,transcribed from the #ahha ,macmillan and ,co4 edition by ,david ,price1 ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,,westminster ,,sermons4 ,,with ,a ,,preface4 ,,by ,,charles ,,kingsley4 ,london3 ,,macmillan ,,and ,,co4 #ahha4 ,the ,right of ,translation is ,reserved4 ,,preface4 ,i venture to preface these ,sermons--which were preached either at ,westminster ,abbey1 or at one of the ,chapels ,royal--by a ,paper read at ,sion ,college1 in #ahga2 and for this reason4 ,even when they deal with what is usually1 and rightly1 called vital and experimental religion1 they are comments on1 and developments of1 the idea which pervades that paper2 namely--,that facts1 whether of physical nature1 or of the human heart and reason1 do not contradict1 but coincide with1 the doctrines and formulas of the ,church of ,england1 as by law established4 99 99 99 99 99 ,natural ,theology1 ,i said1 is a subject which seems to me more and more important2 and one which is just now somewhat forgotten4 ,i therefore desire to say a few words on it4 ,i do not pretend to teach3 but only to suggest2 to point out certain problems of natural ,theology1 the further solution of which ought1 ,i think1 to be soon attempted4 ,i wish to speak1 be it remembered1 not on natural religion1 but on natural ,theology4 ,by the first1 ,i understand what can be learned from the physical universe of man's duty to ,god and to his neighbour2 by the latter1 ,i understand what can be learned concerning ,god ,himself4 ,of natural religion ,i shall say nothing4 ,i do not even affirm that a natural religion is possible3 but ,i do very earnestly believe that a natural ,theology is possible2 and ,i earnestly believe also that it is most important that natural ,theology should1 in every age1 keep pace with doctrinal or ecclesiastical ,theology4 ,bishop ,butler certainly held this belief4 ,his ,analogy of ,religion1 ,natural and ,revealed1 to the ,constitution and ,course of ,nature--a book for which ,i entertain the most profound respect--is based on a belief that the ,god of nature and the ,god of grace are one2 and that therefore1 the ,god who satisfies our conscience ought more or less to satisfy our reason also4 ,to teach that was ,butler's mission2 and he fulfilled it well4 ,but it is a mission which has to be re-fulfilled again and again1 as human thought changes1 and human science develops2 for if1 in any age or country1 the ,god who seems to be revealed by nature seems also different from the ,god who is revealed by the then popular religion3 then that ,god1 and the religion which tells of that ,god1 will gradually cease to be believed in4 ,for the demands of ,reason--as none knew better than good ,bishop ,butler--must be and ought to be satisfied4 ,and therefore2 when a popular war arises between the reason of any generation and its ,theology3 then it behoves the ministers of religion to inquire1 with all humility and godly fear1 on which side lies the fault2 whether the ,theology which they expound is all that it should be1 or whether the reason of those who impugn it is all that it should be4 ,for me1 as--,i trust--an orthodox priest of the ,church of ,england1 ,i believe the ,theology of the ,national ,church of ,england1 as by law established1 to be eminently rational as well as scriptural4 ,it is not1 therefore1 surprising to me that the clergy of the ,church of ,england1 since the foundation of the ,royal ,society in the seventeenth century1 have done more for sound physical science than the clergy of any other denomination2 or that the three greatest natural theologians with which ,i1 at least1 am acquainted--,berkeley1 ,butler1 and ,paley--should have belonged to our ,church4 ,i am not unaware of what the ,germans of the eighteenth century have done4 ,i consider ,goethe's claims to have advanced natural ,theology very much over-rated3 but ,i do recommend to young clergymen ,herder's ,outlines of the ,philosophy of the ,history of ,man as a book--in spite of certain defects--full of sound and precious wisdom4 ,meanwhile it seems to me that ,english natural ,theology in the eighteenth century stood more secure than that of any other nation1 on the foundation which ,berkeley1 ,butler1 and ,paley had laid2 and that if our orthodox thinkers for the last hundred years had followed steadily in their steps1 we should not be deploring now a wide1 and as some think increasing1 divorce between ,science and ,christianity4 ,but it was not so to be4 ,the impulse given by ,wesley and ,whitfield turned--and not before it was needed--the earnest minds of ,england almost exclusively to questions of personal religion2 and that impulse1 under many unexpected forms1 has continued ever since4 ,i only state the fact3 ,i do not deplore it2 ,god forbid4 ,wisdom is justified of all her children2 and as1 according to the wise ,american1 it takes all sorts to make a world1 so it takes all sorts to make a living ,church4 ,but that the religious temper of ,england for the last two or three generations has been unfavourable to a sound and scientific development of natural ,theology1 there can be no doubt4 ,we have only1 if we need proof1 to look at the hymns--many of them very pure1 pious1 and beautiful--which are used at this day in churches and chapels by persons of every shade of opinion4 ,how often is the tone in which they speak of the natural world one of dissatisfaction1 distrust1 almost contempt4 ,change and decay in all around ,i see1 is their key- note1 rather than ,o all ye works of the ,lord1 bless ,him1 praise ,him1 and magnify ,him for ever4 ,there lingers about them a savour of the old monastic theory1 that this earth is the devil's planet1 fallen1 accursed1 goblin-haunted1 needing to be exorcised at every turn before it is useful or even safe for man4 ,an age which has adopted as its most popular hymn a paraphrase of the mediaeval monk's ,hic breve vivitur1 and in which stalwart public-school boys are bidden in their chapel-worship to tell the ,almighty ,god of ,truth that they lie awake weeping at night for joy at the thought that they will die and see ,jerusalem the ,golden1 is doubtless a pious and devout age3 but not--at least as yet--an age in which natural ,theology is likely to attain a high1 a healthy1 or a scriptural development4 ,not a scriptural development4 ,let me press on you1 my clerical brethren1 most earnestly this one point4 ,it is time that we should make up our minds what tone ,scripture does take toward nature1 natural science1 natural ,theology4 ,most of you1 ,i doubt not1 have made up your minds already2 and in consequence have no fear of natural science1 no fear for natural ,theology4 ,but ,i cannot deny that ,i find still lingering here and there certain of the old views of nature of which ,i used to hear but too much some five-and-thirty years ago--and that from better men than ,i shall ever hope to be--who used to consider natural ,theology as useless1 fallacious1 impossible2 on the ground that this ,earth did not reveal the will and character of ,god1 because it was cursed and fallen2 and that its facts1 in consequence1 were not to be respected or relied on4 ,this1 ,i was told1 was the doctrine of ,scripture1 and was therefore true4 ,but when1 longing to reconcile my conscience and my reason on a question so awful to a young student of natural science1 ,i went to my ,bible1 what did ,i find8 ,no word of all this4 ,much--thank ,god1 ,i may say one continuous undercurrent--of the very opposite of all this4 ,i pray you bear with me1 even though ,i may seem impertinent4 ,but what do we find in the ,bible1 with the exception of that first curse8 ,that1 remember1 cannot mean any alteration in the laws of nature by which man's labour should only produce for him henceforth thorns and thistles4 ,for1 in the first place1 any such curse is formally abrogated in the eighth chapter and #bast verse of the very same document--,i will not again curse the earth any more for man's sake4 ,while the earth remaineth1 seed-time and harvest1 cold and heat1 summer and winter1 day and night1 shall not cease4 ,and next3 the fact is not so2 for if you root up the thorns and thistles1 and keep your land clean1 then assuredly you will grow fruit-trees and not thorns1 wheat and not thistles1 according to those laws of nature which are the voice of ,god expressed in facts4 ,and yet the words are true4 ,there is a curse upon the earth3 though not one which1 by altering the laws of nature1 has made natural facts untrustworthy4 ,there is a curse on the earth2 such a curse as is expressed1 ,i believe1 in the old ,hebrew text1 where the word admah--correctly translated in our version the ground--signifies1 as ,i am told1 not this planet1 but simply the soil from whence we get our food2 such a curse as certainly is expressed by the ,septuagint and the ,vulgate versions3 ,cursed is the earth--,greek text2 in opere tuo1 in thy works4 ,man's work is too often the curse of the very planet which he misuses4 ,none should know that better than the botanist1 who sees whole regions desolate1 and given up to sterility and literal thorns and thistles1 on account of man's sin and folly1 ignorance and greedy waste4 ,well said that veteran botanist1 the venerable ,elias ,fries1 of ,lund3-- ,a broad band of waste land follows gradually in the steps of cultivation4 ,if it expands1 its centre and its cradle dies1 and on the outer borders only do we find green shoots4 ,but it is not impossible1 only difficult1 for man1 without renouncing the advantage of culture itself1 one day to make reparation for the injury which he has inflicted3 he is appointed lord of creation4 ,true it is that thorns and thistles1 ill-favoured and poisonous plants1 well named by botanists rubbish plants1 mark the track which man has proudly traversed through the earth4 ,before him lay original nature in her wild but sublime beauty4 ,behind him he leaves a desert1 a deformed and ruined land2 for childish desire of destruction1 or thoughtless squandering of vegetable treasures1 has destroyed the character of nature2 and1 terrified1 man himself flies from the arena of his actions1 leaving the impoverished earth to barbarous races or to animals1 so long as yet another spot in virgin beauty smiles before him4 ,here again1 in selfish pursuit of profit1 and consciously or unconsciously following the abominable principle of the great moral vileness which one man has expressed--',apres nous le ,deluge1'--he begins anew the work of destruction4 ,thus did cultivation1 driven out1 leave the ,east1 and perhaps the deserts long ago robbed of their coverings2 like the wild hordes of old over beautiful ,greece1 thus rolls this conquest with fearful rapidity from ,east to ,west through ,america2 and the planter now often leaves the already exhausted land1 and the eastern climate1 become infertile through the demolition of the forests1 to introduce a similar revolution into the ,far ,west4 ,as we proceed1 we find nothing in the general tone of ,scripture which can hinder our natural ,theology being at once scriptural and scientific4 ,if it is to be scientific1 it must begin by approaching ,nature at once with a cheerful and reverent spirit1 as a noble1 healthy1 and trustworthy thing2 and what is that1 save the spirit of those who wrote the #ajdth1 #adgth1 and #adhth ,psalms2 the spirit1 too1 of him who wrote that ,song of the ,three ,children1 which is1 as it were1 the flower and crown of the ,old ,testament1 the summing up of all that is most true and eternal in the old ,jewish faith2 and which1 as long as it is sung in our churches1 is the charter and title-deed of all ,christian students of those works of the ,lord1 which it calls on to bless ,him1 praise ,him1 and magnify ,him for ever8 ,what next will be demanded of us by physical science8 ,belief1 certainly1 just now1 in the permanence of natural laws4 ,that is taken for granted1 ,i hold1 throughout the ,bible4 ,i cannot see how our ,lord's parables1 drawn from the birds and the flowers1 the seasons and the weather1 have any logical weight1 or can be considered as aught but capricious and fanciful illustrations--which ,god forbid--unless we look at them as instances of laws of the natural world1 which find their analogues in the laws of the spiritual world1 the kingdom of ,god4 ,i cannot conceive a man's writing that #ajdth ,psalm who had not the most deep1 the most earnest sense of the permanence of natural law4 ,but more3 the fact is expressly asserted again and again4 ,they continue this day according to ,thine ordinance1 for all things serve ,thee4 ,thou hast made them fast for ever and ever4 ,thou hast given them a law which shall not be broken-- ,let us pass on4 ,there is no more to be said about this matter4 ,but next3 it will be demanded of us that natural ,theology shall set forth a ,god whose character is consistent with all the facts of nature1 and not only with those which are pleasant and beautiful4 ,that challenge was accepted1 and ,i think victoriously1 by ,bishop ,butler1 as far as the ,christian religion is concerned4 ,as far as the ,scripture is concerned1 we may answer thus-- ,it is said to us--,i know that it is said--,you tell us of a ,god of love1 a ,god of flowers and sunshine1 of singing birds and little children4 ,but there are more facts in nature than these4 ,there is premature death1 pestilence1 famine4 ,and if you answer--,man has control over these2 they are caused by man's ignorance and sin1 and by his breaking of natural laws3--,what will you make of those destructive powers over which he has no control2 of the hurricane and the earthquake2 of poisons1 vegetable and mineral2 of those parasitic ,entozoa whose awful abundance1 and awful destructiveness1 in man and beast1 science is just revealing--a new page of danger and loathsomeness8 ,how does that suit your conception of a ,god of love8 ,we can answer--,whether or not it suits our conception of a ,god of love1 it suits ,scripture's conception of ,him4 ,for nothing is more clear--nay1 is it not urged again and again1 as a blot on ,scripture8--that it reveals a ,god not merely of love1 but of sternness2 a ,god in whose eyes physical pain is not the worst of evils1 nor animal life--too often miscalled human life--the most precious of objects2 a ,god who destroys1 when it seems fit to ,him1 and that wholesale1 and seemingly without either pity or discrimination1 man1 woman1 and child1 visiting the sins of the fathers on the children1 making the land empty and bare1 and destroying from off it man and beast8 ,this is the ,god of the ,old ,testament4 ,and if any say--as is too often rashly said--,this is not the ,god of the ,new3 ,i answer1 ,but have you read your ,new ,testament8 ,have you read the latter chapters of ,st ,matthew8 ,have you read the opening of the ,epistle to the ,romans8 ,have you read the ,book of ,revelation8 ,if so1 will you say that the ,god of the ,new ,testament is1 compared with the ,god of the ,old1 less awful1 less destructive1 and therefore less like the ,being--granting always that there is such a ,being--who presides over nature and her destructive powers8 ,it is an awful problem4 ,but the writers of the ,bible have faced it valiantly4 ,physical science is facing it valiantly now4 ,therefore natural ,theology may face it likewise4 ,remember ,carlyle's great words about poor ,francesca in the ,inferno3 ,infinite pity3 yet also infinite rigour of law4 ,it is so ,nature is made4 ,it is so ,dante discerned that she was made4 ,there are two other points on which ,i must beg leave to say a few words4 ,physical science will demand of our natural theologians that they should be aware of their importance1 and let--as ,mr ,matthew ,arnold would say--their thoughts play freely round them4 ,i mean questions of ,embryology1 and questions of ,race4 ,on the first there may be much to be said1 which is1 for the present1 best left unsaid1 even here4 ,i only ask you to recollect how often in ,scripture those two plain old words--beget and bring forth--occur2 and in what important passages4 ,and ,i ask you to remember that marvellous essay on ,natural ,theology--if ,i may so call it in all reverence--namely1 the #aaith ,psalm2 and judge for yourself whether he who wrote that did not consider the study of ,embryology as important1 as significant1 as worthy of his deepest attention1 as an ,owen1 a ,huxley1 or a ,darwin4 ,nay1 ,i will go further still1 and say1 that in those great words--,thine eyes did see my substance1 yet being imperfect2 and in ,thy book all my members were written1 which in continuance were fashioned1 when as yet there was none of them1--in those words1 ,i say1 the ,psalmist has anticipated that realistic view of embryological questions to which our most modern philosophers are1 it seems to me1 slowly1 half unconsciously1 but still inevitably1 returning4 ,next1 as to ,race4 ,some persons now have a nervous fear of that word1 and of allowing any importance to difference of races4 ,some dislike it1 because they think that it endangers the modern notions of democratic equality4 ,others because they fear that it may be proved that the ,negro is not a man and a brother4 ,i think the fears of both parties groundless4 ,as for the ,negro1 ,i not only believe him to be of the same race as myself1 but that--if ,mr ,darwin's theories are true--science has proved that he must be such4 ,i should have thought1 as a humble student of such questions1 that the one fact of the unique distribution of the hair in all races of human beings1 was full moral proof that they had all had one common ancestor4 ,but this is not matter of natural ,theology4 ,what is matter thereof1 is this4 ,physical science is proving more and more the immense importance of ,race2 the importance of hereditary powers1 hereditary organs1 hereditary habits1 in all organized beings1 from the lowest plant to the highest animal4 ,she is proving more and more the omnipresent action of the differences between races3 how the more favoured race--she cannot avoid using the epithet--exterminates the less favoured2 or at least expels it1 and forces it1 under penalty of death1 to adapt itself to new circumstances2 and1 in a word1 that competition between every race and every individual of that race1 and reward according to deserts1 is1 as far as we can see1 an universal law of living things4 ,and she says--for the facts of ,history prove it--that as it is among the races of plants and animals1 so it has been unto this day among the races of men4 ,the natural ,theology of the future must take count of these tremendous and even painful facts4 ,she may take count of them4 ,for ,scripture has taken count of them already4 ,it talks continually--it has been blamed for talking so much--of races2 of families2 of their wars1 their struggles1 their exterminations2 of races favoured1 of races rejected2 of remnants being saved1 to continue the race2 of hereditary tendencies1 hereditary excellencies1 hereditary guilt4 ,its sense of the reality and importance of descent is so intense1 that it speaks of a whole tribe or a whole family by the name of its common ancestor2 and the whole nation of the ,jews is ,israel1 to the end4 ,and if ,i be told this is true of the ,old ,testament1 but not of the ,new3 ,i must answer1--,what8 ,does not ,st ,paul hold the identity of the whole ,jewish race with ,israel their forefather1 as strongly as any prophet of the ,old ,testament8 ,and what is the central historic fact1 save ,one1 of the ,new ,testament1 but the conquest of ,jerusalem2 the dispersion1 all but destruction of a race1 not by miracle1 but by invasion1 because found wanting when weighed in the stern balances of natural and social law8 ,think over this4 ,i only suggest the thought3 but ,i do not suggest it in haste4 ,think over it1 by the light which our ,lord's parables1 ,his analogies between the physical and social constitution of the world1 afford2 and consider whether those awful words--fulfilled then1 and fulfilled so often since--,the kingdom of ,god shall be taken from you1 and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof1 may not be the supreme instance1 the most complex development1 of a law which runs through all created things1 down to the moss which struggles for existence on the rock4 ,do ,i say that this is all8 ,that man is merely a part of nature1 the puppet of circumstances and hereditary tendencies8 ,that brute competition is the one law of his life8 ,that he is doomed for ever to be the slave of his own needs1 enforced by an internecine struggle for existence8 ,god forbid4 ,i believe not only in nature1 but in ,grace4 ,i believe that this is man's fate only as long as he sows to the flesh1 and of the flesh reaps corruption4 ,i believe that if he will ,strive upward1 working out the beast1 ,and let the ape and tiger die2 if he will be even as wise as the social animals2 as the ant and the bee1 who have risen1 if not to the virtue of all-embracing charity1 at least to the virtues of self-sacrifice and patriotism3 then he will rise towards a higher sphere2 towards that kingdom of ,god of which it is written--,he that dwelleth in love1 dwelleth in ,god1 and ,god in him4 ,whether that be matter of natural ,theology1 ,i cannot tell as yet4 ,but as for all the former questions2 and all that ,st ,paul means when he talks of the law1 and how the works of the flesh bring men under the law1 stern and terrible and destructive1 though holy and just and good1--they are matter of natural ,theology2 and ,i believe that here1 as elsewhere1 ,scripture and ,science will be ultimately found to coincide4 ,but here we have to face an objection which you will often hear now from scientific men1 and still oftener from non-scientific men2 who will say--,it matters not to us whether ,scripture contradicts or does not contradict a scientific natural ,theology2 for we hold such a science to be impossible and naught4 ,the old ,jews put a ,god into nature2 and therefore of course they could see1 as you see1 what they had already put there4 ,but we see no ,god in nature4 ,we do not deny the existence of a ,god4 ,we merely say that scientific research does not reveal ,him to us4 ,we see no marks of design in physical phenomena4 ,what used to be considered as marks of design can be better explained by considering them as the results of evolution according to necessary laws2 and you and ,scripture make a mere assumption when you ascribe them to the operation of a mind like the human mind4 ,now on this point ,i believe we may answer fearlessly--,if you cannot see it1 we cannot help you4 ,if the heavens do not declare to you the glory of ,god1 nor the firmament show you ,his handy-work1 then our poor arguments will not show them4 ,the eye can only see that which it brings with it the power of seeing4 ,we can only reassert that we see design everywhere2 and that the vast majority of the human race in every age and clime has seen it4 ,analogy from experience1 sound induction--as we hold--from the works not only of men but of animals1 has made it an all but self-evident truth to us1 that wherever there is arrangement1 there must be an arranger2 wherever there is adaptation of means to an end1 there must be an adapter2 wherever an organization1 there must be an organizer4 ,the existence of a designing ,god is no more demonstrable from nature than the existence of other human beings independent of ourselves2 or1 indeed1 than the existence of our own bodies4 ,but1 like the belief in them1 the belief in ,him has become an article of our common sense4 ,and that this designing mind is1 in some respects1 similar to the human mind1 is proved to us--as ,sir ,john ,herschel well puts it--by the mere fact that we can discover and comprehend the processes of nature4 ,but here again1 if we be contradicted1 we can only reassert4 ,if the old words1 ,he that made the eye1 shall he not see8 he that planted the ear1 shall he not hear8 do not at once commend themselves to the intellect of any person1 we shall never convince that person by any arguments drawn from the absurdity of conceiving the invention of optics by a blind man1 or of music by a deaf one4 ,so we will assert our own old-fashioned notion boldly3 and more2 we will say1 in spite of ridicule--,that if such a ,god exists1 final causes must exist also4 ,that the whole universe must be one chain of final causes4 ,that if there be a ,supreme ,reason1 he must have reason1 and that a good reason1 for every physical phenomenon4 ,we will tell the modern scientific man--,you are nervously afraid of the mention of final causes4 ,you quote against them ,bacon's saying1 that they are barren virgins2 that no physical fact was ever discovered or explained by them4 ,you are right3 as far as regards yourselves4 ,you have no business with final causes2 because final causes are moral causes3 and you are physical students only4 ,we1 the natural ,theologians1 have business with them4 ,your duty is to find out the ,how of things3 ours1 to find out the ,why4 ,if you rejoin that we shall never find out the ,why1 unless we first learn something of the ,how1 we shall not deny that4 ,it may be most useful1 ,i had almost said necessary1 that the clergy should have some scientific training4 ,it may be most useful--,i sometimes dream of a day when it will be considered necessary--that every candidate for ,ordination should be required to have passed creditably in at least one branch of physical science1 if it be only to teach him the method of sound scientific thought4 ,but our having learnt the ,how1 will not make it needless1 much less impossible1 for us to study the ,why4 ,it will merely make more clear to us the things of which we have to study the ,why2 and enable us to keep the ,how and the ,why more religiously apart from each other4 ,but if it be said--,after all1 there is no ,why4 ,the doctrine of evolution1 by doing away with the theory of creation1 does away with that of final causes1--,let us answer boldly1--,not in the least4 ,we might accept all that ,mr ,darwin1 all that ,professor ,huxley1 all that other most able men1 have so learnedly and so acutely written on physical science1 and yet preserve our natural ,theology on exactly the same basis as that on which ,butler and ,paley left it4 ,that we should have to develop it1 ,i do not deny4 ,that we should have to relinquish it1 ,i do4 ,let me press this thought earnestly on you4 ,i know that many wiser and better men than ,i have fears on this point4 ,i cannot share in them4 ,all1 it seems to me1 that the new doctrines of evolution demand is this3--,we all agree--for the fact is patent--that our own bodies1 and indeed the body of every living creature1 are evolved from a seemingly simple germ by natural laws1 without visible action of any designing will or mind1 into the full organization of a human or other creature4 ,yet we do not say on that account--,god did not create me3 ,i only grew4 ,we hold in this case to our old idea1 and say--,if there be evolution1 there must be an evolver4 ,now the new physical theories only ask us1 it seems to me1 to extend this conception to the whole universe2 to believe that not individuals merely1 but whole varieties and races2 the total organized life on this planet2 and1 it may be1 the total organization of the universe1 have been evolved just as our bodies are1 by natural laws acting through circumstance4 ,this may be true1 or may be false4 ,but all its truth can do to the natural ,theologian will be to make him believe that the ,creator bears the same relation to the whole universe1 as that ,creator undeniably bears to every individual human body4 ,i entreat you to weigh these words1 which have not been written in haste2 and ,i entreat you also1 if you wish to see how little the new theory1 that species may have been gradually created by variation1 natural selection1 and so forth1 interferes with the old theory of design1 contrivance1 and adaptation1 nay1 with the fullest admission of benevolent final causes--,i entreat you1 ,i say1 to study ,darwin's ,fertilization of ,orchids--a book which1 whether his main theory be true or not1 will still remain a most valuable addition to natural ,theology4 ,for suppose that all the species of ,orchids1 and not only they1 but their congeners--the ,gingers1 the ,arrowroots1 the ,bananas--are all the descendants of one original form1 which was most probably nearly allied to the ,snowdrop and the ,iris4 ,what then8 ,would that be one whit more wonderful1 more unworthy of the wisdom and power of ,god1 than if they were1 as most believe1 created each and all at once1 with their minute and often imaginary shades of difference8 ,what would the natural ,theologian have to say1 were the first theory true1 save that ,god's works are even more wonderful that he always believed them to be8 ,as for the theory being impossible3 we must leave the discussion of that to physical students4 ,it is not for us clergymen to limit the power of ,god4 ,is anything too hard for the ,lord8 asked the prophet of old2 and we have a right to ask it as long as time shall last4 ,if it be said that natural selection is too simple a cause to produce such fantastic variety3 that1 again1 is a question to be settled exclusively by physical students4 ,all we have to say on the matter is--,that we always knew that ,god works by very simple1 or seemingly simple1 means2 that the whole universe1 as far as we could discern it1 was one concatenation of the most simple means2 that it was wonderful1 yea1 miraculous1 in our eyes1 that a child should resemble its parents1 that the raindrops should make the grass grow1 that the grass should become flesh1 and the flesh sustenance for the thinking brain of man4 ,ought ,god to seem less or more august in our eyes1 when we are told that ,his means are even more simple than we supposed8 ,we held him to be ,almighty and ,all-wise4 ,are we to reverence ,him less or more1 if we hear that ,his might is greater1 ,his wisdom deeper1 than we ever dreamed8 ,we believed that ,his care was over all ,his works2 that ,his ,providence watched perpetually over the whole universe4 ,we were taught--some of us at least--by ,holy ,scripture1 to believe that the whole history of the universe was made up of special ,providences4 ,if1 then1 that should be true which ,mr ,darwin eloquently writes--,it may be metaphorically said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing1 throughout the world1 every variation1 even the slightest2 rejecting that which is bad1 preserving and adding up that which is good1 silently and incessantly working whenever and wherever opportunity offers at the improvement of every organic being1--if that1 ,i say1 were proven to be true3 ought ,god's care and ,god's providence to seem less or more magnificent in our eyes8 ,of old it was said by ,him without whom nothing is made1 ,my ,father worketh hitherto1 and ,i work4 ,shall we quarrel with ,science1 if she should show how those words are true8 ,what1 in one word1 should we have to say but this8--,we knew of old that ,god was so wise that ,he could make all things3 but1 behold1 ,he is so much wiser than even that1 that ,he can make all things make themselves4 ,but it may be said--,these notions are contrary to ,scripture4 ,i must beg very humbly1 but very firmly1 to demur to that opinion4 ,scripture says that ,god created4 ,but it nowhere defines that term4 ,the means1 the ,how1 of ,creation is nowhere specified4 ,scripture1 again1 says that organized beings were produced1 each according to their kind4 ,but it nowhere defines that term4 ,what a kind includes2 whether it includes or not the capacity of varying--which is just the question in point--is nowhere specified4 ,and ,i think it a most important rule in ,scriptural exegesis1 to be most cautious as to limiting the meaning of any term which ,scripture itself has not limited1 lest we find ourselves putting into the teaching of ,scripture our own human theories or prejudices4 ,and consider--,is not man a kind8 ,and has not mankind varied1 physically1 intellectually1 spiritually8 ,is not the ,bible1 from beginning to end1 a history of the variations of mankind1 for worse or for better1 from their original type8 ,let us rather look with calmness1 and even with hope and goodwill1 on these new theories2 for1 correct or incorrect1 they surely mark a tendency towards a more1 not a less1 ,scriptural view of ,nature4 ,are they not attempts1 whether successful or unsuccessful1 to escape from that shallow mechanical notion of the universe and its ,creator which was too much in vogue in the eighteenth century among divines as well as philosophers2 the theory which ,goethe1 to do him justice--and after him ,mr ,thomas ,carlyle--have treated with such noble scorn2 the theory1 ,i mean1 that ,god has wound up the universe like a clock1 and left it to tick by itself till it runs down1 never troubling ,himself with it2 save possibly--for even that was only half believed--by rare miraculous interferences with the laws which ,he ,himself had made8 ,out of that chilling dream of a dead universe ungoverned by an absent ,god1 the human mind1 in ,germany especially1 tried during the early part of this century to escape by strange roads2 roads by which there was no escape1 because they were not laid down on the firm ground of scientific facts4 ,then1 in despair1 men turned to the facts which they had neglected2 and said--,we are weary of philosophy3 we will study you1 and you alone4 ,as for ,god1 who can find ,him8 ,and they have worked at the facts like gallant and honest men2 and their work1 like all good work1 has produced1 in the last fifty years1 results more enormous than they even dreamed4 ,but what are they finding1 more and more1 below their facts1 below all phenomena which the scalpel and the microscope can show8 ,a something nameless1 invisible1 imponderable1 yet seemingly omnipresent and omnipotent1 retreating before them deeper and deeper1 the deeper they delve3 namely1 the life which shapes and makes2 that which the old schoolmen called forma formativa1 which they call vital force and what not--metaphors all1 or rather counters to mark an unknown quantity1 as if they should call it x or y4 ,one says--,it is all vibrations3 but his reason1 unsatisfied1 asks--,and what makes the vibrations vibrate8 ,another--,it is all physiological units3 but his reason asks--,what is the physis1 the nature and innate tendency of the units8 ,a third--,it may be all caused by infinitely numerous gemmules3 but his reason asks him--,what puts infinite order into these gemmules1 instead of infinite anarchy8 ,i mention these theories not to laugh at them4 ,i have all due respect for those who have put them forth4 ,nor would it interfere with my theological creed1 if any or all of them were proven to be true to-morrow4 ,i mention them only to show that beneath all these theories1 true or false1 still lies that unknown x4 ,scientific men are becoming more and more aware of it2 ,i had almost said1 ready to worship it4 ,more and more the noblest-minded of them are engrossed by the mystery of that unknown and truly miraculous element in ,nature1 which is always escaping them1 though they cannot escape it4 ,how should they escape it8 ,was it not written of old--,whither shall ,i go from ,thy presence1 or whither shall ,i flee from ,thy ,spirit8 ,ah that we clergymen would summon up courage to tell them that6 ,courage to tell them1 what need not hamper for a moment the freedom of their investigations1 what will add to them a sanction--,i may say a sanctity--that the unknown x which lies below all phenomena1 which is for ever at work on all phenomena1 on the whole and on every part of the whole1 down to the colouring of every leaf and the curdling of every cell of protoplasm1 is none other than that which the old ,hebrews called--by a metaphor1 no doubt3 for how can man speak of the unseen1 save in metaphors drawn from the seen8--but by the only metaphor adequate to express the perpetual and omnipresent miracle2 ,the ,breath of ,god2 ,the ,spirit who is ,the ,lord1 and ,the ,giver of ,life4 ,in the rest1 let us too think1 and let us too observe4 ,for if we are ignorant1 not merely of the results of experimental science1 but of the methods thereof3 then we and the men of science shall have no common ground whereon to stretch out kindly hands to each other4 ,but let us have patience and faith2 and not suppose in haste1 that when those hands are stretched out it will be needful for us to leave our standing-ground1 or to cast ourselves down from the pinnacle of the temple to earn popularity2 above all1 from earnest students who are too high-minded to care for popularity themselves4 ,true1 if we have an intelligent belief in those ,creeds and those ,scriptures which are committed to our keeping1 then our philosophy cannot be that which is just now in vogue4 ,but all we have to do1 ,i believe1 is to wait4 ,nominalism1 and that ,sensationalism which has sprung from ,nominalism1 are running fast to seed2 ,comtism seems to me its supreme effort3 after which the whirligig of ,time may bring round its revenges3 and ,realism1 and we who hold the ,realist creeds1 may have our turn4 ,only wait4 ,when a grave1 able1 and authoritative philosopher explains a mother's love of her newborn babe1 as ,professor ,bain has done1 in a really eloquent passage of his book on the ,emotions and the ,will1 #j;a then the end of that philosophy is very near2 and an older1 simpler1 more human1 and1 as ,i hold1 more philosophic explanation of that natural phenomenon1 and of all others1 may get a hearing4 ,only wait3 and fret not yourselves2 else shall you be moved to do evil4 ,remember the saying of the wise man--,go not after the world4 ,she turns on her axis2 and if thou stand still long enough1 she will turn round to thee4 ,,sermon ,i4 ,,the ,,mystery ,,of ,,the ,,cross4 ,a ,,good ,,friday ,,sermon4 ,,philippians ,,ii4 #e-h4 ,let this mind be in you1 which was also in ,christ ,jesus3 who1 being in the form of ,god1 thought it not robbery to be equal with ,god3 but made ,himself of no reputation1 and took upon ,him the form of a slave1 and was made in the likeness of men3 and being found in fashion as a man1 ,he humbled ,himself1 and became obedient unto death1 even the death of the ,cross4 ,the second ,lesson for this morning's service1 and the chapter which follows it1 describe the ,passion of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 both ,god and ,man4 ,they give us the facts1 in language most awful from its perfect calmness1 most pathetic from its perfect simplicity4 ,but the passage of ,st ,paul which ,i have chosen for my text gives us an explanation of those facts which is utterly amazing4 ,that ,he who stooped to die upon the ,cross is ,very ,god of ,very ,god1 the ,creator and ,sustainer of the ,universe1 is a thought so overwhelming1 whenever we try to comprehend even a part of it in our small imaginations1 that it is no wonder if1 in all ages1 many a pious soul1 as it contemplated the ,cross of ,christ1 has been rapt itself into a passion of gratitude1 an ecstasy of wonder and of love1 which is beautiful1 honourable1 just1 and in the deepest sense most rational1 whenever it is spontaneous and natural4 ,but there have been thousands1 as there may be many here to-day1 of colder temperament2 who would distrust in themselves1 even while they respected in others1 any violence of religious emotion3 yet they too have found1 and you too may find1 in contemplating the ,passion of ,christ1 a satisfaction deeper than that of any emotion2 a satisfaction not to the heart1 still less to the brain1 but to that far deeper and diviner faculty within us all--our moral sense2 that ,god-given instinct which makes us discern and sympathise with all that is beautiful and true and good4 ,and so it has befallen1 for eighteen hundred years1 that thousands who have thought earnestly and carefully on ,god and on the character of ,god1 on man and on the universe1 and on their relation to ,him who made them both1 have found in the ,incarnation and the ,passion of the ,son of ,god the perfect satisfaction of their moral wants2 the surest key to the facts of the spiritual world2 the complete assurance that1 in spite of all seeming difficulties and contradictions1 the ,maker of the world was a ,righteous ,being1 who had founded the world in righteousness2 that the ,father of ,spirits was a perfect ,father1 who in ,his only-begotten ,son had shewn forth ,his perfectness1 in such a shape and by such acts that men might not only adore it1 but sympathise with it2 not only thank ,him for it1 but copy it2 and become1 though at an infinite distance1 perfect as their ,father in heaven is perfect1 and full of grace and truth1 like that ,son who is the brightness of ,his ,father's glory1 and the express image of ,his person4 ,such a satisfaction have they found in looking upon the triumphal entry into ,jerusalem of ,him who knew that it would be followed by the revolt of the fickle mob1 and the desertion of ,his disciples1 and the ,cross of ,calvary1 and all the hideous circumstances of a ,roman malefactor's death4 ,but there have been those1 and there are still1 who have found no such satisfaction in the story which the ,gospel tells1 and still less in the explanation which the ,epistle gives2 who have1 as ,st ,paul says1 stumbled at the stumblingblock of the ,cross4 ,it would be easy to ignore such persons1 were they scoffers or profligates3 but when they number among their ranks men of virtuous lives1 of earnest and most benevolent purposes1 of careful and learned thought1 and of a real reverence for ,god1 or for those theories of the universe which some of them are inclined to substitute for ,god1 they must at least be listened to patiently1 and answered charitably1 as men who1 however faulty their opinions may be1 prove1 by their virtue and their desire to do good1 that if they have lost sight of ,christ1 ,christ has not lost sight of them4 ,to such men the idea of the ,incarnation1 and still more1 that of the ,passion1 is derogatory to the very notion of a ,god4 ,that a ,god should suffer1 and that a ,god should die1 is shocking--and1 to do them justice1 ,i believe they speak sincerely--to their notions of the absolute majesty1 the undisturbed serenity1 of the ,author of the universe2 of ,him in whom all things live and move and have their being2 who dwells in the light to which none may approach4 ,and therefore they have1 in every age1 tried various expedients to escape from a doctrine which seemed repugnant to that most precious part of them1 their moral sense4 ,in the earlier centuries of the ,church they tried to shew that ,st ,john and ,st ,paul spoke1 not of one who was ,very ,god of ,very ,god1 but of some highest and most primeval of all creatures1 ,emanation1 ,a,eon1 or what not4 ,in these later times1 when the belief in such beings1 and even their very names1 have become dim and dead1 men have tried to shew that the words of ,scripture apply to a mere man4 ,they have seen in ,christ--and they have reverenced and loved ,him for what they have seen in ,him--the noblest and purest1 the wisest and the most loving of all human beings2 and have attributed such language as that in the text1 which--translate it as you will--ascribes absolute divinity1 and nothing less1 to our ,lord ,jesus ,christ--they have attributed it1 ,i say1 to some fondness for ,oriental hyperbole1 and mystic ,theosophy1 in the minds of the ,apostles4 ,others1 again1 have gone further1 and been1 ,i think1 more logically honest4 ,they have perceived that our ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,himself1 as ,his words are reported1 attributed divinity to ,himself1 just as much as did ,his ,apostles4 ,such a saying as that one1 ,before ,abraham was1 ,i am1 and others beside it1 could be escaped from only by one of two methods4 ,to the first of them ,i shall not allude in this sacred place1 popular as a late work has made it in its native ,france1 and ,i fear in ,england likewise4 ,the other alternative1 more reverent indeed1 but1 as ,i believe1 just as mistaken1 is to suppose that the words were never uttered at all2 that ,christ--it is not ,i who say it--possibly never existed at all2 that ,his whole story was gradually built up1 like certain fabulous legends of ,romish saints1 out of the moral consciousness of various devout persons during the first three centuries2 each of whom added to the portrait1 as it grew more and more lovely under the hands of succeeding generations1 some new touch of beauty1 some fresh trait1 half invented1 half traditional1 of purity1 love1 nobleness1 majesty2 till men at last became fascinated with the ideal to which they themselves had contributed2 and fell down and worshipped their own humanity2 and christened that ,the ,son of ,god4 ,if ,i believed that theory1 or either of the others1 ,i need not say that ,i should not be preaching here4 ,i will go further1 and say1 that if ,i believed either of those theories1 or any save that which stands out in the text1 sharp-cut and colossal like some old ,egyptian ,memnon1 and like that statue1 with a smile of sweetness on its lips which tempers the royal majesty of its looks1--if ,i did not believe that1 ,i say--,i should be inclined to confess with ,homer of old1 that man is the most miserable of all the beasts of the field4 ,for consider but this one argument4 ,it is no new one2 it has lain1 ,i believe1 unspoken and instinctive1 yet most potent and inspiring1 in many a mind1 in many an age4 ,if there be a ,god1 must ,he not be the best of all beings8 ,but if ,he who suffered on ,calvary were not ,god1 but a mere creature2 then--as ,i hold--there must have been a creature in the universe better than ,god ,himself4 ,or if ,he who suffered on ,calvary had not the character which is attributed to ,him1--if ,christ's love1 condescension1 self-sacrifice1 be a mere imagination1 built up by the fancy of man2 then has ,christendom for #ahjj years been fancying for itself a better ,god than ,him who really exists4 ,thousands of the best men and women in the world through all the ages of ,christendom have agreed with this argument1 under some shape or other4 ,thousands there have been1 and ,i trust there will be thousands hereafter1 who have felt1 as they looked upon the ,cross of the ,son of ,god1 not that it was derogatory to ,christ to believe that ,he had suffered1 but derogatory to ,him to believe that ,he had not suffered3 for only by suffering1 as far as we can conceive1 could ,he perfectly manifest ,his glory and ,his ,father's glory2 and shew that it was full of grace4 ,full of grace4 ,think1 ,i beg you1 over that one word4 ,we all agree that ,god is good2 all at least do so1 who worship ,him in spirit and in truth4 ,we adore ,his majesty1 because it is the moral and spiritual majesty of perfect goodness4 ,we give thanks to ,him for ,his great glory1 because it is the glory1 not merely of perfect power1 wisdom1 order1 justice2 but of perfect love1 of perfect magnanimity1 beneficence1 activity1 condescension1 pity--in one word1 of perfect grace4 ,but how much must that last word comprehend1 as long as there is misery and evil in this world1 or in any other corner of the whole universe8 ,grace1 to be perfect1 must shew itself by graciously forgiving penitents4 ,pity1 to be perfect1 must shew itself by helping the miserable4 ,beneficence1 to be perfect1 must shew itself by delivering the oppressed4 ,the old prophets and psalmists saw as much as this2 and preached that this too was part of the essence and character of ,god4 ,they saw that the ,lord was gracious and merciful1 slow to anger1 and of great kindness1 and repented ,him of the evil4 ,they saw that the ,lord helped them to right who suffered wrong1 and fed the hungry2 that the ,lord loosed men out of prison1 the ,lord gave sight to the blind2 that the ,lord helped the fallen1 and defended the fatherless and widow4 ,they saw too a further truth1 and a more awful one4 ,they saw that the ,lord was actually and practically ,king of kings and ,lord of lords3 that as such ,he could come1 and did come at times1 rewarding the loyal1 putting down the rebellious1 and holding high assize from place to place1 that ,he might execute judgment and justice2 beholding all the wrong that was done on earth1 and coming1 as it were1 out of ,his place1 at each historic crisis1 each revolution in the fortunes of mankind1 to make inquisition for blood1 to trample ,his enemies beneath ,his feet1 and to inaugurate some progress toward that new heaven and new earth1 wherein dwelleth righteousness1 and righteousness alone4 ,that vision1 in whatsoever metaphors it may be wrapped up1 is real and true1 and will be so as long as evil exists within this universe4 ,were it not true1 there would be something wanting to the perfect justice and the perfect benevolence of ,god4 ,but is this all8 ,if this be all1 what have we ,christians learnt from the ,new ,testament which is not already taught us in the ,old8 ,where is that new1 deeper1 higher revelation of the goodness of ,god1 which ,jesus of ,nazareth preached1 and which ,john and ,paul and all the apostles believed that they had found in ,jesus ,himself8 ,they believed1 and all those who accepted their gospel believed1 that they had found for that word grace1 a deeper meaning than had ever been revealed to the prophets of old time2 that grace and goodness1 if they were perfect1 involved self- sacrifice4 ,and does not our own highest reason tell us that they were right8 ,does not our own highest reason1 which is our moral sense1 tell us that perfect goodness requires1 not merely that we should pity our fellow-creatures1 not merely that we should help them1 not merely that we should right them magisterially and royally1 without danger or injury to ourselves3 but that we should toil for them1 suffer for them1 and if need be1 as the highest act of goodness1 die for them at last8 ,is not this the very element of goodness which we all confess to be most noble1 beautiful1 pure1 heroical1 divine8 ,divine even in sinful and fallen man1 who must forgive because he needs to be forgiven2 who must help others because he needs help himself2 who1 if he suffers for others1 deserves to suffer1 and probably will suffer1 in himself4 ,but how much more heroical1 and how much more divine in a ,being who needs neither forgiveness nor help1 and who is as far from deserving as ,he is from needing to suffer6 ,and shall this noblest form of goodness be possible to sinful man1 and yet impossible to a perfectly good ,god8 ,shall we say that the martyr at the stake1 the patriot dying for his country1 the missionary spending his life for the good of heathens2 ay more1 shall we say that those women1 martyrs by the pang without the palm1 who in secret chambers1 in lowly cottages1 have sacrificed and do still sacrifice self and all the joys of life for the sake of simple duties1 little charities1 kindness unnoticed and unknown by all1 save ,god--shall we say that all who have from the beginning of the world shewn forth the beauty of self- sacrifice have had no divine prototype in heaven8--,that they have been exercising a higher grace1 a nobler form of holiness1 than ,he who made them1 and who1 as they believe1 and we ought to believe1 inspired them with that spirit of unselfishness1 which if it be not the ,spirit of ,god1 whose spirit can it be8 ,shall we say this1 and so suppose them holier than their own ,maker8 ,shall we say this1 and suppose that they1 when they attributed self-sacrifice to ,god1 made indeed a ,god in their own image1 but a ,god of greater love1 greater pity1 greater graciousness because of greater unselfishness1 than ,him who really exists8 ,shall we say this1 the very words whereof confute themselves and shock alike our reason and our conscience8 ,or shall we say with ,st ,john and with ,st ,paul1 that if men can be so good1 ,god must be infinitely better2 that if man can love so much1 ,god must love more2 if man1 by shaking off the selfishness which is his bane1 can do such deeds1 then ,god1 in whom is no selfishness at all1 may at least have done a deed as far above theirs as the heavens are above the earth8 ,shall we not confess that man's self-sacrifice is but a poor and dim reflection of the self-sacrifice of ,god1 and say with ,st ,john1 ,herein is love1 not that we loved ,god1 but that ,he loved us1 and sent ,his ,son to be the propitiation for our sins2 and with ,st ,paul1 ,scarcely for a righteous man would one die1 but ,god commendeth ,his love to us in this1 that while we were yet sinners1 ,christ died for us8 ,shall we not say this3 and find1 as thousands have found ere now1 in the ,cross of ,calvary the perfect satisfaction of our highest moral instincts1 the realization in act and fact of the highest idea which we can form of perfect condescension1 namely1 self-sacrifice exercised by a ,being of whom perfect condescension1 love and self-sacrifice were not required by aught in heaven or earth1 save by the necessity of ,his own perfect and inconceivable goodness8 ,we reverence1 and rightly1 the majesty of ,god4 ,how can that infinite majesty be proved more perfectly than by condescension equally infinite8 ,we adore1 and justly1 the serenity of ,god1 who has neither parts nor passions4 ,how can that serenity be proved more perfectly1 than by passing1 still serene1 through all the storm and crowd of circumstance which disturb the weak serenity of man2 by passing through poverty1 helplessness1 temptation1 desertion1 shame1 torture1 death2 and passing through them all victorious and magnificent2 with a moral calm as undisturbed1 a moral purity as unspotted1 as it had been from all eternity1 as it will be to all eternity1 in that abysmal source of being1 which we call the ,bosom of the ,father8 ,it is the moral majesty of ,god1 as shewn on ,calvary1 which ,i uphold4 ,shew that ,calvary was not inconsistent with that2 shew that ,calvary was not inconsistent with the goodness of ,god1 but rather the perfection of that goodness shewn forth in time and space3 then all other arguments connected with ,god's majesty may go for nought1 provided that ,god's moral majesty be safe4 ,provided ,god be proved to be morally infinite--that is1 in plain ,english1 infinitely good2 provided ,god be proved to be morally absolute--that is1 absolutely unable to have ,his goodness affected by any circumstance outside ,him1 even by the death upon the ,cross3 then let the rest go4 ,all words about absoluteness and infinity and majesty1 beyond that1 are physical--metaphors drawn from matter1 which have nothing to do with ,god who is a ,spirit4 ,but ,god's infinite power too often means1 in the minds of men1 only some abstract notion of boundless bodily strength4 ,god's omniscience too often means1 only some physical fancy of innumerable telescopic or microscopic eyes4 ,god's infinite wisdom too often means1 only some abstract notion of boundless acuteness of brain4 ,and lastly--,i am sorry to have to say it1 but it must be said1--,god's infinite majesty too often means1 in the minds of some superstitious people1 mere pride1 and obstinacy1 and cruelty1 as of the blind will of some enormous animal which does what it chooses1 whether right or wrong4 ,if the mystery of the ,cross contradict any of these carnal or material notions1 so much the more glory to the mystery of the ,cross4 ,one spiritual infinite1 one spiritual absolute1 it does not contradict3 and that is the infinite and absolute goodness of ,god4 ,let all the rest remain a mystery1 so long as the mystery of the ,cross gives us faith for all the rest4 ,faith1 ,i say4 ,the mystery of evil1 of sorrow1 of death1 the ,gospel does not pretend to solve3 but it tells us that the mystery is proved to be soluble4 ,for ,god ,himself has taken on ,himself the task of solving it2 and has proved by ,his own act1 that if there be evil in the world1 it is none of ,his2 for ,he hates it1 and fights against it1 and has fought against it to the death4 ,it simply says--,have faith in ,god4 ,ask no more of ,him--,why hast ,thou made me thus8 ,ask no more--,why do the wicked prosper on the earth8 ,ask no more--,whence pain and death1 war and famine1 earthquake and tempest1 and all the ills to which flesh is heir8 ,all fruitless questionings1 all peevish repinings1 are precluded henceforth by the passion and death of ,christ4 ,dost thou suffer8 ,thou canst not suffer more than the ,son of ,god4 ,dost thou sympathize with thy fellow-men8 ,thou canst not sympathize more than the ,son of ,god4 ,dost thou long to right them1 to deliver them1 even at the price of thine own blood8 ,thou canst not long more ardently than the ,son of ,god1 who carried ,his longing into act1 and died for them and thee4 ,what if the end be not yet8 ,what if evil still endure8 ,what if the medicine have not yet conquered the disease8 ,have patience1 have faith1 have hope1 as thou standest at the foot of ,christ's ,cross1 and holdest fast to it1 the anchor of the soul and reason1 as well as of the heart4 ,for however ill the world may go1 or seem to go1 the ,cross is the everlasting token that ,god so loved the world1 that ,he spared not ,his only-begotten ,son1 but freely gave ,him for it4 ,whatsoever else is doubtful1 this at least is sure1--that good must conquer1 because ,god is good2 that evil must perish1 because ,god hates evil1 even to the death4 ,,sermon ,,ii4 ,,the ,,perfect ,,love4 #a ,,john ,,iv4 #aj4 ,herein is love1 not that we loved ,god1 but that ,he loved us1 and sent ,his ,son to be the propitiation for our sins4 ,this is ,passion-week2 the week in which1 according to ancient and most wholesome rule1 we are bidden to think of the ,passion of ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,to think of that1 however happy and comfortable1 however busy and eager1 however covetous and ambitious1 however giddy and frivolous1 however free1 or at least desirous to be free1 from suffering of any kind1 we are ourselves4 ,to think of the sufferings of ,christ1 and learn how grand it is to suffer for the ,right4 ,and why8 ,passion-week gives but one answer3 but that answer is the one best worth listening to4 ,it is grand and good to suffer for the ,right1 because ,god1 in ,christ1 has suffered for the ,right4 ,let us consider this awhile4 ,it is a first axiom in sound theology1 that there is nothing good in man1 which was not first in ,god4 ,now we all1 ,i trust1 hold ,god to be supremely good4 ,we ascribe to ,him1 in perfection1 every kind of goodness of which we can conceive in man4 ,we say ,god is just2 ,god is truthful2 ,god is pure2 ,god is bountiful2 ,god is merciful2 and1 in one word1 ,god is ,love4 ,god is ,love4 ,but if we say that1 do we not say that ,god is good with a fresh form of goodness1 which is not justice1 nor truthfulness1 nor purity1 bounty1 nor mercy1 though without them--never forget that--it cannot exist8 ,and is not that fresh goodness1 which we have not defined yet1 the very kind of goodness which we prize most in human beings8 ,the very kind of goodness which makes us prize and admire love1 because without it there is no true love1 no love worth calling by that sacred and heavenly name8 ,and what is that8 ,what--save self-sacrifice8 ,for what is the love worth which does not shew itself in action2 and more1 which does not shew itself in ,passion1 in the true sense of that word1 which this week teaches us3 namely1 in suffering8 ,not merely in acting for1 but in daring1 in struggling1 in grieving1 in agonizing1 and1 if need be1 in dying for1 the object of its love8 ,every mother in this church will give but one answer to that question2 for mothers give it among the very animals2 and the deer who fights for her fawn1 the bird who toils for her nestlings1 the spider who will rather die than drop her bag of eggs1 know at least that love is not worth calling love1 unless it can dare and suffer for the thing it loves4 ,the most gracious of all virtues1 therefore1 is self-sacrifice2 and is there no like grace in ,god1 the fount of grace8 ,has ,god1 whose name is ,love1 never dared1 never suffered1 even to the death1 in the mightiness of a perfect ,love8 ,we ,christians say that ,he has4 ,we say so1 because it has been revealed to us1 not by flesh and blood1 not by brain or nerves1 not by logic or emotions1 but by the ,spirit of ,god1 to whom our inmost spirits and highest reasons have made answer--,a ,god who has suffered for man8 ,that is so beautiful1 that it must be true4 ,for otherwise we should be left--as ,i have argued at length elsewhere--in this strange paradox3--that man has fancied to himself for #ahjj years a more beautiful ,god1 a nobler ,god1 a better ,god than the ,god who actually exists4 ,it must be so1 if ,god is not capable of that highest virtue of self-sacrifice1 while man has been believing that ,he is1 and that upon the first ,good ,friday ,he sacrificed ,himself for man1 out of the intensity of a boundless ,love4 ,a better ,god imagined by man1 than the actual ,god who made man8 ,we have only to state that absurdity1 ,i trust1 to laugh it to scorn4 ,let us confess1 then1 that the ,passion of ,christ1 and the mystery of ,good ,friday1 is as reasonable a belief to the truly wise1 as it is comfortable to the weary and the suffering2 let us agree that one of the wisest of ,englishmen1 of late gone to his rest1 spoke well when he said1 ,as long as women and sorrow exist on earth1 so long will the gospel of ,christianity find an echo in the human heart4 ,let it find an echo in yours4 ,but it will only find one1 in as far as you can enter into the mystery of ,passion-week2 in as far as you can learn from ,passion-week the truest and highest theology2 and see what ,god is like1 and therefore what you must try to be like likewise4 ,let us think1 then1 awhile of the mystery of ,passion-week2 the mystery of the ,cross of ,christ4 ,christ ,himself was looking on the coming ,cross1 during this ,passion-week2 ay1 and for many a week before4 ,nay rather1 had ,he not looked on it from all eternity8 ,for is ,he not the ,lamb slain from the foundation of the world8 ,therefore we may well look on it with ,him4 ,it may seem1 at first1 a painful bight4 ,but shall it cast over our minds only gloom and darkness8 ,or shall we not see on the ,cross the full revelation of ,light2 of the ,light which lightens every man that comes into the world3 and find that painful1 not because of its darkness1 but as the blaze of full sunshine is painful1 from unbearable intensity of warmth and light8 ,let us see4 ,on the ,cross of ,calvary1 then1 ,god the ,father shewed ,his own character and the character of ,his co-equal and co-eternal ,son1 and of ,the ,spirit which proceeds from both4 ,for there ,he spared not ,his only-begotten ,son1 but freely gave ,him for us4 ,on the ,cross of ,calvary1 not by the will of man1 but by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of ,god1 was offered before ,god the one and only full1 perfect1 and sufficient sacrifice1 oblation1 and satisfaction for the sin of the whole world4 ,god ,himself did this4 ,it was not done by any other being to alter ,his will2 it was done to fulfil ,his will4 ,it was not done to satisfy ,god's anger2 it was done to satisfy ,god's love4 ,therefore ,good ,friday was well and wisely called by our forefathers ,good ,friday2 because it shews1 as no other day can do1 that ,god is good2 that ,god's will to men1 in spite of all their sins1 is a good will2 that so boundless1 so utterly unselfish and condescending1 is the eternal love of ,god1 that when an insignificant race in a small and remote planet fell1 and went wrong1 and was in danger of ruin1 there was nothing that ,god would not dare1 ,god would not suffer1 for the sake of even such as us1 vile earth and miserable sinners4 ,yes1 this is the good news of ,passion-week2 a gospel which men are too apt to forget1 even to try to forget1 as long as they are comfortable and prosperous1 lazy and selfish4 ,the comfortable prosperous man shrinks from the thought of ,christ on ,his ,cross4 ,it tells him that better men than he have had to suffer2 that ,the ,son of ,god ,himself had to suffer4 ,and he does not like suffering2 he prefers comfort4 ,the lazy1 selfish man shrinks from the sight of ,christ on ,his ,cross2 for it rebukes his laziness and selfishness4 ,christ's ,cross says to him--,thou art ignoble and base1 as long as thou art lazy and selfish4 ,rise up1 do something1 dare something1 suffer something1 if need be1 for the sake of thy fellow- creatures4 ,be of use4 ,take trouble4 ,face discomfort1 contradiction1 loss of worldly advantage1 if it must be1 for the sake of speaking truth and doing right4 ,if thou wilt not do as much as that1 then the simplest soldier who goes to die in battle for his duty1 is a better man than thou1 a nobler man than thou1 more like ,christ and more like ,god4 ,that is what ,christ's ,cross preaches to the lazy1 selfish man2 and he feels in his heart that the sermon is true3 but he does not like it4 ,he turns from it1 and says in his heart--,oh6 ,christ's ,cross is a painful subject1 and ,passion-week and ,good ,friday a painful time4 ,i will think of something more genial1 more peaceful1 more agreeable than sorrow1 and shame1 and agony1 and death2 ,good ,friday is too sad a day for me4 ,yes1 so a man says too often1 as long as the fine weather lasts1 and all is smooth and bright4 ,but when the tempest comes2 when poverty comes1 affliction1 anxiety1 shame1 sickness1 bereavement1 and still more1 when persecution comes on a man2 when he tries to speak truth and do right2 and finds1 as he will too often find1 that people1 instead of loving him and praising him for speaking truth and doing right1 hate him and persecute him for it3 then1 then indeed ,passion-week begins to mean something to a man2 and just because it is the saddest of all times1 it looks to him the brightest of all times4 ,for in his misery and confusion he looks up to heaven and asks--,is there any one in heaven who understands all this8 ,does ,god understand my trouble8 ,does ,god feel for my trouble8 ,does ,god care for my trouble8 ,does ,god know what trouble means8 ,or must ,i fight the battle of life alone1 without sympathy or help from ,god who made me1 and has put me here8 ,then1 then does the ,cross of ,christ bring a message to that man such as no other thing or being on earth can bring4 ,for it says to him--,god does understand thee utterly4 ,for ,christ understands thee4 ,christ feels for thee4 ,christ feels with thee4 ,christ has suffered for thee1 and suffered with thee4 ,thou canst go through nothing which ,christ has not gone through4 ,he1 the ,son of ,god1 endured poverty1 fear1 shame1 agony1 death for thee1 that ,he might be touched with the feeling of thine infirmity1 and help thee to endure1 and bring thee safe through all to victory and peace4 ,but again1 ,passion-week1 and above all ,good ,friday1 is a good time1 because it teaches us1 above all days1 what it is to be good1 and what goodness means4 ,therefore remember this1 all of you1 and take it home with you for the year to come4 ,he who has learnt the lesson of ,passion- week1 and practises it2 he and he only is a good man4 ,nay more1 ,passion-week tells us1 ,i believe1 what is the law according to which the whole world of man and of things1 yea1 the whole universe1 sun1 moon1 and stars1 is made3 and that is1 the law of self-sacrifice2 that nothing lives merely for itself2 that each thing is ordained by ,god to help the things around it1 even at its own expense4 ,that is a hard saying3 and yet it must be true4 ,the soundest ,theology and the highest ,reason tell us that it must be so4 ,for there cannot be two ,holy ,spirits4 ,now the ,spirit by which the ,lord ,jesus ,christ sacrificed himself upon the ,cross is ,the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and the ,spirit by which the ,lord ,jesus ,christ made all worlds is ,the ,holy ,spirit4 ,but the spirit by which ,he sacrificed ,himself on the ,cross is the spirit of self-sacrifice4 ,and therefore the spirit by which ,he made the world is the spirit of self- sacrifice likewise2 and self-sacrifice is the law and rule on which the universe is founded4 ,at least1 that is the true ,catholic faith1 as far as my poor intellect can conceive it2 and in that faith ,i will live and die4 ,there are those who1 now-a-days1 will laugh at such a notion1 and say--,self-sacrifice8 ,it is not self-sacrifice which keeps the world going among men1 or animals1 or even the plants under our feet3 but selfishness4 ,competition1 they say1 is the law of the universe4 ,everything has to take care of itself1 fight for itself1 compete freely and pitilessly with everything round it1 till the weak are killed off1 and only the strong survive2 and so1 out of the free play of the self- interest of each1 you get the greatest possible happiness of the greatest possible number4 ,do we indeed8 ,i should have thought that unbridled selfishness1 and the internecine struggle of opposing interests1 had already reduced many nations1 and seemed likely to reduce all mankind1 if it went on1 to that state of the greatest possible misery of the greatest number1 from which our blessed ,lord1 as in this very week1 died to deliver us4 ,at all events1 if that is to be the condition of man1 and of society1 then man is not made in the likeness of ,god1 and has no need to be led by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,for what the likeness of ,god and the ,spirit of ,god are1 ,passion-week tells us--namely1 ,love which knows no self-interest2 ,love which cares not for itself2 ,love which throws its own life away1 that it may save those who have hated it1 rebelled against it1 put it to a felon's death4 ,my good friends1 instead of believing the carnal and selfish philosophy which cries1 ,every man for himself--,i will not finish the proverb in this ,holy place1 awfully and literally true as the latter half of it is--instead of believing that1 believe the message of ,passion-week1 which speaks rather thus3 telling us that not selfishness1 but unselfishness1 mutual help and usefulness1 is the law and will of ,god2 and that therefore the whole universe1 and all that ,god has made1 is very good4 ,and what does ,passion-week say to men8 ,could we but crush that ever-craving lust ,for bliss1 which kills all bliss2 and lose our life1 ,our barren unit life1 to find again ,a thousand lives in those for whom we die3 ,so were we men and women1 and should hold ,our rightful place in ,god's great universe1 ,wherein1 in heaven and earth1 by will or nature1 ,nought lives for self4 ,all1 all1 from crown to footstool4 ,the ,lamb1 before the world's foundation slain2 ,the angels1 ministers to ,god's elect2 ,the sun1 who only shines to light a world2 ,the clouds1 whose glory is to die in showers2 ,the fleeting streams1 who in their ocean graves ,flee the decay of stagnant self-content2 ,the oak1 ennobled by the shipwright's axe2 ,the soil1 which yields its marrow to the flower2 ,the flower which breeds a thousand velvet worms1 ,born only to be prey to every bird-- ,all spend themselves on others2 and shall man1 ,whose twofold being is the mystic knot ,which couples earth and heaven--doubly bound1 ,as being both worm and angel1 to that service ,by which both worms and angels hold their lives-- ,shall he1 whose very breath is debt on debt1 ,refuse1 forsooth1 to see what ,god has made him8 ,no1 let him shew himself the creatures' lord ,by freewill gift of that self-sacrifice ,which they1 perforce1 by nature's law must suffer2 ,take up his cross1 and follow ,christ the ,lord4 ,and thus ,passion-week tells all men in what true goodness lies4 ,in self- sacrifice4 ,in it ,christ on ,his ,cross shewed men what was the likeness of ,god1 the goodness of ,god1 the glory of ,god--to suffer for sinful man4 ,on this day ,christ said--ay1 and ,his ,cross says still1 and will say to all eternity--,wouldest thou be good8 ,wouldest thou be like ,god8 ,then work1 and dare1 and1 if need be1 suffer1 for thy fellow-men4 ,on this day ,christ consecrated1 and1 as it were1 offered up to the ,father in ,his own body on the ,cross1 all loving actions1 unselfish actions1 merciful actions1 generous actions1 heroic actions1 which man has done1 or ever will do4 ,from ,him1 from ,his ,spirit1 their strength came2 and therefore ,he is not ashamed to call them brethren4 ,he is the ,king of the noble army of martyrs2 of all who suffer for love1 and truth1 and justice' sake2 and to all such he says--,thou hast put on my likeness1 and followed my footsteps2 thou hast suffered for my sake1 and ,i too have suffered for thy sake1 and enabled thee to suffer in like wise2 and in ,me thou too art a son of ,god1 in whom the ,father is well pleased4 ,oh1 let us contemplate this week ,christ on ,his ,cross1 sacrificing ,himself for us and all mankind2 and may that sight help to cast out of us all laziness and selfishness1 and make us vow obedience to the spirit of self- sacrifice1 the ,spirit of ,christ and of ,god1 which was given to us at our baptism4 ,and let us give1 as we are most bound1 in all humility and contrition of heart1 thanks1 praise1 and adoration1 to that immortal ,lamb1 who abideth for ever in the midst of the throne of ,god1 the ,lamb slain before the foundation of the world1 by ,whom all things consist2 and ,who in this week died on the ,cross in mortal flesh and blood1 that ,he might make this a good week to all mankind1 and teach selfish man that only by being unselfish can he too be good2 and only by self-sacrifice become perfect1 even as ,the ,father in heaven is perfect4 ,,sermon ,,iii4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,whitsuntide4 ,,isaiah ,,xi4 #b4 ,the spirit of the ,lord shall rest upon him2 the spirit of wisdom and understanding1 the spirit of counsel and might1 the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the ,lord4 ,this is ,isaiah's description of the ,spirit of ,whitsuntide2 the royal ,spirit which was to descend1 and did descend without measure1 on the ideal and perfect ,king1 even on ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 the only-begotten ,son of ,god4 ,that ,spirit is the ,spirit of ,god2 and therefore the ,spirit of ,christ4 ,let us consider a while what that ,spirit is4 ,he is the ,spirit of love4 ,for ,god is love2 and ,he is the ,spirit of ,god4 ,of that there can be no doubt4 ,he is the ,spirit of boundless love and charity1 which is the ,spirit of the ,father1 and the ,spirit of the ,son likewise4 ,for when by that ,spirit of love the ,father sent the ,son into the world that the world through ,him might be saved1 then the ,son1 by the same ,spirit of love1 came into the world1 and humbled ,himself1 and took on ,him the form of a slave1 and was obedient unto death1 even the death of the ,cross4 ,the ,spirit of ,god1 then1 is the ,spirit of love4 ,but the text describes this ,spirit in different words4 ,according to ,isaiah1 the ,spirit of the ,lord is the spirit of wisdom and understanding1 the spirit of ,counsel and might1 the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the ,lord--in one word1 that ,i may put it as simply as ,i can--the spirit of wisdom4 ,now1 is the spirit of wisdom the same as the spirit of love8 ,sound theology1 which is the highest reason1 tells us that it must be so4 ,for consider3 ,if the spirit of love is the ,spirit of ,god1 and the spirit of wisdom is the ,spirit of ,god1 then they must be the same spirit4 ,for if they be two different spirits1 then there must be two ,holy ,spirits2 for any and every ,spirit of ,god must be holy1--what else can ,he be8 ,unholy8 ,i leave you to answer that4 ,but two ,holy ,spirits there cannot be2 for holiness1 which is wisdom1 justice1 and love1 is one and indivisible2 and as the ,athanasian ,creed tells us1 and as our highest reason ought to tell us1 there is but one ,holy ,spirit1 who must be at once a spirit of wisdom and a spirit of love4 ,to suppose anything else2 to suppose that ,god's wisdom and ,god's love1 or that ,god's justice and ,god's love1 are different from each other1 or limit each other1 or oppose each other1 or are anything but one and the same eternally1 is to divide ,god's substance2 to deny that ,god is ,one3 which is forbidden us1 rightly1 and according to the highest reason1 by the ,athanasian ,creed4 ,but more2 experience will shew us that the spirit of love is the same as the spirit of wisdom2 that if any man wishes to be truly wise and prudent1 his best way--,i may say his only way--is to be loving and charitable4 ,the experience of the apostles proves it4 ,they were1 ,i presume1 the most perfectly loving and charitable of men2 they sacrificed all for the sake of doing good2 they counted not their own lives dear to them2 they endured--what did they not endure8--for the one object of doing good to men2 and--what is harder1 still harder1 for any human being1 because it requires not merely enthusiasm1 but charity1 they made themselves 7,st ,paul at least7 all things to all men1 if by any means they might save some4 ,but were they wise in so doing8 ,we may judge of a man's wisdom1 my friends1 by his success4 ,we ,english are very apt to do so4 ,we like practical men4 ,we say--,i will tell you what a man is1 by what he can do4 ,now1 judged by that rule1 surely the apostles' method of winning men by love proved itself a wise method4 ,what did the apostles do8 ,they had the most enormous practical success that men ever had4 ,they1 twelve poor men1 set out to convert mankind by loving them3 and they succeeded4 ,remember1 moreover1 that the text speaks of this ,spirit of the ,lord being given to ,one who was to be a ,king1 a ,ruler1 a ,guide1 and a ,judge of men2 who was to exercise influence over men for their good4 ,this prophecy was fulfilled first in the ,king of kings1 our ,lord ,jesus ,christ3 but it was fulfilled also in ,his apostles1 who were1 in their own way and measure1 kings of men1 exercising a vast influence over them4 ,and how8 ,by the royal ,spirit of love4 ,in the apostles the ,spirit of love and charity proved ,himself to be also the ,spirit of wisdom and understanding4 ,he gave them such a converting1 subduing1 alluring power over men's hearts1 as no men have had1 before or since4 ,and ,he will prove ,himself to have the same power in us4 ,our own experience will be the same as the apostles' experience4 ,i say this deliberately4 ,the older we grow1 the more we understand our own lives and histories1 the more we shall see that the spirit of wisdom is the spirit of love2 that the true way to gain influence over our fellow-men1 is to have charity towards them4 ,that is a hard lesson to learn2 and those who learn it at all1 generally learn it late2 almost--,god forgive us--too late4 ,our reason1 if we would let the ,spirit of ,god enlighten it1 would teach us this beforehand4 ,but we do not usually listen to our reason1 or to ,god's ,spirit speaking to it4 ,and therefore we have to learn the lesson by experience1 often by very sad and shameful experience4 ,and even that very experience we cannot understand1 unless the ,spirit of ,god interpret it to us3 and blessed are they who1 having been chastised1 hearken to ,his interpretation4 ,our reason1 ,i say1 should teach us that the spirit of wisdom is none other than the spirit of love4 ,for consider--how does the text describe this ,spirit8 ,as the spirit of wisdom and understanding2 that is1 as the knowledge of human nature1 the understanding of men and their ways4 ,if we do not understand our fellow-creatures1 we shall never love them4 ,but it is equally true that if we do not love them1 we shall never understand them4 ,want of charity1 want of sympathy1 want of good-feeling and fellow-feeling--what does it1 what can it breed1 but endless mistakes and ignorances1 both of men's characters and men's circumstances8 ,be sure that no one knows so little of his fellow-men1 as the cynical1 misanthropic man1 who walks in darkness1 because he hates his brother4 ,be sure that the truly wise and understanding man is he who by sympathy puts himself in his neighbours' place2 feels with them and for them2 sees with their eyes1 hears with their ears2 and therefore understands them1 makes allowances for them1 and is merciful to them1 even as his ,father in heaven is merciful4 ,and next2 this royal ,spirit is described as the spirit of counsel and might1 that is1 the spirit of prudence and practical power2 the spirit which sees how to deal with human beings1 and has the practical power of making them obey4 ,now that power1 again1 can only be got by loving human beings4 ,there is nothing so blind as hardness1 nothing so weak as violence4 ,i1 of course1 can only speak from my own experience2 and my experience is this3 that whensoever in my past life ,i have been angry and scornful1 ,i have said or done an unwise thing2 ,i have more or less injured my own cause2 weakened my own influence on my fellow-men2 repelled them instead of attracting them2 made them rebel against me1 rather than obey me4 ,by patience1 courtesy1 and gentleness1 we not only make ourselves stronger2 we not only attract our fellow-men1 and make them help us and follow us willingly and joyfully3 but we make ourselves wiser2 we give ourselves time and light to see what we ought to do1 and how to do it4 ,and next2 this ,spirit is also the spirit of knowledge1 and of the fear of the ,lord4 ,ay1 they1 indeed1 both begin in love1 and end in love4 ,if you wish for knowledge1 you must begin by loving knowledge for its own sake4 ,and the more knowledge you gain1 the more you will long to know1 and more1 and yet more for ever4 ,you cannot succeed in a study1 unless you love that study4 ,men of science must begin with an interest in1 a love for1 an enthusiasm1 in the very deepest sense of the word1 for the phaenomena which they study4 ,but the more they learn of them1 the more their love increases2 as they see more and more of their wonder1 of their beauty1 of the unspeakable wisdom and power of ,god1 shewn forth in every blade of grass which grows in the sunshine and the rain4 ,and if this be true of things earthly and temporary1 how much more of things heavenly and eternal8 ,we must begin by loving whatsoever things are true1 whatsoever things are just1 whatsoever things are pure1 honest1 and of good report4 ,we must begin1 ,i say1 by loving them with a sort of child's love1 without understanding them2 by that simple instinct and longing after what is good and beautiful and true1 which is indeed the inspiration of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,but as we go on1 as ,st ,paul bids us1 to meditate on them2 and if there be any virtue and if there be any praise1 to think on such things1 and feed our minds daily with purifying1 elevating1 sobering1 humanizing1 enlightening thoughts3 then we shall get to love goodness with a reasonable and manly love2 to see the beauty of holiness2 the strength of self-sacrifice2 the glory of justice2 the divineness of love2 and in a word--,to love ,god for ,his own sake1 and to give ,him thanks for ,his great glory1 which is3 ,that ,he is a good ,god4 ,this thought--remember it1 ,i pray--brings me to the last point4 ,this ,spirit is also the spirit of the fear of the ,lord4 ,and that too1 my friends1 must be a spirit of love not only to ,god1 but to our fellow-creatures4 ,for if we but consider that ,god the ,father loves all2 that ,his mercy is over all ,his works2 and that ,he hateth nothing that ,he has made3 then how dare we hate anything that ,he has made1 as long as we have any rational fear of ,him1 awe and respect for ,him1 true faith in ,his infinite majesty and power8 ,if we but consider that ,god the ,son actually came down on earth to die1 and to die too on the cross1 for all mankind3 then how dare we hate a human being for whom ,he died3 at least if we have true honour1 gratitude1 loyalty1 reverence1 and godly fear in our hearts toward ,him1 our risen ,lord8 ,oh let us open our eyes this ,whitsuntide to the experience of our past lives4 ,let us see now--what we shall certainly see at the day of judgment--that whenever we have failed to be loving1 we have also failed to be wise2 that whenever we have been blind to our neighbours' interests1 we have also been blind to our own2 whenever we have hurt others1 we have hurt ourselves still more4 ,let us1 at this blessed ,whitsuntide1 ask forgiveness of ,god for all acts of malice and uncharitableness1 blindness and hardness of heart2 and pray for the spirit of true charity1 which alone is true wisdom4 ,and let us come to ,holy ,communion in charity with each other and with all2 determined henceforth to feel for each other and with each other2 to put ourselves in our neighbours' places2 to see with their eyes1 and feel with their hearts1 as far as ,god shall give us that great grace2 determined to make allowances for their mistakes and failings2 to give and forgive1 live and let live1 even as ,god gives and forgives1 lives and lets live for ever3 that so we may be indeed the children of our ,father in heaven1 whose name is ,love4 ,then we shall indeed discern the ,lord's body--that it is a body of union1 sympathy1 mutual trust1 help1 affection4 ,then we shall1 with all contrition and humility1 but still in spirit and in truth1 claim and obtain our share in the body and the blood1 in the spirit and in the mind1 of ,him ,who sacrificed ,himself for a rebellious world4 ,,sermon ,,iv4 ,,prayer4 ,,psalm ,,lxv4 #b4 ,thou that hearest prayer1 unto ,thee shall all flesh come4 ,next ,friday1 the #bjth of ,december1 #ahga1 will be marked in most churches of this province of ,canterbury by a special ceremony4 ,prayers will be offered to ,god for the increase of missionary labourers in the ,church of ,england4 ,to many persons--,i hope ,i may say1 to all in this congregation--this ceremony will seem eminently rational4 ,we shall not ask ,god to suspend the laws of nature1 nor alter the courses of the seasons1 for any wants1 real or fancied1 of our own4 ,we shall ask ,him to make us and our countrymen wiser and better1 in order that we may make other human beings wiser and better3 and an eminently rational request ,i assert that to be4 ,for no one will deny that it is good for heathens and savages1 even if there were no life after death1 to be wiser and better than they are4 ,it is good1 ,i presume1 that they should give up cannibalism1 slave-trading1 witchcraft1 child-murder1 and a host of other abominations2 and that they should be made to give them up not from mere fear of ,european cannon1 but of their own wills and consciences1 seeing that such habits are wrong and ruinous1 and loathing them accordingly2 in a word1 that instead of living as they do1 and finding in a hundred ways that the wages of sin are death1 they should be converted--that is1 change their ways--and live4 ,now that this is the will of ,god--assuming that there is a ,god1 and a good ,god--is plain at least to our reason1 and to our common sense2 and it is equally plain to our reason and to our common sense that1 as ,god has not taught these poor wretches to improve themselves1 or sent superior beings to improve them from some other world1 ,he therefore means their improvement to be brought about1 as moral improvements are usually brought about1 by the influence of their fellow-men1 and specially by us who have put ourselves in contact with them in our world-wide search for wealth2 and who are certain1 as we know by sad experience1 to make the heathen worse1 if we do not make them better4 ,and as we find from experience that our missionaries1 wherever they are brought in contact with these savages1 do make them wiser and happier1 we ask ,god to inspire more persons with the desire of improving the heathen1 and to teach them how to improve them4 ,i say1 how to improve them4 ,all sneers1 whether at the failure of missionary labours1 or at the small results in return for the vast sums spent on missions--all such sneers1 ,i say1 instead of deterring us from praying to ,god on this matter1 ought to make us pray the more earnestly in proportion as they are deserved4 ,for they ought to remind us that we possibly may not have gone to work as yet altogether in the right way2 that there may be mistakes and deficiencies in our method of dealing with the heathen4 ,and if so1 it seems all the more reason for asking ,god to set us and others right1 in case we should be wrong2 and to make us and others strong1 in case we should be weak4 ,we thus commit the matter to ,god4 ,we do not ask ,god to raise up such missionary labourers as we think fit3 but such as ,he thinks fit4 ,we do not pray ,him to alter ,his will concerning the heathen3 but to enable us to do what we know already to be ,his will4 ,and this course seems to me eminently rational2 provided always1 of course1 that it is rational to believe that there is a ,god who answers prayer2 and that if we ask anything according to ,his will1 ,he hears us4 ,now the older ,i grow1 and the more ,i see of the chances and changes of this mortal life1 and of the needs and longings of the human heart1 the more important seems this question1 and all words concerning it1 whether in the ,bible or out of the ,bible-- ,is there anywhere in the universe any being who can hear our prayers8 ,is prayer a superfluous folly1 or the highest prudence8 ,i say--,is there a being who can even hear our prayers8 ,i do not say1 a being who will always answer them1 and give us all we ask3 but one who will at least hear1 who will listen2 consider whether what we ask is fit to be granted or not2 and grant or refuse accordingly4 ,you say--,what is the need of asking such a question8 ,of course we believe that4 ,of course we pray1 else why are we in church to-day8 ,well1 my friends1 ,god grant that you may all believe it in spirit and in truth4 ,but you must remember that if so1 you are in the minority2 that the majority of civilized men1 like the majority of mere savages1 do not pray1 whatever the women may do2 and that prayer among thinking and civilized white men has been becoming1 for the last #ajj years at least1 more and more unfashionable2 and is likely1 to judge from the signs of the times1 to become more unfashionable still3 after which reign of degrading ungodliness1 ,i presume--from the experience of all history--that our children or grandchildren will see a revulsion to some degrading superstition1 and the latter end be worse than the beginning4 ,but it is notorious that men are doubting more and more of the efficacy of prayer2 that philosophers so-called1 for true philosophers they are not--even though they may be true1 able1 and worthy students of merely physical science--are getting a hearing more and more readily1 when they tell men they need not pray4 ,they say2 and here they say rightly--,the world is ruled by laws4 ,but some say further2 and there they say wrongly2--,for that reason prayer is of no use2 the laws will not be altered to please you4 ,you yourself are but tiny parts of a great machine1 which will grind on in spite of you1 though it grind you to powder2 and there is no use in asking the machine to stop4 ,so1 they say1 prayer is an impertinence4 ,i would that they stopped there4 ,for then we who deny that the world is a machine1 or anything like a machine1 might argue fairly with them on the common ground of a common belief in ,god4 ,but some go further still1 and say--,a ,god8 ,we do not deny that there may be a ,god3 but we do not deny that there may not be one4 ,this we say--,if ,he exists1 we know nothing of ,him3 and what is more1 you know nothing of ,him4 ,no man can know aught of ,him4 ,no man can know whether there be a ,god or not4 ,a living ,god1 an acting ,god1 a ,god of providence1 a ,god who hears prayer1 a ,god such as your ,bible tells you of1 is an inconceivable ,being2 and what you cannot conceive1 that you must not believe3 and therefore prayer is not merely an impertinence1 it is a mistake2 for it is speaking to a ,being who only exists in your own imagination4 ,i need not say1 my friends1 that all this1 to my mind1 is only a train of sophistry and false reasoning1 which--so ,i at least hold--has been answered and refuted again and again4 ,and ,i trust in ,god and in ,christ sufficiently to believe that ,he will raise up sound divines and true philosophers in ,his ,church1 who will refute it once more4 ,but meanwhile ,i can only appeal to your common sense2 to the true and higher reason1 which lies in men's hearts1 not in their heads2 and ask--,and is it come to this8 ,is this the last outcome of civilization1 the last discovery of the human intellect1 the last good news for man8 ,that the soundest thinkers--they who have the truest and clearest notion of the universe are the savage who knows nothing but what his five senses teach him1 and the ungodly who makes boast of his own desire1 and speaks good of the covetous whom ,god abhorreth1 while he says1 ,tush1 ,god hath forgotten4 ,he hideth away his face1 and ,god will never see it8 ,true3 these so-called philosophers would say that the savage makes a mistake in his sensuality1 and the worldling in his covetousness and his tyranny2 that from an imperfect conception of their own true self-interest1 they carry their philosophy to conclusions which the philosopher in his study must regret4 ,but as to their philosophy being correct3 there can be no question that if providence1 and prayer1 and the living ,god1 be phantoms of man's imagination1 then the cynical worldling at one end of the social scale1 and the brutal savage at the other1 are wiser than apostles and prophets1 and sages and divines4 ,these men talk of facts1 the facts of human nature4 ,why do they ask us to ignore the most striking fact of human nature1 that man1 even if he were a mere animal1 is alone of all animals--a praying animal8 ,is that strange instinct of worship1 which rises in the heart of man as soon as he begins to think1 to become a civilized being and not a savage1 to be disregarded as a childish dream when he rises to a higher civilization still8 ,is the experience of men1 heathen as well as ,christian1 for all these ages to go for nought8 ,has it mattered nought whether men cried to ,baal or to ,god2 for with both alike there has been neither sound nor voice1 nor any that answered8 ,has every utterance that has ever gone up from suffering and doubting humanity1 gone up in vain8 ,have the prayers of saints1 the hymns of psalmists1 the agonies of martyrs1 the aspirations of poets1 the thoughts of sages1 the cries of the oppressed1 the pleadings of the mother for her child1 the maiden praying in her chamber for her lover upon the distant battle-field1 the soldier answering her prayer from afar off with1 ,sleep quiet1 ,i am in ,god's hands--those very utterances of humanity which seemed to us most noble1 most pure1 most beautiful1 most divine1 been all in vain8--impertinences2 the babblings of fair dreams1 poured forth into nowhere1 to no thing1 and in vain8 ,has every suffering1 searching soul which ever gazed up into the darkness of the unknown1 in hopes of catching even a glimpse of a divine eye1 beholding all1 and ordering all1 and pitying all1 gazed up in vain8 ,for at the ground of the universe is not a divine eye1 but only a blank bottomless eye-socket2 #ci and man has no ,father in heaven2 and ,christ revealed ,him not1 because ,he was not there to reveal2 and there was no hope1 no remedy1 no deliverance1 for the miserable among the sons of men8 ,oh1 my friends1 those who believe1 or fancy that they believe such things1 must be able to do so only through some peculiar conformation either of brain or heart4 ,only want of imagination to conceive the consequences of such doctrines can enable them1 if they have any love and pity for their fellow-men1 to preach those doctrines without pity and horror4 ,they know not1 they know not1 of what they rob a mankind already but too miserable by its own folly and its own sin2 a mankind which1 if it have not hope in ,god and in ,christ1 is truly--as ,homer said of old--more miserable than the beasts of the field4 ,if their unconscious conceit did not make them unintentionally cruel1 they would surely be silent for pity's sake2 they would let men go on in the pleasant delusion that there is a living ,god1 and a ,word of ,god who has revealed ,him to men2 and would hide from their fellow-creatures the dreadful secret which they think they have discovered--,that there is none that heareth prayer1 and therefore to ,him need no flesh come4 ,men take up with such notions1 ,i believe1 most generally in days of comfort1 ease1 safety4 ,they find the world so well ordered outwardly1 that it seems able enough to go on its way without a ,god4 ,they have themselves so few sorrows1 struggles1 doubts1 that they never feel that sense of helplessness1 of danger1 of ignorance1 which has made the hearts of men1 in every age1 yearn for an unseen helper1 an unseen deliverer1 an unseen teacher4 ,and so it is--and shameful it is that so it should be--that the more ,god gives to men1 the less they thank ,him1 the less they fancy that they need ,him3 but take ,his bounties1 as they take the air they breathe1 unconsciously1 and as a matter of course4 ,and therefore adversity is wholesome1 danger is wholesome2 so wholesome1 that in all ages1 as far as ,i can find1 the godliest1 the most moral1 the most manful1 and therefore the really happiest and most successful nations or communities of men1 have been those who were in perpetual danger1 difficulty1 struggle2 and who have thereby had their faith in ,god called out2 who have learned in the depth1 to cry out of the depth to ,god2 to lift up their eyes unto the ,lord1 and know that their help comes from ,him4 ,i know a village down in the far ,west1 where the #abast ,psalm which ,i just quoted1 was a favourite1 and more than a favourite4 ,whenever it was given out in church--and the congregation used often to ask for it--all joined in singing it1 young and old1 men and maidens1 with an earnestness1 a fervour1 a passion1 such as ,i never heard elsewhere2 such as shewed how intensely they felt that the psalm was true1 and true for them4 ,of all congregational singing ,i ever heard1 never have ,i heard any so touching as those voices1 when they joined in the old words they loved so well4 ,sheltered beneath the ,almighty wings ,thou shall securely rest1 ,where neither sun nor moon shall thee ,by day or night molest4 ,at home1 abroad1 in peace1 in war1 ,thy ,god shall thee defend2 ,conduct thee through life's pilgrimage ,safe to thy journey's end4 ,do you fancy these people were specially comfortable1 prosperous folk1 who had no sorrows1 and lived safe from all danger1 and therefore knew that ,god protected them from all ill8 ,nothing less1 my friends1 nothing less4 ,there was hardly a man who joined in that psalm1 but knew that he carried his life in his hand from year to year1 that any day might see him a corpse--drowned at sea4 ,hardly a woman who sang that psalm but had lost a husband1 a father1 a brother1 a kinsman--drowned at sea4 ,and yet they believed that ,god preserved them4 ,they were fishers and sailors1 earning an uncertain livelihood1 on a wild and rocky coast4 ,a sudden shift of wind might make1 as ,i knew it once to make1 #fj widows and orphans in a single night4 ,the fishery for the year might fail1 and all the expense of boats and nets be thrown away4 ,or in default of work at home1 the young men would go out on voyages to foreign parts3 and often never came back again1 dying far from home1 of fever1 of wreck1 of some of the hundred accidents which befal seafaring men4 ,and yet they believed that ,god preserved them4 ,surely their faith was tried1 if ever faith was tried4 ,but as surely their faith failed not1 for--if ,i may so say--they dared not let it fail4 ,if they ceased to trust ,god1 what had they to trust in8 ,not in their own skill in seamanship1 though it was great3 they knew how weak it was1 on which to lean4 ,not in the so-called laws of nature2 the treacherous sea1 the wild wind1 the uncertain shoals of fish1 the chances and changes of a long foreign voyage4 ,without trust in ,god1 their lives must have been lives of doubt and of terror1 for ever anxious about the morrow3 or else of blind recklessness1 saying1 ,let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die4 ,because they kept their faith in ,god1 their lives were for the most part lives of hardy and hopeful enterprise2 cheerful always1 in bad luck as in good2 thankful when their labours were blest with success2 and when calamity and failure came1 saying with noble resignation--,i have received good from the hand of the ,lord1 and shall ,i not receive evil8 ,though ,he slay me1 yet will ,i trust in ,him4 ,it is a life like theirs1 mixed with danger and uncertainty1 which most calls out faith in ,god4 ,it is the life of safety and comfort1 in which our wants are all supplied ready to our hand1 which calls it out least4 ,and therefore it is that life in cities1 just because it is most safe and most comfortable1 is so often1 alas1 most ungodly1 at least among the men4 ,less common1 thank ,god1 is this ungodliness among the women4 ,the nursing of the sick2 the cares of a family1 often too sorrows1 manifold and bitter1 put them continually in mind of human weakness1 and of their own weakness likewise4 ,yes4 ,it is sorrow1 my friends1 sorrow and failure1 which forces men to believe that there is ,one who heareth prayer1 forces them to lift up their eyes to ,one from whom cometh their help4 ,before the terrible realities of danger1 death1 bereavement1 disappointment1 shame1 ruin--and most of all before deserved shame1 deserved ruin--all the arguments of the conceited sophist melt away like the maxims of the comfortable worldling2 and the man or woman who was but too ready a day before to say1 ,tush1 ,god will never see1 and will never hear1 begins to hope passionately that ,god does see1 that ,god does hear4 ,in the hour of darkness2 when there is no comfort in man nor help in man1 when he has no place to flee unto1 and no man careth for his soul3 then the most awful1 the most blessed of all questions is3 ,but is there no one higher than man to whom ,i can flee8 ,no one higher than man who cares for my soul and for the souls of those who are dearer to me than my own soul8 ,no friend8 ,no helper8 ,no deliverer8 ,no counsellor8 ,even no judge8 ,no punisher8 ,no ,god1 even though ,he be a consuming fire8 ,am ,i and my misery alone together in the universe8 ,is my misery without any meaning1 and ,i without hope8 ,if there be no ,god3 then all that is left for me is despair and death4 ,but if there be1 then ,i can hope that there is a meaning in my misery2 that it comes to me not without cause1 even though that cause be my own fault4 ,i can plead with ,god like poor ,job of old1 even though in wild words like ,job2 and ask--,what is the meaning of this sorrow8 ,what have ,i done8 ,what should ,i do8 ,i will say unto ,god1 ,do not condemn me2 shew me wherefore thou contendest with me4 ,surely ,i would speak unto the ,almighty1 and desire to reason with ,god4 ,i would speak unto the ,almighty1 and desire to reason with ,god4 ,oh my friends1 a man1 ,i believe1 can gain courage and wisdom to say that1 only by the inspiration of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,but when once he has said that from his heart1 he begins to be justified by faith4 ,for he has had faith in ,god2 he has trusted ,god enough to speak to ,god who made him2 and so he has put himself1 so far at least1 into his just and right place1 as a spiritual and rational being1 made in the image of ,god4 ,but more1 he has justified ,god4 ,he has confessed that ,god is not a mere force or law of nature2 nor a mere tyrant and tormentor3 but a reasonable being1 who will hear reason1 and a just being1 who will do justice by the creatures whom ,he has made4 ,and so the very act of prayer justifies ,god1 and honours ,god1 and gives glory to ,god2 for it confesses that ,god is what ,he is1 a good ,god1 to whom the humblest and the most fallen of ,his creatures dare speak out the depths of their abasement1 and acknowledge that ,his glory is this--,that in spite of all ,his majesty1 ,he is one who heareth prayer2 a being as magnificent in ,his justice1 as ,he is magnificent in ,his majesty and ,his might4 ,all this is argued out1 as it never has been argued out before or since1 in the book of ,job3 and for seeing so much as this1 was ,job approved by ,god4 ,but there is a further question1 to which the book of ,job gives no answer2 and to which indeed all the ,old ,testament gives but a partial answer4 ,and that is this--,this just and magnificent ,god1 has ,he also human pity1 tenderness1 charity1 condescension1 love8 ,in one word1 have we not only a ,god in heaven1 but a ,father in heaven8 ,that question could only be answered by the coming of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,truly ,he said--,no one cometh to the ,father1 but by me4 ,no man hath seen ,god at any time3 but the only-begotten ,son1 who is in the bosom of the ,father1 ,he hath revealed ,him4 ,he revealed ,him in part to ,abraham1 in part to ,moses1 to ,job1 to ,david1 to the prophets4 ,but ,he revealed ,him perfectly when ,he said--,i and the ,father are one4 ,he that hath seen me hath seen the ,father4 ,yes4 ,now we can find boundless comfort in the words1 ,such as the ,father is1 such is the ,son1 and such is the ,holy ,ghost--,love and condescension without bounds4 ,now we know that there is ,a ,man in the midst of the throne of ,god1 who is the brightness of ,god's glory and the express image of ,his character2 a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities1 seeing that ,he was tempted in all things like as we are1 yet without sin4 ,to ,him we can cry1 with human passion and in human words2 because we know that ,his human heart will respond to our human hearts1 and that ,his human heart again will respond to ,his divine ,spirit1 and that ,his divine ,spirit is the same as the divine ,spirit of ,his ,father2 for their wills and minds are one2 and their will and their mind is--boundless love to sinful man4 ,yes1 we can look up by faith into the sacred face of ,christ1 and take refuge by faith within ,his sacred heart1 saying--,if it be good for me1 ,he will give what ,i ask3 and if ,he gives it not1 it is because that too is good for me1 and for others beside me4 ,in all the chances and changes of this mortal life we can say to ,him1 as ,he said in that supreme hour--,if it be possible1 let this cup pass from me2 nevertheless not my will1 but thine1 be done1 sure that ,he will present that prayer to ,his ,father1 and to our ,father1 and to ,his ,god and to our ,god2 and that whatsoever be the answer vouchsafed by ,him whose ways are not as our ways1 nor ,his thoughts as our thoughts1 the prayer will not have gone up to ,christ in vain4 ,and in such a case as this of missions to the heathen--,if we believe that ,christ died for these poor heathen2 if we believe that ,christ loves these poor heathen infinitely more than we1 or than the most devoted missionary who ever lived or died for them3 shall we say--,then we may leave them in ,christ's hands to follow their own nature4 ,if ,he is satisfied with their degradation1 so may we be8 ,shall we not rather say--,their misery and degradation must pain ,his sacred heart1 far more than our sinful hearts2 and if ,he does not come down again on earth to help them ,himself1 it must be because ,he means to help them through us1 ,his disciples8 ,let us ask ,him to teach us and others how to help them2 to enable us and others to help them4 ,let us pray to ,him the one prayer which1 unless prayer be a dream1 is certain to be answered1 because it is certainly according to ,god's will2 the prayer to be taught and helped to do our duty by our fellow-men4 ,and for the rest3 let us pray in the words of that most noble of all collects1 to pray which is to take refuge from our own ignorance in the boundless wisdom of ,god's love--,thou who knowest our necessities before we ask1 and our ignorance in asking3 ,have compassion on our infirmities1 and those things which for our unworthiness we dare not1 and for our blindness we cannot ask1 condescend to give us1 for the worthiness of ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,amen4 ,,sermon ,v4 ,,the ,,deaf ,,and ,,dumb4 ,,st ,,mark ,,vii4 #cb-cg4 ,and they bring unto ,jesus one that was deaf1 and had an impediment in his speech2 and they beseech ,him to put ,his hand upon him4 ,and ,he took him aside from the multitude1 and put ,his fingers into his ears1 and ,he spit1 and touched his tongue2 and looking up to heaven1 ,he sighed1 and said1 ,ephphatha1 that is1 ,be opened4 ,and straightway his ears were opened1 and the string of his tongue was loosed1 and he spake plain4 4 4 4 ,and they were beyond measure astonished1 saying1 ,he hath done all things well3 ,he maketh both the deaf to hear1 and the dumb to speak4 ,our greatest living philologer has said1 and said truly--,if wonder arises from ignorance1 it is from that conscious ignorance which1 if we look back at the history of most of our sciences1 has been the mother of all human knowledge4 ,till men began to wonder at the stratification of rocks1 and the fossilization of shells1 there was no science of ,geology4 ,till they began to wonder at the words which were perpetually in their mouths1 there was no science of ,language4 ,he might have added1 that till men began to wonder at the organization of their own bodies1 there was no science of healing2 that in proportion as the common fact of health became mysterious and marvellous in their eyes1 just in that proportion did they become able to explain and to conquer disease4 ,for there is a deep difference between the wonder of the uneducated or half-educated man1 and the wonder of the educated man4 ,the ignorant in all ages have wondered at the exception2 the wise1 in proportion as they have become wise1 have wondered at the rule4 ,pestilences1 prodigies1 portents1 the results of seeming accidents1 excite the vulgar mind4 ,only the abnormal or casual is worthy of their attention4 ,the man of science finds a deeper and more awful charm in contemplating the results of law2 in watching1 not what seem to be occasional failures in nature3 but what is a perpetual and calm success4 ,the savage knows not1 ,i am told1 what wonder means1 save from some prodigy4 ,seeing no marvel in the daily glory of the sunlight1 he is startled out of his usual stupidity and carelessness by the occurrence of an eclipse1 an earthquake1 a thunderbolt4 ,the uneducated1 whatever their rank may be1 are apt to be more interested by the sight of deformities1 and defects or excesses in nature1 than by that of the most perfect normal and natural beauty4 ,those1 in the same way1 who in the infancy of ,european science1 thought it worth while to register natural phenomena1 registered exclusively the exceptions4 ,eclipses1 meteors1 auroras1 earthquakes1 storms1 and especially monstrosities1 animal or vegetable1 exercised their barbaric wonder4 ,the mystery and miracle which underlies the unfolding of every bud1 the development of every embryo1 the growth of every atom of tissue1 in any organism1 animal or vegetable--to all this their intellectual eye was blind4 ,how different from such a state of mind1 that calm and constant wonder1 humbling and yet inspiring1 with which the modern man of science searches into the open mystery of the universe2 and sees that the true marvel lies1 not in the infringement of law1 but in its permanence2 not in the imperfect1 but in the perfect2 not in disease1 but in health2 not in deformity1 but in beauty4 ,these words are true of all nature2 and specially true1 it seems to me1 of our outward senses and faculties2 true of sight1 hearing1 speech4 ,the wonder1 ,i think1 with the wise man will be1 not that there are deaf and dumb persons to be found here and there among us3 but that the average1 nay1 the majority of mankind1 are not deaf and dumb4 ,paradoxical as this assertion may seem at first1 a little thought ,i believe will prove it to be reasonable4 ,whatever view you take of the origin of sight1 hearing1 voice1 the wonder to a thoughtful mind is just the same2 how1 under the storm of circumstances1 and through the lapse of ages1 those faculties have not been lost again and again1 by countless individuals1 nay1 by the whole species4 ,for we must confess that those faculties are gradually developed in each individual2 that every animal and every human being which is born into the world1 has built up1 unconsciously1 involuntarily1 and as it were out of nothing1 those delicate and complex organs1 by which he afterwards learns to see1 hear1 and utter sounds4 ,is not the wonder1 that he should1 in the majority of cases1 succeed without any effort of his own8 ,and if ,i am answered1 that the success is owing to hereditary tendencies1 and to the laws by which the offspring resembles the parents1 ,i answer3 ,is not that a greater wonder still8 ,a wonder which all the discoveries of the scalpel and the microscope have been as yet unable1 and will be1 ,i believe1 to the last unable1 to unravel1 even to touch8 ,a wonder which can be explained by no theories of vibratory atoms1 vital forces1 plastic powers of nature1 or other such phrases1 which are but metaphysical abstractions1 having no counterpart in fact1 and only hiding from us our ignorance of the vast and venerable unknown4 ,the physiologist1 when he considers the manifold combination of innumerable microscopic circumstances which are required to bring any one creature into the world with a perfectly hearing ear1 ought to confess that the chances--if the world were governed by chance--are infinitely greater in favour of a child's being born with an imperfect ear rather than with a perfect one4 ,and if he should evade the difficulty2 and try to explain the usual success by saying that nature is governed by law3 ,i answer--,what is nature8 ,what is law8 ,you never saw nature nor law either under the microscope4 ,they too are metaphysical abstractions1 necessary notions and conceptions of your own brain4 ,you have seen nothing but the fact and the custom2 and all you can do1 if you be strictly rational1 is with a certain modern school to say1 with a despairing humility1 which ,i deplore while ,i respect--deploring it because it is needless despair1 and yet respecting it because it is humility1 which is the path out of despair and darkness into hope and light--to say with them1 ,man can know nothing of causes1 he can only register positive facts4 ,this1 ,i say1 is one path--one which ,i trust none here will tread4 ,the only other path1 ,i believe1 is1 to go back to the lessons which we ought to have learnt in our childhood1 for those to whom the human race owes most learnt them thousands of years ago2 and to ascribe the ever successful miracles of nature to a ,will1 to a ,mind1 to a ,providence so like that which each of us exercises in his own petty sphere1 that we are not only able to understand in part the works of ,god1 but to know from the very fact of being able to understand them--as one of our greatest astronomers has so well said lately--that we are made in the image of ,god4 ,to say with the old ,psalmist1 that the universe is governed by a law which cannot be broken3 but why8 ,because ,god has given it that law4 ,to say ,all things continue as they were at the beginning3 but why8 ,because all things serve ,him in whom we live and move and have our being4 ,to confess the mystery and miracle of our mortal bodies1 and say with ,david1 ,i am fearfully and wonderfully made2 such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me1 ,i cannot attain unto it3 but to add the one only rational explanation of the mystery which1 thank ,god1 common sense has taught1 though it may be often in confused and defective forms1 to the vast majority of the human race in all times and all lands--that ,he who grasps the mystery and works the miracle is ,god2 that ,his eye sees our substances yet being imperfect2 and in ,his book are all our members written1 which day by day were fashioned1 when as yet there were none of them4 ,and then to go forward with the ,psalmist1 and with the common sense of humanity2 to conclude that if there be a ,creator1 there must also be a ,providence2 that that life-giving ,spirit which presided over the creation of each organism presides also over its growth1 its circumstances1 its fortunes2 and to say with ,david1 ,whither shall ,i go then from ,thy ,spirit1 or whither shall ,i flee from ,thy presence8 ,if ,i climb up to heaven1 ,thou art there4 ,if ,i go down to hell1 ,thou art there also4 ,if ,i take the wings of the morning1 and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea2 even there ,thy hand shall lead me2 ,thy right hand shall hold me still4 ,yes4 ,to this--to faith and adoration--ought right and reason to lead the physical philosopher4 ,and to what ought it to lead us1 who are most of us1 ,i presume1 not physical philosophers8 ,to gratitude1 surely1 not unmixed with fear and trembling2 till we say to ourselves--,who am ,i1 to boast8 ,who am ,i1 to pride myself on possessing a single faculty which one of my neighbours may want8 ,what have ,i1 that ,i did not receive8 ,considering the endless chances of failure1 if the world were left to chance2 and ,i may say1 the absolute certainty of failures1 if the world were left to the blind competition of merely physical laws1 is it not only of the ,lord's mercies that we are not failures too8 that we have not been born crippled1 blind1 deaf1 dumb--what not8--by the effect of circumstances over which we have had no control2 which have been working1 it may be1 for generations past1 in the organizations of our ancestors8 ,but what shall we say of those who have not received what we have received8 ,what shall we say of those who1 like the deaf and dumb1 are1 in some respects at least1 failures--instances in which the laws which regulate our organization have not succeeded in effecting a full development8 ,we can say this1 at least1 without entangling and dazzling ourselves in speculations about final causes2 without attempting to pry into the mystery of evil4 ,we can say this3 ,that if there be a ,god--as there is a ,god--these failures are not according to ,his will4 ,the highest reason should teach us that2 for it must tell us that in the work of the ,divine ,artist1 as in the work of the human1 imperfection1 impotence1 disorder of any kind1 must be contrary to the mind and will of the ,creator4 ,the highest reason1 ,i say1 teaches us this4 ,and ,scripture teaches it like wise4 ,for if we believe our ,lord to have been as ,he was--the express image of the ,almighty ,father2 if we believe that ,he came--as ,he did come--to reveal to men ,his ,father's will1 ,his ,father's mind1 ,his ,father's character3 then we must believe that ,he acted according to that will and according to that character1 when ,he made the healing of disease1 and the curing of imperfections of this very kind1 an important and an integral part of ,his work on earth4 ,and they brought unto ,jesus one that was deaf1 and had an impediment in his speech1 and besought ,him to put ,his hand upon him4 ,and ,jesus took him aside from the multitude1 and put ,his fingers into his ears2 and ,he spit1 and touched his tongue2 and looking up to heaven1 ,he sighed1 and said unto him1 ,ephphatha1 that is1 ,be opened4 ,and straightway his ears were opened1 and the string of his tongue was loosed1 and he spake plain 4 4 4 ,and they were beyond measure astonished1 saying1 ,he hath done all things well3 ,he maketh both the deaf to hear1 and the dumb to speak4 ,consider this story awhile4 ,he healed the man miraculously1 by means at which we cannot guess1 which we cannot even conceive4 ,but the healing signified at least two things--that the man could be healed1 and that the man ought to be healed2 that his bodily defect--the retribution of no sin of his own--was contrary to the will of that ,father in ,heaven1 who willeth not that one little one should perish4 ,but ,jesus sighed likewise4 ,there was in ,him a sorrow1 a compassion1 most human and most divine4 ,it may have been--may ,he forgive me if ,i dare rashly to impute motives or thoughts to ,him--that there was something too of a divine weariness--,i dare not say impatience1 seeing how patient ,he was then and how patient ,he has been since for more than #ahjj years--of the folly and ignorance of man1 who brings on himself and on his descendants these and a hundred other preventible miseries1 simply because he will not study and obey the physical laws of the universe2 simply because he will not see that those laws which concern the welfare of his body1 are as surely the will of ,god as those which concern the welfare of his soul2 and that therefore it is not merely his interest but his solemn duty to study and to obey them1 lest he bear the punishment of his own neglect and disobedience4 ,it is not for man even to guess what thoughts may have passed through the mind of ,christ when ,he sighed over the very defect which ,he was healing4 ,but it is surely not irreverent in us to say that our ,lord had cause enough to sigh1 if ,he foresaw the follies of mankind during an age which was too soon to come4--,how men1 instead of taking the spirit of ,his miracles and acting on it1 would counterfeit the mere outward signs of them1 to feed the vanity or the superstition of a few devotees4 ,how1 instead of looking on ,his miracles as rebukes to their own ignorance and imbecility2 instead of perceiving that their bodily afflictions were contrary to the will of ,god1 and therefore curable2 instead of setting themselves to work manfully1 in the light of ,god1 and by the help of ,god1 to discover and correct the errors which produced them1 mankind would idle away precious centuries in barbaric wonder at seeming prodigies and seeming miracles1 and would neglect utterly the study of those far more wondrous laws of nature which ,christ had proved to be under ,his government and ,his guidance1 and had therefore proved to be working for the good of those for whom ,he came to die4 ,christ had indeed sown good seed in ,his field4 ,he had taught men by ,his miracles1 as ,he had taught them by ,his parables1 to ,whom nature belonged1 and ,whose laws nature obeyed4 ,and the cessation of miracles after the time of ,christ and ,his ,apostles had taught1 or ought to have taught1 mankind a further lesson2 the lesson that henceforth they were to carry on for themselves1 by the faculties which ,god had given them1 that work of healing and deliverance which ,he had begun4 ,miracles1 like prophecies1 like tongues1 like supernatural knowledge1 were to cease and vanish away3 but charity1 charity which devotes itself for the welfare of the human race1 was to abide for ever4 ,christ1 as ,i said1 had sown good seed3 but an enemy--we know not whence or when--certainly within the three first centuries of the ,church--came and sowed tares among that wheat4 ,then began men to believe that devils1 and not their ,father in ,heaven1 were1 to all practical intents1 the lords of nature4 ,then began they to believe that man's body was the property of ,satan1 and his soul only the property of ,god4 ,then began they to fancy that man was to be delivered from his manifold earthly miseries1 not by purity and virtue1 reason and knowledge1 but by magic1 masked under the sacred name of religion4 ,no wonder if1 in such a temper of mind1 the physical amelioration of the human race stood still4 ,how could it be otherwise1 while men refused to see in facts the acted will of ,god2 and sought not in ,god's universe1 but in the dreams of their own brains1 for glimpses of that divine and wonderful order by which ,the eternal ,father and ,the eternal ,son are working together for ever through ,the eternal ,spirit for the welfare of the universe8 ,we boast1 my friends1 at times1 of the rapid triumphs of modern science4 ,were we but aware of the vast amount of preventible misery around us1 and of the vast possibility of removing it1 which lies in the little science which we know already1 we should rather bewail the slow departure of modern barbarism4 ,there has been no period of the world for centuries back1 ,i believe1 in which man might not have been infinitely healthier1 happier1 more prosperous1 more long-lived than he has been1 if he had only believed that disease1 misery1 and premature death were not the will of ,god and of ,christ2 and that ,god had endowed him with an intellect which could understand the laws of the universe1 in order that he might use those laws for his own health1 wealth1 and life4 ,very late is society in commencing that rational course on which it ought to have entered centuries ago2 and therefore very culpable4 ,and it is not too much to say1 that to the average of persons suffering under preventible disease or defect1 even though it be hereditary1 society owes a sacred debt1 which it is bound to pay by making those innocent sufferers from other's sins as happy as possible2 where it has not yet learnt--as it will learn1 please ,god1 some day--to cure them4 ,there is1 thank ,god1 a healthier feeling than of old abroad of late upon this point4 ,men are learning more and more to regard such sufferers not as the victims of ,god's wrath1 but of human ignorance1 vice1 or folly4 ,and it was with deep satisfaction that ,i read in the last ,report of the ,schools for the ,deaf and ,dumb a statement of what were considered the most probable physical causes of deafness and dumbness1 and a hope that it would be possible1 hereafter1 to prevent as well as cure those diseases4 ,whether the causes assigned in that ,report are the true ones1 is a point of inferior importance for the moment4 ,the really important point is1 that the principle should be allowed1 the question raised1 by a society1 composed of religious men1 and teaching to those poor deaf and dumb as almost their primary work that true religion which they are just as capable of receiving as we4 ,the right path has been entered--the path which is certain in due time to lead to success4 ,and meanwhile our duty is1 while we confess that it is the fault of society and not of ,god1 that these afflicted ones exist among us--it is our duty1 ,i say1 to cultivate and to develop to the highest every faculty1 instinct1 and power1 in them which ,god's order has preserved from the effects of man's disorder2 to feed the eye with fair and noble sights1 though the ear be shut to soothing and inspiring sounds2 to cultivate the intellect to such a pitch that it may be able to perform practical work1 and if possible to earn a sufficient livelihood1 even though the want of speech makes it impossible for them1 deaf and dumb1 to compete on equal terms with their fellow-men2 to awaken in them1 by religious training1 teaching and worship1 those purer and more unselfish emotions by which their hearts may become a field ready and prepared for ,god's grace4 ,to do this2 and to regard them1 whenever we come in contact with them2 not merely with pity1 while we remember how much their intellects lose1 in losing the whole world of sound2 but with hope1 when we see that through the one sense which is left they take in fully not only the meaning of the voluble hands which teach them1 but more1 the meaning of that meaning--the spiritual truths and feelings which signs express2 with wonder1 not at the defect1 but at the innate health which almost compensates for the want of hearing by concentrating its powers upon the sight2 and lastly1 with admiration for that humanity which1 as it were imprisoned1 fettered1 maimed1 yet can1 by the ,god-given force of the immortal spirit1 so burst its prison-bars1 and rise1 through hindrances which seem to us impassable1 to the tenderest1 the noblest1 the purest1 and most devout emotions4 ,,sermon ,,vi4 ,,the ,,fruits ,,of ,,the ,,spirit4 ,,st ,,john ,,iii4 #h1 ,the wind bloweth whither it listeth1 and thou hearest the sound thereof1 but canst not tell whence it cometh1 or whither it goeth3 so is every one that is born of the ,spirit4 ,it is often asked--men have a right to ask--what would the world have been by now without ,christianity8 without the ,christian religion8 without the ,church8 ,but before these questions can be answered1 we must define1 it is discovered1 what we mean by ,christianity1 the ,christian religion1 the ,church4 ,and it is found--or ,i at least believe it will be found--more safe and wise to ask a deeper and yet a simpler question still3 ,what would the world have been without that influence on which ,christianity1 and religion1 and the ,church depend8 ,what would the world have been without the ,holy ,spirit of ,god8 ,but some will say3 ,this is a more abstruse question still4 ,how can you define1 how can you analyse1 the ,spirit of ,god8 ,nay1 more1 how can you prove its existence8--,such questioners have been1 as it were1 baptized unto ,john's baptism4 ,they are very glad to see people do right1 and not do wrong1 from any well-calculated motives1 or wholesome and pleasant emotions4 ,but they have not as yet heard whether there be any ,holy ,spirit4 ,we can only answer1 ,just so4 ,this ,holy ,spirit in ,whom we believe defies all analysis1 all definition whatsoever4 ,his nature can be brought under no terms derived from human emotions or motives4 ,he is literally invisible2 as invisible to the conception of the brain as ,he is to the bodily eye4 ,his presence is proved only by its effects4 ,the ,spirit bloweth whither it listeth1 and thou hearest the sound thereof1 but thou canst not tell whence it cometh1 nor whither it goeth4 ,such words must sound as dreams to those analytical philosophers who allow nothing in man below the sphere of consciousness1 actual or possible2 who have dissected the human mind till they find in it no personal will1 no indestructible and spiritual self1 but a character which is only the net result of innumerable states of consciousness2 who hold that man's outward actions1 and also his inmost instincts1 are all the result either of calculations about profit and loss1 pleasure and pain1 or of emotions1 whether hereditary or acquired4 ,ignoring the deep and ancient distinction1 which no one ever brought out so clearly as ,st ,paul1 between the flesh and the spirit1 they hold that man is flesh1 and can be nothing more2 that each person is not really a person1 but is the consequence of his brain and nerves2 and having thus1 by logical analysis1 got rid of the spirit of man1 their reason and their conscience quite honestly and consistently see no need for1 or possibility of1 a ,spirit of ,god1 to ennoble and enable the human spirit4 ,why need there be1 if the difference between an animal and a man be one of degree alone1 and not of kind8 ,we answer3 ,that there is a flesh in man1 brain and nerves1 emotions and passions1 identical with that of animals1 we do not deny4 ,we should be fools if we did deny it2 for the fact is hideously and shamefully patent4 ,none knew that better than ,st ,paul1 who gave a list of the works of the flesh1 the things which a man does who is the slave of his own brain and nerves--and a very ugly list it is--beginning with adultery and ending with drunkenness1 after passing through all the seven deadly sins4 ,and neither ,st ,paul nor we deny1 that in this fleshly1 carnal and animal state the vast majority of the human race has lived1 and lives still1 to its own infinite misery and confusion2 and that it has a perpetual tendency1 whenever lifted out of that state1 to fall back into it again1 and perish4 ,but ,st ,paul says1 and we say3 ,that crushed under this animal nature there is in man a spirit4 ,we say3 ,that below all his consciousness lies a nobler element2 a divine spark1 or at least a divine fuel1 which must be kindled into life by the divine ,spirit1 the ,spirit of ,god4 ,and we say that in proportion as that ,spirit of ,god kindles the spirit of man1 he begins to act after a fashion for which he can give no logical reason2 that by instinct1 and without calculation of profit or loss1 pleasure or pain1 he begins to act on what he calls duty1 honour1 love1 self-sacrifice4 ,but what these are he cannot analyse4 ,mere words cannot define them4 ,he can only obey that which prompts him1 he knows not what nor whence2 and say with ,luther of old3 ,i can do no otherwise4 ,god help me4 ,and we say that such men and women are the salt of the earth1 who keep society from rotting2 that by such men and women1 and by their example and influence1 direct and indirect1 has ,christendom been raised up out of the accursed slough into which ,europe and1 indeed1 the whole known world1 had fallen during the early ,roman ,empire2 and that to this influence1 and therefore to the ,holy ,spirit of ,god alone1 and not to any prudential calculations1 combined experiences1 or so-called philosophies of men1 is owing all which keeps ,europe from being a hell on earth4 ,and we say1 moreover1 that those who deny this1 and dream of a morality and a civilization without ,the ,spirit of ,god1 are unconsciously throwing down the ladder by which they themselves have climbed1 and sawing off the very bough to which they cling4 ,duty1 honour1 love1 self-sacrifice--these are the fruits of ,the ,spirit2 unknown to1 and unobeyed by1 the savage1 or by the civilized man who--as has too often happened--as is happening now in too many lands1 on both sides of the ,atlantic1 is sinking back into inward savagery1 amid an outward and material civilization4 ,moreover--and this appears to us a fair experimental proof that our old- fashioned belief in ,a ,spirit of ,god1 which acts upon the spirit of man1 is a true belief--moreover1 ,i say3 ,it is a patent fact1 that wherever and whenever there has been a revival of the ,christian religion2 whenever1 that is1 amid whatsoever confusions and errors1 men have begun to feel the need of the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 and to pray for that ,spirit1 a moral revival has accompanied the religious one4 ,men and women have not only become better themselves2 and that often suddenly and in very truth miraculously better3 but the yearning has awoke in them to make others better likewise4 ,the grace of ,god1 as they have called it1 has made them gracious to their fellow-creatures2 and duty1 honour1 love1 self-sacrifice1 call it by what name we will1 has said to them1 with a still small voice more potent than all the thunders of the law3 ,go1 and seek and save that which is lost4 ,in no case has this instinctive tendency to practical benevolence been more striking1 than in the case of that great religious revival throughout ,england at the beginning of this century1 which issued in the rise of the ,evangelical school3 a school rightly so called1 because its members did try to obey the precepts of the ,gospel1 according to their understanding of them1 in spirit and in truth4 ,the doctrines which they held are a matter not for us1 but for ,god and their own souls4 ,the deeds which they did are matter for us1 and for all ,england2 for they have left their mark on the length and breadth of the land4 ,they were inspired--cultivated1 highborn1 and wealthy folk many of them--with a strange new instinct that ,god had bidden them to feed the hungry1 to clothe the naked1 to visit the prisoner and the sick1 to bind up the broken-hearted1 to proclaim liberty to the captives1 and to preach good tidings to the meek4 ,a strange new instinct3 and from what cause1 save from the same cause as that which ,isaiah assigned to his own like deeds8--,because ,the ,spirit of the ,lord was upon him4 ,yes1 if those gracious men1 those gracious women1 did not shew forth the ,spirit and grace of ,god with power1 then there is either no ,spirit of ,god1 no grace of ,god2 or those who deny to them the name of saints forget the words of ,him ,who said3 ,by their fruits ye shall know them2 of ,him ,who said1 too3 ,that the unpardonable sin1 the sin which shewed complete moral perversion1 the sin against the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 was to attribute good deeds to bad motives1 and say3 ,he casteth out devils by ,beelzebub1 the prince of the devils4 ,yes1 that old ,evangelical ,school may now have passed its prime4 ,it may now be verging toward old age2 and other schools1 younger and stronger1 with broader and clearer knowledge of dogma1 of history1 civil and ecclesiastical1 of the value of ceremonial1 of the needs of the human intellect and emotions1 may have passed it in a noble rivalry1 and snatched1 as it were1 from the hands of the old ,evangelical ,school the lamp of truth1 to bear it further forward in the race4 ,but ,god forbid that the spiritual children should be ungrateful to their spiritual parents1 though ,god may have taught them things which their parents did not know4 ,and they were our spiritual parents1 those old ,evangelicals4 ,no just and well-informed man who has passed middle age1 but must confess1 that to them we owe whatsoever vital religion exists at this moment in any school or party of the ,church of ,england2 that to them we owe the germs at least1 and in many cases the full organization and the final success1 of a hundred schemes of practical benevolence and practical justice1 without which this country1 in its haste to grow rich at all risks and by all means1 might have plunged itself ere now into anarchy and revolution4 ,and he must confess1 too1 if he is one who has seen much of his fellow-creatures and their characters1 that that school numbered among its disciples--and1 thank ,god1 they are not all yet gone home to their rest--some of the loveliest human souls1 whose converse has chastened and ennobled his own soul4 ,ah1 well-- ,the old order changeth1 giving place to the new2 ,and ,god fulfils ,himself in many ways1 ,lest one good custom should corrupt the world4 ,and new methods and new institutions have arisen1 and will yet arise1 for seeking and saving that which is lost4 ,god's blessing on them all1 to whatsoever party1 church1 or sect they may belong6 ,whosoever cast out devils in ,christ's name1 ,christ has forbidden us to forbid them1 whether they follow us or not4 ,but yet shall we not still honour and love the old ,evangelical ,school1 and many an ,institution which it has left behind1 as heirlooms to some of us1 at least1 from our mothers1 or from women to whom we owed1 in long past years1 our earliest influences for good1 our earliest examples of a practical ,christian life1 our earliest proofs that there was indeed a ,spirit of ,god1 a gracious ,spirit1 ,who gave grace to the hearts1 the deeds1 the very looks and voices of those in whom ,he dwelt2 ,institutions1 which are too likely some of them to die1 simply from the loss of old friends8 ,the loss of old friends4 ,yes1 so it is always in this world4 ,the old earnest hearts go home one by one to their rest2 and the young earnest hearts--and who shall blame them8--go elsewhere2 and try new fashions of doing good1 which are more graceful and more agreeable to them4 ,for the religious world1 like all other forms of the world1 has its fashions2 and of them too stands true the saying of the apostle3 ,that this world and the fashion thereof pass away4 ,many a good work1 which once was somewhat fashionable in its way1 has become somewhat unfashionable1 and something else is fashionable in its place2 and five-and-twenty years hence something else will have become fashionable2 and our children will look back on our ways of doing good with pity1 if not with contempt1 as narrow and unenlightened1 just as we are too apt to look back on our fathers' ways4 ,and all the while1 what can they teach worth teaching1 what can we teach worth teaching1 save what our fathers and mothers taught1 what the ,spirit of ,god taught them1 and has taught to all who would listen since the foundation of the world1 shewing man what was good3 and what was that--,what doth the ,lord require of thee1 but to do justly1 and to love mercy1 and to walk humbly with thy ,god8 ,ah6 why do we1 even in religious and moral matters1 even in the doing good to the souls and bodies of our fellow-creatures1 allow ourselves to be the puppets of fashions8 ,of fashions which even when harmless1 even beautiful1 are but the garments1 or rather stage-properties1 in which we dress up the high instincts which ,god's ,spirit bestows on us1 in order to make them agreeable enough for our own prejudices1 or pretty enough for our own tastes4 ,how little do we perceive our own danger--so little that we yield to it every day--the danger of mistaking our fashion of doing good for the good done2 aye1 for the very ,spirit of ,god ,who inspires that good2 mistaking the garment for the person who wears it1 the outward and visible sign for the inward and spiritual grace2 and so in our hearts falling actually into that very error of transubstantiation1 of which we repudiate the name6 ,why1 ah why1 will we not take refuge from fashions in ,him in ,whom are no fashions--even in the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 ,who is unchangeable and eternal as the ,father and the ,son from ,whom ,he proceeds2 ,who has spoken words in sundry and divers manners to all the elect of ,god2 ,who has inspired every good thought and feeling which was ever thought or felt in earth or heaven2 but ,whose message of inspiration has been1 and will be1 for ever the same--,do justly1 love mercy1 walk humbly with thy ,god8 ,could we but utterly trust ,him1 and utterly believe in ,his presence3 then we should welcome all truth1 under whatever outward forms of the mere intellect it was uttered2 then we should bless every good deed1 by whomsoever and howsoever it was done2 then we should rise above all party strifes1 party cries1 party fashions and shibboleths1 to the contemplation of the ,one supreme good ,spirit--the ,spirit of ,jesus ,christ1 the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever2 and hold to the ,one ,fashion of ,almighty ,god1 which never changes1 for it is eternal by the necessity of ,his own eternal character2 namely1--,to be perfect1 even as our ,father in ,heaven is perfect2 because ,he causes ,his sun to shine on the evil and on the good1 and ,his rain to fall on the just and on the unjust4 ,,sermon ,,vii4 ,,confusion4 ,,psalm ,,cxix4 #ca4 ,i have stuck unto thy testimonies3 ,o ,lord1 confound me not4 ,what is the meaning of this text8 ,what is this which the ,psalmist and prophets call being confounded2 being put to shame and confusion of face8 ,what is it8 ,it is something which they dread more than death2 which they dread as much as hell4 ,nay1 it seems in the mind of some of them to be part and parcel of hell itself2 one of the very worst things which could happen to them after death3 for what is written in the ,book of the ,prophet ,daniel8--,many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake1 some to everlasting life1 and some to shame and everlasting contempt4 ,and we ,christians are excusable if we dread it likewise4 ,how often does ,st ,paul speak of shame as an evil to be dreaded2 just as he speaks1 even more often1 of glory and honour as a thing to be longed for and striven after4 ,that one word1 ashamed1 occurs twelve times and more in the ,new ,testament1 beside ,st ,john's warning1 which alone is enough to prove what ,i allege1 that we have not to be ashamed before ,christ at his coming4 ,and how does the ,te ,deum--the noblest hymn written by man since ,st ,john finished his ,book of ,revelations--how does that end1 but with the same old cry as that of the ,psalmist in the #aaith ,psalm-- ,o ,lord1 in thee have ,i trusted1 let me never be confounded8 ,now it is difficult to tell men what being confounded means2 difficult and almost needless2 for there are those who know what it means without being told2 and those who do not know what it means without being told1 are not likely to know by my telling1 or any man's telling4 ,no1 not if an angel from heaven came and told them what being confounded meant would they understand him1 at least till they were confounded themselves2 and then they would know by bitter experience--perhaps when it was too late4 ,and who are they8 ,what sort of people are they8 ,first1 silly persons2 whom ,solomon calls fools--though they often think themselves refined and clever enough--luxurious and fashionable people1 who do not care to learn1 who think nothing worth learning save how to enjoy themselves2 who call it bad form to be earnest1 and turn off all serious questions with a jest4 ,these are they of whom ,wisdom says--,how long1 ye simple ones1 will ye love simplicity1 and the scorners delight in their scorning1 and fools hate knowledge8 ,i also will laugh at your calamity1 and mock when your fear cometh4 ,next1 mean and truly vulgar persons2 who are shameless2 who do not care if they are caught out in a lie or in a trick4 ,these are they of whom it is written that outside of ,god's kingdom1 in the outer darkness wherein are weeping and gnashing of teeth1 are dogs1 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie4 ,and next1 and worst of all1 self-conceited people4 ,these are they of whom ,solomon says1 ,seest thou a man who is wise in his own conceit8 ,there is more hope of a fool than of him4 ,they are the people who will not see when they are going wrong2 who will not hear reason1 nor take advice1 no1 nor even take scorn and contempt2 who will not see that they are making fools of themselves1 but1 while all the world is laughing at them1 walk on serenely self-satisfied1 certain that they1 and they only1 know what the world is made of1 and how to manage the world4 ,these are they of whom it is written--,he that being often reproved1 hardeneth his neck1 shall suddenly be destroyed1 and that without remedy4 ,then they will learn1 and with a vengeance1 what being confounded means by being confounded themselves1 and finding themselves utterly wrong1 where they thought themselves utterly right4 ,yet no4 ,i do not think that even that would cure some people4 ,there are those1 ,i verily believe1 who would not confess that they were in the wrong even in the bottomless pit1 but1 like ,satan and his fallen angels in ,milton's poem1 would have excellent arguments to prove that they were injured and ill-used1 deceived and betrayed1 and lay the blame of their misery on ,god1 on man1 on anything but their own infallible selves4 ,who1 then1 are the people who know what being confounded means2 who are afraid1 and terribly afraid1 of being brought to shame and confusion efface8 ,i should say1 all human beings in proportion as they are truly human beings1 are not brutal2 in proportion1 that is1 as they are good or have the capacity of goodness in them2 that is1 in proportion as the ,spirit of ,god is working in them1 giving them the tender heart1 the quick feelings1 the earnestness1 the modesty1 the conscientiousness1 the reverence for the good opinion of their fellow-men1 which is the beginning of eternal life4 ,do you not see it in the young8 ,modesty1 bashfulness1 shame-facedness--as the good old ,english word was--that is the very beginning of all goodness in boys and girls4 ,it is the very material out of which all other goodness is made2 and those who laugh at1 or torment1 young people for being modest and bashful1 are doing the devil's work1 and putting themselves under the curse which ,god1 by the mouth of ,solomon the wise1 pronounced against the scorners who love scorning1 and the fools who hate knowledge4 ,this is the rule with dumb animals likewise4 ,the more intelligent1 the more high-bred they are1 the more they are capable of feeling shame2 and the more they are liable to be confounded1 to lose their heads1 and become frantic with doubt and fear4 ,who that has watched dogs does not know that the cleverer they are1 the more they are capable of being actually ashamed of themselves1 as human beings are1 or ought to be8 ,who that has trained horses does not know that the stupid horse is never vicious1 never takes fright8 ,the failing which high-bred horses have of becoming utterly unmanageable1 not so much from bodily fear1 as from being confounded1 not knowing what people want them to do--that is the very sign1 the very effect1 of their superior organization3 and more shame to those who ill-use such horses4 ,if ,god1 my friends1 dealt with us as cruelly and as clumsily as too many men deal with their horses1 ,he would not be long in driving us mad with terror and shame and confusion4 ,but ,he remembers our frame2 ,he knoweth whereof we are made1 and remembereth that we are but dust3 else the spirit would fail before ,him1 and the souls which ,he hath made4 ,and to ,him we can cry1 even when we know that we have made fools of ourselves--,father who made me1 ,christ who died for me1 ,holy ,spirit who teachest me1 have patience with my stupidity and my ignorance4 ,lord1 in thee have ,i trusted1 let me never be confounded4 ,but some will tell us--,it is a sign of weakness to feel shame4 ,why should you care for the opinion of your fellow-men8 ,if you are doing right1 what matter what they say of you8 ,yes1 my friends1 if you are doing right4 ,but if you are not doing right--,what then8 ,if you have only been fancying that you are doing right1 and suspect suddenly that you have been very likely doing wrong--,what then8 ,when a man tells me that he does not care what people think of him2 that they cannot shame him3 in the first place1 ,i do not quite believe that he is speaking truth2 and in the next place1 ,i hope he is not speaking truth4 ,i hope--for his own sake--that he does care what people think of him3 or else ,i must suspect him of being very dull or very conceited4 ,and if he tells me that the old prophets1 and holy1 and just1 and heroic men in all ages1 never cared for people's laughing at them and despising them1 provided they were doing right according to their own conscience3 ,i answer--,that he knows nothing about the matter2 that he has not honestly read the writings of these men4 ,i say that the ,psalmist who wrote ,ps4 #aai1 was a man1 on his own shewing1 intensely open to the feeling of shame1 and felt intensely what men said of him2 felt intensely slander and insult4 ,we talk of independent and true patriots now-a-days4 ,i will tell you of four of the noblest patriots the world ever saw1 who were men of that stamp4 ,i say that ,isaiah was such a man2 that ,jeremiah was such a man2 that ,ezekiel was such a man2 that their writings shew that they felt intensely the rebukes and the contempt which they had to endure from those whom they tried to warn and save4 ,i say again that ,st ,paul1 as may be seen from his own epistles1 was such a man2 a man who was intensely sensitive of what men thought and said of him2 yearning after the love and approbation of his fellow-men1 and above all of his fellow-countrymen1 his own flesh and blood2 and that that feeling in him1 which may have been hurtful to him before he was converted1 was of the greatest use to him after his conversion2 that it enabled him to win all hearts1 because he felt with men and for men2 and gained him over the hearts of men such a power as no mere human being ever had before or since4 ,and ,i say that of all men the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,man1 had that feeling2 that longing for the love and appreciation of men--and above all1 for the love and appreciation of ,his countrymen according to the flesh1 the ,jews1 ,he had--strange as it may seem1 yet there it is in the ,gospels1 written for ever and undeniable--that capacity of shame which is the mark of true nobleness of soul4 ,he endured the cross1 despising the shame4 ,yes3 but there are too many on earth who endure shame with brazen faces1 just because they do not feel it4 ,if ,he had not felt the shame1 what merit in despising it8 ,it was ,his glory that ,he felt the shame2 and yet conquered the shame1 and crushed it down by the might of ,his love for fallen man4 ,do you fancy that in ,his agony in the garden1 when ,his sweat was as great drops of blood1 that it was only bodily fear of pain and death which crushed ,him for the moment8 ,he felt that1 ,i doubt not2 as ,he had to taste death for every man1 and feel all human weakness1 yet without sin4 ,but it was a deeper1 more painful1 and yet more noble feeling than mere fear which then convulsed ,his sacred heart2 even the feeling of shame--the mockery of the crowd--the--,but ,i dare not enlarge on anything so awful2 at least ,i will say this--,that he had to cry as none ever cried before or since1 ,o ,god1 in thee have ,i trusted1 let me never be confounded2 for he had1 it seems1 actually1 at one supreme moment1 to feel confounded2 and to say1 ,my ,god1 my ,god1 why hast thou forsaken me8 ,that was the highest and most precious jewel of all his self-sacrifice4 ,of it let us only say-- ,our ,lord and ,saviour stooped to be confounded for a moment1 that we might not be confounded to all eternity4 ,and therefore our blessed ,lord is to us an example4 ,as he did1 so must we try to do4 ,he entered into glory1 by suffering shame1 and yet despising it4 ,he submitted to be confounded before men1 that ,he might not be confounded in the sight of ,god ,his ,father4 ,and so must we1 sometimes1 at least4 ,every man who makes up his mind to do right and to be good1 must expect ridicule now and then4 ,rich or poor1 boy or man1 if you try to keep your hands clean1 and your path straight1 the world will think you a fool1 and will be ready enough to tell you so2 for it is cruel and insolent enough4 ,and the more tender your heart2 the more you wish for the love and approbation of your fellow-men2 the more of noble and modest self-distrust there is in you1 the more painful will that be to you2 the more you will be tempted to obey man1 and not ,god1 and to follow after the multitude to do evil1 merely to keep the peace1 and live a quiet life1 and not be laughed at and tormented4 ,and thus the fear of man brings a snare2 and naught can deliver you out of that snare1 save the opposite fear--the fear of ,god1 which is the same as trust in ,god4 ,joseph of old feared ,god when he was tempted2 and said1 ,how can ,i do this great wickedness1 and sin against ,god8 ,but ,i doubt not there were plenty in ,egypt who would have called him a fool for his pains4 ,there are hundreds of gay youths in any great city--there may be a few in this ,abbey now for aught ,i know--who would have laughed loudly enough at ,joseph for throwing away the opportunity of what certain foolish ,french have learnt to call1 as its proper name1 a bonne fortune--a piece of good luck4--,as if breaking the #gth ,commandment could be aught but bad fortune1 and the cause of endless miseries in this life and the life to come4 ,and it may be1 as ,joseph was all but confounded and brought to shame1 at least from man1 when he found that all that he gained by fearing ,god was--a false accusation1 the very shame and contempt from which he most shrank1 danger of death1 imprisonment in a dungeon4 ,but he was true to ,god1 and ,god was true to him4 ,he trusted in ,god2 and therefore he feared ,god3 for he trusted that ,god's laws were just and good1 and worth obeying2 and therefore he was afraid to break them4 ,he trusted in ,god2 and therefore he hoped in ,god2 for he trusted that ,god was strong enough and good enough to deliver him out of prison1 and make his righteousness as clear as the light and his just dealing as the noonday4 ,he cried out of his prison1 doubt it not1 many a time and oft--,o ,god1 in thee have ,i trusted2 let me never be confounded4 ,and he was not confounded4 ,he came into ,egypt a slave4 ,he was cast into prison on a shameful accusation3 but he came out of prison to be a ruler and a prince1 honoured and obeyed by the greatest nation of the old world4 ,he trusted in ,god1 and he was not confounded for ever2 even as the ,lord ,christ trusted in ,god and was not confounded for ever2 even as we1 if we do not wish to be confounded for ever1 must trust in ,god2 and instead of being scornful1 careless1 conceited1 must fear ,him1 and say1 ,my flesh trembleth because of ,thy righteous judgments4 ,and then the laughter of fools will end1 where it began1 in harmless noise1 like 7says ,solomon7 the crackling of thorns under a pot4 ,then1 whosoever may scorn you on earth1 the great ,god in heaven will not scorn you4 ,you may be confounded for a moment here on earth4 ,worldly people may take advantage of your misfortunes1 and cry over you--,there1 there1 so would we have it4 ,take him and persecute him1 for there is none to deliver him2 where is now his ,god8 ,so it may be with you2 for as surely as you fall1 many a cur will spring up and bark at you1 who dared not open his mouth at you while you stood safe4 ,or--worse by far than that--the world may take hold of your really weak points1 of your inconsistencies1 of your faults and failings2 and cry--,fie on thee1 fie on thee4 ,we saw it with our eyes4 ,for all his high professions1 for all his talk of truth and justice1 he is no better than the rest of the world4 ,and that scoff does go very near to confound a man2 because he feels that it is half true1 half deserved1 and is afraid that it may be quite true and quite deserved3 and then confounded indeed he would be1 by his own conscience and by ,god1 as well as by man4 ,all he can do is1 to cry to ,god1 like him who wrote the #aaith ,psalm1--,i have stuck unto thy testimonies3 ,o ,lord1 confound me not4 ,i know ,i am weak1 ignorant1 unsuccessful2 full of faults too1 and failings1 which make me ashamed of myself every day of my life4 ,i have gone astray like a sheep that is lost4 ,but seek thy servant1 ,o ,lord1 for ,i do not forget thy commandments4 ,i am trying to learn my duty4 ,i am trying to do my duty4 ,i have stuck unto thy testimonies3 ,o ,lord1 confound me not4 ,man may confound me4 ,but do not thou1 of thy mercy and pity1 ,o ,lord4 ,do not let me find1 when ,i die1 or before ,i die1 that all my labour has been in vain2 that ,i am not a better man1 not a wiser man1 not a more useful man after all4 ,do not let my grey hairs go down with sorrow to the grave4 ,do not let me die with the miserable thought that1 in spite of all my struggles to do my duty1 my life has been a failure1 and ,i a fool4 ,do not let me wake in the next life1 like ,dives in the torment1 to be utterly confounded2 to find that ,i was all wrong1 and have nothing left but everlasting disappointment and confusion of face4 ,o ,lord1 who didst endure all shame for me1 save me from that most utter shame4 ,o ,god1 in thee have ,i trusted2 let me never be confounded4 ,wake in the next life to find oneself confounded8 ,alas6 alas6 ,many a man wakes in this life to find himself that2 and really sometimes by no fault1 seemingly1 of his own3 so that all he can do is to be dumb1 and not to open his mouth1 for it is ,god's doing4 ,for a man's worst miseries and sorrows are1 too often1 caused not by himself1 but by those whom he loves4 ,consider the one case of vice1 or even of mere ingratitude1 in those nearest and dearest to a man's heart2 and of being so confounded through them1 and by them1 in spite of all love1 care1 strictness1 tenderness1 teaching1 prayers--what not--and all in vain4 ,no wonder that1 under that bitterest blow1 valiant and virtuous men1 ere now1 have never lifted up their heads again1 but turned their faces to the wall1 and died3 and may the ,lord have mercy on them4 ,confounded they have been in this world2 confounded they will not be1 we must trust1 in the world to come4 ,the ,lord of all pity will pity them1 and pour ,his oil and wine into their aching wounds1 and bring them to ,his own inn1 and to ,his secret dwelling-place1 where the wicked cease from troubling1 and the weary are at rest4 ,one word more1 and ,i have done4 ,do you wish to pray1 with hope that you may be heard1--,o ,lord1 confound me not1 and bring me not to shame8 ,then hold to one commandment of ,christ's4 ,do to others as you would they should do to you4 ,for with what measure you measure to your fellow-men1 it shall be measured to you again4 ,have charity1 have patience1 have mercy4 ,never bring a human being1 however silly1 ignorant1 or weak1 above all any little child1 to shame and confusion of face4 ,never1 by cruelty1 by petulance1 by suspicion1 by ridicule1 even by selfish and silly haste2 never1 above all1 by indulging in the devilish pleasure of a sneer1 crush what is finest1 and rouse up what is coarsest in the heart of any fellow-creature4 ,never confound any human soul in the hour of its weakness4 ,for then1 it may be1 in the hour of thy weakness1 ,christ will not confound thee4 ,,sermon ,,viii4 ,,the ,,shaking ,,of ,,the ,,heavens ,,and ,,the ,,earth4 ,,hebrews ,,xii4 #bf-bi4 ,yet once more ,i shake not the earth only1 but also heaven4 ,and this word1 ,yet once more1 signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken1 as of things that are made1 that those things which cannot be shaken may remain4 ,wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved1 let us have grace1 whereby we may serve ,god acceptably with reverence and godly fear3 for our ,god is a consuming fire4 ,this is one of the ,royal texts of ,scripture4 ,it is inexhaustible1 like the ,god who inspired it4 ,it has fulfilled itself again and again1 at different epochs4 ,it fulfilled itself specially and notoriously in the first century4 ,but it fulfilled itself again in the fifth century2 and again at the ,crusades2 and again at the ,reformation in the sixteenth century4 ,and it may be that it is fulfilling itself at this very day2 that in this century1 both in the time of our fathers and in our own1 the ,lord has been shaking the heavens and the earth1 that those things which can be shaken may be removed1 as things that are made1 while those things which cannot be shaken may remain4 ,all confess this to be true1 each in his own words4 ,they talk of this age as one of change2 of rapid progress1 for good or evil2 of unexpected discoveries2 of revolutions1 intellectual1 moral1 social1 as well as political4 ,our notions of the physical universe are rapidly altering1 with the new discoveries of science2 and our notions of ethics and theology are altering as rapidly4 ,the era assumes a different aspect to different minds1 just as did the first century after ,christ1 according as men look forward to the future with hope1 or back to the past with regret4 ,some glory in the nineteenth century as one of rapid progress for good2 as the commencement of a new era for humanity2 as the inauguration of a ,reformation as grand as that of the sixteenth century4 ,others bewail it as an age of rapid decay2 in which the old landmarks are being removed1 the old paths lost2 in which we are rushing headlong into scepticism and atheism2 in which the world and the ,church are both in danger2 and the last day is at hand4 ,both parties may be right2 and yet both may be wrong4 ,men have always talked thus1 at great crises in the world's life4 ,they talked thus in the first century2 and in the fifth1 and in the eleventh2 and again in the sixteenth2 and then both parties were partially right and partially wrong2 and so they may be now4 ,what they meant to say1 what they wanted to say1 what we mean and want to say1 has been said already for us in far deeper1 wider1 and more accurate words1 by him who wrote this wonderful ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 when he told the ,jews of his time that the ,lord was shaking the heavens and the earth1 that those things which were shaken might be removed1 as things that are made--cosmogonies1 systems1 theories1 prejudices1 fashions1 of man's invention3 while those things which could not be shaken might remain1 because they were according to the mind and will of ,god1 eternal as that source from whence they came forth1 even the bosom of ,god the ,father4 ,yet once more ,i shake1 not the earth only1 but also heaven4 ,how has the earth been shaken in our days2 and the heaven likewise4 ,how rapidly have our conceptions of both altered4 ,how easy1 simple1 certain1 it all looked to our forefathers in the middle age4 ,how difficult1 complex1 uncertain1 it all looks to us4 ,with increased knowledge has come--not increased doubt3 that ,i deny utterly4 ,i deny1 once and for all1 that this age is an irreverent age4 ,i say that an irreverent age is one like the age of the ,schoolmen2 when men defined and explained all heaven and earth by a priori theories1 and cosmogonies invented in the cloister2 and dared1 poor1 simple1 ignorant mortals1 to fancy that they could comprehend and gauge the ways of ,him ,whom the heaven and the heaven of heavens could not contain4 ,this1 this is irreverence3 but it is neither irreverence nor want of faith1 if a man1 awed by the mystery which encompasses him from the cradle to the grave1 shall lay his hand upon his mouth1 with ,job1 and obey the voice which cries to him from earth and heaven--,be still1 and know that as the heavens are higher than the earth1 so are my ways higher than thy ways1 and my thoughts higher than thine4 ,but it was all easy1 and simple1 and certain enough to our forefathers4 ,the earth1 according to the popular notion1 was a flat plane2 or1 if it were1 as the wiser held1 a sphere1 yet antipodes were an unscriptural heresy4 ,above it were the heavens1 in which the stars were fixed1 or wandered2 and above them heaven after heaven1 each tenanted by its own orders of beings1 up to that heaven of heavens in which ,deity--and by ,him1 be it always remembered1 the mother of ,deity--was enthroned4 ,and if above the earth was the kingdom of light1 and purity1 and holiness1 what could be more plain1 than that below it was the kingdom of darkness1 and impurity1 and sin8 ,that was no theory to our forefathers3 it was a physical fact4 ,had not even the heathens believed as much1 and said so1 by the mouth of the poet ,virgil8 ,he had declared that the mouth of ,tartarus lay in ,italy1 hard by the volcanic lake ,avernus2 and after the unexpected eruption of ,vesuvius in the first century1 nothing seemed more clear than that ,virgil was right2 and that men were justified in talking of ,tartarus1 ,styx1 and ,phlegethon as indisputable ,christian entities4 ,etna1 ,stromboli1 ,hecla1 were 7according to this cosmogony7 in like wise mouths of hell2 and there were not wanting holy hermits1 who had heard1 from within those craters1 shrieks1 and clanking chains1 and the howls of demons tormenting the souls of the endlessly lost4 ,our forefathers were not aware that1 centuries before the ,incarnation of our ,lord1 the ,buddhist priests had held exactly the same theory of moral retribution2 and that1 painted on the walls of ,buddhist temples1 might be seen horrors identical with those which adorned the walls of many a ,christian ,church1 in the days when men believed in this ,tartarology as firmly as they now believe in the results of chemistry or of astronomy4 ,and now--,how is the earth shaken1 and the heavens likewise1 in that very sense in which the expression is used by him who wrote to the ,hebrews8 ,our conceptions of them are shaken4 ,how much of that mediaeval cosmogony do educated men believe1 in the sense in which they believe that the three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles1 or that if they steal their neighbour's goods they commit a sin8 ,the earth has been shaken for us1 more and more violently1 as the years have rolled on4 ,it was shaken when ,astronomy told us that the earth was not the centre of the universe1 but a tiny planet revolving round a sun in a remote region thereof4 ,it was shaken when ,geology told us that the earth had endured for countless ages1 during which continents had become oceans1 and oceans continents1 again and again4 ,and even now1 it is being shaken by researches into the antiquity of man1 into the origin and permanence of species1 which--let the result be what it will--must in the meanwhile shake for us theories and dogmas which have been undisputed for #aejj years4 ,and with the rest of our cosmogony1 that conception of a physical ,tartarus below the earth has been shaken likewise1 till good men have been fain to find a fresh place for it in the sun1 or in a comet2 or to patronize the probable1 but as yet unproved theory of a central fire within the earth2 not on any scientific grounds1 but simply if by any means they can assign a region in space1 wherein material torment can be inflicted on the spirits of the lost4 ,and meanwhile the heavens1 the spiritual world1 is being shaken no less4 ,more and more frequently1 more and more loudly1 men are asking--not sceptics merely1 but pious men1 men who wish to be1 and who believe themselves to be1 orthodox ,christians--more and more loudly are such men asking questions which demand an answer1 with a learning and an eloquence1 as well as with a devoutness and a reverence for ,scripture1 which--whether rightly or wrongly employed--is certain to command attention4 ,rightly or wrongly1 these men are asking1 whether the actual and literal words of ,scripture really involve the mediaeval theory of an endless ,tartarus4 ,they are saying1 ,it is not we who deny1 but you who assert1 endless torments1 who are playing fast and loose with the letter of ,scripture4 ,you are reading into it conceptions borrowed from ,virgil1 ,dante1 ,milton1 when you translate into the formula 'endless torment' such phrases as 'the outer darkness1' 'the fire of ,gehenna1' 'the worm that dieth not2' which1 according to all just laws of interpretation1 refer not to the next life1 but to this life1 and specially to the approaching catastrophe of the ,jewish nation2 or when you say that eternal death really means eternal life--only life in torture4 ,rightly or wrongly1 they are saying this2 and then they add1 ,we do not yield to you in love and esteem for ,scripture4 ,we demand not a looser1 but a stricter2 not a more metaphoric1 but a more literal2 not a more contemptuous1 but a more reverent interpretation thereof4 ,so these men speak1 rightly or wrongly4 ,and for good or for evil1 they will be heard4 ,and with these questions others have arisen1 not new at all--say these men--but to be found1 amid many contradictions1 in the writings of all the best divines1 when they have given up for a moment systems and theories1 and listened to the voice of their own hearts2 questions natural enough to an age which abhors cruelty1 has abolished torture1 labours for the reformation of criminals1 and debates--rightly or wrongly--about abolishing capital punishment4 ,men are asking questions about the heaven--the spiritual world--and saying--,the spiritual world8 ,is it only another material world which happens to be invisible now1 but which may become visible hereafter3 or is it not rather the moral world--the world of right and wrong8 ,heaven8 ,is not the true and real heaven the kingdom of love1 justice1 purity1 beneficence8 ,is not that the eternal heaven wherein ,god abides for ever1 and with ,him those who are like ,god8 ,and hell8 ,is it not rather the anarchy of hate1 injustice1 impurity1 uselessness2 wherein abides all that is opposed to ,god8 ,and with those thoughts come others about moral retribution--,what is its purpose8 ,can it--can any punishment have any right purpose save the correction1 or the annihilation1 of the criminal8 ,can ,god1 in this respect1 be at once less merciful and less powerful than man8 ,is ,he so controlled by necessity that ,he is forced to bring into the world beings whom ,he knows to be incorrigible1 and doomed to endless misery8 ,and if not so controlled1 is not the alternative as to ,his character even more fearful8 ,he bids us copy ,his justice1 ,his love4 ,is that ,his justice1 that ,his love1 which if we copied1 we should call each other1 and deservedly1 utterly unjust and unloving8 ,can there be one morality for ,god1 and another for man1 made in the image of ,god8 ,are these dark dogmas worthy of a ,father who hateth nothing that ,he hath made1 and is perfect in this--that ,he makes ,his sun shine on the evil and on the good1 and ,his rain fall on the just and on the unjust1 and is good to the unthankful and to the evil8 ,are they worthy of a ,son who1 in the fire of ,his divine charity1 stooped from heaven to earth1 to toil1 to suffer1 to die on the ,cross1 that the world by ,him might be saved8 ,are they worthy of that ,spirit which proceeds from the ,father and the ,son1 even that ,spirit of boundless charity1 and fervent love1 by which the ,son offered ,himself to the ,father1 a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world--and surely not in vain8 ,so men are asking--rightly or wrongly2 and they are guarding themselves1 at the same time1 from the imputation of disbelief in moral retribution2 of fancying ,god to be a careless1 epicurean deity1 cruelly indulgent to sin1 and therefore1 in so far1 immoral4 ,they say--,we believe firmly enough in moral retribution4 ,how can we help believing in it1 while we see it working around us1 in many a fearful shape1 here1 now1 in this life8 ,and we believe that it may work on1 in still more fearful shapes1 in the life to come4 ,we believe that as long as a sinner is impenitent1 he must be miserable2 that if he goes on impenitent for ever1 he must go on making himself miserable--ay1 it may be more and more miserable for ever4 ,only do not tell us that he must go on4 ,that his impenitence1 and therefore his punishment1 is irremediable1 necessary1 endless2 and thereby destroy the whole purpose1 and we should say1 the whole morality1 of his punishment4 ,if that punishment be corrective1 our moral sense is not shocked by any severity1 by any duration3 but if it is irremediable1 it cannot be corrective2 and then1 what it is1 or why it is1 we cannot--or rather dare not--say4 ,we1 too1 believe in an eternal fire4 ,but because we believe also the ,athanasian ,creed1 which tells us that there is but ,one ,eternal1 we believe that that fire must be the fire of ,god1 and therefore1 like all that is in ,god and of ,god1 good and not evil1 a blessing and not a curse4 ,we believe that that fire is for ever burning1 though men are for ever trying to quench it all day long2 and that it has been and will be in every age burning up all the chaff and stubble of man's inventions2 the folly1 the falsehood1 the ignorance1 the vice of this sinful world2 and we praise ,god for it2 and give thanks to ,him for ,his great glory1 that ,he is the everlasting and triumphant foe of evil and misery1 of whom it is written1 that our ,god is a consuming fire4 ,such words are being spoken1 right or wrong4 ,such words will bear their fruit1 for good or evil4 ,i do not pronounce how much of them is true or false4 ,it is not my place to dogmatize and define1 where the ,church of ,england1 as by law established1 has declined to do so4 ,neither is it for you to settle these questions4 ,it is rather a matter for your children4 ,a generation more1 it may be1 of earnest thought will be required1 ere the true answer has been found4 ,but it is your duty1 if you be educated and thoughtful persons1 to face these questions2 to consider seriously what these men would have you consider--whether you are believing the exact words of the ,bible1 and the conclusions of your own reason and moral sense2 or whether you are merely believing that cosmogony elaborated in the cloister1 that theory of moral retribution pardonable in the middle age1 which ,dante and ,milton sang4 ,but this ,i do not hesitate to say--,that if we of the clergy can find no other answers to these doubts than those which were reasonable and popular in an age when men racked women1 burned heretics1 and believed that every ,mussulman killed in a crusade went straight to ,tartarus--then very serious times are at hand1 both for the ,christian clergy and for ,christianity itself4 ,what1 then1 are we to believe and do8 ,shall we degenerate into a lazy scepticism1 which believes that everything is a little true1 and everything a little false--in plain words1 believes nothing at all8 ,or shall we degenerate into faithless fears1 and unmanly wailings that the flood of infidelity is irresistible1 and that ,christ has left ,his ,church8 ,we shall do neither1 if we believe the text4 ,that tells us of a firm standing-ground amid the wreck of fashions and opinions4 ,of a kingdom which cannot be moved1 though the heavens pass away like a scroll1 and the earth be burnt up with fervent heat4 ,and it tells us that the ,king of that kingdom is ,he1 who is called ,jesus ,christ--the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever4 ,an eternal and changeless kingdom1 and an eternal and changeless ,king4 ,these the ,epistle to the ,hebrews preaches to all generations4 ,it does not say that we have an unchangeable cosmogony1 an unchangeable eschatology1 an unchangeable theory of moral retribution1 an unchangeable dogmatic system3 not to these does it point the ,jews1 while their own nation and worship were in their very death-agony1 and the world was rocking and reeling round them1 decay and birth going on side by side1 in a chaos such as man had never seen before4 ,not to these does the ,epistle point the ,hebrews3 but to the changeless kingdom and to the changeless ,king4 ,my friends1 do you really believe in that kingdom1 and in that ,king8 ,do you believe that you are now actually in a kingdom of heaven1 which cannot be moved2 and that the living1 acting1 guiding1 practical1 real ,king thereof is ,christ who died on the ,cross8 ,these are days in which a preacher is bound to ask his congregation--and still more to ask himself--whether he really believes in that kingdom1 and in that ,king2 and to bid himself and them1 if they have not believed earnestly enough therein1 to repent1 in this time of ,lent1 of that at least2 to repent of having neglected that most cardinal doctrine of ,scripture and of the ,christian faith4 ,but if we really believe in that changeless kingdom and in that changeless ,king1 shall we not--considering who ,christ is1 the co-equal and co-eternal ,son of ,god--believe also1 that if the heavens and the earth are being shaken1 then ,christ ,himself may be shaking them8 ,that if opinions be changing1 then ,christ ,himself may be changing them8 ,that if new truths are being discovered1 ,christ ,himself may be revealing them8 ,that if some of those truths seem to contradict those which ,he has revealed already1 they do not really contradict them8 ,that1 as in the sixteenth century1 ,christ is burning up the wood and stubble with which men have built on ,his foundation1 that the pure gold of ,his truth may alone be left8 ,it is at least possible2 it is probable1 if we believe that ,christ is a living1 acting ,king1 to whom all power is given in heaven and earth1 and who is actually exercising that power2 and educating ,christendom1 and through ,christendom the whole human race1 to a knowledge of ,himself1 and through ,himself of ,god their ,father in heaven4 ,should we not say--,we know that ,christ has been so doing1 for centuries and for ages8 ,through ,abraham1 through ,moses1 through the prophets1 through the ,greeks1 through the ,romans1 and at last through ,himself1 ,he gave men juster and wider views of themselves1 of the universe1 and of ,god4 ,and even then ,he did not stop4 ,how could ,he1 who said of ,himself1 ,my ,father worketh hitherto1 and ,i work8 ,how could ,he1 if ,he be the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever8 ,through the ,apostles1 and specially through ,st ,paul1 ,he enlarged1 while ,he confirmed1 ,his own teaching4 ,and did ,he not do the same in the sixteenth century8 ,did ,he not then sweep from the minds and hearts of half ,christendom beliefs which had been held sacred and indubitable for a thousand years8 ,why should ,he not be doing so now8 ,if it be answered1 that the ,reformation of the sixteenth century was only a return to simpler and purer ,apostolic truth--why1 again1 should it not be so now8 ,why should ,he not be perfecting ,his work one step more1 and sweeping away more of man's inventions1 which are not integral and necessary elements of the one ,catholic faith1 but have been left behind1 in pardonable human weakness1 by our great ,reformers8 ,great they were1 and good3 giants on the earth1 while we are but as dwarfs beside them4 ,but1 as the hackneyed proverb says1 the dwarf on the giant's shoulders may see further than the giant himself3 and so may we4 ,oh6 that men would approach new truth in something of that spirit2 in the spirit of reverence and ,godly fear1 which springs from a living belief in ,christ the living ,king1 which is--as the text tells us--the spirit in which we can serve ,god acceptably4 ,oh6 that they would serve ,god2 waiting reverently and anxiously1 as servants standing in the presence of their ,lord1 for the slightest sign or hint of ,his will4 ,then they would have grace2 by which they would receive new thought with grace2 gracefully1 courteously1 fairly1 charitably1 reverently2 believing that1 however strange or startling1 it may come from ,him whose ways are not as our ways1 nor ,his thoughts as our thoughts2 and that he who fights against it1 may haply be fighting against ,god4 ,true1 they would receive all new thought with caution1 that conservative spirit1 which is the duty of every ,christian2 which is the peculiar strength of the ,englishman1 because it enables him calmly and slowly to take in the new1 without losing the old which his forefathers have already won for him4 ,so they would be cautious1 even anxious1 lest in grasping too greedily at seeming improvements1 they let go some precious knowledge which they had already attained3 but they would be on the look out for improvements2 because they would consider themselves1 and their generation1 as under a divine education4 ,they would prove all things fairly and boldly1 and hold fast that which is good2 all that which is beautiful1 noble1 improving and elevating to human souls1 minds1 or bodies2 all that increases the amount of justice1 mercy1 knowledge1 refinement2 all that lessens the amount of vice1 cruelty1 ignorance1 barbarism4 ,that at least must come from ,christ4 ,that at least must be the inspiration of the ,spirit of ,god3 unless the ,pharisees were right after all when they said1 that evil spirits could be cast out by the prince of the devils4 ,be these things as they may1 one comfort it will give us1 to believe firmly and actively in the changeless kingdom1 and in the changeless ,king4 ,it will give us calm1 patience1 faith and hope1 though the heavens and the earth be shaken around us4 ,for then we shall see that the ,kingdom1 of which we are citizens1 is a kingdom of light1 and not of darkness2 of truth1 and not of falsehood2 of freedom1 and not of slavery2 of bounty and mercy1 and not of wrath and fear2 that we live and move and have our being not in a ,deus quidam deceptor who grudges his children wisdom1 but in a ,father of ,light1 from whom comes every good and perfect gift2 who willeth that all men should be saved1 and come to the knowledge of the truth4 ,in ,his kingdom we are2 and in the ,king whom ,he has set over it we can have the most perfect trust4 ,for us that ,king stooped from heaven to earth2 for us ,he was born1 for us ,he toiled1 for us ,he suffered1 for us ,he died1 for us ,he rose1 for us ,he sits for ever at ,god's right hand4 ,and can we not trust ,him8 ,let ,him do what ,he will4 ,let ,him lead us whither ,he will4 ,wheresoever ,he leads must be the way of truth and life4 ,whatsoever ,he does1 must be in harmony with that infinite love which ,he displayed for us upon the ,cross4 ,whatsoever ,he does1 must be in harmony with that eternal purpose by which ,he reveals to men ,god their ,father4 ,therefore1 though the heaven and the earth be shaken around us1 we will trust in ,him4 ,for we know that ,he is the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever2 and that ,his will and promise is1 to lead those who trust in ,him into all truth4 ,,sermon ,,ix4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god4 ,,luke ,,xxi4 #bi-cc4 ,and ,jesus spake to them a parable2 ,behold the fig tree1 and all the trees2 when they now shoot forth1 ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand4 ,so likewise ye1 when ye see these things come to pass1 know ye that the kingdom of ,god is nigh at hand4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,this generation shall not pass away1 till all be fulfilled4 ,heaven and earth shall pass away3 but my words shall not pass away4 ,the question which naturally suggests itself when we hear these words1 is--,when were these things to take place8 ,if we heard one whom we regarded as at least a person of perfect virtue1 truthfulness1 and earnestness1 foretell that the city in which we now stand should be destroyed4 ,if he told us1 that when we saw it encompassed with armies1 we were to know that its desolation was at hand4 ,if he told us that then those who were in the surrounding country were to flee to the mountains1 and those in the city to come out of it4 ,if he pronounced woe in that day on mothers and weak women who could not escape4 ,if he told us1 nevertheless1 that when these things came to pass we were to rejoice and lift up our heads1 for our redemption was drawing nigh4 ,if he told us to look at the trees in spring2 for1 as surely as their budding was a sign that summer was nigh1 so was the coming to pass of these terrible woes a sign that something was nigh1 which he called the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,if he told us1 with a solemn asseveration1 that this generation should not pass away till all had happened4 ,if he went on to warn us against profligacy1 frivolity1 worldliness1 lest that day should come upon us unaware4 ,if he bade us keep awake always1 that we might be found worthy to escape all that was coming1 and to stand before ,him1 ,the ,son of ,man4 ,if he used throughout his address the second person1 speaking to us1 but never mentioning our descendants2 giving the signs1 the warnings1 the counsels to us only1 should we not1 even if he had not solemnly told us that the present generation should not pass away till all was fulfilled--should we not1 ,i say1 suppose naturally that he spoke of events which in his opinion our own eyes would see2 which would1 in his opinion1 occur during our lifetime8 ,whether he were right in his expectation1 or wrong1 still it would be clear that such was his expectation2 that he considered the danger as imminent1 the warning as addressed personally to us who heard him speak4 ,we should leave his presence with that impression1 in fear and anxiety4 ,but if we afterwards discovered that our fear and anxiety were superfluous2 that the events of which he spoke--the most awful and wonderful of them at least--were not to occur for many centuries to come2 that1 even if some calamity were imminent1 the immediate future and the very distant future were so intermingled in his discourse1 that it would require the labours of commentator after commentator1 for many hundred years1 to disentangle them1 and that their labours would be in vain2 that the coming of the ,son of ,man1 and of the ,kingdom of ,god1 of which he had spoken1 were to be referred to a time thousands of years hence2 though we were told in the same breath to look to the fig-tree and all the trees as a sign that it was coming immediately1 and that our own generation would not pass away before all had taken place3--would not such a discovery raise in us thoughts and feelings neither wholesome for us nor honourable to the prophet8 ,i cannot think otherwise4 ,we may be aware of the difficulties which beset this1 and any other1 interpretation of our ,lord's prophecies in ,matthew1 ,mark1 and ,luke3 we may have the deepest respect for those learned and pious divines who from time to time have tried to part the prophecies relating to the fall of ,jerusalem from those relating to the end of the world and the day of ,judgment4 ,yet1 in the face of such a passage as the text1 especially when we cannot agree with those who would make this generation mean this race or nation1 we may--we have a right to--decline to separate the two sets of passages4 ,we have a right to say1--,he who spake as man never spake1 and therefore knew the force of words2 ,he who knew what was in man--and therefore what effect ,his words would produce on ,his hearers--did deliver a discourse--indeed1 many discourses--which asserted1 as far as plain words could be understood by plain men1 that the ,kingdom of ,god was at hand2 and that the coming of the ,son of ,man would take place before that generation passed away4 ,and that all ,his disciples1 and ,st ,paul as much as any1 put that meaning upon ,his words1 is a matter of fact and of history1 to be seen plainly in ,holy ,scripture4 ,but1 while the text compels us to believe that the destruction of ,jerusalem by the ,romans was a coming of the ,son of ,man--a manifestation of the ,kingdom of ,god--a day of ,judgment1 in the strictest and most awful sense2 yet we are not compelled to limit the meaning of the text to the destruction of ,jerusalem4 ,no prophecy of ,scripture is of private interpretation4 ,prophets1 apostles--how much more our ,lord ,himself--do not merely indulge in presages2 they lay down laws--laws moral1 spiritual1 eternal--which have been fulfilling themselves from the beginning2 which are fulfilling themselves now2 which will go on fulfilling themselves to the end of time4 ,so said our ,lord ,jesus of ,his own prophecies concerning the destruction of ,jerusalem4 ,it was but one example--a most awful one--of the laws of ,his kingdom4 ,not in ,judaea only1 but wherever the carcase was1 there would the eagles be gathered together4 ,in the moral1 as in the physical word1 there were beasts of prey--the scavengers of ,god--ready to devour out of ,his kingdom nations1 institutions1 opinions1 which had become dead1 and decayed1 and ready to infect the air4 ,many a time since the ,roman eagles flocked to ,jerusalem has that prophecy been fulfilled2 and many a time will it be fulfilled once more1 and yet once more4 ,and what else1 if we look at them carefully and reverently1 is the meaning of the words in this my text1 ,heaven and earth shall pass away1 but ,my words shall not pass away8 ,shall we translate this1--,heaven and earth shall not come true3 but ,my words shall come true8 ,by so doing we may put some little meaning into the latter half of the verse2 but none into the former4 ,surely there is a deeper meaning in the words than that of merely coming true4 ,surely they mean that ,his words are eternal1 perpetual2 for ever present1 possible1 imminent2 for ever coming true4 ,so1 indeed1 they would not pass away4 ,so they would be like the heavens and the earth1 and the laws thereof2 like heat1 gravitation1 electricity1 what not--always here1 always working1 always asserting themselves--with this difference1 that when the physical laws of the heavens and the earth1 which began in time1 in time have perished1 the spiritual laws of ,god's kingdom1 of ,christ's moral government of moral beings1 shall endure for ever and for ever1 eternal as that ,god whose essence they reflect4 ,therefore ,i mean nothing less than that the great and final day of ,judgment is past2 or that we are not to look for that second coming of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ which1 as our forefathers taught us to hope1 shall set right all the wrong of this diseased world4 ,god forbid6 ,for most miserable were the world1 most miserable were mankind1 if all that our ,lord prophesied had happened1 once and for all1 at the destruction of ,jerusalem by the ,roman armies4 ,but most miserable1 also1 would this world be1 and most miserable would be mankind1 if these words were not to be fulfilled till some future ,last ,day1 and day of ,judgment1 for which the ,church has now been waiting for more than eighteen centuries--and1 as far as we can judge1 may wait for as many centuries more4 ,most miserable1 if the ,son of ,man has never come since ,he ascended into heaven from ,olivet4 ,most miserable1 if the kingdom of ,god has never been at hand1 since ,he gave that one short gleam of hope to men in ,judaea long ago4 ,most miserable1 if there be no kingdom of ,god among us even now3 in one word1 if ,god and ,christ be not our ,king2 but the devil1 as some fancy2 or ,man himself1 as others fancy1 be the only king of this world and of its destinies2 if there be no order in this mad world1 save what man invents2 no justice1 save what he executes2 no law1 save what he finds convenient to lay upon himself for the protection of his person and property4 ,most miserable1 if the human race have no guide1 save its own instincts and tendencies2 no history1 save that of its own greed1 ignorance and crime1 varied only by fruitless struggles after a happiness to which it never attains4 ,most miserable world1 and miserable man1 if that be true after all which to the old ,hebrew prophet seemed incredible and horrible--if ,god does look on while men deal treacherously1 and does hold ,his peace when the wicked devours the man who is more righteous than he2 and has made men as the fishes of the sea1 as the creeping things that have no ruler over them4 ,i said--,most miserable1 in that case1 was the world and man4 ,i did not say that they would consider themselves miserable4 ,i did not say that they would think it a ,gospel1 and good news1 that ,christ was their ,king1 and that ,his ,kingdom was always at hand4 ,they never thought that good news4 ,when the prophets told them of it1 they stoned them4 ,when the ,lord ,himself told them1 they crucified ,him4 ,worldly men dislike the message now1 probably1 as much as they ever did4 ,but they escape from it1 either by treating it as a self-evident commonplace which no ,christian denies1 and therefore no ,christian need think of2 or by smiling at it as an exploded superstition1 at least as a ,semitic form of thought1 with which we have nothing to do4 ,they confound it1 often ,i fear purposely1 with those fancied miraculous interpositions1 those paltry special providences1 which fanatics in all ages have believed to be worked for their own special behoof4 ,altogether they dislike1 and express very openly their dislike1 of the least allusion to a ,divine ,providence interfering1 as they strangely term it1 with them and their affairs4 ,and they are wise1 doubtless1 in their generation4 ,the news that ,christ is the ,king of men and of the world must be unpleasant1 even offensive1 to too many1 both of those who fancy that they are managing this world1 and of those who fancy that they could manage the world still better1 if they only had their rights4 ,it must be unpleasant to be told that they are not managing the world1 and cannot manage it3 that it is being managed and ruled by an unseen ,king1 whose ways are far above their ways1 and ,his thoughts above their thoughts4 ,for then3 ,prudence might demand of them1 that they should find out what are that ,king's ways1 thoughts and laws1 and obey them--an enquiry so troublesome1 that many very highly educated persons consider it1 now-a- days1 quite impossible2 and tell us that1 for practical purposes1 ,god's laws can neither be discovered1 nor obeyed4 ,moreover1 their scheme of this world is one which would work--so they fancy--just as well if there was no ,god4 ,unpleasant therefore it must be for them to hear1 not merely that there is a ,god1 but that ,he has ,his own scheme of the world2 and that it is working1 whether they like or not2 that ,god1 and not they1 is making history2 ,god1 and not they1 appointing the bounds and the times of nations2 ,god1 and not they1 or any man or men1 distributing good and evil among mankind4 ,they do not object1 of course1 to the existence of a ,god4 ,they only object to ,his being what the ,hebrew prophets called ,him--a living ,god2 a ,god who executes justice and judgment by ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 to whom ,he has committed all power both in heaven and earth4 ,they are ready sometimes to allow even that1 provided they may relegate it into the past1 or into the future4 ,they are ready to allow that ,god and ,christ exerted power over men at the first ,advent #ahjj years ago1 and that they will exert power over men at the second ,advent--none knows how long hence4 ,but that ,god and ,christ are exerting power now--in an ever-present and perpetual ,advent--in this nineteenth century just as much as in any century before or since--that they had rather not believe4 ,their creed is1 that though heaven and earth have not passed away2 though the laws of nature are working for ever as at the beginning3 yet ,christ's words have passed away1 and fallen into abeyance for many centuries past1 to remain in abeyance for many centuries to come4 ,in one word--while they believe more or less in a past ,god1 and a future ,god1 yet as to the existence of a present ,god1 in any practical and real sense--they believe--how little1 ,i dare not say4 ,whether this generation will awaken out of that sleep of practical ,atheism1 which is creeping on them more and more1 who can tell8 ,that they are uneasy in the sleep1 there are many signs4 ,for in their sleep dreams come of another world1 of which their five senses tell them nought4 ,then do some fly to mediaeval superstitions1 which give them at least elaborate and agreeable substitutes for a living ,god4 ,some fly to impostors1 who pretend by juggling tricks to put them in communication with that unseen world which they have so long denied4 ,some1 again1 play with unfulfilled prophecy2 and fancy that it is for them1 though it was not for the apostles1 to know the times and seasons which the ,father has put in ,his own power1 and the day and hour of which no man knoweth1 no not the angels in heaven1 nor the ,son1 but the ,father only4 ,better that1 than that they should believe that there is nothing1 and never will be anything1 in the world1 beyond what their five senses can apprehend4 ,but whether they awake or not out of their sleep1 their blindness does not alter the eternal fact1 whether men believe it or not4 ,that is true what the ,psalmist said of old3 ,the ,lord is ,king1 be the people never so impatient4 ,he sitteth upon ,his throne1 though the earth be never so unquiet4 ,the utterances of the old ,psalmists and prophets concerning the ever-present kingdom of ,god are facts1 not dreams4 ,whether men believe it or not1 it is true that the power1 glory1 and righteousness of ,his kingdom may be known unto men2 that ,his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom1 and ,his dominion endureth throughout all ages2 that ,the ,lord upholds all such as fall1 and lifts up those that are down2 that the eyes of all wait on ,him1 that ,he may give them their meat in due season2 that ,he opens ,his hand1 and filleth all things living with plenteousness2 that the ,lord is righteous in all ,his ways1 and holy in all ,his works2 that ,he is nigh to them that call upon ,him1 yea to all who call upon ,him faithfully4 ,he that planted the ear1 shall ,he not hear8 ,he that made the eye1 shall ,he not see8 ,he that chastiseth the nations2 it is ,he that teacheth man knowledge3 shall ,he not punish8 ,whether men believe it or not1 that is true which the ,psalmist said--,whither shall ,i flee from ,his ,spirit1 or whither shall ,i go from ,his presence8 ,if ,i climb up to heaven1 ,he is there2 if ,i go down to hell1 ,he is there also4 ,if ,i take the wings of the morning1 and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea1 even there shall ,his hand lead me1 ,his right hand hold me still4 ,whether men believe it or not1 that is true which ,christ spake on earth--,that the ,father hath committed all judgment to ,him1 because ,he is the ,son of man2 that to ,him is given all power in heaven and earth2 and that ,he is with us1 even to the end of the world4 ,whether men believe it or not1 that is true which ,s4 ,paul spake on ,mars' hill1 saying that the ,lord is not far from any one of us1 for in ,him we live and move and have our being2 and that ,he hath appointed a day in which ,he will judge the world in righteousness1 by that ,man whom ,he hath ordained1 and raised from the dead4 ,whether men believe it or not1 that is true which ,christ spake--,heaven and earth shall pass away2 but ,my words shall not pass away2 at least till ,he has put down all rule and all authority and power1 and delivered up the kingdom to ,god1 even the ,father1 that ,god may be all in all4 ,that one far-off divine event1 toward which the whole creation moves1 will be1 not the resumption1 but the triumph1 of ,christ's rule2 of a rule which began before the world1 which has endured through all the ages1 which endures now1 punishing or rewarding each and every one of us1 and of our children's children1 as long as there shall be a man upon the earth4 ,for by ,christ's will alone the world of man consists2 in ,christ's laws alone is true life1 health1 wealth1 possible for any man1 family or nation2 out of ,his kingdom ,he casts1 sooner or later1 all things which offend1 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie4 ,he said of ,himself--,whosoever falleth on this rock shall be broken2 but on whomsoever it shall fall1 it shall grind him to powder4 ,,sermon ,x4 ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,the ,,lord4 ,,psalm ,i4 #a1b4 ,blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly1 nor stood in the path of sinners1 nor sat in the seat of the scornful4 ,but his delight is in the law of the ,lord2 and in his law will he exercise himself day and night4 ,the first and second ,psalms1 taken together1 are the key to all the ,psalms2 ,i may almost say to the whole ,bible4 ,i will say a few words on them this morning1 especially to those who are coming to the ,holy ,communion1 to shew their allegiance to that ,lord1 in whose law alone is life1 and who sits on the throne of the universe1 ,king of kings1 and ,lord of lords3 but ,i say it to the whole congregation likewise2 nay1 if there were an infidel or a heathen in the ,church1 ,i should say it to them4 ,for in this case what is true of one man is true of every man1 whether he knows it or not4 ,we all should like to be blessed4 ,we all should like to be1 as the ,psalm says1 like trees planted by the waterside1 whose leaves never wither1 and who bring forth their fruit in due season4 ,we should all wish to have it said of us--,whatsoever he doeth it shall prosper4 ,then here is the way to inherit that blessing--,blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the ,lord1 and who exercises himself in ,his law day and night4 ,the ,psalmist is not speaking of ,moses' ,law1 nor of any other law of forms and ceremonies4 ,he says expressly ,the law of the ,lord--that is1 the law according to which the ,lord has made him and all the world2 and according to which the ,lord rules him and all the world4 ,the ,psalms--you must remember--say very little about ,moses' law2 and when they do1 speak of it almost slightingly1 as if to draw men's minds away from it to a deeper1 nobler1 more eternal law4 ,in one ,psalm ,god asks1 ,thinkest thou that ,i will eat bulls' flesh1 and drink the blood of goats8 ,and in another ,psalm some one answers1 ,sacrifice and burnt-offering thou wouldest not4 ,then said ,i1 ,lo ,i come1 to do thy will1 ,o ,god4 ,thy law is within my heart4 ,this is that true and eternal law of which ,solomon speaks in his proverbs1 as the ,wisdom by which ,god made the heavens1 and laid the foundation of the earth2 and tells us that that ,wisdom is a tree of life to all who can lay hold of her2 that in her right hand is length of days1 and in her left hand riches and honour2 that her ways are ways of pleasantness2 and all her paths are peace4 ,this is that law1 of which the ,prophet says--that ,god will put it into men's hearts1 and write it in their minds2 and they shall be ,his people1 and ,he will be their ,god4 ,this is that law1 which the inspired ,philosopher--for a philosopher he was indeed--who wrote the #aaith ,psalm1 continually prayed and strove to learn1 intreating the ,lord to teach him ,his law1 and make him remember ,his everlasting judgments4 ,this is that law1 which our ,lord ,jesus ,christ perfectly fulfilled1 because the law was ,his ,father's law1 and therefore ,his own law1 and therefore he perfectly comprehended the law1 and perfectly loved the law2 and said with ,his whole heart--,i delight to do ,thy will1 ,o ,god4 ,the will of ,god4 ,for in one word1 this ,law1 which we have to learn1 and by keeping which we shall be blessed1 is nothing else than ,god's ,will4 ,god's ,will about us4 ,what ,god has willed and chosen we should be4 ,what ,god has willed and chosen we should do4 ,the greatest philosopher of the #ahth century said that every rational being had to answer four questions--,where am ,i8 ,what can ,i know8 ,what must ,i do8 ,whither am ,i going8 ,and he knew well that--as the ,bible tells us throughout--the only way to get any answer to those four tremendous questions is--,to delight in the law of the ,lord2 to struggle1 think1 pray1 till we get some understanding of ,god's will2 of ,god's will about ourselves and about the world2 and so be blessed indeed4 ,but to do that1 it is plain that we must heed the warning which the first verse of the ,psalm gives us--,blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly4 ,for it is plain that a man will never learn ,god's will if he takes counsel from ungodly men who care nothing for ,god's will1 and do not believe that ,god's will governs the world4 ,neither must he1 as the ,psalm says1 'stand in the way of sinners'--of profligate and dishonest men who break ,god's law4 ,for if he follows their ways1 and breaks ,god's law himself1 it is plain that he will learn little or nothing about ,god's law1 save in the way of bitter punishment4 ,for let him but break ,god's law a little too long1 and then--as the #bnd ,psalm says--',god will rule him with a rod of iron1 and break him in pieces like a potter's vessel4' ,but there is even more hope for him--for he may repent and amend--than if he sits in the seat of the scorners4 ,the scorners2 the sneering1 the frivolous1 the unearnest1 the unbelieving1 the envious1 who laugh down what they call enthusiasm and romance2 who delight in finding fault1 and in blackening those who seem purer or nobler than themselves4 ,these are the men who cannot by any possibility learn anything of the law of ,god2 for they will not even look for it4 ,they have cast away the likeness of rational men1 and have taken upon themselves the likeness of the sneering accusing ,satan1 who asks in the book of ,job--,doth ,job serve ,god for nought8 ,when the greatest poet of our days tried to picture his idea of a fiend tempting a man to his ruin1 he gave his fiend just such a character as this2 a very clever1 courteous1 agreeable man of the world1 and yet a being who could not love any one1 could not believe in any one2 who mocked not only at man but at ,god and tempted and ruined man1 not out of hatred to him1 hardly out of envy2 but in mere sport1 as a cruel child may torment an insect2--in one word1 a scorner4 ,and so true was his conception felt to be1 that men of that character are now often called by the very name which he gave to his ,satan--,mephistopheles4 ,beware therefore of the scornful spirit1 as well as of the openly sinful or of the ungodly4 ,if you wish to learn the law of the ,lord1 keep your souls pious1 pure1 reverent1 and earnest2 for it is only the pure in heart who shall see ,god2 and only those who do ,god's will as far as they know it1 who will know concerning any doctrine whether it be true or false2 in one word1 whether it be of ,god4 ,and now bear in mind secondly1 that this law is the law of the ,lord4 ,you cannot have a law without a lawgiver who makes the law1 and also without a judge who enforces the law2 and the lawgiver and the judge of the law of the ,lord is the ,lord ,himself1 our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,remembering ,him1 and that ,he is ,king1 we can understand the fervour of indignation and pity1 with which the writer of the #bnd ,psalm bursts out--,why do the heathen rage1 and why do the people imagine a vain thing8 ,the kings of the earth stand up1 and the rulers take counsel together1 against the ,lord1 and against ,his ,anointed-- ,let us break their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from us4 ,for the great majority of mankind1 in every age and country1 will not believe that there is a ,law of the ,lord1 to which they must conform themselves4 ,kings1 and governments1 and peoples1 are too often all alike in that4 ,they must needs have their own way4 ,their will is to be law4 ,their voice is to be the voice of ,god4 ,they are they who ought to speak2 who is ,lord over them8 ,and because the ,lord is patient and long-suffering1 and does not punish their presumption on the spot by lightning or earthquake1 they fancy that ,he takes no notice of them1 and of their crimes and follies2 and say--,tush1 shall ,god perceive it8 ,is there knowledge in the most ,high8 ,but sooner or later1 either by sudden and terrible catastrophes1 or by slow decay1 brought on sometimes by their own blind presumption1 sometimes by their own luxury1 they find out their mistake when it is too late4 ,and then-- ,he that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn4 ,the ,lord shall have them in derision4 ,for ,he has set ,his ,king upon the throne of all the universe4 ,yes1 ,christ the ,lord rules1 and knows that ,he rules2 whether we know it or not4 ,christ's law still hangs over our head1 ready to lead us to light and life and peace and wealth1 or ready to fall on us and grind us to powder1 whether we choose to look up and see it or not4 ,the ,lord liveth2 though we may be too dead to feel ,him4 ,the ,lord sees us2 though we may be too blind to see ,him4 ,man can abolish many things2 and does both--wisely and unwisely--in these restless days of change4 ,but let him try as long as he will--for he has often tried1 and will try again--he cannot abolish ,christ the ,lord4 ,for ,christ is set upon the throne of the universe4 ,the ,father of all--if we may dare to hint even in ,scriptural words at mysteries which are in themselves unspeakable--is eternally saying to ,him--,thou art my ,son1 this day have ,i begotten ,thee4 ,and ,christ answers eternally--,i come to do ,thy will1 ,o ,god4 ,the nations are ,christ's inheritance2 and the utmost parts of the earth are ,his possession1 now1 already2 whether we or they think so or not4 ,and there are times--there are times1 my friends--when the awful words which follow come true likewise--,thou shalt bruise them with a rod of iron1 and break them in pieces like a potter's vessel4 ,for as to this world in which we live1 so to the ,god who created that world1 there is a terrible aspect4 ,there is calm3 but there is storm also4 ,there is fertilizing sunshine3 but there is also the destroying thunderbolt4 ,there is the solid and fruitful earth1 where man can till and build2 but there is the earthquake and the flood likewise1 which destroy in a moment the works of man4 ,so there is in ,god boundless love1 and boundless mercy3 but there is1 too1 a wrath of ,god1 and a fire of ,god which burns eternally against all evil and falsehood4 ,and woe to those who fall under that wrath2 who are even scorched for a moment by that fire4 ,it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the ,living ,god4 ,we are all ready enough to forget this2 ready enough to think only of ,god's goodness1 and never of ,his severity4 ,ready enough to talk of ,christ as gentle and suffering2 because we flatter ourselves that if ,he is gentle1 ,he may be also indulgent2 if ,he be suffering1 ,he may be also weak4 ,we like to forget that ,he is1 and was1 and ever will be--,lord of heaven and earth2 and to think of ,him only in ,his humiliation in ,judaea #ahjj years ago1 forgetting that during that very humiliation1 while ,he was shewing love1 and mercy1 and miracles of healing1 and sympathy and compassion for every form of human sorrow and weakness1 ,he did not shrink from shewing to men the awful side of ,his character2 did not shrink from saying1 ,woe unto you1 ,scribes and ,pharisees1 hypocrites4 ,ye serpents1 ye generation of vipers1 how can ye escape the damnation of hell8--did not shrink from declaring that ,he was coming again1 even before that very generation had passed away1 to destroy1 unless it repented1 the wicked city of ,jerusalem1 with an utter and horrible destruction4 ,think of these things1 my friends3 for true they are1 and true they will remain1 whether you think of them or not4 ,and take the warning of the second ,psalm1 which is needed now as much as it was ever needed--,be wise now therefore1 ,o ye kings1 be learned1 ye that are judges of the earth4 ,serve the ,lord with fear1 and rejoice unto ,him with reverence4 ,worship the ,son1 lest ,he be angry1 and so ye perish from the right way4 ,if ,his wrath be kindled1 yea1 but a little1 blessed are all they that put their trust in ,him4 ,but you are no kings1 you are no judges4 ,is it so8 ,and yet you boast yourselves to be free men1 in a free country4 ,not so4 ,every man who is a free man is a king or a judge1 whether he knows it or not4 ,every one who has a duty1 is a king over his duty4 ,every one who has a work to do1 is a judge whether he does his work well or not4 ,he who farms1 is a king and a judge over his land4 ,he who keeps a shop1 a king and a judge over his business4 ,he who has a family1 a king and a judge over his household4 ,let each be wise1 and serve the ,lord in fear2 knowing that according as he obeys the law of the ,lord1 he will receive for the deeds done in the body1 whether good or evil4 ,not kings8 not judges8 ,is not each and every human being who is not a madman1 a king over his own actions1 a judge over his own heart and conscience8 ,let him govern himself1 govern his own thoughts and words1 his own life and actions1 according to the law of the ,lord who created him2 and he will be able to say with the poet1 ,my mind to me a kingdom is2 ,such perfect joy therein ,i find ,as far exceeds all earthly bliss4 ,but if he governs himself according to his own fancy1 which is no law1 but lawlessness3 then he will find himself rebelling against himself1 weakened by passions1 torn by vain desires1 and miserable by reason of the lusts which war in his members2 and so will taste1 here in this life1 of that anger of the ,lord of which it is written2 ,if ,his wrath be kindled1 yea1 but a little1 ye shall perish from the right way4 ,therefore let each and all of us1 high and low1 take the warning of the last verse1 and worship the ,son of ,god4 ,bow low before ,him--for that is the true meaning of the words--as subjects before an absolute monarch1 who can dispose of us1 body and soul1 according to ,his will3 but who can be trusted to dispose of us well3 because ,his will is a good will1 and the only reason why ,he is angry when we break ,his laws1 is1 that ,his laws are the ,eternal ,laws of ,god1 wherein alone is life for all rational beings2 and to break them is to injure our fellow-creatures1 and to ruin ourselves1 and perish from that right way1 to bring us back to which ,he condescended1 of ,his boundless love1 to die on the ,cross for all mankind4 ,,sermon ,,xi4 ,,god ,,the ,,teacher4 ,,psalm ,,cxix4 #cc1 #cd4 ,teach me1 ,o ,lord1 the way of ,thy statutes1 and ,i shall keep it unto the end4 ,give me understanding1 and ,i shall keep ,thy ,law2 yea1 ,i shall observe it with my whole heart4 ,this #aaith ,psalm has been valued for many centuries1 by the wisest and most devout ,christians1 as one of the most instructive in the ,bible2 as the experimental psalm4 ,and it is that1 and more4 ,it is specially a psalm about education4 ,that is on the face of the text4 ,teach me1 ,o ,lord1 ,thy statutes1 and ,i shall keep them to the end4 ,these are the words of a man who wishes to be taught1 and therefore to learn2 and to learn not mere book-learning and instruction1 but to acquire a practical education1 which he can keep to the end1 and carry out in his whole life4 ,but it is more4 ,it is1 to my mind1 as much a theological psalm as it is an experimental psalm2 and it is just as valuable for what it tells us concerning the changeless and serene essence of ,god1 as for what it tells us concerning the changing and struggling soul of man4 ,let us think a little this morning--and1 please ,god1 hereafter also--of the ,psalm1 and what it says4 ,for it is just as true now as ever it was1 and just as precious to those who long to educate themselves with the true education1 which makes a man perfect1 even as his ,father in heaven is perfect4 ,the ,psalm is a prayer1 or collection of short prayers1 written by some one who had two thoughts in his mind1 and who was so full of those two thoughts that he repeated them over and over again1 in many different forms1 like one who1 having an air of music in his head1 repeats it in different keys1 with variation after variation2 yet keeps true always to the original air1 and returns to it always at the last4 ,now what two thoughts were in the ,psalmist's mind8 ,first3 that there was something in the world which he must learn1 and would learn2 for everything in this life and the next depended on his learning it4 ,and this thing which he wants to learn he calls ,god's statutes1 ,god's law1 ,god's testimonies1 ,god's commandments1 ,god's everlasting judgments4 ,that is what he feels he must learn1 or else come to utter grief1 both body and soul4 ,secondly3 that if he is to learn them1 ,god ,himself must teach them to him4 ,i beg you not to overlook this side of the ,psalm4 ,that is what makes it not only a psalm1 but a prayer also4 ,the man wants to know something4 ,but beside that1 he prays ,god to teach it to him4 ,he was not like too many now-a-days1 who look on prayer1 and on inspiration1 as old-fashioned superstitions2 who believe that a man can find out all he needs to know by his own unassisted intellect1 and then do it by his own unassisted will4 ,where they get their proofs of that theory1 ,i know not2 certainly not from the history of mankind1 and certainly not from their own experience1 unless it be very different from mine4 ,be that as it may1 this old ,psalmist would not have agreed with them2 for he held an utterly opposite belief4 ,he held that a man could see nothing1 unless ,god shewed it to him4 ,he held that a man could learn nothing unless ,god taught him2 and taught him1 moreover1 in two ways4 ,first taught him what he ought to do1 and then taught him how to do it4 ,surely this man was1 at least1 a reasonable and prudent man1 and shewed his common-sense4 ,i say--common-sense4 ,for suppose that you were set adrift in a ship at sea1 to shift for yourself1 would it not be mere common-sense to try and learn how to manage that ship1 that you might keep her afloat and get her safe to land8 ,you would try to learn the statutes1 laws1 and commandments1 and testimonies1 and judgments concerning the ship1 lest by your own ignorance you should sink her1 and be drowned4 ,you would try to learn the laws about the ship2 namely the laws of floatation1 by fulfilling which vessels swim1 and by breaking which vessels sink4 ,you would try to learn the commandments about her4 ,they would be any books which you could find of rules of navigation1 and instruction in seamanship4 ,you would try to learn the testimonies about the ship4 ,and what would they be8 ,the witness1 of course1 which the ship bore to herself4 ,the experience which you or others got1 from seeing how she behaved--as they say--at sea4 ,and from whom would you try to learn all this8 from yourself8 ,out of your own brain and fancy8 ,would you invent theories of navigation and shipbuilding for yourself1 without practice or experience8 ,i trust not4 ,you would go to the shipbuilder and the shipmaster for your information4 ,just as--if you be a reasonable man--you will go for your information about this world to the builder and maker of the world--,god himself4 ,and lastly2 you would try to learn the judgments about the ship3 and what would they be8 ,the results of good or bad seamanship2 what happens to ships1 when they are well-managed or ill-managed4 ,it would be too hard to have to learn that by experience2 for the price which you would have to pay would be1 probably1 that you would be wrecked and drowned4 ,but if you saw other ships wrecked near you1 you would form judgments from their fate of what you ought to do4 ,if you could find accounts of shipwrecks1 you would study them with the most intense interest2 lest you too should be wrecked1 and so judgment overtake you for your bad seamanship4 ,for ,god's judgment of any matter is not1 as superstitious people fancy1 that ,god grows suddenly angry1 and goes out of ,his way to punish those who do wrong1 as by a miracle4 ,god judges all things in heaven and earth without anger--ay1 with boundless pity3 but with no indulgence4 ,the soul that sinneth1 it shall die4 ,the ship that cannot swim1 it must sink4 ,that is the law of the judgments of ,god4 ,but ,he is merciful in this2 that ,he rewardeth every man according to his work4 ,his judgment may be favourable1 as well as unfavourable4 ,he may acquit1 or ,he may condemn4 ,but whether ,he acquits or condemns1 we can only know by the event2 by the result4 ,if a ship sinks1 for want of good sailing or other defect1 that is a judgment of ,god about the ship4 ,he has condemned her4 ,she is not seaworthy4 ,but if the ship arrives safe in port1 that too is ,god's judgment4 ,he has tried her and acquitted her4 ,she is seaworthy2 and she has her reward4 ,how simple this is4 ,and yet men will not believe it1 will not understand it1 and therefore they wreck so often each man his own ship--his own life and immortal soul1 and sink and perish1 for lack of knowledge4 ,for each one of us is at sea1 each in his own ship2 and each must sail her and steer her1 as best he can1 or sink and drown for ever4 ,for the sea which each of us is sailing over is this world1 and the ship in which each of us sails1 is our own nature and character2 what ,st ,paul1 like a truly scientific man1 calls our flesh2 and what modern scientific men1 and rightly1 call our organisation4 ,and the land to which we are sailing is eternal ,life4 ,shall we make a prosperous voyage8 ,shall we fail1 or shall we succeed8 ,shall we founder and drown at sea1 and sink to eternal death8 ,or shall we1 as the clergyman prayed for us when we were baptized1 so pass through the waves of this troublesome world1 that finally we may come to the land of everlasting life8 ,which shall it be1 my friends8 ,shall we sink1 or shall we swim8 ,certain is one thing--that we shall sink1 and not swim1 if we do not learn and keep the law1 and commandments1 and testimonies1 and judgments of ,god1 concerning this our mortal life4 ,if we do not1 then we shall go through life1 without knowing how to go through life1 ignorantly and blindly2 and the end of that will be failure1 and ruin1 and death to our souls4 ,if we do not know and keep the ,laws of ,god1 the ,laws of ,god will keep themselves1 in spite of us1 and grind us to powder4 ,do not fancy that you may do wrong without being punished2 and break ,god's ,law1 because you are not under the law1 but under grace4 ,you are only under grace1 as long as you keep clear of ,god's ,law4 ,the moment you do wrong you put yourself under the ,law1 and the ,law will punish you4 ,suppose that you went into a mill2 and that the owner of that mill was your best friend1 even your father4 ,would that prevent your being crushed by the machinery1 if you got entangled in it through ignorance or heedlessness8 ,i think not4 ,even so1 though ,god be your best of friends1 ay1 your ,father in heaven1 that will not prevent your being injured1 it may be ruined1 not only by wilful sins1 but by mere folly and ignorance4 ,therefore your only chance for safety in this life and for ever1 is to learn ,god's laws and statutes about your life1 that you may pass through it justly1 honourably1 virtuously1 successfully4 ,and the man who wrote the #aaith ,psalm knew that1 and said1 ,oh that my ways were made so direct1 that ,i might keep thy statutes4 ,but moreover1 you must learn ,god's commandments4 ,he has laid down certain commands1 certain positive rules which must be kept if you do not intend to die the eternal death4 ,so says our ,lord4 ,if thou wilt enter into life1 keep the commandments4 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart and soul1 and thy neighbour as thyself4 ,there the ten commandments are1 and kept they must be2 and if you break one of them1 it will punish you1 and you cannot escape4 ,and the man who wrote the #aaith ,psalm knew that1 and said1 ,with my whole heart have ,i sought thee3 oh let me not go wrong out of ,thy commandments4 ,moreover1 you must learn ,god's testimonies3 what ,he has witnessed and declared about ,himself1 and ,his own character1 ,his power and ,his goodness1 ,his severity and ,his love4 ,and where will you learn that1 as in the ,bible8 ,the ,bible is full of testimonies of ,god in ,christ about ,himself2 who ,he is1 what ,he does1 what ,he requires2 and of testimonies of holy men of old1 concerning ,god and concerning duty2 concerning ,god's dealings with their souls1 and with other men1 and with all the nations of the old world1 and with all nations likewise to the end of time4 ,and if people will not read and study their ,bibles1 they cannot expect to know the way to eternal life4 ,that too the man who wrote the #aaith ,psalm knew1 and said1 ,i have had as great delight in ,thy testimonies1 as in all manner of riches4 ,moreover1 you must learn ,god's judgments2 the way in which ,he rewards and punishes men4 ,and those too you will learn in the ,bible1 which is full of accounts of the just and merciful judgments of ,god4 ,and you may learn them too from your own experience in life2 from seeing what actually happens to those whom you know1 when they do right things2 and what happens again1 when they do wrong things4 ,if any man will open his eyes to what is going on around him in a single city1 or in the mere private circle of his own kinsfolk and acquaintance2 if he will but use his common sense1 and look how righteousness is rewarded1 and sin is punished1 all day long1 then he might learn enough and to spare about ,god's judgments3 but men will not4 ,a man will see his neighbour do wrong1 and suffer for it3 and then go and do exactly the same thing himself2 as if there were no living ,god2 no judgments of ,god2 as if all was accident and chance2 as if he was to escape scot-free1 while his neighbour next door has brought shame and misery on himself by doing the same thing4 ,for it was well written of old1 ,the fool hath said in his heart--though he is afraid to say it with his lips--,there is no ,god4 ,and the man who wrote the #aaith ,psalm knew that1 and said1 ,i remembered ,thine everlasting judgments1 ,o ,lord1 and received comfort2 for ,i was horribly afraid for the ungodly who forsake ,thy law4 ,i say again3 that the only way to attain eternal life is to know1 and keep1 and profit by ,god's laws1 ,god's commandments1 ,god's testimonies1 ,god's judgments2 and therefore it is that the ,psalmists say so often1 that these laws and commandments are ,life4 ,not merely the way to eternal life2 but the ,life itself1 as it is written in the ,prayer-,book1 ,o ,god1 whom truly to know is everlasting life4 ,but some will say1 ,how shall ,i learn8 ,i am very stupid1 and ,i confess that freely4 ,and when ,i have learnt1 how shall ,i act up to my lesson8 ,for ,i am very weak2 and that ,i confess freely likewise4 ,how indeed1 my friends8 ,stupid we are1 the cleverest of us2 and weak we are1 the strongest of us4 ,and if ,god left us to find out for ourselves1 and to take care of ourselves1 we should not sail far on the voyage of life without being wrecked2 and going down body and soul to hell4 ,but1 blessed be ,god1 ,he has not left us to ourselves4 ,he has not only commanded us to learn3 ,he has promised to teach4 ,and--as ,i said in the beginning of my ,sermon--he who wrote the #aaith ,psalm knew that well4 ,he knew that ,god would teach him and strengthen him2 enlightening his dull understanding1 and quickening his dull will2 and therefore his ,psalm1 as ,i said1 is a prayer1 a prayer for teaching1 and a prayer for light2 and he cries to ,god--,my soul cleaveth to the dust4 ,i am low-minded1 stupid1 and earthly at the best4 ,oh quicken ,thou me2 that is--,oh give me life--more life--according to ,thy word4 ,thy ,word4 ,the ,word of ,god1 of whom the ,psalmist says--,o ,lord1 ,thy ,word endureth for ever in heaven4 ,even the ,word of ,god1 ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 the ,son of ,man who is in heaven2 and who1 because ,he is in heaven1 both ,god and man1 can and will give us light and life1 now and for ever4 ,and now take home with you this one thought4 ,there is one education which we must all get2 one thing which we must all learn1 and learn to obey1 or come to utter shame and ruin1 either in this world or the world to come2 and that is the laws1 and commandments1 and testimonies of ,god1--,god the ,father1 ,god the ,son1 and ,god the ,holy ,spirit2 for only by keeping them can we enter into eternal life4 ,and if we wish to know them1 ,god himself will teach us them4 ,and if we wish1 to keep them1 ,god himself will give us strength to keep them4 ,amen4 ,,sermon ,,xii4 ,,the ,,reasonable ,,prayer4 ,,psalm ,,cxix4 #cc1 #id4 ,o ,lord1 teach me ,thy statutes1 and ,i shall keep them to the end4 ,i am ,thine1 ,o save me2 for ,i have kept ,thy commandments4 ,some who heard me last ,sunday1 both morning and afternoon1 may have remarked an apparent contradiction between my two sermons4 ,i hope they have done so4 ,for then ,i shall hope that they are facing one of the most difficult1 and yet most necessary1 of all problems2 namely the difference between the ,law and the ,gospel4 ,in my morning sermon ,i spoke of the eternal law of ,god--how it was unchangeable even as ,god its author1 rigid1 awful1 inevitable by every soul of man1 and certain1 if he kept it1 to lead him into all good1 for body1 soul1 and spirit3 but certain1 too1 if he broke it1 to grind him to powder4 ,and in the afternoon1 ,i spoke of the ,gospel and ,free ,grace of ,god--how that too was unchangeable1 even as ,god its author2 full of compassion and tender mercy1 and forgiveness of sins2 willing not the death of a sinner2 but rather that he should be converted1 and live4 ,but how are these two statements1 both scriptural2 both--as ,i hold from practical experience1 true to the uttermost1 and not to be compromised or explained away--how are they to be reconciled1 ,i say8 ,by these two texts4 ,by taking them both together1 and never one without the other2 and by taking them1 also1 in the order in which you find them1 and never--as too many do--the second before the first4 ,at least this was the opinion of the ,psalmist4 ,he first seeks ,god's commandments and statutes1 and prays--,give me understanding and ,i shall keep ,thy law1 yea1 ,i shall keep it with my whole heart4 ,make me to go in the path of ,thy commandments2 for therein is my desire4 ,and then1 only then1 finding himself in trouble1 anxiety1 even in danger of death1 he feels he has a sort of right to cry to ,god to help him out of his trouble1 and prays--,i am ,thine1 oh save me6 ,and why8 ,what reason can he give why ,god should save him8 ,because1 he says1 ,i have sought ,thy commandments4 ,now let all rational persons lay this to heart2 and consider it well4 ,there are very few1 heathens and savages1 as well as ,christians1 who will not cry1 when they find themselves in trouble--,oh save me4 ,the instinct of every man is1 to cry to some unseen persons or powers to help him4 ,if he does not cry to the true and good ,god1 he will cry to some false or bad ,god2 or to some idol1 material or intellectual1 of his own invention4 ,but that is no reason why his prayers should be heard4 ,we read of old heathens at ,rome1 who prayed to ,mercury1 the god of money-making--,da mihi fallere1--,help me to cheat my neighbours3 while the philosophers1 heathen though they were1 laughed1 with just contempt1 at such men and their prayers1 and asked--,do you suppose that any ,god1 if he be worth calling a ,god1 will answer such a request as that8 ,nay1 in our own times1 have not the brigands of ,naples been in the habit of carrying a leaden image of ,st ,januarius in their hats1 and praying to it to protect them in their trade of robbery and murder8 ,i leave you to guess what answer good ,st ,januarius1 and much more ,he who made ,st ,januarius1 and all heaven and earth1 was likely to give to such a prayer as that4 ,so it is not all prayers for help that are heard1 or deserve to be heard4 ,and indeed--,i do not wish to be hard1 but the truth must be spoken--there are too many people in the world who pray to ,god to help them1 when they are in difficulties or in danger1 or in fear of death and of hell1 but never pray at any other time1 or for any other thing4 ,they pray to be helped out of what is disagreeable4 ,but they never pray to be made good4 ,they are not good1 and they do not care to become good4 ,all they care for1 is to escape death1 or pain1 or poverty1 or shame1 when they see it staring them in the face3 and ,god knows ,i do not blame them4 ,we are all children1 and1 like children1 we cry out when we are hurt2 and that is no sin to us4 ,but that is no part of godliness1 not even of mere religion4 ,but worse--it is still more sad to have to say it1 but it is true--most people's notions of the next world1 and of salvation1 as they call it1 are just as childish1 material1 selfish as their notions of this world4 ,they all wish and pray to be saved4 ,what do they mean8 ,to be saved from bodily pain in the next life1 and to have bodily pleasure instead4 ,pain and pleasure are the only gods which they really worship4 ,they call the former--hell4 ,they call the latter--heaven4 ,but they know as little of one as of the other2 and their notions of both are equally worthy of--,shall ,i say it8 ,must ,i say it8--equally worthy of the savage in the forest4 ,they believe that they must either go to heaven or to hell4 ,they have1 of course1 no wish to go to the latter place2 for whatever else there is likely to be there--some of which might not be quite unpleasant or new to them1 such as evil-speaking1 lying1 and slandering1 envy1 hatred1 malice and all uncharitableness1 bigotry included--there will be certainly there--they have reason to believe--bodily pain2 the thing which they1 being mostly comfortable people1 dread most1 and avoid most3 contrary1 you will remember1 to the opinion of the blessed martyrs1 who dreaded bodily pain least1 and avoided it least1 of all the ills which could befal them4 ,wherefore they are1 in the sight of ,god1 and of all true men unto this day--the blessed martyrs4 ,but these people--and there are too many of them by hundreds of thousands--do not want to be blessed4 ,they only want to be comfortable in this world1 and in the next4 ,as for blessedness1 they do not even know what it means2 and our ,lord's seven beatitudes1 which begin--,blessed are the poor in spirit--are not at all to their mind2 even1 alas6 alas6 to the mind of many who call themselves religious and orthodox2 at least till they are so explained away1 that they shall mean anything1 or nothing1 save--,i trust ,i am poor in spirit3 and nevertheless ,i am right1 and everyone who differs from me is wrong4 ,the plain truth is--when all fine words1 whether said in prayers or sung in hymns1 are stript off--that they do not wish to go to hell and pain2 and therefore prefer1 very naturally1 though not very spiritually1 to go to heaven and pleasure2 and so sing of crossing over ,jordan to ,canaan's shore1 or of ,jerusalem the golden1 with milk and honey blest1 and so forth1 without any clear notion of what they mean thereby1 save selfish comfort without end2 they really know not what2 they really care not where4 ,and that they may arrive there or at a far better place2 and have their wish1 and more than their wish3 ,i for one heartily desire4 ,but whether they arrive there1 or not2 and indeed1 whether they arrive at some place infinitely better or infinitely worse1 depends on whether they will give up selfish calculations of loss and gain1 selfish choosing between mere pain and pleasure3 and choose this2 choose1 whatever it may cost them1 between being good and being bad1 or even being only half good2 as little good as they can afford to be without the pains of hell into the bargain4 ,my friends--,what if ,christ should answer such people--,i do not say that ,he does always answer them so1 for ,he is very pitiful1 and of tender mercy2--but what if ,he were to answer them1 ,save you8 ,help you8 ,o presumptuous mortal1 what have you done that ,christ should save or help you8 ,you are afraid of being ruined4 ,why should you not be ruined8 ,what good will it be to your fellow-men if you keep your money1 instead of losing it8 ,you are making nothing but a bad use of your money4 ,why should ,christ help you to keep it1 and misuse it still more8 ,you are afraid of death4 ,you do not wish to die4 ,but why should you not die8 ,why should ,christ save you from death8 ,of what use is your life to ,christ1 or to any human being8 ,if you are living a bad life1 your life is a bad thing1 and does harm not only to yourself1 but to your neighbours4 ,why should ,christ keep you alive to hurt and corrupt your neighbours1 and to set a bad example to your children8 ,if you are not doing your duty where ,christ has put you1 you are of no use1 a cumberer of the ground4 ,what reason can you shew why ,he should not take you away1 and put some one in your place who will do his duty8 ,you are afraid of being lost--why should you not be lost8 ,you are offensive1 and an injury to the universe4 ,you are an actual nuisance on ,christ's earth and in ,christ's ,kingdom4 ,why should ,he not--as ,he has sworn--cast out of ,his ,kingdom all things which offend1 and you among the rest8 ,why should ,he not get rid of you1 as you get rid of vermin1 as you get rid of weeds2 and cast you into the fire1 to be burned up with all evil things8 ,answer that3 before you ask ,christ to save you1 and deliver you from danger1 and from death1 and from the hell which you so much--and perhaps so justly--fear4 ,and how that question is to be answered1 ,i cannot see4 ,certainly the selfish man cannot answer it4 ,the idle man cannot answer it4 ,the profligate man cannot answer it4 ,they are doing nothing for ,christ2 or for their neighbours1 or for the human race2 and they cannot expect ,christ to do anything for them4 ,the only men who can answer it2 the only men1 it seems to me1 who can have any hope of their prayers being heard1 are those who1 like the ,psalmist1 are trying to do something for ,christ1 and their neighbours1 and the human race2 who are1 in a word1 trying to be good4 ,those1 ,i mean1 who have already prayed1 earnestly and often1 the first prayer1 ,teach me1 ,o ,lord1 ,thy statutes1 and ,i shall keep them to the end4 ,they have--not a right3 no one has a right against ,christ1 no1 not the angels and archangels in heaven--not a right1 but a hope1 through ,christ's most precious and undeserved promises1 that their prayers will be heard2 and that ,christ will save them from destruction1 because they are1 at least1 likely to become worth saving2 because they are likely to be of use in ,christ's world1 and to do some little work in ,christ's kingdom4 ,they are ,god's3 they are soldiers in ,christ's army4 ,they are labourers in ,christ's garden4 ,they are on ,god's side in the battle of life1 which is the battle of ,christ and of all good men1 against evil1 against sin and ignorance1 and the numberless miseries which sin and ignorance produce4 ,they are not the profligate2 they are not the selfish1 the idle2 they are not the frivolous1 the insolent2 they are not the wilfully ignorant who do not care to learn1 and do not even--so brutish are they--think that there is anything worth learning in the world1 save how to turn sixpence into a shilling1 and then spend it on themselves4 ,not such are those who may hope to have their prayers heard1 because they are worth hearing1 and worth helping4 ,but they are the people who say to themselves1 not once in their lives1 not once a week on ,sundays1 but every day and all day long--,i must be good2 ,i will be good4 ,i must be of use2 ,i must be doing some work for ,god2 and therefore ,i must learn4 ,i must learn ,god's laws1 and statutes1 and commandments1 about my station1 and calling1 and business in life4 ,else how can ,i do it aright8 ,i dare no more be ignorant1 than ,i dare be idle4 ,i must learn4 ,but how shall ,i learn8 ,stupid ,i am1 and ignorant1 and the more ,i try to learn1 the more ,i discover how stupid ,i am4 ,the more ,i do actually learn1 the more ,i discover how ignorant ,i am4 ,there is so much to be learned2 and how to learn it passes my understanding4 ,who will teach me8 ,how shall ,i get understanding8 ,how shall ,i get knowledge8 ,and if ,i get them1 how shall ,i be sure that they are true understanding1 and true knowledge8 ,mad people have understanding enough2 and so have some who are not mad1 but merely fools4 ,wit enough they have1 active and rapid brains3 but their understanding is of no use1 for it is only misunderstanding2 and therefore the more clever they are1 the more foolish they are1 and the more dangerous to themselves and their fellow-creatures4 ,knowledge1 too--how shall ,i be sure that my knowledge1 if ,i get it1 is true knowledge1 and not false knowledge1 knowledge which is not really according to facts8 ,i see too many who have knowledge for which ,i care little enough4 ,some know a thousand things which are of no use to them1 or to any human being4 ,others know a thousand things3 but know them in a shallow1 inaccurate fashion2 and so cannot make use of them for any practical purpose4 ,others know a thousand things3 but know them all in a prejudiced and one-sided fashion2 till they see things not as things are1 but as they are not1 and as they never will be2 and therefore their knowledge1 instead of leading them1 misleads them1 and they misjudge facts1 misjudge men1 and earth1 and heaven1 just as much as the man who should misjudge the sunlight of heaven and fancy it to be green or blue1 because he looked at it through a green or blue glass4 ,how then shall ,i get true knowledge8 ,knowledge which will be really useful1 really worth knowing8 ,knowledge which ,i shall know accurately1 and practically too1 so that ,i can use it in daily life1 for myself and my fellow-men8 ,knowledge1 too1 which shall be clear knowledge1 not warped or coloured by my own fancies1 passions1 prejudices1 but pure1 and calm1 and sound2 ,siccum ,lumen1 ,dry ,light1 as the greatest of ,english ,philosophers called it of old8 ,to all such1 who long for light1 that by the light they may see to live the life1 ,god answers1 through ,his only-begotten ,son1 ,the ,word who endureth for ever in heaven3-- ,ask1 and ye shall receive2 seek1 and ye shall find2 knock1 and it shall be opened to you4 ,for if ye1 being evil1 know how to give good gifts to your children1 much more will your heavenly ,father give ,his ,holy ,spirit to those who ask ,him4 ,yes1 ask for that ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 that ,he may lead you into all truth2 into all truth1 that is1 which is necessary for you to know1 in order to see your way through the world1 and through your duty in the world4 ,ask for that ,holy ,spirit2 that ,he may give you eyes to see things as they are1 and courage to feel things as they are1 and to do your work in them1 and by them1 whether they be pleasant or unpleasant1 prosperous or adverse4 ,ask ,him2 and ,he will give you true knowledge to know what a serious position you are in1 what a serious thing life is1 death is1 judgment is1 eternity is2 that you may be no trifler nor idler1 nor mere scraper together of gain which you must leave behind you when you die3 but a truly serious man1 seriously intent on your duty2 seriously intent on working ,god's work in the place and station to which ,he has called you1 before the night comes in which no man can work4 ,if a man is doing that2 if he is earnestly trying to learn what is true1 in order that he may do what is right2 then he has--,i do not say a right--but at least a reason1 or a shadow of reason1 when he cries to ,god in his trouble-- ,i am ,thine1 oh save me1 for ,i have sought thy commandments4 ,i am ,thine4 ,not merely ,god's creature3 the very birds1 and bees1 and flowers are that2 and do their duty far better than ,i--,god forgive me--do mine4 ,i am ,thine4 ,not merely ,god's child3 the sinners and the thoughtless are that1 though--,god help them--they care not for ,him1 nor for ,his laws1 nor for themselves and their glorious inheritance as children of ,god4 ,and ,i too am ,god's child3 but ,i trust that ,i am more4 ,i am ,god's school- child4 ,o ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 ,i claim ,thy help as my schoolmaster1 as well as my ,lord and ,saviour4 ,i am the least of ,thy school-children2 and it may be the most ignorant and most stupid4 ,i do not pretend to be a scholar1 a divine1 a philosopher1 a saint4 ,i am a very weak1 foolish1 insufficient personage2 sitting on the lowest form in ,thy great school- house1 which is the whole world2 and trying to spell out the mere letters of ,thy alphabet1 in hope that hereafter ,i may be able to make out whole words1 and whole sentences1 of ,thy commandments1 and having learnt them1 do them4 ,for if ,thou wilt but teach me ,thy statutes1 ,o ,lord1 then ,i will try to keep them to the end4 ,for ,i long to be on ,thy side1 and about ,thy work4 ,i long to help--if it be ever so little--in making myself better1 and my neighbours better4 ,i long to be useful1 and not useless2 a benefit1 and not a nuisance2 a fruit-bearing tree1 and not a noxious weed1 in ,thy garden2 and therefore ,i hope that ,thou wilt not cut me down1 nor root me up1 nor let foul creatures trample me under foot4 ,have mercy on me1 ,o ,lord1 in my trouble1 for the sake of the truth which ,i long to learn1 and for the good which ,i long to do4 ,poor little weak plant though ,i may be1 ,i am still a plant of ,thy planting1 which is doing its best to grow1 and flower1 and bear fruit to eternal life2 and ,thou wilt not despise the work of ,thine own hands1 ,o ,lord1 who died that ,i might live8 ,thou wilt not let me perish8 ,i have stuck unto ,thy testimonies3 ,o ,lord1 confound me not4 ,therefore remember this4 ,if you wish to have reasonable hope when you have to pray--,lord1 save me3 pray first1 and pray continually--,teach me1 ,o ,lord1 ,thy statutes1 and ,i will keep them to the end4 ,,sermon ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,one ,,escape4 ,,psalm ,,cxix4 #fg4 ,before ,i was troubled1 ,i went wrong3 but now have ,i kept ,thy ,word4 ,let me speak this afternoon once more about the #aaith ,psalm1 and the man who wrote it4 ,and first3 he was certainly of a different opinion from nine persons out of ten1 ,i fear from ninety-nine out of a hundred1 of every country1 every age1 and every religion4 ,for1 he says--,before ,i was troubled1 ,i went wrong3 but now have ,i kept ,thy ,word4 ,whereas nine people out of ten would say to ,god1 if they dared--,before ,i was troubled1 ,i kept ,thy ,word4 ,but now that ,i am troubled2 of course ,i cannot help going wrong4 ,he makes his troubles a reason for doing right4 ,they make their troubles an excuse for doing wrong4 ,is it not so8 ,do we not hear people saying1 whenever they are blamed for doing what they know to be wrong--,i could not help it8 ,i was forced into it4 ,what would you have a man do8 ,one must live2 and so forth4 ,one finds himself in danger1 and tries to lie himself out of it4 ,another finds himself in difficulties1 and begins playing ugly tricks in money matters4 ,another finds himself in want1 and steals4 ,the general opinion of the world is1 that right-doing1 justice1 truth1 and honesty1 are very graceful luxuries for those who can afford them2 very good things when a man is easy1 prosperous1 and well off1 and without much serious business on hand3 but not for the real hard work of life2 not for times of ambition and struggle1 any more than of distress and anxiety1 or of danger and difficulty4 ,in such times1 if a man may not lie a little1 cheat a little1 do a questionable stroke of business now and then2 how is he to live8 ,so it is in the world1 so it always was2 and so it always will be4 ,from statesmen ruling nations1 and men of business conducting great financial operations1 as the saying is now1 down to the beggar- woman who comes to ask charity1 the rule of the world is1 that honesty is not the best policy2 that falsehood and cunning are not only profitable1 but necessary2 that in proportion as a man is in trouble1 in that proportion he has a right to go wrong4 ,a right to go wrong4 ,a right to make bad worse4 ,a right to break ,god's laws1 because we are too stupid or too hasty to find out what ,god's laws are4 ,a right1 as the wise man puts it1 to draw bills on nature which she will not honour2 but return them on a man's hands with ,no effects written across them1 leaving the man to pay after all1 in misery and shame4 ,truly said ,solomon of old--,the foolishness of fools is folly4 ,but the ,psalmist1 because he was inspired by the ,spirit of ,god1 was of quite the opposite opinion4 ,so far from thinking that his trouble gave him a right to go wrong1 he thought that his trouble laid on him a duty to go right1 more right than he had ever gone before2 and that going right was the only possible way of getting out of his troubles4 ,take from me1 he cries1 the way of lying1 and cause ,thou me to make much of ,thy law4 ,i have chosen the way of truth1 and ,thy judgments have ,i laid before me4 ,incline mine heart unto ,thy testimonies1 and not unto covetousness4 ,oh turn away mine eyes1 lest they behold vanity1 and quicken ,thou me in ,thy way4 ,thy word is my comfort in my trouble2 for ,thy word hath quickened me4 ,the proud have had me exceedingly in derision1 yet have ,i not shrunk from ,thy law4 ,for ,i remembered ,thine everlasting judgments1 ,o ,god1 and received comfort4 ,thy statutes have been my songs1 in the house of my pilgrimage4 ,i have thought upon ,thy name1 ,o ,lord1 in the night-season1 and have kept ,thy law4 ,this was the ,psalmist's plan for delivering himself out of trouble4 ,a very singular plan1 which very few persons try1 either now1 or in any age4 ,and therefore it is1 that so many persons are not delivered out of their troubles1 but sink deeper and deeper into them1 heaping new troubles on old ones1 till they are crushed beneath the weight of their own sins4 ,what the special trouble was1 in which the ,psalmist found himself1 we are not told4 ,but it is plain from his words1 that it was just that very sort of trouble1 in which the world is most ready to excuse a man for lying1 cringing1 plotting1 and acting on the old devil's maxim that ,cunning is the natural weapon of the weak4 ,for the ,psalmist was weak1 oppressed and persecuted by the great and powerful4 ,but his method of defending himself against them was certainly not the way of the world4 ,princes1 he says1 sat and spoke against him4 ,but2 instead of fawning on them1 excusing himself1 entreating their mercy3 he was occupied in ,god's statutes4 ,the proud had him exceedingly in derision--as ,i am afraid too many worldly men1 poor as well as rich1 working men as well as idlers1 would do now--seeing him occupied in ,god's statutes1 when he might have been occupied in winning money1 and place1 and renown for himself4 ,but he did not shrink from ,god's law4 ,if it was true1 he could afford to be laughed at for obeying it4 ,the congregation of the ungodly robbed him4 ,but he did not forget ,god's law4 ,if they did wrong1 that was no reason why he should do wrong likewise4 ,the proud imagined a lie against him4 ,but he would keep ,god's commandments with his whole heart1 instead of breaking ,god's commandments1 and justifying their slander1 and making their lie true4 ,still1 it went very hard with him4 ,his honour and his faith were sorely tried4 ,he was dried up like a bottle in the smoke4 ,it seems to have been with him at times a question of life and death2 till he had hardly any hope left4 ,he had to ask1 almost in despair--,how many are the days of ,thy servant8 ,when wilt ,thou be avenged of them that persecute me8 ,the proud dug pits for him1 contrary to the law of ,god2 contrary to honour and justice2 and almost made an end of him upon earth4 ,the ungodly laid wait to destroy him4 ,but against them all he had but one weapon1 and one defence4 ,however much afraid he might be of his enemies1 he was still more afraid of doing wrong4 ,his flesh1 he said1 trembled for fear of ,god2 and he was afraid of ,god's judgments4 ,therefore his only safety was1 in pleasing ,god1 and not men4 ,i deal1 he says1 with the thing that is lawful and right4 ,oh give me not over to my oppressors4 ,make ,thy servant to delight in what is good1 that the proud do me no wrong4 ,if he could but keep right1 he would be safe at last4 ,i will consider ,thy testimonies1 ,o ,lord4 ,i see that all things come to an end4 ,bad times1 and bad chances1 and still more bad men1 and bad ways for escaping out of trouble--they all come to an end4 ,but ,thy commandment is exceeding broad4 ,exceeding broad4 ,there are depths below depths of meaning in that true saying2 depths which you will find true1 if you will but read your ,bibles1 and obey your ,bibles4 ,for in them1 ,i tell you openly1 you will find rules to guide you in every chance and change of this mortal life4 ,truly said the good man that there were in the ,bible shallows where a lamb may drink1 and deeps wherein an elephant may swim4 ,there are no possible circumstances1 good or bad1 pleasant or unpleasant1 in which you can find yourselves1 be you rich or poor1 young or old1 without finding in the ,bible sound advice1 and a clear rule1 as to how ,god would have you behave under those circumstances4 ,for ,god's commandments are exceeding broad1 and take in all cases of conscience1 all details of duty2 saying to each and every one of us1 at every turn--,this is the way1 walk ye in it4 ,at least this is the teaching1 this is the testimony1 this is the life- experience1 of a true hero1 namely1 the man who wrote the #aaith ,psalm2 a hero according to ,god1 but not according to the world1 and the pomp and glory of the world4 ,no great statesman was he1 nor conqueror1 nor merchant1 nor financier passing millions of money through his hands yearly2 and all fancying that they1 and not ,god1 govern the nations upon earth1 and decide the fate of empires4 ,he was a man who made no noise in the world3 though the world1 it seems1 made a little noise at him in his time1 as it does often bark and yell at those who will not go its way2 as it barked at poor ,christian1 when he went through ,vanity ,fair1 and would not buy its wares1 or join in its frivolities4 ,such a man was this ,psalmist2 for whom the world had nothing but scorn first1 and then forgetfulness4 ,we do not know his name1 or where he lived4 ,we do not even know1 within a few hundred years1 when he lived4 ,i picture him to myself always as a poor1 shrivelled1 stooping1 mean-looking old man2 his visage marred more than any man1 and his figure more than the sons of men2 no form nor comeliness in him1 nor beauty that men should desire him2 despised and rejected of men3 a man of sorrows1 and acquainted with grief1 even as his ,master was after him4 ,and all that he has left behind him--as far as we can tell--is this one psalm which he wrote1 as may be guessed from its arrangement1 slowly1 and with exceeding care1 as the very pith and marrow of an experience spread over many painful years of struggle and of humiliation4 ,i say of humiliation4 ,for there is not a taint of self-conceit1 not even of self-satisfaction1 in him4 ,he only sees his own weakness1 and want of life1 of spirit1 of manfulness1 of power4 ,his soul cleaveth to the dust4 ,he is tempted1 of course1 again and again1 to give way2 to become low- minded1 cowardly1 time-serving1 covetous1 worldly4 ,but he dares not4 ,he feels that his only chance is to keep his honour unspotted2 and he cries--,whatever happens1--,i must do right4 ,i must learn to do right4 ,teach me to do right4 ,teach me1 ,o ,lord1 teach me2 and strengthen me1 ,o ,lord1 strengthen me1 and then all must come right at last4 ,that was his cry4 ,and1 be you sure1 he did not cry in vain4 ,for this man had one precious possession2 which he determined not to lose1 not though he died in trying to hold it fast2 namely1 the ,eternal ,spirit of ,god2 the ,spirit of ,righteousness1 and ,truth1 and ,justice1 which leads men into all truth4 ,by that ,spirit he saw into the ,eternal ,laws of ,god4 ,by that ,spirit he saw who made and who administers those ,eternal ,laws1 even the ,eternal ,word of ,god1 who endureth for ever in heaven4 ,by that ,spirit he saw that his only hope was to keep those eternal laws4 ,by that ,spirit he vowed to keep them4 ,by that ,spirit he had strength to keep them4 ,by that ,spirit1 when he failed he tried again2 when he fell he rose and fought on once more1 to keep the commandments of the ,lord4 ,and where is he now8 ,where is he now8 ,where those will never come--let false preachers and false priests flatter them as they may--who fancy that they can get to heaven without being good and doing good4 ,where those will never come1 likewise1 who1 when they find themselves in trouble1 try to help themselves out of it by false and mean methods2 and so begin worshipping the devil1 just when they have most need to worship ,god4 ,he is where the fearful and unbelievers and all liars can never come4 ,he is with the ,word of the ,lord1 who endureth for ever in heaven4 ,with the ,word of the ,lord1 who endured awhile on earth1 even as he the ,psalmist endured4 ,who before ,pontius ,pilate witnessed a good confession1 and endured the cross1 despising the shame1 because ,he cared neither for riches1 nor for pleasure1 for power1 nor for glory2 but simply for ,his ,father's will1 and ,his ,father's law1 that ,he might do to the uttermost the will of ,his ,father who sent ,him1 and keep to the uttermost that ,law of which ,his ,father says to ,him for ever--,thou art my ,son1 to-day have ,i begotten ,thee4 ,into ,his presence may we all come at last6 ,but we shall never come thither1 unless we keep our honour bright1 our courage unbroken1 and ourselves unspotted from the world4 ,for so only will be fulfilled in us the sixth ,beatitude--,blessed are the pure in heart1 for they shall see ,god4 ,unto which may ,god of ,his free mercy bring us all4 ,amen4 ,,sermon ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,word ,,of ,,god4 ,,psalm ,,cxix4 #hi-if4 ,o ,lord1 ,thy word endureth for ever in heaven4 ,thy truth also remaineth from one generation to another3 ,thou hast laid the foundation of the earth1 and it abideth4 ,they continue this day according to ,thine ordinance3 for all things serve ,thee4 ,if my delight had not been in ,thy law1 ,i should have perished in my trouble4 ,i will never forget ,thy commandments3 for with them ,thou hast quickened me4 ,i am ,thine1 oh save me3 for ,i have sought ,thy commandments4 ,the ungodly laid wait for me to destroy me3 but ,i will consider ,thy testimonies4 ,i see that all things come to an end3 but ,thy commandment is exceeding broad4 ,this text is of infinite importance1 to you1 and me1 and all mankind4 ,for if the text is not true2 if there is not a ,word of ,god1 who endures and is settled for ever in heaven3 then this world is a miserable and a mad place2 and the best thing1 it seems to me1 that we poor ignorant human beings can do1 is to eat and drink1 for to morrow we die4 ,but that is not the best thing we can do2 but the very worst thing4 ,the best thing that we can do1 and the only thing worth doing is1 to be good1 and do good1 at all risks and all costs1 trusting to the ,word of ,god1 who endures for ever in heaven4 ,but who is this ,word of ,god8 ,i say who1 not what4 ,we often call the ,bible the ,word of ,god3 and so it is in one sense1 because it tells us1 from beginning to end1 about this other ,word of ,god4 ,it is1 so to speak1 ,god's word or message about this ,word4 ,but it is plain that the ,psalmist is not speaking here of the ,bible2 for he says-- ,thy ,word endureth for ever in ,heaven3 and the ,bible is not in heaven1 but on earth4 ,but in the ,bible1 usually1 this ,word of the ,lord means not only the message which ,god sends1 but ,him by whom ,god sends it4 ,the ,word of ,god1 ,word of the ,lord1 is spoken of again and again1 not as a thing1 but as a person1 a living rational being1 who comes to men1 and speaks to them1 and teaches them2 sometimes1 seemingly1 by actual word of mouth2 sometimes again1 by putting thoughts into their minds1 and words into their mouths4 ,recollect ,samuel3 how when he was young the ,word of the ,lord was precious--that is1 uncommon1 and almost unknown in those days2 and how the ,lord came and called ,samuel1 ,samuel2 and put a word into his mouth against ,eli4 ,and so the ,lord appeared again in ,shiloh2 for the ,lord revealed ,himself to ,samuel in ,shiloh by ,the ,word of the ,lord4 ,in ,samuel's case1 there was1 it seems1 an actual voice1 which fell on ,samuel's ears4 ,in the case of the later prophets1 we do not read that they usually heard any actual voice1 or saw any actual appearance4 ,it seems that the ,word of the ,lord who came to them inspired their minds with true thoughts1 and inspired their lips to speak those thoughts in noble words1 often in regular poetry4 ,but ,he was ,the ,word of the ,lord1 nevertheless4 ,again and again1 we read in those grand old prophets1 ,the ,word of the ,lord came unto me1 saying1--or again1 ,the ,word which came to ,jeremiah from the ,lord1 saying4 ,it is not the ,bible which is meant by such words as these--,i am sorry to have to remind a nineteenth century congregation of this fact--but a living being1 putting thoughts into the prophets' minds1 and words into their mouths1 and a divine passion too1 into their hearts1 which they could not resist2 like poor ,jeremiah of old1 when he was reproached and derided about ,the ,word of the ,lord1 and said1 ,i will not make mention of ,him1 nor speak any more in ,his name4 ,but ,he was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones1 and ,i was weary with forbearing1 and ,i could not hold my peace4 ,but now1 what words are these which we read of this same ,word of the ,lord1 in the first chapter of ,st ,john's ,gospel8 ,in the beginning was ,the ,word3 and ,the ,word was with ,god1 and ,the ,word was ,god4 ,by ,him all things were made1 and without ,him was not anything made that was made4 ,and in ,him was life1 and the life was the light of men4 ,thus--as always--the ,old ,testament and the ,new1 the ,psalmist and ,st ,john1 agree together4 ,this is the gospel and good news1 which the ,psalmist saw in part1 but which ,st ,john saw fully and perfectly4 ,but because the ,psalmist saw it even in part1 he saw that ,the ,word of the ,lord endured for ever in heaven2 and that therefore his only hope of safety was to listen eagerly and reverently for what that ,word might choose to say to him4 ,but why does the ,psalmist seemingly go out of his way1 as it were1 to say1 ,thou hast laid the foundation of the earth1 and it abideth4 ,they continue this day according to ,thine ordinance1 for all things serve ,thee8 ,for the very same reason that ,st ,john goes1 seemingly1 out of his way to say1 ,all things were made by ,the ,word1 and without ,him was not anything made that was made4 ,why is this8 ,look at it thus3 ,what an important question it is1 whether ,this ,word of ,god is a being of order2 a regular being2 a law-abiding being2 a being on whose actions men can count2 who can be trusted1 and depended on1 not to alter ,his own ways1 not to deceive us poor mortal men4 ,the ,psalmist wants to know his way through this world1 and his duty in this mortal life4 ,therefore he must learn the laws and rules of this world4 ,and he has the sense to see1 that no one can teach him the rules of the world1 but the ,ruler of the world1 and the ,maker of the world4 ,then comes the terrible question--too many1 alas6 have not got it answered rightly yet-- ,but are there any rules at all in the world8 ,does ,the ,lord manage the world by rules and laws8 ,or does ,he let things go by chance and accident1 and take no care about them8 ,is there such a thing as ,god's ,providence3 or is there not8 ,to that the ,psalmist answers firmly1 because he is inspired by the ,spirit of ,god-- ,o ,lord1 ,thy ,word endureth--is settled--for ever in heaven4 ,in ,thee is no carelessness1 neglect1 slothfulness1 nor caprice4 ,thou hast no variableness1 neither shadow of turning4 ,thou hast laid the foundation of the earth1 and it abideth4 ,they continue this day according to ,thine ordinance2 for all things serve ,thee4 ,the world is full of settled and enduring rules and laws2 and ,god keeps to them4 ,the ,psalmist looks at the sun1 moon and stars over his head1 each keeping its settled course1 and its settled season3 and he sees them all obeying law4 ,he looks at summer and winter1 seedtime and harvest3 and he sees them obeying law4 ,he looks at birth and growth1 at decay and death2 and sees them too1 obeying law4 ,he looks at the very flowers beneath his feet1 and the buds in the woodland1 and all the crowd of living things about him1 animal1 vegetable and mineral3 and they too obey law2 each after their kind4 ,the world1 he says1 is full of law4 ,it is a settled world1 an orderly world1 made and governed by a ,lord of order1 who makes laws and enforces laws2 a ,lord whose ,word endures for ever in heaven4 ,therefore--he feels--,i can trust that ,lord4 ,if ,he has laws for the beasts and birds1 ,he must have1 much more1 laws for men4 ,if ,he has laws for men's bodies1 much more has ,he laws for their souls4 ,what ,i have to do1 is to ask ,him to teach me those laws1 that ,i may live4 ,but then comes another1 and even a more awful question--,if ,i ask ,him1 will ,he teach me8 ,alas6 alas6 too many have not found the answer yet2 too many of those who know most about the ,laws of ,nature1 and reverence those laws most3 and all honour to them for so doing2 for1 even though they know it not1 they are preparing the way of the ,lord1 and making ,his paths straight4 ,but they have not found the right answer to that question yet4 ,still there the question is2 and you and ,i1 and every soul of man1 must get some reasonable answer or other to it1 if we wish to be men indeed1 men in spirit and in truth2 and it is this-- ,if ,i ask this ,word of ,god to teach me ,his ,laws--,will ,he teach me8 ,will ,he hear me8 ,can ,he hear3 or is ,he ,himself a mere brute force1 a law of nature and necessity8 ,and even if not1 will ,he hear8 ,or is ,he1 too1 like those ,epicurean gods1 of whom our great poet sings--a sad and hopeless song3-- ,they lie beside their nectar1 and the bolts are hurled ,far below them in the valleys1 and the clouds are lightly curled ,round their golden houses1 girdled with the gleaming world1 ,where they smile in secret1 looking over wasted lands1 ,blight and famine1 plague and earthquake1 roaring deeps and fiery sands1 ,clanging fights1 and flaming towns1 and sinking ships1 and praying hands4 ,and praying hands4 ,oh1 my friends1 is not the question of all questions for such poor mortal souls as you and me1 beset by ignorance and weakness1 and passions which are our own worst enemies1 and chances and catastrophes which we cannot avert--,is not the question of all questions for such as us--,will this same ,word of ,god--will any unseen being out of the infinite void which surrounds our little speck of a planet1 take any notice of our praying hands8 ,will ,he hear us1 teach us1 when we cry8 ,or is ,god1 and ,the ,word of ,god1 like those old heathen gods8 ,is ,he a ,god who hides ,himself1 and leaves us to despair and chance3 or is ,he a ,god who hears1 and gives us even a single ray of hope8 ,is ,he a gracious ,god1 who will hear every man's tale1 however clumsily told1 and judge it according to its merits3 or even--for that is better than dead silence and carelessness--according to its demerits8 ,is ,he a just ,god8 ,or has ,he likes and dislikes1 favourites and victims2 as human rulers and statesmen1 and human parties too1 and mobs1 are wont to have8 ,may ,he not1 even1 like those ,epicurean gods1 despise men8 find a proud satisfaction in deceiving them2 or at least letting them deceive themselves8--in playing with their ignorance1 and leaving them to reap the fruits of their own childishness8 ,to that the ,psalmist answers--and ,i know not how he learnt to answer so1 save by the inspiration of the ,spirit of ,god2 for ,i know well that neither flesh and blood1 the experience of his own brain1 thoughts1 and emotions1 nor the world around him1 either of nature or of man1 would ever have revealed that to him--to that he answers confidently1 in spite of all appearances-- ,thy truth1 ,o ,lord1 abideth from one generation to another4 ,thou art a truthful ,god1 a faithful ,god1 whose word can be taken4 ,a ,god in whom is no variableness1 neither shadow of turning2 who keepeth ,his promise for ever2 true1 as man can be true2 and truer than the truest man4 ,and ,i know it1 says he1 by experience4 ,god has actually taught me ,his law3 for if my delight had not been in it1 ,i should have perished in my trouble4 ,i will never forget ,his commandments2 for by them ,he has given me life2 has taught me what to do1 and enabled me to do it1 to prevent the death and ruin of my body1 and soul1 and spirit4 ,now for the very same reason it is1 that ,st ,john is so careful1 first to tell us that ,the ,word of ,god made all things2 and then to tell us that ,he is full of grace and truth4 ,he tells us that ,the ,word made all things1 that we may be sure that ,he is a ,god of order1 because all things which ,he has made are full of order2 a ,god who acts by rules and laws which we may trust4 ,he tells us that ,the ,word made all things1 that we may be sure that all things1 being ,his handy-work1 will bear witness of ,him and teach us about ,him1 and shew forth ,his glory4 ,but he tells us moreover--,oh gospel1 and good news for blind and weak humanity6--that ,the ,word's glory is full of grace2 gracious2 ready to condescend2 ready to teach us1 and give us light to see our way through this world which ,he has made4 ,he tells us that ,the ,word's glory is full of truth2 that ,he is truthful1 accurate1 and to be depended on2 and will tell us nothing but what is true4 ,that ,he is a true ,word of ,god1 and when ,he speaks to us of ,his ,father and of our ,father1 ,he tells the truth4 ,and so do ,st ,john and the ,psalmist agree in the same gospel1 and good news1 of the mystery of ,christ ,the ,word4 ,there is an eternal ,being in heaven1 who is called ,the ,word of ,god2 because ,he speaks of1 and reveals--that is1 unveils and shews--to men1 and angels1 and archangels1 and all created beings1 that ,god whom no man hath seen1 or can see2 a ,word who dwells for ever in the bosom of ,the ,father1 in the light which no man can approach unto3 but who for ever comes forth from thence to proclaim to all created beings--,there is a ,god1 and ,the ,word is ,his likeness2 the brightness of ,his glory1 and the express image of ,his person4 ,none hath seen the ,father at any time3 but the only-begotten ,son1 who is in the bosom of the ,father1 ,he hath declared ,him4 ,none cometh to the ,father1 but through ,him4 ,but he who hath seen ,him1 hath seen the ,father2 and ,he is none other than ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,he is ,the ,word of ,god1 who speaks to men ,god's words1 because ,he speaks not ,his own words but ,his ,father's1 and does not ,his own will but ,his ,father's who sends ,him4 ,he speaks to us and to all men1 in many ways2 and to each according to his needs4 ,to all men1 ,christ speaks through their consciences1 shewing them what is good1 and warning them of what is evil2 for ,he is the ,light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world4 ,to ,christians ,christ speaks in many ways--to which1 alas1 too few give heed--through the ,bible1 through the sacraments1 through sermons1 through the thoughts and words of all wise and holy men4 ,to the good ,he speaks with gracious encouragement2 to the wicked with awful severity4 ,to the hypocrites ,he says at times1 ,ye serpents1 ye generation of vipers1 how can ye escape the damnation of hell8 ,to the self-satisfied and bigoted ,he says1 ,if ye had been blind1 ye had had no sin3 but now ye say1 ,we see2 therefore your sin remaineth4 ,to the careless and worldly ,he says1 ,i know thy works1 that thou art neither cold nor hot4 ,thou sayest1 ,i am rich and increased with goods1 ,i have need of nothing3 and knowest not that thou art wretched1 and miserable1 and poor1 and blind1 and naked4 ,to those who are ruining themselves by their own folly ,he says1 ,why will ye die8 ,i have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth1 saith the ,lord3 but rather that he should be converted1 and live4 ,to those who are tormented by their own passions ,he says1 ,take ,my yoke upon you and learn of ,me1 for ,i am meek and lowly of heart1 and ye shall find rest unto your souls4 ,to those who are wearied with the burden of their own sins ,he says1 ,come unto ,me1 all ye that are weary1 and heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest4 ,to those who are struggling1 however weakly1 to do what is right ,he says1 ,i know thy works4 ,behold1 ,i have set before thee an open door1 and none can shut it2 for thou hast a little strength1 and hast kept ,my word1 and hast not denied ,my name4 ,because thou hast kept the word of ,my patience1 ,i also will keep thee from the hour of temptation4 ,and to those who mourn for those whom they have loved and lost ,he says1 ,fear not1 ,i am the first and the last1 ,i am ,he that liveth1 and was dead2 and behold1 ,i am alive for evermore1 ,amen2 and have the keys of hell and of death4 ,he that believeth in ,me1 though he die1 yet shall he live2 and he that liveth and believeth in ,me shall never die4 ,for every one of us1 according to his character and his needs1 ,christ speaks a fitting word from ,god1 because ,he is ,the ,word of ,god2 and every word which ,he speaks to us is true1 and sure1 and eternal1 according to the laws of ,god ,his ,father4 ,for ,he is ,the ,word who endures for ever in heaven2 and though heaven and earth may pass away1 ,his words cannot pass away4 ,yes2 ,christ ,the ,word speaks to all3 but most of all to children3 to the children1 of whom ,he said--,suffer the little children to come to me1 and forbid them not2--of whom ,he said to grown-up people1 not--,except these children be converted and become as you--,he left that message for the ,pharisees of ,his own time1 and of every age and creed3 but--,except you grown people be converted and become as little children1 you1 and not they1 shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven4 ,let us tell children that--that ,christ ,himself is speaking to them4 ,that ,the ,word of ,god is educating them4 ,that the ,light who lightens every man who comes into the world is labouring to enlighten them1 their intellect and memory1 their emotions and their consciences4 ,let that be the ground of all our education of children4 ,then it will matter little to us who teaches them what is miscalled secular knowledge4 ,for we shall tell our children--,in it1 too1 ,christ is teaching you4 ,the understanding by which you understand the world about you is ,christ's gift4 ,the world which you are to understand is ,christ's world2 for ,he laid the foundation of the earth1 and it abideth4 ,the physical laws of the universe are ,christ's laws2 for all things serve ,him1 and continue this day according to ,his ordinance4 ,every natural object is a result of ,christ's will1 and its organization a product of ,christ's mind2 for without ,him was not anything made that was made4 ,the whole course of events1 great and small1 is ,christ's providence2 for to ,him all power is given in heaven and earth4 ,so far1 therefore1 from being afraid to teach our children ,natural ,science1 we shall hold it a sacred duty to teach it2 for it is the will and mind of ,christ1 ,the ,word of ,god4 ,and as for morality--we shall be ready to teach that1 as far as the prudential and paying virtues are concerned1 as boldly and on the very same grounds as the merest ,utilitarian4 ,for we shall teach honesty1 courtesy1 decency1 self-restraint1 patience1 foresight1 on the warrant of the ,bible2 which is1 that ,christ has made the world so well1 that sooner or later every wise and just act rewards itself1 every foolish and unjust act punishes itself1 by the very constitution of nature and society1 which again are laid down by ,christ4 ,but what of the nobler1 the non- prudential1 and non-paying virtues8--call them rather graces4--,them we shall teach our children--as ,i believe we can only teach them rationally and logically1 either to children or to grown-up people--by pointing them to ,christ upon ,his cross1 and saying to them1 ,behold your ,god6 ,for so we shall be able to train them in the orthodox doctrine of morals1 which is-- ,that there is nothing good in man which is not first in ,god4 ,we shall be able to make them comprehend what we mean when we tell them that they are members of ,christ1 and must live the ,life of ,christ2 that they are children of ,god1 and as such must imitate their ,father1 and become perfect1 even as their ,father in heaven is perfect4 ,for we shall say--,the pure and perfect graces1 the disinterested virtues1 the unselfish virtues--obedience1 mercy1 chivalry1 beneficence1 magnanimity1 heroism1--in one word1 self-sacrifice--beautiful these are3 but are they necessary8 are they mere ornaments8 or are they sacred duties8 ,the duty which dares and suffers for the thing it ought to do2 the love which dares and suffers for the thing it loves2 the unselfish spirit which looks for no reward3--why should these dwell in man8 ,to that we shall answer--,because they dwell for ever in ,god4 ,if we are asked--,why are they beautiful in man8 we shall answer--,because they are the very beauty and glory of ,god2 the glory which the ,incarnate ,word of ,god manifested to men1 when ,he hung on the cross of ,calvary2 and was more utterly then1 if possible1 than ever1 ,the ,word of ,god3 because ,he then declared most utterly to men the character and essence of ,god4 ,love which is not content--as what true love is8--to be a passive sentiment1 a self-contained possibility1 but which must go out of itself1 pitying1 yearning1 agonizing1 to seek1 to struggle1 to suffer1 and1 if need be1 to die for the creature which it loves1 even if that creature love it not again4 ,we need not say this to children4 ,we need only point them to ,christ upon ,his cross1 and trust ,christ to say it to them1 in their heart of hearts1 through instincts too deep for words4 ,all we need say to our children is--,behold your ,god6 ,he it is who inspires you with every dutiful1 generous1 and unselfish impulse you have ever felt2 for they are the fruits of ,his ,spirit4 ,by that ,spirit ,he was once unselfish even to the death4 ,by that ,spirit ,he will enable you to carry out in action1 as ,he did1 the unselfish instincts which ,he has given you2 and to live the noble life1 the heroic life1 the life of self-sacrifice2 the life of ,god2 the life of the ,father1 and of the ,son1 and of the ,holy ,spirit2 and therefore the only life fit for those who are baptized into that ,holy ,name4 ,this is the ground and method on which we should educate our children2 for it is the ground and method on which ,the ,word of ,god is educating us4 ,,sermon ,,xv4 ,i4 ,,psalm ,,cxix4 #id4 ,i am ,thine1 oh save me4 ,let us think seriously this afternoon of one word2 the word which is the key-note of this psalm4 ,a very short word2 for in our language there is but one letter in it4 ,a very common word2 for we are using it all day long when we are awake1 and even at night in our dreams2 and yet a very wonderful word1 for though we know well whom it means1 yet what it means we do not know1 and cannot understand1 no1 nor can the wisest philosopher who ever lived2 and a most important word too2 for we cannot get rid of it1 we cannot help thinking of it1 cannot help saying it all our life long from childhood to the grave4 ,after death1 too1 we shall probably be saying that word to ourselves1 each of us1 for ever and ever4 ,if the whole universe1 sun1 moon1 and stars1 and all that we ever thought of1 or can think of1 were destroyed and became nothing1 that word would probably be left2 and we should be left alone with it2 and on what we meant by that little word would depend our everlasting happiness or misery4 ,and what is this wonderful little word8 ,what but the word ,i8 ,each one of us says ,i--,i think1 ,i know1 ,i feel1 ,i ought1 ,i ought not1 ,i did that1 and cannot undo it3 and why8 ,because we are not things1 nor mere animals1 but persons1 living souls1 though our bodies are like the bodies of animals1 only more perfect1 that they may be fit dwelling-places for more perfect souls4 ,the animals1 as far as we know1 do not think of themselves each as ,i4 ,little children do not at first4 ,they call themselves by names by which they hear others call them3 not in the first but in the third person4 ,after a while there grows up in them the wonderful thought that they are persons1 different from any other person round them1 and they begin to say--,i want this1 ,i like that4 ,i trust that ,i shall not seem to you as one who dreams when ,i say that ,i believe that is a revelation from ,god to each child1 and just what makes the difference between him and an animal2 that ,god teaches each child to say ,i2 to know that it is not a mere thing1 but a person1 a living soul1 with a will of its own1 and a duty of its own2 responsible for itself2 which ought to do some things1 and ought not to do other things4 ,and what a solemn and awful revelation that is1 we shall see more clearly1 the more we think of it4 ,it may be a very dreadful and tormenting thought4 ,it does not torment the mere savage1 who has no sense of right and wrong2 who follows his own appetites and passions1 and has never learnt to say1 ,i ought1 and ,i ought not4 ,but it does torment the heathen when they begin to be civilized1 and to think2 it has tormented them in all ages4 ,it tormented the old ,greeks and ,romans2 it torments some ,eastern peoples still--that terrible thought--,i am ,i myself1 and cannot be any one else4 ,i am answerable for all that ,i ever did1 or shall do2 and no one can be answerable for me4 ,all the bad deeds ,i ever did1 the bad thoughts ,i ever thought1 are mine1 parts of me1 and will be for ever4 ,i can no more escape from them than ,i can spring off my own shadow4 ,but men have been always trying to escape2 to escape from the burden of their own self1 and the dread of an evil conscience2 and have invented religion after religion1 often fantastic enough1 often pathetic enough likewise1 in hopes of hiding from themselves the secret thought--,i am ,i1 and must be myself for ever4 ,but ,i am not what ,i ought to be1 and therefore ,i may be wrong1 and miserable for ever4 ,and how many people1 in this ,christian land1 are saying at this very moment to themselves1 ,oh that ,i could get rid of this ,i myself in me1 which is so discontented and unhappy6 ,oh that ,i had no conscience6 ,oh that ,i could forget myself6 ,and they try to forget themselves by dissipation1 by gaming1 by drinking1 by taking narcotic drugs1 even sometimes by suicide1 as a last desperate attempt to escape from themselves1 they know not and care not whither4 ,it is all in vain4 ,there is no escape from self4 ,as the pious poet whose bust stands beneath yonder tower has said3 ,each in his separate sphere of joy and woe ,our hermit spirits dwell1 and range apart4 ,i must be ,i1 thou must be thou1 he must be he1 she must be she1 and no one else1 throughout our mortal lives1 and1 for aught we can tell1 for ever2 alone1 each of us1 with our own souls1 our own thoughts1 our own actions1 our own hopes1 our own fears1 our own deservings4 ,stay alone3--with all these8 ,yes1 and alone with one more4 ,each of us is alone with ,god4 ,face to face with ,god1 seen by ,him through and through1 and directly answerable to ,him at every moment of our lives1 for every deed1 and word1 and thought4 ,and is that not a more terrible thought than any8 ,ah6 my friends1 it may be4 ,but it may be also the most comforting of all thoughts1 the only really comforting thought1 if we will but look at the question as the ,psalmist looks at it1 and cry with him to ,god1 ,i am ,thine1 oh save the me whom ,thou hast made4 ,there are those1 and those who deserve a respectful hearing1 who will differ from all that ,i have been saying1 and indeed from the beliefs of #iii out of #ajjj of the human race in every age4 ,they will say--,this fancy that you are an ,i1 a self1 individual and indivisible1 is but a fancy2 one of the many idols which man creates for himself1 by bestowing reality and personality on mere abstractions like this ,i and self4 ,each man is not one indivisible1 much less indestructible1 thing or being4 ,he is really many things4 ,he is the net result of all the organic cells of his body1 and of all the forces which act through them within1 and of all the circumstances which influence them from without1 ay1 and of all the forces and circumstances which have influenced his ancestors ever since man appeared on the earth4 ,but because he remembers many states of consciousness1 many moments in which he was aware of sensations within him1 and of circumstances without him1 therefore he strings all these together1 and talks of them as one thing which he calls ,i2 and speaks of them as his remembrances of himself1 when really the many things are but links of a chain which is perpetually growing at one end and dropping off at the other4 ,to say1 therefore1 that he is the same person as he was when a child1 or as he would be when an old man1--is1 when we know that every atom of his physical frame has changed again and again during the course of years1 a popular delusion1 or at least a misnomer used for convenience' sake2 as when we say that the sun rises and sets1 when we know that the earth moves1 and not the sun4 ,a man1 therefore1 according to this school1 is really no more a person1 one and indivisible1 than is the coral with its million polypes1 the tree with its million buds1 or even the thunderstorm with its million vesicles of attracting and repelling vapour4 ,now that a truth underlies such a theory as this1 ,i am the last to deny4 ,how much of the character of each man is inherited1 how much of it depends on his actual bodily organization2 how much of it1 alas6 on the circumstances of his youth2 how much of it changes with the mere physical change from youth to old age--who does not know all this1 who has ever needed to fight for himself the battle of life8 ,only1 ,i say1 this is but half the truth2 and these philosophers cannot state their half-truth1 without employing the very words which they repudiate2 without using the very personal pronouns1 the ,i and me1 the thou and thee1 the he and him1 to which they deny any real existence4 ,beside1 ,i ask--,is the experience and the conclusion of the vast majority of all mankind to go for nothing8 ,for if there be one point on which human beings have been1 and are still1 agreed1 it is this--that each of them is1 to his joy or his sorrow1 an ,i2 a separate person4 ,and1 ,i should have said1 this conviction becomes stronger and stronger in each of them1 the more human they become1 civilized1 and worthy of the respect and affection of their fellow-men4 ,for what rises in them1 or seems to rise1 more and more painfully and fiercely8 ,what but that protest1 that battle1 between the everlasting ,i within them1 and their own passions1 and motives1 and circumstances2 which ,st ,paul of old called the battle between the spirit on one side1 and the flesh and the world on the other4 ,the nobler1 surely1 and healthier1 even for a moment1 the manhood of any man is1 the more intense is that inward struggle1 which man alone of all the animals endures4 ,is it in moments of brave endeavour1 whether to improve our own character1 or to benefit our fellow-men3 or is it in moments of depression1 disappointment1 bodily sickness1 that we are tempted to say8--,i will fight no more4 ,i cannot mend myself1 or the world4 ,i am what nature has made me2 and what ,i am1 ,i must remain4 ,i1 and all ,i know1 and all ,i love1 are things1 not persons2 parts of nature1 even as the birds upon the bough1 only more miserable1 because tormented by a hope which never will be fulfilled2 an empty pageant of mere phenomena1 blown onward toward decay1 like dying autumn leaves1 before the everlasting storm which no one guides4 ,is this the inward voice of health and strength8 or rather1 for evil or for good1 that voice which bids the man1 the woman1 in the mysterious might of the free ,i within1 trample on their own passions1 defy their own circumstances1 even to the death2 fall back1 in utter need1 on the absolute instinct of self2 and even though all seem lost1 say with ,medea in the tragedy-- ,che resta8 ,io6 ,medea8--,some one will ask1 and have a right to ask--,is that the model which you set before us8 ,the imperious sorceress1 who from the first has known no law but self1 her own passions1 her own intellect2 who1 at last1 maddened by a grievous wrong1 asserts that self by the murder of her own babes8 ,you might as well set before us as a model ,milton's ,satan4 ,just so4 ,remember first1 nevertheless1 the old maxim1 that the best1 when corrupted1 is the worst2 that the higher the nature1 when used aright in its right place1 the baser it becomes when used wrongly1 in its wrong place4 ,when ,satan fell from his right place1 said the old ,jews1 he became1 remember1 not a mere brute3 but worse1 a fiend4 ,there is a deep and true philosophy in that4 ,as long as he was what he was meant to be--the servant of ,god--he was an archangel and more2 the fairest of all the sons of the morning4 ,when he rebelled2 when in pride and self-will he tore himself--his person--away from that ,god in whom he lived and moved and had his being3 the personality remained2 he could still1 like ,medea1 fall back1 even when he knew that he had rebelled against his ,creator1 on his indomitable self1 and reign a self-sufficing king1 even in the depths of hell4 ,but the very strength and richness of that personality made him1 like ,medea1 only the more capable of evil4 ,he stood1 that is1 his moral health endured1 only by loyalty to ,god4 ,when he lost that1 he fell2 to moral disease3 disease the vaster1 the vaster were his own capacities4 ,and so it is with you1 and me1 and every soul of man4 ,only by loyalty to ,god can this undying ,i1 this self1 this person1 which each of us has--or rather which each of us is--be anything but a torment and a curse2 the more terrible to us1 and those around us1 the stronger and the richer are the nature and faculties through which it works4 ,wouldest thou not be a curse unto thy self8 ,then cry with him who wrote the #aaith ,psalm--,i am ,thine4 ,oh save the me1 whom ,thou1 ,o ,god1 hast made4 ,for he who wrote that psalm had an intense conviction of his own personality4 ,i1 and me1 are words for ever in his mouth3 but not in self- satisfied conceit2 nor in self-tormenting superstition1 crying perpetually1 ,shall ,i be saved8 shall ,i be lost8 ,no4 ,faith in ,god delivers him from either of these follies4 ,he is forced to think of self4 ,sad1 persecuted1 seemingly friendless1 he is alone with self3 yet not alone4 ,for at every moment he is referring himself to his true place in the universe2 to ,god2 ,god's law1 ,god's help4 ,the burden of self--of mingled responsibility and weakness--is to him past bearing4 ,it would be utterly past bearing1 if he could not cast it down1 at least at moments1 at the foot of the throne of ,god1 and cry1 ,i am ,thine4 ,oh save me4 ,and if any should ask--as has been asked ere now--,but is there not in this tone of mind something undignified1 something even abject8 thus to cry for help1 instead of helping oneself8 thus to depend on another being1 instead of bearing stoically with manly independence8 ,i answer--,the ,psalmist does bear stoically1 just because he cries for help4 ,for the old ,stoics cried for help2 the earlier and truer-hearted of them1 at least4 ,some here1 surely1 have read ,epictetus1 the heathen whose thought most exactly coincides with that of the ,psalmist4 ,if so1 do they not see what enabled him1 the slave of ,nero's minion1 to assert himself1 and his own unconquerable personality2 to defy circumstance2 and to preserve his own calm1 his own honour1 his own purity1 amid a degradation which might well have driven a good man to suicide8 ,and was it not this--,the intensity of his faith in ,god8 ,in ,god the helper1 ,god the guide8 ,if any man here have learnt1 to his own loss1 to undervalue the experience of prophets1 psalmists1 apostles3 then let him turn to ,epictetus the heathen2 and learn from that heroic slave1 that the true dignity of man lies in true faith in ,god4 ,nay more4 ,it is a serious question1 whether ungodliness--by which ,i mean1 as the ,psalmist means1 the assertion of self1 independent of ,god--whether ungodliness1 ,i say1 is ever dignified2 whether1 as has been often said1 ,milton's still dignified ,satan is not an impossible character2 whether ,goethe's utterly undignified ,mephistopheles is not the true ideal of an utterly evil spirit4 ,ungodliness1 as we see it manifested in human beings1 may be repulsive1 as in the mere ruffian1 whose mouth is filled with cursing1 and his feet swift to shed blood4 ,it may1 again1 be pitiable1 as in those human butterflies1 who live only to enjoy1 or to minister to1 what they call luxury and fashion4 ,and it may be again--when it calmly and deliberately asserts itself to be a philosophy1 and an explanation of man and of the universe1 and gives itself magisterial airs1 however courteously and kindly--it may be then1 ,i dare to think1 a little ludicrous4 ,but as for its dignity1 ,i leave to you to say which of the two beings is the more dignified1 which the more abject--a little organism of flesh and blood1 at most not more than six feet high1 liable to be destroyed by a tile off the roof1 or a blast of foul gas1 or a hundred other accidents2 standing self-poised and self-complacent in the centre of such an universe as this1 and asserting that it acknowledges no superior1 and needs no guide--or the same being1 awakened to the mystery of his own actual weakness1 his possible strength2 his own actual ignorance1 his possible wisdom2 his own actual sinfulness1 his possible holiness3 and then2 by a humility which is the highest daring2 by a self-distrust which is the truest self-assertion1 vindicating the divine element within1 by taking personal and voluntary service under no less a personage than ,him who made him2 and crying directly to the ,creator of sun and stars and all the universe--,i am ,thine4 ,oh save the me which ,thou hast made8 ,make up your own minds1 make up your minds1 which of the two figures is the more abject1 which the more dignified4 ,for me1 ,i have had too good cause1 long since1 to make up mine4 ,and if you wish to judge further for yourselves1 whether the teaching of the ,psalmist is more likely to produce an abject or a dignified character1 ,i advise you to ponder carefully a certain singular--,i had almost said unique--educational document1 written by men who had thoroughly imbibed the teaching of this psalm2 a document which1 the oftener ,i peruse it1 arouses in me more and more admiration2 not only for its theology1 but for its knowledge of human nature2 and not only for what it does1 but for what it does not1 say4 ,i mean the ,catechism of the ,church of ,england4 ,you will remark at first sight1 that it does not affect to teach the child2 with one remarkable exception to be hereafter noticed4 ,it does not tell the child--,you should do this1 you should not do that4 ,it is strictly an ,educational ,catechism4 ,it tries to educe--that is1 draw out--what is in the child already2 its own native instincts and native conscience4 ,therefore it makes the child speak for itself4 ,it makes each child feel that he or she is an ,i2 a person1 a responsible soul4 ,it begins--,what is your name8 ,it makes the child confess that it has a name1 as a sign that it is a person1 a self1 a soul1 different from all other persons in earth or heaven2 and that its name was given it at baptism1 for a sign that ,god made it a person1 and wishes it to know that it is a person1 and will teach it how to be a true person1 and a good person4 ,it teaches the child to say--,i1 and me1 not in fear and dread1 like those heathen of whom ,i spoke just now1 but with manly confidence1 and self-respect1 and gratitude to ,god who has made it a person1 and an immortal soul4 ,to say--,i am a person2 and in order that ,i might be a right kind of person1 and not a wrong kind1 ,i was made a member of ,christ1 a child of ,god1 and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven4 ,to say--,i am a person2 and that ,i may be a right kind of person1 ,i must know and believe certain things concerning ,god ,himself1 ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost4 ,i am a person2 and that ,i may be a right kind of person1 ,i must keep certain commandments and do certain duties toward ,god1 and my parents1 and my ,queen1 and my country1 and my neighbour1 and all toward whom ,i am responsible for right behaviour4 ,and then1 and only then1 after it has made the child say all this for itself and about itself1 the ,catechism does begin to teach2 and in a few very short words1 tell the child about that which is not itself-- ,my good child1 know this1 that thou art not able to do these things of thyself1 nor to walk in the ,commandments of ,god1 and to serve ,him1 without ,his special grace2 which thou must learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer4 ,now consider these words4 ,there is comfort and strength in them2 comfort for the child2 comfort for you1 and me1 and every human being who has awakened to the sense of his own personal responsibility1 and finds it too often a burden heavier than he--and1 alas1 often1 she--can bear4 ,the ,catechism tells the child that it must not merely know doctrines about ,god1 or do duties to ,god2 but more3 that it is alone with ,god ,himself1 face to face with ,god ,himself day and night4 ,but that therefore it is to dread ,god1 and look up to ,god as a taskmaster and tyrant1 and try to hide from ,god's awful eye1 and forget ,god1 and forget itself--if it can8--,god forbid2 ,god forbid4 ,the ,catechism leaves such teaching for those ,pharisees who tell little children that unless they are converted1 and become as them1 they shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven4 ,the ,catechism says1 ,my good child--not1 ,my bad child--know this4 ,know that thou art weak3 but know that ,god is strong2 and look up to ,him as the ,father of all fathers1 the ,teacher of all teachers1 the ,helper of all helpers1 the ,friend of all friends1 who has ,i called thee unto ,his kingdom of grace1 that ,he might shew thee graciousness2 and make thee gracious and graceful in all thy thoughts1 and works1 and ways3 and1 therefore1 far from trying to hide from ,him1 call on ,him with diligent prayer4 ,for the ,father of all fathers is the ,father of thy soul1 the ,son of all sons died for thee upon the ,cross1 the ,holy ,spirit of all holy spirits will make thee a holy spirit and person1 even as ,he is a ,holy ,spirit and ,person ,himself4 ,believing those words1 no one will dare to forget to say his prayers4 ,for when he prays1 he is indeed a person4 ,he is himself2 and not ashamed1 however sinful1 to be himself2 and to tell ,god about himself4 ,oh1 think of that4 ,you1 each of you1 have a right1 as ,god's children1 to speak to the ,god who made the universe4 ,therefore be sure1 that when you dislike to say your prayers1 it is because you do not like to be what you are1 a person2 and prefer--ah foolish soul--to be a thing1 and an animal4 ,believing those words1 no man need long to forget himself1 to escape from himself4 ,he can lift up himself to ,god who made him1 with reverence1 and fear1 and yet with gratitude and trust1 and say-- ,i1 ,lord1 am ,i2 and what ,i am--a very poor1 pitiful1 sinful person4 ,but ,thou1 ,lord1 art ,thou2 and what ,thou art--happily for me1 and for the whole universe--,perfect4 ,thou art what ,thou oughtest to be--,goodness itself4 ,and therefore ,thou canst1 and ,thou wilt1 make me what ,i ought to be at last1 a good person4 ,to thee1 ,o ,lord1 ,i can bring the burden of this undying ,i1 which ,i carry with me1 too often in shame and sadness1 and ask ,thee to help me to bear it2 saying--,thou knowest1 ,lord1 the secrets of our hearts4 ,shut not ,thy merciful ears to our prayers3 but spare us1 ,o ,lord most ,holy1 ,o ,god most ,mighty1 ,thou worthy ,judge ,eternal1 and suffer us not1 for any temptation of the world1 the flesh or the devil1 to fall from ,thee4 ,guide me1 teach me1 strengthen me1 till ,i become such a person as ,thou wouldst have me be2 pure and gentle1 truthful and high-minded1 brave and able1 courteous and generous1 dutiful and useful1 like ,thy ,son ,jesus ,christ when ,he increased not only in stature1 but in favour with ,god and man4 ,to which may ,god in ,his mercy bring us all6 ,amen4 ,,sermon ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,cedars ,,of ,,lebanon4 ,,psalm ,,civ4 #af4 ,the trees of the ,lord are full of sap2 the cedars of ,lebanon1 which ,he hath planted4 ,let me say a few words this afternoon about the noble #ajdth ,psalm1 which was read this afternoon1 as it is now in many churches1 and most wisely and rightly1 as the ,harvest ,psalm4 ,it is a fit psalm for a service in which we thank ,god for such harvest as ,he has thought best to send us1 whether it be above or below the average4 ,but it is also a fit psalm to be thought earnestly over just now1 considering the turn which men's minds are taking more and more in these times in which it has pleased ,god that we should live4 ,for we have lost1 all of us1 unlearned as well as learned1 the old superstitious notions about this world around us which our forefathers held for many hundred years4 ,no rational person now believes that witches can blight crops or cattle1 or that evil spirits cause storms4 ,no one now believes that nymphs and fairies live in fountains or in trees2 or that the spirits of the planets rule the fates of men4 ,that old belief is gone1 for good and for evil1 and it was good that it should go2 for it was false3 and falsehoods can do no good1 but only harm1 to any man1 in body and in soul alike4 ,it has died out quickly and strangely4 ,some say that modern science has destroyed it4 ,i can hardly agree to that3 for it has died out--and that almost since my own recollection and under my own eyes--in the minds of country people1 who know nothing of science4 ,i had rather say--as ,i presume the man who wrote the #ajdth ,psalm would have said--,the ,lord has taken the belief out of men's hearts and minds4 ,and ,i cannot but hope that ,he has taken it away1 and allows us to believe no more in demons and fairies ruling the world around us1 in order that we may believe in ,him1 and nothing but ,him1 the true ,ruler of the world2 in ,him of whom it is written1 ,him shalt thou worship1 and ,him only shalt thou serve2 even ,god the ,father1 of whom are all things1 and ,god the ,son1 by whom are all things1 and ,god the ,holy ,spirit1 who is the ,lord and ,giver of life1 alike to sun and stars over our heads1 and to the meanest weed and insect under our feet2 the ,lord and ,giver of life alike to matter and spirit1 soul and body1 worm and man1 and angel and archangel before the throne of ,god4 ,i hope it is so4 ,i trust it is so4 ,for we never had more need than now to believe with all our hearts in the living ,god2 to take into all our hearts the teaching of the #ajdth ,psalm4 ,for now that we have given up believing in superstitions1 we are in danger of going to the other extreme1 and believing in nothing at all which we cannot see with our eyes1 and handle with our hands4 ,now that we have given up believing in the fabled supernatural2 in ghosts1 fairies1 demons1 witches1 and such- like3 we are in danger of giving up believing in the true and eternal supernatural1 which is the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 by whom the whole creation is kept alive and sound4 ,we are in danger of falling into a low1 stupid1 brutish view of this wonderful world of ,god in which we live2 in danger of thinking of nature--that is1 of the things which we can see and handle--only as something of which we can make use--till we fall as low as that poor ruffian1 of whom the poet says3 ,a primrose on the river's brim ,a yellow primrose was to him1 ,and it was nothing more4 ,lower1 that is1 than even our own children1 whom ,god has at least taught to admire and love the primroses for their beauty--as something precious and divine1 quite independent of their own emotions about them4 ,men in these days are but too likely to fall into the humour of those poor savages1 of whom one who knows them well said to me once--bitterly but truly--that when a savage sees anything new1 however wonderful or beautiful1 he has but two thoughts about it2 first--,will it hurt me8 and next--,can ,i eat it8 ,and from that truly brutish view of ,god's world1 we shall be delivered1 ,i believe1 only by taking in with our whole hearts the teaching of the #ajdth ,psalm2 which is indeed the teaching of all ,holy ,scripture throughout4 ,the ,psalmist1 in the passage which ,i have chosen1 is talking of the circulation of water on the earth2 how wisely and well it is ordered2 how the vapours rise off the sea1 till the waters stand above the mountain- tops1 to be brought down in thunder-storms--for in his country1 as in many hot ones1 thunder was generally needed1 at the end of the dry season1 to bring down the rain2 how it forms springs in the highland1 and flows down from thence in brooks and rivers1 making the whole lowland green and fertile4 ,well--all very true1 you may say4 ,but that is simply a matter of science1 or indeed of common observation and common sense4 ,it is not a subject for a psalm or for a sermon4 ,true3 in the words in which ,i have purposely put it4 ,but not in the words in which the ,psalmist puts it2 and which ,i purposely left out1 to shew you just the difference between even the soundest science1 and faith4 ,he brings in another element1 which is the true cause of the circulation of water2 and that is1 none other but ,almighty ,god4 ,this is the way in which the inspired ,psalmist puts it2 and this is the truth of it all2 this is the very kernel and marrow and life and soul of it all3 while the facts which ,i told you just now are the mere shell and dead skeleton of it--,thou sendest the springs into the rivers4 ,thou art the ,lord of the lightning and of the clouds1 the ,lord of the highlands and of the lowlands1 and the ,lord of the rainfall and of the drought1 the ,lord of good seasons and of bad1 of rich harvests and of scanty4 ,they1 like all things1 obey ,thine everlasting laws2 and of them1 whatever may befal1 poor purblind man can say in faith and hope--,it is the ,lord1 let ,him do what seemeth ,him good4 ,yes4 ,he was not of course a man of science1 in the modern sense of the word1 this old ,psalmist4 ,but this ,i know1 that he was a man of science in the soundest and deepest sense2 an inspired philosopher1 as well as an inspired poet2 and had the highest of all sciences1 which is the science and knowledge of the living ,god4 ,for he saw ,god in everything and everything in ,god4 ,but--he says--the trees of the ,lord are full of sap2 even the cedars of ,lebanon which ,he hath planted4 ,why should he say that specially of the cedars8 ,did not ,god make all trees8 ,does ,he not plant all wild trees1 and every flower and seed8 ,my dear friends1 happy are you if you believe that in spirit and in truth4 ,but let me tell you that ,i think you would not have believed that1 unless the ,psalmist1 and others who wrote the ,holy ,scriptures1 had told you about trees of ,god1 and rivers of ,god1 and winds of ,god1 and had taught you that the earth is the ,lord's and the fulness thereof4 ,you do not know--none of us can know--how much we owe to the ,bible for just and rational1 as well as orthodox and ,christian1 notions of the world around us4 ,we1 and--thank ,god--our forefathers for hundreds of years1 have drunk in ,bible thoughts1 as it were1 with our mother's milk2 till much that we have really learnt from the ,bible we take as a matter of course1 as self-evident truths which we have found out for ourselves by common sense4 ,and yet1 so far from that being the case1 if it had not been for the ,bible1 we might be believing at this moment1 that one god made one tree1 and another another2 that one tree was sacred to one god1 and another flower to another goddess1 as the old ,greeks believed2 and that the wheat and barley were the gift1 and therefore the property1 of some special deity2 and be crying now in fear and trembling to the sun-god1 or the rain-god1 or some other deified power of nature1 because we fancied that they were angry with us1 and had therefore sent us too much rain and a short harvest4 ,it is difficult1 now-a-days1 to make even cultivated people understand the follies of those who1 like the heathen round the ,jews1 worshipped many gods3 and all the more because our modern folly runs in a different channel2 because we are tempted1 not to believe in many gods1 but in no ,god at all2 to believe not that one god made one thing and another another1 but that all things have made themselves4 ,when ,hiram1 king of ,tyre1 sent down timber cut from the cedars of ,lebanon1 to build the temple of ,god for ,solomon2 his heathen workmen1 probably1 were angry and terrified at what they were doing4 ,they said among themselves--,these cedars belong to ,baal1 or to ,melkart1 the gods of ,tyre4 ,our king has no right to send them to build the temple of ,jehovah1 the ,god of the ,jews4 ,it is a robbery1 and a sacrilege2 and ,baal will be angry with us2 and curse us with drought and blight4 ,but now-a-days men say--,the cedars of ,lebanon are not ,god's trees1 nor are any other trees4 ,they belong to nature4 ,now ,i believe in nature no more than ,i do in ,baal4 ,nature is merely things--a great many things it is true1 but only things--and when ,i add them all up together1 and call them nature1 as if they were one thing1 ,i make an abstraction of them4 ,there is no harm in that3 but if ,i treat that abstraction as if it really existed1 and did anything1 then ,i make of it an idol1 the which ,i have no mind to do4 ,i believe1 ,i say1 in nature no more than ,i do in ,baal4 ,both words were at first symbols2 and both have become in due course of time mere idols4 ,but those who worship nature and not ,god1 say now--,god did not make trees2 they were made by the laws of nature and nothing else4 ,well3 ,i believe that the so-called philosophers who say that1 will be proved at last to be no more right1 and no more rational1 than those heathen workmen of ,tyre4 ,but meanwhile1 what the ,psalmist says1 and what the ,bible says1 is--,those trees belong to ,god4 ,he made them1 ,he made all things2 the sap--the mysterious life in them1 by which each grows and seeds according to its kind--is ,his gift4 ,their growth is ordered by ,him2 and so are all things in earth and heaven4 ,then why speak of them especially as trees of ,god8 ,because1 my friends1 we can only find out that something is true of many things1 by finding out that it is true of one thing2 and that we usually find out by some striking instance2 some case about which there can be no mistake4 ,and these cedars of ,lebanon were1 and are still1 such a striking instance1 which there was no mistaking4 ,upon the slopes of the great snow-mountain of ,lebanon stood those gigantic cedar-trees--whole forests of them then--now only one or two small groups1 but awful1 travellers tell us1 even in their decay4 ,whence did they come8 ,there are no trees like them for hundreds1 ,i had almost said for thousands1 of miles4 ,there are but two other patches of them left now on the whole earth1 one in the ,atlas1 one in the ,himalaya4 ,the ,jews certainly knew of no trees like them2 and no trees either of their size4 ,there were trees among them then1 probably1 two and three hundred feet in height2 trees whose tops were as those minster towers2 whose shafts were like yonder pillars2 and their branches like yonder vaults4 ,no king1 however mighty1 could have planted them up there upon the lofty mountain slopes4 ,the ,jew1 when he entered beneath the awful darkness of these cedars2 the cedars with a shadowy shroud--as the ,scripture says--the cedars high and lifted up1 whose tops were among the thick boughs1 and their height exalted above all the trees of the field2 fair in their greatness2 their boughs multiplied1 and their branches long--for it is in such words of awe and admiration that the ,bible talks always of the cedars--then the ,jew said1 ,god has planted these1 and ,god alone4 ,and when he thought1 not merely of their grandeur and their beauty1 but of their use2 of their fragrant and incorruptible timber1 fit to build the palaces of kings1 and the temples of gods2 he said--and what could he say better8--,these are trees of ,god2 wonderful and glorious works of a wonderful and a glorious ,creator4 ,if he had not1 he would have had less reason in him1 and less knowledge of ,god1 than the ,hindoos of old2 who when they saw the other variety of the cedar growing1 in like grandeur1 on the slopes of the ,himalaya1 called them the ,deodara--which means1 in the old ,sanscrit tongue1 neither more nor less than the timber of ,god1 the lance of ,god--and what better could they have said8 ,my friends1 ,i speak on this matter from the fulness of my heart4 ,it has happened to me--through the bounty of ,god1 for which ,i shall be ever grateful--to have spent days in primeval forests1 as grand1 and far stranger and far richer than that of ,lebanon and its cedars2 amid trees beside which the hugest tree in ,britain would be but as a sapling2 gorgeous too with flowers1 rich with fruits1 timbers1 precious gums1 and all the yet unknown wealth of a tropic wilderness4 ,and as ,i looked up1 awestruck and bewildered1 at those minsters not made by hands1 ,i found the words of ,scripture rising again and again unawares to my lips1 and said--,yes3 the ,bible words are the best words1 the only words for such a sight as this4 ,these too are trees of ,god which are full of sap4 ,these1 too1 are trees1 which ,god1 not man1 has planted4 ,mind1 ,i do not say that ,i should have said so1 if ,i had not learnt to say so from the ,bible4 ,without the ,bible ,i should have been1 ,i presume1 either an idolater or an atheist4 ,and mind1 also1 that ,i do not say that the ,psalmist learnt to call the cedars trees of ,god by his own unassisted reason4 ,i believe the very opposite4 ,i believe that no man can see the truth of a thing unless ,god shews it him2 that no man can find out ,god1 in earth or heaven1 unless ,god condescends to reveal ,himself to that man4 ,but ,i believe that ,god did reveal ,himself to the ,psalmist2 did enlighten his reason by the inspiration of ,his ,holy ,spirit2 did teach him1 as we teach a child1 what to call those cedars2 and1 as it were1 whispered to him1 though with no audible voice3 ,thou wishest to know what name is most worthy whereby to call those mighty trees3 then call them trees of ,god4 ,know that there is but one ,god1 of whom are all things2 and that they are ,his trees2 and that ,he planted them1 to shew forth ,his wisdom1 ,his power1 and ,his good will to man4 ,and do you fancy that because the ,jew called the great cedars trees of ,god1 that therefore he thought that the lentiscs and oleanders1 by the brook outside1 were not ,god's shrubs2 or the lilies and anemones upon the down below were not ,god's flowers8 ,some folk have fancied so4--,it seems to me most unreasonably4 ,i should have thought that here the rule stood true2 that that which is greater contains the less2 that if the ,psalmist knew ,god to be mighty enough to make and plant the cedars1 he would think ,him also mighty enough to make and plant the smallest flower at his feet4 ,i think so4 ,for ,i know it was so with me4 ,my feeling that those enormous trees over my head were ,god's trees1 did not take away in the least from my feeling of ,god's wisdom and power in the tiniest herb at their feet4 ,nay rather1 it increased my feeling that ,god was filling all things with life and beauty2 till the whole forest1--if ,i may so speak in all humility1 but in all honesty--from the highest to the lowest1 from the hugest to the smallest1 and every leaf and bud therein1 seemed full of the glory of ,god4 ,and if ,i could feel that1--being the thing ,i am--how much more must the inspired ,psalmist have felt it8 ,you see by this very psalm that he did feel it4 ,the grass for the use of cattle1 and the green herb for men1 and the corn and the wine and the oil1 he says1 are just as much ,god's making1 and ,god's gift4 ,the earth is filled1 he says1 with the fruit of ,god's works4 ,filled3 not dotted over here and there with a few grand and wonderful things which ,god cares for1 while ,he cares for nothing else3 but filled4 ,let us take the words of ,scripture honestly in their whole strength2 and believe that if the ,psalmist saw ,god's work in the great cedars1 he saw it everywhere else likewise4 ,nay1 more3 ,i will say this4 ,that ,i believe it was such teaching as that of this very #ajdth ,psalm--teaching which runs1 my friends1 throughout the ,old ,testament1 especially through the ,psalmists and the ,prophets--which enabled the ,jews to understand our ,lord's homely parables about the flowers of the field and the birds of the air4 ,those of them at least who were ,israelites indeed2 those who did understand1 and had treasured up in their hearts1 the old revelation of ,moses1 and the ,psalmists1 and the ,prophets2 those who did still believe that the cedars were the trees of ,god1 and that ,god brought forth grass for the cattle1 and green herb for the service of men2 and who could see ,god's hand1 ,god's laws1 ,god's love1 working in them--those men and women1 be sure1 were the very ones who understood our ,lord1 when ,he said1 ,consider the lilies of the field1 how they grow4 ,they toil not1 neither do they spin4 ,and yet ,i say unto you1 that ,solomon in all his glory was not compared unto one of these4 ,and why should it not be so with you1 townsfolk though you are8 ,every ,londoner has now1 in the public parks and gardens1 the privilege of looking on plants and flowers1 more rich1 more curious1 more varied than meet the eye of any average countryman4 ,then when you next avail yourselves of that real boon of our modern civilization1 let me beg you not to forget the lesson which ,i have been trying to teach you4 ,you may feel--you ought to feel--that those strange and stately semitropic forms are indeed plants of ,god2 the work of a creative ,spirit who delights to employ ,his ,almighty power in producing ever fresh shapes of beauty--seemingly unnecessary1 seemingly superfluous1 seemingly created for the sake of their beauty alone--in order that the ,lord may delight ,himself in ,his works4 ,let that sight make you admire and reverence more1 not less1 the meanest weed beneath your feet4 ,remember that the very weeds in your own garden are actually more highly organized2 have cost--if ,i may so say1 with all reverence1 but ,i can only speak of the infinite in clumsy terms of the finite--the ,creator more thought1 more pains1 than the giant cedars of ,lebanon1 and the giant cypresses of ,california4 ,remember that the smallest moss or lichen which clings upon the wall1 is full of wonders and beauties1 as inexplicable as unexpected2 and that of every flower on your own window-sill the words of ,christ stand literally true--that ,solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these3 and bow your hearts and souls before the magnificent prodigality1 the exquisite perfection of ,his work1 who can be1 as often as ,he will1 greatest in that which is least1 because to ,his infinity nothing is great1 and nothing small2 who hath created all things1 and for ,his pleasure they are1 and were created2 who rejoices for ever in ,his own works1 because ,he beholds for ever all that ,he makes1 and it is very good4 ,and then refresh your hearts as well as your brains--tired it may be1 too often1 with the drudgery of some mechanical1 or merely calculating1 occupation--refresh your hearts1 ,i say1 by lifting them up unto the ,lord1 in truly spiritual1 truly heavenly thoughts2 which bring nobleness1 and trust1 and peace1 to the humblest and the most hardworked man4 ,for you can say in your hearts--,all the things which ,i see1 are ,god's things4 ,they are thoughts of ,god4 ,god gives them law1 and life1 and use4 ,my heavenly ,father made them4 ,my ,saviour redeemed them with ,his most precious blood1 and rules and orders them for ever4 ,the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 which was given me at my baptism1 gives them life and power to grow and breed after their kinds4 ,the divine1 miraculous1 and supernatural power of ,god ,himself is working on them1 and for them1 perpetually3 and how much more on me1 and for me1 and all my children1 and fellow-creatures for whom ,christ died4 ,without my ,father in heaven not a sparrow falls to the ground3 and am ,i not of more value than many sparrows8 ,god feeds the birds3 and will ,he not feed me8 ,god clothes the lilies of the field3 and will ,he not clothe me8 ,ah1 me of little faith1 who forget daily that in ,god ,i live1 and move1 and have my being1 and am1 in spite of all my sins1 the child of ,god4 ,him ,i can trust in prosperous times1 and in disastrous times2 in good harvests and in bad harvests2 in life and in death1 in time and in eternity4 ,for ,he has given all things a law which cannot be broken4 ,and they continue this day as at the beginning1 serving ,him4 ,and if ,i serve ,him likewise1 then shall ,i be in harmony with ,god1 and with ,god's laws1 and with ,god's creatures1 great and small4 ,the whole powers of nature as well as of spirit will be arrayed on my side in the struggle for existence2 and all things will work together for good to those who love ,god4 ,,sermon ,,xvii4 ,,life4 ,,psalm ,,civ4 #bd1 #bh-cj4 ,o ,lord1 how manifold are ,thy works6 in wisdom hast ,thou made them all3 the earth is full of ,thy riches4 ,that ,thou givest them they gather4 ,thou openest ,thine hand1 they are filled with good4 ,thou hidest ,thy face1 they are troubled4 ,thou takest away their breath1 they die1 and return to their dust4 ,thou sendest forth ,thy ,spirit1 they are created3 and ,thou renewest the face of the earth4 ,what is the most important thing to you1 and me1 and every man8 ,i suppose that most1 if they answered honestly1 would say--,life4 ,i will give anything ,i have for my life4 ,and if some among you answered--as ,i doubt not some would--,no3 not life3 but honour and duty4 ,there is many a thing which ,i would rather die than do--then you would answer like valiant and righteous folk2 and may ,god give you grace to keep in the same mind1 and to hold your good resolution to the last4 ,but you1 too1 will agree that1 except doing your duty1 life is the most important thing you have4 ,the mother1 when she sacrifices her life to save her child1 shews thereby how valuable she holds the child's life to be2 so valuable that she will give up even her own to save it4 ,but did you never consider1 again--and a very solemn and awful thought it is--that this so important thing called life is the thing1 above all other earthly things1 of which we know least--ay1 of which we know nothing8 ,we do not know what death is4 ,we send a shot through a bird1 and it falls dead--that is1 lies still1 and after a while decays again into the dust of the earth1 and the gases of the air4 ,but what has happened to it8 ,how does it die8 ,how does it decay8 ,what is this life which is gone out of it8 ,no man knows4 ,men of science1 by dissecting and making experiments1 which they do with a skill and patience which deserve not only our belief1 but our admiration1 will describe to us the phenomena1 or outward appearances1 which accompany death1 and follow death4 ,but death itself--for want of what the animal has died--what has gone out of it--they cannot tell4 ,no man can tell2 for that is invisible1 and not to be discovered by the senses4 ,they are therefore forced to explain death by theories1 which may be true1 or false3 but which are after all not death itself1 but their own thoughts about death put into their own words4 ,death no man can see3 but only the phenomena and effects of death2 and still more1 life no man can see3 but only the phenomena and effects of life4 ,for if we cannot tell what death is1 still more we cannot tell what life is4 ,how life begins2 how it organizes each living thing according to its kind2 and makes it grow2 how it gives it the power of feeding on other things1 and keeping up its own body thereby3 of this all experiments tell us as yet nothing4 ,experiment gives us1 here again1 the phenomena--the visible effects4 ,but the causes it sees not1 and cannot see4 ,this is not a matter to be discussed here4 ,but this ,i say1 that scientific men1 in the last generation or two1 have learnt1 to their great honour1 and to the great good of mankind--everything1 or almost everything1 about it--except the thing itself2 and that1 below all facts1 below all experiments1 below all that the eye or brain of man can discover1 lies always a something nameless1 invisible1 imponderable1 yet seemingly omnipresent and omnipotent2 retreating before the man of science deeper and deeper1 the deeper he delves3 namely1 the life1 which shapes and makes all phenomena1 and all facts4 ,scientific men are becoming more and more aware of this unknown force1 ,i had almost said1 ready to worship it4 ,more and more the noblest minded of them are becoming engrossed with that truly miraculous element in nature which is always escaping them1 though they cannot escape it4 ,how should they escape it8 ,was it not written of old--,whither shall ,i go from ,thy presence8 and whither shall ,i flee from ,thy ,spirit8 ,what then can we know of this same life1 which is so precious in most men's eyes8 ,my friends1 it was once said--,that man's instinct was in all unknown matters to take refuge in ,god4 ,the words were meant as a sneer4 ,i1 as a ,christian1 glory in them2 and ask1 ,where else should man take refuge1 save in ,god8 ,when man sees anything--as he must see hundreds of things--which he cannot account for2 things mysterious1 and seemingly beyond the power of his mind to explain3 what safer1 what wiser word can he say than--,this is the ,lord's doing1 and it is marvellous in our eyes8 ,god understands it3 though ,i do not4 ,be it what it may1 it is a work of ,god4 ,from ,god it comes3 by ,god it is ruled and ordered4 ,that at least ,i know3 and let that be enough for me4 ,and so we may say of life4 ,when we are awed1 and all but terrified1 by the unfathomable mystery of life1 we can at least take refuge in ,god4 ,and if we be wise1 we shall take refuge in ,god4 ,whatever we can or cannot know about it1 this we know2 that it is the gift of ,god4 ,so thought the old ,jewish ,prophets and ,psalmists2 and spoke of a breath of ,god1 a vapour1 a ,spirit of ,god1 which breathed life into all things4 ,it was but a figure of speech1 of course3 but if a better one has yet been found1 let the words in which it has been written or spoken be shewn to me4 ,for to me1 at least1 they are yet unknown4 ,i have read1 as yet1 no wiser words about the matter than those of the old ,jewish sages1 who told how1 at the making of the world1 the ,spirit1 or breath1 of ,god moved on the face of the waters1 quickening all things to life2 or how ,god breathed into man's nostrils the breath or spirit of life1 and man became a living soul4 ,and in the same temper does that true philosopher and truly inspired ,psalmist1 who wrote the #acith ,psalm1 speak of the ,spirit or breath of ,god4 ,he considers his own body3 how fearfully and wonderfully it is made2 how ,god did see his substance1 yet being imperfect2 and in ,god's book were all his members written1 which day by day were fashioned1 while as yet there was none of them4 ,thou1 he says1 ,o ,god1 hast fashioned me behind and before1 and laid ,thine hand upon me4 ,such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me2 ,i cannot attain to it4 ,but1 he says to himself1 there is ,one ,who has attained to it2 ,who does know2 for ,he has done it all1 and is doing it still3 and that is ,god and the ,spirit of ,god4 ,whither--he asks--shall ,i go then from ,god's ,spirit8 ,whither shall ,i flee from ,god's presence8 ,and so he sees by faith--and by the highest reason likewise--,the ,spirit of ,god1 as a living1 thinking1 acting being1 who quickens and shapes1 and orders1 not his mortal body merely1 but all things2 giving life1 law1 and form to all created things1 from the heights of heaven to the depths of hell2 and ready to lead him and hold him1 if he took the wings of the morning and fled into the uttermost parts of the sea4 ,and so speaks again he who wrote the #ajdth ,psalm1 and the text which ,i have chosen4 ,to him1 too1 the mystery of death1 and still more the mystery of life1 could be explained only by faith in ,god1 and in the ,spirit of ,god4 ,if things died1 it was because ,god took away their breath1 and therefore they returned to their dust4 ,and if things lived1 it was because the ,spirit of ,god1 breathed forth1 and proceeding1 from ,god1 gave them life4 ,he pictured to himself1 ,i dare to fancy1 what we may picture to ourselves--for such places have often been1 and are now1 in this world--some new and barren land1 even as the very gravel on which we stand was once1 just risen from the icy sea1 all waste and lifeless1 without a growing weed1 an insect1 even a moss4 ,then1 gradually1 seeds float thither across the sea1 or are wafted by the winds1 and grow2 and after them come insects2 then birds2 then trees grow up2 and larger animals arrive to feed beneath their shade2 till the once barren land has become fertile and rich with life1 and the face of the earth is renewed4 ,but by what8 ,god1 says the ,psalmist1 has renewed the face of the earth4 ,true1 the seeds1 the animals came by natural causes3 but who was the ,cause of those causes8 ,who sent the things thither1 save ,god8 ,and who gave them life8 ,who kept the life in floating seeds1 in flying spores8 ,who made that life1 when they reached the barren shore1 grow and thrive in each after their kind8 ,who1 but the ,spirit of ,god1 the ,lord and ,giver of life8 ,god let ,his ,spirit proceed and go forth from ,himself upon them2 and they were made2 and so ,he renewed the face of the earth4 ,that1 my good friends1 is not only according to ,scripture1 but according to true philosophy4 ,men are slow to believe it now3 and no wonder4 ,they have been always slow to believe in the living ,god2 and have made themselves instead dead gods--if not of wood and stone1 still out of their own thoughts and imaginations2 and talk of laws of nature1 and long abstractions ending in ation and ality1 like that ,evolution with which so many are in love just now2 and worship them as gods2 mere words1 the work of their own brains1 though not of their own hands--even though they be--as many of them are--,evolution1 ,i hold1 among the rest--true and fair approximations to actual laws of ,god4 ,but before them1 and behind them1 and above them and below them1 lives the ,author of ,evolution1 and of everything else4 ,for ,god lives1 and reigns1 and works for ever4 ,the ,spirit of ,god proceedeth from the ,father and the ,son1 giving1 evolving1 and ruling the life of all created things2 and what we call nature1 and this world1 and the whole universe1 is an unfathomable mystery1 and a perpetual miracle1 ,the one ,author and ,ruler of which is the ever-blessed ,trinity1 of whom it is written--,the glorious majesty of the ,lord shall endure for ever3 the ,lord shall rejoice in ,his works4 ,i believe1 therefore1 that the ,psalmist in the text is speaking1 not merely sound doctrine but sound philosophy4 ,i believe that the simplest and the most rational account of the mystery of life is that which is given by the ,christian faith2 and that the ,nicene ,creed speaks truth and fact1 when it bids us call the ,holy ,spirit of ,god the ,lord and ,giver of life4 ,that this is according to the orthodox ,catholic ,faith there is no doubt4 ,many mistakes were made on this matter1 in the early times of the ,church1 even by most learned and holy divines2 as was to be expected1 considering the mysteriousness of the subject4 ,they were inclined1 often1 to what is called ,pantheism--that is1 to fancy that all living things are parts of ,god2 that ,god's ,spirit is in them1 as our soul is in our body1 or as heat is in a heated matter2 and to speak of ,god's ,spirit as the soul and life of the world4 ,but this is exactly what the ,nicene ,creed does not do4 ,it does not say that the ,holy ,spirit is life3 but that ,he is the ,lord and ,giver of life--a seemingly small difference in words3 but a most vast and important difference in meaning and in truth4 ,the true doctrine1 it seems to me1 is laid down most clearly by the famous bishop1 ,cyril of ,alexandria2 who1 whatever personal faults he had--and they were many--had doubtless dialectic intellect enough for this1 and even deeper questions4 ,and he says--,the ,holy ,spirit moves all things that are moved2 and holds together1 and animates1 and makes alive1 the whole universe4 ,nor is ,he another ,nature different from the ,father and the ,son3 but as ,he is in us2 of the same nature and the same essence as they4 ,and so says another divine1 ,eneas of ,gaza--,the ,father1 with the ,son1 sends forth the ,holy ,spirit2 and inspiring with this ,spirit all things1 beyond sense and of sense--invisible and visible--fills them with power1 and holds them together1 and draws them to ,himself4 ,and he prays thus to the ,holy ,spirit a prayer which is to my mind as noble as it is true--,o ,holy ,spirit1 by whom ,god inspires1 and holds together1 and preserves all things1 and leads them to perfection4 ,i quote such words to shew you that ,i am not giving you new fancies of my own3 but simply what ,i believe to be the ancient1 orthodox and honest meaning of that same ,nicene ,creed1 which you just new heard2 where it says that the ,holy ,spirit is the ,lord and ,giver of life2 and the meaning of the #ajdth ,psalm also1 where it says--,thou lettest ,thy breath--,thy ,spirit--go forth1 and they shall be made1 and ,thou shall renew the face of the earth4 ,and now--if anyone shall say--,this may be all very true4 ,but what is it to me8 ,you are talking about nature2 about animals and plants1 and lands and seas4 ,what ,i come to church to hear of1 is about my own soul-- ,i should answer such a man--,my good friend1 you come to church to hear about ,god as well as about what you call your soul4 ,and any sound knowledge which you can learn about ,god1 must be--believe me--of use to your immortal soul4 ,for if you have wrong notions concerning ,god3 how can you avoid having wrong notions concerning your soul1 which lives and moves and has its being in ,god8 ,but look at it thus4 ,at least ,i have been speaking of the works of ,god4 ,and are not you1 too1 a work of ,god8 ,the ,lord shall rejoice in ,his works1 even to the tiniest gnat that dances in the sun4 ,is the ,lord rejoicing in you8 ,i have said--,whither shall a man go from ,god's presence8 ,are you forgetting or remembering ,god's presence8 ,and--,whither shall a man flee from ,god's ,spirit8 ,are you1 ,o man1 fleeing from ,god's ,spirit1 and forgetting ,his gracious inspirations2 all pure and holy1 and noble1 and just and lovely and truly human1 thoughts1 in the whirl of pleasure1 or covetousness1 or ambition1 or actual sin8 ,if so1 look at the tiniest gnat which dances in the air1 the meanest flower beneath your feet2 and be ashamed1 and fear1 and tremble before the ,living ,god1 and before ,his ,spirit4 ,for the gnat and the flower are doing their duty1 and pleasing the ,holy ,spirit of ,god2 and you are not doing your duty1 and are grieving the ,holy ,spirit of ,god4 ,for simply3 because that ,spirit is the ,spirit of ,god1 ,he is a ,holy ,spirit1 who tries to make you--,o man and not animal--holy2 a moral1 and spiritual1 and good being4 ,because you are a moral and spiritual being1 ,god's ,spirit exercises over you a moral power which ,he does not exercise over the plants and animals4 ,he works not merely on your body and your brain3 but on your heart and immortal soul4 ,but if you choose to be immoral1 when ,he is trying to keep you moral2 if you choose to be carnal like the brutes1 while ,he is trying to make you spiritual1 like ,jesus ,christ1 from whom ,he proceeds3 then1 oh then1 tremble1 and beware1 and be ashamed before the very flowers which grow in your own garden-bed2 for they fulfil the law which ,god has given them4 ,they are what they ought to be1 each after its kind4 ,but you are not what you ought to be1 after your kind2 which is a good man1 or a good woman1 or a good child4 ,oh beware lest the ,lord should fulfil in you the awful words of this ,psalm2 lest ,he should hide ,his face from you1 and you be troubled2 and lest when ,he takes away your breath you should die1 and turn again to your dust2 and find1 too late1 that the wages of sin are death--death not merely of the body1 but of the soul4 ,rather repent1 and amend1 and remember that most blessed1 and yet most awful fact--that ,god's ,spirit is with you from your baptism until now1 putting into your heart good desires1 and ready to enable you--if you will--to bring those good desires to good effect3 instead of leaving them only as good intentions1 with which1 says the too true proverb1 hell is paved4 ,so will be fulfilled in you the blessed words of the next verse--,when ,thou lettest ,thy ,spirit go forth1 they shall be made2 and ,thou shalt renew the face of the earth--words which ,st ,augustine of old applied to the work of ,god's ,spirit on the souls of men4 ,for well it is with us--as ,st ,augustine says--when ,god takes away from us our own spirit1 the spirit of pride and self-will and self-righteousness2 and we see that we are but dust and ashes2 worse than the animals1 in that we have sinned1 and they have not4 ,confess--he says--thy weakness and thy dust3 and then listen to what follows3--,thou shalt take away from them their own spirit2 but ,thou shalt send forth ,thy ,spirit on them1 and they shall be made and created anew4 ,as the ,apostle says1 ,we are ,god's own workmanship1 created in ,christ ,jesus unto good works4 ,and so--he says--,god will indeed renew the face of the earth with converted and renewed men1 who confess that they are not righteous in themselves1 but made righteous by the grace of the ,spirit of ,god2 and so the ,lord shall rejoice in ,his works2 you will be indeed ,his work1 and ,he will rejoice in you4 ,yes4 ,god will indeed rejoice in us1 if we obey the godly inspirations of ,his ,spirit4 ,but again1 we shall rejoice in ,god2 if we be but led by ,his ,spirit into all truth1 and thence into all righteousness4 ,then we shall be in harmony with ,god1 and with the whole universe of ,god4 ,we shall have our share in that perpetual worship which is celebrated throughout the universe by all creatures1 rational and irrational1 who are obeying the laws of their being2 the laws of the ,spirit of ,god1 the ,lord and ,giver of life4 ,we shall take our part in that perpetual ,hymn which calls on all the works of the ,lord1 from angels and powers1 sun and stars1 winds and seasons1 seas and floods1 trees and flowers1 beasts and cattle1 to the children of men1 and the servants of the ,lord1 and the spirits and souls of the righteous1 and the holy and humble men of heart--,o all ye works of the ,lord1 bless ye the ,lord1 praise ,him and magnify ,him for ever4 ,,sermon ,,xviii4 ,,death4 ,,psalm ,,civ4 #bj1 #ba4 ,thou makest darkness1 and it is night3 wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth4 ,the lions roar after their prey1 and seek their meat from ,god4 ,let me say a few words on this text4 ,it is one which has been a comfort to me again and again4 ,it is one which1 if rightly understood1 ought to give comfort to pitiful and tender-hearted persons4 ,have you never been touched by1 never been even shocked by1 the mystery of pain and death8 ,i do not speak now of pain and death among human beings3 but only of that pain and death among the dumb and irrational creatures1 which from one point of view is more pitiful than pain and death among human beings4 ,for pain1 suffering1 and death1 we know1 may be of use to human beings4 ,it may make them happier and better in this life1 or in the life to come2 if they are the ,christians which they ought to be4 ,but of what use can suffering and death be to dumb animals8 ,how can it make them better in this life1 and happier in the life to come8 ,it seems1 in the case of animals1 to be only so much superfluous misery thrown away4 ,would to ,god that people would remember that1 when they unnecessarily torment dumb creatures1 and then excuse themselves by saying--,oh1 they are not human beings2 they are not ,christians2 and therefore it does not matter so much4 ,i should have thought that therefore it mattered all the more3 and that just because dumb animals have1 as far as we know1 only this mortal life1 therefore we should allow them the fuller enjoyment of their brief mortality4 ,and yet1 how much suffering1 how much violent death1 there is among animals4 ,how much8 ,the world is full of it1 and has been full of it for ages4 ,i dare to say1 that of the millions on millions of living creatures in the earth1 the air1 the sea1 full one-half live by eating each other4 ,in the sea1 indeed1 almost every kind of creature feeds on some other creature3 and what an amount of pain1 of terror1 of violent death that means1 or seems to mean6 ,we here1 in a cultivated country1 are slow to take in this thought4 ,we have not here1 as in ,india1 ,africa1 ,america1 lion and tiger1 bear and wolf1 jaguar and puma1 perpetually prowling round the farms1 and taking their tithe of our sheep and cattle4 ,we have never heard1 as the ,psalmist had1 the roar of the lion round the village at night1 or seen all the animals1 down to the very dogs1 crowding together in terror1 knowing but too well what that roar meant4 ,if we had2 and had been like the ,psalmist1 thoughtful men3 then it would have been a very solemn question to us--,from whom the lion was asking for his nightly meal2 whether from ,god1 or from some devil as cruel as himself8 ,but even here the same slaughter of animals by animals goes on4 ,the hawk feeds on the small birds1 the small birds on the insects1 the insects1 many of them1 on each other4 ,even our most delicate and seemingly harmless songsters1 like the nightingale1 feed entirely on living creatures--each one of which1 however small1 has cost ,god as much pains--if ,i may so speak in all reverence--to make as the nightingale itself2 and thus1 from the top to the bottom of creation1 is one chain of destruction1 and pain1 and death4 ,what is the meaning of it all8 ,ought it to be so1 or ought it not8 ,is it ,god's will and law1 or is it not8 ,that is a solemn question2 and one which has tried many a thoughtful1 and tender1 and virtuous soul ere now1 both ,christian and heathen2 and has driven them to find strange answers to it1 which have been1 often enough1 not according to ,scripture1 or to the ,catholic ,faith4 ,some used to say1 in old times2 and they may say again--,this world1 so full of pain and death1 is a very ill-made world4 ,we will not believe that it was made by the good ,god4 ,it must have been made by some evil being1 or at least by some stupid and clumsy being--the ,demiurgus1 they called him--or the world-maker--some inferior ,god1 whom the good ,god would conquer and depose1 and so do away with pain1 and misery1 and death4 ,a pardonable mistake3 but1 as we are bound to believe1 a mistake nevertheless4 ,others1 again1 good ,christians and good men likewise1 have invented another answer to the mystery--like that which ,milton gives in his ',paradise ,lost4' ,they have said--,before ,adam fell there was no pain or death in the world4 ,it was only after ,adam's fall that the animals began to destroy and devour each other4 ,ever since then there has been a curse on the earth1 and this is one of the fruits thereof4 ,now ,i say distinctly1 as ,i have said elsewhere1 that we are not bound to believe this or anything like it4 ,the book of ,genesis does not say that the animals began to devour each other at ,adam's fall4 ,it does not even say that the ground is cursed for man's sake now1 much less the animals4 ,for we read in ,genesis ix4 #ba--;,and the ,lord said1 ,i will not any more curse the ground for man's sake4 ,neither do the ,psalmists and ,prophets give the least hint of any such doctrine4 ,surely1 if we found it anywhere1 we should find it in this very #ajdth ,psalm1 and somewhere near the very verse which ,i have taken for my text4 ,but this ,psalm gives no hint of it4 ,so far from saying that ,god has cursed ,his own works1 or looks on them as cursed3 it says--,the ,lord shall rejoice in ,his works4 ,others will tell us that ,st ,paul has said so1 where he says that by one man sin entered into the world1 and death by sin4 ,but ,i must very humbly1 but very firmly1 demur to that4 ,st ,paul shews that when he speaks of the world he means the world of men2 for he goes on to say1 ,and so death passed upon all men1 in that all have sinned4 ,by mentioning men1 he excludes the animals2 he excludes all who have not sinned3 according to a sound rule of logic which lawyers know well4 ,what ,st ,paul meant1 ,i believe1 is most probably this3 that ,adam1 by sinning1 lost his heavenly birthright2 and put on the carnal and fleshly likeness of the animals1 instead of the likeness of ,god in which he was created2 and therefore1 sowing to the flesh1 of the flesh reaped corruption2 and became subject to death even as the dumb beasts are4 ,be that as it may1 we know--as certainly as we can know anything from the use of our own eyes and common sense--that long ages before ,adam1 long ages before men existed on this earth1 the animals destroyed and ate each other1 even as they are doing now4 ,we know that ages ago1 in old worlds1 long before this present world in which we live1 the seas swarmed with sharks and other monsters1 who not only died as animals do now1 but who did devour--for there is actual proof of it--other living creatures2 and that the same process went on on the land likewise4 ,the rocks and soils1 for miles beneath our feet1 are one vast graveyard1 full of the skeletons of creatures1 almost all unlike any living now1 who1 long before the days of ,adam1 and still more before the days of ,noah1 lived and died1 generation after generation2 and sought their meat--from whom--if not from ,god8 ,yes1 that last is the answer--the only answer which can give a thoughtful and tender-hearted soul comfort1 at the sight of so much pain and death on earth--,in every unknown question1 to take refuge in ,god4 ,and that is the answer which the inspired ,psalmist gives1 in the #ajdth ,psalm--,the lions roaring after their prey do seek their meat from ,god4 ,and if they seek it from ,god1 all must be right3 we know not how2 but ,he who made them knows4 ,consider1 with respect and admiration1 the manful1 cheerful view of pain and death1 and indeed of the whole creation1 which the ,psalmist has1 because he has faith4 ,there is in him no sentimentalism1 no complaining of ,god1 no impious1 or at least weak and peevish1 cry of ,why hast ,thou made things thus8 ,he sees the mystery of pain and death4 ,he does not attempt to explain it3 but he faces it2 faces it cheerfully and manfully1 in the strength of his faith1 saying--,this too1 mysterious1 painful1 terrible as it may seem1 is as it should be2 for it is of the law and will of ,god1 from whom come all good things2 of ,the ,god in whom is light1 and in ,him is no darkness at all4 ,therefore to the ,psalmist the earth is a noble sight2 filled1 to his eyes1 with the fruit of ,god's works4 ,and so is the great and wide sea likewise4 ,he looks upon it2 full of things creeping innumerable1 both small and great beasts1 for ever dying1 for ever devouring each other4 ,and yet it does not seem to him a dreadful and a shocking place4 ,what impresses his mind is just what would impress the mind of a modern poet1 a modern man of science2 namely1 the wonderful variety1 richness1 and strangeness of its living things4 ,their natures and their names he knows not4 ,it was not given to his race to know4 ,it is enough for him that known unto ,god are all ,his works from the foundation of the world4 ,but one thing more important than their natures and their names he does know2 for he perceives it with the instinct of a true poet and a true philosopher--,these all wait upon thee1 ,o ,god1 that ,thou mayest give them meat in due season4 ,but more4--,there go the ships2 things specially wonderful and significant to him1 the landsman of the ,judaean hills1 as they were afterward to ,muhammed1 the landsman of the ,arabian deserts4 ,and he has talked with sailors from those ships2 from ,tarshish and the far ,atlantic1 or from ,ezion-geber and the ,indian seas4 ,and he has heard from them of mightier monsters than his own ,mediterranean breeds2 of the ,leviathan1 the whale1 larger than the largest ship which he has ever seen1 rolling and spouting among the ocean billows1 far out of sight of land1 and swallowing1 at every gape of its huge jaws1 hundreds of living creatures for its food4 ,but he does not talk of it as a cruel and devouring monster1 formed by a cruel and destroying deity1 such as the old ,canaanites imagined1 when--so the legend ran--they offered up ,andromeda to the sea-monster1 upon that very rock at ,joppa1 which the ,psalmist1 doubtless1 knew full well4 ,no4 ,this psalm is an inspired philosopher's rebuke to that very superstition2 it is the justification of the noble old ,greek tale1 which delivers ,andromeda by the help of a hero1 taught by the ,gods who love to teach ,mankind4 ,for what strikes the ,psalmist is1 again1 exactly what would strike a modern poet1 or a modern man of science3 the strength and ease of the vast beast2 its enjoyment of its own life and power4 ,it is to him the ,leviathan1 whom ,god has made to play in the sea2 to take his pastime therein4 ,truly this was a healthy-minded man2 as all will be1 and only they1 who have full faith in the one good ,god1 of whom are all things1 both in earth and heaven4 ,then he goes further still4 ,he has looked into the face of life innumerable4 ,now he looks into the face of innumerable death2 and sees there too the ,spirit and the work of ,god4 ,thou givest to them2 they gather3 ,thou openest thy hand2 they are filled with good3 ,thou hidest thy face2 they are troubled3 ,thou takest away their breath2 they die1 and are turned again to their dust4 ,poetry8 ,yes3 but1 like all highest poetry1 highest philosophy2 and soundest truth likewise4 ,nay1 he goes further still--further1 it may be1 than most of us would dare to go1 had he not gone before us in the courage of his faith4 ,he dares to say1 of such a world as this--,the glory of the ,lord shall endure for ever4 ,the ,lord shall rejoice in ,his works4 ,the glory of the ,lord1 then1 is shewn forth1 and endures for ever1 in these animals of whom the ,psalmist has been speaking1 though they devour each other day and night4 ,the ,lord rejoices in ,his works1 even though ,his works live by each other's death4 ,the ,lord shall rejoice in ,his works--says this great poet and philosopher4 ,but what ,lord1 and what ,god8 ,ah1 my friends1 all depends on the answer to that question4 ,there be1 says ,st ,paul1 lords many1 and gods many3 and since his time1 men have made fresh lords and gods for themselves1 and believed in them1 and worshipped them1 while they fancied that they were believing in the one true ,god1 in the same ,god in whom the man believed who wrote the #ajdth ,psalm4 ,do we truly believe in that one true ,god1 ,father1 ,son and ,holy ,spirit8 ,let me beg you to consider that question earnestly4 ,the ,psalmist1 when he talked of the ,lord1 did not mean merely what some people call the ,deity1 or the ,supreme ,being1 or the ,creator4 ,you will remark that ,i said--,what4 ,i do not care to say1 ,whom1 of such a notion2 that is1 of a ,god who made the world1 and set it going once for all1 but has never meddled with it2 never1 so to speak1 looked at it since3 so that the world would go on just the same1 and just as well1 if ,god thenceforth had ceased to be4 ,no3 that is a dead ,god2 an absentee ,god--as one said bitterly once4 ,but the ,psalmist believed in the living ,god1 and a present ,god1 in whom we live and move and have our being2 in a ,god who does not leave the world alone for a moment1 nor in the smallest matter1 but is always interested in it1 attending to it1 enforcing ,his own laws1 working--if ,i may so speak in all reverence--and using the most pitifully insufficient analogy--working--,i say--,his own machinery2 making all things work together for good1 at least to those who love ,god2 a ,god without whom not a sparrow falls to the ground1 and in whose sight all the hairs of our heads are numbered4 ,in one word1 he believed in a living ,god4 ,if anyone had said to the ,psalmist1 as ,i have heard men say now-a-days--,of course we believe1 with you1 in a general ,providence of ,god over the whole universe4 ,but you do not surely believe in special ,providences8 ,that would be superstition4 ,god governs the world by law1 and not by special ,providences4 ,then ,i believe that the ,psalmist would have answered--,laws8 ,i believe in them as much as you1 and perhaps more than you4 ,but as for special ,providences1 ,i believe in them so much1 that ,i believe that the whole universe1 and all that has ever happened in it from the beginning1 has happened by special ,providences2 that not an organic being has assumed its present form1 after long ages and generations1 save by a continuous series of special ,providences2 that not a weed grows in a particular spot1 without a special ,providence of ,god that it should grow there1 and nowhere else2 then1 and nowhen else4 ,i believe that every step ,i take1 every person ,i meet1 every thought which comes into my mind--which is not sinful--comes and happens by the perpetual special ,providence of ,god1 watching for ever with ,fatherly care over me1 and each separate thing that ,he has made4 ,and if a modern philosopher--or one so called--had said to him1--',this is unthinkable and inconceivable1 and therefore cannot be4 ,i cannot think of--,i cannot conceive a mind--or as ,i call it--a series of states of consciousness1 as antecedent to the infinity of processes simultaneously going on in all the plants that cover the globe1 from scattered polar lichens to crowded tropical palms1 and in all the millions of animals which roam among them1 and the millions of millions of insects which buzz among them3'--,then the ,psalmist would have answered him1 ,i believe1--',if you cannot1 my friend1 ,i can4 ,and you must not make your power of thought and conception the measure of the universe1 or even of other men's intellects2 or say--,because ,i cannot conceive a thing1 therefore no man can conceive it1 and therefore it does not exist4 ,but pray1 ,o philosopher1 if you cannot think and conceive of the omnipresence and omnipotence of ,god1 what can you think and conceive8' ,then if that philosopher had answered him--as some would now-a-days--',i can conceive that the properties of very different elements1--and therefore the infinite variety and richness of nature which ,i cannot conceive as caused by a ,god--that the properties--,i say--of different elements result from differences of arrangement arising by the compounding and recompounding of ultimate homogeneous units'--,then1 ,i think1 the ,psalmist would have replied1 as soon as he had--like ,socrates of old in a like case--recovered from the 'dizziness' caused by an eloquence so unlike his own--',why1 this proposition is far more unthinkable to me1 and will be to #iii of #ajjj of the human race1 than mine about a ,god and a ,providence4 ,alas6 for the vagaries of the mind of man4 ,when it wants to prove a pet theory of its own1 it will strain at any gnat1 and swallow any camel4' ,but again--if a philosopher of more reasonable mood had said to him--as he very likely would say--',this is a grand conception of ,god3 but what proof have you of it8 ,how do you know that ,god does interfere1 by special ,providences1 in the world around us2 not only1 as you say1 perpetually3 but even now and then1 and at all8' ,then the ,psalmist1 like all true ,jews1 would have gone back to a certain old story which is to me the most precious story1 save one1 that ever was written on earth2 and have taken his stand on that4 ,he would have gone back--as the ,scripture always goes back--to the story of ,moses and the ,israelites in ,egypt1 and have said--',whatever ,i know or do not know about the ,laws of nature1 this ,i know--,that ,god can use them as ,he chooses1 to punish the wicked1 and to help the miserable4 ,for ,he did so by my forefathers4 ,when we ,jews were a poor1 small1 despised tribe of slaves in ,egypt1 ,the ,god who made heaven and earth shewed ,himself at once the ,god of nature1 and the ,god of grace4 ,for ,he took the powers of nature2 and fought with them against proud ,pharaoh and all his hosts2 and shewed that they belonged to ,him2 and that ,he could handle them all to do ,his work4 ,he shewed that ,he was ,lord1 not only of the powers of nature which give life and health1 but of those which give death and disease4 ,nothing was too grand1 nor too mean1 for ,him to use4 ,he took the lightning and the hail1 and the pestilence1 and the darkness1 and the ,east wind1 and the springtides of the ,red sea2 and ,he took also the locust-swarms1 and the frogs1 and the lice1 and the loathsome skin-diseases of ,egypt1 and the microscopic atomies which turn whole rivers into blood1 and kill the fish2 and with them ,he fought against ,pharaoh the man-,god1 the tyrant ruling at his own will in the name of his father the sun-,god and of the powers of nature2 till ,egypt was destroyed1 and ,pharaoh's host drowned in the sea2 ,and ,he brought out my forefathers with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm1 because ,he had heard their cry in ,egypt1 and saw their oppression under cruel taskmasters1 and pitied them1 and had mercy on them in their slavery and degradation4' ,that is my ,god--the old ,psalmist would have said4 ,not merely a strong ,god1 or a wise ,god2 but a good ,god1 and a gracious ,god1 and a just ,god likewise2 a ,god who not only made heaven and earth1 the sea1 and all that therein is1 but who keepeth ,his promise for ever2 who helpeth them to right who suffer wrong1 and feedeth the hungry4 ,yes1 my friends1 it is this magnificent conception of ,god's living and actual goodness and justice1 which the ,psalmist had1 which made him trust ,god about all the strange and painful things which he saw in the world--about1 for instance1 the suffering and death of animals2 and say--',if the lion roaring after his prey seeks his meat1 he seeks his meat from ,god3 and therefore he ought to seek it1 and he will find it4 ,it is all well3 ,i know not why3 but well it is1 for it is the law and will of the good and righteous and gracious ,god1 who brought ,his people out of the land of ,egypt4 ,and that is enough for me4' ,enough for him8 and should it not be enough for us1 and more than enough8--,we know what the ,psalmist knew not4 ,we know ,god to be more good1 more righteous1 more gracious than any ,prophet or ,psalmist could know4 ,we know that ,god so loved the world1 that ,he spared not ,his only- begotten ,son1 but freely gave ,him for us4 ,we know that the only-begotten ,son ,jesus ,christ so loved the world that ,he stooped to be born and suffer as mortal man1 and to die on the cross1 even while ,he was telling men that not a sparrow fell to the ground without the knowledge of their heavenly ,father1 and bidding them see how ,god fed the birds and clothed the lilies of the field4 ,ah1 my friends1 in this case1 as in all cases1 rest and comfort for our doubts and fears is to be found in one and the same place--at the foot of the ,cross of ,christ4 ,if we believe that ,he who hung upon that ,cross is--as ,he is--the maker and ruler of the universe1 the same from day to day and for ever3 then we can trust ,him in darkness as well as in light2 in doubt as well as in certainty2 in the face of pain1 disease1 and death1 as well as in the face of joy1 health1 and life2 and say--,lord1 we know not1 but ,thou knowest4 ,lord1 we believe1 help ,thou our unbelief4 ,make us sure that ,thou1 ,lord1 shalt save both man and beast4 ,for great are ,thy mercies1 ,o ,lord2 and the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of ,thy wings4 ,yes1 my friends1 this is1 after all1 a strange world1 a solemn world1 a world full of sad mysteries1 past our understanding4 ,as was said once by the holiest of modern ,englishmen1 now gone home to his rest--whose bust stands worthily in yonder chapel--,this is a world in which men must be sometimes sad who love ,god1 and care for their fellow-men4 ,but it is not over the dumb animals that we must mourn4 ,for they fulfil the laws of their being2 and whatever meat they seek1 they seek their meat from ,god4 ,rather must we mourn over those human beings who1 being made in the likeness of ,god1 and redeemed again into that likeness by our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and baptized into that likeness by the ,holy ,spirit1 put on again of their own will the likeness of the beasts which perish2 and find too often1 alas6 too late1 that the wages of sin are death4 ,rather must we mourn for those human beings who do not fulfil the laws of their being3 but break those laws by sin2 till they are ground by them to powder4 ,rather must we mourn for those who seek their meat1 not from ,god1 but from the world and the flesh2 and neglect the bread which cometh down from heaven1 and the meat which endureth to eternal life1 whereof the ,lord who gives it said--,seek ye first the kingdom of ,god1 and ,his righteousness1 and all other things shall be added unto you4 ,rather must we pray for ourselves1 and for all we love1 that ,god's ,spirit of eternal life would raise us up1 more and more day by day1 out of the likeness of the old ,adam1 who was of the earth1 earthy2 of whom it is written that--like the animals--dust he was1 and unto dust he must return2 and would mould us into the likeness of the new ,adam1 who is the ,lord from heaven1 into the likeness of which it is written1 that it is created after ,god's image1 in righteousness and true holiness2 the end of which is not death1 but everlasting life through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,and so will be fulfilled in us the saying of the ,psalmist2 and the ,lord shall rejoice in ,his works3 for we too1 not only body and soul1 but spirit also1 shall be the work of ,god2 and ,god will rejoice in us1 and we in ,god4 ,,sermon ,,xix4 ,,signs ,,and ,,wonders4 ,,john ,,iv4 #dh-ej4 ,then said ,jesus unto him1 ,except ye see signs and wonders1 ye will not believe4 ,the nobleman saith unto him1 ,sir1 come down ere my child die4 ,jesus saith unto him1 ,go thy way2 thy son liveth4 ,these words of our ,lord are found in the ,gospel for this day4 ,they are a rebuke1 though a gentle one4 ,he reproved the nobleman1 seemingly1 for his want of faith3 but ,he worked the miracle1 and saved the life of the child4 ,we do not know enough of the circumstances of this case1 to know exactly why our ,lord reproved the nobleman2 and what want of faith ,he saw in him4 ,some think that the man's fault was his mean notion of our ,lord's power2 his wish that ,he should come down the hills to ,capernaum1 and see the boy ,himself1 in order to cure him2 whereas he ought to have known that our ,lord could cure him--as ,he did--at a distance1 and by a mere wish1 which was no less than a command to nature1 and to that universe which ,he had made4 ,i cannot tell how this may be3 but of one thing ,i think we may be sure--,that this saying of our ,lord's is very deep1 and very wide2 and applies to many people1 in many times--perhaps to us in these modern times4 ,we must recollect one thing--,that our ,lord did not put forward the mere power of ,his miracles as the chief sign of ,his being the ,son of ,god4 ,not so3 ,he declared ,his almighty power most chiefly by shewing mercy and pity4 ,twice ,he refused to give the ,scribes and ,pharisees a sign from heaven4 ,an evil and adulterous generation1 ,he said1 seeketh after a sign3 but there shall be no sign given them1 but the sign of the prophet ,jonas4 ,and what was that1--but a warning to repent1 and mend their ways1 ere it was too late8 ,now the slightest use of our common sense must tell us1 that our ,lord could have given a sign of ,his almighty power if ,he had chosen2 and such a sign as no man1 even the dullest1 could have mistaken4 ,what prodigy could ,he not have performed1 before ,scribes and ,pharisees1 ,herod1 and ,pontius ,pilate8 ,thinkest thou1 ,he said ,himself1 that ,i cannot now pray to ,my ,father1 and ,he will send ,me presently more than twelve legions of angels8 ,yet how did our ,lord use that miraculous and almighty power of ,his8 ,sparingly1 and secretly4 ,sparingly2 for ,he used it almost entirely in curing the diseases of poor people2 and secretly2 for ,he used it almost entirely in remote places4 ,jerusalem itself1 recollect1 was at best a remote city compared with any of the great cities of the ,roman empire4 ,and even there ,he refused to cast ,himself down from a pinnacle of the temple1 for a sign and wonder to the ,jews4 ,if ,he1 the ,lord of the world1 had meant to convert the world by prodigious miracles1 ,he would surely have gone to ,rome itself1 the very heart and centre of the civilized world1 and have shewn such signs and wonders therein1 as would have made the ,caesar himself come down from his throne1 and worship ,him1 the ,lord of all4 ,but no4 ,our ,lord wished for the obedience1 not of men's lips1 but of their hearts4 ,it was their hearts which ,he wished to win1 that they might love ,him--and be loyal to ,him--for the sake of ,his goodness2 and not fear and tremble before ,him for the sake of ,his power4 ,and therefore ,he kept1 so to speak1 ,his power in the background1 and put ,his goodness foremost2 only shewing ,his power in miracles of healing and mercy2 that so poor neglected1 oppressed1 hardworked souls might understand that whoever did not care for them1 ,christ their ,lord did2 and that their disease and misery were not ,his will2 nor the will of ,his ,father and their ,father in heaven4 ,but because1 also1 ,christ was ,lord of heaven and earth2 therefore--if ,i may make so bold as to guess at the reason for anything which ,he did--,he seems to have interfered as little as possible with those regular rules and customs of this world about us1 which we now call the ,laws of ,nature4 ,he did not offer--as the magicians of ,his time did offer--and as too many have pretended since to do--to change the courses of the elements1 to bring down tempests or thunderbolts1 to shew prodigies in the heaven above1 and in the earth beneath4 ,why should ,he8 ,heaven and earth1 moon and stars1 fire and tempest1 and all the physical forces in the universe1 were fulfilling ,his will already2 doing their work right well according to the law which ,he had given them from the beginning4 ,he had no need to disturb them1 no need to disturb the growth of a single flower at ,his feet4 ,rather ,he loved to tell men to look at them1 and see how they went well1 because ,his ,father in heaven cared for them4 ,to tell people to look1 not at prodigies1 comets1 earthquakes1 and the seeming exceptions of ,god's rule3 but at the common1 regular1 simple1 peaceful work of ,god1 which is going on around us all day long in every blade of grass1 and flower1 and singing bird1 and sunbeam1 and shower4 ,to consider the lilies of the field how they grow3 which toil not1 neither do they spin3 and yet ,i say unto you1 that ,solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these4--,and the birds of the air3 ,they sow not1 neither reap1 nor gather into barns2 and yet your heavenly ,father feedeth them4 ,how much more will ,he feed you1 who can sow1 and reap1 and gather into barns8--,o ye of little faith1 who fancy always that besides sowing and reaping honestly1 you must covet1 and cheat1 and lie1 and break ,god's laws instead of obeying them2 or else1 forsooth1 you cannot earn your living8 ,to see that the signs of ,god's ,kingdom are not astonishing convulsions1 terrible catastrophes and disorders3 but order1 and peace1 and usefulness1 in creatures which are happy1 because they live according to the law which ,god has given them1 and do their duty--that duty1 of which the great poet of the ,english ,church has sung-- ,stern ,lawgiver6 ,thou yet dost wear ,the ,godhead's most benignant grace ,nor know we anything so fair ,as is the smile upon thy face4 ,flowers laugh before thee on their beds1 ,and fragrance in thy footing treads2 ,thou dost preserve the stars from wrong1 ,and the most ancient heavens1 through thee1 are fresh and strong4 ,but men would not believe that in our ,lord's time2 neither would they believe it after ,his time4 ,will they believe it even now8 ,they craved after signs and wonders2 they saw ,god's hand1 not in the common sights of this beautiful world2 not in seed-time and harvest1 summer and winter2 not in the blossoming of flowers1 and the song of birds3 but only in strange portents1 absurd and lying miracles1 which they pretended had happened1 because they fancied that they ought to have happened3 and so built up a whole literature of unreason1 which remains to this day1 a doleful monument of human folly and superstition4 ,but is not this too true of some at least of us in this very day8 ,must not people now see signs and wonders before they believe in ,god8 ,do they not consider whatever is strange and inexplicable1 as coming immediately from ,god8 ,while whatever they are accustomed to1 or fancy that they can explain1 they consider comes in what they call the course of nature1 without ,god's having anything to do with it8 ,if a man drops down dead1 they say he died by the hand of ,god1 or by the visitation of ,god3 as if any created thing or being could die1 or live either1 save by the will and presence of ,god3 as if a sparrow could fall to the ground without our ,father's knowledge4 ,but so it is2 because men's hearts are far from ,god4 ,if an earthquake swallowed up half ,london this very day1 how many would be ready to cry1 ,here is a visitation of ,god4 ,here is the immediate hand of ,god4 ,perhaps ,christ is coming1 and the end of the world at hand4 ,and yet they will not see the true visitation1 the immediate hand of ,god1 in every drop of rain which comes down from heaven2 and returneth not again void1 but gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater4 ,but so it always has been4 ,men used to see ,god and ,his power and glory almost exclusively in comets1 auroras1 earthquakes4 ,it was not so very long ago1 that the birth of monstrous or misshapen animals1 and all other prodigies1 as they were called1 were carefully noted down1 and talked of far and wide1 as signs of ,god's anger1 presages of some coming calamity4--,atheists while they are in safety1 superstitious when they are in danger--,requiring signs and wonders to make them believe--,interested only in what is uncommon and seems to break ,god's laws--,careless about what is common1 and far more wonderful1 because it fulfils ,god's laws--,such have most men been for ages1 and will be1 perhaps1 to the end2 shewing themselves1 in that respect1 carnal and no wiser than dumb animals4 ,for it is carnal1 animal and brutish1 and a sign of want of true civilization1 as well as of true faith1 only to be interested and surprised by what is strange2 like dumb beasts1 who1 if they see anything new1 are attracted by it and frightened by it1 at the same time3 but who1 when once they are accustomed to it1 and have found out that it will do them no harm1 are too stupid to feel any curiosity or interest about it1 though it were the most beautiful or the most wonderful object on earth4 ,but ,i will tell you of a man after ,god's own heart1 who was not like the dumb animals1 nor like the ungodly and superstitious2 because he was taught by the ,spirit of ,god1 and spoke by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,one who saw no signs and wonders1 and yet believed in ,god--namely1 the man who wrote the #acith ,psalm4 ,he needed no prodigies to make him believe4 ,the thought of his own body1 how fearfully and wonderfully it was made1 was enough to make him do that4 ,he looked on the perfect order and law which ruled over the development of his own organization1 and said--,i will praise ,thee4 ,for ,i am fearfully and wonderfully made4 ,marvellous are ,thy works1 and that my soul knoweth right well4 ,thine eyes did see my substance1 yet being imperfect2 and in ,thy ,book were all my members written1 which day by day were fashioned1 when as yet there was none of them4 ,how dear are ,thy counsels unto me1 ,o ,god6 how great is the sum of them6 ,and ,i will tell you of another man who needed no signs and wonders to make him believe--the man1 namely1 who wrote the #aith ,psalm4 ,he looked upon the perfect order and law of the heavens over his head1 and the mere sight of the sun and moon and stars was enough for him2 and he said--,the heavens declare the glory of ,god1 the firmament sheweth ,his handy-work4 ,one day telleth another1 and one night certifieth another4 ,there is neither speech nor language1 where their voice is not heard among them4 ,and ,i will tell you of yet another man who needed no signs and wonders to make him believe--namely1 the man who wrote the #ajdth ,psalm4 ,he looked on the perfect order and law of the world about his feet2 and said1--,o ,lord1 how manifold are ,thy works4 ,in wisdom hast ,thou made them all3 the earth is full of ,thy riches4 ,so is the great and wide sea also1 wherein are things creeping innumerable1 both small and great beasts4 ,these all wait upon ,thee1 that ,thou mayest give them their meat in due season4 ,thou givest to them2 they gather4 ,thou openest ,thy hand2 they are filled with good4 ,thou hidest ,thy face2 they are troubled4 ,thou takest away their breath1 they die1 and return to their dust4 ,thou sendest forth ,thy breath1 they are created2 and ,thou renewest the face of the earth4 ,the glory of the ,lord shall endure for ever4 ,the ,lord shall rejoice in ,his works4 ,my friends1 let us all pray to ,god and to ,christ1 that ,they will put into our hearts the ,spirit by which those psalms were written3 that ,they will take from us the evil heart of unbelief1 which must needs have signs and wonders1 and forgets that in ,god we live and move and have our being4 ,for are we not all--even the very best of us--apt to tempt our ,lord in this very matter8 ,when all things go on in a common-place way with us--that is1 in this well-made world1 comfortably1 easily1 prosperously--how apt we all are--,god forgive us--to forget ,god4 ,how we forget that on ,him we depend for every breath we draw2 that ,christ is guarding us daily from a hundred dangers1 a hundred sorrows1 it may be from a hundred disgraces1 of which we1 in our own self-satisfied blindness1 never dream4 ,how dull our prayers become1 and how short4 ,we almost think1 at times1 that there is no use in praying1 for we get all we want without asking for it1 in what we choose to call the course of circumstances and nature4--,god forgive us1 indeed4 ,but when sorrow comes1 anxiety1 danger1 how changed we are all of a sudden4 ,how gracious we are when pangs come upon us--like the wicked queen-mother in ,jerusalem of old1 when the invaders drove her out of her cedar palace4 ,how we cry to the ,lord then1 and get us to our ,god right humbly4 ,then1 indeed1 we feel the need of prayer4 ,then we try to wrestle with ,god1 and cry to ,him--and what else can we do8--like children lost in the dark2 entreat ,him1 if there be mercy in ,him--as there is1 in spite of all our folly--to grant some special providence1 to give us some answer to our bitter entreaties4 ,if ,he will but do for us this one thing1 then we will believe indeed4 ,then we will trust ,him1 obey ,him1 serve ,him1 as we never did before4 ,ah1 if there were in ,christ any touch of pride or malice6 ,ah1 if there were in ,christ aught but a magnanimity and a generosity altogether boundless6 ,ah1 if ,he were to deal with us as we have dealt with ,him6 ,ah1 if ,he were to deal with us after our sins1 and reward us according to our iniquities6 ,if ,he refused to hear us2 if ,he said to us1--,you forgot me in your prosperity1 why should ,i not forget you in your adversity8--,what could we answer8 ,would that answer not be just8 ,would it not be deserved1 however terrible8 ,but our hope and trust is1 that ,he will not answer us so2 because ,he is not our ,god only1 but our ,saviour2 that ,he will deal with us as one who seeks and saves that which is lost1 whether it knows that it is lost or not4 ,our hope is1 that the ,lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy2 that because ,he is man1 as well as ,god1 ,he can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities2 that ,he knoweth our frame1 ,he remembereth of what we are made3 else the spirit would fail before ,him1 and the souls which ,he has made4 ,so we can have hope1 that1 though ,christ rebuke us1 ,he will yet hear us1 if our prayers are reasonable1 and therefore according to ,his will4 ,and surely1 surely1 surely1 if our prayers are for the improvement of any human being2 if we are praying that we1 or any human being1 may be made better men and truer ,christians at last1 and saved from the temptations of the world1 the flesh1 and the devil--oh then1 then shall we not be heard8 ,the ,lord may keep us long waiting1 as ,he kept ,st ,monica of old1 when she wept over ,st ,augustine's youthful sins and follies4 ,but ,he may answer us1 as ,he answered her by the good bishop--,be of good cheer4 ,it is impossible that the son of so many prayers should perish4 ,and so1 though ,he may shame us1 in our inmost heart1 by the rebuke--,except ye see signs and wonders1 ye will not believe--,he will in the same breath grant our prayer1 undeserved though ,his condescension be1 and say--,go in peace1 thy son liveth4 ,,sermon ,,xx4 ,,the ,,judgments ,,of ,,god4 ,,luke ,,xiii4 #a-e4 ,there were present at that season some that told him of the ,galilaeans1 whose blood ,pilate had mingled with their sacrifices4 ,and ,jesus answering said unto them1 ,suppose ye that these ,galilaeans were sinners above all the ,galilaeans1 because they suffered such things8 ,i tell you1 ,nay3 but1 except ye repent1 ye shall all likewise perish4 ,or those eighteen1 upon whom the tower in ,siloam fell1 and slew them1 think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in ,jerusalem8 ,i tell you1 ,nay3 but1 except ye repent1 ye shall all likewise perish4 ,this story is often used1 it seems to me1 for a purpose exactly opposite to that for which it is told4 ,it is said that because these ,galilaeans1 whom ,pilate slew1 and these eighteen on whom the tower in ,siloam fell1 were no worse than the people round them1 that therefore similar calamities must not be considered judgments and punishments of ,god2 that it is an offence against ,christian charity to say that such sufferers are the objects of ,god's anger2 that it is an offence against good manners to introduce the name of ,god1 or the theory of a ,divine ,providence1 in speaking of historical events4 ,they must be ascribed to certain brute forces of nature2 to certain inevitable laws of history2 to the passions of men1 to chance1 to fate1 to anything and everything3 rather than to the will of ,god4 ,no man disagrees more utterly than ,i do with the latter part of this language4 ,but ,i cannot be astonished at its popularity4 ,it cannot be denied that the theory of a ,divine ,providence has been much misstated2 that the doctrine of final causes has been much abused2 that1 in plain ,english1 ,god's name has been too often taken in vain1 about calamities1 private and public4 ,rational men of the world1 therefore1 may be excused for begging at times not to hear any more of ,divine ,providence2 excused for doubting the existence of final causes2 excused for shrinking1 whenever they hear a preacher begin to interpret the will of ,god about this event or that4 ,they dread a repetition of the mistake--to call it by the very gentlest term--which priests1 in all ages1 have been but too ready to commit4 ,for all priesthoods--whether heathen or ,christian1 whether calling themselves priests1 or merely ministers and preachers--have been in all ages tempted to talk as if ,divine ,providence was exercised solely on their behalf2 in favour of their class1 their needs1 their health and comfort2 as if the thunders of ,jove never fell save when the priesthood needed1 ,i had almost said commanded1 them4 ,thus they have too often arrogated to themselves a right to define who was cursed by ,god1 which has too soon1 again and again1 degenerated into a right to curse men in ,god's name2 while they have too often taught men to believe only in a ,providence who interfered now and then on behalf of certain favoured persons1 instead of a ,providence who rules1 always and everywhere1 over all mankind4 ,but men have again and again reversed their judgments4 ,they have had to say--,the facts are against you4 ,you prophesied destruction to such and such persons2 and behold3 they have not been destroyed1 but live and thrive4 ,you said that such and such persons' calamities were a proof of ,god's anger for their sins4 ,we find them1 on the contrary1 to have been innocent and virtuous persons2 often martyrs for truth1 for humanity1 for ,god4 ,the facts1 we say1 are against you4 ,if there be a ,providence1 it is not such as you describe4 ,if there be judgments of ,god1 you have not found out the laws by which ,he judges3 and rather than believe in your theory of ,providence1 your theory of judgments1 we will believe in none4 ,thus1 in age after age1 in land after land1 has fanaticism and bigotry brought forth1 by a natural revulsion1 its usual fruit of unbelief4 ,but--let men believe or disbelieve as they choose--the warning of the ,psalmist still stands true--,be wise4 ,take heed1 ye unwise among the people4 ,he that nurtureth the heathen2 it is ,he that teacheth man knowledge1 shall ,he not punish8 ,for as surely as there is a ,god1 so surely does that ,god judge the earth2 and every individual1 family1 institution1 and nation on the face thereof2 and judge them all in righteousness by ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 whom ,he hath appointed heir of all things1 and given ,him all power in heaven and earth2 who reigns and will reign till ,he hath put all enemies under ,his feet4 ,this is the good news of ,advent4 ,and therefore it is well that in ,advent1 if we believe that ,christ is ruling us1 we should look somewhat into the laws of ,his kingdom1 as far as ,he has revealed them to us2 and among others1 into the law which--as ,i think--,he laid down in the text4 ,now ,i beg you to remark that the text1 taken fully and fairly1 means the very opposite to that popular notion of which ,i spoke in the beginning of my sermon4 ,our ,lord does not say--,those ,galilaeans were not sinners at all4 ,their sins had nothing to do with their death4 ,those on whom the tower fell were innocent men4 ,he rather implies the very opposite4 ,we know nothing of the circumstances of either calamity3 but this we know--,that our ,lord warned the rest of the ,jews1 that unless they repented--that is1 changed their mind1 and therefore their conduct1 they would all perish in the same way4 ,and we know that that warning was fulfilled1 within forty years1 so hideously1 and so awfully1 that the destruction of ,jerusalem remains1 as one of the most terrible cases of wholesale ruin and horror recorded in history2 and--as ,i believe--a key to many a calamity before and since4 ,like the taking of ,babylon1 the fall of ,rome1 and the ,french ,revolution1 it stands out in lurid splendour1 as of the nether pit itself1 forcing all who believe to say in fear and trembling--,verily there is a ,god that judgeth the earth--and a warning to every man1 class1 institution1 and nation on earth1 to set their houses in order betimes1 and bear fruit meet for repentance1 lest the day come when they too shall be weighed in the balance of ,god's eternal justice1 and found wanting4 ,but another lesson we may learn from the text1 which ,i wish to impress earnestly on your minds4 ,these ,galilaeans1 it seems1 were no worse than the other ,galilaeans3 yet they were singled out as examples3 as warnings to the rest4 ,believing--as ,i do--that our ,lord was always teaching the universal through the particular1 and in each parable1 nay in each comment on passing events1 laying down world-wide laws of ,his own kingdom1 enduring through all time--,i presume that this also is one of the laws of the kingdom of ,god4 ,and ,i think that facts--to which after all is the only safe appeal--prove that it is so2 that we see the same law at work around us every day4 ,i think that pestilences1 conflagrations1 accidents of any kind which destroy life wholesale1 even earthquakes and storms1 are instances of this law2 warnings from ,god2 judgments of ,god1 in the very strictest sense2 by which ,he tells men1 in a voice awful enough to the few1 but merciful and beneficent to the many1 to be prudent and wise2 to learn henceforth either not to interfere with the physical laws of ,his universe1 or to master and to wield them by reason and by science4 ,i would gladly say more on this point1 did time allow3 but ,i had rather now ask you to consider1 whether this same law does not reveal itself throughout history2 in many great national changes1 or even calamities2 and in the fall of many an ancient and time-honoured institution4 ,i believe that the law does reveal itself2 and in forms which1 rightly studied1 may at once teach us ,christian charity1 and give us faith and comfort1 as we see that ,god1 however severe1 is still just4 ,i mean this--,the more we read1 in history1 of the fall of great dynasties1 or of the ruin of whole classes1 or whole nations1 the more we feel--however much we may acquiesce with the judgment as a whole--sympathy with the fallen4 ,it is not the worst1 but often the best1 specimens of a class or of a system1 who are swallowed up by the moral earthquake1 which has been accumulating its forces1 perhaps for centuries4 ,innocent and estimable on the whole1 as persons1 they are involved in the ruin which falls on the system to which they belong4 ,so far from being sinners above all around them1 they are often better people than those around them4 ,it is as if they were punished1 not for being who they were1 but for being what they were4 ,history is full of such instances2 instances of which we say and cannot help saying--,what have they done above all others1 that on them above all others the thunderbolt should fall8 ,was ,charles the ,first1 for example1 the worst1 or the best1 of the ,stuarts2 and ,louis the ,sixteenth1 of the ,bourbons8 ,look1 again1 at the fate of ,sir ,thomas ,more1 ,bishop ,fisher1 and the hapless monks of the ,charterhouse4 ,were they sinners above all who upheld the ,romish system in ,england8 ,were they not rather among the righteous men who ought to have saved it1 if it could have been saved8 ,and yet on them--the purest and the holiest of their party--and not on hypocrites and profligates1 fell the thunderbolt4 ,what is the meaning of these things8--for a meaning there must be2 and we1 ,i dare to believe1 must be meant to discover it2 for we are the children of ,god1 into whose hearts1 because we are human beings and not mere animals1 ,he has implanted the inextinguishable longing to ascertain final causes2 to seek not merely the means of things1 but the reason of things2 to ask not merely ,how8 but ,why8 ,may not the reason be--,i speak with all timidity and reverence1 as one who shrinks from pretending to thrust himself into the counsels of the ,almighty--,but may not the reason be that ,god has wished thereby to condemn not the persons1 but the systems8 ,that ,he has punished them1 not for their private1 but for their public faults8 ,it is not the men who are judged1 it is the state of things which they represent2 and for that very reason may not ,god have made an example1 a warning1 not of the worst1 but of the very best1 specimens of a doomed class or system1 which has been weighed in ,his balance1 and found wanting8 ,therefore we need not suppose that these sufferers themselves were the objects of ,god's wrath4 ,we may believe that of them1 too1 stands true the great ,law1 ,whom the ,lord loveth1 ,he chasteneth1 and scourgeth every son whom ,he receiveth4 ,we may believe that of them1 too1 stands true ,st ,paul's great parable in #a ,cor4 xii41 which1 though a parable1 is the expression of a perpetually active law4 ,they have built1 it may be1 on the true foundation3 but they have built on it wood1 hay1 stubble1 instead of gold and precious stone4 ,and the fire of ,god1 which burns for ever against the falsehoods and follies of the world1 has tried their work1 and it is burned and lost4 ,but they themselves are saved2 yet as through fire4 ,looking at history in this light1 we may justify ,god for many a heavy blow1 and fearful judgment1 which seems to the unbeliever a wanton cruelty of chance or fate2 while at the same time we may feel deep sympathy with--often deep admiration for--many a noble spirit1 who has been defeated1 and justly defeated1 by those irreversible laws of ,god's kingdom1 of which it is written--,on whomsoever that stone shall fall1 it will grind him to powder4 ,we may look with reverence1 as well as pity1 on many figures in history1 such as ,sir ,thomas ,more's2 on persons who1 placed by no fault of their own in some unnatural and unrighteous position2 involved in some decaying and unworkable system2 conscious more or less of their false position2 conscious1 too1 of coming danger1 have done their best1 according to their light1 to work like men1 before the night came in which no man could work2 to do what of their duty seemed still plain and possible2 and to set right that which would never come right more3 forgetting that1 alas1 the crooked cannot be made straight1 and that which is wanting cannot be numbered2 till the flood came and swept them away1 standing bravely to the last at a post long since untenable1 but still--all honour to them--standing at their post4 ,when we consider such sad figures on the page of history1 we may have1 ,i say1 all respect for their private virtues4 ,we may accept every excuse for their public mistakes4 ,and yet we may feel a solemn satisfaction at their downfall1 when we see it to have been necessary for the progress of mankind1 and according to those laws and that will of ,god and of ,christ1 by which alone the human race is ruled4 ,we may look back on old orders of things with admiration2 even with a touch of pardonable1 though sentimental1 regret4 ,but we shall not forget that the old order changes1 giving place to the new2 ,and ,god fulfils ,himself in many ways1 ,lest one good custom should corrupt the world4 ,and we shall believe1 too1 if we be wise1 that all these things were written for our example1 that we may see1 and fear1 and be turned to the ,lord1 each asking himself solemnly1 ,what is the system on which ,i am governing my actions8 ,is it according to the laws and will of ,god1 as revealed in facts8 ,let me discover that in time3 lest1 when it becomes bankrupt in ,god's books1 ,i be involved--,i cannot guess how far--in the common ruin of my compeers4 ,what is my duty8 ,let me go and work at it1 lest a night come1 in which ,i cannot work4 ,what fruit am ,i expected to bring forth8 ,let me train and cultivate my mind1 heart1 whole humanity to bring it forth1 lest the great ,husbandman come seeking fruit on me1 and find none4 ,and if ,i see a man who falls in the battle of life1 let me not count him a worse sinner than myself2 but let me judge myself in fear and trembling2 lest ,god judge me1 and ,i perish in like wise4 ,,sermon ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,war ,,in ,,heaven4 ,,rev4 ,,xix4 #aa-af4 ,and ,i saw heaven opened1 and behold a white horse2 and he that sat upon him was called ,faithful and ,true1 and in righteousness he doth judge and make war4 ,his eyes were as a flame of fire1 and on his head were many crowns2 and he had a name written1 that no man knew1 but he himself4 ,and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood3 and his name is called ,the ,word of ,god4 ,and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses1 clothed in fine linen1 white and clean4 ,and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword1 that with it he should smite the nations3 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron3 and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of ,almighty ,god4 ,and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written1 ,,king ,,of ,,kings1 ,,and ,,lord ,,of ,,lords4 ,let me ask you to consider seriously this noble passage4 ,it was never more worth men's while to consider it than now1 when various selfish and sentimental religions--call them rather superstitions--have made men altogether forget the awful reality of ,christ's kingdom2 the awful fact that ,christ reigns1 and will reign1 till ,he has put all enemies under ,his feet4 ,who1 then1 is ,he of whom the text speaks8 ,who is this personage1 who appears eternally in heaven as a warrior1 with ,his garments stained with blood1 the leader of armies1 smiting the nations1 and ruling them with a rod of iron8 ,st ,john tells us that ,he had one name which none knew save ,himself4 ,but he tells us that ,he was called ,faithful and ,true2 and he tells us1 too1 that ,he had another name which ,st ,john did know2 and that is1 ,the ,word of ,god4 ,now who the ,word of ,god is1 all are bound to know who call themselves ,christians2 even ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 who was born of the ,virgin ,mary1 crucified under ,pontius ,pilate1 rose again the third day1 ascended into heaven1 and sitteth at the right hand of ,god4 ,he it is who makes everlasting war as ,king of kings and ,lord of lords4 ,but against what does ,he make war8 ,his name tells us that4 ,for it is--,faithful and ,true2 and therefore ,he makes war against all things and beings who are unfaithful and false4 ,he ,himself is full of chivalry1 full of fidelity2 and therefore all that is unchivalrous and treacherous is hateful in ,his eyes2 and that which ,he hates1 ,he is both able and willing to destroy4 ,moreover1 ,he makes war in righteousness4 ,and therefore all men and things which are unrighteous and unjust are on the opposite side to ,him2 ,his enemies1 which ,he will trample under ,his feet4 ,the only hope for them1 and indeed for all mankind1 is that ,he does make war in righteousness1 and that ,he ,himself is faithful and true1 whoever else is not2 that ,he is always just1 always fair1 always honourable and courteous2 that ,he always keeps ,his word2 and governs according to fixed and certain laws1 which men may observe and calculate upon1 and shape their conduct accordingly1 sure that ,christ's laws will not change for any soul on earth or in heaven4 ,but1 within those honourable and courteous conditions1 ,he will1 as often as ,he sees fit1 smite the nations1 and rule them with a rod of iron2 and tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of ,almighty ,god4 ,and if any say--as too many in these luxurious unbelieving days will say--,what words are these8 ,threatening1 terrible1 cruel8 ,my answer is1--,the words are not mine4 ,i did not put them into the ,bible4 ,i find them there1 and thousands like them1 in the ,new ,testament as well as in the ,old1 in the ,gospels and ,epistles as well as in the ,revelation of ,st ,john4 ,if you do not like them1 your quarrel must be1 not with me1 but with the whole ,bible1 and especially with ,st ,john the ,apostle1 who said--,little children1 love one another2 and who therefore was likely to have as much love and pity in his heart as any philanthropic1 or sentimental1 or superstitious1 or bigoted1 personage of modern days4 ,and if any one say1--,but you must mistake the meaning of the text4 ,it must be understood spiritually4 ,the meek and gentle ,jesus1 who is nothing but love and mercy1 cannot be such an awful and destroying being as you would make ,him out to be4 ,then ,i must answer--,that our ,lord was meek and gentle when on earth1 and therefore is meek and gentle for ever and ever1 there can be no doubt4 ,i am meek and lowly of heart1 ,he said of ,himself4 ,but with that meekness and lowliness1 and not in contradiction to it1 there was1 when ,he was upon earth1 and therefore there is now and for ever1 a burning indignation against all wrong and falsehood2 and especially against that worst form of falsehood--hypocrisy2 and that worst form of hypocrisy--covetousness which shelters itself under religion4 ,when our ,lord saw men buying and selling in the temple1 ,he made a scourge of cords1 and drove them out1 and overthrew the tables of the money-changers1 and said1--,it is written1 my ,father's house is a house of prayer1 but ye have made it a den of thieves4 ,when ,he faced the ,pharisees1 who were covetous1 ,he had no meek and gentle words for them3 but1 ,ye serpents1 ye generation of vipers1 how can ye escape the damnation of hell8 ,and because ,his character is perfect and eternal3 because ,he is the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever1 we are bound by the ,christian faith to believe that ,he has now1 and will have for ever1 the same ,divine indignation against wrong1 the same determination to put it down3 and to cast out of ,his kingdom1 which is simply the whole universe1 all that offends1 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie4 ,and if any say1 as some say now-a-days--,ah1 but you cannot suppose that our ,lord would propagate ,his ,gospel by the sword1 or wish ,christians to do so4 ,my friends1 this chapter and this sermon has nothing to do with the propagation of the ,gospel1 in the popular sense2 nothing to do with converting heathens or others to ,christianity4 ,it has to do with that awful government of the world1 of which the ,bible preaches from beginning to end2 that moral and providential kingdom of ,god1 which rules over the destiny of every kingdom1 every nation1 every tribe1 every family1 nay1 over the destiny of each human being2 ay1 of each horde of ,tartars on the furthest ,siberian steppe1 and each group of savages in the furthest island of the ,pacific2 rendering to each man according to his works1 rewarding the good1 punishing the bad1 and exterminating evildoers1 even wholesale and seemingly without discrimination1 when the measure of their iniquity is full4 ,christ's herald in this noble chapter calls men1 not to repentance1 but to inevitable doom4 ,his angel--,his messenger--stands in the sun1 the source of light and life2 above this petty planet1 its fashions1 its politics1 its sentimentalities1 its notions of how the universe ought to have been made and managed2 and calls to whom8--to all the fowl that fly in the firmament of heaven--,come and gather yourselves together1 to the feast of the great ,god1 that ye may eat the flesh of kings1 and of captains1 and of mighty men2 and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them2 and the flesh of all men1 both free and slave1 both small and great4 ,what those awful words may mean ,i cannot say4 ,but this ,i say1 that the ,apostle would never have used such words1 conveying so plain and so terrible a meaning to anyone who has ever seen or heard of a battle-field1 if he had really meant by them nothing like a battle-field at all4 ,it may be that these words have fulfilled themselves many times--at the fall of ,jerusalem--at the wars which convulsed the ,roman empire during the first century after ,christ--at the final fall of the ,roman empire before the lances of our ,german ancestors--in many another great war1 and national calamity1 in many a land since then4 ,it may be1 too1 that1 as learned divines have thought1 they will have their complete fulfilment in some war of all wars1 some battle of all battles2 in which all the powers of evil1 and all those who love a lie1 shall be arrayed against all the powers of good1 and all those who fear ,god and keep ,his commandments3 to fight it out1 if the controversy can be settled by no reason1 no persuasion2 a battle in which the whole world shall discover that1 even in an appeal to brute force1 the good are stronger than the bad2 because they have moral force also on their side2 because ,god and the laws of ,his whole universe are fighting for them1 against those who transgress law1 and outrage reason4 ,the wisest of living ,britons has said1--,infinite ,pity1 yet infinite rigour of ,law4 ,it is so that the world is made4 ,i should add1 ,it is so the world must be made1 because it is made by ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 and its laws are the likeness of ,his character2 pitiful1 because ,christ is pitiful2 and rigorous1 because ,he is rigorous4 ,so pitiful is ,christ1 that ,he did not hesitate to be slain for men1 that mankind through ,him might be saved4 ,but so rigorous is ,christ1 that ,he does not hesitate to slay men1 if needful1 that mankind thereby may be saved4 ,war and bloodshed1 pestilence and famine1 earthquake and tempest--all of them1 as sure as there is a ,god1 are the servants of ,god1 doing ,his awful but necessary work1 for the final benefit of the whole human race4 ,it may be difficult to believe this3 at least to believe it with the same intense faith with which prophets and apostles of old believed it1 and cried--,when ,thy judgments1 ,o ,lord1 are abroad in the earth1 then shall the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness4 ,but we must believe it3 or we shall be driven to believe in no ,god at all2 and that will be worse for us than all the evil that has happened to us from our youth up until now4 ,but most people find it very difficult to believe in such a ,god as the ,scripture sets forth--a ,god of boundless tenderness2 and yet a ,god of boundless indignation4 ,the covetous and luxurious find it very difficult to understand such a being4 ,their usual notion of tenderness is a selfish dislike of seeing any one else uncomfortable1 because it makes them uncomfortable likewise4 ,their usual notion of indignation is a selfish desire of revenge against anyone who interferes with their comfort4 ,and therefore they have no wholesome indignation against wrong and wrong-doers1 and a great deal of unwholesome tenderness for them4 ,they are afraid of any one's being punished2 probably from a fellow-feeling2 a suspicion that they deserve to be punished themselves4 ,they hate and dread honest severity1 and stern exercise of lawful power4 ,they are indulgent to the bad1 severe upon the good2 till1 as has been bitterly but too truly said1--,public opinion will allow a man to do anything1 except his duty4 ,now this is a humour which cannot last4 ,it breeds weakness1 anarchy1 and at last ruin to society4 ,and then the effeminate and luxurious1 terrified for their money and their comfort1 fly from an unwholesome tenderness to an unwholesome indignation2 break out into a panic of selfish rage2 and become1 as cowards are apt to do1 blindly and wantonly cruel2 and those who fancied ,god too indulgent to punish ,his enemies1 will be the very first to punish their own4 ,but there are those left1 ,i thank ,god1 in this land1 who have a clear understanding of what they ought to be1 and an honest desire to be it2 who know that a manful indignation against wrong-doing1 a hearty hatred of falsehood and meanness1 a rigorous determination to do their duty at all risks1 and to repress evil with all severity1 may dwell in the same heart with gentleness1 forgiveness1 tenderness to women and children2 active pity to the weak1 the sick1 the homeless2 and courtesy to all mankind1 even to their enemies4 ,god grant that that spirit may remain alive among us4 ,for without it we shall not long be a strong nation2 not indeed long a nation at all4 ,and it is alive among us4 ,not that we1 any of us1 have enough of it--,god forgive us for all our shortcomings4 ,and ,god grant it may remain alive among us2 for it is1 as far as it goes1 the likeness of ,christ1 the ,maker and ,ruler of the world4 ,christian1 said a great genius and a great divine1 ,if thou wouldst learn to love1 ,thou first must learn to hate4 ,and if any one answer--,hate8 ,even ,god hateth nothing that ,he has made4 ,the rejoinder is1--,and for that very reason ,god hates evil2 because ,he has not made it1 and it is ruinous to all that ,he has made4 ,go you and do likewise4 ,hate what is wrong with all your heart1 and mind1 and soul1 and strength4 ,for so1 and so only1 you will shew that you love ,god with all your heart1 and mind1 and soul1 and strength1 likewise4 ,oh pray--and that not once for all merely1 but day by day1 ay1 almost hour by hour--,strengthen me1 ,o ,lord1 to hate what ,thou hatest1 and love what ,thou lovest2 and therefore1 whenever ,i see an opportunity1 to put down what ,thou hatest1 and to help what ,thou lovest--,that so1 at the last dread day1 when every man shall be rewarded according to his works1 you may have some answer to give to the awful question--,on whose side wert thou in the battle of life8 ,on the side of good men and of ,god1 or on the side of bad men and the devil8 ,lest you find yourselves forced to reply--as too many will be forced--with surprise1 and something like shame and confusion of face--,i really do not know4 ,i never thought about the matter at all4 ,i never knew that there was any battle of life4 ,never knew that there was any battle of life8 ,and yet you were christened1 and signed with the sign of the ,cross1 in token that you should fight manfully under ,christ's banner against sin1 the world1 and the devil1 and continue ,christ's faithful soldier and servant to your life's end4 ,did it never occur to you that those words might possibly mean something8 ,and you used to sing hymns1 too1 on earth1 about ,soldiers of ,christ1 arise1 ,and put your armour on4 ,what prophets1 and apostles1 and martyrs1 and confessors meant by those words1 you should know well enough4 ,did it never occur to you that they might possibly mean something to you8 ,that as long as the world was no better than it is1 there was still a battle of life2 and that you too were sworn to fight in it8 ,how many will answer--,yes--,yes--,but ,i thought that these words only meant having my soul saved1 and going to heaven when ,i died4 ,and how did you expect to do that8 ,by believing certain doctrines which you were told were true2 and leading a tolerably respectable life1 without which you would not have been received into society8 ,was that all which was needed to go to heaven8 ,and was that all that was meant by fighting manfully under ,christ's banner against sin1 the world1 and the devil8 ,why1 ,cyrus and his old ,persians1 #b1djj years ago1 were nearer to the kingdom of ,god than that4 ,they had a clearer notion of what the battle of life meant than that1 when they said that not only the man who did a merciful or just deed1 but the man who drained a swamp1 tilled a field1 made any little corner of the earth somewhat better than he found it1 was fighting against ,ahriman the evil spirit of darkness1 on the side of ,ormuzd the good god of light2 and that as he had taken his part in ,ormuzd's battle1 he should share in ,ormuzd's triumph4 ,oh be at least able to say in that day1--,lord1 ,i am no hero4 ,i have been careless1 cowardly1 sometimes all but mutinous4 ,punishment ,i have deserved1 ,i deny it not4 ,but a traitor ,i have never been2 a deserter ,i have never been4 ,i have tried to fight on ,thy side in ,thy battle against evil4 ,i have tried to do the duty which lay nearest me2 and to leave whatever ,thou didst commit to my charge a little better than ,i found it4 ,i have not been good3 but ,i have at least tried to be good4 ,i have not done good1 it may be1 either3 but ,i have at least tried to do good4 ,take the will for the deed1 good ,lord4 ,accept the partial self-sacrifice which ,thou didst inspire1 for the sake of the one perfect self-sacrifice which ,thou didst fulfil upon the ,cross4 ,pardon my faults1 out of ,thine own boundless pity for human weakness4 ,strike not my unworthy name off the roll-call of the noble and victorious army1 which is the blessed company of all faithful people2 and let me1 too1 be found written in the ,book of ,life3 even though ,i stand the lowest and last upon its list4 ,amen4 ,,sermon ,,xxii4 ,,noble ,,company4 ,,hebrews ,,xii4 #bb1 #bc4 ,ye are come to the city of the living ,god1 and to the spirits of just men made perfect4 ,i have quoted only part of the passage of ,scripture in which these words occur4 ,if you want a good employment for ,all ,saints' ,day1 read the whole passage1 the whole chapter2 and no less1 the #aath chapter1 which comes before it3 so will you understand better the meaning of ,all ,saints' ,day4 ,but sufficient for the day is the good thereof1 as well as the evil2 and the good which ,i have to say this morning is--,you are come to the spirits of just men made perfect2 for this is ,all ,saints' ,day4 ,into the presence of this noble company we have come3 even nobler company1 remember1 than that which was spoken of in the text4 ,for more than #ahjj years have passed since the ,epistle to the ,hebrews was written3 and how many thousands of just men and women1 pure1 noble1 tender1 wise1 beneficent1 have graced the earth since then1 and left their mark upon mankind1 and helped forward the hallowing of our heavenly ,father's name1 the coming of ,his kingdom1 the doing of ,his will on earth as it is done in heaven2 and helped therefore to abolish the superstition1 the misrule1 the vice1 and therefore the misery of this struggling1 moaning world4 ,how many such has ,christ sent on this earth during the last #ahjj years4 ,how many before that2 before ,his own coming1 for many a century and age4 ,we know not1 and we need not know4 ,the records of ,holy ,scripture and of history strike with light an isolated mountain peak1 or group of peaks1 here and here through the ages2 but between and beyond all is dark to us now4 ,but it may not have been dark always4 ,scripture and history likewise hint to us of great hills far away1 once brilliant in the one true sunshine which comes from ,god1 now shrouded in the mist of ages1 or literally turned away beyond our horizon by the revolution of our planet3 and of lesser hills1 too1 once bright and green and fair1 giving pasture to lonely flocks1 sending down fertilizing streams into now forgotten valleys2 themselves all but forgotten now1 save by the ,god who made and blessed them4 ,yes3 many a holy soul1 many a useful soul1 many a saint who is now at ,god's right hand1 has lived and worked1 and been a blessing1 himself blest1 of whom the world1 and even the ,church1 has never heard1 who will never be seen or known again1 till the day in which the ,lord counteth up ,his jewels4 ,let us rejoice in that thought on this day1 above all days in the year4 ,on this day we give special thanks to ,god for all ,his servants departed this life in ,his faith and fear4 ,let us rejoice in the thought that we know not how many they are2 only that they are an innumerable company1 out of all tongues and nations1 whom no man can number4 ,let us rejoice that ,christ's grace is richer1 and not poorer1 than our weak imaginations can conceive1 or our narrow systems account for4 ,let us rejoice that the goodly company in whose presence we stand1 can be limited and defined by no mortal man1 or school of men3 but only by ,him from whom1 with the ,father1 proceeds for ever the ,holy ,spirit1 the inspirer of all good2 and who said of that ,spirit--,the wind bloweth where it listeth1 and thou hearest the sound thereof1 but canst not tell whence it cometh1 and whither it goeth4 ,so is every one who is born of the ,spirit--and who said again1 ,john came neither eating nor drinking1 and ye said1 ,he hath a devil4 ,the ,son of man came eating and drinking1 and ye say1 ,behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber1 a friend of publicans and sinners4 ,but ,i say unto you1 ,verily wisdom is justified of all her children--and who said again--when ,john said to ,him1 ,master1 we saw one casting out devils in ,thy name1 and he followeth not us--,forbid him not4 ,for ,i say to you1 that he that doeth a miracle in ,my name will not lightly speak evil of ,me--and who said1 lastly--and most awfully--that the unpardonable sin1 either in this life or the life to come1 was to attribute beneficent deeds to a bad origin1 because they were performed by one who differed from us in opinion2 and to say1 ,he casteth out devils by ,beelzebub1 prince of the devils4 ,these are words of our ,lord1 which we are specially bound to keep in our minds1 with reverence and godly fear1 on ,all ,saints' ,day1 lest by arranging our calendar of saints according to our own notions of who ought to be a saint1 and who ought not--that is1 who agrees with our notions of perfection1 and who does not--we exclude ourselves1 by fastidiousness1 from much unquestionably good company2 and possibly mix ourselves up with not a little which is1 to say the least1 questionable4 ,men in all ages1 ,churchmen or others1 have fallen into this mistake4 ,they have been but too ready to limit their calendar of saints2 to narrow the thanksgivings which they offer to ,god on ,all ,saints' ,day4 ,the ,romish ,church has been especially faulty on this point4 ,it has assumed1 as necessary preliminaries for saintship--at least after the ,christian era--the practice of1 or at least the longing after1 celibacy2 and after the separation of the ,eastern and ,western ,churches1 unconditional submission to the ,church of ,rome4 ,but how has this injured1 if not spoiled1 their exclusive calendar of saints4 ,amid apostles1 martyrs1 divines1 who must be always looked on as among the very heroes and heroines of humanity1 we find more than one fanatic persecutor2 more than two or three clearly insane personages2 and too many who all but justify the terrible sneer--that the ,romish ,calendar is the ,pantheon of ,hysteria4 ,and ,protestants1 too--,how have they narrowed the number of the spirits of just men made perfect2 and confined the ,paean which should go up from the human race on ,all ,saints' ,day1 till a saint has too often meant with them only a person who has gone through certain emotional experiences1 and assented to certain subjective formulas1 neither of which1 according to the opinion of some of the soundest divines1 both of the ,romish1 ,greek1 and ,anglican communions1 are to be found in the letter of ,scripture as necessary to salvation2 and who have1 moreover1 finished their course--doubtless often a holy1 beneficent1 and beautiful course--by a rapturous death-bed scene1 which is more rare in the actual experience of clergymen1 and1 indeed1 in the conscience and experience of human beings in general1 than in the imaginations of the writers of religious romances4 ,but we of the ,church of ,england1 as by law established--and ,i recognize and obey1 and shall hereafter recognize and obey1 no other--have no need so to narrow our ,all ,saints' ,day2 our joy in all that is noble and good which man has said or done in any age or clime4 ,we have no need to define where formularies have not defined2 to shut where they have opened2 to curse where they either bless1 or are humbly1 charitably1 and therefore divinely1 silent4 ,with a magnificent faith in the justice of the ,father1 and in the grace of ,christ1 and in the inspiration of the ,holy ,spirit1 our ,church bids us--,judge not the dead1 lest ye be judged4 ,condemn not the dead1 lest ye be condemned4 ,for she bids us commit to the earth the corpses of all who die not unbaptized1 excommunicate1 or wilful suicides1 and who are willing to lie in our consecrated ground2 giving thanks to ,god that our dear brother has been delivered from the miseries of this sinful world1 and in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life4 ,at least3 we of the ,abbey of ,westminster have a right to hold this2 for we1 thank ,god1 act on it1 and have acted on it for many a year4 ,we have a right to our wide1 free1 charitable1 and truly catholic conception of ,all ,saints' ,day4 ,ay1 if we did not use our right1 these walls would use it for us2 and in us would our ,lord's words be fulfilled--,if we were silent1 the very stones beneath our feet would cry out4 ,for hither we gather1 as far as is permitted us1 and hither we gather proudly1 the mortal dust of every noble soul who has done good work for the ,british nation2 accepting each and all of them as gifts from the ,father of lights1 from whom proceedeth every good and perfect gift1 as sent to this nation by that ,lord ,jesus ,christ who is the ,king of all the nations upon earth2 and acknowledging--for fear of falling into that ,pelagian heresy1 which is too near the heart of every living man--that all wise words which they have spoken1 all noble deeds which they have done1 have come1 must have come1 from ,the ,one eternal source of wisdom1 of nobleness1 of every form of good2 even from the ,holy ,spirit of ,god4 ,we make no severe or minute inquiries here4 ,we leave them1 if they must be made1 to ,god the ,judge of all things1 and ,christ who knows the secrets of the hearts2 to ,him who is merciful in this3 that ,he rewardeth every man according to his works4 ,all we ask is--and all we dare ask--of divine or statesman1 poet or warrior1 musician or engineer--of ,dryden or of ,handel--of ,isaac ,watts or of ,charles ,dickens--but why go on with the splendid diversities of the splendid catalogue8--,what was your work8 ,did we admire you for it8 ,did we love you for it8 ,and why8 ,because you made us in some way or other better men4 ,because you helped us somewhat toward whatsoever things are pure1 true1 just1 honourable1 of good report4 ,because1 if there was any virtue--that is1 true valour and manhood2 if there was any praise--that is1 just honour in the sight of men1 and therefore surely in the sight of the ,son of man1 who died for men2 you helped us to think on such things4 ,you1 in one word1 helped to make us better men4 ,welcome then1 friends unknown--and1 alas6 friends known1 and loved1 and lost--welcome into ,england's ,pantheon1 not of superstitious and selfish hysteria1 but of beneficent and healthy manhood4 ,your words and your achievements have gone out into all lands1 and your sound unto the ends of the world2 and let them go1 and prosper in that for which the ,lord of man has sent them4 ,our duty is1 to guard your sacred dust4 ,our duty is1 to point out your busts1 your monuments around these ancient walls1 to all who come1 of every race and creed2 as proofs that the ancient spirit is not dead2 that ,christ has not deserted the nation of ,england1 while ,he sends into it such men as you2 that ,christ has not deserted the ,church of ,england1 while ,he gives her grace to recognize and honour such men as you1 and to pray ,christ that ,he would keep up the sacred succession of virtue1 talent1 beneficence1 patriotism2 and make us1 most unworthy1 at last worthy1 one at least here and there1 of the noble dead1 above whose dust we now serve ,god4 ,yes1 so ought we in ,westminster to keep our ,all ,saints' ,day2 in giving thanks to ,god for the spirits of just men made perfect4 ,not only for those just men and women innumerable1 who--as ,i said at first--have graced this earth during the long ages of the past3 but specially for those who lie around us here2 with whom we can enter1 and have entered already1 often1 into spiritual communion closer than that1 almost1 of child with parent2 whose writings we can read1 whose deeds we can admire1 whose virtues we can copy1 and to whom we owe a debt of gratitude1 we and our children after us1 which never can be repaid4 ,and if ever the thought comes over us--,but these men had their faults1 mistakes--,oh1 what of that8 ,nothing is left of them ,now1 but pure manly4 ,let us think of them3 not as they were1 compassed round with infirmities--as who is not8--knowing in part1 and seeing in part1 as ,st ,paul himself1 in the zenith of his inspiration1 said that he knew2 and saw1 as through a glass1 darkly4 ,let us think of them not as they were1 the spirits of just men imperfect3 but as the spirits of just men made1 or to be made hereafter1 perfect2 when1 as ,st ,paul says1 that which is in part is done away1 and that which is perfect is come4 ,and let us trust ,christ for them1 as we would trust ,him for ourselves2 sure that the path of the just is as a shining light1 which shineth more and more unto the perfect day4 ,ah1 how many lie in this ,abbey1 to meet whom in the world to come1 would be an honour most undeserved6 ,how many more worthy1 and therefore more likely1 than any of us here1 to behold that endless ,all ,saints' ,day1 to which may ,god in ,his mercy1 in spite of all our shortcomings1 bring us all4 ,amen4 ,,sermon ,,xxiii4 ,,de ,,profundis4 ,,psalm ,,cxxx4 ,out of the deep have ,i called unto ,thee1 ,o ,lord3 ,lord1 hear my voice4 ,o let ,thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint4 ,if ,thou1 ,lord1 wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss1 ,o ,lord1 who may abide it8 ,for there is mercy with ,thee1 therefore shall ,thou be feared4 ,i look for the ,lord2 my soul doth wait for ,him3 in ,his word is my trust4 ,my soul fleeth unto the ,lord before the morning watch3 ,i say1 before the morning watch4 ,o ,israel1 trust in the ,lord3 for with the ,lord there is mercy1 and with ,him is plenteous redemption4 ,and ,he shall redeem ,israel from all his sins4 ,let us consider this psalm awhile1 for it is a precious heirloom to mankind4 ,it has been a guide and a comfort to thousands and tens of thousands4 ,rich and poor1 old and young1 ,jews and ,christians1 ,romans1 ,greeks1 and ,protestants1 have been taught by it the character of ,god2 and taught to love ,him1 and trust in ,him1 in whom is mercy1 therefore ,he shall be feared4 ,the ,psalmist cries out of the deep2 out of the deep of sorrow1 perhaps1 and bereavement1 and loneliness2 or out of the deep of poverty2 or out of the deep of persecution and ill-usage2 or out of the deep of sin1 and shame1 and weakness which he hates yet cannot conquer2 or out of the deep of doubt1 and anxiety--and ah6 how common is that deep2 and how many there are in it that swim hard for their lives3 may ,god help them and bring them safe to land2--or out of the deep of overwork1 so common now-a- days1 when duty lies sore on aching shoulders1 a burden too heavy to be borne4 ,out of some one of the many deeps into which poor souls fall at times1 and find themselves in deep water where no ground is1 and in the mire wherein they are ready to sink1 the ,psalmist cries4 ,but out of the deep he cries--to ,god4 ,to ,god1 and to none else4 ,he goes to the fountain-head1 to the fount of deliverance1 and of forgiveness4 ,for he feels that he needs1 not only deliverance1 but forgiveness likewise4 ,his sorrow may not be altogether his own fault4 ,what we call in our folly accident and chance1 and fortune1--but which is really the wise providence and loving will of ,god--may have brought him low into the deep4 ,or the injustice1 cruelty1 and oppression of men may have brought him low2 or many another evil hap4 ,but be that as it may1 he dares not justify himself4 ,he cannot lift up altogether clean hands4 ,he cannot say that his sorrow is none of his own fault1 and his mishap altogether undeserved4 ,if ,thou1 ,lord1 wert extreme to mark what is done amiss1 ,o ,lord1 who could abide it8 ,not ,i1 says the ,psalmist4 ,not ,i1 says every human being who knows himself2 and knows too well that--,if we say we have no sin1 we deceive ourselves1 and the truth is not in us4 ,but the ,psalmist says likewise1 ,there is forgiveness with ,thee1 therefore shall ,thou be feared4 ,my friends1 consider this2 the key of the whole psalm2 the gospel and good news1 for the sake of which the psalm has been preserved in ,holy ,scripture1 and handed down to us4 ,god is to be feared1 because ,he is merciful4 ,it is worth while to fear ,him1 because ,he is merciful1 and of great kindness1 and hateth nothing that ,he hath made2 and willeth not the death of a sinner1 but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live4 ,superstitious people1 in all ages1 heathens always1 and sometimes1 ,i am sorry to say1 ,christians likewise1 have had a very different reason1 an opposite reason1 for fearing ,god4 ,they have said3 ,not--there is mercy3 but there is anger with ,god3 therefore shall ,he be feared4 ,they have said--,we must fear ,god1 because ,he is wrathful1 and terrible1 and ready to punish2 and is extreme to mark what is done amiss1 and willeth the death of a sinner3 and therefore they have not believed1 when ,holy ,scripture told them1 that ,god was love1 and that ,god so loved the world1 that ,he gave ,his only-begotten ,son1 and sent ,him to visit the world in great humility1 that the world through ,him might be saved4 ,god has seemed to them only a proud1 stern1 and formidable being2 a condemning judge1 and not a merciful ,father2 and therefore1 when they have found themselves in the deep of misery1 they have cried out of it to saints1 angels1 the ,virgin ,mary2 or even to sun1 moon1 and stars1 and all the powers of nature2 or even1 again--what is more foolish still1--to astrologers1 wizards1 mediums1 and quacks of every shape and hue2 to any one and any thing1 rather than to ,god4 ,but do not you do so1 my friends4 ,fix it in your hearts and minds2 and fix it now1 before you fall into the deep1 as most are apt to do before they die2 lest1 when the dark day comes1 you have no time to learn in adversity the lesson which you should have learnt in prosperity4 ,fix in your hearts and minds the blessed ,gospel and good news--,there is mercy with ,thee1 ,o ,god2 therefore shall ,thou be feared4 ,there is mercy with ,him1 pity1 tenderness1 sympathy2 a heart which can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities2 which knoweth what is in man2 which despiseth not the work of ,his own hands2 which remembereth our weak frame1 and knoweth that we are but dust3 else the spirit would fail before ,him1 and the souls which ,he has made4 ,think of ,god as that which ,he is--a compassionate ,god1 a long-suffering ,god1 a generous ,god1 a magnanimous ,god1 a truly royal ,god2 in one word1 a ,perfect ,god2 who causeth ,his sun to shine on the evil and on the good1 and sendeth ,his rain on the just and on the unjust2 a ,god who cannot despise1 cannot neglect1 cannot lose ,his patience with any poor soul of man2 who sets ,himself against none but the insolent1 the proud1 the malicious1 the mean1 the wilfully stupid and ignorant and frivolous4 ,against those who exalt themselves1 whether as terrible tyrants or merely contemptible boasters1 ,he exalts ,himself2 and will shew them1 sooner or later1 whether ,he or they be the stronger2 whether ,he or they be the wiser4 ,but for the poor soul who is abased1 who is down1 and in the depth2 who feels his own weakness1 folly1 ignorance1 sinfulness1 and out of that deep cries to ,god as a lost child crying after its father--even a lost lamb bleating after the ewe--of that poor soul1 be his prayers never so confused1 stupid and ill-expressed--of him it is written3 ,the ,lord helpeth them that fall1 and lifteth up all those that are down4 ,he is nigh to all that call on ,him1 yea1 to all that call upon ,him faithfully4 ,he will fulfil the desire of those that fear ,him1 ,he also will hear their cry and will help them4 ,yes4 ,to all such does ,god the ,father1 ,god who made heaven and earth1 hold up1 as it were1 ,his only-begotten ,son1 ,christ1 hanging on the ,cross for us2 and say3 ,behold thy ,god4 ,behold the brightness of ,god's glory1 and the express image of ,god's person4 ,behold what ,god gave for thee1 even ,his only-begotten ,son4 ,behold that in which ,god the ,father was well pleased3 in ,his ,son2 not condemning you1 not destroying you1 but humbling ,himself1 dying ,himself awhile1 that you may live for ever4 ,look2 and by seeing the ,son1 see the ,father also--your ,father1 and the ,father of the spirits of all flesh2 and know that ,his essence and ,his name is--,love4 ,therefore1 when you are in the deep of sorrow1 whatever that depth may be1 cry to ,god4 ,to ,god ,himself2 and to none but ,god4 ,if you can go to the pure fountain-head1 why drink of the stream1 which must have gathered something of defilement as it flows8 ,if you can get light from the sun itself1 why take lamp or candle in place of his clear rays8 ,if you can go to ,god ,himself1 why go to any of ,god's creatures1 however holy pure1 and loving8 ,go to ,god1 who is light of light1 and life of life2 the source of all light1 the source of all life1 all love1 all goodness1 all mercy4 ,from ,him all goodness flows4 ,all goodness which ever has been1 shall be1 or can be1 is ,his alone1 the fruit of ,his ,spirit4 ,go then to ,him ,himself4 ,out of the depth1 however deep1 cry unto ,god and ,god ,himself4 ,if ,david1 the ,jew of old1 could do so1 much more can we1 who are baptized into ,christ2 much more can we1 who have access by one ,spirit to the ,father2 much more can we1 who--if we know who we are and where we are--should come boldly to the throne of grace1 to find mercy and grace to help us in the time of need4 ,boldness4 ,that is a bold word3 but it is ,st ,paul's1 not mine4 ,and by shewing that boldness1 we shall shew that we indeed fear ,god4 ,we shall shew that we reverence ,god4 ,we shall shew that we trust ,god4 ,for so1 and so only1 we shall obey ,god4 ,if a sovereign or a sage should bid you come to him1 would you shew reverence by staying away8 ,would you shew reverence by refusing his condescension8 ,you may shew that you are afraid of him2 that you do not trust him3 but that is not to shew reverence1 but irreverence4 ,if ,god calls1 you are bound by reverence to come1 however unworthy4 ,if ,he bids you1 you must obey1 however much afraid4 ,you must trust ,him2 you must take ,him at ,his word2 you must confide in ,his goodness1 in ,his justice1 in ,his wisdom3 and since ,he bids you1 go boldly to ,his throne1 and find ,him what ,he is1 a gracious ,lord4 ,my friends1 to you1 every one of you--however weak1 however ignorant1 ay1 however sinful1 if you desire to be delivered from those sins--this grace is given2 liberty to cry out of the depth to ,god ,himself1 who made sun and stars1 all heaven and earth2 liberty to stand face to face with the ,father of the spirits of all flesh1 and cling to the one ,being who can never fail nor change2 even to the one immortal eternal ,god1 of whom it is written1 ,thou1 ,lord1 in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth1 and the heavens are the work of ,thy hands4 ,they shall perish1 but ,thou shalt endure4 ,they all shall wax old1 like a garment1 and as a vesture shalt ,thou change them1 and they shall be changed4 ,but ,thou art the same1 and ,thy years shall not fail4 ,but it is written again1 ,my soul waits for the ,lord4 ,yes1 if you can trust in the ,god who cannot change1 you can afford to wait2 you need not be impatient2 as it is written--,fret not thyself1 lest thou be moved to do evil2 and again--,he that believeth shall not make haste4 ,for ,god1 in whom you trust1 is not a man that ,he should lie1 nor a son of man that ,he should repent4 ,hath ,he promised1 and shall ,he not do it8 ,his word is like the rain and dew1 which fall from heaven1 and return not to it again useless1 but give seed to the sower and bread to the eater4 ,so is every man that trusteth in ,him4 ,his kingdom1 says the ,lord1 is as if a man should put seed into the ground1 and sleep and wake1 and the seed should grow up1 he knoweth not how4 ,so the seed which we sow--the seed of repentance1 the seed of humility1 the seed of sorrowful prayers for help--it too shall take root1 and grow1 and bring forth fruit1 we know not how1 in the good time of ,god1 who cannot change4 ,we may be sad2 we may be weary2 our eyes may wait and watch for the ,lord as the ,psalmist says2 more than they that watch for the morning3 but it must be as those who watch for the morning1 for the morning which must and will come1 for the sun which will surely rise1 and the day which will surely dawn1 and the ,saviour who will surely deliver1 and the ,god who is merciful in this--that ,he rewardeth every man according to his work4 ,oh trust in the ,lord4 ,for with the ,lord there is mercy1 and with ,him is plenteous redemption2 and ,he shall deliver ,his people from all their sins4 ,from their sins4 ,not merely from the punishment of their sins2 not always from the punishment of their sins in this life3 but1 what is better far1 from the sins themselves2 from the sins which bring them into fresh and needless troubles2 and which make the old troubles1 which cannot now be escaped1 intolerable4 ,from all their sins4 ,not only from the great sins1 which1 if persisted in1 will surely destroy both body and soul in hell3 but from the little sins which do so easily beset us2 from little bad habits1 tempers1 lazinesses1 weaknesses1 ignorances1 which hamper and hinder us all every day when we try to do our duty4 ,from all these will the ,lord deliver us1 by the blood of ,christ1 and by the inspiration of ,his ,holy ,spirit1 that we may be able at last to say to children and friends1 and all whom we love and leave behind us-- ,oh taste and see that the ,lord is gracious4 ,blessed is the man that trusteth in ,him4 ,yes4 ,this at least we may do--,trust in our ,god1 and thank ,god that we may do it2 for if men may not do that1 then is that true of them which ,homer said of old--that man is more miserable than all the beasts of the field4 ,for the animals look neither forward nor back4 ,they live but for the present moment2 and pain and grief1 being but for the moment1 fall lightly upon them4 ,but we--we who have the fearful power of looking back1 and looking forward--we who can feel regret and remorse for the past1 anxiety and terror for the future--to us at times life would be scarce worth having1 if we had not a right to cry with all our hearts-- ,o ,god1 in ,thee have ,i trusted1 let me never be confounded4 ,,sermon ,,xxiv4 ,,the ,,blessing ,,and ,,the ,,curse4 ,preached on ,whit-,sunday4 ,,deut4 ,,xxx4 #ai1 #bj4 ,i call heaven and earth to record this day against you1 that ,i have set before you life and death1 blessing and cursing3 therefore choose life1 that both thou and thy seed may live3 that thou mayest love the ,lord thy ,god1 and that thou mayest obey ,his voice1 and that thou mayest cleave unto ,him3 for ,he is thy life1 and the length of thy days3 that thou mayest dwell in the land which the ,lord sware unto thy fathers1 to ,abraham1 to ,isaac1 and to ,jacob1 to give them4 ,these words1 the book of ,deuteronomy says1 were spoken by ,moses to all the ,israelites shortly before his death4 ,he had led them out of ,egypt1 and through the wilderness4 ,they were in sight of the rich land of ,canaan1 where they were to settle and to dwell for many hundred years4 ,moses1 the book says1 went over again with them all the ,law1 the admirable and divine ,law1 which they were to obey1 and by which they were to govern and order themselves in the land of ,canaan4 ,he had told them that they owed all to ,god ,himself2 that ,god had delivered them out of slavery in ,egypt2 ,god had led them to the land of ,canaan2 ,god had given them just laws and right statutes1 which if they kept1 they would live long in their new home1 and become a great and mighty nation4 ,then he calls heaven and earth to witness that he had set before them life and death1 blessing and cursing4 ,if they trusted in the one true ,god1 and served ,him1 and lived as men should1 who believed that a just and loving ,god cared for them1 then they would live2 then a blessing would come on them1 and their children1 on their flocks and herds1 on their land and all in it4 ,but if they forgot ,god1 and began to worship the sun1 and the moon1 and the stars1 the earth and the weather1 like the nations round them1 then they would die2 they would grow superstitious1 cowardly1 lazy1 and profligate1 and therefore weak and miserable1 like the wretched ,canaanites whom they were going to drive out2 and then they would die4 ,their souls would die in them1 and they would become less than men1 and at last--as the ,canaanites had become--worse than brutes1 till their numbers would diminish1 and they would be left1 ,moses says1 few in number and at last perish out of the good land which ,god had given them4 ,so1 he says1 you know how to live1 and you know how to die4 ,choose between them this day4 ,they knew the road to wealth1 health1 prosperity and order1 peace and happiness1 and life3 and they knew the road to ruin1 poverty1 weakness1 disease1 shame and death4 ,they knew both roads2 for ,god had set them before them4 ,and you know both roads2 for ,god has set them before you4 ,then he says--,i call heaven and earth to witness against you this day1 that ,i have set before you life and death1 blessing and cursing4 ,he called heaven and earth to witness4 ,that was no empty figure of speech4 ,if you will recollect the story of the ,israelites1 you will see plainly enough what ,moses meant4 ,the heaven would witness against them4 ,the same stars which would look down on their freedom and prosperity in ,canaan1 had looked down on all their slavery and misery in ,egypt1 hundreds of years before4 ,those same stars had looked down on their simple forefathers1 ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob1 wandering with their flocks and herds out of the mountains of the far north4 ,that heaven had seen ,god's mercies and care of them1 for now five hundred years4 ,everything had changed round them3 but those stars1 that sun1 that moon1 were the same still1 and would be the same for ever4 ,they were witnesses to them of the unchangeable ,god1 those heavens above4 ,they would seem to say--,just as the heavens above you are the same1 wherever you go1 and whatever you are like1 so is the ,god who dwells above the heaven2 unchangeable1 everlasting1 faithful1 and true1 full of light and love2 from whom comes down every good and perfect gift1 in whom is neither variableness nor shadow of turning4 ,do you turn to ,him continually1 and as often as you turn away from ,him3 and you shall find ,him still the same2 governing you by unchangeable law1 keeping ,his promise for ever4 ,and the earth would witness against them4 ,that fair land of ,canaan whither they were going1 with its streams and wells spreading freshness and health around2 its rich corn valleys1 its uplands covered with vines1 its sweet mountain pastures1 a very garden of the ,lord1 cut off and defended from all the countries round by sandy deserts and dreary wildernesses2 that land would be a witness to them1 at their daily work1 of ,god's love and mercy to their forefathers4 ,the ruins of the old ,canaanite cities would be a witness to them1 and say--,because of their sins the ,lord drove out these old heathens from before you4 ,copy their sins1 and you will share their ruin4 ,do as they did1 and you will surely die like them4 ,god has given you life1 here in this fair land of ,canaan2 beware how you choose death1 as the ,canaanites chose it4 ,they died the death which comes by sin2 and ,god has given you life1 the life which is by righteousness4 ,be righteous men1 and just1 and ,god-fearing1 if you wish to keep this land1 you1 and your children after you4 ,and now1 my dear friends1 if ,moses could call heaven and earth to witness against those old ,jews1 that he had set before them life and death1 a blessing and a curse1 may we not do the same8 ,does not the heaven above our heads1 and the earth beneath our feet1 witness against us here8 ,do they not say to us--,god has given you life and blessing4 ,if you throw that away1 and choose instead death and a curse2 it is your own fault1 not ,god's8 ,look at the heaven above us4 ,does not that witness against us8 ,has it not seen1 for now fifteen hundred years and more1 ,god's goodness to us1 and to our forefathers8 ,all things have changed2 language1 manners1 customs1 religion4 ,we have changed our place1 as the ,israelites did2 and dwell in a different land from our forefathers3 but that sky abides for ever4 ,that same sun1 that moon1 those stars shone down upon our heathen forefathers1 when the ,lord chose them1 and brought them out of the ,german forests into this good land of ,england1 that they might learn to worship no more the sun1 and the moon1 and the storm1 and the thunder-cloud1 but to worship ,him1 the living ,god who made all heaven and earth4 ,that sky looked down upon our forefathers1 when the first missionaries baptized them into the ,church of ,christ1 and ,england became a ,christian land1 and made a covenant with ,god and ,christ for ever to walk in ,his laws which ,he has set before us4 ,from that heaven1 ever since1 hath ,god been sending rain and fruitful seasons1 filling our hearts with food and gladness1 for a witness of ,his love and fostering care2 prospering us1 whensoever we have kept ,his laws1 above all other nations upon earth4 ,shall not that heaven witness against us8 ,into that heaven ascended ,christ the ,lord1 that ,he might fill all things with ,his power and ,his rule1 and might send from thence on us ,his ,holy ,spirit1 the ,spirit whom we worship this day1 the spirit of wisdom and understanding1 the spirit of counsel and might1 the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the ,lord4 ,by that same ,spirit1 and by none other1 have been thought all the noble thoughts which ,englishmen ever thought4 ,by that ,spirit have been spoken all the noble words which ,englishmen ever spoke4 ,by that ,spirit have been done all the noble deeds which ,englishmen have ever done4 ,to that ,spirit we owe all that is truly noble1 truly strong1 truly stable1 in our ,english life4 ,it is ,he that has given us power to get wealth1 to keep wealth1 to use wealth4 ,and if we begin to deny that1 as we are inclined to do now-a- days2 if we lay our grand success and prosperity to the account of our own cleverness1 our own ability2 if we say1 as ,moses warned the ,israelites they would say1 in the days of their success and prosperity1 not--,it is ,god who has given us power to get wealth1 but--,mine arm1 and the might of my hand1 has gotten me this wealth2--in plain words--,if we begin to do what we are all too apt to do just now1 to worship our own brains instead of ,god3 then the heaven above us will witness against us1 this ,whitsuntide above all seasons in the year2 and say--,into heaven the ,lord ascended who died for you on the ,cross4 ,from heaven ,he sent down gifts for you1 and your forefathers1 even while you were ,his enemies1 that the ,lord ,god might dwell among you4 ,and behold1 instead of thanking ,god1 fearing ,god1 and confessing that you are nothing1 and ,god is all1 you talk as if you were the arbiters of your own futures1 the makers of your own gifts4 ,instead of giving ,god the glory1 you take the glory to yourselves4 ,instead of declaring the glory of ,god1 like the heavens1 and shewing his handiwork1 like the stars1 you shew forth your own glory and boast of your own handiwork4 ,beware1 and fear2 as your forefathers feared1 and lived1 because they gave the glory to ,god4 ,and shall not the earth witness against us8 ,look round1 when you go out of church1 upon this noble ,english land4 ,why is it not1 as many a land far richer in soil and climate is now1 a desolate wilderness2 the land lying waste1 and few men left in it1 and those who are left robbing and murdering each other1 every man's hand against his fellow1 till the wild beasts of the field increase upon them8 ,in that miserable state now is many a noble land1 once the very gardens of the world--,judaea1 and almost all the ,east1 which was once the very garden of the ,lord1 as thick with living men as a hive is with bees1 and vast sheets both of ,north ,africa1 and of ,south and of ,north ,america4 ,why is not ,england thus8 ,why1 but because the ,lord set before our forefathers life and death1 blessing and cursing2 and our forefathers chose life1 and lived2 and it was well with them in the land which ,god gave to them1 because they chose blessing1 and ,god blessed them accordingly8 ,in spite of many mistakes and shortcomings--for they were sinful mortal men1 as we are--they chose life and a blessing2 and clave unto the ,lord their ,god1 and kept ,his covenant2 and they left behind1 for us their children1 these churches1 these cathedrals1 for an everlasting sign that the ,lord was with us1 as ,he had been with them1 and would be with our children after us4 ,ah1 my friends1 while we look round us over the face of this good land1 and see everywhere the churches pointing up to heaven1 each amid towns and villages which have never seen war or famine for now long centuries1 all thriving and improving year by year1 and which never for #hjj years have been trodden by the foot of an invading enemy1 one ought to feel1 if one has a thoughtful and ,god-fearing heart--,verily ,god has set before us life and blessing1 and prospered us above all nations upon earth2 and if we do not cleave to ,him1 we shall shew ourselves fools above all nations upon earth4 ,and then when one reads the history of ,england2 when one thinks over the history of any one city1 even one country parish2 above all1 when one looks into the history of one's own foolish heart3 one sees how often1 though ,god has given us freely life and blessing1 we have been on the point of choosing death and the curse instead2 of saying--,we will go our own way and not ,god's way4 ,the land is ours1 not ,god's2 the houses are our own1 not ,god's2 our souls are our own1 not ,god's4 ,we are masters1 and who is master over us8 ,that is the way to choose death1 and the curse1 shame and poverty and ruin1 my friends2 and how often we have been on the point of choosing it4 ,what has saved us8 ,what has kept us from it8 ,certainly not our own righteousness1 nor our own wisdom1 nor our own faith4 ,after reading the history of ,england2 or after recollecting our own lives--the less we say of them the better4 ,what has kept us from ruin so long8 ,we are all day long forgetting the noble things which ,god did for our forefathers4 ,why does not ,god in return remember our sins1 and the sins of our forefathers8 ,why is ,he not angry with us for ever8 ,why1 in spite of all our shortcomings and backslidings1 are we prospering here this day8 ,i know not1 my friends1 unless it be for this one reason1 ,that into that heaven which witnesses against us1 the merciful and loving ,christ is ascended2 that ,he is ever making intercession for us1 a ,high-priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities2 and that ,he has received gifts for men1 even for ,his enemies--as we have too often been--that the ,lord ,god might dwell among us4 ,yes4 ,he ascended on high that ,he might send down ,his ,holy ,spirit2 and that ,spirit is among us1 working patiently and lovingly in many hearts--would that ,i could say in all--giving men right judgments2 putting good desires into their hearts2 and enabling them to put them into good practice4 ,the ,holy ,spirit is the life of ,england1 and of the ,church of ,england1 and of every man1 whether he belongs to the ,church or not1 who loves the good1 and desires to do it1 and to see it done4 ,and those in whom the ,holy ,spirit dwells1 are the salt of ,england1 which keeps it from decay4 ,they are those who have chosen life and blessing1 and found them4 ,oh may ,god increase their number more and more2 till all know ,him from the least unto the greatest2 and the land be filled with the knowledge of the ,lord1 as the waters cover the sea4 ,and then shall all days be ,whit-,sundays2 and the ,name of the ,father be hallowed indeed1 and ,his kingdom come1 and ,his will be done on earth1 as it is in heaven4 ,,sermon ,,xxv4 ,,the ,,silence ,,of ,,faith4 ,,psalm ,,cxxxi4 ,lord1 my heart is not haughty1 nor mine eyes lofty3 neither do ,i exercise myself in great matters1 or in things too high for me4 ,surely ,i have behaved and quieted myself1 as a child that is weaned of his mother3 my soul is even as a weaned child4 ,let ,israel hope in the ,lord from henceforth and for ever4 ,we know not at what period of ,david's life this psalm was written4 ,we know not what matters they were which were too high for him to meddle with2 matters about which he had to refrain his soul2 to quiet his feelings2 to suspend his judgment2 to check his curiosity1 and say about them simply--,trust in the ,lord4 ,we do not know1 ,i say1 what these great matters1 these mysteries were4 ,but that concerns us little4 ,human life1 human fortune1 human history1 human agony--nay1 the whole universe1 the more we know of it1 is full of such mysteries4 ,only the shallow and the conceited are unaware of their presence4 ,only the shallow and the conceited pretend to explain them1 and have a ,why ready for every ,how4 ,david was not like them4 ,his was too great a mind to be high-minded2 too deep a heart to have proud looks1 and to pretend1 to himself or to others1 that he knew the whole counsel of ,god4 ,solomon his son had the same experience4 ,for him1 too1 in spite of all his wisdom1 the mystery of ,providence was too dark4 ,though a man laboured to seek it1 yet should he not find it out4 ,all things seemed1 at least1 to come alike to all4 ,there was one event to the righteous and to the wicked2 to the clean and to the unclean4 ,vanity of vanity2 all was vanity4 ,of making books there was no end1 and much study was a weariness to the flesh4 ,and the conclusion of the whole matter was--,fear ,god1 and keep ,his commandments4 ,that--and not to pry into the unfathomable will of ,god--was the whole duty of man4 ,job1 too3 what is the moral of the whole book of ,job1 save that ,god's ways are unsearchable1 and ,his paths past finding out8 ,the ,lord1 be it remembered1 in the closing scene of the book1 vouchsafes to ,job no explanation whatsoever of his affliction4 ,instead of telling him why he has been so sorely smitten2 instead of bidding him even look up and trust1 ,he silences ,job by the mere plea of ,his own power4 ,where wast thou when ,i laid the foundation of the earth8 ,declare1 if thou hast understanding4 ,when the morning stars sang together2 and all the sons of ,god shouted for joy4 ,shall he that contendeth with ,the ,almighty instruct ,him8 ,he that reproveth ,god1 let him answer4 ,but1 it may be said1 these are ,old ,testament sayings4 ,the ,patriarchs and ,prophets had not that full light of knowledge of the mind of ,god which the ,evangelists and ,apostles had4 ,what do the latter1 the writers of the ,new ,testament1 say1 with that fuller knowledge of ,god1 which they gained through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord8 ,my friends--,this is not1 ,i trust1 by ,god's great goodness1 the last time that ,i am to preach in this ,abbey4 ,what the ,evangelists and ,apostles taught1 which the ,prophets and ,psalmists did not teach1 ,i hope to tell you1 as far as ,i know1 hereafter4 ,but this ,i am bound to tell you beforehand--,that there are no truer words in the ,articles of the ,church of ,england than those in the ,v,i,ith ,article--that the ,old ,testament is not contrary to the ,new2 for both in the ,old and ,new ,testament everlasting life is offered to mankind by ,christ1 the only ,mediator between ,god and man1 being both ,god and man4 ,yes4 ,that the ,old ,testament is not contrary to the ,new1 ,i believe with my whole heart and soul4 ,and therefore to those who say that the ,apostles had solved the whole mystery of human life1 its sins1 its sorrows1 its destinies1 ,i must reply that such is not the case1 at least with the most gifted of all the writers of the ,new ,testament4 ,we may think fit to claim omniscience for ,st ,paul3 but he certainly does not claim it for himself4 ,when he is vouchsafed a glimpse of the high counsels of ,god1 he exclaims1 as one dazzled--,oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of ,god6 ,how unsearchable are ,his judgments1 and ,his ways past finding out6 ,for who hath known the mind of the ,lord1 or who hath been ,his counsellor8--,while of himself he speaks in a very different tone--,even though he have been1 as he says1 caught up into the third heaven1 and heard words unspeakable1 which it is not lawful for a man to utter1 yet he knows1 he says1 in part2 he prophesies in part2 but when that which is perfect comes1 that which is partial shall be done away4 ,he is as the child to the full-grown man1 into which he hopes to develop in the future life4 ,he sees as in a glass darkly1 but then face to face4 ,he knows now in part4 ,then--but not till then--will he know even as he is known4 ,nay1 more4 ,in the ninth chapter of his ,epistle to the ,romans1 he does not hesitate to push to the utmost that plea of ,god's absolute sovereignty which we found in the book of ,job4 ,he has mercy on whom ,he will have mercy2 and whom ,he will ,he hardeneth4 ,and if any say1 ,why doth ,he then find fault8 ,for who hath resisted ,his will8 ,who art thou that repliest against ,god8 ,shall the thing formed say to him that formed it1 ,why hast thou made me thus8 ,hath not the potter power over the clay1 of the same lump to make one vessel to honour1 and another to dishonour8 ,what those words may mean1 or may not mean1 ,i do not intend to argue now4 ,i only quote them to shew you that ,st ,paul1 just as much as any ,old ,testament thinker1 believed that there were often mysteries1 ay1 tragedies1 in the lives1 not only of individuals1 nor of families1 but of whole races1 to which we shortsighted mortals could assign no rational or moral final cause1 but must simply do that which ,spinoza forbade us to do1 namely--,in every unknown case1 flee unto ,god2 and say--,it is the ,lord1 let ,him do what seemeth ,him good2--certain of this1 which the ,cross and ,passion of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ shewed forth as nothing else in heaven or earth could shew--that the will of ,god toward man is an utterly good will2 and that therefore what seemeth good to ,him1 will be good in act and fact4 ,it is this faith1 and ,i believe this faith alone1 which can enable truly feeling spirits to keep anything like equanimity1 if they dwell long and earnestly on the miseries of mankind2 on sorrow1 pain1 bereavement2 on the fate of many a widow and orphan2 on sudden1 premature1 and often agonizing death--but why pain you with a catalogue of ills1 which all1 save--thank ,god--the youngest1 know too well8 ,and it is that want of faith in the will and character of a living ,god1 which makes1 and will always make1 infidelity a sad state of mind--a theory of man and the universe1 which contains no gospel or good news for man4 ,i do not speak now of atheism1 dogmatic1 self-satisfied1 insolent cynic4 ,i speak especially to-night of a form of unbelief far more attractive1 which is spreading1 ,i believe1 among people often of high intellect1 often of virtuous life1 often of great attainments in art1 science1 or literature4 ,such repudiate1 and justly1 the name of theists3 but they decline1 and justly1 the name of atheists4 ,they would--the finest and purest spirits among them--accept only too heartily the whole of the ,psalm which ,i have chosen for my text1 save its ascription and the last verse4 ,we too--they would say--do not wish to be high-minded1 and dogmatize1 and assert1 and condemn4 ,we too do not wish to meddle with matters too high for us1 or for any human intellect4 ,we too wish to refrain ourselves from asserting what--however pleasant--we cannot prove2 and to wean ourselves--however really painful the process--from the milk1 the mere child's food1 on which ,mother ,church has brought up the nations of ,europe for the last #aejj years4 ,but for that very reason1 as for asking us to trust in ,the ,lord1 either for this life1 or an eternal life to come1 do not ask that of us4 ,we do not say that there is no ,god2 no ,providence of ,god2 no life beyond the grave3 only we say1 that we cannot find them4 ,they may exist3 or they may not4 ,but to us2 and as we believe to all mankind if they used their reason aright1 they are unthinkable1 and therefore unknowable4 ,god we see not3 but this we see--,man1 tortured by a thousand ills2 and then1 alas1 perishing just as the dumb beasts perish4 ,we see death1 decay1 pain1 sorrow1 bereavement1 weakness2 and these produced1 not merely by laws of nature1 in which1 however terrible1 we could stoically acquiesce2 but worse still1 by accident--the sports of seeming chances--and those often so slight and mean4 ,man in his fullest power1 woman in her highest usefulness1 the victim not merely of the tempest or the thunderstroke1 but of a fallen match1 a stumbling horse4 ,therefore the sight of so much human woe1 without a purpose1 and without a cause1 is too much for them3 as1 without faith in ,god1 it ought to be too much for us4 ,and therefore in their poetry and in their prose--and they are masters1 some of them1 both of poetry and of prose--there is a weary sadness1 a tender despair1 which one must not praise3 yet which one cannot watch without sympathy and affection4 ,for the mystery of human vanity and vexation of spirit2 the mystery which weighed down the soul of ,david1 and of ,solomon1 and of him who sang the song of ,job1 and of ,st ,paul1 and of ,st ,augustine1 and all the great ,theologians of old time1 is to them nought but utter darkness4 ,for they see not yet1 as our great modern poet says1 ,hands ,athwart the darkness1 shaping man4 ,they see not yet athwart the darkness a face1 most human yet divine1 of utter sympathy and love2 and hear not yet--oh let me say once more not yet of such fine souls--the only words which can bring true comfort to one who feels for his fellow-men1 amid the terrible chances and changes of this mortal life-- ,let not your heart be troubled4 ,believe in ,god1 and believe also in ,me4 ,all power is given to ,me in heaven and in earth4 ,lo ,i am with you even to the end of the world4 ,oh let us1 to whom ,god has given that most undeserved grace1 by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal ,trinity1 and in the power of the ,divine ,majesty to worship the ,unity--,let us1 ,i say1 beseech ,god that ,he would give to them1 as well as to us1 that comfortable and wholesome faith2 and evermore defend them and us--if it seem good in ,his gracious sight--from all adversity4 ,and surely we need that faith--those of us at least who know what we have lost--in the face of such a catastrophe as was announced in this ,abbey on this day week2 which thrilled this congregation with the awful news--,that one of the most gifted men in ,europe2 the most eloquent of all our preachers--the most energetic of all our prelates2 the delight of so many of the most refined and cultivated2 the comforter of so many pious souls1 not only by his sermons1 not only by his secret counsels1 but by those exquisite ,confirmation addresses1 to have lost which is a spiritual loss incalculable--those ,confirmation addresses which touched and ennobled the hearts alike of children and of parents1 and made so many spirits1 young and old1 indebted to him from thenceforth for ever--,that this man1 with his enormous capacity and will for doing his duty like a valiant man1 and doing each duty better than any of us his clergy had ever seen it done before--with his genius too1 now so rare1 and yet so needed1 for governing his fellow-men--,that he1 in the fulness of his power1 his health1 his practical example1 his practical success1 should vanish in a moment3 and that immense natural vitality1 that organism of forces so various and so delicate1 just as it was developing to perfection under long and careful self-education1 should be lost for ever to this earth3 leaving ,england1 and her colonies1 and indeed all ,christendom1 so much the poorer1 so much the more weak2 and inflicting--forget not that--a bitter pang on hundreds of loving hearts3 and all by reason of the stumbling of a horse4 ,and why8 ,our reason1 our conscience1 our moral sense2 that1 by virtue of which we are not brutes1 but men1 forces us to ask that question3 even if no answer be found to it in earth or heaven4 ,what was the important why which lay hid behind that little how8--,the means were so paltry3 the effect was so vast--,there must have been a final cause1 a purpose1 for that death3 or the fact would be altogether hideous--a scribble without a meaning--a skeleton without a soul4 ,why did he die8 ,i became dumb and opened not my mouth2 for it was ,thy doing4 ,so says the ,burial psalm4 ,so let us say likewise4 ,i became dumb3 not with rage1 not with despair2 but because it was ,thy doing2 and therefore it was done well4 ,it was the deed1 not of chance1 not of necessity3 for had it been1 then those who loved him might have been excused had they cursed chance1 cursed necessity1 cursed the day in which they entered a universe so cruel1 so capricious4 ,not so4 ,for it was the deed of ,the ,father1 without whom a sparrow falls not to the ground2 of ,the ,son1 who died upon the ,cross in the utterness of ,his desire to save2 of ,the ,holy ,ghost1 who is the ,lord and ,giver of life to all created things4 ,it was the deed of ,one who delights in life and not in death2 in bliss and not in woe2 in light and not in darkness2 in order and not in anarchy2 in good and not in evil4 ,it had a final cause1 a meaning1 a purpose3 and that purpose is very good4 ,what it is1 we know not3 and we need not know4 ,to guess at it would be indeed to meddle with matters too high for us4 ,so let us be dumb3 but dumb not from despair1 but from faith2 dumb not like a wretch weary with calling for help which does not come1 but dumb like a child sitting at its mother's feet2 and looking up into her face1 and watching her doings2 understanding none of them as yet1 but certain that they all are done in ,love4 ,,sermon ,,xxvi4 ,,god ,,and ,,mammon4 ,,matthew ,,vi4 #bd4 ,ye cannot serve ,god and ,mammon4 ,this is part of the ,gospel for this ,sunday2 and a specially fit text for this day1 which happens to be ,st ,matthew's ,day4 ,on this day we commemorate one who made up his mind1 once and for all1 that whoever could serve ,god and money at once1 he could not3 and who therefore threw up all his prospects in life--which were those of a peculiarly lucrative profession1 that of a farmer of ,roman taxes--in order to become the wandering disciple of a reputed carpenter's son4 ,he became1 it is true1 in due time1 an ,apostle1 an ,evangelist1 and a ,martyr2 and if posthumous fame be worth the ambition of any man1 ,matthew the publican--,saint ,matthew as we call him--has his share thereof1 because he discovered1 like a wise man1 that he could not serve ,god and money2 and therefore1 when ,jesus saw him sitting at the receipt of custom1 and bade him ,follow ,me1 he rose up1 and left his money-bags1 and followed ,him1 whom he afterwards discovered to be no less than ,god made man4 ,ye cannot serve ,god and ,mammon4 ,it is very difficult to make men believe these words4 ,so difficult1 that our ,lord ,himself could not make the ,jews believe them1 especially the rich and comfortable religious people among them4 ,when ,he told them that they could not serve two masters2 that they could not worship ,god and money at the same time1 the ,pharisees1 who were covetous1 derided ,him4 ,they laughed to scorn the notion that they could not be very religious1 and respectable1 and so forth1 and yet set their hearts on making money all the while4 ,they thought that they could have their treasure on earth and in heaven also2 and they went their way1 in spite of our ,lord's warnings2 and made money1 honestly no doubt1 if they could1 but if not1 why then dishonestly2 for money must be made1 at all risks4 ,st ,paul warned them1 by his disciple ,timothy1 of their danger4 ,he told them that the love of money is the root of all evil2 and that those who will be rich fall into temptation and a snare1 and into many foolish and hurtful lusts1 which drown men in destruction and perdition4 ,st ,james warned them even more sternly2 and told the rich men among the ,jews of his day to weep and howl for the miseries which were coming on them4 ,they had heaped up treasure for the last days1 when it would be of no use to them4 ,they were fattening their hearts--he told them--against a day of slaughter4 ,but they listened to ,st ,paul and ,st ,james no more than they did to our ,lord4 ,after the fall of ,jerusalem1 even more than before1 they became the money-makers and the money-lenders of the whole world4 ,and what befel them8 ,their wealth stirred up the envy and the suspicion of the ,gentiles4 ,they were persecuted1 robbed1 slaughtered1 again and again for the sake of their money4 ,and yet they would not give up their ruinous passion4 ,throughout all the middle ages1 here in ,england1 just as much as on the ,continent1 they lent money at exorbitant interest2 and then their debtors1 to escape payment1 turned on them for not being ,christians2 accused them of poisoning the wells1 and what not2 massacred them1 burnt them alive1 and committed the most horrible atrocities2 fulfilling the warnings of our ,lord and ,his ,apostles1 only too terribly and brutally1 again and again4 ,do ,i say this to make any man dislike or despise the ,jews8 ,god forbid4 ,the ,jews have noble qualities in them1 by which they have prospered1 and for the sake of which--as ,i believe--,god's blessing rests on them to this day4 ,they have prospered3 not by their love of money1 not even by their extraordinary courage1 persistence1 and intellectual power2 but by their keeping two at least of the commandments1 as no other people on earth has kept them4 ,they have kept the second commandment2 and hated idolatry1 and any approach to it1 with a stern and noble hatred1 which would ,god that all who call themselves ,christians would imitate4 ,they have kept1 likewise1 the fifth commandment2 and have honoured their parents1 as no other people on earth have done1 except it may be the ,chinese1 who prosper still1 in spite of many sins4 ,their family affections are so intense1 their family life is so pure and sound1 that they put to shame too many ,christians2 and where the family life is sound1 the heart of a people is sure to be sound likewise2 and all will come right with them at last3 and meanwhile the days of the ,jews will be long in whatsoever land the ,lord their ,god shall give them1 till the day of which ,st ,paul prophesied1 when the veil shall be taken off their hearts1 and they shall acknowledge that ,christ1 whom their forefathers crucified in their blindness1 for their ,king1 and ,lord1 and ,god2 and so all ,israel shall be saved4 ,amen4 ,amen4 ,and meanwhile1 who are we that we should complain of the ,jews now1 or the ,jews of our ,lord's time1 for being too fond of money8 ,is anything more certain1 than that we ,english are becoming given up1 more and more1 to the passion for making money at all risks1 and by all means fair or foul8 ,our covetousness is--alas6 that it should be so--become a by-word among foreign nations2 while our old ,english commercial honesty--which was once our strength1 and protected us from1 and all but atoned for1 our covetousness--is going fast2 and leaving us1 feared indeed for our power2 but suspected for our chicanery2 and odious for our arrogance4 ,and it is most sad1 but most certain1 that we are like those ,pharisees of old in this also1 that we too have made up our mind that we can serve ,god and ,mammon at once2 that the very classes among us who are most utterly given up to money-making1 are the very classes which1 in all denominations1 make the loudest religious profession2 that our churches and chapels are crowded on ,sundays by people whose souls are set1 the whole week through1 upon gain and nothing but gain2 who pretend to reverence ,scripture1 while they despise the warning of ,scripture1 that the love of money is the root of all evil4 ,have we not seen in our own days persons of the highest religious profession1 whose names were the foremost on every charitable subscription list1 so devoured by this mad love for money for its own sake1 that though they had already more money than they could spend1 or enjoy in any way soever1 save by saying to themselves--,i have got it1 ,i have got it--they must needs1 in the mere lust for becoming richer still1 ruin themselves and others by frantic speculations8 ,have we not seen--but why should ,i defile myself1 and you1 and this holy place by telling you what ,i have seen2 and what ,i hope1 and hope alas6 in vain1 that ,i shall never see again1 among those who must needs serve ,god and ,mammon8 ,has not the love of money become such a chronic disease among us1 that we can actually calculate1 now1 when the disease will come to a head2 and relieve itself for a while3 though alas6 only for a while8 ,about every eleven years1 ,i am informed1 we are to expect a commercial crisis2 panics1 bankruptcies1 and misery and ruin to hundreds2 a sort of terrible but beneficent thunderstorm1 which clears the foul atmosphere of our commercial system at the expense1 alas6 not merely of the guilty1 but of the innocent2 involving the widow and the orphan1 the poor and the simple1 in the same fate as the rich and powerful whom they have trusted to their own ruin4 ,and yet we boast of our civilization and of our ,christianity2 and hardly one1 here and there1 lays the lesson to heart1 but each man1 like a moth about a candle1 unwarned by the fate of his fellows1 fancies that he at least can flutter round the flames and not be burned2 that whoever else cannot serve ,god and ,mammon1 he can do it2 and holds1 by virtue of his superior prudence1 a special dispensation from the plain warnings of ,holy ,scripture4 ,but every reasonable man knows what advantages money1 and nothing but money1 will obtain1 not only for a man himself but for his children2 and answers me--,if ,i wish to rise in life1 if ,i wish my children to rise in life1 how can ,i do it1 without making money8 ,god forbid that ,i should check an honourable ambition1 and a desire to rise in life4 ,we all ought to rise in life1 and to rise far higher than most of us are likely to rise4 ,but ,i ask you to consider very seriously what you mean by rising in life4 ,do you mean by rising in life1 merely becoming a richer man2 living in a larger house1 eating1 drinking1 clothing1 better2 having more servants1 carriages1 plate8 ,is that to be the highest triumph of all your labours8 ,is that your notion of rising in life8 ,if it is1 you are not singular in your notion4 ,there are thousands who call themselves civilized and ,christians1 and yet have no higher notion of what man's highest good may be4 ,but do you mean by rising in life1 simply becoming a nobler1 because a better man8 ,for if you mean that latter1 ,i seriously advise you to hearken to what the ,creator and ,governor of all heaven and earth1 ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 has told you on that matter1 when ,he said--,seek ye first the kingdom of ,god1 and ,his righteousness1 and all these things shall be added unto you4 ,seek ye first the kingdom of ,god4 ,alas6 this money-making generation talks a great deal about religion and saving their souls1 being quite indifferent to the serious question--whether their souls are worth saving or not3 but as for the kingdom of ,god1 of which our ,lord and ,his ,apostles speak so often1 they have forgotten altogether what it is4 ,they talk too1 a great deal1 about the righteousness of ,christ3 but they have forgotten also what the righteousness of ,christ1 which is also the righteousness of ,god1 is like4 ,the kingdom of ,god2 the government of ,god2 the laws and rules by which ,christ1 ,king of kings1 and ,king1 too1 of every nation and man on earth1 whether they know it or not1 governs mankind1 that is what you have to seek1 because it is there already4 ,you are in ,christ's kingdom4 ,if you wish to prosper in it1 find out what its laws are4 ,that will be true wisdom4 ,for in keeping the commandments of ,god1 and in obeying ,his laws2 in that alone is life2 life for body and soul2 life for time and for eternity4 ,and the righteousness of ,god1 which is the righteousness of ,christ2--find out what that is1 and pray to ,christ to give it to you2 for so alone will you be what a man should be1 created after ,god in righteousness and true holiness1 and renewed into the image and likeness of ,god4 ,you will find plenty of persons now1 as in all times1 who will tell you that you need not do that2 that all you need1 for this world or the world to come1 is some righteousness of the ,scribes and ,pharisees2 calling that--oh shame that such a glorious and eternal truth should be so caricatured and degraded by man--justification by faith3 while all they mean is1 justification not by faith1 but by mere assent2 assenting to certain doctrines2 keeping certain religious watch-words in your mouth1 and1 over and above1 leading a tolerably respectable life4 ,but what says our ,lord8 ,except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the ,scribes and ,pharisees1 ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven4 ,not merely--not dwell in it for ever1 but not even enter it1 not even get through the very gate1 and cross the very threshold1 of it4 ,the merely assenting1 merely respectable1 even the so-called religious and orthodox life will not let you into the kingdom of heaven1 either in this life or the life to come4 ,no4 ,that requires the noble life1 the pure life1 the just life1 the gentle life1 the generous life1 the heroic life1 the ,godlike life1 which is perfect even as our ,father in heaven is perfect1 because ,he lets ,his sun shine on the evil and on the good1 and ,his rain fall on the just and on the unjust4 ,but how will this help you to rise in life8 ,our ,lord ,himself answers--and our ,lord should surely know--,seek ye first the kingdom of ,god and ,his righteousness1 and all these things shall be added to you4 ,have faith in ,god1 and in ,his promise2 and your faith in ,god shall be rewarded4 ,you shall find that your heavenly ,father knows that you have need of all these things2 and has arranged ,his kingdom1 and the whole universe1 accordingly4 ,the very good things of this world--wealth1 honour1 power1 and the rest1 for the sake of which worldly men quarrel1 and envy1 and slander1 and bully1 and cringe1 and commit all basenesses and crimes--all these shall come to you of their own accord by the providence of your ,father in heaven and by ,his everlasting ,laws1 if you will but learn and do ,god's will1 and lead the ,christlike and the ,godlike life4 ,honour and power1 wealth and prosperity1 as much of them as is justly good for you1 and as much of them as you deserve--that is1 earn and merit by your own ability and self- control--shall come to you by the very laws of the universe and by the very providence of ,god4 ,you shall find that godliness hath the promise of this life1 as well as of the life which is to come4 ,you shall find that ,god's kingdom is a well-made and well-ordered kingdom2 and that ,his laws are life1 and are far more worth trusting in than the maxims of that ill-made and ill-ordered world of man1 which you all renounced at your baptism4 ,you shall find that the promises of ,scripture are no dreams1 but actual practical living truths1 which come true1 and fulfil themselves1 in the lives and histories of men4 ,choose1 young men2 choose now2 and make up your minds which way you will rise in life2 by merely getting money2 or by getting wisdom and honour and virtue4 ,the ,psalmists of old1 yea our ,lord ,himself1 tell you what will happen in each case4 ,if you want only to be rich1 why then be rich2 if you are clever enough4 ,the ,lord may give you what you want1 in this evil world4 ,he may give you your portion in this life1 and fill you with ,his hid treasure4 ,he may let you heap up money which you do not know how to spend1 and be a laughing-stock to others while you live2 and after you die1 your children will probably squander what you have hoarded2 while you will carry away nothing when you die1 neither will your pomp follow you3 and take care lest you wake1 after all1 like ,dives in the torment1 to hear the fearful but most reasonable words--,son1 thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things1 and therefore thou art tormented4 ,those words too1 ,i fear1 will come true1 in this very generation1 of many a wretched soul who while he lived counted himself a happy man2 and had all men speaking well of him1 because he did well unto himself4 ,on whose souls may ,god have mercy4 ,choose1 young men3 choose2 now in the golden days of youth1 and strength1 and honour1 ere you have laid a yoke on your own shoulders--even the yoke of money-worship2--not light and easy1 like the yoke of ,christ1 but heavier and heavier as the years roll on1 while you1 with fading intellect1 fading hopes1 and it may be fading credit1 and certainly fading power of any rational enjoyment1 have still1 like the doomed souls in ,dante's ,inferno1 to roll up hill the money-bags which are perpetually slipping back4 ,i have seen that1 and more than once or twice2 and it is1 ,i think1 the saddest sight on earth--save one4 ,choose1 ,i say again1 then1 young men1 before you have spread a net round your own feet1 which1 as in disturbed dreams1 grows and tangles more and more each time you move--even the net of greed and craft1 which men set for their neighbours2 and are but too apt1 ere all is done1 to be taken in themselves2 the net of truly bad society1 of the society of men who have set their hearts on making money1 somehow or other2 and with whom1 if you cast in your lot1 you may descend--,o ,god1 ,i know full well what ,i am saying--to depths from which your young spirits now would shrink2 till your higher nature be subdued to the element in which it works2 and the poet's curse on all who bind themselves to natures lower than their own come true of you-- ,thou shall lower to their level1 day by day1 ,all that once was fine within thee growing coarse to sympathize with clay4 ,or you may choose--,god grant that you may choose--the other path2 the path of the law of ,christ1 and of the ,spirit of ,christ2 the kingdom of ,god and ,his righteousness4 ,and then shall come true of you1 as far as ,god shall see good for your immortal soul1 those other promises-- ,come1 ye children1 and hearken unto me1 and ,i will teach you the fear of the ,lord4 ,what man is he that loves life1 and would fain see good days8 ,let him keep his tongue from evil1 and his lips that they speak no deceit4 ,let him eschew evil and do good2 let him seek peace and pursue it4 ,for the eyes of the ,lord are over the righteous1 and ,his ears are open to their prayers4 4 4 ,for the ,lord ordereth a good man's going1 and maketh his way acceptable to ,himself4 ,though he fall he shall not be cast away1 for the ,lord upholdeth him with ,his hand 4 4 4 ,i have been young1 and now am old1 and yet never saw ,i the righteous forsaken1 nor his seed begging their bread4 ,flee from evil1 and do the thing that is good1 and dwell for evermore4 ,for the ,lord loveth the thing that is righteous4 ,he forsaketh not ,his that be godly1 but they are preserved for ever4 ,choose that2 the better part which shall not be taken from you2 for it is according to the true laws of political and social economy1 which are the laws of the ,maker of the ,universe1 and of the ,redeemer of ,mankind4 ,and then1 whether or not you leave your children wealth1 you will1 at all events1 leave them an example by which they1 and their children's children1 must prosper to the world's end4 ,and your prayer will be1 more and more1 as you grow old and weary with the hard work of life-- ,i will go forth in the strength of the ,lord ,god1 and make mention of ,his righteousness only4 ,thou1 ,o ,god1 hast taught me from my youth up until now4 ,therefore will ,i tell of ,thy wondrous works4 ,forsake me not1 ,o ,lord1 in my old age1 when ,i am grey-headed1 till ,i have shewn ,thy strength unto this generation2 and ,thy power unto those that are yet to come4 ,to which end may ,christ bring us all1 of ,his infinite mercy4 ,amen4 ,,sermon ,,xxvii4 ,,the ,,beatific ,,vision4 ,,psalm ,,lvii4 ,a ,psalm of ,david when he fled from ,saul in the cave4 ,be merciful unto me1 ,o ,god1 be merciful unto me1 for my soul trusteth in ,thee1 and under the shadow of ,thy wings shall be my refuge1 until this tyranny be over-past4 ,i will call unto the most high ,god1 even unto the ,god that shall perform the cause which ,i have in hand4 ,he shall send from heaven1 and save me from the reproof of him that would eat me up4 ,god shall send forth ,his mercy and truth3 my soul is among lions4 ,and ,i lie even among the children of men1 that are set on fire1 whose teeth are spears and arrows1 and their tongue a sharp sword4 ,set up ,thyself1 ,o ,god1 above the heavens1 and ,thy glory above all the earth4 ,they have laid a net for my feet1 and pressed down my soul3 they have digged a pit before me1 and are fallen into the midst of it themselves4 ,my heart is fixed1 ,o ,god1 my heart is fixed3 ,i will sing1 and give praise4 ,awake up1 my glory2 awake1 lute and harp3 ,i myself will awake right early4 ,i will give thanks unto ,thee1 ,o ,lord1 among the people1 and ,i will sing unto ,thee among the nations4 ,for the greatness of ,thy mercy reacheth unto the heavens1 and ,thy truth unto the clouds4 ,set up ,thyself1 ,o ,god1 above the heavens1 and ,thy glory above all the earth4 ,some people now-a-days would call this poetry2 and so it is4 ,but what poetry6 ,they would call it a ,hebrew song1 a ,hebrew lyric2 and so it is4 ,but what a song6 ,there is something in us1 if we be truly delicate and high-minded people1 which will surely make us feel a deep difference between it and common poetry1 or common songs2 which made our forefathers read or chant it in church1 and use it1 as many a pious soul has ere now1 in private devotion4 ,david did not compose it in church or in temple4 ,he never meant it1 perhaps1 to be sung in public worship4 ,he little dreamed that we1 and millions more1 in lands of which he had never heard1 should be repeating his words in a foreign tongue in our most sacred acts of worship4 ,he was thinking1 when he composed it1 mainly of himself and his own sorrows and dangers4 ,he intends1 he says1 to awake early1 and sing it to lute and harp4 ,perhaps he had composed it in the night1 as he lay either in the cave of ,adullam or ,engedi1 hiding from ,saul among the cliffs of the wild goats2 and meant to go forth to the cave's mouth1 and there1 before the sun rose over the downs1 he would1 to translate his words exactly1 awake the dawning with his song in the free air and the clear sky1 singing to his little band of men4 ,and to some one more than man1 my friends4 ,for his poetry was poetry concerning ,god4 ,his song was a song to ,god4 ,he does not sing of his own sorrows to himself1 as too many poets have done ere now4 ,he does not sing to his men2 though he no doubt wished them to hear him1 and learn from him1 and gain faith and comfort and courage from his song4 ,he sings of his sorrows to ,god ,himself2 to the ,god who made heaven and earth2 the ,god who is above the heavens1 and ,his glory above all the earth4 ,this is the secret1 the virtue1 the charm of the song2 that it sings to ,god4 ,this is why it has passed into many lands1 into many languages1 through hundreds and hundreds of years1 and is as fresh1 and mighty1 and full of meaning and of power1 now1 here1 to us in ,england1 as it was to ,david1 when he was a poor outlaw1 wandering in the hills of the little country of ,judaea1 more than #bjjj years ago4 ,the poet says1 ,a thing of beauty is a joy for ever1 and this psalm is most beautiful1 and a joy for ever to delicate and noble intellects4 ,but more1 a thing of truth is a help for ever4 ,and this psalm is most true1 and a help for ever to all sorrowing and weary hearts4 ,for the ,spirit of truth it was1 who put this psalm into ,david's heart and brain2 and taught him to know and say what was true for him1 and true for all men2 what was true then1 and will be true for ever4 ,and what in it is true for ever8 ,the very figures1 the metaphors of the psalm are true for ever4 ,under the shadow of ,thy wings shall be my refuge--that is a noble figure2 can we not feel its beauty8 ,and more4 ,do none of us know that it is true8 ,david did not believe any more than we do1 that ,god had actual wings4 ,but ,david knew--and it may be some of us know too--that ,god does at times strangely and lovingly hide us2 keep us out of temptation2 keep us out of harm's way2 as it is written1 ,thou shall hide them privately in ,thy presence from the provoking of all men4 ,thou shall keep them in ,thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues4 ,ah1 my dear friends1 in such a time as this1 when the strife of tongues is only too loud1 have you never had reason to thank ,god for being1 by some seemingly mere accident1 kept out of the strife of tongues and out of your chance of striving too1 and of making a fool of yourself like too many others8 ,the image of the mother bird1 hiding her brood under her wings1 seemed to ,david just to express that act of ,god's fatherly love1 in words which will be true for ever1 as long as a brooding bird is left on the earth1 to remind us of ,david's song2 and of ,one greater than ,david1 too1 who said--,o ,jerusalem1 ,jerusalem1 how often would ,i have gathered thy children1 as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings1 and thou wouldest not4 ,god grant that we all may do1 when our time comes1 that which those violent conceited ,jews would not do2 and therefore paid the awful penalty of their folly4 ,and the darker and more painful figures of the psalm3 are they not true still8 ,is not a man's soul1 even in this just and peaceful land1 and far oftener in lands which are still neither just nor peaceful--,is not a man's soul1 ,i say1 sometimes among lions8--among greedy1 violent1 tyrannous persons1 who are ready to entangle him in a quarrel1 shout him down1 ay1 or shoot him down2 literally ready to eat him up8 ,are not the children of men still too often set on fire2 on fire with wild party cries1 with superstitions which they do not half understand1 with brute excitements which pander to their basest passions1 running like fire from head to head1 and heart to heart1 till whole classes1 whole nations sometimes1 are on fire1 ready like fire to consume and destroy all they touch2 and like fire1 to consume and destroy themselves likewise8 ,are there none now1 too1 whose teeth are spears and arrows1 and their tongue a sharp sword8 ,such use the pen now1 rather than the tongue3 but they know1 as well as those whom ,david met1 how to handle the spears and arrows of slander1 and the sharp sword of insult4 ,are there none left1 who set nets for their neighbours' feet1 by gambling1 swindling1 puffing1 by tricks of trade and tricks of party8--none who1 like the ,scribes of old1 try to entangle men in their talk1 and make them offenders for a word2 and who1 like ,david's enemies1 fall now and then into the very pit which they have digged1 and ruin themselves in trying to ruin others8 ,my friends1 such men will be1 as long as there is sin upon the earth4 ,their weapons are very different now from what they were in ,david's time3 but their hearts are the same as they were then4 ,the works of the flesh they do1 which are manifest2 and a very ugly list they make2 as all who read ,st ,paul's ,epistles know full well4 ,but such men have their wages4 ,god is merciful in this2 that ,he rewards every man according to his work4 ,and ,he is merciful to the whole human race1 in rewarding such men according to their work4 ,to the flesh they sow1 and of the flesh they shall reap corruption4 ,of old it was written--,the wages of sin are death2 and that1 like all ,god's words1 is a ,gospel and good news to poor human beings4 ,for if the wages of sin were not death1 what end could there be to sin1 and therefore to misery8 ,but while such men exist1 how shall a man escape them8 ,how shall he defend himself from them8 ,not by craft and falsehood1 not by angry replies1 not by fighting them with their own weapons4 ,the honest man is no match for them with those4 ,the man who has a conscience is no match for the man who has none4 ,the man who has no conscience does what he wills2 everything is fair to him in war2 and there--in his unscrupulousness--lies his evil strength4 ,the man who has a conscience dares not do what he likes4 ,his scruples--in plain words1 his fear of ,god--hamper him1 and put him at a disadvantage1 which will always defeat him1 as often as he borrows the devil's tools to do ,god's work withal4 ,he must give up those weapons1 as ,david threw off ,saul's armour1 when he went to fight the giant4 ,it was strong enough1 doubt not3 but he could not go in it1 he said2 he was not accustomed to it4 ,he would take simpler weapons1 to which he was accustomed2 and fight his battle with them1 trusting not in armour1 but in the name of the living ,god4 ,in the name of the living ,god4 ,that is the only sure weapon1 and the only sure defence4 ,in that ,david trusted1 when he went to fight the giant4 ,in that he trusted1 when he was hid in the cave4 ,and because he trusted in ,god1 he prayed to ,god4 ,he spoke to ,god4 ,remember that1 and understand how much it means4 ,david1 the simple yeoman's son1 the outlaw1 the wanderer1 despised and rejected by men1 one who was no scholar either1 who very probably could neither read nor write1 and knew neither sciences nor arts1 save how to play1 in some simple way1 upon his harp--this man found out that1 however oppressed1 miserable1 ignorant he was in many respects1 he had a right to speak face to face with the ,almighty and ,infinite ,god1 who had made heaven and earth4 ,he found out that that great ,god cared for him1 protected him1 and would be true to him1 if only he would be true to ,god and to himself4 ,what a discovery was that6 ,worth all the wealth and power1 ay1 worth all the learning and science in the world4--,to have found the pearl of great price1 the secret of all secrets2 ,i1 ,david1 may speak to ,god4 ,ah1 my friends1 consider the meaning of that4 ,consider it1 ,i say4 ,for when that great thought has once flashed across a man's mind1 he is a new creature thenceforth4 ,he need speak to no father-confessor or director2 to no saints or angels2 to no sages or philosophers4 ,for he can speak to ,god ,himself1 and he need speak to no one else4 ,nay1 at times he dare speak to no one else4 ,if he can tell his story to ,god1 why tell it to any of ,god's creatures8 ,he is in the presence of ,god ,himself1 ,god his ,father1 ,god his ,saviour1 ,god his ,comforter2 ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost4 ,god is listening to him4 ,to ,god he can tell all his sorrows1 all his wrongs1 all his doubts1 all his sins1 all his weaknesses1 as ,david told his2 and ,god will hear him2 and instead of striking him dead for his presumption or for his sinfulness1 will comfort him2 comfort him with a feeling of peace1 of freedom1 of being right1 and of being safe1 such as he never had before2 till all the troubles and dangers of this life shall seem light to him4 ,let the world rage4 ,let the foolish people deal foolishly1 and the treacherous ones treacherously4 ,for if ,god be with a man1 who can be against him8 ,he has no fears left now4 ,he has nothing to do1 save to thank ,god for his boundless condescension2 and to trust on4 ,to trust on4 ,if he has set his heart on the ,lord1 he need not fear what man will do to him4 ,if his heart is fixed2 if he is sure that ,god cares for him1 he will1 as it were by instinct1 sing and give praise to ,god1 as the bird sings when the rain is past1 and the sun shines out once more4 ,but ,i think that when a man has reached that state of mind1 as ,david reached it1 he will rise1 as ,david rose1 to a higher state of mind still4 ,he will rise1 as ,david rises in this psalm1 from thoughts about his own soul1 to thoughts about ,god4 ,in one word1 he will rise from religion to that which is above even religion1 namely theology4 ,his first cry to ,god was somewhat selfish4 ,he went to ,god about himself2 about his own sorrows and troubles4 ,that is natural and harmless4 ,the child in pain and terror cries to its mother selfishly to be helped out of its own little woes4 ,but when it is helped1 and comforted1 and safe in its mother's bosom1 and its sobbing is over1 then it forgets itself1 and looks up into its mother's face1 and thinks of her1 and her alone4 ,and so it should be with the man whom ,god has comforted4 ,when the deliverance has come2 when the peace of mind has come2 then surely1 if he be worthy of the name of man1 he will forget himself1 and his own petty sorrows2 and look up to ,god1 to ,god ,himself1 and say within his heart--,this great awful ,being1 eternal1 infinite1 omnipotent1 who yet condescends to take care of a tiny creature like me1 who am1 in comparison with ,him1 less than the worm which crawls upon the ground1 less than the fly which lives but for an hour--,this ,god1 so mighty and yet so merciful3 who is ,he8 ,what is ,he like8 ,he is good to me4 ,is ,he not good to all8 ,he is merciful to me4 ,is not ,his mercy over all ,his works8 ,nay1 is he not good in ,himself8 ,the ,one ,good8 ,must not ,god be ,the ,one ,good1 who is the cause and the fountain of all other goodness in man1 in angels1 in all heaven and earth8 ,but if so--what a glorious ,being ,he must be4 ,not merely a powerful1 not merely a wise1 but a glorious1 because perfect1 ,god4 ,then will he cry1 as ,david cries in this very psalm--,oh that men could see that4 ,oh that men could understand that4 ,oh that they would do ,god justice2 and confess ,his glorious ,name4 ,oh that ,he would teach them ,his ,name1 and shew them ,his glory1 that they might be dazzled by the beauty of it1 awed by the splendour of it4 ,oh that ,he would gladden their souls by the beatific vision of ,himself1 till they loved ,him1 worshipped ,him1 obeyed ,him1 for ,his own sake2 not for anything which they might obtain from ,him1 but solely because ,he is ,the perfectly ,good4 ,oh that ,god would set up ,himself above the heavens1 and ,his glory above all the earth2 and that men would lift up their eyes above the earth1 and above the heavens likewise1 to ,god who made heaven and earth2 and would cry--,thou art worthy1 ,o ,lord1 to receive glory and honour and power2 for ,thou hast made all things1 and for ,thy pleasure they are and were created2 and ,thy pleasure is1 ,peace on ,earth1 and ,goodwill toward men4 ,thou art the ,high and ,holy ,one1 who inhabitest eternity4 ,yet ,thou dwellest with him that is of a contrite spirit1 to revive the heart of the feeble1 and to comfort the heart of the contrite4 ,we adore the glory of ,thy power2 we adore the glory of ,thy wisdom3 but most of all we adore the glory of ,thy justice1 the glory of ,thy condescension1 the glory of ,thy love4 ,and now1 friends--almost all friends unknown--and alas6 never to be known by me--you who are to me as people floating down a river2 while ,i the preacher stand upon the bank1 and call1 in hope that some of you may catch some word of mine1 ere the great stream shall bear you out of sight--oh catch1 at least1 catch this one word--the last which ,i shall speak here for many months1 and which sums up all which ,i have been trying to say to you of late4 ,fix in your minds--or rather1 ask ,god to fix in your minds--this one idea of an absolutely good ,god2 good with all forms of goodness which you respect and love in man2 good as you1 and ,i1 and every honest man1 understand the plain word good4 ,slowly you will acquire that grand and all-illuminating idea2 slowly1 and most imperfectly at best3 for who is mortal man that he should conceive and comprehend the goodness of the infinitely good ,god8 ,but see then whether1 in the light of that one idea1 all the old-fashioned ,christian ideas about the relations of ,god to man2 whether a ,providence1 ,prayer1 ,inspiration1 ,revelation2 the ,incarnation1 the ,passion1 and the final triumph1 of the ,son of ,god--whether all these1 ,i say1 do not begin to seem to you1 not merely beautiful1 not merely probable2 but rational1 and logical1 and necessary1 moral consequences from the one idea of ,an ,absolute and ,eternal ,goodness1 the ,living ,parent of the ,universe4 ,and so ,i leave you to the ,grace of ,god4 ,footnotes3 #j;a ,second edition1 pp4 #gh1 #gi4 #ci ,j4 ,p4 ,richter4 ,,cambridge4 ,,printed ,,by ,c4 ,j4 ,,clay1 ,m4,a4 ,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press4