the Blessed V i rginwhat sh e w a s , and kept her so
,and which raised S .
Mary Magdalen e from being what she had been, andset her at the foot of the Cross .N o w
,no doubt
,this was a greater honour to her than
even that i t was she to whom our L ORD fi r s t appea red .
W e should thin k it a greater glory,i f a kin g
,going out
to wa r,said to u s
,Be near me i n the bat t le
,
” than ifhe were to say
,
“ Be near me in my triumph .
”O u r
L ORD chose 8 . Mary Magdalene to be one of the fourof H is followers upo n whom His dyin g eyes rested . As
perfect Ma n,He felt as m a n i n dea th . An d whom
should we w i sh to stan d by our dying beds,to speak
the last earthly words that we shal l ever hear, to be thel ast obj ects that we can look upon and touch ? Wouldi t n o t be those that we had loved mos t ? Could wegive any greater proof of our love than this ? I thinknot .O u r Loa n chose four to be near His dea th -bed
,the
h a r d woo d of the Cross : the three Saint Marie s and S .
John . There were also the t wo thi e ves . An d noticethat
,of th e s ix who were n earest to Him in d ea th
, two
were peniten ts : th e dying thief a n d S . Ma ry Magdal en e . So great a n hon o ur He puts o n rep e n t an ce, tha ttwo out of fi ve of th e servants who are wi th Him in His
l ast battle shou ld be pen i tents .Th is we must a l so rem ember . If our Lo a n showed
the excee d in g gre atn e ss o f His love in pe rmi ttin g thatS . Mary Ma gdalen e sh o uld be at His fee t, s he , in turnsh owed ev e n m ore love than others in d esi r in g to beth e re . The Chief Prie s t s and Scri bes knew perfe ctly
70 Th e Two Sa in t Ma r i e s a t the Cr oss . [Se rm .
triumphed over them,whom could they ever hope to
conquer ? If the s in which Go n hates more than anyother—impurity—could not keep her back from Him ,
what new devices had they to destroy men ? No doubtSatan desi red to have S . Mary Magdalene
,as much as
ever he h a d desired S . Peter, that he m igh t si ft her aswheat : no doubt, also, our Loa n pray ed for h e r , thather faith m ight not fail . Sh e al so was made a spectacleto the world
,and to angel s
,a n d to men .
Here then our LORD invites, as if from His Cross,
the whole world I, i f I be li fted up from the earth ,will draw all men unto Me . His true and fai thfulservants
,by th e example of S . Joh n , -pen i tents that
long tarried with Him,by the exam pl e of S . Mary,
those that are a s yet impenitent, by the example of thedying thief. There can be no class
,no kin d
,no station ,
that He does not call . There can be non e for whomthere i s n o t virtue in the Cross
,to give the courage, th e
stren gth,the purity
,the love
,that they need .
I kn ow n o t why, however, w e are only to-day tothink of S . Mary Magdal ene in her sorrow . He avi
ness may en dure for a night,but j oy cometh in th e
morn ing .
” Her heaviness endured for two nights : thatof Friday and that of Saturd ay . But
,i f double sorrow
,
double j oy . It was ea rly,at the risin g of the sun
,that
she s a w J e su s stan din g by the sepul chre, and kn ew notthat i t was Jam s ; and that she heard that most j oyfulword from her Lo n n ’
s o wn mouth , “Mary .
”By her
He was fi r s t seen , by her He was fi r s t heard , to her He
fi r s t spake of His Ascen sion .
“ Go to My brethren,a nd say un to them
,I as cen d un to My FATHER and your
FA THER,to My GOD and yo ur Go o .
”
An d th is is what love to CHRI S T can do . Her sins,
X11 ] The Two Sa in t M a r i e s a t the Cr oss . 71
which were many,were forgiven
,for she loved much .
Lazarus was rai sed from the grave,because she loved
much . Sh e was one of the watchers by the Cross, because she loved much and she was the fi rst to see ourLoa n after the Resurrection , because she loved much .
What love did for her,i t can do for u s . If we truly
love , our sin s also will be forgiven . If we truly love,
our prayers for others wil l be heard . If we truly love,we shal l be found at the foot of the Cross, content tosuffer shame and pain with our LORD . And
,l astly
,i f
we truly love,we shall see H im with the very same
form in which S . Mary Magdalene s aw Him,—in the
body of His Resurrection . An d,i f we wan t to know
whether we have this love, S . John will give u s a rulefor fi n d in g i t out —“This i s the love of Go o
,that ye
keep His Commandments .” All comes to that : whatever we are speaking of ends in nothing else there i sno other rule ; as the same S . John tells a s in anotherplace Li ttle chi ldren
,let
,
no man deceive you hethat d oeth righteousness i s righteous .”
There stood by the Cross of JE SU S,His mother and
Mary Magdalene .
” W e must al so be like them . W e
cannot stand there in the body as they did,but we
must g o there again and again in thought . It is theonly safe place in danger or in temptation . It i s th eonly place that can lead to that glory, where those whostood by JE SU S whi le He sufi
’
e r e d,are n o w with Him
while He reigns . Where GOD vouchsafe to brin g u s
all,for His sak e ! To Whom with the FATHER a n d the
HOLY GHOST, be all honou r and glory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X I I I .
WHY SERMONS DO SO LITTLE GOOD .
5 . 51am . 31q 26 .
A s ownn WENT our TO sow H IS SEED .
—S. LUKE VIII . 5 .
OF th e blessed Saint of this day I cannot speak to you ,because nothing more is known of her than that whichyou may read for yourselves in the Kalendar of thePrayer Book . Sh e wa s
,as the Church teaches u s
,
Mother to the Blessed V i rgin Mary . An d a moreglorious honour we can scarcely imagine than to be theMother of the Mother of Go o . But al l that I couldsay to y o u would on ly be what we might imagine, notwhat we kn ow
,of S . Anne .
I will rather,thi s evening
,as you are listenin g to so
many sermons,speak to you of preaching itself ; why i t
d oes so littl e good ; why i t has so l ittl e effect ; why youso often come and hear me
,and g o away an d con tinue
in old habits and yield to ol d temptations . An d we wil lattend to what our Loa n Himself has taught u s concerning sin ners .
“ A sower Went o u t to so w his seed . You haveheard those words many hundred times . D id you ever
Se rm . XIII .] Why Se rmons d o so li ttle g ood . 73
si t down and think h o w much there wa s in them ? Thissower w e n t o ut . W e n ever read that he turned back .
An d why not ? W e , Gon’ s Priests, are the sowers o i
'
His Words . When the Bishop lai d hi s hands on ourh eads
,and set u s apart for His service, then we made a
vow that was to last as long as our lives,the same which
you heard in the Second Lesson last night, that weshould preach th e W ord , shoul d be instant in seasonand out of season
,should reprove
,rebuke
,and exhort .”
There i s no turnin g back here . No m an,
” our LORDsays
,having put his han d to the plough and turning
back i s fi t fo r the kingdom of GOD . W e must in thi sbe like those l iving creatures which Ezekiel s aw in hi svision : When they went
,they went straight forward
and they turned not when they wen t .” There wasonce a very holy and a very learned man
, wh o hadwritten more than a hundred books in the service ofGOD . When he was old
,a friend one day told him
that n ow he had fairly earned a l ittl e rest . “Resthe cried . Shall I n o t have al l etern i ty to rest in ?”
W ell, then ; a sower w en t ou t to s o w his seed .
To sow his seed .
” We must not g o o n too fast .Sowing here i s a type of preachin g . But how i s sowingdone ? You all know
,with the hand . This shou ld
teach u s that the real true preaching,that which Go n
approves, i s don e more by works than by words . If yo uhear a good sermon
,and see that the preacher leads a
bad life,which wil l weigh with you most ? N o : good
words without good deeds are l ike powder without shoti t makes a noise
,a n d that i s all . The sounds which
David struck from his harp,and which drove away the
evi l spirit from Saul,h o w did he make them ? W i th
his hand . We must do what we say, or we may as wel l
74 Why Se rmons d o s o li t t le g o o d . [S e rm .
l et alone the saying it altogether . When S . John theBaptist preached repentan ce
,the multitudes s aw hi s
hard and rough life,and they knew he practised what
he preached . So i t must be with u s ; preachin g mustbe don e by works
,j ust as sowing is don e by th e band .
Yes ; and the oldest preacher n o w existing in theworld proves thi s . W ho do you thin k that is ? Th e
oldest preacher in the worl d i s th e sky . David tells u ss o . Th e heaven s declare the glory of GOD .
”An d ye t
at the same time he says : “ th ere i s neither voice norl an guage .
”Th e heaven s declare Gon ’ s g l ory by their
w orks,not their words ; by the order with which the
stars kn ow their appoin ted time,and keep to i t by the
beautiful mann er in which all,great as wel l as l ittle,
obey the law that GOD has laid down for them .
Le t a s go o n . A sower wen t out to sow his seed .
Hi s seed,and not any one else’s . Le t u s see what that
means . It tel ls u s that Priests are to preach to thei rpeople of their o wn
,not of what others have written or
taught . Each Priest knows best what his o wn peopl ewant , a n d what they do not want . N igh t after night Imight preach to you far better sermon s written byothers, than I can write myself ; but then they wouldnot be my o wn ; and I should not be lik e our Loa n ’ sservant, that wen t out to s ow h is seed . So we readthat when CHRI S T called S . James and S . John
,they
were men ding th e i r nets ; their n ets,not because they
h a d bought them,but because they had made them .
Sermon s are a net that no one can use well,unless he
h a s made them for himsel f.A sower went out to s ow his seed .
” W e must stopat that last word
, s e e d . O u r Lo a n does not say s e e ds .
I do not profess to know anything about farming ; but
XIII .] Why Se rmons d o s o l i t tle g o o d . 75
I fancy that i f a sower were to mix wheat, rye, barley,millet, and c ats in a basket
,and then sow them,
th e
crop would fetch li ttle in the market . So , when wepreach , we must preach of one thing at one time . S .
John the Baptist did . He preached o n e word,—Repentance ; and b e con verted multitudes . Jonah did : hepreached one thin g
,—the overthrow of N in eveh : a n d
al l the city repented . V ery well, then :“ A sower
went out to sow his seed .
An d he was very unsuccessful . As he sowed, somefell by the road - sid e, and i t was trodden down, and thefowls of the ai r devoured i t ; and some fell upon a rock,and it withered away ; and some fell among thorn s, andthe thorns choked i t .
”All nature conspired together
against him,—men
,animals
,plants
,stones . Me n trod
it down,birds devoured i t
,thorns choked i t , stones
withered i t . Could anything more unfortunate beimag in ed ? Wherever it fell, i t d id no good . Eitheri t n ever took root at al l
,as that by the highway,—o r i f
i t sprang u p, other plants sprang up too , a n d chokedi t,as that among the thorns
,—o r i f it fai rly took root,
i t withered away,as that among the rocks . But what
then ? Did the sower turn back ? I read no suchthing . He went forth ; but he never return ed .
An d did you ever think,that what happened here
to the seed,has also before now happened to the
preachers ? In those early times,when the kings
of the earth stood up, and the rul ers took coun seltogether against the Loa n and against His An ointed ,al l that i s here written of the seed happened to thesowers . The seed was trodden under foo t , suffocated ,parched
,eaten . Trodden under foot and despised Gon ’ s
preachers always have been ; but some of them also
76 Why Se rmons d o s o li ttle g o od . [Se rm .
h ave been eaten up, as S . Ignatius,who was torn i n
pieces by lio n s ; some of them have been parched, as S .
Laurence,who was broiled to death on a grid i ron ; some
of them have been suffocated,as S . Cass i an, who was
thrown into a river with a mil lstone about his neck .
But non e of these things moved them ; neither countedthey their l ives dear to themselves so that they mightfi n ish their course with j oy .
Three-fourths of the seed,th en
,was lost ; but what
became of the quarter that remained ? “And otherfel l on good ground
,an d bare fruit an hun dredfold .
”
This comforted the sower for al l the rest . CHRI ST says,brought for th a hundred for one : a n d I sh o u ld be verywell conten t that i t brought forth one for a hundred .
If for every hundred sermons one sinn er were converted, the world would very soon become holy . Therewere never in the Church of Go o so man y sermon s asn ow
, and never so li ttle frui t . Why i s thi s ? First Iwil l tell you what i s n o t th e reason .
Th e pa r able says,that some of the seed was lost by
reason of the road -side,some of the thorn s
,some of the
rocks : bu t notice what i t does n o t say . It does n o t '
say that any of the seed was lost for wan t of duesun or rain . What does this teach u s ? That thereason why sermons a r e n ow - a -days of so littl e u s e ,
does not lie in GOD . His grace i s as ready as ever .The Lo a n ’ s arm is n o t shorten ed that i t cannot save .
N o ; i t l ies partly in the preacher a n d partly in th ebearer . To come home to ourselves : i t l ies partly inyou, a n d partly i n me . How i t l ies in me, you maysee by wh at I have been saying . I have been tellin gy o u h o w Gou ’s Priests ought to preach ; you know howfar short I come of thi s
,and I know much be t ter than
78 Why Se rmons d o s o li tt le g o o d . [Se rm . XIII .
a course of sermons before a great kin g . When theyhad fi n i sh e d
,o n e of the noblemen in quired which of the
preachers his maj esty l iked best . Why, said the king,when I come out of church from hearing the o n e , I ambeyond all measure pleased with him : when I comeout of church from hearin g the other
,I am beyond al l
measure displeased with myself. Which of the two doyou think did Gon’ s work m ost faithfully ?Th e thorns choked i t
,th e stones withered i t . What
are we to do,th en ? Why, we must sow again, an d
again , and again , o n th e stones and the thorns . Inthe mornin g sow,
a n d in the evening withhold not thyhan d,” says the wise man . It may be that some daythese stones will
,as our Loa n said, cry out in His
prai se it may be that these thorns will one day form aglorious crown for the Head of their King .
An d n ow to Go v the FATHER, Gon the SON, and Go othe HOLY GHO ST, be al l honour and glory for eve r .
Amen .
S E R M O N XI V.
8 . PETER WITH THE KEYS, AND S. PETER BOUND .
fl ammas Esp . g ugust 1 .
AND Js su s ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO PETER,I WILL e r vn UNTO
THEE THE KEYS o r THE KINGDOM o r HEAVEN ; AND WHATSOEVERTHOU SHALT BIND ON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN .
”—S.
MATT . XVI . 1 7, 1 9.
PETER WAs SLEEP ING BETWEEN TWO SOLDIERS, BOUND WITH TWO
CHAINS .
”—ACTS X II . 6 .
I HAV E taken two texts ; a n d very d ifferent from eachother at fi r st sight they seem . S . Peter, having th ekeys of the kingdom of heaven given to him ; and S .
Peter bound with two chains, and sl eeping between twokeepers . “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shal lbe bound in heaven
,
” says our Loa n in the o n e verse ;and in the other Peter i s bound himself
,in the power
of his en emies,—about
,on the next day
,to be led forth
and put to d eath . Is i t so that CHR I ST fulfi ls Hispromises ?Yes and S . Peter knew i t
,and never for a moment
expected that i t would be otherwise . He wa s notspending the night in complaining that the promise
80 8 . P e te r wi th th e keys , a nd bound . [Se rm .
m ade to him had not been fu lfi lle d ; n o,nor yet in r e
min d ing our LORD of i t,and therefore praying to be
delivered . He wa s asleep ; and very likely the onlyChri stian in Jerusalem that was asleep that night .N ow noti ce
,how each of Gon ’ s servants h as his own
especial duty, even about the same thing . Peter,h a v
ing committed himsel f to hi s Master’ s hands,knew
that he had work to do for H im on the morrow whichwould require a l l his strength . Therefore he used them eans which Go n has appoin ted for the refreshment ofour bodies : he lay down and slept . But the rest knewthat i t was not then their duty to sleep, but to beinstant in prayer ; and therefore they gathered themselves together to that end at the house of S . JohnM ark .
No w attend to that verse, for it i s worth i t .
“Petertherefore was kept in prison ; BUT—prayer was madewithout ceasing of the Church unto Go o for him .
”
Yes : Herod knew very little ho w much such a BUT i sworth worth more than al l his bars
, a n d his dungeons,a n d hi s guards . If the Church prays without ceasin gfor Peter’ s deliverance, i t matters not a whit wherePeter is kept .If you would only remember that for yourselves
,how
much trouble and misery you might sometimes beSpared ! If you knew h o w much prayer can do
,-how
the prayer of a poor weak old man or woman is stron gerthan a great army of warriors
,—how much often er
,ho w
much more earnestly,you would pray than you do !
I read of Peter’s sleepin g three times : once whenour LORD was in H is greatest earthly glory
,namely
,at
H is Tr a n s fi g u r a t io n ; on ce in His d eepest humiliation ,namely
,at H is Agony ; and once i n his o wn great
82 S . P e te r w i th the keys , a nd bound . [Se rm .
shut up i n pri son ; he that could bind on high wasbound on earth .
An d h ow many things n ow-a -days there are whichseem j ust as h ard to believe—which seem just as cont r a ry to what we see with our own eyes ! I may tel lyo u , as I often have told you, that to be poor i s a moreblessed estate than to be rich , - that those who are poorare more likely to be saved than those who are wealthy
,
—and you listen,and think it sounds very well
,a n d do
n o t really believe it for al l that . I may tel l you ho wm uch one good hearty prayer of any one of you mayavail with G0 1) ; h ow much i t m a y d o for you i f yo uare in wan t ; h o w much i t may do for you if you arein diffi cu l ty ; how much it may do for you when yo uare in si ckness . You believe i t in a sort of way
,and
yo u pray in a sort of way ; bu t I want you to believeit as much as you believe that you could get m e to doanything in my power for you by asking for i t ; and toask as i f you believed in GOD ’ S being able to hear you
,
as much as you believe in mine .“Except I shall see, I wil l not believe . That was
the saying of an Apostle, I confess but it was not saidl ike a n Apostle . Se e how foolish this i s in worldlymatters . An English travell er was on ce talking t o theEmperor of Bi rm ah
, (which 1 s a very hot country,) a nd
telling him of differen t things i n En glan d . He spokeabout o u r railroads, and our newspapers, a n d our s11 0 ps ,and our manufactories ; and the Emperor, though hewas very much surprised , believed everything . A t las tth e traveller h appened to say something about skating
,
and the Emperor would l isten no longer . He said,
You have told me m any wonderful things,but I wa s
wi l ling to believe them, because yo u said them . Bu t I
XIV.) S . P e te r wi th the keys , a nd bound . 83
never wil l n o r can bel ieve that water becomes hardenough to be walked o n . If the whole world told meso , I would not beli eve i t . I see that you are trying todeceive me
,and I wil l l isten to you no more .
”
W e are ready to smile at thi s Emperor : but we doexactly the same thing ourselves . W e believe whatGOD tells u s of the mighty works which He did in ourfathers’ days
,and in the old time before them but,
that poverty,or sickness
,or distress i s sent to u s be
cause GOD seeks to do u s good ,—No ! that we neverwil l bel ieve He says so , we cannot deny i t , but we donot bel ieve it still . Anything else ; but not that .Peter, that had the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,
bound with two chains Yet,after all, what was that
to His being bound Who made the Kingdom of Heave n , and Wh o i s Loa n of i t ! What i s that to GODbeing j udged by man, to the King of kings bein gscourged by slaves
,to the LORD of all things hanging
on the Cross between two thi eves ! S . Peter was butfollowing his Master . He was con demned for the samereason . An d so Pi late
, w i lling to conte n t the p e op le ,
delivered JE SU S unto them .
”An d Herod, because he
s aw th at the death of S . Jam es pleased the Jew s, proce e d e d further to take Peter al so . If the world hateyou
, y e know that i t hatedM e before i t hated you . Butt h e servant was delivered, while th e Master was not .Th e cup could not pass away from our Loa n ; but, forthat time, i t did pass away from S . Peter . CHR I STcould have called for twelve legio ns of angels
,and would
not ; but He sent an angel to deliver His Apostle .
Peter h a d man y years of work to do for G0 1), and til lth at was done , neither Herod, n o r al l th e expectationof the peopl e of the Jews could hurt him .
84 S . P e te r w i th the keys , a nd bound . [Se rm . XIV .
Therefore now,when we see any of Gon ’ s deal i ngs
that we do not understand,—when we are tempted to
doubt His promises,because they seem to u s not to be
fu lfi lle d , —when we are disposed to say, as Rebekah did ,If i t be so , why em I thus —then let u s rememberthat GOD ’S ways are not as our ways
,nor H is thoughts
as our thoughts ; and l e t u s think of Peter, that hadthe Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and was yetbound between two soldiers with two chains .An d n ow to Go v, the FATHER, the SON, and the
HOLY GHo sr , be all honour and glory, for ever .Amen .
86 The Thr e e Ta be r na cle s . [Se rm .
the three disciples were there . Th e body of Moses,about which S . Mi chael the Archangel had contendedwith Satan
,that body which had been buried by GOD
in a valley over against Beth-peor, no man knowing itsresting-place
,appeared in glory . Th e body of Elias,
which had been taken up by a chariot of fi r e and horsesof fi r e , returned once more to earth . The giver of theLaw,
and the greatest of Prophets, came to bear witnessto H im that was Maker of the Law,
and the inspirer ofthe Prophets . Now was fulfi ll e d that which was writtenby Isaiah , Then the m oon shal l be confounded, andthe sun ashamed
,when the LORD of Hosts shal l reign
in Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem,and before His a n
ci e n t s gloriously .
”
An d what did they talk o f? If we had not beentold
,how different a conversation we should have ima
g in e d W e should perhaps have thought that theywould speak of that kingdom which the Loa n had comeon earth to establish ; that kin gdom which shall neverbe destroyed
,against which the gates of hell shall not
prevail that kingdom which shal l be from sea to sea,
and from the flo o d unto the world’s end . Nothing lesThey appeared in glory
,and spake of His decease .
To talk of death in the height of this glory To talkof a shameful death
,—a death of agony
,—amidst such
brightness as the world had never before seen ! Yes,but the text does not end so . They spake of His decease which He should accomplish What a wonderful word ! When do we speak thus ? W e say that aman accomplishes deliverance from death , but to a e comp tish death itsel f, who would thus talk ? It tells u s howfreely
,how earnestly, our Lo a n set about His Passion ,
according to that saying of His : “ 1 have a Baptism to
XV ] Th e Thr e e Ta be r n a cle s . 87
be baptized with,and h ow am I strai tened till i t be a c
complished 1” An d stil l further : they spake of H isdecease which He should accomplish in Jerusalem .
”
Now Jerusalem means the V i s ion ofP e a ce . Fo r i t wasby His death that He reconciled man to GOI) . An d
that indeed was a glorious subj ect for a season of glory .
This was a brighter and better vi sion than Moses had,when he gat him to the top of Pisgah
,and beheld all
the land which G0 1) had promised to His people . Thi swas a nobler prospect than Elij ah had, when the chariotwas hearing him up above the clouds, and his mantlefel l from off him .
“They appeared in glory,and
Spake of His decease which He should accomplish inJerusalem .
S . Peter would speak :“ It i s good for u s to be
here : and let u s make three tabernacles, one for Thee,and one for Moses
,and one for Elias .” No , good
Peter . This i s not what we want . W e want not threetabernacles
,but one mansion . W e want no taber
n a cle s that can be taken down and removed ; we wanta house, not made with hands, that can never beshaken . An d we only want one . There i s but onehiding-place from the win d
,one covert from the tem
pest, one Ark. Our Loa n JE SU S CHR I ST is all this ;and He i s one .
Now notice that in our Lo n n ’s l ife o n earth the
Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity were twice manife st e d together . A t His Baptism once . There wa s theFATHER in the V oice : the SON in human fle sh : theHOLY Gn o s r in a bodily shape like a Dove . At HisTr an sfi g ur a t io n again . The FA THER, as before, in theV oice : the SON in a glo r ifi e d Body ; the HOLY GHOSTin the C loud . An d why wa s this ?
88 The Thr e e Ta be r n a cle s . [Se rm .
Ou r Lo n n’s Baptism was a type of our own regenera
tio n ; and th at i s brought to pass by al l the Persons ofthe Godhead : by the FATH ER That made ; by the SONThat redeemed ; by th e HOLY GHO ST That s a n ctifi e s .
Ou r Loa n ’ s Tr a n sfi gu r a t io n was a type of our own Resurrection ; and there we also have the act o f each Pe rson of the Trinity . These bodies were the work ofGon ’ s Hands ; they were fed with the Body and Bloodof our LORD JE SU S CHR IST, (accordin g to th a t saying,Whoso eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hatheternal life ; and I wil l rais e him up again at the last
and they were the temples of the HOLY GHOST .
Therefore the Trinity was manifested at CHR I ST’ S Bapt i sm and Transfi guration, because each of Its ThreeBlessed persons i s concerned in the work of o ur Bapt ism and Resurrection .
Thi s is My Beloved Sow ; hear H im .
” Mosesspeaks ; but hear Him . Elias speaks ; but hear Him .
Th e Prophets and th e Law tel l of Him unless we seeHim in all
,they are useless to u s . Moses and Elias
were as i t were the vessels He was the fountain . He
gave them their fulness,and of that fulness they minis
t e r e d to others .But n o w what is thi s ? The Di sc i ples fel l on thei r
faces : JE SU S touched them and said, Arise An d
when they h a d l ifted Up their eyes, th ey saw no man,save JE SUS only.
” Here is a great mystery . They fellon their faces to the ground there the time is s ig n ifi e dwhen we must lie down in the grave . JESUS touchedthem
,and said
,Arise !” -there i s set forth that day
when al l that are in the graves shal l hear the voice ofth e SON of GOD, and they that hear shal l l ive . An d inthat they sa w no man save JESUS after they were raised
,
90 The Thr e e Ta be r na cle s . [Se rm . XV .
that so,as He was t r an sfi gu r e d, while He dwelt here,
in heavenly glory,w e , while we are yet in the fle sh,
may be t r an sfi gu r e d to His imageAn d n ow to GOD the FA THER, Gon the SON, and
G0 1) the HOLY GHOST, be a ll h!
onour and glory forever . Amen .
S ER M O N X V I .
WHAT THE NAME OF JESUS IS TO HIS PEOPLE .
fl ame of 5 em . fi ugus t 7.
BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU ALL, AND TO ALL THE PEOPLE o r ISRAEL,THAT BY THE NAME o r Jnsu s CHRIST OF NAZ ARETH , WHOM YE
CRUCIFIED, WHOM GO1) RAISED FROM THE DEAD, EVEN BY HIM
DOTH THIS MAN STAND HERE BEFORE YOU WHOLE . NE ITHERIs THERE SALVATION IN ANY OTHER : FOR THERE IS NONE OTHERNAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG MEN, WHEREBY WE MUST BE
SAVED .
”—ACTS IV. 1 0, 1 2 .
TH I S day the Church keeps holy to the Name of JE SUS .An d no wonder. It i s everything to u s : everythinghere
,everything hereafter . If it were not for That, we
should be of all m e n most miserable if i t were not forThat
,we might indeed envy the beasts that perish . Fo r
think what that Name means, and to Whom i t belongs .It means a SAV IOUR, and it belongs to the SON of Go o .
Both these things are j oined together to make thisBlessed N ame what i t i s .
There have been others that were called Jesus .Joshua is the same name ; and he did indeed save thechildren of Israel by bringing them into the land ofpromise . But no ma n could be a true SAV I OUR, a realJe su s
,to a s . It costs more to redeem our souls so
92 Wha t the Name ofJe sus i s to His p e op le . [Se rm .
that he must l et th at alone for ever . But when theSON of GOD takes that Name
,then He makes i t al l our
salvation and a ll our desire . He can save u s i f Hewill , for He i s V ery GOD and He w il l save u s i f He
can, for H is Name i s JESUS . He cannot lie ; and i fHe says that He wil l be our SAV IOUR
,our SAV I OUR
He i s .Therefore
,this Name might wel l be given by an
Angel ; as i t was twi ce . Th e Arch angel Gabri el, whenhe was sent on that message to Mary, said, Thou shaltconceive in thy womb
,and shalt bring forth a So n , and
call H is Name JE SUS .
” Th e An gel that appeared toJoseph said , Thou shalt cal l H is N ame JE SUS , for He
sh al l save H is people from their sin s .” An d therefore,when our LORD was hanging o n the Cross, as if to showto al l th e world that thi s prophecy was now fu lfi lle d
,
then this Blessed N ame appears again JE SU S of Na
z a r e th,th e Kin g of the Jews .” An d because i t stood
there, as the sign of all scorn and disg race, n ow i t i sexalted to the height of all honour and glory . W e donot how at the N ame of CHR I ST, or of the SON of Go o ,or of our LORD, but at the N ame of JE SU S ; becausethat i s the N ame which was reviled
,that i s the Name
which was exalted,that i s the Name which saves .
Think h ow many of Gon ’ s servants h ave gon e out ofth e world with this most sweet Name on their lips aswel l as in their hearts ; how many deathbeds have heardthat as th e last of all earthly words how many Ma r
tyrs have repeated it j ust before they received thestroke ; how often , in storms at sea, j ust before th eship perished
,in the midst of accidents
,in battles
,in
sudden dangers,Gon ’s servants
,i f th ey could say no
thing else,could at least say th is ! Think h ow many
94 Wha t the Name ofJe sus i s to His P e op le . [Se rnL
for His Flesh i s m eat indeed , and Hi s Blood is drin kindeed .
” It gives heal ing : for He Himself took o u r
i nfi rmities and bare our s icknesses .
”As a holy m a n
of old said, (th e same S . Bernard who wrote that hymn
which we have j ust been singin g,
JESU l th e verythought i s If you write anythin g
,i t interests
me not, u nless I read there of JBSU S . If you speak,I
h ad rather not hear,unless your words are of JBSUS .
Th e N ame of JE SU S i s honey in the mouth,music in the
e a r , j oy in the heart .” Yes ; for as that other h ymn
most truly says
Is th e re a thing tha t m o ve s an d bre ak sA he a rt a s ha rd a s ston e ,
Or w a rm s a so u l a s co ld a s ice ?’
Ti s JESU ’
S Nam e a lo ne .
On e soun d ofthis can t ru ly che e r,An d h e a l th e afflict e d so u l !
Wha t mul t itud e s ofbroke n he a rt sThis living Nam e m ake s who le 1”
Some of you have been wives, and have known whati t wa s to love the very name of husband . This i s aweak likeness of what we ought to feel for the N ame ofJE SUS
,for He i s the Husband of His Church . Some
of you have known what i t i s to love the very name ofa child ; this also faintly sets forth to u s the love weshould bear to JE SUS ; for unto u s a Child is born
,
unto u s a SON i s given .
” Most of you can rememberwhat i t was to love the name of a father : that alsoteaches u s the love of JE SUS ; for He i s the EverlastingFather . Many of you kn ow what i t i s to love thename of a brother : so also here we l earn the love ofJ e su s ; for He i s not ashamed to cal l u s brethren .
But i t is in vain that we t ry to explain how dear this
X VI ] Wha t the Name ofJe sus i s to His P e op le . 95
Name of JESUS should be to u s . S . Bernard tel l s u s
so,and he
,I hope, knewNo ton gu e ofm o rta ls can e xpre ss,N0 le t t e rs writ e it s ble sse d n e s s ;Alo n e wh o ha th th e e in h is he a rtKn o ws, lo ve ofJESU ! wha t thou ar t .
S . Peter speaks,in a few words
,what we should believe
concerning i t : “ Be i t known unto you, and to all thepeopl e of Israel
,that by the Name of JBSU S CHRI ST of
Nazareth, Whom ye cr ucifi e d, Whom Gon raised fromthe dead
,even by Him doth this man stand here before
yo u whole . Neither i s there salvation in any other ;fo r there i s none other name under heaven given amongmen whereby we must be saved .
”
An d as thi s Name is glorious and sweet to u s, so iti s fearful and tremen dous to evi l spiri ts . They believe
,
and tremble ; they know that the Name of JE SUS wasgiven for this reason
,that He might destroy the works
of the devil they know that He i s able to save to theu ttermost ; they know that whoso com e th t o Him
,He
will in no wise cast out ; they hate a n d abhor His glor i o u s Name, but they fear it more than they hate i t .But what if we have no par t or lot i n the matter ?
What i f we say, like the citizens in the parable, W e
will not have this Man to reign over u s Then shal lwe have any advantage from the Name ? In the Acts
,
we read of certain Vagabond Jews, who took upon themselves to cast out evil spiri ts by the Name of JE SUS ;and they said to the man who was possessed
, W e ad
j ure you by JB SU S Whom Paul preacheth .
”An d what
happened ? Th e devil confessed the Name,but he did
n o t obey them that u sed i t . JESU S I know,and Paul
I know but who are ye ? An d th e man, in whom the
96 Wha t th e Name ofJe sus i s to His P e op le . [Se rm .
evi l spiri t was,l eaped on them
,and overcame them ,
and prevailed against them,so that they fle d out of
that house naked and wounded .
”
Se e that it be not so with u s . This same JE SU SW hom we believe to have ascended into heaven
,shall
so come again in like manner as we bel ieve that He
went into heaven .
” But if we would not love andserve Him here
,i t wil l be useless to cal l upon Him by
the Name of JE SUS there . W ith the Name of JE SU Sthen we shal l have no more to do . Then He comes toj udg e, not to save . If we would not receive Him asJE SU S o n earth , He wil l not reign over a s as JE SUS inheaven . An d then, l ike the evi l spirits, we shal l fi n dthat Name the most tremendous and fearful sound thatwe can hear . It was JE SU SWho said on earth, Comeunto Me
,al l ye that l abour and are heavy laden , and I
wil l give you rest it will be JB SUS that wil l say then,“ Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fi r e prepared forthe devi l and his an gels .”
His Name shal l be called JE SUS, for He shall saveHis people from their sins .” So now let u s come toHim this v ery d ay, “ while it is called to-day.
”Le t
u s call upon Him by that one Name so glorious andso dear as i t should be . Le t u s r emind Him of all i ti s
,and of al l i t means . JE SUS
, That should save Hispeople from their sins . JE SUS
,the SON of the Livin g
G0 1) . JE SU S , the Father of the poor . Je su s,the Com
fort of the afflict e d . JE SUS,the Lover of souls . JE SUS
,
the one True Pearl . Je su s,th e Shepherd of the sheep .
!
JE SUS,Eternal W isdom . JE SUS
,In fi n i t e Goodness .
JE SUS the Joy of the Angels . JE SUS, the Master ofthe Apostles . JE SU S
,the Teacher of the Evangelists .
JE SUS,the Strength of the Martyrs . JE SUS
,the Bold
S E R M O N X V I I .
WHAT IS THE END OF CHRISTIAN CONVERSATION .
9 . fi aurmct . a ugust 1 0.
WHOSE FAITH FOLLOW,CONSIDERING THE END OF THE IR CONVERSATION .
”—HEB . XI I I . 7 .
S . LAURENCE, whose memory we keep to-day, ought tob e especially dear to the poor . He wa s archdeacon ofthe Church of Rome and had charge of all its wealth .
By this weal th, multitudes of widows and orphans andsick were supported and because he refused to g i ve itu p for the u s e of the heathen Emperor, he was broil edon a gridiron .
It i s of such as he was that S . Paul speaks in the verseI have read you —of such that he says, Whose faithfollow
,considerin g the end of thei r conversation .
”By
the word conve r s a ti on , he means the whole of what theysaid and did a n d suffered ; the business of their life !
that which made them to be what they were . An d thisend we are to consider .Now,
what kind of end was i t ? W a s i t honour, orriches
,or pleasure ? W a s th e end of their l ife glorious
in the eyes of the world ? Had they fri en ds and chi ldren to stand round them when dying ? Did thei r
Se rm .XV II.] Th e End ofChr is tia n Conve r s a t i on . 99
neighbours cal l them great and good ? Had they anyone thing in thei r end which people generally wish tohave around thei r own death-beds ?I think not . It was a Violent and cruel death to
which their conversation brought them—the death of amalefactor, of the worst of malefactors—th e death ofshame ; people pointed and hooted at them as theypassed on their road to suffer ; they were, for the mostpart, alone among bitter enemies ; and their dead bodieswere cast out in the day to the heat
,and in the night
to the frost or as the Prophet says,buried with the
burial of an ass .“Whose faith fo llow
,considerin g the end of thei r
conversation .
” What ! follow th eir faith because i tbrought them to this ? On e might rather expect tofi n d
,whose fai th a vo id
,remembering its end . An d
even a true and earnest Christi an might feel more disposed to say
,Whose faith follow
,though ye know to
what it led .
But not so S . Paul . He knew better than we whatwere the tortures and sufferings which Christians thenhad to endure what was the much tribulation throughwhich they were called to enter into the kingdom ofGOD . But then he also knew, —oh how much morethan we —ofthe j oys and glories which these very tortures were preparing for the righteous . He had beencaught up in the body into the third heaven, and hadthere seen the unspeakable things, which words failedhim to tell . An d having seen both, the sufferingswhich won
,and the glory which wa s won , h e tells u s
that the sufferings were so to be desired, as to be areason for following the fai th of those that suffered .
But these words are said to u s, as well as to those
1 00 Th e End of Chr is t ia n Conve r s a t i on . [Se rm .
ea rly Christi ans to whom they were fi r s t written . The
world indeed does n o t n ow persecute in the same waythose who hold the truth
,but the world hates the truth
itself j ust as much as ever i t did ; a nd will always, i nsome way or other
,try to show its hatred to those that
teach i t or believe i t .Ou r Lo a n said so Himself, If the world hate you
,
ye know that it hated M e before i t hated you .
” W e
know i t i ndeed . It cal l ed Him a man gluttonous anda w inebibber—a friend of publican s and sin ners . Itsaid
,He bath a devil
,and is m a d . It said
,He casteth
out devils by Beelzebub,th e prince of the devils . It
reviled Him,buffeted Him
,spat upon Him,
mockedH im
,and
,lastly, crucified Him . He m ight well say,
If the world hate you, ye kn ow that i t hated Me be
fore i t h ated you .
”
An d so to this day, th e world h ates H is service .
Why, for example, do people—w e all kn ow that manydo—dislike to hear our chabel-bell so often
,and to
kn ow that we may say as David did,In the evening
and morn ing and at noonday will I pray,and that in
s t an t ly, and He shall hear my voice ?” Why do theydisl ike the every-day prayers of the Church
,and call
them wearisome and foolish,and name the person s who
u s e th em by the worst names of which they can think ?"f hy do they do al l this ? It is on ly the old story overagain . It i s the world hating CHRIs r ’s service . We
will not have th is Ma n to rule over u s .
”Th e world
cannot bear th a t a ny one should refuse to obey itscommands—should serve another Master—should lookfor another reward . It cannot bear to be remindedthat all i ts o wn business and cares and pleasures wil lso very soon come to an end . It likes to carry them
1 02 The End of Chr is t i a n Co nve r s a t ion . [Se rm . XV II .
m e n to ride over our heads ; we went through fi r e andwater ; and Thou broughtest u s out i n to a wealthyplace .
”A wealthy place indeed is that N ew Je r u sa l em
with its streets of gold and gates of pearls,and fo un d a
tions of twelve precious ston es . If we may on ly be r ece ive d there, we need not shrink from trouble here i fwe may only go up to that glorious throne, we need notbe afrai d of the lion s that stand on thi s side a n d o n
that of its steps . If w e may see the goodn ess of theLoa n i n the land of the living
,we may wel l fi r st be
content to pass thr ough the vall ey of the shadow ofdeath .
And n ow to G0 1) the FATHER,GOD the SON
,a n d
GOD the HOLY GHOST,be all honour and glory for
ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X V I I I .
OWNING ONESELF IN THE WRONG.
é . fi uguatine .1n ust 28.
WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN,I HAVE WRITTEN .
—S. JOHN XIX . 22 .
P ILATE said this,as you all know and we follow
P ilate’s example again and again . What I have said, Ihave said
,so a man reasons with in his heart . I might
be wicked or fooli sh for saying i t ; no matter : i t wouldlook mean and poor- spirited to u nsay i t
,or to confess
that I am sorry for having said i t . I know it waswrong , but I will defend i t to the last : what I havesaid
,I have said . O r again ; at such a time I did such
and such a thing,which I ought to have left undone .
If I had the chance, I would not do it again . I seethat it has caused harm
,but to own th at i t was foolish
no,never ! What I have done, I have done .
That i s what we do when the thing i s known to ourneighbours : we defend , we j ustify i t, we thin k it apart of our honour not to confess that we are sorry fori t . W e imitate Pi late very wel l in deed .
But suppose the s in i s not known to our neighbours—then what do we do ? W e hide i t . Every one feels
Be ing t he Fo u r te en th Sun d ay aft e r Trin ity .
1 04 Own ing on e se lf in the wr ong . [Se rm .
thi s temptation ; i t i s natural to man . Adam did sofi r s t of al l . After he had eaten the fruit of the Tree ofthe knowledge of good and evil
,he hid himself. To
confess i s the one thing that people w i l l not do . Theywil l say that they are sinners
,but they will be deter
mined not to own a n y particular sin . It i s so very hard- it goes so much a gainst the grain—to confess sin
,that
some men have chosen rather to go to hel l than to o wni t . Murderers have walked up the scaffol d with a liein their mouths
,callin g Go o to witness that they were
innocent,because they could not bear the shame of
con fessin g their guilt . Most of u s, I am afraid, havebefore n ow committed a second sin to hide the fi r s t ,and a third to hide the second .
Yes : we all kn ow ho w d iffi cu lt i t i s to say, bold ly andplain ly, I was mistaken ; and ho w stil l more diffi cu l t i ti s to confess
,At such a time I committed such a sin ;
I stole such a thin g ; I told such a falsehood ; I cheatedsuch a person . N o w see what an example we have inthe Saint of this day—S . Augustine .
S . Augustine was the most learned and the most holywriter that Go o ever rai sed up i n His Church . Fromhi s day to this
,—and he lived fourteen hundred years
ago,—al l the great teachers of the Church have lookedup to him as thei r master . Sunday after Sunday, al lover the world
,as wel l as here in Englan d, man y a
preacher tell s the people what he himself learnt fromAugustine . You ha v e often heard me—if GOD sparesu s all
,you often wil l again hear me—teach you here,
what S . Augustin e has ta ught me . He wrote o n e
hundred a n d eighteen books,
- sermons,l etters, tracts,
notes on diffe ren t parts of the Bible ; a n d th e y have al lbeen bound together in twenty immense volumes .
106 Own ing one s e lf in the wr o ng . [Se rm .
and poor,and despised in thi s l ife
,and to reign with
CHRI ST hereafter . He rose from his chai r,and sai d to
a friend that was w i th him ,
“W hat ! shall men likethese, poor, and weak , a n d ignorant
,en ter into the
kin gdom ofheaven,while we
,with all our learning and
all our powers,are going to hel l ? Why do we not
men d our l ives at on ce ? why not to -day ? why not thisvery hour He went in to the garden in great agonyof mind, and th rew himself on the ground ; thinkinghow hard i t was to give up all h is sins, and yet howmuch harder i t would be to be shut out from the kingdom of heaven . W hile he wa s thus torn almost inpieces by the struggle
,he heard a sweet voice as of a
child that c ried, Ta ke up a nd r e a d ! ta ke up a nd
r e a d !” He looked round—there was no one near ;
a n d he though t that some children must be at playin the next garden . But he listened
,and th e voi ce
sounded quite close to him,
Ta ke Up a nd r e a d ! ta ke
up a nd r e a d I” Again he looked round , and he saw acopy of S . Paul ’ s Epistl es lying on the grass : h e hadthrown it down there when he wen t out in to the garden .
He took up th e book, and open ed at thi s verse “N o t
in rioting and in drunkenness,not in chambering and
wantonness,not in strife and envying ; but put ye on
the LORD JE SUS CHRI ST,an d make not provision for
the flesh,to fulfi l the lusts thereof.” Then it was that
he determin ed , cost what i t might, to take the kin gdomof heaven by violence : and to tear himself away fromall that might offen d GOD . In time he was baptized ;and some persons say that
,at h is baptism
,that glorious
Hymn was made which we so often use,
W e praiseThee
,O GOD : we acknowledge Thee to be the Loa n .
”
After some years,he was made a B ishop ; and then
XVIII.) Own ing o ne s e lf in the wr ong . 1 07
he thought that i t would be for th e glory of GOD if hegave a history of his former life
,and published i t to al l
the world . He s e t down his sins, and mourned ove rthem and then he had the courage to send thi s bookabroad, so that every one might read i t . If it i s sopainful to confess a sin to only o n e person, thin k whatit must h ave been to Au gustine to make them manifestto a ll the world ! Thu s he speaks of himself : “ I wish ,”
he says,to cal l to remembrance my p a st vileness
,and
the corruption s of my soul,not because I love them
,
but that I may love Thee,O my Go o ! I do this for
the love of Thy love, callin g to mind my most evi l ways,that, when I feel the bitterness of my own sin, then Imay al so feel h ow sweet Thou art .It i s not wonderful that GOD should have abundantly
blessed a book thus written to His honour ; and manyand many a sinner
,who was goin g on in sin
,has been
converted and brought again to Go n by the Confessionsof Augustine .
When he was an old man, an d looked back on themultitude of books th at he had written, he determin edto put down all th e mistakes he had found out for himself in them , or that others had shown him . He didso , and thereby proved how d ifferent he was fromP i late’s spirit, a n d from ours . He did not say, WhatI have written
,I have written . He did not think i t
was any disgrace to own himself in the wrong . An d
thus he made his very mistakes and sins to glorify Go n,
by the humbleness wherewith he confessed them beforemen .
His l ast il lness was a fever . He caused some of thePsalms to be written out plainly, and pinned up at hi sbedside
,so that they m ight always be before his eyes .
1 08 Own ing on e s e lf in th e wr ong . [Se rm . XVIII .
An d he departed to the LORD on this day, the 28th ofAugust, about fourteen hundred years ago, being seventyyears old .
I said j ust n ow,how great must have been the grace
of GOD in Augustine, which enabled him to confess hi ssins to the world ! But remember this that the timewil l com e when the same thing will happen to all of u s
,
- when the whole mass of s in that we have committed ,ever since we had fi r s t the power of sinning
,will be
proclaimed in the hearing of men and of angels ; of sinsthat we have done
,not l ike Augustine, before we were
baptized,but after we were bapti zed
,after we were con
fi rmed, after we h ad again and again received ourLo nn
’s Body and Blood
,after we had all the means of
Gon ’ s grace,after the HOLY Gn o s r had made u s His
Temples . This wil l be for all,good as wel l as bad ;
dreadful to all,even to those who enter into everlasting
life : but what for those that,after thus having all their
sins proclaimed to the world,will be cast in to the lake
which burneth with fi r e and brims tone, which is thesecond deathHe that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall fi n d
mercy . But h e must confess them n ow i t wil l be tool ate to confess them then
,when
,whether he will or
not,they wil l be made known . It is better to suffer
any pain or shame here,than hereafter to be tormented
with everlasting pain,a n d to have our portion in ever
lasting shame and contem pt .From which Go o of His mercy deliver u s
,for JE SU S
C n it rs '
r’
s sake to Whom with the FATHER a nd th eHOLY GHOST, be all honour and glory for ever . Amen .
1 10 Sp e a king the Tr u th bo ld ly . [Se rm .
had done an abomin able act . Now ,in th e Epistle for
yesterday, S . Paul gives a list of the works of the devil .An d the four fi r s t he puts down in that list are worksof impurity : and these are they,—adul tery, forn i cation ,uncleanness
,lasciviousness . Why does h e do this ?
Because Go n i s more offended by these than by anyother
,and because they destroy more souls than a ny
other . I t wil l be found,I have no d oubt
,in the Day
of Ju dgm e n t , that more are con demned for breaking,i n different ways
,th e seventh comman dment
,than are
lost by breaking al l the other comman dments puttogether . Therefore John
,as havin g been made holy
from hi s mother’s womb,resisted the sin of Herod, and
died a Martyr because h e d id so .
An d how ? Some people, when they are really speaking or acting on Gon’ s side a n d again st the world, doi t so fearfully, and in such a half-hearted wa y , that i ti s d iffi cu l t to say whom they seem most to fear, Go o ,
i f they do not speak at all,or the world, i f they speak
too much . Now i t i s boldness fo r the truth that al lthrough the Bible Go n so highly praises . “Fo r theLo a n GOD will help me
,therefore shall I not be con
founded : therefo re have I set my face like a flin t , andI know that I shall not be ashamed .
”Like a flin t
h o w ? A flin t m a y be broken ,but that i s al l you can
do with i t . So Gon’ s messenger may be destroyed, bu the cannot be made to speak soft things . Fight thoufo r th e truth to the dea th , and the LORD shall be Outhy side
,
” says the wise man . And thi s i s what Davidmeans when he so often speaks of those that are true ofheart A l l they that are true of heart shal l rej oice .
”
He preserveth them th a t are true of h eart .” Hearwhat Go o said to Ezekiel
,when He sent him to pro
XIXJ Sp e a king the Tr u th bo ld ly . 1 1 1
phe sy to the Jews : “An d thou, son of man , be notafrai d of them
,neither be afraid of their words
,though
briars and thorns be with thee,a n d thou dost dwel l
among scorpions : be not afraid of their words, n o r bedismayed at their looks
,though they be a rebellious
house . An d thou shal t speak My words unto them ,
whether they wil l hear,or whether they wil l forbear ;
for they are most rebellious .” Now 8 . John mighthave reasoned with himself thus : This i s a great sin ,undoubtedly : but H erod has done man y things
,and
heard me gladly ; I will speak very gently about i t ;perhaps with time and patience he may be led to putaway h is brother ’s wife ; at al l events, i t i s my dutynot to offend him needlessly, and I wil l bear with himas much as I can . An d this is what people n ow-a -dayswould prai se as very wise and prudent conduct ; but8 . John knew better . Ho w did he speak to Herod ?In very few words, and those exactly to the point : Itis not l awful for thee to have her .”
Now remember this : when peopl e would persuadeyou to that which you know to be wron g
,never trouble
yourselves for any other answer but S . John’ s,
“ I t i snot lawful .” V ery true ; i t i s hard work to serve GOD .
By-and -by we shall fi nd i t most hard and cruel work
to serve the devil . But depend upon i t , the hardestwork of al l i s, to try to serve GOD and the devi l together . Thus you miss everything : you lose the present world
,and you do not gain th e world to come
you do enou gh to make yourselves disliked here,but
not enough to make yourselves loved in heaven : youare like those of whom S . Paul speaks, that please notGOD , and are contrary to al l men .
S . John was none of these . He knew,being a Pr o
1 1 2 Sp e a king the Th a th bo ld ly [Se rm .
phet, what he should pay for speaking the truth ; buth e also knew that it was worth the price . It i s notl awful for thee to have her .
”
An d so n ow he could preach no longer i n the deserthe could n o more baptize in th e river Jordan : he wasto do Gon’ s wil l in the silence and i n the darkness ofa prison . But, though he himself could not serve G0 1),he served Him by the means of others . He sent twoof his disciples to JE SU S saying
,
“Ar t Thou He thatshould come
,or do we look for another Never think
that S . John needed to ask this question for himself.He had seen the SP IR IT descending in a bodily shapel ike a dove, and resting upon Him he had h eard thevoice from heaven This i s My Beloved SON, inWhomI am wel l pleased . No : he asked i t for the sake ofo thers ; perhaps of the disciples whom he sent ; perhapsof the m ul titude . He would in crease their faith by theanswer the Loa n should give to his question .
It wa s a short scen e, that last o n e of his l ife . Al l
the migh ty m e n of Gali lee gathered together at Herod’sbirthday feast : gold and lights, wine and music, all thepomp of this world, and the glory of i t : S . John indarkness and silence in the dungeon . An d who canguess h ow he Spent the last fe w hours of his l ife ?whether he knew that the end was so near : or whetherhe was
,like 8 . Peter, the night before he was to be
brought forth,sleeping ? However i t were
,
“ Blessedi s that servant whom his LORD when He cometh shal lfi n d so doing .
An d then we have the end . A wicked d aughter, amore wicked mother, a wicked oath , a more wickedkeeping of the oath . Give me John Baptist’ s head ina charger . An d the king was sorry ; nevertheless for
1 14 Sp e aking the Tr u th bo ld ly . [Se rm . XIX .
An d therefore let u s end by asking Gon that, afterhis example, we may constantly speak the truth, boldlyrebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sakethrough JE SUS CHR I ST our Loa n
,to Whom with the
FATHER, and the HOLY GHO S T, be all honour and gloryfor ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X X.
THE STAG AND THE CITY OF REFUGE .
5 . @i125 . éeptember 1 .
DELIVER MY sou r. FROM THE swo a n : MY DARLING FROM r a n
POWER o r THE Do e .
”—PSALM xxn . 20.
TH I S i s said by our Loa n,by Whom the whole of the
22n d Psalm i s spoken . An d He says it as Man . As
Go n He could deliver Himself. As GOD He needednot to pray th at He should be set free from His enemies . Bu t as Man , He feared their rage and thei rmalice : as Man
, He desired to be preserved from them .
An d therefore thi s i s H is prayer : Del iver My soulfrom the sword : My darling from the power of thed o gf
’
That which was His prayer, ought to be ours also .
W e have abundant cause to u s e i t day and night . W e
are never safe unless we continually pray that our soulsmay be delivered from the sword,—that is, from destruction ; our darling from th e power of the dog
,
that is,of Satan .
An d why is the soul cal l ed our darl ing ? Because i tought to be dearer to u s than any other th ing that wehave
,or that we want . It ought to be : but GOD
1 1 6 The Stag a nd the Ci ty ofRefug e . [Se rm .
kn ows it i s not . Me n think much m ore of pl easure,and honour
,and ri ches
,than of thei r souls : they give
their souls for these things : they give their souls forless than these things
,that they may indulge in passion
or ev i l speaking, or lying : the least temptation, andthey yield to i t .
“What shall i t p r o fi t a man , i f heshall gain the whole world and lose his own soul 9” Th e
whole world ! W hy, we give our souls for a moment’ s
pl easure ; we give our souls because we will not bear amomen t’ s pain . O ur soul s our da r ling ! N o . I willtell you what man makes his darl ing : i t i s his body .
He i s con tent to toi l h ard for that . He i s content tosuffer for that . He thinks i t very well worth while torise early and so late take rest
,and eat the bread of
carefulness,if his body may pr o fi t by i t . Half th e
labour that he spends on that would brin g his soul intothe kingdom of heaven .
What has a l l this to do with S . Gile s’s day ?
I wil l tel l you .
8 . Giles was a holy man who was born in Greeceabout a thousand years ago , and came thence intoFrance . W e know very little of him
,except that he
was one of those wh o , l ike S . John Baptist,served Go o
i n the wilderness . They relate a story about h im,
which I am going to tel l you . I do n o t kn ow whetheri t i s true or not but at al l events
,i t has a good lesson
for u s,i f we listen to it as we should to a parable .
An d this i s i tS . Gi les was one day standing at the door of his cel l
i n the m iddle of a wild heath, when he heard the blowin g of horns and the hayin g of hounds . Presently asta g
,that was hard hun ted , bounded up to the place
where he was, and crouched down at h is feet . While
1 18 The Stag a nd the Ci ty ofRefug e . [Se rm .
tween a poisonous spider and an insect that i t had a t
tacked . Every time thi s insect was bitten by th espider
,i t settled on the l eaves of a plant that grew near
at hand , and sucked them and as i t sucked them,i t
was healed,and came back to the battle as strong and
as fresh as ever . But the traveller was cruel enough totake away the plant. The poor insect
,when bitten
,
went as usual to look for it , and could not fi nd i t andi t presently died on the spot .So i t i s again with u s ; when we are wounded by
Satan, wh en we have unholy thou ghts put into ourm inds, when we have said u nholy words, or done um
holy deeds,we must go at once to o u r Loa n to heal u s .
If we delay,we m ay be prevented from going at al l .
Th e poison of Satan may work in u s,and we may come
to like his temptations,and to rej oice in our sins : we
m ay come to wish to continue in them : we may cometo delight in the devil’ s work
,quite forgetting what are
his wages .Le t u s take one more exampl e of what I mean , and
th is time i t shal l be from the B ible . You know thatGon was pl eased to appoint certain C ities of Refuge forthe Jews ; and the u se of them was thi s : If any mankilled h is neighbour without intending i t,—as, for example
,if, in felling a tree, the axe-head came off from
the helve,and struck him that he died
,then he was to
flee to the Ci ty of Refuge, and there he was safe . Buttil l he could reach i t
,the nearest relative of the slain
man,who was cal led the Avenger of Blood, might kil l
the sl ayer if he could light on him . Therefore theroads to these cities were always kept in th e best order,a n d at al l turnings there were sign-posts with the words,THE WAY TO THE C I TY o r REFUGE
,because a sin gle
XL ] The Stay a nd the Ci ty ofRefug e . 1 19
delay might cost a man his life . So I have seen a picture where th e gate of the city was represented as closeat hand
,and the manslayer r unning towards i t for his
l ife . But close behind him was the Avenger of Blood,with his spear i n his hand ; and i t seemed very doubtfulwhether the flye r would reach the city before the pursuer would strike him with it .This City of Refuge means CHRI ST and the pursuer
i s Satan . W hat would the Jews have thought of a manwho , having slain another u nawares, instead of flying tothe city at once
,lingered here and there, went to see
his friends in this pl ace,did some business in such a n
other place,amused himself with the sights of the
j ourney,and rested when the sun was hot, and she]
t e r e d himself when the rain fel l ? Would they noth ave said that h e deserved to be sl ain by the Avengerof Blood ? An d what can be sai d of u s
,when we know
that we can only be safe from Satan by flyin g to CHR I ST,i f we so live as though that were the very l a st thing wehad to care about ; as if any business, any amusement,were of more worth in our eyes than that ? W hat ca nbe said, except the words of S . Paul
,
“Whose damnation is j ustThis n ew month makes u s feel that autumn i s coming
o n . An d these changes of season not only teach u s
that th e world passeth away and the lusts th ereof,but should make most of you remember that you arealready far on in the autumn of l ife
,and that the winter
cannot be far off,when you shall l ie down in the grave .
Then it wil l be al l in al l to you whether,l ik e the hunted
stag, you fle d from Satan to th e feet of JBSUS ; whether, like the wounded insect, you sought to be healedby th e B lood of JESUS ; whether, l ike the man that had
120 The Stay a nd the Ci ty ofRefug e . [Se rm . XX .
sl ain hi s neighbou r unawares,you fle d to JE SUS as to
your C ity of Refuge . That wil l be the one questionthen
,whatever you think n ow.
“Martha, Martha ;thou art careful a n d troubled about many things : butone thing i s needful and Mary hath chosen that goodpart which shal l not be taken away from her .
”
An d n ow to G0 1) the FA THER, GOD the SON, andGOD the HOLY GHOST
,be all honour and glory, for
ever and ever . Amen .
1 22 Thr oug h much Tr ibu la t ion . [Se rm.
Confi rming the souls of the D isciples, and exhortingthem to continue in th e faith
,and that we must throu gh
much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of Gon '”
This i s a wonderful way of co nfi rm in g people in theirresolutions
,by telling them that they must have great
tribulation . Remain fi rm in the belief we have taugh t,continue to do the things we have commanded you .
Why ? Because they wil l bring you to honour, orriches
,or pleasures ? Because they will make you like
the kings and great men of the world ? No t at al l .Because they wil l bring you to great tribulation .
Se e how different Gon ’ s ways are from men’s . If wewant people to follow u s
,—if we wish them to h elp u s
in anything th at we have begun, we show th em how i twill make them happier
,or wiser
,or richer to do so
,
Go o shows them that i t wil l bring them sorrow in thi sworld to keep His Commandments . 8 . Paul tell s u s so ,very plainly If in this li fe only we have hope inCHR I ST
,we are of al l men most miserab le .
” But j ustnotice the text : i t i s n o t, we sha l l, but, we mus t , wemus t through much tribulation enter into the Kingdomof GOD .
”No help for i t . W e must h ave troubl e some
where : but i t depends on u s where . Trouble in thi sworld
,or trouble
,even everl asting misery
,in hell .
Trouble in thi s world,and j oy h ereafter : pleasure,
such as i t i s,in this world
,and, hereafter, “ the worm
that dieth not and the h r s that never shal l be quenched .
”
You have al l of you heard of the gold-diggings . Sup
pose I were to take you there,without tel ling yo u
where I was going to carry you, you would see menworking un der the fi e rce heat of the sun, th e sweatpouring from their faces
,—sometimes parched in a d ry
rocky country, sometimes up to the knees in mud and
XXL] Thr ough ma ch Tr ibu la tion . 1 23
water, -living on the vilest food,sleepin g in the meanest
huts, never able to be without a sword or a pistol, exposed to all sorts of dangers—dangers from cold, dangersfrom heat
,dangers from fever
,dangers from thieves
and you would say,
“What madmen are these to riskthemselves s o , to give up all comforts, all pl easures, fora l ife l ike this 1” “ Yes ;” they would answer : butwe do it for gol d . A few years like this
,and we shall
return rich men to England . W e shal l soon forget al lour present troubles in our happiness then a littlelabour, a little suffering, a little fasting i s very wel lborne n ow
,i f we only keep th at in sight .”
Wel l, perhaps it i s : at least the world says it i s . Butthen we ,—why do we n o t say the same thing ? Why donot we make up our minds contentedly to h ear what wedo not like here
,so we may attain to Gon ’ s Kingdom
hereafter ? Suppose the gold-digger gets what he wants,and returns home ; how long has he to enj oy what heh a s gained with so much trouble, and with so muchdanger ? An d suppose, instead of returning home, hei s seized with one of the fevers that are so common inthat country
,and dies
,—then how much good will hi s
gold bring to himNow,
w e,i f we are true Christians, need fear neither
of these thin gs . Whenever we do en ter into our heav e n ly possession ,
i t wil l l ast for ever and a fever,or an
accident,or sudden death , can only send u s the sooner
to i t .
W e mus t through much tribul ation enter the Kingdom of GOD . But why mu s t we ? Why not pleasurehere
,and pleasure by-and-by, as well ? Because CHRI ST
did not so z He Himself went not up to j oy , but fi r stHe suffered pain : He entered not into H is glory before
1 24 Th r ough ma ch Tr ibu la t ion . [Se rm .
He was cr ucifi e d . He cal ls u s to nothing worse thanthat which He Himself suffered . To nothing worse ?Why what are al l the things of which we complain ,to the least part of the L ORD ’ S Passion ? “When He
putteth forth His ow n sheep,He goeth before them
,
a n d the sheep follow Him .
”
An d then,again W e mus t through mu ch tribu
lation enter in to the Kingdom of GOD,
” because of oursins . Why should a l ivin g man complain—a man forthe puni shment of his sins ? He Whom we fo l low,
“ did no s in,neither was guile found in His mouth .
”
What He did,Who
’ deserved i t not,shall not we do,
who deserve i t ?An d yet when one hears so much complaining, so
much dis content as there i s in this world,one would
thin k that it was we who were innocen t a nd who suffe r e d unj ustly ; that GOD deal t hardly with u s : thatwhereas we had deserved al l manner of blessings at Hishan ds, He had given u s all manner of sorrow . An d allthis, whereas in truth it i s because He would have u shappy hereafter
,that He afflict s u s n o w,
because He
would have u s reign hereafter, that we suffer n ow .
Therefore, you see, I had good reason for saying thatthe Sain t of thi s day had a life of trouble and sorrow ;el se he could not n o w have sat down where there arerivers of pleasures for evermore . W e hear this
,and we
think it i s all very wel l and very true we see the Biblesays so
,and we say that we bel ieve i t : but then
,when
the least l ittle disappointment troubles u s,when we
have a ny pain, or when we think we are treated u n
j ustly,or when we have set our minds on anything and
cann ot get i t,then we are ready with Jonah’ s answer
to the question,Doest thou well to be angry ? An d
S E R M O N X X I I .
THE LORD’
S COMING TO HIS TEMPLE .
fi a tibitp of the iBIesseU V irgin warp. éspt . 8.
“THE LORD, WHOM YE SEEK,SHALL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS
TEMPLE .
” —MALACHI 1 1 1 . 1 .
THERE i s no festival of S . Mary which h as not also todo with our Loa n . How should i t be otherwise ? She
who was so closely and so wonderfully connected withHim as Ma n , so that He was bone of her bone, andfle sh of her fle sh , she cannot be divided in our thoughtsfrom Him n ow . He i s st i l l Ma n
,as truly as He ever
was 5 He still has the fle sh which He took of her thesame in which He suffered
,the same in which He died ,
the same in which He rose again from the dead .
This t ext has,then
,to do both with our Loa n and
with His Blessed Mother and we m ay also apply it toourselves, and say that it has to do with u s .
The Loa n , Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come toHis Temple .
”Fi rst of a ll
,this prophecy wa s fu lfi lle d
when th e Archangel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth withthe most wonderful mbssa g e that was ever heard onearth . Fear not
, Mary, for thou hast found favourw ith Go v . An d behold, thou shalt conceive in thy
Se rm . XXII .) The Lo r d’s Coming to His Temp le . 1 27
womb, and bring forth a Son , and shalt cal l H is NameJE so s .” Th e womb of S . Mary was the temple intowhich our Loa n at that moment entered . There it wasthat He ,Wh o was the Desire of al l nations,—He ,Wh o
even then might have said,The earth i s weak, and al l
the inhabiters thereof : I h ear up the pillars of i t ,”
He , Whom the heaven and heaven of heavens cann o tcontain,—there He lay bid for al l those long month suntil the fulness of the time came
,and Go v was born
into the world . David, in the Psalms, represents ourLoa n as anxious to fi nd out this temple fo r Himself :1 wil l not give sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to
mine eyelids, neither shall the temples of my head takeany rest : until I fi n d out a place for a temple of theLoa n , an h abitation for the mighty Go n of Jacob .
”
This place,th is habitation
,He did fi nd out
,when the
HOLY Gn o s r came upon 8 . Mary, and the power of theH ighest overshadowed her, and the Word of the FATHER took fle sh in her womb .
Th e Loa n , Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come toHis temple .
”An d thi s promise was fulfi ll e d the second
time when our Loa n was presented in th e temple,at
the Pur ifi ca t io n of His Blessed Mother,—in memory ofwhich we keep Candlemas-day . It wa s His temple
,
though the Jews little knew it : He , then a n infant sixweeks o ld , was the one true Priest, though the HighPriest l ittle thought i t ; He was LORD of the countlessa rmies of angels, and of al l the tribes of men, thoughHe had so few that were truly waiting for H im . The
Loa n, W hom ye seek .
” How many were those thatsought Him then ? If I count rightly, four only . Se e
i f I am wrong . S . Luke tel l s u s that Anna the proph e t e s s coming in that instant gave thanks l ikewise to the Loa n , and spake of Him to al l them that
1 28 The Lo r d’s Coming to His Temp le . [Semi] .
looked for redemption in Jerusalem . All , then , thatlooked for redemption in Jerusalem were at that moment in the temple—there were none others besides ;and for all that appears
,th ere were only S . Anna her
self, 8 . Mary, and S . Joseph
,and Simeon . Four cour
tiers to wait on such a KingTh e Loa n
,Whom ye seek, shal l suddenly come to
H is temple .
”This Scripture i s fu lfi ll e d before u s every
day ; for every day the HOLY GH O ST comes down intoHis temples
,the bodies of those who are baptized He
comes s udd en ly, He comes without preparation ,—a fewwords
,a li ttle water
,—an d His temple i s consecrated to
H im for ever . As S . Paul tells u s,
“What ? know yenot that your body is the temple of the HOLY Gfi o s rand again , “ Know ye not , that ye are the temple ofGOD
,and that the Spirit of GOD dwelleth in you
But those temples must,l ittle by little
,day by d ay,
fal l to pieces and perish . This earthly house of o u rtabernacle must be d i ssolved
,
” says S . Paul . An d wheni t shall have been
,—when earth shal l have returned
to earth , ashes to ashes, dust to dust,—then also thi stext shal l be fu lfi lle d ; Th e Loa n
,Whom ye seek ,
shall suddenly come to His temple .
” He shall come toi t
,to raise it u p again from the earth
,and—if i t has
been His true temple—to make it His glorious dwellin gfor ever . An d this shall be sudden ly
,too
,as S . Paul
also tel l s u s : In a moment,in the twinklin g of a n
eye,at the last trump : for the trumpet shal l sound ,
and the dead shall be rai sed incorruptibl e, and we shallbe changed .
”
That wil l be th e l ast time that our Loa n wil l come toHis temple ; for afterwards he shal l abide in i t forever . The Lo a n Gon Almighty and the Lamb are thetemple of that Holy City
,N ew Jerusalem,
which 8 .
S E R M O N X X I I I .
HOW CHRIST IS A BUNDLE OF MYRRH.
£011) (Erase 53a”. éeptem’bt r 1 4.
A BUNDLE o r MYRBH Is MYWELL-BELOVED UNTO ME : HE SHALLLIE ALL NIGHT BETWIX ’
I‘ MY BREASTS.” —CANT . 1 . 1 3 .
TH I S Song of Solomon i s n ow,perhaps
,less read than
any other book of the Bible . And yet the day hasbeen when holy men have written more about i t , havethought more deeply upon i t
,have learnt more from i t
,
than from any other part of the Old Testament. Th e
reason is,that, unless we have deep love to our LORD,
unless we can feel something of that which He hasdone for u s , and of that which we owe Him , thisBook is foolishness to a s . It needs the especial assistance of the HOLY Gn o s
'r to enable u s to read it as i t
ought to be read . The verse you have heard is thatwhich every Christian soul ought to be able to say toCHRI ST . He i s th e W ell-Beloved . An d why it i s thatHe i s here called a Bundle of Myrrh it will be wel l foru s to consider at this time, when we are called uponmore especially to remember what He did and what He
Se rm .XXIII.] How Chr ist is a Bund le ofMyr r h . 1 3 1
suffered for our sakes . Fo r I am remin ded to speak toyou of H is Cross by the very name of the day—HolyCross Day
—which is kept in memory of the recovery ofthe wood of the Cross from heathens that
,six hundred
years after our Loa n’ s Death, had carried it away .
Now Myrrh is ch i efly remarkable for two things : i tsexceeding bitterness, and its power of heal ing wounds .
By the Bundle, we are to understand all the differen tworks of love which our Loa n undertook for u s
,which
cost Him so much—there i s the bitterness whichwrought out our salvation—there i s the healing . Hisweariness in His j ourneys, His labours in teaching, Hiswatchfulness in praying, His temptations in fasting,His tears over sinners, His being plotted against byHis enemies ; the spitting, the bufi
’
e t in g , th e scourging,th e mockin gs and revilings, which He endured for oursakes . Al l these things are, as i t were, a Bundle ofMyrrh each brought to Him so much bitterness, eachbrings to u s so much strength and healing . But morethan a ll the rest put together, i s th e exceeding bitterness of H is Passion, which, in itself, combin es al l thingsnecessary to salvation . Therefore S . Paul might wellsay
,
“ I d etermined not to know anything among you,
save JE SU S CHRI ST and Him crucifi e d .
” How shouldhe wish to know more, when this i s al l knowledge ini tself ?Fo r CHR I ST not only left u s an example in what He
did,but also in what He suffered . All that He had
taught by word,He fu lfi lle d in His most holy Passion
i n deed . Se e therefore what the only-begotten SON ofGOD did
,that He might gain many other sons to the
FATHER, that He might gain many brethren to Himself. He came down from His kingdom, even heaven,
1 32 How Ch r is t i s a Bund le ofMyr r h . [Se rm .
alone ; but He would not return thither alone . He r e
deemed u s,Wh o was Himself sold ; He exalted u s,
Who was Himself despised He gave u s blessings,Who was Himself loaded with curses ; He bestowedon u s l i fe, Who was Himself condemned to death .
An d,being in the form of Go o , He took upon Him the
form of a servant,that He might redeem His servants
and being Himself the Tree of Li fe,He hun g o n the
Tree of Death, namely, the Cross . An d this i s whatwe are called at this time to remember . W e all,”
says S Paul,
“ behold as in a glass the glory of theLORD . What ? and is this His glory ? Is i t H isglory to be a man of sorrows and acquainted withgrief? To be reviled upon the Cross ? To be forsakenby Go n the FATHER ? To be mocked by them thatpass by ? To have no sorrow like His sorrow
,no shame
l ike H is shame ? Yes this i s the example that He setu s . Therefore when we eat, every morsel which we putinto our mouths should remind u s of that morsel whichHe gave to Judas in the same night wherein He wasbetrayed when we drink , we should call to mind thevinegar and the gal l which was given to Him in Histhirst when we lie down, we should remember the lasthard bed on which He lay down , the cold and bare, andpainful plank of the Cross ; when we lay our head o n
the pillow,we should remember what sort of a pillow i t
was which He had for His most Sacred Head ,—a crownof great sharp thorns ; when we are quietly and easilyfalling off to sleep, we should desi re to call to mind thatit was amidst revilings and mockings
,in shame and
agony,that He sank to His last sleep on the Cross ;
when He said, “ FATHER, into Thy Hands I commen dMy Spiri t ,
”a nd again when He said, It is fi n ish e d .
1 34 How Chr ist is a Bund le ofMyr r h . [Se rm .
All this shows how true i s that saying of David,Th e LORD careth for me . Th e FATH ER, that He
might redeem u s His servants, spared not His ownSON ; the SON, of His own free will, became obedientto death
,even the death of the Cross : th e HOLY
GHOST maketh intercession for u s with groanings whichcannot be uttered .
An d now let u s count up this Bundle of Myrrh, andsee what it i s
,and what it does for u s . Ou r Loa n gave
u s His Flesh to be our food,His Blood to be our drink ,
His Wounds to be our protection,His Cross to be our
shield, His Bloody Sweat to be our medicine, His Nailsto uphold u s
,His Crown of Thorns to ornament u s, the
water of H is Side to cleanse u s in Baptism . Therefore, the more dreadful H is Passion appears, i f we lookat it with earthly eyes
,th e more sweet and precious w e
fi n d i t to be , when He gives u s grace to see it as i t i s .
The way in which CHRI ST suffered shows that, i f i t hadbeen necessary
,or if it had been possible
,He would
have suffered ten thousand times as much .
There was an ol d belief that, if a murderer werebrou ght into the presence of the dead body of himwhom he had murdered
,the wounds would begin to
bl eed afresh . W e are CHRi s 'r ’s murderers
,because i t
w a s for our sins that He died ; and if we look at Himwith the eye of Faith, we shall behold His Blood sti llflowing forth for our guilt, as freshly as on that daywhen He went up on Mount Calvary . He i s as readyto cleanse u s now as then . He ever l iveth to make int e r ce ss io n for u s, because His Wounds are ever open toplead for us . On thi s th erefore we are n ow called tofi x our eyes . “ Looking unto JE SU S
,the Author and
Fin isher of our Faith,Who
,for the j oy that was set
XXIII ] How Chr is t i s a Bund le ofMyr r h . 1 35
before Him,endured the Cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne ofGo o .
”An d this is what David m eans, when he says,
Turn again then unto thy rest, 0 my soul .
”This i s
our true repose . We have al l rest in Him Who had al ll abour ; we have a l l peace in Him Who had al l woe ;we have a ll glory in Him Wh o had all shame .
To Him,with th e FATHER and the HOLY GHO ST, be
all honour and glory for ever and ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X X I V .
IGNORANT PRAYERS.
5 . {Lambert é eptemher 1 7 .
“YE KNOW n o r WHAT YE ASK .—S. MATT .
WE shal l hear this text the day after to-morrow i n thecourse of the lessons : and i t i s very well fi t t e d for theSaint of this day . 8 . Lambert was a holy Bishop
,who
lived about eleven hundred years ago,and whose one
great and earnest prayer to Gon was,that he might be
the means of converting all the idolaters in his provinceto the true faith . Nothing less . He was hardly aBishop
,when he was driven for seven years into banish
ment ; and he had scarcely been brought back again,when he was cruelly slain by a nobleman, whom herebuked for living in adul tery . Thus i t seemed as ifhis prayer had not been heard . He asked to spreadthe knowledge of the true faith
,and GOD so ordered
hi s l ife that he never could . Gon did better for himthan he could have don e for himself. He asked to beuseful to one province,—Gon made him an example tothe whole Church . He sought to be a missionary,Go n willed that he should be a Martyr .
1 38 Igno r a nt P r aye r s . [Se rm.
ask a fi sh , will h e give him a serpent Or , as i t is inanother Gospel, wil l he for a fi sh offer him a seorpion An d so He treats u s as kind fathers treat theirchildren . W e ask for a stone
,we ask for a serpent, we
ask for a scorpion that i s,we ask for something which ,
l ike a stone, ca n do u s no good like a serpent,may do
u s harm l ike a scorpion, w i ll sting u s to death . W e
think that what we are asking wil l make u s happy butGo o says : “No ; I wil l hear what you me a n to prayfor ; but I wil l not give you that which you d o pray for .
”
An d be very su re of thi s : i t i s no mark of Gon ’ sfavour to give u s worldly things that we ask for . The
same S . Au gustine of whom I was speaking to you theother night, says, Go n sometimes gives u s , becauseHe i s angry, what He would not give u s , i f He werepleased .
” Take an example .
Th e d evi l came before Go n with a request that hem ight have power to hurt holy Joh . GOD granted hisrequest . Behold
,he is in thine h and .
”S . Paul
prayed earnestly, prayed three times, that the thorn inhis d esh
,which most people think was a disease in his
eyes, might be taken away . G0 1) said, No : Mygrace i s suffi ci e n t for thee .
” What shall Go n give toSatan and refuse S . Paul ? Yes because Satan, bygetting that which he desired
,should increase his dam
nation ; and S . Paul,by being refused th at for which
he asked,should work out his salvation .
Oh , how hard we often try, how earnestly we oftenask
,for that which
,i f we could get i t , would destroy our
soul s for ever ! We do it Yes ; and saints have done i tbefore u s . Look at the text . Then came to Him themother of Z ebedee’s children with her sons, worshippingHim
,and desiring a certain thing of Him . And He
XXIV ] Ig no r a n t P r aye r s . 1 39
sai d unto h e r,What wil t thou ? Sh e saith unto Him,
Grant that these my two sons may sit, th e one on Thyright hand , and the other on Thy l eft, in Thy kingdom .
”
Sh e thought that our Loa n would reign like the princesof th i s world : that He would have His great menseated on this side of Him and on that . Sh e meant t opray that her sons should be among His chief servants
,
and nearest to Him . An d what d id she ask ? Why,there was never a more awful petition in this worldGrant that these my two sons may sit
,the one on
Thy r ight hand,and the other on Thy left, i n Thy
kin gdom .
”On the left hand in His kingdom “Then
shal l the King say unto them on His left hand, Depart
from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fi r e , prepared for
th e devil and his angels .” This i s what this motherr eally asked : that one of her sons should hear thatterrible voice of most j ust j udgment
,Depart that one
of her sons should have fel lowship with the devil s ; thatone of her son
'
s should be condemned to the worm thatd i eth not, an d the fi r e that n ever shall be quenched .
An d our Loa n , l ike a most wise and kind master, a hsw e r s : No
,
“Ye know not what ye ask . It is notMine to give . It shall be given to them for whom it i sprepared . Th e left hand i s prepared for My enemies,—for Judas, Annas, Caiaphas, Pontius Pi late,—not foryo u . Ye know not what ye ask .
”
How many there are of u s who are j ust as eager forthe left hand
,j ust as desirous of our own damnation
,as
those blessed Apostles then were ! If we could but getthat m oney, or this place, or that honour, how happywe should be ; it would be al l we want, we should neednothing further, we should thank GOD night and dayfor His goodness ! But He sees that this money
,or
1 40 Ig nor a nt P r a ye r s . [Se rm .
place, or honour, would l ead u s to hell, and He refusesi t with “Ye kn ow not what ye ask .
Listen to what S. Paul says : W e know not whatwe should pray for as we ought
,but the SP IRIT Itself
maketh intercession for u s with groanings which cannotbe uttered .
” Groanings ! and why ? Fo r this very reasonthe HOLY GHO ST sees how vain
,h ow mad our prayers
often are . He men ds them,so to speak . Such a n one i s
begging hard for damnation,—the HOLY GHOS T chan ges
his prayer : such an one d esires to r un headlong in tcdanger
,—the HOLY GHo s 'r makes supplication that his
request may be denied him :“Ye know not what ye ask .
”
Hear a story on this very matter . On e of the greatestsaints of these last a ges wa s a missionary in India . He
had much influe n ce with the king who had sent himout
,and who dearly loved him . A nobleman in India
came to him and said,
“ I am going to return home,
and I have a petition to make of the king ; I wish youwould write to him in my favour
,for I know
,that
whatever you ask,he will do .
” W el l,
” said the saint,
“ I will write to him .
”An d accordingly he did, and
gave the letter into the man’ s hand . W hile he was onhis return home
,i t came into this gentleman ’ s mind to
Open the letter,and see what the saint had said . W ell,
he did ; and there he read thus : “The gentleman whowil l brin g this letter to your Maj esty is a particularfriend of mine, and has been very useful to the Churchand to the missionaries . The r efo r e , I most earnestlybeseech your Maj esty not to grant him that which heasks ; for I have noticed that those who get on well intheir affairs in India
,get on well also in the road to
hell .”
What then,are we not to ask GOD for any blessings
142 Iynor a n t P r aye r s . [Se rm . XXIV .
threaten to tear me in pieces,i f I d o not give orders to
throw down the gates,and to let them go . If I should
be weak enough to yield,I command you beforehand
not to obey me ; let me be torn in pieces, i f i t be s o ,
but do not let me fail in my duty .
” Having said this,he went in an d stood with the prisoners . That governorwas a wise and brave man . An d they did him no harm .
If we only put our trust in GOD,i f we believe in Him
as we say we do, we shall be well content to leave thegranting or the not granting u s what we ask
,in His
hands . He knows u s better than we know ourselves ;He loves u s more than we can love ourselves and He
will give u s, i f we leave ourselves and all we have inHis hands, His grace here, and hereafter the reward ofgrace
,which is glory .
An d n ow to Gon the FATHER, Gon the SON, and Gonthe HOLY GHOS T, be all honour and glory for ever .Amen .
S E R M O N X X V.
HE THAT OVERCOMETH.
9 . Gypr ian . é tptemher 26 .
HE THAT OVERCOMETH SHALL NOT BE HURT OF THE SECONDDEATH .
” —REV . I I . 1 1 .
FEw Martyrs have overcome more gloriously than S .
Cyprian,an African Bishop, whose memory we keep
to-day . He l ived in the time of famine, and plague,and persecution ; he was the good shepherd of his peoplethrou gh all . Many of his writings we have even n ow,
and in th em we see h ow truly and faithfully he followedin the steps of the Shepherd of shepherds, JESUS CHRI ST ;and at l ast
,as on this day
,he was beheaded in the pre
sence of a vast crowd of Christians, who glo r ifi e d Go oin his death .
The text, then, applies to him, but it appl ies to u s
also . To see h ow this is, we mu st look back to whati s said of the Church of Smyrna, to which this Epistl ei s written . W e fi n d that even then it was in greatafii iction .
“ I know thy works, and tribulation, a nd
poverty, (but thou art and we fi nd also that
this affliction was to be increased : Fear none of those
1 44 He tha t ove r come th . [Se rm .
things which thou shalt suffer : behold, th e devi l shallcast some of you into prison
,that ye may be tried ;
and ye shall have tribulation t e n days : be thou faithfulunto death, a n d I will give thee a crown of life . Thispromise then—like the rest of the Epistle—i s given toall of those who are in trouble or temptation of anykind
,and who may reasonably look for more . There
fore,i t i s given to most of you . The l ast days of life
are not its pleasantest days . The clouds return afterthe rain” then , as the wise man says that is
,the times
of suffering are no sooner passed, than they come backagain : sickness, when it leaves you, does not leave youfor long and you have very certainly and very soon tolook forward to that grievous time of tribulation anddistress
,when the dust shal l return unto the earth as it
wa s , and the spirit shall return to Go a Wh o gave i t .Now,
then,see how GOD would comfort you, by
seeing how He comforted this poor and sufferingChurch of Smyrna .
How does the letter begin ? These things saith theFirst and the Last, Which was dead and is alive .”
Why, there i s comfort even in this . Th e Fi rst andthe Last .” The Fi r s t to bear all the cares and troublesof this l ife
,which are appointed to be the portion of His
servants . The Fi r s t to go through the valley of theshadow of death,” that we might follow Him safely .
The Fi r s t to say, In the world ye sha ll have t r ibu lation ,” “ if a man w i l l not deny himself, and take u p
his cross,he cannot be My Disciple And He i s the
La s t He will remain when al l these tribulations shallhave passed away . He wil l be our “ exceeding andeternal great reward,” when the very name of t empt ation shal l not be so much as heard again . Whatever
146 He tha t ove r come th . [Se rm .
art poor,when He had n o t where to l ay H is head —if
thou art sick , when Himself took thy in fi rm it ie s andbare thy sicknesses What great thing indeed ?W e indeed j ustly ; for we receive the due reward ofour deeds ; but He hath done nothing amiss .”
But He goes o n :“ These th ings saith the Fi rst and
the Last, Which was dead and is alive . This also i sfor our comfort . He was what we al l must be . He
was dead and buried and , in those respects, we toomust be like Him . But He i s alive . I f He rose again,so shall we al so . This i s what S . Paul reasons abouti n the fift e e n th chapter of the fi r s t Epistle to the Ccr in th ian s If the dead rise not
,then is CHR I ST not
raised and if CHR I ST be not raised, your faith i s vain ;ye are yet in your sins . Then they al so which arefal len asl eep in CHR I ST are perished .
” But,
” as hegoes o n , “
n ow i s CHRI ST ri sen from the dead, and become the Fi rstfruits of them tha t slept . t e n ourtime comes
,then i t wil l be l ike a soldier fal ling by his
leader . Ou r Leader, the Loa n JE SU S CH R I ST, by deathovercame him that b ad the power of death
,tha t i s
,
the devi l : an d so shall we , i f we truly follow Him
also . Fo r after that, Satan wil l have no more powerover u s at all . He that i s dead is free from sin . As
a n old hymn says
Fe e r’st tho u th e d e a th tha t com e s to a l l ,
An d li st e n s t o n o ple a d e r ?Oh , glo r io u s s tr uggle ! tho u w ilt fa llTh e So ld ie r by th e Le a d e r !
CHRIST we n t w i th d e a th t o grapple fi r s t ,An d co nqu e re d h im befo re the e
His d a rt s the n—l e t h im d o h is wo rstCa n ga in n o t riumph o
’
e r the e l”
XXV J He tha t ove r come th . 1 47
An d all this brings u s to the promise : He thatovercometh shal l not b e hurt of the second death .
”
The fi r st death is the death of the body that we haveal l to suffer . W e see,” as David tells u s , that thewise men die and perish together, as wel l as th eignorant and foolish .
” He that overcometh ,”—h ethat conquers the devil
,th e world
,himself
,—will have
to die al l the same : there i s no promise that he shal lescape that . Bu t the “ second d eath
,
”-th e death of
the soul—h e shal l escape . He shall escape theworm that never dieth
,and the fi r e that never sh al l
be quenched .
” He shal l escape the place wherethe smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and
e ve r f’
Bu t n o w,lest we should take these words in a wrong
sense,there i s something else . By he that o ve r com
eth” i s not meant he that sometimes overcometh,he
that i s content now and then to conquer a temptation,
and more often to yield to i t, - to conquer what givesl ittle trouble
,and to give way to that which i s harder
nei ther yet does i t mean , he that always overcometh,for then
,who could be saved ? The j ust man falleth
seven times a d ay, a n d w e, exceedin g sinners, seventy
times seven . But i t means him who on the whole,by
the grace of Go o the HOLY Gn o s r ,—not without manydefeats
,not without many hindrances
,—i s overcoming
the devil . It means what i s said in the verse before“ Be thou faithful u nto death , and I will give thee acrown of life .
” W e must, with whatever weakness andi nfi rmi ty, be bent on doing our King
’s service ; and wemust do i t
,not this mon th o r this year only, but unti l
death . Up to that time, we must neither wish n o r
expect to be freed from trouble . “ If ye be without
1 48 He tha t o ve r come th . [Se rm .
ch astisement,says S . Paul, whereof all are partakers ,
then,
”-what - th en are ye Gon
’s dear children ? nots o z
“Then are ye bastards, and not sons .” That i s,
though you are called His sons, and, i n one sense, a r eHis son s
,because you were made so in Bapti sm ,
youare not doin g the work of His sons
,and at the last day
wi ll n o t be reckon ed amon g His children .
Now, i n a certain way, we must al l do what theCaptain of our Salvation did . No help for i t ; we mustal l d o it
,or perish . N o choice between that and hell .
It i s the o n e thing,i t i s th e only one thing that i s truly
worth a thought . It i s the only one word which i swor th makin g the study
,the hope
,th e lon ging , the
prayer,the struggl e of a life . An d what i s the word
No t a long one,but G0 1) know s a diffi cu l t one . Easy
to be understood : oh,how hard to practi se ! What i s
i t ? W hy, this : we must co nqu e r ! All the promisesare to that . To him that overcometh will I give toeat of the Tree of Li fe . He that o v ercometh shalln o t be hurt o f th e second death .
” “ Him that overcometh wi ll I make a pillar i n the Temple of My G0 1) ,and he shall go n o more out . To him that overcometh will I gran t to si t with Me in My Throne, evenas I al so overcame
,a n d em set down with My FATHER
i n H is Throne .
”
He then conquered, and so must w e . But w e can notcon quer a s He did . He destroyed the works of thedevi l
,at once : we mus t take them piece by piece
, o n e
by o n e,cut them off in detail , tread them under foot
o n e after an other . Therefore holy wri ters have alwaysadvised
,when a man
,after havin g permitted himself to
be the sl ave of Sa tan, determines to become in earnestthe servant of G0 1), and, whatever i t cos ts him,
to win
1 50 He tha t ove r come th . [Se rm . XXV .
seeing Him without any darkness,serving Him without
any weariness,knowing Him without any ignoran ce ,
loving Him without any coldness,an d dwelling w i th
Him without any separation . Which He gran t, forHis own merit’ s sake
,to Whom ,
with the FATHERand the HOLY GHOST
,be a ll honour and glory for ever .
Amen .
S E R M O N X X V I .
THE FOUR CARPENTERS.
9 . 31m m . éeptembt r 30.
THE Lo a n sn ows n ME FOUR CARPENTERS .”—Z ECH . I . 20 .
As it pleased Go n that the Li fe of our Loa n JE SU SCHR I ST should be written by four Evangelists, n eithermore nor less
,so it has pleased Him that there should
be four Saints who,beyond others
,have explained Holy
Scriptures for the use of His Church . W e cal l themthe four Doctors
,- that is
, Teachers . They are—S .
Gregory, on the 1 2th of March S . Augustine, on the28th of Au gust ; S . Jerome, to-day ; S . Ambrose, onthe 4 th of April . Al l of them wrote a great numberof books about the Word of Go o ; al l of them h aveOpened i ts meaning to us more fully than without themwe could have known i t ; all of them laboured to d efend the Catholic Faith against al l heresies,—that sameCathol ic Fai th which we hold in our hearts, and professwith our lips
,to this day . 8 . Jerome was the only one
of the four who was not a Bishop : he was a simplePriest . He l on g lived near Bethlehem ; and peoplefrom al l parts of the world used to send and ask him
1 52 The Fo ur Ca rp e n te r s . [Se rm .
fo r th e explanation of d iffi cu l t texts . An d besi des al lh is other works
,he made a translation of the Bible
which is sti ll very famous .N o w
, in th e text, these four Doctors of the Churchare l ikened to carpenters . An d why ? Chiefly for thisreason : i t i s the business of carpenters to work in
wood,and in n othing else . So th e e nd and aim that
these holy men had in View,was to preach the Cross of
CHR I ST . An d j ust as carpenters can make a thousanddifferen t things out of wood
,al l useful
,al l beautiful
,so
these Doctors turned the C ross of CHR I ST to a greatmany differen t uses ; but i t was th e Cross, and theCross alon e
,that they set forth . Sometimes they tell
u s ho w i t made an aton ement for sin ; sometimes, howthe devi l was conquered by i ts means ; sometimes, h owwe must al so take up our cross sometimes they remin du s ho w we are signed with that sign i n our baptism .
They m ight say, as S . Paul did, I determined not toknow anythin g among you save JE SUS CHR I ST
,and Him
Cr u cifi e d .
”
No w,what we may learn
,most pro fi t ably for our
selves,i s this : ho w much fulness of meaning there i s
i n every word a n d letter of the Bible . If great saintsand learned men like these Doctors could spend yearafter year in setting forth i ts hidden treasu res, andafter al l confess that they are unsearchable
,shal l we
not be ashamed to read and to search the Holy Scriptures as we do ? I t i s not as i f GOD ’ S Word had onlythe outside meaning which we see at fi rst . Take thestory of Abraham a n d Isaac . You may kn ow thethings which happened well enough ; but till you havel earn t that Isaac i s a type of CHRI ST, you cannot besaid to understand anything really of the story . An d
1 54 The Four Ca rp e n te r s . [Se rm .
eat, —o r a gain, Touch not, taste not, handle not,
or again,whole chapters together in the Prophets or
the Epistles,—how then are we to understand ? Th e
faul t i s in ourselves,not in the Bibl e but h ow does
that help u s .
To take the text again . If w e wanted to make achai r or a table
,a n d a m a n l ed us into a fi e ld , and
showed u s a fi n e oak , and gave it to u s,but offered u s
no tools,nor an y workmen , h ow should we be the better ?
There,i t i s true , i s wood enough ; but how are we to
get at i t ? But let u s have carpenters, and then indeedwe shal l b e obliged to him .
This oak is the Bible . To make it u seful to u s , wemust have the teachers whom Go o has given to us , whoare compared to the carpenter s . There are fe w morecrafty temptations of th e devil than that by which hewould persuade people that they can explain Scripturefor themselves .But n o w
,how did these holy Doctors or teachers
get thei r understandin g of the Bible ? I will tel l you .
First and foremost,by a holy life
,and by much prayer.
Al l other means are n othin g without thi s . If any man,
our Loa n said,wil l do His will
,he shal l know of the
doctrine ; bu t not unless .Then by deep an d patient study, by comparing
Scripture with Scripture, by learning what the Churchbefore them had taught , what were the old explanations
,they gained their understanding . An d then by
their l earning : they could read the languages in whichth e Bible was original ly wri tten, a n d they studied themdil igently . Prayer, an d study, and a good life,—thatwas the way they were able to search the Scriptures .Prayer and a good life, we each in our own poor way
XXVI .] The Four Ca rp en te r s . 1 55
may try ; and for al l the other helps that Go o givesu s
,let u s prai se Him more and more . More especially
at this time,when the falling leaves and the stormy
skies remind u s of sorrow and of death, l et u s beseechHim to open our eyes
,that we may more and m ore
fully believe in Him That i s the Resurrection and theLife . G0 1) grant u s so to read of Him ofWhom Mosesin the Law and the Prophets did write, that, by theteaching of the HOLY Gu o s r , we may become wise untosalvation
,through JE SUS CHRI S T our Loa n to Whom,
with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST, be all honourand glory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X X V I I .
THE DEATH OF A SERVANT.
9 . afi emig ius . QBt t . 1 .
THEREFORE ,MY BELOV ED BRETHREN, BE YE STEADFAST, UNMOVEABLE,
ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN THE WORK o r THE Lo a D .
” —1 Co s . xv . 58.
THERE must be some great reason which goes before thi sthe r efo r e . It is no light thin g which S . Paul h ere
exhorts u s to do . To be s te a dfa s t, when w e all knowh o w hard it i s to fi x our hearts on Gon’ s service at al lto be unmove a ble , when the devi l and the world areseeking every moment to cast u s down ; to be a lwaysa bound ing i n the wor k of the Lo r d , when we fi nd it sod ifli cul t to do anything at al l to the glory of GOD . Iti s a great thin g which he sets u s to do
,a n d there must
be a great reason for doing i t . What i s i t ?No t at al l what we should think . S . Paul has been
speaking of death,and of the victory whereby we over
come death . It i s because these bodies of ours shallbe sown in corruption , to be raised in incorruption,shall be sown in dishonour
,to be rai sed in glory ; be
cause the trumpet shall sound,and the dead shall be
1 58 The De a th of a Se r va nt . [Se rm .
l ife that those words were true, Th e harvest i s past,
th e summer is ended,
”—but,thank Gon not the end
of the verse and we are n o t saved .
”Sh e went from
home,from you all
,from the place she knew and loved
,
to die in a strange town,to lie in a li ttl e sea- sid e
churchyard of whi ch she had n ever heard . But,for al l
that,Th e souls of the righteous are in the hand of
GOD, and there shal l n o torment touch them .
”
Consider thi s . W e have been praying this last weekthat w e
,being ready both in body a n d soul , may cheer
fully accomplish those thin gs Gon would have done .Ready in body ? how ? Why, you say, by being strongfor Gon’ s service
,—able to work hard in i t without be
ing tired,—needing l ittle rest before w e take i t u p again .
An d I say, i t may be j ust th e opposite . That we being ready suppose the thing Gon would have u s to doi s to die : then stil l the prayer holds . W e pray thatwe may be ready in body for that—that the earthlyhouse of thi s our tabernacle may be shaken
,and so
taken down—that weakness a n d si ckness may come,and gradually disj oin soul and body . Yes
,indeed .
Whenever i t is Gon ’s will that so i t should be,thi s
prayer asks Him to prepare our bo dies for it,—asks
Him for pain and sickness . Fo r His will i s our salvation .
“Whether we l ive,we live unto the LORD, and
whether we die,we die unto the Lo a n ; whether we live
therefore or die,we are the Loa n ’ s .
”
I do not mean th at we,i f i t were left to ourselves,
are to wish for so sudden a death . Give an accoun tof thy stewardship
,for thou mayest be no longer
steward,
” are words that we sh ould not wish to hearin a hurry . W e pray against i t i n the Litany . W e
say every night,
“ Almighty Go o grant us a quiet
XXVII .) Th e D e a th of a Se r va n t . 1 59
n ight,and a perfect end ; that i s, an end in which
w e'
m ay have al l th e services of the Church that we ca nhave . Nevertheless
,i t i s no proof of Gon ’ s anger .
The wise man tel ls u s so expressly . Fo r though therighteous be prevented”—that is
,hurried o tf by
d eath, yet shal l he be in rest . Fo r honourable age i snot that which standeth in length of time
,nor that i s
m eas ured by number of years . But wisdom is th e greyhair unto men
,and an unspotted life i s old age . He
pleased GOD, and was beloved of Him ; so that, l ivingamong sinners
,he was translated . Yea, speedily was
he taken away,lest that wickedness should al ter his
u nderstanding,or decei t begui le his soul . He
,being
m ade perfect in a short time, fu lfi ll e d a long time .
An d our LORD teaches a s th e same thing .
“ Blessedare those servants whom the Loa n when He comethshall fi n d watching . If He shall come in the secondwatch
,or come in the third watch,”—that i s, whether
He shal l come when they have reason to expect H im,
or when they have not reason to expect Him,
andfi nd them so
,blessed are those servan ts .”
W e cannot j udge certainly—n either must we speakcertainly—ofany one whom GOD takes from u s . Butthe hope we have for some may be so very strong
,as to
be almost certainty . An d if we have a right to a hopeful l of immortality about any one
,i t i s about her of
whom I am speaking. I am n o t afrai d to say , Le t medie the death that she died
,and let my last end be like
hers ! No w,i f there was one thing above an other
which makes me say so , it was the way in which sheconstantly acted up to those commands
,Whatsoever ye
do,do it heartily
,as to the Loa n
,and not unto men
and,
“ If there be fi r st a wil ling mind,i t i s accepted
1 60 The D e a th of a Se r va n t . [Se rm .
a ccording to that a man hath,and not according to that
he hath not . It i s a great thing to labour for Go o ’ ssake
,and that we may please Go o . Depend upon i t ,
whatever the world may sa y,whatever we m a y think
,
i t i s a far more blessed thing to sweep rooms,or to wait
at table, or to clean shoes, or anythin g else that we cal lmost mean
,for the sake of GO I)
,and remembering
JE SU S CHRI ST, Who,though He w a s rich
,yet for our
sakes He became poor,
” yes,and a far more glorious
thing too,
- than to win the greatest battles,—than t o
write the most learned books,
-than to speak the mos teloquen t speeches
,—for the sake of pleasin g ourselves .
“Do i t heartily, as to the Loa n —if we could onlycarry that out
,as she did
,I am hold to say we should
n o t be far from the kingdom of Go o .
What then ? Ar e we to think that,i f sh e did l ittl e
things for Gon ’ s servi ce here on earth , n ow she i s n o tto serve Him at al l ? Gon forbid ! It i s written : Hisservants sha ll serve Him .
”They that have been faith
ful over a few things, shal l be made rulers over manythings . They that have served Gon wel l h ere, shal lserve Him better there . They rest not d ay nor nightthere . An d this h elps to explain the text .Why are we to be always abounding in th e work of
the LORD Because of thi s very thing . If our servi ce to Go o were to end with this l ife, then i t would bea v ery poor
,heartless service
,after al l . But i t is not .
I t goes o n after death ; i t goes on while the body ismouldering in the grave ; i t goes on more perfectlywhen i t shall be raised up again never more to be weary ,n ever more to suffer
,never more to d i e . This i s but
the be ginning of our service . No one can take an int e r e s t in that which i s soon to come to an end . But
1 62 Th e De a th ofa Se rva n t . [Se rm .
that it i s all very true a nd then many of them wil l gotheir ways and forget i t . An d so o u
,one after another,
ti l l al l are gone, others wil l talk of u s as we have spokenof those who have gone before ; and we shal l go the waythat we shall not return . This know
,
” our Loa n says,“ that if the good man of the house had known whathour the thief would come, he would have watched .
”
That i s th e great thing for al l of you . If those that areyoung please themselves by thinkin g that their timewil l not be soon, i t i s not so with you most of youknow that i t must be soon . There is th e less time towatch ; there i s the less time to pray . If the servantsknew that their Loa n wa s coming before morn ing, a n dalready the East wa s beginning to get light—h ow theywould listen for every sound ! how they would straintheir eyes to catch the fi r s t sight of Him So let i t bewith you . You have but a little longer to wai t forCHRI S T here, to work for Him here, to conquer for Himhere . You have the examples of those gone before you—how they waited, h ow they worked , how (as we maywell bel ieve) they overcame . You know
,as I said
,that
they are stil l working for Him,—that they are stil l
fellow-workers with u s,—that
,though we cannot see
them,we are knit together in one fellowship with
them .
What fol lows ? “Therefore,my beloved brethren
,
be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in thework of the Loa n :” that we may enter in hereafterwhere they have entered i a ,—that we may l ive withthem again
,—that we may have o u r part with them
for ever . No t as if we were n ow really separated fromthem
,but th a t hereafter we may see
,as wel l as know
,
that we are j oined with them
XXV IIJ Th e D e a th of a Se r va n t . 1 63
Our bre thr e n on ce , ou r bre thr e n n ow,
St ill kn it in ho ly lo v eWe pra ise an d se rv e Him he re be low,They pra ise an d se rve abo ve .
And now to Gov the FATHER, Go n th eGOD the HOLY GHOST, be all honour andever . Amen .
S E R M O N X X V I I I .
HOW WE COULD MEET MARTYRDOM NOW.
5 . dfa ith. QBt taht r 6 .
WHEN THOU PA SSEST THROUGH THE WATERS, I WILL BE WITHTHEE ; AND THROUGH THE RIVERS
,THEY SHALL no r ova a ow
THEE : WHEN THOU WALKES’I‘ THROUGH THE FIRE, THOU SHALT
NOT BE BURNED NEITHER SHALL THE FLAME KINDLE UPON THEE .
”
—ISA . XLII I. 2 .
Gon ’s ways are not as our ways,neither His thoughts
as our thoughts . If we are askin g a favour of any ma n ,we som e t im e s
'
b e g i t with the more co n fi d e n ce , becausewe n ever troubled him before
,because h e never gave
u s anything before . But Go o loves to be asked in
quite a differen t way . Because He h a s done so much,
therefo re He l eads u s to hope that He will do muchmore . W hat does David say, “ Because Thou ha s tbeen my help , therefore under the shadow of Thywings w i ll I rej oice .
” What does our Loa n Himselfspeaking as Ma n say ? “ Save Me from the lion’sm outh : Thou hast heard Me also from among theh orns of the unicorns .”
Something of the same goodness we may see in thetext I have j ust read yo u . It contains three promises .When thou passest through the waters
,I will be with
1 66 How we could me e t Ma r tyr d om n ow . [Se rm .
servants, even to destroy them an d it was so with theblessed Saint whose day this is
,I mean S . Faith . Her
very name shows you that her parents were Christians .
They,knowing ho w precious a thing is faith in the
sight of GOD,thought that they could do no better
than give that name to their daughter,and she did not
disgrace i t . Sh e dwelt in the south of France, at thebeginning of the most tremendous persecution thatever happened to the Church of GOD . Fo r thirty yearsthe kings of thi s world stood up, and the rulers tookcounsel against the LORD and against His Anointed .
They sent crowds of Martyrs to glory they inventedtortures too horrible to be thought of; i f i t had beenpossible
,they would have seduced the very elect .
Some, indeed , th e devil did overcome some s a cr ifi ce dto idol s and denied CHRI S T, but the greater part, evenhundreds of thousands
,remembered our Loa n ’ s words
,
and feared not them that killed the body,and after
that had no more that they could do . However,such
havoc was made in the Church, that the RomanEmperor, (his name wa s D iocletian,) thought that hehad destroyed i t
,and he had a m edal made to set forth
what he had done . Ou one side was hi s own head, o n
the other was a fi gu r e trampling on a serpent and th eletters round it were, “ Superstition destroyed .
” He
meant, Chr is ti a n i ty destroyed .
Well,at the beginning of this persecution lived S .
Faith . Her home was at a town called Agen,and
there she dwel t with her parents . On e day there camenews to the place that the governor of the province
,
whose name was Dacian , was coming to fi nd out all theChristian s in Agen, that h e might give them thei rchoice of denying CHRI S T, or being put to death .
XXV IIIJ How we cou ld me e t Ma r tyr dom now . 1 67
It i s very easy for me to tel l, and fo r you to hear, ofthese things . Here we are sitting in a Chri stian land ,
in a Christian building,knowing that we may serve
GOD without any man ’ s daring to hinder u s . But letu s now imagine that the case were different . Supposethat, next week , the H igh Sheriff of this county werecoming to this town , in order that he might put todeath all who professed themselves Christians . Supposethat we saw advertisements on the walls that all personswere to present themselves at the Court House, on sucha day
,on pain of death
,to s a cr ifi ce to an idol . Suppose
that a huge image was set up in that house,and a
l ittl e fi r e were kindled before i t . Suppose that th e
High Sheriff,attended by a troop of soldiers
,entered
the town at the appointed day,and that evening gave a
grand banquet at o n e of the inn s . Suppose that wewere told that
,a t nine o’ clock on the next morning,
we should be sent for to the Court House, and comm e nded either to throw incense into the fi r e set beforethe idol
,which would be to worship i t
,or to take the
consequences . An d what consequences ? Al l nightlong we should be disturbed by the putting up a scaffoldin the common fi eld : i n the early grey of the morningwe should see m e n movin g about with masks o u
,a nd
setting in order strange,fearful- looking pieces of i ron
,
some like pincers,some with grea t teeth like saws
,
some with long pointed hooks we should see a framework l ike a long table
,with pulleys at this e nd and
pulleys at tha t e n d,which they would call a r a ck ; and
we should be told that al l these things were prepared forthose who would not obey the Ac t of Parliament
,which
commanded al l men to s acr ifi ce to the great idol .No w, do not let u s say thi s i s impossible . In al l
1 68 How we cou ld me e t Ma r tyr d om now . [Se rm .
probabili ty,n othing of th e kin d wil l ever happen to
a s . But when Antichrist, whoever an d whatever he i s,shall come
,h e will sti r u p a worse persecution against
the Church than it has ever yet known . Then, in thi svery College
,what I am n o w asking yo u to suppose,
may very probably really take place . W e shal l notsee those d ays : but we are l iving in the same rooms,and we worship GOD in the same chapel, where theywho shall really see them will l ive and wil l worship .
They will then have to choose whom they wil l obey,GOD
,or the devil . Suppose then
,as I say, that these
things were come upon a s,and that means were taken,
as they probably would be , to prevent any of u s fromescaping, and that to-morrow were the great day . Iwon der how many amon g you would already have madeup your minds to d en y CHR I ST . I wonder ho w manymore, as soon as they were taken to the Court House,and s aw the High Sheriff sitting by the idol, and th eo ffi ce r s ready to carry o ff those who refused to s a cr ifi ce ,
and heard that most of the townspeople had willinglyburnt incense,—I say, I wonder h ow many would fi n d
their hearts fai l them then . An d i f they stood fi rm
even then,I wond er h o w they would act when they
were taken i nto the fi e ld , a n d passing one or two deadbodies
,were shown some wh o were undergoing the
torture because they would not worship the idol,and
s aw the blood pourin g down from thei r sides,and the
drops of swe at s t anding o n their forehead,a nd knew
that their o wn turn was coming n ext . And I do nots ay thi s of you only . I wonder whe ther I mysel f, whon o w fi nd i t so easy to talk to you of all this, shouldthen be exhortin g you to play the m a n for Cn a l s r ’ssake ; should be remin ding you of the crown promised
1 70 How we cou ld me e t Ma r tyr d om now . [Se rm .
threatened with torture . An d Dacian thought so too .
Fo r he knew not that Go n hath chosen the weak thingsof thi s world to confound the things that are mighty .
So Faith was sent for, came, and had her choice, tos a cr ifi ce to the idol , or to be broiled al ive . W hat sh esaid we know not ; i t i s suffi ci e n t for u s to know whatshe did .
All thi s while Caprai s was watching from the wood,
to see what would happen . Towards noon he s aw
multitudes of peopl e flo ckin g together to a small common outside the town . He s aw some bringing heapsof wood, he saw others carrying straw ,
and others oil ;he s aw th e billets set in order on the ground
,the oi l
poured in , and the straw chopped up . Then he hearda sound as of blacksmiths
,and saw them hanging a
great i ron frame over the heap . He s aw the fi r e andthe wood and soon al so h e saw the l amb for the burntoffering . They brought Faith to the place
,and there
,
for many hours,hanging on that i ron frame
,she passed
through th e fi r e .
An d i t did kindle upon her . W e nowhere read ofh e r , as of some other Martyrs, that she did not feel i tsagony . How then was the promise fulfi lle d
,
“Whenthou passest through the fi r e
,thou shal t not be burned
That,by Gon ’ s grace
,we must consider another time,
as another Martyr shal l give u s the opportunityNow we will only see what was the end of this fi erceand lon g battle with Satan .
Some of the heathen that stood by, seeing h ow,hour
after hour,Faith endured h e r torments, perceiving the
wonderful courage that was given her,and the love,
stronger than death , that she bore to her Loa n , criedout that the GOD Whom Faith worshipped was the
XXVIII .] How we cou ld me e t Ma r tyr d om now . 1 7 1
True G0 1) ; that as for the gods of the heathen, theywere but idols ; and that they themselves were Christians. Dacian, enraged beyond measure, gave ordersthat they should be beheaded . They had no time tobe baptized ; but th e Church teaches, as I shall haveoccasion to tell you more at length
,that
,in the case of
such as these,their baptism of blood at their Martyr
dom was s uffi ci e n t .
Caprais saw al l thi s ; not only S . Faith’ s triumphwhen he was afraid to draw nigh
,but he beheld the
very heathen entering into th e kingdom of heavenbefore him . The grace of GOD and his own fears longstruggled for the mastery but at last the g race of Go oprevai led . He came down, and professed himself to bea Chri stian
,and was beheaded . An d with him Faith
also was beheaded and thus both entered into the j oyof their Loa n .
Both entered i t : but not alike gloriously . Sh e thathad the hardest battl e i n thi s life
,doubtless has now
the more exceedin g reward On e star d ifi e r e th fromanother star
,
”S . Paul teaches u s
,i n glory . So also i s
th e resurrection of the dead .
” Here the fi r st wa s l ast .Th e fi r st in ag e , the fi r st in honour, as being a Pri est,the fi r st in thi s world’s strength
,as being a m an
,was
th e l ast in confessing CHRI S T, the last in the glory ofsuffering for H im,
—the last,because he fol lowed the
example, an d S. Faith set it .
Yet they are both blessed for evermore ; and Go ngrant that we may come only within a hundred degreesof eith er of them in gloryAn d now to the King of Martyrs
,JE SU S CHRI S T
,be
ascribed, with the FATHER and the HOLY Gn o s r , al lhonour and glory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X X I X .
8. PAUL ON MARS’
HILL .
5 . Etonvsius the g reopagite . QBctoher 9.
HOWBEIT CERTAIN MEN CLAVE UNTO H IM, AND BELIEVED ; AMONGTHE WH ICH WAS D IONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE .
” —ACTS XVII . 34 .
ATHEN S was the most l earned and most beautiful ci tyi n th e world . It was a kind of University for the wholeearth . M e n went u p from al l other n ations to studythere . There were m a gn ifi ce n t temples to the gods,the ruins o f some of which remain to this day . Therethe greatest painters and the greatest poets had lived .
There, too, had been wise men , who had spent al l theirl ives in feeling after GOD , in trying to discover whetherthere were
,or were not
,a future state ; men, whose
books we have n ow,and whose writin gs
,for their beauty
and thei r eloquence,surpass every other .
It i s n o wonder, then, that the Athenians bel ievedthemselves to be wiser and better than the rest of theworld
,and looke d on al l others with great contempt, as
ignorant and barbarous people . W hat do you think,then
,they must have felt, when one day i t was noised
about the city , that a poor Jew had come there, who
1 74 8 . P a u l on Ma r s’
Hi ll . [Se rm .
faster they increase, —that some have been put to death,and the others envy them
,and that, even here in Athens,
some wretched persons have been perverted into beingChristians .” Then,” sai d the others
,i t i s high
time to put a stop to Paul ’s preaching . Le t u s havehim before the A reopagus .
”
Now, what was Areopagus ? That we ought wel l tounderstand
,that we may also see how very m agn ifi ce n t
the whole scene must have been,—the gran dest thing
in its way which perhaps ever happen ed in the historyof the Church .
Areopagus wa s a court of j ustice . At thi s time i thad about three hundred j udges : all of them had
,in
their turn,been magistrates ; all of them were men of
blameless l ife,—for to be even suspected of any crime
hindered a man from becoming an Areopagite most ofthem were very aged . The Court had such a reputefor its wisdom and j ustice, that, as was said, during athousand years it lasted
,i t never gave one unrighteous
decision : i t wa s a spotless Court . The reverence paidto it was such
,that for any one to l augh while it was
sitting,was looked on as blasphemy . Its power was
very great : i t h ad authority in all matters which werel ikely to corrupt people
’ s minds : i t overruled all theother courts ; what it decided was received as i f i t camefrom the mouth of GOD it was the j ustest
,the wisest
,
the holiest, (if I may use the word s o
,) of all heathenbodies of men . It was called the Court of Areopagus
,
which means the Hil l of Mars, because it used to sit ona hil l where was a Temple of Mars, who was the GodofW a r . Now,
all questions about religion came beforethi s Court, and for that reason S . Paul wa s set before i t .
Two things more I must tell you about it i t always
XXIX .] 8 . P a u l o n Ma r s’
Hi ll . 1 75
held its sittings in the Open air,because that seemed to
bring i t more into the immediate presence of GOD andit always hel d them at night
,lest the sigh t of the sor
r ow and agony of the prisoner might lead the j udges toacqui t him wrongfully .
Now,who was i t that brought the Apostle before thi s
great Court ? W e are told : “ certain philosophers ofthe Epicureans and of the Stoics .” Th e Epicurean ssaid that
,when the body died, th e soul died too : that
the best thing a man could do was to enj oy himself tothe ful l in this life, for there was nothing to come afteri t and so they ran into all k inds of abominable wicke dne ss, and led lives worse than the beasts that perish .
The Stoics were better men they thought it was possible that there was a future l ife for the soul ; they sai dthat a wise man ought to care neither for pleasure norpain
,—that he ought to be like a stock or a stone
,and
care for nothing . It was these two sets of m e n thatbrought S . Paul to Mars’ Hil l .Now,
try for a moment to fancy th e thing as i t was .A bright, clear night . You must not think that nightin that country i s like the night here . The clearest,frostiest night you ever s aw in England 1 s dim andfoggy compared with a night there . Th e sky looks sodeeply blue
,and so far o th—the stars stand out of it so
clearly,
-the moon is so very glorious . Imagine,then
,
all those wise, reverend- looking Areopagites, seated inrows to hear the city of Athens, far beneath them ,
quiet and stil l ; l abourers and merchants and noblemen
,all asleep but on every side, the temples of pure
white marble, so beautiful a n d so costly, and so pale inthe moonshine . Then imagine a stranger brought in
,
—one,thought to be a madman,—one, (he says it him
1 76 8 . P a u l on Ma r s’ Hi ll . [Se rm .
self,)whose bodily presence was weak and whose speechwas contemptible
,—o n e , whose l ife a n d d eath hung o n
what the Areopagus might say . An d then hear h owthis despised poor man began to speak in the midst ofsuch wisdom and age
,and in th e sight of so many
buildings which seemed as if they were to last for ever ;alone, in th e night, among enemies , in a huge city,hear h o w boldly h e began .
“ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ Hill, andsaid : Ye men ofAthens, I perceive that in all thingsye are too superstitious .
”Le t u s fancy
,as we go o n ,
h ow th e Areopagites must have gazed at each other inastonishment . They, the fi r st court of j ustice in theworld,—th e wisest j udges that ever sat, they to be tol dthat they were too supersti tious ! a n d too superstitiousin all things Did ever a prison er before so begin h idefence ? An d n ow see how t e lling (so to speak
,)another verse i s . Paul looked round on the many temples that were glittering in th e moonshine, round about,- ofthe God ofW a r
,of the Goddess ofW i sdom
,of th e
God of Music, of the God of Health, of the Go ddess ofLove ; he was Speaking to a Court that met in the openai r
,to be m o re in the presence of GOD ; and, no doubt,
pointin g to the stars that were shining so gloriouslydown upon th em
,he went cu z
“ GOD That made theworld and all things therein
,seeing that He i s Loa n of
heaven and earth,dwelleth not in temples made with
h an ds ; neither i s worshipped with men’ s hands
,as
though He needed anything,seeing He giveth to all
l ife,and breath
,and all thin gs that they should seek
the Loa n , i f haply they might feel after Him,and fi n d
Him, though He he not far from every one of u s .
S . Paul knew how the wisest men of Athens had tried
1 78 8 . P a u l o n Ma r s’ Hi ll . [Se rm . XXIX.
thing i s more likely . An d thi s i s al l we know for certain of S . Dionysius the Areopagite . But nearly fiftyyears afterwards we fi n d a S . D ionysius who was thefi r s t Bishop of Paris in France, who is generally calledS . Denys ; and who suffered martyrdom , o n this day,by being beheaded . Now i t i s not certain whetherthi s were the same with S . D ionysius the A reopagite,or not . Some learned men have written books to showthat he was and other l earned m e n have written booksto show that he was not .It does not much matter . If there were two Saints
of the same name,they are both n ow before the Throne
of GOD a n d of the Lamb ; i f there were only o n e , thegreatness of his labours has obtained him the greaterreward .
But the S . Denys that was Bishop of Paris,has left
a special example to you . H e went as a Bishop toFrance when he was a hundred a n d ten years old
,
thinking it a j oy to labour and to suffer for CHRI S T atan age far beyond any of your own . An d he bore al lhis tortures with unshaken courage : he was scourgedand crucifi ed and taken down living from the cross andbeheaded . So that in h im that verse of the Psalmswas fulfi lle d , They also shall bring forth more fruit inold age .
Go n give you grace so to be faithful to CHRI ST tothe end
,that you may come to that place where there
is no more age an d no more weakness for His merit’ssake
, Who l iveth and reigneth with the FATHER a nd
the HOLY GHOS T, one Go o , world without end . Amen .
S E R M O N X X X .
A BROTHER BORN FOR ADVERSITY.
QIranfiIatinn of fl ing QEUio arU. GBt t . 1 3 .
A BROTHER IS BORN FOR ADVERSITY .—PROVERBS XVII . 1 7.
AMONG th e saints of th e Church, we fi nd a l l ranks andconditions of men . W e have been called to praise GODfor those th at were poor and despised n ow we arecalled to glorify Him in a King .
Edward the Confessor, as he i s generally called, wasth e best king who ever sat on the throne of England .
He was especially noted for his great meekness andm ercy ; and no doubt he has long since entered intothat Land of the Living which is promised to the meek ,and has obtained that mercy which is to be the portionof the merciful .The text which I have j ust now read seems to you, I
dare say,to have nothing to do with the day . Le t u s
see whether i t has or not.“A brother i s born for adversity . Solomon does
n o t say, A brother must expect to meet adversity buthe i s born for i t : that was the end for which he cameinto the world—to bear i t . It seems a strange and ah ard saying .
1 80 A Br o the r bor n for a dve r s i ty . [Se rm .
I do not doubt th at,in the fi r s t place, i t i s said of
our LORD JE SU S . He i s our Elder Brother ; a n d He ,
i n deed,w a s born for adversity . He tell s u s so Him
self. To thi s end was I born, and for thi s cause cameI into the world
,th at I might bear witness to the
truth .
”An d whoever does that knows that it will cost
h im pain an d suffering ! and the more earnestly hedoes i t
,the more he will have to suffer . There is no
kind of adversity for which our Loa n was not born .
He was born to be poor, in order that He might be ableto feel for those that are poor . He was born to bedespi sed, in order that those who are despised mightcomfort themselves by remembering that they are noworse offthan their Blessed Master wa s . He was bornto endure hardships—hun ger, thirst, cold , weariness,in order that those of His servants who are an hung e r e d , or athi rst, or cold, or weary, might be able toremember that they are so far like Him . He was bornto d ie , that He might take away the sting of death .
He w a s born to die in agon y,that He might change the
very nature of pain, and might make it a bl essing instead of a curse . In all these ways
,and in a thousand
thousand more, this, our Eldest Brother, was born foradversi ty .
An d what i s true of Him—what is far more true ofHim than of any o n e else—i s also true of H is servants,and more especial ly of His Sain ts . They are all ourbrethren a n d we have never heard of any very greatSaint who was not very greatly tried . The Captain ofour Salva tion was m ade perfect through suffering, andHi s sold iers can on ly be made perfect the same way .
S . Paul te l ls u s so of the Apostles . I think,
” he says,that GOD hath set forth us the Apostles last, as it
182 A Br o the r bo r nfo r a dve r s i ty. [Se rm .
and in his kingdom and,the more he suffered, th e
more th e grace of GOD shone o u t in him .
On e should th ink that this path of suffering, bywhich CHRI S T Himself went, and by which al l HisSaints fol lowed Him, must be a very honourable pathand yet, so it i s, that the devil has two quite differenttemptations which make men shrink from i t . Somepeople think that the least sufferings are a great dealtoo hard to bear . You may hear them complain
,as if
GOD had never tried any one el se as He tried them ; asif He were afflictin g them unmerciful ly as if He hadforgotten to be gracious . They lose sight of this—thatthei r brethren
,who were born for adversity
,endured a
hundred times as much . Take an example . You haveall heard of the Camp at Chobham . You know thatthere a great number of soldiers are living in tents, areexercised in marches and in fi gh t s, are made as perfectas they ca n be in thei r profession . What should wesay if we heard those men complainin g of the wet days
,
and the cold nights,and the damp ground
,and the
marshes,and the food ? Why, we should say, Soldiers
in the same regiment have gone through ten times a s
much as this in real warfare ; they have suffered thisand a thousand other things in an enemy ’ s country
,
half starved,wearied out
,full of wounds ; they have
done what you,i n your own land, well fed , well rested ,
in good hea l th,complain of. Why, this i s play -work
to the marches and the encampments by which yourbrethren
,in old times
,conquered other nations
,and
mad e Englan d what i t i s at this day .
An d so I s ay to you what are your sufferings to theleast of those of the Martyrs ? or of those who havebeen imprisoned
,or despitefully used for Ca n i s r ’s
XXX ] A Br o the r bo r nfo r a dve r s i ty . 183
Name ? Ar e you n o t ashamed to name them togetherwith those others ? You have not yet resisted untoblood they did .
But there are others who seem,in some strange way ,
ashamed of suffering . I think that the aged have mostof this feeling . You seem ashamed of growing weako f fi n d ing (as Solomon says) the grasshopper a burdenof not being able to d o what once you would have
found no fatigue at al l . You wish to pass it by as if i twere something accidental . If you could only havedifferent weather, or different medicine ; or if you couldbut do this or the other thing
,you should be as strong
as ever .But h ow sad is thi s ! W e g lo r y in tribulations I
r ejo ice in my sufferings most gladly will I g lo r y in myinflrm itie s .
”So 8 . Paul says . Why not at once con
fess what all these weaknesses mean ? Look the thingin the face . D id you ever hear what the ostrich doeswhen she i s hun ted ? Sh e hides her head in the sand,and then fancies, because she can see no one, that noone can see her . If you try to deceive yourselves, byfancying that such weaknesses can be cured by any
natural means, you are like thi s foolish ostrich . Youcannot walk so far, you cannot stand so long, you cannot think so much
,you get more easily tired : well, so
i t i s . W e know that this earthly house of our tabern a e l e must be dissolved : i t comes to that . I onlyknow one cure for thi s weakness, this feeblen ess, thi sdecay . It i s a long one . It will go o n , from the timeGOD calls you to Himself
,to the time that He raises
you again . It wil l go on in the churchyard . ThereHe will be preparing your bodies for stren gth andbeauty
,and everlasting hea l th . That i s the medicine ;
1 84 A Br o the r bor nfor a dve r s i ty . [Se rm . XXX .
He i s the Physici an : the only Medicine, the on l y Phys icia n . Fo r this corruptible must put on in co r ru ption
,and this mortal must put on immortality .
”
CHRI S T was born for adversity ; the Saints were bornfor adversity . Never, then , be yo u ashamed of i t .
When you are called to i t, go to i t as an apprenticewould to a trade
,or a child to a lesson . This i s the
way, and the only way, by which to reach that home towhich a l l sorrow is in tended to bring u s
,—the home
where th ere shall be n o more sorrow,—the ci ty where
the inhabitant shal l not say, I am sick ; the peoplethat dwell therein shall be forgiven their in iqui ty .
”
An d n ow to Go o , the FATHER, GOD the SON, andGo v the HOLY GHOS T, be all honour and glory, mightand dominion, for ever . Amen .
186 Sufi e r iny in Va in . [S e rm .
whole life was one long ti ssue of troubles . That i s theway the Sain ts get to Heaven : but we seem to fancythat we have found out a pleasanter road That wem ust through much tribulation enter into the Kingdomof GOD
,
”S . Luke says : but we have discovered that
this i s too troublesome a text ; and one would thinkthat we h a d altered it too : that we must through muchpleasure en ter into the Kingdom of GOD . Gon grantthat they who do so may not find themselves bitterlymistaken when it i s too l ate !Hear what S . Eth e ld r e d a thought of worldly plea
sure . Sh e was seized with a disease in the throat,very painful to bear . Yes
,
” she said,and i t i s a fi t
punishment to me for the pleasure I once took in wearing necklaces and j ewel s there .
”
However, this i s not so much what I have to say toyou . You are shut out in a great measure
,—partly by
being poor, partly by bein g most of you come to thoseyears of which the wise man says
,There i s no pleasure
in them,
”—from the delights of this world . But all ofyou, m ore or l ess, know what suffering means ; al l ofyou must expect to know more of it than you do n ow .
Therefore this question of S . Paul i s very useful foryou . Have ye suffered so man y things in vainFo r i t shows that you may suffer in vain . CHRI S T
suffered , that He may be like u s ; but w e may suffer,and not be at al l l ike CHRI S T . W e read of some in theO ld Testament that were the worse, n o t the better, forpain . King Asa , we are told, i n his old age, was diseased i n his feet, unti l his disease was exceeding greatyet i n his disease he sought not to the LORD . OfKingAhaz, i t i s written, An d in the time of his distress didhe trespass yet more against the Lo a n : thi s i s that
XXXIJ Sufi e r iny in V a in . 187
King Ahaz .
”Take care that i t be n o t sai d of you
,
Thi s i s that man,or that woman
,whom GOD sought
to bring to holiness who was afflict e d , that he mightsee how vain everything in this world was ; who hadpain, that he might learn to look forward to that worldwhere there i s n o more pain who knew that he couldnot have mu ch lon ger to l ive, and yet clung to this lifea s i f i t were his al l in al l : who had tribulation enoughhere, but it did not make him fi t for eternal happinessh ereafter .
”
Thi s i s the m ost miserable of al l states,—to lose thi sworld
,and not to gain the next to be unable to have the
p leasures of o n e,such as they are
,and yet not to attain
to the pleasures which are at Gon ’s Righ t Hand for evermore . If in this l ife only we have hope in CHRI S T,we are of all men most miserable .” Lazarus
,th a t
‘
wa s
l aid at the rich man ’ s gate full of sores,and desiring to
be fed with the crumbs that fel l from his table, moreover, th e dogs came and licked his sores i f be , when hedied, had in hell l ifted up his eyes being in torments,would have been wretched in deed . But do not deceiveyourselves . It is not because Lazarus was poor
,because
he was full of sores,that he was carried by the angels
into Abraham’s bosom . It was because his povertyand his sores made him a true servant of Him That waswounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniqu it ie s . You may be as poo r as Lazarus here
,and yet
have your portion with the rich man hereafter j ust asS . Eth e ld r e d a had her portion with the rich man here,and yet now rests
,l ike Lazarus, in Abraham’ s bosom .
Have ye suffered so many thin gs in vain Peopleare fond of reckoning u p how m uch they have suffered .
But,remember
, yo u who do so , that for al l these suffer
1 88 Safi e r iny in V a in . [Se rm .
ings Gon will bring you into j udgment . That i s, He
sent them to you to bring you nearer to Himself ; andHe will inquire
,and that very sh ortly
,wh e ther they did
bring you neare r to H imself or n o t . I f not,far from
being better off because you had th em,you wil l b e
worse off. They were means of grace,and you did
not be n e fi t by them ; yes, they were tal ents, and youdid not improve them ; they ought to have made i teasier for you to l ay aside every weight
,and the sin
which doth so easily beset you,looking u n to JE SUS, the
Author and Finish er of your faith ; and they did not ;and therefore you wil l hear
,all the m o re surely, that
most terribl e voice, Cast y e th e u npr o fi tabl e servant
into outer darkness there shall be wee ping and gnashing of teeth .
”
But S . Paul goes o u,and so would I, i f i t be yet in
vain .
” I hope not . I hope that these sufferings havebeen l eading you
,and are leadin g yo u , to Go n . Then
they are blessed sufferin gs indeed . If we suffer—thatis, if we suffer s o—w e shal l reign with Him . I reckonthat the s ufi '
e r in gs”—that i s i f thi s be their e n d—“
of
this present time,are not worthy to be compared with
the glory wh i ch shall be revea l ed in u s .
”
This i s what i s m ore necessary for you to feel thananything el se . There are two dangers in suffering . S .
Paul tells u s of them both My so n,despi se not thou
the chastening of the Loa n,nor faint when thou art
rebuked of H im .
” W e ought neither to determine notto feel them , not to care about them , to go our ownways
,to think our own thoughts
,to do our own deeds
al l the same ; nor yet so to murmur, so to repine, so tobe discontented about them
,as if we were treated
cruelly and unj ustly .
S E R M O N X X X I I .
HEARTILY WORK FOR GOD’
S SAKE .
5 5 . fi r ispin anU d r ifipian . QBt t . 25 .
AND WHATSOEVER YE DO, DO IT HEARTILY,AS TO THE Lo a n ,
NOT UNTO MEN .
” —COL. I II . 23 .
RATHER more than a fortnight ago,I told you of S .
Denys, the fi r st Bishop of Paris, a n d one of the fi r s tpreachers of the Gospel in France . Th e Saints in whosememory we keep to-day
,were some of his fel low-la
bo u r e r s . There were two brothers,by name Crispin and
C ri spi a n , whom S . Denys sent forth to teach the faith tothe barbarous nations in the north ofFran ce . They tookup thei r abode at a place called Soisson s, and there, onthe 25 th of October, two hundred and eighty-eightyears after our Loa n’ s Birth , they ended their l ife o n
earth by a glorious Martyrdom . While they werespreading abroad the Gospel
,they d etermined not to
receive any present from those whom they had converted
,lest the heathen round them should say, that
they made men Christians only for the sake of gettinga l iving by them . Therefore they supported themselves by the trade of shoemakers
,knowing that no
Se rm . XXXIIJ He a r ti ly wo r kfo r Go d’s s ake . 191
honest employment can be a disgrace to a Christianman
,i f he carries i t on because i t is his duty, and be
cause he desires to do what it i s his business to do,heartily
,as to the LORD , an d not unto men .
”
Here is the point for u s : that, in whatever station oflife Go n has placed u s, He has given u s the opportunityof honouring Him and adding to His glory . It i s notso
,it cannot be so
,with an earthly King . Suppose
that any of you earnestly desired to do the Q ueen someservice
,or to honour her in the sight of others : the
thing would be impossible . What have you that youcould give to her ? What i s there which you can dofor her ? But with the King of Kings and Lord ofLords it i s quite a different thing . There i s noneamong you who may not
,i f yo u please, this very night,
before you go to bed, do Him service servi ce which He
will accept n o w, and whi ch He wil l reward hereafter .On e act of charity to those around you, one word ofkindness, will be to Him an acceptable service, i f i t bedone with the wish of pleasing Him . He has sai dH imself, that to give a cup of cold water to one of Hisl ittle on es shal l in no wise lose its reward . An d notonly acts of kin dness, but acts of duty may be done toHis honour and glory . If we could only feel this, aswel l as know it
,there could be no such thing as m ean
ness in any Christian’ s othee . The l east every-day dutywould become glorious, because by doing i t rightly, wecan honour so glorious a King . I was reading someverses the other day
,which say the same thing very
wellIfwe a lthy, I stan d a s th e st ewa rd ofmy KingIfpo o r, a s th e fr i e n d ofmy LORD
Iffe e ble , my e ve ry-day bu sin e ss I bringIfable , my p e n o r my swo rd .
192 He a r ti ly wo rkfo r God’
s s ake . [Se rm .
Fo r , lo n g a s li fe ’ s jo ur n ey sha ll ha v e to be t ro d ,No d u ty ca n e v e r b e m e an ;
Th e fa ct o ry m a n m ay d o wo rk fo r h is GOD ,
A s we ll a s a Kin g o r a Q u e e n .
”
Fo r think of thi s . A labouring man may be workingout his o wn salvation whil e h e i s driving the plough ;a poor boy may be becomi n g meet to be partaker withthe Saints, while he i s drivin g the birds away ; a servant maid may be hon ouring the Name of our BlessedLoa n ,
while she i s scouri ng her kitchen . GOD,as our
Prayer Book speaks, has ordai n ed a n d con stituted theservices of men as wel l as angels; in a wonderful order .
An d see h ow i t i s His way to tu rn what was at fi r st acurse
,into a blessi n g .
When Adam fell, his two punishments were ch iefly
these,—death and labour : and see ho w both have been
turned in to blessin gs for the t ru e servants of GOD .
Ou r LORD wa s pleased to suffer both ; a n d thereby He
changed altogether their nature . He changed deathin to a sleep
,of which the wakin g-up will be at the
morn ing of the Resurrection and labour He m ade themean s of becomin g like Himself
,and of gaining Gon ’ s
favour . Fo r j ust as suffering makes u s l ike CHRI S T, sol abour also does . He l aboured with His hands as acarpenter ; He l aboured with His feet in walking somany weary miles for our sakes ; He laboured with Hiswhole stren gth
,when He continued whole nights in
prayer to Go o . W e ca n have no kind of labour inwhich He has not been beforehand with u s ; j ust as wecan have no kind of pain of which He has not fi r s ttasted . An d as by pain He would draw u s nearer toHimself
,a n d give u s a n opportunity of working o u t our
salvation,so i t i s with l abour also . Both o n e and the
other have their dangers . In pain,th e danger is l est,
194 He a r t i ly wo r kfo r God’
s s a ke . [Se rm .
El ijah was, very zealous for the Loa n Go o of Hosts .
Ou r Loa n Himself,W ho has comman ded u s not to do
good deeds to be seen of men, that we may have gloryof them
,for that otherwise we shal l have no reward in
the world to come,has
,nevertheless
,also said
,
“ Le t
your light so shine before men, that they may see yourgood works , and glorify your FATH ER W hich is i nheaven .
”This is more particularly the case with u s
here, not only because, as I have so often said , we havemore time than others to do good
,but because we are
watched more than others, and therefore, if we professto honour Go n with our lips, while we dishonour Himin our lives
,the more dishonour i s done to His holy
Name : as our LORD has said,
“A city that is set on ahi ll cannot be hid .
”
This truth , that each Christian , doin g his duty inthat state of life to which i t has pleased GOD to callh im
,however mean that state may be in the eyes of the
world,makes it glorious in th e eyes of his Loa n
,i s set
forth to u s by S . Paul in rather a different way . He
compares u s al l to different members of the same body ;and so shows u s that, while al l cann ot have the samework
,all may equally do work, an d equally be n e fi t the
other members . All members of the body cannot havethe same offi ce : as the Apostle tells u s, If the wholebody were a n eye, where were the hearing ? If thewhole body were a n ear, where were the smellingW e have another type of this in a college like ours . Ifi t is to go o u
,there are a certain number of duties
which must be done, and d ifferent people must takethem . Some m ust nurse the sick ; some must attendto the chapel ; some must keep the court in order ;some must look after the garden ; some must go out forthe money when the rent becomes due : there are many
XXXIIJ He a r ti ly wor kfor Go d’s s ake . 195
members,and each one has his several offi ce . All these
d uties may not be , in the eye of the world, equallyhonourable but al l are equally necessary . If themeanest of them is left undone
,the whole action, and ,
so to speak,l ife of the col lege goes wrong at once . An d
so, to look above these types . The Holy Catholic
Church,in which we d aily profess to believe
,i s com
pared to a body,of which CHRI ST i s the Head . It
might j ust as truly be compared to,or rather it i s, on e
huge college . A col lege means a set of people coll ectedout of something and into something : the Church i scollected or gathered together out of the world, and itsmembers are knit together, and are knit to CHRI ST. Inthat Church we all have our offi ce s to do we have allour parts to play ; we cannot give way, the poorest ofu s
,without
,to a certain extent, the whole great Church
giving way also,j ust as if one limb of the body suffers
,
a ll th e other limbs suffer w ith i t j ust as if one memberof a college disgraces himself, the whole college i s di sgraced also
,so
,if one member of the Church sins
,the
whole Church must necessarily suffer .These thou ghts seem to come n aturally on a day like
this . When people at the time spoke of the Martyrdomof S . Crispin and S . C r ispian , no doubt what they saidwas
, Only two lo w tradesmen being put to death, forteachin g the wicked doctrine of the Christi ans .” Theyfools
,
” to speak with the wise man, accounted theirl ife m adness, and their end to be without honour : butthey are in peace . Ho w are they n umbered with thechildren of GOD
,and their lot i s among the Saints
To which lot Go n vouchsafe to bring u s also,for
JE SUS CHRIST’s sake : to Whom with the FATHER andthe HOLY Gn o sr , be all honour and g lory, world without end . Amen .
S E R M O N X X X I I I .
SETTING THE PRISONER FREE .
9 . ll eonartf. fi obemher 6 .
“ SHAKE THYSELF FROM THE DUST : ARISE, AND srr DOWN, O Js a uSALEM : LOOSE THYSELF FROM THE BANDS o r THY NECK , 0 CAPTIVEDAUGHTER o r S ION . FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD : YE HA VE sou )
YOURSELVES r o e NOUGHT,AND YE SHALL BE REDEEMED WITHOUT
MONEY .
”—ISAIAH LII. 2, 3 .
S . LEONARD, whose day this i s, was ch i efly known forh is great love to prisoners so here i s a text about priso n e r s
,from which
,i f the HOLY GHOS T help u s
,we may
learn something that shall pr o fi t ourselves .Th e words were, in the fi r s t place, spoken to the
Church , but they are said to each of u s . Isaiah andDavid teach u s both the same thing. David says, Mysoul cleaveth to the dust and Isaiah
, Shake thyselffrom the dust .” On e tell s u s what we do by nature ;the other what we ought to do by the gr ace
'
ofGo n .
Now what is here meant by dust ? The cares andthe pleasures of thi s world . Dust i s the most worthlessthing possible ; so are they . Dust i s easily blown hereand there, and never remains long in one place ; so i ti s with them . Dust d e fi le s those that have to do with
1 98 Se tting the P r ison e r fr e e . [Se rm .
sin ce that time,we have let ourselves be bound with
n ew chains . Every sin we have committed is, as itwere, a new link to fetter u s . An d to undo these fetters , to tear ourselves from these sins
,i s th e work to
which we are called .
And mark . He says not, “ I will loose thee,
” butLoose thysel f.” Before our Baptism it would havebeen to no purpose to tell u s so . W e were able to donothing for ourselves . But n ow, through the gracegiven to u s in our Baptism
,we are able ; and being
able,Gon will h ave u s do what we can . He will not
have u s si t sti ll,while He does all, as it was when we
were baptized . Now He will have u s be workers together with Him “Loose thysel f,” He says ; and He
will help u s .
After this,Isaiah tells u s how we became prisoners .
Ye have sold yourselves for nought .” Adam at fi r s tsold himself for nought . He gave his own soul andbody
,and the souls and bodies of al l that should after
wards sprin g from him,for a fruit . A goodly price
,
indeed,the devi l paid to become the prin ce of thi s
world a fruit,and a l ie . A fruit—the frui t of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil ; a n d a lie ; -“ Ye
shal l not surely die And as Adam sold himself fornought, so do we . One man sells his soul for drunkenness for the pleasure of making himself a disgrace tomankind, and worse than the beasts that perish, hegives away his eternal happiness . Another man sellsh imself for riches : for the sake of hoarding up a certainnumber of pieces of money
,which he cannot take away
with him when he dies . Another man for revenge ;another for ease another for honour ; another to e scape the being laughed a t . These are the prices which
XXXIII.] Se tting the Pr ison e r fr e e . 199
the devil pays for our souls . He i s a good bargainerhe knows ho w to give l ittl e
,and to get much . Just as
we read of sailors in savage i slands,who give the in
habitants beads,and pins
,and glass necklaces, and the
poor savages give great lumps of gol d and silver in exchange . Ye have sold yourselves for nought .”
But Gon ’s promise follows : “And ye shal l be r e
deemed without money .
”This may mean two things .
W e have nothing that we can give to Go n i n return forour redemption . He saved u s ; not because He hadany need of u s
,—not because we could do Him any
good, as it i s written , My goods are nothing untoThee
,
” —but only and wholly because He loved u s, be
cause He delighteth in m ercy, because He willeth notthe death of a sinner
,but rather that h e should be con
verted and live . So we are redeemed without money,because our redemption is the gift of Go o : as it i swritten
,
“By grace are ye saved through faith ; andthat not of yourselves : it i s the gi ft of Go o .
”
O r else the text may mean wh at S . Peter says, whenhe tell s u s
, Ye know that we were not redeemed withcorruptible things , as silver a n d gold, but with the precions Blood of CHRI ST .
” Ye were redeemed withoutmoney . By the Birth and Death of Go n ,
—by all thatHe suffered between His B irth and Death
,—was you r
salvation wrought out ; by His fasting forty days inthe wild ern ess ; by His being with the wild beasts ;by His bein g tempted of the devil ; by the miraclesHe did ; by the sayin gs He sp ake ; by the parables He
told ; by the good He wrought ; by the evi l He e u
dured by His mockings and revilings, His purple robeand His crown of thorns ; by th e pavement and th ehouse of Annas by the j udgment-seat and the hil l of
200 Se tt ing the P r ison e r fr e e . [Se rm . XXXIII .
Calvary by the Cross and the sepulchre —by all thesethings
,al l making the one great price
,was your r e
demption brought to pass .An d now, therefore, what follows Shake thysel f
from the dust ; loose thyself from the bands of thyneck .
” Th e Physician is prepared to receive you ; themedicine i s ready . What medicine ? Why, there aretwo . Cease to do evil learn to do well .” And yo u
m ust tak e both . As i t i s written, What man is h ethat lusteth to live,”—that is, to live for ever and everin glory, and would fain see good days —that i s,the glorious and blessed days of heaven—“Le t himeschew evil and do good .
” So David reads u s thesame lesson with Isaiah and G0 1) give u s grace so t opr o fi t by both, that we may fi n ally be received into thatJe r usa l em , the mother of u s all, which i s free .An d n ow to Go n the FATHER, Go o the SON, a nd
Go n the HOLY GHOST, be al l honour and g lory forever . Amen .
202 Fa i th a s a g r a in ofmus ta r d s e e d . [Se rm .
wrote anythin g . No i t wa s o n account of the greatn ess of h is faith
,which enabled him to perform
greater miracles than any other Saint in this W esternChurch has been able to work . Wherever m e n heardthat he was coming
,there they brought sick and impo
tent persons, that he might pray over them and healthem . An d j ust as from the body of S . Paul h a ndke rchiefs and aprons were carried to those who were sick ,and cured them , so it w a s with S . Martin .
It was the greatness of his faith,I said
,which enabled
him to do al l these things . But then,this faith must
have shown i tself by good works ; as it i s writtenFaith without works i s dead :” and again :
“ I willshow thee my faith by my works . An d the fi r st a c
tion that i s recorded of S . Martin shows h ow closely hetrod in the footsteps of Him
,Who
,though He was rich
,
yet for our sakes He became poor . Before he was ba pt i z e d
,and therefore before we might expect that the
grace of the HOLY GHO ST would have been so mightyin him while he was yet a soldier
,the very situation
,
of all others,and especially at that time , to harden and
close up the heart,he showed a rare instance of love .
In the depth of winter,and that in a place where the
winters are far more bitter than here,a beggar, miser
ably clad,asked a n alms of him for the love of GOD .
Si lver and gold had he none, but that which he had hegave him . His soldier’ s cloak was al l that he couldcall his own . He drew his sword, cut i t in half, gaveone portion to the poor man
,and was content himself
with the other . An d we may most truly use ourBlessed SAV IOUa ’
s words V erily I say unto you, hehad his reward .
”That night
,in a vision
,he beheld
our Loa n on His throne,and all the blessed company
XXXIV .] Fa ith a s a g r a in ofmus ta r d s e e d . 203
of heaven standing around Him . An d as he lookedmore steadfastly on the SON of Go o , he saw Him to bearrayed in his own half cloak and he heard from thoseLips that spake as never man spake, This hathMartin
,unbaptized
,given to Me .
” Think then ofthis
,you who have (and who has not the opportunity
of doing some,the smallest
,act of kindness to one of
Ca ni s r’s poor . The cup of cold water, the crust of
bread,the single penny
,shall in no wise lose its reward .
Think that,i f you could see our dear LORD, as that
Saint of old beheld Him,you might hear the selfsame
words concerning your offering, worthless a nd vile as i tmight be in itself
,This hath My servant given to
Me . You cannot see Him,i t i s true
,but what of
that Blessed are they that have not seen,and yet
have believed .
”
So again we read,that as S . Martin was i n prayer,
a glorious spirit presented itself before h im,with a
crown of gold,purple raiment
,and a beautiful sceptre,
l ike the kings of the earth . An d as he stil l continuedinstant in prayer
,his visitor proclaimed himself to be
the CHRI ST, and commanded the Saint to arise andworship him . But Martin
,full of the HOLY Gn o s 'r ,
answered, The LORD JE SU S CHRI S T never spake ofcoming as a king
,wi th a crown
,and sceptre
,and pre
cio u s j ewels . Unless therefore I see Him as He was,with the print of the nails
,and the mark of the spear
,
I will not worship .
”An d no soon er had he thus spoken
,
than the spirit uttered a loud shriek and disappeared ;clearly proving that it was nothing else than Satantransformed into an Angel of Li gh t .Somewhat of the same faith we also may often be
called on to show. Things may come before u s which
204 Fa i th a s a g r a in ofmus ta r d s e e d . [Se rm .
seem bright and glorious,which have al l the appearance
of goodness at fi r st sight,and which yet may be nothing
but temptations, sent to lure u s to our perdition . Whatare we then to do ? What, but to ask, with S . Martin ,for the marks of the Cross ? Whatever we fi nd withthat
,i s safe and pr o fi table : whatever cannot show i t
u s,from that we must fly at once . Go n forbid that we
should glory, save in the Cross of o ur Loa n Jnsu sCHRI ST !It i s a common belief
,and I know that in this part
of the country i t is more particularly common,that a n
easy death is a sign of Gon ’s grace whereas a harddeath
,as men speak, shows His anger . Often and
often we hear the speech, Ah ! poor thing ! I hope
she i s in a better pl ace ; for she went off like a lambNothing can be a greater mistake than to think that ahard or an easy death proves anything, one way or theother . We m ay every day see that thi s i s so . Bapt i z e d infants, who are most undoubtedly saved, die,generally speaking, very hard .
”An d i t i s of the
wicked,not of the good, that David tell s u s, There
are no bands,
”—that is, there are no great pains, in
their death .
” Yes many an evil m a n has gone out ofthe world like a child falling asleep many a good manhas suffered
,not only great agony of body
,but great
fear and sorrow of spirit,in his last hour . So i t was
with S . Martin . His disease was a fever,and when i t
seemed that he wa s drawing nigh to death, his disciplesstood around h im and besought him not to leave them .
After your decease,” they said, grievous wolves willenter in among u s , not sparing your flo ck. Who willfeed u s then ? Who wil l protect u s ? Who will showu s the truth ? Who will keep u s from harm Martin
206 Fa i th a s a g r a in ofmus ta r d se e d . [Se rm . XXXIV .
comes . It i s the same thing which mad e Martin ableto do his mighty works,—Faith . Faith
,we are told in
Holy Scripture,i s the gift of GOD and of Him there
fore we are to a sk i t . So , i f when your hour i s come todepart out of the world
,Satan should try to ve x and
distress you, as he did of ol d time to Martin, you wil lbe able
,l ike Martin
,to say
,What dost thou here
,
cruel beast ? Thou hast no portion in me I am goingto Abraham’ s bosom .
”
To which place Gon bring u s all,for JESUS Ca n i s r ’s
sake to Whom , with the FATHER and the HOLYGHOST
,be all glory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X X X V .
THE WICKED FORSAKING HIS WAYS.
5 . iBr it e . fi obember 1 3 .
l
LET THE WICKED FORSAKE H IS WAY, AND THE UNRIGHTEOUS MANH IS THOUGHTS, AND LET HIM RETURN UNTO THE Lo a n ,
AND HE
WILL HAVE MERCY UPON H IM, AND TO OUR GO1), FOR HE WILLABUNDANTLY PARDON .
” —ISAIAH LV . 7 .
Tm s Sunday has,this year
,no Epistle and Gospel of its
own ; therefore we take those of the last Sunday afterEpiphany . An d very fi t they are for thi s time, when weare drawing so near to the holy season of Advent . The
Epistl e tells u s what our Lo nn ’s Coming will do for u s
W e know that when He shall appear, we shall be likeH im . Th e Gospel tells u s what must happen beforeHe can come h o w there shal l be false Christs and falseprophets, and how,
i f i t were possible,they should de
ce ive the very elect . Therefore the text I read youj ust now is very well fitted for the day . Seeing thatCHRI ST will come
,—seeing that all th e things ar ound
a s shall be dissolved,—seeing that the elements shal l
melt with fervent heat,—therefore
,
“ let the wickedBe ing the Twen ty-fifth Sun day aft e r Trin ity, 1853 .
208 The wicke dfo r s aking his ways . [Se rm .
forsake his way,and the unrighteous man his thoughts
and l et him return un to the Loa n , and He will havem ercy u pon him .
”
An d we have a n example of this in the saint of today
, S . Brice . He was a disciple of S . Martin, ofwhom I spoke to you the day before yesterday ; but hedid not
,at fi r st , tread in the steps of his master . He
l ed an evil l ife ; he turned away from all rebuke : andbecause S . Martin found faul t with him, b e spreadabout fal se reports con cerning that great Saint ; andthis he did for some years . But S . Martin always foretold that he would repent at last ; and so it came topass . Brice was afterwards mad e B ishop in the placeof S . Martin . But GOD often punishes u s in this l ife
,
to the end that w e may escape in the next . False r e
ports were soon spread against S . Brice,j ust as he had
spread them against S . Martin . He was forced to leavehis bishopric ; and he long l ived in great poverty anddistress . No doubt he said
,like the thief, W e indeed
j ustly,for we receive the due reward of our deeds .”
But when he had suffered, GOD was pleased to restoreh im to His Church and to his friends ; and after servingCHRI ST faithfully for many years, he at last fel l asleepi n the LORD, on this day, the 1 3 th of November. He
i s an example to u s, that none have sinned so much
that they may not take the Kingdom of Heaven afterall ; that none have wandered so far that they may notbe brought back . Fo r this B ishop, once a grievoussinner o n earth , n ow a glorious Saint i n heaven, hadsinned not only after he was baptized, but after he wasordained a priest ; and yet he returned to G0 1), andfound mercy
,and to the Loa n, and was abundantly
pardoned .
2 1 0 The w icke d fo r s a hiny h is ways . [Sem i
which are not convenient . Close above two of thelargest of these mills, eleven years ago, a church wasbuilt ; a n d the priests wen t o u t in to the miserablestreets a n d l an es, exhortin g men to repen t . V ery fewl istened to them . Then came the cholera year . In thestreet n ext to th e church, and it is a very short one,forty -three person s died in a few days . Then many ofthose who had been l iving in wickedn ess
,turned to
G0 1) with all thei r heart and soul . They saw theircompanions struck down by their sides
,a n d they cried
out,
“What must I do to be saved 9” Illness or noi llness
,th e mills had to work, and these poor people to
be foun d in them . They worked from 6 to 1 2,and
from 1 to 6,but then the church wa s crowded for
even in g prayers . An d because no one could tel l whether he would l ive from one evening til l another
,there
was Li tany at a quarter before 1 every afternoon ; sothat by shortenin g their dinn er time
,the wo rkpeople
could go to that also . In Gon ’ s good time He removedthe plague . W e know what Moses says of the JewsWhen He slew them , then they sought Him,
and theyreturned and inquired early after GOD but as soon asHe took away thei r afflict io n , then they thought notof H is hand
,and of the d ay when He delivered them
from the hand of the enemy .
” It was not so here .
These people stil l give up a quarter of a n hour outof the o n e hour they have, coming in their workingdress
, a n d as they are, before they return to the mil l inthe afternoon .
No w,when I was speaking to them some days a go ,
I thought of you,and wo ndered if you had thus to work
for your daily bread,whether yo u would not grudg e
giving up a quarter of the only time yo u have to the
XXXV .] Th e wicke dfor sa lciny his ways . 21 1
service of GOD . Yes : those peopl e condemn u s all,i f
ever w e , out of the abun dance of time that GOD givesu s h ere, fi n d His servi ce a weariness .Two m ore weeks only
,and we shal l have entered
u pon Advent : the eigh th Advent that I h ave beenamon g you . Look back to the time when I fi r s t came,—such of you as can remember it : but of seventeenthat then heard me speak
,fi ve only n ow remain . No
Advent yet but has been the l ast to some one of thatnumber 5 and this, most probably, will be so also . But,as yet
,that promise i s true : Le t the wicked forsake
hi s way . There i s no exception . Those t hat havesinned long
,as well as those that have only j ust turned
aside from GOD . And there i s no doubt It i s n o t , Imay pardon him,
but,I w i l l pardon him . W e have
more than enough examples of Go o ’ s faithfulness inthis ; and to-day gives u s another. But none of yo uknow how many more you will have My SP IR ITshall not always strive With man . The thin gs concerning Me
,
” our Loa n says, have an end .
”Once
pass that wonderful boundary which separates u s fromthe next world
,—once let those who stand around u s
say,Poor thing
,he i s gone
,
” —and then i t wil l be nom ore
,Le t the wicked forsake his way .
” Instead ofthat
,i t will b e
,He that i s unj ust, let him be unj ust
sti ll,and he which i s fi lthy, let him be fi l thy sti ll .
”If
,
—as Go n be praised i t i s true,—then His servantsshal l serve Him
,
”so
,of Satan also, “ h is servants shal l
serve h im .
”They wou ld serve him here, an d they sha l l
serve him there . An d as of the r ighteous i t i s said,
They rest not day and night,
” so of the ungod ly also,
they rest not day and night either . These thingsought surely to move u s
,i f Gon ’ s love does not . And
2 1 2 The wicke dfo r s akiny h is wa ys . [g e rm XXXV .
yet what more can we n eed than to hear Him That whenon earth received sinn ers
, a n d ate with them,and n ow
that He i s in heaven , receiveth sinn ers, and giveth themHis own Flesh to eat,—Him that was crowned withthorns
,that they might be crowned with glory
,—Him
that was cr ucifi e d , that they might crucify their s ihfu l
l usts,—than to hear Him sav , Le t the wicked forsake
his way,and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and
let him return unto the LORD , and He will h ave mercyu pon him ; and to our GO D
,for He wil l abundantly”
for He abundantly poured forth His most precious Bloodto thi s very end, He w i l l abundan tly pardon .
”
An d n ow to Go o the FATH ER,Go o the SON ,
a n d
Go n the HOLY Gn o s r,be all honour and glory
,for
ever and ever . Amen .
2 14 Who ca nno t come whe r e Chr is t i s . [Se rm .
who are willing to watch with Me n o w , to labour withMe now,
to suffer with Me n ow : they shall reign withMe then . But ye are not these . Ye shal l seek Me
,
and shal l not fi n d Me :
“
and where I am, thither ye
cannot come .
” Whither I go , ye wi l l'
n o t come n ow .
Ye will not follow Me,becau se non e of the Scribes and
Pharisees have believed on Me . Ye will not follow Me
up to the garden of Gethsemane,up to th e j udgment
seat of Pi late,u p to Calvary . Therefore, where I am ,
when I shal l have ascended up again to heaven with al lMy Saints
,and they shal l reign with Me for ever,
where I e m th en thither ye cann ot come.Ou r LORD i s not speaking to those who were desiring
to seek Him at that time . He does not say, Ye seekMe
,and cannot fi n d Me
,bu t to those who had a mind
to come at the Crown without bearin g the Cross thosewho wished to get at the e n d of their j ourney withoutgoin g by the way . And I wonder, i f He could n ow
stand among u s , to how many He would say thesewords : You
,—o r you,—o r you, shall seek Me , and
shal l not fi n d Me .
” I wonder h ow many know in th eirown hearts that they are not seeking CHRI S T now . Yeteven they—He that cannot lie says so—will seek Himbyw an d -by . It may be on thei r death-beds : but evenif they should go carelessly and stupidly out of theworld
,i t certainly will be at the last day . An d think
then what i t wil l be to hear those words, “Where Iam
,thi ther ye cannot come . Ye cannot come into
the Presence of GOD, which i s l ife, nor to His Righ tHand
,where there are pleasures for evermore . Ye
cannot come where al l tears shall be wiped from alleyes
,a n d where there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow,nor crying, nei ther shall there be any more
XXXV IJ Who ca nno t come whe r e Chr is t i s . 2 1 5
pain . Ye cannot come to the city of the Living Go o ,
the heavenly Jerusalem , and to an innumerable company of Angels
,and to the spirits of j ust men made
perfect . Where I am,thither ye cannot come .
”
An d notice : He does not say, Ye sha ll not, but, Yeca nno t . An d why not ? Because
,i f you were to enter
in, bringing al l your sinful thoughts and desires withyou ; i f a nyth ing were to enter in that d e fi le th , thenheaven would cease to be heaven . Your very presencethere would end i t . The thing i s impossibl e. Youchose to go out of thi s worl d with sin in your heart, sinon your conscience
,sin in your wishes ; and you cannot
come into a place where there i s no sin .
“Where Iam , thither ye cannot come .”
What our Loa n said, that all H i s true servants haveal so said in their generation . The world h a s hatedthem
,reviled them
,cast out their n ames as evil, scoffed
at them , imprisoned many, tortured many while theywere alive but no sooner were they gone
,than men’ s
minds have changed,and they have mourned and grieved
for those when dead,whom they have abhorred a nd
despised while l iving. Ye shal l seek Me , but ye shal lnot fi n d Me .
” “They enter into peace, they rest i ntheir beds
,each one wa lking in his uprightness .” They
are safe,where no one can reach them, either to hurt
them or to ask their forgiveness .But Go n be praised, i t i s not true of u s who are stil l
al ive,who sti ll h ave the m eans of grace ; i t i s not tru e
that either the Saints of the LORD, or the LORD of Saintswould say
,
“Where I am,thither ye cannot come .
”
Where He i s,we can come . Where they are, we can
come . It may be as much as we can do, but we can comesti ll . CHRI ST went, to Open a way for u s ; the Saints
2 1 6 Wh o ca nno t s ome whe r e Chr is t is . [Se rm .
w ent to show u s how to tread in that way . But thenwe must go by the same way , or we shal l never cometo the same e n d . The question is not whether the roa di s a pleasant one or not ; but whether i t is the rightone . If you happened to be walking to a place whichyou did not know
,and came to a sign -post which
pointed out the way to i t,what should we think of you
if you said,I do n o t like the looks of that road at all ;
I shal l try the other . To be sure, i t leads j ust theopposite way ; but then i t is so pleasant .Therefore
,thi s i s what CHRI ST says to you
,—this i s
what the Saints of CHRI ST say to you,—“Where I am ,
thither ye cannot come,” un less ye come by the way
we wen t .An d that i s not all . Suppose at that sign-post you
took the right way,but then sat down to rest by the
road- side ; would you be a ny nearer to it for al l thatyou had chosen th e right turnin g ? Therefore CHRI S Tsays to you, “Where I am , thither ye cannot come :
”
therefore the Saints sav,Where we are
, ye cannot comeunless you g o as we wen t . An d how was that ? Idlyand leisurely ? Le t S . Paul tel l you : “ This o n e thingI do
,forgetting those things which are behind
,and
reaching forth un to those which are before,I press
toward the mark , if by a ny me a ns I may a tta in . Ifby any means ! It by a ny mean s ! What a mournfulsaying that i s ! An d ho w well i t proves that we mustuse all mean s
,i f we really mean to reach that blessed
place whither our SAV IOUR CHRI S T i s gon e before .Th e Saint of this day, Ma chu tu s , or Malo, as he i s
gen eral ly called,might well have said this text to the
men of his day . He l ived abou t thirteen hundred yearsago in a wild part of France cal led Brittany . There
S E R M O N X X X V I I .
THE GOODLINESS OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH.
9 . iéugh. fi ohemher 1 7 .
How GOODLY ABE THY TENTS,O JACOB, AND THY TABERNACLES, O
ISRAEL !” —NUMBERS XXIV . 5 .
I SPEAK to you with great pleasure of a ny saint ; but Iconfess
,I have greater pleasure than usual when
,as
n ow, it i s an English Saint, l ike the great and good
Bishop of Lincoln, Hugh , whose day th is i s . Fo r
though we are part of one and the same army in whichal l the servants of Go o have always fought,—though ,we have al l one great enemy
,th e Devil , and one
Prince,the Captain of our Salvation , JE SU S CHRI S T,
yet English Saints, so to speak, are in the same regiment with ourselves . W e have a more particularinterest in them : they have also, Go n be thanked , am ore particular in terest in u s . You m ay have heardof the English General
,who
,when part of his army
wa s very h a rdly pressed by the French,rode u p, and
said,
“ Soldiers,you must never be beat
,or what wil l
they say in England Something of the same sort Imight say to you . These Sain ts of our own countryare look ing down u pon a s, watching how we bear theburden and heat of the day
,helping u s as GOD com
Se rm . XXXVII .) The g o o d lin e ss, 850 . 2 19
m ands or allows them . Shall we be beaten in thebattle in which they conquered ? Why should we ?
Did they fi n d i t easy ? Did they think i t a pleasantthing to renounce the devil and al l his works
,and
constantly to obey Gon’ s commandments ? Indeednot . S . Paul (and I h0 pe he knew how Saints feel
,)found i t so extremely hard
,that he cried out
,
“ Oh
wretched man that I am,who sh a l l del iver me from
the body of this death So I come again to whatthat General said : Soldiers, we must never be beat,or what will they say
—they,our best
,true friends
,
our own friends,our own countrymen
,our own Saints .
Or if you would rather hear the words of an Apostl ethan of a General : “ wherefore
,seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let u s lay aside every weight, and the s in which dothso easily beset u s
,looking unto JBSUS , the Author and
Finisher of our Faith .
”
I read you the text,because I was thinking of the
glory of our own Church . How goodly are thy tents,
0 Jacob and thy tabernacles,O Isra el This place ,
this college i s one of those tents . It i s goodly i n itself.It was set up for Gon ’ s glory ; i t was intended to helpforward His Church : and whatever hindrances or drawbacks there are to this
,the fault i s in ourselves .
N either thi s, nor any other help can force you to besaved
,whether yo u will or not . A man may go to hell
from a Col lege as easily as if he had never heard theName of CHRI S T nay
,and a great deal more easily be
cause to whomsoever much i s given , of him shall b emuch required .
” But ye t this Church to which webelong
,does what she can to save her children . If yo u
could see what at this time she i s doing ; how manynew churches are being built how many places for the
220 The g o o d lin e ss of the Eng lish Chur ch . [Se rm .
poor, an d sick, and sinful how many persons,women
m ore especially,are giving themselves up altogether to
the service of GOD,to teach the i gnoran t
,to n urse the
feeble, to go into dens of wickedn ess, a nd fi gh t th e Devi lon his own groun d ; if you cou ld see how weak helplesswomen go into infamous streets and al leys, where thepoli ce only ven ture in a good strong party ; i f you couldknow these things
,then
,I think
,you would be ready
to say, How goodly are thy ten ts,O Ja cob ! and thy
tabernacles,O Israel l” I will tel l you what has been
don e to-day,what is
,perhaps
,going on at this momen t .
There i s a large meetin g in London , where the Archbishop of Canterbury is in the chair
,for sen din g out
fou r new Bishops into the dark places of the earth .
O n e of them,more especial ly
,i s to go to a country of
which you al l kn ow something . You have al l heard ofthe Gold diggin gs in Australia . VV e ll,—there, wheremen seem to forget that they came in to this world fora ny other purpose than to heap u p money,—where theyare wholly given to i dol atry
,not of images
,but o fgold
,
—a Bishop wil l go forth , to proclaim to them,What
shall i t pr o fi t a man, if h e shall gain the whole world,and lose his o wn soul - to tel l them of that trueW i sdom
,of which Jo b says, Th e gold and the crystal
can n ot equal i t,an d th e exchange of it shall not be for
j ewel s of fi n e g old . No mention shall be made of coraland of pearls, for the price ofW isdom is above rubies .
”
But all thi s i s of no use to you, all this can be nopleasure to you unless you, each i n your part and a o
cordin g to your power,fi gh t the same battle with the
D evil,in which the whole Church is engaged . Th e
Church fi gh t in g with Satan : there i s no doubt whichwil l con quer then . Upon this rock I will build My
S E R M O N XXXV l l l .
THE DEATH OF A GREAT MAN .
9 . QEUntunU, fl ing an‘
uMartyr. fi ohemher 20.
“AND THE KING SAID TO HIS SERVANTS, Know YE NOT THAT THEREIS A PRINCE AND A GREAT MAN FALLEN THIS DAY i n ISRAEL P”2 SAM . II I . 38.
LAST Thursday,as you all know
,the people of England
gave such a funeral as h a s perhaps never been seen before, to their greatest General . You have heard, or read,how for three long miles the streets of London werelined with a crowd that could not be counted how soldiers
,and m usi c, and prin ces, and chiefs, a nd migh ty
men went before the coffi n how the coflin i tself, drawnby twelve black horses
,roll ed on in a brazen carriage,
hung with the d ags and banners that this great Generalhad won for himself
,or that had been given to him by
kings as the reward of his bravery h ow with the soundof trumpets and drums the processi o n passed along toS . Paul’s ; ho w there, after ashes had been committedto ashes
,and dust to dust
,a herald proclaimed the
titles,the many titles of the Duke of W ellington ; and
then all was over . To -day the coffin lies i n the cold ,
Se rm . XXXV IIIJ The d e a th of a g r e a t ma n . 223
gloomy vault of S . Paul ’s there are no guards to watchi t there there are no fla gs to wave above it n ow . The
worm is Spread over i t,and the worms cover i t . Th e
one question to the great Duke n ow i s , not h o w manybattles he wo n
,—not h ow many banners he obtain ed ,
but whether h e died in gra ce or out of grace whether,as we may piously 11 0 1)e , he wil l fi nd mercy of the LORDin that day .
Th e HOLY GHOST tell s u s that the fashion of thisworl d passeth away .
” W e can hardly ever have agreater proof of thi s than that which we have n ow had .
All those crowds that two days ago blocked up thestreets of London
,are gon e ; the scaffoldings and the
hangings are taken down the whole pomp has passedaway like a tale that i s told an other week, and peoplewill begin to be tired of the subj ect : the fashion ofthis world passeth away .
”
A thousand years hence,i f the worl d lasts so long
,
who do you suppose will care that, on the 1 8th of No
vem be r, 1 852, they buried th e Duke ofW ellington with
all the honours and glories of this world ? W i l l anyPriest then gather his people together, and tel l them ofthe Duke and his doings ? Most surely not .An d n o w see the difference . Nearly a thousand
years a go there reign ed a King in England, by nameEdmund . His kingdom
,which was Norfolk and Suf
folk,was attacked by the Danes
,at that time a cruel
heathen nation . His own army was too weak to resist .He wa s not a great general he fel t that he could notconquer after the man ner of warriors . He dispersedh is soldiers
,and resolved to conquer in another manner
,
namely,that of Martyrs . He was taken, and carried
before the Danish king, by name Hing ua r . Hingu a r
224 The d e a th of a g r e a t ma n . [Se rm .
offered him not only his life,but his kingdom
,i f he
would den y CHRI S T . Edmun d steadfastly refused, saving
,How can I do this wickedness a n d s in against th e
Loa n 7” Th e Danes tied him to a tree,and scourged
him cruelly, an d fi n a lly shot him to death with arrows .An d so he obtained a Victory that no earthly power ca ntake away from him ; a n d a crown which wil l not bed im for ever .
An d thus see ho w GOD,even in this world
,makes
good His promise : Them that honour Me I wil lhonour .
” Here,a thousand years after his time
,the
name of Edmund i s recorded by the Church from thentill n ow , not in Englan d only
,but in other parts of the
world,services have been held in his honour . He i s
honoured,not for havin g conquered his enemies
,but
for havin g overcome himself. He had not,i t i s true
,a
funeral full of pomp,and followed by crowds
,which was
a day ’ s wonder, and then was forgotten ; but they builta glorious Church—one of the largest in England—overhis remains ; and the city where he awaits the Lo nn ’
s
Second Coming takes its name from him,and i s cal led
from him S . Edmu nd sbu ry, in Suffolk .
An d a curious thing was l ately foun d out about hisMartyrdom . In a wood in Suffolk stood, two yearsago
,a very old oak tree
,which i s said to be the same to
which 8 . Edmund had been bound . It wa s blown downby a high wind ; and when they came to sa w i t up, theyfound in i t a n arrow, over which the wood and barkhad grown . Thus the belief that this was the same treewas proved to be true . An d the end of the history wa s
,
I believe,this . A t tha t time a Priest
,whom I knew
,
was building a Church which was to be dedicated to S .
Edmund : when he heard of this tree, he bought i t, and
226 The d e a th ofa g r e a t ma n . [Se rm .
l ike Edmund, a King and a Martyr, to have thus trodin H is steps Wh o i s th e King of kings, as wel l as theMartyr of martyrs . An d thi s may be one meaningof that verse in the Revelation
,where S . John, after
describing to u s that Holy C ity, New Jerusalem,tells
u s, that the nations of them which are saved sh al lwalk in the light of i t ; and the kings of the earth d obring their glory and honour into i t .” No t , be sure,th eir earthly glory, their gold and silver, and preciousstones ; for what could a city whose light i s like a ston emost precious
,even l ike a j asper stone
,need with such
riches as these ? No but the kin gs of the earth whodid or who suffered great things for CHR I ST’ S N ame’ ssake, who despised the good things of the world, whochose rather to suffer afflictio n with the people of Go o ,than to enj oy the pl easures of sin for a season
,—these
shall bring this,their true honour and glory
,to that
blessed place,and ascribe them to HimWho gave them
grace to do a l l these thin gs .But
,blessed be GO 1)
,it i s not kings only
,nor kings
ch i efly, who can enter in there . S . James teaches u sdifferently . Hath not GOD chosen the poor of thi sworld rich in faith , and heirs of the kingdom which Hehath promised to them that love Him To that kin gdom He would have a l l—the poorest of you—n ow come,that He may set you with the princes, even with theprinces of His people . It does not need wealth orhonour
,or learnin g
,to enter into that kingdom . It
came to pass th at the beggar died,and was carried by
th e an gels into Abraham ’ s bosom .
”Ou r Loa n Him
self was never called a King,except in the hour of H is
Passion but poor He was indeed,and poor
,over an d
over again,He was called . An d to poor men it was
XXXVIII.] The d e a th ofa g r e a t ma n . 227
that He said,In My FATHER
’ S house are many mansions i f i t were not so , I would have told you . I goto prepare a place for you .
”
Only let a s,by His grace
,do our duty in that station
of life in which He has placed a s here,and the time
wi l l come when we shal l walk in the same light, andj oin in the same song as His servants, whether kingsor poor men
,that have gone before u s, and shall reign
with them for ever and ever .Which Go o grant, for JESUS Ca a i s 'r ’s sake : t o
Whom with the FATHER and the HOLY Gn o sr,be all
honour and glory for ever and ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X X X I X .
WHAT SORT OF MUSIC THE OLD CAN MAKE .
9 . QIeeiIia . fi ohember 22 .
“AND WHEN JEHOSHAPHAT HAD CONSULTED WITH THE PEOPLE HE
APPOINTED S INGERS m o THE LORD, AND THAT SHOULD PRAISETHE BEAUTY o r HOLINESS, As THEY WENT o u r BEFORE THE ARMY,AND TO SAY, PRAISE THE LORD ; FOR HIS MERCY ENDURETH r o e
EVER.
”—2 Ca non . xx . 21 .
IF I were speaking to -day to young persons, I shouldhave no d iffi cu lty in knowing what to say . All thatwe are told of S . Ceci lia i s that she was a Roman ladywho had great skil l in music
,and who suffered Martyr
dom about one hundred and seventy-six years after ourLoa n ’ s birth . Sh e i s generally sai d to have inventedthe organ , and her d ay has been always observed bymusicians
,and is chosen for the performan ce of fi n e
pieces of musi c . If I were therefore Speaking to th eyoung, I should remind them of the special honourwhich Go n , from the very beginning, has been pleasedto put o n music ; how He has hallowed i t to Himsel fand to His o wn service and how therefore every one
,
to the utmost of his power, ought to exercise h imselfin i t how every one that can sing ought to sing in
230 Wha t sor t ofmus ic the o ld ca n make . [Sem
But this j oy,of which S . Pau l speaks, means that
state of mind which i s exactly Opposite to discontent .Just as some people always see the worst side of everything ; are sure, as the proverb says, to fi n d a hole, i fthere be one ; seem to delight in turning away fromthe blessings which GOD gives them to the trials He
sends them,—so thi s great Christian grace l eads the
man who has it to make the best of everything to sayin som e words which I happened to be reading theother day
,
Th e go o d which my GOD sha ll be ple a se d t o be stowI g ra teful ly ga the r an d pri z e
Th e e vi l, -it ca n be n o e vil, I kn ow,Bu t on ly a go o d in d i sgu i se .
Those who h ave this grace feel that,whatever Gon
sends them of good,i s al l of H is free bounty
,because
they have deserved nothing whereas all that He sendsthem of evi l is l ess than their sins have merited . Theysay as Jo h, What ! shall we receive good at the handof GOD, and shall we not receive evil An d withJe r em iah , It i s of the Loa n ’ s mercies that we are notcon sumed : because His compassions fai l not .”
Now we know to a proverb that old peopl e aregeneral ly discontented and complaining . I do not saythis of you particularly
,for I think that you are less so
than most and some among you have oft en struck meby their conten t and cheerfulness under suffering andwant . But sti ll thi s i s one of the besetting sins of oldage ; and it i s natural that i t should be so . It i s notpleasant to be obliged to give up what we were onceab le to do . It i s not pleasant to feel our health growi n g worse, and our strength becoming feebler ; and tosee those whom we remember young growing up and
XXXIX .] Wha t s or t ofmus ic the o ld ca n ma ke . 23 1
taking our pl aces,and pushing u s out of them . Depend
upon i t,i t requires a great deal of grace to be able to
say cheerful ly of any one,what S . John Baptist said of
o ur LORD,He must increase, but I must decrease .
Al l these things,then are likely to make you dis
contented,and if by GOD s grace you can show content
an d cheerfulness notwithstanding,then you wil l be
making music in your hearts which He cares for, andwill reward
,far more than if you could sing with your
l ips the fi n e s t music that ever was d evised,—than if youcould sing w ith the tongues of men and of angels,” asS. Paul says .And this i s a kind of temptation wh ich comes upon
u s, we hardly know h ow . There a r e some, I believe,
who real ly are thankful to Go v for His mercies ; whofeel
,as well as know, that He has not Visited them after
their sins,nor rewarded them according to their iniqui
ties ; but who yet have such a miserable, melancholy,discontented way of speaking, that, i f we were to j udgethem by that on ly
,we should think that they did n o t
know the meaning of thankfulness . W e may be surethat one great means of feeling thankful in trouble i sspeaking cheerfully about i t ; setting ourselves to fi n dout the good things which come along with i t ; comparing ourselves not with those who are better off, butw i th those who are worse off, than we are . There i s akind of holy cl everness
,if I may use th e word, in fi n d
ing out these things and i t i s a kind which the dullestperson may practi se . I say again
,these cheerful words
and these cheerful thoughts are pleasanter sounds inGon’ s ear, than the most ravishin g music ever made onearth—sweeter to Him than even that which S . Ceciliamade in His service .
232 Wha t s or t ofmus ic the o ld ca n make [Se rm .
An d then comes the happy thought that,i f we by
Gon’ s grace show this holy j oy here,the time wil l come
when we shall enter into that pl ace where music wil l beone of our great delights . Think how much we read ofi t in the book of Revelation—of harpers harping withtheir harps, of the N ew Song that none can learn savethe one hundred an d forty-four thousand that are r e
deemed from the earth—th e Song of Moses and of th eLamb . Then we shall hn d our tongues that could no tprai se GOD here as we wished
,u nloosed to sing to Him
as the angels : according to that prophecy of Isaiah,the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speakplainly .
”Some of the words that they sing in heaven
we know even n ow . The song of th e Elders roundabout th e Throne is this : “W e give Thee thanks, 0Loa n Go o Almighty, W hich art, and wast, and art tocome
,because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great
power,and hast reigned .
” Th e Song ofMoses and theLamb is, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Loa nGOD Almighty ; j ust and true are Thy ways, Thou Kingof Saints .”
But if we would sing the Song of Moses and theLamb there, we m ust do the work s of Moses and theLamb h ere . OfMoses we read, the man Moses wasver y meek , above all th e men which were upon the faceof the earth and the Lamb of GOD would have u s, asfar as we can be , in this world, l ike H imself, “ holy,harmless
,u n d e fi le d , separate from sinners .”
These gloomy November nights seem almost sent tomake u s lon g for that blessed country, where we shallsee no more death and decay such as w e n ow seeeverywhere ; where we shal l no m ore have the melancho ly noise of the wind, and the thick clouds, and the
S E R M O N XL.
THE SEA GIVING UP HER DEAD .
5 . «Ilement . fi obemher 23 .
“ANOTHER BOOK WAS OPENED, WHICH IS THE Bo on o r LIFE : ANDTHE SEA GAVE UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE m IT.
”—REV . xx . 1 2 , 1 3 .
I CAN tel l you one name that was wr i tten in that Bookof Life . S. Clement, whose memory we keep to-day,was told, whil e he was yet i n thi s world , that his namewas there . S . Paul says in the Epistl e to the Philippians, Clement
,and other my fellow-l abourers, whose
names are in the Book of Life . Oth ers of Gon ’ s servants have gone o n hOpin g and fearing, strugglingand mournin g, lest, as S . Paul says, “ after they hadpreached to others
,they themselves should be cast
away .
” W ith 8 . Cl ement i t was not so . Th e HOLYGHOST, That cannot l ie, assured him that he should besaved .
An d next to the Apostles,he was one of the greatest
Saints of the early Church . He wrote two Epistles tothe Corinthi ans
,which for many years were read as a
part of the B ibl e . After he had for some time beenBishop of Rome
,he was banished into a wild and
savage country,which we n ow cal l Georgia, and there
Se rm . XL ] The s e a g iving up he r de a d . 235
he preached CHRI ST to the barbarians . At l en gt h , hewas taken by the offi ce r s of the Emperor, and throwninto the sea, with an anchor round hi s neck : and thushe fi n ish e d his course with j oy. He i s therefore paintedwith an anchor ; and the ch arity boys of S . ClementDanes church in London have an anchor on thei rbuttons .But n ow th ink : suppose it were told a s by the HOLY
GHOS T, as it was tol d S . Clement, that we should cert a in ly be saved, should we not be apt to grow carelessat once ? Should we not say
,It matters not what I do,
or what I leave undone,I shall get to heaven at last,
and so I will take my fi ll of this world’ s pleasures now ?
I am afraid we should . An d i t shows the great love toG0 1) that was in the heart of this bl essed Saint, thatthough he was sure of the prize at the end
,still he went
on labouring for i t,stil l he wen t on fi ght in g for it , and
at last he laid down his life that he might obtain it .
No ; i t i s a merciful thing for u s not to be told it ,though our name should be in the Book of Life . An d
think what a book that must be , in which are writtenthe names of all Gon ’ s true servants, from righteou sAbel, d own to the last infant that shall be baptizedbefore the Judgm e n t Day ! Think h ow, i f we coul d beshown it
,we should tremble with exceeding great
trembling,as we turned over its leaves
,to see whether
our names were written there or n o t ! That we shal ln ever know for certain
,while we remain in the fle sh .
But,by the grace of the HOLY GHOST, we m ay go o n ,
making our salvation more and more sure so that,at
last, when we are called to go out of th e world, we mayhave a strong consolation
,an assured h0pe, that we
shall not be cast out .
236 The s e a g iving up he r d e a d . [Se rm .
Se e n ow how the Devil, who delights in spoiling allGon ’s works, brings death and s in out of this veryBook of Li fe . He has taught some wicked persons tosay thus : Go n knows at this moment whether I am
to be saved or not . If I am to be saved,nothing can
hinder me : i f I am not to be saved,nothing ca n help
me . If I am to be saved,I shal l b e saved
,do what I
w ill : and if I am to be damned,I shall b e damned
,do
what I can . You must al l know that there aremanypeople who say, and who teach this ; and there arem any, n ow in hell, who might have been saved, but forbelieving it .How i s th e truth then ? Why, thi s . W e must be
l ieve both things . It is certain that GOD has a Bookof Life
,in which a ll those who are to be saved are
written down : and yet it i s also certain that any ofyo u may be saved who will . Perhaps no man can fullyu nderstand how both these th ings can be true together .Ever since the beginning of the Church , there havebeen bitter disputes about this
,and there have been
fearful mistakes on both sides . It i s enough for you tobelieve this fi rm ly ; that G0 1) wills you and every manto be saved that GOD gives you and every baptizedperson grace suffi cie n t to be saved that you and everyone else may be saved
,i f yo u will that i f you do will,
and go on persevering to the end, then your names wil lbe found in the Lamb’ s Book of Life but if you don o t will, or do not go on wil ling to the end, then theywi l l not be found there . An d S . John tell s u s whatwill fol low And whosoever was not found written inthe Book of Li fe, was cast into the l ake of fi r e .
”
This i s enough for u s to know ; and we may leaveothers to dispute how this can be , or how that can be .
238 The se a g iving up he r d e a d . [Se rm . XL.
teeth, hair, all are safe. How can these things be ?“ Thou fool, that which thou sowest i s not quickenedexcept i t di e .
And consider this . When, in spring, we have fi n ewarm weather, and we say that i t wil l bring t hings forward
,what do we mean ? Why, that i t wil l cause the
seeds we have sown to decay more quickly, the younggreen shoots to burst from the poor worn-out husk, ti l lthe plant comes up in al l its beauty . An d , in l ikem anner, al l the changes of this world are bringing forward the bodies that have been sown in i t
,to what
they will be . Every summer, every winter makes themnearer to their l ast glorious change . They d ecay moreand more thoroughly they become a littl e dust, thedust changes to something else ; and so
,from one
change to another,ti ll
,
“ in a moment, in the twinklingof an eye
,the trumpet shall sound
,and this corruptible
must put on incorruption,and this mortal must put on
immortal ity .
”
When I was away from you last year, I came to awide burial ground
,with a great gate that led into it
and over the gate, in large letters, were written thesewords SE ED, SOWN BY Go o
,fr o R IPEN IN THE DAY
o r SHE AV E S .” An d so indeed it i s .The dead i n CHR I ST ,” says S . Paul
,
“ shall risefi r st An d no marvel that S. John says
,
“ Blessedand holy i s he that hath part in the fi r st Resurrection .
”
In that S . Clement wil l have a portion and Go n grantthat we may al so !And n ow to Go n the FATHER, Gon the SON, and
G0 1) th e HOLY Gn o s r , be all honour and glory forever . Amen .
S E R M O N XL I.
THE WEAK THINGS OF THIS WORLD CONFOUND
ING THE WISE .
5 . fi a ther ine . fi ohemher 25 .
“THE FEAR o n THE Lo a n IS THE BEGINN ING o r wi snom.
PBOVERBS i x . 1 0.
IT i s not a lways, no nor often , that we know mostabout the principal Saints of the Church . Even aboutmost of the Apostles, those who, at the last d ay, shal lsit u pon twelve thrones
,j udging kindreds, and nations,
and people, we are told very littl e,either by Holy
Scripture, or by the Church . An d so i t i s w ith theSaint of thi s day . No Martyr has been more famousthan S . Katherine ; but we hardly know anything thati s certain about her . The stories which we read of hermay be true, and are very beautiful ; but they were noth eard of ti ll n early a thousand years after her death .
Therefore we cannot feel at all sure of them ; but stil l,there i s much that we may learn from them .
It i s said,then
,that S . Katherine l ived in Egypt ;
that she was very rich and very learned and that theheathen Emperor wished to make her his wife. Sh e
240 The we ak thing s of this wor ld . [Sen a
refused to listen to him again and again,and at length
b e determined to prove to her that the faith of ourLoa n JB SU S CHRI S T
,of which she spoke so much
,was
false ; so he gathered together fi fty of the wisest menof Egypt
,and bade them dispute with her . But it was
with her,as we r ead in the Acts that it was with 8 .
Stephen they were not able to resist the wisdomand the spirit by which she spake .” W hen the Empe r o r saw that the wise men were put to shame, hegrew very furious
,and commanded that Katherine should
be torn to pieces by a wheel, on which were fastenedknives and saws . Just as she was about to be boundto i t
,she prayed that she m ight b e delivered from so
cruel a death . Then the lightning of Go o fel l, anddashed the wheel to pieces ; and the Emperor comm e nded that her head should be struck off with asword . Then, i t i s said, the angel s carried her body toMount Sinai, and buried i t there .
It i s in remembrance of the burning of this wh eelth at those fi r ewo rks , which we call Katherine-wheels,are made . An d we here often mention the name ofthis Saint, when we are littl e thinking of her for theproper name of Cu t to n ’
s Hill, as we n ow call i t,i s S .
Katherine’ s H il l ; I suppose, because there was once achapel there cal led S . Katherine’ s Chapel .Because of S . Katherine’s great w isdom ,
and heroverthrowing the fi fty wise men, she i s general ly calledthe Patron Saint of scholars . Yet i t i s not generallyth e wise of this world, any more than the rich of thisworld
,whom GOD has chosen to do Him service . It
should be to the comfort of most of you, that that statei n which GOD has been pleased to place you is the samestate in which the blessed Apostles were . When they
242 The we ak th ing s of this wor ld . [Se rm .
with this proud heathen,a poor old labourer stood up
in the midst,and said
,Philo s0ph e r ! I myself wil l
dispute with you l” Man y of the Christians were veryunwilling
,fearing that the poor old man might be put
to shame : but the B ishops had more faith in G0 1), andtold the labourer to go o n .
W el l,then,” he said , O philosopher
,I will begin ;
you shall an swer, and if you cannot answer, you shallconfess that you are beaten . W i l l youThe philosopher laughed the old m a n to scorn
,and
said,Yes .”
Then,” th e labourer said, l isten to me. Philos0pher, there i s but on e GOD, Wh o hath made heavenand earth
,and all that therein i s ; and one LORD JE SU S
CHRI S T, His on ly SON, our Loa n ; and one HOLY GHOST ,Who comforteth u s . You believe that there are manygods
,made of wood and stone, that are to be worshipped .
Tel l me why you say this ? But fi r s t,in th e N ame of
our Loa n JE SUS CHRI S T, I command thee to be dumb.
Now answer 1”
Th e tongue of the ph ilosopher clave to the roof ofhis mouth
,and he slunk away
,put to shame by a poor
labourer . Thus you see how much better and strongerfaith i s than learning .
But,indeed
,i t i s not by reading much, or being
learned according to this wor ld’ s account,that we know
best what i s the wil l of Go o ; or become, as the Apostlesays
,wise unto salvation .
”O n e of the greatest Saints
and the most learned men that ever l ived, when he wasasked h ow h e came by al l his marvellous wisdom, pointedto a Cross that stood by ; as much as to s ay that i t wasby thinking o n that, by following that, that he becamewhat he was . Ou r Loa n Himself has taught u s that,
XLI .] The we a k thing s of this wo r ld . 243
i f any man will do His will,he shall know of th e
doctrin e :” that i s,i f we act u p to the light we have ,
He will give u s more light ; whereas, i f we do not u s ewhat we have
,we shal l not only have no more, but that
we have shall be taken away . Many of yo u have trave ll e d by the railway
,and have gone throu gh a tunnel .
You may have noticed what I am going to tell you ; i fnot
,notice i t next time . When you are in the thick
d arkness of a tunnel,the only light you can see is the
glimmer of the lamps on the wall s of that tunnel . Youexpect the l ight of day again you watch earnestly fori t ; and where do you see i t fi r st ? N o t in the thickestpart of the darkness
,but in the l amp- l igh t : the l amp
l igh ts al l begin to look white,before yo u see - the l eas t
ch ange in the black darkness el sewhere .
That l amp is the conscience ; and those who makegood use of thei r conscience wil l be the fi r st to get thelight of Gon ’ s wisdom in any d iffi cul ty or danger thatthey m ay have to meet .So many ways GOD gives u s al l of pleasing Him so
m any ways He gives u s all of working out our ow n salvation ! He lets no state in this world be shut out fromi t . You who are poor
, He call s because you are pooryou who are unlearned
, He cal ls because you are u n
l earned . That text has to do with you,
“ Go o hathchosen the foolish things of the world to confou nd thewise .
” Who i s wiser and craftier than the devi l ? ThenGon has chosen you to confound him
,to conquer him
,to
trample upon him,to be more than conqueror through
H im that loved you . Again : “ Go o hath chosen theweak things of this world to confound the things thatare mighty .
” What can be stronger than the corruption of o ur nature ? Then GOD cal ls u s to conquer i t
,
244 Th e we ak thing s of this wo r ld . [Se rm . XLI.
as our Prayer Book speaks, to crucify the o ld man ,and utterly abolish the whole body of sin .
And think of this —such as were like you, such ash ave l ived here among you, and have departed in Gon’ sfaith an d fear, now know more than the wisest and mostl earned men on this earth . The d iffi cu l t i e s that puzzleu s are no d iffi cu l t i e s to them the many things whichhere we shal l never know are clearer than light to them .
Now,
” as 8 . Paul says, we know in part but therethey know even as they are known .
GOD grant u s so to know Him in this l ife, that in thel ife to come we may know a ll things for JE SU S CHRIs 'r ’
s
sake toWhom, with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOS T,be al l honour and glory for ever. Amen .
246 Unknown Sa ints . (Sem i .
ings, thei r constancy , their d eath , are known onlyto Go v .
An d so i t is,and i t must be , with respect to the
greatest number of those who are the followers ofCHRI ST . N either n o w
,nor h ereafter
,wil l they be
famous in the history of the Church . Just as in abattle , we know nothing of the names of the soldierswho fought
,and who conquered all we hear i s wh o
the general s were so it i s in that great struggle whichthe Church is n ow carrying o n ; and to the end of theworld wil l be carrying o n
,against th e d evi l and al l hi s
powers . W e know nothing of those thousands of trueChristians who help o n this battle by their prayers an dtheir holy l ives . Only those who have the chief postsare known to men
,those who by learning
,or courage,
or talents,are able to do the chief service to GOD. But
remember thi s : i n every battle,i t i s after al l the
soldiers, and not the generals, who w in i t . In th ebattle between the Church and the devil
,i t i s the
meane r and humbler children of the Church who dothe most fo r Go o . The hearty, earnes t cry of a poorman , before he goes out to his day ’ s work, i s as acceptable to CHRI S T as the longer prayers of those whohave more time for prayer . It i s not the length or thelearning of the prayer that He looks a t , bu t i ts faithand its earnestness .An d n ow think
,when we say of any, the meanest of
Gon ’s servants, o n his depar ture out of thi s world, that
we believe him to be happy,that we cannot doubt of
his salvation, how much we tell of h is history . Lookback to the long line of those who
,from the foundation
of this Coll ege,have lived and died where you n ow l ive
,
and where you h0pe to die . O u t of those hundreds,
XLII .] Unknown Sa in ts . 24 7
h ow many must there be who are n ow safe in ParadiseThink then
,in these same walls where we n ow are
,
ho w many victories there have been against temptation ,ho w much patience under suffering
,how much sorrow
for sin, ho w many resolutions with Gon ’ s help to r e
nounce the devi l and all his works ! Probably, nayalmost certainly, there i s not a singl e room of al l therooms we live in
,from which
,at some time or other
,a
Christian soul has not departed to Paradise . Thisought to be a check on all of u s
,when we are tempted
to do evil . How can I do this wickedness, and sinagainst the LORD here ? here
,where in past times,
some one of Gon ’ s servants h a s fal len asleep ; here,where the Angels then were
,ready to carry his soul into
Abraham’ s bosom here,where he fi rst beheld
,how
ever dimly and indistinctly,the glory of GOD
,and JBSU S
standing at the right hand of Go o to help h im in thata gony of death ? here
,where death fi r st began to have
dominion over h is body,sown in corruption
,that it
might be raised in incorruption ? h ere,where that say
ing has been fu lfi lle d , “ Blessed —and oh,who shall
tell h o w blessed l are the dead which die in theLoa n .
”
But what , i f I were to remind you of the otherthought which might weigh with u s when the devi lwould lead u s to sin ? As these rooms have seen someblessed departures —Go n grant they may have beenm any , and the more they have been, or shall be , themore His Name be bl e sse d l—so h ow can we doubtthat some
,at least
,of those who have formerly lived in
them departed from them out o f grace, and are nowawaiting the resurrection of damnation If our Loa n ’ swords are true
,so it must have been ; for He says,
248 Unknown Sa ints . [Se rm .
Strait i s th e gate, and narrow i s th e way which l eadethu nto life and few there be that fi nd it .
”So again,
each of you may ask yourselves, How can I sin here ?here
,where the time has been that a man would have
given untold wealth for one hour’ s space of repentance,and found i t not ; where he has uttered that exceedingbitter cry
,The harvest i s past
,th e summer i s ended
,
and we are not saved where he has seen that Ca n i s 'r ’s
Blood had no longer a ny power to s ave h im ,the HOLY
GHOST no longer any wil l to strive with him ; whenthe Church h a s no lon ger been able to intercede forh im
,when h e has fel t h imself shut out from all Chris
tian men,from all good Angels, from al l sight and
comfort of GOD, from al l ligh t, and from all h0 pe, whendevil s have taken his soul
,and carried i t away to dwell
with them for ever,a nd for ever
,and for ever ! This
i s no fan cy . These things have happened a gain anda gain ; have happened here again and again ; havehappened where we go on sinn ing and repenting, r epenting a nd sinning, again and again . Even i n hell
,
those who are lost keep some of their earthly feelings,
at least at fi r s t they do we kn ow i t from the parableof the rich m a n and Lazarus . What do you thinkthat they who once dwelt in this place, but who n ow
dwell where the smoke of their torment goeth up forever and ever
,would say
,when they see you, thei r
successors,rushin g into sin
,and going headlong to the
same place that i s prepared for them ? “Tel l them,
”
they would say,that for one morsel of meat we sold
our birthright ; th at we found no place of repentan ce,though we sought i t carefully with tears . Ask them
,
w ho amon g them can dwel l with the devourin g fi r e ?
who among them can dwel l with everlast ing burning ?
250 Unkn own Sa in ts . [Se rm . XLII .
They would indeed . An d th e time will come whenthese servants of GOD
,of whom
,a s of the Martyr of
thi s day, we know nothing n ow,shall be known by all .
The poor shall not always be forgotten . GOI), Wh oh a s their names written in the book of life, will one dayproclaim them to men and Angels . An d in the meantime, we are knit together with them in one commu
n ion and fellowsh i p . I wil l tel l you how a poet of ouro wn speaks
Bu t cou ld w e lay th e bo dy by ,An d wa sh o u r ey e sight cle a n ,
The n lo o k in to th e bo u n d le ss sky,How d iffe re n t ’
two u ld be se e n !Wh a t n ow i s vo id a n d s ile n t spa ce ,W e re full a n d vo ca l the n
It s habit an t s a he a v e n ly ra ce ,Tho u gh o n ce o u r fe llo w-m e n .
An d n ow to Go v the FATHER, Go o the SON, andGo n the HOLY GHOS T, be all honour and glory forever. Amen .
S E R M O N X L I I I .
THE BUSH THAT BURNED, AND WAS NOT BURNT.
dionceptiou of the iBIet seU V irgin Mary. fi ee. 8.
AND THE ANGEL OF THE Lo a n APPEARED UNTO Mo se s IN A FLAMEo r FIRE o u r o n THE M IDST o r A BUSH. AND HE LOOKED, AND
BEHOLD, THE BUSH BURNED WITH FIRE,AND THE BUSH WAS no r
CONSUMED .
”—Exon u s I II . 2 .
I HAV E often told you, that it i s hardly possible toOpen a page of the Old Testament without fi n d in g somestriking type of our Loa n . In like manner
,here and
there His Blessed Mother,Sain t Mary
,i s al so set forth
to u s . Now to-day,when the Church would have u s
remember her,whom all generations shal l cal l B lessed,
we cannot do better than to think over one of thesetypes . It has always been a favourite one with theservants of GOD ; and sets forth most plain ly to u s ho wour Loa n
, Who was begotten of the FATHER before al lworlds, was never theless born in these latter t imes ofa pure V irgin .
Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-inlaw
,th e Priest of M idian ; and he led them to a part of
the desert,where it j oined Mount Horeb . We are not
252 The Bush tha t bur ne d,n o t bur n t . [Se rm .
to imagine that thi s d esert was only a sandy waste . Itwas rather lik e the forest here one grassy hil l beyondanother
,sprinkled over with a few bushes here and
there ; but wild and lon ely, a nd without any dwel lingof man for many miles round . On e of these bushesMoses saw o n fi r e and that in i tself was nothing uncommon . In those hot countries
,th e heat of the sun
n o w and then sets the withered plant al ight,and thus
a cres of grass and shrubs are sometimes burnt up . Butwhen he looked again
,th e bush burned with fire, and
the bush was not consumed : a nd he turned aside, aswel l h e m i ght
,to see thi s great sight . Then it was
that Go n called unto h im out of' the midst of the bush ,and promised to have mercy upon His people Israel .N o w what does all this teach u s ? Just as the bush
held thi s fi re in i tself,without being con sumed , so did
the B lessed V irgin Mary contain in hersel f, j ust as anyother mother
,the GOD W ho i s compared to a con
sum in g fi r e : and ye t she herself wa s not hurt thereby .
It was such a wonder as never had been known beforeand never can be seen again . Th e Word was madeFlesh That GOD should have been an In fant, shouldhave been wrapped in swaddling bands, should havebeen fed as other infants
,should have suffered like
other infants ; thi s i s truly a m i racl e which passes al lour powers of understanding . But yet i t i s even morewonderfu l that GOD should have lain, l ike other infants,i n th e womb of the V i rgin that there He should havetaken to Himself bone of our bone
,and flesh of our
fle sh ; that He Who bears up heaven and earth, shouldhave been thus borne by a V irgin ; that He Wh o i sAlmighty, should have become thus weak ; that He
Who i s from everlasting to everlasting, should have
254 Th e Bush tha t bur n ed , n o t bu r n t . [Se rm .
known . S . Luke expressly tell s u s,
“ JE SUS Himselfbegan to be about thirty years old , being, as was supposed, the So n of Joseph .
”An d as to Moses alon e
was the miracle of the burning bush shown,so to S .
Joseph alon e did GOD m ake known at fi rst the mysteryof our Loa n ’ s taking o u r flesh . Th e Angel sai d untoh im
,Jo s eph , thou son of David, fear not to take unto
thee Mary thy wife : for That which is conceived in h e ri s of th e HOLY GHO ST .
”
Again : th e Bush burnt with fi r e j ust before G0 1)delivered the children of Israel from the cruel slaveryof Pharaoh
,king of Egypt . So our Loa n took u pon
Him our flesh to thi s very end, th at He might deliveru s out of the hand of him of whom Pharaoh was a type,namely
,the devil . If GOD theWORD had never l ain in
the womb, the flesh of man could never have attainedeternal l ife . If Go n had abhorred to enter the V i rgin,man coul d never have hoped to enter heaven . CHRI S T
came to save : but He could only save u s by sufferingfor a s . An d how could both these things be ? Ma n
by himself could not save ; Go n by Himself coul d notsuffer : therefore Gon became Ma n : and in that He
was Go o,He saved ; and in that He wa s Man
,He
suffered . W e see His miracles,and we confess that He
was GOD : we see His sufferin gs,and we acknowledge
that He was Man . He died o n the Cross ; thereforeHe was Ma n . He rai sed Himsel f from the dead ;therefore He was Go n . He was born of a woman ,therefore He was Ma n ; He was born of a V i rgin,therefore He was Go n .
An d i t i s H is Birth to wh ich we are now looking forward . Advent i s nearly half over . An d how are wepreparing ourselves to keep this Christmas ? Our Loa n
XLIII .] The Bush tha t bur n e d , no t bur n t . 255
came to save u s,i f we are wil ling to be saved . If we
would obtain that which He promises, namely, salvation,we must fi r st l ove that which He commands, namely,holiness . He wil l not save the unholy . He will notsave those that cling to sin . He wil l save those onlywho
,amidst much weakness
,and with much sinfulness
,
are trying to tread in H is footsteps . And then,i f we
are trying to be like H im here, S . John says, W e
know that when He shall appear we shal l b e like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is .”
Go n grant i t,for JE SUS CHR I ST’ S sake : to Whom
with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST,be a ll honour
and glory for ever and ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X L I V.
TAKE NO THOUGHT WHAT YE SHALL SPEAK .
5 . limp. iBet emher 1 3 .
BUT WHEN THEY DELIVER YOU UP, TAKE NO THOUGHT HOW o n
WHAT YE SHALL SPEAK : FOR IT SHALL BE G IVEN YOU IN THATSAME HOUR WHAT YE SHALL SPEAK .
”—S. MATT. x . 1 9.
THE text i s fi t t in g fo r the day ; for when S . Lucy wasbrought before the heathen magistrate
,she comforted
herself with this promise . It i s bu t l ittle we know ofwhat she did, or what she suffered, for the sake ofCHRI S T . All we ca n be certain of is this : that it wasin the i sland of Sicily that she l ived
,that i t was in the
l ast and fi e r ce s t of the ten persecutions that she g lo r ifi e dGo n 5 a n d that after enduring divers kin ds of torments,she was beheaded, and so entered in to her rest .Now the promise was made, firstly and ch icfly, to the
Apostles 5 a n d I do not know that anywhere our Loa n ’ sfellow-feel in g for u s i s shown more clearly . He knewthat
,when they were about to be set before kings and
rulers for His Name’ s sake, i t would be natural for themto be very anxious as to what they would say ; to beafraid of not speaking properly
,and so of bringing dis
258 Ta ke n o thoug ht wha t to sp e a k. [Se rm .
On ly then we must understand the sense in whichHe said thi s . O n e part of the B ible can n ot con tradictanother
,because i t i s al l wri tten by that Go o
,Who i s
th e same yesterday,to -d ay, and for ever . N o w in some
ways we are comman ded to look forward to the morrow .
The HOLY GHO ST, by the mouth of Solomon , tell s u s ,Go to the a n t , con sider her ways , and be wise The
ant,we know
,l ays up provisio n fo r the future ; a n d
therefore we are n o t on ly allo wed,but comman ded to
do the same . O ur Lo a n’ s words,then
,mea n thi s :
when the future i s al together out of our power,when it
l i es whol ly in GOD ’ S h a nd s,and not in ours
,when we
may ind e ed ve x a n d distress ourselves about i t,but ca n
do n o thin g t o al t er i t , then we are to tak e no though tfo r i t . If, fo r example, a ny one dear to u s i s i l l
, o u r
duty i s to do what we ca n for h im by prayer, and byusin g the means which GOD has given u s ; but we arenot to ve x and tease oursel ves about th e consequences .
Unto GOD th e LORD ,” not to u s,
“ belon g the issuesfrom death .
”So again the farm er i s to plough and s ow
,
usin g his best j udgment as to time ; but, the ploughingand sowing over
,he is not to wo r r v himself by thinking
ho w bad the weather m a y be , or h ow rain may destroythe seed
,or frost nip the blade
,or bl ight destroy the
ful l ear . Thi s i s in GOD ’ S han ds,not in his .
Yet we n o t on ly may,but are comman ded to
,lo o k
forward to the future, when we ca n prepare ourse lvesthe better to meet i t . Thus , for example , in this clo thin g
-club which i s set up, you do take thought for themorrow ; bu t you d o not break our Loa n
’s words . Yo u
do n o t distres s yourselves by looking forward to whatyou cannot help but you take advantage of the m eansGon gives you in preparing for what yo u can help .
XLIV .) Ta ke n o thoug ht wha t to sp e a k. 259
There i s al l the difference in the world between thesetwo things .To see people generally, one would think they were
afraid of not being un happy enough,a n d did not be
lieve our Lo a n ’s sayin g, Suffi cie n t un to the d ay i s the
evil thereof ;” or else that they were so fu ll of thei rown wisdom
,as not to be content w ith doing what Go o
h as appoin ted them to do,but think that they can d o
what Go o keeps in His own hands better than He ca n .
They act as if they thought—and they do think so too—th at they know how to manage Gon’ s affa i rs betterthan He does . Therefore i t follows that al l thi s anxietyand trouble about the future , of which we hear a n d seeso much
,not only causes great mise ry
,but great s in
too . It i s a wan t of that faith, wi thout which i t i s impossible to please Go o .
Fo r , conside r h ow much more we trust men , who sooften deceive u s
,than we do Go n , Who cannot lie .
When a physician tel ls u s,
“ You must take such a n d
such a medicine, i i' you wish to get better
,
” we do notstand to reason abo ut i t , but w e take i t at once . If alawyer tells u s , You mus t si gn such and such a paper
,
or you wil l not b e able to g e t what you come to m e
for,we sign our names, without a skin g questions why
and how it can be s o . But Go o we will not thus trus t .He says that
,i f we love Him
,all things shal l work to
gether for our good ; yet we vex a n d torment ourselvesby fearing that such and such a thin g may work for ourevil instead .
Se e n o w how , by means of CHR I ST ’ S promise that Ir ead yo u in the text, His Apos t les are spared fromnumberless troubles . Se e how , following them,
theMartyrs and Saints, l ike 8 . Lucy to -day
,trusted that
,
260 Ta ke no thoug ht wha t to sp e a k. [Se r nL XLIV .
in the hour when they needed i t,the thing they needed
would be given them . So with u s : i f we are Gon ’ sservants
,when we want courage, He will give u s cour
age ; when we want wisdom,He wil l give u s wisdom ;
when we want the power of bearing, He will give u s th epower of bearing .
An d there i s one hour,the looking forward to which
may wel l distress u s ; when , in a certain sense, we shal lh ave to stand before kings and princes 5 for the king ofevil spiri ts, the prince of the powers of the air, Satan ,wil l stand at our right h and to resist u s . In that houralso
,if we have been puttin g our trust in GOD , what we
need—namely, victory—will be given to u s, as i t was to
S . Lucy to-day . Depend upon i t,we shal l never know
what Gon ’ s strength is to protect u s , til l we know whatthe devil’ s i s to attack . Ou r Loa n said of H is people ,My FATH ER, Which gave them Me , i s greater than
a l l ; and n o man i s able to pluck them out of My FATHER
’S hand .
”In that hour i t wi l l be given u s , that
we may not for any pains of death fall from Him ; inthat hour to know more than we now know how angelsare ministering spirits 5 in that hour to be more thanconquerors, through Him that loved u s . An d that houronce over
,to see, as the blessed martyr of to-day n ow
does,th e goodness of the Loa n in the Land of the
Living .
Where GOD give u s never so low a pl a ce beneath Hissaints and righteous servants
,for JE SU S Ca n i s r ’s sake ;
to Whom , with the FATHER. and the HOLY Gn o s 'r,be
al l glory for ever . Amen .
262 Chr is t ou r Tr u e Wisd om . [Se rm .
reach from one end to the other,mightily and sweetly
ordering all things,come and teach u s the way of
W i sdom .
It i s our LORD HimselfWho i s here call ed W i sdomj ust as we so often fi n d Him named in the Book ofProverbs . When GOD prepared the heaven s
,W i sdom,
that i s our LORD,says
, I was there : when He set acompass upon the face of th e depth . I was set up fromeverlasting, from the begin n ing, or ever the earth was .Then I was by Him
,as On e brought up with Him ,
andI wa s d aily His delight
,rej oi cing always before Him .
”
And so i t i s that, whi le at other times we may becalled on principally to think of th e Love which causedour LORD to take upon Him bone of our bone
,and
flesh of our fle sh ; or of th e Strength whereby, havingtaken i t to Himself
, He conquered the devi l in i t ; orof the Example which while He was in the world He
left u s , that as He had walked so we shoul d also walkto-day we are rather to remem ber the W isdom withwhich He wrou ght our salvation . In everythin g He
turned the d evi l’s weapon s upon himself : in the thingwherein they d eal t proudly He was above them .
”
L e t u s think this a li ttl e over. By mean s of a woman ,death came into th e world ; by means of a woman , Lifewas restored to the worl d . Eve l istened to the voiceof an angel
,that fal len angel th e devi l , and fell : Mary
believed the voice of an Angel,the holy An gel Gabriel,
a n d conceived the SAV I OUR of al l men . In a garden i twas that the devi l l ay hid
,that he might brin g to pass
the destruction of mankind ; in a garden the LORD ofLife lay buried
,that risen again He migh t open th e
Kin gdom of Heaven to al l believers . By eatin g thefrui t of the forbidden tree man died
,for GOD said, In
XLV.] Ch r is t o ur Tr u e Wi sd om . 263
the day thou eatest thereof,thou shal t surely die ; by
feeding on our LORD’s Body and Blood, we gain life, as
i t i s written,
“Whoso eateth My Flesh and d rinkethMy Blood hath etern al life . By a tree, the tree ofthe knowledge of good a n d evil , came sin and deathby a tree
,the Tree of the Cross , came righteousness a n d
l ife . Therefore the Passion Hymn says very wel l
Fo r th e wo rk o fo ur Sa lva t io nNe e d s wo u ld ha ve h is o rd e r so
An d th e m a n ifo ld D e ce iv e r’ sAr t by a r t wo u ld o v e rthrow
An d from the n ce wou ld b rin g th e m e d’
cin e ,
Whe n ce th e po i so n ofth e fo e .
”
An d thi s W isdom,says the Collect, reaches from one
e n d to the other . From o n e end of time to the other,or from one end of the world to the other ; both areequally true . Alway s and everywhere this W i sdom is .From the beginnin g
,through a ll the changes and
chances of this world,GOD has kept and guided H is
Church i t has often seemed al l but perishinggand then
He has delivered i t,a n d made i t more g lorious than
ever . He has open ed a way for it where there seemedto be none ; j ust as when Pharaoh and all hi s host pursued after Israel to the Re d Se a
,a n d thought that n ow
at last the peopl e of GOD would fal l into his hand,He
spake the word,and the waters became a wall of safety
to His servants,and destroyed His en emies . It i s thi s
same W i sdom That h a s brought u s o u,amidst s o many
d iffi cu lt i e s and dangers,to thi s d ay, Which has de
l ivered u s from so many troubles,and doth deliver
,i n
which we trust that I t wil l yet del iver u s . It is thi sW i sdom in W hich we trust that we shal l be guided onthrough what yet remains of our j ourney here, ti l l we
264 Chr is t our Tr ue Wisd om . [Se rm .
come, some way or other, and how,i t matters very
li ttle, to our home above .
An d thi s W i sdom mightily and sweetly ordereth al lthings . If an y of you have ever seen a large machinel ike a steam -engine
,there are three things which yo u
wil l have chi e fly admired in i t . Fi rstly its wisdom,
a nd secondly , i ts strength ; but thirdly also, th e easewith which i t does i ts work . A chi ld may set i t o n
,a
child may stop i t and ye t i t has strength beyond whatwe can conceive : stren gth to drive great ships
,in the
face of winds and waves,across the sea ; strength to
make engines run on the railways with speed that ourfathers could not have believed : you wil l h ave seenho w thi s wheel works into that wheel
,h o w this strap
run s round that smooth piece of i ron,how this cog
catches that 00g , h ow pins a nd wheel s and straps andcogs do exactly the right work , and at exactly the righttime : and thus, notwithstanding the seeming noiseand confusion
,there i s order and agreement
,m ost beau
tiful and most wise .In like manner, think o f al l the angry passions and
wicked in tentions of men in this world ; ho w th is manhas set his m ind o n bringin g that to pass
,and h o w
that man has determined that j ust the Opposi te thingsh al l be done . Think of the strength of kings, a n d th ewisdom of wise men
,and the riches of wealthy men,
all pullin g,as i t were
,differen t ways . Yet
,out of thi s
,
GOD is quietly brin ging His own Wi l l to pass ; He i smighti ly a nd sweetly ordering all things the Counselof the L ORD
,that shall stan d .
”
An d thi s is the lesson for u s . He W ho so wiselyordered the way of our salvation
, He Who so wiselybrings to pass whatever He will
,has W isdom enough
S E R M O N X L V I .
CHRIST OUR LAWGIV ER.
QB fi na l i s t. B et emher 1 7 .
THE LORD IS OUR LAWGIVER : HE e L SAVE u s .—ISA. xxxm . 22 .
THE Coll ect about which I shall speak to you thise v ening
,i s thi s
“ O LORD,and rul er of the House of Israel
,Who
didst appear to Moses in a flam e of fi r e in th e busha n d didst give the La w in Sinai : come and deliver u swith a stretched out armI spoke to you the other night of the Bush that
burned wi th fi r e , and yet was not consumed , and therefore I shal l not n ow g o over that again . I wil l rathers ay something about the other part of the Col lect, thatJESU S CHRI ST came to be a Lawgiver . He came togive u s the n e w la w in stead of the old, bu t He came togive u s a Law sti ll .This i s what I want you to feel more than an ything
else : that we h ave a certain work to do for GOD here,which if we do , we shal l be saved , i f we do n o t, weshal l perish . G0 1) gives u s the strength to do i t
,but
then GOD expects it to be done . Because He gives u s
Se rm . XLVI .] Chr is t our Lawg ive r . 26 7
the strength, all the glory of our best work s belongs toHim only but because He expects u s to do i t
,of our
selves, and wil l not force u s to do i t,whether we wil l
o r not, therefore i t i s that, i f we keep His commandm ents, we have a right to Heaven . Fo r
,if I promise
any one of you a reward for doing something,and at
the same time give yo u the means of doing it , then i fyou do i t , though it wi ll be entirely of my kindness,fi r st a n d last
,that you are rewarded
,stil l because I
promised i t , you will have a right to the reward .
Now the fi r s t difference between the Law of CHRI STand the Law ofMoses i s thi s . Th e Law ofMoses gavecommandmen ts
,but gave no power to keep them . The
Law of CHRI S T gives commandments also : but then i tgives power to fu lfi l them . Th e Law of Moses said
,
Thou shalt do this,Thou shalt not do the oth er ; bu t i t
n owhere said , Because all this i s so d iffi cu lt , so impo ssibl e for you in your own strength, I wil l give yo u an ew and better strength
,which shal l make i t possibl e .
But CHRI ST’ S Law does say thi s . We become subj ect toH is Law when we are baptized . Then He tell s u s whatto do
,a n d what to leave undone . He commands u s to
renounce the Devi l and a ll his works, the pom ps andvanity of this wicked world
,and all the sinful lusts of the
fle sh : to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith ;and to keep GOD ’ S holy wil l and commandments
,and
walk in the same al l the days of our life . But then,
when we become bound by thi s Law,we also have power
given u s to keep i t . He gives u s,at that moment
,a
n ew heart,and He puts a n ew spir i t within u s . He
changes u s,who by nature were ch ildren o f the Devi l
,
into chi ldren of GOD . He gives n e w strength, at thesame time that He requires u s to use i t .
268 Ch r is t our Lawg ive r . [Se rm .
Then again ; see h ow mu ch stricter our Loun ’ s Lawi s than the Law of Moses was . The Law ofMoses onlyconcerned i tsel f about what man did the Law of CHRI S Thas also to do with what he thinks and intends . The
Law ofMoses says ; Thou shalt do no m urder :” theLaw of CHRI S T says ; “Whosoever hateth his brotheri s a murderer.” Th e Law of Moses says Thou shal tnot steal th e Law of CHRI S T says ; “ Sel l that thouhast
,and give to the poor
,and thou sh al t have treasure
in heaven .
”The Law ofMoses says “Thou shal t not
commit adultery the Law of CHRI S T says, Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath commit t e d adultery with her already in his heart .”
Then again,as I was lately saying
,the Law ofMoses
i s a l aw of fear,th e Law of CHRI S T i s a law of Love .
Th e Law of Moses threatens punishment to them thatbreak i t . CHRI S T promises glorious things to them thatkeep His commandments . Look al l through the booksof Moses : you will fi n d no such promise a s an inheritance incorruptible
, u nd e fi le d , and that fadeth not away .
You wi ll hear nothing of a time when GOD shal l wipe alltears from all faces . You will see no such loving word sa s these, That where I am , there ye may be also .
”
Now see how the giving of the Law was a type ofthis . Th e La w of Moses was given , a s we all know,from Mount Sinai : the Law of CHRI ST was given onthe Day of Pentecost, that fi r s t Whitsun Day, when theHOLY GHOS T came down on the Apostles . No w n otice
,
the Law was given fr om the mountain : the HOLY SP IRITwas given in the upper chamber . At Sin ai, i t was aGOD afar offWho uttered His voice amidst thunderingsand ligh tnings and thick darkness
,and with a voice of
the trumpet that waxed exceeding loud—so that all the
S E R M O N X L V I I .
THE ROOT OF JESSE.
QB fifi a‘
flir $2552. Eccemher 1 8.
“THERE SHALL COME FORTH A ROD 0 13 1: OF THE STEM o r JESSE .
ISA . X I . 1 .
THE Collect for t o -day i s“ 0 Root of Jes se, Which standest for a sign of the
people,at W hom the kings sh a l l shut thei r m ouths
,and
to Whom the Gentiles shal l pray : come n ow and setu s free
,and no longer ta rry .
It seems at fi rst sight strange that our LORD shouldbe called the Roo t of Jesse ; Jesse, as you a l l know, wa sthe father of David a n d therefore from him i t was thatCHRI ST was descen ded . So that Jesse w a s the roo twhence our LORD came . But the Root of Jesse mean sthat Root
,in which Jesse
,a n d al l the other holy m e n
of old , put thei r trust : that Root , which has b rough tforth the frui t of l ife a nd salvation to mankin d .
Nowwhy is our LORD called a Root ? In the fi r st place,becau se
,as a tree
,i ts branches
,i ts beauty, i ts frui t ,
everything,depend entirely on the root
,so al l that the
Church of GOD does,and all she i s
,al l that any of u s
Se rm . XLV II .] The Ro o t ofJe s s e . 271
can do, al l our hopes, al l our good deeds, all our faith ,all our love, comes from CHRI S T alone, and ca n no morehave any being without Him
,than a tree ca n without
i ts root . Then again , a root, we all know,has no be a u tv
to recommend i t : i t i s d a rk, ugly, rough , the part ofthe tree that is l east pleasing to the sight . So wheno u r LORD was on earth, He had
,a s Isaiah says
,no
form nor comeliness and when we shall see Him,there
i s no beauty that we shal l desi re Him .
” It i s not so withH is Body n ow . Now i t i s glorious and beautiful : bu tin the d av s of H is dwellin g on earth , when He was theMan of Sorrows
,and acquainted with g rief, i t was very
different. The Jews said , Thou art n o t yet fi fty yearsold
,
” when,according to the flesh , He was but two and
thirty years old : and when even His B lessed Motherhad not reached the age of fi fty . So much had He
suffered,and such marks of sufferin g did He bear !
Again : a root i s that part of a tree which is leastseen . So with CHRI S T . Thirty years He dwelt i n acarpenter’s sh0 p at Nazareth ; and when He came forthand began to teach
,stil l He hid H imsel f from t h e
crowds,a n d His great m i racles were don e i n secret ;
His friends said, If Thou do these things,show Thy
sel f to th e world .
But the Col lect goes o n , that CHRI S T i s to stand a s
a sig n to the nation s and so Isaiah said before . Whenwas this ? When He was lifted up on the Cross
,that
He might draw al l men t o Him ; a sign of Go o ’s loveto mankind ; a sign of GOD ’ S hatred of sin ; a sign ofGOD ’ S j ustice, in that He spared not His o wn SON : asign to which we are to look and live ; a sign o n
'
which
we fi x al l our hopes . An d “ a sign to the nations,
because,by means of the death of CHRI S T
,all nations
,
272 Th e Ro o t ofJes se . [Se rm .
and no longer the Je ws only,should be saved . Yes,
the Cross on which our LORD was l ifted Up i s thesign of every Christian , reminding u s W hose we are,andWhom we serve what we must expect, for th e servant i s not above his Master ; and what wil l be the endof these troubles a n d affli ctions, namely, victory for i twas while hang in g on the Cross, that our Loa n conquered the Devil, a n d set free mankin d from his power .
It goes o n,
“At W hom the kings shall shut thei rm ouths .” That i s
,they shall see Him goin g forth
conquering and to conquer, and shal l not be able to r esist ; they shall, as i t were, he dumb . From the beginnin g til l n ow the kin gs of the earth have stood up, andthe rulers h ave taken counsel together , against the LORD,and against His anointed . They have had al l th e powerand learning and riches and strength of the world onthei r side ; they have had fi r e and sword and wild beastsand tortures of al l kinds for the servants of JE SU SCHRI ST . An d what have they been able to do ? Th e
m ore they afflict e d them , the more they multiplied andgrew . Once a gre at Emperor so nearly destroyed theChurch
,that he had a medal struck in honour of h aving
brough t i t to an e n d and o n e or t wo o f these medal shave been , by Gon’ s good Providence, preserved, tostand an everlasting witness of that king’ s folly . An
other Emperor bent all his efforts to laugh men out ofbeing Chri stians ; and he succeeded in makin g a greatm any turn back to the worship of idols . A t l ast, whenhe was going out to war
,he made a vow,
that if he cameback
,he would utterly put an end to the Galileans
,
”
so he called the Christian s . He went forth to battle,
a n d was wounded to death ; and while he was lying o n
the ground,covered with his blood
,he cast some of i t
S E R M O N X LV I I I.
CHRISTMAS CAROLS.
QIhrisnnas
YE SHALL HAVE A SONG, AS IN THE NIGHT WHEN A HOLY SOLEMNITYIS KEPT.
” —ISA . xxx . 29.
SUPPOSE that n ow we were to go out in to the town, inthe chi lliness and darkness of this evenin g
,and were to
fi nd a poor man and a poor woman asking from in n toinn whether they could have lodgings for to-night ; bothof them worn out and exhausted by the long j ourney
,
and the one clearly j ust about to become a mother .By
-and-by we may hear that they had been obliged totake up their lodgings in a barn : and next mornin gwe might be told that at midnight, in al l the coldnessand uncomfortableness of such a place
,a baby had
been born .
That was what happened at Bethlehem,eighteen hun
dred a nd fifty-three years ago .
“ She brought forthher fi r s t -born So n and wrapped Him in swaddlingclothes
,and laid Him in a manger, because there was
no room for them in the inn .
”Then was fu lfi lle d that
1 Th e Cho ra l So ciety of th e place we re afte rwa rd s to go ro und wi thCa ro ls .
Se rm . XLV IIIJ Chr is tma s Ca r o ls . 275
which was spoken -by Isaiah : Th e o x knoweth hisowner
,and the ass his master’ s crib ; but Israel doth
not know,My peopl e doth not consider Th e o x and
the ass at the manger knew th e LORD, and worshippedH im . The men of Bethlehem rose next day to theirbusiness, the polling clerks went on taking the names,the peopl e came and paid their money, and went awayand complained how hard it wa s to be taxed
,an d knew
not that GOD wa s in a stable of that town,GOD was
lying in a manger,GOD was wrapped in swaddling
clothes,GOD was fed from the breast ofMary .
There will never be a Chri stmas Eve l ike that : n o ,
neither in earth nor in heaven . If GOD give u s graceto reach that blessed country, we shal l indeed hear thesongs of Angels more glorious than this their fi r s t Hymnwas Glory to G0 1) in the highest
,and on earth peace
,
good will towards men .
” But CHR I ST can never thusshow forth H is love to u s again . He did it once
,that
i t might be done for ever . It was a hard bed , that hayand that manger but not so hard a bed as by-and-bythe narrow plank of the Cross, on which He shall sl eepHis last sleep
,shal l be . They were rude companions
,
th e beasts ; but not so rude as the soldiers, and theScribes
,and the Pharisees, who W111 surround the other
bed,and cry, “He saved others, Himself He canno t
s ave f’
That fi r s t Christmas Eve then takes u s back to Bethlehem . And our LORD w a s rightly born there . Fo r
Bethlehem by interpretation i s The House of Breada n d thi s i s that True B read Which cometh down fromheaven
,and giveth l ife unto the world .
”
Now let me take you to another Christmas Eve, a nd
let it be three hundred years after our LORD’s Birth .
276 Chr is tma s Ca r o ls . [Sew ] .
At that time Th e kings of the earth stood up, and therulers took counsel together against the LORD , anda gainst His Anointed . Le t u s break their bon ds asunder,and cast away their cords from u s .
”At that time
they who would not bow down to idol s of wood andstone were stoned
,were sl ain with the sword : they
wandered abo ut in sheepskins and goatskins,bein g
destitute, afflict e d, tormented, of whom the world wa s
n o t worthy . How did they keep that Christmas Eve ?Thus .The ground under part of the great city of Rome i s
tunnelled out into long dark passages called Catacombs .
They had once served as quarries, bu t when no moreston e could be got from them they were deserted ; andbeing so very lonely
,and so d iffi cu l t to enter, they
served for the poor Christi ans to meet in . An d in thesides of these passages they used to bury their dead .
You could see then—and those who have the greathappiness to go there may see n ow—the epitaphs andfi gu r e s they set up over those graves . A branch ofpalm
,for example
,sign ifi e d a Martyr : a ship entering
the harbour,set forth the departure of a common
Christian . Here then creeping in stealthily, one byo n e , not knowing but that their persecutors might burstin on them
,not knowing whether any moment migh t
not see them dragged away to the wild beasts or to therack
,those fi r s t Christians spent their Christmas Eve .
Their Al tar was generally th e tomb of a Martyr ; a nd
there they set forth th e death of Him Who i s the Ma r
tyr of Martyrs . Christmas was no time of gladnessthen
,—I mean of such gladness as we n ow make i t . It
was a time of fear and danger,a n d very often of separa
tion ; but a glor ious time nevertheless . They knew
278 Chr is tma s Ca r o ls . [Se rm . XLV III .
An d so I say to you , Le t u s go n ow even to Bethlehem .
”Le t u s go to see Him Who , though He wa s
Kin g of kings,yet vouchsafed to become a Servant of
servan ts . Le t u s go there to learn not to do our ownwill
,but our FATHE R’ S : not to please ourselves, bu t
Him Whose w e are,and Whom we ought to serve . Le t
u s go to Bethl ehem . It i s no such easy thing, i n thi ssense for if we have once learned this
,and if we do i t ,
we are not far from the Kingdom .
An d so to go to Bethlehem i s the only way by whichwe can hope hereafter to g o up to the Heavenly Jerusalem : so to seek that Holy Infan t n ow
,i s th e only
way in which we can expect to meet Him as a righteousJudg e hereafter .An d so I end in the words of one of H is saints
CHRIST, Wh o m ad’
st u s ou t ofd u st,Life a n d spiri t giv in g
CHRIST, from Who se d e a r ste ps we mu stPa tt e rn t ake ofliving
CHRIST, Wh o cam e st o n ce to sa veFrom th e cu rse an d from th e gra ve ,He a lin g , lighte n in g , che e ring
CHRIST, Who n ow wa st ma d e a s we ,Gra n t tha t we m ay b e like Th e eIn Thy n e xt app e a rin g .
Which He grant for His own Name’ s sake : toWhomwith the FATHER, and the HOLY Gn o s '
r, be all honour
and glory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N X L I X .
JESUS STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD .
QIbr ifi tmas fl ap. QEbming .
“THESE ARE THEY THAT WENT OVER JOBDAN IN THE FIRST MONTH,
WHEN IT HAD OVERFLOWED ALL m s BANKS .
”—1 CHRON. XII. 1 5 .
TO -DAY we celebrate the B irthday of our King in thi sworld : to-morrow we shall celebrate the B irthday ofS . Stephen to heaven . To -day our Prince took o n
Himself our fle sh,and came from the womb of Mary
into the world to-morrow S . Stephen puts off the body,
and goes from the prison of the fle sh to eternal l ife .
To -day CHRI S T came down amidst the songs of theAngel s : to-morrow S . Stephen goes up amidst theb lasphemies of the Jews . To -day CHRI ST was wrappedfor u s in swaddling-clothes : to-morrow S . Stephen putson the robe of immortali ty . To -day the Captain of ourSalvation showed His love for them that hated H im
,by
His Birth : to-morrow, His val iant servant shows hislove for them that persecuted him , by hi s prayer .N ow to-night we are called on to think of both : of
our LORD a n d of S . Stephen ; of CHRI ST ’S Birth , a ndHis Martyr’ s death and the text I read yo u will helpu s to do both . Se e how .
280 Je sus s ta nd ing a t God’
s Rig h t Ha nd . [Se rm
David had been promised by GOD the kingdom ofI s rael . As yet he was fi gh t in g for i t : he had manyd iffi cult ie s to overcome, many enemies to put down ,before he could sit u pon the throne . In this verse weread of certain valiant men that came to help him ; andi n order to get to him, they had to pass over the riverJordan in th e fi r s t month
,when it had o ve rflowe d al l
i ts banks .Now the river Jordan is a type of death . It sepa
rated the land of Canaan from the wilderness that laybeyond i t , j ust as death separates Paradise from thedesert of this world . These brave soldiers had to crossthe Jordan
,in order to help David . So Stephen had
to meet dea th , and to pass through i t, in order to fi ghtthe battles of the So n of David
,JE SU S CHRI S T . That
i s no easy matter in itself. I will tel l you what aBishop of our own said, j ust before his Martyrdom ; hecan best describe what a Martyr fel t . “ I am not inlove with thi s passage through the Jordan
,for I have
the weakness of flesh and blood plentifully upon me .
An d I have prayed with my SAV I OUR that this cup ofred win e might pass away from me ; but if not, Hiswill, not mine, h e done ; and I will most will inglydrink of this cup as deep as He pleases, and enter intothis Jordan, yea a n d pass through it
,in the way that
He shall l ead me .
”
But this i s common to all Martyrs . They all gaveup the dearest thing they had for the sake of CHR I ST
,
even thei r lives . And herein they proved Satan to be aliar
,and the father of i t .
“A ll that a m a n hath wil lh e give for his life
,
” he said ; and behold these valiantsoldiers of CHR I S T gave li fe and all for Him .
S . Stephen has yet a more blessed portion ; and we
282 Je sus s ta nd ing a t God’
s Rig ht Ha nd . [Se rm .
his life for his country . An d among th e multitude ofvaliant soldiers i n the noble army of Martyrs
,Stephen,
i n like manner,i s th e most glorious, because he was the
fi r s t to l ay down his l ife for his LORD .
Look at the text again . These soldiers not only wentover Jordan to help David
,but in the fi r s t month
,when
i t had o ve rflowe d al l i ts banks . N ow you are to understand that Jordan is a swift strong river
,bad to cross
at any time, but much worse , of course, when it i sswollen by rains . No t only so ; but at that time al lthe country round is infested by wild beasts driven outof thei r d ens and hiding-places by the rising of thewater : as i t i s written
, He shal l come up l ike a l ionfrom the swelling of Jordan .
” But lions, wild beasts,or floods, i t wa s al l one to these good soldiers . Theymeant to go over ; a n d over they did go . None of theseth ings moved them neither counted they their l ivesdear to themselves
,so they might go and see their King .
In like manner,S . Stephen’s death was not l ike a
common death . In the fi r s t pl ace, there was the fearfulsuffering of being beaten to pieces with stones : butthat i s not all . S . Stephen had not the same things toi ncrease h i s faith that others had . He had not seenh ow the fai th of CHR I ST would spread and increase .
He had not seen al l the mighty miracles which theApostles afterwards did . Th e very fact of his being thefi r st made death more d iffi cu l t .But i f he suffered more than any other Martyr, he
s aw more than any other . He beheld what no m an
ever h ad seen before, or has seen since . What ? He
s aw JESUS s ta nd ing at the Right Hand of GOD . Whatdo we say in the Creed ? He ascended into Heaven,and s it te th o n the Right Hand of GOD .
” An d now He
XLIX .] Je sus s ta nd ing a t God’s Right Ha nd . 283
was s ta nding . Why was this ? If we had a dear friendsuffering in a n obl e cause
,should we sit at ease
,and
look o n ? No we should stand up to honour him .
An d i f we s aw one fi gh t in g whom we could assist, shou l dw e sit quiet ? N o we should stand u p to help him .
He s aw the Glory of GOD,and JE SU S standing on
the Right Hand of GOD .
”To see the Glory of GOD ,
that i s a bl essedness of which we cannot have the leasti dea . Satan once tol d a great Sain t
,that h e would
willingly endure the torments of all lost souls,besides
his o wn,i f he might only see the Glory of GOD while a
band could Open and shut . But of these two thingswhich S . Stephen saw
,the second sight was beyond al l
measure the most comforting .
Think for one moment : to see J e su s, to see HimThat hath the k eys of hell and death, Him That l ivethfor evermore
,Him That shal l reign for ever and ever
,
King of Kings,and LORD of Lords ; to see Him s ta nd ing
at the Right Hand of GOD for us l Yes al l the pain sof all the Martyrs would be wel l borne for that ! Yes ;with G0 1) thus on o ur side we should understand betterwhat S . Paul means : “ I am persuaded
,
”—notice,he
had not taken up the thought at random I am pers u ad e d that neither death, n o r l ife, nor angels, norprincipal ities
,nor powers, nor t hings present, n o r things
to come,nor height, nor d epth , nor a ny other creature,
shall be able to separate u s .
An d we may see Him so by faith . He did not sostand for S . Stephen alon e . As the Collect tel l s u sWh o s ta nd e s t at the Right Hand of GOD , to succour
a ll those that suffer for Thee .
”Only then there are
two things in which we must be l ike S . Stephen : He ,
being full of the HOLY GHOST, looked up steadfastly
284 Je sus s ta nd ing a t Go d’
s Rig ht Ha nd . [s e rm XL IX .
i n to Heaven . Th e HOLY Gn o s r has been given to u s
al l : bu t which of u s can be said to be full of Him ?An d i f we do look up to Heaven at all
,how often we
take away our eyes,and bend them down to earth again .
W e must look up, we must look up steadfastly, andthen we shall see
,with the eyes of our faith
,what S .
Stephen s aw with the eyes of his body,the Glory of
G0 1), and JE SUS standing on the Right Hand of GOD .
”
GOD grant that we also,l ike him
,may hereafter see
that Glory with our bodily eyes,when we shal l rise
again incorruptible,for JE SUS CHRIST’ s sake toWhom
,
with the FATHER and the HOLY GHO ST, be all glory forever . Amen .
286 Old Ell e n a nd Chi ld r en . [S e rm .
and from more of which we know nothing : He has fedand clothed and supported u s
,and given u s His House
to worship in : He has bestowed on u s health a nd
strength . And this i s our return !W e cannot now call back the past . Th e present i s
sti ll ours . There i s not a single person before me atthis time that may not be saved i f he chooses . It i snot yet too late . To -morrow i t may be : thi s even ingi t may be : but i t i s not n ow . Is there any one whoh a s passed this whole year without one real heartyprayer to G0 1) for mercy ? There sti l l remain threedays to its e n d . Le t i t not report of you , that like ah eathen you let th e year come i h
,and like a heathen
you let it go out . Le t i t bear wi th i t three days ofprayer and sorrow . How know you but that
,j ust as
Go o promised to save Sodom if ten righteous should befound in i t
,so He may be willing to give you another
trial,i f in even three days of thi s y ear you have remem
bered Him ? The King of N ineveh fasted and prayedfor three d ays : and those three days were the saving ofhis city . How know yo u but that He may cut you offin your sins if
,when this year closes
,your repentance
has not begun ?But
,my dear children , I should feel as i f I were
doing you a wrong, i f I did not on this, which I mightalmost cal l your o wn Feast, say something more pa rt icu l a r ly to you . You have heard m e speak of thegreat praise we owe to GOD for having given u s HisGrace when we were baptized
,and so bestowed on u s
power to overcome al l th e temptation s of th e devil . Do
you say, How does thi s grace help u s ? I will tell you .
When you are tempted to think a wicked thought, orto say an unkind word
,or perhaps, to strike an angry
L .] Old Me n a nd Chi ldr e n . 287
blow, then you feel something in your h earts which says,“Do not do i t : pray do not do i t .
” That i s Gon ’ sGrace .
!
Ou the other hand,the d evil says, That boy
or that girl has done you wrong : now you can revengeyourself : n ow you can show your spiri t : now you cantaste h ow sweet revenge is .” Th e Grace of GOD, thatwas given you at your Baptism
,makes answer
,and says,
Remember that if you do not forgive others, GOD willnever forgive you : remember that our LORD JE SU SCHRI ST died for His enemies : remember that if He
so loved u s , we ought also to love one another .
”
O r again, you have committed some fault, or metwith some accident
,that you are afraid to confess . The
devil says,
“N o man s aw you d o i t ; i f you tel l th etruth you will be punished say you did not do i t : youcan never be found out .” Gon ’s Grace answers
,It i s
better to suffer punishment than to do wrong : GODknows what you did
,GOD hears what you say remem
ber that the place for al l l iars i s the lake that burnethwith fi r e and brimstone .
Which now will yo u do ? W i l l you obey GOD, orwil l yo u obey the devil ? Every time you yiel d totemptation
,you give the devi l more power over you
every time you resist i t,you give him less . It i s by
resisting him all your lives long,that you wil l get to
Heaven,i f ever yo u do get there, at last .
“Yes,
” you w i l l perhaps say,
“ I do mean to resis tthe devil by-and-by only j ust n ow I take a little pleasure
,and do my own will by-and-by I mean to repent,
and to walk in Gon ’ s ways .
” N ow, supposing that Iwere to call one of you to me
,on one of these short
afternoons,and were to tel l him
,If yo u will g o in to
the town,and be at the Market Place by the time the
288 Old Me n a nd C/z i ld r e n . [Se rm .
sun sets,you shall be rich and happy all th e rest of
y our life . What do you think such an one would do ?Would he not set o ff at once
,and as fast as his feet
coul d carry him, to the town ? W ould he say to himself
,The sun is not near setting yet
,I may play here
longer st i l l I can set off half an hour hence,and that
wil l be time enough O r what should you say,i f
i nstead of setting off to th e town,h e quietly turned
round,and went the other way
,and amused himself by
watchin g the rai lroad, and said, It wil l be but a l ittl efurther that I have to go , when I do set about myj ourney W ould you not say that he was madAn d even supposing that he were i n time at last
, th e
whole way he would be in doubt a n d anguish lest,after
all,he should be too late h e would have to hurry up the
hill almost in despair, instead of walking onward with acheerful expectation of the happiness that awaited him .
An d so i t i s with you . You have all a certain quantity that you must do in thi s life . If from this timeforth you steadily resist the devil, you wil l fi n d that youhave not too much time, nor too much strength to dowhat Go o expects from you . And if
,besides thi s
,you
add the long and bitter work of repentance,then
,though
I do not say you m ay not be saved after all , I do savthat al l your l ife wil l be saddened by the remembranceof your past sins
,and that you wil l make that which is
hard in i tself,namely
,getting to H eaven , ten times
harder . An d al l for what ? Fo r poor miserable pleasures
,that you scarcely enj oy when you have them,
andare ashamed of as soon as they are gone . You maythink
,indeed
,that you cannot do much for GOD but
only let i t be sai d of you, “He hath done what hecould
,
” and i t will be enough .
S E R M O N L l .
JESUS CHRIST, THE SAME FOR EVER .
5 . é ilfiestz r . iBecem’
ber 3 1 .
“JEsu s CHRIST, THE SAME YESTERDAY, AND TO-DAY, AND FOR
EVER.
”—HEB . XIII . 8.
THE text suits both the Saint’ s Day and the end of theyear . Le t u s see how i t i s well fi t te d for each .
You all know that the Creed which we say in theHoly Communion -i s cal led the N icene Creed . It i s sonamed because i t was drawn up at a place call ed N icaea,where the Bishops of al l the Churches h ad come together
,to declare what was the true Faith touching
JE SU S CHRI ST ; whether He were GOD of GOD, Light of
Light, V ery GOD of V ery G0 1), or whether, as someheretics sai d, and do still say, He were a Man likeother men . At the time of this Council S. Si lvester
,
in whose memory we keep to-day, was B ishop of Rome .
He was too old to go thither himself ; but he sent someof his clergy thither, an d they agreed i n his name towhat was done .That was one thousand fi ve hundred and twenty
eight years ago . And see n ow,“ JE SUS CHRIST the
Se rm . LL] Je sus Chr is t, the s ame fo r e ve r . 291
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever . I have n othingn ew to tell you about our LORD ; nothing but whatthose great Saints told of Him in thei r Creed . It wastheir Faith
,i t i s our Faith
,i t i s the Faith of the holy
Church throughout al l the world . If I pretended toteach you anything of JE SUS CHRI ST that had neverbeen known before, thi s very pretence would provewhat I said to be false . Th e true belief can neveralter
,no
,not one j ot . There are plenty of those who
live around u s, as you know, who hold n e w beliefs .
There are the W esleyans, who hold the belief of oneJohn Wesley, and the Independents, who hold the bel ief of one Robert Brown, and the Q uakers, who holdthe belief of one George Fox . Before those men wereborn
,their beliefs were never heard of. But w e , and
GOD be blessed for i t , are not built upon the foundationof Wesley
,or Brown, or Fo x, bu t upon the foundation
of the Apostles and Prophets, JE SUS CHRI ST Himselfbein g the head Corner stone . This Fai th that we holdh a s comforted many Martyrs, in the flam e s, among wildbeasts
,o n th e rack ; i t has supported many holy Co n
fe sso r s banished into savage countries, and obliged tohide in the dens an d caves of the earth . Old men havegone out of the world blessing GOD that they haveknown and believed i t from their cradles children haveclung to i t , who could not understand many of itswords
,but who have believed it nevertheless . This
indeed i s a Faith worth suffering for,—ay, and worthdying for . An d the reason is because this Faith i s likethe LORD ofWhom it teaches, JE SU S CHR I ST, the sameyesterday
,to-day, and for ever and so the Fai th o f
JE SU S CHRI S T i s the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever .W el l ; and it i s a comfort that there i s one thing in
the world that does not change . I remember when I
292 Je sus Chr is t, the same fo r e ve r . [Se rm .
was coming back to England last summer one stormynight
,when the vessel was rolling this way and that
way,and tossing u p and down, I watched for a long
time the light that shone from a light-house on a distan t cape . Everything else was in motion
,sea
,vessel ,
masts,sails ; no rest, no quiet, only in that . So i t i s
with o s . Ou one side,the changes and chances of this
mortal l ife ; on the other, “ JE SUS CHRI S T, the sameyesterday
,and to-day
,and for ever.” An d , of al l the
changing things,we change the most . Who would n ow
know any of you , i f they could see you as when youwere children ? An d our minds chan ge more than ourbodies . Se e how we get used to things th at once wecould hardly have believed : rai lways
,for example
,and
telegraphs,and such like inventions . Go o has given
u s al l the power of chan ging with thin gs that change,of suiting ourselves to them . Because they alter, wealter too .
But h ow i s this ? It is our parts and duties,i t i s the
one great thing for which we ought to try,to be made
like our LORD . No w put two texts together . OfHimi t i s written , JE SUS CHRI S T
,the same yesterday
,and
to-day, and for ever Of u s i t i s said,
“An d we shal lbe changed .
”
Yes we must have one more great change before thetime comes when we shal l be changed no more . It wil ltake some time to bring i t to pass : for i t will begin atour death
,and not be made perfec t til l the morning of
the Resurrection . This day two hundred years ago,
people were sitting in thi s place as we are n ow . Whereor how should we find their bodies
,i f we could open
th eir graves ? P robably not the least dust,not a speck
of an ything to mark that a body had ever moulderedthere . Fitty years ago
,people were also sitting here .
294 Je sus Chr is t, the same fo r e ve r . [Semi ] . LI.
though we know not what temptations,what sufferings,
what dangers,what fears
,what struggles thi s y ear wi ll
bring u s , yet one thing we know : He That will allowu s to be tempted, He That wi l l send our sufferings, He
That will permit u s to fal l into dangers,He That will
know of our fears,and watch our strugg l es, He i s the
same yesterday,and to-day
,and for ever .
”Te n
,twenty
,
fifty years ago, i f it were true, GOD is our hope andstrength, a very present help in trouble,” i t i s truesti l l . If “He i s the same yesterday, and to-day, andfor ever, i t matters noth ing to u s what else alters
,who
el se chan ges,ho w we ourselves are changed . He said
i t once,
“ FATHER,I will that they also whom Thou
hast given Me be with Me where I am .
” He has notchanged His mind n o w . W i th Him is no variableness
,
nei ther shadow of turning . If only we are His—butthen this i s the if of al l i s—if only we are His, weneed trouble ourselves about nothing further. W e maysay those words n ow, while we have health and stren gth,a n d think we know a little of their meanin g
,
“ JE SUSCHRI S T, th e same yesterday, and to day, and for ever .”
But we shal l know something more of i t,when we come
to fi n d that we are about to pass into His Presence,
when the room grows dark,and th e air cold
,and we
can n ot see those aroun d u s, and cannot understandwhat they say , and fi r s t begin to have some i dea of theSpirits, among whom we are going to dwell . If
,as I
said, if only we are CHRI ST’
S,then indeed they wil l be
golden words to u s :“My fle sh and my heart fai leth ;”
JE SU S CHRI S T, the same yesterday, a n d to-day , andfor ever .
An d n ow to H im,Wh o was at this time born for u s ,
be ascribed wi th the FATHER, and the HOLY GHOST,all
honour and g lory for ever . Amen .
S E R M O N L I I.
CHANGE .
a ha l ast fl ight of the QBIU fear .
BEHOLD, I sn ow YOU A MYSTERY ; WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP, BUTWE SHAL L ALL BE CHANGED.
”—1 COR. XV . 51 .
TH I S i s a fi t t ext for the last night of a year . Whenwe see everything gliding away past u s , everythingaltering around u s, there are two things which wewant to be our comfort . Th e fi r st i s, that we shal l bechanged ourselves ; the second is, that we have someOn e Who cannot change . S . Paul tell s
'
u s the onething
,we shal l be changed : Malach i tel ls u s the
other,I am the LORD, I change not.”
There was once a Q ueen of England who was vainand foolish enough to take th i s for her motto ALWAYS
UNCHANGED . But only think what we should be , i f thatwere true of us l Think of all the sins we commit, ofa ll our weakness, of al l o u r feeling that when we woulddo good
,evi l i s present with u s and then who could
bear to believe that this s tate of things was to last fo rever ?
296 Cha ng e . [Se rm .
No I need not tel l you that this i s a world of griefI need not tel l you that you might say
,as Jacob did ,
Few and evil have the days of the years of my l ifebeen You have al l known what i t was to suffer painto lose friends
,some by death
,some by misunderstand
ings to see bright hopes cut off; to have unkindnesswhere you expected to meet with kindness to see child ren turn out badly ; to be weary to be distressed tobe in want . So i t i s
,so i t must be here . But
,we
shall be changed l” No pain in that world where wehope some day to b e , for it i s written , Th e inhabitantshall not say
,I am sick .
” No loss of friends by death ,for death can by no means enter in there : no loss offriends by misunderstandings
,for there we shal l know
even as we are known : no labour and weariness,fo r
they rest from their l abours no ingratitude, forthere
,
“ love shall be m ade perfect .” A change, and aglorious change in deed ! But i t i s what we , i f we aretrue servants of CHR I ST
,are looking forward to we
shal l be ch anged l”
An d then again,instead of being obliged to remain
as n ow, always on our guard, always expecting an attackof Satan
,always afraid lest our own evil hearts should
lead u s into sin,we shal l know what peace means . No
body ever did,nobody ever w i ll
,enter into its full
meaning while he i s in thi s world ; “ without werefi gh tings, within were fears .
” N ext to the sight ofGo o , that sight which we call the Be a t ifi c V ision , andwhich is j oy of which we have no more idea than ablind man has of light
,thi s Peace will
,no doubt
,be the
greatest h appiness of heaven . So we learn from thevery name
,Je r u s a l em ,
which is,by in terpretation, th e
V ision of Peace . An d this is the reason why we pray
298 Cha ng e . [Se rm .
evil til l their own hearts became a hell as well as th ehell about them . An d their bodies also made strong,m ade immortal
,al so never more to grow weary but
why ? In order that they may be able to bear the wormthat dieth not
,and the fi r e that i s not quench ed .
>l< >l< >l<
Changed we al l h ave been once in Holy Baptismchanged from the children of the Devi l to the ch ildrenof GOD
,chan ged from being heirs of wrath to be heirs
of everlasting life,changed from being subj ects of the
Devil to h aving CHRI S T for our King. But since thenwe have fall en into sin l ittle by littl e and thereforethose
,who are now resolved in earnest to fi ght the good
fi gh t of fai th , mu st al so be chan ged day by day . Ou r
LORD said,the seed should spring and grow up, th e
sower knoweth not how . So i t i s wi th most true Christians ; l ittle by li ttl e they fi n d that they take morepleasure in prayer
,they fi nd that when they have
sinned they gri eve more, they fi n d that they know andfeel that they love our LORD JE SUS CHRI S T more . It i sl ike the hour hand of a watch
,no man can see it move
,
but let i t alone for a littl e time, an d every one will seethat it has moved . So with them
,by one littl e step
after another,by one littl e victory after another, they
are really making progress : they have been changedthey are changing : they look forward to being moreperfectly and more blessedly changed .
But not al l alike . Those that have done most forGOD here shall receive the greatest reward there .
On e star differeth from another star in glory, so alsoi s the Resurrection of the dead .
”Those that have dedi
ca t e d themselves most ful ly to His service on earth ,shall enter most gloriously into His rest in Heaven .
LIL] Cha ng e . 299
There i s not one single effort we make fo r His sakewhich i s not written there .If we change
,He changes not . He saith of Himself,
I am the LORD,I change not He saith again
,
Come unto Me , al l ye that labour and are heavyladen
,and I will give you rest .” FATH ER
,I w il l that
they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me whereI am
,that they may be one asW e are one .” I am the
good Shepherd, and know My sheep and am known ofMine . Le t not your heart be troubled
,n either let
i t be afr aid .
All our changes here, i f we are CHRl s'r ’s tr ue servants
,make u s more like Him .
>l< >l<
J . MASTERS AND CO., PRINTERS, ALBION BUILDINGS, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE .
2 P ubli she d by J . Ma s t e r s a nd CO .,
HEROES OF THE CROSS . A Series ofBiograph ica l Stud ies ofSa in t s , Ma rty r s , a n d Christ ia n Pio n e e rs .8vo . , 488 pp . , clo th , 7s . 6d .
Th is i s a ha n dsom e v o l um e co n t a in i n gb io gra phica l ske t che s o fm e n an d wom e n
n o ta ble fo r th e ir he ro i c co n du ct in t h e st rugg l e to u pho ld th e sta n da rd o fth e re l igio n o f
CHR I ST . M r . Adam s pre se n t s a fa ir a nd 1m
part ia l p i ct ure of t h e h e ro e s se l e ct e d fo r
By W . H . DAV EN PORT ADAMS . Crownde li n e a t io n . A ca th o lic t o n e pe rvade s th ewho le bo o k , a n d Mr . Adam s h a s pro v ide dh i s re a de rs W i th a va lu a bl e a n d wo r t hyse rie s o fst ud ie s fr om t h e uve s o fgre a t m e n
a n d wom e n .
”—Chu r ch Tim e s .
INSTRU CTIONS IN THE WAY OF LIFE. Ah Attempt tore p ly t o som e Pra ct ical a n d The o lo gica l Q u e st io n s . By CHAR LE S GORD ON Bn owm r ,
M .A . ,A s s i st a n t Cura t e o f C l ewe r, a n d la t e ly o f S . Pe t e r’s, Bo u r n emo u th . Crown
8vo . , c l o th , 4 s . 6d .
Th e su bje ct s a r e tre a t e d in a tho ro u ghlypra ct i ca l m a n n e r . Th e y a r e su ch a s o ft e npe rple x co n sc i e n t i o u s m in ds . A l l a r e h a n
d l e d wit h m u ch ca re a n d t ho u ght , a n d
Can o n Ca rt e r be a rs h i s t e s t im o ny t o t h e
va lu e o f Mr . Brown e ’ s wo rk in t hu s de a l
in g wit h spiritua l qu e st i o n s be a rin g o n
t h e da i ly l i fe a n d h a b i t u a l st a t e o f tho sew h o a r e se e k in g t o l iv e t o G o v a cco rdi n g t o o u r Church ’s h ighe st t e a ch in gs .”Ch u r ch T ime s .
FO R THE U s e o r TEACHER S m CHURCH S CHO O LS .
LE S SON S ON THE CHURCHYARD AND THE FABRIC OFTHE CHURCH . By E . E . JARRE TT . W it h fi ve la rge sh e e t s o f i l lu str a t io n s o n
Impe ria l Pa pe r b y t h e Re v . W . M o nm s o x , Vi car o fMidsom e r No rto n , Ba th . Pri ce65 .
Fu ll o fe xce l le n t Spir itu a l t e a ch in g d erive d from t h e ide a s su gge st e d b y t h e a rch it e ct u r a i fe a t u re s a n d a rra n gem e n t s o f a
Chu rch . Th e y a r e e xce lle n t ly ca lcul a t e d
t o in t e re s t t h e se n io r cla ss o fa Sun day o r
Da y Scho o l i n t h e ir Pa rish Church , in waysqu i t e n ew t o t h em .
”—Sch o o l Gu a r d ia n .
AN ACT OF SP IRITUAL COMMUNION . By th e Rev. JamesSxm ws n ,
M .A . Wi th No t i ce by t h e Re v T . T . CA RTER , M .A . , S u pe rio r Ge n e ra l oft h e Co nfr a t e rm t y o ft h e B l e sse d S a cram e n t . Ro ya l 32mo ., clo t h , 6d .
HYMNS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN . By Mr s . C. F. Alexand e r.F ifty - sixt h Ed i t i o n , h a n dsom e ly prin t e d o n t h ick t o n e d pap e r, w i th r e d b o rde r l in e s ,1 6m o . ,
c lo t h . 2 s . 6d .
Wi th Tw e lv e Phot og ra ph s , e xt ra cloth , g i lt e dg e s , 58 . morocco , 108 .
This we l l kn own co l le ct i o n h a s ce r
t a in ly n e v e r b e fo re a pp e a re d i n s o a t t ra et ive a fo rm a s in t h e b e a u t ifu l l i t t le bo o kb e fo re u s . Th e po em s n e e d n o wo rds a t
t h is d a y t o e n ha n ce t h e va lu e t h e y ha ve s o
lo n g po sse sse d , b u t th e vo lum e in which
t h e y a r e n ow em bo d i e d i s re a l ly a wo rk o fa r t from th e e xqu is i t e ph o t o graph s wi t hwh i ch i t i s a do rn e d . a n d t h e p e rfe ct t a st ew ith wh ich th e who l e i s a rra n ge d .
”
Chu r chm a n’s Comp a n i o n .
MORAL SONGS . By Mr s . C. F . Alexander. A New Illustra tedEd i t io n ,
w it h e i g h ty . fi ve e n gra vin gs o n wo o d from o rigin a l d r aw in gs by E . M . W imp e n s , R P . Le it ch , W . H . J . Bo o t , P . Sk e lt o n , W . Ra in e y , a n d o th e r Art ists . Th e
i l lus tra t i o n s ha v e be e n a rra n ge d a n d e n gra ve d by Jam e s D . Co o p e r .clo t h , (i s .
Sm a l l 4t o . ,
PEARLS RE-STRUNG : Stories from th e Apocryph a . By Mr s .
MACKARNES S , a u tho r o f A Tra p t o Ca t ch a Sun b e am ,
” &c .
I l lu stra t e d .
“ Ah e le ga n t a n d su cce ssfu l t re a tm e n t
o f som e o f t h e m o re m a rke d n arra t ive s o ft h e A po crypha l wr i t in gs . No th in g co u ldb e m o r e a t tra ct iv e a n d W in n in g t ha n th ew a y i n wh ich the se sto rie s a r e pre se n t e d
1 6m o . , clo th , 2s . 6d . ,
he re , a n d ch i ldre n w il l b e sure t o a ppr e
c ia t e t hem i n t h e n e w gar b i n which M r s .
Ma cka r n e s s h a s clo t he d them .
” -L i t e r a ryChu r chma n .
PLAIN CHURCH TEACHING. Specially d e s igned for Co ttageRe adin g . S e co n d e d i t io n . Po st 8vo .
, clo th , 4s clo th , r e d e dge s , 4s . 6d .
78, New Bond S tr e e t .
HOMEWARD BOUND . Th e V oyage and th e V oyagers ; t lP il o t a n d t h e Po rt . By th e Re cto r o f E lfo rd . Th ird e d it icCrown 8vo . , clo t h , 4 5 .
It i s a re v iew o f th e ca re s , t h e du t ie s , thy gift to t h e Chu rch from o n e wh o ht h e t ro u ble s o f li fe t h e co n so la t io n s t ha t se rve d h e r s o we ll by h i s p e n in pa st t ime
e n a b l e so u ls t o be a r, t h e prin ciple s u po n —L i t e r a r y Chm '
chma n .
wh ich it be ho ve s th em t o a ct , t h e ho pe s t ha t N o o n e ca n re a d it witho u t be in g t lbright e n th e da rke st pro spe ct s o f t h e tr a b e tt e r fo r i t .
”—Chu r ch B e l ls .
ve l le r t hro u gh t h e wo rld . It is n o unw o r
A STUDENT PENITENT OF 1 695 .
o fa St u de n t , i llu stra t in g Aca dem i ca l Li fe a t Oxfo rd . By th e Re v . F. E . PAGET,MARe ct o r o fE l fo rd . Crown 8vo . , clo th , 4s . 6d .
Th e Di a rie s a r e ve ry rem a rkable fo r n e ss , a n d tha t ofa v e ry de li ca t e a n d be at he ir be a u ty , t ruth , a n d so un d mo ra l a n d t i fu l k in d . Fo r si ck pe rso n s o r fo r th osp iri t u a l pe rce pt io n s . Th e who le bo o k i s w h o ha ve mu ch (o r in de e d a n yt h ing) t oa g em . Bu t i t i s t h e la t t e r pa rt o fi t wh i ch w i t h t h e sick i t W i l l b e m o st va lu a ble .
”
cha rm s u s m o st . It i s fu l l of su gge st i v e L i t e r a ry Chu r chma n .
FIRST TRUTHS FOR THE LITTLE ONES. By ElleL I P SCOMB . 1 8m o . , clo th , i s . 6d .
A pra isewo rthy a t t empt t o d o a v e ry p i e wo rds fo r chi ldre n . It i s , w e t h ind ifi i cu l t t hin g—t o t ra n sla t e t h e comple x fa ir ly su cce ssfu l .”—L i t e r a r y Chu r chma ni de a s o fre li gio n i nt o simple ide a s an d s im
SUNDAY SNOWDROPS . Lay Se rmons , mo re especi a lly fo r thUse o fYo u n g Boys . By WALTE R L . BICKN E LL . Fca p . 8vo . , clo th , gi lt e dge s, 38 . 6:
SIX PLAIN SERMONS ON PENITENCE. By th e Re v. W.
C LEAV E R , M .A . Fca p . 8vo . , l s .FIVE PLAIN SERMONS ON THE SACRAMENT OF THALTAR. By th e Re v . W . H . C LEAV ER , M .A . Fo u rth Edi t i o n . Fca p . 8vo . , l s .
CHRIST’
S KINGDOM UPON EARTH—WHERE IS IT ?Few P la in Wo rds o n t h e Chu rch . By HENRY L . GRAH AM, Cura t e of From e , He refo r d sh i r e . Fca p . sy o . , 6d .
THE LIFE OF PEACE . By the Re v. R. C. Lundin Brown ,M.A.
la te Vi ca r ofRh o de s, Ma n che st e r. Fcap . 8vc . , clo th , 2s . 6d .
“ Th is i s a wo rk o f un u su a l be a u ty Ho ly Livin g an d Dy in g ’ fo r pe ri o di cau s e . W e ha ve h a d few wo rks be fo re u s 0
la t e w it h whi ch w e ha ve be e n s o p le a se d. ’—L i te r a r y Chu r chma n .
THE DEAD IN CHRIST. AWord of Conso la tion fo r Mourne rsBy th e Re v . R . C . LUND IN BR OWN , M .A . , la t e Vi car of Rho de s, Ma n che st e r . ThinEdi t io n , sup e r ! ro ya l 32m o . , clo th , 1 s . 6d .
ANC IENT EP ITAPHS from AD . 1 250 t o 1800. Co llected ands e t fo rth in chro n o lo g i ca l o rde r by T . F. RA V ENSHAW , M .A . , Re ct o r o fPe wse yW ilt s . 8vo ., clo t h , 7s . 6d .
A FEW PRACTICAL HINTS ON CHURCH EMBROIDERYWi th s ix pla t e s . i s .
KALENDAR OF THE IMITATION : Sentences for every dayo fth e ye ar from t h e Imi t a t io Christ i .” Tran sla t e d from th e e dit i o n of 1630 . E dit e dby t h e la te Re v . J M . N EA LE , D .D . New e di t i o n , ro ya l 32mo . , clo th , l s .
4 P ubl ishe d by J . Ma s t e r s a nd CO . ,
”
AN ELEGANT C lF’
T BOOK.
SACRED ALLEGORIES. By th e late Rev. E . Monro , M.A.
A N e w Ed i t io n , com pl e t e in o n e vo lum e , h a ndsom e ly prin t e d o n t o n e d pape r, an dbo un d i n i llum in a t e d clo t h , cro wn 8vo . , 7s . 6d . ; an t i qu e m o ro cco , 1 63 .
THE DARK RIVER.
THE VAST ARMY .
THE COMBATANT S .
THE REV ELLERS ,&c .
THE JOURNEY H OME .
THE DARK MOUNTA INS .
Che a p Edi t io n s o fth e Al le go ri e s s e pa ra t e ly , l s . e a ch .
CHURCH CHOIRS ; containing a BriefH isto ry ofth e Ch ange s inChurch Mu si c du rin g th e la st Fo rty o r F i ft y Ye ars, wi th D ire ct io n s fo r t h e Fo rma t io n ,
Ma n a gem e n t , a n d In st ru ct io n o f Ca t h e dra l , Co l l e gia t e , a n d Pa ro ch ia l Cho i rs ; be in gth e re su lt o ft h irty -s ix y e a rs’ e xpe ri e n ce in Ch0 1r Tr a in in g . By FREDERICK HE LMOR E .
Fo u rth Ed it i o n , Crow n 8vo . , i s .
Th e h i n t s a n d d ire ct io n s o n th e fo r
m a t io n , m an agem e n t , a n d in struct i o n o f
Church Cho irs a r e simply inva lu a ble .
”
Chu r ch Tim e s .
SPEAKERS , SINGERS, AND STAMMERERS. With I l lustrati o n s .In stru ct i o n Bo o k ,” &c .
It w i l l pro ve in va lu a ble t o a l l w h o a r e
pre parin g t o e n t e r pro fe ssio n s , wh e t he rm u sic
,t h e ba r , o r t h e pu lp i t .
”—Pu bticOp in i o n .
W e kn ow m a ny m a n u a ls o f e lo cu ti o n ,
an d w e a r e bo un d t o s ay t h a t t h is i s th ebe st w e h ave e ve r se e n . W e p e rce i ve a t
By FRE D ER ICK HE LMO RE , a utho r o f “ Church Cho irs,” “Th e Cho rist e r ’sCrown 8vo . , clo th , 4s . 6d .
o n ce t ha t w e a r e i n t h e ha n ds o fa m a st e r .The re i s a m o st va lu a b le cha pt e r o n Vo i ceTra in in g’ o fwhi ch w e m u st e xpre ss a ve ryh i gh a ppre cia t i o n . Th i s 1 5 a bo o k wh ichsho u ld n o t b e le ft un n o t i ce d by t ho se w h oha ve i n t h e ir char ge t h e tra in in g o f o ur
y o un g cle rgy .
”—t e r a ry Chu r chma n .
CHRIST IN THE LAW ; o r , the Go spel fore shad owed in th ePe n ta t e u ch . Comp i le d from va rio us so urce s .Fca p . 8vo . , clo t h , 3 s . 6d .Third Ed i t i o n .
Th e a u tho r h a s a ppre h e n de d , a s i t
se em s t o o s , t h e re a l Spirit a n d t h e o n lytr ue m o ra l va lu e o f t h e O ld Te st ame n t .
”
—Sa tu r d a y R e vi e w .
“ A cha rm i n g bo o k a n d o n e wh ich w e
sho u ld b e g la d t o s e e i n e ve ry ha n d . In
t h e m o st m o de st fo rm i t compri se s m o re
By a Pri e st o ft h e Chu rch o fEn gla n d .
re a l t e a ch in g t ha n m a n y a n amb i t io u st re a t i se .
”—L i t e r a ry Ch u r chma n .
Writ t e n w i th si n gu la r a ccur a cy , m o dera t io n , a n d ju d gm e n t .
” - Ch u r ch R e vi ew .
“ A s a p o pu la r e xe ge t ica l t re a t ise t hi sh a s h a d fe w sup e ri o rs o fi t s kw d .
”—Chu r chTim e s .
CHRIST IN THE PROPHETS. Jo shua , Judges , Samuel ,Kings .By th e Au t ho r o f C a m s
'r in t h e Law .
”
“ Th e com p i l e r o f t ha t ca p it a l bo o k ,‘ Cmu s r in t h e Law ,
’ h a s n ow i ssu e d a
co n t in u a t io n un de r t h e t i t le o f C u m s r in
t h e Pro phe t s .' Th is vo lum e i s a wo rthycompan i o n t o i t s pre de ce sso r, a n d t ha t i sn o sma l l pra ise . We st ro n gly a dvise cle rgy
Fca p . 8y o . , 4s . 6d .
m e n t o give b o th vo l um e s o f R . H . N . B.
’s
wo rk t o t he ir scho o l t e a che rs , impre ssin gu po n t hem a t t h e sam e t im e t h e du ty o fst u dy in g th em ca re fu l ly a n d o fre pro du cin gwha t t he y l e a rn from t hem i n t h e le sso n st he y g ive t h e ch i ldre n .
”—Chu r ch Tim e s .
POCKET BOOK OF DEV OTIONS AND EXTRACTS FOR INV ALIDS . By C . L . Ed it e d by th e V e n . A LFRED Po '
r'r , B .D . ,
Archde a co n o fBe rkshire ,V ica r o fCli ft o n Hampde n . Supe r roya l 3 2mo . , clo th , i s . fi t] .
A COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS . By th e Re v.
R. F . LITTLEDALE , LL .D ., D .C .L . l 2mo . , a n t iqu e clo th , 7s .
A COMMENTARY ON THE PRAYER BOOK, fo r th e use ofPa sto rs a n d Te a ch e rs i n t h e Chu rch a n d S cho o l . By t h e Re v . RICHARD ADAMS ,M .A ., Re ct o r o fS . Th om a s ’ , Ma n ch e st e r . Fca p . e vo .
,c lo th , 4 s .
Th e y o un ge r cle rgy , t he o lo gi ca l St u t e r wa n t e d fo r Le sso n s o n th e Pray e r Bo o kde n t s , S un da y Scho o l t e a ch e rs , a n d i n fa ct a n d fo r t h i s re a so n a ny o n e u sm g i t wil lt e a ch e rs o fa l l gra de s , w il l fi n d i t a m o st g e t m o re h e lp from i t tha n from a n y bo o ks e rv i ce able man u a l . l t g ive s jus t th e m a t w e kn ow .
"—L i t e r a ry Ch u r chma n .
6 P ublished by J . Ma s t e r s a nd Cc .
BY THE REV . J. M. NEALE,D.D. ,
LATE WARDEN OF SACKVILLE COLLEGE, EAST GRINSTED .
Th ird Edi t i o n , Fo ur Vo ls . , Po st 8vo . , clo th , 1 05 . 6d . e a ch .
A COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS,from th e Primitive and
M e d i zc va l Writ e r s ; a n d from th e va rio u s O fi i ce -Bo o ks a n d Hymn s o f th e Roman ,
Mo z ar a b ic , Am bro s i a n , Ga l l ica n , Gre e k , Co pt i c , Arm e n i a n , a n d Syri a c Rit e s .R . F. LITTLEDA LE , LL .D .Re v . J . M . N EA LE , DD a n d t h e Re v .
Th i s t ru ly v a lu ab l e a n d rem a rka bleComm e n t a ry i s a wo rk wh ich s ta n d s a lm o s t ,if n o t e n t i r e ly ,
a lo n e in th e th e o logy ofEn gl a n d , a n d o n e t o wh i ch w e m ay fu cr ly ch a ll e ng e Ch r is t e n d om a t l a r g e to p r o du ce a nyth ing p r e c is e ly co r r e sp o n d ing . It wi l l b efo u n d by t ho se wh o ha ve a n y t a st e a t a ll
fo r s u ch st u d i e s a rich a n d va lu a bl e m in et o wh ich t h e y m a y a ga in a n d a ga in re curWi t ho u t run n in g t h e s l ight e st r isk o f d iggin g o u t t h e co n t e n t s t o o ha st ily .
”
Gu a r d ia n .
Thi s Comm e n t a ry i s bo t h t he o lo gi ca l lya n d de vo t io n a l ly a n imm e n se a dva n ce upo na ny comm e n t a ry u po n a ny po rt i o n o fHo lyScriptur e—n o t e ve n e xce pt in g Dr . Pu se y ’ sM i n o r Pro ph e t s—Whi ch h a s y e t b e e n wr i tt e n . W e h a v e in d e e d d e e p gr o u n d fo r t ha n kful n e ss t ha t w e ha ve o n e amo n gst u s a blea n d d e vo t e d t o ca rry o n t h e gre a t wo rkwhi ch th e m a st e r le ft unfin i she d t h e Spirita n d powe r, t h e m a n t l e o fwhom h a s in d e e ds o de s ce n de d upo n t h e disc ip l e , t ha t t h eComm e n t a ry h a s s uffe re d l it t le o r n o lo ssfr om i t s cha n g e o fa u t h o r .
"—Ch u r chRe vi e w .
To Cle rgym e n i t w il l pro ve in va lu a b lefo r hom ile t i ca l p urpo se s, a s a n a bun da nce
By t h e
o fn ew tr a in s o ft ho u ght wi ll b e sugge st e d .wh i ch Will give the ir s e rmo n s t ha t fre shn e ss whi ch i s a s un u su a l a s i t i s de s i ra b lei i i pul p i t u t t e ra n ce s . An d n o le ss a bo o nwi ll i t b e t o tho se o f th e la i ty w h o e njo y abo o k , wh ich w itho u t re qu iri n g a n y gre a tamOiin t o f co n t i n u o u s re a di ng Wi l l givefo o d fo r m e d i t a t io n , a n d e n a b le t hem to
e n t e r wit h m o re in t e re st i n t o t ha t bo o k o fHo ly Scri pt ure whi ch t h e y a r e pro ba blym o re fam i l i a r W i t h t ha n W i th a ny o t he r .”—Chu r ch Tim e s .An o the r in st a lm e n t o fw h a t w e co n sidert o b e o n e o f t h e m o st rem a rka bl e , if n o t
t h e m o st rem arkable wo rk o f o ur d a y .
W e a r e n o t qu i t e sur e tha t w e d o n o t l iket h e t hi rd vo lume be t t e r e ve n tha n i t s pr e
d e ce s so r s . Fo r whil e e qu a l ly rich W i t ht he m i n th e wo n dr o u s ly po e t ic be a u t y of
i t s ce n t o o fmyst ica l a n d o the r in t e rpre tat i o n s, bro ugh t t o ge t he r from so urce s u nkn own t o t h e ge n e ra l re a de r, i t st r ike s usa s su r pa s sm g t hem i i i g ivni g t h e n e ce ssaryfo unda t i o n o f t h e l i t e ra l a n d mo re d i
re ct e xe ge sis Wi t h m o re care .
”—L i t e r a ryChu r chma n .
SERMONS PREACHED IN SACKV ILLE COLLEGE CHAPEL .
Se co n d E dit i o n . Fo u r Vo ls .V o l . I . Adve n t t o Wh i t su n Da y . 75 . 6d .
1 1 . Tri n i ty a n d Sa in t s ’ Da ys . 75 . 6d .
Am o n g t h e se ve ra l vo lum e s o fwri t in gsby t h e la t e Dr . N e a le wh ich ha ve be e n r e
ce n t ly publ i she d , w e m u st a ss i gn t h e fo rem o st p la ce a s re ga rds ge n e ra l u t i l it y t o t h eSe rm o n s p r e a ch e d i n S a ckvi lte Co l leg e Ch a .
p e l , wh i ch ho ld , a s w e co n ce ive , th e ve ryh ighe st ra n k amo n gst mo de rn Se rm o n sin t e n de d t o in s tru ct a n d comfo rt t h e u n
l e a rn e d a n d s u lfe r i n g , by re a so n o ft h e m ing l e d c l e a r i i e s s a n d be a u t y , t h e de e p t e a chin g a n d t h e pra ct ica l a ppli ca t io n W i t h wh i ch
Crown 8vo . , clo th .
V o l . III. Le n t a n d Pa ss io n t ide . 7s . 6d .
IV . Th e M in o r Fe s t i va l s . 65 .
th e s e a dm irable di sco ur se s a bo und .
Ch u r ch T im e s .
“ Ch arm in g vo l ume s .
”
m a n .
“ The y a r e de vo t e d t o e a rn e s t pra ct ica le xho rt a t i o n , ch i e fly , if n o t e xc lu s ive ly,a n d a r e m a rke d by t h e wr i t e r's u sua l fu ln e ss o f bo th tho ught a nd i l lu stra ti o n , a ndby t ha t tho ro ugh a n d fa i t hfu l re a l i ty o fChri st i a n ho l i n e s s wh ich bre a the s in a ll h i swri t i ngs .” —Gu a r d i a n .
L i t e r a ry Chu r ch
READINGS FOR THE AGED . Selected from “Sermons preach ed
i n Sa ckvi l le Co lle ge Cha pe l .”C o l le ge . Crown 8vo . , c lo t h , 65 .
On e o ft h e mo st u se fu l bo o k s pro ba blycv e r i ss u e d fo r pa ro ch ia l u s e i s t h e la t eDr . N e a l e ’s Rn a nm c s FO R TH E A GED .
Be i n g a lso , a s i t de s e rve s t o b e , o n e o ft h e
be st kn own bo o ks am o n g u s , i t n e e ds n o
re co mm e n da t i o n a t o ur han ds .”—L i t e r a ryChu r chm a n .
By t h e la t e Re v . J . M . N EA LE , D .D ., Wa rde n o ft h e
“ In n o o th e r writ e r o f h is a g e ca n w efin d su ch p lamn e s s a n d sim pl i c i ty a n d d ir e ctn e ss o f spe e ch a s i n t he se tho ro ughlyEva nge l i ca l S e rm o n s t ha t pre a ch th e G0 5p e l in a ll i t s simp l i c i ty a n d be a u ty t o t h epo o r a n d t h e i n fi rm wh o e spe c ia l ly n e e di t s me ssa ge o fm e rcy .
"—P u bl ic Op i n io n .
78, N ew B o nd S t r e e t .
SERMONS PREACHED IN A RELIGIOUS HOUSE . Two V o lFcap . 8vo . , clo th , 105 .
W e n e e d ha rdly s a y th a t t h e y pre se n t t o b e . Th e bo o k i s o n e t o b e st ud i e d ba p e rfe ct m i n e o f se rm o n t ho u ght s , a n d pre a ch e rs w h o wo u ld l e a rn h o w be st tthe y co n tribu t e e xa ct ly t h a t e spe cia l e l e t urn t o a cco un t in t he ir o w n Se rmo n s thm e n t whi ch i s mo st ly wa n t i n g e ve n in o u r m y st ica l i n t e rpre t a t io n o fHo ly Scr ipt ur rbe st s e ts o f Chri sti a n Ye a r S e rm o n s . —W e a n d h o w t o we dge in t o t h e i r d i sco u r sem e a n th e m yst i ca l t e a ch in g o f Ho ly Scrip t ho s e e lem e n t s o f i llustra t io n , sim i le a n
t ure . The y a r e ce rt a in t o b e e xt rem e ly a n e cdo t e , i n wh i ch o u r pu lp it a ddre sssuse fu l .”—L i t e r a r y Ch u r chm a n . a r e fo r t h e m o st par t s o st rikin g ly de fe rPa t t e r n s o fwha t su ch d isco u rse s o u ght t i ve .
” —Chu r ch Tim e s .
SERMONS PREACHED IN A RELIGIOUS HOUSE . SeconSe rie s . Two Vo ls . Fca p . 8vo . , clo th , 105 .
MISERERE : th e Fifty-fi r st P salm, wi th Devo tional No te s . Reprin t e d , wi th a ddi t io n s, from “N e a le ’s Comm e n t a ry o n th e Psa lm s .” Wr app e r, 6(l .clo t h, 1 5 .
A s a m a n u a l fo r de vo t io n a l st udy in pa trist ica l lo re st o re d u p i n t h e Oomm e n
Adve n t an d Le n t i t w i ll b e fo un d ii i va l ua t a ry a fo re sa i d m ay m a k e a cqua i n t an ce w itb le , a s t ho se w h o ha ve n e i the r m o n e y n o r th e gre a t wo rk t hro ugh t h is po cke t m a
le isu re t o e xpe nd o n th e va st t re a sur y o f n ua l .”—Chu r ch Time s .
SEATONIAN PRIZ E POEMS. Fcap . 8vo .,35 . 6d .
MEDIE VAL HYMNS AND SEQUENCE S , translated by thRe v . J . M . NEA LE , D .D . Thir d E di t io n , w it h n um e ro u s a ddi t io n s . Ro ya l 32mo . 25
HYMNS FOR CHILDREN . Thre e Series in One V ol . TentEdit io n . 1 8m o . , clo t h, i s .
HYMNS FOR THE SICK. Fourth Edition . 6d .
’ clo th , 1 5 .
BYTHERIGHT REV . J. R.WOODFORD,D.D.
LORD BISH OP o r ELY .
ORDINATION SERMONS preached in th e Dioceses of Oxfora n d W in che st e r , 1860—72 . syo . , 65 . 6d .
“ S e rmo n s a ll o f t hem s t rik in g , a l l o f o fs e rm o n wri t i n g t ha n m o st m e n’ s . l t i
t hem m o de l s o f ca re fu l co n sci e n t i o u s a va lu a bl e v o lum e .
”—L i t e r a r y Ch u r chm a n
t ho u ght a n d compo si t i o n , a n d m a n y o f A n o b l e vo lum e o f Se rm o n s wh i ch a rt hem v e ryfo r c ib l e a n d o ri gin a l . Dr .Wo o d su ch a s v e ry few l ivin g pre a ch e rs co u lfo rd n e ve r wr i t e s a Se rm o n wit ho u t ha vin g e qua l .”—Ch u r e h Re vi ew .
som e d e fi n i t e i de a t o wo rk o u t , som e t ru t h Pr e - emin e n t ly go o d S e rm o n s, we l l-r e ao r du ty t o e n fo rce , a n d wha t e ve r t h e a im s o n e d , we ll wro ught , h a ppy i n i llu str a t io ni s h e pursu e s i t w i t h a t e n a cio u s st e a din e ss ri ch in r e fle cti o n , e lo qu e n t i n e xpre ssio n .
’
wh i ch make s hi s S e rm o n sm o re lik e m o d e l s —Sco t ti sh Gu a r d i a n .
SERMONS PREACHED IN VARIOUS CHURCHE S OF BRISTOL . S e co n d Edi t io n .
OCCASIONAL SERMONS. Two V o l s . Second Ed i ti on . SW75 . 6d . e a ch .
8 P u bl ishe d by J . Ma s t e r s a nd CO .,
BYTHE REV . T. T. CARTER,M.A.
SERMONS . Th ird Ed ition . 8vo ., 98 .
W e a r e d i spo se d t o t h in k t hem t h e ve ry t h e l ite ra tur e o f t h e Chu rch .
” - Th e Gum
be st o fMr . Cart e r’s ma n y co n t ribu t io n s t o d ia n .
SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS. Crown 8vo ., clo th .
1 . THE HOLY EUCHARIST . F i ft h Edi t io n . 3 5 6d .
2 . THE DIV INE DI SPEN SATION S . S e co n d E d i t io n . 4 5 .
3 . THE RELIGIOUS LIFE . 3 5 . 6d .
LENT LECTURES.
THE IMITATION OF OUR LORD . Fifth Edi t io n . 2 5 . 6d .
THE PAS SION AND TEMPTATION OF OUR LORD . S e co n d Edi t io n . 35 .
THE LIFE OF SACRIFICE . S e co n d Edi t io n . 2 5 . 6d .
PARISH SERMONS ON CHURCH QUESTIONS. Fcap . 8v0 ., 1
THE DOCTRINE OF THE PRIESTHOOD IN THE CHURCOF ENGLAND . Th ird Ed iti o n . 45 .
THE DOCTRINE OF CONFESSION IN THE CHURCH 0ENGLAND . Se co n d Edi ti o n . Po st 8vo ., 65 .
THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST,drawn from th
Ho ly Scriptu re s an d t h e Re co rds of t h e Chur ch ofEngla n d . Third Edi ti o n . Fca
sy o . , 9d .
VOWS AND THE RELIGIOUS STATE. Crown 8vo ., 25 .
FAMILY PRAYERS. Fourth Ed ition . 18mo ., cloth, l s .
EDITED BYTHEREV . T. T. CARTER.
A BOOK OF PRIVATE PRAYER, FOR MORNING,MID-DA
N IGHT , AND O THER TIME S , wi t h Ru l e s fo r tho se w h o wo ul d li ve t o Go v am id tbu sin e ss ofda ily l ife . E le ve n th Edi t io n . Limp clo t h , c l . , r e d e dge s , 1 5 . 3 d . ; t o
i s . 6d .
LITANIE S , and o ther Devo tions . Second Ed ition. 1 5 . 6d .
MEMORIALS FOR USE IN A RELIGIOUS HOUSE . SeconEd i t io n En la rge d . 6d .
NIGHT OFFICE FOR CHRISTMAS. 6d .
THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE LORD ON THE KING’
S HIGWAY OF THE CRO S S . De vo t io n a l Ai ds fo r Ho ly We e k . Fca p . 8yo . , clo th , l s .
FOOTSTEPS OF THE HOLY CH ILD, being Read ing s on thIn ca rn a t io n . Part I. , i s . Pa rt IL , 2 5 . 6d . In On e V o l . , 3 5 . 6d . clo th .
MANUAL OF DEV OTION FOR SISTERS OF MERCY. IE igh t Parts, o r Tw o Vo ls . , c lo th , 1 05 .
SIMPLE LE SSONS ; or , Wo rd s Easy t o be Understo od .
Ma n u a l o fTe a ch i n g . Thre e Pa rt s in o n e Vo lume . Th ird Ed it io n . 18mo . , clo th , 3
1 0 P u bl ish e d by J . M a s t e r s a nd CO . ,
THE CHURCHMAN’S DIARY : a n Alma na ck a n d Dire cto ry fo r thCe le bra t io n o ft h e Se rv ice oft h e Chur ch . 4d . in t e rle a ve d , 6d . clo th , 10d . ro an t uc
SERMONS REGISTER,fo r Te n Ye a rs, by wh ich a n a cco un t may b
ke pt o fS e rmo n s , th e n umbe r, su bje ct , a n d wh e n pre a ch e d . Po st 4t o . , i s .
REGISTER OF SERMONS , PREACHERS , NUMBER OF COMMUNICANTS , AND AMOUNT OF OFFERTORY. Fca p . 4t o . ,
b o un d, 4 5 . 6d . (TiBo o k o fStr a n ge Pre a che rs a s o rde re d by t h e 6 2n d Can o n .)
REGISTER OF PERSONS CONFIRMED AND ADMITTED '
1‘
HOLY COMMUN ION . Fo r 5 00 n am e s , 4 5 . 6d . Fo r 1 000 n am e s , 75 . 6d . ha lf-b oun éTHE LITANY , TOGETHER W ITH THE LATTER PART 0
THE COMMINATION SERVICE N OTED . Ed it e d by R i CHA RD Re n n s a n . Han
s om e ly pri n t e d i n r e d a n d b la ck . D emy 4t o . , wrappe r, 75 . 6d . ; im i ta t io n m o ro ob e st m o ro cco , 2 45 . m o ro cco pan e l l e d , &c . , 305 .
THE LITTLE HOURS OF THE DAY , a cco rd ing t o th e K a le n da rth e Chur ch o fEn gla nd . Com ple t e Ed i ti o n , crown sy o . , clo t h , 35 . 6d . ; wra ppe r, 2 5 . 6
HORARIUM ; s e u Lib e l lu s P r e ca t io num , La t ine e d itus . 1 8mo . , cl . 1
THE CLERGYMAN ’S MANUAL OF PRIV ATE PRAYERS . Ccl e ct e d a n d Compi le d from Va ri o us So urce s . A Com pa n i o n Bo o k t o Th e Pri e stPra y e r Bo o k .
” C lo th , 1 5 .
THE PRIEST IN HIS INNER LIFE . Fcap . 8vc . , l s .
DEV OTIONAL BOOKS .
BENEATH THE CROSS . Re a d ing s fo r Child r e n o n o u r LORDSe ve n Sa y i n gs . By FL O REN CE W ILFORD . E di t e d by CHARL OTTE M . YONGE . 181mclo t h bo a rds, 1 5 . 6d . ; l im p c lo th , i s .
THE LOVE OF THE ATONEMENT, a D e vo t io n a l Expo sit io nt h e F ifty-t hi r d cha pt e r o f Isa i a h . By t h e la t e Right Re v . R. M ILMAN , D .D . , Bl Sh (
o fCa l cu t t a . F i ft h Edi t io n . Fca p . evo . , clo t h, 3 5 . 6d .
MEDITATIONS ON THE SUFFERING LIFE OF OUR LORTra n sla t e d from Pin a rt . Ada pt e d t o th e u s e o fth e An glica n Church by A . P . Fo a m;
la t e B i sho p o fBr e ch i i i . F i ft h Edi t i o n . Fca p . 8vo . , clo th , 5 5 .
NOURISHMENT OF THE CHRI STIAN SOUL . Tra n sla t e d fr oP in a rt . Ada pt e d t o t h e u s e o f th e An gli ca n Church by A . P . Fo n n s s , la
B isho p o fBr e ch i i i . Fo urt h Ed i t io n . Fca p . sy o . , clo th , 65 .
THE MIRROR OF YOUNG CHRI STIANS . Tran sla t e d from thFr e n ch . Ed it e d by A . P . FO RB ES , B isho p o fBre ch in . W i th En gra v ings , 2s . 6d
m o ro cco a n t i qu e , 75 .
THE DIV INE MASTER : a D e vo tio n a l Ma nu a l illu s t ra t ing th e Wa
o f t h e Cro ss . Wi t h Te n st e e l E ngra vin gs . Nin th Edit io n . 25 . 6d . ; mo ro cco , 5Che a p Ed i t io n , in wr a ppe r, i s .
THE PSALTER , o r S e v e n Ord ina ry Ho u rs o f Pra ye r, a cco rding tth e Us e o f t h e Church o f Sa rum . Be a u t i fu lly prin t e d a n d i l lu stra t e d . Fcap . 4t c
a n t iqu e b i nd i n g . Re duce d t o 1 5 5 .
A FEW DEV OTIONAL HELPS FOR THE CHRI STIAN SEAS ON S . Ed ite d by Tw o C le rgym e n . Two
THE DIV INE LITURGY : a Ma n ua l o f D e v o tio n s fo r th e S a crm e n t o f t h e A l t a r . Fo r t ho se w h o c o mmun ica t e . FO URTH En i 'r i ON , re v ise d , w i ta dd i t io n a l Pray e rs a n d Hym n s , l im p c lo t h , i s . 6d . A supe ri o r e d i t i o n prin t e dt o n e d pa p e r, c lo t h bo a rds, r e d e dge s , 25 . 6d ; ca lf o r mo ro cco , 65 .
78, New Bond S t r e e t . 1 1
COMMUNION W ITH GOD . M e d it a t io n s a nd Pr aye r s fo r On eWe e k . By a Cle rgyma n . Fca p . 8v o . , c lo t h , 2 5 .
THE KALENDAR OF THE IMITATION : S e n t e nce s fo r e ve ry d ayo f t h e y e a r from t h e Imi t a t i o Christ i .” Tra n sla t e d from t h e e d it io n o f 163 0 .Edi t e d by t h e la t e Re v . J . M . N EA LE , D .D . N e w e d i t i o n , roya l 3 2mo . , clo t h , 1 5 .
THE GREAT TRUTHS OF THE CHRI STIAN RELIGION .
Edi te d by th e la t e Re v . W . U . RICHARD S , M .A . S ixt h E d it i o n . Fca p . 8v o . clo th , 3 5 .
MEDITATIONS ON THE MO ST PRECIOUS BLOOD ANDEXAMPLE OF CHRIST . By th e Re v . J . S . T UTE , M .A . , V i ca r o fMark ingt o n , Yo rksh i re . Fca p . syo ., clo t h , i s .
SPIRITUAL V OICES FROM THE M IDDLE AGES . Co n sis ting ofa S e l e ct io n o f Ab stra ct s from t h e Writ in gs o f th e Fa t he rs , a da pt e d fo r t h e Ho ur ofMe di ta t io n , a n d co n c ludin g wi th a B io graphica l No t ice o ft he ir Li ve s . 3 s . 6d .
PRAYERS AND MAXIMS . In la rg e type . Fo u r th Ed itio n . Crown8vo . clo th , 25 . 6d .
THE SOLILOQ UY OF THE SOUL , a n d THE GARDEN OFRO SES . Tr a n sla t e d from Thoma s a Kemp is . By th e Re v . W . B. FL OWE R, B .A . 25 .
Che a p Edi t io n , 1 5 .
MANUAL FOR MOURNERS, w ith D e vo t io n s, Dire ctio ns , a nd Fo rmso fSe lf-Exam in a t io n . Fca p . syo . , 2s . 6d .
THE HOUR OF DEATH . A M a n u a l o f P raye rs a n d Me d ita tio n sin t e n de d ch i e fly fo r t ho se w h o a r e in So rrow o r i n S i ckn e ss . By th e Re v . J . B .
W I LK IN S ON . Ro ya l 32mo . , 2 s .
MEDITATIONS ON OUR LORD ’S PASS ION . Tra n sla te d from th eArm e n i a n o fMa t thew, Va rtabe d . 2s . 6d .
SELECTIONS , NEW AND OLD . With a Pr e fa ce by th e la teB I SH O P W I LBERF O RCE . Fcap . sy o . , 45 . Gd .
THE HIDDEN LIFE . Tra n sla t e d fr om Nepve u ’s P e n sée s Chrétie nn e s .
Fou r t h Edi t io n , e n la rge d . 18mo . , 25 .
TWELVE SHORT AND SIMPLE MEDITATIONS ON THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR LORD JESU S CHRIST . Edi t e d by th e Re v . CANON BUTLER .
2 s . 6d .
THE WEDDING GIFT. A De vo t io n a l Man ua l fo r th e Ma r rie d , o r
t ho se i n t e n din g t o Ma rry . By t h e Re v . W . E . HEYGATE , M .A . S e co n d Edi t io n , r e
v ise d an d e n la rge d . 3 5 .
THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE LORD ON THE K ING’S HIGHWAY OF THE CRO S S . D e vo t io n a l A ids fo r Ho ly We e k . Edi t e d by t h e Re v . T . T.CARTE R . Fcap . sy o . , clo th , i s .
FOOTSTEPS OF THE HOLY CHILD , b e ing Re a d ing s o n th e Iuca rn a t io n . Edit e d by th e Re v . T . T . CARTE R . Pa rt I ., fca p . syo ., 1 5 . Pa rt IL, 2 5 . 6d .
In On e V o l . c lo t h . 3 s . 6d .
COMPANION FOR LENT. Be ing a n Exho rta t io n to Re pe n ta nce ,from t h e Syria c o f S . Eph r a em a n d Tho ught s fo r Eve ry Da y in Le n t , ga the re d fromo the r Ea st e rn Fa t he rs a n d Divin e s . By th e Re v . S . C . MA LAN , M .A . 1 5 . 3d .
THE CHRISTIAN’S DAY.-By th e Rev. F. E. PAGET, M.A . Roya l
32mo . , 2s . clo t h ; 5 5 . m o ro cco .
MEDITATIONS FOR EVERY WEEK IN THE CHRISTIANYEAR. By th e Comp i le r o f “ P lai n Praye rs,” w i th a n In tro du ct io n by th e Re v .CANON BUTLER , M .A . , Vi car ofWa n t a ge . Se co n d Ed i ti o n . 1 8mo .,
clo th, 15 . 6d .
1 2 P ublishe d by J . Ma s t e r s a nd CO .,
THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS . A D e vo tiona l Oomm e n ta ry . By BELLARM INE . S e co n d Edit io n . 1 5 . 6d .
THE THREE HOURS AGONY : Me d ita t io n s , P raye r s , a n d Hymn s o nt h e S e ve n Wo rds from t h e Cro ss o fo ur Mo st Ho ly Re de eme r, t o ge th e r w ith Addit io n a lDe vo t io n s o n t h e Pa ssio n . 4d .
EUCHARI STIC MEDITATIONS FOR A MONTH ON THE MO STHOLY COMMUNION . Tra n sla t e d from th e Fr e n ch o fAvr ill o n . Limp clo th , 25 . 6d .
DAILY MEDITATIONS : from Ancie n t So u rce s . Adve n t t o Ea ste r .
Clo t h , 1 5 . 6d .
DAILY MEDITATIONS FOR A MONTH , o n some of th e m o reM o v in g Tr u ths o f Christ ia n i ty ; in o rde r t o de t e rm in e t h e So u l t o b e in e arn e st in th elo v e a n d S e rvi ce o fh e r Go n . From An ci e n t So urce s . Clo th , i s .
A TREATISE OF THE V IRTUE OF HUMILITY, a bridg e d from
th e Spa n ish o fRo drigue z 5 fo r t h e u s e o fpe rso n s l ivi n g in t h e wo rld . Clo th, 1 5 .
CONSIDERATIONS ON MYSTERIES OF THE FAITH , n ewlyTra n sla t e d a n d Abridge d from th e Origina l Span i sh o fLu i s d e Gra n ada . 2s . clo th .
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES : Re a d ing s fo r a Re t re a t o f Se ve n Days .Tran sla t e d a n d Abridge d from th e Fre n ch o fBo ur d a lo u e . 1 5 . 6d .
AIDS TO CATEC HIS ING .
A MANUAL OF CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION, a rrang e d byt h e Re v . G . A RDEN . Fo urth Edi ti o n . Fcap . sy o . , clo t h , 2s .
CATECHISINGS ON THE LIFE OF OUR LORD . By th e V e u .
W . LEA , M .A . ,Archde a co n o fWo rc e st e r . 1 2mo . , clo th , 3 5 . 6d .
CATECHISINGS ON THE PRAYER BOOK. By th e V e n . W . LEA ,M .A . Thi r d Ed i t io n . 1 8m o . , clo th , 1 5 .
A CATECHISM ON THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. Byt h e la t e Re v . A LEXANDE R WATS ON . 1 8mo . , clo th, 25 .
A CATECHISM OF THEOLOGY. S e cond Ed itio n , r e vise d . 18mo .,
c lo t h , 1 5 . 6d . ; wra ppe r , 1 5 .
THE EVENING MEETINGS ; o r , th e Pa s to r amo ng th e Boys ofh isFlo ck . By C . M . S . Fca p . 8vo . , 25 .
By th e Author of The Chur chman’
s Guide t o Fa ith
an d Pi e ty .
”
DEV OTIONS FOR THE SICK ROOM , PRAYERS IN SICKNES S ,&c . C lo th , 2 5 . 6d .
COMPANION FOR THE SICK ROOM : b e ing a Compe n dium ofChrist i a n Do ctrin e . 2s . 6d .
OFFICES FOR THE SICK AND DYING. Re printe d from th ea bo ve . i s .
LEAFLETS FOR THE SICK. AND DYING ; suppleme n t a ry t o th eOffi ce s fo r th e sam e i n Th e Chu rchma n ’ s Gu ide t o Fa ith a n d P i e t y .
” First Se ri e s .Pri ce pe r s e t o fe i ght , 6d . ; cardbo ard, Qd .
1 4 P ublished by J . Ma s t e r s a nd CO .,
THE POCKET BOOK OF DAILY PRAYERS . Tran sla te d fromE a st e rn Origin a ls . By th e Re v . S . C . MA LAN ,M .A . Su i t e d fo r th e Wa ist co a t Po cke t .Clo th , 6d . ro a n , 1 5 .
DEV OTIONS FOR DAILY USE . W ith P re fa ce by th e Ho n . a n dRe v . Ca n o n C OURTENAY . Ro ya 1 3 2m o . , clo th e xtra , 1 5 .
A MANUAL OF PRIVATE DEV OTIONS , co n ta in ing P raye r s fo re a ch Day in t h e We e k , De vo t i o n s fo r t h e Ho ly Comm un io n , a n d fo r t h e Sick . ByB I SHO P AND REW E S . 6d . ; c lo t h , 9d . ; ca lf, 2s . 6d .
A COLLECTION OF PRIVATE DEV OTIONS FOR THE HOURSOF PRAYER . By B I SH O P C o sm . i s . ca l f o r m o ro cco , 3 5 . 6d .
THE CHRISTIAN’S PLAIN GUIDE . By th e Re v . WALTER A . GRAY ,M .A . , Vi ca r o fArkse y . 3 2mo . , clo th bo ards, 1 5 . Che a p Edit i o n , wrappe r, 6d .
THE DEV OUT CHORI STER. Tho u gh t s o n h is V o ca tio n , a nd a Ma
n u a l ofDe vo t io n s fo r h i s u s e . By TH OMAS F . SM ITH , B .D . 3 2mo . , clo th , 1 5 .
A MANUAL OF DEV OTIONS FOR SCHOOL-BOYS . Compile dfrom va rio u s so urce s . By R. BRETT . 6d .
PRAYERS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS .
By R. BRETT . 6d . ; clo th , 8d . Part 1 . 2d . , clo th 4d . Pa rt I I . 4d . , clo th 6d .
THE YOUNG CHURCHMAN ’S MANUAL . S e co n d Ed ition . 6d .
FAMILY PRAYERS .
BOOK OF FAMILY PRAYERS, co l le cte d fr om th e Public Litu rgy
o fth e Chu rch o fEn gla n d . By E . G . , M in o r Ca n o n o fDu rh am . 2 5 .
PRAYERS FOR A CHRI STIAN HOUSEHOLD , ch i efly t ake n fromt h e Scr ipt u re s , from t h e An c i e n t Li t urg i e s , a n d t h e Bo o k o f Comm o n Pra ye r . Byt h e Re v . T . B O W D LE R . Fca p . 8vo . , clo th , 2 s . 6d .
FAMILY DEV OTIONS FOR A FORTNIGHT. Compile d from th eWo rk s o fB I SHO P ANDREW E S , KEN , W I L S ON , KETT LEW E I.L , N E L S ON , SPINCKES , &c .
(Su it e d a lso fo r priva t e u s e .) New Ed i t i o n . Fca p . syo . , clo th , 1 5 . 6d .
PRAYERS AND LITANIES , take n from Ho ly Scriptu re , t og e th e rwi th a Ca l e n da r an d Ta ble o fLe sson s . Arran ge d by th e Re v . J . S . B . MONSELL , LL .D .
1 6mo . , c lo th , i s .
FAMILY PRAYERS a d apte d t o th e co u rse of th e Eccle sia st ica l Ye a r .By th e Re v . R. A . S UCKL ING . 6d . ; clo t h , i s .
V O LUMES O F SERMONS AND LECTURES .
ASHLEY,REV. J . M .
—THE V ICTORY OF THE SPIRIT : a
Co u rse o fSho rt S e rmo n s by w ay o fComm e n t ary o n t h e E ight h Cha pt e r o fS . Pa u l ’sEp ist le t o t h e Rom a n s . Fca p . 8vo . , c lo t h , 25 .
THIRTEEN SERMONS FROM THE Q UARESIMALEOF Q UIRl CO RO S S I . Tra n sl a t e d from t h e It a li a n . Ed it e d by J . M . A SH LEY, B .C .L .
Fca p . syo . , clo t h , 3 5 . 6d .
BAINES , REV . J .- SERMONS . Fcap . 8vc .,
55 .
BRIGHT,REV . CANON , D .D .
—EIGHTEEN SERMONS OF S.
LEO THE GREAT ON THE INCARNATION , t ra n sla t e d W i t h No t e s a n d with th eTom e
”o fS . Le o in t h e o rigin a l . 8vo . , clo th , 6 5 .
78, New Bond S t r e e t . 15
BRECHIN,THE LATE BP. OF .
—ARE YOU BEING CONVERTED ?
Se rm o n s o n Se rio u s Su bje ct s . Th ird Edit i o n . Fca p . s yo ., 23 .
SERMONS ON AMENDMENT OF LIFE. S e co nd Ed it io n .
Fcap . syo . 25 .
THE WANING OF OPPORTUNITIES , a nd o th e r S e rmon s ,Pr a ct i ca l a n d Do ct rin a l . Fca p . 8yo . 3 s . 6d .
SERMONS ON THE GRACE OF GOD , a nd o the r Cogn ateSubje ct s . 3 5 . 6d .
BUTLER, REV . W . J .- SERMONS FOR WORKING MEN.
Se co n d Edit io n . 1 2m o 6s . 6d .
CHAMBERLAIN , REV . T.—THE THEORY OF CHRISTIAN
WORSHIP . S e co n d Editi o n . 3 5 . 6d .
THE SEVEN AGES OF THE CHURCH a s in dicate d in th eM e ssage s t o th e S e ve n Chur che s o fAsia . Po st syo . , 3 5 .
CHANTER, REV. J. M.—SERMONS . 1 2mo . ,
3 s . 6d .
CODD ,REV. E. T.
—SERMONS a d d re s s e d t o a Co un t ry Co ng re gatio n ,in cludin g Fo ur pre a che d b e fo re t h e Un ive rsit y o f Cambridge . Thir d S e ri e s . 1 2mo . ,
65 . Gd .
EVANS , REV . A . B. , D .D .— CHRISTIANITY IN ITS HOMELY
A SPECTS S e rmo n s o n Va ri o u s Subje ct s . S e co n d Se ri e s . 1 2mo . , 3 5 .
FLOWER, REV . W . B.- SERMONS FOR THE SEASONS OF
THE CHURCH , tra n sla t e d from S . Be rn a rd . 8vo . , 3 5 . 6d .
GALTON ,REV . J . L .
—ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWOLECTURE S ON THE BO OK OF REVELATION . In Tw o Vo ls . Fcap . 8vo . , 1 85 .
NOTES OF LECTURES ON THE BOOK OF CANTICLESOR SONG OF SOLOMON , de live re d in t h e Pa r i sh Church o fS . S idwe ll , Exe t e r. 65 .
GRESLEY, REV. W .—PRACTICAL SERMONS . 1 2mo . , 3s . 6d .
SERMONS PREACHED AT BRIGHTON. 1 2mo . , 35 . Gd .
HAMILTON,REV . L . R.
—PAROCHIAL SERMONS . Fcap . 8vo .
35 . 6d .
IRONS , REV . W . J. , D .D .—THE PREACHING OF CHRIST.
A S e ri e s ofS ixt y S e rm o n s fo r t h e Pe o ple . In a Pa cke t , clo th , 65 .
THE MIRACLES OF CHRI ST : b e ing a S e co n d S e rie s ofSe rmon s fo r t h e Pe o ple . S e co n d Edit io n . 8yo . , 65 .
LEA, THE VEN . ARCHDEACON .
—SERMONS ON THE PRAYERBOOK.
LEE,REV . F . G. , D .C.L.
—MISCELLANEOUS SERMONS , byC le rgym e n o fth e Church o fEn gla n d . Edi t e d b y F . G . LEE . Crown syo . 3 5 . 6d .
MILLARD ,REV . F . M.
—S . PETER’ S DENIAL OF CHRIST.
S e ve n Sho rt S e rmo n s t o B o y s . Fca p . 8y o . , 1 5 . 4d .
NEWLAND ,REV . H .
—POSTILS ; Sh o r t S e rm o n s o n th e Pa r able s,&c . , a da pt e d from th e Fa t he rs . S e co n d Edit io n . Fca p . sy o . , 3 s .
NUGEE,REV . G.
-THE WORDS FROM THE CROS S AS APPLIED TO OUR OWN DEATHBED S . S e co n d Edi ti on . Fca p . syo . , 25 . 6d .
1 6 P ubl ished by J . M a s t e r s a nd CO . , 78, N ew Bond S t r e e t .
PAGET, REV . F. E .—SERMONS ON THE SAINTS ’ DAYS . 1 2mo .,
3 5 . 6d .
SERMONS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS . Crown 8vo ., 5s .
PRICHARD, REV. J. C.—SERMONS . Fcap . 8vc .
,4s . 6d .
PRYNNE, REV. G. R.-PLAIN PAROCHIAL SERMONS . S e cond
S e ri e s . 8vo . , 1 05 . 6d .
PAROCHIAL SERMONS (New V o lum e .) 8vo . , 105 . 6d .
POTT, THE VEN. ARCHDEACON .—CONFIRMATION LEC
TURE S de live re d t o a Vil la ge Co n gre ga ti o n in t h e Di o ce s e o fOxfo rd . 3 r d Edit i o n . 25 .
VILLAGE LECTURES ON THE SACRAMENTS ANDOCCA S IONAL SERVICES OF THE CHURCH . 23 .
STRETTON, REV. H .—THE ACTS OF S. MARY MAGDALENE
Co n side re d in S ixt e e n S e rm o n s . 8vo . , 5 5 .
SUCKLING, REV . R. A .—SERMONS PLAIN AND PRACTICAL.
Fo u rt h Edi t io n . Fca p . syo . , 3 5 . 6d .
SERMONS BY VARIOUS CONTRIBUTORS ILLUSTRATINGTHE O FFICE S OF THE PRAYER BO OK . syo . , as . 6d .
THOMPSON , REV . H .—CONCIONALIA . O u t lin e s of Se rmo n s fo r
Pa r o ch ia l Us e thro u gho u t t h e Ye a r . D e d ica t e d , by pe rm issi o n , t o t h e LORD B I SHO PO F BATH AND WE LLS . Fi rst S e ri e s . Th ir d Edi t io n . Fca p . 8vo . , 7s . 6d .
CONCIONALIA . S e co nd S e rie s . Fcap . 8vo . ,6 5 . 6d .
TOMLINS , REV . R.- SERMONS fo r th e Gre a t e r Cycle ofHigh Days
in t h e Church ’s Ye a r, w i t h S e rmo n s fo r Sp e c ia l an d Ord in a ry O cca sio n s . Se co n dEdi t io n . 1 2mo . , 5 s .
ADVENT SERMONS . I llu st ra t e d by co piou s r efe re n ce s t o
th e Adve n t S e rvi ce s . S e co n d Edit io n . F irst a n d S e co n d S e r i e s , in On e V o l . , clo th ,2s . 6d .
WATSON , REV. A .—THE SEVEN SAYINGS ON THE CROSS .
svc . , as . 6d .
JESUS THE GIVER AND FULFILLER OF THE NEWLAW . E ight S e rm o n s o n t h e B e a t it ude s .
WEST, REV . J. R.- SERMONS ON THE ASCENSION OF OUR
LORD . Fca p . s yo . , 3 5 . 6d .
PARISH SERMONS FOR THE ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS S EA SON S . Fca p . 8vo . , 3 5 .
PARISH SERMONS ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST . Fcap .
8vo . , clo th , 4s . 6d .
WILKINSON, REV. J. B .—MIS SION SERMONS . Third S e rie s .
Fca p . 8vo ., 63 .
WINDSOR, REV. S. B.—SERMONS FOR SOLDIERS pre ach e d a t
Home a n d Abro a d . Fca p . 8vo . , 3s . 6d .
WROTH , REV. W . R.—FIVE SERMONS ON SOME OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT TYPE S OF HOLY BAPTISM . Po s t 8vo ., 3 5 .
LONDON : J . MASTERS 81 CC . , 78, NEW BOND STREET .
UN IVERSIT Y O F CALIFORNIA LIBRARYLo s An g e l e s
T h i s b o o k DUE o n th e la s t d a t e s t a m p e d b e lo w .
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